EDUCATION IS KEY FOR UNESCO DAY OF PEACE IN MALMÖ

The theme for this year’s Day of Peace was “Peace=Future”.

All speakers and attendees at the 2010 UNESCO Day of Peace celebration, held on 21 September 2010 in the Conference Facilities of the Church of Scientology in Malmö, came to the conclusion that there is one target that will make peace now and in the future possible: education.

The evening opened with a showing of the award winning video “UNITED”. The story, in the form of a rap song, tells about a boy being bullied by some youngsters but who musters up the whole world in joining him to make his message to the leader of the bullies very clear: by demonstrating greatness he becomes friends with the leader and so create peace.

Mr. David Songotu from Ghana and D/President of the Students Corps of the UN World Maritime University in Malmö, was very clear in his inspirational speech on the creation of peace amongst people; that it takes hard work and sacrifice in the present to make peace in the future a reality. He underpinned his statement with the fact that in the Maritime University, with its diversity of nationalities and cultures, this tolerance and understanding has been made a fact for years now and so, the students take this reality with them when they return to their country.

In order to brief on the coordinated actions of religions in creating a peaceful environment in Malmö the representative of the Malmö Interfaith Forum called “Faith and Tolerance”, Buddhist Dharmavajra, informed the audience about the history of this forum, its actions over the years and the current activities. Representatives from more than 15 different religious denominations meet regularly at this forum to make peace a fact.

Other speakers were Mrs. Hanne Hemmingsholt of Applied Scholastics and Carolyn Murphy, headmistress of Amager International School in Copenhagen. Together they presented the solution for creating understanding, tolerance and calmness for students by using the Study Technology of L. Ron Hubbard, together with the educational materials of the Youth for Human Rights campaign. With over 20 different nationalities in school and a majority of the students being Islamic, this school is known in Copenhagen for its tolerance, actual integration and highest ranking in successful graduating students each year.

A representative of Islamic Study Association Ibn Rushd explained in her speech that the very word “Islam” means “Peace” and that this is the message that the Islam has to give to the world.

The last speaker of the evening was 13 year old Alexa Bossova of Youth for Human Rights Malmö, co-sponsor of this event. She briefed the audience on the purpose of Youth for Human Rights, which is to educate young people on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To underline this she read all 30 points of this Declaration.

The evening was concluded with showing of the 10 minutes long, popular video “The Story of Human Rights”.

As foresaid, there was a general agreement reached at the end of the evening that education is the entrance point for the creation of peace now and in the future. Attendees were very happy with the program as presented and looked forward on further activities of this kind.

On that count it was announced that the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology in Malmö is preparing a day-long event in Malmö on the International Human Rights Day, 10 December 2010. This event will involve different organizations and at the same time intends to mobilize artists to back up this initiative.

For more information about the Youth for Human Rights campaign or to order materials-free of charge:

www.youthforhumanrights.org

For more information about the United for Human Rights campaign or to order materials-free of charge:

www.humanrights.com

For contacting the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology in Malmö, contact:

Ad Vulto

Tel. 0738 – 768635

advulto@gmail.com

Anonymous Hate Group Member Sentenced in Crime Against New York Scientology Church

 

​Another member of the hate group Anonymous, Jacob Speregen,  was sentenced today in New York City Criminal Court in connection with a January 8, 2009, attack on the Church of Scientology of New York. (People vs. Almahadin, Mahoud; Criminal Docket 2009NY007516).

New York, NY • September 20, 2010

In 2009, Speregen accompanied another member of Anonymous, Mahmoud Almahadin, who  smeared himself with Vaseline and assorted detritus, ran into the New York Church just off Times Square and desecrated the Church, including causing damage to Scriptural materials. Speregen videoed the attack as a co-conspirator with Almahadin and other Anonymous members.  Speregen’s sentence forbids him from going near the Church of Scientology for five years. He was also sentenced to pay the damages caused by his acts and to perform substantial community service as further restitution for the crime.

Church of Scientology attorney Kendrick Moxon said, “This decision by the Court sends a strong message to Anonymous—and any hate group—that their actions will not be tolerated and that the right to practice one’s religion will be protected..”

 “Anonymous” is a loosely connected hate group targeting Scientologists, Jews and other minority racial and ethnic groups and organizations. Mahmoud Almahadin was sentenced earlier this year.

The conviction follows the sentencing of two men on separate felony convictions for their part in a cyber attack against Church of Scientology websites in January 2008, also carried out by Anonymous members.

Dmitriy Guzner, 19, of Verona, New Jersey, is presently incarcerated in Federal prison for his role in the distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack against Scientology websites. A DDOS attack occurs when a large amount of malicious Internet traffic is directed at websites, overloading their capacity and making them unavailable to legitimate users.

Church websites were made unavailable to valid users for over 24 hours, with the attacks continuing for 12 days, requiring the Church to hire a computer security company to protect against the attacks and to reroute traffic. Due to the severity of the crime, Judge Joseph Greenaway in U.S. District Court in Newark sentenced Guzner to the 366-day prison term, plus two years probation following his prison term, and ordered Guzner to pay $37,500 restitution to the Church.

Another Anonymous follower, Brian Thomas Mettenbrink, is also incarcerated in Federal prison for his role in the same attack on Scientology websites, for conspiracy and “transmission of a code, information, program, or command to a protected computer.”

Court documents state that he obtained a computer program from an Anonymous website and executed a DDOS attack from his dormitory at Iowa State University against the Church computers in Los Angeles.

Anonymous is an underground hate group that, in addition to the cyber attack, targeted Churches of Scientology and members with death threats, bomb threats and fake anthrax mail. In addition to Scientology Churches and the Prime Minister of Australia, Anonymous has also targeted The Epilepsy Foundation, hip-hop music websites and others.

Scientology is a worldwide religious movement with more than 8,500 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups in 165 countries. The Church and its members dedicate their time and resources to numerous humanitarian programs that Scientology has become known for around the world, including combating drug abuse, immorality, illiteracy, and human rights violations.

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