Taliban condemns Afghanistan balloon project

[That Guy]

Taliban condemns Afghanistan balloon project

Taliban says distribution of 10,000 pink balloons to highlight youth creativity aims "to break culture of hijab".

Last Modified: 27 May 2013 18:04

'We Believe In Balloons' distributed neon-pink 'peace' balloons to surprised workers, families and shoppers [AFP]

The official Taliban website has published an article criticising an art project in which 10,000 pink balloons were given away for free in Kabul, saying the event encouraged un-Islamic behaviour.

Under the headline "Was it a balloon show or a mini-skirt show?", the piece said that the conceptual artwork was a trick to promote Western values among the young Afghan volunteers who helped hand out the balloons.

"The West is using different techniques to promote their culture in Afghanistan. Sometimes they do it in an undercover way," the author, Qari Habib, wrote in Pashto in the critique published on Sunday.

"Some girls were without headscarves, with tight jeans and tops on, and even with mini-skirts on the streets. The boys were also dressed in Western-style outfits.

"After distributing some balloons, they wandered around Kabul aiming to break the culture of hijab."

Hijab is the culture of modesty in Islam and covers conduct and dress codes for males and females.

On Saturday morning - the start of the Afghan working week - 100 volunteers distributed the neon-pink "peace" balloons to surprised workers, families and shoppers.

'War on values'

Yazmany Arboleda, a 31-year-old artist from New York who organised the event, said the project was designed to highlight young Afghans' creativity and sense of fun in a city wrecked by decades of war.

Called "We Believe In Balloons", it was paid for by individuals and groups around the world sponsoring each balloon for $1.

"The West wanted to smuggle in its culture through this programme," Habib wrote on the Voice of Jihad website. "It was obvious that the main goal was to break the culture of covering in women.

"The war on our religious values, modesty and hijab is ongoing under different names such as women skiing, wrestling, fashion shows and balloons."

The continuing insurgent threat in Kabul was underlined as the balloons were being distributed when a suicide bomber killed himself elsewhere in the city while he was preparing his explosives.

Taliban condemns Afghanistan balloon project - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English

Seriously, they're just balloons - that guy

 

[xdrive]

omgggg pink balloons how un-islamic lol.

The Taliban are hilarious. They should get their own comedy show.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Hopeless.No point reasoning with these people.

 

[PakPrinciples]

What they were protesting wasn't so much the balloons as some of the people who were distributing them and taking part in this event.

If you read the article they criticized the women who were wearing skirts/tight fitting outfits or going without a hijab while the boys were wearing westernized clothes instead of more modest Afghan clothing.

Regardless, this entire campaign was a farce meant to push failing western values on Afghan people in order to enslave their nation much like they've been doing for years by pushing their economic systems on Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike via the IMF, World Bank and concepts like Free Trade that have actually slowed economic growth in Africa and Asia while those nations that assert their independence (ex. China) have become successful.

------

On a side note it's odd how Karzai's picture is draped over buildings and found all over the country. Reminds me of the movie "The Dictator".

I remember seeing pictures of Iraq pre invasion and you had statues and pictures of Saddam draped over buildings all over the country.

 

[revojam]

On a side note it's odd how Karzai's picture is draped over buildings and found all over the country. Reminds me of the movie "The Dictator".

I remember seeing pictures of Iraq pre invasion and you had statues and pictures of Saddam draped over buildings all over the country.

A dictator who cares about his people far more better than likes of Taliban , when you compared Iraq to Afghanistan on living conditions everyone knows which is better.

 

[Gold1010]

omgggg pink balloons how un-islamic lol.

The Taliban are hilarious. They should get their own comedy show.

A Taliban tv show would blow up.

 

[Pakistanisage]

Taliban Taliban

Tali me banana

 

[Ayush]

i feel like crying at their foolishness and narrow mindedness..

 

[Thirdfront]

What they were protesting wasn't so much the balloons as some of the people who were distributing them and taking part in this event.

If you read the article they criticized the women who were wearing skirts/tight fitting outfits or going without a hijab while the boys were wearing westernized clothes instead of more modest Afghan clothing.

Regardless, this entire campaign was a farce meant to push failing western values on Afghan people in order to enslave their nation much like they've been doing for years by pushing their economic systems on Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike via the IMF, World Bank and concepts like Free Trade that have actually slowed economic growth in Africa and Asia while those nations that assert their independence (ex. China) have become successful.

------

On a side note it's odd how Karzai's picture is draped over buildings and found all over the country. Reminds me of the movie "The Dictator".

I remember seeing pictures of Iraq pre invasion and you had statues and pictures of Saddam draped over buildings all over the country.

So says a person lives in west, in the midst of failing culture?

 

[GR!FF!N]

I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. I have seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What god desires is here[points to head] and here[points to heart] and what you decide to do every day, you will be a good man - or not.----------Kingdom of Heaven

 

[iajj]

ah, those balloons make karzai look so gay...

 

[Safriz]

The official Taliban website?
That's what the article says...


still wondering taliban is a hoax?

 

[PakPrinciples]

A dictator who cares about his people far more better than likes of Taliban , when you compared Iraq to Afghanistan on living conditions everyone knows which is better.

First, Iraq had money because of it's large oil deposits and even after the sanctions they were selling oil on the black market. Without the oil wealth the situation in Iraq would have been worse than what the North Koreans are going through.

The Taliban knew of the countries immense mineral wealth but they didn't allow foreigners to exploit it so that Afghans would be left poor like the current government is planning on doing. This is in contrast to men like Kim Jong-il and Saddam who exploited their peoples and/or the countries natural resources for their own benefit while everyone starved.

The Taliban were never an ethnocentric group nor did they ever refer to themselves as a "Pashtun" organization. It just so happened that the majority of their members were Pashtun because of where they got their start but the group reached out to men like Masood (Tajik) when they controlled 90% of the country in hopes he would join a coalition government and finally end the years of war that ravaged the country even though they never had to. However, the current government can't even meet the first precondition to peace talks with the Taliban which simply involves the expulsion of all NATO forces from the country where as under the Taliban you didn't have 150,000+ foreign troops rolling around the country immune to local prosecution. The country had a far more stable security situation and at the very least it was free.

The Taliban eliminated the drug trade in Afghanistan (which fuels crime in countries around the world) while the current government has inducted warlords who deal in drugs (ex. Haji Bashar) or partnered with them and totally overlooked their shady dealings (Ahmed Wali Karzai) all of which fuels crime in countries around the world. Hamid Karzai even admits to paying them off with CIA money which also explains why poppy cultivation increases yearly as does the number of people addicted to drugs a disturbingly large number of whom are children.

You're talking about Afghanistan like it's some kind of paradise when all NATO did was turn it into a hell. Yes, there are some shiny new buildings but so what? Out of the $120 billion spent in Afghanistan by the US alone in 2012 The whole economy is unsustainable considering by all accords 90% of the GDP is based on the foreign presence. This idea that the current government has made things better is nothing but a mirage.

There are certain issues I have with the group, particularly related to certain atrocities they are accused of having committed and accusations that members have restricted education for females, but with respect to the current government and security force are you seriously telling me that things are actually better?

 

[That Guy]

First, Iraq had money because of it's large oil deposits and even after the sanctions they were selling oil on the black market. Without the oil wealth the situation in Iraq would have been worse than what the North Koreans are going through.

The Taliban knew of the countries immense mineral wealth but they didn't allow foreigners to exploit it so that Afghans would be left poor like the current government is planning on doing. This is in contrast to men like Kim Jong-il and Saddam who exploited their peoples and/or the countries natural resources for their own benefit while everyone starved.

The Taliban were never an ethnocentric group nor did they ever refer to themselves as a "Pashtun" organization. It just so happened that the majority of their members were Pashtun because of where they got their start but the group reached out to men like Masood (Tajik) when they controlled 90% of the country in hopes he would join a coalition government and finally end the years of war that ravaged the country even though they never had to. However, the current government can't even meet the first precondition to peace talks with the Taliban which simply involves the expulsion of all NATO forces from the country where as under the Taliban you didn't have 150,000+ foreign troops rolling around the country immune to local prosecution. The country had a far more stable security situation and at the very least it was free.

The Taliban eliminated the drug trade in Afghanistan (which fuels crime in countries around the world) while the current government has inducted warlords who deal in drugs (ex. Haji Bashar) or partnered with them and totally overlooked their shady dealings (Ahmed Wali Karzai) all of which fuels crime in countries around the world. Hamid Karzai even admits to paying them off with CIA money which also explains why poppy cultivation increases yearly as does the number of people addicted to drugs a disturbingly large number of whom are children.

You're talking about Afghanistan like it's some kind of paradise when all NATO did was turn it into a hell. Yes, there are some shiny new buildings but so what? Out of the $120 billion spent in Afghanistan by the US alone in 2012 The whole economy is unsustainable considering by all accords 90% of the GDP is based on the foreign presence. This idea that the current government has made things better is nothing but a mirage.

There are certain issues I have with the group, particularly related to certain atrocities they are accused of having committed and accusations that members have restricted education for females, but with respect to the current government and security force are you seriously telling me that things are actually better?

all I wanted to do was share an article about a balloon

 

[Bombaywalla]

Taliban Taliban

Tali me banana

LOL

How funny would it be to come up with a Talibunny version of Mr. Belafonte's best! Actually, I might give it a "shot" myself.