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“This is a collection of songs from artists around the world who have faced censorship or had their music banned. These artists and other like them in the different corners of the world must have the right to exist and freely express their feelings and opinions through their art. We can not allow our freedom of expression to be compromised. Music must not be silenced” - Deeyah. Listen to the Banned is a unique collection of contemporary songs by artists who have been censored, persecuted, taken to court, imprisoned and even tortured for a very simple reason – their music.

In the Name of Almighty. Your Excellency, With Salutations and Greetings, Peace, international and national security, social, economic, judicial and political stability and the privileges of a peaceful life, and even more importantly equality, fraternity and avoidance of violence, tyranny and oppression and other unjust discriminations can only become possible in the third millennium and come to a desirable conclusion worthy of proper human dignity, only if all the world leaders show determination and take steps in preserving human rights and human dignity and convince  the countries which abuse human rights to safeguard the inherent human dignity and grace.

The day starts early, at a petrol station alongside a roaring Jerusalem road. The mood among the 15 Israeli women is a little tense, but it's hardly surprising – they're about to break the law and with it one of the country's taboos. They plan to drive into the occupied West Bank, pick up Palestinian women and children and take them on a day trip to Tel Aviv.Today's is the second such trip – another group of women went public with a similar action last month. It is hoped that these will become regular outings, designed to create awareness of the laws that govern movement for Palestinians, and to challenge the fears that Israelis have about travelling into the West Bank.

Each year the UC Berkeley-based Human Rights Center awards summer fellowships to students from University of California campuses, to enable them to work with human-rights organizations in the U.S. and abroad. Several current Human Rights Fellows, including political-science student Rochelle Terman, have agreed to share their experiences this summer, with regular updates from the field to be published on the NewsCenter:http://berkeley.edu/news/students/2010/terman/index_post2.shtml