Once “An Inconvenient Truth” became a box office success and every household accepted containers to sort waste; the dream of saving the planet officially became mainstream.  Every American now understands that they have a stake in the struggle, and a part to play in the solution.  Well, this is exactly the type of awakening, societal integration, and personal commitment necessary for successfully confronting international civil rights abuses.  On October 22, 2008, I was late getting off work.  Mom had been waiting in our car twenty minutes before I opened the door.  I thought she’d be frustrated, but I never expected her to be crying.  She explained that she had time to be alone with her thoughts for the first time since listening to the evening news earlier.  A story aired about a group of sixth grade students in our city who decided to celebrate what they termed, “Hit a Jew Day.”  Three Jewish students were hit.  One of the three students was actually slapped. Innocent dreams were shattered.  Bad memories had resurfaced in a vivid rush as she sat idle in the cold, darkness (MOM Interview).  One night early in her nursing career, mom had a conversation with an elderly but elegant patient from Poland.  She explained to my mother that she and her family had been forced into a Polish detention camp by the Nazis during World War II.  She spoke with a very, thick accent but made it clear that they were placed in the detention camp because of her father’s work and not just because they were Jews.  Mom had never heard of people being forced into the Nazi camps for reasons other than being Jewish, and so she didn’t know what to make of the lady’s claims.  Still, excited about the story she’d just heard, she shared it with a German nurse on duty with her.  To her surprise, the male nurse laughed, poking fun at the entire story.  Then he remarked that the holocaust never occurred, and that there never were any Nazi detention camps.  Mom was shocked by his insensitivity and Holocaust denial despite the volumes of supporting documentation in places like Israel’s Yad VaShen Memorial (Ullian 187).  However, that was nothing compared to her horror the next day upon seeing the elegant lady tied to a shabby, old armchair placed at the end of the ward in the middle of the hallway.  The German nurse had told the woman’s doctor that she’d been hallucinating about the detention camp, and that she needed to be out of her room more!  Mom made sure that the nurse did not return to the unit, but it was too late.  The elegant lady never spoke again.  Civil rights abridgement had again led to imprisonment.  She was transferred to a psychiatric ward in a catatonic state (MOM Interview).  Mother did a survey for a nursing home just opening with her long time partner, a German gentleman.  One day, mother noticed that although the type of survey they were conducting was informal, there was a long line of finely dressed gentlemen waiting to be interviewed by her partner.  After querying her partner, he admitted that he just loved making men cower before him whose shoes cost more than his suits!  The facility’s young owner and most of his consultants were Jewish.  His business dreams were deferred along with his civil rights for equal treatment by her prejudiced partner.  When mom got back to the office, she reported to her supervisor that her partner had made: racist remarks, an unfair citation, and excessive demands with regard to Jews.  Her German supervisor said that she couldn’t stand those people with their false humility and fake suffering.  She said that she didn’t believe that there ever was any Holocaust, although the nursing home owner’s parents told her they were holocaust survivors.  She asked mom if she had seen the nursing home owner’s parents’ “numbers.”  The supervisor said that the nursing home owner’s parents would throw up their sleeves for anyone who would look at what she believed were actually healed over mosquito bites on their arms.   She indulged herself in unrestrained glee, brazenly condoning the civil rights abuses.  Mom, sickened and disgusted, re-requested that her partner be reprimanded.  Her supervisor bristled at the suggestion and told mom no, saying if mom had a problem with that, she could leave the job.  Mom left her dream job; her partner was made Employee of the Year!  (MOM Interview).  Listening to mom’s stories enlightened me about the modern day civil rights abuses of Jews specifically, but my subsequent research revealed that the civil rights of most groups are abridged for the same general reasons: because of their perceived "racial inferiority" (Arabs, Slavics, Hispanics, Blacks), because of their beliefs (Islam, Communism, Jehovah’s Witnesses),because of their behavior (homosexuality)(Holocaust Museum).  At least nine European countries have outlawed public outright denial or even the diminishment of the actuality of the Holocaust (Gottschalk 145).  Freedom of speech laws prevent such restraints in America unless violence is an issue.  I feel that cultural denigration and denial of crimes constitutes further abuse of the civil rights of victimized groups!  There have been international allegations of civil rights abuses levied against both sides of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The Palestinian Liberation Organization committed hijackings, bombings and other crimes against Jewish civilians to draw attention to its occupation (Gottschalk 42).  The Israelis continue to illegally occupy Palestinian territories and radically restrict the civil rights of its non-violent citizens.  In 2000, my family and I traveled to the Holy Land.  Guards armed with semi-automatic weapons stood in the aisles of buses of American tourists traveling throughout Israel.   Although ancient Egyptian culture is a source of pride for me, as Americans we needed a convoy of military trucks filled with soldiers to follow our tour buses in Egypt too! Still, Palestinians ambushed our tour group and showered spit down upon us as we visited a holy shrine.  The atmosphere inside our tour buses was somber as we passed deserted, bomb-shattered communities and witnessed fresh skirmishes between suspects and the military in inhabited areas.  Many of the military personnel and detainees that I saw were my age.  I saw myself in the personage of both sides of these disturbing skirmishes.  I wondered what civil rights I would have in an occupied land.  As a Palestinian, Iraqi, or Afghan kid, would my dreams of success/fulfillment be deferred without civil rights?  Young Muslims feel frustrated all over the Islamic world because of their lack of opportunity, but their feelings escalate to rage over this Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Friedman 480).  This national conflict = a major impetus for abridging civilian safety rights internationally by terrorist; therefore a successful UN resolution = a lynch pin and cornerstone for world peace.  Resolution requires: Radical forces on both sides are reined in.  Each side agrees to a UN monitored land sharing agreement and accepts responsibility for its success.  Islam restrains some civil rights of Middle-Easterners when societies enforce religious mandates.  I’ve discussed my nexus with civil rights abuses locally, nationally, and internationally because personalizing these problems “brings them home. The UN is a manifestation of our dream for international civil rights.  Mankind decided to tackle civil rights abuses as a team!   Commitment to initiatives must be successfully filtered down to the household level. Americans have to set the example and be the best global citizens we can be by utilizing every opportunity to promote cooperation across cultural lines (Friedman 550).  We must re-commit to our founders’ dream of serving as the world’s model and champion for civil rights.  World governments must ensure equal civil rights for every group within its borders.  Accepting our stake and responsibility for ending the continuing civil rights abuses of Jews, Middle-Easterners, and other targeted groups around the world personalizes the dream and “brings it home.”  Yes we can realize this dream!