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‘Recalcitrant’ Activist Charged by Singapore Police for Organizing ‘Illegal Assemblies’ · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Jolovan Wham (person wearing red shirt) is joined by friends during a solidarity event. Photo from Facebook page of Lynn Lee.
On November 29, Singaporean activist Jolovan Wham was charged by the police for “organizing public assemblies without a permit under the Public Order Act, an offense of vandalism under the Vandalism Act, and for refusing to sign his statements under the Penal Code.”
Wham is an activist known for his campaigns promoting the rights of migrant workers, free speech in Singapore, and reform of the country’s laws on detention and death penalty.
Wham’s seven offences listed by the police are in connection several protest events: 1. July 14 candle lighting vigil in solidarity with the family of a person facing the death penalty 2. June 13 ‘silent protest’ inside a train about the arrest of “Marxist conspirators’ in 1987 and 3. November 26, 2016 indoor forum whose speaker included Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong speaking via Skype.
The police accused Wham of organizing these activities without securing the approval of authorities and described Wham as a ‘recalcitrant’:
Wham is recalcitrant and has repeatedly shown blatant disregard for the law, especially with regard to organizing or participating in illegal public assemblies.
Wham was briefly detained on November 29 but released after posting bail.
His case alarmed many activist groups which warned about the shrinking space for freedom of expression in Singapore.
An online petition signed by more than 3,900 people (as of this writing) urged the government to drop the charges against Wham:
The prosecution of Jolovan Wham has a chilling effect on free speech where the law is used as a tool of intimidation against peaceful and non-violent activists. These charges also violate his constitutional and universal rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
Another online petition addressed to the country’s prime minister highlighted the importance of Wham’s activism:
He is a constant reminder that we, as a first world country, should strive to attain the standard of human rights enjoyed by other first world countries.
Function 8, a non-government organization (NGO), praised Wham as “the voice of the voiceless.”
We do not understand why the State is pursuing the seven charges against Jolovan Wham for events which were all peaceful and non-violent. He works for the good of our country, which we are told, aims to be inclusive and which respects diverse voices.
Community Action Network, another local NGO, appealed to the government to reconsider its policies restricting free speech:
The Singapore government has long used a range of public order offenses to manage public opinion. As a mature, advanced nation which exhibits the key forms of parliamentary democracy, the stifling of free speech has been widely condemned for its chilling effect on human rights.
The Singapore police should not proceed with charges against Wham. The government must reconsider its position on free speech and freedom of assembly. It is time for Singapore to recognize that peaceful protest is not a crime.
Aware Singapore, a human rights group, thinks it’s time to review regulations that undermine the people’s civil liberties:
Some regulation of public assembly may be necessary to safeguard the public interest in safety and prevent disruption. Yet it may be timely to reconsider how restrictive these regulations should be. Events that do not threaten the safety and well-being of any person, damage any property or cause disruption to ordinary affairs should not be made difficult to organize, and it is doubtful whether society's interests are best served by making them liable to criminal prosecution.
MARUAH, another human rights group, insisted that Wham’s activism should not be treated by the police as a criminal act.
Mr Wham’s actions are merely public criticisms of the government’s stance on detention without trial, capital punishment and free speech. It is revealing that in the police press release announcing the arrest of Mr Wham, the police make a great deal of Mr Wham’s “recalcitrance” as if he were a child defying parental authority.
Wham’s supporters organized a solidarity event on December 10 in time for International Human Rights Day celebrations. Some of his friends also shared stories of how Wham inspired many people through his activism.
Wham also got the support of 52 Malaysian NGOs which signed a statement urging the Singapore government to withdraw the charges filed against him.
This ironic tweet featuring reflects the determination of Wham and his colleagues to question the legitimacy of being labeled ‘recalcitrant’:
“Wham is recalcitrant and has repeatedly shown blatant disregard for the law, especially with regard to organising or participating in illegal public assemblies,” the police said. pic.twitter.com/HdfB6hlais
— Jolovan Wham (@jolovanwham) November 30, 2017


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Right To Information Requests in Sri Lanka Reveals Process for Blocking Websites · Global Voices
GroundViews

Screenshot from the Right to Information website in Sri Lanka.
This post by Raisa Wickrematunge originally appeared on Groundviews, an award-winning citizen journalism website in Sri Lanka. An edited version is published below as part of a content-sharing agreement with Global Voices.
On November 8 news began to spread that independent news website LankaeNews had been blocked across all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Sri Lanka. Subsequently, a few online websites filed a request for information under the Right To Information (RTI) Act of Sri Lanka in order to gain more information and shocking details emerged about the process of blocking of news websites.
Over the years, LankaNews has been mired in controversy. In 2016, a lawyer filed 14 contempt of court charges against its editor. The blocking is chillingly reminiscent of 2010, when the site was blocked before the release Presidential election results, and blocked again in 2011, along with several others, including Groundviews and Transparency International. At the time, the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) denied that the sites were blocked.
Given that the government of the previous president Mahinda Rajapaksa regularly and arbitrarily blocked websites critical of its policies, this was a cause for concern as Sri Lanka has a new democratic government since 2015. Groundviews and its sister websites Vikalpa and Maatram filed requests as per the RTI Act in order to get more information about the blocking process.
Groundviews submitted the following requests to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) of Sri Lanka on November 10:
Maatram, a sister Tamil language website of Groundviews, filed a similar request three days later, on November 13, and faced numerous difficulties. The TRC asked Maatram to submit their request in English or Sinhala and admitted it would have to outsource translation of the request, as they were not equipped to process it. In fact, the TRC said this was the first RTI request they had received in Tamil, which is one of the two official languages in Sri Lanka, besides Sinhalese.
Vikalpa, the sister website which publishes content in Sinhala, also lodged RTI applications with the TRC. However, both Vikalpa and Maatram's requests were rejected on grounds of national security. This was particularly odd given that President’s counsel, Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, defended the block on national television, in his capacity as a member of the TRC, as an article in the online publication The Island revealed.
The TRC did respond to Groundviews on November 28, noting that first request was “not in their possession, custody, or control.” Requests three, four and five were rejected on the grounds that it would undermine the defense of the State or national security.
However, they did release a list of websites blocked by the TRC, (Request Two). Maatram also asked for details of websites blocked to ISP's from 2015 onward, but they did not receive it.
The information released by the TRC revealed that 13 websites had been blocked from 2015. The websites included political news and pornographic material.
List of blocked websites, according to the Sri Lankan Telecom Regulatory Commission. Image via Groundviews.
The supporting documentation provided showed the process behind the blocking of each of the websites named in the letter.
While it was the Media Ministry who issued the final order to the TRC, the initial order came directly from as high up as the Presidential Secretariat, for at least four of the websites.
Letter from the Presidential Secretariat. Image via Groundviews
This letter, signed by then Presidential Secretary P B Abeykoon, notes that the listed websites have reached the president’s attention. Some of the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) flagged clearly link to specific articles rather than an entire website.
Following this step, the Ministry of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media wrote a letter signed by the former Ministry Secretary Nimal Bopage to the TRC.
The TRC, in turn, sent a letter out to the CEOs of all the major internet service providers.
This identical letter was sent to the CEOs of Mobile phone providers Mobitel, Dialog, Etisalat, Airtel, and LankaBell. Image via Groundviews
The TRC provided its reasons for blocking four websites: vigasapuwath.blogspot.com, ukussa.org, lankanewsweb.today, and lankacnews was for “publishing incorrect information and damaging the President’s reputation.” Two others, lankanewsweb.today and sinhala.lnwtoday were blocked for “publishing false information.”
Image via Groundviews
The website newjaffna.net was blocked for making defamatory comments about judges in Jaffna. Two of the flagged websites published pornographic material and were blocked following an investigation by the Cyber Crimes Division.
There is no comprehensive law regulating Internet access, nor promoting it as a medium for free expression (though there are several laws including the Computer Crimes Act, the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act, the Information & Communication Technology Act and the Electronic Transactions Act which addresses various issues around the usage of the Internet.)
There have been several attempts to regulate or impinge on free expression online in Sri Lanka – from the Department of Government Information requiring news websites to register in 2011, and again more recently in 2016 – to the Ministry of Media and Information admitting that they had blocked six websites on grounds of ‘character assassination’ and ‘violation of privacy.’
The legality of TRC's website blocking has also been called into question under Section 53 of the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act, 1991. Expat student and lawyer Gehan Gunatilleke tweets:
My reading of the Telecommunications Act is that the TRC has no power to block a transmission without invoking judicial proceedings or obtaining an order from the Minister. But I’m skeptical of the value of an RTI request. A writ is better.
— Gehan Gunatilleke (@GehanDG) December 7, 2017
The paper trail is clear and leads to the highest levels of the government. Activists in Sri Lanka feel this practice must be condemned as a barrier to media freedom and freedom of expression.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: GroundViews


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The Ahwazis of Iran Face Death Sentences after False Accusations of Opposing the Government · Global Voices
Rahim Hamid

Ahwazi Arabs protest in London demonstrating against Iran's treatment of its Ahwazi population on 3 July 2016. Image from Peter Tatchell Foundation used with permission.
On August 31, an Iranian court sentenced two Ahwazi Arab men to death and six received imprisonments of three to 25 years for the crime of alleged membership in non-existent opposition groups.
The latest death sentences are part of an escalating wave of repression within Iran, which is now second only to China in annual per capita execution rates.  According to Amnesty International, the Iranian regime now executes an average of three people per day, including women and children, with the rates of execution being disproportionately higher against members of ethnic minorities such as Ahwazi Arabs, Kurds, Baluchis, Turks, and Turkmen.
The eight Ahwazi men sentenced on August 31 were primarily from the Ahwazi ancient city of Shush (Susa) and the surrounding area. All were reportedly subjected to torture that forced them to sign false confessions admitting they were the founders of the non-existent ‘Jund al- Farouq’ or ‘Soldiers of Farouq’ opposition group.
The name of this false group draws on long-standing tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims in Iran. Shia Islam, and by extension the Islamic Republic of Iran, does not recognize the legitimacy of the Rashidun Caliphate of 634 B.C. Using the name “Soldiers of Farouq” also happens to be the nickname of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second Muslim caliph of Rashidun Caliphate.
Ahwazi Arab activists believe the regime fabricated the group to present the Ahwazi people as extremists associated with Saudi-led plots to disrupt Iran. These arrests signal Tehran's intention to undermine indigenous Ahwazi Arabs, leaning on their geopolitical narrative to protect Iran at all cost from Saudi encroachment. To this end, linking the Ahwazi to false opposition groups justifies the regime's crackdown on the group as a matter of ‘national security.’
Defendants were not allowed legal representation, and the verdict in the ‘Ahwaz Revolutionary Court’ was a foregone conclusion. The charges against all eight men were:
“Moharebeh [enmity to God] through the foundation of the Jund al-Farouq group, membership of opposition groups, and propaganda against the regime.”
Those sentenced to death are 36-year-old Abdullah Karamullah Ka’ab, married with three children, from the Shavur district, and 30-year-old Ghassem Abdullah from the village of Kaab Beit Allawi. The dates for the executions are unknown yet imminent. Their families are unaware of the legal process by which to appeal these sentences.
Abdullah was sentenced to death on charges of enmity to god through alleged membership in an Ahwazi opposition group. Image provided by the family for distribution.
Three defendants were each sentenced to 25 years imprisonment: 23-year-old Majed Beit Abdullah from Khalaf Moslem, 30-year-old Ahmed Kaab, a poet from Shush, and 31-year-old Hassan Beit Abdullah from Kaab Beit Allawi.
Three other men all from the Shavur district were sentenced to three years each: Hassan Karmalachaab and Majid Beit Abdullah, both 24 years old and Issa Beit Abdullah, 30 years old.
The defendants were arrested in raids on their families’ homes by security personnel on October 16, 2015. Ahmad, Majed, and Abdullah were transferred to Masjid Suleiman Prison following an intensive interrogation.
All eight were later transferred to Shush headquarters of the Intelligence Directorate, infamous for torturing detainees. They were kept there incommunicado for the next two years and forbidden any visitation or communication with their families.
After the trial, the defendants were taken to the Intelligence Directoratecentertion center in Ahwaz City.
Ghassem Abdullah was the second Ahwazi sentenced to death for alleged participation in Ahwazi opposition groups. Image provided by family.
Families of the two defendants sentenced to death called for all human rights organizations to amplify their children's plight to the international community. They stated:
“our sons are innocent and the allegations against them by the Iranian judicial and security authorities are false.”
Karim Dahimi, an Ahwazi rights activist based in London who has been in touch with the families told Global Voices:
“The families of two political prisoners, Abdullah Karamullah Ka’ab and Ghassem Abdullah, were informed that they were sentenced to death by the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court for waging war against God, conspiring with foreign countries against the government, joining banned groups and spreading anti-regime propaganda.”
“Two years later, the men were taken to Isfahan province, where they were allowed a brief call to their families to inform them of their new detention location.  Their families sought to visit them there, but were denied any visitation rights. Recent information revealed that they were kept in solitary confinement cells run by the intelligence service branch in Isfahan.”
In recent years, the government has stepped up its already brutal persecution of Ahwazi Arabs and other minorities in Iran, such as Kurds, Baluchis, Turks, and Turkmen.
This comes as the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on November 14 condemning Iran for its widespread human rights violations, increasing executions and repression of ethnic and religious minorities.
Despite repeated calls by many international human rights organizations (including the United Nations, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch) to end its inhumane policies, the judiciary has actively accelerated and intensified its torture and executions of dissident and minority groups.
The current brutality recalls the era of Ayatollah Khomeini following the 1979 ‘Islamic revolution‘ when mass execution of dissidents and opposition politicians was first normalized.
The government also builds Persian-only settlements in the Ahwaz region, renamed Khuzestan in 1936, and forbids indigenous Arab peoples from living there. Ahwazis are denied jobs at oil and gas refineries in the region, which provides 95% of Iran’s oil and gas resources.
Despite vast resources and wealth claimed by indigenous lands, the Ahwazis often live in severe poverty.

author: Rahim Hamid


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The Cat in the… Pot? Cuddly Felines Nap in Japanese Cookware · Global Voices
Mas Urano

Cats at a temple in Obama, Japan, perhaps thinking of pots.  Photo by Nevin Thompson. Used with permission.
A blogger by the name of 写メんなよ (shamen-nayo) made a surprising discovery on November 7, the “Pot Day” (鍋の日, nabe no hi) in Japan.
“鍋の日”に見かけた「ねこ鍋」というパワーワード
Found the startling word “Cat-pot” on the “Pot Day”
Donabe (traditional Japanese earthenware pots) are such commonly used cookware in Japan that there is a special day for eating food in them. To celebrate this year's Day of Pots, many Japanese users had posted photos of hot pots and stew on Twitter. Among those photos, however, were also pictures of furry felines stuffed in pots of all shapes and sizes.
The blogger first came across cat-pots in a tweet by a college radio station:
らもち。が鍋にちなんで紹介するのは「ねこ鍋」について！
ねこ鍋って…にゃんこを食べるわけじゃないんですよ！??
ねこ鍋は、お鍋の中に猫がすっぽりと入っている状態で、とーっても癒されるんですよ?
（なお） #昼放送 pic.twitter.com/i7lYvMj0S0
— 同志社学生放送局(京田辺キャンパス) (@DSBtnb) November 7, 2017
Speaking of pots, Ramochi is introducing “cat-pots”!
What are cat-pots… no, they’re not about eating cats!??
Cat-pots are where cats fit snugly into pots, and they’re VERY soothing to watch?
It turns out that cat-pots aren't just for the Day of Pots. These furry felines have already been chilling in pots for a while.
ネコ鍋なう。笑
ほんとに置いといたら入るんだぁ…
土鍋を置いておいたら入ってすやすや…夢の中へ…#ブリティッシュショートヘア pic.twitter.com/qNhXMjlURh
— 六 (@AzBdfbjZECQazsr) October 23, 2017
Cat-pot now. Lol
(Cats) really go in if you leave (pots)…
(The cat) went into the clay pot and is sound asleep… into her dreams…
#BritishShorthair
It's not only big cats in big pots; little kittens are also joining in on the fun with their own tiny pots.
ねこ鍋してみたさかもと。#猫 #子猫 #スコティッシュフォールド #三毛 #猫好きさんと繋がりたい #ねこ鍋 #猫鍋 pic.twitter.com/9KGRtAS72S
— さかもとさん (@sakamotosan_cat) September 4, 2017
Sakamoto trying out the cat-pot
#Cats #Kittens #ScottishFold #Calico
#Want to connect with cat lovers #Catpot #Catpot
Apparently, cats in pots are so popular that stores nationwide have started selling pots made exclusively for cats:
『猫鍋』入荷しました！ひんやりアルミ素材のお鍋、猫ちゃんがクルッとくつろいでくれます?4Fペットファーストにて3480円＋税 #猫鍋 #ねこなべ pic.twitter.com/l4l642WXeG
— 東急ハンズ心斎橋店 (@HandsSinsaibasi) June 14, 2017
We have “Nekonabe(cat-pot)” in stock! Cats can lounge around in this chilly pot made of aluminum? ¥3480+tax at the fourth floor Pet First #Catpot #Catpot
#ねこ鍋 #ツインズ #ねこ #子猫 #4ヵ月 #子猫部 #茶トラ #白トラ#レッドタビー #クリームタビー pic.twitter.com/qaxOdvpIlU
— けいこ (@fkdkco) July 11, 2017
Catpot #Twins #Cats #Kittens
#FourthMonth #KittenClub #BrownTabby #WhiteTabby
#RedTabby #CreamTabby
Not much of a cat person? These puppies also love to chill inside pots:
床置きだと、滅多に入らないくせに、ベットの上のともの横に置くと、大概入るw#ねこ鍋 #チワックス #猫用ひんやりグッズ #猫は飼っていない pic.twitter.com/kB0685Vd0Q
— tomoちん@36 (@tomo560620) July 12, 2017
(She) rarely goes in when it’s placed on the floor, but when I put it on the bed next to Tomo, (she) goes in most of the time lol
#Catpot #Chihuachshund #CatChillyGoods
#IDon’tOwnACat
鍋でも置いておけば、入ってくれるんじゃないかな？
#猫鍋
#猫じゃない
#犬鍋 pic.twitter.com/lqyNWTPxJJ
— みるきーまうす?チームREA (@milky19720409) February 27, 2017
Wouldn't they go in if you place the pots?
#Catpot
#NotACat
#DogPot
It seems that cat-pots have taken Japan by storm with their ability to “癒す”, or soothe and comfort the viewer. After all, who doesn't love cute cat photos?
For more adorable photos of cats in pots, visit 写メんなよ's Naver Matome post.

author: Mas Urano


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A ‘Detainee of All Eras’: The Prominent Case of Egyptian Activist Alaa Abdelfattah · Global Voices
Salma Essam

Egyptian Activist and Blogger Alaa Abdelfattah. Source: screenshot from Youtube video.
Egypt's wide-scale systematic arrests of political dissidents have allowed for full government control over a country of more than 100 million citizens.
Orchestrated by Egyptian President Abdelfattah El Sisi, the imprisonment of opposition bloggers and political activists has become daily news, turning justice into a political arena pitting opponents against the regime.
The case of Egyptian tech-savvy and political activist Alaa Abdelfattah has recently stirred an outrage because Abdelfattah has been imprisoned since 2013 and yet he now faces new charges that could lead to more prison time.
In early November 2017, Egypt's Court of Cassation confirmed Abdelfattah's jail sentence ordering him to serve five years in prison for flouting Egypt's protest law in November 2013, Reuters reported. Abdelfattah will also be forced to pay a fine of EGP 100,000 ($5,667 USD).
Prosecutors said Abdelfattah was guilty for organizing the protest by promoting it on social media platforms. Rights groups criticized the government for prosecuting Alaa by invoking a century old law although they allegedly say he did not attend the protest.
But contrary to this narrative, Abdelfattah’s sister, Mona Seif told Global Voices that her brother did, in fact, join the protest.
“He was just late by the time he arrived. It was already getting violently dispersed and that’s why many people assume he wasn’t there, and I keep on trying to set the record right,” Mona said. She further asserted that Alaa was not involved in protest organization – “that was me and my colleagues in ‘NoMilTrials’ group and we officially said so to the prosecutor and judge.”
As Abelfattah's sentence nears completion with only 18 months left for penalties, the Egyptian popular activist still faces another prison term for allegedly insulting the judiciary.
The court's decision to uphold the verdict paired with the likelihood that the pro-democracy activist may face more years in prison have stirred discontent among activists and the broader international human rights community.
In September 2017, Amnesty International called on the Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against Abdelfattah and other defendants convicted of criticizing the government's judicial system.
North Africa Campaigns Director at Amnesty International, Najia Bounaim, said:
Instead of punishing Alaa Abdel Fattah and the 23 other defendants for expressing their opinions, the authorities should drop the charges and immediately and unconditionally release them.
Bounaim further denounced the trials, saying:
his trial is an attempt to silence criticism of a judiciary that has itself become a source of human rights violations. ‘Insulting’ public institutions or officials is not a criminal offence under international law, and no one should stand trial – let alone face imprisonment – for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression
In essence, Amnesty International directed harsh criticism to the Egyptian judicial system and security forces, condemning human rights violations in Egypt.
An excerpt of this statements reads:
Amnesty International’s research has identified serious due process shortcomings in Egypt’s judiciary. The criminal justice system has handed down mass death sentences and lengthy prison terms to thousands of human rights defenders, activists, lawyers and journalists following grossly unfair trials, while security forces responsible for grave human rights violations enjoy near total impunity. The organization has also found the Public Prosecutor’s office to be complicit in violations by turning a blind eye to enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment.
The prominence of Alaa Abdelfattah stems from his involvement in Egypt's political activism dating back to the national uprising of the January 25 revolution, an 18-day series of mass protests that took place in 2011 and ended with sweeping the 30-year-old regime of then-president Hosni Mubarak.
Known as the “Detainee of All Eras,” Abdelfattah has the unfortunate distinction of having been arrested under each of the four iterations of power in Egypt, beginning with Mubarak through Sisi's autocratic rule.
In 2006 Abdelfattah was captured for “participating in demonstrations calling for an independent judiciary.”
Under the interim rule of Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), Abdelfattah was detained in late 2011 on charges of weaponry stealth, enticing violence against armed forces, and attacking military personnel during the infamous Maspero incident.
When the former Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohammed Morsi was elected in 2012, Abdelfattah was arrested just a year later in March 2013 over convictions of blasphemy and insulting Morsi, according to Daily News Egypt.
After Morsi was overthrown in 2013, Abdelfattah opposed the relentless crackdown on dissidents and protested laws launched during the rule of President El Sisi, landing Abdelfattah in Mazraa Torah Prison to serve his sentence.
Although the number of occasions Abdelfattah was arrested remains obscure, his online presence and political activism made him a dangerous figure in the eyes of Egypt's authorities.
Social media allowed government surveillance systems to plot against dissidents such as Abdelfattah. Yet, these same channels have also been used to demand his release. The international human rights community and social media activists have taken to social media platforms to reject the imprisonment of Abdelfattah, calling upon Egyptian authorities for his immediate release.
Pen International expressed their discontent on Twitter:
We're deeply disappointed that prison sentence of activist Alaa Abd El Fattah has been upheld in #Egypt https://t.co/VmbwZwW8Kz #FreeAlaa pic.twitter.com/9Z5li8vEOr
— PEN International (@pen_int) November 9, 2017
Journalist Dima Khatib shared a video on Abdelfattah's punishment by Al Jazeera Plus and tweeted:
#freealaa
علاء عبد الفتاح، معتقل مصري، من مناضلي ثورة #25يناير.. فاكرينها؟
pic.twitter.com/cy6bj8J0Sm
— Dima Khatib أنا ديمة (@Dima_Khatib) November 9, 2017
Alaa Abdelfattah, an Egyptian detainee and one of the icons of the figures of the Egyptian revolution, Do you remember it? #FreeAlaa
Activist Radwa Medhat wrote on Twitter:
#الحرية_لعلاء_عبد_الفتاح الحرية للجدع الي بيقضي احلي سنين عمره في السجن ظلم الحرية للحلم pic.twitter.com/rF5gYTWLVt
— Radwa Medhat (@radwamedhat80) November 23, 2017
#Free_Alaa_Abdelfattah Free the champion, who is unjustly spending the best days of his life in prison. Freedom for the dream
Writer Ezzedine Feshire wrote:
لا الظالم هينجح
ولا المظلوم هيتعوض
كل مابيدك ان تختار تقف مع مين#FreeAlaa #FreeEgypt
— عزالدين فشير (@FishereEzzedine) November 9, 2017
Neither will the oppressor succeed nor will the oppressed be compensated. You only could choose to stand with either of them
On Abdelfattah's birthday, activist Ahmed Kamel tweeted:
علاء تم النهاردة٣٦ سنة وهو في السجن
الزمن واقف بيه بقاله ٤ سنين والحق هو واقف بيه بقاله٦ سنين من لحظة ما رجع من جنوب افريقيا يشارك مع ملايين المصريين في الثورة وهو مابين سجون ومشرحة واقسام ونيابات.
علاء كان وسيظل ملهم وايقونة لجيل مقموع
كل سنة وانت طيب وربنا يقرب البعيد #freealaa pic.twitter.com/pw5gXDa4Xa
— Ahmed kamel (@ahmed_Maax) November 18, 2017
Today Alaa Turns 36 years old. Four years ago, ever since he had been jailed, time stopped for him. In reality, time stopped for him as he returned from South Africa six years ago to take part in the revolution with millions of fellow Egyptians. Since then, Alaa has been surviving between police stations, morgues, and prosecution offices. Alaa has always been, and will always be, an icon for an oppressed generation. Happy Birthday, and may God bring us together.

author: Salma Essam


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Meet the People Blocking a New Gas Mega-pipeline in Southern Italy · Global Voices
350.org

A screenshot of a video of protest against the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. Photo: Paolo Zuccotti/ 350.org, used with permission.
This article is based on content originally published on 350.org part of a partnership with Global Voices.
In southern Italy, local mothers, teachers, health workers, grandparents and olive farmers are leading a peaceful resistance to protect their land and their community from a planned gas mega-pipeline.
Since 13 November, hundreds of police imposed a ‘red zone’ around the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) construction site, prohibiting journalists, citizens and local government officials from accessing the area.
Nevertheless and despite facing a violent response by the police and individual fines of up to €10,000 the local communities of Melendugno are determined to continue their resistance to stop the construction of the TAP.
These are some of the people blocking the project:
Valentina is a local artisan who is no longer willing to stand aside as public money is spent for the private gain of multinational companies. She criticises the corruption and criminal interests surrounding the projects.
Anna Maria calls herself a NoTAP grandma, fighting for the good of the land. She is motivated to protect the environment since her nephew suffers from health problems that have been caused by environmental issues.
Simone Dima is the vice mayor of Melendugno. He sees TAP as an unnecessary project that destroys the climate and the local economy, which is based on tourism and agriculture.
Francesco opposes TAP because he wants the land protected. The pipeline and gas receiving terminal is due to be built through a protected area with ancient olive groves, aquifers, pristine forest and a stunning coastline.
Aurora is a young woman who takes action to resist an imposed and unwanted project that the state helps a multinational consortium to build without letting the people have their say and despite local opposition for the past six years, straight from the start of the project.
Sabina resists TAP, which she sees as a useless and dangerous project that threatens her livelihood in tourism in San Foca. She stresses that TAP is not just a local but a European problem that should not go ahead in Salento or anywhere else.
The locals receive increasing support as banks come under international pressure to reject the loans on which the project relies to go ahead. For example, more and more people are calling on the European Investment Bank to pledge against financing TAP to the tune of €1.5 billion.
TAP is part of the European Commission’s energy flagship project Southern Gas Corridor. The EU pushes to massively develop new gas infrastructure even though existing infrastructure is already operating below capacity and despite the fact that an expansion of the gas market is incompatible with the Paris Climate Agreement.
Films by Paolo Zuccotti and Jan Hajdelak for 350.org. Music: Am-Trans by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License – www.soundofpicture.com)


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Muslim Man Set on Fire and Murdered Amid Rising Islamophobia-Fueled Killings in India · Global Voices
Vishal Yashoda Manve

The alleged perpetrator has been identified as Shambunath Raigar (38), whose speech filled with Hindu fanaticism in a number of YouTube videos. Screenshot from a video uploaded by Vir Bhoomi.
India's rising instances of attacks on minorities by Hindu supremacists hit an alarming crescendo in the first week of December, when a migrant Muslim worker was hacked and then burnt alive in Rajsamand, Rajasthan by a Hindu known to speak in fanatical terms online about his hatred against Muslims.
The victim, 50-year-old, Mohammed Afrajul, hailed from West Bengal, a state in eastern India and worked as a laborer from a very young age to support his family including three children, numerous news reports added.
Chief Minister of West Bengal State Mamata Banerjee tweeted:
We strongly condemn the heinous killing of a labourer from Bengal in Rajasthan. How can people be so inhuman. Sad
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 7, 2017
The gruesome incident was allegedly orchestrated by Shambhu Lal Raigar (38), a marble trader who believed in killing Afrajul to prevent an instance of ‘Love Jihad‘, a term used to describe Muslim boys and men who lure non-Muslim girls to convert to Islam by feigning love.
Though the term has been widely debunked, it is still commonly used by political leaders to leverage votes and divide the Hindu-Muslim community resulting in sectarian clashes.
Indian blogger Agnivo Niyogi tweeted:
Let us not forget, like Afrajul Khan, even Rizwanur was killed a decade ago for daring to love. “Honour killing” is ingrained in the north-Indian psyche. Even, Buddhadeb's police administration was complicit in the cover-up!
— Agnivo Niyogi (@Aagan86) December 8, 2017
In gruesome online videos, Raigar's 14-year-old nephew records the entire incident on his behest while the perpetrator hacks Afrajul, pours kerosene on his body before walking off coolly. Global Voices suggests caution and trigger warnings before viewing these videos.
In the videos, Afrajul can be heard screaming for mercy as the man continues to stab him with an agricultural tool with no remorse. Afrajul had been taken to fields by the accused under the pretense of securing labor work.
Authorities said they received information about a semi-burnt body but were not able to identify the victim until the videos surfaced online and were widely viewed and shared. State police have compared the video to ones similar to the Islamic State, known for releasing grim execution videos.
The accused fanatic can be heard warning Muslims in India: “This is what will happen to you if you do ‘love jihad’ in our country.”
The recent case of Hadiya, a 24-year-old woman from the southern state of Kerala, has focused the spotlight on the alleged phenomenon of “Love Jihad,” a term constantly referred to in local media.
Hadiya's marriage and conversion to Islam reached India's Supreme court because her family said their daughter was forced to convert to Islam. Hadiya vehemently discredited these allegations and said she chose Islam voluntarily along with her marriage.
Meanwhile, Rajasthani police have refuted Raigar's claim about Afrajul committing ‘Love Jihad’ or any other illicit activities. In an article in The Indian Express, journalist Syed Hameed fears that this tragedy will quickly fade from public memory as the incendiary rhetoric has become legitimized.
Harsh Mander, a human rights activist who went on a fact-finding mission to Rajasmand expressed his shock:
Just returning from fact-finding of Afrazul's hate killing. Shaken to the soul.
So much hate felled a gentle man who dedicated his life to hard labour in distant lands to ensure a better life for his family.
Shambhu killed a complete stranger in a frenzy of hate fuelled by who?
— Harsh Mander (@harsh_mander) December 11, 2017
Educator and poet Seshan Ranganathan wrote on Twitter:
I think every Hindu needs to raise his voice against communal division, suspicion and hate. Non-appeasement and even handed justice, which is a legitimate demand, is now clearly being twisted to cover exclusion, neglect and immoral silence. Let all Indians come together.
— Seshan Ranganathan (@seshanm) December 11, 2017
Sanjay Jha from India's Congress Party tweeted:
Mohammed Afrazul's brutal killing in Rajasthan should shame us all; if the sickening hate behind it does not disturb our conscience, nothing will. For a moment, let's forget our political differences, and think of humanity alone. Where are we headed?
— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) December 11, 2017
Activist Saba Dewan wrote on Facebook:
India is bleeding. The time to remain silent is over. The brutal murder in Rajsamand, Rajasthan of Afrazul Islam a migrant worker from West Bengal has brought home searingly the vulnerability of minorities, especially Muslims to hate crimes being committed against them in the India of today. The murderer, Shambhu Lal Regar can be heard on the video that he got made of the killing justifying his crime in the name of so called ‘Love Jihad’, a bogey conjured up by proponents of hatred to demonize and target Muslim men in consensual love relationships with Hindu women.
Meanwhile, Facebook has been selectively blocking those condemning the attack. Qazi Zaid, an editor based out of Kashmir was blocked by Facebook for his post denouncing the murder.
Vatsala Singh posted  on Facebook:
Qazi Zaid, the editor of Free Press Kashmir has been blocked from posting on Facebook for vocalizing his protest against the lynching and persecution of the minority in India.
This is not new. Facebook has been blocking people who are protesting against the rampant lynching or any form of injustices. This trend of blocking and silencing of the critical voices show the legitimacy that these social media outlets are giving to the mob. The state institutions are already providing enough legitimacy to these actions. The fifth estate is also a part of the system as they are nothing but profit-making organizations.
More they block us, more vocal we will become.
Lynching Muslims in India is a truth. We are living in the times of terror and the state in India is sponsoring it. You can't block us and invisiblize the truth.
Numerous activists and groups have been protesting against Afrajul's violent murder and thousands attended his funeral. Various protests erupted across New Delhi, the nation's capital, with the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter, a replica of #BlackLivesMatter from the United States.
Since the rise of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India in 2014, there has been a spike in mob-justice cases, mostly targeting minority Muslims. Rajasthan has a track record of mob-justice cases.
Journalist Mahim Pratap Singh Tweets:
#Rajasthan shames the country again.
4 Muslims lynched in 9 months.
Pehlu Khan, 1st April, Alwar.
Zafar khan, 16th June, Pratapgarh.
Ummar, 10th November, Govindgarh, Alwar.
Mohammed Afrazul, 6th December, Rajsamand. pic.twitter.com/TbN8PPLSoB
— Mahim Pratap Singh (@mayhempsingh) December 7, 2017
In April this year, Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer accused of smuggling cattle, was killed by a mob on the national highway in Rajasthan’s Alwar district. In November, the body of dairy farmer Ummar Khan was found on the railway tracks after legally purchasing and taking cows in a pick-up truck to his village.

author: Vishal Yashoda Manve


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A Legislator in Taiwan Risks a Recall for Supporting Same-Sex Marriage · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

The legislator, Kuo-Chang Huang, is at risk of a recall because of his support for same-sex marriage. (Photo credit: Kuo-Chang Huang's facebook profile photo.)
Taiwan became the first Asian country to embrace same-sex marriage in May 2017 after its Council of Grand Justices ruled that regulations that prohibit marriage between same-sex partners are unconstitutional. The court asserted that the regulations violate rights to the freedom of marriage and equality among citizens and gave the legislature two years create new laws.
Yet the path of legal reform is rocky. Conservative groups are seeking a referendum campaign to recall legislators who are trying to enact the court’s decision. These recall election campaigns are mobilized by the Stable Force Alliance, composed of the Faith and Hope League, a right-wing Christian political party, and some significant members in the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.
They are targeting, among others, the legislator Kuo-Chang Huang, the chairperson of New Power Party, the legislator of New Taipei City 12th district since 2016. Huang is a distinguished legal scholar and one of the leaders of the Sunflower Movement, which helped end the rule of the Kuomingtang in Taiwan. During his two years in the Legislative Yuan, he has investigated serious corruption cases. This work has angered other conservative political forces and corrupt politicians, who hope to bring him down.
If a well-recognized legislator like Huang were recalled because of his support for same-sex marriage, the chilling effect might stop the progress of the same-sex marriage bill.
Unfortunately for Huang and the same-sex marriage bill, current regulations make electoral recall easy. Nathan Batto, a political researcher, explains that before the recall election regulations were revised in 2016, they required a turnout threshold of 50% of eligible voters, which made a recall to be nearly impossible. Rules revisions removed the minimum threshold for turnout.
The recall election for Huang will be held December 16. The Faith and Hope League campaign is now backed by the a group calling themselves the ‘South and North Presbyterian Churches’ and the Kaohsiung-Pingtung Alliance, who issued a public statement on December 8. This statement gave a real boost to the anti-gay groups because the Presbyterian Church is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Taiwan. This statement also ignited furious debate among members of the Presbyterian Church, in part because the name ‘South and North Presbyterian Churches’ has not been used since they were integrated as the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan in 1950.
Mu-Min Shih, a member of the Presbyterian Church, explained on his Facebook page that the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan does not endorse this statement.
台灣基督長老教會總會沒有議決支持罷免立法委員黃國昌。沒有官方的文書。在那一份支持罷免的聲明中聯名，具有台灣基督長老教會職分的人，全都是個人名義。
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church did not decide to support the recall election for Huang. There is no such official document. Those people who signed that statement with their titles affiliated to the Presbyterian Church are on behalf of themselves.
The Presbyterian Church Youth Alliance also criticized the flaws in the democratic and bureaucratic systems in the Presbyterian church.
這凸顯出本陣線從結成以來一直強調的：代議制度出了問題。[…]為什麼有中會可以跳過中會議決、一切程序就花錢發文告？為什麼可以跳過總會對做政治表態？
This raises the question that we keep asking since our Alliance was assembled: the Presbyterian Church's representative system has a problem.
Why could these Presbyterians announce this statement without any discussion with their members? Why would they release their own statement without consulting the General Assembly?
If Huang is recalled it will have implications for same-sex marriage regulations in Taiwan. The Stable Force League would likely seek to recall other legislators who support same-sex marriage and seek to stop the same-sex marriage bill. If this recall election fails, the Stable Force League might dissolve, and the same-sex marriage bill would be carried out as mandated by the top court.
Regardless of the results of this recall election, the Presbyterian Church will face the pressure to reform. Although the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church has not issued a statement to support Huang's recall, some feel its silence is a conspicuous gesture of approval. For example Josephine Hsu, a member of the Presbyterian Church, therefore called for reformation of the Church on her Facebook page:
總會這次沒有聲音，連「總會沒有立場沒有共識、期民眾以問政品質來評斷立委好壞、應秉持上帝的愛追求正確資訊」這種官話，至今都沒有說一句。[…]長老宗在台灣也超過150年，哪有不腐敗的？[…]任何改革，說穿了都是權力鬥爭，改革派鬥不贏，下場就是教會青年人口大量流失。
The General Assembly keeps complete silence this time. It did not even say something like ‘we do not have consensus, and we hope citizens can evaluate the legislators by their performance, and we should pursue correct information for the love of God’.[…] The Presbyterian Church has been in Taiwan for 150 years, and it is not possible to be immune to corruption.[…] All reformation is power struggle. If the revolution does not succeed, young people will leave the Church.
December 17 update: Pro-same-sex marriage legislator Kuo-Chang Huang has survived the recall vote on December 16. Although there were more ‘Yes’ votes than ‘No’ votes, recall supporters were unable to mobilize 25 percent of eligible voters to pass the threshold for a recall vote. Based on the recall election regulations, recall supporters cannot apply for another recall election for Huang in his term of office.

author: I-fan Lin


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Concerns over United States President Trump’s Latest Controversial Foreign Policies Loom Large in Africa · Global Voices
Rakotomalala

Israel, 2007, Jerusalem Temple Mount, Al-Asqa Mosque by Andrew Shiva CC BY-SA 4.0
On 6 December 2017, United States (US) President Donald Trump announced that the US now recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel, sparking massive reactions around the world to this controversial decision, including the continent of Africa, where many are concerned about the consequences of this declaration.
The African Union reacted by issuing a statement questioning the rightness of this move and reiterating African's solidarity with Palestine. In parallel, Egypt and Senegal have called on the United Nations Security Council to share their concern regarding the consequences of this decision.
In Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, protests have been organized in solidarity with Palestine.
Kari Ben Said, writer at the daily newspaper La Presse in Tunis, reports on multiple protests that took place all over Tunisia:
Trump donne aujourd’hui l’occasion aux peuples arabes et musulmans de reprendre conscience de l’enjeu d’une telle décision. Par ces manœuvres, le président des Etats-Unis prône implicitement l’expulsion des Palestiniens de leurs terres et réveille en conséquence la rage des peuples arabes. En témoigne la mobilisation spontanée, hier, de centaines de jeunes étudiants et lycéens sur la principale avenue de Tunis, l’Avenue Habib-Bourguiba.. Les manifestations hostiles à la décision de Donald Trump et de son Administration ont également eu lieu dans plusieurs autres gouvernorats de la Tunisie. Dans toutes les villes, ce sont les jeunes qui se sont mobilisés plus que les adultes. Les mêmes scènes se sont répétées à Sidi Bouzid, à Tozeur, à Kébili, à Gafsa et dans d’autres régions de la Tunisie. Dans toutes ces manifestations, le drapeau palestinien a été l’invité d’honneur et hissé à bout de bras.
Trump has given the Arabic and Muslim world the opportunity to re-assess the stakes of such decision. Through this move, the president of the United States implicitly advocates the expulsion of Palestinians from their lands and therefore flares up anger in Arabic countries. The spontaneous mobilisation that happened this week are prooof of such anger: hundreds of young university and high school students stood in the main avenue of Tunis, the Avenue Habib-Bourguiba […] Other hostile protests against Trump and his administration's decision were held in many other governorates of Tunisia. Across all the cities, mobilised youngsters outnumbered adults. The same scenarios were repeated in Sidi Bouzid, Tozeur, Kébili, Gafsa and in other regions of Tunisia. During all these protests, the Palestinian flag was the guest of honor and hoisted up on many shoulders.
In Mauritania, Dia Cheikh Tidiane, publishing director of the daily news site Rénovateur, fails to understand this decision:
C'est le comportement très peu diplomatique d’un homme dont la vision et la politique sont faussées par une méconnaissance totale du monde extérieur. Une ignorance qui explique le fait qu’il souffle sur les braises du vieux conflit du Moyen-Orient
This is not a very diplomatic strategy. Then again, it is coming from a man whose vision and politics are limited by his lack of awareness about the outside world. An ignorance which explains him blowing on the embers of the old Middle Eastern conflict.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the shared feeling of incomprehension dominates as well. Many wonder about the legitimacy of this decision and its impact on stability in the Middle East. Hugues Richard Sama, a columnist for the Burkinabe daily news site L'Observateur, ponders what the rationale might be behind this declaration:
Au nom de la paix, Trump doit partir avant de commettre des dégâts plus désastreux. Il y a comme une forme de folie et d'irresponsabilité chez le chef de l'exécutif américain dont on se demande parfois s'il maîtrise les enjeux internationaux. Quand bien même les États-Unis auraient toujours soutenu leur protégé israélien, ils l'ont toujours fait avec une dose d'intelligence, de realpolitik. Et voici que ce septuagénaire aux cheveux peroxydés sorti d'on ne sait quelle planète, parachuté de sa Trump Tower dont il n'aurait jamais dû descendre, vient de briser un tabou et de rompre un consensus qui, même fragile, avait au moins le mérite d'exister
For the sake of peace, Trump must go before committing any additional devastating damage. There is a touch of madness and irresponsibility in this American leader, whose understanding of international relation is questionnable at times. Even if the United States have always supported their Israeli protégé, they have always done so with a dose of intelligence, of realpolitik. And now this septuagenarian with peroxided hair from planet who-knows-what, parachuted from his Trump Tower which he should have never left, brakes a taboo and a consensus which, even if somewhat fragile, had the merit to exist.
Senegal was one of the first countries to officially react to the Trump's announcement. Historically, Senegal has always shown solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Indeed, the group Solidarity Senegal Palestine has existed for a few decades and asserts the preference of a two-state solution.
Madieye Mbodj who coordinates this collective, firmly condemns President Trump's decision:
Si nous laissons Donald Trump violer des résolutions internationales, qui dénonçaient justement la colonisation israélienne, y compris l’occupation de Jérusalem, nous pensons que ce serait une grave violation des droits du peuple palestinien, mais surtout, une incitation à la guerre.
If we let Donald Trump violate international resolutions, which clearly denounced the Israeli colonisation and the occupation of Jerusalem, we think that it will be a serious violation of the Palestinian's rights, but more importantly an incitement to war.
Finally, in Kenya, Docteur Monda, professor of political sciences, tries to evaluate the reasons and consequences of this choice:
The decision only plays into the hands of right-wing elements in the Likud-led coalition in Israel. While Mr. Trump could have his eye on strengthening his base and expanding his allies in the American Jewish community in America in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, this move could backfire because of his proclivity to abruptly shift positions on major topical issues. It also puts US allies like Kenya in a precarious position.
I wish he had read another American president’s thoughts on foreign policy.
Thomas Jefferson’s thinking is epitomised in this quote: ‘A spirit of justice and friendly accommodation is our duty and our interest to cultivate with all nations.’
While the continent's worries focus on the Jerusalem announcement at the moment, a few have also expressed worries about the impact of the decision on the continent. The recent travel ban imposed on Chad is one example of inexplicable decisions that have directly impacted Africa.
,

author: Rakotomalala


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Graphic Journalists and Illustrators Draw Alternative Narratives in Syria · Global Voices
Syria Untold

An illustration from ‘Syria: a bakery and a climbing frame tank’ – Azaz, August 2012 (George Butler/SyriaUntold)]
This is a story written for Syria Untold by Nathalie Rosa Bucher, a French-Germany writer currently based in Beirut. It was originally published on December 6 and is republished here as part of a partnership agreement. The following is a slightly shorter version of Bucher's original piece.
Inundated with photographic images on social media, illustrations have become a popular alternative used to raise awareness and tell stories. NGO's like SyriaUntold have been using illustrations and drawings specifically to capture and recount Syrian refugees’ lives with projects like Shadi Whose Mail was Too Late (June 2017).
On the power of illustrations in telling new narratives, British illustrator George Butler says:
“illustrations don’t need to be competing with photographs, but I think they connect more powerfully with a smaller number of people, I think they are great tools for engaging people who care and understand. I think they can stick in your mind for life. I think they stand out in a world obsessed with photography.”
Butler felt a strong sense of responsibility when working with ink pen, paper and water colors in Azaz near the Turkish border after the Free Syrian Army (FSA) had captured the town in 2012.
“I think one criticism of drawing or perhaps it is just me – is that it is easy to be biased in favor of the person you are sitting in front of. I like doing justice to the people sitting in front of me. In Azaz I felt like it was the least I could do. But I think the press significantly contributed to the idea that the opposition would overthrow the Assad regime (because they only had access to one side), whereas, in reality, the regime was never going to ‘lose’ without outside involvement.”
Back from Azaz, Butler started a small initiative with “Syrian Suppers” which gradually grew into the Hands Up Foundation.
“We have raised nearly £4 million,” Butler said. “The illustration just allowed me to sit in Syria long enough to be moved enough to react. And Hands Up is how we do that.”
The Syrian revolution witnessed a strong artistic output including the production of cartoons. Widad Al-Hamawi, whose name was changed for security reasons, and who is a member of the Comic4Syria collective, pointed out that the power of illustration lies in
“the colors, the emotions, the clarity of the event, the sense of bitter humor sometimes, tackling the subject from different points of view, catching a moment that cannot be photographed or was not photographed, but we know it happened. Illustration gives you more freedom to document events and feelings.”
Hamawi underscored:
“illustrations have the liberty of seeing the picture from any perspective you want, literally speaking. This helps the audience put themselves in the place of all characters. Illustrations magnify the truth, emotionally and graphically. Illustrations are about telling the truth through lies.”
While the collective stopped posting and publishing years ago, they were able to document moments of a very important part of history in their own way:
“We wait and wait for the time to come where we [will] be able to publish again.”
The latest drawing by Comic4Syria. It was published in an article (Arabic only) that explores the corruption surrounding “terrorism” charges in regime-controlled Syria – 4-12-2017 (Comic4Syria/SyriaUntold)
American illustrator Molly Crabapple's Scenes from Syria (2015) is the result of a remarkable collaboration undertaken clandestinely in 2013 between Crabapple in New York and Syrian journalist Marwan Hisham in his native Raqqa.
The duo later worked on Aleppo and Mosul and are putting together an 82-page memoir about their work forthcoming in 2018. “Our first collaboration was about Raqqa,” Hisham, now based in Turkey, recalled:
Molly, at the time a Twitter acquaintance, suggested if I can take photos that give an idea about the general life in the city under ISIS occupation. The idea, we both knew, was risky but was also very tempting. We agreed to make up to ten illustrations. Since it was my city, I knew exactly where to go, and in some cases, what to capture. We were in daily contact exchanging ideas. Molly ended up drawing all my photos of nine scenes. We had one thing in mind: Depicting civilian and human life in Raqqa and other cities away from the stereotype.
Crabapple's first and arguably most striking of the nine “Scenes from Daily Life in the De Facto Capital of ISIS” is her depiction of the historic Clock Tower, a well-known monument featuring a male and female peasant brandishing a torch with their heads chopped off.
Only one lone individual features in the background. The statue's base is painted black and covered in ISIS slogans. Its signature ink blotches are as foreboding as the riotous cloud hovering above the structure. Hisham recalls:
[…] the Clock Tower illustration from Raqqa, […] symbolized ISIS’ vandalization of the city. It was a magnificent start. It gave me an irresistible motive to help make more.
Hisham further explains his process with Crabapple:
In the Raqqa project I shot short videos around some of the scenes I picked, to make it easier for her to see through my eyes.
The Clock Tower – Scenes from Daily Life in the De-Facto Capital of ISIS (Molly Crabapple-Marwan Hisham/Fair use. All rights reserved to the author)
Journalists find multiple reasons for using illustration and graphic images to tell new stories.
Iraqi journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad captures some of the hostile places he covered with his sketchbook not only to highlight untold stories but to heal from trauma. The trained architect is presently working on a book that will feature this body of work done in his home country Iraq, as well as Syria and Yemen.
For the past 30 years, political cartoonist Patrick Chappatte has built a parallel career as a graphic journalist, highlighting issues and individual stories that get overlooked by the media. His vast body of work includes stories of death row in the United States and an animation film about a cluster bomb in Lebanon (‘Lebanon: Death in the field’).
In the documentary ‘Plans-Fixes – Patrick Chappatte,’ he underlined that graphic journalism is an honest way of talking to readers and that the art form, which has developed and proliferated since the 90s, may well have done so, certainly in parts, due to the need of the media to renew itself.
Chappatte maintains that
contrary to a common prejudice, comics can help address serious, difficult issues. This form allows, if not requires, the reporter to be part of the story he tells, both as a narrator and a character.

author: Syria Untold


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Petition to Free the Eritrean Man Unjustly Arrested in Italy for Mistaken Identity · Global Voices
Bah Abdoulaye

The arrival of the presumed trafficker in June 2016. Photo via altreconomia.it.
A 29-year-old man who says his name is Medhanie Tesfamariam Behre has been on trial in Palermo a year and a half for human trafficking. In what looks to be a case of mistaken identity, the authorities arrested him because they believed him to be Medhanie Yehdego Mered, known as “The General,” the mastermind behind human trafficking in the Mediterranean over the past few years.
The Italian authorities had been seeking Mared since the dramatic shipwreck of the Lampedusa on October 3, 2013, in which 368 people died and at least 20 remain missing.
Behre was arrested at the Asmara Corner Café in Khartum, Sudan, by the Sudanese police on May 2016 after a long international investigation led by the Italian, English and Sudanese secret services. He was extradited to Italy on a special flight on June 7, 2016.
Amongst the journalists who have followed the case is Stefano Colombo, who writes for thesubmarine.it. In a post published on Nov. 13, he shares what was found by Lorenzo Tondo, a journalist from Palermo who has been following the case for The Guardian.
Mi occupo di questa cosa da un anno e mezzo, da quando c’è stato lo scambio di persona,” ci racconta, “doveva essere l’arresto del peggior trafficante di uomini, ma già appena l’abbiamo visto all’aeroporto ci siamo resi conto che con Mered non c’entrava un cazzo.”
[…]
Si scopre poi che mentre la procura di Palermo dava la caccia a Mered, questo — il vero trafficante! — era in carcere a Dubai per una questione di passaporti falsi. Ecco spiegato il suo silenzio totale sui social media. “È tornato in libertà ad agosto 2016,” ci conferma Tondo. Berhe, invece, è ancora in carcere, e non sembra che potrà tornare in libertà a breve. Finora il processo ha cambiato 4 volte giudice, e secondo la legge italiana, ogni volta che il giudice cambia, il processo va rifatto da capo.
“I have been following this situation for a year and a half, ” he says” it should be the arrest of the biggest human trafficker, but as soon as we saw him in the airport we realized Mered had nothing to do with it.”
[…]
While the Tribunal of Palermo was hunting Mered down, he—the actual trafficker—was in jail in Dubai for faking passports. This explains his complete silence on social media. “He was freed in August of 2106,” Tondo confirms. Berthe, instead, is still in jail and it doesn't look like he'll be out anytime soon. The trial has changed judges four times. According to Italian law, whenever the judge changes the trial must restart.
On July 4, the site newsicilia.it revealed that the defense presented two witnesses, who now have asylum in Sweden, who say with certainty that the man arrested is not Mered.
Fonte: eritrea-chat.com
Oggi, però, ci sarebbero i due testimoni pronti a dimostrare che Mered non sarebbe il latitante ricercato da due anni. Ma un giovane di nome Mered Tesfamarian. Come anticipa il giornale britannico The Guardian, uno dei due testimoni sarebbe Ambesyer Yeman, 23 anni, rifugiato eritreo, arrivato in Italia con l’organizzazione di Mered nel 2013.
“Non conosco il ragazzo che hanno arrestato, l’ho visto nella foto di un articolo pubblicato su Facebook, e ho detto immediatamente: ‘Ma questo non è Mered”, ha detto il ragazzo.
Today, there would be two witnesses ready to testify that Mered is not the criminal wanted for over two years, but a young man named Mered Tesfamarian. As the Guardian reports, one of the two witnesses is Ambesyer Yeman, 23, an Eritrean refugee arrived in Italy with Meted's organization in 2013.
“I don't know the man who's been arrested. I saw a photo of him published on Facebook and I immediately said, ‘this is not Mered,’ said the young man.
Further, Tondo revealed on his Facebook page that Italian prosecutors had recorded one of his conversations. His post was widely seen, receiving over 500 likes.
Yesterday something unfortunate happened. Something that in Italy, in my professional category, is considered dangerously “normal,” business as usual, a hiccup like many others. Palermo's prosecutors have wiretapped some of my conversations with a source, a young Eritrean man who was helping me with interviews on the “Mered matter,” the identity mistake of a refugee arrested by mistake because believed to be a human trafficker.
With similar investigation techniques, one wonders whether the Italian judiciary is looking for the actual culprit or a victim to sacrifice as such to end the issue.
To try to do something concrete on this story, Abdoulaye Bah, the author of this post, supported by a large group of activists, readers and specialists, is launching a petition that we ask you to sign:
Liberate Medhanie Tesfamariam Behre, il falegname eritreo, in carcere per omonimia (Petizione su Avaaz)
Free Medhanie Tesfamariam Behre, the Eritrean carpenter in jail for homonymy (petition on Aavaaz)
Chiediamo che venga rilasciato immediatamente e che l’Italia ammetta il proprio errore pubblicamente, presenti le proprie scuse a Medhanie Tesfamariam Behre.
We demand that Medhanie Tesfamariam Behre be released immediately and that Italy publicly admits its mistake, with apologies.

author: Bah Abdoulaye


text:
Refugees in Lebanon Are Still Being Scapegoated in the Media and in Academia · Global Voices
Elias Abou Jaoude

October 7, Lebanese State channel ‘Tele Liban’ shows an image of an old man depicting ‘the Lebanese’ being crushed by the word “Displaced.”
On Monday, October 23, Lebanon's Saint Joseph University (USJ), in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), held an event entitled “Refugees: Political Issues, Legal Approach.”
The latest figures by the UNHCR put the number of Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict at over 1,000,000 as of June of 2017. This is in addition to the approximately 450,000 Palestinian refugees, among those who have fled the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe in Arabic), when over 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced out of their homes as the State of Israel was created.
Participants including politicians, academics, and UN officials convened to discuss the legal and political context of refugees living in Lebanon, but rather than discuss ways of assisting refugees and their host communities, one attendee described to Global Voices how a number of politicians took the opportunity to smear refugees.
Alexandra Tohme, a research analyst and activist working in refugee camps in Akkar, North Lebanon, told Global Voices that former Lebanese Minister of Justice Chakib Cortbaoui said “refugees remain in Lebanon because they are receiving international aid,” insisting on this as a “fact” and he was just “telling the truth.”
Cortbaoui said that Lebanon should not repeat “the Palestinian precedent,” pitting Palestinians once again as scapegoats, which is not new to Lebanese politics.
Just this August, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, son-in-law of the current president Michel Aoun, posted an image on Instagram of the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in the south of the country in the 60s. Accompanied with the image was Bassil's message to all Lebanese: ‘do not accept [refugee] camps’.
Screenshot of the image posted by Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on August 24, 2017. Caption reads: Ain al-Hilweh camp in the beginning of the 1960s… Don't accept camps oh Lebanese’. Source: Instagram.
But Cortbaoui wasn't the only Lebanese official present at the talk repeating that line. Khalil Gebara, Advisor to the Ministry of Interior & Municipalities, also present, even said that Syrian refugees should no longer be considered refugees, but ‘economic migrants,’ as the Lebanese-Syrian borders “have been safe since 2015.”
Tohme tried to address some of the rhetoric put forward by officials. She mentioned a recent aid cut by the World Food Program's ‘Food Aid Program’ that will affect 20,000 vulnerable Syrian families as of November 2017 and the impact this has had on them.
The families I know affected by this decision are extremely vulnerable: the conditions of their tents (“Informal Tented Settlements or ITS) are extremely dire: unsanitary conditions, very desperate, living in danger and fear, no work, no movement or access outside to hospitals, work, school, the children have been out of education for three to four years, no healthcare but a visit by a doctor once a month.
Tohme then used this fact to directly respond to Cortbaoui's claim and asked:
How can one claim that these people are here to receive aid from international organizations, when many are, in fact, not receiving any?
She then highlighted the siege of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus in Syria, and asked how people fleeing such violence could be called “economic migrants” when “they are clearly people fleeing persecution and extreme violence” so close to the Lebanese border (Damascus is approximately 50 kilometers or 31 miles from the Lebanese border).
Rebel-held Eastern Ghouta has been besieged by government forces since 2013. The latest rounds of violence since November 2017 have left at least 200 people killed, including 47 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
This then lead Tohme to respond to Gebara's claim that the border areas in Syria have been safe since 2015 with examples of severe violence in Hama, Homs, Damascus and Dera'a, all within reasonable distance to the Lebanese borders.
The representation of refugees in Lebanese media could best be summed up by the cartoon on Lebanon's state television channel ‘Tele Liban’ (the top feature image).
An old man in traditional clothes wearing a ‘Tarboush’ (traditional Ottoman-era hat equivalent to the Moroccan Fez) is being crushed by the word ‘displaced’ (النازحين), as opposed to using the word ‘refugees’ (اللاجئين). Over the man is the message ‘help me… I can't take it anymore!!!’.
Ironically, the Tarboush would have been worn by today's Palestinians and Syrians as well because the style predates the formation of nation states.
The Lebanese government has disallowed Syrians from registering as refugees since May 6, 2015. Bureaucratic demands such as paying the equivalent of $200 USD to pay for a residency yearly, as well as requiring Syrian documents. The Norwegian Refugee Council claims “up to 80% don’t have valid residency permits.”
Most refugees interviewed by Oxfam in May of 2017 said they only expected to stay between a few days and a few months
The Norwegian Refugee Council explains:
Without a residence permit there is no sense of security. They risk fines, arrest, detention, and even potential departure orders. The fear of being arrested and detained forces many Syrian refugees to limit their movements and resort to negative coping mechanisms to survive.
Despite the verified facts of Syrian refugees’ struggles in Lebanon, official scapegoating, regularly aided by mainstream media outlets, have led to the spread of anti-refugee rhetoric across Lebanon and this tension has escalated over time.
The Party of Lebanon, a party that claims to rely on “the Lebanese youth,” organized a protest titled “The Popular Gathering To Demand the Displaced Syrians’ Return to their Country” in October 2017.
In some areas, this rhetoric transformed into action when municipalities ordered all Syrians with a warrant to leave, leading many to flee.

author: Elias Abou Jaoude


text:
UNESCO Protects Balkan Grandma March Day Custom As Cultural Heritage · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Grandma March Day ornaments called martinki/mártenitsa/mărţişor/martis/verore. Photo by HAEMUS, used with permission.
UNESCO has granted the status of “intangible cultural heritage” to a special custom linked to Balkan Grandma March Day. The day is a celebration of the approach of spring in South-eastern Europe. The tradition features the exchange and wearing of woolen red and white hand-bands and broaches.
The twelfth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in December 2017 in South Korea affirmed this cultural practice. Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova had all requested the status in a 2013 application.
Cultural Practices Associated to the 1st of March comprise traditions transmitted since ancient times to celebrate the beginning of spring. The main practice consists of making, offering and wearing a red and white thread, which is then untied when the first blossom tree, swallow or stork is seen… The artefact is considered to provide symbolic protection against perils such as capricious weather, with the practice ensuring a safe passage from winter to spring for individuals, groups and communities. All members of the communities concerned participate, irrespective of their age, and the practice contributes to social cohesion, intergenerational exchange and interaction with nature, fostering diversity and creativity. Informal education is the most frequent means of transmission: in rural areas, young girls are taught how to make the thread by older women, while in urban areas apprentices learn from teachers, craftspeople and through informal education…
Grandma March Day wool bracelet called martinka/mártenitsa/mărţişor/martis/verore. Photo by HAEMUS, used with permission.
These hand-made amulets are worn as bracelets or pinned to clothing, and then hung on trees. They are known as martinki (мартинки in Macedonian), mártenitsa (мартеница in Bulgarian), mărţişor (in Romanian), martis (μάρτης in Greek) and verore (in Albanian). Ethnic Albanians wear them for the 14th of March as part of the Summer Festival.
The following video released by UNESCO features cultural heritage activist Vasilka Dimitrovska who wrote about the Grandma March Day customs in 2016.
Social media users from the four countries celebrated the news.
Congratulations, as it seems today in Korea, the inclusion in the @UNESCO cultural immaterial patrimony of the multinational application #Martinki- #Mártenitsa- #Mărţişor custom was approved!
— Daria Pirvu (@daria_pirvu) December 6, 2017
A beautiful surprise on #StNicholasDay#Mărțișor, included on the @UNESCO #IntangibleCulturalHeritage List @UNESCOEU
https://t.co/bZaWU8Jke4
— Mircea Diaconu (@M_DiaconuMEP) December 6, 2017
The symbol of spring – the interlaced red and white yarns we wear every March, was listed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of #UNESCO. Typical for #Bulgaria, #Romania, #Macedonia and #Moldova. #martenitsa #Martisorul https://t.co/qqH9pWqotq
— come2see Balkans (@Come2seeBalkans) December 8, 2017
Alongside the Cultural Practices Associated to the 1st of March, UNESCO inscribed another Balkan custom on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – the Spring celebration, Hıdrellez, practiced in Macedonia and Turkey.

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
‘We Are One’: Same Sex Marriage Becomes Legal Down Under · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Marriage Equality Rally, Adelaide, 16 September 2017 – Photo courtesy Flickr user Adelaide Activist (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Same sex marriage has become legal in Australia. Foreign marriages are recognised down under immediately. The first ceremonies will commence on 9 January 2018.
Celebrations took place across the country, with the most prominent being in the House of Representatives with parliamentarians embracing one another in a unique display of non-partisan unity. The visitors’ gallery rejoiced by singing The Seekers’ iconic ‘I Am Australian’:
We are one, but we are many. And from all the lands on earth we come. We share a dream and sing with one voice: I am, you are, we are Australian.
The legislation followed a 62% vote in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in a voluntary and non-binding postal survey conducted by the Federal government. The voter turnout was 80%.
Veteran journalist David Marr watched the final vote at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) TV program The Drum. Their video captured both his reaction and the scenes in parliament. It was retweeted and liked many thousands of times:
“I've managed to live long enough to see this unimaginable thing!” David Marr in tears on #TheDrum as #marriageequality passes the House of Representatives pic.twitter.com/HS6xuFr0Oz
— ABC The Drum (@ABCthedrum) December 7, 2017
In Marr's words:
When I was a young man people like me were sent to jail for having sex. And I've lived long enough to see the community welcome this unimaginable thing of saying we can now marry. That's a journey!
People shared the joy, especially on Twitter using the hashtag #marriageequality:
I proposed to my beautiful gorgeous partner of 11 years 2 nights ago, minutes after the Marriage Act passed in parliament. 45 & the fight is finally over. My heart is at peace. ?❤ #marriageequality  #samesexmarriage #ssm @SenatorWong @MagdaSzubanski @equallovemelb pic.twitter.com/8w8oVVIa34
— Agent Morphe (@AgentMorphe) December 9, 2017
Well it’s been just over 12 hours since our marriage was made legal in this country. 27&1/2 years in the making, 8 married, and the world just goes on. #LoveIsLove Mind you, my husband didn’t like my expectations of being served breakfast in bed to celebrate. #marriageequality
— MrCraigBD (@MrCraigBD) December 9, 2017
Forecast for the weekend: rainbows and love ? #loveislove #marriageequality pic.twitter.com/VV15HJXZct
— WeWork Australia (@WeWorkAUS) December 9, 2017
I've been asked why I'm thrilled for #MarriageEquality as a #StraightMan and #Christian. There's at least 6 LGBT weddings to attend! Howzat?
— Winston Khong (@WinstonTheHRGuy) December 8, 2017
In a rare non-partisan moment, the political parties gave their members a free vote on the bill. Many government and opposition parliamentarians shared the love:
Liberal MP Warren Entsch lifts up Labor MP Linda Burney after the passing of the Marriage Amendment Bill #auspol #SSM2017 #marriageequality #LGBTIQ pic.twitter.com/66CzPtVQnz
— Lukas Coch (@cochl) December 7, 2017
Only four members of the House of Representatives voted against the final bill:
This says everything #marriageequality pic.twitter.com/C4LQm02WAq
— Dale Roberts (@ozdale) December 7, 2017
A further nine Members of House of Representatives, including former prime minister Tony Abbott, abstained in his absence from the chamber during the division. Many tweeters expressed their contempt:
I have more respect for the misguided minority who voted against #MarriageEquality than the low lifes who abstained.
— GingerThistlethwaite (@GingerThistle1) December 8, 2017
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull gushed about the victory but many disputed his attempt to claim it as his own citing the divisive and contentious postal survey:
This made me laugh so hard #marriageequality pic.twitter.com/9drAT3EQCk
— Danielle Warby (@DanielleWarby) December 7, 2017
Just about extinguishes the last of any respect I had for this PM. Your path to this moment cast shadows of hate, division & general nastiness across our country. To claim credit for #MarriageEquality now is @realDonaldTrump level politics. Hmm … sad indeed. #auspolِ https://t.co/uroxogOpdA
— Adam Voigt ?? (@adam_voigt) December 8, 2017
Joyous diplomatic responses also flooded Twitter feeds. The United Kingdom High Commissioner tweeted congratulations:
Today we have raised the rainbow flag over the British High Commission in Canberra to celebrate with Australia in this historic moment ? The Australian Parliament has voted to change the Marriage Act to allow same-sex couples to marry #marriageequality? #loveislove #LoveisGREAT pic.twitter.com/Cg1Ny9u5A8
— UK in Australia ???? (@ukinaustralia) December 7, 2017
Brendan Berne, Australia's ambassador to France, proposed to Thomas Marti, his partner of eleven years:
Today was a great day for Australia and for me. HE SAID YES! #MarriageEquality pic.twitter.com/liaXiw0FYh
— Brendan Berne (@AusAmbFR) December 7, 2017
Another Brit, 94-year-old Harry Leslie Smith, gave us the long view:
There is so much darkness and fear in the world now but Australia legalising same sex marriage today should remind us that humanity can only survive when it learns to love one and other. #marriageequality
— Harry Leslie Smith (@Harryslaststand) December 7, 2017
Anyway, let's leave the last words to some ‘dinkum’ [genuine] Aussie revelers:
we will play free at any gay wedding gig in gippsland 12 piece big band #marriageequality
— Ewart Dave ? (@davidbewart) December 7, 2017
guys this is SUPER CUTE – registry offices in VIC and NSW have specially opened up this weekend for same-sex couples who want to register to get married, what bloody heroes #MarriageEquality https://t.co/KXJeLgaJRA
— ?Patrichristmas Lenton? (@PatrickLenton) December 9, 2017
My hometown of Melbourne lit up last night for #MarriageEquality!!! @VABVOX @Martina @kaplanrobbie #LoveWon pic.twitter.com/rMHvNNl6IB
— Kate ? Doolan (@crocodilekatie) December 8, 2017

author: Kevin Rennie


text:
Found in Translation: Local Publisher Brings Alive the Story of a Somali Olympian and Refugee for Macedonian Readers · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Comics excerpt on display at the promotion. Panel 1: “Hey you, don't move!” Panel 2: “It's all right, I'm not running!” Photo courtesy of Comics Bookshop Bunker, used with permission.
On 4 December in Skopje, independent publisher Comics Bookshop Bunker promoted an unusual graphic novel: a biography of Somali Olympic runner Samia Yusuf Omar, who perished while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea as a refugee in 2012.
Comic book publishing is a rarity in Macedonia, as is publishing of books promoting empathy for migrants.
Touched by Samia Yusuf Omar's story, German comics author and journalist Reinhard Kleist published the biographical graphic novel An Olympic Dream – The Story of Samia Yusuf Omar in 2015. Since then, the story has been translated into English, French, Arabic and Slovenian.
Jovan Bitoljanu. Photo courtesy of Comics Bookshop Bunker, used with permission.
In my role as Global Voices’ Central and Eastern Europe Editor, I spoke with Jovan Bitoljanu, co-owner of Bunker Comics Bookshop, about his experience with publishing the translations in the Macedonian and Albanian languages.
Filip Stojanovski (FS): What inspired you to publish the graphic novel “An Olympic Dream”?
Јован Битољану (ЈБ): Во 2011 ја отворивме книжарницата која е посветена специјално на стрипот. По 6 години ни се наметна следниот логичен чекор, создавање на сопствена стрип-продукција.
Кога се договаравме за првенчето (и воопшто, каква линија би сакале да пратиме како издавач) издвоивме неколку работи кои ни се многу важни: создавање на понуда на стрипови на наш јазик, таа во моментов воопшто не постои или постои во многу мал обем, потоа, разбивање на стереотипот за стрипот како средство за евтина разонода, и поттикнување на читателите на поактивен социјален ангажман, преку избор на социјално-општествени теми со силна хумана порака.
Мислам дека Олимписки сон ги исполнува сите критериуми, и лесно влага во тоа што сакаме да го работиме како издавачка куќа.
Jovan Bitoljanu (JB): In 2011 we opened the bookshop dedicated to comics. After six years we took the next logical step of creating of our own production.
When we discussed our firstborn (and our publishing policy in general) we outlined several things which are very important to us: creating a supply of comics in our language, which at the moment are nonexistent or minuscule; then, combating the stereotype that comics are just a means for cheap amusement; and inspiring our readers to become more actively engaged in society, by selecting themes with strong humane messages.
I think “An Olympic Dream” fulfills all these criteria, and easily fits into our vision as a publishing house.
FS: Was it hard or easy to accomplish this?
ЈБ: Почетокот секогаш е тежок. За правата се договоривме многу брзо, иако мислевме дека работата може да запне. Но, луѓето беа многу љубезни и спремни за помош, се работи за една од водечките издавачки куќи во Германија со преку 60 годишно искуство, беа воодушевени од иновативноста на идејата.
Самата техничка изведба ни одзема многу време, затоа што сакавме да се увериме дека нема да направиме некоја кардинална почетна грешка. Сигурно го прочитавме стрипот повеќе од сто пати и веројатно пак ни се протнала некоја грешка. Тоа се некои детски болести кои очигледно мораме да ги прележиме на почетокот.
Од пресудно значење беше поддршката од Македонскиот Олимписки Комитет. Во таа насока би сакале да апелираме до сите кои можат да го поддржат стрипот и ширењето на стрип-културата кај нас. Ако постои добра волја, секогаш може да се најде решение.
На крај, морам да кажам дека сме задоволни од тоа како искочи изданието. Имавме прилика да видиме некои други изданија од овој графички роман и без лажна скромност можеме да кажеме дека нашето е барем на исто ниво со нив.
JB: The beginning is always hard. We thought we'd have difficulties to settle the copyright, but that went surprisingly easy. Representatives of the copyright holder, a leading German publishing house with over 60 years of experience, were thrilled with the idea and proved very kind and eager to help.
The technical preparation took a lot of time, because we wanted to make sure that we wouldn't make some cardinal beginners’ mistake. We must have read the comics over a hundred times, and it's still possible that we missed something. But these are growing pains we must endure at the beginning.
The support from the Macedonian Olympic Committee was crucial. In this regard we'd like to appeal to all who can support the comics medium and the spread of comics culture in Macedonia. Where there is good will, solutions can be found.
Finally I must say we are satisfied with the way the publication turned out at the end. We could compare it with some other editions of the same graphic novel and without false modesty we may say that ours is at least at the same level.
Over the last few years, right-wing populists have targeted the citizens of Macedonia through propaganda intended to demonize the refugees that pass through the country along the Balkan Route. In the months ahead of October 2017 elections, the intensity of this xenophobic and Islamophobic campaign increased, but failed to achieve high levels of political mobilization. However, these sustained efforts appear to have raised ethnic and religious tensions between the local populations. A book promoting empathy for the African refugees could be seen as directly challenging these narratives.
FS: How has the graphic novel been received so far? Did the anti-refugee campaign or other xenophobic factors affect it?
ЈБ: Живееме во немирни времиња во кои, за жал, дневно-политичките настани го диктираат расположението. А на нас воопшто не ни паѓа на памет да се занимаваме професионално со политика. Ние само сакаме да издаваме стрипови.
Меѓутоа имаме стрип кој се занимава со судбината на бегалците, па уште го печатиме на македонски и на албански јазик, некој неминовно ќе сака да не вовлече во машината.
Особено на овие простори со сите конфликти и поделби, лесно е да се разгоруваат нетрпеливости и да се пронаоѓаат мани. Наместо таквиот пристап кој очигледно не функционира, ние мислиме дека е време да се обидеме да пронаѓаме поврзувачки елементи меѓу нас, а љубовта кон стриповите би можела да биде токму таков, поврзувачки елемент меѓу луѓето.
JB: We live in turbulent times in which daily political events affect the mood of many. And we don't intend to enter professional engagement in politics. We just want to publish comics.
However, here we have a comic dealing with the fate of the refugees, and on top of that, we printed it in both the Macedonian and Albanian languages. It's inevitable that some people might try to drag us into ‘the machine.’
In particular in this region, with all conflicts and divisions, it's easy to inflame tensions and find flaws. That approach is clearly not working, so instead of that, we think it's time to find the common elements that bind us, and love for comics can be such a connecting factor between people.
Macedonian and Albanian language editions of “An Olympic Dream” by Reinhard Kleist. Photo courtesy of Comics Bookshop Bunker, used with permission.
Some negative comments by nationalists, who think that Macedonian should be the only official language in Macedonia, included cliché accusations that publishing a book in Albanian contributes to what they call the “dismemberment” of the country.
ЈБ: За среќа, негативните реакции не преовладуваат, воглавно се работи за изолирани случаи и многу не радува што луѓето избраа да и посветат внимание на приказната на Самија, а не на некои други, тотално небитни, работи. Нејзината приказна (како и многу други) е премногу драгоцена за да се пребројуваме според крвните зрнца.
Од друга страна, нашето искуство покажува дека ако се свртиме едни кон други и работиме заедно, можеме да постигнеме фантастични резултати. И повторно, придобивките од заедничката работа далеку ги надминуваат поделеностите.
На пр. нас ни доаѓаат љубители на стрипот од Косово кои купуваат стрипови на српски или хрватски јазик, или доколку овој стрип не беше печатен и на албански, на пример, малопродажната цена на македонското издание ќе беше многу повисока, поради помалиот вкупен тираж итн.
Упатени сме едни на други, да работиме кон синергија и ширење на некои поинакви вредности. Затоа ни е важно што приемот на стрипот до сега е навистина одличен, и се надеваме дека и продажбата ќе го прати тој тренд.
JB: Luckily, we received far fewer negative than positive reactions. They are mostly isolated cases and we are glad that the people chose to focus their attention on Samia's story, instead of other, completely irrelevant issues. Her story (as many others) is too precious in comparison to “counting blood cells” [idiom denoting Balkan nationalists’ penchant for biased analysis of ethnic or racial origins].
On the other hand, our experience showed that if we turn to one another and work togather, we can achieve fantastic results. And again these benefits of joint work far surpass the divisions.
For instance, comics fans from Kosovo often come to our shop to buy comics published in Serbian or Croatian. Printing our comics in Albanian contributed to lowering the market price for the customers for both issues, due to increased general volume.
We are bound to each other, to work towards synergy and dissemination of different values. Therefore it's important to us that the reception and the reviews of the graphic novel had been excellent so far, and we hope that the sales will follow suit in the same trend.


text:
In Egypt, Both Sexual Harassment and Child Marriages Continue to Plague the Country · Global Voices
Nevena Borisova

Women line up to vote in Egypt's 2011 parliamentary elections. Photo posted by UN Women on December 2, 2011. Used under a Creative Commons license.
In 2015, Hala Yousef, the Minister of Population in Egypt, reported that out of all marriages in Egypt, 15% are child marriages. Although the age of marriage increased to 18 in 2008, the practice continues to be a phenomenon across the country, and especially in poorer regions.
In addition to violating the rights of children, these practices often lead to direct violence on the children, who are almost always girls.
A 2001 study showed that 29 percent of married children have been beaten by their husbands. In 2014, the American University of Cairo's Social Research Center found that 27 percent of girls married before the age of 18 had been physically abused by their husbands.
Furthermore, in a report from 2016, a UN panel concluded that the persecution of well-known women human rights defenders contributes to Egypt's ongoing poor record on women's rights:
The continuous persecution of women human rights defenders such as Azza Soliman and Mozn Hassan… establishes and reinforces a pattern of systematic repression of the Egyptian women’s rights movement, aiming to silence and intimidate those working tirelessly for justice, human rights and equality.
To address these issues, Global Voices spoke to Samah Mansur, an Egyptian activist who has worked on women's rights for over 10 years.
Egyptian women rights activist Samah Mansur. Photo used with permission.
Mansur works as an officer of the gender and women's rights unit at the Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development Center (ACT). She is a member of the “Say No To Child Trafficking” Initiative, a group that works on monitoring and documenting child trafficking and child marriage in Egypt. Mansur also helped establish the “I Saw Harassment” Initiative to raise awareness and combat harassment in Egypt.
In 2007, she was awarded a prize by the United Nations Development Fund for Women for her research on fighting violence against women.
Nevena Borisova (NB): How did you start working on women's rights?
Samah Mansur (SM): I’ve been fortunate to come from a family where volunteering is considered absolutely important. My parents believed that the best gift they could ever give me is to help people in need. I was allowed to spend copious amount of time at charities, and shelters to help orphans, battered women, and people in need, beyond what I was taught in school and so nurtured me into volunteer lover that I am today. Since 2003, I have been involved in the non-profit sector and I joined the Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development (ACT) which works on fighting all types of violence against women. I am lucky because I am able to choose what to do and I am absolutely passionate about everything I do.
NB: You are a member of the ‘Say No to Child Trafficking’ Initiative. What is the current extent of the problem in Egypt and what are the measures that must be taken?
SM: In Egypt, child marriage and child trafficking are a social phenomenon which primarily affects girls who live in extreme poverty in rural areas, and is becoming more prevalent in urban areas, as well as in Upper Egypt. Twelve percent of them are married before they turn eighteen. One major contributing factor is the wealthy men from Egypt, and the Arab region, including the Gulf Countries, who frequently visit Egypt to acquire “temporary marriages and tourism marriages” with underage girls. Girls below the age of fourteen are forced into marriage. These marriages are often facilitated by the girl’s parents and are arranged through marriage brokers, sheikhs, lawyers, community leaders, etc., who take bribes for registering these illegal marriages of underage girls. After a while, these girl brides are in very vulnerable positions. They are either left abandoned and pregnant, taken by force to serve as maids in faraway households, or in many cases subjected to abortions.
These marriages, considered a form of child trafficking and modern day slavery, force young brides to work as maids and servants in abusive settings where a monthly compensation is received and channeled by special brokers. The money goes to the girl’s unemployed male siblings and father.
NB: You helped establish the ‘I Saw Harassment’ initiative. Could you please say more about the harassment of women in Egypt?
SM: Sexual harassment is a major problem in Egypt. Studies show that large majorities of women have been subjected to it, often on the street or public transportation. And the problem is deeply rooted. For this reason I participated in establishing the I Saw Harassment Initiative which works on monitoring and documenting sexual harassment crimes against women.
NB: What about women's career opportunities in the country?
SM: Egypt ranks low in gender equity. The 2015 Global Gender Gap Index, ranks Egypt at 136 out of 145 countries worldwide. Women have significantly lower participation in the labor force than men (26% vs 79%) and lower literacy (65% literacy for women vs 82% of males).
We have 89 (14.9%) women in the parliament, 14 are appointed and 75 are elected.

author: Nevena Borisova