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War journalists grieve execution of Spanish reporters in Burkina Faso · Global Voices
Laura Carraso Alvarez

David Beriain. Photo from TEDx UniversidaddeNavarra through Flickr. (CC BY 2.0)
Spanish war journalism is in mourning over the killing of war reporters David Beriain and Roberto Fraile in Burkina Faso on April 27. The two were recently honored by friends and by the National Press Club, which granted them the International Journalism Award for their work as international correspondents.
Beriain covered important armed conflicts in Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He also published numerous reports on corruption in Argentina, drug trafficking, and warfare in Colombia. Fraile was recognized for his work as a photographer in Aleppo, Syria, where he was seriously injured while recording the insurgent troops. Fraile also covered different armed conflicts in Libya, Iraq, and Kosovo. They were reporting on poaching in Burkina Faso when they were killed.
The reporters were captured in the east of the country, a zone where tensions and insecurity due to jihadist groups have grown since Roch Marc Christian Kaboré took power through a coup d'etat in 2015. The attacks are carried out not only against the civilian population but also among terrorist groups. Among the groups are Al Qaeda, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), the Islamic State of the Greater Sahara (ISGS), and Ansarul Islam.
Added to this problem is the general poverty of the population, of which 80% make a living in agriculture and are often the target of attacks of these criminal groups.
This wave of violence threatens journalists from the African country, who are limited when traveling and completing their journalistic work. Similarly, many suffer detention and accusations of defamation when reporting about the situation in Burkina Faso.
The assassination of the two Spanish journalists has been attributed to the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), according to Spanish Minister of Defense Margarita Robles. Beriain and Fraile were with members of the European Union, the NGO Chengeta Wildlife, and a joint patrol formed by troops from Burkina Faso. According to an investigation by Spanish newspaper El Pais, the group was cornered after encountering an Al Qaeda encampment, and the intruders were gunned down.
The first to be shot was Fraile, and both Beriain and Rory Young, an Irish ecologist and founder of Chengeta Wildlife, refused to abandon their friend. According to the investigation, Beriain could have been saved from the attack. However, he refused the idea of abandoning Fraile, who was gravely injured.
On Friday, April 30 the bodies of the deceased journalists arrived in Madrid, Spain on a military plane from Burkina Faso.
Various parts of Africa present serious risks for reporters, with more than one hundred journalist killings on the African continent in the last decade. As Reporters Without Borders notes, despite the end of totalitarian regimes in recent years, decriminalizing journalism and increasing the security of journalists is still a work in progress.
Burkina Faso ranks number 37 on the 2021 World Press Freedom Index made by Reporters Without Borders, with the killings of Beriain and Fraile being the only deaths this year in the African country. In contrast, a state such as Syria ranks in position 173, Palestine in 132, and Libya in 165.
Globally, eleven journalists and four citizen collaborators have been killed this year, and another 324 journalists, 102 citizen journalists, and 13 collaborators have been jailed.
Fear, torture, kidnapping, and death are some of the consequences of this profession, as reporter, filmmaker, and writer Hernán Zin reflects on in his 2018 documentary “Morir para Contar” (Dying to Tell), in which both Beriain and Fraile appeared. War journalists and photojournalists assume these consequences, but their aim is to reveal the truth and fight to change the world.
In the documentary, Beriain praises the love he receives from his friends and family and his luck to be able to practice this profession, in his own words, “freely,” suggesting that the reporter was aware of his potentially ominous end.

author: Laura Carraso Alvarez


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WATCH/LISTEN: “Beyond the Protest Square,” a conversation with Tanya Lokot · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

In her new book, “Beyond the Protest Square: Digital Media and Augmented Dissent,” media scholar Tanya Lokot argues that “the augmented reality of protest goes beyond the bodies, the tents, and the cobblestones in the protest square, incorporating live streams, different time zones, encrypted conversations, and simultaneous translation of protest updates into different languages.”
On June 17 Global Voices’ executive director Ivan Sigal sat down with Tanya for a conversation about the book, which is based on interviews with protest participants and ethnographic analysis of online content from Ukraine and Russia.
Tanya is an Associate Professor in Digital Media and Society in the School of Communications at Dublin City University, as well as Global Voices’ Eastern Europe Editor.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Pro-democracy Apple Daily continues its operations despite raid, seizures and arrests · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Photo: Cover page of Apple Daily on June 18. Candice Chau/HKFP.
The following post is a round-up of reports written by Kelly Ho and Candice Chau which were published in the Hong Kong Free Press on June 17 and 18, 2021. It has been published on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement.
The Hong Kong pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily has continued its operations and printed 500,000 copies on June 18 after Hong Kong police raided its headquarter and arrested five senior executives on suspicions of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces”.
Forty-four computer hard drives with journalistic materials were seized during the raid and the media outlet's assets totalling 18 million HK dollars (approximately 2.32 million US dollars) have been frozen.
The alleged offence involved around 30 Chinese and English-language Apple Daily articles published since 2019 calling for sanctions against China or Hong Kong.
Hong Kong police raid Apple Daily, arrest executives under national security law
Read: https://t.co/FJsGC8vwLp#AppleDailyENG #NationalSecurityLaw
— Apple Daily HK 蘋果日報 (@appledaily_hk) June 17, 2021
In a June 17 press conference, Hong Kong’s security chief John Lee accused Apple Daily of using journalism as a tool to endanger national security and warned fellow journalists to shun the five arrested executives or they could pay a “hefty price”
But the newspapers’ reporters and staff insisted on carrying out their mission. More than 500,000 copies of Apple Daily News were printed and delivered to news stalls the next day.
The five arrested executives are Next Digital CEO Cheung Kim-hung, Chief Operating Officer Royston Chow, Apple Daily’s Editor-in-Chief Ryan Law, Associate Publisher Chan Pui-man, and Cheung Chi-wai, who manages the newspaper’s online news platform.
The police formally charged Cheung Kim-hung and Ryan Law with conspiracy to collude with external elements on June 18, and the pair will stand trial in court on June 19. The other three are still being detained.
In a press conference following the June 17 raid, Hong Kong’s security chief John Lee said:
The suspects have been arrested on strong evidence that they're conspiring to endanger national security.
[…]anyone or any company attempting to use journalistic work as a protective umbrella or cover to commit crimes endangering national security, the SAR government will use the most stringent measure to combat [them] in accordance with the law. […] Ordinary journalists are different, and should not get involved with them, keep a distance from them.
He added:
I hereby solemnly declare that: don’t associate with these criminals endangering national security, you will pay a hefty price if [you] stand with these criminals, [you] should cut ties with these criminals before it’s too late to repent.
Lee, however, refused to answer questions on whether the continuation of Apple Daily’s operations would violate the law, the nature of the articles, or whether citizens could legally share the articles, buy the paper or purchase shares in the organisation.
Apple Daily was raided by the Hong Kong police for the first time in August 2020 after its founder, Jimmy Lai, was arrested on charges of fraud over a commercial dispute with a tenant. A few months later in December 2020, the national security police pressed an additional charge of “colluding with foreign governments” under Hong Kong's National Security Law. Currently, the 73 year old media tycoon is serving 20 months in prison for protest-related offences.
The paper's associate publisher Chan Pui-man explained in an interview before her arrest that the staff has been striving to keep the paper running even though they anticipated its looming end due to governmental pressure:
#Interview｜Associate publisher Chan Pui-man before arrest: Whether Apple Daily would survive has been the elephant in the room for all staff…“But no, there is no choice for us but to press on till the end…There’s no choice.”https://t.co/hGY7k1QyP4#AppleDailyENG #HongKong
— Apple Daily HK 蘋果日報 (@appledaily_hk) June 18, 2021
The newspaper's statement following the arrest of the five senior staff also vowed to hold fast to their duty until the end.
After the police raid, some Apple Daily journalists returned to their office and worked on their reports with personal computers or mobile devices. The final version of the paper was in print by 11:30 pm. Phoebe Kong, DW news correspondent, highlighted the front-page headline in a tweet:
The best way to defend #PressFreedom is to publish.
‘EVERYONE HAS TO HANG IN THERE’ – a quote from arrested CEO Cheung Kim-hung placed in the middle of today's @appledaily_hk front page. Am here to document the first batch of the critical paper in the wake of massive raids. #HK pic.twitter.com/Wwsux0RZcg
— Phoebe Kong (@phoebe_kongwy) June 17, 2021
To express support for Apple Daily, pro-democracy Hongkongers rushed to buy the paper after midnight:
HKFP_Live: People are queuing up to buy pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily following a police raid of its headquartershttps://t.co/FCC2KZrLCS pic.twitter.com/KFH25osWiq
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) June 17, 2021

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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Roland Watson-Grant, Caribbean regional winner of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, tells a tale of rural Jamaica · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

A Jamaican country scene, typical of the rural village described in Roland Watson-Grant's story, ‘The Disappearance of Mumma Dell.’ Photo courtesy Watson-Grant, used with permission.
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize has helped launch the careers of many writers, but Jamaican Roland Watson-Grant, who has won the 2021 prize for the Caribbean region, admits that it is “pretty exciting” to be shortlisted for a second time (his story, “Cursing Mrs. Murphy”, was shortlisted in 2017). Now in its 10th year, the Commonwealth Writers Prize awards five regional winners, in Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Pacific and the Caribbean. Last year’s winner for the Caribbean was another Jamaican, Brian Heap. The overall winner will be announced in an online award ceremony on Wednesday, June 30.
Watson-Grant, a seasoned novelist, screenwriter, and travel writer, grew up in New Haven, a swampy area on the outskirts of Kingston. He received a Musgrave Bronze Medal for Literature from the Institute of Jamaica in 2018, and his non-fiction work has been archived by the Smithsonian Libraries.
His story, “The Disappearance of Mumma Dell,” describes a tragi-comic event in River Gut, a rural district that is “vanishing off the map,” and whose residents appear unaware of the impending fate of their community. A matriarch’s funeral gets derailed just before her body goes missing, but people are far more interested in a particular avocado tree with a strange history—although they should be more fearful of an ominous sign that has appeared in the neighbourhood.
Winner of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Caribbean region, Roland Watson-Grant. Photo courtesy Watson-Grant, used with permission.
Via email and WhatsApp, I chatted with Watson-Grant about his story and what it tells us about the strained and tenuous links between rural life in 21st century Jamaica and the rapid changes taking place outside the narrow confines of communities like River Gut.
Emma Lewis (EL): You've said you are interested in “conversations between cultures”; how does the story of Mumma Dell offer us “a whisper from the past into the future”?
Roland Watson-Grant (RWG): I hope readers […] gain or regain an appetite for cultural practices around the planet, and that there will be still others who become intrigued by the world beneath their feet—cultures and practices covered up by time and conquest.
EL: The story asserts that “social media more powerful than obeah.” Is this new culture taking precedence in rural Jamaica?
RWG: I believe that new technology and ancient practices will coexist in perpetuity. It’s human to embrace what makes life easier while being very protective of what Great-Grandma believed.
EL: I burst out laughing, reading the first few paragraphs and yet, there is an underlying sadness as the narrative unfolds. Does the Jamaican ethos lend itself to using humour for conveying serious social messages?
RWG: One reviewer called my first novel, Sketcher, ‘a hilariously sad story.’ I totally get that. Crying-while-smiling is natural for those who have to adapt and move on. You kind of react to how [incredible] some situations are, and the laughter does not diminish the seriousness of it. As a matter of fact, the jocular perspective is akin to a sort of delirium, triggered by how crazy the experience is. A visitor would be appalled by much of what Jamaicans see as a manifestation of the meme ‘Jamaica is Not A Real Place’ or ‘Only in Jamaica.’
I think the collective Jamaican experience can be summed up in the words of Paulo Coelho: ‘We all have one foot in a fairytale, and the other in the abyss.’
EL: The Church of the Living Drum (wonderful name!) plays a central role in this story. Do you see its values and customs as part of the “older” village culture? Is its influence ultimately a negative or a positive one and is it evolving, or unchanging?
RWG: The Church of the Living Drum does represent older village culture. It is the stubborn resistance to an insidious apathy in the district of River Gut. The drum is never dead, ancestral energy lives on. Hope and religious fervour must remain alive, even as expansionist practices dig a grave for the district. Maybe ‘Church of the Living Drum’ will be the name of my next novel.
EL: Do small Jamaican communities like River Gut always have secrets and mysteries?
RWG: Yes. In the same way Kingston is crowded with urban legends, small corners of the island whisper personal truths, many related to localised events. Rediscovering these mysteries is intriguing.
EL: The traditions of rural Jamaica are directly impacted by technology, environmental degradation, and crime. There are several references to the government’s neglect of River Gut. Can country people adapt? Would shaking off old traditions help?
RWG: A place like River Gut, rich in natural resources, would always have a tense relationship with government. The residents would be agrarian […] interested in having proper roads to take goods to market, but might only see asphalt when a highway comes screaming through the silence or when earth-moving trucks arrive to fulfil another agenda. I believe many rural-folk will continue to feel betrayed by government in real life.However, there is no guarantee that shaking off old traditions will foster a better life any more than embracing technology will.
EL: Is River Gut a happy place?
RWG: River Gut is a tipsy, indecisive, dreary place precariously perched on a hillside, caught between eras, wedged between hope and regret. It is not coming or going, there is a kind of stasis, a waiting-on-what-we-know-not. I could go on, and still nowhere in my description would you find the word ‘happy’ to describe this place between two parishes, except perhaps during ‘Happy Hour’ at Riggs Bar.
EL: I loved the references to fire and light in the story—the glow of the cell tower, the light from the bauxite train, Struggler’s cigarette. Is that the energy River Gut needs?
RWG: No. Those lights represent a stubbornness, how things refuse to spark in the district. Neither the cigarette (nor alcohol), nor the cell phone tower (nor any technology), will permanently solve River Gut’s problems. And the train only brings passing light. The spark River Gut needs will be generated by a people's resolve.
EL: Is the character of Struggler based on a particular person, or is he just a typical hustler?
RWG: I was trying to see if one character could embody all the scammers I have come across. The one that pretends to be out of gas on his motorcycle, beg you gas money, then ride off, the one who is a construction worker but always ‘never got paid this week.’ You cannot avoid writing about such characters.
EL: If I can put you on the spot, what are your thoughts on the encroachment of the bauxite mining companies on long-established rural communities?
RWG: I continue to be shocked to see episodes still enfolding. I have long marvelled at the gaping hole that is St. Catherine’s mud lake and wonder what are the stories that could fill it. Decades later we see this happening with little consideration of the human and environmental effect, and this is part of what fuels a mistrust of government.
EL: What is the future of River Gut? Has the “old culture” won in the end?
RWG: It’s my best guess that River Gut has entered another era of wait and see. It’s a pause, maybe until a new administration takes over and renders the land unfit for living because a Rumpelstiltskin from another country comes and says: ‘Enough of the sentimentality, where is the resource you promised me?’
While doing research for my first novel, I observed a stalactite at the Institute of Jamaica carved by Jamaica’s first inhabitants. It was dug out of the cave wall and sent to the museum floor to make way for either destruction or construction. My son is nine years old. I fear that perhaps in the future, it will be rare to observe ancient Jamaican culture in its natural environment. Museums will become like zoos: ‘And over here we have a carved chunk of cave…’
You can follow Roland Watson-Grant on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

author: Emma Lewis


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Arrests of more Mother Nature environmentalists in Cambodia labeled a witch hunt · Global Voices
VOD

A rights group said three Mother Nature activists were documenting sewage flowing into the Tonle Sap, similar to this drain photographed at Phnom Penh’s Riverside on June 17, 2021. Photo and caption by VOD English
This article by Mech Dara, with additional reporting by Michael Dickison, was originally published on VOD News, an independent news site in Cambodia, and is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Four activists from the environmental organization Mother Nature were arrested in Cambodia this week this week after an Interior Ministry official alleged the “rebellious” group was using foreign money to try to topple the government.
On June 18, neither National Police spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun nor a municipal court spokesperson could be reached for comment on the current status of those arrested.
On June 16, three of the activists were reportedly taken into custody in Phnom Penh and the fourth in Kandal province, but on June 17 Kim Khoeun said there had only been three arrests.
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights, in an alert issued Thursday, said all four activists were members of the environmental group Mother Nature. The three arrested in Phnom Penh were filming sewage flowing into the Tonle Sap river, the Center said.
Three other Mother Nature activists were arrested last September and found guilty of incitement last month.
Kim Khoeun said on June 17 that the three activists arrested this week potentially faced a more serious charge of conspiracy, which is punishable by five to 10 years in jail.
On Friday, Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the government’s policy was to protect the environment and forests and that it welcomed people, including from civil society, who are also working toward this goal. Sopheak said:
But this group is different and authorities have evidence that they got foreign money to commit rebellious actions to incite [people] to topple the government. We have enough documents to arrest any of them. Please, all of them, go solve it at the court and have their lawyer defend them. Where did they get their money from? What have they used that money for and for what purpose? If they truly protect the environment, we are happy to work together.
Mother Nature co-founder Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported from Cambodia in 2015 and now lives in Spain, said the government was a “paranoid dictatorship” if it saw enemies and conspiracies to topple it “when a few young Cambodians are simply taking a few images of sewage being poured into a river.” He criticized the conflicting information being released by authorities about the arrests, saying:
We are dealing [with] it in the only way there is really: re-group, re-strategize, and keep going forward, smarter and more resolute than before.
Gonzalez-Davidson said he could not disclose how many members were in Mother Nature “for security reasons.” Regarding funding, he said that the group's “major source of finances has always been volunteering and self-funds, as well as Cambodians (abroad and inside the country) who want to see a better country.” Gonzalez-Davidson said that:
As long as the Hun Sen regime continues to be in charge of the state, any person or group who dares to publicly say that two and two equals four is going to continue being under threat.
Am Sam Ath, monitoring manager at rights group Licadho, said the arrests amounted to intimidation. “We see this as a witch hunt and a threat against environmental activists,” he said.
Sam Ath also noted that the latest arrests came after a recent meeting between US ambassador Patrick Murphy and Interior Minister Sar Kheng about the prosecution of environmental activists.
On June 17, the US ended aid to government entities to protect the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary to redirect it instead to civil society, the private sector, and local initiatives.
Following the sentencing of the three previously arrested Mother Nature activists last month, the British, US and Australian embassies posted messages online asserting that speaking out peacefully on environmental issues was a human right.
Sam Ath said:
All environment activists are under threat and intimidation. We do not know what kind of evidence the authorities have or [what] crimes, but if we look into their activities in the past on social media and in the field, [they] are activities to protect the environment. This is to break the spirit of people who want to protect the environment, like this group.

author: VOD


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Japanese brown bear runs amok in Hokkaido island’s largest city · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

The Ussuri bear, also known as the Ezo brown bear, or black grizzly, at Noboribetsu Bear Park, in Hokkaido, Japan. The Ussuri brown bear is not in the same subspecies as the grizzly bear. These bears were not involved in the attacks on June 17, 2021. Photo by brian, from Flickr. Image license: CC BY-SA 2.0
On Friday, June 18, a brown bear ran through a neighborhood in the biggest city on the island of Hokkaido, invaded a military base, then an airport, and mauled four passers-by before being shot dead by local hunters. The incident illustrates the increasing interactions between bears and humans in Japan.
The bear, an Ussuri or Ezo brown, made national news as its flight through northern and eastern Sapporo, a city of 2 million located in central Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands, was captured live on television and on streaming video.
(When sharing video of the rampaging bear on YouTube or other platforms, some media outlets included a content warning, as some video footage shows the bear attacking passers-by.)
This is absolutely insane: a wild bear is on the loose in Sapporo, and there's actually footage of it forcing its way into a Japan Self-Defense Force's military base. https://t.co/NQiVegef2P pic.twitter.com/xadT854ToK
— Jeffrey J. Hall ???? (@mrjeffu) June 18, 2021
Among the four people mauled by the bear were a pedestrian, who suffered a broken rib, and a Japan Self-Defense Force (SDF) officer. Both attacks were captured on video.
After running through a suburban neighborhood and a military base, the bear roamed the runways of a small local airport before being shot dead by local hunters who had been called in for assistance. Earlier in the day, the bear had been spotted at a local department store.
The bear was just one of a number of odd incidents, including a streaker, a ninja, and a knife-wielding man, reported on the island of Hokkaido the same day.
～今日の北海道～
午前3時頃(東区)
住宅街にクマ
午前10時頃(北区)
全裸マスク男
午前11時頃(白石区)
刃物男
時刻不明
屋根の上に忍者
1時間前(苫小牧)
超暴走車 <<<<new !!! pic.twitter.com/vxhoovvKaT
— ??????? (@Kummy_yummy_) June 18, 2021
~ Today on Hokkaido ~
Starting at 3AM – Reports of a bear in a housing development Higashi (East) Ward, Sapporo.
10AM – A completely naked (but masked) man observed in Kita (North) Ward.
11AM – Knife-wielding man reported Shiraishi Ward, Sapporo.
Time unknown – A ninja is reported on the roof of a building.
<Breaking news!>
An hour ago or so, dangerous driving reported in Tomakomai (a small city 70km south of Sapporo)
Japan is home to two species of bear, Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus), and the Ussuri (brown) bear (Ursus arctos lasiotus), which lives exclusively on the island of Hokkaido, a sparsely populated and isolated island covered with forests and mountain ranges.
Ussuri bears have long been associated with H0kkaido and have given the island one of its most chilling and gruesome local legends, and one of Japan's oddest tourist attractions.
Ussuri bears are not yet considered an endangered species—it's estimated that there are 6,500 to 10,000 of them on Hokkaido. Male Ussuri bears can reach a height of 2.3m and a weight of 250kg. The bears are omnivorous and opportunistic; clashes between bears and humans often occur near trash receptacles and in areas where wilderness has been transformed into human settlements.
Bear attacks have reportedly been on the rise in Japan in recent years, due in part to a combination of climate change and regional and rural depopulation. As climate change creates ecological shifts, bears travel to new areas in search of food. It's also the case that as Japan's aging society causes a decline in population, particularly in rural regions such as Hokkaido, bears have become less accustomed to, and less afraid of and averse to humans and human settlement.
In fall 2020, bear sightings all over Japan had reached a five-year high, with speculation that the decrease in human activity outdoors due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had left room for bears to expand their range. In 2019, bears attacked 157 people across Japan and 6,285 of the animals were captured, a 10-year high.
Some Hokkaido residents have learned to live with Ussuri bears. On the Shiretoko peninsula, a quasi-wilderness located on Hokkaido's northeast coast, local bears have become famous in Japan for introducing their cubs to local anglers.
In 2017, a Sapporo television station broadcast a two-part series about close interactions between humans and Ussuri bears in the Shiretoko region. The first part of the series is embedded below; the second part can viewed on YouTube (in Japanese).

author: Nevin Thompson


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Balloons, graffiti, sports and economic power are the latest tools of Palestinian resistance · Global Voices
أيمن حسونة

A screenshot from “Inn Ann”, a song that has become a sensation across the Arab world. The song exemplifies the creative ways young Palestinians are finding to resist the Israeli occupation.
Resistance can take many forms, and the recent popular uprising in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) has seen significant developments in the means Palestinians use to reject the injustices upon them by the Israeli occupation.
Since mid-April, and coinciding with Muslims’ holy month of Ramadan, the Palestinian territories witnessed an escalation of violence as Israel imposed restrictions on Palestinians in Jerusalem. These included increased limitations on gatherings and the most recent efforts to take possession of their homes, as well as another wave of Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip that lasted 11 days and in which 248 Palestinians lost their lives. In the face of this latest assault, Palestinians are still coming up with ways to resist.
Graffiti took centre stage in these events, sparking confrontations on May 24 between Israeli settlers and police on one hand, and Palestinian citizens on the other, as settlers erased murals.
Earlier today, a Jerusalem City Council member and a prominent fascist in the city, Yontan Yosef, vandalized some of our other murals. pic.twitter.com/fr6yDTHwyi
— Mohammed El-Kurd (@m7mdkurd) May 24, 2021
Screenshot of a mural from Instagram.
On the same day, balloons painted in the four colours of the Palestinian flag were flown over Sheikh Jarrah, the cradle of the most recent wave of Palestinian resistance. Israeli army officers were deployed to remove the balloons, as Israel prohibits any reference to the Palestinian flag in the occupied territories. In 2018, some members of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, sought to impose sanctions against those who raise anti-State banners or flags.
The resistance didn't end there. When Israelis destroyed Samir Mansour Bookshop, the largest bookstore in Gaza, on May 18, Palestinians celebrated the irony that one of the books to survive the destruction was “Returning to Haifa”, a novel written by Palestinian nationalist author Ghassan Kanafani.
بسم الله نبدأ سعادة جديدة؛سعادة؟!
في٢٠٢١/٥/١٨ قصف #الاحتلال_الإسرائيلي #مكتبة_سمير_منصور بقطاع #غزة وكان من بقايا القصف روآيه #عائد_إلى_حيفا للمناضل الفلسطيني #غسان_كنفاني … pic.twitter.com/tD73KLC4da
— Bayan zyoud?,, (@BayanZyoud) June 6, 2021
In the name of God the merciful we start new happiness; happiness!
On 5/18/2021, the #Israeli_occupation bombarded #Samir_Mansour_Library in #Gaza Strip, and one of the remnants of the bombing was the novel of #Returning_to_Haifa for the freedom fighter #Ghassan Kanafani…
The following day, as a repudiation of the occupation and an expression of their solidarity with Gaza, young people in Sheikh Jarrah symbolically rebuilt the bookstore in their neighbourhood.
“هدمت المكتبة في غزة.. أُعيد بناؤها في حي الشيخ جراح بالقدس”.. شبان يفتتحون مكتبة سمير منصور
التي قصفـ،ـها الاحتلال بغزة في الثامن عشر من الشهر الحالي، في حي الشيخ جراح بالقدس المحتلة pic.twitter.com/NIYvT4xFMF
— AlQastal القسطل (@AlQastalps) May 26, 2021
The bookstore was demolished in Gaza… it was rebuilt in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem.” Young men open Samir Mansour's bookstore which was bombed by the occupation in Gaza on the eighteenth of this month, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied Jerusalem.
On April 30, as the events had begun unfolding, a young Jerusalemite from the Al-Tur neighborhood known as Daboor and the popular Palestinian rapper Shabjdeed released a rap song called “Inn Ann” on YouTube.  In the video, Shabjedeed stands in front of a sign reading “Chivalry Shop” chanting about the resilience of Jerusalem's Palestinian youth. At the time of writing, the video has been viewed over 13 million times and has trended in various Arab countries. The song has since become something akin to an anthem for the popular uprising in Palestine.
Awni Bilal wrote:
منذ فترة، أفكر بأغنية الشاب المهذّب ضبّور والمعنونة إنْ أنّ. ما سر الصمغ الذي طُلي به هذا العمل حتى يلتصق بالخيال والذاكرة لهذا الحد. كل متاريسي التراثية وخطوط دفاعي الشعرية اخترقَها صاحب دكان الجدعنة وهو ينادي على الأوغاد أنْ ثكلَتْكُم أمهاتُكم. اشتموني، لكن هناك نبض شعري بالنص.
— Awni Bilal (@awni_inwa) June 1, 2021
Lately, I've been thinking of young and decent Daboor's song, entitled Inn Ann. What is the secret behind the glue this work has been covered with, for it to stick in one's imagination and memory in such a way? All my traditional barricades and poetic defense lines were pierced by the owner of The Chivalry Shop, Daboor, as he called on the bastards to be bereaved by their mothers. Attack me, but there is a poetry pulsation in the text.
Employing the local Jerusalem dialect, with some Hebrew words, the song has also become a secret code among the youth of Jerusalem. Journalist Ali Obaidaat posted on Facebook an account of how its verses played that role:
I was told how in the latest spate of arrests in Jerusalem, a group of young men were blindfolded in an army vehicle. When the ride dragged on, one of them wanted to make sure he's not alone with the soldiers. After much thought, he said: “Calm down!” Two responded: “Everything grows clear in plight. Allah knows who we are”.
Referring to the popularity of the clip, Mona Hawwa wrote:
صورة يمكن سماعها. pic.twitter.com/v2R4nzZi0J
— مُنى حوّا • Muna Hawwa (@MunaHawwa) May 29, 2021
An image you can hear.
Meanwhile, Yahia Alaa tweeted:
أغنية دبور وشب جديد، إن أن قد آن أوانه
هي أغنية المرحلة والتأكيد إن الشعوب ما زالت تقاوم #فلسطين#FreePalaestine
— yaحia.. (@yahia_alaa) June 10, 2021
Daboor & Shabjdeed's song “Inn Ann” is the song of this phase, and a confirmation that nations still resist.
Palestinians also expressed their rejection of their displacement by the Israeli state by organizing the “Jerusalem Marathon” on June 4 between Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, neighbourhoods whose residents are being displaced.
من مكان انطلاق ماراثون القدس في حي الشيخ جراح..#SaveSheikhJarrah #SaveJerusalem pic.twitter.com/MPUD3V3r0S
— محمد الجبور ? (@mohammed_jbour) June 4, 2021
From the starting point of Jerusalem Marathon in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood
As participants arrived at the protest tent in Batn Al-Hawa neighbourhood in Silwan, Occupation forces broke into the gathering, assaulting individuals and destroying the tent. This was all filmed by the United Palestinians Digital Community.
قوات الاستعمار تشرع بهدم خيمة التضامن في حي بطن الهوى بسلوان بعد اعتدائها الهمجي على الأهالي والمشاركين في ماراثون “القدس”#SaveSheikhJarrah#SaveSilwan pic.twitter.com/gFMEJWfmHx
— المجتمع الرقمي الفلسطيني – UPDC (@UPALDC) June 4, 2021
Occupation forces destroy the solidarity tent at Batn-Al Hawa neighbourhood in Silwan after their barbaric assault on people and participants of “Jerusalem Marathon”
Later the account also published:
المشاركون في ماراثون القدس، يحتفلون بعد انسحاب قوات الاستعمار من خيمة الاعتصام في حي بطن الهوى بسلوان.#انقذوا_حي_الشيخ_جراح#انقذوا_سلوان pic.twitter.com/L8w7rgfd0Y
— المجتمع الرقمي الفلسطيني – UPDC (@UPALDC) June 4, 2021
Participants of Jerusalem Marathon celebrate  after the withdrawal of the colonial forces from the protesting tent at Batn Al-Hawa neighborhood.
In the northern city of Acre, artists and musicians organized a protest festival featuring artistic performances, poetry, and agricultural and theater workshops.
برنامج “عكا على راسي” الفنّي الاحتجاجي
والذي سيُقام غداً السبت 5.6.21.
سينطلق من ساحة جامع الجزّار وسيستمر في الأحياء التالية: حارة الشونة، حارك المبلطة، حارة فولفسون والفاخورة.
بمشاركة مجموعة من الفنانين/ات والموسيقيين/ات.
هاشتاغ يا ريتني معكم/ن #عكا_على_راسي pic.twitter.com/kb1VTh63tA
— Rasha Hilwi رشا حلوة (@Jafrasha) June 4, 2021
Schedule of the “Acre on my Head” artistic protest which will launch tomorrow Saturday 5.6.21 from Al-Jazzar Mosque Square and will go on  in: Al-Shouna, Al-Mbalta, Phosphlone and Al-Fakhura neighborhoods with the participation of a group of artists and musicians.
Hashtag: I hope I was with you
Creative resistance to the occupation also took an economic form. A “National Economy Week” campaign was initiated to encourage Palestinians in the Occupied Territories to promote Palestinian suppliers, merchants, and manufacturers between June 6-12.
This campaign conveyed to the Palestinian residents of the 1948 Occupied Territories the important message that they held the power to undermine the Israeli economy by supporting Palestinian businesses, which are already subjected to state measures designed to keep Palestine's economy controlled and dependent.
Haifa-based activist, journalist, and novelist Majd Kayyal played a key role in the “National Economy Week” campaign, publishing daily Facebook posts that reinforced its goals.
This campaign's hashtag was also used to shed light on the struggles of those living in the cities of occupied Palestine, such as fishermen in Acre, who are subject to many restrictions imposed by the local municipal authorities and the state. This tweet refers to the costly fines that could be imposed on fishermen at the whims of state employees.
عن ملاحقة الاحتلال لقطاع الصيد في عكا، وتضييقاته المستمرّة لتفريغ البحر ممن عاشوا عقوداً يركبون أمواجه ويأكلون من أسماكه، ماذا يواجه صيادو عكا؟
#أسبوع_الاقتصاد_الوطني
#ادعم_بلدك pic.twitter.com/qZQ53Dn5zJ
— متراس – Metras (@MetrasWebsite) June 10, 2021
About the Occupation’s pursuit of the fishing sector in Acre, and its continuous restrictions to empty the sea of those who lived for decades riding its waves and eating its fish, what do Acre fishermen face?
These latest acts of resistance reflect the energy brought to the movement by young people seeking their right to self-determination and to claim the spaces in which they live. To all Palestinians, this represents hope.

author: أيمن حسونة


text:
Zagor: Legendary Italian comics series that captured Balkan hearts turns 60 · Global Voices
Metamorphosis Foundation

Sample of issues of Zagor comics editions from Croatia, Serbia and North Macedonia. Photo by Meta.mk, CC BY.
This story was originally published by Meta.mk. An edited version is republished here under a content-sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation.
Comics fans from Italy and a large portion of the Balkans including Turkey have been celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Zagor comics series, which for decades has been one of southern Europe's most popular comics.
Happy 60th Birthday to my favorite comic book character: Zagor.
It's because of Zagor I started reading comics and my life would be very different without him.
I can't wait too see what the future holds in store for him. #Zagor #comics pic.twitter.com/8KrOtKwiyC
— Filip Trescec (@FTrescec) June 15, 2021
The first issue of Zagor was published on June 15, 1961 by the Italian publishing company Sergio Bonelli Editore.
The comics were initially produced by Sergio Bonelli (1932-2011) under his then-pseudonym Guido Nolitta and the illustrator Gallieno Ferri.
Over the years, the 722 issues of the series were forged by dozens of other writers and artists.
Ferri drew the majority of the front pages for the comics series and became a legend in the fan community. His death in 2016 triggered an outpouring of grief and tributes. Zagor's weapon, the stone hatchet, was added to Ferri's funeral wreath.
The main characters of the comics are the musclebound American Zagor, whose nickname is short form for a Native American name “Za-Gor Te-Nay” (“The Spirit with the Hatchet”), and his inseparable Mexican sidekick Chico.
Being able to recite Chico's name in full — Felipe Cayetano Lopez Martinez y Gonzales — was a sort of passcode within the fan subculture. Zagor's given name, Patrick Wilding, was only recalled in a handful of issues.
The series was initially cast as a Western set in the first half of the 19th century. Zagor's stomping ground was the imaginary region of Darkwood, somewhere between Pennsylvania and Michigan in today's United States.
Zagor, however, soon began disregarding the boundaries of genre – a habit that undoubtedly contributed to the longevity of the series.
Inspiration for plot lines was sourced from the authors of literary classics – Cervantes, J. F. Cooper, Bram Stoker and J. R. R. Tolkien to name a few. Zagor's pages also included regular nods to contemporary movies and other pop culture.
Bonelli publishing company put out a range of special editions of classic and new Zagor issues this month to mark the 60th anniversary.
Whilst Yugoslavia was a communist country, the Yugoslav-Soviet split of 1948 ensured that its citizens enjoyed much greater access to popular culture from the West – especially next-door Italy – than the countries behind the Iron Curtain.
This applied to books and films, but also Italian comics series, whose authors achieved cult followings.
The first Zagor comics in Yugoslavia were published 1968 and quickly achieved widespread acclaim thanks to a licensing deal between Bonelli and the Novi Sad-based Dnevnik publishing company.
The regular circulation for Dnevnik comics imprints was between 50,000-80,000, with some issues reaching up to 200,000 in a market of 17-20 million Yugoslavs.
By 1990, Zagor, Chico and other characters from the series were firmly established as household names.
After the breakup of Yugoslavia, several local publishers in successor states continued publishing Zagor's adventures. The most notable of these are Veseli četvrtak (Joyful Thursday) of Serbia and Ludens of Croatia, which continue publishing to this day, with the comics regularly distributed to other former Yugoslav neighbours.
Local-language editions of Zagor published in North Macedonia, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina proved more short-lived.
Macedonian editions of Zagor by Mega press 33 (2005), Varm Comics (2009) and M-Comics (2014-2018). Photo: Meta.mk, CC BY.
During the 1960s and 1970s Zagor was also published in Turkey, as well as in Greece, Israel, and Austria.
Zagor was so popular in Turkey that he inspired two feature films Zagor kara bela (Zagor's Dark Trouble) and Zagor kara korsan'in hazineleri (Zagor and Black Pirate's Treasure), both of which came out in 1971. Fans have made both films available online.
Zagor is a kind of superhero, but besides unusually high levels of fitness and impressive dexterity he has no special powers. As such he is closer to Lee Falk's the Phantom, Tarzan and Batman than to Superman or Spiderman. His life mission is to fight for justice, promote peace and defend innocents from oppression.
Originally catering to teenage audiences, the series began tackling more adult themes over time.
Racism and slavery were graphically depicted and the series regularly mused on the consequences of colonial genocides.
Загор во најголема мера е наивен, детски, клишеизиран и непремногу интелектуално изускувачки стрип серијал со многу абоминации, но во сите тие над 600 приказни има и такви 10-тина остварувања кои можеме со право да ги наречеме ремек дела на 9-та уметност. https://t.co/jlpLWymdB2
— Караџа Бошко (@karadza999) June 15, 2021
Zagor is for the most part is a naïve, childish, cliché-packed and not too intellectually challenging comics series with many abominations. But among those over 600 stories there are about 10 which can be considered masterpieces of sequential art.
Characters evolved from stereotypes into more layered human beings. This development was especially visible in the female characters.
Evolution of the character known only as Blonde Peril in 1978 (issues 139-141) to Isabel Wolf, with her own backstory in 2018 (issues 631-633). Editions by Veseli četvrtak, Serbia. Photo by Meta.mk, CC BY.
Zagor himself transitioned somewhat from a ‘white savior’ of American Indians, as writers allocated more agency to supporting characters of various ethnicities.
Chico outgrew his initial casting as a pompous version of Don Quixote's Sancho Panza and began headlining issues.
As with the Marvel Universe, the virtual world of Zagor crossed over with other Bonelli series, such as Martin Mystère and Dragonero.
In recent years, there have been attempts to promote Zagor on the comics market in the USA.
One crossover is with DC superhero Flash.
Davide Gianfelice, an Italian artist engaged on that project, has been sharing some of the panels on Twitter:
Some pages of Flash/Zagor. #dccomics #TheFlash #zagor #sergiobonelli pic.twitter.com/DFVITj2NrY
— Davide Gianfelice (@DavideGianfe) January 25, 2021

author: Metamorphosis Foundation


text:
‘Night of long knives’ escalates in Nicaragua as Ortega kidnaps opposition · Global Voices
Anais Catalina Gonzalez

Collage made by Nicaraguan media Confidencial. From left to right: Marcos Fletes, Walter Gomez, Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Felix Maradiaga, Juan Sebastian Chamorro, Violeta Granera, Jose Adan Aguerri, Jose Pallais, Tamara Davila, Ana Margarita Vigil, Dora Maria Tellez, Suyen Barahona, Hugo Torres, Victor Hugo Tinoco, Luis Alberto Rivas Anduray.
Nicaragua further plunges into autocracy as, one by one, the government detains and disappears opposition figures ahead of Nicaragua's November 7 elections.
Eighteen opposition challengers have been detained in a matter of weeks, four of whom were potential presidential candidates.
As of June 21, no one knows the whereabouts of 12 detained people. Government officials have not released any photos of opposition figures in prison uniform, as they have done so with previous political prisoners. Family members of those detained are demanding proof of life.
For many, the persecution of opposition figures makes it clear that President Daniel Ortega, leader of the guerilla party National Sandinista Liberation Front (FSLN), is not willing to face free presidential elections this November.
Most opposition leaders are charged under the “Sovereignty Law,” which accuses them of committing acts that undermine the country's independence, sovereignty, and self-determination and incite foreign interference. Vice President and first lady Rosario Murillo has called the opposition “coup leaders.” She also described Nicaragua's political opponents as criminals, thugs, and terrorists with links to organized crime.
This round of detentions began at the beginning of June, and since then the arrest of opposition has not ceased.
On June 2, the police raided the home of potential presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro under money-laundering charges related to her work with the Violeta Barrios Foundation, a philanthropic organization named after Chamorro's mother who defeated Ortega at the voting booths to win the presidency in 1990. The detention came a day after Nicaragua’s electoral tribunal banned her from running for the presidential elections through the opposition's group Citizens Alliance for Freedom (CxL). She is currently under house arrest, while authorities continue to conduct an investigation of financial irregularities related to the foundation.
Three days after the detention of Chamorro, police forces arrested another potential presidential candidate, Arturo Cruz. Cruz is a former Nicaraguan ambassador to the United States and Canada. He had registered his presidential candidacy through CxL.
Cruz became the first candidate to be charged through the Sovereignty Law. According to Cruz's family and friends, he is currently detained in jail.
Screen Capture CNN. From left to right: (Felix Maradiaga, Cristiana Chamorro, Juan Sebastian Chamorro, Arturo Cruz.)
June 8 marked the “, as described by the Nicaraguan writer Gioconda Belli, referring to the night Adolf Hitler ordered to kill 85 political members to consolidate power.
That night, Ortega’s hyper-centralized administration arrested four opposition leaders, two of whom were preparing to run for elections, Félix Maradiaga and Juan Sebastián Chamorro. After Juan Chamorro, police forces simultaneously arrested opposition leaders Violeta Granera and Jose Adán Aguerri, the former leader of the country’s largest business association. The following day, opposition lawyer Jose Pallais was detained in his home.
But the hunt did not stop there. On June 12, feminist activist Tamara Dávila was captured in front of her four-year-old daughter.
The following morning, a Sunday, the Ortega-Murillo regime went after four politicians of the opposition group Unamos, including former guerrilla leader Dora María Téllez and Tamara Dávila’s aunt, feminist activist Ana Margarita Vigil. Family members recounted in detail how more than 60 riot police broke down their doors with guns drawn. They were beaten before taken to prison. Retired general Hugo Torres was arrested next.
Téllez and Torres are known to have led assaults during the 1970s against Nicaragua's former dictator Anastasio Somoza to release revolutionary Sandinista prisoners, including a young  Ortega. They are now Ortega’s prisoners.
Later that night, another Sandinista dissident, Víctor Hugo Tinoco, was kidnapped by unknown civilians.
Now, these 13 opposition figures join the list of the more than 120 political prisoners who have been incarcerated since massive anti-governmental protests in April 2018. On June 21, a fifth political precandidate, Miguel Mora, was detained.
For many, Ortega's riddance of opposing public figures comes as no surprise. He was elected in 2006 under the banner of Sandinista party FLSN, with much hope for Nicaragua’s future, but as years went by, he strengthened his control over the country’s democratic institutions. Along the way, he appointed close friends and family in top government positions and secured the possibility of being re-elected for life by passing a constitutional reform.
In 2018, citizens protested against his government as police and paramilitary forces killed an estimated 325 people and imprisoned 602 others. Since then, the Nicaraguan government has passed several laws inhibiting freedom of association and freedom of the press. In April 2021, Nicaragua's National Assembly appointed new magistrates favoring the interests of President Ortega.
Alexander Gomez, a member of the political opposition group Citizens Alliance for Freedom (CxL), told me that the government knows the majority of the population wants to vote him out, which drives him to detain his opponents. Despite the tense climate, Gomez continues to demand electoral reforms that are fair, transparent, and competitive.
For youth activist Yunova Vargas, part of Nicaragua's Civic Alliance (ACN), the arrest of the opposition took her by surprise. She told me:
Ortega Murillo creyeron que con las detenciones de 13 lideres opositores, nos iban a dezmoralizar, que sepa que aqui hay un juventud compremetida y dispuesta al cambio de este pais.
If the arrest of these 13 oppositions leaders is a tactic for Ortega-Murillo to demoralize the Nicaraguan opposition, then rest assured that the Nicaraguan youth will continue to urge the change this country needs.
Saddened to see the country's hostile political climate, Nicaraguans from different parts of the world organized demonstrations to urge the release of political prisoners. Nicaraguan exile Karla Gago feels helpless watching from afar how Ortega-Murillo is persecuting her friends, she told me.
The international community, already familiar with Ortega's crimes against humanity, reacted swiftly. The United States demanded the immediate release of opposition members. The U.S. State Department official Julie Chung also referred to Ortega as a dictator and the Treasury Department implemented more sanctions on Ortega’s inner circle. Members of the European Parliament called for the suspension of an agreement overseeing around $380 million in exports each year if Nicaragua's government does not release the prisoners and allow for transparent elections.
On June 15, the Organization of American States condemned the crackdown and 500 academics urged the Ortega regime to end the repression, free the political prisoners, and allow for free and fair elections in November.
Despite the international pressure Ortega’s government received, the regime has not released any political prisoners yet. The night of long knives has not ended for Nicaraguans.

author: Anais Catalina Gonzalez


text:
Some Thai students reject uniforms and standing for national flag during online classes · Global Voices
Prachatai

A vocational college requires its students to wear uniforms, pray, and chant college slogans in an early morning Zoom meeting before online classes begin. Source: Bad Students.
Thai students have turned to social media to criticize recent nationalistic efforts where teachers have required students to pay respect to the national flag, pray on camera, and wear uniforms during online classes.
According to student accounts, some teachers have asked their classes to stand and honor the national flag at 8:00 am each day before online classes begin. One teacher asked students to send photographic proof of them standing for the anthem for the record.
“Tomorrow, students should stand up to pay respect to the national flag at 8:00 am in front of the television at home and also take a picture and send it to me,” said a teacher from a school in Ubon Ratchathani via Line.
This conversation, with the name of the teacher deleted, was published on June 8 on the Bad Students Facebook page, a group of student activists advocating education reform in Thailand. The post went viral online with 13k reactions, 23k shares, and 3.5k comments as criticism poured in.
“Thai teachers hit a new low every day,” said one comment.
“Don’t stop them. It should be supported across the country from kindergarten to university. We must be patriotic. Do it many times until the foreign media report it. Show them what Thai education is like. Don’t curse them. Cheer them on,” said one sarcastic comment.
In a separate event, on June 8 Bad Students reported that a vocational college required its students to wear uniforms, pray, and chant college slogans in early morning Zoom sessions before online classes began. Bad Students said that the students were allowed to wear non-uniform clothes after the morning ceremony was over.
As criticism mounted, Amporn Pinasa, secretary-general of Thailand's Office of the Basic Education Commission, responded on June 8 that the Ministry of Education did not order this, but it should be looked at from different points of view. The new practice was okay and innovative as long as the teachers and students both agreed to participate.
However, Pinasa added that if the students did not agree with the policies, it could be interpreted as inappropriate.
The national anthem has been a point of political contention for some time in Thailand. In the 2020 pro-democracy protests, many students were seen showing the three-finger salute during the national anthem — a display that sometimes resulted in them being suspended or stripped of their student status or right to continue their education.
In October 2020, a 45-year-old woman selling roti slapped a girl in a student uniform for not standing up during the national anthem. The girl was having her period so she could not stand up. A pro-government group donated at least 18,200 baht (577 US dollars) to the assailant when she faced legal action from the student’s family.
Education has become a topic of controversy since the new semester began on June 1. Amid the spread of Covid-19, Thai schools, often seen as highly conservative and authoritarian, had to make many adjustments when most classes went online, with learning materials delivered to students’ homes.
In late May 2021, Trat Governor Pinyo Prakobphon called for students to wear uniforms during online classes, believing it would improve discipline and academic performance. He said schools will decide whether the policy should be enforced. In protest, Facebook users created camera filters to mock the policy. With the filters, a student appears to be wearing a uniform, without actually having to wear one.

author: Prachatai


text:
Naomi Osaka’s French Open and Wimbledon withdrawals highlights athletes’ mental health · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

“Naomi Osaka” by Carine06 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Japanese-American tennis star Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion and the reigning champion at the US and Australian Open, announced her withdrawal from Wimbledon, an international tennis Grand Slam tournament, on June 17, 2021. In May Osaka withdrew from the 2021 French Open to focus on her mental health, sparking an international conversation around unreasonable expectations for athletes.
On May 27, Osaka posted a Tweet declining to hold any press conferences at the annual Roland Garros event and lamenting how athletes’ mental health is often disregarded.
❤ pic.twitter.com/EegFSKnoie
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 26, 2021
Osaka's sponsors largely supported her withdrawal from the tournament including Nike and Mastercard who applauded her for prioritizing her health. Forbes listed Osaka as the top earner among female athletes in 2020.
Her decision has highlighted the mental health impacts of high-pressure professional athletics.
Sports Illustrated documented American swimming star, Michael Phelps’ experience with alcohol and depression, his resulting swimming hiatus, and gradual return to swimming in a 2015 issue. After emerging as a 22-time medalist in 3 consecutive Olympic Games and major world swimming contests, he struggled with the pressure of being in the spotlight and maintaining his performances. In September 2014, he was pulled over for speeding 84mph in a 45mph zone and was subsequently arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to the Sports Illustrated article, he checked himself into a rehabilitation center to confront his alcohol addiction. After his time in rehab, he managed to make it to the 2016 Rio Olympics and ended his career with 28 Olympic medals.
Another athlete who has been unusually candid about their mental health is British Olympic runner Kelly Holmes —one of British’s most decorated athletes. In 2019 Holmes created a podcast called What Do I Do?: Mental Health and Me which focuses on her running career and experience coping with mental health issues and discusses a range of issues such as OCD, insomnia, addiction, grief, depression, and anxiety.
Holmes has suffered from a range of injuries and illnesses throughout her career which have sidelined her, including glandular fever, a ruptured calf, twisted ovaries, and a torn Achilles tendon, to name a few. In 2003, just before the World Athletics Championships in Paris, she was injured again. During an interview with the Guardian, she discussed her distress and the self-harming impulses that arose because of her injury.
“I thought: ‘Why me? I’m so committed, so dedicated, why the ***k me?’ I just looked in the mirror and hated myself. I wanted the floor to open up, I wanted to jump in that space, I wanted it to close and I didn’t want to go back out. I was in such a bad way. Then I started cutting myself.”
She says these experiences — the lows of injuries and highs of winning first place in middle distance competitions — all inspired her to create her podcast. She frequently invites celebrities and public figures onto the show in order to demonstrate that “we can go through life and have struggles and still actually achieve. If that is empowering for other people that would be really nice.”
The pandemic has increased awareness about mental health among sports personalities.
Former British professional boxer Ricky Hatton discussed the challenges of being a boxer and the mental health problems that plague them in and out of the ring.
In 2007, Hatton was primed for the fight of his life with the then world welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas. With his humble background in the Manchester backwater, his rise to fame was beyond his wildest dreams. However, his success came to a halt when he lost the fight in the 10th round, beginning a dark chapter where he would lose two more major fights and sink into depression, drugs, and isolation. In a 2020 interview with the BBC, Hatton said:
“The pressure I found was in the ring and fighting and being able to provide for my family. I didn't struggle with being famous, but I struggled with being beaten…The bad things kept coming one after the other and that's what got the ball rolling with the depression.”
With the start of the pandemic in 2020, Hatton took the opportunity to get back into shape both physically and mentally, and made it his mission to encourage others with mental health issues: “Having gone through it, I now see it as my job to help those suffering with mental health.”
He offered advice to those struggling during the pandemic:
“[The lockdown] helped me in so many ways. So if you're at home and suffering with your thoughts, just go out for a walk or a run. Or do a workout in the garden and let out some endorphins.”
In light of the pandemic, a number of sports organizations including the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the English Premier League (EPL) have adopted new campaigns and policies to support their players’ mental health.
In February 2020, the EPL launched the Heads Up campaign led by the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William. The campaign aimed to encourage conversations about mental health in football. Heads Up, is a partnership between Heads Together and The Football Association (FA) who wanted to harness football's popularity to generate a widespread conversation about mental health.
Across the pond, the NBA's first Play-off game coincided with the first week of Mental Health Awareness Month in May. The NBA launched a month-long campaign with the slogan, “Your mental wellness is as important as your physical health.” The campaign also featured various online materials including a podcast discussing mental health; a goal-setting portal for kids; and an Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry docu-series focussing on mental health.
As sporting events start resuming, athletes will face increased pressure around their performances. With initiatives such as those taken by the NBA and the EPL, it will be imperative that other athletic associations urgently address these issues to avoid cases such as Naomi Osaka’s. The NBA aptly captured this in its May Mental Awareness campaign:
“We’ve heard the lessons since childhood: Brush your teeth before bed. Stretch before running. Don’t eat right before swimming. And yes, it’s important to keep tabs on how your body is running physically. But it’s just as important to be aware of how you’re doing mentally.”
While the EPL and NBA have made broad albeit slow measures to combat mental health, concerns still plague the NFL's muted line on the effects of head injuries, concussions, post-play stress, and depression among its players. Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf criticized the NFL for ignoring the mental health concerns of former players.
The state of mental health has earned the spotlight and will continue to plague the sporting world as players come to terms with the state of isolation during the last 18 months. It will also call to action sports organizations that manage both individual and team sports to address mental health better and with more empathy.

author: Richard Wanjohi


text:
#NiUnaMenos six years on: triumphs and new demands of Argentina’s feminist movement · Global Voices
Lucía Leszinsky

Cover of the list of demands posted on the anniversary of Ni Una Menos on 3 June 2021, used with permission.
June 3 marked the sixth anniversary of the Ni Una Menos (“Not one [woman] less”) campaign, a feminist movement that began in Argentina and quickly spread to the rest of Latin America and beyond.
On June 3, 2015, more than 200 Argentine feminist organisations agreed on a new set of demands under the slogan “We want to be alive, free, and independent!” The focus has now grown to include women's economic and legal rights, with the movement now encompassing an LGBTI+ perspective.
Several initiatives have been launched since that first June day when women gathered in more than 80 Argentine cities to protest gender violence and femicide. What began as a national protest under the slogan Ni Una Menos grew rapidly and became both a regional and global movement.
The protest first began on social media, before spreading to the streets of Argentina to condemn the murder of Chiara Páez, a 14-year-old girl killed by her 16-year-old boyfriend, Manuel Mansilla. Since then, the Ni Una Menos movement has laid the foundations for several initiatives.
This has included the creation of a Registry of Femicides, set up by the Argentine Supreme Court just one day after that first protest. Other initiatives have included the Centre for the Registration, Systematisation, and Monitoring of Femicides, launched by the Argentine Secretariat for Human Rights. The Centre's objective is to keep a quantitative record of gender violence cases in order to gather statistics and analyses on the issue, which can be used when it comes to proposing solutions.
Screenshot from El Siglo of the march against femicide in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 3 June 2015.
In November 2015, the Lawyers Bureau for Victims of Gender Violence was established from a demand made by the Ni Una Menos movement. The Bureau is comprised of lawyers specialising in women's rights who offer free comprehensive legal representation to victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Although the figures in Argentina are still extremely alarming — one woman killed every 35 hours — the increased awareness of this violence and gender-based homicides has inspired other movements, which have resulted in further achievements. This has included the enactment of the Micaela Law in December 2018, which establishes mandatory training on gender issues and violence against women for all people working in the civil service. Furthermore, the government established the Ministry of Women in December 2019 with the aim of representing women and minority groups in public policies. Then, in December 2020, Argentine lawmakers voted to legalize abortion, a major demand of the Ni Una Menos movement.
#NiUnaMenos poster, photo courtesy of foto Estela Fares.
The movement's demands in 2021 now include a national law for employment quotas and for the inclusion of transgender people, a wage increase and subsidies for female workers in order to combat the country's health and economic crisis, and a gender and feminist-based legal reform that will bridge the gap between the national policies and the realities of women and LGBTI+ people.
In addition, the Ni Una Menos collective has called for posters to be displayed throughout the country, slogans to be shared on social networks or printed and hung on doors and windows, allowing for a day of activism without breaking the COVID-19 restrictions.
“We have been riding this feminist wave, this collective construction that has changed our lives, for six years,” the movement wrote on its Instagram page. “The feminist struggle brings us together, it finds us and it sustains us. We all want to be freer, more alive, and more independent.”
A post shared by Ni Una Menos (@_niunamenos_)

author: Lucía Leszinsky


text:
Operation Crab: Angola tackles political corruption · Global Voices
Giovana Fleck

Corruption in Angola – YouTube: Public Television of Angola, screenshot captured on June 9, 2021
As the latest measure in a national crackdown on corruption in Angola, authorities have ousted a number of high-ranking political figures including the head of the House of Security, Pedro Sebastião, and army Major Pedro Lussaty, who has also been detained following embezzlement accusations.
The officials were fired in May 2021 as part of “Operation Crab” an anti-corruption campaign led by Angola’s State Information and Security Services (SINSE) and Criminal Investigation Service (SIC). The focus of the reports is the army Major Pedro Lussaty, who until now was unknown to the public. He was linked to the Security House of the President of the Angolan Republic.
Much of these dismissals can be traced back to a series of reports by Public Television of Angola (TPA) in 2020, entitled “O Banquete”, which exposed alleged corruption among Angolan political figures.
Corruption in Angola – YouTube: Public Television of Angola, screenshot captured on June 9, 2021
Lussaty had previously worked at the House of Security of the President of the Republic as assistant to the general secretary. He was detained by the Angolan Attorney General's Office (PGR) after reports emerged that he was secretly harboring apartments, houses, and several suitcases containing millions of dollars and kwanzas (Angola currency). As described by TPA:
Só em kwanzas, o suposto milionário tinha no apartamento 800 milhões de kwanzas. O País têm 30 milhões de habitantes e, com 800 milhões de kwanzas dava para pagar quase um salário mínimo à todos os angolanos.
In kwanzas alone, the alleged millionaire had 800 million kwanzas in his apartment. The country has 30 million inhabitants and, with 800 million kwanzas, almost one minimum wage could be paid to all Angolans.
The millionaire revealed in the same article that he did not know the exact value of the money in his possession. “I just took [money],” he said. The TPA report claims that Lussaty had more money than Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo, who is worth more than US $500 million.
Angolans’ Reactions
Since the case was reported, Angolans went to social media to express their indignation. The country is experiencing a major crisis in food prices in urban centers, due to a rise in inflation, especially in the southern provinces of the country. This is the case in the provinces of Cunene and Huíla, as well as the country's capital Luanda, where there are families in extreme poverty.
This led journalist Nok Nogueira to appeal to Angolans to leave the case with the Court, in order to look at what is really happening in Angola, as he mentioned on his Facebook:
Deixem o caso Lussaty com a justiça. Desliguem ainda os televisores e perguntem-se como vai o País real, aquele que esta para além da encenação.
Leave the Lussaty case to justice. Also turn off the televisions and ask yourself how is the real Country, the one that is beyond staging.
Meanwhile, Internet user Tânia Campos wrote on her Facebook profile that if the case had happened in Brazil, it would have taken all Angolans to public protests, especially to demand the exit of the ruling party.
Um acontecimento como o caso Lussaty em rede pública, em outro País, por exemplo, no Brasil, estaríamos todos na rua a exigir a queda do MPLA.
An event like the Lussaty case on public networks, in another country, for example, in Brazil, we would all be on the street demanding the MPLA's downfall.
There were also those who saw in the case of Major Lussaty just one example of what happens in several other cases in Angola:
Essa história desse Major Lussaty está a deixar-me maldisposto, o mais ridículo é que o senhor foi investigado mas está bem pleno porque tem perfeita noção de que não lhe vão prender. Pior, ele não é o único que anda a desviar milhões no país. Angola merece melhor.
— PACIÊNCIA. (@oneligadenouz) June 2, 2021
This story about that Major Lussaty is making me sick, the most ridiculous thing is that he was investigated but is quite peaceful because you he is perfectly aware that he will not be arrested. Worse, he's not the only one who's been embezzling millions in the country. Angola deserves better.
- PATIENCE. (@oneligadenouz) June 2, 2021
The same thought is shared by other users who commented on the case:
Em Angola tem muitos corruptos e gatunos exclusivos, agora o atual caso da semana é o caranguejo do Major Lussaty.
Este caso está envolvido muitas patentes grande neste momento só estão a criticar o mesmo cadê os outros….?
— Carlos Estevão (@carlostestevao) June 3, 2021
In Angola there are many corrupt and exclusive thieves, now the current case of the week is Major Lussaty's crab.
This case is involved a lot of big patents right now are just criticizing the same where are the others….?
— Carlos Estevão (@carlostestevao) June 3, 2021
Corruption in Angola
The 2020 Corruption Perception Index, released by Transparency International (TI), reveals that Angola is perceived as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. The country was ranked 142nd, with 27 points, out of 100.
It should be noted that Angola's corruption problems are not a new issue. In fact, during the previous government, led by José Eduardo dos Santos for over 30 years, Angola was seen as a country where politicians close to power always illegally enriched themselves.
An example is the daughter of the then President, José Eduardo dos Santos, Isabel dos Santos, who was accused of corruption involving her father and other policymakers within the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola party (MPLA), the party that has governed the country since independence.
Additioanlly, a series of reports called the ‘Luanda Leaks‘, published in 2020 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ), revealed that several public companies in Angola were used for individual benefits during two decades of former President dos Santos’ management.
Following the reports and the arrest of Lussaty by “Operation Crab”, the current President of the Republic, João Lourenço, exonerated the head of the House of Security, Pedro Sebastião, for allegedly being involved in the scandal.
Some aren't certain that João Lourenço will be different from the previous President considering he occupied the position of Vice President when many cases of corruption took place in the country.
Angolans themselves do not believe that corruption will end, as reported in 2020 by the Deutsche Welle (DW).
“The fight against corruption and impunity still has no impact on the lives of residents of poorer areas, who are asking for concrete solutions to chronic problems, analyzed DW, after talking to Luanda residents.”

author: Giovana Fleck


text:
Portugal enters Euro football tournament with support from Angolan and Brazilian artists · Global Voices
Global Voices Lusofonia

Video ‘Vamos com Tudo’ – YouTube Portuguese Football Federation – screenshot.
Since its June 11 kickoff, Europe has been home to one of the most important international football competitions after the Club World Cup — the Euro.
Postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's Euro will run until July 11 in different cities across Europe. This tournament has always served as a powerful tool to unite nations across the world — and this year is no different as it brings together art, activism, and athletics through it's multi-national competition.
Portugal returns to the tournament as defending champions, hoping to repeat their success of 2016, when they won against France.
To mark the return of the competition, Portuguese artist David Carreira recorded a song titled ‘Vamos Com Tudo’ (Let's Give It Our All), featuring artists from Portugal, Brazil and Angola. The video already has nearly three million views on YouTube.
In the song, Carreira — alongside Ludmilla and Giulia Be (Brazil) and Preto Show (Angola) — voiced his support for Portugal to win the Euro championship this year.
The song highlights the deep connection between the multitude of Portuguese-speaking countries and the anticipated celebration if Portugal wins:
Deixa o mundo saber que agora somos só um…
Que não existe impossível debaixo desse céu azul…
Tá no sangue, na língua, na pele, no coração…
Let the world know that now we are only one…
That impossible doesn't exist under this blue sky…
It's in the blood, on the tongue, in the skin, in the heart…
Show used his Instagram account to show how proud he felt to be the only Portuguese-speaking African artist invited to take part in the song:
Une publication partagée par Rock star ? ?? (@preto__show)
This video has not appeared by chance, as Portugese football is widely followed in many Portuguese-speaking African countries.
An example is the Lisbon club Sporting victory at the 2021 national championship, which was enthusiastically celebrated by supporters in Maputo (Mozambique).
In return, Sporting organized a solidarity campaign in support of those displaced by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique.
Hoje entramos em campo com ‘???? ???????’ inscrito nas costas das camisolas dos jogadores em vez dos seus nomes.
O objectivo é alertar e sensibilizar todos para os graves acontecimentos que têm afectado essa região de Moçambique. ? #DiaDeSporting pic.twitter.com/00ogjvk3Am
— Sporting Clube de Portugal ? (@Sporting_CP) May 15, 2021
Today we went on the pitch with ‘???? ???????’ written on the back of the players’ shirts instead of their names.
The goal is to alert and raise awareness of the grave events that have been affecting this region of Mozambique.
The Lusophone artists’ song represents a strengthening of the relationship between Angola, Brazil and Portugal — clearly through culture, but also through sport. Between 2001 and 2008, the Brazilian coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, trained the Portuguese club, was runner-up in Euro 2004, and fourth in the 2006 World Cup.
Likewise, it is notable thatPortuguese coaches have occupied prominent places in Brazilian football in recent years, with the Lisbon native Jorge Jesus as the prime example. In 2019, Jesus won not only the Libertadores Cup, but also the Brazilian Championship as Flamengo's coach.
A Portugese victory in the Euro could mean a win for these Portuguese-speaking countries — a sign of unity among nations. As the artists sing in the song: “Let's go together in one song”.
In total, it's estimated that there are more than 280 million Portuguese speakers worldwide. The group of Portuguese-speaking countries is called the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), which includes Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe.

author: Global Voices Lusofonia


text:
To save its economy, can Tunisia reform its oversized public sector? · Global Voices
Saoussen Ben Cheikh

Government buildings in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Photo by Amy Keus on Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Recruitment of public servants has increased massively in Tunisia since the 2011 revolution. Now the economic downturn is pushing the country towards reform in an effort to cut public expenditure.
Tunisia’s economy was already in bad shape, after decades of low wages and high unemployment, which were the root causes of the “Jasmine Revolution.” The COVID-19 pandemic has made things worse, increasing the lack of jobs and deepening the crisis. Mired in debt, the Tunisian government is now turning to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout of 4 billion United States dollars. According to the prime minister, Hichem Mechichi, this is the “last opportunity” to save the country’s economy, but it is conditional on Tunisia reforming its economy and reducing its public sector wage bill and subsidies.
Tunisia is regularly acclaimed by Western governments as being the Arab Spring success story, but the state of its finances is threatening the political transition to democracy. The country has accumulated a chronic deficit estimated at 11.5 per cent of gross domestic product and public debt at 90 per cent of GDP. The payment of public salaries represents over half of state spending and is among one of the highest in the world, in comparison with the size of the Tunisian economy, according to an IMF study.
The number of public servants has grown exponentially, almost doubling since the revolution. One after the other, successive governments have used public jobs to appease public discontent. “Work, freedom and dignity” have been unabating key demands of Tunisian youth frustrated by widespread corruption and lack of opportunities. With the right to work with dignity and a fair wage enshrined in the constitution, governments have been under pressure to create jobs. In the absence of a robust economic plan and a welfare state, people have been recruited in public administrations not based on a need but in response to protests for jobs and social justice. Kamel Ayadi, former minister of the public sector, stated that governments hired people to buy “social peace.” Street protests across the country by unemployed youth demanding their “rights for development and work” in Kassrine, Tataouine and other towns resulted in promises of public employment. This culminated in 2020, when following months of protests by Tunisian graduates, the parliament adopted a bill guaranteeing all those who had been unemployed for at least a decade to be recruited by the public sector—though it is not clear how and whether these measures will be implemented.
As well as responding to the demand for jobs, hiring in the public sector was also used for other partisan political motivations. Many have been accused—in particular, the Islamist party Ennahda—of having massively recruited among their partisans and loyalists to ensure their consolidation of power. Under the previous regime of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, the Islamists were the main opposition and were persecuted and banned from power. After decades of oppression, public tenure was seen by the new post-revolution leadership as a fair reparation and compensation for their past exclusion. The biggest surge in public hiring took place during the rule of the “Troika” alliance between 2011 and 2014, led by Ennahda. According to the Tunisian Union of Public Service and Administration Neutrality (UTSPNA), “Ninety per cent of appointments in the public sector under the Troika were made on the basis of partisan, regional or family orientations.” Ambassadors and consuls, governors, magistrates and managers in strategic areas such as the media, security and IT were recruited among the party supporters, reports said. A controversial amnesty law was also adopted in 2012 granting public sector jobs to over 7,000 people who were wounded in the revolution, as compensation and recognition of their sacrifice.
In an interview with me Mohamed*, a young engineer said, “Successive politicians have contributed to deepening corruption. They have turned the administration into a dysfunctional mammoth uncapable of fulfilling its primary functions. These populist short-sided measures are a recipe for disaster.”
Under pressure from the powerful General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT), the uncontrolled increase in the number of public servants has been coupled with an increase in salaries. According to a study by the National Institute of statistic (INS), salaries rose by 23.18 per cent between 2011 and 2015, with the highest increase being under the Troika in 2013. This combination has led to a sharp rise of the public wage bill in an already strapped state budget. The increase in staff and salaries, however, hasn’t resulted in better performance, quite the opposite. Most public services—education, health, security etc.—have deteriorated. The private sector is filling the gap with burgeoning private schools and hospitals at an unaffordable price for most Tunisians.
“These past 10 post-revolution years, romanticised by the West, have solidified for us as more misery and living with the failing of state’s institutions. We used to have great public services. But now everyday there is a new thing breaking. Basic services such as water is now of too poor quality to drink. We buy bottled water. Transports are crowded and dangerous. Schools or hospitals became so bad that we must turn to the private sector. But who can afford it?”, Salwa* a retired public servant told me bitterly.
What is most problematic is not the size as much as it is the performance of the administration. Not based on needs, skills and merit, productivity and efficiency have fallen. In 2015, a study by the Tunisian Anti-Corruption Association found that absenteeism in the public sector was alarmingly high and that civil servants effectively worked for an average of only eight minutes per day. Tunisians have lost trust in public institutions. A national consultation conducted by the National Body Against Corruption (Instance Nationale de Lutte Contre la Corruption) in 2020 showed that 87.2 per cent of Tunisians believe corruption had seriously increased and 28.5 per cent reported having experienced at least one situation of corruption in 2020.
Most of the political class and citizens agree that the public sector is unsustainable and needs to be reformed urgently. There have been numerous attempts at reform but not with any real breakthrough. As in other sectors, Tunisia has been slow to take measures, postponing or taking one step forward and two steps back for the benefit of the few, and hampering change at the expense of the majority. International donors have contributed to this economic downfall resulting today in Tunisia urgently seeking a rescue loan from the IMF. In an unstable region and in a country on the doorstep of Europe, donors priorities have been to consolidate the democratic transition even at the price of keeping afloat a dysfunctional failing economic system. It has had a pervasive effect, creating a non-virtuous cycle of funding not commensurate with economic progress which in the long term undermines, rather than supports, the democratic transition.
*Names changed by request

author: Saoussen Ben Cheikh


text:
An Emirati human rights defender’s life has ended abruptly, but her legacy remains · Global Voices
Gulf Center for Human Rights

Emirati Human Rights Defender Alaa Al-Siddiq. Used with permission.
This post was written by Khalid Ibrahim, executive director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), an independent, nonprofit organisation that promotes freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in the MENA region.
Emirati human rights defender Alaa Al-Siddiq, 33, executive director of London-based ALQST for Human Rights and Senior Researcher at Wejha Center for Studies, died in a car crash on June 19, sending a wave of shock and grief among many across the Arab world, as well as calls for the United Kingdom to probe her sudden death. In memory of her massive contributions, we revisited chapters of her virtual diary to illustrate her inspiring bravery and unwavering belief in the ethics of humanity and the value of freedom.
On 10 June 2010, at only 22 years of age, Alaa created the hashtag #inaljnah (#in heaven) to express her main concerns, outlining in a series of moving tweets, how she imagined heaven, a place where her mother would not cry and where the civil and human rights of citizens would be respected.
Screenshot of series of tweets Alaa published in 2010 with hashtag #InHeavens
“In heaven my mother will not cry
In heaven I will say what I want
In heaven I will see the prisoners of Tazmamart [a secret prison in Morocco]
In heaven there will be a ceremony honouring all prisoners of opinion and politics
In heaven, women will have their full rights”
She tweeted further using the same hashtag to outline philosophical questions and wishes inspired by her deep respect for freedom of expression, freedom for her country, and prosperity and peace for the countries of the region.
On December 10, 2012, in a post entitled “Start with what is right and not with what is acceptable” on her WordPress site, Alaa quoted a line from “Azazeel,” a 2008 novel by the Egyptian writer Youssef Zeidan: “Why do I fear death? I should be more afraid of life, it is the most painful.”
With her father imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and her family settling in Qatar after having their Emirati nationalities revoked, Alaa found herself in exile in London, separated from all those she loved for over nine years. Her sister Asmaa’s husband, Omran Ali Al-Radwan Al-Harthy, is also a prisoner of conscience who remains behind bars despite having completed his seven-year prison sentence almost two years ago, on 16 July 2019.
هذه قصة واحد من شباب #الإمارات الموهوبين، لكن سلطات بلاده قررت دفن مواهبه في واحد من أسوأ سجون العالم، فقط لأنه طالب بحقه في حرية التعبير والرأي.
هذه قصة #عمران_الرضوان#الحرية_لمعتقلي_الرأي pic.twitter.com/mX2EjjICsp
— مركز مناصرة معتقلي الإمارات (@EDAC_Rights) May 31, 2021
This is the story of one of Emirate's talented youth. His country's authorities decided to bury his skills in one of the world's worst prisons, only because he demanded his rights for freedom of expression. This is the story of Imran Al-Radwan.
In March 2021, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has been asked to intervene with the UAE authorities in order to ask for his immediate release and like most of the arrests made of prisoners of conscience in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), were followed by prison sentences handed down in mock courts on false charges.
On 30 April 2020, Alaa expressed her longing for her childhood homeland, UAE's city of Sharjah.
مهما يقولون مهما صار مهما تم، انتي البدايات وآخر ساحل ومينا . . #الشارقة pic.twitter.com/fsUvgfMs1Z
— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) April 30, 2020
No matter what they say, no matter what happens, no matter what is done, you remain the beginnings, the final coast and port.
On August 31, 2020, she tweeted about her father:
آخر مرة رأيت فيها والدي ⬅ ٢٠١٢
آخر مرة سمعت صوته⬅ ٢٠١٣
آخر مرة رآه وسمعه أهلي ⬅ ٢٠١٦
انقطعت أخباره عنا ⬅ ٢٠١٨#الاخفاء_القسري_جريمة #محمد_عبدالرزاق_الصديق#افرجوا_عن_معتقلي_الامارات pic.twitter.com/YZsYaoxTRf
— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) August 31, 2020
The last time I saw my father was 2012
The last time I heard his voice was 2013
The last time my family saw him and heard him was 2016
He was cut off from us in 2018. #Arbitrary_detention_is_a_Crime #Release_UAE_Prisoners
She echoed these thoughts in a BBC interview earlier this year, which she tweeted about on February 14, 2021, drawing over 2200 reactions.
حكيت هنا جزء من قصتي
الوجه الآخر لنظام #الإمارات، قصة حرية التعبير وقمعها، قصة #معتقلي_الإمارات، التي يجب أن يسمعها العالم، والدي #محمد_عبدالرزاق_الصديق ورفاقه، أحمد منصور @Ahmed_Mansoor
ناصر بن غيث @N_BinGhaith
مع تقارير @hrw_ar
و @amnestygulf
.#أفرجوا_عن_معتقلي_الإمارات https://t.co/3Z8ZhCwGGD
— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) February 14, 2021
I shared here a part of my story. The other face of the Emirati regime, the story of freedom of expression and its oppression, the story of Emirati prisoners of conscience which the world must hear about. My father, Mohammed Abdul Ruzzaq Al-Siddiq and his mates, Ahmed Mansour, Nasser BinGhaith, with reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty.
Her face drawn with pain and eyes filled with tears, Alaa began the interview with the words:  “My father, I haven't heard his voice since 2013.”
UAE prisoner of conscience Mohammed Abdul Ruzzaq Al-Siddiq. Image from Alaa's Twitter feed.
A year earlier, on February 14, 2020, Alaa tweeted a letter she had written to her father and which she wrote “will not—as usual— reach my father.”
رسائلي التي -كعادتها- لن تصل لأبي. #معتقلي_الإمارات pic.twitter.com/Hfpf6zfTuX
— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) February 14, 2020
She ended the heart-wrenching letter saying: “My father left the house seven years ago and has not yet returned. They named him a detainee and put him in prison, and I named him a falcon and settled him in my heart.”
Days before her eternal departure, Alaa posted another tweet with her father's picture and a few words:
شكرًا لمن أرسل لي الصورة واضحة ? #محمد_عبدالرزاق_الصديق pic.twitter.com/CxyFaBQ1oA
— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) June 7, 2021
I will not forget you
Mohammed, who was arrested in 2012 along with what became known as the “UAE94” group of prisoners, was sentenced in 2013 to 10 years in prison in a trial which was described as flawed, with him being tortured and facing threats of being killed. The court failed to take action for his torture.
Alaa began by defending her own father and ended up defending everyone's rights.
On June 13, her last tweet was a verse of the Quran:
وأنّ “سعيه” سوف يُرى
— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) June 13, 2021
And that his “striving shall soon be seen
The tweet reflects how her humanity and commitment to human rights and those suffering injustice, all of which stem from her humility and her strong sense of responsibility.
On 19 June 2021, Alaa was killed tragically in a road accident in Oxfordshire, UK.
Those who knew her are deeply saddened at the loss of this unique human being, a courageous human rights defender, and an Emirati citizen fortified with a high degree of knowledge who spoke the words of truth and addressed the injustices that authorities in Abu Dhabi have imposed on law-abiding citizens in her country and neighbouring countries.
To many, Alaa presented a version of Islam that is accurate and is respectful of humans. She had declared her commitment to crucial issues in the Middle East and North Africa region, foremost among them the Palestinian cause, along with her readiness to help those in need across the globe.
In a region where human rights violations have been domestically normalised and ignored by the rest of the world, Alaa's kindness, bravery and nobility was much needed, and will be severely missed.

author: Gulf Center for Human Rights