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A Guide to Blogging about Life with HIV/AIDS · Global Voices
Rezwan

In recognition of the hundreds of HIV-positive bloggers chronicling their lives worldwide, a group of online activists affiliated with the project Rising Voices have created a new guide to blogging about HIV/AIDS. The recently launched “Blogging Positively” guide is a collection of case studies, interviews, and best practices.
Rising Voices aims to help marginalized communities in different parts of the world make better use of citizen media to make their voices heard globally. It is an outreach project of the international blogging community Global Voices.
Rising Voices has provided micro-grant funding to around 20 citizen media projects over the past two years. In the process, the project has coalesced a large group of people worldwide who use internet and blogging for development and education.
David Sasaki, the director of Rising Voices offers some background to the making of the guide:
The Blogging Positively project began two years ago when Kenyan blogger Serina Kalande, volunteered to lead a working group to discuss how citizen media can best be implemented in the field of HIV/AIDS. [..]
Three online chats brought together people from all over the world, and from a wide range of fields. In addition to the creation of this guide, the participants of the chats collaborated on the creation of a map-based directory of HIV-positive bloggers who bravely defy stigma and discrimination to communicate their situation to the rest of the world.
So why do we need this guide? On his personal blog El Oso, David Sasaki writes:
At least in my peer group, most of us have foolishly done something in our lifetime which allowed for the transmission of HIV. The fact that we either are or are not HIV-positive is often times a matter of chance and circumstance. Still, stigma and discrimination against those who are HIV-positive is rampant and worldwide. It is a snowball effect: discrimination leads to silence and silence contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Silence also creates misunderstanding and misinformation about what it is really like to live with HIV.
Some brave bloggers are defying the stigma to fight against the silence. They are living and blogging openly about their HIV status, and in doing so they are providing support and information for others.
Among the bloggers who have chimed in to support getting more people to join the online conversation about HIV/AIDS, Michael A. Jones writes at Gay Rights on Change.org in the United States:
Blogging Positively is a role model. It's a unique capacity building resource that draws together blogs, podcasts, and online photo and video sites to create new powerful opportunities for activists aiming to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS, and end the social stigma all too often associated with the disease.
An interview with the author of Blogging Positively
The Blogging Positively guide was authored by Janet Feldman of the Kenya AIDS Intervention Prevention Project Group (KAIPPG) and ActAlive, which encourages the use of art and media to address HIV/AIDS and other human-development challenges. We have talked with Janet to learn more about the goal and the journey of the project:
Janet Feldman: Rising Voices became interested in an HIV/AIDS-focused initiative because so many organizations applying for grants (through the Rising Voices micro-grants program) have a health-related focus, in particular around HIV/AIDS. In 2008, some members of Rising Voices formed a dedicated email mailing list to discuss how citizen-media tools can be used to address issues related to this pandemic. As a Rising Voices member, I noticed this activity and became intrigued in the topic myself, so joined the discussion group.
A series of four interactive chats were also held on the subject, drawing a global audience from diverse fields and affiliations. I took part in three of them, and wrote summaries for each one, as well as reading the transcript of the chat I did not attend. I offered to put together the Guide in February of this year, based in large part on the information and enthusiasm generated by the chats.
Janet Feldman: The chats were held over the course of a year (April and December 2008, February and March 2009), and each chat summary (I did three) took a couple days to produce. I shared the summaries with chat participants and others, asking for their feedback. I did research for our mapping project; outreach and networking to HIV-positive bloggers and other individuals, as well as nonprofit organizations and other parties who I thought might be interested in the project; and also looked at online blogging resources. All feedback and information I collected was synthesized into the Guide.
Janet Feldman: Yes, my own background and work experiences have helped immensely, since the activities of KAIPPG and ActALIVE are enhanced by use of information and communication tools. I co-authored KAIPPG's first ICT-related grant proposal, on the subject of women, agriculture, and technology. I had to research what would be feasible and useful (from a technological standpoint) in a rural African setting–with minimal modern infrastructure–and for a population neither fully literate nor accorded equal status with men, which often limits access to opportunities and education.
This experience gave me insights into the benefits and challenges of different forms of knowledge-transferal and communication. Since all KAIPPG members and clients are either affected or infected by HIV/AIDS, this also became an opportunity to address the pandemic in a new way, too.
I have had related personal experiences as well:  I became acquainted with HIV/AIDS in the 1980's — when the disease was first discovered and named — because friends at first were sick and dying, then living longer-term, when medications became more available. Many millions are still in both situations, and I worked on this Guide with them in mind.
Finally, I have lived for twenty years with a weakened immune system, which has significantly affected my life, and has given me some idea of the health challenges encountered by others.
Janet Feldman: It is crucial to hear from those who are HIV-positive, and to ensure that their voices are heeded, supported, and amplified. Even in the context of related nonprofit work, people living with HIV/AIDS  are sometimes not consulted or brought into activities designed with them in mind. People living with and affected by HIV/AIDS should be central players in program creation and implementation, decision-making, and policy formulation related to addressing the pandemic. Many changes thus need to be made, and blogging can help to do that, because it is a powerful medium both for self-expression and for influencing others. A popular slogan says it all:  “nothing about us, without us!.”
Janet Feldman: Yes, I would like to share two experiences:
One, I have been reading a number of HIV/AIDS-related blogs this year, and discovering how empowering and inspiring this form of storytelling and communication can be, both in the words of the bloggers themselves, and in the reactions of their audience members, whose commentary can be equally moving and eloquent. This indicates to me how inspiring and even life-changing blogging can be, both for the person blogging and for those who encounter the blog and the blogger.
The second experience involves one of the bloggers profiled in the Guide, who needs to remain anonymous in this commentary, because he is planning a visit to his own country soon, and “visibility” might jeopardize his work there. A recent law places a ban on informal meetings of HIV-positive persons, requiring instead that groups first register with the government. The government has viewed such unregistered gatherings as “political”. The irony is that political activism may not have been the original intent of those meetings, but it has become more a goal since passage of the law. Anger and resistance have been voiced online, and there is no doubt that support for policy changes will be enhanced by the blogging and other virtual linkages that people and groups are now making.
The Guide covers some valuable information on this subject–from blogging anonymously to technological tools that can help bloggers circumvent censorship and controls of various kinds–so hopefully it will help in terms of empowering people to advocate for their own rights and human rights generally, as well as better laws and policies.
Janet Feldman: This Guide is geared towards the novice, someone thinking about blogging or just starting to blog, though experienced bloggers will hopefully find it useful, too. There are technical tips; excerpts from blogs written by people who are HIV-positive; and case studies about groups of individuals and organizations who use blogging to address HIV/AIDS. There are answers to commonly-asked questions; suggestions about how to get started, and why to blog at all; a section on “humor”, by a veteran blogger; and a discussion of tools other than blogging to get your message across, including how these tools can work in synergy with blogging.
The Guide also addresses legal issues and blogger responsibility; how to minimize fear of the unknown when blogging for the first time, as well as instill a sense of “ownership” and leadership related to the blogging process and its outcomes; and mentoring (for teachers and facilitators). The map we are developing–profiling HIV-positive bloggers, and those who use blogging to address HIV/AIDS–should be very encouraging and inspiring to new bloggers. The url where that can be found is included in the Guide, as is subscription information to the rv- positively forum, where discussions about the Guide will be taking place.
One important note: there are many individuals who blog about the pandemic, without themselves being HIV-positive, and it is important to include them in this work, both in thought and deed.
Janet Feldman: We have plans to post news about the Guide to numerous health, development, and ICT related e-forums, and on websites and blogs; to alert individuals, groups, and organizations around the world working on issues related to HIV/AIDS; to do outreach to HIV-positive individuals and groups; to inform the media; and to translate the Guide into different languages.
Other strategies and ideas might include: devising ways to include and involve people living in areas of infrequent Internet accessibility; developing partnerships with networks, nonprofits, blogging platforms, and others; organizing an international corps of local bloggers, nonprofits, and others, who will use the Guide in their work; developing advocacy campaigns on different themes outlined in the Guide, and choosing a day where bloggers around the world might all blog on one theme; “crisis blogging” for global hot-spots, using the Guide as a resource.
We might also consider helping to foster training and mentoring programs; providing advice (a “help desk”) to those implementing the Guide at the grassroots; collecting and presenting stories of people affected by HIV/AIDS, especially those who are or were (when living) bloggers; facilitating formal (activist) and informal (support and friendships) blogger links; meeting face-to-face with other project bloggers when possible; setting up a blog for those connected to the project, so we can share and discuss issues related to the Guide in an ongoing way.
Download the ‘Blogging Positively Guide’ from Rising Voices.


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Azerbaijan: Detained video bloggers go on trial · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Emin Milli arriving at court earlier today in handcuffs, Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan © RFE/RL
Despite significant international outcry from leading human rights and freedom of expression advocates, detained video bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli today went on trial in Baku. Now facing an additional charge of assault, the two youth activists face up to 5 years in prison if convicted.
Hajizade and Milli were attacked in downtown Baku at the beginning of July, but when the two activists reported the incident to the police they were instead arrested and charged with attacking their assailants.
The arrests came soon after Hajizade's OL! youth movement and Milli's AN Network posted a video mocking the authorities for importing donkeys and introducing legislation intended to restrict the activities of civil society in the oil-rich country.
But, if the Azerbaijani government hoped that the action against the two activists would silence their voices, it instead appears to have achieved the opposite.
No strangers to the use of new media, Hajizade and Milli's supporters used Twitter to send out updates, albeit from outside the courtroom. Previous pre-trial sessions had been held behind closed doors.
Adnan Hajizade leaving court earlier today in handcuffs, Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan © RFE/RL
Writing on Facebook, Hajizade's girlfriend reacted to today's trial by saying it felt as though her “heart will stop.” Nevertheless, despite concerns over Hajizade and Milli's fate, both seemed confident and in good spirits as they were escorted from the courtroom to the sound of defiant chants from those waiting outside.
Another supporter of the two detained activists summarized the trial, adjourned until 16 September, on the popular social networking site.
I was just re-listening to the first half of the info the reporter from Azadliq radiosu (Radio Freedom) was giving during the proceedings. As far as I understood: He said that first there was a plea to have a closed hearing on the grounds that Adnan and Emin are politically involved and therefore the trial is a matter of social security. Emin then interjected that he is NOT involved in politics; said that the “victims'” lawyer was misinforming the judge – he is not a member of any political party or organization. He said that such accusations are only given in authoritarian regimes. The plea was rejected. Also the defense asked that Adnan and Emin's pre-trial detention be suspended on the condition that they do not leave Baku (also rejected).
The AN Network later posted a series of video reports on YouTube. Despite concerns, friends of the two men appear to be in good spirits, perhaps buoyed by support from individuals and organizations worldwide.
Elsewhere, following a similar action in Washington D.C., another protest was held in their support outside the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in London.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bahamas: Skewed Priorities  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Customs Officers threaten to demonstrate over attempts to deal with alleged corruption within their ranks, Rick Lowe at Weblog Bahamas says: “We have so far to go.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bahamas, Turks & Caicos: Federation?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

News breaks that the Bahamian Prime Minister may be considering forming a federation between the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, prompting blogger Sidney Sweeting to comment: “Please note that our PM is responding to a suggestion made by the ex-Premier of Turks and Caicos who was forced to resign because of allegations of corruption, resulting in Britain suspending their constitution for two years.”


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Bulgaria: Racism; Busmantsi Detention Center · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petya of How to Marry a Bulgarian writes about racism in Bulgaria and follows up with a post on the Busmantsi detention center for “illegal immigrants or people whose application for refugee status was rejected and are waiting to be deported” – described by some as “the Bulgarian Guantanamo.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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China and Japan: Chinese people’s reaction to the Japanese general election · Global Voices
Winglok Hung

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won the August 30th general election by landslide victory, bringing an end to more than 50 years of almost continuous rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 1955.  The victory of  Yukio Hatoyama-led DPJ has been perceived as the beginning of a new era of Japanese politics. Apart from its implications on the Sino-Japanese dynamic, it would be interesting to see how Chinese people reacted to the political change in their neighbor country.
NeiC from Tianya forum compared the fate of LDP with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP):
自民党被赶下台单独成栏的有三
1.“铁饭碗”不复存在
2.老龄化严重
3.住房问题尖锐
50年，不长不短的时间，我党也正好成立60周年。不得不让人不做比较~
50 years of continuous rule is about time for change, our party is now in its 60 anniversary. People are temped to draw direct comparison between the two.
Vitamin214 reposted a commentary from ifeng.comon the result of the Japan election in Tianya forum. The article argues that the Japan election manifests the advancement of a liberal democratic polity in reforming itself. However, in the comment section, many disagreed. For example, guolurens said
自我纠正能力 ？？？
日本经济已经低迷了快20年了，日本也不是觉得民主党怎么样，只是觉得自民党实在没有办法忍受了，就算是民主党上台，日本的问题还是没有办法解决
The Japanese economy has already been in recession for nealy 20 years. Japanese do not have much confidence in DJP, they just simply they cannot withstand the poor LDP leadership. Nevertheless, even the Democratic Party is in office, Japan’s problems remain unsolved.
Kabaico also argued,
有区别吗，不过是美国肯尼迪家族和布什家族的翻版而已，这个家族不行就换那个家族，弄来弄去都是那帮大名家族在把持政权，所谓的更换政党也只是两个政党之间重新分配权力吧。
Guolurens added,
就好比是在中国电信，中国联通之间选，没有本质的差别
In Qiangguo Luntan, one Chinese netizen believed that,
日本的总统一年一换, 再好的民主制度都是不正常的,也是注定要爆发内乱的.哈哈

author: Winglok Hung


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China: Rights or rumors? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Siweilouzi translated Beijing University professor's opinion piece: the Public's Right to Question Shouldn't Be
Misconstrued as Spreading Rumors.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Cuba, U.S.A.: Obama’s Order  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Writing for Havana Times, Circles Robinson reports that U.S. President Obama has finally signed the order allowing Cuban-Americans to travel to Cuba and send money more easily to family members – but adds: “Nonetheless, the Obama administration maintains the nearly 50-year economic blockade on Cuba that has greatly hurt the island’s economy.”


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France: Secularity, Required for Democracy and Human Rights · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

The French concept of the secular seems so distinctive that even the English-language Wikipedia's entry on the issue uses the French term, laïcité, worded in French, to describe it.
Sticking to the U.S. and French blogospheres, is it possible to somehow bridge the gap of comprehension laïcité has generated between both sides of the Atlantic Ocean?
Arthur Goldhammer, drawing a parallel between the burqa and the catholic nuns’ cloth, warns against being a “zealot of laïcité” :
(…) Not everyone in the ambient society accepts these tenets of faith, but the symbol embodying them is nevertheless not banned from the streets. It is banned from the schools. Traditionally, laïcité meant exactly this kind of drawing of boundaries.
Some French bloggers, concerned by the attacks, not only religious but also political, that they feel are threatening laïcité in France, endeavored to explain the notion, and to make clear that it is a requirement for democracy and human rights.
In a may, 2009 post hosted by lemonde.fr website, Bartolomeo of librepropos [Fr] had this definition :
laïcité: La Laïcité combat tous les cléricalismes c’est à dire toute intrusion du fait religieux, de la croyance dans les institutions publiques de la République.
The historical background
The concept of laïcité first appeared with the French Revolution, and was institutionalized with the “1905 law” [of Separation of the Church and the State]. The clash with the Catholic Church finally died down, each side finding at long last its interest in the new relationship.
Dans ce concept de laïcité ouverte des années 1990, ce droit à la différence se transforma petit à petit en “une différence de droits” . L’islam absent de ce débat apparaît alors à travers l’affaire du foulard de Creil en 1989. […]
A foundation of the Republic
[La laïcité est inscrite à l'article 1 de la Constitution] “La France est une République indivisible, laïque, démocratique et sociale. Elle assure l’égalité devant la loi de tous les citoyens sans distinction d’origine, de race ou de religion. Elle respecte toutes les croyances. […]”
But it originates with the Enlightenment and the Aug. 26, 1789 Declaration of the Right of Man and of the Citizen.
Content of laïcité, in 4 points
Vivre ensemble: […] A chacun de vivre librement ses options spirituelles ou convictions philosophiques. – A tous de disposer d’un espace commun, public, assurant liberté et égalité. – mais aussi créer un monde commun aux hommes, tout en leur permettant de garder librement leurs différences.
selon 3 principes: Liberté de Conscience – Égalité des Options Spirituelles Universalité de la Loi Commune.
[par le moyen juridique de] la séparation des Églises et de l’État par la loi de 1905 [en distinguant] une Sphère Privée et une Sphère Publique
L'Ecole Laïque [en est l'outil basique pédagogique].
[by legal means of] the Separation of the State and the Church with the 1905 law, [which distinguishes] a private sphere and a public sphere
Secular School [is its basic educational tool]
Franco-Ivorian Delugio, on his blog “Une vingtaine”! et quelques, explains the difference between American secularity and French laïcité :
Dans sa structure moderne, la racine immédiate de la démocratie peut se trouver dans le protestantisme américain, s’organisant pour un « vivre ensemble » au-delà de la pluralité des Églises — pour une gestion partagée de la cité commune.
Cela ne se fera pas sans heurts : ça commencera par la guerre d’indépendance pour aboutir au XXe siècle — mais dès le départ, pour les indépendantistes, la dimension de la séparation des Églises et de l’État est un acquis non négociable.
Lorsque la France révolutionnaire reprendra ce modèle américain, elle se heurtera à une Église, l’Église catholique, prétendant, contrairement aux Églises protestantes américaines, à l’unicité.
C’est ce choc qui caractérise la « laïcité à la française » : laïcité de type américain dans un contexte de combat contre une Église revendiquant le pouvoir d’une façon ou d’une autre.
He then assesses the chances and obstacles, for Islam, on this same road to laïcité, which he views as desirable and historically necessary, and he thinks that France has a specific part to play in the process :
La France est en position, de par son histoire, de mener ce combat qu’elle a déjà mené en métropole face au catholicisme.
Mais le combat sera rendu plus difficile encore par ce que dans son empire colonial, la France a fait exactement l’inverse de ce qu’elle a proclamé et de ce qu’elle a fait en métropole : elle a, à l'instar des autres puissances coloniales, consacré dans l’empire colonial des lois particulières, y compris la charia, comme vis-à-vis de la République.
And what if, beyond all these big principles the French love to ride as their hobby-horse, they drew inspiration, as suggested by MRT, from their Belgian neighbors’ pragmatism, addressing the burqa issue with a mere law on security :
En Belgique et au Luxembourg, c’est tout simple : pas de ségrégation religieuse, mais une simple loi sur la sécurité afin que les personnes mal intentionnées ne déjouent pas les caméras de surveillance.
Voici le texte de loi voté en 2005:
“Sans autorisation de l’autorité compétente, il est interdit sur le domaine public de se dissimuler le visage par des grimages, le port d’un masque ou tout autre moyen, à l’exception du “temps du carnaval”.

author: Suzanne Lehn


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India: Give Your Life For A Leader · Global Voices
Rezwan

Amit Varma at India Uncut reacts to the news that 14 people died in different parts of Andhra Pradesh hearing about the death of Chief Minister of the state YSR Reddy. The blogger comments: “It’s quite possible that many of these deaths, if not all, randomly happened around that time, and YSR’s people are building this narrative around them to embellish his legend.”

author: Rezwan


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India: Its Raining Blogs · Global Voices
Rezwan

Jayakrishnan Unnithan notices the abundance of blogs in the blogosphere and comments: “keep blogging if it is good it will be read and you will be a blog star, else you go down the drainage.”


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Iran: “My interrogator had read all my posts” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Somayeh Tohidloo,an Iranian female blogger and reformist, says [fa] she was interrogated for 70 days in a jail in Tehran and her interrogator had printed and read all posts in her two years old blog.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jamaica: Conformity?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The Caribbean is, according to Rex Nettleford, the ideal model of what the world is trying to achieve through globalisation: different people and cultures and races melted into one big pot, sharing the same geographical space” – but to Jamaican blogger Ruthibelle, “it seems…that this quest for one region, for one world – is accompanied by a great evil: the crucifixion of our human/national individualities…”


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Morocco: On Hijab · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

American expat blogger 760 Days in Morocco explains her motives for wearing hijab, in this post.

author: Jillian C. York


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Morocco: Teaching “Berber” in Schools · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Tifinagh in use
A BBC News piece on the teaching of “Berber” languages in Morocco has got the blogoma talking.  The article, which outlines the educational options for learning and studying the language, and adds insight into the development of the Tifinagh alphabet, prompted a variety of posts.  The View from Fez, an expat blog, asked the question “could Berber replace Arabic as official Moroccan language?”  The blogger's answer?
The simple answer is no, Amazigh will never replace Arabic, but that does not stop people calling for it to happen. In a recent BBC interview, Abullah Aourik, an artist and publisher of a magazine in Amazigh, said that he wanted to see Berber replace Arabic as the official language of the country.
The blogger noted, however, that Amazigh languages are already counted among the official languages of several neighboring countries, including Algeria.
Reading Morocco, a blog which focuses on Moroccan literature, news, and blogs, was quick to criticize the article:
I have a few problems with the premise of the article(as usual). I am not so quick to draw a line between Berbers and Arabs when so much of Moroccan history has been about the mixture of these two ” identities,” and also because i feel as if secular and Christian missionary motives (which both tend to be Islamophobic) like sticking their finger in this cultural and religious “rift.”
‘Aqoul‘s response was that of criticism as well:
First, if there was a real and genuine desire to have a written form of Berber languages that would in fact have some impact on illiteracy, and real reach beyond a few faddish academics and cultural activists, they would have adopted either the Latin alphabet, or if they wanted to go for real historical authenticity, adopted the form of Arabic script that late Medieval and early Modern Chleuh Berbers used to write Chleuh (Tachelhite).
Kal, a commenter on the post (and the blogger behind The Moor Next Door), shares anecdotes heard in rural Morocco as to the teaching of Tifinagh:
If one talks to these kids coming from the illiterate villages in the mountains and south, it has been my experience that they are quite weary of official attempts to educate them in Tamazight; why not teach them to read and write in a language they can use first, rather than marring them down with a language that doesn't take them anywhere beyond where they're already at? I have heard multiple people from the Sousse describe the attempt to teach Tamazight and promote Tifinagh as a “conspiracy” to keep already debilitated Berber communities as they are. Whatever the validity of that, there is also a hostility to towards standardization, which means rolling over the languages of childhood and daily life towards a dubious and poorly defined end.
For those interested, a fascinating read on the subject is Katherine E. Hoffman's We Share Walls: Language, Land, and Gender in Berber Morocco.


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Oman: Random Internet Censorship · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

Unlike some neighbouring countries, the internet in Oman is rarely censored by the government to block websites that criticize the authorities.
There are blogs and forums that explicitly publish leaked government documents and shame high government officials, yet the government in most cases uses legal methods to prosecute such authors if they are residents in the country by relying on the criminal law legislation and the controversial Omani telecommunication law. Though rarely ever tested, Oman does guarantee the right for freedom of expression after all. Websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter were never blocked in Oman.
In Oman, we have a different problem with censorship. The issue of censorship is taken care of by a public company called Omantel that occasionally, due to human or machine errors – we don't know – blocks out random websites. Though initially it sounds like a silly problem, due to the blackbox nature of the censorship department, once a website is blocked, it is a nightmare to get it unblocked.
Two months ago, I discovered that a blog I keep on IT law in Oman got blocked while I was abroad. It took me a whole month to get it unblocked where I had to make an official complaint to the Telecommunication Regulation Authority to have my website unblocked.
While the blocking of my website might have only caused me to lose a whole month of traffic and have a whole month of hosting fees wasted, having a number of services by Google such as Gmail, Blogger, and Scholar blocked for more than a day by mistake has a serious impact on the lives of people.
Currently, it seems that does not seem to be any method to hold Omantel accountable to its various censorship mishaps, other than complaining to the Oman's Telecom Regulation Authority, which will order Oman to unblock a website, but is very unlikely to issue any other sanctions. The future of the situation and control of the censorship department is unknown as the second fixed line internet service provider starts its operations. Hopefully something will change.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Global Voice's own Bangla portal is now blocked in Oman.. probably by mistake. I already wrote to Omantel to have it unblocked, but I have no idea how long it will take, if ever, to have it unblocked.

author: Riyadh Al Balushi


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Pakistan: Secret US Base In Gharo, Sindh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Pakistan Ka Khuda Hafiz informs quoting sources within the Pakistan Navy that: “certain high-ranking individuals within the Naval forces are involved in secret construction of operational facilities in Gharo, Sindh, which are intended to serve as a base for around 200 US marines.”


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Palestine: A Call From The Prime Minister · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab writes on his blog about receiving a phone call from Prime Minister Salam Fayyad: “In nearly 29 years of my journalist work and the thousands of articles I had written on behalf of Palestine and Palestinian issues, never had any senior Palestinian official ever called me or contacted me.”

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Palestine: Encountering Fear · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

In the United States, Palestinian blogger Laila El Haddad recently spoke to a woman who seemed nervous of her: ‘”Where are you from?” I asked, detecting an East European accent. She hesitated a moment, and blurted out, “From Israel – PLEASE DON’T KILL ME.”‘


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Palestine: Trying To Learn In Gaza · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

In Gaza, Eva Bartlett writes: “Palestinians have an exceedingly high drive to learn and attain higher education. Of course, here in a besieged Strip, with even school materials deemed non-vital by the Israeli overlords, education is a challenge.”


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South Africa: Taxis Defiant of New Bus System for World Cup · Global Voices
Ismail Dhorat

The South African BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system was launched in Johannesburg, South Africa on the 31st of August. The BRT system which is called “Rea Vaya” is being put in as part of the transportation plans for the FIFA 2010 World Cup.
However, the system is facing opposition from the taxi industry (mini buses). Traditionally, taxis have largely met the demands for transport in South Africa. The industry developed during Apartheid, and exists outside of the formal economy.
The taxi industry feels that the BRT threatens their business, and protests against the new system started many months ago. In march of this year, several highways were closed down by drivers blocking the entire highway refusing to move. More pics.
Reactions to the taxi rivalry
In this post we will cover some view points and reports by bloggers.
Road Safety Blog reports:
The taxi industry had tried an eleventh hour court application to the High Court in Pretoria on Friday to prevent the launch of the BRT, but the judge did not give them the go-ahead for an urgent interdict to stop the buses.
Further:
But taxi operators say government has developed BRT on routes taxis took decades to develop, threatening their livelihoods.
Ndebele said the national joint working group on the project would continue to talk with the taxi industry in efforts to draw up a memorandum of agreement.
“Everything we do in public transport must ultimately benefit the commuter,” he said.
Zapiro a South African political cartoonist who always manages to capture the essence of a situation, drew this:
Malocoda feels the BRT implementation is just another example of broken promises by government he writes:
We are seeing a few, not surprising, broken promises from the King Chameleon.
How about the Taxi drivers, they firmly believed they would be accommodated within BRT System. Doesn’t seem too much chance of that now, does it?
Ruth at Believer writes about her experience using the BRT on the first day:
Trying to get to work this morning was a mission. Think more than one hundred people trying to fit in a single decker bus, mission impossible. So one had to settle with standing and sometimes hanging in between butts, while one passenger was trying to get through the door.
Gunfire and recklessness
The first few days of the launch of the bus system was marred by a drive-by shooting in which occupants of a taxi, shot and wounded two people who were riding a bus in Soweto.
Lefty writes about the incident:
Now I read in the news today (Link) that certain taxi drivers are not exactly satisfied with the new BRT system. So dissatisfied indeed, that they have shot 2 people. One of whom, if I understand correctly, was a cop.
Further, he writes:
But how can you justify shooting at folks in order to make an objection? I am 100% in favour of BRT, it's gonna benefit all of the people (except the taxi drivers, of course).
And to Mr John Q Taxi Driver, you murdered a girl on her way to school earlier this year. You mutilated a student. You endanger my life every single day with your reckless driving and your blatant disregard for the law. You sir, please take your Fritos and get the fuck off of my roads. If you're looking for sympathy, you may find it in the dictionary between shit and syphilis.
Charles takes a look at some of the problems in the industry, he writes
Is it about taxi drivers losing their jobs or taxi bosses losing some revenue? From my outside view of the industry, it does not look very healthy at all. If we look at the physical conditions of many of these vehicles it seems safe to say that the maximum amount of profit is extracted from the industry without any serious concern for the safety of the cash cows. If we look at the over-utilisation of capacity we can infer that the actual comfort of the passengers never really features in any decision process. From my point of view this looks like gaps or otherwise known as opportunities, in the market
….
Is it really acceptable for a certain group to claim ownership of an industry or a part of an industry to the exclusion of everybody else? Where does this sense of entitlement come from?
Jeanius writes
They threaten to hold communities, industry and government at ransom.
Commuters have been waiting for the BRT system for many years and no role-player or stakeholder can claim ignorance of the plans to implement this system. It has been 10 years or so now that commuters are waiting for the BRT and if the taxi industry is still unready, they will never be ready as long as their unreadiness would prevent the system’s implementation.
The main players of the taxi industry are street-wise and well informed with regard to legal processes. If they truly believe that their rights are impinged upon they have both the money and other resources to access court to enforce their rights…but a can of worms of such magnitude will be opened up that most do not want to go this route.
They prefer intimidation.
The situation is entirely intolerable.

author: Ismail Dhorat


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Trinidad & Tobago: Get A Plan · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trin wonders whether an approach like Florida's 10-20-Life Program, which proposed the toughest gun-crime law in the U.S., could work as a viable part of Trinidad and Tobago's crime plan.


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Dominican Republic: The Theft of Cables and Scrap Metal · Global Voices
Rocio Diaz

Some of the recent newspaper headlines around the Dominican Republic read, “Cables Stolen from Duarte Bridge,” “Peña Gómez Monument Dismantled,” and “La Salle School Without Power.” All of these headlines are related to the same topic that left many people  perplexed: the theft of cables and metal around the capital city of Santo Domingo and other cities around the country. Apparently, the items are then sold in a very lucrative business.
Car: I Swear There was a Bridge Here This Morning. Truck is taking bridge to The Purchaser of Metals. Drawing by Cristian Hernández of El Nacional and used with permission from artist.
The thefts began very subtly at first, with the disappearance of some sewer covers and plaques that adorned busts and sculptures in various locations across the city. At the beginning, many did not pay much attention to it because it seemed to be commonplace. However, over time the number of holes that appeared, and the number of busts vandalized began to increase across the city, and it soon became apparent that something was happening. Megamonchy of El Rincón del Mega [es] writes about some of the places where the thefts took place, such as 50 light posts around the Jacobo Majluta Avenue, which needed cranes and heavy machinery to move them:
Ahora se estan robando los rieles de los trenes que funcionaron una vez en el país y en los ingenios. Ahora yo me pregunto ¿Es tan difícil dar con estos ladrones de metales, que lo usan para fundirlos? NO Simplemente no hay voluntad para acabarlos. Pues cuantas compañías en el país tienen la capacidad para fundir estos metales. Lo que hay es vigilarlas.
Si los representantes de guinness world records visitaran el país de seguro que le adicionarían varias páginas a la próxima impresión del libro donde los dominicanos estaríamos bailando.
Now they are stealing the rails from the trains that once ran in the country and in the sugar plantations. Now I ask myself, is it so hard to stop these metal thieves, who melt down the metal? NO. There simply is no desire to stop them. How many companies around the country have the capacity to melt down these metals? They must be watched.
If representatives from the Guinness World Records came to visit the country surely they would add more pages in the next edition of the books, where the Dominicans will be dancing (for having the record for the most amount of metal stolen).
Later, reports of the theft of cables began to arrive, including electrical cables, as well as fiber optic leading to the conclusion that there was a preference for the copper, which is then exported to China where there is a high demand. Héctor Minaya of Diario Digital RD [es], summarizes the export situation this way and how the government turns a blind eye:
Para detener el saqueo de cables, tapas, placas y monumentos de cobre que comenzó el año último alentado por el alto precio del metal, es necesario que se prohiba la exportación de cobre y otros metales, los cuales no son de producción nacional. De aquellos metales que se extraen en el país, se presume que el Gobierno, a través de la Dirección General de Aduanas y otras instituciones, tiene algún control y hay un registro para los exportadores. Se ha publicado que semanalmente viene un barco, al parecer ante la indiferencia de las autoridades, para llevarse material producto del saqueo de estos metales.
Thanks to these thieves, numerous streets, avenues, bridges and highways in Santo Domingo and around the country were left in the dark, providing competition to the power outages that have also been taking place for decades without solution. When the streets and avenues are left in the dark, traffic lights are also left useless, which contributes to vehicular chaos.
What about the telephone companies? Joan Guerrero of Duarte 101 [es] writes that the telecommunications sector in the Dominican Republic has been the victim of the growing “industry” of the theft of cables and equipment, which directly affects the consumer. These companies calculate that their losses total 53 million pesos [es] (approximately 1.5 million dollars) this year alone. When the companies add in customer complaints,  it becomes a very serious problem that needs addressing. Guerrero also notes that the telecommunications company Tricom has been taking to YouTube to show video of some of the thefts and to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest of the cable thieves:
Despite some control measures implemented by the government to differentiate the real scraps from the fake scraps, Diario 27-F states that it is impossible to separate the metal. There have been some arrests and two people are being tried in court. However, the robberies continue, such as in the case of the La Salle School in Santiago earlier this week, where classes were suspended until further notice.

author: Rocio Diaz


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Ghanaian food goes global and “You are invited” · Global Voices
Gayle Pescud

Mushy, gooey, fragrant, grainy, tasty, starchy, spicy, creamy, rotund, freaking amazing—these are just some of the adjectives bloggers use to describe Ghanaian cuisine. From Seoul to London, Guangzhou to Tamale, people are blogging about Ghanaian food.
Ghanaian food expert, Fran Osseo-Asare, has much to offer readers of her blog about Ghanaian cuisine. There she explains her motivation for writing about food:
I got fed up (pun intended) hearing the negative and distorted nonsense people said about West African cooking, so started writing about it from my perspective…Since the 1970s I've been eating and learning in the kitchens of family, friends, and colleagues how to prepare Ghanaian food. As a sociologist, a writer, and a “foodie,” I've also looked for the stories behind the food. Since marrying my Ghanaian husband in the 1970s I've spent decades looking at his culture from the inside out, and/or the outside in…
And Apoorva gives her interpretation of the concept of ‘food’ in Ghana:
Food’ here…is roughly translated from Gonja, Dagomba, Twi, Nanumba, or any other Ghanaian language as “the starchy portion of what we eat”. This is in contrast with “soup” which refers to “the stuff, which contains the meat or fish that we pour on the Food”. All people have Food, most people have some Soup, and if you are not poor, you will have abela [meat] in your Soup.
The philosophy of heavy main meals in Ghana was described by Fran Osseo-Asare after interviewing hundreds of Ghanaians about it:
Ghanaians generally eat one or two main, or “heavy,” meals a day, supplemented by snacks or a lighter meal. The interviewers initially had some problem determining what constitutes a “meal,” since those interviewed considered only a heavy meal a true meal, one that consisted of soup and fufu, or kenkey (a fermented cornmeal dough steamed in corn husks) and fried fish, or rice and stew. Only “heavy” food counts; as another proverb proclaims: “One blows the horn with a full stomach.
Another way of putting it is: “Belly full, blow horn.” In other words, if you want to work hard, as work traditionally is in Ghana, you have to fill your stomach. And Fran lists Ghanaian cooking basics at her blog:
Ghanaian stews, gravies, and sauces usually involve frying; the soups, however, are boiled. Many soup ingredients may be ground: tomatoes, peppers, legumes (most commonly peanuts, but also several varieties of cowpeas, such as white, brown, black, red, or bambara beans), seeds (like agushi, a melon seed), small, egg-shaped eggplants, and cocoyam leaves (nkontomire) or another kind of green (Ghana has forty-seven different kinds of edible green leaves, each with a distinctive flavor). [11] …The starch component of the meal…most likely it consists of rice, yam, cassava, plantain, millet, cocoyam, or white corn/maize…[12] ). The starch can be creamy, crunchy, tangy (or sometimes bland), grainy, fluffy, elastic, or chewy.
And there is “the ingredients”, as her Ghanaian sister-in-law, Afua, taught her when she began recording recipes in the 70's that ultimately became a book, A Good Soup Attracts Chairs:
Still, Afua made a lot of allowances for obroni. In her oral culture, writing down recipes signaled incompetence. With amused tolerance she nevertheless wrote down cryptic recipes for me, always referring to the sacred combination of pepper (generally habaneros or scotch bonnets), onions, and tomatoes as “the ingredients.” These vegetables formed a holy trinity, providing, in the appropriate amounts, the base for endless varieties of soups, stews, sauces, and gravies
Of course, a discussion of Ghanaian cuisine would not be complete without fufu, the cult classic and staple of Ghanaian chop bars, restaurants and family compounds across the country. St Peters Trekker wrote:
…fufu sits in its bowl like a rotund butter colored island rising up through the lake of fragrant stew.
And Ampoorva explains why the big deal:
Fufu…you make in a GIANT mortar and pestle and pound the living be-hoobies out of…
Indeed, preparing fufu is a labour intensive process, as St Peter’s Trekker found out:
The making of fufu takes special equipment and teamwork. Fufu is made with a large mortar and pestle. The pestle is made from a tree limb or sapling about as tall as a person and as big around as can be comfortably grasped by an adult hand.  The pole is smooth, stripped of its bark and pounded on one end to look like a frayed mushroom cap.  This is the end that crushes and mashes the vegetables into just the right consistency, working them until the dough sticks together and forms a smooth ball. The mortar is a large flat bottomed bowl mounted on a low stand.  One person, standing above the mortar, pounds cooked wedges of cassava and chunks of plantain together with the pole while a second person sitting on a low stool next to the mortar moves the vegetables around the bowl in between strokes. The person sitting beside the bowl has only a tiny window of time to stir the dough before the beating stick comes down again.
Betumi elaborates:
Usually one person would turn and another person pound, though for a small amount of fufu one person might both turn and pound. A little water would be added from a bowl to keep the fufu from getting sticky, and lumps would be picked out as it became smooth. This labor-intensive process takes an even rhythm and split-second timing to ensure that the pestle never descends on hand or finger. Gradually, the mass gets more elastic. The fufu softens the sound as the pestle hits the mortar with a soothing thumping as women prepare dinner. Eventually the mass becomes a smooth, springy ball of dough that looks a little like a cross between freshly kneaded dough and a dumpling.
Fufu even made the history books, as Betumi cites:
Sir Richard F. Burton, the famous nineteenth-century European traveler, writer, and translator, enthusiastically described fufu as playing a role equivalent to “. . . the part of European potatoes, only it is far more savoury than the vile tuber, which has already potatofied at least one nation.
So intrinsic to Ghanaian life is fufu, that many sayings or proverbs include references to it (as they do the entire food spectrum in Ghana). At her blog, This is Ghana, one blogger wrote that during a speech to the bride and groom at a wedding ceremony, a Ghanaian woman dispensed wisdom, comparing fufu to a relationship:
The analogy in Ghanaian folklore follows that creating a good relationship is like making fufu: one partner is the cassava and the other is the plantain (or yam if you're up north). When you pound cassava and plantain into a sticky ball of fufu, which ain't easy, like you're average long-term relationship, you hit lumps, like you're average long-term relationship. So, what next? Ghanaians believe that it is the sole responsibility of the two to address the issues–those lumps–in the relationship. In other words, to discard those things that don't help the relationship, and keep pounding away at the rest. And to solve it yourself…
And then there is the soup. Of ground nut soup, facing the wall exclaims:
Ah, how delicious you are, GS! Made of groundnuts (that's peanuts to most, monkey nuts to the weirdos) and groundnut oil. Eating this gives you huge pectoral muscles and increases your tolerance for Celine Dion ballads. Easily one the best things in Ghana to eat.
On a trip in Ghana, Mickey Ashmore is invited in to watch ground nut soup being prepared in a restaurant:
Groundnut soup is rich, nutty, and brown; thickened by its main ingredient, groundnut paste, which is boiled with a touch of water and churned with an instrument resembling a small canoe paddle for several hours. Before adding the groundnut paste to the stew, a whole chicken (cut into pieces) is stewed with previously boiled tomatoes, onions, and hot red chilies plus a whole bunch of ground ginger (done by mortar and pestle), chopped garlic, and raw chopped onions. For added flavor, standard Maggi chicken seasoning is added to the stewing pot. After cooking the chicken with these ingredients for a while (not sure how long), the rich groundnut paste is then added and stewed for many more hours making sure the chicken is tender and falls off the bone.
Betumi gives more details about the three main soups of Ghana, which accompany fufu, and which she serves her family:
Creamy, spicy “groundnut soup,” nkatenkwan in Twi, made with “the ingredients” plus chicken, okra, and peanuts, remains a standby in our family. We most frequently prepare “light soup” or nkrakra (especially with lamb or beef and smoked or fresh fish, mushrooms, okra, and tiny eggplants, the “garden eggs” of Ghana), but for sheer richness, color, flavor, and texture, palmnut soup or abenkwan (pronounced ah-BEHN-kwan) surpasses all other soups. Abenkwan is made with the small red fruits of the palm tree, called palmnuts, and includes the strained pulp and oil from the fruit surrounding the palm kernels at the center of the palmnuts, but not the inner kernels themselves.
Now: To swallow or to chew? That is the question. While all self-respecting Ghanaians swallow fufu, many foreigners struggle not to chew. So many visitors have blogged about this that the ‘chew challenge’ almost seems like a traveler’s rite-of-passage. One goes so far as to declare chewing ‘unethical’.
First, Betumi explains the correct way:
Fufu is not chewed, but swallowed whole, carried down the throat by a soothing peristaltic motion. Eating it is a very sensual experience.
Apoorva explains the reality:
Like all Food you must rip off a piece, dip it in the soup, and eat it – and by eat I mean SWALLOW IT WITHOUT CHEWING. Complicated stuff people. Chew accidentally and suddenly the whole circle of eaters are guffawing at you and you are looking confused and bewildered.
Facing the wall blog wrote:
…the method is to pull of a piece about the size of a large shooter marble, dip in the sauce, and swallow whole without chewing (or gagging, for those trying it for the first time.)
Accra flight cautions:
…if you are eating fufu in front of some African person then try not to chew it but just swallow it, as in Africa it is considered unethical to chew fufu. But no matter how you eat fufu, it tastes great…
Indo Dreamin’, who was on a mission to find Ghanaian food in Guangzhou, describes the challenge when he finally found fufu:
The unique thing about fufu is that you do not chew it. You have to cut a piece using your index and middle fingers, form a small dimple in the piece you have cut (using your thumb), dip the piece into the piping hot soup, and once placed in your mouth you swallow. You DO NOT CHEW FUFU.
Maragaretb said:
You don’t chew fufu, you simply pick up some with your fingers, yes soup with fingers is much more fun than with a spoon, and put the fufu in and swallow. It’s not that it’s bad; it just doesn’t have a whole lot of taste…
Gunbunnycrosswalk gave another explanation:
you are not supposed to chew fufu as it is considered rude to the cook…fine with me…gets it out of my mouth sooner…
A McGraw seemed relieved:
I’ve finally learned not to attempt to chew fufu or bangku but just to swallow…
So that Ghanaians and foreigners alike can get their hit of fufu wherever they may be, Betumi lists sites that you can visit to find fufu near you:
Peace Corps volunteers developed “The Friends of Togo Fufu Bar” Web site, where one can find, among other things, reviews of African restaurants world-wide, including whether or not they serve fufu (http://www.concentric.net/~jmuehl/togo.shtml); Doug Himes, who holds degrees in African Studies and Economics, has established The Congo Cookbook Web site to make available literary and scholarly information about West African gastronomy, including historical information and recipes for fufu  (http://www.geocities.com/congocookbook/); Ellen Gibson Wilson published A West African Cook Book, which includes fufu recipes “out of necessity,” since her “British husband, who spent some happy and formative years in West Africa, developed an appetite for African food which could not be satisfied solely on widely spaced return visits.”(Ellen Gibson Wilson, A West African Cook Book [New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc., 1971]; see p. 92.); Elizabeth A. Jackson, a nutritionist born and raised in Nigeria, also published a West African cookbook and has since developed a helpful African culinary Web site (Elizabeth A. Jackson, South of the Sahara: Traditional Cooking from the Lands of West Africa [Hollis: Fantail, 1999]; http://lizard.home.inr.net).
Arguably, next on the hierarchy of Ghanaian favourites and most blogged about, is Banku. Of Banku, Facing the Wall asks:
What happens if you let maize ferment in a pot for three days and then pound into a thick sour mush? You get banku of course! This is actually really tasty, but it's an acquired taste for some. Often served with light soup or okro stew.
Mickey Ashmore writes about his experience learning to eat Banku while living with a Ghanaian family:
Eat your ball!” “Use your ball!” “Look, I am eating my big ball!” A dinner at the Kukobo house (our homestay) with banku or akple is entertaining..The size of the ball of banku is determined by the size of the person eating. Naturally, our father gets the largest ball. To eat like a true Ghanaian, one would have to use your hands. Our father tears of portions of his “ball” and sloshes it in the stew sopping up flavors, juices, and a bit of vegetable such as okra (known here as okro stew). Personally, to tolerate the fermented flavor of Banku, I have to tear my ball into very, very small pieces dropping it into my stew to sponge up other spices and sauces…
This is our father’s favorite dish. Therefore, it gives him great pleasure as I begrudgingly reduce the size of my ball. “You have too much ball left, Mike!” he notes. If I start to favor my stew with a spoon and no portion of Akple, he quickly notes, “You are not using your ball, Mike!” “Use the big ball.” Then, often, he will demonstrate – licking his fingers clean of sauce and fish while comparing the size and amount of his ball that has disappeared. “Look at my big ball … almost gone, Mike!
I cannot breathe, Mike.” he moans. “I have taken too much food.” “My stomach is now a big ball!” he laughs. Of course, our father understands that Banku or Akple is not enjoyed by the typical western tongue. But I try my best to impress him
The variety of food eaten in the northern half of Ghana differs with that of the south, partly due to the environment, costs and distance. Ampoorva explains:
There is only one real growing season in the north – that is now. Farmers plant around the first rains (Early to Mid-May) and harvest through to September. Because (as I have mentioned before) not only is the word Food solely associated with the starchy bits of the diet, so is the cultural idea of Food. Famine occurs when there is no maize, no cassava, no yam, no rice (well there is never no rice, thanks to the goddamn cheap dumping of American rice here – but that is another story). Why? Gonja, and Dagomba and other northern tribes are Sub-Saharan peoples. Their main caloric intake comes in the form of the carbohydrates and starch obtained from grains. Animals are only so many and cattle are not even originally native to the area – so to keep a family, and a people alive, they farm grain.
And the staple of those living north of Tamale is derived from maize and millet grown during the rainy season. Facing the wall describes the staple, ‘TZ’ for short, like this:
TZ, pronounced tee-zed, is almost like banku. Instead, regular old corn meal is boiled into a thick paste. Typically eaten with okro stew. This dish is much more popular in the north of Ghana than in the south.
Ghanaian Maximus Ojar writes in the Ghanaian Journal of TZ:
I don’t want to keep you from your Tuo Zaafi any longer. Did you even cook it yourself? Just thinking about the one cooked at Asanka local on Sundays is making me hungry. Enjoy your meal. A-chi-ray. Chop time no friend…
“Chop time no friend” is often said with good-humour in response to “You are invited”. The latter is an invitation for you to come and eat. The former means, “don’t worry about me, go ahead…”. In other words, survival (chop/eating) first, friendship second—and they are heard everywhere.
Seoul-based blogger, Aliensdayout took a metaphorical trip down memory lane and a real trip around Seoul in a quest to uncover Ghanaian food in South Korea’s capital:
For those of you who don't know me, I grew up in Ghana (and also Ivory Coast). Ghanaian food is freaking amazing. Groundnut stew, fufu, banku, fried plantain, jollof rice…my mouth is watering. I miss it all sooo much.
I heard a long time ago that there's a West African restaurant in Itaewon, since there's actually a little West African community here in Korea. I've been meaning to try the restaurant out with my whole family so that we can reminisce about our glory days, but so far, that hasn't happened and I've been getting impatient! So this week, I FINALLY went to check it out and order some takeout for myself.
Even though the restaurant wasn't much to look at, something about walking into that space and hearing the different languages made me feel like I was back in Ghana….Since it was my first visit, I decided to go with my all-time favorite West African dish: Red Red (although the menu just calls it “beans”). This dish is made with black-eyed peas and is traditionally accompanied with fried plantains. I was going to order the plantains too, but the waiter said that they didn't yet have plantains ripe enough for frying. I guess you can't blame them for that… It's hard to believe they can get plantains in Korea at all. They must ship them in from somewhere. The waiter/cook also confirmed for me that they don't put fish in the red red (sometimes in Ghana, fish sneaks its way into the dish). I actually got to chat with him for a bit about about how/why I'm vegan. He said he's from Nigeria, but upon hearing that I lived in Ghana, he pointed out which of the men sitting around the restaurant were Ghanaian. haaa. While we were chatting, my Ghanaian accent was just itching to come out! hehe. I was suddenly very aware of how Americanized my accent has become. So anyway, I got my takeout and couldn't wait to get home and eat it. It was delicious! It was slightly thicker than the red red I've had in the past, but it absolutely had the same African taste. And it was spicy, just like it should be. I'm definitely returning to try their jollof rice, fufu, and fried plantains.
And IndoDreamin’ wrote about his unique mission to find Ghanaian food in Guangzhou:
Now my cousin, having been born in Ghana, has never really lived there. I figured it might be a cool experience for him to finally taste the food of the country he was born in 35 years ago. I had heard about a Ghanaian restaurant in Guangzhou…I found the building in one shot…I went up to the 24th floor and stepped out of the lift. The aroma of home cooked food and spices hit me like manna from heaven. There were no signs to follow or people to ask directions from, so I just followed the smells…finally I found the elusive Ghanaian restaurant. The establishment even had a name, Ghana Dish, run by Madame Atta…it makes a huge difference when Ghanaian food is served by a large Ghanaian woman. It just feels more authentic. She is from Kumasi and has been living in China for 3 years now. It was great fun chatting with her…the restaurant had a few flags up on the wall and even played highlife music on the stereo…They only offered a few simple dishes though like Banku, Fufu, light soup, groundnut soup, Kokonte, gari, and rice…So I ordered us some fufu and light soup…My cousin had no idea what he was into…Needless to say, I was an extremely happy camper…my mouth is watering just writing this…GHANA DISH is the best Ghanaian restaurant I have been to in Guangzhou.
A food demonstration for a group of bloggers held in London and sponsored by Cadbury’s to promote fair trade chocolate made Kelsie and Mel of Travels with my Fork reminisce:
Since the evening last Tuesday, lots of food memories about my time there have come back. Street food is ubiquitous from the city to the bush. My favourites were beans and gari at a particular stall in the car park across from the National Theatre. In Makola market you could pretty much find anything either in living or cooked form. Goats, chickens, turkeys, the most amazing fresh fish and seafood, snails, vegetables, and then stall after stall of chop each with their own speciality. I tried most things there including kenkey and pepper, grilled tilapia, fried plantains, groundnut stew, fufu and even akpetesie.
My memories of Ghanaians are that they are extremely generous, welcoming and full of vibrancy. The family and community are core.
Fast forward to last Tuesday evening where Kelsie and I and a choice handful of London Food Bloggers congregated at the Underground Cookery School to participate in a Ghanaian cooking workshop and then enjoy a meal. The event was organised by Lea and her agency on behalf of Cadbury, with help from Jollof Pot catering.
We split ourselves into two groups. One group got to listen to a brief overview of the food culture of Ghana presented by Albert from Jollof Pot.
And the other group set about preparing the spice mix and zebra meat for our meal. Yes zebra meat. Not sure why they chose zebra, i don't remember ever seeing a zebra in Ghana and would have preferred goat.
The evening was quite animated with lots of wine flowing and the excitement of putting faces to twitter names. I made a beeline for the kitchen where the kind UCS chefs let me ‘help’ prepare the meal with Evelyn from Jollof Pot.
For starters we had an assortment of canapes: cassava chips, fried plantain rounds with mackeral, fried rice balls. The main meal was one of my favourites — jollof rice served with the zebra stew.
We were sent home with goodie bags containing more Cadbury fair trade chocolate and recipes from Jollof Pot so that we could try the dishes at home.
All in all it was a very enjoyable evening, well organised and informative.
Fran Osseo-Asare has the last word on Ghanaian cuisine:
I think of Ghanaian cuisine as a kind of culinary jazz. The pepper, tomatoes, and onions, and possibly the oil, form the rhythm section. The stew is one musical form, like blues, the soup and one-pot dishes are others. Like a successful improvisation, the additional ingredients—vegetables, seeds and nuts, meat and fish—harmonize and combine into vibrant, mellow creations. While Ghanaian cuisine is very forgiving and flexible, there are certain “chords” or combinations that go together, and others that do not. Part of mastering the cuisine requires learning these chords and developing the sense of what goes with what: gari or fried ripe plantain or tatale (ripe plantain pancakes) with red bean stew; kenkey with fried fish and a hot pepper sauce like shito; banku with okra stew; chicken with groundnut soup;  soup with fufu; palaver sauce with boiled green plantain or yams or rice.

author: Gayle Pescud


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Hungary: Gay Pride · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about homophobia and this year's gay pride parade in Budapest: “It is interesting that while in the past the marches went off without a hitch the situation drastically changed in 2007 and 2008. I assume that this sudden turn in public behavior is not caused by some huge transformation of attitudes toward homosexuality but rather is the result of an acceptance of violent behavior by certain groups.”


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Morocco: Bastard Modernization · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

eatbees assesses the modernization of Morocco and posts a conversation between himself and a reader.


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Morocco: Casa Negra to Represent Morocco at Oscars · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Casa Negra has made a splash in Morocco
Morocco's film industry has been growing over the past several years; not only are other countries filming blockbusters (Kingdom of Heaven, Black Hawk Down, Babel) in the North African nation, but home-grown films are beginning to make an impact abroad.
Zakaria Rmidi, on the blog Morocco Times, announces that the recent Moroccan film, Casa Negra, has been chosen to represent Morocco at the 2010 Academy Awards (Oscars).  Rmidi praises the film, saying:
It is an ordinary story that mirrors the Moroccan reality with all of its contradictions. The film also shed light on a wide range of Moroccans who look forward to a better reality, relying on day-to-day Casablanca’s slang. Thus, Noureddine Lakhmari, who gained extensive experience both as a director and actors’ manager, succeeded in making the Moroccan audience prefers to follow the film in cinemas rather than copying pirated versions and emphasizing that the Moroccan audience is attracted to movies which address its concerns.
Blogger Agharass, who was less impressed by the film, writing:
J’aime pas trop casser, de démystifier les œuvres des autres, artistique dans l’âme je préfère toujours laisser le public juger de lui même. Pour cette fois je vais faire l’exception et dire que ce film n’est rien de marocain sauf bien sûr les lieux. La technique de mise en œuvre est ce que je trouve très particulière pour un film marocain, c’est le point qui m’a touché le plus dans Casa Negra. Sur le long de son streaming vidéo et surtout audio : Une jeunesse marocaine qui sollicite tous les moyens pour réussir, chose que je juge être le lot de toutes les sociétés qui connaissent des changements dans la perception de l’individualisme primaire. Le film présente une Casablanca noirci par les mots les plus déplacés, des scènes de violences et des situations qui ne font pas dans le lot majoritaire de la vie d’un casablancais !! C’est pas parce-que une bande de cons vivent en marge qu’il faut généraliser le vécu a l’ensemble de marocains.
The film, a tale of two small-time crooks trying to escape Casablanca, the director Nour-Eddine Lakhmari's second film has already won awards at several film festivals.
Hassan Masiky, blogging on the Moroccan-American Board's “Viewpoints,” reviewed the film, calling it a “true gem” and writing:
The story line of the movie is a realistic portray of the life of several young Moroccans living on the margins of society, not by choice but as a result of circumstances outside of their control. The two main movie characters, Adil and Karim, gave an outstanding performance depicting the aspirations, letdowns and hopes of a generation of young Moroccans on the verge of despair and hopelessness.
Casanegra treats a variety of controversial social issues that are part of Moroccan daily life, still never honestly and openly discussed in conventional forums. From alcoholism and drug use to domestic violence and social exploitation, Nour-Eddine did not shy away from addressing social illnesses in an artistic and cinematographically savvy manner.
Allal El Alaoui, who blogs about film in Morocco, also reviewed the film in May, and in an “open-letter” format to the director, writes:
I also know one thing is that Moroccan viewers would hate themselves because of the vulgarity of your style language that you have well used in your sequences of your movie .But, I think I consider your style as avant-gardist because what we have seen nearly thirty or forty years in Moroccan cinemas through out realistic European and American cinema is the same use of slung language of the street .Moroccan cinema-goers will get used to this language step by step.That is a something that I assure you to be happening very soon .So let’s go to Casanegra and see ourselves through this beautiful story written by Nour-Eddine lkhmari.
Commenter Mohamed Zefzaf agreed, writing:
I agree with you and your evaluation of the film. And though it is “vulgar” in some ways, we moroccans are not used to this in an artistic sense. The reality-particularly concerning the language used- is probably much more vevid than the film. I do think that the film speaks of the human condition which is not particular to Moroccans alone, but rather universal…Just Some thoughts.
Casa Negra, which has not yet been released with English subtitles, has an official blog [FR], Facebook page, and website.  For further reading on the Moroccan film industry, check out Sandra Gayle Carter's new book: What Moroccan Cinema?: A Historical and Critical Study.


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Pakistan: Death On Reality Show   · Global Voices
Sana Saleem

The death of a Pakistani reality show participant has been subjected to hot debate in the Pakistani Blogosphere. Saad khan was participating in a stunt, which was being shot in Bangkok, and that involved swimming through a lake while carrying 7kgs of weight. According to eyewitness accounts, Khan seemed to face difficulty and shouted for help before disappearing underwater.
The death was first reported on Twitter by a close friend and ex-colleague of khan which ensued a wave of reaction in many social networking sites. Farrukh, khan's friend, urged bloggers to unite and demand explanation regarding the accident that took the young man's life in a message on Twitter:
@Farrukh ahmed: 2 all bloggers: need your help in raising voice against a miserably organized game show arranged by Unilever which took the life of a good friend. Unilever is refusing to disclose the details / video footage of the event.
Later, an entry on Farrukh‘s blog unchained the details of the incident:
Apart from my personal account, Saad's death is becoming a closely guarded secret by the multinationals involved in the campaign of the show. Ironically, that has become the very reason of it being widespread internationally on blogs and social networking websites(…) with this post, I want to set some facts straight and publicize some questions that I'm sure would arise in your minds as well upon hearing the details of Saad's death.
Paksatire has come up with a satirical comic strip criticizing the role of mainstream media for not highlighting the case fairly. The message conveyed is that the mainstream media is allegedly under pressure from the corporate sector.
Meanwhile the news of Saad's death slowly made its way to the mainstream media. Dawn reported the death along with explanations from Unilever, which did not accept any liability over Saad's death. In a guest post at All things Pakistan Sabeen Mehmud shares her personal experience of working with the corporate giant.
Satrical comic strip- criticizing lack of coverage of Khan
There was a lot of camaraderie and we got the opportunity to observe almost all the departments in action, practically as insiders.(..) The Corporation is a soulless machine, dedicated to the pursuit of profit. Vision statements, ethical guidelines, and corporate social responsibility programs are merely legal requirements that have no practical bearing on how companies do business.
Sabeen further elaborates on the issue of liability, making demands to bring the facts out to the open:
Having said that, I agree that the show that took Saad Khan’s life was in a completely controlled environment and the tragedy could have been avoided. It does indeed smell like a case of total negligence.
Dr. Awab Alvi at Teeth maestro has also posted a series of articles covering the accident, speculating negligence from the organizers end. In one of the recent posts he posted an interview with a co-participant, who claimed that the accident was avoidable and was caused by negligence of the organizers.
Max Robinson made comparisions between the reality TV shows all across the globe. He emphasizes the need for TV executives to bear responsibility in informing the participants regarding the risk factors involving particular stunts.
The circumstances surrounding Khan's death remain a mystery. As speculations rise nothing can be said for certain until any documentary evidence is produced. On my own blog I extended my concern on the various reality shows, that are frequently aired in Pakistan.
This incident also open doors to the world of freak reality shows in Pakistan where security measures are never considered. [..] The question now is regarding the creditability of these kinds of entertainment shows– least concerned about security measures – should we allow them to continue airing for the sake of entertainment and commercialism?

author: Sana Saleem


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Russia: Blogger vs Journalist · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Policy's Net.Effect writes about the coverage of the accident at Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric dam in the Russian mainstream and new media, and the use of blogging by the “authoritarian regimes.”


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Russia: Teens Online · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Profy writes about a study on the use of internet tools by Russia's teens.


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Azerbaijan: Reaction to Hajizade-Milli trial · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Sixty days after video bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli were arrested, and following the start of their trial last week, friends and supporters of the detained youth activists reflect on the case online. Their coverage is particularly important given that journalists attending Friday's court session were prohibited from recording the trial.
Therefore, in combination with news services such as RFE/RL, blogs and social networking sites have become particularly important in getting the message out from the oil rich authoritarian former Soviet republic. However, while the international community has expressed its concern with the action against the two men in no uncertain terms, Thoughts on the Road says the situation is very different in Azerbaijan itself.
Nevertheless, the blog notes, there are those who are alarmed by the direction the country appears to be heading in.
In Washington and in London, protesters have denounced the repressive policies of the Azerbaijan government. But – in Azerbaijan itself? What reaction will there be?
An Azerbaijani friend of mine wrote me today about the situation in his country. These are dark and dangerous times for people who are vocal in their support for democracy, he said. For people who just remain quiet, however, it is not so dangerous.
So – how long will the people of Azerbaijan remain quiescent? Until the oil runs out?
Gənclərin Hüquqlarını Müdafiə Hərəkatı – Adnan Hacızadə və Emin Millinin məhkəməsindən FOTO!!! Exclusive by M.H. — Information on Emin Milli and Adnan Hadjizadeh
Fighting windmills? Take a pill. also comments on the same tendency within society to ignore or even rationalize the prosecution of Hajizade and Milli. In an extended entry, the blogger shares her impressions after attending Friday's court session and says that the two detained activists appear in good spirits.
Today I saw my friends sitting in a cage. Their hair were cut short, beards shaved, they lost weight and their eyes are more serious now.
[…]
We could notice how happy they were to see their friends and families and how nervous they felt about the process. Yes, they would still hope for the justice to happen, they would still count on the judge to make a right decision.
“You can’t imagine how good it is for studying!” said Emin. “No one disturbs you. You can read and study all day long. I need more books!”. Then he saw one of his closest friends Erkin and joked: “Oh, I wish you were there with us!”.
[…]
During the process they would answer all the questions loud and clear, they would ask permission to talk and tell how the story actually happened. They would be confident and clever, as they always are.
[…]
We left them there happy to see their families and disappointed about having to go back to the jail. We waited until the escort took them out and sent them off shouting their names and “Azadliq” (aze. Freedom), attracting attention of the whole neighborhood and the cars that were passing by.
We didn’t care about the police around or people watching us. We knew this made Emin and Adnan feel happy and not alone.
[…]
So, dear comforted Azerbaijan,
[…]
Do you care about two young people facing two years in prison for bringing up all this?
Will you ever wake up from your wealthy dream and finally see true colors of the country we live in or are your cars going to be the only things left after you’re gone?
[…]
Look around. See how many people support these two guys even though they don’t have any power or money. Isn’t this the real power of love, friendship, like-mindedness and unity our fathers would fight for?
Who will care about making you happy when you’re all alone?
See us.
Hear us.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
Spread the Woord posts an essay by one of the detainees, AN Network founder Emin Milli. The ideas communicated in the opinion piece are rarely expressed in the region.
We have to understand that the world around us is changing. CHANGE is marching towards Azerbaijan from inside and outside. We have to understand that we have to change together with this world. […] We need to change value structure of our society, we need to change the mentality of corruption, we need to change authoritarian thinking and attitudes in our families, in our organizations, in our society and in our state. […] We need to give our people back their hope and their belief in the bright future our nation truly deserves.
The OL! blog carries full coverage of the prosecution of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, and a hashtag #EminAdnan is being used to flag updates on Twitter. Global Voices Online has also has coverage of the case on the Azerbaijan country page.


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China: Are syringe attacks terrorism?  · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Xinjiang in northwestern China has been offline since the riots involving hundreds of Uighurs on July 5 and netizen reports are scarce, but with several hundred syringe attacks having taken place since, leading Han residents of Ürümqi to take to the streets over the past few days, dialogue doesn't seem to be a priority.
Photos from the streets of Ürümqi have been posted to discussion board website Paowang, however, on September 4th and 5th.
Why resort to syringe attacks? nkpoper at Bullog International considers the resistance struggle perspective:
新疆又出事了。
这次好像没人说“新疆扎针案是中共的阴谋”了吧？珍珠港有人说阴谋，911有人说阴谋，75有人说阴谋…嗯，最后一条有人说得还有鼻子有眼，我也只能说“按道理说不是”，没处核实去。
当时我就想，要是这回60周年，维族人把XXX给炸飞了，保不定也有人说是阴谋呢！现在出了扎针事件，有了这个铺垫，万一XXX飞了，也许还可以不算阴谋，纵做鬼，也幸福啊。
虽然没看到阴谋论，不过针对此事却有毛左式的语言冒出来：毛泽东说过“哪儿有压迫，哪儿就有反抗。”这哪儿对哪儿啊！汉人游行倒算反抗，但游行的由头却是扎针，扎针既不能算压迫，也不能算反抗。要真是想引用名人的语录，希特勒倒是有句比较沾边的：“恐怖只能用恐怖来对抗。”
不过，我可要声明：希特勒这句话只是沾边而已，未必贴切，更不能说就该这么干。我只想重申那个最基本的逻辑：
在斗争中犯规也许不可避免，尤其是激烈的斗争。象二战，各方都用过很多过激的手段。但是象75事件那样纯粹地指向平民，那就绝对不可接受了。制造这种恐怖的人是不值得任何同情的，任何同情都只能鼓励他继续制造恐怖。75如此，扎针事件也如此。
Can low-grade terror tactics be justified and should Wang Lequan step down, as so many Han have demanded this past week? Roland Soong comments at EastSouthNorthWest on his translation of opinions expressed in Hong Kong media by two mainland (both also active bloggers) voices on Xinjiang issues in his September 4 post, The Xinjiang Syringe Riots:
(ESWN Comments: These are extraordinary comments.  On the first comment, it would seem that most people regard it as wrong to use syringe to attack people at random and sow terror.  This is called terrorism (“premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents”).  Instead, the comment seems to justify the use of terrorism.  This is not going to convince many people.

On the second comment, Wang Lequan is proposed as the scapegoat to be sacrificed for the sake of reconciliation between the Hans and the Uighurs.  But why is Wang Lequan unsatisfactory to the Uighurs and the Hans?  Because both sides perceived Wang to be tilted towards the other side and they want someone who tilts more to their side.  Why were water bottles thrown at Wang Lequan during his speech?  Because he promised “severely punishing the criminals in accordance with the law” and the demonstrators did not consider this good enough.  To appease these Han demonstrators, the replacement would have to be even more oppressive and draconian, which would upset the Uighurs even more.  So the idea of scapegoat will only postpone the problem temporarily.  It isn't going to lead to reconciliation.)
Possibly related, an anonymous netizen account of the recent situation in Xinjiang, ‘Just back from Xinjiang, the situation there is far more severe than can be imagined’, appeared online on Saturday and received more circulation Sunday:
31号到新疆，4号离开，基本都在乌鲁木齐和石河子。先说说看到听到的各种见闻：
1. 老王没啥前途了，不管他有多么辉煌的历史，现在一切都完了，原因就一个：所有的老百姓，包括汉族和各少数民族，都不信任他，都在骂，让他滚。传闻：75出事时在招待一个山东代表团，喝高了。。。93出来安抚群众，挨了矿泉水瓶。。。最新听到的替代人选是强卫，团派，有化工，纪检，边疆经验，各项指标位居前列，热门人选。
2. 75的反应远没有某些人所说的处置及时，出租司机说，警察都在挨打，根本顾不上救人。。。到了76还有数人结伙的歹徒在闹事，77的反击也比原先听到的规模更大，人，饭店，清真寺，都砸的不轻。最郁闷的一个传闻：牺牲的战士，最紧急时对天开了三枪，没子弹了。。。靠。。。希望是假的。。。
3. 乌市乱得很，乌洽会只办了两天就停摆。93当天，乌市全面戒严，准出不准进，只有新A牌照车在严查后可以进，机场火车站必须出示机票车票，否则一律免进。我们正好在石河子参加招标，来的人说高速路上几十辆军车满载荷枪实弹的战士往乌市方向疾驰，走的一个哥们更惨，想去市里结果到处封路，转悠了十几个小时只能回石河子。
4. 31号到新疆的时候就听说有歹徒在扎黑针，捅黑刀，尤其是对上学的孩子们下手，很多大人没办法只能不上班，给孩子们当保镖。让人无法接受的是，乌市8月5 号以来就有这样的事件发生，石河子也有传闻，一个来月，愈演愈烈，ZF不说毫无举措吧，至少是办案不力，怎么让老百姓信任？93当天在石河子至少有三个出租司机说，我们宾馆对面的小区里当天有两人被扎，有人说被杀。。。
5. 歹徒们放话，75只是开始，国庆之前，还有大动作。。。
6. 当地人的生活虽然受到影响，但都对这样的事情有心理准备，生产生活还都算正常，有钱的都想走，流动的人包括我们这些来做业务的，在街上也看不出什么异常，但心里总是紧张，终于明白啥叫笼罩在恐怖气氛里了。

author: John Kennedy


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East Timor: Where is Justice for the Suai Church Massacre? · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Exactly ten years ago today, on the 6th of September 1999 – two days after the announcement of the referendum results – the town of  Suai, in the south west of East Timor, suffered the consequences of the 80% result for ukun rasik-an: independence, self-determination. The Suai Church Massacre saw the brutal death of three priests and dozens – possibly hundreds – of people who had sought refuge in the local church, many of them women and children.
This devastating episode has become known as the Black September of East Timor. According to this documentary, the violence was such that the Laksaur (a pro-Indonesia militia) didn't even shoot people, choosing to butcher the victims with machetes instead in order to save expensive bullets.
The Church of Suai. Photo by J. Orosco shared on Flickr by Patfranca
The campaign of terror had been spread around the country several months before the popular consultation by pro-Indonesian militias called Besih Merah Putih (White and Red Iron, the colours of the Indonesian flag). Although they intended to keep people away from voting, 90% of the eligible citizens went out and the result showed that a vast majority of the population wanted freedom. Mari Alkatiri, the opposition leader, recently alleged the manipulation of results, to which former Ambassador of Portugal in Jakarta, Ana Gomes (@anargomes) replied on Twitter:
12:54 AM Sep 1st: Alkatiri disse LUSA resultados referendo seriam 90/cento, mas ONUalterara-os para salvar face a Indonesia. Mas 80/cento salvam face?
Back in 1999, the Timorese knew that people would have to die in order to bring Timor Leste its independence. However, no one ever expected such violent crimes against humanity as those that took place in Suai. Despite the violence, trauma and destruction, in the commemorations of the 10th anniversary of the referendum, President Ramos Horta has asked for forgiveness, in what Amnesty International calls a “culture of impunity” as it urges the “International Tribunal to examine the human rights violations in East Timor“.
East Timor, Suai 2000. Photo by Rusty Stewart on Flickr.
Meanwhile, former Laksaur militia commander Martenus Bere, who allegedly led the attack on the church in the town of Suai in September 1999, has been released from prison. The Dili Insider translates the Indonesian news to English:
As an anniversary ceremony was taking place, authorities in Dili released an Indonesian citizen accused of leading one of the worst massacres in East Timor in 1999. Martenus Bere was brought from cells at Dili's main jail and handed over to Indonesian officials. Bere, a commander of a brutal pro-Indonesian militia group responsible for a reign of terror, led an attack on a church in the town of Suai during which three priests and dozens of people were killed. Prison officials said Bere was released on the order of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. He had been indicted for crimes against humanity by the UN's Serious Crimes Unit in 2003. Indonesian authorities had pressured East Timor to release Bere after he was arrested two weeks ago after crossing the East Timor border from Indonesian West Timor.
A growing wave of netcitizens against the release of Martenus Bere immediately started to spread the word on the case, many discussions have taken place and Facebook groups been created (such as Don't let Martenus Bere Escape Justice and Justice NOW for East Timor).
On the same day of the celebrations, a peaceful demonstration in Dili finished up with one more attack on justice and democracy. Ana Gomes broke the news on Twitter, and then reported on the blog Causa Nossa (Our Cause, pt):
12:39 AM Sep 1st Pedro conta 3 estudantes foram presos véspera em manif sobre Justiça. Arrancamos p/ Policia Dili
12:41 AM Sep 1st: Esquadra Policia Dili, dia 31/8 – confirmam-nos presos. Razões suharto/salazarentas: manif ilegal.
12:45 AM Sep 1st: Telefonema a Vice PM, velho amigo Lugo: “Sabes dos presos?”. Nao sabia. 10 minutos depois: “Vao já ser soltos”. Excesso zelo policial.
12:47 AM Sep 1st: Conclusao: Policia timorense precisa muito aprender democracia.
Disillusioned with politics and governance in East Timor, Loro Foho reflects on the future implications that such an act against democracy may have, especially for the younger population. In a post [pt] on the Timor Lorosae Nação blog:
Liberdade para os criminosos, repressão para o Povo, é o lema que nos parece estar a ser seguido pelos governantes.
A libertação de Martenes Bere, que liderou crimes contra timorenses, a punição de estudantes que pacifica e justamente (felizmente já libertados) pediam o fim da impunidade reinante em Timor-Leste, a política insana da AMP persistindo em duvidar da nossa clareza de análise, levam-nos a manter o sentimento de que urgente se torna reconquistar os valores que fizeram de nós Gente Respeitável. (…)
A realidade Mundial que muitos ainda não perceberam, flui na direcção da Justiça, da Verdade, do Desenvolvimento e Integridade dos Povos. Sabemos que a nossa luta flui na direcção certa, e é comum à luta de qualquer povo que se sinta injustiçado e descriminado. Fomos afastados e perseguidos, mas isso já é para nós a força da nossa da razão.
É previsível que os grandes senhores das cadeiras do poder dominante se irão gloriar futuramente de nos terem transformado num povo desprezível, cujos filhos irão cultuar o roubo, a mentira, a repressão… não nos bastando a cultura deixada no tempo das milícias desumanas e cruéis, eis os exemplos de uma política que facilita a impunidade a quem matou e destruiu massivamente, e que nos rouba a dignidade da justiça.
The release of Martene Bere, who led crimes against Timorese, the punishment of students (fortunately already released) who peacefully and fairly called for an end to impunity in Timor-Leste, the insane policy of the AMP [Parliamentary Majority Alliance] insisting on casting doubt on our ability for clear analysis leading us to maintain a sense that it is urgent to regain the values that made us respectable people. (…)
The world reality that many have not yet realized, flows in the direction of Justice, Truth, Integrity and the Development of People. We know that our struggle flows in the right direction, and that it is as common as the struggle of any people who feel wronged and discriminated against. We were put away and persecuted, but that is for us the strength of our reason.
It is expected that the great lords of the seats in the dominant power will boast in future about having made us despicable people, whose children will worship the theft, lies, repression… as if the culture left by inhumane and cruel militia times wasn't enough, these are examples of a policy that facilitates impunity for those who have killed and destroyed on a massive scale, and who rob us of the dignity of justice.
This sequence of events has put the first democracy of the millennium in jeopardy and once again shown that a path still needs to be made for the true self-determination of the Timorese people, including a fair mourning needed for Justice before Reconcilliation. Ivete de Oliveira shares the tragic story of her father, Manuel Magalhaes, who was the leader of the CNRT in Bobonaro District during the Indonesian occupation. He was killed on Sept. 9, 1999, at a lagoon near Maliana:
(…) He fought with all his heart and he did not get to experience how independence is like. is justice too big to ask?
Till today I still wonder how and where exactly my father was killed. We have never found the body because it was hacked to pieces and thrown into the sea.
Few years ago the serious crime unit collected the evidence from our family, which was the remaining of my father’s clothes on the day he was killed. Since then we have not heard any progress of the investigation.
This is just a story from one person and I could not speak for everyone but I strongly believe victims will say justice needs to be done in order for us to move on.  We shouldn't just forget the past because past is what has brought us to where we are today.
An online petition implores “the United Nations institutions to take all necessary action to establish an international criminal tribunal to bring those responsible for the grave violations of international law in East Timor to justice without further delay”. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has already reacted in an open letter to the President of the Democratic Republic of East Timor.
A mosaic of rocks written and painted by residents in Port Phillip to send condolences to the people of Suai. From suaimediaspace.ning.com
A previous post on Global Voices with an interview with Jen Hughes from Suai Media Space highlights a video-documentary with a dramatization of the genocide in the Church of Suai. This post is the last of a series to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the popular referendum in East Timor, which led to the territory's internationally recognized independence. In the first post we highlighted the support of the international community for the freedom of East Timor. In the second, we interviewed Abe Barreto Soares who is one of the organizers of the celebration events for solidarity taking place in East Timor in August and September 2009. The third post amplifies Timorese bloggers’ celebrations while questioning and comparing the current and the past status of the Nation. In the fourth post we amplified the debate on the draft Land Law, and among other things, its implications for community lands.

author: Sara Moreira


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Ecuador: Ombudspersons Needed in National Newspapers · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

According to Xavier Flores, only one newspaper in Ecuador employs an ombudsperson [es] to provide this service to the readers, which according to him, is especially needed in the country.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Egypt: Iraq vs Syria  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian Chronicles discusses the current standoff between Syria and Iraq: “As Arabs we know that for time to time the Syrian-Iraqi relations go from bad to worse.”

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Lebanon: Touffar’s New Song  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blogger Rami Zurayk pays tribute to a new song by Touffar – his favourite Arab rap band.


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Macedonia, Bulgaria: Days of Mourning After the Lake Ohrid Shipwreck · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Macedonian government has declared September 6 a national Day of Mourning for the victims of the tragic boat accident on Lake Ohrid, which took place on Saturday, claiming the lives of 15 persons, tourists from Bulgaria. The editor of the Macedonian platform Blogeraj summarized [MKD] the reactions of some of the users:
The ship Ilinden, which was under jurisdiction of the Ohrid Port Authority, sunk while taking tourists along the route between Ohrid and St. Naum. The ships Galeb and Aleksandrija were passing nearby and aided in the rescue efforts.
I wonder how the media dare show such footage from the disaster site [including bodies of the drowned floating under the surface]. Some Macedonian journalists are out of control… Do penalties for unethical behavior even exist? Where’s their humanity?
May the shipwreck victims rest in peace. We wish the survivors speedy recovery, both from their physical injuries and from the horrors they've experienced.
In addition, Refleksii expressed sadness and shame [MKD], fearing that the disaster struck due to incompetence and a lack of enforcement of the laws by the state.
Speaking from her experience as a licensed tourist guide, Vasilka Dimitrovska pointed out that overcrowding of boats [MKD] was not uncommon on Lake Ohrid. She noted:
No improvisation is allowed in the world of tourism. The basic difference between a tourist and an adventurer is that the former pays in advance to make sure his arrangement is safe and without any dramatic meanderings from their vacation plans.
Media expert Sead Dzigal wrote [MKD] on the Comminications blog from the shores of Lake Ohrid:
The media acted as organs of ministries, spokespersons, state services and other centers of power. One could only sadly watch the ridiculous attempts by these ORGANS to line up in the behaviorist race with the human capacity of the audience to synthesize and organize the information in their heads, as they relentlessly pumped announcements and statements which needed to amnesty every freakin’ institution from responsibility.
Even though the sorry hulk of a ship (made in 1924, when Hitler started writing Mein Kampf) had all the permits and inspections by our “state services,” even though it loaded passengers over the allowed capacity, and even though it had two life belts [MKD] on board. Nobody was responsible for that. Everybody absolved themselves with a jinx and continued minding their business and watching football. If there are indeed charges pressed against the “perpetrators” (the skipper and his first mate [MKD]), then responsibility has to be demanded by their “institutional backers and enablers.” Nobody raised that issue. The Public Broadcasting Service acted as a communist bulletin documenting the trips of the individual ministers to the site and their statements of condolence. It certainly is a service, but not a public one. It only serves the authorities, no matter who runs the administration, all these years. Such a convention of ministers on the screen can only be understood as brutal political PR. If some public official has competencies in the matter, then they should do their job, and inform the public through the proper channels, like a spokesperson. Otherwise, why pose on TV as a “benevolent onlooker of the tragedy.” Only one person who actually participated in the rescue efforts (a lady) was interviewed, all those who jumped in the water to help the victims remain anonymous. But, we were treated to numerous statements by the saddened ministers, even though the only concrete action by the one with competencies in the case was to call experts from Croatia to aid the investigation.
I (personally) assume that this is due to omnipresent corruption and reliance on political connections: if you give a person the right to squeeze profits at will, then even the loss of human life is cheap to such businessmen. Therefore, either by boat, airplane, food or medicine, tomorrow any citizen of this country can fall victim to the legal and moral decay.
Earlier, several boating accidents on Lake Ohrid claimed lives and limb of several Macedonian citizens during the last few months, without political consequences or effect on the local public officials. This time, Macedonian Minister of Transport and Communications offered his resignation immediately after the incident.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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