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Libya: Al Jazeera Cameraman Dies in Ambush · Global Voices
Omar Chatriwala

This post is a part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
An Al Jazeera cameraman, Ali Hassan Al Jaber from Qatar, was killed on 12 March in Libya, after a reporting team for the Arabic-language broadcaster was ambushed near the town of Benghazi. The news sparked an outpouring of emotion and support on Twitter for the slain cameraman.
Wadah Khanfar, the director general of the Al Jazeera Network, announced the death in a broadcast saying, “The network will not be silent after the death of our cameraman.” He said they would seek to prosecute the perpetrators.
One of the earliest tweets of the news was from Rawya Rageh, an Al Jazeera reporter:
@RawyaRageh: Dir of Al Jazeera Network says ambush that killed @AJArabic cameraman came after unprecedented campaign against network by #Gaddafi #Libya
A photo of the deceased was shared by @Ammr who works for Al Jazeera in Qatar:
Ali Hassan Al Jaber
@ammr: RT @Halawala: Allah yr7am Ali Hassan AlJaber, Qatari photographer martyred in Libya rest in peace http://yfrog.com/h2h9snqj
رحم الله شهيدنا علي حسن جابر
Al Jabber is unfortunately not the first Al Jazeera employee to be killed while reporting.
Says Nashwa Nasreldin, a producer for sister network Al Jazeera English (AJE):
@nashwanasreldin: Allah yir7amak ya Ali. Now ur photo will join the others on the wall of #aljazeera HQ in doha& ur family join the others who lost loved ones
@nashwanasreldin: Their names are etched on a memorial outside the building &a small museum houses their rescued belongings. #aljazeera Gone in seconds.
@nashwanasreldin: There is a small community of wives&children who meet in doha at #alJazeera events. Each has lost a husband/father who worked there. Tragic.
Abdullah Mussa, a producer for AJE currently in Libya (and a friend of mine), adds:
@abdullahmussa:  #aljazeera camera man shot dead in #Libya. Last spoke to him at breakfast this morning, he calmed me down and said don't worry #aja #aje
A day earlier, Mussa had posted a link to an AJE report from Libya, saying “The moment I nearly lost my life… full uncut video of what happened to be released once I am out of Libya and have time to edit it…”
@AJEnglish: Al Jazeera employee killed in Libya: Network cameraman shot dead in Benghazi. http://aje.me/er5BZY
The slain cameraman was a Qatari national. Mohammed bin Hamad, the son of Qatar's ruling emir, weighed in on Twitter saying:
@MbinH: Ali Al Jaber, through his camera and his bravery, brought us images of the reality of what was going on in Libya. #RIP #AliAlJaber
Mussa also tweeted:
@abdullahmussa: Crowds in #Benghazi chant: with our souls with our blood, we'll protect you #Aljazeera. #aja #aje
Support from global colleagues
As word of the killing continues to spread, more come to Al Jazeera's defense, including these international journalists:
@nirrosen: condolences to al Jazeera's brave reporters on their terrible loss today. moving images now of Ben Ghazi masses showing support for Jazeera
@NickKristof: Al Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan Al Jabir was murdered today in eastern Libya. Hats off to his courage, and RIP.
@kevglobal: RT @SCClemons: Saluting @AJEnglish & @AJArabic murdered photographer Ali Hassan Al-Jaber. Tears from Wadah Khanfar. http://bit.ly/gkNzZE
The network, and those who knew him, are sharing more details about Al Jaber, and how he died…
@AJELive: Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley in Benghazi: Al Jaber was hit by 3 shots, and was wounded through heart; then died in hospital http://aje.me/eqGe2F
@AJELive: Al Jaber, a Qatari national, was born in 1955 and received 2 degrees in cinematography from Academy of Arts in Cairo. http://aje.me/eorppC
@Dima_Khatib: Yes I did know Ali Al Jaber when I worked for Al Jazeera in Doha. A very good-hearted man. A very respectful and respectable colleague.
@Dima_Khatib: Thank you all for condolences & solidarity with Al Jazeera cameraman Ali Al Jaber, a great professional but also head of family in Qatar
UPDATE: A funeral was held for Al Jaber later that night in Benghazi. Evan Hill, an AJE web producer, shot this  video of the emotional scene:
This post is a part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

author: Omar Chatriwala


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Malaysia: Netizens criticize ‘insensitive’ comic strip · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Malaysian netizens are criticizing a comic strip published by a newspaper depicting a Japanese TV character fleeing from a tsunami wave.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


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Myanmar: Building of dams to defeat rebels · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Shan Herald quotes from green groups which describe the plan of the Myanmar government to build seven dams in the country as part of the junta strategy to defeat rebel groups fighting for independence.


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Myanmar: Fishing at a no-fishing lake · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Blogger dawn-1o9 posts a picture of a person fishing in Inya Lake in Myanmar. Fishing is not allowed on this lake.


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Myanmar: Issues discussed by parliament · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

State media New Light of Myanmar has published the transcript of the first regular session of Myanmar's parliament. According to the report, Myanmar has five newspapers, 170 journals, and 182 magazines which are being published daily, weekly and monthly with over 300,000 copies of newspapers in circulation everyday


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Myanmar: Strike at shoe factory · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Democratic Voice of Burma has a report on the strike staged by 1,500 workers of a shoe factory in Myanmar. Workers reportedly earn only $US0.70 for a 12-hour day.


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Myanmar: The Irrawaddy website hacked  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Independent Myanmar media website The Irrawaddy was hacked this weeked. A notice on its frontpage: “The website was hacked this morning and a number of fake articles were posted on our English-language homepage.”


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Peru: Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Affect Peruvians · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

This post is part of our special coverage on the Japan Earthquake 2011.
The earthquake that struck Japan on March 11th, 2011, affected other parts of the world as well.
Peru has a large community of citizens living in Japan. According to estimates published online [es], there are about 60,000 Peruvian citizens, mostly of Japanese descent, living in the Asian country. That is why many Peruvians are worried about how the earthquake may have affected their family and friends.
People in the city of Fukuoka, Japan watch the latest news about the earthquake. Photo by Luis Jou García, Flickr user LuisJouJR. (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The blog Huaral en línea [es] has enabled a communication link for those who are worried:
Si tienes familiares en Japón y quieres comunicarte con ellos, o a lo mejor eres tu uno de nuestros compatriotas que se encuentra en el lugar del desastre, huaralenlinea.com [h]a creado esta sección donde puedes escribirles aquí e informar de cómo esta la situación por allá.
The blog Poder político tells different stories [es] about Peruvians that live there or have relatives living there:
Aunque no se reportó ningún peruano fallecido, cientos de compatriotas, de los 60 mil que residen en Japón, enviaron dramáticos mensajes a través de redes sociales informando al resto del mundo sobre su situación.
[…]
El embajador Juan Carlos Capuñay señaló que hasta el momento no se han registrado compatriotas entre los fallecidos.
Veintiocho peruanos que residen en la zona norte de Sendai, ciudad donde fue el epicentro del terremoto de 8,9 grados que azotó el último viernes Japón, no han podido ser contactados por la embajada del Perú en Tokio.
Even though there are no reports of any Peruvians killed [in the earthquake], hundreds of fellow countrymen, of the 60 thousand living in Japan, sent dramatic messages using social networks informing the rest of the world about their situation.
[…]
Ambassador Juan Carlos Capuñay pointed out that up to now there are no Peruvians among the casualties.
Twenty-eight Peruvians living in Northern Sendai, the epicenter of the 8.9 degree earthquake that struck Japan last Friday, couldn't be contacted by the Peruvian embassy in Tokyo.
J Carlos Villacorta, the blogger at Traxxo [es], shares some tweets and his observations about the earthquake:
Arranco a escribir este post con lo que ha pasado en los últimos 10 minutos desde que he encendido mi computadora hasta ahora. ¿La noticia? El terremoto en Japón ¿Las fuentes? Twitter y Popurls.
[…]
Twitter de lejos se ha convertido en la mejor fuente de noticias en tiempo real. Las noticias ya no las buscamos, ellas llegan a nosotros.
I start writing this post with the events of the last 10 minutes since I've switched on my computer until now. The news? The earthquake in Japan. The sources? Twitter and Popurls.
[…]
By far, Twitter has become the best source of news in real time. We don't look for the news anymore, they come to us.
Miguel Higa, from the blog Miguel Higa 7 minioblog [es], lists sites providing information and some recommendations for netizens:
Si siguen los hashtags #terremoto , #japon , #tsunami y otros, a tener cuidado. Mucha gente irresponsable haciendo comentarios irrelevantes y noticias sin confirmar. Si leen algún RT, fíjense quien es la fuente original, para saber si es un medio reconocido y confiable.
Silvia Osorio, on her self-named blog, posts testimonies [es] of Peruvians living in Japan. While Percy, from the blog Lima era una fiesta [es] tells us about his concerns for his family:
El teléfono sonó a las 2 de la mañana, lo dejé sonar un rato (no quería levantarme) pero la sensación de culpa, de no atender el teléfono a sabiendas que es una emergencia, algo urgente o una mala noticia, me obligó a hacerlo.
Contesté. Era mi padre. Era una llamada de Japón. “Te llamo porque ha habido un terremoto, bien fuerte, se ha sentido bien
[…]
Ahora me preocupan mis amigos, algunos de ellos, acaban de tener  niños. Algunos de ellos viven muy cerca de la costa de Japón. Espero que  se encuentren bien, que todo no haya pasado de un susto.
The phone rang at 2 in the morning, I left it ringing for a while (I  didn't want to get up) but the feeling of guilt for not answering the  phone knowing it was an emergency, an urgent matter or bad news, made me  do it.
I picked up. It was my father. A phone call from Japan. “I'm calling  you because there has been an earthquake, very severe, it was very  severe here, but we are alright, your mom, your aunt, your sister,  everybody is fine,” he told me.
[…]
Now I'm worried about my friends, some of them have become parents  recently. Some of them live very close to the coastline in Japan. I hope  they are OK, that it may all be no more than a scare.
Finally, Marita de Fátima Layme del Solar, from the blog Ingeniería Civil [es] leaves us with a reflection:
Y por ultimo me pregunto qué hubiera pasado si es hubiese  sucedido en las cos[t]a de nuestro país. Eso que Japón es un país  preparado para este tipo de desastres al contrario que Perú no lo es, en  que “CATÁSTROFE” se hubiera convertido el Perú.
This post is part of our special coverage on the Japan Earthquake 2011.

author: Gabriela García Calderón


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Peru: The Peruvian Amazon · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

This post is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon and Global Development 2011.
The Amazon
The Peruvian Amazon is almost always in the national news, but not always for the right reasons. The area has many environmental problems, including pollution, logging, the plundering and loss of flora and fauna and finally, desertification. But what does the Amazon mean to Peru and, in turn, Peru to it?
Peru is classified as an Andean country, yet the Amazon jungle takes up more than 60% of the country. And its reach was once far greater, between 13-16% of the total size of the Amazon. During colonial times, the viceroyalty of Peru continued to lose land with the advance of the Portuguese, resulting in the treaties of Tordesillas and San lldefonso. The creation of new regions, such as New Granada and Río de la Plata, also affected the size of the Peruvian Amazon. Further territory was lost during wars fought against Gran Colombia, Colombia and Ecuador. A further blow was dealt during the Acre war, between Brazil and Bolivia, in which Peru’s borders were moved, violating terms set out in the earlier treaties.
Despite the large presence of the Amazon, only 13% of Peruvians live there, while 30% of Peruvians live in Lima, on the coast. A large percentage of the Peruvian population are descendants from more than 60 existing Amazon ethnicities, speaking a range of languages, yet for the large majority, the Peruvian Amazon is an unknown and exotic place.
Lima – Iquitos, 13 by Cyberjuan on Zooomr
For those indigenous communities who have inhabited the Amazon for the last 12,000 years the jungle is far from unknown. They have a vast knowledge of the terrain and have adapted successfully to their environment and its resources. It is almost laughable to speak of Franciso de Orellana’s “discovery” of the Amazon, an event that can be seen as the beginning of the occupation of indigenous land and the riches that they offered.
Since the Inca Empire attempts have been made to conquer the people of the Amazon and the Antisuyu, the eastern part of the once Inca Empire, with results that are still disputed today. But it was the arrival of Catholic missionaries during the Spanish conquest, under Jesuit and Franciscan supervision that, along with exploration of the jungle, brought Christianity to the Amazon’s indigenous people and occupation. With the beginnings of independence and consolidation of territory in the region, occupation of the Amazon zone became less important until the middle of the XIX century when the government of Castilla once again began to colonise the region, in particular the central jungle.
Colonisation of the jungle had a brief rest bite during Peru’s war with Chile, but started up again soon after at the beginning of the XX century. This time, however, it was driven by two principle aims: finding routes through the jungle to navigable rivers and use of the Amazon’s resources both in the central jungle and in the low lands, where rubber fever had taken hold.
Government interest in the area remained intermittent (for example, Fernando Belaúnde and his “March towards the East”) until the 1970s with the discovery of oil in Loreto. The oil boom lasted until the end of the decade. Nevertheless the exploration for oil has not stopped and with numerous oil wells in operation, a future oil boom in the area is predicted.
What this brief history of the Peruvian Amazon shows is that the area has always been seen as a free-for-all, a territory without an owner, ripe for colonisation and exploited on a whim. The original inhabitants of the Amazon have practically no rights, especially with regard to land ownership (this being one of the reasons behind the Bagua clashes in 2009), even in the eyes of their own government. Long-term mining and oil extraction in the area have failed to benefit the local population. In short, people do not know all there is to know and all they should know about the Amazon.
Pampa Michi, 13 by Cyberjuan on Zooomr
But news on the Peruvian Amazon is not all bad. There is a great deal of potential and resources that, if wisely used, could bring great benefits not only to the communities that live there but also to the country as a whole. According to Wikipedia, the Peruvian Amazon is home to the second largest variety of bird species in the world. And is a habitat for one of the largest collections of butterflies and ferns. Four of Peru’s national reserves are found in the Amazon as well as three national parks and nature reserves.
The blog, Perú Hoy [es], posts a newspaper article explaining the origin, in an ongoing study, of this great biodiversity.
la región amazónica de América del Sur es, probablemente, la de mayor biodiversidad en el planeta y esa riqueza de especies es más antigua de lo que   pensaban hasta ahora los científicos, de acuerdo con uno de los   artículos que se enfoca en el lento levantamiento de la Cordillera de   los Andes. […]  se remonta a más de 65,5 millones de años
It is also essential to mention the Amazon River, the deepest, longest and most extensive river in the world and collector of water in the immense basin to which it gives its name. Despite the rush by many to vote it one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the daily reality is that the average Peruvian is blind to the Amazon and what lies within, and government policy does little to encourage otherwise. Juan Ochoa comments on this in his blog [es]:
hemos planteado, en este espacio, el necesario acercamiento a las  realidades culturales de nuestros hermanos amazónicos. Que la selva no  sea un agregado del Perú, un acápite, un bosquecillo poblado por  analfabetos tiraflechas. No. Aquí planteamos que nuestra selva sea  considerada la mitad más uno del Perú, que el río Amazonas se convierta  en el símbolo peruano del mundo, que las culturas étnicas selvícolas  sean apreciadas no con ojos occidentales y que el Perú se enorgullezca  de ser tan amazónico como patria del pisco, del ceviche y de los Incas.
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }  And as César Álvarez Falcón, in his blog, states [es],
La  gran paradoja del Perú radica en el hecho de que es un país con gran  riqueza natural y cultural, y a la vez presenta una secular pobreza  estructural en todos sus aspectos. El  Desarrollo Sostenible no debe ser ajeno a la realidad, porque la  actividad extractiva, sin responsabilidad social ni ambiental, asociada a  una gran biodiversidad, puede provocar impactos negativos con efectos  no solo en la degradación de los recursos naturales sino en la  disminución crítica de las condiciones de vida de la población.
Iquitos – Yurimaguas, 158 by Cyberjuan on Zooomr
This post is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon and Global Development 2011.
To write this post I was in part guided by “The Peruvian Amazon” by Alberto Chirif y Carlos Mora, published in the XII volume of the History of Peru, published by Juan Mejía Baca in 1980.
The map in this post comes from the blog giselamf05. The other photos are mine.

author: Juan Arellano


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Portugal: Scraping By But Making Noise · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Yesterday's protest of the Geração à Rasca (“Scraping By” Generation) in Portugal drew 150.000 to the streets, in a burst of non-partisan, non-branded, authentic citizen power. Flickr is brimming with photos from the Azores to Porto, to Lisbon.

author: Janet Gunter


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Puerto Rico: Another senator convicted of corruption · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Historian and blogger Ivonne Acosta reflects [es] on the recent conviction in the federal district court in Puerto Rico of the pro-statehood senator Hector Martínez on charges of corruption.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Puerto Rico: Professors debate student strike · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Blogger and law student Mariana Iriarte comments [es] on the debate among professors of the University of Puerto Rico on the effectiveness of the strategies proposed by students as part of their protest against the imposition of tuition fees.


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Puerto Rico: Virtual campaign against violence · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Lawyer, feminist activist and blogger Verónica RT has launched a virtual campaign through her blog [es] and Facebook [es]that documents every case of women murdered by their partners or ex partners in Puerto Rico. This year, already 8 women have been murdered.


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Russia: Social Media Monitoring Tools · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Katya Trubilova of Social Media Lessons From Russia and the UK writes about social media monitoring tools produced in Russia and Ukraine.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Singapore: Mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Blogger We believe in Second Chances gathers the stand of Singapore political parties on the current policy of imposing a mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking.


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Sri Lanka: Pictures Of New Rupees Bills · Global Voices
Rezwan

Forex Power blog posts pictures of the newly introduced Sri Lankan rupees bills.

author: Rezwan


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Ukraine, Japan: Fukushima Discussion at Pripyat.com · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Forum users of Pripyat.com (RUS), a portal devoted to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, are examining news reports and discussing the technical aspects of the situation at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and the response to it on the ground, pointing out some of the differences between the current disaster and the one in Chernobyl (RUS, 16 pages, 312 posts so far). Among other things, they are attempting to figure out causes of the March 12 explosion and to predict its consequences, despite the lack of reliable information.


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Uzbekistan: The Enemies of the Internet are Known · Global Voices
Ekaterina

Symbol of the World Day Against Cyber Censorship, Reporters Without Borders
Yesterday, 12 March was the World Day Against Cyber-Censorship. Launched by Reporters Without Borders in 2008, the initiative is intended to promote the idea of Internet without restrictions and accessible to everyone.
Recently Reporters Without Borders have published a list of countries, that are considered to be The Enemies of the  Internet. The list includes 10 countries: Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The Internet censorship and persecution of bloggers is usual in these countries. There is also a list of Countries (16) Under Surveillance where freedom of expression online is under risk and there are some attempts of the governments to control the Internet.
The map of Cyber-censorship, march12.rsf.org
Thus, the World Day Against Cyber-Censorship initiative is an attempt to attract attention of civil society to limitation of the freedom of speech in online media.
RSF reports:
The year 2010 firmly established the role of social networks and the Internet as mobilisation and news transmission tools, especially during the Arab spring. New and traditional media have proven to be increasingly complementary. Meanwhile, repressive regimes have intensified censorship, propaganda and repression, keeping 119 netizens in jail. Issues such as national security – linked to the WikiLeaks publications – and intellectual property – are challenging democratic countries’ support to online free speech.
For instance, in Uzbekistan – one of the countries mentioned by RSF as an Enemy of the Internet, all opposition websites and sites that report on real conditions in the country are banned. Among them are not only websites of local and Russian news agencies, such as ferghana.ru, Neweurasia.net, Uzmetronom.com, Eurasianet.org, but also international ones like BBC.com  and  Aljazeera.net.
This is what Uzbekistan-based users see when trying to access neweurasia.net’s URL directly:
Screen-capture when accessing neweurasia.net, image from neweurasia.net
Also, browser requests are often replaced with other unrelated requests (www.msn.com, for example).
On March 11, 2011 RSF published an article on Internet access and online journalism in Uzbekistan. The RSF researchers came to the conclusion:
As long as Uzbek authorities continue to demonstrate a growing interest  in controlling the Net, and there is no civil society truly capable of  resisting them – even online – or any significant international  pressures, prospects look dark for freedom of expression in Uzbekistan’s  cyberspace
Cyber censorship in Uzbekistan includes not only news outlets but also social networks, blogging platforms, mail services, etc. For this reason many Uzbek users find tools (proxy-servers) that enable them to securely circumvent this censorship. Many understand that the simplest way to circumvent cyber-censorship is to use a browser proxy. Many are free of charge and allow access to most of the blocked Internet resources through a browser.
The most popular and user-friendly browser proxies are Your Freedom, Tor, HotSpotShield, Psiphon.
More detailed information about circumvention tools, including those mentioned in this message, can be found at sesawe.net .
Video lessons on the configuration and use of proxy-servers with subtitles in different  languages are available here.

author: Ekaterina


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What Yunus Means For Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

An Ordinary Citizen writes about the possible impacts of removal of the Bangladeshi Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus from Grameen Bank.


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Afghanistan: Civilian deaths rise, most attributed to Taliban · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Civilian deaths in Afghanistan rose by 15 per cent in 2010 to 2,777 killed, of which 2,080 (75 per cent) were attributed to insurgents, reports Nick Fielding.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Afghanistan: Stinging critique of development aid  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nick Fielding reviews a former World Bank and French development agency director's stinging critique of international donors’ mistakes in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2010, emphasizing the lack of a coherent strategy and clear goals.


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Africa: Database of Social Conflicts  Launched · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A database of Social Conflicts in Africa has been launched, Mac-Jordan reports: “The Social Conflict in Africa Database (SCAD) will provide information on over 6,300 social conflict events across Africa, including strikes, riots, protests, coups and communal violence dating from 1990 to 2009.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Africa: Increasing Female Participation in Science and Technology · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Gamel looks at practical ways to increase female participation in Science and Technology in Africa: “I disagree with attempts to “level the playing field” through the practice of admitting females into science and technology programmes, in high schools and universities, at lower grades than males.”


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Africa: Of Africans and misogyny · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Lady Jaye discusses Africans and misogyny: “It would seems Africans (yes, yes, I know I am generalizing) – both men and women – hate women. I can't think of any other explanations for it.


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Angola: Music with identity · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mário Rui Silva takes us through the musical life of Angolan legend Carlos Lermartina: In 2005 came his fourth record “Frutas do Chão são Coisas Nossas” (Fruit from the ground belongs to us) a “tribute to the life style of the Angolan people and a special focus on the country’s traditions and culture” as he expressed himself at the time. The music includes samba, rumba, lamento and cisose.”


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Argentina: The Buenos Aires Flea Market (Photos) · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Allie Lazar in Qué Sé Yo, Argentina? (What do I know, Argentina?), shares photos of a Buenos Aires flea market (“Mercado de las Pulgas” in Spanish).

author: Silvia Viñas


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Azerbaijan: Great People’s Day a pointless adventure? · Global Voices
Pervin Muradli

In a critical post Analoqu olmayan bloq :) [AZ] comments on the 11 March pro-democracy protests staged by youth in Baku, capital of of Azerbaijan. The blog says that the event failed to achieve its goals and might actually have pushed the government to tighten its grip even more. It concludes that 11 March proved to be a pointless event organized by Azerbaijanis living abroad who were unaware of the reality and too caught up in their own utopian ideas.

author: Pervin Muradli


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Bahrain: Letter from a Blogger, as Saudi Troops Enter · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

This post is part of our special coverage on Bahrain Protests 2011.
Hundreds of troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates arrived in Bahrain on Monday, March 14 under the auspices of the Gulf Co-Operation Council to help the kingdom control a wave of anti-government protests that began on February 14. No one knows how the troops will be deployed, but human rights organizations and numerous foreign governments have urged Bahrain to exercise restraint. Protesters are still camping out on the Pearl Roundabout, where there have previously been serious incidents of violence and at least eight deaths. Adding to the trouble is strong sectarian tension between Shiites (majority) and Sunnis (minority) that several power brokers seek to magnify.
Tanks drive into Bahrain from Saudi Arabia on invitation by Bahrain's government. By mtradwan © Demotix (14/3/11)
Monday in Manama
The following text is from an email sent to Global Voices by a blogger who has asked to remain anonymous. It is republished with permission.
Let's put it this way, so far it is not very clear what is happening. Yes, last night there was tear gas and rubber bullets all over pearl roundabout (not square!). Today, the town seems extremely quiet. They have blocked a good chunk of the city, and lots of people have not been able to go to work. I went out for a little cruise around town earlier today. In grocery stores, people are stocking up goods. In the booze shop too!
Many students were dismissed from school. Some schools have the week off, while others schools were forced by the ministry of education to stay open and have students attend classes. As for the university, a minor clash involving tear gas etc. occurred within one. I do not know what happened exactly.
The media is not doing a very good job here at alerting us to what's going on… And now on TV, there are troops coming in on the Saudi Causeway in tanks, waving hello and showing the peace sign! And then there are intervals of the traditional dance with the Saudi King, and Bahrain's King and ruling family, and that apparently is the traditional war song! It did not happen today, but they keep repeating clips of it.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters on Sunday March 13, 2011. Photo by Sean Carberry © Demotix
What will happen next?
It's all very odd!!! Tomorrow everyone has the day off. The guys at the roundabout asked their wives and kids to go home, and many are wrapped in – I do not know what you call it – it's like ‘coffin’ cloth or this canvas they use here to wrap dead bodies. Maybe those are the ones who would rather die for a good cause and have nothing else in life, I really do not know. I think it's insane and that everyone should just go home and stop going to the roundabout. I hope they do not get shot, but chances are bad if they resist and do not clear the area.
Gas stations have gone on strike, and there are warnings that ‘electricity might be switched off’. Other warnings and rumors included ‘Dear sunni's if you approach a cop or a tank, you might be shot’. Another warning is not ro go out at night in groups, or else there is a risk of being shot.
And of course, the jokes are out too… Saudi troops are not heading to pearl roundabout, they are going to Exhibition Road!! (where the prostitutes and cheap pubs are).
Today at the Pearl Roundabout there are people giving their speeches, but it is quiet and fine. My friends walked around, the people there have always been friendly and inviting, for tea, coffee, food…etc… Only the media shows them in a different way. I also went there earlier on, and it felt like a carnival.
The pro-government people had to do their thing around the clock at the roundabout too, which is very close to the Royal Court, praising the King the family…etc.
People are glued to the TV hoping for something, but there is nothing, except stupid fluff like ‘We love you King Hamad’, and ‘We know that you don't sleep if we're awake,’ and tears and drama and thank you for sending those troops to save our lives!! There is nothing, no words, coming out from the Government or King or Prime Minister. We do not know what is coming next. Thank God for BlackBerry Messenger, Twitter and things like that where we can keep track of what people are actually seeing.
This post is part of our special coverage on Bahrain Protests 2011.

author: Solana Larsen


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Botswana: Maun International Poetry Festival 2011 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Maun International Poetry Festival 2011 in Botswana is just around the corner: “Performance poetry is taking Botswana by storm and if you are a fan like I am then on the 26th of March all your roads will lead you to Maun for the inaugural Maun International Poetry Festival 2011.”


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Brazil: Reactions to Egyptian and Middle Eastern Crises · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Once Egypt's 2011 revolution concluded, the Brazilian blogosphere was filled  with analysis, celebrations and prognoses  for the future. In fact, from January 25 the whole world  followed the  course  of the conflict in Egypt, awaiting the fall of then President Hosni  Mubarak, which finally  arrived  on  11 February after weeks of protest and  32  years of dictatorial government.
Brazilian blogger reactions
Georges Bourdoukan had no doubts [pt] that the demonstrations, which gathered thousands, maybe millions all over Egypt, could be called a revolution:
Plinth reads: "Bye Mubarak!" Cartoon by Carlos Latuff, available under Creative Commons license.
Um milhão de  pessoas protestando já não é mais manifestação, mas revolução.
Uma  revolução que não necessita utilizar armas para se fazer ouvir.
The crackdown on the protestors was extreme, to which Lucas Santos said [pt]:
Por esse número elevadíssimo de agentes de coerção interna, vê-se que o  maior inimigo de Mubarak é o próprio povo egípcio.
Not only the Egyptian people were targets of the repression, but also international journalists. Danilo Marques reported [pt] about Brazilian journalists that were arrested and ill-treated [in Egypt]:
houve relatos de ataques a vários jornalistas, que foram  agredidos,  abordados, um esfaqueado e o caso dos jornalistas  brasileiros, como Corban  Costa da TV Brasil. “Eu passei 18 horas em uma sala escura e sem  janela. Achava que ia ser executado a qualquer momento“.
Cameraman  Gilvan  Rocha  was  another  Brazilian media arrested and assaulted [pt] in  Egypt. Journalists  were  blindfolded, bound and  abused  until  they  were released through the intervention of the  Brazilian embassy in Cairo.
Mirgon Kayser, for the blog Jornalismo B, wrote [pt] about fear, the instrument of domination of dictatorships:
Sob os pontos de vista humanitário, humanista,  democrático, é evidente  que esse processo, embora ceifando vidas,  gerando caos e tensão, trará o  alvorecer de novas sociedades nesses  países. Os regimes ditatoriais  podem ter os mais variados formatos,  mais ou menos liberdade, mais ou  menos pobreza, mais ou menos  violência. O único elemento de que nenhum  deles prescinde é o medo.  Somente através do medo, um punhado de homens  pode controlar a seu bel  prazer o destino de milhões. Tunisinos,  egípcios e iemenitas perderam  justamente aquilo que lhes tolhia, que  lhes calava: o medo.
Brazilian perspective and foreign policy
Eduardo Guimarães criticized [pt] Brazil's national media coverage of the Egypt crisis:
De repente, não mais do que de repente, os brasileiros  descobriram um país chamado Egito, suas contradições e o sofrimento do  seu povo, imposto por um regime ditatorial a que está submetido desde  1981, há exatos 30 anos, por obra e graça do ditador Mohamed Hosni  Mubarak, quem, durante esse tempo todo, só disputou eleições consigo  mesmo.
Brazilian foreign policy  has also been criticized. The Foreign Ministry has been  accused of being negligent and reticent  in the statement [pt] it sent to the Egyptian press about the  crisis  and  the repression against the people.
There  was no shortage of criticism [pt] of the American position: they were considered  the main culprits [pt] of perpetuating the  dictatorial regime [pt] of Hosni Mubarak, as was Israel, for the support they gave [pt] to the  dictator.
Professor Ubiracy de Souza Braga, at the blog Espaço Acadêmico (Academic Space) listed  the  reasons [pt] for  the  protests, analyzing  the Egyptian  social situation:
Atualmente, 80 milhões de pessoas vivem no Egito. Dois terços são jovens  com menos de 30 anos – e 90% deles estão desempregados; 40% da  população vivem com menos de dois dólares por dia. É o país árabe mais  populoso, têm liberdades políticas limitadas e graves problemas sociais,  incluindo, pobreza, desemprego, forte preconceito étnico e racial por  parte dos Estados Unidos da América – EUA, alta taxa de analfabetismo,  além de vários escândalos de corrupção administrativa.
Besides the issues  of  unemployment  and other social  problems,  Francisco  Bicudo  pointed  to [pt] the lack of freedom as another major  reason  for the upheaval in Egypt, whose  presidency  was  assumed by Hosni Mubarak in October  1981, when President  Anwar  El-Sadat was  assassinated.
After the dictator's defeat on 12 February, 2011, Leonardo Sakamoto spoke [pt] of the strategic importance of the country:
Tem um dos maiores exércitos profissionais da região,  possui localização estratégica (entre a África e a Ásia, o Índico e o  Mediterrâneo, com o canal de Suez encurtando distâncias), é – até agora –  um parceiro importante de Washington, mantendo relações cordiais com  Tel-Aviv.
What is the role  of  Islamic  groups?
One subject widely  reported in Brazil was the possible  rise  of the Muslim  Brotherhood to power – and of other  Islamic  groups  in  the Middle East – which  aroused  some  Islamophobia. The  Muslim Brotherhood is the only opposition  party to elect representatives to the Egyptian  parliament and is an undisputed  national  strength.
Hugo Albuquerque said [pt], comparing  the Egyptian  situation with the Algerian one (another  country also influenced by the revolutionary wave, whose  dictator, Abdelaziz  Bouteflika, has been in power  since  1999):
De fato, existem grupos religiosos importantes e beligerantes como a Irmandade Muçulmana no Egito e a Frente Islâmica de Salvação na Argélia, o que é um considerável combustível de risco – e o que pode, de fato, dar um caráter diferente para eventuais derrubadas dos regimes locais. Claro, isso não esgota, de modo algum, a legitimidade das reivindicações contra os regimes de Mubarak no Egito ou de Bouteflika na Argélia, mas apenas apresentam sim um fator de risco real inerente à sua eventual  (e quem sabe necessária) derrubada.
Cartoon by Carlos Latuff. Image available under Creative Commons.
The past tells the future
Georges Bourdoukan found similarities [pt] between the Egyptian revolution and the end of the Brazilian Military Dictatorship (1964-1985):
A diferença entre o  nosso 64 e o 2011 dos egípcios, é  que o mundo tornou-se muito pequeno e  como disse aquele barbudo [Karl Marx], ainda  no século 19, a história só se repete  como farsa.
Dai  porque precisamos ficar atentos para evitar os erros do passado e   avançar cada vez mais em busca de uma sociedade mais humana e mais   solidária.
Gunter Zibell pointed out [pt] possible post-Mubarak scenarios in Egypt and throughout all the [Middle East / North African] region:
- como a maioria dos regimes não foi eficaz no desenvolvimento social, surge potencial para oposição pelo lado fundamentalista; – a simpatia aos EEUU (e OTAN em geral) pode vir a ser decrescente. Note-se que raramente convulsões levam a sentimento pró-americano; – monarquias podem enfrentar problemas inéditos; – a inserção de Israel fica mais complexa;[…] – as repúblicas de maioria islâmica da ex-URSS (Cazaquistão, etc.) podem finalmente vir a se posicionar na região, pois também não são exemplos de prosperidade democrática; – Rússia pode encontrar caminhos para recuperar alguma influência;
- as  most  of  the regimes were not effective in social  development, there is potential for opposition  by fundamentalists – sympathy  towards  the US (and NATO in general) might  be  decreasing. Note  that  unrest rarely  leads  to  pro-American  sentiment – monarchies may  face  new  problems – the inclusion of  Israel  grows  more complex; […] – the majority of Muslim  republics in the  former USSR (Soviet Union – Kazakhstan, etc.) may finally  come  to  stand  in  the region because they are also not examples of  democratic  prosperity  –  Russia  may  find  ways  to  regain some influence;
Danilo Marques questioned [pt] the possible spread of the protests:
Dezoito dias não foram nada. A vontade da população era soberana. A  queda de Mubarak era apenas questão de tempo. […] Há muitos outros tiranos a serem derrubados no Oriente  Médio, na África como um todo. O exemplo de resistência egípcia deve ser  entendido por nós como um passo para outro panorama mundo, não só no  Oriente Médio, pois é uma resistência ao que existe de políticas  conservadoras, voltadas como um capacho para uma economia imperialistas e  pisoteando seus compatriotas.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Cape Verde: Country’s Development in a Year of Elections · Global Voices
João Miguel Lima

Cape Verdeans headed to the polls to vote for Members of Parliament on February 6, and granted PAICV's (African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde) leader José Maria Neves his third 5-year term as Prime Minister. Here is a recap on how bloggers perceived the events and envision the development of the country.
Political Arena's Poles
Caricature made by Jornal da Hiena in 2010 and published at Café Margoso. The author allowed the use of the image.
Since 1991, when Cape Verde adopted the multi-party system, the PAICV and the MpD (Movement for Democracy) have been the two most influential political parties. Each party ruled the country for 10 years. Carlos Veiga, member of MpD, was the main candidate facing the Prime Minister in power, José Maria Neves.
Virgilio Brandão, on the blog Terra-Longe, shared an analysis [pt] of the results, which gave PAICV MPs an absolute majority of National Assembly seats. He considered that the way candidates dealt with the results reveals a country that, in spite of all its problems, including those within the political process, made the elections a legitimate feature:
O discurso de José Maria Neves foi de quem soube ganhar, e o de Carlos Veiga de quem soube perder. Em contraponto da campanha eleitoral, as declarações destes dois líderes […], ao se conhecerem os resultados oficiosos, qualificaram o processo eleitoral.
For blogger Rony Moreira [pt], from Geração 20 J. 73, the political polarization “over the decades of MpD [rule] and the other 10 years of PAICV” was just a “languishing discussion”.
Challenges for Growth and Development
Rony Moreira looks at the country as a whole and argues [pt] on the reasons why the political event was so important:
A tarefa de governar Cabo Verde é tão grata, que muitos ainda não perceberam que o mais essencial e complexo neste processo de governação passa pela implementação dum equilíbrio frágil: como deve um país pobre, redistribuir a riqueza (produzida e doada) de forma a equilibrar a coesão social e ao mesmo tempo criar mecanismos económicos (como a infra-estruturação) que o capacita para a competição e desenvolvimento futuro.
As a candidate, José Maria Neves promised to create a minimum wage and to tackle unemployment (different estimates range from 13,1% to 20,9% [pt]), but, once elected, he postponed these measures until 2012. Edy, blogger on Blogue di Nhu Naxu, says it was reasonable [pt]:
E já agora,este apertar de cinto não tem nada de surpreendente e nada de anormal: é que é mesmo necessário baixar o défice das finanças públicas.O país está a viver acima das suas possibilidades.
On another post, Rony Moreira isn't too concerned about the unemployment rate either, as he highlights [pt] that Cape Verde is making progress, with both its positive and negative factors:
[…] a ausência de recursos matérias valiosos; estruturas de mercado deficitário [na dimensão, no tecido empresarial; alto grau de dependência de investimento e de factores externos]; taxa de crescimento de habitantes residentes [nativos e estrangeiros] e subsequente aumento da população activa; continuação de aposta na formação e qualificação dos quadros jovens […]
Informal trader in Cape Verde. Original title: "cabo verde MAYO-06". Photo by roser.gilbert and published on Flickr, under a Creative Commons license (BY-NC-ND, 2.0).
In another post, Edy believes [pt] that Cape Verde's economic situation is understandable if we take into account global events:
[…] nem sempre é possível atingir o nível de crescimento económico desejável porque um governo não consegue controlar ou prever a evolução da economia internacional, do qual estamos dependentes, para o bem e para o mal […]
João Branco, on the blog Café Margoso, wrote a post with personal considerations. He pondered that [pt] Cape Verde “is not walking towards the precipice, it isn't near total breakdown” as the opposition claimed, and nor is it “the pink-colored country the ruling party wanted to portray”.
Rony Moreira foresees challenges [pt] for the reelected Prime Minister, as solutions must be found to high unemployment rates and other national issues:
Ganha a eleição, há quem pense que esta será a mais fácil das legislaturas de Neves, e eu prevejo que seja a mais difícil e trabalhosa que o PAICV terá pela frente. Porque em 2016 alguns dos desafios terão de ser vencidos, caso da energia, educação, a redução para um dígito do desemprego e a habitação.
Democracy in Progress
Despite political preferences, Cape Verdeans expressed in the blogosphere their satisfaction with the election process. João Branco was one of those bloggers, saying he is proud [pt] of Cape Verde's 20 years of democracy:
Vinte anos. Não é nada, numa perspectiva histórica. No entanto, o país que somos hoje mostra o quanto se avançou no domínio de uma plena democratização do arquipélago e da sua sociedade. Comparem o ontem e o hoje e vejam as diferenças abismais, o que já se conquistou.
In just a few months’ time, Cape Verdeans will have to put their country under scrutiny once again, with the upcoming 2011 Presidential Elections. As political figures rethink their strategies, citizens will have another chance to practice democracy and set forth the country they envision through their vote.

author: João Miguel Lima


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China: Learning from Japan · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ministry of Tofu blogs about Chinese netizens’ reflection upon their own anti-quake measures after seeing how Japanese government and  society handled the deadly magnitude 9.0 earthquake.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Microblogs Can’t Give Us Justice · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Media Project‘s fellow, Zhang Ming argues that microblog cannot give people justice, on the other hand, it may reinforce the myth of benevolent official come to deliver justice upon people's request.


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China: Vice principle of university kills 2 and wounds 3 in fatal car accident · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Hush translates a forum post from MOP on a recent car accident in Jiangxi University, in which the vice-principal of the University killed 2 and wounded 3 people. Despite the victims’ family claim that the driver was under the influence of alcohol in the tests after the accident, local TV emphasized that there was no drunk-driving involved.


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Côte d’Ivoire: The making of a new language · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Dr. Peter Vakunta speaks to Mema Bamba about the making of a new Ivorian language, Nouchi: “Nouchi is a vernacular language, nonstandard French of sorts, spoken predominantly by the urban youth in Côte d’Ivoire.”


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Cuba: Letter to Dr. Biscet · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Your release is rightfully considered a victory for all who fight for a free Cuba and most of all, for you and your family”: Uncommon Sense writes an open letter to Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba, U.S.A.: Gross Sentence  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bloggers discuss the sentence handed down to U.S. citizen Alan Gross, who was convicted “of distributing equipment to connect to the Internet.”


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El Salvador: A Visit to the Art Museum · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Linda writes about her recent visit to the “Museo del Arte” (Art Museum) of El Salvador. She shares photos of what she saw, with information and her thoughts on the artwork.


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Ghana: Free download of Anajo Black’s Human Like You · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

MyWeku shares a link to a free music download of Anajo Black’s Human Like You: “Anajo Black is a 21 year old Ghanaian musician who says his music is influenced by Asa, Sade and Dolly Parton amongst others. His album MOMMA was released in October 2010.”


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Haiti: Election Threats  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The long-awaited Haitian election is finally scheduled to take place on March 20; the most recent political controversy involves presidential candidate Michel Martelly‘s threats to the media, accompanied by general references to grabbing power via “the streets”.  Netizens are keeping a close check on developments…
welcome2haiti posted video of Martelly, who is more popularly known as “Sweet Micky”, actually making the threats [Fr] in response to a journalist's question about his alleged unpaid debts to banks in Miami.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNfQ6z8T4yk
Martelly basically says, “Bobby, let him ask the question, the people are in the streets, the people are outside in the streets.”
Some time passes, after which he brandishes his arm, saying:
A la guerre comme à la guerre!
Dessalines’ Children was on top of the story right away, republishing the official response from the Haitian press and posting a video of comments made by former Fugees bandmember and Martelly supporter Pras Michel, who basically says [Cr] that Haiti will burn if “Sweet Micky”‘s presidential bid is unsuccessful:
Nap boule peyi-a…
The blogger comments on the clip:
If this does not illustrate the low point of Haitian political history, I don’t know what does.
Sitwayen Pou Mirlande, a blog in support of Martelly's competition, posts the same video clip, saying:
Apparently a tendency to psychological derangement  and a propensity for violent outbursts is rampant in the Hot Pink campaign. Cf: Wyclef, Sean Penn and all the other American showbiz has-beens seeking to gain publicity on the back of earth-quake ridden Haiti.
Has Haiti not seen enough destruction since January 12? Can these THUGGISH, drugged up destruction fanatics implement a RECONSTRUCTION plan? Be the judge…
Haitian presidential candidate Michel Martelly in front of thousands of supporters at a rally in capital Port au Prince. Image by Jose Guzman, copyright Demotix (25/11/2010).
The blog goes on to link to another story that paints Martelly in an unfavourable light, explaining:
During an interview with well-known Dominican investigative reporter Nuria Piera, Michel Martelly presented his vision of the future of Haitian-Dominican relations and managed, in less than two minutes, to show exactly why he would be the wrong person to formulate Haiti’s foreign policy if he were elected President.
@ZoGrann has also been watching the activity on Twitter, noting with interest the tweets of @carelpedre, a popular Haitian radio host who has openly campaigned for Martelly.
Meanwhile, three Manigat supporters have been brutally killed and tensions are rising, leading Toussaint on Haiti to surmise that it's been a “bad week for Michel ‘Sweet Micky’ Martelly”.  The blogger cites everything from the border fiasco with the DR to Jean-Bertrand Aristide's possible return as potential stumbling blocks for the presidential hopeful, saying:
These incidents do not bode well for Martelly…he should be gaining, not losing momentum.  It seems that Martelly's camp is aware of this and are reacting badly. His campaign has taken a defensive stance, with several advisers and supporters claiming that their polls show that he has a double digit lead and that the only way he could lose is by foul play from the opposition. Some have even advocated for violence if he loses.
This kind of rhetoric disappointing. It is indicative of the mindset that continues to stall Haiti's democratic process. Granted, Haiti has a history of fraudulent elections but it does not sound like Martelly's camp really believe in the process. Why participate in an election if you will only recognize the results if you win. It's true that many people are excited about Martelly's candidacy, especially in the urban areas. However,  nothing is a fait accompli in an election. The winner will be the person who receives the most votes on election day, not the person who attracts the largest crowd at rallies. I really hope that the tone of the election takes a positive turn soon.
Throwing Down The Water adds her own (non-Haitian) perspective:
Sweet Mickey gets a lot of attention and attracts youthful masses; given that Haiti is a country full of youthful masses, this means a sure victory to some. And public discussions also seem to come with a lot of peer pressure – who doesn't want to root for the captain of the football team? For the smooth-talking class president? It's the cool thing to do.
But Madame Manigat stands solidly next to the pink tornado – seeming quiet, smart and responsible. While the campaign for Martelly feels like the morning after an open bar serving nothing but cosmopolitans, the campaign for Manigat feels like drinking from a fresh cut coconut after a sweaty hike: refreshing, natural, portioned in a tenable, sustainable way.
And if there is one thing that I have learned while in Haiti, it is that this is a country of independently-minded people. You might be hearing one thing in public, but you had better believe there is a lot more going on behind the scenes.
Toussaint on Haiti maintains that even with its controversy and its flaws, this run-off election on March 20 “is the country’s best hope to move forward.”  The world is waiting to see.


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Hong Kong: Panic Over Milk Powder Shortage · Global Voices
Winne Ko

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.
Hong Kong has been facing a shortage of infant milk powder ever since December 2010, when mainland Chinese customers purchased large amounts of baby milk formula in Hong Kong and stockpiled it in preparation for the Lunar New Year break.
Local Hong Kong parents have called for intervention policies from the government, suggesting a milk powder departure tax to stop smugglers from carrying it across the border for resale.
Both Hong Kong and Chinese parents want safe baby milk formula powder. Image by Flickr user k.Akagami.
Scandals and smuggling
The root cause of the current milk powder shortage can be traced back to the notorious melamine-tainted milk scandal in 2008. Since then, scandals concerning milk safety in China have kept emerging from time to time.
Recent examples include the discovery of elevated hormone levels in infant milk in 2010 and the February 2011 scandal of cancer-causing leather chemicals in dairy products.
In order to protect their babies from poisonous milk, mainland Chinese middle class parents buy foreign baby milk powder by any means possible. Some even opt to travel to Hong Kong to purchase infant milk products.
Smugglers are taking advantage of this profit-making opportunity and actively organize “professional travelers” to hand-carry milk powder across the border for reselling. Reports have said that some mainland customers will pay an additional HKD50 (USD6) for each container of milk.
Reactions from Hong Kong parents
In the face of the formula shortage, angry Hong Kong parents organized a petition and called for the introduction of a baby milk powder departure tax in January 2011.  fionali3721 [zh] is the initiator of the campaign on the Baby Kingdom forum:
自發BK.member聯合要求政府開徵奶粉離境稅，希望引起有關人仕關注。支持者請入來留言。註明（我支持。）
每名香港離境往中國大陸人仕，只可携帶壹罐，必須已經打開食用過之任何品牌嬰幼兒奶粉 。否則嚴格徵收10倍罰則。相信有效打擊水貨分子危害香港穩定。同時嚴厲打擊現時猖狂的走私者。因為他們正在加速令到我們香港之物價提高。造成我們正在香港生活的市民百上加斤。
以群眾力量，換取BABY權益。
BK [forum] members jointly urge the government to impose a milk powder departure tax. We also want to arouse public concern on the issue. Supporters please leave a message and state: [I support]
Each individual departing for Mainland China should only be allowed to bring one can of infant formula milk powder, and it should already be opened. Otherwise a fine of ten times [the powder's value] should be charged. We believe this policy could effectively discourage smugglers and stabilize Hong Kong’s milk powder supply. The smugglers have caused serious inflation in [the cost of milk formula] in Hong Kong, adding an extra burden to Hong Kong people's living expenses.
People power to defend BABIE'S rights.
On the one hand, parents in Hong Kong feel helpless and angry about the milk shortage, one the other hand, they also sympathise with their mainland Chinese counterparts who are victims of irresponsible governance. XsQsMe from online forum Review33 has commented:
“我們很同情中國的父母，
但是也擔心由此影響到我們的正常生活。真的很痛
有個咁嘅政權，我都好心痛。千憶攪奧運又得，千憶攪神七神八又得，假蛋、sophone又造到，養多幾隻乳牛生產牛奶就唔得，由得自己國家嘅BB自生自滅，所以第三世界永遠都係第三世界！
We sympathise with the mainland parents, but also worry that our livelihoods will be affected. It’s a painful dilemma.
It’s extremely sad to live under such a political regime: spending billions on the Olympic Games and the [Chinese national] space project, producing fake products from artificial eggs to the SoPhone (modeled on the iPhone), while failing to raise enough cows for milk, leaving its babies to suffer. A Third World Country is always a Third World Country!
Mainland parents’ responses
Since infant milk is a daily necessity, parents from mainland China continue to share information and strategies on how to purchase safe milk for their babies. Green tea Chestnut Cake from Guangzhou Moms alerts about a quota in purchasing milk powder in Hong Kong and Macau:
今日的报纸新闻都在说啦，香港澳门限购奶粉了，不过说开征奶粉税应该就是不可能的事情，大家还是可以去买奶粉的，不过大家要注意哪里能买多少罐啊！
听说明治在广州这边也断货了，美赞臣跟美素也有一些断货，不过说是下周美素所有阶段的都会有货啦
Today’s newspapers have reported that both Hong Kong and Macau are imposing quotas on milk powder purchase! But milk powder tax is not a viable option. So we can still continue buying milk powder across the border, just to be aware the quantity!
Heard that the brand Meiji is also out of stock here in Guangzhou, Meadjohnson and Friso [brands] are in limited supply, hopefully Friso will have new stocks by next week.
Wenxi Mom expresses her concerns:
我们真可怜， 拿着血汗钱想给孩子买点安全的东西还买不到
The Hong Kong government has promised to stabilize the supply of infant milk powder, but the conflict between mainland and Hong Kong parents is intensifying.
Last week, on March 9, 2011, five people – three from the mainland and two from Hong Kong – were arrested for fist fighting over milk powder in Hong Kong [zh].
This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

author: Winne Ko


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India: A Poem For Japan · Global Voices
Rezwan

Raja Basu at Potpourri has this to say to the earthquake and Tsunami victim Japan: “Your ancestors faced Hiroshima bombing, and constructed a new Japan from the rubble of that devastation. Repeat that valour of your ancestors, and prove once again the resilience and buoyancy of your great nation.”


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India: Equations For Cricket World Cup · Global Voices
Rezwan

Giri at Pen The Game chalks out the equations required for the Indian cricket team to progress to the next round.


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India Renewable Energy Innovation Awards · Global Voices
Rezwan

ThinkChange India informs that the last date for applications for the “atmosfair India Renewable Energy Innovation awards” is March 27, 2011. The goal of the awards is to promote the implementation of green low-end technologies to ensure a sustainable future.


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Jamaica: Enquiry Stalemate? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican bloggers discuss the latest developments in the Manatt Dudus Enquiry.


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Jamaica: Skin Bleaching Perspective  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dancehall artist Vybz Kartel gives a talk at the University of the West Indies; Active Voice comments: “Kartel is on the cutting edge of research and thinking about this phenomenon when he argues for the changing role skin bleaching plays in this society today.”


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Japan: Earthquake, “how to protect yourself” in 30 languages · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

TUFS students launched a website with advices on risk management translated in more than 30 languages.
The website provides “a basic guide in several languages to what to do when you have to evacuate because of the earthquake.”

author: Scilla Alecci


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Japan: “Not That Sound Again” · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

This post is part of our special coverage on the Japan Earthquake 2011.
The all too familiar sound of Japan's Earthquake Early Warning system (緊急地震速報  Kinkyū Jishin Sokuhō) has become stuck in people's heads after being regularly broadcast on television and via mobile phone alerts, as aftershocks continue in the days following the major earthquake on March 11, 2011. The regular warning tone is played a few seconds before each tremor:
The Warning is broadcast by the Japan Meteorological Agency:
The Earthquake Early Warning system provides advance announcement of the estimated seismic intensities and expected arrival time of principal motion. These estimations are based on prompt analysis of the focus and magnitude of the earthquake using wave form data observed by seismographs near the epicenter.
The Earthquake Early Warning is aimed at mitigating earthquake-related damage by allowing countermeasures such as promptly slowing down trains, controlling elevators to avoid danger and enabling people to quickly protect themselves in various environments such as factories, offices, houses and near cliffs.
The sound is starting to wear on citizens, as these comments on microblogging site Twitter show:
@murashan: 緊急地震速報がトラウマレベル
@fuhikoo: 地震速報関連の音がやばい怖い。なんなのあのやたら注意をひく不協和音は・・・
The sound brings up memories for @UnConiglioNero:
速報がなるたび机にはいるんだけど…空襲警報みたいだ。食べ物確保したり、安否確認に苦労したり、デマが流れたり、ぜいたくは敵だムードだったり、おばあちゃんが昔語っていた戦時中の世界。うっかり先日保冷剤を捨ててしまい、何も捨てなかったおばあちゃんのもったいないスピリットを思い出す。
@NaokoBrigid covers her ears:
@NaokoBrigid: 怖い(>_< )(>_< )(>_< )地震警報(>_< )
Mobile alerts
Mobile phone companies have been offering a service that alerts mobile phones whenever the Warning goes out:
Screenshot of Earthquake Early Warning function by mobile phone company 'au'.
@masiro: 未だに緊急地震速報の音が怖くて、TVと携帯がダブルで鳴ると手が震えてしまうんだ。
@nico_okinawa: 疲れたあ・・。今もまた、長野県での地震速報。携帯に通知される音が、本当に「警報」という感じでビクッとする。起こってみると、震度はそれ程大きくなかったのだけれど、いつ、ドカンと大きな地震が起きるかホントに分からないからこの携帯の「警報音」が鳴る度にすごい気疲れをするように…
@mamamamadomado: 怖いよねあれ。うちの方、あの曲に加え、男声の低い機械音でジシンガキマスって言うんだ。（ ＴДＴ） RT @highme_karan: それ間違いない。あの音怖い。RT @mio2mio: 緊急地震速報の音を、ドリフの退場するときの曲にかえてくれないかな。
Here's an iPhone app that offers a similar alert system:
Screenshot of the iPhone app 'YureKuru' (Quake Coming).
@kiske suggests an alternative to the Warning that would be easier on the ears:
@kiske: 緊急地震速報のアレ恐いから ブライアン・イーノに新しいの頼んで
@kotetsu1968: そういえばさっき京急の中で一斉に緊急地震速報の音が色んな人の携帯から鳴っていた。凄い緊迫感だった。
@sheriii_m:  仕事中に今まで聞いたことのないような音がみんなの携帯から鳴った。地震速報でした。怯えるように仕事を続けたけど、みんな無事。生きてるってすばらしいね！
This post is part of our special coverage on the Japan Earthquake 2011.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Japan: On Catastrophes and Miracles, a Personal Account · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011.
Personal stories of survival are beginning to be told by bloggers in the aftermath of the earthquake that shook Japan on Friday 11 March, 2011.
One such example is Chikirin, who shared her experience of the earthquake on March 13, 2011, with the post “On Catastrophes and Miracles” (大惨事とミラクル). She was on a business trip from her home in capital Tokyo to the Ibaraki Prefecture in the northeast, which is about 250 kilometers from the epicenter.
Chikirin is a fulltime blogger and writer who publishes astute observations about social issues at the popular blog Chikirin's Diary (Chikirinの日記). She tweets in Japanese at @InsideCHIKIRIN.
The post was translated in its entirety with permission from the author.
On the day of the earthquake, the staff of the hotel where I took refuge placed a television in the lobby for us to watch. People who had been sleeping on the floor gathered around it, and I too followed, crawling out of the blanket in which I was bundled up. Seven hours after the quake hit at 2:46 pm in the afternoon – this was the first time I came into contact with real news about the quake.
Unbelievable images appeared on the screen. Towns were swept away by tsunamis, literally, within an instant. The people watching television didn’t say a word. Everyone remained silent while staring at the screen. Some who couldn’t stand it any longer began to look away.
As I watched whole towns being swallowed by the tsunami on television, I was reminded of the Kobe earthquake [in 1995]. I was watching television at the time too. When the earthquake hit Kobe in the morning, I was in Tokyo. Throughout the day while I was at work, I tried to contact my family in Kansai where the earthquake happened, but I couldn’t get through to anyone.
Fearing that I had become all alone in the world, I kept staring at the television footage of the fires all night. “Why are the fire trucks not here when the TV vans are?” pleaded a lady who could only watch the city turning into ash with nothing being done to stop the fires. It was painful to watch.
It was the same with the tsunami this time: it wasn’t the earthquake, but the fires and the tsunami, everything that comes *after* the actual earthquake destroys the cities. The cameras capture the images as it happens, but no one can do anything about it. In a matter of a few moments, the lives of countless people were lost while being documented in videos.
I was in Ibaraki Prefecture when the earthquake hit. The tremor must have been stronger than in Tokyo. Luckily, I was not hurt. I knew immediately that it was no ordinary earthquake because it was shaking for a long time and the lights went out immediately. The meeting I was attending was promptly dismissed, and we walked down the stairs from the 7th floor to take refuge outside the building.
I was the only one who had come to the meeting from Tokyo, and hence the only one who needed to take a train back to Tokyo. I took a local bus and hurried to the closest station.
Now that I think about it, some cities along the coasts were already engulfed by the tsunami by that time. Not even an hour had passed since the first quake, and people were struggling to make well-informed decisions. I too only knew that the epicenter was in Touhoku, and that it was a very severe earthquake. My mobile phone was dead.
All modes of mass transit at the station were halted and many people were forming lines (meaninglessly so, in retrospect). Only the local buses were functional, but that didn’t help me because I didn’t know the area very well. I looked for information on how to get back to Tokyo.
There was a vending machine that was still working so I bought some juice and tea. I wanted to get some food too but all the stores had their doors shut. I understood: the cash registers would not have worked because of the power failure, and it is dangerous to have customers in a store during an earthquake. But I thought at least those shops selling food should have accepted customers.
There was a long line for the toilet as well and the water was not running, but people used the facilities with humility. It had somehow become a routine for the person coming out of the toilet to advise the next person not to throw used paper into the toilet.
I stayed at the train station for around four hours, until sunset. It was clear that there was nothing to be done. The greatest difficulty for me was the fact that I didn’t know anything about the area. I didn’t know what kind of hotels, with what kind of capacity the city had, nor what other forms of transport I could find to get home, or how far I could get on foot. Without knowing such things, it was difficult to make appropriate decisions. I learnt a lesson there: learn the basic geography of a place before venturing far from home.
Image of Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture by Twitpic user emewmew.
When it started getting darker, the people at the station told us that we should look for a place to spend the night, and that they had been advised to say so by the government. People started dispersing. Those who worked nearby went back to their offices.
The only ones left were people who didn’t know much about the place and had nowhere to go. I had to find somewhere to stay, it was cold and it was windy. So I asked the station staff for a hotel and headed in that direction. The first hotel I found kindly offered to let me sleep in the lobby because all their rooms were taken. I was wearing a short skirt, so they even provided me with a blanket right after the children got theirs.
Many men who had also sought refuge in the lobby, spent the night on chairs without even a blanket. The emergency blanket was made of thickly woven lambs wool and kept us very warm. The entire city had blacked out, but the hotel still had electricity, so some people came to the hotel to recharge the batteries of their mobile phones. (Some people seemed to have no electricity, water or gas at their homes.)
On this day, I was wearing a skirt for the first time in six months. It’s just so typical for an earthquake to hit when I’m wearing a skirt. Once, when I was wearing plain Uniqlo clothing and sneakers, I ran into an ex-boyfriend! Anyway, the blanket I had was very big, so I considered taking off my skirt and just wrapping myself up in the blanket. The aftershocks were continuing though, and I thought I probably wouldn’t have enough time to slip it back on if we had to flee, so I let that idea go.
There were many people who stayed awake the whole time, but I tried to sleep. I felt chilled because I had been exposed to the wind outdoors for as long as four hours, and I knew I had to gather my strength to get through the situation. I bundled myself and my valuables into the blanket and slept as much as I could.
Late at night, the hotel staff provided us with a small salted rice ball and a half cup of miso-soup per head. Many people in the lobby waited quietly in lines to receive them. I was grateful to the entire staff of the hotel who supported us throughout the night, and the unbelievably well-organised manner in which the evacuees behaved. Everyone was so quiet.
The hotel let us use some power chargers for our mobile phones, but there weren’t enough because there were so many people who wanted to use them. And anyway, the mobile phones were still useless. There was one public telephone in the lobby, so I joined the queue and called home. I got through at 3 a.m. in the morning. When I hung up after telling my family that I was fine, the 100 yen coin that I had dropped in was returned to me. The NTT phone company had made it free to use the public telephone lines.
Another image of Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture by Twitpic user chatokun.
In the morning I received one rice ball from the hotel. From the time the earthquake hit [on Friday 11 March] until 8pm [on Saturday 12 March] when I got back to Ueno [in Tokyo], the only things I’d eaten were two rice balls from the hotel, so I was really thankful to them. Everything was closed including the convenience stores and restaurants around the station, so I wouldn’t have been able to eat anything otherwise.
There were aftershocks throughout the night, but I was strangely not afraid. What did scare me was the devastation in Touhoku on the television. I stopped watching after a while. I felt that there were some things that perhaps were better left unseen.
The next morning, I got an update at the station that the trains were unlikely to arrive. However, I was glad to hear that a special bus would go to the closest station from which trains were about to depart. I waited in a long, long line. I passed an extra mask to someone suffering from hay fever. I began to really hate my pumps. I wanted to buy sneakers, but the store wasn’t open.
What I thought unbelievable was that no stores, including food retailers, had been attacked. When I stayed in California during some wildfires, I was surprised by the sudden attacks on the windows of downtown stores. In New Orleans, where a great hurricane raged, the National Guard took to the streets with rifles soon after the disaster.
In this country, the fact that things like that don’t happen, is truly a miracle. No one went to ask for another rice ball at the hotel even when there were some left. (The hotel staff took the remaining ones, and went to check whether there was anyone on other floors who hadn’t eaten yet).  In those 24 hours, I don’t know how many times I thought, “this country is unreal”.
Chikirin goes on to describe her long journey to Ueno railway station in Tokyo, where another mass of people were patiently and courteously waiting for transportation. The English translation of this section of her story can be read here, omitted from this article for the sake of brevity.
Ueno Station on March 12, 2011. Image by Plixi user Shunsuke Koga.
I’m not writing to advertise what a terrible experience I had. What I experienced was not the damage of an earthquake. It was a minor inconvenience that might not even deserve to be described as “confusion”, but I wanted to write down what it was like, while I clearly remembered the events.
What I want to communicate, is the miraculous behavior of the people of this country. I didn’t encounter a single “angry”, “shouting” or “complaining” person in the 24 hours. I only saw one drunk middle-aged guy who was having a fit in Ueno station. This country is truly miraculous.
I’m watching the television in my apartment while clearing up bits and things that have fallen on the floor. Companies and individual people, everyone is doing so much. In particular, I’d like to pay my deepest gratitude and respect for those people who are working at the site of nuclear power plants amidst repeated aftershocks.
There are many more things I want to commit to writing, but that’s it for now.
I  am at a loss  for words for the people who suffered direct  consequences or lost their family members.
Here’s to praying for many miracles.
This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011.


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Lebanon: Women’s Anger At New Tourism Campaign · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

The Lebanese Ministry of Tourism has just launched a new campaign called “Lebanon Blues” that targets potential tourists from around the world. The idea behind the campaign is to show what tourists who have just come back from a holiday in Lebanon will be feeling.
In the American version of the television advert, a man is depicted as having completely lost focus at work because he is still thinking about gorgeous, scantily clad Lebanese women:
Screenshot from "Lebanon Blues" television advert. By  Lebanese Ministry of Tourism.
The television advert has caused a lot of annoyance and anger online, and a women's group has written a letter of response to the Ministry of Tourism, which some bloggers have put online:
Dear Ministry of Tourism,
We are a group of female Lebanese citizens, a group that has existed for more than ten years, and for some time we've been experiencing continuous insults and humiliation to us as women from video clips, advertisements, our television screens, all kinds of articles in all kinds of media and on billboards as well. Our occupation has been predetermined: housewives (with all due respect to housewives). Our shape has been predefined and imposed on us: blonde, skinny, with big breasts and pouting lips. Our bodies are violated in the media to increase profits. We have been and still are fighting these kinds of humiliating ads and messages.
In a country like Lebanon, we expect anything and everything at anytime. We expect an advert from the Ministry of Tourism that tells us to “Smile to tourists so they can leave smiling more”, although there's nothing to smile about in this country. And we expect another advert that asks us not to use the car horn. But what we don't expect or accept is the latest advert published by the Ministry of Tourism which uses Lebanese women's bodies to “pull” tourists and the [Lebanese] diaspora to the country. Is it acceptable for the Ministry of Tourism to promote Lebanon as the “cabaret of the Middle East” to tourists? Can't it revive tourism without selling women's bodies? Dear Ministry, how can either we or you accept our bodies becoming the goal and target of the lust of the arriving spenders? How are we supposed to understand that “Lebanon Blues” is connected to our naked bodies? How can the Ministry of Tourism promote a message to the whole world that Lebanon is a country which sells its women for the sake of the tourists?
Your ad contains serious contradictions that we would like you answer:
Firstly, we as women cannot pass our nationality to our children and husbands; we are considered daughters of Lebanese men and not Lebanese women. Therefore you cannot use us in your tourism advert.
Secondly, based on our respect for sex workers and our ongoing demands for laws to regulate their work and protect their safety, rights and health, we ask you as the Ministry of Tourism either to: stop this two-sided stance whereby you promote Lebanon as a country for sex tourism while sex workers in it suffer and are exploited horribly and subjected to humiliation and injustice; or launch a campaign to organize the work of these women and legalize it with proper supervision by specialized and non-corrupt authorities.
Thirdly, based on our beliefs in physical freedoms, far from human trafficking and the exploitation of our bodies as women, we would like to ask about the position of the Ministry of Interior regarding such an advert published by its close associate, the Ministry of Tourism, at the very same time it is striving to impose the “decency law“, watching Lebanese women’s bodies and fining them in case they “cross the red line of decency”. We would like to also ask, and excuse our ignorance, how could you promote Lebanon as a land of “sexual freedom” (even if you didn't write or say as much explicitly at the end of your advert) at a time when every citizen is still subject to article 534 and others that monitor their sex lives and decides for them what is “acceptable sex” and what is “unacceptable”? And also opens up its jails to the “outlaws” amongst the owners of the bodies portrayed in their advert, and others?
Fourth, how dare the Ministry of Tourism provoke us this way and “sell us”, when we are still subject to violence, harassment, rape and unfair and unequal wages, with an absence of any laws prohibiting gender discrimination against us and protecting us from the violence of a male-dominated society? How could you provoke us with these delusional and lying images to simply make profit, disregarding our pain and miserable truth?
The letter concludes:
The truth is that we are not “free” women wearing bikinis and partying all night. The truth is that we are deprived, poor and oppressed. Our bodies which you say are free, are still subject to many social, domestic, legal and economic restraints.
We, as injured and humiliated women, ask the Ministry of Tourism to recall this advert immediately and to apologize for this insult. Because out bodies aren't delicious fruit to offer to consumers so they will visit the “homeland” to pick out what they desire.
We also assure you we'll be watching out for any other adverts offensive to us and our independent and free selves. And from now on, we'll be after whoever is responsible for this type of advertising and will be prosecuting them as well.
Below are some of the reactions on Twitter to the advertisement:
@SamerKoussa: Is this what you think #Lebanon is all about? #Tfeh
@migheille: oh wow lebanese ministry of tourism has officially put leb women on sale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Siovanti2u0 #mustCheck #WTF
@abzzyy: Shame on Lebanese Ministry of Tourism http://goo.gl/fb/tJHIa #Fail #ImpactBBDO
@UxSoup: Lebanon is not exactly mecca or the vatican. They are advertising what is really happening.Sex sells. Live with it.
@migheille: @UxSoup no country is mecca or vatican – all ladies in all countries are hot – show me another ministry that did same ad?
@Fishful_Thinkin: Creativity has taken a back seat to capitalism. http://abzyy.com/?p=669 #Fail. Shame #Lebanon.
Lebanon has now spent a second month without a government; will Lebanese women feel more respected by the upcoming one?

author: Layal Al Khatib


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Mexico: Impact of Documentary ‘Presumed Guilty’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Gancho reports that PAN, a major political party in Mexico, “has proposed that all bids for public contracts be videotaped, as a check against corruption.” He ties this proposal to the documentary ‘Presumed Guilty‘: “This may just be posturing, and the impulse behind it may be temporary, but this is now two new pro-transparency proposals […] stemming from Presumed Guilty, which is pretty remarkable.”


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Mozambique: A Brief Analysis on Language Issues · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Sandra Flosi, on the blog Mosanblog, writes [pt] about the mix of spellings and the lack of explicit rules in the use of Portuguese language in Mozambique. Flosi comments on the proposal for a new Reform of Portuguese Ortography, whose costs for adoption in the country are estimated in 100 million U.S. dollars.

author: Sara Moreira


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Nigeria: Vote for “Umblerra” · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nigerian First Lady asks Nigerians to vote for “umblerra”: “An audio recording has emerged of Mrs Jonathan speaking at a rally of the ruling party. She was “trying to persuade her listeners to vote for the ‘Umbrella’, the unmistakable symbol of the Peoples’ Democratic Party.”


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Old Feud Lost During Disaster, Korean Responses to Japan Quake · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Korean's old feud against Japanese colonization rule has momentarily lost, as more reports came out revealing the aftermath of Japan's disastrous earthquake, @pebmedia tweeted the link [en] that aggregated Korean responses to Japan's earthquake.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Pakistan: Letter Signing Campaign A Success · Global Voices
Rezwan

Teeth Maestro reports that the  “Silence Means More Blood” letter signing campaign in Karachi arranged by Center For Democracy on Saturday, March 12, 2011 was a success with 10000 signatures collected at the end of the day.

author: Rezwan


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Palestine: Demonstrations For Unity Begin · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Palestinians were not at first mentioned on the Arab “revolution timetable“, but a date for protests was indeed set for 15 March. These protests are taking place in towns and cities throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and the focus is Palestinian unity – a stand against the political divisions that have riven Palestinian society for many years.
The call is first for unity and reconciliation, but other demands include the release of all political prisoners held by the government in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and full democratic representation for Palestinians all over the world. The protests, as in other parts of the Arab world, are decentralised and organised by a coalition of youth groups, including Gaza Youth Breaks Out. However, there are fears that political factions will attempt to co-opt the movement.
Laila El-Haddad explains why Palestinians are demonstrating:
Over the past few weeks, I was asked a lot of questions, but perhaps none more than – what about Palestine? Why aren’t the youth rising up there?
Besides the fact that Palestine is a different paradigm altogether – what with an Israeli occupying regime on one hand – and two pseudo non-sovereign governments on the other, we also have the precedent of Palestinians already having risen up – twice (first and second Intifadas) against the Israeli Occupation – and setting the example for the first truly democratic elections in the Arab Middle East in 2006, which in and of itself a monumental act of change by the people.
Still, Palestinians are rising up – again. This time it is to demand the end of Palestinian disunity whose effects are felt deep within Palestinian society and families everywhere.
A member of Gaza Youth Breaks Out, Rawan Abu-Shahla writes:
We are a group of Palestinian youths who have come together for the sole purpose of leaving behind our political identities and affiliations, and deciding to put our best interests above all else, united under our Palestinian flag. We have called for peaceful demonstrations on Tuesday, 15 March across the Palestinian nation — in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the territories of 1948 [Israel] and the Palestinian diaspora, calling out together one slogan: “The people want to end the division!” […] Division in the Palestinian body politic has affected every aspect of our lives: socially, economically, educationally and intellectually. It is ordinary Palestinians who have paid the price of the four-year long division that serves no one but the Israeli occupier. […] This movement is from the people, and for them. As for Gaza Youth Breaks Out (GYBO), and all other participating groups working in the field, we have only the honor of initiative. All else now depends on how the Palestinian street responds, and on how strong they can be.
Demonstrating for unity, Gaza (photo by Sharif.H, reproduced under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence)
Omar Ghraieb is taking part:
Gazan youth chose March 15th to be the historical date for a huge mobilized march that demands the end of the Palestinian division. This march is organized and directed by Youth and Youth ONLY. It’s not directed or driven by any Palestinian political party in the background or behind the scenes. The march came as the Palestinian Youth's reaction to their frustration and anger of the Palestinian division and it’s about time this division came to an end.
Seeing the Tunisian revolution, then the Egyptian epic revolt, Libya after that, Bahrain followed and a number of other Arabic attempts of course gave us more hope and motive drive to join the March 15th protests in Gaza. […] Again I would like to emphasize on the fact that I don’t belong to any Palestinian political party and that the march is just like me, it’s not driven by any Palestinian political party. It’s purely youth who want a better life and want to gain the freedom of their country by ending the Palestinian division first then Ending the Israeli occupation.
Not everyone is sure about joining, however; Sameeha Elwan is a little scared, and she writes:
Pressing the “Attending” icon on Facebook for the past year has started to be habitual. Very habitual that I do not really consider whether I would able to attend or not as long as I support the event or feel an eagerness to attend it. […] But never have I been so hesitant to decide on an event as that of the 15th March. I’ve been asked over and over again of what I think of the upcoming event that has been taking place so far, I would keep silent. […] For the past five years, I’ve been wanting nothing more than an end of this shameful division. […] Isn’t it the proper time that I would go out, chant, and raise my voice amongst other voices and hearts as longing as I am to end the current status of fragmentation which is rendering a whole nation in face of a vicious occupying power, fragmented? […] But, the whole spontaneity of the event is freaking me out. This could be an act of cowardice. Fear, maybe. A natural feeling, isn’t it? Should I be ashamed of it? I do not think so. Fear, as one of my friends put it, is what makes us human. Still afraid but hopeful, today I should finally press that button. Another Palestinian added to the thousands attending the 15th March
In the West Bank, the student bloggers Arabiat also have some doubts:
We have no idea if March 15th will blow out into a radically different intifada or see a couple thousand demonstrators on their lunch breaks chanting mechanically if at all slogans against the division and the occupation. We take heart from Egypt's January 25th, where a couple thousand grew into hundreds of thousands on that first day alone. Is there tension in the air? Not really. Personally, when we think about what a groundbreaking day March 15th could turn out to be and how that will play a pivotal role in forming a genuine Palestinian leadership ready to tackle the occupation head-on, our hearts flutter a bit. However, we don't want to dwell on that too long for fear of once again having our souls crushed if instead a pitiful crowd showed up for a couple of hours, yelling chants to let off steam before scooting back to their homes.
Giant flag, Gaza (photo by Sharif.H, reproduced under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence)
In fact in Gaza, protestors started gathering in the Unknown Soldier Square a day early, on 14 March. The decision was apparently made because a Hamas-affiliated group was granted a permit to hold a protest on 15 March instead, and the unity protest organisers didn't want their event, and the square itself, to be taken over by a political faction.
Bashar Lubbad was one of the people who went to the square a day early (translation by Nalan Sarraj):
We end with some words from Abu el Sharif, from a post entitled “The Day Before The Day”:
I have no words to describe, but the raw feeling of pride…
Have to say, I have great expectations for tomorrow, and whatever I do, it feels so little…
Global Voices will be following the protests and bringing you updates.

author: Ayesha Saldanha