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Israel: Why did Israel Approve the Hezbollah Deal? · Global Voices
Gilad Lotan

A day after the controversial deal with Hezbollah, many Israelis are still puzzled and disappointed. Puzzled over why their government accepted the terms of this deal, knowing that the kidnapped soldiers were not alive. How did the government and security entities approve handing back live prisoners with blood on their hands for dead bodies? Many are furious over the release of Samir Kuntar, charged with intentionally killing Israeli civilians, including a four-year-old girl, and his heroic public status within Lebanon and Palestine. However, many support the moral importance of bringing back all soldiers, in any state, even at such a high price. In addition, some wonder if this concession is part of a larger peace deal Israel is crafting with Lebanon. More opinions and perspectives below:
In his post Tell us the Truth, Daniel Bloch blames the Israeli government for hiding the truth from the public:
The argument over the price that was paid for the Hezbollah deal is legitimate. The problem is that we were not told the truth in time, in order to balance between our minds and our emotions. It is clear now that the government's security department knew several hours after Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser's kidnap that they are not alive – this after a chase in which several of our soldiers died. Did the government know this when it decided to start the war? From the end of the war until today, a campaign which comprised various elements of hiding truth from the families and the general public. Is there someone in the security council who believes that Ron Arad is alive? I want to see what these beliefs are based upon.
In the situation that was formed, there was no choice but to complete the deal. But had we known the full truth, was it necessary for us to reach the current state? Perhaps a brave and trustworthy leadership should have initially stated: “there is no deal unless we have clear information about the soldier's fate!”
Below is a part of an interview with Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, posted on You Tube. In it, he talks about the reasoning behind Israel's decision to swap live prisoners for dead soldiers:
The government held two special cabinet meetings just on this topic.
We as Israelis attach an extremely high premium to every single one of our service men and women. To them and to their families. And every Israeli serviceman has to know that if he or she are taken hostage and held hostage behind enemy lines, we as a society will do utmost to bring about their release. That's not weakness, that's part of our national strength. We place an extremely high priority on every single one of our people.
Yonatan Raz writes about the lack of certainty with the government's statements prior to the Hezbollah deal: It was not clear if they were alive or dead.
In my opinion, the most worrysome question regarding the prisoner swap relates to how uncertain the Israeli security council and Prime Minister were in regards to the fate of the abducted soldiers. I am afraid that they all knew the soldiers were dead. All knew and said that 99% chance the soldiers were dead. All knew, but no leader – from the Prime Minister, Defense Minister to the IDF and Intelligence heads – had neither courage nor responsibility to say to the publid: “It is unfortunate, but they are dead. The answer is clear from the information in our hands.” This should be the starting point of the negotiations, and how Israel should estimate a valid compensation for the deal.
…
The decision not to take responsibility and not to clearly state Udi and Eldad's fate, is yet another show of the bad nature of this current government, who has one goal: to survive… Healing from the mediocrity and lack of authority will be most challenging for the next government.
A prominent assumption notes that Israel is making an effort clear all open issues with Lebanon in order to sign a legitimate peace agreement. The Shebaa Farms is a small area of land with disputed ownership located on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli controlled, disputed Golan Heights. Even after the recent (2000) Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Hezbullah cites what it sees as continued Israeli occupation of the disputed Shebaa Farms as partial justification for attacks upon Israeli concerns. Pinhas Inbari describes the prisoner swap an an Israeli attempt to close all “open files” with Hezbollah, who on their side, have rejected Israeli attempts for normalization, and have sent a clear message that the Shebaa farms is only one clause in a general list over the Galil:
Israel returned all Lebanese prisoners it had, and emptied out its cemetery holding enemy fighters. This move was a “case closer”, through which Israel signals to Hezbollah its intent on clearing the table from all points of disagreement and friction. Israel aims to bring normalization or a sort of ‘hudna’ in the northern border. In addition, the diplomatic attempts behind the scenes to hand over the Shebaa farms to the UN should be noted.
Hezbollah received the Israeli messages, yet their people show up at the Ras Al-Nakura border crossing in their full uniform, violating resolution 1701. Palestinian flags were raised everywhere, in addition to photos of Marwan Barghouti. Some even wore the Palestinian Kafiah around their neck. The clear message behind all this is that Hezbollah formally adopts the Palestinian problem. This message was also prominent in the different speeches, including Nasrallah's. One of Hezbollah's websites defined Bint Jabal as the “pearl of the Galil”. Hezbollah signals that the Galil is a part of Lebanon, continuing its request to get back villages in the Galil. In other words, even if Israel gives the Shebaa farms to Lebanon, there will not be a general cleanup of all the problems with Hezbollah, but new files will open up.
A lot of grief fills the Israeli blogosphere – grief over the death of these soldiers, and the crushed hopes for their condition. It does not help that Israeli media is highlighting the celebrations across Lebanon and Palestine. Israel Harel writes:
The doubts, for those who had, have been crushed. And the heart, as it has been this whole time, beats with the families. But as a nation, we have no reason to be proud of what happened yesterday. Not like this, in such a disrespectful manner, should we have fulfilled our duties towards our sons. Not like this, when a terrorist organization deceives us until the last second, should we have returned our sons to their homeland. But the State of Israel, almost in any field, does not act as a sovereign state. And it agreed, as Hezbollah foresaw, to this humiliating deal.
We are a moral society, hence we will always pay higher prices.
But a moral society does not let terrorists abuse it. A moral society does not surrender to immoral extortion and does not pay a price that jeopardizes the future of its soldiers and citizens and seeds future abductions. A moral society teaches the abductees a lesson and makes them reach a conclusion that abductions are not worthwhile.
May both soldiers rest in peace.


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Mexico: Withdrawn Claim of Mexican Cartels Receiving Training in Iran · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A recent article in the newspaper El Universal indicated that members of somd Mexican drug cartels had been traveling to Iran to receive training in the use of arms and explosives. México Para Los Mexicanos [es] writes that the same newspaper later published another story saying that the story was not true.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Eduardo Avila


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Palestine: The Word of the Israeli Against that of an Arab  · Global Voices
Yasmine Abu Khazneh

A few days after the release of Lebanese Samir Kuntar from three decades in an Israeli prison, Palestinians bloggers are reminded that when it is the word of an Israeli against that of an Arab, the Israeli's will always be the ones to be considered.
Jews Sans Frontiers refutes the allegations and says that Kuntar did not smash the skull of an Israeli four year old:
“Why no mention of forensic evidence regarding the distance from which Danny Haran was shot? And why would Quntar, under fire, for whom the hostages represent his best chance to survive, kill them? And how did BOTH he AND his mate find the time, while police was closing in upon him with guns ablaze, to hit the girl repeatedly, and in few view of the police? And finally why were the police shooting in the direction of Quntar, knowing that he had or might have had hostages with him?… In the end, it comes down to Kuntar's word against the word of unidentified police officers and a physician who works for the Israeli government. Quntar seems to have had no reason to lie. The police who botched their mission and might have been responsible for the death of the hostages did have a reason to lie. He was then convicted in an Israeli kangaroo court that makes the Guantanamo justice system look good in comparison, and the whole trial was so convincing that it was made “top secret.” This looks so far as a tale spun out of facile assumptions, potential lies, and blatant lies–and of course the willful credulity of journalists and commentators… Whatever Quntar did however, Israel has no moral authority to judge him. Killing children is effectively legal in Israel as long as the child is Palestinian.”
American Palestinian Terry Scot  draws attention to more unbalanced reporting.
While Nahariya, Israel,  reports that “Thousands of Israelis prayed and cried at funerals Thursday for two soldiers whose return from Lebanon in black coffins touched off a nationwide wave of anguish,” Terry Scot points out the unabashed irony of it all:
“My heart breaks for that nation of sensitive souls that is so anguished over the dead bodies of state soldier-terrorists “Udi and Eldad”. What noble cherishing of human life, what sensitivity and empathy that the entire world must be made to watch the drama of this funeral while just a few kilometers down the road an entire nation is systematically brutalized and massacred. Alas, you never hear the first names of “Palestinian Terrorists” in Gaza, Nablus, Jenin or the rest of occupied Palestine. The cronnies at AP and other new agencies continue to validate the bitter reality that an Israeli life is worth more than a thousand Arab lives by placing such phoney news as front page stories on the AP wire. Where are those truth-seeking journalists and editors when it comes time to documenting the coffins of slain Palestinians (please, let's just call them non-Jews, because being an Israeli is not sufficient for exalted status, you have to be a Jew).”
Terry Scot  then links us to the website Cross Cultural Understanding to remind us of the death of Ayah Al Najjar, the eight year old Palestinian girl that was killed by an Israeli Air land Rocket:
“The body of 8-year-old Aya al-Najjar was mutilated on Thursday afternoon by a rocket fired from an Israeli airplane while she was playing in the garden outside her house in the village of Khuza'a in the southern Gaza Strip. The little girl had just finished her school exams and went home eager to play as she had no more revision to do. She asked her mother if it was ok for her to play in the garden and the mother agreed. An apache helicopter hovered over the place, Aya looked at it and carried on playing. Neither her nor her mother expected to be the target of a rocket fired from the apache. It seems, however, that Zionist hate for everything Palestinian has no limits as Aya was hit directly with the rocket causing her young body to be shredded into little pieces. Aya was not the first Palestinian child to be targeted by the IOF and will not be the last; Muhammad al-Dora, Iman al-Hams and Iman Hijjo are but three names, of Palestinian children killed by the IOF, in a list of about 1000 Palestinian children killed by the IOF since the start of the Aqsa intifada out of a total of 5000 Palestinians killed during the same period. Earlier, Palestinian resistance fighters fired a home made missile at an Israeli colony in retaliation to an IOF incursion into the Gaza Strip during which the troops bulldozed tracts of land and uprooted trees. The attack resulted in the death of one Israeli settler and the wounding of  three others, according to Israeli sources.”
Terry Scot finally states the obvious when he writes:
“I challenge the brave journalists of the free and not-so-free press to be equitable in their reporting of the news of deaths of Arab and Jew alike.”

author: Yasmine Abu Khazneh


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Saudi Arabia: Death on Roads  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

New traffic laws have been introduced in Saudi Arabia. Yet, according to Sabra: “A ‘weekend traffic rush’ resulted in three traffic accidents Wednesday night wherein NINE people have died and thirteen others were injured.”

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Saudi Arabia: In Praise of the Iraqi National Anthem · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Al Musafer [Ar], from Saudi Arabia, praises the new Iraqi national anthem.


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Saudi Arabia: Three Years of Blogging · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

7alablog [Ar] celebrates his third year as a blogger in Saudi Arabia.


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Saudi Arabia: What if Olive Riley Had Blogged All Along?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The world's oldest blogger, Australian Olive Riley
has died at the age of 108. In mourning her death, Mohammed Al Shehri, from Saudi Arabia, wonders what the legacy Riley would have left behind been like, had the Internet and blogging been available all along.
He writes [Ar]:
اليوم تناقلت وكالات الأنباء خبر وفاة الزميلة الاسترالية Olive Riley
أكبر مدونة في العالم عن عمر يناهز 108 سنوات ( توفيت السبت الماضي ) عاصرت فيها أحداث قرن مضى بكل حروبه الأولى والثانية وثورته وصناعته ومدنيته وهمجيته ، وديكتاتوريه وضحاياه وافراحه وأحزانه ، أرشيف كامل من الذكريات قد تعجز عن حمله مدونة ! ولكنه التدوين وشغفه عندما يطل بعد كل هذا العمر .
تخيلوا معي لو أن التدوين بشكله الحالي موجوداً منذ زمن بعيد وأن أوليف دونت طوال تلك السنوات كل ما مر بها في حياتها من قصص وأحداث ومشاعر منذ شبابها وحتى وفاتها ، يا ترى كيف ستكون خانة الأرشيف !
بالتأكيد سيكون الأمر أكثر إثارة ونحن نقرأ يوميات هذه المرأة عندما بدأت الحرب العالمية الثانية وكيف كانت مشاعرها في ذلك الوقت وما الذي كانت تقوله الصحافة ورأيها بما يحدث أو نقرأ مثلاً تدوينة عن حبها الأول وكيف كان أو عن رأيها عندما شاهدت أول تلفزيون يتم إختراعه وعمرها لم يتجاوز 22 سنه ! …
المدونون هم من يكتبون التاريخ الحاضر لقراء المستقبل ! و اوليف بتديوناتها كادت أن تكون شاهدة على عصرها لو أن التدوين وجد منذ زمن .
كم هم محظوظون قراء المستقبل .. أنا أحسدهم .
لكن يا ترى ما الذي جعل أوليف تفكر بالتدوين بعد كل هذا العمر !؟
Our Australian colleague Olive Riley, the world's oldest blogger, had died at the age of 108. She had lived through the first and second world wars, their revolutions and industries, their civility and destruction, their dictators and victims, and their happiness and sadness. She carried with her an archive of memories, more than a blog could hold. And then she discovered blogging and its thrill, especially at her age!
Imagine with me, if blogging as the way it is today, had been available in the past and that Olive had continued to blog all those years, writing all her life experiences, feelings and incidents, from her youth until her death. How will her blog archive look like?
I am sure we would have been excited reading her diary when the Second World War started, her feelings, her reactions to what the newspapers wrote and her ideas about what was happening. It would have been enchanting to read a post about her first love; or what her feelings were when she saw the first television which was invented when she was 22 years old!
Bloggers are writing today's history for tomorrow's readers! And Olive in her blogging could have been the first witness to that era, had blogging been available then. How lucky are the readers of the future! I envy them! I wonder what made Olive start blogging after that advanced age?!


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Slovakia: “Folk Culture and Communism” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia writes about the communists’ role in preserving Slovak folk culture.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Sudan: Reactions to the ICC charges against al-Bashir · Global Voices
SudaneseDrima

Since the International Criminal Court's (ICC) prosecutor asked for an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan a few days ago, there haven't been many big reactions in the Sudanese blogosphere (although we covered reactions of several bloggers elsewhere in Africa in this roundup). Activity in the Sudanese blogosphere is at an all time low. However, the Sudanese debate has been alive and full of passion on Facebook.
Reactions from Sudanese bloggers
Three Sudanese bloggers, Ras Babi, The Sudanese Thinker (disclosure: it's me), and Black Kush, have been among the few that commented on the matter.
Black Kush rolled out a sequence of posts on the issue as it progressed where he wrote the following:
SO Bashir has been indicted by the ICC. So what comes next now?
The ICC prosecutor has taken the boldest step ever. Charging a sitting head of state fo genocide can get him a round of applause,but that is leaving lots of people wary of the future.
So far the armageddon predicted has not happened, yet. No UN staff has been shot in the street and no car-jackings reported in Khartoum. Were the fears groundless?
Not at all. There are lots of people out there in the street who are stupid enough to start anything. It may not be the official response of the government, but some lunatics may take the lawlessness into their hands and rick havoc.
I personally think it was a wrong move on the part of the ICC. Now that he has made his point, I think UN Security Council should suspend the possible arrest warrant from being issued.
Ras Babi, as he usually does, wrote a short poem:
is it true?
the Arabs support you…
is it true?
some Sudanese stand with you….
…
Hitler had his fans
Franco had his fans
it is true…
they have gone
…..
China will sell you
Russia became like you
too bad too trust
….
you brought to us
genocide
janjaweed
Russians and Chinese
polluting our land
stealing our resources
Sudanese Thinker published his analysis and shared two photos he found in a very active Sudanese Facebook group discussing the ICC's decision, which he thought summed up the extremes of Sudanese opinion on the matter rather well -from rational debate to rejecting responsibility and conspiracy theories.
Reactions from Sudanese Facebookers
The aforementioned Facebook group where the most heated discussions are taking place is called:
“معا ضد المحكمة الجنائية الدولية . فلنتحد لنصرة الرئيس عمر البشير” (translation: “Together Against the ICC. Let’s Unite for President Omar al-Bashir’s Victory”)
The group was started by a Sudanese and currently has over 2,700 members, virtually all Sudanese as well. While a sizable number of the members oppose the Sudanese regime, the group clearly leans on the side of condemning the ICC's decision. The following are some random quotes from a thread representing the diverse opinions in the group fairly well.
Gino Mino:
Did people forget that Al-Bashir took power by force, that he executed and murdered countless Sudanese, that under his watch Millions of Sudanese died in warfare and from extreme poverty, that he and his cronies dragged the name of Sudan to the gutter that today it's on every tongue as a terrorist sponsoring nation?
Wake up ya Sudanese… AlBashir is a criminal and it's about time that he is cornered!
Khadega Malik:
He deserves worse than international court. He deserves Allah's Justice. Where he would face soon in his grave
… I am with the international court if it can at least achieve the goal of embarassing him internationally.
Ayman Ayman:
You know nothing…..and u will be the first people to cry…..shut up
… Admin please kick them out
Khadega Malik:
Believe me, you will be the one to CRY, and I will remind you there INSHA ALLAH. Someone like you who is that blind, would be the one to CRY.
Gino Mino:
Why should we be kicked out? We have not used profanity nor have we insulted only one. We have expressed nothing but the truth… why are you so afraid of the truth!?!
… and sorry we will not shut up, I thought AlBashir is implementing democracy now in Sudan, so you are obliged to listen to our point of view :)
Sana Ali:
first of allll ya Gino and Khadega no hard feelings but am replying to this topic with all due respect to both of you guys! stating my opinion…ok? alright….I really am surprised that it came down to this and that the ICC finally found a way to try to get to sudan! I dont’ noe about u guys but it almost seems like a plan to take down allllllll muslim countries and not only that but also stop the ones that are somewhat prosporing from moving forward and excelling! its kind of ironic…none the less, al bashir did everything to stand behind sudan and suport it ..he made sudan one of the VERY FEW countries that are not bowing dowing and kissin the feet of the US or the UN
Yassir A.gamma:
Man f*ck u and f*ck ur sick cheap sneaky disloyal thoughts too…
Khaled M. Khaled:
heeeey yasir dont flip out. it ain't worth it.every one has the right to express his own opinion.
Sally Osama:
Its so sad for me to see my fellow Sudanese rip each other off..even if we are against ElBashir political views how can you support US taking over our country??
Sara Ibrahim Haddad:
ok, people are really angering me right now….with all this “AMERICA WILL INVADE”
AMERICA
IS
NOT
AND
WILL
NOT
INVADE
SUDAN
so stop bringing up america because u want someone to blame because u dont want to hold accountable the REAL people to blame!!
Bashier is a devil!! shaytan!!! along with other african corrupted leaders…sudan's image is tarnished globally…..and we have people agreeing with bashier??! are u crazy? OR ARE U JUST SCARED OF HIM?
Moreover, it is a positive sign to see Sudanese flocking to Facebook – not so much the blogosphere – to express their opinions freely and without authoritarian restrictions.

author: SudaneseDrima


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Tunisia: Where are the State Funerals?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Eight Tunisians were among the 197 bodies handed over by Israel to Lebanon, in the latest prisoner swap between the two countries. Tunisian bloggers are calling for the return of their remains to their country – and honouring the dead in a state funeral.
Tunisian blogger  Sami ben Gharbia hails the fighters, killed in the 80s and mid-90s, as martyrs, saying they deserve to be buried in Tunisia. He writes:
تزامن خبر تحرير الأسرى اللبنانيين الخمسة وعلى رأسهم عميد الأسرى العرب سمير القنطار و الذي جاء نتيجة أخر عملية تبادل مع الكيان الصهيوني التي صار يتقنها حزب الله اللبناني مع النداء باسترجاع رفات ثمانية شهداء تونسيين لقوا نحبهمه في جبهات الجنوب الللبناني المقاوم
News of the liberation of the five Lebanese prisoners of war, led by the dean of Arab prisoners Samir Kuntar came as a result of the latest prisoner swap with the Zionist regime, which the Lebanese Hizbullah has now perfected, and coincided with a call for the return of the remains of the eight Tunisian martyrs, who were killed on the battle fields of resistance in Southern Lebanon.
Ben Gharbia also links to a page which has the names and photographs of the Tunisian fighters here.
Annaqued [Ar] joins his colleague in calling for a state funeral for the eight Tunisians. He writes:
لم لا عودة رفات ابطالنا الثمانية الى تونس … بمراسم رسمية؟؟؟
Why haven't the remains of our eight heroes been returned to Tunisia .. in a state ceremony?
Commenting on this post, Al-Hallège writes:
هذا أبسط ما يكرم به الشهيد..و الأمة التي لا تحترم شهداءها هي أمة الى زوال
This is the least we can do to honour our martyrs .. and a nation which doesn't respect its martyrs is one which will be destroyed soon.
Another commentator, Abunadem adds:
فعلا هدا هو الحد الادنى لحق المواطنة في اي دولة وهو الاعتراف بالانسان حيا او ميتا .انظر مادا يفعل الصهاينة حين يفقد او يموت لهم انسان ؟؟يطالبون به حتى وا كلفهم التنازل عن الكثير اما نحن فلا يهتز لنا جفن ؟؟؟
لمادا لم تتحدث تلفزتنا الوطنية عن هؤلاء على الاقل ؟؟؟
It is true. The least a citizen deserves in any country is recognising that he is a human being, whether he is dead or alive. See what the Zionists do when the lose one of their sons or one of them dies. They demand their bodies even when that forces them to sacrifice a lot. As for us, no one cares. Why aren't our national television stations talking about those people at least???
Writing at Nocturnal Thoughts, blogger Tarek  [Ar] reviews Tunisian newspapers and wonders why the story of the eight Tunisian fighters were not covered more prominently.
And last but not least, blogger Chiheb  praises Hizbullah for humiliating Israel. He says:
خلال عمليّة تبادل الأسرى اللّبنانيّين {…} أثبت حزب اللّه قدرته على تركيع أسطورة الكيان الصّهيوني،وحرّك مشاعر العرب التّي تعاني المرارة من المحيط إلى الخليج ،ويعلن إنتصار المقاومة من جديد بعد حرب 2006
During the Lebanese prisoner swap, Hizbullah proved its ability to humiliate the Zionist regime and move the emotions of Arabs, who suffer from bitterness from the Ocean to the Gulf, and announce the victory of the resistance once again after the 2006 war.


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Ukraine: Ukrainska Pravda Reporter Interrogated · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana writes about the questioning of an Ukrainska Pravda reporter in connection with Yushchenko poisoning case.


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Ukraine: Woman Who Tried To Sell Her Son · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana posts and translates a video about a 30-year-old Odesa woman who tried to sell her son for $1,500.


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Yemen: Socotra Wins UNESCO’s Approval  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The Socotra Archipelago finally got UNESCO's recognition and seal of approval and is now on its World Heritage List; it becomes Yemen's fourth site on the List,” writes Omar Barsawad, from Yemen.


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Zimbabwe: On the rapidly eroding value of money · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Chipo at Sokwanele's This is Zimbabwe blog, expresses his anger about the current inflation situation in the country: “Last week chaos reigned again as the banks were choc-a-block with transfers. Delays became longer and longer. Salaries and wages were not honored. And while the banks were busy “processing”, the value of the money was eroding rapidly”.

author: Elia Varela Serra


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Africa: Sustainable architecture · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

The face of Afrika writes about two sustainable architecture projects in Africa, one in Ghana and the other one in Zamiba, including images of both.


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Arabeyes: Moroccan woman refused French citizenship for burqa · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Last week a French resident was refused citizenship on the grounds that she was “insufficiently assimilated.”  The woman, referred to in the Press as “Faiza M.,” is a Moroccan citizen but has lived in France since 2000 with her husband, a French citizen, and three children, all born in France.  Although most articles on the subject quickly pointed to Faiza's wearing of the burqa (or, given that she was from Morocco, more likely of the niqaab), Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff of PostGlobal indicates that other factors, such as Faiza's refusal to show her face even to a female officer, and her statement that voting should be for men only, were involved.
Regardless, the incident has set a precedent and has stirred up the feelings of bloggers around the world.  The Angry Arab remarks briefly on the story, explaining:
Social services reports said the burqa-wearing Faiza M lived in “total submission to her male relatives”. Faiza M said she has never challenged the fundamental values of France.
The story garnered quite a few comments; one in particular reads:
As far as that niqab business, why would a person who is going to live most of her life inside of a big sack want to live in a Western country? Why?
I have no respect for anyone who would think that a woman must walk around all day in a niqab of any kind. It is a human rights abuse. Human beings need sunlight and air. I sat on a beach in Syria and watched a father and his sons frolic in the wonderful sunlight and cool water on a very hot day. On the beach, in the sand, completely covered by those monstrous niqabs, were the mother and daughters! How could any decent human being, let alone a decent father, allow only one part of his family to enjoy the beauty and the coolness of the sea? It made me physically ill to think about those poor girls and what they were learning about what it meant to be female. Why was it proper for the father and the boys to swim without shirts and in shorts? And I do not want to hear about it being ” a cultural thing” or that the woman freely chooses to live like that. If she has, she has been brainwashed. It is a disgusting abusive practice. If it is torture to hood prisoners, then it sure as hell is torture, whether willingly or unwillingly, to place yourself in a big sack and not see or feel the light of day.
Internation Musing (a group blog with writers in Turkey and Greece, among other places) also had a strong opinion about the case:
Their two children have the French nationality, she not. Appeal is not possible: bravo!
But in fact she is a ticking time bomb. And that's scary.
Nuseiba has a considerably different opinion:
This narrow interpretation I will write about in another post, however, right now, i’d like to focus on this woman who has been rejected for expressing a cultural and religious belief. I’d like to point out that I’m not much of a supporter of the burqa, because it is not sanctioned in Islam and women who do wear it do so unnecessarily. However I do support a woman’s right to wear one–whether for cultural or religious reasons.
The blogger concludes:
As I pointed out earlier, the notion of laicite, which this ruling was premised on, cannot apply in equal fashion to all citizens of France today because there are many who belong to the Islamic faith, who wear burqas, hijabs, turbans, yalmulkes etc, who have different cultural practices that cannot only be expressed in private (which is how the French understand religion to be). So what we’re seeing is a clash of values, a France imposing its normative understandings of equality and justice on individuals who see it nothing more than an unjust coercive act of the state.
Sabria Jawhar, writing for Arabisto, argues against the ruling as well, stating:
Here’s what French government representative Emmanuelle Prada-Bordenave said about Mabchour: “From her own declarations she lives an almost reclusive life, cut off from French society.
She has no idea of secularism or the right to vote. She lives in total submission to the men in her family. She appears to find that normal.”
Normal?
Excuse me. But who is Prada-Bordenave to say what is normal? Normal by Western standards? Must Mabchour completely conform in every respect to France’s cultural values to be a French citizen?
Speaking French alone is a sign of assimilation into French society. Mabchour even has a male gynecologist, a fact that most Muslim women would find extremely difficult to face. That is considerable assimilation.
I don’t know whether Mabchour is submissive. Perhaps by her own standards she has a fair and equitable marriage. I frankly think that is her business.
Creative Commons-licensed photo by janjochemo

author: Jillian C. York


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Armenia: Presidential Election Report · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Social Science in the Caucasus comments on a report issued by Policy Forum Armenia (PFA) on the 19 February presidential election in the country. The blog notes that while the report does not provide definite proof of electoral fraud, its data and statistical analysis indicates the high likelihood of falsification and irregularities, especially outside the capital.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Azerbaijan: Dolma · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Farida’s Azerbaijani Cookbook says that dolma — vegetables stuffed with meat — is one of the most popular dishes in Azerbaijan during the summer months. The cookery blog provides a detailed recipe for anyone interested in trying out the regional dish.


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Blogger of the week: Elena Ignatova · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Although today's Blogger of the Week is not technically a blogger, she's well known in the Macedonian blogosphere for her work at Global Voices Online in Macedonian, where she's a translator and also the founding editor. Moreover, she's also the editor of Global Voices in Albanian, and an avid blog reader.
Her name is Elena Ignatova, she's a 24 year old internet activist from Skopje, and we had the chance to meet her in the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Budapest, where she acted as a true ambassador of her country with many participants who had never met anyone from Macedonia. We talked a bit to her about her work, her involvement with Global Voices and the Macedonian blogosphere, among other things. Keep on reading.
Elena with Mialy, GV author for Madagascar, Cristina of Voces Bolivianas and Catalina of Hiperbarrio (Photo by Sipakoa)
-How did you decide to start translating Global Voices posts?
I went to a conference in Zagreb and I met Alice Backer there who was presenting Lingua and was asking for more volunteers to translate. I had never heard about Global Voices before, but I found it very interesting. So after a few more conversations with her I decided to start translating Global Voices into Macedonian and Albanian.
When I found out about the project I immediately thought it would enrich the Macedonian and Albanian online content with interesting information, coming from the people and not from the media. On the other hand, it's also a great way to tell the world what is happening here.
-Ambitious intentions!
At first I was thinking about starting only a Macedonian Lingua site, but then many people suggested that it would be great to have it in Albanian as well, so I decided to do both with the help of my colleagues from work.
-So when did you start and how many people are involved with these two sites?
We started translating in January this year, and the official launch of the sites was a month later. At the moment we are four translators for Macedonian and only one for Albanian. I would like to find more volunteers, but it's always hard to convince people to volunteer their time and to keep them motivated.
-How is the blogosphere in Macedonia, and what are the main issues that concern them?
It's quite active for such a small country (Macedonia has 2 million inhabitants), I think there are more than 200 posts a day on average. The main issues bloggers talk about are national politics, NATO, Greece :).
Maybe these have been the hot issues lately because we had early parliamentary elections and because of all the problem with Greece, so most posts were about these topics for the last few months. But now when things are cooling down, they are writing more about everyday things and their personal interests.
-Are you a blogger yourself?
No, I'm just a blog reader. With my work, studies, translating for GV, etc. I really don't have time! I'm very active in other social media such as Facebook, but after the GV Summit in Budapest I'm seriously thinking of starting one :)
-What are your favorite blogs?
There a lot of interesting ones, but if someone wants to read something from the Macedonian blogosphere, they can visit the platform that connects most of the bloggers Blogeraj.
-So what do you do when you're not translating?
I work for an independent, non-partisan NGO called Metamorphosis. Its main goals are the development of democracy and prosperity by promoting a knowledge-based economy and an information society in Macedonia. We are doing all sorts of things, like working with Creative Commons Macedonia, promoting the use of internet, privacy issues etc. My involvement with Global Voices is also part of my work with Metamorphosis.
-Why do you think it's important to increase access to internet and to online media?
It’s important for people to get the information’s they need. With internet and online media it’s very easy to get to everything you want, and much quicker. For students, it's essential to use the internet as a resource, but that applies also to all people.
-What do you do in your spare time?
I'm studying computer science, majoring in internet and mobile technologies.
-What is your wish for the future of the Macedonian and Albanian Lingua sites?
That they both get connected, so that you know when a post translated in Macedonian is also transalted in Albanian and viceversa. It is essential for people in Macedonia to know about the Albanian version, to give them an alternative.
If you are a speaker of either Macedonian and Albanian and would like to be part of their fantastic teams, or if you would just like to contribute somehow, please contact Elena at elenaignatova [at] gmail [dot] com


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Brazil: On authoriterrorism and online surveillance · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Over 60 bloggers attended the blog carnival against censorship [pt] this Saturday, most of them posting especially about the new 13 cyber crimes proposal for Brazil. The bill has now proceeded to the House of Representatives, where a request for it to be handled urgently was put forward last week, leaving bloggers on red alert. If approved, the bill could reach the House's plenary session at any moment, alerts sociologist Sérgio Amadeu [pt]:
A pressa de Azeredo é para evitar a análise das consequências do seu projeto. Sem dúvida, os artigos 285-A, 285-B e 22 atendem aos ineteresses da MPAA, da RIAA e das companhias de TV fechada. Atacam milhões de internautas e querem barrar as práticas de compartilhamento de arquivos, principalmente pelas redes P2P.
Senator Azeredo's rushing is in order to avoid analysis of the consequences of his bill. Certainly, articles 285-A, 285-B and 22 meet the interests of MPAA, the RIAA and TV coorporations. They are an attack on millions of Internet users and are meant to bar the practice of file sharing, mainly through P2P networks.
Some bloggers became more optimistic after the bill was amended. Têmis, from Doutora Responde [pt], a blog that intends to answer reader's questions about law in a simple way, tries to demystify the 13 new cyber crimes. She concludes that after the amendments, the bill is passable, unless the House of Representatives decides not to approve the changes proposed:
O usuário da internet que não rouba senhas, que não invade redes, que não quebra redes para acessar conteúdo protegido e fazer cópias não autorizadas, que não acessa e divulga conteúdo de pedofilia, enfim, a grande maioria, pode ficar tranquila quanto a aprovação do projeto de lei DE CONFORMIDADE COM O ATUAL SUBSTITUTIVO.
The Internet user who doesn't steal passwords, doesn't break into networks, doesn't destroy networks to access protected content and doesn't make unauthorized copies, those who don't access and disclose paedophile content, finally, the vast majority, can keep calm with regards to the approval of the bill conforming to its latest, substitute version.
However, according to others, the situation deserves, indeed, much concern. Alexandre Oliva, Board member of the Free Software Foundation Latin America, claims we are dealing with a “horrible authoriterrorism and on-line surveillance bill” approved by the Senate under the pretense of fighting pedophilia. In an announcement called Authoriterrorism and surveillance, the Brazilian way, the foundation further explains its views:
It further establishes jail time for such broad activities as unauthorized access to computer systems, networks, and data stored in them. In spite of being justified and promoted by banks on the grounds of stopping criminals from obtaining, selling or destroying information through fraud or exploitation of vulnerabilities, it is worded so ambiguously that it can be easily abused by suppliers of electronic equipment (computers such as servers, desktops, laptops, video games, cell phones, digital cameras, media players and recorders, etc) and of digitally-encoded information (text, audio, video, software, etc). Abuses may range from legal threats to actual jail time for people who unlock video games or cell phones to install software not approved by the supplier; who work around deliberate defects in media players or recorders to gain access to their own songs or movies stored in them; who use copyrighted works in ways that do not infringe on copyrights, but that authoriterrorists would like to outlaw.
André Lemos [pt], Federal University of Bahia's Cyberculture Center Coordinator and visiting Professor at Canadian University of Alberta and McGill University, adds that the bill changes very little for criminals, but a lot for regular Internet users, who will not know if what they are doing is legal or not and will feel as if under 24/7 surveillance:
Por exemplo, se eu disseminar um vírus sem saber, poderei ser preso? posso trocar arquivos entre meus pares mesmo em redes P2P (minhas fotos, minhas músicas, meus arquivos de textos) sem pedir autorização prévia? Como os provedores vão interpretar essas trocas? Posso copiar uma parte do texto de um blog e colar no meu? Ou seja, ela cria um sentimento de insegurança e de medo generalizado. Isso bloqueia a imaginação e a criatividade.
For example, if I disseminate a virus without my knowledge, would I be arrested? Can I exchange my files with my mates in P2P networks (my pictures, music, files) without asking for prior permission? How will the ISP providers understand these exchanges? Can I copy an excerpt of a text from a blog and paste it into mine? In other words, it [the bill] creates a feeling of insecurity and general fear. It blocks imagination and creativity.
Lawyer and Sociologist Ariel Foina [pt], who specializes in Criminal Electronic Law and is a researcher on Internet social phenomena and Cyberspace Sociology, has analyzed every point of the bill in a comprehensive post, and comments on the clumsily-worded articles and how they can be dangerously misinterpreted:
na verdade os relatores do PL no Senado afirmam que a idéia aqui não era criminalizar a transmissão de Mp3 ou outros arquivos protegidos por direitos autorais por meio da Internet sem a devida autorização… sinceramente, só me lembro dos marcianos em Marte Ataca dizendo “Nos viemos em paz!” com a rizadinha característica no fundo. […] Além do mais, o texto do artigo é excessivamente genérico o que é “dado”, meu endereço de e-mail é um dado? meu número de cpf seria um dado? um trecho de uma reportagem não deixa de ser um dado… um resultado de uma pesquisa, um percentual de um infográfico qualquer é um dado… divulgar isso, “transferindo-o” seria crime! Um eventual estado autoritário (não que o nosso seja) poderia usar isso como forma de perseguir jornalistas que conseguissem informações não públicas e as publicassem… pessoalmente acho o conceito de “dado” algo abstrato de mais para estar escrito numa Lei… Leis são feitas para serem interpretadas, para dar “segurança jurídica” à toda a sociedade… que segurança se tem quando a letra da lei permite leituras amplamente distintas?
in fact the Bill's authors at Senate say that the idea here was not to criminalize the transmission of MP3 files or other copyright protected files through the Internet without proper authorization … honestly, it only reminds me of the Martians in Mars Attacks saying “We come in peace!” with a little a smirk in the background. […] Moreover, the wording of the article is too generic, what is “data”, is my e-mail address data? would my individual identification number number be one? an excerpt of a news story is still a piece of data … a piece of any info-graphic is data … to disclose it, by “transferring it”, would be a crime! Any authoritarian state (hopefully not ours) could use it as a way to prosecute journalists who obtained non-public information and published it… Personally, I think the concept of “data” is something too abstract to be written in a law .. Laws are made to be interpreted, to give “legal certainty” to the whole society … what security is there when the wording of the law allows widely distinct interpretations?
Bloggers and Internet users demand at very least a long overdue debate, if not the scrapping of the bill all together. The online petition [pt] in defense of freedom and progress of knowledge on the Brazilian Internet has been signed by over 70,500 people – an extra 20,500 signatures since our last report three days ago. The hope is that at least 100,000 will be enough to sensitize the House of Representatives to the need of treading carefully. However, a lot more can be done on an individual basis, as suggests Lucia Freitas [pt]:
Se você é preguiçoso, acha que não vai fazer a diferença, te conto: faz. Que tal a gente conseguir mais de 100 mil assinaturas na petição? Que tal a gente se comunicar com cada um dos deputados de nosso Estado e deixar clara a nossa posição? Que tal a gente propor a discussão de um código que permita prender ladrões (virtuais e reais), pedófilos e outros vermes e ainda por cima continuarmos em rede, sem drama?
If you are lazy, thinking that it will not make a difference, I tell you: it does. Why don't we get more than 100 thousand signatures to the petition? Why don't we talk to each of the council members of our states and make our position clear? Why don't we propose the discussion of a code that allows thieves (virtual and real), paedophiles and other vermin to be arrested and still continue online, without drama?
If approved in the House of Representatives, the final decision is in the hands of the Brazilian president, who could still veto the bill.
Resources in English
The Portuguese text of the proposal is available here, and an English translation by Pablo Lorenzoni reviewed by Alexandre Oliva, member of the Free Software Foundation Latin America, is now also available. See also previous Global Voices Coverage on the issue in May 2007 and November 2007).

author: Paula Góes


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Cambodian and Thai Bloggers on Disputed Preah Vihear Temple · Global Voices
Tharum Bun

Rising serious tension between Cambodia and Thailand started when UNESCO, on July 7, 2008, declared temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site. The 11th century temple has long been a subject to dispute between the two nations; in 1962, Hague-based International Court of Justice ruled that the ancient Hindu temple belonged to Cambodia, a decision opposed by many Thais.
As the news of the inscription of Cambodia's 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple announced by the World Heritage Committee early this month in Quebec, Canada, a large number of text messages were sent via cellphone to share the exciting news during the midnight (Phnom Penh time).
People of the two countries witness the power of pride and nationalism, again, particularly at the time that Cambodia heading to national election on July 27 and that Thailand is struggling with her own internal politic.
Not surprisingly, as the world is more connected, at least virtually, Thai and Cambodian citizens begin their discussions on the Internet for the first time. A post of link with title “Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia,” appeared on Global Voices Online on June 24, attracted 70 comments (at the time of writing this post).
Nationalism versus Rationalism
Somongkol Teng, a former Fulbright scholar, proudly announced the official news of the newly inscribed temple on his blog, which has attracted a number of comments from his readers, including people in neighboring country Thailand.
A comment left by a Thai citizen, who identifies as Tavorn Kamboonreang, on Somongkol's blog post, has led to a long, heated discussion.
On July 10, 2008, Tavorn commented:
Dear Khamen(Cambodian) Neighbors,
You think you win the Preah Vihear World Heritage now but soon you will see that you lost because UNESCO will send 7 nations including Thailand to “invade” your country. UNESCO ripped our two countries apart by siding with you and your foxy politicians. You know where you belong. Look at Phnom Penh which was built to model after Bangkok by King Narodom who lived and worked in Bangkok under Thai Royal Patronage for years. Rejoice now but be prepared to get back to be under Thailand’s protection again because you need to be where you belong. I am your Thai neighbor and it’s my duty to help you get back to your good sense. Remember who help you when your country was under the Khmer Rouge-Pol Pot and your refugees had nowhere else to run to but Thailand. Please take care and be grateful.
Does an individual opinion reflect the Thai society in general? Thai native Isriya Paireepairit, a technology columnist for a number of Thai newspapers and magazines, wrote a post on the issue in Thai language (he also provides translation here) that:
I quoted the follow up article by  Dr. Charnvit Kasetsiri. He stated that Preah Vihear is definitely belonged to Cambodia from both historical-archaeological and legal. The Thai claim (geological) has never been supported by World Court.
Another blog post of his deals with one of his friends, who lives in the United Kingdom. Isriya asked an interesting question in response to a campaign running by his friend who wants to claim back Preah Vihear temple for Thai citizens.
I quoted my conversation with my Thai friend (I'm living in UK at the moment) to demonstrate the general public's view on this incident. This friend now wants to “bring back Preah Vihear” to Thai people. I question them as ‘is Preah Vihear really belonged to us? (So we can
get it back). I also quote Thongchai Winichakul, a famous Southeast Asian History Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He wrote an article about nationalist. The title can be translated as “Preah Vihear will be yet another racism timebomb”
Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Several thousand people gathered at Wat Phnom to celebrate the day. Savada Khmer [in PDF], a song composed by Samdech Sangha Raja Jhotañano Chuon Nath (1883 -1969).
Savada Khmer translated into English
All Khmers, please remember the root and history of our great country
Our boundary was wide and well known
Others always thought highly of our race
And always placed our race as the elders.
We have great heritage and culture
Which has spread far and wide in the Far East.
Religion, arts and education,
Music, philosophy and strategies are all that we have spread.
All Khmers, please remember our roots and history
Which speaks of the grandeur of our great race
Make up your mind and body and try hard to rebuild
In order to lift the value of our nation
To once again rise to the greatness that we once had.
Is the power of nationalism as strong as the power of love? So far, at least two public events organized in the Cambodian capital to celebrate the important event as well as to reclaim the so called ‘unity’ for the country. Donations have been made, largely by Phnom Penh-based business people, to help military at the Cambodian-Thai border. Cambodian journalism lecturer Moeun Chhean Nariddh takes a look at the history of nationalism used in the mainstream media to fight against French colonialism, then the Chinese and Vietnamese dominance. The opinionated media trainer wrote an op-ed to a daily newspaper that:
…Nevertheless, the media’s role in promoting nationalism is not new. The pioneer of Cambodian media started the first Khmer-language newspaper in 1936 with the explicit mission to promote nationalism and engage in Cambodia’s struggle for independence from French colonial rule. A nationalistic Cambodian press appeared first to challenge French rule, then the Chinese and Vietnamese dominance in Cambodia’s economy and politics, and also American “imperialism,” until the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975.
Richard, an observer and blogger at Connecting the Dots, wrote a blog post that the current Thai government, under-fired for it first supported Cambodian government in getting the temple listed, which it later withdrew due to an injunction issued by Thailand's Administrative Court to suspend any move endorsing Cambodia's bid to list the ancient temple as UNESCO's World Heritage site:
Although the court ruled against Thailand, many Thais never accepted the ruling in their hearts. As a result the signing of the documents between Thailand and Cambodia was all it took to set this off. Thailand’s ruling party the People Power Party (PPP) is under attack for a variety of reasons, this signing became just another avenue of attack. The signing was ruled to be in violation of the Thai constitution in that parliament was excluded. The reputation of the PPP of not caring about laws, rules and the Thai people and now also being seen as very possibly giving up Thai soil to Cambodia has set this nationalism movement in motion. This has lead to escalation of conflict ant the site of the temple with both Thai and Cambodian military on the scene. There is no doubt to outsiders that the temple issue is being used as leverage to force this apparently useless Thai government out.
In an article appeared in Bangkok-based Prachatai, an independent online newspaper, Harrison George discusses the history (including what led to an anti-Thai-riot in 2003) of the two countries, both are members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
And now our ignorance of Thailand’s history is threatening relations with Cambodia.  We’ve seen this before. In 2003, in the run up to Cambodian elections, actress Suvanant Kongying was falsely reported in the Cambodian press (possibly by a rival company to the Mistine cosmetics she was fronting for) as saying that Angkor Wat should be given back to Thailand.  ‘Given back’, because it had been stolen from Thailand by the Cambodians.
The Khmers, whose schoolbooks seem to be as nationalistically one-sided as everyone else’s, got understandably irate about this.  But so did the Thais.  When the news was breaking I was told by 2 Thais who had the benefit of a university education, that Suvanant’s alleged statement was so obviously untrue it must have been fabricated.  I asked what they meant.  Cambodia couldn’t have ‘stolen’ Angkor Wat from Thailand, they explained, because Thailand had never occupied it.
Live update from Preah Vihear province:
I've just received an update from Geffrey Cain, our Contributing Author, who is currently is Preah Vihear province to cover the news. Here is his message sent to me on July 20, 2008:
Writing from the Thai-Cambodia border where I'm covering the dispute. Needless to say, things out here are incredibly tense. Yesterday we had a major stand-off between Thai and Cambodian soldiers at a pagoda, where they raised their guns at each other and threatened to fire. Today the Thai military has deployed cannons facing our position.

author: Tharum Bun


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Child-rearing in Singapore · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Wind in my head criticizes the kind of child-rearing in Singapore

author: Mong Palatino


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China: Bloggers take stand against web activist’s arrest · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Following his apprehension last month as he was pitching in with the earthquake relief in his native Sichuan province, web activist Huang Qi was this weekend formally arrested for “illegal possession of state secrets”.
Volunteers at his well-known website 64Tianwang.com (English) have been actively posting all news coverage and details surrounding Huang's case, but the campaign to have his charges dropped gained a lot more momentum when, following his formal arrest on Friday afternoon, three of China's better-known social issue bloggers, all from Sichuan, Wang Yi, Ran Yunfei and *, joined up with two other intellectual-writers, Liao Yiwu and Li Yadong, to take the brave step of issuing a letter of protest. The letter has been posted not just on their own blogs, but also on the more mainstream My1510, IndyMediaCN, among many others.
A translation of the letter, the original of which has since been read and spread widely online, can be seen below. Of particular note, however, is the online support yet another highly-read blogger, Mo Zhixu, has been providing on his own and in his own way, centered around his blog at independent portal Bullog.cn.
In early June, he posted the content of Huang's Chinese Wikipedia entry, which at the time had far more information than its English counterpart, in a post at Bullog which although has since been deleted, can still be found elsewhere.
In a June 15 post titled simply, ‘One less person on MSN’, Mo reposts a Chinese-language RFA news report with the details of Huang's arrest and earthquake relief/writing activities in the few days prior. On June 17 he posted a picture of the official document first used to detain Huang nearly a week earlier on June 11, along with the legal definition of what constitutes “possession of a state secret” in China:
Then on Saturday, July 19, Mo returned to Huang's case with a picture and transcription of the official notice of Huang's formal arrest, addressed to Huang's mother, a post which in just a few hours had received over 11,000 hits and many supportive and outraged comments:
Below is the text of Wang, Ran, Linghu, Liao and Li's statement on Huang's arrest:
致成都市警方、政府、人大及广大市民：
2008年7月19日，我们在朋友聚会中，得知自6月10以来被成都警方刑事拘留的黄琦先生，已于今日下午，因“非法持有国家机密”的罪名被正式逮捕。
我们与黄琦素不相识，但尊敬他创办“天网”、致力于公民维权的努力。我们知道他曾因此坐牢，并在狱中遭受不当待遇，出狱后留下脑部疼痛等多处后遗症。我们尊敬他在此情况下，仍然坚持从事“天网”的民间维权活动，尤其是为六四受难者家属唐妈妈争取政府补偿金的努力。
作为经历了512大地震的几位四川知识分子，我们尤其尊敬黄琦先生在地震后，参与民间震后救灾的工作。我们知道他在灾区为灾民提供力所能及的物资援助，也与地震罹难者学生的家长有所联系。
While we have never been acquainted with Huang Qi, we respect the “Tianwang” which he founded to devote himself to upholding the rights of citizens. We know that he has served jail time, that he was mistreated while in prison, and that he came out with pains in his chest and other lingering conditions. Out of respect for him, we maintain our firm support for his civil rights-upholding activities through “Tianwang”, particularly his efforts in helping Mother Tang, relative of a June 4 victim, fight for compensation from the government.
As several Sichuanese intellectuals who experienced the earthquake, we especially respect Mr. Huang Qi for his participation in the civil society relief effort work following the earthquake. We know that he did everything in his power to provide supplies and aid to the earthquake victims in the disaster area, and was in contact with the parents of children who perished in the earthquake.
但我们非常不理解，一个普通公民参与救灾、了解灾区真实情形，这和“国家机密”有什么关系？我们也曾以普通公民身份，参与过一些灾区救助的工作。我们和黄琦先生一样，也和成千上万在灾区的民间志愿者一样，因此了解到一些非官方的、甚至与媒体的报道不完全一致的信息。可是，难道一个公民从媒体以外了解到的信息，就属于“国家机密”吗？难道国家天然地拥有一切社会信息的所有权吗？难道一个公民有幸（或不幸）见到或听到了一些和政府口径不一致的信息，他就“非法持有国家机密”了吗？
如果这样的话，那就意味着每一个和黄琦说过话的灾民，都非法持有着国家机密。换言之，一旦他们成了灾民，他们就同时成了“国家机密”或携带国家机密的病毒。成都和四川警方应该逮捕每一个和黄琦有过接触的灾民，而不是仅仅逮捕黄琦一人。或者至少把所有灾民都隔离起来，免得我们一和他们说话，就触碰了国家机密。
If that is the case, then that would suggest that every single earthquake victim who spoke with Huang Qi is also in illegal possession of state secrets. Put another way, at the same time they became earthquake victims, they also became “state secrets”, or began carrying some sort of state secret virus. The Chengdu and Sichuan police should go arrest every single earthquake victim who came in contact with Huang Qi, and not only just Huang Qi himself. Or at least, all earthquake victims should be put in isolation, to keep any of us from speaking to them, and coming across any state secrets.
基于法治的常识，我们知道所谓国家机密，第一是不为一般公民所知，第二是国家事先采取了保密措施。换言之，凡是能在大街上看到的事，都不是机密。凡是在大街上看见裸体，一定不是看见的人有问题，而是被看见的人有问题。也就是说，一个非国家机关的普通公民，除非他以非法的方式刺探、偷窃被国家机关预先加以保护的信息；否则，他所知道的任何信息，都不可能触及“非法持有国家机密”这一罪名。
因此，我们对成都警方因黄琦先生参与震后救灾而逮捕他、构陷他，不得不表示强烈的质疑、反对和抗议。尽管我们看出，地方政府似乎不太喜欢民间的救灾志愿活动，但成都警方逮捕黄琦的事件，仍然是令人震惊的。我们只能理解为这是对市民社会的一种否定，对民间的一次粗暴和傲慢的挑衅，也是对这个刚刚遭受地震的省份的一次羞辱。
我们基于个人的经验和良心，不相信这是一次公正的逮捕。但我们希望成都警方能以尊敬法治、尊重公民权利，同时也是尊重自己的方式，来处理这一案件。我们主张并支持媒体、网络和民间可以自由地报道和评论这一案件，我们更加鼓励成都和其他地方的知识分子、市民和媒体，更多地站出来质疑和批评成都警方，以公民的正当方式，帮助政府尊重他自己制定的法律。
As such, we have no choice but to express our strong suspicion, opposition and protest to Chengu police's arrest of Huang Qi under the false pretense of his participation in post-earthquake disaster relief. Although we have seen that the local government was not happy to see volunteer-based civil society relief rescue efforts, the Chengdu police's arrest of Huang Qi is all the more shocking. We can only understand this as a sort of negation of municipal society, a cruel and arrogant provocation aimed at civil society, as well as a humiliation to this province which only just suffered an earthquake.
Based on experience and conscience, we do not believe this to be a just arrest. We do hope that Chengdu police will be able to respect the rule of law and respect civic rights, at the same time, respecting their own methods used in handling a case. We advocate for and support the media, internet and civil society to be able to freely report and comment upon this case. Even more, we encourage intellectuals, urban residents and media in Chengdu and elsewhere to stand up and question and criticize the Chengdu police for this, using the legitimate means of a citizen to help the government in respecting the laws it itself established.
我们呼吁成都警方对黄琦先生，不要采取任何刑讯逼供等违反法治的野蛮做法，呼吁成都警方准许黄琦先生的委托人可以与他见面，呼吁成都警方不要以非法的方式，继续骚扰、威胁黄琦身边的天网义工。
我们不愿这一案件，成为奥运年中又一次引起国际关注的糟糕的人权记录。但遗憾的是，我们怀疑成都警方正致力于这样做。作为中国的知识分子，我们也不愿看到中国的人权状况总是遭到其他国家人士的批评，所以我们只好硬着头皮，率先批评自己的政府。
希望成都警方和成都司法部门，也能在这个案子中有率先的回应。愿我们的批评、抗议和政府的回应，都能成为对成都、对中国的祝福。
We would hate to see this case become yet another dismal human rights record raising international attention in the midst of this Olympic year. We regret to suspect, however, that the Chengdu police are at present committed to doing as much. As intellectuals of China, we also hate to see China's human rights situation always being criticized by people from other countries, which is why we can only be hard-headed about this, and begin first and foremost by criticizing our own government.
We hope the Chengdu police and Chengdu judicial departments take the initiative in their response to this case. May our criticism, protest and response to the government prove to be a blessing for Chengdu, and for China.
2008-7-19
July 19, 2008
Just a brief description of Huang's website Tianwang: put online in 1998 as a platform for reuniting families with missing persons, a year later it had expanded its focus to larger social issues, exposing several corruption cases and one major medical scandal, during which time Huang Qi was beaten while his website garnered heavy praise in commercial and official Chinese (as well as foreign) media. Less than two years later, the website was shut down. Two weeks after that, Huang Qi had it up and running again, this time hosted overseas, only then to be blocked within China as it remains today. That same summer, Huang Qi was sentenced to five years in prison for subversion of state power. All this and more can be read on Tianwang here.
*Linghu Buchong has informed GVO that while he in fact did not sign his name to the letter, he was the first person to have posted it to Bullog.

author: John Kennedy


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Croatia: At Odds with Slovenian Borders · Global Voices
El Hud

Since the breakup of former Yugoslavia nearly 20 years ago, ongoing issues have dogged Croatia's progress as a nation headed towards eventual membership with the European Union. The most public of these issues was the arrest of former general Ante Gotovina at the end of 2005; he is now standing trial in The Hague.
Unknown to most are more transparent issues that involve the borders of Croatia. When looking at a map, it's understandable why such issues would arise, given the twisting layout of the country. The building of a bridge to the Pelješac Peninsula to bypass Bosnia and Herzegovina where it bisects Croatia in Dalmatia is one issue.  Another is disputed ownership of islands in the Danube River where Croatia and Serbia meet.  While these items are still very much in need of resolution, it's Croatia's border with Slovenia that is posing one of its largest problems due to EU enlargement considerations.
At the forefront have been the maritime issues involving Slovenia's access to the Adriatic Sea.  Currently, Slovenia is seeking a corridor in the Adriatic through Croatian waters (by way of waters claimed outside their current borders), to give them access to International Waters:
Image from Wikipedia
The issue is contentious, to say the least, with each side in the dispute citing historical foundation for why they're right, as was written (SLV) in the Slovenija RTV forums:
- We should organize an international conference on the division of the Adriatic Sea, which has never belonged to Croatia.
– Croatia did not exist until after World War II.
– Istria has always been Slovenian.
Another border issue that is slightly less pressing in Istria concerns the demarcation set by the Dragonija river, which was rerouted in Yugoslavian times. This change poses a problem as the borders of the former Yugoslavian countries were set by the Badinter Arbitration Committee to be as they were while each current-day country was a state in Yugoslavia.  This naturally causes strife when historical borders were placed along rivers that no longer run where they used to.
The issue of river-based borders rises again when moving to the northernmost area of Croatia.  Specifically, the border formed by the Mura River creates an issue near Sveti Martin na Muri. The debate surrounding this reached a troublesome point in 2006, when Slovenian journalists were captured for supposedly trespassing into Croatia due to the area being contested. Again, the issue revolves around historical borders not corresponding with geographical borders and the borders as they were set at the demise of Yugoslavia. Dragutin Lesar, a member of the Croatian Parliament, writes (HRV) on Nebu Išlo (“It will not go”) in more detail about the situation:
…Slovenes believe that the borders must go through the middle of the river beds Mura. […] the borders between Slovenia and Croatia (formerly part of the Republic of Yugoslavia) were identified by the old mapped boundaries of municipalities. This was the existing situation on the day of June 25, 1991, when Slovenia declared independence.
The Badinter Committee confirmed these borders as the borders newly formed States.
In addition to this, Lesar points out:
From the statement of Pogačnika Rudolf and after that meeting, it could be clearly known that Slovenia remains with about 22 disputed points on the common border between Croatia and believes that only 8 of them are controversial.
The 14 “non-controversial” points of contention with Slovenia (which include the nuclear power plant, Krško, that suffered a small leak last month) show that there will be continuing negotiations as Croatia gets closer to its current target date of 2010 to join the EU. Of course, frustrations rise for the Croatians as they see this date get closer, but see very few resolutions, as Hyeronimus writes (HRV) on Pollitika in regards to the situation of the Mura River border:
…the Croatian public, the Croatian politics, Croatian diplomacy, the Croatian police and the government are simply silent.
Photo of the Slovenia Border Crossing in Istria from Hudin
While these issues have been around for years, they had light shed on them again with Slovenia becoming part of the Schengen Agreement in 2007 and the border becoming not just the border to Slovenia, but also to the EU.  New issues arose out of agreements left over from both countries’ independence declarations that had to be addressed. Of course, the Slovenes and Croats are not without a sense of humor in this, as Balkan Insight reported last year:
…customers in a pub which lies across the Slovene-Croat border at Obrezje, have joked that they will need their identity documents before they are allowed to go the toilet on the other side of the official border.

author: El Hud


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East Timor in SEA games logo · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Asia's Perfect 10 raised a valid issue. The Southeast Asian (SEA) games logo has 10 rings representing the countries of the region. Another ring should be added to include Timor Leste.


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Egypt: Wikimania Report  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

FTMBlog [Ar] from Egypt reports live from Wikimania, held in Alexandria, Egypt, this year.


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Fijian Conference in Adelaide · Global Voices
May Hnin Phyu

Wendy of Babasiga is attending Fijian Conference in Adelaide, Australia and blogs about the experiences there. “The conference discussions and sessions were in various styles – academic, story telling, humorous or serious, and passionate preaching.”

author: May Hnin Phyu


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Georgia: Culture of Democracy · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Steady State comments on the state of democracy in Georgia. The blog examines the situation and the attitude of the authorities towards the pro-opposition media and a report prepared by the human rights ombudsperson which was highly critical of the 7 November dispersal of an opposition protest in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.


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Georgia: Political Comeback · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Steady State comments on the return of Nino Burjanadze to active politics in Georgia. The blog notes that although Burjanadze was one of the three main figures responsible for the 2003 Rose Revolution, she is now seeking to become a viable opposition in Georgia. However, the blog notes, as a former Saakashvili ally, Burjanadze is partly responsible for the situation in the country.


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Impact of blogging in Vietnam · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Saigonnezumi links to an article which tackles the impact of blogging in Vietnam


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Japan: Is it all over for Mainichi? · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Nobuo Ikeda writes in English and in Japanese about the latest step in the drawn-out WaiWai controversy: after a string of earlier statements, Mainichi has issued a 3-page-long official apology, in which it pledges “to rehabilitate [Mainichi Daily News] into a site that can dispatch information to the world that can help people properly understand Japan.”

author: Chris Salzberg


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Japan: The Linguistics of Nico Nico Douga · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Metagold is a research blog based out of a project at Goldsmiths College, University of London, focused exclusively on the video sharing web service Nico Nico Douga. In a July 15th post, Metagold takes up the story of a linguist at Kyoto University, Kanamaru-san (id:kana0355 [ja]), who “asks how the basic difference of the comments’ placement […] creates the specific speech situations of commenting on Nico Nico Douga and Youtube.”


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Jordan: Six People Killed in Shooting  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The shooting in Amman where six people were injured in a musical was a crime of despair. The shooter was an 18-year old, resident of Al Baq'a refugee camp,” writes Jordanian blogger Hareega, about the latest shoot out in Jordan.


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Kenya: Protecting the Mau forest · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Kenya Environmental & Political News writes about the conservation efforts to protect the Mau Complex, the largest forest ecosystem in the country.


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Laos: Luang Prabang · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Eye in the sky visited the ancient royal city of Luang Prabang, and exclaims: “It's like riding into a dream!” Luang Prabang is Laos’ foremost tourist destination.


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Malaysia: Fear of possible anarchy · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

I am a Malaysian comments on the growing political tension in Malaysia after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was charged with sodomy: “At this point of our history, and, with the imminent global financial, economic, subsistence and geo-political turmoil waiting to explode, we do not need to commit suicide by allowing the latest Anwar Ibrahim episode to degenerate into anarchy.”


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Mali: Balafon museum for Sikasso · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Sociolingo's Africa reports on a new museum to be created in Sikasso, Mali. It will be the first museum designed to preserve the heritage of the balafon, an African xylophene played in Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote-d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin and Ghana. The post includes a video of two balafon musicians.


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Morocco: Royal Air Maroc causes a fright · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

A Moro in America tells us about some turbulence on Royal Air Maroc and the (lack of) customer service that followed the incident.


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Myanmar: Naming System · Global Voices
May Hnin Phyu

“I realized that the Burmese custom of naming is fairly unique. It symbolizes the combination of the particular virtue for a person and astrological calculation of the day of the week that the person was born based on Burmese lunar calendar year.”, Bakaung blogs and explains more in detail.


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Myanmar: Teen Problems in London · Global Voices
May Hnin Phyu

London based Burmese bloggers show concern over the increase in teenage crimes. Steve E. questions “Why is the incidence of knife crime growing up rapidly these days?” and wonders a way to reduce such crimes while CMS witnesses yet another teenage gang fight.


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Palestine: No to History, Politics and Religion Questions  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Stop asking me about religion, politics and history!” pleads Rebellious Arab Girl, in this post in which she sheds her personal thoughts on the above mentioned topics.


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Preah Vihear dispute and nationalism · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Harry McKinnon blames the “irrational nationalism” of Thai citizens for the rising tension in Preah Vihear temple. Bangkok Pundit believes the upcoming Cambodian election is motivating the opposition to “stoke nationalist sentiment.” Both Thailand and Cambodia are claiming the historic site.


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Saudi Arabia: What’s Your Mother’s Name?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“What's your mother's name?” Thamer Al Marzooqi [Ar], from Saudi Arabia, challenges his readers – in a culture where women's names are considered to remain in the private domain.


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Singapore: Legalizing organ trade · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The issue of organ trade is being discussed intently in Singapore. miyagi.sg thinks that implementing an organ trade legal framework can benefit organ donors and recipients alike.


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Taiwan: Observations on Yahoo! Taiwan’s search filter · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

We hear a lot about issues on censorship on Global Voices Online and our Advocacy Project, and most of the cases come from Government policies or business self-censorship because of the Government policies. However, fierce business competition can sometimes result in censorship… or a kind of.
Famous Taiwan infotech blogger Briian recently protested against Yahoo Taiwan (Yahoo Kimo) filtering search results, calling Yahoo!Kimo “evil”.
In his post “Protest! Yahoo!Kimo's ‘Combined Search’ monopolizes information! (抗議！Yahoo!奇摩「綜合搜尋」資訊壟斷)”, he pointed out that Yahoo Kimo's new search function, “Combined Search”, gives out web links, news, video clips, blogs results… only from Yahoo's own services.
首先，先看一下原本的Yahoo奇摩搜尋結果長怎樣，頁面最上面除了廣告跟新聞區塊，中間一大塊都是網頁的自然搜尋結果，最下面是知識+的內容。
First, let's take a look at the original look of search result page in Yahoo!Kimo. The upper part of the page is ads and news, the middle part is natural search result of web pages, and the bottom part is from Yahoo's Knowledge+.
下面這個Yahoo!奇摩新推的「綜合搜尋」的搜尋頁面：
And below is the search result using newly invented “Combined Search” from Yahoo!Kimo:
仔細看他的搜尋結果，新聞區塊全部只收錄有刊登在Yahoo奇摩新聞網站的新聞內容就算了（一直都是這樣），其他不受Yahoo青睞的媒體內容如果沒機會登上Yahoo!奇摩的新聞頻道，只能默默無名的在某個網路的黑洞裡呼吸新鮮空氣。
Look carefully at the result page. The news area contains news stories only from Yahoo!Kimo News (which seems like always), and other media outlets who are not favored by Yahoo and have no chance to get into Yahoo!Kimo News Channel would stay in some kind of unnoticeable Internet Blackhole.
最主要是「知識+」區塊下面的那個「部落格」搜尋結果列出來的全部都只有「Yahoo!奇摩部落格」跟「無名小站部落格」中的內容，意思是使用Yahoo的人全部都沒法藉由這個「綜合搜尋」的功能找到「奇摩」跟「無名小站」以外的部落格文章，全世界的部落格都不是部落格，只有寫在Yahoo所屬網站裡的才算是。
What's more important is the area of “Blog search result” under “Knowledge+” area, where all the results are from “Yahoo!Kimo Blog” and  “Wretch Blog” (note: Wretch is the biggest blog service in Taiwan, also owned by Yahoo!Kimo). And that means people who search with this “Combined Search” cannot find anything other than blogs from “Kimo” and “Wretch”. Blogs all around the world are not count as blogs, while only blogs under Yahoo Services are counted as blogs.
The same situation happens when searching video clips with Yahoo!Kimo search. All videos showed in search result are from “Wretch Video”.
This hot post got 192 comments and soon was noticed by ZDNet Taiwan. ZDNet interviewed Briian on this issue and then he put whole 3 parts of Q&A on his new blogpost, which has 75 supporting comments when I write this report. I quote part of the Q&A below:
1) 你在重灌狂人上抗議雅虎奇摩綜合搜尋有資訊壟斷之虞，作為一個網路使用者與知名部落客，你期待看到雅虎奇摩會有怎樣的改變？
1) You protest Yahoo!Kimo Combined Search for its information monopoly on Reinstall Mad Man. As a web user and a famous blogger, what changes do you expect to see from Yahoo!Kimo?
以前我還以為美國Yahoo的「YST技術」是為了更快、更準確的找到更多東西，不過現在Yahoo!奇摩的作法看起來是要讓使用者找到最少的 blog跟影片，無名影音裡面的影片有比YouTube多嗎？可以囊括全世界的影片嗎？當越來越多使用者發現他在Yahoo!奇摩找不到想要的東西之後，大家轉往其他網站的速度會越快。
Previously I thought that Yahoo!USA's “YST” technology is to find information faster and more precisely, however, it seems like Yahoo!Kimo is trying to prevent their users to find more blogs and more video clips. Are there more clips in Wretch Video than Youtube? Can it cover the whole world's video? Once more and more users are aware of the fact that they can't find what he wants with Yahoo!Kimo, they will turn away quickly and decide to use other search engines.
2) 在我訪問過雅虎奇摩搜尋與工程部門主管後，他們告知我沒有作到全面性搜尋的理由，在於企業資源有限，因此是以先推出新功能為主要考量，並會再逐步增加搜尋來源，他們並認為無名加上雅虎部落格已是台灣大多數的部落格，在搜尋結果上已能滿足大多數使用者的需求，你怎麼看他們的回應？
2) After my interview with directors of Yahoo!Kimo Search and Engineer department, they told me that the reason they don't search comprehensively is due to limited corporate resources, so they decide to present new functions first and then step by step increase search resources. They also believe that Wretch Blog and Yahoo Blog represent most blogs in Taiwan, so the search result can already meet the need of most users. What do you think about their feedback?
這問題就得問他們自己囉，大家覺得這會是「技術能力」或「最賺錢卻資源有限」的問題嗎？
如果無名+雅虎已經可以滿足大多數使用者的需求，那Blogger、Xuite、Pixnet、微軟Spaces跟Yam天空、癮科技裡面的內容大概都是不重要的資訊吧？更別說是中文以外的語言與最愛寫BLOG的日本跟美國、歐洲、中國…等各地的各式資訊。
This question should be directed to them. Do people think this is a problem because of “technology capability” or “limited resources… while being the most profitable company”?
If Wretch and Yahoo can satisfy most users, then I guess contents in Blogger, Xuite, Pixnet, Windows Live Spaces, Yam Sky, and Engadget are all trivial wrecks? Not to mention languages other than Chinese and information from the most bloggy Japan, US, Europe, China….
3) 有一個很有趣的現象我不曉得你會怎麼解讀，像是Google在美國擁有很高的市佔率，搜尋並超越雅虎多年，不過雅虎在台灣近乎壟斷市場，Google的使用者仍以power-user為主，Google的開放策略似乎還無法吸引到台灣很多用戶的關注，尤其是20歲以下的用戶。對這些非power-user 來說，他們可能真的不關心雅虎有沒有壟斷的問題，你怎樣看這個現象？
3) Here's a very interesting phenomenon which I am curious about how you decode it: Google has very high market share in US, and its search has surpassed Yahoo for years. However, Yahoo seems to monopolize the market, while Google is still embraced only by power users. It seems that Google's open strategy does not attract many Taiwan users’ attention, especially users under 20 years old. To these non power users, they perhaps don't care about the monopoly problem of Yahoo. What do you think about it?
Google的很多東西都比Yahoo!奇摩的好用，譬如說搜尋跟Gmail，但一般使用者並不知道有其他選擇。我可以在台灣的電視、報紙、雜誌、廣播甚至是外面跑的公車上看到Yahoo!奇摩的廣告，但是看不到Google的任何廣告，雖然在台灣的愛用者很多，但Google並不重視台灣市場。
Google很多產品在其他國家可能很受歡迎，可到台灣就幾乎很少人用，網站是給人用的，除了語言之外，還有很多文化、習慣與民族性或族群習性的差異，Google中國做了很多努力、併購了很多當地的網站，可是Google並不在乎台灣的使用者，全部就只有中文化而已。
Most of Google's services are much better than Yahoo!Kimo, such as search engine and Gmail, but normal users don't know they have other choices. I notice that Yahoo!Kimo's commercials and advertisements are everywhere on TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, or even buses riding on the streets in Taiwan, but I've never see any ads from Google. Although there are many Google lovers in Taiwan, but Google does not care about the Taiwan Market actually.
Google's huge amount of products might be very popular in other countries, but they are seldom used by Taiwanese. Websites are made for people to use, and there are a forest of differences around culture, habits, nationality or ethnicity, other than language waiting to be discovered. Google China has done a lot of efforts such as merging local websites, but Google just don't care about Taiwanese users while all Google Taiwan has done is having translated its services into Traditional Chinese.
What do you think? Do you consider it a kind of censorship? Do you find the same situation in your country? Please leave comment under after reading this report.

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Afghanistan: Eve teasing · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust looks at the problem of eve teasing in Afghanistan, an abhorrent tendency of young men to sexually harass women on the street.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Afghanistan: Government Blames Pakistan for Terrorism · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Barnett R. Rubin reports that the government of Afghanistan, chaired by President Hamid Karzai, formally endorsed a statement charging Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate with responsibility for most of the terrorism carried out in Afghanistan.


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Afghanistan: Hizb-i Islami Press Release on Bombing · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Barnett R. Rubin posts translation of the Hizb-i Islami press release on the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghainistan, in which Northern Alliance is blamed for for the attack.


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Afghanistan: Revisiting Reports on al-Qaeda · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust compares journalistic and intelligence reports on the early days of al-Qaeda, and realizes they were almost exactly the same.


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Afghanistan: The Myth of Taliban Tribalism · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Josh Foust says that one of the most shallow prejudices on the conflict in Afghanistan is the assertion that the Taliban insurgent groups are being driven by tribal loyalties


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Afghanistan: Women Shot by Taliban · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

The Rumi reports that two women who had been returning home from shopping in the Kandahar province of Aghanistan, were abducted and shot to death by Taliban insurgents.


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Angola: On Africa’s oilfields · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Pitigrili [pt] retorts to an article about Africa's oilfields on a newspaper which stated that few will benefit from Africa's oil boom: “Of course, the Western multinationals don't like the reconstruction deals between Angola and China, where oil is the currency exchange. But the Angolan people finally see asphalt and basic education and health      infrastructure making a coming back since the beginning of the 1975 civil war. If we look at the African reality, it's a unique case of reconstruction benefiting the entire population.”


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Bahrain: Violence in Child Play  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini Ammaro is annoyed that some rides for children advocate violence. Click on his post to see what he is talking about.


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Brazil: Portugal ratifies Portuguese language agreement · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Portugal's President Anibal Cavaco Silva has ratified the agreement to standardise the Portuguese language and its spelling in a move to make the language, spoken in 8 countries, more uniform globally. O Hermenauta [pt] has written a round up of reactions from both sides of the ocean and concludes the agreement is still a disagreement.


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Central Asia: Update on EU’s Cantral Asia Strategy · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Phillip posts his impressions of a panel discussion of the German Association for Eastern European Studies about the Central Asia strategy of the European Union.


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China: 10 Political Myths · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ran Yunfei listed out 10 political myths in China, such as talks about savior, people, liberation, election, and etc.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: How you feeling about the Olympics? · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Joel at Fool's Mountain recently took to the street where he lives in Beijing neighbor city Tianjin to ask locals what they think about next month's Olympics. He took video of it all, and has even added translated subtitles. Check it out.


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China: Right Activists Arrested in Earthquake Zone · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ran Yun-fei re-posted a joint letter protesting against the arrest of Huang Qi and other right activists in Sichuan earthquake areas. The excuse of the arrest is “illegal possession of state secret”.


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China: Tianjin People’s View on Olympics · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel posts a video on Tianjin’s LaoBaiXing's view (common people) on the significance of Olympics.


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Colombia: Freedom March Around the World · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

After the rescue of 15 high profile hostages held in the FARC's power on July 2nd 2008, the same group that organized the last global march on February 4th against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) decided that there should be a another one on July 20th, the day when Colombia's Independence from Spain is celebrated. The following videos and photographs show the way this Independence celebration and liberation march was celebrated around the world,
In the capital city of Colombia, Bogota, journalist Víctor Solano uploads a video of the crowd walking by, with a surprise appearance of a TV character beloved by toddlers throughout the world. On his blog, other videos and images.
From Panama,  uploaded by daydreamer191, a video of the excitement lived on the march, which took on the air of a parade.
In Australia, China and Holland, Colombians also celebrated, in groups and sometimes, all on their own.
Colombian bloggers wrote about their reasons for marching or deciding not to join the festivities.
Mauricio Duque Arrubla succinctly explained his reasons:
Caminando, se cura la herida…
Walking, the wound can heal…
Also, his wife took the picture which illustrates this post, titled “Flags”.
Dianacats who lives in another main city in Colombia, Medellin, views the march from the commercial perspective and is a bit befuddled by the campaign a pizza parlor sent to her email, thinking that marketing a pizza on independence and freedom marches is going a bit too far.
From the coastal city of Barranquilla in Colombia, El Gerente posts pictures of his day at the march.
Blogger Arlovich Correa Manchola writes about the ideal of Nation, and how hope for the march has overshadowed the murders of syndicalists on the hands of the state.
La patria olvidará mañana al sindicalista del Polo que se entierra hoy, detenido y desaparecido por fuerzas oficiales, según éste comunicado. Guillermo Rivera llevó a su hija a la ruta del colegio y luego desapareció, después de ser abordado en plena vía pública de Bogotá, por sujetos que a la postre lo torturaron y asesinaron.
La patria ha asesinado a 29 sindicalistas como Rivera, en lo que va corrido del año.
La patria mata 5 sindicalistas al mes.
La patria mata un sindicalista a la semana.
La PATRIA está ensangrentada, tiene las manos y la boca y el alma sedienta de sangre.
Al final del día la patria reza el rosario. Y se lava las manos.
The nation will forget tomorrow the Polo [Opposition Political Party] syndicalist who was buried today, detained and disappeared by official forces, according to this release. Guillermo Rivera took his daughter on her way to school and then disappeared after being intercepted in the middle of the public road in Bogota,  by individuals who later tortured and murdered him.
The nation has murdered 29 syndicalists like Rivera just this year.
The nation kills 5 syndicalists a month.
The nation kills a syndicalist a week.
The NATION is bloodied, has their hands and mouth and soul thirsty for blood.
At the end of the day the nation prays with a rosary. And washes its hands.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Colombia: Google in Support of Colombia · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Google displayed a Colombian flag on its main search page in support of peace in the country notes Café GuaGuau [es].

author: Eduardo Avila


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Costa Rica: Towards a Lay State · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Sergio from La Foto Salio Movida [es] believes that Costa Rica should become a lay state, which “would help us improve the political and social maturity….and that this would not attack Catholicism at all, or the free exercise of religion, and on the contrary, it would help treat others equally and provide the same opportunities.“


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Cuba: Nothing is Free · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A long wait at a “free” clinic gets Yoani Sanchez thinking about the true cost of freedom: “I imagine that Aladdin’s lamp, rubbed by eleven million Cubans, has succeeded in providing these hospitals, schools and other publicized ‘subsidies.’  But the image of the genie with his three wishes doesn’t last long, and I start thinking about the high price we pay every day.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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D.R. of Congo: Ceasefire violations · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Accross the divide: Analysis and anecdote from Africa comments on the ceasfire violations of the Goma Peace Agreement, according to a Human Right Watch communique. He says: “civilians continue to die in far greater numbers than before the Goma Agreement was reached six months ago. A serious lack of political will on all sides is undermining the agreement”.


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Ecuador: Interest in Literature Continues · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

The Guayaquil Book Fair (ExpoLibro 2008) recently came to a close, which according to organizers, drew hundreds of thousands of visitors with more than 210 stands [es].  This proves that the reading is not dead, as had been predicted with the arrival of the internet.  Interest in literary works is alive and well in Ecuador and during this past week, four authors who are in different provinces of Ecuador contributed to the culture and literature of the country. Two authors are not well known in the field, but by no means, is their contribution any less important : Rafael Mendez and Luis Felipe Mora. The other two are men with extensive knowledge in the field of Sociology and has been on the political scene: Jose Bolivar Castillo and Oswaldo Hurtado, respectively.  Some local bloggers provide reviews on these books.
Xavier Oquendo Troncoso provides a review of Que mi alma se la lleve el diablo (May the Devil Take my Soul) written by Rafael Méndez a popular blogger and poet from Guayaquil (Naranjal town). His book is about inspirational poems. Oquendo says:
Este poeta sabe “que la vida va en serio” y que la poesía puede ser el instrumento más loable para alcanzar, sin ningún lenguaje ríspido, el poema.
This poet knows “that life is serious” and that poetry can be an instrument more laudable for achieving, without any rigorous language, poetry.
Now we have to head southern of Ecuador. VivaLoja [es] presents El Ecuador Austral (The Southern Ecuador) and published under patronage of CCE-Loja and the Binational Plan for Border Development, Ecuador Chapter.  What is this book about?
La obra de carácter investigativa es una Monografía de la provincia de Loja con interesantes datos del cantón Zaruma (1930) contiene ilustraciones; pintorescas descripciones de pueblos y paisajes; datos estadísticos y noticias históricas y científicas, desconocidas hasta aquí.
This investigative work is a monograph of the province of Loja using interesting data from Zaruma's canton (1930) and contains illustrations, picturesque descriptions of people and landscapes; statistics and historical and scientific news, which had been unknown to date.
Dr. José Bolivar Castillo is a very visible personality for people from Loja and the entire country. He has been a Congressman representing his province and has served as Mayor of Loja on more than one occasion. Cohexista [es]  is a blog hailing from the local Technical Universitiy and the author was present when the book Ecuador Equidad (Ecuador Equity) was launched:
…En sintésis habla sobre los hechos pasados, presentes, y propuesta acerca de la regionalización del Ecuador, se hace un análisis de las razones y justificaciones para ver con más pertinencia y objetividad la regionalización horizontal, creo que es entendible que es un tema que nos compete a tod@s los que hacemos país.
In summary, the book talks about past and present events and proposals on the regionalization of Ecuador, providing an analysis of the reasons and justifications to see regionalization with more relevance and objectivity. I believe it is understandable that it is an issue which is incumbent on all of us to create a country in which we are all a part.
And finally, the new book of Oswaldo Hurtado Larrea, former president and vicepresident of Ecuador, La cultura de los ecuatorianos (The Ecuadoran Culture). María Isabel Punín interviewed him and asked him about the reason for his book:
Yo llevo 40 años estudiando los problemas sociales, económicos, políticos del Ecuador y buscando una explicación al hecho de que cuando están por cumplirse dos siglos de la independencia del Ecuador, o del territorio que luego se llamó Ecuador; y habiendo experimentado con diversos modelos económicos con nada menos que 19 constituciones, gobiernos de diversa naturales, por qué es que el país no ha progresado, quiero decir no ha progresado en los términos que eran posibles, como lo han hecho otros países del mundo que eran tan atrasados como el Ecuador. El caso más parecido es el de Korea y venía echando cabeza desde 1994 en que publiqué un primer ensayo, sobre que la explicación sea de orden cultural, esto es, que las trabas de desarrollo cultural no solo estuvieran en el sistema político, sino también en la forma en que los ecuatorianos nos conducimos: cómo trabajamos, cómo nos relacionamos, cómo cumplimos la ley, cómo pagamos los impuestos, como organizamos la producción.
I have been studying the social, economic,and political problems of Ecuador for the past 40 years.  I am seeking an explanation from the fact that during the time that Ecuador marks two centuries of its independence or from the territory that will later be called Ecuador; and having experienced various economic models along with no fewer than 19 Constitutions, governments of various natures, that why is it that country has not progressed, meaning that it has not progressed in possible terms, like other world countries that were as behind as Ecuador.  The case is more similar to that of Korea, which was coming to light since 1994 when I published my first essay, which said the explanation was cultural in nature, meaning, that the obstacles to development are not only in the political system, but also in the manner in which Ecuadorians act: how we work, how we relate to another, how we follow the law, who we pay taxes, how we organize production.

author: Milton Ramirez


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El Salvador: A Visit to El Mozote · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Tim Muth recently visite the site of El Mozote in El Salvador, which had been the site of a massacre during that country's civil war. He writes, “intellectually I knew what had occurred almost 27 years ago, but the impact of actually being at the site of such horror was powerful.”


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Georgia: Hacker Attack · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Threat Expert Blog reports that political tensions between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia have spilled over into cyberspace. The IT security blog implies that Russian hackers were behind a DOS attack on the website of the Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili.


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Haiti: Woman PM?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

kiskeácity reports that the woman to be nominated for the post of Haitian Prime Minister is battling “a vicious campaign of innuendo and allegations about her sexual orientation”, but her supporters are hopeful: “The final word is now in the hands of the Senate which will vote on the nomination next week.”


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India: Iranian queer couple · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Iranian Queer Foundation on the case of a gay Iranian couple who are waiting in India to be resettled in Canada.

author: Neha Viswanathan