text:
Nigeria is launching a new national airline — but will it take off? · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Nigeria Air logo from Nigeria's new national airline carrier launched amidst criticism and controversy.
The federal government of Nigeria launched plans for a new national carrier, Nigeria Air, seemingly undeterred by a history of running national carriers aground.
Indeed, Nigerian aviation workers are still demanding severance packages from the now-defunct pioneer Nigerian Airways and they, along with fellow Nigerians, are kicking against the new airline.
Many Nigerians, including active aviation unions from now-defunct airways, are skeptical. In fact, aviation workers from the country's pioneer airline, Nigerian Airways, are still demanding severance packages since the company's demise in 2003.
Launching of the first Nigeria Airways international flight in 1958. The lady in the picture, Miss Christie Iugete, was the first Nigerian air hostess. Others in the picture include: SL Akintola, TOS Benson, Udo Udoma, and O. Fadahunsi, Chairman, Nigeria Airways. Credit: TOS pic.twitter.com/qmG5WQk6ph
— Onigegewura (@OnigegeWura) July 20, 2018
In 2004, Richard Branson's Virgin Airways undertook a joint venture with the Nigerian government and floated Air Nigeria. However, Virgin withdrew from the business in 2010. By September 2012, Air Nigeria had ceased its operations:
I'm old enough to remember Nigeria's first private sector led national airline.
It ended after government sent “in heavies to smash up our lounge with sledgehammers… the behaviour of the authorities was similar to the Mafioso in US in 1930s” [Richard Branson, 2008] pic.twitter.com/r1Sv9YzLpd
— Christian Purefoy (@purefoyAMEBO) July 19, 2018
The reasons behind failed attempts to resuscitate Nigerian Airways have never been disclosed but many blame it on inept management. In 2013, Nigerian businessman Pascal Dozie said that Nigerian Airways failed due to lack of “proper management.” In addition, doing business with the Nigerian government is toxic due to a “hostile operating environment, unfriendly policies and exploitative taxation.”
Last year, President Buhari resisted the launch of a new airline because “Nigerians need to know how we lost the one we had,” referring to Nigerian Airways. His remarks raised serious concerns that his motive to go ahead with the launch now may be to score a political advantage on the heels of 2019 presidential elections.
Hadi Sirika, Nigeria's Minister of Aviation, tried to dampen distrust by saying that Nigeria Air will run on a public-private partnership model:
This airline is a business and not a social service. It is not intended to kill any airline in Nigeria but complement it and promote it. It must be done in the right way so that it will be here to stay. Government will not hold shares beyond five per cent at the topmost. This airline has the backing of the government. Government will come up with funding according to the business case that has been delivered to the government.
But trade unions have alerted the government that they could truncate the new national carrier if their demands are not met.
As of April 2018, aviation unions claim the federal government owes 45 billion Nigerian Naira (an estimated 125 million United States Dollars) to ex-workers of the now-defunct Nigerian Airways. The two main trade unions of the sector organized a strike on March 19, giving the government a 14-day ultimatum for the payment, but later canceled upon reassurance by Sirika the payout had been secured and only needed to be approved by parliament.
In an interview with the Independent, Comrade Olayinka Abioye, General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), gave a stark warning about the new carrier:
We are not concerned about this new national carrier even though it is our baby with supposed benefits to the country. We are much more concerned about the families of the defunct national carrier, Nigerian Airways, some of whom have died. We are much more concerned about those who are living and managing to live and we are calling on this minister and government to speed up action in whatever capacity they can to ensure that Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the Minister of Finance, make releases and pay our people. Enough is enough.
The unions may truncate the process of the new national carrier; you can take that from me. There are so many fundamental issues begging for answers in some of these things. The national carrier that we are advocating for is not what they are planning now. We said private sector-driven national carrier, what is the problem with this government?  The same government that said it didn’t have money to revamp our comatose airports is now spending $308 million as take-off grant for the airline. The same government wants to bring in six new aircraft from God-knows-where. Where then is the intervention of the private sector in all these? At what point is private sector going to be involved? These are issues that should be tackled. Then, how do you want to unveil a national carrier and take it overseas, leaving Nigeria behind. Those politicking are too much and we are not interested.
Skeptics of the newly launched Nigeria Air shared their doubts on Twitter while fans saw this as a chance to boast online about their national pride:
In our haste to condemn anything ‘government-owned’, we underestimate the lifting effect of seeing something carrying the colours of Nigeria flying in the skies and a business with Nigeria in its name doing well. If only for those reasons, I'm a fan of #NigeriaAir pic.twitter.com/6j6lFgoNY2
— Gbenga Olorunpomi (@GbengaGOLD) July 19, 2018
Dr. Joe Abah urges Nigerians to be more “positive” about the new airline:
Negativity is so easy. All you need to keep saying is “It won’t work.” You have nothing to lose. If it doesn’t work, you can say “I told you so!” If it works, you can say “I was only worried based on past experience.” This suits the intellectually lazy. No need to strive or think
— Dr. Joe Abah (@DrJoeAbah) July 19, 2018
However, many Nigerians are not buying the positivity and national pride rhetoric about Nigeria Air. Former World Bank Vice President, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili spoke to the need for better policies and regulatory frameworks in addition to infrastructural concerns:
The Aviation sector SADDENS me greatly. This is a sector that with the right policy&regulatory framework complemented with quality safety standards & security infrastructure will SURELY attract global capital.
But NO. Lovers of Statist system want to give us “National Carrier”.
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) May 31, 2018
Some refer to the success of privatizing telecommunications, when the government fully deregulated the industry in 1999, as an example of what's possible for Nigerian aviation.
Journalist Nicholas Ibekwe countered that Nigerians are not being negative but need sound evidence in support of the new airline's viability:
Nobody wants it to fail. We're just asking you people to put the cart before the horse; to show your working, not wuruwuru to the answer. Show us the investors. Let's see the deal signed.
Would you allow the owner of a 5% equity in a business where you own 95% lead negotiations? https://t.co/1pevthKcyi
— Nicholas Ibekwe (@nicholasibekwe) July 20, 2018
Twitter user “AndyRoidO” said that there is “no basis for optimism” about a national carrier because “we have tried and failed multiple times.”
What you Nigerians need to learn is that Nigerian Government as an institution, regardless of Party, has earned our scepticism. Our post-independence history is a blockchain of bad policy after bad policy. There is no basis for optimism about a national career.
— orwelliANDYstopia (@andyRoidO) July 19, 2018
And a national carrier is something we have tried and failed multiple times. So on what basis are you hopeful that an administration that has failed more than others will be successful at an endeavour where the others have failed? Did they curse you to welcome your own poverty?
— orwelliANDYstopia (@andyRoidO) July 19, 2018
In a sane country, Govt would acknowledge the graveyard of failed national carriers & abortive attempts, identify for us what caused those failures, and tell us why it will be different this time, with concrete details of improved steps. But you people give your support cheaply.
— orwelliANDYstopia (@andyRoidO) July 19, 2018

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


text:
Social media users are trying to combat harassment in Pakistan — but will state institutions do their part? · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

“No More Silence.” A demonstration by Eunice McFarling of the US Air Force, as part of the Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month in April, 2016. Photo by Denise M. Nevins, released to public domain.
In most countries around the world, gender-based harassment is an old problem. But in the digital era, with hashtag movements such as #MeToo, and social media platforms where evidence of harassment can go viral, the balance of power between harassers and their targets appears to be shifting.
A recent example comes from Pakistan, where video showing a man following and harassing a group of women went viral on Facebook and Twitter, leading to public condemnation and ultimately to his arrest.
In 2016 in the Kalash Valley, in the Chitral region of northern Pakistan, Aimal Khan began following a group of women and filming them with his phone. He made derogatory comments towards them, and continually asked them to pose for pictures with him, despite their refusal and their threats to report him to police. Khan even claimed that he himself was a police officer.
While it is not clear when the video was made, Khan posted it on YouTube on 19 July 2016. Two years later, a Facebook page named ‘Islamabadians’ uploaded the video on the social networking website and it went viral. People started tagging the police, urging them to arrest the man. On 19 June, 2018 the Chitral Police responded saying they were trying to track his location.
In the meanwhile, another video surfaced where Aimal Khan was seen apologizing for the incident. On 22 June, he was arrested by the Chitral police, who sent women police officers to carry out the arrest. Police also clarified that Khan was not a police officer, as he had previously claimed.
Online, people expressed support for the arrest.
Proud to see a lady constable with full traditional dress cuffing the guy who was involved in a ladies harassment case in chitral Pakistan.#womenpower #ChitralPolice #kpkpolice #GAPakistan https://t.co/N0fNQPmpTc
— King Khan (@BadshahSindhi) June 22, 2018
Aimal Khan, the person who harassed women in Kalash Valley, Chitral has been arrested by Chitral Police. Thanks to all those who stood with the marginalized women of Kalash valley and shared the vedio on social media. This is the power of social media. #stopwomenharrasment https://t.co/LXGpxQTU32
— irfanuddin (@irfanuddinbaba) June 22, 2018
But questions were also raised, specifically in reference to the laws under which Khan was taken into custody.
Sir @ChitralPolice can I ask you a friendly question?
How was Aimal Khan arrested when there was no FIR against him by the actual victims?
Under what law? (Continued)
Cc: @JavedAzizKhan, @alibabakhel @DC_Chitral https://t.co/udfDgMn6lh
— Shahzad Khan (@shazadk) June 24, 2018
To the dismay of many, Aimal Khan was released on bail soon after. He is awaiting trial.
Global Voices spoke to the District Police Officer Chitral Mr. Furqan Bilal, who said:
Aimal Khan was released on bail soon after as he was charged under a bailable Section of the Law. In the First Information Report Aimal Khan has been charged under Sections 354 (assaulting a female), 419 (cheating by personation), 294 (engage in obscene act in public places) and 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Pakistan Penal Code instead of Pakistan Electronic Cyber Act. His trial is to be held soon.
Activists are concerned about the laws used in the First Information Report. Although Pakistan's Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act covers harassment of this nature, and could have been brought to bear in Khan's case, the law was not passed until August 2016, after the incident in Chitral had already occurred.
Nighat Dad, a law and technology expert who runs the non-profit Digital Rights Foundation and contributes to Global Voices, explained to Global Voices that the Pakistan Penal Code in itself does not have any provisions for video-linked incidents related to harassment.
Dad also spoke about social media playing a major role in Aimal Khan’s arrest, pointing to the impact of public outcry around the matter and its likely effect on the police response. She noted that the immediate arrest sent “a good message for the masses” but that it would be up to law enforcement and judicial institutions to carry the issue forward and ensure that justice is served.
Such incidents are not new. In July 2017, Meenah Tariq of Lahore went to Hunza Valley in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan for sightseeing. She was harassed by some young men along the way. Since she did not know of a means to lodge a complaint against them, she took their pictures and launched a social media campaign that soon went viral.
In Tariq's case, it appears that state institutions responded in a meaningful way. When Hunza Assistant Commissioner Anas Goraya learned of her experience, he set up a help line in Hunza to deal with such cases.
Tariq shared the outcome of the story on Facebook, where she described how difficult it was to share her story online — and endure the wave of harassment that followed — and the subsequent feeling of vindication she experienced after learning about the help line:
How many times have you been told it is useless to complain? It is useless to speak up, nothing will ever change? Here is proof that this isn’t always the case. Here is proof that we do need to keep speaking up about issues we face, having these conversations, sparking dialogue even when it’s difficult.
Aimal Khan's arrest following public outcry on social media is a good sign. But in this case, the question remains: will justice prevail?

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: R Umaima Ahmed


text:
Why Syrian refugees in Lebanon fear going back to an Assad-controlled Syria · Global Voices
Megaghone News

Screenshot from the Megaphone News video dealing with the topic of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Video in Arabic with English Subtitles. Image: screenshot from video by Megaphone News.
This post is based on a video report by Megaphone News. It was adapted to text by MENA Newsroom editor Joey Ayoub as part of a content-sharing agreement.
The Lebanese government is pushing for Syrian refugees to return to the war-ravaged neighboring country, despite reports that many returnees are being forcibly conscripted into the army — and some even tortured and killed.
There are around one million registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, the highest per capita number of any country.
One of the government's most ardent advocates for a return of Syrians is foreign minister and head of the conservative Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Gebran Bassil. The FPM launched a central committee for the return of refugees on July 13, 2018 (although it is not yet clear how it would operate).
During the launch of this committee, Bassil accused refugees of posing “a threat to Lebanon's identity and economy”. In May, Bassil declared his support the naturalization of hundreds of mostly Syrian businessmen, furthering widespread impressions that Lebanese citizenship is being offered selectively.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's Hezbollah party, a key ally of both the Assad regime and Lebanon's FPM, has opened nine offices across South Lebanon and Beirut, professedly “to help the refugees return to Syria.” Hezbollah's operations involve having refugees fill out applications which are then sent directly to the Syrian regime for approval.
Bassil has also accused the UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, of “scaring refugees” from considering returning to Syria as he froze the agency's applications for Syrians asylum seekers on June 8.
Article 33 of the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees forbids countries from sending refugees back to their countries of origin when their life or freedom will be at risk.
Meanwhile, in the south of Syria, between 270,000 and 330,300 Syrians were forcibly displaced from the rebel-held city of Daraa due to intensive bombing campaigns. Since mid-June, they've been making their way to the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights and to the Jordanian border. At the time of writing, the governments of Jordan and Israel are preventing refugees from reaching relative safety.
This latest offensive follows similar patterns of intensive bombardments and large-scale displacement already seen in formerly rebel-held areas of Syria such as Eastern Ghouta, Aleppo, Daraya and Homs.
But the dangerous security situation in Syria has not stopped prominent sectors of Lebanese society, including politicians and most of the mainstream media, from engaging in what many see as scapegoating. Those tactics are arguably comparable to the much older ones directed at Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
Deepening refugee fears is Syria's new property law, which will allow the government to confiscate and redevelop residents’ property without due process.
The “Law No. 10“, approved in April 2018, “allows for creating redevelopment zones across Syria that will be designated for reconstruction”.
As HRW explained:
The law does not set out any criteria for which areas can be designated as redevelopment zones or a timeline. Instead, redevelopment zones are to be designated by decree. Within one week after a decree is issued, local authorities are to request a list of property owners from the area’s public real estate authorities. Public real estate authorities must provide the lists within 45 days.
People whose names don't show up in the list will have 30 days to provide proof of ownership in the zone. If they fail to do so, all property will revert to the estate. Those who manage to prove ownership in the zone will receive a share in the new developments.
Given that the security situation is still dire, and that many won't return for fear of reprisals, those exiled will have little chance to provide proof of ownership. In fact, human rights groups and activists view the law as yet another attempt by the regime to discouraging refugees from returning.
Even Bassil himself seems to have been taken aback — he has sent a request for the Assad regime to revise the law, fearing it will thwart his plans of repatriating Syrian refugees currently living in Lebanon.
This is especially true as over 70% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon come from the devastated areas of Aleppo, Homs, Idlib and Rural Damascus — all ripe for ‘redevelopment’ plans.
Palestinians have compared Law No. 10 with laws passed by the State of Israel since 1948 designed to prevent Palestinians from returning to their homes.
This sounds so familiar https://t.co/WYy56iSZbq
— (((YousefMunayyer))) (@YousefMunayyer) April 8, 2018
It is worth noting that Law No. 10 has some precedence in Syria's Decree 66 of 2012, which established, among other things, the planned creation of ‘Marota City’ in two areas of Damascus.
Screenshot of the official website advertising Marota city. Source.
Investments for Marota City, while formally coming from the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria, are widely believed to include regime-linked billionaires such as Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of Assad “who hails from the same family as the minister of local administration and is known to sponsor loyalist militias”, and a wealthy Kuwait-based Syrian investor named Mazen Tarazi, according to IRIN News’ Aron Lund. Future landlords include Syrian-Turkish-Lebanese businessman Samer Foz.
Assad himself visited Marota City in March of 2016 to inaugurate the project. SANA, Syria's state media outlet, claims that the area “includes 12,000 housing units that can accommodate approximately 60,000 people” and that the project “provides 110,000 employment opportunities and 27.000 permanent jobs”.
But while the regime advertises this project as affordable, Aron Lund noted for IRIN News that the reality is quite different:
Syrian authorities present the Decree 66 redevelopment projects as an unmitigated success story, but even pro-government media has noted the absence of alternative housing for people evicted from Basatin al-Razi [where Marota City is being built]. Former residents were recently told they may get new apartments in the coming three years.
So, six years later, with the arrival of Law No. 10, many Syrians displaced by the war have added ‘redevelopment’ to a long list of reasons why return may be impossible.
To quote one refugee interviewed by Maha Yahya for the BBC:
Hassan, an unregistered young refugee living in Beirut, put it: “Today, everyone who leaves Syria is considered a traitor.”
Like many others, he fears being accused of deserting his country and the possibility of reprisals.
Adding:
Young men in particular are concerned that they will be targeted by forced conscription into the army.
Several recounted stories of young men who had returned to Syria only to get drafted and die at the front.
The cost of avoiding conscription can go up to $8,000, effectively unaffordable to most Syrians.
If refugees in Lebanon are forced to follow similar patterns, tales of horror could continue well into future. As Saskia Bass wrote in March 2018:
New research among returnees shows that most were pushed home by the harsh living conditions in neighboring countries, and did not find safety or dignity upon return.

author: Megaghone News


text:
Yet another vaccine scandal hits China’s big pharma, sparking fear, rage — and censorship · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chinese netizen turned the exclamation mark in the content take down notice into vaccine needle. Image from Twitterer Xiucai1911
Chinese citizens are outraged over revelations that a major drug company was supplying low-quality vaccines, the latest in a decade-long series of scandals to have plagued China's pharmaceutical companies.
The drug watchdog of the Jilin province announced on July 18 that the company Changchun Changsheng Bio-technology has sold over 252,600 sub-standard DPT (diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus) vaccines to Shandong Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency in charge of public health in a province of about 100 million people.
It is unclear how many children have been given the low-quality DPT vaccines, but authorities have said that, although ineffective, the shots will not cause harm. However, a number of parents told a Hong Kong based media outlet that their children suffered from adverse effects after taking the vaccines.
Only three days prior, the same company had been found to have forged data of its rabies vaccines, prompting the China’s Food and Drug Administration authority to suspend production. The watchdog's investigation was triggered by a report submitted to the Administration by a senior staff of the bio-technology company.
Changchun Changsheng Bio-technology was fined in RMB 3.44 million [500,000 USD] over the DPT vaccines, a small sum for a company that reported 566 million RMB in net profits last year. It also received 48.3 million yuan in government subsidies in 2017, according to its annual report.
For over a decade, a series of similar scandals have plagued China's emerging pharmaceutical industry. While the government vowed that it would conduct a throughout investigation on the incident this time, people seem to have lost faith, and understandably so.
In 2007, at least 78 children developed brain, bone, and joint inflammation after taking vaccines in Shanxi province supplied by a Beijing-based company. Four children have died as a result of the diseases.
Working with a whistleblower, a 2010 China Economic Times’ investigative report on the incident revealed that Shanxi officials had collaborated with the supplier in order to permit the low-quality vaccines to be given to local children. Two reporters and the newspaper's editor were sacked after the story's publication.
In 2013, at least 10 infants died within six months after taking Hepatitis B vaccines, the majority of which were manufactured by Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Preparations Company. China's Food and Drug Administration had ordered Kangtai to suspend distribution of such vaccines, but investigations were soon stifled after local medical experts testified that the deaths were random and the vaccines were up to standard.
In 2016, nine drug companies were accused of distributing millions of expired vaccines all across China. The investigation eventually led to the sentencing of 137 people, including 64 officials on corruption and forgery charges.
Following the July 18 episode, netizens are now sharing tips for getting their children vaccinated outside the country. Many are leaving comments on the U.S embassy’s official social media accounts on Weibo asking the U.S government to offer assistance to Chinese people.
Uromayutori’s tweet has summed up public sentiment around the incident:
市占率超过1/4的公司，狂犬疫苗造假，百白破造假，被查出来也就罚个三百万；进口别国已审批的疫苗，以假药罪罚两百万判七年；问题疫苗致残儿童的家长上访，寻衅滋事判两年；三聚氰胺事件中被处分的官员现在居然还能管着药监部门；这个部门还大言不惭地宣传自己已经建好了完善的药品监管机制。烂透了。
— ? (@Uromayutori) July 22, 2018
The corporate has occupied one fourth of total market share and it forged manufacturing record for their rabies and DPT vaccines. Upon investigation, it was fined RMB 3 millions; [earlier on a private hospital] imported high quality overseas vaccines, the person in charge was sentenced to 7-year-imprisonment with a RMB 2 million fine. Parents of children who suffered from brain damage after vaccination were sentenced to two-year-imprisonment for picking quarrels. Government officials who stepped down after the melamine infant formula scandal now is leader of Food and Drug Administration and this authority claimed that it had established a perfect drug monitor mechanism. Everything sucks here.
Since the latest revelations with Changsheng Bio-tech, many netizens kept sharing online adverse effect after being vaccinated and, as it's already customary, censors started deleting posts:
On Twitter, user @xiucai1911 mocked the censors:
“报告领导，假疫苗的事我们已经解决了！”
“不错！你们是怎么解决的？”
“我们已经把网上的相关帖子删除了！” pic.twitter.com/UWVVdqpc7P
— 秀才江湖 (@xiucai1911) July 22, 2018
“Report to leaders, we have solved the fake vaccine problem!
This is great! How did you solve the problem?
We have deleted all the related discussion!”
Qi Jing, whose 3-year-old child had also received the sub-standard vaccines, set up a chat support group for vaccine victims in Chongqing area, was briefly detained. He wrote on Twitter on 23 of July:
刚从公安机关回家，目前自由。在公安机关以及刚才出来后多个部门给我打电话。默认了假疫苗受害者群众维权团体可以存在的事实。但对我声明必须合理合法的采取合法手法，不能把矛头对准党和政府。只能把炮火对准假疫苗的生产厂家企业。其中的寓意大家都清楚。他们的子女也打了疫苗。持默认支持态度。 pic.twitter.com/8vw3tTw79w
— 启靖 (@CQQiJing) July 23, 2018
Just returned from the police station, now I am free. Quite a number of authorities, including the police called me. They told me that vaccine victims were allowed to exist but [that] we have to use legal and reasonable means — we could not blame the Party and the government, we could [only] open fire at the manufacturers for the sub-standard vaccines. You know what it means. Actually, their kids also received vaccines, how could they not support the initiative.
Quite a number of Qi Jing’s posts on Twitter were deleted by a third party, including the above one, the Twitterer reported on the next day.
Famous political dissent Bao Tong also pointed a finger at the government/party authorities:
再说疫苗造假。
是企业胆大包天，因此媒体被噤声，司法躲一边？
没有权力支持，企业能胆大包天？
没有权力支持，早人人喊打了！
有了权力保护，谁惹得了他，谁揭得了他，谁对付得了他？
记得三聚氰胺后来又升官发财吗？历来如此，普遍如此，岂止疫苗！
这黑，全黑，就是黑！
— 鲍彤 Bao Tong (@baotong1932) July 23, 2018
More comment on the fake vaccine. Is this just about corporate behavior, can they have the power to silent the media and the legal department? Without the protection from the authorities, can the corporate be so powerful? Without the protection from the authorities, people would rise up and protest! With protection from the authorities, no one can reveal the problem and sanction the corporate. Remember the melamine milk scandal, the one in responsible eventually gets a promotion. Such incidents keep repeating in all sectors of the society. Darkness prevails.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Go sightseeing in Japan, right on YouTube · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Glover Garden in Nagasaki. Photo by Nevin Thompson.
Have you always wanted to visit Japan, but just haven't had the chance? Perhaps you don't have the time, or a plane ticket (and everything else about taking a vacation) is just too expensive. Not to worry — YouTube channel Kappa2700s does all the sightseeing for you.
Devoted to “Travel, Stroll, and Eat“, and started in July 2012, so far about five million people have watched the channel's videos.
Unlike many commercially-oriented channels that upload videos about tourist hotspots, the kappa2700s channel one distinct feature: it has no commentary. Instead, the video features quiet strolls around popular tourist landmarks.
What makes the videos especially useful for travelers or anyone who has an interest in Japan is that each video includes annotations in English, with time stamps, of what particular sightseeing spot is on screen.
The Kappa2700s YouTube profile features at least two hundred videos from almost every part of Japan. Here are just a few examples.
Kyoto is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan, having welcomed 15 million visitors in 2017. One of the most popular tourist destinations in the city is its east side, which includes Higashiyama. Highlights from this video include the area around Kiyomizu Temple, the neighborhood of Gion and Pontocho, a narrow alley of exclusive tea houses and small bars.
Located on the isolated and largely rural Japan Sea coastline of Kyoto Prefecture, Amanohashidate (the “floating bridge of heaven”) is another popular tourist spot that is still largely undiscovered by tourists from outside of Japan.
The video beings in Osaka Station, with a stop at the historic navy base of Maizuru along the way. This navy town is famous for its Victorian-era red brick architecture and navy curry — curry was first adopted in Japan by Admiral Togo in the 1870s.
The video concludes with a tour of Amanohashidate.
Kurashiki, in Okayama, in western Japan, is another tourist destination popular for its number of restored kura or traditional Japanese storehouses. This video takes a stroll through the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter and then takes a tour of Okayama Castle.
Located on the northwestern tip of the island of Shikoku, Matsuyama is home to probably the most famous hot spring in all of Japan, Dogo Onsen.
While the town takes center stage in Natsume Sōseki's 1906 novel Botchan (坊っちゃん), one of Japan's most famous pieces of literature, the main public bathhouse at Dogo Onsen has inspired the bathhouse in animated movie Spirited Away.
This video visits the main bathhouse, and also makes a pit stop at a cafe selling drinks and confections made from yuzu and other citrous fruits grown in the Matsuyama area.
While the Kyushu city of Nagasaki may be best known outside of Japan for being the site of the second atomic attack that ended World War II, this port city has a long and rich history thanks to its historical connections to Europe and China.
The video does visit the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and the Peace Park, but there's also a tour of Glover Garden and former home of Thomas Glover, a Scotsman who settled in Nagasaki shortly after Japan opened up to the outside world starting in the 1860s. Glover served as a conduit to transfer European technologies — including guns — to Japan, and may have helped start the country on its path to World War II.
These tours just scratch the surface. The kappa2700s channel has hundreds of videos taken all over Japan, including a number of videos taken in Nara, Japan's ancient capital, and Osaka, Japan's gritty and colorful second city.
If you're looking for a view of iconic Mount Fuji, kappa2700s has it covered, too.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Is Western media biased against China? (Part One) · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

A pro-Chinese march in Calgary, Canada organised by Chinese nationals residing in Canada in response to “perceived Western media bias” in 2008. PHOTO: Robert Thivierge (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons.
By Pong Lai
China has asserted from time to time that Western media, especially the liberal ones, are biased against China. This topic has also been raised on question-and-answer platforms such as Quora. There, people are debating whether there is a bias, and those who believe there is are asking whether this has been done with malicious intent.
In order to support our investigation of these questions with some data, we used two online tools, Media Cloud and Google Trends, to analyse English news reports on China.
First of all, we examined China's claim that western media focus on their human rights issues and pollution and pay less attention to their economy. We used Media Cloud, an open source platform for tracking millions of stories published online, to generate a word cloud related to the query “China” between 2013/1/1 to 2017/1/1 from top U.S online news, which is based on comSORE, Activate and Alexa, and global English language sources, which is based on the ABYZ directory of English national online news sources. Together, the two sources comprise tens of thousands of English-language news outlets from all over the world.
Figure 1: Top words related to the keyword ‘china’ found by Media Cloud.
As shown in figure 1, “econom*” is the second most mentioned word related to the keyword “China”. The rest of the top words are about international relationships. The word “pollution” appears in 12 stories and is the 48th most mentioned keyword in the 1,000 stories examined. The word “protest” appears in only seven stories, and is the 118th most mentioned keyword. It is also noteworthy that the terms “human rights” or “rights” do not appear in the word cloud related to China, indicating that the topic is not represented in a significant number of stories from media outlets listed in top U.S online news in the ABYZ directory.
Although we do not know whether these stories about the economy in China are positive or negative, the results do not support the claim that Western media ignores economic growth in China and focuses instead on human rights and air pollution.
As China has complained that the United States still has a cold war mindset and use the media to attack their country, we compared three queries: “china AND econom*”, “china AND pollution”, and “china AND “human right”, from top U.S. online news and global English language sources. The number of articles yielded by these queries from these two sets of news sources, respectively, were 97,776 and 344,232 for “china AND econom”; 8,163 and 22,216 for “china AND pollution”, and 29,551 and 93,311 for “china AND human right”. The ratio of pollution news to economic news was 8% and 6%, and the ratio of human rights news to economic news was 30% and 27%, for top U.S. online news and global English language sources, correspondingly.
The results show that there is not much difference between top U.S. online news or global English language sources, and little proof to support the claim that U.S. media, compared to global English media, dwell on negative aspects of China and to use the media as a weapon to attack the country.
Figure 2: The number of stories with the keyword ‘china’ in the left-leaning and right-leaning news sources based on Media Cloud.
To examine the claim about “liberal media bias against China”, we compared results of Media Cloud queries from left-leaning and right-leaning news sources, defined by their relative number of tweets of U.S. election story URLs about Clinton (left to liberal) vs. Trump (right) in 2016.
As shown in Figure 2, the numbers of stories about China are similar for left-leaning and right-leaning news sources before 2014, but the right-leaning news sources increased gradually over time. The number of total reports in the period from 2013/1/1 to 2017/1/1 was 104,936 from left-leaning news sources and 188,843 from right-leaning news sources.
Figure 3: Top words related to the keyword ‘china’ in left-leaning and right-leaning news sources, based on Media Cloud.
Among the top ten words related to China (see figure 3), the right-leaning news sources have more stories on Russia, Japan, and Korea, and the left-leaning news sources have more stories on India, the economy, and Hong Kong. “Pollution” is listed in 29th place in the left-leaning news sources and in 46th place in the right-leaning news sources. “Protest” is listed in the 203rd place in the left-leaning news sources and in 51st place in the right-leaning news sources.
In summary, right-leaning news media published far more reports about China than the left-leaning news media, especially after 2014. Contrary to what has been suggested by China, left-leaning news sources reported more about China's economy, while right-leaning news resources reported more about protests. Comparatively, neither left-leaning nor right-leaning news media paid much attention to pollution or protests in China.

author: Guest Contributor


text:
Australian conference debates threats to human rights in the Asia-Pacific · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Uluru Statement from the heart: Frank Brennan, Kristen Hilton, Castan Centre's Sarah Joseph, & Megan Davis. Photo by Kevin Rennie.
The theme of the 2018 human rights law conference of Monash University’s Castan Centre, in Melbourne, Australia, was best summed up by Kristen Hilton, Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner of the state of Victoria: “We cannot just support human rights until it gets hard”.
She was talking about the 2017 controversy over youth detention in adult prison. Anti-discrimination lawyer and member of the Fair Agenda board, Kamna Muddagouni tweeted:
Human rights and policy around human rights doesn't led itself to a five second media grab, it requires time, thought and reflection, not just a legal answer, but an answer thinking about morality, ethics, religion, philosophy as well – @kristenahilton @VEOHRC #HumanRights18
— Kamna मुद्दगौनी (@kamnamm) July 19, 2018
At a time when rights are embattled both locally and globally, the annual event in Melbourne explored many of the topical issues facing both Australia and countries in the region.
Jesuit Catholic priest Father Frank Brennan spoke about religion and rights. He is a member of the expert panel set up by the Federal government to examine the question of religious freedom, following the legalization of same sex marriage in Australia in 2017.
Frank had advocated a vote in favor of equal marriage during a national survey.
In his presentation, he argued that national human rights legislation would help to clarify religious rights, but doubted that would happen:
A national Charter of human rights is still best way to balance rights incl freedom of religion – @FrFrankBrennan #HumanRIghts18
— Adam Fletcher (@ad_fletch) July 19, 2018
Professor Megan Davis looked at the state of indigenous rights and reconciliation following the government’s rejection of “The Uluru Statement from the heart”. The 2017 statement by the First Nations Convention called “for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution’ and a process for agreement-making with governments and ‘truth-telling’ about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history”.
Her message was clear:
You can’t do RECONCILIATION without doing TRUTH first – @mdavisqlder at #HumanRights18 on #UluruStatement pic.twitter.com/XylpAjxxRg
— Lee Carnie (@LeeHRLC) July 20, 2018
The issue of treaties is always contentious in Australia. But Megan brought some humour:
@mdavisqlder “the word treaty makes people break out in hives” #UluruStatement #humanrights18
— Theodore Murray ?? (@kangaroo_courts) July 20, 2018
Activist Habiburahman did not hold back in his demands for strong action on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar:
Habiburahman giving us a pretty brutal insight into the genocide against #Rohingya in Rakine state. #Humanrights18
— Jessie Taylor (@taylor_jessie) July 20, 2018
Human rights lawyer George Newhouse from the National Justice Project gave an equally depressing picture of the treatment of asylum seekers held in the Manus Island and the Nauru offshore detention centres:
@GeorgeNewhouse says offshore detention is inhumane and destructive and that the government is destroying people's lives for political gain. #HumanRights18
— Kathryn Frances (@Molones85) July 20, 2018
In contrast, Ivy Josiah was more optimistic about recent developments in her country in her presentation “You Can't Beat A Woman – Women's Human Rights in Malaysia”:
.@ivyjosiah – there's nothing more powerful than women when they work together. #humanrights18
— Castan Centre Events (@CastanEvents) July 20, 2018
Proposal from @ivyjosiah of a global strike for women -“no sex, no work until the violence minimises” – met with a round of applause. She says “watch this space”. ??? #HumanRights18
— Sam Drummond (@samdrummond) July 20, 2018
Author Tara Moss reflected on the current state of the #metoo movement:
Backlash against #Metoomovement is real. How do we deal with it? @Tara_Moss sees a lot of this online. But hopefully it will pass… @CastanCentre #Humanrights18
— Nicole Shackleton (@Nicole_Anne_89) July 20, 2018
Kathryn Louise shared her own enthusiasm during the panel Q&A:
Feeling inspired after listening to the #MeToo panel @Tara_Moss & Ivy Josiah at #HumanRights18 There's definitely hope for change. We'll get there. pic.twitter.com/dVkTtdwYNE
— Kathryn Louise (@KathyLAllan) July 20, 2018
Employment lawyer Josh Bornstein painted a bleaker picture for worker’s rights in Australia in his “Requiem for the right to strike”. He covered a lot of ground, including quite a bit of history:
.@JoshBBornstein – when Mandela came to Australia in 1990, he praised two organisations – Waterside Workers Union and the Seamens Federation, who were the first to boycott #apartheid #humanrights18
— Castan Centre Events (@CastanEvents) July 20, 2018
The final presenter was the CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific David Ritter, who gave a rousing appeal to join the opposition to Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine in the Queensland Galilee Basin. It’s part of their Coal-free future campaign:
.@David_Ritter – If you care about the future of our planet, please join our crew to stop atrocities like the opening of the Galilee basin. We were able to use the common law so well in #Mabo. We can do it again. #humanrights18
— Castan Centre Events (@CastanEvents) July 20, 2018
Got so caught up in the last two brilliant talks I forgot to tweet. No jobs on a dead planet. #StopAdani #HumanRights18 @CastanEvents @David_Ritter https://t.co/fn1yR0l2Z9
— Grumble Cat (@GrumbleCat67) July 20, 2018
Lawyers from Victoria Legal Aid have shared their impressions of the day on their website. Sam Drummond, whose tweet is included above, reflected on Ivy Josiah's contribution:
‘I’ve spent much of the last year in Malaysia working with human rights organisations, so it was terrific to hear from Malaysian women’s rights activist Ivy Josiah.
‘The conversation about human rights in Malaysia is completely different to the one we are used to hearing, and there are clearly lessons we can take from each other.
‘Ivy stressed the importance of taking risks and impressed on us the ‘need to hold hands with our fellow human rights groups’.
Videos of the panel presentations and Q&A sessions should be available soon on the Castan Centre YouTube channel. There is also a series of videos Have You Got That Right? that explores a wide range of topics.
The author attended the event as a media representative on behalf of Global Voices. Members of the GV community have been guest speakers at previous conferences, namely Sami Ben Gharbia and Jillian York. The author's Twitter Moment of the conference can be viewed here.

author: Kevin Rennie


text:
In India, police protects cows while lynching victim accused of cow smuggling is delayed care · Global Voices
Vishal Yashoda Manve

Millions of Hindus revere and worship cows. Image via Pixabay by Ahill88. CC0
In India, where millions of Hindus worship cows and laws in some states prohibit their slaughter and consumption, a spate of murders of Muslims accused of smuggling cows for consumption has occurred over the last few years.
The latest of such incidents happened on July 21, 2018, when Rakbar Khan, a Muslim man, was lynched and murdered for ferrying bovines in Rajasthan's Alwar district.
According to local media reports, police officials reportedly transported bovines to cow protection shelters before hospitalizing Khan after a gap of nearly four hours, even managing to take a tea-break in between.
The 28-year-old Khan and his friend Aslam were targeted by an armed mob from the neighboring state of Haryana while ferrying bovines in the Alwar district. While Aslam managed to flee from the self-styled Gau Rakshaks (cow protectors), Khan succumbed to his injuries in police custody after being violently thrashed by his attackers.
The local state government headed by right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the leader, received flak from activist groups with noted activist Tehseen Poonawala moving the country's Supreme Court to take action against the local government.
President of the opposition party Indian National Congress (INC) Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter and condemned the incident, questioning the police officials on their lax approach to handling the victim despite his dire conditions:
Policemen in #Alwar took 3 hrs to get a dying Rakbar Khan, the victim of a lynch mob, to a hospital just 6 KM away.
Why?
They took a tea-break enroute.
This is Modi’s brutal “New India” where humanity is replaced with hatred and people are crushed and left to die. https://t.co/sNdzX6eVSU
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 23, 2018
With cow vigilantism on the rise and hardline Hindu nationalism taking root in India, India's Supreme Court recently asked parliament to bring in a specific law against lynching. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra called the incidents of lynching as ‘horrendous acts of Mobocracy’.
Many netizens are comparing Khan's case to that of Umar Mohammad, a Muslim man who was murdered in the Alwar district in a hate-filled vitriolic attack perpetrated by a Hindu vigilante who had planned his murder on religious grounds.
Twitter user Irony of India draws parallels:
“He was killed because he’s a Muslim, Modi is getting Muslims killed… They could’ve sent him to jail, beaten him up, at least they should have spared his life,” says Asmeena, widow of #RakbarKhan who was lynched on rumours of cow smuggling in #Alwar #Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/sEjlaprLKM
— Irony Of India (@IronyOfIndia_) July 22, 2018
IndiaSpend, a data journalism website, made a crucial observation about hate crimes and persecution of Muslims in Rajasthan where the law forbids beef consumption and 88 percent of lynching victims are Muslims:
This is the 7th cattle-related hate crime reported from Rajasthan in 8 years, and the 87th incident in India. Since 2010–the start of our database on such crimes–34 persons have been killed and at least 240 injured in attacks. 56% of the attacked and 88% of victims were Muslim.
— IndiaSpend (@IndiaSpend) July 21, 2018
Aside from Pehlu Khan and Umar Mohammed's lynching cases, another alleged ‘cow smuggler’ named Taleem Khan was also killed in a shoot-out with police in Rajasthan in 2017.
Rajasthan, along with several other states in India have regulations prohibiting either the slaughter, sale or migration of cows for the purpose of slaughter.
However, according to reports, Rajasthan, especially the cities Alwar and Bharatpur, is one of the biggest contributors of smuggled cattle to slaughterhouses in other states where a significant population of other religions generally eat beef, including Muslims.
Between 2017 and 2018, around 44 incidents of lynchings have surfaced in India with Indian states including Rajasthan and Jharkhand reporting maximum casualties followed by Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor says these attacks can be attributed to the rise of right-wing Hindutva ideology promoted by President Modi's government that excludes Muslims and minorities.
IndiaSpend reports that 98 percent of hate crimes have been committed after the Hindu nationalist BJP came to power in 2014, emboldening right-wing groups:
Most of these–98% of all incidents–have occurred since the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed power in May 2014. Only one incident each was reported in 2012 and 2013. Like Rajasthan, 56% of these incidents have occurred in BJP-run state govts. #lynching
— IndiaSpend (@IndiaSpend) July 21, 2018
These lynchings have become so commonplace in the last few years that folk singers in India are writing songs about them as reported by Indian website Quint.
On Facebook, Javed Farooqui highlights how minorities in India feel:
Who killed Akbar? Mob! Alwar Police! It’s sad to know that cow protection is more sacred than saving a human life in my country. Are minorities in the country really being marginalized and treated as second grade citizen?
Sruthisagar Yamunan wrote in Scroll.in:
This has now become the predictable cycle every time a mob attack occurs against Muslims involved in the dairy business. While the victims are accused of cow smuggling, BJP leaders underplay the incident and even stand in support of mobs. Earlier this month, Union Minister Jayant Sinha was criticised by Opposition parties for garlanding eight men convicted for lynching a Muslim meat trader when they were released on bail.
Facebook user A.J. Philip ironically notes:
The police at Alwar in Rajasthan need to be recognized for their devotion to animal welfare. When they heard that a person found with two cows was lynched, they got worried about the orphanage of the bovines.
They immediately rushed the animals to a distant animal shelter, while the victim of lynching remained at the police station, unattended for four hours and died as a result. It was devotion at its best!
Saima Rehman wrote on laments:
It's dumb to expect BJP to stop lynchings. They have built a career on it.
Twitter user Mitali Saran writes:
The police attends first to the cow, and then stops for tea while the lynching victim bleeds out in the car. The state has become the mob.  https://t.co/tN514BM2FV
— Mitali Saran (@mitalisaran) July 23, 2018
Cartoonist Satish Acharya says:
Alwar lynching- the long road to hospital! @sifydotcom cartoon #Alwar #Lynching pic.twitter.com/EfAlNwxpyL
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) July 23, 2018
In an interview with India Today, BJP leader Vinay Katiyar blamed Muslims for incidents of lynching instead of condemning the incidents:
The incident of mob lynching in Alwar is highly condemnable but people from the Muslim community should abstain from touching cows and provoke aggressive Hindus. There are a lot of Muslims who are sheltering cows but are also killing them. Cow meat is also being consumed by them.
Meanwhile, rumors of beef consumption spread by forwarded messages on Whatsapp have led to lynchings that have claimed many lives across India. In response, the government and Facebook-owned WhatsApp have reportedly blamed each other for allowing the problem to continue, though neither side has taken formal steps toward a solution.
On Monday, July 23, the government announced the development of two committees to suggest a legal framework to deal with incidents of mob violence and lynching after outrage from opposition parties and citizens.
However, until a law is promulgated to avoid persecution, many fear that minorities will continue to face the brunt of this violence.

author: Vishal Yashoda Manve


text:
From state censorship to western stereotypes, an interview with Iranian artist Maryam Palizgir · Global Voices
Omid Memarian

Maryam Palizgir is a visual artist. Photo by Mohammad Jahangir and used with permission.
This is part of a series done by Omid Memarian for Global Voices called How globalization, identity and culture intersect in art.
Maryam Palizgir is an Iranian-born artist and designer who currently lives and works in the U.S. Her work is interdisciplinary in nature, combining two and three dimensional drawing, sculptural painting and installations focusing on the interaction of geometric abstract forms, color, reflective objects and the layering of grid-like materials.
Palizgir, who currently teaches art at the Ernest Welch school of Art at Georgia State University, has exhibited in Iran, several European countries, the U.S. and Russia, and has been the recipient of numerous international and Iranian awards.
Her current work, Folded Mystery, explores how knowledge is exchanged, how perception widens perspective, and how observation deepens the understanding of reality. “I seek works of art that activate once the viewer is involved,” says Palizgir. “Folded Mystery is about challenging viewers’ perceptions.”
In this interview Palizgir talks about her work, her experience as an Iranian artist, and the constraints this has presented due to both state censorship of artistic expression in Iran and Western stereotypes of Iranians in the U.S.
Excerpts from the interview follows:
Maryam Palizgir (MP): The graduate program here in the U.S. is designed for artists who want to incorporate media into their artistic practice and want to expand into areas such as performance, installation, interactive and relational art forms. In my MFA studies, my professors encouraged me to find my own style through three years of course work, art history seminars, interdisciplinary seminars and studio practice. The curriculum for the MFA program in the US is based on developing critical thinking, studio practice and critiques, which are essential for a contemporary artist to develop their fine art vocabulary.
These program elements are not present in Iran. There is no Master of Fine Arts program in Iran that focuses on an interdisciplinary art practice. In a Master of Arts program in Iran, one focuses on only one discipline, for example, painting or sculpture or photography.
Palizgir in her studio. Photo by Mohammad Jahangirl. Used with permission.
MP: In the U.S., there is no limitation on subjects or their treatment. As an artist here I can work freely on any social or political subject.
In Iran, I am not free to make a statement that might be against [the government’s] political or social views, and censorship has a significant effect on artistic expression. For instance, part of my practice is making installation and performance art about environmental issues but I could not address such issues in the same way in Iran.
For my Earth Vessel project I addressed Iran’s Lake Urmia crisis, and after working with scientists, discovered the same phenomenon is happening in the U.S.’s Salt Lake in Utah. I wanted to make a series visualizing these two lakes together as scientists call them “twins.” Due to censorship constraints in Iran, I showed only the Lake Urmia component of this project but I had wanted to present both together, creating a bridge between the two cultures with what is happening to the two lakes.
Working on environmental issues, like water scarcity, is a red line for artists (and also activists) in Iran. Drought is considered a national security issue in the country, and it is a sensitive issue as experts blame the authorities for mismanagement of the country’s water resources.
MP: In the U.S. art community, especially among curators and gallery owners, I am seen as an artist born and raised in a particular geography and culture and I am expected to create art that conforms to their stereotypes in subject and form. I am often asked to add elements of calligraphy, Islamic motifs, or political issues to my art practice. I don’t want this Western projection of me—or censorship from the Iranian side. I want to be seen as a visual artist and to express my art through any subject and in any form and to blur these boundaries. We need other non-Western artists to make art on universal subjects to break through these barriers.
“I am seen as an artist born and raised in a particular geography and culture and I am expected to create art that conforms to their stereotypes in subject and form. I am often asked to add elements of calligraphy, Islamic motifs, or political issues to my art practice. I don’t want this Western projection of me—or censorship from the Iranian side. ” Image from Mohammad Jahangir. Used with permission.
OM:
MP: Well, there is no doubt that my sociocultural context shaped my visual memory and affected my art practice. In the Folded Mystery project, I have tried to go beyond the Eastern art clichés, using a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts and subjects that challenge traditional boundaries and defy easy definition.
Folded Mystery embodies the complexity of simplicity and points out that perception can widen our perspective through displacement. Moreover, through cross-fertilization of drawing, sculpture and photography, Folded Mystery stimulates a questioning of vision and perception. I believe that critical thinking is deeply rooted in Eastern art and culture.
MP: Before moving to the U.S., I made a piece titled Identity while doing a residency in south France. In 2015, I criticized the idea of national identity versus universal identity through this 3-dimensional installation. I am committed to the idea of being global citizenship, having rights and civic responsibilities that come with being a member of the world, with a whole-world philosophy and sensibilities, rather than as a citizen of a particular nation or place.
After moving to the U.S., intercultural experiences affected my art practice subtly. I experienced interdisciplinary art, the study-based process, postmodern architecture, minimalism and deconstructivism from Western culture—plus abstract geometric forms, repetitions, space cognition and light value exploration from Eastern culture.
Earth-vessels, a piece from the new Folded Mystery collection. Image provided by Palizgir.
MP: The Iran art scene has grown in the past decade. Many professional art galleries have opened in Tehran, with emerging and established artists getting involved with monographic or experimental shows, artist talks and art events every month. Also, artist residency programs are being established, as well as art and cultural exchange programs to help young artists experiment outside the country. For me, it was a turning point in my art when I attended the Cornelius Arts Foundation residency program in France in 2014. Iran is not accurately portrayed in the media, and there is a lot happening that doesn’t get seen outside the country.
To improve the art scene in Iran, we need infrastructure, more critical writing and art funding. Recent political and economic developments, especially those emanating from the U.S., have had an effect on Iranian artists and the art scene in Iran. I hope the expanded art community in Iran can open new horizons for Iranian artists.

author: Omid Memarian


text:
Netizen Report: Russia and Sudan join the ranks of countries looking to outlaw ‘fake news’ · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

Fake newsstand. Image by freie-presse.net via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
While media and technology experts in the west have thrown themselves into the fraught and potentially impossible task of figuring out how to identify and reduce the impact of so-called “fake news”, governments around the world are also taking measures against the scourge.
But what counts as “fake”? It depends on who you ask.
On the heels of recent legislation in Malaysia, Philippines, Brazil and France, the latest draft laws on “fake news” come from Sudan and Russia.
Our partners at SMEX reported earlier this week on Sudan’s newly approved Law on Combating Cybercrimes, which would impose steep fines and/or up to one year in prison for “anyone who uses the internet, or any means of communications, information or applications to disseminate any news, rumor or report, knowing it is fake, to cause public fear or panic, threaten public safety and offence the reputation of the State.”
The government says they also want to regulate online publishing. Dr. Sami Abdelhalim Saeed, a specialist in legal reforms in Sudan who spoke with SMEX, emphasized that even with relatively low internet access levels in Sudan, “social media plays a major role in criticizing government policies, and online platforms allow the journalists to publish articles banned by security services in newspapers.”
Meanwhile, the State Duma in Russia — a country that has distinguished itself in many regions as a industrial-strength creator of fake news — is considering a bill that would outlaw inaccurate posts on social media platforms and any website with more than 100,000 daily visitors.
The law would require websites to take down factually inaccurate posts within 24 hours of them being notified of their existence, or face fines of up to 50 million rubles, about USD $800,000.
This would put the onus on websites and social media companies to determine what is inaccurate. Given the stakes, it is highly likely that companies and websites would err on the side of caution and censor all material that might fall afoul of the law, in an effort to avoid fines.
The proposed law is only in the lower house of parliament at the moment. But if it were to pass, it would give the Russian government an even stronger hand in decided what counts as “fake news”.
Last week, the Netizen Report focused on a bill before legislators in Israel, that would have required social media platforms to remove “terror inciting’’ content from the internet. The bill was unexpectedly blocked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told media that the law could “damage freedom of speech,” and that he blocked its passage “in order to ensure the right of the citizens of Israel to freely express criticism on the internet.” Although originally proposed in an effort to force Facebook and other social media platforms to remove content that Israel deems “incitement”, the bill later was expanded to apply to all websites.
Palestinians already face a disproportionate amount of censorship and legal threats in response to online criticism of Israel and online advocacy for basic human rights protections. Palestinian free speech and human rights advocates expected this law to make things even worse for their communities, but do not expect its failure to generate any positive change.
The government in the state of Manipur, India suspended internet services from July 20-25, in what it described as an effort to curb the spread of “provocative” messages on social media. Local experts say that the suspension was triggered by rising tensions between police and student protesters led by the Manipur University Student’s Union. The New Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Centre’s internet shutdown tracker has confirmed 92 regional internet shutdowns thus far in 2018.
A university student in Madhya Pradesh, India has been in pre-trial detention for five months, for being the administrator of a WhatsApp group where an “objectionable” message, sent by another user, was reported to police. The student, Junaid Khan, has been charged with sedition, and with violating India’s IT Act. His family says he was not the administrator of the group at the time the message was sent, and that he had been given this status as a default — not by his own choosing.
A joint investigation by the global journalists’ network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and BuzzFeed News revealed that the first among the infamous networks of disinformation websites from the Macedonian city of Veles were not started by “Macedonian teenagers,” as was widely reported surrounding US elections in 2016, but by several adults connected to right-wing politicians in the US. They’ve also inspired some teen copycats, who later claimed no political affiliation.
Without establishing a direct link to the Veles phenomenon, the investigative reporters also discovered that a Russian operative who specialized in running “troll factories” had a working visit to Macedonia in 2015, at the height of its political crisis, during which Macedonia’s Russia-supported right-wing populist government was grappling with deep popular discontent over corruption.
On July 3, the Indonesia communications ministry blocked the Chinese video-making and sharing app Tik Tok – globally the most downloaded app in the first quarter of the year – while promising to unblock it once it removed all pornography, blasphemy and other inappropriate content. A week later, it had unblocked the app after it said the app agreed to censor content. In the lead up to Indonesia’s national children’s day, the app encouraged users to create educational videos for kids.
The internet censorship analysis group Turkey Blocks confirmed numerous user reports that the Google-owned blogging platform Blogspot — a leading platform in Turkey — was blocked by major internet service providers in Turkey on July 24, leaving millions of blogs inaccessible for subscribers. Access to the platform was restored as of July 25. Turkey’s ICT authority, which oversees internet blocking orders, provided no public information on the matter.
Philippines new site Inquirer.net has removed multiple articles from its site that reported on Philippine Senate President Vicente Sotto’s alleged attempt to cover up accusations of rape of a local actress in the 1980s. In response, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines issued a statement, saying: “…this humiliating self-censorship  betrays not only the spirit in which the Inquirer was founded, it  betrays a profession whose practitioners have fended and continue to fight off all attempts to muzzle it.”
This statement by CIJ highlights the continuing threats against free speech even after the victory of the opposition last May. The statement cites the sedition case filed against a lawyer-activist who blogged about the relationship of the monarchy and the political elite in Malaysia.
Afef Abrougui, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Nwachukwu Egbunike, Mohamed ElGohary, Rezwan Islam, Rohith Jyothish, Abed Ketaya, Leila Nachawati, Karolle Rabarison, Talal Raza, SMEX, and Sarah Myers West contributed to this report.

author: Netizen Report Team


text:
One of Europe’s last primeval forests crumbles in the hands of the Polish government · Global Voices
Juliette Bretan

Online petitions demanding protection of Białowieża Forest have gathered enormous amounts of signatures: 243.523 on WeMove.eu, and 192.480 on Rainforest Rescue.
For two and a half years, environmentalists have waged a war with the Polish authorities for Białowieża Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Europe's last and largest remaining patches of Europe's original primeval forest.
In April 2018, the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court, ruled that Poland violated EU laws by logging in the forest, imposing fines of a minimum of 4.3 million euros (five million US dollars), potentially rising to 100,000 euros a day, if the felling doesn't stop.
In March 2016, former Polish Environment Minister Jan Szyzko, a member of the Law and Justice party who's backed by forester lobbies, approved tripling the amount of wood that could be harvested from Białowieża, allegedly to combat  an infestation by the bark beetle. In July, a handful of Polish environmental organizations filed a formal complaint to the European Commission, which then sued Poland in the EU Court of Justice.
Straddling the border between Poland and Belarus, Białowieża includes extensive undisturbed areas and is home to a rich wildlife of which 59 mammal species, including the European bison. But while on the Belarussian side over 80 percent of its extension is circumscribed under a national park, only 17 percent of Poland's forest enjoys a similar level of protection.
Watchdog environmental organizations say at least 160,000-180,000 trees have been felled since Szyzko's 2016 new management plan.
Neglect for the environment is an issue touching all corners of Eastern Europe. In Romania, Greenpeace estimates that three hectares of trees are lost every hour in the Carpathian mountains, also home to one of Europe's last patches of primeval forest. In Slovakia, official declarations that forests are growing undermined by aerial photography.
In Poland, Szyzko was eventually sacked in January 2017, only days after another controversial bill which he had sponsored was approved in parliament. The bill removes the obligation for private landowners to apply for permission to cut down trees or to inform local authorities that trees have been or will be removed.
The new environment minister, Henryk Kowalczyk, agreed to comply with the EU’s decision, but controversy still surrounds his administration. In May, he established a team to envision a long-term plan for the forest, including plans to replant the logged areas, which environmentalists claim could do more harm than good.
In May 2017, protestors established a permanent camp in the forest, often chaining themselves to harvest machines. The settlement, organized on a bottom-up basis, encouraged the development of online petitions and international awareness.
The situation detonated when some protestors were forcibly removed from the area, in handcuffs, by the Forestry Corps, and a legal ban was put in place to forbid entry to certain parts of the land. By the height of 2017 Summer, the Environment Ministry had declared any opposition to logging would be seen as political opposition.
As Poland’s state media, which had been increasingly subject of intervention by the government of the conservative Law and Justice party, began to attack these protests with vitriol, campaigners decided to season their message with patriotic sentiment, promoting a message of national heritage that is in line with the party's ideas.
A digital 3D model of the forest, produced by a collaboration between Greenpeace and Minecraft, allows players to explore Białowieża complete with biodiversity and weather patterns. Called “To the Last Tree Standing”, the game eventually removes the trees from players’ sight without warning, leaving them scrambling to find the last one.

author: Juliette Bretan


text:
Southern Iraq rages over dire living conditions · Global Voices
Sali Mahdy

Screenshot of Iraqi protesters waving flags and chanting as security forces spray them with water cannons. Image: screenshot from Youtube video ‘Anger mounts in Iraq as protests spread to the capital Baghdad’ uploaded on July 21, 2018 by Al Jazeera English.
Summers are long and sweltering in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, where temperatures frequently rise above 37 degrees Celsius. So it came as no surprise when its residents took to the streets on July 8, after Iran cut back energy supplies.
Iran provides 1,400 megawatts of electricity to the region, roughly 6 percent of Iraq's estimated demand — but in a country that long struggled to meet its electricity demand, every megawatt counts.
Iraqis are no strangers to protests, having taken part in recurring anti-government demonstrations in recent years. They have also become something of a summer tradition when the unbearable heat triggers frustrations and forces people out into the streets.
With the decrease in electricity intensifying the effects of a brutal heatwave, protests quickly spread to nine other southern provinces, including Najaf, Karbala, Dhi Qar, Babil, and Maysan. They have also evolved to focus on other issues that also undermine quality of life, such as water shortages, growing poverty, unemployment, rampant corruption.
Basrawi activists and tribal leaders organized their movement by creating “the Coordination Board for Peaceful Protests and Demonstrations in Basra” to produce a list of demands and to unite and keep their movement non-violent. Foremost on the list of demands is a timetable to restore a reliable supply of water and electricity to the city.
Demonstrations peaked in Basra when protesters blocked roads to paralyze activities at the Umm Qasr seaport and West Qurna, the largest oil field in Iraq, and forced the closure of the Safwan border crossing with Kuwait. In Najaf protesters stormed airport terminals and moved onto the tarmac diverting flights and halting air traffic.
Anti-Iran sentiments were also in full force as protesters burned photos of Iranian leaders, including Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Iranian Revolution, and current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. They chanted slogans against Iranian interference and set ablaze different political party offices backed by Iran, including Badr, Katiab Hezbollah, and Asaib Ahl al-Haq. Protesters accused these parties of being Iranian agents facilitating the demise of the Iraqi economy, cutting off electricity and water, and consuming Iraqi oil while Iraqis suffer.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has given conflicting reasons for Iran’s decision to cut power. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claimed that power cuts were due to an electricity shortage afflicting Iran; however, according to Mosaab al-Madras, spokesman for the Ministry of Electricity, Iran's rationale behind the move is due to Iraq’s unpaid debts.
Adel Jerian, undersecretary of the Ministry of Electricity, put forth another theory for why Iran cut back power supplies. He suggested that since the United States pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly know as the Iran nuclear deal, Iraq can’t comply with debt repayment in the wake of new sanctions imposed on Iran. He also indicated that the two countries are engaged in negotiations to find a new mechanism to pay back Iraq’s debt.
The Iraqi government has responded to demonstrations with a heavy hand. Security services were dispatched to control the crowds using water cannons, tear gas, and, in some cases, live ammunition.
Medical sources have told Al Jazeera that at least 14 people have been killed since the protests began. The Iraqi Observatory for Human rights (IOHR), a Baghdad-based rights monitor, estimates that 831 people were “injured or killed”, but did not offer specification on the number of deaths versus the number of people injured.
A Human Rights Watch (HRW) investigation deemed the government’s response an excessive and unnecessary use of lethal force. Witnesses speaking to HRW observed security forces hitting demonstrators with rocks and beating them with metal sticks and pipes.
Protesters also reported that the government temporarily shut down the internet on July 14, an accusation that was later confirmed with technical tests by NetBlocks, an internet censorship analysis group. Social media services (including Telegram, Facebook, and Instagram) also were blocked, in what may have been an attempt to prevent civilians from sharing images of security forces using violence.
A protester spoke to Amnesty International about his experience:
They wanted to beat everyone and left no-one without injury. One person was shot in the leg and I saw one person bleeding from his eye. As we retreated, one of them [Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics] grabbed me and one beat me. When I struggled away, he threw the baton at me and broke my arm. They cut off the internet so they can beat us.
Prime Minister Abadi has denied these accusations. Internet access has since been restored, but some social media sites are still inaccessible.
The Iraqi government is also allegedly conducting a large-scale operation to find and arrest protesters. According to Hesam al-Hashemy of the IOHR, “Iraqi authorities arrested 348 people for taking part in the rallies, 314 of whom were released later after signing a pledge that they will not stage or call for any protests afterward.”
In an effort to quell protests, Prime Minister Abadi has formed a committee to investigate their demands, in addition to promising jobs for those living near oil fields and three billion dollars to improve public services in Basra.
Muqtada al-Sadr, prominent Shia cleric and winner of May’s parliamentary elections, has been supportive of demonstrators. He has called for a delay in government formation talks until protesters’ demands are met, and suggested to set up a committee to talk with protesters.
Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi believes the formation of an interim government is the way to meet protesters needs. He also alleges May’s election was rigged and is pressing for a new vote to take place.
Few politicians have addressed the protests, but it seems that those who have are willfully ignorant of what these protests are about.
All signs indicate that southern Iraqis are not asking for a temporary fix, but for an overhaul of a political system that has left them without suitable drinking water, reliable electricity, or gainful employment.

author: Sali Mahdy


text:
Will a World Cup joke force France to have a necessary conversation about Africa? · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Screen capture of Daily Show episode with South African comedian and host Trevor Noah in which he states that France's victory is also Africa's.
When I first saw the memes on my Twitter feed, I smiled. Not only had France won the 2018 World Cup, but most of the African continent shared their joy and made this amazing sporting feat a little bit theirs as well. As a citizen of both Madagascar and France, this was my “having my cake and eating it too” moment. The final match was stressful, as the Croatian team was dominating, but when the final whistle blew, I was overjoyed that this young team of hard-working players had been rewarded with the ultimate prize.
I indulged in the celebration and tried to stay in the moment because I knew very well what would come next. Fifteen out of the 23 players on France's winning team have personal histories tied to the continent of Africa. But I did not think the controversy would come so quickly.
The issue seemed trivial at first, but it turned into an internet meme shared thousands of times worldwide. It went something like this:
France has won the World Cup and its victory is also Africa's.
Many pieces have been written about this assertion, so first let's get the obvious out of the way.
This is a victory for France: all the players were born in France and have expressed repeatedly their love and pride for France. This is unequivocal. It feels silly to have to state this over again, but given the trend of public discourse in certain spaces, it feels necessary to do so (as did former US president Obama).
As with most memes, this was most often shared in the good fun, as Trevor Noah did. But at the same time, he underlined a notion that France struggles to deal with—that diversity is a strength and one that comes from generations of immigrants with origins in France's former colonies. Like any good joke, Noah's subtly addressed some uneasy truths about France. And after that, France didn't find the joke funny anymore.
Prior to the final match, French far-right forums were loaded with opinion pieces arguing that they felt more loyalty to their true European brothers from Croatia than the current French team. After the final, an arguably less alarming viewpoint came from another unhappy camper, France’s ambassador to the United States, Gérard Araud, who wrote a letter to Trevor Noah whitesplaining what it means to be black in France:
Unlike in the United States of America, France does not refer to its citizens based on their race, religion or origin. To us there is no hyphenated identity. Roots are an individual reality. By calling them an African team it seems you are denying their Frenchness. This even in jest legitimizes the ideology which defines whiteness as the only way of being French.
The statement “you are denying their Frenchness” deserves closer examination. Kylian Mbappé, the teenage prodigy who spearheaded France's clinical attack with four goals at the World Cup, unpacks his African identity with a maturity beyond his years:
C’est une thématique qui me tient à cœur. Même si je suis français, j’ai des origines africaines, et pour moi aider le sport africain à se développer c’est quelque chose qui me tient à cœur.  Si je peux aider à travers ma notoriété et même autre chose, je le ferai avec plaisir.
This is a theme that is close to my heart. While I am French, I do have African origins, and for me to help African sport develop is something that is close to my heart. If I can help with my notoriety and or other things, I will do it with pleasure.
Didier Deschamps, the French team coach who was instrumental in molding his talented players into a cohesive unit stated the following about the team's relationship with Africa:
It has always been the case that the French team has always had players from Africa and from other countries and territories, and not just in football but in other sports, They are all French and they are all proud to be French. But through their origins, through their childhood, they have friends, they have families in these countries so they have a certain attachment to these countries and a certain pride that these people will see them play in a World Cup Final.
It is astonishing that in 2018 someone like the Ambassador Araud could deny the possibility of a person's having more than one identity, or consider Frenchness and Africanness as antagonistic. Noah was not, of course, denying the players’ Frenchness, he was stating they could be both. I am afraid to ask if Araud would have also written a similar letter if the players had had ties with Spain?
I understand Araud's concerns. Judging from the discourse from some right-wingers in France, rising fascist sentiment would dismiss this historic win on the basis that the players are not “French enough“. The view that the French team was less European and therefore less worthy of praise was also expressed by editorialists in Italy and Spain. And the German footballer Mehmet Ozil recently left the German national team because of racist comments about his Turkish origin. So I understand the concern but Araud should know by now that you don't stop the rise of fascism by trying to rationalize their less repulsive talking points.
History has also taught us that a French World Cup triumph does nothing to push back racism. Not long after the euphoria that followed the previous victory in 1998, France was rocked by Jean-Marie Le Pen‘s defeat of favorite—and former prime minister—Lionel Jospin to reach the second round of the 2002 presidential elections. The same Le Pen who declared:
[The] national team was too dark and did not represent France.
Twenty years after that sobering election, Le Pen's daughter Marine made it to the second round of the 2017 presidential elections, losing to Emmanuel Macron.
Macron has embraced the national team, adopting celebratory moves from urban youth and hailing the team as a unifier of the French Republic, a country in which everyone is French regardless of color, ethnicity or cultural background. Yet within this very policy lies the reason for France's seemingly unavoidable racial tensions. In trying to look past cultural and ethnic differences, the French Republic has not only failed to acknowledge its obvious diversity but more importantly, it swept under the rug the very source of that diversity—the country's colonial past.
Sooner or later, we will have to reckon with the fact that while the French football team may be ethnically and culturally diverse, France's political elite is not. France does not keep statistics on minority participation in the workforce but it is painfully obvious that black representation in the French public sphere and in politics is rare.
Maybe this second World Cup triumph is a chance for a do-over, for France to have a frank conversation about the origins of the country's diversity and what that means.
L’ambiance ⭐⭐ mood@telefoot_TF1 @equipedefrance #fiersdetrebleus #worldcup2018 pic.twitter.com/qNg1VE4aTH
— Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) July 20, 2018
The atmosphere ⭐⭐ current mood @telefoot_TF1 #frenchteam #Proudtobefrench #worldcup2018
From the early 1900's to around 1960, France held sway over its colonies in West Africa and Madagascar, but the colonial period has long been a controversial topic. Crimes perpetrated in Algeria, Madagascar and Rwanda, for instance, are still not acknowledged as such. This lack of remorse prevents the nation from fully embracing its diversity, and is inextricably linked to current racial tensions and the lack of diversity in the spheres where it really matters.
An honest debate on race and colonial errors in Africa may be difficult to have, but it needs to happen for the country to achieve some degree of closure. Were France to own up to its past mistakes, it would have an easier time embracing its present, a present composed of a talented, young and diverse population, like its football team.
Instead, the republic's representative chooses to argue with comedians about the composition of a football team. Ambassador Araud is a prisoner of a certain perception of what a unified France ought to look like, a perception that fails to see Africanness and Frenchness as inextricably linked. The thousands of African soldiers who died for the liberation of France in 1916 and in 1944 can attest to this.
Maybe a third World Cup triumph will do the trick. Maybe after winning in 2022 France will finally get the joke and join in. Then the world will know it has made the necessary strides toward a more just and unified society.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
Sharing a passion for permaculture in Suriname · Global Voices
Kori Tuitt

A group of permaculture enthusiasts at work in Kampong Baroe, Suriname. Photo courtesy Permacultuur in Commewijne, used with permission.
For the past three years, Alex Yakaumo has used knowledge of permaculture to educate people about the natural environment in Suriname.
While chemicals are commonly used in Suriname's agricultural sector, there are opportunities for sustainable agriculture to take hold in the country, according to a 2012 report by the International Institute for Sustainability. However, there some constraints to overcome, and one of them is lack of training.
Yakumo is helping to change that. After receiving his Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) from the Caribbean Permaculture Research Institute of Barbados, he decided to dedicate his time to lecturing about self-sustaining agricultural ecosystems and hosting workshops in Commewijne, where he lives.
Located on the right bank of the Suriname River, his community has since got involved with other like-minded organisations more inland, as well as with tribal villages. Yakaumo says he never pressures people to learn about the permaculture lifestyle; rather, he waits until they are ready to receive its principles — and from there, the education begins.
“It is something that has to come from the people because it is for the people”, he says. “So I'm not really forcing [the issue], I'm just offering this opportunity and if people are ready, they can participate.”
Some of the greatest rewards that people can reap from practicing permaculture include self-sustainability and not exposing themselves or the earth to harmful chemicals.
On Yakaumo's Facebook page Permacultuur in Commewijne, people can get updates and reach out if they would like to attend a lecture or workshop.
He spoke with Global Voices about his work.
Permaculturalist Alex Yakaumo. Photo courtesy Permacultuur in Commewijne, used with permission.
Global Voices (GV): Explain the benefits of permaculture and why you took an interest in it.
Alex Yakaumo (AY): I came to Suriname in 2011 to live self-sustainably. Before that, I lived in Holland, but I travelled for a few years, in India mostly, and I really got the taste of being free — just self-supporting — and when I came to Suriname, I eventually started looking for ways to grow [food] in a sustainable way, and this is how I came across permaculture. I started to look for courses, and the second course was just starting in Barbados at the Caribbean Permaculture Research Institute. So, I was quite lucky.
To me, permaculture is bringing the different components of nature together in such a way that they enhance each other for the benefit of all beings.
Alex Yakaumo with members of the Commewijne community at a workshop. Photo courtesy Permacultuur in Commewijne, used with permission.
AY: I'm focusing now on teaching people how to grow without [using] synthetic products. It's the starting point — because most people in Suriname only know how to use chemicals — chemical fertilisers and herbicides are so ingrained in the system. My first aim is really to get people to understand the purpose of the soil itself, so they can start to appreciate the benefit of healthy soil and stop spraying.
School children learn about the principles of permaculture at one of the school garden projects with which Yakaumo is involved. Photo courtesy Permacultuur in Commewijne, used with permission.
GV:
AY: Up to 1,000 people now. For the last two months I’ve been busy every weekend, training teachers. I'm also doing school garden projects with two organisations. There's a big interest in permaculture here, because most people know that all the vegetables are being sprayed [with chemicals] and they really want to learn an alternative method, but nobody is sharing this knowledge. You just have to know the dynamics of nature, so we can let nature do the work for us instead of fighting against it. For such a small population [in the area], most of the time my lectures are full. Most of the time, a lot of people come because they are so interested in learning how to grow.
Alex Yakaumo giving a lecture on permaculture in Suriname. Photo courtesy Permacultuur in Commewijne, used with permission.
GV: What approach do you take when teaching people about permaculture?
A woman waters seedlings on a raised bed that has been built with local resources, using permaculture principles. Photo courtesy
Permacultuur in Commewijne, used with permission
AY: I do it in two ways. I do a lecture, and based on the lecture, they have the opportunity to do a workshop. In the lecture, I am sharing an introduction about just one part of permaculture, which I call ecological gardening. That's the biggest interest now for people: how to grow their own vegetables. In my talk, I stress the importance of taking care of the earth, and explore the different dynamics of Mother Nature in a very basic way.
I explain what soil is and talk about its importance. Then, I show them the pictures from my own garden — including composting — so they see what is possible. I talk about fertilisers; I talk about different herbicides and pesticides, and then I invite them to join the workshops so they can learn — the easy way — to set up their own garden, all with local resources, like branches, stems, and leaves.
It's not so technical; it's really about giving people the experience, so they can relate to the concept a lot better.
It's just opening people's eyes to what they already have — most of them have seen this already, but they couldn't connect the dots. I think permaculture really speaks to people. Still, I'm always surprised at the amount of people who come to the lectures.
GV: What is the most rewarding aspect of your work?
AY: I enjoy seeing the pictures people share with me of their own gardens. I especially like to see when the children in the community are learning to grow plants in this way. Then is when I really feel the satisfaction that comes from doing all this work.
GV: Do you use social media to help raise awareness or increase participation?
AY: Facebook is the most used social media platform over here. I'm not a big fan of it, but in this case it's the best way to reach people. I'm looking for help from social media professionals who like to do this sort of posting, so I can just oversee what's happening.
Young boys hold vegetables grown using permaculture principles. Photo courtesy Permacultuur in Commewijne, used with permission.
One of the greatest benefits of permaculture is that it fosters a sense of community. Photo courtesy
Permacultuur in Commewijne, used with permission.
GV: What goals do you have for the future?
AY: I am looking to set up an organisation called Wholesome Living. Wholesome Living consists of five pillars: care of the mind, physical exercise, knowledge of food, permaculture or living in harmony with nature, and contributing to society in a beneficial way. This is my way of life.

author: Kori Tuitt