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As Another School and Shelter in Gaza is Bombed, a UN Spokesman Breaks Down in Tears in a Video Interview · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

Chris Gunness, a United Nations Relief and Works Agency spokesperson broke down in tears while wrapping a TV interview with Al Jazeera Arabic about a lethal attack on a UN school that was sheltering 3,300 Palestinians in Gaza.
He also called upon “the international community to take deliberate international political action to put an immediate end to the continuing carnage” in a statement on the UNRWA website:
Last night, children were killed as they slept next to their parents on the floor of a classroom in a UN designated shelter in Gaza. Children killed in their sleep; this is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame. Today the world stands disgraced.
This is the sixth UN school and shelter to be attacked by Israeli forces. The UNRWA had given the exact coordinates of the school 17 times to the Israel army so they could avoid bombing the area.
Precise location of Jabalia Elementary Girls School #Gaza & that it housed 3,000 displaced was communicated to Israeli army 17 times RT
— Chris Gunness (@ChrisGunness) July 30, 2014
At least 1,361 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,780 injured since Israel launched a massive offensive against the 40-kilometer long coastal strip on July 8. Israel has bombed schools, a playground, hospitals, shelters and refugee camps. Three in four people killed in Gaza were civilians. On July 28, Israel attacked the only power plant in Gaza, plunging the congested strip of 1.8 million people into darkness.
The United Nations agency UNRWA was running 245 schools with 225,000 students in Gaza, before the offensive began. As Israel forces bombs residential neighborhoods, tens of thousands have been made homeless and are forced to take refuge in the schools, many of which have become makeshift shelters.
There are now 204,166 in UNRWA 85 shelters across #Gaza More leaving homes. Human displacement crisis. Appalling. RT
— Chris Gunness (@ChrisGunness) July 30, 2014
UNRWA is overwhelmed in #Gaza we have reached breaking point, our staff are being killed our shelters overflowing. Where will it end? RT
— Chris Gunness (@ChrisGunness) July 30, 2014
In the UNRWA statement Gunness continued to explain that his team visited the site of the latest bombing and called on the international community to take political action:
We have visited the site and gathered evidence. We have analysed fragments, examined craters and other damage. Our initial assessment is that it was Israeli artillery that hit our school, in which 3,300 people had sought refuge. We believe there were at least three impacts. It is too early to give a confirmed official death toll. But we know that there were multiple civilian deaths and injuries including of women and children and the UNRWA guard who was trying to protect the site. These are people who were instructed to leave their homes by the Israeli army.
The precise location of the Jabalia Elementary Girls School and the fact that it was housing thousands of internally displaced people was communicated to the Israeli army seventeen times, to ensure its protection; the last being at ten to nine last night, just hours before the fatal shelling.
I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces.
This is the sixth time that one of our schools has been struck. Our staff, the very people leading the humanitarian response are being killed.  Our shelters are overflowing. Tens of thousands may soon be stranded in the streets of Gaza, without food, water and shelter if attacks on these areas continue.
We have moved beyond the realm of humanitarian action alone. We are in the realm of accountability. I call on the international community to take deliberate international political action to put an immediate end to the continuing carnage.
The UNRWA was established in 1949 and provides assistance and protection to 5 million registered Palestine refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Excessive restrictions from Israel in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank is why most of the world and the United Nations considers this territory “occupied” by Israel. This is Israel's third military operation in Gaza in 6 years.
Follow our in-depth coverage: #Gaza: Civilian Death Toll Mounts in Israeli Offensive

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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Honduras Generates Employment with Community Activities · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandes launched the program “Desarrollemos Honduras” (Let's Develop Honduras) alongside civil servants and community members. Hernandes explained that if a house has a damaged or a dirt floor, it should be replaced with a cement floor; or prioritize according to the family needs, and:
Cambiar los fogones tradicionales por los ecofogones. Yo sé que en muchos lugares, tal vez no sea el caso de las casas aquí, es triste preguntarle a la gente cuánto paga por la leña y la gente no sabe, hay que explicarle (…) A veces a la gente se sale más cara la leña que la comida.
Replacing traditional stoves for ecologic stoves. I am aware that in many places, maybe not here, it's sad to ask people how much do they pay for firewood and they don't know, we have to explain them (…). Sometimes, people pay more for firewood than for food.
Twitter users posted pictures and their opinions:
DESARROLLEMOS HONDURAS se inauguró hoy en El Reparto #PintandoMiBarrio generará 150 empleos a jóvenes de la comunidad pic.twitter.com/TKpC6zlHy0
— Lissi Matute Cano (@LissiCano) julio 29, 2014
LET'S DEVELOP HONDURAS started today at El Reparto community. Painting my neighborhood program will create 150 positions for young people from the community.
definitivamente vale la pena, a contribuir para que se deje ver mejor, Desarrollemos Honduras/… http://t.co/coblUp1jIJ
— Julio César Quiñonez (@jamaica2001) marzo 12, 2014
This is definitely worthwhile, let's all collaborate so it all might look better. Let's Develop Honduras.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Oil Spill in the Peruvian Amazon First Poisons Children, Then Employs Them · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Oil laden water after the spill. Photo on Flickr by user Carlos Quintana (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
There have been two new oil spills in the Amazon jungle. The Northern Peru pipeline, operated by the country's state-owned petroleum company Petroperú, is thought to have contaminated several kilometers of the Saramuro region and the Cuninico gorge (located in the Urarinas district of the province of Loreto). Local indigenous communities have reported children becoming ill with various stomach problems. The extent of the damage to the area's environment and inhabitants remains unknown.
The two spills occurred on June 26 and June 30, but Lima's mainstream media waited several days to report on the disaster, presumably because of Saramuro's remote location. Thus far, Petroperú's response efforts to mitigate the damage (supply food and water to locals) have proved inadequate. Members of native communities in the affected region say the fish and drinking water in the area remain unsafe to consume.
#Derrame de petróleo en oleoducto PetroPerú en Cuninico, Loreto.Población, flora y fauna afectadas. Se necesita ayuda pic.twitter.com/ujDt8n5o6G
— Nelly Luna Amancio (@nellylun) July 10, 2014
Oil spill in PetroPerú's pipleline in Cuninico, Loreto. Population, vegetation, and animals affected. Help is needed.
The public outcry grew when reporters discovered that Petroperú hired minors to work in the company's clean-up effort. Though Petroperú denied the accusations, the story soon appeared on national television, prompting the Minstry of Energy and Mining to reshuffle on Petroperú's management, appointing a new board of directors.
Niños d la localidad d Cuninico n Loreto con enfermedades estomacales tras derrame de petróleo http://t.co/wkCOLB6aU4 pic.twitter.com/Z0fSvC3QYz
— ALEX_TLV_BLANQVIAZVL (@AlexVQ27) July 12, 2014
Children in the Cuninico community in Loreto with intestinal illnesses after the oil spill.
In a newspaper column published July 22, journalist Rocío Silva Santisteban wrote about Petroperú's problematic behavior elsewhere, recounting the experiences of the Kukama people and Manolo Berjón and Miguel Cadenas, two priests from Santa Rita de Castilla parish, in the city of Nauta (Loreto), who have spent time investigating oil spill's damage in the Marañón basin.
1) se aprovechan de la necesidad de los lugareños, sus expectativas de ingresos y su ignorancia sobre las consecuencias del contacto directo de la piel, los ojos, incluso la boca con el hidrocarburo; 2) se contrata a la misma población para tener una limpieza rápida y a bajo costo; 3) se actúa con total impunidad, pues se sabe que en esos parajes es muy difícil que la información circule fuera de los sectores más cercanos. […] Ah… lo olvidaba: los sacerdotes (Manolo) Berjón y (Miguel) Cadenas están siendo chuponeados, reglados y hackeados para evitar más denuncias: ¡y todo en el año de la COP20!
1) They are taking advantage of the local people's needs, their income, their expectations, and their ignorance about the effects that direct contact with hydrocarbons has on the skin, the eyes, and even the mouth; 2) they are hiring the very same people for a cheap and quick cleanup; 3) they are acting with complete impunity, since it is well understood that information in these areas rarely spreads beyond neighboring communities. […] Ah, and I almost forgot: the priests (Manolo) Berjón and (Miguel) Cadenas are being spied on, managed, and hacked to prevent more accusations: and all in the same year as the COP20 [UN climate change conference]!
Cadenas and Berjon, both Spanish Augustinian priests, are well known throughout the region for their humanitarian work in indigenous communities. Since 2010, they've blogged at “Santa Rita de Castilla,” where they catalogue their experiences. The priests also use the website to draw the public's attention to hot-button issues like pollution. Blogging about politically sensitive issues can be risky, however, and Cadenas and Berjon suspect both the government and the region's oil companies of putting them under surveillance. They say they have received several threats, too.
Writing on the blog “Toustodo,” Oscar Muñiz asks why governments always seek to bury information about such disasters, when it's their obligation to do just the opposite.
Un país serio y responsable no deja a la deriva los informes que seguramente se encuentran encajonados en los escritorios de la alta burocracia; un país con talante encara con seriedad y responsabilidad los problemas que se repiten mes a mes, año tras año.
A serious and responsible country does not just allow reports to gather dust in the drawers of the upper echelons of the bureaucracy; a determined country confronts, in a serious and responsible manner, the problems that recur month after month, year after year.
Writing on Lucidez.pe, political scientist Juan Pablo Sánchez Montenegro also addressed the Northern Peru pipeline spill:
Se trata de que el viejo oleoducto de cuarenta años aún no ha sido adecuado a las normas jurídicas y técnicas vigentes que prohíben que exista bajo el agua tuberías destinadas al transporte crudo. La empresa estatal, a través de su representante Víctor Mena, se ha limitado a culpar a la geografía de la zona por los desastres ocasionados.
This is about a 40-year-old pipeline that still does not meet current legal and technical standards, which prohibit the use of pipes to transport crude through waterways. The state-owned company, says representative Víctor Mena, has confined itself to blaming the disasters on the region's geography.
On July 22, Miguel Donayre Pinedo republished on his blog a report by the priests mentioned above, Berjón and Cadenas:
Un comunero entró en la quebrada y, con ojos espantados, vio cantidad de peces y boas muertas y manchas de petróleo por todos lados. Se ha quebrado el oleoducto en la zona que los comuneros denomina Varillal (atención para los ambientalistas). Asustado regresa a la comunidad y conversan entre autoridades y comunidad. […] Hasta el 2 de julio sólo había llegado 5 litros de agua por familia y agua del Marañón. De nuevo, las emergencias no son atendidas, menos si es lejos de la ciudad. Los planes de emergencia o no existen o no funcionan. Quien sí acude, dicen los pobladores, es Petroperú llevando personal sanitario, entre ellos un doctor. Échense a temblar.
A local man entered the gorge and was horrified to see the amount of dead fish and snakes and oil slicks everywhere. The pipeline broke in a region that locals call Varillal (attention: any environmentalists). Frightened, the man returns to his village, where discussions are held between state authorities and the community. […] By July 2, only five liters of water have arrived for each family, and the water is from the [contaminated] Marañón river. Once again, we find, emergencies are ignored, especially when they are far from the cities. Emergency response plans either don't exist or they don't function. The only ones to show up, locals say, are Petroperú's medical personnel, including a doctor. Now's the time to start being afraid.
Pinedo enumerates several of his own points about the possible longterm consequences of the new spills in the Amazon.
1. Con la vaciante del río que se produce a fines de junio 2014, como todos los años, comienza a salir el pescado de las cochas y a migrar río arriba: “mijano”. ¿Surcará este año el mijano? Sospechamos que no. Se produce una barrera biológica. ¿Cuál será el comportamiento del pescado? […] 3. El impacto económico en la comunidad de Cuninico será terrible. ¿De qué van a vivir todos estos pescadores? Cuando una empresa rescinde el contrato a un trabajador tiene que pagar unos derechos. ¿Quién paga los trabajos que estos pescadores no van a poder realizar?
1. As water levels in the river decrease at the end of June 2014, as they do every year, the fish start to come out of their pools and migrate up river: the “Mijano” [annual migration]. Will the fish make it upstream this year? We suspect not. A biological barrier has been produced. How will this affect the fish's behavior? […] 3. The economic impact in Cuninico will be terrible. How will the fishermen survive? When a company terminates a worker's contract, they have to compensate them. Who is going to pay for the work the fishermen have lost?
Meanwhile, the investigation into the spills’ causes continues, as does the practice of hiring of minors for cleanup. Allegedly, the government is still considering levying ;sanctions against Petroperú. Declearing a state of emergency in the affected area is also up for debate.
OEFA envía tercer equipo de supervisión por derrame de petróleo en Loreto ⇢ http://t.co/U0u97mDSsY pic.twitter.com/E6R4LgCZNS
— Agencia Andina (@Agencia_Andina) July 21, 2014
The OEFA [Peru's environmental oversight agency] is dispatching a third team to supervise the oil spill [investigation] in Loreto.

author: Juan Arellano


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The Mouthpiece of Totalitarian Propaganda — Crimea’s Colonel Cassad · Global Voices
Daniel Alan Kennedy

This article is part of an extensive RuNet Echo study of Russian-language blogosphere in Eastern Ukraine. Explore the complete interview series on the Eastern Ukraine Unfiltered page.
Since the Yanukovych regime fell in February 2014, one of the most popular explanations for the political violence that gripped the south and east of Ukraine is nostalgia for an idealized Soviet past. Some commentators, such as Julia Ioffe, characterize this nostalgia as generational. In other words, those too young to remember the Soviet period properly are less likely to idealize it.
If this is the case, 32-year-old Sevastopol native Boris Rozhin is bucking the trend. Rozhin, who runs the popular blog Colonel Cassad, is unrepentant in his admiration for the Soviet Union, particularly its military achievements in the Second World War. Rozhin is also unapologetic about his admiration for Joseph Stalin, whom he credits with winning the war and accomplishing the Soviet Union's rapid economic growth in the 20th century. His blog carries the half-ironic subtitle, “The Mouthpiece of Totalitarian Propaganda.” The biggest influence on his writing, Rozhin claims, are his communist beliefs, which “incline [him] towards class and dialectical conclusions when analyzing one event or another.”
Boris Rozhin runs the popular Crimean blog Colonel Cassad.
In addition to Marxist politics and military history, Rozhin's blog also includes posts on popular culture, video games, and science fiction. These themes have faded into the background in recent months, though, as Rozhin “spends most of [his] time providing information on the war in the Donbas, helping the fighters and refugees there.”
Colonel Cassad has enjoyed a tremendous spike in popularity following the appearance of the “polite people” in Rozhin's native Crimea. An enthusiastic supporter of both Crimea's “reunification” with Russia and the various “people's republics” that have sprouted in eastern Ukraine, Rozhin views the authorities in Kyiv as an illegitimate “fascist junta” or “banderite gang” and blames the unrest in Ukraine on NATO and the United States. His blog has clearly tapped into a popular mood among Russian speakers and his posts can receive thousands of “likes,” shares, and comments.
Rozhin has little time for the mainstream media.
Я не верю в существование независимых СМИ – все они так или иначе зависимы от государства или от денег частных лиц, определяющих редакционную политику… Мэйнстримовые СМИ создают либо лакированную, либо ложную картину, поэтому они как правило не служат для меня истиной в последней инстанции. События в Крыму хорошо показали, что реальная жизнь несколько сложнее ура-патриотической или проукраинской пропаганды. Блоггерам и писателям важном понимать, что мир меняется и при должном усердии или таланте, можно самому стать настоящим СМИ сопоставимым по значению с мэйнстримовой прессой.
I don't believe in the existence of independent media. They all in one way or another depend on the state or on the money of private individuals, which defines their editorial line… The mainstream media creates either a sterilized or a fake picture, because they as a rule aren't serving what I think is the truth in the first place. Events in Crimea showed this well, when real life was a lot more complicated that either the Ukrainians’ or the [Russian] jingoists’ propaganda. It's important for bloggers and writers to understand that the world is changing and, with the necessary zeal or talent, you can become the real media with as much impact as the mainstream press.
Rozhin isn't entirely optimistic about the future of blogging, however.
До недавних пор блогосфере была своего рода исключением, но сейчас и ее будут потихоньку подминать в рамках государственного регулирования интернет-пространства.
Until recently the blogosphere was an exception to this rule, but now it's being gradually subsumed within the framework of the state's regulation of cyberspace.
Rozhin expresses no discomfort about the fact that his support for the separatists in the Donbas places him in the company of Russian far-right forces and nationalists, whose views are antithetical to a hard-leftist. Rozhin draws a historical parallel with “international help” during the Spanish Civil war, when “the republicans were supported by more than just communists.” Rather, he sees the conflict as an opportunity.
Левое движение сейчас в кризисе, и коммунисты должны использовать эту войну, для того чтобы учиться организации, координации и другим полезным вещам (в том числе и у правых – не идеям, но методу), которые могут пригодится в обозримом будущем.
The leftist movement is now in crisis, and communists must use this war to teach themselves organization, coordination, and other useful things (borrowing from the right, too, but taking their methods — not their ideas), which will be useful in the foreseeable future.
Rozhin has little love for Vladimir Putin, whom he dismisses as a “capitalist master.” Despite this, his blog has become massively popular among Putin's supporters. It has also earned him the ire of Ukraine's intelligence services. Rozhin says Kyiv would arrest him for “calls to overthrow the existing order of Ukraine, separatism, and ‘terrorism.'” The last charge, in Rozhin's words, is merely “how the Kyiv junta understands helping the Donbass.”
These are strange and interesting times when a convinced Stalinist with an interest in military history and science fiction can become a darling of the RuNet and an enemy of the Ukrainian state. But while Rozhin's politics currently align him with Russia, he is also at its mercy. Now that he is living in de facto Russian territory, authorities in Moscow can officially label “Colonel Cassad” a mass media outlet, restricting Rozhin's ability to write freely. How this threat will affect his blogging remains to be seen.

author: Daniel Alan Kennedy


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Camera Phones vs. Kalashnikovs in Ukraine’s Separtist-held Luhansk · Global Voices
Daniel Alan Kennedy

This article is part of an extensive RuNet Echo study of Russian-language blogosphere in Eastern Ukraine. Explore the complete interview series on the Eastern Ukraine Unfiltered page.
Ukraine's media landscape has never been subject to the sort of top-down state control found in Russia (though the Yanukovych regime certainly tried its best to change this). It would be misleading, however, to describe Ukraine's television channels as “independent.” Almost all TV stations belong a handful the country's most powerful oligarchs. Inter and NTN are owned by Dmytro Firtash, who was arrested in Austria in the wake of Maidan and is wanted for money-laundering in the United States. Ukraine's richest individual, Donbas steel baron Rinat Akhmetov, owns Ukraina. Ihor Kolomoisky, the Dnipropetrovsk magnate who funds much of Kyiv's war in the east, owns 1+1. Channel 5, one of the few stations to support the aims of Euromaidan openly, belongs to Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's new president. While he has promised to divest himself of most of his business interests, Poroshenko has tellingly ruled out selling Channel 5.
Maksim Osovskiy, a streamer from Lugansk region. via Facebook.
It's perhaps unsurprising then, that during Ukraine's revolution, many turned to the Internet for footage of what was taking place in and around Maidan. Much of this footage was uploaded live via services like UStream by so-called “streamers” — amateur camera operators, occasionally equipped with nothing more sophisticated than a mobile phone. Online television stations like Spilno.tv and Hromadske.tv would rebroadcast the best of these “streams,” giving people around the world a realtime (if occasionally shaky and badly lit) view of the pitched battles between the Berkut and the protesters.
Streaming grew in popularity during the Maidan protests and has continued to appeal to news consumers in Ukraine's post-Yanukovych era, particularly in the country's volatile east. Maksim Osovskiy, a native of the town of Lisichansk in the Luhansk region, is one “streamer” who became active during Ukraine's separatist crisis.
До этого я занимался, ну вообще ничем не занимался. Просто сидел дома. А потом когда начались события на майдане, я понял что могу чем-то реально помочь. И когда началось все в луганской области, я так подумал что не надо далеко ехать, можно попробовать себя в этом деле. И начал связался с активистами в Луганске. Они мне представили оборудование и я начал работать в этом направлении и стримить всякие акции протесты, всякие митинги стримить.
“Before this, I was doing… well I wasn't really doing anything. I was just staying home, but then, when events started at Maidan, I understood that I could help in a real way. When it all started in the Luhansk region, I realized that I didn't have to go far. I could try my hand at it. I started getting in touch with Luhansk activists. They supplied me with a camera and I started working this way, streaming any and all sorts of actions, protests, and demonstrations.
Osovskiy began streaming because he thought there was very little verifiable information coming out of Luhansk, due to the volatile political situation.
В тот момент когда начал стримить, все журналисты, все стримеры были уже, (как это сказать) ‘засвечены.’ То есть, их знали их прогоняли потому, что знали что они проукраинские активисты. Я был новый человек, незасвеченый и решил помочь показывать Украине что происходит на самом деле в Луганске.
When I began streaming, all the journalists and streamers [in Luhansk] had been “marked,” that is to say, they were known as pro-Ukrainian activists and had been driven out. I was a new person, who hadn't been “marked” and I decided to show Ukraine what was really happening in Luhansk.
After streaming events around the region as a volunteer, Osovskiy and a friend (journalist Vyacheslav Bondarenko) were offered work covering the May 25 presidential elections for a small Lviv-based television station, ZIK. Osovskiy happily accepted the chance to work for pay.
Returning home after covering the election, militia at a rebel checkpoint stopped and questioned Osovskiy and Bondarenko.
Когда увидели у нас оборудование дорогое для стрима, увидели журналистские удостоверения, решили нас взять и допросить уже подробно в здании СБУ… в начале нормально, культурно допрашивали, как бы “Что? Почему? Как?”
When they saw that our equipment was [unusually] expensive for streaming online, and that we had journalists’ accreditation, [the militia] decided to take us into an [occupied] security building for additional questioning… at first they questioned us normally and politely, your basic “What? Why? How?”
But when Osovskiy's interrogators discovered he and and his colleague were working for a TV station based in western Ukraine, the rebels changed their tone.
Начали говорить что мы продались фашистам… и уже более агрессивно начали нас допрашивать с пытками с избиениями, я так понимаю они хотели узнать как мы связанные с правым сектором, с проукраинскими активистами… но естественно что в луганской области уже никого не осталось из тех друзей моих с которыми я раньше работал, ибо уезжали.
They started saying that we had sold ourselves to the fascists… and started questioning us more and more aggressively with torture and beatings. As I understand it, they wanted to find out how we were connected with [the nationalist group] Right Sector, with pro-Ukrainian activists… but naturally none of my friends or former colleagues were left in Luhansk. They'd all gone.
Osovskiy and Bondarenko were released two days later. Osovskiy went to recover in a sanitarium in Lviv. He currently works in Kyiv, but he continues doing “the same things [he] was doing before, but with more professional equipment, in a more professional manner,” still for the Lviv-based television station. Despite becoming more professional, Osovskiy still fields requests from his followers on Facebook, who continue to ask that he stream footage about various events and news.
Osovskiy admits that its difficult for Ukrainian journalists of any background to film anything in Luhansk now, “even just with a mobile phone,” due to the interference of the rebels. Asked about the Russian journalists who seem to enjoy greater freedom of mobility in areas controlled by the militia, Osovskiy expressed his skepticism about their work.
У них конечно можно брать картинку про то, что происходит, но верить эти картинки так как ее комментировать я не бы стал. Язык не поворачивается назвать их журналистами. Они просто люди, которые выполняют определенные заказы.
You can get a picture of what's taking place from them, but I wouldn't believe the commentary they add… I can't even call them journalists — they're just people who follow orders.
Osovskiy's story shows the strengths and weaknesses of the streamer model of journalism. It allows anyone with the right motivation and just the simplest of cameras to broadcast events to the world, but it also exposes amateurs to the kinds of intimidation and violence that overwhelms even the most experienced reporters. The pen may be “mightier than the sword,” but few would like to test the theory that the cameraphone is mightier than the Kalashnikov.


text:
The Angriest Man in Odessa is on the Front Lines of Ukraine’s Information War · Global Voices
Daniel Alan Kennedy

This article is part of an extensive RuNet Echo study of Russian-language blogosphere in Eastern Ukraine. Explore the complete interview series on the Eastern Ukraine Unfiltered page.
Most of the unrest that followed the ouster of Viktor Yanukovych was centered in Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk, but other parts of Ukraine did not escape unscathed. On May 2, 2014, the city of Odessa witnessed some of the worst violence in Ukraine since the start of the separatist crisis, when nearly 60 people died in clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Maidan protesters. Most of these deaths occurred when a fire broke out in the Odessa Trade Union during the fighting. While Odessa thankfully has been mostly free from street violence since, some of its inhabitants are still very much waging the same battles in what both sides term the “information war.”
Zloy_Odessit's LiveJournal avatar.
Zloy_Odessit, an anonymous blogger whose online handle translates roughly to “Angry Odessian,” is one such inhabitant. He updates his blog numerous times daily with news and opinions about events in Ukraine, with a particular emphasis on the military campaign in the east. Like many Russian speakers, Zloy_Odessit prefers LiveJournal as his primary social medium, in his case, due to its highly customizable interface and “very good search potential.”
Zloy_Odessit began his blog back in March, though he claims he's “no novice to the blogosphere.” He started his blog in reaction to what he sees as “the Russian occupation of Crimea,” saying he writes to combat disinformation and express his own point of view. “The main aim of my blog is to get across my opinion on events in Ukraine to the Russian user,” he told RuNet Echo. “Right now, on LiveJournal, there are exclusively pro-Kremlin bloggers, artificially kept in the top rankings by the mass use of bots.”
Bogging his opinions has earned Zloy_Odessit many enemies, including the Russian government, which blacklisted his LiveJournal page earlier this year. According to Zloy, the action has only increased the number of visitors he gets from Russia.
В Украине привыкли выслушивать все точки зрения, в России же в крови слушать единую, верную и неоспоримую точку зрения, а все остальное от Лукавого, Госдепа, Анунаков и рептилоидов… не важно от чего, но запретное! Табу!
In Ukraine, we're used to hearing out all points of view, but in Russia its in their blood to listen to single united, true, an undisputed point of view. All the rest are from the Devil, the [U.S.] State Department, aliens, or lizard people… It doesn't matter where they come from — they're forbidden. Taboo.
Zloy_Odessit thinks Internet users can challenge the information monopoly in Russia.
Пользователь может становится противовесом той или иной точке зрения, высказывать свою индивидуальную и свободную от ограничений и табу. В конце концов, блоггер способен вокруг себя объединять людей – единомышленников, не готовых пока высказываться открыто.
Internet users can become counterweights to other points of view, expressing their own individual points of view, free from limits and taboos. At the end of the day, a blogger can unite people around them. They can unite like-minded thinkers, who aren't yet prepared to speak openly.
When asked about the prospects for reconciliation between separatists and people who support Ukrainian unity, Zloy_Odessit was circumspect, believing that it may be possible with ordinary citizens of the Donbas, but not with the insurgents themselves.
Я сам был неоднократным свидетелем того как люди ратующие за союз с Россией и поддерживавшие аннексию Крыма меняли со временем свою точку зрения. Диалог возможен, безусловно.но диалог с простыми людьми
I myself have witnessed on several occasions to how advocates of a union with Russia — people who supported the annexation of Crimea — changed their views over time. Dialogue is possible, of course, but [only] dialogue with ordinary people.
As for the fighters themselves, Zloy considers the rebels a criminal group that has seized power with the help of Russian citizens. He also blames local oligarchs Rinat Akhmetov and Oleksandr Yefremov for financing the militia.
Zloy_Odessit has his work cut out for him. Though open to dialogue, his criticisms of the separatists are almost a mirror image of the criticisms pro-separatist bloggers like Strajj and Colonol_Cassad make of Kyiv. Both sides accuse the other of following an illegitimate government that seized power by force and relies on dishonest propaganda. Both sides will continue to tell their version of the truth, but it's difficult to see anyone conceding anything at this point.


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Tajik Blogger: “We Must Prove our Professionalism and Close the Case Against Alexander Sodiqov” · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Alex Sodiqov with his wife and daughter. Shared via www.freesodiqov.org
This story is part of our campaign #FreeAlexSodiqov: GV Author Detained in Tajikistan. A version of this post was originally written in Russian on the Tajik blogging platform blogiston.tj and translated for Global Voices by Chris Rickleton. The author wishes to remain anonymous.
About six weeks ago in Khorog police detained my good friend, the young academic Alexander Sodiqov. Disregarding the principle of the presumption of innocence and the laws of our own country, the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) issued a statement to the press the following day, in which Alexander was accused of “espionage” on behalf of “a foreign state.” Later, when Alexander was finally allowed access to independent lawyers, it was reported that Alexander had been charged under Article 305 of the Criminal Code (“Treason”).
I wanted to write about Alexander even then, but as I was neither a relative nor a lawyer, I decided to leave it to the professionals. Exactly one week ago, on July 22 after nearly 40 days in jail, Alexander was released on bail, apparently upon condition of remaining in the country. As I understand, the charges against Alexander have still not been lifted: he is still awaiting trial and is still charged under Article 305, which carries a  sentence of between 12 and 20 years.
After his release, Alexander gave only two interviews, one to Asia Plus and one to Radio Ozodi. As far as I know, many journalists from other publications also wanted to talk to him, but he refused to be interviewed. Most likely this is due to the very conditions of his bail, although it may be something else. I, too, have been unable to talk with Alexander since his release.
Now I want to share my view on this matter. Alexander Sodiqov, who our law enforcement agencies have rushed to write into the ranks of state criminals, is a young academic working on his Ph.D. in Canada. To find this out and read his biography in full it is sufficient to type his name into Google or Yandex.
There has been much online discussion regarding Alexander, and many of our citizens (especially those who do not have enough intelligence to enter a foreign university) have reproached Alexander for choosing to study at a western university.
Certainly, Alexander earned his Master's degree in the UK and is working on his doctoral thesis in Canada. However, prior to doing both of those things he graduated as a student from the Russian-Tajik Slavic University (RTSU) in Tajikistan, where he subsequently went on to teach having received his Masters from England. As one of his students, I can say that he was one of the most knowledgeable and professional teachers at the university.
Moreover, is receiving a degree in the West some sort of crime or reprehensible action? Tens of thousands of young Tajiks – including the children of highly-placed officials – prefer to get an education abroad. It is not punishable by our laws, and therefore we cannot throw accusations at Alexander for worthily representing our country at leading western universities.
Alexander also wrote a lot about our country. We bloggers in Tajikistan should be grateful for his work at Global Voices, where he constantly highlighted issues discussed through social networks and blogs in Tajikistan. Thanks to him, we were heard by a wider audience, while in our own country we are more often than not neither heard nor listened to.
Firstly, regarding the charges brought against Alexander, I personally think these accusations are absurd. First, Alexander did not hide from anyone either the nature of the research he was working on or the fact he was going to Khorog. We, friends of Alexander, knew perfectly well when and why he was going to Khorog. And, once in Khorog, he openly met with representatives of civil society on a bench in a central park. I do not think that spies behave this way. Real spies are extremely difficult to catch precisely because they operate covertly, secretly, not openly, as Alexander acted.
Secondly, the arrest of Alexander generated a huge buzz. The world's leading media, including The Guardian, The Economist, New York Times, Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Huffington Post, BBC, Reuters, Al Jazeera, EurasiaNet, Registan, Open Democracy, and many other publications wrote about his arrest. Major universities and academic associations quickly came out in support of Alexander, while thousands of academics from hundreds of the most prestigious universities (including Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge) and research centers in the world demanded that the Tajik authorities release Alexander, withdraw the charges levelled against him and allow him and his family to return to Canada so he can continue his studies.
People studying and teaching in countries as diverse as Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, USA and the UK, as well Tajikistan's neighbors such as Afghanistan. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have all pledged support for the campaign to #freealexsodiqov.
Never have so many famous academics, research centers and universities stood up in such solidarity for a spy. Everyone who follows the news knows that the detention of spies usually passes without fuss or hype. After that, arrested spies are quietly exchanged for other arrested spies or released following inter-governmental bargaining. Well-known Western scholars would never put their signatures towards supporting the rights, integrity and reputation of a person in whom they lacked faith. These academics value their name and reputation, and if they have come out in support of Alexander, his honesty cannot be in doubt.
That broad support that Alexander received from so many academics led the governments of Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States to demand that our government release him. Without this support, I think it would have been much harder for Alexander to convey his innocence. After all, Alexander and his wife are citizens of Tajikistan.
Thirdly, the fact that Alexander has been released from prison (albeit on bail) speaks to the fact that law enforcement agencies do not have anything to hold against him that could be considered evidence of Alexander's involvement in the offenses he has been accused of. Our law enforcement agencies have worked well and correctly: a citizen was detained, investigated for involvement in a crime, and let go once no evidence linking him to any crime was found. That is how law enforcement agencies around the world work. I am personally very pleased that in this case, our state organs have not lost face and, as noted in Alexander's recent interviews with Asia Plus and Ozodi, have worked “professionally”.
So, why is Alexander still facing charges?
This is not yet clear. I think the whole thing amounts to a quarrel within our government. Bringing Khorog under government control, we have been told, is the responsibility of a presidential aide, former Defense Minister Sherali Khairullayev. This is the same Khairullayev that shamed himself in 2012 by sending a 3,000-strong military detachment to Khorog but singularly failing to apprehend any of the “criminals” on the government's wanted list. For this Khairullayev it is becoming harder and harder to answer before the president for the continued unrest in GBAO [the province where Khorog is situated], and so he pushes the line of “foreign spies” conducting “subversive activities” and funding “state criminals” in Badakhshan.
From what I have heard from unofficial sources, it is Khairullayev that ordered Sodiqov's arrest – hoping that no one would intercede on his behalf, since Alexander does not have influential relatives – with the ultimate aim of presenting him before a court, the president and the country as a “Western spy” carrying out “subversive activities” in Khorog.
Unfortunately for Khairullayev it did not work out as planned.
The GKNB leading the investigation correctly understood the situation and reported to Khairullayev that they had nothing with which to hold Alexander. Western governments, funding our security services and all of our social programs – did you really think that these programs are financed from the state budget? – demanded Alexander's release. Foreign Minister Aslov, meanwhile, who has had to answer for Khairullayev's nonsense in the international arena, seems himself to be convinced of the absurdity of the charges brought against Alexander.
In order to minimize the loss of branding to our country and prove our professionalism, our state bodies must now close the case against Alexander, take him to the airport and put him on a flight to Canada. This they will confirm their professionalism and impartiality. And Khairullayev, the presidential aid should be removed. He has once again demonstrated he is incompetent. I think his position could be taken up by Saymumin Yatimov, who currently heads the GKNB.
Although Alexander's case will now be decided at the highest level, each of us can make a small contribution to his full release. I urge you all to take a minute of your time and sign the petition to withdraw all charges against Alexander.
This petition will soon be sent to the presidential administration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan.

author: Guest Contributor


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All Aboard! This is Landlocked Kyrgyzstan’s Train to the Coast! · Global Voices
Zukhra Iakupbaeva

Issyk-Kul during the tourist season. Screenshot from video uploaded onto YouTube by Alexey Nikitin.
Once a resting place for Central Asia's restless nomads, Lake Issyk-Kul — arguably the closest thing Central Asia has to a sea — is now a popular destination for tourists from the former Soviet Union and beyond. But before taking in the beauty of the sapphire waters and the surrounding snow-speckled switchbacks, visitors to the “Eye of the Tian-Shan” must decide how to get there.
The five hours long train ride from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek to Balykchy on the Western edge of the lake has become less popular since the Soviet Union collapsed. More people have cars now — the journey is shorter by road — and some view the train as potentially dangerous, both in terms of the passengers (who tend to be people without cars) and the traders that roam the train's aisles selling snacks, trinkets and other miscellaneous items.
But the train still has its admirers. They view the trip as an opportunity to play cards, read and enjoy a slightly longer glimpse of the Boom Gorge located halfway between the lake and the city, a moment of natural beauty interrupting otherwise steppe-like scenery.
The Boom Gorgeas seen from the Bishkek-Balykchy train. Photo by Zukhra Iakupbaeva.
The train to Balykchy departs everyday at 6.40 am. Not only is the ride not as dangerous as some make out but it is also a great chance to see a slice of Kyrgyz society departing the stress of the city for the fun of the lakeside, from families with children and dogs to elderly folks spending a chunk of their modest state pensions on this summer pilgrimage.
Inside, the train's facilities are basic: a hard bed-cum-seat and a table shared with three other passengers. The conductor is not only a point of information about the train, but also a makeshift doctor who can distribute medicine from a special bag when needed. Because the train has no restaurant, the passengers take their own sustenance on board with them, often the traditional post-Soviet combination of sunflower seeds and beer.
When asked why passengers chose this way to the lake, most emphasized the price — just over a dollar compared to nearly $10 for a seat in a shared taxi — and the spaciousness.
The “slow train” to Issyk-Kul is a social experience. Photo by Zukhra Iakupbaeva.
Facebook user Mara Bugatti Ekin Uulu, praises the natural democracy of the Bishkek-Balykchy train:
Klassno) ya v 2011 godu s'ezdil s druzyami. Eto tema. Zahotel lejish, zahotel sobral rebyat I igru mojno zamutit). Da, vot 5 chasov dolgo ((( no nado otmetit v hotel kak raz i zaselites)))) obychno s obeda) vsem horoshego otdyha) hot’ odin raz poprobuite)
It is awesome) I went with friends in 2011. Really cool. You can lie on one of the beds if you want or play games with other passengers. Of course, 5 hours might seem long, but we were bang on time for hotel check-in at lunchtime )))) I wish you all a good rest at Issyk-Kul. You should try the train at least once)
Another user of the service, Sapar Ibraev, commented on the views:
Нууу, да ты самое интересное пропустила))) Путь назад намного красивее – закат, ночные огни города, и потом приезжаешь в прохладный вечерний Бишкек)) И в поезде после 8 вечера такая тишина всегда, все спят…
The way back, Balykchy-Bishkek, is much more beautiful: sunset, city street lights, and then you arrive in the cool night in Bishkek)) There is silence after 8 p.m. on the train, everyone is sleeping…
The train makes several stops. This young family got on at a village just before the gorge and were riding the train for the first time. Yulia (left) said “it was quite picturesque to see the road through the gorge we travel along most days from the height of mountains.”
Yulia and family live in a village between Bishkek and Issyk-Kul. Photo by Zukhra Iakupbaeva.
The conductor of the train, Zeine, 56, has been working for the Kyrgyz Temir Zholu state rail department for 33 years. Asked to share interesting anecdotes from her time on the trains, she recalled the story of the pregnant Kyrgyzstani, who travelled to Russia expressly to receive a state allowance of 286,621 roubles ($5,512) for women giving birth to their third baby. The woman managed to ensure she gave birth to her child in the bathroom of the train while safely on Russian territory before swapping the train for a local hospital. However, the woman did not know that the Russian state allowance for third children does not apply to citizens of foreign countries.
Monkeys, writing in a post entitled “How to go to Issyk-Kul Cheaply and Angrily” on the Namba.kg blogging platform, calculated that his recent day out at Issyk-Kul cost him less than 300 soms ($6) encompassing the train ride to Balykchy and back, a mooch in one of the town's dubious second-hand clothes stores, a spot of Ashlan-Fu for lunch, and access to one of the city's nicer beaches.
But post-industrial Balykchy itself is far from the most fashionable or aesthetically attractive settlement on Lake Issyk-Kul (see Ben Rich's definitive profile, Balykchy: Town on the Edge in episode 19 of Bishkek-based tourist magazine The Spektator for more desolate detail) so lake-goers arriving on the train may want to then take a bus or taxi to somewhere nicer. The town does serve up some great smoked fish, however.
The Bishkek-Balykchy train returns from Balykchy every day at 5 p.m.
The Bishkek-Balykchy train returns to Bishkek every day at 5 pm. Zeine, the woman in the navy blue uniform, has been working for Kyrgyzstan's state rail company for more than three decades. Photo by Zukhra Iukupbaeva.

author: Zukhra Iakupbaeva


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Bahrain’s Justice Minister Tweeted About Giving His Political Opponents a Political ‘Slap’ · Global Voices
Noor Mattar

A opposition rally near Manama, Bahrain, on November 22, 2013. Photo by Sayed-Baqer. Copyright Demotix.
With Bahrain's next elections coming up in November, the ruling regime has altogether taken its gloves off in terms of political intimidation.
For years, the small oil-rich kingdom, which is a major ally to the United States, has received criticism for human rights abuses targeting dissidents. In 2011, the military launched a bloody crackdown on protests demanding more political rights from the ruling Al Khalifa family. Low-level protests have continued to simmer.
Slapping, kicking and other forms of physical violence were found to be part of the government's systematic mistreatment or torture of political opponents since the 2011 uprising, according to the government-appointed Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry.
So a recent tweet from the country's Minister of Justice Khaled Al Khalifa talking about a “political bitch-slap” against the secretary-general of Al Wefaq Ali Salman, Bahrain's largest opposition political society, ahead of parliamentary elections was not taken lightly:
عندما خرج السياسي المنكوب ليقول نريد (ديمقراطية توافقية بين الطوائف) عرضنا عليه 666 كفا سياسيا جزاء طائفيته. والآن يبدو أنه يريد المزيد.
— Bu Abdullah (@Khaled_Bin_Ali) July 23, 2014
When the wrecked politician came out and proposed a (cross-sect consensual democracy), we offered him a 666 political slap in reward for his sectarianism. It seems he's asking for more now.
The minister of justice is in charge of the island's political societies; Bahrain bans the term “party” because it indicates an entity that seeks to change the government. The “wrecked politician” refers to Salman, the head of Al Wefaq, who lately disclosed a secret government offer that included dividing the next cabinet into three parts — six Shiite ministers, six Sunni ministers and six ministers from the royal family. Salman had offered to negotiate based on a solution that would be accepted by the country's two largest sects (Sunnis and Shia) in order to put an end to the political crisis.
Al Wefaq refused the offer, and the Bahraini regime responded by suspending all of the political society's activities till further action for “violating the rules of the general assembly”. This comes soon after an American diplomat was kicked out of Bahrain after he met with Al Wefaq officials.
With the upcoming elections, which are considered pivotal for both sides, this move might curb the ability of the opposition to arrange massive protests like the ones of previous years.
The elections, which are set to take place on October 23, 2014, will be the third since the establishment of the parliament in 2002. Forty candidates will be elected to the legislative lower house, while another 40 will be selected by the king to represent the upper house of the legislative division. The lower house has very limited powers as it is overseen by the upper house (called the Consultative or Shura Council), the prime minister and the king.
One of the conditions Al Wefaq set to participate is to have a fully elected legislative parliament. Al Wefaq had the majority of votes in the last elections in 2010 before it withdrew after armed forces brutally repressed and killed pro-democracy protesters in early 2011. By-elections were held to fill the seats of the resigned members and the opposition boycotted it, leading to a participation level of 17.4 per cent, a figure that showed how unpopular the regime was at that moment.
The second largest opposition group, secular nationalist group the National Democratic Action (WAAD, in Arabic), is also being targeted ahead of elections. It was listed as one of the opposition groups violating government regulations because it refused to expel its leader, Ebrahim Sharif, who is now imprisoned for joining the protests in 2011.
The government is filing a lawsuit against the political society. The country's judicial system was blasted for failing “to deliver basic accountability and impartial justice” in a recent Human Rights Watch report.
Minister of Justice Khaled Al Khalifa explained on Twitter to his more than 38,000 followers his version of what could be the solution for Al Wefaq. The tweets hinted that one of the goals is to change Al Wefaq's leadership:
تم اختطاف الجمعية بتفسير شاذ بنظامها الداخلي أدى الى تهميش المؤتمر العام وسيطرة بعض الأشخاص على اجهزة الجمعية عن طريق ما يسمى بالتزكية
— Bu Abdullah (@Khaled_Bin_Ali) July 20, 2014
The society was hijacked by a deviant interpretation of its code, which led to the marginalization of its general assembly and the control of few people by what is called unopposed candidates
السبيل الصحيح الوحيد لتلك الجمعية هو ان تدعو لمؤتمر عام لانتخاب القائمين عليها بشكل شفاف وإجراءات صحيحة وتنهي حالة فوضى الزعامات داخلها.
— Bu Abdullah (@Khaled_Bin_Ali) July 20, 2014
The only right path for that society is to call for a general assembly to elect its leaders in a transparent way and with the correct procedure and to end the internal leadership chaos
Al Wefaq's general secretary responded to the minister in a press conference, saying that they received an offer from the government to accept ministerial positions in exchange for stopping the protests. He also said that Al Wefaq refused because it will not grant the people the power to participate in decision making.
Al Wefaq's Twitter account, which has more than 182,000 followers, tweeted the conference:
الأمين العام في المؤتمر الصحفي: نقول بالمناسبة في أي انتخابات تجريها الوفاق داخلياً مرحبا بالأمم المتحدة، مرحباً بمؤسسة كارتر وغيرها
— Alwefaq Society (@ALWEFAQ) July 21, 2014
The general secretary in the press conference: By the way, we declare that in any internal elections Al Wefaq holds we welcome the United Nations, we welcome the carter foundation and any others as observers
الأمين العام في المؤتمر الصحفي:اذا أردتم أن تروا شعبيةالوفاق أعطونا الملعب الوطني لاجراء مؤتمرنا العام،هذا اذا كان الملعب الوطني يسع جمهورنا
— Alwefaq Society (@ALWEFAQ) July 21, 2014
The general secretary in the press conference: if you want to see how popular Al Wefaq is then let us hold our general assembly in the national stadium, that is, if the national stadium would be able to hold our audience
الأمين العام في المؤتمر الصحفي: الطرح المعارض يريد دوائر عادلة، الطرح الرسمي لا يمكن اجراء انتخابات بدوائر عادلة، #Bahrain
— Alwefaq Society (@ALWEFAQ) July 21, 2014
The general secretary in the press conference: The opposition propose an equal distribution of electoral districts, the official response is you can't hold elections with equally distributed electoral districts
Gerrymandering to favor the ruling party has been one of the points that Bahrain's opposition have longed complained about. This table (Google translation) shows how the parliamentary seats would have been distributed among districts if equal votes are to be used in comparison with the current distribution.
الأمين العام في المؤتمر الصحفي:الطرح المعارض نريد حكومة منتخبة، الطرح الرسمي لا يمكن الحصول على حكومة منتخبة #Bahrain
— Alwefaq Society (@ALWEFAQ) July 21, 2014
The general secretary in the press conference: The opposition propose an elected government, the official response is you can't have an elected government
الأمين العام في المؤتمر الصحفي: الطرح المعارض نريد مجلس كامل الصلاحيات، الطرح الرسمي لا يمكن.. هذا العرض المقدم وقد رفضناه #Bahrain
— Alwefaq Society (@ALWEFAQ) July 21, 2014
The general secretary in the press conference: The opposition propose a fully elected legislative parliament, the official response is you can't have a fully elected legislative parliament
الأمين العام في المؤتمر الصحفي: نحن نتحدث عن حل الأزمة بشكل شامل لا يبقي شيئاً لينفجر بعد شهر أو شهرين، #Bahrain
— Alwefaq Society (@ALWEFAQ) July 21, 2014
The general secretary in the press conference: We are proposing a solution that will put an end to the crisis for good and leaves nothing to explode in a month or two.
الأمين العام في المؤتمر الصحفي:لا مشاركة لا من تحت الطاولة ولا من فوق الطاولة،ودعوة للشعب لمقاطعة الانتخابات النيابية والبلدية #Bahrain
— Alwefaq Society (@ALWEFAQ) July 21, 2014
The general secretary in the press conference: We will not participate in anyway in the elections, not publicly nor secretly, and we call on all the people to boycott the parliamentarian and municipal elections
Popular human rights activist and ex-prisoner Nabeel Rajab summed up for his 232,000 what the government might do between now and the elections:
الان وحتى الانتخابات القادمة يتوقع ان يقوم النظام بالكثير من الممارسات الجنونية التي تهدف لإضعاف القوى السياسية لكن ثبات الشعب سيكون الحاسم
— Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB) July 22, 2014
Now until the next elections we expect the regime to take insane procedures to weaken the political powers, but the resilience of the people will be the determining factor

author: Noor Mattar


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#FreeZone9Bloggers: On July 31, We Tweet for Human Rights—and Human Beings · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

FreeZone9 Tumblr. Images reused with permission.
#FreeZone9Bloggers. It feels like we've written this a thousand times already. But they are still in jail. And now they have been charged with terrorism.
Six of these men and women worked together to create Zone9, a blogging collective bearing the tagline, “We blog because we care.” They did this in their native Ethiopia, a country where state media dominate the information economy and reputable press freedom groups have been driven out on accusations of supporting terrorist activity.
In both Amharic and English, the bloggers wrote about some of the country's most pressing social and economic issues. They wrote about art and literature. As a collective, they began to write and speak about their nation's constitution. The Zone9ers believed this was the key: If citizens could hold their government accountable to the laws of its own land, the country's political structures and civic fabric could become stronger.
Journalist Reeyot Alemu, jailed in Ethiopia since 2011. Photo used with permission.
Arrested on April 25 and 26, 2014, six of the Zone9 bloggers and three Ethiopian journalists were brought before a judge again and again – five times at least. Each time, police investigators asked for more time to accrue evidence by making meticulous searches through online accounts, computer hard drives, and even paper documents taken from homes of the accused.
For three months, their daily reality has been determined by the justice system of Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the nation's ruling party since 1991. As the leader of Africa's second most populous country, EPRDF is the beneficiary of enormous flows of foreign military and humanitarian aid, largely intended to bolster and maintain the nation as a security stronghold in the Horn of Africa, where levels of ethnic tension, corruption and crime are high.
Terrorism charges are nothing new for journalists in Ethiopia. The Zone9ers in fact take their name from Kality, a prison on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, where journalists Eskinder Nega and Reeyot Alemu have lived since 2011. Kality is divided into eight different zones, the last of which — Zone Eight — is dedicated to journalists, human right activists and dissidents. Endalk, one of the three Zone9ers who remains free today, explained that when the group formed, “we decided to create a blog for the proverbial prison in which all Ethiopians live: this is Zone Nine.”
If convicted, they will find themselves in the company of at least eighteen other journalists who have suffered the same fate in recent years. All remain in prison today.
The bloggers’ charge sheet, which numbers 19 pages in Amharic, reads like a list of activities popular among digital rights activists worldwide. The charges detail the public campaigns they led, blog posts they wrote, and their efforts to learn state-of-the-art digital security tools used by activists around the globe.
This Monday, August 4, these bloggers, who live in a country where less than 2% of the population uses the Internet, will begin their trial. Close friends predict the trial could take months, lasting at least until national elections, scheduled for May 2015. So now they must wait, as must we.
Today, we are tweeting for justice for the Zone9ers. The network of close friends and supporters of the bloggers strongly believes that casting light on their story could make a real difference in the outcome of their case. And the organizing function of the hashtag is critical in moments like this. But there are times when it gives me pause.
Three months ago, without even asking or deciding for themselves, the Zone9ers joined the ranks of those thoughtful, determined Internet users whose share the dubious honor of having their names inserted into a “#Free___” hashtag. When I begin to type the hashtag, our Twitter client rushes to complete my thought, offering me a wealth of previously used options: #FreeAlaa, #FreeAlexSodiqov, #FreeAnouzla, #FreeBassel, Free _____ – always another name to fill another blank.
Zone9er and Global Voices author Befeqadu Hailu. Photo used with permission.
Every single one of these people was doing something important, something powerful. Governments very rarely seek to silence those whose words have little reach or impact. But I struggle with the way these individuals become strangely alike, once they are arrested, detained, jailed and silenced. From a distance, who can tell one #Free ______ hashtag from the next?
But we do all this because we believe it can make a difference. We plan “back channel” strategies and public campaigns, all because we care so much about a certain individual and the rights that that person represents. We tweet with the best intentions. I just hope that when our friends are finally free, and their hashtags no longer needed, they will know this was not just another campaign, but a mediated effort derived from the bottom of our hearts.
With this in mind, I will spend the day tweeting about the Zone9 bloggers. The Global Voices community wants justice for these people – we want them to be free and to keep pushing for political and social change in Ethiopia, without living under the threat of harassment or arrest or imprisonment.
And we want them to be free to be themselves. Four of the detainees were active members of the GV community. Zelalem should once again be able to read and share ancient Greek texts on his blog. Edom should go back to reporting on the country's environmental challenges. Befeqadu will once again raise provocative questions about nation and revolution on the Zone9 blog. And Abel can come back to lead the Global Voices Amharic team, with more followers and writers, translators and readers than ever before.
If you have a spare moment today, do anything you can for the Zone9 bloggers. Tweet, share a photograph, send a letter, make a statement, write a blog post. It actually could make a difference.
Six of the detained bloggers in Addis Ababa. Photo used with permission.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


text:
#GazaNames: Celebrities and Activists Remember Gaza’s Dead · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

US-based Jewish Voice for Peace launched a campaign condemning Israel's attack on Gaza which has, at the time of writing, left over 1,400 Palestinians dead, the vast majority of whom are civilians including more than 300 children.
The #GazaNames campaign features dozens of celebrities and activists holding signs with the names of the victims of so-called “Operation Protective Edge” which has been labelled “a massacre” by critics of Israel's policy in the occupied territories.
The statement released by Jewish Voice for Peace on their Freedom4Palestine website reads as follows:
A diverse group of celebrities, artists, and activists that includes American Jews and Palestinians are speaking out for Palestinian human rights in a video released online today. The video is a first of its kind expression of support for Palestinian freedom, equality and justice and features celebrities such as Chuck D, Jonathan Demme, Gloria Steinem, Wallace Shawn, Tony Kushner, Mira Nair, Roger Waters, Brian Eno, and others holding signs with the names and ages of Palestinian civilians recently killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
“The Israeli leaders seem sincere when they say they believe that their actions are appropriate. Apparently, one of ‘us’ is worth many more of ‘them,’” said actor and playwright Wallace Shawn, who provides the voice-over narration for the video. “American leaders know they are lying when they defend the murder of children in their beds. And we, the public, pay for the bombs, pay for the airplanes, and pretend not to notice what’s going on.”
As Israel continues its assault against the occupied, besieged, and blockaded Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 1,400 Palestinians since July 8, most of them civilians, a growing number of global citizens of conscience feel compelled to speak out against Israel’s disproportionate attack on the Palestinian people. In addition to those featured in this video, a growing number of celebrities have been speaking out via social media about the horrors we are witnessing in Gaza, as reported recently by BuzzFeed and The Hollywood Reporter.
“We wanted to provide a platform for the growing list of prominent individuals who are outraged by Israel’s brutal violence against Gaza’s civilian population,” said Rebecca Vilkomerson, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an organization that co-produced the video. “Our message is that securing freedom and justice for Palestinians is the only pathway to a lasting peace.”
“My family was forced to flee our beloved Jerusalem in 1948 and every day since then, we have longed for freedom,” said Nina Saah, an 83-year-old Nakba survivor featured in the video. “What is happening in Gaza breaks my heart all over again. And yet I am so moved by all those who have come together in this video and the outpouring of support I am seeing for Palestinians. It gives me hope that the people of the world will be the ones to change our situation and that freedom and justice will come.”
“This is a scream on paper. This is a wail,” said playwright Eve Ensler, one of the artists featured in the video. “There are no more words. Only this moment where we rise against the illegal and deathly occupation of Palestine, against mass slaughter of the defenseless, against the complicit silence of the international community, against the military might and arrogance of the Israeli and the U.S. governments who choose annihilation over justice and love.”
A full list of participants can be found here.
The current attack on Gaza distinguishes itself from previous conflicts due to it being heavily covered on social media. As Israeli activist Mira Bar-Hiller wrote in her piece for The Independent, “Israel has discovered that it's no longer so easy to get away with murder in the age of social media.”
In their ‘Learn More‘ section, they explain the motivation behind their campaign:
With the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, 750,000 Palestinians who fled fighting —or were forced out—were not allowed back to their homes and became refugees. Since 1967, Israel has occupied The West Bank and Gaza, controlling the lives of millions of Palestinians. Three-quarters of the Palestinians in Gaza are the descendants of refugees who lived in what became Israel in 1948.
For the last 7 years, the people of Gaza have been living under an illegal Israeli siege with devastating restrictions on the movement of people and the flow of food, fuel, and all other critical materials. Since 2008, Israel has initiated 3 large-scale military assaults on Gaza using F-16 jet fighters, Apache helicopters, and in '08-'09, white phosphorous. Hamas has responded with inferior weaponry, launching rockets at Israel.
Over 2,592 Palestinians and 61 Israelis have died (as of July 28, 2014) in these vastly disproportionate assaults, with thousands more injured and disabled. The overwhelming majority of casualties have been Palestinian civilians, particularly women and children.
Palestinians have endured statelessness, occupation, dispossession and a lack of basic rights, while Israel has steadily taken more and more of their land and denied their freedom.
Anyone can participate in the campaign by submitting a photograph “of how you choose to resist, or the name of a person you want to memorialize.”
The following are a few of those that were also shared on Twitter under the hashtag #GazaNames
They have names. The victims of Israeli massacres in Gaza. #GazaNames http://t.co/syYtyA2l3G #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/AJjwhwIWGe
— Tala فلسطين تقاوم (@Taltool11) July 29, 2014
Video: Celebrities, artists & activists call for Palestinian freedom in #GazaNames project http://t.co/5EqAxBulhu pic.twitter.com/cWQJblEoYS
— Mondoweiss (@Mondoweiss) July 28, 2014
I posted this photo to the #gazanames project. Watch this video http://t.co/B50KFB9ygF then please do the same. pic.twitter.com/H8qf4ejLBa
— James Fellows (@measureofmylove) July 28, 2014
My picture didn't end up in the video, but here's another name #gazanames pic.twitter.com/BzZyRXMrLb
— carolyn (@carolyn_meyers) July 28, 2014

author: Elia J. Ayoub


text:
Israel’s Protective Edge Has Killed More Palestinians in Gaza Than Operation Cast Lead Did in 2008  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Tweeted by photojournalist Lazar Simenov @Lazsim “Apocalyptical scenes in Beit Hanoun. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel”
The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza as Israel continues its offensive against the besieged enclave for the 24th day has so far exceeded those killed in Cast Lead, a three-week armed conflict six years ago.
According to Palestinian Health spokesman Dr Ashraf Alqedra, who shares statistics on Facebook, the overall number of Palestinians killed to date is 1,437 and those injured exceed 8,300 in this round of the conflict, dubbed by Israel as Operation Protective Edge.
Dr Alqedra says 79 Palestinians were killed on July 31 and 350 injured.
Sixty-one Israeli soldiers and three civilians have also been killed.
According to media reports, Operation Cast Lead resulted in between 1,166 and 1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths (4 from friendly fire) in 2008/09.
Journalist Ruth Pollard reports:
Toll in #Gaza has climbed to 1418 dead, says health ministry, with 8265 injured. Surpassed Cast Lead. No end in sight.
— Ruth Pollard (@rpollard) July 31, 2014
Since Israel launched the massive offensive against the 40-kilometer-long coastal strip on July 8, their military has bombed residential neighborhoods, markets, schools, a playground, hospitals, shelters and refugee camps, leading to a 75 percent civilian death rate. On July 28, Israel attacked the only power plant in Gaza, plunging the congested strip of 1.8 million people into darkness.
With no where to escape, the number of Palestinians displaced in Gaza could exceed 400,000 people, according to the UN.
This is Israel's third military operation in Gaza in six years. Excessive restrictions from Israel in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank is why most of the world and the United Nations considers this territory “occupied” by Israel.
Follow our in-depth coverage: #Gaza: Civilian Death Toll Mounts in Israeli Offensive

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Vanity Military Selfies Are Spoiling Russia’s Attack in Ukraine · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Images mixed by author.
“We shelled Ukraine all night long.” These are the words a young Russian soldier wrote on his social network page last week, where he published a photograph of military equipment in an open field. When the post went viral, the soldier removed the word “Ukraine” from the caption. Then his account disappeared altogether. Now he claims he was hacked and denies ever publishing the photos.
Vadim Grigoryev's original Vkontakte page, where the post initially appeared, is no longer accessible, as it was deleted shortly after his account started gaining the public's attention. The incriminating post can still be viewed in its original glory, however, thanks to another VK user, Vladislav Laptev, who reposted it onto his wall:
Screenshot of Vadim's original post reposted by Vladislav Laptev, with Vadim's original caption of the photo reading “We've been shooting at Ukraine all night long.” Vladislav comments above the repost: “Don't forget to switch off geotagging when you post photos, soldiers:) This isn't the first time you fail:) UPD: The photos are being taken down, but they're preserved here:)”
Grigoryev moved quickly, but it wasn't fast enough. Using the service Peeep.us, Twitter users made a complete copy of his VK account as soon as Grigoryev started revising his posts.
Сохраненная копия страницы Вадика, уже без слова “Украине”. http://t.co/Y4UxkN3ArE
— Хуевый Эмигрант (@ReggaeMortis1) July 23, 2014
A saved copy of Vadik's page, the word “Ukraine” already removed.
The saved copy includes more images of Grigoryev and his fellow servicemen taken in late July. The photographs’ captions occasionally indicate that they were taken on the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Screenshot of an earlier post on Vadim Grigoryev's VK wall (from saved copy of page), caption above photo reads: “We've been in the fields for two weeks now, unwashed, on the border with Ukraine.”
The Russian website TJournal.ru has produced an excellent roundup of the mounting photographic evidence of Russia's military presence at the border with Ukraine—all culled from Vkontakte accounts belonging to Grigoryev and his comrades. TJournal reporters found other posts mentioning Ukraine, and discovered that one of Grigoryev's VK friends even published a map of their route, which began in the town of Ordzhonikidzevskaya in Ingushetia (a region of the Russian North Caucasus) and ended in the village of Pokrovske, in the Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine.
Ivan Zherebtsov posted this image of a route from Ingushetia to the Russian border with Ukraine – his account has now also been removed, but this screenshot remains. (Image courtesy of tjournal.ru.)
Most of this evidence is, of course, circumstantial, and nothing points directly to Russian forces engaging Ukrainians across the border—except for Grigoryev's deleted post.
The day after he rose to fame online and then disappeared from VK, Grigoryev popped up on the evening news, on state-run television, claiming that he did not post the photos in question. He said he hadn't updated his page in over a month, and that he had no idea someone was posting photos to his page.
Vadim Grigoryev appears on the evening news of Rossia-24 channel on July 24, 2014. Screencap courtesy of tjournal.ru.
Слышу вообще первый раз. Не могу знать… В “Контакте” я был, может, уже месяц назад. Заходил очень давно. Сейчас, на данный момент, ничего не знаю.
This is the first time I'm hearing of this. I couldn't know… I went on Vkontakte maybe a month ago. It's been a long time. Now, right now, I don't know anything.
When Grigoryev heard about the photo going viral, he said his first suspicion was that his account had been hacked, so he asked his relatives to suspend the account.
Возможно, взломали. Я слышал, что бывает, что взламывают “Контакты”. Часто говорят. Возможно, взломали… Позвонил родителям, сестре — сказал, чтобы заблокировали страницу. Ну и всё удалили.
Maybe they hacked it. I heard they sometimes hack Vkontakte. It happens often, they say. Maybe they hacked mine… I called my parents and my sister, and told them to block the page. And they deleted it all.
Grigoryev said the photos allegedly taken last week were in fact several months old, at least. (The pictures from the Ukrainian border were probably taken on an iPhone, which Grigoryev says he didn't have with him in late July.)
While Grigoryev's page may be gone from the VK servers, similar posts continue to surface here and there online, where they're immediately captured as screenshots by speedy social media users. Just this week, Twitter users captured screenshots of yet another Russian soldier posting online about bringing Grad missiles to Ukraine.
BBC Ukraine journalist Myroslava Petsa posted this screenshot from the VK page of Mikhail Chugunov (the original post, now deleted, is from July 11):
Another day,another #Russia‘s soldier bragging abt attacking #Ukraine. Mikhail Chugunov wrote “With Grads to Ukraine” pic.twitter.com/DKWyGIubXu
— Myroslava Petsa (@myroslavapetsa) July 28, 2014
(Text in screenshot: “With Grads to Ukraine…”)
Fyodor Morkvo captured the comments under an earlier post from Chugunov:
нет сил уже реагировать на этот пиздец pic.twitter.com/5cAknXdDxt
— Друг и соратник (@morkvo) July 28, 2014
i can't even react to this shit anymore
(Text in screenshot:
“- Leaving…
– Where to?
– Where to?
– Vladimir, Ukraine!
– Mikhail, what the fuck for?
– Vladimir, I guess it's difficult there without our Grads:)
– Mikhail, uphold our honor, shoot precisely!”)
Hromadske TV editor Olga Tokariuk also posted several screenshots from various VK users with similar evidence:
More Russian soldiers boasting on social networks they are heading towards #Ukraine via @tombreadley pic.twitter.com/uvkE274r0c
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) July 28, 2014
(Text in screenshot: “Ukraine is waiting for us, artillery lads!”)
It's probable that more of these young Russian soldiers, eager to catalogue their adventures on the Ukrainian border, will be discovered, go viral, and find it necessary to delete their accounts. Some of them might well be fake, but if even one is genuine, the RuNet will have unearthed hard evidence of a Russian attack on Ukrainian territory. Will every new soldier foolish enough to have posted about “shelling the enemy” turn to a “my-account-was-hacked” defense? Will others be able to stay their hand from taking that treacherous geolocated selfie?
UPDATE: Russian officials, it seems, are already taking steps to eradicate vanity military selfies. On July 29, the Russian media reported that Vadim Solovyov, a Communist Party Duma deputy, is working on amendments to the Federal law on military service that would essentially ban army servicemen from posting to social networks any photos depicting military equipment or arms. Highly sensitive information conveyed in such images, the deputy believes, undermines state security and “could be used by the Western media for provocations.” Solovyov does say that soldiers will still be allowed to use the Internet for personal correspondence. And anyway, argue the Russian experts, it's not like the U.S. doesn't already have similar rules for its own military.

author: Tanya Lokot


text:
“The Zone 9 Bloggers Are Writing From the Outer Ring of the Prison, the Nation Itself” · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

Zone9 bloggers. Photos compiled by friends, used with permission.
Once upon a time, there was a blog.
It was written in Amharic, the dominant language in Ethiopia, by a team of young journalists and thinkers who wanted to have an open, public conversation about the future of their nation.
It’s not especially easy to talk about these issues in Ethiopia. Africa’s second largest country has been ruled by a neo-marxist government (EPRDF – Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democracy Front) which overthrew a brutal military dictatorship in 1991, instilling one-party autocratic rule in its place.
Part of EPRDF’s strategy of control is the silencing of dissent. When students protested rigged elections in 2005, the government blocked all SMS traffic for two years, claiming that opposition activists were using SMS to plan their campaigns. (They were. The real issue is that Ethiopia saw opposition political activity as a threat to regime stability.) Ethiopia briefly had a thriving and energetic blogosphere, but government censorship and harassment of bloggers quickly silenced many of those voices. The country’s independent press has been crippled by Ethiopia’s strategy of imprisoning the strongest journalistic voices, including PEN prizewinner Eskinder Nega, in the country’s notorious Kaliti Prison.
Tens of thousands are held in Kaliti prison, in the outskirts of Addis Ababa. Journalists and other political prisoners are held in Zone 8 of the prison, and they jokingly refer to the rest of the nation, itself in a prison of sorts, as “Zone 9″. Thus the name of the blog: the Zone 9 bloggers are writing from the outer ring of the prison, the nation itself.
Zone 9 member Endalk explains:
In the suburbs of Addis Ababa, there is a large prison called Kality where many political prisoners are currently being held, among them journalists Eskinder Nega and Reeyot Alemu. The journalists have told us a lot about the prison and its appalling conditions. Kality is divided into eight different zones, the last of which — Zone Eight — is dedicated to journalists, human right activists and dissidents.
When we came together, we decided to create a blog for the proverbial prison in which all Ethiopians live: this is Zone Nine.
Ethiopia sees itself in danger of splitting into rival, warring parts. This fear is not unfounded – Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia in 1991 after a thirty-year war, taking Ethiopia’s seacoast with it. (Sadly, Eritrea is also a one-party state notorious for jailing journalists.) Ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden region and ethnic Oromo have been seeking independent states – their armed movements, the ODLF and the OLF are seen as terrorist organizations by the Ethiopian government.
The Ethiopian government does face a real threat from armed militants. But it has a disturbing tendency to label anyone who expresses dissent as a terrorist. Consider Eskinder Nega. Nega’s crime was to report on the Arab Spring protests and to point out that Ethiopia could face similar protests if the government did not reform and open up. He was charged with “planning, preparation, conspiracy, incitement and attempt” of terrorist acts and is now serving an 18 year prison sentence.
The Zone 9 bloggers were understandably scared by Nega’s arrest and prosecution, and the blog went silent for over a year. This spring, they decided they could not remain silent any longer. On April 25th, the government responded by arresting 6 members of the blogging team, and three journalists the government saw as “affiliated” with the bloggers.
The charges against the bloggers give a sense of what the Ethiopian government is fighting: dissent, not terror. Much of the charge sheet focuses on accusations that bloggers traveled out of the country to receive training in encrypting their communications, specifically through using Security in a Box, a package of Open Source software compiled by Tactical Tech, an organization that helps free speech and journalistic organizations protect themselves from surveillance. The Ethiopian government accuses the Zone 9 bloggers of using these tools in an attempt to “overthrow, modify or suspend the Federal or State Constitution; or by violence, threats, or conspiracy.” In fact, the bloggers were using such tools to coordinate their reporting work, hoping to avoid detection and arrest by a paranoid government.
These charges give a sense for how hard it is to work on free speech issues in repressive countries. Global Voices worked with Zone 9 in 2012 to create the Amharic edition of Global Voices. (That edition hasn’t been updated recently due to the imprisonment of our partners.) Four of the bloggers held in Kaliti are Global Voices volunteers. Other members of the team who work with Global Voices are in exile and would be arrested if they returned home. Knowing how dangerous it is to report from Ethiopia, we helped our volunteers find resources like Security in a Box. Our attempts to help create a safer environment for free speech in Ethiopia are now part of the case against our friends.
Obama and Zenawi share a laugh. Official White House photo by Pete Souza, used with permission.
Compounding the sadness and frustration we at Global Voices are feeling is the fact that Ethiopia is a massive recipient of foreign aid, hosts the headquarters of the African Union and is a key military ally to the US, seen as a stable, Christian bulwark against Somalia. Meles Zenawi enjoyed a warm relationship with the Obama administration (the President’s statement on Zenawi’s death included a cursory mention of human rights after praising Zenawi’s focus on food security), and there’s been little evidence that the State Department has any plans of getting tough with Ethiopia on issues of free speech or human rights.
At Global Voices, we are trying to call attention to the plight of the Zone 9 bloggers, hoping for action from the US State Department to seek their immediate release, and an easing of Ethiopia’s war on independent media. We are asking friends to join in using the #FreeZone9Bloggers hashtag, and to direct tweets to @StateDept.
This is a hard time to call attention to this situation, we know. Ellery Biddle, writing for Global Voices, notes that her Twitter client autofills the hashtag #Free____ with half a dozen choices, many of them our community members. It’s an appropriate time to tweet the State Department to demand Israel protect the safety of civilians in Gaza, or to demand that news media cover the ongoing catastrophe in Syria. In asking for help, I don’t want to lessen anyone’s outrage about other injustice, but to ask for help bringing visibility to the plight of our friends who are otherwise likely to be forgotten in international diplomatic circles.
Free Zone9 Bloggers campaign image by Hugh D'Andrade, remixed by Hisham Almiraat.

author: Ethan Zuckerman


text:
“Very Difficult to Care about Madagascar” · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Thomas Friedman recently traveled to Madagascar and posits that Americans need to pay more attention to the economic and ecological disaster that threatens the island. Some of his readers did not quite agree, like Deosinon in Philadelphia, who argues that Madagascar is too far removed from his needs :
I apologize, but it is very difficult to care about Madagascar. What really concerns me is the valuable space given to this issue by the Times. We are here and need a paper that helps us [..] Today's paper talks of The Met and Madagascar. Please use your space and your writers considerable pool of intellect to speak to us here, and help us with our lives, and tell us things that will improve life here. Maybe I'll read more, I know I'll be happier.
To which Robert counters :
I see your point; after all, this is only a 226-thousand square mile island with over 22 million people living on it, the 47th-largest country in the world, with any number of absolutely-unique species living on it and on its way to becoming Haiti. [..] Beyond the moral considerations, the fact is that we're part of the world and can't wall ourselves off, whether we like it or not. As they say, you can manage the issues or the issues will most assuredly manage you.
In somewhat related news, a few citizens in Madagascar also are in favor of less attention from the West, especially the IMF.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
[Warning: Graphic] Video From Gaza Documents the Killing of Journalist Ramy Ryan by Israeli Missiles · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

A graphic video showing the killing of journalist Ramy Ryan in Gaza and an attack on an ambulance and rescue workers by Israeli air strikes has surfaced online. Warning: This six-minute video is very graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.
The video uploaded onto YouTube by Abu Shaar shows two ambulances arriving urgently on the scene where Ramy Ryan is seen covering the situation. About 15 seconds into the video, the first missile strikes the ambulance. Fourteen seconds later, the second missile strikes.
For several seconds, all we see is smoke with residents yelling for help, “Ya Allah” (Oh God) followed by “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) and “La Ilaha Illa Allah” (There is no god but God), both common cries of desperation.
At 0:40 seconds, the third strike. 0:55, the fourth strike. 1:09, the fifth. The cameraman stands up and we see a dozen men lying on the ground, all seemingly injured and trying to escape towards the walls to take refuge. 1:20, the sixth strike. 1:32, the seventh. 1:47, the eighth. 1:57, the ninth. At 2:00 the cameraman moves again and crawls towards the injured men on his left. 2:07, the tenth strike. 2:20, the cameraman moves toward another injured man who's yelling “Ya Allah, Ya Mohammad”. At 2:40, he captures another man unconscious or dead. At 2:50, he takes cover with a group of injured men. The old man at 3:00 is saying “I can't. I can't,” while limping. A 3:27, we hear another missile.
At 3:50, we see Ramy Ryan on the floor, lying over a pool of blood. He's dead. A man is telling us “Look, look. A journalist. Look.” while showing us Ramy Ryan's “Press” insignia. The man then tells us angrily, “show the United Nations! Show the world! Show the Red Cross! Show the Arab traitors! They are all traitors!”
The missiles have stopped and panic breaks. We hear people mourning their dead. From 4:20 onwards, the cameraman shoots the aftermaths of the Israeli strikes.
A photo of journalist Ramy Ryan, from Suzan Jb Mustafa's Facebook page.
The video started circulating around by local activists and was picked up by Occupy Wall Street's Global Revolution Twitter Channel:
Breaking: Video of Assassination of Journalist Ramy Ryan by Israeli forces today in #Gaza https://t.co/yHiQUwUXGE pic.twitter.com/b1OriMuxJn
— Global Revolution (@GlobalRevLive) July 30, 2014
Jewish-American author Naomi Wolf, who has been sifting propaganda from news out of Gaza along with her followers, shared the following status expressing her indignation at the killing:
And a few moments earlier, she had posted this poem by Wilfred Owen:
June 30 claimed the lives of 131 people in Gaza. At the time of writing, Gaza's death toll was 1,361, among whom 315 are children. Since Israel launched a massive offensive against the 40-kilometer-long coastal strip on July 8, their military has bombed residential neighborhoods, markets, schools, a playground, hospitals, shelters and refugee camps, leading to a 75 percent civilian death rate. On July 28, Israel attacked the only power plant in Gaza, plunging the congested strip of 1.8 million people into darkness.
This is Israel's third military operation in Gaza in 6 years. Excessive restrictions from Israel in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank is why most of the world and the United Nations considers this territory “occupied” by Israel.
Follow our in-depth coverage: #Gaza: Civilian Death Toll Mounts in Israeli Offensive


text:
Indian Scientists Are Preventing Wild Elephant Attacks With Text Messages and TV · Global Voices
Rezwan

Wild elephant destroys residential houses in Dimapur. Image by Caisii Mao. Copyright Demotix (21/6/2012)
Each year a few hundred people die in India due to wild elephant attacks as the animals are pushed into smaller spaces to live. Scientist Anand Kumar and researcher Ganesh Raghunathan of Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) have found an innovative way to deal with human-elephant conflict in Valparai, Tamil Nadu, India.
They have built an elephant information network that can let people know when and where there is elephant movement, using local cable channels and mobile phones. A small team in Valparai tracks elephants during the day and feeds information on the whereabouts of elephants to a local TV channel.
The information is displayed in the form of scrolling news on local cable TV channels every day after 4 p.m. along with a variety of early-warning systems to alert people to the presence of elephants. The foundation has a database of about 2,500 local residents and text messages are sent to those who are within a two-kilometre radius of elephant movement. They also have deployed a gadget in 22 places that flashes red LED lights to ward off elephants. One has to simply give a missed call to the number to trigger this visual signal.
Blogger Deponti notes that:
The co-existence and the conflict are two parts of the same coin.
Renowned filmmaker Saravanakumar focuses on the coexistence measures with the help of locally adaptable and feasible technology in the Valparai plateau in this video:
Varun Alagar, a commenter on the YouTube video, says:
This indeed has inspired many people, such great measures are welcome in most vulnerable places, involving conflicts. Please keep up this good work, and may there be co existence in a journey rather than a destination.

author: Rezwan