text:
How Palestinians Marked 50 Years of Israeli Occupation · Global Voices
Marwa Fatafta

Screenshot of Fadwa Khalil's testimony. Source: Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU).
There are two dates ingrained in the memory of the Palestinian people.
The first is May 15, 1948, the date which marks the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinians and the destruction of their towns and villages by Zionist Jewish militias. A day before, the state of Israel was established and the contours of historical Palestine were forcibly changed.
The second date is June 5, 1967, when Israel occupied the rest of the Palestinian territories, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights in Syria after it had won the Six-Day War against neighboring Arab states.
It has been fifty years since Palestinians have been subjugated to the longest-standing military occupation in modern history.
June 5, 2017 marks 50 years of Israel’s occupation, but the story of Israeli colonialism is broader. #datasketch @ https://t.co/MXd9Gx6KOx pic.twitter.com/y7WFNgiHkE
— VisualizingPalestine (@visualizingpal) June 5, 2017
But what does half a century of life under military occupation look like?
To mark fifty years of occupation, Palestinians and other human rights supporters shared their experiences online, using hashtags #occupationis and #50YearsofOccupation, about the daily suffering, oppression, institutional discrimination, and abuse of basic of rights of Palestinians by Israel.
#50YearsofOccupation, I am facing 18 military charges for being a human rights defender . #Occupationis
— Issa Amro عيسى عمرو (@Issaamro) June 6, 2017
#OccupationIs being racially profiled by an Israeli soldier on a checkpoint on my way to work #50YearsofOccupation #50Years
— Shatha Abdulsamad (@ShathaOqab) June 6, 2017
#occupationis a visible and invisible power interfering in the biggest decisions of your life and the simplest ones.
— Majed (@majedbamya) June 4, 2017
#Occupationis not being able to visit your relatives who live 10 minutes away and an hour away without permission from your occupiers
— Mays (@The_Marmy) June 4, 2017
A mother out of answers explaining the horrific scene of soldiers pointing rifles at kids on our way to visit our grannies. #Occupationis
— Dalal IRIQAT, Ph.D (@DalalIRIQAT) June 4, 2017
#occupationis is cutting Palestinian towns, Cities, hopes and dreams by apartheid wall and bypass roads and settlements
— Fadi Arouri (@farouri) June 4, 2017
I can't I build a house on my own land because it's close to a settlement!!!My land was there long before settlements #occupationis
— Maher Saleh (@msaleh332) June 4, 2017
#occupationis to detain people in jail with no charge, no trial under administrative detention
— mp (@blablimy) June 4, 2017
The social media campaign #Occupationis was launched by the Palestinian Task Force on Public Diplomacy in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the occupation.
Other organizations also featured Palestinian voices who told their stories under occupation.
Fadwa Khalil was nine-years-old when Israel occupied the West Bank and displaced her family for the second time in 1967.
The first time was in 1948. She now lives in the Jalazoun refugee camp near the West Bank city of Ramallah, and still dreams of having the freedom to visit her hometown in modern-day Israel.
Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are not allowed into Israel, and if they are, they require a special permit from the Israeli military authorities.
In order to restrict the movement of Palestinians like Fadwa, Israel has installed tens of military checkpoints across the West Bank and along the 1967 ‘Green Line‘.
These checkpoints are manned by Israeli soldiers who check every passerby, subjugating them to long waiting hours under inhumane conditions, rain or shine. This is in addition to ubiquitous cement blocks and dirt used by Israeli soldiers to temporarily block off roads entering Palestinian villages.
In fact, Palestinians in the West Bank are prohibited from traveling on 41 roads which span a total of over 700 kilometers in combined length, while Israelis can use these roads freely.
Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip fare even worse, and have been living under a complete Israeli military and economic blockade since 2007. Traveling in and out of Gaza, which is often described as an open prison, requires minor miracles.
The ongoing blockade, the stagnating economy, and the three consecutive wars that have pounded Gaza made the UN declare that the Strip will be unfit for humans by 2020 if such conditions continue.
But restrictions on freedom of movement are only part of the story.
Human Rights Watch summarized in a video four major violations of human rights by Israel including unlawful killings and other war crimes carried out with impunity; forced displacement; abusive detention; and the development of settlements that are accompanied by discriminatory action against Palestinians.
Palestine:
5 decades of Israeli occupation,
5 core human rights violations#50YearsofViolationshttps://t.co/lWUb58zpZ7 pic.twitter.com/hUbDrrB90i
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) June 4, 2017
There are around 300,000 Israeli settlers living in East Jerusalem and 350,000 more living in constructed settlements in the West Bank.
These settlements are illegal under international law, and have been repeatedly condemned by the international community. Despite these flagrant violations of international law, Israel continues to build more settlements; only a week ago, the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister announced that it is planning to approve 2,100 new settlement units in the West Bank.
Often motivated more by extremist ideology than by economic incentives, Israeli settlers arrive heavily armed and often with violent intentions.
In December 2009, a group of Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli armed forces, took over part of the home of Rifka Al Kurd, a 87-year-old Palestinian woman who lost her home in 1948 and now lives in the Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
The settlers had already took her son's house and proceeded to empty her house of her belongings and throw her furniture out on the street.
“We often are physically attacked: they sent my daughter, who is aged 50, to the hospital four times. They know she has heart problems and they always hit her close to her heart,” Al Kurd said.
Demolitions of Palestinian homes (and also structures connected to agriculture) are also symptomatic of the occupation.
Since 1967, Israel has demolished 48,000 Palestinian homes under the pretext of their lacking building permits, which are almost never issued to Palestinians by Israeli authorities.
For example, on April 6, 2016, the Israeli authorities demolished six homes in the Palestinian community of Umm Al Khair, a tiny village near the West Bank in South Hebron Hills and home to roughly 70 Palestinian Bedouins.
That day, 34 Palestinians became homeless, including five-year-old Salem.
To experience more closely how it feels living under occupation day by day, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem made a new interactive documentary entitled “The Invisible Walls of Occupation”, which offers a virtual tour of the Palestinian village of Burqah, near Ramallah.
Screenshot from the Hebrew version of ‘The Invisible Walls of Occuation’. Source: B'Tselem
The interactive website describes Burqa as a “perfectly ordinary West Bank village”.
Its very ordinariness illustrates what life is like for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
The tour features a number of Palestinian voices, such as a Palestinian elderly, a farmer, and a Palestinian girl in high school who discuss the challenges associated with their daily lives.
Israel’s leaders have made it clear that they have no intention of ending the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, & East Jerusalem #Marking50 pic.twitter.com/Cwyip6aVqy
— The IMEU (@theIMEU) June 5, 2017

author: Marwa Fatafta


text:
Locals Rejoice as Restart Planned for Nuclear Power Plant · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Oi genpatsu. From Fukui Shimbun official YouTube page.
On Tuesday, June 6, Kansai Electric Power Company restarted Reactor No. 3 at its Takahama nuclear power generating facility in Fukui Prefecture, about 75 kilometers north of Kyoto in central Japan.
This was the second nuclear reactor to be restarted at Takahama, and brings up to five the number of reactors restarted across the country after being shut down following the the “triple disaster” (earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster) that struck Japan in March 2011.
Earlier in May, a sixth reactor in Oi, a municipality neighboring Takahama, was also given the green light to restart. The reactor restarts in Fukui are welcome news to small, geographically and economic isolated host communities.
However, residents in one of Japan's most densely populated regions just to the south are fearful about the potential for another massive nuclear accident.
When a massive tsunami on March 11, 2011, set off a nuclear crisis in coastal Fukushima prefecture, 54 nuclear reactors were shut down across Japan. The meltdowns and release of radioactive isotopes at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima exposed flaws in Japan's disaster management protocols. As nuclear installations were inspected one-by-one, some, such as the plant at Hamaoka, on Japan's Pacific coast, were shut down due to danger from tsunamis or because they have been shuttered over active earthquake faults.
Still other nuclear power plants remain closed because of court challenges by citizens concerned about the catastrophic consequences of another nuclear accident. An injunction that kept the Takahama nuclear complex closed was overturned by a higher court in 2016, paving the way for this month's restart, while the neighboring Oi plant still faces another court challenge aimed at keeping it shut down.
For now, some Oi residents are happy the power plant will resume operations. In a May 25 article with the title “Oi Approval: ‘We're On the Road to Getting Our Old Lives Back,’ Say Celebrating Local Residents,” local paper Fukui Shimbun captures a few of the local responses to the news of the reactor restarts.
おおい町商工会の荒木和之会長（６３）は「これで一歩前進ですね」と審査合格の知らせを喜び、「民宿や小売業など地元経済が良くなってくれれば」と消費増へ期待を込める。
Araki Kazuyuki (63), head of the Oi Township Chamber of Commerce said, “This is one small step forward”, and expressed his happiness about the restart decision. “I hope this helps local hoteliers and other small businesses that are part of the local economy.” He hopes for an increase in customers in the region.
The shutdown of all reactors across Japan was devastating for many local host communities where nuclear power plants are the backbone of the economy. In coastal communities such as Oi and Takahama in Fukui Prefecture, there is no other industry. The development of nuclear power plants over the past fifty years has generated a number of secondary industries. Construction companies are needed to maintain the nuclear power plants, and privately operated dormitories and other lodgings have grown up to cater to the armies of workers at the plants.
On top of that, nuclear power companies pay the equivalent of  billions of dollars in tax revenue and subsidies to local governments. The sudden decline in revenues for host communities has been devastating.
As a result, according the Fukui Shimbun, some residents of Oi are happy that the nuclear power plant will restart:
主婦の６０代女性は「原発は町の活性化のために誘致したもの。動かさないともったいない」とも。
A housewife in her sixties said, “We invited the nuclear power plants to our community (forty years ago) to revitalize our economy. It makes no sense to keep them idle.”
Fifty years ago, when the power plants were first planned, the region, known as the “backside of Japan“, lacked most of the basic infrastructure built up during Japan's economic miracle. For many, the nuclear power plants represent progress and jobs:
７０代男性は原発誘致により、大島半島への陸路ができたことに触れ「原発によって町が活性化した。再稼働すればさらなる雇用が望めるのでは」と期待を寄せた。
A man in his seventies, when asked about why Oi originally invited nuclear power plants to be established here, said, mentioning roads that were built, that, “Our town has been totally transformed because of the nuclear power plants. If they restart (the Oi plant) I hope they start hiring again.”
Despite this, not everyone is happy. Mikazuki Taizo, the governor of Shiga Prefecture, parts of which lie within a 30 km evacuation zone covering five nuclear installations in Fukui Prefecture to the north, said in a statement: “Considering that the people of Shiga are still deeply worried about the safety of the nuclear plant, conditions are not set for us to accept its restart.”
滋賀県知事「容認できる環境にない」　大飯原発３、４号機審査合格 https://t.co/CicjViTj4U
— SankeiBiz (@SankeiBiz_jp) May 24, 2017
Shiga governor: “Conditions are not set for us to accept its restart.” Oi No. 3, No. 4 reactor restarts.
It is not just the problem of evacuating residents of Shiga Prefecture that worries Mikazuki. Lake Biwa, which supplies drinking water to Shiga residents as well as nearly 15 million people in Japan's densely populated Kansai region, would likely be polluted by any nuclear accident — in the days following the March nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the damaged reactors released radioactive cesium isotopes across the communities surrounding the power plants.
Location of nuclear reactors near Lake Biwa and the densely populated Kansai region of Japan. Yellow dots indicate nuclear facilities; the city of Kyoto is in the center of the map, with Kobe and Osaka below. Image widely shared on social media.
One resident of Shiga Prefecture tweeted that he couldn't understand the need to restart the nuclear power plants. He pointed out that electricity consumption has actually declined in Japan over four successive summers, when electricity usage should be highest because of the need for air conditioning to deal with Japan's torrid summers.
本当に原発再稼働っているの？
関西では原発稼働してなくても、電力は余ってたみたいだよ。
高浜原発とか、自分の生活エリアの滋賀京都にも近いし、反対だわ。
関西で４年ぶり「原発が動く夏」　電力は余りそうですが：朝日新聞デジタル https://t.co/Hvl0M8sEO4
— モリリン (@moririn19850110) June 7, 2017
Are they really going to restart the nuclear power plants? Kansai Electric Power Company doesn't have to restart the power plants–we have enough electricity. The power plants at Takahama and so on are quite close to the Shiga-Kyoto area where I live. I'm opposed to them.
Article title: Kansai region powered by nuclear for the first time in four years. However, there seems to be enough electricity (without nuclear power).
He also pointed out that millions of people are put at risk because of the nuclear power plants.
『(高浜)原発事故が起これば、琵琶湖が汚染され、住民に深刻な打撃を与える』
滋賀県民だけやなく、琵琶湖の水を普段から利用してる、京都・大阪府民にも影響あるやろう。
原発なくても電力は十分賄えるのに、再稼働する必要がわからない。
特定の人間や集団の権益の為やと思うけど…。
— モリリン (@moririn19850110) June 7, 2017
If an accident happens at the Takahama nuclear power plant, Lake Biwa will become polluted and it will be a massive blow against the population here. And it won't be just residents of Shiga Prefecture. People in Kyoto and Osaka who rely on Lake Biwa for drinking water will be affected.
Since we have enough electricity without nuclear power, I don't understand why we need the reactors to restart. I think it's just to benefit special groups.
Politician Fukushima Mizuo, of Japan's Social Democratic Party, also weighed in at the end of May, following the decision to restart the Oi reactors:
滋賀県に居ます。琵琶湖のほとりに泊まりました。本当に琵琶湖が綺麗で、心が癒されます。滋賀県に来ると、琵琶湖への思い、だからこその脱原発の思いに心を打たれます。 pic.twitter.com/kU7sa42ZV6
— 福島みずほ (@mizuhofukushima) May 27, 2017
I'm in Shiga Prefecture. I spent a night on the shores of Lake Biwa. It's truly a lovely lake. It restores my spirit. Whenever I come to Shiga my thoughts go to Lake Biwa, so I believe we must abandon nuclear power with all my heart.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
The Alleged Spy at the Center of India and Pakistan’s Latest Row · Global Voices
Mariam Khan

Kulbhushan Jadhav in a screenshot from confessional video.
From media wars to the International Court of Justice, the recent India-Pakistan conflict has prompted a new low in a relationship with a troubled history. And now, the life of a man accused of being a spy hangs in the balance.
Kulbhushan Jadhav is an ex-Indian Navy officer who retired a decade ago after 14 years of service and established a small business in Chabahar in Iran. In March 2016, he was reportedly arrested by the Pakistani military while in the southwest Pakistani province of Balochistan while allegedly trying to cross into Pakistan from Iran.
He was then convicted of spying and espionage and sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in Pakistan in April 2017. The Indian government has denied that Jadhav had any involvement with them since his retirement and asked for consular access to him repeatedly, which Pakistan denied 13 times.
Indian authorities took the case to the top United Nations court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the UN which deals with international legal disputes submitted to it by states. However, the ICJ has no means to enforce its rulings, and they have occasionally been ignored in the past.
Representing the Indian government, lawyer Harish Salve argued at a hearing that Pakistan had prevented Indian authorities from meeting with Jadhav. Pakistan countered that Jadhav was an agent of the Research and Analysis Wing, India's foreign primary intelligence agency, and India could not explain why he was carrying a fake passport.
On May 18, 2017, the ICJ issued a stay of execution:
Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision…
Pakistan has reportedly accepted the ICJ's decision and said it doesn't impact Jadhav's case as his execution is subject to appeal.
Jadhav's case touches on many sensitive issues, beginning with the complex relationship between India and Pakistan.
Numerous conflicts over the decades since the post-colonial partition of India in 1947 have kept tension high between the countries. Many times the media from both countries have been embroiled in accusations of spying, whether with spy pigeons or spy drones. Given this history, reporting on Jadhav by various publications has turned into a slugfest of allegations and counter allegations.
It's against this historical backdrop that many Pakistanis have protested the ICJ's stay of execution on social media, calling for Jadhav's death.
ICJ doesn't have jurisdiction in Pak & we have enough proofs against Kulbhushan Jadhav must be hanged #KalbhushanJhadav #PakistanisRejectICJ pic.twitter.com/PmTKFHW9T3
— Muhammad Latif (@latifkehar) May 19, 2017
How can we not execute a foreign terrorist who was nabbed red-handed when we are hanging our terrorists? #KulbhushanJadhav @defencepk
— Fahad Malik (@Fahad4014) May 19, 2017
And perhaps unsurprisingly, many Indians have celebrated.
The orders of the Int Court of Justice on #KulbhushanJadhav is a matter of great relief for all the people of India. https://t.co/q1EvS9tz7r
— Kaushal K Vidyarthee (@vidyarthee) 18 de mayo de 2017
We r all with u from bottom of our hearts #KulbhushanJadhav and his family. https://t.co/2rVf1obRxz
— Rakendra Mishra (@mishraRakendra) 3 de junio de 2017
The case also highlights the power of Pakistan's military.
Pakistan have long alleged involvement of foreign agents in funding and training terrorists across different cities in the country, but specifically the province of Balochistan where the military has faced stark criticism for human rights violations including the enforced disappearances of nationalists.
Jadhav's original trial wasn't open to the public, and media weren't allowed access. Many human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have condemned Jadhav's death sentence and criticized the Pakistani military court system.
There's precedence of alleged Indian spies being tried in civilian courts in Pakistan, such as Sarabjit Singh, who claimed to have crossed the border under the influence but authorities insisted he was a spy. There's also the case of Kashmir Singh, who was sentenced to death by both civil and military courts but later pardoned.
It also raises questions about how Jadhav, an Indian national, was able to secure a Pakistani passport under an alias.
Then there's Jadhav's videotaped “confession.”
In March 2017, a year after his arrest, Pakistan military's media wing the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) released a video statement in which Jadhav is seen admitting to being involved in terrorism in Balochistan and the Pakistani city of Karachi.
In the video, Jadhav says he is a serving officer of the Indian Navy and was gathering intelligence for Indian agencies under a fake Pakistani identity when he was arrested. India has since questioned the authenticity of the video and accused its neighbor of torturing Jadhav into giving a forced confession.
While Pakistani officials claim Jadhav to be a spy, the Indian central government has refuted these allegations. Various media have characterized Jadhav as a former naval officer who ventured into marine engineering and gypsum-shipping business in the Chabahar port.
However, reports by the Indian Express journalist Praveen Swami state Jadhav had indeed offered his “spying” services various times to India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), but was dismissed as a “high-risk fatalist”.
Recently, Pakistan stated it will put together a new team of lawyers to further argue the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the ICJ. Meanwhile, India hailed ICJ's decision and is also preparing for the next set of hearings in the case.
As the ICJ demands facts from both sides, it’s crucial that the jingoism that’s playing out in online conversations, mainstream media, and politics on both sides comes to an end so that the issue can be handled with the seriousness it deserves.

author: Mariam Khan


text:
Why Is the ‘Banksy of Bangladesh’ Asking Someone Called Subodh to Run Away? · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

“Subodh, please run away, your luck's run out”. Image of art from the Subodh series. Used with permission. No one knows who painted it. Via Hobe ki's Facebook Page.
The graffiti started to appear a few month ago in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka. Suddenly people found examples of strange street art in the Agargaon borough depicting a man running with a cage and a sun trapped inside it. Accompanying the images was an ominous warning: “Subodh, run; your luck's run out.”
Similar graffiti emerged in a number of other areas of Dhaka in the months that followed. People started to share the images on Facebook and so they soon seemed to be everywhere. But nobody has said who might be painting the images and why. The artwork is signed off with another enigmatic message: Hobe ki? (Will it happen?).
Many on social media are comparing the creator of the graffiti with Banksy, the famous (but anonymous) UK-based graffiti artist and political activist.
The images were created using stencil graffiti and spray paint, a method well-known to Banksy. The ‘Subodh series’ also features political messages.
Rubayed Mehedy Anik wrote on Facebook:
“সুবোধ তুই পালিয়ে যা”
গ্রাফিটি গুলো কে বা কারা করেছেন, জানি না। হয়তো কখনোই জানবো না, জানা হবে না!
সারাজীবন Banksy'র গ্রাফিটি দেখে যে ছেলেটা ঘুম নষ্ট করেছে, তার কাছে সুবোধের আবেদন যে কোনখানে, বোঝানো যাবে না।
“সুবোধ” যার বা যাদের হাত ধরেই আসুক, ভালোবাসা রইলো।
“Subodh, please run away.”
I don't know who created this graffiti, maybe (we) will never know.
Those who have grown up seeing Banksy's graffiti would surely appreciate the Subodh series.
My love to the creator, whoever that may be.
“Subodh, please run away. Time is not on your side”. Image of art from the Subodh series. Used with permission.
Why does the creator of the graffiti want Subodh to run away? Many have contemplated that the artist may be trying to reflect on the social, economic and political crisis in the country.
Journalist Tushar Abdullah wrote in an op-ed for the Daily Bangla Tribune:
সুবোধ কেন পালাবে? পালাতে চাইতেই পারে সে। সাধারণ খেটে খাওয়া মানুষ সে। তাতে রুজির জন্য পথে নামতে হয়। পথে নামামাত্র তাকে জিন্মি হয়ে পড়তে হয় পরিবহন শ্রমিক-চালক-মালিকের স্বেচ্ছাচারিতার কাছে। যখন যেমন খুশি ভাড়া আদায়। ইচ্ছে করলে বাসে তুলবে, আবার গলা ধাক্কা দিয়ে নামিয়েও দেবে। প্রতিবাদ করলে ধর্মঘট। সুবোধ এই স্বেচ্ছাচারিতার মধ্যে বাঁচে কী করে? রোগ-বালাই নিয়ে হাসপাতালে ছুটতে হয়। সেখানে আবার চিকিৎসক-নার্স-ওয়ার্ড বয়ের দৌরাত্ব। সেই দৌরাত্ব সইবার পরেও যদি ঠিকঠাক চিকিৎসা মিলতো তাহলে মনকে বোঝানো যায়। সেখানে আবার ডাক্তারে ভেজাল, ওষুধে ভেজাল, রোগ নির্নয়ের রকমারি পরীক্ষায় ভেজাল।[…]
Why does Subodh need to run? He may indeed want to run. He is an ordinary day-laborer. He has to work hard. As he lands in the street he finds public transport is not working because of the strikes carried out by the powerful Transport Owner/Staff/Driver syndicate. They raise fares at will. If you resist, they will push you out of the bus. Protesting will cause them to strike again. How can Subodh live in this anarchy? He goes to the hospital for treatment. He sees that the Doctor/Nurse/Ward-boy syndicate is dominant there. If you could at least get the treatment you desire, you would ignore them. But there are issues such as fake doctors, fake and out-of-date medicines and discrepancies in pathological testing [..]
“Subodh is now in jail. A sense of guilt is residing inside people's hearts.” Image of art from the Subodh series. Used with permission.
Subodh is a typically Hindu name. Hindus make up around 12% of the total population in Bangladesh. So naturally, some have been associating the artwork with discrimination against and harassment of minority Hindus in Bangladesh.
Arifur Sabuj wrote on Facebook:
সুবোধ, এটা ৯০ শতাংশ মুসলমানের দেশ। এখানে ফতোয়া দিয়ে বিচার করেন শফি হুজুররা। ন্যায় বিচার, লেডি জাস্টিস এসবের এখানে কাজ কি?
তুই পালিয়ে যা সুবোধ, তাতেই মঙ্গল।
Subodh, This is a country with (almost) 90% Muslims. Here religious right wingers like Shafi Hujur prevail with Fatwas (religious rulings) [Author's note: Bangladesh does not have Sharia law. But religious right wing parties try to impose Fatwas regarding many issues]. Rule of law, Lady Justice – why should you mourn all this? Please run away Subodh, your welfare depends on it.
Renowned poet Shamshur Rahman once wrote a poem titled “Sudhanshu will not go” which touched on the issues of Hindu minorities migrating to neighboring India because of abuse by majority Muslims.
Many think that the Subodh series was influenced by that particular poem:
পাগলামী করিসনে বন্ধু সুধাংশু
সময় যে পার হয়ে যাচ্ছে
এবার যে তোর পালানোর বেলা
জিদ করিসনে বন্ধু, এখনই তুই পালা। [..]
কোথায় সেই রামী, শেপু, কাকলী আরও সেই প্রিয় বন্ধুগুলা
ওরা যে সবাই পালিয়েছে, এবার তোর পালা।
Please don't be mad Sudhanshu, my friend
Time is running out
Now it's your time to run away
Please don't think otherwise, now you go. [..]
Where are Rami, Shepu, Kakoli and our other dear friends?
They have all left, now it's your turn.
“Subodh please run away, time is not on your side. Humans have forgotten how to love.” Image of art from the Subodh series. Used with permission.
On Facebook, Kazi Rukshana Ruma claimed Subodh as “representative of Bangladesh”:
সুবোধ তুই পালিয়ে যা। এখন সময় পক্ষে না'। এই সুবোধই এখন বাংলাদেশের প্রতিনিধি। বেকারত্বের প্রতিনিধি, অর্ধেক জনগোষ্ঠীর প্রতিনিধি। শুভ বোধের প্রতিনিধি। মুসলিম ধর্ম ছাড়া অন্য যে কোন ধর্ম, বর্ণ, গোত্রের প্রতিনিধি। বুকের মধ্যে জ্বলজ্বল করা সূর্যটাকে খাঁচায় পুড়ে যে শুধুই ছুটে বেড়ায়। দেখি আর দম বন্ধ করা কান্না আমাকে ছিঁড়ে খুঁড়ে খায়। শুধু মনে মনে বলি ‘ভাগ মিলখা ভাগ, সুবোধ পালিয়ে যা'। কিন্তু কোথায়??????????????
“Subodh, please run away. Time is not on your side”. This Subodh is representative of Bangladesh at the present time. He is the representative of the unemployed and the marginalized people. He is the representative of good sense. He is the representative of other races and religions other than Muslim. He runs with a cage with a glowing sun trapped inside. I watch this and feel an overwhelming emotion, a fear for his future. I say to myself “Run, baby run, Subodh please run away.” But where???????
Hobeki? (Will it happen?) – From the Subodh series graffiti. Used with permission.
This is not the first time Dhaka has witnessed a spate of graffiti bearing a troubling but unexplained message.
In the 1990s, graffiti consisting of a single sentence was regularly seen in the Dhaka University campus area. The graffiti read: “Aijuddin is in pain.”

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


text:
With the Ebola Outbreak Over, the US Wants a Group of West African Immigrants to Go Home · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

A resident walks past a mural about the dangers of the Ebola Virus painted on a wall off Tubman Boulevard in Monrovia, Liberia, on September 18, 2014: Photo: Morgana Wingard/UNDP. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
This story by Maria Murriel originally appeared on PRI.org on June 2, 2017. It is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.
In late May, about 4,000 West African immigrants living and working legally in the US lost their immigration status.
They were formerly part of the temporary protected status program, or TPS, which the US offers to people from countries in crisis. In 2014, TPS was granted to people from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea due to the outbreak of Ebola there.
The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak over. So on May 20, TPS expired for people from these nations, including a Liberian novelist named Paul, who asked to go by his first name only to protect his identity.
Now that his status is up, Paul is living in the US unauthorized — but he says it's impossible for him and others in his situation to return to Liberia.
“You cannot return because you don’t even have the money to pay your air ticket,” he says.
Six months ago, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notified TPS holders from these three West African countries that their status would be expiring. The idea was they would use the time to make arrangements to return home, to avoid becoming undocumented in the US.
West Africa. Photo from the United Nations.
But Paul says being in the US on TPS has limited his work options, so he hasn't been able to save money for travel.
“On this temporary status, if you want to look for a job, many [employers] don't want to give you a full-time job,” Paul says, “because they look on your status [like] you are just a short-term person, so they don't want to give you a long-term job. And this is one of the things that I really suffered.”
Paul says he has worked whatever odd jobs he could find, and after two or three years in the US, he managed to make his home here. He lives in Sacramento, California, with his wife, whom he met in the US.
He has children back in Liberia, but he says his move to the US cost him other relationships.
“You came, not to stay, that was not the plan, and then you stayed here because of crisis, so you lost contact,” he says. “You lost the people.”
Paul says this is one of the flaws of TPS — that the government didn't take into consideration how immigrants would integrate into the US, even if they're meant to be here temporarily.
Jessica Vaughan, a critic of TPS with the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative thinktank based in Washington, DC, thinks the program is flawed because it allows people like Paul to stay in the country for too long — leading them to build ties and relationships.
“Many of these people have really settled here and the government has allowed this status to continue,” Vaughan says. “[TPS is] almost like a backdoor legalization or amnesty program because very few people who've ever gotten temporary protected status have ever had to return home.”
TPS started in the late 1990s, and since then the US government has usually renewed the program every 18 months on a country-by-country basis. In some occasions, the government has offered just a six-month renewal — as it did for Haitians recently.
Corina Bogaciu with the New York-based African Services Committee says TPS for West Africans actually ran out relatively quickly.
“That’s fairly unprecedented that TPS is this short, honestly,” she says. “Most countries have gotten at least two full 18-month designations, and then they start to taper off.”
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea got an initial 18-month period, followed by two six-month extensions. Now that their TPS has expired, lawyers like Bogaciu aren’t sure what comes next. She says there are plenty more people like Paul who can’t afford a plane ticket back to Africa.
“When you’re ordered removed, the government puts you on a plane and they pay for that,” she says. “But when you’re just expected to leave, then it’s really your responsibility to comply and leave by that deadline and if you don’t, then, you’re here unlawfully and you’re out of status.”
DHS declined an interview request, instead referring PRI's The World to its website.
Bogaciu says some of her clients who lost TPS worry the government will start enforcing deportations against them. Some are able to apply for other forms of temporary protection due to medical issues.
Mit Philips, a health policy analyst for the aid group Doctors Without Borders, says that even though the Ebola crisis is over in West Africa, it's had long-lasting impact on the affected countries’ fragile health systems.
“During the almost two years of the Ebola crisis, the health services could not function, really,” Philips says. “Plus the population was fearful of [going] near to the health centers because the health centers were seen as places where you could get infected by Ebola.”
That fear caused a lapse in general vaccinations, and earlier this year in Guinea, there was an outbreak of measles. Philips says Liberia recently suffered a meningitis outbreak.
“So while the epidemic has … been declared finished,” Philips says, “of course it's not only Ebola in terms of health problems [TPS holders might face]. … And so then it all depends on how do you define risk in a broader way — and health risk, in particular.”
Paul did have some relatives who contracted Ebola in 2014, but his main concern about having to return to Liberia isn't health related. He's worried about being able to find a job again.
Although it's been tough for him to find sustained work in the US, at least he's found temporary work, he says.
“It is very hard for you to get a job [in Liberia],” he explains. “They're not like in America where you can have a temporary job. [Here] you have an agency that can help you to get a job even if it is not a full-time job. That is not happening in Africa, in that country.”
Paul's wife is a legal permanent resident of the US. She petitioned for him to become one in 2016, but the petition was denied. Until they can submit another one, Paul is undocumented. He can't find legal work, and he can't afford to return to Liberia.

author: PRI/PRX's The World


text:
A Physicist Who Always Dreamed of Working in the US Says It’s No Longer the ‘Global Center of Science’ · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Nima Arkani-Hamed is pictured in his office. Credit: Carolyn Beeler
This story by Carolyn Beeler originally appeared on PRI.org on June 8, 2017. It is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.
Tucked into a corner of physicist Nima Arkani-Hamed’s otherwise very cerebral-looking office is a computer with the 1990s TV show, “Twin Peaks,” paused midscene.
The cult classic is constantly on in the background as Arkani-Hamed works on physics problems at the Institute for Advanced Study in the city of Princeton, in the US state of New Jersey.
“I find watching it inspiring because, there, they’re trying to figure out some crazy stuff, and we’re trying to figure out some crazy stuff,” says Arkani-Hamed. “So, it’s actually really nice to have it playing in the background.”
In “Twin Peaks,” a town is trying to solve a murder. In his office, Arkani-Hamed is trying to answer some of the fundamental questions occupying 21st-century physicists.
“What is space and time really? Why is the universe really big?” Arkani-Hamed asks. “And on top of that, we don’t understand why there are big things in it.”
Big, sweeping questions are Arkani-Hamed’s signature.
And he’s made a name for himself in seeking answers: At just 45, Arkani-Hamed has already spent time at Berkeley, Stanford and Harvard and won a prestigious $3 million physics prize.
Part of a family that zigzagged the globe in pursuit, and defense, of science, Arkani-Hamed always knew he would pursue his career in the United States.
“It was obvious that the place in the world where you go and freely think as big as you wanted and all that mattered was the quality of your ideas and your ambition, it was completely obvious that it was America more than anyone else,” says Arkani-Hamed.
But now, he’s not so sure.
For decades, the US has drawn some of the world's best scientists. Albert Einstein fled the Nazis in 1933 and landed at the same institution where Arkani-Hamed now works. American universities and the country’s reputation as a place for freethinkers serve as an especially strong pull for academics seeking refuge from oppressive governments.
Like generations of scientists before them, the United States was a draw for Arkani-Hamed’s parents, Hamideh Alasti and Jafar Arkani-Hamed, who came to the US from Iran to pursue their own careers in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NASA.
Arkani-Hamed was born in Texas while his dad was working on one of the Apollo missions. Shortly after the Iranian revolution in 1979, when Nima was 7, Jafar and Hamideh gave up their postings in the US to move back to Iran. They hoped to help re-establish a strong tradition of science there.
“We were hoping that by going there, we will be able to make our universities more democratic,” says Jafar Arkani-Hamed.
After about a year, Ayatollah Khomeini moved to close those universities and Jafar Arkani-Hamed spoke up about the damage that would do to science in the country.
“Many of the professors, we wrote a very open letter to the nation that by doing that, you are destroying science in Iran,” Jafar Arkani-Hamed said. “And because of that, they came after us.”
To avoid jail or even death, this time, the family had to flee for science. They made for the Turkish border.
“It was a pretty complicated adventure, with many villains and a few fantastic heroes,” says Nima Arkani-Hamed.
They had to ride horseback over rugged mountains at night and hide in caves during the day. Nima and his younger sister got sick.
“It was horrifying,” remembers Hamideh Alasti. “I thought, I’m going to lose the kids one by one.”
One night, Nima was too weak from a fever and dehydration to sit on his own horse, so Hamideh pulled him onto hers.
“Suddenly, I saw it was a bright sky, and then I showed him the Milky Way,” says Hamideh. “His eyes opened up and he started talking about the Milky Way to me, and then asking physics questions. So I brought him back to — in a way — life.”
As Hamideh Alasti sees it, her son’s curiosity saved his life.
After more than a week in flight, the family reached Turkey safely. They immigrated to Toronto, where Nima kept asking physics questions and excelled at math and science.
But he always wanted to complete the circle his family had begun and make it back to the US. After college, he moved from Canada to work on his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley.
It was inevitable, he says, that he would land back in the US, the country of his birth and the country he always saw as the best place to think big when it comes to science.
But now, he says he's no longer so certain the US is the global center of science.
“That leadership is getting gradually ceded,” says Arkani-Hamed.
Recent political developments, like President Trump backing the US out of the Paris climate agreement and proposing cuts to science funding, are a small part of it. But Arkani-Hamed thinks the larger issue predates this administration. He thinks people in the US have stopped dreaming big.
“We have been ambivalent in committing to taking the next big obvious steps in pushing forward our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature experimentally, and that’s something that we led in for half a century,” he says.
Arkani-Hamed points to particle physics. The US abandoned work on a game-changing supercollider in the early 1990s, partly due to funding. Europe, with the construction of the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, became the epicenter of that field.
Now, Arkani-Hamed is involved in an effort to build a next-generation particle collider to untangle the newest paradoxes in physics.
But that project is not in the US, where Arkani-Hamed doesn’t believe there’s the money or will to build it.
It’s in China.


text:
‘Bad Prime Minister’ Phrase Censored From Text in Greek Language Exam · Global Voices
Sophia Haldaiou

Greek Ministry of Education. Photo by Dimorsitanos via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Another apparent slip-up by Greece's SYRIZA government has left the public reeling as the school summer holidays begin.
June is the month of National Examinations at high schools throughout the country. This year, candidates from Vocational High Schools (EPAL) sitting the Modern Greek Language national examinations on June 6 were given an altered version of the original text by Georgios Theotokas to write a response to.
Theotokas was a major figure of the Greek “Generation of the Thirties”, a group of influential writers, poets and philosophers that brought radical changes to Greek literature.
The original phrase from Theotokas’ essay book “Reflections and Τheses” (1956) read:
«Ένας άξιος μαραγκός που κατέχει καλά τη δουλειά του και πιστεύει σε αυτή είναι πολύ πιο ολοκληρωμένος και αξιοσέβαστος άνθρωπος από έναν κούφο πρύτανη ή έναν κακό πρωθυπουργό».
A worthy carpenter, who knows his job well and believes in it, is a more whole and respectable person than a deaf chancellor or a bad prime minister.
But the text featured in the examination saw “a deaf chancellor or a bad prime minister” replaced with “a bad scientist” (από έναν κακό επιστήμονα). Adolescent candidates have to pass these national exams in order to get into university.
Τhe National Examination Committee commented that according to the law, the texts selected for the Modern Greek Language exam can be altered and this is not the first time that a change like this has happened. The Committee added that texts can be adjusted and adapted to the candidates’ level. After all, it was explained in the end of the extract the candidates were given that the extract was an adaptation of the original Theotokas text.
Both the National Examination Committee and the National Examination Organisation, who choose the content of the exams, are branches of the Ministry of Education and effectively under government control.
With leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ popularity plummeting, it would not be surprising that someone saw fit to change the potentially damaging phrase. Another theory is that left-wing ideologues specifically sought to elevate the carpenter over the scientist in the name of class struggle.
A Twitter user aptly remarked:
οταν το αριστερό υπ.παιδειας λογοκρίνει κείμενο του Θεοτοκά επειδη δεν του αρεσει το λες σιγουρα φασιστικο υπ. παιδειας #panellinies2017
— Pasta Masai (@pasta_masai_II) June 9, 2017
When leftist Ministry of Education censors a text by Theotokas just because it doesn't like it, you surely name it “Fascist Ministry of Education”.
Elena Akrita, a well-known Greek journalist and novelist, wrote on Facebook:
Δεν μ’ αρέσει η ‘Αργώ’ του Θεοτοκά θα την ξαναγράψω.
I don't like Theotokas’ “Argo”, I will rewrite it.
This isn’t the first time that the government has flirted with censorship. In 2016, the government coalition of radical left SYRIZA party and conservative right ANEL party tried to pass a law that would have allowed only four TV channels to be broadcast nationally in a country of 10 million people. The law was eventually shot down by the Council of State.
After the failed attempt to control television, SYRIZA started a crusade against newspaper owners. Taking advantage of the financial problems at one of Greece’s biggest TV channels, MEGA, and of print colossus DOL, the government struck deals with the owners of both of establishments. DOL’s newspapers and magazines have already adopted a SYRIZA-friendly policy and it is safe to assume that once MEGA reopens, it will lean more towards Tsipras’ party.
The tweaking of a phrase from Theotokas’ essay might have been a minor accident. Or, it could have been a minor component in SYRIZA's ongoing drive to improve its badly damaged brand and consolidate power.

author: Sophia Haldaiou


text:
Hackers Troll Prosecutor’s Office In Advance of Russia Day Protests · Global Voices
RuNet Echo

A screenshot from the message posted on the Yaroslavl Region Prosecutor's Office website on Sunday morning.
On the eve of tomorrow's nationwide anti-corruption protests, scheduled to coincide with Russia Day, hackers broke into the Yaroslavl Region Prosecutor's Office's website and posted a joking message: “Stay at home. Or we'll put you in jail instead of Dimon.”
Dimon is a nickname for Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that became widely used after opposition leader Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation released a film entitled “He Is Not Dimon to You,” on March 2. The film details corruption among top Russian officials, including Medvedev, and served as the catalyst for protests held across Russia on March 26.
The hackers’ embedded the “He Is Not Dimon to You” YouTube video on the Prosecutor's Office website, adding: “The Prosecutor's Office calls on citizens not to yield to provocations and to stay away from the unsanctioned events!”
By 11:15am Moscow time, however, the post had been removed, but the cache remains.
Уже #Ихтамнет pic.twitter.com/kQXjsyXXZ4
— Догоняй! Е7Ы09 (@mix_voronezh) June 11, 2017
It's #Alreadygone
On Sunday morning, the Prosecutor's Office told the local publication YarNews, that it had been hacked:
К проверке будут привлечены специализированные подразделения правоохранительных органов области. По результатам проверки будут приняты меры прокурорского реагирования.
Special regional law enforcement units will audit the attack. Measures will be taken based on the Prosecutor's Office's response to the audit…
Monday's anti-corruption rallies, which are being organized by Navalny's foundation, will take place despite numerous attempts to discredit the protest movement. State-sponsored anti-Navalny videos have been uploaded on YouTube, and Navalny and his supporters have been the victims of a variety of attacks, including with the “brilliant green” antiseptic. Hundreds of demonstrators were detained at the March 26 anti-corruption rallies, the largest protests held in Russia since 2011-12.

author: RuNet Echo


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Palestinian Man Documents the Perils of Living Under Occupation on Snapchat · Global Voices
Alreem Kamal

The text reads: ‘Danger – shooting zone, no trespassing.’
Taken in a desert in the West Bank.
As Palestinians marked 50 years since the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on June 5, we are reminded of the anguish, misery, and unthinkable injustices they have had to endure for what already seems an eternity.
We are reminded that the adversities faced by Palestinians are not only an active force shaping their daily lives and dictating their every move, but are also by the day inching closer towards being overlooked, and even wholly forgotten, by the outside world. The following article tells the story of a Palestinian man sporting a camera and a traveler's rucksack, who is seeking to create a permanent memory of these adversities.
While most news out of the Occupied Territories conjures a sense of enmity or despair, one Palestinian from the West Bank is trying to change the depiction of the territory, as well as offer people a glimpse into the rich culture, fascinating traditions, and glorious history of the land.
Meet Motasem Ilaiwi, a Palestinian filmmaker in his early twenties from the West Bank city of Nablus.
Viewers of his films still get a sense of the brutal occupation West Bank residents face up front, however. While some of his journeys appear to run fairly smoothly, the young adventurer faces many dangerous hurdles while navigating a system that constantly puts his life at risk.
Ilaiwi has gained a lot of positive attention in the region for his colourful and informative videos, which he shares on Snapchat (username: ps.live) where he tours the many charming cities of the West Bank, providing impromptu history lessons covering the places he passes, and highlighting the strength of the Palestinian people in the face of repression.
Despite the positive nature of the videos, Ilaiwi also stresses the severity of the maltreatment, vehement discrimination, and brutal methods espoused by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) against residents of the West Bank.
The key theme of his expeditions is enforced segregation. In the video below, Motasem was stopped by Israeli police for walking on a road that, unbeknownst to him, was for Israeli citizens only.
Throughout his journeys, Ilaiwi travels in the shadows of the IDF which has killed so many of his fellow Palestinians.
Israel has long been known to exercise oppressive control over the West Bank, and has implemented discriminatory policies against Palestinian citizens, via military checkpoints, separate roads for Palestinian and Israeli citizens, and restricted access to key resources.
While critics of Israel believe that this system bears striking resemblance to that of apartheid South Africa, Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, claims that “the vast majority of settlers and Palestinians choose to live apart because of cultural and historical differences, not segregation…The separate roads were created in response to terrorist attacks — not to segregate Palestinians but to save Jewish lives.”
Ilaiwi passing by Aida refugee camp, approximately two kilometres north of Bethlehem. Source: Facebook.
In April 2016, a 24-year-old Palestinian mother and her 16-year-old brother were shot dead for walking on the road for vehicles, instead of the one for pedestrians. Maram Saleh Abu Ismael was on her way to Jerusalem, as she had just obtained a permit to enter the city.
It is alleged that IDF soldiers shouted at the pair in Hebrew, supposedly instructing them to evacuate the road, but as Maram did not speak the language, she froze in fear. The soldiers responded by firing at her and her brother Ibrahim Taha, after he rushed to her aid.
The occupying forces maintained that Maram, who bled to death, was wearing an explosive vest, but it was later revealed that she was pregnant.
Ilaiwi in Hebron. Source: Facebook.
When Global Voices asked Motasem about the dangers he specifically encounters and what he does to keep safe, he responded that “provoking” Israeli soldiers into firing at him was one of his main fears.
Asked about the most perilous city he has visited, he was quick to reply: Hebron.
This, he explained, was mainly due to heightened military presence and overall hostility of the Israeli settlers in the city. The settlements in Hebron are inescapable, he added, and it is extremely difficult to find a path that will not lead to an encounter with the IDF.
On one of his visits to this city south of Jerusalem, he found the Cave of the Patriarchs, or the Ibrahimi Mosque, closed by Israeli forces due to the celebration of a Jewish holiday taking place in the vicinity of the mosque. Israelis had their music blasting, children laughing, and people dancing, while Palestinians watched on from their rooftops. Ilaiwi climbed onto one of the rooftops to film the scene via Snapchat.
The video presents a saddening juxtaposition, but barely skims the surface of injustices in the region. The family that welcomed Ilaiwi into their home for the purpose of filming told him they had received a letter from the IDF earlier that day, notifying them that they would also be needing to squat on their rooftop — as part of their surveillance operations.
Hebron has witnessed a myriad of settler attacks on Palestinians, that range from throwing garbage and rocks to car ramming.
The Israeli army regularly dismisses these cases as accidents, even when witnesses testify that the ramming seemed deliberate. This past April, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported at least three incidents of settlers in Hebron involved in a hit and run, with some of the victims being children. These incidents appear to reinforce the assertion of many critics that Israel is benefiting from ‘a culture of impunity’.
In August of 2016, Israel sparked outrage and much debate as it announced its intention to expand the Jewish settlements in Hebron, home to around 30,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis.
Ilaiwi chooses to take mountain routes instead of main roads and sometimes adopts the demeanour and fashion sensibilities of a Western tourist. He alternates between wearing caps, summer flap hats, and even bucket hats, along with a large camping backpack. In close proximity to Israeli forces he speaks English, as he claims they can be easily fooled, since many of them do not speak the language.
According to a report by Defence for Children International, a total of 264 Palestinian children have been shot dead by Israeli forces at random between 2000-2017, a number that does not include the fatalities from air or ground attacks.
Amnesty International’s 2016/2017 report on Israel and the Occupied Territories confirmed that Israeli forces (security guards, police, & soldiers) killed at least 98 Palestinians unlawfully in the West Bank, eight in Gaza, and three in Israel. Most of these victims, including children, posed no immediate threat whatsoever.
Ilaiwi told Global Voices:
I swear to God I have absolutely no problem with the Jewish people, but rather with mentalities that view the world strictly in terms of weapons, war, theft, and destruction. In all honestly, I pity them more than I despise them [Israeli forces]. I think to myself, how truly sad it is to grow up in a community that encourages violence and spews hatred. I am grateful to be on the side of the victim in this context, as I would hate to have grown up among the mentality that justifies and is responsible for the killing of children and destruction of homes with impunity.

author: Alreem Kamal


text:
Child Marriage Is No More in Trinidad & Tobago · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Wedding ring in sand. Photo by Derek Gavey, CC BY 2.0.
Child marriage is now illegal in Trinidad and Tobago. On June 9, 2017, the country's parliament unanimously passed legislation to outlaw the practice, changing the legal marriage age to 18.
Prior to this amendment of the Marriage Act, some members of the Hindu and Muslim religious communities adhered to the practice, and there was great public outcry in May 2016 when Brother Harrypersad Maharaj, the leader of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO), a group that brings together representatives from the country's diverse religious groups, said that the state should not interfere because “age did not determine maturity”.
This, despite the fact that Trinidad and Tobago is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which defines minors as “every human being below the age of 18”. UN statistics for the period 2002-2012 in Trinidad and Tobago show that the percentage of children who were married by age 15 was 1.8 percent and by 18, 8.1 percent. In 2011, the country's Central Statistical Office confirmed that more than 8,400 girls and 1,300 boys under 19 were married between 1997-2007.
Online petitions and social media agitation seeking to get child marriage laws off the books were swift and well supported, and no doubt aided this end result. However, there were hiccups. One Hindu leader, for instance, had no qualms about telling child marriage critics to “mind [their] own damn business”. Such religious opposition made what would ordinarily have been a straightforward issue a little more fraught and at one point, there was doubt as to whether the opposition would even support the bill.
But in early 2017, the Miscellaneous Provisions Marriage Bill was passed — even with four opposition senators (including a woman) and one independent choosing to abstain — paving the way for the bill to be debated in the the House of Representatives, where a simple majority would make it into law.
Now, all that remains is for the country's president to assent to it, then have the law proclaimed.
On Instagram, Leslie-Ann Boiselle re-posted the Facebook status update of one of the country's senators:
#girlsnotbrides #historywasmadetoday #endchildmarriage #letourchildrenbechildren #letourgirlsbegirls #trinidadandtobago??
A post shared by Leslie Ann Boisselle (@trinilab) on
It reads:
Senator The Honourable Clarence Rambharat: The Miscellaneous Provisions (Marriage) Bill, 2016 has been passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 35 members in support and none against. Having been previously passed in the Senate, the Bill can now move towards becoming law.
The majority of social media users were elated that the laws on child marriage had finally changed. Facebook user Lovell Francis, who holds the post of minister in the ministry of education, said:
It was overlong and full of pointless double talk but you know what child marriage is now illegal in Trinidad and Tobago and that is worth almost any price.
While Abeo Jackson thought it certainly took long enough to do away with the practice, Lara Quentrall-Thomas jubilant that the day had come at last:
Public Facebook status update by Lara Quentrall-Thomas, which says, “Excellent news! The Marriage bill has been passed. Minimum age – 18, Vote – 35 in favor – 0 against!!!!”
Folade Mutota of the Women's Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD), a civil society group that was quite outspoken about the need for the bill to pass, noted:
The age of marriage in TnT, regardless of religion, is 18years old. The Bill to amend the marriage acts was passed today June 9, 2017.
There are 41 parliamentarians in the House of Representatives and 35 were present for the vote. All parliamentarians in attendance voted in favour of the Bill.
The laws of TnT no longer allow for child marriage.
It's been a long struggle […] #childmarriageischildabuse
With much thanks to all activists who led this struggle. Congratulations.
Thank you to our legislators.
But there may be a fly in the ointment in the form of Sat Maharaj, the secretary general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, the country's most high-profile Hindu organisation. Months ago, Maharaj had announced his intention to take legal action should the legislation have passed, and appears he is following through. While Attorney General Faris Al Rawi, who championed the bill, has said it is Maharaj's legal right to challenge it, most social media users wished that debate about the issue could be approached differently. Patricia Worrell suggested:
Dear Sat,
If, instead of framing the discussion broadly, and in a way guaranteed simply to generate panic and resentment, as ‘inviting the state into our bedrooms’, we talk about the specific issue of the state ‘protecting our girl children from any possibility of being abused by big, hard back, advantageous men’, would you be prepared to go on with that discussion?
Or do you think that's a non-issue?
Whether it is eventually challenged in court or not, this legislation is an important step — but there are still places in the world where child marriage enjoys various shades of legality or continues to be the norm, despite laws to the contrary.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Hungary’s LEGO Love Affair Began with an Animated Cartoon · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

A screen shot from a 1986 LEGO sports cartoon produced in Hungary.
Decades before the Lego Movie become a global blockbuster, a studio in Communist Hungary was using LEGO bricks to make high-quality animated cartoons.
In 1986, Budapest-based Vianco Studio released a series of seven shorts using all brick-built characters and offering a humorous take on hockey, figure skating, soccer and other sports. According to MAKE magazine, this was “the oldest known official LEGO stop-motion release.”
At the time, these animations were aired by national television channels across Europe. They were also released on VHS tapes, which some fans have since digitized, allowing the cartoons to enjoy a stable YouTube following.
All the characters in these animations are made with “classic” Lego bricks, and do not feature any figurines. They showcase Lego's creative potential in its most basic version and help explain why the brand has been an inseparable part of the childhoods of millions of people the world over.
Vianco Studio continued to function after the shorts were released, and according to IMDB participated in the production of the 1988 movie Felix the Cat.
In recent years, LEGO had been a recipient of Hungarian government subsidies slated for foreign direct investors. In 2006, the country's cheap workforce and strategic geographic location persuaded the Danish company to take out a lease on a factory in the Eastern town of Nyíregyháza. Production began in 2008.
In 2014, Hungarians built the world's tallest LEGO tower in Budapest, with a height of 34.76 meters (114 feet), a record broken the following year by a group of Italian builders, whose effort reached 35.05 m.
The same year Hungary broke the tower record, LEGO opened a new factory in Nyíregyháza, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Viktor Orban. In 2015 LEGO announced it would double the size of that plant, in order to meet high demand for its products. The expansion is being supported with a grant of 4.4 billion Hungarian forints ($17.75 million) from the Hungarian government.
This February, Nyíregyháza's mayor Ferenc Kovács whetted local LEGO-lovers’ appetites when he announced that a Legoland Discovery Center would be completed in the city by 2020. But the populist promise was soon met with skeptical responses, including from LEGO franchise operator Merlin Entertainments, who stated that it has no plans to establish such a center there.
If there were any truth to the mayor's claim — which he has since admitted is at best a proposal being prepared for Merlin's review — it would be the first Legoland Discovery Center in Eastern and Central Europe.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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One Palestinian Man’s Mission to Make Urban Agriculture More Sustainable · Global Voices
Ensia

This post by Todd Reubold was originally published on Ensia.com, a magazine that highlights international environmental solutions in action, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Around the world, urban agriculture is playing a role in feeding a growing global population from mid-America to the Middle East.
The video above introduces Said Salim Abu Naser, a proponent of sustainable agriculture living and working in Gaza City, Palestine, along the Mediterranean Coast.
Abu Nasser has created a 200-square-meter (2,000-square-foot) micro-farm using a hydroponic system and homemade organic pest-control solutions consisting of garlic, pepper, soap and more.
Each year, he produces approximately 3,500 kilograms (7,700 pounds) of food — enough to feed 30 people. Perhaps more important, though, his urban farm may be a model for others hoping to grow food sustainably at smaller scales.
This video was produced, filmed and edited for Ensia by Yasser Abu Wazna, a freelance filmmaker based in the Palestinian Territory.

author: Ensia


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Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service Issues a ‘Death Penalty’ Calendar · Global Voices
RuNet Echo

January is for guillotining
The moratorium on state executions in Russia doesn't seem to have stopped the country's prison service from celebrating the death penalty: on Monday, the website secretmag.ru posted photos of a calendar paying tribute to the death penalty that was allegedly published by Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) in January.
The calendar, entitled “The Highest Means of Social Justice,” features a different means of administering the death penalty each month. Secretmag.ru said the pictures it published had been posted on Facebook by Petr Yakovlev, an employee of the St. Petersburg division of Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service.
Yakovlev told secretmag.ru that the calendar had been given out as a corporate New Year's gift.
Each month's means of execution includes a rendering of the deed and lengthy description of the history of the punishment. The calendar also has its fair share of death penalty jokes:
«Лучшее средство от перхоти — гильотина»
“The guillotine—the best remedy for dandruff”
«Смертная казнь была бы гораздо более эффективным средством борьбы с преступностью, если б она применялась до преступления»
“The death penalty would be a much more effective means of combatting criminality if it were applied before the crime.”
January features the guillotine, February is devoted to beheading, June describes impalement, and August highlights stoning. RuNet Echo was not able to locate the other 8 months of the year and their accompanying methods of execution.
The cover of the “The Highest Means of Social Justice” calendar.
February is for decapitation
June is for impalement.
August is for stoning


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Why an Ethiopian-Born British Citizen Ran in the UK’s General Election · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

Andy Tsege, a kidnapped democracy campaigner facing execution in Ethiopia. Image snapshotted from YouTube video uploaded on the Reprieve YouTube channel.
Yemi Hailemariam a British woman of Ethiopian descent ran against Theresa May as a fringe candidate in the UK’s parliamentary election, in order to bring to public attention the plight of her husband Andargachew Tsege.
Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege is an Ethiopian-born British citizen who had been living in London with his wife and three children for over four decades. He was kidnapped by Ethiopian security officials in transit.
On June 23, 2014, Andy’s flight arrived in Yemen at Sana’a airport, where he was supposed to catch his connecting flight to Asmara, Eritrea’s capital. Yemeni authorities detained Andy and extradited him to Ethiopia where he faces a death sentence based on his conviction for plotting to overthrow the regime in 2009.
Andy with his family. Picture Credit Reprieve
Yemi ran as independent candidate in May's constituency. She received few votes but her campaign was an effective one in that she was able to put her cause to the Prime MInister directly.
Proud of Yemi Hailemariam, the wife of #AndyTsege who made it all the way to #Maidenhead to meet @theresa_may & demand for @FreeAndargachew pic.twitter.com/AfZjouPoAD
— Bekele Woyecha (@bekelewoyecha) June 10, 2017
On the election night Yemi wore a t-shirt with ‘Free Andy Tsege’ printed on it and shook hands with May.
The candidates's huddle. Two in red; one happy, one not. If @theresa_may tried to #FreeAndyTsege she might feel better about herself #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/hD37GSGk8m
— Joanne MacInnes (@MacInnesJoanne) June 9, 2017
On Facebook Abebe Gelaw, an executive director of the diaspora-run satellite television channel ESAT wrote:
The winner is Yemi! I was watching the results of British elections live on BBC. Despite the self-inflicted pains, British PM Theresa May kept her Maidenhead seat, which she has held since 1997. But that wasn't the interesting part I watched on the screen.
There were a number of candidates who crowded the screen along with the PM. But for me it was a vibrant and creative woman wearing a t-shirt with a message: “Free Andy Tsige”, who stood out as the winner. Yemi Hailemariam decided to run against Theresa May not to unseat her. But she wanted to draw attention to the hypocracy that the British PM and her government ignored the plight of Andargachew Tsigie, a naturalized British citizen and the father of her three kids.
Yemi not only got some votes but also a national platform to raise awareness on the suffering of a freedom fighter illegally kidnapped, renditioned to Ethiopia and still languishing in jail.
Yemi, along  with her three children has been running a campaign to be reunited with Andy since the  summer of 2014.
Andy, who is part of the diverse diaspora-based opposition to the Ethiopian regime has been blamed by the government for fuelling recent anti-government protests in his homeland. He was part of the Ginbot 7 opposition group.
Since October 2016, Ethiopia has been under a state of emergency as anti-government sentiment rises. In the crackdown that has followed, a number of opposition leaders have either fled the country or been imprisoned.

author: Endalkachew Chala


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China Shutters Entertainment News Sites, Citing ‘Socialist Values’ and Cybersecurity · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A large number of entertainment news outlets on WeChat have been shut down. This notice from WeChat reads: This public account has been banned and content inaccessible. We've received complains that that this account has violated “Interim Provisions on the Administration of the Development of Public Information Services Provided through Instant Messaging Tools.” Image via the Initium, licensed for non-commercial use.
Major social media platform operators including Weibo, WeChat, Youku, Baidu and Netease shut down a large number of social media entertainment news outlets after a June 7 meeting with Beijing's Office of Cyberspace Affairs.
The crackdown has been justified under China's newly implemented Cybersecurity Law, which emphasizes ideological control as a core component of maintaining state security.
More than 60 outlets have been shuttered in less than a week, some of which are commercial news outlets funded by private capital investments, while others are entertainment sections of newspapers such as “Entertainment weekly of Southern Metropolis” (@南都娛樂週刊). Other examples include “Care about gossip association” (@关爱八卦成长协会), which has a market value of up to RMB 100 million (approximately US $15 million) and “Movie Lambaste” (@毒舌电影) with a market value of up to RMB 300 millions (approximately US $40 million dollars).
According to a report from state-run Xinhua news, Beijing's Office of Cyberspace Affairs cited China's Cybersecurity Law, enacted on June 1 2017, as impetus for the crackdown. They implored content platform operators to enforce the law:
任何个人和组织不得利用网络从事侵害他人名誉、隐私、知识产权和其他合法权益等活动，网络运营者应当加强对其用户发布的信息的管理，发现法律、行政法规禁止发布或者传输的信息的，应当立即停止传输该信息，采取消除等处置措施，防止信息扩散，保存有关记录，并向有关主管部门报告。
Individuals and organizations cannot infringe on other people’s reputation, privacy, intellectual properties and other rights using the Internet. Operators should reinforce the management of their users and the distribution of user content. Once [the operators] find that information has violated related laws and administrative rules, they have to stop transmitting the information, eliminate the sources and prevent the information from spreading. The record should be preserved and reported back to the authorities.
China’s Cybersecurity Law went into effect despite deep concerns about the powers that it gives to law enforcement to obtain sensitive information, including encryption keys, from network operators. The law has also triggered major concerns among foreign companies, over its requirement that local data be stored within China.
Thus far, local Chinese media outlets are the first groups to be affected by the law. Beginning on June 1, public social media accounts could not write or republish news reports without a permit, as stipulated by the Provisions for the Administration of Internet News Information Service.
This is not the first time entertainment news and information have been censored. The privately funded sector , though not politically sensitive and relatively free from the control of the authorities, has been a target of political campaigns.
Importantly, the Cybersecurity Law identifies ideology control as a significant part of state security. The Cyberspace Affair Office stressed that operators should manage the Internet by spreading “core values of socialism”:
极传播社会主义核心价值观，营造健康向上主流舆论环境，采取有效措施遏制渲染演艺明星绯闻隐私、炒作明星炫富享乐、低俗媚俗之风等问题。
proactively spread the core value of socialism, enhance a healthy mainstream public sphere, repress information that magnify celebrities’ privacy, luxurious lifestyle and vulgar behaviors.
A reader wrote to investigative journalism platform The Initium describing the series of crackdowns targeting online entertainment:
你說打擊盜版，所以字幕組沒了，下載電影的網站沒了，我們沒有了美劇日劇和公開課。
你說日本動畫教壞小孩，涉及黃暴，所以一大批動畫字幕組消失了。
你說某某某不愛國，支持台／港／藏／疆獨，所以我們要抵制他，所以我們下架他的音樂，他的電影，他的一切都要被封殺。
你說南韓架起飛彈對準我們，我們要抵制韓流抵制韓星，所以南韓的歐巴在祖國爸爸面前都去吃屎吧，祖國才是大本命。
你說境外出版品涉及意識形態問題，所以一大批海外的兒童書籍／繪本被禁，莫名其妙連淘寶上代購 PS4 的遊戲也成了違規的事。
現在你說這些娛樂號在炒作低俗追星議題，ok，那麼這些都封完了，我要去看什麼呢？難道看抗日神劇嗎？
When you said you had to crackdown on copyright right infringement, subtitling groups were disbanded and movie download platforms were shuttered. We could no longer learn English and Japanese through American and Japanese drama.
When you said Japanese animation were bad for kids, that they were violent and vulgar, a large number of subtitling groups were disbanded.
When you said this or that actor was not patriotic, that they supported Hong Kong / Taiwan / Tibet / Xinjiang independence, you called for a boycott. All their music and movies were banned.
When you said South Korea was aiming missiles [THAAD] at us, you asked us to boycott. All the Korean uncles [actors] had to eat shit in front of our fatherland.
When you said overseas publications had ideological problems, a large number of foreign children books and illustrations were banned. Buying PS4 video game via Taobao became illegal.
Now you say all these entertainment news outlets are vulgar. OK what else should we watch? Drama on Sino-Japanese War?
In the past, many believed that the driving force of censorship was mainly political and that people could enjoy “online freedom” as long as they refrained from commenting on current affairs. But the crackdown on entertainment news indicates that ideological struggle is not only directed against foreign enemies, but also at thoughts and activities seen to go against “socialist core values”.
Some netizens have been puzzled by the decision. The two netizens’ comments below are from letscorp.net, a blog that records hot topics on Chinese social media:
我一直以为娱乐八卦是用来转移关注某些重要事件视线的载体，以及迷幻人心、让有可能导致社会不稳定的人沉迷娱乐八卦，打发大部分无聊生活。居然也会封停？
I always thought that entertainment news was intended to divert attentions from important incidents, to intoxicate people’s minds so that those who could potentially bring trouble to society could kill time. How can that be banned.
Some see the ban as the real-life drama of George Orwell’s 1984:
1984动物庄园…“激烈的批评被消灭了，他们再来消灭温和的批评，等到温和的批评都没有的时候，他们就消灭那些保持独立不赞美的人了，到最后，如果鼓掌不起劲，都会被消灭了。”
1984 and Animal Farm… “Radical criticisms were eliminated, then they went after soft criticisms. Once soft criticisms were eliminated, they went after the independent ones who refused to praise them. In the end, if your claps are not loud enough, you will be eliminated.”
Similar comments have surfaced on Twitter. Grace Xiang said:
微博上一开始是不能谈论政治，后来是不能谈论法治，再后来不能谈论市场经济，现在连娱乐八卦也不能了。。。呵呵，以后大家只能一起颂圣了，多好，“东方红太阳升”，还有“没有你我不能活”，预备，唱。。。
On Weibo, at first people could not talk about politics, then they could not talk about rule of law, then they could not talk about market economy, now they could not even talk about entertainment… LOL in the future people could only sing their praise, “Sun rises, the East is red” and “I can’t live without you”, get ready, sing…

author: Oiwan Lam


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How a Case of Vigilante Tattoo Punishment Showcases Skepticism of Human Rights in Brazil · Global Voices
Fernanda Canofre

Two men tied the teenager to a chair and tattooed onto his forehead: “I am a thief and scum”. Image: Screenshot from WhatsApp
The story taking over Brazil's social media recently doesn't involve the country's dramatic politics, but a teenager, a tattoo, and two men trying to take “justice” into their own hands.
After hearing rumours that someone had tried to steal a bicycle in their neighbourhood, a tattoo artist and his friend believed they had identified the culprit: a 17-year-old boy. The pair then decided to teach him a lesson. They rented a room in a boarding house, tied the boy to a chair, and proceeded to tattoo on his forehead the sentence “I am a thief and scum”. The entire gruesome ordeal was captured on video and posted on WhatsApp. It soon went viral.
The teenager, who according to his family struggles with mental illness and drug abuse, had been missing from home since the end of May. His parents only found out of his whereabouts after recognising him in the viral video. They alerted police to the footage, who proceeded to arrest the two men and charge them with torture.
After reuniting with his family, the boy denied the accusations of theft to the police. He claims he never tried to steal the bike, but only bumped into it while drunk, and it fell. He also told a reporter that he “wanted to die after seeing the tattoo on his face”.
But a significant portion of the internet didn't express sympathy for the boy. A university project that monitors the political debate on Brazilian social media showed how many of the reactions were actually in support of the vigilantes.
When someone set up a crowdfunding campaign – eventually successful — to help the boy and his family pay for tattoo removal, they started receiving threats on social media for trying to help “a criminal”.
One of the most circulated images on Facebook over the weekend of June 10 — now with over 100,000 shares — said: “When a criminal is punished it becomes news, people think it’s absurd and try to raise money to pay for plastic surgery for the ‘tortured’ minor. But when a police officer dies, nothing happens!”
It was shared by Brazilian Facebook groups such as Right Wing Conservatives, Right Wing Lives 3.0 — a name likely revealing of how many times the page had been banned from Facebook — and Admirers of Jair Bolsonaro, which refers to a Brazilian lawmaker who American journalist Glenn Greenwald's The Intercept called “the most misogynistic, hateful elected official in the democratic world”.
Even after it was reported that the tattoo artist himself had previously been sentenced to five years in prison for theft, those pages — who together amass more than 1 million followers — held fast to their support for the vigilantes.
A crowdfunding campaign was created to help the teenager with the removal of the tattoo
Bolsonaro, famous for his passionate defense of Brazil's CIA-backed military dictatorship that lasted from 1964 to 1985, is one of the main voices of a rising movement in Brazil that believes human rights are to blame for the high crime rates in the country.
Last year, a poll by the Brazilian Public Forum of Public Security found that 60% of Brazilians agreed with the phrase “a good criminal is a dead criminal” — for them, human rights only exist “to protect” criminals.
Bolsonaro has been leading in the polls ahead of the country's 2018 presidential elections, doing especially well among the middle-upper classes.
Street crime in Brazil is rampant. If you have a group of Brazilian friends, it wouldn't be surprising if nearly all of them have experienced some sort of violent mugging at least once. This reality contributes to a widespread perception that the state isn't capable of enforcing law and order and it depends on the people to find justice for themselves.
No wonder, then, that Brazil is a leading country in lynchings. According to José de Souza Martins, a sociologist who authored the book “Lynchings – Social Justice in Brazil”, Brazil has an average of one lynching or attempted lynching every day.
In 2014, two stories captured national attention. First, a teenage boy was stripped naked and had his neck locked to a lamppost with a bicycle chain in Rio de Janeiro, allegedly after he had tried to mug a pedestrian. Only months later, a woman was killed by a mob in Guarujá, a city near São Paulo, motivated by an internet rumour that claimed she had kidnapped children.
At the core of those lynchings is a rejection of basic human rights like the right to life, dignity, and a fair trial — including those who have committed crimes. And as in many countries nowadays, there's an increasing trend in Brazil to frame human rights as something that belongs to the political left, which in itself would render it deserving of opposition.
In an interview with Nexo Jornal, Renato Zerbini, who has a PhD in law and international relations, explains how the universality of human rights principles — one of its founding aspects — is right now threatened worldwide:
Em um momento onde o senso comum, produto dessa disputa ideológica, indica que os direitos humanos protegem somente os presidiários, os pobres ou os migrantes não documentados, evoca-se um sentimento de autoproteção nacional e social capaz de arregimentar todos aqueles temerosos da afirmação desses direitos.
Essa ação-reação encaixa-se como uma luva no atual cenário internacional: conflitos armados, enormes fluxos migratórios, instabilidade política, terrorismo, destruição ambiental, corrupção e fanatismos de todo tipo —ideológicos, políticos e religiosos — que tendem a se misturar. É um cenário muito perigoso porque pode corroer e até destruir, em parte ou no todo, o regime de proteção dos direitos humanos e do meio ambiente construído depois da Segunda Guerra Mundial.
In a moment where common sense, a product of this ideological dispute, indicates that human rights only protect prisoners, the poor, undocumented immigrants, it evokes a sentiment of national and social self-protection capable of gathering all those who fear the affirmation of those rights. This action-reaction fits like a glove in the current international scenario: armed conflicts, huge migratory flows, political instability, terrorism, environmental destruction, corruption, fanatics of all kinds — ideological, political and religious — who tend to blend together. It is a very dangerous scenario because it can erode and even destroy, partially or as a whole, the regime of protection of human rights and environment built after WWII.

author: Fernanda Canofre


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Mirror Websites Are Helping Turkish Users Reconnect to Wikipedia · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

The English-language Wikipedia page on January 18, 2012, illustrating its international blackout in opposition to SOPA and PIPA copyright legislation in the US. Created by Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
It has been more than one month since Turkey blocked Wikipedia, the popular crowdsourced encyclopedia. With each day, it is becoming more apparent just how vital a role the platform plays in helping users find and share reliable information online.
Students, reporters and TV series fanatics alike are struggling under the block. While tech-savvy Turkish internet users are accustomed to using circumvention tools to access blocked content — a recent New York Times article reported that Turkey has the third-highest VPN prevalence in the world — many habitual Wikipedia users do not fall into that category.
Although Turkey has blocked articles on Wikipedia since 2008, as noted in a recent report by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, these blocks are in keeping with regular censorship of the internet since 2007, when the Internet Law (No. 5651) was passed. With the wholesale censorship of Wikipedia, Turkey has become only the second known country in the world, after China, to block Wikipedia.
While the platform remains blocked, multiple “mirror” websites — sites designed to reproduce the content of Wikipedia, which is constantly being updated — have sprung up. One such solution came from IPFS (the Inter-Planetary File System) when the platform put all of Turkish Wikipedia on their decentralized peer-to-peer hosting network, which does not rely on the domain name system, and thus is very difficult to fully censor. The content is thus accessible regardless of the government ban.
In a blog post, IPFS described their effort:
Upon hearing the news [of Wikipedia being blocked], we revived an effort to put snapshots of Wikipedia on IPFS, so that people may be able to read it in a decentralized and distributed way. This can help people to at least view all of the Wikipedia content, even if they cannot reach Wikipedia.org itself.
IPFS also emphasized that they did this independently of the Wikimedia Foundation, and that what they've published are screenshots, not live or dynamic versions of the site.
Wikimedia has been involved in other efforts to get round the block, however. Cristian Consonni of Wikimedia Italy has created both tr.vikiansiklopedi.org, a Wikipedia mirror website, and WikiMirror, an open source project that anyone can use to host similar mirror websites if their country ever bans Wikipedia.
Consonni told Global Voices contributor and Asia Community Catalyzer at Mozilla Subhashish Panigrahi about mirroring for Wikipedia on Panigrahi's ‘Open Speaks’ podcast. Below is a short excerpt from their interview:
It's not a complete copy a proxy a mirror. – you access a different URL which is not the usual url and what you see is taken from Wikipedia. Essentially the server redirects your request to the real wikipedia so you can see it even if you are in Turkey where Wikipedia is blocked, because that work is done by a server which is not in Turkey. Mirroring is one of the easiest ways to make Wikipedia content available.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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The Death of a Sanitary Worker in Pakistan · Global Voices
Safieh Shah

A young boy dumps household waste into the main sewage canal in Karachi's Machar Colony, Pakistan. The slum is an illegal settlement and its inhabitants have no alternative way to dispose of their garbage. By Flickr user Balazs Gardi. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Earlier this month Irfan Masih died after doctors refused to treat him at a small rural government hospital in Umerkot, Pakistan.
Irfan Masih was a sanitary worker who had been brought to the hospital after falling unconscious while cleaning his town’s central sewer. Allegedly, the doctors on duty refused to treat him because he was drenched in sewer sludge and hence “unclean”. Irfan's mother explained to news outlets in Pakistan that the doctors were fasting for the Islamic holy month of Ramazan and they believed that even touching, let alone treating, the dying man would break their fasts. So they let him die.
This incident hits at my identities as a humanitarian, a global public health advocate, a medical doctor, and a Pakistani minority. There is much to be said about the shocking levels of prejudice and insensitivity that allowed this tragic act to occur. But what is much worse is that with regard to the sanitation infrastructure of almost all of Pakistan, this prejudice is systemic.
Since Pakistan’s inception as a nation in 1947, the job of entering the country’s gutters to unblock and maintain the invisible sewerage networks that lie under all our feet have been performed by sanitary workers such as Irfan Masih, who come from the underprivileged—and otherised—Christian minority.
Thirty year old Irfan Masih fell unconscious along with three other sanitary staff while cleaning a manhole in Umerkot, one of Pakistan's most religiously diverse cities. He died at the hospital in Umerkot, while the three other workers — who were also Christian — were sent to bigger city hospitals for medical treatment.
Part of the problem lies in the systemic prejudice evidenced in Irfan Masih’s death. But part of it also lies in a point highlighted in a letter written by the Chairman of the Pakistan United Christian Movement, Albert David. “Over the years,” David writes, “score of sanitary workers have lost their lives all over Pakistan whilst trying to clear the blocked gutters caused by irresponsible behaviour of citizens and ill-planning of city governments.”
As Pakistanis, our collective excreta are flushed out of our homes into the underground system, which the sanitary workers are employed to maintain. Their jobs are dual: firstly, to clean the sewerage system—with little to no protection, no gear, no acknowledgement of occupational hazards and no provision of healthcare. Secondly, this regular cleaning is also meant to maintain a functioning sanitation system. These two activities allow Pakistani planners and politicians to avoid any investment in the actual physical engineering system—its layout, planning and setup—as part of the overall sanitation system.
Every human community, whether a small settlement or a massive metropolis, has a water management system with three facets: water sources, which lead into water supply systems, and end in water sanitation.
Water constitutes the very essence of our life, in that we need to consume water in order to survive, as well make use of it in many of our fundamental daily activities. We also need water to dispose of and return some of the end products, both domestic and industrial, of our basic bodily processes. The act of disposing of waste with water breaks it down and causes it to release elements that go on to create the building blocks of life, hence closing the loop. We begin our lives by taking from water and end our lives by giving back to water, as well.
From the Pakistan United Christian Movement Facebook page.
The specific sanitation activities referred to in Albert David’s letter forms the most fundamental basis of modern human infrastructure. Without a means to safely dispose of our urine, our bodies would rapidly acquire acute and chronic diseases, and eventually die as we rotted in our own excreta. Consequently, were Christian Pakistanis not performing the task of regularly clearing our sewage system, the rest of society as it currently operates would come to an end.
In Pakistan, however, the final part of the sanitation loop is currently being taken care of by ageing, ineffective public infrastructure, whose failings are compensated for by the labour of a systematically oppressed community who have long worked in that field.
Few Pakistanis take note of this situation. This apathy is likely rooted in the belief that Muslims are too clean and pious to have to maintain our own sewers and clean our own gutters. This then has a knock-on effect on other aspects of the idea of ‘sanitation’, that also refers to the maintenance of hygienic conditions through services such as garbage collection and wastewater disposal.
The next logical step for me as a humanitarian crisis researcher is to help raise awareness about the importance of occupational health hazards within our society. It is incumbent on civil society to come together and advocate for our current local governments to adopt basic occupational health and safety measures, as well as upgrade our civil infrastructure.
As Pakistani Muslims, we need to acknowledge that our fellow citizens have been working in precarious and insecure situations to clean up our waste products, and sicken and eventually die as a result of exposure to our shit and piss. If our sewerage systems were better planned and maintained, we would literally be a happier and healthier nation.
Is it not outrageous that a death as preventable as Irfan Masih’s, which arose out of a mixture of prejudice but also the failure of systems and lack of public health awareness, should have occurred? A death which would not have happened had we applied public health standards in our urban planning and civil engineering? A death which could have been prevented had we sought to understand sanitation systems and made public health awareness a basic part of every curriculum? A death, which could have been prevented if each one of us understood that clean water will become a coveted commodity as the effects of climate change take their toll?
We as Pakistani Muslims need to check our privilege and acknowledge that we have outsourced a basic social function on the basis of religious identity, to the same group of people that we then let die because they are too ‘unclean’. Until we learn to appreciate the vital role they have played for the last 70 years, and figure out how to stop this particular abuse, we won’t be able to make any greater change.
But before we do so it might be helpful to consider what is taking place right now, below our own streets.

author: Safieh Shah


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After Campaigning on Internet Freedom, Iranian President’s ICT Minister Boasts of Internet Censorship · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Rouhani's Minister of ICT, Vaezi, declared to the Parliament, 18 days after Rouhani campaigned and won on boasts of Internet freedom, his government had blocked 7 million websites in their first term. Image from Tasnim with the intention to republish.
In his successful bid for re-election, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani touted his efforts to protect access to social media platforms in Iran. Although major platforms including Facebook and Twitter remain blocked in Iran, Rouhani set a more moderate tone in regulation of newer social media platforms such as Instagram and Telegram, in comparison to past leaders.
But last week, just a few weeks after his victory, Rouhani's administration introduced new reforms that may further restrict Internet access.
President Rouhani fires a shot: If not for this gov, internet would be so limited even my opponents couldn't have use it for campaigning.
— Arash Azizi (@arash_tehran) April 28, 2017
? روحانی: اگر تلاش رییس جمهور و دولت در این زمینه نبود هیچ شبکه اجتماعی نمی‌دیدید که زنده باشد، همه را قربانی کرده بودند. pic.twitter.com/D9wnnSADbc
— روزنامه ایران (@IranNewspaper) April 10, 2017
Rouhani: If it wasn't for the efforts of this government in this field there would be no social networks live right now, they would have sacrificed them by now.
Current Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, who ran for the majority of the election campaign as a “placeholder” and “running-mate-like” presidential candidate  (it was suspected he would drop out and support Rouhani at the last minute, which he did), even went out of his way to defend the Rouhani government's commitments to a free Internet. It should be noted, that much of Jahangiri's base consisted of the nation's progressive reformists, often vocal about the values of a freedom of expression and access to information.
Reformist Jahangiri counts achievements of Rouhani gov: Defending free internet and free press, letting 8k NGOs open. #IranElections
— Arash Azizi (@arash_tehran) May 5, 2017
On 6 June, however, 18 days after Rouhani's re-election, Information Communication and Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi announced in a session of parliament that the Rouhani government had effectively improved methods to control the Internet and had shutdown a number of platforms.
The Minister characterized these efforts as ways of defending Iran's national security:
در ۴ سال گذشته تلاش شده به نوعی فرصت ها را افزایش و امنیت فضای مجازی را ارتقاء دهیم و تهدیدات را کاهش دهیم.
In the past four years, we have been trying to increase opportunities and enhance cybersecurity and reduce threats…
He went on to describe how Iranian officials are working with the messaging app Telegram to create a safer space in the interest of curbing sexual abuse, child abuse, ‘violence’, ‘terrorism’ and ‘anti-religious content.’ It should be noted Telegram has previously denied cooperation with the Iranian government, except to block pornographic content deemed inappropriate on distributors such as Apple's App store.
وزارت ارتباطات به جای مسدود کردن تلگرام به عنوان یک شبکه اجتماعی خارجی که باعث مهاجرت کاربران آن به شبکه اجتماعی دیگر می شود با مدیران آن تفاهم کرده که پنج مصداق مفاهیم جنسی، کودک آزاری، ترویج خشونت، تروریسم و محتوای ضد دین در این نرم‌افزار مسدود شود و تاکنون ۱۷۳ هزار از این مصادیق بسته شده است تا جایی که در ابتدای فعالیت تلگرام ۱۰ درصد مشکل در این زمینه وجود داشت که اکنون به دو درصد کاهش یافته است.
Instead of blocking Telegram as a foreign social media platform and emigrating its users to another platform, we've been working with their administrators and agreed on five topics including sexual abuse, child abuse, violence, terrorism and anti-religious content to be blocked on this software, and so far 173, 000 instances of these topics have been shut down. Telegram activity included 10% of these issues, they have now dropped to 2%
The Minister did not explain why widespread censorship has continued in Iran, nor did he indicate which platforms are being targeted for what he described as “intelligent refinement”. The Minister has previously referred to a presumably similar process of “intelligent filtering,” which was only known to be deployed on Instagram.
موضوعاتی که در سوال آقای حاجی در جلسه کمیسیون صنایع مطرح شد با آنچه که امروز ایشان عنوان می کنند متفاوت است. ایشان در کمیسیون درباره یک سایت سوال کرد و من پاسخ دادم اما اکنون مطالبی را در خصوص فضای مجازی ایران و جهان تحت عنوان یک مقاله مطرح کردند. من آمار کشورهای مختلف را قبول دارم اما در مورد ایران آمارها درست نبود. این آمار یا در وزارت ارتباطات و یا در وزارت اطلاعات است و در خیابان و روزنامه نیست. اینکه می‌گویید ۹۰ درصد استفاده مردم از اینترنت بین الملل است و یا اینکه ۶۰ درصد مراجعه مردم به سایت‌های جنسی است اصلا درست نیست؛ بنابراین نمایندگان و مردم توجه داشته باشند این آمارها درست نیست لذا آن را نقل قول نکنند.
We also launched the project of intelligent refinement and have blocked about 400 million videos through this method. If previously there were 8% of websites that were problematic, we have now brought it down to 1.5%. Also, over the part of three years, we have closed 7 million addresses that have been notified to us by the relevant authorities and blocked 121 relevant pieces of software as well as circumvention tools.

author: Mahsa Alimardani