text:
With a Little Help From Humans, the Caribbean’s Birds Are Attempting a Post-Hurricane Comeback · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

One Barbuda Warbler that was spotted after the passage of Hurricane Irma. Photo by Andrea Otto, used with permission.
2017 has been a highly stressful Atlantic hurricane season for the Caribbean. Enduring the storms themselves, however, was only the beginning. The road to recovery is often painfully slow, a process that has been as tough for not only residents, but also the region's hugely diverse bird population.
There are over 500 species of bird in the Caribbean, including over 100 species that live on only one island. The hurricanes destroyed the birds’ habitats, making food more difficult to find.
And many of the local humans who normally would work to protect them, such as conservationists and scientists, lost valuable equipment as well as the roofs off their homes. Numerous challenges remain, especially on the islands of Dominica, Barbuda and Puerto Rico.
Scientists from Guadeloupe conduct a bird count at the colony of Magnificent Frigatebirds, Codrington Lagoon, Barbuda. Photo by Eric Delcroix, used with permission.
Nevertheless, the region's largest conservation organisation, Birds Caribbean, rallied quickly. Despite logistical challenges, the non-profit raised funds and began shipping off “bird aid” as soon as possible after Hurricane Irma and, two weeks later, Hurricane Maria had passed. Partners on the islands helped with distribution.
A shipment of bird supplies at the St. Croix airport. Photo by the St. Croix Environmental Association, used with permission.
Soon, one of the most coveted items in bird-loving regional territories turned out to be hummingbird feeders. Les Fruits de Mer, an environmental group in hurricane-battered St. Martin, tweeted:
Free Bird Feeder Giveaway Thursday in Grand Case https://t.co/aGeZ2xMmY6 pic.twitter.com/BOYd3iMI0P
— Les Fruits de Mer (@lesfruitsdemer) October 23, 2017
Later, it shared on its Facebook page:
At lunchtime on Thursday, people were lining up at Sky’s the Limit restaurant in Grand Case. But unlike most days, these people hadn’t just come to eat local barbecue. They came to get bird feeders so they could take care of the birds around their homes. In less than an hour, the Les Fruits de Mer association gave away over 80 bird feeders.
The Wildlife Relief stand in St. Thomas, USVI; photo from the Virgin Island Wildlife Facebook page, used with permission.
In St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands — another island that suffered considerable ecological damage from both hurricanes — a Wildlife Relief stand was doing brisk business over the weekend. They also shared on Facebook:
The story behind the seeds & feeders: our native wildlife across the Caribbean took a severe blow from the storms. Like us, the birds and bats can’t go to the next island to get food and shelter, because those places were devastated too. BirdsCaribbean, a non-profit that works to conserve native Caribbean birds, raised funds and are shipping seeds and feeders to TEN Caribbean islands to help native birds! The logistics have been challenging, to say the least! The St Thomas Bat Team stepped up to volunteer to distribute the relief supplies on St Thomas. Yes, it’s a little late, but the birds really do still need the help! Come get your feeder this weekend!
The St. Croix Environmental Association in the U.S. Virgin Islands was pleased to receive their shipment and advocate for the bat population as well:
The bats at the Barren Spot Bat Tower at the Bat Conservation Site and throughout the territory are struggling from lack of food. Hurricanes Irma and Maria wiped out most of the fruit growing on our plants and trees! You can help these fruit eating bats by hanging fruits like bananas, papayas, mangoes or whatever you can find. Make sure you hang the fruit out of reach of cats and mongoose so they can't reach the bats! Bats are a key component to forest restoration. #BatWeek
Magnificent Frigatebirds in a devastated mangrove lagoon on the island of Barbuda. Photo by Eric Delcroix, used with permission.
So how are the birds doing? Many Caribbean bird species, with their limited habitats and continuous encroachments from tourism and other developments, are already endangered, including Dominica's endemic Imperial Parrot, the beloved Sisserou, the iconic national bird portrayed on the island's flag. The eye of Hurricane Maria — a Category 5 storm — passed directly over the tiny island, causing immense damage.
Birds Caribbean reported that it sent binoculars, cameras and other tools to help the island's forestry department, which “lost everything in the storm,” search for the Sisserou. Fears of the bird's possible extinction on social media were thankfully premature, as the usually secretive and sparsely scattered parrot was since spotted:
BRILLIANT news: First confirmed sighting of the #Sisserou on #Dominica!!!! Spotted at Morne Saint Mary south of Roseau, thanks to Stephen Durand (Dominica Forestry) for sharing this wondrous news! pic.twitter.com/fKO8xD4Snj
— Birds Caribbean (@BirdsCaribbean) November 8, 2017
Dominica's Red-Necked Amazon Parrot has also refused to play dead. One blog (subtitled Caribbean Nature in the Age of the Superstorm) reported:
A new video and photo debuted today, courtesy of Machel Sulton of the Dominica Forestry, Wildlife, and Parks Divison, featuring a Red-necked amazon being rehabbed post-Maria. The bird looks good!
A St. Lucia-based environmental journalist shared:
My friend, Zion man, Earth Guardian Denus Williams, helping Dominica’s endemic parrots. This Jaco survived a Category 5 Hurricane. #rainforest #natureisle #ourparrots pic.twitter.com/Q9GLzIKFki
— Alison Kentish (@iamalikentish) November 11, 2017
Puerto Rico, clipped along its north coast by Hurricane Irma and then traversed from south to north by Maria, continues to fare very poorly, with the birds struggling alongside humans. The El Yunque National Forest was especially badly damaged and remains closed, and the fate of another precious parrot, the critically endangered Puerto Rican Amazon (Iguaca), hangs in the balance.
Sad news from our colleagues at El Yunque's #iguaca population. Most of the relict pop remains unaccounted for. Rio Abajo pop is up to at least 92 wild iguacashttps://t.co/YkfY2LBN26
— Tanya Martínez (@iguacachick) November 9, 2017
Puerto Rico has just received 2,000 pounds of desperately needed seed and 800 feeders, and according to Birds Caribbean, eight other islands are picking up their seed and should be getting their feeders this week.
And what of the tiny island of Barbuda? Its human inhabitants, who were evacuated post-Hurricane Irma, are now uncertain about their future, fearing political exploitation and economic opportunism:
#Barbuda-ns fear a “land grab”, replacing ancient communal ownership of land for private ownership, to the benefit of tourism developers, following Irma. #SocialJustice https://t.co/oJcZzYbJ5U
— #1point5toStayAlive (@1point5OK) November 11, 2017
Unaware of island politics and humans’ anxieties, the tiny, endemic Barbuda Warbler (listed as “near threatened”) was spotted by local conservationists some two weeks after the storm, prompting much celebration. Since then, a team of scientists from Guadeloupe joined colleagues from the United States, Saint Lucia and Antigua to conduct a survey funded by Birds Caribbean.
34 Bananaquits (also known as Nectar Feeders) crowd round a bird feeder in St. Martin. Photo by Mark Yokoyama, used with permission.
In a series called Irma's Island, the blog of Les Fruits de Mer in St. Martin suggested that the path of recovery depends on humans to make the right decisions:
As nature takes her path to recovery, we have an opportunity to influence the future. We can plant native trees and protect natural spaces or we could destroy them. How we participate in the process is up to us.
In another blog post, Tom White, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department in Puerto Rico, noted that Puerto Rico’s rainforests are already starting to “green up” — and while it's frustrating to see bird populations “get knocked back to such a low level in a day” after decades of trying to build them up, he added, “If you give up, the hurricane wins. And we’re not going to let that happen.”
So, is there a lesson to be learned in the aftermath of the storms? Caribbean birds can be just as resilient as humans. And humans are fighting back, too.


text:
Another Muslim Man Is Murdered in India’s Rajasthan by Cow Vigilantes · Global Voices
Vishal Yashoda Manve

Screenshot from YouTube video on Gau Rakshaks by 101 India
With cow vigilantism seemingly on the rise and hardline Hindu nationalism taking root in India, hooligans calling themselves “Gau Rakshaks” (“Cow Protectors”) shot a Muslim man to death who they accused of smuggling cows.
The murder of Umar Mohammad in Rajasthan's Alwar district on November 10 was yet another instance of India's Muslim community facing targeted violence.
Several states in India have regulations prohibiting either the slaughter or sale or migration of cows. The Indian state of Rajasthan bans both cow slaughter and export or migration of bovine animal for the purpose of slaughter is also prohibited. However, according to reports, Rajasthan, especially the cities Alwar and Bharatpur, are one of the biggest contributors of smuggled cattle to slaughterhouses in different states of India.
Umar Mohammad's wife told the media that she had asked her husband to purchase the cows not to slaughter, but to have a regular supply of milk to feed their eight children and aging parents — which is legal.
Many Hindus consider the cow sacred and a symbol of life, and therefore do not eat it. India also has a significant population of other religions whose adherents generally do eat beef, including Muslims. In the current climate, this fact has increasingly become an excuse for communal attacks against Muslims.
While the culprits have been arrested, as reported by international newswire Reuters, the ground realities remain unchanged. Since 2015, after right-wing Narendra Modi became prime minister, there has been a surge in cow vigilante violence attributed to the rise of Hindu nationalism in the country, ushered in by his election victory.
Ashwaq Masoodi at LiveMint explains:
The term Gau Rakshak has slipped into the country’s lexicon of politics and culture over the past two years, in step with increasing activism by self-styled protectors and vigilante groups.
Many such vigilante groups are springing up across India and there is even a federation of cattle protectors called Bhartiya Gau Raksha Dal (Indian Cow Protection Organization).
#AlwarLynching GauRakshaks are a collective blot on our country, history and memory. Feel silenced and helpless that these killings persist
— Shoma Chaudhury (@ShomaChaudhury) November 15, 2017
In a citizen video by online youth-focused content portal 101 India, Doctor VC interviewed some of these Gau Rakshak teams:
After talking with a leader of a Gau Rakshak team, Doctor VC comments in the video:
They held on to their religious belief (about cows) so rigidly, it made me feel uncomfortable even though I am a Hindu.
When he went to the Ramgarh police station to ask about the Gau Rakshaks, the officer in charge said that Gau Rakshaks mainly act as police informants and are not supposed to take the law in their own hands.
In April 2017, dairy farmer Pehlu Khan was beaten to death in Alwar, Rajasthan, the violence caught on mobile phone video. The case prompted Human Rights Watch to warn the Indian government to take action against cow vigilantes:
Indian authorities should promptly investigate and prosecute self-appointed “cow protectors” who have committed brutal attacks against Muslims and Dalits over rumors that they sold, bought, or killed cows for beef, Human Rights Watch said today. Instead of taking prompt legal action against the vigilantes, many linked to extremist Hindu groups affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the police, too often, have filed complaints against the assault victims, their relatives, and associates under laws banning cow slaughter.
This, in turn, elicited response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July, who said:
Killing people in the name of ‘gau bhakti’ (love of cow) is not acceptable. This is not something Mahatma Gandhi would approve.
But, many Indians believe the prime minister's words didn't go far enough, given what other high-profile figures have said, like the joint general secretary of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad:
If the sentiments of the majority community are respected, there would be no such incidents. Can we demand pork in any Gulf country?
A recent report by Reuters highlighted how in addition to the violence, cows have been stolen from Muslim families and redistributed to Hindu families, thereby further exacerbating the economic divide.
Muslims account for 14 percent of India's 1.3 billion population and were granted equal rights under India's constitution after the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. While Pakistan became a homeland for Muslims and thereby an Islamic state, India's founding fathers including Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi emphasized the country's democratic and secular credentials that guaranteed equal rights to all citizens irrespective of caste, creed or religion.
But, rising instances of nationalism fueled by abject disregard for rule of law has created a dangerous situation for minorities in India.
According to data from Indiaspend, a data journalism portal in India, nearly 86 percent of those killed in cow-related violence were Muslim and 97 percent attacks have taken place after 2014. Modi won the elections in May 2014.
Data further states that in 13 percent of the cases, police register cases against the victims. News reports suggest police officials have used the same method to highlight cases against Umar Mohammad after his death.
On June 28, 2017 thousands of people from all walks of life turned out in the streets across India to protest against the attacks on Muslims, waving placards containing messages like “Not in My Name” “Stop Cow Terrorism” and “Stand Up to Hindu Terrorism”. The protests followed the death of a 16-year-old boy accused of carrying beef on a train.
On June 28, 2017, thousands assembled in many places across India to declare that the many recent killings of Muslims were NOT IN MY NAME. Claiming to protect cows, Hindu right-wing vigilantes have been lynching Muslims. The card which this young woman is holding says, bluntly, COW PROTECTORS ARE MAN EATERS. Image from Flickr by Mukul Dube. CC BY-SA 2.0
There were also some protests following the murder of Umar Mohammad (mistakenly referred to as “Umar Khan” in the following tweet).
Protest at #BikanerHouse against #MobLynching of Umar Khan in Alwar. pic.twitter.com/IirwGSFHhv
— Farhan Ahmad (@Farhan_Ahmad586) November 15, 2017
On Scroll.in, Ipsita Chakrabarty argued that the situation was only getting worse:
In Alwar in particular, the political acquiescence that accompanied Pehlu Khan’s lynching has emboldened murderous bullies. For instance, when activist Harsh Mander tried to take his Karwan-e-Mohabbat or Caravan of Love to Behror, the site of the lynching, they received threats from right-wing groups. When they pressed on, protesting crowds gathered at the spot as the local police claimed they were helpless to stop them. Never mind contrition, violence has only strengthened violence in Alwar, while the administration cheers on.
And Aarti Tikoo wrote on Facebook:
This is what the Hindutva radicalism has unleashed in India. And the loony Hindu Right wing will justify such nauseating murders. Shame!
In July, India's Supreme Court suspended a nationwide government ban on sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter. The ban would marginalize Muslims and the scheduled castes and tribes in the country and would harm the beef and leather industry, which employs millions of workers.
As debates around hyper-nationalism, religious zealotry, and bigotry intensify in India, it is the minorities who are facing the brunt of inhumane attacks over cow-protection, time and again.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Vishal Yashoda Manve


text:
Argentine Documentary ‘Education in Motion’ Spotlights Grassroots Learning in Latin America · Global Voices
Romina Navarro

Poster details of the film “Education in motion”. Image shared publicly on Facebook.
After “500 days of travel and filming, 300 hours filmed, and six months of editing”comes the debut of the long-awaited feature-length documentary “La education en movimiento” (“Education in Motion”). The film follows the almost three years of hard work and adventures of two Argentine teachers, Malena Noguer and Martín Ferrari, as they journey throughout Latin America to document and analyze popular education projects developed in the heart of “Nuestramérica,” (“Our America”) as they like to call it.
Last year, Global Voices published two articles on Malena and Martín’s Education in Motion initiative, in which they visited educational projects that had emerged “from below” and that break with established norms. The final goal was to stitch all the material into a documentary that would be freely distributed.
In our first article, we presented the project, its protagonists and their incredible journey, as well as the first short clips published out of Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. A second article followed with new information about the trip and more educational projects from Colombia and Ecuador. All of the clips and edited interviews along the way can be seen on their website or YouTube channel, freely accessible for educational, debate, and reflection purposes.
The travelers shared their journey on this interactive map. Photo shared publicly on Facebook.
The documentary was previewed on November 10 at the Gaumont Cinema, a well-known cultural reference point, located opposite the Congressional Plaza in Buenos Aires, that today belongs to the National Film Institute and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) of Argentina. The official premiere will be in April 2018 and will be part of the programming of the 11th Argentine Documentary Film Festival.
This short video below gathers images and impressions from the first six months of Malena and Martín’s journey, and it is an opener of what will be the finished documentary:
This ambitious project was made possible thanks to the collaboration of many people, family, friends, colleagues and private donors interested in financing their production, as well as each of the groups and movements that offered their hospitality and support to the travelers. INCAA financed the last stage of editing, which allowed the documentary to be finished early.
The young filmmakers’ excitement is palpable in their posts on Facebook page:
¡¡¡¡Les presentamos a la película!!!!!
Ahí se la ve..sus colores, sus músicas…
Sus protagonistas, sus historias, sus luchas…
500 días de rodaje
300 horas filmadas
45000 km
3 meses de sistematización
6 meses de montaje
Se viene …El pre-estreno!!!
We present to you the film!
Here you can see its colors, its music
Its protagonists, its stories, its struggles
500 days of shooting
300 hours filmed
45,000 kilometers
3 months of systematization
6 months of editing
It's coming… the pre-release!
During their visit to Bolivia, Malena and Martín had the opportunity to visit the beautiful city of El Alto, at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters in the western region of the country. There, they got to know the Wayna Tambo Youth House of Cultures, a space for meetings and communication that aims to:
aportar a la re-creación y consolidación de las identidades juveniles desde una intervención educativa, cultural, comunicativa, con un enfoque que trabaje simultáneamente la vigorización de la singularidad andina-aymara y el fortalecimiento de la diversidad cultural en equidad y justicia
contribute to the recreation and consolidation of youth identities from an educational, cultural, and communicative intervention, with an approach that simultaneously works for the invigoration of the Andean-Aymara singularity and the strengthening of cultural diversity in equity and justice.
The house, which has more than 20 years of history, is part of the Diversity Network, has “an intercultural community radio station” that offers a space for workshops and books, musical bands, and to debate film presentations.
Un aprendizaje colectivo construido desde distintas miradas, desde distintos caminos, desde distintas experiencias, pero que (…) llegan a encontrarse en este espacio y pueden ofrecer una alternativa más en este espacio, una alternativa diferente, una alternativa que apuesta por lo colectivo y lo comunitario, teniendo como ejes transversales lo que es la descolonización y la despatriarcalización, [ya que] que sin eso, estas propuestas no cobran sentido, no tendrían unos pilares muy fuertes de donde agarrarse.
A collective learning built from different perspectives, from different paths, from different experiences, but that […] come to be in this space and can offer another alternative in this space, a different alternative, an alternative that wagers for the collective and the community, having fundamental points such as decolonization and depatriarchalization, [since] without that, these proposals do not make sense, they would not have strong pillars to hold on to.
The journey of more than 1,000 kilometers from the south of Venezuela took them to Ceará, among the northeastern Brazilian states that are experiencing one of the worst droughts of the last century, which has been going on for six years. There, in the Lagoa do Mineiro settlement, is the Francisco Araujo de Barros Field School of the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST), which is fighting “for an education from the countryside and for the countryside.”
Malena and Martín present the school and the principles of the movement in this clip titled, “Parir-nos en la lucha: Generaciones que hacen escuela” (“To be born into struggle: Generations that build an education”):
La gente sabe muy bien que la escuela está aquí, conquistada por la lucha, está en lucha y vive en lucha. Es una escuela que vive permanentemente en movimiento. Esta escuela tiene una referencia de cambiar en cualquier momento su currículo pedagógico. Va a depender de las necesidades de la clase trabajadora.
The people know very well that the school is here, conquered by the struggle, it is in struggle and lives in struggle. It is a school that lives permanently in the movement. This school has reference to changing its pedagogical curriculum at any time. It will depend on the needs of the working class.
Education in Motion is a self-managed and collectively financed project that used the support of individuals and institutions. You can follow them on Facebook, where they post photos and anecdotes about the people they have met along the way, and on their YouTube channel.

author: Romina Navarro


text:
Barbie Hijab Comment Highlights Why Some Russian Activists Don’t Support Presidential Hopeful Navalny · Global Voices
Christopher Moldes

Alexey Navalny on campaign trail in Irkutsk. Credit: Evgeny Feldman for navalny.feldman.photo, CC-BY-NC.
As the March 2018 Russian presidential elections draw closer, the field of candidates has grown crowded. Two big names, however, are as of now missing from this storied list: Vladimir Putin and Alexey Navalny.
By all accounts, President Putin is expected to announce his candidacy, which would be his fourth. Opposition leader Navalny is officially prohibited from taking part (which his campaign is actively challenging in courts, without much success), but this hasn’t prevented him from holding rallies across the country.
Navalny has mostly focused his energies to addressing the most pressing concerns in Russia, such as corruption. However, he recently turned his attention to the release of the first hijab-wearing Barbie and fired off some choice words on the matter:
Отвратительно. Это же надо постараться унижение женщин подавать как некое достижение и социальный прогресс. Просто отвратительно. https://t.co/2s4rH7CqJp
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) 15 ноября 2017 г.
Disgusting. You’ve got to try hard to present the debasement of women as some sort of achievement and social progress. Just disgusting.
Judging by the ratio (a Twitter in-joke whereby one can judge the success, failure, or controversy of a tweet by weighing the amount of replies, retweets, and likes; if there are more replies than retweets or likes, for example, the tweet is considered extremely controversial and a downright failure), Navalny’s take didn’t really rock the boat.
Jumping into the comments gives us a different story. Team Navalny's own social media manager said:
Для очень заскорузлого и неповоротливого МОК это действительно большая победа — девушка в хиджабе на ОИ. Но почему унижение? Нельзя исключать, что она искренне разделяет такие культурные ценности и ходит в хиджабе сознательно.
— Матвеев Ян (@IanMatweew) 15 ноября 2017 г.
For the backward and snail-paced International Olympic Committee, a woman in a hijab at the Olympic Games is definitely a huge victory. But why debasement? We can’t exclude that she honestly shares those cultural values and chooses to wear a hijab.
Doubling down, Navanly fired back:
Барби в хиджабе – это промоушн унижений. Девочек с детства учат, что они неполноценны и должны ходить в платочках.
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) 15 ноября 2017 г.
A Barbie in a hijab is a promotion of debasement. They teach girls from childhood that they’re inferior and have to wear shawls.
One user did not take kindly to someone speaking for her cultural views:
Что за чушь? Мой хиджаб это мой выбор. Если не смотреть на это с точки зрения религии, включите мозг – это просто кукла в одежде другой культуры
— Leysan Rakipova (@Lisse_Lis) 15 ноября 2017 г.
What nonsense. My hijab is my choice. If you don’t look from a religious point of view and use your brain, this is just a doll wearing the clothes of a different culture.
She later continued:
Поздравляю, Алексей! Вы только что одним твитом вычеркнули всех своих потенциальных избирателей-мусульман. Судя по всему, президентом становиться вы и не хотите
— Leysan Rakipova (@Lisse_Lis) 15 ноября 2017 г.
Congratulations, Alexey! With one tweet you’ve written off all of your potential Muslim voters. You apparently don’t want to become president.
This isn’t hyperbole. The number of Muslims in Russia ranges anywhere from about 5% of the population to 10%, about 20 million people.
One user even noted the places where Navalny has been holding his unsanctioned electoral rallies and drew a connection with his statements:
Something tells me Navalny is willing to hold a rally virtually anywhere in Russia except for in the Northern Caucasus
— Yan Matusevich (@ymatusik) 15 ноября 2017 г.
The Northern Caucasus area is predominantly Muslim.
After his original tweet, Navalny went even further, retweeting another negative opinion on the new Barbie:
Screenshot from Twitter.com/navalny
The first Barbie in a hijab has been released. She can only leave the Barbie house for a couple of hours and only when accompanied by Ken.
For those who have been following Navalny’s politics closely, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. He has been campaigning for tougher visa regimes with Central Asian countries since at least 2013, when he announced a petition on government website ROI denouncing visa-free travel agreements with seven ex-Soviet states, predominantly Muslim, but including Armenia.
Vladimir Putin opposes these policies and Navalny's petition failed to attract the necessary 100,000 votes for the bill to be presented to the Russian Duma, the lower chamber of parliament.
In 2015, he also wrote an article on his website on the then-burgeoning refugee crisis in Europe, which saw record numbers of arrivals, the majority of whom were fleeing the war-torn countries of Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq:
Сейчас очень уместно всем напомнить, что Европа вынуждена принимать мигрантов-мусульман — они ломятся тысячами через морские и сухопутные границы и остановить их невозможно иначе, как расстрелами. Они их не перевозят, не приглашают, виз им не дают и постоянно пытаются реализовывать программы депортации (впрочем, довольно безуспешно).
В это же время российская государственная политика прямо направлена на привлечение в страну молодых мусульман. У нас даже визового режима со странами Средней Азии нет, несмотря на то, что его поддерживает подавляющее большинство населения.
Когда я на выборах и после заявлял о том, что введение визового режима — первоочередная задача государственной политики, все госпропагандисты верещали «Навальный — фашист» и «геополитические интересы России в том, чтобы сюда могли приезжать все из бывшего СССР». Теперь они же пишут колонки «французы понавезли мусульман, вот и расплачиваются».
А к нам кто едет? Растафарианцы? Синтоисты?
Иммигранты в Россию на 90% — молодные мусульмане-мужчины из сельской местности, то есть та самая среда, из которой вербуются террористы. Источники миграции: Узбекистан и Таджикистан — страны, скажем прямо, границы которых весьма прозрачны и близки к очагам агрессивного исламизма.
It’s now trendy to remind everyone that Europe is obligated [original emphasis] to take in Muslim migrants. They’re swarming in by the thousands across sea and land borders and there’s no way to stop them apart from shooting. They aren’t being ferried across, they aren’t being invited, they aren’t given visas, and the Europeans have been trying to set up deportation programs (admittedly unsuccessfully).
At the same time, Russian state politics are directly aimed at attracting young Muslims into the country. We don’t even have a visa regime with Central Asian countries, even though the overwhelming majority of the population supports having one.
When I announced, during and after the elections, that the introduction of a visa regime is the very first task of politicians, all the government propagandists screeched “Navalny is a fascist” and “it’s in the geopolitical interests of Russia for everyone from the former USSR to come here.” Now they’re writing columns like “the French let in huge quantities of Muslims, and now they’re paying for it”.
But who is coming here? Rastafarians? Shintoists?
90% of immigrants to Russia are young Muslim men from rural areas, the very same place where terrorists are enlisted from. The sources of migration are Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, countries whose borders are, frankly speaking, incredibly fluid and close to the hotbed of aggressive Islamism.
It isn’t only government propagandists who have responded to these sorts of proclamations by branding Navalny a fascist. A smear video, relying on fabricated or misleading quotes from Navalny, recently compared him with Hitler. In a tongue-in-cheek response, an author at Sputnik I pogrom, a well-known Russian ultranationalist site, posted:
Как русский националист я целиком и полностью поддерживаю кампанию «Навальный — фашист-нарцист, Гитлер весь Навальный полностью!» Почему? Потому что у Алексея Анатольевича остаются национальные симпатии (пусть и весьма слабые), и такими атаками власти лишь заставят его начать отмывать национализм от негативного имиджа, доказывая, что в национализме нет ничего плохого.
As a Russian nationalist, I fully support the “Navalny is a fascist-narcissist, Navalny is totally Hitler” campaign. Why? Because Alexey Navalny has some lingering national sympathy (even if it’s really weak) and these sorts of attacks from the authorities only force him to wash the image of nationalism of all negativity, showing that there’s nothing bad in nationalism.
This tenuous affinity perturbs some activists in Russia, who recently drew the same comparisons but came to a markedly different conclusion: Navalny would mean nothing new for Russia, just a new façade of anti-corruption with xenophobia to boot.
Others hit back at this zero-sum argument, pointing out that Navalny’s corruption campaigns have created genuine spaces for expression and opposition around which future Russian political alternatives can coalesce.
This silver lining may not be enough for those who find his other views extremely disagreeable. Bloomberg’s Leonid Bershidsky voiced these concerns after Navalny made a remark on protests in Russia linked to the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar:
.@navalny мне противно смотреть на расистскую хрень. Я скорее сменю гражданство, чем путинское шило на твое мыло.
— Leonid Bershidsky (@Bershidsky) 2 сентября 2017 г.
It’s repulsive to look at racist bullshit. I’d sooner change my citizenship than swap Putin's bad for your worse.
Whether or not Navalny can drum up enough support, either among nationalists or liberals, remains to be seen. According to one of the most recent polls, support for Navalny hovers at around 3 percent, compared with 53 percent for Putin, a whopping 20 percent who say they don’t know who they would vote for, and 11 percent who said they would not even vote.
Navalny's corruption policies remain popular, but as always, there’s more nuance when it comes to migration policies. The same polling center has suggested that xenophobia has reached an all-time low in Russia, though there is high support for restricting entry for migrants, around 58% as of July 2017.  When asked whether they feel positively or negatively towards migrants from Central Asia, however, 62% stated that they don’t have any particular feelings on the subject, compared with 27% who experience some sort of negative emotion and 9% with some type of positive feeling.
These shades of gray are quite important when examining contemporary Russian politics, especially for observers coming from the US context, where the desire to make this a black or white scenario is strong.
Some American Twitter users, for example, have taken to promoting Navalny wholeheartedly when they come across alleged Russian trolls as a way of “fighting back” against Vladimir Putin and what they see as his success in helping Donald Trump get to the White House:
Русскому народу: американский народ поддерживает вашу борьбу за свободу. #RussianProtests #Resistance #resist #Navalny @navalny
— Jonathan Walczak (@jonwalczak) 26 марта 2017 г.
To the Russian people: the American people support your struggle for freedom.
#RussianProtests #Resistance #resist #Navalny @navalny
Undoubtedly, some of the #Resistance (a term used sincerely or derisively, depending on the speaker, for an online movement of Americans who have made their goal resisting Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s agenda) would find these aspects of Navalny’s politics troubling. Yet because of oversimplifications, they perhaps aren’t aware.
Viktor Orbán’s Hungary is often criticized in the West for its anti-immigrant stances, placing it at odds with the European Union. Navalny’s rhetoric is not worlds apart, and Navalny himself realizes this is a sticking point for many. The UK newspaper the Independent reported in October:
“Every interview with a foreign journalist has a question about nationalism and why I’m not dead,” he says. The first question exaggerates his position, he says; he only wants to introduce visas for Central Asian migrants. (A “joke” video he shot as a young activist, that seemed to compare migrants to cockroaches, does raise questions).
The reigning opinion seems to be that there really isn’t any alternative. The Russian political space simply isn’t as dynamic as many would hope it were. Navalny really has created a movement that exists beyond any one election or issue. The Russian activist movement is still grappling with how to deal with Navalny as a whole, and how to square the circle with his relatively liberal economic policies and his hard-line immigration rhetoric. In Lenin’s (and Chernyshevksy’s) words, what is to be done?

author: Christopher Moldes


text:
In Macedonia and Serbia, Right-Wing Politicians Make Their Followers Swoon—Literally · Global Voices
Marko Angelov

Screenshots from the videos depicting the fainting incidents involving the supporters of Aleksandar Vučić and Nikola Gruevski.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia and former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of Macedonia have several things in common.
Both politicians belong to populist, conservative political parties. In fact, ruling Serbian political party SNS and Macedonia's VMRO-DPMNE are “sister parties” within the “family” of the European People's Party.
Both Vučić and Gruevski have been dogged by corruption allegations and faced mass protest movements against their rule.
And on multiple occasions both have seen attendees to their meticulously stage-managed public appearances faint.
On September 5, the new Macedonian government marked one hundred days in office. Prime Minister Zoran Zaev made the customary speech noting the accomplishments, while Gruevski, the chief of opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, held a counter-press conference blaming the prime minister for various debacles.
It would have had been just business as usual on the Macedonian political scene, if it weren't for an incident at Gruevski's press conference that monopolized the public's attention.
At one point, a youth standing behind him fainted, but Gruevski, seemingly unaware, continued his speech, and none of his subordinates tried to interrupt the speech by helping the young man who fell to the ground.
A clip filmed with a mobile phone off a TV screen quickly spread over social networks; it currently has more than 170,000 views at the moment of writing of this post.
The clip was mainly shared by people who dislike Gruevski, who said it highlighted the lack of empathy within VMRO-DPMNE, which ruled Macedonia from August 2006 to May 2017. Many also recalled other cases in the past when the party had shown little concern for its individual members.
For instance, some recalled the death of Martin Neshkovski, killed by Gruevski's bodyguard while trying to celebrate the election victory in June 2011. Others remembered Sedad Asanovski, who died in a traffic accident while traveling to a party rally in November 2016. After a random car hit him, his party colleagues left his dead body on the road and departed, because their party-chartered bus had to arrive at the rally on time. The family claimed no one from the party contacted them afterward.
Screenshot of Gruevski's Facebook post in which he praises the young man who fainted for disrupting the media coverage of government press conference.
To counter the impact of the incident, Gruevski published a Facebook post with photos that showed he later met with the young man who fainted, identified as Marko, to make sure he was all right. The tone of the post was celebratory, and received hundreds of likes and praising comments:
Марко беше во право дека успеал да го засени пресот на Заев пласиран кај некои провладини медиуми за 100 дена влада каде што не слушнавме ниту еден проект.
На прес конференцијата не приметив, но потоа лично се уверив, вистинскиот борец, младиот Марко е во добра состојба и одлично расположение. Одиме напред заедно во нови победи! #УМС #Силна #Победа
Marko was right that he succeeded in overshadowing Zaev's press conference broadcast bу some pro-government media, on the occasion of 100 days of the government, where we didn't hear about any projects.
At the press conference I didn't notice, but later I personally verified that the true fighter, young Marko, is in good condition and excellent cheer. We go forward together to new victories! #UnionOfYoungForces #Strong #Victory
Soon after, people who saw the face of the young man identified him as a participant in other stunts sanctioned by Gruevski's government while in power. Journalist Borjan Jovanovski said he recognized him as the man who was sent to spit on him in public, accompanied with a camera crew in March 2017. Members of the Student Plenum said they recognized him as one of the men who, accompanied by bodyguards and protected by police, stole ballot boxes during student elections in June 2016.
Ви текнува на детето што се онесвести позади Грујо? Епа еве го вози точак со Коце! pic.twitter.com/5Zu3gLUM6D
— Dimko (@ddimkooooo) September 18, 2017
You remember the kid who fainted behind Gruevski? Here he's riding a bike with Koce [Trajanovski, the incumbent major of Skopje who run for the third term on the VMRO-DPMNE ticket.]
Gruevski's gloating and Marko's alleged previous involvement in high-profile political stunts aroused suspicions about the nature of his fainting.
Two similar incidents happened in Serbia this year involving a man from the audience fainting during a live interview with Aleksandar Vučić on a friendly TV channel.
The first took place on 31 March, in a talk show on Happy TV. The then prime minister was relating tales about odd jobs he did as a teenager before receiving a state scholarship “without connections” for which he was grateful to the state. When the young man fainted, Vučić got up to help him, and even berated his bodyguards for not jumping in sooner.
It wasn't the first time Vučić was publicly in the role of rescuer. In February 2014, while he was deputy prime minister, he appeared in person on a snowed-in motorway near Feketić in Vojvodina. He was then filmed while carrying an ethnic Albanian child from its bus to an army helicopter. The footage was then rerun by Serbian media, framed as a proof of his humanity and generosity.
The fainting moment created big social media buzz. The young man who fainted gave a short media statement saying that the incident was not a set-up. He added that he didn't suffer further health consequences, and that generally he's not interested in politics.
Ne interesuje ga politika,već samo sport,slučajno odabran da aplaudira politici
I zdravi sportista se onesvesti !!
Samo laž i prevare oko AV pic.twitter.com/x4WpwcEot3
— Buda (@BudimirDj) April 4, 2017
He's not interested in politics, only in sports. He was accidentally chosen to applaud politics. And then, the healthy athlete fainted!
Only lies and deceptions around [Aleksandar Vučić]
Popular doubts about the authenticity of the incident became part of Serbian protest culture. In the spring, students and others protesting against corruption repeatedly chanted “Time to faint!” and at times hundreds of people would hit the ground.
Onesvesti se!#Protest2017 pic.twitter.com/A6UL7pEvge
— Ρ.и.Π. Σε®βиα (@EdgeSmoke3yewic) April 11, 2017
Time to faint! #Protest2017
The second fainting incident behind Vučić took place on 4 September, a day before the Macedonian incident. This time, the talk show was not interrupted. The interview with a friendly journalist continued:
Serbian social media users continue to comment about the fainting incidents. For instance, after Vučić had an interview in early November, one Twitter user wrote:
Kakav je ovo bio intervju sa Vučićem a da se niko nije onesvestio?
— Dalibor Д. (@N7_Titan) November 3, 2017
How come Vučić gave an interview with nobody fainting?

author: Marko Angelov


text:
Jordanian Cartoonist Goes to Trial For Drawing Jesus · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

Emad Hajjaj. Photo shared on the cartoonist's Wikipedia page (CC-BY-SA)
A Palestinian-Jordanian cartoonist is facing accusations of insulting religion and instigating religious strife over a cartoon depicting Jesus.
Emad Hajjaj was summoned for questioning by Jordan's public prosecutor on 31 October, after someone submitted a complaint accusing him of “insulting religion”. The cartoon, which was published on Twitter and Facebook, depicts Jesus on a cross denouncing the current Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, Patriarch Theophilos III.
“I am Christ the son of Mary and I disown Patriarch Theophilos III and all of those who were involved with him in selling the properties of the noble Greek Orthodox Church to the Israeli occupation,” the cartoon's caption reads.
Hajjaj drew the cartoon in response to reports that the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem sold church property to Israeli settler groups to pay off church debt.
The cartoon was published on 29 October in the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper and on Hajjaj's social media accounts.
بيع أملاك الكنيسة الارثوذوكسية في #القدس للاحتلال خيانة للمسيحية والمسيحيين #كاريكاتير عماد حجاج#ثيوفيلوس pic.twitter.com/oE0wP92UIQ
— Emad Hajjaj Cartoons (@EmadHajjaj) October 29, 2017
selling the property of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem to the occupation is a betrayal to Christianity and Christians
The cartoonist has worked with several local and regional newspapers and magazines that publish his cartoons. His works mainly address politics in the Middle East, including the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Hajjaj is currently free and has not been officially charged yet. However, according to the union representing Jordanian journalists, he will most likely be charged with “instigating religious strife” under the kingdom's Cybercrime Law. The law was amended recently to include a prison sentence ranging from one to five years for anyone convicted of “instigating religious, sectarian, ethnic and regional strife.”
Jordanian laws such as the penal code, the Cybercrime Law and the Press and Publications Law place several restrictions on users expressing themselves online. These restrictions include publishing cartoons or “fake or exaggerated news” about the royal family, publishing content that is deemed insulting to religion or which violates “Islamic values”, and defamation of state officials, government employees and the army.
كل تهمة الاساءة للاديان ينبغي الغائها من قانون العقوبات؛ نصوص تجريمية تهدر الحق بالتعبير وإبداء الرأي
متضامنة مع #عماد_حجاج #حرية_التعبير https://t.co/7xWVM5k6ya
— هالة عاهد (@Hala_Deeb) October 31, 2017
any accusations of insulting religions should be removed from the penal code; [these are] criminalizing texts that violate the right to free expression and freedom of opinion. I stand in solidarity with Emad Hajjaj
Last year, writer Nahed Hattar was put on trial for sharing on Facebook a cartoon mocking how members of the extremist and violent group ISIS perceive God and paradise. Hattar received numerous threats after posting the cartoon, and was charged with “insulting the divinity”. On 25 September 2016, he was shot dead outside a court in the capital Amman, where he was scheduled to stand trial.
Hattar's assassination has raised questions in Jordan on the government's role in creating an environment where those who hold minority views are threatened and silenced. After all, it was the Jordanian government that brought a case against Hattar, and despite the threats against his life, authorities did not give him police protection.
Reflecting on the Jordanian government's policies of countering hate speech while clamping down on freedom of expression, Reem Al Masri, an internet governance expert with the media organization 7iber (pronounced Hiber) wrote:
تماما كما يقف أب ينهر أولاده على سلوكياتهم السلبية دون النظر لدوره في توليدها، تقف الدولة بعيدًا عن خطاب الكراهية.
نسألُ حسب تعريف خطاب الكراهية المُقترح: هل تعدّ الأعمال التي تتخذها الحكومة والتي قد تشيطن بها فئة من فئات المجتمع أو تحرم مجموعات من حرياتهم الأساسية جزءًا من الأعمال المؤججة لخطاب الكراهية؟
(…) كل مرة ترفع الدولة سبابتها متوعدة من يثير ما تسميه «خطاب الكراهية» علينا أن نرجع للمسلّمات والأصول، بأن الخطاب ضد مجموعات دينية أو عرقية أو جنسية يتأجج في بيئة سياسية طاردة للتعدّدية وفي ظل غياب مشاركة مجتمعية في تعريف هذا الخطاب.
Just like the father who rebuffs his children for their negative behaviors without looking at his role in generating them, the state turns away from hate speech.
When we consider the proposed definition of hate speech, we wonder: are actions taken by the government to demonize one of society's communities or deprive certain groups [of people] of their fundamental freedoms part of those acts that instigate hate speech? […] Every time the state threatens those who engage in what it deems “hate speech”, we need to look back at the basic facts: speech against religious, ethnic, and sexual groups is tormented in a political environment that repels pluralism and does not involve society in defining this type of speech.
By questioning Hajjaj, Jordanian authorities have once again shown that they remain unwilliing to build a safe environment where minority views are tolerated.

author: Afef Abrougui


text:
Mezcal: The Rebirth of a Traditional Mexican Drink · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Left: The maguey plant. Right: Bottles of commercial mezcal. Photos by the author and used with permission.
When talking about traditional Mexican drinks, the conversation invariably leads to the recent resurgence of mezcal. Once nearly fading into disuse, mezcal is now the leading drink on menus of all types at a wide variety of Mexican establishments.
In the last decade, drinking mezcal has been trending among Mexicans, but what exactly is mezcal? According to the Official Mexican Standard (Mexico's official rules governing mezcal's characteristics and specifications), mezcal is a distilled, transparent alcoholic beverage obtained from the maguey plant:
100 % de maguey o agave, obtenida por destilación de jugos fermentados con microorganismos espontáneos o cultivados, extraídos de cabezas maduras de magueyes o agaves cocidos (…)
100% maguey or agave, obtained through the distillation of fermented juices with spontaneous or cultivated microorganisms, extracted from mature maguey heads or cooked agaves (…)
Mezcal's historical origin is uncertain although some versions maintain it began in the colonial period, sometime after 1521 following the Spanish conquest and their subsequent introduction to distillation techniques. Others assert that mezcal is a prehispanic brew used by indigenous people for centuries before the conquest.
Mezcal now holds a leading spot among other old-fashioned drinks like pulque and tepache. It's not to be confused with tequila, which comes specifically from the blue agave harvested in its namesake region of Tequila, Jalisco. A recent Huffington Post piece on the rise of mezcal highlights a few other differences:
Alrededor del mundo ambos elixires simbolizan a México, y si durante décadas el tequila ha sido la bebida mexicana por excelencia, ahora el mezcal está viviendo una auténtica revolución. Después de haber sido considerado como una bebida despreciada, ya por fin lo encontramos en los bares mas chic del planeta y el talento de los bartenders le están dando el lugar que se merece.
Around the world, both elixirs symbolize Mexico, and if for decades tequila has been the quintessential Mexican drink, now mezcal is experiencing a genuine revolution. After having been considered an underappreciated drink, we finally find it in the most chic bars on the planet and the talent of the bartenders is giving it the recognition it deserves.
Mezcal's demand is so high in the Mexican capital that mezcalerías (places dedicated solely to its sale and consumption) have popped up. Online sites such as Hello DF or TimeOut regularly recommend some of the most sought-after mezcal shops.
Mezcalería (mezcal shop) in Matatlán, Mexico. Photo used with permission from the Flickr account of Eduardo Robles Pacheco under Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0).
On the website Qué Rica Vida, Silvia Lucero published “Mezcal: Mexico's Trendy Beverage,” in which she recommends the best way to taste Mezcal:
Tengo que confesar que, así como me pone un poco nerviosa ver a alguien pedir un tequila y tomarlo en un solo trago, lo mismo me pasa con el mezcal, ya que hay que saber tomarlo y disfrutarlo–sobre todo tratándose de una bebida ancestral.
Existen diferentes tipos; hablando de manera general, sin embargo, está el blanco, el de pechuga y el añejo. En lo personal me gustan aquellos que tienen un sabor como ahumado. Si lo tomas puro, se acompaña con un gajo de naranja y sal de gusano que mezclan con chile en polvo. Suena extraño, es verdad, pero es delicioso.
I must confess that when someone orders tequila and drinks it in one big gulp, I get nervous. Just like tequila, I believe you should know how to drink and enjoy mezcal, especially since it is a handcrafted beverage.
There are several types of the drink. The most common types are white, aged and pechuga, which is distilled with chicken breast. Personally, I like those with a smoky flavor. If you take a shot of this drink, you should take it with an orange slice, worm salt and chili powder. Sounds strange, right? But it’s delicious!
In addition, Lucero left a recommendation for the most sensitive palates:
Si te parece muy fuerte para beberlo solo, puedes tomarlo en cóctel. Por suerte, cada vez es más común encontrar los típicos margarita, bloody mary, paloma o mojito preparados con mezcal. También puedes experimentar en casa creando algunos refrescantes para el verano como, por ejemplo, con jugo de mango y chile en polvo; ¡te quedará delicioso!
If you feel this drink is too strong, you can also have it as a cocktail. Luckily, it is really common now to find margaritas, bloody marys and mojitos prepared with mezcal. You can also experiment at home and create new refreshing drinks for the summer; try mixing the drink with mango juice and chili powder. Delicious!
The Mezcal Nation site expounds on four ways to finish Mezcal:
Tal vez al leer esto vengan a tu mente un complejo término digno de un “mezcalier” “mezcolatra” o “mezcalero”, la realidad es que hablamos de las cuatro formas de darle un acabado al mezcal.
Joven (blanco): es aquel que es envasado después de terminar la segunda destilación, cuando el destilado ya es considerado mezcal.
Reposado: su nombre lo dice, después de terminar el proceso de producción es reposado en barricas de roble blanco de 6 meses a 1 año.
Añejo: como los mejores whiskys, vinos o coñacs, el mezcal también se añeja por cinco años o más en las mismas barricas de roble blanco canadiense o americano.
Abocado: al terminar el proceso, se le agrega un sabor adicional como alguna hierba o fruta (el mezcal de gusano es un ejemplo de abocado).
Perhaps when reading this, a complex term worthy of a “mezcalier,” “mezcolatra” or “mezcalero” comes to mind; the reality is that we talk about the four ways of finishing a mezcal.
Joven (Young, white): The one that is bottled after finishing the second distillation, when the distillate is already considered mezcal.
Reposado (Rested): Its name says it all: after finishing the production process, it rests in white oak barrels for six months to one year.
Añejo (Aged): Like the best whiskeys, wines or cognacs, Mezcal is also aged for five years or more in the same Canadian or American white oak barrels.
Abocado (Finished): At the end of the process, an additional flavor is added such as an herb or fruit (the mezcal worm is an example of finishing).
The Animal Gourmet offers its own meditation on the best way to drink Mezcal:
Antes de beber, reconoce el mezcal que tienes enfrente. Conócelo. Olfatéalo con una fosa nasal y luego con la otra. Después coloca unas gotitas en las palmas de tus manos y frótalas hasta que el mezcal se seque. Coloca rápidamente tus manos alrededor de tu nariz y respira profundamente. Notarás los verdaderos aromas del mezcal (sin el alcohol interfiriendo). ¿Ahumado? Seguro. ¿Tierra mojada?, ¿tabaco? ¿hierbas? ¿durazno? ¿a qué huele? ¿Te gusta? Inténtalo de nuevo. Los expertos incluso pueden identificar qué tipo de agave y de qué región proviene el destilado. No esperamos que logres esto a la primera, pero es una buena forma de empezar a disfrutar tu mezcal.
Before drinking, recognize the mezcal in front of you. Get to know it. Smell it with one nostril and then with the other. Then place some droplets on the palms of your hands and rub them together until the mezcal dries. Quickly place your hands around your nose and breathe deeply. You will notice the true aromas of the mezcal (without the alcohol interfering). Smoky? Definitely. Wet earth? Tobacco? Herbs? Peach? What does it smell like? Do you like it? Do it again. Experts can even identify what kind of agave and which region the liquor comes from. We do not expect you to achieve this immediately, but it is a good way to start enjoying your mezcal.
On Twitter, fans like Carolina Gómez V proudly show off the mezcal they are about to taste:
#Mezcal para disfrutar los versos del #sonjarocho pic.twitter.com/Hgt3IG2ewa
— Carolina Gómez V. (@carovinales) 31 de octubre de 2017
#Mezcal to enjoy the verses of #sonjarocho
The Oaxaca Digital account shares this photograph of how a mezcal shot may be presented:
Un buen #Mezcal de #Oaxaca. pic.twitter.com/mGzMjxzI6p
— Oaxaca Digital (@Oaxaca_Digital) 10 de noviembre de 2017
A good #Mezcal from #Oaxaca.
Carolina Espina recalls the popular Mexican saying: “para todo mal, un mezcal” (for everything bad, a mezcal):
Y para todo mal…#mezcal…!! pic.twitter.com/SQUWgKmElg
— Carolina Espina (@espinacarola) 4 de noviembre de 2017
And for everything bad…#mezcal..!!
Mezcal is, without a doubt, in vogue. Locals and tourists alike seek to taste a bit of tradition.

author: J. Tadeo


text:
In Kyrgyzstan, Sheep Sacrificed to Stem Car Crash Scourge · Global Voices
Eurasianet

Sheep image from pexels.com (CC0).
The following is a partner post from EurasiaNet.org written by Nurjamal Djanibekova. Republished with permission.
Local officials and religious leaders in southern Kyrgyzstan ritually sacrificed a sheep this week in the hope of stemming the persistent scourge of car accidents along the country’s highways.
Their ceremony was only partly symbolic. An imam from the town of Toktogul, in the south of the country, said that as local administration officials handed out meat to passing drivers on the road from the capital, Bishkek, to the city of Osh, they pleaded with them to drive more carefully.
“We gave meat to everybody that passed, explaining that the food was from God. We prayed so that everything would be well with these drivers and we urged them to pay attention on the road and to abide by the rules,” the imam, Alipbai Boroshbayev, told EurasiaNet.org.
Boroshbayev said the cost of the exercise was covered by local community leaders and clerics.
The head of the traffic police in the Jalalabad region, Nurlan Sarkarov, said his office supported the initiative.
“Residents and the authorities decided to hold this ceremony according Islamic rites, it was all their idea. They did it on a road that we are responsible for, so the police helped them hand out food to those that stopped and also assisted in giving advice,” Sarkarov said.
Many drivers in Kyrgyzstan engage in cat-and-mouse games with traffic police, driving at excess speeds whenever they can get away with it. Oncoming drivers regularly warn one another when approaching patrol units, so as to avoid being stopped. The combination of speeding, bad roads and sharp bends, particularly on the main south-to-north highway, often prove fatal, however.
Sarkarov said traffic police are often limited in what they can do.
“They are places you just cannot station a patrol, like on sharp corners. But all the rules state you cannot exceed the speed limit in those places. Drivers ignore this, and sometimes at night they even fall asleep at the wheel,” he said.
Traffic police say 695 people died in traffic accidents in Kyrgyzstan in the first 10 months of the year. That represents a drop on the same period in 2016, when 771 people were killed on the roads. Speaking about this year’s figures, police said more than one-third of the fatalities were the result of speeding.

author: Eurasianet


text:
Musicians Think There’s #NoGreaterTime to Advocate for Change in Trinidad & Tobago · Global Voices
Atiba Rogers

The group of creatives behind the musical initiative for change, #NoGreaterTime. Photo courtesy the group, used with permission.
Just about a year ago, soca singer Kees Dieffenthaller, spoken word artist Muhammad Muwakil, designer Anya Ayoung Chee, music producer Keron “Sheriff” Thompson and other Trinidad and Tobago-based creatives came together to create the project, No Greater Time.
The collaborative musical undertaking features over 35 artists, including calypso legends David Rudder, Chris “Tambu” Herbert and Ella Andall, contemporary soca stars like Destra, and the new generation of soca and calypso artistes, such as Voice and Aaron Duncan.
Heavily influenced by the 1986 calypso classic “Now Is De Time,” the Trinbagonian response to “We Are the World”, which raised money for Africa, the #NoGreaterTime music video has already been viewed over 19,000 times on Facebook alone, and close to 15,000 times on YouTube. The underlying message is to “unite people across the country rallying our citizens to collectively create a more peaceful, prosperous and unified Trinbagonian society”.
Some of the artists are now trying to make the project (which thus far, has included the song, a video and a website) more tangible by performing and sharing the message behind the “pore-raising anthem”. The concert is scheduled for November 26, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad's capital city.
To learn more about this inspiring project, Global Voices interviewed the music producer, Keron Thompson, better known as Sheriff, to talk about #NoGreaterTime's genesis and mission, as it picks up momentum with the upcoming concert.
Composer Neel Dwala and producer Keron “Sheriff” Thomson recording the track to #NoGreaterTime. Photograph by Kibwe Brathwaite, used with permission.
Global Voices (GV): What was the impetus behind the #NoGreaterTime initiative? Kees said all the artists were “feeling like something had changed and something needed to be said” — what was the tipping point? And how do you go from saying something (which the song and video accomplish very well) to doing something?
Sheriff (S): I think I remember the defining moment being the murder of a female Republic Bank Employee. She was missing for a few days and when she was found, the entire country just felt heavy. Muhammed and Anya had started the conversation and Kes had joined in. My inclusion was rather serendipitous. The conversations echoed between them and other creatives, people of that ilk, so it was only natural that we all used our gifts as the best medium to do something. We all felt like we [had] had enough and it was time.
GV: Can you talk about the process of assembling this group of amazing artists to create the song and video?
S: The artists were meticulously chosen. It was difficult because with the wealth of talent we have here, it was hard to be able to include all the artists and musicians we wanted and not miss certain key people. We tried to cover all genres and all generations and get the people we believe who would echo the sentiment of the words we wrote. We still didn't get everyone we set out to get, but the energy of everyone involved seemed to align in the right way.
Soca singer Kees Dieffenthaller (R) recording his parts of the song. Photo by Kibwe Brathwaite, used with permission.
GV: What were the actual recording sessions (for both the song and the video) like and how long did they take to complete?
S: We were recording the demo for about three months, but the bulk of the song and video were recorded simultaneously over a two-day period at NAPA sometime in April 2017. The remainder of [the] artists recorded at studio express and at my studio for an additional couple of days. Ollie (the video's director, Oliver Milne) and his team were present for all of it.
GV: What outcome do your hope the #NoGreaterTime campaign will achieve?
S: Personally, I never really thought of it. Just getting to the finish line was success in and of itself. I think I just hope it has a snowball effect and many more good things come out of this as a result.
Spoken word artist Muhammad Muwakil, of the group Freetown Collective, pores over the sheet music at the recording session. Photo by Kibwe Brathwaite, used with permission.
GV: Muhammad Muwakil said it's important for artists to give answers to the problems of their times — what are the answers that this song/video puts forward? And how does it move from conversation to action?
S: There are too many problems in our time to actually list, but as he said we each have our duty to do what we can in whatever capacity we are able to. I think the fact that the question, ‘There's no greater time for…?’ made each of us think about that honestly and our responses echoed our varied views and beliefs.
GV: I assume everyone contributed their time and talent to this project gratis, but is there a charitable aspect to it? Is there some sort of built-in mechanism intended to raise funds for worthwhile causes, and if so, can you give us details?
S: We collectively decided to [let] @TOGETHERWI_ be the arm that helps deal with that. We know that there's only so much we can do and that organization has their ears to the ground in more ways than we collectively could.
GV: How do you think this initiative impacts the socio-political climate in Trinidad and Tobago?
S: At this point I don't know that it will, but I know we all hope that it does in a positive way. I hope [it] brings more initiatives like this to the forefront. A lot of good people in society have great ideas and are willing to give themselves and their time to help make even the smallest change.
GV: Measurability and transparency are important in initiatives such as these. Are there tools in place to measure the effects of this campaign? (e.g.: comparing its success with the 1986 Calypsonians for Africa song “Now Is The Time?”)
S: I, for one, didn't measure it in any way and I can't recall anything being measured apart from taking note of the traction we were getting and how far we were from where we wanted to be. I don't think we made any direct comparisons to anything else or measured the success to that extent. We were all so focused on the task at hand which was getting the project done successfully and efficiently and making sure it made it to as many eyes and ears possible.
Members of the rapso music group, 3 Canal, sing their part of the song, #NoGreaterTime. Photo by Kibwe Brathwaite, used with permission.
GV: What has the social media impact/response been so far? And how do you expect your audience to take the message from a virtual space to a real life space?
S: The response has been great. So many [people] have been a part of the cause and shown so much support. I can't count the amount of people who told me they loved the song and video and gave endless compliments. I, for one, am a bit selfish and think we can can get greater impact or do more, but with a project like this it's important to have longevity rather than great impact for a short period of time.
GV: Can you give us tangible examples of how this song is uniting people, which we understand was one of its key goals?
S: I don't have many examples, but there's just something that resonates in the video that highlights the things that we may not see otherwise. The love. The togetherness. The unity. So many people have said how proud they feel after seeing it and how much it strikes [a] chord with them. The video is the thing that makes people feel. It's the the first thing that makes people want to help, change and do/be better.
GV: “Together we aspire, together we achieve // and oftentimes I wonder is it something we still believe” — Based on these lyrics, do you feel like Trinbagonians have lost their way? What are some concrete ways to fix this crime problem, which has got so out of hand? And how can this project — and the people involved — begin to lobby for implementation? Or does the project just stop with an inspirational message?
S: It isn't so much that we lost our way as much as we need to have more people taking action. Not just talking about change, but being change or being a part of that change. We have a way here of chiming in with opinions and not much action to support it. ‘Together we aspire together we achieve’ is our motto but, given the way things are here sometimes with all the crime and negative stories, it feels like we don't practice what we preach and we all fall short in some way or another. We can do better. All of us.

author: Atiba Rogers


text:
As Critiques of UN Peacekeeping Missions Grow, Africa Seeks Peace on its own Terms · Global Voices
Sylvain Keller

Indian military doctors attend to a child in Kiwanja, the Democratic Republic of Congo via The Blue Berets. CC BY-SA 2.0
United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions are ubiquitous on the African continent despite growing critiques of inefficacy. Peacekeepers work in cooperation with African military troops with increasingly broad mandates including civilian protection, counterinsurgency operations, and counterterrorism, among others. UN peacekeeping missions in places like Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Côte d'Ivoire have been hailed as successes, yet UN troops’ ground activities on the ground have been heavily questioned.
Since the first mission in 1948, UN peacekeeping missions have evolved drastically but the main goal has always been disarmament demobilization and securing peace on the ground. By May 2015, 80 percent of UN peacekeepers were deployed on the African continent (80,000 troops) to take part in nine UN peacekeeping missions. Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan have sent the most troops on these African missions, while the United States, Japan, and France have been the top funders.
UN peacekeepers, also known as ‘Blue Helmets,’ have served as observers as well as soldiers, sometimes engaging in combat without a government's consent. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan mandated reforms aimed at improving UN peacekeeping mission efficiency with broader responsibilities, including the use of force.
A 2014 Human Rights Watch report claimed that UN peacekeepers and Congolese forces failed to prevent an attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that left at least 30 civilians dead. In the Central African Republic (CAR), African Union peacekeepers were implicated in the disappearances of 11 people in 2014. French peacekeepers were also under investigation in CAR for sexual assault. France opened an investigation, but prosecutors later dropped the cases saying there was not enough evidence to charge the soldiers.
Paula Donovan, co-director of AIDS-Free World, reacted to the news:
This is a travesty. If African soldiers had sexually abused little boys in Paris, the investigation wouldn’t be closed until every perpetrator was behind bars.
In a March 2017 speech to the UN, DRC president Joseph Kabila requested a significant reduction of UN peacekeepers on the ground. He argued that their presence was pointless and impeded the Congolese administration's ability to take action. Current UN Secretary-General António Guterres saw Kabila's statement as an opportunity for him to tighten his grip over the DRC and crackdown on public dissent. Yet, according to Pierre Okungo, a Kinshasa politician, a substantial reduction of UN peacekeepers on the ground in the DRC could lead to possible implosion and destruction.
In Kofi Annan's memoir Interventions: A Life in War and Peace, he laments the lack of coordination and awareness between the UN and central governments in conflicts in Somalia (1992) and Rwanda (1994). In the case of Rwanda, the UN did not enact an intervention on the ground until a year after the civil war began, due to a lack of information and coordination on the reality of tensions after the 1994 elections.
The ‘G5 Sahel,’ comprised of Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad was created in 2014 to better coordinate military and development efforts in central Africa. During UN general assemblies, talks initiated by France took place to determine the future of G5 Sahel.  UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated:
The situation in the Sahel challenges us all. The sense of sacrifice [of 3 Chadian peacekeepers of the UN Mission in Mali, killed on 26/10/17]  compels us to urgently find solutions to counter terrorism in Mali, while ensuring the security and safety of United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) contingents.
The African Union currently cooperates in South Sudan, where the demise of the central state has made UN missions on the ground extremely complicated.
UN Peacekeeping Operations in Africa Source: the United Nations credits: Danielle Renwick & Julia Ro. Public Domain
To leaders such as Joseph Kabila (DRC) or former Chadian president Hissene Habré, the Blue Helmets are seen as “inefficient interferers” only serving westerns interests. African countries working to build their own peace seek the continuance of foreign aid, not a foreign military presence on the ground. This may mitigate wasted resources taken by UN peacekeeping missions in Africa who bring ill-prepared soldiers. Many voices have opined that it is time for the African continent to lead the peace-keeping efforts in the region:
UN Peacekeeping Missions: A Track Record of Failures in Africa? > https://t.co/ugCk0CKdmX #F2FA #africa #panafrican pic.twitter.com/dK3cyVuPQT
— Face2face Africa (@Face2faceAFRICA) May 22, 2017
This short documentary does a fine job underlining failures of UN peacekeeping missions: https://t.co/KyKK0uZWI4
— Channing Arnold (@MonticelloCacti) February 8, 2017
Given slew of abuses in #SouthSudan & #CAR, when/can we call UN peacekeeping missions failures? asks @hannahekbryce https://t.co/yWVrAomqvC
— Hannah McNeish (@HannahMcNeish) March 24, 2016
For example, in Somalia, AMISOM (African Union Mission In Somalia) member states provide troops while the UN provides funding, training, logistics, and planning support. Since the establishment of the AU’s Peace and Security Council, the AU has authorized over 64,000 peacekeepers to missions on the continent including fights against the Lord Resistance Army in Central Africa and Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Over the last few decades, UN troops on the ground have kept many countries in conflict from falling into total disarray. Yet, myriad conflicts still persist in Africa and the threat of terrorism is at an all-time high. UN peacekeeping missions are crucial to African development and security and UN agencies like the United Nations Human Rights Commision (UNHCR) deploy important funds (US$ 7.7 billion annual fund in 2017) to mitigate civilian crises on the ground.
At the same time, however, Africa continues to seek strategies to secure peace and stability on its own terms.

author: Sylvain Keller


text:
Glimpses of Hope as Dominica Rebuilds After Hurricane Maria · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A screenshot from the time lapse film “Dominica on the Move”, by Yuri A. Jones.
In an effort to track citizen media stories of hope and resilience after the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season that wreaked havoc on several islands along the Caribbean archipelago, Global Voices recently entered into a partnership with Covela Foundation and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) for the Caribbean Voice initiative.
Through this project, we've asked social media users region-wide to hashtag their experiences as they undertake rebuilding efforts. While natural disasters routinely make headlines, there are also stories to be found in the recovery process — inspiring stories of strength, determination and kindness.
One of the narratives that's recently caught our eye comes from the Facebook group, Embrace Dominica. Typically a travel and tourism-based page, it has taken up a bit of an advocacy role for the island's natural environment after the devastation of Hurricane Maria.
Over the last couple of months, the page has shared videos about the ways in which both the private and public sectors have “been working tirelessly to ensure a sense of normalcy across the island”, including a story about one company that has pledged to rebuild seven primary schools and hundreds of homes.
The page has also applauded the support Dominica has received from its Caribbean neighbours, and intermittently posts photos of “scenes of recovery”, including rescued wildlife.
But certainly one of the most moving uploads on Embrace Dominica is a timelapse film by Yuri A. Jones, which was shot between the months of April (pre-hurricane, when the footage shows off the natural splendour of the island) and September 2017 (post- Hurricane Maria).
The filmmaker talked about the process on his blog:
I wanted to show various forms of nature in Dominica, such as rivers, mountains and beaches […] I also wanted to feature the Milky Way and so I reused the Grand Bay footage and captured a few new sequences from the Lindo Park hardcourt (2:30) and at Freshwater Lake.
But then came the hurricanes — Irma and Maria. Jones continued:
Dominica was spared from Hurricane Irma, but we still felt its effects in the form of high gusts of wind and abnormally rough seas. I was able to capture these effects most succinctly in two sequences.
The first was captured from The Morne, overlooking the capital (0:54). The branches on the right of the frame give you an idea of how strong the wind was at that time. The second was on the Bayfront, near the Fort Young Hotel (1:33). If I didn’t know better, I would say that this was footage of the tempestuous Atlantic Ocean, rather than the usually calm Caribbean Sea.
We weren’t so lucky with Hurricane Maria. The storm hit us as a Category 5 hurricane on Monday 18 September, with winds of 165+ MPH, while traveling at 9 MPH. The slow rate of movement coupled with high winds and torrential rain completely devastated Dominica.
No one was left untouched. Even the most prepared were caught off-guard.
The storm hit at night and I was unable to capture any footage of its destructive process. This is a probably a good thing, as I’m sure that if the storm had hit during the day, many people would have been tempted to venture outside. This would have led to numerous injuries and quite possibly, deaths.
Approximately one third of the footage shown in Dominica On The Move comes from during or after the passage of Hurricane Maria. From 1:56 onward, you will see the drastic difference in the landscape and how it changed after the storm.
He concluded:
This film is definitely one of the crowning achievements of my journey as a photographer. More than 10,000 images and countless hours (in the field and post-production) were finely put together into a 3 minute, professional grade, 4K resolution video.
I’m already planning future timelapse films, to hopefully showcase the return of our lush, green landscapes.
The video does a good job of illustrating the magnificence of Dominica's landscape prior to the storms, making the post-hurricane imagery harder to swallow. Viewers suddenly understand what the country has lost and what its inhabitants have suffered, in a much more tangible way.
The rebuilding efforts continue, with the cleaning up of treasured nature sites. The country's tourism authority is even offering “voluntourism packages” for anyone who would like to assist with the recovery and rebuilding efforts following the passage of Hurricane Maria.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Japanese Students Practice Taking Cover for Missiles Passing Overhead. But What About a Direct Attack? · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Caption: “North Korea Missiles: drills do not include scenario for damage to nuclear power plants. Screencap from ANN YouTube channel.
After civil defense drills were organized for the first time in local schools, some residents in Japan's Fukui Prefecture are expressing concerns that there are no instructions on what to do in the event of a missile drill on a nuclear power plant other than “take cover”. Fukui Prefecture, a small, rural prefecture on the Japan Sea coast located about 500 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, is home to the largest concentration of nuclear power plants in Japan, if not the entire world.
On November 14, students at 219 public elementary and middle schools throughout the prefecture practiced what to do following a notification over the national J-Alert system about an incoming missile from North Korea. In a drill conducted at one middle school in Fukui City, a representative of the Cabinet Office (the government department under the prime minister of Japan) explains to students what to do in the “unlikely event” (万が一) of a missile attack and subsequent warning. As part of the drill, students quickly leave their class and take cover in a school corridor.
In the drill, the school was notified that a missile was “passing overhead” (通過) but not actually targeting Fukui Prefecture itself. Fukui residents interviewed for the story expressed concern that there were no instructions about what to actually do in the event of a missile attack on Fukui, especially since the prefecture is home to 15 nuclear power plants — the largest concentration of reactors in Japan.
One Twitter user posted a screenshot of a local newspaper story that explained that, according to US estimates, an attack on a nuclear power plant would be expected to result in at least 3,600 deaths and another 6,000 injured.
「福井で初のミサイル訓練　原発攻撃想定せず　最多１５基立地しているのに」（今日の中日新聞）。いろいろ酷すぎる。 pic.twitter.com/fhQNIKEN0c
— sinwanohate・レイジ (@sinwanohate) November 15, 2017
“Fukui's first missile drills ddo not include scenario for attack on nuclear power plants, even though, at 15 reactors, it's the largest number in Japan.”
This is just awful.
Neither Fukui City, the capital of Fukui Prefecture, nor Tsuruga, a small city of 70,000 that is host to or directly neighbors five nuclear reactors at three sites, have detailed instructions on what to do in the event of a missile attack. Both cities simply instruct that, if indoors during an attack, take shelter in a suitable nearby structure or underground. If indoors, move away from windows.
Both cities then link to the Cabinet Secretariat civil protection portal site, which features information in Japanese and English about what to do in case of a missile attack.
Excerpt of “Actions in case of missiles flying to Japan“, an English-language poster from the Japanese government explaining what action to take in case of a missile attack.
In 2017, missile alerts and drills are nothing new in Japan after North Korea conducted a series of both missile and nuclear tests earlier in the year. North Korea's most recent nuclear test occurred on September 3, 2017, when North Korea detonated what was believed to be a thermonuclear bomb about 10 times more destructive than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. North Korea has also tested short-range, medium-range and long-range missiles throughout 2017. Some of the tests in 2017 occurred close to or even over Japan.
Japan's emergency alert system gives people six minutes between the warning and a potential missile hitting https://t.co/fV4RaIIvnt
— Yumiko Ono (@yumikoono) September 18, 2017
In response, the Japanese government took advantage of the country's existing earthquake notification system to send out mobile phone text alerts several times during the fall, whenever a ballistic missile was launched from North Korea. As with the recent worries expressed in Fukui, a common complaint throughout the crisis has been that there were no instructions on what Japanese residents should do in the case of a missile launch, much less a direct hit, other than “take cover”.
Three reactors operated at one facility by Kansai Electric Power Company in Mihama, next to the city of Tsuruga, in Fukui Prefecture. The reactor complex is located in the Wakasa region of the Japan Sea coast. Photo by Nevin Thompson.
A missile attack on one of Fukui's numerous nuclear reactors is not regarded as a hypothetical situation either. In September, North Korea threatened to “sink” Japan into the sea. The coastal Wakasa region, where Fukui's 15 reactors are concentrated, neighbors Maizuru, the main Japanese navy base on the Japan Sea Coast.
The region also lies next to Lake Biwa, Japan's largest freshwater lake and a source of drinking water for nearly 15 million people in Japan's densely populated Kansai region. While most of the reactors in Fukui Prefecture are currently not in operation, all store significant amounts of highly radioactive spent fuel rods. An attack on the reactors could potentially scatter tons of toxic, radioactive debris, polluting the lake.
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.
In July 2017, the head of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority, which helps oversee the nuclear power plants located in Fukui Prefecture, was forced to backtrack after trying to reassure local residents that from North Korea's point of view it would make more sense to target Tokyo with a missile than a reactor in the countryside. He was forced to withdraw his remarks.
Some commentators wish the perceived danger of the nuclear power plants would be eliminated in the first place. As one Twitter user remarked:
訓練する前に廃炉だろ。
原発“想定せず”に不安　最多・福井でミサイル訓練 https://t.co/3M8wWN0n1E
原発への被害は想定されておらず、地元からは不安の声も上がっています。
— ジョンレモン (@horiris) November 19, 2017
Tweet: Before we start drills [for missile attacks] we should get rid of the reactors first.
Article: In Fukui, home of the largest concentration of nuclear reactors in Japan, unease over “no plans” to hold missile drills. There are no estimates of how much the reactors would be damaged, causing locals to voice their concerns.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
How Chinese See the Fall of Their Country’s Old Friend Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe during a visit in August 2014. Photo from Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
As political and military forces in Zimbabwe moved to push longtime President Robert Mugabe from power, Chinese were watching the path of removal of a man many described as a dictator with interest.
Mugabe, 93, has ruled Zimbabwe for more than 30 years since the country’s independence from British colonial rule until today. When the majority of western countries started to sanction Zimbabwe for Mugabe’s land seizure policy and human rights abuses in the early 2000s, China stepped in and became Mugabe’s most important ally.
Throughout the years, relations between Zimbabwe and China have grown closer through loans, construction and investment projects and diplomatic visits. Between 2010 and 2015, China granted Zimbabwe over US$1 billion in loans.
Such financial support has led Zimbabwe’s opposition party to accuse Beijing of aiding Mugabe and stealing billions from the country with illicit trade in the diamond industry. And, in fact, Zimbabwe’s economy has been deteriorating under Mugabe’s regime, and corruption is a serious problem. At the start of November Mugabe sacked his vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, in a move to seemingly position his own wife Grace Mugabe to take over the presidency.
The situation culminated on November 15, 2017 when the military took control of the country. Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans poured into streets of the capital Harare to celebrate and chanted anti-Mugabe slogans like “Mugabe must go” and “No to Mugabe dynasty”. ZANU-PF removed Mugabe as leader of the ruling party, pulling Mnangagwa into the spot, and threatened to impeach Mugabe if he didn't step down as president.
So far, however, Mugabe has refused to resign till today.
Quite a number of international media outlets have speculated China’s involvement in the Zimbabwean coup as the military action took place just three days after the commander of the Zimbabwe army, Constantino Chiwenga, returned from a visit to China.
On popular social media platform Weibo, many Chinese netizens have also repeated the theory:
政变的总司令刚从中国回去，一回去就政变，自己想吧
The chief of the coup just returned from China. The coup happened soon after the return, draw your own conclusion.
老朋友已经老了，成天听枕边风吹。枕边风总说中国坏话。前两年老朋友还说他们国家经济不好都是中国的缘故呢。这样的老朋友让人寒心啊。还是石家庄某学院的新学生更让人放心。
The old friend has become very old and easily influenced by his wife. His wife had many negative remarks about China. Just two years ago, this old friend even said the country’s poor economy was thanks to China. Such an old friend was not reliable. The new guys graduated from the Shijiazhuang Army Academy.
Zimbabwe has sent its military officials to China for training since the 1960s and reportedly, former Vice President Mnangagwa was also trained by the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Beyond possible Chinese influence on the coup, many netizens saw parallels between the situation in Zimbabwe and a certain period of China's own history — the arrest of the “Gang of Four” by the military on October 6, 1976, a month after former state leader Mao Zedong’s death.
The gang's leading figure was Mao's last wife, Jiang Qing. The comment below is one of the most popular on Weibo:
这次事件，基本上可以断定是一次非洲版的“粉碎四人帮”事件
This incident is basically an African version of the crackdown on the Gang of Four.
Just as Mao Zedong was considered a founding father of the People's Republic of China, Mugabe was viewed as a great leader who played a central role in liberating Zimbabwe from British colonial rule.
Even given the damage inflicted on the country's economy and the human rights abuses that have happened under Mugabe, he was appointed as the chairman of the 54-state African Union in 2015.
Many comments on Twitter said Mugabe's fall demonstrates the power of the people. For example, @twiqiang08 wrote:
津巴布韦人民撕毀他们曾经的“伟大领袖、伟大舵手、伟大导师、红太阳”穆加贝的巨幅画像。
评: 人民一旦觉醒，所有的“伟大”都会荡然无存，独裁者就会像垃圾一样被扫进历史垃圾堆！ pic.twitter.com/YiQNeX6VGJ
— 推墙 (@tuiqiang08) November 19, 2017
People in Zimbabwe tear down huge portrait of Mugabe, their once “great leader, great captain, great teacher and red sun”. Comment: When people wake up, all “greatness” will vanish, the dictator will be relegated to the dustbin of history.
The description of “great leader, great captain, great teacher and red sun” were used to describe Mao Zedong. Recently, Chinese-state affiliated media outlets have started calling President Xi Jinping as “great leader” after the 19th national congress of the CCP and recently used more than 15,000 Chinese words to explain why “Xi is the unrivaled helmsman who will steer China toward this great dream”.
On Weibo, one user was skeptical of the euphemism of “people's power” as dictators are often endorsed by “people” in the first place:
看来全世界皆然，所谓人民，只知道欢呼。穆加贝被他们欢呼上台，视为救世主，把他们都搞成万亿富翁，人均寿命从60多岁降到30多岁，现在终于倒台了，又来欢呼。
The so-called “people” are just cheering squads, people throughout the whole world are the same. When Mugabe came into power, they cheered and took him as savior. Eventually he turned them all into billionaires (because of the devaluation of currency) and their average lifespan was reduced from 60s to 30s. [According to World Bank report, the life expectancy of Zimbabwe had dropped from 62 years in mid-1980s to 40 years old in 2002 and 2003. In recent years the figure is back to 59.] Now that he has fallen, they cheer again.
But Twitter user @huangmeijuan pointed out that the cheering crowds are forced to endorse dictators because there is no room for dissent:
今天的津巴布韦街头，到处是”穆加贝滚蛋‘’ 的口号!人民不需要伟大领袖。
伟大领袖消失了，并没有天下大乱，也没有军阀混战，以前专门镇压示威游行的警察，早就躲得远远的，一个都没有出来。因此，不是民主的国家本质就是一座大监狱，所谓的伟大领袖只是监狱狱长而已。 pic.twitter.com/O8rbktZyra
— 美娟美心 (@huangmeijuan) November 19, 2017
Today, slogans like “Mugabe must go”, “People don’t need a great leader” have occupied Zimbabwe’s streets. Now that the great leader has gone, the country has not fallen into chaos or warlordism. The police responsible for the rally crackdowns of the past have run away, no one has shown up. The nature of a undemocratic country is like a prison and the great leader is just a prison guard.
Chinese political dissidents on Twitter expressed wishful thinking about which authoritarian leader would fall next. @BaiqiaoCh said:
又一个臭名昭著的大独裁者被轰下台了。津巴布韦发生政变，93岁的总统穆加貝被赶下台。穆加貝跟中共关系非常密切，2015年还闹剧般地获得过中共颁发的孔子和平奖。下一个被政变下台的会是谁呢？北朝鲜的金胖子还是西朝鲜的习包子？太令人期待了！ pic.twitter.com/bxBV64oPtF
— 唐柏桥 (@BaiqiaoCh) November 15, 2017
Another notorious dictator has fallen. 93-year-old Mugabe was forced to step down in a coup in Zimbabwe. Mugabe has close relation with the Chinese Communist Party and in 2015 he was even awarded with the Confucian Peace Prize. Which [dictator] would be the next to step down in a coup? North Korea Fatty Kim or West Korea [meaning China] Xi the bun? Am so eager to see this happen.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Donate to Global Voices—Help Us Keep Connecting the World · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

November 28 is #GivingTuesday, a day dedicated to global generosity of all kinds, and we're hoping that Global Voices is one of the organizations whose work you'll support this year by making a donation.
Our organisation stands out as one of the earliest and strongest examples of how media committed to building community and defending human rights can positively influence the way people experience events happening beyond their own communities and national borders.
At Global Voices we've built a strong and empathetic community by reporting stories and forging deep linkages across cultures, languages and differences of opinion. Our work over the past 12 years is proof that that human connections across lines of difference can change how people understand the world.
As people seek to understand how to live harmoniously in a difficult global environment, sharing and scaling our experience and expertise becomes an even more urgent part of our mission.
So please make a donation to help us continue the work of building bridges, to combat the forces of hatred and intolerance that threaten to make our world a less hospitable place.
Donate now »

author: Georgia Popplewell


text:
Identity Theft Risk Prompts Estonia to Block the Certificates of 760,000 ID Cards · Global Voices
Freya Yost

Screenshot from a promotional video about Estonian ID cards from government's website e-Estonia.com.
On November 4, 2017 the Estonian authorities disabled the certificates of more than 760,000 national electronic ID cards due to a security vulnerability that could have compromised cards issued between October 16, 2014 and October 26, 2017, and possibly even earlier.
More so than most other countries, Estonia relies on digital technology for many basic services including getting prescription medication, voting, bank transfers, and digital signatures. In fact 98% of Estonians have an ID card that they are able to use as a valid travel ID within Europe, access health insurance, and pay taxes. Digital ID cards were introduced in 2002 and have become the cornerstone of the country’s e-services. Estonia has one of the world’s fastest broadband services and has established strong digital literacy, widespread internet connectivity and e-governance.
The certificate software within the blocked ID cards will be replaced with new, more secure one, in a national-wide effort to deal with the risk of privacy breach. These certificates were deactivated after a group of researchers from the Czech Republic identified a security flaw in the cards’ microchips that could have led to major breaches of citizen's personal data. The researchers found that the chips installed in ID cards issued between October 16, 2014 and October 26, 2017 (though possibly as early as 2012) were vulnerable to infiltration of both private and public keys and possible identity theft.
The chips were manufactured by Infineon, a microelectronics company with headquarters in the US and Germany, that provides services including government identification, mobile security and embedded security and trusted computing.
The Estonian government says that no infiltration has yet taken place, and that authorities disabled the affected ID cards as a precautionary measure to ensure no harm to citizen data. To guarantee that e-government continued to function, an estimated 35,000 people who use their ID card for their work, such as government officials and doctors, were updated to a safer version first.
On November 2, 2017 Prime Minister Jüri Ratas said in a statement:
E-riigi toimimine püsib usaldusel ning riik ei saa lubada Eesti ID-kaardi omaniku identiteedi vargust. Praeguse teadmise järgi ei ole e-identideedi vargust aset leidnud, kuid PPA ja RIA ohuhinnang näitab, et see oht on muutunud reaalseks.
The functioning of an e-state is based on trust and the state cannot afford identity theft happening to the owner of an Estonian ID card. As far as we currently know, there has been no instances of e-identity theft, but the threat assessment of the Police and Border Guard Board and the Information System Authority indicates that this threat has become real.
The security threat uncovered by Czech researchers is not limited to Estonian ID cards alone. Presumably, all chipsets produced by Infineon during that time carry the same flaw. Therefore computer systems around the world that use Infineon chipsets are also at risk of infiltration. The vulnerability illuminated the grave security challenges that can come with the digitization of national ID cards and systems.
Social media discussions about this issue included Twitter comments by Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the former President of the Republic of Estonia (2006-2016) who suggested that the “real story” is about Gemalto, the manufacturer of the cards, which appears to have learned about the vulnerability in February, but had not shared this information with customers. Since 2001 Estonian electronic ID cards have been manufactured by Trub AG and its successor Gemalto AG, Swiss companies that use Infineon technologies.
Former President Ilves claimed the Dutch firm “informed commercial users but not the public sector (paying) clients,” urging journalists to look more in depth into the issue.
Estonian ID is not the only one made by Gemalto. However, no other govt made any noise. Probably because the cards are issued but never used.
— Giulio (@dullboy) November 8, 2017
Or perhaps the story is a tech-empathetic gov't that responded quickly and measuredly to a crypto security vulnerability. That is news!
— Andres Jaan Tack (@ajtack) November 8, 2017
Estonia's move to replace the cards’ certificates also attracted attention from information society enthusiasts across the region of Eastern and Central Europe. In a Facebook discussion, a Serbian IT expert living in Estonia explained the end user perspective through comments:
Obavestili su nas pre nekoliko meseci (dok je rizik bio samo teoretski), a pre par nedelja su pustili update sertifikata kroz zvaničnu app (ne mora da se menja ID). Trenutno ume da štuca autorizacija, ali imamo i rezervni način autorizovanja (preko mobilne app) tako da nismo blokirani.
We were notified several months ago (while the risk was only theoretic), and a few weeks ago they released updates of the certificates through an official app (so one doesn't have to change the ID). At the moment the authorization process sometimes has some hiccups, but there's a backup authorisation method via a mobile phone app, so we are not blocked at all.

author: Freya Yost