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Assaults on Rights Activists Harm Civil Society — And Saudi Arabia’s Progress · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia bids farewell to President Barack Obama at Erga Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 27, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Saudi Arabia has an enduring reputation for systematic violations of human rights, but it is nevertheless a sitting member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Gulf kingdom was re-elected to the Council in October 2016.
The country's re-election to the Council has not kept authorities from continuing to target and harass activists over their rights activities.
On 18 December, security forces detained human rights defender and social activist Issa al-Nukhaifi in the region of Jizan (southwest Saudi Arabia), pending investigation. According to the Beirut-based Gulf Center for Human Rights (GC4HR), he was arrested for his activism against corruption and for his online activities. It is not clear which posts have been used by the Investigation and Prosecution Authority in Jizan city as evidence against him.
Al-Nukhaifi is an active Twitter user with more than 42k followers. He tweets on a variety of topics including the war in Syria, corruption and poverty in Saudi Arabia, and the displacement of families living on the Saudi-Yemeni border for security reasons. He also supports the creation of an elected Parliament in the conservative kingdom, which only has a 150-member consultative council, all members of which are appointed by the king.
According to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, al-Nukhaifi may have been arrested for supporting a campaign aimed at creating a 30-member virtual “popular Saudi parliament” to be elected from Saudi writers, academics and activists who are on Twitter. This is the fourth time Saudi authorities have apprehended al-Nukhaifi. He was only released in April 2016 after spending three years and eight months in prison for his rights activities.
Photos of Fadhel al-Shoulah and his son. Picture shared by his wife Hajar Al-Tarouti on Twitter.
Earlier this month, the specialized criminal court in the capital Riyadh increased the prison sentence of Isaa al-Hamid, a founding member and former President of the Civil and Political Rights Association in Saudi Arabia (ACPRA), from nine to eleven years. He was convicted on a number of charges that include “incitement to breach public order”, violation of the anti-cybercrime law, and insulting the judiciary and the kingdom's highest religious body.
According to Amnesty International, the charges relate to statements and articles al-Hamid published online, in which he spoke about the right to demonstrate and the harassment of families of political prisoners by the interior ministry. He also called for an investigation into human rights abuses.
On 6 November, the same court sentenced social activist and script writer Fadhel al-Soulah to four years in jail and an additional four-year travel ban for denouncing the death penalty against leading Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed early this year. According to the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, Shoulah also accused Saudi authorities of spreading “takfiri” ideology, whose adherents follow a strict interpretation of Islam and advocate that Muslims who do not follow their interpretation of “apostates” should be sentenced to death.
Al-Shoulah was arrested in December 2015. He is known for his activism against sectarianism and the discrimination against Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia, a minority group accounting for 10 to 15 percent of the population, who are mostly concentrated in the country's eastern province. His production company, Qithara for Media Production and Distribution, produced a number of short films, animated videos, and featured films aimed at raising awareness on a variety of social issues including sectarianism, child sexual molestation, water conservation, and housing for orphans.
ان سمعت ان #فاضل_الشعلة داعية الوحدة والسلم والتسامح يحكام في محكمة الارهاب، فاعلم ان من يحكامه هو:
القضاء السعودي !!#السعودية
— Malik Alsaeed (@Malik1406saeed) November 7, 2016
if you heard that Fadhel al-Shoulah, an advocate for unity, peace and tolerance is standing trial at a terrorism court, be aware that he is being prosecuted by the Saudi Judiciary
Saudi Arabia's ongoing crackdown on peaceful activism is not only shattering families and depriving activists of their freedom and basic rights, but it is also costing the kingdom the work and creativity of its brightest and most talented reformists like al-Shoulah and many others.
As writer Ali Al Grash writes, the “unjust” trials of “patriotic, peaceful, and creative” activists will only reinforce citizen “mistrust in state institutions.” In another Facebook post he published on 6 November, he wrote that the sentencing of al-Shoulah “confirms the lack of wisdom and the insistence of the authorities on escalation and their disregard for human lives” at times where Saudi Arabia “is in need of unity and the initiative for comprehensive reform.”

author: Afef Abrougui


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Iranian-American Designer in New York Leverages Fashion to Create Social Impact · Global Voices
Omid Memarian

Model displays one of the scarves inspired by the maps of cities for Cityzn by Azin. Photo shared by Azi Valy and used with permission.
In light of all the wars and conflicts happening in the world, a designer in New York City has created a brand inspired by cities that seeks to bring commonality into focus while respecting differences and creating “an awareness of place and leveraging fashion as a messaging tool to create social impact.”
Iranian-American architect-turned-designer Azin Valy, co-founder of the award-winning multi-disciplinary New York architecture firm I-Beam Design, launched Cityzen by Azin, a luxury fashion and accessories brand, in 2012.
A model wears one of Azin's scarves. The designs are meant to connect “the heart and soul of a city to that of a garment.” Photo shared by Azin and used with permission.
“It’s a way of connecting the heart and soul of a city to that of a garment. Clothing is our first habitable structure. . . . It’s about looking bold and being bold. It's about global citizenship and not just nationalism or regionalism,” Azin Valy told me in an interview at her office in Soho. “It literally allows you to wear your pride on your sleeves or simply connects you to the global community.”
Omid Memarian: How did you go from being a successful architect to the fashion world?
Azin Valy: In 2011, my architecture firm, I-Beam Design, founded by Suzan Wines and me, was nominated for an urban planning exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) examining the future of cities that were going through the foreclosure crisis. As I was researching the urban structure of these cities—in New York, New Jersey, Florida, California and Nevada—I was amazed by their breathtaking views from above, despite the crisis they were facing on the ground. I wondered if there was a way to highlight their beauty while raising awareness about their challenges by incorporating them into textile designs. There I saw an opportunity to merge fashion and architecture (vis-à-vis urban planning) with social entrepreneurship. And so Cityzen by Azin was born, to bring awareness to place, and leverage fashion as a messaging tool to create social impact.
What excited me was the idea of allowing the landscape to define each design. For instance, the Tiber River forming the neckline of the Rome dress or the Chao Phraya River becoming a strap in the Bangkok dress, and the Ganges turning into a slit on the Dhaka dress.
The superimposition of the cities onto the shape of the body and playing around with the scale of each allowed numerous interpretations of each design which literally opened up a whole world to me. I felt that I could spend the rest of my life generating infinite designs while learning about each place and virtually traveling the world. It was also a way for me to connect to places I loved as well as places I was curious about.
A portrait of the Iranian-American fashion designer Azin Valy. Photo shared by Azin and used with permission.
OM: When did you think of turning your idea into a fashion brand?
AV: When I realized the tremendous potential this concept has both from a design and creative point of view as well as the social impact it could have. After all, I am dealing with the World!
As an Iranian-American, I straddle two seemingly very different cultures that actually have a lot in common, yet are full of misconceptions about one another. I thought it would be a great opportunity to create a brand that transcends physical and mental borders and promotes a global dialogue towards understanding and peace.
OM: How you choose which cities to do?
AV: It varies according to the places I’ve been to or where I would like to go, or where my staff is from, but also based on world events and places in conflict or crisis. I research each city and learn about its history, culture, architecture, craft, etc. and choose colors accordingly. Each Cityzen piece is accompanied by a small hang tag or mini-guide that celebrates the featured city through the six senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, scent and thought, where we promote books to read or music to listen to or foods to taste.
I am also an idealist and like to choose cities that are in conflict, and show that the world is far greater than all the petty differences we go to war over, and that we need to unite in preserving it rather than destroying it. By raising awareness of areas in conflict or crisis, I hope to draw more attention to the plight of the people living there and utilize my brand for greater social impact.
I also work in collaboration with various charities to help raise funds and awareness for their causes according to their geographic location.
A model wears one of Azin's scarves. The line intends to have women ambassadors from all over the world to represent different cities in an effort to promote a global dialogue. Photo shared by Azin and used with permission.
OM: How hard was it to enter the super competitive fashion market?
AV: The challenge was the fact that I am an outsider to the fashion world—which may be an opportunity in and of itself. There is a lot that I have learned in a short period of time and a lot more to learn. I am excited about every aspect of it.
What is exciting about the fashion profession relative to architecture is the immediacy it has and the exposure it gets. The fashion industry has a tremendous ability to channel women who are 80% of the consumers into asserting their point of view not only through their spending but also their intellect.
OM: How do you envision the future of your brand? What’s the next step?
AV: For the near future, we are working on a collection of coats with an incredible Afghan/Swiss/American designer who is also an architect. Her name is Zolaykha Shehrzad of Zarif Design and she supports over 30 women in Kabul. We are producing a Kabul collection for next year which I am very excited about. We hope to have an event in the near future to showcase both brands and help raise funds towards peace efforts.
For the distant future, I am hoping to have women “ambassadors” from all over the world come together in sponsoring different cities and promoting a wider dialogue towards peace, as they are the peacemakers and the majority of donors in the world. I am also working on a business model in which I can partner with international and nongovernmental organizations to employ displaced people, particularly women, at fair market prices while creating a mobile manufacturing center within refugee camps.
Speaking literally and metaphorically, I have the entire world at my disposal to work with, and have come full circle in connecting all my interests.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Omid Memarian


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Morbid Propaganda in Macedonia Takes Aim at Western Ambassadors · Global Voices
Marko Angelov

“After #Gruevski's speech this weekend, #VMRO propaganda published obituaries for #US & #EU Member States ambassadors following his threats.” Via Twitter user @andrejas_mkd.
Along with opposition leaders and NGOs, pro-government propaganda in Macedonia is now targeting foreign ambassadors.
Macedonians went to the polls on December 11, but it remains unclear which party will have more members of parliament to form a government. The special parliamentary elections were held in an EU-brokered effort to re-stabilize the country, which has been in mired in political crisis since revelations of widespread illegal wiretapping by the ruling government surfaced in 2015. The country's two most powerful parties garnered 36.66 percent (Social Democrats) and 38.14 percent (VMRO-DPMNE) of votes, leaving neither party with majority support in the parliament.
Since the vote, the rhetoric coming from the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party has been particularly belligerent.
On December 19, unknown Internet users posted a gallery with images of ambassadors representing the European Union bloc (who were from Slovenia and Estonia), the United States, the UK, the Netherlands, and Italy photoshopped to appear like obituaries (see above).
The ambassadors were targeted after a December 17 speech in which ex-Prime Minister and VMRO-DPMNE party leader Nikola Gruevski accused representatives of countries that belong to NATO, such as the United States and the European Union, of “meddling.” In 2015, Macedonia, being a candidate for both NATO and the EU, invited them to help the country resolve its political crisis. This including overseeing the implementation of reforms.
Gruevski said:
Државата мора суверено да ги носи одлуките. Некои амбасадори почнаа премногу да се мешаат во внатрешната политика на земјата. Тоа мора да запре. Остануваме отворени за комуникација со сите амбасадори и претставници на други држави, но, некои амбасадори кои почнаа премногу да се мешаат во нашата внатрешна политика, мора да престанат да го прават тоа.
The state must be sovereign in decision making. Some ambassadors started to meddle in internal politics of the country. That must stop. We remain open for communication with all ambassadors and representatives of other states, but some ambassadors who begun to meddle too much in our internal politics, must stop doing that.
Gruevski also announced that his party, which is a member of the European People's Party, is leaving the talks facilitated by representatives of the international community. He gave the speech during a protest meant to pressure the State Election Committee to rule in VMRO-DPMNE's favor in regard to allegations of fraud by the opposition. During the protest, VMRO-DPMNE supporters unfurled a banner aimed at US Ambassador Jess Baily that read, “Keep your hands off Macedonia.”
VMRO-DPMNE supporters with a banner “Baily keep your hands off Macedonia!” Photo by A1on.mk, used with permission.
Another group of Gruevski's right-wing supporters at the same protest also carried a banner reading “Donald Trump, we love you!”
On social media, many compared Gruevski's speech and xenophobia to those made by late Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, whose populist policies for retaining power included international isolation. Analysts quoted by Deutsche Welle warned that if this continues, “Macedonia is in danger of sliding into dictatorship.”
In an online video interview for the leading news program “360 degrees,” former EU Ambassador Erwan Fouéré deemed Gruevski's speech “shocking” and noted that speakers at the ruling party's rallies who “incite and provoke violence” include a former and current minister of foreign affairs. He asked in regard to the announcement:
Is what he said official government policy? And if it is not, then why doesn't the prime minister speak out? And indeed, where is the prime minister, is he sleeping? And what about the president, is he also sleeping? These are the people who should be calling for calm and restraint in these very very tense moment, but they seem to be totally silent.
The fake obituaries drew substantial media attention during the day of December 19. VMRO-DPMNE issued a formal reaction that evening, saying in a press release that such imagery was “unacceptable.” The statement is not available on their official website.
Several hours prior to the photoshopped obituaries’ publication, an assassin killed the Russian ambassador in Turkey. Social media users in Macedonia speculated that this may have prompted propaganda chiefs to pull back on threats of terrorism against ambassadors, given the events in Turkey.
Убиството на рускиот амбасадор се случи во најлошо време за креаторите и објавувачите на некролозите за амбасадорите во Македонија.
— Влатко Васиљ (@VlatkoVasilj) December 19, 2016
The murder of the Russian ambassador took place at the worst time for the creators and publishers of obituaries for ambassadors in Macedonia.
Some social media users even dared to ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs to take responsibility for the issue:
@NikolaPoposki Ксенофобијата има страшни последици зар не? Затоа престанете да ја ширите!
— IgorOid (@Sorosoid) December 19, 2016
The xenophobia has terrible consequences, doesn't it? Therefore, please stop spreading it!
Ambassadors haven't been VMRO-DPMNE's only focus post-election. Top politicians from the ruling party's coalition, like Amdi Bajram, as well as supporters at their rallies, openly advocated the death of opposition leader Zoran Zaev.
#Macedonia election: In cased you missed it, #VMRO activist parades with funeral cross with @Zoran_Zaev name. She is a school teacher… pic.twitter.com/DqvjZH0Y2i
— HristijanGjorgievski (@TalleyrandMK) December 13, 2016

author: Marko Angelov


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Netizen Report: Threats on Civil Society Reach New Heights in Macedonia, Egypt · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

Demonstrators in Skopje, Macedonia, December 2014. Photo by Akademik.mk, used with permission.
Black lists, veiled death threats and public condemnation are just some of the tactics that Macedonia’s ruling political party has deployed against local NGOs since the country’s contested elections on December 11.
Macedonia has been in mired in political crisis since revelations of widespread illegal wiretapping by the ruling government surfaced in 2015 and brought to light numerous incidents of corruption within the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party.
Shortly before the elections, flyers listing the names of dozens civil sector activists were distributed in the mailboxes and under windshield wipers of citizens of Skopje, the nation's capital. They included allegations about “mercenary” money that civil society advocates allegedly had received, along with other spurious claims. The flyers were signed by GDOM (Gragjansko dviženje za odbrana na Makedonija – Citizen Movement for Defense of Macedonia), an entity that acts as a proxy for the more radical positions advocated by VMRO-DPMNE.
Individual activists have been targeted with specific threats, in everything from public speeches, to party media, to Twitter. Alongside threats on social media, VMRO supporters have been circulating a photograph of a handwritten list with activists’ names and addresses. The Public Revenue Service also appears to be targeting select NGOs for inspections.
Global Voices’ contacts in the country fear that these tactics could amount to incitement for VMRO supporters, who might decide to perpetrate “patriotic” attacks on their own, without direct orders from party leaders. Several such attacks on journalists from blacklisted media by random party supporters have already taken place this year.
Non-government organizations in Egypt are also facing new levels of pressure. Egypt’s parliament passed an unprecedented law that strictly limits the freedoms of organizations to do research, engage in advocacy, and accept financial support. Those found in violation of the law can suffer criminal penalties, including multi-year prison sentences, for things like conducting opinion polls without the approval of relevant state authorities. A joint statement condemning the law, signed by over 20 civil society organizations and five political parties, asserts that it “effectively eradicates civil society and defers administration of it to the government and security apparatus.”
Alongside legislative changes, an ongoing campaign to limit the freedoms of NGO workers has continued apace. The executive directors of more than a dozen independent human rights and feminist groups in the country have been banned from traveling — six human rights defenders were stopped at the airport last week alone. Some have been called in for questioning or interrogation. Some have had their financial assets frozen. And a massive vilification campaign in the mainstream media has become the new norm.
Advocates believe that the onslaught has had technical ramifications. Several have told Global Voices that they are seeing indications of new, increasingly precise digital surveillance techniques targeting NGO workers. And on December 17, the secure messaging app Signal became inoperable on all major ISPs in the country. Run by the non-profit software group Open Whisper Systems, the Signal messaging app has been promoted to and adopted among many activists and NGO workers throughout the world seeking to increase the security of their communications.
Telecommunications engineer Zak Muriuki was sent to Ethiopia to install a VSAT satellite Internet connection system. Along with another Kenyan worker from the same sector, Zak was arrested and later charged with “telecommunications fraud.” Zak had been working for a private client, whose offices were raided by Ethiopian police when he was there setting up the satellite connection. Although multiple trial dates were scheduled, Zak never formally appeared in court.  Zak, the father of two young girls, died in prison in early December, after suffering from meningitis. His family members believe the disease, and a lack of proper treatment, was his cause of death.
Residents of at least four Kazakh cities reported not being able to access social media websites including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google on the 25th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence from the Soviet Union. Twitter and Vkontakte, however, were accessible throughout the day. According to the Ministry of Information, the sites were down “for technical reasons”, but netizens pointed to the livestream of an interview with opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov as a possible motivation for the block. There is also a history of protest accompanying independence day — in 2011, a confrontation with police resulted in the deaths of a dozen people.
Facebook suspended the accounts of several Indian users who had used the platform to express criticism of India’s ruling party. Rajiv Tyagi, an ex-government employee who regularly posts critical views about the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was locked out of his account for a month by Facebook after sharing a satirical post (written by someone else) about Hindu-Muslim hatred. Tyagi received a notification explaining that he had violated Facebook’s Community Standards.
Though the community standards purport to allow “humor, satire, or social commentary” related to hate speech, the company does not allow users to appeal automatic bans. Tyagi’s account was reinstated by Facebook after a campaign by his friends appealing to the Silicon Valley company, raising questions regarding how the company handles pressure both from users and from other actors, among them governments. This comes after a wave of takedowns of content supporting Kashmiri independence during the summer months of 2016.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, journalism student Bassel al-Amin is being investigated for “insulting the state” in a Facebook post in which he wrote that the state and the Cedar, a national symbol, were not worth a Syrian’s shoes. Al-Amin wrote this in response to a program on OTV, a publicly traded television network, that he felt was degrading to Syrian refugees. After six days in detention, he was released on bail.
Thailand’s legislative assembly voted to approve new amendments to the country’s Computer Crime Act (CCA) that could have significant consequences for free expression online. The CCA will now criminalize the sending of “false computer data” or Internet content that damages “the maintenance of national security.” The law also empowers a committee appointed by the government to monitor and even order the removal of dangerous Internet content.
In sum, these and other provisions have left many citizens concerned that the law as a whole will lead to increased censorship and control of online information without meaningful oversight. An online petition against the legislation led by the Thai Netizen Network has gathered over 370,000 signatures.
Germany may consider new laws that would force social media companies to take down hate speech in the new year, according to a report by the Guardian. Up for consideration are measures that would require companies to set up channels to register complaints, publish how many complaints they receive and hire ombudsmen to carry out deletions. Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to 500,000 euros for failure to remove posts in breach of German hate speech law within 24 hours. A hate speech taskforce was set up by Justice Minister Heiko Maas in 2015 to attempt to achieve this goal, but appears to have made little progress thus far.
Afef Abrougui, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Inji Pennu and Sarah Myers West contributed to this report.

author: Netizen Report Team


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Christmas Time Means Loads of Peculiar and Delicious Dishes for Latin Americans · Global Voices
Andrea Arzaba

Colombian buñuelos. Picture taken by Cristina Valencia, shared on Flickr under Creative Commons license.
As Christmas is celebrated throughout Latin America, families and friends get together to have dinner on Christmas Eve. This means they also get together to cook customary dishes that they traditionally only eat on this special night. Christmas meals in the region are also a vivid representation of the region's cultural diversity and history. There are dishes that were brought by migrants and became tradition, as well as others, mixing foods that represent the different ethnicities of Latin America.
Some holiday meals are quite peculiar, and many are just a few mouse clicks away, if you're interested in the reciples. As the Latin American diaspora spreads geographically and electronically, the instructions are increasingly available in books and online, where you don't always need to speak Spanish to understand the steps, as seen in the video below filmed at a Venezuelan restaurant in the United States, where the chefs explain both the recipe and the history behind the dish:
Another video, also in English, shows how to make “romeritos” — Mexico's traditional Christmas dish. Romeritos are typically found in the center and south of Mexico, and they're only served during the Christmas season. The name comes from the wild plant known as “romerito,” which resembles baby spinach or rosemary. The dish consists of these plants, with dried shrimp and potatoes all contained within a mole (spicy chocolate) sauce.
Both hallacas and romeritos have also circulated a lot in social media through memes.
Caption reads, “Smells like romeritos already.” Image widely shared online.
In the case of Venezuela, some memes also refer to the country's ongoing economic crisis:
In the text: “This is how hallacas will be this year.” Meme widely shared online.
Another holiday recipe popular, this time in Paraguay, is the sopa paraguaya, or a corn bread soup. The sopa consists in corn flour, cheese, and milk. According to a poll by the local news outlet ABC (unrelated to the U.S. television network), the meal is likely a fixture on most Christmas tables:
Prácticamente todos  los que participaron de nuestra encuesta coinciden al citar a la sopa paraguaya en la lista de comidas infaltables que tendrán en su mesa la noche del 24. Algunos tienen las manos expertas para prepararla, otros lo intentan […] todo vale si te lleva a poder saborear la “sopa sólida”, como dicen los extranjeros
Practically all of those who participated in our poll agree on the fact that Paraguayan soup will be one of the dishes that won't be missed in Christmas Eve. Some of them are experts preparing it, others just try […] everything goes if you can taste this “solid soup,” as foreigners call it.
Another recipe from the south of the region can be found on the website “The Real Argentina,” where some of Argentina's Christmas dishes can be found and part of the tradition is explained:
The first rule of Christmas food in Argentina is: forget the roast turkey and learn to embrace Vitel Thoné […] Vitel Thoné is actually one of Argentina’s most beloved Christmas dishes, originally hailing from Italy, like many Argentines. It’s made of peceto (veal), topped with a sauce of tuna, mayonnaise and anchovies. […] Note that peceto is not especially prevalent during the rest of the year, but come December supermarket supplies are stocked high.
Finally, in a “BuzzFeed Red” video, Latinos from the United States share their Christmas meals and explain some of the traditions they families didn't leave behind when they emigrated north.

author: Andrea Arzaba


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Former Kuwaiti Lawmaker Sentenced to 42 Years in Jail for Tweets, ‘Insulting Saudi Arabia’ · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (center) with the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (left) and the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Photo by “Tribes of the World” via Flickr. (CC BY-SA 2.0)
A former Kuwaiti lawmaker is facing at least 42 years and six months in prison on various convictions that include posting on Twitter comments deemed by the authorities insulting to the neighboring countries of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
On 22 December, a court of appeal convicted Abdulhameed Dashti in absentia of insulting Saudi Arabia and sentenced him to ten years in prison, bringing his total jail term to 42.5 years. Dashti, who is currently in the UK for medical reasons, was stripped of his parliament seat to allow Kuwaiti authorities to prosecute him. Dashti also was convicted of prior charges of insulting religion, Kuwait's Emir (the country's ruler), and the judiciary.
On Twitter, Dashti reacted to his sentencing:
هل يصدق عاقل أن احكم بالسجن لمدة 42 سنة وستة شهور…
فقط لأنني عبرت عن رأي ، عن أي ديمقراطية تتحدثون وتتشدقون بها واي قضاء !!!؟ pic.twitter.com/gi3x7wTrqU
— د.عبدالحميدعباس دشتي (@adashtimp) December 22, 2016
Could any sane person believe that I was sentenced to 42 years and six months in jail for just expressing my opinion, what democracy are you talking about and what judiciary?!!!
Dashti is a critic of Saudi Arabia, in particular its war in Yemen and its 2011 military intervention in Bahrain to crush the popular uprising. He is also known for his controversial support of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and the Iranian regime. He faces further years in jail in a number of other cases related to comments he made.
On Twitter, while acknowledging that they do not agree with Dashti's opinions, a number of Kuwaiti activists expressed their support. Activist Sara al-Drees, who was detained in September for insulting the Emir and is currently free pending trial, tweeted:
مع كامل الاختلاف مع دشتي
و مع كامل الاحترام للعلاقات مع السعودية
شنو يعني انسان ينسجن 42 سنه على كلام!!
42سنه!
و في الكويت!#لا_لسجن_الكلمة https://t.co/CsaAI32Jny
— سارة الدريس (@saraaldrees) December 22, 2016
despite my full disagreement with Dashti, and full respect to the relations with Saudi Arabia, what does it mean to jail someone for 42 years over words!! 42 years! and in Kuwait!
تختلف تتفق مع عبدالحميد دشتي حقك .. تحتقره تنبذه سياسياً أيضاً حقك .. لكن أن تدعي أنك مدافع عن حرية الكلمة وتفرح لسجنه بسبب كلمة فأنت كذاب!
— ناصر دشتي (@Na9eR_Dashti) December 22, 2016
whether you disagree or agree with Abdulhameed Dashti, that's your right..to despise him and dismiss him politically, that's also your right..but to claim that you support the free word while you are happy for his jailing for a word, then you are a liar
Like other countries members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a political and economic alliance of six Gulf countries, Kuwait criminalizes criticism of other countries. And article 4 of the country's state security crimes law punishes by at least three years in jail anyone who engages in a “hostile act against a foreign country, in a way that would endanger Kuwait to the risk of war or of severance in diplomatic relations”.
In Bahrain, human rights activist Nabeel Rajab is currently in jail on a number of charges that include “offending a foreign country”, punishable by two years in jail under the kingdom island's penal code, over tweets critical of Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. While in the UAE, academic and economist Nasser Bin faces ten years in jail under article 166 of the penal code for committing a “hostile act” against a foreign country, over tweets critical of the killing of protesters by Egyptian security forces.
Last May, Kuwait's constitutional court ruled that expressing one's opinions on foreign states cannot be considered as a “hostile act”. Yet, it seems that judges and prosecutors will continue to send people to jail for criticizing foreign countries, in particular their neighbors.


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Investigative Journalists Reveal Accumulated Wealth of Serbian Politicians · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Cover photo of KRIK's database with properties of Serbian politicians featuring Slavica Đukić-Dejanović, Milan Krkobabić, Aleksandar Vučić, and Ana Brnabić.
KRIK, a journalism network that investigates crime and corruption, began publishing a database listing the properties of Serbian politicians this week. The revelations have made front-page news in some newspapers and are fueling online debates.
Titled “Imovina političara” (Properties of Politicians), the database reveals the real estate and other possessions owned by leading politicians and members of their families, as well as business relations and run-ins with the law. The goal of the project, which is supported by the Open Society Foundation – Serbia, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and readers’ donations, is “to enable citizens’ understanding of who the people who run their state are.” (Editor's note: Open Society Foundations is a supporter of Global Voices.)
Serbians can now read that the family of Minister of Finance Dušan Vujović owns several houses and condos in Serbia and the US, or that the brother-in-law of Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antić was convicted of producing amphetamines in a pharmaceutical company co-owned by the minister's sister.
KRIK has not revealed all the entries at once, but is publishing several profiles of politicians per day. Leading newspapers such as Blic and Danas have published front-page coverage of the database's revelations.
Profili sadrže informacije o stanovima, kućama, automobilima i kompanijama aktuelnih ministara, kao i detalje o tome kako su ih stekli. Iz baze može da se sazna koji političari su učestvovali u divljoj gradnji i imaju nelegalizovane objekte. Tu su i podaci o podignutim kreditima, lizinzima, osobama sa kojima su sklapali poslovna partnerstva i prekršajima koje su počinili…
KRIK će bazu konstantno dopunjavati novim političarima i funkcionerima. Takođe će u već postojeće profile dodavati nove informacije.
Informacije u profilima zasnivaju se na zvaničnim dokumentima, a skeniranu dokumentaciju možete pogledati u svakom profilu.
Za procenu vrednosti nekretnina, KRIK je angažovao agenciju za promet nekretnina, koja je proračunavala tržišne vrednosti.
Each profile contains information about apartments, houses, cars and companies of current government ministers, and details about how they came to possess them. The database provides information on which politicians had been building without permits or own illegal buildings. There's also data about their credit, leasing, and about people who they've partnered with and committed offenses.
KRIK will constantly update the database with new profiles of politicians and officials. It will amend the existing profiles with new information.
The information within the profiles are based on official documents, which are available as downloadable scans.
To appraise the mentioned real estate, KRIK hired a real estate agency, which calculated their market values.
To protect the privacy of the politicians, their relatives and associates, the journalists had redacted some information available in the scanned documents, such as personal data and house numbers of the apartments. However, the street names are there in order to provide insight into the value of the properties in regard to their locations.
All this has generated lively discussions online, primarily through the hashtag #imovinapoliticara, which also means “the properties of politicians.” Journalists and other citizens have commented on the revelations and their implications.
Ministar vojske Đorđević direktor je misteriozne ofshore firme koja je sklopila posao s Telekomom https://t.co/vssMry50AX #imovinapoliticara
— Stevan Dojcinovic (@StevanOCCRP) December 19, 2016
Minister of defense is the director of a mysterious offshore company that made a contract with the telecom.
Min.odbrane organizovao tradicionalni prijem u Domu garde u utorak, a nije se pojavio.
Možda zbog #imovinapoliticara https://t.co/9Ua0sQake4
— Dragana Pećo (@DraganaPeco) December 20, 2016
The minister of defense organized the traditional reception in the Serbian Armed Forces Guard Club, but didn't show up at the event on Tuesday. Maybe because of #propertiesofpoliticians?
Link: Government Minister Đorđević Admitted Owning an Offshore Company
Ministar Antić, sestrina fabrika ekstazija i nestašni zet >>> https://t.co/UMjX44LgiS #imovinapoliticara via @KRIKrs
— Pavle Petrović (@BashCheleek) December 20, 2016
Minister Antić, his sister's ecstasy factory and the naughty brother in law…
One Twitter user made a pun referring to Sicilian family-based criminal organization Cosa Nostra (i.e. the mafia) in a pun combining the first letters of the surname of government minister Krkobabić:
“Krkobabići svoje poslove drže „unutar porodice.”
Krka Nostra.https://t.co/LdLU3D3Bm7 #imovinapoliticara via @KRIKrs
— Nebojša K. (@GodoCekaMene) December 20, 2016
Members of Krkobabić clan keep all their businesses “within the family.”
Krka nostra.
While another suggested the media using the information in the database for their own coverage give KRIK a token of their appreciation. During the last few years, KRIK and its associates had been a subject to a nearly constant campaign of defamation and intimidation channeled through pro-government tabloids:
novine koje onako bombastično prenose istraživanja @KRIKrs redno je i da doniraju novac #imovinapoliticara
— NN (@ninoslavn) December 21, 2016
The newspapers that bombastically reuse KRIK's research should donate money to them.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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On YouTube, a Glimpse of the Funny Side of Latin American Christmas Celebrations · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Screenshot of the video made by Woki Toki available on YouTube.
Comedy channels on YouTube are also celebrating the Christmas season in Latin America, and their content says a lot about traditions in their countries.
Some of the videos laugh at the high expectations many have for the holiday celebrations — and how they contrast with the brutal reality. Others explore the way in which family and friends get together to tells stories.
Woki Toki is a popular comedy channel from Chile. A video of theirs recounts the different kinds of gifts people receive, and the people who make them. There's the friend who lies about the gift, the one who can be cruel (giving wrinkle cream to a girlfriend), the chauvinist who gives his girlfriend an iron, and the “friendzone” who gives a woman a ring, only to be disappointed that she considers him just a friend:
Meanwhile, also from Chile, Laf lists the things that happen when people look for Christmas gifts at the last minute:
From Argentina, Ceci Saia contrasts reality and expectations, and points out the importance of party preparations, family disagreements and the hot summer that accompanies Argentinian Christmas:
Further north in Colombia, comedy channel Humor Latino expands on stories about Christmas in Colombia, how people get together, listen to the stories of old relatives, and follow religious rituals mostly in order to get candy and gifts:
Finally, on the US-based Latino YouTube channel Flama, Joanna Hausman lists in English nine “weird” Christmas celebrations in many Latin American countries, and shows the colorful diversity and peculiarity of the celebration around the region:

author: Laura Vidal


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Things Are Not What They Seem: The Week That Was at Global Voices Podcast · Global Voices
L. Finch

The Week That Was podcast takes a look at some of the stories that have recently come out of the Global Voices newsroom. We introduce you to people, places and events from around the world that aren’t getting the media coverage they deserve.
This week, we hear tales from Paraguay, Iran, Qatar and the Caribbean that challenge commonly held perspectives.
Special thanks to Trinidadian actor Michael Cherrie, University of Trinidad and Tobago music student Janelle Xavier and acting students Tenisha Richards-Weekes and Karian Forde for coordinating and voicing the #LifeInLeggings segment. We're also grateful to Global Voices contributor Andrea Arzaba for helping us with the music.
And of course, many thanks to Global Voices Iran editor Mahsa Alimardani, Global Voices Caribbean editor Janine Mendes Franco, and all our authors, translators and editors who helped make this episode possible.
In this episode, we featured Creative Commons licensed music from the Free Music Archive, including Please Listen Carefully by Jahzaar (CC BY-SA 4.0); Co-Creators (Instrumental) by Nick Jaina (CC BY-NC 3.0); Westside Chillers by Little Glass Men (CC BY 4.0); Bind thy wings by krackatoa (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US); Tiptoe (Instrumental) by YEYEY (CC BY-NC 3.0); and The Bears just for show by krackatoa (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US).
The feature photo is Flickr user Wendy, CC BY-NC 2.0.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

author: L. Finch


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Transportation Showdown: Japanese Mascots’ Big Butts Vs. Train Doors · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Hyakuman-san. Screencap from Hot Ishikawa YouTube channel.
There is one Japanese mascot who is famous for having a large bottom. Earlier in November, Hyakuman-san, the official mascot of Ishikawa Prefecture, was unable to board the Hokuriku super express “bullet train.” The comical scene briefly made headlines.
ひゃくまんさん、北陸新幹線に乗れない　設計ミスなの？ https://t.co/J8QaI8gWLk
— 朝日新聞(asahi shimbun） (@asahi) November 18, 2016
Hyakuman-san can't get onto to the Hokuriku Shinkansen (bullet train). Is this a design flaw?
Ishikawa Prefecture is part of the Hokuriku (“northlands”) region of Japan. In April 2015, super express “shinkansen” train service started, linking the old castle town of Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture with Tokyo by high speed rail. As a mascot for Kanazawa and Ishikawa, it would seem reasonable that Hyakuman-san would be able to board the train.
The “problem” was covered on Japanese television.
ひゃくまんさん 大きすぎて新幹線に乗れないとか、改札を通れないとか… pic.twitter.com/OJEajilLou
— SANA (@shaolonlove2) December 16, 2016
Hyakuman-san is so big he can't board the bullet train, or even pass through the ticket gates.
Hyakuman-san himself is a mustachioed traditional “okiagari” doll and good-luck charm, and is decorated in a traditional kaga-yuzen pattern, common to the city of Kanazawa and the surrounding region.
ひゃくまんさんグッズを買いに５時間かけて金沢に来ました。
フォーラスの方に出ようとおもっていたのに、最初に出迎えてくれたのは郵太郎でした(꒪ȏ꒪)
和倉温泉に行く時間がないので電車をホームで見てきた。
駅前のバス乗場が京都駅並混雑。 pic.twitter.com/Qg9GszKL74
— にっちゃん (@aknt1031) November 7, 2015
I spent five hours in Kanazawa looking for Hyakuman-san souvenirs to take back home. Of course, the first thing I saw [wasn't Hyakuman-san at all], but Yutaro [the local Japan Post mascot for Kanazawa] (꒪ȏ꒪)
I didn't have time to travel up to Wakura Onsen [a famous hot spring resort about an hour north of Kanazawa] so I went to the station platform to look at the train. The line-up for the buses in front of Kanazawa Station was as crowded as you would see in Kyoto.
The Hyakuman-san mascot can sometimes be seen in and around Kanazawa Station, where he delights travelers. His large bottom is clearly visible in this video:
ひゃくまんさん、ずさー！
もう一回ずさー！
面白かったらしい(笑) pic.twitter.com/AKtdQeczHM
— りん (@rinrinTB) December 11, 2016
It's Hyakuman-san! Here he comes again! Too funny! LOL
Design flaw or not, Hyakuman-san is not the only mascot who has a hard time entering trains or other confined spaces. Twitter user “Pink Miruku” has compiled a few photos that demonstrate the travails of Japan's plump mascots.
Enjoy these pics of Japan struggling to get their mascots thru small openings pic.twitter.com/ONgcZmAs4e
— ? ベリー ? (@PinkMiruku) March 14, 2016
Never give up pic.twitter.com/KY9sQLK0wk
— ? ベリー ? (@PinkMiruku) March 14, 2016

author: Nevin Thompson


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Watch TED Fellow Bektour Iskender’s Talk on the ‘Mega Force’ of Youth Journalism in Kyrgyzstan · Global Voices
Akhal-Tech Collective

Screenshot of Bektour Iskender talking at the TED 2015 conference.
Below is a video of a TED talk by Bektour Iskender, co-founder of Kloop.kg, an organization which in the era of fake news and ‘information warfare’ is one of the word's most inspiring media stories. Out of 21 “world changers” speaking at the TED 2016 conference in Vancouver, Canada, in February, Bektour was one of the very few who was not a citizen of a Western country.
The video appeared on YouTube this month.
Kloop journalists, mostly graduates of the Kloop media school, are aged between 15 and 25. The news website is among the most popular in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan.
Kloop differs from many news websites in the country through its unwavering commitment to impartiality. It is also the only major local news website in the republic of six million people that regularly attempts to expose corruption in the country occurring through state tenders. In doing so, it fulfils its role in serving the public interest.
An example is an article published December 22 titled How the State Property Fund Spent 45 Million soms (approx. $650,000) on a Website that Already Exists. Outside Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek, monthly incomes hover around $100. Kyrgyzstan is ranked 123 of 168 countries in Transparency International's most recent Corruption Perceptions Index.
Most recently, Kloop provided widely shared text and video coverage of chaos at passport control centres in the country where foreigners of dozens of countries were suddenly required to register within a period of five days after crossing the country's borders, thanks to a law passed in November.
The story was widely shared on social media, mostly by local citizens concerned the new law would be a blow to the country's fledgling tourism industry. Within weeks the law on registration was rolled back by the parliament and the number of countries whose citizens would be allowed to stay in the country for an extended period of time without registration was expanded in a new law.
Kloop.kg's main website is in Russian, which remains the most widely-used language in Bishkek where internet use is highest, but articles are translated into the state language Kyrgyz, and the minority language Uzbek.
In his talk at the TED conference in Vancouver, Iskender explains Kloop's emergence during the authoritarian rule of the Bakiyev family, its coverage of the revolution that unseated the Bakiyevs in 2010 and the organization's expansion in the post-revolution period.
Kloop.kg is also one of the only Kyrgyz media outlets that regularly covers infringements of the rights of the LGBT community in the country. Immediately after his TED talk, Iskender posted on Facebook:
I was the second one to speak at TED today in the morning. Andrew Pelling was the first one, and while he was showing the amazing stuff he's been doing while biohacking, I was standing backstage, waiting for my turn.
I decided to drink some water, took the bottle, and… I poured the water over my shirt, leaving two very visible dark spots on it!
I am very thankful to TED fellows help team who rushed me to the make-up room, where wonderful Meaghan dried my shirt with a hairdryer so quickly that I managed to return to the backstage and to listen to Andrew finishing his 4-minutes talk!
And I don't remember how my talk went, but people say it was fine. It was like in a dream, and I really don't remember how it happened.
I was wearing the rainbow ribbon while talking. It was small enough not to distract people from my talk, but it is big enough to be noticed by those people for whom this is important.
I expect that if my talk is ever published, I might become the most watched citizen of Kyrgyzstan ever in the history of YouTube. And I want to use this opportunity to send my support message to the LGBT community of Kyrgyzstan and to all the people who are fighting against the stupid “anti-gay-propaganda” bill that has already passed two readings in the Kyrgyz parliament.
There is no place for Nazi-style legislation in my country. This bill must never be adopted, it should be thrown to the trash can and forgotten forever.
I want to tell all the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people of Kyrgyzstan, and also to all the people who are fighting for human rights, that I will use all of my possible fame and connections to help you as much as possible.
We will make our country fair, cool and prosperous. Don't be afraid of anything!
And, of course, I am very thankful to everyone who made this TED talk possible. There were so many people involved in it that I will need a separate post to name them!
I love you all!

author: Akhal-Tech Collective


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What Christ Is Born Among Us Today? · Global Voices
مرسيل شحوارو

Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Luc-Olivier Merson, 1879, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. IMAGE: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
These are meant to be days of glory, the day of the birth of Jesus Christ—the God of love, justice and peace. But what manner of Christ is being born in our world today?
If Jesus were to come to us today we would spend a long time wondering about the scarf covering Mary’s head; we would close our doors in the face of the poor man and his pregnant wife. It would be from our houses that Jesus would be turned away, and we the ones who cause him to be born in a cave.
If Jesus Christ were to come to us today we would spend a long time questioning his profession. Merely a carpenter from the Middle East! A nobody, unable to speak a foreign language. And he wants to change the world? How naive of him.
If Jesus were to come to us today we would accuse the Three Wise Men of bias, and the shepherds would have been arrested before being able to spread the good news. Maybe you would have stood a little in solidarity with them, or maybe not.
If Jesus were to come to us today, escaping from Herod, we would believe Herod’s version of the story, or we would debate and write articles, asking what if Herod were right to want to kill the Christ Child? What if Jesus were to some day become a threat? Or we might simply speak in generalities and fall back on familiar phrases such as “it’s complicated over there.”
But still we celebrate. Today our Christmas trees are bigger, and even bigger still are our statues of the Virgin Mary before whom we pray, crying and begging Her to forgive us for forgetting the Mary curled up in some refugee camp only meters away.
But we celebrate. Our streets are filled with sparkling lights, to help us forget that today’s Good Samaritan is a non-for-profit organization obsessed with writing the success story of the wounded man he just saved, in order leverage that success to increase the number of beneficiaries. Yet we don’t have time for a smile.
Yes, we are Christians, but we don’t want a Christ that doesn’t look like us. The Christ we want is stylish. One who doesn’t carry his clothes in a bag or roam around in torn sandals. One who speaks very good English and who would, preferably, before preaching about love, provide warrants to defend himself against the charge of terrorism.
Yes, we are Christians, but we are afraid of Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Afghans and all who are not “us”. You see love is selective, based on class and affiliation. But for some reason Jesus Christ neglected mentioning those things, and spoke of love for all.
Yes, we are Christians, but if prophets were to travel the world today to deliver their messages to us they would be drowned at sea, or shot at a border, because they would be suspicious, of course.
What Christ is being born among us today, when all the “brothers” about whom he will question us on judgment day are besieged, trapped and killed in the camps?
We hoard our talents in the bank so that we can one day go on vacation and take many pictures that we post on social media to tell the friends whom we don’t usually have the time to love how happy we are.
What Christ is being born among us, when we want to “follow” everything except for the star that leads to the manger? If the Christmas tree we put up in our houses every year is the symbol of new life, what life are we, the grieving, hoping for in our daily death?
Today I am a refugee who doesn’t have a place I consider home enough to celebrate in, or to put up a tree in and await gifts. And in a few days my home town will be gone forever.
Once I smuggled a Christmas tree into Eastern Aleppo. It was a symbol to defend my identity against ISIS. The friend who helped me smuggle it was Muslim. He lives today under bomb fire. They were all Muslims, the friends who helped me decorate the tree. Today they are all besieged and threatened with summary execution.
I had a Christmas tree that I liked to think of as a symbol of the Annunciation in the heart of destruction. Today it became, like everything back in Syria, the symbol for a grave.
It is painful even to attempt to hope and write new year’s resolutions. It’s painful that the greatest of your Christmas wishes is the forced displacement of those whom you believe have a just cause. Those now in Aleppo, fighting for freedom and dignity, are the salt of the earth. If they are besieged, bombed and murdered, how will the earth be made salty again?

author: مرسيل شحوارو


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When They Censored Messaging Apps on Election Day, Montenegrin Regulators ‘Acted Legally’ · Global Voices
Milica Bogdanović

A polling station in Montenegro. Photo by Center for Democratic Transitions, used with permission.
Two months after parliamentary elections in Montenegro, state regulators at the Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services say they acted legally when they shut down access to two popular mobile messaging apps on Election Day.
Political oppositionists and prominent members of the country's civil society, meanwhile, say the government's crackdown on social media harmed Montenegro's freedom of expression at a time when it was most needed.
On October 16 (Election Day), Montenegrin state regulators ordered all mobile data operators to block access to the popular messaging apps Viber and WhatsApp. Officials kept the apps offline for several hours, citing a problem with “spam messages” being sent over the networks.
Officially, the government has the power to order telecoms to suspend Internet and telephone communications whenever the state deems it “justified” in cases of “fraud or abuse,” giving regulators a broad basis for intervention.
Hoping to prevent future arbitrary crackdowns by the Montenegrin government, local NGO Human Rights Action appealed to the country's Constitutional Court, asking it to review the constitutionality of the “disputed provision of the law” that allowed regulators to orchestrate the social media shutdown on Election Day.
“This authority of the Agency is defined too broadly and lacks judicial supervision, contrary to the standards of freedom of expression according to the Constitution of Montenegro and international human rights treaties,” the human  rights activists argue on their website.
Vuk Brajović, a representative of Viber (which according to the company is used by over 90% of smartphone users in Montenegro), has also stated publicly that the country owes this “crisis” to the incompatibility of Montenegrin legislation and modern communication technologies.
The public Viber channel about the elections in Montenegro and CEE region run by CDT has over two thousand users.
“The official decision to shut down communication via Viber, regardless of being considered justified as to block the impact of spam messages, was implemented without procedures or protocols that are commonly used in similar situations,” Brajović said in a statement after the elections.
The Election Day “crisis” was especially felt at the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT), Montenegro's leading independent election monitor. (Editor's note: the author of this article is affiliated with CDT.) For the elections, the group organized a public chat on Viber, where it informed readers about allegations of voting irregularities and suspicious election results.
“Thanks to our Twitter and Facebook followers who shared published information, we managed to informs citizens accurately and objectively on Election Day. However, we believe that the national law must be reformed to suit new technologies,” a spokesperson for CDT told Global Voices.
Montenegrin officials have also faced criticism from abroad. For example, Reporters Without Borders says the loss of access to social media on Election Day is an attack on free speech that undermines faith in democratic institutions, encouraging the public to suspect the government is trying to influence the election results. Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe also published a report about Montenegro's voting, expressing concerns about its legitimacy.
To this day, the country's political opposition refuses to recognize the results of the election, in part because the crackdown on Viber and WhatsApp may have influenced the vote. Instead, oppositionists have decided to boycott the parliament.
The final results of the Montenegro elections can be viewed in an animated map here.

author: Milica Bogdanović


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2016: The Year the Caribbean Was Forced to Confront Its Attitude Towards Women · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women 2015, performing artists, musicians, and visual artists from the Eastern Caribbean at a UN Women consultation, UNiTE-ed to deepen their engagement in the UN Women MCO Caribbean's social mobilisation programme to address gender-based violence. Photo by UN Women/Sharon Carter-Burke, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
The first regional story that we reported on at Global Voices in 2016 was West Indian cricketer Chris Gayle's on-air come-on to Australian sports journalist Melanie McLaughlin. The very public gaffe immediately jump-started an online discussion about the type of sexual harassment women habitually face, not only on the job, but in many aspects of everyday life, particularly in the Caribbean.
Blogger and university lecturer Amilcar Sanatan quipped, tongue firmly in cheek:
Do not apologise, Chris. […]
No one really wants to address the sexualising of women in public, persistent undermining of their jobs, objectifying of their bodies and undervaluing of their contributions.
Do not apologise, Chris.
Dem people not from the Caribbean!
We do not talk truthfully among ourselves about the line between complimenting and harassment. […] Verbal innuendo and unwanted remarks are part of the culture we do not want to get rid of.
The incident set the tone for many of the stories to come out of the region this year. After a Japanese steel pan player was murdered during Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival celebrations, the online outrage over the Port of Spain mayor's victim-blaming statements was palpable, and led to on-the-ground protests that eventually forced his resignation.
Three months later, the question of child marriage — which is still legal in Trinidad and Tobago — took centre stage. Bloggers were confused as to how the practice could be allowed to continue under the country's Marriage Act, when the age of sexual consent was raised last year from 16 to 18 years old. A particularly powerful argument for putting an end to child marriage came from “a daughter of Sanatan Dharma” (the major Hindu organisation in Trinidad and Tobago, whose Secretary General has been advocating for keeping the law on the books):
I stand firm in the face of the atrocity that is child marriage and rebuke it without regret. This is not just an issue of age and maturity, but once again, of power.
The policing of women and girls’ bodies by Hindu men has been a plague to this system of belief for hundreds of years. Despite the worship of female deities who are warriors, nurturers and the like, there exists a patriarchal supposition that women and girls must be strictly policed; we are the responsibility of fathers, then husbands, then sons. A single woman on her own is a being to be despised, shunned, hated, feared or conquered. Thus, marriage is seen as the institution that can keep a woman ‘in line’. The fact of child marriages stems from poverty and misconceptions of the ‘evil’ that is female sexuality.
The country's attorney general has promised to address the issue, but the law has not yet been revoked.
The challenges, therefore, that come with being female in this kind of cultural space is region-wide, and many feminists believe it is an even harder battle for women of colour.
But Caribbean women had the opportunity to reclaim their power and their space — at least online — as the hashtag #LifeinLeggings went viral on Facebook and Twitter later this year. Created by two Barbadian women who wanted to demonstrate the disturbing degree to which sexual harassment is part of Caribbean culture, the hashtag has been giving Caribbean women the space and support to share their stories of sexual harassment and gender-based violence.
Most netizens were supportive of the campaign, but one male social media user was roundly chastised for creating a #LifeinPants hashtag, based on his perception that #LifeinLeggings was “implicating all men in a social atrocity”.
The #LifeinLeggings hashtag helped propel a conversation on long-persisting violence towards women in the region to the top of the Caribbean agenda. In early December a young bank clerk, Shannon Banfield, was murdered in Trinidad and Tobago, causing a major public outcry as women grieved over her death and shared fears about their own safety. Activist Tillah Willah expressed the weariness of her gender in the following way:
I eh have no car. Is walk I walking. Taking taxi. Taking pictures of the car number. Holding keys, a pencil, a shoes, a book. Holding anything like a weapon in case I have to defend myself. I ready to run if any man watch me too hard. I have no more tears to cry for anybody. I have no more tears to cry for myself. I am sick and frigging tired of walking and watching who watching me. Of jumping at the jingle of the zip on my bag because it sounds like footsteps. I am fed up of this shit and when I get scared and mad for men to tell me I am over reacting. Make sure better than cocksure. Better your ego bruised than I end up dead because I tryna be polite. Allyuh like too much statistics. Stop counting and start being accountable. Y'all better tell your boys to watch their conduct. I fed up. We fed up. Paul going to start to pay for all jus now.
The silver lining is that such conversations are happening now; the movement for female empowerment is growing stronger. Following Banfield's murder, there were several protests, rallies and public discussions about the best way to effect change. There was a general consensus that the situation could not be improved without reassessing the way in which boys are socialised in the Caribbean.
Jamaica is now having a similar dialogue, following the rape of a teenager and a disturbing spate of domestic-murders, about how the police in particular respond to cases of gender-based violence.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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‘Like an Air Raid’ — Stunning Photos of a Japanese Town Consumed By Fire · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Caption: “Why did the fire continue for so long?” Firefighting lasted until daybreak… Oldest sake brewery in Niigata destroyed. Fires continue to smoulder. From ANN YouTube Channel.
On December 22, a fire at a restaurant sparked a major blaze that destroyed 140 buildings in the small city of Itoigawa in rural Japan. While there were no deaths, more than 300 people were displaced and it took nearly a day to extinguish the fires. It was the biggest fire in 20 years in Japan not caused by a natural disaster, and spectacular scenes of the blaze made headline news and were shared on social media.
TBSが糸魚川市の中継をYoutubeで始めてる 大災害じゃないかこれ・・・ ： https://t.co/sSkf5twvPd pic.twitter.com/VgDgaha3D1
— ✨私がういにゃんだ✨ (@ui_nyan) December 22, 2016
TBS [television network] has started broadcasting a live feed of the fire. This looks like a major blaze!
While the crowded cities of Japan frequently experienced such conflagrations in the past, thanks to better building standards and fire prevention, devastating blazes are now relatively rare.
Unlike many other cities and towns in the region, Itoigawa, with a population of 44,000, was never bombed during the Second World War, so the downtown is packed with older wooden buildings that line arcade-covered streets. The fire occurred on the north side of Itoigawa train station, in a neighborhood squeezed between the rail line and the Japan Sea.
The fire comes just as Japan is getting ready to observe the New Year's holiday, one of the most important events of the year for families.
うち新潟県糸魚川市住み。
学校からも火事見えて、友達の家も燃えちゃったみたい。
明日から冬休みなのに泣きそう。
まだ火きえない。心配。
どうか火がおさまりますように。#新潟県糸魚川市 #火事 pic.twitter.com/Tkw65dflur
— いのありやま愛ing❤年末年始行きたい (@DaiSuKiJuMp0622) December 22, 2016
I live in Itoigawa, and we could see the fire from our school. I think my friend's house burned down. Winter vacation starts tomorrow, and I feel like I could cry. The fire still hasn't been put out, and I feel really worried.  I just hope it can be extinguished somehow.
Television reports stated that the owner of a ramen shop put a pot on the stove and left it to run errands. A fire started in the ramen shop, and strong winds quickly fanned the blaze throughout the neighborhood.
【糸魚川市の火災】避難した男性「あちこちで火の手、空襲のようだった」https://t.co/cimUcHtFZf
「築80年以上の建物が立ち並ぶ通りで、酒屋や料亭、旅館など糸魚川を代表するような建物が焼けてしまった」 pic.twitter.com/fdvz6vUyF0
— ライブドアニュース (@livedoornews) December 22, 2016
[Itoigawa fire] An resident who was evacuated said that “flames were everywhere, and it was just like an air raid.”
Many of the buildings were more than 80 years old. Pubs, restaurants and hotels that were the face of Itoigawa were burned to the ground.
The fire destroyed the Kaganoi Shuzu sake brewery, which had been established in 1650 and was reportedly the oldest sake brewery in Niigata Prefecture. There were other breweries in the neighborhood as well.
加賀の井酒造以外にも醸造系の建物がたくさんあった。ただただ無事と復興を祈るのみ… #糸魚川 pic.twitter.com/Xm8DlRFlik
— ビバ松 (@vivamatu) December 22, 2016
There were many other buildings connected to sake brewing in the neighborhood besides Kaganoi. I just hope they can all be rebuilt.
Itoigawa sits alone on an isolated stretch of coast on the Japan Sea. Steep mountains rise up straight from the sea, making Itoigawa the only sizable settlement in the region. The fire could be seen from down the coast.
糸魚川市の火災の煙、富山県側からも見えるほど激しい❗ pic.twitter.com/F5nyZlQwyC
— のだっち◆紅葉 (@nodachi_1974) December 22, 2016
Smoke from the Itoigawa fire. You could see the fire from Toyama Prefecture [about 40 kilometers away].
It took nearly a day to put the fire out. After that, residents and officials surveyed the damage.
糸魚川の大火の現場を視察致しました。あまりの光景に言葉を失います。被災した皆さんの住居・生活の確保、がれきの撤去、住宅再建支援、事業再建支援、そして街の再生に、市と力を合わせて全力で取り組み、被災した方々に、安心と希望を持って頂けるよう、県庁一丸となって全力を尽くします。 pic.twitter.com/GbFHeWOGy0
— 米山　隆一 (@RyuichiYoneyama) December 23, 2016
I went to Itoigawa to observe the extent of the damage. I am at a loss for words to describe what I saw. [The prefectural government] will work with the city of Itoigawa to help with cleanup and rebuilding efforts, and revitalizing the town, as well as assisting those who have lost their homes and livelihood.
— Ryuichi Yoneyama [Governor of Niigata]
Japanese aid organizations quickly leapt into action, providing supplies for the 740 in 360 households affected by the fire that had been moved to three shelters.
新潟県糸魚川市で発生した大規模火災。日赤新潟県支部は、避難所で安眠セット200セット、毛布200枚、バスタオル200枚、などの救援物資を配布。長岡赤十字病院の医師１名・看護師２名・事務２名が現地に到着し、避難者の健康状況や医療ニーズの調査等にあたっています。 pic.twitter.com/cDi6rElo6f
— 日本赤十字社 (@JRCS_PR) December 22, 2016
A major fire has occurred in the city of Itoigawa in Niigata Prefecture. We have delivered bedding and toiletries for 200 people, as well as other supplies. We have also dispatched one doctor and two nurses to the scene, and we will continue to monitor the needs of the people affected. — Japanese Red Cross
For many, there is a sense of loss after the fire destroyed much of Itoigawa's heritage. One Twitter user posted photos of a favorite restaurant, presumably destroyed in the fire.
創業195年の鶴来家さん…こういうお部屋がたくさんあって風情あったんすよ…ああ #糸魚川 pic.twitter.com/EuR12Bneiz
— ビバ松 (@vivamatu) December 22, 2016
Tsurugiya restaurant has been in business for 195 years. It had many rooms like this that possessed refinement and elegance. Ah…. #itoigawa


text:
Breaking a Four-Century Custom That Denied Women Temple Entry in India · Global Voices
Rezwan

Screenshot from video
Across the history of many world religions, women were considered ritually unclean because of menstruation and the beliefs surrounding it. This social perception led to women being denied entry into religious sites for centuries. In India, women are challenging and changing these centuries-old traditions that restrict women's rights.
No women were allowed in the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra for the past four centuries. On November 28, 2015, a woman entered the inner sanctum called the “sacred platform” to offer her prayers. Enraged by this act, the villagers of Shingnapur shut their businesses for a day. Seven security personnel were sacked, security was tightened with more CCTV cameras, and everyone at the temple was warned to be more vigilant in order to keep women worshippers at bay.
Subsequently activists from Trupti Desai-led Bhumata Mahila Brigade tried to enter the Shingnapur temple but were denied entry. The matter escalated and reached the Bombay High Court on April 1, which ruled:
Those who prevent women from entering the places of worship should be arrested….they face six months jail under the Act.
On April 8, 2016, the Shani Shingnapur temple lifted its ban on women. However, there are still many temples in India where such bans continue.
For example, the Maskoba temple in the Veer Village of the Pune District in the Indian state of Maharashtra, was still refusing to let women enter the inner sanctum of the temple after the court order. Video Volunteers‘ community correspondent Rohini Pawar decided to do something about it.
Rohini an atheist, and fierce advocate of women’s rights, took up the matter up with the community at first, and then with the temple authorities.
In the video, Rohini asked: “If we all have equal rights and freedom then why such restrictions on women?”
She spoke to the women in the community and realised they have never protested this practice, due to the fear of backlash for violating traditional practices.
With the help of a local NGO, she made a petition to the Maskoba temple authorities.
The temple authority honored the petition and after lengthy discussions allowed women to enter the inner sanctum of the temple. On April 13, local women broke with tradition and entered the temple.
Along with Hindu Temples like Shani Shingnapur or Sabarimala, entry for women has for years been traditionally prohibited in the Muslim holy place Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai. The Supreme Court of India delivered a verdict October 24 after a long court battle that upheld equal access for men and women to the sanctum sanctorum of Haji Ali Dargah. Only last month a group of women activists were finally able to enter the Dargah.
Great news! Women should be allowed to enter every single religious institution in India – be it a dargah or a temple. #RightToPray https://t.co/LCptZm2Ttk
— Amena (@Fashionopolis) October 24, 2016
India Today: After Haji Ali opened doors to women, Padmanabhaswamy temple relaxes dress code. https://t.co/c9KAwyqB6v
— Deepmala (@DeepmalaCrystal) December 17, 2016
These judicial rulings have provided the legal grounds for a pushback against gender discrimination at holy sites while women activists live Rohini continue to drive change on the ground.
However, as this tweet demonstrates, there is still a long way to go.
The High Court of the most educated state in #India directs #women to dress a/c to the wishes of the temple priests. https://t.co/OplVKKJjcq
— Prerna Bakshi (@bprerna) December 9, 2016

author: Rezwan


text:
Open Letter From Diaspora Iranians to Trump Causes Upset Inside Iran · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

The front cover of the hardline Iranian newspaper “Sobh-e No” on December 26 calls the signatories of the open letter to Trump “Sellouts of Their Own Countrymen.” Image from the “Sobh-e No” website.
A letter signed by 30 exiled Iranians labeling themselves as “dissidents” has sent ripples through Iranian social media since December 24.
The letter appealed to US President-elect Donald Trump to take a hardline stance towards Iran by repealing President Obama's policies of rapprochement, terminate the Iran nuclear deal, and reinstate the nuclear sanctions aimed at the Iranian government. While those nuclear sanctions were meant to hurt the government, in many instances they had devastating effects on the lives of ordinary Iranians, including elements of civil society and human rights activists.
The letter has been trending on social media under the hashtag #نامه_به_ترامپ, which translates to “Letter_to_Trump.”
An excerpt of the letter can be seen here, asking the president-elect to aid in toppling the Islamic Republic of Iran's government.
Dear Mr. President-Elect,
We would like to congratulate you on your victory in the Presidential election of the United States of America.
…
We ask the President-Elect to send the clear message that the United States will not tolerate the increasing threats of the Islamic Republic of Iran against its citizens and neighbors. The new administration, in collaboration with the Congress, should expand the existing sanctions and impose new ones on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Supreme Leader’s financial empire and direct the U.S. Treasury to strongly enforce them…
The time has come for the United States to stand by the Iranian people instead of holding secret discussions with corrupt Islamic fundamentalists. Iran has the capacity to be one of the most steadfast allies of the United States in the world once the Islamic regime is gone. We hope under your leadership the United States helps the Iranian people to take back their country from the Islamist gang which has been in charge for the last four decades, as the world without the Islamic Republic and the Islamic State is a better place.
The letter was signed by a group of Iranians, the majority of whom live in the United States. Among them were two notable figures: Ahmed Batebi and Arash Sobhani.
Batebi was an iconic figure of Iran's student protests in 1999. He took a prominent stance against the nuclear negotiations with Iran, campaigning against it with Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran — an offshoot project of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — and appearing in their commercials in the United States.
Sobhani is a musician and television host. He is known for being the lead singer of the rock band Kiosk, as well as a past host of the satirical television show on American broadcaster Voice of America (Persian) called “OnTen.”
The majority of reactions on social media have been critical of the group's request of Trump. According to work by Internet researcher Amir Rashidi on social media tracking service Keyhole, the majority of reactions attached to the hashtag #نامه_به_ترامپ have come out of Iran and argue that these signatories in the diaspora are out of touch with the demands of Iranians inside of the country.
هشتگ #نامه_به_ترامپ تا الان بالای ۵ هزار توییت داشته و بیش از ۷۴ درصد آنها از داخل ایران ارسال شده است.اوجش هم ساعت ۲ عصر به وقت نیویورک بود
— AmiR Rashidi (@Ammir) December 24, 2016
The hashtag #letter_to_Trump till now has had more than 5,000 tweets and more than 74% of those tweets have come from inside of Iran.
One Iranian posted to Twitter: “#letter_to_Trump reminds me of Uncle Napoleon's love letter to Hitler.” “My Uncle Napoleon” was a popular Iranian television show that centred around a quirky character during the Allied Occupation of Iran during World War II. Uncle Napoleon wished to make a pact with Hitler's Nazi government against Britain's imperial influence in the country.
#نامه_به_ترامپ pic.twitter.com/9xwclNzvoL
— Azin Mohajerin (@behazin21) December 25, 2016
Siamak Eskandari's post: #letter_to_Trump reminds me of Uncle Napoloean's love letter to Hitler.
Azin Mohajerin's tweet: #letter_to_Trump
While there are calls to pressure the Iranian government to release political prisoners and to hold them accountable for numerous repressive policies to which the signatories allude, Iranians inside the country do not welcome the kind of antagonism between their government and the United States that the letter asks for.
The letter has bolstered hardline Americans’ hawkish attitudes towards Iran. Right-wing US news channel Fox News ran a post on its website about the letter, describing a possible new chapter in US foreign policy on Iran under Trump. They hinted that this might be a new direction away from the National Iranian American Council's (NIAC) work to re-establish ties with Iran, and toward this “dissident” group and others:
Over the past several years, the pro-Iran nuclear deal lobby led by the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) had the Obama administration’s ear. Now, some are now hoping Trump will reach out to the myriad Iran opposition groups, ranging from the Monarchists to the Liberals.
BBC Persian journalist Bahman Kalbasi was quick to criticize Fox News for claiming the group that had signed the open letter had influence on civil society and dissidence in Iran:
Don't recognized 25 of the 30 names who wrote to #Trump to bash Obama & #Iran Deal. Fox News calls them “Influential Iranians dissidents”
— Bahman Kalbasi (@BahmanKalbasi) December 24, 2016
The front cover of the hardline Iranian newspaper “Sobh-e No” on December 26 calls the signatories of the open letter to Trump “Sellouts of Their Own Countrymen”
A hardline Iranian newspaper Sobh-e No reacted to the news by running a front cover with the photos of all 30 signatories next to a photo of Trump with the headline “30 Sellouts of Their Own Countrymen.”
To defend himself, Arash Sobhani appeared on BBC Persian on December 26 to argue that his appeal to Trump did not mean he was a supporter of the controversial president-elect, but rather that he is concerned about human rights inside of Iran. Iranians inside of Iran, however, have different opinions on how to approach reform.
بحث ابراهیم نبوی و آرش سبحانی درباره #نامه_به_ترامپ به نقطه جوش رسید pic.twitter.com/mhDO2AAz1a
— BBC Persian (@bbcpersian) December 26, 2016
Talks between Ibrahim Naboee and Arash Sobhani about #letter_to_Trump reached a boiling point.
An earlier headline for this story incorrectly characterized all the signatories of the letter as Iranian-Americans.

author: Mahsa Alimardani


text:
American Hockey Through Ukrainian Eyes: ‘Like Interrupted Sex’ · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Photo: Andrew Ivakhov
From time to time, we at Global Voices translate texts that appear on the Russian Internet, when writers capture something peculiar about the world, as seen by the denizens of the RuNet. Most of our content has to do with politics and social issues, but that’s not a rule, and today’s installment concerns the wild world of American hockey, as witnessed by Andrew Ivakhov, a young man from Ukraine now living in Los Angeles. He recently attended a matchup between the L.A. Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he was treated to a show he didn’t expect (or entirely enjoy).
This text first appeared in Russian on the website TJournal. It has been translated into English by Kevin Rothrock.
This post won’t say anything new, if you’re anyone who’s ever been to hockey in the United States. Unfortunately, the sport’s popularity was about zero when I was a kid, and so the first time I was seeing a hockey game live was at age 23.
I arrived at the local arena, the Staples Center, where a sluggish crowd of fans was making its way inside. Like lots of these places, it can transform into whatever they need, whether it’s boxing, basketball, or hockey. If people buy the tickets, they get what they want.
Are you used to going to soccer games? Well, here everything’s different. Don’t hide that flask with alcohol — they’ll gladly sell you some inside. Whiskey, Martinis, vodka — just step into the bar.
The bar at the L.A. Kings stadium. Photo: Andrew Ivakhov
The “2.0” in my headline isn’t for nothing, but it’s a little harder to defend the word “sports.” It’s more of a continuous money-making process, sprinkled with some hockey players they barely let play.
There are half-naked women — the kind you used to see only in the boxing ring — going around, handing out random lottery tickets. I found out later that this is how they lure you to future games. A mall food court would die of envy from the diversity of meals sold in this stadium, where I bought the worst tasting taco of my life for $12.
“You don’t come here for the hockey.” That’s the impression I got.
The only similarity with soccer fans that I saw was all the merchandise.
It’s funny, but the fans don’t really get in each other’s faces. Only occasionally, just to keep up the mood, someone will yell out something garbled, reminding me of the drivers in [the video game] GTA. This sport, where the athletes are real men, draws fans softer than the average marshmallow. It’s nice that people in the stands aren’t aggressive, but it robs the game of a certain energy.
Coming to the game in shorts turned out to be not the best idea. As soon as I sat down, the show started. Loudspeakers replaced the noise of a still missing audience. Dressed in the local team’s jersey, Cartman [from the TV show South Park] started leading us in a cheer.
The role usually given to soccer hooligans with chants, banners, and so on is handled here by the marketing department. Your job ends after you buy your ticket.
Finally the hockey begins. The movement, the speed, the skates cutting through ice, the first critical moments, and … then there’s a break for ads. It’s as unexpected as interrupted sex.
The players are used to it, and so are the fans. Sitting there with an open mouth, I was the only one who was confused to be learning about the latest cleaning product, instead of watching a hockey game. By the end of the game, you get used to it, too.
The athletic component of the game is amazing. I put to rest my fears of “I won’t even see the puck” with a $90 ticket. I googled the rules of the sport quickly and — voila — I could enjoy the game.
These players are intense. The sound from them on the ice echoes throughout the stadium. It turns out that you’re allowed to catch the puck with your hand, and they’re pretty graceful using their skates to move the puck around, too. The rules of hockey only add to the whole spectacle: I didn’t even notice how quickly the line changes. They don’t make a separate show of it, like they do in soccer. The players change faster than the prices on oil.
But why do they make every single play stoppage — even the necessary ones — into a chance to blast you with advertisements?
The scoreboard hanging over the rink transforms into a machine for making money off sponsors. Every two minutes, a bank presents some historical fact, or an insurance company tests you with some idiotic math exercise, taking you away from enjoying the game.
Three times, we applauded some soldier they kept calling “The Hero of the Game,” and the hair stylist “Floyd” kept asking us to guess different hockey players’ haircuts, handing out coupons. It was a big circus that had little to do with the sport.
And never mind about needing to stomp your feet at important moments in the game: they’ve got sound effects to do that for you. They even tell you when you should clap, and when you should boo. It’s a brave new world.
Fans for the opposing team are just mixed in with everyone, and the waiters run between the rows, sometimes blocking your view of everything. I know this wasn’t the theater, but really there just wasn’t any etiquette. The game itself simply wasn’t all that important. People go to stuff their faces, do some drinking, and take selfies.
Probably a lot of what I’ve described above is particular to a local hockey game. You get the feeling that money is being squeezed out of you, every second of the game. The banners circling the soccer fields now seem hilarious to me. It’s scary to imagine what they could do with soccer, if they set out to earn more money.
To summarize, hockey is a very cool sport. The players are real men, there is lots of fighting, there’s speed, action, and you can enjoy it, even if you only learn the rules five minutes before the game begins. But hockey in Los Angeles was more like a show. They’re always peddling something, there are lots of distractions, and you’re always be entertained somehow, and told to do something.
But it’s not cool when sports are removed from the sport.
A championship game, or a less ordinary game, probably would have had the energy that was lacking here. Alas, this wasn’t one of those games.
Oh and by the way, the Kings won three-to-two.

author: Kevin Rothrock


text:
Argentinian Politician Calls for ‘Denouncing an International Genocide’ in Syria · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Juan Carlos Giordano at the Buenos Aires City Council on December 17, 2016. Source: Giordano Twitter account.
Syrian activists and supporters have been sharing a video of Juan Carlos Giordano, the Argentinian MP and leader of the ‘Izquierda Socialista‘ (Socialist Left) party, itself a member of the Trotskyist ‘Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores’ (Workers’ Left Front) coalition, giving a powerful speech on the situation in Aleppo at the Buenos Aires City Council.
The speech was made as the fall of Aleppo entered its final stage with Assad regime forces and pro-regime sectarian militias, backed by Russian air power, defeating the remaining rebel forces in the city. This was accompanied by the mass evacuation of tens of thousands of East Aleppo residents to the relative safety of rebel-held countryside.
On Twitter, Giordano said:
Mi intervención en solidaridad con el pueblo rebelde de #Siria contra el genocidio que comenten Assad y Rusia con el aval del imperialismo pic.twitter.com/NuycHH7Ok4
— Juan Carlos Giordano (@GiordanoGringo) December 22, 2016
My intervention in solidarity with the rebellious people of Syria against the genocide committed by Assad and Russia with the endorsement of imperialism.
Here is a transcript of his speech and its translation:
Mi moción de privilegio, que hemos planteado hoy en labor parlamentaria, tiene que ver con repudiar un genocidio internacional. Cuando se pregunta, ¿en qué está afectado un diputado, una cámara de diputados de la nación? ¡Un genocidio internacional! Un delito de lesa humanidad que se ha cometido con el pueblo de Alepo, de Siria, el cual queremos repudiar. Y esta bandera representa no al dictador Bashar al Asad sino al pueblo rebelde de Alepo en contra de la dictadura de Bashar al Asad. Lo que se ha denominado la Guernika del siglo XXI, donde se han tirado bombas repudiadas por la comunidad internacional, hospitales, escuelas… Se ha asesinado a la población civil, han huído el 95 por ciento de los médicos… Alepo ha sido sitiada y se le ha prohibido el ingreso de comida y de medicamentos. La dictadura de Bashar al Asad, los bombardeos de Rusia con la complicidad de Estados Unidos y la complicidad de la Unión Europea, porque es un pueblo que se levantó contra las dictaduras como parte de la Primavera Árabe en el 2011 y se ha transformado en una guerra civil donde se ha provocado una verdadera catástrofe humanitaria. Por eso, reivindicamos al pueblo de Alepo, al pueblo rebelde de Siria contra Bashar al Asad, contra los bombardeos y la injerencia imperialista y estamos reclamando la ruptura del gobierno nacional de las relaciones diplomáticas contra esa dictadura para acorralar al dictador y ponerse de lado de los pueblos rebeldes que luchan con dignidad contra las dictaduras en el mundo. Gracias señor presidente.
My motion of privilege, that we have brought up in this parliamentary work, is about denouncing an international genocide. When one is asked in what way is an MP, the chamber of deputies of the nation affected? An international genocide! A crime against humanity perpetrated against the people of Aleppo, Syria, which we want to condemn. And this flag represents not the dictator Bashar al Assad, but the rebellious people of Aleppo against the dictatorship of Bashar al Assad. What has been named the Guernica of the 21st century, where bombs condemned by the international community have been dropped… on hospitals, schools… Where the civillian population has been murdered, [where] 95 per cent of all physicians have fled. Aleppo has been put under siege, food and medicine were not allowed to enter. The dictatorship of Bashar al Assad, the bombardment from Russia with the complicity of the United States and the complicity of the European Union, because this is a people that rose up against dictatorship as part of the Arab Spring in 2011 and [the situation] transformed into a civil war, provoking a humanitarian catastrophe. Therefore, we defend the people of Aleppo, the rebellious people of Syria against Bashar al Assad, against the bombardment and imperialist interference. And we are demanding that the national government break all diplomatic relationships with this dictatorship, corner the dictator and side with the rebellious peoples struggling with dignity against dictatorships in the world. Thank you, Mr. President.
The reference to the bombing of Guernica, the April 26, 1937 bombing of the city at the behest of the Spanish nationalist government by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's Condor Legion and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria, echoes the work of Portuguese artist Vasco Gargalo, whose work ‘Alepponica‘ shows some of the actors in the Syrian conflict the way Picasso drew his famous painting ‘Guernica’ in 1937.
‘Alepponica’ was widely shared in a number of publications and people even tweeted it under the hashtag #Alepponica.
An artist transformed Picasso's famous “Guernica” to bring attention to Aleppo's pain. pic.twitter.com/RdrXJeszrZ
— AJ+ (@ajplus) October 12, 2016
Palestinian activist ‘malak12d‘, who was raised in Syria, tweeted the moment leftwing activists raised the Syrian revolutionary flag in the city council.
أحزاب اليسار في الأرجنتين ترفع علم الثورة السورية في البرلمان الارجنتيني اليوم و تطالب الحكومة بقطع العلاقات الدبلوماسية فوراً مع الأسد . pic.twitter.com/tLcvExpOc8
— مَلَك (@Malak12d) December 17, 2016
Leftwing parties in Argentina raise the flag of the Syrian revolution today and demand that their government cut all diplomatic ties with the Assad regime.
Syrian activist Omar Abbas praised the work of Giordano and other Argentinian Leftists, saying that the grassroots work of Syrians and their allies in Argentina should be emulated everywhere else in the world.
Syrian activists are doing excellent grassroots work (away from opp) in Argentina, reaching out to unions and leftists to great effect.
— Omar (@omarsyria) 17 December 2016
There are too few examples of this – Syrians & allies must do independent grassroots outreach to their communities and strengthen ties.
— Omar (@omarsyria) 17 December 2016

author: Elia J. Ayoub


text:
Ex-Yugoslavs Mourn Vesna Vulović, Flight Attendant Who Survived Highest Ever Fall Without a Parachute · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Yugopapir scans of news items about Vesna Vulović from 1970s Yugoslav press. Used with permission.
The news of the death of the most famous Yugoslav flight attendant, Vesna Vulović, on December 24 at the age of 67 was met with a mix of nostalgia and sadness in the countries of the former Yugoslav federation.
She passed away in her apartment in Belgrade. The news was published by public broadcaster Serbian Radio and Television and republished by many regional media outlets.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Vulović holds the record for highest fall survived without a parachute:
Vesna Vulovic (Yugoslavia) was 23 working as a Jugoslavenski Aerotransport hostess when she survived a fall from 10,160 m (33,333 ft) over Srbsk, Kamenice, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), on 26 January 1972 after the DC-9 she was working aboard, blew up. She fell inside a section of tail unit. She was in hospital for 16 months after emerging from a 27 day coma and having many bones broken.
Officially, the explosion was result of terrorism, and the Yugoslav government blamed the Croatian separatist fascist movement Ustaše for placing the bomb. According to the Guardian, in 2009 two Czech investigative journalists claimed the plane had probably been mistakenly shot down by the Czechoslovakian air force. Allegedly, as part of the cover-up the secret police planted evidence indicating terrorism. This also incited doubts about the actual altitude.
As the sole survivor, Vulović become a celebrity and an optimistic symbol of luck, even though she didn't consider herself lucky — because if she were, she wouldn't had been in the accident in the first place.
Front page of the April 1973 edition of RTV Revija, featuring Vesna Vulović and her cat Cicka as “Lady Luck's Favorites.” Scan used with permission by Yugopapir.
During the 1970s, Vulović served as an embodiment of the Yugoslav national myth of perseverance against all odds, echoing the official narrative of the nation's rebirth amid the horrors of World War II. A 1973 interview republished by the nonprofit digital archive Yugopapir likened her to her green-eyed cat Cicka, who also had a history of surviving falls from great heights. At the time, Vulović was still on a sick leave recovering from her injuries, but expressed her desire to continue working and lack of fear of flying.
In the interview, she also said she eagerly expected insurance money to service her debts because her parents had to sell the family car to foot the recovery bills. Thirty years later, in another interview, she said that the accident ruined their lives, as it did hers.
Her inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records also kept her name in local headlines in the years that followed, as one of the few local record-holders.
Vesna Vulović na naslovnici, lični primerak. Laka joj zemlja. pic.twitter.com/LwtKAOpZeD
— EmiL (@ViktorPrvi) December 24, 2016
Vesna Vulović on the front page [of the Guinness Book of World Records, 1980 edition], my personal copy. May she rest in peace.
Following recovery, Serbia-based Vulović continued her career as a flight attendant. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, she showed bravery again by publicly joining the protest movement against the dictatorship of Slobodan Milošević.
At the news of her death, some social media users shared the widespread sentiment that 2016 was a very bad year overall.
Vesna Vulović je preživela pad sa 10.000m, ali 2016. godinu nije. :(
— Predrag Živić (@pzivic) December 25, 2016
Vesna Vulović survived a fall from 10,000 meters, but could not survive the year of 2016. :(