Languages
Monday, May 20, 2013
Journalism and Communication for Global Change
Civilisations Find Alliances
UNITED NATIONS
Q&A: “To Propel Change, You Have to Be in Their Faces”
Eighteen days ago, Diane Wilson, a 65-year-old fisherwoman from Texas, decided to go on a hunger strike.
Pluralities of Israelis, Palestinians Want Stronger U.S. Peace Role
Amidst a new U.S. effort to revive the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, healthy pluralities of both peoples want U.S. President Barack Obama to play a stronger role in resolving their conflict, according to a major new poll released here Thursday by the Pew Research Center.
Hamas ‘Talibanising’ Gaza
The Islamist resistance group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is being accused by its Palestinian Authority (PA) rivals in the West Bank of Talibanising Gaza and turning the coastal territory into a new Muslim Brotherhood neighbourhood.
As Hunger Strike Spreads, Obama Again Denounces Guantanamo
With at least 100 detainees now participating in a three-month-old hunger strike, U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday reiterated his earlier denunciations of the Guantanamo detention facility and blamed Congress for preventing its closure.
Some Hear Death Knell for a Two-State Solution
Despite indications that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is committing a substantial amount of time and effort to revive the long-stalled Israel-Palestinian “peace process", a growing number of experts believe a two-state solution is no longer viable and the lack of a realistic discussion of the issue in the United States is leaving the country without an alternative policy.OP-ED: How Bin Ladin’s Jihadist Message Continues to Lure the Vulnerable
The surviving Boston Marathon bomber reportedly told authorities the U.S. “war on Islam” drove him and his brother to commit their terrorist act. Their linking the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a perceived global war on Islam is at the heart of the Jihadist message Bin Ladin and Al-Qaeda issued to the Muslim world almost two decades ago.
Bedouin Resist Israeli Shove
Dozens of metal and wooden tents cling to the rocky hillside, just outside of Jerusalem along the road leading to the Dead Sea, while the unmistakable red roofs of Israeli settlements peak out from behind opposite hilltops.
Spring Brings Worse for Shias
The mob that surrounded the home of Mohamed Nour, an Egyptian Shia living in Cairo’s Bab El-Shaariya district, claimed it was on a mission to “inoculate” Egypt against Shia religious beliefs. Without intervention, Shia doctrine would spread across Egypt “like a cancer,” they had warned.
BOOKS: A History of the Search for Justice in the Middle East
It’s no wonder that Egypt has floundered in its efforts to create a more democratic system from the ruins of the Mubarak regime.
Palestinians Fight Unlawful Deportation
Hind Ibrahim Abeyat has spent most of her life separated from her father. “Every house in Palestine has something – someone in prison, a martyr,” the 19-year-old told IPS from her family home in Abeyat village, near Bethlehem.
Israeli Cloud Hovers Over Green Energy
A quiet diplomatic war is being waged by several European governments against the Israeli authorities, specifically the Israeli Civil Administration which controls the Israeli occupied West Bank.
‘Tell Us About Jail – Just In Case’
“Three interrogators questioned me for three hours. I was handcuffed. They beat me, slapped me, kicked me, boxed me, accused me of throwing stones; played a video of a demonstration. I denied I was there. So again, they beat me up,” recounts Zein Abu-Mariya, 17, seated on a sofa next to dad.
Kerry’s Mideast Trip Seen as “Going Through the Motions”
Despite repeated pledges of his determination and enthusiasm for resolving the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian impasse, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent trip to the region has provoked more scepticism than hope among observers in Washington.
Palestinian Expulsions Mapped in Hebrew
Fireworks went off over the Tel Aviv skyline this week as thousands of flag-waving Israelis marked the 65th anniversary of their country’s founding. At the same time, a smaller group of Israeli activists explored the other, most often ignored, side to their country’s creation: the forced displaced of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Where Skis Replace Bullets
When 37-year-old Igor Urizar first happened upon the isolated mountain village of Penjwin, 300 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, he had a vision of this border-town -- nestled in the pristine, snow-capped mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan -- transformed into a haven for skiers.Next Page »
The United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (www.unaoc.org) has taken an essential step ahead of the earlier dialogue of civilisations: it recognises the need to act together rather than just talk, to take the world past conflict - some of it real, but much of it perceived. Far too much discourse places "civilisations" into opposed categories and labels them with ill-informed attributes. These lazy stickers will not be removed by weapons and arguments but through communication, with initiatives such as the Joint Rapid Response Media Mechanism (www.theglobalexperts.org), a panel of media experts who can guide facts past dangerous distortion. Here IPS takes its readers past standard prejudices to present the facts behind myths.
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