Dear Colleagues,

We have the pleasure to invite you to the 13th European Conference on Personality (ECP13). The Department of Psychology of the University of Athens is organizing the conference of the European Association of Personality Psychology in Athens, Greece on July 22-26, 2006.

You can find all the necessary information at the conference site: www.ecp13.gr

We look forward to welcoming you in Athens next year.

Best wishes,
On behalf of the Organizing Committee
Frosso Motti-Stefanidi
Chair of the Conference

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
September 27, 2005

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) is distributing the enclosed articles to build bridges of understanding between the West and the Arab World and countries with predominately Muslim populations. Unless otherwise noted, all copyright permissions have been obtained and the articles may be reproduced by any news outlet or publication free of charge. If publishing, please acknowledge both the original source and CGNews, and notify us at cgnewspih@sfcg.org.

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. “The Changing Faces of Islam” by Abeer Mishkhas
Abeer Mishkhas, a writer for Arab News, discusses the varied interpretations and practices of Islam around the world, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, Morroco and Malyasia, as portrayed in a documentary broadcast by BBC entitled “Battle for Islam.” For the first time, writes Mishkhas, a documentary about the Muslim world has been produced that “avoids reference to violence as well as the intolerant and one-sided ideologies of some Muslims.”
(Source: Arab News, September 15, 2005)

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ARTICLE 1
The ideas battle with Islam requires more than spinmeisters
David Ignatius

Rarely has a big idea gotten more lip service and less real substance than the argument that there is a war of ideas under way for the soul of the Muslim world. Do a Google search on the words "war of ideas" and "Muslim" and you get over 11 million hits. Yet four years after September 11, 2001, the real battle is only now beginning.

The Bush administration's response has been to throw former White House spinmeister Karen Hughes into the fray. The implication is that Muslims will stop hating America if we can just improve our "public diplomacy" through Hughes' new office at the State Department. Forgive me, but that idea strikes me as dangerously naive. This is not a propaganda problem, nor is it one that can be solved by the United States.

The war within Islam takes place every day in mosques, study groups and televised sermons. And although it's about ideas, it has deadly consequences, with hundreds dying from suicide car bombings this week in Iraq alone. It's hard for a non-Muslim like me to fully understand this struggle, but after years of reporting on the Middle East, reading and talking to Muslim friends, I'm beginning to see some connections.

Traditional Islam is under assault from a puritanical fringe group known as the "Salafists." The name is drawn from an Arabic word that refers to the 7th-century ancestors who walked with the Prophet Mohammad. For a Christian analogy to the Salafist extremists, think of the 15th-century fanatical monk Savonarola, who burned the books of Florence in his rage at the corruption of the House of Medici. The difference is that the Salafists have access to the Internet and car bombs - and perhaps far more dangerous weapons.

An important new book by Quintan Wiktorowicz, titled "Radical Islam Rising," makes clear that the Salafists operate like a cult. They draw in vulnerable young people, fill them with ideas that give their lives a fiery new meaning, and send them into battle against the unbelievers.

Combating this seductive Salafist preaching requires the same kind of intense "de-programming" used to wean away converts from other modern cults.

Wiktorowicz researched his book by embedding himself with "Al-Muhajiroun," an extremist Salafist group based in London. He found that the group preyed on disoriented young Muslims - not poor or oppressed, themselves, but confused and looking for meaning. Recruitment often involved a personal crisis that provided the Muslim cultists with a "cognitive opening."

"To many young Muslims, their parents' version of Islam seems archaic, backward and ill-informed," Wiktorowicz explains. Into this spiritual void march the Salafists. They provide a structured life, through a mandatory study session every week in the halaqah, or prayer circle, and a new set of life rules. Among the prohibited activities Wiktorowicz discovered in his research were "playing games," "watching television," "sleeping a lot and chilling out," and "hanging out with friends."

Frankly, Hughes and her public diplomats aren't going to be much help in deprogramming a young Salafist. Governments can contain the violent cults by making it riskier to join - so that the confused young Muslim must weigh the danger of deportation or even arrest before joining an extremist group. But the real battle of ideas requires theological ammunition, and that's where there are some interesting new developments.

Traditional Islam is finally starting to fight back against the Salafists and their self-taught, literalist interpretations of the Koran. One of the leaders in this effort is Jordan's King Abdullah II, heir to a Hashemite throne that traces its lineage back to the prophet Mohammad. He convened an Islamic conference in Amman last July that concluded with a communique on "True Islam and its Role in Modern Society." It re-emphasized the traditional faith - the four schools of Sunni jurisprudence, the orthodox school of Shiite jurisprudence, the canon set forth over centuries of fatwas and other orthodox interpretations of what Islam means.

Rather than running scared, as mainstream clerics sometimes do when facing the Salafist onslaught, the Amman declaration was proud and emphatic. It drew together fatwas from the leading clerics in Islam, including the sheikh of Al-Azhar in Cairo and Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Najaf. Another backer was Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, who has a weekly show on Al-Jazeera and is probably the best-known television preacher in the Arab world.

These Islamic leaders sense that their religion is being kidnapped by Salafist radicals with a grab-bag theology, and they are finally beginning to push back. It's a war of ideas they should win, if they can make traditional Islam a vibrant, living faith. Young Muslims don't want to go back to the 7th century; they want to live with dignity in the 21st.

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* Syndicated columnist David Ignatius is published regularly by the Daily Star of Lebanon.
Source: Daily Star, September 17, 2005
Visit the website at www.dailystar.com.lb
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
Islam-online.net
UK Church Offers Apology for Iraq War

LONDON- Four Church of England bishops said on Monday, September 19 that the Church should take the lead in reconciling with UK Muslims by apologizing to their leaders for the US-led war in Iraq if the British government fails to do so.

"We do believe that the church has a visionary role for reconciliation, beyond that of any government," the Bishop of Oxford, Right Reverend Richard Harris, told BBC radio.

The proposal was contained in a report, entitled "Countering Terrorism: Power, Violence and Democracy Post-9/11," written by a working group of the Church of England's House of Bishops, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Leaders of the Church of England, which lies at the heart of the worldwide Anglican community, including Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, had been critical of the war, insisting the invasion failed to meet the criteria of a "just war," reported AFP.

The report will be submitted for debate within the church, but it was not clear what the next step would be, a church spokesman told AFP.

Political Repentance

As governments are unlikely to apologize, according to the Associated Press (AP), the report suggested a "truth and reconciliation" meeting between Christian and Muslim leaders for a "public act of institutional repentance" to apologize for the way the West has contributed to the tragedy in Iraq, including the March 2003 invasion led by the United States and Britain.

The bishops say to pull out of Iraq without a stable democracy being in place would be irresponsible and compound the misery of the Iraqi people. But to stay suggests collusion with a "gravely mistaken" war.
If collusion is a necessary evil, the report says, there needs to be a degree of public recognition of the West's responsibility for the predicament.

The report highlights a "long litany of errors" in the West's handling of Iraq which includes its support of Saddam Hussein over many years as a strategic ally against Iran, its willingness to sell him weapons and the suffering caused to the Iraqi people by sanctions.

"It might be possible for there to be a public gathering... at which Christian leaders meet with religious leaders of other, mainly Muslim, traditions, on the basis of truth and reconciliation, at which there would be a public recognition of at least some of the factors mentioned above," it said.

The report added that the invasion appeared to be "as much for reasons of American national interest as it was for the well-being of the Iraqi people."

Moral Dilemma

The bishops expressed concern about the "strong sense of moral righteousness" behind US policy in the Middle East, which is "fed by the major influence of the 'Christian right'," the report said.

"Not only is this political reading of current history in the light of apocalyptic texts illegitimate, but that those texts need to be read in a different way altogether, as a critique of imperialism rather than as a justification for it," it said.

The report's authors point to precedents where the church has said sorry for past injustices including the Vatican 's remorse over Christians' responsibility for the persecution of Jews.

The bishops accept that such a meeting is likely to attract widespread and harsh criticism and could easily be dismissed as "a cheap gesture" with little cost to the church.

But they argue that far from being an easy answer to a thorny question, setting up a meeting of this kind would present all kinds of difficulties, not least persuading Muslim leaders to attend in the first place.

The meeting is offered as a solution to the moral dilemma that members of the church who opposed the war find themselves in.

The US-led invasion of Iraq is believed to have given a momentum to Al-Qaeda's recruitment and fundraising and made Britain, Washington 's key ally in the war, more vulnerable to terrorist attacks, according to a long-planned report issued Monday, July 18, by London-based Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, a respected British think-tank.

Within the same context, London Mayor Ken Livingstone wrote in a British daily on Thursday, August 4 that Britain must withdraw its troops from Iraq in order to prevent further terrorist attacks.

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* This article was compiled on IslamOnline.net.
Source: IslamOnline.net, September 19, 2005
Visit the website at www.islamonline.net
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 3
Building Peace and Justice through Awareness
Anna Belesiotis

As a first generation American, my family has maintained the traditional Greek customs they brought with them to the United States. Preserving these customs within my family has taught me the importance of knowing their origins so that the next generation can understand the significance of keeping these traditions alive. As I learn more about Greek customs, I discover more and more similarities between Arab and Greek culture. From cuisine to folk dance, many of these traditions are so indistinguishable from one another that I feel at home in either culture. Despite my knowledge of our cultural similarities, I was unaware of a stronger tie religious Greeks and Arabs share: a firm devotion to our respective religions and a deep belief in living by God’s principles.

Recently I was fortunate to have the opportunity to discover our common devotion to God through my friendships with six, Arab exchange students who studied at my college for six months, as part of a program funded by the State Department which provides them the opportunity to study in the U.S. for two years. During the six months they studied at Lewis and Clark College, I was fortunate not only to have learned about Islam, but also to have been inspired to become a firmer believer in my own Christian faith because I had the opportunity to experience another faith through those with a deep devotion to their religion.

From the day I was baptized into the Orthodox Church, I have considered my Orthodox identity to be as strong a part of my personality as my Greek ethnicity. In contrast, the Muslim students feel their religion is more important to them than their culture. Although they are proud of being Arab, they are even prouder of being Muslim and put it before everything else. Muslims live by the Koran’s principles for the same reason Christians live according to biblical teachings: to fulfill God’s wishes for peace and justice throughout the world. The students informed me that Islam is the last message from God, whose goal is to bring together all the people of the world so they can work for peace and justice. They told me God chose this method because it would have been difficult to have all people in different parts of the world join together to worship God in the same manner. As a result, God sent each people a prophet to establish each religion along a different path, all with the goal of promoting the same core principles of peace and justice.

The students also taught me that Islam is for everyone because it combines all cultures: black and white, Arab and non-Arab, poor and rich. There is no difference between an Arab and a non-Arab person but belief. As with followers of any religion, there are different ways in which Muslims believe and choose to worship God. But all religions agree that the more a person believes, the better a person they are. And no matter which religion an individual believes in, our faith can inspire us to become better people when we follow our religion’s teachings.

For instance, every religion teaches us to respect all people regardless of their faith, race, or social status. Even non-religious persons in western society acknowledge that increased awareness of other cultures and their beliefs leads to a greater understanding of our differences, and more importantly leads us to recognize the common beliefs all people share regardless of their particular faith. Respect for other cultures is the only way violence can be mitigated, peace accomplished and ignorance turned to knowledge.

It follows that by welcoming those of different faiths into western society, we can help create a positive image of the American people in Muslim societies. The Arab students told me that my eagerness to learn more about Arab culture and its relationship to Islam challenged their prior suppositions about Americans. They had not expected such curiosity about their countries and had thought Americans would be disrespectful of their beliefs. Similarly, I did not expect to feel comfortable discussing religion with Muslims and was hesitant about how they would respect my own beliefs. Our friendship has instilled a positive image in my mind of Muslims and Arab culture that I would not have had if not for my eagerness to learn about and experience Islam from a Muslim perspective.

The students were proof that being a good representative of one’s religion causes every person you encounter to have a positive image of that religion. Their incredible devotion to Islam, in conjunction with their fervent dedication to abide by God’s teachings, inspired me to seek ways in which I could better exemplify the principles of my own faith. The students taught me how peace and justice are spread every time you interact with others who behave according to religious morals, no matter what the religion. My friends’ compassion gave me greater faith that peace and justice can exist between all societies. The immediate respect we had for one another despite our religious differences is a demonstration of what just a little effort can lead to. By respecting Islam and Muslim people in our own country, we can begin sowing the seeds of understanding that will lead to peaceful, mutually beneficial relations with Muslim societies throughout the Arab world.

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* Anna Belesiotis is a senior at Lewis & Clark College, where she is studying international relations. She plans to continue her studies with a degree in international law.
Source: CGNews-PiH, September 27, 2005
Visit our website at www.sfcg.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
Our media is scaring the world and hurting our national interest
Editorial of the Daily Times of Pakistan

Many discussions on Pakistani TV channels or comments in the Urdu press are downright scary. For example, a retired chief justice of the Sindh High Court recently denied on TV that the boys who did the 7/7 bombing in London were really involved or had anything to do with Pakistan. Similarly, several editorials written in Urdu on the fourth anniversary of 9/11 cast doubt on Muslims ever being involved in the act. Now consider the latest threat delivered to the cities of Melbourne and Los Angeles through an Al Qaeda tape received by a TV channel in New York. The boy pictured in it was identified by his parents in California, who told the TV channel that he had converted to Islam at an Orange County mosque and “come under the influence of militants who took him to Pakistan”.

As the retired chief justice of the Sindh High Court railed against the West in a September 10 telecast, the news that he had not read was that the leader of the 7/7 bombers, Siddiq Khan, had appeared in an Al Qaeda video, made somewhere in Pakistan prior to the attack, and declared his terrorist intent in the name of Islam. The honourable judge on the other hand was trying to prove “on the strength of my vast judicial experience” that the 7/7 deaths were stage-managed by “the West” to punish Pakistan and the Muslim world. He ignored the fact that Shehzad Tanvir, one of the London-bombers, had visited a madrassa in Lahore run by the banned terrorist organisation, Sipah-e-Sahaba. (The madrassa is still functional.) Of course, we have the right to hold free discussions in which facts can be quoted to prove our point but mere fulminations spoil the atmosphere in Pakistan by creating hatred and scare the outside world.

How the world is scared was demonstrated on Monday when an airliner carrying British tourists from Cyprus back to Manchester, UK, had to be delayed because the passengers refused to take off with two Pakistanis on board “who looked like terrorists”. Alarm was raised when one of the Pakistanis entered the plane toilet and did not come out even after 10 minutes. The airline had to suffer thousands of dollars of loss as 230 passengers had to be rescheduled after a lay-off in a local hotel and the two Pakistanis had to be sent on a different airliner. The two poor Pakistanis suffered because their dress was shalwar-qamees and their faces were covered with beards. The bad reputation of Pakistan is linked to facts that most of us insist on denying, but also to the kind of opinion we express whenever we get a chance to do so.

Now Australia is reported as getting ready to secure itself against possible Al Qaeda attacks. But if any new legislation is passed the expatriate Pakistani community in Australia will be the one to suffer. The 9/11 attack which was carried out by Arabs with no Pakistani involved was planned in Pakistan and Afghanistan and the attackers of the “Hamburg Cell” had all visited Pakistan. If Australia is attacked, which country are the terrorists likely to have visited before the attack? If the Australians say Pakistan, they can’t be blamed, because of what has happened in the past and what our press has been saying and reporting about Australia. This year, a leader of Ahle Sunnat Muslims in Australia, Sheikh Muhammad Imran, said that Osama bin Laden was not responsible for the 9/11 bombings, nor had the Muslims done the 7/7 bombings. Osama, he said, was a great (azeem) Muslim and there was no proof that he had carried out acts of terrorism.

It may be recalled that newspapers had reported the former interior minister, Faisal Saleh Hayat, on August 17, 2004 as saying that in 2003 an Australian member of Al Qaeda named Terry was arrested from the house of former national hockey player, Shahid Ali Khan, in Karachi, whose wife was a member of Jamaat-e-Islami. Similarly, an Urdu weekly reported as recently as August 1, 2005 that Hizb al Tahrir was recruiting Muslims for Al Qaeda from the Green Acres area of Sydney. It stated that Muhammad Atta, the 9/11 pilot, had contacted the Hizb in Germany and that the 7/7 London bomber, Shehzad Tanvir, also had contacts with Hizb Al Tahrir. The organisation was found distributing pamphlets among the Muslims of Australia. Meanwhile, the head of the Islamic Teaching Institute in Australia, Sheikh Khalid Yaseen, has asked the Muslims not to make friends with non-Muslim Australians. And although banned, Hizb al Tahrir is very active in Pakistan with full public and, alas, judicial sympathies.

Apart from “defending” Islam, our duty is to protect our economy and also protect a very important factor of our economy, namely, the expatriate Pakistani community. We can prevent the radicalisation of the expatriate Muslims by toning down our rhetoric and controlling our madrassas. We can surely stop adding to the international alarm by tempering the inflammatory discussions that affect our economy and our travel abroad. We cannot miss the point behind even the Gulf states’ deporting hundreds of Pakistanis suspected of Al Qaeda sympathies and extreme views. We should not forget that foreign investment is still shy and an Arab buyer of our privatised electricity corporation (KESC) only recently abandoned the deal with the forfeiture of his preliminary deposit after looking at what was happening in Karachi on the terrorism front.

The terrorists who blow up our public facilities and kill our citizens are roaming around in Pakistan and the daily news confirms their presence, but why should the rest of us join verbally in their enterprise? Everything written and spoken on TV in Pakistan eventually gets reported abroad. Our “free” media must raise the standard of dialogue and discussion in the national interest. The world is already scared; we don’t have to play on this scare any further. *

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* This piece was an editorial written by the Daily Times of Pakistan.
Source: the Daily Times of Pakistan, Sept 15, 2005
Visit their website at www.dailytimes.com.pk
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 5
The Changing Faces of Islam
Abeer Mishkhas

“BATTLE for Islam” was the title of the documentary broadcast by the BBC this month. It was shown later in London to a limited audience at Chatham House; both the presenter and the director of the film were present and participated in a lively discussion.

Ziauddin Sardar, the presenter, wrote that his program showed another side of what is perceived as “a narrow, intolerant, obscurantist, illiberal and confrontational interpretation” of Islam.

He aimed to show the differences in Islam from one country to another; his premise was that all are pieces of a puzzle which add up to the face of Islam according to a variety of voices. He goes on a journey to the edges of the Muslim world, to countries that have not been closely looked at.

The journey took him to Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey and Morocco.

After the film was shown, Sardar said that he had tried to avoid violent pictures which the media have delighted in since 9/11. Nonetheless, the film begins with a violent image — the Twin Towers on fire — but after all, that is a violent image which has been the springboard for all the debate on Islam. It begins with a question about the identities of those who committed the atrocities and in pursuit of this, he goes to Pakistan first to discover what has changed in some “Muslims’ thought and made them violent and intolerant.”

Pakistan, according to him, stands on the border between extremism and moderation. After 9/11, the Pakistani madarassas were accused of fomenting extremism of all kinds. As he strolls about, Sardar talks to people and records his impressions of the debate on varying interpretations of Islam. In a school in Lahore, a teacher tells him that she teaches the girls how to be true followers of Islam; she tells him that Islam does not prevent these girls from working when they grow up, provided they have permission from their husbands. President Musharaf tells Sardar that he is all for enlightened moderation which encourages the moderate forces in society.

From Pakistan, the crew moves to Indonesia, and a security guard in Jakarta’s Istiqal Mosque. The guard says that he wants his son to grow up to be a Muslim who will be “a credit to his country and to his religion.” For him, Islam is a way of life which guarantees his son’s secure future.

In Malaysia, there is a group — “Sisters in Islam”— which seeks equality between men and women in religion. One of the members is a female law student who wants to become a judge; she believes that religion is a belief in the heart and that classifying people into “believers” and “non-believers” is unjust. Religion, in her opinion, is between a person and God.

In Morocco, Sardar finds a different image of Islamic practice and life. In that country there is a heated debate about some family-related legislation that angered many women and pleased many others. The interpretation of religious texts in favor of the legislation drew all kinds of comments which ended in formal protests.

Beside the debate, we are shown the life of a simple Muslim woman who works in a carpet factory and contentedly performs her daily prayers. Her dream is to have enough money to make the pilgrimage to Makkah.

In a complete about-face, Sardar meets a government adviser who says he is Jewish but has no problems working in a high-profile job in a Muslim country.

The last country visited is Turkey where the subject of secularism and religion is hotly debated at all levels of society.

The program was criticized by some for using a former “Miss Turkey” to show the country’s diversity. Now a fashion model, she talked about her family; how her mother is a devout Muslim while her father is an atheist. She said, “I carry prayers in my wallet all the time and read them whenever I can. I find peace in my prayers.”

She made a good point, “What matters is to live and behave like a real human being. If someone goes out and harms someone and then comes home and prays five times a day, is that religion?”

One interesting — and correct — comment made to Sardar after the film was shown was that many conservative Christians would also disapprove of what Miss Turkey was wearing.

When the film ended what came to my mind was that some of the women in those countries seemed to be making gradual changes in their societies. In fact that was one of the points Sardar made after the film; he said that he regarded women as leaders for change and that based on his experiences while on the journey that women seemed to embrace the courage and new thinking that would begin the tide of change.

I could not help wondering if the film crew had included other Middle Eastern Islamic countries, wouldn’t that have been a fuller picture of women and their influences?

Sardar did say, in defense of his limited choice of countries that he thought change often started from the edges and worked toward the center. The film did not indulge in the usual stereotypes; for the first time, we say a documentary about the Muslim world which avoided reference to violence as well as the intolerant and one-sided ideologies of some Muslims.

A criticism which was made was that the film needed more depth, that it was lightweight and merely skimmed the surface of a rich and complicated world.

Perhaps that is true — but how much can we demand or expect of a single film?

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* Abeer Mishkhas is a writer for Arab News.
Source: Arab News, September 15, 2005
Visit the website at www.arabnews.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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Just Published: Alfred Adler's Case Readings and Demonstrations

Volume 10 of "The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler" is now
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Web site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/
E-mail: HTStein@att.net
Tel: (360) 647-5670

24.09.2005, George Woods, MD wrote:

George Woods

Linda Hartling sends us this poster on Ubuntu.
Thanks, dear Linda!
Warmly!
Evelin

Please see
http://www.transnational.org/forum/meet/2005/Lindner_Humiliation.html
for
Mature Differentiation As Response to Terrorism and Humiliation: Refrain From the Language of 'War' and 'Evil'
by Lindner, Evelin Gerda (2005)
In Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, 2005.

23.09.2005, Sarah Proescher kindly responded:
Dear Prof. Lindner,
Thank you so much for your insightful article, “Mature Differentiation as Response to Terrorism and Humiliation.” Through my own work I have born witness to the incapacitating effects of externally and self-perceived humiliation. I work for a small non-profit org. servicing the Latino immigrant community, Asociacion Tepeyac de New York. From the human rights department, I coordinate our Education Rights Program and also assist with our Labor Rights Program.
With the case of rights education and promotion among the undocumented immigrant community we see humiliation at work on many overlapping levels. The (at times subconscious) humiliation and subsequent fear surrounding ones legal status, the humiliation of existing as a non-citizen and therefore invisible contributor to the local and national economy/society and culture and the humiliation, anger and sense of incompetence that comes when the available recourses from where to appeal the denial of your rights are themselves ineffectual.
It is a long and arduous struggle and I often feel incapable of affecting any macro-changes. I seek refuge in the small victories and the hope of the vibrant community I work with. They remind me of the importance of humility. The humiliation, and the need to confront its harmful manifestations, that you describe so concisely, is truly at the root of this and any struggle for lasting social and human justice. May we all learn to treat one another with the decency we need and deserve.
Thanks again for all your important contributions.
Sincerely,
Sarah Proescher
Education Rights Program Coordinator
Asociacion Tepeyac de New York
www.tepeyac.org

24.09.2005, Barry Childers kindly wrote:
I liked it very much. I started seeing resentment as the source of many human conflicts 60 years ago when I discovered Nietzsche (whom Freud called the greatest of all psychologists! - I agree with him).
Sincerely,
Barry Childers, clinical psychologist, Geneva

24.09.2005, Annabel McGoldrick kindly wrote:
Hi Jan
Many thanks for this - latest in some really top stuff you've been putting out lately. We're working on a TV proposal at the moment, for which Evelin and her work would be very useful, if, as we hope, it gets off the ground.

24.09.2005, Rachel Aspogard kindly wrote:
Really Brilliant woman, I have been looking for such a mentor for a long
time.

Mahdi Elmandjra kindly wrote:
Jan,
thanks for the information concerning Evelin Lindner. we have been in touch
because of my book "humiliation". I am glad to see that the idea that humiliation is one of the main factors of national and international conflicts.
best wishes, mahdi

FEATURED BOOK REVIEW, published by the Global Issues in Language Education Newsletter:

The Diplomat's Dictionary
by Charles W. Freeman, Jr. (1997)
United States Institute of Peace Press, Washington DC, U.S.A. 451 pp. ISBN: 1878379666
Review by Francisco Gomes de Matos

The Diplomat's Dictionary (TDD) consists of alphabetically arranged quotations with the author's comments (the core of the dictionary, with 321 pages), a 15-page section on Persons (with essential biodata), a 105-page Index (concepts, authors, key-ideas, organizations), and information on the United States Institute of Peace (goals, activities, structure).

The first edition of this book, published in 1994, sold out in a few months, attesting to the work's immediate appeal. The US Institute of Peace has now launched this revised 1997 edition, which features 80 new entries. In the biographical note, we are told that Freeman "has led a distinguished diplomatic career, including service overseas in India, Taiwan, China, Thailand and Saudi Arabia". Of special interest to Newsletter readers is the fact that the author is fluent in several languages, having been the principal interpreter during Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972. Freeman's advice to diplomats concerning the importance of interpreters is well worth quoting: "It is wise for a negotiator, even if he speaks the language of the other side well, to use an interpreter. This preserves the principle that he regards his own language as authoritative, assures that his statements reflect a full command of the nuances involved, maintains a record of discussion in his own language, reassures those on his own negotiating team who may not speak the foreign language as well as he, and gives him extra time to consider how best to conduct himself as discussion proceeds".

Given this Newsletter's focus on Global Issues, the following 10-item checklist was used to see how well TDD fared:

1. Cross-cultural(ism)
2. Democracy
3. Development
4. Environment
5. Human Rights
6. Global(ism)
7. Language
8. Peace
9. Understanding
10. War

A check of the above items shows that specific entries for 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are dealt with in varying degrees of explicitness. Conspicuously absent are Cross-culturalism, Development, Environment, Human Rights and Globalism. In fairness, it should be noted that there are entries for cross-cultural friendship, cultural differences in gestures and for language and culture in diplomacy.

Omissions notwithstanding, TDD features important concepts such as empathy (98-99), intelligence (138-139), morality (174-175), negotiation (182-184) and power (222-223). The author's commendable cultural pluralism is reflected in his inclusion of Arab, Dutch, English, French, German, Latin, Persian, Portuguese and Russian proverbs.

Since this is primarily a book of quotations, who does Freeman quote? Most-often-quoted thinkers are: Henry Kissinger (59 times), Adam Watson (31), Francois de Callieres (24), Harold Nicolson (23), Niccolo Machiavelli (21), William Macomber (19), Chester Crocker (18), and Talleyrand (17).

Freeman describes his book as a compilation of the lore of statecraft and diplomacy, and makes this important clarification: "I deliberately did not include terms like Third World that I thought were possibly stereotypes of our era rather than enduring factors in diplomacy. Nor did I include many topics of current diplomacy, including some important ones like ecology". He very humbly adds: "The book is by a practitioner, for practitioners".

A great deal can be said in praise of this brilliantly revealed lore of the fascinating profession of diplomacy. Language educators who wish to enhance their inter- (or trans-) disciplinary preparation, and to become enlightened on the conceptual-terminological wealth of the learned profession of diplomatic suasion will do well to add this work to their list of inspired and inspiring books. Both the author and publisher are to be congratulated on making TDD available. Although English is now said to be a global language (cf. David Crystal's new book, "English as a Global Language", Cambridge University Press, l997), translations of this work in other languages should be done, so as to more universally disseminate it. Freeman has succeeded in communicating his diplomatic wisdom and wit with clarity and grace.

Dans ce message, vous trouverez également une version française.
In this message, you will also find an english version.

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FLASH-FORO N°1 - FORO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE EL NEXO ENTRE CIENCIA SOCIAL Y POLÍTICA (IFSP) / LUNES 19 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2005
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Por primera vez desde la creación en 1994 del programa de la UNESCO Gestión de las transformaciones sociales (MOST), se realizará un Foro internacional sobre el nexo entre ciencia social y política. El mismo tendrá lugar en Argentina y Uruguay del 20 al 24 de febrero 2006.

Durante cinco días se prevé la asistencia de más de un millar de participantes de diferentes ámbitos (científicos, responsables políticos y representantes de la sociedad civil) que se reunirán en Buenos Aires, Córdoba y Montevideo. El objetivo principal será reflexionar conjuntamente sobre el valor de la investigación en ciencias sociales en relación con los procesos de toma de decisiones políticas y en el desarrollo de proyectos sociales innovadores.

Estimamos que Ud. desearía recibir regularmente informaciones al respecto. Por ello, pensamos enviarle este boletín informativo el 1° y el 15 de cada mes. El próximo número será enviando entonces el 1° de octubre 2005.

Para abonarse a "FLASH-FORO", sírvase hacer clic en el siguiente link: mailto:sympa@lists.unesco.org?subject=unsub%20ifspnews-shs

Previsto inicialmente para principios de septiembre, el Foro internacional sobre el nexo entre ciencia social y política ha sido aplazado para conciliar los calendarios académicos y agendas políticas de los distintos países que desean participar en el Foro, y contribuir, de esta manera, al éxito del evento.

La mayoría de talleres previstos para el mes de septiembre se realizarán en febrero 2006. Se comunicará la lista completa de talleres por intermedio del presente boletín informativo. El programa, así como las modalidades de inscripción estarán próximamente disponibles en el sitio del Foro, donde puede desde ya consultar diversas informaciones prácticas.
SITIO DEL FORO: www.unesco.org/shs/ifsp

----- INFORMACIÓN GENERAL -----
Christine Allan: ifsp@unesco.org

----- CONTACTOS COMMUNICACIÓN Y PRENSA -----
·ARGENTINA:
Juan Schjaer y Silvina Seijas, Prensa y Comunicación del Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia y Tecnología: schjaer@me.gov.ar ; sseijas@me.gov.ar
·URUGUAY:
Cristina Casaubou, Comisión Nacional del Uruguay para la UNESCO: ccasaubou@yahoo.es
Carolina Porley, Universidad de la República: carolinaporley@yahoo.com
·UNESCO :
Cathy Bruno-Capvert: c.bruno-capvert@unesco.org
Ana Krichmar: a.krichmar@unesco.org

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FLASH-FORUM N°1 - FORUM INTERNATIONAL SUR LES INTERFACES ENTRE POLITIQUES ET SCIENCES SOCIALES (IFSP) / LUNDI 19 SEPTEMBRE 2005
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Pour la première fois depuis la création par l'UNESCO, en 1994, du programme de gestion des transformations sociales (MOST), un Forum international sur les interfaces entre politiques et sciences sociales se tiendra en Argentine et en Uruguay du 20 au 24 février 2006.

Durant cinq jours, plus d'un millier de participants (scientifiques, décideurs politiques et acteurs de la société civile) sont attendus à Buenos Aires, Rosario, Cordoba et Montevidéo pour débattre de la manière dont la recherche en sciences sociales peut accompagner les processus de décision politique et nourrir le développement de projets sociaux innovants.

Nous avons pensé qu'il vous intéresserait d'être régulièrement tenu informé à ce sujet. C'est pourquoi nous vous proposons de vous adresser ce bulletin d'information, chaque 1er et 15 du mois, à partir du 1er octobre 2005.

Pour vous abonner à "FLASH-FORUM", il vous suffit de cliquer sur le lien suivant: mailto:sympa@lists.unesco.org?subject=sub%20ifspnews-shs

Initialement prévu début septembre, le Forum sur les interfaces entre politiques et sciences sociales a du être reporté pour permettre de concilier les calendriers académiques et les agendas politiques des différents pays désireux d'y participer, et favoriser ainsi le succès de cet évènement.

La majorité des ateliers initialement prévus pour le mois de septembre se tiendra en février 2006. Leur liste complète vous sera communiquée par l'intermédiaire de ce bulletin d'information. Le programme, ainsi que les modalités d'inscription seront très prochainement disponibles sur le site du Forum, où vous pouvez d'ores et déjà trouver de nombreuses informations pratiques.
SITE DU FORUM : www.unesco.org/shs/ifsp

----- INFORMATIONS GENERALES -----
Christine Allan: ifsp@unesco.org

----- CONTACTS POUR LA COMMUNICATION ET LA PRESSE -----
·ARGENTINE :
Juan Schjaer et Silvina Seijas, Presse et Communication du Ministère de l'Education, de la Science et de la Technologie : schjaer@me.gov.ar ; sseijas@me.gov.ar
·URUGUAY :
Cristina Casaubou, Commission Nationale de l'Uruguay pour l'UNESCO : ccasaubou@yahoo.es
Carolina Porley, Université de la Republique : carolinaporley@yahoo.com
·UNESCO :
Cathy Bruno-Capvert : c.bruno-capvert@unesco.org
Ana Krichmar : a.krichmar@unesco.org

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FLASH-FORUM No.1 - INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON THE SOCIAL SCIENCE-POLICY NEXUS (IFSP) / MONDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2005
*****************

UNESCO's Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST), is organizing an International Forum on the Social Science - Policy Nexus to be held in Argentina and in Uruguay from 20 to 24 February 2006. This will be the first time since its creation in 1994, that the MOST Programme has organized such a Forum.

For five days, more than a thousand participants (academics, decision-makers and civil society actors) are expected to attend the meetings in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Cordoba and Montevideo, to discuss the way in which social science research can accompany the decision-making process and encourage the development of innovative social science projects.

We hope you will be interested in receiving regular updates on the subject and propose sending you the information bulletin on the 1st and 15th of every month, starting 1 October.

If you want to receive "FLASH-FORUM", please click: mailto:sympa@lists.unesco.org?subject=sub%20ifspnews-shs

The International Forum on the Social Science - Policy Nexus was initially scheduled for early September but in order to ensure the Forum's success the date had to be postponed to accommodate university calendars and the political agendas of the different countries wishing to take part.

Most of the workshops foreseen for September will now be held in February 2006. The complete list will be sent to you via this information bulletin. The programme and registration forms will soon be accessible online on the Forum website which has already posted some practical information on the Forum.
Forum website: www.unesco.org/shs/ifsp

----- GENERAL INFORMATION -----
Christine Allan: ifsp@unesco.org

----- PRESS AND COMMUNICATION CONTACTS -----
·ARGENTINA:
Juan Schjaer & Silvina Seijas, Press and Communication, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology: schjaer@me.gov.ar ; sseijas@me.gov.ar
·URUGUAY:
Cristina Casaubou, National Commission of Uruguay for UNESCO: ccasaubou@yahoo.es
Carolina Porley, University of the Republic: carolinaporley@yahoo.com
·UNESCO:
Cathy Bruno-Capvert: c.bruno-capvert@unesco.org
Ana Krichmar: a.krichmar@unesco.org

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
September 20, 2005

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) is distributing the enclosed articles to build bridges of understanding between the West and the Arab World and countries with predominately Muslim populations. Unless otherwise noted, all copyright permissions have been obtained and the articles may be reproduced by any news outlet or publication free of charge. If publishing, please acknowledge both the original source and CGNews, and notify us at cgnewspih@sfcg.org.

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

1. “Four years since Sept. 11 and since declaring war on terror” by Hasan Abu Nimah
Hasan Abu Nimah, Jordan’s former ambassador to the U.N., reflects on 9/11 and the human costs of actions taken since then. In a discussion of the link between superpower behavior and the actions of extremist groups, he raises some alternatives to the current strategy for fighting terrorism.
(Source: adapted from the Jordan Times, September 14, 2005)

4. “Jordan's King Abdullah urges Muslims to reclaim religion from extremists” Middle East Times Editorial
This editorial piece from the Middle East Times discusses King Abdullah’s recent speech in Washington, during which he reiterated his desire to work together with the West against extremism. "The road of moderation and respect for others is not one for Muslims alone," he noted. “All humanity today needs to meet this challenge."
(Source: Middle East Times, September 14, 2005)

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ARTICLE 1
Four years since Sept. 11 and since declaring war on terror
Hasan Abu Nimah

This month, America and the whole world with it remembered the bitter memory of Sept. 11, 2001. For America, the fourth anniversary of the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania is a reminder of terrible loss of life and the loss of a sense of invulnerability of
the American “homeland”.

Most often costly events in history turn into useful lessons from which the human race learns how to fortify the future. Progress, after all, is an accumulation of the positive experience of individuals and groups, by simply pursuing the good and excluding the bad.

A quick assessment of the gains and losses in this “war on terror” reveals fairly horrifying results. Almost 2,000 US service personnel have been killed in Iraq and another 230 in Afghanistan. Nearly 15,000 Americans have been injured. An unknown number of Afghan and Iraqi civilians have also paid with their lives. In Iraq alone, credible estimates range from 15,000-100,000 and hundreds of bodies of people who died violent deaths show up in Baghdad's morgue each week. Despite countless “turning points”, Iraq appears no more secure, stable and free than it was three years ago. If anything, the situation is worse, as sectarian divisions, fuelled by the occupation, threaten to explode into civil war. While Afghanistan appears to be a success story in comparison to Iraq, the “democratically elected” government is totally reliant on external support and controls little outside the capital, where the same old warlords continue to run their personal fiefdoms and drug empires, as they always did.

At the same time, the number of people killed in terrorist attacks has increased, as has the scale and frequency of outrages.

Yet many Americans are starting to question this simplistic and politically convenient logic which absolves the United States of any responsibility for the situation. The challenge has come from respected scholars like Robert A. Pape, a University of Chicago expert on Al Qaeda and author of “Dying to Win, The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism.” Pape agrees that Al Qaeda does have a strategy, but not to force freedom lovers to retreat as Bush claims. It is “to compel the United States and its Western allies to withdraw combat forces from the Arabian Peninsula and other Muslim countries,” Pape wrote in the International Herald Tribune on July 12, 2005.

Pape asserts that contrary to what most Americans had hoped, Al Qaeda has not been weakened as a result of American counterterrorism efforts since Sept. 11, 2001. “Since 2002, Al Qaeda has been involved in at least 17 bombings that killed more than 700 people — more attacks and victims than in all the years before Sept. 11 combined,” he wrote.

He noted that “the overwhelming majority of attackers are citizens of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries in which the US has stationed combat troops since 1990,” and that “of the other suicide terrorists, most came from America's closest allies in the Muslim world — Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia and Morocco — rather than from those the State Department considers “state sponsors of terrorism, like Iran, Libya, Sudan and Iraq”. Afghanistan, he observed, produced Al Qaeda suicide terrorists only after the country was invaded by US forces in 2001.

Pape finds strategic logic in Al Qaeda operative behaviour noting that “[s]ince 2002 the group has killed citizens from 18 of the 20 countries that Osama Ben Laden has cited as supporting American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq”.

This kind of evidence flies in the face of those who insist on denying any link between superpower behaviour and the irrational and often violent reaction of those who are most affected. Continued denial would only obscure effective methods of dealing with the issue of spreading violence and terror.

This seems to be a major factor for the decline of public confidence in Bush's management of the war on terror, according to analyst Jim Lobe, who points to the increasing sense of vulnerability of the American people to terrorist attacks as a result of the administration's actions, adding that “it now appears that much of the national security elite has made a similar assessment and, in an indication of the shifting political winds, is now more willing to speak out about it.”

Lobe cites an increasing movement among Washington elites to express an alternative to Bush's strategy, as well as recognition by some that an American withdrawal from Iraq and an Israeli withdrawal from all the occupied territories would do more to fight terrorism than military action could ever do.

There is evidence that some of these shifts among elites are reflected in public opinion. Poll after poll shows that Americans are no longer so easily appeased by Bush's self-righteous sloganeering. A Newsweek poll published to coincide with the Sept. 11 anniversary found that while 46 per cent approve of Bush's handling of “terrorism and homeland security,” 48 percent disapprove.

One interpretation of these results is that until now, Americans were largely shielded from the worst results of Bush's policies, although here in the region — whether in Iraq, Palestine or surrounding countries — we experience them directly. The disastrous performance after Katrina demonstrated to many ordinary Americans that the most important thing in government is not just a swaggering attitude and feel-good appeals to patriotism and folksy cowboy values, but that lives depend on sound policies executed by wise and qualified people.

Perhaps Americans will now scrutinise those who want to lead them more closely. If that is the case, then the whole world will benefit from better American leadership which has a crucial role in making the world truly safer and more peaceful for everyone. That is an America the world will have no trouble supporting.
###
* Hasan Abu Nimah Jordan's former ambassador to the U.N.
Source: adapted from the Jordan Times, September 14, 2005
Visit the website at www.jordantimes.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained from the author for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
The Real Surprise in Egypt
Mona Eltahawy

CAIRO – Egypt’s first contested presidential election on Wednesday brought few surprises.

President Hosni Mubarak won 88.6 percent of the vote, giving him a fifth six-year term in office. This was no surprise.

But I did not return home expecting a surprising result. Instead, I came back to enjoy the surprises that have surrounded the elections – the first in which Egyptians could choose between more than one candidate.

When I left Egypt for the United States in 2000, I had reported on my country for 10 years. The story was getting stale and there was no sign that it would be getting exciting anytime soon.

But that changed last December when anti-government demonstrators took to the streets of Cairo to say Kifaya – Enough – and to call for change. And when the Egyptian constitution was amended to allow a multi-candidate presidential election on September 7, I knew I had to come home.

And so I arrived last week just in time to see the last few days of campaigning. And there have been several real surprises.

For starters, what a surprise it was to see Ayman Nour hold his last campaign rally in front of the Mogamma. For those who don’t know, the Mogamma is universally acknowledged as the home of Egyptian government bureaucracy.

So notorious is its reputation as one of those places where you enter thinking you need only 20 minutes to get an official document issued but you end up spending two hours instead that one of Egypt’s most famous comic actors, Adel Imam, immortalized the Mogamma in a massively popular film called “Terrorism and Kebab”.

The film chronicles Adel Imam playing a father who goes to the Mogamma in an attempt to transfer his children from one school to another but finds himself literally stuck in a vicious circle that takes him in vain from one clerk to another.

In a fit of frustration, the father grabs a rifle from one of the police guards in the building and takes hostage the Mogamma employees and some fellow citizens who happened to be caught in the bureaucratic rut.

When the minister of the interior himself appears to negotiate with the father, thinking he is a terrorist who will blow the building up, the father asks his hostages what they’d like and they all decide kebab is top of their wish list. The high price of meat makes it too expensive for many Egyptians. The film ends with the Adel Imam character walking out along with the hostages – Everyman who for a few hours fought back.

Ayman Nour’s rally in front of the Mogamma focused on that Everyman. By focusing most of his speech on domestic policy, Nour was serving notice that Egyptians deserved to be their government's No. 1 priority.

By talking about unemployment, poverty, the inability of so many young Egyptian men and women to afford marriage, political prisoners, human rights violations, the rights of women and Christians, and government corruption, he was signaling that instead of courting government officials to get their daily needs met, government officials should be courting ordinary Egyptians to keep their jobs.

By putting himself squarely in front of a government fortress so redolent with the bureaucratic humiliation that government represents for the average Egyptian, Nour was promising a new idea of government.

Egyptians will not forget this.

And Egyptians will not forget the sight or sound of 3,000 of us marching from Tahrir Square to Ataba Square as part of a Kifaya organized march on Election Day. It was the largest anti-government march in Egypt for almost 30 years.

When I joined a demonstration through the Shubra neighbourhood during my visit to Cairo in June, we numbered 300 at most. On Election Day, we were 10 times that number and sometimes more as people who were watching only decided to join our march.

The electoral commission which announced the election results put voter turnout at a very low 23 percent. That means that only seven million of 32 million registered voters in Egypt turned out to cast their ballot on Wednesday. Keep this low figure in mind so that you can appreciate the significance of between 3,000 – 5,000 Egyptians marching through downtown Cairo calling for change.

The concern now is what will happen to the opposition movement in Egypt. Now that the election is over, the world must not forget them. Egypt is not the country it was just 10 months ago. As a member of Ayman Nour’s Ghad Party told me a few days before the election, "It is too late to stop the train of democracy or even reduce its speed."

Nothing can wipe our memories clean of the criticisms heaped on the government over the past few weeks ago by presidential candidates and the opposition movement which has organized almost weekly demonstrations.

As an Egyptian who lives abroad, I could not vote on Wednesday. Even when I lived in Egypt, I never bothered to apply for a voter registration card because I never thought my vote would count. I regret this apathy now. I will register myself for the next presidential election in 2011 when Egyptians abroad will be allowed to vote.

Egypt has begun a journey down a long path towards change. I have never heard so many relatives and friends take such an interest in Egyptian politics or -- more important -- feel that they had a stake in them.

That is the real surprise in Egypt these days.

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* Mona Eltahawy is a Cairo-based journalist, and former correspondent for the Reuters News Agency in Cairo and Jerusalem and writes for the UK Guardian.
Source: Asharq Alawsat, September 13, 2005
Visit the website at www.asharqalawsat.com/english
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 3
United against Iranian nukes
Philip H. Gordon and Charles Grant

Last February, a group of European and American foreign policy experts issued the "Compact Between the United States and Europe," a detailed proposal for trans-Atlantic cooperation on the key foreign policy issues of the day (IHT Feb. 17, 2005). The premise of the compact was that the split that had emerged between the two sides of the Atlantic in recent years was deeply damaging to the interests of both sides, and that agreements on common policy challenges were both necessary and possible.

In that light, we were deeply disappointed by Iran's rejection of the offer in August by Britain, France and Germany to provide Iran with support for a civilian nuclear energy program, as well as far-reaching political and economic incentives, in exchange for Tehran's agreement not to develop its capacity for nuclear enrichment and reprocessing.

The European proposal, which had explicit support from the United States, would have made it possible for Iran to acquire Western nuclear reactors and fuel for the civilian nuclear energy program Iran claims to need. Iran rejected it out of hand, removed International Atomic Energy Agency seals at its nuclear facility in Isfahan and resumed the process of uranium conversion.

We believe an Iranian nuclear weapons capability would be dangerous and destabilizing. It could lead to further nuclear proliferation in the region, provide cover for Tehran to pursue a more aggressive foreign policy and deal a fatal blow to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The European Union and the United States have a strong common interest in bringing Iran back to the negotiating table and persuading it to change course. The best way to do that is to make clear to Iran that it can win significant political and economic benefits if it forgoes a nuclear weapons program, but that it will pay a very big political and economic price if it does not. Such an effort will only work if America and Europe stand united.

Therefore, the United States and the European Union should endorse the following:

The United States and the European Union call upon Iran to renew the suspension of nuclear conversion activities and to send overseas all materials produced since the breaking of the seals at Isfahan as a basis for resuming nuclear discussions with Britain, France and Germany. Only a permanent and verifiable end to Iran's nuclear fuel cycle program can guarantee that Iran is not working on nuclear weapons.

The United States reiterates its support for the EU nuclear dialogue with Iran. If Iran permanently and verifiably ended its fuel cycle programs, the United States would support Iran's right to import technology for a civilian nuclear energy program, and it would not impose sanctions against European companies that engage in civilian trade and investment with Iran.

The United States declares its willingness to explore other issues directly with Iran, including bilateral diplomatic and economic relations, U.S. economic sanctions against Iran, Iranian support for terrorist groups, Iran's opposition to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Iran's membership in the World Trade Organization. The United States and the EU will continue to support the efforts of the Iranian people to secure basic human rights and build a functioning democracy in Iran.

The EU reiterates its willingness to support Iran's civil nuclear energy program, but declares its readiness to impose meaningful penalties on Iran if it refuses to end its fuel cycle programs or withdraws from the NPT. If Iran refuses to renew the full suspension of all enrichment related activities, EU leaders will support asking the United Nations Security Council to adopt a resolution requiring Iran to do so or face economic and diplomatic sanctions, including a ban on new foreign investment in Iran's energy sector.

EU countries would seek consensus at the Security Council, but Russian or Chinese opposition would not prevent them from imposing sanctions on their own, together with the United States and Japan. The EU will consider additional steps should Iran end its suspension of nuclear enrichment, withdraw from the IAEA Additional Protocol or withdraw from the NPT.

Other signers are: Urban Ahlin, Giuliano Amato, Gerassimos Arsenis, Samuel R. Berger, Jean-Claude Casanova, Richard Burt, Ivo H. Daalder, Marta Dassu, Thérèse Delpech, Lawrence Freedman, Francis Fukuyama, Leslie Gelb, Robert Gelbard, John Gibson, Nicole Gnesotto, Ulrike Guérot, David Hannay, Douglas Hurd, Robert Hutchings, G. John Ikenberry, Josef Janning, Géza Jeszensky, Robert Kagan, Daniel Keohane, Ivan Krastev, Mart Laar, Anthony Lake, Mark Leonard, Andrew Moravcsik, Kalypso Nicolaidis, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Michael O'Hanlon, Soli Özel, Ana Palacio, William J. Perry, Thomas Pickering, Susan Rice, George Robertson, Gary Samore, David Sandalow, Simon Serfaty, Narcís Serra, Jeremy Shapiro, Stefano Silvestri, Anne-Marie Slaughter, James B. Steinberg, Strobe Talbott, Antonio Vitorino and Joris Vos.

The full text of this statement will be found on the Web sites of the Brookings Institution (www.brookings.edu) and the Center for European Reform (www.cer.org.uk).

###
* Philip H. Gordon is senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Charles Grant is director of the Center for European Reform.
Source: The International Herald Tribune, September 14, 2005
Visit the website at www.iht.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
Jordan's King Abdullah urges Muslims to reclaim religion from extremists
Middle East Times Editorial

WASHINGTON -- Jordan's King Abdullah II drove home his message of religious tolerance in a speech in Washington this month, urging Islamic scholars and leaders to reclaim the religion from extremists.

"The ultimate goal is to take back our religion from the vocal, violent and ignorant extremists who have tried to hijack Islam over the last hundred years," the king said in a speech at the Catholic University of America. "They do not speak for Islam any more than a Christian terrorist speaks for Christianity."

The Jordanian monarch, accompanied on his trip to the United States by his wife Queen Rania, noted his government initiative known as the "Amman Message" that was launched last year in a bid to encourage fellow Muslims to reject extremism and embrace tolerance and acceptance.

He said that the initiative had prompted scholars representing Islam's various schools of thought to agree that religious edicts could not be handed down by people such as Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and his Iraq frontman Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, as both lacked the proper qualifications and religious knowledge.

"They [the scholars] agreed that no one can call another Muslim an apostate - as the extremists do to those who disagree with them," the king told his audience of about 350 scholars, diplomats, religious figures and students.

He also urged leaders outside the Muslim community to contribute to his effort to foster dialogue between the West and moderate Islam.

"The road of moderation and respect for others is not one for Muslims alone," he noted. "All humanity today needs to meet this challenge."

He also alluded to the hurricane that devastated the US Gulf Coast, saying that it was a reminder that "we are all in God's hands".

Rabbi Jack Bemporad, of the Center for Interreligious Understanding, said that the king's speech was a welcome ray of hope coming from the leader of an Islamic country.

"These are seeds that are absolutely essential," he said.

Ahmed Iravani, a professor of Islamic law at Catholic University, stressed that the king's message of tolerance had a chance of succeeding as it had received the backing of a number of respected religious scholars and theological centers around the world.

"If real scholars of Islam get involved in this than his message has a chance of succeeding," Iravani said.

Abdullah made his speech shortly before heading to New York to attend the United Nations summit. He is due back in Washington after the summit to meet with Muslim and Jewish leaders.

The king on Monday met with Pope Benedict VXI at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, saying that he wanted to establish an honest dialogue between the Islamic world and the West.

###
* This article appeared as the editorial of the Middle East Times.
Source: Middle East Times, September 14, 2005
Visit the website at www.metimes.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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GPS Mission of Peace Day 453 -- UN International Day of Peace: What Words Work?

September 21, 2005

IN THIS UPDATE:
-UN International Day of Peace: What Words Work?
-Ethnicity vs. Humanity by Cletus Young
-NEW! Global Peace Network shows available for streaming

Please visit our website at: www.globalpeacesolution.org

UN International Day of Peace: What Words Work?
My name is Byron De Lear and I bring you greetings from the West Coast of
the United States - from sunny southern California.

I am honored to have the opportunity to share with you some of my thoughts
about achieving peace on our planet on this United Nations declared
International Day of Peace.

So many inspirational words have been spoken from this microphone, haven't
they?

Before I sought about to craft a message for you today, I had to consider
the overwhelming wealth of wisdom and vision and enlightenment that has been
brought to the table of humanity by our most cherished artists, authors,
humanitarians and peacemakers throughout the millennia.

And today, we gather here to continue on and amplify those efforts.

But what message -- of peace -- can I offer here, that could make a
difference? -- that could make any mission of peace effective?

What words work?

Humanity is on the threshold of a true global community.

In the midst of this cultural convergence we have the historic opportunity
to compose evolutionary principles for a more sustainable expression of
civilization: a government of the life and for the life.

This is what we as peacemakers need to own, the mission of life, truth and
love.

To begin to set up a shop that sees the world with empathic vision - truly,
a government of the life and for the life.

But we need to take our peacemaking past the borders of strictly
governmental concern - for the concerns of those in our corridors of power
are languishing in a design for our species that is rife with obsolescence.

A 'survival-of-the-fittest' ethos run amok -- putting profits and power over
people and life.

We live... with a media culture governed by the edict, "if it bleeds it
leads..."

Well a brighter future will never ever be led by the bloodthirsty.

We live... with a socio-economic reality which is dictated by corporate and
national institutions with only an eye for the next quarterly business
report or the next electoral cycle.

And as these national and corporate institutions have an impact on our
planet in terms of decades, centuries and even millennia -- our envisioned
future needs to be seen with better eyes than that.

You have those eyes.

And the vista of human dignity needs to be brought into focus.

It's our job as peacemakers to take the blinders off of a global audience so
hungry for this truth.

But keep in mind that we only have window of opportunity and are working
against the clock as the clock of destiny is ticking out.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, "It is no longer a question of violence or
non-violence in this world, its nonviolence or non-existence - that is where
we are today."

This reality is more real now than ever, and every rung up the ladder of
technological and industrial advancement that civilization climbs, the
necessity for a more evolved and less forceful means for conflict resolution
must be found.

Whether it be five years from now or a hundred, the alternative is sadly,
radioactive.

To stay the course laid by a global system of war will inevitably lead to
disaster.

That's why we need to unpack just what this system of war is.

This global system of war goes beyond bullets and bombs and extends into our
lives with economic weapons wielded by multi-national conglomerates and
infiltrates our culture by the monolithic controls upon the flow of
information by the PR arm of big business: what I like to call the main
stream deluge.

War is a complex.

It's a complex of militaristic industry, corporate usurpation of policy, and
the subtle monopolization of the field of ideas through the main stream
torrent of telecommunications.

And this unholy trinity of warfare - militaristic, corporate and
propagandistic -- is a war being waged onto the people by a system gone
astray.

A 'religion' of self-destruction.

The unholy trinity of warfare is something we should expect our leaders to
work to dilute and eradicate, not be complicit in and amplify.

The evolution of nonviolence in politics will work to break down this
complex.

Empathy is the lifeblood that courses through veins of the Golden Rule - and
as individuals we all know what it feels like to do unto others as you would
have them do unto you, but do governments inherently embrace the Golden
Rule?

Do multi-national conglomerates?

The work of the 21st century will be to institutionalize the Golden Rule and
to infuse the doctrine of nonviolence into the very fabric of the world's
socio-economic system.

We can no longer continue to reward and invest in a system that seeks to
prey upon the weak and promote consumer vulnerability - this system
perfected will consume itself.

Truth be told, I believe some fundamental qualities will coalesce into our
conception of democracy in the 21st century, namely, that power's legitimacy
will be directly proportionate to its transparency.

Power's legitimacy will be directly proportionate to its transparency.

Truth be told.

And even as we rally up against the ways of the world, and the law of the
jungle - this truth is on our side.

Worth more than billion dollar media buy, this unmistakable truth will
resonate as 'the shot heard round the world' in this war to end all wars,
and will clearly and unequivocally show that the key to achieving peace on
our planet will be born out of the necessities of self-preservation and
survival married with the empathic vision demanded by a Spiritually evolved
perspective.

The law of the jungle and the rule of heaven come together.

The government of the life and for the life will render this complex of
warfare as a retired aspect of an evolving civilization.

Thank you for your attention and your consideration.
END

Yours in Peace,
Byron De Lear

GPS "...positioning the world in a different way"
Mansour Ya Salaam, Nitzahon La Shalom, and Victory to Peace!

Byron De Lear
Global Peace Solution
GPS... positioning the world in a different way
www.globalpeacesolution.org
byron@globalpeacesolution.org

Ethnicity vs. Humanity
by Cletus Young
Culture has become a buzzword of the Nineties. We have cultural pride,
cultural sensitivity, cultural preservation and so on.

What is culture?

The dictionary defines it as the sum total of ways of living built up by a
group of human beings, which is transmitted from one generation to another.
There may be a simpler and more fundamental definition. Culture is nothing
more than a group's reaction to its environmental condition. Geography is
the single most important factor in how a culture develops.

Ethnic food, clothing, housing, even many religions, are the result of
humans' adaptation to their surroundings. No culture is any "better" than
any other. Each is successful at developing survival mechanisms fitting its
environment. Conversely none are mystical, God-given or special.

Like the warring factions in "Gulliver's Travels" who fought over which end
of the egg was the correct end to break, we are all too willing to kill for
our cultures. This has always been one of man's greatest weaknesses, and
will continue to be so in the future, unless we finally realize that there
are no "sacred" cultures, and that many of the customs and mores we hold
dear have long outlived their usefulness as survival mechanisms and, in
fact, have become impediments to global harmony.

The more "ethnic" man is, the less human he becomes.

He places his "ethnic" values above basic human values, and in so doing
becomes the willing instrument of demagogues, religious fanatics and just
plain thieves, all of who exploit the desire for men to feel "special"
without having to do anything special, the belief that just by being born
into a group, one is somehow better than one who is not.

Like many false doctrines, ethnicity is very popular because it promises
status and power and pride without any much work; just "belonging" is
enough.

The best human qualities - fairness, justice, objectivity - are trampled
beneath the flag-waving, slogan-chanting mobs.

So this is our choice: we can be responsible, intelligent beings and combine
our efforts and resources to solve problems that affect us all, or we can
continue down the same old blood-soaked path of ego and chauvinism.

NEW! Global Peace Network shows available for streaming
If you haven't seen them already, look forward to the following new shows
whenever you want from: www.globalpeacesolution.org

These new episodes feature interviews with:
Educator and Artist TH Culhane
IFLAC Founder and President Ada Aharoni
Grammy Award winning composer Roland Kortbawi
Actor and celebrity activist Ed Asner
Air America Radio co-founder Sheldon Drobny
**Gush-Shalom leading spokesperson Adam Keller**
"Arlington West" film maker Peter Dudar
CC2.org director John De Herrera
**Episode 6 with Gush Shalom spokesperson Adam Keller had technical error
and has been corrected and uploaded**

Dear Colleagues in Peace Education,

This message alerts you to resources that you may find useful for teaching about peace and fostering its development through formal and informal education.

The first resource is the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Stories for a Better World. This book has 101 true short stories about peace processes that have been used. Readers can learn from the many ways peace has happened in different regions and cultures how they might use nonviolence and several other ways of transforming conflict. There is a web site for learning more about this book at: http://chickensoup.peacestories.info/

The second resource is a set of Standards for Peace Education, which I am pasting below.

These standards were designed to support and advance peace education in primary and secondary levels of schooling as well as in teacher training. Some of you have seen these standards in earlier drafts before they were expanded with suggestions for their improvement. What is now needed is information about where and how they can be used to advance peace education.

Your response to these standards for peace education is greatly needed. Please complete the survey questions that are listed below here and included with the standards. Feel free to pass on this call for feedback on the standards from other practitioners of peace education. As an incentive to complete the survey about the standards for peace education, you are offered a free copy of the Chicken Soup book listed above. I can only afford to do this for the first 5 respondents to the survey. If you are one of them, I will let you know and ask for your postal mail address.

Survey on Peace Education Standards

1. Who might use these standards for peace education?

2. What ways might the standards for peace education be useful?

3. Describe your role(s) in peace education and how you can use these standards.

4. Are there any other guidelines for social education that these standards would compliment; enhance their depth or breadth? Describe those resources and where they can be found; a complete reference is most helpful.

5. What organizations might be interested in seeing, and possibly using, these standards for peace education?

6. What suggestions do you have for the content, distribution or use of these standards for peace education?

Standards for Peace Education

Recommended Standards for Students

Students of peace education exhibit the following developmentally appropriate knowledge, skills and dispositions:

Knowledge
Self-awareness
Evidence: Personal and cultural values, emotional tendencies, peace capabilities.
Contextual Awareness
Evidence: Knowledge of history and current needs of people in the community.
History of Peace Accomplishments
Evidence: Accomplishments of, people, organizations and societies.
Non-violent Service
Evidence: Peace-service options in conscription, government and non-governmental agencies.
Conflicts
Evidence: Awareness of local and global conflicts that are roots of violence.
Pro-active Communication
Evidence: Identify positively transformative communication techniques.
Methods of Non-violent Conflict Resolution
Evidence: Description of appropriate methods for different situations.
Democratic Processes
Evidence: Identification of democratic methods for addressing conflict.
Environmental Stewardship
Evidence: Explain rationale for ecological care of the physical environment.
Consumerism
Evidence: Explain reasons for socially and environmentally responsible consumerism.

Skills
Self-concept Expression
Evidence: Express a balanced self-concept using affirmation for valuing as well as critique for self-improvement.
Analysis of Communication
Evidence: Identify techniques including representation, bias, balance, multiple perspectives and active listening skills.
Communication Enactment
Evidence: Use multiple-perspective, cross-cultural and compassionate discourse.
Empathy
Evidence: Show understanding of and concern for the suffering of others, whether it was caused by one-self or someone in one’s own identity group.
Inclusion
Evidence: Choose to include in personal and group activities people with diverse social, intellectual and physical characteristics.
Cooperation
Evidence: Demonstrate ability to cooperate with others who have different goals.
Analysis of Violence Sources
Evidence: Identify disrespect, discrimination, deprivation, power imbalance and destruction; thereby recognizing intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural causes.
Perspective Diversity
Evidence: Learn from and explain three or more perspectives in conflict analysis.
Legitimize Others
Evidence: Validate the point of view, narrative and aspirations of an adversary; one with a different goal.
Collective and Individual Responsibility
Evidence: Acknowledge and explain own group or self-contribution to conflict.
Positive Recognition
Evidence: Acknowledge all efforts and accomplishments of disputants in a conflict.
Envision Peace
Evidence: Develop and express visions of a peaceful presence and future.
Commitment
Evidence: Commit to work for a peaceful presence and future through nonviolent conflict transformation and resolution.
Adaptation
Evidence: Practice peace development according to the cultural contexts where they are needed.
Environmental Stewardship
Evidence: Participate in ecological care of the physical environment.
Consumerism
Evidence: Identify or participate in socially and environmentally responsible consumerism.

Dispositions
Acceptance
Evidence: Display acceptance of oneself and of human diversity.
Mutuality
Evidence: Show identification with all humanity while recognizing distinct needs of
different groups.
Respect
Evidence: Exhibit positive regard for others, regardless of their differences from oneself.
Concern
Evidence: Demonstrate a conscience that monitors activities for protection of life and its environment.
Empathy
Evidence: Show compassion for those who suffer and have needs to fulfill.
Service
Evidence: Demonstrate an interest in providing assistance to anyone, including people with diverse characteristics, when it is needed.
Optimism
Evidence: Show belief that peace can happen as an outcome of conflict.
Involvement
Evidence: Realize personal and collective responsibility to bring about change by peaceful means where it is needed.
Courage
Evidence: Show willingness to disrupt or stop antecedents of, as well as existing, violence.
Commitment
Evidence: Demonstrate desire to work for a peaceful presence and future.
Recommended Standards for Teachers

In addition to educating students with the recommended peace-education standards for students, teachers of primary and secondary levels of schooling demonstrate the following skills:

1. Integrate positive contact with, as well as information about, diverse cultures in the local region and afar to overcome ignorance, misinformation and stereotypes.

2 Accommodate cultural norms of students including their diverse learning styles.

3. Engage in cross-cultural communication with multicultural school participants, including families, thereby modeling acceptance, accommodation and celebration of diversity through pluralism.

4. Demonstrate positive regard for all students, regardless of their misbehaviors, to convey unconditional care and respect for them as valuable people.

5. Use compassionate and equitable communication in dialogic facilitation of classroom management.

6. Train students through modeling of dispositions and skills that develop peace.

7. Listen to families’ ideas of how peace can be developed in the classroom and school and then collaborate with them in the facilitation of their suggestions.

8. Use strategies that support peaceful interaction with the self and all people, including restorative practices in post-conflict situations.

9. Model action for peace development on and beyond the campus, thereby demonstrating a community norm of social justice.

10. Cultivate and support the student’s responsibility for their own peaceful-problem solving while you stay aware of, and responsive to, their needs.

11. Integrate across multiple subject areas information about past, present and future situations for peace development.

12. Create and support venues for expressing current and future peace development.

13. Show appreciation for all student achievements in, and aspirations for, peace.

14. Attend to and teach ecological care of the physical environment, including sustainable use of its resources.

15. Teach about socially and environmentally responsible consumerism and the conflicts which result from exploitation of producers and laborers.

16. Teach about power relations in current events as well as history to help students recognize sources of structural violence.

17. Teach students to critically evaluate sources, perspectives and evidence provided in information they have access to while teaching them to recognize the types of information they do not have, but need, to develop clear understanding of spoken and written presentations.

18. Enable students’ discussions of controversy and unresolved problems locally and globally, thereby cultivating their intellectual and communicative skills for comprehending and analyzing conflicts.

Recommended Standards for Teacher Educators

Teacher educators use goals of peace development, identify competencies for student dispositions, knowledge and skills to accomplish during their instruction throughout courses, field experiences and internships in teacher-training programs.

1. Include peace education standards in course syllabi to clarify instructional goals.

2. Provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to identify, then examine, their awareness, views and biases.

3. Legitimize diverse viewpoints and enable students to express their own to develop their civil courage and public voices.

4. Build teachers-in-training’s self-respect along with positive regard for diverse others as they develop their peace-building knowledge, skills and dispositions.

5. Study, model and teach alternative positions before taking a stance on an issue.

6. Facilitate and use lateral, creative and critical thinking processes.

7. Teach how to obtain information about, and then analyze, power relations that are evident in local to global interactions, including analysis of international relations as outcomes of economic systems and political domination, such as capitalism and imperialism.

8. Teach about how social structures and institutions perpetuate systemic violence and societal conflicts such as poverty, racism, sexism and homophobia.

9. Make oppression evident to students, and denounce it.

10. Teach about multiple aspects of democratic citizenship including social, environmental, economic and political responsibilities for participation in a democracy.

11. Make clear the distinction between democracy and capitalism.

12. Illustrate how consumption practices and international policies affect human relations and the environment.

13. Develop the capacity to learn about and facilitate pro-active responses to controversial conflicts.

14. Develop tolerance for uncertainty with open processes, thereby allowing students to explore multiple ways of approaching tasks and conflict resolution.

15. Encourage students to create action projects in response to community, national and global conflicts.

16. Provide examples of and model proactive responses to conflict (e.g. be able to understand/legitimate other points of view with which you don’t agree; decallage, uncertainty.

17. Persistently address the unresolved learning issues of teacher candidates.

18. Extend support for teacher development, within and beyond initial credential training, through individual as well as group reflection and research.

19. Document, evaluate and professionally share the successes and challenges of peace-focused teacher education.

20. Revise teacher-training approaches in response to examination of their outcomes.

Recommended Standards for School Administrators

School administrators practice the following peacemaking skills:

1. Model dispositions and skills that develop peace

2. Engage in cross-cultural communication with multicultural school participants, including families, thereby modeling acceptance, accommodation and celebration of diversity through pluralism.

3. Demonstratively value and recognize cooperation and mutual support of all school participants.

4. Use peaceful interaction with oneself and all people at the school, thereby reducing tension for the school participants.

5. Enact non-hegemonic leadership in which supremacy over, and domination of, others is not used to manage the conflicts at a school.

6. Use congenial and equitable problem solving; theory Y.

7. Cultivate and support student, family and school staff responsibility for their own peaceful-problem solving while staying aware of, and responsive to, their needs.

8. Express appreciation for all student achievements in and aspirations for peace.

9. Extend support for teacher development, within and beyond initial credential training, through individual as well as group reflection and research.

10. Encourage the use of the school as a site for community collaboration between parents, students and all school staff.

11. Provide opportunities for peace education instruction of, and involvement by, families and other school partners including the school as a place for citizenship enactment.

12. Include peace maintenance and development as criteria for inclusion in evaluation of all school personnel.

13. Support initiatives in peace-oriented education by school members including use and disposal of materials at school as well as curriculum and instruction.

14. Recognize by documenting peace-oriented outcomes of education when evaluating faculty and other school staff.

Copyright 2005 of Candice C. Carter

Thank you for your work in peace education!
I look forward to receiving your completed survey at ccarter@unf.edu!

Highest regards,
Candice C. Carter, Ph.D.
University of North Florida
College of Education and Human Services
4567 St. Johns Bluff Road
Jacksonville, FL 32224-2676
Phone: 1 904 620-1881
Fax: 1 904 620-1025
www.peacemaker.st

"Establishing lasting peace is the work of education;
all politics can do is keep us out of war."
-- Maria Montessori

The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org (http://www.wmd.org/)

September 2005

POSTING NEWS:
We welcome items to include in DemocracyNews. Please send an email message to world@ned.org with the item you would like to post in the body of the message.

******************************************************************

DEMOCRACY ALERTS/APPEALS
1. Court Orders Internews Network Out of Uzbekistan
2. ACHR Issues Alert on Crackdown in Maldives

26. WORLD MOVEMENT PARTICIPATING NETWORKS, ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN THIS ISSUE

******************************************************************

DEMOCRACY ALERTS/APPEALS

1. Court Orders Internews Network Out of Uzbekistan
On September 9, 2005, Internews Network was asked to close its offices and leave Uzbekistan. Internews is an agency working to improve access to information around the world and to foster independent media. The Internews Network plans to appeal the ruling.
Go to: http://www.internews.org/news/2005/20050909_uzbek.html

2. ACHR Issues Alert on Crackdown in Maldives
On August 17, 2005, concerned with the crackdown on a number of activists in Maldives, the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) issued an appeal to the international community to intervene with the government of Maldives. Since the crackdown on the first anniversary of the pro-democracy uprising in Male (capital of Maldives), hundreds of political activists have been arrested. Over 200 people, including the Chairperson of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mohamed Nasheed, remain in custody. There have also been reports of ill-treatment and torture of the detainees. The ACHR calls on the international community to intervene for unconditional and immediate release of all the political detainees, and to facilitate a national reconciliation process for political reforms in Maldives.
For the appeal, go to: http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2005/86-05.htm
For more information about the crackdown in Maldives, go to:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/maldives/document.do?id=80256DD400782B848025705B005DA345

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

3. "Individu Spotlight" Monthly Electronic Newsletter Launched
"Individu Spotlight," a monthly electronic newsletter that monitors political developments in Pakistan and around the world, was recently launched on the Individu-land Web site.  The first issue, "Power to Grass Roots or Grass without Roots: Can Elections be Really Non-Party?," focuses on the recent local elections in Pakistan. "Individu-land" is a cyber space where the individual is considered as the most important actor. The principles that connect the various individuals at "Individu-land" include:  individual freedom, social responsibility, rule of law, pluralism, equality before the law, independent judiciary, democracy, free market economy, and secularism.
Go to: www.individualland.com/newsletter/newsletter.html  

4. Two Fellowships from Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute's U.S. Justice Fund is accepting applications for two of its programs: the Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowships and the Soros Justice Media Fellowships. These new programs will fund outstanding lawyers, advocates, grassroots organizers, activist academics, journalists, and filmmakers interested in implementing innovative projects that address one or more of the fund's criminal justice priorities.
The Advocacy Fellowships have two distinct tracks. Track I supports new and emerging advocates with two to five years of advocacy experience. Track II supports seasoned leaders with a minimum of ten years experience in their fields and five years of advocacy experience. The Media Fellowships support mid-career and veteran print journalists, filmmakers, and individuals with unique voices proposing written projects. The deadline for applications is October 14, 2005. 
Go to: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/justice/focus_areas/justice_fellows
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/justice/

5. Call for Applications: Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowships
The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program at the Washington, DC-based National Endowment for Democracy welcomes applications from candidates throughout the world for fellowships in 2006-2007. Established in 2001, the program enables democracy activists, practitioners, scholars, and journalists from around the world to deepen their understanding of democracy and enhance their ability to promote democratic change. The program is intended primarily to support activists, practitioners, and scholars from new and aspiring democracies; distinguished scholars from the United States and other established democracies are also eligible to apply. Projects may focus on the political, social, economic, legal, and cultural aspects of democratic development and may include a range of methodologies and approaches. A working knowledge of English is an important prerequisite for participation in the program. The application deadline for fellowships in 2006-2007 is Tuesday, November 1, 2005.
For more information, including the application, go to: www.ned.org/forum/reagan-fascell.html or email: fellowships@ned.org.

6. IFES Civil Society Summit
On October 6-7, 2005, the International Foundation for Election Systems will host a Civil Society Summit focusing on the importance of a strong civil society for developing democracies. The event will cover various topics with a focus on civic awareness and participation, civil society and accountability, and civil society in conflict or transitional environments. For more information on the conference, visit the IFES website.
Go to: http://www.ifes.org/searchable/ifes_site/Civil_society_summit/main.htm

7. Poland Marks 25th Anniversary of Solidarity (Solidarnosc)
Twenty-five years ago, Polish shipyard workers in the city of Gdansk launched a strike, which established Solidarity, an independent union. Solidarity was officially recognized on August 31st, 1980, and is credited for playing a key role in the collapse of communism.  Within months of its establishment, Solidarity grew to become a nation-wide movement with 10 million members.  Nine years later, Solidarity leaders negotiated the end of communism in Poland, and the collapse of the Berlin Wall soon followed. Twenty-five years after its founding, three days of celebrations were held in Gdansk, attended by world leaders and civil society representatives.   The summer edition of the AMERICAN EDUCATOR, a quarterly magazine of the American Federation of Teachers (an affiliated international union of the AFL-CIO) commemorated this anniversary with three articles: "Surviving Underground: How American Unions Helped Solidarity Win," by Arch Puddington; "Solidarity: a Photo Timeline" (a history of Solidarity captured in photographic essay); and "Vote Solidarity: the Election Art of 1989 (posters from the 1989 election campaign).
To read the AMERICAN EDUCATOR articles, go to:
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/summer2005/index.htm
To read about the activities in Poland, go to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4199322.stm

CIVIL SOCIETY STRENGTHENING

8. Evaluation of the Non-Governmental Process for the Community of Democracies
An evaluation will soon be conducted to assess the challenges and accomplishments of the Non-Governmental Process of the Community of Democracies between 2002 and 2005. The evaluation will include a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the Non-governmental Process; an assessment of the level of government awareness, and the resulting usefulness, of the strategy; and a collection of data on the participants' impressions and suggestions for improvement. The Non-Governmental Process for the Community of Democracies is an opportunity for civil society organizations to work together through discussions, shared strategies, and support for advocacy and lobbying for democracy. The report will be available electronically by the end of November.
Go to: http://www.santiago2005.org/

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

9. Conference on Bridging Cultures and Identities to be held in Cyprus
United for Intercultural Action, a network promoting the rights of refugees and migrants and an end to discrimination through international cooperation, will organize a conference on November 11-15, 2005, to recognize the new barriers and identity issues being caused by conflicts and the EU enlargement. The conference hopes to open a dialogue to promote communication of ideas and develop intercultural understanding.
Go to: http://www.united.non-profit.nl

ECONOMIC REFORM AND THE BUSINESS SECTOR

10. New CIPE Case Study -- Improving Governance in Tanzania: The Role of Business Advocacy Coalitions
In its new case study, "Improving Governance in Tanzania: The Role of Business Advocacy Coalitions," the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) details its work with local business groups in Tanzania to strengthen the governance process and improve private sector participation in policy making. The case study is available on CIPE's Web site.
Go to:  www.cipe.org/publications/education/ip/IP0504.pdf

ELECTIONS

11. International Crisis Group on Liberia's Upcoming Elections
Liberia's upcoming elections in October of 2005 will likely be fair and transparent, according to the International Crisis Group. However, the ICG points out the importance of considering fair elections as just a step in the right direction. According to the ICG, while many international organizations assisting with Liberia's transition to democracy will be seeking exit strategies, it is imperative to consider the implications of leaving too early. Clean elections must be followed by international oversight, assistance on economic governance, and continued security improvements. This will address longer term issues, such as the need for judicial and constitutional reform. Recommendations for the October elections and beyond are available on the International Crisis Group Web site.
Go to: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3646

12. Egyptian Support Network Comments on Recent Election
In Egypt's first competitive election, Hosni Mubarak was re-elected, but this first democratic election lacked credibility due to Mubarak's refusal to allow international observers, according to the Egyptian Democracy Support Network. In a step toward democratic practices, however, opposition parties were allowed to hold public rallies and foreign journalists were not harassed by security forces, and in the end, domestic observers were allowed to observe the elections, if only with proper paperwork. Further details on the Egyptian elections are available from the Egyptian Democracy Support Network.  More information about the Egyptian Democracy Support Network will be included in the next issue of DemocracyNews.
Go to: http://www.eicds.org/english/activities/news/edsn/updatesept8.htm

13. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies Monitors Coverage of Presidential Election in Egypt
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) monitored the coverage of the election campaigns for the September 7 presidential election in Egypt. The monitoring started with the official launch of the electoral campaigns on August 17, 2005, and continued through the election. The monitoring project was restricted to state and independent media, which, unlike the partisan media, are supposedly neutral and objective. CIHRS used both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and relied on the experience of international organizations specializing in monitoring media performance during elections. As a result of its monitoring, CIHRS issued two reports on the elections, which are available on its Web site. There will also be a final report, issued later, that will provide an overall evaluation of media performance and an analysis of the political and legislative environments in which the Egyptian media works.
Go to: www.cihrs.org/Temp_EN/6septdec_E.htm

HUMAN RIGHTS

14. Global Rights Launches Program with Kabul University
In response to the need for law students in Afghanistan to learn about human rights and the practical components of law and legal practices, Global Rights Kabul has entered into an agreement with the Head of the Faculty of Law and Political Science of Kabul University to develop a comprehensive legal practical training program for law students.  The program was launched at the Global Rights Kabul office in late August and will run through November 2005. Nearly 100 students are participating in Global Rights' legal internship program. Training sessions are being held three times a week for four hours a day and cover a range of legal issues relevant to the Afghan context within a human rights framework. The training is being led by the Human Rights Lawyers in Practice members, partners of Global Rights who have received extensive training on human rights and law and who are currently designing the coursework with support from Global Rights. The coursework will include lectures, simulations, discussions and site visits to courts, detention centers and to NGOs working on human and legal rights issues. Global Rights is a human rights advocacy group that partners with local activists to challenge injustice and amplify new voices within the global discourse.
To learn more about Global Rights in Afghanistan, go to: www.globalrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=www_asi_index_58

15. Human Rights Database Launched
The Communication Initiative has introduced its revamped database of global media coverage on human rights issues.  This feature is part of the Communication Initiative's Human Rights Window.  It allows for a one-stop search related to media coverage for each individual article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Articles from over 200 developing country newspapers and 10 leading global newspapers are featured in the database.
Go to: www.comminit.com/human-rights/newssearch.html
To learn about the Communication Initiative, go to: www.comminit.com

16. New Tactics in Human Rights Completes Asia Regional Training 
In partnership with FORUM-ASIA, the New Tactics in Human Rights Project's Asia Regional Training Workshop was held on August 5-11, 2005, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The workshop was an initiative to engage innovative human rights practitioners from the Asia region (South, Southeast, and Northeast) in sharing and developing ideas, practices, knowledge and skills to further efforts to advance human rights.
Go to: www.newtactics.org/main.php/TraininginPractice/AsiaWorkshop   

17. People's Forum for Human Rights and Development, Bhutan, Appeals to the UN on the Bhutanese Refugee Crisis
On September 8, 2005, the People’s Forum for Human Rights and Development (PFHRD-Bhutan) issued an appeal on the occasion of the 60th session of the UN General Assembly.  The appeal, addressed to Secretary General Kofi Annan, called for immediate attention to the plight of over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living in UNHCR-administered refugee camps in Eastern Nepal.  The refugees, victims of human rights violations and political repression by the Royal Government of Bhutan, were forcibly evicted from Bhutan in 1991 and have lived in the camps since then.  The subsequent 12 years of bilateral negotiations have failed to repatriate the refugees, the majority of whom are women, children and the elderly.  The PFHRD urges the United Nations to initiate urgent actions to resolve the crisis before it gets out of hand. It appeals for an immediate UN intervention to resolve this humanitarian crisis, and to ensure uninterrupted and adequate relief assistance to the Bhutanese refugees until the problem is resolved and they return home with dignity and guarantees of their human rights.
For more information, contact: skpfhrd@mos.com.np

INTERNET, MEDIA, AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

18. Desktop Training Program in Central Asia
The Polish Czech-Slovak Solidarity Foundation has announced the next round of its desktop publishing training program for NGOs and independent newspapers in Central Asia designed to foster the development of pluralism and civil society in the region. The two-week program, conducted in Warsaw, will train 20 representatives from independent organizations located in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. In addition, eleven of the selected organizations will receive computer equipment. 
To request further details, contact: fundacja@spczs.engo.pl  or  spczs@szpitalna.ngo.pl.

19. New Publication: "The Media Freedom Internet Cookbook"
This "cookbook," published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), contains background information and recommendations for preserving freedom of the Internet. The book is compiled on the premise that "media freedom is valuable for the democracies of the OSCE community, and that it should be preserved." It is called a "cookbook" by the authors because they seek to offer "recipes" for preserving Internet freedom. The book results from the 2nd Amsterdam Internet Conference attended by delegates of the OSCE, the Council of Europe, UNESCO, academia, private industry and the nongovernmental sector. It provides both a collection of recommendations and a series of background papers on legislation and jurisdiction; self-regulation; co-regulation; state regulation; hate speech on the Internet; education and developing Internet literacy; access to networks and to information; and future challenges of the information society.

POLITICAL AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION OF YOUTH

20. New Publication: "Youth as a Catalyst for Peace"
The Academy for Educational Development (AED), Center for Civil Society and Governance, recently published "Youth as a Catalyst for Peace: Helping Youth Develop the Vision, Skills, and Behaviors to Promote Peace."  The publication provides an overview of a wide variety of projects focusing on youth development and peace building. 
Go to: www.aed.org/ToolsandPublications/upload/Youth_Catalyst_Peace.pdf

POLITICAL PARTIES AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

21. Report on Parliamentary Monitoring in Turkey
Tumikom, a Turkish voters movement organization, released its report on parliamentary monitoring in August. The report seeks to establish whether elected leaders are performing their duties and are following the law.
To request further details, contact: www.tumikom.org (in Turkish only)

22. Report on Political Parties in Central America
"A challenge for democracy - Political Parties in Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic" is a new report jointly published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the Inter-American Development Bank, the Organization of American States, and the United Nations Development Programme. This report documents the opinions of citizens and political party leaders about the challenges to democracy. The report will help launch a debate on the prospects for political parties in Central America. The full report is available in Spanish and English on the IDEA Web site.
Go to: http://www.idea.int/publications/news_intro.cfm

RULE OF LAW

23. New Law Threatens Civil Society in Eritrea
The Eritrean Government has imposed a law taxing foreign assistance, restricting the roles of NGOs to relief and rehabilitation work, and limiting direct funding from international organizations. Such laws, which have been proliferating around the world, threaten the ability of civil society to work for democratic change and other goals.
Go to: http://www.civicus.org/new/content/ERITREANGOlaw.htm

24. Pakistan Center for Peace and Development Initiatives Demands Police Reform
On September 2nd, 2005, the Rule of Law Program of the Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) in Pakistan issued a statement urging the federal and provincial governments to take immediate steps to cleanse the police department of officers who have known criminal records and have allegedly been involved in serious crimes, such as extra-judicial killings, rape, robberies, and child abuse.  The CPDI recommends setting up a commission to examine all the records and to investigate all politicians and senior police officers who have been protecting those officers with criminal records.  In addition, the statement emphasizes the importance of changing the culture and organization of the police service, which frequently fails to protect the rights of citizens. 
To learn more about CPDI efforts, contact: cpdi_pakistan@yahoo.co.uk    

WOMEN'S ISSUES

25. International Conference on Political and Economic Participation of Women
The Society Voice Foundation (SVF) is holding its first international conference on political and economic participation of women in Gaza City on December 20, 2005.
This conference will highlight and make recommendations on the importance of woman's participation for gender equality, economic success, and democracy. The SVF mission is to empower civil society in Palestine to promote human rights, governance and democratic development, and conflict resolution.
For more information on the conference, contact societyvoice2000@yahoo.co.uk.
Go to: http://www.svacc.org/En/index.php

26. WORLD MOVEMENT PARTICIPATING NETWORKS, ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN THIS ISSUE

* Internews http://www.internews.org/
* New Tactics in Human Rights - http://www.newtactics.org/
* Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) -- www.cihrs.org (http://www.cihrs.org/) 
* Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) - www.cipe.org (http://www.cipe.org/)
* CIVICUS - www.civicus.org (http://www.civicus.org/)
* Forum-Asia -- www.forumasia.org (http://www.forumasia.org/)
* IFES – www.ifes.org (http://www.ifes.org/)
* International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance - http://www.idea.int/index.cfm
* National Endowment for Democracy www.ned.org (http://www.ned.org/)
* People's Forum for Human Rights and Development (PFHRD-Bhutan) -- skpfhrd@mos.com.np
* Polish Czech-Slovak Solidarity Foundation -- www.spczs.engo.pl/index_en.php?dzial=historia_en (http://www.spczs.engo.pl/index_en.php?dzial=historia_en)
* Tumikom - www.tumikom.org (http://www.tumikom.org/) (in Turkish only)
******************************************************************

To subscribe send an email to subscribe-democracynews@lyris.ned.org.

If you do not have access to the Web and would like to access the materials mentioned above, please contact us by e-mail(world@ned.org)or fax (202-293-0755).

DemocracyNews is an electronic mailing list moderated by the National Endowment for Democracy as the Secretariat of the World Movement for Democracy.
The material presented in DemocracyNews is intended for information purposes only. 
The WMD's DemocracyNewsElectronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org (http://www.wmd.org/)

Fall 2005

Dear Friend,
The planet is unquestionably in crisis. Hurricane Katrina caused appalling destruction, and the response was hugely inadequate. Violence continues in Iraq. Darfur remains genocidal. Millions have died in Congo. Indeed, the list of intractable problems seems to grow longer by the day. To us here at Search for Common Ground, it is clear that the earth is running out of space, resources, and recuperative capacity to keep dealing with disasters and conflict in an adversarial manner. Humanity simply must find better ways to resolve problems - whether environmental, ethnic, or economic. We believe that a basic shift is needed - from a you-or-me world to a you-and-me one. And, despite considerable evidence to the contrary, we are confident that such a shift is coming.

Every few hundred years in Western history there occurs a sharp transformation. Within a few short decades, society - its worldview, its basic values, its social and political structures, its art, its key institutions - rearranges itself. We are currently living through such a time. -author Peter Drucker

MESSAGE FROM IRAN. Since 1996, we have worked to improve relations between the US and Iran. One of our Iranian colleagues, the head of a scientific institute in Tehran, has been following Hurricane Katrina on CNN. The images reminded him of the deadly earthquake that struck Bam in 2003. This is a letter he recently sent us:

Our mind went out to the US citizen groups who came to help, the civil societies of America, and even US government agencies, which rose above political differences to join in a humanitarian task to save lives and bring relief and support to the people of Bam. It was all so touching, so humane. We were all one family, helping those in their hour of need. … We would like to keep alive the spirit of solidarity during times of tragedy…. If there is a fund to which we can contribute, let us know. More important, if there is a way of communicating our feelings, let us know. Help us show that love breeds love. And love and mutual assistance are the best way of creating people-to-people solidarity, collaboration, and showing the way forward.

MIDDLE EAST. On four Saturday nights in July, we accomplished something that had never been done before. Israeli and Palestinian TV, as well as an Arab satellite network aired simultaneously a documentary series that we produced. Our broadcasters were Israel's Channel 8, the independent Palestinian Ma'an Network, the official Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, and Abu Dhabi satellite TV.

This series examines the fears and aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians in an even-handed way. It shows how a negotiated agreement could address those fears and aspirations and do so without threatening the national existence of either side. Israel and Egypt were able to accomplish this task at Camp David more than 25 years ago and this series supports the belief that Israelis and Palestinians can do the same.
- Former US President Jimmy Carter

Groundbreaking
- Steve Weizman, Associated Press

Follow-up. Having pulled off this unprecedented simulcast, we keep pushing to expand the impact of the series - to give concrete form to the idea that peace agreements really are possible. Here are some of our ongoing activities:

- Our broadcasters are already re-running the series, which is also being aired by Australian, German, and Japanese networks - and, we hope, by many others.

- A Palestinian NGO, the Center for Applied Research in Education, has written a teacher's guide and trained 150 teachers in classroom use of the films.

- One Voice, an NGO working in Israel (and Palestine), has prepared a Hebrew viewer's guide and is sponsoring film showings and discussions across Israel.

- We are distributing the series through Arab-American and Jewish-American groups. A grant from the Foundation for Middle East Peace enabled us to send a DVD and a viewer's guide to every conservative rabbi in the United States.

- Our tri-lingual website, www.theshapeofthefuture.tv, offers DVDs, videotapes, background information, and a downloadable music video of the series theme, sung by pop stars David Broza, an Israeli, and Wisam Murad, a Palestinian.

Funders. Money to make the series came from the European Union; the Canadian, Dutch, Finnish, German, and Swedish governments; and the Sagner Family Fund, Tracey McCabe, Gordon McCormick, John Whitehead, Alan Slifka, Wally Marks, and Ravinder Singh.

NIGERIAN TV. Nigeria is a country with an enormous amount of ethnic and religious strife. With a Nigerian partner, Academic Associates/Peace Works, we are producing a 26-part, TV drama series and a 13-week reality series that stress tolerance, pluralism, and conflict resolution. The reality series, called The Academy, will have its première this fall. Just as American Idol searched for talent across the US, The Academy looks for Nigerians who will star in the dramatic series. To date, we have received 50,000 applications. There will be 20 finalists, who will be filmed as they audition and rehearse. Viewers will vote for their favorites. The reality series will build an audience for the subsequent dramatic series, The Station, which portrays a multi-ethnic, multi-religious TV news team, which investigates Nigeria's most urgent problems - such as corruption, intolerance, and the failings of democracy. And these themes are mixed with plenty of love, intrigue, and suspense. In other words, we are making Soaps for Social Responsibility.

Behind the Production. Nestlé Nigeria, led by Klaus Wachsmuth, is the presenting sponsor of the series. Additional funding comes from the Canadian, Swedish, and UK governments. Also, in-kind services are being furnished by Protea Hotels, City Mall Cinema, JMG Generators, Kia Motors, Elizade Toyota, Eagle Paint, Moka Foam, Funtopia, Zinox, Virgin Nigeria, Virgin Atlantic, Motorola Dizengoff, Ibalex Tiles, and Standard Construction. As was the case with The Shape of the Future, Allen Scheid is series producer.

MIDDLE EAST CHANGES. Last year when Susan Collin Marks and I returned to Washington after two years in Jerusalem, we were replaced as regional co-directors by Dr. Pamela Pelletreau and former Assistant Secretary of State Robert Pelletreau. Now the Pelletreaus have also gone home after doing wonderful work, and they are succeeded by John Bell, an Arabic-speaking, ex-Canadian diplomat. In addition, former Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering is taking on the role of Convenor of our Holy Sites Initiative, and Samuel Lewis, former US Ambassador to Israel, has become chair of our Middle East Advisory Group.

CHILD SOLDIERS. For the last several years, we have been working in West Africa, Burundi, and Angola to reintegrate child soldiers into peaceful society. We utilize ex-combatants to produce radio programming; to hold interethnic football (soccer) tournaments; to write comic books describing how child soldiers are exploited; and to monitor elections. Recently, Michael Shipler, who heads our children and youth division, and Sandra Melone, our Executive Director, forged an alliance with Roméo Dallaire, the retired Canadian general who saved so many lives in Rwanda (and who is portrayed by Nick Nolte in the film, Hotel Rwanda). In June, in partnership with General Dallaire and USAID, we convened 30 representatives of children's rights, humanitarian, and peace organizations, along with military officers, current and retired. The idea was to put the issue of child soldiers squarely on both the governmental and the NGO security agenda. Participants launched an 18-month process that should produce concrete action steps to prevent use of children as soldiers. The major conclusion is that there is a need for a global dialogue that engages a wide range of stakeholders, including diplomats, military officers, human rights activists, and affected children.

COMMON GROUND FILM FESTIVAL. Since 2001, we have been holding film festivals in Washington and other cities around the world to showcase common ground-type films. This summer, we held a festival at the United Nations with the sponsorship of several UN agencies. One film shown was Kontum Diary, a very personal documentary about a former American GI who returns to Vietnam and reconciles with his one-time enemy. Vietnam's UN Ambassador attended the opening and was so moved that he subsequently arranged for the film to be shown on Vietnamese television. Needless to say, filmmaker Paul Reed is thrilled. He credits Susan Koscis, the guiding force behind the Common Ground Film Festivals, for the "positive message of peace and reconciliation" that the film will impart to millions of Vietnamese viewers.

NOBEL NOMINEES. We are honored that two of our staff members in Burundi¸ Christine Ntahe and Jeannine Nahigombeye, were among 1000 women collectively nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Christine produces radio programming for our Studio Ijambo to promote peace and coexistence between Hutus and Tutsis. Jeannine is director of Radio Isanganiro, a radio station established by the journalists of Studio Ijambo. According to the website of the group that made the nominations (www.1000peacewomen.org): "She uses the media for conflict resolution and as a means to get all warring parties involved in peace negotiations in her country. Despite several government bans, she has continued using the radio as her weapon against conflict. The radio provides its listeners with information that helps them in their daily lives and keeps politicians and the army accountable for their actions."

PUTUMAYO. An international record company, Putumayo, which specializes in world music, has a policy of providing one-percent of sales to a non-profit organization. Now, we are the happy recipient for a new CD, named North African Groove. It features what Putumayo describes as a "funky musical caravan from Morocco to Egypt for a non-stop celebration of North African dance music." You can order a copy of the CD at www.putumayo.com.

THANK YOU. Especially in difficult times, like these, I feel immensely privileged to be able to do what I do. I am more cognizant than ever that nothing would be possible without the generous assistance received from people like you. If our work moves you, please keep supporting us.

With best wishes,

John Marks
President

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe/Liebe Freunde,

Anbei eine Erinnerung an die naechste AfricAvenir Veranstaltung und der Hinweis auf einen interessanten Vortrag ueber die politischen Entwicklungen in Zimbabwe, organisiert von unserem Partner, der INISA.

Hijack Stories
Regie/Drehbuch: Oliver Schmitz, Südafrika / Deutschland / Frankreich, 2001, 94 min, OF
Am: Sonntag, den 25. Sept
Beginn: 17.15 Uhr
Ort: Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe (Rosenthaler Str. 40/41; 10178 Berlin)
Eintrittspreis: 5 Euro

Im Rahmen der Filmreihe „African Perspectives“ lädt AfricAvenir in Kooperation mit der INISA und dem South African Club am Sonntag, den 25. September, um 17.15 Uhr zu einer Filmvorführung mit anschließender Diskussion ins Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Gezeigt wird der Spielfilm Hijack Stories des Regisseurs Oliver Schmitz. Im Anschluss an den Film besteht die Möglichkeit zur Diskussion mit dem Regisseur.

Kurzinhalt des Films:
Sox, der sich in der schicken Johannesburger Künstlerszene bewegt, will unbedingt die Gangsterrolle in einer Fernsehserie spielen. Da er beim Casting aber durchfällt - seine Sprache und sein Auftreten seien zu unglaubwürdig - nimmt er Kontakt zu jenen Gangstern auf, die wegen ihrer Raubzüge in den reichen Vierteln gefürchtet sind. Unbemerkt gerät Sox dabei immer tiefer in das Milieu. Zusehends reizt ihn dieses schnelle und gefährliche Leben nach ganz eigenen Gesetzen, und selbst als er seine Rolle beim Fernsehen bekommt, zieht es ihn immer wieder nach Soweto zu seinen neuen Freunden. Die Grenzen zwischen Realität und Fiktion beginnen zu verschwimmen, weil die Gangster nun auch noch anfangen einen auf Kameratauglichkeit zu machen. In einer großartigen Mischung aus Action und Komik, die aber nicht die sozialen Hintergründe in Soweto ausspart, erzählt Oliver Schmitz eine intelligente Geschichte über das alltägliche Überleben im modernen Südafrika.

---------------------------------------------------------

Die Initiative Suedliches Afrika (INISA) lädt Sie herzlichst ein zu einem
Vortrag und Diskussion mit

Montag, 26. September 2005, 19.00 Uhr
Afrikahaus (Bochumer Str. 8, Berlin-Moabit, Nähe U-Bahn Turmstr.)

Über Ihre Teilnahme würde wir uns sehr freuen.

Wilfred Mbanga war von 1981 bis 1987 Chefredakteur der Zimbawe International News Agency (Ziana). Aufgrund politischer Meinungsdifferenzen distanzierte er sich von der Regierung Mugabe und gründete 1997 die unabhängige Tageszeitung Daily News. 2003 musste er Zimbabwe wegen persönlicher Verfolgung verlassen und lebte zunächst in den Niederlanden. 2005 gründete er die Wochenzeitung "The Zimbabwean" in London.

Sebastian Seedorf
Pfarrstr. 140
D - 10317 Berlin
Deutschland / Germany
Tel.: +49 / (0)30 / 555 8647
Cell: +49 / (0)177 / 330 8727
e-mail: sebastian.seedorf@gmx.de
www.inisa.de

www.AfricAvenir.org
Wollen Sie Fördermitglied von AfricAvenir International e.V. werden?
Kontaktieren Sie Ann Kathrin Helfrich, Fon: 030-80906789, a.helfrich @ africavenir.org

Redaktion des Newsletters: Eric Van Grasdorff, e.vangrasdorff @ africavenir.org
AfricAvenir International e.V. ist nicht für die Inhalte externer Webseiten verantwortlich.

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the recent re-design of the World Movement for
Democracy's Web site (www.wmd.org).

New Features include:

* A New World Movement Logo.
* New Web site navigation and layout.
* A "search box" to search the entire site or, for example, the
archives of the World Movement's monthly e-newsletter, DemocracyNews.
* An online form to subscribe to DemocracyNews.
* Consolidated pages for DemocracyAlerts and for the archives of the Web
site section, "What's Being Done On"

Of course, the Web site still features sections on Regional Networking
(including links to World Movement networks, such as the Africa Democracy
Forum, the Transatlantic Democracy Network, and the World Forum for
Democratization in Asia), and Functional Networking (including the World
Movement's Network of Democracy Research Institutes, Youth Movement for
Democracy, Global Network on Local Governance, and the International
Women's Democracy Network). Resources include a Democracy Research Guide, the World Movement's Assembly Reports, a Funding Database, and a
Democracy and ICT Guide.

The Web site also still features on Online Participants Database (go to
the "Participate!" link at the top of the page). The Database can be
searched by the following fields, among others:

* Participating Organization
* Location of an organization
* Topical focus of work
* Country focus of work
* Regional focus of work
* Type of activity.

We would also like to announce that several new members have joined the
World Movement Steering Committee since the Third Assembly in February
2004. They are:

* Ms. Zainab Bangura (Sierra Leone)
* Mr. Han Dongfang (China)
* Ms. Melinda Quintos de Jesus (The Philippines)
* Mr. Roel von Meijenfeldt (The Netherlands)
* Mr. Ravi Nair (India)
* Ms. Inna Pidluska (Ukraine)
* Ms. Jacqueline Pitanguy (Brazil)

Information about Steering Committee members can also be found on the Web
site (click on the link "About Us").

We hope you will take a moment to visit the re-designed Web site
(www.wmd.org), and we hope you find it useful in your work. Of course, we
always welcome suggestions of new things to include. We would like to
thank our Electronic Resources Librarian, Kristina Lively, for her
assistance.

With best wishes on your continued good work.

Sincerely,

World Movement for Democracy Secretariat

The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org

POSTING NEWS:
We welcome items to include in DemocracyNews. Please send an email message to world@ned.org with the item you would like to post in the body of the message.

******************************************************************

Dear World Movement Participants:

The next issue of DemocracyNews will go out on October 6, 2005. In order to make DemocracyNews as useful as possible, we ask you to send us any items related to democracy work that you think would be of interest to others.

The next deadline for submitting items is ** September 30** Please send items to: world@ned.org.

You are encouraged to submit items under any area of democracy work. We welcome items announcing publications, upcoming events, reports on research, new Web sites, and other information, and we are most interested in posting requests for partnerships between organizations on collaborative projects, brief descriptions of collaborative projects already underway or completed, and ideas for new initiatives in which others may be interested. We hope DemocracyNews will be a source not only for information about participants' activities, but also for new ideas about strategies to advance democracy.

Please share this message with your colleagues.

******************************************************************

To subscribe send an email to subscribe-democracynews@lyris.ned.org.

If you do not have access to the Web and would like to access the materials mentioned above, please contact us by e-mail (world@ned.org) or fax (202-293-0755).

DemocracyNews is an electronic mailing list moderated by the National Endowment for Democracy as the Secretariat of the World Movement for Democracy. The material presented in DemocracyNews is intended for information purposes only.

My Dearest Evelin and HumanDHS colleagues,

Today, Sept. 13, one year after our Paris meeting, my book, I Feel Like Nobody When... I Feel Like Somebody When... is offically RELEASED !!!

I will be in book stores soon, but is orderable over the internet now at my website;

WWW.SOMEBODYBOOK.COM

I cannot express to you all how wonderful the Paris meeting was and helpful to inspire me to compose this book. I will be visiting schools around the nation this spring, and in California in the Fall. The book is the direct result of the energy we produced at our meeting, and I will be updating you all in December at Columbia.

I want to thank ALL of you who were in Paris, for you ideas, your supportive nature, and your input. It really does make a difference when communication is open and positive. GOOD things do happen, and we can change the world with those ideas, and that positive energy.

My love and warm thoughts are with you in Berlin. Be well, thrive, and support new ideas!

Warmly,
Stephanie

New resources on conflict resolution and peace building - A message from Accord:

I am writing to inform you about an important publication series available for purchase for your university library, for students of International Relations, Conflict and Peace studies, International Development, Human Rights and International Law.

Accord: an international review of peace initiatives is an internationally acclaimed series that provides insightful analysis and measured, detailed documentation of conflicts and peace processes around the world.

Published twice a year it is read by policymakers, practitioners and academics worldwide.

To date the series has documented two thematic issues, “Choosing to engage: armed groups and peace processes” and “Public participation in peacemaking”, as well as peace processes in:

Liberia
Guatemala
Mozambique
Sri Lanka
Cambodia
Philippines-Mindanao
Georgia-Abkhazia
Northern Ireland
Sierra Leone
Tajikistan
Northern Uganda
Papua New Guinea-Bougainville
Colombia
Angola

The next Accord edition (No.17) will be available in January 2006 and documents the conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh in the south Caucasus.

Leading University academics say about the series:

"I have been really impressed with the quality of the whole series....these books are very helpful for our students,.."
Jenny Pearce, Department of Peace Studies
University of Bradford (UK)

“When we need ideas and parallel examples, to both learn from and learn what to avoid, it is often difficult to locate the written, real-life material. Accord does a tremendous service in providing specific, direct access to material from peacebuilding processes.”
John Paul Lederach, Institute of Conflict Studies and Peace Building,
Eastern Mennonite University, United States.

If you would like to purchase any of these publications, we sell individual issues for £17.00 plus postage and packaging. Purchasing all 16 editions would entitle you to a 25% discount.

All funds raised go to help support our work as a charity.

If you would like to take up this offer or receive a free sample copy please contact me at: accord@c-r.org

With very best regards,

Guy Burton
Marketing and Distribution Coordinator
Accord Programme
Conciliation Resources
173 Upper Street
London N1 1RG
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7359 7728 Ext 235
Fax: +44 (0)20 7359 4081
Email: accord@c-r.org

Conciliation Resources (CR) is an independent grant-funded organization that supports groups working at community, national and international levels to prevent violence or transform armed conflict into opportunities for development. www.c-r.org

Human Dignity and Religious Diversity:
Learning to Live with Difference
October 21 & 22, 2005
Fordham University at Lincoln Center
New York, New York

This workshop, designed for educators, offers approaches to teaching about the peace and justice traditions of various religious faiths. The program will offer presentations on the peace precepts and principles of social justice and human dignity of several world religions practiced in the United States.

Religious belief and identity are currently major divisive factors in global society. Violent conflicts between members of different religious groups rage in most world regions. Prejudice and discrimination impedes the realization of the full range of human rights, even in societies with long democratic traditions. In the United States religious misunderstandings and misinterpretations were not new problems at the outset of the “war on terrorism.” However, the general public ignorance of the multiple religious beliefs guiding people’s lives, and especially the lack of knowledge about religious teachings on peace and justice, have been socially costly and personally painful for persons and communities. Peace education seeks to overcome this lack of knowledge and understanding of the peace beliefs of our communities.

This workshop is one of a number of such programs that have taken place in Japan, the Philippines, Korea and Lebanon. The workshop’s format and materials have been cooperatively developed by directors of peace education centers of the International Network of Peace Education Centers, established and coordinated by the Peace Education Center at Teachers College Columbia University.

The program will run from 4:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. on Friday and from 9:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. on Saturday. The Friday evening panel and discussion on "Faith and Social Responsibility in a Pluralist Society" from 6:30 to 9:00 P.M. will be open to the general public free of charge. Registration for the teaching workshop sessions from 4:00 to 5:30 P.M. on Friday and 9:30 A.M. to 4:30 P. M. on Saturday is limited. Early registration is recommended. There is a $10 .00 registration fee for those registering for the full program. Fees are additional for those seeking academic credit. For information and registration, contact Dr. Leonisa Ardizzone ardizzone@fordham.edu.

The workshop and panel are co-sponsored by Fordham University Graduate School of Education, The Peace Education Center at Teachers College Columbia University and the Temple of Understanding.

Dear Colleagues,

On-line registration is now open for the inaugural Emotion Pre-Conference to
SPSP, to be held immediately preceding the 2006 SPSP meeting, on January
25-26th in Palm Springs. The Emotion Pre-Conference will feature exciting
symposia on current topics in affective science, chaired by Ed Diener, Lisa
Feldman Barrett, James Gross, Dacher Keltner, Richard Robins, and June
Tangney, as well as a keynote address by Robert Levenson. To register for
the pre-conference, please go to www.emotionpreconference.org. The website
also has information on poster submission, speakers, symposia topics, and
more. Please note: thanks to the generosity of the International Society for
Research on Emotions (ISRE), ISRE members can enjoy a $10 discount in
registration fees.

Best regards,

Emotion Pre-Conference Organizer,
Jessica L. Tracy
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Department of Psychology
University of California, Davis
jltracy@ucdavis.edu
www.emotionpreconference.org

An announcement!

Peace Is Not Just the Absence of War a review by Tony Dominski

Jacqeline Haessly, in her monumental 534-page PhD thesis "Weaving a Culture of Peace and Justice" has pioneered the work of many future generations of peacemakers. Her singular contribution is a working definition of peace as a weaving together of values, images, language, systems of governance and technology, education and actions. This concept goes far beyond the popular negative conception of peace as the lack of war. I was most fascinated by her discovery that the images and language of peace are relatively undeveloped compared to martial images. She challenges us to imagine a world in which we do not refer to each other as infidel, enemy or terrorist, but instead address each other as brother, sister, friend, or co-worker.

Ms. Haessly's bold vision is of a world in which peacemaking were as highly valued and financially rewarded as war making is today. Imagine Dennis Kucinich with a $200 billion budget for Department of Peace!

She challenges her readers to summon the will to carry out the ideas of the "U.N. Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence. She points out that under the rallying cry of 9-11 those engaged in fighting on all sides claim to be engaged in retaliatory justice.

Heassleys reflections during the Vietnam war upon the poverty of her childhood, the squalid conditions of the homes where she did public health nursing, and the inequities of the health care system lead her to the conclusion that all these conditions were linked to a failure to distribute power and resources equitably.

As a young university student, Haessly sought in vain for a source which would refer to peace as a "positive dimension of engaged human activity." Haessly's work has helped remedy that lack with a clarion call to reshape our thoughts and images to encourage life-affirming actions for peace. I look forward to her forthcoming book which will present her thoughts in a popular form.

Reference: "Weaving a Culture of Peace with Justice," PhD Thesis, by Jacqueline Haessly; The Union Institute and University; Cincinnati, Ohio;
May 11, 2002; 534 pages.

This appeared in the Culture of Peace Review of the United Nations UN Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence; CPNN web site.

Peace and Good,
Jacqueline Haessly, Ph.D.
Peacemaking Associates and
The Milwaukee Peace Education Resource Center
2437 N. Grant Blvd.
Milwaukee, WI 53210-2941
1974 - Education for Global Living - 2004

Dear IIPE Participants and Peace Education Colleagues:

CALL FOR PEACE LESSONS: GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE EDUCATION

The Global Campaign for Peace Education (with which the Peace Education Center has worked closely since the Campaign was launched at the Hague Appeal for Peace Civil Society Conference in 1999), is seeking contributions for a new teaching resource. This collection of “peace lessons” for elementary and secondary schools is to be a sequel to “Leaning to Abolish War: Teaching Toward a Culture of Peace” published by the Hague Appeal for Peace in 2002.

If you have lessons for elementary or secondary level classrooms that relate to the general subject areas of the strands of the Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice in the 21st Century, please send them to me, and I will forward them to the Campaign for possible inclusion in this new electronic resource. The strands are: Roots of War and a Culture of Peace; International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law; Prevention, Resolution, and Transformation of Violent Conflict; and Disarmament and Human Security. We would also be interested in adult or university level curricula that might be adaptable to upper secondary.

You might want to review “Learning to Abolish War”, its conceptual framework, and the unit format for lessons, you will find it posted on htpp:/ www.Haguepeace.org. You can use that format, or the one developed by the present editors: Key Question; Background (peace problem or strand issue addressed in the unit) Age Range; (Curricular) Subject; Materials; Time Duration (of the unit); (Learning) Objectives; Introductory Activity; Focus (of student learning); Development (sequence of learning steps); Assessment (of student learning); References (published sources used).

The Campaign hopes to post this resource on the Hague Appeal for Peace website the first week of December, so we hope you will send your material as soon as possible. The Campaign will also request educators willing to do so, to print out copies of the resource or particular lessons to share with educators in parts of the world where teachers do not have ready access to the inter-net. We would send you the postal addresses of such educators, so you can mail the material directly and be in professional touch with a peace educator in another part of the world.

Thank you for your contributions,

Betty A. Reardon

Hilarie Roseman sends us the following newspaper clipping:

The Age, Tuesday September 13th, 2005. News 3
"Teachers seek new image with parents. by Chee Chee Leung, Education Reporter.

"Integrity, respect and responsiblity have been identified as the key values underpinning Victoria's 98,000 teachers in a new code of ethics for the profession.

But teachers will not be required to act with dignity and courtesy, after references to these qualities in a draft version of the code were scrapped.

Victorian Independent Education Union general secrtary Tony Keenay was pleased that references in the draft code to diginity and courtesy - which he called "value-laded and meaningless concepts" have been removed.

Hamburg, September 20, 2005

To all interested in the work of the Trauma Research Net,

It's been a while since you last heard from us; we've been working hard behind the scenes to release "fresh" newstickers.

The TRN-Newsletter´s newsticker section is updated every three months.

The newsticker delivers a continous stream of information about trauma-related research, lectures, events, new websites, working-groups, etc. and keeps you up to date with the latest trauma research briefs online. Since Summer 2004 Newsticker, we've added a new section to call your attention to the latest publications from Trauma Research Net Members. If you have anything about your own publications or general trauma-related news to add, please contact the editor via Cornelia.Berens@his-online.de

Please go to http://www.traumaresearch.net, click on 'newsletter' at the top left and fill in the registration form which opens below of the login-field.
Soon after we´ve received your registration, you will be given a password which allows your access to the complete TRN-Newsletter.

By the end of the month we will be disseminating a "call for papers" for our third international and interdisciplinary Trauma Research Net Conference, which will take place from September 14-17, 2006. I will inform you about the call for papers with an additional e-mail.

We will also be releasing previously unpublished texts from a 2004 forum organized as part of the scholarship program of the Heinrich Boell Foundation. These four papers on the notion of trauma in psychology and cultural studies were presented last year and are now ready for publication. The texts will be available in German with English abstracts. In a departure from the procedures otherwise adhered to by the Trauma Research Net, we have agreed in this case to make the complete papers available to all internet users without restriction.

Best wishes from Hamburg,
Cornelia Berens

Trauma Research Net (International Network for Interdisciplinary Research about the Impact of Traumatic Experience on the Life of Individuals and Society)
Cornelia Berens, M.A.
Hamburger Institut fuer Sozialforschung
Hamburg Institute for Social Research
Mittelweg 36, D-20148 Hamburg

Office hours: Mon, Tue, Wed 10a.m.-1p.m., 2p.m.-7p.m. & by appointment
Tel. (+49 40) 41 40 97 - 38, Fax. - 501 (or - 11)
URL http://www.traumaresearch.net (TRN-Newsletter 2 is online)
URL http://www.his-onlinede/mitarb/berens.htm (German)
URL http://www.his-online.de/researchunits/visiting/trn.htm (English)
Email Cornelia.Berens@his-online.de

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe/Liebe Freunde,

Im Rahmen der Filmreihe „African Perspectives“ lädt AfricAvenir in Kooperation mit der INISA und dem South African Club am Sonntag, den 25. September, um 17.15 Uhr zu einer Filmvorführung mit anschließender Diskussion ins Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Gezeigt wird der Spielfilm Hijack Stories des Regisseurs Oliver Schmitz. Im Anschluss an den Film besteht die Möglichkeit zur Diskussion mit dem Regisseur.

Hijack Stories
Regie/Drehbuch: Oliver Schmitz, Südafrika / Deutschland / Frankreich, 2001, 94 min, OF

Am: Sonntag, den 25. Sept
Beginn: 17.15 Uhr
Ort: Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe (Rosenthaler Str. 40/41; 10178 Berlin)
Eintrittspreis: 5 Euro

Kurzinhalt des Films:
Sox, der sich in der schicken Johannesburger Künstlerszene bewegt, will unbedingt die Gangsterrolle in einer Fernsehserie spielen. Da er beim Casting aber durchfällt - seine Sprache und sein Auftreten seien zu unglaubwürdig - nimmt er Kontakt zu jenen Gangstern auf, die wegen ihrer Raubzüge in den reichen Vierteln gefürchtet sind. Unbemerkt gerät Sox dabei immer tiefer in das Milieu. Zusehends reizt ihn dieses schnelle und gefährliche Leben nach ganz eigenen Gesetzen, und selbst als er seine Rolle beim Fernsehen bekommt, zieht es ihn immer wieder nach Soweto zu seinen neuen Freunden. Die Grenzen zwischen Realität und Fiktion beginnen zu verschwimmen, weil die Gangster nun auch noch anfangen einen auf Kameratauglichkeit zu machen. In einer großartigen Mischung aus Action und Komik, die aber nicht die sozialen Hintergründe in Soweto ausspart, erzählt Oliver Schmitz eine intelligente Geschichte über das alltägliche Überleben im modernen Südafrika.

Zum Regisseur:
Oliver Schmitz wurde 1960 in Cape Town, Südafrika, als Sohn deutscher Einwanderer geboren. Weil er nicht in die südafrikanische Armee – zur Verteidigung des Apartheidregimes – eingezogen werden wollte, verließ er als Kriegsdienstverweigerer Südafrika und ging nach Deutschland. Als Mitglied der „Film Research Unit“, eines Zusammenschlusses von schwarzen und weißen Filmemachern, arbeitete er an zahlreichen Dokumentationen und Fernsehfilmen über den Widerstand gegen das rassistische Apartheidregime. Zurück in Südafrika realisierte er 1987 mit „Mapantsula“ seinen ersten Spielfilm. Der Film wurde in Südafrika verboten, aber Schmitz wurde damit 1988 zum Festival in Cannes eingeladen. Der Film brachte ihm mehrere Preise ein, u.a. beim Filmfestival in München.

Pressereaktionen:
“Mit diesem Gangster-Film analysiert Oliver Schmitz zum einen die Situation von Jugendlichen nach dem Sturz des Apartheidregimes und liefert zugleich einen “satirischen Kommentar” zur Rolle der Medien in der südafrikanischen Kultur.” (http://www.culturebase.net)“

...finden suedafrikanische Filmemacher Moeglichkeiten, die gesellschaftliche Realitaet ihres Landes auf eine Weise zu zeigen, die nicht notwendigerweise von den alten politischen Auseinandersetzungen und Wiederspruechen oder von der Notwendigkeit, die Sponsoren und das Publikum in Uebersee zufriedenzustellen, geprägt wird. Der vielleicht beste neuere suedafrikanische Film ist Oliver Schmitz “Hijack Stories”...” (Berliner Zeitung, 07.02.2004)

“Mit seinen „Hijack Stories“ gelingt es ihm mühelos, die präzise Gesellschafts-Analyse in ein virtuos rasantes Action-Epos mit veritablen Schießereien und Verfolgungsjagden zu verpacken.” (http://www.tagblatt.de)

“Hijack Stories can probably best be described as a satirical thriller. It combines the elements of urban crime drama – including a couple of spectacular car chases – with observations about the social divisions of the new South Africa.” (http://www.filmfestivals.com)

Festivals:
Official Selection Cannes 2001, Un Certain Regard
Toronto FilmFestival 2000
Carthage Film Festival 2002, Bronze Tanit
12 Festival Cinaema Africano 2002, Menzione Speziale

Filmreihe: http://www.africavenir.com/africavenir/berlin/film/film-presentations-dt.php

www.AfricAvenir.org
Wollen Sie Fördermitglied von AfricAvenir International e.V. werden?
Kontaktieren Sie Ann Kathrin Helfrich, Fon: 030-80906789, a.helfrich @ africavenir.org

Redaktion des Newsletters: Eric Van Grasdorff, e.vangrasdorff @ africavenir.org
AfricAvenir International e.V. ist nicht für die Inhalte externer Webseiten verantwortlich.

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe/Liebe Freunde,

Dies ist eine Erinnerung: HEUTE, 13.00 Uhr, Public Conference on Humiliation in Intercultural Relations and at 17.30 Uhr, Filmvorführung von "A Long Night's Journey Into Day", im Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe:

Am Samstag, den 17. September lädt AfricAvenir International e.V. in Kooperation mit Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Network um 17.30 Uhr zu einer Filmvorführung mit anschließender Diskussion in das Berliner Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Gezeigt wird der Film ´A Long Night’s Journey Into Day´ von Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffmann, der anhand von vier Fällen die Arbeit der südafrikanischen Wahrheitskommission würdigt und analysiert. Der Film wurde international dutzendfach ausgezeichnet.

A Long Night’s Journey Into Day: Regie: Frances Reid / Deborah Hoffmann, USA/Südafrika 2000, 94 min; OmU (dt.)

Am: Samstag, den 17. September 2005, 17.30 Uhr
Ort: Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe (Rosenthaler Str. 40/41, 10178 Berlin)
Vorbestellung unter: 030 - 2 83 46 03 (MO-SA ab 14.30 Uhr/SO ab 10.30 Uhr)
Eintrittspreis: 5 Euro

Synopsis:
Nach dem Fall des Apartheid-Regimes wurde 1997 die “Truth & Reconciliation Commission” (TRC) in Südafrika eingeführt. Vor diesem Ausschuss werden Menschenrechtsverstösse während der Apartheid-Ära verhandelt. Die Funktion ist dabei eine symbolische: Die TRC ist kein Gericht, kann aber im Gegenzug für totale Enthüllung der Vorkommnisse eine Amnestie aussprechen. Long Night´s Journey Into Day betrachtet vier solcher Fälle. Den Tod der weissen Antiapartheid-Aktivistin Amy Biehl, die zur Vorbereitung der ersten demokratischen Wahlen aus Amerika kam und von vier jungen Schwarzen erstochen wurde. Einen Bombenanschlag des ANC-Mitglieds Robert McBride, der auf ein unter weissen Polisten beliebtes Lokal gerichtet war und drei Frauen tötete. Den Fall der “Cradock 4″, bei dem der weisse Polizist Eric Taylor gemeinsam mit Kollegen vier schwarze Aktivisten auf dem Heimweg abfing und tötete. Und schliesslich die Ereignisse um die “Gugletu 7″, Township-Jugendliche die von ein em agent provocateur in Staatsauftrag zum Überfall auf eine Polizeistation angestiftet und dabei in einen Hinterhalt gelockt und niedergemetzelt wurden. http://www.irisfilms.org/longnight/

www.AfricAvenir.org
Wollen Sie Fördermitglied von AfricAvenir International e.V. werden?
Kontaktieren Sie Ann Kathrin Helfrich, Fon: 030-80906789, a.helfrich @ africavenir.org

Redaktion des Newsletters: Eric Van Grasdorff, e.vangrasdorff @ africavenir.org
AfricAvenir International e.V. ist nicht für die Inhalte externer Webseiten verantwortlich.

The Intercultural Conflict Style Certification Program
A three-day workshop for increasing competence in
resolving conflicts across cultures

October 10-12, 2005
Portland, Oregon

The Intercultural Conflict Style (ICS) Certification program provides unique tools for resolving conflicts across cultures. This program is appropriate for anyone who wishes to develop further competence in cross-cultural conflict resolution, to learn more about assessing intercultural conflict styles, or to use the ICS inventory in training and conflict resolution programs. The program is conducted by Mitchell R. Hammer, Ph.D. the developer of the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory. He is an internationally recognized expert in conflict resolution and crisis management across cultures.

About the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory:
The Intercultural Conflict Style (ICS) Inventory assesses culturally learned approaches for managing disputes in terms of direct and indirect strategies as well as emotionally expressive and restrained approaches. It is a self-scoring, easy-to-use, cross-culturally valid and statistically reliable instrument developed by Mitchell R. Hammer. The ICS Inventory is accompanied by the Interpretive Guide, which provides respondents with in-depth information about their approach to resolving conflict across cultures, and a comprehensive Facilitator’s Manual for trainers, educators, mediators, or anyone who is using the ICS Inventory.

Workshop location: The Mark Spencer Hotel, downtown Portland. Please contact the hotel to make arrangements for your lodging. Special rates apply for ICS workshop participants, however there is limited availability. Please contact them by phone (1-800-548-3934) or on the web at http://www.markspencer.com

For complete workshop details and registration information, as well as information on ordering the ICS inventory and Interpretive Guide, please visit our website at http://www.intercultural.org/ics or contact:

Riikka Salonen
Intercultural Communication Institute
8835 SW Canyon Lane, Suite 238, Portland, Oregon, 97225
phone: 503-297-4622
fax: 503-297-469
email: ics@intercultural.org
Web: http://www.intercultural.org/ics

IPRA Biennial Conference *Patterns of Conflict Paths to Peace*
Calgary, Canada June 29-July 3, 2006

Dear Fellow Peace Workers and Researchers,
Dear Friends promoting a culture of peace through music and the arts,

It is a great pleasure to be able to invite you to present your work during the
next conference of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA), which
will be held in Calgary, Canada from June 29 to July 3, 2006.

On behalf of the Commission on Art and Peace (CAP), Maria Elena and myself
would like to invite you to submit a proposal for a paper or a panel,
specifically about the links between music, peace and the arts, in the context
of the theme *Patterns of Conflict Paths to Peace* by filling out the online
form of your choice here:
http://soc.kuleuven.be/pol/ipra/calgary_main.html

To find out more about the Commission on Art and Peace, visit our web page
here:
http://soc.kuleuven.be/pol/ipra/bodies_commissions/ipracom_art.html

We look forward to receiving your proposal very soon. (Deadline: Dec. 1!)

Olivier Urbain and Maria Elena Lopez Vinader,
Co-convenors of the IPRA Commission on Art and Peace

Olivier Urbain
TAP Network Coordinator
http://www.tapnet.info

INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF LINGUISTIC LAW
ACADÉMIE INTERNATIONALE DE DROIT LINGUISTIQUE
Galway, Ireland, and Montréal, Canada, September 15th, 2005

Galway, Ireland, from June 14th to June 17th 2006

Please find the English and French version of the Second Circular concerning the Tenth International Conference on Language and Law, "Language Law and Language Rights: The Challenges of Enactment and Implementation", which will take place on the campus of the National University of Ireland, in Galway, Ireland, from June 14th to June 17th, 2006:

CALL FOR PAPERS
Second Circular (for immediate release)

The Tenth International Conference on Language and Law of the International Academy of Linguistic Law – LANGUAGE LAW AND LANGUAGE RIGHTS: THE CHALLENGES OF ENACTMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION – will take place from June 14th to June 17th 2006 (Wednesday-Saturday), in Galway, Ireland in co-operation with Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge (the Academy for Irish-medium Studies), the Irish Centre for Human Rights and the Dept. of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The Conference will be held on campus at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

The working languages of the Conference will be Irish, English and French.

The Scientific Committee of the Conference is formed by Prof. Bill Schabas, Dr. Joshua Castellino, Joe Mac Donnacha, Dr. Peadar Ó Flatharta and Dónal Ó Riagáin (Ireland) and Profs. Denise Daoust, Angéline Martel, André Braen, Joseph-G. Turi and José Woehrling (Canada).

For more information concerning registration, accommodation and to send abstracts of proposed papers, please contact directly as soon as possible the Galway Committee at the following address: iall-confer@nuigalway.ie tel.: 00 353 91 495217; fax: 00 353 91 495568.

A copy of each abstract must also be sent to the Canadian Committee at the following address: IALL-AIDL; suite J-4; 6000, chemin Deacon; Montréal (Québec); Canada H3S 2T9. E-mail: academy.all@attglobal.net; website: www.iall-aidl.org; tel.: 1+ (514) 345-0718; fax: 1+ (514) 345-0860.

Abstracts of papers (200-400 words) should be sent before December 31, 2005. The topics of the conference shall include:
• Linguistic rights and legislation.
• Language rights in the constitutions of the world
• Language Planning and Human rights
• The politics of languages and rights
• Linguistics rights as third generation rights
• Multilingualism and linguistic rights - The right to language diversity
• Indigenous languages and minorities rights
• Linguistic minorities, lesser use languages, endangered languages and human rights
• Language rights before the courts and the law
• Language rights in education
• The language of law

The registration fee (in euros) is €150 for participants registered before 31 January 2006 and €200 for participants registered after that date. The fee for students will be €100 and €150 respectively.

Veuillez trouver, ci-joint, les versions française et anglaise de la deuxième circulaire relative à la Dixième Conférence internationale sur le droit et la langue, "Droits linguistiques: les défis de la mise en oeuvre", qui se tiendra sur le campus de l'Université nationale d'Irlande, à Galway, en Irlande, du 14 au 17 juin 2006.

Joseph-G. Turi
Secretary-General / Secretaire general
International Academy of Linguistic Law
Academie internationale de droit linguistique

suite J-4 / bureau J-4
6000, chemin Deacon
Montreal (Quebec) - Canada H3S 2T9

tel.: +1 (514) 345-0718
fax / telec.: +1 (514) 345-0860
e-mail / courriel: academyturi@attglobal.net
website / site internet: www.iall-aidl.org

Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
September 13, 2005

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) is distributing the enclosed articles to build bridges of understanding between the West and the Arab World and countries with predominately Muslim populations. Unless otherwise noted, all copyright permissions have been obtained and the articles may be reproduced by any news outlet or publication free of charge. If publishing, please acknowledge both the original source and CGNews, and notify us at cgnewspih@sfcg.org.

**********

ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. ~YOUTH VIEWS~
“Mindsets and lack of knowledge are the problem” by Nancy El-Gindy
Nancy El-Gindy, a student at the American University in Cairo and a former participant in the Soliya Arab-American online dialogue program, follows up an earlier article on the shortcomings of U.S. public policy, with a hard look at what Muslims, both in the Middle East and the West, can do to overcome the stereotypes and misunderstandings that are preventing constructive Muslim-Western relations.
(Source: CGNews-PiH, September 13, 2005)

**********

ARTICLE 1
Two Catastrophes and a Summit
Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban

Two catastrophes befell humanity at the same time, claiming hundreds of lives; the Katrina hurricane and the Baghdad bridge incident. In New Orleans it was nature’s uncontrollable disaster, in Baghdad, it was fear of a terrorist attack that wrecked the bridge under hundreds of frightened people running for their lives.

While both countries are still grieving their victims, preparations are proceeding for the United Nations International Development Summit on good governance and democracy. The horrendous footage from both New Orleans and Baghdad leave us with no doubt that reform anywhere in the world starts with providing the basic human needs, regardless of the varying political ideologies. The Iraqis and Americans struck by the calamities need nothing today more than shelter, water, food and a promise of a more secure future.

In the Middle East, especially Iraq and Palestine, human disasters are the daily norm not exception. Wars have been waged in the name of “freedom” and “democracy,” and brought terror, violence and suffering in stead. Democracy and freedom could have been more achievable through real human development, which could have been a sustainable shield against extremism and racism.

Malaysia stands a case in point. Over the past thirty years, the Malaysian government attained harmony and balance between the varying races and ethnicities through development, equality and social justice. Democracy and good governance undermined racial and religious extremism. Turkey is another Muslim country who reached democracy and undercut extremism through development and social equity over the last twenty years.

Interestingly enough, the West is fully aware of this constructive strategy. It fought communism through economic investment in South Korea and the Marshal Plan in Germany. Hearts and minds were not captured through war, but through promoting economic prosperity instead. It is only puzzling that when it came to the Muslim world, wars, regime change, and political interference were sought instead. The United States, in the mean time, has forgotten that the Islamism extremism it is fighting today is the same movement it sponsored in the past in its war on communism. If democracy in the United States means that each ethnic and religious group has the right to autonomy and sovereignty, would the American democratic system survive? Or is it that development, standards of living, equity and the rule of law what actually makes democracy? With the same logic, it becomes clear that democracy in the Middle East is only achievable through inclusive human development, economic prosperity and justice. Only then, the tide of extremism, anger, and violence will subside.

The model of South Korea, Germany, Malaysia and Turkey show that improving the living, educational and cultural standards for the society as a whole is the mechanism that brings about change in society, and that the political profit of development exceeds the economic one. What is needed, therefore, is more investment, not more wars, in the Middle East. Development, not siege and sanctions, is the means to fight oppression, corruption and terrorism. This is especially when it is coupled with social equality. Poverty, poor education and unemployment, on the other hand, breed extremism, oppression and corruption. We should aspire that the UN summit will demonstrate enough responsibility to reverse the prevalent international trend that seeks freedom and democracy through wars and aggression. Only comprehensive development and prosperity will bring about sustainable and healthy democracy. A certain road, therefore, would be intensive investments war in the Middle East.

###
*Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban is Minister of Expatriates in Syria, and writer and professor at Damascus University since 1985.
Source: Asharq Alawsat, September 5, 2005
Visit the website at www.asharqalawsat.com/english
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 2
Living together peacefully in heart of Arab America
Pierre M. Atlas

DEARBORN, Mich.-- I traveled to Dearborn with my friend Charlie Wiles, a third-generation Hoosier and Lebanese American, to soak in what might be called America's "Arab street."

About 300 miles northeast of Indy, Dearborn is home to the largest concentration of Arabs outside the Middle East. Thirty percent of Dearborn's residents are of Arab origin, as are half the kids in its public schools.

Storefronts have signs in Arabic as well as English and shopkeepers bid goodbye to customers with "Allah Ma'ak" or "God be with you." Arab markets, bakeries and halal butcher shops line West Warren Street, and many shops display large inventories of narghilas, the traditional water pipe smoked in the Middle East.

The sights, sounds and smells reminded me of my visit to Jordan last summer. But Dearborn is unlike any city in the Arab world -- because it is also American.

The first Arab-American museum in the country recently opened here. Its wall of fame identifies notable Arab Americans in various fields. Famous sports figures include pro football stars Darren and Doug Flutie, Indy car champ Bobby Rahal and bowler Eddie Elias. Famous political figures include Ralph Nader, John Sununu, former U.S. Sens. George Mitchell and Spencer Abraham, and Gov. Mitch Daniels.

America has always attracted people from around the world because of its religious and political freedom, tolerance of difference, and economic opportunity. Dearborn epitomizes these traits. The Arab population is Christian and Muslim, Sunni and Shia, pious and secular, and they live, work and eat side by side. Dearborn has a palpable sense of "live and let live," and we were told this also applies to relations between Arabs and the non-Arab majority.

"Arabs came to the U.S. to realize the American Dream," says Adnan Baydoun, president of the Bint Jebail Cultural Center and editor of the Arabic language section of the community's newspaper, the Arab-American News.

Neal Abu Nab, a Palestinian American originally from Ramallah, agrees. He has filmed a documentary about the Arab-American experience called "The Arabian Dream."

Abu Nab is Sunni and Baydoun is a Lebanese Shiite. These distinctions made little difference to them as they sat in Baydoun's office smoking cigarettes and talking of Dearborn. Abu Nab suggests that "Dearborn is a model of how Arabs can get along in a democracy."

The largest Arab community here is from Lebanon, followed by Iraq and Yemen. Dearborn's Iraqis are mostly Shiites, refugees from the failed uprising against Saddam Hussein after the 1991 Gulf War. In typically American fashion, the Dearborn community has held pro- and anti-war rallies.

Dearborn is home to the largest mosque in North America, the Islamic Center of America. The massive, $14 million structure opened this May and is nestled between Armenian Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches. It is technically a Shiite mosque, with an Iraqi imam. But as several people at the mosque told us, Sunnis also pray here and people of all faiths are welcome. Worshipers leave any political differences at the door.

The city came under intense scrutiny after 9/11. But federal law enforcement and the Dearborn community have since come to terms. The Michigan chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the local U.S. attorney hold monthly meetings to air problems and ask questions, often stemming from the Patriot Act.

Rana Abbas-Chami, the ADC's Michigan deputy director and an American-born Lebanese, says that the locals and the Feds "don't always see eye to eye, but we meet and discuss community concerns. The monthly meetings keep the lines of communication open and help establish a sense of trust."

Our visit to Dearborn occurs in the shadow of the London bombings, perpetrated by British-born Muslims (who were Pakistanis, not Arabs). Are there any concerns of a parallel development in the heart of Arab America? Everyone we spoke with rejected such a possibility out of hand. Dearborn is not Leeds.

Abu Nab's words were typical. "Arab-American youth are not disconnected from society as were the Pakistani Brits. They are a lot more integrated here and see the promise of America."

Dearborn presents not a threat, but an un-seized opportunity to serve as America's bridge to the Arab and Muslim worlds.

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* Pierre Atlas is assistant professor of political science and director of the Franciscan Center for Global Studies at Marian College. Contact him at patlas@marian.edu.
Source: The Indianapolis Star, July 28, 2005.
Visit website at www.indystar.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained from the author for publication.

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ARTICLE 3
The Western world through Eastern eyes
Alan Riding

Barcelona - For well over 1,000 years, Europe has been engaged with the Muslim world. The Moorish conquest of Spain and the Crusades eventually led to the fad for all things Turkish of the 18th century, while the colonial occupations of the 19th and early 20th centuries climaxed in the postwar addiction to Mideast oil. In that sense, then, the present crisis over Islamic fundamentalism is just one more chapter in a very old story.

Yet, remarkably, over much of this period, Europe has paid little heed to how it was viewed in the Muslim world. "West by East," a groundbreaking exhibition in Barcelona, tries to make amends. It records a complex love-hate relationship marked by cyclical attraction and repulsion, proximity and confrontation. And it reaches a surprising conclusion: "Easterners have paid a lot less attention to Europeans than we have to them."

The show, which runs at the Center for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona through Sept. 25 before traveling to Valencia, was born of the perceived "clash of civilizations" that followed 9/11, but it goes far beyond today's headlines. "Islam and Europe appear to constitute two separate entities that are antagonistic, irreconcilable, radically different," its catalogue notes. "Now that millions of inhabitants of Muslim origin live in Europe, the story we wish to recount is another."

True, so vast a subject can hardly be covered in a single exhibition built around historical texts, objects and images. But, as Jordi Balló, the center's director of exhibitions, put it: "We've so often seen shows about the West's fascination with the East. We ourselves did one called 'Fantasies of the Harem.' This is an attempt to see things from the other side."

By definition, it had to be organized by a Muslim. So the center ceded full control of the exhibition to Abdelwahab Meddeb, a Paris-based Tunisian poet, writer, university professor and, most recently, author of "The Malady of Islam" (Basic Books). He in turn recruited nine artists and five writers from the Muslim world to contribute a contemporary view to "West by East."

For the purpose of this show, the West is principally Europe, with the United States a newcomer, and the East is the Islamic world. Even here, though, the lines are blurred because Meddeb and the guests artists straddle this divide.

"In everything I do or write, I try to say what I feel, that I am deeply Western and Eastern, that I am the son of a double genealogy," Meddeb explained. "I was raised in this spirit. And with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, I try to demonstrate the East and West are reconcilable."

To explore this premise, the show engages in what Meddeb calls "archeological soundings," starting with maps and writings of a 12th-century Arab geographer, Al-Idrisi. He was in the service of Sicily's Roger II, who drove the Muslims from the island but retained Muslim scholars in his court. How far Al-Idrisi traveled is unclear, but he wrote with admiration of Rome's 1,200 churches, 1,000 baths and "the palace of a prince called pope."

Even earlier, Sicily was already an important crossroads. On display from Palermo is a page from a Greek-Arabic version of the Gospel According to St. Luke as well as an 11th-century tombstone inscribed in Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Arabic. To illustrate the Crusades, Meddeb chose Usama Ibn al-Munqidh, a Syrian who fought the Christian invaders but who, in his autobiography, described the Westerner as "an enemy one can be friends with."

The physical - and religious - proximity of Christianity and Islam influenced sacred imagery, notably in the way some Muslim artists borrowed from Christian tradition to paint scenes from the life of the Prophet (although in some cases the face of Muhammad was later obliterated to conform with prevailing iconophobia). By the 16th century, Ottoman rulers were themselves eager to be painted in the Western style.

But it was only in the early 19th century that the Western way of life began to transform the Muslim Orient, not only through technology, architecture and fashion, but also through philosophy and political meddling. The response was ambivalent: Some Muslim leaders adopted the new ways, with photographs in this show recording their "grand tours" of Europe, but so-called "Occidentalists" also began resisting European domination.

Then, in 1928, with the creation of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the stage was set for the ongoing struggle between the modern and the traditional in much of the Islamic world. Since then, this show's catalogue proposes, "the history of the Islamic countries has been marked by a dividing line that separates Occidentophilic and Occidentophobic tendencies."

Still, "West by East" suggests, art can serve as a bridge of communication. "Given that whenever you speak of us, it is to evoke 'The Thousand and One Nights' or terrorism, it will be interesting to see if we have ideas as fixed as yours," noted Marjane Satrapi, author of "Persepolis," an acclaimed comic book autobiography, who painted a cheerful mural called "The Magnificent Occident" for this show.

Khosrow Hassanzadeh, another Iranian artist, gave his answer by looking at himself in a Western mirror: He presented a self-portrait and portraits of members of his family, each identified by name, nationality, age and profession under the word "Terrorist" as they might be identified on a "Wanted" poster.

Shadi Ghadirian, also from Iran, offered a satirical view of how she saw the West by photographing herself in Western dress then blacking out all evidence of flesh. Thanks to Iranian censors, she explained, that is how she grew up seeing Western women in imported magazines. The Moroccan video artist Bouchra Khalili turned the tables by dressing in traditional costume, in one sequence, summoning Western men to a casting and, in another, removing her costume in public.

Accompanying the show on television monitors, interviews with five Muslim writers provide a kind of ongoing commentary.

Each is asked to respond to the same questions about their perception of the West, among them, what they like - rationality and efficiency were applauded - and what they dislike - the poverty of human relations was lamented.

The most original answer, however, came from Sorour Kasmai, an Iranian writer.

To the question why the West is democratic and the East often despotic, she responded: "I think democracy exists in the West because the West has had the novel. And despotism reigns in the East because the East has had poetry. The novel develops the democratic imagination because it offers various paths, various destinies, while poetry is despotic."

###
* Alan Riding is a Paris-based journalist for the New York Times.
Source: The International Herald Tribune, September 1, 2005.
Visit the website at www.iht.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
Egypt's growing blogger community pushes limit of dissent
Charles Levinson

CAIRO - With unkempt black locks and a laptop tucked under his arm, Alaa Fattah has a voice that carries further than those of other antigovernment activists.

Mr. Fattah, just 23, is one of Egypt's leading bloggers, part of an online community that acts as a virtual megaphone for Egypt's burgeoning opposition movement. Other countries in the Middle East have started cracking down on the Internet, arresting bloggers and imposing strict censorship regimes.

As bloggers gain clout in Cairo, observers say it is only a matter of time before Egypt follows suit.

At a recent demonstration in Cairo's Opera Square against the 25-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak, activists distributed placards that read "Freedom Now" and "No to Oppression." Fattah, on the other hand, passed out lists of websites to a dozen or so local bloggers who act as an unofficial media outlet for Egypt's disparate opposition.

"You just can't rely on the mainstream media here," he says.

The connection between the Internet and dissent is not new. In the late 1990s, Zapatista rebels in southern Mexico gained international attention for their plight, largely because of a savvy Net campaign. Similarly, the antiglobalization protests that rocked Seattle in 1999, and have hit other cities since, were organized largely online. Today, blogs, or Web journals, have taken up the charge.

The number of blogs worldwide has doubled in the past five months, and a new blog is created every second, according to a recent report by the blog-watchers Technorati. The Middle East is witnessing its share of that growth.

Many Arab bloggers are tackling sensitive political and human rights issues rarely broached by the state-controlled media. They are proving to be a powerful source of information, capable of reaching a few hundred like-minded activists, or of rallying international attention to a cherished cause.

After government supporters attacked and beat protesters in late May, Egypt's blogging community led the effort to publicize what had happened.

“I had never heard the word blogger until May 25," says Rabab al-Mahdi, a political science professor at the American University in Cairo, and an opposition activist. "But now I know them well because of all the amazing coverage they had of the protests. My friends overseas all followed what happened through the blogs, because they have more credibility than the mainstream media."

Activists in Egypt rely on blogs like Fattah's to find out the time and place of future demonstrations, to learn who has been arrested and where they have been taken, and to debate the effectiveness of opposition strategies. In short order, Egypt's bloggers have become a political force, capable of more than merely commenting from the sidelines.

In early June, Fattah and two other bloggers decided they were tired of protesting in the same tired locations, with the same hackneyed slogans. Acting independently of opposition elders, they used their blogs to organize a protest in a working-class Cairo neighborhood, which attracted a respectable 300 people. The young bloggers' innovative logos, slogans, and choice of location prompted a sweeping debate among the Egyptian opposition.

Similarly, after three suicide bombers pounded the Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on July 23, three other Egyptian bloggers organized an antiterrorism candle light vigil. It attracted so much interest that the government banned it at the last minute.

"Egypt's bloggers seem to have been able to make the transition from spouting hot air, to political organization and political work and that's impressive," says Marc Lynch, a political science professor specializing in Arab media at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.

The new threat is only beginning to dawn on Middle Eastern regimes, long accustomed to tightly regulating the flow of information. Bloggers and online journalists have been imprisoned in Iran, Syria, Bahrain, and Tunisia. Several others closely monitor and restrict access to Web content. Media observers expect the region's bloggers to face growing intolerance from governments.

"In the Middle East, the mechanisms of oppression are already there, and the number of bloggers is growing," says Curt Hopkins, director of the eight-month-old Committee to Protect Bloggers. "There's going to be a convergence in the not too distant future with a lot of cracking down on bloggers."

In 2001, Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian emigrant to Canada, published directions on how to make a blog in the Farsi language. Seven months later there were 1,200 blogs in Iran.

Today, there are an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 Iranians blogging, including former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi. During the 2003 student uprisings in Iran, Internet blogs and chat rooms allowed students to mobilize, organize, and communicate with one another, free of prying government eyes.

Iran has since adopted "one of the world's most substantial Internet censorship regimes," according to the Open Net Initiative, a partnership of researchers from Harvard, Cambridge University, and the University of Toronto.

But government resistance isn't thwarting this new generation of Middle East activists, who are finding that the pro-democracy sit-ins, and decades-old slogans of their parents, may not be the most effective avenue for change.

"I help people build websites," says Fattah, the Egyptian blogger. "This is the biggest contribution I can make to the movement."

Bahrain's bloggers make a mark

Bahrain is another Middle Eastern country where bloggers have butted heads with the government in recent months. Bahraini bloggers' relentless calls for a new constitution, the separation of powers, and greater political liberties seem to have rattled the government.

"The fact that there are so many bloggers out there speaking freely and expressing themselves with no inhibitions or restraints is unheard of," wrote Amira al-Hussaini in a recent post to her popular blog, "Silly Bahraini Girl."

Earlier this year Bahraini authorities arrested a blogger and two website technicians from the Internet forum Bahrain Online, which had posted a United Nations report critical of the government's discrimination against the Shiite majority.

The country's largest opposition movement had used the website to organize protests and evade police. The arrests were followed by an edict from the Ministry of Information requiring all bloggers to register their websites with the government.

Bahrain's bloggers rallied to the cause. They organized a protest demonstration, and vowed not to register with the ministry. As they wrote about the plight of their electronic brethren, bloggers across the globe - and then media heavyweights like The Wall Street Journal, and international aid groups such as Human Rights Watch - picked up on the story.

The media campaign was largely effective. The three have since been released from prison, though they could still face charges, and few expect the Ministry of Information to follow through with its new policy of requiring all bloggers to register with the government.

"Without the bloggers of Bahrain escalating this, and trying to pressure the government, I don't think anyone would have ever cared or heard about these guys," said Haitham Sabbah, a prolific blogger since 2003.

Egyptian blogs
• www.egyptiansand monkey.blogspot.com
• www.bigpharaoh.blog spot.com
• www.baheyya.blog spot.com

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* Charles Levinson is a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, August 24, 2005
Visit the website at www.csmonitor.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission can be obtained from the Christian Science Monitor by contacting Lawrenced@csps.com.

**********

ARTICLE 5
Mindsets and lack of knowledge are the problem
Nancy El-Gindy

"What is needed is a move beyond tradition," states well-known British Indian Anglo-Indian author/novelist Salman Rushdie in a London Times article in early August 2005, "nothing less than a reform movement to bring the core concepts of Islam into the modern age."

Because of terrorist acts perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists, demands for revolutionary reform of Islamic traditions, Sharia (Islamic law), new interpretations of the Quran, and changes to the Muslim way of life in order to bring the Islamic world into the "modern age" have been very popular with the media and the subject of much public debate in recent years.

Why is it that the faith of Islam is always brought into question when a very small minority of Muslims actually commit these crimes of aggression? Why is it assumed that Islam itself is actually driving these murderers to such levels of hatred and ignorance? Islamic terrorism has no roots in the religion itself, rather it grows out of individuals' own interpretation of it, personal intolerance and hate, and in some cases, perhaps even insanity.

Rushdie, one of the most active advocates of Islamic reform, is the writer of the The Satanic Verses, the publication which made him a heretic in the eyes of the late Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who put a price on his head. He argues that (the) Muslims in the West seclude themselves in their own neighborhoods and are isolated from the community at large, to such an extent that this isolation leads youngsters to embrace terrorism. He also believes that if the Quran was viewed as a historical document, rather than simply the word of God, then it would be legitimate to reinterpret it to suit the conditions of the present time.

Rushdie has acknowledged that there are millions of Muslims who are indeed tolerant and "civilized", but adds that there are also many more that have anti-Semitic views and do not support the concept of freedom of expression.

Though this may be accurate, I would hardly agree that Islam is the driving force behind isolationism, anti-Semitic views and a lack of freedom of expression.

If enough people read the teachings of Islam they would understand that it promotes tolerance, patience, kindness and understanding toward both Muslims and non-Muslims. The killing of innocents has been and always will be a major sin, as in any other religion or belief system. Some religious leaders, however, take liberties in interpreting certain verses of the Quran or sayings of the Prophet Mohammad pbuh, taking them out of context to suit their own political agendas, and sometimes managing to brainwash others with false promises of paradise in the afterlife. Islam itself does not sponsor or condone the terrorist acts of these Muslims, and thus should not be held responsible for them.

Islam is not uncivilized, outdated, or intolerant; it is the people that promote radical, unconventional beliefs and practices of Islam and live this way that create these misconceptions. Reforming Islam itself is not going to solve the problem of terrorism perpetrated by extremists, because no matter how much theology and doctrine change, people themselves probably will not. Reinterpreting holy texts would fail firstly because of the widespread and strong opposition it would receive, and secondly because extremists will always manage to find something in the texts of Islam that they can twist to fit their agendas.

Unfortunately, it seems in all societies there exists a minority of narrow-minded fanatics. For example, Christianity is widely seen as a moderate religion which promotes peace, and is what it is today because of many periods of reformation, schism, and soul-searching, yet there are still groups of people all over the world who promote extreme views in its name, for instance, the once powerful Ku Klux Klan, a self-proclaimed Christian organization. What changed was not the religion, nor interpretations of core religious texts, rather, popular support for the organization eroded as the hearts and minds of the population at large turned against bigotry and discrimination of all kinds, thanks in large part to the civil rights movement in the United States.

Mindsets are the problem, not what is written in Islam's holy texts. Altering this state of mind should be the focus of intellectual efforts to end terrorism, not modifying or reforming Islam.

What gives rise then, to this unfortunate and misplaced perception? Simple lack of knowledge about Islam. There is a vital need to raise the awareness in the Western countries on some simple facts about Islam. The states of the Middle East and Muslim world should do much more in terms of public diplomacy. Their current utter lack of the most basic public relations skills is one of the biggest reasons the teachings of Islam are hardly known, much less properly understood, in the West. Western journalists and analysts often know no more than their audiences, making it difficult, if not impossible, for them to put events in the Middle East and acts of terrorism in proper context.

Credible intellectual and religious figures should also make more efforts to reach out to national and local media in the West. Scholars, sheikhs and other religious figures should swallow their pride and pay special attention to more conservative media outlets such as the Fox News Network, often criticized for its bias, to reach those sectors of the American population that tend to be unthinkingly anti-Islam. They will need to have a strong grounding in Western history and politics so they can help define for Western audiences the difference between Islamic principles, on the one hand, and the actions of a few, on the other, in terms they will understand. And they should not let Westerners forget that dangerous, extremist movements claiming to draw on religion have existed in the West as well.

There is no need to apologize as many Muslims have in the UK. Instead, the efforts of Islamic nations should be concentrated on education. Many religious specialists and leaders around the world have condemned the September 11th and July 7th terrorist attacks, as well as many others, and have publicly stated that these crimes are not motivated by Islam. But they have failed to actually educate Westerners about Islam itself to show how little basis there is in Islam for terrorism, and to give specific examples from Islamic history and the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet), the Prophet's teachings and anecdotes about how he lived his life.

Only when Islamic religious leaders and governments take their role of representatives of Islam seriously will the image of Islam in the West have a chance of changing. Otherwise, Westerners will, quite naturally, only continue to pay heed to the loudest voices in the Islamic world, the voices of the terrorists and extremists.

###
* Nancy El-Gindy is a student at the American University in Cairo and a former participant in the Soliya Arab-American online dialogue program.
Source: CGNews-PiH, September 13, 2005
Visit our website at www.sfcg.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe/Liebe Freunde,

A Long Night's Journey Into Day
Regie: Frances Reid / Deborah Hoffmann, USA/Südafrika 2000, 94 min; OmU (dt.)

Am Samstag, den 17. September lädt AfricAvenir International e.V. um 17.30 Uhr zu einer Filmvorführung mit anschließender Diskussion in das Berliner Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Gezeigt wird der Film ´A Long Night’s Journey Into Day´ von Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffmann, der anhand von vier Fällen die Arbeit der südafrikanischen Wahrheitskommission würdigt und analysiert. Der Film wurde international dutzendfach ausgezeichnet.

Beachten Sie bitte, dass der Film nicht wie üblich am Sonntag sondern am SAMSTAG gezeigt wird.

Am: Samstag, den 17. September 2005, 17.30 Uhr
Ort: Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe (Rosenthaler Str. 40/41, 10178 Berlin)
Vorbestellung unter: 030 - 2 83 46 03 (MO-SA ab 14.30 Uhr/SO ab 10.30 Uhr)
Eintrittspreis: 5 Euro

Synopsis:
Nach dem Fall des Apartheid-Regimes wurde 1997 die "Truth & Reconciliation Commission" (TRC) in Südafrika eingeführt. Vor diesem Ausschuss werden Menschenrechtsverstösse während der Apartheid-Ära verhandelt. Die Funktion ist dabei eine symbolische: Die TRC ist kein Gericht, kann aber im Gegenzug für totale Enthüllung der Vorkommnisse eine Amnestie aussprechen. Long Night´s Journey Into Day betrachtet vier solcher Fälle. Den Tod der weissen Antiapartheid-Aktivistin Amy Biehl, die zur Vorbereitung der ersten demokratischen Wahlen aus Amerika kam und von vier jungen Schwarzen erstochen wurde. Einen Bombenanschlag des ANC-Mitglieds Robert McBride, der auf ein unter weissen Polisten beliebtes Lokal gerichtet war und drei Frauen tötete. Den Fall der "Cradock 4", bei dem der weisse Polizist Eric Taylor gemeinsam mit Kollegen vier schwarze Aktivisten auf dem Heimweg abfing und tötete. Und schliesslich die Ereignisse um die "Gugletu 7", Township-Jugendliche die von einem agent pro vocateur in Staatsauftrag zum Überfall auf eine Polizeistation angestiftet und dabei in einen Hinterhalt gelockt und niedergemetzelt wurden. http://www.irisfilms.org/longnight/

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2005 Call for Papers
Web International Conference on Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities
WebSocSciCON 2005
25-30 November 2005

The WebSociCON 2005 is designed to provide a unique opportunity to the largest number of Social Sciences Researchers and Intellectuals to share together the results of their researches and achievements over the web without the need for physical traveling.

Submission of Papers: Abstracts of 300-700 words in the following areas are now being invited.

Areas of Interest:

Social Sciences: Sociology-History-cultural and ethnic studies - Social Work-American, Hispanic, European, African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Islamic, Jewish, and Russian studies-Urban and Regional Planning-Political Science-International Relations - Journalism-Anthropology–Women’s studies-Communication- The Effect of Laws on Social Life-Criminology-Public Administration-The Effect of Economics on Social Life - Geography

Humanities and Arts : Linguistics and Literature-Library Studies-Antiquities and Epigraphy-Museology-Natural History-Classical Archaeology-Archaeometrics-Philology-Linguistics-Ethnology-History-Psychology-Philosophy-Musicology-Theatre Arts

Deadlines: the abstract/summary is due before September 30,2005. Authors of accepted papers will be notified by October 15, Full papers are due before October 30. Final acceptance will be based on full papers.

Guidelines For Papers: the paper should clearly indicate its relevance, outline the principal assumptions and methods used, snd show all results. The subject area of the contribution should be indicated on the title page.

Languages: Principally English but Frensh, Spanish and German can be accepted provided that a proper summary in English is provided.

Fees of participation in the Conference:

No fees are requested.

Proceedings of the Conference: The accepted papers will be included in the Proceedings of the Conference, copy of which will be available on request.

Mailing Address:

Web SocSciCON 2005
Prof. E. M. Youssef
Spegtec@yahoo.com

Am Freitag, den 9. September 2005, startet die grün-nahe Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung ihre migrationspolitische Website www.migration-boell.de

Die Website bietet Analysen, Informationen und Debattenbeiträge zu drei großen Themenblöcken: Migration, Integration, Diversity (Vielfalt).

Viele der Texte sind exklusiv für www.migration-boell.de entstanden: So bilanziert die Integrationsbeauftragte der Bundesregierung Marieluise Beck in einem Interview das Zuwanderungsgesetz. http://www.migration-boell.de/web/integration/47_192.htm

Dieses Interview ist von ExpertInnen vom Internationalen Bund, von der Berliner Härtefallkommission und von Türkischer Gemeinde Deutschlands kommentiert worden. http://www.migration-boell.de/web/integration/47_68.htm

Ebenso nachzulesen: Artikel von Amitai Etzioni, Öczan Mutlu, Ralf Fücks, Cem Özdemir und anderen, ein Dossier zum Zuwanderungsgesetz sowie Ankündigungen und Dokumentationen zu Veranstaltungen der Stiftung.

Ein Vergleich der Wahlprogramme der Parteien zur bevorstehenden Bundestagswahl ist unter http://www.migration-boell.de/web/migration/46_59.htm zu finden.

Beispiele gelungener Praxis im Umgang mit ethnischer und kultureller Vielfalt werden in der Rubrik "Diversity Management" vorgestellt, den Anfang macht die Deutsche Bank. http://www.migration-boell.de/web/diversity/48_182.htm

Selbstverständlich kommen Migrantinnen und Migranten selbst zu Wort.

www.migration-boell.de ist ein work-in-progress. Demnächst folgt eine Rubrik zur Debatte über die multikulturelle Gesellschaft in Großbritannien nach den Anschlägen von London. Ein Newsletter wird regelmässig über aktuelle Beiträge auf der Website und Veranstaltungen der Stiftung informieren.

Die Website soll Hintergrundwissen vermitteln und Forum für einen konstruktiven Austausch sein. Alle auf diesem Gebiet engagierten Menschen sind eingeladen, daran mitzuwirken und diese Plattform aktiv mitzugestalten.

Zur Begründung des Projekts schreibt Ralf Fücks, Vorstand der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung: "Eine positive Einstellung gegenüber kultureller Vielfalt und eine verbindliche Haltung gegenüber den Grundwerten und Regeln der Demokratie sind für uns kein Gegensatz. Sie bilden gemeinsam das Fundament einer multikulturellen Republik. Es geht um Chancengleichheit und um die politische, ökonomische und soziale Teilhabe aller Mitglieder der Gesellschaft. Wie gut das gelingt, ist mitentscheidend für die Zukunftsfähigkeit der Bundesrepublik."

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Referat Migration & Interkulturelle Demokratie, Mekonnen Mesghena, T 030-28534-242 Email migration@boell.de

Heinrich-Boell-Stiftung, Vera Lorenz, Pressesprecherin Hackesche Hoefe, Rosenthaler Str. 40/41, 10178 Berlin;
T 030-285 34 - 217 F 030-285 34 – 494 ; mobil 0160-365 77 13
Email lorenz@boell.de, Internet www.boell.de

Eric Van Grasdorff, Dipl.Pol.
Wilmersdorfer Str. 78
10629 Berlin
Mail: e.vangrasdorff@africavenir.org
Webs:
http://www.africavenir.org
http://www.humiliationstudies.org

If you would like to subscribe to the Journal of Peace Education or simply find out more about its aims and contents, you may do so at www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/17400201.asp

If you would like to join the PEC and so take advantage of the bulk subscription you may do so at www.tandf.co.uk/journals/offer/pec.asp

For your information pasted in below is the contents of the recent issue.

Anita L. Wenden
Journal Liaison for the PEC
__________________

ANITA L. WENDEN
Director Peace Education & Research, Earth & Peace Education Associates International
Review Editor, Journal of Peace Education
Visiting Professor in Language and Peace, UN-affiliated University for Peace, Costa Rica
Professor Emerita,York College, City University of New York
97-37 63rd Rd. Suite 15e
Rego Park, New York 11374, USA
Tel: 718 275 3932
Fax: 718 275 3932
Email: wldyc@cunyvm.cuny.edu
www.globalepe.org

"We are made wise not by recollections of the past, but by our
responsibility to the future."
G.B. Shaw

Articles in the recent issue 2(2) include:

Post graduate education in Sri Lanka
Simon Harris & Nick Lewer

Does vicarious experience of suffering affect empathy for an adversary? The effects of Israelis’ visits to Auschwitz on their empathy for Palestinians
Haa Shechter & Gavriel Salomon

Foundations for peacebulding and discursive peacekddping: infusion and exclusion of conflict in Canadian publish school curricula
Kathy Bickmore

Mediators and mentors: partners in conflict resolution and peace education
Pamela S. Lane-Garo, Monica. Ybarra-Merlo, Joe Dee Zajac, Tekla Vierra

Education and politics in Afghanistan: the importance of an education system in peacebuilding and reconstruction
Jeaniene Spink

27th Ethnography in Education Research Forum

Dear Colleague,

The University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education and the Center for Urban Ethnography announce the 27th Annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum, to be held February 24th and February 25th, 2006 on the University of Pennslyvania campus. The Ethnography in Education Research Forum, the largest annual meeting of qualitative researchers in education, is currently accepting proposal submissions for individual papers and
symposia that focus directly on issues of significance for the conduct and understanding of the processes of education. The submission DEADLINE is OCTOBER 15, 2005.

We encourage proposals of research in areas such as ethnography of education; research on everyday school practice; practictioner research; multicultural, critical and feminist studies of education; language and literacy in education; urban and international education; indigenous language revitalization; action research in education; and more.

Please find the call for papers below as well as on the forum's website (http://www.gse.upenn.edu/cue/forum.php). Note that all proposals must be submitted online.

Falstadsenteret har nok en gang gleden av på å invitere til det årvisse Falstadseminaret. Seminaret arrangeres på grendehuset på Ekne torsdag den 6. oktober, under tittelen "Krigsfangens rettigheter".

Innledere er historiker Marianne Neerland Soleim, statsviter og nødhjelpskoordinator Tørris Jæger og journalist Sigrun Slapgard.

Påmeldingsfristen er 28. september.

Program (med forbehold om endringer) finnes her på Falstadsenterets hjemmesider.

Velkommen!

Med vennlig hilsen
for Falstadsenteret
Studieleder Bjørn Aksel Flatås
og konsulent Åshild Karevold
www.falstadsenteret.no

“Creando una cultura de paz”

Curso de capacitación para multiplicadores en educación para la paz, con especialización en mediación
4 de septiembre – 3 de octubre de 2005
Berlín, Alemania

Presentación

InWEnt – Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmbH es una organización dedicada al desarrollo de recursos humanos, a la capacitación y al diálogo a nivel internacional. Creada en el año 2002 a raíz de la fusión entre la Sociedad Carl Duisberg (CDG) y la Fundación Alemana para el Desarrollo Internacional (DSE), InWEnt se basa en la experiencia obtenida por ambas instituciones a lo largo de varios decenios de cooperación internacional. Sus programas internacionales de capacitación y de diálogo están dirigidos a cuadros técnicos y ejecutivos, al igual que a instancias decisivas del sector privado, la política, la administración pública y la sociedad civil de todo el mundo.

La educación para la paz y la cooperación internacional alemana

La cooperación internacional para el desarrollo de la República Federal Alemana ha elevado en años recientes la prevención de conflictos y el servicio civil de paz a una de sus más altas prioridades. A ello ha contribuido el reconocimiento fundamental de que el desarrollo sólo es posible en el contexto de la paz. De ahí la necesidad de transformar las estructuras mentales que conciben la violencia como un medio legítimo de abordar los conflictos y reemplazarlas por una cultura que permita tratar las diferencias a través del diálogo. En este contexto, la educación para la paz y la capacitación en métodos de solución pacífica de controversias adquieren nueva relevancia en el quehacer de la cooperación internacional.

El programa de InWEnt de educación para la paz en Centroamérica

InWEnt contribuye a la creación de una cultura de paz en la región centroamericana, Colombia y México a través de un curso para multiplicadores en educación para la paz con especialización en transformación de conflictos. Diseñado para fortalecer el trabajo que ya existe en estos países en materia de pedagogía de la paz, el curso tiene como objetivo la capacitación de un grupo de multiplicadores de instituciones de educación, tanto estatales como no estatales, en la filosofía, los métodos y las técnicas de la educación para la paz con énfasis particular en ransformación de conflictos.

El programa de capacitación incluye:

• Reflexión profunda sobre la paz y la violencia
• Filosofía, métodos y técnicas de la educación en derechos humanos
• Filosofía, métodos y técnicas de la educación intercultural
• Filosofía, métodos y técnicas de la educación en la perspectiva de género
• Filosofía, métodos y técnicas de la recuperación de la memoria histórica con énfasis en la pedagogía del memorial
• Especialización en transformación de conflictos

La especialización en transformación de conflictos, no sólo como técnica de manejo de conflictos, sino como filosofía de diálogo, se logrará a través de dedicar una parte importante del programa a reflexionar y discutir sobre el carácter positivo y negativo de los conflictos y sus causas, así como desarrollar las habilidades necesarias para llevar a cabo la mediación en la comunidad y la escuela.

Institución responsable:

InWEnt Capacity Building International
División Educación
Tulpenfeld 5
53113 Bonn/ Alemania
Tel. +49 228 2434-5 ; Fax. +49 228 2434-677
www.inwent.org

Rita Walraf
Directora de Programa
División Educación
Tel. +49 228 2434-788
Fax. +49 228 2434-677
rita.walraf@inwent.org

Institución encargada:

Instituto Paulo Freire:

Dra. Ilse Schimpf-Herken
Directora del Instituto Paulo Freire
Universidad Libre de Berlín
Tel. +49 30 3964749
ilse.schimpf-herken@web.de

Consultores del Instituto Paulo Freire:

Dra. Virginia Alvear
Tel. +52-7353520548
virginiaalvear@yahoo.de

Jasmina Barckhausen
Tel. +49-30-61286558
jazzmina@arcor.de

Inge Remmert FontesTel. 0041-313056116
i_remmert_fontes@gmx.de

Luis Jeldres
Tel. +49-30-4363813
ojeldres@gmx.net

Till Baumann
Tel. +49-30-39825272
post@tillbaumann.de

Thril, Retrieved from "http://www.crinnology.com/Thril"
From Crinnology

Thril is one of a number of techniques by Prof. Francisco Gomes de Matos from Recife, Brazil in his work on Peace Linquistics.

The alliterations below have been selected from a list presented in a lecture given in English to students of International Relations at a College in Recife, Brazil - Faculdade Integrada do Recife. The first word in each alliteration was left blank during the lecture, so as to challenge participants.

A A A - Aim at affinity and alliance
B B B - Build a bridge between nations
C C C - Consider conflicts constructively
D D D - Dignify your diplomatic discourse
E E E - Encourage empathy enthusiastically
F F F - Favor flexibility and friendship
G G G - Generate goodness and generosity
H H H - Honor humanity and humaneness
I I I - Inspire for integration and interdependence
J J J - Judge with justice and justification
K K K - Keep a Peace kit for keeps
L L L - Let liberty be the light
M M M - Maximize mediation and meditation
N N N - Nurture national negotiating styles
O O O - Observe opponents with openness
P P P - Perceive persons as peacepartners
Q Q Q - Question quixotic queries
R R R - Recommend realistic reconciliation
S S S - Support and sustain human solidarity
T T T - Treat others with tact and tolerance
U U U - Upgrade universal feelings of unity
V V V- Veto all varieties of violence
W W W - Weigh your words wisely
X X X - X-in diversity and X-out xenophobia
Y Y Y - Yearn for peace in all yards
Z Z Z - Zero in on peace zealously as the zenith

My Dear Evelin,
[...]
We are trying to spread the word on how architecture can be linked to some form of peace issues. There are some arguments on how architecture as a non verbal language can contribute to removing boundaries between cultures and regions unlike other spoken languages.
With warm regards,
Ashraf

The Rape of Berlin
An anonymous diary from 1945 reminds us of the horrific crimes Soviet liberators committed against millions of German women.
By Jonathan Shainin
Downloadable from http://www.salon.com/books/review/2005/08/18/berlin/index_np.html
or
http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005/08/rape-of-berlin.html

Aug. 18, 2005
"The essence of a nation," the French historian Ernest Renan said in 1882, is that its citizens have much in common, but "that they have forgotten many things." The Germans, it could be said, have forgotten things that most nations never knew. No single country has struggled so openly to reckon with its history, and the process has not been a short one. Germany has spent decades coming to terms with the atrocities perpetuated by the Nazi regime, but the penumbra of shame around these crimes also obscured the suffering visited on German civilians, 600,000 of whom were killed by Allied firebombing of cities like Dresden and Hamburg.

The publication of A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City, then, shines considerable light on a hidden history of the war. The writer, an anonymous 34-year-old journalist who recorded in her diary the events of the fall of Berlin in May and June, 1945, does not fashion herself a victim. But her diary, released by a German publisher for the first time 60 years after the war, meets the challenge that novelist W.G. Sebald put to Germans in his lectures on "Air War and Literature": "to try recording what [they] actually saw as plainly as possible." In unsparing prose that brooks no pity and assigns no blame, the diarist calmly describes the disintegration of the German capital. Her diary begins less than a week before the Soviets entered the city, hastily scrawled by candlelight in a basement shelter: "my fingers are shaking as I write this."

Reinhold Freudenstein is a Honorary FIPLV Counsellor and Professor Emeritus at the University in Marburg – Germany.

1 Introduction

More than fifteen years ago, in January 1987, a group of dedicated foreign-language educators from fourteen European countries came together in the Russian city of Kiev in order to discuss content and methods of teaching foreign languages and literatures for peace and understanding. The meeting was initiated and organised by UNESCO, and it ended with a declaration which became known by the term of LINGUAPAX. It contained a plea for the integration of peace education into foreign-language instruction from the curriculum level down to everyday classroom activities. The philosophy behind the LINGUAPAX program was - and still is - to make strenuous efforts to increase the effectiveness of teaching foreign languages with a view to enhancing mutual understanding, respect, peaceful coexistence and cooperation among nations1. Follow-up conferences took place in Spain in 1988, two years later in Germany, in Spain again in 1994 and in Melbourne in 1995. The Australian event was organised and sponsored under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes (Cunningham & Candelier 1995). Ever since LINGUAPAX was introduced to the profession I wondered why language teachers seemed to be very reluctant, if not negligent in dedicating more attention to that subject. A few years ago I offered a workshop on peace education at a regional institute for the in-service training of language teachers in Germany. There was only one out of about 200 participants who wanted to attend that workshop. When I asked him why he was interested in the topic he said that he had never heard before of peace-related foreign-language classroom activities and that he wanted to learn what it was all about. The same holds true for university seminars in initial training for future language teachers. When I first held a seminar on the role of peace education in the teaching and learning of foreign languages at my university I had only three students who showed interest. One of them was a future teacher of Latin. He wanted to find out how he could avoid the reading and translation of texts by Julius Caesar on fighting and killing in wars which had taken place more than 2000 years ago. At the same time, I had over sixty students who attended a seminar on “Computer Use in the Language Classroom” and even more on “For and Against Grammatical Rules in Language Instruction”.

Looking at today’s global situation, we should have more than one reason for dedicating instructional efforts to issues of war and peace. In the last century, we have experienced the most dreadful wars in the history of mankind. They have brought death and suffering to millions of people. One would have thought nothing like that would ever happen again. But according to information from the International Red Cross, more than 200 wars have been fought since 1945 in which at least 40 million people were killed. After the turn of the century, a new wave of terrorism resulting in more wars brought renewed anxiety and fear to mankind. After the German LINGUAPAX conference in 1991 a book was published which was given the fitting title, Language Teaching in a World without Peace (Raasch 1993). It still holds true today. As the world copes with the aftermath of 11 September 2001, the destruction of Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, the ongoing fighting in the Congo, the waves of terror in Israel, Palestine, Spain and Ireland - to mention just the most spectacular ones - it is more than timely that we focus squarely on the role that languages can effectively assume in the fostering of peace. Therefore, it is both justified and necessary to emphasise the notion of peace whenever and wherever possible, including in the foreign-language classroom. It was Pope John Paul II who phrased the slogan: “If you want to reach peace, teach peace”.

In the history of foreign-language teaching, learning a new language has always been more than just a question of acquiring linguistic skills. Communication is the overall objective generally accepted throughout the world, and communication automatically includes subject matter because it usually takes place in meaningful situations. The contexts of such situations have been described by curriculum designers not only in the form of everyday events or interesting stories, but also in the form of general statements and universal goals. It has been stated, for example, that foreign-language teaching should promote friendly relations between the people of various countries. Classroom activities should encourage the understanding and appreciation of other cultures, especially those that are different from the learner’s own social environment. In particular, the teaching of English as a world language should contribute towards the development of tolerance as a basis for mutual recognition. This list could easily be enlarged. Peace, however, has so far not been given a prominent place on such lists of general statements. It might well be that the idea of peace is supposed to be included implicitly. It might well be that it is simply taken for granted that learning another language and living peacefully together with speakers of other nations go hand in hand. But in a world that has become increasingly aggressive, peace as an educational objective should be given a prominent and explicit place in all aspects of foreign-language instruction. Peace education and the teaching of foreign languages are to be inseparably combined both in official documents and in classroom activities. There is an important reason for this. Pupils of today have to learn how to master the challenges of the 21st century. The most demanding challenge will probably be to live in a globalised world with a fast-growing population. People who have different ideas, beliefs, interests and goals will have to accept each other. In a social context like that the only chance for survival is to live together peacefully. And one of the prerequisites for peaceful coexistence is the ability to communicate with others in a civilised, friendly, humane and caring – in short - in a peaceful manner. Thus, “communicative competence” - internationally accepted as the most important objective in the teaching of foreign languages - should be expanded to “communicative peace” - a phrase to be understood as the overall concept for everything connected with the teaching and learning of foreign languages. The phrase was first coined by the Brazilian linguist, Francisco Gomes de Matos about ten years ago, and he has promoted it in many ways ever since. In order to achieve “communicative peace”, basic changes in educational thinking must take place.

In the past, there were changes in foreign-language policy, and some of these have had considerable influence on the instructional process. One of the most spectacular ones over the last fifteen or twenty years has been an increasing awareness of the selection and treatment of content areas that should be covered in the foreign-language classroom. Many aspects of modern life that have previously been disregarded or misrepresented in traditional teaching materials have now received specific attention. A good example is the role of women in foreign-language textbooks. In the 1970s, it was the Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes that initiated a world-wide survey on this subject (Freudenstein 1978). Since then, the discussion about the place of women in society and their representation in schoolbooks has brought about enormous change. It was not only that learning materials were revised; equally important was the fact that the awareness of the teaching profession became focused on a problem which was and still remains a social challenge. Let me give you an example which shows how a new orientation of traditional concepts can lead to basic changes in everyday communication! My example is the use of the words “pupil” and “teacher” in German discussions of educational issues. In the past, we simply used to say “Schüler and Lehrer”. This is not possible any more; it has become common practice to refer explicitly to the female forms of the words as well, and so today you have to say “Schülerinnen und Schüler” and “Lehrer und Lehrerinnen”. The same holds true for similar vocabulary items like “Kollege” and “Kollegin” or “Professor” and “Professorin”. On such a basis of a new orientation in educational thinking other deficits in the contents of foreign-language materials have been identified and criticised; for example, the situation of old people, the problems of the handicapped, the treatment of social minorities or the protection of the environment. The main reason for the fact that they have been either misrepresented or are even non-existent in textbooks or learning materials is that the teaching of foreign languages in all parts of the world still concentrates more on formal aspects of grammar, translation and vocabulary than on educational concerns. We know that such a foreign-language strategy no longer serves the interests both of pupils and society; it cannot even be justified by modern linguistic research any longer. Most of the traditional formal aspects of language teaching have been criticised as being superfluous, useless or even harmful and could easily be replaced by elements of alternative methods. Along these lines we should therefore see to it that new forms of how to teach should go along with a change of new thinking in what to teach. This is where peace education can play an important role.

2 Achievements in Peace Education in the Past

Classroom activities aimed at promoting peace are more or less non-existent. But the idea is gaining ground. In 1990, the world congress of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) was devoted to the topic, “Applied Linguistics, International Understanding and Peace Education”. In the United States of America, the annual National Foreign Language Week in 1991 concentrated on “Peace through Understanding”. Particularly in America, peace education in the foreign-language classroom has advanced well beyond the slogan level. For example, in the state of New York, a group of foreign-language educators is trying to integrate materials on nuclear disarmament and international security into everyday teaching. In Germany, several papers have been published with recommendations for making the foreign-language classroom a place for peace education (cf. Thürmann & Weber 1989; Reisener 1990). In addition, the German UNESCO Commission has supported a project for the promotion of peace through English teaching materials for beginners, intermediate and advanced pupils (Classen-Bauer 1989). In South America, Francisco Gomes de Matos is one of the foremost fighters for linguistic rights of students and the most prominent representative of peace education in the foreign- and second-language profession. In numerous papers he has demonstrated why the teaching of peace should become the most important task for modern-language teachers (Gomes de Matos 1990:2; 1992:1; 2002a). In Japan, the Global Issues in Language Education network is a special interest group of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) which has gained international repute. It is a forum for language teachers from all over the world who share an interest in peace-related matters such as global awareness, social responsibility and world citizenship2. The British Ministry of Defence and the British Council work together in a Global Conflict Prevention Fund; this program concentrates on teaching English to soldiers, police and border guards of 24 countries in Europe so that they may better be able to communicate. In Latvia, a project called English for Military Purposes (EMP) has worked since 1995 to form positive attitudes, overcome prejudices, change of mindsets and raise intercultural awareness (cf. Lucas 2002:8). These are hopeful signs. But they are still like little islands in a vast ocean of meaningless everyday episodes in the life of happy textbook families that still dominate the teaching process in the beginning years of foreign-language learning.

Gomes de Matos has repeatedly pointed out that peace-related items should not just be interspersed with other material and become only one topic among others. It ought rather to be accepted as an underlying philosophy, as a form of thinking from which all classroom activities should profit. Gomes de Matos promotes a humanising pedagogy, an atmosphere of ethics in the school environment. In other words: the notion of peace deserves to be integrated into the foreign-language curriculum as an all-embracing leitmotif. In order to achieve this goal, action has to be taken at three levels: (1) at the level of curriculum planning; (2) at that of textbook writing; and (3) at the level of classroom activities. As these levels indicate, three groups of foreign-language educators are challenged by the new task: firstly, administrators and people responsible for state, local or private school planning and development, secondly textbook-writers, and thirdly the millions of foreign- or second-language teachers around the globe.

2.1 The Curriculum Level

So far, curriculum designers have concentrated too much on formal aspects of the language-learning process. Their main interest seems to be to see to it that each and every grammar point is fully covered. But pupils should not only - if at all - learn about language rules and language patterns. They must primarily be prepared for communication across cultural and ideological barriers. This can only work if pupils are willing to meet and accept each other as well as other human beings in a truly humanistic way. They should be guided towards talking with others on the basis of equal partnership. It follows that the dimension of peace be included as a regular and explicit objective in curricula of foreign or second languages.

At this point, I cannot specify in detail which peace-related subjects could be embedded in an official course of study prescribed by ministries or curriculum designers. But I can give a few ideas along which lines people responsible for educational objectives should try to concentrate their thinking. They should, for example, not only write a list of how to read, understand and interpret literature in another language; it is much more important that pupils learn how to tolerate different opinions. They should propose ways and means in which pupils can be made aware of the fact that they are individually responsible for their environment, for their social contacts and for their communicative behaviour. They must guide teachers as to how they can equip pupils with the knowledge, skills and commitment necessary for becoming fighters for peace. It is not enough to mention peace education as one general objective among others; this has been done with comparable curriculum items in the past and resulted in nothing but paying mere lip-service to the idea. Content areas must be identified specifically and described in detail: the relationship between peace and social responsibility, the role of peace in international understanding, the context of peace for justice and human rights, and many more. These areas need to be exemplified in such a way that their relevance can be shown both for people as individuals and for community life. Specific methods of teaching peace topics must be developed in order to get the message across to the language learners in a stimulating, interesting and motivating way. On the administrative side everything should be undertaken to merge peace education into a unique concept in which language learning and striving for peace are regarded as different parts of the same concern. In the future, administrators should pay attention first and foremost to what subject matter is being communicated, and only then look out for the language forms which need to be learned in order to express a message adequately. It might well be possible that the overall goal of peace education could lead to a new definition and evaluation of the role of linguistic elements in the instructional process once they serve an educational rather than a grammatical purpose. On such a basis “communicative peace” could well be accepted in the same way as “communicative competence” has become the leading objective in the teaching of foreign languages. Wherever the notion of peace is excluded from communication one is left with a restricted competence unable to contribute towards a peaceful world. Thus, “communicative peace” is the challenge of the future.

2.2 The Textbook Level

Because future teachers have not experienced how peace education can be put into practice in the foreign-language classroom during their own school days, they will have to be familiarised with examples which demonstrate just this notion. There is no better way of doing this than by providing a new generation of textbook materials. A systematic analysis of the most popular English textbooks used in German schools has shown that peace as a learning objective is not covered at all. The same holds true for textbooks in other foreign languages, and the situation in other countries is not very much different from that in Germany. No chapter, no lesson, no unit, no specific reading text or exercise in textbooks, workbooks, grammar guides or on cassettes, CDs and videos deal with the question of how to avoid war or with the challenge of how to achieve peace. Learning materials devoted to this goal are not only missing in textbooks for beginners, but also in readers for the advanced student. In this respect, textbooks recently published are not at all different from older ones which means that there is no awareness of the need for change. There is no reason for neglecting peace-oriented texts and exercises because of vocabulary or grammar problems. Such texts could be studied and discussed by foreign-language learners in just the same way as they have up to now dealt with texts about going shopping, asking the way or going to a party. There is a wide range of possible topics, and here again Gomes de Matos has made a lot of valuable suggestions on how to do this. One of them is the so-called THRIL technique in the service of humanising vocabulary use (Gomes de Matos 2002b). THRIL stands for “threefold repetition of an initial letter”. This is a probing of the well-known device of alliteration which involves a sequence of words beginning with the same sound or letter for achieving some communicative effect. Take AAA, for example, where you can come up with “Avoid aggressive assertions” or “Advise and advocate rather than admonish”. BBB can result in “Be a peaceful bridge between persons”, CCC in “Consider conflicts constructively” or “Convince through cooperation rather than competition”. In this way one can go through the entire alphabet and end up with, for example, WWW as in “Weigh your words wisely”, XXX as in “X-in cultural and linguistic diversity and X-out xenophobia”, or YYY as in “Yearn for permanent peace in your yard”. Once one has started to think and talk about subjects like these, pupils will most certainly provide a multitude of examples which could be integrated into the foreign-language learning process.

Even if one has to use traditional materials, the idea of peace need not be neglected. If peace is regarded as an integral part of language learning, one can easily discover many places in textbook chapters and other teaching materials where the idea of peace can be suggested, added or even become a central focus of attention. For example, if pupils are asked to replace dehumanising uses of vocabulary in a boring traditional text, such a text could often be turned easily into an interesting and meaningful story. I hope that textbook authors will become aware of the need for “communicative peace” in the foreign-language classroom and devise their materials accordingly. In this regard, textbooks for the learning of English could play a leading role. In the history of foreign-language teaching it has always been the textbook writers of English who have brought about innovations in the teaching process. This is why they should once again forge ahead and lead the way into a new world of peace-related materials so that other foreign and second languages can follow.

2.3 The Classroom Level

Finally there is the classroom level. The classroom is where the real action takes place. Teachers should be guided towards means and methods of including both the spirit of peace and peace activities in their daily teaching. Here again, it is not the occasional inclusion of an exercise or a text which can easily be identified as a peace item. It is what I call the spirit of peace which should become the basis for the entire teaching process. In dealing with their pupils, more than ninety per cent of foreign-language teachers all over the world practise a so-called authoritarian approach, a question-and-answer instructional method where strict rules of command and obedience guide the instructional process. Questions are only asked to find out whether pupils know correct answers, and not what they really think or believe. Teachers know that a democratic, a so-called “socially integral” teaching style is educationally preferable, but so far they have time and again found reasons for not following this approach. Excuses which are given are large classes, a pressing teaching load, too much content to cover, classrooms not suitable for group work and other pupil-centred activities, students becoming increasingly more aggressive, and many more. All this might well be so. But to teach peace starts with a peaceful educator. An eight year-old girl in primary school in my neighbourhood was recently asked what she didn’t like about her English lessons. She said: “I don’t like my teacher shouting at me”. This is where peace education can begin to change teacher behaviour.

From there it almost automatically follows that peace-related topics should be dealt with as something that goes without saying. There is almost no topic which could not be used in the service of peace. Just take a regular textbook and look at it with the concept of peace education in mind! You will immediately come up with a lot of useful ideas on how to include the dimension of peace in the instructional process. Be it a role-played family conversation, a discussion on environmental conservation, a debate in which opposing parties try to compromise, be it dictionary or even grammar work, there is nothing that can be left out when concentrating on how to integrate the peace dimension into the foreign-language instructional process. It can be put into practice from the very first lesson. Specific aspects of “life and institutions” – “the German Landeskunde” – or topics of intercultural interest are an integral part of every existing language program; once they are placed in the context of peace education, a new dimension is added to them. Activities of this kind can open the door of the classroom and connect the outside world with the teaching process. I very much like a relatively simple exercise which Gomes de Matos has suggested. It shows how peace education can be integrated into slogans, statements and proverbs and contribute towards forging general wisdom into a new direction. “Thus”, he says, “Two heads are better than one” could become “Two peaceful minds are stronger than one”” (Gomes de Matos 1990:2). Along these lines “Drive carefully” could become “Drive peacefully”, “Nobody is perfect” could read “Peace is perfect”, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” could be changed to “Early to bed and early to rise makes people healthy, peaceful and wise”. Pupils are very imaginative once they are given the opportunity to come up with similar ideas. Just ask them to paraphrase peaceful quotations, to find or create sayings of peace or to look for peaceful proverbs across cultures!

3 Peace Education is a Form of Thinking

Peace education in the foreign-language classroom should reflect a state of moral conviction; it is something to be permanently pursued. It is a form of thinking which originates in the teacher’s mind. Language instruction and peace education ought to be regarded as one and the same concern, otherwise the challenges of the twenty-first century cannot be adequately met. Teachers must be willing to dedicate time, effort and professional skill to their work if they wish to contribute towards peace in tomorrow’s world. They must learn to teach peace in such a way that it is not the topic of special exercises which have been particularly selected for that purpose and which are occasionally added to other classroom activities. They must learn that it is not sufficient merely to talk about peace, but that there are close links to their individual behaviours and their personal teaching styles.

Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have said: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” In peace education, we are still on level one: we – at least some of us, not necessarily all of us – tell our students about the importance of global issues, and they forget. Some teachers have reached level two: they occasionally teach about peace by using materials that have been published in order to promote international understanding through language teaching, and their students hopefully remember what they have been told. What we should aim at and work for is involving our pupils in all kinds of activities in the context of peace education so that they learn what to do in order to build up a peaceful world. This can and will not happen within a short period of time. There is an old saying which is very relevant to peace education. It says: “If you make plans for a year, plant rice! If you make plans for ten years, plant trees! If you make plans for a hundred years, educate the people!” Peace education is a long-term process. If we want to be successful we must start today by trying to change a world without peace into a peaceful globe. Foreign- and second-language teaching cannot achieve that goal on its own but it can contribute considerably by adjusting its educational context to this purpose from the selection of teaching materials and the way of presenting them to the students, to a cooperative teacher-student relationship in a relaxed classroom atmosphere. In this way, language teachers can help to prepare the young generation for a better world.

Selected References

Classen-Bauer, I. (ed). 1989. International Understanding through Foreign Language Teaching. Bonn: German Commission for UNESCO.

Cunningham, D., & Candelier, M. (eds). 1995. Linguapax V. Melbourne: FIPLV & AFMLTA.

Freudenstein, R. (ed). 1978. The Role of Women in Foreign-language Textbooks. Bruxelles: AIMAV/Didier.

Gomes de Matos, F. 2002a. Comunicar para o bem: rumo à paz comunicativa. São Paulo: Editora Ave-Maria.

Gomes de Matos, F. 2002b. “Teaching Vocabulary for Peace Education”. ESL Magazine, 4, pp 22ff.

Gomes de Matos, F. 1992. “Using Foreign Languages for Communicative Peace”. FIPLV World News, 59 (25) , p 1.

Gomes de Matos, F. 1990. “Integrating Peace into the Classroom”. FIPLV World News, 53, p 2.

Lucas, E. 2002. “Global Issues at the IATEFL 2002 Conference in York, England”, Global Issues in Language Education Newsletter, 47, p 8.

Raasch, A. (ed). 1993. Language Teaching in a World without Peace/L’Enseignement des Langues dans un Monde sans Paix/Der Fremdsprachenunterricht in einer Welt ohne Frieden. Saarbrücken: Universität des Saarlandes.

Reisener, H. 1990. “Friedenserziehung durch Fremdsprachenunterricht”. In Der fremdsprachliche Unterricht, 2, pp 30ff.

Thürmann, E., & Weber, A. 1989. “Friedenserziehung und Fremdsprachenunterricht”. In Landesinstitut für Schule und Weiterbildung (ed). Schularbeiten. (Heft 2). Soest: Landesinstitut für Schule und Weiterbildung.

- 1987. “Foreign Languages and Literatures for Peace and International Understanding”, FIPLV World News, 44, pp 1-3

Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
September 6, 2005

The Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) is distributing the enclosed articles to build bridges of understanding between the West and the Arab World and countries with predominately Muslim populations. Unless otherwise noted, all copyright permissions have been obtained and the articles may be reproduced by any news outlet or publication free of charge. If publishing, please acknowledge both the original source and CGNews, and notify us at cgnewspih@sfcg.org.

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. "Patience and Good Will Can Solve Even the Most Embittered Conflicts" by Gwynne Dyer
London-based journalist Gwynne Dyer gives some recent examples of peace breaking out in unexpected places, and finds that rational behavior, when accompanied by patience and good will, can go a very long way.
(Source: Arab News, August 30, 2005)

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ARTICLE 1
Islam Hijacked in Europe
Ahmed Al-Rabei
(Source: Sharq Al Awsat, August 14, 2005)

It's a colossal scandal when a group of extremists and lunatics are turned into representatives of a religion as widespread as Islam with billions of people under its shade. It is also sad that people like Bakri, Abu Qatada, and Abu Hamza Al-Masri are featured on a daily basis on all global TV station as Islamic leaders. What the majority of the world doesn't realize is that these individuals only represent a group of maniacs and criminals, who've hijacked Islam and have erased all the human heritage belonging to this religion, to present it to the world as an image of hatred, murder and terrorism.

Should the blame be solely place on these lunatics? Or are there other entities that should share the responsibility, particularly the leading Muslim intellectuals and influential Islamic groups and institutions of our societies? Isn't silence, justification, fear and hesitation in condemning terrorism, a factor in the encouragement of these individuals to appear on numerous platforms and satellite channels and claim that they represent a religion in the absence of active influential groups and institutions?

Do the Muslims of Europe share a part of the blame? The ones that refused to integrate into European societies, or clarify the true nature of Islam, or act like citizens who do not appreciate the privilege of living in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy that these countries provide?

Isn't it a tragic crime to label the millions of European Muslims as guilty, because of the rhetoric of a few professional lunatics, while the rest remain silent and wallow in self-pity?

We have to admit that Islam has been hijacked particularly in European countries. Muslims in these countries share the responsibility of setting Muslims free from these hijackers. We have to admit that mosques in Europe and Islamic dialogue in general have also been abducted.

Unfortunately, some insalubrious characters that represent a small segment of Muslims have become their representatives on the world's stage, while the rest dwell in irresponsible silence. This is a strange paradox.

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* Ahmed Al-Rabei is a journalist for Asharq Alawsat.
Source: Asharq Alawsat, August 14, 2005
Visit the website at www.aawsat.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
America: land of spiritual hunger
Jane Lampman

From flourishing megachurches to potent voices in the political arena, the growth of conservative Christianity is fully on display. Many attribute this growth to Americans' desire for an anchor in a swiftly changing world, a set of rules to live by.

Yet the surge in spiritual seeking beyond the bonds of organized religion continues apace as well. Less than half of Americans attend church in any given week, though only 2 percent say they don't believe in a higher power.

In recent polls, 84 percent say spirituality is important in their lives, and 62 percent consider themselves "deeply spiritual."

How did America become a land of spiritual questing?

Leigh Schmidt, religion professor at Princeton University, takes issue with what he sees as a facile analysis of the "new spirituality" that has tied it simply to watershed events of the 1960's and New Age philosophies. Nor is it always, he says, an outgrowth of the occultism in early American life, as some have asserted.

In Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality, Dr. Schmidt explores the cultural roots of this broader search for meaning. He finds its origins in the intellectual circles of early 19th- century America and its evolution in "the rise and flourishing of religious liberalism in all its variety and occasional eccentricity." Criticizing the orthodoxies of their day, liberals exchanged piety for spirituality.

What could be called the "Spiritual Left" goes "deep in the grain of American culture," he says. "It is here for the long haul."

In its commitment to individual searching, reconciliation among faiths, and social progress, this spiritual left is "not a rootless baby-boomer quest," he insists, "but a more deeply grounded and complex exploration of a cosmopolitan spirituality."

While it includes romantic, even naive elements, he notes, it is also rooted in the yearning for a more direct relationship with God or the divine that feeds the deepest hungers of the heart.

Beginning with Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendental Club in 1838, Schmidt presents his story largely through the inner lives of prominent figures - individuals who today might be termed "thought leaders." (Among them, Thoreau, Walt Whitman, William James, Swami Vivekenanda, Rufus Jones, Sarah Farmer, Howard Thurman, Oprah).

It is also a tale of spiritual communities - Greenacre, Pendle Hill, Trabuco - where kindred souls shared the fruits of their searches and experimented with spiritual practices.

From Transcendentalists through Reform Jews and progressive Quakers, New Thought leaders, and proponents of Eastern religions, they imagined themselves to be charting a path "away from the old 'religions of authority' into a new 'religion of the spirit.' "

For some, it became a search for a universal spirituality that would seek common ground among faiths of East and West, and break down barriers and religious hostilities.

"Restless Souls" provides a vivid picture of the spiritual ferment of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and introduces many whose writings or speeches crystallized developing thought.

Thomas Wentworth Higginson, for example - minister, abolitionist, and advocate of women's rights - penned an influential essay in 1871, "The Sympathy of Religions," which pointed the way for the first World Parliament of Religions in 1893.

In the early 20th century, Quaker professor Rufus Jones of Haverford College wrote on mysticism; spurred development of the retreat center, Pendle Hill, outside Philadelphia; and popularized the idea of the spiritual seeker. (He also led the relief work of the American Friends Service Committee, which won the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize.)

In the wake of the World Parliament of Religions, Sarah Farmer created the summer community of Greenacre in Eliot, Maine, as a center of learning on global spirituality.

For more than two decades, "under pines and in tents, mental healers communed happily with Hindu swamis, Buddhist practitioners, university professors, accomplished artists, and Concord sages," Schmidt says. It became "a holiness camp for religious liberals."

But the colorful Greenacre story highlights a major question still posed by those engaged in the spiritual quest: Are seekers to keep on seeking as a means of self-expansion or should they pursue an end to their search?

After much exploration, Farmer found her answer in commitment to the Bahai faith. Yet her decision sparked tensions at Greenacre and led to the community's decline.

For some seekers, the whole point is freedom and self-reliance - what some have criticized as narcissism or "religion as self-expression." Emerson called himself "an endless seeker."

For others, the aim is to find that deep connection to the divine which often involves self-abnegation and renunciation of ego. "The struggle at the heart of Farmer's spiritual journey ... - the tension between autonomy and self- surrender - has hardly disappeared from America's contemporary seeker culture," Schmidt says.

Like other historians, the author shies from analyzing the contemporary spiritual landscape, though he criticizes the penchant for describing it in economic parlance as shallow consumerism. Schmidt is alert to the weaknesses of the spiritual left, but also sympathetic to its serious purposes.

"Restless Souls" is an accessible though scholarly survey of a vibrant part of American spiritual heritage; it brings to the fore the substantive struggles in which "the primacy of individual experience is joined to a whole web of spiritual practice and social commitments."

He sees the spiritual left's history and global vision as a continuous if quieter counterweight to the religious right in "the outworking of American democracy."

Perhaps a striking illustration of its cultural influence came last week in a Newsweek/Beliefnet survey, which revealed that 79 percent of Americans - and a remarkable 68 percent of evangelicals - said they believe good people of other faiths can gain salvation, a position contrary to Christian orthodoxy.

###
* Jane Lampman is a staff writer for the Monitor.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, August 30, 2005
Visit the website at www.csmonitor.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission can be obtained by contacting lawrenced@csps.com.

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ARTICLE 3
The Moderates' Mission
Bill Glucroft

It has been nearly four years since the war on terror kicked off, but the Bush administration refuses to fight anything but the battle. The battle may be about bombs, but the war is about ideas, and the side that wins will be those who can convince the most amount of people that their worldview is the correct worldview.

On the surface, this confrontation appears to be between the West and a virulent strain of Islam. To some extent it is, but on a more significant level, this global clash of ideas is an internal conflict between the West and itself, and Islam and itself. More specifically, it is a showdown between the moderates and extremists that exist on both sides of the ocean.

Tragically, the forces of extremism have the upper hand. This is due partly to the Bush administration's juvenile approach to foreign and public policy, partly due to the fact that extremists, by their very nature, are more easily able to feign power, and partly to the fact that moderates are failing.

Moderates, who I define as rational people who exercise common sense, need to look themselves in the mirror and ask a tough question: are we ready for this war?

I think not.

From the chambers of Congress to the sands of Saudi Arabia, moderates are in hasty retreat. But the pullback is not the result of a hard fought, but failed fight. It is, it seems, the fight itself.

Contemporary moderate doctrine is one of passive response, not active engagement. We allow extremists to devise and control the rules that frame our own campaign against their corrosive ideology.

The longstanding moderate practice of bringing people together under the banner of "we are more similar than different" underscores to what extent extremists are dictating the agenda.

By highlighting social or cultural similarities while largely ignoring obvious and important differences, moderates indirectly buttress the extremist notion that difference equals bad. In reality, we should be doing the exact opposite: celebrating people's differences, not only because they are too significant to ignore, but because only a dialogue that welcomes varying perspectives can move humanity forward and fulfill our shared responsibility to create a more perfect world.

The moderates' mission is not to keep the peace nor to placate extremist forces, it is to destroy, ideologically speaking, these forces. However, because moderates are failing, their role has become synonymous with weakness, meekness, and fragility, while extremists have been imbued with audacity and dogged determination.

The extremist distorts reality to reach his end. The moderate extols reality to reach his end. That is the prime difference. However, somewhere along the way, the moderates' mission has devolved from guardian of truth to mule for the extremists' lies.

Over time, moderates, at truth's expense, have thought it better to be equal than fair; better to appease all sides and apply a false calm to the situation instead of summoning the strength to point out wrongs at risk of upsetting one particular group.

The essential problem with this tactic is that it allows falsity to flourish. In truth - and such a thing does exist - there is a right and a wrong. Moderates are the world's referees, and as such, we must judge an event and make a call that will inevitably agree with one position over another.

Just as extremists radically and ruthlessly employ their divisive ideology, so too must moderates be equally savage in carrying out their inclusive ideology. The present situation has moderates responding to extremist action, but we must tip the balance, so extremists respond to us. Fairness, acceptance, progression, and truth must be status quo, not the extremist's caustic collection of lies.

Moderates need to force their eyes open to see the war being waged around them and start fighting it. Pretending one does not exist will only make ultimate failure all the more certain an outcome.

The extremists get it. They know how to market their ideas to a world audience. The moderates' "kumbaye" approach, by contrast, is boring a world audience. It's time to throw out the standard playbook and change tactics. The fate of civilization depends on it.

###
* Bill Glucroft is a student of journalism at Emerson University. He maintains his own web site at www.allbillnobull.net
Source: Youth Views, CGNews-PiH.
Visit the website at www.sfcg.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
The West's fear of Islamism backfires
Jonathan Power

LONDON In Washington and other Western capitals a view is gaining ground that a popularly elected government in the Middle East is better than a shaky autocratic client. Maybe there is some element of truth in this. Yet there is still a marked reservation about going the extra mile and accepting that a free and open poll might bring Islamist parties to power.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said a few measured things about the need for the result of Egypt's presidential election on Sept. 7 not to be a foregone conclusion, but the United States is hardly keeping the pressure on, presumably fearing an opening will be exploited by the Muslim Brotherhood with its "secret agenda."

We have still not come far enough from the attitudes that followed the 1990 elections in Algeria. France, the former colonial master, and the United States ignored the fact that the Islamists had clearly won a majority, and turned a blind eye when the army rejected the result, sparking a bloody civil war.

Yet the truth is that Islamist parties in many countries have faced enough persecution, prosecution, imprisonment, torture and repression to form an instinctive empathy for the calls and cause of democracy and human rights. Human rights, if the West is clever, should be the wedge that keeps the door open if and when Islamist parties come to power.

The platform of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood calls for parliamentary rule, separation of powers and the protection of minorities. In Lebanon the militant Hezbollah has adopted progressive stands on social and religious issues, and - like Hamas in Palestine - is participating vigorously in electoral politics. In Morocco, Islamists are firmly behind the government's efforts to expand women's rights.

As Reza Aslan wrote in a recent issue of Prospect magazine, "It is pluralism that defines democracy, not secularism. And Islam has had a long and historic commitment to religious pluralism." No other monotheistic religion can match the reverence with which the Koran speaks of other religious traditions.

Of course, there is no doubting that all over the Islamic world some born-again Muslims have been seduced by the call of violence. But the predominant trends in Islamic societies remain nonviolent, even more so following the havoc wrecked by Al Qaeda and despite rising anti-Americanism brought on principally by the invasion of Iraq.

The important trends to watch in contemporary Islamist theology are toward what Westerners call human rights. Islamist intellectuals like Rashid Ghanoushi, the Tunisian leader, and Abdal-Wahhab el-Affendi, the Sudanese writer, are now arguing that restoring Shariah law "from above" by political action is a "recipe for tyranny and violence."

Many Islamic scholars are now revisiting the influential writings of the Iranian scholar Jamal al-Din al-Afgani, who lived from 1838 to 1897. He preached a message of reform that has been dubbed the "Protestant Islam." He argued that just as Islam had been open to absorbing Greek philosophy in the Middle Ages, so it should be open to European ideas today.

Fundamentalism, as Edward Mortimer wrote in his magisterial "Faith and Power," should be properly seen as "an effort to define the fundamentals of one's religion and a refusal to budge from them once defined. Surely anybody with serious religious beliefs of any sort must be a fundamentalist in this sense." The West will not progress in its effort to replace autocratic regimes with democratic ones until it sheds its knee-jerk antipathy to Islamic fundamentalism. The likes of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, with their rigged elections, will continue to feel secure until the West faces up to this fact squarely.

###
* Jonathan Power is a commentator on foreign affairs.
Source: The International Herald Tribune, September 1, 2005.
Visit the website at www.iht.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 5
Patience and Good Will Can Solve Even the Most Embittered Conflicts
Gwynne Dyer

Sometimes, just forcing yourself to say the right words can save thousands of lives. "The Kurdish problem is everybody's problem, but above all mine," said Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbekir last week.

"We will solve all problems through democracy," he added - and went on to admit that the national government, dominated by the Turkish-speaking majority, had long mistreated the Kurds who make up a fifth of the country's people.

The rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which resumed its separatist war in southeastern Turkey last year after a five-year cease-fire, responded immediately by suspending all attacks for a month because Erdogan's remarks had "created a positive atmosphere for a resolution."

Can it be as simple as that? Well, no, but the words have to be said. Kurds suffered more than anybody else in the PKK's 15-year separatist revolt in 1984-99, which killed 37,000 people. Most of them don't insist on a separate state; they just want respect for their language and culture in a country that used to deny their very existence, calling them "mountain Turks". But Erdogan had to convince them that he was truly committed to righting those past injustices, so they needed a public apology. The trick now will be to turn the PKK's one-month unilateral cease-fire into a permanent peace. That mainly depends on Erdogan persuading Turkish public opinion and his own armed forces not only to accept an amnesty for the estimated 3,000 PKK fighters who are still in the mountains, but also to let the PKK participate peacefully in legal, democratic politics.

The situation is remarkably similar in Indonesia, where the separatist rebels in Aceh province at the northern tip of Sumatra signed a peace deal with the government on Aug. 15 after a 29-year war that killed at least 15,000 people. What opened the door to peace was the tsunami last December that killed over 200,000 of the 4 million Acehnese and gave both sides a new perspective on their long quarrel, but the words still had to be said there, too.

They were spoken first by the rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), who announced last February that they would finally drop their demand for independence if only the Indonesian state would live up to its long-neglected promises of local autonomy for Aceh. The newly elected Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had already been making conciliatory noises, so Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari's Crisis Management Initiative offered its mediation services, and after five rounds of negotiations in Helsinki they came up with a peace deal that may actually work.

GAM's 3,000 fighters will be amnestied and disarmed, while its leaders will re-emerge as a legitimate political party. The local government will get a high degree of autonomy, including 70 percent of the income generated by the province's rich oil and gas resources, and Jakata will withdraw more than half of its 53,000 troops and police from Aceh. The European Union and ASEAN will send monitors to settle disputes and oversee the process. And everyone will live grumpily ever after.

Even the deepest and most embittered conflicts over language, religion and ethnicity are soluble if there is enough patience and good will. In fact, the past month has seen another case where a peace settlement that almost fell apart was saved, at least for the moment, by people who simply refused to lose their heads or to jostle for political position. The Sudan peace deal is still holding, too, despite the unexpected death of its main architect, John Garang.

The 22-year civil war between north and south in Sudan has cost about two million lives, and the power-sharing deal to end it was very much the personal accomplishment of John Garang, the southern leader who became Sudan's first vice president in a north-south power-sharing government only last month. His sudden death in a helicopter crash early this month led to days of rioting by southerners who suspected foul play (though it was almost a certainly an accident), and hundreds of people were killed.

Garang had systematically crushed potential rivals for control of his organization, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, but the southerners have managed to install his successor, Salva Kiir Mayardit, without falling into another internecine struggle. Moreover, the northern leadership has so far resisted the temptation to exploit the factionalism that has always been the curse of the southerners, who are deeply divided on tribal and religious lines. It's enough to restore your faith in the concept of enlightened self-interest.

Once conflicts topple into organized violence, the rules of war generally force people to behave like intransigent fools. That doesn't mean they really are, and given half a chance they will often behave much better and more sensibly. Democracy often gives them that chance.

Look around: Rational behavior abounds. Not just Turkey and Indonesia and Sudan. Sub-Comandante Marcos has just led his Zapatista rebels out of the Chiapas jungle with a view to influencing Mexico's next election. The Irish Republican Army's spokesman, "P. O'Neill", declared late last month that the IRA "has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign. All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms."

And the incentive, every time, is the prospect that the rebels can achieve at least the more important of their goals through democratic political action.

###
* Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist.
Source: Arab News, August 30, 2005
Visit the website at www.arabnews.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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Message from Architect Ashraf Salama:

My Dear Friends,

[...]
Now what is the role of the architect, how they can contribute. Please check the site http://archinect.com/emergency/
Archinect has united a range of detailed updates about schools willing to host Tulane architecture students; firms offering temporary employment to architects from the affected areas; as well as links to greater relief efforts by the Red Cross and Architecture for Humanity. Archinect has combined all of this with a lively discussion forum where anyone can post ideas, requests, or expressions of solidarity, grief, or hope.

You might be interested in having a look on how architects and academics in America are helping New Orleans architects and architecture students.

My Warmest regards,
Ashraf

New book that co-edited by Ashraf Salama with colleagues from Napoli, Italy:

Shores of the Mediterranean: Architecture as a Language of Peace (2005).

Shores of the Mediterranean: Architecture as a Language of Peace is a new book released in August 2005 and published by Edizioni - Intra Moenia, Rome and Naples, Italy.

The book is jointly edited by Donatella Mazzoleni, Giuseppe Anzani, Ashraf Salama, Marichela Sepe, and Maria Maddalena Simone.

The contents of this book were formulated in the early months of 2003, and brought together two components: the achievements of the Design Laboratory involving 4th and 5th year architecture students at the Università di Napoli Federico II in 2001-2003 featuring "Spaces for encounters with Arab culture"; and the proceedings of the 2nd International Seminar on "Identity and Differences in Architecture" held in Napoli in December 2002. The book features scholarly articles of academics from Europe, Australia, North Africa, and Middle East. Full papers are published in their original language with abstracts in Arabic and English. For more information contact Donatella Mazzoleni at domazzol@unina.it

The Institute for Global Leadership presents
Reconciliation Leadership™ for a Post-September 11th World

Reconciliation Leadership™ is a systems approach to peacebuilding, arising from the leader’s vocational calling, skillbuilding, and a commitment to be at peace in oneself and in service to others for a post-competitive society.

Introduction, Basic and Advanced Certificate Programs November 2005- November 2006

To be held at the United Nations in New York and CRRC Counseling Center, Tiverton, Rhode Island

To implement the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010) and support the Millennium Development Goals

Patron: Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Under Secretary-General and High Representative, Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States

Introduction to Reconciliation Leadership™ Four Courses, $2995. Register by September 20 with non-refundable deposit of $1000. $1000 due October 15 and $995 due November 15.

• Work, Purpose, Place and Peace, Friday-Sunday, November 18-20, Tiverton
• The Practice of Reconciliation Leadership™ Friday-Monday, December 9-12, New York
• Reconciliation of Polarities and Certificate Ceremony, Friday-Sunday, January 20-22, Tiverton
• Writing a personal mission statement for the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010) 15 hours of individual mentoring with Virginia Swain at the convenience of the participant leader
Basic Reconciliation Leadership™ Program Five Courses $3995. Register by November 15 with non-refundable deposit of $1000. $1200 due December 10 and $1295 due January 10.
• Sustainability Aspects of Reconciliation Leadership February 10-12, Tiverton
• Anger and Conflict Management, Friday-Sunday, March 10-12, Tiverton
• Re-visioning the Relationship between Man and Woman Friday-Sunday, April 7-9, Tiverton
• Cross Cultural and Multiethnic Aspects of Reconciliation Leadership™ and Certificate Ceremony, Friday-Sunday, May 5-7, New York
• Mentoring Module Participant leaders will receive 20 hours of mentoring with Virginia Swain, Director, throughout the Modules to integrate the teachings, skills, and the leader's vocational calling into one's life, work, and relationships.

Advanced Reconciliation Leadership™ Program Six courses $4995. Register by March 15 with non-refundable deposit of $2000. $2000 due April 15. Balance of $995 due May 15th.
• Designing and Implementing Interventions for Community, Institutional, Systemic, National and Global Change Monday-Friday, June 5-9, 2006, New York
• The United Nations and the Harmonization of Nations: An Evolving Process Monday-Friday, July 10-14, New York
• The Practice of Reconciliation Leadership™ II, August 14-18, New York
• Practicum, September-November
• Integration Module and Certificate Ceremony Saturday-Monday, November 17-19, Tiverton
• Mentoring Module; Participant leaders will have 15 hours of mentoring to integrate the teachings, skills, and the leader's vocational calling into one's life, work, and relationships. A dedication ceremony will be held to present the mission of the Reconciliation Leader™ to the United Nations for the International Decade and Millennium Development Goals.
The Certificate Programs are offered to emerging and seasoned leaders called to create a just, multiethnic, intercultural sustainable peace –in the community, institution, national or global setting of their choice

For registration and other information, go to www.global-leader.org, and call Virginia Swain, Director, Institute for Global Leadership at 508-753-4172, ext 3 or 508-245-6843 (cell). Room and board is the responsibility of participants.

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe/Liebe Freunde,

Der September ist voll gepackt mit Veranstaltungen - Literaturfestival, PopCom, und vieles mehr. AfricAvenir präsentiert im September zwei Filme, wie immer im Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe. Besonders hinzuweisen ist auch auf den Kongress der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung – Femme Globale – mit reger afrikanischer Beteiligung!

AFRICAVENIR NEWS UND VERANSTALTUNGEN

Film: A Long Night’s Journey Into Day
Am Samstag, den 17. September lädt AfricAvenir International e.V. in Kooperation mit Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Network um 17.30 Uhr zu einer Filmvorführung mit anschließender Diskussion in das Berliner Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Gezeigt wird der Film ´A Long Night’s Journey Into Day´ von Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffmann, der anhand von vier Fällen die Arbeit der südafrikanischen Wahrheitskommission würdigt und analysiert. Der Film wurde international dutzendfach ausgezeichnet. http://africavenir.com/news/2005/08/168/film-a-long-nights-journey-into-day

African Perspectives: Hijiack Stories
Im Rahmen der Filmreihe „African Perspectives“ lädt AfricAvenir in Kooperation mit der INISA und dem South African Club am Sonntag, den 25. September, um 17.15 Uhr zu einer Filmvorführung mit anschließender Diskussion ins Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Gezeigt wird der Spielfilm Hijack Stories des Regisseurs Oliver Schmitz. Im Anschluss an den Film besteht die Möglichkeit zur Diskussion mit dem Regisseur. http://africavenir.com/news/2005/08/171/african-perspectives-hijiack-stories

Jahreskonferenz des Netzwerks „Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies“ in Berlin
Erniedrigung im interkulturellen Austausch – mit diesem Thema befasst sich die Jahreskonferenz von Humiliation and Dignity Studies. Der öffentliche Teil findet am Samstag. 17.9.2005, von 13:00 – 17:00 Uhr in Kooperation mit AfricAvenir statt, auf der Galerie der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. http://www.humiliationstudies.org/whoweare/annualmeeting05.php

Seminar zur Afrikanischen Renaissance
Auf Initiative des OSI-Clubs wird es am Otto-Suhr-Institut für Politikwissenschaft der FU Berlin ab dem kommenden WS 2005/06 wieder ein Modul ‘Politik Afrikas’ geben. In diesem Rahmen werden Eric Van Grasdorff und Ann Kathrin Helfrich ein Proseminar zur Afrikanischen Renaissance anbieten. http://africavenir.com/news/2005/08/167/seminar-zur-afrikanischen-renaissance

TIPPS & LINKS

Rassismus (wieder) Alltag in Deutschland?
Gesucht wurden männliche Studenten, die vom 2. bis 7. September sechs Tage auf der Internationalen Funkausstellung (IFA) als Sicherheitspersonal arbeiten sollen. Allerdings waren besondere Voraussetzungen gewünscht: “Der Auftraggeber sieht von der Einstellung farbiger Studenten ab, daher ist eine Bewerbung von schwarzafrikanischen Heinzelmännchen ohne Aussicht auf Erfolg.” http://morgenpost.berlin1.de/content/2005/08/03/berlin/770663.html

Bridging Transantional Advocacy and Community Mobilisation
Die Zentrale These der Promotion von Dr. Prasad Reddy ist, dass die Steigerung der politischen Partizipation und die Stärkung zivilgesellschaftlicher Strukturen die Entwicklung eines politischen Identifikationsmodells voraussetzt. http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/2005/201/

Alles ist möglich: Gewalt geschieht in einem sozialen Rahmen - es gibt keine natürliche Grenze des Handelns / Von Harald Welzer
Gesellschaftliche Institutionen- und Handlungsgefüge sind grundsätzlich als Speicher von Potenzialen zu verstehen, die je nach dem definierten Ziel, das verfolgt wird, ganz unterschiedliche Wirklichkeiten hervorbringen können. Insofern kommt es in der Frage nach den Täterinnen und Tätern und bei der Suche nach Erklärungen dafür, wieso sie tun konnten, was sie getan haben, ganz entscheidend darauf an, die Potentiale zu identifizieren, die ohnehin für die Öffnung kollektiver und individueller Handlungsspielräume in die eine oder andere Richtung vorliegen. Erst vor diesem Hintergrund macht es Sinn, darüber nachzudenken, ob es denn eigentlich so unerwartet, sonderbar oder unerklärlich ist, wie die Akteure ihren jeweiligen Handlungsspielraum auslegen und auswerten. http://www.fr-aktuell.de/ressorts/nachrichten_und_politik/dokumentation/?cnt=715666

Femme Globale
Vom 8. - 10. September 2005 findet in der Berliner Humboldt-Universität im Rahmen des internationalen Kongresses „Femme Globale“ Debatten zu Sicherheitspolitik, Fundamentalismen, Globalisierung, Informationsgesellschaft und mehr statt, organisiert von der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Erfreulich ist die große Zahl an afrikanischen Referentinnen. http://www.femme-globale.de

e-Africa
PUBLIC-private partnerships have been hailed as a new way to conduct state business and harness the funding and expertise of the private sector. But a new study shows they fail unless government plans well and fixes its chronic problems of non-transparent politically-manipulated procurement. http://www.saiia.org.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=296

The All-African Convention: - The Awakening of a People, by Isaac B. Tabata
What is the All African Convention? This is a question that is frequently asked to-day. It is a question that will be increasingly asked in the future. For in the struggles that lie ahead of us Convention is destined to play a decisive role. It is important, therefore, to know what the All African Convention really is and what it stands for... http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/sources/all-africa-convention/AAC-index.htm

Sentir, de Omar Sosa : Le pianiste mystique de l’Afro-syncrétisme réunifie Yoruba, Venezuela, et Gnawa marocain à sa matrice créatrice
Le pianistissime cubain, virtuose émérite proprement fou de liberté musicale, redescend dans l’arène créatrice avec l’opus Sentir, sorti de chez Otà Records en 2002. http://www.afrikara.com/index.php?page=contenu&art=165

La Franc-maçonnerie en Afrique noire, un si long chemin vers la liberté, l'égalité, la fraternité de Joseph Badila : Chiche ?
La Franc-maçonnerie est-elle bien placée pour sortir l'Afrique de ses turbulences politiques et économiques ? Rien n'est moins sûr, même si le continent compte parmi ses chefs d'Etats et de gouvernements de nombreux "Maîtres" et "Vénérables". Dans son ouvrage, le Congolais Joseph Badila, Franc-maçon lui-même, fustige la "trahison de la franc-maçonnerie par les siens". http://www.afrikara.com/index.php?page=contenu&art=793

WEITERE VERANSTALTUNGEN

"Spurensuche" - Ein Hörspielworkshop zur deutschen Kolonialgeschichte
Unter dem Titel "Spurensuche - Von Großvaters Löwenfell zum Stilratgeber Kolonialstil" veranstaltet der BER am Freitag, dem 16.9., und Samstag, dem 17.9.05, einen Hörspielworkshop zur deutschen Kolonialvergangenheit. http://www.ber-landesnetzwerk.de/

Afrikanische Haute Couture und Königsgewänder aus dem Senegal von Oumou Sy
Vom 19.09.2005 bis 26.09.2005 in Hamburg. Kaum etwas ist weiter entfernt vom "Trommelimage" oder dem Bild des "schnitzenden Afrikaners" als die schrille und ultramoderne Haute Couture der Großstädte Afrikas. Mode interessiert - in Deutschland, in Afrika, auf der ganzen Welt. Vorgestellt wird die Arbeit Oumou Sys, einer der bedeutendsten Modeschöpferinnen und erfolgreichsten Geschäftsfrauen Afrikas. http://www.bpb.de/veranstaltungen/6HA9QR

www.AfricAvenir.org
Wollen Sie Fördermitglied von AfricAvenir International e.V. werden?
Kontaktieren Sie Ann Kathrin Helfrich, Fon: 030-80906789, a.helfrich @ africavenir.org

Redaktion des Newsletters: Eric Van Grasdorff, e.vangrasdorff @ africavenir.org
AfricAvenir International e.V. ist nicht für die Inhalte externer Webseiten verantwortlich.

New LSN abstracting journal: Women and Gender Law Abstracts

The Social Science Research Network is pleased to announce the
creation of a new Legal Scholarship Network abstracting journal,
Women and Gender Law Abstracts.

Women and Gender Law Abstracts is edited by Professor Kim Brooks,
Acting Director of the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies, University
of British Columbia, Faculty of Law.

Women and Gender Law Abstracts provides a forum for posting both
completed works and works in progress that relate to the relationship
between women and men, women and the law, and gender and the law.
Interdisciplinary work is invited, as is research on legal education
and the scholarship of law teaching as it relates to women and gender.

This new journal complements our existing abstracting journals on
Discrimination and Justice and on Law and Society.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
Subscriptions to this journal are available at no additional charge
to anyone who is covered by a site license or has an individual
subscription to the LSN journals, and are free to anyone during the
initial period of publication. You can subscribe to the journal by
clicking on the following link: http://hq.ssrn.com/jourInvite.cfm?link=women-gender-law

You will then be able to subscribe to other LSN journals as well.

You will need to enable session cookies on your browser to use this
link or to access our user headquarters at: http://hq.ssrn.com. If
you have any questions please call 877-SSRNHelp (877.777.6435).

The URL below will let you browse all abstracts and papers in this journal.
http://www.ssrn.com/link/women-gender-law.html

SSRN eLIBRARY
SSRN's searchable electronic library contains abstracts, full
bibliographic data, and author contact information for over 99,000
papers, nearly 52,000 authors, and full text for over 72,000 papers.
The eLibrary can be accessed at http://papers.ssrn.com

SSRN PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY
Searching on an individual's name in the author field on our search
page at http://papers.ssrn.com can offer perhaps the best single
professional directory of scholars in law, economics, finance,
accounting and management. Contact information for authors including
email, postal, and telephone and fax information is available there.

SSRN'S MISSION
SSRN's objective is to provide worldwide distribution of research to
authors and their readers and to facilitate communication among them
at the lowest possible cost. In pursuit of this objective, we allow
authors to upload papers without charge. And any paper an author
uploads to SSRN is downloadable for free, worldwide.

OTHER LEGAL SCHOLARSHIP NETWORK JOURNALS
The Legal Scholarship Network (LSN) also publishes the other email
abstracting journals listed below. You can subscribe to these
journals through our user headquarters at http://hq.ssrn.com

Call for Papers
Somali Roundtable:
Creating a Non State Actor’s Forum in Somalia

Presentation and Themes

In 2004, Saferworld started a programme in Somalia to establish a Non-State Actors (NSA) Forum. The overall objective of the NSA Forum is to enable civil society actors to engage more effectively with decision makers in government structures and with donors in support of poverty reduction, democracy and peace building. The programme aims to safeguard and expand the space available to civil society and to ensure accepted governance structures and procedures are put in place to increase the credibility and accountability of NSAs.

More specifically, the project aims to establish strategic links with an extensive range of civic and government institutions in support of objectives within the Cotonou Agreement. Through engaging with the EC within the framework of the Cotonou Agreement, NSAs can play a central role in the formulation and implementation of EC country assistance strategies. The Cotonou Agreement presents a genuine opportunity for Somali NSAs to engage with both the state and the international community on issues and policies which affect their lives.
In April 2005, Saferworld organised an awareness-raising workshop for Somali Non-State Actors on the Cotonou Agreement. During discussions, participants requested more information on how Somali NSAs can contribute within the framework. As a result, Saferworld has issued a call for papers to research the following themes:

Sectoral
• Access to Education: Recommendations for, and evaluation of, EC intervention strategy and policy considerations for the Education and Training Sector in Somalia. Topics of interest include: tertiary education and pastoral education.
• Health Sector: Informing the EC’s comprehensive health strategy for Somalia. Topics of interest include: health sector personnel, mechanisms for drug quality control; establishing effective public-private partnerships; addressing the needs of women and girls; HIV/AIDS.
• Private sector. What are the opportunities and benefits for NGOs and the private sector working together? Topics of interest include: reversing the brain drain; developing the banking sector (in particular utilising links between hawallahs in Somalia and foreign banks); supporting women’s involvement in the small business sector).
• Food security: Informing policy on issues including: distortions caused by food aid; livestock policy, gm food aid, water security (i.e, erection of dams in the Shebelle and Juba rivers), environmental concerns (such as the dumping of toxic wastes along the Somalia coast), banana exports.

Somali Non-State Actors
• Trust building: Forging a common understanding and ideas for functional cooperation between Somali civil society actors, the TFG and the different regional administrations.
• Promoting the participation of women: How can NSA structures and institutions play a role in influencing the gender and diversity policies of the administrations and the international community?
• Mapping of Somali NSAs: Are political fragmentations in Somalia still reflected in civil society organizations? What further capacity building is needed?
• Aid Frameworks: Ensuring that Somali experience and expertise informs the formulation of international donor policy and practice.
• Balancing intervention: How to ensure neutrality and impartiality in intervening in Somalia, in particular how to concentrate efforts on all areas of Somalia, despite practical difficulties.

Commissioned papers will be presented for discussion at a roundtable meeting in late November.
Research outputs will be produced in the region and disseminated via policy dialogue meetings, partners and regional networks, and the NSA Forum. The reports will be translated into Somali language. It is envisaged that the reports will feed into research reports compiled by other international and local agencies and into the ongoing process of documenting the engagement of non-state actors within the framework of Cotonou.

Submission of Abstracts
Abstracts (approximately 300 words, in English) can be sent
by e-mail to: tansorg@saferworld.org.uk

Abstracts should focus on one of the above themes. Commissioned papers must include recommendations that can be used in policy dialogue with authorities, other NSAs and the international community.

Key Dates
Deadline for submitting abstracts: 12 September 2005
Presentation at roundtable meeting: end November 2005
Deadline for submitting final paper: mid December 2005

Authors will be expected to incorporate comments on the paper presented at the roundtable meeting into their final draft. Payment will be made only once the final paper has been submitted in accordance with Saferworld editorial policy.

For more details please contact Thomas Ansorg (tansorg @ saferworld.org.uk).