Argentina & Uruguay abandon School of the Americas

Dear friends,
I am very proud to report this news - an example of how social movements and Human Rights activists as well as political parties can work together towards Democracy and Rights for All. School of Americas has been the site where our dictators and pretorian guards try "to learn" how to defeat the peoples and struggle for liberation by evil methods..

In vain. . . resistance and courage win and national governments follow the claim of the peoples after so many years.
Never a step back! .

For Freedom and Democracy,
Sharing our proud and joy from Costa Rica,

Alicia Cabezudo
Argentina

SOA Watch Breaking News & Update March 28, 2006

Argentina & Uruguay abandon SOA! Critical victory for
human rights organizations across the Americas

We are thrilled to tell you that, after meeting with
representatives of human rights organizations and the
three SOA Watch activists Carlos Mauricio, Lisa
Sullivan and Fr. Roy Bourgeois, the governments of
Argentina and Uruguay have agreed to stop sending
soldiers to train at the School of the Americas (SOA/
WHINSEC)!

These decisions are a critical victory for all those
struggling for human rights, justice and military
accountability across the Americas! Argentina and
Uruguay are the second and third countries to take this
vital step; they join Venezuela, which announced in
January of 2004 that they would no longer send soldiers
to the school.

This past Friday, Roy, Carlos and Lisa met with the
Defense Minister of Uruguay, Azucena Berrutti. Minister
Berrutti is a former human rights lawyer. During the
long dictatorship in Uruguay she defended numerous
political prisoners.

Lisa Sullivan writes: "From the beginning of the
conversation, Minister Berrutti told us that there was
no need to explain the atrocities of the SOA, as she,
and the people of Uruguay, were fully aware of this
reality, having experienced first hand the horrors of
the tortures, detentions, imprisonments and
'disappearances' caused by its graduates. Over and over
here in Latin America we have been humbled and realize
that we do not need to explain these things to our
public, but rather they have much to tell us, to put
faces and emotions on the statistics which we have
memorized so efficiently...."Minister Berrutti shared
with Carlos, Lisa and Roy some very good news: during
the year President Tabaré Vázquez has
been in office, no military personnel from Uruguay have
been sent to the SOA, and none will be sent under this
current administration.

Yesterday, the three SOA Watch activists and the head
of the Mothers of the Disappeared met with the defense
minister, Nilda Garré, whose husband was
disappeared during the repression in Argentina.
Minister Garré agreed that after the one
Argentinean soldier currently at the SOA/ WHINSEC
finishes his classes, no more Argentinean soldiers will
be sent to the School of the Americas. Read the whole
update from Lisa, Carlos & Roy.

The tide is turning in Latin America! All across
Central and South America, governments and citizens are
rejecting SOA-style military "solutions" to social
problems. Across the Americas, support for the School
of the Americas is eroding every day. Add your voice to
this movement for justice! March, rally and lobby to
close the SOA in Washington, DC April 23-25! (see
below for more info).

Please be aware of the World Class News, a quarterly resource for finding timely information about international education, produced by

International Studies Schools Association (ISSA)
and
Center for Teaching International Relations (CTIR).

30/03/2006, Ana Ljubinkovic kindly writes to us:

Dearest Evelin,

I hope you are well!

I would like to share with you the news of establishment of a new MA\PhD scheme at our University here at Essex. This MA\PhD is perhaps the first one of its sort as it focuses on therapeutic care for refugees. It is offered by Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies and the Scheme Director is Prof. Renos Papadopoulos. Once we get the funding, we can perhaps link our projects on refugees and humiliation with this centre.

I was thinking that for now it would be nice if we could attach the flyer to our humiliation studies web page and just let people know about it.

Thank you so much in advance!

Many warm greetings,
Ana

Please see the flyer here.

News from the Diasporas, Migration and Identities Programme

Dear all

Small Grants and Networks and Workshops Grants under the Diasporas, Migration and Identities Programme have been awarded, and since January most award holders have begun work on their projects. You can find out more about the projects from the relevant links in the Research page on the website (www.diasporas.ac.uk/research).

The call for large Research Grant outline proposals went out last autumn, with a closing date of 20 January 2006. The Commissioning Panel considered 157 applications at a meeting in early March, of which 25 have now been invited to proceed to full application stage. The principal investigators will now be preparing full applications to be submitted in early May. We would like to thank everyone, whether successful or not, for their interest in the Programme. We appreciate the considerable amount of work that colleagues put into preparing outline proposals and that many will have been disappointed. Do keep us informed if you obtain funding from another source to take your project forward.

We hope to engage a wider range of people in our forthcoming events, which will include a series of open seminars in 2008. An event for Postgraduates is being held in December 2006, details of which will be circulated on our postgraduate mailing list.

We will keep you informed of further news updates via this email list and the website.

Katie Roche
AHRC Programme Administrator
Diasporas, Migration and Identities
Address: Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds LS2 9JT
Tel: +44 113 3437838
Fax: +44 113 3433654
email: k.a.roche @ leeds.ac.uk
http://www.diasporas.ac.uk

Global Harmony Day
June 21*
by Leo Semashko together with 22 coauthors from different parts of the world

Ten definitions. Global Harmony Day is:

- The Search for the coordinated, dialogic and weighed unity of diversity
- The Statement of a principle "want peace - create harmony" instead of the principle: “want peace
- prepare for war"
- An Alternative to the culture and celebration of war in an Industrial Age
- The First Day of a new culture and calendar of harmonious peace in an Information Age
- The Key for social harmony of the East and West, North and South
- The Beginning of harmony between the different cultures, religions, ethnicities and civilizations, eliminating their wars, confrontations and clashes but maintaining their distinction and achievements
- The Reorientation of spheres of economy, policy, science and education from a priority of war on to priority of harmonious peace
- The Promise of global Belief, Hope and Love for children, women, men and future generations
- A Turn of social science from apologia of confrontation to discovery and exploration of the new actors (classes, groups etc.) that will ensure social harmony
- A Resolution of the increasing global problems of mankind: ecological, energy, food,
demographic and others through establishment of harmonious peace, which provides association of civilizations and concentration of the world resources for resolving the global problems instead of preparation for war.

* It is day of an equinox but other date for Global Harmony Day is possible

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

To Youth and Future Generations:

PREAMBLE

We, twenty two coauthors, - scientists, artists and culture activists from twelve countries of four continents of the world, having the love for children and grandchildren, and concerned for the destiny of all children of our planet, united by the idea of harmony as a key value of a new culture of peace (our common understanding of a role of harmony is expressed above in 10 definitions of Global Harmony Day), ADDRESS to the youth of the world, first of all to the young parents and also future parents with the following OFFER of a new Calendar of harmonious PeaceCulture, which is born together with the birth of a new harmonious information society. We undertake the COMMITMENT to further work for the development and practical application of this calendar for the sake of your future. The new calendar requires a new philosophy, worldview or theory. But we do not have a common understanding of social harmony and the ways/means of its achievement. Almost all of us adhere to the different theoretical visions, which are submitted below in the brief abstracts. We understand that without dialogue both between us and with younger generations, without your spiritual participation, the new calendar of peace culture and its philosophical/theoretical substantiation will not be possible. These cultural factors, decisions affecting the peace in your daily life, require your thinking, choice, co-authorship and action. Therefore we APPEAL to you to actively promote them, to develop, to update and to supplement them with your ideas, offers and practical actions. You can express them o­n our site "A New Culture of Peace from Harmony and Children’s Priority" (www.peacefromharmony.org (http://www.peacefromharmony.org/)) o­n the dialogic page (please, see below). We also invite other scientists, artists and culture activists from all countries of the world to join our COMMITMENT/APPEAL, which can become an ideological shift from the tradition of confrontation and clash to the tradition of harmony both in the global information world and in the everyday life of the individual person.

HARMONY CALENDAR

Each society, of every civilization, marks specific calendar days o­n which to celebrate the most important events in its history. Calendars provide daily reminders of cultural values and define the daily behavior of the human being. A new peace culture and calendar, for which the rationale is: if you want peace, search for harmony, is to replace the numerous calendars of the culture of war prevalent during the last and modern civilization, in which the rationale was: if you want peace, prepare for war (Si vis pacem, para bellum). The new peace culture and calendar correspond to the new information age, which first sprouted during the middle of the last century. The new culture of harmonious peace is born of the old culture, slowly and painfully, synthesizing its achievements from the different civilizations, both Western and Eastern. The idea and dream of harmony developed as in the West: from Homer and Plato up to Leibnitz and to our time and in the East at the various schools of Buddhism and Confucianism. Therefore a value of harmony has a universal foundation o­n which to develop a new global society, born in the information age. If in earlier times, harmony remained an unattainable dream, the information society opens real opportunities for its embodiment just as the industrial society has embodied dreams of the automobile, airplane, radio, TV and others. Harmony is the o­nly alternative to the threat and highest risk of nuclear self-destruction o­n the brink of which the Industrial Society has placed our world. Therefore the Information Society can be o­nly harmonious or its will not be at all.

Please see the entire text on
http://www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=131

FINAL CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: (PLEASE FORWARD)

Thursday & Friday, June 22-23, 2006
Wang Campus Center, Room 415, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA

The JBMTI Research Network is sponsoring its annual Research Forum
beginning with a network dinner on Thursday, June 22, 2006, from 6:00 PM -
8:00 PM, followed by poster/discussion presentations on Friday, June 23,
from 1:30-5:00 PM.

This year's theme--Relational-Cultural Research: Translating Hope into
Science--is meant to encourage researchers to submit proposals describing
how they have used Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) to explore a wide
range of research questions. Organized around an innovative
poster/discussion format, qualitative and/or quantitative studies based on
RCT will be selected for presentation. After the featured researchers
present posters summarizing their studies, they will have an opportunity
to gain additional feedback through a large group discussion with the
members of the network.

If you are interested in submitting a proposal for review, please submit a
500-word abstract via email to Linda Hartling at lhartling@wellesley.edu
by Friday, April 14, 2006. You will be notified of the status of your
review no later than May 15, 2006.

FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS, VISIT:
http://www.wellesley.edu/JBMTI/researchcall.html

IRENE STIVER DISSERTATION AWARD:
During the Forum, the JBMTI Research Network will be announcing the
recipient of the Irene Stiver Dissertation Publication Award. This award
includes a $250 check and a certificate of achievement.

If you would also like to apply for the Stiver Dissertation Award, please
go to: http://www.wellesley.edu/JBMTI/stiveraward.html. Dissertation
applications must be postmarked by Friday, April 14, 2006.

REGISTERING TO ATTEND THE RESEARCH FORUM:
Enrollment in the Forum is limited. For registration information, please
go to: http://www.wellesley.edu/JBMTI/forum.html

The Research Forum takes place during the JBM Summer Advanced Training
Institute, June 21-25, 2006. For information about this event, please go
to: http://www.wellesley.edu/JBMTI/sti.html

We hope you can join us!

Jean Baker Miller Training Institute
Web site: http://www.jbmti.org
e-mail: jbmti@wellesley.edu Phone: 781-283-3007
24-hr registration: 781-283-3800

Wellesley Centers for Women - Wellesley College
106 Central Street - Wellesley, MA 02481

To tell, lest we forget
2 CAS Newsletter no. 2 October 2005 13th year, side 2-3
Jakob Lothe and Susan Rubin Suleiman:

The last 60 years have provided many reminders of the greatest crime in world history, namely the Nazis’ exterminations of Jews during the Second World War. But now the eyewitnesses are gradually disappearing, so that new means are required to ensure that this crime is never to be forgotten.

Please read the entire article at http://www.cas.uio.no/Publications/Cas05no2/screen.pdf

"Transforming the Legacies of Conflict, War and Genocide through Dialogue"

Bi-Annual Conference – Zweijahres-Konferenz
Riverdale, New York; 13. - 17. November 2006

Liebe Freunde, wir machen große Fortschritte bei der Planung unserer Konferenz

„Transforming the Legacies of Conflict, War and Genocide through Dialogue“.

Sie findet in Riverdale, New York, USA, vom 13. bis 17. November 2006 statt. Wir haben dieses Thema für unsere zweijährliche Konferenz gewählt, weil wir aus erster Hand wissen, dass Dialog das beste Werkzeug ist, um zukünftiger Gewalt vorzubeugen und um der wachsenden Anzahl von Menschen weltweit zu helfen, die unter den Nachwirkungen von Krieg, Völkermord und Vertreibung leiden. Die Konferenz wird für Einzelpersonen und Organisationen, die gegenwärtig in Nachkriegsländern arbeiten, ein Forum bieten, um von ihrer Arbeit zu berichten und Nutzen und Grenzen von Dialog in verschiedenen Umgebungen abzuwägen.

Die One-by-One Mitglieder Suzanne Schecker und Rosalie Gerut werden am Montag Nachmittag die Konferenz eröffnen und One-by-One sowie die anderen Gruppen und Organisationen vorstellen, die an der Konferenz teilnehmen. Martina Emme und das Dialog Komitee werden am Anfang der Konferenz das Dialoggruppen -Konzept von One-by-One vorstellen, das in zehnjähriger Erfahrung mit Gruppen ausgestaltet und erprobt wurde. Der Schwerpunkt wird auf „Umwandlung“ (Transformation) liegen und wie Dialoggruppen dazu beitragen. Am ersten Abend werden im Rahmen einer Podiumsdiskussion andere Gruppen vorgestellt, die auf diesem Gebiet arbeiten. Wir sind dabei Kontakt aufzunehmen mit Organisationen und Einzelpersonen wie z.B.: The Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, Rational Games, The Compassionate Listening Project, Jack Saul, Executive Director of the International Trauma Studies Program at Columbia University, The School for International Training und anderen, um sie zu als Teilnehmer an dieser Podiumsdiskussion zu gewinnen. Wir hoffen, jeden Tag der Konferenz mit einer optionalen Serie von Vorfrühstücks-Medita-tionen beginnen zu können, die von verschiedenen Heilungsgruppen geführt werden. Eine solche Gruppe ist The Art of Living.
Dienstag, Mittwoch und Donnerstag Vormittag wird unsere Konferenz mit 90-minütigen angeleiteten Gesprächsrunden beginnen. Es sind moderierte Gruppen, aber keine Mini-Dialog-gruppen.

Der ruandische UN-Botschafter Stanislas Kamanzi ist unser Hauptredner am Dienstag Abend. Im Anschluss an seinen Vortrag findet ein Empfang in der Fordham Universität statt, der auch für die Öffentlichkeit zugänglich ist. Wir sind dabei, die verbleibenden Workshops und Podiumsdiskussionen zu planen und werden in den kommenden Wochen mehr Informationen haben und weitergeben. Hier sind einige zugesagte Programmpunkte:

• Anie Kalayjian – Forgiveness Workshop (Workshop über Vergebung)
• Dan Booth Cohen – Family Constellations (Familienaufstellungen)
• Christina Braidotti/Elisa Medina – Lateinamerikanische Blickwinkel
• Petra Schneiderheinze – "Widerstand gegen den Nationalsozialismus in Deutschland, der Umgang damit in den beiden deutschen Staaten nach 1945 und etwas zu den Folgen für die Kinder der Widerstandskämpfer." Und was wir noch planen:

• Podiumsdiskussionen zu Völkermord und Spiritualität • Gedenken an Gottfried Leich • Ein unterhaltsamer Abend • Filme • Weitere Diskussionsteilnehmer und Workshopleiter zu den Themen Peacebuilding
(Friedensbildung) und Dialog

Für Teilnehmer aus Europa betragen die Kosten USD $450 für Unterkunft und Verpflegung, Anreise Sonntag und Abreise Freitag. Bitte lassen Sie uns wissen, wenn Sie weitere Übernachtungsmöglichkeiten benötigen, so dass wir One-by-One Mitglieder finden können, die Gäste aufnehmen oder eine kostengünstige Alternative anbieten können. Wir freuen uns schon sehr auf diese Konferenz und hoffen, dass Sie teilnehmen können.

„Ob wir aufwachen können oder nicht, hängt davon ab, ob wir bewusste und achtsame Schritte gehen. Die Zukunft menschlicher Wesen, so wie die Zukunf allen Lebens auf der Erde, hängt von unseren Schritten ab.“
Thich Nhat Hanh

Elaine Doll für das Board
Edoll @ cmp.com

Building Peace, Dialogue, and Justice through Islam

The Annual Conference of Muslim Peacebuilding, Justice, and Interfaith Dialogue
April 28th-29th, 2006
American University
Washington, DC

Conference Themes Include:
> Islamic Approaches to Mediation and Conflict Resolution
> Islamic Approaches to Peace and Interfaith Dialogue
> Peace through Development: Experiences from Muslim Communities and the Muslim world
> Working for Peace through Advocacy and Multi-Track Diplomacy
> Intra-Muslim Dialogue and Peacebuilding
> Successes, Lessons Learned, and Challenges facing Muslims and Muslim Organizations Working for Peace and Justice

> To register please visit: http://www.ildc.net/ildc-news/

Dear Friends!
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The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org
March 2006

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.

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CONTENTS

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

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ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

1. New Online Newsletter from FORUM-ASIA
In February, FORUM-ASIA introduced the first inaugural issue of their electronic weekly e-newsletter. The newsletter is a weekly digest of news, events, and information on FORUM-ASIA's activities. Full stories are available through attachments. The latest issue of the newsletter was dedicated to International Women's Day and focused on women human rights defenders and women's issues.
Go to: www.forum-asia.org/

2. 2006 John Humphrey Freedom Award Seeks Nominations
The Montreal-based Rights & Democracy is currently accepting nominations for the John Humphrey Freedom Award for 2006. The award is presented every year to an organization or person who has made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of human rights and democratic development. The award includes a $25,000 prize and a tour of Canadian cities for the purpose of raising public awareness of the recipient's work on behalf of human rights. It is named in honor of the Canadian human rights law professor who prepared the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The deadline for nominations is April 15, 2006.
For details, go to: http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/humphrey_award/index.php?subsection=about_the_award&lang=en
For more information on Forum-Asia and its activities, go to: www.forum-asia.org/

3. Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy Holds Seventh Annual Conference, May 5-6, 2006, Washington, DC
The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID)'s 7th Annual Conference "The Challenges of Democracy in the Muslim World" will take place on May 5-6, 2006, in Washington, DC. The Conference will bring together 300-400 leaders and experts from around the world in the subject of "Islam and Democracy." The CSID is also looking to raise funds from private donors, individuals, and institutions to sponsor participation of Muslim Democratic leaders and scholars (both political and religious) from Arab and Muslim countries, and members of the Network of Democrats in the Arab World (NDAW) to this conference. Those interested in sponsoring one or more Muslim democrat from the Arab/Muslim world should contact CSID.
To register for the conference, go to: https://secure.entango.com/donate/QUuB7SPr4Ug
For more information about the conference and contact information for CSID, go to: http://csidonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=5&id=54&Itemid=94

4. SEEMO Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe
The South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) is pleased to announce the Dr. Erhard Busek-SEEMO 2006 Award for Better Understanding in South East Europe. Sponsored by Dr. Erhard Busek, special coordinator for the Stability Pact, the 2,000-Euro award will be given to a journalist, editor, media executive, or person educating journalists in South Eastern Europe, whose work promotes a climate of better understanding among people in the region and contributes towards ending minority problems, ethnic divisions, racism, and xenophobia. Deadline for application is May 1, 2006.
For details on application and nomination processes, go to:
www.seemo.org/application_details%20busek%20award.htm

5. U.S. Department of State Launches New Online "Democracy Dialogues" Initiative
"Democracy Dialogues" is a new Online initiative of the U.S. Department of State intended to stimulate discussion and dialogue between Americans and overseas audiences on issues related to democracy in the 21st Century. "Democracy Dialogues" offers a range of resources on democratic governance, including key U.S. and international documents, background essays, suggested discussion questions, lesson plans, and more. New topics are introduced every two months. The initiative also sponsors a series of regularly scheduled public Web chats, as well as an ongoing discussion board. The Web site portal page and core elements of the various topical Web pages are available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Persian, Russian and Spanish, as well as English.
Go to: www.democracy.gov.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

6. Crisis Group calls for Security Reform in Democratic Republic of Congo
According to recent report from the Crisis Group, the issue of security sector reform is vital in determining the Democratic Republic of the Congo's prospects for peace and
development. The security services must be able to maintain order during the national elections scheduled for April 2006 and reduce the country's staggering mortality rate from the conflict (still well over 30,000 every month). The report also recommends creating an effective, unified army with a single chain of command, rather than simply demobilizing militias and giving ex-combatants payout packages.
Go to: www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3946&l=1

7. Call for Papers: Israeli-Palestinian-International Conference on "Education for Peace - Education for Life,"
Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) is calling for papers and presentation abstracts for the Israeli-Palestinian-International Conference on "Education for Peace - Education for Life" to take place in Antalya, Turkey, on November 19-23, 2006. This is not a formal academic conference; therefore, abstracts will be evaluated on a wider basis than the normal academic criteria. IPCRI is looking for creative, exciting and innovative approaches to peace education. Selected participants will be funded by the conference (based on available financial resources). The organizers' goal is to bring together some 300 people for this conference - one-third Israelis, one-third Palestinians, and one-third internationals. Deadline for submitting abstracts is July 15, 2006.
For more information, go to: www.ipcri.org/

ELECTIONS

8. Blogging Local Government Elections in South Africa
The Mail and Guardian Online, South African newspaper online, invited South Africa's biggest political players to write blogs, or online diaries, in the run-up to the local elections, thus providing them with new means of communicating with voters and promoting debate. All major political parties were approached with this offer. The local elections were held on March 2, 2006.
Go to: http://electionblogs.mg.co.za/

9. Civic Campaigns in Belarus Ahead of March 2006 Presidential Elections
The Pontis Foundation's Institute for Civic Diplomacy has been assisting civil society organizations in Belarus and monitoring the country's development since 2000. Based on its qualitative and quantitative surveys and monitoring, Pontis has prepared an update about selected civic campaigns and projects targeting presidential election that took place on March 19, 2006.
Go to: www.nadaciapontis.sk/en/11263

HUMAN RIGHTS

10. Participant of the World Movement for Democracy Imprisoned
On March 17, 2004, a Singapore court sentenced Dr. Chee Soon Juan, leader of Singapore Democratic Party, to one day in jail and fined him S$6000 ($3,700) for contempt of court after questioning the independence and integrity of the judiciary system. The court had ordered to increase the jail sentence to seven days if Mr. Chee failed to make the payment within one day. Dr. Chee was sued in 2002 by former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong for defamation. After a summary procedure, in which Dr. Chee was not allowed to retain counsel, the court awarded the case to the plaintiff ordering Dr. Chee to pay $300,000 in damages. In February 2006, he was declared bankrupt and thus deprived of some of his civil rights, in particular the right to stand for office. At the bankruptcy hearing, Dr. Chee made a statement protesting the unfair trial and citing the patterns of such trials against many opposition figures. As a result of this statement, charges of contempt of court were filed against him. The hearings on the case, which found him guilty, took place on March 16, 2006. Following the sentencing on March 17, Mr. Chee was immediately arrested and transferred to the Queenstown Remand Prison. It was feared that Mr. Chee would receive a much more sever sentence, but thanks to the pressure from the international community a long sentence was avoided. Dr. Chee is a participant of the World Movement for Democracy. Also, he is a member of Steering Committees of the Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia (ARDA) and of World Forum for Democracy in Asia (WFDA).
Go to: www.wmd.org/democracyalerts/mar1506.html

11. Appeal for Peace in Chechnya
The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights has initiated an appeal for peace in Chechnya. The appeal is addressed to the United Nations and has been signed by thirteen Rafto Prize laureates, two of whom are also laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize. The appeal was announced in Oslo on February 23, 2006, to commemorate the Russian 1944 deportation of the Chechen and other Caucasian people from their home lands to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Ms. Lidia Yusupova, former Director of Russian Human Rights organization Memorial's Grozny (Chechnya) office, spoke at the event. Lidia Yusupova was awarded Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for Human Rights in 2005.
To view the appeal, go to: http://www.rafto.no/DesktopModules/ViewAnnouncement.aspx?ItemID=200&Mid=42

12. Riot Police Arrests Hundreds of Peaceful Demonstrators in Zimbabwe
On February 13-14, 2006, a number of peaceful demonstrators in Bulawayo and Harare, Zimbabwe, were dispersed by the police. The demonstrations were organized by Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) as part of their social justice campaign. 174 women, 7 men, and 14 infants were detained, and in Harare, an estimated 242 women and 5 infants were arrested, many of whom spent more than three days in custody under terrible conditions. WOZA is determined to continue its campaign for social justice.
Go to: www.kubatana.net/html/archive/women/060217wozadex.asp?sector=WOMEN&breaking=True

13. Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation Launches Electronic Database of Human Rights Abuses in Iran
Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for Promotion of Human Rights in Iran (ABF), based in Washington, DC, recently launched an electronic database of human rights violations in Iran. This virtual Memorial is dedicated to the victims of the Islamic Republic since it was established in 1979. The goal of this project is to be an impartial historical record that includes victims of human rights violations since December 10, 1948, when the Declaration for Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations. The database provides an individual file for every victim, which details human rights violations in his or her particular case. Visitors to the website may search the list in English or Farsi by using several criteria: the victim's name, gender, nationality, religion, the date, place, mode of execution, or the charges made against the victim.
Go to: www.abfiran.org

INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE AND SOLIDARITY

14. Asian Democracy Activist Gather at the Regional Conference on "Democracy Change by the People: Asia-Pacific Partnership on Burma"
The regional conference "Democratic Change by the People: Asia-Pacific Partnership on Burma" held on February 17-19, 2006, in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand,brought together 80 democracy and human rights activists from around the word. Participants included the 88 generation students, members of Parliament in exile, NGOs working along the Thai-Burma border, representatives from ethnic groups, regional organizations, International Burma support groups, and academics. The purpose of the event was to establish partnership with Burma support groups across the Asia-Pacific region and develop and implement a common strategy to mobilize concrete and coordinated regional civil society movement for Burma.
Go to: www.forum-asia.org/news/in_the_news/19feb06_burma_meet.shtml

INTERNET, MEDIA, AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

15. Somali Youth Group Holds Seminar on Good Governance and Democracy
On March 9, 2006, the Somali Youth for Peace and Democracy (SYPD), a youth organization launched in August 2004 by a group of Somali youth activists, held a one-day seminar and discussion on Good Governance and Democracy. Youth groups from different community sectors took part in the event, which consisted of two main parts lectures on issues of good governance and discussion. Participants identified some of the obstacles to youth participation and formulated recommendations for increasing political and civic participation of youth.
For the report from the even, go to: www.sypd.org/Lecture.doc

16. Twenty Six Free Expression Groups Urge Egyptian President to Decriminalize Press Offences
On February 22, 2006, 26 organizations promoting freedom of expression assembled at the General Meeting of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) in Brussels, Belgium. The groups issued a statement expressing their deep concern about the failure of the Egyptian government to initiate legislation to decriminalize press offences. According to the statement, two years after the Egyptian government had pledged to implement such legislation, not only it remains unfulfilled, but journalists continue to be sentenced to prison, harassed, and assaulted simply for doing their job.
To read the statement, go to: www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/72553/

17. A Media Group Announces Publication of a Media Handbook for South East Europe
The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East, recently published its new edition of the annual South East Europe Media Handbook 2005/2006. The handbook provides important information on the media situation in countries in South East Europe, media laws and regulations, press freedom violations in 2005, and a list of selected media in the region. SEEMO invites journalists and media experts to send any information concerning media and press freedom violations in South East Europe, which can be used for preparation of the SEEMO Media Handbook 2006/2007. SEEMO is Europe an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI)
Go to: www.seemo.org/south_east_europe_media_handbook%202005.htm

POLITICAL AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION OF YOUTH

18. Seventh Annual Global Youth Service Day, April 21-23, 2006
This annual event is the world's largest celebration of young volunteers. On April 21-23, 2006, millions of young people in countries everywhere will highlight and carry out thousands of community improvement projects. Currently, applications are being accepted from organizations seeking to act as National Lead Agencies or local organizers for Global Youth Service Day.
For more information, go to: www.gysd.net/home/

19. Leaders for Democracy Fellowships for Young Democratic Leaders from Middle East and North Africa
Thhe U.S. Department of State Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) announces Leaders for Democracy Fellowship (LDF). The LDF will provide 20-25 emerging democratic reform leaders between the ages of 25 and 40 from the Middle East and North Africa with the opportunity to complete both academic coursework and a skill-building internship in their field of choice in the United States. Fellowships will begin at the end of January 2007 with a four-week academic program at a prestigious American university. Fellows will complete relevant seminars and workshops on the key elements of democratic governance, including: the development of democratic institutions; constitutional law; political parties and campaigning; electoral laws; rule of law and legal codes; transparency/good governance; citizenship and civic education; and the relationship between democracy and other social and economic factors. Interested applicants should submit an updated resume and a personal essay to the US embassy in their home country no later than March 31.
For more information, go to: www.wmd.org/documents/mar06-younleaders-0306.doc

20. The "Dream Deferred"-- Essay Contest on Civil Rights in the Middle East
This essay contest takes its title from a 1951 poem by Langston Hughes: "What Happens to a Dream Deferred?" The poem helped propel the civil rights movement in the United States. Today, it will hopefully inspire the young people (25 and younger) in the Middle East and the United States to describe their dream deferred for the Middle East, which the United Nations calls the world's least free region. Participants have to write a brief essay (600-2,000 words) in English, French, Arabic, or Farsi addressing one of three questions listed in the announcement. Winners will receive a $2,000 prize, with other prizes for top essays. Contestants must either reside in Arab League member countries and Iran, or the United States. Deadline for submitting the essays is March 31, 2006
For further information, go to: www.hamsaweb.com/essay-contest.php#details#details

RESEARCH

21. Working Paper: Poor People and Democratic Citizenship in Africa
Afrobarometer, an independent non-partisan research project that measures social, political, and economic atmosphere in Africa, has recently produced a paper exploring the relationship of poor people to democratic citizenship in Sub Saharan Africa. The paper stipulates that: on the one hand, poor people in Africa are clearly dissatisfied with the quality of governance provided by elected national leaders. On the other hand, they prefer to by-pass the formal channels of the democratic state in attempting to redress political grievances. Instead, the poor majority, especially the older and rural poor, remains embedded in informal relations of patron-clientelism. The paper concludes that not only do poorer people lack certain key capabilities of democratic citizenship, they have yet to find ways to make the institution of democracy work in their favor.
G to: http://afrobarometer.org/papers/AfropaperNo56.pdf

TRANSPARENCY AND ANTI-CORRUPTION

22. Call for Collaboration: Promoting Political Integrity Globally
The Romanian Academic Society (SAR), Romanian think-tank and leader of the Coalition for Clean Parliament in Romania, seeks collaboration with other organizations around the world with experience and interest in promoting political integrity to share best practices and initiate a program of global promotion of political integrity. The SAR strives to make political integrity a crucial issue on the public agenda; encourage and support the creation of a civil society group or alliance to monitor and inform regularly on political integrity in various countries; to put political integrity on the agenda of political parties and stimulate parties to create internal mechanisms to screen candidates for integrity; and to enact a mechanism of monitoring that can eventually be used during electoral campaigns based on the model of the Romanian Coalition for Clean Parliament.
For collaboration and more information, email: office@sar.org.ro

WOMEN'S ISSUES

23. Report on the Proceedings of the International Consultation on Women Human Rights Defenders
The full report on the International Consultation on Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRD) held on November 29-December 2, 2005 in Colombo, Sri Lanka is now available online. The report documents discussions and analyses of violations and abuses committed against female human rights defenders through a framework of four key sources of violations: state actors, non-state actors, family and community, sex and sexuality-based attacks. It also contains strategies and recommendations made by participants to better protect women human rights defenders. This consultation was a key event in the International Campaign on Women Human Rights Defenders, organized by a coalition of 12 national, regional, and international NGOs, including Forum Asia.
Go to: www.defendingwomen-defendingrights.org/pdf/WHRD-Proceedings.pdf

24. Peace and Security Fellowships for African Women
As part of its new knowledge building and mentoring program, the Conflict, Security, and Development Group at King's College, London, announces the establishment of Peace and Security Fellowships for African Women. The Fellowships will bring together African women at the early stages of their career to undertake a carefully designed training program in conflict, security, and development at the King's College London. The fellowship will be followed by a practical experience at an African regional organization. Ultimately, the project will train young African women to develop a better understanding of African peace and security issues in order to increase their participation in conflict management processes and other areas of security concerns for African women. Deadline for applications is March 31, 2006.
For eligibility requirements and details on how to apply, go to: www.blackukonline.com/black/2793/online.html

25. ACHR Review Addresses the Issue of Rape and Impunity of Rape Perpetrators in Pakistan
The latest issue of the ACHR REVIEW, a weekly commentary and analysis of the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) on human rights and governance issues, addresses the problem of rape in Pakistan. According to ACHR, impunity is the single most important factor for increasing atrocities against women. A law, called Hudood Ordinance introduced in 1979 by a military dictatoror Zia-ul-Huq, provides such impunity to those accused of rape. It requires a rape victim to produce evidence of at least four adult male Muslim eyewitnesses, who have physically seen the act of rape against the victim in order to prove her case. Hudood Ordinance victimizes the traumatized victims of rape thereby discouraging them from seeking justice. Moreover, the victim can be held guilty if she fails to prove the accusation.
Go to: www.achrweb.org/Review/2006/114-06.htm

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

* Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia (ARDA) -- www.asiademocracy.org/
* Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy -- http://csidonline.org/
* Crisis Group -- www.crisisgroup.org
* Forum-Asia -- www.forum-asia.org/
* Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) -- www.ipcri.org/
* Pontis Foundation's Institute for Civic Diplomacy -- www.nadaciapontis.sk/en/
* Rights & Democracy -- www.dd-rd.ca
* Romanian Academic Society -- www.sar.org.ro
* World Forum for Democracy in Asia (WFDA) -- www.wfda.net

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Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
March 28, 2006

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. Muslim, French - and proud to be both by Katrin Bennhold
International Herald Tribune writer, Katrin Bennhold, considers the perspective of Dalil Boubakeur, president of France's officially sanctioned Muslim Council, a French Muslim who does not believe in multiculturalism. Although this perspective does not sit well “with the entire five-million-member Muslim community…he considers himself a forerunner of a modern, liberal, apolitical Islam - an Islam he reckons will take root this century in Europe and beyond.” He sees the clash of civilisations more as a clash between those Muslims who choose to assimilate and those who are hostile toward assimilation, and does not pretend to understand the views of young Muslims in the suburbs who often openly criticise him. As an example of one of many diverse views held by Muslims living in Europe, he looks forward to a day when questions of identity – whether he is Muslim or French first – will no longer be asked.
(Source: International Herald Tribune, March 16, 2006)

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ARTICLE 1
In the absence of leadership, anything goes…
Noha A. Bakr

Amman - Events like the Muhammad caricatures and their terrible aftermath leave most of us wondering how to reconcile the anger and violence of a minority of Muslims with the culture of peace espoused by the majority. We frequently dismiss or explain the actions of this hostile minority as not representative of the rest of the peace-loving Muslim community. Although one out of five people on earth is Muslim, the tiny fraction that resorts to irrational and counterproductive means to express its frustration is the one that grabs the headlines.

It is time we Muslims begin to identify and analyse the reasons why this minority has neutralised and silenced most of us. The most important problem that the Muslim community faces today is a virtual absence of spiritual, ethical and moral leadership. This comes from a deep-rooted fear, on the part of more representative Muslims, of taking an authoritative position on current crises and events.

Is this due to an inherent lack of tools in Islam to tackle new problems? Not quite. Islamic leaders and legal scholars faced new challenges and tough problems for centuries and used either ijtihad or taqlid to reach conclusions. Ijtihad is the process of reasoning whereby a scholar of Islamic law uses the principles and procedures established in legal theory to extract a rule directly from the Qur’an and Sunnah (tradition and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad). Taqlid is adherence to the precedent established within one of the four schools of Islamic law and judging in conformity to it.

The goal of both processes is identical: to reach legal norms in conformity with God’s law. Whereas ijtihad interprets the sources directly, taqlid refers to the authority of the founder of one of the schools of law. Throughout Islamic history, ijtihad enjoyed a privileged position as the superior means of making decisions. Taqlid is dismissed today as mere docile imitation of others. But such a simplification misses the point.

Ijtihad was instrumental in formulating the legal system from scratch. Once it was in place, ijtihad per se was no longer necessary (i.e. we did not need to re-invent the legal system, only reach decisions on new cases as they arose). With the Islamic legal system in place, taqlid becomes the de facto means of treating issues that arise.

For too long, Muslims have debated the virtues of ijtihad over taqlid and found themselves in an impossible situation. Many a Muslim layperson and scholar argue that we need to embrace ijtihad to tackle the problems facing the community in the modern world because taqlid is blind imitation and that has been the cause of our problems. But few scholars are qualified to perform ijtihad even within traditional Islamic institutions of higher knowledge. And most who do perform ijtihad seem to be out of touch with either the modern world or Islamic values, rendering their conclusions less than authoritative and hardly relevant. So, is there no solution?

Somewhere between ijtihad and taqlid is the institution of the fatwa. The fatwa, or legal judgement, comes within the framework of taqlid and is the result of ijtihad within a particular school of law. Although the most infamous fatwas in recent memory have been nearly as counterproductive and irrational as the actions of the inflammatory violent minority, the potential for its use to lay foundations of peace and reconciliation abound.

Perhaps it is here that the greater Muslim community can find its voice and express itself most authoritatively. When an incident like the publication of the Muhammad caricatures takes place, reasonable and intelligent leaders firmly grounded in Islamic sources should confer and issue timely and functional fatwas that tackle the crux of the problem as well as propose proportional and effective actions for Muslims to take.

How would this work in the case of the caricatures? They first appeared in the Danish press in September of last year, but the international response did not begin until almost five months later. Muslim intellectual leaders had time to issue fatwas to provide an Islamic perspective on drawing the Prophet, freedom of speech as well as appropriate responses. Fatwas could have stopped the small groups that exploited the cartoon issue for their own political gain.

We saw this at work effectively in many responses to the caricatures. Muslim organisations in different countries offered concrete, positive and proactive actions to take in order to teach people about the Prophet’s kindness, peacefulness and piety. Throughout the world, concerned Muslims arranged educational talks and distributed films, books and other media products to present their views on the issue. But these community groups did not catch media headlines, nor do they carry religious authority with Muslims in other countries, especially among political groups bent on using violence to advance their parochial agendas.

These “moderate” organisations need to shed their fear of ijtihad and taqlid and take on the responsibility of putting forward Islamic perspectives that are more representative of the majority of Muslims and, indeed, of Islam itself. If balanced and educated Muslims yield the ethical and moral domain to the loudest, most violent and most irrational elements of the community, then we are accomplices in their behaviour. Let’s use our voices – through such mechanisms as the fatwa - to create a new ethical standard for our community.

If we cannot begin to reclaim Islam for those who love and embrace its remarkable heritage of peace and tolerance, its legacy of science and exploration, and its teachings of equality, freedom and responsibility, we will have allowed the angry mob to speak for most of us.

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*Noha Bakr is a doctoral candidate in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.
This article is part of a series of views on the role of ijtihad in Muslim-Western relations, published jointly by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and United Press International (UPI).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 28, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
~YOUTH VIEWS~
An open letter to interfaith activists and musicians of all faiths
Fait Mahdini

Washington, DC - The opportunities for influencing public opinion and promoting peace and mutual understanding are limitless in an age where the world is connected at the press of a button or the touch of a keyboard, but those of us involved in the efforts for interfaith dialogue and tolerance still face obstacles in making our voices heard.

Unfortunately, the same inter-connectedness that should unite us allows those who preach hate and intolerance to spread their messages. Today, it is more important than ever for those of us who support pluralism and interfaith cooperation to double our efforts to break through the wall of images and sounds that surrounds us each day.

In this struggle for understanding, youth are our most important resource, and the group we should all strive to reach. It is youth whose views and future actions will shape the world. For this reason alone, our efforts to increase interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural understanding must focus on them. In an increasingly complex world, young people are sometimes overwhelmed and it is all too easy for the comforting, yet simplistic, messages of rejection and intolerancet to reach them.

In order to combat messages of intolerance and strengthen cross-cultural understanding, we must come up with more than academic conferences and symbolic demonstrations of unity to reach the younger generations. In order to make a lasting impact, we must express our message in ways that appeal to the interests of youth, for example through the use of the visual arts, sport and music. We must think “outside of the box” in order to promote interfaith understanding successfully. Let’s face it: one sentence from the mouth of a famous musician can have just as much power, influence and impact as the work of an entire organisation devoted to interfaith dialogue.

Imagine entering a concert venue where you know you are among people from a wide range of faiths, all there for a common cause - music and international peace and understanding. Walking around before the show begins, you notice young Christians wearing the cross, Jewish youth wearing skullcaps and a group of young Muslims, some wearing kufis (traditional braided) and hijabs - different faiths gathered under one roof together to enjoy music and camaraderie.

Outside the main hall you find hundreds of paintings, drawings and poetry exhibits celebrating the diversity of the world’s religions. Then, as the show begins, thousands of young Christians, Jews and Muslims rise from their seats to watch as rappers such as Mos Def , Common, Talib Kweli, Nas and Kanye West appear. Mos Def begins the concert with a “Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim” (“In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”), which is then translated into English. Then, Common and Talib Kweli take to their stage, filling the hall with their socially-conscious lyrics. As their deep and introspective sound fills the hearts of listeners, you observe Nas, with a microphone in his hand, preparing for his performance. He begins his performance sitting in a chair (identical to the one from his well-known music video “One Mic”), and sings the line “God forgive me for my sin...” He then goes into the song “Just a Moment” which references Christian and Islamic scriptures.

As Nas winds down his performance, Kanye West’s song begins, and the crowd goes wild. Kanye begins singing over the sea of people, “God, show me the way because the Devil is trying to bring me down”, a message that resonates with any God-fearing individual, regardless of religion. Even Bono makes a special appearance - to sing U2’s famous anthem, “Pride (In the name of love).”

The music is flowing, the beat is rocking and the energy is electric, lively, and full of hope. Most importantly, Christian, Jewish and Muslim youth are interacting, peacefully. While bobbing their heads next to one other, they see people of other faiths enjoying the same music. It is at that moment that they begin to dispel the stereotypes they have learned from the media, or from religious or political leaders, about the “other”.

We have all been touched by a sound, a beat, a lyric, the hair on our arms rising as our bodies and hearts become one. We might even be moved to tears. At such moments, we understand the power of music, and how it can inspire thousands of people to live together and to learn about and respect the beliefs of those different from them.

The positive energy produced by such a concert could affect the perspectives and opinions of those who attend such a concert for the rest of their lives. A hundred interfaith dialogue meetings could not replicate its power. You forget about that article you read a month ago, or the names of the interfaith group speakers at that convention, but you would always recall the night when some of the most popular musicians of our time came together on one stage, making history by promoting a common cause.

And to all artists who have an understanding of the importance of interfaith tolerance and acceptance, I ask you to join us, to consider this proposal, and to use your art in positive ways to inspire and change the lives of the millions of youth who listen to your music, who know every line to your songs, and who turn to you when they feel that the world is against them. Let us work towards organising an interfaith concert that will encourage the youth of the world to respect one another regardless of faith.

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* Fait Mahdini is a student at the American University’s School of International Service, studying International Politics and Human Rights.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 28, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 3
History dispels the lies about Islam
Mohammed Al Masry

Waterloo, Ontario - A well-known technique in any propaganda war is the spreading of "disinformation" about your enemy. Disinformation is the new post-modern word for lies.

If you repeat the same lies over and over again, listeners' critical thinking skills are numbed; and in the absence of any opposing argument, the lies eventually cannot be differentiated from truth.

Islam has had many enemies over the centuries and still has. One of the most persistent lies repeated by its detractors is that Muslims spread their faith by the sword.

Yet of all mainstream religions, none is more precisely documented as to its origin, revelation, message and teachings. Since its emergence through the Prophet Muhammad and his transmission of its holy book, the history of Islam has been well recorded. From the Prophet's time until today, the Qur’an has offered guidance and discipline for everyday life. As Islam spread, the lives and teachings of its messengers have also been documented.

As with Judaism and Christianity, the most influential and revered figures are those from the time when the faith was newly revealed; in Islam, these were Muslims who lived in the age of the Prophet and who embodied the teachings of the Qur’an as examples to their fellow human beings. Many of their thoughts and deeds were recorded for the benefit of future generations.

To return to the question of whether the Qur’an encourages Muslims to spread their faith by force, or whether the Prophet himself set a violent example for Muslims to follow, one has only to consult the source.

The Qur’an is crystal clear in stating, "There is no compulsion in religion." The commandment is absolute; there are no exceptions. Coercion, compulsion, force - whatever one chooses to call it - is totally forbidden. No other holy book lays down such a clear directive to its adherents.

Believers in the world's largest Muslim country of today, Indonesia, have never in history encountered foreign Muslim soldiers on their soil. The same is true for today's Muslims in Malaysia, China, sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, Europe and Turkey. All of these countries or regions were introduced to Islam through other Muslims, not by Muslim armies.

Even in Egypt where the earliest Muslims were mostly Arab soldiers, Islam was diffused slowly throughout the country over more than 400 years. The Egyptians loved Islam because of the values it embraced, such as justice, equality, modernity and freedom.

And in Egypt, as well as in Persia, Greater Syria, India, North Africa and Spain, converts freely accepted Islam because it offered comparatively more than other religions of the day.

During those early centuries, people who felt oppressed or restricted by the rigidity of Christian and Jewish traditions, or excluded from the caste system of Hinduism, were attracted by Islam's de-emphasis on hierarchy. They loved the Islamic teachings that God is One and the Lord of All, that humans can talk to God directly, and that there is no Original Sin - every human being is wholly accountable for his / her deeds.

So while it is true that Islam spread in some places with the speed of a bullet, no literal bullets have been involved. The whole concept of "convert or die" is utterly foreign and reprehensible to authentic Islamic beliefs and conduct. And the Qur’an itself further reinforces the sanctity of all human life in saying that to kill another person is as evil as killing the entire human race.

Muslims do not blame any religion for the atrocities committed by those claiming to be its adherents.

Thus, Muslims do not blame Judaism itself for injustices committed by Jews against Palestinians. Nor do they blame Christianity per se for the crimes committed by Church-sanctioned medieval Crusades; for atrocities committed during the conquest of Spain by Christian armies and the subsequent persecution and expulsion of Muslims; nor for the horrors of the Inquisition, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre or any number of similar tragedies.

All three faiths, rooted in Abrahamic tradition, teach similar values of non-violence, justice and equality. Those who take up the "cause" of any faith through violent means are in effect blasphemers of it.

The earliest Muslims in Arabia were persecuted and subjected to torture. They fled for their lives from Mecca to Medina, but their pagan enemies followed, determined to annihilate them. Then and only then, did Muslims take up arms in self-defence. This was not a religious war, however, but rather a forced political conflict in which the rich and powerful of sixth-century AD Arabia perceived their status as being challenged.

The Muslims' aim was not to convert their pagan countrymen, but to defend themselves; similarly, the anti-Muslim pagans were not interested in suppressing Islam itself, but in subjugating its believers through political power.

When the Prophet Muhammad and his followers returned peacefully to Mecca in triumph, he granted pardon to the same people who had persecuted and waged war against him and his fellow Muslims.

This humane and generous behaviour reflected the teaching of many Qur’anic verses that stress the importance of courtesy, politeness and civility, even where there has been severe conflict: "And the true servants of the God of Mercy are those who walk upon the earth humbly; and when the ignorant address them, they reply 'Peace'; and they pass the night praying to their Lord, prostrating and standing." (25:63 - 64)

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* Mohammed Al Masry is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo and National President of the Canadian Islamic Congress. Acknowledgement to Media Monitors Network (MMN).
Source: Middle East Times, March 13, 2006
Visit the website at www.metimes.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
Radicalism and the construction of civilisations
M. Hilaly Basya

Jakarta - A dialogue of civilisations, as promoted by scholars and activists, is seen by some as an effective way to eliminate radicalism and terrorism. But such a dialogue would not be simple, and any hoped-for results cannot not be achieved until both the Islamic and Western world views are reconstructed.

The progress of Western civilisation has been considered the "perennial wisdom", with Nature viewed as a giant machine that works mechanically. In such a framework, it is unsurprising that materialism, which emphasises empiricism and positivism, becomes the highest epistemology in arriving at the truth.

There are three kinds of epistemology. First there is rational epistemology, which uses reason as the base and the source of knowledge. This epistemology was developed in ancient Greece. The thinkers who developed it were Socrates, Plato, Anaximenes, Pythagoras, and most of the renowned ancient Greek thinkers. Besides Greece, this kind of epistemology was also developed by Muslim thinkers such as al-Farabi, Avicenna, al-Kindi, etc. They lived in the early period of Islam (7th-13th centuries).

Second is intuitive epistemology, which was developed by theologians and in which revelation and intuition are the sources of knowledge.

Third is empirical epistemology, which was developed by modern Western scientists.

Empirical epistemology later becomes the positivism paradigm. This paradigm was based on the architects of modernism, Rene Descartes and Newton. It is used in many of the disciplines of knowledge, such as sociology, biology and psychology. Ironically, the paradigm causes the reduction of wisdom, because it only believes in the knowledge and the truth that come from the empirical world.

Thus, most Western people doubt the existence of spirituality in the universe. They see the universe as a thing that has no soul and no life. They also view the human being as just a body. According to Arnold Toynbee (1976) there is a big gap in Western civilisation: on one side science and technology grow rapidly, but on other side moral wisdom and humanity have decreased.

According to Hans Kung, in his book, A Global Ethics for Global Politics and Economics (1997), the policy of Western governments tends to be one of self-interest and the alienation of morality. That is why they allow the Israeli annexation of Palestinian areas. The power and riches are tempting.

The positivism paradigm is also based on "binary opposition logic". It creates a pair of opposites, such as subject-object, West-East, reason-intuition, above-under, matter-non-matter, man-woman. The first position is higher than the second. This kind of paradigm states implicitly that Western civilisation is better than Eastern (Islam).

On the other hand, the theology of most Muslims is exclusive. Many believe that the real truth belongs only to Islamic teachings. This disturbs the mutual respect between Muslims and others. It motivates violence. It allows oppression and violence to establish “justice”.

Actually, many refer to their Islamic teaching as resulting from the exercise of "ancient reason". This kind of reason came to be in Arab consciousness early in the development of Islam. The "ancient reason" in question was influenced by Arabian culture and the socio-political situation of the time, which why some verses of the Qur’an and the Hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad discuss the enemies of Islam and the young Muslim community. This community viewed most non-Muslims at the time as second-class citizens who did not deserve the same rights as they did. Non-Muslims – specifically, the idolators of Arabia -- are called kafirs (infidels) and there is discrimination based on Islamic theology.

Recently, this kind of theology has allowed for Muslims to terrorise non-Muslims at large, especially Westerners and including adherents of religions considered legitimate by the Qur’an and treated accordingly by the Prophet at the time. The rationale of terrorists, like Amrozi who bombed Bali in 2002, shows "the arrogance of theology". They destroy human lives in the name of God, and spread terror in the name of truth. So, how can peace and mutual understanding be established if they follow this exclusive theology?

The reconstruction of civilisations is meant to enable us to review the world-view of both Islam (the East) and the West. Some Western scholars have criticised and reconstructed the fundamentals of their civilisation. The post-modernist movement, represented by reconstructive thinkers such as Paul Ricouer, Gadamer, Frithjof Capra and Gary Zukav, has made a significant contribution to that revision, but without a significant impact.

In Islam, we have to criticise "Islamic reason", meant as a deconstruction of "ancient reason", the epistemology used to construct Islamic teaching. Several prominent Islamic thinkers, such as Mohammad Abed Al-Jabiri, Mohammed Arkoun, Nashr Hamid Abu Zayd and Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim, have promoted this movement. They have especially tried to reinterpret Islamic law, theology, Sufism and philosophy.

According to Abdulahi Ahmed an-Na'im, "ancient reason" is in the text of a sacred book that was revealed in the Madinah period, when the Prophet Muhammad was at war with the enemies of Islam. That is why the content of the text sounds quite exclusive, especially about the relation between Muslims and non-Muslims. The jihad concept, for instance, appeared during that war. So it seems full of hostility to others.

The situation compelled or forced the text to speak to local and particular reason. Like the Qur’an, it differentiates between Muslims and non-Muslims. The Qur’an uses the terminology of kafir dzimmi (protected infidels). It means they are not in the same position as Muslims.

Then, an-Na'im proposes a "shari‘a evolution". He asks Muslims to leave the text that was revealed in the Madinah period and turn to the Mecca period (an-Na'im, 1994). In the Mecca period the text speaks about universal values. It does not distinguish between people according to their religion. Shari‘a evolution is a proposal of "modern Islamic reason".

So a revision of the old world-views of both Islam and the West is urgent. A dialogue of civilisations will only make a significant contribution if it is supported by the revolution of a new paradigm.

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* M. Hilaly Basya is the Executive Director at the Center for Moderate Muslims and is a Lecturer at Muhammadiyah University of Prof. Dr. Hamka.
Source: Jakarta Post, March 10, 2006
Visit the website at www.thejakartapost.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 5
Muslim, French - and proud to be both
Katrin Bennhold

Paris - He was born in Algeria, heads the main mosque of Paris and is the most prominent Muslim in a predominantly Catholic country. But Dalil Boubakeur, president of France's officially sanctioned Muslim Council, can sound Frencher than the French.

"I am not in favour of multiculturalism", Boubakeur, 65, said recently at his ornate office at the mosque, a soaring structure surrounding a mosaic-lined courtyard on the Left Bank. In a secular country like France, he added matter-of-factly, "there is only one culture: French culture."

This may not play well with the entire five-million-member Muslim community here. But Boubakeur shrugs off criticism, explaining that he considers himself a forerunner of a modern, liberal, apolitical Islam - an Islam he reckons will take root this century in Europe and beyond.

"When you're ahead, you are lonely", he said. "I was born a Muslim, I am of French culture and I love Europe. There is no contradiction."

These are tricky times to be in charge of Western Europe's largest Muslim community. The war against terrorism and bloodshed in the Palestinian territories and Iraq have added a broader sense of global injustice to the exclusion many Muslims feel in France.

But Boubakeur does not believe in a clash of civilisations pitting Islam against the West. Rather, he sees a battle playing out among European Muslims, between those willing to adopt Western values and those hostile to assimilation.

His attitudes made Boubakeur a natural choice three years ago when the government was seeking a president for its newly formed council, an umbrella organisation set up to represent France's Muslims at a time when Paris was waking up to the need to address the concerns of this community, rather than leaving that task to foreign governments.

Boubakeur's secularist vision of the state, his opposition to affirmative action, and his classical French education had won him the trust of France's political class, starting with President Jacques Chirac, who knew Boubakeur's father (a previous director of the Paris mosque) and calls Boubakeur a friend.

It also helped that Boubakeur oozes European sophistication. His attire is Western, his face clean-shaven. His secretary in the front office does not wear a head scarf. He cites Voltaire, speaks German and holds France's highest honour, the Légion d'Honneur. He is what the newspaper Le Monde last month dubbed "the ideal Muslim".

But many French Muslims, most of whom are descendants of working- class immigrants, feel resentment toward a man they say is not one of them. They say that Boubakeur, who has never lived in an immigrant suburb and rarely visits one, does not understand their plight and that he has bought into a Republican vision of integration that has left them in limbo between formal equality and de facto discrimination.

"He is a good person, but he is the antithesis of a Muslim representative", said Mohammed Henniche, leader of the Union of Muslim Associations in the Seine-Saint-Denis district north of Paris, which is home to many families of North African origin and was a hot spot in last year's riots. "He speaks the language of the French elites, not that of ordinary Muslims. The youth in the suburbs don't understand him, and he does not understand them."

Boubakeur replies that his acceptance of French values is the wave of the future.

"That for me is being a modern man," he said, "and that is the message I would like to pass on to my Muslim brothers and sisters. I want them to adapt European culture without fear and to embrace it wholeheartedly."

It is a message with a powerful biographical undertone. Born in 1940 in the Mediterranean port of Skikda, in northeast Algeria, Boubakeur spent most of his childhood in Algiers, where his father, a conservative Algerian lawmaker and theologian close to the French colonial administration, drilled into him the notion that studying hard and absorbing French culture was a way of overcoming prejudices.

Boubakeur was 16 when he came to Paris, the age of many of the rioters who burned cars in the suburbs last November. He attended the distinguished Louis-le-Grand high school and went on to study literature in Cairo and medicine in Paris, becoming a respected cardiologist. He married a mayor's daughter from a village in Auvergne who converted from Catholicism to Islam after they met.

Although Boubakeur recognises that there are "socio-economic reasons" why many young Muslims do not share his views, he has little time for young fundamentalists who reject Western values.

"I don't like the bearded ones very much", he said. "They are small-minded and dangerous. Political Islam is the illness of the modern state."

For Boubakeur, who has written several books on the issue, religion is not political identity but rather spirituality, even poetry, and a way of life.

He argues that Muslim youths need not just jobs but a stake in France's heritage, a point he will make publicly in June when he joins Chirac in Verdun at the unveiling of a memorial honouring Muslims who died fighting for France during World War I.

At the council, which oversees Islamic affairs from the training of imams to mosque construction and halal markets, and is supervised by the Interior Ministry, Boubakeur has been presiding over a fragile collection of Muslim organisations often in disagreement.

One of them is the main Paris mosque, his own fiefdom, which is funded mainly by the Algerian government. Others include the National Federation of French Muslims, supported by the Moroccan government, and the Union of Islamic Organisations of France, close to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Boubakeur has seen his authority challenged more than once. One test was a law passed two years ago that banned ostentatious religious garb, including headscarves for Muslim girls, in public schools. Most Muslim groups opposed the legislation. Boubakeur says that he, too, would have preferred to avoid a law, but when there was one he did not challenge the government.

Last year, when Iraqi militants kidnapped a French journalist, Florence Aubenas, and threatened to kill her unless the head-scarf ban was lifted, Boubakeur managed to forge a united stance among French Muslims rallying behind the government and rejecting such blackmail.

More recently, when several French newspapers reprinted Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, Boubakeur distanced himself from a protest march organised by some Muslim groups but eventually spearheaded legal action against two newspapers that published the cartoons.

For him, these three challenges were milestones, not only for his own legitimacy but also for the evolution of the Muslim community.

The fact that the cartoon controversy did not lead to any violence or sustained protests in France, Boubakeur says, "was a crucial moment, a real turning point."

"It was reassuring that in France we managed to channel the anger into the legal system", he said.

"Our communities are maturing; they are beginning to act like Europeans. Here you have Muslims appealing to European institutions not to be discriminated against."

On a personal level, Boubakeur refuses to say whether he feels Muslim first and then French, or vice versa.

"I am completely Muslim and I am completely French", he says. "There is perfect harmony."

If a day comes when such questions of identity are no longer asked, he adds, "we will have come a long way".

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* Katrin Bennhold is a writer for the International Herald Tribune.
Source: International Herald Tribune, March 16, 2006
Visit the website at www.iht.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) provides news, op-eds, features and analysis by local and international experts on a broad range of issues affecting Muslim-Western relations. CGNews-PiH syndicates articles that are balanced and solution-oriented to news outlets worldwide. With support from the Norwegian government and the United States Institute of Peace, this news service is a non-profit initiative of Search for Common Ground, an international NGO working in the field of conflict transformation.

This news service is one outcome of a set of working meetings held in partnership with His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan in June 2003.

~YOUTH VIEWS~

CGNews-PiH also regularly publishes the work of student leaders and journalists whose articles strengthen intercultural understanding and promote constructive perspectives and dialogue in their own communities. Student journalists and writers under the age of 27 are encouraged to write to cbinkley@sfcg.org for more information on contributing.
*The views expressed in these articles are those of the authors, not of CGNews-PiH or its affiliates.

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AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

nach längerer Pause startet der AfricAvenir Newsletter mit dieser Ausgabe ins Jahr 2006. Der Newsletter soll monatlich verschickt werden und wird vonehmlich AfricAvenir News aus Berlin und Douala beinhalten. Wir laden Sie ausdrücklich ein, Veranstaltungen und Meldungen auf unserer Website zu kommentieren (siehe Kommentarfunktion unter den jeweiligen Artikeln).

African Perspectives: Zulu Love Letter
Im Rahmen der Filmreihe „African Perspectives“ laden AfricAvenir International, die Initiative Südliches Afrika (INISA) und der South African Club Berlin am kommenden Sonntag, den 02. April um 17.15 Uhr zur Filmvorführung von Ramadan Sulemans ‚Zulu Love Letter’ in das Berliner Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Nach der Vorführung besteht die Möglichkeit zur Diskussion mit dem Regisseur Ramadan Suleman. http://africavenir.com/news/2006/03/353

Literadio Interview mit Prof. Kum’ a Ndumbe III. auf der Leipziger Buchmesse
Interview des Literadios mit Prof. Kum’ a Ndumbe III., Gründer von AfricAvenir und des Verlags Exchange & Dialogue, auf der Leipziger Buchmesse. Das Interview finden Sie hier zum Anhören bzw. Downloaden. http://africavenir.com/news/2006/03/368/

RFI Interview mit Prof. Kum’ a Ndumbe III. auf der Leipziger Buchmesse
Ein ausführliches Interview von RFI Deutschland mit Prof. Kum’ a Ndumbe III. auf der Leipziger Buchmesse, über seinen persönlichen Werdegang, AfricAvenir, Exchange & Dialogue und seine sechs neuen deutschsprachigen Bücher. http://africavenir.com/news/2006/03/369/

“Könige in Kamerun” - Bericht einer Bildungsreise
Reisebericht über eine Reise nach Kamerun zum Zweck des Austauschs und Dialogs aus Anlass der Inthronisationszeremonien des Königs der Bakoko du Moungo, Seiner Majestät Maurice Njocke Essawe. [Bericht, pdf, 188 kb, dt] http://www.africavenir.com/publications/travel-accounts/KamerunReisebericht.pdf

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AFRICAVENIR DOUALA

Praktikum in der Stiftung AfricAvenir in Douala
Ab Mittwoch, dem 29. März 2006 werden erneut zwei deutsche Praktikantinnen in der Stiftung AfricAvenir in Douala mehrere Monate verbringen. Neben der Unterstützung der Stiftungsarbeit ermöglicht ihnen der Aufenthalt, eigene Perspektiven und Einstellungen zu hinterfragen und die Nord-Süd Machtbeziehungen aus afrikanischer Position zu erfahren. Seit der Gründung von AfricAvenir haben ca. 50 StudentInnen ein solches Praktikum absolviert. Anja Göbel und Judith Blume befinden sich beide am Ende ihres Studiums und werden sich respektive im Filmprojekt und in der Verlagsarbeit einbringen. Mehr über Praktika bei AfricAvenir: http://africavenir.com/exchange/internship/index.php

Femmes au centre des décisions: illusion ou réalité?
La fondation AfricAvenir et les femmes de Bonabéri ont pris le 07 mars 2006 une longueur d’onde sur la célébration de la Journée Internationale de la Femme en organisant à la salle de réunion une conférence-débat sur le thème : « Femmes au centre des décisions : illusion ou réalité ? ». http://africavenir.com/news/2006/03/350

Journée Cheikh Anta Diop à AfricAvenir Douala
20 ans après sa mort, Cheikh Anta Diop est célébré à la Fondation AfricAvenir. La soirée du 08 février 2006 à AfricAvenir a été particulièrement marquée par la commémoration de la mort du savant sénégalais Cheikh Anta Diop disparu le 07 février 1986 à l’age de 62 ans de suite d’une attaque cardiaque. http://africavenir.com/news/2006/03/348

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WEB NEWS

Untenstehend finden Sie eine Auswahl der Artikel, die wir momentan auch auf unserer Website www.africavenir.org präsentieren.

L’Impératif Afrocentrique
Le livre du Professeur Ama Mazama renforce à l’échelle internationale, le discours destiné à transformer l’Africain en sujet agissant. Dans ce livre, l’auteur expose de façon tout à fait convaincante le devoir des africains de réévaluer et de restructurer leurs réponses aux réalités politiques, économiques et historiques du monde. [Editions Menaibuc] http://africavenir.com/news/2006/03/376

Theater: Anton Wilhelm “Amo”
Eine dramatische Spurensuche nach Fragmenten der Lebensgeschichte des ersten Schwarzen Hochschulprofessors in Deutschland im 18. Jh. Die Fragmente der Lebensgeschichte des ersten Schwarzen Wissenschaftlers und Philosophen in Deutschland, Anton Wilhelm Amo Afer, sind inspirierende Basis dieser Spurensuche - erzählt im Spannungsfeld zwischen Heute und Gestern. Aufgewachsen am Hof eines Fürsten, studierte und lehrte Amo als erster […] http://africavenir.com/news/2006/03/367

Existe-t-il un modèle sud-africain ? Par Achille Mbembe
Pour ceux qui s’intéressent à l’évolution actuelle du monde et au destin de l’Afrique en particulier, l’Afrique du Sud constitue un terrain privilégié d’observation. Alors qu’une grande partie du continent est engouffrée dans la spirale de la corruption, de la brutalité et de l’autodestruction, l’on peut étudier, ici, les logiques paradoxales d’une société en pleine reconstitution. [Africultures] http://africavenir.com/news/2006/03/343

Afrikanische Diaspora in Deutschland
Mit diesem Dossier möchte die Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb die unterschiedlichen Themen der afrikanischen Diaspora und die vielfältigen Schwarzen Perspektiven einer breiten Öffentlichkeit zugänglich machen. Die Texte und Materialien stammen in erster Linie von afro-deutschen Autorinnen und Autoren. [bpb] http://africavenir.com/news/2006/03/352

Remapping Black Germany. New Perspectives on Afro-German History, Politics, and Culture
This conference on 21-23 April 2006 at the University of Massachusetts explores new directions in Black German Studies. Conceived in an interdisciplinary and transnational way, Black German Studies can not only contribute to Black diaspora and German Studies but also illuminate the process of modern racial formation from new perspectives. http://africavenir.com/news/2006/03/365

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Announcing the Launch of Coexistence International's New Website

--Imagine a world where diversity is embraced for its positive potential, respect for persons is a core value, interdependence between different groups is recognized and equality is valued and actively pursued.--

A range of individuals and organizations work towards this vision of the world: from those who engage in conflict resolution efforts on the ground to those who conduct research and develop international policy in related areas. Despite a common vision, they often work in isolation from one another - a situation that can lead to missed opportunities or incomplete responses to conflicts.

COEXISTENCE INTERNATIONAL (CI), based within the Slifka Program in Intercommunal Coexistence, at Brandeis University's International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, facilitates connections and learning between those in the coexistence field and those in related areas such as sustainable development, human rights, democracy and art.

CI believes that enhancing linkages between coexistence practitioners, activists, researchers, policymakers and funders and those from related fields, contributes to a stronger, expanded coexistence field. A strengthened field and a more complementary approach to coexistence work is a critical step towards a world characterized by respectful, equitable relationships across difference.

With the launch of its new website www.coexistence.net, CI is establishing a common virtual space for all those individuals and institutions that work to build sustainable and just peace. Serving as a resource and a gathering place for ideas and knowledge sharing, CI's site offers publications, links, news, events, and opinions that touch on and integrate all facets of the coexistence field.

For more information about CI, please visit www.coexistence.net or contact coexistenceintl@brandeis.edu.
--
Coexistence International at Brandeis University
Mailstop 086 Waltham, MA 02454
U.S.A.
Tel: (781) 736-5017
Fax: (781) 736-5014
http://www.coexistence.net/

Call for Papers: Diasporic Futures - Women, the Arts and Globalization

A one day conference to be held at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Monday 3rd July 2006

Diasporic Futures: Women, the Arts and Globalization is a one day conference designed to assess and evaluate the specific relationship between women, the arts and the impact of globalization on the articulation of diasporic and migrant identities, past, present and future.

The conference seeks to test the limits of extant maps of globalization, contemporary art practices and migration by exploring how women artists and practitioners and women¹s creative practice operates within the dominant patterns of the marketplace and/or how it maps the world against the grain, developing alternative networks and new meanings. The emphasis upon Œfutures¹ in the project¹s title is strategic; the conference seeks to develop the theoretical and methodological tools needed to move debates concerning diasporas, migration and identities forward, rather than to fix them in the historical past.

Papers/presentations are invited which acknowledge and develop current theoretical work in the field, contribute to new dialogues and understandings of transnational and transcultural practices and/or encourage collaborative strategies for the negotiation of globalized networks in gendered terms.

Please submit enquiries and/or 300 word abstracts to Dr Dorothy Rowe, d.rowe@roehampton.ac.uk, Dr Marsha Meskimmon, m.g.meskimmon@lboro.ac.uk or Professor Fran Lloyd, F.Lloyd@kingston.ac.uk by Friday 21 April 2006.

Please see here the booking form!

A quarter of Chinese study English: official

www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-26 21:47:43

SHANGHAI, March 26 (Xinhua) -- More than 300 million Chinese people, or nearly a quarter of the country's population, have studied English either as a major course or as an elective subject, said a senior Chinese education official on Sunday in Shanghai.

Speaking at an international workshop of foreign language teaching in Shanghai, Vice Minister of Education Wu Qidi said that the number of people who have received formal learning of the English language from primary schools to higher learning institutes has added up to over 100 million.

Modern foreign language teaching in Chinese schools started in the 1980s. The systematic English teaching program, which runs through primary schools to higher learning institutes, was formally launched in 2000, Wu told experts and teachers from a dozen world-famous language institutes from the United States, New Zealand and Singapore.

The ministry's statistics suggested that the current number of students enrolled on Chinese campuses amounted to 23 million, which is the world's largest group of foreign language learners.

...

Please read the entire article at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/26/content_4347710.htm
Editor: Yao Runping

Window to Heaven

Author: María Cristina Azcona
Binding: Paperback (pp: 86)
ISBN: 81-8253-061-X
Availability: In Stock (Ships within 1 to 2 days)
Publisher: Cyberwit.net
Pub. Date: 2006

Description: María Cristina Azcona is an Educational Psychologist, poetess, novelist and peace researcher. Her articles, reviews, poems and short stories are continuously published in many newspapers, magazines and anthologies around Argentina, UK, India, US, and other countries. Since 1980, she works as a psychotherapist specialized in Forensic Psycho diagnosis, listed by the American Biographical Institute (ABI) in their international directory "Experts & Expertise". (US)

She was born in Buenos Aires City, Argentina, where she lives joined to her family. In 1998, she won First Prize in the poetry contest by the Academic Circle of Argentinean Writers. After she had been finalist in many contests of poetry by different literary institutions. She has written and published four books:

The poetry collections, "Dos Talles Menos de Cerebro" (1999) and "Mundo Postmoderno" (2000), both books fully illustrated by the author herself. A novel "La Voz del Ángel" (2002) and the essay, "Estar de Novios Hoy", (2003), this one written jointly with her husband, Ernesto Castellano.

In 2000 she started to write bilingually, with a unique intention: to spread her peace ideals, worldwide. In 2001, she founded the nonprofit organization "Bilingual MCA" to promote bilingual literature for peace, and since then, she edits a philanthropic E-zine dedicated to the publication and promotion of exquisite peace poems by many bilingual poets, worldwide. She has organized several poetry readings by members of this institution, who came to visit her country to recite their poems. Since 2002, she is Editorial Advisor for "The Taj Mahal Review", a bimonthly literary journal devoted to arts, literature, poetry and culture, published by Cyberwit.net. India. During 2003 and 2004, she worked as a Bilingual Reviewer to Editorial El Ateneo and Director of Institutional Relations to the Argentine Center for Development of Writers. In 2004 she was selected as Director in Argentina for the International Forum for a Literature and a Culture of Peace (IFLAC). She directed several poetry contests in 2004 and 2005.

In 2005, she has been nominated as an honorary member of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Global Core Team, Columbia University, New York, US. In 2005 also, she was nominated as Universal Peace Ambassador in the framework of the Universal Ambassadors Peace Circle, Switzerland. During the last years she has worked for UNESCO as peace researcher writer and at the same time, her literary work has been extensively published worldwide.

The Once Orange Badge Poetry Supplement, UK, published her poem "Family Abuse". Since 2004, her articles and poems about Peace can be read at the EOLSS Encyclopedia, edited jointly by UNESCO-EOLSS Joint Committee, UK.

In the United States of America, her bilingual poems and articles can be read at printed publications like Spirit Magazine, EAP Bulletin, Poesia and Poesia News, Latino Today, Meeting of the Minds Journal and Poetry Magazine. (US)

The Literary Journal Taj Mahal Review (every issue) and the anthologies: The Golden Wings, Voyages, Explorers, New Pegasus, The Still Horizon, Symphonies, Harvests of New Millennium, all by Cyberwit.net, feature her best poems, reviews and comments.

Kabita Pakshik, Kolkata, India, has published her poetry in Bengali. Also in India, Leaves, The Mango Tree has published one of her articles and also her bilingual poetry. In Kerala, India and Jordan, her articles and poems have been published in several magazines and newspapers. Her articles, translations and poems are being published at other countries, like Norway, Romania, Greece and Brazil. She is usually invited to international congresses centered in Peace Literature. Her books are findable in the most important libraries in Argentina, and the Web.

Links:
www.azcona.bravehost.com
www.authorsden.com/azcona
www.bilingualmca.bravehost.com

Price: $13

Buy here.

Senior Fellowship Competition, Jennings Randolph Programme for International Peace
United States Institute of Peace
Application Deadline: 15 September 2006

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, non-partisan
institution created by the US Congress to strengthen the nation's capacity
to promote the peaceful resolution of international conflict. Twelve to
fifteen fellowships are awarded annually to scholars and practitioners from
a variety of professions, including college and university faculty,
journalists, diplomats, writers, educators, military officers, international
negotiators, NGO professionals and lawyers. For more information and an
application form, visit www.usip.org.

FULBRIGHT VISITING SPECIALIST PROGRAM: DIRECT ACCESS TO THE MUSLIM WORLD

Do you want to enrich your campus' and community's understanding of Islamic civilization and the history, politics, and culture of today’s Muslim world? Does your study-abroad program lack representation from the Muslim World? Do you want to jump-start your campus offering on courses in Islam or Area Studies? Through the Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program: Direct Access to the Muslim World, U.S. higher educational institutions can host a Specialist from Muslim communities in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa or the Balkans for three to six weeks of intensive lecturing, consultation, and a community outreach program. Deadline to apply for the spring 2007 semester: June 1, 2006. For more information, visit our website at www.cies.org/Visiting_Specialists/ or consult Mamiko Hada at vstngspec@cies.iie.org, telephone 202-686-7873.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is offering 800 lecturing, research or combined lecturing/research awards during the 2007-2008 academic year in all regions of the world, including many awards in peace studies or conflict resolution. These opportunities include awards in eastern Europe, south Asia, Canada, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. U.S. Fulbright Scholars enjoy an experience of a lifetime, one that provides a broad cultural perspective on their academic disciplines and connects them with colleagues at institutions around the globe.

Awards range from two months to an academic year. Faculty and professionals in history may apply not only for awards specifically in their field, but also for one of the many "All Discipline" awards open to any field. Grants are awarded to faculty of all academic ranks, including adjunct and emeritus. In most countries lecturing is in English, though awards in Latin America, Francophone Africa, and the Middle East may require proficiency in another language.

The application deadline for Fulbright traditional lecturing and research grants worldwide is August 1, 2006. U.S. citizenship is required. For other eligibility requirements, detailed award descriptions, and an application, visit our website at www.cies.org, or send a request for materials to apprequest@cies.iie.org.

“My Remorse Was Hidden, Not Lacking, and My Story Proves It”:
How Successful Ex-Career Criminals’ Public Testimonials
Can Enable Support for Rehabilitation
By John H. McFadden
Your feedback is most welcome - please write to johnhughmcfadden@hotmail.com!

Advocates of rehabilitation for criminals believe that research may convince policymakers and the public that rehabilitation is worth supporting. However, most people are deeply convinced that criminals are incapable of benefiting from help. Why? The linchpin reason is that criminals lack remorse. They have no shame. Moreover, this is not just a non-professional’s view; the standard for categorizing psychological/behavioral problems, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual says that Anti-Social Personality Disordered people “lack remorse,” and that diagnosis fits the majority of career criminals. The point is that criminals do not feel bad about doing bad things so there is nothing to build on, no willing, and motivated person. The lack of remorse make criminals seem not only unhelpable but also intensely unsympathetic. People say things like, “Criminals just don’t have any feeling for anybody, so why try to help them.” In the face of this intensely held belief, research results tend to be too ambiguous and questionable to be fully convincing.
Research is essential for guiding policy, but changing hearts and minds requires a more personal kind of persuasion. Our nation’s long history of social change often involves personal testimonies of successful representatives of degraded groups, alcoholics, drug addicts, minorities, homosexuals, and more. Likewise, ex-convict’s public presentation of their own success stories have potential for changing people who are too convinced of criminals’ lack of feeling to take research seriously. Especially if parts of the stories challenge the linchpin idea that criminals lack remorse, people are likely to become open to reconsidering all of their closely related anti-rehabilitation views. The success story of Eddie Dedmon, a career criminal, and various audiences’ reactions to it will begin to make this point, and I will make a proposal to gradually develop this presentation into an increasingly more effective means of changing hearts and minds about criminals.
An emerging psychological point of view provides insights that can enable us to discover strong narrative evidence that challenges the prevailing view. This psychological view opens our eyes to criminals’ experiences showing that the opposite is true. It reveals that criminals are teeming with the most devastating, even soul-murdering levels of shame, or humiliation. Although a small percentage of criminals, ones who are diagnosed, “psychopaths”, do seem completely devoid of remorse, this psychology helps us seek and find clinical evidence that the vast majority of career criminals’ harbor this emotion. In them, remorse is only disguised and repressed, not absent. Moreover, clinical experience demonstrates that even some of the most devastated among them can be transformed by approximately one and one-half years of intensive, multi-service rehabilitation treatment followed by after care. Moreover, the heart of successful treatment—the difference that makes all the difference—is profound respect that is often coupled with intense feelings of familial kinds of love. The ability of profound respect to solve the psychological aspect of crime helps prove that disrespect is the remediable cause of this problem.
Some prominent professionals even argue that intense unconscious humiliation, or self-disrespect, is the cause of criminal behavior. Perhaps the most notable of these professionals is James Gilligan, President of the International Association for Forensic Psychotherapy. Moreover, Thomas Scheff, an award winning research sociologist, independently came to the conclusion that unconscious shame is at the root of crime and all levels of violence. In case studies of the Columbine murderers and another teen murderer, Kip Kinkel, I have helped explain in ordinary terms how feeling humiliated about feeling humiliated represses humiliation, making it explosive. Sigmund Freud was perhaps the first person to notice the connection between unconscious self-negating thoughts and crime. His “late Freud” theory has been elaborated by Bernard Apfelbaum who shows how unconscious self-negation is at the root of the psychological aspect of all psychological/behavioral problems.

Eddie’s story
Eddie’s story told from the perspective of this emerging point of view helps suggest that other career criminals truly are not only teeming with powerful, hidden humiliation but also are driven to criminal acts of desperation by it. Eddie was a career criminal until age 45, and he fit the diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder to a “T.” His first incarceration occurred at age eight. His behavior and personality traits qualified him for all of the diagnostic criteria for this disorder, including “a lack of remorse.” He was violent and dangerous enough that, several times, he was confined to administrative segregation from the general prison population, commonly known as “the hole.”
Despite this extremely troubling background, Eddie was transformed by anger management and drug treatment professionals and peers, and is now, six years after his last offense was committed, a widely respected treatment professional. He does some drug treatment and also is the coordinator for the Police and Corrections Team (PACT) in the five county parole district in and surrounding San Francisco.
You would never suspect that he felt troubled during his criminal career unless you were well versed about unconscious humiliation. I first asked him if, during his life of crime, he ever felt bad. After reflecting for a few minutes, he said, "No.” He sustained this view of his past despite many restatements of this question. However, most people are very sensitive to disrespect, and I knew that their sensitivity is the doorway to their hidden self-disrespect. Notice that “self-disrespect” is the cause of the painful humiliation, as in how the idea, “I’m a loser,” makes people feel bad. Disrespect from others triggers this buried self-disrespect causing great psychological pain and desperate efforts to get at least some relief from it. Moreover, it is well-known even among lay people that criminals are excruciatingly sensitive to and reactive to disrespect. An innocent glance toward a career criminal, much less a mild criticism, may be interpreted as severe disrespect and may provoke violence.
Aided by these insights, I asked about the names Eddie was called during his criminal career. He said that some prison staff called him names, like “dirtbag” and “animal.” Moreover, he said that he sometimes had to agree with them that he was an animal. In this euphemistic phrasing, he was unwittingly revealing that he suffered from intense humiliation. He considered himself “an animal.” This kind of window into a criminal’s interior is like the open door of a speeding boxcar. You see unmistakable evidence of something but do not have enough time to fully appreciate that it actually is there.
From the view of prevailing morality, the system of ideas for controlling behavior that most of us are raised to believe, this revelation would be unremarkable. An interviewer who deeply believed that criminals lack feeling would be likely to agree with Eddie and his accusers that he was, at least in part, an animal. So the interviewer would not notice how inflammatory and demoralizing is this disrespectful self-description. However, from a non-moralistic point of view, it can seem obvious that this self-disrespectful idea would, at the very least, emotionally cripple anyone who harbored it.
A more obviously influential example of Eddie’s humiliation surfaced during a discussion of Eddie’s violent acts. Eddie told me that he stabbed a man 17 times; he said he was trying to kill him. Why? It happened after the man had tried unsuccessfully to rape his girlfriend. When I first asked him about his motive for the attempted murder, he gave me a conventional answer. He said coolly that “you have to show people that they can’t take advantage of you or you’ll get run over.” He seemed to fit the stereotype of the emotionless criminal.
While that explanation does account for some of the motivation for the stabbing, it does not account for the extremes of it. Nor does the you-gotta-be-tough explanation account for another instance of Eddie’s violence. When he was robbing a grocery store at gunpoint, he hit a bystander across the bridge of his nose with the barrel of his revolver without provocation. This man was only standing still and cooperating fully with Eddie. Many years later, Eddie still muses about that experience, saying, “I still don’t know why I did that.” Regarding the stabbing, further exploration revealed that Eddie actually was driven by the kind of intense humiliation that many men could empathize with. He said, “It’s like the guy that tried to rape my girl was totally disrespecting my manhood—you don’t do that to a man.” In this society and perhaps many others, we take for granted that it is enraging to intensely disrespect people by sexually assaulting their partners. This reaction could make readers miss the point that the rapist’s disrespect in this case set murderous behavior in motion and that most of us would not react that intensely. Why did Eddie react violently with intent to kill?
My answer is that the rapist’s disrespect triggered Eddie’s soul-murdering, unconscious self-disrespect and that he desperately struck out at the person who seemed to be causing his great torment. That is a tricky idea, but when you know how that horrendous self-disrespect was created in Eddie, that idea is easier to understand.
Between age five and age eight, Eddie lived with his maternal aunt, because his mother, who also was a career criminal, had been prison. He says that, when he came home from school with dirt on his pants or committed any other similar degree of transgression, his aunt would either pour scalding water on his face, pick him up and body slam him, or hit him hard in the head with a cooking pot. The intensity and frequency of the blows is partly proven by his brother’s permanent hearing loss, and Eddie suffered damage to the skin on his face from the scalding water. Often, the offense was that, Eddie, who “could pass for white,” would stare at white people; his dark skinned African American aunt hit brutalized him for “wanting to be white.”
Fast forward to the grocery store robbery I mentioned earlier. It can seem no wonder that Eddie hit the bystander “for no reason.” The most important impact of this brutalization is that it communicated persuasively to Eddie that he was worthy of brutalization, that he deserved intense degradation. Put differently, this degrading treatment by the only authority in his life indoctrinated him to believe that he was a worthless, horribly bad person. As badly abused children develop, they are caught in a vicious cycle of behaving desperately after being brutalized and then being more intensely brutalized and so on. As Eddie began to act out and was incarcerated in the California Youth Authority, he became increasingly badly behaved and increasingly degraded by a wider circle of people in the criminal justice system. He was increasingly indoctrinated to believe that he was a basically bad and even animalistic person. Perhaps the most familiar term for the effect of this indoctrination is that he became intensely self-disrespecting, or self-hating. He believed what the brutal words and behavior communicated to him, because he had no other perspective of himself.
This soul-murdering degradation then becomes the explosive powder that even the slightest insult can ignite. Put differently, these people’s psyches are rubbed raw so that even the slightest insult can spur a wild, desperate reaction, such as shooting heroin hours after being resuscitated from a near death overdose of that drug, which is what Eddie once did. Or it can trigger seemingly unprovoked violence, as in the case of Eddie’s violence against the innocent bystander during the grocery store robbery. Or it can drive a person to over-react to severe misconduct, as in the case of the murderous stabbing.
Despite these plausible discoveries of intense humiliation, most people are convinced by criminals’ lack of expression of remorse, much less their sometimes cynical and even sneering attitude toward victims. Criminals can seem so convincingly uncaring, and it can seem bewildering to say that they only feel it unconsciously, or subliminally. What is that aspect of their experience about?
Gilligan, Scheff, and many others suggest in passing that self-hating thoughts are repressed, or ignored, attacked, and eventually forgotten, because, in our society, it is humiliating to feel ashamed. Another ex-criminal I interviewed put it as follows. After telling me that he has had nightmarish remembrances of the screams of an innocent teenager he was beating “to a pulp,” he explained, “But you never show that remorse to anyone; on the street, it’s a weakness, and people will take advantage of you.” Eddie said the same thing. Shame is a weakness, and if you already intensely believe that you are unworthy, you are going to do everything you can to block shame out of your mind. Gilligan argues that there is no greater shame, no more intense self-loathing, that the shame of feeling ashamed, the shame of “letting yourself” feel terrible about yourself. It is the ultimate personal weakness. He says it is the experience that serial killers, true psychopaths, guard as if it were a matter of life and death.
To help further to understand this inner problem, notice that, if humiliation is conscious, or somewhat acceptable, we instinctively seek understanding and reassurance that we deserve enough respect and love to sustain us. But when it is buried, the only relief we can get is through action. We can withdraw from life by doing drugs or slipping into a narrow life of TV and very restricted communication. Or we can attack whatever or whoever seems to be triggering our self-hate, as if to argue back against the hatred, dramatizing in behavior, “I’m not some animal or worthless nothing; you’re a monstrous person who is determined to psychologically destroy me; see how this gun barrel feels up against your forehead, you bastard.” Psychologists put it as follows; people “act out” repressed feelings. They have to. The alternative is to suffer literally unbearable torment that threatens to catapult them into a much more threatening state of mind. As one murderer told me, “If I thought about the murder I committed against that little old lady, the cashier at that grocery store, I wouldn’t be here; I’d be in a mental hospital.” A former delinquent who severely brutalized another teenager 13 years ago still has post-traumatic stress from the experience, which is a euphemistic way of saying that he is suffering nightmarish, unpredictable guilt/shame.
Notice that “unconscious shame” does not refer to a strange, other-worldly experience. Eddie was aware that he felt that he was an animal, and he knew that he felt humiliated by the rapist. These are ordinary experiences, but, in our moralistic world, we discount these experiences. We think of them as excuses, not valid reasons. We are unaware of the significance of them, not their existence. We are unaware of how horrendous they are and how much they push us around, but they do appear in consciousness.
What helps make the case that buried, fulminating disrespect, or self-hate, is the problem is to show what enabled Eddie to be okay and even flourish. Social scientists say that the cure implies the cause.
Just before his last incarceration in a county jail, Eddie remembers being furious at his daughter and grabbing her by the neck with both hands, making ready to choke her. As if awakening from a trance, he stopped himself before actually choking her and felt deeply shaken. While in jail, an anger management staff member told him that he could get anger management treatment in jail while he was awaiting his hearing. Because he was still recovering from the trauma of the near choking, he decided to try it. This is the kind of motivation that has helped other violent parolees to seek and benefit from help.
When asked what part of the anger management treatment most affected him, Eddie was certain that one thing was most influential. The director of ManAlive in San Francisco, Hamish Sinclair, conducted a psychotherapeutic process that ManAlive calls, “Loss of Innocence.” Hamish, who told me that Eddie’s account was accurate, asked him to recall what his aunt did to him. Hamish realized that this was the experience that caused Eddie’s loss of innocence, or his feeling that he was an evil person. They pressured him to remember it in great detail. He bawled uncontrollably for many hours. Eddie said that what he got out of this experience is that, “It wasn’t my fault, the person who did that to me—they were fucked up, not me. I learned that the people around me at ManAlive thought I was actually a good person. They said things like, ‘We’re all inherently good.’” Eddie added, “Their words affected me a lot; it set the tone for me to go a little bit further.” Notice that the words Eddie that affected him were words of profound respect, profound partly because they were such a dramatic reversal of what everyone else Eddie knew thought of him and partly because it is so rare for anyone to respect a criminal. It is like the profound, other-worldly experiences reported in the Bible and other widely-respected religious texts. Jesus forgave the “tax collector,” the government stooge who stole and raped routinely before the tax collector changed, not after, as moralists normally insist.
The simple version of the formula for the beginning of Eddie’s transformation is that profound respect counters, or puts the lie to, profound self-disrespect. Of course, Eddie’s spontaneous reaction to his violence against his daughter was influential. But it did not change him. Hamish’s and the group’s respect did. Moreover, it is important to notice that Eddie’s reaction to his violence against his daughter meant something to him. It meant that he was not the animal that he was at least partly convinced that he was. Here was a disguised instance of self-respect naturally occurring. However, again, his responsiveness to his daughter’s plight would not have begun to change Eddie without the profound respect he experienced.
Subsequent experiences in treatment add to the evidence for the point of view that profound respect is what most influentially changes criminals, much less ordinary people. At his hearing in 1999 just after the anger management experience, the judge said that he would give Eddie a new California Department of Corrections (CDC) number if he did not do something to end his life of crime. That meant Eddie would be spending the remainder of his life either in prison or on parole. The judge gave him the option of entering drug treatment, which Eddie decided to do. But Eddie is certain that he had no intention of giving up “the life.” He was going along to get along and planned to return to his life of crime. Eddie seemed well on his way to becoming one of the many over-fifty criminals who inhabit our State’s prisons.
He entered Walden House, a residential treatment center in San Francisco. Despite his intention to go along to get along, Eddie was unable to be hide his true feelings. He fought the treatment tooth and nail, especially the requirement that he “snitch” on other clients. He absolutely and openly refused to do so, and he often swore at the staff. An inexperienced program manager decided to expel him from the program for being “resistant” to treatment. He called the sheriff’s department and ordered a pick up. Two staff members intervened on Eddie’s behalf at the eleventh hour. One of these two staff members, Michael Simmons, told me that he argued for more than an hour on Eddie’s behalf, partly because, when he first met Eddie, “I knew he had a good heart, and I saw that he was afraid of giving up the only life he had ever known and accepting a new, straight life that he had learned to fear and even hate.” Michael also said that he saw himself in Eddie; Michael had been in Eddie’s shoes years before this experience. He is an ex-convict.
Think of what Michael did as follows. He respected Eddie as a vulnerable person in the grip of fear rather than disrespected him as a bad person in the grip of antisocial urges. This ability to genuinely respect criminals as victims of fear and other devastating experiences—as vulnerable, sensitive human beings—is what makes any treatment professional effective. It truly is the difference that makes all the difference.
Eddie said he was very impressed by what Michael and this other person did for him. Eddie explained that he felt that Michael cared about him and that nobody else ever had. Of course, no one is convinced by a single experience. It took months to examine and test Michael Simmons’ feelings.
Michael also participated in another experience that impressed Eddie. At many treatment centers, they have a process called “owning your own.” Clients are asked to confess any rule breaking they have done. Usually, there are sanctions for breaking them, but they have a purpose. Clients are asked to write about what they did and why and reflect on how they can avoid committing further violations. Eddie was in the re-entry phase of treatment and was allowed to leave the center. He had broken practically every rule except the three that are grounds for dismissal, having sex, using drugs or alcohol, and fighting. However, he had never confessed any transgressions, and he had every reason to suspect that a full confession would make the staff delay his release. Eddie said he made up his mind to be honest and take the consequences without realizing why he made this decision. He says, “It just happened,” but it is not much of a stretch to infer that he trusted Michael Simmons with his feelings. With considerable trepidation, he told his confessional stories. Surprisingly, the staff members were so impressed with his sincerity that they only applauded him. They spontaneously began clapping, and they did not sanction him.
Eddie told me, “That along with a lot of other little things that they did and didn’t do kinda like....it said, That’s what I want to be a part of, hanging out with people who treated people like that.” Then he broke off, saying, “I’m getting emotional.” I said, “That’s what it would’ve been like to have good parents.” He said, “It was a loving and caring environment. Walden House was like a big family; that’s a big word there.”
A more complete narrative of Eddie’s life adds important details that help to make this paper’s case. For instance, I asked him what he does for fun, and his story was disarming. He said that he likes to play bingo at the church, and his description of the little old ladies and their petty grievances and his excitement on winning helped make his entire story more believable. The contrast between that Eddie and the Eddie on the cell block or on the street running scams, knocking out people with his billy club, and getting sent to the hole is overwhelming. He also told difficult stories about a family member’s relapses and a time when he was sorely tempted to use drugs. He called a counselor at Walden House and told him what he was upset about, the thing that made him want to do drugs, and he told him that he decided to play hooky from work and go to a movie. His counselor supported him and mainly listened to him rant about the problem that had upset him enough to want a fix. These stories sounded so ordinary, so “un-criminal like”, if you will. He seemed very much like an ordinary man struggling with somewhat ordinary struggles. He calls himself a “work in progress,” and has no pretensions about his ongoing need for help. He goes to Walden House periodically and calls friends whenever he is intensely upset.
The most desired, socially approved result of Eddie’s treatment is that he has become a deeply respectful, caring man. He easily expresses respect for parole agents and other parole officials. Moreover, when he helps parolees with their employment and addiction struggles, it is obvious that he respects and cares for them and is giving them his all. His family life has plenty of affection and care in it. Eddie seems like a normal man with the exception that he is much more deeply empathic than most men are. He knows that anyone who does bad things is troubled and deserving of undying help, not evil and deserving of punishment.
A recent experience further makes my case. On March 20th, 2006, Eddie told me the following story. He said that, several months ago, he was talking to a colleague. She asked him, “Why are you frowning.” He said that “big emotions” came up; he started crying intensely. As his tears subsided, he became aware of a repressed memory. It was that his aunt had “slapped the shit out of me, saying ‘straighten up your fuckin’ face.’ He remembered sitting in the back seat of the car, and she would yell at him, saying, “Stop that fuckin frowning.” He said that, at age five, he didn’t even know what a frown was. He said that a few weeks after this “return of the repressed,” he was talking to clients in a group about how influences in childhood affect people. He told them this story, and, he said, “I started crying like a baby—couldn’t talk.” This is the kind of experience that is familiar to people who undergo intensive psychotherapy. Once you begin exploring your inner world, it is inevitable that repressed experiences spontaneously arise. This experience helps validate the depth and extensiveness of Eddie’s transformation and the source of his considerable unconscious torment.
It does seem clear that Eddie suffered from life long unconscious self-disrespect and that intense, profound respect rescued him from a life of crime despite his unwillingness/unreadiness to change when he first entered treatment. At least, this is a possible interpretation of his life that deserves to be considered along with the conventional view.

Reactions to this presentation
Partly because most of us are so deeply convinced that a criminal’s lack of expression of shame means that they do not have any—the most common reaction to this presentation is to at least partly discount it. Moreover, it is apparent that the lack-of-remorse objection to rehabilitation is at the root of a dense network of closely-related ideas. Put differently, it does seem to be the linchpin idea, the idea without which the entire system of ideas cannot be sustained. This appraisal was confirmed by reactions to our presentation.
Eddie and I first made this presentation to approximately 35 social workers, all of whom have worked in the criminal justice field for from one to twenty years. Their most prominent dismissive reaction was that Eddie was not reached by treatment. He “aged out.” It is well known that many people like Eddie “give up the life” in their forties. They get tired of doing crime and going to jail. Moreover, they are rejected by younger, more active criminals, who sometimes condescendingly say, “Yeah, back in the day, granddad.” The social workers elaborated their point of view, saying that younger convicts “aren’t ready” to change. One social worker even had a maxim with which to express this widely held view. He said, “When you’re in your 20s, you’re not even thinking about changing; when you’re in your 30s, you’re thinking about it but aren’t ready. In your 40s, you’re ready.” I was surprised by how convinced of this view they were; they knew of no exceptions to it. They had this reaction despite Eddie’s assertion both that he was not intending to change his life prior to and during the first part of treatment and that Michael and other staff dramatically affected him. Despite this testimonial, they had no reservations about saying that he must have aged out.
The most difficult thing to notice about the social workers’ dismissive reaction is what it left out. It completely ignored the heart of our presentation, the idea that Eddie was blighted by horrendous intensities of humiliation and that its counter, respect, rescued him. Uncannily enough, our focus on his internal struggle did not at all register. They just immediately launched into their own pre-existing theories. Why?
Their reactions are the subtle but unmistakable expressions of prevailing morality. This is the system of ideas out of which most of the specific objections to this paper’s view come. The core psychological understanding of prevailing morality is that people do bad things because they want to and because they lack remorse. There is no shame and guilt to contain the impulses. People say, “Criminals have no conscience.” This is the tap root moralistic understanding of bad behavior by which most of us are raised and by which the criminal justice system’s emphasis on punishment is founded. The idea supporting punishment is that it causes pain—the primary dictionary definition is “to inflict pain”—and pain motivates us to behave well. Over time, it instills a conscience. The aging out theory assumes this moralistic psychology. It says that, when the punishments outweigh the rewards, when the older criminal no longer is getting enough enjoyment relative to the pain suffered, he becomes “ready” to change.
It is impossible to underestimate the intensity and complexity with which our commitment to prevailing morality is held. Even many psychiatrists believe that our very lives depend on it. They say things like, “Without shame and guilt, we would all be barbarians.” In the face of this overwhelming pressure to believe in prevailing morality, it is no wonder that even educated social workers would completely discount a challenge to it, that they would not even register Eddie’s claims that he believe he was an animal and that he tried to kill a man because he felt humiliated by him. It discounts his belief that he was reached not by inculcations of responsibility to others but by respect and love for him. One reframing of his experience is perhaps most countercultural. It is that he was, in essence, respected and loved before behaving respectfully and lovingly to others. In a nutshell, he was transformed by forgiveness prior to repentance. In prevailing morality’s terms, he did not deserve to be forgiven. As an ordained Presbyterian minister, I feel obliged to add that this conception of change is reflected in Christ’s words on the cross, “Forgive them for they know not what they do” or because they are caught in a set of forces that no nothing about. This is what Christian theologians have called “the Scandal of the Gospel.” Another reframing is similarly “offensive” to the moralist in us all. It is that Eddie was a victim who did bad things because of his victimization. He was a completely helpless victim of his aunt and then the unconscious self-hate she helped implant in him. These reframed versions of this paper’s basic view are truly daunting for us to discuss. They animate intense negative reactions, like, “Yeah, right; all you gotta do is hug a thug.”
This conception of the resistance to rehabilitation has the advantage of demystifying and prioritizing the struggle to change hearts and minds about criminals. It consists of a series of views stemming from the fundamentals of prevailing psychological understanding, that people do bad things because they at once have irresponsible impulses and have no shame with which to contain them.

A proposal
It does seem that the lack-of-remorse view is the linchpin view and that it organizes many of the corollaries that emerge in rapid-fire succession during discussions of the criminal mind.
In light of these and many other objections and the promise inherent in the view of criminals I have presented, I would like to continue on the course I have established in this paper, and earlier articles I have written. For instance, in response to the social workers’ age related objection, I have already interviewed the first of six successful parolees who fit the diagnosis of Anti-Social Personality Disorder and who entered treatment in their 20s. This now 30 year-old man tells a persuasive story that, with the exception of the age factor, almost exactly parallels Eddie’s. If anything, Darnell was treated worse than Eddie during his childhood. I will then present these cases to the same social workers who believe that 20 year olds “aren’t even thinking about” changing. I will not be expecting to convince them at this point. I only expect to at least temporarily remove one objection to make room for subsequent ones to emerge. Then, I will find success stories that counter each objection I discover. In a previous writing, I have already mapped out 16 objections that normal people hold. Ultimately, I would collect the entire corpus of taken-for-granted objections to the basic idea that criminals are teeming with shame and at least reasonable responses to them drawn from the narratives of successful ex-parolees.
I would also be creating presentations and workshops to help “change the culture” of CDCR. Parole agents and prison staff can examine their attitudes, the most prevalent and often stated of which is that change is “up to them,” or requires readiness or willingness. This unwittingly demeans the contribution that parole agents, guards, and treatment staff make to the lives of inmates and parolees. Most importantly, it misconceives what the problem is and what can be done about it. I would present to CDCR staff proof that none of the successful parolees I interviewed and heard about wanted to change. They were all rigidly unwilling; they had no thought of wanting to give up “the life.” Moreover, it is splitting hairs to say that they “unconsciously longed to be loved and respected,” although I think that is true. Their transformations were completely dependent on the intervention of Michael Simmons and other professionals at Walden House.
Critics of this proposal who are generally sympathetic say things like, “These CDCR staff just don’t want to change.” The same negative appraisal is often directed at the public. Even sympathizers with this paper’s point of view have the same view of rehabilitation detractors that the detractors have of criminals. This view betrays a mystifying view of resistance to change. The point of this article is to demystify the resistance to profoundly respectful views of criminals and to chart a course for changing hearts and minds that includes a collegial, respectful discussion rather than an authoritative series of lectures or policy decisions. My bumper sticker version of this point is, “Opponents of Rehabilitation Are People Too.” As I have argued concerning criminals, ordinary people are not mysteriously or perversely resistant to change. They are just convinced by deeply indoctrinated views. Prevailing morality is like a book of precepts that we all sense and immediately recognize but almost never analyze and reconsider. There is no other worldly set of psychological principles involved. At root, there are only commonplace issues of respect and disrespect to consider.
I began doing that anew during my most recent encounter with a few of the social workers who had adamantly opposed the idea that these criminals have remorse and are capable of changing. I was enlightened by Ray Jones, one of the principal architects of broad social movements in San Francisco and Seattle that resulted in well-financed programs for the poor. Ray explained that what worked for his group was a series of roundtable discussion at which representatives of opposing views are gathered. I recently simulated this venue in several social encounters with two social workers. We eventually agreed that only a small percentage of the criminal population lack remorse and are untreatable. A social worker with whom I was talking disarmed me completely by suddenly switching from opposing my idea to supporting it in her own words. She said, “I think that if you that anti-social personality disorders (who comprise the majority of criminals) can be reached by believing in them so that they can come to believe in themselves.” What had been entrenching her and others in their conventional view was partly my fuzziness about the exact population I was addressing. I had sounded like I was saying that all criminals are amenable to approaches like the ones that reached Eddie. When I presented facts and arguments to show that some criminals are not amenable to the kind of treatment Eddie received but that these were only a very small percentage of the total criminal population, these two social workers changed their point of view. It was if they had been polarized by what seemed my one-sided view of the issues.
I am making my conversations with these social workers sound much more straightforward than they were. There were tedious, disorganizing digressions and intense disagreement at points, and I think my skill as a therapist and conversationalist was important, as well as my knowledge of the field of psychology. Moreover, their skill helped too. However, Ray’s point held true, the point that free-ranging conversation in small groups is a necessary part of the process of enabling people to consider unconventional, emotion laden and dense ideas. My only addendum to his idea at this point is that, to convince professional staff, you have to speak their language and know the literature in their fields, because they use that material to make their points.
One of the best places to start learning more about how to convince staff, I recently discovered, is with people like Michael Simmons. I am now seeking them out and setting up meetings with them. What is striking about both them and the people they help is that, when I introduce the idea that profound expressions of respect and love are the difference that makes all the difference, they intensely agree and begin rhapsodizing about the people who helped then. However, within a few minutes, they split off into an entirely moralistic view of change. They say things that, when expressed to them during their struggles, seemed noxious, things like, “It’s all about making different choices.” Or they say, “People have to learn to take responsibility for themselves.” In the few instances I have pointed out this split and challenged the moralistic view by reminding them of their own experience, they agree, as the social workers began to do. There is rich material in these discussions that I will continue to report.

Dear JBMTI Friends,

Please join us at our upcoming "WOMEN IN THERAPY" conference, co-sponsored
by Harvard Medical School, April 28-29. The conference highlights recent
advances, overcoming impasses, and finding hope. It convenes at the
beautiful Park Plaza Hotel in downtown Boston (please see the attached
brochure).

This year’s distinguished presenters include...

** Deborah Tannen - Communicating with Our Mothers and Our Daughters
** Amy Banks - How Neurobiology Impacts Relationships
** Janina Fisher - Helping Women Get “Unstuck”
** Jean Kilbourne - Images of Women - The Naked Truth
** Judith V. Jordan - Building Connections, Building Hope
** Maureen Walker - Making Hope Real: From Powerlessness to Possibility

Following Friday’s presentations, you are invited to join us for an
informal gathering of JBMTI friends at 5:30 PM in Swans Cafe, near the
lobby. If you can attend, please send your RSVP to: [
mailto:jbmti@wellesley.edu ]jbmti@wellesley.edu. We will email you
additional information about this gathering at a later date.

We hope to see you soon!

Jean Baker Miller Training Institute
Web site: http://www.jbmti.org
e-mail: jbmti@wellesley.edu Phone: 781-283-3007
24-hr registration: 781-283-3800

Wellesley Centers for Women - Wellesley College
106 Central Street - Wellesley, MA 02481

We would appreciate it if you posted/circulated the following ad for
a position opening at Teachers College, Columbia University to
relevant listserv / website.

Cordially,
Sina M. Mossayeb
Comparative and International Education
Department of International and Transcultural Studies
Teachers College, Columbia University

*********

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION (3 Year Contract)
Department of International and Transcultural Studies
(Pending final approval and funding)

Position: The programs in International Educational Development
(IED)/Comparative and International Education (CIE) in the
Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers
College, Columbia University, are opening a search for a junior
faculty member for a three-year position with a specialization in
Middle East Education. This is pending final approval and funding.

Responsibilities: The new appointee is based in the programs of
IED/CIE and will be expected to teach core courses in International
Education as well as specialized courses in Middle East Education.

Qualifications: Earned doctorate in education, history, or social
sciences, with evidence of a strong research agenda in education in
the Middle East. Preference will be given to candidates with a
record of publication and teaching in these fields.

Rank: Assistant Professor with a three year contract.

Application: Candidates should submit a CV, an overall letter of
interest with details on how they meet the criteria for the
position, and three names of potential referees. In addition, the
applicants should provide three writing samples, and a sample
syllabus for a course on Middle East education. Applications should
be sent to:

Professor Gita Steiner-Khamsi
Columbia University, Teachers College
Department of International and Transcultural Studies
Box 55
525 West 120th Street,
New York, NY 10027

For inquires email: Sina Mossayeb (smm2155@columbia.edu)

Review of applications begins on April 10, 2006. Appointment begins
September 2006.

Teachers College as an institution is committed to a policy of equal
opportunity in employment. In offering education, psychology, and
health studies, the College is committed to providing expanding
employment opportunities to minorities, women, and persons with
disabilities in its own activities and in society. Candidates whose
qualifications and experience are directly relevant to College
priorities (e.g., urban issues, education equity, and concerns of
underrepresented groups) may be considered for higher rank than
advertised.

Disclaimer: http://www.kuleuven.be/cwis/email_disclaimer.htm

Dear all

Diasporas, Migration and Identities Postgraduate Event at the University of Leeds, 13 and 14 December 2006.

This is the first of two postgraduate events to be run under the auspices of the Diasporas, Migration and Identities Programme. The second will be held in 2008.

It will provide an opportunity for you to meet other postgraduates from many different disciplines, and will be an occasion when you can present a paper to your peers in an informal seminar, or participate in and even lead a workshop.

The programme is likely to follow the following format:

First day:

Coffee and registration
A keynote lecture
Lunch
Afternoon seminars and workshops
Evening reception and meal
Perhaps some form of evening entertainment

Second Day:

Morning seminars and workshops
Lunch
Plenary session
Close

I would be glad to hear from you if you are interested in principle in attending the event.

We would also like to have your input into the way the event should be run, including:

- the format of the seminars and workshops. What would you like to see included? Are you keen to have plenty of time for discussion, or is the sharing of papers more important to you? Or would a mixture of both be more appropriate?
- would you wish to give a paper or lead a workshop?
- do you have anyone in mind who you would like to hear as a keynote speaker?
We are also looking for other postgraduates in the region to help with the organisation of the event, and would like to hear from you if you want to become involved. The working group has had its first meeting, but we will be meeting again in May to discuss the next stage.

Once we have finalised the way the event will be organised, we will email you again with further information.

Katie Roche
AHRC Programme Administrator
Diasporas, Migration and Identities
Address: Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds LS2 9JT
Tel: +44 113 3437838
Fax: +44 113 3433654
email: k.a.roche@leeds.ac.uk
http://www.diasporas.ac.uk

DEAR POTENTIAL STUDENT,

THE MA PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN STUDIES ORGANIZED BY THE INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL AND EUROPEAN STUDIES (ISES) in collaboration with CORVINUS UNIVERSITY, Budapest provides students with the opportunity to obtain theoretical and practical knowledge in the fields of international relations, economics, political science, history and sociology. ISES provides a variety of programs and services during the academic year which we hope will make your stay in Hungary a rewarding and enriching experience. You will be part of an international student body of approximately 30 students and have opportunity to meet outstanding professors from around the world. For more information on the MA program, its requirements and application form, please see:
http://www.ises.hu/ma200607.html

DURATION OF THE PROGRAMME: 3 semesters: This program requires 2 semesters of course work in Kőszeg and one semester elsewhere for the writing of the thesis.

FEES

1. APPLICATION FEES

When applying for admission every applicant must pay a non-refundable application fee. The application fee is valid for only one application for admission.

Application Fee: 60 Euros.

2. TUITION FEES

Students pay a tuition fee for the courses and supplementary services provided by the university. Proof of payment has to be shown at the ISES office before the deadline for payment expires.

Tuition Fee: 2700 Euros/semester.

Deadline for payment of tuition fees:

1st semester: September 15. 2006

2nd semester: Februar 8. 2007

Application and Tuition fees may be paid in either Euros or Hungarian Forints.

All Payments should be wired to:

Institute for Social and European Studies Foundation
CIB Central European International Bank Rt.
Fő tér 33
9700 Szombathely, Hungary
Account Number: 10700127-04-76604-51100005
IBAN: HU39107001270457660451100005

Tuition fees do not include housing. We can arrange dormitory housing in a double room for 100 Euros/25,000 HUF per month if requested. Apartments can also be found at reasonable rates in the town of Kőszeg.

GRADUATE INTERNSHIPS

Internships will be accepted for a maximum of 15 credits (30 ECTS credits) only after certification of successful completion and the successful preparation and approval by ISES of an Internship Report.

VISA AND RESIDENCE PERMIT

All students who are non-EU nationals and who wish to study in Hungary at a higher education institution must obtain a D5 student visa which contains a valid residence permit for a given period of time. EU nationals must obtain - upon arrival in Hungary - a residence permit allowing them to study in Hungary.

If you are a non-EU national and have a residence permit already, but not one specified for “study, or further study” [tanulás, továbbképzés], then you will need to obtain a D5 (student) visa before being allowed to register at the ISES.

For more information on the D5 visa requirements check the following website:
http://www.kulugyminiszterium.hu/Kulugyminiszterium/en

HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY

Students studying at the ISES must have valid medical and health insurance for accidents and illness covering the period of their stay in Hungary. While some countries have a bilateral agreement with Hungary (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Norway, Northern Ireland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan) this agreement only covers the cost of emergency medical assistance and is not accepted as medical insurance by the immigration authorities when students obtain or renew their residence permit. EU nationals can prove health insurance with the E-111 form; with a valid E-111 they are entitled to the same health care services as Hungarian nationals.

Proof of medical insurance must be shown at the ISES office during the orientation week.

For further information please contact the following address:
postmaster@ises-koszeg.t-online.hu

Tune in to a global community radio broadcast against discrimination this March 21st

Montreal, March 20, 2006 - Discrimination in all its forms will be the main subject of a 19-hour radio broadcast, Radio Voices Without Frontiers (RVSF), that will go on air across five continents on March 21st, 2006. Listen to the broadcast at http://www.rvsf.amarc.org.

This broadcast campaign of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), co-produced with affiliates from around the world, will commemorate the UN International Day for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination.

Through documentaries, interviews, debates, poetry and music, community radio producers from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America will discuss the various challenges that discrimination poses to people around the world and how they are coping with it. Programs will be broadcasted in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Arabic and other languages.

This multilingual broadcast campaign mobilizes community radios around a global issue and encourages them to use new communication technologies such as the Internet to extend the reach of their words. Radio Voices Without Frontiers will be webstreamed on http://www.rvsf.amarc.org and relayed via satellite (eutelsat hotbird6) in Europe on March 21st. Audio files will reside in the RVSF Web site for ulterior consultation as well. Programs will be re-distributed by local community radio stations worldwide.

RVSF 2006 International Broadcast Schedule *GMT = Greenwich Mean Time
Asia: 4:00 -7:00 GMT = 9:45-12:45 Kathmandu time (3 hours)
Africa: 7:00 -10:00 GMT = 9:00 -12:00 Johannesburg time (3 hours)
Europe: 10:00 -15:00 GMT = 11:00-16:00 Rome time (5 hours)
North America: 15:00 - 19:00 GMT = 10:00-14:00 Montreal time (4 hours)
Latin America: 19:00-22:45 GMT =16:00-19:45 Buenos Aires time (3:45 hours)

For more information about participating stations and programs, please go to http://www.rvsf.amarc.org

BACKGROUNDER
Highlights of Radio Voices Without Frontiers (RVSF), March 21st, 2006

Asia-Pacific - For the third year, there will be a special three-hour broadcast from Asia with contributions from Nepal, Australia, the Philippines and Jordan, among others.

Africa - Working with a team of journalists across the African continent, RVSF will broadcast live from AMARC's Simbani News Agency in Johannesburg, South Africa. Community radio stations and producers in Uganda, Cameroon, Senegal, and Mali will join the broadcast, which will be in English, French and other languages.

Europe - Broadcasting live from Rome, Italy, AMISNET will feature contributions in German, English, Italian, Spanish, Arabic and French, from countries such as Italy, Ireland, UK, Spain, France and Germany.

Latin America - AMARC's news agency PULSAR will broadcast live and in Spanish from Buenos Aires, Argentina feeding contributions from community radio stations in Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Basque Country, Chile, Spain, Bolivia and Colombia.

North America - In Canada, CJSF-FM from Vancouver will offer a 1-hour live broadcast and several other contributions from producers and community radios across the country. In the United States, KCSB FM, from Santa Barbara, California, will offer a 2-hour live broadcast with contributions from community radio stations and producers across the country.

For interviews and further information, please contact:
International/Asia-Pacific & North America - Sophie Toupin, AMARC International
Tel : 514- 982-0351; e-mail: sophie@amarc.org
Latin America & the Caribbean - Ines Farina, Pulsar
Tel: (011) 4867-3806; e-mail: ines@agenciapulsar.org
Europe - Coordination: Leopoldo Calabria, Amisnet, Press Office and organization for Italy: Irene Di Noto
Tel: (+39-06) 8632-8312; e-mail: lipordu@amisnet.org
Africa - Chris Kgadima, Simbani News Agency
Tel: (+27-11) 403-7913.6785; e-mail: newsp@amarcafrica.org

AMARC is an international non-governmental organization serving the community radio movement, and linking more than 3,000 community radios in over 110 countries. AMARC aims to support, defend and promote the interests of community broadcasters through solidarity and international cooperation

-----------

Le 21 mars, écoutez la radiodiffusion mondiale contre la discrimination

Montréal, 20 mars 2006 - La discrimination sous toutes ses formes sera le sujet principal de Radio voix sans frontières (RVSF) une radiodiffusion de 19 heures qui sera diffusée à travers les cinq continents le 21 mars 2006. Pour écouter la radiodiffusion visitez http://www.rvsf.amarc.org.

Cette radiodiffusion de l'Association mondiale des radiodiffuseurs communautaires (AMARC), coproduite avec des membres affiliés de partout à travers le monde, commémora la journée internationale de l'ONU pour l'Élimination de toutes formes de discrimination.

Sous forme de documentaires, d'entrevues, de discussions, de poésie et de musique, des producteurs de radios communautaires d'Asie, d'Afrique, d'Europe, d'Amérique du Nord et d'Amérique latine, discuteront des divers défis que la discrimination pose pour les peuples autour du monde et comment ceux-ci font pour y faire face. Les programmes seront entre autres diffusés en anglais, français, espagnol, allemand, italien et en arabe.
Cette radiodiffusion multilingue mobilise des radios communautaires autour d'un même sujet et les encourage à employer les nouvelles technologies de la communication telles que l'Internet pour faire entendre leurs voix. Le 21 mars, Radio voix sans frontières sera transmise sur l'Internet à l'adresse suivante http://www.rvsf.amarc.org et via satellite (eutelsat hotbird6) en Europe. Également, les fichiers audio seront disponibles sur le site de RVSF pour consultation ultérieure. Les programmes seront redistribués dans le monde par les stations de radios communautaires locales.
RVSF 2006 - Horaire de la radiodiffusion internationale * TU = Temps universel

Asie: 4h00 - 7h00 TU = 9h45 -12h45 heure de Katmandu (3 heures)
Afrique: 7h00 - 10h00 TU = 9h00 - 12h00 heure de Johannesburg (3 heures)
Europe: 10h00 - 15h00 TU = 11h00 -16h00 heure de Rome (5 heures)
Amérique du Nord: 15h00 - 19h00 TU = 10h00 - 14h00 heure de Montréal (4 heures)
Amérique latine: 19h00-22h45 TU =16h00-19h45 heure de Buenos Aires (3h45 heures)

Pour plus d'information sur les stations de radios participantes et les programmes, visitez http://www.rvsf.amarc.org

Fiche documentaire suit
Points saillants de Radio voix sans frontières
Asie-Pacifique - Pour la troisième année consécutive, la radiodiffusion de trois heures comportera entre autres des contributions du Népal, de l'Australie, des Philippines et de l'Inde.
Afrique - Travaillant avec une équipe de journalistes basée un peu partout à travers le continent africain, la radiodiffusion de RVSF se fera en direct de l'agence de nouvelles de l'AMARC-Afrique: Simbani, à Johannesburg, Afrique du Sud. Les stations et les producteurs de radios communautaires en Ouganda, au Cameroun, au Sénégal, et au Mali joindront la radiodiffusion, qui se déroulera en anglais, français et autres langues.

Europe - La radiodiffusion se fera en direct d'AMISNET une agence d'information sociale multimédia située à Rome en Italie. Les programmes seront diffusés en allemand, anglais, italien, anglais et français, et proviendront de pays tels que l'Italie, l'Irlande, le R-U, la France, l'Espagne et l'Allemagne.

Amérique latine - L'Agence d'information d'AMARC-Amérique latine: PULSAR transmettra en direct de Buenos Aires, Argentine des contributions de stations de radios communautaires de l'Équateur, l'Uruguay, le pays Basque, le Chili, l'Espagne, la Bolivie et la Colombie.

Amérique du Nord - Au Canada, CJSF-FM de Vancouver diffusera en directe une heure de programmation de plusieurs producteurs de radio de ce pays. Aux Etats Unis, KCSB-FM à Santa Barbara, Californie, diffusera en direct deux heures de programmation de plusieurs producteurs de radio de ce pays.

Pour des entrevues et plus d'information, contactez:
Amérique du Nord & Asie/International- Sophie Toupin, AMARC Secrétariat International, Tel 514- 982-0351; courrier: sophie@amarc.org
Amérique latine & les Caraïbes- Ines Farina
Tel: (011) 4867-3806; courrier: ines@agenciapulsar.org
Europe - Coordination : Leopoldo Calabria, Amisnet, Bureau de presse et organisation Italie : Irene Di Noto
Tel: (+39-06) 8632-8312; courrier: lipordu@amisnet.org
Afrique - Chris Kgadima, Simbani News Agency
Tel: (+27-11) 403-7913.6785; courrier: newsp@amarcafrica.org

AMARC est une organisation internationale non gouvernementale servant le mouvement de la radio communautaire qui dessert plus de 3000 membres dans plus de 110 pays. AMARC vise à soutenir, défendre et favoriser les intérêts des radiodiffuseurs communautaires par la solidarité et la coopération.

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Este 21 de Marzo, escuche una emisión mundial de las radios comunitarias contra la discriminación

Montreal, 20 de marzo de 2006 - La discriminación en todas sus formas será el tema central de una emisión radiofónica de 19 horas, Radio Voces Sin Fronteras, (RVSF) la cual se difundirá en cinco continentes el día 21 de marzo de 2006. Para escuchar la radiodifusión visitan: http://www.rvsf.amarc.org.

Esta co-producción de la Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias (AMARC) y sus emisoras afiliadas alrededor del mundo conmemora el Día Internacional Contra la Discriminación Racial, fecha establecida por la ONU.

Por medio de documentales, entrevistas, debates, música y poesía, productores de radio comunitaria del Asia, África, Europa, América del Norte y América Latina hablarán sobre los retos que la discriminación le presenta a sus comunidades y cómo éstas les hacen frente. Los oyentes podrán escuchar programas en inglés, francés, español, alemán, italiano, árabe, y otros idiomas.

Esta emisión multilingüe moviliza las radios comunitarias del mundo alrededor de una problemática común y las motiva a usar las nuevas tecnologías de la comunicación tales como el Internet para ampliar así el alcance de sus palabras. Radio Voces sin Fronteras será distribuida vía webstreaming en http://www.rvsf.amarc.org y a través de los servicios satélite de Eutelsat hotbird6 (en Europa) el 21 de marzo. Los archivos de audio quedarán en el sitio Web de RVSF para consultas posteriores. Los programas serán distribuidos por emisoras de radio comunitaria en todo el mundo.

RVSF 2006 - Horario de la transmisión internacional = Hora de Greenwich (GMT)
Asia: 4:00 -7:00 GMT = 9:45 -12:45 Hora de Katmandú (3 horas)
África: 7:00 - 10:00 GMT = 9:00 - 12:00 Hora de Johannesburgo (3 horas)
Europa: 10:00 - 15:00 GMT = 11:00 -16:00 Hora de Roma (5 horas)
América del Norte: 15:00 - 19:00 GMT = 10:00 - 14:00 Hora de Montreal (4 horas)
América Latina: 19:00-22:45 GMT =16:45-19:45 Hora de Buenos Aires (3 :45 horas)

Para mayor información sobre la programación, por favor vaya a http://www.rvsf.amarc.org

Ficha informativa
Aspectos sobresalientes de la transmisión de Radio Voces Sin Fronteras (RVSF), 21 de marzo de 2006

Asia-Pacífico - Por tercer año consecutivo, habrá una emisión especial de tres horas sobre el Asia con programas de Nepal, Australia, las Filipinas y Jordania.

África -Transmisión en vivo desde la agencia de noticias de AMARC, Simbani, en Johannesburgo, Sudáfrica con programas de radios comunitarias y productores de radio en Uganda, Camerún, Senegal, y Malí entre otros. La transmisión será en ingles, francés et otras idiomas.
Europa - Transmisión en vivo de AMISNET desde Roma, Italia, con programas en alemán, inglés, italiano, árabe y francés, provenientes de Italia, Irlanda, Reino Unido, España, Francia y Alemania.

América Latina - La emisión en español se realizará en vivo desde la Agencia informativa Púlsar, en Buenos Aires, Argentina. En este segmento se presentarán producciones de radios comunitarias de Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, del País Vasco, Chile, España, Bolivia y Colombia.

América del Norte - En el Canadá, CJSF-FM en Vancouver difundirá en directo una hora de programación de productores de radio de este país. En Estados Unidos, KCSB-FM en Santa Bárbara, California, difundirá en directo dos horas de programación de productores de radio de este país.
Para entrevistas e información adicional, por favor comuníquese con:
Internacional / Asia-Pacífico & América del Norte -Sophie Toupin, AMARC Internacional
Tel.: 514- 982-0351; correo: sophie@amarc.org
América Latina & el Caribe - Ines Farina, Pulsar
Tel.: (011) 4867-3806; e-mail: ines@agenciapulsar.org
Europa - coordinación : Leopoldo Calabria, AMISNET, Oficina de prensa y organización Italia : Irene Di Noto
Tel.: (+39-06) 8632-8312; correo: lipordu@amisnet.org
África - Chris Kgadima, Simbani Agencia de Noticias
Tel.: (+27-11) 403-7913.6785; correo: newsp@amarcafrica.org

AMARC es una organización internacional que está al servicio del movimiento de las radios comunitarias. AMARC conecta más de 3 000 miembros en más de 110 países. AMARC apoya, defiende y promueve los intereses de las radios comunitarias a través de acciones solidarias y de la cooperación internacional.

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
March 21, 2006

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. This is why the Islamists are winning by Rami G. Khouri
Rami G. Khouri, regular contributor to the Daily Star in Beirut, addresses the approach to issues dominating Western discussions of Islam, explaining how “such views suffer from two fundamental constraints: they either reflect Western historical traditions and assume that Islamic societies must follow the same trajectory of democratic reform and modernity; or, they focus only on the religious vocabulary of the Islamists, without grasping the political and national issues that drive them”. These issues include those of “a revived Islamic caliphate, suicide bombers enticed by virgins in heaven, Islamofascism, the need for reformation and modernisation in Islam, the urgency of embracing secularism in Arab-Islamic society, problems with education in religious schools, anti-American, anti-Israeli incitement in Arab media”, among others.
(Source: Daily Star, March 15, 2006)

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ARTICLE 1
Two theories of ijtihad
M. A. Muqtedar Khan

Newark, New Jersey - As tensions between the Muslim and Western worlds continue to grow, there is one largely overlooked area of activity that may play a role in building bridges: ijtihad. While ijtihad can be a tool for understanding Islamic principles in a way that fits the needs and challenges of individuals and societies, there is no universal agreement on its proper role.

The Islamic tradition has two conceptions of ijtihad. One is a very narrow, legalistic notion of it as a process of juristic reasoning employed to determine the permissibility of an action when primary sources, namely the Qur’an and Sunnah (Tradition of the Prophet), are silent and earlier scholars of shari‘a (Islamic law) had not ruled on the matter. For those who hold this view of ijtihad, who can perform ijtihad is often more important than the need for ijtihad.

In reality, this view is designed to stifle independent thought among Muslims and to confine the right to understand and explain Islam to Muslim jurists. It is also opposed to reasoning, because it essentially says that reason shall be employed only when the texts are silent and no medieval scholar has addressed the issue under scrutiny. Reason, according to this viewpoint, is the last resort for understanding the will of God. For those who hold this view, opening the doors of ijtihad would make no difference, since their very conception of it is impoverished and limited.

The second view, often espoused by non-jurists and particularly by those who advocate some form of Islamic modernism and liberalism, envisions ijtihad more broadly. For modernist Muslims – and I believe that Islamic modernism deeply influences all “moderate” Muslim thinking – ijtihad is about freedom of thought, rational thinking and the quest for truth through an epistemology covering science, rationalism, human experience, critical thinking and so on.

When modernist Muslims claim that the door of ijtihad has been closed, they are lamenting the loss of the spirit of inquiry that was so spectacularly demonstrated by classical Islamic civilisation at its peak. They are, in a sense, nostalgic for Ibn Sina’ (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), for al-Farabi, al-Biruni and al-Haytham -- scientists, philosophers and jurists of Islam’s “Golden Age”. Thus, modernist Muslims see ijtihad as the spirit of inquiry and desire for all forms of knowledge, not just religious and juristic, that needs to be revived to revitalise and restore Islamic civilisation.

As long as a majority of Muslims equates Islam with shari‘a, Islamic scholarship with fiqh (jurisprudence) and real knowledge with juristic knowledge, ijtihad will remain a limited jurisprudential tool and closed minds will never open. Islamic modernists have been trying, since the time of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the great Muslim reformer of the 19th century, to re-instil a sense of the value of knowledge and an appreciation for science and philosophical inquiry. Yet, as a Muslim, I acknowledge that there is no research institution worthy of recognition in this way in the entire Muslim world.

Muslims must go back and read Ibn Rushd [Fasl al-Maqaal, The Decisive Treatise], and learn how he bridged science and religion, in order to understand that Islam has nothing to fear from reason and so to open their hearts and minds to rational thought. This is the goal that Ibn Khaldun, the great 14th century Arab historian and philosopher, would have called the “engine of civilisation”. Modernist Muslims subscribe to and advocate this spirit of Islam.

Islamic reformation can be understood in two different ways. It can mean the reform of society to bring it back to what have been considered Islamic norms and values: most Islamic and Islamist reformers are pursuing this type of reform. The other reform strategy is to question the existing understanding of Islam and seek to articulate a reformed understanding of Islam: this is where Islamic modernists and rationalists have always plied their trade.

Here, ijtihad is employed as an instrument to critique prevalent understanding and articulate a more compassionate, more modern and, perhaps, even a more liberal understanding (which some would call the truly-traditional understanding). The rethinking of Islam vis-à-vis democracy is an area in which Islamic reformist thinking is taking place.

In my opinion, Muslims can modernise without de-Islamising or de-traditionalising. India and Japan have shown that societies can modernise without losing their traditional cultures. Muslim societies today have to distinguish between Islam and culture, retain their Islamic essence and reform dysfunctional cultural habits that hinder development, progress, equality and prosperity.

Without holding fast to revelation, Muslims will lose their connection with the divine, which would cause life to lose meaning and purpose for many. The challenge for Muslims today is to latch on to the currents of democracy, modernity and globalisation without cutting the umbilical cord to the heavens. I believe that we can do it. American Muslims are demonstrating this in their lives.

When it comes to the modern practice of ijtihad, American Muslims are miles ahead of other Muslim communities. Not only are there a large number of scholars pushing for ijtihad in the US, but there are also national organisations and prominent Islamic centres that are, in principle, willing to put initiatives advanced by ijtihad into practice.

An excellent practical example of this is the adoption of guidelines for women-friendly mosques by many Islamic centres. An outstanding theoretical example is the now widespread acceptance in the US, and to some extent in Europe, of the idea of Fiqh al Aqliyaat (minority jurisprudence), which is the idea that Muslims who live as minorities need to revisit and rearticulate Islamic legal positions, keeping in mind their minority status. We can see the product of American ijtihad in the progressive role that women play in the American-Muslim community and in Islamic scholarship. Another important indicator is the absence of embedded radicalism in American Islam and the enormous appetite that American Muslims and their organisations express for democracy, civil rights, pluralism and civic engagement.

Thus, a broad vision of ijtihad ensures that Islam and Muslim communities continue to reform in positive ways without losing the connection to Divine revelation and traditional culture. Muslims must continue to embrace this spirit of inquiry and desire for all forms of knowledge in order to revitalise and restore Islamic civilisation.

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* Dr. M. A. Muqtedar Khan is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware. He is also a non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the editor of the forthcoming volume, Islamic Democratic Theory .
This article is part of a series of views on "The Role of Ijtihad in Muslim-Western Relations”, published jointly by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and United Press International (UPI).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 21, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
Reconciliation efforts in Sudan bearing fruit
Rachel Oswald

Washington, D.C. - In Sudan, a country that has torn itself apart in the last twenty years over religious differences, some Christian and Muslim religious leaders believe that it is through religion that a lasting peace can be forged.

The Sudan Inter-Religious Council (SIRC) is taking small steps but achieving real results in its work with Muslim and Christian communities as well as with the Muslim- dominated Sudanese government.

An important principle for SIRC is that Muslims and Christians be equally represented in every committee and ruling body. The objectives of SIRC according to Al Tayib Zain, Secretary-General of SIRC, are national unity and the protection of religious freedom.

“We have managed to bring together for the first time Christian leaders and Muslim leaders to sit together in a productive organisation and exchange ideas and discuss real problems”, said Zain, speaking at a recent United States Institute of Peace (USIP) event.

Recent SIRC activities have included an interfaith conference on Darfur and the successful petitioning to permit the building of new churches in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. A previous discriminatory practice made it nearly impossible for Christians to build new churches, which resulted in the overcrowding of the few churches already in existence in Khartoum before the outbreak of civil war. However applications to build new mosques were generally always granted.

This past July, SIRC and USIP, a non-partisan institution established and funded by Congress, co-sponsored a conference for Christian and Muslim leaders to prepare an action plan for Sudanese religious leaders to help implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

The peace agreement, signed last January, ended nearly two decades of civil war that took the lives of roughly 1.9 million civilians in southern Sudan and displaced more than 4 million over the course of the war. The Sudanese civil war had the highest civilian death toll in a war since World War II.

According to the terms of the CPA, the south will have autonomy for six years, followed by a referendum on secession. Income from oilfields is to be shared equally between the government and the rebel forces from the south. Islamic law is to remain in the north, while continued use of the shari‘a in the south is to be decided by an elected assembly. Jobs previously barred to Christians are also expected to be opened up.

Some people are doubtful of the north’s intentions to implement the conditions of the peace treaty in good faith. Albaqir Mukhtar predicts that the south will vote to secede from the north in six years and that the government in Khartoum will not see any point in investing money and energy into the concessions. “I don’t think they will implement the treaty in good faith, they will continue dragging their feet”, said Mukhtar, a Senior Fellow of the Jennings Randolph Fellowship Program.

Mukhtar believes that the Sudanese government, dominated by the National Congress Party (NCP), is anticipating that an independent southern state will quickly be torn apart as old tribal divisions arise and lead to internal fighting.

“They think that they can manipulate the situation. There is a small minority of Muslims in the south and they [the NCP] think they can interfere under the claim of protecting Muslims in the south or if the situation gets worse, the international community could ask them to intervene”, said Mukhtar.

Thus far, progress on the implementation of the peace agreement has been sluggish at best. A U.N. representative in Sudan said that the peace process must become more inclusive and incorporate other political parties as well as civil society if it is to be successful.

Jan Pronk, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Sudan and Head of the United Nations mission there, said that rehabilitation and development of the south’s agriculture, economy and village life had not yet started. He also noted that the capacity of the government of southern Sudan is still very limited.

“I’m not optimistic. I am really pessimistic”, said Muhammad Yaha, a political exile living in the United States, of the north’s sincerity in following through on the CPA. According to Yaha, the NCP doesn’t just discriminate against non-Muslims but anyone who is not Arab.

“You have to be an Arab and a Muslim to have any rights in Sudan”, said Yaha. Much of the conflict between northern and southern Sudan is largely a struggle over whether Sudan sees itself as Arab/Middle Eastern or African. Today the Arabic speaking Muslim north, home to three quarters of the population of Sudan, has looked increasingly to the Middle East for political and religious guidance.

Recently, radical Muslim groups, funded largely by Saudi Arabia, have gained popularity in northern Sudan. Mostly comprised of Salafis, they contrast sharply with the vast majority of Sudanese Muslims who are Sufis. Salafism is a Sunni fundamentalist movement which considers many of the practices of Sufis, such as supplication to saints for intercession with the Divine, to be wrong and seeks to eradicate them.

Mukhtar, however, does not believe that the Salafis will last long in Sudan. Once the Saudi money dries up, Mukhtar predicts that the Salafis will no longer be able to attract new members. If that happens, the threat of continued political extremism by the government of Sudan could diminish, and the prospects for peace may increase.

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* Rachel Oswald is a senior at George Washington University, majoring in Middle Eastern studies.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 21, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 3
Distorting an image
Neil Stormer

Washington, D.C. - Islam, according to American televangelist Pat Robertson, “is not a peaceful religion that wants to coexist. They [Muslims] want to coexist until they can control, dominate and then if need be destroy.”

Coming from Robertson, a preacher who advocated the assassination of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, this remark could easily be dismissed as the ramblings of a paranoid bigot. But a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll indicates that other Americans have reached similar, though less drastic, conclusions: 33 per cent of Americans polled believe Islam encourages violence; 54 per cent believe that there are more violent extremists among Muslims than among followers of other faiths; and 46 per cent have an unfavourable impression of Islam.

While 33 per cent represents the minority, it should be a cause for concern among Muslims and rational Americans alike. It is no wonder the Dubai Ports World deal drew such irrationally angry responses — one out of three Americans polled believe that Muslims are driven to violence as part of their faith.

It is not hard to understand why some have started to question just how peaceful Islam is. They see repeated images of violence in Iraq, they hear the vitriolic harangues from Iran, and they hear pundits, politicians and preachers equate the rise in terrorism with the spread of Islam.

The words and images of hate do not represent Islam, but rather extremism. The two have been conflated for the simple reason that peace doesn't sell. Positive portrayals of Muslims in the media are infrequent. But images of Muslims engaged in violence and mayhem make for compelling news; and Hamas calling for the destruction of Israel is a good lead story on CNN, especially after the group's electoral victory.

To many in the West, Hamas is one of the two or three most widely-known Islamic groups, with Al Qaeda and the Taliban rounding out the group. This broad association between Islam and groups that embrace violence only helps reinforce in the minds of 33 per cent the image of the Muslim as a warrior. Included in Hamas' charter is a quote from the Koran that is widely referenced as evidence of the brutality of Islam given Hamas' use of violence: “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. Then, the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.”

As a result of the inclusion of this passage in Hamas' charter, it has received greater attention than it warrants. There is no question that its message is inherently violent, but no more so than, for example, the Torah's, which repeatedly calls for the annihilation of the enemies of the Israelites. More importantly, the above verse is one passage cherry-picked from the whole of the text, and is not representative of the message of Islam.

Other portions of Hamas' charter fail to receive as much publicity. Article 31, for example, aligns with the Prophet Mohammad's description of the ummah as the spiritual and peaceful unification of Muslims, Christians and Jews: “The Islamic Resistance Movement is a humanistic movement. It takes care of human rights and is guided by Islamic tolerance when dealing with the followers of other religions. It does not antagonise anyone of them except if it is antagonised by it or stands in its way to hamper its moves and waste its efforts.

“Under the wing of Islam, it is possible for the followers of the three religions — Islam, Christianity and Judaism — to coexist in peace and quiet with each other. Peace and quiet would not be possible except under the wing of Islam. Past and present history are the best witness to that”.

While not an expression of adoration, Article 31 is based on the Koranic dictate: “Do not begin hostilities; God does not like the aggressor”. For a group that advocates the use of violence, this is a noteworthy conciliation to Islam's peaceful foundation.

Encouragingly, according to the poll, half of the Americans polled recognised that Islam is rooted in peace. But those that remain unsure of their feelings on the issue are being inundated with extremists' messages of hate — Pat Roberston's and Abu Mussab Zarqawi's alike.

The 46 per cent of Americans that have a bad impression of Islam have gained their impression of the faith and its people from those that have hijacked its message. Other faiths have been plagued by violent extremism, but never has the confluence of the media's use of extremists and extremists' use of the media made for such a potent misinterpretation of a religion. The result is that Islam is more frequently associated with phrases like “Death to America!” than “Peace be unto you”.

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* Neil Stormer lives in Washington D.C., and works in conflict resolution and foreign policy.
Source: Jordan Times, March 15, 2006
Visit the website at www.jordantimes.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
The politics of small steps
Marc S. Ellenbogen

London - "It is the worst political crisis in Danish foreign policy history", said a ranking diplomat to an invited audience of 100 last week in Prague. The cartoon crisis had not just raised the question of compatibility between cultures, but also of competing cultures within Denmark itself. The Danish government was not quick enough to respond, and key Islamic leaders in Denmark used the situation to their own selfish benefit.

An ambassador noted that "one should not get provoked even if someone provokes you", noting that in fact, the Danes and their Lutheran background made them a very tolerant people. He added that he did not accept the paradigm of the "clash of cultures". Instead, he saw the need to de-escalate the tension and look for a moving-forward strategy.

Another ambassador said "of course the cartoons offended, but there was much more behind it. The cartoons were the drop that caused the water to run-over. The current situation in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, the conflict between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, Iran and the war on terror have provoked a huge out-flux of emotions among Muslims". The ambassador, who has been stationed in Muslim countries, continued that the conflict was not about one culture, and one religion. "We need to look beyond traditional politics. We need a dialogue between community leaders in various countries, to go below the waterline, to reach regional interests that are not being represented in the international political arena".

In a splendid room of the Morzin Palace, the Prague Society and Global Panel had invited a small, well-placed group of European diplomats, ambassadors, a few professors, a constitutional court judge and students representing five academic institutions to discuss whether "diplomacy is capable of handling the crisis between secular and religious societies". One might have expected the discussions to boil over. But order was kept, and the host, Ambassador Gheorghe Tinca, the first Romanian civilian defence minister after the fall of Ceausescu, kept people in a calm yet intense stride.

"There is nothing wrong with Islam", a highly respected diplomat and expert on Muslim states stated. "All religions have extreme wings. In fact," he continued, "there is no single explanation for the current tensions. The cartoons served only as a funnel. We must look at each of the countries separately, and approach them separately. The group approach can only fail. The violent reactions have not been analyzed completely, though we know they were partially manipulated by powerful selfish interests. Only time will give us the real reason".

One thing is clear, the "cartoon business" is likely not unique, and certainly a foreshadowing of things to come.

A leading professor, having been asked several questions by some of the students, answered "the West knows very little about Islam. Islam knows little about the West. They do not understand - nor appreciate - our value of free speech. Their concept of freedom is different than ours. We do not speak their languages, never-mind their dialects. How far should freedom of expression go? It is absurd to think they will adopt our values completely while they believe we disrespect theirs. Yes, their response was exaggerated, but it was provoked".

In quick-fire repartee emotions did flare, though respectfully. Students argued that education is a possible solution. They also argued that one must invest in cultural ties, religion and family - especially in conflict regions. One student said, "We invest short-term in dictatorships. They are corrupt and being aided by the West. They do not look out for their own people. And, then later, we wonder why they have turned against us. Brilliant foreign policy!!"

A prominent Czech diplomat, who has held several high portfolios, argued that one must be careful about lumping Muslims together. "There are numerous differences between Arabic and Asian Islam. Asia does have Muslim countries that practice the rule of law. They might not be our version of democracy, but they are peaceful and stable". Another speaker added, "a severe problem is that the West poaches moderate Muslims from their own countries. And, when we need them, they are not there to help us because they are living among us. This is fine for our societies, but harmful to their own. As in the West, there is a battle of ideas taking place in the Muslim world. Muslims are quite tired of Western paternalism".

"I think that we need to look at Islam in two separate ways. We need to get help from secular Islam and learn to battle fundamentalist Islam, while still being conciliatory", added an Iraqi student, noting, "a root of this problem is economic disparity".

This provoked anger. "Let me be clear", retorted a speaker, "I lost family in the World Trade Center. None of the terrorists were poor, or fundamentalist for that matter. They were all educated in the West, and products of middle class families. Of course, economic disparity is a problem which needs to be eradicated. But the poor are not the ones blowing-up our buildings. And, when they do, they are being manipulated by Western-educated non-pious Muslims using Islam as an excuse for their sick deeds".

There is a battle of ideas taking place in the West, especially in the United States. This battle is also taking place in the Muslim world. There are many reasons why we have arrived at this junction. Having grand strategies that fail in their implementation will not solve the problem. One thing is clear -- this is a wake-up call.

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* Marc S. Ellenbogen is chairman of the Global Panel Foundation and president of the Prague Society for International Cooperation. Ellenbogen may be reached at praguesociety.org and globalpanel.org.
Source: Middle East Times, March 9, 2006
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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ARTICLE 5
This is why the Islamists are winning
Rami G. Khouri

Beirut - Many people in the Middle East, Asia and the West work overtime these days trying to understand the expanding wave of Islamist political groups that are winning elections and sharing power. Mainstream Islamist parties winning democratic elections are often perceived in many Western lands and Israel as a dire threat. Not all Arabs and Asians are happy with the victorious Islamists, either. It is important to interpret correctly why the Islamists are winning, and what they really represent.

I have had many opportunities in the past few years to participate in conferences, seminars, lectures and friendly dinner conversations with Arab, Asian, European and North America colleagues. With only a few exceptions, what I have heard largely reflects the distorted analysis pervading much of the Western media. Analysts from outside the Middle East quickly become confused by the synthesis of phenomena that manifest themselves simultaneously in Islamist politics, in a way that they do not in Western culture. These include religion, national identity, good governance, and resistance to foreign occupation or subjugation.

We hear and read a lot about hopes for a revived Islamic caliphate, suicide bombers enticed by virgins in heaven, Islamofascism, the need for reformation and modernisation in Islam, the urgency of embracing secularism in Arab-Islamic society, problems with education in religious schools, anti-American, anti-Israeli incitement in Arab media, and other ideas. Such views suffer from two fundamental constraints: they either reflect Western historical traditions and assume that Islamic societies must follow the same trajectory of democratic reform and modernity; or, they focus only on the religious vocabulary of the Islamists, without grasping the political and national issues that drive them.

In their own historical and national contexts, Islamist movements are not a new or sudden phenomenon. Indeed, they have deep roots. The current wave of Islamist political movements' winning elections in the region is the third wave of Islamism since the 1970s, and it is probably the most important one.

The first wave, in the late 1970s and mid-1980s, challenged Arab regimes largely as clandestine opposition movements or low-key social organisations. Politically, it was violently suppressed throughout the Levant and North Africa.

The second wave of Islamism, in the 1990s, took a violent form, in Algeria, Syria, Egypt and other places, including Al-Qaeda-style terrorism. This was primarily aimed against Arab regimes, not Israel or the United States. This second wave of violence and terror usually occurred after Arab regimes (and most Western powers) rejected attempts at political inclusion and participation by Islamists. At the time, Islamists were returning home from Afghanistan with heightened doses of political militancy and military training, as well as a sense of invincibility after helping to liberate Afghanistan from Russian occupation.

Now we are witnessing the third wave of Islamism in our time, with groups like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Jordan, Hamas in the Palestinian territories, Hizbollah in Lebanon, and Justice and Development in Turkey, as well as others, winning power through democratic elections. They learned the hard lessons of the first Islamist waves, notably that neither brute terror nor clandestine social activism would help them achieve their goals.

The significant new element in this wave of "electoral Islamists" is that they have combined into a single force those separate elements that had fragmented their citizen activists and the mass movements over which they presided there. Islamists should be called religio-nationalists, or theo-nationalists, because they now tend to combine the twin forces of religion and nationalism. "My God and my people" may be the two most powerful mass mobilisation forces ever invented by human civilisation. Islamists are using them politically in a most efficient way, having crafted a message of hope, defiance and self-assertive confidence that responds firmly to the multiple complaints of their fellow citizens.

The wide extent of triumphant political Islamism provides important clues as to this movement's real meaning and impetus - at least for those who wish to see the real world, rather than imagine a more exotic and menacing world out there. Islamists of various hues and shades have won big, or have become significant opposition forces, in virtually every place they have competed politically in the past few years, whether at the municipal or national levels, in Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Palestine, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq and Lebanon, to mention only the most notable.

This wave of victories is not due to a longing for virgins in the afterlife or the consequence of poor primary education. It is the consequence of a modern history combining the cumulative pain of poor, often corrupt and brutal, governance, with foreign military occupations and threats (mostly from Israel, the United States. and Britain recently). Most ordinary people consequently feel they have been denied their cultural identity, political rights, national sovereignty, personal freedoms and basic human dignity.

Islamist groups in turn have responded with an irresistible package that speaks to the citizenry about religion, national identity, legitimate governance, and resistance to foreign occupation and subjugation. That's why there is nothing surprising about victorious Islamists. The best response to their victories, whether you like or dislike the Islamists, is to understand the political, national and personal issues that have generated their victories, and to address the real grievances behind them, rather than to wander off into intellectual swamps and fantasylands.

###
* Rami G. Khouri writes a regular commentary for the Daily Star.
Source: Daily Star, March 15, 2006
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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The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) explores the Middle East through the region's media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the West and the Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic and Farsi media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East.

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Please see the following program at http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1050:

Arab-American Psychologist Wafa Sultan: There Is No Clash of Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentality of the Middle Ages and That of the 21st Century
2/21/2006 Clip No. 1050

Following are excerpts from an interview with Arab-American psychologist Wafa Sultan. The interview was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 21, 2006

Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.

[...]

Host: I understand from your words that what is happening today is a clash between the culture of the West, and the backwardness and ignorance of the Muslims?

Wafa Sultan: Yes, that is what I mean.

[...]

Host: Who came up with the concept of a clash of civilizations? Was it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden. I would like to discuss this issue, if you don't mind...

Wafa Sultan: The Muslims are the ones who began using this expression. The Muslims are the ones who began the clash of civilizations. The Prophet of Islam said: "I was ordered to fight the people until they believe in Allah and His Messenger." When the Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to start this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels.

My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. What civilization on the face of this earth allows him to call other people by names that they did not choose for themselves? Once, he calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma, another time he calls them the "People of the Book," and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or he calls the Christians "those who incur Allah's wrath." Who told you that they are "People of the Book"? They are not the People of the Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative thinking. What gives you the right to call them "those who incur Allah's wrath," or "those who have gone astray," and then come here and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the beliefs of others?

I am not a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew. I am a secular human being. I do not believe in the supernatural, but I respect others' right to believe in it.

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: Are you a heretic?

Wafa Sultan: You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human being who does not believe in the supernatural...

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: If you are a heretic, there is no point in rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran...

Wafa Sultan: These are personal matters that do not concern you.

[...]

Wafa Sultan: Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me. You are free to worship whoever you want, but other people's beliefs are not your concern, whether they believe that the Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary. Let people have their beliefs.

[...]

Wafa Sultan: The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.

See also:

http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null

List of Peace and Conflict Resolution Journals

I am in the process of putting together a list of journals, broadly defined,
that are related to Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, also broadly
defined. I am sending you the attached list as a sneak-preview of the list that
will be published with the Directory of Peace Studies Programs. This list has
active links to about 60 Peace Studies Journals so I hope it may be of some use
to you.

I am also asking for your help. I am asking anyone who knows of any other
journal that should be included in this list to please contact me at
leepeda@earlham.edu. Please send me the name, and hopefully the contact
information for the journal. I am particularly interested in being referred to
any new or online journals I might not have found from other sources.

Thank you for your help.
Dave Leeper

Journal list

ACResolution Magazine
Published by Association for Conflict Resolution
http://www.acrnet.org/publications/acresolution.htm

African Journal of Conflict Resolution
www.accord.org.za/ajcr/intro.htm
South Africa: ACCORD, 1999-
http://www.accord.org.za/ajcr/intro.htm

African Peace Research Institute (APRI)
Journal Nigeria: African Peace Research Institute, 1986- I can’t find on line

Armed Forces and Society
Now at Loyola, apparently an online service for Fellows only
http://www.iusafs.org/

Australasian Dispute Resolution Journal
(formerly Australian dispute resolution journal, 1990-1998)
Australia: Lawbook Co., 1990-
I don’t find any current web access- there is a related web site
http://www.ausdispute.unisa.edu.au/

Canadian Journal of Peace Studies
Canada's oldest and chief scholarly, multidisciplinary, refereed international
journal in its area. The journal is published four times a year and is now
distributed in 43 countries. ­ apparently no web access
http://www.msvu.ca/PAX/cprea/Journal/
Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution
http://www.cojcr.org/ available online New York, NY: Cardozo School of Law,
1998-

Conciliation Quarterly
Akron, PA: Mennonite Conciliation Service, 1982- 05 Stopped publishing in 2005-
23 years, back issues available
http://www.mcc.org/us/peaceandjustice/mcs/con_quarterly.html

Conflict and Communication Online
www.cco.regener-online.de Germany: Unversitaet Konstanz, 2002-
German- English Journal bi-annual

Conflict and Consciousness: Studies in War, Peace and Social Thought
New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing Inc, 1989-
I don’t find any Web reference to this.

Conflict Management and Peace Science (formerly Journal of Peace Science,
1974-1981) Abingdon, UK: Taylor and Francis, Ltd., 1974-
Available online- apparently- at a cost
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/07388942.asp
organization site http://pss.la.psu.edu/

Conflict Resolution Journal http://www.sagepub.com/journal.aspx?pid=21
Apparently now at Yale, Political Science not Columbia New York, NY: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, 2002-

Conflict Resolution Quarterly (formerly Mediation Quarterly, 1983-2002)
http://www.acrnet.org/publications/crq.htm
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1983-

Conflict Trends http://www.accord.org.za/ct/intro.htm
South Africa: ACCORD, 2000-

Cooperation and Conflict http://cac.sagepub.com/ journal of the Nordic
International Studies Association
London, UK: Sage Pub., Ltd., 1965-

Crosscurrents Newsletter
Saskatoon, Canada: Greenwich Pub., 1973- I don’t find this

Defense and Peace Economics http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/10242694.asp
London, UK: Carfax Pub. Co., 1989-

Development and Peace ­ Catholic Developmetn organization- newsletter type
report Global Village Voice http://www.devp.org/testA/public.htm

Dispute Resolution Journal (formerly Arbitration Journal, 1937-1993) American
Bar Association journal http://www.abanet.org/dispute/drjournal.html

East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights
Uganda: Human Rights and Peace Center, 1993-
Stopped in 2000 http://ww2.mak.ac.ug/law/journal.htm

Ethnic Conflict Research Digest
Londonderry, Northern Ireland: INCORE, 1995-
http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/services/ecrd/

Global Change, Peace and Security (formerly Pacifica review: Peace, Security and
Global Change, 1995-2003; and Interdisciplinary Peace Research, 1989-1994)
Abingdon, UK: Taylor and Francis, Ltd., 1989
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14781158.asp

Global Governance
Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Pub, 1995-
I see no journal produced by this institute
http://www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/global/index.htm

Global Society: Journal of Interdisciplinary International Relations
London, UK: Carfax Pub. Co., 1986-
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/13600826.asp

Group Decision and Negotiation
Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Pub., 1992-
http://www.springer.com/sgw/cda/frontpage/0,11855,4-0-70-35607887-detailsPage%253Djournal%257Cdescription%257Cdescription,00.html?referer=www.springer.com%2Fjournal%2F10726%2Fabout

Hiroshima Heiwa Kagaku (Hiroshima Peace Science)
Japan: Hiroshima Daigaku, 1977- I can only find this in Japanese

Horizon: Pave Peace Through Culture and Literature ­ mainly a private journal of
peace poetry, literature, etc. from Israel
http://www.iflac.com/horizon/

Idea: A Journal of Social Issues
www.ideajournal.com http://www.ideajournal.com/about.php
Chicago, IL: Krysia Hnatowicz Jacobs, 1996-
an interesting up to date journal on ideas related to war and killing etc.

International Journal of Conflict Management
Bowling Green, KY: Center for Advanced Studies in Management, 1990- I don’t
find anything of this name- the name brings to this link
http://www.iacm-conflict.org/ but there are 2 other negotiaton journals
associated with this.

International Journal of Humanities and Peace
Flagstaff, AZ: IJHP, 1983- http://members.tripod.com/~Tetworld/ijhp1.html

International Journal of Peace Studies (Formosa College)
Taipei, Taiwan: Grassroots Pub. Co., 1996- this is the IPRA journal but has not
been published for several years http://www.gmu.edu/academic/ijps/

International Journal on World Peace
St. Paul, MN: Professors World Peace Academy, 1984- http://www.pwpa.org/IJWP/

International Negotiation: A Journal of Theory and Practice
Leiden, The Netherlands: Martinus Nijnoff, 1996-
http://www.interneg.org/in/

International Peacekeeping
London, UK: Frank Cass and Co. Ltd., 1994-
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/13533312.asp

International Peacekeeping News - nothing found on this

Journal for Peace and Justice Studies
Villanova, PA: Villanova University Center for Peace and Justice Education,
1988- http://www.peaceandjustice.villanova.edu/journal/

Journal for the Study of Peace and Conflict
Stevens Point, WI: Wisconsin Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, 1998-
http://jspc.library.wisc.edu/index2.html
This seems to have stopped publishing in 2000

Journal of Conflict and Security Law (formerly Journal of Armed Conflict Law)
http://jcsl.oxfordjournals.org/ UK: Oxford University Press, 1996-

Journal of Conflict Resolution
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Pub Inc., 1957- 2002 apparently stopped in 2002
http://www.jstor.org/journals/00220027.html

Journal of Conflict Studies
[formerly Conflict Quarterly (Canada), 1980-1995]
www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/JCS
Fredericton, NB, Canada: University of New Brunswick Centre for Conflict
Studies, 1980- subscription required

Journal of Dispute Resolution
http://law.missouri.edu/csdr/journal/ Columbia, MO: University of
Missouri-Columbia School of Law, 1984

Journal of Interpersonal Violence
http://jiv.sagepub.com/

Journal of Peace Education
London, UK: Carfax Pub. Co., 2004-
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/17400201.asp

Journal of Peace Research
http://jpr.sagepub.com/ London, UK: Sage Pub., Ltd., 1964-

Mediation Quarterly
used to be, now see Conflict Resolution Quarterly

Medicine, Conflict and Survival
Abingdon, UK: Taylor and Francis Ltd., 1965-
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/13623699.asp

Minerva: Women and War
Abingdon, UK: Taylor and Francis Ltd., 1983- http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~minerva/
this is apparently not a journal, but an active site for discussion of resources
for women in war

Negotiation Journal
Harvard Project on Negotiation Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Pub., 1985-
http://www.pon.harvard.edu/publications/nj/index.php3

Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution
Columbus, OH: Ohio State University college of Law, 1985- published in
connection with the ABA http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/jdr/index.html

Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution
www.trinstitute.org/ojpcr
Tabula Rasa Institute, 1998-

Peace and Change
Oxford, UK: Blackwell Pub. Ltd., 1972- PJSA and the Peace History Society
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0149-0508

Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology
Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1995-
https://www.erlbaum.com/shop/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=1078-1919

Peace and Conflict Studies
shss.nova.edu/pcs/archive.htm http://shss.nova.edu/pcs/
Ft. Lauderdale, FL: Nova Southeastern University, 1995- www.gmu.edu/academic/pcs published up to 1995- then it changes to Nova

Peace, Conflict and Development
www.peacestudiesjournal.org.uk
Bradford, UK: University of Bradford, 2002-

Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy
http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/PeaceProgram/publications/index.asp
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University (and Peace Science Society), 1993-

Peace, Prosperity and Democracy
Washington, DC: Blackwell Pub. and the Policy Studies Org, 2001-
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/Journals/getIssues.jhtml?sid=HWW:OMNIS&issn=1533-1636 apparently only published for 2001- subscription required to search

Peace Research: The Canadian Journal of Peace Studies
Brandon, MB, Canada: Canadian Peace Research and Education Association, 1969- see Canadian Journal of Peace Studies, apparently sometimes known as Peace
Research

Peace Research Abstracts Journal
London, UK: Sage Pubs., 1964- http://www.sagepub.com/journal.aspx?pid=2

Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice
Abingdon, UK: Taylor and Francis Ltd., 1989-
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/10402659.asp

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal
Malibu, CA: Pepperdine University School of Law, 2000-
http://law.pepperdine.edu/organizations/dispute_resolution_law_journal/

Quaker Studies
Birmingham, UK: Quaker Studies Research Assn, Woodbrooke College, 1996-
http://www.qsra.org/

Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change
London, UK: JAI Press, 1978-
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/BS_RSMCC/description#description

Sign of Peace
Catholic Journal http://www.catholicpeacefellowship.org/sopII4.htm

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism
Abingdon, UK: Taylor & Francis Ltd., 1992-
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/1057610X.asp

Terrorism and Political Violence
UK: Frank Cass Pub., 1989- http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/09546553.asp

Willamette Journal of International Law and Dispute Resolution
www.willamette.edu/wucl/wjildr
Salem, OR: Willamette University College of Law, 1992-

World Affairs
Washington, DC: Heldref Pubs, 1834- http://www.world-affairs.org/home.html this does not appear to be a journal, but the web site of the World Affairs Council

World Arbitration and Mediation Report
Huntington, NY: Juris Publishing Inc., 1990- monthly by subscription
http://www.dsl.psu.edu/publications/worldarbitration/index.cfm

This list is based in part on a list Compiled by Sarah Woodside, Graduate
Program in Dispute Resolution, University of Massachusetts Boston, May 2005

Materials in English, Danish and Swedish on: THE MUHAMMAD CARICATURES

© TFF 2006
Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research

Today, March 21, is The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination proclaimed by the UN Geneeral Assembly in1966. It called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. Racism in its various forms is still with us. It seems a good day to circulate these materials:

PressInfo 235, March 17, 2006
- The Muhammad caricatures (3): The speck and the log. We must learn to see our own cultural blindness.
One side of the coin is what we in the West think of ourselves. The other side is what they think of us. No one, strong or weak, can afford anymore to ignore the other side of the coin, the coin of globalisation. And forcing people to share our view of ourselves is a recipe for world destruction, no less. Ends with a series of "perhaps we could..." learn something important.
http://www.transnational.org/pressinf/2006/pi235_Muhammad3_Speck_Log.html

Farhang Jahanpour, March 16, 2006
- The political repercussions of the cartoon of Prophet Muhammad
If we are not going to move towards a 'clash of civilisations', all of us must learn tolerance and forbearance. We live in a pluralistic world with ever increasing ease of communication. If we want to avoid constant war and bloodshed in this 'global village' we must learn to accept that others have views different from ours, and are free to express them. After all, God and the prophets can take care of themselves and can accommodate childish insults.
http://www.transnational.org/features/2006/Jahanpour_Cartoons.html

Evelin Lindner, TFF Associate, March 1, 2006
- "The Cartoon War" of humiliation versus humiliation: What should be done? (pdf)
I began my research on humiliation by asking myself: "What is the strongest obstacle to peace and to willingness to cooperate in our interdependent world? What is the strongest force that fuels destructive conflict?" Feelings of humiliation, is my answer.
What to do after these cartoons? 1. Cool down! 2. Avoid the pitfalls of victimhood! 3. Learn moderation and 4. Avoid bias and become aware of our commonalities by defining ourselves as one family of humankind.(pdf file)
http://www.transnational.org/forum/meet/2006/Lindner_CartoonWar.pdf

TFF PressInfo 233, February 9, 2006
- The Muhammad caricatures (2): But there is a context!
There is a context to the Muhammad caricatures. If that context is addressed, Denmark - its government and people - would have to ask: What have we done wrong in the eyes of so many during the last 10-15 years? That would open for some kind of learning and long- term reconciliation with the perceived enemies.
http://www.transnational.org/pressinf/2006/pi233_Muhammad_Context.html

TFF PressInfo 232, February 7, 2006
- The Muhammad caricatures (1): Freedom of suppression
These days I fear that Western culture increasingly comes across as lacking both empathy, self-critical debate and the courage to say, We are sorry!
My native country is now a rogue state in the eyes of millions of fellow human beings. Whether or not this is a fair judgment of Denmark is not the issue. The issue is that Danish politics is a prime reason that those millions hold that image.
We could well be witnessing the beginning of a drift towards unparalleled catastrophe, writes TFF director Jan Oberg who is a Danish citizen.
http://www.transnational.org/pressinf/2006/pi232_Mohammad_1.html

Jonathan Power, TFF Associate, February 6, 2006
- The Muhammad Cartoons: It takes two to avoid a clash of civilizations
We in the richer world have to recognize the transformed world we now live in where communications are so fast and borders so porous. We need a franker discussion on certain aspects of our Western culture. In this and all things a little more modesty would serve the West well.
http://www.transnational.org/forum/power/2006/06.05_MohammadCartoons.html

Julie Dyer and Michel Tavir, March 16, 2006
Democratisation in the Middle East
Review of new book with many and varied contributions by Middle Eastern and Danish scholars, edited by Birgitte Rahbek. The best of the articles provide an insight into social and historical events that are seldom discussed in the Western media. Warmly recommended as a balanced input at a time with rampant misunderstandings and polarization.
http://www.transnational.org/features/2006/Michel_Rahbek_Book.html

NORDIC LANGUAGES - NORDISKE SPROG
********************************

Trine Pertou Mach, 16. marts 2006
- Regeringens rolle i krisen
Kommentar i Nyhedsmagasinet RÆSON 8. marts 2006.
http://www.trinemach.dk/artikler.php?tid=217

Trine Pertou Mach, 16. marts 2006
- Hvis det bare var tegninger og ytringsfrihed
Debatindlæg i Det Arabiske Initiativs nyhedsbrev 17.februar 2006.
http://www.trinemach.dk/artikler.php?tid=216

Jørgen Johansen, TFF styrelseledamot, 19:e februari, 2006
- Reparera karikatyr-skadan nu - från ord till handling
I länder där en minoritet är invandrare med muslimsk bakgrund, vilar det ett större ansvar och krav på hänsynstagande på den starkare parten. Det finns mycket man kan göra för framtida försoning - här ett förslag för Göteborgs del.
http://www.transnational.org/forum/meet/2006/Johansen_Handling.html

TFF PressInfo 233, 11 februari, 2006
- Mohamedkarikatyrerna (2): Det finns ju ett sammanhang !
Om ett större sammanhang rättas till, skulle Danmark - dess regering och folk - tvingas ställa frågan: Vad har vi gjort fel i så mångas ögon under de senaste 10-15 åren? Detta skulle öppna för någon sorts lärdom och långsiktig försoning med dem som uppfattas som fiender.
http://www.transnational.org/pressinf/2006/pi233SV_Mohamed.html

TFF PressInfo 233, 9. februar, 2006
- Muhammed-karikaturerne (2): Men der er jo en større sammanhæng !
Hvis man tager denne større sammenhæng med i betragtningerne over det der sker i disse uger så må Danmark, regering og befolkning, udfordre sig selv og spørge: Hvad er det vi synes at have gjort så forkert i så manges øjne de sidste 10-15 år?
Hvis man fortsætter med i politik og medier at stirre sig blind på disse tegninger og droppe den større sammenhængen så vil den danske reaktion forblive selvmedlidende. Og som "offer" kommer man at synke dybere ned i kulturel ufølsomhed.
http://www.transnational.org/pressinf/2006/pi233DK_Muh_Sammenhang.html

TFF PressInfo 232, 9. februari, 2006
- Mohamedkarikatyrerna (1): Förtrycksfrihet
I dessa dagar fruktar jag att den västliga civilisation i snabbt ökande grad framstår som helt befriat från inlevelse och medkänsla, för öppen debatt och för den civilcourage som behövs för att be om ursäkt.
Det helt centrala är att den aktuella danska politiken är huvudorsaken till att mlijoner har en så negativ bild av landet. Det kan mycket väl tänkas att vi nu bevittnar början til en utveckling, som kommer att sluta i en katastrof för oss alla.
http://www.transnational.org/pressinf/2006/pi232SV_Mohamed.html

TFF PressInfo 232, 8. februar, 2006
- Muhammed-karikaturerne: Undertrykkelsesfrihed
I disse dage frygter jeg at den vestlige civilisation i stigende grad opfattes af andre som blottet for indlevelse og medfølelse, for egentlig åben debat og for den civilcourage der er brug for når man skal sige "Undskyld, vi skulle have håndteret det hér lidt anderledes."
Det helt centrale er at den aktuelle danske politik er hovedårsagen til at millioner har fået dette billede af Danmark og danskerne.
Det kan meget vel tænkes at vi nu er vidner til begyndelse af en udvikling, der efterhånden vil ende i en katastrofe for os alle.
http://www.transnational.org/pressinf/2006/pi232DK_Muhammed.html

Julie Dyer and Michel Tavir, March 16, 2006
- Democratisation in the Middle East
Anmeldelse af bogen med denne titel redigeret af Birgitte Rahberk. En helt nødvendig bog i en tid af misforståelser, ekstremisme og polarisering, ikke mindst i Danmark. På engelsk og på dansk i samme dokument.
http://www.transnational.org/features/2006/Michel_Rahbek_Book.html#dansk

See whatever else is new at TFF
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Dear colleagues!

We invite you to participate in VII International Baltic Psychology Conference, which will take place from the 15th to 17th of June, 2006 at the University of Latvia in Riga, Latvia. The theme of the conference is „Baltic Psychology in Global Context: Where Do We Stand?”. Our conference will include Baltic and global thematic aspects, with colleagues and friends from the Baltic countries as well as from other European and overseas countries. For details visit our conference home page: http://www.ppf.lu.lv/ibpc

We look forward to seeing you at the conference,

prof. Viesturs Reņģe, Organising Commitee, chair
e-mail: renge@lu.lv

prof. Sandra Sebre, Scientific Commitee, chair
e-mail: sebre@lu.lv

prof. Malgožata Raščevska, Organising Commitee, co-chair
e-mail: malgozata.rascevska@lu.lv

Kristīne Circene, conference secretary
e-mail: kristine.circene@lu.lv

Department of Psychology, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia

Course on Bullying Prevention

United States Department of Education (USDE) Course on Bullying
Prevention - The link to all of the USDE distance learning courses
offered at no charge - including bullying prevention and social and
emotional learning can be accessed by linking to this URL:

http://www.k12coordinator.org/events_online.cfm

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

im Rahmen der Filmreihe „African Perspectives“ laden AfricAvenir International, die Initiative Südliches Afrika (INISA) und der South African Club Berlin am Sonntag, den 02. April um 17.15 Uhr zur Filmvorführung von Ramadan Sulemans ‚Zulu Love Letter’ in das Berliner Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Nach der Vorführung besteht die Möglichkeit zur Diskussion mit dem Regisseur Ramadan Suleman.

Diese Veranstaltung findet mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung statt und wird im Rahmen von „Fokus Afrika, Africome 2004 – 2006“ veranstaltet; in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Evangelischen Zentrum für entwicklungsbezogene Filmarbeit (EZEF).

Zulu Love Letter
Regie: Ramadan Suleman, Südafrika/Frankreich, 2004, 100 Minuten OmU

Kurzinhalt
'Zulu Love Letter' erzählt die Geschichte der Journalistin Thandeka Khumalo, die in die Jahre der Apartheid zurückreicht. Während der größte Teil der südafrikanischen Bevölkerung die Zeit der Rassentrennung scheinbar möglichst schnell vergessen will, ist dies für die Journalistin unmöglich: zusammen mit einem ihrer Kollegen wurde sie damals verhaftet, als sie Zeugen der Ermordung einer jungen Freiheitskämpferin wurden. Aufgrund der Folterungen in Haft kam Mangi, ihre Tochter, behindert zur Welt.

Die nun 13-jährige Mangi besucht eine Gehörlosenschule und lebt sonst meist bei ihren Großeltern. Wie ihre Mutter, die Schuldgefühle wegen der Behinderung ihrer Tochter plagen, leidet auch Mangi unter der unbewältigten Vergangenheit. Nur ihrer Großmutter gelingt es, sie aufzuheitern. Sie ist es auch, die ihr die traditionelle Zulu-Kunst der Perlenstickerei beibringt. Mit einem so angefertigten „Zulu Love Letter“, mit denen die Zulus traditionell Gefühle, Wünsche und Lebensumstände in einer kreativen Form auszudrücken versuchen, sucht Mangi den Zugang zu ihrer Mutter.

Regisseur
Ramadan Suleman wurde in Durban, Südafrika geboren. Er absolvierte zunächst eine Ausbildung am Centre for Research and Training in African Theatre, gründete dann mit anderen das erste ‚Schwarze’ Theater Südafrikas, das Dhlomo Theatre. Danach Filmstudium in Paris und an der London Film School. Nach mehreren Dokumentarfilmen für das Fernsehen drehte er den Kurzfilm 'The Devil’s Children', der mehrere internationale Preise gewann. 'Fools', der erste Spielfilm, dessen Drehbuch er auch schon gemeinsam mit Bhekizizwe Peterson schrieb, wurde in Locarno mit dem Silbernen Leoparden ausgezeichnet.

Auszeichnungen/Preise
Festival Panafricain du Cinéma et de la Télévision de Ouagadougou (FESPACO), 2005
Beste Schauspielerin: Pamela Nomvete (Thandeka)
Preis der Europäischen Union
Preis von UNICEF für die Unterstützung der Rechte von Frauen
Internationales Filmfestival Durban, Südafrika, 2005: Spezialpreis der Jury

Cape Town World Cinema Festival, Südafrika, 2005: Beste Schauspielerin: Mpumi Malatsi (Mangi)
Festival International du Film d’Amour, Mons, Belgien, 2005: Grand Prize

Pressestimmen
Neue Zürcher Zeitung: „Der Film überzeugt nicht bloß durch das Wechselspiel von dynamischer und sensibler Erzählweise, sondern auch durch seine Bildästhetik.“

—–

African Perspectives ist eine monatlich stattfindende Filmreihe von AfricAvenir International, der Initiative Südliches Afrika (INISA) und dem South African Club Berlin in Kooperation mit dem Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe, in deren Rahmen aktuelle afrikanische Filme präsentiert werden.

Mit freundlicher Unterstützung von South African Airways.

Medienpartner: Radio Multikulti

Ständig aktuelle Informationen auf:
www.africavenir.org
www.inisa.de
www.south-african-club-berlin.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.

Peace and Justice Studies Association 2006 Conference
“Who Speaks for the Common Good?”
October 5-8, 2006, Manhattan College, New York City
CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Shortly after September 11th, peace groups throughout the US distributed world flags with a photo of the earth and a slogan, "We're all in this together." That sense of the common good - that we are all bound together, living on one earth, and that our wellbeing is interconnected - is crucial to the development of a more peaceful and just world. Has this notion fallen out of favor? How do we resolve the tension between the dual strivings we each feel, to be autonomous, and yet to be connected?

In an era in which pursuing one's self-interest is commended, who speaks for the common good? Those who honestly attempt to do so are disempowered to act on it, and those who speak for the nations rarely even pretend to do so. How do we decide what really serves the common good, and how do we work for the common good? The rhetoric of a common good is sometimes misused to ride sacrifice the interests of some people, allegedly for the good of a greater number. How can we, as people committed to creating a peaceful, just world, promote a focus on the common good, properly understood?

The Peace and Justice Studies Association will explore these questions at our 4th annual conference, to be held October 5-8th, 2006, at Manhattan College, in the Bronx, New York City. We invite proposals for paper presentations, organized panels, roundtable discussions, workshops and other creative contributions on these and related questions.

As our mission statement says, "We are dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice, and social change." Therefore, we seek contributions that explore the idea of the common good in research, teaching and action:

In Peace Studies, how can we encourage critical exploration of the idea of the common good? How can we prepare our students to work effectively for the common good?
K-12 education for the common good. How can the education of young people foster their appreciation of, and pursuit of, the common good? What can schools of education do to promote this focus in K-12 education? What successful practices can we share?
What does scholarly research, across the disciplines, have to offer on defining the common good? What political, social and economic structures best assist human communities in prioritizing the common good? What case studies, negative and positive, can help us work through these issues?
What strategies can activists share of ways in which they've struggled for the common good, or led communities in defining what is in their common interest?

Please send an abstract (no more than 200 words), to Margaret Groarke, Peace Studies, Manhattan College, Bronx NY 10471 or to pjsa2006@manhattan.edu. Please clearly state the preferred format of your proposal (paper, panel, workshop, roundtable discussion, etc.), and please include a brief biographical sketch. The deadline for proposal submission is May 1, 2006. Submissions will be acknowledged by email or by postcard. Late proposals will be reviewed, and may be accepted if there is space on the program.

NEWSLETTER FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS HOUSE NETWORK

Summing up the articles posted for last week's 8 March International Women's Day by the Network Contact Persons throughout our ten established and emerging Human Rights Houses, this first of our topical 'specials', focuses on women's rights issues.

1) Women's status in contemporary Russia
The tolerant attitude towards accepting lack of equality between men´s and women´s rights legitimizes the unequal representation of women in society´s ruling ranks, the violations of women´s labour rights and spreading of sexual violence.

2) Quiet Violence: Female Genital Mutilation inside the UK
An estimated three million women and girls undergo female genital mutilation each year, according to a 2005 Unicef report. For many Europeans and Americans, these are three million female victims we should feel sorry for or donate to, or perhaps read a book about a girl who survived this practice thousands of miles away from Europe. But the reality is closer to home than we think. See also: Despite signs of hope, 3 million girls still subjected to FGM annually

3) Women legislators coming of age in Uganda
In comparison to the previous Parliament and those before it, there will be more women representing direct constituencies in the Eighth Parliament in Uganda. From Rukungiri to Kampala, there were interesting conquests for women contesting for the direct seats. See also: The struggle for women's rights is not yet complete

4) International Women's Day: history and modern times in Azerbaijan
The theme of International Women's Day for 2006 is "Women in decision-making: meeting challenges, creating change". Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev congratulated women on the occasion and noted women’s role in the formation of the moral value system.

5) Chance for apology or new beginning?
The women of Bosnia and Herzegovina, once again, received roses instead of rights on the 8th of March. Women´s access to employment is more limited than before, the majority does not have health insurance, domestic violence is a serious problem and most victims of human trafficking originates have their origin in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

6) Norwegian PEN calls for immediate release of Mexican journalist
To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, Norwegian PEN is focusing, together with other PEN Centres, on the case of Mexican writer and journalist Lydia Cacho, right. Cacho currently faces trial under charges of criminal defamation related to her exposure of the connection between prominent businessmen and a child pornography in her latest book.

7) Suicide, a common escape from it all among Kurdish women
Every year, hundreds of Kurdish women commit suicide, most commonly by burning themselves to death, in Kurdistan. What are he reasons why so many young women choose such a painful and dramatic way to end their lives, ask and Liv Kjølseth of the Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurds (RKR) and freelance journalist Abdollah Hejab. See also Halabja: 18 years after the attacks, Kurds are still suffering

Free of charge news and background service from the Human
Rights House Network, an international forum of cooperation between
independent human rights houses. It works to strengthen cooperation and
improve the security and capacity of the 70 human rights organizations in
the Network. The Human Rights House Foundation in Oslo is the
secretariat.

To subscribe, please send an email to:
newsletter-subscribe@humanrightshouse.org

More news and background on www.humanrightshouse.org

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

Sent by:
Nina Luhr
Editor
Human Rights House Foundation (HRH)
Address: Menneskerettighetshuset,
Tordenskioldsgate 6b, 0160 Oslo, Norway
Tel: (+47) 22 47 92 47, Direct: (+47) 22 47 92 44,
Fax: (+47) 22 47 92 01
Website: http://www.humanrightshouse.org,
http://www.menneskerettigheter.no/

Political Science and International Relations News from SAGE

Dear Dr Lindner,

SAGE Publications will attend the forthcoming 47th Annual ISA Convention
March 22-25 2006 at the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center, San Diego. Please remember to visit the SAGE stand and take advantage of the conference discount!

SAGE Books

Global Civil Society 2005/6
Edited by Helmut Anheier Center for Civil Society, School of Public Policy and Social Research, UCLA, Mary Kaldor and Marlies Glasius both at Centre for Civil Society and Centre for the Study of Global Goverance, LSE
The Global Civil Society Yearbook is the standard work on all aspects of contemporary global civil society for activists, practitioners, students and academics alike.

The SAGE Handbook of Nations and Nationalism
Edited by Gerard Delanty University of Liverpool and Krishan Kumar University of Delhi
This Handbook gives readers a critical survey of the latest theories and debates and provides a glimpse of the issues that will shape their future.

Measuring Attitudes Cross Nationally
Lessons from the European Social Survey
Edited by Roger Jowell, Caroline Roberts, Rory Fitzgerald and Gillian Eva all at City University
This book, written by members of the design and implementation team for the groundbreaking European Social Survey (ESS), reviews current best practice in the conduct of cross-national, cross-cultural quantitative research.

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

SAGE Journals

International Relations

Announcing:
Tragedy, Ethics and International Relations A Panel organised by International Relations for the ISA Venue: Royal Palm Salon 2 Date: Friday March 24th - 3.45 - 5.30pm Refreshments will be available.
- Chair - Toni Erskine, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK
- Tragedy or Scepticism? Defending the Anti-Pelagian Mind in World Politics - Nicholas J. Rengger, University of St. Andrews, UK
- Tragedy, Ethics and International Relations - Mervyn Frost, King’s College, London, UK
- Tragedy, Politics and Political Science - Richard Ned Lebow, Dartmouth College, USA
- Tragedy, Progress and the International Order - James Mayall, University of Cambridge, UK
- Discussant - J. Peter Euben, Duke University, USA

For more information contact Toni Erskine

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

European Journal of International Relations
Published in association with Standing Group on International Relations of the ECPR

Recent Highlights:
- Friedrich Kratochwil History, Action and Identity: Revisiting the 'Second' Great Debate and Assessing its Importance for Social Theory
- Michael C. Williams What is the National Interest? The Neoconservative Challenge in IR Theory
- Michael Cox Beyond the West: Terrors in Transatlantia
- John M. Hobson and J. C. Sharman The Enduring Place of Hierarchy in World Politics: Tracing the Social Logics of Hierarchy and Political Change
- John Gerard Ruggie Reconstituting the Global Public Domain - Issues, Actors, and Practices
- Stefano Guzzini The Enduring Dilemmas of Realism in International Relations

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Security Dialogue
Published in association with International Peace Research Institute, Oslo
"One of the best journals for security issues of the world" - Ulrich Beck

Recent Highlights
- Gunhild Hoogensen and Svein Vigeland Rottem - Gender Identity and the Subject of Security
- Jürgen Altmann - Military Uses of Nanotechnology: Perspectives and Concerns
- Taylor Owen - Human Security - Conflict, Critique and Consensus: Colloquium Remarks and a Proposal for a Threshold-Based Definition
- Paul Roe - Securitization and Minority Rights: Conditions of Desecuritization
- Edward Newman - A Normatively Attractive but Analytically Weak Concept Weiss
- Lori Handrahan - Conflict, Gender, Ethnicity and Post-Conflict Reconstruction

Special Issues & Special Sections
- Volume 36 Issue 3: 2 special sections: The Report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change And European Security and Transatlantic Relations in the Age of International Terrorism
- Volume 36 Issue 4: special section on Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
- Volume 37 Issue 1: special section on Theorizing the Liberty-Security Relation

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Journal of Peace Research
Published in association with International Peace Research Institute, Oslo

Top Dowloaded Articles:
- Mikael Eriksson & Peter Wallensteen Armed Conflict, 1989-2003
- Alfred L. McAlister Moral Disengagement: Measurement and Modification
- Michael L. Ross What Do We Know about Natural Resources and Civil War?
- Jonathan Fox The Rise of Religious Nationalism and Conflict: Ethnic Conflict and Revolutionary Wars, 1945-2001
- Karl R. de Rouen & David Sobek The Dynamics of Civil War Duration and Outcome

Recent Special Issue: Demography and Violence (Volume 42/Issue 4 2005).

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Now published by SAGE!
Journal of Developing Societies
A Forum on Issues of Development and Change in All Societies

Recent Themed Issues
- Special issue on 'Latin American Conglomerates and Economic Groups under Globalization'. Co-edited by guest editors Alex E. Fernández Jilberto
- Special issue on 'Bangladesh', edited by Anil B. Deolalikar
- A special double issue on 'Critical Perspectives on Inter-American Relations: Essays on Globalization, Regionalization and Unilateralism in the Americas'. Co-edited by guest editors Jorg Nef and Harry Vanden

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Other Key Journals Include:

Armed Forces & Society - New to SAGE in 2005!
Comparative Political Studies
East European Politics and Societies
European Union Politics
International Politics Science Review
International Studies
Journal of Conflict Resolution
Review of Radical Political Economics
The Annals

Kind regards
Lorna McConville
SAGE Publications
Tel: +44 (0)20 7324 8500
www.sagepub.co.uk
lorna.mcconville@sagepub.co.uk

TechEd 2006: 11th Annual Technology in Education International Conference & Exposition
26 to 29 March 2006, Pasadena, California.
http://www.techedevents.org/2006

http://www.astd.org/astd/conferences/about_conferences
http://clomedia.com
http://www.elluminate.com/trade_shows.jsp

UN creates new human rights body
The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to create a new human rights organisation for the world body, despite United States criticism.

The 47-nation UN Human Rights Council will replace the current 53-country UN Human Rights Commission.

The existing body has been heavily criticised for having countries with poor human rights records as members.

The US voted against the plan, saying the reforms did not go far enough, but pledged to work with the new council.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan welcomed what he called an "historic resolution... that gives the United Nations a much-needed chance to make a new beginning in its work for human rights around the world".

He had proposed the changes last year to replace the discredited commission, which has in recent years included countries accused of gross human rights violations such as Sudan, China, Cuba and Zimbabwe....

Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4810538.stm

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
March 14, 2006

~ Your feedback is important to us ~

If you haven’t had a chance to complete our online survey yet, please take 2-minutes to do so by clicking on this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=304881794656.

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews - PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim-Western relations.

*Unless otherwise noted, copyright permission has been obtained and articles may be reprinted by any news outlet or publication. Please acknowledge both the original source and the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

*For the latest issue, subscription information and an archive of CGNews articles, please visit our website: www.commongroundnews.org.

**********

ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. Say it with movies by Claude Salhani
In considering the power of movies, Claude Salhani, International Editor with United Press International, describes how since the beginning of the war in Iraq, the 1960s film ‘The Battle of Algiers’ has been shown to selected soldiers and military officials to help them better understand “what motivates an insurgency, and how to fight in an urban environment”. He recommends an alternative film, ‘In My Country’, which touches upon South Africa's post-apartheid period, giving particular attention to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings. Rather than using film to teach war, this movie focuses on post-conflict peacebuilding: “Perhaps this is what is lacking in the Iraq war -- a vision for peace. Many politicians will agree that making war is easy; it's making peace that requires greater courage”.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 14, 2006)

**********

ARTICLE 1
A collective ijtihad for solving society’s problems
Mohammad Hashim Kamali

Gombak, Kuala Lumpur - There are two sources of shari'a (Islamic law): revealed and non-revealed. The revealed sources of Islamic law are the Qur’an and hadith (traditions of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions), whereas the non-revealed sources consist of rationality and ijtihad. Since the revelation of the Qur’an and prophetic hadith both ended with the death of Muhammad, ijtihad assumes a vital role in the interpretation of these sources so that Islamic law keeps pace with the changing needs of society. Due to a variety of factors, ijtihad has fallen short of playing this role effectively and there is now a need for certain adjustments in the definition and methodology of ijtihad.

Ijtihad means striving or exertion by a competent scholar who is capable of deducing a rule of law from the Qur’an and hadith in response to a new issue. This activity normally requires inquiry and research into the text, rationale and objectives of the Qur’an and hadith. In the event that there is no clear evidence in these sources concerning the new issue, ijtihad may be carried out, according to a specific methodology based on the general principles of Islamic law, in order to form a new opinion. The methodology of ijtihad is developed in the science of the sources, the usul al-fiqh, which articulates rules of interpretation and a number of rational formulae for ijtihad. These include analogical reasoning, considerations of public interest, and the accepted custom of society.

The one conducting ijtihad must be knowledgeable of the sources of Islamic law and also know Arabic in order to consult the Qur’an directly. He or she must be an upright person who is well-informed about the conditions of society, with the intellectual capacity to formulate independent opinion and judgement. Ijtihad has historically remained a concern of the private jurist and no procedure was designed to institutionalise it or to identify its function within the state. Identifying a jurist and the role ijtihad might play in the legislative processes of a modern government remain unresolved issues. The current practice whereby parliamentary legislation and statutory codes regulate government action was not envisaged in the classical theory of ijtihad, which was articulated long before the advent of the nation state.

Until about 1500 CE, Muslim scholars were able to use the aforementioned processes of ijtihad to continually adapt in the face of changing conditions and new advances in knowledge. Unfortunately, about four centuries ago, as Muslim civilisation began to weaken in the face of Western advances, Muslims adopted a more conservative stance and became defensive of prevailing values. Innovation and renewal were discouraged and ijtihad declined as a result.

Ijtihad in modern times occurs in three forms: through governmental legislation; in the form of fatwas (legal opinions) and judicial decisions by Islamic judges or fatwa committees; and through scholarly writings. Modern society often presents a more challenging prospect for ijtihad compared to its medieval counterpart when issues pertaining to marriage, divorce, property and inheritance, for example, were more predictable due to the slower pace of social change. The unprecedented diversity and scope of knowledge today make it impossible for any one person to acquire the mastery of all the disciplines relevant to ijtihad. Hence, it becomes necessary to turn ijtihad into a consultative process that utilises the skills not only of jurists of Islamic law but also of experts in other disciplines with vital importance to society, such as science, technology, economics and medicine.

In addition to addressing some of society’s needs, collective ijtihad may also build a greater spirit of unity and consensus among Muslims. Although ijtihad often served, in the past, to widen the scope of disagreement more than to bring about unity and consensus, there is a great need now for unity on issues that could be addressed more effectively through ‘collective’ ijtihad and legislation.

Issues that call for attention include leadership, methods of succession, democracy, accountable governance and a resolute rejection of dictatorship. Although the twentieth century witnessed the introduction of reformist legislation on family law and women’s rights, the degree of progress varied from country to country and there remains considerable scope for innovative ijtihad on many issues. Moreover, terrorism by individuals and states and the widespread abuse of jihad all call for fresh ijtihad-oriented and consensus-based solutions. Constitutional rights and liberties, particularly in relation to freedom of religion and freedom of expression, as well as the status of non-Muslims living in Muslim majority countries, also present new challenges that require imaginative ijtihad. A purely secular approach to these issues often fails to enlist public support in Muslim societies. Therein lays the continued relevance of ijtihad, particularly of ‘collective’ ijtihad, in providing solutions that are informed by the Islamic heritage and in encouraging consensus among the Muslim masses.

###
* Mohammad Hashim Kamali is Professor of Law at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Among his numerous works are: Freedom of Expression in Islam, The Dignity of Man: An Islamic Perspective and Freedom, Equality and Justice in Islam.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 14, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 2
Winning the ‘war of ideas’ through jihad
Waleed El-Ansary

Columbia, South Carolina - Over eighty percent of Americans believe economic aid can play a key role in the battle against extremism. In the current climate of ‘clashing cultures’ and ‘wars of ideas’, it becomes vital that American aid to the Muslim world be smart in its approach to this matter. To do so, understanding a basic principle of Islamic theology for economic development may help.

The Qur’an, the sacred scripture of Islam, suggests that to struggle for a living is as important as defending one’s faith. The Prophet Muhammad stressed this fact when he defended a young man who went to work instead of joining a defensive battle. The Prophet indicated that working to support oneself and one’s family is striving in the way of God.

According to this view, every aspect of life is sacred. Nothing is outside of the scope of the Divine, and no aspect of life is profane, for everything is attached to God. What would seem the most mundane activity has religious significance, implying that work should fulfil a hierarchy of spiritual and other needs. It is in the nature of humanity to work, to provide for loved ones, to find satisfaction in meaningful work, so God can therefore not require us to do otherwise.

Accordingly, we can derive three purposes of work, as suggested by E.F. Schumacher, the renowned Christian economist (who was influenced by contemporary Islamic philosophers). Firstly, to provide necessary and useful goods and services. Secondly, to enable us to use and thereby perfect our gifts. And thirdly, to liberate ourselves from our own inborn egocentricity by cooperating with and serving others.

In Islam, working for any of these three objectives is considered jihad. Jihad is a much-misunderstood term which simply means ‘to strive’ or ‘to exert oneself’. Although jihad can indicate the defence of the Muslim community from invasion by foreign forces, the Prophet referred to this form as the ‘lesser’ jihad: upon returning from the battle of Badr, which had threatened the very existence of the young Muslim community, he said, “You have returned from the lesser jihad (back) to the greater jihad”. The greater jihad he was talking about is the inner struggle to integrate the whole of life around a sacred centre.

Thus work - whether it be the outer work of defending one’s country, the work of supporting oneself and one’s family, the art one creates, or the inner work of spiritual growth - can communicate spiritual truth and presence.

Violent radicalism in the Muslim world deviates from the Islamic intellectual heritage in order to thrive around an abused interpretation of jihad. With the help of Muslim community leaders and clerics, reinstating the idea that jihad encompasses the spiritual significance of physical work and not only defensive battle can play a major role in eliminating these conditions in much of the Muslim world.

This represents a major intellectual challenge, however, not only within the Muslim world but also in the West. It requires recovering the Islamic intellectual heritage largely neglected in the former and no less than a paradigm shift in the latter, where the stigma of speaking of religion and science in the same breath, with all this implies for production processes, is ignored. Fortunately, leading thinkers such as Wolfgang Smith, author of ‘The Quantum Enigma: Finding the Hidden Key’, and Seyyed Hossein Nasr, author of ‘Science and Civilisation in Islam’, are addressing this challenge, and it is hoped that others will follow suit.

An approach to economic aid that is supported by visionary Muslim leaders who explain the fullness of the meaning of jihad to their communities, and which targets economic sectors and professions deemed attractive and needed in different cultures as opposed to the mere opening up of developing countries to the importing of the much-mistrusted ‘americana’, may well help in winning the ‘war of ideas’.

###
* Waleed El-Ansary is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies, Department of Religious Studies, University of South Carolina, Columbia.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 14, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 3
~YOUTH VIEWS~
The West is hurting, not helping, moderates in the Middle East
Bill Glucroft

Boston, Massachusetts - The Berkeley Beacon, the nationally renowned newspaper of Emerson College, printed in its February 16th publication the now infamous cartoon of a bomb-in-turban Prophet Muhammad. Accompanying the illustration was a staff editorial explaining the rationale behind printing the cartoon, as well as a supporting opinion article. The following week, the Beacon allowed space for rebuttal.

I am a student of Emerson College and am involved with the newspaper. Last year, I was the photography editor, and I frequently contribute to the opinion section. This year, I am not an editor, and therefore was not involved in the decision to run the cartoon.

As a journalist and a democrat, I fervently support the freedoms intrinsic to democracy. Every time I cover an assignment or write an opinion, I am acutely cognisant of the protections America’s First Amendment affords me.

But just because I have the right, is it right? In this case, the short answer is no, particularly when it harms democratic progress throughout the greater Middle East.

The few newspapers (including a handful in the Middle East) that have printed the Muhammad cartoons did so with good intentions – to spark a global debate about Islam and external perceptions of it. Indeed, cross-cultural interchange has increased, though at the cost of scattered violence.

Unfortunately, as the upheaval painfully illustrates, this is a skewed discussion. The publication and re-publication of the cartoon, although done in the name of democratic freedoms, is actually undermining them. The focus of our discussion should be on the ultimate futility of extremism and the continuing rule of despots in much of the predominantly-Muslim Arab world. Instead, the cartoons have strengthened their hand by allowing them to point to an exterior source for the troubles, both economic and social, prevailing in the Arab world.

Authoritarian rulers are experts at deflection. Knowing their own regimes lack legitimacy, these dictators masterfully channel their peoples’ simmering rage against outside entities, namely Israel, Jews in general and the West, particularly the United States. This is why even secular governments have allowed extremist groups to organise and grow, because such organisations serve as safety valves for popular discontent.

The Muhammad cartoons, much like the botched Iraq war, are evidence for the extremists’ case that democracy is not only anathema to Islam, but that the democratic West is actively seeking to subjugate the Muslim world. Thanks to such immense blunders by the West, tyrants can easily show their rule is infinitely preferable to democracy. Democracy, they can say, does not mean respect for others’ viewpoints, nor does it lead to world peace; democracies, notably the United States, attack other countries on the thinnest of pretexts.

This is, of course, pure propaganda, because religion is the only card left in the deck for unaccountable Arab governments to play. In reality, they are the enemies of Islam and they – not Israel or any other outside party – are the enemies of their people.

I commend those Muslims who are peacefully protesting as much as I condemn those who have been resorting to violence and threats. It is notable that there has been little to no violence in the United States, Europe, India (with the second largest Muslim population) or Indonesia (with the first).

Why? Because these are democratic countries with functional economies. Certainly, conditions are far from utopian (as last year’s riots in France made apparent), but in comparison to Muslims in the Middle East, those living in liberal democracies live in open societies that offer real economic opportunity for both economic success and for participation in political life. Muslims in these countries can exercise their constitutional right to protest constructively with reasonable confidence that their concerns will be, at the very least, recognised.

The world is accelerating forward and is unavoidably leaving behind energetic but unemployed Arab youths simply because Arab governments have done little to establish the systems and institutions necessary for functional societies and economic growth. That is nothing less than a formula for dangerous extremism.

The solution lies in locally-inspired, and internationally-supported, modernisation – not necessarily secularisation. The recent cascade of chaos is the tragic result of a lack of options. Rigid, hierarchical societies may have worked well centuries ago, but they do not suit today’s interdependent and incredibly competitive world.

Of course, under the unrelenting hegemony of current governments, such reform is all but impossible. Open markets and an empowered citizenry directly threaten those in power. But so does the status quo, as political gains for Hamas in the occupied territories, religious shi’ites in Iraq and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt demonstrate. It is clear that Arabs are crying out for change, but only extremists stand as a viable alternative.

Publishing offensive images of Muhammad only makes the Arab moderates’ mission more difficult. It sanctions the ‘us versus them’ attitude and creates a perception that Islam and democracy are incompatible. The West must tread more carefully, if ever the moderates are to succeed.

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* Bill Glucroft is a student of journalism at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 14, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 4
Americans thirst for information about Islam
Lily Zakiyah Munir

Columbia, South Carolina - More than a year after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, I was invited by the U.S. State Department to join the International Visitor Program (IVP) under the theme of religion. This is a public diplomacy program aimed at enhancing understanding in the international community of the United States.

The program was interesting, eye-opening and thought-provoking. We were taken to Washington DC, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas, Utah and California, which represent the east, west, north and south of the country. By having direct encounters with individuals and organisations, we learned about religious freedom and religious life in America, how religion is protected from politics, about freedom of expression, etc. It was very effective.

In my subsequent visits to the US, with a better understanding of America thanks to the IVP, I found out how little Americans know, let alone understand, about Islam. When asked about Islam, they either knew nothing or associated it with terrorism or the Middle East.

I expressed my concerns over the matter to some American friends, and they agreed with me. Some of them told me that the majority of Americans had never left their country and did not see the need for knowing about other people. It is hard for them to imagine the diverse lives, often meaning miserable lives with a lack of access to resources, of the billions of people around the world who have been impacted by their government's or private sector's policies. Even many members of Congress, so said some friends, do not have passports and do not see the need for having a passport.

My current stay in the U.S. is different, self-fulfilling and very enterprising. Being a teacher in Women's/Human Rights and shari'a at the University of South Carolina, I have had ample opportunities to explain to my students about Islam and what its teachings are all about; what shari'a is and the debates about it; what Islamic feminism is and how Islam has sought to liberate women; what human/women's rights are in Islam and the debates about them.

I was delighted to see the smiling faces of my students after completing the course. My students and I have just completed an important task for humanity: bridging the gap between the "West" and the "Rest" (in particular Islam), which arises out of ignorance and lack of understanding.

Not only that. Another chance has arisen for me to explain about Islam to the wider public in America. Community groups, churches and business groups in Columbia, the state capital of South Carolina, seem to be ‘thirsty’ for knowledge about Islam.

In the talks I give to these groups, I emphasise three things. First, I tell the groups to distinguish between Islam and Muslims, because the attitudes and behaviours of certain people do not always reflect the Islamic message of peace, tolerance and other basic values of the religion. Second, do not automatically associate Islam and Arab. Islam is worldwide and, as a matter of fact, the largest Muslim concentration is in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. Third, do not misperceive Islam as a religion oppressive to women.

I ask them to distinguish between Islam as a women-liberating religion and the prevailing patriarchal cultures that shape Muslims' male-biased conduct. My favourite example on this issue is myself. Wearing the hijab out of my own choice and not because of an external force, I have the freedom to do whatever I want, to travel to places I want to visit in the world, and still I have the love and support of my Muslim husband and children and my extended family and community.

Since the controversy over the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, Americans have become more interested in learning about the Prophet. I wrote an article portraying my loving and respectful image of him; I spoke to my students about the Prophet and why his image is not supposed to be visualised, and they listened attentively. We also discussed the cartoons from a human rights perspective, focusing on the principle of universalism versus cultural relativism, which has sparked lengthy debates and tension. In all, my encounters with Americans (and other Westerners in America) have been mutually fulfilling and productive.

I usually end my talks by inviting my audience to reflect on the reality we are facing: we have only one globe, one world to live in; there is nowhere we can escape to. We must strive to promote peaceful coexistence. Knowledge and understanding of each other will lead to appreciation and respect, which ultimately ends with friendship and love. It sounds utopian, but nothing is impossible if we have the awareness and commitment.

Concentrated efforts could be developed. The U.S. State Department, for example, could harness its public diplomacy more outwardly, promoting Americans' understanding and appreciation of other cultures, particularly Islam.

###
*Lily Zakiyah Munir teaches Women's/Human Rights and shari'a at the University of South Carolina. She can be contacted at lilyzm@hotmail.com.
Source: Jakarta Post, February 28, 2006
Visit the website at www.thejakartapost.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 5
Say it with movies
Claude Salhani

Washington, D.C. - Never underestimate the power of movies. Over the years, the magic of films have made us laugh, cry, reflect and learn. It is with the latter in mind that the U.S. Department of Defence occasionally arranges special showings of Gillo Pontecorvo's epic film, ‘The Battle of Algiers’.

Since the US invasion of Iraq exactly three years ago this month, the black and white dramatisation from the 1960s dealing with the Arab insurrection against French rule has been shown to selected officers and intelligence personnel. The aim of the exercise is to help the U.S. military better understand what motivates an insurgency, and how to fight in an urban environment.

There are indeed numerous similarities between the Algiers of 1960 and the Baghdad of 2006. Take for example the use of torture by the occupying powers; their deep frustration at not being able to crack down efficiently on terrorism; the indiscriminate use of terror against civilian and military targets by the insurgents, hoping to sway public opinion.

However, the Pentagon should consider a somewhat more recent film to show. The difference this time is that the intended public should not be restricted to the officer and intelligence corps, but is to include the Iraqi people. And it might not be a bad idea to arrange to also have the film shown in the Palestinian territories to members of Fatah, Hamas and others; and to show it in Israel; and in Afghanistan and Kosovo and other parts of the world where conflict prevails.

This film is ‘In My Country’, directed by John Boorman (‘The Tailor of Panama’, ‘Excalibur’ and ‘Deliverance’). It touches upon South Africa's post-apartheid period, giving particular attention to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings. The South African TRC was established by the Government of National Unity to help the country deal with the terrible violence that had transpired under apartheid. During that period, no section of South Africa's society escaped unscathed, with all sides – blacks and whites – turning to violence.

What the TRC hearings accomplished is unprecedented in the field of conflict resolution. The hearings, set up all across the country, brought blacks who had been imprisoned, tortured, abused and discriminated against by white police, military and vigilantes face-to-face in tribunal-like settings to air their grievances, speak the truth and forgive each other.

Those who felt they were victims of violence could come forward and be heard by the TRC. Those who committed violence could give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution, as long as they told the truth. Many hearings were carried live on national and international radio and television. The TRC was a crucial component in the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa.

‘In My Country’, a moving drama of those historic events, starring Juliette Binoche and Samuel L. Jackson, opened the Search for Common Ground 2006 Film Festival in Washington, March 6.

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, himself a victim of apartheid who spent 27 years in prison, had this to say about the film: "A beautiful and important film about South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It will engage and influence not only South Africans, but people all over the world concerned with the great questions of human reconciliation, forgiveness, and tolerance".

Asked why the ‘miracle of South Africa’ was not replicated in other parts of the world where conflict is tearing societies apart, Derick Moyo, Deputy Chief of Mission of the South African Embassy in Washington, replied: "The leaders of South Africa were committed to finding a solution". But more importantly, he added, "They had vision".

Perhaps this is what is lacking in the Iraq war -- a vision for peace. Many politicians will agree that making war is easy; it's making peace that requires greater courage.

Whether it's between the shiites and the sunnis in Iraq, who for all intents and purposes are engaged in a conflict that has all the qualifications of a civil war but the name, or the stalemate between Israel and the Palestinian government now in the hands of Hamas, it requires courage, initiative and most of all, as Moyo, the South African diplomat pointed out, "it requires vision."

Until the leaders of Iraq, Palestine, Israel and other war-torn areas can adopt a vision similar to the one shown by post-apartheid South Africa, the officials at the Pentagon may well continue showing reruns of ’The Battle of Algiers’ rather than ‘In My Country’.

###
*Claude Salhani is International Editor and a political analyst with United Press International in Washington, DC. Comments may be sent to Claude@upi.com.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 14, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) provides news, op-eds, features and analysis by local and international experts on a broad range of issues affecting Muslim-Western relations. CGNews-PiH syndicates articles that are balanced and solution-oriented to news outlets worldwide. With support from the Norwegian government, and the United States Institute of Peace, the service is a non-profit initiative of Search for Common Ground, an international NGO working in the field of conflict resolution

This service is one outcome of a set of working meetings held in partnership with His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal in June 2003.

~YOUTH VIEWS~

CGNews-PiH also regularly publishes the work of student leaders and journalists whose articles strengthen intercultural understanding and promote constructive perspectives and dialogue in their own communities. Student journalists and writers under the age of 27 are encouraged to write to cbinkley@sfcg.org for more information on contributing.

*The views expressed in these articles are those of the authors, not of CGNews-PiH or its affiliates.

Common Ground News Service
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Editors:
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Amman Editor

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Beirut Editor

Elyte Baykun & Leena El-Ali
Washington Editors

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Jakarta Editor

Chris Binkley
Youth Views Editor, Dakar

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To subscribe, send an email to PiHintern@sfcg.org with “subscribe” in the subject line specifying your choice of language between English, Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and French.

Call for Project Reports/ Proposals

Dear Sir/Madam,

The International NGO Journal (INGOJ) was founded to publish proposals, appraisals and reports of NGO projects. The aim is to have centralized information for NGO activities where stakeholders including beneficiaries of NGO services can find useful information about ongoing projects and where to obtain particular assistance. Also prospective donors will easily find information about different NGOs and decide which to fund on specific projects.

INGOJ is fully committed to providing free access to all articles as soon as they are published. We ask you to support this initiative by publishing your proposals, appraisals and reports of NGO projects in this journal. The International NJO Journal will endeavor to list NGOs all over the world and provide links to NGOs websites.

Please visit our website (www.academicjournals.org/ingoj) for more details. NGOs should send their proposals, appraisals and reports to ngo@academicjournals.org.

INGOJ is also seeking for international advisors and reviewers as members of its editorial board. Please contact me if you are interested in serving on the board.

Best regards,
Dr. Philomena Imonivwerha
Editor, The International NGO Journal
Academic Journals
E-mail: njo@academicjournals.org, ngo_acadjourn@yahoo.com
http://www.academicjournals.org/ingoj

PS: Visit our website www.academicjournals.org to assess our other journals/products.

The Asian Association of Social Psychology (AASP) Conference 2007

AASP 2007: The challenges of psychology in a changing world
The 7th Conference of the Asian Association of Social Psychology to be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, July 25-28 2007

The seventh conference of AASP will be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia on the 25-28 July 2007. The theme of the conference, which emphasizes the global issues and challenges of social psychology in a changing world, provides an opportunity for participants to deepen their understanding about the contributions of Asian Social Psychology, its current status and its possible future directions.

Welcome and Information

If you would like more information about the conference, please contact Dr. Rosnah Ismail at isrosnah@ums.edu.my or rosumsis@hotmail.com

Can a computer game teach how to fight real-world adversaries—dictators, military occupiers and corrupt rulers, using methods that have succeeded in actual conflicts—not with laser rays or AK47s, but with non-military strategies and nonviolent weapons? Such a game, A Force More Powerful (AFMP), is now available. A unique collaboration of experts on nonviolent conflict working with veteran game designers has developed a simulation game that teaches the strategy of nonviolent conflict. A dozen scenarios, inspired by recent history, include conflicts against dictators, occupiers, colonizers and corrupt regimes, as well as struggles to secure the political and human rights of ethnic and racial minorities and women.

A Force More Powerful is the first and only game to teach the waging of conflict using nonviolent methods. Destined for use by activists and leaders of nonviolent resistance and opposition movements, the game will also educate the media and general public on the potential of nonviolent action and serve as a simulation tool for academic studies of nonviolent resistance.

For More Info: http://www.afmpgame.com/

International Symposium on China’s Positive Policies in Minority Education:
Plural Perspectives

Program

Friday, April 14

8:30 am, Stern Hall (Great Room)
Opening Address (Neil Weissman, Provost, Dickinson College)

9:00-11:30am, Stern Hall (Great Room)

Panel I: China’s Positive Policies: Tradition, Continuity, and Theory (Chair: Ann Hill, Dickinson College; Discussants: Colin Mackerras, Griffith University, Australia, and Gerard Postiglione, University of Hong Kong)

Presentations:

1) Mandarins, Marxists, and Minorities (Walker Conner, Middlebury College)

2) Defining the PRC’s Positive Policies for Ethnic Minorities (Minglang Zhou, Dickinson College)

3) Culture, History, and Power: Preferential Policies in China (Naran Bilik, Carleton College)

4) Educational Policies in China’s Uygur Communities before the PRC (Yasin Ashuri, Institute of Ethnology & Anthropology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

1:00-3:00pm, Stern Hall (Great Room)

Panel II: Debate on China’s Positive Policies (Chair: Naran Bilik, Carleton College, Discussants: Rong Ma, Beijing University/Duke University, and Gerard Postiglione, University of Hong Kong)

Presentations:

1) Minority Policies and Ethnic Equality in College Entrance Examinations and Enrollment (Tiezhi Wang, PRC State Commission on Ethnic Affairs)

2) Diversity and Equality for Ethnic Minorities in Higher Education in China (Xing Teng & Xiaoyi Ma, Central University for Nationalities, PRC)

3) Pros and Cons, Successes and Failures of China’s Positive Policies in Higher Education for Minorities (Qumu Tiexi, Central University for Nationalities, PRC)

3:15-4:15, Stern Hall (Great Room)

Panel III: American Students’ Views of China’s Minority Education (Chair: Minglang Zhou, Dickinson College; Discussant: Ruji Niu, Xinjiang University, PRC)

Three Presentations by Dickinson Students

4:30-6:00pm, Stern Hall (Great Room)

Panel IV: Case Studies on Affirmative Action in the U. S. (Chair: Ann M. Hill, Dickinson College; Discussant: Tiezhi Wang, PRC State Commission on Ethnic Affairs)

Four Presentations by Dickinson Students

6:30 pm: Opening Reception and Dinner at Prof. Ann M. Hill’s

Saturday, April 15

9:00-11:30, Stern Hall (Great Room)

Panel V. Economic Development, (Re)Distribution of Resources, and Minority Education (Chair: Evelyn Hu-Dehart, Brown University; Discussants: Ann M Hill, Dickinson College, and Colin Mackerras, Griffith University, Australia)

Presentations:

1) Minority Education in Xinjiang: Challenges and Opportunities (Ruji Niu, Xinjiang University, China)

2) Preferential Policies: Making Chinese Tibetans in Boarding Schools (Gerard Postiglione, University of Hong Kong)

3) Compulsory Education in the Eastern Tibetan Areas: Field Survey in Kangding, Weixi and Maching Counties (Gelek, the National Center For Tibetan Studies, PRC)

4) Community Trade Culture of the Hui Nationality and School Education: An Anthropological Case Study (Xiaoyi Ma, Central University for Nationalities, PRC)

1:00-3:30pm, Stern Hall (Great Room)

Panel VI: International Perspectives on Affirmative-Action Policies (Chair: David Strand, Dickinson College; Discussants: Walker Conner, Middlebury College, and Xing Teng, Central University for Nationalities, PRC)

Presentations:

1) To Treat People Equally, We Must Treat Them Differently: Affirmative Action in the United States in Theory and Practice (Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Brown University)

2) Natives and Nation: Acculturation and State Policy in the U. S. and China (Ann M. Hill, Dickinson College)

3) Learning about Equality: Affirmative Action, College Admissions and the Law of the United States (Douglas Edlin, Dickinson College)

4) Affirmative Action and Ethnicity as Descent (Jiao Pan, Central University for Nationalities/ University of Washington)

3:45-6:15pm, Stern Hall (Great Room)

Panel VII: What Education and in What Language? To Choose between Market Competitiveness and Cultural/Linguistic Identities (Chair: Gelek, the National Center for Tibetan Studies, PRC; Discussants: Gerard Postiglione, University of Hong Kong, and Minglang Zhou, Dickinson College)

Presentations:

1) Bilingual Education in Ethnic Minority Regions (Xinjiang) in China (Rong Ma, Beijing University/Duke University)

2) Reform Pedagogy and Enhance the Quality of Minority Higher Education (Abdurexiti Kadir, Xinjiang University, PRC)

3) Positive Policies and Bilingual Education in China’s Korean Communities (Zhenai Zhang, Yanbian University, PRC)

4) Socio-cultural Contexts of Two Unsuccessful Trials on Education in Yuygur: Review of Ethnic Policies on Language and Education (Zhanlong Ba, the Central University for Nationalities, PRC)

6:30 pm, Stern Hall (Room 103)

Closing Dinner

For more information: Contact symposium organizers Dr. Ann M. Hill (hillan@dickinson.edu) and Dr. Minglang Zhou (zhoum@dickinson.edu) or visit our department website http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/easia/.

The Peace Education Center invites you to attend the following upcoming colloquia:
Peace Learning in Conflict Transformation
with distinguished visiting international scholar

Magnus Haavelsrud

Thursday, March 23, 2006
12:00-1:30pm
Teachers College, Columbia University
Room to be announced
(525 West 120th St. between Broadway and Amsterdam)

NO RSVP REQUIRED

Professor Haavelsrud will lead all in a discussion exploring aspects of how harmony between individual behavior and contextual conditions are created in conflict transformations through changes in both. Special attention will be given to the role of peace education in facilitating peace learning in conflict transformation.

Magnus Haavelsrud is a Professor of Education at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. His work deals with the critique of the reproductive role of education and the possibilities for transcendence of this reproduction in light of the traditions of educational sociology and peace research. He took part in the creation of the Peace Education Commission of the International Peace Research Association at the beginning of the 70’s and served as the Commissions 2nd Executive Secretary 1975-79. He was the Program Chair for the World Conference on Education in 1974 and edited the proceeding from this conference entitled Education for Peace: Reflection and Action. He served as the Carl-von-Ossietzky Guest Professor of the German Council for Peace and Conflict Research. His publications include: Education in Developments (1996), Perspektiv i utdanningssosiologi ( Perspectives in the Sociology of Education (1997, 2nd edition), Education Within the Archipelago of Peace Research 1945 - 1964, (co-authored with Mario Borrelli, 1993), Disarming: Discourse on Violence and Peace (editor, 1993) and Approaching Disarmament Education (Editor, 1981)

Life in Occupied Palestine: Eye-Witness Stories & Photos
www.annainthemiddleeast.com
Thursday, March 30, 2006
3:00-4:45 pm
Teacher’s College, Columbia University
Room 363 Grace Dodge

co-sponsored by:
Peace Education Center at Teachers College, Columbia University
& Peace Action New York State

Please join us for this presentation by a Columbia University graduate sharing personal experiences, observations, and photographs from five months documenting human rights violations and working with Palestinians and Israelis active in nonviolent resistance to the Occupation. The purpose of the presentation is to provide those interested in the Israel/Palestine conflict with critical information and documentation that can be difficult to obtain through mainstream Western media sources, and to encourage dialogue towards taking action on the issue.

Who: A Jewish-American volunteer for the International Women’s Peace Service; Documenter of human rights violations and supporter of Palestinian & Israeli non-violent movement against the Occupation.

What: Slides, stories, & world-premier of book Witness in Palestine on first-hand experiences with the conflict while living in the West Bank.

Why: To share information difficult to obtain through mainstream media, and to encourage dialogue towards taking action on the issue.

Teachers College is located at 120th Street between Broadway & Amsterdam
For further information on this and other events, please direct inquiries to:
peace-ed@tc.edu or (212) 678-8116
For more information on the Peace Education Center please visit: www.tc.edu/PeaceEd

Against Forgetting: Beyond Genocide and Civil War
January 26--April 1, 2006, Intermedia Arts, $2 suggested donation
Photography by Abdi Roble, Paul Corbit Brown and Mike Rosen

This exhibition includes powerful graphic imagery depicting violence against humanity.

Public Reception with presentations by the photographers:
Saturday, February 25, 2006, Noon--4:30 pm
Presentation and panel with artists in the theater at 2:00 PM:
What is the value of doing documentary work? How do you balance the "best photo" with keeping the dignity of the subject as primary importance?

We invite the public to respond to "How do you hold on to your culture?". The exhibition has an interactive portion that allows audience/viewers to reflect and write their own responses. Computer available to link to resources related to the exhibit also available.

Against Forgetting: Beyond Genocide and Civil War is a photography exhibit featuring works by Paul Corbit Brown, Abdi Roble and Mike Rosen. Their photos capture Rwanda eleven years post genocide, Somali culture in America and memorials of the Jewish Holocaust. The images bring immigrants, refugees and the past to our doorsteps and remind us that people continue to struggle to survive and overcome war and genocide.

Paul Corbit Brown, former contributor to the Washington Post, traveled to Rwanda on a fellowship to document the people and their stories of survival eleven years after the brutal genocide between the Hutus and Tutsis. His goal was to "attempt to understand the long-term effects of the horrendous act of genocide as well as the resiliency of a people struggling to overcome the past and forge a new future." Through his work, he hopes that "we will all learn to grow a culture of peace in our own homes, communities, countries, and on this whirling orb we all call home." He is passionately committed to producing images that further the goals of human rights, social justice and environmental responsibility. Brown was able to go to Rwanda with the aid of the Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship Program administered by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center funded by the Otto Bremer Foundation.

Abdi Roble's photographs entitled The Somali Diaspora are a part of the Somali Documentary Project, whose mission is to use photography to produce an archival record of the members of the Somali Diaspora while they are still engaging in the cultural practices of their homeland. Its hope is that this record will draw international attention to the plight of Somalia, educate Americans about these new immigrants and provide Somalis with a photographic record of their early experience in this country. Abdi Roble feels a responsibility to give Somali immigrants coherence through this photographic project that their homeland is not able to provide.

The involvement of the Somali Documentary Project and Abdi Roble is made possible in partnership with Arts Midwest, the Ohio Arts Council and the International Education Center.

On a recent trip to Eastern Europe, Mike Rosen visited the Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camp complex near Krakow, Poland. His photos portray the Jewish Holocaust through empty gas cans, gas chambers and buildings, which serve as a reminder that life ends and life goes on. "Even though I'd already experienced the heart-wrenching exhibits at the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, I felt that, as a Jew who undoubtedly has many ancestors that perished in the Holocaust, I wanted to see first-hand the scale and monstrosity of this most notorious of the Nazi death camps."

A Summerschool As an Experiment in Peace Building!

Education for Peace, Human Rights, and Justice*
July 30 to August 11 2006 at Utrecht University
The Netherlands

In today’s society, fear and violence have a great impact on people’s lives. Many young people grow up without joyful perspectives for a future in peace and justice. Investments are often in violent solutions to conflict rather than in prevention and long term peace building strategies. Many strategies and competencies have been developed these last 5 years to develop cultures of peace. Peace education is the first condition to build a sustainable peace. In this Summerschool, you as a student, a teacher, a social worker, a politician, civil servant or a parent, will learn new strategies to create a peace culture. This will take place in an international setting where theory and practical exercises will alternate with social time and visits.

The overall aim of this Summerschool is to offer an introduction to education for peace, human rights and justice, as it is formulated by the UN Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010). The Summerschool works in the framework of the initiative European Education as Peace Education (EURED). In Europe, we find rich traditions of peacemaking, reconciliation, peacekeeping, non-violent conflict resolution, of living together and of achieving unity in diversity. These have made an important impact in the field of education.

* This Summerschool is one section of the interdisciplinary course Culture, Conflict and Concord in Europe. More information at www.uu.nl/Summerschool
During the Summerschool international experts and practitioners will treat subjects such as:
- insight in the mechanisms of war and peace, violence and non- violence;
- skills to manage conflicts in such a way that violence does not become an option;
- an attitude of respect for and interest in the diversity of needs, visions, and religions;
- insight in options to contribute to a peace culture as a basis of political action.

The Summerschool Education for Peace, Human Rights and Justice offers two weeks of lectures, workshops and excursions. A certificate, worth 3 ECTS, is offered to those students who actively participate in the course and who successfully deliver a paper on a relevant education topic. Time for writing the paper, as well as a mentor are included.

The Summerschool takes place in the city of Utrecht, a historic and beautiful town in the centre of the Netherlands, not far from Amsterdam. An excursion to the Anne Frank House is included in the Summerschool curriculum. As is leisure time in and around Utrecht.

Organisation: Utrecht University, Faculty of Social Sciences

Target group: Graduate students, young academics, teachers and other professionals in the field of education.

Number of participants: Max. 30

Fee: € 600 including accommodation (food not included)

Accommodation: arranged by the University

Place: Utrecht, the Netherlands

Period: July 30 to August 11 (ATTN: this is the definite date)

Deadline for application: April 30, 2006

More information and applications: l.vriens@fss.uu.nl and annukka@vanderborch.com

Design Science Lab/UN/UNIS

Dear Friend,

There is an upcoming event at the UN and the UN International School that I believe you would be very interested in:
http://www.designsciencelab.org

At this event participants develop strategies for achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goals using a powerful planning and problem solving methodology developed by Buckminster Fuller and others called "design science." If you would like a copy of the 2005 report to see what was done at last year's event, you can download a copy at http://www.bigpicturesmallworld.com/colleges/DSL2005Report.pdf

Last year's program was for 7 days and for 25 people. This year's program is for 100 participants and will last 10 days.

Best regards,
Medard Gabel

The best way to understand a system is to understand the system of which it is a part.

Medard Gabel
BigPictureSmallWorld
http://www.bigpicturesmallworld.com
BigPicture Consulting
http://www.bigpictureconsulting.com
medard@bigpicturesmallworld.com

281 Bishop Hollow Road
Media, PA 19063-4339
610.566.0156

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

hiermit möchten wir Sie noch einmal an unser Dialogforum am kommenden Montag, den 13. März um 19.00 Uhr im Haus der Demokratie erinnern. Wir freuen uns Dr. Peggy Piesche begrüßen zu dürfen! Außerdem möchten wir jetzt schon auf den nächsten Film in unserer Filmreihe "African Perspectives" hinweisen. Am Sonntag, den 02. April um 17.15 Uhr zeigen wir in Kooperation mit der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung und der EZEF (Evangelische Zentrale für entwicklungsbezogene Filmarbeit) den südafrikanischen Film "Zulu Love Letter"! Wie immer im Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe.

Dialogforum: Die Konstruktion des Weißen Subjekts. Eine historische Perspektive

Am Montag, den 13. März um 19.00 Uhr lädt Africavenir International e.V. im Rahmen der Veranstaltungsreihe african reflections in das Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte zum Dialogforum mit Dr. Peggy Piesche. In den Anfängen des deutschen Diskurses um „Rasse“ im 18. Jh. wurde zunächst vorrangig die Kategorie „Weiß“ ins Zentrum des wissenschaftlichen Blickfeldes gerückt. Im Anschluss daran wurde sie zur Norm erhoben und somit unsichtbar gemacht. Die Aufklärung – und hier allen voran die Denker Kant und Hegel – spielte eine zentrale Rolle in der Konstruktion von Weißsein.

13. März 2006, 19.00 Uhr
Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte
(Greifswalder Str. 4, Berlin)
Eintritt frei

In Kooperation mit dem BER (Berliner Entwicklungspolitischer Ratschlag), gefördert aus Mitteln des BMZ und mit freundlicher Unterstützung der LEZ (Landesstelle für Entwicklungszusammenarbeit bei der Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Frauen).

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

African Perspectives: Zulu Love Letter

Im Rahmen der Filmreihe „African Perspectives“ laden AfricAvenir International, die Initiative Südliches Afrika (INISA) und der South African Club Berlin am Sonntag, den 02. April, um 17.15 Uhr zur Filmvorführung von Ramadan Suleman’s “Zulu Love Letter” in das Berliner Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. In Anwesenheit des Regisseurs!

Am: Sonntag, den 02. April 2006
Beginn: 17.15 Uhr
Ort: Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe (Rosenthaler Str. 40/41; 10178 Berlin)
Vorbestellung: 030/283 46 03 (Mo-Sa ab 14.30 Uhr/So ab 10.30 Uhr)
Eintritt: 5 Euro

Die Journalistin Thandi kämpft noch immer mit den psychologischen Schäden, die ihr während der Apartheid zugefügt wurden – schwanger inhaftiert und gefoltert brachte sie ihr Kind Mangi taub zur Welt. Diese sucht durch einen “Zulu Love Letter” den Zugang zur Mutter.

In Kooperation mit der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung und der EZEF (Evangelische Zentrale für entwicklungsbezogene Filmarbeit).

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 IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS OF FASCISM
By Dr. Lawrence Britt
Free Inquiry Magazine/ Spring 2003

Forwarded from Men's International Peace Exchange www.peaceexchange.org
Peace Works When Peace Makers Network

Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The article is titled 'Fascism Anyone?', and appears in Free Inquiry's Spring 2003 issue on page 20.

The 14 characteristics are:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -- Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -- Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to 'look the other way' or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause -- The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military -- Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism -- The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

6. Controlled Mass Media -- Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or through sympathetic media spokes people and executives. Censorship, especially in wartime, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security -- Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined -- Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected -- The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed -- Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -- Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -- Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses, and even forego civil liberties, in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions, and who use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections -- Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against (or even the assassination of) opposition candidates, the use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and the manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections

The Warnings

“There are two passions which have a powerful influence on the affairs of men. These are ambition and avarice; the love of power, and the love of money. ...Place before the eyes of such men a post of honor, that shall be at the same time a place of profit, and they will move heaven and earth to obtain it. The vast number of such places ...renders the British government so tempestuous. ...[and is the true source] of all those factions which are perpetually dividing the nation [and] distracting its councils...” -- Benjamin Franklin

“The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience.” -- Albert Camus: French novelist, essayist, and playwright.1957 Nobel Prize for Literature. 1913-1960
“A great wave of oppressive tyranny isn't going to strike, but rather a slow seepage of oppressive laws and regulations from within will sink the American dream of liberty.” -- George Baumler

“The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.” -- James Madison: US fourth president, 1751-1836

Join an International Community Radio Broadcast Against All Forms of
Discrimination

Tuesday, March 21st 2006
The UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

To participate in the 24-hour international broadcast:

* Send us already produced or original audio material related to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (deadline for submissions is
March 17th).
* Re-broadcast programs on your radio station via satellite or the Internet.
* Link up with the Radio Voix Sans Frontières team LIVE!
* Dedicate March 21 as your focus day of programming to fight all forms of discrimination.

Visit the RVSF 2006 web site: www.rvsf.amarc.org

For more information and general guidelines for submissions contact the Regional Coordinators:

International/North Amercia
Sophie TOUPIN
AMARC International
705 Rue Bourget #100
Montreal,Quebec, CANADA
H4C 2M6
Tel: (514)982-0351
Fax: (514)849-7129
sophie@amarc.org

Latin America & the Caribbeans
Ines FARINA
Pulsar
Lambaré 873 - C1185ABA
Ciudad de Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
Tel: (011) 4867-3806
ines@agenciapulsar.org
Europe

Francesco DIASIO
Amisnet
Piazza Addis Abeba 1
00199 Roma, ITALY
Tel: (+39-06) 8632-8312
Fax: (+36-06) 8638-3967
fdiasio@amisnet.org

Africa
Chris KGADIMA
Simbani News Agency
23 Jorissen Street, @nd Floor
The Braamfontein Center,Braamfontein
Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA
Tel: (+27-11) 403-7913.6785
Fax: (+27-11) 403-7514
newsp@amarcafrica.org

Asia Pacific
Suman BASNET
AMARC Asia Pacific
GPO #3887
Kathmandu, NEPAL
Tel: (+977+1) 552-1696
Fax: (+997+1) 552-1714
suman@wlink.com.np

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Únete a la Emisión Mundial de las Radios Comunitarias Contra Todas las Formas de Discriminación

Martes, 21 de marzo de 2006
Día Internacional de las Naciones Unidas por la Eliminación de la Discriminación Racial

Para participar en la emisión internacional de 24 horas:

* Envíanos material (audio) que hayas producido abordando temas referentes al racismo, la discriminación racial, la xenofobia y otras formas conexas de intolerancia (la fecha límite para recibir contribuciones es el 17 de marzo).
* Retransmite los programas en tu estación, vía satélite o vía Internet.
* Enlázate en vivo con el equipo de Radio Voix Sans Frontières!
* Consagra la programación del 21 de marzo a la lucha contra todas las formas de discriminación.

Visite el sitio Web de RVSF 2006 www.rvsf.amarc.org

Para obtener más información o para instrucciones generales contactar los Coordinadores Regionales

Internacional/América del Norte
Sophie TOUPIN
AMARC International
705 Rue Bourget #100
Montréal,Quebec, CANADA
H4C 2M6
Tel: (514)982-0351
Fax: (514)849-7129
sophie@amarc.org

América Latina y el Caribe
Ines FARINA
Pulsar
Lambaré 873 - C1185ABA
Ciudad de Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
Tel: (011) 4867-3806
ines@agenciapulsar.org

Europa
Francesco DIASIO
Amisnet
Piazza Addis Abeba 1
00199 Rome, ITALIA
Tel: (+39-06) 8632-8312
Fax: (+36-06) 8638-3967
fdiasio@amisnet.org

Àfrica
Chris KGADIMA
Simbani News Agency
23 Jorissen Street, @nd Floor
The Braamfontein Center,Braamfontein
Johannesburg, ÀFRICA DEL SUR
Tel: (+27-11) 403-7913.6785
Fax: (+27-11) 403-7514
newp@amarcafrica.org

Asia Pacífico
Suman BASSET
AMARC Asie Pacifique
GPO #3887
Kathmandu, NÉPAL
Tel: (+977+1) 552-1696
Fax: (+997+1) 552-1714
suman@wlink.com.np

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Participez à l'émission internationale de radios communautaires contre toutes les formes de discrimination

Mardi, 21 mars 2006
La Journée Internationale des Nations Unies pour l'Élimination de la Discrimination Raciale

Participer à l'émission internationale de 24 heures :
* En nous envoyant du matériel audio déjà produit ou des originaux sur des sujets concernant le racisme, la discrimination raciale, la xénophobie et toutes autres formes d'intolérance (la date limite pour recevoir de contribution(s) est le 17 mars).
* En retransmettant les émissions internationales du 21 mars dans vos stations de radio, par satellite ou par l'Internet.
* En vous associant en direct avec l'équipe de Radio Voix Sans Frontière!
* En consacrant la programmation du 21 mars à la lutte contre toutes les formes de discrimination.

Visitez le site web de RVSF: www.rvsf.amarc.org

Pour plus de renseignements et pour confirmer votre participation, contactez les coordinateurs régionaux

International/Amérique du Nord
Sophie TOUPIN
AMARC International
705 Rue Bourget #100
Montréal,Quebec, CANADA
H4C 2M6
Tel: (514)982-0351
Fax: (514)849-7129
sophie@amarc.org

Amérique Latine et Caraïbes
Ines FARINA
Pulsar
Lambaré 873 - C1185ABA
Ciudad de Buenos Aires, ARGENTINE
Tel: (011) 4867-3806
ines@agenciapulsar.org

Europe
Francesco DIASIO
Amisnet
Piazza Addis Abeba 1
00199 Rome, ITALIE
Tel: (+39-06) 8632-8312
Fax: (+36-06) 8638-3967
fdiasio@amisnet.org

Afrique
Chris Kgadima
Simbani News Agency
23 Jorissen Street, @nd Floor
The Braamfontein Center,Braamfontein
Johannesburg, AFRIQUE DU SUD
Tel: (+27-11) 403-7913.6785
Fax: (+27-11) 403-7514
newp@amarcafrica.org

Asie Pacifique
Suman BASSET
AMARC Asie Pacifique
GPO #3887
Kathmandu, NÉPAL
Tel: (+977+1) 552-1696
Fax: (+997+1) 552-1714
suman@wlink.com.np

On March 8, AMARC-WIN Saluted the Struggle for Women's Rights

Montreal, March 10, 2006. On March 8th, the Women's International Network of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC-WIN), celebrated Women's International Day with a successful 16-hour webstreaming dedicated to women and gender issues. To listen to the individual audio programmes visit: www.win.amarc.org

The world broadcast highlighted the various challenges women face around the world such as domestic violence against women in India, the assassination of women in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, the situation of indigenous women through out the world and the challenges of integrating women with disabilities in the feminist movement in Quebec.

The March 8 broadcast also permitted to highlight the tremendous work accomplished by women over the years for the recognition of women's rights such as the example of grassroots women activists in the USA, the lesbian movement in South Korea and the essential role of women in peace building in Liberia.

The Women International Day campaign programs were broadcasted in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Korean and other languages. Individual audio files are available for downloads on the WIN web site at http://www.win.amarc.org.

For more information, please contact: Sophie Toupin, AMARC International Secretariat sophie@amarc.org

AMARC is an international non-governmental organization serving the community radio movement in over 110 countries, and advocating for the right to communicate at the international, national, local and neighborhood levels.

-------

Le 8 mars, AMARC-RIF a saluée la lutte pour les droits des femmes

Montréal, 6 mars 2006 - Le 8 mars, le réseau international des femmes de l'Association mondiale des radiodiffuseurs communautaires (AMARC-RIF) a célébré la journée internationale des femmes avec une radiodiffusion internationale de 16 heures consacrées aux femmes et aux questions de genre. Pour écouter les programmes audio individuels visitez www.win.amarc.org .

La radiodiffusion internationale à mis l'accent sur les défis auxquelles font face les femmes des quatre coins du monde et ont été entre autres illustrés par la violence domestique faites aux femmes en Inde, l'assassinat des femmes à Ciudad Juarez au Mexique, la situation des femmes autochtones dans le monde et les défis d'intégration des femmes handicapées au sein du mouvement féministe au Québec. La radiodiffusion du 8 mars a également permis de se pencher sur le travail acharné des femmes en vue de la reconnaissance de leurs droits tels que l'exemple des femmes activistes de la base aux Etats-Unis, le mouvement des lesbiennes en Corée du sud et le rôle essentiel des femmes dans la construction de la paix au Libéria.

Les programmes audio réalisés dans le cadre de la radiodiffusion spéciale consacrée à la journée internationale des femmes ont été diffusés en français, anglais, espagnol, arabe, coréen et autres. Les fichiers audio sont disponibles sur le site web de l'AMARC-RIF www.win.amarc.org.

Pour plus d'information contactez Sophie Toupin, AMARC Secrétariat International à sophie@amarc.org

AMARC est une organisation internationale non gouvernementale servant le mouvement de la radio communautaire qui dessert plus de 3000 membres dans plus de 110 pays. AMARC vise à soutenir, défendre et favoriser les intérêts des radiodiffuseurs communautaires par la solidarité et la coopération.

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El 8 de Marzo, la AMARC-RIF Saludó las Luchas por los Derechos de las Mujeres

Montreal, Marzo 6, 2006. El 8 de marzo, la Red Internacional de las Mujeres de la Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias (AMARC RIF) celebró el Dia Internacional de las Mujeres con 16 horas de transmisión a nivel mundial dedicadas a las mujeres y temas de género. Para escuchar los programas difundidos, visite www.win.amarc.org.

Los productores de radios comunitarias de radios comunitarias del Asia-Pacífico, de Africa, de Europa, de Norteamérica y de Latinoamérica y el Caribe, a través de documentales, entrevistas, debates, posía y música, abordaron los desafíos que enfrentan las mujeres, entre otros, la violencia familiar contra las mujeres en India, los asesinatos de mujeres en ciudad Juarez en México, la situación de la mujeres de los pueblos originarios en el mundo y los desafíos en integrar las mujeres minusválidas en el movimiento feminista en Québec. La radiodifusión también mostró las luchas de las mujeres para que se reconozcan sus derechos con ejemplos como el de la lucha de activistas de base en Estados Unidos, la del movimiento de lesbianas en Corea del Sur y el rol imprescindible de las mujeres en la construcción de la paz en Liberia.
Los programas del 8 de Marzo, Día Internacional de las Mujeres fueron difundidos en Inglés, Francés, Español, Árabe, Coreano y otros idiomas. Los programas están disponibles para ser bajados desde el sitio de la Red Ionternacional de Mujeres de AMARC en www.win.amarc.org

Para mayores informaciones contacte Sophie Toupin en el Secretariado Internacional en sophie@amarc.org

La asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias AMARC es una ONG al servicio de la radio comunitaria en más de 110 países, que aboga por el derecho a la comunicación a nivel internacional, nacional, local y de barrios. Para mayores informaciones visite http://www.amarc.org

Dual Campus MA Program in Peace Education at the UN-mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica and its International Centre in Canada

Please share this information with anyone who may be interested. Thank you!

In recent years, there has been a growing worldwide recognition of the central role played by education in meeting the complex demands of peacemaking and peace building in divided societies. Often lacking, however, are individuals prepared with the knowledge and skills to act as leaders for educational reform to support sustainable peace processes.

The UPEACE Dual Campus Master's Degree Program in Peace Education is designed to train such individuals. The program builds the capacity of educators from around the world to contribute to educational, social, and cultural change through peace education. It is designed to enable participants to effectively engage in peace education at all levels, from the design of educational policy to the development of effective and culturally relevant peace education programs, to the actual skills of teaching for peace both in and out of the classroom. By providing students with the practical skills and knowledge needed to make positive impacts on formal and non-formal educational systems, the MA program will enable students to contribute to educational development and reform within broader social and cultural contexts.

Courses include a foundation course in Peace and Conflict Studies, Governance International Law and Human Rights, Theory and Practice of Peace Education at Macro and Micro Levels, Educational Systems and Educational Change, Language Media and Peace, Sustainable Development Education and Education for Conflict Transformation and Peace Building.

The first half of this year-long program takes place at our main campus in Costa Rica. Students will then relocate to Toronto, Canada, for the second part of the course. This provides a unique opportunity to engage with the broad field of peace education from both a perspective from the global South and global North, and combine the best resources available in both countries. All courses are in English and are taught by our international resident faculty as well as a host of visiting professors from around the globe.

A number of scholarships are available for selected students from all regions of the world, and this year includes a special scholarship for a Canadian student.

Visit our web site at http://www.upeace.org for more information on the university, its programs and how to apply. The deadline for applications is March 31, 2006.

Main Campus and Headquarters,
P.O. Box 138-6100, San José, Costa Rica
Tel: (506) 205-9000 Fax: (506) 249-1929
E-mail: info@upeace.org

New Book on "The Relational Revolution in Psychology" just released!

Winner of The Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, Christina Robb
publishes her first book ­ THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING, a book based on how
the work of Carol Gilligan, Jean Baker Miller, Judith Lewis Herman and
their colleagues brought democracy to our personal lives. This book tells
the story of a relational psychology. It recounts the untold work of a
pioneering group of psychologists, mostly women, who at times took
monumental risks, crossing boundaries and breaking institutional taboos,
in order to fully understand the ways in which relationships shape us.

"Chris Robb's book is an example of what happens when women have 'a chance
to know themselves, and to be known, not only for what they could be if
they acted just like men but also for the culture they carried as
women…the intense, emotionally connected cooperation and creativity
necessary for human life and growth.' " ­Oprah Magazine

Christina Robb wrote for more than 20 years for the Boston Globe.

To order, call the Wellesley Centers for Women Publications Office:
781-283-2510.

Global Campaign for Peace Education, Issue #30, February 2006
Worldwide Activities Brief, Issue # 30, February 2006

Dear readers,

We have wonderful news and want you to be the first to know.

The Hague Appeal for Peace has developed a partnership with the new Peace Boat US and will be making a transition between now and June of turning over our peace education programs and communications to this lively, young, smart, and global-in- their-thinking -and -doing, group of people.

The Hague Appeal for Peace started out in October 1996 with one idea, to hold a world conference on peace that the UN wouldn't do as the last summit in the last decade of the last century. The May 1999 conference in The Hague was timed as the centennial of the world's first peace congress in 1899 and the agenda was to call peace a human right and to call for the abolition of the institution of war. We planned for 3,000 and 10,000 people from around the world came for nearly a week of hundreds of workshops and plenary sessions including the majority of the world's moral authorities, peace laureates and grassroots activists and leaders.

Since then we have established the Global Campaign for Peace Education, gathered some of the world's best peace educators, held conferences, produced two, and in a few weeks a 3rd, books, and feel well established. Peace Boat US is well placed to continue this work and expand on it, using their wonderful ship to hold peace education classes, conferences, and to recruit young and not so young people from the US and elsewhere to participate. They will be monitoring the UN, and will continue to send out a form of this Peace Education newsletter.

We will keep you informed as we move along in this transition and hope you will continue to stay connected and share your news as you receive our news. We wish you all the best in your work, more needed now than ever before, as the world suffers needless, preventable violence.

Cora Weiss and Hélène Leneveu for the Hague Appeal for Peace

HAP HIGHLIGHTS & PEACE NEWS

· 1000 Peace Women Across the Globe Exhibit
· New Initiative: Community Based Institutes on Peace Education (CIPE)
· United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and Role of Education in ‘Cartoon Controversies’
· Building Peace in India: Social, Cultural or Political Conflict?
· Education Fees Cut for Needy Palestinian Students

GET INVOLVED

· Yellow Ribbons Question War
· International Women’s Day on March 8th
· IANSA Control Arms Campaign Launch ‘100 Day Countdown’
· Youth OUTLOUD! News Service Wants Your Youth-Generated Stories About Peace!
· Call for Participation, Launch Peace and Conflict Review, University for Peace, Costa Rica

COURSES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

· Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies, Training of Trainers, May 16-18, 2006, Washington DC, USA
· Postgraduate Courses in Peace Studies, Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, Coventry University, United Kingdom

EVENTS

· Anti-War Protest, Three-Year Anniversary of US Illegal War on Iraq, March 18-20, 2006
· Teaching for Peace and Human Rights, April 27-28, New York, USA
· World Peace Forum, June 23-28, 2006, Vancouver, Canada
· International Peace Research Association conference, June 29 to July 3, 2006, University of Calgary, Canada
· Fourth International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications: (EISTA), July 20-23, 2006, Orlando, Florida, USA
· International Institute on Peace Education, Toward a Planetary Ethic: Shared and Individual Responsibility, July 30-August 6, 2006, San Jose, Costa Rica
· Peace and Justice Studies Association 2006: “Who Speaks for the Common Good?”, October 5-8, 2006, Manhattan College, New York City
· Israel-Palestine Dialogue, Conference in Antalya, Turkey, Dec 31, 2006 to Jan 4, 2007

RESOURCES, MATERIALS, PUBLICATIONS

· 1000 PeaceWomen Across the Globe, the Book
· Norwegian Peace Alliance and Peace Education
· Anti-Hate Educational Manual, Middle East Children’s Association (MECA)
· Briefing Paper on Small Arms Control Focusing on 2005 UN First Committee, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
· Disarmament Forum, Taking Action on Small Arms, UNIDIR
· UNEP 2006 Year Book Shows Investments to Curb Air Pollution Pay Off Economically
· Public Perceptions of Small Arms and Light Weapons and Community Security in the Middle East, 2006 Report
· People Building Peace II: Successful Stories of Civil Society

GRANTS, PRIZES &AWARDS

· Promoting Gender Equality in Local Development
· Gender and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) awards

HAP HIGHLIGHTS & PEACE NEWS

1000 Peace Women Across the Globe Exhibit

On the occasion of the 50th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City (Feb 27- March 10) , Hague Appeal for Peace is hosting the “1000 Peace Women Across the Globe” exhibit. Originally called “1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize”, this project is a network of women from more than 150 different countries who were collectively nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize in order to draw worldwide attention to the impressive activities of women for a peaceful future. As Kamla Bhasin (Project Coordinator India) pointed out, 1000 is a symbol because “peace is not an individual act. You cannot make peace alone”. The project was initiated by Dr Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold, member of the Swiss Parliament and the Council of Europe. It is supported by UNIFEM and UNDP and is under the patronage of the Swiss UNESCO Committee. Thus, the groundbreaking photo exhibit honors women’s peace work around the world. Through their stories, we hope to bring to public attention, women daily efforts for peace. The launch of the exhibit successfully celebrated the opening of the Commission on the Status of Women on February 27th. Some of the 1000 women were present, including Cora Weiss and Betty Reardon, as well as high-profile guests such as Mrs. Nane Annan, Swiss Ambassador Peter Mauer, UNIFEM Director Noeleen Heyzer, and Under Secretary-General Anwarul Chowdhury.

We will soon post pictures on our website (http://www.haguepeace.org/). Meanwhile, you may learn more about the project at: http://www.1000peacewomen.org/index.html (available in 14 languages)

The Hague Appeal’s Global Campaign for Peace Education is joining a New Initiative: Community Based Institutes on Peace Education (CIPE)

“The Peace Education Center at Teachers College and the International Institute on Peace Education (IIPE) are launching an exiting new and Global Campaign for Peace Education complementary initiative we hope you will consider supporting. Community Based Institutes on Peace Education (CIPE) have been developed to address problems of access and relevance to teacher training opportunities in peace education. Since most peace education practices have been developed mainly in Western urban areas, barriers of finance and language have prevented educators from acquiring the necessary preparation many have received in international settings. Thus, the CIPE is a locally based teacher training program designed to:

1) Prepare educators in the requisite culturally and contextually relevant knowledge and methodologies of teaching for peace and security;

2) Provide community building opportunities and support for formal and non-formal peace educators, grassroots initiatives and educational policy reforms;

3) Provide opportunities for local peace educators to dialogue with the global community; and

4) Increase opportunities for formal research on the impact of peace education teacher training, initiatives and interventions.

The model of the CIPE is derived from the International Institute on Peace Education (IIPE). Now in its 25th year, the IIPE has benefited more than 1500 educators from approximately one hundred countries. The CIPE will work to accomplish these goals through the organization and development of 1-2 day CIPEs to be held annually in 6-12 localities in various world regions. Priority in scheduling will be given to post conflict and transitional communities and those that have experience with the IIPE model. The Peace Education Center is currently in the process of securing funds for the coordination of this work.”

If you would like to learn more about the CIPE please contact Tony Jenkins, Global Coordinator of the IIPE/CIPE at jenkins@tc.edu. You may also download a detailed letter sent to potential hosts and members of the IIPE network at http://www.tc.edu/PeaceEd/iipe/cipe.pdf.

United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and Role of Education in ‘Cartoon Controversies’

The cartoon controversies over caricatures of Prophet Muhammad --originally published in a Danish newspaper-- fueled anger within Muslim communities, which resulted in an escalation of violence all over the world. Shamil Idriss, Deputy Director of the Office of the Alliance of Civilizations, pointed out Education as a key to combating the mutual ignorance and mutual fear. To prevent future clashes of a similar nature, the United Nations official dealing with the cultural gap between Islam and the West said: “We have to get to a point that different societies have some degrees of understanding of the concerns and the grievances and even the sensitivities of the other societies in the world, ... It is an educational issue... What could have been done in the three months between the printing and the violence breaking out? What could have been done differently at the political level, at the religious level, at the civil society level, to prevent the violence?” As he argues, if the causes are mutual ignorance and mutual fear, the response must redress these specific problems: “...the solutions are mutual respect and education, population exchanges and cross-cultural cooperation...”

The High-Level Panel on the Alliance of Civilizations --established last July by Secretary-General Kofi Annan-- will present its report later this year, including a plan of action for bridging the gap between cultures, especially Islam and the West (Christian and Muslim world), which threatens peace in the world. This conference was proposed by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in the 59th General Assembly of the United Nations and cosponsored with the Turkish Prime Minister. Among the members is former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who was the theorist of Dialogue Among Civilizations. The High-Level Group (HLG) for the Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) had its second meeting in Doha, Qatar on February 25-27, 2006. The HLG, consisting of 21 eminent leaders in policy-making, academia, civil society and the media and drawn from all regions and civilizations to guide this effort, had its first meeting in Spain in November 2005. “Right now, we are working on four major issues: the issue of youth engagement, the issue of the impact of the media and how media could have a more constructive impact, the issue of immigrants integration and the issue of educational reform,” said Mr Idriss.

As Cora Weiss observed, of the twenty-one personalities and experts leading the Alliance of Civilization, only 4 are women, which is unacceptable.

To read more about the Alliance of Civilizations, go to: http://www.un.org/ga/59/hlpm_rev.2.pdf

Building Peace in India: Social, Cultural or Political Conflict?

Dr Leban Serto, a colleague from India sent us a report on the SAEPP Sponsored National Symposium on Building Peace, Challenges and Hope of Diversity which took place last November 2005: “To put it in the words of the delegates, this three-day symposium turned out to be a sort of historical event. In the two decades history of their struggle, the leaders of Panun Kashmir (Kashmir Pandits’ socio-political platform) and All Parties Hurriet Conference (Mirwaiz) had never met before; this was their first ever meeting... The whole deliberation had cleared certain myths about the conflict torn Jammu & Kashmir. The general perception that the Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir are thoroughly divided is not true. There is a deeply rooted socio-cultural cordiality between these two communities who share common heritage, culture, literature and food habits, which is a strength and hope for peace but unfortunately fast eroding due to gross negligence. The divide is not social, not cultural. It is mostly political. Gross generalization of the conflict makes it appear incorrigible. When we delve into the myriad details of the life of the concerned people we could find a vast gray area amply providing scope for peace. If we can fraction the whole conflict into many sub-conflicts we would find a number of them being non-realistic that can be easily dealt with or cancelled mutually.”

You may contact Dr Leban Serto for the full report of this historic meeting at lebanserto@yahoo.com or Awala Longkumer at longkumerawol@yahoo.co.in

Education Fees Cut for Needy Palestinian Students

Over 19,000 Palestinian students will receive a 75 per cent reduction in educational fees this semester through a programme of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The programme, funded by the Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People, will enable 11 universities and 24 other establishments of higher education, many of them vocational, to grant fee waivers to needy students in the West Bank and Gaza. The agency specified that more than half of the waivers will be granted to female students. So far, applications have been submitted for 27,398 students, 19,157 of whom will receive fee reductions, UNESCO said.

The Hague Appeal for Peace is circulating the information below, however this does not indicate our endorsement. We are not in a position to evaluate them all.

GETTING INVOLVED

Yellow Ribbons Question War

“Support Our Troops does not mean Support Our War. The best way to support our troops is to Question War itself. It is time the voices questioning war become stronger than those justifying war. We are the growing majority and the Question is fundamental.”

To learn more about this new initiative: http://www.questionwar.com/

International Women’s Day on March 8th

International Women's Day is marked on March 8th every year as a day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women, as well as to protest war. It is the story of ordinary women making history, rooted in centuries-old struggle of women such as Lysistrata, in ancient Greece, who initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war. According to Wikipedia (online-encyclopedia), the idea was first put forward at the turn of the 20th century when rapid world industrialization and economic expansion led to protests over working conditions. Women from clothing and textile factories staged one such protest on March 8, 1857 in New York City. The garment workers were protesting what they saw as very poor working conditions and low wages. The protesters were attacked and dispersed by police. These women established their first labor union in the same month two years later. More protests followed on 8 March in subsequent years, most notably in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. In 1910, the first international women's conference, held in Copenhagen establishes an “International Women's Day” and the following year, it was marked by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. However, soon thereafter, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City killed over 140 garment workers. A lack of safety measures was blamed for the high death toll. Women across Europe held peace rallies on 8 March 1913, on the eve of World War I, and demonstrations marking International Women's Day in Russia proved to be the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Following the October Revolution, the Bolshevik feminist Alexandra Kollontai persuaded Lenin to make it an official holiday, and during the Soviet period it continued to celebrate "the heroic woman worker". Nonetheless, the holiday quickly lost its political flavor and became an occasion for men to express their sympathy or love to the women around them (somewhat similar to Western Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together). It remains an official holiday in Russia (as well as in Belarus, Macedonia, Moldova, and Ukraine), and is observed by men congratulating women (any woman) and giving them flowers and gifts. When Czechoslovakia was part of the Soviet Bloc this celebration was supported officially and gradually turned into parody. Meanwhile in the West, it was commemorated during the 1910s and 1920s, but dwindled. Then, it revived with the rise of feminism in the 1960s. Finally, in 1975, which had been designated as International Women’s Year, the United Nations gave official sanction to and began sponsoring International Women's Day. In present times, many events are held by women's groups around the world. So, check your community-networks and get involved! And if you are a teacher, this is a great opportunity to discuss with your students women’s rights and gender issues!

The global women's organization Aurora hosts a free worldwide register of International Women’s Day local events so that women and the media can locate local activity: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

For a short chronology, check the UN webpage: http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/women/womday97.htm

Another good resource, especially for educators, is the UN CyberSchoolBus (it includes a teacher’s guide), please visit: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/womensday/index.asp

IANSA Control Arms Campaign Launch ‘100 Day Countdown’

The Control Arms campaign is launching the ‘100 Day Countdown’ on 16 March 2006. The 100 Day Countdown is a critical period when we need to increase campaigning activities and heighten media attention in the run-up to the UN Review Conference on small arms to be held in June-July. Among the main objectives are: to collect the remaining faces for the Million Faces Petition launched in October 2003 (almost 750,000 faces already); to mobilize support from parliamentarians on small arms issue; to host public events; to attract increased media attention to the small arms issue.

You can take a look at the activities and events organized for last year’s Global Week of Action for inspiration (http://www.iansa.org/action/WOA-Report-2005.pdf) and let IANSA know about events that you are organizing, send to: laura.cheeseman@iansa.org

Youth OUTLOUD! News Service Wants Your Youth-Generated Stories About Peace!

The goal of Youth OUTLOUD! is to distribute youth-generated stories about issues and life to the mainstream media worldwide. Launched in November 2005, and founded by a seasoned journalist, the news service has already been endorsed or supported by dozens of professional print media organizations in the world.

Youth OUTLOUD! is inviting your organization to become a partner and supply stories on a regular basis about the incredible work your youth members are doing. Many of your members have already written stories and it would be great if you would allow Youth OUTLOUD! to post the stories and offer them to the media. The goal is to collect about 200 stories within the next few weeks from a variety of sources, and then have each organization submit stories on a weekly or monthly on-going basis.

To submit stories or for more information contact Sherry Sacino at editor@youthoutloud.net or visit the website at www.youthoutloud.ne

Call for Participation, Launch Peace and Conflict Review, University for Peace, Costa Rica

The Peace and Conflict Review will be launched in March (2006). It is planned as an online-refereed journal offering one fully refereed article once per month, except for the months of December and August. All articles will be archived and free to all readers on the web. In the first instance the review will be offered as a site linked to the Peace and Conflict Monitor and some of the articles, which do not meet the exacting standards of the Review Editorial Board, may be published by the Peace and Conflict Monitor.

If you are interested, go to http://www.review.upeace.org/ for all the details.

COURSES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies, Training of Trainers, May 16-18, 2006, Washington DC, USA

The Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies' (INEE) announces a workshop for the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction Training of Trainers workshop for North America. It will be held from May 16-18, 2006 in Washington, DC at the Academy for Educational Development's (AED) Conference Center and is being co-hosted by AED, CARE USA, Catholic Relief Services, the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children US. This workshop will involve 25 experienced trainers from the United States and Canada.

More details and the application form are available at: www.ineesite.org/standards/

Postgraduate Courses in Peace Studies, Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, Coventry University, United Kingdom

The Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies at Coventry University is now inviting applications for the next academic year (2006/07). Coventry has gained a global reputation with this centre of teaching, research and related activities focused on deepening understanding and promoting processes of peacebuilding and reconciliation at all levels, throughout the world. Their programmes include a MA in Peace and Reconciliation Studies (full and part-time) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Conflict Resolution Skills. Courses include Key Issues in Peace and Reconciliation Studies; Theory and Practice of Conflict Transformation; Comparative Peace Processes; Perspectives on Inner and Outer Peace; International Human Rights Law; Research Skills & Research Design...

Further details can be found at www.coventry.ac.uk/peacestudy/ or contact Professor Andrew Rigby at: a.rigby@coventry.ac.uk

EVENTS

Anti-War Protest, Three-Year Anniversary of US Illegal War on Iraq, March 18-20, 2006

According to StopWar.ca, at least 765 U.S. towns and cities, are holding anti-war events.

For details, visit: http://www.stopwar.ca/ and http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2688

Teaching for Peace and Human Rights, April 27-28, New York, USA

Cora Weiss, our President, will be the keynote speaker at the second session of this two-day conference organized by Adelphi University School of Education, in conjunction with the United Nations. It will provide a forum for teachers from around the world to develop curricula that will integrate peace and human rights education into the classroom. The first session will be held at the Adelphi University Garden City campus on April 27, 2006 and will be followed by a second session at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on April 28, 2006. Global Education Motivators (GEM) is also an organizer of this conference. Founded by educators, GEM helps promote a better understanding of the world and its people through on-site and distance learning workshops.

For further details and to register, please visit http://education.adelphi.edu/peaceeducation/ or contact Professor Rita Verma at verma@adelphi.edu.

World Peace Forum, June 23-28, 2006, Vancouver, Canada

“The Peace Forum is a go!” said Executive Director Jef Keighley last February 8th in a Press Release issued to deny rumors about the forum being cancelled right after new Mayor of Vancouver took office. Both Hague Appeal for Peace and Peace Boat will be there to participate. However, we are dismayed that the Forum has rejected the demands of the indigenous people who in turn have pulled out of the conference.

You can now check the program schedule summary and some program highlights. You will find all the information you need to register or/and get involved in the planning at: http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/index

International Peace Research Association conference, June 29 to July 3, 2006, University of Calgary, Canada

Founded in 1964, the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) developed from a conference organized by the "Quaker International Conferences and Seminars" in Clarens, Switzerland, August 16-20, 1963. Since 1963, IPRA has organized 21 conferences, each time in a different country with different themes following global scopes. The next biennial conference --“Patterns of Conflict, Paths to Peace”-- will be held in Calgary (Canada) from June 29 to July 3, 2006. The plenary themes will be the following: Aboriginal Canadians on peace; Peace and the environment; Peace journalism; “Professionalism” in violence prevention and peace building; Peace research and action: regional trends in the 21st century; Security with a human face; Sustainable peace building architecture.

Details on 2006 Calgary conference can be found at http://ipra2006.com/pages/conference.htm and you may learn more about IPRA at http://soc.kuleuven.be/pol/ipra/index.html

Fourth International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications: (EISTA), July 20-23, 2006, Orlando, Florida, USA

“Relationships between Education/Training and Information/Communication Technologies (ICT) are increasing acceleratingly, sometimes in unexpected ways, with original ideas and innovative tools, methodologies and synergies. Accordingly the main purpose of EISTA ’06 is to bring together researchers and practitioners from both areas, in order to support the bridging process between education/training and ICT communities.”

For more information, go to: http://www.conf-info.org/eista06/website/default.asp

International Institute on Peace Education, Toward a Planetary Ethic: Shared and Individual Responsibility, July 30-August 6, 2006, San Jose, Costa Rica

“The 2006 International Institute on Peace Education (IIPE) is being co-organized by the Peace Education Center of Teachers College Columbia University (New York) and the UN Mandated University for Peace (Costa Rica). IIPE, founded in 1982 by Betty Reardon and faculty colleagues at Teachers College, has been held annually in different parts of the world. It is an intensive multicultural and cooperative learning opportunity in which participants learn from and with each other about substantive peace issues and interactive teaching approaches. The IIPE is also an opportunity for networking and community building among those who educate and work for a culture of peace in the host region and around the world. IIPE 2006 will explore the theme of ‘Toward a Planetary Ethic: Shared and Individual Responsibility’, recognizing that the global community has reached key areas of consensus regarding the challenges we are facing, the shared ethical frameworks of values, norms and principles for meeting them, and in particular the contributions that education should fulfill.”

For more information and to apply, go to www.tc.edu/PeaceEd or contact: peace-ed@tc.edu

Peace and Justice Studies Association 2006: “Who Speaks for the Common Good?”, October 5-8, 2006, Manhattan College, New York City

“Shortly after September 11th, peace groups throughout the US distributed world flags with a photo of the earth and a slogan, ‘We're all in this together.’ That sense of the common good is crucial to the development of a more peaceful and just world. Has this notion fallen out of favor? How do we resolve the tension between the dual strivings we each feel, to be autonomous, and yet to be connected? In an era in which pursuing one's self-interest is commended, who speaks for the common good? Those who honestly attempt to do so are disempowered to act on it, and those who speak for the nations rarely even pretend to do so. How do we decide what really serves the common good, and how do we work for the common good? The rhetoric of a common good is sometimes misused to ride sacrifice the interests of some people, allegedly for the good of a greater number. How can we, as people committed to creating a peaceful, just world, promote a focus on the common good, properly understood?” The Peace and Justice Studies Association will explore these questions at their 4th annual conference, to be held October 5-8, 2006, at Manhattan College, New York City.

Moreover, Cora Weiss and Betty Reardon of the Hague Appeal for Peace will participate and the “1000 PeaceWomen from Across the Globe” exhibit will be included.

You may submit proposals (deadline May 1st) for paper presentations, organized panels, roundtable discussions, workshops and other creative contributions on these and related questions (no more than 200 words, should include a brief biography). For further details or/and submission, please contact Margaret Groarke at pjsa2006@manhattan.edu and visit http://www.peacejusticestudies.org/

Israel-Palestine Dialogue, Conference in Antalya, Turkey, Dec 31, 2006 to Jan 4, 2007

The Jerusalem-based Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) is planning a conference to be held from December 31, 2006 to January 4, 2007 in Antalya, Turkey.

“The idea of IPCRI was born in 1988 at the onset of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising. Building bridges of communication between Israeli and Palestinian intellectuals became more urgent than ever. A need was felt for the creation of an organization that would squarely address the issue: how to bring about a peace process that will satisfy both the Palestinians' legitimate right of self-determination and Israel's equally legitimate security concerns ... IPCRI's approach is practical and realistic... IPCRI produces ideas, and provides a safe forum for Israeli and Palestinian experts, policy advisers, etc. to engage in creative problem solving - exploring options and outlining solutions. Participants are encouraged to discover mutual interests. They are challenged to bring to fruition the living solutions that lie waiting underneath the old antagonisms.”

If you are willing to support and get involved --as an organization or an individual-- please contact our friend Gershon Baskin at: gershon@ipcri.org and to explore the work IPCRI has done since its creation, go to: http://www.ipcri.org/

RESOURCES, MATERIALS, PUBLICATIONS

1000 Peace Women Across the Globe

“The book of the 1000 peacewomen demonstrates the work and visions of 1000 women. It describes the life and achievements of each woman, whether she works at the grassroots, nationally or internationally. The book is both a good read as well as a concise reference instrument for NGOs, relief organizations, governments, as well as peace and women's networks.”

To order it: http://www.1000peacewomen.org/eng/html/buch/index.php

Norwegian Peace Alliance and Peace Education

The peace education database of the Norwegian Peace Alliance website includes nearly 60 different activities. The aim and instructions for each activity is included, in addition for the time required and the age group most suited. These peace educational activities cover six fields: Human Rights, Conflict dialogue, North-South perspectives, attitude/stigmatism/stereotyping, pupil-to-pupil mediation techniques, and nonviolent methods of resistance/empowerment and they are available in Norwegian, English and Arabic.

Anti-Hate Educational Manual, Middle East Children Association (MECA)

This manual was written by Ghassan Abdullah of Palestine who is the co-chair of the International Advisory Committee of the Global Campaign for Peace Education. As Ghassan explained to us: “In order to combat the culture of violence that pervades, the Israeli and the Palestinian communities, children deserve better education, an education that does not glorify war or promote hate to the other, but one that educates for peace, tolerance, and nonviolence.” Because such education is lacking today in the two educational systems, MECA produced a manual that provides information and skills on how to minimize aspects of hate and maximize aspects of tolerance, and how to care about every other persons feelings. According to its initiators, the manual aims at dispelling stereotypes and prejudice, fostering respect for differences, make children understand that being different does not make them better or worse than others, make them understand who and what they are and how to value diversity, to help children who have been victims of prejudice, those who not only suffer deeply, but they also start causing others to suffer. It was published by MECA in two languages, Arabic and Hebrew. Three thousand copies were made from each edition. They were distributed free of charge to Palestinian and Israeli schools. The United States Institute for Peace (USIP) sponsored the publication.

To get a free copy you can write to: meca@palnet.com or P.O.Box 17421 Jerusalem

Briefing Paper on Small Arms Control Focusing on 2005 UN First Committee, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue

“Some important decisions were taken at the 2005 meeting of the United Nations General A First Committee (Disarmament), which will likely influence the course of global action on small arms. This briefing paper from the Arms Programme at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue seeks to provide some context and background to First Committee meetings, and outline the most salient resolutions and proposals that were tabled at the 2005 session. In particular, the paper highlights the innovative Dutch-led resolution entitled Addressing the negative humanitarian and development impact of the illicit manufacture, transfer and circulation of small arms and light weapons and their excessive accumulation, which advances the link between armed violence, sustainable development, peacebuilding and security.

To read this paper, go to: http://www.hdcentre.org/UN+First+Committee+%28Disarmament%29+2005

Also, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue has just launched a new website, check it out: http://www.hdcentre.org

Disarmament Forum, Taking Action on Small Arms, UNIDIR

The latest edition of Disarmament Forum, the journal of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), is a special double-sized issue devoted to small arms control.

It is available at: http://www.unidir.org/bdd/fiche-periodique.php?ref_periodique=1020-7287-2006-1-en#contents

UNEP 2006 Year Book Shows Investments to Curb Air Pollution Pay Off Economically

Governments investing in air pollution control measures can save billions of dollars as health care costs are slashed, worker productivity soars and ecosystems flourish, according to a report released this month by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). These savings, along with other economic gains such as sounder bridges, public buildings and other infrastructure that endure less corrosive air pollutants can be six times greater than the initial investments in techniques and equipment to curb air pollution, says UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook Year Book 2006. The GEO Year Book includes global and regional overviews. It highlights the linkages between environmental well-being, vulnerability and poverty. It records recent findings on the value of ecosystem services and describes new research findings on polar and ocean changes. In this 2006 edition, a special focus analyzes the environmental, socio-economic and public health impacts of energy-related air pollution.

To read this informative and authoritative annual report: http://www.unep.org/geo/yearbook/yb2006/index.asp

Public Perceptions of Small Arms and Light Weapons and Community Security in the Middle East, 2006 Report

A senior UN aid official has called for a global moratorium on arms sales to Africa during 2006, since these weapons are the root cause of 12.5 million people on the continent becoming displaced from their homes. “Over 80% of young people across the Middle East want stricter state controls on private gun ownership, according to a new report by the Middle East North Africa Network on Small Arms (MENAANSA). The report is based on interviews with focus groups of people aged 20-35 living in gun-affected communities in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Khartoum (Sudan). The results challenge the common belief that people in the Middle East generally accept guns as a normal part of life. In Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan, over 50% of respondents would not choose to own a gun, with the most common reason being that guns are dangerous for the family. In the West Bank, while over 40% of people would choose to own a gun, 60% nonetheless believe there are too many guns in their society.”

This report is available both in English and Arabic.

People Building Peace II: Successful Stories of Civil Society

“People Building Peace II seeks to document and draw attention to the important role civil society is playing in preventing and resolving conflict around the globe. In so doing, it wishes to fill a gap by showing that people on the ground, ranging from women, youth and faith-based organizations to artists and media, can make and already have made a positive difference in many conflict areas. The publication includes over 60 stories of civil society successes, many which have never previously been documented and most of them written by practitioners involved in the initiatives themselves. These stories are accompanied by thematic analysis and insights from key experts in the field of conflict prevention such as Hizkias Assefa, Catherine Barnes, Norbert Ropers and Andres Serbin and by personal anecdotes from a number of high-profile peacebuilders such as President Xanana Gusmao, Desmond Tutu, Her Majesty Queen Noor, together with a foreword by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.”

To order it, go to: http://www.conflict-prevention.net/

GRANTS, PRIZES, AWARDS

Promoting Gender Equality in Local Development

The European Union is currently accepting proposals to finance transnational projects that promote gender equality. With an emphasis on local development this year's theme hopes to address two complementary issues. First, how to balance the participation of men and women in various aspects of local development, and secondly, how local level policies can encourage the promotion of gender equality on a daily basis.

For more information on this grant opportunity and the application procedure (close on April 28, 2006)

go to: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/emplweb/tenders/tenders_en.cfm?id=105

Gender and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) awards

The gender and ICT award was created in recognition of the ability of ICT to help disadvantaged groups increase their participation in the civic, social, political, and economic processes critical to achieving change. However women, particularly women in developing countries don't benefit from these new technologies, a reflection of the existing unequal power relations in societies as a whole. Gender and ICT Awards aim to honour and bring international recognition to innovative and effective projects by women to use ICTs for the promotion of gender equality and/or women's empowerment. The next award will be given in 2007, with information forthcoming on the theme of the 2007 award.

To stay updated on the 2007 theme and application procedure go to: http://www.genderawards.net/index.htm

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Founded in 1999, the Hague Appeal for Peace Global Campaign for Peace Education (GCPE), is an international organized network which promotes peace education among schools, families and communities to transform the culture of violence into a culture of peace. Over 140 organizations worldwide have endorsed it.

Peace education is a holistic, participatory process that includes teaching for and about human rights, nonviolent responses to conflict, social and economic justice, gender equity, environmental sustainability, disarmament, traditional peace practices and human security. The methodology of peace education encourages reflection, critical thinking, cooperation, and responsible action. It promotes multiculturalism, and is based on values of dignity, equality and respect. Peace education is intended to prepare students for democratic participation in schools and society.

The Global Campaign for Peace Education has two goals:

- To see peace education integrated into all curricula, community and family education worldwide to become a part of life
- To promote the education of all teachers to teach for peace.

The Hague Appeal for Peace Global Campaign for Peace Education Worldwide Activities Brief e-newsletter highlights how and where the GCPE network is active and growing. Submissions are encouraged! Please contribute how you are working for peace education including dates, locations, a brief description, and a website and/ or contact information and send it to helene@haguepeace.org For more information on the Hague Appeal for Peace and to become an endorser of the GCPE visit www.haguepeace.org.

Special Thanks
The Hague Appeal for Peace is grateful to the following for their generous support:
The Ford Foundation, Robert and Fran Boehm, The Arsenault Family Foundation, Olof Palme Minnesfond, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, Compton Foundation, Stewart R. Mott Charitable Trust, Samuel Rubin Foundation, The Simons Foundation, Norwottock Foundation, CarEth Foundation, Loretto Community, Rissho Kosei Kai, General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church, Tides Canada Foundation Exchange Fund of Tides Foundation, Wade Greene and several anonymous donors.

Helene Leneveu
Program Associate
Hague Appeal for Peace
777 UN Plaza, Third Floor
New York, NY 10017
Tel: (+1) 212-687-2623
Fax: (+1) 212-661-2704
Website: www.haguepeace.org

" A culture of peace will be achieved when citizens of the world understand global problems; have the skills to resolve conflict constructively; know and live by international standards of human rights, gender and racial equality; appreciate cultural diversity; and respect the integrity of the Earth. Such learning can not be achieved without intentional, sustained and systematic education for peace." Global Campaign for Peace Education

Enhanced participation of women in development: Findings from the CSW Expert Group Report

Date: Thursday March 9, 2006

Time: 1:00-2:30 PM

Location: Church Center for the UN
777 UN Plaza, 2nd Floor (44th and 1st Ave.)
New York, NY 10017

RSVP: Full contact information to:
Jessica Hartl, UNA-USA
202-462-3446
jhartl@unausa.org

Featured Speaker

Sylvie I. Cohen, PhD
Deputy Director, Division for the Advancement of Women
Secretary of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations

Background

What advances have been made to ensure women's participation in development? What is the current environment like, and where does more work need to be done? In November 2005, the Expert Group for the Commission on the Status of Women met to discuss these issues and more, under the thematic issue of "Enhanced participation of women in development: An enabling environment for achieving gender equality and the advancement of women, taking into account, inter alia, in the fields of education, health and work". As described by the Division on the Advancement of Women, "The findings and recommendations of the experts will provide inputs for a report of the Secretary-General. They will also inform the deliberations of the Commission through an interactive panel discussion and through the agreed conclusions that the Commission will adopt." Dr. Cohen will highlight the findings of this Expert Group, which will be issued with the current meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women.

WOMEN FOR PEACE

A poem-plea by Francisco Gomes de Matos,
an applied peace linguist from Recife, Brazil

On March 8, worldwide your day is celebrated
For who/what you are, what you have done and do
But are your rights being recognized and protected?
Are you being treated with dignity and equality, too?

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

You are sung in multilingual prose and poetry
All forms of artistic creations you inspire
But between you and men: is there symmetry?
Against you many forms of discrimination still conspire

As mothers, daughters, sisters, or wives you serve Humankind
And caringly help build exemplary, sustainable family relations
As professionals you demand equal opportunities of every kind
Violence against you to diminish, disappear? Supreme elations!

Given the varied, crucial roles that in Society you play
To a deeply humanizing mission please be committed:
That of using you powers in body and soul to firmly say
May Peace in homes everywhere be permanently admitted!

Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen, sehr geehrte Damen und Herrn,

wir möchten Sie einerseits mit diesem e-mail über unsere
1. Enquete zur Friedenserziehung an der Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt informieren und andererseits Sie sehr herzlich zu dieser Veranstaltung einladen.

Wir würden uns über Ihre Teilnahme sehr freuen.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Bettina Gruber

Dr. Bettina Gruber
Alpen-Adria-Universität
Zentrum für Friedensforschung und Friedenserziehung
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education
A-9020 Klagenfurt, Universitätsstr. 65-67
Tel.: +43-(0)463/2700
Tel.: +43-(0)676/3305/449
Fax.: +43-(0)463/2700/2799
email: bettina.gruber@uni-klu.ac.at

EINLADUNG

Der Landesschulrat für Kärnten,
das Religionspädagogische Institut Kärnten und
das Zentrum für Friedensforschung und Friedenspädagogik der Universität Klagenfurt

laden Sie sehr herzlich ein zur

1. Enquête zur Friedenserziehung
„Im Gedenken an Bertha von Suttner – 100 Jahre Verleihung des Friedensnobelpreises“

WANN: Donnerstag, 20. April 2006, 9.00- 17.00 Uhr
WO: Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, z-109 (Hauptgebäude)

Die friedenspädagogische Enquête ist die Kärntner Auftaktveranstaltung des „Alpen-Adria-Netzwerks Friedenserziehung“, in dessen Rahmen es schon einige Initiativen und Vorbereitungstreffen in Kärnten sowie in Udine und Ljubljana gegeben hat.

Hauptziele der Enquête sind
• Einrichtung einer ständigen Plattform von FriedenspädagogInnen im Sinne einer nachhaltigen Friedenspädagogik
• Initiierung von Friedensprojekten auf schulischer wie außerschulischer Ebene
• Partnerschaften zwischen den Alpen-Adria-Schulen
• Aufbau des Themenschwerpunkts „Gewaltprävention in Schulen“
• Vorbereitung eines SchülerInnenwettbewerbs „Schritte zum Frieden“
• Einbegleitung einer jährlich wiederkehrenden Veranstaltung (Vertiefung des Netzwerks, Behandlung einschlägiger Fragestellungen, Austausch, Fortbildung…)

Die VeranstalterInnen freuen sich sehr auf Ihr Kommen!

Anmeldung

Aus organisatorischen Gründen bitten wir Sie, sich bis spätestens 7. April 2006 unter der genannten e-mail Adresse (bettina.gruber@uni-klu.ac.at) anzumelden.

This message is sent by the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies at The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Below are comments from various world leaders and scholars about Amitai Etzionis new book, FROM EMPIRE TO COMMUNITY: A NEW APPROACH TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.

LUIS ERNESTO DERBEZ, SECRETARY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS FOR MEXICO
"The establishment of a global order of coexistence is the XXI Century's great call. ˜From Empire to Community: A New Approach to International Relations" gives testimony of the current construction process of a new form of collective identity and solidarity in search for peace, security, prosperity and the well-being of the community of nations, in accordance with the axes of legitimacy of the right to be different, equality, mutual respect, tolerance and pluralism. In this exciting book, Amitai Etzioni invites the reader to break the lethargy associated with routine and to take an active role in the economic, political, social and cultural transformations of our time."

JAN PETER BALKENENDE, PRIME MINISTER OF THE NETHERLANDS
"Amitai Etzioni has constructed a coherent communitarian vision of international relations. ˜From Empire to Community" is a pioneering work of vital importance to the formation of a new way of international thinking, relevant to policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic. Safeguarding global goods such as security, human rights and environmental protection is becoming increasingly vital in this era of globalization. Amitai Etzioni's new book offers us an inspiring example of the out-of-the-box thinking that is needed to confront these challenges. Etzioni brings new diplomatic challenges into focus and launches a crucial debate about the sort of world we are leaving to future generations and how we can best manage problems and grasp opportunities, in ways that are deemed legitimate by both American and European societies."

JOSEPH S. NYE, AUTHOR OF “SOFT POWER: THE MEANS TO SUCCESS IN WORLD POLITICS
"In ˜From Empire to Community," Amitai Etzioni applies his communitarian approach to international affairs and foreign policy, attacking liberals to his left and neo-conservatives to his right. He offers a provocative and thoughtful alternative to the triumphalism that has dominated recent discussions about the future of American foreign policy.

KHALED ABOU EL FADL, PROFESSOR, UCLA LAW SCHOOL
"This book is a true jewel...to be read and examined again and again. This is a must read!"

G. JOHN IKENBERRY, POLITICAL AND LEGAL BOOK REVIEWER, “FOREIGN AFFAIRS�
"In this sweeping vision of an emerging world community, Etzioni, a distinguished sociologist and leading communitarian thinker, lays out a world order that charts a path between power-oriented realism and law-oriented liberalism. It is a vision in which U.S. power is closely tied to a wider global community infused with shared values and bolstered by legitimate institutions of governance."

MARTIN WALKER, EDITOR OF ENGLISH OPERATIONS, "UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL"
"Amitai Etzioni is one of the most valuable of public intellectuals because he is constantly engaged in the real world of politics...The relationship of this emerging system with the United Nations is tricky. Etzioni sees the [U.N.]...as ˜a legitimator, a major source of soft power...(But) we should not overlook the fact that the U.N., without the hard power of the U.S. and others is often ineffectual. By itself, the U.N. is not even the beginning of a world government. However, in conjunction with the powers that be, it can be. There is much evidence to suggest that an increased measure of global governance is not only badly needed, but also slowly evolving." This is a genuinely interesting and original idea....."

LEE H. HAMILTON, VICE CHAIR OF THE 9-11 COMMISSION
"From Empire to Community" is a sweeping and thought-provoking blueprint that gets at many of the key issues of our time. Etzioni's communitarian approach adds a fresh dimension to the dialogue on international relations."

PER STIG MqLLER, DANISH MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
"For anyone concerned about the new global challenges and the current implacable trends in international politics and for those preoccupied with how we can bring about the needed fundamental progress, Etzioni's book is a refreshing contribution of daring thoughts, wisdom, and common sense. By contrasting and blending familiar and well-known institutions with new or exotic concepts, ideas and notions, Etzioni offers new and useful insights. Here, reality is round - not square, and its constituent elements complementary rather than conflicting. It is Thomas Paine conversing with Confucius that comes to one's mind. But the book is vibrantly topical. It underlines the need of the legitimating United Nations also to seek hard power to enforce its resolutions. As an echo of Kant's ˜Perpetual Peace," Etzioni leads us to the ˜good society" based on both the Western legal tradition and social duties deriving from moral suasion. Etzioni is a bridge-builder by the grace of God."

RABBI PROFESSOR JONATHAN SACKS, CHIEF RABBI OF THE UNITED HEBREW CONGREGATIONS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
"In recent years, Amitai Etzioni has been the most powerful and persuasive voice for the human values that can only be cultivated in community. In this new and compelling analysis, he extends his work to the international arena. Few books have spoken more eloquently to the heart of our shared humanity, and in an age of global tension, few have been more necessary. Essential reading for all those concerned with our ever more fragile social ecology."

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER
"A thoughtful and timely examination of some of the fundamental issues that modern society confronts."

ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER, DEAN, WOODROW WILSON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
"In this timely and provocative book, Professor Etzioni offers a rich compendium of insights and ideas. His vision of a potential East-West synthesis is particularly compelling. Better still, he is not afraid to tackle the very real challenge of creating genuine institutions to govern a potential global polity. A valuable read for anyone interested in the future of global governance."

ADAM KIRSCH, BOOK CRITIC, "THE NEW YORK SUN"
"Mr. Etzioni' s book raises more questions than it answers, but those questions are important and provocative. In our dangerous and discouraging world, speculating about the future of global government is itself an optimistic act - and possibly, as Mr. Etzioni argues, a justified one."

LEON FUERTH, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR TO VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE
"Professor Etzioni's new book ˜From Empire to Community" delivers on its promise of ˜A new approach to international relations." There is a wonderful quality to his thinking, such that the visionary and the pragmatic, the very long range and the issues of the moment are all represented, all related, and often (though not always) reconciled in a new synthesis. It is especial ly refreshing to find that when Professor Etzioni finds that reality will not mesh with theory, facts are acknowledged rather than swept under the rug. This book is not about dogma: it is about the hopeful possibility that an evolving and expanding sense of common need among peoples and nations can with luck and vision, bring about a knitting together of a form of global governance that would permit humankind to address its most urgent issues more effectively: with less sovereign authority for national states as we have known them, but greater freedom, combined with enhanced responsibility for people as individuals and as communities. Professor Etzioni’s easy style of writing - clear, elegant but never pretentious - makes the book a pleasure to read: not just an intellectual obligation."

Amitai Etzioni is also the author of MY BROTHER'S KEEPER: A Memoir and a Message. For discounted copies, please email comnet@gwu.edu or visit our website at www.communitariannetwork.org. You can also go to Amitai Etzioni's blog for current communitarian musings at www.amitai-notes.com/blog/ .

See here books by Eva Etzioni:

National Broadcasting Under Siege: A Comparative Study of Australia, Britain, Israel, and West Germany by Eva Etzioni-Halevy (Hardcover - Dec 1987)

Fragile Democracy: The Use and Abuse of Power in Western Societies by Eva Etzioni-Halevy (Hardcover - 1989)

Bureaucracy and Democracy: A Political Dilemma by Eva Etzioni-Halevy (Hardcover - Jan 1983)

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
March 7, 2006

~~NEW FEATURES~~

In response to feedback by our readers we are making changes to CGNews-PiH:
*We have launched Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and French versions. You can subscribe by sending an email to PiHintern@sfcg.org specifying your choice of language.
*We want your input to help guide us as we continue to improve the service. Please take our 2-minute online survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=304881794656

*Watch for other new changes coming soon!

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim-Western relations.

*Unless otherwise noted, copyright permission has been obtained and articles may be reprinted by any news outlet or publication. Please acknowledge both the original source and the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

*For the latest issue, subscription information and an archive of CGNews articles, please visit our website: www.commongroundnews.org.

**********

ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. Extreme vacation by Amelia Thomas
“Once you know someone in countries like Iraq or Afghanistan, once you have friends on the 'enemy' side, you understand that those people are human beings just like you, and it's much harder to demonise them.” Amelia Thomas, contributor to the Christian Science Monitor, interviews the owner and participants of Hospitality Club, an Internet-based organisation that puts travellers in touch with each other as a way of bridging gaps in communication and understanding between cultures. Paul Gabriner, a retired English professor from the Netherlands says "the world would be a better place if regular people across the world met each other regularly ... there would be much more international understanding."
(Source: The Christian Science Monitor, February 28, 2006)

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ARTICLE 1
Open the gates of ijtihad
Claude Salhani

Washington, D.C. - The solution to the turmoil gripping Muslim society today may be found in reintroducing ijtihad. Re-opening the gates of ijtihad will allow Muslims "to reinterpret Islam for the 21st century," states a comprehensive August 2004 special report produced by the United States Institute of Peace.

"The practice of ijtihad," stresses the report compiled with the participation of several respected Muslim scholars, "must be revived." Ijtihad -- or hermeneutics -- refers to the institutionalised practice of interpreting Islamic law (sharia’h) to take into account changing historical circumstances and, therefore, different points of view.

Ijtihad is the independent or original interpretation of problems not covered by the Qur’an (Islam's holy book), the Hadith (traditions concerning the Prophet's life and utterances), and ijma' (scholarly consensus). In the early days of the Muslim community, every adequately qualified jurist had the right to exercise such original thinking.

Fearing too much change would weaken their political clout, the gates of ijtihad were closed to Sunni Muslims by religious scholars about 500 years ago. From then on, scholars and jurists were to rely only on the original meaning and earlier interpretations of the Qur’an and the Hadith. However, there is now a growing movement among scholars and intellectuals to revive the practice of ijtihad.

Today, Muslim society is experiencing turbulence; the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the continued occupation of Palestinian lands, the frustrations caused by oppressive regimes and the absence of democracy have all conspired to give birth to a radical, politicised and violent form of Islam, whose adherents have turned to terror as a means of achieving their aims. They have politicised Islam.

Contrary to Samuel P. Huntington's belief that Islam and the West are headed for a clash of civilizations, other scholars argue that the real clash is between two diverging ideas within Islam itself. The clash is between the politicised Islam of a radical element which has turned to violence as a means of expressing itself, and the mainstream majority which remains largely silent. In fact, the violent tactics of this fringe-force of highly-politicised Muslims has proven useful in directly intimidating the mainstream into relative silence.

"Political Islam has proven a formidable force even though Islamic movements or organizations often constitute a minority of the community," states John Esposito, a professor of religion at Washington's Georgetown University.

As in most conflicts, solutions can only come from within. Similarly, the cures for finding what ails some Muslim communities can only emerge from Islam itself. Resolutions cannot be imposed from the West. But before that can come to pass, however, two things must happen.

Firstly, the Muslim mainstream must play a greater role in its community; and secondly, it must be given an authoritative tool enabling it to enact positive changes. That tool is ijtihad.

The re-introduction of ijtihad enjoys the support of a growing number of scholars, intellectuals and Islamic institutions, both in the West and in the Arab world. Even the Saudi Arabian Minister of the Waqf, or Religious Affairs, Sheikh Saleh Abdel Aziz al-Sheikh, and Ali Bardakoglu, president of the Diyanet, or the highest religious authority in Turkey, support this. Both al-Sheikh and Bardakoglu divulged in interviews that they were in favour of reinstating ijtihad.

"The general strategy is to expand the base of ‘moderates’," said the Saudi minister. But he warned, however, that "so long as there were bad things" happening in Iraq and Palestine, it would prolong negative events in the rest of the world.

The roadblocks to ijtihad are numerous and tough. A preliminary study shows that the Muslim world remains divided over who should have the authority to implement ijtihad and how much should be allowed to change. There is no religious hierarchy in Sunnism, the branch of Islam that dominates the Muslim world, as there is in Shiism.

Still, the belief is that with time, effort and education, ijtihad will eventually be re-introduced, allowing important changes to be made.

Another hurdle is that historically, reform of Islamic law has often been confused with criticism of Islam itself. Conservative Muslims have, at various times, labelled those who have attempted to introduce reforms as non-believers. Fatwas, or religious edicts, have even been issued against potential reformers, at times condemning them to death. This hurdle is real and will require Muslims to see the difference between critiquing Islam in order to tear it down, and reforming Islamic law in order to build up Muslims and their societies.

If ijtihad's doors remain closed and political Islam continues to rise, this will lead to a greater schism between the average Muslim and the radical as well as between Islam and the West. This would expand the existing conflict, turning it into the infamous ‘clash of civilizations’, and would have severe repercussions for Muslims everywhere, especially those living in the West.

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*Claude Salhani is International Editor and a political analyst with United Press International in Washington. Comments may be sent to Claude@upi.com.
This article is part of a series of views on "The Role of Ijtihad in Muslim-Western Relations”, published jointly by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and United Press International (UPI).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 7, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
Here's how to tame the volatility of 'connectedness'
David Ignatius

Washington, D.C. - One of the baseline assumptions of U.S. foreign policy is that "connectedness" is a good thing. Linkage to the global economy fosters the growth of democracy and free markets, the theory goes, and that in turn creates the conditions for stability and security. But if that's true, why is an increasingly "connected" world such a mess?

This paradox of the 21st century is confounding the Bush administration's hopes for democratisation in the Middle East. It turns out that in Iraq, Iran, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and perhaps nations yet to come, the growth of democracy and modern technology have had the effect of enfranchising pre-modern political movements - ones linked to religious sects, ethnic minorities and tribes. This trend astonishes Westerners who meet with Arab modernisers at events such as the World Economic Forum or see the skyscrapers of Dubai and think the world is coming our way.

Among military strategists, the bible of connectedness is a book called "The Pentagon's New Map" by Thomas P.M. Barnett. He argues that the world today is divided between an "integrating core" of orderly commerce, stretching from America and Europe across to China and India, and a "non-integrating gap", which is his shorthand for the messy rest of the world. The task of American foreign policy is to connect the two. Thomas Friedman's influential book, "The World is Flat", argues that technology itself is driving this process of integration, and that it's creating a richer, smarter global community.

So why does the world feel so chaotic? Why is there a growing sense that, as Francis Fukuyama put it in a provocative essay in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine, "More democracy will mean more alienation, radicalisation and - yes, unfortunately - terrorism"? I have been discussing this conundrum with friends, and I've heard two interesting theories worth sharing.

The first comes from Raja Sidawi, a Syrian-born businessman who owns Petroleum Intelligence Weekly and is one of the most astute analysts of the Arab world I know. He argues that Barnett misses the fact that as elites around the world become more connected with the global economy, they become more disconnected from their own cultures and political systems. The local elites "lose touch with what's going on around them," opening up a vacuum that is filled by religious parties and sectarian groups, contends Sidawi. The modernisers think they are plugging their nations into the global economy, but what's also happening is that they are unplugging themselves politically at home.

Sidawi's theory - that connectedness produces a political disconnect - helps explain some of what we see in the Middle East. Take the case of Iran: a visitor to Tehran in 1975 would have thought the country was rushing toward the First World. The members of the Iranian elite looked and talked just like the Western bankers, business executives and political leaders who were embracing Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi's modernising regime. And yet a few years later, that image of connectedness had been shattered by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's Islamic revolution, whose aftershocks still rumble across the region. The Iranian modernisers had lost touch with the masses. That process has been repeated in Iraq, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority - where the secular elites who talked the West's line have proven to be weak politically.

A second explanation of the connectedness paradox comes from Charles M. McLean, who runs a trend-analysis company called Denver Research Group, Inc. (I wrote a 2004 column called "Google with Judgment" that explained how his company samples thousands of online sources to assess where global opinion is heading). I asked McLean last week if he could explain the latest explosion of rage in our connected world - namely the violent Islamic reaction to Danish cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammad.

McLean argues that the Internet is a ‘rage enabler’. By providing instant, persistent, real-time stimuli, the new technology takes anger to a higher level. "Rage needs to be fed or stimulated continually to build or maintain it", he explains. The Internet provides that instantaneous, persistent poke in the eye. What's more, it provides an environment where enraged people can gather at cause-cantered Web sites and make themselves even angrier. The technology, McLean notes, "eliminates the opportunity for filtering or rage-dissipating communications to intrude". I think McLean is right. And you don't have to travel to Cairo to see how the Internet fuels rage and poisons reasoned debate. Just take a tour of the American blogosphere.

The connected world is inescapable, like the global economy itself. But if we can begin to understand how it undermines political stability - how it can separate elites from masses, and how it can enhance rage rather than reason - then perhaps we will have a better chance of restabilising a very disorderly world.

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* Syndicated columnist David Ignatius is published regularly by The Daily Star and is op-ed columnist for The Washington Post.
Source: Daily Star, February 23, 2006
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 3
Muslims and the West: a culture war?
John L. Esposito

Washington, D.C. - Newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad have set off an international row with dangerous consequences, both short and long term. The controversial caricatures, first published in Denmark and then in other European newspapers, target Muhammad and Islam and equate them with extremism and terrorism. In response to outcries and demonstrations across the Muslim world, the media has justified these cartoons as freedom of expression; France’s Soir and Germany's Die Welt asserted a "right to caricature God" and a "right to blasphemy," respectively.

One of the first questions I have been asked about this conflict by media from Europe, the US and Latin America has been “Is Islam incompatible with Western values?” Are we seeing a culture war? Before jumping to that conclusion, we should ask: whose Western democratic and secular values are we talking about? Is it a Western secularism that privileges no religion in order to provide space for all religions and to protect belief and unbelief alike? Or is it a Western “secular fundamentalism” that is anti-religious and increasingly, post 9/11, anti-Islam?

What we are witnessing today has little to do with Western democratic values and everything to do with a European media that reflects and plays to an increasingly xenophobic and Islamophobic society. The cartoons seek to test and provoke; they are not ridiculing Osama bin Laden or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi but mocking Muslims’ most sacred symbols and values as they hide behind the façade of freedom of expression. The win-win for the media is that explosive headline events, reporting them or creating them, also boosts sales. The rush to reprint the Danish cartoons has been as much about profits as about the prophet of Islam. Respected European newspapers have acted more like tabloids.

What is driving Muslim responses? At first blush, the latest Muslim outcries seem to reinforce the post 9/11 question of some pundits: “Why do they hate us?” with an answer that has become ‘conventional wisdom’: “They hate our success, democracy, freedoms…” - a facile and convenient as well as wrong-headed response. Such answers fail to recognise that the core issues in this ‘culture war’ are about faith, Muhammad’s central role in Islam, and the respect and love that he enjoys as the paradigm to be emulated. They are also more broadly about identity, respect (or lack of it) and public humiliation. Would the mainstream media with impunity publish caricatures of Jews or of the holocaust? As France's Grand Rabbi Joseph Sitruk observed: "We gain nothing by lowering religions, humiliating them and making caricatures of them. It's a lack of honesty and respect", he said. He said freedom of expression “is not a right without limits".

A recently completed Gallup World Poll that surveyed Muslims from Morocco to Indonesia enables us to find data-based answers about Islam by listening to the voices of a billion Muslims. This ground-breaking Gallup study provides a context and serves as a reality check on the causes for widespread outrage.

When asked to describe what Western societies could do to improve relations with the Arab/Muslim world, by far the most frequent reply (47% in Iran, 46% in Saudi Arabia, 43% in Egypt, 41% in Turkey, etc.) was that they should demonstrate more understanding and respect for Islam, show less prejudice, and not denigrate what Islam stands for. At the same time, large numbers of Muslims cite the West’s technological success and its liberty and freedom of speech as what they most admire. When asked if they would include a provision for Freedom of Speech, defined as allowing all citizens to express their opinion on political, social and economic issues of the day if they were drafting a constitution for a new country, overwhelming majorities (94% in Egypt, 97% in Bangladesh, 98% in Lebanon etc.) in every country surveyed responded yes, they would.

Cartoons defaming the Prophet and Islam by equating them with terrorism are inflammatory. They reinforce Muslim grievances, humiliation and social marginalisation and drive a wedge between the West and moderate Muslims, unwittingly playing directly into the hands of extremists. They also reinforce autocratic rulers who charge that democracy is anti-religious and incompatible with Islam.

Where do we go from here?

Core principles and values, like freedom of speech, cannot be compromised. However, freedoms do not exist in a vacuum; they do not function without limits. In many countries, hate speech (such as holocaust denial, incitement to racial hatred, advocating genocide) is a criminal offence prohibited under incitement-to-hatred legislation. Our western secular democracies represent not only freedom of expression but also freedom of religion. Belief as well as unbelief needs to be protected. Freedom of religion in a pluralistic society ought to mean that some things are sacred and treated as such. The Islamophobia which is becoming a social cancer should be as unacceptable as anti-Semitism, a threat to the very fabric of our democratic pluralistic way of life. Thus, it is imperative for political and religious leaders, commentators and experts, and yes, the media, to lead in building and safeguarding our cherished values.

And what about Muslim responses? Muslim leaders are hard pressed to take charge, asserting their faith and rights as citizens, affirming freedom of expression while rejecting its abuse as a cover for prejudice. A sharp line must be drawn between legitimate forms of dissent and violent demonstrations or attacks on embassies that inflame the situation and reinforce Western stereotypes. The many Muslim leaders, from America and Europe to the Muslim world, who have publicly urged restraint and strongly condemned violence, play a critical role.

Globalisation and an increasingly multi-cultural and multi-religious West test the mettle of our cherished democratic values. As the current cartoon controversy underscores, pluralism and tolerance today demand greater mutual understanding and respect from non-Muslims and Muslims alike.

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* John L. Esposito, University Professor at Georgetown University, is a Gallup Senior Scientist and co-author of the forthcoming “Can you Hear Me Now: What a Billion Muslims are Trying to Tell Us”.
Source: Islam Online, February 14, 2006)
Visit the website at www.islamonline.net
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 4
~YOUTH VIEWS~
In Brussels we trust? The continuing struggle of Turkey’s Alevis for recognition
Ipak Ruzcan

Ankara, Turkey - In a few weeks’ time Turkish and European Union officials will sit down for the European Union (EU) entry talks, during which over thirty “chapters” of European norms and standards will be discussed and reviewed. Turkey will have to comply with all of them before it can join the club.

The first session, covering standards and norms in science and research, will no doubt prove to be relatively unproblematic. But Ankara knows all too well that it is just a matter of time before such thorny issues as religious freedoms and human rights come up for discussion. For the Alevis, a cultural and religious group facing religious discrimination in Turkey, there is hope that the negotiations will bring needed relief.

The Alevis are a non-Sunni religious community that makes up around one fifth of Turkey’s predominantly Sunni population. The faith emerged as a mix of mystical Islam with elements of pre-Islamic shamanism in 9th century Anatolia. In the 16th century, Alevis were driven underground when the Ottoman Empire wrested control of the Anatolian peninsula from its greatest rival, the Shi’ite Safavid Empire. Alevis, as victims of pogroms and accusations of heresy, practiced their faith in secret, often pretending to be Sunnis as late as the twentieth century.

One reason Sunni Turks have often disparaged and stigmatised them is that Alevis, like other Shi’ites, revere Ali and his descendents as the true heirs of the Prophet Muhammad. However, many other Alevi practices differ significantly from those of both Sunni and Shi’ite Islam. Alevis do not worship in mosques, instead gathering in various locations to practice their religious ceremony, the Cem. During Cem ceremonies, men and women pray together, facing each other rather than Mecca. Alevis also reject many other tenets of Islam, such as the pilgrimage to Mecca, fasting and daily prayers, in favour of a more mystical, humanistic approach. Officially, Alevi places of worship do not enjoy legal status as places of worship – instead the Turkish establishment labels them cultural centres.

Also, because Alevis often worship in secret, rumours and prejudices about the Alevis are common. As recently as 1995, a Turkish comedian joked on television that Alevis practiced incest at their ceremonies. The EU has no magic wand with which to combat these attitudes, yet it has made its message clear: Turkey has to improve the status of its Alevi community before it can be admitted.

Politics in the last half of the 20th century has also contributed to the Alevis’ low status. In the 1970s, many Alevis held left-leaning political beliefs that were seen as support for Marxism, leading to violent clashes with right-wing militias. After the military takeover in 1980, governments enhanced the role of Sunni Islam in Turkish society, partly in response to Communism, leading left-leaning Alevis to fear for their existence as a distinct cultural group. The government went so far as to ban some Alevi religious celebrations and to allow infrastructure projects in Alevi areas only if accompanied by mosque-building. Liberalisation and further entrenchment of democracy in Turkey in the early 1990s only partly resolved the conflict -- as recently as 1993, a fundamentalist Sunni mob set fire to a hotel full of Alevis participating in a nearby conference, resulting in 36 deaths.

Since then, the Turkish state has generally preferred the status quo - secularism mixed with strong support for mainstream Sunni Islam - to increasing recognition for distinct cultural groups and a possible renewal of the ethnic and political violence of the 1970s. However, thanks to a new Law on Associations that aims to bring Turkey in line with EU standards, many restrictions on civil society have been removed and Alevi cultural groups are flourishing. A ruling by an Ankara court in 2002 that an Alevi organisation was inciting religious separatism was also recently overturned by a higher court. In 1997, top government officials, including the prime minister and the president, took the courageous step of attending the annual Alevi cultural festival. Meanwhile, the EU itself has stepped in to assist Alevi associations with grants from the EU’s pre-accession funds.

In addition, the European Court of Human Rights may well settle the issue of compulsory religious education in the near future. In a case presented to the Court, the family of one Alevi student asked for exemption from compulsory religious education at school on the grounds that the curriculum fails to mention non-Sunni Islamic sects in Turkey. Though the case has not yet been decided, this year’s curriculum does include some mention of the Alevis, and it will be up to the Strasbourg-based court to judge if these efforts have been sufficient.

Despite this progress, as the EU continues to monitor Turkey’s reform process, it has been quick to note the difficulties faced by the Alevis with regard to their places of worship. The most recent EU report on Turkey’s progress calls on the Directorate General for Religious Affairs in Ankara to start allocating funding for Alevi places of worship, as it does for Sunni mosques. However, as far as the Directorate itself is concerned, the Alevis do not exist at all, and classifies them as a type of Sunni Muslim.

Thus far, Brussels has treaded carefully with regard to issues of religious freedom in Turkey, and has preferred to approach the Alevis’ status piecemeal. Over eighty thousand pages of EU rules and regulations must be made a part of Turkish law before actual membership, however the spirit of the law is just as important, and Turkey’s commitment to upholding human rights and religious freedoms will be watched carefully by many, both in and outside of Brussels.

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* Ipak Ruzcan is a doctoral student in political science at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), March 7, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 5
Extreme vacation
Amelia Thomas

Deheishe Camp, West Bank - The streets of this seething Palestinian refugee camp, just outside Bethlehem, are dirty and crowded. The main street, where screeching strains of a political rally mingle with the din of animal and mechanical obstacles, gives off onto a dismal lane where Hamas posters merge with graffiti and a ragged Fatah flag flutters.

This hardly looks like the ideal holiday spot. But nestled on this chaotic lane is the al-Haj apartment: tourist destination.

Vacationing in a Palestinian refugee camp - past Israeli military checkpoints and onto streets most often photographed for nightly news not tourist brochures - may seem unlikely. But a stream of foreigners - Americans, English, Dutch - booking stays at Yasser al-Haj's apartment here prove otherwise. Despite frequent blackouts, Israeli army incursions, a lack of hot water, and nary a mint on the pillow, some foreigners find the West Bank - and other global hot spots like Syria, Iran, and Afghanistan - prime vacation territory.

Mr. Haj, a Palestinian who's lived here all his life, is one of more than 100,000 members of Hospitality Club, an Internet-based organisation that puts travellers in touch with each other, favouring free home stays and personal introductions over generic hotel accommodation and guided tours. Through the club, vacationers connect with one another and arrange to meet for dinner, drinks, or sightseeing in the host's city, or stay at his or her home. In Haj's case, this is a small ground floor apartment that he shares with his aging parents, in the dismal depths of the West Bank.

The majority of HC members from 188 countries live in pleasant Western locations. A handful, like Haj, is from truly off-the-beaten-track countries unlikely to make the Top 5 - or even Top 105 - holiday destinations.

Raving about her recent visit to Kabul, Afghanistan, Kathrine Frygtloes, a Dane interested in Afghan dancing, credits it all to her young Afghan host, Abdul Waheed, who safely steered her through "so many soldiers and weapons everywhere."

"It's nice that members from France can visit members in the USA," says Veit Kühne, a German who founded the club when he was in college and now works with it full time. "But what I've always really wanted to do is bring people from more 'difficult' places, like Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Serbia, and Palestine, in contact with people from outside those areas.... Once you know someone in countries like Iraq or Afghanistan, once you have friends on the 'enemy' side, you understand that those people are human beings just like you, and it's much harder to demonise them."

As soon as you enter Haj's living room, his elderly mother, in a long embroidered gown and headscarf framing a careworn face, immediately appears with a tray of fruit and strong cardamom-flavoured coffee. "You see?" he smiles, "Palestinian hospitality already." We shiver in the chilly, unheated room, furnished in "Arabic baroque" with a mural of a blazing sunset vista.

In the eight months he's had his profile on the website, he's had dozens of e-mails and has hosted several travellers. "I first joined Hospitality Club in order to make new friends abroad," says Haj, who visits Germany frequently because the small youth centre that his nongovernmental organisation, Karama, runs receives funding from charities there. His effort to meet HC members in Germany received no answers, he says, unsure if it was the result of an unfavourable image of Palestinians in the West. "Instead," he adds, with genuine puzzlement, "people started to e-mail me, asking if they could stay with me."

Despite limited means, Haj refuses to accept payment for phone calls, food, or lodging. It's a matter of pride to even the poorest Palestinians to welcome even strangers with open arms.

Still, why - out of the whole world - would a traveller turn up on this grim, albeit hospitable, doorstep? It's important to experience local life from the "inside," say some travellers like Paul Gabriner, a retired English professor from the Netherlands who stayed with Haj. "The world would be a better place if regular people across the world met each other regularly ... there would be much more international understanding," he says.

Most who visit the Haj family are intrepid souls. "But they're scared to be here alone," says Haj, "because they think the Palestinian Territories are unsafe. People have ideas that Palestinians are thieves, terrorists, and killers.... And being with a friendly local makes them feel safer."

Though he doesn't automatically tell guests unless they ask, Haj admits his own record of youthful "terrorism," having thrown stones at Israeli soldiers, burned tires, and sprayed anti-Israeli graffiti. At 15, he was thrown in Israeli detention for two years for cutting a hole in an Israeli fence encircling the camp. (On the issue of host-guest security, Mr. Veit notes that HC requires passport number exchanges to make a reservation. "Risk is relatively small," he says if a host has been rated well on the website by several guests.)

But regardless of his personal history, which might be enough to immediately send some guests packing, Haj's visitors keep on coming.

Israel's "security wall" is the biggest photo opportunity near Haj's apartment, and the cuisine, though hearty and home-cooked, isn't exactly a gourmet's delight. Some, like Mr. Gabriner, volunteer for a few days at Al Haj's Karama centre to complete the experience.

"There aren't any up-to-date guidebooks, so people don't know where to go," explains Roel Forceville, a Belgian development worker in Palestinian East Jerusalem and one of nine HC hosts in the Palestinian Territories. As unlikely as it sounds, there's actually a lot to see when vacationing in the West Bank - especially with someone who knows the region. Beside Bethlehem and Jericho, there are many impressive monasteries in the countryside. And, Mr. Forceville and Haj both suggest, the West Bank is a relatively safe destination for foreigners. Suicide attacks and bombings usually take place in Israel - not in the Palestinian Territories. Visitors, they say, arrive scared of what they'll find on this side of the wall - and leave realising the threat lies just as much on the other.

Guest Gabriner agrees that before and after impressions are poles apart: "When I thought of a 'camp' I thought of ... something impermanent. But it's not: it's a permanent slum, still called a camp because people living there need desperately to believe that they're not there for good."

This balance - seeing beauty through the decrepitude, and finding that danger doesn't always lurk where it is expected - says Haj, is central to the visitor's experience of "Palestine."

When Haj's weary mother enters the living room carrying another tray of coffee and fruit she hands her son a cell phone, worriedly relating how her brother has just been arrested by Israeli troops for illegally trying to cross the border into Israel.

"He was trying to get to Jerusalem, to look for work," explains Haj. "They might let him go with a fine, or he may go to prison. I'll see what I can find out," he says as he starts a string of calls.

To a Western Hospitality Club vacationer, able to walk in and out of the West Bank with relative ease, this might be an exciting, thought-provoking vacation moment; to a Palestinian at Deheishe Camp, it's just a regular day.

###
* Amelia Thomas is a contributor to the Christian Science Monitor.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, February 28, 2006
Visit the website at www.csmonitor.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
To obtain copyright permission, please contact lawrenced@csps.com.

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The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) provides news, op-eds, features and analysis by local and international experts on a broad range of issues affecting Muslim-Western relations. CGNews-PiH syndicates articles that are balanced and solution-oriented to news outlets worldwide. With support from the Norwegian government, and the United States Institute of Peace, the service is a non-profit initiative of Search for Common Ground, an international NGO working in the field of conflict resolution

This service is one outcome of a set of working meetings held in partnership with His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal in June 2003.

~YOUTH VIEWS~

CGNews-PiH also regularly publishes the work of student leaders and journalists whose articles strengthen intercultural understanding and promote constructive perspectives and dialogue in their own communities. Student journalists and writers under the age of 27 are encouraged to write to cbinkley@sfcg.org for more information on contributing.

*The views expressed in these articles are those of the authors, not of CGNews-PiH or its affiliates.

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NEW BOOK:
PRACTICAL POLICE PSYCHOLOGY: STRESS MANAGEMENT AND CRISIS INTERVENTION FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
by
Laurence Miller

Practical Police Psychology addresses the psychologically complex world of modern policing. It analyzes both the unusual and the everyday challenges faced by all law enforcement personnel, from the street cop to the departmental brass. Scholarly in scope, Practical Police Psychology goes beyond academic analysis to offer usable, down-to-earth, and immediately applicable – that is, practical – guidelines and strategies for improving the effectiveness and quality of policing in the real world. This book addresses two broad domains of police psychology. The first is the role of law enforcement behavioral science in operational assistance of police activities, such as hostage negotiation, suicide-by-cop intervention, undercover policing, and patrol tactics for dealing with crime victims, violent citizens, and the mentally ill. The second domain has to do with cops taking care of themselves and their departments, including mental toughness training, critical incident stress, officer-involved shooting, line-of-duty death, law enforcement leadership, and the unique challenges of police families. The result is an authoritative and practical guidebook for law enforcement and mental health professionals alike. Practical Police Psychology is the book you’ll pull off the shelf every day for new insights and practical strategies for handling the complex demands of modern policing.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Forward – James D. Sewell.

Preface & Acknowledgments.

1. Introduction: Practical Psychology, Stress Management, and Crisis Intervention in Law Enforcement.

I. PATROL AND COMMUNITY POLICING

2. On Patrol: Street Psychology 101.
3. Crisis Intervention Strategies for Violence on Patrol.
4. Dealing With the Mentally Ill.

II. CRITICAL INCIDENTS AND TRAUMATIC STRESS

5. Extreme Stress Management for Law Enforcement Emergencies.
6. Law Enforcement Critical Incident Stress.
7. Officer-Involved Shooting.
8. Line-of-Duty Death.

III. OPERATIONAL STRESS AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT

9. Hostage Crises.
10. Suicide by Cop.
11. Police Officer Suicide.
12. Special Units: Undercover and Sex Crimes Investigation.

IV. POLICE ADMINISTRATION AND FAMILY LIFE

13. Good Cop-Bad Cop: Practical Management of Problem Officers.
14. In Command: Law Enforcement Administration and Leadership.
15. Significant Others: Family Stresses and Family Solutions.

Bibliography.
Index.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laurence Miller, PhD is a clinical and forensic psychologist based in Boca Raton, Florida. Dr. Miller is the police psychologist for the West Palm Beach Police Department, a forensic psychological examiner for the Palm Beach County Court, and a consulting psychologist with several regional and national law enforcement agencies. Dr. Miller is a certified trainer by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation and is a member of the Psychology Services Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), and the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology (SPCP). Dr. Miller is an instructor at the Criminal Justice Institute of Palm Beach County and at Florida Atlantic University. He conducts continuing educational programs and training seminars across the country and is the author of numerous professional and popular print and online publications pertaining to the brain, behavior, health, law, criminal justice, and organizational psychology. Dr. Miller can be contacted at (561) 392-8881 or on-line at docmilphd@aol.com.

ORDERING INFORMATION

Practical Police Psychology, 2006, 320 pp.
ISBN 0-398-07636-7 hardcover, $72.95
ISBN 0-398-07637-5 paperback, $48.95
Charles C Thomas Publisher, Ltd.
P.O. Box 19265
Springfield, IL 62794-9265
1-800-258-8980
www.ccthomas.com

Holding Hope at the Edge of Connection and Disconnection
JeanBakerMiller Training Institute
Wednesday-Sunday, June 21-25, 2006
Wellesley College Club, Wellesley, MA
15 Continuing Education Credits
Lead Faculty: Judith V. Jordan, Ph.D., Amy Banks, MD, Janet Surrey, Ph.D.,
Maureen Walker, Ph.D.

Our nationally recognized faculty has designed this program for
experienced practitioners of Relational-Cultural Theory, (RCT), teachers
and supervisors of RCT and members of JBMTI/RCT study groups. It features
new material which builds upon previous trainings. Participants from past
Institutes are especially encouraged to attend.

Relational-Cultural Therapy is based on the power of connection to bring
about change in people's lives. The 11th annual Institute will explore
the topic of creating hope and possibility both in therapy and in our
communities. It will address how to gather strength and courage to act in
the face of the challenges created by fear, cynicism and disempowerment.
The Institute will look at ways to help clients develop a sense of
possibility in their lives and how practitioners can commit with renewed
energy to your visions and work.

Interactive presentations and experiential activities will illuminate the
core processes and topics explored in this program. Each session will
feature contributions by a collaborative group of faculty led by senior
faculty.

If you, your colleagues, or your students would like to attend, please
visit our website http://www.wellesley.edu/JBMTI/sti.html.

Or, call the JBMTI at 781-283-3800.

Quest for Global Healing II: Inspiring Actions for World Renewal, Ubud, Bali, 3-8 May, 2006

Join Nobel Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu, Fatima Gailani, Walter Cronkite, and other world-renowned speakers at an extraordinary gathering of concerned global citizens, business leaders and other innovative thinkers in a quest towards a more collaborative, peaceful and sustainable future for humankind and the planet. This unique gathering is designed for those concerned about where the world is heading and who want to play a role in the world’s renewal.

A New Era of Hope, Possibility, and Individual Initiative

In the midst of major world challenges, something profound is being born—a recognition by individuals that the wounds of the planet can be healed by individuals of vision and commitment. The civil society movement is the fastest growing development in human history, with over 250,000 organizations being created over the past few years by individuals wanting to play a role in the world's renewal. We invite you to join us in multigenerational, multicultural conversations, workshops and other activities that offer new insights, growth and clarity in moving ahead with personal initiatives that matter.

Why Bali?

Bali is one of the most peaceful, beautiful places on earth, and an ideal location away from everyday activities for you to join other delegates to explore new approaches to such issues as the environment, extreme poverty and human rights abuses. The rich culture of Bali has much to teach us about healing, forgiving and living harmoniously with one another and our planet. Balinese rituals and arts will also play a subtle but important role in this gathering, another reason why this gathering will be unlike anything you have ever experienced.

Who Should Attend?

Join participants from around the world, of all professions, ages and cultures, each with a desire to make a difference in the world.You will return home ignited with a clear vision and commitment. You will also have had the experience of a lifetime!

Registration at http://www.questforglobalhealing.org/registration.htm.

The Ford Motor Company International Fellowship of the 92nd Street Y, which is directed by Ms. Alison Gardy, is accepting applications for the 2007 program. I hope to enlist your assistance in distributing the brochure and application to individuals and organizations that would benefit from the program. Applications must be postmarked, faxed, or emailed by June 30, 2006 to be considered. For the 2007 program, applicants must be citizens and residents of the following countries:

Chile
Costa Rica
Israel
Northern Ireland
Russian Federation
Senegal
Sri Lanka
Sudan

This annual fellowship is funded by the Ford Motor Company and organized by the 92nd Street Y to provide education and support to community leaders engaged in the nonprofit sector. To date, 137 individuals from 36 countries have received the Ford Fellowship, which is now in its seventh year.

A successful applicant must demonstrate that he or she:

§ is a community leader engaged in the nonprofit sector, either professionally or as a volunteer;
§ is successfully addressing issues that affect the community’s well-being; and
§ would benefit from an intensive two-and-a-half-week nonprofit management training course in New York.

Previous Ford Fellows include:

§ a South African AIDS educator;
§ the president of a Jewish aid society facilitating Bosnia-Herzegovina’s transition to democracy;
§ a sustainable development expert from Zimbabwe;
§ the founder of an Indian organization that educates women and children working in the silk industry; and
§ an Indonesian advocate for ethnic minorities.

The residency takes place June 1-June 20, 2007 in New York City. Airfare, accommodation, food, transportation, instruction, and other program-related expenses are included in the fellowship, and participants receive a small stipend upon arrival.

During the intensive two-and-a-half-week residency, Ford Fellows take classes in areas including nonprofit management strategy and leadership training at Columbia University’s Picker Center for Executive Education. The academic curriculum is complemented by visits to model nonprofits in New York City and meetings with academic, business, and government leaders. The experience is enhanced by Fellows’ residency at the 92nd Street Y, a community and cultural center founded in 1874 that now serves over 300,000 people annually.

The Ford Motor Company International Fellowship of the 92nd Street Y provides a tremendous opportunity to international community leaders, and I would greatly appreciate your help in distributing the attached brochure and application to people and organizations that could benefit from this opportunity. Again, applications for the 2007 Fellowship must be postmarked, faxed, or emailed no later than June 30, 2006. For more information about the program, please see the attached brochure or visit our website at www.92Y.org/ford. Please contact Ms. Alison Gardy at 212.415.5473 or agardy@92Y.org or myself if you have any question or wish to receive additional brochures and applications by mail. Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,
Jesse Melman
Jesse Melman
Assistant to the Director of International Relations
92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10128
Tel: 212.415.5561
Fax: 212.415.5798
jmelman@92Y.org
www.92Y.org/ford

Tune in to the International AMARC for Women's International Day

Tune in to the International AMARC-WIN broadcast for Women's International Day

March 6th, 2006, Montreal - On March 8th, the Women's International Network of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC-WIN) will celebrate Women's International Day with 16-hours of broadcasting dedicated to women and gender issues through the Internet at www.win.amarc.org .

Through documentaries, interviews, debates, poetry and music, community radio producers from Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America and the Caribbean will discuss the various challenges women face around the world such as domestic violence against women in India, the assassination of women in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, the situation of indigenous women through out the world and the challenges of integrating women with disabilities in the feminist movement in Quebec. In addition, the broadcast will highlight the tremendous work accomplished by women over the years for the recognition of women's rights such as the example of grassroots women activists in the USA, the lesbian movement in South Korea and the essential role of women in peace building in Liberia.

The Women International Day campaign programs will be broadcasted in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Korean and other languages. Individual files will also be available for downloads on March 8th in the WIN web site. To have more information on the broadcast schedule and the participating community radio visit the AMARC-WIN website at http://www.win.amarc.org

For more information, please contact Sophie Toupin, AMARC International Secretariat at : sophie@amarc.org

AMARC is an international non-governmental organization serving the community radio movement in over 110 countries, and advocating for the right to communicate at the international, national, local and neighbourhood levels. For further information visit http://www.amarc.org

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Sintonize las transmisiones de AMARC-RIF para el Día Internacional de las Mujeres

Montreal, Marzo 6, 2006. El 8 de marzo, la Red Internacional de las Mujeres de la Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias (AMARC RIF) celebrara el Dia Internacional de las Mujeres con 16 horas de transmisión a nivel mundial dedicadas a las mujeres y temas de género en www.win.amarc.org.

Los productores de radios comunitarias de radios comunitarias del Asia-Pacífico, de Africa, de Europa, de Norteamérica y de Latinoamérica y el Caribe, a través de documentales, entrevistas, debates, posía y música, abordarán los desafíos que enfrentan las mujeres, entre otros, la violencia familiar contra las mujeres en India, los asesinatos de mujeres en ciudad Juarez en México, la situación de la mujeres de los pueblos originarios en el mundo y los desafíos en integrar las mujeres minusválidas en el movimiento feminista en Québec. La radiodifusión también mostrará las luchas de las mujeres para que se reconozcan sus derechos a través de ejemplos como el de la lucha de activistas de base en Estados Unidos, la del movimiento de lesbianas en Corea del Sur y el rol imprescindible de las mujeres en la construcción de la paz en Liberia.

Los programas serán difundidos el 8 de Marzo, en Inglés, Francés, Español, Árabe, Coreano y otros idiomas a través del internet en www.win.amarc.org . Los programas también estarán disponibles para ser bajados desde el sitio de la Red Ionternacional de Mujeres de AMARC

Para mayores informaciones contacte Sophie Toupin en el Secretariado Internacional en sophie@amarc.org

La asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias AMARC es una ONG al servicio de la radio comunitaria en más de 110 países, que aboga por el derecho a la comunicación a nivel internacional, nacional, local y de barrios. Para mayores informaciones visite http://www.amarc.org

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Écoutez la radiodiffusion internationale d'AMARC-RIF célébrant la journée internationale des femmes

Montréal, 6 mars 2006 - Le 8 mars, le réseau international des femmes de l'Association mondiale des radiodiffuseurs communautaires (AMARC-RIF) célébrera la journée internationale des femmes avec une radiodiffusion internationale de 16 heures consacrées aux femmes et aux questions de genre. Écoutez la radioffusion du 8 mars au www.win.amarc.org

À travers des documentaires, des entrevues, des discussions, de la poésie et de la musique, les radio communautaires d'Asie-Pacifique, d'Afrique, d'Europe, d'Amérique du Nord et d'Amérique latine et des Caraïbes partagerons avec nous les défis auxquelles font face les femmes des quatre coins du monde tel que la violence domestique faites aux femmes en Inde, l'assassinat des femmes à Ciudad Juarez au Mexique, la situation des femmes autochtones dans le monde et les défis d'intégration des femmes handicapées au sein du mouvement féministe au Québec. En outre, la radiodiffusion mettra un accent tout spécial sur le travail acharné des femmes en vue de la reconnaissance de leurs droits tels que l'exemple des femmes activistes de la base aux Etats-Unis, le mouvement des lesbiennes en Corée du sud et le rôle essentiel des femmes dans la construction de la paix au Libéria.

Les programmes audio réalisés dans le cadre de la radiodiffusion spéciale consacrée à la journée internationale des femmes seront diffusés en français, anglais, espagnol, arabe, coréen et autres. Les fichiers audio seront également disponibles sur le site web de l'AMARC-RIF le 8 mars. Pour plus d'information sur l'horaire de la radiodiffusion et les radio communautaires participantes visitez AMARC-RIF au www.win.amarc.org.

Pour plus d'information contactez Sophie Toupin, AMARC Secrétariat International à sophie@amarc.org.

AMARC est une organisation internationale non gouvernementale servant le mouvement de la radio communautaire qui dessert plus de 3000 membres dans plus de 110 pays. AMARC vise à soutenir, défendre et favoriser les intérêts des radiodiffuseurs communautaires par la solidarité et la coopération.

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

Am Montag, den 13. März um 19.00 Uhr lädt Africavenir International e.V. im Rahmen der Veranstaltungsreihe african reflections in das Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte zum Dialogforum mit Peggy Piesche. In den Anfängen des deutschen Diskurses um „Rasse“ im 18. Jh. wurde zunächst vorrangig die Kategorie „Weiß“ ins Zentrum des wissenschaftlichen Blickfeldes gerückt. Im Anschluss daran wurde sie zur Norm erhoben und somit unsichtbar gemacht. Die Aufklärung – und hier allen voran die Denker Kant und Hegel – spielte eine zentrale Rolle in der Konstruktion von Weißsein.

Dialogforum: Die Konstruktion des Weißen Subjekts. Eine historische Perspektive

13. März 2006, 19.00 Uhr
Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte
(Greifswalder Str. 4, Berlin)
Eintritt frei

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February 28, 2006

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. Why all the fuss now? by Lawrence Pintak
“When it comes to the current controversy, missing from the debate is the fact that we are different,” writes Lawrence Pintak, director of the Adham Center for Electronic Journalism at the American University in Cairo, of the cartoon debate. He raises the myriad questions that have plagued this dispute and believes that we have forgotten to acknowledge that we come from different cultures: “We see things differently. We have different thresholds for what offends. Why is that a problem? Failure to recognise this is what got us to this place of polarisation to begin with.”
(Source: Al Ahram, February 16-22, 2006)

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ARTICLE 1
The good in Muslim hearts offers a better self-portrait than violence
Ibrahim N. Abusharif

Chicago - Last summer, in the wake of the July bombings in London, Muslims in both the United States and Europe made appearances on television and released statements to the press that condemned the violence. They assured people that those responsible for the bloodshed were inspired by a darkness of thought that Islam and its scripture rebuke.

The Muslim foray in the public light was formal and expected, given the gravity of the situation, but it was also too brief. Shortly thereafter, it was back to an anonymity that has kept this burgeoning community essentially veiled from society at large.

A growing discussion among American Muslims centres on this observation: we are missing from the diverse cultural space of American life. The focus on terrorism and the vague war against it threatens to relegate and typecast Muslims forever. What more can we do to encourage and empower American Muslims to produce and show their art, to express what they value through literature, theatre, film, song, visual arts, and even humour?

There have already been some efforts to respond to this concern. For example, in 2003, a theatre group, founded by a Muslim woman who is also a Chicago-area attorney, put on a play inspired by a popular cinematic hit. The production, "My Big Fat Arab-Indian Wedding," focused on the sensitive strife between Muslim immigrants and their American-born children, especially when it comes to marriage. More than 800 people attended the play performed at the University of Illinois, Chicago. The attendance surprised everyone, even the producers. And since then, more Muslim students have signed up for scriptwriting classes.

Muslim film festivals have steadily gained in number, with the talent increasing each year. For instance "Muslim Boarders," a short 2005 documentary, follows a group of young Muslim men and women as they snowboard down a slope. As they pause among snowdrifts and relax in the ski lodge they share their candid views of Muslim life in America.

Literary voices are also slowly starting to emerge. Young Muslims are inspired to write fiction and, especially, poetry, following the examples of Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore and Michael Wolfe.

The signs are there, but they're still "signs." American Muslims in their 20s and early 30s easily admit to the struggle of presenting spiritual traditions in the face of cultural anonymity and journalistic repetitions that link violence to a great world religion. But it is naive to expect the American public to independently reject mendacious labels about Islam if the flavourful and extraordinarily rich traditions of this religion and its people are kept secret.

A vigorous cultural presence, one hopes, can help a people reclaim their right to show who they really are while protecting the interior narrative of their faith from being co-opted by fringe extremists, whose deeds, then, are trumped up by media "experts" who often peddle medieval fears about Islam with impunity. When people are known at a visceral level - something pushed along by the puissance of art - their place in society becomes layered and authentic. Their sense of belonging strengthens, as does their voice in public debate.

Prominent American Muslims have advocated this cultural emergence. Among the compelling articulations is that of Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, scholar at the Nawawi Foundation in Chicago. "Sustained cultural relevance to distinct peoples, diverse places, and different times underlay Islam's long success as a global civilisation," he writes in "Islam and the Cultural Imperative." His essay makes the case for an American Islamic identity, in which Muslims are "producers of culture, not passive consumers of it."

But there are also cynics who look askance at topics like art and culture, believing them to be unimportant, if not sedating, because they detract from the "real" issues of the day, which apparently are always political, always international, somewhere over "there." It is often the case, however, that slow work - like the emergence of a distinctive voice - is undervalued. Many American Muslims realise this as they pursue and hone their art and reclaim their right to tell their stories, whether familiar or countercultural.

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* Ibrahim N. Abusharif is editor of Starlatch Press, a Muslim publishing house in the Chicago area. He has recently completed a comprehensive index to the Koran.
Source: Christian Science Monitor, February 21, 2006
Visit the website at www.csmonitor.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission can be obtained from contact lawrenced@csps.com.

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ARTICLE 2
~YOUTH VIEWS~
Looking for comedy in the Muslim world: a movie review
Rebecca Tollefson

Washington, DC - What “Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World” might have been is a first step down a new path: a way to bring two divided and mutually misunderstood cultures closer to better understanding of each other through humour, instead of the mutual suspicion and fear from misconceptions so prevalent these days. Make no mistake about it, one film is not capable of reinventing Muslim-Western relations overnight, but it would have been a step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, this movie does not represent such a step. Instead, director Albert Brooks has produced a lacklustre comedy that refuses to take a stand and has very little to say. Brooks plays himself in this movie, portraying an actor and comedian who can’t seem to find a gig as of late. When asked by the State Department to head over to India (only 15% Muslim, but who’s counting?) and Pakistan as part of a committee attempting to wage the softer side of the War on Terror, Brooks hesitantly agrees, and is overwhelmed by his task: producing a 500 page report on what makes Muslims laugh.

“Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World” is perhaps too promising a title, as the moments of humour in the film are few and far between, while the rest of it merely extends the initial gag (and one perhaps too close to reality to even be funny!). Perhaps the funniest scene in the movie is one in which Brooks hosts a comedy show in New Delhi, India. Having completed his most knee-slapping, guffaw-inducing comedy routine, he elicits no laughs from his audience, only drowsiness and blank looks. Their reaction to his tired and trite routine is no doubt natural, but unfortunately, this is also the most intimate look we get into finding out what does (and doesn’t) make ‘Muslims’ laugh.

The only other remotely funny scenes occur as Brooks travels around with the help of his Indian assistant, Maya (Sheetal Sheth), asking Muslims what they find to be humorous. These moments mostly result in something akin to humiliation for the various Indians and Pakistanis questioned. One thinks animals acting like people are funny. Another gives a disturbing account of a car ride gone strangely awry. These interviews seem to convey that Muslims aren’t funny, or that when they are, their humour is either disturbing or childish.

In truth, it is Brooks himself who is childish. This movie lacks humour because Brooks lacks humour. Of course, after enough complaining about their task, even the most churlish of cultural imperialists would probably find themselves getting down to the actual business of learning about other cultures. Instead, the majority of the movie seems content to pay lip service to Brooks’ career and the fact that his most recent role was playing a cartoon-fish in the Disney movie “Finding Nemo.” This is a movie that could have been about sharing in humour and cultural discovery; instead the only laughs encouraged are at the expense of a washed-up comedian and a culturally oblivious American.

The closest that this movie comes to digging deeper is when Brooks meets with Al Jazeera producers who hope to cast him as the lead in a sitcom (rough translation: “That Darn Jew!”) about a Jew who lives in an apartment complex full of Muslims. This situation provided enormous potential to move the film somewhere, but Brooks’ character refuses to rise to the occasion, and is instead merely aghast at the idea that a comedian of his salt could possibly be banished from the movies to the isle of misfit toys known as sitcom television.

This is a disappointment coming from a man who used to be able to remake Jewish misery as high comedy. Having risen from the ranks of stand-up comedians, Brooks was a regular on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Dean Martin Show and was one of the original crafters of Saturday Night Live (back when it was actually funny). “Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World” is a far cry from Brooks’ earlier films, such as “Lost in America” and “Modern Romance”, which derived their laughs from the everyday tragedies and disasters that occur in relationships, at work and within the family. Brooks could find humour in the messiest and most awkward situations, and it is ironic, that given the chance to do the same across cultures, he instead has made a film that seems content to wallow in the misery of being a dumb American in strange places. If Brooks had displayed the grit he did in his earlier work, perhaps he could have produced a movie that’s not afraid to bridge the present cultural divide.

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* Rebecca Tollefson is a student at the American University’s School of International Service.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), February 28, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 3
Kick-starting the engines of Arab reform
Rami G. Khouri

Beirut - Two very different political reform initiatives this week may point the way to a more sensible and humane Arab political order - and thus also a more legitimate and sustainable order - than the existing tabbouleh salad mixture of mild and severe police states, gangster fiefdoms, private tribal domains, and free-for-all shopping malls masquerading as sovereign states.

The two efforts worth watching are the decision by leading Lebanese politicians to mobilise their supporters to force the resignation of President Emile Lahoud (seen as a bitter and divisive symbol of the former Syrian dominance of the country), and an Arab Reform Initiative launched by half a dozen leading Arab research centres and think tanks, working closely with European and American colleagues.

These are important initiatives because they emerge from two sources in society - independent civil society groups and elected parliamentary majorities - that have been relatively docile in recent decades, due to the overpowering dominance of the heavy-handed modern Arab security state. The idea that citizens of a country can initiate significant change to reform the exercise of political power, in a peaceful manner, is revolutionary in the Middle East, and long overdue.

The Lebanese case focuses on the person of President Lahoud, whose six-year term was extended by another three years in 2004 by a Lebanese Parliament that was directly controlled by Syria at that time. Lebanon's forced docility changed dramatically after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri a year ago, when waves of popular protest saw a million Lebanese in the street demand that Syria's army leave their country, which it did. President Lahoud remains in power, but is widely seen as both illegitimate and ineffective.

On the one year anniversary of the Hariri murder last Tuesday, nearly one million Lebanese again gathered in central Beirut to demonstrate their determination to remain free and sovereign. They also insist on discovering the truth about who killed Hariri and other media and political figures who were murdered in car bombs during the past year.

The legitimate parliamentary majority's decision to mobilise its massive public backing and focus it on ousting Lahoud and relegitimising the Lebanese presidency, via constitutional and political measures through Parliament rather than through street rallies, is a historic test of the modern Arab political order. If it succeeds - and my sense is that it will, but perhaps not by the March 14 deadline that has been set - the Arab world will have a valuable precedent that might inspire others to relegitimise their own political systems through peaceful, democratic, constitutional and judicial means. Freedom and democracy fans around the world should watch and quietly support this crucial political process.

The other important new effort this week was the official launching of the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI), after a year of quiet meetings and preparatory work. The ARI is a network of independent Arab research and policy institutes, with partners in the United States and Europe designed to: "mobilise Arab research capacities to generate knowledge by those who are the prime targets of reform; nurture and promote realistic and home grown agendas for democratic reform; foster collaboration between Arab non-governmental institutions; inform and engage political leaders, intellectuals and active representatives of civil society and produce policy recommendations."

That's about as ambitious as it gets in this reform business, which has been a peculiarly ineffective but robust industry in this region for the past decade or so. Dozens of reform initiatives, conferences and agendas have been organised, but little real reform has happened in any Arab country beyond administrative changes making it easier to get a hunting license, renew a passport, or open a restaurant. This is because incumbent Arab governments and power elites have hijacked the reform debate, and have successfully stalled any real change in the exercise of power.

If elected politicians are the engine that pulls Arab political change (such as ousting Lahoud), think tanks and civil society groups are the caboose providing essential services from the other end of the train. The two must work together in order to achieve success.

The ARI comprises credible research centres from North Africa, the Levant and the Gulf region that focus on identifying the content and modalities of a heretofore vague reform process. How to start? Which forces to mobilise? What obstacles are to be overcome?

The initiative seeks to promote a comprehensive vision of reform that integrates the interaction between the political, economic, societal and cultural spheres, while recognising the diversity of situations among countries of the region and also raising awareness in the Arab region about successful transitions to democracy in other parts of the world. It hopes to achieve these goals through collaborative activities such as policy briefs, thematic and country studies, public opinion surveys, workshops and conferences, and occasional task forces, all aiming to formulate policy recommendations that can advance reform in the Arab world. The Web site has more information and is worth a visit (www.arab-reform.net).

###
* Rami G. Khouri writes a regular commentary for The Daily Star.
Source: Daily Star, February 18, 2006
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 4
An inclusive world
Sundeep Waslekar

Mumbai, India - The outbreak of hatred following the cartoon controversy shows how fragile our world is. It also poses a significant question. Do we want a divided world where graffiti and cartoons can produce an inferno? Or do we want an inclusive world where you, I and everyone have a stake in its future?

About six decades ago, world leaders got together at San Francisco and Bretton Woods to construct a new world order in the aftermath of the annihilation of the second world war. We need to come together again to prevent another tragedy rather than to construct the world after it. With unaccountable trade in the weapons of mass destruction, we are not sure if we will have a world to rebuild if a global catastrophe seizes us. Therefore, the focus of our effort must be on prevention.

We need to build a common universal house. The foundation of this house must be sustainable childhood that not only empowers students with employability but also encourages them to appreciate other faiths. About a thousand years ago, scholars in Baghdad studied mathematics from India and philosophies from Greece. Half a millennium later, the Europeans developed technology based on the foundation of the Arab scientific inventions. Our world would be very backward if we did not learn from each other.

If education can provide the foundation, productive employment will build the walls of our house of hope. There are currently 100 million unemployed young people in the age group of 15-25. About 100 million young people will join the labour force every year in the next decade. At the current rate, at least 10 million of them will be drawn into the pool of the unemployed, making another 100 million or a total of 200 million by 2015.

We have the imagination to create new industries. We have millions of acres of land in rural areas that we can make productive. We can transform agriculture into food processing. We can convert molasses into energy. We need a master plan for productive employment in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The young men in Iraq and Afghanistan, Rwanda and Sudan, Peru and Colombia are young men after all. If they can wield a ploughshare with dignity, they won't need swords at all.

While we build the walls of this house, we must also think of the ceiling. The Islamic world can boast of ancestors who were the founders of modern thought. At the beginning of 9th century, they had among them Al Khwarizmi, the founder of modern algebra. Al Kindi wrote 250 books on philosophy, physics, medicine and metallurgy. Ibn Haiyan founded chemistry. Ibn Haytham discovered the science of optics and also explored momentum and gravity of the earth 600 years before Galileo. Al Biruni determined the earth's circumference. And Ibn Sina (aka Avicenna). There will never be a man like Ibn Sina, who wrote 450 books on medicine and philosophy, mathematics and astronomy. The Islamic world has also produced some of the greatest literature from the Epic of Gilgamesh to Rubaiyat.

Can we have a House of Wisdom in every city and every town, which was a regular feature of the Middle East one thousand years ago? Can we carry out research in science, technology, philosophy and literature to reach new frontiers in every field of human endeavour? Can we have a modern Ibn Sina and Al Kindi?

We need a deliberate strategy to build and spread thousands of state of the art research facilities all over the Middle East. If the region reclaims its scientific and literary heritage and recreates the golden era that it experienced exactly a millennium ago, it can once again emerge as a new leader of thought for the entire world. It will boost the esteem of young people in the region. It will provide them with aspiration. It will replace the context of despair with the context of hope.

Our new global house must have doors and windows. The windows tell us the difference between darkness and light. We need the fresh air of reforms at all levels. At the national level, we need governance that is transparent, accountable and participatory. At the global level, we need governance that makes occupation and manipulation impossible. We need political systems that make inclusion a reality. We need a context where an individual can freely think and act. We need an atmosphere where every child can dream.

Finally, we need a house where all the adults share their responsibilities in the interest of the common good. Currently, we tend to depend on the industrial G-8 for many things. We need a new way of thought that makes global transformation a common responsibility of all. If the price of oil hovers around $60, all oil exporting countries, including those in the Middle East, Norway and Russia, will collect surplus reserves in the excess of $2500 billion by the end of this decade. Even if the price comes down to $50, they will hold $1500-2000 billion in their treasuries. We need a new, ‘energy G-8’ that deliberates on the problems of the world and allocates real funds for transformation. The two G-8 collectives can then join hands from time to time, along with another group of 8 countries that are important emerging economies. These could be India, China, Malaysia, Australia, Brazil, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa. Together the three groups of 8 can create a new G-24.

We need an inclusive world not merely because the alternative is the threat to our survival. We need it because hope is feasible. We need it because dreaming is good and aspirations are essential. We need it because every citizen of the earth can become a participant. We need it because tomorrow is ours. We need it because the impossible is often possible.

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* Sundeep Waslekar is President of Strategic Foresight Group, Mumbai. This is an abridged version of his Nelson Mandela Benefit Lecture delivered recently in Dubai. The full text is available on www.strategicforesight.com.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), February 28, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 5
Why all the fuss now?
Lawrence Pintak

Cairo - We just don't get it, do we? And by "we," I mean all of us -- Americans, Arabs, Europeans, Pakistanis, Indonesians, you name it. The cartoon controversy is just the latest evidence of that. It's almost as if we want to believe the worst about each other.

There was a book published a few years ago called, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. Sometimes I think the inhabitants of the West and the Muslim world are living in different universes.

We may not be witnessing a "clash of civilisations" -- though some people certainly seem to want one -- but there is a fundamental disconnect between our societies. The cartoon controversy is just the latest example of the essential gap in worldview, perception and communication that drives polarisation.

"These are our values and we will defend them," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said last week, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Muslims around the world feel exactly the same way. But then double standards, and "holier-than-thou" attitudes, abound on both sides of this tempest. The litany has already been catalogued elsewhere: European laws against anti- Semitism which don't apply to Arabs, the "other" Semites; anti-Jewish cartoons that regularly appear in Arab newspapers now leading the chorus of denunciations of the European press.

Saudi Wahabis desecrated -- neigh, obliterated – the Prophet Muhammad's tomb and today they protest about cartoons. The same Western journalists who today preach free speech caved in to Bush administration's pressure not to show POWs in Iraq and Bin Laden tapes.

The list goes on, depending how many years -- or centuries -- you want to go back.

Meanwhile, for all the talk of dialogue and understanding, we each fail to grasp what, as we say in America, "makes the other tick"; in other words, the complex mix of factors that make us what we are and shapes how we see the world. Instead, we fall back on stereotypes and clichés, viewing each other through a bloodshot lens.

And, of course, the worst among us somehow always manage to become symbols of what we -- as entire peoples, or "civilisations" -- are, thus playing directly into the stereotypes on both sides. A Boston Globe cartoon last week depicted angry Muslim crowds waving banners such as, "Kill infidels" and "Off with their heads," as one protestor said to the other: "Watch, some cartoonist will twist this around to make us look bad." Crude -- but true. Images of rioters burning embassies become a caricature of what so many Westerners have come to expect of Islam.

"I'm programmed to look upon offence as a choice," a Western colleague said in an email the other day. "The insult is from the outside, but in my worldview, how one reacts is largely a choice. Try though I do to get my head around the widespread response to the cartoons, it still seems like lunacy to me."

Most rational people in the West do not think all Muslims are fanatics but neither do they understand that, as Al-Ahram columnist Salama Ahmed Salama told me recently, "Here religion is a daily food." There are plenty of religious people in the West; some 40 per cent of Americans describe themselves as fundamentalist or "born-again". But religion is not, to most in the West, part of the fabric of life to the extent it is in the Muslim world. Westerners often use God's name as an epitaph; Muslims call upon Him a thousand times a day. "Insha'allah," God willing.

Plenty of Christians were offended by Andres Serrano's photograph "Piss Christ," which depicts a crucifix submerged in a vat of the artist's own urine, but few even bothered to write a letter to the editor, much less take to the streets. So the depth of insult felt by so many ordinary Muslims over the cartoons simply does not sink in.

When anti-Danish protestors started trashing embassies last week, those who were trying to understand simply gave up. And once those crowds started shouting "Death to America," as they did in several countries last week even though few papers in the US showed the cartoons and President Bush criticised them, many in the West shook their heads in bewilderment: "The Muslims were at it again."

But lost in all the noise is the fact that many here in the Middle East are equally baffled. "I don't get it," one of my Egyptian students said, when she learned the cartoons had appeared in several places last year. "Why did everyone get so upset now?"

Authoritarian regimes and religious radicals manipulate the emotions of understandably aggrieved Muslims for their own political gain. Reactionary forces in the West use the resultant chaos as an excuse to say, "I told you so."

"I've long been sceptical of the 'Religion of Peace' moniker for Muslims -- for at least 3,000 reasons right off the top of my head," conservative columnist Ann Coulter smugly wrote on her Web site. "I think the evidence is going my way this week."

As understandable as it is that Muslims would be deeply offended by these depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, there is a degree of manufactured outrage afoot. There have been plenty of insulting cartoons about the Prophet and Islam in recent years. A quick Google search turns up images from the US and other parts of Europe at least as insulting as those published in Denmark. Why did no one take to the streets when they appeared?

In fact, Egypt's own Al-Fajr newspaper published two of the Danish cartoons on 17 October of last year accompanied by a story headlined, "Impudence continues. Sarcasm about the Prophet and his wives through caricature." The Al-Fajr newsroom was not sacked. The editors were not jailed. Overseas Muslims did not boycott Egyptian cotton. No ambassadors were withdrawn.

Why not? The short answer is that forces that could benefit from the backlash were not then poised to take offence. In Denmark, leaders of an alienated minority community who were eager to solidify their political base came up against an arrogant government that could not see -- or did not care -- why they were upset. It wasn't the actual publication of the cartoons that ignited the bonfire, which took place in September, it was the Danish government's snub of Muslim leaders months later, coinciding with republication by a Norwegian paper.

And, as we have seen again and again in recent years, both sides quickly proclaimed they had Truth with a capital "T" on their side. Others soon chose sides.

"Europe Can Take Pride in Defending Cartoons," proclaimed the headline over an opinion column in The New York Times. Why? What is there about the provocative actions of some insignificant little Danish paper with a track record for anti- immigrant diatribes that we should defend?

This isn't about censorship; this is about good sense. As I tell my journalism students, the decision on whether to use -- or not to use -- a given picture or frame of videotape involves a conscious choice. Just because I have the right to broadcast the image of a person with third degree burns writhing in agony, doesn't mean I should.

When it comes to the current controversy, missing from the debate is the fact that we are different. We come from different cultures. We see things differently. We have different thresholds for what offends. Why is that a problem? Failure to recognise this is what got us to this place of polarisation to begin with.

Some of the erstwhile defenders of press freedom claim that to withhold publication of the cartoons is to set the media on a slippery slope to immobility. Everything offends someone, they say. It is a spurious argument. This isn't about showing the Prophet Mohamed -- countless Islamic publications have done that through history. It's about showing an overtly offensive image of him.

Chancellor Merkel has every right to defend her "values," but the world might be a bit better off if political and religious leaders spent less time defending their own values and spent more time respecting those of others -- or at least recognising that they exist.

The irony is that by publishing -- and republishing -- the cartoons, Western defenders of press freedom provide ammunition to both authoritarian regimes and extremist religious groups that would love to censor far more than just cartoons.

Tragically, it is the media -- and ultimately the people -- of the Middle East and broader Muslim world that will suffer most if those forces get their way.

###
*Lawrence Pintak is director of the Adham Center for Electronic Journalism at the American University in Cairo. His latest book is Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam and the War of Ideas.
Source: Al Ahram, February 16-22, 2006
Visit the website at www.ahram.org.eg/weekly
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

******

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Nordisk konferanse: Det liksteilte samfunn? Betydninger av kjønn i helse og velferd

Vi vil med dette invitere til den nordiske konferansen "Det likestilte samfunn? Betydninger av kjønn i helse og velferd".

Konferansen foregår 8. - 9. juni 2006 på Universitetet i Stavanger, Norge.

Konferansen arrangeres av Forening for kvinne- og kjønnsforskning i Norge (FOKK) i samarbeid med Universitetet i Stavanger, Nettverk for feministisk teori og kjønnsforskning . Konferansen er støttet av Norges Forskningsråd.

Målgruppen for konferansen er kvinne- og kjønnsforskere, undervisningspersonell og ledere og praktikere i sosial- og helsesektoren, som er opptatt av kjønn som en sentral dimensjon for å forstå samfunnet i alle dets deler, fra det strukturelle og materielle til det relasjonelle, psykologiske og symbolske.

Målsettingen med konferansen er å

* Presentere ny kunnskap
* Skape debatt
* Være arena for tverrfaglig samarbeid og nettverksbygging

For mer informasjon og påmeldingsskjema klikk her

Vi vil sette pris på om du kan formidle denne invitasjonen videre til aktuelle personer i din organisasjon.

Med vennlig hilsen

__________________________________________________
Tonje I.Hansen
FLEKS - Senter for fleksibel læring og kompetanseutvikling Universitetet i Stavanger
4036 Stavanger
Tlf: 51 83 30 56
Fax: 51 83 10 50
tonje.i.hansen @ uis.no