Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah: The vicious circle of righteousness, force, and loss of compassion

07/20/2006

In the film "Paradise Now," one of the Palestinian potential suicide bombers tells his girl friend: "The Israelis took ownership on both the righteousness of being victims and on the total powerfulness. They have left us no choice but to do the same." I wish to add to this important sentence, that when both sides take ownership on both righteousness and powerfulness, there is no space left for compassion. When rockets fall on the northern and southern parts of Israel, the Israeli Jewish people shrink back into their primary sense of victimhood: We are a small people, threatened by many external forces that should be confronted with determinism and powerfulness. This primary sense of victimhood is based on righteousness of the weak ('who tries to kill you, kill him first'). We have experienced this sense of victimhood many times during the last decades so that it has become like a second nature to us. It gives us the feeling of togetherness and authorizes our government in our name to shoot at the enemy, including their civilians, as they shoot at ours; as in war, like in war. We are well trained in this scenario and possibly prefer it to all other possible scenarios of this region.

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

The consciousness of many of our people rotates around this righteousness of the victim. It is not a coincidence that we are much less aware of our power and strength and its negative effects on the others who suffer from our powerful acts. The victims have an advantage over the perpetrators: They do not have to take responsibility for their own actions, as these are only a reaction to the evil acts of the others. Therefore, we should perhaps be reminded in these harsh days of bombs and fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, that it was our power-oriented behavior in Lebanon and in the occupied territories that contributed to the creation of both Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Hamas in the territories. These militant organizations were created partially as a reaction to our excessive use of power. After these organizations grew to a magnitude which threatens us, we complain and again see ourselves as their victims, and them as terrorists with whom one cannot talk?

Though we tend to put all our 'enemies' in one basket, I want to draw a clear line differentiating between the Hezbollah and the Hamas. The first is a terrorist organization which acts violently against Israel in spite of international law, thereby also endangering the safety of the Lebanese government and people. It is motivated by the regional interests of Iran and Syria and should be taken care of by the international community, as it endangers not only Israel but also the region as a whole. The Israeli government is right in its efforts to weaken this organization and the only open question is if the current military actions in Lebanon will actually contribute to achieving this goal or will actually strengthen the Hezbollah, at least in the eyes of its Arab neighbors.

Unlike the Hezbollah, the Hamas government was elected through democratic elections by the Palestinian people, mainly as a reaction of the latter to the previous corrupt government and less because of its policy toward Israel. In the last months we have seen a bitter struggle within the Hamas, pressured by the Europeans, Abu Mazen, and delegates from Egypt and Jordan, between the moderate part of the Hamas, led by Ismail Haniya, and the military part, led by Haled Mashal. The prisoners? document that was signed between Marwan Barghouti and the leaders of the Hamas in the Israeli prison could be a basis for a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian authority. Now we are the ones who refuse to conduct such a dialogue, less out of political wisdom, but out of feeling of superiority and power-orientation. It was our military reaction to the abduction of Gilad Shalit that actually gave strength to the extremists of the Hamas in their struggle with the moderate part, instead of doing the opposite. Where is the logic for this deed?

With the Palestinian people we have to reach a painful but necessary compromise of dividing this land. A compromise can be achieved only through dialogue. We are the only people in the world, ridden by an intractable conflict with another people, who refuse to understand that a compromise will be reached only through an open dialogue. Almost every child in Israel and Palestine knows the nature of this compromise by heart: Return to the borders of 1967, with slight changes, two states with their capitals in Jerusalem, and a systematic step-wise solution to the resettlement of the Palestinian refugees, including Israel?s recognition of its share in the creation of that difficult issue. That was agreed upon in Taba in 2001, was suggested by the Arab League in 2002, and was also the basis for the prisoners? document. By reaching a compromise, the Palestinians will be pulled out from the threatening balance of power in our region, as they are not an essential part of that balance but rather suffer from it just like us.

It could happen that when the military operation will be over, we will be faced with a Palestinian government that will be ready to enter negotiations with the Israeli government based on this compromise. The question then will be: Is there an Israeli government capable of entering such a process of negotiations? Right now it does not seem that the Israeli government has a mandate to carry out such a compromise with the Palestinian people. By moving out of Lebanon and Gaza, Israel tried to retrieve an internal consensus of righteousness, which was hampered by the long occupation of lands which were not ours in the first place. The fact that Israel returned every inch of these territories, according to international law, made us again rightful, in our own eyes and those of the international community. We loved that feeling so much that we wanted to apply it also to the West Bank, cutting ourselves off behind an 8 meter wall. This was the mandate the Kadima party got from the Israeli people in the last elections. The Prime Minister even proclaimed that when this will be accomplished Israel will be a state in which it will be ?fun to live,? perhaps aiming at the full accomplishment of internal consensus and feeling of righteousness, by giving up most of the occupied territories.

However, in this whole 'clean' process someone forgot that there is also another people, with their own needs, pains and feeling of righteousness and powerfulness. In this whole process we played chess with ourselves, without letting the other party have a say, as "there is no one to talk to," and they anyway "understand only force." In that sense the Kassam missiles on Sderot and Ashkelon were unpleasant reminders of another people who suffer and needs a way to express itself. Whoever does not want to talk with them will get missiles and abducted soldiers.

Therefore, my recommendation to the Israeli government, which promised with its inception a new public agenda to a public tired of empty promises, is: Weaken the Hezbollah as much as you can, including by military means if it can serve that goal, but give up the new plan for disengagement that throws sand in our eyes and start talking to the Palestinians on the painful compromise between them and us, a solution both our people need so badly. Remember, a compromise is not based on either absolute righteousness or absolute powerfulness. It is based on compassion: Compassion for the people who suffer, who were killed, compassion for their family members, compassion for a public that is tired of just and successful wars.

Dan Bar-On, Ben Gurion University of the Negev

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

Dan Bar-On is a Professor of Psychology at the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Ben-Gurion University. He is also the co-director of PRIME (Peace Research Institute in the Middle East) near Beit Jala in the West Bank. He is the author of several books, among others - Legacy of Silence: Encounters with Children of the Third Reich (Harvard University Press, 1989), Fear and Hope: Three Generations of Holocaust Survivors' Families (Harvard University Press, 1998) and The Indescribable and the Undiscussable (Central European University Press, 1999). In 1996 he was awarded the David Lopatie Chair for Post-Holocaust Psychological Studies. In 2001 he received the BundesverdienstKreutz First Class, from German President Dr. Johannes Rau. In 2003 he received the Eric Maria Remarque Peace Prize in Osnabruck, Germany.

28th Annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum

***CALL for PAPERS***

ONLINE SUBMISSIONS OPEN: August 1, 2006
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: October 15, 2006
NOTIFICATION: Early November 2006
PRESENTATION SCHEDULE: Early January 2007

In most parts of the world attempts to homogenize education must compete with ever-expanding cultural and linguistic diversity. Standardized educational
goals and assessments are becoming dominant as school systems seek to prepare students to participate in broad national and international markets. Yet
students and teachers also live their lives in rich and vibrant local communities, which do not conform to standardized knowledges and practices.

The 28th Ethnography in Education Research Forum seeks to explore directions
for education in these trying times. What are the implications of educational
standardization for the value of local knowledges in education? How can ethnographers put local knowledges and practices back on national and international agendas?

The Ethnography in Education Research Forum invites papers that explore these
issues by ethnographically documenting grassroots responses to varying levels
of educational policy, describing teacher-researcher collaboration in the
development of equitable educational practices, making theoretical and
methodological connections between the study of societal level phenomena and
local processes, bringing to light covert responses to overt policy decisions,
and critically examining relationships between academic and public interests.

Plenary Speakers:
Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Boston College
Frederick Erickson, University of California at Los Angeles
Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Susan Lytle, University of Pennsylvania

All proposals may be submitted online beginning August 1:
http://www.gse.upenn.edu/cue/forum.php

TYPES OF PRESENTATIONS:

Proposals are requested for presentations in the following categories:

1. Individual Paper (Traditional or Work-in-Progress)
2. Group Sessions (Traditional or Work-in-Progress)
3. Data Analysis Consultation

Practitioner Research: For Individual Papers and Group Sessions, you may
choose to designate your presentation as PRACTITIONER RESEARCH. Practitioner research presentations focus on research by teachers and other practitioners in educational settings (e.g., school principals, counselors, non-teaching aides, parents, students, and other members of school communities).
Practitioner research presentations are particularly featured on Saturday,
known as Practitioner Research Day.

1. Individual Papers: (15 minutes)
Individual papers by one or more authors. Either final analyses, results, and
conclusions (Traditional) or preliminary findings and tentative conclusions
(Work-in-Progress) may be submitted. Indicate practitioner research, if you
so choose.

2. Group Sessions (75 minutes)
A full session of no fewer than three, and no more than six presenters,
including a discussant. These sessions may vary in organization: a set of
individual papers, a panel discussion, a plan for interaction among members of
the audience in discussion or workshop groups are possible formats. Either
final analyses, results, and conclusions (Traditional) or preliminary findings
and tentative conclusions (Work-in-Progress) may be submitted. Indicate
practitioner research, if you so choose.

3. Data Analysis Consultation (30 minutes)
Individual submissions only. Presenters offer data along with questions about
analysis for consultation with expert researchers and conference
participants. Data analysis consultation is by definition Work-in-Progess.
Presenters must follow specific guidelines available online:
http://www.gse.upenn.edu/cue/dacinstructions.php

PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA:

1. Significance for education
2. Conceptual orientation
3. Methodology
4. Interpretation
5. Quality of analysis
6. Depth and clarity

FORMAT OF PROPOSALS:

Everyone must submit:

A. Summary (limit 100 words)
This should be a brief overview of the work to be presented.

B. Description (limit 1500 words)
Selection is based on the description. A detailed description of the work to
be presented should be submitted including conceptual orientation, data
collection and analysis methods, data interpretation, and significance to
education.

Special Instruction for Group Sessions
Submit Summary and Description of the session overall, as specified above. If
the session consists of a set of individual papers, the group session proposal
must also include a description for each individual presentation.

All proposals must be submitted online:
http://www.gse.upenn.edu/cue/forum.php

Questions
E-mail: cue @ gse.upenn.edu

Making Terrorism History
by Scilla Elworthy and Gabrielle Rifkind
Rider Peace studies

1 INTRODUCTION

Terrorism and political violence have assumed a new profile around the world. Resolving intractable conflicts, especially when some of those involved in them are not acting on behalf of states, has become an even more urgent task since the September 11 attacks and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

To achieve peace and security,we now need strategies to combat the use of terror in political and territorial conflicts. But too often this terror is exacerbated - indeed sometimes even triggered - by the actions of governments, both democratic and non-democratic. In this turbulent world, many of the old methods of dealing with conflict seem to be unable to deal with the new realities. Force of arms is not sufficient to establish peaceful order.Military victory is not enough to prevent future violence.Whether we are considering Iraq, al- Qaeda, Chechnya or the Middle East, it is clear that simply trying to hit back and to destroy the 'enemy', the 'terrorists' or the political opponents provides only short-term solutions.

In fact the evidence suggests that such strategies serve only to increase both the level of violence and the yawning chasm between the two sides. The vast superiority in military and economic power of states - American,British,Russian, Israeli - is unable to subdue opponents and bring peace. New thinking and new approaches are needed.

We argue that such strategies will never be successful unless they address the full range of factors that fuel cycles of violence and influence the use of terror.These include the economic, social and cultural context in which violence is sustained. Perhaps even more important, they also include the emotional and psychological effects of violence and humiliation - factors often missing from traditional approaches to counter-terrorism, and especially the 'war on terror'.

Much more is known about how to reduce and prevent violence than our current public debate about terrorism acknowledges. A careful analysis of the root causes of political violence reveals the persistent influence of powerlessness, exclusion, trauma and humiliation, and knowledge of this could usefully inform and influence the development of new security measures.These will be effective to the extent that they are based on principles of non-violence,mutual respect and dialogue, and involve neutral third parties as necessary.

The need for armed intervention and the consistent threat of it may never be eliminated from the way the world is governed. But minimising the use and costs of such intervention is a realistic goal,which all of us have a moral responsibility to pursue.

In Making Terrorism History we suggest a different approach to violent conflicts, prioritising the human factor that is often neglected in such situations.We then propose proven practical steps that can - and should - be taken in a wide range of contexts, including Iraq, Israel-Palestine, and also our own towns and cities. In chapter 7 ('What can be done?') we set out a range of measures to resolve and prevent conflict without the use of force. Some of these measures need to be taken at the international level, some at the local level.There are also many initiatives that we can - and perhaps must - take in our own communities to encourage a new society built on understanding, respect and dialogue (see pp. 85-9).The aim is not just to seek immediate resolutions to armed conflict, but also to address and prevent the conditions in which it can be triggered.

Terrorism never entirely can be made history, but how we tackle it will determine whether we exacerbate the problem. Understanding the psychological and emotional causes of political violence is often dismissed as, at best, a nice extra, or, at worst, a harmful distraction from our real world goals.We argue that, rather than being peripheral, the need for a sense of human security must be the starting point of all approaches to terror, political violence and insurgency.This is the only route to lasting peace, and we all have a part to play.

RRP £3.99 • Paperback
Publication Date: 02/02/2006 • 96 pages • A format • ISBN: 1846040477

All material ©The Random House Group

Articles on Love & Marriage by Alfred Adler

"Love is a Recent Invention" and three other articles by Alfred Adler, "Marriage as a Mutual Task," "Disturbances in Love
Relationships," & "Marriage as a Responsibility," are now available in our new Theme Pack 10 - Love and Marriage. To order, go to
http://go.ourworld.nu/hstein/theme.htm.

According to Adler, the ideal of modern love did not exist until women were emancipated from their social and economic shackles; it is a dyad
of equal partners. From this perspective, many of the early writings of poets and philosophers about love are for the most part "nonsense."
The decision to marry, from both partners, ought to spring from a mutual striving for humaneness.

==============================================
Henry T. Stein, Ph.D., Director
Alfred Adler Institutes of San Francisco & Northwestern Washington
Distance Training in Classical Adlerian Psychotherapy
Web site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/
E-mail: HTStein@att.net
Tel: (360) 647-5670

Search for Common Ground Update - July 2006

Search for Common Ground Announces
2006 Common Ground Awards to be Presented
at the United Nations on November 1st

In times of violence and suffering, it is hard not to despair when reading about, or watching, our fellow human beings' pain. At such a time, we feel helpless to effect change, and the work that we and our colleagues do is even more challenging than usual.

We are announcing the Awards now, because, it is important to remember that there are individuals and organizations who are making a significant difference -- and to acknowledge their courage and strength of spirit. These individuals and groups inspire others to be their best, even in the face of violent conflict.

This year we will honor:

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the newly elected President of Liberia, is the first woman to lead an African nation. She and her administration are committed to advancing reconciliation in post-civil war Liberia through her example of inclusive leadership.

Sesame Workshop has been creating children's educational television programming for 38 years, broadcasting in over 120 countries, including some of the most challenging regions affected by conflict. Their programs have taught millions of children that differences between people are what make each of us special and unique.

Taylor Branch spent the last two decades writing about the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., and portraying America during the King years. Inspired by Dr. King's dedication to non-violent social change, he wrote the award-winning trilogy: Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire, and At Canaan's Edge.

John Whitehead was founding Chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. In the aftermath of September 11th, he led an inclusive public planning process that reached out to the many diverse communities affected by the tragic events in 2001.

David Broza, Wisam Murad and Said Murad collaborated to compose "In My Heart," which captures the love and the bond that Israelis and Palestinians share for the same land. For the first time, a song was premiered simultaneously on the Israeli Army Radio and on the Voice of Palestine.

The Eliav-Sartawi Awards for Middle East Journalism are given annually to Arab, Israeli, and international journalists. They recognize and encourage journalism that contributes to better understanding between people and to maintaining political dialogue in the Middle East.
We created The Common Ground Awards in 1998 to honor outstanding accomplishments in conflict resolution, community building, and peacebuilding. Recipients have made significant contributions toward bridging the divides between people, finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems, and providing hope where there often was none.

Whether people work internationally or in their local communities -- the work that they do and the transformation they bring -- are essentially the same.

For the first time The Common Ground Awards will be held in New York, at the United Nations, on November 1st.

"There is no conflict that cannot be resolved. Violent conflict is created and sustained by human beings, and it can be ended by human beings." Past Common Ground Award Recipient, former Senator George Mitchell.

On 27/07/2006, Michael Dahan kindly wrote to us:

Greetings,

I would like to bring to your attention a short piece which I distributed on the academic lists in Israel this morning... Please feel free to distribute this as widely as possible.

Michael

A Call for Peace, Understanding and an end to the Violence: A Lesson from Lebanon

I am an Israeli political scientist currently participating in an academic conference in Cairo, Egypt. It is the annual meeting of the International Association of Media and Communication Research. Even under the best of circumstances, it is not easy for an Israeli to participate in a conference in Cairo due to issues related to normalization. Today, when Israel is at war with Lebanon, it is even more difficult. Indeed, almost all the Israeli participants cancelled at the last minute. I decided to go because I felt that as an academic, an intellectual, it was crucial for me to participate, to keep lines of communication open with my Arab and Muslim colleagues in the region. To talk and to discuss. To share knowledge.

The conference has a large number of participants from throughout the region -- Palestinians, Lebanese, Iranians, Syrians, Egyptians and others. I presented a paper co authored with an Egyptian colleague and friend. In the audience and on the panel with me were my "enemies". At least, that is what my government and to a certain extent, my society, would like me to believe.

The paper was very well received. The next day, one of the people at the conference who had heard the presentation approached me and complimented me on the paper. He introduced himself as a Professor at the American University in Beirut. He had also come to the conference in spite of the "situation", a word that has become a euphemism for the death and destruction, the agony and the pain that we all share. He noted that I was slightly nervous during the presentation, that he had felt this and wanted to tell me that I had no reason to be nervous, that it was a good paper. Under any other circumstances his comments would have been innocent, devoid of any emotional weight. A simple expression of respect and comraderie from one academic to another. Yet his remarks and his insight brought tears to my eyes. I expressed to him my disgust for the violence that is being perpetrated by my country against his own. He in turn expressed similar feelings about the suffering in northern Israel. He handed me a copy of his own paper. A little while later we met again. I told him that his remarks had brought tears to my eyes. We looked at each other and embraced. A few hours later, when I had a chance, I began to read his paper. In the prologue he noted the words of two Egyptian artists, Ahmad Fouad Negm, and the Oud player, Sheikh Imam. He brought forth only four lines which stress the power of words, the main tools of communication. These words echo and reverberate in my mind, refusing to leave me, to allow me any rest or respite:

Should the sun drown in the sea of clouds
And should the world be engulfed in waves of darkness
You who search, and care, for meaning
Shall find nothing to guide you, but eyes made of words.

I call on my colleagues back home, those "who search and care for meaning", to take heed of these words, to listen and to think, to rise above the pain and sorrow, and to let reason and humanity prevail. In the end, as human beings, all we have is our own basic humanity. As academics all we have in the end are words. Let us use these two very basic tools to end the suffering, to speak out loudly and clearly, before it is too late and we are all engulfed in the flames.

-- Michael (Mike) Dahan, Cairo, July 26th, 2006

War, Genocide and Memory. German Colonialism and National Identity - Sheffield 09/06

11.09.2006-13.09.2006, Humanities Research Institute, University of
Sheffield, 34 Gell Street, Sheffield S3 7QW, GB

For almost sixty years, since the end of World War II, the German public
had forgotten about its colonial empire. Whereas other European powers
experienced the traumatic violence of decolonisation, Germans believed
that they had nothing to do with the colonial exploitation of large
parts of Africa, Asia or South America. They were innocent - so many
believed - of the devastations brought about by European colonialism and
could therefore engage with the new postcolonial world without the dark
shadow of a colonial past. Some observers have termed this 'colonial
amnesia'.

Such suppression was severely shaken in 2004, when the centenary of the
genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples confronted a wide German
audience with German atrocities of a hundred years before. The first
German genocide, as it was called, attracted media coverage, and in
August 2004 the German government officially apologised for the
atrocities. After Germany's attempts to come to terms with its Nazi
past, this step was seen by many international observers as a major
break-through in global attempts to right historic wrongs, especially
those committed in a colonial context. In Germany, the official apology,
far from marking closure on a dark chapter in German history, sparked a
variety of agitated responses. Instead of acknowledging the act as a
much-needed step in the process of coming to terms with the colonial
past, conservative circles denounced the German Minister for Economic
Cooperation and Development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, who had
delivered the apology, as a 'traitor'. Others worried about claims for
reparations by the Herero, and the German tabloid BILD asked on its
front page, 'What will be the cost of the minister's tears?', deriding
her carefully crafted statement as being the result of female sentiment.
Wieczorek-Zeul's courageous act had obviously touched a nerve. Whereas
some felt encouraged to bring other German colonial atrocities into the
limelight, for example the Maji-Maji war in German East Africa, the
centenary of which fell in 2005, others have attempted to rewrite
Germany's colonial past by emphasizing the exotic aspects of Germany's
colonial undertaking, and by disconnecting the imperial past from the
positive strands of German history. A dubious documentary on prime-time
German television, which made repeated use of colonial stereotypes,
marked - for the time being - the extreme point of this endeavour.

Nevertheless, the debate shows that Germany has finally arrived at a
postcolonial European normality, where its own historical relationship
with the world is part of a lively debate not only about the past, but
also about the future. Migration, multiculturalism and xenophobia are
only some of the topics which are substantially shaped by Germany's
memory of the past. Colonialism was central to Wilhelminian discourse on
national identity, to the country's understanding of itself as a world
power; and now discussion about the German empire seems to be
resurfacing as part of a German discourse of self-understanding and
self-reassurance in the aftermath of Unification.

The conference will address Germany's biased and troubled relationship
with the colonial world over the course of two centuries. As
postcolonial studies have shown, colonial engagement neither started nor
ended with formal colonial rule. Thus we will have papers dealing with
numerous aspects of the encounters of Germany and Germans with imagined
or real colonial empires, from the mid nineteenth century to the present
day. Papers addressing the problems from a transnational or comparative
perspective, papers dealing with the landscapes of memory in the former
German colonies, and papers offering literary and other
cultural-historical perspectives are also included. The contributors are
practitioners in a diversity of disciplines.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

MONDAY, 11 September 2006
1:00-2:30 Registration

2:30-3:00 Welcome and Introduction

3:00-5:00

Panel 1: Namibia: Coming to Terms with Genocide

Reinhart KÖßLER (Bochum): "Communal Memory Events and the Heritage of
the Victims. The Persistence of the Theme of Genocide in Namibia"
Hanns LESSING (Dortmund): "Commemorating the Past – Building the Future:
the Contribution of the Churches in Namibia and Germany to the
Commemoration of the Centenary of the Colonial War and Genocide in
Namibia"
Dominik SCHALLER (Heidelberg): "The Herero Genocide and Politics of
Memory"

Panel 2: Colonialism and Metropolitan Politics

Robin KRAUSE (Clark U, Massachusetts): "Critical Responses in Germany to
Colonial Adventures and Atrocities, 1900-10"
Brian VICK (Sheffield): "Empire and Imperialism at the Paulskirche:
Origins, Meanings, Trajectories"

5:00-5:30 Coffee/Tea

5:30-7:30

Panel 3: Remembering Colonialism in Africa:

Dennis LAUMANN (Memphis): "Narratives of a ‘Model Colony’: German
Togoland in Written and Oral Histories"
Stephanie MICHELS (Cologne): "Colonial Wars in Cameroon – Shared
Histories, Divided Memories"

Panel 4: Colonialism and Popular Culture

Jeffrey BOWERSOX (Toronto): "Exotic Education: Writing Empire for Young
Germans, 1884-1914"
David CIARLO (MIT): "Picturing Genocide in German Consumer Culture,
1904-1910"
Volker LANGBEHN (San Francisco): "‘Greetings from Africa’ – The Visual
Representation of Blackness during German Imperialism"

7:30 Wine Reception

TUESDAY, 12 September 2006

9:00-11:00

Panel 5: Travelling

Tracey DAWE (Durham): "Time, Identity and Colonialism in German Travel
Writing on Africa,1850-1914"
Matthias FIEDLER (Dublin): "Our Forgotten Travellers – German
Afrikareisende and the Popularisation of the German Discourse on Africa
in the 19th Century"
Charles HOAG (N Carolina): "The Mission of Memory: J.L. Krapf and the
German Colonial Project"

Panel 6: Colonial Mythmaking I

Constant KPAO SARE (Saarland): "Abuses of German Colonial History: the
Character of Carl Peters as Weapon for Völkisch and National-Socialist
Discourses: Anglophobia, Anti-Semitism, Aryanism"
Jörg LEHMANN (Berlin): "From ‘Peter Moors Fahrt nach Südwest’ to
‘Deutsch Sonne über Sand und Palmen’: Fraternity, Frenzy and Genocide in
German War Literature, 1906-1937"
Sara EIGEN (Vanderbilt): "Hans Grimm and the Reception of German
Colonialism"

11:00-11:30 Coffee/Tea

11:30-1:30

Panel 7: Colonial Mythmaking II

Rob HEYNEN (Toronto): "Images of Lost Empire: Colonial Nostalgia in
Weimar Visual Culture"
Susann LEWERENZ (Hamburg): "‘Loyal Askari’ and ‘Black Rapist’ – Two
Images in the German Discourse on National Identity and their Impact on
the Lives of Black People in Germany (1918-1945)"
Kristin KOPP (Missouri): "Representing German Colonial Interventions in
Poland"

Panel 8: Mainstreaming Colonialism

Kenneth OROSZ (Maine): "Colonialism and the Simplification of Language:
Germany’s Kolonialdeutsch Experiment"
Elisabeth SCHMIDT (Paris): "Aspects of German Identity in the African
Colonies: the Role of the Local Press"
Britta SCHILLING (Oxford): "Beyond Empire: German Women in Africa,
1919-1933"

1:30-2:30 Lunch

2:30-4:30

Panel 9: Colonial Warfare

Yixu LU (Sydney): "Germany’s War in China: Media Coverage and Political
Myth"
Michael Pesek (Berlin): "The Shadows of the Thirty Years War in Eastern
Africa. German and Allied War Crimes in the East African Campaign,
1914-18"
Nicholas MARTIN (Birmingham): "A Place in the Sun: Paul von
Lettow-Vorbeck and the Defence of Civilisation in German East Africa"

Panel 10: Engaging with the Past in the Federal Republic I

Monika ALBRECHT (Münster): "Reflections on the Idea of ‘Colonial
Amnesia’ in Post-1945 West Germany"
Esther ALMSTADT (Bremen): "A Spotlight on a Dark Chapter in German
History: Criticism of German Colonialism in Uwe Timm’s novel ‘Morenga’
and its Reception in the West German Public"
Ingo CORNILS (Leeds): "Denkmalsturz. The German Student Movement and
German Colonialism"

4:30-5:00 Coffee/Tea

5:00-7:00 Round Table: Uses and Abuses of Colonial History

Panel to include:
Martial Staub (Sheffield: Chair)
Henning Melber (Uppsala)
Michael Perraudin (Sheffield)
Ian Phimister (Sheffield)
Eve Rosenhaft (Liverpool)
Jürgen Zimmerer (Sheffield)

8:00 Dinner

WEDNESDAY, 13 September 2006

9:30-11:30

Panel 11: The Transnational Dimension

Donald BLOXHAM (Edinburgh): "The German Involvement in the Armenia
Genocide and Armenian Memory Politics" (tbc)
Kathryn JONES (Swansea): "Vergangenheitsbewältigung à la française:
French Colonial Memories of the Algerian War"
Arndt WITTE (Maynooth): "The Discipline ‘Germanistik’ in Sub-Saharan
African Universities – Extending Colonialism, Promoting Intercultural
Dialogue or Facilitating Authentic African Perspectives on the Former
Colonisers?"

Panel 12: Engaging with the Past in the Federal Republic II

Wolfgang STRUCK (Erfurt): "The Persistence of (Colonial) Fantasies"
Holger NEHRING (Sheffield): "Auschwitz, Hiroshima and West German
Anti-Colonialism: Protest Movements and National Identity (1958-1969)"
Katrina HAGEN (Seattle): "'Unburdened by Colonialism’? Contested
Histories of German Colonialism in the Era of Global Decolonisation"

11:30-12:00 Coffee/Tea

12:00-13:00 Closing Discussion: Future Perspectives on German
Colonialism (Chairs: Jürgen Zimmerer, Michael Perraudin)

Please check the conference webpage for updates and further information:
http://www.c19.group.shef.ac.uk/germancolonialisminformation.html
For specific enquiries, please write to the conference administrator,
Ben Schofield, at germancolonialism@shef.ac.uk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Juergen Zimmerer
Department of History
University of Sheffield
387 Glossop Road
Sheffield
S10 2TN
UK

Homepage
<http://www.c19.group.shef.ac.uk/germancolonialisminformation.html>

URL zur Zitation dieses Beitrages
<http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/termine/id=5790>

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
July 25, 2006

**********

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim-Western relations.
*This service is available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and French.
*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 an archive of CGNews articles and other information, please visit our website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).

**********

ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. Lebanese and Israelis exchange views onlineby Jean-Marc Manach
Le Monde journalist Jean-Marc Manach examines the often surprising exchanges that take place online between ordinary Lebanese and Israeli citizens. Canadian-Israeli blogger and journalist Lisa Goldman catches herself dreaming of a future of Lebanese and Israeli leaders who will benefit from such intimate relations, concluding that "it's not so easy to kill someone you know... as a human being, not simply as 'the former enemy'".
(Source: Le Monde, July 19, 2006)

**********

ARTICLE 1
Hamas and Hezbollah: one strategy or two?
Gayle Meyers

Jerusalem - Here in the Jerusalem office of Search for Common Ground, I work with Palestinians who have family in Gaza, and we have one staff member in Beirut. My Israeli relatives live in the south, within range of Qassam rockets fired from Gaza by Hamas, and in the north, within range of Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah.

The Re’ut Institute, an Israeli think-tank run by an advisor to former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, poses two questions about Israel’s decision to treat Hezbollah as a rogue organisation separate from the Lebanese government (even though it holds seats in parliament) while simultaneously going after Hamas by attacking Palestinian government buildings in addition to military targets.

The two questions are:

What is the organizing idea behind the differentiation between Hamas and Hezbollah? Does damage to the Palestinian political address serve Israel's strategic interests -- or, alternately, does the “protection” of the Lebanese government serve the battle against Hezbollah?

These are important questions for U.S. policy as well, both in the current crisis and in its approach to the “Global War on Terror”. And there is a related debate about what the policy should be toward states like Iran and Syria that use groups like Hezbollah and Hamas as proxies.

The Bush Doctrine makes no distinction between terrorist groups and the states that harbour them. This is logical in some cases, as in the decision to wipe out Al Qaeda’s sanctuary in Afghanistan, but it has also lead to confusion and the misplaced use of force, as in the decision to pursue Saddam Hussein in lieu of Osama Bin Laden.

I believe that treating states and non-state actors interchangeably represents wishful thinking. States are easier to confront, both politically and militarily. As signatories to treaties and members of international organisations, they are tied into the international system and can be reached by both carrots and sticks. As entities with territory and borders, well -- they don’t move. Someone wanting to bomb them can always find them. On the other hand, terrorist groups are elusive, with fewer assets, fewer channels for reward or punishment.

To answer Re’ut’s questions, there is a clear distinction between Hezbollah and Hamas at this time. Despite its close alliance with Syria and Iran, Hezbollah is acting as an independent militia, without the approval of the Lebanese government. Israel’s fight on its northern border is with Hezbollah. The strategy of “protecting” the Lebanese government is correct and should go even further. Broad strikes against the infrastructure of Lebanon, which have destroyed the country’s ports, airports, and roads, will only lead to the death of civilians and further embitter the conflict.

The issue of Hamas is much more complicated, not only because the organisation has now been elected to lead the Palestinian Authority (through the Palestinian Legislative Council, though rival Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas still holds the presidency), but also because it is just one facet of the problem of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and the festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I propose that anyone devising national security strategies for the US and its allies needs to develop new approaches for dealing with non-state actors that go beyond emotional responses to terrorism and sweeping linkages between states and other actors. Questions to answer include the following:

What tools are available, other than force, for influencing the behaviour of non-state actors?

Does force in fact work? Do concepts such as deterrence and coercion have merit?

Given that they cannot sign international treaties, how can non-state actors be held to their commitments (e.g. to ceasefires)? When should states be considered responsible for the actions of non-state actors?

I’m sure there are more questions. In the meantime, I suggest that non-state actors should be dealt with on their own terms—friend or foe. And in confronting them, strategies should be designed to avoid punishing the innocent and to limit escalation to state-to-state conflict.

###
* Gayle Meyers is Director of Regional Security Projects at Search for Common Ground- in the Middle East. She can be contacted at gmeyers@sfcg.org. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), July 25, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 2
US fights terror on humanitarian front
Carlos H. Conde

Jolo, Philippines - Like most children on this predominantly Muslim island, Soraya Tampalan hardly receives proper health care from the government. Torn by conflict and neglect for years, this has not been a good place to grow up in for the 13-year-old girl.

It has been especially difficult for Soraya because she was born with a cleft lip, a deformity that forced her to drop out of school after the third grade because she could not take the teasing.

Poverty and strife -- mainly caused by a negligent government, the Muslim rebels who have been fighting for self-rule for decades and, lately, the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf -- have conspired to make this island one of the most depressed, violent and volatile areas in the Philippines. Residents like Soraya have been caught in the crossfire.

The United States was drawn to this island this year as it pursued its campaign against terrorism in Southeast Asia, providing support in logistics and intelligence to the Philippine military as it attempts to crush terrorists from the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah groups who are responsible for some of the most violent terrorist attacks in the country.

Hundreds of U.S. military personnel are deployed on Jolo and on the nearby island of Basilan Province, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf that, according to American officials, has become since 2002 a showcase of how to fight terrorism.

The strategy was simple: at the same time that the Philippine military, with U.S. help, goes after the terrorists, parallel efforts by both Filipinos and Americans - but mostly using U.S. resources - attempt to address the problems that allow the extremists to recruit from what Colonel Jim Linder, the commander of the U.S. forces on Jolo, called "a disenfranchised, disgruntled and dissatisfied population."

"We must address the root causes, the environment, that allow them to recruit and seek sanctuary," Linder said in an interview in Manila. The U.S. government, through its armed forces and agencies like the Agency for International Development and with the collaboration of the Philippine government, has built roads, bridges, school buildings and wells in many Muslim communities that, for decades, had been neglected by their leaders and by Manila.

According to officials, this humanitarian and development-oriented approach is proving to be even more effective than a purely military one. It has transformed Basilan, the Abu Sayyaf stronghold where U.S. forces first went after the attacks of Sept. 11, into a relatively safer island after the terrorists were eliminated one by one, either in combat or in manhunt operations supported by the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice programme, in which hundreds of thousands of dollars are offered for the capture of Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah leaders.

Today, the Americans are trying to duplicate on Jolo their success on Basilan and would like to do the same thing in Tawi-tawi, the most remote part of the Muslim southern Philippines.

There had been initial trepidation on the part of the United States, officials said, considering that Jolo shares a rather dark past with it. Jolo's warriors and sultans led the resistance to American colonisers in the late 1800s. Just a few kilometres from the town center is a mountain called Bud Dajo, the site of what Muslims here call the massacre by the US of hundreds of Muslims. The massacre's 100th anniversary was observed here in March, just as U.S. troops were setting up their camps on the island.

It is said that of all the Muslim areas in Mindanao, anti-American sentiment is strongest here. But many Muslims, like Soraya and her family, are just too overwhelmed by poverty to care about what happened more than a hundred years ago.

Soraya's family lives in a poor village in a remote part of this town. Her father died and her mother, a laundrywoman, could hardly make ends meet. Her grandmother took care of her most of the time.

For years, Soraya and her family tried to find the means to fix her lip, but being a peasant girl from an island where basic health care is practically nonexistent, she did not stand a chance.

Until the Mercy came along. The U.S. Navy's hospital ship, which visited Jolo last month, treated thousands of poor Filipinos, mostly Muslims, in three provinces during its visit.

One day early last month, Soraya finally got her wish. Doctors on the Mercy operated on her cleft lip for free. "We are very thankful. We never dreamed this would happen," said Fatima Tampalan, Soraya's grandmother, who accompanied her.

Filipino officials on Jolo are likewise grateful. "We are thankful not just for the assistance but for the friendship," said Fahra Tan-Omar, the administrator of the Sulu Provincial Hospital, which has received assistance from the United States. She said that because of American help, the hospital is better able to serve the people of Jolo.

These humanitarian and development programs are "a new paradigm," said Lieutenant Commander Franklin Sechriest of the navy, who led the group at the hospital.

"We have no ill intentions here," Sechriest said. "What we're doing is helping by stepping outside our traditional military role." Addressing the unmet needs of the local population, he said, "will contain the spread of terrorism."

To Michele Okamoto, a 51-year-old nurse from New York who volunteers for Project Hope, the private charitable and humanitarian project involved in the Mercy visit, this is the kind of initiative that would, in the long run, help defeat terrorism and prevent another Sept. 11, which she personally experienced as a nurse volunteering to help the victims of the World Trade Center attacks.

Sept. 11, she said in an interview on the Mercy, changed the way she looked at things. The attacks, the intolerance, the hatred, the poverty and disenfranchisement on Jolo - "I just think they're all connected," Okamoto said.

Her work on the Mercy, and the smile that would soon come from the lips of Soraya Tampalan, "are the small things that we could do to prevent Sept. 11 from happening again," she said.

###
* Carlos H. Conde serves as Secretary-General of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and writes from Manila for the International Herald Tribune and New York Times. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: International Herald Tribune, July 5, 2006
Visit the International Herald Tribune at www.iht.com (http://www.iht.com/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 3
Not the enemy, but not a reliable neighbour either
Yossi Alpher

Tel Aviv - In mid-983, I joined six other academics from Tel Aviv University in a visit to Lebanon. We were the guests of Maronite Christian academics, for a seminar they organised on the future of Israeli-Lebanese relations. At the time, a year or so after Israel's invasion of Lebanon and siege of Beirut, the Maronite-Israeli alliance was on the verge of collapse. The Sabra and Shatila massacre, the murder of Bashir Gemayel and the unreliability of the Maronites as allies had all taken their toll. Israelis were fed up with the Lebanon adventure orchestrated by Ariel Sharon. The academic conference idea was a last-ditch Maronite attempt to shore up the foundations.

We landed by IAF helicopter at Junieh, north of Beirut, under blackout conditions. Our armed escorts from the Lebanese Forces reminded us of mafia gangs. The seminar, held in a beach hotel, featured lectures by both sides on the history of Lebanese-Israeli and even ancient Phoenician-Hebrew relations. But the dominant theme was the Maronites' glorification of Ariel Sharon and insistence that the IDF strike again at Syria and push it back from Lebanese soil.

None of the Israeli delegation had a word of praise for Sharon. The atmosphere was surrealistic, the tension audible despite the academic decorum. The clincher came when the Maronite professors, almost as one, turned to us and said, "if you don't get rid of the Syrians for us, we'll have to become their allies!"

That was, and is, Lebanon: torn by inter-communal conflict, unable to stand on its own feet, hating its neighbours but drawing them in cynically to fight its internal wars. In the 23 years that have elapsed since the Junieh meeting, Hezbollah was born and gained strength, aided and abetted by its Iranian co-religionists. It seeks to represent the 40 percent (or more, there are no censuses in Lebanon lest the results bring about total collapse) of Lebanese who are Shi'ites and are under-represented in its anachronistic confessional system. It effectively rules large swaths of the country. Its forces are the best armed and best trained, with Iran and Syria firmly behind them. It would win a civil war.

Israel's current strategy in Lebanon is intended to weaken Hezbollah to such an extent that the central government can, after nearly 40 years, finally exercise its authority in the South. Even assuming we succeed against Hezbollah, the history of those past decades, reflecting as it does Lebanon's built-in limitations as a viable state, suggests that the intended Lebanese government role will be problematic, if not impossible. Communal tensions will still dominate the government; Shi'ite units in the army might not serve the common cause. Hezbollah will rebuild, with Iranian help; both will cite a mandate to lead the downtrodden Shi'ites. The Syrians, then as now, will await the anguished calls of one or more of Lebanon's myriad of ethno-religious communities for help.

One way to bolster the Lebanese government's performance when and if the time comes, could be large-scale international intervention: not an international force on Israel's border but rather a multi-national effort, bordering on a condominium, to reinforce the courage and capacities of Lebanon's government and armed forces.

Another option is to try to neutralise Syria -- the weak link in the Iran-Iraqi Shi'ite-Syria-Hezbollah axis, but for Lebanon an overbearing and highly-manipulative neighbour. Israel has ruled out doing this militarily, since the resultant escalation could be extremely dangerous for all parties and the Middle East at large.

That leaves the diplomatic option. In recent years, Bashar Assad has asked Israel repeatedly to renew bilateral peace talks. The Pentagon has responded by asking Israel to rebuff Assad lest he break out of the isolation imposed on him due to his support for terrorists in Iraq, Israel and Lebanon. In Ariel Sharon's day that caution was welcomed, since Sharon had no intention of giving up the Golan.

Now this option should be reconsidered. Washington, which helped lay the foundations for Israel's current two-front war by encouraging armed Islamists like Hezbollah and Hamas to participate in premature democratic processes, might stand back. In a renewed Syrian-Israeli peace process, Israel would have to insist that in return for most of the Golan Heights it get not only peace with Syria but peace and quiet in Lebanon and an end to Damascus' support for Palestinian Islamist radicals.

A tall order, but perhaps now is the time to try.

###
*Yossi Alpher is co-editor of the bitterlemons family of internet publications. He is former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, and a former senior adviser to PM Ehud Barak. This article was distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Americans for Peace Now, July 21, 2006
Visit Americans for Peace Now at www.peacenow.org (http://www.peacenow.org/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 4
~YOUTH VIEWS~ America in the world: not so beautiful
Jennie Kim

Washington, D.C. - The world must seem like a cold place to Americans, as the question du jour, “Why do they hate us?” now invites another: “Which ‘they’ are you talking about?”

“They” no longer refers exclusively to terrorist groups. Indeed, American diplomacy has atrophied worldwide. Nowhere is this more painfully evident than in the Middle East, where for two weeks now Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged devastating blows, while Washington -- cut off from key regional powers in Tehran and Damascus -- did nothing to broker the peace. Tragically, Lebanon, one of America’s precious few Arab allies, will bear the brunt of two costs: the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict and America’s stunning diplomatic failure in the Middle East.

The Lebanon crisis will certainly not improve the dismal perception of America shared by Arab and Muslim publics, the key audiences of the Bush administration’s Iraq and War on Terror policies. According to the newly released June 2006 Pew Global Attitudes survey, only 30 percent of Egyptians and 15 percent of Jordanians have a favourable opinion of America, despite receiving billions of dollars in U.S. bilateral aid over the years. In 2000, a solid majority of Indonesians (75 percent) held positive views of America -- today, only 30 percent do. However, the most dramatic decline was in Turkey, where positive views of America have tumbled more than four-fold in six years (from 52 to 12 percent).

In fact, America’s image has fallen sharply worldwide in the years since 9/11. Today, 37 percent of Germans and 23 percent of Spaniards have a favourable opinion of the U.S. -- less than half the number from six years ago. During that time, America’s favourability also dropped more than one-third in France (from 62 to 39 percent). Even in Great Britain, its strongest ally, America draws a lukewarm reception, with 56 percent of the British public expressing positive views of the US, down from 83 percent in 2000.

Being an object of global disdain is a relatively new role for this country, which has generally followed Willy Loman’s philosophy in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, “Be liked and you will never want”, to manoeuvre its way around the world. Indeed, no other country has capitalised on the relationship between popularity and global success better than the United States, a nation whose stunning military and economic resources have, until recently, been matched by an enviable store of soft power -- the power of influence and persuasion that comes from being respected and liked.

Some may dismiss soft power as irrelevant, arguing that America is mighty enough to pursue its interests without regard to international opinion. But hard power has its limits. Like globalisation, the worldwide spread of democracy is double-edged. Anti-American sentiment among foreign audiences can constrain would-be allies and have serious policy implications: consider Turkey’s decision to prevent American troops from crossing its borders to fight in Iraq, or the repercussions of the Spanish elections after the Madrid subway bombing, which resulted in Spain withdrawing its troops from Iraq.

What can soft power do to reverse this trend? While we may never get the world to agree with our decision to invade Iraq, or our stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, public diplomacy -- the act of understanding, engaging and influencing foreign public opinion -- can go a long way to dampen what Edward Djerijan, a former diplomat and expert on public diplomacy, calls “the dangerously reinforcing cycle of animosity”. Furthermore, he recommends, the tools of public diplomacy must be used in the early stages of policymaking to avoid producing negative reactions that could undermine American interests.

To that end, Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes has taken several steps forward since she became the nation’s public diplomacy tzarina last fall. After a rocky start -- Beirut’s Daily Star derided her first Middle East listening tour as “not charming, but definitely offensive” -- Hughes has successfully pushed for much-needed reforms to raise public diplomacy’s profile and budget (albeit to a scant $1.14 billion).

Public diplomacy is a generational endeavour and, after many years of idling, it will need a great deal more time, talent and funding to succeed. Of course, there will always be a limit to how much public diplomacy can do: bad policies, like bad products, won’t sell. Nor can public diplomacy dismantle the historic peculiarities of American foreign policy, which is characterised by a gap between narrow interests and lofty ideals, creating a dissonance that an arrogant, at times messianic, sense of purpose feigns to obscure.

From Woodrow Wilson’s solemn justification (“God helping her, she can do no other”) for sending America to intervene in the First World War, to Bush’s bold claim that “freedom is…the almighty God’s gift to every man and woman in this world,” American presidents have shown themselves willing to risk extraordinary over-reach, so long as they’re erring on the side of the divine. Under the shade of this theory, international opprobrium is a burden secondary to moral duty -- a consoling thought. But if America alone could not “make the world safe for democracy” in the last century, how do we expect to make democracy safe for the world in this one?

###
* Jennie Kim (jenniek@gwu.edu) is a graduate student at the George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. She received her degree, in History, from Stanford University in 2005. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), July 25, 2006)
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 5
Lebanese and Israelis exchange views online
Jean-Marc Manach

Paris – In 2003, Salam Pax (http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/), the pseudonym of an Iraqi blogger, enabled millions of Internet users to follow the advance of American troops in real-time from Baghdad. The “blogosphere” was then bristling with controversies: was the United States right to go to war, and was this an invasion or a liberation? And attention focused on the Iraqi blogger not only because he wrote in English—and with some talent—but also because there were practically no other Iraqi bloggers around.

The difference with the war in Lebanon is that there is a legion of Salam Pax’s, both on the Lebanese and the Israeli sides. They are indeed so numerous that websites have been set up to take an inventory of them, to syndicate their postings and finally to facilitate consulting them: Jblogosphere (http://www.jblogsphere.net/special/) and Webster (http://english.webster.co.il/) on the Israeli side; OpenLebanon (http://openlebanon.com/) and Lebanese Blogger Forum (http://lebanonheartblogs.blogspot.com/) on the Lebanese side; while The Truth Laid Bear (http://truthlaidbear.com/mideastcrisis.php) has, for its part, made an inventory of bloggers on both sides of the border, as well as of Palestinian bloggers.

These sites feature international calendars of pro-Israeli and pro-Lebanese protests, practical information (emergency phone numbers, contact information for the Red Cross or blood banks), and photos and propaganda videos which, because they can be shocking, have not been published by Western media.

Like their fellow citizens, a majority of Israelis support the Tsahal (Israel Defence Forces) and are especially concerned by Hezbollah’s missiles. Others condemn the biased perception of the international community. IsraPundit (http://israpundit.com/2006/?p=1878) thus likens CNN to a mouthpiece of Hezbollah. On the Lebanese side, incomprehension and anger take precedence in the face of the violence of Israeli bombings and the number of civilians killed (BloggingBeirut (http://bloggingbeirut.com/)), alongside the impression that it is the country itself, more than Hezbollah alone, that Tsahal wishes to destroy (Stop Destroying Lebanon (http://stopdestroyinglebanon.com/)).

But what is most outstanding is that beyond ideological diatribes and reflex reactions, snippets of a true dialogue are beginning to appear between Israeli and Lebanese Internet users. Ignoring their political differences, they benefit from the human, not to say intimate, aspect of blogs to engage in a conversation that conventional media cannot enable.

“With the web, the war becomes personal”

Ramzi, 27, lives in Beirut. The first post published on his blog (http://ramziblahblah.blogspot.com/), launched just two years ago, attested to the challenge of living in a country so invaded by tourists that it becomes difficult to find a seat at the terrace of a café. In early July, he mentioned the fact that, while waiting for a visa, he kept cancelling his plane ticket and saying “goodbye” to his friends. Today, he comments on the “Israeli aggression” through, namely, advertisements full of humour and poetry. Several Israelis have written to him in the form of comments to condemn the “waste” of this war, express their compassion, wish for a quick resolution to the conflict and call for peace between “neighbours”. Ramzi summarises this in a single line: “With the web, the war becomes personal” - thanks to blogs, amateur videos posted on the Internet and to the comments posted by Internet users.

For Lisa Goldman, a Canadian-Israeli journalist and blogger (http://ontheface.blogware.com/blog) who lives in Tel Aviv, this was the “first time that residents of ‘enemy’ countries engaged in an ongoing conversation while missiles were falling”. And the examples abound. Thus, the first person to react on her posting dedicated to an anti-war protest last Sunday was a Lebanese woman who condemns the state of siege, the destruction of her country and the death of civilians but adds that “with people like you, the dialogue will continue; we have no choice”.

Beyond generating this type of civilised dialogue between citizens of warring nations, the Internet also creates otherwise more unsettling situations where the military, and those who support it, are kept informed of the consequences of their actions by the very people they are bombing. Last Monday, Shachar, a Tsahal soldier usually stationed at the Lebanese border, was on leave to attend a funeral. He took advantage of this by consulting a collaborative and very popular blog, Lebanese Bloggers (http://lebanesebloggers.blogspot.com/), in order to stay informed of what is happening on the other side of the border: “We can’t see all the bombing in Lebanon from Israel (naturally, we’re focusing on bombs in Israel)”.

When hate fades away…

For several nights now, Lisa Goldman has found herself “chatting” live with a Lebanese man she met through his blog. Sitting on the roof of his apartment building in Beirut, he describes his impressions to her while Israeli missiles fall on the city “in a human, personal way that no newspaper article or television news segment can convey”.

More generally speaking, what comes out of these conversations—through blogs or interspersed commentaries between Israelis and Lebanese—is a feeling of powerlessness and sadness regarding this conflict over the civilian losses it has caused, and over the policymakers of their respective countries and their international allies who have subjected them to this fait accompli. Hope is also present in these conversations, for while many Lebanese bloggers today feel hate toward Israel and will now refuse any contact with Israelis, most of those who communicate online do not consider themselves as “enemies” but as “neighbours”.

Lisa Goldman goes even further: “When the anger dissipates, perhaps they will remember the personal connections with their ‘enemies’”. Catching herself dreaming that the next generation of Lebanese and Israeli politicians and business leaders will benefit from such intimate relations, she concludes that “it’s not so easy to kill someone you know… as a human being, not simply as ‘the former enemy’”.

###
* Jean-Marc Manach is a journalist for Le Monde. He also maintains a blog, rewriting.net (http://rewriting.net/), a distribution list on the information war, guerrelec (http://groups-beta.google.com/group/guerrelec), and a research interface of 200 search engines and databases, manhack.net (http://manhack.net/). This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: ãLe Monde, July 19, 2006
Visit Le Monde at www.lemonde.fr (http://www.lemonde.fr/)
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, 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.

Common Ground News Service
1601 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite #200
Washington, DC 20009 USA
Ph: +1(202) 265-4300
Fax: +1(202) 232-6718

Rue Belliard 205 bte 13
B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
Ph: +32 (02) 736-7262
Fax: +32(02) 732-3033
E-mail: cgnewspih@sfcg.org
Website: http://www.commongroundnews.org

Editors

Emad Khalil (Amman)
Juliette Schmidt (Beirut)
Chris Binkley (Dakar)
Medhy Hidayat (Jakarta)
Elyte Baykun (Washington)
Leena El-Ali (Washington)
Emmanuelle Hazan (Washington)

**********

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an email to cgnewspih@sfcg.org with “subscribe” or “unsubscribe” in the subject line, indicating your language of choice among English, French, Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia.

Angola - Kenia - Kongo - Nigeria - Uganda - Brasilien - Mexiko - China -
Russland - USA

KORRUPTION - Die KUNST DES STEHLENS lautet das Schwerpunktthema im neuen "überblick" (www.der-ueberblick.de).

Korruption behindert die Entwicklung. Kein Land ist frei davon.
Selbst kirchliche Hilfsorganisationen kämpfen mit diesem Problem.

Weitere Themen wie "Argentinien: Mit Tango aus der Wirtschaftskrise",
Pfingstkirchen oder Friedensperspektiven im Kongo und im Sudan und mehr finden Sie in der neuen Ausgabe von "der überblick" (Euro 6,00 + Versandkosten).

www.der-ueberblick.de (herausgegeben i.A. vom Evangelischen Entwicklungsdienst und von Brot für die Welt).

Vergangene Schwerpunkte:
Zentralasien, Chinas Griff nach Afrika, Mediziner für den Norden, AIDS und
Gesellschaft,
Pfingstkirchen, Entwicklungspolitik, Fisch und Welternährung, Afrika,
Umgang mit Tod und Trauer, Bildung, Migration, Tansania, Sklaverei heute,
Energie,
NGOs, Exil, Vorsorge, Grenzen, Mexiko, Aids, Gefängnisse, Maghreb.

Mit freundlicher Empfehlung
die Redaktion

Call for Applications: 2006 Youth Advocacy Team for a Culture of Peace

The United Network of Young Peacebuilders and Fundación Cultura de Paz welcome applications to join this year’s New York Youth Advocacy Team for a Culture of Peace.

The Youth Advocacy Team consists of three teams, advocating for a Culture of Peace. These includes

o The Hague Team that will advocate for the Culture of Peace at embassies in The Hague from Mid-August on an ongoing basis
o The Brussels Team that will advocate for the Culture of Peace to the European Union in Brussels between on an ongoing basis
o The New York Team that will advocate for the Culture of Peace to the United Nations in New York between October 8 and 20

Although this call is for the New York Team, for those who live in Brussels and The Hague, there are still places for those interested in joining these Teams.

Aims of the 2006 Youth Advocacy Team:

There are two goals that this year’s advocacy team will be working towards:

o Continuing and building upon the work of last year, in which countries will be requested to support and commit to the International Decade for Peace and Nonviolence; as well as introducing a monitoring system of the implementation efforts of the countries who have committed themselves to the Culture of Peace, with a special emphasis on National Youth Policies.

o Possibly introducing and getting the support of countries for a United Nations Youth Fund for a Culture of Peace that will assist Civil Society groups in their activities related to the Culture of Peace.

Who we are looking for:

A team of ten youths aged between 18 and 25, who have been actively engaged in Promoting a Culture of Peace.

The criteria for selection of the team are:

- Actively involved in promoting the Culture of Peace (the addition of have organized activities for the September 21st International Day of Peace will be regarded favorably)
- Strong motivation and willingness to engage in follow up activities.
- Ability to communicate well in English (additional languages will be an asset)

Gender balance and geographical diversity will also be taken into consideration when selecting the team.

How to Apply:

Please ask for the application form from (and complete it by August 15th and send to) the following email addresses: advocacy@unoy.org , decadaculturadepaz@yahoo.com.ar and mail@decade-culture-of-peace.org, with “YAT Application” in the subject line.

The application procedure will follow the below timeline:

15th August – Application due
– Selections are finalized. Those selected will be notified, as well as those who are on the waiting list
– Participation is confirmed by applicant, and commitment is made to the team
- The participation status of those on the waiting list will be confirmed
– Participation of those on the waiting list confirmed, and commitment is made to the team

NB Confirmation of participation means that you confirm the availability of funds to support your participation (including airfare and costs of living in New York for two weeks), and the possession of a visa valid until the end of October.

We realize that the requirement for a valid visa and the availability of funds is far from an ideal situation, however we under financial and time constraints, and therefore cannot cover the costs of participating. There is however, a chance that we may raise the funds, therefore we still encourage those who cannot cover their entire costs to apply, and depending on our financial situation at the time of selections, we shall either consider the application or put you on the waiting list. For those put on the waiting list, you will be informed as soon as the availability of funding can be confirmed, which can be anything up to last minute. It is therefore very advisable that you maintain alternative plans for October in case our fundraising is not successful, and that you try fundraise for yourself to cover your costs. We would be happy to provide advice on how to fundraise and sources of funding.

New Book:

This book will be published in Danish in January 2007 by Danish Psychological Press and in English sometime later in the year by Blackwell Publishers.

Dear Friends,

Please find further down an invitation letter to the July 25th, 2006 Gender
Forum scheduled for 4-6p.m. at the Nairobi Safari Club (Lilian Towers).

Our thematic areas of discussion for the day shall be on the key issues of
Women in Leadership, Domestic Violence and the Status of the Girl Child,
with presentations from; Deborah Okumu ­ In a collaborative effort of the
League of Kenya Women Voters, Education Centre for Women in Democracy and the Kenya Women Political Caucus, Jane Onyango - The Federation of Women Lawyers ­ Kenya Chapter and Millie Odhiambo ­ The Cradle Children’s
Foundation.

We look forward to your participation.

Regards,

Catherine Magua
catherine @ hbfha.com
For Wanjiku Wakogi
Regional Gender Programme Coordinator
Heinrich Boll Foundation

Dear Friends,
GENDER FORUM ON THE NAIROBI +21 INITIATIVE
TUESDAY 25TH JULY 2006 AT THE NAIROBI SAFARI CLUB, 4 – 6PM

Greetings from the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

We wish to take this opportunity to sincerely thank those of you who took part in the last forum in the continuing series of gender fora under the Nairobi +21 process. For those who were not able to make it for one reason or another, we believe that you will be able to participate in this next Forum.

We, in continued collaboration with the National Commission on Gender and Development, UNIFEM, Ford Foundation, FEMNET, AWC, CIDA – GESP and the Urgent Action Fund – Africa towards the Nairobi +21 Initiative, wish to invite you to a gender forum on Tuesday, 25th July 2006 at the Nairobi Safari Club (Lilian Towers) from 4pm to 6pm.

Our thematic areas of discussion for the day shall be on the key issues of Women in Leadership, Domestic Violence and the Status of the Girl Child, with presentations from:

i. Deborah Okumu – In a collaborative effort of the League of Kenya Women Voters, Education Centre for Women in Democracy and the Kenya Women Political Caucus
ii. Jane Onyango - The Federation of Women Lawyers – Kenya Chapter
iii. Millie Odhiambo – The Cradle Children’s Foundation

The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Martha Karua is scheduled to address the gathering.

We expect that the day’s forum will be enriching for all members and participants alike. We strongly urge you to attend, bring a friend, and contribute to the debate.

Thank you.

Wanjiku Wakogi
catherine @ hbfha.com
Regional Gender Programme Coordinator
Heinrich Boll Foundation

Beyond Victimhood: Women's Peacebuilding In Sudan, Congo and Uganda
By
International Crisis Group, (ICG) (2006).

"This report addresses the importance of ensuring the inclusion of women in peacebuilding in Sudan, Congo (DRC), and Uganda. The report points out that one of the main hindrances to women's inclusion is the discrimination and violence that women face in armed conflict.

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

hiermit möchten wir Sie ganz herzlich zum nächsten Film unserer Reihe "African Perspectives" am kommenden Sonntag (30.07.) in das Berliner Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe einladen. Wir möchten Ihnen diesmal Tim Greenes "Boy Called Twist" vorführen.

Boy Called Twist
Regie: Tim Greene
Südafrika, 115 min, OV Englisch

Am: Sonntag, den 30. Juli 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

Kurzinhalt
Tim Greenes werktreue Adaption von „Oliver Twist“, Charles Dickens’ Roman über Kinderarbeit im England des 19. Jahrhunderts, führt ins heutige Südafrika und erzählt vom Twist, einem Jungen, der auf der Straße lebt. An der Westküste geboren, wächst er in einem Waisenhaus auf und muss auf Farmen und bei einem Bestatter arbeiten. Schließlich nimmt Twist sein Schicksal selbst in die Hand und schlägt sich nach Kapstadt durch. Hier fällt er dem Rastafari Fagin in die Hände, der Kinder zu Taschendieben ausbildet und abkassiert. Doch dann befreundet sich Twist mit dem alten Ebrahim, ohne zu wissen, dass er in ihm seinen Großvater gefunden hat. Das berührende Porträt eines Kindes, dem das Leben mit brutaler Gleichgültigkeit begegnet und das doch bedingungslose Liebe findet. (mehr Infos zum Film unter http://www.twistmovie.co.za)

Regisseur
‚Boy Called Twist’ ist Tim Greenes erster Spielfilm, den er mit Hilfe von 1000 Leuten, die er dazu bewegen konnte jeweils 1000 Rand für die Finanzierung des Films zu investieren, drehte. Sein erster Kurzfilm, mit dem ihm der Durchbruch gelang war ‚Corner Caffie’ (1995), der auch auf verschiedensten internationalen Festivals lief. Außer einem weiteren preisgekrönten Kurzfilm, ‚Kap ‘an, Driver’ (1998) drehte er verschiedenste Musikvideos und Werbespots.

Auszeichnungen/Preise
- Winner Best Feature, Apollo Film Festival 2005
- Official Selection Cannes 2005

Pressestimmen (Auszug)
“South African spin on the Dickens classic Oliver Twist ...effortlessly translates the orphan horror story ...without artifice or coyness ...retains the vitality of the Victorian adventure admirably, Jarrid Geduld wonderfully engaging in the title role.” – Variety
"...a pleasing cacophony of visual imagery ...carries as much weight as Dickens had intended in his novel." - Mary Corrigall, Sunday Independent
"... a powerful and impressive film... beautifully filmed, vigorously acted ...an impressive feat." - Barry Ronge, Sunday Times

African Perspectives ist eine monatlich stattfindende Filmreihe, in deren Rahmen aktuelle afrikanische Filme präsentiert werden. Mehr über diese Reihe erfahren Sie unter:
http://www.africavenir.com/africavenir/berlin/film/film-presentations.php

In Kooperation mit dem Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe und mit freundlicher Unterstützung von South African Airways.

Medienpartner: Radio Multikulti

Ständig aktuelle Informationen auf:
http://www.africavenir.org
http://www.inisa.de

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

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

Dear Friends!

On 19/07/2006, Sarah Sayeed kindly wrote to us:

Hi Evelin,
I thought of you when I read the attached, which was written by a colleague who is also on the board of Muslim Consultative Network with me. Would love to know what you think of it.
...
Love,
Sarah

Zidane and the Zananah; How Small Becomes Big
© Adem Carroll

We fear the external threat. News keeps us all on edge. But are we the threat? Non-Muslims think we are, and fear us with each new “terror plot” that is reported in the tabloids and scare-media. Now, even some Muslims are having doubts! In Iraq, Sunnis and Shia fellow citizens drag each other out of cars, check ID cards, slaughter and destroy. Painful as it is, we should not turn away and ignore the external threat of our own violence.

But here at home, we have other external threats; last week, the FBI raided a mosque in Pittsburgh. Someone shot a bullet through all 10 windows of an Indiana mosque. And someone threw a pig’s head into a mosque in Maine.

But what head was Zinedine Zidane wearing when he head-butted Italian player Marco Matterazzi, in the last minutes of the World Cup? Probably setting up France for its loss, minutes later? O son of Algerian immigrants to France, our role model and now our Red Card shame!

“Zidane, Zidane! Zizou, Zizou, Zizou!” called the crowd for over 20 years. How tragic this small aggressive act! And now silence-- of defeat and we hope repentance! May this silence heal his heart.

The external threat is not only the weapons of mass destruction. The external threat is in the weapons of mass distraction. And a talented player may lose himself in the shouts of an adoring crowd, feeling the emotional heat and the pressure of the millions. How to be free of this? Some commentators seek to pass blame, asserting that the Italian player must have made a racial remark against Zidane’s honor. We don’t know. But there is hope beyond honor if we remember God.

Zananah zananah zananah in the sky; the residents know it is the Israeli Drone. It is not televising barefoot soccer matches in the Palestinian dust. This entity, called Zananah because of the sound it makes, has escaped from its Israeli bottle unlike the hundreds of detainees held in Israeli jails. It is a tool of invasion, occupation and control. The Zananah buzzes around the edges of life; and then, finally, comes the missile strike, and death.

However, this external threat is matched by an internal threat. This is the stupid and impractical commitment of the local militants to sending rockets over to Israel. This is infantile-- but dangerous enough to lend legitimacy to Israeli actions. These rockets will win no war.

Small actions-- little rockets and head-butting— come from frustration. The eyes of the world (and the zananah) are watching and small becomes big, sometimes beyond all proportion. Internal threats become external. And if we don’t do something they will be eternal.

In the heat, we become hot-headed. Even off the field of battle, social dynamics can provoke us. Some wives play on husband’s nerves like world-class musicians; some men regularly intimidate other men; and other social groups maintain the strange energy of unresolved sexual tension. It is hard not to react. I just came from a meeting in which I was very reactive, again and again; I felt manipulated, disrespected, and confused. I lost trust. So yes I understand the impulse to butt heads! Alas!

How can we be more conscious and intentional at these difficult moments? It is easy to take revenge for all the annoyances of the world. It easy enough to “blow up.” It is also easier to get a Red Card than a Green Card. You don’t need to be a missile-carrying Israeli drone to see, not just what “they” have done to “us”, but the mess “we” humans have made. But that all-seeing human eye makes many mistakes.

Will the collective punishment of the 1.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip result in peace? Have the restrictions and humiliations on the Palestinian people for decades brought us closer to justice? Surely Israel puts far too much faith in force. Even leading Jews have spoken out. As Rabbi Michael Lerner has written: “..human rights violations in Guantanamo and Iraq are unacceptable, so we need to communicate to the Israeli people that the mass punishment of a million people for the acts of a few is as unacceptable.”

Have you called the Israeli embassy, their allies in the media, and in the US Congress? Just call them on your cell phone! Just be conscious and not reactive. If we Muslims learn to be more conscious we may be better able to advocate effectively.

A just action grows from a peaceful heart. Hope may grow beyond honor, and peace beyond the collective honor of nationalism. The seed of peace may grow from the soil of soul into a beautiful and conscious Ummah. Is it still possible? In this night air, do we sense the fragrance of future gardens of Islam? Or only feel the desert winds of our own bitter human will, blowing, blowing nowhere forever?

On 23/07/2006, Ralph Summy kindly writes to us:

Dear Evelin,

Just reporting in to let you know that interest is high on our Social Alternatives issue. Local sales are better than usual and nine have thus far come in from your email launch. It would be nice to see some lecturers set it on their reading lists and purchase copies for their libraries.
...
I'm very impressed with your book, and hope its reception has been equally as impressive.

Agape,
Ralph

Ralph Summy
Adjunct Professor
Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies
The University of Queensland
Queensland, Australia 4072

Please see for more details http://www.humiliationstudies.org/publications/bertspecialissue.php

Please obtain a copy by making a cheque to Social Alternatives for $20 ($10 for the journal and the extra $10 to cover postage) and sending it to Ralph Summy, Co-Editor Social Alternatives, Adjunct Professor, Australian Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia 4072.

Dear friends!

by
Scilla Elworthy
Gabrielle Rifkind

Contents

A note from the authors 7
Acknowledgements 9
1. Introduction 11
2. The links between trauma and fundamentalism 14
3. Understanding terrorism: humiliation and revenge 24
4. The growth of suicide bombing 28
5. Why do peace processes collapse? 33
6. Is non-violence an option? 40
7. A programme for change 44
8. Conclusion 61
Epilogue: after the London bombings 64
Notes 67

Call for Applications for the 2006 Youth Advocacy Team for a Culture of Peace

Organised by the United Network of Young Peacebuilders and Fundación Cultura de Paz

The United Network of Young Peacebuilders and Fundación Cultura de Paz welcome applications to join this year?s New York Youth Advocacy Team for a Culture of Peace.

The Youth Advocacy Team consists of three teams, advocating for a Culture of
Peace. These includes:

o The Hague Team that will advocate for the Culture of Peace at embassies in The Hague from Mid-August on an ongoing basis
o The Brussels Team that will advocate for the Culture of Peace to the European Union in Brussels between on an ongoing basis
o The New York Team that will advocate for the Culture of Peace to the United
Nations in New York between October 8 and 20

Although this call is for the New York Team, for those who live in Brussels and
The Hague, there are still places for those interested in joining these Teams.

AIMS OF THE 2006 YOUTH ADVOCACY TEAM:

There are two goals that this year?s advocacy team will be working towards:

o Continuing and building upon the work of last year, in which countries will be
requested to support and commit to the International Decade for Peace and
Nonviolence; as well as introducing a monitoring system of the implementation
efforts of the countries who have committed themselves to the Culture of Peace, with a special emphasis on National Youth Policies.

o Possibly introducing and getting the support of countries for a United Nations
Youth Fund for a Culture of Peace that will assist Civil Society groups in their
activities related to the Culture of Peace.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

A team of ten youths aged between 18 and 25, who have been actively engaged in Promoting a Culture of Peace.

The criteria for selection of the team are:

o Actively involved in promoting the Culture of Peace (the addition of have organized activities for the September 21st International Day of Peace will be
regarded favorably)
o Strong motivation and willingness to engage in follow up activities.
o Ability to communicate well in English (additional languages will be an asset)

Gender balance and geographical diversity will also be taken into consideration
when selecting the team.

HOW TO APPLY:

Please complete the following application form by July 31st and send to both the
following email addresses: advocacy@unoy.org and mail@decade-culture-of-peace.org, with ?YAT Application? in the subject line.

The application procedure will follow the below timeline:

31 July - Application due
4 Aug - Selections are finalized. Those selected will be notified, as well
as those who are on the waiting list
11 Aug - Participation is confirmed by applicant, and commitment is made to
the team
- The participation status of those on the waiting list will be confirmed
17 Aug - Participation of those on the waiting list confirmed, and commitment
is made to the team

NB Confirmation of participation means that you confirm the availability of
funds to support your participation (including airfare and costs of living in
New York for two weeks), and the possession of a visa valid until the end of
October.

We realize that the requirement for a valid visa and the availability of funds
is far from an ideal situation, however we under financial and time
constraints, and therefore cannot cover the costs of participating. There is
however, a chance that we may raise the funds, therefore we still encourage
those who cannot cover their entire costs to apply, and depending on our
financial situation at the time of selections, we shall either consider the
application or put you on the waiting list. For those put on the waiting list,
you will be informed as soon as the availability of funding can be confirmed,
which can be anything up to last minute. It is therefore very advisable that
you maintain alternative plans for October in case our fundraising is not
successful, and that you try fundraise for yourself to cover your costs. We
would be happy to provide advice on how to fundraise and sources of funding.

-------------------
Youth Advocacy Team
UNOY Peacebuilders
Javastraat 58,
2585 AR, The Hague,
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 703647799
Fax: +31 703622633
advocacy@unoy.org
www.unoy.org
-------------------

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
SPECIAL EDITION: ESCALATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
July 18, 2006

**********

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim-Western relations.
*This service is also available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and French.
*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 an archive of CGNews articles and other information, please visit our website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).

**********

ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. US must act to stop Mideast escalation by James Zogby
James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), recognises the problem of placing blame on multiple parties as events unfold alarmingly in the Middle East. “Pointing fingers in every direction may be a valid exercise, but it accomplishes little. There is clearly enough blame to go around, with reckless provocations abounding.” He also confronts the current stance that the US has taken on the developing crisis, and offers advice for the next course of action.
(Source: The Jordan Times, July 18, 2006)

**********

ARTICLE 1
The real cost of Israel's strategy in Lebanon
Nadim Matta

Stamford, Connecticut - When Hizbollah embarked on its provocative incursion into Israel, most Lebanese (apart from ardent Shiite radicals) saw this incident for what it was: a reckless act aimed at advancing the interests of the Iranian and Syrian regimes, at great risk to both Lebanon and its people.

But the mood in Lebanon has drastically changed over the past few days. Very few now blame Hizbollah, or actively agree with calls for its disarmament (even though the majority of the population supported this goal prior to the recent events). And virtually no one would be pleased if the two Israeli soldiers were surrendered under the threat of Israel’s continuation of its systematic destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure.

Understanding this radical transformation in mind-set can shed some light on the unintended – yet tragically predictable – consequences of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

What has happened in the span of a few days?

In the aftermath of Hizbollah’s attacking and kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers across the border, Israel implemented a “shock and awe” strategy that blasted away every piece of infrastructure that the Lebanese painstakingly built over the past fifteen years. As the long-in-place agreement to restrict activities in Southern Lebanon and Northern Israel to military targets gave way to open warfare, Hizbollah also unleashed its deadly barrages of Katyusha rockets over northern Israel.

In a few infernal days, Israeli planes and warships managed to destroy the fruits of fifteen years of labour of ordinary Lebanese citizens determined to restore the country to a semblance of its pre-war level of development. Significantly, only three Hizbollah fighters were killed in the Israeli raids, while more than two hundred Lebanese civilians, including whole families, perished. It is equally sad that Israeli civilians, however fewer in number these may be, were killed and wounded by Hizbollah rockets.

In what can only be viewed as an insult to the intelligence of informed citizens everywhere, President Bush argued simply that Israel “has the right to defend itself”. Luckily for Mr. Bush, Israel was able to articulate a more plausible explanation for its strategy: it was ensuring that Hizbollah will not smuggle the Israeli soldiers out of Lebanon, and it was cutting off Hizbollah’s arms supply routes.

In reality, this explanation is not borne out by the facts on the ground. For example, Israeli jets bombed the highest bridge in the Middle East – a few miles from my hometown on the main road between Beirut and Damascus – disabling it and rendering it unusable for months to come. Curiously, the Israelis were not satisfied by disabling the bridge. They came back the next day and completely demolished the remainder of the structure – as if to simply add tens of million of dollars to the eventual cost of repair. Israel also bombed power generating plants, cellular telephone towers, gas stations, foodstock warehouses and purely commercial targets. I am not a military expert, but none of these seem like relevant targets if the aim is to block Hizbollah from transporting the Israeli soldiers out of the country or to prevent it from receiving arms from Syria and Iran.

The more plausible rationale for the “shock and awe” operation is to make the situation so painful for Lebanese civilians that they “take responsibility” for the actions of one of their own, the Hizbollah militia. The argument goes as follows: if the cost is made high enough, citizens will pressure their government into doing what it has been struggling to do for months: disarming Hizbollah. This strategy was beginning to work in the first day of the Israeli operation, as voices in the country began to be raised against Hizbollah and its reckless action. But as the intensity and the perniciousness of the Israeli bombing escalated, even the most moderate civilians in Lebanon experienced an emotional transformation into what can be likened to the revulsion of an innocent person being terrorised into submission by a vastly superior power. In an affront to human dignity and disregard for human life, Israel is inflicting severe pain and suffering on a huge number of civilians to incite them to do its bidding.

Hizbollah may be accused of doing the same in Israel (though with a much more limited capacity to inflict pain). But then we would expect a terrorist organisation to commit acts of terrorism. A state committing the same acts, magnified many times over, with the same intentions, must be condemned and ultimately prevented by the world community. Otherwise, we would be sending yet another message to people and nations who feel wronged yet do not have the means to win the fight against their aggressors: your only recourse is to equip yourself with whatever means necessary to deter your aggressors. It would be a return to the law of the jungle that the world can ill afford in this age of nuclear proliferation.

By failing to act on behalf of Lebanon and to call Israel to account for its actions, the US is putting the world at greater risk, and it is setting back by decades the cause of peace in the region.

To understand the sense of injustice that people in Lebanon feel about their situation, consider this analogy: black rights activists, indignant at police brutality towards fellow blacks, kidnap a white police officer and retreat into their black neighbourhood, demanding the release of detained black activists in exchange for the police officer. The state calls in the exclusively white national guardsmen who surround the neighbourhood and start firing mortars into it, destroying businesses and killing whole families. To drive their point home, the national guardsmen cut off the electricity and water supply of the neighbourhood, and announce to the inhabitants that they, the community, will be held responsible for the actions of their radical fringes, and will continue to be pounded by heavy artillery until they rise up against the activists among them. Would blacks in the neighbourhood rise against their reckless brothers, or would this response by state authorities take their fury towards their white neighbours to new and irreversibly hostile levels?

To put things in perspective, Lebanese civilians are experiencing the same type of revulsion towards Israel that American citizens felt towards Osama Bin Laden and al Qaeda after September 11. But blame is also directed at the U.S. government for its political and moral support of Israel in this affair. And I am not talking here about Lebanese Shiite fanatics. I am talking about Jane and John Doe of Lebanon: your average Sunni, Christian, Shiite and Druze who may otherwise hold living in the US as their greatest aspiration.

The Lebanese are feeling tremendous indignation at the injustice they are facing. Let us not allow this indignation to fester and turn into new seeds of hatred. The US had best seize the moment, quickly and decisively, to demonstrate that it understands that there is no lasting peace for Israel or Lebanon without some measure of justice and dignity for all parties involved.

###
* Nadim Matta is a management consultant and US citizen of Lebanese origin. During the civil war in Lebanon, he worked for USAID and for Save the Children Federation in Beirut. He can be reached at nadim@rhsa.com. Thisarticle is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), July 18, 2006)
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 2
How to see the common ground while bombs are landing around you
Juliette Schmidt

Beirut, Lebanon - As a Canadian, I have so far been spared the stress, anxiety and heartbreak of living through a violent conflict that is the centre of the world’s attention. Yet here I find myself, just north of Beirut, sitting in a glassed-in balcony overlooking the American Embassy and the Mediterranean, 9 of us plus a dog in a 3-bedroom apartment. For the last 7 days we have been listening with heavy hearts to explosions throughout a country that is as beautiful as it is resilient, full of friends and stories.

Clearly, Hizbollah crossed a not-so-imaginary line when they kidnapped 2 Israeli soldiers from the wrong side of Lebanon’s southern border and, as Israel retaliated, followed with rocket attacks on increasingly-civilian targets in northern Israel. Clearly, Israel has been raining bombs on strategic targets in Lebanon causing great damage to infrastructure throughout the country at the cost of many civilian lives. The political commentators calmly discuss events day and night and consider greater implications and root causes.

Watching these discussions, it is hard to see any space for a resolution that will be satisfactory to both parties. In fact, it is hard to see any opportunity for a resolution at all. Sitting here in the heat and humidity of a Lebanese summer with the sporadic relief of air conditioning when the electricity comes on, I imagine those in the bomb shelters in northern Israel must not feel very different.

Empathizing with our neighbours to the south is not so popular up here, but it seems that we have a few things in common at the moment. Not only are there mounting civilian deaths in each country, but individuals are tense and hot, waiting and watching, on both sides of the border. In addition, my limited experience living in a country being bombarded by another is that having bombs dropped on you doesn’t quite generate goodwill for the perpetrator.

As a result, military bombardment is only a short-term distraction from a more complicated problem. It has disastrous side effects not only for those involved, but for anyone with an interest in the Middle East. These days, this “anyone” is generally a good proportion of the world population -- it is East and West alike. This is obvious from the amount of press coverage and international attention that has been given to this situation. The international community, or more accurately American and European governments and the UN Security Council, are going to play a significant role in the outcome of this conflict.

And here we come to the most pressing question: what is the most effective role for this larger Western contingent? First of all, the international community needs to call for a ceasefire immediately and empower the Lebanese government to deploy the Lebanese army in the south to deal with the situation internally as they have indicated they are prepared to do. By refusing to pressure both sides of the conflict to stop, they are indirectly sanctioning the continuing volley of missiles from both parties and perpetuating anger and hatred that will linger long after the explosions stop.

Second, longer term solutions need to be considered. This most recent flare-up is not an isolated problem. In the aftermath of the Israeli incursion, the Lebanese will not only have to rebuild, they will have to continue their national dialogue around this event and all its implications sitting squarely on the table. Meanwhile, Israelis will still find themselves living between two angry populations. The international community needs to publicly support opportunities for dialogue and facilitate it when necessary.

Third, the human element must be addressed. There are people on each side of the conflict, people who can influence the actions of their governments and local leaders. At the moment there is very limited interaction between Lebanese and Israelis. It is unreasonable to believe that this will change instantly with the cessation of violence, however human stories need to get out and in forums where Lebanese and Israelis are able to come together – in online chat rooms, in comment sections of regional newspapers, and in the diaspora – interaction must be encouraged and enabled. International media and high-level spokespeople can be powerful vehicles to get diverse stories and opinions on both sides into the spotlight in a non-inflammatory way, beginning a process that can lead to greater communication between groups.

As I sit here in front of a stunning sunset signalling the end of yet another day and the beginning of another night, I listen in the dark for the sound of explosions. We hope this will be the last such night. These neighbours will still have to live beside each other tomorrow.

###
* Juliette Schmidt is a Canadian citizen working in Beirut for Search for Common Ground. She is Assistant Director of the Partners in Humanity programme. This article is distributed by the Common Ground NewsService (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), July 18, 2006)
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 3
Time for America to put its diplomatic muscle where its mouth is
Daily Star Editorial

Beirut, Lebanon - This week has given a sense of just how quickly things can change in the Middle East. In a matter of hours, a relatively confined conflict in the Gaza Strip erupted into a two-front war, posing a dangerous threat of even wider escalation. But perhaps the most startling development of late is that the United States is at least publicly trying to take a relatively balanced approach to the conflict unfolding in Lebanon.

Expressing concern for Lebanon's "fragile democracy," US President George W. Bush urged the Israelis to show restraint during their siege, stressing that precautions should be taken so as not to weaken the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Likewise, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also urged Israel to show concern for the democratically elected government of Lebanon, as well as infrastructure and innocent civilians.

It is the least that they can do, considering the suffering that we Lebanese have endured as a result of US policies. For 15 years, we were trampled under the weight of Syrian oppression, via an occupation that had been approved by Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, in exchange for Damascus' cooperation in the 1991 war in Iraq. We were emboldened by the younger Bush's decision to terminate America's policy of sanctioning Syrian hegemony over Lebanon. We took to the streets, demanding Syria's withdrawal and the return of democracy to our country.

From that point forward, we became a focal point in Bush's democracy scorecard, as he proudly boasted that his policies had helped achieve democratic advancements around the region. Lebanon was held up as a shining example of the fact that the people of the region have a real desire to live in free and democratic states. And we trusted Bush when he promised that he would do everything to protect and advance our aspirations.

But now, our fledgling independence is under fire. Only a little over a year since we started making our own decisions and trying to forge a sense of national unity, we have been hit with a crisis of unexpected proportions. Our fledgling government, which like any 1-year-old is still struggling to stay on its feet, is under fire. Our civilians, who had no part in the decision to abduct Israeli soldiers, are being killed. Our infrastructure, which has only recently been built, is being destroyed.

Yet even now, as Israel is laying waste to our country with guns and missiles paid for with US tax dollars, and as American-made bombs are raining down on our cities, we are still clinging to the same values and ideals that the Bush administration has promoted: we want life, liberty and happiness; we want democracy, sovereignty, freedom and independence.

No one is calling for the return of Syrian occupation, even though one could argue that Syria's presence served as a deterrent to this kind of Israeli onslaught. No one is asking whether the US government only asked the Syrians to step out only so that the Israelis could step in to replace them. We are holding out hope that the Americans will be faithful to the values that they have championed and protect us from further harm.

The Americans now need to choose sides, not between warring parties, but between right and wrong. They must now demonstrate their commitment to freedom, human rights and international law and speak out loudly and firmly against the killing of civilians, the destruction of infrastructure and the brutal collective punishment that all of us are now enduring.

###
* This editorial was produced by the Daily Star. This article was distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: The Daily Star, July 15, 2006.
Visit the Daily Star, www.dailystar.com.lb (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 4
Israel can win all the wars, but that doesn't settle anything
Gwynne Dyer

London - “The objective of the operation is clear to no one — not the government, not the prime minister, not the Israel Defence Force with all its commanders,” wrote journalist Hagay Huberman on Thursday in the conservative Israeli newspaper Hatzofe. “No one tried to think 20 steps ahead. When an operation is called a ‘rolling operation’ they mean that the operation continues to roll independently and then we will all see where it leads.”

In just a few days, the situation has spun completely out of control. Beirut airport’s runways have been cratered by Israeli fighters, rockets have landed on Haifa, Israel’s third-biggest city, and the Israeli Army has crossed into southern Lebanon. Israeli troops were there for eighteen years after Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, and they took hundreds of casualties and killed several thousand people before they finally withdrew. Now they’re back, for God knows how long.

Less than a year ago, the IDF also pulled out of the Gaza Strip. They’re back there now, too, blasting away at houses and government offices and police stations, not because they really think that that will help them find their kidnapped soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, but because they cannot think of anything else to do. The whole game plan has unravelled, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has run out of strategies. He is just responding by reflex — and the habitual Israeli reflex, when confronted with a serious challenge, is to lash out with overwhelming force.

That’s understandable, because Israel’s great asset is exactly that: overwhelming force.

Its armed forces are incomparably superior to those of all its neighbours combined, both because it has state-of-the-art technology and because it simply outnumbers all the other armies it faces.

Only Israel in the region is rich and well organized enough to mobilize its entire population for war, with the result that it has actually had numerical superiority at the front in every war it has fought since 1948. When you have that kind of advantage, it seems foolish not to use it.

Except that winning all the wars and killing tens of thousands of Arabs never seems to settle anything. There are only six million Israelis, and about a hundred million Arabs live within 500 miles (750 km) of Israel. Sooner or later, if Israel is to have a long-term future, it must make peace with its neighbours — and that depends critically on making peace with the Palestinians, the main victims of the creation of Israel.

That is not impossible, for the Palestinians are pretty desperate after almost forty years of Israeli military occupation. Most of them are willing to settle for a pretty meager share of what used to be Palestine — say, the twenty percent that they retained until Israel conquered them in 1967. But that has never been on offer.

The so-called “peace process” has been paralysed for fifteen years by bitter Israeli arguments over whether the Palestinians should be allowed to have fifteen percent of former Palestine for their state, or ten percent, or none at all. Almost nobody in the Israeli debate was willing to let the Palestinians have everything they had controlled in 1967, because that would mean abandoning the Jewish settlements that had been planted all over the occupied territories.

Ehud Olmert’s goal, inherited from former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, has been to impose a peace settlement on the Palestinians that leaves East Jerusalem and all the main Jewish settlement blocks in the West Bank in Israeli hands. “Impose” rather than negotiate, since no Palestinian would ever agree to such a deal, but Israel could only justify such an arbitrary act if it could plausibly claim that there were no reasonable Palestinians to negotiate with.

The Palestinians’ election of a Hamas government that rejected any kind of peace with Israel helped Olmert to make that case. The killing of two Israeli soldiers and the abduction of Cpl. Shalit by Hamas’s military wing three weeks ago should have reinforced that case, and initially it did. But then the temptation of overwhelming force kicked in.

Since Shalit was taken prisoner, increasingly indiscriminate Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip have killed close to a hundred Palestinians. Arabs elsewhere watched in helpless rage, and eventually, last Wednesday, the Hezbollah guerrillas who drove the Israelis out of southern Lebanon six years ago struck across Israel’s northern border, killing three Israeli soldiers and taking two others hostage.

Everyone knows that the Lebanese government does not control Hezbollah, but Israel held Beirut responsible, rolled its tanks across the border, and launched a wave of air strikes that has already killed over fifty Lebanese. That won’t free the hostages, and it poses the risk of a wider war that could involve not only Lebanon but also Syria, but at least it protects Olmert from the accusation of being “weak”, always the kiss of death for an Israeli politician.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are adept at pushing Israel’s buttons and getting it to overreact (even if that does involve Israel destroying what little infrastructure there was in the Gaza Strip, and destroying Lebanon’s infrastructure all over again). The dwarf superpower of the Middle East is good at smashing things up, and so long as the real superpower behind it does not intervene, nobody else can stop it. But nobody in this game has a coherent strategy for getting out of it.

###
* Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. This article was distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Arab News, July 16, 2006
Visit the website at www.arabnews.com (http://www.arabnews.com/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 5
US must act to stop Mideast escalation
James Zogby

Amman, Jordan - Escalating violence and expanding conflict in the Middle East threaten to spin out of control into the broader region. It is a worrisome situation fraught with grave danger, a clear example of competing and unchecked pathologies.

While Europe expresses concern and the UN sends a delegation to mediate, the US, the only country that can provide needed restraint, has so far appeared to abdicate its leadership role.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has unconvincingly urged restraint, but does little to back up that call. Meanwhile, President George Bush has sounded more like Israel’s coat holder and cheerleader, alternately pointing fingers at Hamas, Hizbollah, Syria and Iran, appearing to give Israel carte blanche to “defend” itself. Thus, the damage done by Israel’s asymmetric power edge has been amplified by our own asymmetries of compassion and pressure - Israel gets the compassion, while pressure is reserved for the Arabs.

Pointing fingers in every direction may be a valid exercise, but it accomplishes little. There is clearly enough blame to go around, with reckless provocations abounding. The capture of Israeli soldiers by a Palestinian extremist group and Hizbollah has served only to aggravate an already volatile situation, providing Israel with the pretext to justify its now three-week-old destructive campaign in Gaza and its massive devastation of Lebanon’s infrastructure.

Self-defence is one thing, but collective punishment is quite another matter.

Urging restraint and support for moderates, while doing nothing to accomplish either objective, only results in no restraint and a weakening of those for whom we have declared support.

Some cynics believe that the US and Israel really have no intention of stopping, thinking that these campaigns will end terror, once and for all, and defeat Hamas, Hizbollah, et al.

One would hope, however, that Israel had learned a lesson or two from its many brutal campaigns in Lebanon or its three-decade-long effort to suppress Palestinian resistance to occupation. Or that the US might have been cured of its similar delusion by the chaos and violent insurgency spawned by its Iraq debacle.

Equally dismaying are the fanciful notions that exist among some on the Arab side who celebrate as bold and heroic the exploits of the bombers and kidnappers whose only accomplishments have been to provoke devastating attacks and deadly repression.

As past cycles of violence should have taught us, when the dust settles, and the blood and tears have dried, all that is left is sorrow over the loss of those we loved, destruction that must be tackled, and anger, hatred and extremism.

This round of violence, however, if left unchecked, can become more dangerous than past cycles, because the regional setting is so much more volatile.

Iraq is in a fragile state, on the verge of civil war, and Iran has been emboldened and empowered by US miscalculations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, deep fissures that plague the Lebanese polity remain a concern, as should a profoundly enflamed Arab public opinion that can become a destabilising factor throughout the region.

What can be done?

The Bush administration now showing some signs of being chastened by its international isolation needs to shake off the last vestiges of its neoconservative thinking -- “creative chaos” which it once believed would usher in democracy but has instead brought only anarchy. And the fanciful notion that overwhelming violence would defeat all enemies and be a transformative force has, instead, only yielded more violence and anger in its wake.

Clearly a new direction is required.

What is urgently needed is the appointment of an empowered envoy dispatched to the region to make and enforce calls for restraint. The prerequisite to strengthening forces of modernisation and democracy in Lebanon and Palestine is to stop the Israeli assault and to work with moderate leaderships, empowering them to meet their peoples’ needs.

Massive amounts of aid will be required for Palestine and immediate reconstruction is now needed in Lebanon. Negotiations, like those that were nearing completion among Palestinian leaders before the capture of Shalit, need to be restarted. It is important to note that since the June 25 capture was designed to abort those talks, Israel’s response in Gaza, in fact, only served to reward this ploy. Similarly, Israel’s systematic destruction in Lebanon has only served to deepen divisions in the country and weaken efforts at national reconciliation, thereby rewarding the actions of the provocateurs.

To undo the political, human and economic damage created by the past three weeks will entail heavy lifting. To strengthen the moderate majority, while isolating the extremist tendencies, will require both finesse and incentives. All will necessitate a skilled and engaged mediator and US leadership.

The sooner we act, the better. If the current situation is left unchecked, and if, God forbid, Israel draws Iran and Syria into the fray, the consequences will be with us for a long time.

###
* James J. Zogby is founder and president of the Arab American Institute. Thisarticle was distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: The Jordan Times, July 18, 2006
Visit the website at www.jordantimes.com (http://www.jordantimes.com/)
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, 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.

Common Ground News Service
1601 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite #200
Washington, DC 20009 USA
Ph: +1(202) 265-4300
Fax: +1(202) 232-6718

Rue Belliard 205 bte 13
B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
Ph: +32 (02) 736-7262
Fax: +32(02) 732-3033
E-mail: cgnewspih@sfcg.org
Website: http://www.commongroundnews.org

Editors

Emad Khalil (Amman)
Juliette Schmidt (Beirut)
Chris Binkley (Dakar)
Medhy Hidayat (Jakarta)
Elyte Baykun (Washington)
Leena El-Ali (Washington)
Emmanuelle Hazan (Washington)

**********

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an email to cgnewspih@sfcg.org with “subscribe” or “unsubscribe” in the subject line, indicating your language of choice among English, French, Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia.

Hamburg, 17 July 2006

TRAUMA –STIGMA AND DISTINCTION
Social Ambivalences in the Face of Extreme Suffering
14-17 September 2006, Hotel Laudinella in St. Moritz/Switzerland

Full details on the program and how to register for the latest conference can be found on www.traumaresearch.net.

Limited places are available and any colleague wishing to attend is urged to contact me as soon as possible and no later than 25 August.

With best wishes,
Cornelia Berens

Trauma Research Net (International Network for Interdisciplinary Research about the Impact of Traumatic Experience on the Life of Individuals and Society)
Hamburg Institute for Social Research
Mittelweg 36, D-20148 Hamburg
Tel. (+49 40) 41 40 97 - 38, Fax. - 11
URL http://www.traumaresearch.net
URL http://www.his-online.de
Email Cornelia.Berens @ his-online.de

Dear all,

The Journal for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict is looking for persons interested in writing book reviews. Book reviews must be about 5 pages long (Courier New, 1,5 space, 12 font). The deadline is 8 January 2007.
- Chandler: From Kosovo to Kabul and Beyond
- MacQueen: Peacekeeping and the International System
- Alvarez: International Organizations as Law-Makers
- Caplan: International Governance of War-Torn Territories
- Clapham: Human Righs Obligations of Non-State Actors
- Trechsel: Human Rights in Criminal Proceedings

We are also looking for reviewers of the books published in our series on international law. The reviews will be published in various German and Austrian journals. We would need:
- two reviews in German "Peterke, Der völkerrechtliche Sonderstatus der Internationalen Föderation der Rotkreuz- und Rothalbmondgesellschaften"
- two reviews in English "Fischer/Quénivet, Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Nation- and/or State Building"
- one review in English "Buchwald, Der Fall Tadic vor dem Internationalen Jugoslawientribunal im Lichte der Entscheidung der Berufungskammer vom 2. Oktober 1995"
- one review in English "Dijkzeul, Between Force and Mercy: Military Action and Humanitarian Aid"
- one review in German "Fischer/Quénivet, Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Nation- and/or State Building"

Best regards
Noelle Quénivet

-----------------------------------------------
Noelle Quénivet (LL.M., Ph.D.)
Researcher
Institute for International Law
of Peace and Armed Conflict
Ruhr-University Bochum
44780 Bochum
GERMANY

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

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

CONTENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

1. Russian Civil Society Gathers in Moscow in Advance of G8 Summit
On July 11-12, 2006, hundreds of representatives of Russian civil society, including nongovernmental organizations, political parties, public associations, independent trade unions, environmental groups, youth organizations, and others from every region of the country, gathered in Moscow for a conference, entitled "The Other Russia." The conference was held in advance of the G8 summit that is scheduled to take place on July 15-17, 2006, in St. Petersburg, Russia, and aimed to bring international attention to the growing threats to democratic liberties and human rights in Russia. Foreign guests, including representatives of G7 nations, attended the conference. In support and solidarity with Russian civil society, the Project on Transitional Democracies released an open letter, which was read to the participants in "The Other Russia" meeting in Moscow. The letter, signed by 100 policy makers, opinion leaders, intellectuals, and Nobel Laureates from Europe and the United States, stated that Russia should be required to meet "standards of justice, freedom and of internationally acceptable diplomacy if it wishes to remain a member of the G8 and of the community of democratic nations," and called on the G7 leaders to "raise these issues directly with President Putin this weekend in St. Petersburg."
In a closing statement, participants in "The Other Russia" conference declared: "We aim to restore civil control of power in Russia, a control that is guaranteed in the Russian Constitution that is so frequently and unambiguously violated today. This aim requires a return to the principles of federalism and the separation of powers. It calls for the restoration of the social function of the state with regional self-administration and the independence of the media. The judicial system must protect every citizen equally, especially from the dangerous impulses of the representatives of power. It is our duty to free the country from outbreaks of prejudice, racism, and xenophobia and from the looting of our national riches by government officials."
Go to: http://www.theotherrussia.ru/eng/
To read the letter from the open letter released by the Project on Transitional Justice, go to: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060711/dctu034.html?.v=53

2. The Atlas Economic Research Foundation Seeks Nominations for the Freda Utley Prize for Advancing Liberty
The Atlas Economic Research Foundation seeks nominations for the Freda Utley Prize for Advancing Liberty to acknowledge the efforts of think tanks in disseminating the ideals of freedom in areas of the world where freedom is suppressed. The annual prize will award $10,000 to an organization that has reached a broad audience or has achieved a substantial impact on opinion makers in expounding the concepts of freedom and liberty. Organizations located in countries where these ideals are not universal are especially encouraged to apply. Deadline for application is August 31, 2006. The winner will be announced at the Atlas annual Freedom Dinner in November 2006.
Go to: www.atlasusa.org/

3. Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships Program Calls for Applicants
The Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships (AFPF) Program invites journalists from developing countries to apply for the 2007 fellowship program running from mid-March to September 2007. The Program brings 10 print journalists to the United States for an in-depth, practical introduction to the professional and ethical standards of the American print media. Journalists selected will be placed with a host paper and are usually assigned to the city desk to cover local news and features. Fellows must have an excellent command of written and spoken English, at least three years of professional experience as a print journalist, and demonstrate a personal commitment to a career in journalism in their own country. They must be currently employed as print journalists, preferably with an independent news organization in a developing or transitional country. Individuals with U.S. citizenship are not eligible for the program. The deadline for applications is September 1, 2006.
For application information, go to: http://www.pressfellowships.org/overview.html#criteria

CIVIL SOCIETY STRENGTHENING

4. Increasing Civil Society's Role in the Legislation Process in Oyo State, Nigeria
On June 26, the Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG) in Nigeria held its third workshop in a series that aims to facilitate mechanisms for increasing interaction between legislators and civil society in the law-making process. The workshop, held in Oyo State, was attended by all legislators from the Oyo North Senatorial District of the state, members of various community development committees, and some community-based and faith-based organizations within the district. All the participants agreed that CCG should play a role in facilitating cooperation among the members of the State House of Assembly.
For more information, contact: david_ajetunmobi@yahoo.com

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

5. Iraq Memory Foundation Launches English Language Newsletter
In June 2006, the Iraq Memory Foundation, located in Baghdad, launched its first issue of the English language newsletter, "Memory." The newsletter provides highlights of the Foundation's projects, including the Documentation Project and the Oral History on Film Project. As part of its Documentation Project, the Memory Foundation is preserving, digitizing, classifying, and beginning to analyze more than 11 million pages of records that demonstrate the inner workings of Ba'thist institutions of repression and social control that dominated all aspects of Iraqi life between 1968 and 2003. As part of its Oral History Project, the Foundation is videotaping testimonials by Iraqi men and women of different ethnic, religious, and class backgrounds, all of whom suffered from the regime. As part of a monthly feature that introduces members of the Memory Foundation, the June issue features a short piece on Mustafa Al-Kadhimiy, Director of the Oral History Project. The newsletter also provides information on events hosted or organized by the Memory Foundation.
Go to: www.iraqmemory.org

6. Conciliation Resources Releases 2005 Annual Report
Conciliation Resources (CR) has recently released its 2005 annual report. The report highlights CR's projects in various parts of the world. For example, in Georgia and Abkhazia, CR continued their work with youth and teachers to encourage debate and action on social and political issues. With CR support, youth groups explored their role in transforming Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. In Sierra Leone, CR organized exchange visits and conflict resolution workshops for local volunteers, women peace monitors, and traditional leaders (chiefs). In Colombia and the Philippines, CR worked to promote learning from the experiences of armed groups' engagement in peace processes.
For more information, go to: http://www.c-r.org/pubs/annreps/annreps.shtml

7. Darfur Consortium Sends Two Messages to African Union
On June 16-17, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) held a Justice and Peace in Darfur workshop in Casablanca, Morocco, in cooperation with the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights, the Center for Studies on Human Rights and Democracy in Morocco, and the Darfur Consortium. Based on the recommendations of the workshop, the Darfur Consortium sent messages to the chairman of the African Union Commission, Mr. Alfa Omer Konare, and to other heads of state who are members of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union. In these messages, the Darfur Consortium called for extending the AU's jurisdiction in the Darfur region at this critical time. The Darfur Consortium also called upon the African Summit, which took place on July 1-2 in Gambia, to condemn the continued violation of human rights in Darfur and to take action to end this conflict. Additionally, the Consortium urged the African Summit to take measures to end security tensions on the Chad-Sudan borders. It appealed to the governments of the two states to cease armed escalation, refrain from terrorizing citizens, and urged them to provide protection for refugees and respect the Tripoli Agreement. The Darfur Consortium is a coalition of over 30 Africa-based and Africa-focused NGOs that promotes a just, peaceful, and sustainable end to the ongoing crisis in Darfur.
For more information on the Darfur Consortium, go to: http://www.darfurconsortium.org/

ECONOMIC REFORM AND THE BUSINESS SECTOR

8. CIPE Roundtable on Building Good Corporate Governance in Middle East and North Africa
On July 6, Dr. Nasser Saidi, Executive Director of the Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance and Special Advisor to the United Arab Emirates' Minister of State for Finance and Industry, spoke about efforts to build corporate governance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at a roundtable sponsored by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). Dr. Saidi gave a brief overview of the economic conditions in the region, highlighting the importance of good governance. He also described the work of the newly formed Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance. A video of the presentation and power point notes are available on the CIPE Web site.
Go to: http://www.cipe.org/whats_new/events/webevents/070606.htm

ELECTIONS

9. "Democracy Dialogues" Launches Free and Fair Elections Site
As part of its online "Democracy Dialogues" initiative, the U.S. Department of State has just introduced a new section on free and fair elections. The Web site provides materials on the subject, including background essays, documents, teaching resources, discussion questions, bibliographies, and links to various organizations working for elections. In addition to English, core Web site materials are or will soon be available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Persian, Russian and Spanish. Along with this new feature, over the next several weeks the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) will be sponsoring a series of public Web-chats addressing issues related to free and fair elections, including chats on voter education; youth voting; election commissions and election monitoring; and the media and elections.
For information about this series and how to register, go to: http://www.democracy.gov/dd/eng_democracy_dialogues/elections.html
To give feedback, please contact Peter M. Benda at BendaPM@state.gov.

10. Arab Elections Network Launches First Seminar on Election Systems
The newly established Arab Elections Network in cooperation with the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS) and the International Center of Baghdad University recently organized a seminar on Election Systems. The seminar was attended by 50 researchers from 11 Arab countries and discussed papers on different models of elections systems in countries such as Germany, India, South Africa, Algeria, and the United States. The recently established Arab Elections Network has 40 participants from 12 Arab countries.
Go to: http://www.achrs.org/english/CenterNewsView.asp?CNID=196

HUMAN RIGHTS

11. South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre Issues New Feature on Burma
The South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre has issued a new Human Rights Feature (HRF) urging the international community to take a far more stringent stance on Burma. The HRF concludes that the most effective strategy in dealing with the military government would be a UN Security Council Resolution that would create a comprehensive strategy directed at Burma's compliance with international human rights standards. The HRF condemns the current military junta as a threat to international peace and security and a blow to the country's prospects for democracy. The HRF urges the newly created Human Rights Council to refer a resolution on Burma to the Security Council. The HRF also urges the Permanent Members of the Security Council and others to set aside political and economic alliances when dealing with the Burmese regime. HRFs are a bi-monthly feature of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center.
Go to: http://www.hrdc.net/sahrdc/hrfeatures.htm

12. AHRC Launches New Urgent Appeal Online Support System
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a Hong Kong-based organization monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia, recently launched new urgent appeal online support system to supplement its existing Urgent Appeals Program. The new online support system will allow subscribers to automatically generate email appeals. All messages from the AHRC will contain a hyperlink that will lead the supporter to the AHRC Web site containing the draft letter of appeal in an online format.
For further inquiries regarding the system, contact the AHRC Urgent Appeals Desk at ua@ahrchk.org
Go to: www.ahrchk.net/index.php

13. OAS Seeks Suggestions and Comments on Draft Inter-American Convention against Racism, Discrimination, and Intolerance
The Organization of American States (OAS) has opened a Web page for suggestions and comments on the drafting of a future Inter-American Convention against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance. It is intended to encourage nongovernmental organizations, research institutes, universities, and other sectors of civil society to participate in preparing the new Convention. The new Web page will receive opinions, queries, and comments of civil society through July 31, 2006. The final text of the Inter-American Convention against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance will be adopted by representatives of the 34 OAS member states at a session of the General Assembly.
Go to: www.oas.org/racismo/Racism2006_eng.asp

INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE AND SOLIDARITY

14. Publication on Strategies for Democratic Change: Assessing the Global Response
The Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior (FRIDE) and the Democracy Coalition Project (DCP) have published a book, entitled STRATEGIES FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE: ASSESSING THE GLOBAL RESPONSE, which examines how the international community has responded to recent threats to democracy in seven countries. The book provides an in-depth analysis of how EU states, the United States, and other international actors can better fulfill their commitments to support democracy by coordinating common strategies. It examines what the international community has done recently to advocate democratic transition and consolidation in Burma, Togo, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. It raises such questions as: What strategies of democracy promotion have been favored? How different have been the approaches adopted by the various members of the Community of Democracies? In which circumstances has the international community found it easiest to influence democratic development, and in which has it most struggled to gain traction? The report offers recommendations on how international communities can better address current challenges to fragile democratic transitions.
Go to: www.demcoalition.org/2005_html/activ_publi.html

INTERNET, MEDIA, AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

15. Mizzima.tv Launches Story Dedicated to Burma's Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Mizzima News has announced its launch of Mizzima.tv, a Web site with footage, documentaries and new programs on Burma-related issues with a story in honor of Burma's democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Mizzima is dedicated to providing ongoing news on Burma. Mizzima.tv has been designed to give access to on-the-ground coverage of important issues facing Burmese people inside and outside of the country through multimedia videos. Mizzima.tv is best viewed in Quicktime 7 (free download available at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/standalone.html).
Go to: http://www.mizzima.tv/
Mizzima.tv is best viewed in Quicktime 7 (free download available at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/standalone.html).

POLITICAL AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION OF YOUTH

16. Committee for the Protection of People's Dignity in Nigeria Launches Youth Democracy Camp.
The Committee for the Protection of People's Dignity (COPPED) has recently established a youth democracy summer camp. The camp runs for three days and provides an environment for the youth of Nigeria to come together to discuss democratic solutions to their country's problems. Campers are introduced to democratic techniques through open ballot elections of camp council positions, open discussions, and the formation of a "Youth Parliament." The Parliament members elect their leaders and discuss issues affecting Nigerian society, such as poverty and the Niger Delta crises. The youth debate each issue, formulate recommendations, and pass bills through the 'National Assembly.' COPPED runs four camps a year: two National Camps with 40 participants attending each session, and two Mini Regional Camps for at least 20 participants each.
To read about a participant's experience go to: http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/content/view/3335/55/
For more information on the Camp or COPPED contact: copped123@yahoo.com

17. Center for Development and Population Activities Coordinates Youth Civic Participation Camps
The Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) is starting a new project focused on enabling young people's civic participation in Egypt. CEDPA will collaborate with Egypt's National Council for Youth to encourage young people's participation in their communities and promote youth engagement in Egypt's policy process. The project's goal is to reach 1200 young people, aged 20-24, through week-long leadership camps. The camps will educate participants in political and economic issues affecting their country and engage the young women and men in individual and group activities to develop national and local youth networks.
Go to: http://www.cedpa.org/content/news/detail/893

POLITICAL PARTIES AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

18. Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy Launches Indonesian Translation of Development Handbook
On June 21, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (IMD) launched an Indonesian translation of the IMD's Institutional Development Handbook. The book, A FRAMEWORK FOR DEMOCRATIC PARTY BUILDING, contains the basic principles of institution building for political parties and the main methods for party creation. The book launch in Jakarta was hosted by the Indonesian Community for Democracy (KID), which is the Indonesian partner of IMD, and works to promote multiparty democracy through civic training and democratic education in the region.
Go to: http://www.nimd.org/default.aspx?type=newsitem&contentid=319

19. Dutch and Georgian Groups Work to Strengthen Georgian Political Parties
The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy and its Georgian partner, the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD), have launched a project to aid Georgian political parties strengthen their internal organization and inter-party ties. The main objective of the project is to strengthen democratic practices within Georgian parties and improve the administrative and programmatic capacities of party cadres. The project aims to establish a Multiparty Center in Tbilisi, which would host public debates and offer research materials that would be available for viewing by all political parties, academics, journalists, professionals, and interested citizens.
Go to: http://www.nimd.org/default.aspx?menuid=14&type=newsitem&contentid=321&special

TRANSPARENCY AND ANTI-CORRUPTION

20. Center for Peace and Development Initiatives in Pakistan calls for Governmental Transparency
On July 7, the Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) in Pakistan issued a press release appealing for the end of corruption and calling for governmental transparency. In particular, they appeal to the Standing Committees on Education to lead the government in ensuring compliance with international standards of good parliamentary governance. CPDI states that performance of most parliamentary committees has so far been highly questionable because of their closed-door meetings, and the lack of access to information and transparency in relation to their proceedings. CPDI suggests that access to information and transparency in the proceedings of education committees can significantly improve their credibility and effectiveness, and would positively contribute to the efforts to achieve good governance and democratic development.
Go to: http://www.cpdi-pakistan.org/

21. Corruption Fighters' Tool Kits from Transparency International
Transparency International has been compiling Corruption Fighters' Tool Kits. These reports are compilations of practical civil society anti-corruption experiences. They present innovative anti-corruption tools developed and implemented by TI National Chapters and other civil society organizations from around the world. Publications highlight the potential of civil society to create mechanisms for monitoring public institutions and for promoting accountable and responsive public administration. The Corruption Fighter's Tool Kits, and the new Special Edition: Teaching Integrity to Youth, offer the reader a dynamic collection of transparency tools. Presently, the Corruption Fighters' Tool Kit includes 46 tools from around the world, including: how TI Bangladesh uses theatre as a means to raise awareness about corruption and how TI Peru is testing the new Peruvian access to information law, among many other tools created by civil society organizations. The Special Edition 2004: Teaching Integrity to Youth includes additional tools of youth anti-corruption education.
Go to: http://www.transparency.org/tools/e_toolkit

WOMEN'S ISSUES

22. International Crisis Group Issues Report on Women's Roles in Peace Building in Africa
The International Crisis Group has issued a new report on Women's Peace Building in Sudan, the Congo, and Uganda. The report suggests that peace agreements, post-conflict reconstruction, and governance do better when women are involved. It claims women make a difference, in part because they adopt a more inclusive approach toward security and address key social and economic issues that would otherwise be ignored. However, in all three countries, women remain marginalized in formal processes and under-represented in the security sector as a whole. The report concludes that governments and the international community must do much more to support female peace activists.
The report includes recommendations on women's empowerment in peace building processes specifically for the governments of Sudan, the Congo, and Uganda. The report also has general recommendations to these governments and the international community regarding women's roles in various issues, including the security sector and judicial reform; reproductive health; and regional and cross border security.
Go to: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4185

23. New Manual: Documenting Women's Rights Violations by Non-State Actors
The Canadian Rights and Democracy, part of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, has released a new publication, entitled Documenting Women's Rights Violations by Non-State Actors. This manual, specifically addressed to groups and individuals not well versed in legal matters, provides tools to human rights activists and defenders who investigate violence perpetrated against women by non-state actors. The manual offers guidance with regard to the legal definitions and human rights protection mechanisms that may help activists compel states to fulfill their obligation to protect human rights. It presents concrete examples of particular forms of violence committed against women by non-state actors and models of strategies that have been used effectively.
For the manual, go to: http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/_PDF/publications/women/Non-State.pdf
For information on Rights and Democracy, go to: http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/home/index.php?lang=en

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

* Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS) - www.achrs.org
* Arab Elections Network
* Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) - www.ahrchk.net
* Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) - www.cihrs.org
* Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) - www.cipdd.org/en/index.shtml
* Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) - www.cipe.org
* Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) - www.cpdi-pakistan.org
* Democracy Coalition Project (DCP) - http://demcoalition.org/html/home.html
* International Crisis Group - www.crisisgroup.org
* Mizzima News - www.mizzima.com
* Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (IMD - http://www.nimd.org
* South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre - www.hri.ca/partners/sahrdc/
* Transparency International - www.transparency.org

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

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

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

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

AfricAvenir und Exchange & Dialogue laden vom 11. bis 24. November 2006 zu einer Bildungs- und Begegnungsreise zum Thema “Spiritualität und Heilung in Afrika”. Die Reise bietet die Möglichkeit des Dialogs über die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Spiritualität, Krankheit und Heilung sowohl in Afrika als auch in Europa.

Spiritualität und Heilung in Afrika - Eine Bildungs- und Begegnungsreise nach Kamerun - Vom 11. bis 24. November 2006

Krankheit und Heilung gehören zu den zentralen Fragen der Menschheit. Nach dem Schock der Kulturen während der Kolonisierung und der vorübergehenden Vormachtstellung der “westlichen Medizin” im post-kolonialen Afrika hat die Realität wieder die Oberhand gewonnen. Es zeigt sich, dass die traditionelle afrikanische Medizin mit ihrer spirituellen Kraft und Dichte bereits die Grenzen des afrikanischen Kontinents überschritten hat. Diese Reise bietet die Möglichkeit des Dialogs über die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Spiritualität, Krankheit und Heilung sowohl in Afrika als auch in Europa. Afrikanische und europäische Mediziner, Therapeuten, traditionelle Heiler, Vertreter der Kirchen, Geschäftsleute, Hüter afrikanischer Traditionen und europäische spirituelle Heiler treffen sich, um voneinander zu lernen und ihre jeweiligen Heilungsmethoden zu verbessern. Die kulturelle Vielfalt Kameruns dient hier als Ort der Begegnung. http://africavenir.com/news/2006/04/396

Programm [pdf]: http://www.africavenir.com/exchange/educational-trips/Programm_Spirit_Heilung2006.pdf

Anmeldeformular [pdf]: http://www.africavenir.com/exchange/educational-trips/Anmeldeformular_Heilung.pdf

Supervision und Gesamtkoordination :
Prinz Kum’a Ndumbe III, traditioneller König und Universitätsprofessor

Vorbereitung:
AfricAvenir International e.V. und Exchange & Dialogue

Betreuung vor Ort:
Fondation AfricAvenir und Exchange & Dialogue

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 July 2006 issue of "Solidarity & Sustainability" has been posted:

Solidarity & Sustainability ~ Volume 2, Number 7, July 2006

This is the fourth issue in the series, "Mimetic Violence in Patriarchal Religions." René Girard's mimetic theory is applied to a relatively recent episode in the Roman Catholic Church.

Specifically, this case example pertains to the male-only priesthood, and the manner in which the discernment process on the ordination of women was "terminated" (at least temporarily) by the Vatican. The analysis includes the five Girardian phases: mimetic desire, mimetic rivalry, skandalon, scapegoating, and sacred violence.

The working hypothesis of this research is that the continued exclusion of women from roles of religious authority reinforces the "warrior God" image and inhibits progress toward human solidarity and ecological sustainability.

Please notice the "call for papers." Any feedback is gratefully received.

Sincerely,
Luis

Luis T. Gutierrez, Ph.D., P.E.
Editor, Solidarity & Sustainability Research Newsletter
solidarity-sustainability-owner@googlegroups.com

P.S. The August 2006 issue is in preparation. The newsletter is distributed by email monthly, free of charge. To subscribe, send a blank email to
solidarity-sustainability-subscribe@googlegroups.com
and you will get an email from google groups. Follow the instructions to confirm your subscription.

Global Campaign for Peace Education Worldwide Activities Brief, Issue #34, June 2006

Peace Boat US would like to extend our thanks to all of you who showed up at the reception on the evening of June 5th, and the second annual People Building Concert on the 6th. Thanks to the hard work by everyone involved and by the warm support extended to us, the ship$B!G(Bs call in to New York and related events during this time ended in a grand success!

The Peace Boat$B!G(Bs next stop in the United States will be in San Francisco this coming October. We will be sure to let you know all the exciting events that will take place at that time.

This edition also highlights the activities and achievements of the World Peace Form 2006 in Vancouver. The Forum began on June 23rd, and culminated on the 28th. Many participated in the workshops and seminars, as well as the arts and cultural events that took place throughout the week. Highlighting the final day of the forum, the Peace Boat called into the port of Vancouver on the 28th and nearly 500 conference participants came onboard to learn about Peace Boat$B!G(Bs activities and the launching of Peace Boat US. We extend our thanks to all who supported us, and look forward to working together with all of you in our new endeavors!!

HIGHLIGHTS & PEACE NEWS
l The World Peace Forum (WPF) – Developments and Future Agendas
l Peace Boat$B!G(Bs Call to New York – A Report of Related Events
l Congratulations Amada Benavides! – A Step Forward in Human Rights (by GCPE)
l Minimally Invasive Education & MDG Education for All & Self-guided Learning – Peace Education Initiatives from India (by Positive News Youth Views PNYV)

GET INVOLVED
l Building a Global Network: Spreading Goodwill and Working for Policies that will Bring Peace and Security to the World (Peaceful Tomorrows)
l Join Nonviolent Peaceforce India Insight Trip (September 1 – 12, 2006)
l Call for Application to the Young Global Leaders Summits (June – August, 2006)
l Support the Fifth International Day for Peace in the Niger Delta (November 18-22, 2006)

EVENTS
l The Annual International Arab Children Congress (July 17–23, 2006 Amman –The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan)

HIGHLIGHTS & PEACE NEWS

The World Peace Forum (WPF) – Developments and Future Agendas

With the Closing Ceremony at the Art Gallery in Downtown Vancouver and the Bon Voyage Ceremony of the Peace Boat at Canada Place, the World Peace Forum (WPF) closed on the 28th of June. As with any international conference, there were developments and achievements, as well as agendas left for the future. The following will illustrate some of the highlights of the six day forum on peace.

To read the vision of the forum visit:
http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/uploads/JU/2m/JU2mO_UgBRBOsSkQ1XERMw/wpf_vision.pdf
To read the $B!H(BVancouver Appeal for Peace$B!I(B visit:
http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/

l Peace Walk and Festival – No War No Where (June 24th)
A Peace Walk successfully opened the WPF as several thousands walked down from Seaforth Peace Flame Park to Sunset Beach, colored by flags, banners, drumming and chants. The Peace Walk was followed by a concert event at Sunset Beach, and speakers including Walden Bello, Cindy Sheehan, Cora Weiss, and First Nations representatives spoke out to the many locals who had joined the conference participants on this particular weekend afternoon.

l On Nuclear Disarmament, Abolition 2000, Hibakusha, and Youth
One of the main focuses of the WPF included issues surrounding nuclear disarmament. With initiatives led by Abolition 2000, there were total of almost 50 seminars and workshops on this particular issue.

On the 25th, as part of the Asia Regional Conference, a workshop was held on $B!H(BA Northeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone.$B!I(B Concerns were raised regarding Japan$B!G(Bs promotion of nuclear fuel recycling, and how such measures were complicating the regions$B!G(B security and possibilities for nuclear disarmament. The resumption of six party talks was also mentioned, as a potential tool to promote dialogue.

Further workshops and seminars were throughout the week by the Japanese delegation, which included Peace Depot Inc., Japan Congress Against A and H Bombs (Gensuikin), Japan Council Against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo), and Japan Confederation of A and H bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hidankyo).

On the 28th, the final day of the conference, a group of students from Peace Boat$B!G(Bs onboard peace education program, the Global University, presented their views on nuclear disarmament in the workshop, $B!H(BYouth, Peace Culture and Nuclear Disarmament.$B!I(B Sophie Lefeez from Mouvement de la Paix (France) and Peace Boat (Japan) were central in organizing this workshop which brought together youth activists from France, Japan, the UK, and the US to further dialogue on roles of youth in realizing a nuclear free world.

l The Japanese Peace Constitution and Upholding Article 9, $B!H(BThe Global Article 9 Campaign$B!I(B
On the 26th, a workshop on Article 9 of Japan$B!G(Bs peace constitution was held, titled, $B!H(BArticle 9 of the Japanese Constitution: A Common Treasure for the Humankind for Peace.$B!I(B Jointly organized by Peace Boat, Japan Council Against A and H bombs, and the local Vancouver Save Article 9, panelists presented their views on Article 9. Professor Kimijima Akihiko presented the necessity of taking Article 9 into the regional and global context, and how such constitutions renouncing war can act as a mechanism for creating security, stability, and peace in a region. It is in the interest, not only of Japan, but of its surrounding countries and the international society to uphold this constitution. $B!H(BThe Global Article 9 Campaign$B!I(B was also introduced in such context, and a call was made for individuals to participate in an initiative to hold a Global Article 9 Conference in 2008, which would bring together all supporters of such constitutions. The Final Document of the Forum, $B!H(BVancouver Appeal for Peace 2006: Make Peace!$B!I(B also called for governments to constitutionally renounce war, and Article 9 is described as the primary example.
To learn more about the Campaign visit: http://www.article-9.org/english/about/index.html
To see full text of $B!H(BVancouver Appeal for Peace 2006: Make Peace!$B!I(B visit:
http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/

l Hans Blix and the Commission$B!G(Bs Report on Weapons of Mass Destruction
The session with former UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, was certainly an event of interest for many forum participants on the final day of the forum. Hans Blix presented the report of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission. The report includes some 60 recommendations on approaches and methods to control the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.
To read an interview with Hans Blix please visit: http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/

l The World Peace Forum on the Waters – Peace Boat Docking at Canada Place
Another event which highlighted the final day of the forum was Peace Boat$B!G(Bs call to the port of Vancouver at Canada Place. Utilizing the docking ship as a venue, a morning session was held with former senator Douglas Roche and the Middle Powers Initiative. Panelists discussed how nuclear disarmament is imperative to an overall improvement in global peace and security.

The afternoon session introduced Peace Boat$B!G(Bs history and activities to WPF participants and announced the launching of Peace Boat US to a crowd of nearly 500. As a unique peace education initiative, the presentation drew interest from many disciplines and initiatives surrounding peace, paving the way to a number of potential collaborations!

l $B!H(BWomen in Conflict Prevention – UN Resolution 1325$B!I(B
A roundtable was also held on Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, titled $B!H(BWomen in Conflict Prevention – UN Resolution 1325$B!I(B which attracted several hundred participants. Presenters included Cora Weiss and the NGO Working Group on Women. The final document of the World Peace Forum incorporated many suggestions and ideas which developed out of this roundtable. This document can be found on the following website: http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/

l Key Note Panel: Creating a Culture of Peace: Reflections from a Variety of Perspectives
HAP also organized and participated in a panel on peace education. This featured a lesson from Peace Lessons from Around the World (available at www.haguepeace.org) called a Living Graph, comparing allocation of national resources to health, education and military budgets for Mexico, Japan and the US. The participatory event engaged educators in new ways of thinking and teaching for peace.

l Global Campaign for Peace Education, Peace Boat, and the launching of Peace Boat US
Members of the Hague Appeal's Global Campaign for Peace Education and Peace Boat US met for a productive breakfast to plan for their new working relationship. Attendees included Werner Wintersteiner (Austria), Anne Halvorsen (Norway), Alicia Cabezudo (Argentina), Loreta Castro (Philippines), and Alyn Ware (New Zealand) from GCPE, HAP directors, Mary-Wynn Ashford (Canada), Peter Weiss and Cora Weiss (US) and members from Peace Boat and Peace Boat US. Please look forward to hearing more about this creative peace education development, as we plan to regularly update you with any future developments in the news brief!

Peace Boat$B!G(Bs Call to New York – A Report of Related Events
Peace Boat$B!G(Bs ship, TSS The Topaz, called into the port of New York on June 5, with over 1000 people onboard for a two-day program of exposure tours, events and cultural exchange. Highlights included a visit to Muslim and South Asian communities in Brooklyn to understand how life has been affected by the 9/11 attacks and a briefing at the United Nations Headquarters on the role of civil society at the UN. Other members joined a gospel workshop with members of a church in Harlem.

After the stay in New York, Peace Boat$B!G(Bs voyage continued on to Jamaica, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico and Canada. Disarmament Educator Dr. Kathleen Sullivan joined the ship in New York to lead the Global University (Peace Boat$B!G(Bs floating peace education program) Unit on Anti-Nuclear Activism.

For more information: http://www.peaceboat.org or email pbglobal@peaceboat.gr.jp

Peace Boat US launch
Hundreds of New Yorkers, including activists, educators, UN staff and members of Missions to the UN visited Peace Boat$B!G(Bs ship on June 5 for a celebratory evening announcing Peace Boat US and its collaboration with the Hague Appeal for Peace and the Global Campaign for Peace Education. A powerful visual presentation of Peace Boat and the Hague Appeal$B!G(Bs work to date culminated in Peace Boat US staff asking all those onboard to join them in preparing for a Peace Boat US voyage from the United States to Latin America, aimed at building people-to-people dialogue and understanding.

Following messages of support from Hague Appeal for Peace board members and educators on the Global Campaign for Peace Education Advisory Board, Cora Weiss, President of the Hague Appeal for Peace made a symbolic handing over of The Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice in the 21st Century to Peace Boat US staff Ryo Ijichi and Allison Boehm. Yoshioka Tatsuya, Director of Peace Boat, emphasized the value of Peace Boat$B!G(Bs methodology in facilitating direct communication between peoples and first-hand experience of global issues, noting that young people in the United States have tremendous power to change the world for the better.

For more information on Peace Boat US, please see http://www.peaceboat-us.org, or email
info@peaceboat-us.org

Second Annual Concert – People Building Peace, New York, June 6, 2006
The streets outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York beat to the sound of drums from Japan, Nigeria and Latin America on June 6, as the Second Annual People Building Peace Concert was celebrated.

Organized by Peace Boat US, the Hague Appeal and IANSA, the concert, featuring Nigerian, Afro-Cuban, South African and Middle Eastern artists, highlighted initiatives for peace including The Global Article 9 Campaign (http://www.article-9.org), and the Control Arms$B!G(B Million Faces Campaign (http://www.controlarms.org). New York city high school students in Educators for Social Responsibility$B!G(Bs SANITY program (Students Against Nuclear Insanity for Tomorrow$B!G(Bs Youth) staffed a booth sharing information about Nuclear Weapons Free Zones. Demonstrating the power of music and dance as tools for peacebuilding, young participants on Peace Boat$B!G(Bs global voyage performed Nanchu Soren – a dance developed by a teacher in Hokkaido, Japan as a means to encourage students in a school that had been plagued by bullying and violence.

Congratulations Amada Benavides! – A Step Forward in Human Rights (by GCPE)
At the opening ceremony on the Human Rights Council held in Geneva on June 19, Amanda Benavides (Colombia) chaired the working group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination. She was also nominated to be on the Coordination Committee to make new links between Special Procedures and the Human Rights Council.

This development is groundbreaking in that issues of human rights have been placed on the same level of discussion as peace and development issues. It is also worthwhile to note that Amanda has years of experience in human rights education. It is truly exciting and encouraging to see an appointment of a non-lawyer, South American woman who has been committed to this issue. We at Global Campaign for Peace Education (GCPE) extend our warmest congratulations and support to you, Amada!

To read the press release for the opening ceremony of the Human Rights Council please visit:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/hrc2.doc.htm

Minimally Invasive Education & MDG Education for All & Self-guided Learning – Peace Education Initiatives from India (by Positive News Youth Views PNYV)

Positive News Youth Views reports on a successful peace education initiative in India called Minimally Invasive Education (MIE), very much similar to their own concept known as the Informal Sustainability Learning Environments (ISLE) approach.

l ISLEs - Informal Sustainability Learning Environments
"No youth or adult leader was ever born from formal education in the classroom. Competence in sound societal participation evolves in an informal process of self-guided interdisciplinary learning."

What are Informal Learning Environments? Take Physical Education as an example. You can learn it formally in the gym hall. But you also acquire competence in physical exercise in various other ways: when playing soccer in the backyard, when going swimming, diving, jumping, playing water rugby with your friends, when jogging through forests, playing beach volleyball in your holidays...

In many cases, the effects are higher than in the gym hall: improving your condition, exploring and learning new movements, having joy, self-organizing your activities, developing and agreeing on rules. This list already included a lot of high value learning beyond physical exercise - creative thinking, social skills, cooperation; skills that enrich your personal life and competence as a citizen.

To learn more about ISLE, visit: http://www.pnyv.org/index.php?id=67

l Minimally Invasive Education (MIE)
The central idea behind Hole-in-the-Wall is that groups of children learn on their own without any direct intervention. This was conceptually explained by Dr Sugata Mitra, Chief Scientist of NIIT, as Minimally Invasive Education (MIE).

He found that children using Learning Stations required little or no inputs from teachers and learnt on their own by the process of exploration, discovery and peer coaching. The idea of MIE has crystallized over a period of time based on observations and educational experiments conducted at NIIT.

Minimally Invasive Education is defined as a pedagogic method that uses the learning environment to generate an adequate level of motivation to induce learning in groups of children, with minimal, or no, intervention by a teacher.

To learn more about MIE, visit: http://www.pnyv.org/index.php?id=443

GET INVOLVED

Building a Global Network: Spreading Goodwill and Working for Policies that will Bring Peace and Security to the World (Peaceful Tomorrows)

On the fifth anniversary of 9/11, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows will launch an ambitious new phase of our work to turn our grief into action for peace. In the days leading up to September 11, 2006 we will convene a meeting of more than 30 extraordinary individuals from around the world who are devoted to cooperation, healing and reconciliation. Together we will meet to establish an international network that will share ideas and information.

To learn more about the initiative, and for a biography of the attendees, visit:
http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/article.php?id=685#biographies

Join Nonviolent Peaceforce India Insight Trip (September 1 – 12, 2006)

Nonviolent Peaceforce presents an Insight Trip to India, visiting Delhi, Agra, and Dharamsala this September. The trip will be dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's first nonviolent action in South Africa on September 11, 1906.

l Learn about India and Tibet
l Visit the Taj Mahal: Memorial to Love in Agra
l Study and discuss Gandhi's writings
l Journey into Dharamsala -- the seat of His Holiness Dalai Lama's Tibetan Government-in-Exile - for 4 days and 3 nights
l Meet with leaders of the Tibetan government
l Meditate with Tibetan teachers
l Discuss nonviolence with NP Member Organizations
l Take the Pledge of Unarmed Soldiers (voluntary)
l Attend the Satyagraha Centennial Commemoration in Delhi

Trip Cost: $5,000 per person. Please send $500 non-refundable deposit to: Erika Shatz, Major Gifts Officer, Nonviolent Peaceforce, 425 Oak Grove, Minneapolis, MN 55403. Fee includes double occupancy accommodations and in-country transportation. A large portion is tax-deductible. Air travel to and from Delhi, India is not included. Space not guaranteed for deposits received after June 30.

For more information on the trip, including itinerary and biography of tour leaders visit:
http://nvpf.org/np/english/pressroom/IndiaInsightTrip.asp.html

Sponsoring Organizations:
Nonviolent Peaceforce is a nonpartisan unarmed peacekeeping force composed of trained civilians from around the world. In partnership with local groups, members apply proven nonviolent strategies to protect human rights, deter violence, and help create space for local peacemakers to carry out their work. NP was founded in 2002 and is an International Non-Governmental Organization. For more information visit: www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org

Swarajpeeth, established in 1992, a member organization of Nonviolent Peaceforce, is demonstrating the inspirational power of Mahatma Gandhi's vision, thought and method in India. Swarajpeeth conducts Swaraj Awareness, Shanti Sena (peace army) groundwork, Communal Harmony, Annual 9-11 Program, and Research. For more information visit: www.swarajpeeth.org

Call for Application to the Young Global Leaders Summits (June – August, 2006)

The Americans for Informed Democracy will be organizing conferences for young global leaders taking place in Washington, D.C., New York, and across America this summer. The conference will focus on the global environment, international development, U.S. media reporting on foreign affairs, and Western-Muslim world relations. These conferences will equip participants with the information and tools needed to engage their peers and their community on these critical issues.

Globally conscious young leaders wishing to make a difference in the world are invited to apply for one of Americans for Informed Democracy$B!G(Bs Young Global Leaders Summits. The summits will bring together young leaders from across the U.S. for workshops, speakers, and discussions on how young people can take positive action to ensure a principled and collaborative U.S. role in the world. Participants will hear from top experts and then be immersed in breakout sessions where they will have the chance to weigh in with their own view on the U.S. role in global issues. Thanks to generous foundation support, the conferences are free for selected participants, including meals and tuition.

For more information on specific conferences and venues, visit www.aidemocracy.org/conferences.cfm

Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that brings the world home to the next generation of leaders through its network on more than 500 university campuses around the world. The group was started in September of 2002 by Marshall and Rhodes scholars at Oxford University who sought a new vehicle to raise global awareness and it has since become the premiere network for globally conscious young leaders. For more information visit www.aidemocracy.org

Support the Fifth International Day for Peace in the Niger Delta (November 18-22, 2006)
The "International Day for Peace in the Niger Delta" is another step in using all available creative means to continue on our quest for a peaceful, democratic Nigeria especially the Niger Delta by THE HAVIDS Centre for Environment & Development:A non profit, equal opportunity, multi disciplinary, research, consulting and training organization poised to preserve the environment, foster peace, enhance education and community development incorporating HIV/AIDS, environmental and reproductive health, micro finance-poverty alleviation and civic education-deliberative dialogue based in the Niger Delta and ARINA-USA and another non profit, voluntary development organization: African Refugees Foundation(AREF) with it's headquarters in Lagos-Nigeria.

The program was initiated by THE HAVIDS Centre for Environment & Development in 2002 to sensitize world and local political and socio-economic leaders and publics on the root causes of the recurrent crises in the Niger Delta and the multiplier effects. It is to promote equity, peace and justice towards reducing the incidence of war-conflicts/disputes, refugees-internal displacements, kidnap, etc.

Three (3) days to one (1) week are set aside in November/December annually since 2002 to draw the attention of governments across the world and publics to assist in the promotion of the cultivation of the culture of peace by the peoples and residents of the Niger Delta in their homes, communities, state and nation for the promotion of sustainable international peace and development.

The purpose is to highlight practical approaches to dealing with the problematic issues associated with oil/gas exploration communities in Nigeria and explore ways of achieving sustained understanding that will promote the well being of the peoples of these communities.

It is established to develop and manage sustained dialogue that seeks to focus on practical problems and relationship that block the resolution of these problems.

It features dance, drama, art exhibitions and the deliberative dialogue fora. It also features award to distinguished personalities and corporate bodies that advocate peace, reconciliation and/or development and the conference and draws it$B!G(Bs participants from a wide spectrum of the society: governments-local to the federal, civil society organizations-trade union groups, NGOs and CBOs, the academia, traditional, religious, women and youth leaders and the private sector-oil/gas companies and manufacturers, etc.

This year$B!G(Bs event shall feature a new segment CHANNELS OF HOPE, intended as an exhibition platform for (that will bring) donors and international agencies domiciled in Nigeria and those outside but interested or engaged in the development of the Niger Delta with the communities to showcase themselves and/or projects to explore potentials and opportunities for progress and development. It will highlight and/or identify projects and/or activities that can be undertaken for peace and development together.

The Proposed theme for this year$B!G(Bs event is Working on the Democratic and Humanitarian Issues of the Niger
Delta: Our Challenges, Our Prospects and Active Responses and Sara Ross of ARINA-USA is expected as one of the special facilitators and keynote speakers.

We hereby request for your financial and/or material assistance and/or other resources to improve on this Year$B!G(Bs event or in collaboration with us.

For further information, please contact: Harry Awolayeofori Macmorrison Tel: 234-0803-342-2651
Email: thehavids_socialworkers@yahoo.com / thehavids_socialworkers@hotmail.com
harry_socialworker2000@yahoo.com

EVENTS

The Annual International Arab Children Congress (July 17–23, 2006 Amman –The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan)

The annual event will gather children from all over the world for a week of visiting learning and cultural interaction especially designed to promote peace, understanding tolerance & solidarity amongst youth. This year will be the celebration of the 26th annual Arab Children Congress under the theme Communication is Knowledge & Understanding.

To learn more about the event, visit: http://www.pac.org.jo/index.php

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. The Hague Appeal for Peace Board of Directors voted to transfer the responsibilities for the coordination of the GCPE to Peace Boat US which has moved into the Hague Appeal for Peace$B!G(Bs office in New York City.

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 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 maiko@peaceboat-us.org. For more information on Peace Boat US visit http://peaceboat-us.org/. The website for Peace Boat US is under construction! Please e-mail info@peaceboat-us.org for more information!

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.

Allison Boehm
International Coordinator
Peace Boat US, A project of the Hague Appeal for Peace
777 United Nations Plaza, 3E
New York, NY 10017, USA
Phone: 1-212-687-7214
Fax: 1-212-661-2704
allison@peaceboat-us.org

Dear Friends!
Leo Semashko kindly sends us the leaflet that you see further down.
Most warmly,
Evelin

Address
To Children, Youth and Future Generations
By
27 authors from 12 countries
Leo Semashko, together with international contributors:
Ada Aharoni, Talgat Akbashev, Maria Cristina Azcona, Reimon Bachika, Harold Becker, Kerry Bowden, Renato Corsetti, Guy Crequie, Martha Ross DeWitt, Nina Goncharova, Dimitry Ivashintsov, Takis Ioannides, Abram Jusfin, Vladimir Kavtorin, Evelin Lindner, Rose Lord, John McConnell, Bernard Phillips, Hilarie Roseman, Maitreyee Bardhan Roy, Subir Bardhan Roy, Bernard Scott, Igor Shadkhan, Rudolf Siebert, Tatiana Tselutina and Claude Veziau

In twelve languages:
English, Esperanto, Russian, Spanish, French, Greek, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Arabian and Hebrew

St-Petersburg: Polytechnic University, 2006, 384p, ISBN 5742212038 (pbk), US$30.00
Order: semashko4444@mail.admiral.ru

The Harmonious Era Calendar is a historically unprecedented multicultural and peaceful document. It opens an Era of Harmony, as was the "Golden Age," which has been the dream of people throughout human history. The Harmonious Era Calendar offers an extraordinary contribution to the development of a harmonious peace order and culture in a global information society. It also begins a new positive chronology for our children, our grandchildren, and for all subsequent generations. The Calendar has already begun bearing fruit, becoming the ideological vision and worldview of a new peaceful and harmonious global movement called "Making children a priority in the world," which we started on our web site in May 2005.

The co-authors’ Address:
- We invite all citizens of the world who are concerned about the destiny of children and grandchildren to join our Address to Youth, to add their signatures, and to promote it.

- We offer:
1. To introduce a special subject, based on the Harmonious Era Calendar, at all schools and universities of the world.
2. To create the International University of Culture of Harmonious Peace at the United Nations Organisation (UNO). This university will prepare appropriate teachers for schools and colleges and will become a model for creation of similar universities in each country of the world. The Harmonious Era Calendar is, first of all, an educational project that will increase the quality and efficiency of peace education among children. The Calendar will ensure that children form universal values of harmony and eternal peace, which can only be taught from childhood. The eternal peace can be only harmonious and only at people, harmoniously educated from birth.

- We call for cooperation among everyone who shares the values of social harmony and children’s priority as a way of ensuring harmonious order within a global information society. The platform offered for this cooperation is our International website, A New Culture of Peace from Social Harmony and Children’s Priority http://www.peacefromharmony.org. This site represents a collection of positive seeds of ideas and practical means of social harmony from all over the world. The site has united 150 co-authors from 28 countries. In its friendly and creative atmosphere, the Harmonious Era Calendar and other important projects were born. So if you have ideas of harmonious peace and projects of harmonious education for children, you can also create a page on our site and take part in its work.

- We are sure that in two to three years, the updated edition of our Address will unite many more authors, cultures and languages on the Harmonious Era Calendar. To join, please send an e-mail to its initiator Dr. Leo Semashko at semashko4444@mail.admiral.ru. Thank you.

Our strongest aspiration is to make every day of the year a celebration, commemoration or inspiration and raising of harmonious peace, so that there will remain no more days for war, enmity and humiliation.

Harmonious Era Calendar: Children’s priority and quality are the highest profit and boon of humanity

The Witnesses: APSA's Best Book in Human Rights for 2005

University of Pennsylvania Press is pleased to announce that The Witnesses: War Crimes and the Promise of Justice in The Hague by Eric Stover has just received the Best Book in Human Rights Award from the American Political Science Association.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The APSA's Human Rights committee’s citation follows:

Eric Stover’s study constitutes an important contribution to the growing literature on international justice and accountability. Written by a scholar with considerable field experience, The Witnesses examines a relatively neglected area of the international judicial process: the role of victims and witnesses who have testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Drawing vividly on their testimony, Stover adeptly reveals a hidden side of international tribunals. The Witnesses also challenges conventional wisdom about truth-telling and justice, suggesting that politics always mediates this complex relationship. In addition, the book raises many other critical issues, in particular questions relating to the rights and entitlements of witnesses, as well as to the nature and extent of the obligations of international and hybrid tribunals towards them. In his concluding remarks, the author offers a series of sensible suggestions on ways to ensure that the needs of prosecution and defense witnesses, before these tribunals, are better met. This is a timely and provocative book, a prime example of how analytically informed human rights scholarship can capture the humanity of its subjects, while being attentive to power considerations. In recognition of this achievement, the Human Rights Section of the American Political Science Association is both pleased and honored to select The Witnesses as the Best Book in Human Rights for 2005.

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

BUY The Witnesses at www.pennpress.org.

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

Penn Press Books, contact Ellen Trachtenberg, ellenpt@pobox.upenn.edu.
Penn Press Journals, contact Renee Ricker, ricker@pobox.upenn.edu.
Penn Press Electronic Promotions, contact Stephanie Brown, browns2@pobox.upenn.edu

Adair Nagata kindly makes us aware of a unique book and an alternative review of it by a woman.

Please see here the book:
Hatreds: Racialized and Sexualized Conflicts in the 21st Century
by Zillah Eisenstein.
New York and London: Routledge, 1996. 223p. $17,95. Carolsue Holland, Troy State University

Please see the review (if you have access) at ProQuest:
International relations: Hatreds: Racialized and Sexualized Conflicts in the 21st Century.
by Carolsue Holland
In The American Political Science Review, 91(2), 1997, 500.

Book Description on Amazon

In HATREDS, Zillah Eisenstein charts the plural politics of the twenty-first century, which she defines as having begun with the fall of communism and the gulf war. Exploring the politics of hate on both global and local levels, Eisenstein tracks developments such as racialized ethnic and gender conflict, the new male democracies of eastern Europe and the new Democrats of the Clinton era, the sexual exploitation of the west and the sexual violence of nationalisms, and the importance of western feminisms' promissory standpoint of freedom to women in the third world.

Traveling between theory and the sites of everyday life politics, Eisenstein discusses how hatred is written on the bodies of women and is magnified, for instance, in the war-rape of women and girls in Bosnia and Rwanda. She looks in between the cold-war rhetoric of colonialism and liberal democracy to see and find women's actions across the globe. At the same time, through examples like the Los Angeles riots, the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City, the politics of hate in congress and anti-immigration policies, she demonstrates that hatred also flourishes in the west, while the west is looking at and trying to "fix" the east.

Eisenstein's passionate look at hatred in all its forms and all its locations starts with the body and ends with the globe: the same women's bodies that are used to write hatred also begin to imagine beyond hatred and nation to a transnational sisterhood.

About the Author
Zillah Eisenstein is a Professor of Politics at Ithaca College. A feminist activist and scholar for over twenty years, she is the author of Radical Future of Liberal Feminism, The Female Body and the Law and The Color of Gender. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Office tormentors appear normal but pack a wallop

Jared Sandberg
Wall Street Journal
Jul. 11, 2006 10:29 AM

For 10 years after she left a job working for a woman who used to humiliate her, Kim Potter, a claims manager at an insurance company, had nightmares.

After law school, she took a job at a law firm, working for a senior associate who called her "stupid" and "incompetent" and said things like, "Can't you get anything right?" In one nightmare, she was back at her old firm with her old boss. "She had me making the partners red beans and rice instead of doing legal work," she recalls.

Potter's nightmares about her former humiliatrix also had contours of fear unabated or vengeance never meted. Whenever Potter took a new job, she would dream that her former boss started working there, too, only to rise as her tormentor again. Potter, who says she hasn't come to blows in adulthood, also dreamed that though she punched her old boss repeatedly, she was impervious.

"I've never been treated so shabbily in my life," she said of the real-life experience. "And I never will."

Potter is probably right. Workplace humiliation has been around since history's first angry tyrants flew off the handle. But public humiliation has become taboo at work, indicting the humiliator more than the humiliated. Powerful forces work against it, such as fear of liability and economics. As the handy productivity-measurement industry will testify: Happy workers are good for the bottom line.

The problem is, humiliation has been driven underground, making it more subtle but no less horrifying. It takes the shapeless form of tones of voice and "nasty looks" doled out not by hotheads, but by seemingly normal people. The devil, it turns out, also wears shoddy wing tips and down-market pumps.

"The crude and lewd person who does the public display are in the minority of aggressors; most people are a lot more sophisticated," says Gary Namie, a social psychologist. "They're not psychopaths."

That means that when victims complain, they aren't believed or are characterized as being unable to handle criticism, he says.

Namie is the director of the Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute, which is pushing various states to enact law against "abusive conduct," including "verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating, or humiliating." Thus far, the bills either died in committee or weren't scheduled for hearings, he says.

In a survey this year by Randstad USA, a temporary-staffing firm, 37 percent of respondents called "public reprimand" among their biggest pet peeves, out-irritating them more than micromanagers (34 percent), loud talkers (32 percent) and cellphones ringing (30 percent). The only thing more annoying than public reprimand in the survey was "condescending tones" (44 percent), arguably a humiliator's desert-island selection.

Richard Kilburg, senior director of the Office of Human Services at Johns Hopkins University, notes that public humiliation still exists in the armed services and sports (think end-zone dances) but has morphed into "private shaming games" in industry.

That includes infractions as subtle as how quickly someone answers your email, makes eye contact or loads up some silence in a scenario like this: In a meeting, a woman responds to her boss who gives her no response, yet minutes later applauds a male colleague who said basically the same thing. "I hear that over and over again," Prof. Kilburg says.

Still, these days, when people are confronted with the old-style Cro-Magnon management, they are shocked. When John Ledbetter, president of oil exploration and health resources company Nyvatex, was attending a conference roughly five years ago, a staffer at another company presented information that didn't sit well with his supervisor. He chewed him out afterward in front of all his colleagues. "That idea is so wrong it's not even stupid," the boss yelled. "Genius has limits; you're proof that stupid doesn't."

"Isn't that vicious?" says Ledbetter, incredulous. "Today that would be a cause for lawsuits!"

Jackie Fox once had a boss at a medical office who, whenever Fox forgot to do something, would call her a "colander head." She quit that job, in part because the same humiliator pressured her for her sandwich. These days, such hardships sound like the office equivalent of shoeless walks to school.

Although consultant Gary Schmidt doesn't believe competent managers should have to brandish their power in the form of humiliation, he has to admit, it sometimes works.

When he was working for a large consulting firm, one his managers used to police people who blathered on with a deadpan: "You demonstrate a remarkable grasp of the obvious."

His own tactics are subtler. He may say in a meeting, for example, "May I offer a different perspective?"

Says Schmidt: "People who know me know that translates into, 'Are you out of your freakin' mind?!' "

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
July 11, 2006

**********

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim-Western relations.
*This service is also available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and French. To subscribe, click here. (http://www.sfcg.org/template/lists.cfm?list=cgnewsdoc)
*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 an archive of CGNews articles and other information, please visit our website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).

**********

ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. IslamExpo seeks Muslim-West bridges by IslamOnline Staff
IslamOnline staff describe another tool that is being used to help build understanding and encourage greater communication between Western and Muslim cultures. The IslamExpo in London is an annual exhibition comprising conferences, lectures and seminars with renowned speakers on topics as diverse as art, literature, science, architecture, technology theology and politics. In addition, it includes films, dramas, photo exhibits, concerts, comedy, theatre, live shows and fun and educational activities for children. "It's also a great opportunity to debate the role and challenges that British Muslims face in the political arena," added Labour MP Sadiq Khan.
(Source: IslamOnline.net, June 30, 2006)

**********

ARTICLE 1
~Youth Views~
The day the wall went up
Stephen Coulthart

Syracuse, New York- Like many Americans, I can vividly remember where I was when four hijacked airliners were used as weapons that fateful fall day. It was also the day the wall went up, not a physical wall like the one that fell in Berlin, but all the harder to crack because it is invisible. Beyond the immediate horror of the situation something else was occurring in the very fibre of the American psyche. Amongst the shock, dread and awe caused by the attacks of 9/11, there was a shift in America's overall perspective of the world. Suddenly, the United States was under siege by an unknown and dangerous enemy. Fear and misunderstanding led to support for new U.S. foreign policy prescriptions that would have seemed unfathomable 10-15 years ago. America was entering a new political epoch and, under attack and hurting, America was being pushed to the right.

The "smoke them out" and "bring them on" messages from the current U.S. administration are the embodiment of a new attitude that has shaped not only U.S.-Middle East relations, but U.S. relations with the rest of the world. Withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Treaty, rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, investment in a missile defence shield and the nomination of John Bolton to the United Nations all provide further proof that the United States is "putting up a wall" between itself and the world.

But how did all this happen, in less than a decade?

The short answer is perhaps that human nature causes us to seek out the familiar and avoid the strange or unknown, especially when we feel threatened. As the controversial author Samuel P. Huntington tried to demonstrate in The Clash of Civilizations, humans in one group have a tendency to find solidarity with one another by highlighting how members of other groups differ from them, a tendency that becomes stronger in times of crisis. Instead of identifying Al-Qaeda as a specific group with only a handful of followers from among hundreds of millions of otherwise regular Muslims, lack of understanding caused many Americans to falsely label Islam as a violent religion.

The surge of patriotism after the attacks of 9/11 harkened back to the days after Pearl Harbor when lines formed outside of military recruitment centres. As the so-called 'Greatest Generation' united after this fateful event on December 7th, 1941, suddenly we saw American flags and bumper stickers everywhere, and the story of the day, a missing Congressional intern and the Congressmen she worked for, vanished from the headlines. Scandal and celebrity news means little when your country was being attacked by terrorists bent on destruction of the free-world.

In the months after 9/11, the wall really went up. Unfortunately, anger that should have been directed only against the perpetrators of the attacks was all too often directed at all Muslims. Through slurs, discrimination, and even assaults against Arab-Americans, America, always seeking to define itself, found an easy answer by defining itself by what it was not.

But how can the United States throw up this wall to the globalising world? What about the rapid movement of information, shouldn't that destroy stereotypes? The amount and access of information available to the average American has increased a hundred or even a thousand-fold in the past decade but with the increase in access, there has also been an increase in the creation of rumours and misinformation. Even though we should have more points-of-view available to us than ever before, perhaps it is this confusing overabundance of information that causes us to limit ourselves only to the familiar and the known.

Sensing perhaps that the rhetoric had had unintended effects, the administration has since then gone out of its way to show that our enemies are terrorists, not the Muslim world. Many Americans now understand that Al-Qaeda does not represent all Muslims and nearly all Muslims condemn terrorism. But at the same time, Americans are becoming less interested in the rest of the world. Surveys show Americans do not want to stay in Iraq, would rather the United States played less of a leadership role in the world, and are less interested in foreign affairs then after 9/11. The wall is getting thicker. It is no surprise misunderstandings, stereotypes, and a refusal to see the other side’s point-of-view are still common.

However, we, the people of the Middle East and the United States, can create the solutions. We can bridge the cultural gaps and tear down the wall. For a start, we need new ways of making sense of and interpreting the torrents of information raining down on us. Reading as much as we can and being knowledgeable of current events has always been a moral imperative for citizens in democracies, but in today’s world, we must all raise our standards. We must read a number of different sources, to make sure to cross-check our information and perspectives. It is not enough anymore just to read the New York Times and watch CNN: we should also read Al Hayat (an Arab paper that covers Middle East news in both Arabic and English) and watch Al-Jazeera. With the Internet, automated translation tools, and new cheap international means of interaction such as Skype, this is all possible.. The tools of globalisation can provide us with ways to understand our differences but the first and most important change has to occur in the human mind. We must make the effort. Then, acceptance and tolerance will be the new weapons "to wage peace”.

###
* Stephen Coulthardt is a recent graduate from the State University of New York, where he studied Political Science and Public Justice. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), July 11, 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
Two countries, a common heritage
Assia Djebar

Paris – During my childhood in colonial Algeria (when people described me as “French Muslim”), we were taught much about “our ancestors, the Gauls”. Less well-known was the history of my ancestral land of North Africa, then called Numidia, which produced high-quality literature in Latin languages during that same period of Gallic history.

Three names in particular stand out: Apuleius, born in 125 A.D. in Madaura in East Algeria, was a student in Carthage and later in Athens who wrote in French, a brilliant lecturer in Greek and the author of an abundant body of literature. His masterpiece, The Golden Donkey or the Metamorphoses, is a picaresque novel whose verve, freedom and iconoclastic humour display a surprising modernity. What a revolution it would be to translate this work into Arabic, be it literary or colloquial dialect -- at the very least, it would be a welcome vaccine for today’s fundamentalisms of all stripes.

As for Tertullian, a pagan born in Carthage in 155 A.D. who later converted to Christianity, he is the author of over thirty works, including his Apologia, a work full of puritanical rigor. Just a couple of phrases from this 2nd century, Christian work are enough to lead the average reader to think that they emanate from some misogynist and intolerant African tribe. Take, for example, this affirmation from his opus On the Veiling of Virgins: “Any virgin who shows herself participates in a kind of prostitution!”

Yes, let’s promptly translate it into Arabic so that we may show that the misogynist obsession that always chooses the woman’s body as its focus is not only an “Islamist” specialty!

In the middle of the fourth century, the greatest African of this Antiquity, undoubtedly of all our literature, hails once more from the Algerian East: St Augustine, born of Latinised Berber parents. There is no need to detail the well-known trajectory of this father of the Church, of his long struggle of at least two decades against the Donatists, who were Christianised Berbers bitterly stiffened by their dissidence.

After struggling for twenty years against this group of believers who became the “fundamentalist Christians” of his day, and having doubtlessly been in contact with the Berber-speaking members of their flock, St Augustine thinks he has conquered them. In fact, he thinks that he has triumphed over them in 418, at Cesarus of Mauretania (my family’s city, where I spent part of my childhood). He is wrong. Thirteen years later, in 431, he dies in Hippone, besieged by Vandals from Spain who had just destroyed almost everything on those shores in a single year.

These literary masters are a part of our heritage. They should be studied in North Africa’s high schools, in their original language or in French or Arabic translations.

What is the use of my French today? I ask myself this question almost ingenuously. At 20 years of age, I had already chosen to teach North African history at the university level. After all, I was only following in the footsteps of my father who, as an instructor in the 1930s, would teach, in French, young boys in the middle of the Algerian mountains , in an isolated school not even accessible by roads. He also taught adult courses for mountaineers of his age. He taught accelerated training in French, thus preparing them for small administrative jobs to ensure a steady flow of resources to their families.

But jogging the memories of peasant women in the Dahra mountains in Arabic, and sometimes in Berber, has also meant emotional upheaval and a stirring of open wounds. It has been a return to the roots, I would even say an ethics and aesthetics lesson from women of all ages from my maternal tribe. I imagine that at this moment, above our heads, François Rabelais is speaking in the empyrean with Avicenna while I smile down here at Dean Georges Vedel, to whom I owe being where I am today.

##
*Franco-Algerian novelist Assia Djebar is Georges Vedel Chair at the Académie française. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Le Monde, June 24, 2006
Visit the website at www.lemonde.fr
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 3
Reforms vs. democracy in the Arab world
V. Balaji Venkatachalam

Dubai – U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking last month at the Vienna summit, said: “What is past is past and what’s ahead is a hopeful democracy in the Middle East.”

No American administration has talked more about democracy in the Arab region than the Bush administration. The president and his advisers have spoken optimistically about a post-Saddam democracy in Iraq, one that might eventually become a veritable light to other Arab nations. This grand vision assumes that sooner or later, advocates of democracy throughout the Arab countries will demand the same freedoms and rights that Iraqis are now claiming. Yet, however inspiring this vision appears, the actual reform plan that the administration has thus far set out has been doomed to a large extent by things going dramatically bad in Baghdad.

From Moscow to Singapore, we are witnessing a new trend of democracy that is altering the so-called copy book definition of “democracy”. Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin’s political mastermind, rebuffed the U.S. vision of democracy by saying “democracy in the era of Boris Yeltsin resulted in the creation of oligarchs and businessmen who used wealth to achieve political power, damaging the country’s economy and development.” At the same time Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s prime minister, criticised multiparty democracy by saying “although democracies make exciting politics, the national interest could suffer in a multiparty system. Endless debates are seldom about achieving a better grasp of the issue but to score political points.”

Both countries have transformed themselves, the former in the last few years and the latter in the last few decades, into successful economies. Unlike in the 1990s, when public cries for freedom were leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union, in a survey conducted last month by Pew Global Attitudes Project Today a majority of Russians said they believed that their country would be better served by a strong leader rather than a democratic government. The poll found that the Russian people would choose a strong economy over a good democracy by a margin of almost six to one. Of course, Russia is far from alone in the priority it gives to a vibrant economy; even in countries where confidence in democracy is strong, the desire for economic wellbeing is stronger. Majorities or pluralities in eight of the nine countries in which this question was asked said that the economy was a more important priority than democracy. This includes India, which has been a functioning democracy for more than half a century. Indeed, Indians are now closely divided over the relative merits of democracy and prosperity, a significant change from 2002 when they favoured democracy by a 56 percent-31 percent margin.

Democracy (by which I mean a system in which adult universal suffrage is used to elect representatives) and reforms need each other. Reforms generate better living standards; the other cushions injustices and thereby anchors public support. But this mutual dependence is tricky, because if democratic prerogatives are overused, they may strangle reforms.

The Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) has persistently quoted gender inequality as one of the main obstacles to development in Arab countries, along with deficits of knowledge and freedom that were addressed in consequent AHDRs. The oil wealth in Arab countries is matched by social backwardness, and the only other region of the world with an income level lower than the Arab region is sub-Saharan Africa. Productivity is decreasing, scientific research is virtually nonexistent, the region is suffering a brain drain, and illiteracy afflicts half of Arab women. Arab countries have the largest proportion of young people in the world, 38 percent of Arabs are under the age of 14, and by 2020 the population of all Arab countries combines may top 400 million. In Libya, over 60 percent of the country is under 15, with unemployment close to 30 percent. In Saudi Arabia, 38 percent of the population is under 15, with 25 percent unemployed.

The Arab region has the highest population growth rates in the world, home to more than one quarter of the earth’s total unemployed young people between 15 and 24. If several million youth are entering the job market each year, who will supply the jobs needed to employ them? Who will generate millions more such jobs to bring down sky-high unemployment rates? Mastering the task of employing these teeming Arab millions is not only hard to imagine in current circumstances, but impossible without a major rethink of the current economic and social model that prevails in the Arab region.

Reforms do not measure up when compared with the pace of reform in other parts of the world. Elsewhere, true revolutions are underway, as countries cope with the challenges of globalisation by opening up, liberalising their trade and investment regimes, investing heavily in information and communications technologies and implementing reforms which aggressively try to create friendlier policies and regulatory environments for private sector development. Knowledge determines the wealth of nations and defines the liveable state in this age of globalisation. There are only 18 computers per 1,000 citizens in the Arab world, as compared to the global average of 78 per 1,000.

Presently, the more significant topic for the Arab region is reforms on the social and economic fronts rather than democracy. The Arab region today stands at a very critical juncture. Sustaining the status quo will only widen the development gap between this region and the developed world — not to mention the growing number of developing countries and regional blocs that are taking swift measures to integrate into the global economy.

The three key problems afflicting Arab societies are: a deficit of social freedom, a lack of opportunities for women, and a knowledge gap with the rest of the world. Democracy can wait, as it happened in Korea and Taiwan, both now vibrant democracies. The important issues are social and economic reforms.

Arab countries need to understand that the false populism and religious fanaticism of Islamic extremism offer no political, economic or social model capable of satisfying the real world necessities of a growing Arab world. Immediate economic and social reforms are needed. Sustained economic and social reforms will expand opportunity and allow the people to satisfy legitimate aspirations in all walks of life.

As for political reforms we can wait for the time being and concentrate more on economic issues that are affecting the Arab masses. At the end of day jobs and shelter are a more important issue for an average Arab than democracy. Democracy requires certain conditions, such as a market economy and a middle class in order to thrive. The empty political rhetoric of democracy as seen in Iraq will not fulfil the utopian dream of the U.S. administration for the Arab region. International multilateral organisations should engage with Arab countries and communities in promoting peaceful social and economic reforms.

###
* V. Balaji Venkatachalam heads the research department of Forbes Arabia and the views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Forbes Arabia.This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Arab News, July 5, 2006)
Visit the website at www.arabnews.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 4
What the US wants in its troops: cultural savvy
Mark Sappenfield

Quantico, Virginia - Lt. Thomas Tompkins had a decision to make. His unit had come under fire from a band of insurgents, who had just fled for cover in a mosque.

Strictly speaking, the rules of engagement allowed Lieutenant Tompkins to storm the front door and spread through the mosque in search of the enemy. But there was another option, it turned out: knock on the door and talk to the imam.

Tompkins's test came not in the furnace of Baghdad or Baquba, but in a quiet classroom exercise on the lush countryside campus of Marine Corps Base Quantico. The lesson is one example of the U.S. military's efforts to instil in troops the notion that - in a war where support from the local populace is as important as raids and air strikes - cultural awareness can be an effective weapon.

In addition to their core training on the rules of engagement, U.S. troops of every stripe are learning how to lunch with sheikhs and conduct raids without offending the man of the house. Though recent allegations of murder, rape, and massacre by U.S. soldiers and marines in Iraq may point out the limits of this type of training, they may just as easily underscore the importance of reinforcing it for all troops who will come into contact with the local citizenry.

"One of the things we educate most repetitively ... is being comfortable in an uncomfortable environment," says Barak Salmoni, deputy director of the Center for Advanced Operational Cultural Learning (CAOCL) at the Quantico base.

Though the armed forces have sought to take culture into consideration since the beginning of the Iraq war, CAOCL represents how that accumulated knowledge on the ground is being distilled into discrete lessons and institutionalised.

As the Marines' "centre of excellence" for culture and language, the year-old centre is charged with spreading cultural understanding - of lands wherever marines are deployed - into all levels of its forces education, training, and operations. Likewise, the Army has opened a similar "centre of excellence" for cultural training at Fort Huachuca in Arizona.

In Iraq, the commander of US forces, Army Gen. George Casey, has created a Counterinsurgency Academy for all arriving officers. Meanwhile, Central Command, the military command that oversees Iraq and Afghanistan, started a three-week course in which Jordanian forces teach US soldiers about Arabic culture.

The purpose is not to be a nicer military. Rather, it is to help troops grasp how cultural factors can affect tactical decisions.

"They have us think about cultural factors as if they were battlefield factors," says Tompkins. "The placement of mortars and machine guns is still important, but cultural issues are just as important - and they can win or lose us a city."

Of course, no amount of training about Iraqi culture can halt deliberate criminal action, as is alleged in the most recent case against a U.S. serviceman in Iraq. Federal authorities on Monday charged Steven Green, a recently discharged Army private, with murdering four members of an Iraqi family in Mahmudiya. He is also charged with raping one of the alleged victims before shooting her. At least three other soldiers, all still on active duty, are under investigation in connection with the March incident, military officials said last week. Media reports have stated that investigators believe the crime might have been premeditated. It is perhaps the most inflammatory of five incidents that have come to light in recent weeks and prompted investigations or charges of murder against U.S. servicemen.

For his part, CAOCL's Dr. Salmoni acknowledges that basic training and strong leadership are the best bulwarks against crimes in wartime. But cultural training can help build a better-prepared marine - one who sees Iraqis as more than just an inscrutable enemy, he says.

Before marines deploy abroad, CAOCL gives them information and training specific to where they are going. Here in Quantico's officer schools, it supports and promotes the sorts of cultural exercises that Tompkins participated in.

That day, captains were teaching a class to lieutenants, and on one side of the classroom stood a map. But this map was not marked with arrows showing how best to attack a convoy or engage an enemy. It showed three square blocks of an Iraqi city. On it, the captains had highlighted a school, a Red Crescent relief centre, a market, and a mosque. The students' task: explain how they would conduct a foot patrol through the city.

At every stop, the captains gave them a new hypothetical problem to solve. At the school, the patrol took fire from the building's rooftop, injuring one. At the Red Crescent, there was a large crowd with people firing guns into the air. At the mosque, insurgents attacked and then sought shelter inside.

The idea to knock on the mosque door didn't come from Tompkins - or from any of the other lieutenants, for that matter. It came from the captains. In every exercise, "they mentioned something that we never thought of," says Tompkins. What surprised him "was how much the teachers encouraged critical thinking," he says. "At what point is killing [the enemy] less important than the cultural problems it will create?"

The military began to learn these lessons in earnest a decade ago in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Haiti, where battle lines blurred, bringing troops into close contact with civilians. Iraq and Afghanistan, however, have been the tipping point for change.

Now, the push for cultural learning comes from the highest levels of the military hierarchy. The commanding officer of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command has made it a top priority.

"It's the nonlethal aspects of our business that I think we're gaining a much greater appreciation for," said Gen. William Scott Wallace in a briefing last year. "It's appreciating the fact that the urban terrain includes people who grew up in a particular culture that we don't necessarily understand."

It is a vital lesson, say experts. But some wonder whether the military has taken too long to act. Says David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization in College Park, Maryland: "Three years into this war, they're figuring out how to fight it."

###
* Mark Sappenfield is a staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Christian Science Monitor, July 5, 2006
Visit the website at www.csmonitor.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright © The Christian Science Monitor. For reprint permission please contact lawrenced@csps.com.

**********

ARTICLE 5
IslamExpo seeks Muslim-West bridges
IslamOnline Staff

Cairo - The largest Muslim cultural exhibition in the world opened in London on Thursday, July 6 to promote a better understanding of the Islamic faith, history and society, and help build bridges between the Muslim world and the West.

"In this climate of tension full of talk of clashes of civilisations, the need to build bridges between cultures has never been greater. That, we hope, will be IslamExpo’s legacy," said the organisers in a press release.

The annual exhibition includes conferences, lectures and seminars with renowned speakers on topics as diverse as art, literature, science, architecture, technology theology and politics.

It also features films, dramas and a photographic exhibition from the Muslim countries as well as concerts featuring music from around the world.

The event also features music concerts, comedy, theatre, live shows and fun educational activities for children.

A series of economic activities will also be held on the sidelines of the four-day event.

More than 150 exhibitors from Britain, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Australia and America will be exhibiting their products and services at IslamExpo.

Leading among attendees in the event are Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan, London Mayor Ken Livingstone, Wadah Khanfar, the general manager of the Doha-based Al-Jazeera channel, Dr. Abdul Bari, chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), and Norman Kember from the Christian Peacemaker Teams.

The event is expected to attract in excess of 40,000 attendees from across British society.

British Muslims

IslamExpo also discusses the role of the Muslim minority in Britain — estimated at 1.8 million — in fighting terrorism and in promoting democracy in the Muslim world.

"It's important to debunk some of the myths that exist about Islam and to explain the true teachings of Islam," Labour MP Sadiq Khan, who will be speaking at the event, said in the press release.

Participation of the British Muslims in politics will also be discussed.

"It's also a great opportunity to debate the role and challenges that British Muslims face in the political arena," Khan added.

Despite the fallout from the 7/7 attacks on London's underground by four British Muslims, the sizable Muslim minority in Britain still feels luckier compared to fellow Muslims across Europe thanks to the successful integrationist policy of the government.

An ICM survey found in February that 91 percent of British Muslims are "loyal" to Britain and 80 percent still want to live in and accept Western society.

The poll showed that that 99 percent of British Muslims believed the July 7 bombers were "wrong" to carry out the atrocity.

British Muslim leaders have, however, joined forces with senior politicians and rights activists in opposing the recently adopted amendments to the anti-terror bill, which made the vaguely "glorification" of terrorism a crime and curbed personal freedoms.

###
* This article was written by IslamOnline staff. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: IslamOnline.net, June 30, 2006
Visit the website at www.islam-online.net
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, 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.

Common Ground News Service
1601 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite #200
Washington, DC 20009 USA
Ph: +1(202) 265-4300
Fax: +1(202) 232-6718

Rue Belliard 205 bte 13
B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
Ph: +32 (02) 736-7262
Fax: +32(02) 732-3033
E-mail: cgnewspih@sfcg.org
Website: http://www.commongroundnews.org

Editors

Emad Khalil (Amman)
Juliette Schmidt (Beirut)
Chris Binkley (Dakar)
Medhy Hidayat (Jakarta)
Elyte Baykun (Washington)
Leena El-Ali (Washington)
Emmanuelle Hazan (Washington)

**********

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an email to cgnewspih@sfcg.org with “subscribe” or “unsubscribe” in the subject line, indicating your language of choice among English, French, Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia.

AMARC AFRICA LAUNCHES EVALUATION PROCESS OF COMMUNITY RADIO IN AFRICA

Abuja, July 6, 2006. The World Association of Community radio Broadcasters Africa (AMARC Africa) launched the African component of the worldwide participatory evaluation process of the community radio movement leading to the AMARC 9 World Conference of Community Radio Broadcasters, to be held in November 11-17 in Amman, Jordan.

The Asia-Pacific Roundtable has already been held in Colombo, Sri Lanka and the Latin America & Caribbean Roundtable was held in Lima, Peru on May 24-25. The European Roundtable will be held July 12, 2006 in Brussels, Belgium.

The AMARC Africa Round Table "Community Radio Social Impact: Removing barriers, Increasing Effectiveness", was held in Abuja, Nigeria on the 5th of July 2006 bringing together community radio practitioners, advocates, NGO and Donors from Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Benin Republic, Senegal, Mali, Uganda, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The Roundtable reviewed the situation of community radio (CR) and the challenges of poverty reduction and sustainable development in Africa. The participants highlighted experiences on community radio social impact and the obstacles created by legal frameworks to the development of community radio in the region. The participants also explored the lines of action that AMARC Africa and community radio stakeholders should emphasize in order to remove barriers and increase the effectiveness of community radio.

Grace Githaiga AMARC Africa Vice-President said "by holding the African Roundtable in Nigeria, community radio stakeholders are sending a clear message for stepping up legislation creating an enabling environment for CR in the largest country of Africa".

The AMARC Africa Roundtable documents will contribute to the global discussion on the impact of community radio and will be posted in the coming days in http://www.amarc.org . The discussion will facilitate the definition of the strategic orientations for the worldwide community radio movement in AMARC 9, the World Conference of Community Radio Broadcasters in Amman, Jordan from November 11 to 17. To participate in the evaluation or to register in the AMARC 9 World Conference, please visit http://.amarc9.amarc.org

AMARC is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1983, serving the community radio movement in over 110 countries, and advocating for the right to communicate at the international, national, local and neighborhood levels.

L'AMARC AFRIQUE LANCE LE PROCESSUS D'ÉVALUATION DE LA RADIO COMMUNAUTAIRE EN AFRIQUE

Abuja, 6 juillet 2006. L'Association mondiale des radiodiffuseurs communautaires Afrique (AMARC Afrique) a lancé la composante africaine du processus participatif mondial d'évaluation du mouvement de la radio communautaire qui va mener à la conférence mondiale d'AMARC 9 qui se tiendra du 11 au 17 novembre 2006 à Amman en Jordanie.

La table ronde de l'Asie-Pacifique s'est déjà tenue à Colombo, Sri Lanka et la table ronde d'Amérique latine et des Caraïbes s'est tenue à Lima, Pérou du 24 au 25 mai 2006. Pour ce qui est de la table ronde européenne, celle-ci se tiendra le 12 juillet 2006 à Bruxelles, Belgique.

La table ronde de l'AMARC Afrique intitulée : "L'impact social de la radio communautaire : enlever les barrières et augmenter son efficacité", s'est tenue à Abuja, Nigeria le 5 juillet 2006 et a rassemblé des radiodiffuseurs de radios communautaires, de même que de représentantEs d'ONG (organisations non gouvernementales) et des donateurs provenant d'Afrique du Sud, Bénin, Canada, Ghana, Grande Bretagne, Mali, Nigeria, République démocratique du Congo, Sénégal et Uganda.

La table ronde a passé en revue la situation des radios communautaires et les défis de la réduction de la pauvreté et du développement durable en Afrique. Les participantEs ont partagé leurs expériences sur l'impact social de la radio communautaires et les obstacles créés par les cadres juridiques au développement de la radio communautaire dans la région. Les participantEs ont également exploré les lignes d'action que l'AMARC Afrique et les parties prenantes au sein du mouvement de la radio communautaire devraient mettre en valeur afin d'enlever les barrières et augmenter l'efficacité de la radio communautaire.

Grace Githaiga, vice-présidente d'AMARC Afrique a souligné que "en tenant la table ronde africaine au Nigeria, les parties prenantes du mouvement de la radio communautaire ont envoyé un message clair pour créer un environnement propice au développement de la radio communautaire dans le pays le plus populeux d'Afrique".

Les documents de la table ronde d'AMARC Afrique contribueront à la discussion mondiale sur l'impact de la radio communautaire et seront disponible dans les prochains jours sur le site web de l'AMARC au http://www.amarc.org. Ces discussions faciliteront la définition des orientations stratégiques pour le mouvement mondial de la radio communautaire lors d'AMARC 9, la conférence mondiale des radiodiffuseurs communautaires qui aura lieu à Amman en Jordanie du 11 au 17 novembre 2006. Pour participer à l'évaluation ou pour s'enregistrer à la conférence mondiale d'AMARC 9, visitez http://.amarc9.amarc.org

L'AMARC est une organisation internationale non gouvernementale fondée en 1983, au service du mouvement de radios communautaires dans plus de 110 pays et qui défend le droit à la communication autant au niveau international, que national, local et de quartier.

Dear Friends!

Advocacy Tips
By Michael Stein

IGC offers these links to the following online resources as part of our commitment to helping nonprofits working on advocacy campaigns get the most out of the Internet today.

Below, you will also find a section on general support resources for nonprofits online, focusing on using email effectively, online fundraising, working with Application Service Providers, and doing outreach online.

Advocacy Tips for Nonprofits
ActionNetwork (http://www.actionnetwork.org/). Sponsored by Environmental Defense, this Web portal allows organizations to quickly develop Web campaigns and to maintain sophisticated communication with existing activists. 19 national and regional organizations use ActionNetwork.org to communicate with more than 500,000 activists. Using technology supplied by GetActive Software, subscribers can simply reply to their email and Action Network will send free faxes and emails to top decision makers when they need to hear about saving the planet. Environmental organizations can sign up to maintain their list of activists on the service and establish environmental action Web pages. If your organization is new to online action this is a great tool to get your feet wet and see the possibilities.

ONEList (http://www.onenw.org/). This e-newsletter is published by ONE/Northwest in Seattle, a nonprofit that provides technology assistance to conservation activists and organizations in the Pacific Northwest. Each issue has a main theme, plus some other useful news and info, all with clear click-throughs. A short table of contents heads up each issue. Their Web site offers the archive of their back issues.

Virtual Activist 2.0 (http://www.netaction.org/training/). This is an online training course that is packed with tips for nonprofits to make the most of the Internet. It covers email, mailing lists, advocacy, membership development and fundraising, and much more.

General Support Resources for Nonprofit Online
Benton Foundation (http://www.benton.org/). Their "Best Practices Toolkit" is consistently a good source of information on nonprofit Internet use. Related to our topic, we like the entire section entitled "Think it Through: What it takes to design & fund an effective communications strategy." The three subsections entitled Planning, Audience, and Message Shaping will direct you to high quality online resources. Also don't miss an article called: "Building Online Communities: Transforming Assumptions Into Success," by Victoria Bernal, Community Building Associate, Benton Foundation.

By The Cup (http://www.techsoup.org/). This e-newsletter is published by TechSoup, the nonprofit technology portal. A fine combination of a feature article, with a number of smaller news items. Useful table of contents at the top and a playful design throughout. A key bonus is that this e-newsletter makes regular references to discussion forums on their Web site, a good overlap between email and the Web.

Consultants ONTAP (http://www.ontap.org) is a Web site that lists hundreds of consultants (mostly in Northern California) that work with nonprofits, including technology consultants that can assist with researching and selecting ASPs. To find a technology consultant on this Web site, select "Find a consultant by area of expertise" on the home page, and then scroll down to "Information Systems."

Convio Monthly (http://www.convio.com) is a free e-newsletter published by Convio, one of the leading ASPs serving the nonprofit sector. This e-newsletter offers unusually high quality content to help nonprofits use the Internet effectively. Naturally, it also includes information about Convio's ASP services.

Donor Digital Direct (http://www.donordigital.com) is a free e-newsletter published by Internet consulting firm Donor Digital that offers news about online fundraising, marketing, and advocacy. The newsletter often includes news and case studies about ASPs. The Donor Digital Web site also offers resources about ASPs as part of their articles on "Moving direct mail donors online," "Choosing an e-vendor," and "Using email services."

Dot Org Media (http://www.dotorgmedia.org/). Dot Org is their free bi-monthly e-newsletter published by nonprofit Internet consultants Michael Stein and Marc Osten that gives practical advice to help nonprofits make the most of the Internet. They've covered topics such as email newsletters and creating successful online events, and often include reviews of ASPs.

ebase (http://www.ebase.org/). ebase is an integrated database software tool designed to help nonprofits effectively manage interactive communications with their members, donors, citizen activists and volunteers. Nonprofit groups can download the database for free and gain access to other registered users and qualified consultants from the ebase Web site. Though it's free, if you own FileMaker Pro you will have more control to customize the ebase data structure to your exact needs The software was developed by TechRocks (http://www.techrocks.org/).

EnviroLink (http://www.envirolink.org/). Web portal with up-to-date environmental news, links to environmental organizations, government resources, environmental activism and related issues. So much of your work as environmental organizations is about connecting people with the information they need to better understand the issues and take appropriate actions. This site demonstrates how to do it. So what do your constituents want to know from you?

e-Philanthropy v2.001: From Entrepreneurial Adventure to an Online Community (http://www.actknowledgeworks.net/ephil) is a written report about online uses by nonprofits written in 2001 and looks at the current state of e-philanthropy. There is also an online database of ASPs (not updated) with a very useful search interface.

GreenMarketplace.com (http://www.greenmarketplace.com/). An e-tailing Web site that features ecological and socially responsible products. A fun place to shop but more importantly, if you engage in e-commerce to raise funds for your environmental group you'll want to check out this site to get some ideas.

GreenMediaToolshed (http://www.GreenMediaToolshed.org/). The folks at GreenMediaToolshed provide media-related tools and information to environmental nonprofits so that they can more effectively project their messages to the public and decision-makers. This is great stuff! Most environmental nonprofits we've worked or associated with have depended in one way or another on the media for getting the message out and influencing the public and decision-makers. The tool shed gives you an up-to-date database of environmental professionals and online tools that enable them to blast fax and email media professionals based on geographic and interest factors.

NetAction Notes (http://www.netaction.org/notes/) is a free newsletter published by NetAction. Each issue includes two or three brief articles with pointers to web sites. Topics include online activism, technology policy developments of concern to nonprofit organizations and Internet activists, practical advice on the use of technology, and/or commentary on various aspects of technology. To subscribe, send a message to: majordomo@netaction.org and type: subscribe netaction in the message body.

Nonprofit Matrix (http://www.nonprofitmatrix.com) is a Web portal that focuses exclusively on ASPs that serve nonprofits. You'll find it useful because it provides an up-to-date and exhaustive listing of ASPs divided by the different tools they offer. User reviews provide anecdotal information (mostly positive) about specific services. Their News section is a good way to find out about recent product developments. Finally, their Tombstones list is a way to find out about services that have closed. We recommend that you subscribe to their free e-newsletter with news items and listing updates on a bi-monthly basis.

Nonprofit Internet Resources (http://www.rickchrist.com) is a Web site maintained by nonprofit Internet consultant Rick Christ. Among this collection of his 200 articles on Internet marketing and e-fundraising is a wealth of information about ASPs. Use the search window to type in "application service provider" or enter the name of an ASP that you're researching. Rick also publishes a free bi-monthly e-newsletter which delivers his new material to your email box.

Nonprofit Online News (http://news.gilbert.org) is a free weekly news bulletin about developments in the nonprofit sector with a slant toward technology. Edited by Michael Gilbert, it provides an invaluable source of information, reading, and useful links. Subscribe to the free e-newsletter and get the news delivered Sunday evenings to your email box.

Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (http://www.nten.org/) sponsors a discussion mailing list on topics of interest to the nonprofit technology community. A recent topic was "99 Uses of E-mail." You can subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to nten-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nten where you will also find an archive of the discussion thus far.

Online Fundraising Mailing List (http://www.gilbert.org/fundraising) is a free discussion listserve hosted by Michael Gilbert of The Gilbert Center in Seattle. This discussion list is focused on online fundraising topics, and ASPs are a frequent topic of discussion. Nonprofit staff frequently post comments about what they are learning. To subscribe, email to autoshare@gilbert.org with "sub fundraising" in the body.

Organizers' Collaborative (http://organizerscollaborative.org) is a membership organization based in Boston that advances the use of technology to enhance grassroots organizing, research, and movement building by organizations working for social change. Their programs include collecting, classifying and disseminating information about grassroots uses of technology; Developing, testing and distributing at no charge software that is easy to use and widely applicable to social change organizations; Providing on-line methods of collaboration and resource sharing for organizers; and providing occasional technical assistance to selected groups. Their "Technical Digest" (Octech) is a low-volume e-newsletter on computers and social change.

TechSoup (http://www.techsoup.org) is a Web portal about the whole nonprofit technology field. A quick way to find ASP resources on TechSoup is to type "ASP" into the search engine window on the home page. Another way is to click on "Resource Lists" under the left Tools menu and select the "Application Service Providers" item, which provides an annotated listing of services. Several of the Community Center Message Boards regularly have discussion threads relating to ASPs. If you have a burning question about ASPs, these are active Message Boards where you can expect quick replies and receive email notification when someone has replied. Be sure to subscribe to By The Cup, TechSoup's excellent monthly e-newsletter. Visit the excellent community forum on the topic of "Web Building" where you can discuss and ask questions about Email Newsletter.

University of Maryland Newsdesk.
www.newsdesk.umd.edu
For Immediate Release
July 5, 2006
Contacts: Neil Tickner, 301 405 4622 or ntickner@umd.edu

Terror Research: Govt. Deterrence Strategies of Limited Effectiveness

Government attempts to deter terrorism can backfire and promote invigorated reprisals and a cycle of violence, according to a new study by University of Maryland researchers. The study is based on a review of the world's largest open-source database of terrorist incidents at the DHS-funded National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) housed at Maryland.

"Deterrence by itself hasn't worked very well in practice, and authorities need to do a better job of taking this potential backlash into account when formulating their strategies," says Gary LaFree, the University of Maryland criminologist who directs START. "It's astonishing, but only a handful of studies have even questioned whether government responses to terrorism actually work. Since 9/11 there have been about 20,000 studies of terrorism, and only seven have tried to test the effectiveness of government strategies."

The study finds that over time, criminal justice and military responses to terrorism may produce both a positive deterrence effect and an unwanted defiance effect. It reviewed five British government actions in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1992, finding that three out of five interventions were associated with a significant increase in the likelihood of subsequent attacks.

"Given the evidence that deterrence-based thinking with regard to terrorism is often demonstrably unsuccessful, we must ask ourselves why it remains the most common reaction of governments to terrorist threats," says a conference paper written by the researchers. The paper argues that there is a sweet spot, an optimal point, at which the benefits of deterrence are outweighed by terrorist defiance.

"The real question for government planners is when enough is enough," says LaFree.

The researchers say this is the first statistical comparison of deterrence and defiance models of terrorism in Northern Ireland. It also examines these strategies over a longer period of time than previous strategies.

Media may request a copy of the conference paper from Neil Tickner. See contact information above.

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terror (START) is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence, tasked by the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate with using state-of-the-art theories, methods, and data from the social and behavioral sciences to improve understanding of the origins, dynamics, and social and psychological impacts of terrorism.

06099

CENTRE DE COOPERATION FRANCO-NORVEGIENNE EN SCIENCES SOCIALES ET HUMAINES
MAISON DES SCIENCES DE L'HOMME, 54, Boulevard Raspail, 75270 Paris Cedex 06, France
Web: http://www.uv.uio.no/paris
Directeur Per BUVIK
Responsable administratif Kirstin B. SKJELSTAD

HØSTENS SEMINARER

September
21.-23.september: Patents in the past. Internasjonalt seminar støttet av The British Academy v/ professor Kristine Bruland, UiO/Senteret.
Ansvarlig ved Senteret: Kristine Bruland

Oktober
4. - 6. oktober: L'argument de la filiation aux fondements des sociétés européennes et méditerranéennes anciennes et actuelles. Internasjonal konferanse arrangert i samarbeid med Laboratoire d'Anthropologie des Institutions et des Organisations Sociales (LAIOS), École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) og Collège de France.
Ansvarlig ved Senteret : Per Buvik

12. - 14. oktober: Kunst- og kulturforskningens historiske dimensjon. Forskerutdanningsseminar for doktorander i kunst og kulturfag arrangert av professor Sissel Lie, NTNU.
Ansvarlig ved Senteret: Per Buvik

19.-20. oktober: The Future of Feminism: A Graduate Seminar. Internasjonalt, tverrfaglig seminar i samarbeid med Senter for kvinne- og kjønnsforskning ved UiB (SKOK).
Ansvarlig ved Senteret: Per Buvik

26. - 28. oktober: Journées Wittgenstein, arrangert av professor Arild Utaker, Filosofisk institutt, Universitetet i Bergen, i samarbeid med Université Paris VIII (Saint-Denis).
Ansvarlig ved Senteret : Per Buvik

November
3. november: Bovarysme: littérature et philosophie. Internasjonalt tverrfaglig seminar i samarbeid med Centre de recherche sur la littérature française du XIXe siècle, Université Paris IV (Sorbonne).
Ansvarlig ved Senteret: Per Buvik

7.-10. november: French Theory Revisited. Internasjonalt forskerutdanningsseminar i for doktorander og forskere estetiske fag, i samarbeid med UiO.
Ansvarlig ved Senteret: Per Buvik

30. november: Actualité d'Ibsen : le texte et la scène (I). Internasjonalt seminar arrangert i samarbeid med Det Kgl. Norske Utenriksdepartement, Den Kgl. Norske Ambassade i Paris, Université Paris IV (Sorbonne), Université Paris III (Sorbonne Nouvelle), Théâtre National de la Colline og Ibsensenteret (Oslo). Sted: Salle Liard, Sorbonne.
Ansvarlig ved Senteret og seminarets koordinator: Per Buvik

Desember
1. desember: Actualité d'Ibsen : le texte et la scène (II). Internasjonalt seminar arrangert i samarbeid med Det Kgl. Norske Utenriksdepartement, Den Kgl. Norske Ambassade i Paris, Université Paris IV (Sorbonne), Université Paris III (Sorbonne Nouvelle), Théâtre National de la Colline og Ibsensenteret (Oslo). Sted: Théâtre National de la Colline.
Ansvarlig ved Senteret og seminarets koordinator: Per Buvik

7. - 9. desember:
Phonologie du français contemporain. Internasjonalt seminar arrangert av Chantal Lyche, OFNEC (Caen), i samarbeid med Jacques Durand (Toulouse) og Bernard Laks (Paris).
Ansvarlig ved Senteret: Per Buvik

6. BOKUTGIVELSE

Senterets leder, professor Per Buvik, utgav i april en ny bok i serien "Mémoire de la critique" på Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne (PUPS): Jules de Gaultier, Le Bovarysme, suivi d'une étude de Per Buvik : Le Principe bovaryque (ISBN 2-84050-424-3).
Boken består av en nyutgivelse av Jules de Gaultiers essay Le Bovarysme fra 1902 (s. 8-149) og av en ny studie av Buvik om Jules de Gaultiers filosofiske tenkning: Le Principe bovaryque (s. 168-334), samt av en bibliografisk oversikt over Gaultiers utgivelser og en arkivbasert biografisk presentasjon av Gaultier ved Buvik (s. 151-167).
Boken er et bidrag til markeringen av at det i år er 150 år siden Gustave Flauberts berømte roman Madame Bovary begynte å komme ut som føljetong i Revue de Paris, og den danner et av utgangspunktene for et filosofisk, idéhistorisk og litteraturvitenskapelig seminar som finner sted på Sorbonne fredag 3. november.

7. CALL FOR PAPERS

New! Call for Europa Fellowship Program 2006-2007
The New Europe College - Institute for Advanced Study in Bucharest, Romania, announces the Europa Fellowship Program, sponsored by the VolkswagenStiftung (Hanover, Germany).

The program targets researchers and academics from South-Eastern Europe as well as young Western scholars working on South-Eastern Europe. Applicants must be doctoral students, or hold a Ph.D. title.

Duration of the Fellowship: a full academic year (10 months, October through July); one-term fellowships (October through February, or March through July) can also be considered.

Location: the New Europe College in Bucharest.

The Fellowship consists of: a monthly stipend of 600 Euro (tax free), accommodation, international transportation to and from the home country of the Fellows at the beginning and the end of the Fellowship, as well as for season holidays. Fellows who choose to stay for the whole academic year are offered a one-month research trip abroad to an institution of their choice (2 560 Euro for transportation, accommodation, and per diem).

The Fellows will be invited as members of a team, working in the framework of a research theme entitled Traditions of a New Europe. A Pre-history of The European Integration in South-Eastern Europe. Please see the attached document for links or (http://www.nec.ro/fundatia/nec/app_fell.htm). Each Fellow is expected to pursue his/her own research project, and to take part in scientific events related to the project, and in other events organized by the New Europe College. Fellows are expected to hand us at the end of their Fellowship a paper representing the result of their research work, to be included in a NEC publication.

Working languages: English, French, and German. A good command of English is desirable.

The application must include a project addressing research questions related to the project. The deadline for sending the completed application is July 10, 2006. The applications will be evaluated by the Scientific Board of the NEC. We will get in touch with the applicants concerning the results of the evaluation process.

The application form and additional information on the Program can be found here:

New Europe College
Str. Plantelor 21
023971 - Bucuresti
Romania
www.nec.ro
Phone: (+40 21) 327.00.35, (+40 21) 307.99.10;
Fax: (+40 21) 327.07.74
e-mail: imihai@nec.ro

8. FRANSKKURS

I Caen holdes det kurs i fransk som redskapsfag fra 16.august til slutten av september 2006.
Flere opplyninger fåes på følgende adresse:
http://siu.no/vev.nsf/O/-SUHF-fransk+spraak-intensivkurs+i+fransk+i+Caen

Apologia Politica: States and Their Apologies by Proxy
by Girma Negash

Apologia Politica defines and explores the nature of public apology, or what Nicholas Tavuchis calls an apology from the many to the many. Focusing on collectivities and their agencies in the apology process, author Girma Negash examines public apology as ethical and public discourse, recommends criteria for the apology process, analyzes historical and contemporary cases, and formulates a guide to ethical conduct in public apologies.

Educating for Global Peace
spiritual & ethical perspectives on peace & justice

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

Please join us for this timely and provocative lecture series exploring spiritual and ethical perspectives on peace and justice towards educating for global peace. The SECOND talk in the series, "Islamic Values and Transformative Non-violence: Are they Compatible?" will be July 12, featuring Ibrahim Malik Abdil-Mu'id Ramey, Coordinator of the Peace and Disarmament Program at the Fellowship of Reconciliation and Board Member of the Temple of Understanding and of the Muslim Peace Fellowship.

~ free and open to the public ~ RSVP requested (but not required) ~
email: peace-ed@tc.edu / phone: (212) 678-8116

ISLAMIC VALUES & TRANSFORMATIVE NONVIOLENCE:
ARE THEY COMPATIBLE?

IBRAHIM MALIK ABDIL-MU'ID RAMEY
Coordinator of Peace and Disarmament Program, Fellowship of Reconciliation; Board Member, Temple of Understanding and Muslim Peace Fellowship

Wednesday, July 12. 7-9pm.
Location: Teachers College, Columbia University (Milbank Chapel - 125 Main)
click here for directions to Teachers College

This presentation will examine, using both Islamic textual and exegetical sources and arguments, the concepts of Rahman (compassion) and Rahim (mercy) as central tenets of the religion of Al-Islam and the evolution of Islamic history and culture, and especially in the dimensions of the historic interaction of Islamic civilizations and social movements with the religious other.

I will also present examples of the subordination of the concepts of Rahman and Rahim in Islamic political conflict, particularly in the use of regular or irregular warfare, and offer suggestions for how the concepts might become part of the development of an authentic Islamic variant of transformative nonviolence.

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

IBRAHIM MALIK ABDIL-MU'ID RAMEY

Ibrahim Abdil-Mu’id Ramey, a native of Norfolk, Virginia, is the coordinator of the Peace and Disarmament program of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack, New York.

He serves as a board member of the Muslim Peace Fellowship and the Temple of Understanding ( an interfaith organization promoting dialogue and cooperation among diverse religious traditions), the Muslim Women’s Institute for Research and Development, and several national peace and justice organizations. He also serves on the steering committees of the Religious NGO community and the United Nations and the Climate Crisis Coalition.

Ibrahim has also received several awards from local and national organizations for his international advocacy work for peace and nonviolent social justice, including, in 2000, the first Better World activist award from the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation and a Distinguished International Service Award from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs in 2004.

His current projects include the organizing of an international symposium on Gandhian theory and practice in October, 2006, and initiating a national network for Islamic Environmental Action.

Please note that lectures will take place at different venues.
Please contact the Peace Education Center for additional detail and to RSVP.
email: peace-ed@tc.edu / phone: (212) 678-8116

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

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE “EDUCATING FOR GLOBAL PEACE” LECTURE SERIES PLEASE VISIT US ON THE WEB AT WWW.TC.EDU/PeaceEd.

Wednesday, July 12. 7-9pm
ISLAMIC VALUES & TRANSFORMATIVE NONVIOLENCE:
ARE THEY COMPATIBLE?
IBRAHIM MALIK ABDIL-MU'ID RAMEY
Coordinator of Peace and Disarmament Program, Fellowship of Reconciliation; Board Member, Temple of Understanding and Muslim Peace Fellowship
Location: Teachers College, Columbia University (Milbank Chapel - 125 Main Hall)

Tuesday, September 12. 7-9pm
ONE WORLD, MANY RELIGIONS: GETTING BEYOND DIALOGUE...
JOYCE S. DUBENSKY
Executive Vice President, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding
Location: Teachers College, Columbia University

Thursday, October 19. 7-9pm
COSMOPOLITAN ETHICS & BEING PEACE: EXPLORING THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPIRITUALITY, JUSTICE, & PEACE
DALE SNAUWAERT
Associate Professor of Educational Theory and Social Foundations of Education; Chair of the Department of Foundations of Education, University of Toledo
Location: Fordham University Lincoln Center Campus (Room TBA)

Saturday, November 4. 1-3pm
EDUCATING FOR PEACE AT THE LEVEL OF OUR DEEP HUMANITY
PATRICIA MISCHE
Lloyd Professor of Peace Studies and World Law, Antioch College; Visiting Professor, School of International Service, American University; Co-founder and current President , Global Education Associates
Location: The Riverside Church

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

Co-Sponsors
The Peace Education Center seeks to provide learning opportunities to inform wider public and academic audiences about critical and timely peace related issues. Peace related concerns are the concerns of all members of the human community. The Peace Education Center is pleased to work with several co-sponsors, from various disciplines and vocations, in the planning of this lecture series. Please take the time to introduce yourself to the work of our co-sponsors by clicking the links below.

Barnard Education Program; Biosophical Institute; The Center for the Contemplative Mind in Society; Fellowship of Reconciliation; Fordham University's Graduate School of Education; Global Education Associates; International Center for Tolerance Education; Peace Boat USA; Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding; Teachers College - Forum on the Role of Religion and Spirituality in Education, Office of Diversity and Community, and Office of the Vice President and Dean of the College; Temple of Understanding; The Riverside Church Mission and Social Justice Department

Innovation and Conflict: Finding Creative Solutions to Social Problems

© Bernard Hoffert
Monash University
June, 2006

1. The French playwright, Eugene Ionesco, founder of the Theatre of the Absurd, said of his work: “Passions slumber in me that may explode, then be held in check again. Jets of rage or joy lie within me, ready to burst and catch fire. In myself I am energy, fire, lava. I am a volcano.”

The passion which inspired Ionesco to create is that which drives any great cultural achievement, the burning, smouldering fires of desire to build, to transform, to innovate. Without the passion there is no idea, no research, no pursuit of the new which will add to culture, transform it, and make life better. Passion is the starting point for innovation, but it must be complemented by the processes which support and shape development, by education providing the knowledge and skill, through which passion may be expressed, talent transformed into achievement and research directed toward the innovation which leads to development and progress. The recent UNESCO international science meeting on the preservation of life (December, 2005) phrased it as ‘How passion gives birth to innovation’.

2. It is generally accepted that innovation is a fundamental dimension of development and progress; whether it be in the sciences, humanities or arts, all depend on innovation to carry disciplines forward. But innovation does not occur in a vacuum; any systematic innovation comes from the application of new knowledge, the outcomes of research, the process for testing fresh ideas. This paper regards ideas as the starting point for innovation, the creative trigger which propels both research and innovation, or in every day terms, successful problem solving.

This paper identifies creativity with the development of new ideas and contends that the most effective mechanism for developing these is through individual acts of observation, perception and imagination. The argument is inductive, deriving a pattern of innovation across a range of problem solving which has resulted in constructive outcomes and proposing that the same approaches are relevant to resolving all types of issues including those related to security and conflict.

3. Leonardo Da Vinci has been celebrated in various contexts and particularly for his ideas about human flight. When we look at his drawings for flight, we see the examination of birds, their wings, their feather patterns, their bone structure, the shape and surface qualities of the wing and the muscular mechanisms which enabled them to move. Leonardo based his designs for flying machines on the close observation of birds and his drawings and sketches, recount the intense detail with which he recorded these. Through observation, he recognized that the underside of the wing was curved inward and found that this allowed the bird to be kept aloft by the movement of air over it creating an uplifting force. His designs employed this observation and established a curved underwing as the basis of how machines might be kept in the air, a development built on by successive researchers until powered flight was achieved by the Wright Brothers. Leonardo’s observations of his environment provided the starting point for his experimentation.1

If we were to systematically describe how Leonardo developed his ideas it would be:
his observations of birds identified the nature of the concave underside of the wing;
he interpreted this in the context of his enquiry, the search for flight, which lead to his discovery that movement across a concave shape produces a force against it; from this discovery he imagined how humans might fly and designed machines to enable this. The idea which he produced moved from observation (recording the raw data) to perception (understanding it in the context of his objectives and making a discovery) to imagination (considering what might be possible). His designs were a response to this sequence and resulted in something new (innovation).

4. In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright undertook the first controlled, motor driven flight, which proved the starting point for modern aviation. The Wright brothers developed the idea of a glider with movable parts in the wing assembly, to vary the shape of the wing surface in response to the flight conditions. This maximized the potential up thrust from moving air across the wing and enabled the flight position to be corrected in response to wind changes or the need to alter direction or speed. They mounted an engine on the glider and on December 17, 1903, they flew for 59 seconds, covering a distance of about 260 metres; the aeronautical industry was born. What was revolutionary about the Wright brothers work was neither the glider nor the engine, which both relied on existing technology; it was the shaping of the wing to allow a pilot to manipulate the aerodynamic impact on the structure; it was an issue of design.2 The whole aircraft industry reflects the innovations which flowed from their research. When the Wright
Brothers developed powered flight, they took Leonardo’s observations a step further, developing a mechanism to alter the shape of the wing surface in flight, to control the impact of the air and vary the degree of uplift; they did so based on their observations of how birds change the shape of their wings during flight to achieve the movements they want to make. If we were to describe the development of their ideas it would be: observation-seeing how birds altered different parts of the wing to control the force of the air against it; perception-considering this in the context of controlled human flight; imagination-considering how this might be used to create controlled flight. Through experimentation, they developed a mechanism for altering the shape of the wing in flight and designed it into an aircraft.3

5. The English surgeon William Harvey was the first person to postulate the circulation of the blood, a fundamental of how we now understand the body. He came up with the idea after seeing the exposed heart of a live fish at the Convent Garden fish market; its pulsating rhythm reminded him of the large water pump on London Bridge which took water from the Thames and circulated it through the pipe system of the city. Harvey was aware of blood flow through the veins and arteries of the body, but he was unable to explain how the flow was achieved. Considering this observation in the context of his surgical experience, Harvey imagined the heart as a pump, driving the blood around the body. He considered the possibility of the body as a closed system of circulating blood forced through the arteries by the pulsating heart.4 Harvey developed his idea from an observation, he perceived it within the context of his own surgical experience and imagined the nature of how blood circulation occurred.

6 One of the greatest figures in scientific discovery, Sir Isaac Newton, proposed the idea that the tides were caused by the gravitational effect of the moon. Newton had been unable to explain the motion of the tides which rose and fell twice daily, and which demonstrated seasonal extremes. He had observed the changing phases of the moon on its monthly cycle, waxing and waning as it moved across the heavens. It occurred to him that there might be a parallel between the movement of the moon and the rise and fall of the tides which he imagined as the moon pulling at the earth across the heavens. He described the moon grasping at the earth with ‘large ubiquitous fingers”, a description for which he was criticized for introducing occult beliefs into science.5 However fanciful the description might be it effectively described the force of gravity acting across space between solid bodies. His poetic simile provided a conceptualization of gravity which prevails until the present.

7. In 1907, Pablo Picasso started experimenting with the construction of representational images using abstract shapes, rather than describing the body in the usual organic descriptive terms; his best known early example of such work is Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon from 1907. Picasso had observed examples of tribal masks in the ethnographic museum at Trocadero, in Paris and been struck by the intensity of these highly distorted interpretations of the human face. Picasso had been puzzling over how to reinvigorate painting conceptually. The stylized wooden masks gave him an idea for reconsidering the figure in space by focusing on generic aspects of identity, rather than those of specific individuation; it involved the viewer in reflecting on the interpretation and understanding of the image, effectively giving the work meaning.6 This lead to the development of Cubism and the high level of pictorial abstraction which resulted in non representational innovations in the paintings of Mondrian, Malevich and Kandinsky. Picasso’s observation, perceived in the context of his work, allowed him to imagine a new pictorial format which became a cornerstone of twentieth century artistic development and arguably the most significant visual innovation in the last hundred years.

8. The above testify to the role ideas play in research and innovation; in solving the problem. All began with a particular idea, the starting point for a solution which resulted in a major innovation. Solving problems through creative ideas is applicable across the spectrum of knowledge, but for our purposes, the more interesting aspect is how a good idea evolves, how can we develop creative ideas? In the above examples, each idea was the outcome of a consistent pattern of ‘observation’, ‘perception’ and ‘imagination’; observing the world, perceiving it in the context of a particular problem and imagining an idea which lead to a solution. This pattern runs through every example, all of which have resulted in significant innovations, flowing directly from the ideas, via testing and application.

9. We are told that the economic wealth of the twenty first century comes from ideas, a post industrial society where prosperity comes not from manufacture, but from a knowledge culture, a domain where ideas are valued beyond the means by which they may be made manifest, the industrial domain which, since Victorian times has been the generator of wealth. But unlike Victorian times where the outcomes of success -property, possessions, capital could be transmitted from one generation to another, creativity cannot be bequeathed and thus perpetuated. Each generation must produce its own creative thought to develop prosperity anew; a ‘value added’ aspect of production, the VAT (Value Added Tax) of intellectual life. Attention has turned toward the value of the idea, or in general terms, creativity and how it can be maximized within culture.

10. The Italian philosopher Pico della Mirandola wrote in the late fifteenth century: “With the freedom of choice and with honour, as though the maker and moulder of thy self, thou mayst fashion thyself in whatever shape thou shalt prefer”

Mirandola was responding to a new consciousness which the Renaissance had spawned; no longer was the world seen solely in terms of divine revelation, propagated and enforced by clerical authority. There had been the recognition that one could observe and react to one’s surroundings, respond to the world as it was experienced and understood and use that understanding to influence one’s destiny. There was a sense of individual consciousness emerging, where we could see the world as it was and react accordingly; truth could be observed and responded to, rather than be dictated by authority. It was the stirrings of an analytic approach to knowledge; what Mirandola recognized foreshadowed the Enlightenment, the French Encyclopaedists and ultimately, an empirical methodology based on the analysis of observation and experimentation; he sensed the epistemological basis of contemporary intellectual achievements. In essence, what we see shapes what we do; how we observe the world influences how we respond to it.

11. Louis Pasteur once commented that “Fortune favours the prepared mind” and Lenin remarked that “If you think of revolution, dream of revolution, sleep with revolution for thirty years, you are bound to achieve a revolution someday.”8
Pasteur and Lenin recognized that our interests, what we are informed about and how we think, determines how we interpret what we see. We observe in relation to our interests and we understand the observations in relation to our knowledge; there is no ‘innocent eye’, every observation has meaning in regard to how we interpret it and we can only interpret in regard to what we know. Harvey saw in relation to his surgical concerns, Picasso in relation to his artistic focus.

12. There is a story about Albert Einstein during his latter years in the United States when he had become a recognizable and revered personality. A mother interested in her son’s well being wrote to Einstein, asking how she could help her child become a great scientist like him. Einstein wrote back ‘read him fairy stories’. The mother, puzzled with this reply wrote again, saying that perhaps he had not understood her query and that she wanted her son to be at the forefront of scientific innovation. Einstein wrote back again suggesting she read her son ‘more fairy stories’.

It might seem strange that preparation to achieve in the sciences should rely on fantasies, but Einstein’s point is that innovation comes from the imagination, the ability to dream beyond the boundaries of established knowledge and to imagine what might be possible. This view contends that creativity is not discipline specific, but applies across intellectual boundaries, certainly within the creative arts, but also in the humanities and sciences alike and thus imagination is relevant to them all. Support for this perspective is found in research by the Canadian mathematician Jacques Hadamard. Some years ago he conducted a survey of the working methods of major mathematicians in the United States, in an attempt to understand their creative processes. He found that in all but a small number of cases these processes did not depend on analytic thinking as one might expect, but on intuitive types of reactions based on visual, auditory or muscular sensations, which they ‘felt’ were correct. Reinforcing the role of imagination, Einstein described his working processes as being guided by signs and images and also muscular sensations, which he combined together to develop his ideas.8

13. Observation is the starting point for any interaction with the world, be it practical or conceptual, for it is how we relate to what is around us and explore reality. Through perception we comprehend our surroundings, relate sensation to understanding, give it meaning and derive our knowledge of reality. Imagination is the counterbalancing journey through the unreal, the opportunity to chart the seas of fantasy and search for realms, concepts and experiences, unfettered by the limitations of the material world. Together, these provide the parameters of experience, on one side governed by the world around us, on the other fed by the world within; together they give us the substance and process for our ideas and their application, the basis of innovation.

14. At present, the most difficult problems facing humanity relate to social and cultural issues, social instability, poverty, environmental degradation and insecurity. All impact on individual wellbeing, resulting in personal suffering, but their greatest effect is on society as a whole. Perhaps the greatest single threat facing contemporary culture results from the terror which results from acts of aggression against civilian populations. In the post 9/11 period, terrorism has entered the consciousness and conversation of governments and civilians around the globe; it is a daily item on news broadcasts, a perceived source of distress and instability and a once remote phenomenon which now impacts on the lives, travel and livelihood of millions. What has become apparent is that despite the discussion, debate, blame and vast expenditure, we have not found affective mechanisms for combating terrorism. We have tightened boarder control, enacted new legislation, boosted intelligence gathering, and built our defense services, but with limited success. This paper proposes that the mechanism for addressing any social problems, no less ‘the war against terror’ should be approached systematically, as are the problems discussed above. We should observe its only too obvious forms, perceive the reasons why it exists and most importantly of all, imagine how it can be solved.

The standard approaches to maintaining security need augmenting by more lateral approaches. It is suggested that addressing security problems through more creative mechanisms is crucial, if we are to combat the impact of terrorism; to see it not as a single entity, but as an aggregation of individual concerns, which result in related attitudes and acts of aggression. Identifying the issues which result in acts of terror enables us to consider the underlying problems, reduce them to their constituent parts and address concerns which might otherwise lead to acts of violence, instead of reacting to the horror of the results. It equips us to observe the issues, perceive their meaning in the context in which they are problematic and imagine possible solutions. In this way we address the details of how to maintain a secure world and not merely acknowledge the generalities of the need to do so. It is proposed that the best way to consider security on both national and global scales is through a think tank approach, with relevant parties exploring the issues and looking for ‘creative ideas’ to provide solutions.

We all have the ability to observe, we all have the ability to perceive, to think about what we observe and acquire knowledge as a result. I suggest that we also have the ability to imagine, to allow our dreams to inspire our actions and wherever we apply our knowledge to do so through innovation, to create a world that is more beautiful culturally, more cared for environmentally, more equitable socially and more secure personally, be it as artist, scientist, economist or as a professional in any discipline. It is through this that our personal potential may be realized, our passion expressed and used to drive the innovation which nourishes society and on which culture depends.

Considering difficult social or cultural situations as problems, parallel to those in an academic domain, allows us the opportunity to develop alternate solutions to address the circumstances, not merely respond with the most obvious, or the easiest path of action; it allows us to explore the potential each situation provides in terms of growth and development. It could be seen as the antithesis of the ‘knee-jerk’ reaction; it invites us to put effort into our human interaction and find mechanisms to work with others rather in competition or conflict with them. If we approach difficult circumstances with a view to being innovative, we have already decided to make the effort to find a constructive solution and apply the creative abilities observation, perception and imagination place at our disposal. Innovation is the test of our ability to react with thought, to look for the positive and eschew the negative in our approach to a peaceful, secure and equitable world.

In resolving problems which can result in conflict, it is important to consider a fundamental characteristic of what makes us human. What separates us from the animals is our ability to discriminate, to choose between the options before us and direct our actions where we decide they may be most effective; we can act in ways other than what is dictated by instinct. There may be circumstances when violence is called for, but when we chose the path of violence, we use that which we share with all living creatures, the instinct toward aggression. Alternately, when we choose to find a solution which eschews violence and steps aside from the aggressive option, we are utilizing an ability which defines our human identity, our sense of discrimination and choice; it is an option which reinforces our humanity.

Notes
1. Da Vinci, Leonardo, Codex on the Flight of Birds, in Leonardo Da Vinci, Reynal and Co. NY.
2. Mc Farland, M. W. (ed), The Wright Brothers’ Papers, 1953.
3. Hoffert, B. The End Justifies the Means, Speculation and Innovation Conference, QUT, 2005.
4. Koestler, Arthur, The Act of Creation, Pan Books, p.182.
5. Koestler, Arthur, ibid.
6. Hoffert, B. J. et al, Art in Diversity:Studies in the History of Art, Longman,1995, p. 110.
7. Hoffert, B. The End Justifies the Means, Speculation and Innovation Conference, QUT, 2005
8. Hadamard, J. The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field, Princeton University Press, 1949.

Bernard Hoffert
Monash University
June, 2006.

Moving Violations,
by Deborah Tannen,
The New York Times, July 1, 2006,
copyright Deborah Tannen,
reproduced by permission of the author

WASHINGTON
Recently, the New York City police arrested 13 men, saying they had groped or flashed women on the subway. Reading the press reports that followed, in which many women told of similar assaults, I was reminded of one of the first academic papers I published - an analysis of how Greek women talked about just such experiences.

I was also reminded of my own experience on the New York subway.

I was 15 and in my first year at Hunter College High School. Taking my usual route to school, I was riding a crowded express train to Manhattan from Brooklyn. At the center of a crush of people holding onto a pole, I became aware - I thought - that my leather purse, which was hanging from my arm, had gotten jammed between my legs. I moved my arm to dislodge it and discovered, to my horror, that the purse moved, but the pressure remained. I stood frozen in fear. When the train pulled into the Prospect Park station, the pressure finally disappeared, and I saw a man in a suit look back at me as he stepped onto the platform.

That was the last time I took an express train to school. Instead I added a half-hour to my commute in order to catch the local, get a seat and keep it all the way to Manhattan. And forever after, I got a queasy feeling when the doors opened at the Prospect Park station. I think I expected that man to get back on.

This memory eventually receded, like the man through the subway doors. But it resurfaced 15 years later when, as a member of a team investigating how people talk about personal experiences, I asked New Yorkers if they'd had any memorable experiences on the subway. Indeed they had. And most of the stories I heard from women were about being groped, flashed, rubbed against or otherwise molested by men.

Around the same time, I spent eight months doing research in Athens, so I decided to record Greek women recounting narratives I could compare to the New Yorkers'. Since most of the subway stories were actually molesting stories, I asked Greek women if they'd ever been molested.

The experiences the Greek women described were similar to those I'd heard from Americans. But there was a difference. Most of the American women - like those recently interviewed in the New York news media - told me they had felt humiliated and helpless and had done or said nothing. Of the 25 stories Greek women told me, only eight concluded with the speaker doing nothing. In the others, she said she had yelled, struck back or both.

One Greek woman told of walking to school with a friend when they were 12 years old, and encountering a man who exposed himself. Their reaction? "We grabbed some rocks and started aiming at his head. How we didn't kill him I don't know. We started to scream out loud." Another said: "I have given smacks. I have given a punch to a sailor. I have given kicks."

She went on to say that when she traveled she kept a rock in her pocket for protection, and she described how she used it on a repulsive man who had been dogging her and a friend on vacation in Venice.

Though my research focused on how the women talked (the Greek women were vivid story-tellers, using the present tense and setting dramatic scenes with dialogues and details), I can't help pondering the differing actions the two groups of women described. Surely some general cultural patterns are at play.

For one thing, most Greeks, like their Mediterranean neighbors, place value on expressiveness, whereas American culture is influenced by the Northern European and British emphasis on public decorum. That's why Americans often mistake animated Greek conversation for argument. Another cultural difference is how readily strangers get involved in others' interactions. I once saw two men arguing on an Athens street; when one raised his hand to strike, he was immediately restrained by a passer-by.

This incident may help explain another Greek woman's account of a strange man who followed her and then approached with unwanted advances. She told me: "I yelled and I gave him a strong smack. He had become so enraged that he jumped at me and he wanted to hit me," but a man who happened to be standing close by "intervened and cursed him and he left." Would she have risked enraging a stranger if she were less confident that another stranger would leap to her aid?

Whatever the reasons for them, the different ways of responding to public molestation led to different emotional reactions. Though many of the Greek women reported feeling anger and fear, they didn't talk about feeling helpless, as many American women did, and as I recall feeling when it happened to me. Equally dreadful was the sense of isolation: Though you're in a crowd, something is happening only to you, and no one else knows.

Speaking out dispels that isolation, as well as the sense of shame that it reflects and reinforces. Knowing that she had acted allowed at least one of my Greek storytellers to transform a potentially traumatic experience into bonding through shared laughter. The rock-wielder said that after the Venetian pest had fled, her friend "was dying of laughter, rolling on the floor," and then "the laughter grabbed me too" and they were both "laughing about how we had thrown him out willy-nilly."

Deborah Tannen is a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University and the author, most recently, of "You're Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation."

Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and the Pathways to Peace
Expected to be published in 2007

Anie Kalayjian
Fordham University

Raymond F. Paloutzian
Westmont College

Draft Date: 6/19/06

Anie Kalayjian
139 Cedar Street
Cliffside Park, NJ 07010-1003
Phone: 201-941-2266
Fax: 201-941-5110, 212 636-7153
Email: Kalayjiana@aol.com
WWW.meaningfulworld.com

Raymond F. Paloutzian
Department of Psychology
Westmont College
Santa Barbara, CA 93108-1099
Phone: 805–565-6233
Fax: 805–565-6116
Email: paloutz@westmont.edu

Overview of Book

Forgiveness can enable people to move beyond the burden due to the deep pain, anger, hatred, grudges, and misunderstanding that are often the result of trauma, whether it is human-induced or the result of natural causes. Although there are numerous books on the market that counsel people in the arts of forgiveness and reconciliation, most are addressed to the individual and suggest prayer, meditation, or other spiritual exercises as a way to begin to forgive and overcome anger, hatred, or alienation. Some of them are couched in terms of a specific religious tradition. Others are more psychological in their approach. Many of the books focus on reconciliation of a specific issue such as healing a couple’s relationship after an affair or forgiving one’s parents. Several books address forgiveness at the communal or societal levels and suggest ways to overcome racial and ethnic strife. In our examination of the available titles, we did not find texts that that deal with the healing of trauma through forgiveness that were comprehensive in scope or sufficient to talk about it at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, familial, communal, and societal levels. Only a broad examination such as this can reveal the similar patterns that occur at all levels. We propose just such a book.

The emphasis of this book is on the larger units of analysis, placing it squarely and properly within the context of a peace psychology series. This means that special attention should be paid to the cognitions and behavior of people in their unique social, historical, and cultural contexts in a way that facilitates our understanding of the structural properties of aggregates of people that promote systemic violence and that show the possibility of changing to promote systemic peacebuilding. Forgiveness and reconciliation are useful elements in this systemic peacebuilding effort. One useful contribution of this book to the peace psychology literature would be to demystify the idea of forgiveness in the minds of scholars and policy makers, i.e., it would no longer be necessary for the idea of forgiveness to be seen as a head-in-the-clouds, lofty ideal that is too far removed from reality to be put into practice. Instead, we hope to illustrate concrete examples of how people can cognitively reframe their interpretation of reality in a way that is both realistic while at the same fosters peace-promoting values and promotes socially just outcomes. Part of the peace building process will require a step by step enhancement of mutual trust, and the processes that nurture trust include those that nurture forgiveness, reconciliation, and occasionally their boundaries and limits. The Journal of Social Issues issue on Peace Psychology recently edited by Christie (2006) serves as a springboard from which to draw these connections.

The multitude of conflicts currently wreaking havoc across the globe and the continuing reports of violence in communities and estrangement within families suggest that despite a saturated market, the message that forgiveness and reconciliation are a necessary foundation to communal living and thus to human survival has not yet gotten through. We think it is time for a novel approach to learning how to move beyond trauma and to forgive. The inclusive, multidisciplinary, multiethnic, multigenerational, and international perspectives and the pathways towards healing trauma that are suggested in the proposed volume are intended to provide such an approach. The authors represent sufficient disciplinary and cultural diversity and the depth and breadth of experience to undertake this groundbreaking effort.

Although the book is multi-authored, it will be designed so that the material is synthetic and integrated. This will be facilitated in at least three ways. First, authors will be given a set of common instructions for the structure and content of the chapters. Each chapter will have a research base and will extend that so that it can be applied in practical ways to concrete situations. Various aspects of case studies will be included for illustrative purposes. Second, after all chapters are in, they will be edited as a whole set in order to build in the degree of synthesis and integration of material that would approximate that which would be achieved in a single authored text. Third, the opening chapter and epilogue will highlight and be built around common themes that emerge from the text. These points are elaborated below.

Christie, D. (2006). Post-Cold War Peace Psychology: More Differentiated, Contextualized, and Systemic. Journal of Social Issues. 62,(1). [Special issue.]

Book Table of Contents

I. Theoretical Perspectives on Forgiveness

1 Raymond F. Paloutzian and Anie Kalayjian: The Role of Forgiveness in Human Affairs: Integrative Themes

2 Robert Massey and Khawla Abu-Baker: An Integrative, Systemic Framework for Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Interconnecting Psychological and Social Processes (rough draft completed)

3 Sheila Fling and Catherine Ducommun-Nagy: Forgiveness Ethics and the Views of Five World Religions (rough draft completed)

4 Raymond F. Paloutzian: The Bullet and the Disease: The Psychology of Meaning in Forgiveness-Nonforgiveness Processes (rough draft 40% completed)

II. Forgiveness at the Individual and Interpersonal Levels

5 Sharon Massey: Mending Tears in the Social Fabric via Reconciliation and Forgiveness: Supporting Human Development in the Individual, Family and Community (rough draft completed)

6 Rivka Meir: Changing Childhood Trauma into Forgiveness (rough draft completed)

7 Hagitte Gal-Ed: The Alternative of Dialogic Intelligence© in Trauma Therapy (rough draft completed)

8 Augustine Nwoye: Promoting Forgiveness Through Restorative Conferencing: Memory and Narrative Processes—A View from Africa (rough draft completed)

III. The Intergroup, Societal, and International Levels

9 Dan Booth Cohen, John Payne, and Tanja Meybur: Forgiveness on a Deeper Level: Healing Trans-Generational Trauma (rough draft completed)

10 Ansley: A Black Perspective on Interracial and Interethnic Forgiveness in the U.S. (rough draft completed)

11 Shivani Nath: The India-Pakistan Partition: Sequaelae of Unresolved Political Conflicts and their Resolution

12 Suliman Giddo: Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Unresolved Conflicts: The case of Darfur

13 Samvel Jesmaridyan: The Meaning of Forgive When the Trauma Continues: A Case Study From Armenia

14 Antoine Rutayisire: Repentance and Forgiveness, Pillars of Genuine Reconciliation—A view From Rwanda (rough draft completed)

15 Anie Kalayjian: Forgiveness in Unresolved and Denied Mass Trauma

16 Paula Greene: An International Perspective: Teaching Forgiveness and Building Peace in Divided Societies (rough draft completed)

17 Eileen Boris: Political Forgiveness and International Affairs (rough draft completed)

18 TBA, author and location to be arranged in collaboration with Dan Christie. Topic: Dialogue Processes at the Intergroup Level, or a chapter by Lederach.

Epilogue: Anie Kalayjian: Forgiveness: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

On 06/07/2006, Zeki Ergas kindly wrote to us:
dear evelin lindner,
since it was inspired partly by your work, i thought i would let you know personally of the publication of my latest essay:
HUMILIATION, HUMAN DIGNITY AND THE ERADICATION OF EXTREME POVERTY IN THE WORLD
you can find it www.stwr.net
best regards,
zeki ergas

Humiliation, Human Dignity and the Eradication of Extreme Poverty in the World
by Zeki Ergas
http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/

Some Preliminary Thoughts
Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains.
~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Wherever one may happen to live on the planet, all modernisation is henceforth westernisation.
~ Amin Maalouf, Les Identités Meurtrières pp. 83-4

Introductory Remarks

The two quotes above are related. Modernisation has caused a great deal of alienation, much of it in the poor and underdeveloped countries. Modernisation has transformed life and the world but it has also caused a great deal of hardship.

The alienation caused by modernisation has taken many forms but, in this short essay, I shall focus on the scourge of extreme poverty which, I believe, is the root-cause of much pain and suffering in the poor countries. If Rousseau’s prophetic statement still resonates so powerfully in our imaginations, it must be because it still captures, some two hundred and fifty years after he wrote it (stunningly it is the opening sentence of the Social Contract), the fate of the majority of humanity in our contemporary societies: ‘Man’ continues to be ‘in chains’ (metaphorically, of course, these days) ‘everywhere’, not only in the poor but also in the rich countries.

And it is safe to affirm that, despite the considerable progress recorded, during these two-and-a-half centuries, in what has come to be known as human rights -- the civil and political, social and economic, and cultural and developmental rights --, these rights are still very far from having been met for the majority of the world’s population. Concerning the second quote, Amin Maalouf -- a distinguished writer of Lebanese origin who is both Arab and Christian, and lives in Paris – in his remarkable book-length essay mentioned above, published in 1998, wrote that, in the last five hundred years or so: ‘Everything that durably influences man’s ideas, or his health, or his environment, or his daily life, is the work of the West … All that is created that is new – whether buildings, institutions, instruments of knowledge, or lifestyles – is in the West’s image.’ Maalouf goes on to observe that that ‘reality’ is lived very differently by those who are part of the (dominant ) Western civilisation, and those who belong to the other (dominated) civilisations. Because, Maalouf notes, the former can continue being themselves during that transformation of their identities; while for the latter, that metamorphosis involves forsaking of a crucial part of themselves, a negative development which creates feelings of bitterness, of humiliation and a loss of self-respect. [1 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)]

I find Maalouf’s hypothesis convincing because it does explain one of the important reasons of the ‘clash’ between the Christian West and Islam. I am not entirely convinced it is a war, but it is certainly a serious confrontation which is largely hostile, and which we need to address –in the long run, however, the American rivalry with China, which is not based on feelings of inferiority on the part of the Chinese, is more dangerous and could lead to a Third World War. To go back to Maalouf’s hypothesis, we need, I believe, to add an important caveat to it, which is: It is true, but only as far as it goes; in other words, it does not go far enough, it is not the whole story, and we need to go further. We need to emphasise that -- as Maalouf himself admits -- the Christian West has, in the last half-millennia, used its superior modernisation, or modernity, to violently subdue and then exploit the populations of much of the rest of the world. As well known, that exploitation took, in the main, the forms of slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism.[2 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)] The first two may be things of the past, but not the second two: neo-colonialism and imperialism are very much alive and well in the contemporary world. The human and material resources of the poor countries of the South continue to be exploited by the rich countries of the North (a broader concept than Christian West that includes North America) [3 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)] by means of an unfair trade and the use of cheap labour. The raw materials and agricultural products exported by the South – copper, tin, iron, rubber, et cetera; and cotton, coffee, tea, cocoa, etc. –have been historically bought at very low prices, while the manufactured products produced and exported by the North have been sold at very high prices. In the 1960s and 1970s, that ‘situation’ used to be known as the ‘deterioration of the terms of trade’ (a term popularised by Raoul Prebish who was then the director of UNCTAD). Admittedly, the rise of the ‘emerging countries’ of China, Russia, India and Brazil (also called the CRIB countries, after their initials) modifies the ‘picture’, but, I believe, does not change the fundamentals.

The exploitation of the South by the North is probably the main reason why half of the world’s population continues to be poor, and one quarter, extremely poor. As it has been repeated ad nauseam the about 1.5 billion people who live in rural areas in Africa, and in despicable urban slums in Asia, Latin America and Africa, are extremely poor. As a result, millions of children continue to die unnecessarily every year from malnutrition and preventable diseases.

Perhaps even worse (to transpose, or adapt, the dictum, ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’) is that poverty is humiliating, and extreme poverty is extremely humiliating. Extreme poverty robs a person of his or her human dignity, making him or her less human in an important sense. That situation is obviously not only unacceptable, but also not viable, and cannot be allowed to continue. Extreme poverty must be eradicated from the surface of the earth by means of a just and equal sharing of the world’s resources.

SMALL SAMPLE OF BIG THOUGHTS CONCERNING OUR SUBJECT AND SOME PERSONAL COMMENTS

From times immemorial great minds have thought long and hard on the big issues concerning human beings, and the world in which they live, with the purpose of not only trying to explain that world, but also of endeavouring to change it for the better. Rather arbitrarily I chose a few big thoughts by great thinkers that I believe are relevant to our topic. These include contributions by the Ancient Greek philosophers (who are ‘incontournables’ as they say in French, or ‘unavoidable’, because their importance to Western civilisation can hardly be overstated), as well as the ideas of a small number of great modern philosophers, novelists and poets. My own, necessarily far more modest, comments are intermixed with, or follow, these august thoughts.

À tout seigneur tout honneur: Heraclitus’ Panta Rei (‘All is in Flux’) is an aphorism on the ever changing nature of all things in the world. Nothing is permanent, or definitive, that pre-Socratic philosopher taught us; which means that nothing, good or bad, stays the same for a long time, bad changing into good, and vice versa. That has two big consequences: it keeps humans hopeful, but also ‘realistic’. Thoreau famously remarked that ‘The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation’. Is it because they lose hope easily? Or is it because they fear death? Nobody knows what happens after death. But what mystifies me is that, given the inescapable reality of death, why human beings do not do what it takes to build a better world in which peace, justice and solidarity prevail. Why human beings, in other words, despite the warnings of all the great religions and philosophies, that everything on this earth is ultimately ‘nothing’ – we all know the famous aphorism by Ecclesiastes, the son of King David and king of Jerusalem himself: ‘Vanity of vanities, it is all vanity’ -- why then human beings, driven by their brutal egos, continue to behave in life greedily, selfishly and insensitively, in search of wealth, success, power and social status? I don’t really have an answer to that question, except quoting a character who, in Gustave Flaubert’s Bouvard and Pécuchet, declares: ‘Your best efforts, even if allowed to continue, would probably have no impact on humanity which will remain stupid.’ Is humanity stupid? Based on what it has achieved in so many fields -- science and technology, and the arts, to mention but these two; who is not awed by the sight of Leonardo’s David, or the Taj Mahal? – the answer must be an emphatic ‘No’. But, if we look at all the cruelty and destruction that human beings have been capable of in History, the answer must be an emphatic ‘Yes’. So: Will man continue to be stupid in that second sense until the final destruction of himself, and of the small planet on which he lives? That question, unfortunately, remains an open one.

Socrates’ famous injunction, ‘Gnothi se auton’ (‘Know thyself’) may well be essential in that respect. Despite Freud, Jung, Adler and a few others, we must concede that human beings are very far from knowing themselves. There are, admittedly, some very big a priori (so to speak) limitations: Human beings do not even know (to repeat these age-old questions): Where they come from?, Why they are ‘here’?, and Where they are going?. In other words, they do not even know if there is a meaning to human life, or if it is a totally random occurrence due to some mysterious events in the Universe -- the ‘Big Bang’ and ‘string’ theorists may claim that they are ‘very close’ to explaining the origin of the Universe but my guess is that, like a traveller in the desert who sees an non-existing oasis and moves towards it, they will never reach it. That essential ignorance is, I believe, compounded by another conundrum, which is that human beings make the most important decisions in their lives -- those concerning love, or the choice of a profession, or where they end up living – not rationally, but intuitively. So will human beings ever realise Socrates’ injunction and know themselves? Probably not. Is that a reason to feel pessimistic about the future of the humanity -- and of the planet? Not necessarily. To go back to Ecclesiastes’ aphorism that everything in this life is nothing, my hope is that the powers that be of this world will realise this and do what it takes to eradicate extreme poverty in the world once and for all.

For a better understanding of the ‘political economy’ [4 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/) ]of the North we need to ‘revisit’ Plato and Aristotle who are, by general consensus, the two most influential philosophers of the Western civilisation. And of the two Aristotle is the more influential because he focuses on what is, while Plato has concentrated on what should be. In other words, we might admire Plato more, but being pragmatic fellows, we have followed Aristotle. That does not mean that we have not tried to follow Plato. We did, but, unfortunately, it did not turn out so well (archetypical examples of that huge failure are, of course, Stalin’s Soviet Union and Mao’s China). So Aristotle is the father of our flawed democracy, that mediocre but least dangerous of all political systems because its deterioration -- unlike monarchy and aristocracy -- does not lead to dictatorship or tyranny. Democracy remains amenable to reform, even when things get to be very bad – like presently in the United States. And that is its force. Western democracies remain mediocre systems with limited and decreasing legitimacy, but they are clearly the best that we human beings have been able to come up with. Which means that, despite all the breast-beating about human rights and democracy, to a large extent, might remains right in our world, as confirmed very clearly by the catastrophic behaviour lately of the only superpower of the world, in the brutal pursuit of its economic interests. But there is no alternative, and we must continue to strive for democracy’s improvement. In that respect, I would like also to mention Aristotle’s maxim of, ‘Evil is the absence of good’. The powers that be of the rich and powerful countries need to be reminded that, not doing ‘evil’ is not enough, and that to build a better world, they must be doing ‘good’ actively, and that does not mean throwing some crumbs but keeping the loaf, but truly sharing the loaf with our less fortunate brothers.

Immanuel Kant’s famous dictum, ‘Categorical Imperative’ -- which the German philosopher defined as, ‘Acting so that every action of yours should be capable of becoming a universal action for all men’ – can help us to achieve that goal. But, alas, the powers that be of the rich and powerful countries are very far from putting that ‘imperative’ into practice, to say the least. In two recent texts, Harold Pinter and Günter Grass emphasised that the political truth is indispensable to humanity if it is to achieve a viable and sustainable world. [5 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)] Will the political truth prevail eventually over the political lies that are the common fare provided by the politicians? Concealing the truth is also a form of lying. Ionesco once said that ‘What we say is less important than what we do not say.’ We must force the politicians not to hide the truth. Citizens and the civil society must be on the forefront of that battle to impose the political truth. But maybe it is a lost cause and it will never happen. So many great thinkers of the past were pessimistic in that respect. Nietzsche’s Zarathustra laments: ‘And I saw a great sadness come over mankind. The best grew weary of their works. A teaching went forth, a belief ran beside it: Everything is empty, everything is one, everything is past!’. In King Lear, Albany darkly prophesises, ‘Humanity must perforce prey on itself / Like monsters of the deep’. Schopenhauer declares, ‘The cosmic will is wicked. The increase of knowledge leads to an increase of human suffering’. Heidegerr predicts, ‘The technological society must in the end self-destruct’. W.B. Yeats, in his famous poem, The Second Coming, wrote ‘ … Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world … / The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity.’ To be sure, Yeats wrote that famous poem on the eve of the First World War, which explains its pessimism, but the last two lines contain a warning that is relevant a century or so later. Admittedly, not only ‘the worst / Are full of passionate intensity’, ‘the best’ are too, as shown by the large number of people in the civil society fighting for a better world. The question is thus: Will ‘the passionate intensity of the best’ be enough? Or will that of ‘the worst’ prove to be stronger? Mark Strand, a Poet Laureate of America, wrote: ‘If you think good things are on their way / And the world will improve, don’t hold your breath. / Just go to the graveyard and ask around.’ I find these lines truly frightening and hope that Strand is wrong. That is why I want to conclude this section with an optimistic quote that belongs to Goethe: ‘As we look inward and discover our natural selves we become more loving human beings.’ Love indeed is the key as I will try to show in the section ‘All you need is love’ -- after the one below.

HUMANITY AT A CROSSROADS [6 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)]

Erwin Laszlo, the President of the Club of Budapest, in a brilliant essay published in the Kosmos Magazine, argues convincingly that mankind is at a crossroads. Two roads branch out from that crossroads, he declares, which will lead humanity either to a ‘breakthrough’ or to a ‘breakdown’. Laszlo goes on to show that, depending on the social, economic, political, cultural and ecological choices that mankind will make in the next ten to twenty years, human civilisation – and the planet Earth – will either enter a new era of ‘peace, ecological balance, justice and solidarity’, or collapse into ‘a dark hole of chaos and anarchy characterised by constant war, scarcity of resources and insecurity’.

In that same issue of the Kosmos Magazine, Hazel Henderson, in an equally brilliant essay -- that complements that of Lazslo is some ways – explains what these crucial choices mentioned by Laszlo may be. Let me note, to begin with, that Henderson is, on the whole, an optimist who believes that the powers that be of the rich and powerful countries can be persuaded -- and are in fact presently, to a certain extent, engaged -- in the ‘reformation’ of the present system of neo-liberal globalisation – which is based, as Henderson herself mentions, on the ‘Washington Consensus of free trade, open markets, privatisation, deregulation, floating currencies and export-led policies’. In other words, Henderson believes that the ‘system’ can be reformed ‘from the inside’, by means of initiatives that she is deeply involved in, such as: Global Compact, Global Corporate Citizenship and Global Reporting Initiative, and so on, which, she hopes, will result in ‘global sustainability’. Henderson also supports a Global Marshall Plan, the Millennium Development Goals, and a series of initiatives -- like: global taxes on arm sales, on currency trading and airline tickets -- whose purpose is to raise big amounts of cash that would be invested in ‘global public goods’, like education, health care, peace-keeping around the world, and so on, to eradicate extreme poverty and promote the development of the poor countries. Henderson interestingly argues that the possibility of reforming the system from the inside is supported by recent discoveries in the ‘neuroscience of the brain’ which appear to show that the ‘human capacity of cooperation, bonding and altruism’ is housed in the fore-brain, or the pre-frontal cortex, which is the seat of rational decision-making, as opposed to ‘fear, competition and territoriality’ that are housed in the ‘reptilian (or limbic) brain’. A hopeful element of that discovery, Henderson explains, is that the activities of the fore-brain are linked to the ‘reproductive hormon oxytocin’ which can be used to stimulate that part of the brain. In other words, human beings can be chemically induced to choose ‘cooperation, bonding and altruism’, and reject ‘fear, competition and territoriality’. [7 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)]

I confess that I am impressed by the ideas of Laszlo and Henderson. I think that there is a lot in them that is valuable and relevant. And yet if I remain somewhat sceptical as to their potential to change the world for the better it is because I believe that, in our contemporary societies, the production and distribution of wealth, and the power and privilege that are derived from them, continue to be determined by what some social scientists call ‘political economy’. As I have argued in a previous essay, our contemporary world is driven mainly by the ‘primacy of reason’, a concept that is mainly used to promote selfish interests, and not by the ‘primacy of love’, a broader concept that would include reason. [8 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)] Privilege seems to me a key concept in that respect. The big relevant question is thus: To what extent are the privileged classes willing to give up their privileges? Not to a significant extent is my answer to that crucial question, because the rich and powerful of this world believe that they deserve their privileges, that they are, in other words, entitled to them. They are also used to them. And for the truly privileged, these privileges are … truly enormous: private jets, yachts, villas in the Caribbean Islands, chalets in the Swiss mountain resorts, living in the best and safe neighbourhoods, sending their kids to the best schools, having access to the most advanced medicine, and so on, and so forth. As Bill Moyers has observed recently, ‘(T)he central fact of our times is a gap between rich and poor that is greater than it has been in half a century.’ And: ‘People suffer most from living in a society that is increasingly unequal and unjust.’ [9 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)] So, it seems to me, they will never agree to a reduction of their privileges willingly. And that is why Henderson’s ‘triple bottom line’ -- that integrates the interests of the ‘people, profit and the environment’ -- appears to me to be unrealistic. Ultimately, therefore (like Robin Hood …), one must take from the rich, in order to give to the poor. Another way to put it is, to repeat myself, we must share the world’s resources more equally and justly. There is no other alternative. [10 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)]

‘ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE‘

In the ‘Judas Gospel’ Jesus, just before he was arrested, tells Judas Iscariot: ‘You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.’ Suddenly Judas, the traitor par excellence, the most despised man in the history of the Western world, undergoes a complete metamorphosis and becomes the most trusted disciple of Jesus, and a great hero who sacrifices his life so that Jesus may accomplish his mission on earth, which is saving a sinful humanity. That, of course, is quite a revelation and changes radically the role played by the Jews in the crucifixion. But there is more, I believe. Another important consequence of the recent publication of the Judas Gospel is that it reminds us of another, similar, discovery that was made, in 1945, also in Egypt (in Nag Hammadi, to be precise, some 200 kilometres to the south of the place where the Judas Gospel was discovered). In that discovery, a dozen other Gnostic (gnosis means knowledge in Greek) ‘gospels’ of the same period were found in a jar. In them are statements that are in contradiction with the canonical ‘truths’ of the Catholic Church, such as, to give but one example: in the ‘Gospel of Thomas’ (dating from circa 110 AD), Jesus himself says, ‘If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you … What you don’t have within you will kill you’. That statement strongly suggests that what counts is one’s direct relationship with God, and that no intermediary is really necessary – a statement that is not very good for the position and prestige of the Catholic church’s establishment . So it should not come as a surprise that the church ‘fathers’ –Paul (Saul of Tarsus) and the four disciples who are the authors of the four ‘canonical’ gospels, Mark, Matthew, Luke and John; and, later, several others (see below) – fought against these Gnostic ‘gospels’ violently, accusing them of ‘heresy’. Why? One convincing explanation is that, in those early days, a fledgling Christian church was facing fierce competition from other ‘churches’ (or sects), not least from Judaism, the mother ‘church’. In other words, the church ‘fathers’ can be seen, to use a modern terminology, as ‘power players’ who, like modern novelists, used their imagination to invent the Christian dogma – Jesus son of God, the immaculate conception, the resurrection, and so on – in order to distinguish and bolster the new infant ‘church’, by giving it some very special attributes. That ‘strategy’ was continued by subsequent early Christian leaders -- Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, in circa 180 AD, and Epiphanus, Bishop of Salamis, in 380 AD, for example -- who violently condemned the Gnostic ‘gospels’ as heresies. To conclude, the methods employed by the Church ‘fathers’ tend to show that competition was no less fierce in those early days than it is today … [11 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)]

Be that as it may, and ultimately (and from a non-Christian point of view), it does not really matter whether Jesus was the son of God, or simply a great reformer. I believe that what really matters is his message of love -- which is universal, since we find it in all great religions and philosophies of the world -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam; and Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism, to mention some of the most important ones. What that message says is that only love can save the world. And that, in turn, means that reason alone -- on which modern (largely Western) civilisation is based, as I mentioned it above – is no longer sufficient to build a better world based on peace, justice, freedom and solidarity. And that it must be enlarged to include love, and so we shall have in the future a world civilisation based, not only on reason, but also on love. So, it looks like John Lennon was right, ‘All you need is love’, but with the caveat that it must also include reason. [12 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)]

CONCLUDING REMARKS

It is only recently that social scientists have come to acknowledge that humiliation and human dignity are key concepts in the understanding of our world so full of injustice, misery and violence. In the last couple of years three important workshops were held -- two at Columbia University, New York, and one in Berlin – in which a large number of researchers presented papers that explore various aspects of humiliation and human dignity, including efforts to provide answers to the following crucial questions: How can humanity put an end to humiliating practices? How can we break cycles of violence caused by humiliation throughout the world that involve hatred, revenge and violence? And, How can human beings establish relations built mutual respect and esteem? Not only classical forms of ‘institutionalised’ humiliation – Apartheid and Colonialism, for example – were the object of papers and discussions, but also humiliation caused by underdevelopment and extreme poverty. [13 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)]

Extreme poverty is coming, in fact, to be recognised -- as Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, remarked at the first session of the new Human Rights Council that was held in Geneva between the 19th and 30th of June, 2006 -- as ‘the most serious and widespread human rights abuse in the world.’ And so it is, unquestionably, as I have argued in a series of short essays, all published on various web sites on the net. [14 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)] It is – together with climate change due pollution, the proliferation of nuclear arms, and the various forms of violence in the form of wars, genocides, ethnic cleansings and terrorism – one of the most important challenges facing humanity today.

Let us be clear on that issue: Extreme poverty is a stain on the human conscience, and a better world based on peace, freedom, justice and solidarity can never be built unless it is eradicated. Again, the only way we can do that is through the sharing of the world’s resources justly and equally. And only the adoption of ‘agape’ -- which means in ancient Greek ‘pure, spontaneous, unmotivated and creative’ love -- as opposed to ‘eros’ or ‘philia’, which either have sexual connotations, or are related to interested friendships; in contra-distinction, Agape which has to do with ‘disinterested love’, is also a ‘love in action’, and, in final analysis, the kind of love that rests upon the idea that all men are brothers.’ [15 (http://www.stwr.net/content/view/986/36/)]

Dr Zeki Ergas ~ STWR Member

Dr Ergas is the founder of Millennium Solidarity Geneva Group (MSGG), www.millennium-solidarity.net (http://www.millennium-solidarity.net/), and Secretary general of International P.E.N.’s Swiss Romand Center, www.penromand.ch (http://www.penromand.ch/)

NOTES

1 Identités Meurtrières, the title of Maalouf’s book, can be translated either as ‘Killing Identities’, or ‘Identities that Can or Could Kill’, which brings to mind the ‘Killing Fields’, a book on the Cambodian genocide by Pol Pot’s bands of assassins that was later made into a film.

2 I dealt with that issue in my essay ‘Settling an Historical Debt as a Means to Build a Better world’, published in various web sites, including that of www.globalmarshallplan.org (http://www.globalmarshallplan.org/)

3 North America – the United States and Canada did not participate in the slave trade and colonialism (they were colonies themselves), except as buyers of slaves, and, during the fifty years or so American occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War of 1898

4 For an explanation of the concept of political economy – which is about the production and distribution of wealth and power in the world – see my essay on ‘The Political Economy of Love and the Eradication of Extreme Poverty’, the Article of the Week in the web site Share The World’s Resources, www.stwr.net

5 Harold Pinter, Freedom of Expression, Power and Terrorism, the acceptance speech for his 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature; Günter Grass, Writing at a time without peace, the inaugural lecture of PEN International’s Congress in Berlin, on 22-28 June 2006

6 Erwin Laszlo, ‘Paths to Planetary Civilisation’; Hazel Henderson,’Beyond Economism – Policies Guided by “Earth Ethics”’, in Kosmos, (Spring/Summer 2006: Vol V, Number 2) www.kosmosjournal.org (http://www.kosmosjournal.org/)

7 I can work both ways, of course. The strategies used by the modern wizards of advertising to manipulate ‘consumers’ are very sophisticated. According to Hazel Henderson, ‘Over US$ 400 billion is spent annually on advertising for (the) mass consumption of goods as an engine of economic growth’. In, Henderson, op cit.

8 See Zeki Ergas, ‘The Political Economy of Love and the Eradication of Extreme Poverty’, doc. cit. in Note 4

9 Andrew Hacker, ‘The Rich and Everyone Else’ in, the New York Review of Books, May 25, 2006.

10 Recently Warren Buffett, the American billionaire who is the second richest man in America, has pledged to give the bulk of his fortune, US$ 37 billion, out of US$ 44 billion, to five charities – including US$ 31 billion to the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation, which already has US$ 31 billion in endowment. There is a tradition in America to give back to society what it is taken from it and the various foundations play a role in this. But that does not change, it seems to me, the global fact that extraordinary privileges are enjoyed by the extremely rich. There has been an increasing number of publications recently showing that the number of the very rich is growing very rapidly.

11 The Judas Gospel, a 1,700 year old papyrus text, was discovered some thirty years ago, close to the Nile river, some 150 kms south of Cairo, Egypt.The story is told, inter alia, in two major articles published in the National Geographic (May 2006) and in the same New York Review of Books article mentioned above.

12 See, ‘The Political Economy of Love …’ doc. cit. in Note 4

13 Two workshops on ‘Humiliation and Violent Conflict’ were held at the Columbia University, New York, on November 18-19, 2004, and on December 15-16, 2005. The third one, entitled ‘Beyond Humiliation: Encouraging Human Dignity in the Lives and Work of All People’ was held in Berlin. Many interesting papers were presented at these three workshops. See, for example E.G. Lindner’s (she is the founder of the Humiliation and Human Dignity Studies at Columbia U.), ‘Humiliation in a Globalizing World: Does Humiliation Become the Most Disruptive Force?’ presented at the November 2004 workshop; and Neil Altman, ‘Humiliation, Retaliation and Violence’, in Tikkun Magazine (January/February 2005). A Journal of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies is published at Columbia University. See also www.humiliationstudies.org (http://www.humiliationstudies.org/)

14 See nine of my essays published on various web sites, including: www.peacejournalism.com (http://www.peacejournalism.com/), www.stwr.net, and www.globalmarshallplan.org (http://www.globalmarshallplan.org/)

15 Cf. Maria Jose Falcon y Tella, A History of Civil Disobedience (Geneva, Editions Diversité, December 2004) p.195

© Share the World's Resources ( STWR )

Search for Common Ground Update June 2006

Yes! Magazine
Summer 2006
Carol Estes, contributing editor

Have soap operas become a method of healing societies at war? In some battle-fatigued areas, they have.

Soap opera as the key to world peace? It's a stretch. But not as big a stretch as you might think. Because we humans - even we digital, post-modern humans -absolutely adore a good story.

Consider for a moment the pervasiveness of narrative in our lives. American adults watch an average of 33 hours of television per week - which is nothing but stories. We make about 1.4 billion trips to the theater each year to see movies, and we spend $24.3 billion to rent or buy movies on DVD and video. What's more, we identify so strongly with the imaginary heroes of these stories that we weep, laugh,and have nightmares about the imaginary things that happen to them.

As literary scholar Barbara Hardy has noted, "We dream in narrative, day-dream in narrative, remember, anticipate, hope, despair, doubt, plan, revise, criticize, gossip, learn, hate, and love by narrative." In short,we humans are creatures of story.

And that can be a very good thing. Through story we climb inside the skin of someone whom we might otherwise never meet or talk to. We live their lives for a few vicarious hours, feel their suffering, their longing, laugh or maybe cry with them. In a world where hatred of "them" is the leading cause of death, empathy is a powerful tool.

That's why soap opera has become "one of the most widely recognized methods of healing societies at war and mobilizing people to work across divisions," say conflict resolution practitioners and scholars Marco Konings and Ambrose James.

And that's why career peacemaker Susan CollinMarks - executive vice president of Search for Common Ground and a woman who learned the importance of stories while ducking tear gas canisters and rubber bullets in the townships of South Africa -now finds herself making radio soaps.

Conflict resolution 101

If there is a "classic" model for the relatively peaceful transformation of violent conflict, South Africa is it. Not because they did everything right, but because they did it first. When South Africans decided, in1 990, to transform their culture of race-based violence and oppression to one of egalitarian democracy - and to do it by employing conflict resolution techniques on an unprecedented scale - they were sailing bravely into uncharted and treacherous waters.

The world eagerly followed their progress. Televisionscreens and newspaper pages around the globe were filled with stories of the Nobel Peace Prizewinning partnership of two enemies, F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela, and the high-level talks in which the Nationalist government negotiated itself out of power.

But by focusing on the top, the media not only missed the best stories, they missed the real lesson from South Africa. Peace, it turns out, is not made by national leaders in high-profile negotiations. The real heavy lifting in the peace process occurs well below the radar of the international media, at the regional and local levels.

Marks was a member of the Western Cape RegionalPeace Committee, set up under South Africa's 1991National Peace Accord. The ground-breaking accordset up a country-wide structure of national, regional, and local peace committees. "In the interests of defusing the violence," Marks says, "people from nearly every sector were willing to work with, rather than against, one another."

Committee members wore beepers so they could be summoned day or night. And they repeatedly were. They intervened in crises, sometimes physically standing between enemies in a confrontation. They monitored demonstrations, mediated conflicts between the police and the local residents, between provincial representatives and squatter warlords, between youth and the education department, between taxi organizations and commuters, and between competing civil and political organizations. They established peace committees, lobbied government ministers, trained people in conflict-resolution skills, and introduced peace education into the schools. But again and again, no matter what kind of work the committee was doing, Marks and her fellow committee members found themselves listening to stories - hundreds of them.

"Everyone has a different truth," Marks says. The work of peacebuilding in South Africa and elsewhere, she has found, is largely a rehumanizing process, calming fears by destroying dehumanizing stereotypes. When two enemies truly hear and understand each other's stories, they discover their shared humanity. And that, says Marks, is the common ground they can build on.

Turning on to soap opera

South Africa's democratic elections in April 1994 were a stunning achievement for the thousands of peace makers, like Marks, who'd worked so hard forfour years. But they had no time to celebrate. That same April, ethnic divides between Hutus and Tutsis, whipped up by hate radio, ignited a slaughter in Rwanda that killed 800,000 people within 100 days. And in the Balkans, the death toll from ethnic conflict and genocide in the former Yugoslavia climbed to over 200,000.

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) quickly set upfield offices in both Macedonia, a multiethnic and still peaceful region near Kosovo, and in Burundi, Rwanda's Golden Kids youth reporter working at Search for Common Ground in Liberia.

The work of peacebuilding in South Africa and elsewhere is largely a rehumanizing process, calming fears by destroying dehumanizing stereotypes. When two enemies truly hear and understand each other's stories, they discover their shared humanity, Search for Common Ground neighbor to the south. They planned to apply the lessons they'd learned in South Africa to keep the violence from spreading.

But in these countries there was no National Peace Accord, no structure of local and regional peace committees with hundreds of organized, trained peaceworkers. How could one organization with a small staff and limited resources transform an atmosphere of violence in a nation verging on lethal conflict?

The easy answer to the big-impact-with-a-smallstaff dilemma is to use the media to promote your message. The hard part is getting people to listen, especially in conflict zones.

"People in conflict zones quickly tire of political speeches, debates, and reports of more violence," observes Francis Rolt, radio director of CommonGround Productions. They face a steady diet of bleak, discouraging, frightening news, and they simply lose hope.

So they tune out the news - and tune in to the soaps. That's how it happened that SFCG opened a radio station in Burundi in 1995.There are others who use soap operas to educate or to change behaviors: Wear condoms. Don't beat your wife. Send girl children to be educated, and so on.

But Burundi's Studio Ijambo pioneered soap opera for peace with Umubanyi niwe Muryango ("Our Neighbors, Our Family"), a show that follows the daily lives of two neighboring families, one Tutsi, one Hutu. And, in a country where 87 percent of the people listen to the radio, the strategy worked. Burundi remained relatively peaceful, and 82 percentof those responding to a recent survey felt that the programs of Studio Ijambo had greatly helped reconciliation.

Then in 1999, SFCG discovered another story-based format that became spectacularly successful. In Inkingi y'ubuntu ("Heroes"), individuals who had risked their lives to save someone of a different ethnic group told their stories - Tutsis told of saving Hutus, and Hutus described rescuing Tutsis. Just telling these stories was an act of bravery. Admitting that you saved an enemy exposes you as disloyal to your ethnic group; in the same way, publicly thanking someone who saved you exposes that person as a traitor to his or her ethnic group. Nevertheless, 200 heroes have come forward to tell their stories.

"We thought this show would run for six months, maybe a year," says Marks. "It's been running now for five years!"

In Macedonia, SFCG created a television drama for children. In Nashe Maalo, families from three ethnic backgrounds - Macedonian, Albanian, and Roma -live together in a magical, talking apartment house. The building advises the children who live there on the problems and conflicts in their lives. The childrenof the three families become fast friends, despite differences among their parents.

Both the popularity of Nashe Maalo and its impact have been remarkable. Almost three-fourths of the children in Macedonia watched the show, and research has shown that before viewing the series,only 30 percent of them would have invited a child of another ethnicity into their home; after watching just eight episodes, that figure doubled. Although the last episode aired in 2003, SFCG has found ways to develop outreach activities based on the show: live theater, puppet theater, a magazine with a parent-teacher guide, a music CD, and a knowledge quiz.

In Sierra Leone, the problem was not ethnic conflict but the complete failure of government. Former child soldier Emilia Taylor now is a youth journalist with Talking Drum Studio in SierraLeone. The studio's radio soap opera, AtundaAyenda ("Lost and Found"), is aimed primarilyat youth, tackling such hot-button issues as elections, truth and reconciliation, and human rights. It has achieved an astonishing 90 percent listenership.

A decade of vicious warfare had left 50,000 dead, thousands mutilated, and 2 million displaced. An estimated 27,000 children had been used as child soldiers. Gangs of youth - bored, destitute, hopeless,and furious - roamed the streets.

So SFCG's Talking Drum Studio created AtundaAyenda ("Lost and Found"), a radio soap opera that airs five times a week. Aimed primarily at youth, it tackles such hot-button issues as elections, truth and reconciliation, and human rights. It has achieved an astonishing 90 percent listenership, according to an independent evaluation; more importantly, 80 percent of its listeners regularly discuss the issues it raises with family and friends at bars, markets, and meeting places.

Two thousand episodes later

SFCG now produces hit soap operas not only in Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Macedonia, but in Liberia, the Congo, Angola, Indonesia, Ukraine, and the Palestinian Territories. In each of these places, the staff of SFCG use the shows as jumping-off points for other projects - for raising issues that can't be talked about on a personal level, as starting points for community meetings, and as catalysts for focus groups on national issues simultaneously addressed through other SFCG radio programs. Through the humble soap opera, they've opened dialogue between bitter enemies in countries around the world and helped all sides understand their differences and act on their commonalities.

But perhaps you're not convinced - maybe you still think soaps are only for couch potatoes with too much time on their hands. One last story, then, for you.

One day the generator broke down at the radio station that broadcasts Atunda Ayenda, the most popular radio soap opera in Sierra Leone. As station staff tried to fix the problem, two military vehicles pulledup outside the station, spraying rocks and dust. Armed soldiers jumped out and came running into the station.

Their demand?

Hand over a tape of the day's episode of Atunda Ayenda. If the soldiers didn't get to hear it, the officers told them, they would certainly mutiny.The folks at the station handed over the tape, the soldiers sped off , and a catastrophe was averted.

Or was it? Tune in next week to find out.

DIGNITY INTERNATIONAL MONTHLY NEWSBULLETIN - June 2006

DIGNITY NEWS

*** East Africa: Call for Applications – Deadline Approaching (12 JULY!!)
This is the last week to apply for the Learning Programme on Human Rights in Development that will take place in Tanzania from 4-14 September.
Applicants should be from one of the following countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Applicant profile: Development actors from grassroots, national, regional and international development NGOs that are beginning to integrate human rights in development work including NGOs beginning work on Rights Based Approaches. Applicants should be in key positions within their organisations and with solid experience and responsibility in a range of areas, including programming, advocacy and campaigning.
The programme will be based on the rich development experience of the participants themselves who, in a non-formal and participatory learning framework will explore together the meaning of human rights in development work and how integration of human rights into development work translates into concrete strategies and development programming at the grassroots and international levels.
The programme will be organised by Dignity International in partnership with Tanzania Council on Social Development (TACOSODE) and Hakijamii (Centre for Economic and Social Rights).
If you have difficulties accessing the documents from the website and would like the documents to be sent via e-mail, please send a mail to applications@dignityinternational.org
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 12 JULY 2006

*** Learning Programme on using HRBAs to Tackle Poverty
From 26-30 June, the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Women’s Human Rights Alliance in co-operation with Dignity International organised a 5 Day Residential Training Programme on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights with a focus on women’s human rights.
The programme was attended by 25 participants active on women’s human rights from all over Ireland. The goal of this programme was to equip participants with a deeper knowledge of human rights based approaches and how they can integrate this approach into their daily work. The programme also aimed to provide participants with a better understanding of ESC rights and to equip them with the skills and tools necessary to become active in promoting and defending ESC rights and use such tools in their lobbying and campaigning work to combat women’s poverty and inequalities between women and men.
The five day programme was designed to balance theoretical/technical inputs with participatory exercises and group work with substantial time devoted to the tackling of a case study. This helped participants in the planning of practical actions to transfer the learning back to their own organizations.
Dignity was represented by Jerald Joseph, Advisor on the Capacity Building Programme.
Noirin Clancy, Coordinator of Women’s Human Rights Alliance and chief organiser of the programme said: "It was a wonderful week, participants left the programme feeling very stimulated by all the learning on human rights and using new strategies in their work.  It was tough and challenging too with a lot of input and new ideas but we also laughed a lot and had great fun! Jerald had us playing games and powerful exercises, which was a really good way of helping participants process the learning. Working on the case studies really got people to grips with using the conventions and when they did their presentations they were amazed themselves all they had taken in over the 5 days.  It was our first time to run such a programme in Ireland so it was great being able to draw on the experiences of Dignity and work with such a skilled trainer like Jerald.   Since we are only starting to use human rights based approaches in Ireland we hope it will be the first of many such collaborations with Dignity."
A full report is currently under preparation.
Further information on this programme can be obtained from Mary Ruddy [mruddy@ihrc.ie] of the Irish Commission on Human Rights and Noirin Clancy [womenshumanrights@eircom.net] of Women's Human Rights Alliance.

*** Get Up – Stand Up: What Follows?
Community leaders met yesterday on 4 July in Kiambiu, Nairobi to concretise the action plan that was put forward at the Get Up Stand Up Community Leaders Learning Programme from 20-27 May. The action plan covers a range of areas including: Training of trainers to take human rights learning deeper into the communities, a grassroots mobilisation agenda for the World Social Forum that will take place in Nairobi in January 2007, the planning of 2006 human rights week in December, and budget tracking around devolved funds which are from a variety of sources intended to assist the communities but never reach the intended destination. Dignity International has also sent some inputs into the meeting to strengthen community follow up action.
For further information, please contact Hakijamii, Centre for Economic and Social Rights at Hakijamii@wananchi.com

OTHER NEWS

*** Colombia Concerns
Reports are coming in from a variety of sources on the excessive use of police force  in the evictions in Colombia.
The OMCT - World Organisation against Torture (Appeal - June 23) denounced the excessive use of police force during the eviction of a homeless community from their building in Aguablanca District, City of Cali (Department of Valle del Cauca). According to the information received, on 16 June 2006, at 3 a.m., the eviction process was completed. The government force was comprised of soldiers, motorcycle policemen and the National Police’s Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron (Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios, ESMAD). Unannounced, they surrounded the community of nearly 1.200 families, who were sleeping in the building where they had lived for four months, in a sector known as "Siete Palos y Brisas del Bosque", near the "Isaías Duarte Cancino" Hospital, Commune 15, in Aguablanca District. 
According to the reports, the above mentioned building’s inhabitants were severely injured and evacuated, beaten with truncheons and kicked. Then, the government force began to set fire to the improvised homes, destructing the scarce goods the above mentioned community had: gas heaters, clothes, mattresses, televisions, among other possessions. Moreover, they appropriated for themselves cylinders of combustibles used for gas heaters. Because of this, the inhabitants claimed that during the event, they lost all their savings and possessions.
The government force used small tanks and heavy machines in order to tear down the improvised homes and indiscriminately scattered teargas grenades. Furthermore, they treated the population with crude words and respected neither children nor pregnant women. Additionally, they snatched children without any authorization, and took them to the offices of "Bienestar Familiar", as some parents claimed in the reports. News about the situation of these children has not yet been disclosed.     OMCT calls for immediate action       
OMCT calls for immediate action.  
Also in the same Department, Departamento del Valle del Cauca, in Resguardo La Maria, similar   event s took place – in accordance with the information received at the International Secretariat of Dignity International. In mid-May, in retaliation for manifestations of indigenous, afro-descendants and ‘campesino’ groups against free trade agreements (a journey of fight called  "Por la vida y la Soberania Nacional" – For Life and National Sovereignty) , the Army and the same National Police’s Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron (Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios - ESMAD) invaded the village with helicopters, tanks and tear gas. The police disrespected, abused, destroyed, evicted and ill-treated. Over 70 people were injured (children and pregnant women inclusive).

*** WSF 2007 - Preparatory Consultation Already Started!
The 7th World Social Forum - to be held from January 20 to 25, in Nairobi ( Kenya) – faces the challenge of being even more linked to concrete actions to build Another Possible World. What the WSF has been looking for is to accomplish one of its aims, stated on its Charter of Principles: The World Social Forum is an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and interlinking for effective action .
Bearing that in mind, a preparatory consultation is being launched – http://consultation.wsf2007.org (http://consultation.wsf2007.org/) - an electronic space created to start preparing the 7th WSF. This is the 1st step on the process towards WSF 2007 is a preparatory consultation on actions, campaigns and struggles in which organisations, networks and/or entities participating in the WSF process are engaged. Consultation is open to all organisations who have registered on the www.wsf2006.org site for the polycentric events OR who are getting registered presently for the WSF 2007. If you are already a registered member, login to this site using the menus at the left.
The deadline to send your answers to the consultation is next July 30 th.
WSF Kenya: http://www.socialforum.or.ke (http://www.socialforum.or.ke/)

*** CIVICUS World Assembly: Where do We – Civil Society – Stand?
The 6th CIVICUS World Assembly - Power to the people and peace for all - took place in Glasgow, Scotland from 21-25 June 2006. The CIVICUS World Assembly is a forum for international civil society representatives to get together, exchange ideas, experiences and build strategies for a just world.
Some comments and reactions:
Julius Court, Overseas Development Institute (ODI): "The key thing that has come up is the question of accountability and legitimacy. Civil society was the darling in the 1990s. But it has been challenged. It is now struggling to find solutions."
 Amani Kandill, director of the Arab Network for NGOs - "Where is civil society really situated? Is it informally close to people and therefore able to communicate in that tone? Or does it – the civil society of the North anyhow – seem as conventionally removed from people who need it most as the structures of government? Or, is it none of the above?"
CIVICUS Secretary General Kumi Naidoo - "During the Meeting, there was growing recognition that civil society has a responsibility to strengthen itself but also needs to breathe new life into formal democracy."
See the Webcast of the World Assemby (http://www.civicusassembly.org/English/BroadCast/ConnectHome.aspx)
The Assembly Report and Plan of Action should soon be available from the Civicus Website (http://www.civicus.org).
For the Terra Viva (Inter Press Service) coverage of the Civicus World Assembly, please see http://www.ipsterraviva.net (http://www.ipsterraviva.net/tv/civicus/default.asp)

NGOs Endorse Code of Conduct to Promote Transparency - "Because of the growing roles played by NGOs in society and the confidence they inspire, NGOs need to have a code of conduct in place", Mathurin Nna, professor of political science, Cameroon.
Eleven international NGOs such as Oxfam International, Action-Aid International and Amnesty International endorsed the document in the Scottish capital on June 6, ahead of the CIVICUS Assembly. In their statement, the NGOs said: "In addition to an internal desire to be transparent and accountable, the accountability charter also seeks to demonstrate that NGOs deeply value public trust, do not take it for granted and are committed to sustaining and deepening that trust. This initiative comes at a time when the non-profit sector is coming under closer scrutiny, both from those who want it to flourish and those who seek to curtail NGO activities".
Campaigners hope that the charter will eventually be adopted by all civil society organisations. This is "an important initiative which will lead the non-profit sector toward greater social responsibility, transparency and ethical behaviour", said Marie Ngouanfo, President of the Association for Equitable Development, an NGO based in Cameroon, which kick-started the Charter process.
See http://www.ipsnews.net (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33758)

*** World Urban Forum – An Appeal to Respect the Human Right to Adequate Housing
Miloon Kothari – UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, in his speech to the World Urban Forum (19-23 June, Vancouver) gave the delegates a glimpse of urban forced evictions worldwide. He said: "We are witnesses to large-scale evictions around the world today. We are also witnessing a deepening of the global housing and living conditions crisis as detailed in the UN-Habitat State of the World Cities Report 2005-2006. Such a reality makes a mockery of agreed MDG's and other internationally agreed targets, goals and commitments, including those detailed in the Habitat Agenda. I call on all actors at the World Urban Forum to unequivocally uphold the human right to adequate housing and oppose forced evictions as a means of achieving 'development'. I urge UN-Habitat, OHCHR, the newly formed UN Human Rights Council and other international bodies to play a larger role in holding States accountable to their human rights commitments, including halting the practice of forced evictions. I urge the world's governments to abide by their international human rights commitments to uphold the human right to adequate housing especially for the millions of women, men and children that continue to be forced to live in inadequate and insecure housing and living conditions".
Read Miloon's full speech (http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EKOI-6QY52H?OpenDocument)
For an Assessment by the Habitat International Coalition and the Housing and Land Rights Network on the Third World Urban Forum, see http://www.hlrn.org (http://www.hlrn.org/news_show_user.php?id=160)
The Third World Urban Forum 2006 brought together some 10,000 participants from over 100 countries. The Forum had, as its main theme, "Our Future: Sustainable Cities – Turning Ideas into Action". You can already read the Forum's final press release (http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?ID=3305&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0)
For the final report and action plan, see http://www.wuf3-fum3.ca (http://www.wuf3-fum3.ca/pdf_other/un_report_en.pdf)

*** Human Rights Council - 1st Session
The first meeting of the newly established Human Rights Council took place in Geneva, from 19 to 30 June – it meant the new beginning for United Nations’ efforts to promote and protect fundamental freedoms worldwide. T he Human Rights Council concluded its first session adopting eight resolutions, three decisions and two statements by the President. During the two-week session, the new body addressed a range of issues, exchanging views with representatives of some special procedures, the Sub-Commission and treaty bodies, holding substantive debates on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006; the situation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine; support for the Abuja Agreement; avoiding incitement to hatred and violence for reasons of religion or race; the human rights of migrants; and the role of human rights defenders in promoting and protecting human rights.
Peggy Hicks, Global Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch said: "The new Human Rights Council must be more than the dysfunctional old commission by another name. The new members must reject business as usual and instead find new and more effective ways to help the victims of human rights violations across the globe". (Full Article) (http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/06/16/global13567.htm)
For some other NGO reactions about the first meeting of the Human Rights Council - Amnesty International (http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGIOR410112006)
Some written NGOs statements presented at the 1st Session:
http://www.ishr.ch/hrm/HRC/Session1/NGO/MargGroups.pdf
http://www.ishr.ch/hrm/HRC/Session1/NGO/DDRIP.pdf
http://www.ishr.ch/hrm/HRC/Session1/NGO/JointCEDeng.pdf
http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter (http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/policy/unadvocacy/HRC%20June%202006.pdf)

PUBLICATIONS

*** From Human Rights Commission to Human Rights Council - More than a change of name?
On May 12th, only a few days after the election of the 47 members of the Human Rights Council, the Swedish Church, the Swedish UN Association, Save the Children Sweden and the Swedish NGO Foundation for Human Rights, held a seminar to discuss the new council’s prerequisites and challenges when strengthening the human rights work of the UN. Participated did Peter Prove from the human rights unit of the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, Klas Nyman, head of the human rights unit within the Swedish Foreign Ministry and Simone Ek from Save the Children Sweden. Moderating was Anita Klum, Secretary General of the Swedish NGO Foundation for Human Rights.
Source – Swedish NGO Foundation for Human Rights

ANNOUNCEMENTS

*** EAPN seeks Policy and Development Officer
The European Anti-Poverty Network is seeking a Policy and Development Officer. Candidates are expected to have a minimum of four years relevant work experience. Closing date for receiving the application: Friday 14 July 2006.
Completed Application Forms should be sent by email to coralie.flemal@eapn.skynet.be

*** CIDESC’s Newsletter – 1st issue
CIDESC – the International Centre on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – has recently released the 1st issue of its quarterly newsletter. To receive CIDESC news, please visit the website (http://www.esc-rights.org) and subscribe to their mailing list.

*** From COHRE - latest documentary film & call for nominations
Lyari - Highway of Tears: a documentary focusing on the issue of forced evictions through the case of the Lyari Expressway in Karachi, Pakistan. The film was launched at a world premiere screening at the World Urban Forum in Vancouver, Canada on Friday 23 June. If you would like a copy of "Lyari - Highway of Tears", please send your details to: documentary@cohre.org
COHRE's 2006 Housing Rights Awards (remainder) - any person or group can make one or more nominations for each of the 3 Award categories: Violator (2 Awards), Protector (for a government or institution, 1 Award) and Defender (for an individual, 1 Award). If you know of any governments, institutions or individuals who should receive either praise for their upholding of housing rights or condemnation for violating these rights, please let us know. Nomination forms can be downloaded at http://www.cohre.org/nominations (http://www.cohre.org/nominations/) and should be sent to awards2006@cohre.org no later than 15 July 2006.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS - HIGHLIGHTS

*** 2nd World Forum on Human Rights
From 10-13 July 2006, in the city of Nantes, France will be taking place the 2 nd World Forum on Human Rights. The main objective for the 2006 Forum is to be a centre for unrestricted dialogue in which all actors from the field of Human Rights can participate equally and where they can create and reinforce international solidarity networks for promoting, defending and implementing Human Rights all over the world. The 2006 Nantes Forum will focus on the role of cities and local authorities in implementing rights more efficiently in their different jurisdictions.

This is a monthly electronic news bulletin of 'Dignity International: All Human Rights for All'. Dignity International does not accredit, validate or substantiate any information posted by members to this news bulletin. The validity and accuracy of any information is the responsibility of the originator.

If you are working in the area of human rights with a special attention to different aspects of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, we would love to hear from you. To contribute, email us at info@dignityinternational.org [info@dignityinternational.org?subject=information]

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
July 4, 2006

**********

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim-Western relations.
*This service is also available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and French. You can subscribe by sending an email to cgnewspih@sfcg.org [cgnewspih@sfcg.orgcgnewspih@sfcg.org], specifying your choice of language.
*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 an archive of CGNews articles and other information, please visit our website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).

**********

ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

5. We Muslims have work to do by Salim Mansur
Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario and a columnist at Canada's Sun Media, Salim Mansur, writes that "Muslim Canadians, as Muslims elsewhere in Western societies, have felt increasingly besieged for some time now, both from outside their community and from within." Asking who is to blame, he looks inward saying, "we have inherited a culture of denial, of too often refusing to acknowledge our own responsibility for the widespread malaise that has left most of the Arab-Muslim countries in economic, political and social disrepair," and highlights where shifts in ideas, emotions and actions are necessary.
(Source: Toronto Sun, June 10, 2006)

**********

ARTICLE 1
~Youth Views~
A nuclear-free zone in the Middle East
Nancy El-Gindy

Cairo - Iran's potential to obtain nuclear weapons and the 'threat' to the world this represents is seen by most Westerners as a serious crisis. While the Bush administration and the European Union have tried hard to provide disincentives to Iran to stop its nuclear activities by threatening to use sanctions and even force, this has done little to stop Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Conversely, a recent proposal involving incentives to stop uranium enrichment has been met with the reply that the Iranians will answer by late August, a date Western foreign ministers have stressed is far too long for them to wait.

Arabs and Muslims alike, however, have seen Bush's attack on Iran's nuclear project as an example of the misuse of power and yet another indicator of America's double standards.

It can be argued that the United States is attempting to stop Ahmadinejad because if Iran becomes a nuclear power it can destabilise the balance of power in the region, possibly pushing other Arab and Muslim to try to acquire nuclear weapons in the face of a stronger, much more militarily-capable Iran.

Because nuclear power gives states a bargaining chip and is used as a deterrent, this in turn would ultimately weaken the United States' ability to influence the course of events in the region, and possibly lead to nuclear war.

The United States sees itself as a "benevolent hegemon" and therefore reserves the right to maintain nuclear weapons to protect itself as well as the world from rogue regimes and from threats to international and domestic security. Few countries bother to dispute this, since no country wishes to see the deterrence-backed status quo -- peace between the world's major nuclear powers (the US, China and Russia) -- upset.

In the Arab world, acceptance of this status quo is not quite as prevalent, which is part of the reason why even anti-Iranian Arabs dislike the pressure on Iran. U.S. support for Israel, currently the only nuclear power in the region, means the U.S. drive to force Iran to give up its nuclear weapons is seen as illegitimate. Arabs are quick to point out that the US may not be the peace-loving, responsible power it claims to be, given its many wars overseas and its status as the only country ever to have used nuclear weapons.

Despite its harsh record of oppression and suppression of the Palestinians, Israel is an ally and client of the United States, thus it is allowed to be 'nuclearised.'

Apart from a desire to challenge Israel's position in the Middle East, Iran's apparent drive to build nuclear weapons has much to do with its own near-term security concerns. Thus far, none of the Western powers have made proposals that address these legitimate concerns.

First, Turkey, an ally of Israel and the US, lies on Iran's north-western border, and both sides have accused each other of supporting insurgent movements within their respective borders. Another American "base" that Iran has difficulty with is Azerbaijan, which has been trying for years to become a member of NATO and is very close to Turkey.

Indeed, Azerbaijan already plays host to an American military presence. The two countries are engaged in disputes over Caspian Sea oil resources, and Iran has threatened to take military action if Azerbaijan attempts to develop the oil rich Caspian Sea on its own.

Its geographic position at the centre of Asia also makes Iran feel incredibly vulnerable. Turkey is protected by NATO, while neighbours Pakistan and India both possess nuclear weapons, and Iran is separated only by the Caspian Sea from an increasingly nationalistic Russia. What's more, American troops are present in three neighbouring countries.

With a security situation that would give pause to even less paranoid regimes, it is no surprise that Iran is stalling and probably continuing its nuclear research. Given the great advantages that Israel, with its better technology and numerous nuclear weapons systems, holds over the Arab world, ultimately the only way to restrict nuclear weapons proliferation in the region will be to establish a nuclear free zone in the Middle East, and require that Israel (who officially will not admit or deny it has nuclear weapons) give up its own nuclear arms. Even if military strikes or sanctions can disrupt Iran's program, the imbalance of nuclear power in the Middle East means it is inevitable that another country will at some point attempt to acquire nuclear weapons to counterbalance security threats. If not Iran, perhaps it will be Iraq in ten years time under a new dictator, or even Saudi Arabia, if the pro-Western royal family were to be toppled.

If the West is truly concerned about peace in the Middle East and restricting the spread of nuclear weapons, it must end the double standards and begin promoting a solution that will ensure that countries have no incentive to build nuclear weapons -- a regional nuclear-free zone that includes Israel.

###
* Nancy El-Gindy is a student at the American University in Cairo and a former participant in the Soliya Arab-American online dialogue program. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), July 4, 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
Muslims in Britain -- 'key part of our modern, multicultural society'
Lord Triesman

London - I am often surprised when I hear people talking as if Britain's encounter with Islam and the Muslim world is something new, stretching back a mere few years, like two people in the early stages of a relationship, just beginning to discover who the other really is and what they stand for.

The truth is that Muslims have been an integral part of Britain and of our way of life, at home and abroad, for centuries. The British Museum in London contains an 8th century gold coin minted by King Offa of Mercia with Arabic text on both sides. No one really knows why Offa would have inscribed a coin with Arabic text, but it does represent one of the earliest known connections between Britain and the Islamic world.

Contacts continued between an advanced and civilised Islamic civilisation and a backward and impoverished West throughout the Middle Ages, with Europe and Britain being the main benefactors, inheriting a rich scientific and philosophic tradition, universities, advances in medicine, mathematics and countless other benefits, which triggered the Renaissance and allowed Europe to slowly emerge from the Dark Ages.

Over the last two centuries, Muslims have settled in the UK in increasing numbers, to the point where there are an estimated two million Muslims in the UK today. The first purpose-built mosque opened in Woking in 1889 and in 1940 the government donated £100,000 towards the building of the first mosque in London --now the Regents Park Mosque -- in recognition of the bravery and courage of Muslim soldiers who fought and died for Britain in World War I. Today there are over 1,200 mosques across the UK and Islam is by far the second religion in the UK in terms of following.

Today, Britain's Muslims are central to our political, business and social life. There is an increasing number of Muslims in the armed forces, in the police and in parliament. For example, there are four Muslim MPs, five Muslim members of the House of Lords, one Muslim MEP (Member of European Parliament) and over 200 Muslim councillors. They are there, in positions of great influence, because of their skills, their talent and their commitment to creating a better and fairer society for everyone.

British Muslims, of course, enjoy the benefits of education, healthcare, democracy, freedom of religious expression, gender equality, tolerance and opportunity like everyone else in the UK. The government's policy is to help people of non-British origin to integrate into our society, while encouraging them to maintain their cultural identities if they so wish. Britain is a better, more interesting and richer place because of this diversity and to talk of "British culture" these days is meaningless without referring to the broad melting pot of cultural and ethnic influences of which our society consists.

That is why it is so tragic that there are people who want to exploit our differences in order to create religious and ethnic hatred. The fact that the London bombings last year did not lead to a widespread pattern of reprisals and counter-reprisals is a testament to the solidarity and mutual respect within our society. However, this doesn't mean that there aren't occasional difficulties in inter-community relations; it is all too easy for misunderstanding and antipathy to develop. We must continue to work tirelessly to minimise such unnecessary tensions and ensure that the tiny minority of racists and extremists does not get a foothold.

There are still difficulties faced by Muslims in the UK. For example, they are statistically more likely to live in the poorer areas throughout the country. However, the government is expanding its efforts across government departments to improve opportunity and tackle inequality in every community. In fact, there has been a jump in university registration by Muslims in recent years, which is a strongly positive indicator of better future prospects.

The world is becoming a smaller place and people of different cultures and religions are having to learn to live together as never before. Of course, this will result in tension from time to time, but this also presents tremendous opportunities. We have a lot to learn from each other and this exchange of new ideas creates the dynamism which pushes us forward intellectually, scientifically and culturally.

Historically, when we look at classical Islamic civilisation, this presents a model of how people of a diverse mixture of races and creeds can live together and learn from each other to create a cultural whole much greater than the sum of its parts. Although relationships between the various communities were by no means always harmonious or straightforward, this does provide an early example of a multicultural society, different from but not alien to the one which we aspire to establishing today. This diversity resulted in a creative and eclectic mixture of ideas which gave rise to literary masterpieces and scientific achievements which were far ahead of their time.

Obviously, historians will argue about the exact reasons for the flourishing of this civilisation, but it is clear that the inspiration of Islam -- a religion which, my Muslim colleagues always stress to me, teaches tolerance and peaceful coexistence -- had a major role in creating this progressive model for society.

###
* Lord Triesman is the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Jordan Times, June 27, 2006
Visit the website at www.website.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 3
Madeleine Albright, John Danforth and Andrew Kohut
David T. Cook

Washington, DC - As the war in Iraq rages, it is not surprising that there is ill will between Muslims and Westerners. Bridging that divide requires understanding its scope and causes. A new study by the Pew Global Attitudes Project contributes to that understanding.

The survey, conducted among some 14,000 people in 13 nations between March 31 and May 14, is available at http://pewglobal.org. Key players in the Pew project discussed their findings at a Monitor-sponsored breakfast for reporters on Thursday morning.

"A real divide does exist between peoples," said Andrew Kohut, President of the Pew Research Center and Director of the Pew Global Attitudes Project. "Muslims and Westerners are generally convinced that relationships are not good these days. Westerners see Muslims as fanatical, violent and not tolerant. Muslims see Westerners as selfish, immoral and greedy.... One of the most startling findings here, most Muslims remain unconvinced that Arabs carried out the September 11 attacks...."

Religious leaders should take a more active role in bridging the divide, argued former Missouri Senator John Danforth. Danforth, a divinity school grad and ordained Episcopal priest, served as President Bush's special envoy to Sudan, and also as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

"I think that it would be a very important thing and very constructive to have not just a one-shot meeting but a persistent interreligious dialogue," Danforth said. "And I think one of the subjects that would be [an] interesting start to such a dialogue is the principle of non-combatant immunity ... it is central in the concept of just-war doctrine."

Danforth continued, "The leaders of Islam have been less than forthcoming in expressing strong views on matters of terrorism.... [Western religious leaders] have not been strong in any respect about how their religion relates to the world beyond themselves.... We are so focused on our own navels and on inside battles about who should be a bishop here or there which nobody really cares about.... We have not been sufficiently focused on the relationship of religion to the rest of the world.... What you see here in the survey is that religion itself is the problem. And if religion is the problem then religion should address the problem."

In terms of governmental policy, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, co-chair of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, said that the U.S. government should be more active in explaining itself.

"We have not fully engaged, or have not engaged enough, in what I consider the battle of ideas," Albright said. "We have not explained ourselves well enough, we don't talk enough about who we are, what we really believe in and therefore are in a position of being categorised…we have to engage better in the battle of ideas, that is the policy thing out of that... If there is going to be change...in the Muslim world, or within the Muslim religion, it has to come from inside and...one of the best vehicles for this might be some of the European Muslims."

Why focus on a dialogue with European Muslims? Because the new Pew survey reports that, "While Europe's Muslim minorities are about as likely as Muslims elsewhere to see relations between Westerners and Muslims as generally bad, they more often associate positive attributes to Westerners - including tolerance, generosity, and respect for women. European Muslims also are less likely than non-Muslims in Europe to believe that there is a conflict between modernity and being a devout Muslim."

The war in Iraq has had a pronounced effect on anti-Americanism in the Muslim world, survey director Kohut said. "Anti-Americanism in the Muslim world prior to Iraq was mostly concentrated in the Mideast and in central Asia. After Iraq, Indonesia went from 55 or 60 percent favourable view of the United States to 15 percent and Muslims in Nigeria went to a very low number from a reasonably high number." The survey found that among Nigeria's population, 46 percent feel that suicide bombings can be justified often or sometimes in defence of Islam.

In the search for solutions to the Muslim/Western divide, Senator Danforth counselled focusing on, "What in this survey can be changed? Wherein is the possibility? And it seems to me that the possibility is to focus on that part of the survey which could be possibly improved, and that is the perception that we are violent, we are greedy, and all of the negatives that are said about Westerners.... There is a lot to be said for intercultural and interreligious dialogue."

###
* David T. Cook is a writer for the Christian Science Monitor. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Christian Science Monitor, June 23, 2006
Visit the website at www.csmonitor.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
(c) Copyright 2006 The Christian Science Monitor. For reprint permission, please contact lawrenced@csps.com

**********

ARTICLE 4
Dangers and opportunities in Euro-Med trade talks
Fouad Hamdan

Brussels - The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership between the powerful European Union bloc and the rather divided southern and eastern rim nations of the Mediterranean Basin aims to set up a free trade area by 2010, barring nothing. The plans to liberalise trade between the EU and its Arab partners could have ruinous results for the people and environment of the Arab region. The next crucial steps in this direction are to be debated in the next two days at a meeting at ministerial level in Tunis.

While the EU claims that such an agreement could relieve tensions in the region and bring wealth and stability, Mediterranean environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) believe the deal could spur social and environmental mayhem in the south. What we need is a just and sustainable trading system in the Mediterranean - not free trade at the expense of the weak and the environment.

Take market access for agricultural products and services and the planned liberalisation of these sensitive sectors. The fact is that a high percentage of the poorest Arab people lives in rural areas and depends on agriculture for part or all of their income. This is the case in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Syria. If agricultural trade is fully liberalised, there will be an inevitable move from small to larger-scale farming. This will require much more irrigation in an area where water is already a scarce resource, exacerbating the problem of desertification. Moving toward mono-cropping and large-scale tilling of the land will also have a negative impact on soil quality.

For many farmers in Syria, the Palestinian territories, Egypt and the Maghreb states, local markets are far more important than international ones. It is therefore essential for these farmers to be able to sell their products locally. Unregulated and rapid agricultural trade liberalisation will open these local markets to cheap imported products, putting some local farmers out of business altogether. This will clearly have negative social effects and will fuel a considerable rural exodus to urban slums. The full scale of the social and environmental problems is unimaginable.

Regarding trade liberalisation and privatisation in services, experience around the world gives reason for Arab citizens to be seriously worried. They may face diminishing access to services such as water, health, education and energy. These essential services are also likely to deteriorate in quality. As well as associated job losses, jobs may become more insecure and workers' rights may be curtailed.

Friends of the Earth Europe and others who work to protect human rights and the environment believe that trade liberalisation negotiations for services must exclude those services that are vital to human development, such as water, energy, education and health. This demand is supported by the preliminary findings of a Sustainability Impact Assessment of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area. The study, conducted by Manchester University in Britain, on request from the European Commission, predicts widespread adverse social and environmental impact for southern and eastern Mediterranean countries.

The study identifies the following potential social impacts: a significant rise in unemployment, particularly following liberalisation of trade in industrial products and agriculture; a fall in wage rates associated with increased unemployment; a significant loss in government revenues, with consequent social impact through reduced expenditure on health, education and social support programs; greater vulnerability of poor households to fluctuations in world market prices for basic foods; adverse effects on the status, living standards and health of rural women.

The main adverse environmental impacts that have been identified are: significant local impact on water resources, soil fertility and biodiversity in areas of high existing stress (industrial farming, industry, etc.); poorer living conditions in cities, resulting from declining rural employment and accelerated rural-urban migration; higher air pollution and coastal water pollution from greater transport activity; and higher waste generation from greater use of packaging materials.

A wealthy European country could perhaps take certain measures to avoid these predicted adverse effects. But the non-EU countries in the Mediterranean Basin do not have the necessary expertise or budgets. In addition, in those southern and eastern Mediterranean states that are not democracies, there are no independent public institutions that are professional enough to steer decision-makers on a safe path toward fair trade.

Under these circumstances, one must call into question the claim by European and Arab leaders that trade liberalisation will deliver the goals of peace, stability and prosperity. Also, it must not be forgotten that even the supporters of the free trade area expect only a modest welfare gain under the current plan.

We at Friends of the Earth Europe and our partners on this issue do not reject a market-oriented approach per se. We evaluate each proposal on its own merits, and we are critical of actions that are likely to harm the environment and local communities. The rights of people and long-term sustainability must always come before the interests of companies. We would oppose a privatisation scheme if, for example, social and environmental standards were breached and the principle of environmental justice were violated.

When they meet their EU counterparts in Tunis, Arab Mediterranean leaders from Morocco to Syria should reconsider the 2010 target date for establishing the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area. Such a historic undertaking should be strongly financed, and requires carefully designed measures to ensure social and political stability, and to protect the environment. Trade negotiations therefore should be suspended until the ongoing Manchester University study on the free trade area's potential social and environmental impacts is completed. The EU and its Arab partners should then fully incorporate the Sustainability Impact Assessment recommendations into their trade negotiations.

At the same time, the EU should insist that Arab states develop fair and sustainable economies promoting education, employment, health and social welfare for everyone. Public participation must be guaranteed, meaning that free trade must go hand in hand with developing democracy in the region.

###
* Fouad Hamdan, who established Greenpeace in Lebanon in 1994-1999, is executive director of the Brussels-based campaign and lobby office of Friends of the Earth Europe. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Daily Star, June 24, 2006
Visit the website at www.dailystar.com.lb
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 5
We Muslims have work to do
Salim Mansur

Toronto - Muslim Canadians, as Muslims elsewhere in Western societies, have felt increasingly besieged for some time now, both from outside their community and from within.

This sense of isolation, of being misrepresented and misunderstood, will inevitably deepen as the full story unfolds of the arrests of 17 Toronto-area Muslims on terrorism charges.

But whose fault is this? Let us, Muslims, be brutally honest.

We have inherited a culture of denial, of too often refusing to acknowledge our own responsibility for the widespread malaise that has left most of the Arab-Muslim countries in economic, political and social disrepair.

Statistics and intergovernmental reports over the past several decades have documented a gap, perhaps now unbridgeable, between Muslim countries and the advanced industrial democracies in the West.

In a recent "failed states index" published in the journal Foreign Policy (May/June 2006), Pakistan, for instance, is ranked among the top 10 failed states in the world -- ahead of Afghanistan. Pakistan is a Muslim country, a nuclear military power, but it can barely feed, clothe, educate and shelter its population.

The reports on the Arab countries are a dismal catalogue of entrenched tyrannies, failing economies, squandered wealth, gender oppression, persecution of minorities and endemic violence. The cleric-led regime in Iran seeks nuclear weapons and threatens to obliterate Israel, repress domestic opposition, and seek confrontation with the West.

Instead of acknowledging the reality of the Arab-Muslim world as a broken civilisation, we Muslims tend to indulge instead in blaming others for our ills; deflecting our responsibilities for failures that have become breeding grounds of violence and terrorism.

Many of our intellectuals in public life and our religious leaders in mosques remain adept in double-speak, saying contrary things in English or French and then in Arabic or Farsi or Urdu.

We have made hypocrisy an art, and have spun for ourselves a web of lies that blinds us to the real world around us.

We seethe with grievances and resentment against the West, even as we have prospered in the freedom and security of Western democracies.

We have inculcated into our children false pride, and given them a sense of history that crumbles under critical scrutiny. We have burdened them with conflicting loyalties -- and now some of them have become our nightmare.

We preach tolerance yet we are intolerant. We demand inclusion, yet we practise exclusion of gender, of minorities, of those with whom we disagree.

We repeat endlessly that Islam is a religion of peace, yet too many of us display conduct contrary to what we profess.

We keep assuring ourselves and others that Muslims who violate Islam are a minuscule minority, yet we fail to hold this minority accountable in public.

A bowl of milk turns into curd with a single drop of lemon. The minuscule minority we blame is this drop of lemon that has curdled and made a shambles of our Islam, yet too many of us insist against all evidence our belief somehow sets us apart as better from others.

In Islam, we insist, religion and politics are inseparable. As a result, politics dominates our religion -- and our religion has become a cover for tribalism and nationalism.

We regularly quote from the Qur'ran, but do not make repentance for our failings as the Qur'an instructs, by seeking forgiveness of those who we have harmed.

We Muslims are the source of our own misery, and we are not misunderstood by others who see in our conduct a threat to their peace.

###
* Salim Mansur is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario. He is also a columnist at Canada's Sun Media. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Toronto Sun, June 10, 2006
Visit the website at www.torontosun.com
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, 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.

Common Ground News Service
1601 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite #200
Washington, DC 20009 USA
Ph: +1(202) 265-4300
Fax: +1(202) 232-6718

Rue Belliard 205 bte 13
B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
Ph: +32 (02) 736-7262
Fax: +32(02) 732-3033
E-mail: cgnewspih@sfcg.org
Website: http://www.commongroundnews.org

Editors

Emad Khalil (Amman)
Juliette Schmidt (Beirut)
Chris Binkley (Dakar)
Medhy Hidayat (Jakarta)
Elyte Baykun (Washington)
Leena El-Ali (Washington)
Emmanuelle Hazan (Washington)

**********

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an email to cgnewspih@sfcg.org with “subscribe” or “unsubscribe” in the subject line, indicating your language of choice among English, French, Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia.

Sur – International Journal on Human Rights
The new edition Number 4, Year 3, is available!

We remind you that Sur Journal is a biannual academic journal published in English, Portuguese and Spanish distributed with no charge.

Best regards,
Camila Lissa Asano
Circulation
Sur – International Journal on Human Rights
Rua Pamplona, 1197 casa 4
São Paulo – SP, Brasil, 01405-030
www.surjournal.org / camila.asano@conectas.org

Sur – Revista Internacional de Direitos Humanos
2006, Nro. 4, Ano 3

Fernande Raine
The measurement challenge in Human Rights

Mário Melo
Recent advances in the justiciability of indigenous rights in the Inter-American System of Human Rights

Isabel Figueroa
Indigenous peoples versus oil companies: Constitutional control within resistance

Robert Archer
The strengths of different traditions: What can be gained and what might be lost by combining rights and development?

J. Paul Martin
Development and rights revisited : Lessons from Africa

Michelle Ratton Sanchez
Brief observations on the mechanisms for NGO participation in the WTO

Justice C. Nwobike
Pharmaceutical corporations and access to drugs in developing countries :

The way forward
Clóvis Roberto Zimmermann

Social programs from a human rights perspective :
The case of the Lula administration´s family grant in Brazil

Christof Heyns, David Padilla e Leo Zwaak
A schematic comparison of regional human rights systems : An update

Book Review: Mary Robinson, A Voice for Human Rights, by Florian F. Hoffmann

Conciliation Resources Annual Review for 2005 - now online

Dear Colleague,

We are pleased to inform you that Conciliation Resources’ Annual
Review for 2005 is now available on our website as a downloadable PDF
file at: http://www.c-r.org/pubs/annreps/annreps.shtml

Despite many challenges, this has been another year of important
achievements for CR. Whether helping our partners in Sierra Leone
mediate in a chieftaincy dispute or facilitating the ‘Schlaining
Process’ of unofficial and confidential dialogue between Georgian and
Abkhaz officials, politicians and civil leaders, CR staff overcome
enormous obstacles to find creative ways of influencing the course of
violent conflicts in places far from our London offices. Our enclosed
annual review gives a colourful account of these.

Communicating our work effectively requires us to struggle with the
complexities. Global foreign policy agendas are crowded, vast and
sometimes contradictory. The simple rhetoric of ‘good’ and ‘bad
guys’, victims and perpetrators ­ often makes it difficult to explain
what is going on and harder to resolve conflicts.

One of our staff currently visiting southern Sudan sent an email this
week about the capture of two members of the Ugandan rebel group, the
Lord’s Resistance Army. “One, aged 13 years, was shot in the leg and
is in hospital. He was held with another 15- year-old boy who could
not follow the other LRA escaping because of a swollen left thigh.”
The important distinction between victim and perpetrator gets blurred
but the suffering of children is easy to understand.

I believe that by grappling with these and other complexities CR is
making a real difference. But we could not do this work without the
help, funds and trust of our partners, friends and colleagues around
the world. I hope we can continue to count on your confidence and
cooperation over the coming year.

Yours sincerely,
Andy Carl
Executive Director

Conciliation Resources
173 Upper Street, Islington
London N1 1RG UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 73597728
Fax: +44 (0) 20 73594081
Email: cr@c-r.org
Website: http://www.c-r.org

Buddhist Teachings on Right Speech
(kindly provided to us by Thomas Daffern)

One’s speech is like a treasure

Speech should be at the right moment and in the right place
Accompanied by arguments, moderation and common sense
Unless one can say something useful, one should keep “noble silence”

Abstain from tale bearing:

What one has heard here, one does not repeat there
What one has heard there, one does not repeat here
Thus one does not cause dissension in both places
One unites those that are divided,
And encourages those that are united
It is concord that one spreads by one’s words.

Abstain from vain talk:

Speak at the right time and in accordance with the facts
Speak of the law and of the discipline
Speak what is useful
Avoid idle, useless, foolish babble and gossip

Abstain from lying:

Speak the truth and be devoted to it
Be reliable, worthy of confidence and not a deceiver of men,
When asked what one knows,
If one knows nothing, say “I know nothing”
If one knows, one answers “I know”
Speak not falsely for one’s own
Nor for any other’s advantage.

Abstain from harsh language:

Avoid harsh language and abstain from it
Speak gently, courteously,
With words agreeable to the many
With words that go to the heart

Admonishing another:

If about to admonish another, realise
5 qualities within yourself:
at the right time will I speak, not at the wrong time
I will speak truthfully and not falsely, gently and not harshly
I will speak for their profit and not for their loss
I will speak with kind intent and not in anger.

Tim Tim Newfields from Tokyo University, Japan, was present at my SIETAR lecture: Avoiding Humiliation - From Intercultural Communication to Global Inter-Human Communication (June 9, 2006, Reitaku University Tokyo Kenkyu Center) and he kindly writes (30th June 2006):

Dear Evelin,

Thanks for speaking with the Tokyo SIETAR group recently.
You outlined a wide range of fascinating concepts. What I remember
most from the presentation is the importance of a positive meta-myth:
a way to helping people envision positive future. This constrasts
with many of the destructive myths which seem to exist in many
religions. The fact that large portions of the Earth's population
believe in such populations concerns me. You asked for some supporting
references about the ways different civilizations conceptualize time.
Here there are -

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

(1) Pessimistic views of time suggesting civilization is heading "downhill"

Buddhist cosmology
http://hhdl.dharmakara.net/hhdlquotes3.html#time
www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/ publications/jjrs/pdf/282.pdf

Islamic cosmology
http://www.doomsdayguide.org/qiyamah.htm
http://www.lampholderpub.com/Islamic_Prophecy.htm

Jewish cosmology
http://www.doomsdayguide.org/jewish_doomsday_prophecy.htm

Mayan cosmology
http://www.greatdreams.com/2012.htm

(2) Positive views suggesting we are somehow evolving to a "higher"
stage

A purported upcoming "Technological singularity" which might be "positive"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

Incan cosmology
http://www.crystalinks.com/incan2.html

From: eJournal USA, a publication of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs

By Eboo Patel

I love America not because I am under the illusion that it is perfect, but because it allows me -- the child of Muslim immigrants from India -- to participate in its progress, to carve a place in its promise, to play a role in its possibility.

John Winthrop, one of the earliest European settlers in America, gave voice to this sense of possibility. He told his compatriots that their society would be like a city upon a hill, a beacon for the world. It was a hope rooted in Winthrop's Christian faith, and no doubt he imagined his city on a hill with a steeple in the center. Throughout the centuries, America has remained a deeply religious country while at the same time becoming a remarkably plural one. Indeed, we are the most religiously devout nation in the West and the most religiously diverse country in the world. The steeple at the center of the city on a hill is now surrounded by the minaret of Muslim mosques, the Hebrew script of Jewish synagogues, the chanting of Buddhist sangas, and the statues of Hindu temples. In fact, there are now more Muslims in America than Episcopalians, the faith professed by many of America's Founding Fathers.

One hundred years ago, the great African-American scholar W.E.B. DuBois warned that the problem of the century would be the color line. The 21st century might well be dominated by a different line—the faith line. From Northern Ireland to South Asia, the Middle East to Middle America, people are condemning, coercing, and killing in the name of God. The most pressing questions for my country (America), my religion (Islam), and all God's people may well be these: How will people who may have different ideas of heaven interact together on Earth? Will the steeple, the minaret, the synagogue, the temple, and the sanga learn to share space in a new city on a hill?

I think the American ethos -- mixing tolerance and reverence -- may have something special to contribute to this issue.

America is a grand gathering of souls, the vast majority from elsewhere. The American genius lies in allowing these souls to contribute their texture to the American tradition, to add new notes to the American song.

I am an American with a Muslim soul. My soul carries a long history of heroes, movements, and civilizations that sought to submit to the will of God. My soul listened as the Prophet Muhammad preached the central messages of Islam, tazaaqa and tawhid, compassionate justice and the oneness of God. In the Middle Ages, my soul spread to the East and West, praying in the mosques and studying in the libraries of the great medieval Muslim cities of Cairo, Baghdad, and Cordoba. My soul whirled with Rumi, read Aristotle with Averroes, traveled through Central Asia with Nasir Khusrow. In the colonial era, my Muslim soul was stirred to justice. It marched with Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgars in their satyagraha to free India. It stood with Farid Esack, Ebrahim Moosa, Rahid Omar, and the Muslim Youth Movement in their struggle for a multicultural South Africa.

In one eye I carry this ancient Muslim vision on pluralism, in the other eye I carry the American promise. And in my heart, I pray that we make real this possibility: a city on a hill where different religious communities respectfully share space and collectively serve the common good; a world where diverse nations and peoples come to know one another in a spirit of brotherhood and righteousness; a century in which we achieve a common life together.

Located at: http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/0606/ijse/patel.htm

Eboo Patel
Executive Director
The Interfaith Youth Core
1111 N. Wells Suite 501
Chicago, IL 60610
P 01 312 573 8941
F 01 312 573 1542
eboo@ifyc.org
www.ifyc.org

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

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

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

Dear World Movement Participants:

The next issue of DemocracyNews will go out on July 11, 2006. In order to make DemocracyNews as useful as possible, we ask you to send us any items related to democracy work that you think would be of interest to others.

The next deadline for submitting items is ** July 7** Please send items to: world@ned.org.

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

Please share this message with your colleagues.

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

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

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

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