A group of Britain's leading industrialists has written to the prime minister urgently demanding long-term policies to combat climate change:

Industry chiefs' environment plea
By Roger Harrabin
BBC Environment Correspondent

The heads of the 12 leading firms say climate change is a huge challenge that needs serious investment by business.

But they say they cannot invest because they are not sure what future government policies on climate will be.

The letter is signed off by the heads of BP, Shell, HSBC Bank, BAA, John Lewis, Scottish Power and more.

Between them the firms employ tens of thousands of people and have a turnover of £452bn.

...

Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4585229.stm

Kenyan youths take on net skills
A project offering business skills to impoverished Kenyan youths has been recognised with a prestigious award.

The non-profit Global Education Partnership - Wundanyi won the $7,500 (£4,213) Africa Hafkin Communications Prize.

Computer and software skills play a key part of the training.

The Hafkin prize recognises African initiatives in the use of information and communications technology for development.

...

Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4584231.stm

Constructing Multicultural Spaces: Being Ourselves Together
20th Annual Conference SIETAR Japan (Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research) (www.sietar-japan.org)
Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan, June 25 & 26, 2005

SIETAR Japan, the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and
Research, welcomes a delegation from the Ainu community and their
supporters in Hokkaido and the Tokyo area as it celebrates 20th annual
conference on Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26, 2005 at Rikkyo
University in Ikebukuro. The Ainu, Japan’s unofficial indigenous people,
are at the forefront of the effort to create multicultural spaces within
the majority Japanese culture, and exemplify the theme of this year’s
conference: Being Ourselves Together.

The Ainu have suffered years of discrimination, dispossession, and
assimilation yet have continued to fight for their cultural identity
within Japan. The workshop will look frankly and with balance at the
issues facing the Ainu today as they seek better education and living
conditions, widening generational differences in defining their
identity, and how eco-tourism could create a new chapter in the Ainu future.

Join us to explore what ‘Being Ourselves Together’ means through the
sessions on Contemporary Ainu culture and the history, future and
reality of eco-tourism on the 25th , including group dancing and singing
at the party in the evening, and the wide variety of concurrent sessions
on the 26th.

In the second part of the conference program, SIETAR Japan looks at what
it means to be an interculturalist today. Today’s world is undeniably
global, and all of us are interculturalists—constructing our own
multicultural spaces as we add to our airline mileage programs through
actual travel or working and communicating with colleagues and friends
the world over through electronic means.

The 20th anniversary conference of SIETAR Japan is an excellent
opportunity to step back and re-assess the possibilities and potentials
of the intercultural field in Japan. We bring together some of the
leading experts from the academic and business world to present their
views of the challenges and opportunities ahead during the afternoon
program. Moderated by Professor Jacqueline Wasilewski, International
Christian University, the discussion will be started off with a keynote
address by Professor Kumiko Torikai, Dean of Rikkyo Graduate School of
Intercultural Communication. Following comments by panelists Dr. Jane
Bachnik on Multimedia Training, Professor Masako Hiraga on Intercultural
Pragmatics, Professor Kichiro Hayashi on Intercultural Management and
Training, Professor Mayumi Kubota on Development Communication, and
Professor Shoji Mitarai on Conflict Resolution, the audience will form
break-out groups to continue discussions of future directions for the
field. The symposium will conclude with reports back to the whole group.

On Sunday there will be more than 50 presentations and workshops led by
members. A special lecture supported by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese
Foundation will be offered from 10 a.m.—12 p.m. on Shame, guilt, and
remorse and reintegration of identities: A comparative study of public
and political reactions to two high profile juvenile cases in the UK and
Japan by Professor David Smith, Lancaster University, UK, and Professor
Kiyoko Sueda, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo.

SIETAR JAPAN
Constructing Multicultural Spaces: Being Ourselves Together
June 25 & 26, 2005
Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan

Saturday, June 25 10:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m.
AINU Workshop: Iresu Moshiri, Etunanka Ratura
“Helping Each Other Grow With the Quiet Earth Through Exchanges”
Mono-culture or Multi-cultures?
Contemporary Ainu Culture: The History, Future and Reality of Eco-Tourism
Nanako Iwasa, workshop coordinator
Koji Yuki, Representative of the Ainu Art Project
Professor Yugo Ono, Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science,
Hokkaido University
Haruzo Urakawa, Tokyo Ainu Association Chairperson

Saturday, June 25 1:00 p.m.—6:00 p.m.“The Intercultural Field in Japan: Possibilities and Potentials”
Keynote: Professor Kumiko Torikai, Dean, Rikkyo Graduate School of
Intercultural Communication

Panel Discussion, moderated by Professor Jacqueline Wasilewski, ICU
Panelists:
Dr. Jane Bachnik, (NIME, Retired), Multimedia Training,
Professor Masako Hiraga, (Rikkyo University), Intercultural Pragmatics
Professor Kichiro Hayashi, (Aoyama Gakuin University) Intercultural
Management and Training
Professor Mayumi Kubota (Kansai University), Development Communication
Professor Shoji Mitarai (Sapporo University), Conflict Resolution

6:30—8:30 p.m. Welcome Party with group participation in AINU dancing
and singing

Sunday, June 26 9:20 a.m.—5:10 p.m.
50 concurrent sessions including Special Lecture
(For program details, please see the SIETAR Japan homepage at
www.sietar-japan.org/)

Dr. Steven J. Bartlett writes to us:

I hope you will be interested in the first major comprehensive study of the psychology of human evil, just published by behavioral science publisher Charles C. Thomas. The Pathology of Man: A Study of Human Evil is the result of ten years of research into the psychology of genocide and the Holocaust, the psychology of war, of terrorism, obedience, and the many other ways in which human beings behave aggressively and often cruelly toward other people, toward other species, and often even toward themselves. The Pathology of Man is the first work to apply the science of pathology to the human species and to identify and describe the many pathologies that afflict our species, often without our awareness. Its aim is to provide a solid foundation of scholarship encompassing the work of twentieth century psychologists, psychiatrists, ethologists, psychologically focused historians, and others who have studied human aggression and destructiveness.

In addition to providing scholars with an important research tool, the book is well-suited to serve as a main text or as collateral reading for courses relating to the psychology of evil, the psychology of the Holocaust and of genocide generally, the psychology of war, obedience, and terrorism, and any courses that seek to bring students to a realistic understanding of the psychology of human aggression and destructiveness, without appealing to mythology, symbolism, or religion. The Pathology of Man: A Study of Human Evil is a dispassionate, objective, scientific assessment of our species’ follies and destructiveness.

I hope this work can serve your needs and interests.

With best wishes,
Sincerely,
Dr. Steven J. Bartlett
Senior Research Professor, Oregon State University
Visiting Scholar in Psychology, Willamette University
Author of eight previous books and monographs and many papers in the fields of psychology, philosophy of science, and problem-solving. Former Professor, Saint Louis University and University of Florida Research Fellow, Max-Planck-Institute Fellow, Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions Research. Supported by: The National Science Foundation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Lilly Endowment, the Alliance Française, the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, and others.

ABOUT THIS WORK AND ITS AUTHOR... [From the back cover]

“[T]he study of evil is just beginning and you are a pioneer.”
– M. Scott Peck, author of People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil and The Road Less Traveled.

“Steven James Bartlett’s The Pathology of Man marks the most comprehensive examination of human evil to date. Drawing from different fields of study, including psychology and epistemology, Bartlett sets out on a Tour de Force of deline­ating the parameters on human evil.... The resulting text is a most welcomed addition to the field and provides for fasci­nating reading. The Pathology of Man is a timely, scholarly, and important piece of work that should appeal to anyone who is interested in understanding human evil.”
– Eric A. Zillmer, Carl R. Pacifico Professor of Neuropsychology, Drexel University, and author of The Quest for the Nazi Personality: A Psychological Investigation of Nazi War Criminals.

“This book is stunning, upsetting, gripping.... Bartlett sets out a theory of human evil as a ubiquitous disease and humankind as the pathogen/parasite which is rapidly spreading and, in the process, killing its hosts (be they other humans, other species of life, and nature itself).... [T]he conclusions are unrelenting and devastat­ing.... [T]he book is a moral act of the highest order.”
– Irving Greenberg, President, Jewish Life Net­work/Steinhardt Foundation; Chairman, United States Holocaust Memorial Council 2000-2002.

“Steven James Bartlett observes how certain chronic diseases can be so prevalent as to be normal for a species. In The Pathology of Man, Bartlett follows this insight to make a provocative argument, that evil is such a normal pathology among human beings.... The Pathology of Man adds to the growing realization that the roots of human evil lie not in madness but within the core of sanity.”
– Douglas Porpora, Professor of Sociology, Drexel University, and author of How Holocausts Happen.

“[H]uman evil...is more the rule than the exception, more ‘normal’ than not.... [T]he pervasive pathology of human evil...must be better comprehended if we are to prevent it from metastasizing.... Toward this urgent task, nothing could be more important today than serious...psychological studies of human evil such as you have undertaken.”
– Stephen A. Diamond, author of Anger, Madness, and the Demonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil, and Creativity.

The Pathology of Man: A Study of Human Evil is a pioneering work in several specific ways:

The Pathology of Man is the first comprehensive study of the psychology and epistemology of human evil, long urged by leading psychiatrists and psychologists, including Freud, Jung, Menninger, Fromm, and Peck. The book breaks new ground by offering a clear, empirically based, and theo­retically sound understanding of human evil as a widespread, real, non-metaphorical pathology. With thorough and solid scholarship the author proposes a new framework-relative theory of disease and justifies the provocative thesis that human evil should be classified as a pathology which is not a deviation from an accepted norm, but rather is a normal state. This break with tradition provides the necessary psychological foundation for the familiar concept of the banality of human evil, a foundation which in the past it has lacked.

The Pathology of Man inaugurates a new ap­proach to the study of mankind. For the first time the science of pathology is applied to the human species, di­recting attention to mankind’s role as a true pathogen: The human species is shown to be auto-pathological in many ways, as well as pathological in its effects upon global biodiversity.

The Pathology of Man lays the foundation for two new areas of study, the phenomenology of hatred and the psychology of moral intelligence.

Finally, the work initiates a reflective examination of how mankind’s aggression, destructiveness, and cruelty to members of his own species are fostered and maintained by human patterns of thought and by a conceptual vocabulary that together encourage a certain interpretation of the world that itself is pathological.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD BY ERIC A. ZILLMER AND IRVING GREENBERG
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION

PART I: PATHOLOGY AND MAN

OVERVIEW OF PART I
CHAPTER 1: PATHOLOGY AND THEORIES OF DISEASE
CHAPTER 2: PATHOLOGY, POLITICS, AND CLINICAL JUDGMENT
CHAPTER 3: FRAMEWORK-RELATIVE PATHOLOGY
CHAPTER 4: EPIDEMIOLOGY, UNIVERSAL PATHOLOGY, AND THERAPY
CHAPTER 5: PATHOLOGY AND THE CONCEPT OF EVIL

PART II: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HUMAN EVIL

OVERVIEW OF PART II:
CHAPTER 6: FREUD AND THE PATHOLOGY OF AGGRESSION
CHAPTER 7: JUNG’S UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN EVIL
CHAPTER 8: RECENT PSYCHIATRY AND HUMAN EVIL: MENNINGER,

FROMM, AND PECK
CHAPTER 9: THE QUANTITATIVE HISTORY OF HUMAN

SELF-DESTRUCTIVENESS
CHAPTER 10: THE PATHOLOGY OF A SPECIES: ETHOLOGY AND HUMAN EVIL
CHAPTER 11: TOWARD A UNIFIED PSYCHOLOGY OF GENOCIDE
CHAPTER 12: THE HOLOCAUST AND HUMAN EVIL
CHAPTER 13: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TERRORISM AND HUMAN EVIL
CHAPTER 14: THE POPULARITY OF WAR AND ITS ROLE IN HUMAN EVIL
CHAPTER 15: “WE ARE SHEEP...”-OBEDIENCE AND HUMAN EVIL
CHAPTER 16: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF HATRED
CHAPTER 17: THE ECOLOGICAL PATHOLOGY OF MAN
CHAPTER 18: MORAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE PATHOLOGY OF HUMAN

STUPIDITY

PART III: THE CONCEPTUAL PATHOLOGY OF MAN

OVERVIEW OF PART III
CHAPTER 19: THE PATHOLOGY OF EVERYDAY THOUGHT
CHAPTER 20: RELATIVISM, FRAMEWORK-RELATIVITY, AND HUMAN EVIL
CHAPTER 21: REFLECTIONS

REFERENCES
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

To order, go to the publisher’s website by clicking on http://www.ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN=0398075573

Please see here Jacke Wasilewski's work that she kindly makes available to us!

Evelin

POEMS BY ADA AHARONI

Cosmic Woman

They tell us
you were first born
in warm ocean womb
caressed by sun fingers -
daughter perhaps
of the stormy love
of two unruly atoms in love
maddened by the solitude
of eternal rounds
in the steppes of times

And your children,
lively descendants
of their stellar nucleus mother
dropped from the sky
in depths of ocean belly,
born of green and brown seaweed
and the laughs and cries
of a blue bacteria

Cosmic woman,
when you chose earth
as home for your vast roots
at the beginning
of the great human family,
it was for life --
not for death.
Cosmic woman,
you, who were born of the nucleus,
from deadly nuclear mushroom
Save your children
SAVE YOUR CHILDREN

Peace Is A Woman and a Mother

How do you know
peace is a woman?
I know, for
I met her yesterday
on my winding way
to the world's fare.
She had such a sorrowful face
just like a golden flower faded
before her prime.

I asked her why
she was so sad?
She told me her baby
was killed in Auschwitz,
her daughter in Hiroshima
and her sons in Vietnam,
Ireland, Israel, Lebanon,
Bosnia, Rwanda and Chechnya.

All the rest of her children, she said,
are on the nuclear
black-list of the dead ,
all the rest, unless
the whole world understands --
that peace is a woman

A thousand candles then lit
in her starry eyes, and I saw --
Peace is indeed a pregnant woman,
Peace is a mother.

Fred er en kvinne og en mor
Innsendt 17.12.2004 22:19 av Lars Chr. Sande
Dear Ms. Suter:
I have read about your wishes, and upon your request I have translated PEACE IS A WOMAN AND A MOTHER by Ada Aharoni into Norwegian language.
With my best wishes for the High Season – And a most Peaceful New Year.
Sincerely yours,
Lars Chr. Sande, Author

Fred er en kvinne og en mor

Hvordan kan du vite
At freden er en kvinne?
Jeg vet for visst,
Fordi jeg møtte henne i går
På min krokede vei
Til verdens markedsplass.
Hun hadde et slikt sørgmodig ansikt
Lik en gylden famlet blomst
Før den visner

Jeg spurte henne hvorfor
Hun var så trist?
Hun fortalte at hennes barn
Var drept i Auschwitz,
Hennes datter i Hiroshima,
Og hennes sønner i Vietnam,
Irland, Israel, Palestina, Libanon,
Pakistan og India,
Bosnia, Rwanda og Tsjetsjenia

Alle de andre av hennes barn, fortalte hun
Sto på den kjernefysiske drapsliste
Med mindre hele verden forstår --
At freden er en kvinne.
Tusen lys vil da skinne
I hennes funklende øyne, og da så jeg –
Freden er i høyeste grad en gravid kvinne,
Freden er en mor.
Av Ada Aharoni © Gjendiktet til norsk av Lars Chr. Sande, 17.12.2004

You Cannot Bomb Me Anymore

Listen, little big man,
you cannot bomb me
anymore
because I don't allow you
to bomb me, nor choke
nor rape me anymore,
for I have my own strength now
and my own creative
peace business now

With this woman's mind
this woman's body
this woman's heart -
we don't allow you
to bomb us anymore
for our sisters in Norway
have shown us the way
and now -
you cannot, cannot, bomb us
anymore.

For it was
the grandmother
who ate the big bad wolf
and not the other way round --

so now
we do not allow you
to bomb us, bomb us,
ANYMORE.

Eve's Defence

You didn't have to accept
That shiny juicy apple
Did you Adam dear?

Please remove those
Musty fig leaves
From your memory and ears
And remember Adam dear,
You were created
From mere earth,
Whereas I was sculpted
From a much finer substance
Finer than ivory
Finer than gold

In the rush of your
Heart's blood
In the throbbing of your temples
Remember Adam dear -
I was created
From pure human bone

Your strong rib-bone
Became me - Eve
Mother of Life

Always remember
Dearest Adam
Free, independent Eve
Is - You.
*The Chinese translation of this poem won an award. It was published in the bilingual Chinese-English volume “Chosen Poems By Ada Aharoni” (Hong Kong, Milkway Publications, 2003)

I Want to Kill You War

I want to kill you war, forever,
not like a phoenix, that always comes back
I want to kill you war
and I don't know how
and I don't know why
all the people of the world
don't join hands
to kill you war --
you the greatest killer
of them all

The governors of the world
Go on feeding your fat belly
With fresh soldiers
And nuclear arms,
With blurring eyes
They only know how to hang
The murderers of the one or the two
But not you,
You the greatest murderer of them all.

After the carnage the priest said
"we are all responsible."
After the carnage the Sheikh said
"we all remain brothers."
After the carnage the Rabbi said
"we can stop it if we choose."
The priest and the sheikh and the Rabbi
Raise up their hands and look up to the sky

The peace marchers
Take hold of the slab of marble
On which is inscribed "we want to live not die"
And carry it away under the whizzing bullets
Like a corpse, still warm, still alive.

A Green Week

A week like fresh mint,
a green week spreading
its fragrance to the roots
of being

"Have a green week!"
My father used to bless us
on Saturday nights in Cairo,
when he came back from the "Gates of Heaven"
the grand synagogue in Adli street

"Have a green year"
he beamed,
brandishing a fresh, fragrant mint branch
over our keen curly heads -
but don't keep just to yourselves,
give it back
to the world
fully blossoming.

Who will give me
a green week
now that he's gone?
Now that the Gates of Heaven
are shut?

Only peace,
Only a fragrant mint peace.

Myopic Scientist

With green, curious eyes like legend woods
before burning, sweeping like sky rockets,
you were created for exploring and building,
for love and science and joy
on peaceful green earth -
not for providing means
for destroying our lives, our children, our hopes,
with nuclear bombs and radiation

Dear scientist, don't let the war mongers
steal your research, your unaware souls,
your creation, your bubbling myopic brains.
All our voices radiate in fear
all our violins sing the impending requiem
brewed in your stupendous high-tech labs.
Dear scientist, let our wings flap freely
in fresh, clean breeze in the spring and in the fall
before we all fall into the hellish slumber
of a nuclear winter, from which there is no return.
Dear scientist, don't allow the war mongers
to gobble up your inventions to fatten their stomachs
for star wars and earth wars
or for any, any pitiful war.

Mothers You Know
"We can best help you to prevent war not by repeating your words and
following your methods, but by finding new words and creating new methods."
Virginia Woolf - Three Guineas

Mothers you know, a long time ago
have been wisely decreed
by diverse human creeds and needs -
goddesses of peace-in-the-home,
lavishly giving life, love and healing
through their wombs and life-blood

And they have been quite successful
those cosy peace-in-the-home mothers,
closely guarding us with their wisdom
their tender words and watchful eyes.
Surely safer than in a Nuclear War
or in a new World War, or just a tiny war -
so what about making mothers
the guardians of peace on earth?
Surely we wouldn't be so much worse?
And they are so available those mothers -
you can even find them in enemy land...

Look at the terrible mess they have
made of our blue planet, mother,
you are the only one who can save it now,
the only one who really knows
how to protect your fearful children
weeping over their drugged ailing world,
the only one who can heal it now, mother
cradling it in your warm, loving arms.

Mamica

You knew Rousseau's "Emile"
Instinctively by heart,
Let us roam barefoot
In golden fields of home,
Sleep with open windows wide

Gave us all you had
With full two hands
Of bedstead copper angels,
Sometimes you forgot to eat
But never to feed us.
Whatever we did or said
Was a diamond mine -
Your children were your little gods.

Even when I left you and France
For a country I loved,
You were not hurt nor angry,
Gave your daughter to the kibbutz
With a smile followed by a tear.

Today we worship you in return,
Like a queen emerging
From Paris metro's belly,
To Bat-Galim shore,
As in Alexandria of yore,
Mother, mamica,
Standing smiling on a shell
Crowned by love

Teddy Bears for Guns

My man of the year
Is the wonderful, wise one
Who sat himself in the midst
Of the West with a huge box
Of chubby Teddy Bears
On New Year's Day,
Attracting an endless
Queue of cheering kids -
Holding guns

He playfully showed
With a smile and a wink
And a Teddy Bear hug -
It could be the beginning
Of a honey-laden decade
In a brave new world

By wisely, joyfully trading
Guns
For Teddy Bears.

Mimosa Equality

I wait for the day
Blossoming as a mimosa
When half the world's presidents
Will be women
With caring arms
Enlacing every cry
And the sun will shine
On all mortals
with equal golden rays
in every green field,
every printed book
every human look.

Amputation

To leave you now
Would be an amputation -
I would survive
But there would be
Less
Of me

The More Interesting Life

Come closer sisters
hear the man
and what he sang about us

At twelve, a sharp bayonet fear
jabbing through my ribs
tickled my mind:
You are a male,
you will have to go to war,
you may be killed.
Shrieking shells
and giant mushrooms flying
filled my blazing nightfalls.

I looked at the lively girls, envy nibbling,
they will not go to war,
they will not be killed.

But suddenly a flash -
a vision of kitchen sinks
drying of dishes with feminine hair,
a life of soiled diapers . . .

The gun externalized,
I held it with firm fist
and nodded reassured -
But I shall have
the more interesting life.

That's it sisters, that's what he sang,
what he sang about us,
What do we do now with what he sang,
What he sang about us?

Grandmother and the Wolf
Dedicated to Ebba Haslund
my sister from Norway

She looked at me with wise
bluebell eyes
and told me the brothers Grimm
had it all wrong,
they had it all wrong, you see,
for it was the grandmother
who gobbled up the big bad wolf
and not the other way round.

They had it all wrong,
they were too grim,
those brothers Grimm

They had it all wrong,
for grandmothers you see
are very strong.

A Jewish Woman's Prayer

Bless you Oh Lord
For having made me a woman,
For if you had made me a man
I would have had to pray -
"Bless you Oh Lord for not having
made me a woman."

If a White Horse from Jerusalem

If a white horse from Jerusalem,
bearing a message from the land of peace
strides so valiantly in the early dawn hours
of my Haifa street,
as if it were the ocean
as if it were the sky -
then all is possible…

Perhaps, he has come
with a magic wand
to make all chains vanish,
and to make you fly with me

Perhaps, before my hair falls
Before my teeth clatter,
before my breath whistles
and I suffocate in nuclear fumes

Perhaps, he will lift us
on his white wings
and raise the world
to year 2000 beyond wars…

For if a white horse
from the city of global peace,
strides so valiantly
in my own street - as if it were the ocean,
as if were the sky
Then all is possible...

Trondheim Menneskerettighetshus inviterer til:

TORG FOR LIKEVERD
17. og 18. JUNI 2005
PÅ TRONDHEIM MENNESKERETTIGHETSHUS

17. juni er valgt fordi det er Henrik Wergelands fødselsdag.
Tema for dagene:

SØKELYS PÅ TIDENS JØDEPARAGRAFER

PROGRAM

Fredag 17. juni:

Kl 10 – 12 Åpne kunstutstillinger:
• Se min kjole ukjent kunstner
• Jeg savner deg landet mitt Fadel Hamza
• Tanker om respekt og likeverd Flyktninger og asylsøkere

Kl 12 Gjennomgang av utstilling Se min kjole
Kl 13 – 15+ Drøftingsmøte Asylsøkerbarn i den sorte gryte

Kl 18 Gjennomgang av utstilling Jeg savner deg landet mitt
Kl 19 – 21 + Drøftingsmøte Fra Jødeparagraf til Palestinerpraksis

Lørdag 18. juni:

Kl 12 Gjennomgang av utstilling Tanker om respekt og likeverd
Kl 13 Drøftingsmøte
Bør politiet få utvidete fullmakter i overvåking og våpenbruk?

Med hilsen
For Trondheim Menneskerettighetshus
Konferanseprogrammet

Bernt Hauge
Fjordgt 62
7010 Trondheim
Tlf: 73 80 64 95
Faks: 73 80 64 81
e-post: bernt_hauge at yahoo.no

Dear Friend!

In our network, we attempt to "walk our talk." Our aim is to develop not only new contents, but also new styles of how we forge relationships with each other and how we communicate with each other. We wish to express our message of respect for equal dignity for all not just theoretically, but also in our day-to-day work.

Barnett Pearce just sent us a paper that wonderfully addresses this topic! Please see his paper further down.

Thanks so very much, dear Barnett!

Most warmly!
Evelin

TOWARD COMMUNICATIVE VIRTUOSITY:
A MEDITATION ON MODERNITY AND OTHER FORMS OF COMMUNICATION
© W. Barnett Pearce
School of Human and Organization Development
Fielding Graduate University
Presented to the seminar
"Modernity as a Communication Process (Is Modernity "on time?")"
April 15, 2005
Department of Communications and Social and Political Theories
Russian State University for Humanities
Moscow, Russia 103012

Invitation to the E-Dialogue on Peace Dialogue in the Social Integration Process:
Building peaceful social relationship by, for and with people

1 - 24 June 2005

This is to invite you or your organization to participate in the E-dialogue on Peace Dialogue in the Social Integration Process: building peaceful social relationship by, for and with people. This is a multi-stakeholder participatory dialogue organized by the Division for Social Policy and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), with the participation of various stakeholders from different regions.

Objectives of the E-Dialogue
The objectives of the E-Dialogue are to:
1. Address the importance of social integration as a means to create a peaceful society
2. Explore the potential of participatory dialogue to achieve this goal
3. Clarify the inter-linkage between the process of social integration and intention of building peaceful society
4. Get feedback from a wide range of participants with diverse backgrounds
5. Learn from concrete examples, case studies, traditional practices, and good practices at local, national and international levels.

It also aims to create a network of researchers, practitioners, and local communities and NGOs to work together to build a safe, stable and just society for all, through facilitating participatory dialogue in the social integration process.

Duration: 1 - 24 June (4 weeks)

Agenda:
Week 1: Social Integration as a process of building peaceful social relations
Week 2: Dialogue as a means to transform social relations
Week 3: Role of stakeholders in creating an enabling environment for people to participate in decision-making that affect their lives.
Week 4: A way forward: Peace dialogue and the role of community and local government

To register, visit:http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/peacedialogue/contactus.asp
For details on participation and information, visit:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/peacedialogue

V IFLAC PAVE PEACE
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Los Angeles, California - 3rd to 6th August 2005
Hotel Ayres, LA, 3-6 August, 2005

Dear Friends,

We warmly invite you to participate in this innovative congress. Its central theme is "Building Bridges through Conflict Resolution, Communication, Literature, Poetry and Culture". Writers, poets, researchers, women leaders, media and experts in conflict resolution, will jointly explore the role of culture, literature, poetry, and other means of artistic expression and communication in guiding society towards a more peaceful world.

WE ARE KEENLY LOOKING FORWARD TO WELCOMING YOU!

Prof. Ada Aharoni
IFLAC President

Dr. Lucy Cabieles
President WCP

Dr. Yvan Nguyen
IFLAC Vice President, CA.

For further information, and the Registration Form, please visit: www.iflac.com
and w.iflac.com/ada

Please see here Dr. Michael Wilson Fox's article
A Vision: The Kingdom of Universal Compassion

I believe that we are on the evolutionary threshold of another kingdom: the kingdom of universal compassion and loving kindness toward all beings. This includes our enemies and other sentient beings whom we fear or hate, despise or revile. Charity, humility, equanimity, and devotion enable us to cross this threshold, but above all it is our passion for truth, justice, and others’ well-being (which is our enlightened own) that are the keys to this kingdom. It is not nirvana or bliss. It is simply reality, pure and purely Being, with all its beauty and suffering; and the moments of joy we experience when we participate in helping protect and nurture the life and beauty of the natural world, and work to prevent and alleviate the suffering of other sentient beings.

Life without service is like ethics without empathy, and justice without mercy. Reason alone does not make us human. René Descartes said, "I think therefore I am." But it is what we feel and for whom we feel that defines our humanity, because it is our feeling, our passion, that influences both reason and action, and what we value and wish for others.

The major spiritual element of passion is enthusiasm, a word derived from en-theos, the god within, meaning divine or spiritual inspiration. Passion for human and animal liberation is spiritually inspired for many, whose life and work have become one. Such oneness is a source of joy, inspiration, and renewal. But for those whose lives and work do not enjoy the same degree of ethical consistency and unified sensibility, the kingdom of universal compassion may be an alien realm that appears to be imbued only with piety, suffering, and inconceivable self-sacrifice: Or else they see it as some utopian dream of anarchists, like those who fly the flags of the Animal Liberation Front and Earth First!. Many potentially caring people seek to insulate themselves from reality in a cocoon of "happiness," never able to experience pure joy in good works because they would rather not run the risk of suffering or experiencing any kind of discomfort or deprivation. But in the superficial, make-believe kingdom of consumerism and materialism, under the veneer of happiness, lies a terrible emptiness of never feeling satisfied or fulfilled. There is also a sense of purposelessness that can lead to despair, alienation, depression, self-destructive behaviors, suicide, and irrational acts of extreme violence, as in the Columbine and other recent school massacres.

There are also many people who care, but can only donate money and cannot work "in the field," because it is too painful for them to witness the suffering and bear the reality. But simply donating money and not also changing lifestyles to live more gently may have more to do with feelings of guilt than with real concern.

Dissociation – Feeling Good and Doing No Good

Some years ago, psychologist J. B. Calhoun built a "rat universe" at the National Institute of Mental Health to study the effect of population growth in a confined space, but with adequate food and water. The rat population eventually reached a point where overcrowding stress resulted in much aggression, and stress-related diseases, including infanticide and rapid aging. The most "successful" rats, in terms of remaining sleek and fat, were those who appeared to totally ignore their surroundings and other rats. They evidenced dissociation as a way of coping, much like we see in humans who continue to live the good life in a make-believe world far removed from the "real" world of bioindustrialized wastelands where our toxic food is produced and away from the less fortunate majority, who live in the slums.

While dissociation may be an almost enviable coping strategy, such disconnectedness raises a simple and fundamental question. What do people live for? By contemporary standards of materialism, consumerism, and competitive individualism, the partially and often totally dissociated, who live only for themselves and for and through their children and other possessions, may be seen as being better off, more successful than those who are community-associated, and who live for each other, especially the rural peasantry and tribal peoples. But by the egalitarian and democratic standards of a more compassionate and cooperative society, dissociation means spiritual death. The spiritual anarchy and voluntary simplicity that the animal and human liberation movements embody is the antithesis of materialist anarchy, economism, and consumerism. Renunciation of a hedonistic life that is based on the pleasure principle of conspicuous consumption is perhaps the only hope for a just and sustainable global economy, and world peace.

The Black Hole

In the name of progress and humanitarianism, society condones experimenting on baboons to find cures for society’s drug addiction problems and experimentation on other animals for society’s other problems, like obesity, cancer, birth defects, and alcoholism; and to design better car seat belts and air bags, household cleaners, new cosmetics, and biological weapons to kill our own kind.

Those who regulate and perpetrate these kinds of atrocities against other sentient beings enlarge the black hole of human selfishness under the delusion of human altruism and concern for a suffering humanity. But only the hows and whats of these kinds of human suffering are addressed by the life science establishment that condones animal experimentation, animal suffering, and genetic engineering. The whys of disease and ways of prevention are ignored. Over a billion people in the world live in abject poverty, not simply because there are too many people on Earth. Billions more are victims and perpetrators of environmental disease, as one industrial sector pollutes their food and water, bodies, babies, and minds, and other sectors profit from the calamitous health and human services’ costs and consequences.

Black holes are not something imaginary. So far as astrophysicists have ascertained, they are a natural cosmological phenomenon in the realm of matter. And in the realm of spirit, we find the analog in the human psyche. One is in the spectrum of anti-matter, the other in the spectrum of anti-life. The life science industrial complex is in this entropic spectrum, hoping for great profits, scientific and technological progress, and for the more ethically inclined, some good as well: but at what price indeed?

How profits, progress, and the social good are defined and the means by which these ends are achieved can be used to calibrate the degrees of good and evil in any culture. The more chaos that arises out of each black cultural hole, the more evil we find: wife beating and mutilation, child slavery and prostitution, violence and injustice, gross animal cruelties, all compounded by official indifference, public inertia, and spiritual corruption.

I do not believe that one can be a humanitarian – genuinely and effectively care for the well-being of people – if one does not genuinely and effectively care for animals and the environment, the well-being of which determines to a large measure, the health and prosperity of society. There are those who put free trade and material values before human rights. Others put farm animal productivity before animals’ well being, and "land development" and other forms of resource expropriation and exploitation before local, national, and global social stability, economic sustainability, and the overall public good. These examples of anti-humanitarian activities have a long history and as history informs, they have contributed to the collapse of one bioregional civilization after another.

Now our civilization is no longer bioregional. It is global and its collapse and transformation will be global. We are on the threshold of this transformation as we witness the accelerating collapse of once sustainable biocultural regions around the world under the terminator frenzy of unbridled capitalism, industrialism, consumerism, ethical illiteracy, and historical amnesia. What is to come may have no history to repeat: A new beginning and a new covenant for all of humanity with the Kingdom of Universal Compassion that is illumed by powers we barely comprehend that are all around us, within us, beneath us, and above us.

The Spiritual Whole

When we each and all can face the truth, put down our masks and accept the fact that we are all one, and that we humans are the only gateway for evil to enter and possess the world, black holes will cease to grow. To be truly human means to be a moral agent and to confront the reality of evil. Evil manifests itself in genocide, war, in the daily life of humans exploiting animals, and in the exploitation of one human by another, sexually, economically, or politically. Followers of Christ’s teachings believe that Christ-centered action is the truth that will prevent evil from spreading all over the world. In our heartfulness, there is less and less space for evil to flourish as we become part of the boundless circle of compassion’s light. But for this collective transformation to begin, we need the courage and mindfulness to live fully in the here and now. By trusting life and letting go of all our attachments to our fears and selfish desires and to our myriad expectations and preconceptions, we then become authentic and free, natural beings.

Letting go can be extremely difficult. It entails an attitude of assent and submission to the higher powers of compassionate love and understanding. It often involves great suffering through personal introspection, forgiveness and atonement, and openness to others, including their sufferings, limitations, malevolence and ignorance, as well as their wisdom and love.

Evil flourishes in the black hole of the collective human psyche so long as we remain closed to others, cutting ourselves off from being close because of some fear – of being hurt, rejected, abandoned; or fear of feeling others’ pain and distress, and not wanting to suffer empathically and care enough to help. Or perhaps we feel responsible for others’ plight, helpless maybe, and sometimes even guilty. Or we are afraid of being eccentric, radically separating ourselves from a sick society. Some over-react with violence.

People naturally don’t want to suffer, so they will avoid feeling another’s suffering. But this anti-empathy reaction severs the heart’s connection with others, which is the opposite of what all people yearn for and need in order to be well, to feel connected, secure, and loved. It seems as though the worse things get, the less people want to know. Because to know, calls for action. Also to know can evoke the intense discomforts of guilt, shame, helplessness, and despair.

Those who enjoy seeing and making others suffer are trying to obliterate their own suffering, which may be manifested in the evils of rape, murder, and of animal torture; in the lust for power and control; in the insatiable craving for status and recognition; and in possessiveness, jealousy, vanity, and various addictions and obsessions. In such states there is no heart connection with compassion, no empathic understanding, no presence of being in relationship, or of any sense of universal selfhood. Low self-esteem can lead to evil, just as evil often arises from excessive self-esteem. Love flows, and we are healed and made whole, when we esteem the sanctity of others equally with our own divinity.

Without love to give children a sense of self worth, the heart of conscience, their awareness, and their ability to consider the consequences of their actions and beliefs, cannot develop normally. Love as adoration awakens the divinity within us all, our sense that there is something sacred, not only in ourselves but in all selves. A community of conscience is a community of hope and of compassion that neither judges others nor moralizes, and is a community of benevolence whose members neither horde nor steal. Before we really love ourselves, we must first love our neighbors as ourselves, including all our neighbors from other kingdoms and domains. That is the true meaning of the Golden Rule, which seems to have been turned around in practice to mean "those with the gold, rule."

Mindfulness or self-discipline is a prerequisite of nonviolence and of not harming others inadvertently. The goal is not to suppress feelings of anger and hurt, but acknowledge the anger and not break out in anger to hurt others. To act in anger and harm others is contrary to the humanitarian ethics of humility, pity, mercy, and loving kindness. It is from the very will-to-live-core of our being -- where we suffer and rejoice in our being – that we connect through empathic understanding and compassionate action, with the same core in all other sentient beings, human and nonhuman. For the good of the entire Earth community, we must start making this heart-centered connection, because if we do not, the black hole of evil will consume the world.

As suffering in the world increases and the stresses of living take their toll on each of us, we tend to disconnect as a way of coping. Now is the time to reconnect, to rediscover and redefine what it means to be human, and to be true to our good and divine natures as we recognize the sanctity of all beings by treating them with reverence. The passion of animal, Earth, and human liberation is a call to humanity to reconnect and to be liberated from the Black Hole of human ignorance, arrogance, hatred, fear and greed.

Dr. Michael W. Fox

Human Dignity in Africa: Conference held last week in The Hague:

Objectives of the Conference

This year the Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany) issued a call for applications on „global change“. Given its expertise, the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict submitted a project on „human dignity in global change“, of which this conference is an integral part. First, the conference seeks to examine the economic, social, cultural, political, and legal facets of „human dignity“. In fact, human dignity is as much about collectively choosing rulers in accordance with democratic principles and enjoying a peaceful environment as it is about combating poverty, disease and hunger. Undoubtedly, human dignity is substantially diminished in times of armed conflict, not to mention in conflicts that seek to destroy particular groups. In this context Africa presents a good case study. Second the notion of human dignity is relative to the particular society under consideration. Again Africa is a good illustration of how human dignity is understood differently. The Annual Conference of the Institute is supported by the German Red Cross and EDUSAT.

Please see the program here.

The publishing of the proceedings is planned.

Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
May 25, 2005

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

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

1. " Three keys to the cowed Arab media" by Jennifer L. Windsor and Brian Katulis
Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House and. Brian Katulis, a consultant for Freedom House, look at the restraints on media in the Middle East and predict a long road ahead if media is to be used as a tool in reform.
(Source: The Daily Star, May 17, 2005)

2. " Arab allies test US 'freedom' agenda" by Dan Murphy
Dan Murphy, staff writer at the Christian Science Monitor, considers how the United States will respond to widely publicized claims of freedom and liberty violations by America's "friends" in the region, and challenges criticism by other Western countries who are "sitting on the sidelines."
(Source: The Christian Science Monitor, May 17, 2005)

3. "Heaven on earth" by Amina Elbendary
Amina Elbendary, journalist for Al Ahram newspaper in Egypt, analyzes the clash of civilizations in the context of the new Ridley Scott film, Kingdom of Heaven, which provides an unexpected take on the Crusades. Can a contemporary film, that brings with it connotations of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict and the War on Terror, add a new dimension to the relationship between the West and the Arab World?
(Source: Al Ahram, 12-18 May, 2005)

4. "A new 'Mecca of Arabic studies'?" by Tom Spender
Tom Spender, a journalist who writes for the Christian Science Monitor, describes the experiences of American students studying Arab in Damascus and the reasons behind their choice to embark on such a journey.
(Source: The Christian Science Monitor, May 10, 2005)

5. "Arab Americans stand proud " Editorial
This Editorial from the Jordan Times, announces the opening of theArab American National Museum in Michigan in the US. The museum - the first dedicated solely to the preservation of Arab American history - was built in part to foster understanding of Arab culture in the United States.
(Source: Jordan Times, May 6-7, 2005)

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ARTICLE 1
Three keys to the cowed Arab media
Jennifer L. Windsor and Brian Katulis

Recent events in the Middle East provide vivid and hopeful images of the potential for freedom's expansion - Lebanese youths calling for political reform on Beirut streets once front lines in a civil war; Iraqi voters at the polls defying terrorist threats; and Kuwaiti women and men demonstrating for women's full political rights.

While democracy advocates should welcome these signs of change, the results of Freedom House's latest annual Freedom of the Press survey, based on universal criteria, offer a sobering reminder that the Middle East has the worst press freedom conditions in the world.

Fully 96 percent of the region's people live in countries with media environments ranked "not free" in the survey. By contrast, only 10 percent of people in the Western Hemisphere - and no country in Western Europe - have a press that is "not free;" about half of the population in the rest of the world lives in countries without press freedom.

Three common problems plaguing press freedom in the Middle East underscore the daunting work ahead in forging genuine democracy and press freedom in the region:

The first problem is a weak judiciary. One common thread in most of the 16 "not free" countries in the region is the abuse of laws by governments unchecked by an independent judiciary to crush political dissent. In countries such as Egypt and Algeria, the government uses state emergency laws not solely for national security reasons, but to suppress legitimate criticism of government officials and policy. In several countries in the region, governments abuse anti-defamation and libel laws to institutionalize censorship.

In extreme cases like Libya and Iran, the penal code stipulates harsh prison sentences and in some cases the death penalty for violations of vague laws prohibiting publication of information that conflicts with "the country's social structures" (as in Libya) or is "contrary to Islamic principles or detrimental to public rights" (as in Iran).

Beyond these extreme cases, nearly every country in the region that lacks press freedom also lacks a judiciary that is fully independent with sufficient capacity and resources to independently arbitrate legal disputes involving press coverage. This combination - laws with vague provisions and a judiciary lacking power and independence - leaves the media vulnerable with few legal protections.

The second problem is volatile and repressive political environments. Ongoing conflicts, terrorism and physical attacks on journalists by state and nonstate actors remain a major threat to press freedom in the region. Iraq, which experienced important press freedom gains with a historic media boom following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, saw much of those gains eroded last year by the ongoing conflict. The occupied Palestinian territories and the Palestinian Authority receive one of the lowest scores globally in large part because ongoing conflict in 2004 placed limits on media coverage of events.

In some cases, it is not just violence itself that hinders press freedom, it is government actions to limit press freedom in response to internal conflicts. For example, Yemen, which saw the biggest backslide in the region in its press freedom ranking in 2004, shut down newspapers and jailed a prominent editor for criticisms of the government's actions to suppress a rebellion in the northern region of Saada. In addition, many governments in the region, understanding the media's power in shaping politics, continue to stifle critical and independent voices, even in emerging media outlets.

The third problem is the absence of an economically viable media market. A much-overlooked restriction on press freedom is the media's lack of economic independence and sustainability. Virtually no media outlet in the region covers its own operating costs, including many of the prominent regional satellite television channels. Most media outlets are owned and controlled by governments or heavily dependent on subsidies from small groups of private owners or governments.

Though prospects for a truly competitive media market have increased slightly with the advent of private regional satellite channels and new measures by a handful of governments to license private media, the heavy concentration of media ownership in the Middle East runs the risk of continuing to skew news coverage.

As with politics today in the region, the state of press freedom in the Middle East is dynamic. In many countries there are signs that new media outlets like satellite television and the Internet are eroding tight state control over information and debates. As one man in Cairo told our researchers, "If you have satellite channels, you can know more about what is happening in your own country than you do from local channels."

The fundamental question is: Will countries in the region build on these new openings for press freedom, allow a diversity of voices to emerge, and make fundamental changes to their laws and institutions? Long after the images of democratic transitions and historic elections fade, the hard work of writing laws and regulations and reforming institutions begins.
The serious challenges to press freedom in the Middle East are a clear reminder of the long road that lies ahead for comprehensive political reform in the Middle East.

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* Jennifer Windsor is executive director of Freedom House, the oldest human rights organization in the United States. Brian Katulis is a consultant who has conducted research for Freedom House in the Middle East and North Africa on media issues. They wrote this for the Daily Star.
Source: The Daily Star, May 17, 2005
Visit the Daily Star at www.dailystar.com.lb.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
Arab allies test US 'freedom' agenda
Dan Murphy

CAIRO - Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazief's meeting with President Bush Wednesday comes at a troubling time for the president's Middle East agenda. The administration's calls for radical change in the region are now butting up against clear resistance from its closest Arab allies.

Some, like the monarchies of Bahrain and Jordan, simply continue to limit political competition. Others, like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are cracking down on reformists. Egypt has arrested thousands of political opponents in the past two weeks, while Saudi Arabia sentenced three activists on Sunday to up to nine years in jail for "sowing dissent."

The actions of these close American allies have now put the ball in Washington's court. The US is balancing its stated interest in fostering democracy against the potential harm that could be done to the short-term interests - like fighting terrorism, Arab normalization with Israel, supporting the war in Iraq, and oil - that usually guide its engagement with the region.

While Bush's second-term agenda goals of sowing the seeds of liberty and freedom are meeting challenges in some parts of the Middle East, the region is undergoing change. New elections are scheduled for Lebanon without Syrian influence. Saudi Arabia held the last round of its first nationwide polls to ceremonial municipal councils in April.

But how Mr. Nazief's visit is handled could well confirm an emerging divergence between America's commitment to promoting democracy in general terms and an unwillingness to alienate allies with specific action.

When Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia visited President Bush in Crawford, Texas, last month, US officials dodged questions on whether the US had complained about repression of dissidents in the kingdom. Instead, they said the president urged him to increase oil production and praised his support for the war on terror.

Asked if President Bush had complained about the closed-door trial of the three dissidents, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said: "There was a general discussion about the issue of reform in these various conversations over the last two days. I'm not going to get into the specifics." Soon after the Prince returned home, the three men were sentenced.

"The problem with pressing for democracy has always been [that] at some point short-term needs override the long-term strategic goal of democratization,'' says Wayne White, who served as the deputy director of the Middle East shop at the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research until March and is now an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute. "Short-term interests and push back from allies always erode these kind of initiatives."

Egypt, the Arab world's largest country and the globe's third largest recipient of US aid after Iraq and Israel, embodies the conundrum before US policy makers. The country has received more than $55 billion in US aid since it signed a 1979 peace treaty with Israel. It conducts frequent military exercises with US forces and is helping the US effort in Iraq by training officers for the new Iraqi army.

Egypt has also, according to Human Rights Watch, abducted and deported alleged terrorists into US custody at Guantánamo Bay and also received alleged terrorists from the US, both under the Bush and Clinton administrations, despite a State Department finding in February that torture of detainees here is "common and persistent."

Because of the alliance to fight terrorism and the desire to reward Egypt for making peace with Israel, the US gives Egypt almost total control over how the aid money will be spent. Policy until now - which US officials say might change - has left Egypt free to deal with internal dissent in a manner of its choosing without putting its cash at risk.

Prime Minister Nazief's visit comes less than two weeks after Egypt passed limited reforms to its presidential electoral procedures that officials in Washington say disappointed the White House because they make it almost impossible for opposition candidates to challenge President Hosni Mubarak's 24-year rule in an October election.

"The way it looks now [the changes] are more cosmetic than substantive,'' says a US official. "We will continue to strongly encourage the Egyptian government to open more political space. It will be hard for President Mubarak to present the elections as meaningful if there isn't viable competition."

Other close US allies are also keeping tight limits on defense. The government appointed by Jordan's King Abdullah has introduced draft legislation to parliament in recent months seeking to limit political activism. In Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet and where the Sunni Arab King Hamid bin Isa al-Khalifa rules over a Shiite majority that has no senior positions in government, three bloggers were arrested for "inciting resentment" against the government in March.

In Egypt, Washington and opposition anger with the amended election rules has coincided with the biggest crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, the most organized opposition group, in at least a decade. Supporters of the secular opposition Al-Ghad Party also have been attacked, and foreign journalists who were seeking to cover a meeting of 5,000 judges in Cairo Friday were briefly detained. The judges threatened to boycott supervision of the country's upcoming elections unless political restrictions on them are eased.

The last scheduled high-level contact between Washington and Egypt was a visit to Cairo by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned for February. Ms. Rice cancelled that visit at the last minute after Egypt jailed Al-Ghad leader Ayman Nour on forgery charges. Mr. Nour was released shortly after and is awaiting trial. "It certainly appears there are forces at work to stack the deck against this guy,'' says the US official, who asked not to be named.

In recent days, Egyptian officials have struck back against what they feel has been unfair criticism, particularly from the press. On Thursday, Mr. Nazief held a discussion with a small group of foreign journalists, and Gamal Mubarak, the President's son, also held a rare press conference. Mr. Mubarak is an influential member of the ruling National Democratic Party and sometimes touted as his father's successor.

Mubarak singled out foreign press coverage of the amended presidential law as unbalanced, calling it "historic" legislation. "This is such a fundamental change that I think some people are still unable to comprehend [it],'' he said, pointing out that Egypt's 19 licensed political parties will be allowed to field candidates in the presidential election. Until now, his father has simply faced a yes or no referendum to retain his post.

"It doesn't help ... when somebody takes a courageous step and the first thing he faces is skepticism,'' says Nazief, who shrugged off complaints that the regimes controls on opposition parties, particularly its refusal to allow the Moslem Brotherhood to compete, is preventing a real opposition from emerging. "We have enough political parties."

Nazief acknowledged that under current conditions, there won't be much of a race for the presidency. He said the process will be "more of a referendum than an election" if Mubarak decides to run.

Mr. White of the Middle East Institute says it's unfair to expect the US to be able to accomplish much on its own, with the democracies of Europe generally silent on the matter.

"The US gets criticized for not doing enough, while everyone else sits on the sidelines,'' he says. "Everyone knows that the region desperately needs reform, the Germans know it, the French know it, but they don't say much because the US is out in front taking all the hits."

Still, White says the US has been naive if it has expected the gradualist change US allies in the region have promised to materialize. "If the White House is angry, why were its expectations so high to begin with? The history is pretty disappointing, related with these kind of efforts ... why would we expect that right off the bat deeply embedded ruling elites would share power? That just doesn't happen."

"The sad fact is if they don't reform, if democratization doesn't make much progress a lot of countries will eventually march down the road to destabilization. But authoritarian states don't have the vision thing," White adds.

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* Dan Murphy is a staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, May 17, 2005
Visit The Christian Science Monitor at www.csmonitor.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright is held by the Christian Science Monitor, please contact Lawrenced@csps.com for permission.

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ARTICLE 3
Heaven on earth
Amina Elbendary

CAIRO - Kingdom of Heaven, Sir Ridley Scott's newest production about the Crusades, was released simultaneously in Cairo, the US and Europe, where it tops the charts. It was only natural that my politically aware friend and I should hurry to the downtown cinema, notebooks and pencils in hand, ready to analyse and dissect. After all, the plot of the film was promoted as follows: "During the Crusades of the 12th century, Balian of Ibelin, a young blacksmith in Jerusalem, rises to protect his people from foreign invaders." We thus had every reason to expect a controversial take on the clash of civlisations; and yet when we found the film disappointing, in the end, it was for an unexpected set of reasons.

Set in the 1180s, Kingdom of Heaven follows the adventures of one knight on his journey from France to Jerusalem and back. In choosing the French blacksmith Balian (Orlando Bloom) for the main role, the filmmakers set the tone for a focus on the common people. But equally they are producing a heroic fairytale; and their protagonist is more than just a foot soldier in the army of a famous knight. As it turns out he is the bastard son of Godfrey, Baron of Ibelin; inheriting his father's title, he becomes Balian of Ibelin (the Balian Ibn Barzan of Muslim sources). This legacy places Balian on the side of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, who favours peace with the Muslims (led by Salaheddin Al- Ayoubi). Other knights, including Reynald and Guy de Lusignan, come across as religious fanatics dying to make war, something they achieve after Baldwin's death and the consequent siege of Jerusalem. With Salaheddin at the other end, a limited number of battles -- they are contained thanks to the understanding between Baldwin and Salaheddin -- give way to an all-out war that in turn leads to the battle of Hittin, and eventually the battle for Jerusalem. The defence of the city falls onto Balian, who organises the operation with courage. A truce is finally negotiated with Salaheddin, who on reconquering the city grants the Franks amnesty and freedom of passage. Balian returns to his French hometown, a blacksmith once more.

Not all Crusader knights in the film are good characters like Balian. Insofar as there are good guys at all, they would have to be the Hospitalers (as opposed to the Templars). Another distinction relates to the difference between Franks already assimilated into Middle East life and newly arrived Crusaders with their zealous preconceptions. Though it is suggested that Balian sets out on this Crusade to atone for a murder he committed, many of the "good" Crusaders, his allies, seem to be agnostic. This isn't all about God and forgiveness, then. Indeed orthodox religiosity would be hard pressed for a thumbs-up in this film. The opening scenes show a French village priest ordering the beheading of the corpse of Balian's wife, who committed suicide. When he later urges Balian to leave the village, to escape ostracism, Balian responds by murdering him. Similarly, the Archbishop of Jerusalem is given a nasty treatment as a cowardly, pleasure-loving hypocrite. In an attempt at parity, one of Salaheddin's aides (played by the Egyptian actor Khaled El- Nabawi) is presented as the Voice of Islam, admonishing the king for avoiding war with the Franks. It is not clear whether that character is a bureaucrat, a man of religion or an officer, but despite his zeal he seems more level-headed than his Christian counterparts, Reynald and Guy de Lusignan, for he respects the wisdom of his commander and does not unilaterally shatter the peace. But in some ways, Reynald and Guy prove him right: the Franks are not to be trusted. A discomforting echo of prevalent stereotypes of both Muslims and Westerners: Muslims are violent and love war; Westerners are treacherous.

With such a plot, it becomes clear that this is not a regular epic movie. There doesn't seem to be any glory, for one thing, and the high ideals commonly invoked in such ordeals are not quite clear. By deconstructing the traditional image of the crusade as a religiously inspired ideal, what we are left with is a diluted cross of The Alchemist and John Gray. The oath Balian takes at his knighthood sums it up: "Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless, even if it leads to your death." Godfrey promises his son another world in Jerusalem: "A new world. A better world than has ever been seen. There you are not what you are born but what you have it in yourself to be. A kingdom of conscience, peace instead of war, love instead of hate: that is what lies at the end of Crusade." A spiritual journey, perhaps, or a journey of self- fulfilment? You listen to your head and your heart, you do good and defend the weak; worthy ideals, no doubt, but they don't explain or justify a Crusade. Which is why, perhaps, in the end, Balian is sent back home, there to find his own Jerusalem.

The film even lacks the kind of epic love story one would expect. Though Balian does have an affair with the future queen of Jerusalem, Guy's wife Sybilla (Eva Green), it is so clichéd, complete with dark chambers and incense, that it fails to arouse any sympathy. As the only leading female character in the film, Sybilla's main role is to push the narrative on its destined track, namely open confrontation between Franks and Muslims. When she inherits the throne of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, on her brother's death, she makes her husband, Guy, the king, thereby granting him the authority required for waging war. Kingdom of Heaven is thus amounts to the Crusades reconsidered, if not revised. It exposes some of the cracks in popular narrative about the Crusades and pastes over others. The film attempts to recreate the ambiance of medieval warfare and political manoeuvre, with panoramic airplane shots showing how two mighty armies might have clashed, and exposing the inherent confusion and madness. Such scenes are juxtaposed with zoom shots from the viewpoint of the soldiers themselves as balls of fire fall inside Jerusalem, for example, or arrows bring men down. The indoor scenes are dim and shady, perhaps emphasising the notion of the "dark ages" in an all too literal way, perhaps in reference to "the exotic east": scheming politicians and seductive temptresses. There are soft, crumbled sheets, sundry shiny fabrics, candles and incense sticks, shutters, fruit and wine.

By making the Crusades the movie's ostensible subject, Jerusalem its setting, the filmmakers are taking an inherent risk, and it seems they have done so consciously. The Crusades have long been a controversial historical subject, one that, for many, foreshadows animosity between East and West. It is a subject that lends itself to projection, bringing to mind the contemporary Arab-Israeli conflict and, more recently, Bush's "war on terror". One of the more famous Arab films inspired by the Crusades was Youssef Chahine's Al-Nasir Salaheddin, for example, produced at the height of Gamal Abdel-Nasser's glory and replete with overtones of Arab nationalism. With Kingdom being released in a post-9/11 atmosphere, many have expressed the concern that it would reproduce the traditional stereotypical arguments of the clash of civilisations. Salaheddin's character itself has inspired many writers and artists from both East and West, starting with Dante. One trait often emphasised in such reconstructions is his generosity and the mercy he shows to fallen enemies, his magnanimity.

In Muslim historiography, Salaheddin is celebrated as an able general, one who prepared well for his battles. He is credited with building a united Muslim front and carving a kingdom for himself before embarking on fighting the Franks. Echoes of this common wisdom make their way through to Kingdom although its starchy Salaheddin is hardly at the centre of the drama. Here played by Ghassan Massoud

###
* Amina Elbendary is a writer for Al Ahram newspaper in Cairo.
Source: Al Ahram, May 12-18, 2005
Visit Al Ahram, weekly.ahram.org.eg.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
A new 'Mecca of Arabic studies'?
Tom Spender

DAMASCUS, SYRIA - The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, on his home city and the subsequent warsin Afghanistan and Iraq changed Jason Gluck's life. In January he left his lucrative job as a corporate lawyer in Washington, D.C., and traveled to Damascus in Syria to learn Arabic.

Says Mr. Gluck, "9/11 got me thinking about Middle East issues and made them immediate and personal. I want to contribute to that in any way I can by getting involved and working in the field."

Gluck is among a burgeoning group of a few hundred Western students living and studying in Damascus, the Syrian capital. There are currently as many as 50 Americans in Damascus, including a handful on government-sponsored Fulbright scholarships.

In many ways, Syria is an unlikely destination for students from the United States. The US has imposed sanctions on the country, accusing it of supporting terrorism and failing to stop militants entering Iraq.

Yet at the same time, Syria is fast becoming the "Mecca of learning Arabic," says Joshua Landis, professor of international studies at the University of Oklahoma. Mr. Landis has been living in and visiting Syria for 20 years.

For Western students, a new curiosity
Sept. 11 transformed everything, Professor Landis says. Suddenly, in the US, there was both curiosity about the Muslim world - and awareness that gaining knowledge about the region could be a career path.

"There's a book on Islam in most American households - it may not have been read, but it was bought after 9/11 because people felt they had to learn," he says. At the same time, he adds, "All the government bodies - the CIA and the State Department, for example - are desperate for Middle East expertise and Arabic speakers. So students see they can get a good job - if they can just learn this language."

That remains a big "if." Learning Arabic means learning to read and write a whole new alphabet that includes sounds notoriously difficult for English speakers. It also means learning to distinguish between fusha - modern standard Arabic used in the media across the Arab world - and amiya - the spoken dialect of daily life, which varies widely from country to country.

"You could learn three European languages in the time it takes to learn Arabic," says Landis. But while taking on Arabic is a daunting task, many foreign students say it is made easier by the Syrians' friendliness and warmth - despite the general Western view of Damascus as a virulently anti-American capital city in a violent region.

Another factor: "In Damascus fewer people speak English well than in Egypt, so it's better for practicing," says David Duerden of Roxburg, Idaho, who studied Arabic in Cairo for four months before moving to Damascus with hopes to work for the US State Department. "They enjoy listening to you and don't ridicule your efforts."

Westerners learning Arabic in Damascus also praise the city's relaxed atmosphere and low cost of living. (A taxi ride across town costs 50 cents, and an extravagant meal at a top restaurant comes to between $10 and $20.)

Questions about security
Syria's authoritarian secular government ensures security by posting police throughout Damascus and the rest of the country. Extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood were outlawed in the 1980s. The political kidnappings that plague neighboring Iraq do not happen in Syria. The combination of an authoritarian government and a traditional society makes it extremely safe. "Damascus is one of the safest cities in the world," says Landis. "Compared to New York, Los Angeles, or St. Louis, it's the paragon of safety."

Students like Gluck and Mr. Duerden can choose from about 10 different institutions offering Arabic courses. Several, such as the University of Damascus, offer fusha courses with up to seven levels running simultaneously.

Arabic is the only language spoken in class, which can be intimidating, says Yon Janssen, a sociology student from Arlon, Belgium. "It's tough at first, but when you get through it, that's when you really start to profit," she says.
A month's tuition at the university, which includes classes five mornings a week, costs about $200. The British, French, German, Spanish, and Italian cultural centers also run classes, including some courses in amiya. Students can also get one-on-one instruction from private teachers.

Most Western students rent rooms for about $120 a month with families in the Christian quarter of the walled Old City, a neighborhood full of churches, mosques, and bustling souks. The city life gives people like Cristina Del Valle, a media student from Barcelona, a chance to use what they are learning.

"I live in a Syrian family house, so I practice every day and also see the way of life," she says.
Gluck says that making friends with Syrians has definitely strengthened his Arabic language skills. But it has brought other benefits as well.

"Being here has been incredibly enlightening," he says. "All the Arabs I've met have this amazing ability to distinguish between Americans and the American government. I wish I had a nickel for every time I've been told: 'I hate your government, welcome to my country!' It gives me hope for the future of East-West relations."

###
* Tom Spender is a journalist who writes for the Christian Science Monitor.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, May 10, 2005
Visit the Christian Science Monitor at www.csmonitor.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright belongs to the Christian Science Monitor, please contact Lawrenced@csps.com for permission.

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ARTICLE 5
Arab Americans stand proud
Jordan Times Editorial

AMMAN - The Arab Community Centre for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) on Thursday announced the opening of the Arab American National Museum in Michigan in the US.

The museum - the first dedicated solely to the preservation of Arab American history - will be located in the city of Dearborn, home to the US' largest concentration of Arab Americans.

It will showcase the rich and diverse heritage of the Arab American community, highlighting the contributions Arabs have made and continue to make in the United States.

"Considering the cultural heritage, and a nationwide population of 4.2 million we saw the absence of an Arab-American National Museum was glaring. Stir in the fact that there are 15,000 museums in our nation and not one is dedicated to Arab Americans," said Ismael Ahmed, executive director ACCESS. "This is not only a home run for Arab Americans and our community, but also for all Americans who share a passion for learning."

A 38,500-square-foot building on Michigan Avenue will lead visitors to a tiled fountain with artifacts from all over the US and the Arab world.

The museum will preserve two main galleries.

The first gallery, Contributions of the Arab World, will feature innovations from the Arab world in the fields of architecture, science, medicine and law.

The second gallery is about Arab-Americans and consists of three exhibits: Coming to America, will recount the history of immigration from the Arab world. It begins with a North African slave who came to the United States on an exploring expedition in 1528, and moves to the present day.

Living in America, will reflect the life of Arab Americans at different time periods, and will feature such topics as family life, religion, activism and political involvement, institution building, work, and leisure.

Making an Impact, will demonstrate the contributions Arab Americans have made and continue to make to this country in fields such as science and medicine, academics, entertainment, creative arts, and politics - to name a few.

The Arab American National Museum will also feature travelling exhibits, along with an auditorium, classrooms and a gift shop.

Also included is a one of-a-kind library/resource centre displaying information on Arabs, and books written by Arab Americans.

"The museum hopes to become the leading resource on the growing field of Arab American studies, dispelling stereotypes and more importantly, operating as a source of pride for Arab Americans everywhere," said Dr Anan Ameri, director of the Arab American National Museum.

ACCESS is a human services organisation committed to the development of the Arab American community in all aspects of economic and cultural life. The organisation helps low-income families, as well as newly arrived immigrants, adapt to life in America.

Its goal is to foster a greater understanding of Arab Culture in the US and in the Arab world, and provides a wide range of social, mental health, educational, artistic, employment, legal, and medical services, and is dedicated to empowering people to lead more informed, productive, and fulfilling lives.

###
* This editorial was found in the Jordan Times.
Source: The Jordan Times, May 6-7, 2005
Visit the Jordan Times at www.jordantimes.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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The Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity, brought to you by Search for Common Ground, seeks to build bridges of understanding between the West and the Arab World and countries with predominately Muslim populations. This service is one outcome of a set of working meetings held in partnership with His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal in June 2003.

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AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

hiermit möchten wir auf eine Veranstaltung unserer Partnerorganisation INISA e.V. aufmerksam machen, die am 30. Mai um 16.00 Uhr im Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte stattfindet.

Die Initiative Südliches Afrika lädt Sie am Montag, den 30. Mai, 16.00 Uhr zu einer Diskussionsveranstaltung über ´Violence, Crime and Vigilance in South Africa – Gewalt, Kriminalität und Selbstjustiz in Südafrika´ mit Dr. Steffen Jensen (University of the Witwatersrand/University of Roskilde) in das Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte (Greifswalder Str. 4, 10405 Berlin) ein.

Dr. Jensen wird seine jüngsten Forschungsergebnisse zum Thema ´Policing Nkomazi: State formation, Crime, Moral communities and Generational Conflicts in South Africa´ vorstellen und mit uns über die Geschichte politischer und krimineller Gewalt sowie die verschiedenen Formen des Umgangs mit ihr in Südafrika diskutieren.

Die Veranstaltung findet in englischer Sprache statt.

Das Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte erreichen Sie mit der Tramlinie M4 sowie den Buslinien 200 und 240. Haltestelle ist jeweils "Am Friedrichshain".

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

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AfricAvenir International e.V. ist nicht für die Inhalte externer Webseiten verantwortlich.

New Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme website:

The Secretariat of the Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST) has the pleasure to inform you of the launch of its new website, now available online at: www.unesco.org/shs/most

The MOST website has been completely revised according to the reorientation of the Programme (Phase II). It presents the Programme’s achievements during its first ten years as well as new activities and future events.

The MOST Digital Library contains results from research carried out during the first ten years of the MOST Programme: http://www.unesco.org/shs/most/digital-library

Invitation for researchers

MOST has designed an improved structure for its future Policy Documents, aimed at enhanced dissemination and usability of research results for policy-making. The generic structure will allow us to produce different types of documents from the same original content (high-quality policy analyses from experts all over the world based on social science research) and to differentiate format and access in various modes (Papers and Briefs, print and electronic, etc.) so as to respond more efficiently to different types of information needs.

The MOST secretariat takes this opportunity to invite interested social science researchers to review their own research reports by applying the proposed methodology (www.unesco.org/shs/most/policy-papers). The Secretariat will be pleased to include in its database any revised documents and research reports in the new MOST structure for Policy documents.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any suggestions or any queries. Contact Mr S. Castro: s.castro@unesco.org

Yours sincerely,

The MOST Secretariat.

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

CALL FOR ITEMS

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

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Dear World Movement Participants:

The next issue of DemocracyNews will go out on June 8, 2005. In order to make DemocracyNews as useful as possible, we ask you to send us any items related to democracy work that you think would be of interest to others.

The next deadline for submitting items is ** May 31** 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.

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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.

NEWSLETTER FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS HOUSE NETWORK

1) Azerbaijan: Standoff shadows pre-election situation
More than 300 opposition activists were arrested and many wounded in a demonstration in Baku on Saturday. The Human Rights House Foundation (HRH) is deeply concerned about the heated tension between the authorities and the opposition before the parliamentary elections due 6 November in Azerbaijan. Together with the Norwegian and Swedish Helsinki Committees, HRH sent an open letter to the Azeri President Ilham Aliyev on Friday.

2) Colombian defender in grave danger
A death threat has been delivered to Soraya Gutiérrez Arguello, President of the non- governmental human rights organization Corporación Colectivo de Abogados 'José Alvear Restrepo' in Colombia. Please send appeals immediately.

3) Appeals for an international investigation in Uzbekistan
In an appeal to the Uzbek president, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee calls for an impartial investigation of the events in Andijan and other cities of Eastern Uzbekistan. International PEN and Amnesty International also strongly condemn the reported use of excessive force against civilians on 13 of May. Many Azeri human rights organizations have signed a letter to the international community to put the situation on the agenda, and in Poland , the Helsinki Committee and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights have written a letter to their government.

4) Uzbekistan: the Internet "information explosion"
Access to websites with an oppositional or even just a critical slant is blocked by service providers on instructions from the authorities of Uzbekistan. Official statistics indicate that around 700,000 Uzbeks use the Internet, less than three per cent of a population of 26 million. Independent sources estimate that it has even fewer regular users.

5) Tunisia: Concern grows following clashes between lawyers and police
Many international free expression groups now believe the Tunisian government’s strategy is to isolate and intimidate its barristers and clear the way for advocates willing to toe the authorities’ repressive line. Index on Censorship was on hand to witness a tense stand-off between riot police and independent lawyers in Tunisia during the first week of May. Rohan Jayasekera reports from Tunis.
See also: Smear campaign against Tunisian journalist

6) Kenya: Truth, Justice and reconciliation as elusive as ever
A recent statement by Kenyan Justice Minister Kiraitu Murungi that it was "no longer necessary" for the country to establish a commission to investigate atrocities committed under previous governments has been greeted with both outrage and delight.

7) Croatia: Free legal aid for Roma people
Last week, the Ministry of Justice introduced a new programme of free legal aid for the members of the Roma national minority in Croatia. This is part of anti-discrimination measures towards Roma communitites, underlined in the National Programme for Roma people.

8) Uganda: Growing pressure on prisons already bursting at the seams
Nearly a decade ago, the Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions in Africa was drawn up to improve the situation of inmates across the continent. In an ironic twist, however, the capital that gave its name to the initiative has yet to meet the goals of the declaration. The same goes for the rest of Uganda.

9) Racist violence on the rise in Russia
Sixteen murders committed by racists and nationalists were registered in Russia in eight months of 2004, according to a new report from the Moscow bureau for human rights. The terrorist act in Beslan started a new wave of hatred towards people from the Caucasus region.

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secretariat.

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newsletter-subscribe@humanrightshouse.org

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A Guide in Humane Awareness by Kenneth Hemmerick

Please read on http://www.humaneguide.com/:

This course will enable you to take some time to reflect upon experiences
that you have had, involving kindness, cruelty and humaneness.

In the process of remembering or thinking about these experiences,
you will develop a deeper appreciation for the value of kindness in your life.
You will also develop a more profound insight into cruelty and its ramifications.

Finally, you will be able to see how to nurture and grow
the innate humane being that resides in you, and in all human beings.

Thinking Through Action Conference

LOCATION
Simon Fraser University’s Harbour Centre
515 West Hastings St.
Telephone: 604-268-6681
E-mail: thinkact@sfu.ca
Vancouver, B.c.

The thinking through action organizing committee is giving interested individuals advance notice of an upcoming conference planned in honor of Jack O’Dell, veteran organizer of the civil rights, peace, and labor movements in the United States.

This conference, to be held at Simon Fraser University’s downtown Vancouver campus in June 2005, seeks to bring together scholars, activists, and organizers from across North America not only to discuss the history of social movements around the world, but also how this history can help to broaden our understanding of the struggles for social justice taking place in the present context. Discussions throughout the two days will centre on the need for emphasizing strong theoretical understandings of the political role that progrressive social movements have played while maintaining a focus on the practical objectives of organizing, mobilizing and movement building.

The Thinking Through Action conference will be held concurrently and in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Labour History Association (PNLHA) Conference. This year the conference is celebrating the 100-year anniversary founding of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) by considering the Wobblies' enduring contribution to the labour and social justice movements and their current influence. Click here for the PNLHA Call for Papers.

Alfred Adler's Lectures to Physicians & Medical Students

Volume 8 of "The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler" comprises a
rare find--twenty-eight of Adler's unpublished lectures to medical
students and physicians. From November to December, 1932, Adler gave
a weekly series of seven postgraduate lectures in English at the Long
Island College of Medicine, in Brooklyn, New York. He also gave a
series of at least fifteen lectures in German (dates unknown) at what
was identified only as an "Urban Hospital," somewhere in Europe. Six
additional lectures on a variety of clinical topics are also included.

In his lectures to medical students, Adler provides a compact
overview of Individual Psychology, made three-dimensional with an
abundance of case illustrations. He spans the disciplines of medicine
and psychology with astute insight and practicality, addressing the
challenges of the mind-body influences; the use of symptoms, illness
and pain; the abuse of drugs; the proper use of medication; and the
symptoms of sleeplessness, stuttering, enuresis, and sexual
dysfunction.

His lectures to physicians focuses more deeply on psychopathology,
including the full spectrum from neurosis to psychosis. With
impressive skill, he integrates medical and psychological histories in
a rich variety of case illustrations followed by several live
demonstrations of interviews with patients. His prodigious medical
knowledge and psychological insight provide us with a rarely equaled,
inspiring example of diagnostic and therapeutic ability.

All of these never-before-published manuscripts add to our
appreciation of Adler's remarkable understanding of human nature and
the cure for mental suffering. His unique synthesis of psychological
and medical knowledge, as well as his exceptional, creative intuition,
provide us with a timeless, profound resource in our continuing quest
for improving our therapeutic abilities.

To order Volume 8, go to http://go.ourworld.nu/hstein/cwaa-v8.htm.

==============================================
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

Please see Kaethe Weingarten's (2003) book Common Shock: Witnessing Violence Every Day - How We Are Harmed, How We Can Heal (New York, NY: Dutton).

Please see the press release here:

Every single day, whether we realize it or not, we witness and are affected by violence — often with serious, long-term consequences.

At times the violence is extraordinary, impossible to neglect: the terrorist attacks of 9/11 make us anxious—even panicky—unable to sleep. More often the violence is mundane: the customer ahead of us in the cafeteria line berates the cashier and we feel inexplicably edgy for hours. Most of the time we don't even notice: our 12-year-old watches a murder on television (one of the more than 100,000 acts of TV violence he has seen by that age) and zones out.

In her revolutionary new book, Common Shock, Harvard Medical School psychologist Kaethe Weingarten, Ph.D., defines a problem that up until now had no name. Drawing on the latest scientific research and her years of clinical and community experience, Kaethe Weingarten describes common shock— the biological and psychological responses that are triggered when we witness violence. It is common, because it happens all the time, to everyone in any community. It is a shock, because whether our response is spaciness, distress, or bravado, it affects our mind, body and spirit.

Addressing the full range of violence we all experience, Dr. Weingarten then offers us tools to take effective action, including:

• How to manage the physical symptoms of common shock
• How to cope with the suffering of those who are ill or dying
• How parents can help children who witness violence
• How ordinary citizens can make a difference

Practical, hopeful, and inspirational, this breakthrough guide lets us discover what we can do in our homes and neighborhoods to transform common shock into a compassionate prescription for healing ourselves, our families, our communities, and the world.

Please read here about the author:

Kaethe Weingarten, Ph.D., is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School and a faculty member of the Family Institute of Cambridge. She is founder and director of The Witnessing Project, a nonprofit organization that consults to individuals, families, and communities locally, nationally, and internationally to transform toxic witnessing of violence and violation to active compassionate witnessing with others. She currently supervises at the internationally renowned Victims of Violence Program at Cambridge Health Alliance.

Dr. Weingarten graduated from Smith College with a distinction and received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in three years. She has worked as a psychotherapist and family therapist for over thirty years. She has worked in Kosovo and South Africa for the last several years, addressing issues of community-wide trauma. In addition to her clinical and consulting work, she lectures widely here and abroad, and has just completed a visiting lectureship in New Zealand.

Earlier, Dr. Weingarten directed the family therapy training program at Children's Hospital and Judge Baker Children's Center from 1979-1986 and was Clinical Director of the Trauma Evaluation and Treatment Team based at Judge Baker Children's Center, from 1987-1999.

She has appeared on "Good Morning America" and other programs, and her work has been recognized by The New York Times and The Boston Globe, and by a number of professional honors. Most recently, she was awarded the 2002 Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice of the American Family Therapy Academy. In 1997 and 1998 she was honored as a Fellow in Divisions 43 (Family) and 35 (Psychology of Women) respectively of the American Psychological Association, an honor held by fewer than 2% of the membership. In 1995 she was co-recipient of the Psychotherapy with Women Award of Division 35.

Dr. Weingarten has published six previous books, over 20 peer-reviewed articles and 11 book chapters. She served on the board of directors of the American Family Therapy Academy for six years, is currently on the editorial boards of five journals and is also Chair of the Human Rights Committee of the American Family Therapy Academy.

She is a breast cancer survivor, having survived cancer in 1988 and 1993, and has written extensively about these experiences.

Dr. Weingarten lives with her husband, Hilary G. Worthen, a physician, in a suburb outside of Boston. They have two adult children

"Vitenskapsteoretisk Forum" at NTNU (VITFORUM):
Richard Shusterman:
Thinking Through the Body: Educating for the Humanities

Mandag 23.05.05, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway, Aud. D5, Dragvoll, kl. 1315

Humanist intellectuals generally take the body for granted because we
are so passionately interested in the life of the mind and the creative
arts that express our human spirit. But the body is not only an
essential dimension of our humanity, it is also the basic instrument of
all human performance, our tool of tools, a necessity for all our
perception, action, and even thought. Just as skilled builders need
expert knowledge of their tools, so we need better somatic knowledge to
improve our understanding and performance in the arts and human sciences
and to advance our mastery in the highest art of all - that of
perfecting our humanity and living better lives. We need to think more
carefully through the body in order to cultivate ourselves and edify
our students, because true humanity is not a mere genetic given but an
educational achievement in which body, mind, and culture must be
thoroughly integrated. To pursue this project of somatic inquiry, I
have been working on an interdisciplinary field I call somaesthetics
whose aims, structure, and challenges will be outlined in this lecture
and whose interdisciplinary connections extend also beyond the
humanities to the biological, cognitive, and health sciences, which I
see as valuable allies for humanistic research.

Richard Schusterman is Professor of Philosophy at Dorothy F. Schmidt
College of Arts and Letters, Florida Atlantic University

Francisco Gomes de Matos sends us this link:

By Andrew Downie
Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

RIO DE JANEIRO – A plump woman strolling through a Mexican market might be showered with affectionate cries of gordita (fatty). In Argentina, feo (ugly) can be a term of endearment. Even here in Brazil, a black woman might be flattered to be called neguinha (little black girl).

Throughout Latin America, a person is as likely to be described by his skin color or girth as someone elsewhere might be called tall or smart or gregarious. A word that in the US could provoke a fistfight or a court case is often just a personal identifier here.

Now Brazil is making its first forays into changing this. Last year the government quietly issued an 87-page document entitled "Political Correctness and Human Rights," which listed 96 words and phrases it hopes will eventually become unacceptable.

The challenge is formidable: introducing P.C. terms bucks years of tradition and cultural norms. And the government may have undercut its own efforts, prompting ridicule earlier this month when word spread that the list included words such as "clown" and "drunk" that it said could offend comedians or tipplers.

But the move shines a light on the culturally complex relationship between words and prejudice in the region. In the absence of institutional racism, the implicit condoning of racially sensitive terms is one of the reasons racism persists here, many experts say.

"If you use the N-word in public in the United States, you will lose your job, there's no question about it. It is unacceptable," says Thomas Stephens, author of "The Dictionary of Latin American Racial and Ethnic Terminology." "But in Brazil nobody has made a concerted effort to remove these words from the language. Brazil has never corrected itself like the United States has."

That failure to understand how racially sensitive words perpetrate discrimination is typical of many Brazilians, academics and black leaders here say. Because there has been no institutional racism in Brazil since slavery was abolished in 1888 - no separate toilets or buses, no limits on interracial unions, no ban on black groups or political parties - many Brazilians firmly believe that racism does not exist.

Discrimination, however, is evident in many ways, black leaders say. Afro-Brazilians live on average 5.3 years less than white Brazilians and are more likely to be poor, sick, uneducated, and unemployed. Those who do have jobs earn only 46 percent of what whites earn, according to a government study released in 2000.

But perhaps the clearest example is found in conversations, says Douglas Souza, assistant secretary for the government's Promotion of Racial Equality Policies. "Racism in Brazil exists though hidden interpersonal relationships," Mr. Souza says. "There are no racist laws, but there is a culture of racism and the instruments of that racism here are words."

In the US, minorities have waged lengthy battles to take control of the language used to describe them. Indigenous groups have rejected the term "Indians." "African-American" has replaced negro and colored. Even some disabled people find the term "handicapped" offensive. But the black lobby in Brazil, where 45 percent of Brazilians call themselves black or dark-skinned, does not have the political clout to dictate what words are unacceptable.

Even if it did, the vagaries of the Portuguese language (and Spanish in Hispanic America) complicate the process. The impact of sensitive words can be reduced by using the diminutive forms of nouns. By adding "-inho" for the masculine or "-inha" for feminine softens a word and gives it an affectionate, less-threatening feel.

"The word neguinha, for example. There's nothing more racist, even if it is used in a supposedly affectionate way," says Mr. Stephens. "You can use euphemisms, but it means the same thing."

The government document contains many such euphemisms, along with warnings that some people may find them offensive. At least 17 of the 96 terms refer to race, ethnicity, or creed. However, those serious warnings were missed in the firestorm over the inclusion of many other seemingly innocuous words. Drunks should not be called drunks because even alcoholics deserve respect, the document says. Old people should be called elderly because being called old has negative connotations. And the document even counseled people to take care when using the word clown in case professional funnymen get offended.

Bestselling author João Ubaldo Ribieiro ignited the situation earlier this month when he criticized the text as an "authoritarian, delirious and stupid" example of political correctness. Perly Cipriano, the government official who oversaw the document's publication, says the intention was not to prohibit words or phrases, and that there would be no condemnation and no penalty.

However, the outcry was so loud that officials quickly halted distribution of the document. The human rights secretary said the government would convene a seminar on the subject next month at which experts and representatives of minority groups will discuss how to address the issue in the future.

Black leaders say that the government's quick capitulation will serve only to maintain the status quo. A subject that should be debated seriously is once again being buried, they say. "People tried to disqualify [the document] because it touches on words that are racist and that are used as a matter of course," says Ivanir dos Santos, one of Rio's most outspoken black leaders. "One of the principal characteristics of Brazilian racism is that we don't talk about it. Withdrawing it is a mistake."

The WMD's Democracy Alert

From time to time, the World Movement for Democracy issues alerts concerning participants and other colleagues who are facing personal danger due to their work on behalf of democracy and for whom a vigorous response from around the world may be critical.

******************************************************************
May 20, 2005

World Movement Participants Express Concern about Events in Uzbekistan and Call for Full and Independent Investigation

The World Movement for Democracy expresses its deep concern over recent developments in the Uzbek city of Andijan and surrounding areas. According to media reports, on May 13, 2004, Uzbek troops opened fire on a crowd of nearly 1,000 demonstrators on the main city square in Andijan who were calling for justice and end to poverty. The majority of protesters were unarmed and included women, the elderly, and children. According to official sources, 169 people were killed as a result of the incident. However, many independent sources report over 500-700 killed. The circumstances around the attack remain unclear, with contradictory information coming from government and independent sources. A number of World Movement for Democracy participants have therefore called for a full investigation by international experts, including the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and others.

World Movement participants and other human rights activists around the world have issued statements expressing their concerns and solidarity with the Uzbek people.

* To sign the Urgent Appeal from the Centers for Pluralism, please review the attached documents, available in English and in Russian
* Also, attached is the statement issued by human rights activists around the World (in Russian)
* To view appeals from members of the Human Rights House Network: http://www.humanrightshouse.org/dllvis5.asp?id=3269

For More News and Information about the Events:
Amnesty International Press Release (May 16, 2005): “Uzbekistan: Only an independent investigation will reveal the truth of recent violence� http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR620082005

Articles from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty http://www.rferl.org/specials/uzbek_unrest/

UN calls for Uzbek deaths inquiry:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4559031.stm

Information about the events in Andijan in Russian available on the Human Rights in Russia Internet portal:
http://www.hro.org/editions/2005/05/18-2.php

******************************************************************
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.

INTERNATIONAL YOUTH SEMINAR IN COLOMBIA
Bogotá-Colombia
May 30 and 31, 2005

The international seminar aims to create a space for reflection and proposals that affect public opinion nationally and internationally in favour of liberty, peace and democracy.

As Colombia is passing trough one of the most difficult moments of the country’s history, stuck in a war without end and augmenting political and social contradictions, the VII National Youth Festival and the II International Seminar will make for an exceptional opportunity to reaffirm a new project for a nation of peace, justice and dignity based upon the diversity of the youth.

Colombian youth, almost 30 % of the population, confronts the social and political problems in the country in the sharpest manner. In the educational sector, quality and coverage remain low on elementary, secondary and superior levels. The drop - out levels are growing as a logical consequence of the increasing poverty rates reaching 60 %, according to official numbers.

The policies of labour flexibilization implemented by the recent governments convert the right to a decent job, stability and social security into an unreachable goal for the youth, leaving them in a marginalized position. Youth unemployment rates double the average rate, reaching 45 %, a factor that strengthens the ties both to the political and armed conflict and to common crime.

The present and the future of our youth is inevitably tied to the solution of the social and armed conflict, in every battle youth make up the majority of those who fight, youth who have been denied their right to education, culture, sports and work.

Faced with this panorama, the youth responds trough thousands and thousands of organized and non-organized initiatives that run trough the country: The students defend their right to high quality public education free of charge, for freedom and democracy; artistic expressions in music, theatre, literature and painting express feelings of answers and changes, the youth as well as the country denies to end in banalities and consumerism, despite of the pain they are not willing to give up hope.

We invite the youth who are friends of Colombia, coming from different places of the world and with different perspectives, organized or not, to use their potential to dream and create transformations that are able to confront challenges.

We invite you to accompany us in a seminar that strengthens the efforts to make the burning desire for peace and democracy in Colombia come true.

OBJECTIVES:

- Arrange an exchange of views about the reality and the role of youth in the current national and international context.

- Spread knowledge about the Colombian reality and experiences of youth organizing and participation in the rest of the world.

- Create common initiatives and proposals that strengthen the role of Colombian youth in the struggle for peace with social justice in Colombia.

- Strengthen relations and youth exchange between Colombian and international organizations.

Present the initiative to host the IV Youth World Festival in Bogotá, Colombia in 2007

PARTICIPANTS:

All members of international youth - and student organizations who agree with the contents of the invitation, and especially the support for the Colombian youth struggle for peace, are invited to participate in the event.

There will be 150 delegates from the National Preparatory Committee for the VII Youth Festival, the Youth Sector of Planeta Paz and the National Assembly of Youth for Peace.

INSCRIPTIONS:

The cost of inscription is USD 200 for international delegates. This covers housing, food and documents May 27.-31. (National Festival and International Seminar)

The cost of inscription for national delegates is $30.000. This covers housing on the May 30, food and documents.

TIME AND PLACE:

Bogotá, Colombia, May 30 and 31 / 2005.

PROGRAM:

May 30:
8:00 a.m. Accreditation.
9:00 a.m. Inauguration of the event.
9:30 a.m. Opening panel debate: “The search for peace in Colombia and the role of the international community”
12:30 a.m. Lunch.
2:00 p.m. Workshops
· Youth and globalization.
· Youth and the search for peace in Colombia.
· Youth, cooperation and international solidarity.
6:00 p.m. End of work session.
8:30 p.m. Cultural activities.

May 31:
8:30 a.m. Workshops on different topics. Based on the conclusions reached by the VII National Festival and other proposals the following themes will be debated:
- Education.
- Environment.
- Free development of personality, gender and sexuality.
- Culture and identity.
- Human rights and freedom.
- Organizing and youth participation.
- Economic agreement and international integration.
12:00 a.m. Lunch.
2:00 p.m. Plenary session with presentation of the conclusions from the workshops.
4:00 p.m. Closing ceremony and final declaration.

ORGANIZERS AND HOSTS:

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF YOUTH FOR PEACE
PLANETA PAZ – YOUTH SECTOR
THE NATIONAL PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR THE VII NATIONAL YOUTH FESTIVAL IN COLOMBIA

FURTHER INFORMATION:

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF YOUTH FOR PEACE
Tel: (+ 57) – 1 – 2872216
Cell: (+57) 311 -4462647.
Bogotá – Colombia

asambleajovenes@asambleaporlapaz.com

Researcher – Somalia Peace Project

Life & Peace Institute, Nairobi
The Life & Peace Institute is an international and ecumenical centre for peace research and action. Founded in 1985 by the Swedish Ecumenical Council, LPI aims to further the causes of justice, peace and reconciliation through a combination of research, seminars and publications. LPI cooperates with a wide variety of structures, ranging from academic and church bodies to NGO´s, governments and intergovernmental organizations to local traditional leaders.

LPI wishes to recruit a suitable person to fill the position of Researcher for its project in Somalia. The post is based in Somalia, but the post holder is expected to travel to Nairobi as the work demands.

Duties:

• Carry out action-research and analysis within the project setting and in the context of the conflict in Somalia
• To assess the conflict in terms of lessons learned and explore possible ways forward.
• To work in tandem with the project team so that a coordinated approach is brought to the work, which reflects the tenets of action-research methodology.
• Participate as requested in workshops in order to contribute with new research findings as well as to gather material and document experience and learning that could further be used in the SPP research activities.
• To assist in the planning and implementation of the project through analysis of the activities carried out and writing assessment reports
• To remain in Somalia for long periods as the work demands.

Qualifications:

• Preferably PhD in a relevant discipline (Peace Studies, Conflict Resolution etc.) and a record of publication relevant to the areas above.
• Experience of action-research methodologies
• Familiarity with the interface of theory and practice
• Experience of the practical arena in the field of conflict transformation
• Knowledge of English and Somali is essential

Merits:

• Ability to work as part of a team
• Knowledge of the political dynamics of Somalia
• Familiarity with local actors on the ground
• Access to a broad of network of individuals and organisations

If you think that you meet the above qualifications, please send a complete application including a detailed C.V. and a cover letter no later than the 10th of June 2005 to: Carl Söderlind, Life & Peace Institute, P.O. Box 21186 Nairobi, Kenya or send an application via email to: carl.soderlind@life-peace.org

For further information on this postion, ring Carl Söderlind on +254-20-271 8637. Only qualified and short listed candidates will be notified. This position is a one-year contract but renewable subject to funding.
The successful candidate is expected to start as soon as possible.

Interview with Francisco Gomes de Matos
APIRS Newsletter - May 2005

APIRS means Associação de Professores de Inglês do Rio Grande do Sul
(Association of Teachers of English of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state)

APIRS - How would you introduce yourself and briefly describe your career in English Language Teaching/Education and Applied Linguistics to TEFL?

FGM - Well... I'll do my best to apply the biblical saying "Let thy words be few". In my pre-adolescence... pre-teens... early forties... I was exposed to American English in Recife. You see, there was U.S. military personnel stationed there (they helped build modern runways at the air force base there and in Natal) and I learned English by listening (mostly) and then gradually by speaking and reading.
My proficiency in writing started developing much later when I took Letras Anglo-Germânicas at the then Universidade do Recife (now UFPE). In short, I am one of those who learned English by interacting with native speakers right here in Brazil. Relied on several learning strategies for building up my communicative competence: would see a movie twice (the second time, I wouldn't look at the subtitles), listen to an American song and try to write down the lyrics, read American comic books, listen to both the Voice of America and to the B.B.C (short-wave radio listening was one of my hobbies), and would eavesdrop on conversations among U.S. military personnel wherever I could. I recall my first experience as a coca-cola drinker: an American gave me a bottle and I rushed home and proudly showed it to Mother. Well, speaking of Coke, its appearance in the local context may well have been one of the first types of “globalization”. I say this because to me, Hollywoodian movies ARE the first products of globalizing, followed by cigarette smoking, and that soft drink.
But, back to the biodata: I loved English so much that I decided to share my knowledge of it with others: that's how my career in ELT got started: having private students. Opened my own "American English Course" on Rua da Aurora, on the banks of the Capibaribe River. There followed some unforgettable, strategically formative teaching experience in several challenging circumstances, and I loved every minute of it. Upon (if you’ll pardon my formal usage) completion of Letras Anglo-Germânicas. I received a 6-month scholarship to take part in the International Teacher (of English) Development Program.
Guess where? Lucky me: in the city of Ann Arbor, at the University of Michigan. That's how the English Language Institute became a major, sustained influence on my career as a TESOLer. At the ELI I had the great pleasure and privilege of attending classes given by some of the TESOL greats of that time: Robert Lado and Charles Fries. I had fallen in love with English before coming to the States but now I was to share my professional heart with another fascinating area : Linguistics. Yes, after auditing classes given by Charles C. Fries on Introduction to Linguistic Science, I said to myself: I also want to be a linguist, besides teaching English. Returned to Recife and kept up teaching English through mid-1959, when God gave me another wonderful opportunity, to pursue a Master's degree Program right there: Ann Arbor... in Linguistics, under a scholar who was to become not just my mentor but a close friend and a long-lasting influence on my academic career: Robert Lado 1.

APIRS - Besides taking grad courses in Linguistics in Michigan, what did you do?

FGM - Glad you've asked that, because the Fulbright Commission had given me a "travel grant", but my academic tuition and living expenses were taken care of by Robert Lado, by the ELI: in reciprocity (that's another formal word, by the way), I was to work part-time at the English Language Institute as a Language Lab Assistant, as a Portuguese Language Instructor for ELI staff who was to visit Brazil, as one of the persons in charge of shipping the pioneering publication Language Learning. A Journal of Applied Linguistics... Life is full of surprises, isnt' it? Two years later, I published my first book review in English, in that history-making Journal - a review of William Slager et al., English for Today2 . Note that TESOL had not been born yet...
On my return to Recife, since there was no Linguistics in the Curriculum of Letters, I was given the challenging job of helping UFPE Geology students read technical books and articles in English. So there I was, engaging in what was to become the important area of ESP, English for Special/Specific/ Professional Purposes. Such experience laid the indispensable foundation for my subsequent work as an applied linguist engaged in doing Linguistics Applied to the Teaching of English to Brazilians. But that's another chapter in my biography...

APIRS - Good, so, why don't you tell our APIRS members a little bit about that?

FGM - As I was saying, I engaged in Geology-focused ESP for a couple of years, and then Linguistics was made a required "discipline" in the Letras Curriculum ... and since I was the only UFPE faculty member with a degree in "the science of language and languages", they asked me ... or rather, told me to teach the subject. UFPB, in João Pessoa, had no one to fill that academic position, so I became a commuter and would travel to Paraíba once a week, so as to engage in what I like to call "vender o peixe da Lingüística".
That new academic responsibility put an end to my teaching of English, but not to my love for English and to my commitment to helping train/educate Brazilian teachers of English.

APIRS - But then you came down to São Paulo, right?

FGM - Right. My professional life changed after attending the Symposium and Linguistic Institute of the Programa Interamericano de Lingüística y Enseñanza de Idiomas - PILEI - in Montevideo, in 1965. The "saudosa amiga e colega gaúcha" Margot Levi Mattoso was there. She and Augustinus Staub should be remembered as pioneers in Applied Linguistics in Brazil and I take great pride in having met them on several occasions here and abroad.
Who knows? Some day a grad student from Rio Grande do Sul will write a History of English Language Teaching in his/ her state. That kind of documentation is certainly needed and APIRS has a major role to play in both gathering and disseminating information on it. So much on early precursors in ELT in Brazil could be investigated, documented, and taught in Teacher Education Programs...
Well, back to my narrative: after that I was invited to become the Director of the tobe-established Centro de Lingüística Aplicada Yázigi, in São Paulo. That would mean giving up my position as an "Instrutor de Ensino Superior" at UFPE, but, again, the Lord gave me another mission while granting me the privilege of sustaining my academic link to UFPE. You see, I did accept the invitation to move to São Paulo working as Director of CLA-Yázigi, but also became a kind of Linguistics/Language Teaching Advisor to SENAC-SP and was asked to teach Linguistics at PUC-SP, at the then Faculdade de Filosofia Sedes Sa-pientiae.
As CLA-Yázigi Director, my love for English grew and grew, and the possibilities for applying the Linguistics of that time to ELT were greatly expanded. Some of the materials I helped co-create included textbooks and the Dicionário Yázigi Inglês-Português para Primeiro e Segundo Graus (co-published by Oxford University Press and Instituto de Idiomas Yázigi in 1973), which featured an 8-page Appendix called Exercícios sobre o uso deste Dicionário. That may have been the first type of a set of activities created for what in Lexicography is now called Dictionary User Education. Yes, doing innovative work was made possible. With Adair Palácio, I could cowrite another pioneering work: Um Pequeno Guia para Ajudar seu Filho a Aprender Inglês and, that same year, 1973, we launched a newsletter: Creativity-New ideas in Language Teaching, edited by the late Arnold Green Short. Most of my thinking on creativity then can be found on the pages of that publication, which featured articles by teacher trainers/educators and applied linguists from Brazil and abroad. That newsletter helped spread the news in ELT Pedagogy among Brazilian teachers but also helped show abroad that creativity in English language teaching has been very much a distinguishing trait in the Brazilian Tradition in ELT. The São Paulo-based newsletter became extinct in 1980 but its influence on the ELT scene in this country could well merit a place in the sun in accounts of the development of ELT among us.

APIRS - Your "fase paulista" lasted from 1966 through 1979 and then what happened?

FGM - Before answering that, let me add that I got my Ph.D. in Letras at PUC-SP in 1973. A Influência de Princípios da Lingüística em Manuais para Professores de Inglês como Língua Estrangeira. I looked at Teachers" Manuals from 15 countries. Those days, researchers relied on "snail mail".Thank God, for me, communicating by air mail was another hobby, so the challenge was a little less demanding, but still, when I think of the advantages of using the Internet these days, how much easier the data collection job would have been! By the way, my dissertation advisor was a good, old friend of mine: the everinspiring ELT scholar: Maria Antonieta Celani. The PUC-SP "tese" became a book in 1976: Lingüística Aplicada ao Ensino de Inglês, published by McGraw-Hill, São Paulo (now out of print). Speaking of Antonieta, I have just had the renewed privilege of counting on her generous support to my most recent work in ELT: she kindly wrote the "Apresentação" to my Criatividade no Ensino de Inglês. A resource book, published by DISAL São Paulo, December 2004.

APIRS - So that a little over 30 years have elapsed between your creative work in São Paulo and now, with the publication of this book... What principles in your approach to ELT are reflected in it?

FGM - Some of my experience as a teacher of English and as a teacher-educator is shared with readers of my DISAL book, but you have asked to focus on principles characterizing my approach to the creative teaching-learning of English, so let me briefly state them (this is best done in workshops...).
1. All language users are linguistically creative and such creativity can be shown on a continuum of creative uses;
2. All language teachers are also pedagogically creative and such creativity can be enhanced, nurtured, "provoked", sculpted...
3. All language teachers have the right to become minimally knowledgeable in Creative Studies Applied to Language Education (Teacher Preparation Programs in universities and "faculdades" will eventually do that, as local conditions permit, I'm hopeful...).
4. All language learners have the right to become minimally knowledgeable as creative users of the languages they are learning or are to learn Creative Language Learner Education could become a permanent feature in Faculdades de Letras, Cursos de Especialização, Seminars such as those sponsored by APIRS and other state-based organizations: Braz-TESOL, Braz-IATEFL, ABRAPUI, and other communities of English Language teachers.
5. Brazilian authors of ELT materials are creative and their creativity should also be made known to colleagues abroad, so that the Brazilian contributions to Creativity in ELT become part of the Universal Tradition in ELT.
6. Language teachers should also be humanizers, that is, professionals imbued with the ideals of human rights, justice, peace, dignity, solidarity, compassion, crosscultural understanding, and who apply such values in their teaching. In such spirit, teacherpreparation programs should find a permanent place in the sun for the humanizing role of teachers.
I could go on and on, but instead I'd like to refer APIRS colleagues to google these key terms, all related to my work:
• Communicative peace
• Creactivities (yes, with a C)
• Are you a humanizer?
For a friendly chat, do e-mail me at fcgm@hotlink.com.br
Appreciate the privilege of being "heard" electronically.
Thank you, Vera, for this chance to interact with APIRS members.

1 To know more about that, read my chapter Lado's influence in Brazil, in the volume Scientific and Humanistic Dimensions of Language. Festschrift for Robert Lado on the occasion of his 70th birthday on May 31, 1985, edited by Kurt R. Jankowsky (Georgetown University) and published by John Benjamins, 1985. Another Brazilian also contributed to that book: Clea Rameh, one of the greats in the History of the Teaching of Portuguese as a Foreign Language.
2 A series sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English, Book One, Language Learning xii (3): pages 261-263.

Dear Madam/Sir,

PARIS, 9 - 10 June 2005

In recent years the integration of migrant populations in the EU has become a subject of passionate public debate. Against the background of 9/11 and 3/11 fears for a radicalisation of a part of the immigrant youth has merged with a latent xenophobia into an explosive mixture that is exploited by populists. At the same time there is a real integration deficit, due to a combination of factors, such as language deficits, ghettoisation, broken school careers and discrimination on the labour market. Multiculturalism seems no longer to work, but also the French model of 'assimilation' is in disarray. Governments are looking for new solutions that impose more obligations on (future) migrants. But more restrictive policies do not solve the deeper problem of blocked integration mechanisms.

First day of the seminar

On the first day of the seminar we will compare the different integration strategies of the EU member states and analyse in the workshops the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. What specific measures have been taken in the different countries and what were the results?

Second day of the seminar

On the second day we will discuss the different integration mechanisms, such as the neighbourhhood, school and education, work and the labour market, politics, and the mass media. Why are these mechanisms less effective today? What are the reasons for their dysfunctioning? And what can be done to develop a comprehensive strategy in order to make these old 'vectors of immigration' work again?

For whom is this seminar?

This seminar is meant for all professionals who deal with the integration of migrants and refugees: politicians, civil servants from ministries, local authorities, staff members of NGOs, members of migrants' organisations, scientific researchers, lawyers, journalists.

Hoping meeting you in June in Paris,

Yours sincerely,

Marcel H. van Herpen
Director
The Cicero Foundation

Liebe Freunde,

Tal der Ahnungslosen von Branwen Okpako

Am Sonntag, den 22. Mai lädt AfricAvenir in Kooperation mit der INISA und dem South African Club um 17.00 Uhr zu einer Filmvorführung mit anschließender Diskussion ins Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Gezeigt wird der Spielfilm „Tal der Ahnungslosen“ von der in Berlin lebenden nigerianischen Filmemacherin Branwen Okpako.
Im Anschluss findet eine Diskussion mit der Regisseurin Branwen Okpako und der Hauptdarstellerin Nisma Cherrat statt.

Auf der Suche nach ihren Eltern und zugleich verstrickt in einen mysteriösen Fall wird die afrodeutsche Kommissarin Eva Meyer in ihrer Geburtstadt Dresden mit ihrer Vergangenheit konfrontiert. Eine Kriminalgeschichte, die geschickt ihre Fäden zwischen Schwarzer deutscher und DDR-Geschichte zieht und sie im Heute verbindet. Nach ihrem Dokumentarfilm “Dreckfresser”, der 2000 unter anderem mit dem deutschen Nachwuchspreis ‘First Steps’ ausgezeichnet wurde, ist “Tal der Ahnungslosen” der erste lange Spielfilm von Branwen Okpako.

Am: Sonntag, den 22. Mai 2005, 17.00 Uhr
Ort: Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe (Rosenthaler Str. 40/41, 10178 Berlin, Kino 3)
Vorbestellung unter: 030 - 2 83 46 03 (MO-SA ab 14.30 Uhr/SO ab 10.30 Uhr)
Eintrittspreis: 5 Euro

Branwen Okpako
Branwen Okpako wurde 1969 in Lagos/Nigeria geboren. Nach einem Politikstudium an der Universität von Bristol/England zog sie nach Berlin. Dort studierte sie Regie an der Deutschen Film- und Fernsehakademie. Mit dem ZDF/Das kleine Fernsehspiel realisierte sie bereits den Dokumentarfilm “Dreckfresser” (2000), der u.a. mit dem “First Steps Award”, dem bayerischen Dokumentarfilmpreis “Der junge Löwe” und dem Nachwuchspreis der Duisburger Filmwoche ausgezeichnet wurde. “Tal der Ahnungslosen” ist ihr erster langer Spielfilm, der seine Uraufführung auf dem Internationalen Filmfestival von Toronto hatte.

Filmographie (Auswahl)
1996 “Market Forces” (Kurzspielfilm, 20 min)
1997 “Searching for Taid” (Kurzdokumentarfilm, 15 min)
1998 “Love Love Liebe” (Kurzspielfilm, 10 min)
2000 “Dreckfresser” (Dokumentarfilm, 75 min)
2003 “Tal der Ahnungslosen” (Spielfilm, 85 min)

Die Regisseurin über ihren Film
“Tal der Ahnungslosen” ist mein erster langer Spielfilm. Die Idee dazu kam mir, als ich für den Dokumentarfilm “Dreckfresser” recherchiert habe, der auch in Sachsen gedreht wurde. “Tal der Ahnungslosen” beschreibt die Geschichte einer afro-deutschen Frau, die ihre Herkunft sucht. “Das ist nicht wirklich meine eigene Geschichte. Ich bin nicht afro-deutsch und ich bin nicht in der DDR geboren. Als Afro-Europäerin bin ich zwar, anders als EVA, bei meinen Eltern aufgewachsen, aber wenn man zwischen zwei Kulturen aufwächst sucht man ständig nach seinem Platz in der Welt und nach den Aspekten der Gesellschaft, die das eigene Lebensgefühl am besten widerspiegeln.”
Das tut auch EVA, die Hauptfigur in “Tal der Ahnungslosen”. Sie sucht nach ihren Eltern. Und am Ende findet sie heraus, dass sie nach sich selbst gesucht hat.

Spielfilm Deutschland 2003
Buch, Regie: Branwen Okpako
Kamera: Andreas Höfer
Länge: 85 Minuten

Besetzung:
Eva - Nisma Cherrat
Maria - Kirsten Block
Helga - Angelica Domröse
Hans - Günter Kurze
Eugen - Florian Panzner
Shepard - Jonathan Kinsler
Helga jung - Marianna Linden
Hans jung - Johannes Brandrup
Shepard jung - Jean-Claude Mawila

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.

Monty Marshall has just finished the 2005 Report on Peace and Conflict that is part of the Peace and Conflict Series!

Marshall, Monty G. and Gurr, Ted Robert (2005). Peace and Conflict 2005: A Global Survey of Armed Conflicts, Self-Determination Movements, and Democracy. College Park, MD: Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland.

Please see the report as Pfd file at http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/peace.htm.

Summer Courses and Workshops in Peace Education
Coordinated by the Peace Education Center
Teachers College, Columbia University

Democratic Education through Critical Pedagogy

Dates: July 8, 9 and 15,16
Fridays 4:00 – 9:00pm, Saturdays 9:00am-6:00pm
ITSF 4094B CRN: 22287 (“Educational Planning in IED”)
Available for 2 credits, non-credit, or 3.0 CEU's. Non-credit fee: $400
(***This course is available to both TC and non-Teachers College students. For non-credit registration see below)

Instructor: Haggith Gor Ziv
Critical pedagogy is democratic, empowering education for self and social change. It raises questions about the relationships between the margins and the centres of power in schools and society. It is concerned with constructing a pedagogy that offers equality and equity regardless of class, race, gender and “ablism.” This course will offer theoretical and practical knowledge of the basic concepts of critical pedagogy: “banking “ education, culture of silence, empowerment, praxis, generative themes, libratory education critical consciousness, etc. It will expose the students to the main theories related to critical pedagogy such as Frankfurt School, different feminist theories, and cultural theories. It will present examples of educational projects for social change from different parts of the world. Participatory methods will be implemented and make use of students knowledge and experience in education to enhance new learning. We will also explore the powers of teachers to influence and bring about change via education. Students will reflect on the extent of which critical pedagogy is present in their own practice and may be expanded. We will analyze the ways in which curricula and educational practices reproduce the dominant cultural values and economic relationships of the wider society and how it can be altered. We will relate to different subject matters and educational frames. The course program will be adapted to fit the needs of the participants.

Human & Social Dimensions of Peace: Planetary Ethics and Education

Dates: July 8, 9 and August 12, 13, 14
Fridays 4:00–9:00pm, Saturdays 10:00am-5:00pm, Sunday (August 14 only) 10:00am–2:00pm
ITSF 4603.001, CRN: 22846
Available for 3 credits (This course is available to TC students only)

Instructor: Dale T. Snauwaert, Ph. D.
The purpose of this seminar is to explore the ethics of war and peace and its implications for the education of democratic citizens. The following questions will be explored: Does the use of force require moral justification, or is political necessity sufficient? Can the use of force ever be morally justified? If yes, what principles justify and govern its use? Are there certain things that never should be done to another human being? Are there things that must be provided to every human being? Is peace a basic right? What is the nature of evil (i.e., why do individuals and states commit crimes of aggression?)? Should citizens of a democracy be educated in order to participate in ethical and political discourse concerning these questions? If yes, what would constitute such an education? These questions are both perennial and timely. Decent societies are faced with global terrorism, the escalation of weapons of mass destruction, and the growing assumption that the use of force is a more viable instrument of conflict resolution than diplomacy. Will future democratic citizens be prepared to engage in thoughtful dialogue about these basic moral issues? Are you? These questions will be explored from the perspectives of the Just War, Pacifist, and Human Rights traditions as well as moral philosophy. Not only will the moral principles that define and guide moral decision making be explored, but the underlying moral resources that make moral choice and action more likely will be examined as well.

NON-CREDIT Students:
To register for our trainings or workshops, please contact The Center for Educational Outreach & Innovation (CEO&I) at 800.209.1245 or by email: ceoi_mail@tc.columbia.edu
For further information, please visit us on the web at: www.tc.edu/PeaceEd
Or contact us by phone or email: peace-ed@tc.edu / 212.678.8116

May 2005 Edition of the Grassroots Good News

Table of Contents:
GGN May 2005 / ToC:

1) School Conflict Management in Kenya
2) Peace Inititiatives in Ypres/Belgium
3) Winners of a Green Competition

1) School Conflict Management in Kenya
The Kenyan teacher Muigai Kimani has set up the “Centre for Conflict Resolution in Schools” in 2003 in his country. This non-profit organization - which is staffed solely by volunteers - introduces effective conflict resolution techniques to the schools.
In addition to researching the sources of violence, the centre initiates open meetings during which teachers, students and adminstrators cn express their opinion in an atmosphere of tolerance. It has also set up special “peace teams”, which help restore healthy relations between students and area residents.
Contact: ccrosscrisp@yahoo.com. Based on an article in www.odemagazine.comSeptember 2004. More reference at www.schoolmediation.com, Mai 2004.

2) Peace Inititiatives in Ypres/Belgium
The following proposal has been shortlisted within the Bremen Peace Award 2003 selection process: The town of Ypres declared itself a “City of Peace“ in 1985. Set against the background of complete destruction in the First World War, the town set up its own fund to provide financial support for local peace activities in Ypres.
Filip Deheegher (Peace and Development Service, City of Ypres) writes:
Since 1985 the city of Ypres, which was almost entirely destroyed in the First World War has been named “City of Peace“. Of the various local peace activities, the following four are particularly worth mentioning:

The “Mothers for Peace“ group was formed in Ypres at the end of 1992 with the aims of making public and condemning violence against women in areas of conflict and restoring self-confidence and self-determination in women and children through various campaigns. Since its foundation the initiative has worked together with various women’s groups in Croatia, Bosnia, Algeria, Kosovo, Rwanda and Afghanistan, supporting their work.

The international committee of the Ypres youth council has been organising a youth exchange since 1991. Young people from conflict areas take part in the exchange, including for example, young people from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Wallonia and Flanders (in Belgium). It is a particularly good idea to work with young people from areas of conflict given the tragic history of the city of Ypres.

The annual Käthe Kollwitz Peace Run has been held in Ypres since 1997. It brings to gether progressive NGOs, peace organisations, trade unions, student committees and youth organisations under a common manifesto. It originates in the history of Westhoek, the battlefield of the First World War with the countless pieces of evidence from it which have survived until now, including “The grieving parents“ by the German artist Käthe Kollwitz at the military cemetery in Vladslo. Käthe Kollwitz and her artwork condemn this senseless war and symbolise the peace concept behind the Peace Run. The Peace Run does not just appeal to all the citizens to get involved (sport being the common denominator) by running, walking, cycling or motor cycling, it also makes participants aware of the peace issue. Each year a special topic is chosen. The idea is that people are confronted with the reality through discussion forums, information points, testimonials and a cultural program.

In 1989 Ypres began a partnership with the Romanian village of Recea. One of the reasons for this decision was the notorious policy of the former Romanian dictator Ceausescu, who wanted to destroy most of the traditional villages in his country and replace them with gigantic concrete housing estates. The plans provoked a storm of indignation.
The countries of Europe were called upon to support certain Romanian villages and many towns in Belgium responded, one of which was Ypres. Ceausescu’s departure from the political stage in 1989 meant that it was possible to implement the partnership plan in a much more concrete way. The first small aid convoy left Ypres for Recea in 1990. Conditions in the village were abysmal, all the essential goods and services were virtually non-existent. Convoys with relief goods have been travelling to Romania every year since then.
Contact: vrede_ontwikkeling@ieper.be

3) Winners of a Green Competition
The Environment Magazine Ode (www.odemagazine.com) has made a contest for socially and ecologically responsible products and companies in 2004. Among the winners have been:

The best fair trade product
Green & Black’s
Chocolate is the sort of product that makes you appreciate economic globalization. There are no cocoa trees in Europe, the U.S. or Canada. But chocolate also highlights the problems with economic globalization. The price that most cocoa farmers get for their beans is disproportionate to our enjoyment of this luxurious treat. Fortunately, there are chocolate producers that consider good relations with their raw materials suppliers just as important as buoyant sales figures. Green & Black’s is one such company, whose quality was widely praised among our chocoholic readers. Over 150 small, independent cocoa farmers in Belize, the Dominican Republic, Madagascar and Ecuador help get this British company’s delicious chocolate bars onto shelves at health food stores in Europe and the United States. Green & Black’s was also the first chocolate producer to receive an organic certificate. www.greenandblacks.com

The best company
Bo Weevil
The praise we heard for this company via e-mail was overwhelming. “By investing as a Dutch company in a country like Uganda, you send out a strong signal to the local community about how social labor standards can be integrated in the corporate culture.” And: “It shows how a Dutch company can have a positive influence without making it about charity.” So Bo Weevil, the clothing company from Ermelo, Netherlands, aims to boost organic cotton cultivation in Uganda and good conditions for textile industry employees in Turkey. It sells a range of clothing to wholesalers, stores and internet shops, in addition to fabrics, towels, bathrobes and cotton. The founders of Bo Weevil, who used to work in the health food business, are following a similar path to mainstream retail acceptability. Organic food is increasingly penetrating average supermarkets, and finding organic clothing at your local shops is the logical next step. After all, you wear cotton close to your skin, and in hot weather perspiration can interact with the chemicals used in non-organic cotton. Clothing made with organically cultivated cotton is not only better from the perspective of cotton farmers—who often suffer dramatic health problems from pesticides and other chemicals—but organic cotton also feels more flexible and soft. www.boweevil.nl

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Grassroots Good News come to you from The Threshold Foundation

Editor: Dr Burkhard Luber
Contact: Luber@dieschwelle.de
English Website at www.dieschwelle.de

Grassroots Good News are an electronic mailing list which presents
alternative news and contributes to NGO networking. They contain
counter-censor news on human rights monitoring and citizens diplomacy
and show stimulating work examples for environment commitment and
non-violent conflict management. Subscriptions: via www.dieschwelle.de.

GGN news are not copyright protected provided that:
- you make no commercial use of the copies
- quote the GGN as source including the email address of the editor
luber@dieschwelle.de
- email a copy of the quote to the GGN editor

The Scholarly Lecture: How to Stand and Deliver
By WILLIAM GERMANO
From the issue dated 11/28/2003
http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=x5x5v9nm1z8h1yz1qqgjkrwb0lyni (This link will expire on: October 1, 2005)

It's conference season again. All over academe, thousands of unsuspecting papers will make their way to the front of the lecture hall, where they will be read badly by scholars to fellow scholars who, slumped and glassy-eyed, will be wondering how late the dry cleaner stays open or whether The Sopranos is on that night.

...

Please read the entire article at http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=x5x5v9nm1z8h1yz1qqgjkrwb0lyni

William Germano, vice president and publishing director at Routledge, is the author of Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious About Serious Books (University of Chicago Press, 2001).

Dear friends, Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D., sends the following message:

Psychologists for Social Responsibility has asked me to serve as editor in updating a 1985 book, Working for Peace: A Handbook of Practical Psychology. This manual is a set of chapters by different authors that address the psychology knowledge needs for peace activists; other activists would of course also find it useful.

We will use chapters from the original and from presenters at the PsySR conference being held in Portland, Oregon May 19-22.

I need two kinds of help:
1) If anyone has cartoons that do a particularly good job of getting across some aspect of peace psychology or psychology for activists, I would like to make the book more attractive with them. Are they up on your door, or in your files? Ones that are easy to get permission for by virtue of having been done by students for the college newspaper or something similar would be fantastic.
Any information on seeking permission that you can include would be quite helpful.

Send by e-mail attachment to: drmacnair@hotmail.com

2) Any other ideas for chapters to contribute to the book would be welcome. Please contact me to see if your topic is suitable or already covered, and I can send you the guidelines.

The following topics are ones that I think are important, but are not yet covered, so if you or someone you could recommend could do them, please let me know:

The Psychology of Attractive Layout of Written Materials

How to best lay out flyers, pamphlets, newsletters, and similar materials to make it more likely people will read them and get something out of them.

The Psychology of Cyberspace

How to use the web as a tool; nonviolent communication which avoids the temptation to straighten people out rather than dialog, which seems to be stronger in the anonymous situation.

Uses of Stages of Moral Development in Persuasion

Do Kohlberg's stages offer us any insight in influencing positions?

Confronting Bullies and Other Unavoidably Heated Individual Exchanges

Parenting as Peace Activism

Applying Religion & Spirituality to Peace Activism

The Program in Narrative Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

Faculty Club, Room 446, P&S Building
630 West 168th Street (between Broadway & Fort Washington Ave.)
New York, NY
_____________________________________________________________

Geoffrey Hartman, Ph.D.
Dori Laub, M.D.

“The Dimensions of Holocaust Videotestimony”

Noted literary and cultural critic Geoffrey Hartman and psychiatrist Dori Laub will discuss their pioneering work with the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonials, housed at Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University, and how it addresses issues of testimony, trauma, and memory. The Archive and its affiliates continue to record the testimonies of willing individuals with first-hand experience of the Nazi persecutions, including those in hiding, survivors, bystanders, resistants, and liberators. Dori Laub is co-author of Testimony: Crisis of Witnessing in Literature. Geoffrey Hartman is the author of many books and essays, including The Longest Shadow: In the Aftermath of the Holocaust.

Reception to follow.

Free and open to the public. Narrative Medicine Rounds are made possible by the generous support of the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Presbyterian Hospital Auxiliary. For more information, call The Program for Narrative Medicine at 212-305-4975 or visit our website at www.narrativemedicine.org.

--
Tara McGann
Coordinator, Program in Narrative Medicine
Managing Editor, Literature & Medicine
Columbia University, P&S
PH 9E-105, 630 W. 168th Street
New York, NY 10032
212-305-4975 work
212-305-9349 fax
http://www.narrativemedicine.org

From Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

Bildung für alle in Afrika: In welchen Sprachen?
Am Dienstag, den 17. Mai um 19.00 Uhr lädt AfricAvenir in Kooperation mit dem Afrika-Referat der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung zu einem Vortrag über die Sprachpolitik in afrikanischen Ländern. Prof. Birgit Brock-Utne wird die Nutzung der ehemaligen Kolonialsprachen als Bildungssprachen in afrikanischen Ländern kritisch hinterfragen und die Rolle der internationalen Gebergemeinschaft beleuchten. Die Moderation hat Prof. Kum’ a Ndumbe III. Ort: Galerie der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Rosenthaler Str. 40/41, 10178 Berlin-Mitte.

Vortrag mit anschließender Diskussion von und mit Prof. Birgit Brock-Utne, „Professor of Education and Development", Leiterin des Masterprogramms „Comparative and International Education", Universität Oslo. Zwischen 1987 und 1992 Dozentin der Dar es Salaam-Universität in Tansania.

Dienstag, 17. Mai, 19.00 Uhr
Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Galerie
Rosenthaler Str. 40/41
10178 Berlin

Kinder lernen besser, wenn sie ihre LehrerInnen verstehen. In Afrika allerdings können die meisten Schüler ihren LehrerInnen nicht folgen: Unterrichtssprachen sind die ehemaligen Kolonialsprachen - für viele afrikanische Eleven das Haupthindernis auf ihrem Weg zur Wissensaneignung. Weshalb werden diese Sprachen in den meisten afrikanischen Ländern auch heute noch als Bildungssprachen verwendet? Welche Argumente und Interessen begründen die Verwendung der Kolonialsprachen, welche befürworten dagegen die Nutzung afrikanischer Sprachen, die den Kindern näher und geläufiger sind?

Die weitgereiste Kennerin der afrikanischen Bildungslandschaft Birgit Brock-Utne skizziert in ihrem Vortrag nicht nur den aktuellen Stand der internationalen und afrikanischen Bildungsdiskussion, sondern zieht auch eine kritische Bilanz der Rolle von Geberländern und -institutionen aus dem Norden.

Prof. Brock-Utne ist „Professor of Education and Development" und Leiterin des Masterprogramms „Comparative and International Education" an der Universität Oslo. Zwischen 1987 und 1992 lehrte sie an der Universität Dar es Salaam in Tansania. Ihr Buch „Whose Education for All? The Recolonization of the African Mind" ist das Ergebnis ihrer Zeit in Tansania und ihrer unzähligen Gespräche mit afrikanischen Kollegen über die Konsequenzen der Bildungspolitik der Geberländer. Birgit Brock-Utne, Friedensforscherin und feministische Autorin, ist Leiterin des LOITASA (Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa) Projekts des Norwegian Research Council und von NETREED (Network in Research and Evaluation in Education and Development - Mehr Informationen unter: http://folk.uio.no/bbrock/ .
Info: Beate Adolf, adolf@boell.de , T 030-28534-343 oder www.africavenir.org

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

Weitere Termine :

„Ich klopfte an deiner Tür…“ – Literarischer Abend mit Prinz Kum’ a Ndumbe III. in Berlin
Prinz Kum’ a Ndumbe III. liest aus seinem noch unveröffentlichten Buch „Ich klopfte an deiner Tür…“ und erlaubt uns einen Blick in die Welt eines kulturellen Grenzgängers. Lassen Sie Ihnen bekannte Ordnungen für eine Weile hinter sich und folgen Sie ihm auf eine Entdeckungsreise der Kulturen.
Am Donnerstag, den 12.05. um 20.00 Uhr, Café Max & Moritz, Oranienstr. 162, 10969 Berlin-Kreuzberg; http://africavenir.com/news/2005/04/119/literarischer-abend
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African Perspectives: Tal der Ahnungslosen
Am Sonntag, den 22. Mai lädt AfricAvenir in Kooperation mit der INISA und dem South African Club um 17.00 Uhr zu einer Filmvorführung mit anschließender Diskussion ins Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Gezeigt wird der Spielfilm „Tal der Ahnungslosen“ von der in Berlin lebenden nigerianischen Filmemacherin Branwen Okpako.
Am Sonntag, den 22. Mai um 17.00 Uhr, Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe, Rosenthaler Str. 40/41, 10178 Berlin, Kino 3), Vorbestellung unter: 030 - 2 83 46 03 (MO-SA ab 14.30 Uhr/SO ab 10.30 Uhr), Eintrittspreis: 5 Euro; http://africavenir.com/news/2005/04/116/tal-der-ahnungslosen

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.

From Eric Van Grasdorff:

Dear Friend,

AfricAvenir is proud to announce the launch of its new and totally restructured website: www.africavenir.org. Entirely committed to the goals of an African renaissance, the website offers an interactive space to stimulate new ways of thinking, behaving and organising both African societies and the emerging 'Global Village'.
Though not all features are yet online, the site is operative and offers access to a wide range of Africa-centred knowledge, facilitates research on Africa-centred matters and gives everybody engaged in African affairs a forum of expression. The site is multi-lingual, with English being the "navigation language".

AfricAvenir
AfricAvenir is a non-governmental and non-profit organisation engaging in political education and information dissemination both in Africa and in Europe. It's main section was founded in Douala, Cameroon, by Prince Kum' a Ndumbe III in 1990 while the European section was founded in 2000 during his exile in Berlin, Germany. http://www.africavenir.com/africavenir/

Prince Kum' a Ndumbe III
The founder of AfricAvenir is a cultural bridge-builder. His entire life has been devoted to the fostering of peaceful and more equal and respectful relations between Africa and Europe. It has thus also been a life devoted to the uplifting and rehabilitation of Africa and African culture and history. http://www.africavenir.com/people/founder/index.php

E-Library
The e-library section is at the very core of the AfricAvenir website. The scientific discourse about Africa and the so-called Third World has been overwhelmingly owned by the West/North. In fact, discourse ownership has been one of the most efficient instruments of Western/Northern domination in the post-colonial era. Taking advantage of the new information technologies and offering structured access to African scholarly work, this section sets out to underpin Africa-centred counter-discourses. http://www.africavenir.com/elibrary/

African Renaissance
The concept of an 'African renaissance' is central to this website. It has a long history, it has its thinkers and its protagonists, and different stages of evolution. This section features articles on the term and concept, on its history and its current use and misuse. http://www.africavenir.com/elibrary/african-renaissance/introduction.php

Research
Complementing the e-library, the research desk is part of our effort to encourage the "insurrection of subjugated knowledges" (Foucault). This section provides a multitude of useful alternative data and sources. http://www.africavenir.com/research/

Exchange
AfricAvenir has been promoting exchanges for many years and has given both Europeans and Africans the opportunity to live, work or travel abroad. We believe these exposures to foreign contexts and cultures not only to be personally enriching, they more than anything contribute to the forging of a 'Common Destiny Perspective' and mutual empathy and respect. http://www.africavenir.com/exchange/

News
The news-section has been expanded, offering new interactive opportunities. Users can easily comment each news-posting. Regular users can apply for an authorship status. http://www.africavenir.com/news/

Publications
Though a long time silenced, AfricAvenir has continued to produce academic and literary works. Access our scholarly e-journal, our occasional papers, conference papers, student papers and internship reports. http://www.africavenir.com/publications/

Your Contributions
You have unpublished articles or manuscripts? You would like to contribute to the establishing of an Africa-centred database? Please feel free to contact us at: info@africavenir.org

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
DEPARTMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Postdoctoral Research Associate
Academic-Related Research Staff Grade 1A: Salary £19,460 - £29,128

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral research associate to work on an ESRC funded project on ”Respect for others and its effects on social relations”. The project will involve a number of studies focussing on the effects of respect on interpersonal and intergroup relations and examine some of the processes underlying the development of respect for one’s political opponents. The team of investigators consists of Mansur Lalljee (Principal Investigator), Miles Hewstone, Brian Parkinson and Katrin Voltmer. Lalljee, Hewstone and Parkinson are social psychologists in the Department of Experimental Psychology Oxford University, while Voltmer is a political scientist at the Institute of Communication Studies, Leeds University. The person will be based in Oxford, though some travel to Leeds for data collection may be necessary.

The post is for 2 years and the start date is 1st October 2005.

Candidates should hold a good first degree in psychology and a PhD in any relevant area of social psychology. The project will mainly involve experimental work and questionnaires studies, as well as theory development. Consequently, experience with experimental work and with advanced statistical methods would be an advantage. The successful applicant is likely to have a strong background of recruiting and working with human participants. He or she must be capable of reviewing literature critically, and be able to communicate clearly both orally and in writing. Applicants are expected to be able to demonstrate that they are both self-motivated and able to work collaboratively.

More information about the research and about the post can be obtained from Mansur Lalljee on mansur.lalljee@psy.ox.ac.uk.

Before submitting an application, candidates should obtain further particulars from The Administrator, Department of Experimental Psychology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD (e-mail: applications@psy.ox.ac.uk) or telephone 01865 271399 quoting reference number CQ/05/005. The closing date for applications is 31st May 2005. Further information on the Department may be found on the web-site http://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/

Global helseforskning utlyser midler til forskerprosjekter om helseproblemer blant marginaliserte befolkninger og fattigdomsrelaterte sykdommer

Søknadsfrist 15.06.2005.

Temaer:
* Helsesystem- og helsetjenesteforskning på kvalitet og tilgang til helsetjenester
* Intervensjonsforskning på individuelle og strukturelle årsaker til helseproblemer
* Utvikling av metoder for forebygging, diagnose og behandling av fattigdomsrelaterte sykdommer
* Mer effektiv og rettferdig bruk av metoder for forebygging, diagnose og behandling av fattigdomsrelaterte sykdommer

Prosjekttyper det kan søkes om:
1. Forskerprosjekter inntil 4 mill pr. år i inntil 5 år.
Kriterier:
Vitenskapelig kvalitet
Relevans
Institusjonens styrke og strategiske anvendelse
Vesentlig egenfinansiering
Samarbeid med norske og internasjonale forskningsmiljø
"Institusjons-CV" kan legges ved

2. Forskerprosjekter inntil 2 mill pr. år i inntil 3 år.
Kriterier:
Vitenskapelig kvalitet
Relevans
Samarbeid med norske og internasjonale forskningsmiljø
Ønskelig med vesentlig egenfinansiering

Generelt:
Doktor- og postdoktorstipendiater ønskes inkludert i forskerprosjektene, ikke individuelle stipendsøknader.
Søknad skrives på engelsk.

Utlysingen og søknadsskjema:
http://www.forskningsradet.no/forport/application?origin=tilgjengeligemidler.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.portlet.event&pageid=Visningsside&portletid=finansiering&wfevent=event.Finansiering&id=1112128031248&name=GLOBALHELSE-050405&assetType=TilgjengeligeMidler&paName=ProgAkt/GLOBALHELSE-GlobalHelseforskning&menuName=#TM

Programdokumentet:
http://www.forskningsradet.no/CSStorage/Flex_attachment/Global%20helse%20programplan%2001.05.pdf (inkl. oversikt over norske institusjoners forskning innenfor global helse.

NEWSLETTER FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS HOUSE NETWORK

1) Attack on Rebiya Kadeer's family and business
Several of the recently released Uighur spokeswoman Rebiya Kadeer's employees were brutally arrested by Chinese police yesterday. Her son is in hiding. The Rafto Foundation asks the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take action.

2) HRH asks governments to adopt policies to protect defenders
- We want governments to adopt transparent, comprehensive, and verifiable policies to protect human rights defenders, both in their own countries and abroad, says Maria Dahle Executive Director of the Human Rights House Foundation, in the introduction to the Human Rights House Network Annual Report 2004. Read more about the activities at the established and emerging Human Rights Houses in Oslo, Moscow, Warsaw, Sarajevo, Bergen, London, Zagreb, Nairobi, Kampala, Minsk, Baku, Istanbul, and Bogota.

3) Belarus: Freedom of Press Prize awarded to Alena Raubetskaya
The Press prize of Ihar Hiermianchuk Memorial was awarded to the editor-in-chief Alena Raubetskayaby by the Belarusian Association of Journalist (BAJ), the Norwegian PEN and the Human Rights House Foundation (HRH) on the Press Freedom Day on May 3rd. Raubetskaya was honoured for her outspoken articles about the flawed October elections in 2004

4) Time is running out for Uganda's chance to rescue itself
- Time is running out for a peace agreement, say sources close to the UK-Dutch- Norwegian attempt to make the parties to the conflict in the north meet and talk. In the last month, HRH has had this dramatic assessment confirmed both in Uganda and in Norway. - If significant progress won't be made within the next few weeks, the war is more than likely to escalate, possibly to unprecedented hights.

5) Azerbaijan: Lack of registration hinders NGOs activities
Almost 1000 NGOs are denied registration by the Azeri Ministry of Justice. The adoption in 2003 of a law on State Registration has not led to substantial improvements, according to a new OSCE report.

6) Kenya: A murky future for textile workers
The silence in the room was deafening. Thousands of sewing machines lay unused in one of the production units at Upan Wasana, a textile factory located in Ruaraka, on the outskirts of Nairobi. The reason for this inactivity: something Kenyans call the 'Chinese tsunami'.

7) Critical human rights situation in Western Sahara
Several reports about violence from the police during peaceful demonstrations have reached the Rafto Foundation. The 2002 Rafto Prize laureate, Sidi Mohammed Daddach and his closest associates are the only ones who can publicly air discontentment and criticism regarding Morocco´s policy in Western Sahara.

8) Nepal: End of state of emergency promises little
The announcement that King Gyanendra had lifted Nepal's state of emergency caught most observers by surprise but left few confident that the country would see the immediate restoration of human rights including freedom of expression for its media.

9) Croatia: Impartiality of war crime trials improved
In the most recent report on the war crime trials in Croatian courts, the OSCE mission to Croatia recognized improvements in the Croatian judiciary. These improvements also reflect positively on the willingness of Croatian courts to take over some of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) cases. However, the report underlines the need for additional reforms.

10) Mordechai Vanunu invited to Norway
The board of Norwegian PEN has nominated Israeli writer, whistleblower and nuclear physicist Mordechai Vanunu as new City of Asylum writer in Kristiansand, Norway.

11) Moscow: Human rights activists teach civil servants
In April the Moscow Helsinki Group led a training seminar for employees of the Regional Ombudsmen apparatus for human rights and the Regional commissions for human rights of the Russian Federation.

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Human Rights House Foundation (HRH)
Address: Menneskerettighetshuset,
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http://www.menneskerettigheter.no

Please see the educational book that Stephanie Heuer created, inspired by our 2004 Paris meeting and Robert Fuller's work on Rankism. She is publishing it herself, so please write to her for a copy, safa40@hotmail.com.

The title of the book is:
I Feel Like Nobody When … I Feel Like Somebody When …

Soon her website www.safaunleashed.com/safa2 will be up and going.

Warmly!

Evelin

On 20th May 2005, Stephanie writes saying that she would like to present her book at our NY meeting in December, and explain the process she went through from our group's last meeting until now. The theme would be:

Children and Dignity, A template for Change

Safa writes:
The reason I say template for change is this. I think we all recognize that there are humiliating acts going on all the time, at many different levels, as well as, violations of our dignity. What I feel I needed is a course for change, a way to feel and act differently. Bob's book inspired me to change the way I processed emotions. I came back and resigned from my job (which was not accepted), based on Rankism. Things changed. After I did my research in the area of my students answering the two questions, their responses floored me. Their responses CHANGED the way I looked at them, and the way I taught as an educator. I listen closer, I don't embarrass students, I process thought differently.

We NEED templates for change. It is great to recognize problems, now we need to come up with simple and direct ways to change the way people treat and perceive the people around them.

From Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

in diesem dritten Newsletter 2005 erinnern wir an die unmittelbar bevorstehenden AfricAvenir Veranstaltungen, weisen auf einige gute Websites und Artikel hin und, wie immer, auch auf interessante und relevante Veranstaltungen in Berlin und Deutschland.

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INHALT:

AFRICAVENIR VERANSTALTUNGEN

Bildung für alle in Afrika: In welchen Sprachen?
Am Dienstag, den 17. Mai um 19.00 Uhr lädt AfricAvenir in Kooperation mit dem Afrika-Referat der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung zu einem Vortrag über die Sprachpolitik in afrikanischen Ländern. Prof. Birgit Brock-Utne wird die Nutzung der ehemaligen Kolonialsprachen als Bildungssprachen in afrikanischen Ländern kritisch hinterfragen und die Rolle der internationalen Gebergemeinschaft beleuchten. Moderation: Prof. Kum’ a Ndumbe III. Ort: Galerie der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Rosenthaler Str. 40/41, 10178 Berlin-Mitte. http://www.africavenir.org/africavenir/berlin/dialogue-forum/brock-utne.php

African Perspectives: Tal der Ahnungslosen von Branwen Okpako
Am Sonntag, den 22. Mai lädt AfricAvenir in Kooperation mit der INISA und dem South African Club um 17.00 Uhr zu einer Filmvorführung ins Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Gezeigt wird der Spielfilm „Tal der Ahnungslosen“ von der in Berlin lebenden nigerianischen Filmemacherin Branwen Okpako. Im Anschluss findet eine Diskussion mit Regisseurin und Hauptdarstellerin statt. http://www.africavenir.org/africavenir/berlin/film/film-presentations.php

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TIPPS UND HINWEISE

Africa 2005: The world wide year of Africa
Africa 2005 is an international movement mobilizing the African civil society and the international community to make 2005 the world year for Africa. Africa 2005 takes the year 2005 as the starting point to commit itself to increase African influence on a global level. http://www.africa2005.com/en/voir_s.php?branche=le_mouvement&id=MjM=&fromst=QUZSSUNBIDIwMDU=

Le NEPAD ou l’histoire secrète d’une Renaissance Africaine recolonisée?
Au commencement était le Millenium Partnership for African Recovery Program, ou Renaissance Africaine. Du jour au lendemain a surgit le Plan Omega. Puis advint le Nouveau Partenariat pour le Développement de l’Afrique, NEPAD, qui a évincé la Renaissance Africaine, fondue dans une mouture à prétention économique… A qui profite ce compromis ? http://www.afrikara.com/index.php?page=contenu&art=216

Apartheid Museum im Web
The Apartheid Museum opened in 2001 and is acknowledged as the pre-eminent museum in the world dealing with 20 th century South Africa , at the heart of which is the apartheid story.
http://www.apartheidmuseum.org/

Muntu Valdo
Muntu Valdo, le Petit Prince du Sawa Blues émerveille avec son Moiyé Na Muititi
La sortie musicale du mois d’Avril 2005 est assurément le premier acte d’une aventure artistique appelée à durer, Moiyé Na Muititi traduisez Des Dieux et Des Diables ... http://www.muntuvaldo.com/

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WEITERE VERANSTALTUNGEN

Ouagadougou sans papiers
Am Pfingstmontag gibt es im Subversiv in der Brunnenstraße 7, U-Bahnhof Rosenthaler Platz, eine Soliparty für ein Süd-Nord-Austauschprojekt mit Burkina Faso, in dessen Rahmen wir gerade zwei Leute von einer burkinischen Menschenrechts-NRO in Berlin zu Gast haben. Ab 21 Uhr gibt es Filme vom diesjährigen FESPACO (Filmfestival, das alle zwei Jahre in Ouagdougou stattfindet) zu sehen. Das ganze findet mit der Unterstützung des Vereins zur Erhaltung der Brunnenstraße 7 statt. Mehr über das Projekt unter http://www.migration-bf.de/index.html.

"Menschen unter Landkreisarrest in Deutschland"
Berichte über den täglichen Widerstand von Flüchtlingen und MigrantInnen und den staatlichen Missbrauch gegenüber den Flüchtlingen und MigrantInnen durch die Einschränkung der Bewegungsfreiheit, Diskriminierung und andere Formen von Verfolgung. Diskussionen über unsere Kämpfe gegen Rassismus und die Beschränkung der Bewegungsfreiheit in Deutschland mit Aktivisten und Kritikern der Residenzpflichtgesetz… Die FORST FILM TOUR findet vom 10. bis zum 28. Mai in Jena, Arnstadt, Eisenberg, Erfurt und Weimar statt. Gezeigt wird der Film “Forst”, der auf dem Filmfestival in Graz/ Österreich „diagonal05“ den Preis für den besten Dokumentarfilm erhielt. http://www.forstfilm.com/

Femi Osofisan (Ibadan, Nigeria, Gast am Zentrum für Literaturforschung)
Am 18. Mai 2005 um 18.30 Uhr lädt Seminar für Afrikawissenschaften/ Zentrum Moderner Orient im Rahmen des Rahmen des Berliner Afrikakolloquiums zu einem Vortrag von Femi Osofisan über das Yoruba Theater seit 1940. Der Vortrag wird in englischer Sprache stattfinden. Ort: Insttitut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften, Invalidenstr. 118, Raum 315. http://www2.hu-berlin.de/asaf/Afrika/afrkoll.html

Prof. Wangari Maathai: Armutsbekaempfung und Umweltschutz als Krisenpraevention im 21. Jahrhundert - Eine neue Partnerschaft zwischen Industrie- und Entwicklungsländern
Am 25. Mai 2005 um 19.30 Uhr wird die Friedensnobelpreistraegerin und Vize-Umweltministerin Kenias Prof. Wangari Maathai mit Juergen Trittin (Bundesminister für Umwelt, Naturschutz
und Reaktorsicherheit) und Prof. Dr. Peter Hoeppe (Leiter der Abteilung Georisikoforschung, Muenchener Rueckversicherung) diskutieren. Veranstaltet wird die Dskussion von der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Ort: Forum Deutscher Beamtenbund, Friedrichsstr. 169/170, 10117 Berlin. http://www.boell.de/calendar/viewevt.aspx?evtid=1166&crtpage=1

Mythos Kreuzberg: Bilanz eines multikulturellen Experiments
Die Schlagzeilen, die den Berliner Stadtteil Kreuzberg weit über die Grenzen Deutschlands bekannt gemacht haben, sind zwiespältig: Hochburg der links-alternativen Szene, Klein-Istanbul, sozialer Brennpunkt. Der Stadtteil mobilisiert widersprüchliche Bilder und Emotionen. Einerseits hebt sich Kreuzberg durch seine soziokulturelle Vielfalt und Vitalität und den hohen Grad an Bürgerbeteiligung von anderen Bezirken Deutschlands mit vergleichbarer Sozialstruktur ab. Projekte wie der „Karneval der Kulturen“ und die reichhaltige Kreuzberger Kulturszene sind Zeugnisse für die Lebendigkeit des Quartiers… Am Donnerstag 26. und Freitag 27. Mai 2005 und am Samstag 28. Mai 2005 Open Space. http://www.boell.de/de/01_event/3268.html

Tour de Tabac 2005 - Vortragsreise zu Tabak und Umwelt mit John Waluye, vom 25. Mai bis 06. Juni 2005
Im Miombo in Zentralafrika, im größten Trockenwaldgebiet der Erde, wurden in den letzten Jahren immer größere Flächen gerodet, um Tabak anzubauen und Feuerholz zur Trocknung des Rohtabaks zu gewinnen. Die ökologischen Folgen sind Versteppung und Wüstenbildung - die nachhaltige Zerstörung der Lebensgrundlagen für die Bevölkerung. Durch spezielle Verträge sind Tabakbauern und ihre Familien an internationale Tabakkonzerne gebunden und geraten immer mehr in Abhängigkeit und Verschuldung. Darüber hinaus werden die Länder des Südens immer stärker Ziel aggressiver Werbekampagnen der Tabakkonzerne.
Der Referent John Waluye ist leitender Redakteur der Daily News in Dar es Salaam, Tansania. Seit vielen Jahren beobachtet er die Folgen des Tabakanbaus und die Aktivitäten der Tabakkonzerne - deren Vertragspolitik, deren Arbeitnehmerpolitik und die Versuche, neue
Absatzmärkte zu erschließen. John Waluye ist der Hauptakteur in Peter Hellers Film „Rauchopfer“, von dem Ausschnitte gezeigt werden. http://www.rauchopfer.org/

Die Last des Erinnerns vom 02.- 04. Juni 2005, Universität Lüneburg
Die Erinnerungslandschaft des Kolonialismus bleibt in Deutschland unübersichtlich. Neben verborgenen Kolonialphantasien (“Ein Platz an der Sonne³) prägen diverse koloniale Traditionen die Beziehungen zu Afrika; neben aktiven Firmen- und Familientraditionen ist an die Missionsgeschichte zu erinnern, die bis in die Dritte-Welt- und die Anti-Apartheid-Bewegung hinein gewirkt hat. Während Frankreich und Großbritannien und neuerdings auch Belgien schwierige Erinnerungsprozesse ihrer Kolonialvergangenheit erleben, bleibt eine solche Konfrontation zwischen Kolonisatoren (respektive ihren Nachkommen und Erben) und Kolonisierten in Deutschland aus. Die Tagung möchte über die bestehenden Erinnerungsdiskurse hinaus die kulturwissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema Kolonialismus im kollektiven und im öffentlichen Gedächtnis Europas und Afrikas fortsetzen und intensivieren. Dazu ist die Veranstaltung interdisziplinär ausgerichtet, um von den Erfahrungen der unterschiedliche n Fächer profitieren zu können. Durch eine Gegenüberstellung der disparaten Erinnnerungsdiskurse sollen Rückschlüsse auf deren nationale wie internationale Wirkungskraft ermöglicht werden. http://www.uni-lueneburg.de/fb3/kolonialismus/

"Recolonize Cologne" - Der neue Film von KANAK TV wird uraufgeführt, am Montag 06.06.05 - 20.00 Uhr Hebbel Theater HEBBEL AM UFER, Berlin
Der Docutainment-Film verlinkt die deutsche Kolonialgeschichte in Kamerun mit dem Kampf um globale Bewegungsfreiheit. Er trägt den Titel „RECOLONIZE COLOGNE“. Kaiser Ngon Pouo'o Metzem III. aus Kamerun paradiert auf einer Sänfte getragen in die Kölner Innenstadt. Dort besetzt er ein Stück deutschen Bodens und konstatiert „Ihr habt uns auch nicht gefragt, als ihr gekommen seid, warum sollen wir euch fragen?“ Die Kölner Bevölkerung reagiert. Der Film blättert zurück und holt den verdrängten deutschen Kolonialismus in Kamerun ans Licht. Geschichten von Menschen treten hervor, die seitdem den Weg aus Kamerun nach Deutschland fanden und sich über die Versuche hinwegsetzen, ihre Bewegungsfreiheit einzuschränken. Doch Kaiser Ngon Pouo'o Metzem III. hat den Kölner auch ein Geschenk mitgebracht.... http://www.kanak-tv.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

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AfricAvenir International e.V. ist nicht für die Inhalte externer Webseiten verantwortlich.

Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
May 11, 2005

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

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

1. "The pen can break the executioner's sword" by Ali Jaafar
Ali Jaafar, a frequent contributor to the Daily Star, considers whether art and culture has a role to play a role in democratizing and reforming societies in the Middle Eastern.
(Source: Daily Star, April 30, 2005)

2. "To Soothe Dutch-Muslim Nerves, Try a Jewish Mayor by Marlise Simons
Marlise Simons, journalist for the New York Times, looks at how Job Cohen, the Jewish mayor of Amsterdam, is tackling tensions between conservative Muslim immigrants and the city's liberal traditions following the attacks of Sept.11.
(Source: The New York Times, April 25, 2005)

3. "Education for all: For Arabs the task is arduous" by Ramzy Baroud
Ramzy Baroud, the editor in chief of PalestineChronicle.com and a program producer at Al Jazeera Satellite Television, explains how reform efforts in the Arab world overlook education and he points to some key areas for improvement.
(Source: Middle East Times, April 27, 2005)

4. "Talk to political Islamists in the Arab world" by Richard W. Murphy and Basil Eastwood
Richard Murphy, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and Basil Eastwood former director of research and analysis at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and British ambassador to Syria, highlight the results of the recent Arab Human Development Report to encourage a shift in U.S. policy. They hope to persuade the G8 to open dialogue with Islamists, who they see as key players in any genuine reform efforts in the region.
(Source: The Daily Star, May 4, 2005)

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ARTICLE 1
The pen can break the executioner's sword
Ali Jaafar
LONDON - There's a funny story on how the American actor David Hasselhoff complained to museum curators in Germany after not finding his photo in a collection of memorabilia about the fall of the Berlin Wall. The former "Baywatch" star claimed he had helped reunite the country by singing his song "Looking for Freedom" among millions of German fans at the Brandenburg Gate. Leaving his ludicrous assertion aside (most East Germans couldn't understand a word he was singing), the episode brings up an interesting question: What role can culture play in democratizing and reforming societies in the Middle East?

There are some who would answer unequivocally that culture should have no such role - for example the Saudi cultural attache in Washington who was recently reported to have signed a document advising visiting Muslims not to embark on friendships with the "infidels," or even greet them in the street. The artist in Arab societies has traditionally held a position as dissenter. As such he or she has an integral role to play in democratic reform. Even in Saudi Arabia, where cinemas are forbidden, the release last year of the kingdom's first film, "The Only Way Out," was a modest sign of this. More significantly, the film's director was a woman, Haifa Mansour, and her achievement was a small victory in a land normally noted for the lack of rights it affords to its female population.

Throughout history, culture and the arts have given voice to the dispossessed and disenfranchised; but can it actually make a lasting difference? Sometimes, the answer is yes. One example was visible last year with the furor surrounding Syrian director Omar Amiralay's "A Flood in Baath Country," a documentary harshly critical of the regime of President Bashar Assad. The film premiered in Lebanon at the Cinema Days film festival last September and was scheduled to appear at the Carthage Film Festival in October. Soon, however, accusations of treason and collaboration with Israel were hurled at the filmmaker by some in the Arab media. The film was promptly withdrawn from the festival. It was only after a petition signed in Lebanon by 55 directors denounced the decision that the film was reinstated.

It is through such acts of solidarity that artists, writers and filmmakers can have the most impact. That the petition was prepared against the backdrop of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, demanding a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, was an indication of how politics and culture can work together, mobilizing voices of dissent and opposition, in particular youths, giving them a platform denied through more traditional political processes.

Yet there are many cases where culture can only take its lead from a given event, but also amplify it by providing it with substantial resonance. One need only look at the scenes of the hundreds of thousands of young Lebanese taking to the streets to demand their freedom in the wake of the brutal murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. His assassination unified the country with greater potency than any work featured on his television channel or in his newspaper. When a million Lebanese of all religions and political persuasions took to the streets in defiant solidarity and mourning, it was not a poem or a film that had moved them - but rather the loss of a man who personified the indefatigability and pride of a nation that longed for respect, not pity.

However, the role of Hariri's Future TV, along with numerous other media organs, was instrumental in bringing out the demonstrators, and creating a context for their protests. Dozens of music videos and songs were played incessantly by the channel. How ironic that only weeks earlier Jean-Claude Boulos, the Lebanese media figure who founded Lebanon's state-owned Tele-Liban in 1958, told me after launching a new Iraqi station, Al-Sumariyya, that he had chosen to transmit live footage of the Beirut marathon to remind the "Iraqi people of the center of Beirut and show them that it's still alive and has been reconstructed."

These are heady, if uncertain, times for Lebanon, but with crucial elections looming in May, it may well be the joyous images (provided by ubiquitous satellite channels) of Iraqis emerging from voting booths last January that the Lebanese will remember as, for the first time in decades, they go to the polls at the end of May. For all those seeking political and cultural modernity in the Middle East one could do worse than remember Lebanon's golden age during the 1950s and 1960s, when poets, playwrights and politicians sat side by side sipping coffee on the Corniche, at a time when Lebanon was free.

For a society to progress, the politics of democracy must accompany the culture of democracy. In the Palestinian national movement's great romantic heyday of the 1970s, its soldiers went into battle singing the songs of Mahmoud Darwish, and its politicians discussed affairs with the likes of the late Edward Said.

It is no accident that Egypt's cultural scene, once home to the world's third largest film industry, thrived when the likes of Youssef Chahine and Salah Abu Seif were allowed to make socially radical works that questioned their own societies. It is no coincidence that Naguib Mahfouz, the Nobel Laureate and Egypt's greatest ever writer, was nearly fatally stabbed on the streets of the Cairo he had spent his life writing about, at a time of stagnation and moribund ideology. The recent decision that Egyptian television shows would soon have to pass religious censorship did not bode well either. The minister responsible commented that future dramas would need to "respect the values and traditions of Egyptian society. The media cannot be transformed into instruments to distil poison under the pretext of artistic license." The decision merely reaffirmed how ruling elites in the region feel threatened by culture's unifying potential.

Of course, culture on its own cannot change a thing. Look at Iran. Despite a vibrant, critically-acclaimed movie industry - directors such as Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi and Bahman Ghobadi have won every award from the Palme d'Or at Cannes to top prizes in Venice and Berlin - the society remains under clerical hegemony. Many Iranian films are banned at home, depriving them of any domestic impact.

There are signs, however, that things may be changing. Last year Iran's biggest box-office hit, "The Lizard," was a comedy that gently satirized the mullahs. It may not have driven them from power, but the film's success was an indication, at home and abroad, of just how ready Iranian audiences were to laugh at those holding the strings. In his inaugural address, U.S. President George W. Bush told the citizens of the Middle East: "Democratic reformers facing repression, prison or exile can know America sees you for what you are: the future leaders of your free country." One wonders what role some of those sitting in the cinemas of Tehran and watching "The Lizard" may come to play in their country in the years ahead.

Ultimately, will the pen prove mightier than the swords of the executioners? Will the sound of music drown out the screams of the car bombs? The answer is blowing in the wind. One can only hope it won't disappear with the wind.
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* Ali Jaafar writes frequently on culture from London for the Daily Star.
Source: The Daily Star, April 30, 2005
Visit the Daily Star at www.dailystar.com.lb
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
To Soothe Dutch-Muslim Nerves, Try a Jewish Mayor
Marlise Simons
AMSTERDAM - Job Cohen is not just the mayor of Amsterdam, the brash and boisterous Dutch capital. He is also a calm, somewhat reserved Jewish intellectual who has made it his task to keep the peace between the city's Muslims and Christians.

This is not how he originally imagined his role. Since Dutch mayors are named by the government, Mr. Cohen, a former civil servant and university chancellor, did not campaign for the job. Once he took office at the start of 2001, he set about addressing the range of urban problems of this lively and crowded port city.

Then his agenda was abruptly rewritten.

The shock of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States exposed long-simmering tensions between conservative Muslim immigrants and this city's liberal traditions. Many Dutch began complaining openly that the newcomers - from Morocco, Turkey, the Middle East - were changing their society for the worse, while the Muslims protested that they were being treated as aliens in their adopted country.

Mr. Cohen, known as a pragmatist with a calm manner - who often prefers to listen rather than talk - was thrown into the role of mediator.

"Islam is here to stay, in this country, in this city," he said at his official mansion along an elegant 17th-century canal. "We have to deal with Islam as a fact, not whether we like it. So the real question is how to get on with each other."

As a thriving port, this city of 750,000 has always had a cultural and racial mix, but never at today's ratio, with one in three people of non-Western descent. Last November, Amsterdam was shaken by Islamic militancy. Theo van Gogh, a well-known local filmmaker, was shot and his throat was slit. A Dutch-Moroccan man has confessed.

Since the killing, which caused much outrage and a spate of fire bombings of mosques and churches in the country, Mr. Cohen, 57, has become as much moderator as he is mayor. He takes pride in the fact that no violence or arson has occurred in Amsterdam in response to the killing, but he concedes that social peace is far from assured. So he moves around, visiting various ethnic groups, organizing debates among religious leaders, listening to them and promoting dialogue.

One recent day, he was taking a group of college students to a public housing project in the suburb of Osdorp. Two retired police officers had opened a clubhouse there for immigrant teenagers who had been in trouble with the police.

Why does the project receive city funds, the students asked. "We're better off listening to these kids than sending them to jail," Mr. Cohen said, spending the next hour listening.
On another day, he attended an awards dinner of a successful Moroccan group. Before the audience of well-suited businessmen and women in jewels and glittering long dresses, the mayor began: "These have not been easy times for you. You may even have wondered: am I wanted here?" The hall was dead silent, as Mr. Cohen continued: "Yes, we all belong here. You are much needed in this society, you are the hope of this country."

His low-key, almost casual style has earned him both admirers and detractors. Geert Mak, a well-known writer, said that after the van Gogh killing, while other politicians panicked and whipped up fear, "Cohen remained a model of calm and civic courage."

Others see him as an advocate of the soft pedal, contending that he and his Labor Party's multicultural policies are to blame for the immigrants' lack of integration. Such policies, critics say, have failed to make clear where Dutch society draws the line, and making too many concessions may have encouraged immigrants to live off the state or to become militants. During one debate, a local political columnist, Theodor Holman, told Mr. Cohen across the table, "My mayor is a weakling."

In the intense debate over the threat of terrorism, the limits of tolerance, or how to handle gangs of angry immigrant youths who roam Amsterdam neighborhoods and are blamed for much petty crime, Mr. Cohen's aides say he is far from "soft." Under his orders, the police have identified 80 gangs, issuing orders to bar some leaders from troubled neighborhoods and sending several hundred young lawbreakers to reform boot camps.

A local mosque known to spread anti-Western ideas - it also sold Saudi Arabian literature seen as offensive to women and homosexuals - has had several visits from Mr. Cohen and his aides, including Ahmed Aboutaleb, a Moroccan-born city alderman. "Closing the mosque is pointless when it's likely to be reopened by the courts," he said.

Mr. Cohen says he is not religious but holds meetings with religious groups because religion has come to play a greater role in the largely secular Netherlands. He believes Muslim clerics are a key to helping Muslims integrate into Dutch society, although the most conservative clerics oppose this.

He also promotes meetings among Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders because, he says, "there is a lot of anger against Israel" over its treatment of Palestinians. Asked if this affects his own role, he said: "It's hard to say. Undoubtedly there are people who say, well the mayor is a prejudiced Jew."

The mayor and Mr. Aboutaleb, a trusted ally, have received death threats and now have bodyguards. A letter pinned to the body of the filmmaker called Mr. Cohen an enemy because he was a Jew and called Mr. Aboutaleb a traitor to Islam.

What, if anything, makes this calm man angry? It is, he says, the new tough talk of "war" on extremism, "war" on terrorism and "clamping down" on immigrants, heard from some politicians. "I see more polarization," he said. "I don't like it, it's bad for the city, bad for the country. Security comes from a stronger sense of community, from getting closer. I worry about the hardening tone."
###
* Marlise Simons is a journalists with the New York TImes
Source: The New York Times, April 25, 2005
Visit the New York Times at www.nytimes.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission can be requested from the New York Times website at www.nytimes.com.

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ARTICLE 3
Education for all: For Arabs the task is arduous
Ramzy Baroud
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has a well-devised and controlled method of measuring the educational progress - or lack thereof - in any given country or region around the world.

In Dakar, Senegal, 2002, the World Education Forum called on all UN member states to formulate national plans to achieve "Education For All" (EFA) by 2015.

So that the plan is not merely ink on paper - as is the case regarding many similar initiatives in the past - the forum presented six goals that must be achieved for the overall plan to be realized. Important examples, and ones most pertinent to Arab countries, are expanding adult literacy and ensuring gender parity.

Since then UNESCO has been active in both creating awareness of and garnering support for the initiative. It has also been consumed with monitoring the results and whether member states are indeed reaching the hardly ambitious goals set for the year 2015.

It should come as no surprise that quality education is largely a matter of economics: the poorer you get the more consumed you become with other immediate needs - survival for example. More than 12 Arab countries, therefore, are far behind the EFA goals. And some are actually regressing.

The 2005 EFA Global Monitoring Report launched in Brazil attests to this fact. Indeed, most of the statistics to which I consulted, including data offered by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank's statistics mostly highlight such a realization: poverty and quality education don't go well together.

Thus Mauritania, the poorest Arab nation, which according to a 2002 tally has a per capita annual income of $334, resides second to last on the Arab literacy rate list, with 59.8 percent of the population that cannot read or write.

Sadly, the bottom spot of the literacy rate, according to the EFA report 2003/4 was reserved for no other than Iraq, a country that was once recognized for being a Third World model of development. Along with Cuba, Iraq once offered universal education and health coverage. Now, following 15 years of crippling sanctions, unjustified and bloody war and a self-consumed and brutal occupation, only 39.3 percent of Iraqis can read.

Iraq is a unique but important case, since its anathema of poverty, unlike other countries, is man-made - a very egocentric Washington-based man, whose interest in business contracts, control of energy sources and securing his imperial domains surpasses his empathy for human life.

Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are another interesting case. Strikingly, Palestinians have fully achieved gender parity in education, a major component in the EFA initiative. And despite the fact that 60 percent of the population lives at less than $2 per day - below the universally recognized poverty level - there is an impressive determination to join and stay in school.

However, living under occupation, and a vile one at that, is no easy task. Alas, most of the statistics dealing with Palestinian education continue to focus on the number of students killed, wounded and maimed by Israeli forces; on the number of schools shelled, partially or fully destroyed; on the number of students unable to reach the classroom because of military restrictions and checkpoints; on the number of students trapped behind the illegal Israeli Wall slicing up the West Bank and completely isolating entire communities, and so on.

But poverty, security and freedom are not always the only causes of education deficits. Misguided developmental projects are an equally detrimental factor that keeps some rich Arab countries behind; at least as far as the quality education component is concerned.

Most wealthy Arab states seem to comprehend and thus measure development by the number of skyscrapers, top of the line SUVs and the hosting of world-renowned sporting events. Conversely, a well-devised national education program is almost nonexistent, save the ever-growing private school system, which communicates Western cultures to Arab students without taking into account the national identity and priorities of each country.

The end result is as simple as it is devastating: detached generations of hip-hop bad boy wannabes who have no complete command over any particular language or much commitment or even interest in the development of their own countries.

Human capital is the most fundamental prerequisite for sustainable, beneficial and long term development. A case in point is the Malaysian experience in the last 15 years. With over 20 percent of the budget spent on human development and education, the country has achieved phenomenal results in the field and continues to take significant strides, as its once run-down universities are now world-class edifices of learning.

There are other factors that must be scrutinized in order for the hampered educational progress in much of the Arab world to be fully revived and revamped. Without such understanding EFA in the Arab world shall remain confined to ineffectual workshops followed by photo-ops and fancy banquets.

EFA is a decision where governments, civil societies and nations as a whole are and ought to be active participants. Unless that decision is made - not imposed - most Arab nations should not be expected to meet the minimal standards for progress and modernity; not in 10 years, not in a hundred.
###
* Ramzy Baroud is a veteran Arab-American journalist, the editor in chief
of PalestineChronicle.com and a program producer at Al Jazeera Satellite Television
Source: Middle East Times, April 27, 2005
Visit the Middle East Times at www.metimes.com.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
Talk to political Islamists in the Arab world
Richard W. Murphy and Basil Eastwood
The Arab Human Development Report issued on April 5 highlighted the contradictions within U.S. and British policy toward the Arab world. President George W. Bush is intent on bringing democracy to the Middle East, and reform is at the heart of the Group of 8's Broader Middle East Initiative, which Britain as chairman is pledged to carry forward. However, the would-be democrats of the region are viscerally opposed to American policies there, which makes it the more necessary to talk to them.

The Arab Human Development Report makes it clear that very little progress toward reform has yet been made and that democracy cannot just be imported (still less imposed). It was right for Bush to say in his inaugural address that the U.S. will "seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture." However, if it is not be counter-productive, outside pressure for democratization and reform needs to be exercised with great care and must complement the efforts of movements working for these goals within the states of the region

In the Arab world, the awkward truth is that the most significant such movements that enjoy popular support are associated with political Islam - movements which seek by peaceful means to apply their faith to their state's politics. The Muslim Brothers now demonstrating vigorously for change in Egypt, or Ibrahim Jaafari of Al-Daawa, the new prime minister of Iraq, are good examples. For the United States to "seek and support" such movements will not be a comfortable process: most Islamist movements oppose their own governments - governments whose cooperation Washington needs to combat terrorism - and they share the general views of the Arab public that violence against occupation is legitimate and that British and American policies in the region are fundamentally misguided.

We believe, however, that U.S. disagreement with Islamists, however vehement, is good reason for talking to them, not ostracizing them. For a year now we have been engaged in a dialogue with a small group of people familiar with some of the different national branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, with Hamas and with Hizbullah. They do not formally represent these movements, but we believe that they do speak with authority. Some of them have been imprisoned for their beliefs and they describe movements which are arguably more democratic than the Arab governments concerned (who habitually rig elections to ensure that such movements do not win). They deny vehemently that, once voted into office, they will hang onto power if subsequently voted out.

Consciously or not, the movements seem to be adopting the theological belief that the voice of the people is in some sense the voice of God, which made possible the emergence of Christian democracy in Western Europe less than two centuries ago.
Perhaps the best evidence in their favor is the fact that they are criticized bitterly by those Muslim extremists who do advocate violence to bring in authoritarian clerical rule. For, when it comes to politics, Muslims are no more united than Christians. Political Islam itself varies from country to country, but there are much greater differences both between political Islamists and "official Islam" on the one hand and between them and the Jihadists on the other. Even within Sunni Islam there are bitter divisions between the exponents of official Islam, the political Islamists who seek change but who do not advocate violence to overthrow regimes, and the Jihadists, the Islamic extremists who do.

A spokesman for one of the Jihadist groups recently argued on a Jihadist Web site not only that all Arab regimes and the imams who support them (in other words official Islam), together with secularists, communists and nationalists, were heretics, but also that democracy was heresy. True believers, he insisted, should have nothing to do with the Muslim Brothers (who are the mainstream of Sunni political Islam) and their "defeatist secularist democratic program." (The spokesman was even highly critical of Hamas, which he described as merely fighting for land).

It is such Jihadists, not the political Islamists, who see all Westerners as "Crusaders" and seek to throw them out of the Middle East. The popular Arab reaction to Western policies in Iraq and Palestine is strengthening the extremists at the expense of the political Islamists, but the extremists do not and probably cannot command a mass following.

The annual Arab Human Development Report is written by cosmopolitan Arab intellectuals, but the political Islamists are unanimous in believing, too, that reform in the Arab world is needed, whether there is progress toward a settlement with Israel or not. They point out that for too long corrupt regimes have used the Palestine issue as an excuse to maintain their power. Some of them are explicit in arguing that only democratically elected (and thus in their view probably Islamist) governments will have the legitimacy to make real peace with Israel. That may well be an honest view: while excluded from power and themselves under threat from extremists, the political Islamists have no reason to tackle the difficult issues that making peace with Israel will require; but it is striking that in Turkey it is an Islamist government which was able to take the difficult decisions needed to move toward Turkey's integration with the European Union.

We believe that G-8 governments must now, perhaps indirectly, enter into a dialogue with such movements and involve them in the civil society track of the Broader Middle East Initiative. It will not be easy but, if we are to avoid a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West (or, even worse, with Islam in the West), and if we are serious about reform in the Middle East, we must do business with those who are struggling to relate their faith to the world as it is - and not as it was at the time of the Prophet Mohammad.
###
* Richard Murphy served as U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in 1983-89. Basil Eastwood was director of research and analysis at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1991-96 and British ambassador to Syria in 1996-2000. They wrote this commentary for the Daily Star.
Source: The Daily Star, May 4, 2005
Visit the Daily Star at www.dailystar.com.lb.
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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Vacancy Announcement
International Human Dimensions Programme On Global Environmental Change

Executive Director of the International Human Dimensions Programme

The International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) invite applications for the position of Executive Director of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). The IHDP is an international, interdisciplinary and non-governmental science organisation, focusing on social and human dimensions of environmental change. The IHDP is dedicated to promoting, catalysing and coordinating research, capacity-building, and networking on the human dimensions of global environmental change. The IHDP examines areas of concern for societies with regard to global change from a social science perspective and works at the interface between science and practice. For detailed information on the programme please visit the webpage www.ihdp.org

The Executive Director, in co-operation with the Scientific Committee and the Chairperson, facilitates the expeditious development, implementation and evaluation of the IHDP Programme. In particular, the Executive Director will facilitate the development, implementation and co-ordination of IHDP Science Projects and Joint Projects with the partner programmes and provide overall management of the IHDP Secretariat (about 10 persons).

The successful candidate will have an international research reputation in a relevant social science discipline and have experience and knowledge about the socio-economic, cultural, behavioural and institutional dimensions of the global environmental change research effort, have excellent skills in staff development, financial and office management, be prepared to conduct extensive worldwide travel and have an excellent command of written and spoken English. Knowledge of other languages is an advantage.

The Executive Director will be appointed by ICSU and ISSC for an interim period of 12 months, potentially renewable thereafter. The successful candidate will be employed in Bonn, Germany, where the IHDP Secretariat is located. An appointment under the terms of a secondment would also be possible. The position will be filled by 15 September 2005 or as soon as possible thereafter. The salary is negotiable and will reflect the experience and qualifications of the candidate.

Letters of application with a curriculum vitae and the names of three referees should be received no later than 15
June 2005 by the IHDP Secretariat, Walter-Flex-Str. 3, 53113 Bonn, Fax +49 228 73 9054, e-mail: middel.ihdp@uni-bonn.de. Interviews for the post will be scheduled in July 2005. Further information on the IHDP and its Secretariat: Dr.Barbara Goebel Tel: +49-228-73-9051, Fax: +49-228-73-9054; e~mail:goebel.ihdp@uni-bonn.de; www.ihdp.org

Please see http://www.humiliationstudies.org/whoweare/board02.php#matsumoto for the full text of new articles on Intercultural Communication by David Matsumoto:

David R. Matsumoto & Yoo, S. H., & LeRoux, J. A.
Emotion and Intercultural Communication. In Helga Kotthoff and Helen Spencer-Oatley (eds.), Handbook of Applied Linguistics, Volume 7: Intercultural Communication. Berlin: Mouton – de Gruyter Publishers, in press.

David R. Matsumoto & Hirayama, S., & LeRoux, J. A.
Psychological Skills Related to Intercultural Adjustment. In Wong, P. T. P., & Wong, L. C. J. (eds.), Handbook of Multicultural Perspectives on Stress and Coping. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishing, in press.

Sachs, Jeffrey (2005). The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. New York: Penguin Group.

Please see more details at http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/endofpoverty/.

The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org
May 2005

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

******************************************************************
CONTENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS
1. Call for Applications: Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowships
2. Community of Democracies Meets in Santiago
3. Anwar Ibrahim Named Muslim Democrat of the Year
4. Panorama Center Holds First Ramallah Conference Assessing Palestinian Authority
5. Short-Term Grants for Scholars Working on Policy Projects on Eastern Europe

CIVIL SOCIETY STRENGTHENING
6. Deliberative Polling in Zeguo Township of China

ECONOMIC REFORM AND THE BUSINESS SECTOR
7. CIPE Feature Service Articles: "State-Building: Capturing Lessons Learned" and "State-Building in Afghanistan: A Civil Society Approach"

ELECTIONS
8. VOTE-INDIA Campaign for Political Reforms Launched in India, April 15, 2005

HUMAN RIGHTS
9. Reebok Human Rights Award Program Seeks Nominations
10. HURILAWS Newsletter Returns to Publication
11. Recommendations on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and the International Criminal Court
12. Amnesty's 12-Point Program for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment

INTERNET, MEDIA, AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
13. World Celebrates Press Freedom Day
14. New Global Media Network Launches Partnership to Expand Access to Information Worldwide
15. Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility Launches New Web Site

LABOR UNIONS AND WORKER RIGHTS
16. Chinese Labor Activist, Han Dongfang, Receives International Activist Award

POLITICAL AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION OF YOUTH
17. "Young Antifascists" Launch Campaign

POLITICAL PARTIES AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
18. National Front for Democracy in Bhutan Issues Statements on the Draft Constitution of Bhutan

TRANSPARENCY AND ANTI-CORRUPTION
19. Fourth Global Forum on Fighting Corruption, Brasilia, Brazil, June 7-10, 2005
20. Report: Anticorruption Efforts in Bulgaria
21. 21. Kenyan Rights Group Urges Fight against Corruption by Holding Ministers Accountable
22. Toolkit Launched in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Political Finance

WOMEN'S ISSUES
23. Azar Nafisi Speaks on "Women, Culture, Human Rights: the case of Iran"
24. Workshop on Women's Access to Justice Held in Nigeria
25. Pakistani Women's Group Conducts Study: Violence against Girls in the Educational System
26. Paper on the Development of the Feminist Movement in Tunisia: 1920s-2000s
27. Reflections on the International Women's Movement: 10 Years After Beijing, Washington, DC, May 10, 2005

28. WORLD MOVEMENT PARTICIPATING NETWORKS, ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS MENIONED IN THIS ISSUE

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ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

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

2. Community of Democracies Meets in Santiago
The Ministerial Meeting of the Community of Democracies was held on April 28-30, 2005, in Santiago, Chile. The participants in the Nongovernmental Process for the Community of Democracies issued a final document, which outlines the priorities for improving democracy at the national, regional, and global levels and makes concrete policy recommendations to the governments of the Community of Democracies. In an effort to ensure effective civil society participation in the Community of Democracies, a series of regional civil society meetings were held over the past year during which participants discussed the major democratic deficits in their regions and developed proposals for how governments should address them. The recommendations were presented to the governments at the ministerial meeting.
Go to: www.santiago2005.org/archivos_pdf/Ingl%E9s4.pdf

3. Anwar Ibrahim Named the Muslim Democrat of the Year
The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) named Anwar Ibrahim as its Muslim Democrat of the Year at its annual conference in Washington, DC. The conference, "Democracy and Development: Challenges for the Islamic World," was held on April 22-23, 2005. The Muslim Democrat of the Year award is given to one outstanding advocate for democracy in the Muslim world; particular attention is given to individuals who overcome hardships or challenges in his/her efforts to promote democracy. Former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim has been a democracy supporter since his days as a youth leader in Malaysia and South-East Asia. In September of 2004, he was released from prison after five years of being held under false accusations.
To learn more about CSID, go to: www.islam-democracy.org/.
To learn more about Anwar Ibrahim, go to: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3618586.stm.

4. Panorama Center Holds First Ramallah Conference Assessing Palestinian Authority
On March 14-17, 2005, the Panorama Center and the Palestinian Strategic and Policy Studies Center organized the First Ramallah Conference: "Ten Years of the Palestinian Authority: Evaluation, Assessment with Prospects for Future Vision." The main objective of the conference was to evaluate, assess, and judge the Palestinian Authority's achievements and accomplishments. The conference was opened with a speech by Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and included 42 presentations and lively discussions among the participants. It was attended by representatives of the government, media, nongovernmental organizations, and members of the general public.
To learn more about the conference, go to:
www.panoramacenter.org/conference_en.asp
To read the full conference report in English, go to: www.panoramacenter.org/first_ramallah/report_en.pdf

5. Short-Term Grants for Scholars Working on Policy Projects on Eastern Europe
The East European Studies (EES) program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, is currently accepting applications for its Short-Term Scholar Grant Competition. These one-month grants to scholars working on policy relevant projects on Eastern Europe are available for U.S. academic experts and practitioners, including advanced graduate students, engaged in specialized research requiring access to Washington, DC. The deadline for this grant is June 1, 2005.
Go to: www.wilsoncenter.org/ees.

CIVIL SOCIETY STRENGTHENING

6. Deliberative Polling in Zeguo Township of China
On April 9, 2005, 257 randomly selected citizens of the Zeguo Township in China gathered to take part it what is known as a Deliberative Poll. Deliberative Polling, developed by Professor James S. Fishkin of the University of Texas at Austin, is a technique that combines deliberation in small group discussions with scientific random sampling to provide public consultation on public policy and electoral issues. Prior to the deliberation, participants in the Zeguo polling were surveyed on their views on 30 infrastructure projects affecting the future of the town. This was followed by carefully balanced briefings on each project and small group discussions with trained moderators. Questions generated during the small group discussions were later brought to two large group sessions with a panel of 12 experts. At the end of the day, participants completed the same questionnaire as the one they completed before deliberation to demonstrate the degree to which their views changed as a result of discussions.
More about the deliberative poll at Zeguo Township: http://cdd.stanford.edu/polls/press/2005/timeasia.pdf and www.wmd.org/documents/may05-delibarative-poll0905.doc

ECONOMIC REFORM AND THE BUSINESS SECTOR

7. CIPE Feature Service Articles: "State-Building: Capturing Lessons Learned" and "State-Building in Afghanistan: A Civil Society Approach"
In April 2005, the Center for the International Private Enterprise (CIPE) published two online articles as part of its Economic Reform Feature Service. In "State-Building: Capturing Lessons Learned," Dr. Francis Fukuyama of Johns Hopkins University discusses the importance of having a strong, efficient state and talks about the development agenda in light of his recent book, STATE-BUILDING: GOVERNANCE AND WORLD ORDER IN 21ST CENTURY. The article also looks at current challenges in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other post-conflict and failed states. In the second article, "State-Building in Afghanistan: A Civil Society Approach," Dr. Omar Zakhilwal of the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development argues that Afghanistan's reconstruction process has thus far been handled behind closed doors without transparency in communicating subsequent policies to the Afghan public. To ensure the success of the reconstruction process, Zakhilwal contends there is nothing more important than the support of the people, and this support comes from opportunities to participate in the process.
Go to: www.cipe.org/publications/fs/index_date.htm

ELECTIONS

8. VOTEINDIA Campaign for Political Reforms Launched in Inida, April 15, 2005
On April 15, 2005, a new campaign, VOTEINDIA, was launched in Bangalore. VOTEINDEA is a non-partisan people's movement composed of concerned individuals and civil society organizations across the country working to raise awareness of the need for electoral reforms in India. The campaign's goals include making changes to the system of proportional representation, instituting direct election of the heads of government, and increasing transparency and democratic functioning of political parties. VOTEINDIA is currently being launched in 11 cities, with plans to expand across the entire country.
To learn more, go to: www.voteindia.org or email: info@voteindia.org

HUMAN RIGHTS

9. Reebok Human Rights Award Program Seeks Nominations
The Reebok Human Rights Award Program seeks nominations of young human rights activists. Members of the international human rights community and nongovernmental organizations are urged to nominate young men and women to honor for their courage and contributions to further human rights. The award, which seeks to shine a positive, international light on the awardees and to support their work in human rights, provides recipients with $50,000. Candidates must be 30 years of age or younger; they cannot advocate violence or belong to an organization that advocates violence, and they must be working on an issue that directly relates to the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All interested individuals are encouraged to make nominations no later than May 31, 2005.
Go to: www.reebok.com/static/global/initiatives/rights/text-only/awards/application2.html

10. HURILAWS Newsletter Returns to Publication
After a three-year lull caused by logistical constraints, Human Rights Law Center's (HURILAWS) Newsletter has returned to publication. HURILAWS, based in Nigeria, is an independent, non-profit service, dedicated to providing public interest and human rights law services to advance the legal protection of human rights. Its newsletter is now available in an online format and has a broader focus that is more reform specific. Since the current edition of HURILAWS' Newsletter is a pilot, HURILAWS welcomes any comments and suggestions.
To access the newsletter online, go to: http://www.hurilaws.org/

11. Recommendations on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and the International Criminal Court
On April 17, 2005, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Cambodia, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its two member organizations in Cambodia, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, issued recommendations concerning the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The recommendations were gathered from discussions on this subject that took place at an international conference in March 2005. The conference, "Articulation between the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and the ICC: the Place of the Victims," gathered Cambodian civil society representatives and international experts.
To read the recommendations, go to: www.licadho.org/news.php?id=24

12. Amnesty's 12-Point Program for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
In April 2005, Amnesty International issued the revised 12-Point Program
for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by Agents of the State. The program was originally issued in 1984.
Amnesty International calls on all governments to implement the following 12-points program and invites concerned individuals and organizations to ensure that they do so.
The 12 points include: (1) Condemn torture and other ill-treatment; (2) Ensure access to prisoners; (3) No secret detention; (4) Provide safeguards during detention and interrogation; (5) Prohibit torture and other ill-treatment in law; (6) Investigate; (7) Prosecute those responsible for torture or other ill-treatment; (8) No use of statements extracted under torture or other ill-treatment; (9) Provide effective training for all officials involved in the custody, interrogation or medical care of prisoners; (10) Provide reparation; (11) Ratify international treaties; and (12) Exercise international responsibility.
Go to: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGACT400012005?open&of=ENG-313

INTERNET, MEDIA, AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

13. World Celebrates Press Freedom Day
On May 3, 2005, organizations and citizens around the globe observed World Press Freedom Day. The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) chose "Impunity, Getting Away with Murder" as the theme for this year's World Freedom Day campaign to raise the public's awareness about the crimes committed against journalists and the fact that most of these crimes go unpunished. The WAN is offering a package of editorial and advertising materials, including interviews, essays, infographics, detailed cases of journalists killed and imprisoned, cartoons, photos, and advertisements. All of the materials are available for reprinting. The WAN encourages publications around the world to publish these materials. In addition, Internews prepared a Photo Essay in celebration of the day, and issued a statement honoring the journalists who have been persecuted or even killed for doing their job and saluting "the countless journalists around the globe who have not made the headlines themselves, who go to work every morning and simply report stories as professionally, accurately, and fairly as they can."
For free editorial and advertising materials from the WAN, go to: www.worldpressfreedomday.org/
To view Internews' World Press Freedom Day 2005 Photo Essay, go to:
http://www.internews.org/wpfd/2005/frame0001.htm

14. New Global Media Network Launches Partnership to Expand Access to Information Worldwide
On May 3,2005, 20 media development organizations from around the world came together to create an international partnership to foster the development of independent media globally. Announced on World Press Freedom Day, the new entity, the Global Forum for Media Development, also announced that its first international conference will be held at the Dead Sea in Jordan in October 2005.
Go to: www.internews.org/prs/gfmd/gfmd_20050503.htm

15. Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility Launches New Web Site
The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a Manila-based nonprofit organization promoting freedom of the press in the Philippines, recently launched a new Web site. The site serves as a comprehensive resource for freedom of press issues in the Philippines. CMFR is one of the recipients of this year's Templeton Freedom Prize for Excellence in Promoting Liberty, an award administered by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in the United States. CMFR won the second prize in the "ethics and values" category for its work in protecting and strengthening freedom of press in the Philippines while promoting journalistic integrity and excellence. CMFR is directed by World Movement Steering Committee member Melinda Quintos de Jesus.
To visit the CMFR Web site, go to: www.cmfr-phil.org/.
To read about the Templeton Prize, go to: www.atlasusa.org/reports/2005%20TFA%20Press%20Release.html.

LABOR UNIONS AND WORKER RIGHTS

16. Chinese Labor Activist, Han Dongfang, Receives International Activist Award
On May 5, 2005, Han Dongfang, director of the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin and broadcaster for Radio Free Asia (RFA), received the 2005 International Activist Award. The biennial award, which Han will share with the founders of the UK-based group Global Witness, is given by the Gleitsman Foundation, a non-profit organization that recognizes and encourages leadership in social activism worldwide. During his comments at the award ceremony, Han said: "China's economic reforms have achieved many things, but social and economic justice for ordinary Chinese working people is not yet one of them-in fact, the lack of worker representation is probably the main source of instability in China today." Han will donate his US $50,000 share of the award to the China Labour Bulletin Legal Defense Fund, which supports the organization's workers' rights litigation program in China. Han Dongfang is a member of the World Movement for Democracy Steering Committee.
Go to: www.china-labour.org.hk/iso/press_release_details.adp?press_release_id=21
To read or hear some of Han's RFA reports (in Mandarin), go to: www.rfa.org/mandarin/zhuanlan/laogongtongxun/

POLITICAL AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION OF YOUTH

17. "Young Antifascists" Launch Campaign
In April 2005, the Youth Human Rights Movement (YHRM), based in Russia, launched the "Young Antifascists" campaign to raise awareness about this subject among youth around the world, to promote the image of their cause, and to increase international youth networking against fascism. Everyone around the world is welcome to participate in the campaign through various actions, including: participating in street actions, spreading campaign materials and information, subscribing to the news-flash to receive campaign news, writing to the YHRM to express support for the campaign, and participating in the International Graphics Contest, "Unauthorized Persons are Welcome!" Submissions of stickers, posters, and web layouts for the contest are welcome and will be accepted until June 30, 2005.
For information on the campaign, go to: www.antifa.ynnet.org/index.htm
To learn about the Graphics Contest, go to: www.antifa.ynnet.org/contests.htm

POLITICAL PARTIES AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

18. The National Front for Democracy in Bhutan Issues Statements on the Draft Constitution of Bhutan
The National Front for Democracy in Bhutan (NFD-Bhutan) issued a press release on April 26, 2005, and a memorandum to the King of Bhutan on April 30, 2005, regarding the March 26 unveiling of the draft constitution of Bhutan. The statements emphasize that the "simultaneous unveiling of the draft constitution all over the kingdom is an achievement of the fifteen years long struggle of the people of Bhutan who aspire to true and vibrant democracy in Bhutan." The statements also reiterate the importance of ensuring that the Constitution does not exclude the rights, interests, and aspirations of the multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic Bhutanese society. The statements appeal to the King of Bhutan to create a politically conducive environment for instituting the constitution.
Go to: www.wmd/documents/may05NFD-pressrelease0526.doc
For more information, contact: bbparty@ntc.net.np

TRANSPARENCY AND ANTI-CORRUPTION

19. Fourth Global Forum on Fighting Corruption, Brasilia, Brazil, June 7-10, 2005
The Fourth Global Forum on Fighting Corruption, "From Words to Deeds," scheduled for June 7-10, 2005, in Brasilia, Brazil, will discuss practical and effective means of preventing and fighting corruption. Workshops and panels will explore issues such as international conventions, money laundering, public procurement, electronic government, corruption measurement, conflicts of interest, civil society, and corruption at the local level. The Global Forum is being organized by the Brazilian Office of the Controller General (CGU), an agency of the Presidency of the Republic, in cooperation with the International Committee, the United Nations Office against Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and "Transparência Brasil" (Brazil Transparency).
Go to: www.ivforumglobal.org.br/

20. Report: Anticorruption Reforms in Bulgaria
The Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), an interdisciplinary public policy institute in Sofia, Bulgaria, dedicated to the values of democracy and a market economy, recently published a report, "Anticorruption Reforms in Bulgaria." The report provides an overview of the anticorruption reforms in Bulgaria since 1997 and analyzes the sphere of their implementation. It also defines the challenges of conducting these reforms, which have ensued from the pending accession of Bulgaria to the European Union. The report also explores various levels and dynamics of corruption in Bulgarian society.
To access this report, as well as other CSD publications, go to: www.csd.bg/artShow.php?id=5100

21. Kenyan Rights Group Urges Fight against Corruption by Holding Ministers Accountable
In an effort to combat corruption in government, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) recently drafted its "Guidelines for Individual Ministerial Responsibility." The guidelines encourage public involvement in holding cabinet ministers accountable for their actions while in office. Maina Kiai, KNCHR chairman, says the organization is planning a series of public meetings to raise awareness on how to hold civil servants accountable and demand their resignations for wrongdoings.
Go to: www.ipsnews.net/africa/print.asp?idnews=28169

22. Toolkit Launched in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Political Finance
In February 2005, a group of political finance practitioners in Bosnia and Herzegovina introduced a new auditing and enforcement training program: Training in Detection and Enforcement (TIDE). This program was developed and put into practice by IFES' Center for Transitional and Post-Conflict Governance. It matches political finance practitioners with development experts to increase the level of auditing and detection of potential violations, which enhances the ability to investigate them and to ensure that appropriate sanctions are issued and problems resolved. TIDE can be used to identify weaknesses in the system, reform laws and regulations, enhance or reform enforcement bodies, and exchange best practices.
Go to: www.moneyandpolitics.net/tide_program.html

WOMEN'S ISSUES

23. Azar Nafisi Speaks on "Women, Culture, Human Rights: The Case of Iran"
Azar Nafisi, an Iranian scholar and a best-selling author of READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN, addressed the topic, "Women, Culture, Human Rights: The Case of Iran," at the second lecture of the New York Democracy Forum (NYDF) held at Hunter College, New York, on April 20, 2005. The New York Democracy Forum is a joint venture of the Foreign Policy Association (FPA) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which aims to bring to New York audiences key figures in the global democracy movement who are leading the way in the advancement of democratic values and institutions around the world.
Go to: www.ned.org/nydf/azarNafisi05.pdf

24. Workshop on Women's Access to Justice Held in Nigeria
An international workshop on Women's Access to Justice was held on April 10-13, 2005, at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria. The workshop was co-organized by the Centre for Law and Social Action (CLASA) and the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan (UI-LAW) for the Consortium for Development Partnerships (CDP). Scholars and activists from Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, the United States, and The Netherlands participated. The workshop served as a planning stage for a CDP project that aims to establish a law clinic at the University of Ibadan's law faculty to provide pro bono legal services to women and research on women's access to justice in south-western Nigeria.
For more information, email: nobiorah1@yahoo.com

25. Pakistani Women's Group Conducts Study: Violence against Girls in the Educational System
Anjuman Bra-e-Khawateen (ABK), a women's organization working in the rural areas of the Province of Punjab for the rights and empowerment of women in Pakistan, recently conducted a study, "Violence against Girls through the Educational System in Pakistan." The study was conducted in government and private schools and features interviews of students, parents, teachers and religious and political leaders.
To receive a copy of the study, email the ABK coordinator: abkjhang@yahoo.com.

26. Development of the Feminist Movement in Tunisia: 1920s-2000s
Khedija Arfaoui of the Association of Tunisian Women for Research and Development, presented a paper on the "Development of the Feminist Movement in Tunisia: 1920s-2000s" at the Sixth Mediterranean Social and Political Research (MSPR) Meeting, which took place on March 16 - 20, 2005, in Florence and Montecatini, Italy. The paper examines how a feminist movement could emerge in a society that secluded women in the domestic sphere, forcing them to hide their body and face by wearing a veil, and prohibiting any contact between unrelated males and females. The conference, organized by the Mediterranean Programme of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence (Italy), brought together 250 scholars from the Middle East & North Africa, Europe, and elsewhere.
For a copy of the paper, contact: khedija.arfaoui@positiftunisie.com
For full program of the conference, list of papers presented, and ways of accessing them, go to: www.iue.it/RSCAS/Research/Mediterranean/mspr2005/Index.shtml
For other publication and papers from previous years, go to: www.iue.it/RSCAS/Research/Mediterranean/Publications.shtml

27. Reflections on the International Women's Movement: 10 Years After Beijing, Washington, DC, May 10, 2005
Four leading international women's rights activists will present an intercultural dialogue on the status of women in a fast changing world at an event cosponsored by the Middle East Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center and Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP). The panelists-- Mahnaz Afkhami (Women's Learning Partnership), Joanna Kerr (Association for Women's Rights in Development), Jacqueline Pitanguy (Cidadania, Estudo, Pesquisa, Informação e Ação), Zenebeworke Tadesse (Association of African Women for Research and Development) -- will discuss the challenges presented by new technological, economic, cultural, and political realities, and the current status of women globally and the international women's movement in light of the tenth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The event will take place on May 10, 2005, at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Books will be available for signing. There will also be a live Web cast of the event.
Go to: www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.event_summary&event_id=117429

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

* Centre for Law and Social Action (CLASA) - nobiorah1@yahoo.com
* Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) - www.cmfr-phil.org/
* Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) - www.cipe.org
* Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) - www.csd.bg/
* Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) - www.islam-democracy.org/
* Han Dongfang, China Labour Bulletin - www.china-labour.org.hk
* Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS) - www.hurilaws.org/
* IFES - www.ifes.org/
* International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) -- www.fidh.org/
* National Endowment for Democracy - www.ned.org
* National Front for Democracy in Bhutan - bbparty@ntc.net.np
* Panorama Center - http://www.panoramacenter.org/index.asp
* Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP) -- www.learningpartnership.org/
* Youth Human Rights Movement (YHRM) -- http://yhrm.hrworld.ru/

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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

Peace Across Peoples
by
Francisco Gomes de Matos:

Visions of interdependence
Missions of cooperation
Acts of mutual dependence
Pleas for global integration

In a spirit of sharing
Acts of cordiality
nations together teaching
lessons of solidarity

Among all nations : PEACE
Across all cultures: PEACE
Among all persons: PEACE
Across all peoples: PEACE

AfricAvenir News, April 2005, sent to us by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

Einladung

„Ich klopfte an deiner Tür…“ – Literarischer Abend mit Prinz Kum’ a Ndumbe III. in Berlin und Lüneburg

Prinz Kum’ a Ndumbe III. liest aus seinem noch unveröffentlichten Buch „Ich klopfte an deiner Tür…“ und erlaubt uns einen Blick in die Welt eines kulturellen Grenzgängers. Lassen Sie Ihnen bekannte Ordnungen für eine Weile hinter sich und folgen Sie ihm auf eine Entdeckungsreise der Kulturen.

Traditioneller König in Kamerun, Politikwissenschaftler, Schriftsteller, in Europa und Afrika gleichermaßen zuhause - Prinz Kum' a Ndumbe III. Blick auf Deutschland ist wie seine Erfahrungen in Deutschland ungewöhnlich und vielschichtig, fordernd und versöhnlich. Mit 15 Jahren wird er zur Ausbildung nach München geschickt, besucht das Gymnasium, macht Abitur, hat eine deutsche Familie… Deutschland wird zu seiner zweiten Heimat – doch bleibt er immer ein Fremder, gebrandmarkt durch eine andere Hautfarbe, Angehöriger einer Welt, die für viele Deutsche längst aufgehört hat, sich zu entwickeln. Auch seine Habilitation an der Freien Universität Berlin ändert für ihn nichts. Ein Afrikaner als Lehrender?

Seine Briefe, Gedichte und Erzählungen berichten von Demütigung, Rassismus, Gewalt und Unverständnis, aber auch von Liebe, Freundschaft und Vertrauen und von kleinen und großen Kämpfen um Anerkennung in einer vom Westen allzu einseitig dominierten Welt.

„Ich klopfte an deiner Tür…“ weist auf die dringende Notwendigkeit eines gleichberechtigten interkulturellen Dialogs hin und zeigt, dass dieser dann möglich ist, wenn alle Beteiligten ein Stück von ihren gewohnten Ordnungen abrücken.

Am Donnerstag, den 12. Mai um 20.00 Uhr
Café Max & Moritz, Oranienstr. 162, 10969 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Veranstaltet von AfricAvenir International e.V. mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Eintritt: 5€ / 3€
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Am Freitag, den 13. Mai um 19.30 Uhr
Heinrich-Heine-Haus, Am Markt, 21335 Lüneburg
Unkostenbeitrag: 7,- €
In Zusammenarbeit mit der 1. Vorsitzenden des Ausländerbeirates der Stadt Lüneburg Jacqueline Wolf
Vorbestellung: 04137 / 485 (Helga Langer)

www.AfricAvenir.org
Wollen Sie Fördermitglied von AfricAvenir International e.V. werden? Besuchen Sie oder sprechen Sie mit Ann Kathrin Helfrich, Fon 030-80906789, a.helfrich@africavenir.org Redaktion dieses Newsletters: Eric Van Grasdorff, e.vangrasdorff@africavenir.org AfricAvenir International e.V. ist nicht für die Inhalte externer Webseiten verantwortlich. Diesen Newsletter haben Sie erhalten, weil Ihre E-Mailadresse in den Newsletter von AfricAvenir eingetragen wurde. Falls dies ohne Ihr Einverständnis erfolgt ist oder wenn Sie keine weiteren Newsletter erhalten möchten, klicken Sie bitte auf folgenden Link, um Ihre E-Mailadresse aus unserer Mailingliste auszutragen:
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New Book: Languages of Instruction for African Emancipation by Birgit Brock-Utne

Reference:

Brock-Utne, Birgit and Rodney Kofi Hopson (Eds.,) 2005: Languages of Instruction for African Emancipation: Focus on Postcolonial Contexts and Considerations. Cape Town: CASAS and Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota

AMARC commemorates World Press Freedom Day

Montréal, 3 May, 2005. The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), together with media and freedom of expression organisations worldwide today commemorates World Press Freedom Day. In doing so, AMARC is pleased to announce the establishment of an international media observatory to monitor community media development.

AMARC notes that, in the last three years, community media have gained recognition in the human rights systems of the Americas, Africa and Europe as having a unique contribution to make to the realisation of the right to freedom of expression.

Yet too many governments remain reluctant to open their airwaves to civil society voices. State monopolies of the media remain a persistent obstacle in a number of countries notably in the Middle East and Asia, while in other parts of the world, including Latin America, private media concentrations have also become a barrier to media pluralism.

AMARC calls on governments worldwide to open their airwaves to voices of civil society through the establishment of independent community media as a platform for democratic participation and the promotion of human rights and sustainable development.

AMARC welcomes progress on community radio that has been achieved in the last year in countries as diverse as Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, United Kingdom, Senegal, Indonesia and South Korea while calling on other, more reticent governments, to follow suit.

AMARC equally applauds the struggle of community broadcasters who have defended themselves in the face of threats to their right to the freedom of expression notably in Brazil, Ecuador, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D'Ivoire, Togo and Nepal.

AMARC urges countries which have not yet done so to adopt legal and regulatory standards that recognise community media as a distinct sector of broadcasting with fair and equitable access to radio spectrum and to the economic resources needed to sustain their operations.

AMARC announces today the establishment of an international on-line media observatory to monitor and report on the progress of governments worldwide in opening up their airwaves to community media and civil society access to broadcasting. To visit the observatory, please go to http://www.obsmedia.amarc.org (information available in English and Spanish). To see the information only in Spanish, please go to http://www.alc.amarc.org/legislaciones/

Words that Fill
Francisco Gomes de Matos
(Please see this poem and many others also at http://www.humiliationstudies.org/intervention/peacelinguistics.php)

The list of verbal abuses
Our big human frailty shows
By avoiding demeaning uses
Our communicative peace grows

Instead of verbally abusing
Cordially let's learn to speak
In place of insulting others
Let's try hard to be meek

NO! to language offensive
YES! to uses constructing
NO! to language derisive
YES! To uses humanizing

Let's not destructively communicate
For dignity we would demote
Let's constructively approximate
For dignity we would promote

If the vocabulary humans use
Are forms that communicatively kill
The education needed is to choose
Words that peace- with- harmony fill

PEACE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
News about Grassroots Peace Activities in the USA
Issue No. 3 / 2005

Welcome to Issue 3 of Peace Across the Atlantic, a newsletter about peace and human rights campaigns and organizations in the United States. In this issue, we begin by highlighting groups and campaigns that have been particularly active in recent weeks. Then we present a mosaic of organizations that work for peace within the religious community or from a faith-based perspective.

We encourage you to share this issue with people in your groups and communities. We are very pleased when we hear that the information in Peace Across the Atlantic has been passed on. Already we know that our reports have been carried in magazines in Germany and Croatia, are being shared with radio audiences in Turkey, and have been posted on a number of web sites. We would love to get more feedback from you. What do you find helpful in Peace Across the Atlantic? How have you used the material?
<><><><><><><><><><><>

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Recent Campaigns and Actions
Protesters Prove Their Innocence Thanks to Video Activists
Taking Action Against War Taxes on April 15
U.S. Activist Killed in Iraq – Her Work in with Iraqi Civilians Continues
Theme
Faith-Based Organizations Working for Peace and Human Rights
Multi-Faith
Jewish-Muslim Peace Walk
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
Buddhist
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Christian
The Catholic Worker Community
Every Church A Peace Church
Sojourners
Jewish
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice
Muslim
Muslim Peace Fellowship
Additional Web Links

If You Want To Do More
Who We Are

Please write to Dorie Wilsnack and Eric Bachman in order to obtain the entire Issue 3 of Peace Across the Atlantic:

Bridges of Encouragement
Dorie Wilsnack and Eric Bachman
Milchstr 83, D-32120 Hiddenhausen, Germany
Tel: ++ 49-5221-689708 Fax: ++ 49-5221-689741
Email: transnationalbridges (at) gmx.org

PEACE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
(Friedensbrücken über den Atlantik)
Nachrichten über Graswurzel Friedensaktivitäten in den USA
Ausgabe 3 / 2005

Wir begrüßen Sie zur 3. Ausgabe von Friedensbrücken über den Atlantik, Nachrichten über Friedens- und Menschenrechtsaktionen und -organisationen in den Vereinigten Staaten. Zu Beginn dieser Ausgabe heben wir die Gruppen und Bewegungen hervor, die in den letzten Wochen besonders aktiv waren. Anschließend zeigen wir Ihnen ein Mosaik von Organisationen, die durch religiöse Gemeinschaften, oder zumindest aus einer im Glauben begründeten Perspektive für den Frieden arbeiten.

Wir ermutigen Sie, diese Ausgabe in Ihrem Kreis weiterzugeben. Es freut uns zu hören, dass die Informationen von Friedensbrücken über den Atlantik weitergegeben werden. Wir wissen bereits, dass unsere Berichte in Zeitschriften in Deutschland und Kroatien nachgedruckt wurden, dass sie in der Türkei im Radio zu hören waren und dass man sie auf einer Anzahl von Internet-Seiten finden kann. Wir würden uns sehr über Ihre Kommentare freuen. Was finden sie nützlich in Friedensbrücken über den Atlantik? Wie haben Sie das Material benutzt?

Inhaltsverzeichnis
Thema dieser Ausgabe ist:
Friedens- und Menschenrechtsorganisationen
auf spiritueller Grundlage

Kampagnen und Aktionen aus jüngster Zeit
US Aktivistin im Irak getötet
Demonstranten beweisen ihre Unschuld dank der Arbeit von Video-Aktivisten
Aktionen gegen die Kriegssteuer am 15. April

Thema
Friedens- und Menschenrechtsorganisationen auf spirituelle Grundlage

Interreligiöse Organisationen
Jüdisch-Islamischer Friedenslauf
Vereinigte ökumenische Gemeinschaften für Gerechtigkeit und Frieden

Buddhistisch
Buddhistische Friedens Gemeinschaft

Christlich
Katholische Arbeiter Gemeinschaft
Jede Kirche eine Friedenskirche
Sojourners

Jüdisch
Juden für Gerechtigkeit in Rassen- und Wirtschaftsfragen

Muslimisch
Muslimische Friedensgesellschaft

Zusätzliche Web-Links
Wenn Sie mehr tun wollen
Wer wir sind

Bitte schreiben Sie an Dorie Wilsnack and Eric Bachman, um die gesamte 3. Ausgabe von Friedensbrücken über den Atlantik zugeschickt zu bekommen:

Dorie Wilsnack and Eric Bachman, Milchstr 83, D-32120 Hiddenhausen, Germany
Tel: ++ 49-5221-689708 Fax: ++ 49-5221-689741
Email: transnationalbridges (at) gmx.org

The WMD's Democracy Alert

From time to time, the World Movement for Democracy issues alerts concerning participants and other colleagues who are facing personal danger due to their work on behalf of democracy and for whom a vigorous response from around the world may be critical.

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May 4, 2005

Independent Belarusian Newspaper under Attack

On March 24, 2005, a number of uniformed and plainclothes police conducted an illegal search of the apartment rented by the Editor in Chief of the independent newspaper, Zgoda (Concord). The security forces refused to identify themselves, display a search warrant, or provide explanation for the search. Four computers and 17 collages of political cartoons were confiscated from the apartment. The prosecutor’s office is using the political cartoons, confiscated from a private residence, as grounds for a criminal case against the newspaper. The case is based on Article 368, part 1, of the Belarusian Criminal Code, “Defamation of the President of the Republic of Belarus.� The newspaper and its friends request your assistance in publicizing the information about this example of persecutions against the paper and free independent media in Belarus.
For more information on the case, read the statement below from Aleksei, Korol, Founder and Editor in Chief of Zgoda.

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

REPRESSIONS AGAINST ZGODA:
THE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF ANOTHER INEPENDENT NEWSPAPER IN BELARUS

In Belarus, "Europe's last dictatorship," the Lukashenka regime is attempting to close down another voice in the independent media. In Minsk, the Partizanski District prosecutor has begun a criminal case against the independent weekly newspaper Zgoda (Concord). The investigation was triggered by the confiscation of humorous posters that were displayed on the walls of an apartment rented by the paper's editor in chief, Aleksei Korol. The case is based on the infamous Article 368, Part 1, of the Belarusian Criminal Code, which covers "Defamation of the President of the Republic of Belarus."

On March 24, 2005, at 11 am, a detail of uniformed and plainclothes police conducted an illegal search of the apartment. The security services refused to identify themselves, display a search warrant or provide an explanation for their search. Four computers and 17 collages of political cartoons taken from the walls in the apartment were confiscated. The police videotaped the search, as well as the newspaper staff on the premises, barred them from making phone calls, blocked them from copying computer files, and failed to produce a legal protocol of their actions.

Mr. Korol, the paper's editor in chief, filed a motion to protest the illegality of the action and to request the return of the confiscated equipment. Despite obvious breeches of legal procedures, the Partizanski District prosecutor, V.G. Romanovski, responded by claiming that the police and special services involved in this "special operation" did not commit any violations. But what is most disturbing is that Mr. Romanovski believes that the mere fact that humorous political cartoons were found on the wall of someone's private apartment is considered grounds to launch a criminal case.

It is clear that a number of fundamental constitutional rights, as well as procedural norms under the Criminal Code that regulate the search and seizure of materials from residences, were blatantly violated in this case. Especially disturbing is the fact that the Prosecutor's Office which, under Belarusian law, is supposed to oversee the legality of police operations, in reality has closed its eyes to such illegal actions. It is increasingly obvious that Belarus' citizens have little hope of genuine legal recourse when their rights and interests are threatened.

The repression directed against Zgoda should be seen as only one example of a general policy of persecution that the Belarusian authorities are implementing to limit freedom of speech, eliminate independent media, and close down NGOs and political parties. This policy has been alarmingly escalated in recent months. But thanks to the professional solidarity of journalists and the assistance of civil society, Zgoda continues to publish.

Aleksei Korol
Founder and Editor in Chief of Zgoda
Minsk, Belarus
April 29, 2005

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The All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees, in conjunction with the
All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes Region, invites you to the following event:

Date and Time: 10 May 2005, 4 PM
Venue: Jubilee Room, House of Commons

Of the estimated 12m refugees in the world, more than 7m have been confined to camps, effectively 'warehoused', in some cases, for 10 years or more. Holding refugees in camps was anathema to the founders of the refugee protection regime. Today, with most refugees encamped in the less developed parts of the world, the humanitarian apparatus has been transformed into a custodial regime for innocent people. The right of these people to freedom of movement is only one of the many rights that are regularly violated, rights that they as human beings should enjoy. The new UN High Commissioner for Refugees will inherit a difficult situation which can only be improved with fresh thinking and new ideas.

The presentations will be based on the issues raises in the book 'Rights in Exile: Janus-Faced Humanitarianism' (authors: Guglielmo Verdirame and Barbara Harrell-Bond, Berghahnbooks 2005).

NB If you are planning to attend, RSVP Mark Pallis (pallism at parliament.uk)
On the day, you should enter via St Stephen's Entrance and inform the Security that you are here to attend a meeting in the Jubilee Room, Westminster Hall.

RIGHTS IN EXILE Janus-Faced Humanitarianism
by
Guglielmo Verdirame and Barbara Harrell-Bond with Zachary Lomo and Hannah Garry and a foreword by JUSTICE ALBIE SACHS

“Brace yourself. This is a painful book. Not only is the information in it extremely distressing, the main targets of its critique are the ‘good guys.’ The central argument is that the international and humanitarian organisations that are in charge of looking after refugees are responsible for extensive and avoidable violations of the rights of those dependent upon them.” (From the Foreword)

Of the estimated 12 million refugees in the world, more than 7 million have been confined to camps, effectively “warehoused,” in some cases, for 10 years or more. Holding refugees in camps was anathema to the founders of the refugee protection regime. Today, with most refugees encamped in the less developed parts of the world, the humanitarian apparatus has been transformed into a custodial regime for innocent people.

Based on rich ethnographic data, Rights in Exile exposes the gap between human rights norms and the mandates of international organizations on the one hand, and the reality on the ground on the other. It will be of wide interest to social scientists, and to human rights and international law scholars. Policy makers, donor governments and humanitarian organizations, especially those adopting a “rights-based” approach, will also find it an invaluable resource. But it is the refugees themselves who could benefit the most if these actors absorb its lessons and apply them.

GUGLIELMO VERDIRAME is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College. He is also the author of a forthcoming book on the accountability of the United Nations.

BARBARA HARRELL-BOND, Founding director of the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, has, after retirement, been Visiting Professor at Makerere University and at the American University in Cairo. In 1996, she received the Distinguished Service Award of the American Anthropological Association. She is the author of Imposing Aid (Oxford, 1986).

480 pages, bibliography, index / Volume 17, Forced Migration

Available in March (2005) ISBN 1-57181-526-0 hardback $75.00/£50.00 $60.00/£40.00 ISBN 1-84545-103-1 paperback $29.95/£19.95 $23.96/£15.96

ORDER
UK & Europe : Berghahn Books 3 Newtec Place, Oxford OX4 1REUnited Kingdom Please send orders to: US & rest of world: Berghahn Books 150 Broadway, Ste 812 New York, NY 10038

Eric Van Grasdorff sends us the latest AfricAvenir Newsletter:

Liebe Freunde,

neben der regelmäßig stattfindenden Filmvorführung im Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe veranstaltet AfricAvenir in Monat Mai einen literarischen Abend mit Prinz Kum' a Ndumbe III. und ein Dialogforum über das Thema "Bildung für alle in Afrika - In wessen Sprachen". Hinweise auf Veranstaltungen anderer Organisationen finden sich weiter unten auf der Seite.

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INHALT: AfricAvenir Events | Weitere Termine
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AFRICAVENIR EVENTS

„Ich klopfte an deiner Tür…“ – Literarischer Abend mit Prinz Kum’ a Ndumbe III.
Am 12. Mai lädt AfricAvenir um 20.00 Uhr zu einer außergewöhnlichen Lesung ins Café Max & Moritz, Oranienstr. 162 ein. Prinz Kum’ a Ndumbe III. liest aus seinem noch unveröffentlichten Buch „Ich klopfte an deiner Tür…“ und erlaubt uns einen Blick in die Welt eines kulturellen Grenzgängers. Als Spross einer einflussreichen Königsfamilie aus Kamerun ist seine persönliche Geschichte auf vielfältige Weise mit der deutschen kolonialen und postkolonialen Geschichte verbunden. In seinen Briefen, Gedichten und Erzählungen schildert er zum ersten Mal ausführlich sein Leben zwischen den Kontinenten und Kulturen, der Demütigung und dem Rassismus denen sich Afrikaner in Deutschland gegenüber sehen, aber auch von der Möglichkeit und der Dringlichkeit des interkulturellen Dialogs. Eintritt: 5€ / 3€ http://africavenir.com/news/2005/04/119/literarischer-abend

„Unsere Opfer zählen nicht“ – Die Dritte Welt im Zweiten Weltkrieg
Am 11. Mai wird Prof. Kum’ a Ndumbe III. zusammen mit Birgit Morgenrath das Buch „Unsere Opfer zählen nicht – Die Dritte Welt im Zweiten Weltkrieg“ im Rahmen des vierten Jour Fixe zu entwicklungspolitischen Fragestellungen in Düsseldorf vorstellen. Organisiert wird die Veranstaltung von der „Eine Welt Beauftragten der Landesregierung Nordrhein-Westfalen“. Prof. Kum’ a Ndumbe III. hat das Vorwort zu diesem außergewöhnlichen Werk geschrieben, das zum ersten Mal (in Deutschland) die Kriegseinsätze und Opfer der sog. “Dritten Welt” im Zweiten Weltkrieg umfassend darstellt. http://africavenir.com/news/2005/04/118/dritte-welt-im-zweiten-weltkrieg

Dialogforum: Bildung für alle in Afrika? In wessen Sprachen?
Am Dienstag, den 17. Mai lädt AfricAvenir in Kooperation mit dem Afrika-Referat der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung um 19.00 Uhr zu einem Vortrag über die Sprachpolitik an afrikanischen Schulen. Prof. Birgit Brock-Utne wird die Nutzung der ehemaligen Kolonialsprachen als Bildungssprachen kritisch hinterfragen und die Rolle der internationalen Gemeinschaft beleuchten. Ort: Galerie der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Rosenthaler Str. 40/41, 10178 Berlin-Mitte. http://africavenir.com/news/2005/04/117/dialogforum-bildung-fur-alle-in-afrika-in-wessen-sprachen

In unserer Filmreihe: „Tal der Ahnungslosen“ von Branwen Okpako
Am Sonntag, den 22. Mai lädt AfricAvenir in Kooperation mit der INISA und dem South African Club zu einer weiteren Filmvorführung mit anschließender Diskussion ins Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe ein. Gezeigt wird der Spielfilm „Tal der Ahnungslosen“ von der in Berlin lebenden nigerianischen Filmemacherin Branwen Okpako. Auf der Suche nach ihren Eltern und zugleich verstrickt in einen mysteriösen Fall wird die afrodeutsche Kommissarin Eva Meyer in ihrer Geburtstadt Dresden mit ihrer Vergangenheit konfrontiert. Eine Kriminalgeschichte, die geschickt ihre Fäden zwischen Schwarzer deutscher und DDR-Geschichte zieht und sie im Heute verbindet. Nach ihrem Dokumentarfilm "Dreckfresser", der 2000 unter anderem mit dem deutschen Nachwuchspreis 'First Steps' ausgezeichnet wurde, ist "Tal der Ahnungslosen" der erste lange Spielfilm von Branwen Okpako. http://africavenir.com/news/2005/04/11 6/tal-der-ahnungslosen

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WEITERE TERMINE

Black International Cinema
Vom 05. - 08. Mai 2005 findet das Black International Cinema Festival statt. Veranstaltet wird das jährlich stattfindende interdisziplinäre und interkulturelle Festival vom Fountainhead Tanz Theater. Gezeigt warden Filme aus der afrikanischen Diaspora und Filme mit interkulturellem Hintergrund und Perspektive. http://www.black-international-cinema.com/BIC05/XX.BIC2005/HTML/filmprogram/bic05_schedule/filmprogramm_05_index.htm

Filme von Jean-Marie Teno im Arsenal
Jean-Marie Teno gehört zu den wichtigsten Vertretern der jungen Generation afrikanischer Filmemacher. Zwischen dem 02. und 12. Mai zeigt das Arsenal, In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Zentrum für Literaturforschung (ZLF) und mit Unterstützung des Bureau du Cinéma, sechs zentrale Filme seines Oeuvres. Am 6. und 7. Mai ist Jean-Marie Teno anwesend. http://www.fdk-berlin.de/arsenal/arsenal_index.html

The Transitional Space of the African Intellectual Dramatist
Am 4. Mai 2005, 20.00 Uhr lädt das Zentrum für Literaturforschung zu einem Vortrag des renommierten nigerianischen Intellektuellen Femi Osofisan in Berlin ein. Femi Osofisan nähert sich in seinem Vortrag der immer wieder vorgebrachten Frage nach der Rolle des Intellektuellen in der Gesellschaft. http://www.zfl.gwz-berlin.de/

Initiative "Versöhnen und Erinnern - deutscher Kolonialismus"
Die Initiative "Versöhnen und Erinnern - deutscher Kolonialismus" setzt sich für eine eine institutionalisierte, nachhaltige und durchdachte Erinnerungs- und Versöhnungspolitik in Bezug auf die deutsche kolonialen Vergangenheit ein. Die Initiative bemüht sich derzeit, diesem Anliegen politisch Gehör zu verschaffen. Sie können die Initiative dabei unterstützen, indem Sie die Unterstützungserklärung unterschreiben. http://www.agecarh.de/Unterstuetzung.htm

Kinostart: „Invisible – Illegal in Europa“ im Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe
„Invisible“ erzählt die bewegenden Geschichten von fünf Flüchtlingen, die illegal in Europa leben, erzählt von ihren Hoffnungen, ihrer Suche nach Glück und Liebe und Heimat und davon, was ihnen dabei widerfährt. http://www.basisfilm.de/Invisible/Invisible.html

"Gebeine aus Afrika - museale Tatsache oder ethisches Problem?"
Die Gesellschaft für Afrikanische Philosophie (GAPh) veranstaltet am kommenden Freitag um 19 Uhr in der Werkstatt der Kulturen in Neukölln eine Podiumsdiskussion mit anschließender Publikumsbeteiligung zur Frage, ob Afrikanische Schädel, die während der Kolonialzeit gesammelt bzw. erbeutet wurden und noch heute in deutschen Depots lagern, rücküberführt werden sollen. http://www.gaph.org/demnaechst.html

Skokiaan – Südafrikanischer Jazz und Jive im Schlot
Originell und tanzbar! 1995 wurde Skokiaan in Liverpool gegründet. Neben regelmäßigen Auftritten in Großbritannien war die Band auf Tournee in Irland und spielte auf vielen Folk Festivals wie Glastonbury, Sidmouth und Towersey, den Jazzfestivals in Manchester, Marlborough und Southport, sowie beim Internationalen Festival in Edinburgh und bei der Waterford Spraoi. Am Donnerstag 5.5., 21:00 Uhr, Eintritt: € 8 / € 5. http://www.kunstfabrik-schlot.de/programm/i_skokiaan.html

"Kavango Traditional Dance Group" in Berlin
Am 8. und 10. Mai lädt Sie die Deutsch-Namibische Gesellschaft e. V. herzlich ein, das Tanz- und Gesangsprogramm der achtzehn Künstlerinnen und Künstler der "Kavango Traditional Dance Group" aus der Republik Namibia in Berlin zu besuchen. http://www.dngev.de/gesell/veranst/kavango.htm

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