Siriel-Media

Life in a Refugee Camp	plus
Life is never easy growing up in a refugee camp. It is a life of poverty, limited access to education, lack of access to sporting or recreational facilities and few opportunities. Hopelessness and despair abound. This is a reality that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have known as their childhood for the past 60 years. Of these refugees, 486 479 live scattered among 19 refugee camps across the West Bank with 45 392 living in Nablus' four main refugee camps. In addition, the Old (...) - October-November 2009
The Economic Crisis and Obama's Response- Part 2 of 2	plus
The Obama administration's bank bailout may work to save the major banking institutions. But there are two problems. One is that there is no reason why we should have, over the next several decades, all the big banks we now have. We don't need, and won't need, a banking system as large as we have had for the last couple of decades. The banking system grew enormously in relation to the economy after around 1994 as a result of two credit bubbles: information technology and housing. It will (...) - October-November 2009
Israel and India, Zionism and Hindutva	plus
It was after the Cold War that the Indian establishment's attitude to Palestine could not escape the impact of the overall lurch rightwards of the centre of gravity of the Indian polity. At home this has meant much greater accommodation towards? and acceptance of? Hindutva, which applauds Zionism. Neither the Indian government, the ?foreign policy establishment', the strategic elite, the mainstream media, nor that broader category loosely termed as the Indian middle class are seriously bothered (...) - October-November 2009
The US Arc of Instability	plus
The New Great Game is not only focused on the face-off between the United States and its strategic competitors Russia and China, with Pipeline-istan as a defining element. The Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine instead requires the control of the Pentagon-coined ?arc of instability? from the Horn of Africa to western China. The cover story is the former ?global war on terror,? now "overseas contingency operations" under the management of President Barack Obama's administration. What Washington (...) - October-November 2009
The Bhopal Disaster	plus
On the 3rd of December 1984, 40 tonnes of toxic gases escaped from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. The result was catastrophic. 3,000 people? men, women, and children? were dead within the hour; after 72 hours the death toll had tripled. Over 22,000 have died to date from gas-related afflictions, and permanent injuries run into the hundreds of thousands. The local ecosystem is likewise suffering; water and soil are laden with toxins that are hundreds of times more (...) - October-November 2009
Hunting for Gatherers	plus
For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. Aside from the prevailing? and ominous? meaning of this proverb, i.e. permitting one tiny undesirable circumstance ensures a steady and inevitable decline toward massive disaster, another thread to be grasped at from our faithful adage is interconnectivity. Sow the wind with a butterfly's wing (...) - October-November 2009
Goldstone	plus
?We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of the era of impunity,? Nadia Hijab, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Institute for Palestine Studies, was quoted by IPS in response to the findings of a 574-page report by a four-member United Nations Fact finding mission. The mission, led by internationally-renowned former South African supreme court justice and chief prosecutor in the international tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia, Justice Richard Goldstone (pictured), (...) - October-November 2009
Honduran Coup: The U.S. Connection	plus
While the Obama administration was careful to distance itself from the recent coup in Honduras ? condemning the expulsion of President Manuel Zelaya to Costa Rica, revoking Honduran officials' visas, and shutting off aid ? that doesn't mean influential Americans aren't involved, and that both sides of the aisle don't have some explaining to do. The story most U.S. readers are getting about the coup is that Zelaya ? an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ? was deposed because he tried to (...) - Publications
Another Day Will Come	plus
The AIJ's MR Wiseman recently summoned the ghosts of bards-past to wax poetic with Remi Kanazi, editor of Poets For Palestine (Al Jisser, 2008), a collection of old- and new-school poetry and artwork for, you guessed it, Palestine. The Proverbial: Poeta nascitur, non fit.? A poet is born, not made. It was always a part of my being. I wrote constantly as a kid, but never engaged in politically charged material. I grew up in a small town in Western Massachusetts. I spent one year of college (...) - June-July 2009
The Economic Crisis and Obama's Response	plus
It is a relief to have a new Administration, to be at the start of a new government rather than at the end of one, and to have a President with the talent of President Obama and with the public confidence that he presently enjoys. That said, there is a real question as to whether this opportunity will be used in a way that makes for an effective course of action in the time during which the window of opportunity will be open. There are serious questions about both the capability and the (...) - June-July 2009
On the Roma Again	plus
During an official visit to the Czech Republic in May, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned that the rising number of refugee claimants coming to Canada from that country presented a growing concern for his government. As Immigration Minister Jason Kenney had done a month previously, he hinted that if the Czech government did not investigate the commercial networks allegedly orchestrating and profiting from the flow of claimants, Canada would consider reinstating visa restrictions (...) - June-July 2009
Impressionist Journalism	plus
I impersonated a journalist at two events of citizen-driven activism and the following is my impression of the proceedings as the mucous of apathy and cirrostrati of lassitude that quotidianly cataract my mind's eye were obliterated by the hot breath of tumult that rides alongside the voice of the people. You get the idea: people caring about their communities? sadly all-too novel a concept. Two approaches, two different means with, for now at least, the same ends. The first event is a good (...) - June-July 2009
A History of Violence	plus
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were a fearsome force that controlled a third of Sri Lanka at their peak. They ran a de facto state with their own air force, navy, and infantry. In their final days, they collapsed like a pack of cards after holding out for twenty-six years. The Tamil Tigers may be finished, but the ethnic conflict that created them has yet to be resolved. The roots of Sri Lanka's problems go back to the British colonization of the island in 1796. Sri (...) - June-July 2009
The Rise of the (fallen) Machines	plus
Moore's Law, meet Murphy's. E-waste is an unknown phenomenon hardly making the headlines, but with the increasing volumes of e-waste generated and the poor means of disposal, it is a disaster waiting to happen. Kenya has had no choice but to increase its use of computers to be competitive. A national survey conducted by Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTAnet) in 2008 found that Kenya generates up to 3,000 tons of e-waste from PCs annually? and this figure is increasing. The enormous challenge (...) - June-July 2009
Protests and the Global City	plus
One-Way Traffic. Over the last months in Toronto and Montreal, we have experienced the global city as never before. The Tamil community, about 250,000 strong by some accounts, has been protesting almost continuously since early January to press the Canadian government to act to stop a slaughter of Tamil civilians in the last stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka. During a life of activism, I have never seen more sustained street actions than we have witnessed in Toronto over the last (...) - June-July 2009
Let My People Go	plus
SOS Esclaves (SOS Slaves), a Mauritanian NGO run by the son of slaves, received this year's Anti Slavery International Award. ?I, for my part, together with a number of my friends realized that slavery was unjust, and that we could not accept the traditional law of Mauritanian society?, says Boubacar Messaoud, the co-founder of SOS Esclaves at the London ceremony where he was given the 2009 Anti Slavery International award, ?Consequently, I consider myself a free and independent man and (...) - June-July 2009
Some Thoughts on Nepal	plus
Anand Swaroop Verma After the resignation of the Prime Minister, Mr Pushp Kamal Dahal ? Prachand? the political parties once again have created the situation which reminds of the days of the 12-point agreement which took place in November 2005. The 12 point understanding was reached at that time between the CPN-Maoists (which was underground and carrying out peoples' war) and seven parliamentary parties. This was a historic accord as based on this the programme which was framed that (...) - Publications
Remembering the Tiananmen Democrats (1989-2009)	plus
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the great movement of the Chinese students centered on Beijing's Tiananmen Square and the bloody suppression of this non-violent, democratic movement by the Chinese state power. Paresh Chattopadhyay Between the first-?May Fourth'- movement, 1919 till the last-?Democracy Movement' of 1989, there had been several popular movements in China with mass participation of and often leadership by the students- the most important being the 1976-?April (...) - Publications
Trade Agreement Kills Amazon Indians	plus
The recent clash between indigenous peoples and Peruvian national police sends a powerful message from the Amazon jungle straight to Washington: The enormous social, political, and environmental costs of the free-trade model are no longer acceptable. Using a combined offensive of helicopter and ground forces, the police attacked a peaceful demonstration of 2,000 Wampi and Aguaruna indigenous people near the town of Bagua. The protesters belong to the interethnic Association for the (...) - Publications
The Endless War Continues	plus
Since the election of Barak Obama, mainstream observers have commented the turmoil in the backrooms of the White House and the Pentagon. Apparently, the new President is trying to repair the damages done by the irresponsible and reckless moves of the Bush era and refocus the US around a new set of policies. It is going to be very tough. On a parallel track, many think that the long-term decline of the US is inevitable, partially because of its own internal fractures (economic crisis, (...) - Publications
Obama's Cairo Speech	plus
Barack Obama's speech in Cairo on the 4th of June 2009 definitely lived up to expectations ? provided we agree on what could have been expected. With regard to the form, Obama fully lived up to his role as the new black and human face of America in its relation with the rest of the world in general, and with the Muslim world in particular. He respected the specifications of his mission, seeking to repair the huge damage caused to America's image and "soft power" by the previous administration (...) - Publications
The Constantly Widening Gap between Words and Deeds	plus
Reuven Kaminer There are political circles and commentators who live from minute to minute. For them, every squeak from a world leader is a virtual earthquake, a real revolution. This is especially true now that we are dealing with a US president, who is handsome, articulate, and even eloquent. The present level of manipulated excitement stems from the non-revelation that Barak Obama is against settlements and for the two state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He also sees (...) - Publications
If You Think In Terms Of A Year, Plant A Seed	plus
Ohh, seed money. I only caught the first part. I have never understood why people make such a production about birthdays. On the face of it they are utterly meaningless, mere symbols; excuses to celebrate, intoxicate, evaluate, and? finally? become disenchanted and disillusioned with life for one all-too- short day of a year that, somehow, has always passed quicker than the last. All birthdays end the same way: with you waking-up the next morning writhing in pain while pleading (...) - Ides of May 2009
Kind of a BIG Deal	plus
Namibia, a vast country inhabited by two million people, is one of the smaller economies in Southern Africa. It adopted a market-based economic system after achieving independence from apartheid- era South Africa in 1990. Despite creating favourable investment conditions and its high levels of political stability, Namibia, with its ample mineral and marine resources, could not break the vicious cycle of mass unemployment, inequality, and poverty. In 2002, the Namibian government (...) - Ides of May 2009
The Little Engine That Couldn't	plus
Quick, send in the clowns. Don't bother, they're here. Railway Privatization in Senegal and Mali More than five years after the management of the railway connecting Dakar, the capital of Senegal, to Bamako, the capital of Mali, was yielded to the Transrail consortium, the network lies in ruins. And it is the population that is paying the price for a privatization that went off the rails. The infrastructure of the Dakar-Bamako railway is dilapidated, the accidents frequent. No (...) - Ides of May 2009
Balancing The Scales	plus
Rather than getting squeezed by conventional trade, thousands of artisans and farmers around the world will have enough money to provide their families with food, shelter, education, and health care. The Fair Trade movement is a worldwide phenomenon that holds at its core the belief that people come before profits. Fair Trade is a response to the global inequalities caused by the conventional trading system that has all too often resulted in the rich becoming richer whilst the (...) - Ides of May 2009
Not Another Brick in the Wall	plus
Class in session: Sakena Yacoobi drops some knowledge? and inspiration?on the IHSP. Sakena Yacoobi founded the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), in 1995 to ?help address the problem of poor access for women and children to education and health services, their subsequent inability to support their lives, and the impact of this lack of education and health on Afghan society.? This was the year the Taliban came to power and banned girls' education. Her goal was to ?empower poor (...) - Ides of May 2009
The 'O9 Canadian Government Herring	plus
Rust-Proofing Optional It is now abundantly clear that Canada and the world is facing its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. However, a sense of premature Hoover-type optimism seems to have settled in to Ottawa's thinking, breeding a dangerous complacency that the government has done all that is required to combat the recession. The federal government appears to be hiding behind the proposition that with strong banks and strong fundamentals, the Canadian economy (...) - Ides of May 2009
You Can Never Go Home Again	plus
The Crimean Tatars are a Turkic people who inhabited the Crimean peninsula? now a part of Ukraine? for over seven centuries. They established their own Khanate in the 1440s and remained an important power in Eastern Europe until 1783, when Crimea was annexed to Russia. During World War II, Stalin deported the entire Crimean Tatar population en masse to Central Asia, mainly Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. It was only after the Soviet Union collapsed that the doors of Crimea were reopened to these (...) - Ides of May 2009
:Peruvian Graffiti	plus
AIJ's MR Wiseman recently read the handwriting on the wall. It belonged to artist-at-large :Peru. For a free trip, go to www.peru143.com and explore all of his creations. Your most recent mural is of a ?Diversitree?; where are your roots? From where do you derive your energy? That was my most recent ?commercial? mural? I paint a wall almost every week. My roots are spread throughout the world; I grew up in Lima, but since then I've lived in Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Barcelona. (...) - Ides of May 2009