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New Year’s Convergence on Gaza (updated)
8 July, 2009 — peoplesgeographyCynthia McKinney and Mairead Maguire on the zionist pirates (updated)
3 July, 2009 — peoplesgeography
Former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney speaking to WBAIX from prison in the apartheid entity (thanks 99).McKinney and the rest of the Free Gaza 21, including Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, were kidnapped and detained after being illegally seized by the israeli occupation navy while in international waters. They were valiantly endeavouring to deliver humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials to Gaza, which continues to suffer under a choking blockade.
According to Green Party Watch,
About an hour ago an associate of Cynthia McKinney spoke with an official at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv who stated that Cynthia McKinney and the other 20 human rights activists can be released from prison if they sign a statement of guilt in violating Israel’s territorial waters, which of course they are refusing to sign.
Apparently Israeli law states that if the 21 do not sign the admission of guilt they must be held for 3 days before the Israeli Government can either choose to release them or continue to detain them.Medals of Dishonour
2 July, 2009 — peoplesgeography
The British Museum features a free exhibition entitled Medals of Dishonour, from 25 June – 27 September 2009 (thanks Dean). Hover over the coins for the artist’s name. From the BM website description:The first part of the exhibition focuses on the Museum’s collection of satirical and political medals from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Subjects range from the sombre and the bizarre to the scatological and the humorous, and the medals will be placed in context through the use of contemporary prints and drawings.
The second part of the exhibition features medals recently commissioned from leading contemporary artists … [with wide-ranging subjects from the war in Iraq to consumerism to the environment.
Salute: Brothers of the Fist
1 July, 2009 — peoplesgeography
The year was 1968, the occasion the Mexico City Olympics. In one of the most powerful moments in Olympic history, Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave the Black Power Salute alongside their silent (but active) supporter, Australian Silver Medalist Peter Norman.In a pre-medal awarding deliberation among the three, Tommie Smith (Gold) and John Carlos (Bronze) signaled their intent to make a statement of defiance and Peter indicated he would be supporting them. Smith and Carlos augment their political statement by appearing on the dais shoeless and, with Tommie and John, Peter Norman sports the badge of the Olympic Project for Human Rights.
For their trouble they were ejected from the stadium afterward, and lifetime bans for the two issued by the IOC. All three were ostracized in their respective countries in the uproar that followed.
Yet a powerful statement had been made in front of an international audience in a time of apartheid in South Africa and segregated teams, and international lifetime friendships forged.
SALUTE is a film by Matt Norman, the Olympic champion’s nephew. It tells the story of Peter Norman’s solidarity and an unforgettable moment in recent history.
God is back
30 June, 2009 — peoplesgeography
Nietzsche once famously proclaimed that God was dead; with the advent of modernity, humanity has been the most anthropocentric it has ever been. Historian, editor-in-chief of the Economist and co-author with Adrian Wooldridge of God Is Back: How the Global Rise of Faith Is Changing The World, John Micklethwait argues that modernity has been inaccurately equated with secularism, that religion more closely aligns with pluralism, which includes the propensity toward theotropism. Some interesting facts can be gleaned from Micklethwait regardless of whether one agrees with his views: China is set to become the most populous Christian country with 100 million Christians — and the most populous Muslim country for example, and five of the ten biggest mega-churches in the world are in Korea.Micklethwait talks about the resurgence of faith in the 21st century, of religious entrepreneuralism and the state of faith in the UK and US. He argues that much of the world outside western Europe is in many respects following the US example of faith resurgence.
The Heart of Jenin: 'Do you think the Israelis liked what I did? Some would have preferred it if I'd blown myself up'
27 June, 2009 — peoplesgeographydoneThe remarkable story of Ismail Khatib, a Palestinian father from the West Bank city of Jenin, continues. After his son Ahmed was shot by israeli soldiers in November 2005, the Khatib’s courageously donated their beloved 12 year-old’s organs to a number of recipients in israel, to both Arabs and Jews.
Kathy Kelly: Now We See You, Now We Don’t
25 June, 2009 — peoplesgeographyAnother important piece by Kathy Kelly; see also Visitors and Hosts in Pakistan and Down and Out in Shah Mansoor.
The camp in Swabi is spread over two locations in Shah Mansoor, providing shelter for 20,000 people (Jeroen Oerlemans/Netherlands Red Cross)
In early June, 2009, I was in the Shah Mansoor displaced persons camp in Pakistan, listening to one resident detail the carnage which had spurred his and his family’s flight there a mere 15 days earlier. Their city, Mingora, had come under massive aerial bombardment. He recalled harried efforts to bury corpses found on the roadside even as he and his neighbors tried to organize their families to flee the area.
“They were killing us in that way, there,” my friend said. Then, gesturing to the rows of tents stretching as far as the eye could see, he added, “Now, in this way, here.”
The people in the tent encampment suffered very harsh conditions. They were sleeping on the ground without mats, they lacked water for bathing, the tents were unbearably hot, and they had no idea whether their homes and shops in Mingora were still standing. But, the suffering they faced had only just begun.
British Iranians protest against the BBC's coverage of post election rallies
23 June, 2009 — peoplesgeography
Pro-Ahmadinejad supporters hold up anti-BBC slogans in Tehran (AFP)
The BBC in particular has been identified by a number of protesting Iranians both in the UK and Iran for misleading post-election coverage, with one such instance picked up by blogs and subsequently corrected. Iranian protesters as well as the foreign ministry have accused the BBC and Voice of America of fomenting unrest in Iran, with BBC correspondent Jon Leyne ordered out of Iran on Sunday, although the BBC office remains open.
“The heads of VOA and BBC Persian are officially the spiritual children of Netanyahu and Lieberman,” according to foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi, “and their aim is to weaken the national solidarity, threaten territorial integrity and disintegrate Iran.”
Meanwhile, while our sincere support is with the bona fide Iranian protesters and their genuine campaigns for positive change, western media coverage of the post-election protests has been playing to type. The media protocols we’ve come to know: If you’re a demonstrator against a US-backed regime (think Egypt, Israel, Georgia for example), expect little mainstream media coverage or sympathy. If you’re a demonstrator against a government which has spurned neoliberal designs or is deemed too independent, you’ve earned the corporate media tag of “pro-democracy” for a “reform” candidate.
Three inspiring women, a movement sails forth again
23 June, 2009 — peoplesgeography
Latest from Free Gaza:In three days, the Free Gaza movement sails 240 miles from Cyprus to Gaza, its eighth mission to break Israel’s draconian siege on 1.5 million Palestinians there. In the holds of the FREE GAZA and the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY will be tons of cement, and suitcases full of toys, crayons and coloring books for the children, all items banned by Israel’s government.
Press Conference in Doha, Qatar – 21st June 2009.
Two of the organizers, Huwaida Arraf and Greta Berlin, as well as the Honorable Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman from Georgia, held a press conference yesterday in Doha, Qatar. All three called on the world to recognize Palestinian human and civil rights that have been denied for 61 years.-
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