Reporting on Conflict | Media Watch BlogPeacemakers Trust posts news, reports or announcements of interest to people studying or working in the field of dispute resolution, conflict transformation and peacebuilding. Inclusion of an item on the media watch blog does not imply endorsement or agreement of Peacemakers Trust with views expressed by authors of posted items.
The only Brazilian speaker at the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) Congress in South Africa, Dom Marcelo Resende believes we ought to create circles of culture that teach people the necessary skills for peace. ‘We are not doomed to violence,’ he says.
(...more)Somalia’s transitional government is collapsing amidst a dire humanitarian and security crisis. The announced withdrawal of Ethiopia’s army means more uncertainty but also a chance for an inclusive political process, if Western and other powers fundamentally revise their approach to a solution. One way or another, Islamist forces are likely to dominate Somalia. It makes sense, therefore, to offer incentives of international recognition and extensive assistance in return for an agreement reflecting compromises by all major Somali actors, including the militants with guns, who must offer assurances about the Islamic state they envisage, al-Qaeda and the rights and well-being of all Somalis.
(...more)BANGKOK – THAILAND’S new prime minister on Tuesday outlined an ‘urgent’ policy to tackle five years of unrest in the Muslim deep south, including the creation of an administrative body for the region…
Mr Abhisit said his government would use not only security measures to tackle the problem but also address economic and cultural differences in the region.
(...more)Two USIP specialists recently traveled to Iraq to examine the effectiveness of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). Their primary findings were that PRTs play a critical role in facilitating the expenditure of Iraqi funds on Iraqi reconstruction and development. Moreover, the PRTs perform a range of secondary tasks that contribute greatly to the broader US civilian-military effort in Iraq. However, PRTs face a number of administrative and security-related challenges (despite improvement in certain areas) and are also engaged in a number of long-term development activities to which they are poorly suited. This USIPeaceBriefing describes the effort.
(...more)DIALA – A conference on reconciliation and coexistence will take place tomorrow in Diala with the participation of 600 chieftains and tribesmen. “The two-day conference, entitled ‘The Conference on Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen’, will discuss the possibility of coexistence among the province’s constituents,†an official source from Khanaqin district told Aswat al-Iraq.
(...more)BEIRUT— “I am not willing to become one of those holding the gun pointed indiscriminately at Palestinian civilians, and I do not believe that such actions could bring any change except ever more antagonism and violence in our region,” Tamar Katz said in her declaration of refusal to serve in the Israeli army.
Katz is part of a movement started by high school students called Shministim, which supports Israeli citizens who have been imprisoned for refusing to participate in the state’s mandatory military service.
On December 18, the group launched a global campaign of support for youth who are being sent to Israeli military prison for refusing to serve in the military after graduating from high school.
(...more)Massive forced civilian displacements, violence, and unmet medical needs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, and Pakistan, along with neglected medical emergencies in Myanmar and Zimbabwe, are some of the worst humanitarian and medical emergencies in the world, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reports in its annual list of the “Top Ten†humanitarian crises.
The report underscores major difficulties in bringing assistance to people affected by conflict. The lack of global attention to the growing prevalence of HIV-tuberculosis co-infection and the critical need for increased global efforts to prevent and treat childhood malnutrition—the underlying cause of death for up to five million children per year—are also included in the list.
(...more)“You’ll find the best falafels in Gaza, behind al Shifa hospital,†a knowing friend advised me.
She’d been right about the sunsets, which she said were the most beautiful, an intense, burning sun that slips quickly into the sea.
As for the falafels, my expert friend was spot on again. The stand behind Shifa serves passersby, local workers, people in transit at the taxi stand down the block, taxi drivers, and those in the know of the falafel hot-spot. And now, with gas shortages Strip-wide, the stand is haunted by those who cannot find falafels in their local stands –many restaurants economizing on cooking gas and leaving falafel off the menu –and those who cannot cook at home.
(...more)TUNIS – Social networking sites like Facebook have increasingly become a balance to the stunted news coverage of Tunisia’s official media according to sources in Tunis.
Recently that has meant Tunisians have turned to alternative online media for coverage of events like this year’s protests in the Gafsa mining region 350 km south of Tunis.
Since January, laborers have taken to the streets to protest the lack of job opportunities and the lack of government assistance with social and economic development policies in the region, this despite the fact that Gafsa supplies the country with most of its phosphate exports.
But there has been limited coverage of events there, leaving a vacuum for citizen reporting.
(...more)People in the US seeking ways to confront the economic crisis could follow the lead of South American social movements. From Argentina to Venezuela, many movements have won victories against the same systems of corporate greed and political corruption that produce economic strife across the hemisphere. These movements also have experience holding politicians’ feet to the flames once they are elected, a tactic that will be essential once Barack Obama takes office.
A recent connection between activist strategies in the north and south emerged earlier this month when over 200 laid-off workers from Chicago’s Republic Windows and Doors factory occupied their plant, demanding the severance and vacation pay owed to them.
(...more)The Truancy Prevention Through Mediation Program in Ohio, commonly known as truancy mediation, has grown in just over six years from 7 counties, 58 schools to 30 counties, over 460 schools in close to 120 school districts. It has grown at this rate because it works.
(...more)RAMALLAH – As conditions continue to deteriorate for Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a joint US-funded, Palestinian-produced version of Sesame Street, or Shara’a Simsim in Arabic, is poised to hit the market in early 2009….
Abdel-Hakim Abu-Jamous, Director of Media for the Palestinian Ministry of Education told MENASSAT that the trouble is dealing with the trauma and fear that has made living in the Palestinian Territories a nightmare for Palestinian children.
“We have to provide a sense of calm to show (Palestinian) children that there is hope,†Abu-Jamous said.
(...more)President Dwight Eisenhower once said, “The world cups its ear to hear the rattling of rockets. It listens less closely to the sounds of peace and well-being which emanate from the slow but steady improvement in world health and nutrition.”
These words ring true even today. When we listen to news reports from Iraq, seldom do we hear about the fight against hunger and malnutrition in the country.
(...more)BANGUI – A dialogue in Central African Republic that brought together the government and leaders of multiple bush rebellions has opened a window for peace in one of Africa’s most tangled — and forgotten — conflicts.
(...more)RAMALLAH – The western Ramallah town of Na’lin, known for its nonviolent resistance movement, is the frequent target of Israeli forces…
In seven months Israeli forces have arrested 61 residents of Na’lin, most of them minors. Eleven year old Moyeen Al Khawajah and 14 year old Abdel Rahman Al Khawaja are still imprisoned after more than two months for participation in the nonviolent resistance movement against occupation.
(...more)Frustrated by the slow start of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission struck this summer by an apologetic federal government to collect the personal narratives of Natives subjected to the abuses of the forced-assimilation Indian residential school program, the Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre struck its own commission before more deaths in its community further diminished the numbers of those with stories to tell.
(...more)LOS ANGELES – Trauma triggers violence. We know this based on research and applying this knowledge can contribute to the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
(...more)BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq – Iraqi journalists are divided concerning the shoe attack committed by one of their colleagues, Montadher al-Zaydi, who threw his shoes last Sunday at U.S. President George W. Bush, as some of them considered the incident unprofessional, while others thought it was a message to the Americans to depart Iraq.
(...more)In this guest post Jonathan Fields from the Career Renegade takes a look at three types of blog posts that will Engage your readers.
Three words…
Engage. Engage. Engage.
(...more)After the long silence by the international community to respond to the Eastern DRC crisis, it is time for the world to reexamine this crisis and take it seriously. Women have been raped; innocent civilian populations have been killed and displaced. Children have been abandoned and left desperate. As the U.N Security Council just released a strong report about the current DRC crisis, the world should regain its conscious, and listen to the cries of VICTIMS of the mass atrocity crimes in the Eastern DRC. The following are recommendations that both Rwanda and DRC governments should implement in order to restore peace in the Great Lakes Region, and rebuild their societies once again.
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