PERU: Stepping Up Protection for Native Groups in Voluntary Isolation

March 27, 2013 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

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Women and children from a Nanti community in initial contact with Western culture in the Peruvian region of Madre de Dios. Credit: INDEPA

Milagros Salazar

LIMA, Mar 26 (IPS) – In the dense Amazon rainforest of Peru, there are five reserves inhabited by indigenous groups who have chosen to remain totally or partially isolated from the rest of society. But these areas are not officially demarcated as indigenous lands, and only one is protected with a control post.The authorities responsible for them are now attempting to reinforce protection of these vulnerable populations, ignored for years by the state.

“A reserve is an instrument to protect the rights of these communities, who have found themselves obliged to live in isolation due to a series of violations they have suffered, particularly during the rubber boom. We owe them a historical debt,” Paulo Vilca, the general director of intercultural affairs and peoples’ rights at the Vice Ministry of Intercultural Affairs, told Tierramérica*.

Throughout the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the expansion of rubber tapping in the Amazon brought disease, death and virtual extermination to the rainforest’s indigenous peoples, who were forced into slave labour.

Groups living in “voluntary isolation” have chosen to avoid all contact with the rest of society in the countries where they live, for historical reasons such as the extermination described above. Other groups are categorised as living in “initial contact”: while they remain largely isolated, they engage in contact with the outside world for certain concrete reasons, such as health care.

After many years of waiting, a multi-sectoral commission in Peru recognised five reserves in August 2012. Three of them – Isconahua, Murunahua and Mashco-Piro – are in the eastern region of Ucayali. The Madre de Dios reserve is in the southeastern region of the same name, while the Kugapakori-Nahua-Nanti reserve is in the southern region of Cusco.

The latter is additionally home to the Matsiguenga and Yora peoples, but it also overlaps with the natural gas fields in Lot 88, an area under lease to the Camisea gas consortium.

All five are currently classified as “territorial reserves” but are slated to be designated as “indigenous reserves”, a category created in 2007 by Law 28.736 to provide greater protection for people living in isolation or initial contact.

In order for this reclassification to be official, the executive branch must issue a supreme decree. The Vice Ministry of Intercultural Affairs submitted the proposal in the first week of March, and it is now under study by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

The categorisation of these lands as indigenous reserves would mean the official demarcation of the territory needed to provide greater guarantees for these populations who face permanent ongoing threats, said Vilca.

Julio Ibáñez, an attorney with the Inter-Ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP), stressed the need for indigenous organisations to form part of the commission responsible for evaluating these requests, in order for the native peoples themselves to have a say in the decision.

“This would guarantee that the rights of indigenous peoples in isolation or initial contact are represented and protected by genuinely representative organisations,” Ibáñez told Tierramérica.

This commission is currently made up by representatives of the national government, regional governments and universities, but includes no indigenous delegates.

Vilca reported that his department is drafting a proposal for the inclusion of indigenous organisations in the commission.

Since becoming active again in mid-2012, the commission has had to deal with a number of pending issues, such as the evaluation of requests for the recognition of another five reserves, which date back 10 to 14 years.

Vilca is preparing a report on this matter, after receiving the files for these requests in December from the National Institute for the Development of Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian Peoples (INDEPA).

He acknowledged that the state has not paid sufficient attention to these populations, but is now trying to rectify that situation.

Of the five territorial reserves that have been recognised, only the Kugapakori-Nahua-Nanti reserve is protected with a control post.

The vice ministry has announced the signing of agreements with local governments and the National Natural Protected Areas Service to guarantee the protection of the other reserves.

In the meantime, a whole range of threats loom over them, from illegal logging to oil and gas operations.

Argentine-based Pluspetrol, which heads up the Camisea gas consortium, is seeking to expand its activities in Lot 88 into a section of the Kugapakori-Nahua-Nanti reserve – which encompasses three communities in initial contact: Santa Rosa de Serjali, Montetoni and Marankeato – and the buffer zone around Manu National Park.

In 2010, the government agency that promotes oil and gas industry investment accepted the request from Pluspetrol, which presented the terms of reference and a citizen participation plan to modify its environmental impact assessment in order to include the new activities.

In May 2012, technicians from INDEPA and Vilca’s department stated that gas exploration activities would pose a risk to the populations living in isolation.

As a result, the public participation mechanisms should only apply to the three communities in initial contact mentioned above.

Pluspetrol then asked Vilca’s agency if it should present a citizen participation plan to inform these three settlements of its activities.

The response, which came in late August, was that this would not be necessary unless the communities themselves demanded it, and that it should be carried out in coordination with the Vice Ministry, since it would be an ad hoc procedure.

The non-profit organisation Law, Environment and Natural Resources (DAR) questioned this response, since it opens up the possibility of information-sharing workshops in territories that are supposed to be protected.

Vilca replied that the mission of the Vice Ministry of Intercultural Affairs is not to promote investment, but rather “to enforce respect for the rights of the peoples.”

In addition, his team must still evaluate the modification of the environmental impact assessment for the expansion of activities in Lot 88, and in this case, its evaluation will be binding.

After Pluspetrol activities were reported in the Manu National Park buffer zone, the company stated that it would not continue with its plans in the area. But DAR and indigenous organisations believe that the matter is far from settled.

Tierramérica contacted Pluspetrol and the Department of Energy-Related Environmental Affairs for their input on the subject, but neither had responded by press time.

In the meantime, a million dollars in funding from the Inter-American Development Bank will be used this year to step up protection of indigenous reserves, reported Vilca.

* This story was originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2013.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Culture, Environment, Human Rights, Justice, Latin America, Lead, Politics Tagged With: ,

Indigenous Youth Speak up to Protect Their Roots

February 17, 2013 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

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Indigenous people around the world not only face loss of language and culture but are also often deprived of their basic human rights. Above, two indigenous women in Guatemala. Credit: Danilo Valladares/IPS

Marzieh Goudarzi

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 17 (IPS) – Indigenous youth from some of the world’s oldest living cultures are stepping forward to steer their communities past the threat of disappearance and into an age of coexistence with an increasingly globalised world.Approximately 370 million indigenous peoples live in communities around the world – some in urban settings, some on reservations and others straddling both worlds.

They face many of the urgent social problems that exist among other disenfranchised minorities – poverty, lack of education, high unemployment, high rates of crime and a general lack of access to public services and resources.

Other issues are unique to the indigenous experience, including forced separation from homelands, loss of native languages, and histories of injustice, social exclusion and violence that have led to their modern day marginalisation.

In the year 2000, the United Nations (U.N.) created the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), in which a committee of experts, nominated by governments and indigenous civil society, discuss critical issues and recommend actions to the U.N. system.

This year, the UNPFII is highlighting the role of indigenous youth as community leaders. It held a meeting in January where indigenous youth from seven regions of the world gathered to share their insights with members of the Forum and experts from related organisations.

Language, education and awareness

All seven youth representatives expressed grave concerns about the rapid disappearance of indigenous languages vital to cultural unity, and with good reason – UNESCO estimates that every two weeks, one language disappears from the world.

Education systems have historically played a large part in the disappearance of indigenous languages, sometimes even forcing their extinction by severely punishing and shaming children for speaking native tongues or expressing indigenous identity in any way.

In Andrea Landry’s Anishinaabe tribe of Canada, only one fluent speaker of the native language remains. She is about 80 years old and still has not overcome the shame that was instilled in her as a child for speaking her own language, making it difficult for her to pass her knowledge down to younger generations.

Landry, the youth representative for North America, and many of her fellow representatives agreed that ideally, the state would provide bilingual education in schools attended by indigenous youth, though they acknowledged that the sheer number of regional indigenous languages often makes this feat challenging.

Funding community-based language programs through civil society organisations would be a good alternative, they suggested.

The youth were also gravely concerned about society’s lack of awareness and misrepresentation of indigenous peoples’ histories, cultures and current circumstances. They called for education systems to teach history and social diversity more thoroughly and accurately.

Landry told IPS that in studying for her master’s degree in communications and social justice, she was astonished by the absence of material on indigenous issues. She has tried to fill these gaps with supplementary materials but argued, "I shouldn’t be the one teaching these things."

Steven Brown, youth representative from Australia’s Bundjalung and Yuin Nation tribes, raised concerns about the negative stereotypes that grow instead of a real understanding of indigenous peoples. Brown personally experienced the way indigenous youth internalise stereotypes such as being perpetually poor and undereducated.

That message that success is not inherently non-indigenous was articulated by all of the indigenous youth leaders, and achieving success, Brown said, "does not mean I forget where I’ve come from".

Rights to access

In some communities where a large portion of the population speaks only the native language, another issue arises: access to important information on topics such as health care, employment opportunities, legal rights and public services.

Representative Niwamanya Rodgers Matuna, of the Batwa hunter and gatherer tribe in Uganda, described one example for IPS: how a lack of information in his tribe’s native language about medications and their proper usage has led his tribe to not trust drugs from outside of their community, which seem to quickly become ineffective.

Improper use and poor quality of antibiotic medications allow bacterial diseases to develop resistance, a phenomenon that has become a major issue in poverty-stricken countries but could be easily curbed by improving drug recipients’ access to information.

Through forums like UNFPII, indigenous youth leaders and the international human rights community are insisting that when language barriers not only prevent citizens from accessing their essential rights but in fact perpetuate their marginalisation, actions must be taken in conjunction with governments to eliminate these barriers.

Asia’s youth representative, Meenakshi Munda of the Munda community in India, added that she does not want her people to become reliant on government or international support. Rather, she sought resources for her community to empower them to become self-sufficient.

Finding a balance

Indigenous peoples, especially youth, understand that learning languages and practises outside their communities is often a necessity for academic and professional collaboration with the wider world, and many have benefitted from knowing multiple languages and engaging with the people outside their communities.

They are confident, however, that this learning process can and should be an exchange between equals and should not require the subjugation of a people or the elimination of its culture or history.

The world has much to learn from indigenous ways of life, which, despite their great diversity, share some common central ideas that are absent in most modern cultures.

Perhaps most significantly, indigenous peoples have tremendous respect for the earth and a deep connection to the land on which they live.

"We’re in a relationship with the land; it’s a living thing," said Landry. "It’s not a matter of take, take, take. We give to the land and the land gives to us."

Moreover, indigenous values often maintain great respect for elders and all things that possess the wisdom of time. Some may struggle to understand the importance of protecting indigenous cultures as the ancestors of modern civilisation.

But as Matuna pointed out, quoting an African proverb, "A river which forgets its source, dries soon."

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2013.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


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Q&A: FGM Is About Culture, Not Religion

February 7, 2013 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

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Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Credit: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras

Kitty Stapp

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 07 (IPS) – The fight against female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C) continues to gain traction around the world.On Wednesday, the United Nations observed the annual Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM/C, an act that is shocking and inhumane to much of the world but remains a tradition among a significant minority.

This year’s observance is particularly momentous after the General Assembly’s December 2012 unanimous adoption of the resolution on "Intensifying Global Efforts for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilations", which U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin says "speaks volumes to the world’s commitment" and is "the greatest testimony to the work we do".

An estimated 140 million women and girls in the world – 120 million concentrated in 29 African and Middle Eastern countries – are living with FGM/C, which, in addition to being excruciatingly painful, can result in infection, cysts, infertility, childbirth complications, and the need for corrective surgery.

IPS correspondent Marzieh Goudarzi spoke with Dr. Osotimehin on UNFPA’s role in the global fight against FMG/C. Excerpts follow.

Q: According to data from the World Health Organisation, FGM/C-affected communities exist in northern, northeastern, and western Africa and in some Middle Eastern and Asian countries. FGM/C is also practiced in immigrant communities from these countries living in other parts of the world. Are there common elements among these communities that allow FGM/C to continue?

A: It is difficult to find a common thread, but I would like to suggest that it is more cultural than anything else. I do not think it is religion. What UNFPA has done with our partner, UNICEF, is to engage communities across those regions that you mentioned and persuade them that FGM/C has no medical benefits at all and that, for a fact, it causes damage to women and girls physically, psychologically, and emotionally.

Q: Can you discuss some specific mechanisms employed by UNFPA and UNICEF to bring about change?

A: On the ground, community dialogue, making sure we connect directly to the community, and making sure we educate them about the harmful effects of FGM/C, are all crucial. We do this with community leaders, religious leaders, and the women, especially the elderly women, as well as the practitioners themselves, who are engaged in this practice. For some, it has been like this for generations so you have to try and shift them away from that sort of harmful tradition.

We are also encouraging them to abandon FGM/C and we see great success in that area. In fact, a total of 1,775 communities across Africa publicly declared their commitment to end female genital mutilation and cutting. That was very gratifying. We have also worked in countries to put in place a legal system and laws to penalise the practice. Thirty-four African countries that have done this.

Q: To what extent does the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme for the Acceleration of the Abandonment of FGM/C work directly with local implementers on the ground in FGM/C-affected countries? Who are the key local implementers?

A: The truth of the matter is that we at UNFPA and UNICEF work in countries to provide assistance, support, and advocacy to governments and to civil society. So we see that "tripartite" as an essential to what we do. We don’t do it all by ourselves because of sustainability issues.

You have to build a whole army of stakeholders on the ground, particularly when you do community work, which will consist of local leaders and civil society, to be able to sustain the advocacy and to ensure that communities go forth from where they are now and are able to maintain that pattern.

Q: What is UNFPA/UNICEF’s strategy in approaching a sensitive issue like FGM/C, which communities see as rooted in cultural or religious tradition, and how do you engage communities and community leaders who hold these beliefs while actively working to abolish the practice of FGM/C?

A: We go into communities, first of all, to understand communities. UNFPA initiates community dialogue with interlocutors that have integrity within the community, with mutual respect from both sides, to understand why they do the things they do. We then explain to them that these are things we believe we have to let go because of their consequences, and demonstrate quite clearly to them why that is so.

It takes some time for them to change what has been a part of their culture for years and years. However, this can be done with persistent and continuous engagement, honesty of purpose, and the ability to generate "champions" on the ground who will impact their communities. This is the basis of our success on the ground.

Q: Recent data shows that since the establishment of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme in 2008, nearly 10,000 communities in 15 countries, representing about eight million people, have renounced FGM/C. UNICEF data from 2012 shows that younger women and girls have lower rates of FGM/C than their older counterparts. Looking ahead, what has worked for the countries that are making progress and how will UNFPA and UNICEF continue their work on this issue?

A: Going forth, we want to continue to ensure that we build capacity on the ground, and also ensure that we identify real "champions" who will work on the ground. Sustainability of (the programme) is in community ownership… and in making sure we have data which is reliable, that enables us to track the progress we make and give us a better on handle on what we see.

We have trained about 88,000 health providers and established 15 medical and paramedical schools just to make sure that this is not something which is going to regress.

If the present trend continues, there will still be as many as 30 million girls below the age of 15 that will still be at risk. We need to continue to give visibility to the issue to ensure that we can avoid the unfortunate extent of girls being cut.

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This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Culture, Diplomacy, Gender, Human Rights, Interview Tagged With: , ,

The Future of the Arab-Muslim World

February 4, 2013 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

Johan Galtung

LIVERPOOL, Feb 04 (IPS) – The Middle East-North Africa – MENA — is Arab-Muslim with a growing Jewish island in its midst. It was colonised for over four centuries by the Sunni Ottoman Turks and for the last half century by the secular West, England-Italy-France — and is now under Jewish colonialism and U.S. imperialism.

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Johan Galtung

The latter two have controlled MENA through dictatorships, condoning violence and corruption as long as they support U.S.-Israel policies in the area. The Arab awakening is against the violence in favour of democracy, against corruption in favour of growth and jobs, and against U.S.-Israel domination. There is also a Muslim awakening — to believe that Islam tolerates imposed secularism is incredibly naive. But there are many Islams, like there are multiple Christianities and Judaisms.

How does the U.S.-Israel react, and what would be a positive reaction to their reaction — keeping in mind that this is old colonial territory?

U.S. policy is, by and large, state building – with U.S. as model, with multi-party national elections and “free” markets controlled by multinationals in general, private banks and finance banking in particular, also controlling elections. On maps states have one colour, so states are seen as unitary, with one market for the economy, one state for multi-party elections, and one political focus: the capital. Multicoloured maps showing the nations and fault-lines inside might be enlightening.

That reality is used to fragment states that stand in the way: the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were divided into 15 and seven states, some now members of NATO or the European Union.

States seen as Islamist-terrorist are in for the same: Sudan-Somalia broken into two and three parts. They are both on the list of seven countries the White House ordered the Pentagon to “take out” right after 9/11 (general Wesley Clark, Democracy Now, Mar. 2, 2007): Iraq, Iran, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, Somalia; seen as hostile, with state, not private central banks, blocking market globalisation.

For Israel what matters most are the neighbours. From the early beginning this is the usual story of violence and counter-violence read two ways. The Israeli reading is violence against a Jewish homeland becoming a state, legitimised by the Shoa in general; and counter-violence to defend that emerging state. The Arab reading is an Israel established by violence, the Nakba, and counter-violence to contain the expansion of that state. A typical example of two truths that do not add up to one Truth. The result is an endless, fruitless, angry exchange of accusations about who started what, where, and when. A Truth would go beyond fruitless quarrels, identifying a stop. An end to escalation, acceptable to both: like Jun. 4, 1967, with swaps.

However, that symmetry breaks down when Israel still expands – invades-occupies-lays siege – on ever more Arab-Palestinian territory. And even more so when visions of a Greater Israel take shape:

Scenario 1: from the Mediterranean to Jordan;

Scenario 2: from the Nile to the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18), where nine countries are located. Both scenarios are for Jews only, Jewish states.

In search of recognised and secure borders? Only by forcing Arab-Muslim states into submission, dissolving them into mini-states, using internal fault-lines. The list would certainly include Pakistan, a doubly artificial construct, and a nuclear power. Israel’s Mossad and the Indian army’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) cooperate against Pakistan.

Assuming that Lebanon and Iraq – like Palestine – are fragmented, that Jordan is kept for a possible Scenario 1 Palestinian state, that Libya is steeped in internal

provincial-clan-racial-religious fights, what remains of the seven countries are Syria and Iran. Israeli press mentions a partition of Syria into four states: Shia Alawite, Sunni, Druze and Kurdish (in the Northeast). Egypt, Tunisia are resilient.

The approach to Iran — no colonial construct, fault-lines (Kurds, Azeris, Arabs in Khuzistan) but less vulnerable – is bombing, based on U.S.-Israeli division of labour, the shared accusation that Iran is close to their status as nuclear powers, and the shared, fabricated lie that president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech in Tehran on Oct. 25, 2005: “Israel must be wiped off the map”. He never said that, but quoted imam Ruhollah Khomeini: “The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time”. And mentioned three examples of such regimes: the Shah of Iran, the Soviet Union and Saddam Hussein. History tells us that regimes come and go; countries, even states, remain.

The U.S. strategy in the region, to use existing states and bend them to their economic purposes – like imposing private central banks in all seven — is doomed to fail because of inner fault-lines. The Israeli strategy is more intelligent, using fault-lines to fragment states.

In all these cases how much fragmentation is by U.S.-Israeli design and how much by inner tensions will sooner or later be better known.

What would be the Arab-Muslim counter-strategy?

(1) Federations. Fault-lines are real and most people want to be governed by their own kind in autonomous sub-states with common foreign-security-finance-logistics policies. Forty percent of humanity lives in 25 federations, and there is much to learn from Mother Switzerland.

(2) Confederations-communities. Tie them together in strong solidarity communities resisting divide and rule policies.

Do both, and the Arab-Muslim world is more resilient than today.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2013.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


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Q&A: The Undying Legacy of Dambudzo Marechera

August 29, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

Moses Magadza

WINDHOEK, Aug 29 (IPS) – Legendary and controversial Zimbabwean writer Dambudzo Marechera, who once famously told people to let him write and drink his beer, has been dead for 25 years. However, interest in the life and work of the author, who has become a cult icon to aspiring young writers in Zimbabwe and abroad, will not die.His work continues to inspire authors and readers alike.

Emmanuel Sigauke, a Zimbabwean poet and English teacher at Cosumnes River College in the United States, is a student of Marechera’s work. He tells IPS that many people are drawn to the famous author because of the way he exercised his art, the risks he took, and his total commitment to writing.

Indeed, critics hail Marechera as a genius. His most famous book, House of Hunger, won the prestigious Guardian First Book Award in 1979, making Marechera the first and only African to win the award.

After being expelled in the early 1970s from the University of Rhodesia, now known as the University of Zimbabwe, Marechera was admitted to the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. But he was expelled from there too for unruly behaviour.

He died in Zimbabwe at the age of 35 after spending most of the last five years of his life living in the streets, writing furiously but publishing just one more book, Mindblasts.

Now a book on his life, soon to be released in Zimbabwe, provides new and interesting insights into Marechera’s personal and professional relationships.

Dr. Dobrota Pucherova and Julie Cairnie co-edited the book titled “Moving Spirit: The Legacy of Dambudzo Marechera in the 21st Century”. The book, published in Germany in May, is a compilation of essays by various writers that focus on how Marechera continues to inspire others.

“I believe it provides many new insights into Marechera’s relationships with his contemporaries, with other authors, and with his fans and inspirees. For example, Carolyn Hart’s essay explores Marechera’s relationship with African-American postmodern writers, while Katja Kellerer’s piece examines the intertextualities between House of Hunger and Ignatius Mabasa’s Mapenzi,” Pucherova says.

She holds a PhD on southern African writing and studied Marechera’s writing as part of her thesis. She also lectures on his work.

Excerpts of the interview follow.

Q: What drew you to the Marechera phenomenon?

A: Marechera’s writing expresses very well the desire for mental freedom that concerned me when studying southern African authors. He believed that overcoming oppositional identity discourses and freeing the imagination to create space for individual reinvention could achieve true liberation from oppression.

At the same time, Marechera’s vision of the political as sexual and the sexual as political provided new insights into power relationships in colonial and post-colonial conditions. Last, but not least, his flair for language and his infectious humour make his books very pleasurable to read.

Q: What inspired this book?

A: When I was writing my thesis chapter on Marechera, alongside I wrote a play based mainly on (his novel) Black Sunlight. To me, this novel is immensely comical and at the same time sophisticated. I felt that it has been misunderstood due to Marechera’s unwillingness to edit his work, as (leading academic publisher on Africa) James Currey has documented.

In adapting the novel for the stage, I wanted to bring forth its audacity and deeply sophisticated comedy. And so, when I decided to produce the play at Oxford, I felt: ‘Why not organise an entire festival on Marechera?’

The festival, which took place from May 15 to 17, 2009, was an international multi-media event that included film, theatre, fiction, poetry, painting, photography, memoirs and scholarly essays – all inspired by Marechera’s work and life.

The book is the proceedings of the festival, with a few additional pieces. Julie Cairnie, who has co-edited the book with me, was a participant at the Oxford Celebration.

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This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Book Review, Culture Tagged With: , ,

There’s Bride at the End of the Tunnel

August 27, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

Sanjay Suri

Aug 27 (IPS) – Mai Ahmed, a 26–year-old from the West Bank fell in love over the Internet with Mohammed Warda from Nussirat refugee camp in Gaza after they ‘met’ on the Internet. The Israeli government refused permission for her to travel to Gaza. Mai travelled to Jordan, flew from there to Egypt, drove across the Sinai, and then crossed through a tunnel into Gaza, where she now lives. “It’s a story I will tell my grandchildren,” she says.Brides and bridegrooms are now being smuggled through the Gaza tunnels, to add to the usual fare of medicine, food, bread, refreshments, car parts, cement, and fish and sheep.

Abu Saleem, a 29-year-old digger at the Gaza tunnels under the border with Egypt says he is seeing an increasing number of brides coming in from Egypt, and grooms being smuggled through the other way. Only last week he received a phone call from his boss asking him to assist a young Egyptian bride on way to her groom in Gaza.

It’s cheaper to find a bride in Egypt than in Gaza.

Adel Al-Ahmed, 37, is happy with his Egyptian wife Shymaa after he found he could not afford the dowry for a Gaza girl. “It is relatively cheaper dowry in some areas in Egypt, and there is more acceptance by some young Egyptian women to live in simple and modest conditions,” he says.

Difficulties obtaining travel permits and visas have made the tunnels a lifeline to cross to and from Egypt. A recent side effect is the increasing number of Gaza youths who leave the 140 square kilometre Gaza strip to search for brides.

Tunnel owners in Rafah would earlier transport women and children like cargo in re-fashioned barrels. Now, people crawl or walk, depending on the structure of the tunnel.

The tunnels are considered illegal in Egypt, but are a vital part in the life and commerce on both the Gazan and the Egyptian side. Palestinians consider the tunnels a legitimate trade and passenger route under the Israeli siege.

The Israeli government says the tunnels facilitate illegal smuggling, and routinely sends F-16 fighter jets to destroy them.

That makes marital unions a risky business. Brides and grooms using tunnel access also require a permit from the de facto government in Gaza, or the tunnel owner can be fined 1,500 dollars.

Adel married a Palestinian girl, but divorce followed due to “family demands”. He has since remarried after finding a new bride through his sister, who married an Egyptian in El-Arish.

“I went to a wedding in Egypt, and was introduced to a wonderful young woman who I later married.” Adel took the tunnel route. Once married the young couple had to crawl to Gaza on their hands and knees for about 200 metres in a tunnel to cross the border.

With the money he saved in paying an Egyptian rather than a Palestinian dowry, Adel could furnish an apartment in Rafah. “I would advise Gaza youth to get married to Egyptian women,” he says.

Adel paid 30,000 Egyptian pounds (about 5,000 dollars) in dowry, but the conditions of marriage are “way easier and less demanding.”

Many have ventured as Adel did. Ahmed, who gave only his first name, crossed into Egypt though a tunnel and met a young Egyptian woman while visiting relatives. A few weeks later he returned and asked his family to propose to her. “Tunnels have made it easier for me to get married outside of Gaza,” he tells IPS.

Ahmed had proposed earlier to young Palestinian women in Gaza, but he was asked for a separate apartment as a condition to marriage. “This demand never happens when I, or my friends, ask for the hand of an Egyptian girl.”

Hadeel, a young Palestinian woman from Rafah in her mid-twenties became friends with an Egyptian girl during an official NGO visit. A few months later Hadeel’s friend informed her that her brother and family would like to visit Gaza through the tunnel.

They came over and Hadeel met her friend’s brother. Several tunnel visits later, he proposed. They are due to get married in October. Hadeel will move to Egypt.

For many Gazans, there is both love, and light, at the end of these tunnels.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Culture, Human Rights, Middle East, Politics, Report Tagged With: , , , , ,

Brazilian Favela Becomes a Living Museum

April 20, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Fabiana Frayssinet

RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 20, 2012 (IPS) – The history, daily life and folk artistry as well as spectacular views of this southeastern Brazilian city are all part of a living museum created by community leaders in a favela that is displaying its cultural heritage as well as its wounds.

"At one time, before there was electricity in the favela (shantytown), the local people would come out on the street at night to talk to each other by moonlight," Rita de Cassia Santos Pinto told IPS, seated in front of a mural that is part of a series painted on the walls of local houses.

As a journalist, Santos Pinto says she doesn’t normally like to be interviewed. But when the topic is the history of her community, she is enthusiastic and her words flow freely. As we tour every corner of the Morro do Cantagalo favela’s crowded dwellings clinging to valleys and hillsides, the walls and houses also start to speak.

One mural depicts the history of samba, the musical genre that originated in the favelas; another shows episodes from the 1964-1985 military dictatorship against the backdrop of bare brick, tin-roofed dwellings.

The series of more than 20 murals by graffiti artists from Cantagalo and other parts of Rio de Janeiro tells the story of the community in colourful pictures.

The houses-cum-canvases are on the circuit of a fee-paying tour of the favela which includes, depending on the interests of the tourists, kite-making and -flying workshops, lessons on playing the "cavaquinho" (an instrument similar to the ukulele and the key to producing rhythm and harmony in Brazilian samba and choro music), visits to stores selling arts and crafts, and local eateries.

"We want to break down the barriers of national museums that only exhibit the works of famous artists," said Santos Pinto, who as well as being a reporter is a tour guide, social facilitator, "curator of memories", and one of the community leaders who founded the Museu de Favela (MUF – Favela Museum).

The first ever all-encompassing favela museum seeks to depict and value the identity of Cantagalo’s 20,000 people on the basis of their own accounts of their lives, and to integrate them into the society that has kept them at arm’s length for so long.

From the impoverished Northeast to the favela

One of the posters on display at the MUF – part of an itinerant collection which is also touring traditional museums in Brazil – tells the story of Santos Pinto’s parents, who are now in their eighties, in their own words.

Her father, Feliciano da Silva Pinto, a migrant from the northeastern state of Bahia who worked in the city of Rio de Janeiro as an electrician, fell in love with Eunice Santos whom he used to see coming down from the "morro" (hill) every day to fetch water and carry it home in a jerry can on her head.

"To win her heart, he started giving her water himself," to shorten her journey, Santos Pinto said, breaking into laughter.

This is one of many stories about the migrants from poor areas of the country who built the humble dwellings in Cantagalo, now numbering 5,300, that are connected by what seems to the outsider to be an endless and unfathomable maze of alleys and steep stairways.

An elevator, recently constructed under the Growth Acceleration Programme (PAC) launched by the left-wing government of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011), now eases the climb and saves favela residents and visitors over 60 metres of climbing, up hundreds of steps.

"Everybody’s memories are worth recording," said the journalist, who takes down people’s oral histories to try to reconstruct the earliest history of the favela and "give a voice to those who have never had one."

The history of Cantagalo and two adjacent favelas, Pavão and Pavãozinho, which have merged into one complex, is bound up with the origins of Brazil’s major cities, and includes fugitive slaves hiding in the Cantagalo hills, as well as the flimsy shacks built in the first decade of the 20th century by migrants from poor regions seeking work in Rio.

The trio of favelas grew up as an enclave between Ipanema and Copacabana, upmarket residential districts of Rio that are a tourist magnet for visitors, where the grand houses and skyscrapers have often been built by poor and illiterate migrants like the parents of MUF cultural director Marcia de Souza.

Souza described another of the museum’s initiatives: every year 12 "warrior women" are elected from the favela, women who "overcame difficulties in their lives, like violence and educating their kids, and who, even if one of their children was in prison for drug trafficking, managed to save the rest of their family and keep them away from violence and drugs," she told IPS.

The symbolic prize for these women is the celebration of their lives, which are reconstructed on the walls through photographs, personal objects and stories.

Peace time

The Cantagalo-Pavão-Pavãozinho group of favelas used to be one of the most violent areas in the south of Rio de Janeiro, with daily shootouts between drug trafficking gangs, until three years ago when police pacification units (UPP) were introduced as part of a campaign to increase security, improve infrastructure and implement social programmes.

MUF was founded as an independent community NGO in 2008, before the arrival of the UPPs, and according to its founding members its early days were an uphill struggle.

Now their complaint is the lack of public funding for their initiative, and they are seeking individuals and organisations or agencies willing to invest in what they describe as their vision of the future.

The museum’s supporters see its future as a collection of open-air galleries, "whose stakeholders will be the residents themselves, who contribute the walls of their homes, their knowledge and their activities."

The idea is to transform Cantagalo-Pavão-Pavãozinho into a significant tourist attraction in Rio, a must-visit "monument" to the history of the favelas, the cultural roots of samba, the culture of Afro-Brazilians and of migrants from the Northeast, and the visual and performance arts.

In that spirit, architects and architecture students from other Brazilian states, and from Argentina and France, are participating in the activities of the living museum.

The group of architects is planning interventions to improve areas of the favela. The solutions need to be creative and inexpensive, such as the installation of a giant screen for projecting movies for the community to be located on the MUF rooftop, which also houses a large water tank.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Culture, Education, Latin America, Report Tagged With: , ,

CHINA: Dragon Drags the World In

January 21, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Antoaneta Becker

LONDON, Jan 20, 2012 (IPS) – Chinese fengshui masters have been busy advising edgy followers how to optimise their luck in the auspicious but volatile Year of the Dragon, which according to the lunar calendar begins on Jan.23. In the West though, Chinese superstitions about the precarious nature of Dragon years don’t hold court, and 2012 will arguably mark the largest by far Chinese New Year celebrations in many world capitals and major cities.

Lavish celebrations in London, Liverpool, Hawaii and Vancouver follow long and well established traditions set by large Chinese communities. In recent years though, in a slight nod to China’s rise and its omnipresent clout, the festivities marking the beginning of Chinese New Year are spreading beyond local Chinese communities and becoming hip events to draw diverse crowds.

"Celebrations in London have certainly grown and now claim to be the largest celebrations outside Asia," says Theresa Booth, director of the London Chopsticks Club, which promotes cultural exchanges between Britain and China. "The celebrations are listed as a special event on the Visit London website, which suggests they see it as a way of tapping into the ever growing interest in China and attracting more tourists to London."

Five years ago celebrations in London featured only a dragon dance around London’s Chinatown, a concert in Leicester Square and the restaurants doing a roaring trade, Booth recalls. In 2012 there are performances in Trafalgar Square to cater for increasing numbers of people attending, fully supported by the Mayor’s office and a speech by the Mayor, Boris Johnson.

Red lanterns are appearing on Regent Street and Oxford Street – London’s leading luxury shopping destinations. Waterstones – the upmarket British book retailer, now features a Chinese new year selection of books for its discerning customers. Some cities like Bristol are hoping to have Chinese markets emulate the success of Christmas markets in offering a mix of Chinese delicacies and arts and crafts.

Part of the allure of Chinese New Year celebrations in 2012 stems from the association with the Dragon – the only fictional animal in the Chinese zodiac. In the Middle Kingdom the Dragon is revered as the mythical ancestor of ancient Chinese people and often seen as a symbol of China itself.

It is little surprise then that China Post’s decision to issue a special edition stamp commemorating the Year of the Dragon, which depicts the iconic Dragon as a fearsome creature, has drawn fire at home for "scaring" the world.

Stamp designer Chen Shaohua has been attacked for depicting the Chinese dragon as a fang-baring, paw- brandishing creature sending a belligerent message to China’s neighbours and rivals.

The artist, who also designed the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games emblem, has defended his work saying the authoritative image of the dragon was meant to demonstrate a confident and rising China. On his personal blog Chen said that unlike the two previous Dragon years – 1988 when China was in the midst of painful economic reform and 2000 when the country was making still tentative steps on the world stage, China of 2012 is in an entirely different situation.

"As one of the most influential major states in the world, China is rebuilding its national confidence," he wrote.

But Chen’s bellicose rendition of the dragon as an emblem of 21st century modern China has stirred emotions. Writer Zhang Yihe noted on her popular micro blog she was "scared to death" of the beast while another netizen sarcastically suggested that the dragon stamp should be used as the "foreign ministry’s mascot".

Many of the critical tweets and micro blogs seem to dwell on the dragon’s history as a representation of Chinese imperial power (emperors used golden insignias of it to signal their authority) while others worry about cultural misunderstanding in the West.

The dragon has long roots in Chinese culture where it is held in high esteem for its power for good. Unlike traditional Western beliefs that it is a ferocious creature bent on destruction, in China it is revered as a source of well-being for the people.

But views in the West have changed too.

Celebrations of the Chinese New Year of the Dragon with their "sentiments of enjoying peace, good luck and good fortune" are the ones people in the West are searching for in these unsettled times of austerity," according to Dianne Francombe, vice-chair of the Bristol-China partnership, an association which works to link British and Chinese communities in the twinned cities of Bristol and Guangzhou.

"The imperial dragon symbolises strength, solidity and magnificence," she says, at a time when "the skies are grey and the news headlines are so gloomy."

The Chinese Ministry of Culture seems to have seized on the mood. At a press conference on Jan. 10 it announced an ever bigger campaign to celebrate the Chinese New Year overseas and use it as a springboard to promote China’s traditional values.

The campaign, titled "Happy New Year", was first launched in 2010 capitalising on rising global interest in China. This year it will feature some 300 activities in more than 80 countries around the world – the largest in scope by far, reaching destinations in Africa in addition to Europe and America.

Renowned pianist Lang Lang and one of China’s most famous TV anchor women Yang Lan have been chosen as cultural ambassadors for the Happy New Year event.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Asia, Culture, Report Tagged With:

INDIA: Kashmir in Search of Lost Culture

May 29, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Athar Parvaiz

SRINAGAR, May 28, 2011 (IPS) – While the conflict in Indian Kashmir and the destruction it has caused often makes the news, its impact on culture has hardly gotten any attention.

Although the armed conflict is on the ebb, cultural events have yet to stage a comeback, while public places continue to wear the look of a combat zone with the presence of armed men all around this northwest Indian city, the capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian security establishment in Kashmir maintains that the number of insurgents and militancy- related incidents is far lower now than in the past: 474 incidents in 2010 as against 5,946 in 1995. Yet cultural activities, which used to be organised regularly before the onset of militancy in Kashmir in the late 1980s, are not taking place as expected. Officials of the Department of Art and Culture in Kashmir, however, say they have resolved to revive the rich tradition of cultural shows that were once Kashmir’s hallmark.

"Tagore Hall, the hub of Kashmir’s cultural and theatre shows, has been defunct for the last many years since no cultural activities have been held in this hall located in the heart of Srinagar City," said Farhat Lone, Special Officer for Cultural Activities in Kashmir. "But we have now started renovating it because we are keen to see the revival of Kashmir’s rich art and culture."

Lone said that since March, the cultural office has been organising talent hunt shows in various districts. The shows have drawn big audiences, reflecting Kashmiris’ love of art and culture.

Mohammed Maqsood was one of the performers at a recent cultural show at the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) in Awantipora town, south-east of Srinagar. Maqsood sang Ladishah, which holds a significant position in Kashmir’s folklore. Ladishah is a sarcastic form of singing where the singer picks holes in the social and political system in a humorous manner. He was pleased that hundreds of students watched him perform and cheered profusely.

"This is the first time that I got an opportunity to perform. I am quite happy," said 22-year-old Maqsood who grew up during the two-decade-old conflict.

"Art and culture should be de-linked from the conflict and should be allowed to flourish" said Gayas Akhtar, Maqsood’s fellow student. "Let us join hands and see this happening."

Lone said this "erstwhile cultural glory needs to be restored" after the unrest of the last two decades that broke the back of the cultural prowess of Kashmir.

The unrest in Kashmir has its roots back in 1947, when India gained independence from Britain and the Muslim-dominated areas became part of Pakistan. In the meantime, a U.N. resolution gave Kashmiris the option to join either Hindu-dominated India or Muslim-majority Pakistan or to become independent. But Kashmiris had no chance to exercise their right to self-determination.

Roughly a third of modern-day Kashmir is administered by Pakistan while the rest is under India. But many Kashmiris challenge this and demand freedom from both countries. Pro-freedom people living on the Indian side rose up in arms in 1989 in an insurgency that simmers to this day. According to figures maintained by various government and non-government organisations, the number of people killed so far in the conflict is well over 50,000.

Since then, the Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, which used to organise cultural programmes in the Kashmir valley, has had to cease its operations. The curtains have closed on the big screens because of a blanket ban on movie theatres declared by the militants.

Researcher Bhawani Bashir says that although Kashmir has a long history of art and culture, "the 1980s were the golden period of Kashmiri Theater." But things changed with the onset of turmoil in 1989 and its impact on art and cultural activities.

Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, who has long been associated with the Academy, says the bomb explosion in Tagore Hall in 1990 created fear and psychosis among artists.

"Apart from causing heavy damage to Tagore Hall, the explosion created a scare among the artists, and they hesitated to come forward to participate in activities like theatre shows or district drama festivals," he told IPS.

A wrong perception about the Cultural Academy had spread, Manhas told IPS. "Almost 98 percent of the people in Kashmir were of the view that the activities of the Cultural Academy were anti-Islamic."

This exposed the Academy and its employees to threats, he added. "I clearly remember that employees were hesitating to disclose that they were working with the Academy." It is not only the Cultural Academy that suffered. Artists outside the institution were also reluctant to organise cultural events. Noted Kashmiri dramatist Mohammad Amin Bhat traces it to a "lack of confidence" to portray the truth.

"It takes moral courage to speak the truth," he said, pointing out that artists have never tried to portray the conflict, which would have been well received by the people.

Bhat has produced plays which depict ground realities surrounding the conflict. These include "Naad" (Call), "Identity Card" and "White Paper", which highlight the plight of the conflict-hit people of Kashmir.

"While talking about something, we don’t take sides; our plays are just artistic expressions or analysis of truth," says Bhat. Public places where people used to converge have also lost their meaning because of the conflict.

"Kashmiris have seen their public places shrinking with meshes of barbed wire crisscrossing the roads, bunkers appearing everywhere and security men flaunting their weapons at every possible place like roadsides and street-crossings, or near schools, hospitals, shrines and tourist spots," says human rights activist Khurram Parvez.

Kashmir watchers recall that in the initial years of the conflict, security forces occupied thousands of buildings and other public places, and burned down thousands more. "Gradually, many of the occupied buildings were vacated, but not all of them," says Parvez.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Asia, Culture, Education, Featured, Insurgency Tagged With: ,

OP-ED: Iran’s Greatest Spiritual Leader

May 23, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Melody Moezzi*

ATLANTA, Georgia, May 23, 2011 (IPS) – Iran’s officially recognised "spiritual leader" today may be Ayatollah Khamenei, but for hundreds of years before the current establishment of mullahs and ayatollahs, Iranians of all creeds have looked to another spiritual leader: Jalal ad- Din Rumi.

While this 13th century Persian Sufi poet is known in much of the West as "Rumi", he is referred to more affectionately in Iran as "Mowlaana", or the Master. Among Iranians, he is a spiritual guide and guru whose words hold unmatched moral authority. Over 700 years after his death, it is nearly impossible to spend a day walking around any Iranian city, suburb or village and not hear his echo.

His words live on in everyday parlance – no matter one’s station, religion or occupation, everyone in Iran knows at least a handful of Rumi’s poems by heart. They are taught in classrooms as an essential part of the basic curriculum, but more than that, they are learned in homes, cafes, bazaars, parks and houses of worship. No place is beyond this poet’s influence.

And there is no better way to understand that influence than through Rumi’s own verse, although it often defies easy translation. Still, English speakers have a wonderful resource in understanding Rumi – and Iran – through the translations of Coleman Barks, including the following:

"Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument. Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."

Understand this poem, and you will understand the soul of Iran – not just the role of religion or dogma, but the spiritual role of faith, love and beauty.

While Iran is a Muslim majority country and Shi’ism is the official state religion, Iran is not defined by Islam. Rather, it is defined by its peoples, who are Muslims, Jews, Baha’is, Christians, Agnostics and Atheists. Iran is the birthplace of two of the world’s great religions: Zoroastrianism and Baha’ism. It is home to millions of Muslims, but also to the largest Jewish population in any Muslim majority country. So, Iranians know very well that there are at least hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

Nevertheless, the Iranian regime maintains an intractable identification with its interpretation of Islam, and as such, it has played a strong role in shaping the Iranian people’s view of both Islam and of religion in general. Because of the regime’s use and perversion of Islam for political purposes, many Iranians have been turned off by religion – especially among the youth who represent the vast majority of the population.

As young Iranians, we have seen the government’s persecution of Baha’is and Jews and its failure to provide equal rights to women, and we realise that this regime has forgotten its roots. It has forgotten the words of the great Master, Mowlaana. Instead of taking down a musical instrument to treat the fear, despair and emptiness that have consumed so many young Iranians (particularly since the 2009 elections), Iran’s leaders have brought out batons, bullets and teargas.

As a result, people have continued to turn away from organised religion, particularly from Islam, because they have seen how the regime is manipulating their faith to oppress the populace and suppress dissent.

Nevertheless, there is a spiritual unity in this growing collective repugnance for religion – it is encouraging us to unite as Iranians of all backgrounds and beliefs under the most basic and universal spiritual teachings that Rumi and other Sufi poets captured so brilliantly: the notion that music, art, poetry, and above all, love are our greatest spiritual resources.

In Iran, such resources are more abundant than oil, saffron and pistachios combined, and they represent the truest faith of the masses.

*Melody Moezzi is a lawyer, columnist and activist based in the United States and Iran.

This article is part of the series "Religion, Politics & the Public Space" in collaboration with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and its Global Experts project (www.theglobalexperts.org).

The views expressed in these articles are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nation Alliance of Civilizations or of the institutions to which the authors are affiliated.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


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