News Updates
The following articles have been collected through the justpeace mailing list and have been posted in this section to encourage further reflection and discussion. More articles can be found in the archive.
Koranic duels ease terror
Koranic duels ease terror
James Brandon
SANAA, YEMEN When Judge Hamoud al-Hitar announced that he and four other Islamic scholars would challenge Yemen's Al Qaeda prisoners to a theological contest, Western antiterrorism experts warned that this high-stakes gamble would end in disaster. Nervous as he faced five captured, yet defiant, Al Qaeda members in a Sanaa prison, Judge Hitar was inclined to agree. But banishing his doubts, the youthful cleric threw down the gauntlet, in the hope of bringing peace to his troubled homeland.
"If you can convince us that your ideas are justified by the Koran, then we will join you in your struggle," Hitar told the militants. "But if we succeed in convincing you of our ideas, then you must agree to renounce violence."
The prisoners eagerly agreed.
Now, two years later, not only have those prisoners been released, but a relative peace reigns in Yemen. And the same Western experts who doubted this experiment are courting Hitar, eager to hear how his "theological dialogues" with captured Islamic militants have helped pacify this wild and mountainous country, previously seen by the US as a failed state, like Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Since December 2002, when the first round of the dialogues ended, there have been no terrorist attacks here, even though many people thought that Yemen would become terror's capital," says Hitar, eyes glinting shrewdly from beneath his emerald-green turban. "Three hundred and sixty-four young men have been released after going through the dialogues and none of these have left Yemen to fight anywhere else."
"Yemen's strategy has been unconventional certainly, but it has achieved results that we could never have hoped for," says one European diplomat, who did not want to be named. "Yemen has gone from being a potential enemy to becoming an indispensable ally in the war on terror."
To be sure, the prisoner-release program is not solely responsible for the absence of attacks in Yemen. The government has undertaken a range of measures to combat terrorism from closing down extreme madrassahs, the Islamic schools sometimes accused of breeding hate, to deporting foreign militants.
Eager to spread the news of his success, Hitar welcomes foreigners into his home, fussing over them and pouring endless cups of tea. But beyond the otherwise nondescript house, a sense of menace lurks. Two military jeeps are parked outside, and soldiers peer through the gathering dark at passing cars. The evening wind sweeps through the unpaved streets, lifting clouds of dust and whipping up men's jackets to expose belts hung with daggers, pistols, and mobile telephones.
Seated amid stacks of Korans and religious texts, Hitar explains that his system is simple. He invites militants to use the Koran to justify attacks on innocent civilians and when they cannot, he shows them numerous passages commanding Muslims not to attack civilians, to respect other religions, and fight only in self-defense.
For example, he quotes: "Whoever kills a soul, unless for a soul, or for corruption done in the land - it is as if he had slain all mankind entirely. And, whoever saves one, it is as if he had saved mankind entirely." He uses the passage to bolster his argument against bombing Western targets in Yemen - attacks he says defy the Koran. And, he says, the Koran says under no circumstances should women and children be killed.
If, after weeks of debate, the prisoners renounce violence they are released and offered vocational training courses and help to find jobs.
Hitar's belief that hardened militants trained by Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan could change their stripes was initially dismissed by US diplomats in Sanaa as dangerously naive, but the methods of the scholarly cleric have little in common with the other methods of fighting extremism. Instead of lecturing or threatening the battle-hardened militants, he listens to them.
"An important part of the dialogue is mutual respect," says Hitar. "Along with acknowledging freedom of _expression, intellect and opinion, you must listen and show interest in what the other party is saying."
Only after winning the militants' trust does Hitar gradually begin to correct their beliefs. He says that most militants are ordinary people who have been led astray. Just as they were taught Al Qaeda's doctrines, he says, so too can they be taught more- moderate ideas. "If you study terrorism in the world, you will see that it has an intellectual theory behind it," says Hitar. "And any kind of intellectual idea can be defeated by intellect."
The program's success surprised even Hitar. For years Yemen was synonymous with violent Islamic extremism. The ancestral homeland of Mr. bin Laden, it provided two-thirds of recruits for his Afghan camps, and was notorious for kidnappings of foreigners and the bombing of the American warship USS Cole in 2000 that killed 17 sailors. Resisting US pressure, Yemen declined to meet violence with violence.
"It's only logical to tackle these people through their brains and heart," says Faris Sanabani, a former adviser to President Abdullah Saleh and editor-in-chief of the Yemen Observer, a weekly English-language newspaper. "If you beat these people up they become more stubborn. If you hit them, they will enjoy the pain and find something good in it - it is a part of their ideology. Instead, what we must do is erase what they have been taught and explain to them that terrorism will only harm Yemenis' jobs and prospects. Once they understand this they become fighters for freedom and democracy, and fighters for the true Islam," he says.
Some freed militants were so transformed that they led the army to hidden weapons caches and offered the Yemeni security services advice on tackling Islamic militancy. A spectacular success came in 2002 when Abu Ali al Harithi, Al Qaeda's top commander in Yemen, was assassinated by a US air-strike following a tip-off from one of Hitar's reformed militants.
Yet despite the apparent success in Yemen, some US diplomats have criticized it for apparently letting Islamic militants off the hook with little guarantee that they won't revert to their old ways once released from prison.
Yemen, however, argues that holding and punishing all militants would create only further discontent, pointing out that the actual perpetrators of attacks have all been prosecuted, with the bombers of the USS Cole and the French oil tanker, the SS Limburg. All received death sentences.
"Yemeni goals are long-term political aims whereas the American agenda focuses on short-term prosecution of military or law enforcement objectives," wrote Charles Schmitz, a specialist in Yemeni affairs, in 2004 report for the Jamestown Foundation, an influential US think tank.
"These goals are not necessarily contradictory, with each government recognizing that compromises and accommodations must be made, but their ambiguities create tense moments."
Some members of the Yemeni government also hanker for a more iron-fisted approach, and Yemen remains on high alert for further attacks. Fighter planes regularly swoop low over the ancient mud-brick city of Sanaa to send a clear message to any would-be militants.
An additional cause of friction with the US is that while Yemen successfully discourages attacks within its borders on the grounds that tourism and trade will suffer, it has done little to tackle anti-Western sentiment or the corruption, poverty, and lack of opportunity that fuels Islamic militancy.
"Yemen still faces serious challenges, but despite the odd hiccup, we sometimes have to admit that Yemenis know Yemen best," says the European diplomat. "And if their system works, who are we to complain?"
As the relative success of Yemen's unusual approach becomes apparent, Hitar has been invited to speak to antiterrorism specialists at London's New Scotland Yard, as well as to French and German police, hoping to defuse growing militancy among Muslim immigrants.
US diplomats have also approached the cleric to see if his methods can be applied in Iraq, says Hitar.
"Before the dialogues began, there was only one way to fight terrorism, and that was through force," he says. "Now there is another way: dialogue."
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
Website: www.csmonitor.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity.
::: posted by max : 2/28/2005
US Spy Operations in Mindanao
-------------------------------------------------
INPEACE MINDANAO
Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao
Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines
mindainpeace@yahoo.com
-------------------------------------------------
STATEMENT
January 26, 2005
US spy operations in Mindanao an act of “bullying”
InPeace Mindanao strongly opposes the United States’ plan to conduct and provide US military intelligence and assistance here in this country, as this will only lead to further tensions in the persisting conflicts in Mindanao.
US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone’s admission of a spy network of 70 American intelligence personnel here in Mindanao is a brazen act of bullying. The Philippine government’s “request” for such personnel is likewise an open invitation for US meddling in the nation’s internal affairs, a treasonous act against the Constitution and the national sovereignty.
Ricciardone is the resurrected ghost of General Pershing, the highest American military official to have conducted reconnaissance operations in Mindanao in the early 1900s. Today, Ricciardone flaunts American arrogance by unleashing spies and training the local military as proxies for American espionage operations. His threats against the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is a clear act of meddling in the internal peace process.
The Strategic Support Branch, a creation of Washington particularly under the Department of Defense, intends to function as an intelligence network with local spy networks and tapping of national intelligence databases in Third World Countries. We believe that this “job description” is a euphemism for American covert or dirty tactics operations.
As pointed out by Senator Aquilino Pimentel, we believe the self-inflicted injury suffered by CIA agent Michael Terrence Meiring in Davao City in the Evergreen Hotel explosion in May 2002 is one indication that the US government is engaged in special operations to orchestrate and manipulate events and the political situation in Mindanao.
The establishment of this satellite spy network here shows the intent of the US government to push their military and economic agenda in Mindanao and in the Asia Pacific under the pretext of its global campaign against terror that is already widely discredited before the rest of the world.
We recall Ambassador Ricciardone’s statement that Mindanao has a lot of potential for growth. This could be read as the US eyeing potential investments in the mineral-rich resources here. This holds true in the case of the natural gas deposits in the Liguasan Marsh and Deuterium deposits in the Philippine Deep.
The presence of the US military operatives here only disrupts the efforts of Mindanaoans towards building a lasting peace based on justice and democratization of the island’s resources.
We laud Senator Pimentel and Congressmen Antonio Cuenco, Marcelino Libanan, Crispin Beltran and Joel Virador for taking up the cudgels for our national sovereignty, while the Arroyo government has obviously reneged on this Constitutional duty.
(Sgd.) BISHOP FELIXBERTO CALANG
Convenor
Mobile No. 0918-929-4244
::: posted by max : 2/23/2005
Can We Learn from Disaster
CAN WE LEARN FROM DISASTER?
The tsunami which swept the coasts of the Indian ocean and wrought havoc among the fishing population and other workers along the shore, has brought with it enormous trauma and heartbreak. At the same time, it has brought out many social contradictions, which need to be understood if future long term reconstruction is to be successful.
Before the government institutions and the NGO sector swung into action, many ordinary people, neighbourhood groups, workers, youth associations, places of worship and hospitals extended immediate help. Many of these managed to reach the affected people, comfort the traumatized and the bereaved, give shelter, provide medicines, recover bodies and feed the hungry. This was a genuine upsurge of solidarity and goodwill. Such initiatives need to be carried forward in the long term reconstruction work.
Once the “official” relief work reached, the co-ordination between departments, between central and state government, was lacking in many places and people’s participation was not taken care of. On the contrary, the worst affected people were too shell-shocked to queue up for relief or even to eat, while others took advantage of aid pouring in. The media sensationalized the loss of life and depicted people as destitute and desperate victims, not as survivors entitled to have a future. This triggered more relief in the form of old clothes or perishable food stuffs and enhanced the chaos. Long term rehabilitation needs to be done involving local people’s organizations, especially women and gram sabhas, assessing the livelihood needs of all the people concerned.
It is crucial to remember that the right to life and livelihood of the coastal population has been violated severely since the eighties, when prawn farms were strongly encouraged by government incentives, which has affected agriculture and fisheries adversely. Before the tsunami hit, there were already severe floods in the Cauvery Delta in October/November 2004 during the north east monsoon, after the area had suffered protracted droughts during summer. The prawn farms had been depleting the water resources in times of water scarcity and were blocking the outflow of water during the rains. The tsunami has devastated many prawn farms. This is the time to review the environmental impact and legality in the light of the Supreme Court judgement of 1997, instead of going in for compensation and reconstruction of these illicit money spinners. The desalination of soils necessitated by the tsunami should include rehabilitation of lands degraded by intensive aquaculture.
Many environmental organizations have untiringly pointed out that the violation and watering down of the CRZ legislation has contributed enormously to the loss of life, housing and means of livelihood in the present situation .Wherever mangroves were intact, like in Killai (Cuddalore Dt.) or in the Muttupettai lagoon (Thiruvarur Dt.), the losses have been less. Wherever shelter belt plantations of casuarina trees had matured, e.g. in the area between Kodiampalayam and Vedaranyam, casualties and material damage were limited. However, the removal of sand dunes for “beautification” of the beach or for the “benefit” of shrimp industries, has made people’s settlements much more vulnerable.
All along, fisher people have had to compete with the tourism industry. In some places it appears that the government is not unhappy if fishing population gets evicted, as “nature” now did what the government has been desiring to do all along. In this context, the argument of John Kurien in the present issue is very relevant: Stop violations of the CRZ by tourism establishments and industries and provide housing for fisher people respecting the 500 m distance from the high tide line. Broad involvement of people in reforestation of mangroves and protection belts could be much more promising than the plan of the Tamilnadu government to build a continuous wall all along the coast. This is also the time to oppose afresh all further construction of nuclear plants and the disastrous government plan of the Seythu Samuthiram project, which would ruin the marine life and fisheries in the region in irreparable ways. If the tsunami helps us to wake up from the madness of such destructive development plans, it would have some meaning.
It is also necessary to understand how religious and caste factors operated in the tsunami relief. In the initial spontaneous relief efforts, people came forward indiscriminately, across religious and caste lines. This is very heartening. Later, when relief was extended on a large scale by government and NGOs predominantly to fishing communities, there was a feeling that Dalits, tribals and backward communities were discriminated against. Dalits were in the forefront of handling dead bodies. Women have found it difficult to access relief, as they were not involved in distribution. Loss of productive equipment needs to be compensated even where water has not entered the houses. Reconstructing livelihoods in mutual cooperation is the need of the hour. Poverty of Dalit and tribal communities, of rural women and unorganized sector workers is and endemic disaster which needs to be addressed long term.
It is heartening to note that communalization of the disaster did not succeed. Religious institutions extended indiscriminate and generous support. Attempts to ideologically communalise the disaster did not succeed. The version that this was a punishment for the arrest of the seer of Kanchipuram Jayendra Saraswati, did not find many takers. (In the past, the Orissa cyclone had been taken by fundamentalist Christians to be a “punishment” for the murder of Graham Staines and his young sons.)
If we could learn to transform spontaneous compassion into long term solidarity and learn to respect forces of nature and peoples’ livelihood needs, reconstruction could lead to a more livable future. The decision of the Indian government to refuse international aid may be good in terms of national sovereignty and avoiding interference of foreign powers. However, if it is chiefly meant to serve the purpose of appearing as a main player in the race of global “development”, this may aggravate the coastal problems more than solving them.
Gabriele Dietrich
::: posted by max : 2/23/2005
Acehnese Fear Forced Relocation
Indonesia: After Tsunami, Acehnese Fear Forced Relocation
Military Role in Relocation Efforts Should Be Minimized
(New York, February 7, 2005) The Indonesian government’s plan in Aceh to register and relocate more than 100,000 people displaced by the tsunami to semi-permanent camps threatens their right to return home, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First said today. The Indonesian government needs to ensure that any relocation program in the province fully respects the rights of the displaced people.
The Indonesian government announced that as early as February 15 it could begin to move up to a quarter of the 400,000 people displaced by the tsunami in Aceh into semi-permanent, barracks-style shelters.
Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First expressed concern that the new camps could be misused by the military as a way of controlling the population for military purposes unless human rights safeguards are put in place. During years of the brutal armed conflict in the northwestern Sumatra province, the Indonesian military has a record of housing Acehnese displaced by the conflict in secure camps where at times their freedom of movement has been unnecessarily restricted and where serious human rights violations have taken place.
Given the military’s poor human rights record in Aceh, its prominent role in the transport of thousands of Acehnese from spontaneous camps to the barracks sites, involvement in camp management, and aid distribution within barracks would invariably create fears among the displaced population. This could prevent displaced persons from making a free and informed choice on relocation, including the option of returning to their place of origin. The participation of the police paramilitary brigade (Brimob) would raise similar fears due to its history of abuses in Aceh.
“In the context of the war in Aceh, a military presence at the camps can be a form of intimidation and abusive control,” said Neil Hicks, Director of International Programs at Human Rights First. “Although the military has played a sometimes welcome role in the emergency phase after the tsunami, their involvement in the relocations should be minimized and civilian agencies alone should run the camps.”
On Sunday, January 30, the Indonesian government began the process of registering people displaced by the tsunami for relocation. The registration appears intended to collect data on this displaced population—also referred to as internally displaced persons (or IDPs)—that in part would be used to identify displaced persons for relocation to the shelters for up to two years.
According to the Indonesian military’s “Broad Plan on Natural Disaster Relief and Control of Displaced Persons in [Aceh] Province,” military forces will be involved in surveying “numbers and locations of displaced persons (DP), planning/preparations for relocation…[and] displacement of DPs to DP camps that have been developed.”
At least a third of those displaced by the tsunami in Aceh now live in spontaneous camp sites, while others are staying in public buildings, such as schools and mosques, or with relatives. The Indonesian government has promised a monthly stipend to support displaced persons living with host families. But the authorities have not issued a clear commitment to support those who choose to return to their places of origin immediately.
Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First called on the Indonesian government continue to seek a range of durable solutions for Aceh’s displaced population.
“In its haste to solve the problem of shelter the government is failing to inform the displaced population of their options,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These people have already lost much to the tsunami, but they still have the right to weigh in on how and where they are going to live in the future.”
According to the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, displaced persons should be relocated only with full and informed consent. The Guiding Principles specifically cover persons forced or obliged to flee as a result of "natural or human-made disasters."
Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First raised concerns that the Indonesian government was registering IDPs without offering them adequate information or proper alternatives about where and how they will be relocated. While some IDPs currently living in crowded tents in spontaneous temporary camps may prefer the option of relocation to barracks, the government registration form omits other options. Options could include a return to one’s home area, staying in the current location, or resettling to another part of the province or country.
Many displaced persons have yet to receive information about the imminent relocation plans. To ensure a free and informed choice, the Indonesian government should initiate a mass information campaign and establish a registration and decision-making process that allows families to choose from a full range of options. International involvement in monitoring the registration would help ensure transparency of the process and protection of the data.
“The Indonesian government needs to clarify who will carry out the registration of individuals, what the information will be used for, and who will have access to this data during and after the process,” said Adams. “We are concerned this information could be used to target alleged separatist supporters and deny them humanitarian aid.”
The relocation shelters are thatched wooden buildings up to 90 feet long, divided into two rows of 12-by-15 foot rooms. The relocation is intended to provide shelter for as long as two years while homes are rehabilitated or reconstructed. Where barracks are the chosen solution, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First called on the Indonesian government to ensure that the construction and maintenance of the barracks met with minimum standards found in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. These include appropriate site selection, proximity to livelihood and education opportunities,
For more information, please contact:
In New York, Neil Hicks (Human Rights First): +212 845 5248
In London, Brad Adams (Human Rights Watch): +44 7960 844 996
In Washington DC, Veena Siddharth (Human Rights Watch): +202 612 4341
::: posted by max : 2/23/2005
Resisting US Dominance is a Cumulative Process
Resisting US dominance is a cumulative process.
John Hilley
George W Bush’s return to the White House is not just an alarm call for those anticipating the next phase of US foreign policy. It also confirms the emergence of a dangerous new conservative populism within the US electorate itself. And, in its wake, Bush’s victory leaves us searching for urgent new strategies to counter American dominance.
The new-Right deliverance
The exposure of alleged electoral fraud in Ohio shows, yet again, the darker enterprise of the Republican network. Yet, even this latest chicanery cannot disguise the authenticity of Bush’s mandate. America may be closely split, but there is no doubting its lurch to the right. We now have both houses of Congress as well as the Presidency in Republican hands. With a number of imminent Supreme Court appointments in Bush’s gift, judicial power may also swing decisively rightwards. And, through Karl Rove’s focused efforts, religious conservatives have turned out, en masse, to secure Dubya a second term. From new-found voice under Reagan to veneration of Bush, the religious right’s Republican alignment is now of critical importance.
Of course, White Protestant ‘moral values’ and creationist doctrine cannot entirely explain the Bush coalition. Some 56 per cent of Catholics and 45 per cent of Latinos also voted for Bush, as did a majority of blue-collar workers, many reviled by John Kerry’s smart liberal street talk. Factor in the Republicans’ pro-Israel links, and we find a new coalescing of the religious right with wider forms of sectoral conservatism, all galvanised by Bush’s folksy appeal to God and nation.
Some speak of a crisis of liberal enlightenment, others of America’s drift towards fascism. Whatever the prognosis, it is a stark reminder of the monolith now obstructing a progressive global politics. Here we see an electorate, assaulted by Fox-type propaganda, with little knowledge of external affairs, upholding a politics of patriotic and religious irrationality. Driven by neo-conservative fear-mongering, the propositions of reason and concern for others have been subjugated to the Bush mantra of selfish protectionism and defend-our-nation imperatives, all dressed up in an evangelism that would be considered simply reactionary in many other states.
Re-emergence of this ‘America first’, spawned by 9/11 and now crystallised in the Bush victory, is a key moment for the new world disorder. I say re-emergence, for the Monroe Doctrine (1823) of American exceptionalism has always been a lurking subtext of US foreign policy. That declaration of self-interest over the American hemisphere became the rationale for ruthless intervention throughout Latin America. And, of course, it didn’t stop there. But now, as the Bush Doctrine of undisguised global pre-emption, it comes with a new populist voice of militarist nationalism.
That doctrine has infected the wider political culture in the US. As Kerry ‘reported for duty’, it was also evident in the Democrat campaign. For all Kerry’s talk of embracing international allies and working towards global stability, there was no mention of a comprehensive withdrawal from Iraq, of ratifying Kyoto or the International Criminal Court, or initiating a realistic road map for the Middle East.
Not only has America declared its place at the apex of global states, it has now consecrated it as a religious belief. Though a divided states of America, Bush has instilled in a significant part of the electorate a kind of divine conviction of America’s greatness and strength over others. As US troops massed in deadly preparation for the all-out assault on Fallujah, their pastors’ words of rightful war and deliverance was the same voice of plain-folk America proclaiming biblical notions of Christian crusade.
Welcome to Dogville
We must reserve some sympathy for dejected Democrats, many now reportedly seeking refuge across the border in Canada. Bewildered at how so many of their fellow citizens can support a war zealot and deny the basics of evolution, their party, in post-mortem mood, may now countenance its own rightward shift. But appeasement of the right will not solve the problem. Nor, indeed, will the continued politics of East and West coast liberalism.
For behind all this conviction, sacred and secular, is the worship of something more basic in America: corporate capitalism. Bear in mind that the US Constitution was largely founded to protect private property and individual ownership. The charter may be a powerful concept with its claims to human rights. All part of the American Dream. But, from the frontier spirit land grab to the smashing of unions, capitalist expansion has been the main American narrative. The real ‘first amendment’, one might say, is not about freedom of speech, but freedom of the market.
Today, ‘free speech’ in the US is the poor relation of patriot speech. While the political class and corporate media keep the citizens bonded in misty-eyed reverence for the flag, the actual framers of power on Wall Street have created a harsh neo-liberal landscape where millions of struggling Americans remain deprived of basic health insurance. While billions of dollars have gone in tax cuts to the rich and the private warmongers in Iraq, soup kitchens are now a standard means of survival across mid-west towns. And with this dogville economics has come a deepening brutalisation of politics itself, offering only the variant market ‘choices’ of Republican or Democrat style capitalism. Ultimately, there has to be a serious alternative if America is ever to move forward.
Looking to Europe
For all its sins of fortress economics and political closure, Europe shows little evidence of such rampant exceptionalism. So, can European social democracy act as a bulwark to US domination? Perhaps, in part. For there is also the problem of Europe’s own neo-liberal tendencies. Even though the European Union (EU) comes with a healthier array of social policies, it is still driven by the ideals of private capital.
At the recent European Social Forum (ESF) assembly (London, October 2004), the writer and academic Samir Amin made the case for Europe as a political-cultural counterpoint to US dominance. Despite major problems within Europe, Amin, an Egyptian born Marxist, believes there is still a core of European values which progressive people can identify with. Leading the case against, the socialist author and activist Alex Callinicos argued that the European project, like corporate America, retains the same free-market prescriptions. Amin is in broad agreement, rejecting, like other such critics, the terms of the proposed European constitution. Yet, he still sees in the European experience itself some force for good.
Others point to Europe’s dark history. And, of course, the continent has been riven by imperialist war, holocaust and, more lately, slaughter in the Balkans — though, much of it at NATO’s behest. There is also, today, repression of economic migrants and the ugly spectre of Islamophobia, with attacks on Muslims the disguised manifesto of ‘respectable’ right-wing parties.
The US, in contrast, is still seen by many as an historical beacon for fleeing and oppressed peoples; a land, for Jews and others, of last opportunity. America has also been shaped by momentous political struggles, notably over black civil rights and Vietnam. Millions of protesting Americans have been politically awakened by the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. And with this comes a rich vein of radical output in the US, from alternative magazines to investigative websites.
Yet, in Bush’s America, that tradition of intelligent dissent is under serious attack. Corporate control of the arts is already apparent. Academia is becoming further infused by business ideas and conservative think tanks. And there is now a creeping cultural irrationalism in classrooms. Invoking the surreal moment of Bush reading My Pet Goat with school kids during the 9/11 attacks, the British children’s author Philip Pullman recently described the now degraded view of literature and encroachment of creationist dogma in US schools as a kind of descent into facile “theocracy”.
Of course, corporate America has long used mass dumb-down culture to contain public dissent. Thus, in a land which has gifted us some of the world’s most subversive literary figures, an intellectual like Noam Chomsky is routinely ignored by the mainstream media. Yet, along with manufactured security fears and the Patriot Act, new-right religion has assumed a more visible role in suppressing rational enquiry.
Europe’s own reparations and cultural prejudices cannot be ignored. But neither should they blind us to the growing divergence with US society. Consider, too, the hatred and suspicion experienced by Muslims in the US post 9/11. Despite the racist strains noted, Europe still offers a positive range of social democratic achievements. For example, most Europeans strongly oppose the war in Iraq — the Spanish people kicked out their government over the issue. There is strong sympathy for the Palestinian people. Europeans still endorse the welfare state and reject mass privatisation. While consumer ‘values’ prevail, as elsewhere, there remains, particularly in France, a strong defence of intellectual and cultural life from US corporate invasion. And, unlike the US, debate over ‘moral issues’ has helped limit, rather than strengthen, conservative religiosity.
In vast swathes of middle America, such politics are anathema. In its place, we have an electorate convulsed in ‘moral’ panic over stem-cell funding, abortion and same-sex marriage. Add in the visceral defence of gun ownership and capital punishment and we see a society consumed by conservative individualism. These may be important ethical issues. But should they be shaping political outcomes in such crucial ways?
Expedient alliance
Despite its ‘special relationship’ with America, Britain is also wary about US-style conservatism and right-wing religion. Yet, just as the Bush project is built on expedient alliances, so too is the UK’s placement between the US and Europe. Given its trade ties and traditional Atlantic leanings, we might ask why the Blair government wants to proceed with closer European integration at all. Again, in short, because Europe’s free market fits with Blair’s own business-friendly outlook, nationally, regionally and globally. The ceding of certain responsibilities to Brussels, such as legal and social policy, also suits the New Labour strategy of displacing domestic pressures, all consistent with Blair’s culture of spin and efforts to ‘de-politicise’ political life.
On the other hand, UK foreign policy is shaped by militarist-intelligence obligations, mostly weighted towards the US. The role of Labour leaders here is a multi-sordid story in itself, from Harold Wilson’s forced eviction of the Chagos Islanders (for a US air base) to Blair’s current alignment with Bush — a shift so far to the unilateralist right that even many Blair acolytes are alarmed. Yet, while the PM has found common cause — and religious companionship — with the President, Britain’s involvement in the Middle East is more about maintaining its own strategic interests — as arms producer, nuclear power and Security Council member — keeping it linked, expediently, into a US rather than European policy orbit.
But if high politics is built on expedience, it can’t ignore the ‘low politics’ of popular dissent. Part of the reason why France and Germany (with Russia) defied the US and UK over Iraq was their fear of being excluded from the market benefits of any occupation. Yet, that policy also reflected the prevailing political mood. Responding to French and German ‘recalcitrance’, Washington has sought to drive a wedge between ‘old’ and ‘new’ Europe by courting the East European states recently admitted to the EU. However, this expedient alliance is being tested as the harsh realities of market deregulation feed social discontent across those states. Contrast, also, Bush’s menacing threats to Iran over ‘nuclear proliferation’ with the EU’s constructive engagement of Tehran, again influenced by popular anti-war sentiment.
Europe, at present, does not offer an effective check on US domination. But, with increased pressure on European governments, and the EU itself, it could. Significantly, the right-wing US Heritage Foundation recently urged a rethink of US policy towards Europe, fearing that Bush’s belligerence is now racking up European dissent to an uncomfortable degree. Meanwhile, deepening unease in countries like France, Germany, Greece, Spain and even Britain could yet grow into a more policy-directed rejection of US corporate militarism.
Islam as a counterpoint
With much of the ‘Islamic world’ also now mobilised in fear and anger over America’s actions, the prospects of a constructive Islamic paradigm often seem bleak. But, of course, Islam contains, at its civilised core, many ideals of egalitarian community which stand in opposition to fanaticism, militarism and market individualism. This may be far from evident in (US-client) states like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Yet while many Islamic countries remain stifled by internal repression and fundamentalist tendencies, a moderate and positive Islamic discourse has been evolving out of the post 9/11 situation.
One such advocate of this is the Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan. A popular figure among young Muslims, notably in France, Ramadan has been vilified by French and US conservatives, including many Jewish groups, over his Islamic thinking, alleged anti-Semitism and opposition to the war in Iraq. Despite principled credentials in all these areas, Ramadan was refused a visa recently to take up a US university post. A sign of the times, indeed. Led by Chomsky, hundreds of notable figures, many Jewish, who have signed a petition demanding Ramadan’s right to academic freedom, have condemned the US Homelands Security Department’s decision.
The central feature of Ramadan’s work is a concern with harmonising Islamic scholarship in ways that allow Muslims to live within the cultural reality of the West. Explaining this, Ramadan talked at the recent ESF of the need for Muslims to work in a spirit of co-operation within their new-found countries rather than maintain an “us-them” view of society. People can, he insists be Muslims and French. But, unlike standard ‘integrationist’ argument, this does not imply nationalist subservience or diluting religious beliefs. Rather, it means being a willing part of that wider community. Ramadan sees this as the only way for Muslims to avoid racial and religious repression. But the “silent revolution” in Islamic identity he identifies also brings with it a “shared responsibility” to be part of the common push for change.
As current tensions in the Netherlands (over the murder of a ‘blasphemous’ film maker by a radical Muslim and revenge burning of mosques) indicate, that process has some way to go. But, it is not necessarily the ‘struggle between liberalism and fundamentalism’ often described. Again, returning to Ramadan, Muslims have “multi-dimensional identities”, including, one must presume, a capacity for liberal reason. Hence the denunciation of such killings by most Dutch and other European Muslims.
Despite the rise in hateful attacks on Muslims across the continent, there has been a quiet, but significant, change in mutual perceptions. As full citizens, practising Muslims now partake in many aspects of secular life. Mosques are an intrinsic feature of Western cities, Islamic prayer rooms a normal aspect of the workplace. Discrimination remains, varying from country to country. Yet, for all that, Islam is now a broadly accepted part of the multicultural European landscape. In similar spirit, much of the non-Muslim community opposed the recent banning of the hijab in French schools — though, reflecting Ramadan’s analysis, the ban itself has not resulted in the serious dislocation predicted.
Of course, some Islamic values also remain problematic to the secular left. The rights of Islamic women, for example, is an ongoing source of contention. Yet, as the strong participation of Muslims and Muslim groups among the 20,000 ESF delegates showed, these questions are being addressed through mature dialogue in pursuit of common aims and values. Here, again, the anti-war mobilisation has been vital in generating understanding and solidarity — as in Glasgow recently where Muslims marched with others in protest at the massacre in Fallujah. This engagement promises further linkages across religious and secular lines — indeed, the reverse application of the Bush alliance. For, unlike that dangerous consortium, this is a politics of domestic tolerance and economic justice coupled with international concern for human life beyond our own borders.
Malaysian input
Beyond Europe, Islamic practices apply within their own national contexts. Yet, the principles noted are no less valid. Perhaps uniquely, Malaysia offers a template of how a progressive Islamic politics could yet develop. If PAS and other reformist elements can engage in a spirit of serious understanding, it not only solidifies opposition to BN rule, but acts as another ‘front’ against US domination. With the Bush cabal now upping the ‘Islamic threat’ to advance its case against countries like Iran and Syria, any fusion of a moderated Islam and leftist politics would be helpful to both domestic and international processes.
For ‘progressive Islamicists’ like Anwar Ibrahim, this means helping to articulate that politics at both levels. To his credit, Anwar has used his position of late to criticise the war in Iraq and its damaging effects on the wider Muslim world — though, how that is conveyed to ‘old friends’ like Paul Wolfowitz (neo-conservative ideologue and co-director of the war) is a little more intriguing. Of course, we can’t always judge people by the company, even political company, they keep. This is not simply about diplomatic exchanges. Rather, it is about taking a consistent stand against the structural forces driving US economic and military repression.
That means challenging Bush’s war doctrine and the market gurus on Wall Street. It also means tackling the corporate guardians at the WTO, IMF and World Bank, institutions which have imposed their own forms of neo-liberal terror on the poor and developing world — through unfair trade, austerity packages and aid conditionalities. As Walden Bello reminded us at the ESF, the building of any new global politics must, ultimately, involve the wholesale replacement of these agencies. Thus, the combined threat of globalisation and US militarism will need to be addressed in Malaysia, as elsewhere.
Resisting US dominance is a cumulative process. This is the politics of socialist change that has swept through Latin America in rejection of US-IMF neo-liberalism. Like that shift, anti-war feeling and an ESF politics is helping to keep Europe focused on the dangers of US corporate militarism. At the same time, the assertion of a more accommodating Islam, East and West, offers valuable input to that collective process. As the neo-cons, corporate elites and evangelist right drive America towards further war, market expansion and ‘global salvation’, all these paradigms need urgent development.
Glasgow-based Dr John Hilley is the author of Malaysia: Mahathirism, and the New Opposition (London: 2001)
::: posted by max : 2/23/2005
Moro Group Condemns Bombings
Press Release
February 15, 2005
Moro group condemns bombings,
But tells president “do not solve terror with terror”
The mounting death toll caused by the orchestrated bombings that hit Makati, General Santos, and Davao City, which were all claimed to have been conducted by the “Abu Sayyaf Group” as a “valentine gift” for the president, triggered condemnation from the Muslim sector.
“To unleash such terror that victimized the innocent is deplorable and condemnable to the highest degree. Whoever conducted the bombings has proven that they are not the “vanguards of Islam” that they claim to be. Instead, they turn out to be an enemy of the people,” Cosain Naga, Moro Christian Peoples Alliance (MCPA) Spokesman said.
Forewarning against crackdowns
On the other hand, Naga warned that the Arroyo government should not use these strings of bombings to once again conduct crackdowns in Moro communities both in Metro Manila and in Mindanao.
“It is a widely known fact that the military and the police has for many a time wreaked terror in Moro communities in the guise of running after such bandit groups as the ASG and the Pentagon Gang. It is also common knowledge that these operations end up to illegal detentions, torture, and other cases of harassment mostly among innocent civilians” Naga said citing instances in the Basilan crackdown on 2001 which caused more than 100 Moro men, including women to be jailed.
He added, “we fear that with the ASG’s crimes, our innocent Moro brothers and sisters will suffer the backlash (retaliation) from the military. Hence, we ask the Arroyo government along with the national police and military to exercise good judgment and prudence in facing this matter. Terror with not be solved with terror.”
Peace Efforts
According to the MCPA, the Bangsamoro and the Filipino people must push the Arroyo government to pursue genuine peace efforts.
“The raging war in Sulu and these series of bombings root from causes that the government has long failed to address. Unfortunate it may be to say, we fear that as long as a genuine peace efforts are not shown by the Arroyo administration, there will be no end to the cyclical pattern of war in Mindanao and to the series of retaliation attacks from bandit groups which the inutile military and police have long failed to curb,” Naga said.
MORO-CHRISTIAN PEOPLES ALLIANCE (MCPA)
#48 A Mapagbigay St. Brgy Pinyahan Diliman QC
Tel 4337025
::: posted by max : 2/23/2005
Tsunami Cannot Wash Caste Discrimination Away
Subject: Tsunami cannot wash caste discrimination away
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=62212
JANYALA SREENIVAS
NAGAPATTINAM, JANUARY 6
There's something even an earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter scale and a tsunami that kills over 1 lakh people can'tcrack: the walls between caste. That's why at Ground Zero in Nagapattinam, Murugeshan and his family of four have been living on the streets in Nambiarnagar. That's why like 31other families, they have been thrown out of relief camps. That's why they are hounded out of schools they have sneaked into, they are pushed to the rear of food and water lines, given leftovers, not allowed to use toilets or even drink water provided by a UN agency. That's why some NGOs are setting up separate facilities for them. Because they are all Dalits.
They are survivors from 63 damaged villages-30 of them flattened-all marooned in their own islands, facing the brunt of a majority of fishermen who are from the Meenavar community-listed in official records as Most Backward Class (MBC)-for whom Dalits are still untouchable.
The Indian Express toured the camps to find an old story of caste hatred being replayed in camp after camp:
- In the GVR Marriage Hall Relief Camp, Dalits cannot drink water from tanks put up by UNICEF. The Meenavars say they ''pollute'' the water.
- In the Nallukadai Street Relief Camp, a Meenavar Thalaivar, or leader, grabbed all cartons of glucose biscuits delivered by a Coimbatore NGO. The Dalits were told: these are not for you.
- At Puttur Relief Camp, the Meenavars have hoarded family relief kits, rice packets, new clothes and other relief material. When the Dalits asked for some, they paid a heavy price-they had to spend the night on the road.
- At the Neelayadatchi Temple Camp, Dalits are not allowed inside the temple, especially when rice and cash doles are being handed out.
- Dalits from three villages taking shelter at Ganapati cinema hall in Tharambagadi are thrown out every night because the Meenavar fisherwomen say they did not ''feel safe'' falling sleep with Dalits around.
- So 32 ostracised Dalit families took shelter in the GRM girls' school in Thanjavur. But four days ago, even the school asked them to vacate saying it was due to re-open.
Those doing the discriminating brush all this aside. Says Chellayya, a Meenavar fisherman at a Tharambagadi camp: ''These Dalits have been playing mischief, going back to the villages and looting houses. That's why we don't want them around here.''
To which Dalit activist K Darpaya says: ''What's left in the houses for Dalits to take? And where will they keep the loot even if we assume they have taken something? In the relief camps? On the road side?''
There's an irony here. For, the district administration and relief agencies have to depend on the strong network of Meenavar fishermen to disburse aid and relief. But so rampant has the discrimination become that relief in-charge for Nagapattinam district Shantasheela Nayar, Secretary, Rural Development, is deputing District Adi Dravidar Welfare Officers to relief camps.
''They will look into the problem and report back on what can be done to put an end to this. We certainly do not discriminate but if the fishermen themselves are doing it because of their local status, what can the government do?'' says Nayar.
Talk to some of the victims and instead of bitterness and anger, there is grief and helplessness.
''In Nagapattinam, three relief camps we went to denied us shelter saying they had no space. At the Nataraja Damayanti high school, the watchman refused to let us in,'' says Murugeshan.
At first, the families did not understand why but as door after door slammed in their faces, it became clearer. They approached their local municipal councillor K Tilagar. ''He assured us we would be given shelter soon but he disappeared,'' says another survivor Anjamma.
In the neighbouring GVR camp, Dalit fishermen said they are being nudged out of relief and compensation queues. ''We are inside the camp but kept in the far corner. Whenever officials and trucks come to give food, we are left out because nobody allows us to get near the trucks. Some men form a ring around us and prevent us from moving ahead in the queue,'' says Saravanan, a Dalit survivor.
''The Meenavars are more privileged as they get to sleep inside the rooms and are first to receive food and water. We have to sleep outside in the verandahs or in the open ground,'' says Jivanana.
Kesavan, a Dalit of Nambiarnagar, says he was prevented from drinking water from a plastic tank put up in the hamlet on Monday. ''We are forced to bring water in plastic cans from outside the village. The Collector's office has put up the tank here and provides clean water but it is not for us,'' he says.
V Vanitha, a Class X Dalit student, says adolescent girls are prevented from using toilet areas at Tharambagadi. ''Small children have no problem but it is an ordeal for us. There are no toilets here and they prevent us from going to the area which serves as an open toilet,'' she says.
Says activist Darpaya: ''Dalits are not allowed to drink water from tanks put up by UNICEF. Even in relief camps, Meenavars don't want to sit with Dalits and have food. Some of them manage to get rice but other relief items coming in like biscuit packets, milk powder and family household kits are denied to Dalits.''
Says M Jayanthi, a coordinator of South Indian Fishworkers Society (SIFS): ''Dalits are facing discrimination in all relief camps where they are present. But society does not want to raise the issue as it would complicate things further. Without making it public, we are opening separate facilities for Dalits exclusively,'' she says.
Sevai, an NGO-based in Karaikal, Pondicherry, 20 kms from Nagapattinam, is the first organisation to address the issue.
Coordinator R Indrani says: ''Since Dalits are not receiving sufficient food and water, we have started cooking for them in separate kitchens. They come from wherever they are taking shelter and we provide them whatever they want. We are also considering separate camps for them.''
Several NGOs which noticed the problem raised the issue during their meeting with District Collector M Veerashanmugha Moni. ''But no one is willing to take up the matter at the field level as this could complicate things. We don't want friction between the two castes by trying to address it during this crisis,'' says the team leader of NGO Accord, which is working among Dalits.
::: posted by max : 2/23/2005
Freedom for all, all for freedom
scmp - Saturday, February 5, 2005
JEREMY ZUCKER and JARED GENSER
It is no secret that many people around the world do not enjoy basic human freedoms that the rest of us take for granted. Freedom to express our political opinions or religious beliefs, to assemble peacefully, to not be arbitrarily detained without due process: all these and more remain available to far too few of us around the globe. And while it is easy to wish for an improvement to humanity's common lot, very few have the courage to stand up to their oppressors and speak out. After all, such an active approach to fundamental change involves tremendous personal risk, and many have been imprisoned, or worse, for taking such risks.
These "prisoners of conscience" should not be forgotten. They need our help. Just as they often take steps to shine a bright light on oppression, so too should we focus attention on the injustice of their detention. From Aung San Suu Kyi to Nelson Mandela, they can become tomorrow's leaders in the cause of freedom. Speaking up on behalf of those who have taken a stand can help improve respect for human rights. Many non-governmental organisations (and certain governments) already do this kind of work, but much more needs to be done.
Freedom Now was formed in 2001 with the belief that strategic and determined advocacy on behalf of certain prisoners of conscience can make an important contribution. We take on prisoners of conscience as clients, providing legal, political and public relations advocacy in pursuit of their release. And we focus on representing individuals who, by virtue of the nature of the injustices at issue, enable us to draw attention not only to their particular stories but also to larger patterns of oppression.
Through our efforts, and those of our in-country partners, we secured the release of Ayub Masih, a Pakistani Christian sentenced to death under Pakistan's draconian blasphemy laws. Mr Masih was freed after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his confinement violated fundamental principles of both Pakistani and international law, and members of the US Congress urged President Pervez Musharraf to resolve the case. Subsequently, the Supreme Court acquitted Mr Masih. We were particularly pleased that the decision resulted not only in Mr Masih's release but also set a precedent for the conduct of future blasphemy trials.
In recent days, we have celebrated the release of Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly and Nguyen Dan Que from Vietnamese prisons. Both have spoken out for greater political and religious freedom in Vietnam. While it is premature to conclude that their release indicates the Vietnamese government's recognition that their causes are just, at a minimum it indicates an awareness that these men, and their causes, enjoy broad support around the world. We continue to hope that Chinese pro-democracy activist Yang Jianli will be freed from a mainland prison, where he has languished in ill health for more than 1,000 days, notwithstanding the legal case we have made and the political support we have gathered for his release.
Our approach is but one way to demonstrate our unwavering opposition to those who would deny fundamental freedoms to their fellow men and women. There are others. For example, governments can be encouraged to gather and disseminate more information concerning these prisoners, and to make human rights more prominent in their diplomatic discourse.
Those of us blessed with freedom to express our views should not waste the opportunity to make known our contempt for oppression and our support for those who speak out against it.
Jeremy Zucker is chairman, and Jared Genser is president, of Freedom Now, a Washington-based non-governmental organisation.
::: posted by cbs : 2/06/2005
New Dossier: U.S. Military Presence in Asia
September 11, 2001 deeply affected the way we perceive many things here in Asia. When President Bush loudly voiced his opinion that “those who are not for us are against us” he effectively stifled many legitimate criticisms of US policies abroad. Fear of being labeled in league with terrorists, especially at that particular moment in history, was a great silencer. In reality, the war on terrorism has been used by the US administration as an excuse to act unilaterally in the international arena and this has included an increase in US military presence and activity in many parts of the world, including Asia.
It is very important for us to take a critical look at the US military bases in Asia because they are very closely linked to the foreign policy of the US - particularly its expansionist and imperialist tendencies. It is also important to look critically at US foreign policy because now US is the only remaining super power in the world. As such their activities and grasping tentacles should not be ignored. The US will continue to be a cause, as well as a potential solution, to many problems/conflicts in Asia.
The war on terrorism being carried out by the US has also been used by some Asian governments to suppress voices and actions of the opposition in their own countries. Directly or indirectly, US bases in Asia also influence and intrude into the domestic policies of weaker countries.
For more details, please read DAGA's November 2004 dossier on US Military Presence in Asia.
::: posted by Sharon : 2/04/2005
Interested in reading more? Check out the article archives.
