Bedouin warrior by Cultural Collections, University of Newcastle on Flickr. This photograph is from an album created by Lt Thomas Gerald George Fahey who served in the Australian Light Horse in the Middle East during World War 1. The Bedouin are comprised of various Arabic tribes who were forced into a precarious nomadic lifestyle in the late 19th Century under Ottoman rule. Some Bedouin tribes fought alongside the Turks during the First World War. During the early 1960s, severe drought forced many Bedouin away from a herding lifestyle, and most now live in large cities such as Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria.   

Bedouin warrior by Cultural Collections, University of Newcastle on Flickr.

This photograph is from an album created by Lt Thomas Gerald George Fahey who served in the Australian Light Horse in the Middle East during World War 1.

The Bedouin are comprised of various Arabic tribes who were forced into a precarious nomadic lifestyle in the late 19th Century under Ottoman rule. Some Bedouin tribes fought alongside the Turks during the First World War. During the early 1960s, severe drought forced many Bedouin away from a herding lifestyle, and most now live in large cities such as Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria. 

 

  In Hawaii, the Occupy Maui movement seeks to drive out Monsanto which uses local land to grow genetically modified (GM) crops as well as carrying out open air chemicals testing. Hawaii activists are protesting the health risks and political influence of Monsanto over Hawaii’s government. Monsanto is the largest corporation in Hawaii but other biotech companies also have strong influence in Hawaii. Protesters say that the biotech industry is another form of colonialism, as it evokes parallels with the USA sugar industry in 1893 which deposed the Hawaii Kingdom, effectively removing the local custom of land as a communal resource.  Al Jazeera cites that in 2012 alone 170 million hectares of land around the world was used to grow GM crops, and around 69.5 million hectares of this was in the USA. While some researchers say that GM crops are perfectly safe and necessary to feed the world’s rapidly growing population, the problem is that the law does not require GM foods to be labelled. Effectively, this disempowers consumers from making informed choices about their own nutrition. Images & information: Al Jazeera. Infographic by Visual.ly. High-res
What do you know about GMOs?
 
In Hawaii, the Occupy Maui movement seeks to drive out Monsanto which uses local land to grow genetically modified (GM) crops as well as carrying out open air chemicals testing. Hawaii activists are protesting the health risks and political influence of Monsanto over Hawaii’s government.

Monsanto is the largest corporation in Hawaii but other biotech companies also have strong influence in Hawaii. Protesters say that the biotech industry is another form of colonialism, as it evokes parallels with the USA sugar industry in 1893 which deposed the Hawaii Kingdom, effectively removing the local custom of land as a communal resource. 

Al Jazeera cites that in 2012 alone 170 million hectares of land around the world was used to grow GM crops, and around 69.5 million hectares of this was in the USA. While some researchers say that GM crops are perfectly safe and necessary to feed the world’s rapidly growing population, the problem is that the law does not require GM foods to be labelled. Effectively, this disempowers consumers from making informed choices about their own nutrition.

Images & information: Al Jazeera. Infographic by Visual.ly.

In the Western port city of Houdieda, Yemen’s class system is evident in a slum area where the Akhdam community live. The term Akhdam translates to “servant” in Arabic and they are also known as “the marginalised ones,” as they are only given the poorest paid jobs and they are looked down upon. Reuters writes:

Yemeni Akhdam, or servants, are similar to hereditary castes, but are distinguished by their African features and the menial jobs they perform. Widespread prejudice places the Akhdam at the bottom of Yemen’s social ladder. Asked about the origins of the Akhdam, Yemenis say they are descendants of Ethiopians who crossed the Red Sea to conquer Yemen before the arrival of Islam some 1,400 years ago - making them outsiders in their own country. Most live in slum areas in the outskirts of the capital Sanaa and other main cities. They reside in small huts haphazardly built of wood and cloth, without basic services such as running water, electricity and sewage networks. 

Photos October 2012 via Reuters/Khaled Abdullah.

New Fundamentalist Constitution Approved, Heralds turn to Egyptian Theocracy | Informed Comment

Various protests continue in Egypt as the Muslim Brotherhood passes a new constitution that favours conservative religious rule rather than civil liberties. Juan Cole writes:

Short of a military coup (which no one but the holdovers of the old regime wanted) or another mass revolution (hard to organize twice in a row in the space of a couple of years), the only course of action open to Morsi’s many critics now is to contest vigorously the February parliamentary elections and to work over the coming years to repeal the articles in the constitution to which they object. In short, they are now in a position similar to that of American liberals in the 1920s who wanted to repeal the 1921 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which made the sale and distribution of alcohol illegal. (To be clear, Morsi and his Brotherhood-based Freedom and Justice Party probably will not go so far as to forbid alcohol in Egypt, but have signalled that they will place heavy sin taxes on it).

The danger going forward is that large swathes of society will forgo electoral politics to engage in civil disobedience to protest fundamentalist or right wing elements of this constitution. For instance, the text allows labor unions and collective bargaining, but forbids more than one union for each trade. Depending on how the courts interpret this article, many workers could feel disenfranchised by being herded into an official union they don’t like. In turn, the 3000 strikes staged in the zeroes could be outstripped in this decade.

doctorswithoutborders: Photo: Looted and burned houses in Pinga after fighting between armed groups caused the majority of the town’s population—together with many of MSF’s Congolese staff—to flee the area in October. DRC 2012 © MSF Violence in North Kivu, DRC, Displaces Thousands, Forces Majority of MSF Personnel to Evacuate Active fighting has hit the town of Pinga in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) once again, forcing 20,000 inhabitants and the majority of Congolese personnel employed by MSF to flee for the second time in six weeks. Armed groups have clashed in the last few days, causing widespread panic and alarm in the area. Fearing for their lives, people grabbed whatever they could carry and ran into the surrounding forests. While displaced from their homes and villages, people’s access to health care is extremely limited. Some of those wounded in the fighting were brought to the MSF-run hospital 50 kilometers [about 31 miles] away in Mweso where doctors treated 24 people for violent trauma. Twelve more managed to reach the Mpeti health center 18 kilometers [about 11 miles] away from Pinga. “What we see in Pinga is the tip of the iceberg,” said Grace Tang, MSF head of mission. “This kind of violence and mass displacement is happening throughout the province of North Kivu. We’re trying to respond as best we can in very difficult and challenging circumstances.” High-res

doctorswithoutborders:

Photo: Looted and burned houses in Pinga after fighting between armed groups caused the majority of the town’s population—together with many of MSF’s Congolese staff—to flee the area in October. DRC 2012 © MSF

Violence in North Kivu, DRC, Displaces Thousands, Forces Majority of MSF Personnel to Evacuate


Active fighting has hit the town of Pinga in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) once again, forcing 20,000 inhabitants and the majority of Congolese personnel employed by MSF to flee for the second time in six weeks.

Armed groups have clashed in the last few days, causing widespread panic and alarm in the area. Fearing for their lives, people grabbed whatever they could carry and ran into the surrounding forests. While displaced from their homes and villages, people’s access to health care is extremely limited. Some of those wounded in the fighting were brought to the MSF-run hospital 50 kilometers [about 31 miles] away in Mweso where doctors treated 24 people for violent trauma. Twelve more managed to reach the Mpeti health center 18 kilometers [about 11 miles] away from Pinga.

“What we see in Pinga is the tip of the iceberg,” said Grace Tang, MSF head of mission. “This kind of violence and mass displacement is happening throughout the province of North Kivu. We’re trying to respond as best we can in very difficult and challenging circumstances.”

crisisgroup: Mali: No Quick Fixes for a Complex Crisis | allAfrica By Gilles Yabi The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has agreed on a revised concept of operations for the deployment of an international military force of 3,300 soldiers to help the Malian state wrest control of the northern part of the country from Islamist fighters. This step, taken on November 11 following a collective effort by regional and international partners, is welcome. But military intervention alone cannot solve the country’s deep crisis. The situation in Mali is desperately fractious. A military coup toppled the government in March, while separatists and al-Qaeda-linked fundamentalists took over the northern half of the country. Mali is now divided geographically, politically, militarily and religiously. FULL ARTICLE (allAfrica) Photo: Magharebia/Flickr   High-res

crisisgroup:

Mali: No Quick Fixes for a Complex Crisis | allAfrica

By Gilles Yabi

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has agreed on a revised concept of operations for the deployment of an international military force of 3,300 soldiers to help the Malian state wrest control of the northern part of the country from Islamist fighters.

This step, taken on November 11 following a collective effort by regional and international partners, is welcome. But military intervention alone cannot solve the country’s deep crisis.

The situation in Mali is desperately fractious. A military coup toppled the government in March, while separatists and al-Qaeda-linked fundamentalists took over the northern half of the country. Mali is now divided geographically, politically, militarily and religiously.

FULL ARTICLE (allAfrica)

Photo: Magharebia/Flickr  

“There is something grotesque and disturbing about two parties with a long history of conflict live-narrating the launching of bombs that kill civilians and destroy communities.”

The Israeli military and Hamas are livetweeting their war, including images of killed and wounded children. This certainly raises some questions, including for the companies whose platforms they’re using.

(The linked articles notes that the Israeli army’s Twitter account was briefly suspended. However, this is based on a report in the Daily Dot that does not cite sources for its claim, so I would treat it with caution.)

The Washington Post has more, including on a Youtube video from the Israeli military that was briefly taken down but has been reinstated.

(via curiousontheroad)

FJP: Agreeing with the next sentence: “There is no empowerment or revolution here: just a dark, sinking feeling as we watch the bloodshed unfold in real time.”

And in the things they didn’t teach you in school department, to delete the content or suspend the accounts “is not a decision a couple of hundred engineers in North California want to be making.”

Jessica Roy, BetaBeat. Social Media Companies Have Absolutely No Idea How to Handle the Gaza Conflict.

(via futurejournalismproject)

(via futurejournalismproject)

Islamabad, October 2008: A dust storm in the countryside. Rawalpindi, March 2009: police officers protecting a man who was assaulted by an unknown assailant. Islamabad, February 2008: Supporters of PMLN party during the speech of one of their local leaders. Pakistan, Karachi, September 2010: people accourred to help a man that was apparently casually injured during the target killing of two journalists in Saddar. Pakistan Dec 2009, Peshawar: the neighbors of a 28 years old man who lost his life in a suicide blast accurred in a market near the district court are waiting to attend at the funeral. Pakistan, Abbottabad, May 2010: people in the Abbottabad central square during a protest caused by a prolonged and unsheduled electricity loadshedding.

picturedept:

Massimo Berruti, The Dusty Path
Recipient of the 2012 W. Eugene Smith Fellowship

Massimo Berruti has spent years working in and interpreting the challenging and complex world of Pakistan. With a population of 190 million people, a number of distinct languages and dialects, elaborate cultural variations, and an ongoing external and internal struggle between extremists, deeply conservative elements in society, moderates, and the military, Massimo’s photographs are powerful documents that illuminate the nuance and intrigue that perpetually manifest and animate this vast and little understood part of the world.

The Dusty Path was awarded the 2012 W. Eugene Smith Fellowship, announced yesterday. The 2012 W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography was awarded to Peter Van Agtmael, for Disco Night September 11. For more information on the Eugene Smith Memorial Fund and its past award recipients, visit smithfund.org.

(via newsweek)

reuters: Taliban insurgents said on Tuesday that the Pakistani schoolgirl its gunmen shot in the head deserved to die because she had spoken out against the group and praised U.S. President Barack Obama. Pakistan’s Taliban described Malala Yousufzai, 14, as a “spy of the West”. “For this espionage, infidels gave her awards and rewards. And Islam orders killing of those who are spying for enemies,” the group said in a statement. “She used to propagate against mujahideen (holy warriors) to defame (the) Taliban. The Quran says that people propagating against Islam and Islamic forces would be killed. READ ON: Taliban says its attack on Pakistani schoolgirl justified High-res

reuters:

Taliban insurgents said on Tuesday that the Pakistani schoolgirl its gunmen shot in the head deserved to die because she had spoken out against the group and praised U.S. President Barack Obama.

Pakistan’s Taliban described Malala Yousufzai, 14, as a “spy of the West”.

“For this espionage, infidels gave her awards and rewards. And Islam orders killing of those who are spying for enemies,” the group said in a statement.

“She used to propagate against mujahideen (holy warriors) to defame (the) Taliban. The Quran says that people propagating against Islam and Islamic forces would be killed.

READ ON: Taliban says its attack on Pakistani schoolgirl justified

“It must develop an effective common security policy framework, improve coordination with international partners, harmonise and clarify its role with other SADC structures, broaden engagement with civil society, ensure member-state commitment to African Union (AU) efforts on human and people’s rights and build capacity for evaluation and monitoring.”

from Crisis Group’s latest report, “Implementing Peace and Security Architecture (II): Southern Africa”

(via crisisgroup)

(via crisisgroup)

A child living in the shanty area of al-Dweiqa walks past smouldering rubbish as he makes his way home from school in Cairo October 4, 2012. Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has won grudging respect from detractors in his first 100 days by sending the army back to barracks faster than anyone expected and raising Egypt’s international profile in several newsmaking visits abroad. Yet his political fortunes and those of the Muslim Brotherhood which propelled him to power may well depend on his delivering on more mundane issues such as easing traffic congestion and bread and fuel shortages by October 7 as promised. Picture taken October 4, 2012.  Via: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany High-res

A child living in the shanty area of al-Dweiqa walks past smouldering rubbish as he makes his way home from school in Cairo October 4, 2012. Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has won grudging respect from detractors in his first 100 days by sending the army back to barracks faster than anyone expected and raising Egypt’s international profile in several newsmaking visits abroad. Yet his political fortunes and those of the Muslim Brotherhood which propelled him to power may well depend on his delivering on more mundane issues such as easing traffic congestion and bread and fuel shortages by October 7 as promised. Picture taken October 4, 2012. 

Via: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Burmese Activist Aung San Suu Kyi is a Nobel laureate, member of the Myanmar opposition party and chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD). Suu Kyi was born into a political family. Her father was assassinated when Suu Kyi was an infant; he was killed for playing a key role in establishing his country’s independence from the British in 1947. Suu Kyi would go on to play a similarly historical role in shaping her nation.

Returning to her country after studying in India and the UK in 1988, Suu Kyi joined the democratic movement that was sweeping across Myanmar (Burma) in response to a violent military coup that killed up to 5,000 protesters. In the same year, Suu Kyi established the NLD and they ran in the national elections. Suu Kyi was detained under house arrest leading up to the elections in 1990. The NLD won the majority of votes as well as the majority of parliamentary seats, but they did not take power. Instead, over the next two decades, Suu Kyi was detained as a political prisoner over two long stretches which totalled 15 years. She was finally released in November 2010.

These photos are from Suu Kyi recent tour of the United States, where she received the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington to honour her commitment to justice, democracy and political reconciliation.

Photos via: TIME.

crisisgroup: US and others have ‘licence to ignore international law’ in Somalia | The Bureau of Investigative Journalism By Jack Serle The Somali government has given free rein to international forces including the US and African Union to act with impunity in the country, a number of sources have told the Bureau. During the country’s two decades of conflict, its frail government invited numerous outside forces in to help fight threats such as the al Shabaab Islamic militant movement. FULL ARTICLE (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism) Photo: Giro555/Flickr High-res

crisisgroup:

US and others have ‘licence to ignore international law’ in Somalia | The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

By Jack Serle

The Somali government has given free rein to international forces including the US and African Union to act with impunity in the country, a number of sources have told the Bureau.

During the country’s two decades of conflict, its frail government invited numerous outside forces in to help fight threats such as the al Shabaab Islamic militant movement.

FULL ARTICLE (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)

Photo: Giro555/Flickr

crisisgroup: Syria: a peaceful uprising turned brutal civil war | AFP By Tanya Willmer The spark was lit in March 2011, when a group of young boys were arrested and cruelly tortured for daubing walls in the southern Syrian city of Daraa with anti-government graffiti. A year and a half on, a once peaceful uprising against President Bashar al-Assad inspired by the Arab Spring revolts against other autocratic regimes has descended into brutal civil war with no endgame in sight, analysts say. FULL ARTICLE (AFP) Photo: FreedomHouse/Flickr High-res

crisisgroup:

Syria: a peaceful uprising turned brutal civil war | AFP

By Tanya Willmer

The spark was lit in March 2011, when a group of young boys were arrested and cruelly tortured for daubing walls in the southern Syrian city of Daraa with anti-government graffiti.

A year and a half on, a once peaceful uprising against President Bashar al-Assad inspired by the Arab Spring revolts against other autocratic regimes has descended into brutal civil war with no endgame in sight, analysts say.

FULL ARTICLE (AFP)

Photo: FreedomHouse/Flickr