Mois : avril 2006

Linked with our presentation on The Word in Times of Crisis.

And linked with our presentation The Andalus Publishing House.

Yael Lerer publishes Arabic literature in Hebrew. Youssef Hidjazi spoke with the young Israeli about her interest in authors like Mahmoud Darwish, Mohamed Choukri and Huda Barakat, and about the difficulties she confronts as a publisher of Arabic literature in Israel. (See on Quantara.de).

Yael Lerer – Israel

She says: I learned Arabic ten years ago for political and ideological reasons, and I consider myself very lucky – it allows me to read Arabic literature and gives me special insights into Arab culture. Because of this personal experience, I decided to let others share this privilege. Once I began studying Arabic, I learned more than I had originally planned; I discovered my interest in Arabic literature and poetry and realized how foreign Arab culture had been to me before that. Even though I have had Arab friends, colleagues and comrades-in-arms for years. Four years ago I began building up a new publishing house, Al-Andalus, to publish Hebrew translations of Arabic literature. My original approach was cultural, through literature; I did not become politically active until later on. After five years working in the Israeli Parliament every day for Dr. Azmi Bishara, I simply couldn’t stand the work any more and decided to give it up. The Arab members of the Israeli Parliament are confronted with Israeli racism on a daily basis, and I found that impossible to take. (See a very long interview, conducted by Youssef Hijazi, translation from German by Isabel Coleon, with © at Qantara 2004, on Quantara.de).

Excerpt: … Yael Lerer, editor of the Andalus publishing house, Osnat Trabelsi and Prof. Avi Oz are doing all they can to contribute to the success of the project, … about creating ‘The Freedom Theater’, Mrch 5, 2006 … (go to The Freedom Theatre).

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Ghada Jamshir says: « Brother T., this kind of marriage, this kind of behavior, diminishes the woman’s honor as a human being. » (See on Smooth Stone).

Admirers have written concerning Ghada Jamshir: « She is one feisty woman, and for some orthodox males, such forcefulness is itself a crime against ‘submission,’ so cherished in Islam. Her style is firm, aggressive, no-nonsense. This amazing woman who refuses to wear a veil, condemns lack of family planning, Sharia courts, and accuses the categorizations of ‘Islamic’ marriage as oppressive to women. « Ms. Jamshir is not a lady to be messed with, and she has nothing but contempt and derision for her critics. If only there were more like her in the Arab world », ones said. (Read the rest of this article on The Americn Daily, Phoenix).

Ghada Jamshir – Bahrain

Excerpts: Ghada Jamshir is a Bahraini Women’s Rights Activist. She is a Muslim reformer and an ardent campaigner against the child molestation and perversion with infants which is sanctioned in Islam. Ghada Jamshir heads a women’s committee lobbying for a law that would shift jurisdiction over family and women’s affairs from Islamic Sharia court to civil courts. She has been charged with publicly defaming the Islamic judiciary court but the charge was dropped … for some orthodox males, such forcefulness is itself a crime against ‘submission,’ so cherished in Islam … if only there were more like her in the Arab world. » Read the rest on wikipedia).

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Linked with our presentation of The Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Economic Globalisation.

And linked with our presentation of Economic Globalization and the Environment.

Jason Morrison is director of the Pacific Institute’s Economic Globalization and the Environment Program, where he is currently studying private sector environmental initiatives, performance-based regulatory innovation, and voluntary international standards.

Jason Morrison – USA

Since 1997, Mr. Morrison has focused on the international environmental management standards – ISO 14000. He is a member of the US Technical Advisory Group to ISO Technical Committee 207 (the body that develops the ISO 14000 standards), as well as a U.S. delegate to TC 207 on standards pertaining to ecolabeling and environmental communications. He currently serves as Chair of the ISO/TC 207 NGO Task Group.

Mr. Morrison has also been investigating the emerging use of Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) in public policy. He is a board member of the Multi-State Working Group on EMSs (MSWG), a coalition of state and federal agencies investigating the role of EMSs in performance-based regulatory innovation. He sits on the EMS Advisory Council for NSF International Strategic Registrations, Ltd. and is an Advisory Committee member of the National Biosolids Partnership EMS Initiative. Mr. Morrison holds a Master’s Degree from Boston University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Studies and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of California, San Diego. In 1994, Mr. Morrison was a fellow with the Americans and World Affairs Fellowship Program in Berkeley, California.

In addition to working on issues relating to international environmental standards and regulatory innovation, Mr. Morrison has conducted research on the sustainable management of freshwater resources and water planning in the southwestern U.S. His past research includes work on restoration of the Salton Sea in California and binational water management in the Colorado River border region. (Read more on his website on the Pacific Institute).

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Linkedwith our presentation of The role of Culture in Areas of Conflict.

He writes on April 1, 1998: We need to work out a kind of art that breaks down stereotypes. He believes that the two religious extremes in Israel and Palestine are incapable of outlining the future, since the fundamentalist forces threaten the very existence of the people. He dies on April 4, 2003 in his home in Ramallah.

Izzat GHAZZAWI – Palestinian

He was born and raised on the West Bank. In 1948 Mr. Ghazzawi’s family fled to the West bank. Three years later Izzat was born into the already large family consisting of his mother and father and ten brothers and sisters. At the age of 13, Izzat Ghazzawi wrote his first play. It was a short play about a loaf of bread that was rolling in the streets. Everybody tried to catch it but nobody succeeded. He says: « you can’t choose to become a writer it is a feeling inside yourself ». In 1971 Ghazzawi graduated from the University of Amman with an MA degree in English Literature and he lectures at Beirut University. (Read more on klys.se).

BIOGRAPHY – 1951 December 4: Born in Dayr al-Ghusoun, to refugee parents. 1974: Graduates from University of Jordan with a BA in American-British literature. 1982: Graduates from University of South Dakota, USA with MA in American-British literature. Starts working as lecturer at Bir Zeit University in Palestine (at this time: Jordan, but under Israeli occupation). 1989 February: Imprisoned for political activity, in the Ashkelon prison, Beer Sheva, Israel. 1991 May: Released from prison. 1993: His son Rami is shot dead, while participating in the Intifada. 1994: Receives the International Prize for Freedom of expression in Stavanger, Norway. 1995: Is elected president of the Palestinian Writers Union. 2003 April 4: Dies in his home in Ramallah.

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Linked with the presentations of The Suffering Palestinian Women Undergo Every Day, and of opposing, challenging and resisting 37 years of occupation.

Dr. Nurit Peled-Elhanan is the mother of Smadar Elhanan, 13 years old when killed by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem in September 1997. She writes: I have never experienced the suffering Palestinian women undergo every day, every hour, I don’t know the kind of violence that turns a woman’s life into constant hell. This daily physical and mental torture of women who are deprived of their basic human rights and needs of privacy and dignity, women whose homes are broken into at any moment of day and night, who are ordered at a gun-point to strip naked in front of strangers and their own children, whose houses are demolished, who are deprived of their livelihood and of any normal family life. This is not part of my personal ordeal. But I am a victim of violence against women insofar as violence against children is actually violence against mothers. (See on peacepalestine).

Nurit Peled – Israel

She writes: I have never experienced the suffering Palestinian women undergo every day, every hour, I don’t know the kind of violence that turns a woman’s life into constant hell. This daily physical and mental torture of women who are deprived of their basic human rights and needs of privacy and dignity, women whose homes are broken into at any moment of day and night, who are ordered at a gun-point to strip naked in front of strangers and their own children, whose houses are demolished, who are deprived of their livelihood and of any normal family life. This is not part of my personal ordeal. But I am a victim of violence against women insofar as violence against children is actually violence against mothers.

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In addition to being one of Pakistan’s most respected architects and an advocate for preservation of historical sites, Yasmeen Lari has the distinction of being Pakistan’s first woman architect. After retiring from a career in architecture which spanned over thirty-five years, these days she is devoting her time to writing and serving as an advisor to UNESCO project, Conservation and Preservation of Lahore Fort. She is also the executive director of Heritage Foundation and the Chairperson of Karavan Initiatives, both are organizations devoted to historic preservation. (See more on Women of Pakistan).

Yasmeen Lari – Pakistan

One of the first Pakistani women architects, Yasmeen Lari is instilling a sense of civic pride and national unity by promoting awareness of cultural heritage and conservation of cultural assets among a population divided on ethnic, religious, class, and political lines in Karachi and other cities in Pakistan. Through a carefully orchestrated cultural campaign of street festivals and other educational activities, Yasmeen brings together citizens to reclaim their urban spaces and participate in activities that enable citizens and government organizations to demonstrate pride and a strong sense of belonging to their common home.

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Linked with our presentation of Mohawks pass into another millennium.

Linked also with our presentation of an Indigenous Approach on Bridging the Digital Divide.

Kenneth Deer – Mohawk Nation, Canada. His Mohawk’s name is Atsenhaienton, which means “The fire still burns”.

On the Preparatory Committee of the World Summit he writes: We the Indigenous Peoples affirm our right to be part of the global information society on our own terms. However, the information society that is currently evolving has become another instrument for colonizing, assimilating and marginalizing Indigenous Peoples in a new and subtle way. We therefore emphasize that our participation in the building and implementing of the information society must be based on our right to self-determination and the recognition of our cultural diversity and distinctiveness as Indigenous Peoples.

We need to be represented with our own visions, philosophies and concepts on the conceptual framework of the information society and any action plan for its implementation. Moreover, our full and effective participation in the evolution of the information society must take place in equal partnership with its non-indigenous actors. We stress that we have the right to shape our future without the risk of losing our cultural identity. The information society and its four elements; knowledge, information, communications and ICTs, are cultural concept and expressions. Accordingly, our own culturally defined approaches, protocols, proceedings and obligations have to be respected by non-indigenous actors when implementing the information society. (KENNETH DEER, Mohawk).

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Linked with our presentation of DEPDC – Thailand.

The Shame: As the gap between rich and poor grows wider, destitute Asians are increasingly selling their most valuable property: their children. Accross Asia, tens of thousands of children from poor families are being sold into slavery, so that customers can use them as prostitutes, as laborers. Time surveys the lives of the region’s youngest victims.

Sompop Jantraka – Thailand

Their families sell them, and then SOMPOP JANTRAKA finds a life for Thailand’s army of female sex slaves. He is the founder and director of DEPDC, Development Education Programme for Daughters and Communities, which has been highlighted by the Skoll foundation in their New Heroes documentary series. The New Heroes is a PBS documentary series that will air on all national television on Tuesday, June 28th and Tuesday, July 5th. Hosted by Robert Redford, the new Heroes tell 12 dramatic stories of daring social entrepreneurs around the globe that focused on self-sustaining programs that gave long-term results for their target populations. (See the new Heroes).

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