Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Ronnie Barkan the 35 year old Israeli human rights activist, conscientious objector and co-founder of Boycott from Within, a group of Israeli citizens and residents which supports the Palestinian call for BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel), has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Demanding equality – how is that illegal?’. Barkan states “If the anti-boycott law is ever put to the test, the first cases may provide an even greater boost to the BDS movement. …speaking as an Israeli-Jewish boycott activist who is working to end Israeli apartheid, the law actually serves our struggle. There is a long list of discriminatory laws against non-Jews in Israel or those affected by Israeli policies. Many of these laws were passed during the early days of the state following the forced ethnic cleansing that was meant to create an artificial Jewish majority on that land. Such racist laws were put in place to maintain, as well as institutionalise, that crime. Then came the military occupation of 1967 which introduced a whole slew of repressive military laws aimed specifically against the Palestinians under occupation. Military tribunals, with a whopping 99.7 per cent conviction rate, still stand to this day. In that sense, the anti-boycott law is nothing out of the ordinary. It is only different in one respect – that the target audience includes the privileged group under Israeli apartheid. …The Israeli anti-boycott legislation, which is meant to stifle any attempt to hold it accountable for its violations of international law, is a serious matter. Consequently, it is worrisome that several European governments have recently attempted to protect Israel from holding it legally accountable by conditioning their vote at the UN on denying recourse for Palestinians in front of the International Criminal Court, where they may have access to the protection of international law.”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/gpPrG image source Restiamoumani ow.ly/gpPpU

Lydia Cacho the 49 year old Mexican journalist, feminist, and human rights activist, described by Amnesty International as “perhaps Mexico’s most famous investigative journalist and women’s rights advocate”, her reporting focuses on violence against and sexual abuse of women and children. Cacho has been profiled by Emine Saner for the The Guardian in an article titled ‘I don’t scare easily’ despite her investigations having led to attempts on her life, and now been forced to flee her country. Saner states “At 23, she became a reporter, and started writing about violence against women. In 1999, a man followed her into the bathroom of a bus station in Cancun and inflicted a brutal attack, in which she was raped and had several bones broken – an attack, she believes, that was “punishment” for her work. And so the threats continued, especially once she started trying to expose a paedophile ring in Cancun for her previous book… “You learn how to walk the street and be looking all the time for signs of somebody coming, like a motorcycle.” …As well as her writing, she has founded a women’s shelter in Cancun; last year, it provided refuge or psychological and legal help to 30,000 women fleeing abuse. Cacho never wanted to become the story, but the threats on her life also bring a spotlight to her work, and to the dangers faced by her colleagues. …We are journalists because we want to change the world.” She smiles. “I think my job has made a difference.”

Inspired by Emine Saner ow.ly/edebh image source Twitter ow.ly/ede7M

High treason and contact with foreign parties (June 6th 2012)

Mohammed Abdelmawla al-Hariri the Syrian journalist who regularly provided updates to Al Jazeera has been sentenced to death. al-Hariri known as the ‘Citizen Journalist’ had the death sentence handed down on grounds of “high treason and contact with foreign parties”, however human rights activist groups claim the sentence is a further attempt to repress dissidents. The DOHA Centre claim “The Syrian League of the Defense of Human Rights dismisses the charges as “null and void”… The organisation claims that Hariri was tortured from the first day of his arrest and was forced to confess. “They broke his backbone and authorities refused to give him the proper medical care”… According to the Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, Hariri was tortured to the point of being partially paralysed. He has now been moved to the Saidnaya military prison north of Damascus. Local and international groups have criticised the death sentence of Hariri and demand it be revoked… Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is targeting the media in order to control what information is being broadcast out of the country. Foreign journalists are generally not allowed to enter the country. Other journalists who were already working in Syria had their accreditation revoked, faced arrest or were even tortured, trialed or killed.”

Inspired by DOHA Centre ow.ly/bgBSf image source Skeyes ow.ly/bgByn

Jewish democracy founded on ugly battles (May 31st 2012)

Ben White the British journalist and human rights activist specialising in Palestine/Israel, has published an article on Aljazeera claiming ‘Israel has a Jewish majority today because of the expulsions and denationalisation of most Palestinians living there’. White’s article titled ‘Jewish democracy founded on ugly battles’ states, …the Nakba [Day of the Catastrophe] is ongoing, in the daily acts of piecemeal ethnic cleansing from the Jordan Valley to the Negev, and secondly, the way in which the historical facts of “transfer” undermine the mythology of Israel as a supposed “Jewish and democratic” state. …Discussing Israel without mentioning the Nakba is linked to the myth of the Jewish state miraculously emerging from an unpopulated, arid wasteland. …the “invisibility” of the Arabs was self-serving. Palestine at the time of first Zionist settlement was not empty of people, but of people deemed worthy by Europeans of controlling their own country. …With the Nakba in clear view, current attempts to reconcile both “Jewish and democratic” components of Israel’s identity can be seen for what they are: a grand exercise in missing the point. The only reason why there is a Jewish majority in Israel today is because of the expulsions and denationalisation of most Palestinians who would have become citizens in the new state.”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/b7vI6 image source prc ow.ly/b7vGF

Could be taken for a nineteenth-century Russian novelist (April 28th 2012)

Gregory Shvedov the 35 year old Russian Human Rights activist and journalist renowned for his efforts in promoting human rights in Russia has been profiled by Katrina vanden Heuvel in an article for The Nation, where she states, “With his full red beard and pale complexion, Gregory Shvedov could be taken for a nineteenth-century Russian novelist. Yet Shvedov is an editor fiercely committed to independent journalism at a time when international media monitors rank Russia as among the world’s most dangerous countries for reporters. …Shvedov founded Caucasian Knot (Kavkazkii Uzel), which since its launch in 2001 has become the leading independent source of news, in Russian and English, about the Caucasus. The site has some fifty local correspondents working in twenty locations in the conflict-ridden region—a patchwork quilt of Russian and independent republics including Chechnya, Dagestan and Azerbaijan. Since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, this vast and complex region has been ravaged by civil war, occupation, violence, torture, kidnappings, terrorism, corruption, rising unemployment and growing Islamic radicalism. After September 11, 2001, by aligning himself with President George W. Bush’s “global war on terror,” President Vladimir Putin was able to largely silence international criticism of Russia’s actions in the Chechen war.”

Inspired by Katrina vanden Heuvel http://ow.ly/anGY7 image source wpfd2011 http://ow.ly/anHpt

Accused of violating the moral code of Angka (September 19th)

Vann Nath the 65 year old Cambodian painter, artist, human rights activist and recipient of the prestigious Lillian Hellman/Hammett Award for his outspoken advocacy for justice to victims of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge has died. Nath had survived along with six others from the Toul Sleng prison where over a period of three years over 15,000 people were executed. The prison was a former school used to torture the prisoners before being taken out to the ‘Killing Fields’ where the prisoners were killed with a savage blow to the back of the neck. Nath had managed to survive due to his portraiture skills in painting the Khmer Rouge leaders including the infamous Pol Pot. Nath a former Buddhist monk was awarded the Lillian Hellman/Hammett Award for recognition of his courage in the face of political persecution.

Inspired by Aljazeera http://ow.ly/6tZCk image source http://ow.ly/6u016

Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya the Russian journalist and human rights activist who was assassinated at the age of 48 in 2006 when shot dead in a lift of her apartment block in Central Moscow may be on the verge of having justice for her unresolved murder. Rustam Makhmudov a 37 year old Chechen fugitive suspect of the assassination, has been arrested by Russian authorities with the help of Belgian police, who were closing in on his Belgium hiding place prior to his escape to his parents home back in Chechnya. The arrest is claimed to be a break through in the long maligned investigation. Politkovskaya had won international awards for her anti-Kremlin reporting prior to her assassination, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of strong arm tactics in the conflict with Chechnya to stifle democracy.

Inspired by rtenews ow.ly/5aPA0 image source Colin McPherson ow.ly/5aPsj