June 2007
Issue No. 401
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Sick of promises
Jess Worth encounters a Darfurian community that’s demanding answers.
Darfur – Facts and timeline
Facts, timeline and map
War against women
Femke van Zeijl on the devastation caused by rape.
Salaam Darfur
Moataz El Fegiery and Ridwan Ziyada challenge the Arab world’s silence.
An African struggle
African civil society is getting results, reports Dismas Nkunda.
Darfur – a history
A history of Darfur
Over a barrel
Leben Nelson Moro on the curse of oil.
Don't ignore Darfur
How to take action.
News, views, and & voices
SPECIAL FEATURE
What next?
The future for the world can look bleak, dominated by technological and corporate power. But what if resistance to it won through? Pat Mooney tells a story illustrating how things might unfold differently between now and 2035.
Currents
Eupocalypse
Scary booklist of the neocons
Earth summit
Thousands gather in Guatemala for the Third Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala
Green America Steps Up
Day of action across the US demanding carbon cuts
Healthy competition, anyone?
Logging company director charged with incitement to commit murder
I'm still alive
Palestinians breaking out
Supersize me cruising
Demand grows for mega-cruiseships holding 10,000 tourists
The African cinema lion roars!
Ten day festival of African cinema in Burkina Faso.
Seriously
Dog day afternoon
Dogs on drugs stay home alone
Big Bad World
Big Bad World
Extremism at large in Polyp's cartoon.
Making Waves
Mahboubeh Hossein Zadeh
A letter from inside prison by Iranian women’s rights campaigner Mahboubeh Hossein Zadeh.
Mixed Media
MUSIC: Amam Imam
by Tinariwen
MUSIC: Goza Pepillo
by Interactivo
BOOK: My Father's Notebook
by Kader Abdolah
FILM: Ten Canoes
directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr
BOOK: The Taqwacores
by Michael Muhammad Knight
FILM: Water
written and directed by Deep Mehta
Southern Exposure
Helga Kohl
A ghost town of sand, as seen by Namibian photographer Helga Kohl.
View from Abu Dhabi
The landscape of the future
Urvashi Butalia on a cityscape of the future.
Essay
Myths of the Global Market
How the free market destroys life, by John McMurtry.
Country Profile
Antigua and Barbuda
When new Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer moved into Antigua’s government offices in 2004, his predecessors had bequeathed him a scene of desolation. Wilmoth Daniel, his deputy, explained that they found ‘the drawers open – all the files were removed like a thief in the night ... What a shame of those individuals in authority to [remove] all those files, the soul and heart of the country.’
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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR
‘God, how grim,’ is the most common reaction I’ve been getting when I tell people I’m doing a magazine on Darfur. Often followed by: ‘It’s just so awful – but there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do...’
This feeling of powerlessness in the face of extreme human suffering is unpleasant and upsetting; so we’re inclined to look away. The media’s portrayal of Darfur doesn’t help. Devoid of explanation and analysis, we are bombarded by harrowing images, left feeling shocked and confused.
I can’t deny that putting this magazine together has been disturbing. Eager to help, my search for a simple solution to Darfur’s problems has nonetheless drawn a blank. Most people I’ve spoken to – Darfurian refugees, activists, humanitarian workers – have been downbeat about Darfur’s prospects, ground down by four years of banging their heads against a brick wall.
But I’ve also found hope. Behind the horror stories lies a long history, a complex interplay between colonialism, injustice and the politics of the surrounding region. Understand this, and we can start to make sense of the current crisis.
And I’ve encountered some extraordinarily courageous individuals who will never give up. Thanks to their relentless work, campaigns for Darfur are now blossoming all over the world. We owe it to the people of Darfur to take a long, unflinching look at their situation – and the part our countries have had in creating and perpetuating it. Then perhaps we can finally start to play an effective supporting role in their quest for peace.
Jess Worth for the
New Internationalist Co-operative
jess@newint.org
Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
