Alternatives International

Keeping Hope Afloat: Freedom Flotilla II

Melissa Wils-Owens — 2011-07-01T16:48:43Z

Last month, an international fleet of ships embarked for Gaza as the sequel to the 2010 Freedom Flotilla which triggered the relaxation of Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip. This territory is on the brink of being intentionally reduced to deprivation, starvation and rubble. Caught between Israel's efforts to protect itself, and Hamas' military resistance to Israel, civilians in Gaza are beset with a spectrum of unlawful restrictions on indispensable materials.

Hamas, a political party founded to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation, won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in Gaza in January 2006. After Hamas refused to return a kidnapped Israeli soldier, Galid Shalit, Israel and Egypt instated an air, land and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip in hopes of exhausting Hamas' resources. The blockade prohibited Palestinian travel to and from Gaza, as well as the import of food, housing supplies, medical equipment, antibiotics, electronics, and even fishing rods. In an effort to weaken Hamas, Israel launched a three-week military campaign to level Gazan infrastructure, bombing factories, hospitals, schools, neighborhoods...and a few Hamas hubs. Thus, while the Israeli government is only in contention with Hamas, it has proven itself willing to deprive Palestinian civilians of medicine, food, and housing; of their basic livelihoods. Such “collective punishment” is illegal under international humanitarian law.

On May 31, 2010, a Gaza flotilla composed of six ships attempted to break through the blockade and supply Gaza with aid. As Israel should not have jurisdiction over Gaza's water, boat entry was selected as the most peaceful mode of entry. The fleet was seized and obstructed by Israeli naval forces, however the flotilla induced a slew of nations to demand that Israel and Egypt ease or lift the blockade. The next day Egypt partially opened the Rafah border crossing, and on June 17 Israel's Prime Minister announced that Israel's security cabinet agreed to relax the blockade and permit the flow of strictly civilian goods over the border. Still, the gamut of goods necessary to strengthen the economy in Gaza are beyond reach, and housing supplies remain limited due to Israel's fear that Hamas will sequester potential military supplies. With the echoes of progress reverberating throughout communities concerned for Gazan human rights, a second flotilla, Freedom Flotilla II, set sail last month.

Canada's boat, Tahrir, will join boats from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Australia and the United States in hopes of providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, and provoking further pressure on Israel to lift the blockade completely. The group Canadian Boat to Gaza (CBG) is an initiative of Canadian civil society committed to direct peaceful action towards ending the imprisonment of 1.6 million Palestinians. Yet Canada remains a steadfast supporter of Israel. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada website advises against attempting to break the naval blockade and warns that Canadian consular officials will not provide consular aid to Canadians who participate in the flotilla. For Canadians, participation in the flotilla is as much a statement to the Harper administration as it is to the Israeli government; there is a disjunction in both nations between civilian needs and administrative priorities.

In a film shot by the CBG, Dr. Mona Al Farra explains that the flotilla will remind the whole world of the daily inhuman practices occurring in the Gaza Strip. Farra, a physician and human rights activist, expressed that ninety-five percent of citizens suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, phobias, and mental illnesses, which Gaza does not have the resources to remedy. Rather than destroy Israel, most Gazans want only to lead normal lives, go to school, maintain jobs, and build a home. While the humanitarian aid will be readily welcomed, Farra believes that the international solidarity symbolized by the flotilla will resonate profoundly throughout this tumultuous territory, reminding Gazans that they are not alone in their struggle for freedom.

Yours in Solidarity,

Melissa Wils-Owens

About the AIJ: The Alternatives International Journal (AIJ) is published by Alternatives, a member of the Alternatives International federation. The articles represent the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Alternatives International.

Editors-in-Chief: Melissa Wils-Owens, Isabelle Reford.
Editorial Board: Feroz Mehdi, Michael Ryan Wiseman, Darren Shore.
Associate Editors: Marion Bauer, Erin Hudson, Talia Joundi, Kartiga Thiyagarajah.

Feedback: The AIJ welcomes comments, questions, suggestions, and criticisms. Email aij@alterinter.org.

Contributing: The AIJ is a volunteer-based not-for-profit publication, which remains open to new contributors and participants. To submit an article or photos for publication, participate on the editorial team, or otherwise get involved, email aij@alterinter.org.

Alternatives International Project Briefing - July 2011

Isabelle Reford, Melissa Wils-Owens — 2011-07-01T16:36:00Z

Each of the nine member organizations of the Alternatives International federation is constantly at work on a variety of projects to improve social, economic and environmental justice in their respective countries and to create international solidarity. Every month, the AIJ publishes the Project Briefing which features a summary of an interesting project from each of the members. Read on to learn how Alternatives International is changing the world.

Alternatives Espaces Citoyens – Niamey, Niger

Radio Alternative FM (99.4 FM) is an outlet for independent information and discussion in French and local languages in Niger's two largest cities, Niamey and Zinder. A selection of broadcasts is also available online (http://www.alternativefm.org/#). The radio was created by Alternatives Espaces Citoyens in 2003. After surviving a brief period of censorship in 2005, Radio Alternative FM continues to broadcast on a daily basis. Environmental conservation, gender equality, human rights, youth culture, current events and democracy are the major themes that Alternatives FM develops. Most recently, in conjunction with Niger Women's Day in May, several on-air shows featured discussions on women's role in politics through both popular participation and direct involvement as parliamentarians. Today there are fourteen women in Nigerien parliament, a significant improvement since the first Niger Women's Day in 1991when women marched to protest their exclusion from the committee forming the country's new government. A recent law passed in Senegal which moves from a quota of women in politics to gender equality was also discussed as an option for Niger. Listen here...

Alternative Information Center - Jerusalem, Israel

On June 19, 2011 the Alternative Information Center (AIC) received a letter from a group of activists entitled “Ruh Jedidia,” or “A New Spirit for 2011.” The AIC published a video on their website which explains the context of the letter: the plight of Mizrahi Jews in Israel. Unable to go back to their home countries which are considered enemy nations by Israeli judgement, Mizrahis are also denied the education needed for upward social mobility. The letter expresses Mizrahi status in Israel as being an illusion of freedom because, unlike Palestinians in Israel, they are considered Israeli and hold Israeli citizenship. Ultimately, the signatories of the letter are calling out to Mizrahi peers in Israel and Northern Africa to take action towards improving the quality of life and access to education in the coming year. Read more...

Alternatives Asia – New Delhi, India

A number of members of Alternatives Asia are on the Board of Directors of Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi(BGVS), a non-profit organization that works to promote literacy in twenty-two of India's provinces. BGVS believes that reducing illiteracy in India is the starting point for social transformation. Its projects are in place to fill the existing demand for literacy and to increase this demand by reaching underprivileged children and adults throughout the country. As part of its campaign to promote literacy, BVGS held a national script writing workshop in August 2010. Twenty writers from across the country convened in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh for the eight day workshop, the focus of which was to create scripts for songs and theatrical plays centred on the Right to Education Act. The scripts were developed in both local and national languages. This creative approach to literacy is only one of the ways BGVS is educating the Indian people. Read more...

Forum des Alternatives Maroc – Rabat, Morocco

Through the e-joussour internet portal, Forum des Alternatives Maroc (FMAS) is developing a new project entitled “Medias Communautaires, pour une information citoyenne.” In May 2011, members of FMAS met to evaluate the wants and needs of various actors in civil society in terms of information and communication. The goal of the meeting was to propose reforms for the communications sector in order to uphold the freedom of speech. Ultimately, the group called for the implementation of a legislative framework that guarantees the existence of community media. By developing the field of community media, FMAS will contribute to the strengthening of the foundations of democracy and enlarge the spectrum of civil liberties, in particular freedom of expression in Morocco and in the region. The project is currently in its first stages and will be ongoing until late 2013. Read more...

Initiative pour un autre monde – Paris, France

On June 22 and 23, the Ministers of Agriculture of the G20 countries met for the first time in Paris to discuss the global agriculture market. The meeting's main focus was the volatility of food prices and supplies, an issue that has been at the forefront of debate in agricultural circles for the past few years. It has been brought to the attention of world leaders following widespread protest in 2008 against the average rise in food prices which further impoverished many of the world's poor, particularly in the global South. The Initiative pour un autre monde (IPAM) network gathered with its member organizations and other stakeholders in global agriculture (peasant farmers, consumers and citizens alike) in Paris' Jardin des Tuileries for a “festive, alternative and active picnic.” The goal was to speak up on behalf of those who were not represented by the G20 leaders at the June meeting. Activists consider the solutions agreed upon by the G20 countries to be insufficient in preventing future food crises, nor do they support subsistence farming practices, which are believed to be the only way to support the world's starving population. Read more...

Alternatives Montreal — Montreal, Canada

Since 1994, Alternatives Montreal has focused Canadian interest in social and political activism through an annual event called Alternatives' Days. Both an opportunity for Canadian camaraderie and strategy development, Alternatives' Days is a weekend of activities related to current social, economic, political and environmental concerns. Activists and artists from within and outside Quebec, as well as international partners, official guests and members of Alternatives come together to share analyses, reflections, music and good will. Activities include panel discussions with well-known public figures, a variety of practical workshops, cultural activities, kiosques for community organizations and local produce, evenings around the bonfire and open air activities for the whole family. This year's theme is Revolutions Facing Neo-liberalism, referring particularly to the Arab Spring. Alternatives' Days exposes concerns, entices discussion and illuminates the need for global solidarity, making it a pivotal occasion. It will be held from August 19-21 at Camp Papillon de St-Alphonse de Rodriguez in the Lanaudière region. Read more...

Teacher Creativity Center - Ramallah, Palestine

This June, The Palestinian Teacher Creativity Center conducted a training session for mothers in the Silwan region of Jerusalem. The objective of this eight day program was to educate and empower women by addressing common issues faced by educational systems in Silwan. Funded by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNIFEM), the training dealt with educational student counseling, the presence of violence in schools, methods for educating children with learning difficulties, and a range of other issues directly pertinent to the women's families. The women in attendance hope redirect their knowledge of education towards improving the local school environment. This program was successful despite an area of Silwan's occupation by Israel, and the strict traditional roles that women hold in the community. Read more...

Associação Civil Alternativa Terrazul - Fortaleza, Brazil

As the UN Conference on Sustainable Development approaches, organizations worldwide have begun mobilizing activists, academics and researchers to place pressure on the countries attending the Earth Summit 2012. However, Associação Civil Alternativa Terrazul has also begun educating and prompting local youth to fight for social, economic and environmental justice. Youth have the gumption, wherewithal and creativity to provoke transformative change, as was seen at the 1992 UN Earth Summit where Severn Cullis-Suzuk spoke about the plagues of climate change. Cullis-Suzuk was 13-years-old. Her speech explained the grave health risks due to climate change and the plagues of environmental injustice on future generations. The astute environmental consciousness of her speech exemplifies the jolting impact youth can have on sustainability. Nearly half of the globe's population is under 25-years-old, and thus their mobilization in the next year is a critical step to launching new international policies towards climate justice. Read more...

Alternatives International Project Briefing – June 2011

Isabelle Reford, Melissa Wils-Owens — 2011-06-01T15:45:09Z

Each of the nine member organizations of the Alternatives International federation is constantly at work on a variety of projects to improve social, economic and environmental justice in their respective countries and to create international solidarity. Every month, the AIJ publishes the Project Briefing which features a summary of interesting projects from various members. Read on to learn how Alternatives International is changing the world.

Alternatives Espaces Citoyens – Niamey, Niger

The Forum on the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty was held in Niamey in October 2010. It was a thematic forum in preparation for the World Social Forum that followed in Dakar in February 2011. An active participant in the forum, Alternatives Espaces Citoyens continues to promote the right to food, an issue which is especially important in the Sahel where food insecurity is an ongoing obstacle faced by the Nigerien population. The inaccessibility of food was worsened by the 2008 global crisis. In partnership with four local civil society groups, Alternatives Espaces Citoyens effectively mobilised nearly one thousand individuals to march against hunger and demand the self-sufficiency of the Nigerien population and their right to food sovereignty. Peasants and farmers are fighting for the reform of Niger's agricultural policies which is a major contributing factor to food insecurity. Read more...

Alternative Information Center - Jerusalem, Israel

In May, the Jerusalem member of Alternatives International held a screening of the documentary Memory of the Cactus, a film on the displacement of thousands of Palestinians from the Latroun enclave of the West Bank in the 1967 war. Produced by Al-Haq, the screening was part of the Alternative Information Center's (AIC) peacemaking activity between Israel and Palestine. Expressing the viewpoints of several displaced Palestinians and contemporary Israeli citizens, the film portrays the forced evacuation of Palestinian villages as a result of the desire for a pure Jewish space. However, both sides acknowledge the impossibility of living with such discrimination. Recalling the Trail of Tears, the evacuation of Native North Americans upon the colonization of America, an Israeli soldier present in 1967 remembers thousands of Palestinians trudging silently to refugee camps in Palestine. Many who built new lives in these camps still live there and await their return home to Israel. An Israeli activist in the documentary expresses guilt for being an Israeli citizen because he sees the contradictions within his government. According to international law, the Palestinian people should be allowed to return home despite country boundaries, but Israel is not ready to reconcile for the injustices of 1967. Forty-eight thousand descendants of the Latrun residents still await their return home like thousands of other Palestinian refugees. Read more...

Alternatives Asia – New Delhi, India

The staff at Alternatives Asia has been lobbying for several years to achieve the right to education (RTE) for all Indian children. In 2002 the 86th amendment of the Constitution which added the free and compulsory right to education for all children aged six to fourteen years, and the provision of early childhood education for those under six years of age. As it is the duty of the state to provide free education, finding government finances has been the central obstacle to universal education in India. By 2009, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill was passed. While passing the bill was a great step forward in the fight for RTE, there are limitations to the legislation, notably the restriction of age. The government has promised that the lack of available funds would not hamper the provision of compulsory and free education in the future. Read more...

Forum des Alternatives Maroc – Rabat, Morocco

Following the aims of the World Social Forum, the Maghreb Social Forum brought together social movements from all over North Africa, the Middle East and abroad for the first time in July 2008. Forum des Alternatives Maroc was an important agent in the mobilisation of various social movements and in the organization of the forum which took place in El Jadid, Morocco. The forum provided the space for the visibility and networking of various social movements leading to solidarity on economic, social and political issues in the Maghreb and Mashrek region. The March 2010 edition of the Maghreb Social Forum, this time in Bouznik, Morocco, was fundamental for the coordination of civil society groups from across the region in preparation for the WSF 2011 in Dakar. The Forum des Alternatives Maroc's civil society internet portal, e-joussour, continues to disseminate information on social movements in the Maghreb and Mashrek. Read more...

Initiative pour un autre monde (IPAM) – Paris, France

This year's G8 conference took place on May 26 and 27 in Deauville, Normandy, France. Armed forces were hired for the protection of the world leaders in attendance but were met with few violent protests. Instead, activists expressed their concerns through a self-organized nine day action camp in Le Havre, 40km from the G8 site. IPAM, along with thirty-three other civil society groups, unions and hundreds of individuals, was present from May 20-29. One objective of the action camp was to protest against the capitalist system propagated by G8 summits. The “Alternatives Forum” opened up the floor for a series of nine debates on topics covered at the G8 ranging from nuclear energy to the freedom of expression on the internet. Read more...

Alternatives Montreal — Montreal, Canada

The Rooftop Gardens Project aims to creatively make use of the otherwise empty roof space to improve urban ecology and reduce Montreal's heat island, the bubble of smog which accumulates over urban areas. In collaboration with the Chez Soi senior housing complex, the NDG Community Council and Santropol Roulant, Alternatives has spread urban gardens throughout the Montreal community. In addition to the green spaces at the Rooftop Gardens Project's partner organizations, the garden located at McGill University brings the importance of urban farming to Montreal's youth. The use of soil-less cultivation and hydrophonic gardening systems allows for self-watering and, thus, the recycling of the plants' own energy to grow. In 2008, the Rooftop Garden Project received the highest environment distinction in Quebec, the Phénix de l'environnement, and continues to make Montreal increasingly sustainable and verdant. Read more...

Teacher Creativity Center - Ramallah, Palestine

The Teacher Creativity Center (TCC) aims to engender a safe democratic learning environment to develop the knowledge, skills and education of teachers. The right to education in Palestine is guaranteed by all international conventions, however the conflict between Palestine and Israel has prevented Palestinians from organizing educational activities. Thus, ensuring the equal right to education for all Palestinian and Israeli teachers and students is a major focus of the TCC. It also participated in the World Education Forum in October of 2010, which aimed to strengthen the unity of the people in Palestine to underscore the breadth of resources and experiences which Palestine has to offer the world regarding education. Read more...

Terrazul - Fortaleza, Brazil

Nineteen years ago, the global community convened in Rio de Janeiro to acknowledge the urgency in rectifying the destruction of the ecological environment. Several institutional frameworks were designed for implementation in highly industrialized countries such as the United States, Japan, China and Brazil. One such framework policy included the Kyoto Protocol which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions specifically. A sequel to the 1992 environmental summit will be held June 2012, again in Rio, and will discuss a strategy for sustainable development. It will be vital for the attendees of the summit, a board of world leaders, to acknowledge the successes and shortcomings of the environmental policies created in 1992, and assess new goals for atmospheric carbon levels and reduction of waste. While environmental specialists endorse the Rio+20 conference, many also recognize the inefficiency and lack of resolution of the environmental conferences in Copenhagen and Cancun. General Secretary of Alternatives International, Feroz Medhi, expressed that the conference will ideally conclude in a concrete and focused document outlining a plan for developing a green global economy in the context of poverty eradication and sustainable development. Terrazul as well as a spectrum of environmental organizations will be participating by spreading awareness of the environmental issues which must not be overlooked at the conference. Read more...

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