Alternatives International

Vinod Raina: A Personal Tribute

Feroz Mehdi — 2013-10-02T00:23:07Z

It is very difficult for me to believe that Vinod Raina is no more with us. Rarely I have come across a person with so much energy and drive. Four years ago he knew that he had cancer. In those four years I met him on different occasions in Montreal, Paris, Delhi, Dhaka and Tunis. I never saw him tired or shying away from a task. Never did he complain about his condition. In fact, he shared the fact that he had cancer with a very small number of people.

For the first time in these four years he wrote to me about his illness on 23 August 2013 “Dear Feroz, I am pretty unwell and likely to enter chemo soon. If you feel like you may discreetly inform friends…love, Vinod”. And twenty days later he passed away.

I have known Vinod for over two decades. He came to Montreal many times to participate in activities of our organization Alternatives. Each time he stayed with me. We shared the passion of Indian classical music and cooking. At our place once he spotted a CD cover of a raag (song) he wanted to copy. The box was empty. Very patiently he opened a few hundred boxes I had thinking I must have placed the CD in some other case! But unfortunately we did not find it. The year after when I met him at his house in Bhopal he made me listen to the same raag on his computer! He loved singing poems by Faiz Ahmad Faiz and always carried a book of poems in his bag. He cooked us delicious Kashmiri food. The room where he always stayed in our apartment is called ‘Vinod Chacha ka kamra' (Vinod uncle's room) by our daughter.

After completing his PhD in theoretical physics he became a professor at Delhi University. He resigned from this job and went on to develop the Hoshangabad Science Project in Hoshangabad district in the province of Madhya Pradesh in India. Later he co-founded Eklavya which worked in developing science curriculum in schools. This was the precursor to the National Curriculum Framework of 2005. He started working closely with the all India literacy movement and became the general secretary of the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti.

He was attracted towards the world social forum process from the very beginning in 2001. It was at an Alternatives meeting in Montreal, I clearly remember, a year after, that a dialogue between him and a group of Brazilian activists started about possibilities of moving the forum to India, which finally took place in Mumbai in 2004.

Vinod's work as an educationist and his contribution to the Right to Education bill in India is well known to all. But few know that he wrote the proposal to organize the World Education Forum in Palestine. The forum was officially launched in Ramallah, Palestine with a press conference addressed by him in April 2010.

Vinod was a founding member of our federation Alternatives International. Hundreds of his friends and well wishers are sending their condolence messages through various organizations and networks. Alternatives International will organize an international memorial meeting at the same time as the next IC meeting of the WSF in Morocco.

Vinod passed away on 12 September 2013. His wife and companion Anita Rampal wrote to me “He fought to the last, never giving up, until the last hours when he felt his body was giving up and he then whispered to me saying he wanted to be liberated. I am haunted by those moments with him, but will move out, keeping up my commitment to the same work and ideals we have shared for decades.”

I wish my heartfelt condolences and all the courage to Anita and all his family and friends.

Gay Hate Over Gay Pride

Bipasha Sultana — 2013-10-02T00:23:04Z

The various global movements that have been sparked in defense of LGBTI rights during the past century can be charted according to a series of victories, including increasing decriminalization of same-sex relations and the slow but steady legalization of gay marriage.

While the universal recognition of LGBTI rights remains an ideal, the most salient and powerful tools that are impeding its progress are those used by a nation's judiciary system; namely through the discriminatory laws, bills and legislations that purport to protect traditional family values. For a society's laws do not merely reflect its values – it regulates them.

The most recent of such endeavors includes Uganda's Bill 18, also known as the “The Anti-Homosexuality Bill” which criminalizes same-sex relations and threatens life imprisonment for committing a homosexual act and suggests the death penalty for aggravated homosexual acts. Initially proposed in parliament in 2009 and 2012, the bill re-surfaced for consideration this February and is seen by many as making an explicit reference to homosexuality in response to an otherwise vague law that criminalizes “unnatural [sexual] offences”.

The bill would further encourage suspecting individuals to report those believed to be gay and would also abolish LGBTI organizations in Uganda.

Notwithstanding the bill's implications for sexual minorities, many Ugandans are skeptical of its ostensible purpose as a means to protect traditional family values, while they believe the bill functions instead as a tool that guarantees to become a “popularity booster”.

Transparency International lists Uganda as the 17th most corrupt nation in the world and the second most corrupt in East Africa where these ranks reveal the public's cynical attitude towards politicians, judges and the police.

Considering the mounting internal and external criticism of Uganda's corrupt government, it's no surprise that parties and politicians tainted with a bad reputation should wish to reinvigorate their images by tapping into traditional sentiments and values and manipulating them into the formation of a bill that promises to protect traditional values. In other words, Uganda is already an LGBTI un-friendly nation, but the passing of bill 18 would promote – or rather, legalize – active hostility and discrimination towards sexual minorities.

At another corner of the globe, Russia is receiving considerable flak from the international community for its recent attempt at stifling public expression of LGBTI content. This June, Russian parliament has drafted a legislation that imposes a fine for “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations to minors”.

Since 2006, it was originally introduced as a regional law across 10 separate regions in Russia, but it has now culminated to a federal law and it validates the nationwide banning of LGBTI advocate groups and pride parades.

As article 6.21 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses proclaims:

“Propaganda is the act of distributing information among minors that 1) is aimed at the creating nontraditional sexual attitudes, 2) makes nontraditional sexual relations attractive, 3) equates the social value of traditional and nontraditional sexual relations, or 4) creates an interest in nontraditional sexual relations.”

The article ambiguously suggests that the ideal of traditional sexual relations is at risk of being infiltrated by “devious” influences, without elaborating on what these traditional relations are and who they include. The vague wording of articles such as these and bill 18, however, is intentional and strategic. As the Russian and Ugandan governments define public support of LGBTI rights as propaganda with a licentious agenda, they are in effect, attempting to position themselves as heroic forces fighting the evil influence of nontraditional sexuality.

As long as sexual identity is understood in dichotomic terms, heterosexuality is aligned with tradition while non-heterosexuality is seen as its threatening opponent. It is also worth noting that public discourses on non-heteronormative sexuality is at its preliminary stage in most conservative societies. Thus, such a simplistic binary of “good” and “bad” sexual identity is conveniently implanted in public discourse with the aim of reinforcing the need to defend the status quo of traditional values. In a state's attempt at regulating discourse surrounding sexual identity, it ultimately strives to maintain the status quo of its own governance.

As any society experiences the ebb and flow of social, political and economic change, traditional values are held to be the only stabilizing force that glue a nation together. In light of such desire for political and economic change from the Ugandan and Russian peoples, it is convenient for their governments to wage a battle against their sexual minorities to display themselves as upholders of that which is good and stable.

It is telling that the proposition of these laws is coming into effect at a time when their respective governments are bearing the brunt of bad publicity. What better way to revive national solidarity than by arousing the traditional sentiments of an already disgruntled people, and distracting them from the real issues that are plaguing their nation?

How then, do we come to explain such instances of regression when the world is undergoing a tide of victories for LGBTI rights? Perhaps they should not be viewed as regressions after all, but as necessary obstacles; obstacles that would force marginalized communities such as the LGBTI to emerge out of the fringes of their societies and find a platform within the mainstream to voice their fundamental right to live and not merely exist.

Syria, Intervention and the Anti-war Movement

Bradley Castelli — 2013-10-02T00:23:00Z

When Barack Obama first warned Syria that its use of chemical weapons would facilitate the US decision toward military intervention in the Syrian conflict, it almost seemed like the President was implementing the first phase in a plan that would ultimately see the West intervene. To anti-war groups and activists, Obama's red line statement reflected what has become a tradition in US foreign policy pursuits: establish a set of rules, wait until someone breaks them, and intervene to right all wrongs. Though explicit in nature, this mindset does little to encourage the resolution that diplomacy can achieve, and in no way does it address the fundamental and immediate human security concerns that should be raised within the context of a conflict.

Obama's red line was (officially) crossed a year later when reports of a chemical attack came out of Damascus this past August, and the President was eager to remain true to his warning. With Western intervention in Syria seemingly imminent, the voices of groups and individuals opposed to war became louder and even more relentless. Though Western intervention in Syria remains a possibility (as well as an ambition from certain perspectives), it has at least been temporarily shelved and replaced with a more diplomatic strategy: a Russian proposal that Syrian chemical weapons be placed under international control.

Regardless of whether Russia's diplomatic ambition serves as a starting point to non-violent resolution in Syria, or whether it only stalls an inevitable intervention from the West, the anti-war movement deserves to be recognized for its efforts and ability to urge decision-makers to broaden their perspectives with regard to Syrian conflict.

Firstly, public opinion polls reveal that Americans are generally opposed to a US-led military intervention in Syria, and would prefer a solution that is less confrontational. This sentiment has been reflected by a variety of petitions, rallies and vigils held across the country. While demonstrations opposing military intervention in Syria have attracted comparatively smaller crowds than those gathered to protest the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a much smaller percentage of Americans who believe resolution can come through intervention.

Despite smaller crowds protesting Western intervention in Syria, online forms of activism have been numerous and widespread. Many Facebook groups have been formed opposing military intervention, and numerous Twitter hashtags dedicated to finding a diplomatic solution to the Syrian conflict have been trending. The extent of online activism reflects the evolution of social media and its use as a political tool that makes space for a broad spectrum of interests. The ability to share knowledge and ideas instantaneously has given groups and activists access to agenda setting, which the media and decision-makers would be hard-pressed to ignore. The accessibility that social media provides has certainly helped the anti-war movement shape public opinion and raise questions that might have otherwise went unasked.

Aside from encouraging an alternative to immediate military intervention, Russia's Vladimir Putin published an op-ed article in the New York Times, entitled, A Plea for Caution from Russia. The Russian president's piece was generally well received, and highlighted the need for diplomacy as a means of resolving the Syrian conflict, as well as strengthening US-Russia relations. Putin's words have helped to strengthen the anti-war sentiment in the West, and may have also facilitated the recent US-Iran meeting in New York, held to discuss Iran's outlook on its own nuclear program. Inclusive diplomacy makes for legitimate attempts at resolution that are sustainable, and hopefully Iran could be a key actor in finding peaceful answers to the Syrian conflict.

Though several anti-war groups and activists are claiming victory for their movement in the US, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Whether intervention has been taken off the list of options for the West, or whether it's an inevitable action that has merely been stalled, the conflict in Syria continues. Taking a stance against war should mean being against all wars, regardless of whom they involve. Refraining from intervention should not be considered the endpoint and answer to the Syrian conflict, but the beginning of a more peaceful and sustainable route toward resolution. While military intervention would most probably worsen the human security situation in Syria, non-intervention does nothing to improve it, and that should be a priority for the West and the international community alike. It is unfortunate to see the wheels of bureaucracy turn so slowly while the number of Syrian casualties continues to rise steadily, but a real victory within the realm of international relations and Syria can set a standard that would see future conflicts resolved more quickly and through diplomacy, not militaries.

Refraining from military intervention is a welcome step in the right direction, but the next steps will reveal whether or not a collective victory for Syrians is a real priority for West.

Post-racial America

Ailisha Macharia — 2013-10-02T00:22:34Z

August 28, 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the Great March on Washington and notably, Dr. Martin Luther King's “I have a dream” speech. This momentous occasion calls upon deep societal reflection. There is no doubt we, as a humans and civilians, have made remarkable progress in abolishing racialized institutions, in the negative sanctions of racist ideology and in preaching a culture of equality for the individual. However, these democratic slogans blind us from the very issue we so strongly fought against.

Ideologically, North Americans and most developed nations are considered to be post-racial societies. This meaning that there lacks institutions that are fundamentally racist or discriminate certain peoples upon the foundation of race. Unfortunately, this is inherently incorrect and the perpetuating demographics of minorities in the trap of poverty are evidence of that.

Several reasons exist as to why this issue is so important. Some of these reasons are founded upon neo-liberal ideas of race that are in fact poisonous to civil progress:

Racism will disappear if we do not talk about race

Firstly, it is imperative that one clearly distinguishes the difference between racism and race. Race is a falsely contrived social institution founded in favour of colonialist agendas and still has repercussions for every identifier of a race. Racism is the act of discrimination based upon this institution. Secondly, race still needs to be talked about. There are discrepancies in government-run institutions and cultural perceptions that perpetuate racism. Moreover, these discrepancies have real consequence for those discriminated against. This is an intrinsic element of the post-racist society. However, post-racist ideas are not taught in the education system nor preached by parents. Post-racist ideas are a product of a lack of discourse, discussion and confrontation of the continuation of racism itself.

Reverse racism is the new racism

Reverse racism, defined as discrimination against the majority. This is often colloquially implied as racism against white people. This idea is fundamentally untrue as well. White people, or the majority, benefit from racist institutions due to the curtailing of rights and liberties of minorities There exists no institution that systematically infringes upon the rights of white people based on their race. However, this is not to say white people do not face discrimination; a homosexual white female faces injustice and intolerance, but this is based upon her sexuality and not the colour of her skin.

Illusion of white guilt as a signifier of social progress

Many a times, the illness of white guilt, due to remorse of benefitting from white privilege, plagues many liberal-minded Caucasians. Be that as it may, white guilt is a deterrent to progress toward racial equality, it masks the methodical discrimination that the minority faces on a daily basis and decreases it to a feeling. Consequently, this is how the majority perceives racism and deals with it. This feeling does not provide any solution to social justice and perpetuates an inconclusive and stigmatic culture surrounding racial problems. More productive terminology may be white responsibility or democratic duty; instead these inefficient terms continue to be used, reused and popularized.

Now to address the evidence surrounding the existence of racist institutions: as previously stated, to say we live in a post-racist society is fundamentally untrue. In fact, there still exists racially biased institutions. However, the racism is not as clear as a “whites only” sign and it occurs in much more obscure and systematic forms.

The racial discrepancies in the American criminal justice system are extremely prevalent. The disparities are especially evident in cases of incarceration. The NAACP reported that Whites abuse drugs 5 times as much as African Americans, whereas African Americans are sent to prison for drug offences 10 times the rate of Whites. The American public education system is also guilty of discrimination. In 2012, the Schott Foundation released the fearful statement that America's education system neglects almost half the nation's Black and Latino male students. According to the report, “Blacks and Latinos face disproportionate rates of out-of-school suspensions and are not consistently receiving sufficient learning time – effectively being pushed out of opportunities to succeed.” Moreover, the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) has been under scrutiny over its potential racial bias. The Harvard Educational Review published an article revealing that White and African Americans indeed respond differently to the SAT with African Americans at a disadvantage.

Discrepancies in education, handicaps in college admission and disproportionate rates of incarceration are just a few examples of institutional discrimination. Furthermore, they indisputably reflect the cyclical nature of poverty and how race continues to be an influential factor for minorities in seeking opportunities for self-betterment.

New discourses of race and racism have increased in importance in the 21st century. We are now facing situations and problems in greater depth and breadth than ever before. An increasing number of mixed race individuals bring up new issues of racial identity and multicultural parenting. Immigration reform is also increasing in momentum and it is critical that the government does not manifest new racially biased institutions in implementing new policy. The issue of globalization forces unprecedented interaction among cultures. Treatise on the subjects of cultural preservation, assimilation and extinction are all prevalent concerns of the present day.

It is clear that there is a need for significant reform, but what can we do? What can we do for the people trapped by these racial institutions? What can we do being these people oppressed by racial bias? Though there is no one clear answer to these questions, I am certain of what is not. It is not a just feeling; racialized institutions are an overlooked, bureaucratic failure of the government. Policies confronting racial issues and preventing discrimination must be implemented. The issue of race has stayed outside of the legislature for too long and has consequently become taboo.

Celebrating 50 years since the March on Washington, it is visible that there is still much work that needs to be done. Power in strength and voice must be given to civil rights issues once more. As Dr. Martin Luther King once greatly said, "our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Fragile Progress: Somali Government Marks One Year in Office

Idil Isse — 2013-10-02T00:22:32Z

Following an historic election on September 10, 2012, the current Somali government took ownership of one of the arguably most difficult set of circumstances a newly elected government could inherit. After two decades of civil war, the country was left with virtually no institutions, leaving the newly elected government with the task of state building from scratch. The challenges facing the new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, were colossal and the expectations of the Somali people were high. The unique challenges Mohamud faced, along with the euphoria and optimism surrounding his election, may have set expectations that were impossible to attain. Although progress has been made in the past year throughout various sectors, overall there is a sense of disillusionment amongst the Somali people with regard to the performance of their respective government thus far.

The situation in Somalia today is significantly better than it was over a year ago. The capital city, Mogadishu, which had for years been the bitter battleground of the Somali civil war has sprung back to life. The former ghost town is now experiencing a renaissance; new restaurants and businesses are constantly being opened and the city's beautiful Lido beach on the Indian Ocean coastline has been reopened to residents. Cultural events being held that were unthinkable years ago, such as TedxMogadishu, a spin-off from the TED talks held in California, and Live From Mogadishu, a music festival can be seen as symbols of recovery. Another important sign of recovery is the growing number of returnees from the worldwide Somali diaspora. Many of those who fled their homeland during the late 1980's and early 1990's have decided that it's finally safe enough to not only travel to Somalia, but to move back there as well.

Much of this rebirth is due to the fragile stability which has been brought back to the country through the African Union's Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The regional peacekeeping force made up mainly of fellow East African countries Uganda, Kenya, and Burundi, was credited for driving the violent extremist group al Shabaab out of the capital city. As a result of this declared victory, during the summer of 2011, the political process to establish a permanent government began taking place. Prior to this, Somalia did have a Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that had been functioning since 2004. The road to permanent governance was long and the progress was incremental. The federal government of Somalia was established at the end of August 2012, once the TFG's interim mandate came to an end. This election was unique since it was a Somali owned process and one that took place directly in the country. The process was a merger of democratic principles and a return to traditional structures. A parliament consisting of 275 MPs chosen by traditional clan elders voted to elect a new President. The views of clan elders are highly respected in the Somali culture, however guidelines were put in place to ensure that the nominees for MPs were not only competent but also to ensure that they had no ties to warlords or crimes committed during the civil war. In the end, the academic and political activist, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected. This election marked a turning point in the collective Somali consciousness. Although there was an understanding that the road ahead would be tough, there was an overwhelming desire to leave the turbulent times behind and for the first time, it seemed like a genuine possibility.

This turning point served as the perfect opportunity to unite all Somalis, however President Mohamud has currently failed to effectively seize that opportunity. Navigating the path in post-conflict situations is difficult and each case requires its own appropriate solutions. However the importance of healing and reconciliation efforts in any post-conflict case cannot be undermined. To date, President Mohamud has not made any extensive attempts in this regard. Such an attempt would be beneficial to a society that is deeply divided. One of the biggest obstacles for Mohamud right now is handling the tense regional divisions in the country. In the absence of an overarching federal government, Somalia broke down into several autonomous regions. Although the central government is in control of Mogadishu, it does not hold this same authority in other regions, like Puntland and Jubaland. The region that is posing the biggest impediment to the unification process is Somaliland, the self-declared sovereign state in the northwestern part of the country. Although Mohamud did a satisfactory job of handling the crisis in Jubaland this year (Jubaland refused to recognize the central government, however, eventually the two parties came to a rapprochement), he still has the task of bringing the country together and building a real federal state. As Matt Bryden, Director at Sahan Research, explains “the challenge for the government is to build partnerships with the defacto authorities and forces across the country and to unify them beneath a single governmental framework.”

Another major obstacle facing Mohamud is establishing real security. As mentioned previously, the security situation has greatly improved, though it is far from ideal. Citizens are constantly wary of attacks and although the situation is more stable, it is a fragile stability. Al Shabaab was defeated militarily by AMISOM but they still continue to pose a threat and there have been several setbacks to peace in the past months. In April, al Shabaab bombed the National Theatre and this past month they carried out twin bombings which claimed the lives of over 18 people. The President himself has been targeted, escaping his second assassination attempt a few weeks ago. The recent attack at Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya which was carried out in response to Kenya's involvement in AMISOM, has been explained by certain political analysts as a weakening of al Shabaab since they are resorting to desperate attempts. Either way, one thing is clear; driving al Shabaab out of Mogadisu was instrumental, but until they are entirely eradicated they will continue to pose a threat to the current rebuilding process in Somalia as well as pose a regional threat in East Africa.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 26 demonstrates his understanding of the work that needs to be done. The mere fact that a Somali president addressed the UN is historic in itself and Mohamud should be commended on Somalia's successful re-entry into the international community. His presentation of his New Deal, a comprehensive framework to address Somalia's most pressing concerns including healthcare and education, is admirable. It is not only extremely important but critical to the recovery process that he and his government deliver on their promises. The expectations he faced when starting the first year of his four year term were high, it can be argued that they were almost impossible. Mohamud had a unique opportunity to unite the country; there was widespread optimism and many Somalis across clan lines wanted to see him succeed for the sake of their country. Only time will tell if he fumbled that opportunity.

Exploring the Responsibility of Our Privilege: On Independent Filmmaking, Ecological Crisis and Human Extinction with Filmmaker Bérangère Maïa N. Parizeau

Bipasha Sultana — 2013-10-02T00:22:27Z

Environmental catastrophes are scattered across the globe. As they vary in source, scale and impact and are sprouting at an unprecedented frequency, the contentious notion of climate catastrophe is increasingly becoming a palpable reality.

What may be preventing many of us from grasping the severity of environmental disasters could be a lack of foresight for the distant future – a future in which the long-term damage of such disasters will be manifested not only in the deteriorating health of our planet, but of our specie as well as.

The very idea that humanity's near future might be plagued by extinction is one that is difficult to apprehend, where the topic of human extinction is often relegated to the realms of sci-fi fantasy and scientific theory and its possibility is delayed, in our imaginations, for another odd million years. Some, however, such as independent director-producer Bérangère Maïa Natasha Parizeau, view human extinction instead as a looming probability and one that urgently needs to be made transparent to the greater public.

It is the question of this probability that has fueled Parizeau's most recent project, a still-in-progress short documentary titled “Tree Spirit” in which she interviews renown linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky on the planet's current state of environmental crisis.

A native Montrealer, Parizeau completed her Masters in Film & Video at California College of the Arts in San Francisco and is currently pursuing her Masters in Arts in Asian Pacific Policy Studies at UBC in Vancouver. As Parizeau's educational background combines her artistic core with her passion for environmental policy, law and social justice, “Tree Spirit” equally encompasses the separate spheres of experimental art, environmental policy and political activism. As I sat down with her to discuss the making of “Tree Spirit”, she spoke of the inspirations, challenges and ambitions that surround the short documentary.

What motivated you to produce Tree Spirit?

I was taking a political analysis class at UBC, and I was exploring a bit more in-depth Canadian environmental politics and started questioning the whole issue of the keystone pipeline. I was trying to understand what was going on and how serious the issue was. I wanted to understand what the political responses would be that would be ideal for people like me. I'm a student, but I represent Canadians, I represent normal Canadians – where some know more and some know less.

So I emailed a few different people and one of those people was Noam Chomsky.

The reason that I emailed him was because I watched a video online by Al-Jazeera, it's called the “Responsibility of Privilege” and it's an interview with professor Chomsky. In this interview [Chomsky] talked about two different things that inspired me. He said that he received about 15 letters and emails a day asking him to do something with him –to collaborate on a project, and he said that he reads everything but he's unable to collaborate with everyone, and I thought ‘oh that's great, there is a chance of him responding to my message'. So I decided to contact him.

Secondly, in the interview he talked about the extinction of the human specie. It was the first time that I heard Professor Chomsky say that but it was the third time in the span of six months that I had stumbled on a scholar, political activist or organization who was mentioning just that.

Why do you think Chomsky responded to your request for a collaborative project?

I think he was interested in my project because he saw passion and a real concern for the environment. I hope to participate in solutions to help the planet get out of the serious mess we are in ecologically. And I think that transpired in my email.

In your video preview, you mention interviewing Chomsky to discuss global environmental issues. Considering your deep-seated concern for the environment, how might these discussions transpire into your future artistic endeavors?

It's more than environmental issues, it's to look at the environmental context and the relationship between politics, economy , ecology and sustainability. And what I would like to do in the near future is direct a few short politico-artistic documentaries, which I can later transform into a feature film from all the different people I would interview. For example there is Vandana Shiva who talks about a global bio-diversity coalition and she is the director of a seed-saving organization in India called Nayanda. Then there's Chris Hedges who explains that we are at a point in history where we need to consider arrest as part of peaceful protest against the oligarchic state. And the Dalai Lama who views women as potential highly compassionate world leaders.

You explore the possibility of human extinction by suggesting that it is closer to reality than we ever could have imagined. What led you to this conclusion?

I went into the law library at UBC and I just happened to find this book that changed my life, it's called “Property Rights and Sustainability The Evolution of Property Rights to Meet Ecological Challenges” and it's edited by David Grinlinton and Prue Taylor. It's a law book that contains articles that are all about ecological sustainability and the issue of sustainability in regards to law. I read that according to the United Nations millennium eco-system assisted report 2005 – and there's nothing more official than that – the cumulative impact of people on the earth's biosphere is jeopardizing the possibility of future generations to sustain themselves.

Then I saw David Suzuki on “Democracy Now” in an interview, and he mentioned Sir Martin Rees. Sir Martin Rees is the royal astronomer and one of Britain's most important scientists. When he was interviewed on BBC and was asked “what were the chances that humans would still be around in one hundred years” his astonishing answer was “50 percent”. When David Suzuki mentioned that, he said: “Surely we should be in crisis mode!”

Then when I listened to the Noam Chomsky interview on Al-Jazeera, who talks about the destruction of the species not being a joke, I thought “this is the third person mentioning this and it's disturbing”.

Are there any specifically recent or ongoing environmental issues that have incited you to action, by creating this doc?

The keystone pipeline was a major environmental issue that inspired this documentary but it goes beyond the pipeline. I've been in the process of researching environmental issues since 2007. After my Masters in Arts, I moved to China and was there for almost three years. I did a lot of research on the water crisis in China. This research is culminating in my current graduate program. In my Master's program of Arts in Asian pacific policy studies, my focus is on the diplomatic relationships between China and Canada in environmental legal issues specifically, and my masters' thesis will be a film on lake Dianchi which is one of the five biggest lakes in China. The water is hyper-eutrophied and in some areas, the lake is so polluted that it looks like green fluorescent paint. Around the lake operates the largest flower industrial production in Asia. Pesticides and other toxic waste from industrial production facilities have polluted the lake. The interconnection between globalization, politics, and ecology needs to be integrated in environmental policy and filmmaking is a good medium to communicate to lots of people.

As an entirely independent project, what are the freedoms, as well as restrictions, that arise with the production of “Tree Spirit”?

The freedom is that I am completely responsible for the political content of the film as well as the creative form. It is extremely difficult to raise money independently to produce a film.

You are collaborating with a number of multi-media artists, such as animations specialists and music artists. Would you then say that you are experimenting with the documentary genre?

Yes, I am integrating animation and experimenting with the interview based documentary genre. I am interested in the dynamic artistic quality of the filmmaking process. My goal is to inspire those who are artistically inclined as well as those who are motivated by political and environmental issues.

What is the fusion between eco/political crises and artistic creativity in “Tree Spirit” meant to achieve?

Along with “Tree Spirit” I would like to make a series of short documentaries that would be very intentional, so that people understand - because when you say to somebody there's a possibility that humanity will go extinct, it's overwhelming but if it is presented it in a way that embodies both problem and possible solutions – “this is what we face but these are the solutions” – that is more effective. So I could show through the short experimental film series what some of these solutions are. If I successfully unite my creativity and political motivations to start making documentaries that are so artistic that people who are not interested in politics start watching and finding interest in them. People are going to watch the documentary not only because of the radical political views of Noam Chomsky but also because of the artistic form. That's my strategy and it's a very intentional strategy.

As an independent filmmaker, Parizeau is collecting donations for the continuing production of “Tree Spirit” on indiegogo at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tree-spirit. Large or small, your donation would play a key role in advancing the growth of independent media artists who generally reap little to no profit from their projects. For Parizeau, the creation and dissemination of her art to raise environmental and political awareness are the fruits of her labor.

Is it not our privileged responsibility to encourage that?

Why I'm Standing With First Nations to Stop Climate Change

Cameron Fenton — 2013-10-02T00:22:10Z

This week, the fifth assessment report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change was released. Like the four before it, it confirms what we've known for decades, that climate change is real, we're causing it and it has reached crisis levels.

Of course, most of the world doesn't need a report to tell them that these days. Climate change is not some future promise, it is floods, drought and wildfire. Climate change is the fact that in my entire 27 year lifetime, I have never lived through a year of below average temperatures. Over the past two years we have witnessed unprecedented extreme weather, historic droughts and flooding and watched as both the Greenland ice-sheet and the North Pole have melted. In the words of Naomi Klein: "Climate change. It's not an 'issue' for you to add to the list of things to worry about it. It is a civilizational wake up call...telling us that we need an entirely new economic model, one based on justice and sustainability."

To deal with climate change, we have to accept that this is not a fight against pollution, this is a fight against corporate greed and power. Climate change is not a problem as much as it is a symptom. It is a symptom of an economy that values profit above the well-being of people. It is symptom of a political system beholden to corporate interests over the needs of people, and in Canada, it is a symptom of an ongoing legacy of colonization.

Projects like the tar sands don't just rely on massive amounts of water and energy, but on the ability for industry to violate the constitutionally guaranteed rights of First Nations communities. Pipelines being built across Canada require the violation of these rights. If Stephen Harpers recent "charm offensive" to First Nations in British Columbia is any indication, violating these rights to grow the tar sands is something that the federal and provincial government are preparing for.

Tar sands expansion, in fact all fossil fuel development, also require the violation or full blown ignorance of another right — the right of youth and the next generations to a future. Our world is already nearing a degree of warming, and on track for upwards of — a situation that the World Bank has called "catastrophic." In other words, climate change is writing a broken planet into the inheritance of mine and future generations.

Throughout history, young people have been at the lead of social movements, pushing boundaries through bold actions, and now is the moment to take a lesson from our past. Organized people can beat organized money, and movements that move together are force beyond measure.

Imagine young people fighting for and demanding the right to a clean and healthy future alongside First Nations, whose rights and title are the single most powerful force for keeping fossil fuels in the ground. Not only do we have the power to create an unbreakable line on fossil fuel expansion, but we can work together to lay the foundation for a new relationship of reconciliation and justice. It's in that spirit that PowerShift and the youth climate movement are planning in solidarity with Idle No More for a mass action on the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation this October 7.

But, this is not just an alliance of convenience, we know that a just and sustainable future is about more than clean energy and bike lanes. It means recognizing, acknowledging and working with Indigenous communities to challenge a continuing legacy of colonization and injustice. It means building a movement that reflects the world we want to create. Stopping climate change may be the means that we come together, but justice is the goal.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/cameron-fenton/first-nations-climate-change_b_3997973.html

Remembering Vinod Raina

Amit Sengupta — 2013-10-02T00:22:07Z

Forty years back a young scholar with a fresh PhD in Physics from Delhi University took a train to Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. It was to be a turning point in the life of Vinod Raina, for this short train journey was to transform him into a lifetime social activist, campaigner and educationist in the true sense. He left behind the glamour world of theoretical Physics to plunge into the struggle to transform society through the universalization of access to education and knowledge.

Vinod Raina passed away after a brave four-year battle with cancer in Delhi this past September 12. The democratic movements in India have lost a comrade. This is how, perhaps, he would have best liked to be remembered. A comrade who was clear in his partisanship towards science, towards knowledge and its free access, towards the values of democracy that shuns the poisonous influence of sectarian and fundamentalist politics.

Vinod's lifelong passion was education. His train journey to Hoshangabad was the beginning of his association with the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme. He was to later be part of founding Eklavya, a path breaker in the landscape of science teaching programmes in the country. Vinod's vision and intellectual sweep ensured that initiatives that he was involved in did not remain limited as small NGO programmes. Eklavya soon became an example of how education can be both joyful and liberating, and its success left its mark on teaching methodologies across the country. His vision was always much larger, he set value to the transformative potential of education. Perhaps he would agree himself that the culmination of his life's work was the enactment of the Right to Education Act by the Indian Parliament in 2009. The RTE Act was very dear to Vinod and he fought relentlessly to shape the Act and to ensure a consensus around it.

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984 saw Vinod in the forefront of the struggle for justice for the victims of the worst corporate crime in the history of India. Vinod's interest in using smaller struggles into larger mobilization for societal transformation led him to be one of the co-founders of the Peoples Science Movement in India. He remained a key leader of the All India Peoples Science Network, formed in 1987, right till he left us all. It was natural that Vinod was one of the activists of the Peoples Science Movement who was later to contribute to the building of the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS) in 1990. Vinod served as the national General Secretary of the BGVS for several years and became one of the most powerful voices of the huge literacy movement that swept across the country in the 1990s. When the Government of India's interest in the total literacy programme started waning and the programme became bureaucratized, Vinod helped develop the BGVs's ‘Jeevanshala' and ‘Gyan Vigyan Vidyalaya' programmes. Both these programmes were designed to equip local communities to intervene effectively in school education, especially in areas where the infrastructure for education was weak or non-existent.

Vinod remained rooted in his commitment to local struggles for democracy and rights throughout his life. While science and education were his first loves, he became a part of the environment movement and was one of the loudest voices speaking for the victims of capitalist development, who were forced out of their lands and lost their livelihoods. The Narmada Bachao Andolan, the anti-nuclear struggles in many parts of the country, and many other people's movements found in Vinod a tireless fighter and a comrade in arms.

Vinod would say that all his later day work was rooted in what he learnt from the simple village people in Hoshangabad district. He was to use this knowledge to work on a canvas that was truly global. Through Jubilee South, he became a crusader against the unjust global policies of the rich countries, and was in the forefront of the global struggle to cancel the unjust debts that were forced on poor developing countries. He was, for long, an International Council member of the World Social Forum and remained one of its prominent voices till his death. He was also one of the founders of the global Forum for Science and Democracy.

Vinod was a wonderful orator, both in Hindi and English – he had a way with words that could convert the most cynical opponents into believers of social transformation. He was also an accomplished singer and his melodious voice would often lift the spirit of activists as they gathered together at the end of a long and tiring day.

The Peoples Science Movement, the Literacy and Education movements, numerous people's movements – all shall miss Vinod's physical presence. But comrades such as Vinod do not die, they remain alive through their work and in the minds and the struggles of people he worked with.

Pakrac+20: A Post-war Revisit and Field Mission

Billy Batware — 2013-10-02T00:21:59Z

On July 8 2013, I embarked on a trip to Croatia, a land of history and beauty at the Mediterranean Sea. I was on a post-war field mission to learn and experience first-hand what had happened during the war in the early 1990s. My journey was motivated by a personal and academic interest. Being from Rwanda where the war in 1990s left an eternal scar, it was an opportunity for me to revisit images and thoughts of evil, as well as witness the strength of a population to overcome the most inhumane actions committed against them. As a graduate of International Peace and Conflict studies, it was a chance for me to see, listen, and analyze the nature of the conflict in order to understand its causes and effects, while at the same time, witness the success and failure of interventions. This short report is a reflection of my experience based on the information acquired from local people who were involved in, and affected by the conflict and the ones who contributed to its end through humanitarian or other means of actions.

Pakrac: A town torn by ethnic troubles

Among the first affected places in Croatia was Pakrac, a small town in western Slavonia which became the front-line in the fighting between Serbs and Croats in the 1991-92 war following the break-up of Yugoslavia and the establishment of an independent Croatian state.

During my brief visit, I met locals who shared their experiences and showed me what has changed and what still remains in ruins either as a remembrance or abandoned by evicted Serbs who never came back. I heard stories similar to my own experience in the Rwandan ethnic conflict. While visiting the museum which was completely rebuilt, I was shown a picture of the heroes of Pakrac. These were young men, many still alive, who stood up against the Serbian troops to protect the town. Given that the majority of the Pakrac population was Croatian, I would have thought that those young men were Croats. To my surprise, only one from over a dozen of them was a Croat and he was married to a Serbian woman. At the same time, Croatian irregulars were ethnically cleansing the northern areas of Western Slavonia. These are similar stories I heard and the experiences I had in Rwanda, where Hutus sheltered Tutsis during the genocide while extremists on both sides were killing Tutsis and Hutus across Rwanda. During another encounter, I met a man who was imprisoned and mistreated four times by Croats and Serbs for standing up for human rights and equal treatment. He was arrested and tortured by Croatian forces during operation "Blitzkrieg", yet retains his warm smile and positive spirit, while helping Serbian returnees to re-integrate. His story also reminded me of a situation in Rwanda in which moderate Hutus found themselves in difficulties because they did not want to associate themselves with ethnic-based violence. The wounds of Pakrac have not yet healed 20 years later. While driving through the town, the signs of the aftermath of the war are still alive. We walked along the town and for me it was almost as if the war happened yesterday. A few people walk on the street, and bullet marks are still clearly visible on many buildings including churches (The Catholic Church is completely restored while the Orthodox Church remains neglected). On the other side of the town where most Serbs still live, trees have grown in dozens of houses that are deserted. Others have been shot and burned to the ground, and the ones left standing have big bullet marks that can be seen from a distance.

During our visit to the office of the former Governor, the present and former Mayor, a former volunteer, and two young men awaited us. The two young men, who appeared to be in their mid-twenties, were all small boys when the war broke, but even they had different views on the situation between Serbs and Croats while they were growing up. The older claimed that his school was segregated while the younger said he had good relationships with his classmates. There was no way to draw a line because healing and reconciliation are long processes and it is felt differently by different people. This manifested itself when, as we were about to leave the office after a long talk with the former Governor and his entourage, thunderstorms were heard outside and the rain started pouring when the young man, without thinking, said to us “those are Croats coming”. He is Serb. He was joking of course, but his jokes reflect the realities the town had experienced many years before.

Pakrac Volunteer Project: A peace-building initiative

On my way to Pakrac and during my mission, I learned about a peace-building project that was initiated by UNDP, the Croatian Anti-war Campaign, CARE Austria, and the Belgrade-based peace group MOST. The objective was to facilitate the normalization of relations between ethnic groups through concrete actions of reconstruction of economic and social structures.

According Mrs. Beata Boehm and Mr. Michael Platzer, who were part of the team responsible for implementing the project on behalf of CARE Austria and the UNDP respectively, the cease-fire had left Pakrac divided with the cease-fire line running through the middle of it.

Participants of the project were mostly young people recruited by Service Civil Society International from 20 European countries. Among volunteers were the Austrian Peace Volunteers who were the first alternative service volunteers to work abroad and worked on the Serbian side in particularly difficult conditions, and the professional UN volunteers who were nurses.

The Pakrac Volunteer Project was possible because in 1992-93, the UN was looking for some alternative ways to build peace, not only in Croatia but elsewhere. They had peacekeepers on the ground to halt the fighting while at the same time, looking for means to promote positive peace.

The international peace movement also needed the project as, at the time it was happening, Bosnia was in flames and there was no possibility of civilian peace-building there. Pakrac became a kind of flagship for a lot of organizations.

Success or failure?

The project brought about many successes. By 1997 as the project was finally completed, 500 volunteers had worked on the project. Volunteers rebuilt a lot of houses (though many are still deserted) and organized youth projects among others. This was important because unless one did something about the infrastructure, reconciliation could only go so far.

Socially, there were benefits to the project including the fact that volunteers made friends with the locals – the most important outcome of the project for Mrs. Boehm. Particularly for young people, they were exposed to a point of view which came from outside the town and outside the state-controlled media; they experienced a discourse with people who had completely different viewpoints from them and who consistently held to the view that people on the other side of the line were not necessarily evil.

The psychological outcome was that volunteers had crossed the ceasefire line and had returned, which meant there was potential to create a different pattern in people's minds. One of the persons who worked on the project told me that, in that period, all volunteers were working every day on government sponsored Working Brigades with local people. At first on the Monday mornings after volunteers had crossed the ceasefire line, things would be extremely tense, but then the volunteers would be working alongside local people in the Brigades for the rest of the week and little by little the pattern came to be more accepted. People came to see that the action of the volunteers in crossing the line wasn't the betrayal they had first supposed it to be.

As a result of the lessons learnt from the Pakrac Volunteer Project, people involved did amazing things which, I believe, the UN would like to replicate throughout other conflict zones. Young people are now involved in politics like the young man who serves with the former Governor and others are looking for ways to empower themselves like the graduate who is volunteering as a journalist in town.

We left Pakrac with a sense of confidence that with time, things will slowly improve. The optimism we heard in the older generation and the courage we saw in the new one give us hope that a town populated by a majority of Croats but once defended by multi-ethnic volunteers at the beginning of the conflict will once again reunite to overcome ethnic prejudices and heal the wounds that are still visible on the walls of Pakrac buildings. While the scars in people's hearts have not yet healed, we felt the sense of willingness on their part to work toward restoring love and respect for one another.

Mrs. Beata Boehm and Mr. Michael Platzer contributed to this report

Oslo Failed, Long Live Oslo

Nassar Ibrahim — 2013-10-02T00:21:32Z

This September marks the twentieth anniversary of the Oslo Accords. The Oslo I Accord represented the most comprehensive first step in the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as it has culminated in the famous handshake between Yasser Arafat and Itzhak Rabin on the White House lawn under the proud gaze of Bill Clinton on September 13, 1993.

This interim agreement was designed to last five years, during which time the Israelis and Palestinians were to continue negotiations in order to resolve the most contentious issues of the conflict, namely, settlements, Jerusalem and the right of return for Palestinian refugees. While the accords formed the foundation of the means for self-government, i.e. the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), they did not, however, offer any significant assurances of independence, sovereignty or statehood.

Two decades later and no serious steps have been taken to ensure that the alleged intentions of the accords were fulfilled. Worse still for the Palestinians, the responsibility for the ensuing breakdown of permanent status negotiations was laid squarely and publicly at their feet, further fuelling the myth that Israel has no partner for peace.

In reality, however, the ultimate failure of Oslo in advancing a comprehensive peace process has its origins in the very basis of the process itself, particularly the insincere intentions of its two dominant actors: Israel and the United States.

The Oslo Accords were intended as a continuation of the road map for peace envisioned during the Madrid Conference in 1991, a year that saw increased regional and global instability and a significant weakening of the Palestinian side. With the collapse of the USSR - one of Palestine's most prominent supporters - the instability resulting from the events of the first Gulf War and the winding down of the First Intifada, Palestine was left with weakened allies and combat fatigue after four years of brutal Israeli military crackdowns in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.

It would be naïve, then, to believe it was a coincidence that the US felt this was the opportune moment to assert its increased global hegemony by leading an allegedly new and dynamic Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Oslo I, much like the preceding Madrid Conference, was, in reality, established upon the pre-condition of an unequal balance of power between the negotiating parties; with one side, the victor, setting conditions and demanding concessions from the defeated. The Oslo process also deviated significantly from previous approaches to negotiations, through the insistent focus on political processes of bartering and conditionality - typified by the oft-used slogan “land for peace” - rather than the frameworks of international law and existing UN resolutions.

Additionally, as the accords were formulated as an interim process, little focus was given to the key issues that characterize the conflict: settlements, Jerusalem and refugees, water and the economy. With these issues shelved, there were no mechanisms or incentives in place to ensure that Israel would abide by international law. On the contrary, Israel saw the opportunity to use the temporary status of the accords to establish more facts on the ground, thereby creating new and advantages realities on which to build any future peace process. With Israel's long-standing focus on security, the consequent creation of the PNA also afforded it the prospect of using the newly established Palestinian security and intelligence services for its own ends.

On the Palestinian side, the decision to participate in the negotiations was highly contested and laid the foundations for the debilitating political divisions that exist today, with Fatah and the Palestinian People's Party (PPP) advocating strongly in favor and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Hamas and Islamic Al-Jihad vocally against accords. This disunity and marginal representation of Palestinian political parties further weakened the Palestinian position in the talks and brought into question their legitimacy as representatives of the Palestinian populace.

In contrast to the lack of incentives offered to Israel to abide by international law, the US offered a number of economic enticements to the Palestinians in return for political concessions. These promises of economic development not only formed the basis of a number of the accords and protocols, but also served to silence the Palestinians on the more contentious issues.

After ratifying the concessions outlined in the accords, the Palestinians found themselves in a worse position than when they had entered the talks, with an increasingly isolated Jerusalem, almost unabated settlement expansion and deepening internal political divides. This apparent failure of the Oslo peace process was a significant contributing factor to the outbreak of the Second Intifada in September 2000.

Yet, in light of the obvious failure of Oslo Accords, the current round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, again mediated by the US, are based upon the same shaky foundations and questionable tactics that ignore key issues and side-step international law and UN resolutions. There is little hope of these talks succeeding where Oslo failed. As long as the US acts in unabashed bias towards Israeli interests over Palestinian rights, its role as host and mediator is nothing but perfunctory. And as long as Israel continues to negotiate as a dominant power instead of an equal, it will continue to pay the price for being an occupier.

Just and lasting peace will never be reached if the dominant parties continue to wield that dominance at the negotiating table. The US cannot currently be trusted to act objectively. For there to be any hope for future negotiations, other parties such as Russia, the Arab states and the EU must disregard US pressure and return to their traditional roles of checking the balances of power to ensure that the interests of all sides are being considered and valued equally.

In this context, the potential for success is predicated on the fact that the first step for any just and comprehensive agreement must first and foremost be based upon international law. Israel must be made to realize that international law and the relevant UN resolutions are independent and inviolable, and that the observance of these laws is in no way contingent upon the willingness of the occupied to make concessions to their oppressors.

For their part, the Palestinians must also change their approach to negotiations, firstly by forming strategies for genuine political unity and secondly, by realizing that these talks are not a matter of diplomacy, but a means of resistance and changing the balances of power on the ground. This is vital because the final results of any future agreement will ultimately reflect the balances of power established during talks.

With the current economic crisis and the ongoing global upheavals and shifts of power, it is crucial that the Palestinians seize the opportunities for new partnerships and co-operations, and ultimately strategize as to how these shifting realities can be used to their advantage.

Source: http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/politics/opinions/7031-oslo-failed-long-live-oslo