Stories about War & Conflict from February, 2010
Palestine: Sleepless in Gaza
The premier episode of a 90 part series, Sleepless in Gaza…and Jerusalem will be launched on YouTube on March 1st. The series will be a video diary about four young Palestinian women, Muslim and Christian, two living in Gaza and two in Arab Jerusalem/West Bank. The series will show how...
Azerbaijan: Khojali anniversary
Sheki, Azerbaijan marks the anniversary of a massacre taking place during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh. The blog laments the loss of life during war and hopes that the victims rest in peace.
Morocco: Maghreb Bloggers Search for Common Ground
A three-day workshop for bloggers from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco was held from 15 to 17 February 2010 in the Moroccan capital Rabat. Participating bloggers reported and live-tweeted the event. They shared their blogging experiences, engaged in lively debates openly confronting their views on contentious issues and were encouraged to reflect on ways to find grounds for mutual understanding.
Silence Speaks: Multimedia storytelling in Republic of Congo
Amy Hill, the director of Center for Digital Storytelling, describes the process and ideas behind a 4-day digital storytelling workshop in November 2009 with seven women affected by Congo-Brazzaville’s (also known as Republic of Congo) civil wars from 1997-2003.
India, Bangladesh: Protest On Killings In Bangladesh
Musings Of A Chakma reports that “the members of Chakma ethnic community living in Delhi held a huge peaceful protest demonstration in front of Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from 11 AM to 3 PM on 25 February 2010 to protest against the attacks on Chakmas and other indigenous Jummas in...
Caucasus: Lezginka dance
Orxanbey posts a video on YouTube of what is described as an Azeri guy and and an Armenian girl dancing to the Lezginka (national dance popular in the North Caucasus), location unknown. Wearing the national flags of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Because of the still unresolved conflict between the two countries...
Montenegro: The Language Issue
“Not content to watch Serbia and Croatia fight it out over Serbo-Croatian, Montenegro now wants its own language,” Eternal Remont reports.
Russia: New Military Doctrine
Irina Filatova comments on Russia's new military doctrine at the Guardian's Comment is free.
Bangladesh: Protecting The Pahari People
Faisal at The Spittoon highlights the recent violence against the Paharis (hill people) in Bangladesh and asks: “what good is having a secular liberal democracy if you don’t protect your minority communities?”
Russia: New Military Doctrine and Information Security
The new Russian military doctrine provides an interesting opportunity to evaluate the role of information from security perspective. This may apply to the issues of cyber security and Internet, as well as other information platforms.
Bangladesh: Communal Attack On Jumma Villages
Unheard Voices reports of the attack of Bengali settlers on Jumma indigenous villages in Rangamati district of Bangladesh which left 5 indigenous people dead. The blog is following the developments and the subsequent protests.
Philippines: Outrage over Arrest of 43 Health Workers
The Philippine military arrested 43 community health workers accusing the latter of being communist rebels. The arrested individuals were recently presented in the court. Bloggers comment on the issue
Coup in Niger: Bloggers sigh in relief at the ousting of President Tandja
On Thursday, February 18th a coup d'état took place in Niger, in which President Mamadou Tandja was captured after a gun battle in the capital. A few months ago Tandja illegally changed the constitution to allow him a third term in what was generally considered a mass fraud referendum. Bloggers react to these latest developments.
Congo: The Coltan Conflict is in Our Hands (and Cellphones)
Coltan, columbo-tantalite, is a mineral used to make resistors in our cellphones, video games, computers and home electronics. Like blood diamonds, its mining has not only caused ecological damage, human rights abuses, but some say is also fueling the conflict in the Congo.
Palestine/West Bank: Peace Protesters use Avatar Movie Visuals
Recent protest against land appropriation of the West Bank village of Bil'in included Palestinian and Israeli activists masked as Na'vi characters from the controversial Avatar movie, which they consider anti-imperialist. Video clips posted by NGO “Friends of Freedom and Justice – Bilin” show Israeli Defense Forces using tear gas and...
Azerbaijan: Breaking down stereotypes
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines blogger Arzu Geybullayeva comments on her audio interview conducted over Skype with Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor for Transitions Online. The blog says that communication is possible, living together is possible, breaking down existing barriers is possible and [that] this a message [it] would give...
Russia: Avatar & North Caucasus – Fiction vs Reality
LJ user burtin posts this comment (RUS) about Avatar: “Interesting that people cry [as they watch] Avatar – while reports from Chechnya and Ingushetia leave them totally indifferent. Even though archetypally the same is happening there – only the people are real, not [computer-generated]. […] If this were happening in...
Nepal: Solidarity With India
“When India suffers, Nepalis share the pain” says United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal. The blog talks about the recent terror attack in German Bakery in Pune, India, where approximately 70 Nepalis used to work.
My Name is Khan – Cultural Politics in India
A look at the Hindi blog-posts related to the Bollywood film 'My Name Is Khan' reveals an interesting fact - that the reactions to this film have more to do with the cultural politics in India than with the aesthetic value of the film itself.
Singapore: Military robotics
A blogger questions the decision of the Singapore Armed Forces to purchase hardware dealing with military robotics
Georgia: Friends of Freedom for Peace
MrAshn [AZ] posts a video of members of the Azerbaijani Dalga Youth Movement with Armenian support holding a small flash mob in Tbilisi, Georgia, to mark their fifth anniversary and call for peace in the South Caucasus. The region has been riven by ethnic conflict, especially between Armenia and Azerbaijan....
