· August, 2013

Stories about War & Conflict from August, 2013

A Letter on Syria to Western Narcissists

From Lebanon, Sean Lee, of The Human Province, pens a letter to Western narcissists on Syria: But please, don't let the conflict in Syria be about opposing America. Let it be about Syria, and what might actually help Syrians – you know, the actually existing people who are dying by...

Lebanon: The Smell of Death

On August 23, two bombs exploded in outside two mosques in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. Forty-seven people were killed, and over 500 injured. Joey Ayoub, at Hummus for Thought, shares a must-read testimony of the heartbreak at the hospital of a friend who was in Al Salam mosque...

A Lesson on Dignity from Syria

This post is part of our Special Coverage Surviving in Syria. On his Facebook Page, Rebel Painter of Horan expressed his cynicism towards the silence of Arabs silence following the “chemical weapon attack” on Al Ghouta, a Damascus suburb. He shares a drawing of an Arab giving a Syrian child a pamphlet on...

Syria: Photos of Chemical Weapons

On Brown Moses Blog more evidence illustrating what is believed to be the devices which have been used in the “Chemical Weapons attack” on 21/08/2013 in Damascus suburbs, Syria, has emerged. The blog claims that they are similar to those previously recorded in the conflict and reportedly launched by government...

Wave of Violence Against Guatemalan Journalists

  23 August 2013

Guatemalan journalists Carlos Alberto Orellana Chávez was gunned down on Monday, August 19, 2013; he is the fourth journalist killed in Guatemala this year. In an opinion piece [es] published in Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre, UN's special rapporteur for freedom of expression Frank La Rue denounced “the recent wave of...

Bradley Manning's Sentence Could Chill Investigate Journalism

  22 August 2013

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement after Army Private First Class Bradley Manning's sentence was handed down on August 21, saying that the harsh treatment Manning endured since he was accused of violating the Espionage Act sent a disturbing message to anyone thinking about becoming a whistleblower....

30 Years Ago: Remembering The Anti-Tamil Pogrom And Riots In Sri Lanka

  19 August 2013

To remember Black July, the anti-Tamil pogrom and riots in Sri Lanka during July 1983, citizen journalism website Groundviews launched a special online publication titled “30 Years Ago“. It consists of an array of contents, from mixed media triptych to info-graphics, audio podcasts to video, photography to compelling write-ups. According...

Churches Attacked in Upper Egypt

David Degner shares photographs from the mobbed and burned churches in Mallawi, Minya, in Upper Egypt here. He writes: Friday two churches in the village of Mallawi, a village in the province of Minya, were attacked and set on fire. After the attack on the pro-Morsy sit in where more...

China: Egypt's Bloody Crackdown Brings Back Memories of Tiananmen

  19 August 2013

Egypt’s bloody crackdown on August 14 reminded many Chinese of the Tiananmen massacre in 1989. Many condemned the violent crackdown and applauded the courage of the Egyptian people to fight for democracy. But some saw the current chaos in Egypt as a result of a blind promotion of Western-style democracy....

PHOTO: Churches are Crying in Egypt

In reaction to burning churches, a little girl in Upper Egypt sketched this picture that brought tears to my eyes: pic.twitter.com/iymw3SF49R — daliaziada (@daliaziada) August 15, 2013 Egyptian women rights advocate Dalia Aziada posted this tweet after several Coptic churches were burnt across Egypt following a brutal military operation on August 14 2013, to clear...

Crowdmapping Mexico's Disappeared

  16 August 2013

# PorTodosLosDesaparecidos (For all the missing) is a direct initiative, without intermediaries, which seeks to create a direct contact between the victims, citizens, family and the media. The goal is to document the 27,000 people missing that the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has registered. The Secretary of the Interior...