Stories about War & Conflict from January, 2009
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Support for Florence Hartmann
Amila Bosnae writes about the case of Florence Hartmann, journalist and former spokeswoman for Carla del Ponte, who published a book about the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) called “Peace and Punishment” (”Paix et chatiment: Les guerres secretes de la politique et de la justice internationales”, Flammarion,...
United States: Nedjo Ikonic's Deportation Case
Kirk Johnson of Americans for Bosnia writes that “the ever-vigilant Daniel at Srebrenica Genocide Blog has passed along a disturbing story about a US District Judge who evidently doesn't think that Federal law–at least not the Genocide Accountability Act–is something he should be bothering with”: “In short–faced with Serb illegal...
Middle East, Balkans: Comparing the Conflicts
Marko Attila Hoare and Jasmin Ademovic discuss at Greater Surbiton whether “Israel today [is] like Serbia in the 1990s.”
Ukraine: Rusyn Separatism
Lands Far Away… writes about “the threat of Rusyn separatism in Ukraine.”
Sri Lanka: Journalists Are Fleeing
In Mutiny reports that some of Sri Lanka’s top columnists and media personalities are fleeing from the country fearing for their lives.
Georgia: Uneasy Reading
This is Tbilisi Calling comments on a new report released by Human Rights Watch detailing war crimes committed during the August war between Georgia and Russia. The blog says that the report is uneasy reading, but essential nonetheless. Meanwhile, while both sides violated international humanitarian law, The Tbilisi Blues says...
Trinidad & Tobago, U.K., Israel, Palestine: Objectivity?
In response to the BBC's decision not to broadcast an appeal for funds for Gaza, Notes from Port of Spain says: “Someone, somewhere, has been leaning heavily on this famously objective broadcaster, and it has caved in.”
Myanmar: Kachin Conflict
Writing for The Pulitzer Center, Tim Patterson and Ryan Libre explain the backround of the Kachin Conflict in Myanmar. The struggle in Kachin is separate from the campaign of the political opposition of the ethnic Burmese majority.
Turkey: School Textbook Changes
Armenia: Higher Education & Sciences comments on changes to 8th grade school textbooks in Turkey which will deal with the massacre and deportation of much of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire in a more neutral way. The blog says that while the changes might seem negligible at first...
Armenia-Turkey: Are We Hrant Dink?
Following the second anniversary of the murder of Hrant Dink in Istanbul, Unzipped comments on a recent piece by Glendal News Press’ Patrick Azadian on the ethnic Armenian journalist who stood for peace, democracy and human rights in Turkey. The blog despairs the fact that nationalists are attempting to hijack...
Iran: The news that we don't hear in Tehran
Freekyboard, an Iranian blogger, says [fa] “we are not going to hear the following news in Iran: The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at US President George W Bush is seeking asylum in Switzerland and Saudi Arabia pays one billion dollar to help reconstruct the Gaza Strip.”
The EU: Srebrenica Commemoration
Cafe Turco writes about the EU's plans to commemorate the 1995 Srebrenica massacre this year.
Iran: Gaza and internal affairs
Mohmmad Ali Abtahi,former reformist vice president, writes that a former reformist minister participated in a demonstration in support of Gaza. When extremists who support president Ahmadinejad saw him, they started to chanted slogans against former president,Mohammad Khatami and his government instead of Israel.
Philippines: World War 2 History in Indie Film
The acclaimed indie film Concerto: Davao War Diary depicts the interaction of a Filipino family with Japanese soldiers during the Second World War. Concerto, set in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, is based on true events. The film's trailer can be viewed on YouTube.
Afghanistan: Human Rights Watch and The Azizabad Massacre
Colla reports that Human Rights Watch has sent a letter to outgoing US Secretary of Defense Robert M Gates to remind of the US night air attack on Azizabad, Afghanistan, that took place on 21-22 August last year and resulted in tens of dead civilians, while the US authroties were...
Afghanistan: Obama Honors Warlord, Snubs Karzai
Joshua Foust reflects on the fact that US President Obama selected four Afghan politicians to participate in his inaugural ceremony, among whom there was no incumbent president of Aghanistan Karzai.
Afghanistan: Election Holdups and Insurgency Holddowns
Patrick Frost analyzes the outcomes of US Assistant Secretary Boucher's visit to Kabul and what it means for the Taliban’s resurgence and governance in Afghanistan, including the issue of possible delaying of this years Presidential election.
Uganda: Mountain Gorilla Population May Have Declined
We have always known that there are around 700 Mountain Gorillas still alive in the wild today – 336 of which are in Uganda - but a new study published in the journal New Scientist indicates that that might be a little optimistic. The 336 individuals said to be resident...
Middle East: Boycott as a Political Weapon
Many people across the Middle East have decided to boycott Israeli and American products in response to the Israeli war on Gaza. Tarek Amr reviews what bloggers have to say about this.
Palestine: Coexisting?
Palestinians who choose to co-exist with Israelis “fare no better than any other Palestinian,” observes Ummkahlil, a Palestinian blogger, who lives in the US.
Pakistan: Taliban ban music in buses
Deadpan thoughts reports that after banning shopping for women in the troubled North of Pakistan, the Taliban threatened to ban all music and videos shown in public buses in their held territories.
