undialogue

The movement that won't die The women who won't lie

2010-01-06T16:06:00.026+01:00

I just read an article not so long along ago included in Dagens Nyheter (one of the major Swedish newspapers) written by Parvin Ardalan, an Iranian woman and human rights activist. Those two entitlements have found themselves accompanying each other more times than not the last year or so as the build-up of political revolutionary momentum among Iranians blossomed into a green wave of dissappointed voters this past summer. Still, Ardalan is writing on hope and civil resistance.

She's writing about how hope of change has found its way into the hearts of many Iranians again, not to be mentioned among the women. She tells us the story of Somayeh Rashidi, a 24-year old woman and student active in the womens and students movement who got arrested around the same night I was spending time with some Swedish-Iranian friends here in Stockholm. She together with some other female students had pulled away a piece of cloth in the university cafeteria that was creating two different sections for women and men, separating them from dining together. For this she got kicked out of school for a year. For this kind of activity she now recently was suspended from her master studies. But it has not stopped her or the other 55 womens activists that have been arrested for being part of this brave movement.

This brave movement that has been marked by suffering and yet been equally forceful in resisting the regime's conditions upon which they now must refuse to live by, at the risk of their very own lives. Parvin Fahimi, mother of Mohammed who got killed during the official protests following the elections in June, is now part of the mourning mothers who've been meeting at different parks ever since the violent events to silently raise their voices of dissent. And maybe not the least to be mentioned here is Neda Agha Soltan who's death caught on film this past summer became the symbol of the whole democratic movement of Iran. Despite the ban of facebook, despite the shut down for journalists, despite the technique enabled and sold by mobile companies like Nokia and Siemens, pictures speak even louder and continue to do so.

Maybe not more obviously so proven by the way the arrest of the student activist Majid Tavakoli, the young man that the Iranian government's news channels wanted to shame by putting a hijab/scarf on him and making him look like a woman, led to a bunch of pictures being posted on the internet of men wearing hijabs to protest their shameful acts. The womens activists were supporting this while also saying there's nothing shameful with being a woman, while also demanding an end to wearing hijabs by constraint. The variations are many but Ardalan is saying all of the freedom fighters in Iran have one common practice - "the undermining of an authoritarian and religious structure. Through which they distance themselves from the hopelessness and the cynicism and work to strengthen the civil recistance in society."

She's saying that for women in particular this is a strategy that is well known. "One of the things that is often mentioned in self-defence classes is to be aware of the spiral of violence. In other words, silence is the reason for violence that keeps spinning, no matter if it's violence at home, sexual violence, political violence or social violence" (my translation).

And what's true is that the growing Iranian womens movement have played a crucial role in putting a spot light on Iran's discriminative policies. It's also true that since the democratic movement was attacked by the end of December, during the religious feast of Aashura, no less than eight people have been killed and more than a 1000 people have been arrested. After 30 years with the Islamic Republic - marked by the two highest leaders, ten rounds of presidency with six presidents, thousands of dead and executed, imprisonments of political and social activists, and systematic repression, Ardalan said hope had moved out of the hearts of Iranians. Now she's saying it's moved back in again. And I think we see it too. I think we see it too despite of or maybe even because of the fact that 180 people got arrested again today...

I hurt with all the beautiful Swedish-Iranians friends that are following the events with grief over the repressions, anxiety for family members, excitement over a new revolutionary road, hope for freedom in Iran, joy in solidarity and recollections of memories from -79. My hopes for peace are with you too.

The International Campaign for Tibet

2008-06-24T20:29:00.007+02:00

So I got an email from Jacob Colker who's the Campaign manager of the International campaign for Tibet (ICT). ICT is an international human rights NGO chaired by actor Richard Gere that supports the Dalai Lama's effort to negotiate a solution for the Tibetan people with the Chinese government. They have a big human rights push over the next few weeks in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and is hoping that we would help them out by posting the text below on our blogs. So here it is. Feel free HRT-bloggers and other human rights friends to copy and post.

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With just weeks left before the Olympic Games, a major Chinese government crackdown is taking place in Tibet, and a climate of fear grips the region.

This spring, Tibetans began escalating protests against the repressive policies of the Chinese government and its harsh campaign against the Dalai Lama. These demonstrations have been met with brutality.

Thousands of Tibetans, including Buddhist monks and nuns, have been detained, interrogated and tortured. More than one hundred have been killed. Of special concern are the untold number of Tibetans who have disappeared since the crackdown began.

Now is the time to sign the petition urging world leaders not to commit to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics!

Click Here to Sign the Petition:
http://support.savetibet.org/site/R?i=GKUsaEuiLHa87M4SBGat4A

Your signature will be delivered to world leaders through their embassies and consulates. Already, we have received almost 20,000 signatures from all around the world. Help us reach our goal of 50,000!

The International Campaign for Tibet is calling for:

* A full accounting of Tibetans currently detained, and due process of law.
* Real progress in the Sino-Tibetan dialogue.
* Open access for the media in Tibet, as promised in China¹s Olympic bid.

World leaders should carefully weigh these concerns before they commit to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

The Olympic Games is an international sporting event. The Olympic torch is a symbol of peace. Neither the torch nor the Games belong to Beijing, but to the citizens of the world, including the Tibetan people.

Let¹s send a clear message to the Chinese government to stop the crackdown in Tibet and engage in genuine dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Thank you for your support of the Tibetan people!

A lesson learned

2008-05-26T14:30:00.010+02:00

I've been running out of words to write and sentences to finish lately. Been going through a low season when it comes to writing. It has to do with me being tired from a pretty rough time this spring with the kids in Vårberg. It's a tired thing in itself to realize you're suddenly at that point where you feel you're out of touch with why you're doing what you're doing. That's why Vårberg's been taking a break on me, or rather why I've needed to take a break from Vårberg. With school and all it got too much with too many people. And it's a good lesson. It is. And that's really what I wanna write on here.

I think this is something that especially people working within the Human Rights field can (and should probably) relate to as it's a work that will always be concerned with people AND people's will to confront injustices.

During a time of rest I'ven been thinking a lot about how we do this work; How I think we need to feed on hope to act upon injustices. May sound very simple and in a way I think it is, but I've found that at times when I feel discouraged it's because I've been doing this backwards. I've been feeding on the injustices to then try to act with hope. And it's so easy to go there when you're working with human rights. Where you end up in that place where you think that all you know you can do is to see what others don't. And you get cynical. Which doesn't do anyone any good, the least yourself.

What's frustrating for me is that I find this in my education as well, and sometimes when I come home I need to just stop and think about why I should not surrender to cynicism when that's what's being modelled to me in school. When I hear that we have an asylum system that sucks while having close to 40 million refugees in the world...

By saying this I do not mean that we cannot or should not be angry, mad, frustrated, filled with rage and so on over the injustices we see being made to people around us and in our work. NO! We need to be mad about the injustices as it prooves to ourselves and others that something's just not right. It's a must not a maybe if you're really out to do something that will make you work for the better I think.

But if our committment to work for human rights and people who are suffering stay there, at the feet of our own rage, it will probably not go any further than that. At least not for the one mad. In the long run.

And as I love people and as I get so sick and tired of us messing everything up for each other, I still find hope in God, creation and the inter-connectedness of us all called humanity. And I'm not writing that here thinking everyone could or should relate to that. I'm just saying it to be honest with why I have hope. They're not the only reasons but they're big ones. This is not my point here though, what I wanna say concerns the importance of having hope. Hope as to why something good can be done when you suddenly see none of it.

At some point when I'm filled with frustration, staring at my own two feet, I have to let justice triumph over rage somehow. This justice that I'm fighting for. When all I see is injustices being made to the poor and hungry, the homeless and lonely, the refugee and the outcast, how do I do that? Hope has to be the way. So that when I feel too tired from being mad with the world and don't want to act upon injustices just yet, I can still feed on the hope that lingers on solidarity streets across the globe...

The Mean[s] of Democracy

2008-04-29T15:14:00.006+02:00

Completing sentences behind closed doors
One supporting peace, the other the need for (an) armed force
The word behind leaves no doubt
about what kind of democracy we're talking about
Talking in endless circles on liberty
While leaving no room for debating bureaucracy
No, the rooms are closed but at least the words they are spoken
Yet it makes no difference if the UN, EU or a democratic party is their only token...

And not the man begging for food, outside your office window, across the street
Or the man you're paying at the counter of the fast food court who's had too much to eat

And not the woman you drove by who'd passed out on the bench from one too many beers
Or the woman you met on that business party who sipped too many glasses of wine in order to escape her fears

And not the kid next door you saw take a hit from his dad
Or the child of your sister whom you know studies harder when mom's mad

And not your uncle who died alone and without friends
Or your former boss who told you he felt lonely -yet his funeral contained speeches without ends

While all of these are people you have seen
You know there are many more places or roads you have not been
So if you want your democratic voice to be more than the UN, EU or a democratic party's word
Let your politics be one of passion for people that are equally unheard...

Freedom of dialogue?

2008-03-17T15:24:00.004+01:00

For a little over a month now I've been enrolled in a course on freedom of speech and information. Interesting...oh yes. The subject is highly debated in relation to the subject of the other course I'm taking right now, namely that on freedom of religion and conscience. I've been thinking about the symbiosis between these two "rights".

Freedom of speech as a right is probably debated everywhere, no matter if people are allowed to speak up or not. It was only a couple of weeks ago you could hear on the news of youtube being prohibited in Pakistan. And only a few days ago about the Tibet/Chinese protests in Lhasa. One of the cornerstones of a society marked by justice is it not?

So what happens then when it clashes with another [right]? Like it does every so often when it comes to freedom of religion. The Mohammed caricatures have been brought up for discussion more than once in class I might add. But what is it that makes it so difficult for these two rights, or to be quite honest, for us as people to meet and try to communicate cross-culturally about our say so in this.

We experienced a little bit of this difficulty this weekend at the afterschool center in Vårberg where me and some friends work. Vårberg is an area in the south of Stockholm where about 60% of the inhabitants are immigrants. A lot of these, especially from Iraq, live there and are without much help from the seemingly anti-social Swedish society (if I may exaggerate a little bit to make my standpoint very clear) trying to build a new life with their families. On top of that, economic conditions lead to public schools being left without enough resources (my own observation) which in turn leads to destructive behavior and violence among the youth.

With this also comes the clash for the kids between their old culture and the new one. And here is where we experinced the Mohammed caricature conflict on a small scale basis this Saturday. One of the leaders trying to calme a kid down made a comparison between what this kid said about another boy's handicap (and he said some really awful stuff to this boy) to his own dad's. And the kid went wild, coming from a culture where shaming your dad and his handicap like that infront of everyone is worse than we could ever imagine here in Sweden. Of course the leader didn't mean to shame him or his dad in any way.

I pause here and ponder the thought of that maybe this conflict that we're talking about, freedom of speech vs. freedom of religion, isn't really about a strict antagonism between the two but about a lost sense of respect for cultural meanings behind cultural terms. Do we believe in freedom of speech? Yes. Do we believe in freedom of religion? Yes. Do we want to dialogue and learn? ... Do we?

Update : Late...or Late Update!

2008-02-09T14:31:00.001+01:00

I'm sorry I haven't been keeping the blog updated for a two-week period or so. As I was (to my utter most joy!) "recovering" from the stressful studying period of early January I got sick again and have been laying in bed for a while. I will be sure to write something soon though. Also, I want to write it out here that something wacko happened to my inbox and the article I got forwarded on the Ethiopian situation is no longer in my property, and I cannot write something on it until I get it forwarded again. Unfortunately. Please, if you're reading this, Farah from CDRA in London if I remember it correctly, write me again. Thanks.

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"Where there is laughter there is always more health than sickness."

-Phyllis Bottome

:)

Keep up the good work HRT bloggers!

On the Day of remembering Dr. King

2008-01-21T13:35:00.001+01:00

Looking forward to face the kid from the ghetto an hour away
Looking back at your legacy as I get on the red subway
Equal rights for a joy that is just
A joy where laughter and love is a must
You fought for and fell for this God that is good
Learning to live the mass-misunderstood
Loving your enemy in the light of him
Where hate had grown cold in the darker dim
And from that incapability you spoke out against war
While speaking of something else truly worth dying for
That something you gave and got a lot in return
As people peacefully carried that yearn
To do unto others what you want others to do to you
And to face the faces of that other too
To love where love's been lingering in the shadow
And to hold on to people the society's let go off
May we laugh and love and live as we trust this
That we too from our incapability may speak out against injustice

Just a boy

2008-01-13T01:32:00.000+01:00

We fail, all the time
Sometimes it's your fault, just as often it is mine
We try our best, to do our best
To maybe give that one person, a little more than the rest

So we give our focus, attention and love
Hold on tight in dark corners, and look to the above
Hoping, wanting and longing for
This kid, this kid, if he could kid me no more

Up and down, here wo go
Underprivileged society, where the kids have no say so
We ache for them, they ache back
sometimes confiding, sometimes with 'get the hell back'

This little kid, remember he's just a boy
Now stealing heavy stuff, starting with a toy
What satisfies him he thinks, is his very own best
To maybe make him feel, a little bit better than the rest

So we give our focus, attention and love
Hold on tight in dark corners, and look to the above
Hoping, wanting as you realize what you're longing for
Is for this kid, this kid, to kid himself no more

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Youth work experience - experienced wherever youth is at work.
For better or worse I guess. Oh yes, I say with a smile.

A good start

2008-01-07T13:24:00.004+01:00

A new year may bring us both anticipation and anxiety for the unexpected. I hope your new year has started out with giving you inspiration and ideas for what's to come through you, your different human rights engagements and the people around you this year. I am very impressed by all the people and blogs I've come across this past year and I just wanna say, Keep up the good work! My new year's had a good start. Though 2007 ended with feeling quite tired from a hectic December it now makes me even more excited about being back in Stockholm with new strength and joy for 2008.

This new strength and joy really springs from something that happened this Thursday. I was on my way to rehearse some skits and presentations for a wedding between dear friends when I got on the subway at the central station and met Lasse. To make you understand what was so special about meeting him...here comes the background story.

In the beginning of September, I'm on my way from Vårberg to town when this guy Lasse boards the subway. He stands in the middle and with a gentle voice he starts explaining that he's homeless and would appreciate if anyone would like to buy a sample of "Situation Stockholm" (a paper which homeless people may sell in order to make some money - they get 50% of the profits) or if anyone would just like to give him some money for breakfast. I usually try to bring fruit with me when I'm on the subway to give away but I didn't have anything with me this time so when he got off at Slussen I asked him if we could go eat something. He gave me a warm smile and we sat down to have coffee and a bun. That's all he wanted. We talked for quite a while and it was the best conversation I'd had in a long time. We joked about his photo on his identification card where he looked just like a famous Swedish singer named Tåström (Sorry for making this not understandable to all the non-Swedes but I think it's fair to say he looks somewhat like Mick Jagger). Lasse laughed and said he gets that a lot. He told me about his everyday life, the difficulties him and his friends were having with the executives at "Situation Stockholm", and the worries about spending another winter in the cold. A homeless shelter near the central station had just been shut down in order for the city of Stockholm to expand their tourist market and build another luxurious hotel right there. It makes me so sick just typing it down for you here. It is sick. So we went on talking and decided I would give him a call at the "Situation Stockholm" office to see if we could meet again with his friends and talk about this.

I tried calling a couple of times but then time just went by with everything to do in Vårberg. As I went home for Christmas I was feeling so rotten about not having met Lasse during the entire fall. I felt like a hypocrite as I was thinking about him and his friends spending winter out in the cold. I had been thinking about him a lot during the fall. Hoping he was well and...alive.

So when I got on the subway this Thursday and passed Lasse to the right it was only because I barely recognized him at first and wasn't sure it was him I spotted in the corner seat. When I had met him in September he looked kinda worn out with a long beard and a tired look on his face. Now, he looked healthy, was without beard (not saying anything against having a beard, ha) and that worn out look. I went back, sat down next to him and asked him if his name was Lasse and he smiled and said yes. I asked him if he recognized me, that we'd met in the beginning of this fall at Slussen and that I had tried to get a hold of him a couple of times. His face lit up, smiling with suprise I guess, and said he remembered me and asked me to call him as he was just about to get off the subway. He smiled and waved to me as the subway rolled by.

I am sharing this here so that maybe our thoughts on the unexpected twists and turns of this new year will bring us a little bit of anticipation rather than anxiety. May it also give us new strength and joy.

New Hope for a New Year

2007-12-31T18:15:00.001+01:00

The last day of the year 2007 is here. Tomorrow days of a new year will dawn and with those days, new hope. Yes, that is my hope for this new year. That a joyous new hope for the year that awaits us will make it into a happy one. We leave behind us a year that's been full of injustices and suffering, setbacks and struggles. In our neighborhoods as well as in our international community. The latest event in Pakistan being one of them to be mentioned here, where Benazir Bhutto was recently murdered. But the year's also been a year of coming together for community and doing good in all possible ways. A few weeks ago when I was feeling discouraged, when you're just struck with that hopelessness you know, a friend of mine said to me: "But remember, we are a lot of people working for a better world as we're trying to live differently." And I was once again reminded of that, and that another world is possible as we day by day can come together to make a difference. To see thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. To love our neighbor as ourselves. To overcome evil with good. To bring forth this joyous hope.

I am contemplating over three things mainly this evening, being inspired by three C.S Lewis quotes as I make it my thoughts here for this new year.

During this season in particular we can see the emptiness of materialism being exposed as the greatest myth, in that buying more and more stuff will make you happy cannot stand against the community of friends and family that we know that Christmas really is about. My hope for this year is for this lie of materialism to continue to break into pieces as more and more people come to experience the joy that is not in consuming and that lasts longer than any impuls item being bought. "Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man." Also, that greed will get lost in the grace that I hope can enable us to share our lives and things even more. Where we may walk that extra mile for someone; lending our car to that neighbor (or the subway card - if you really wanna think about the environment), buying groceries to that family in need, forgiving that friend or wrong being done to you even when it feels unforgivable. Because, with this said..."Mercy, detached from Justice, grows unmerciful." May we show mercy and be people of peace, proclaiming justice anywhere as we see injustices being made everywhere. Last but not least my hope for this year is that we'll be given a new spark of imagination and creativity into whatever we're doing, seeing the new possibilities in what first inspired us. As we're trying to live differently, I hope we'll dare to dream big and start with the small things. "Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning."

With wishes of a Hopeful New Year, Heléne

A thought

2007-12-29T21:40:00.000+01:00

If we don't live what we learn
we don't love what we do
but if we live what we love
we'll live to learn too

Christmas and any small thing...

2007-12-21T23:13:00.001+01:00

"Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help anouther soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good."
-Clarissa Pinkola-Estes

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I'm finding these posts becoming more and more personal (isn't it all in a way) as the inevdible journey you go trough and the meetings you make with people in the end sometimes make more sense writing about than the formal information passed on by others. So I'm back in my hometown Kumla over Christmas and it's a valuable time to catch up on some resting and reading. And this is where the qoute above comes in as my contemplation for this week is that we may realize that we do what we can and we do it again, even when we fail and feel like there's nothing more to give from. Because there is. For our little portion. For our friends.

I met a friend today. His name is Marten. 20-year old Marten from Iraq. He's a refugee kid all alone here in Kumla with the rest of his family back in Baghdad. But foremost he's a boy with a lot of laugther in his heart and a lot of joy written on his face. "You're my big sister Heléne!", he says (or shouts) like he did this summer when I'd first met him with some friends. And I feel so sad about the Swedish Christmas inclination to limit family members to nothing other than the shared genetic gene pool. So we're trying to not do that this season as there's really no better time for friendship and community. Now the only thing we'll be missing on Monday is baklava. Darn it.

Boshraa

2007-12-14T09:19:00.000+01:00

I am crying tonight
it's the tears of a refugee woman
in the corner of their little room
she lays in the light of the window
Unmoved by silence
the little girl's cough startles her
it's her daughter that dreams at daylight
night is now a place for nightmares
Crying when she wakes up
happy to see her mother in the corner
the son and brother is too tall to lie there
so he makes room in the middle
You're sick with sorrow
that he has to live like this
it's really eating you from the inside out
as your hair's gone grey too soon
Soon
it's the word you've kept telling yourself
(but) the first time was 8 months ago
soon
Soon I will get help to go forward
soon my husband and daughters will come here
soon we will find ourselves starting over
soon we will get out of this place
But no
your soon-s have grown into questions
Will we ever get help to go forward?
will my husband and daughters come here?
will we ever find ourselves starting over?
will we get out of this little room?
You're now more concerned about staying alive where you are
and knowing that your husband and daugthers are too
you don't wanna think about the starting over
as you've grown weary in all of the four corners of the room
So you cry
and you've cried through all seasons now
and you cried when we met
So I cry
there will be a soon
and I hope it's tonight
We cried and we laughed
and you have the most beautiful smile
please God, let there be soon

Avaaz again - Sign it for the Bali climate talks this time

2007-12-13T21:30:00.001+01:00

I've just copied their message right here for you to read and start signing up. Now. I must say, not having been familiar with the Avaaz organization for such a long time that they're really doing a great job. Grassroot activism at its best. Always with hope and determination to my surprise and joy.

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Dear friends,

CRISIS IN BALI CLIMATE TALKS - get heard by negotiators, click below to:
Sign the Global
Emergency Petition
24 hours to go, and crisis at the Bali climate talks. In the last day alone, over 150,000 of us have surged to the global rescue -- calling on the world not to give in to wrecking tactics by the governments of the US, Canada and Japan. We’re putting a full-page ad in the Jakarta Post’s summit edition where all the negotiators will see it, warning them to avert Titanic-like disaster -- and we’re coming together with other NGOs to deliver millions of signatures for climate action to governments.

I’m writing from the main hall at Bali, where Al Gore just said it’s time for “a global people power movement” to step in. He’s right. Our new global emergency petition brings us directly into the main battle at Bali -- and there’s no question that delegates here are watching what we all do. So please -- drop everything for thirty seconds, click below to see the ad and sign the petition if you haven’t already, forward this link to everyone you know:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/bali_emergency/24.php

As US citizens tell the summit to ignore the Bush administration, our Canadian members are running a wildfire campaign against their government’s obstruction, including nationwide ads. Meanwhile, we’re bringing petitions from Greenpeace, Oxfam, LiveEarth, Stop Climate Chaos, Friends of the Earth, Al Gore, GetUp, MoveOn and Alliance for Climate Protection together with our own massive campaign to deliver a roar more than 2 million-strong to global decision-makers here.

It’s our world. We won’t let them wreck it.

With hope and determination,

Ben, Graziela, Ricken, Galit, Paul, Milena, Pascal and the whole Avaaz team

PS here’s the latest news from the summit -- some are proposing to go ahead without the US, Japan and Canada, where governments may soon change:
AFP latest
Associated Press latest

For more about Avaaz’s campaigning and achievements so far, see http://www.avaaz.org/en/report_back_1

The IPS newswire says, "Whereas traditional rhetoric and diplomatic gimmicks* characterise the official UN climate change conference, environment activists are drawing the focus for their witty and irreverent take... In the forefront is a community of global citizens named Avaaz."

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*Diplomacy measures, practiced by diplomatic gimmicks or not (and a lot of the times they are), should always be challenged by the voice of the crowd. The more hope and determination the better.

Above all - love

2007-12-13T11:16:00.002+01:00

Some words of wisdom on why we need not only to be loved but to love.

"Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."
- C.S. Lewis

Dare to unlock love. Invite your neighbor for lunch, make time to phone that person, share your heart with friends and family around you. Above all - love.

Climate change - for better or worse?

2007-12-10T11:32:00.001+01:00

Thank you Erland Källén for delivering such a clear and concise lecture on a subject so often overlooked by facts and figures.

So, this Friday morning I together with a group of people attended a seminar by Mr. Källén from the Department of Meteorology at Stockholm University on the synthesis report 2007 on global climate change by IPCC. It was held at the UN Swedish headquarters here in Stockholm with the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali coming up and Erland Källén himself being part of the UN's IPCC Climate Change panel of scientists and researchers.

The lecture included the latest information concluded on climate change that is to be put forward now at the Bali meeting by IPCC. What makes this report stand out and worth paying attention to is the fact that it's presented by the IPCC, which is not just another group among many to deliver their single interpretation on the climate change issue - no. It is probably the most serious report to be presented as a result of joint conclusions based on the observations of various reports already made. With the IPCC panel concisting of scientists and researchers from all over the world.

So, with reports being presented one after another, each contradictory to the other one's case scenario while the world's climate crisis continue to live on, here's one you can trust.

You can read more about the Climate Change Conference in Bali at
http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_13/items/4049.php

You can also follow the conference online at
http://www.un.org/webcast/unfccc/

Erland Källén's presentation, can be downloaded (even though the text is in Swedish
you might find the statistics and graphs useful) at http://www.fn.se. You just click the text that says "Ladda ner PDF med anteckningar från Erland Källéns seminarium om utmaningar och möjligheter vid FN-toppmötet på Bali om klimatförändringarna »" The text is just right below this image on the page.

So, from this lecture, or from the IPCC report I'd rather to say, there is a climate change occuring with our help. We know it. But as we know this we also know we need to start making a change. The greatest global denominator in this is the energy waste. We know it. Perhaps the question we need to consider to start stepping up is, will that change be for the better or worse case scenario of our future climate?

And let's take it, not as a token of what we have not done but as a springboard towards what we now know we can do. More to come on this.

Keep up the good work!

I met this man on the street

2007-12-05T19:32:00.001+01:00

I met this man on the street today
He's an old man playing his accordion
I'd seen him many times before today
playing his accordion

I met this man three months from today
it really wasn't that long ago
I came to speak with him like I did today
and it really was that long ago

I bought him apples to eat
He smiled and showed me his teeth
I saw the fillings of each one
He said thank you and I was gone

I came back with some bananas instead
He kissed my cheek and patted my head
We met like this three months ago
and it really was that long ago

I remembered his name the second time we met
He gave me a look saying I thought you'd forget
We met like this two months ago
and it really was that long ago

I met this man on the street today
Pompilou is his name
I meet this man on the street today
and it brings me to shame

shame over times I took a turn not to pass him by
shame for pitty thinking what can I do my oh my
this selfish shame that bears my name
has been taken away from me and my shame

do unto others what you would want others to do to you
could I do that without feeling rude?
I feel like I should be able to do more
what are a bunch of bananas good for?

but I forget that it's not about me
when I'd rather pass and leave him be
His face lit up every time instead
when he kissed my cheek and patted my head

I can write to the politicians and ask them to do more
and I can give away bananas without asking what they're good for
no handwritten letter will receive a name on the street
or a smile or a laugh or a kiss on the cheek

Pompilou is going back to Romania on the 22nd of December
he told me that so that I will remember
maybe give him a bunch of bananas or two
or maybe just maybe he just wants somebody to talk to

We cannot play God
We can we do what we can
We can love our neighbor; share a smile, a laugh, something to eat
We can think about that before passing the man on the street

Sudan from the inside

2007-12-04T15:34:00.001+01:00

I got an email yesterday from a friend of mine in Sudan being in Khartoum with an organization called PMU, working with developing teachers' skills and education improvements around the country. They're really doing a great job and have recently had teacher exchange students from Sweden over there to learn and are now hoping that a group of students from Sudan studying to become teachers will in turn come to Sweden. Besides telling me about their work she also of course included a note on the recent event there with the teddy bear that got named Mohammed. From what my friend and her teacher colleagues knew the conflict was blown out of proportion due to a schism between a secretary and the school's principal. The secretary was trying to get to the principal and so filed a report on this incident to the police. Sad. Not only the event in itself but the way it was reported here in the West. My friend also expressed this concern that it came off as making the Sudanese people look bad. And the demonstration against the school was not a big one if you compare the thousand that participated in it with the inhabitants being about a ten million people. Also, the Sudanese colleagues and parents of the children in the class support the British teacher that got in the middle of the secretary-principal disagreements. Sounds like any school conflict that might as well be going on here in Sweden, the only difference being the incident may spring out of a different matter. But yeah, to get back to the fact that the reports on the event here in the West, or in Sweden at least, were interpreted as to make the already fragmented picture of Sudan into a greater whole, unified image of a conflict-country torn apart by religion and war, I'm sad. But I'm hopeful since we have these people working over there for a long lasting peace and the truth to be told. These people, that are both Sudanese people and people from other countries being there to learn and to help. These people, that are working hand in hand for the todays and the future of Sudan.

Do you want to blog for human rights?

2007-11-27T18:19:00.000+01:00

I'm Heléne, animator of the Human Rights Tools' community for human rights bloggers. With the HRT newsletter(s) coming out and linking to this site on facebook, I thought I would just post a little something here on the importance of what we're trying to do as human rights bloggers. This is just a thought that came to mind yesterday so if you object and know of a much better way of putting it, feel free to comment :) But I would like to make a parallel to what the UN states is their mission. In a smaller scale, however still very important, I believe that what we're trying to do serves the same purpose.
To:
- Respect
- Protect
- Fulfill
human rights.

Through writing about subjects and situations concerned with human rights issues, we are wanting to further the respect for them so that more people may enjoy them.

Through writing/blogging we are wanting to promote the protection of these rights, as a means of helping the people suffering from injustices in all the different corners of the world.

Through furthering respect for human rights and their protection, we are also wanting to see them through, fulfilled in whatever subject or situation we are writing about -for the people we are caring for.

So keep up the good work all you human rights bloggers and if you would like to start blogging, please let me know, write me an email and we'll get you started.

Feedback on the Human Rights event

2007-11-27T17:26:00.003+01:00

Ok, so last week I attended this Human Rights event called MR-dagarna here in Stockholm, Sweden. My own personal over all feeling about it is that it was very succesful. Two thousand people gathered at the Stockholm International Fair to tune in on what's new concerning human rights issues and situations. I'm especially happy about two of the seminars that I went to and their speakers. Ironically, I think I would have missed them if it wasn't for the fact that the reason I got there in the first place was because I was attending them as a volunteer, making sure all the practical things was in order. So, this is an encouragement - help out as a volunteer at these kinds of events and you might, besides having a lot of fun, enjoy valuable meetings with really nice and genuine people :)

So the first seminar I attended as a volunteer was held by a woman named Kathy Kelly. A woman of great passion for the afflicted. She spoke about her experiences in Iraq in the middle of the war zone, living there and meeting with Iraqi refugees. In this little room of maybe ten persons she spoke with the same fire as the day after in the big hall for two thousand people. Like I said, a woman of great passion for the afflicted. It turned out we had some mutual friends that had been with her and the organization in Iraq she was part of founding called "Voices in the Wilderness" (now called "Voices for Creative Nonviolence"). It was a true encouragement to me that we could sit down and talk about Iraq, activism and the way we're meeting Iraqi kids in Vårberg. So, if you're reading this Kathy, you know...but I think you do already :) http://http//vcnv.org/

The second, very interesting and informative seminar was held by Jörg Gasser, which turned out to be Daniel D'Esposito's (editor of Human Rights Tools) former colleague at ICRC. Small world huh. Jörg spoke very well about ICRC's visits to persons deprived of liberty at detention centers. What I believe was stressed throughout the seminar, or at least, that I picked up on, was the emphasis in this ICRC work to establish a dialogue with the authorities. I was very pleased to hear Jörg speak about this philosophy being implemented as an ICRC working method. He gave me a great link for further thoughts on this. The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue is an off-spring to ICRC that works to promote and facilitate dialogue among belligerents. It is active in a number of conflict resolution projects around the world and in support of these projects they conduct research and analysis bringing forward practical policy recommendations to improve international efforts to secure and sustain peace. Check it out - it's really good!
http://www.hdcentre.org./

Nordic event on Human Rights

2007-11-15T11:46:00.001+01:00

This Monday through Tuesday I'm going to attend a big conference on Human rights here in Stockholm, Sweden called "MR-dagarna" -which basically means human rights days. It is the biggest joint event of the Nordic/Scandinavian countries on human rights (issues). These days will be two days packed with seminars, group-discussions, interesting meetings with people and valuable information on different human rights subjects. I hope I can give you some account of it here afterwards. I will be working as a volunteer there so I'm also thinking that might provide for some behind the scenes input here as well. A lot of people from several different areas of the human rights field will be there, including Jan Eliasson who will give a talk on the Darfur situation. If you want to check it out (unfortunately it's all in Swedish) go to www.mrdagarna.se

Keep up the good work!

Ignatieff or ignorant?

2007-11-14T15:02:00.002+01:00

Well, I don't know. We've been reading Michael Ignatieff's two essays published into a book format called Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry. Though he skillfully advocates his preference for reducing the "catalogue" of human rights to [only] include the negative liberties (so to speak) I think I do have to agree with the critique that Diane F. Orentlicher puts forward. She points out two important things and I give her credit for her clear-minded conclusions.

1) That his points concerning the seperation of religion and human rights is not a sufficient one as the problem he adresses with Islamic countries will not produce a solution excluding religion. Instead, there should be more efforts put into human rights advocations, in the dialogue with some of the Middle Eastern countries, based on justifications derived from [their] religion. I agree with her here that this approach should be practiced to a larger degree and to the extent it can.

2) The second is on "procedural inclusiveness". I'll just quote her here.
"This strategy recognizes that the human rights idea faces a crisis of legitimacy principally because the process by which the key international treaties were drafted was highly exclusionary. With this diagnosis, the cure suggests itself; the trans-cultural process by which "universal" rights are constructed must become truly inclusive. And as Ignatieff suggests, we must be committed to the ideal of an 'inter-cultural dialogue in which all parties come to the table under common expectations of being treated as moral equals'...if every state is entitled to contribute its perspectives to the inter-cultural process of constructing universal norms, this scarcely assures that every voice will have an equal opportunity to be heard." I like this. Not to the point that universal statements can always be subjectively shared but to the point it stresses the importance of everyone's equal opportunity to be heard. That's dialogue.

Agree, disagree?

Political Pakistan...

2007-11-10T20:30:00.001+01:00

I was watching one of the news broadcasts by the Swedish TV channel 4 when Ahmed Rashid, well known Pakistani author and journalist, commented on the latest events in Pakistan by saying he believes it's good that the students at a time like this when the power vaccum starts to make itself present everywhere come together to protest for a democratic Pakistan. On The International News' website (an international newspaper run in Pakistan http://www.thenews.com.pk/) you could read that "President General Pervez Musharraf said that the imposition of emergency was a difficult decision but it was taken in the larger interest of the nation for knocking-off extremism and terrorism and for the political stability in the country." Furthermore, he had also said that "all necessary arrangements would be made for holding early the independent and transparent elections."

That his political opponent, Benazir Bhutto, was recently put in house arrest in order not to be able to attend her protest meeting does not really prove (t)his point...

Burma awareness

2007-11-09T18:08:00.000+01:00

Sorry for not having updated my blog for a week or so. Exams have taken a lot of time since last time I wrote here.

I just wanna post some pictures that I got from a friend and tell of the commitment here in Sweden in promoting Burma awareness (due to the recent critical incidents there). This demonstration for Burma (which I unfortunately could not attend) took place about three weeks ago in a very peaceful manor at a place called Sergels torg in Stockholm, with lots of people wearing red clothes. This, as a symbol of sympathy with the Burmese people's lives that were shed.

Soon will follow an update here on the outcome of the Sudan situation and the meeting that took place in Libya...

Keep your fingers crossed, hands in prayer or something when thinking about tomorrow's peace talks on Darfur in Libya

2007-10-26T11:33:00.000+02:00

www.sudantribune.com

Have a look at the article explaining the current situation of the conflicting groups in Sudan and also informing us of the realistic expectations for this meeting tomorrow. I agree with Larry Rossin, a former U.S. and U.N. diplomat who now represents the Save Darfur Coalition (an umbrella group), saying "If I were the facilitators I would be seeking to build down expectations for this first round". However, this does not mean we should expect no less than a meaningful dialogue between the people who'll be there tomorrow (Saturday) and their representative parties.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope the peace talks will produce a way forward. That there will be clear and honest communication. That creative ideas will be put forward together with a willingness to compromise. Peace is not the end; it's the means.

Avaaz is advancing

2007-10-19T13:48:00.001+02:00

From the Avaaz team - the non-profit organization working for Burma

"Dear friends,

On Wednesday, we aimed to raise $100,000 (75,000 Euros) in 24 hours to meet an urgent need for support to Burmese civil society groups to break through the government blackout, expose its reign of terror and recapture the media's attention before it moves on from Burma. Together, we hit our target in just 10 hours! And by Thursday, Avaaz members had donated almost $200,000. We have a few hours left before the end of the week deadline - can we make it $300,000 in support for Burmese groups? Each day, the danger grows that the world will turn away. Other funders take months to raise this money - only we can meet this need. $300,000 will be a massive boost to the Burmese groups' capabilities - even just $50 goes a long way in the region. Click below to donate, and see the email below for more information:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/end_the_burmese_blackout/8.php?cl=33304795

With admiration,

Paul, Ricken, Graziela, Ben, Galit, Pascal, Milena, Iain and the whole Avaaz team."

This makes our work, as human rights bloggers and fellow friends of the people of Burma, worth the effort! And this does not coincide with yesterday's post. Blogging at its best IS very very important! As we have now seen...again :) Keep it up!

When everyone goes Burma...

2007-10-18T15:55:00.000+02:00

What does it mean for us now that we've started taking the situation in Burma seriously all over the world...

What does it mean for us?

Can we keep on pushing for change even when the media hype has gone to sleep and wakes up the next day with something else to report on?

Petitions are being signed and people are reacting against the injustice, but what happens when the lights are turned down low?

And so we come to a deeper realization -that we must keep on pushing for change, not only in the public eye but in the face-to-face encounters with our friends and family.

Do we?

I mean, do I?

I must honestly say that sometimes, blogging, is the easy way out. You put the information, the engagement out there... But what do I tell the people around me?

What do I do when the lights are turned down low?
It already has for the Burmese people, when Burma went dark and the military shut down all internet, telephone and communication links with the rest of the world.

This one on one encounter among them, with friends and family, is what enables us to speak up here through the tone of our writer's voice. The monks putting their lives at stake over there for the sake of freedom would never have happened without those one on one encounters with the people around them. Coming together to stand together. To see we're many when we're moving in the masses of familiar faces. Cause many candles shine brigther than one.

So I'm thinking. Let's come together. In our blog communities but also in our (real life) communities. In our one on one conversations with people. So that, we do not go to sleep like the media hype will (although we must keep them remembering and reporting) but stay up talking to our neighbor, even when or most importantly so, when information society goes dark on us.

Break the Burmese blackout

2007-10-17T14:12:00.001+02:00

So the work on Burma done by the NGO named Avaaz continues and here's what they say themeselves in their latest encouragement to us -as friends of Human Rights, but foremost of the Burmese people.

"Dear friends,

Last week, Burma went dark--the military shut down all internet, telephone and communication links with the rest of the world. They did it because it has been the pictures, blog posts, and emails--of monks brutally murdered, journalists shot--that have done the most to galvanize the entire world on Burma. Without that flow of information, the media is reporting dry diplomatic processes--and each day the danger grows that the press will move on.

We can't allow the Burmese blackout to succeed. Avaaz is working to support highly respected Burmese democracy and civil society groups by sending them $100,000 in crucial technical and humanitarian support this week. These groups, working in the region with the right equipment and tools, can help bring stories out of Burma and poke holes in the blackout, shining spotlights on the ongoing cruelty in Burma. They are desperate for help to give humanitarian assistance to the victims of the crackdown and tell their stories to the world before the current window of media attention passes. Other donors take months to raise money; only we can be fast enough to meet this urgent need. Can we raise $100,000 (75,000 Euros) in the next 24 hours so the money can be transferred this week? Click below now to make a donation online: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/end_the_burmese_blackout/1.php?cl=32423058

A massive military crackdown has quashed the public protests and thousands of peaceful monks and protesters are right now being brutalized in secret prisons, away from the TV cameras. Burma's people need us more than ever. Over the last several days, over 775,000 Avaaz members have answered the call for help and signed our petition, launched a global ad campaign, organized hundreds of protests, and lobbied their governments. Yesterday, we delivered our petition personally to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and helped win stronger measures on Burma from the European Union. The UN Security Council, including China, has finally condemned the crackdown.

The pressure is working. Every news story on Burma cites the power of global public opinion in this situation. Burma's generals want to stifle that power by cutting off all communication, and there is a real danger this week that they will succeed, and the press will move on. But we can stop them. Click below to donate whatever you can:"
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/end_the_burmese_blackout/1.php?cl=32423058

I love their closure saying, "With hope and determination"
And then signed by the names: "Ricken, Pascal, Graziela, Ben, Paul, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team"

Well, what is Avaaz then besides these names? The name of the NGO means "'voice' in many languages" and they are "a legally registered non-profit organization, co-founded with the support of major NGO partners like Oxfam and MoveOn.org, and working with global figures like Al Gore on climate change and Desmond Tutu on poverty." They have offices in 6 countries and an administrative office in New York City. Their mission is "a global democratic one", and their community has grown in just 9 months to over 1.5 million members from every nation on earth.

A report on all of their work on Burma so far
– http://www.avaaz.org/blog/en

Keep up the good work!

BURMA - Here's what we can do, again!

2007-10-14T22:41:00.000+02:00

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_squeeze_the_junta/b.php?cl=31150898

It's time for us, you and me, to make our voice heard again! -For the sake of the Burmese people, for the sake of the situation in Burma. Members of the EU is going to vote about sanctions on Monday. Sanctions that I was happy to hear is to be "focused specifically on the generals and their corporate expropriation of natural resources- rubies, timber, metals, oil and gas- will help push them toward dialogue with the opposition."

Check out the link above and send a message to your foreign minister!

Check out US Campaign for Burma

2007-10-10T19:00:00.000+02:00

"The United States Campaign for Burma is a U.S.-based membership organization dedicated to empowering grassroots activists around the world to bring about an end to the military dictatorship in Burma. Through public education, leadership development initiatives, conferences, and advocacy campaigns at local, national and international levels, USCB works to empower Americans and Burmese dissidents-in-exile to promote freedom, democracy, and human rights in Burma and raise awareness about the egregious human rights violations committed by Burma's military regime."

Some thoughts on dialogue...

2007-10-10T18:12:00.001+02:00

I recently read an interesting quote in one of the course books we use for the Human Rights program. It was a valuable comment made by the philosopher Jürgen Habermas on how a meaningful dialogue can be formed. Read it below and tell me what you think.

"Struggling with the difficulties of understanding, people must, step by step, wider their original perspectives and ultimately bring them together. And they can succeed in such a "fusion of horizons" by virtue of their peculiar capacity to take up the roles of "speaker" and "hearer". Taking up these roles in dialogue, they engage in a fundamental symmetry, which, at bottom, all speech situations require. [...] And in the course of mutual perspective-taking there can develop a common horizon of background assumptions in which both sides accomplish an interpretation that is not ethnocentrically adopted or converted but, rather, intersubjectively shared."

He makes a really good (and well, somewhat obvious) point on how relating intersubjectively relies on how well both parties identify themselves with the role of "speaker" as well as "hearer". Easier said than done, I know and something tells me the latter is more difficult. But, I still think he formulates the process of dialogue very well for us.

For the people of Burma

2007-10-10T18:07:00.000+02:00

I pray with the words of Psalm 82: 3-4

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and opressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

Sign the petition to China and the UN Security Council to stop the brutal crackdown on peaceful Burmese protesters

2007-10-05T13:12:00.001+02:00

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/w.php

Post it on your blog or email the peitition link to all your friends and family and help reach 1 million voices by Saturday!

PS. Human Rights blogger of the humanrightstools community (and anyone else who might be interested of course) - see the post below!

I found this link on a friend's site and thought I'd post it here for you to sign. You might have already heard of it or signed it (Good!) but here's what the petition will adress in their goal to reach 1 million signatures by Saturday.

"Dear friends,

Today, our petition to China and the UN Security Council to stop the brutal crackdown on peaceful Burmese protesters is being delivered to the world in a full page ad in the Financial Times worldwide -- but the ad was rejected by other newspapers like the South China Morning Post and the Singapore Straits Times. Our message is an invitation to China to do the right thing in Burma, not an attack -- yet even that seemed too much for media that fear Chinese reprisals.

We won't let our voice be silenced like this. We're taking our message to the streets, in an international day of action on Saturday -- details are on our petition page, and below. And we're redoubling our efforts to make our voice louder: our petition is approaching 600,000 signatures, closing fast on our 1 million goal."

To know more about the Avaas.org community who's arranging this petition, check out http://www.avaaz.org/en/about.php

Hello friend & Human Rights blogger!

2007-10-01T13:59:00.002+02:00

My name is Heléne and from this week onwards I, together with you of course, will start to get our bloggers community going at humanrightstools.org. Our hope is to get the community feeling flowing at the same time as we can put our brains (and hearts) together into making our voice heard through the sound of typing fingers -writing about human rights and what's really going on in the world. To not sound too brave and less vague in this mission I can ensure you that as we do have developed some specific thoughts on how this will be done you are more than welcome to share your inspirations and ideas with us/me. Feel free to write me at http://helene@humanrightstools.org
I hope that we can get to know each other to encourage one another even though we're now many engaged bloggers (83 to be exact, which is a good thing -don't get me wrong here..haha) at humanrightstools. I'm really glad you're here. What you write matters. Updates on what's next will follow in the coming newsletter. Keep it up! -Heléne

When rights collide

2007-09-21T14:10:00.001+02:00

Take freedom of speech for example. When claimed according to article 19 in the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to have the right to express views on a certain subject (at least in the countries that have ratified the convention), what do we do when it violates another right? For example, the right to not be discriminated because of "race", religion, gender etc. But first let us look at what article 19 says about our right to freedom of speech.

Article 19

1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:

(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;

(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals

So, what do we do when freedom of speech or rather freedom of expression which you can see from the above includes writing, art or "any other media of his choice", makes another person feel discriminated due to violation of his or her rights. What's probably the most recent and also the most debated case for that matter is the scenario that developed from the fact that an artist in Denmark, and now Sweden, through art expressed his views on a certain subject concerning the Muslim prophet Mohammed. The aftermath with many Muslims reacting to the degree and lack of respect this was done is a clear example of this collision of rights. The artist claims he's been enjoying his freedom of expression in drawing what he did while the Muslim man or woman feels strongly discriminated by the way it's been demeaning his or her dignity. And in human rights terms, his or her right not to be discriminated. Paragraph three offers some restrictions. It should not be done in an unrespectful way "of the rights or reputations of others". But practically, how is this defined so as "these [restrictions] shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary"? And in what circumstances do we value these restrictions? How do we go from here? How long can we widen the concepts of "freedom of expression" vs. the right not to be discriminated? Where do they meet and where do they collide?

To check out the Human Rights program

2007-09-17T21:56:00.001+02:00

Go to www.ths.se/mr
I'm sad to say there's no information available in English but for those of you who know Swedish it might spark your human rights nerve. For the non-Swedish speaking people (I don't blame you, it's a small country haha) I recommend you (and the Swedish speaking people too of course) to check out http://www.ohchr.org/englisg/law for more information on the Human Rights laws and declarations.

When does a human right become a right?

2007-09-11T03:53:00.001+02:00

Today I got to listen to a very interesting lecture on the International Human Rights system (or systems) from a judicial point of view. The discussion from class that keeps ringing in my ears was the one on when a human right becomes a right(?) Well, we didn't go into the question too thoroughly but it's pretty much what's been pondering my head as I've been reading the course literature. From a judicial standpoint the pragmatic idea of human rights implementation (grounded in "negative rights" in a way - freedom from hunger for example) must almost inevitably be the primary preference of looking at things within the International Human Rights system. What's interesting though, despite the distinction between a convention's state-binding power by International law and a declarations general public agreement, is the notion of how customs become established rights. As these established rights are not legally binding in any way I found it a bit (positively I guess) surprising to hear of how they're used quite frequently from the judicial side of things. Of how these norms are so closely incorporated into the Human Rights system, which has a strong, very strong judicial ground at the foundational level. With the challenges of globalization and multi-cultural society one could wonder whether the established rights (eg. customs) are to stay as obvious for future references. Now when customs colliding with the cultural facts of reality is not a rare case scenario. Or a less new one. On top of that there's a way of dealing with this question within the philosophical school. To ask whether these rights can be claimed to be absolute or universal and in that case, what makes them into what? Hmm...I think I'll leave this post with a very open-ended closure, thinking I might have imposed more questions than answers. One thing I do know for sure is that declarations' be or not to be is a question that will live on in terms of whether conventions live or die. So let's let them [the non-legally binding declarations] be what they are in terms of what they might become. Our Human Rights.

The Human Rights program

2007-09-06T21:43:00.001+02:00

I've recently started a Human Rights program here in Stockholm. That it feels both interesting and valuable is the least I can say. Right now I'm enrolled in two courses. One called "With equal worth and equal rights" and the other one "Racism and discrimination". So I'll soon try to write something more on these issues.

-------------------------------------------------

"There is enough on earth for everybody's need,
but not enough for anybody's greed."

- Ghandi

The cafe conversation and where things come close

2007-08-16T13:38:00.001+02:00

This summer I've been away from Stockholm a great deal, working at a cafe back in my hometown. And what can I say, after being in Vårberg for almost a year now I've been missing the immigrant kids over there. So I guess one day I just couldn't take it anymore (okay, I'm over exaggerating a little) and started talking with some immigrant kids here in Kumla.

I was actually working at the cafe that day when one of my sisters' old classmates and his friend came and sat down. Both from Iraq. I started talking with these funny little guys and offered them a special price on the sweets if they wanted to sit down and keep my company for lunch and teach me some Arabic (let me just tell you that this cafe is like a library cafe, meaning it's quite slow sometimes so you actually have time to do that). They got very excited about that so we sat down. We talked and had a lot of fun. After a while, a guy came by that was a friend of Hamoudi's (one of the little guys) parents. He sat down and joined the conversation. He had only been here in Sweden for five months, leaving his family behind in Iraq, fleeing for his life all over Europe until he came to Sweden. He knew very little Swedish so Hamoudi helped translate.

After talking a while he told us his older brother had just died in one of the bombings in Baghdad three days ago. We all looked at each other with sorrow in our eyes. He almost started crying and so did we. Placing our hands at our chests as if to say we wanted to grieve with him. He looked at us and gave us a warm smile. At this little cafe in this little town the four of us, coming from so different backgrounds, sat together like friends and talked about the war and what's actually going on in the big city of Baghdad. I can just tell you that there is something divine happening to you when you experience the humanity that goes beyond nationality.

Like friends we also got to laugh real hard together. Well, for the most part they laughed at me for having the wrong translations sometimes of some Arabic words. This thanks to the rowdy little boys back in Vårberg (I'll deal with them later ha). Most importantly, what happened during this little cafe conversation I think was that we got to experience the language that is cross-cultural and learn from each other in doing so. I hope we'll meet again. InshAllah.

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"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."

A loving example of dialogue

2007-08-16T13:31:00.001+02:00

This is Lars and me (yes the unfortunately terrified looking girl in the picture) and during this past year I have had the privilege of having him as a teacher in a course in understanding muslim culture at ACTS. Living in Egypt for thirteen years and now working as a pastor in one of the immigrant suburbs of Stockholm he knows what he's talking about. He is an example of how dialogue is expressed in its most practical terms... He actually speaks and meets with the people that are of other opinions, views and beliefs than himself. (Yeah I'm ironizing, but when the world looks like it does, with statesmen and diplomats acting like they're a couple of four year olds fighting in a sandbox, this is quite amazing I guess!) Doing this with great love (because he loves people) and with great respect (because he respects people) while still remaining clear about there being differences in these opinions, views and beliefs that are expressed and listened to but that he sometimes cannot either respect or love. That's constructive dialogue right there. Let's live and learn. But most importantly...love.

Remorse reads redact...

2007-07-31T20:38:00.000+02:00

Today I saw but did not give
Today I talked but did not act
Today I felt what Jesus felt
When he saw the pharisées did not help

When I saw myself and my closed fist
It could might as well have been closed to hit
The messed up woman in the already messed up face
Not to reach it when it didn't fit my case

At least I'm ashamed and all broken down today
And tomorrow I'll never want to do what I did yesterday
Cause you deserve it and so much more
Cause the woman is a woman you would take a hit for

Why on earth did you do that for? -the Swedish Immigration Bureau's new policy poll card

2007-07-16T21:37:00.001+02:00

What I read in the newspaper and heard on the news a week or two ago upset me very much. It's what the people on the Swedish Immigration Bureau, led by their new general director Dan Eliasson, have decided and accepted as the new Swedish immigration policy on Iraqi immigrants that has angered me. What they've come to terms with is basically that the Iraqi people fleeing here (and that are already here) from Iraq cannot even be considered being given a residence permit unless they can give proof of them actually fleeing for their lives and risk being killed if coming back. That the situation as it is now in Iraq is not reason enough for wanting to flee is indirectly what they're telling all these people that have already come here in search of a better life where they can be sure of that dad, for example, will come home after work. And not risk getting killed by bombs. Isn't that threat reason enough?! Iraq is a country at war and we've all heard of how the number of civilians being killed has escalated all throughout this spring. What proof is reason enough? Please do tell even though my ears are soar already.

Well, I may not know all about the asylum system (yet) but I do know that I think the Immigration Bureau should be aware of the humanitarian scenario down there and that the country of Iraq is right now failing article 22. of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights; Article 22: Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality. And I know that this will not be ensured for the people who get sent back.

And even though a massive amount of people (due to war by the way!) came here in perhaps a larger scale than expected Sweden and other countries should step up in relation to the values and guidelines concerning Human Rights that they have made their own as members of the United Nations that have signed the declaration!
Article 14: 1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
Hmm...but of course implementing this article would be hard even if they agreed with it, as the term "persecution" would also have to fit a very narrow definition in their mind. Trust me, I'm not being ignorant about the fact that there are economical factors to all this that have to play their part and that Sweden is the second country after Iraq's neighbouring country, Syria, to have let so many Iraqi "refugees" (if I may call it that) in. (Let in to what is a good question though.) I realize and believe there should be a shared responsibility, as United Nations, to make sure we do what we say. To act on more than what can be seen as a silly signed piece of paper but to the rigths that we've all agreed on. So other countries will have to open up their borders as well of course. And to do what one says..what does that mean for me..petition anyone? -for the people fleeing a war that's already taken too many lives - civilians or not.

----------------------------------------------------------------

How we then take care of the immigrants that get to stay here and that live here already is another discussion and will soon earn a post of its own. From what I've seen and heard it's not working very well. I and Vårberg will live to tell.

The Vårberg Festival - for the people of Vårberg

2007-07-15T09:16:00.001+02:00

The week before midsummer, the church in Vårberg, Stockholm (where I've done my ACTS internship working with youth) arranged something called "The Vårberg Festival". This was a week packed with a lot of activities and a lot of love for Vårberg with the solemn purpose alone of doing good to the (our) community. It included everything from serving coffee and just meeting with people in Vårberg (in other words having the Swedish "fika") to dancing street dance with the youth, to activities for kids and skateboarding. In this picture down here, you can see the last two combined.

The girl to the left in this photo above is Alex. She was part of the team from a church in Jacksonville, Florida consisting of fifteen people that all came here to help us out. We had a great time together and we're grateful for everything that they did, especially the daily activities for the younger children. One of the things they did for the kids was face painting.

We got to meet with so many nice people and new Vårberg citizens throughout this whole week. We had a wonderful time and hope they all did too. We also hope that they feel welcome and excited about checking out the activities that we'll continue with this year, starting regularly in August again.

Of course the grand finale was celebrating midsummer together. So we danced in a circle and sang the olden goldies, the traditional Swedish midsummer songs. One of the songs is actually about little frogs... Oh yeah it's freaky and fun.

It was really a festival for the people of Vårberg. They (the church) arranged it last year for the first time and it is planned to come back next summer again. Only better this time. For the people of Vårberg.

Ps. No I didn't hit him -it's face paint.

Care to read something on human rights?

2007-07-04T23:28:00.000+02:00

I recently joined this community center for human rights bloggers.

Check out our friends who are writing for our fellow man:

[fikra] ÙÙƒØ±Ø©
A human rights weblog
A LIBRARIAN AT THE KITCHEN TABLE
Annie's letters
Baha'i Faith in Egypt
Baptist Nomad
blogagainsttorture
Business & Human Rights in Vancouver
Chez RÃ©mi
Children
Chinese Law Prof Blog
chroniques de palestine
Colorado Coalition for Human Rights
crusading
ETC Blog
Feministing
Freedom for Egyptians
From Gaza, with Love
GEARI
Global Voices Online Â» Human Rights Video
Greg Hartnett
Guatemala Solidarity Network
Hacktivismo Front Page
Haiti Justice Blog
History and Reconciliation Blog
Human Rights Advocates Program
Human Rights Law in India
Humane Caribbean
Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force - SRRT/ALA
iAbolish
ICE: Internet Censorship Explorer
INDEX RESEARCH
Intercontinental Cry
International Humanists
Iranians for Human Rights and Democracy
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC'S CRIMES
Jana
Janet Haven
Kashmir
-Kashmir-
Liberty Level
Lies & Facts
LiveFromPalestine
Medicina Cubana
My heart's in Accra
nasrawi
observatoirecitoyen
oD Today
OpenNet Initiative
P!
Paroles de femmes
PEACENIK
POLVORIN DEL PATNA
Rights Readers
samarkeolog
Say No To Racism
Scentless Apprentice
Seeking Asylum Down Under
Sheree Blogging
Spark of Freedom
Survival Guide to Homelessness
the 13th juror
The Arabist
The Human Rights Blog
The Human Rights Blog
The Left End of the Dial v2.0
The Right Way
THE SOCIAL BLOG
The Truth
The Women's Rights Blog
THIS IS NOT MY COUNTRY
This is Zimbabwe
Thomas Paine's Corner
Torture in Uganda
Truly Equal
Turning Left
umkahlil
Vietnam Human Rights Journal
WIMN's Voices

Fight for freedom or against failure?

2007-06-30T23:02:00.001+02:00

What supposedly started out as a fight for the freedom of the people of Iraq (we don't mention the nuclear weapons that weren't found) has turned into, even to the American public in general, a dragged out, damaged war that escalates into further damage as Mr. Bush is now trying his best not to make it look like a failure coming there in the first place. I don't know but I'm one of those who thinks that fighting for something better serves its purpose of wanting to see change than simply fighting against that something. So are the American soldiers really fighting for the people of Iraq anymore? If that's what they claimed in the first place. The Saddam Hussein statue fell and many people (or rather, shia-muslims) screamed with joy. Now they're screaming with terror and the tears that stream down their faces are not happy tears. They stopped being that a long time ago. So what are they fighting for? Twenty-eight people died today in Iraq, claimed to have been "terrorists" while others say they were civilians. Who cares what their title should be! Have we really gotten that far as to say that death and killing other people in Iraq is now justified as long as their "terrorists"?! And who decides that? Defines that? From what I've heard, this is a fight against leaving Iraq in what Mr. Bush has decided should be defined as a failure...

www.riverbendblog.blogspot.com
This blog is run by a 26-year old Iraqi woman who puts the pen to the point on this issue and many more. Check out her thoughts on this under the post "The Great Wall of Segregation".

You need to check this out!

2007-06-26T15:11:00.000+02:00

http://www.3estrategies.org/ataleofsustainablecities.asp

Amazing love - what else shall I need

2007-06-26T13:39:00.000+02:00

Amazing love -what else shall I need
When I look at you and you look back at me
Both so different but still so much more
To bring us together than all meaningless war

A love that is not our own
A hope that carries peace alone
The little girl's gloomy eyes
Suddenly lights up to my surprise

The boy all bored in the corner of the street
Suddenly smiles when he's had something to eat
A joy that is not our own
A faith that carries freedom alone

Could I love my neighbour's friend
When she puts his life to an end
Could I see her mirror image stare at me
See her and see me

Could I love the man in the business suit so rude
When he curses at the old man begging for food
Could I see I spent money on worthless things
See him and see what my pride brings

When I've failed to understand
You are God and I am man
Humble my heart once again
To love more than I can

When that hearts feels overwhelmed
Remind me you bring growth and amend
And I will go and plant that seed
Of Amazing love -what else shall I need

People that consume compassion...

2007-06-26T10:03:00.000+02:00

Every time I read about or hear of organizations in Africa that actually consume something else other than its resources..or reasons for it -I'm glad. Though the knowledge of some kind of project that the band Jars of Clay intiated some time ago after them spending time there had not passed me unnoticed, I hadn't yet checked it out until today. It's really good. Here's some information below otherwise check out the website www.bloodwatermission.com

"Blood:Water Mission is a non-profit organization founded by the members of the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning band, Jars of Clay, to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa.

Blood:Water Mission exists to promote clean blood and clean water efforts in Africa, tangibly reducing the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic while addressing the underlying issues of poverty, injustice and oppression. Blood:Water Mission is building clean water wells, supporting medical facilities, and focusing on community and worldview transformation, both here in America and in Africa.

We recognize that numbers and statistics are hard to grasp, and that sometimes a step back is necessary to conceptualize the enormity of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Yet we also know that simply standing from a distance with arms thrown in the air is not a solution. We believe in pressing inward, in building relationships and bridges with communities in Africa. We believe in hearing personal stories and walking alongside brothers and sisters who have demonstrated strength and faith in the midst of desperate and tragic situations.

We hold fast to the conviction that we are all responsible for being good stewards of our time, our resources and our compassion in a broken world.

Every person has something to give in return for what has been received."

And we'll all do our share...

2007-06-16T23:05:00.000+02:00

"Turtles can fly"

2007-05-24T15:26:00.001+02:00

I saw this film a couple of weeks ago, "Turtles can fly", by the Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi. It was the first film to be made in Iraq after the fall of Saddam. The plot takes place at a refugee camp near the Turkish-Iraqi border and foremost shows the life (and death) of the Kurdish kids there.

This film really touched my heart and I really encourage you to see it. Why? Well, for or a lot of reasons but mainly because of the fact, which really frigthened me, that these kids in this film, that are exposed to all the horrors of war, are the immigrant kids you see walking the streets of Stockholm and many of the European capitals nowdays. Are the kids I meet every week in Vårberg. Comming from the darkest corners of life (and again death) you dont even want to think about. Hear about. Write about. So I dont this time but leave that to Bahman Ghobadi. That I think he does a better job is the least I can say.

But so I saw this film and I was reminded of what I'm trying to do there. To be what I have a hard time believing myself a lot of the times. That there's love in this world. That there's hope. That sometimes, the impossible is possible and even turtles fly. In the most positive sense.

_______________________________________________

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." Wake up call incoming.

What's beeing done in Sweden concerning Human Rights

2007-05-12T16:38:00.000+02:00

www.mrdagarna.se This is good.

"Why can't the Russian state accept the independence of her former colonies?"

2007-05-04T13:24:00.001+02:00

Concerning all the things that have been going on in Tallin, Estonia lately I read an article in Svenska Dagbladet (one of the major Swedish newspapers) by Urmas Paet, the foreign minister of Estonia. His article imposed the right question, namely "why can't the Russian state accept the independence of her former colonies?". He spoke of the conflict in a very clear and consistent way, condemning the former fiasco in Tallin and the recent one at the Estonian embassy in Russia. Still, he concluded by maintaining that Estonia is still open for dialogue. In contrast to Russia's threats of cutting off diplomatic relations I think this says something about a contry's mettle and manner. However, I was sad to read and realize that the European Union hasn't really stood up for Estonia the way it should. Let's hope it's not too late for that.

Untitled

2007-05-02T02:09:00.000+02:00

Houses in the suburb, they look all the same
And where one ends, another one begins
Secret powers of society
Poverty struck by political ignorance
-"I got my house and I got my car, and yes, I almost forgot
- my kids, which I hardly ever see"
Fighting for rights that only concern themselves
or their house
their car
And yes, I almost forgot
-their kids
Not working for their living
But for the extra Christmas bonus
It might be his this year
Well, perhaps he's worth it now
At least that's what he's been saying for fourteen years
But it might be his year now
Kids are screaming, mom is yelling
-"Mom, you promised us we wouldn't just go to Thailand this year"
-"I know, I know..."
What do you know?
Do you know you're raising greedy kids in this greedy world
I guess you think it's a perfect match then
Maybe you are not to be blamed for this,
You ignorant little being
All you get fed with at work is gi-food
gi - greed and ignorance
Yeah, that is you alright
I want to believe there's hope for you my friend
I want to see you sell up solidarity
What do you say?
Could solidarity be something for you suburbia?
suburbia - solidarity - peace
Good night.

Jan Eliasson - The Diplomat of Darfur

2007-04-30T16:53:00.000+02:00

If you are interested in hearing about the hands-on experience of a damaged Darfur from probably one of the greatest diplomats of our time, I suggest you go to this seminar in May 22 in Stockholm. www.fn.se

What makes the world go around...or not

2007-04-30T15:46:00.000+02:00

Check this out www.gapminder.org
Be amazed and terrified at the same time.

Is there any hiv aid(s)?

2007-04-22T19:04:00.001+02:00

This weekend I was enrolled in two educational course days to become an hiv/aids workshop leader. A project arranged through the Swedish YMCA-YWCA but where the real heroes behind this work are the entrepreneurs of the elaborated POV (Point Of View) project. Check out www.povproject.com for more info on that and the project itself. It'll be tough and challenging - I'm looking forward to it.

So..but what are your thoughts on hiv/aids after a weekend like this?
Well, for starters, when you hear about how this disease, a disease like hiv/aids affects the whole infrastructure of a developing country you feel there's nowhere out of this spiderweb it's made around all areas of society. It's a frightening fact that it really does weave its net across all societal structures, affecting everything and every part of life. Education, social and family life, economical sustainability and so on.

However, hiv/aids is a global problem, meaning we are all a part of the solution. If for nothing else, that's what I'd like to say I learned these two days..and hopefully I'll get to write more on this in the future as the project takes a new turn.

For you Kalle

2007-04-18T09:23:00.001+02:00

This summer it'll be two summers ago since I first met him. I was working at an ice-cream shop in my hometown Kumla. He came up to me and wanted an ice-cream. But as most encounters with unfamiliar customers, aka. strangers, (which you don't come across so often though in a small town like Kumla ha!) ended there, he inquired about my necklace that I was wearing that day. A necklace with a cross hanging on it. "Are you a Christian?" he said. I answered yes and he smiled and told me he was a priest in Ekeby (an even smaller place just right outside Kumla). A quite tall man in his fifties with grey hair and the friendliest features a face could ever have. We started talking about God and church and he was just that kind of a person who is just real and genuine. He was so happy to talk to a young person and said that if I ever needed advice or wanted to discuss things concerning God I was more than happy to give him a call. "It's so much fun to talk to you young people and if I could be of any help you just call Kalle" he said and gave me his phone number. And I happily accepted it and put it under "Kalle Priest". I'll never forget that first time we talked.

A couple of weeks later he came back and since this was that typical Swedish summer of rain rain rain and therefore low season when it came to ice-cream customers, I could sit down with him and talk for a while. With that same smile and friendly face we talked about life in the most general sense. Then he told me he had his first encounter with God at the age of thirty-five. He had been working in the north of Sweden at a store selling sports articles. But when he became a Christian he felt the calling to become a priest. After asking him about it he told me with great joy and enthusiasm about how God in the midst of everyday life found him and how he found God too, right then and there. It was a beautiful story.

But to get to the point which I am sad to be heading towards, Kalle, I found out last fall, had gotten cancer...again. I remember I found out just after that time me and my sister had bumped into him at a shopping mall just before Christmas. Before that I had texted him about meeting sometime and so I told him that and he laughed and said unfortunately that was a function on his cellphone he hadn't learned how to use and he only knew the calling part. Too bad when I think back now. But anyhow, at the shopping mall, he asked if we could help him look for (be ready-this is funny) red underwear for his wife as a Christmas gift. It might sound weird but he was so natural and not embarrassed about it at all. "I don't know the sizes of these things and I really wanna make it right and find something pretty since it was what my wife wanted for Christmas" he said and laughed a little. So me and my sister laughed so hard and got to help him find his Christmas gift for his wife that December day. We said we'd keep in touch and many times I thought about visiting Ekeby Church. But every time I would see an add in the paper about some event there or as I would be thinking about going there at some special feast there was always something that got in the way.

And so, a month ago or so now here in Sthlm I met a woman from Ekeby as she was doing an interview with me about the school I go to. I got so excited and told her about Kalle the priest who I intended to call and asked her if she knew who he was and how he was doing. She said she'd check with her parents back home that are still living there. And so two weeks later, one day at the subway I get a call from this woman. And here comes the final point to what I just mentioned above. Kalle had died from his cancer. She told me the funeral had just been held two weeks ago,about the time she had interviewed me and I'd first asked about him. I got so sad...

I cannot keep thinking about what if I'd made that phone call, what if he'd seen my text message that fall and we would have met and talked, what if I could have at least come to his funeral. I cannot say I knew him, at least not well, but that can't take away the fact that I miss him. It felt like I knew him though, and ever since the first time I met him I heard nothing but good things about this man. About how he really was the peoples' priest of Ekeby. He knew everybody and included everyone in the church activities. About how he always welcomed people that had just moved in, asked if he could help with anything and invited them to the church.

You might say well, what does this little obituary have to do with diplomatic dialogues, human rights etc. I can tell you that. He, if anyone, knew how to communicate with people. He kept a dialogue with people that I find admirable and so I wanna pay my respects to him for doing that through this post. Also, and to end with, I will include a song I wrote to him when I first found out that he had passed away.

This is for you Kalle

You are a man I will never forget
Carved in my mind is the first time we met
You smiled at me and you said I could call you
For some advice or just someone to talk to

But I made the call too late
Cause now you had gone away
From life

You are a man I will never forget
Carved in my mind is the first time we met
You smiled at me and you said I could call you
And now I'm left with a grief I didn't get to

Cause now you have gone away
And I don't know what to say (to your family)
So I sing this song to you
Hoping they will get to hear it too

You were a man of faith
And I hope it carried you away
To life

------------------------------------------
Kalle, I will always remember you for your way of relating to people around you. RIP.

Why?

2007-04-18T02:04:00.001+02:00

Why does these things happen? Why? I don't know. But they do. And they have, much too often lately. And the question is probably the wrong one to be asked in the first place since there is no real answer. How do you answer a question like that. You can't. The question perhaps better would be how...

I'm talking about what's happened at the Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg.

How then? In my anger over the question how such a terrible thing like this could happen I could, for starters, go into the way too liberal gun (un)control(ed) laws concerned with the US "right to bear arms"... But I wont. Not tonight. Feels like a too much of an inappropriate thing to do right now. Instead I will, in my deepest distress over what's happened, say that my thoughts go to you, friends & family, that have had their loved one taken away from them in such a shocking and dreadful way.

-------------------------------------
Still the question nagging your nerves and echoing inside of your mind is... Why? I know the question is all wrong, but so is this whole thing anyway...

Rock for Darfur

2007-04-15T02:21:00.000+02:00

Check out this really cool initiative http://www.myspace.com/rockfordarfur

You might say...well, they're making Darfur too commercial...I say, well, commercial or not...at least it puts Darfur on the map...and hopefully also on the minds of people...

Let Bob's words remind us.

"Well, I ain't got my childhood
Or friends I once did know.
No, I ain't got my childhood
Or friends I once did know.
But I still got my voice left,
I can take it anywhere I go.
Hey, hey, so I guess I'm doin' fine.

And I've never had much money
But I'm still around somehow.
No, I've never had much money
But I'm still around somehow.
Many times I've bended
But I ain't never yet bowed.
Hey, hey, so I guess I'm doin' fine.

Trouble, oh trouble,
I've trouble on my mind
Trouble, oh trouble,
Trouble on my mind.
But the trouble in the world, Lord,
Is much more bigger than mine.
Hey, hey, so I guess I'm doin' fine.

And I never had no armies
To jump at my command.
No, I ain't got no armies
To jump at my command.
But I don't need no armies,
I got me one good friend.
Hey, hey, so I guess I'm doin' fine.

I been kicked and whipped and trampled on,
I been shot at just like you.
I been kicked and whipped and trampled on,
I been shot at just like you.
But as long as the world keeps a-turnin',
I just keep a-turnin' too.
Hey, hey, so I guess I'm doin' fine.

Well, my road might be rocky,
The stones might cut my face.
My road it might be rocky,
The stones might cut my face.
But as some folks ain't got no road at all,
They gotta stand in the same old place.
Hey, hey, so I guess I'm doin' fine."

World News Cafe

2007-04-13T00:07:00.001+02:00

A few days ago I was spending my day off at the World News Cafe on floor nr. 3 in Kulturhuset (House of Culture?) in Sthlm. By the way, I think I'll make this my new hiding place now since I'm actually starting to grow tired of the library at Rådmansgatan. But so, at the World News Cafe you're provided with a world wide range of newspapers while having the nice opportunity to sit down and drink your coffee or zip your espresso. It's nice and..it's a lot of people. Unfortunately I would like to say sometimes I guess but its exhilarating to listen in on a loud conversation in French and try to make out some of it. Rude you might think. I say that's what makes the Cafe interesting really. To see how all those different newspapers bring all these different people together, into that same place where we all thirst for knowledge and that black substance which enables us to drink it.

I started reading The Guardian and my eyes instinctively got sucked into an article on "Pelosi challenges Bush policy by visiting Syria". This is so bizarre. By holding talks with President Bashar Assad in Damascus the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, challenged the Bush administration's stewardship of American interest in the Middle East. This, as she was breaking with its [the US' -or I'd rather say Bush's] policy of isolating Syria. Towards the end of the article it said that Mr Bush on Tuesday had criticised her visit, telling reporters that "sending delegations hasn't worked. It's just simply been counter-productive". And the ongoing war hasn't?! If this is the view he takes upon diplomatic talks in the Middle East, as failures, I'm afraid to think of his definition of success...well, I guess we kinda know it...
But I'm sorry for running into Mr Bush's boring end. That's like giving you the wrong conclusion before you've had the chance to read the (right) thesis statement.

So here's the main body of the article and my main message here today:

The Guardian Thursday April 5 2007

"Her [Nancy Pelosi] status as the third most senior elected figure in Washington makes her visit to Damascus the most serious challenge to the Bush administration's strategy of isolation in four years. However, questions about the sustainability of that policy were further underlined by a separate visit to Damascus this week by three Republican congressmen. 'This week is only the beginning of our constructive dialogue with Syria and we hope to build on this visit', said Tom Lantos, the chairman of the house committee on foreign affairs, who accompanied Ms Pelosi".

Then Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said something very good. He said: "The visit proved the importance of keeping the diplomatic channels open. These people in the United States who are opposing dialogue, I tell them: dialogue is...the only method to close the gap between two countries."

I pray for Syria's foreign minister, Mr. Walid al-Moallem, and the people in the United States not opposed to dialogue (Nancy Pelosi surprisingly being one of them here today), I pray for your dialogue and the lives you will affect through it.

Today's UN question: What is UNESCO?

Answer: UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO is working to create the conditions for genuine dialogue based upon respect for shared values and the dignity of each civilization and culture.

Hard Rain and Dylan lyric...

2007-04-08T01:23:00.001+02:00

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall. Bob Dylan's old song has recently become the object of the all-around-the-world exhibition of Mark Edward's "Hard Rain: Our headlong collision with nature". This beautiful but bittersweet collage is now piled up outside (and therefore also free of charge!) the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm. I got to see it last week and I must say I would have much rather payed the museum fee to stand outside and watch this exhibition than for anything else of what was shown inside. But anyhow, I'm glad it's free of charge so that, hopefully, many more people will feel inclined to come and see it. Together with the help of Lloyd Timberlake, Mark Edward has made possible a picture, put together like pieces of a puzzle of exactly what it says: Our headlong collision with nature. The story behind this project is very moving and instead of me defining it I really encourage you to take part of it and let it speak to you about what's real. What's cruel. What's a fact today we must face. hardrainproject.com

The spirit of the Hard Rain Project tells us to look at reality. Not the way we want it to be but the way it is and realize, what Mark Edward came to experience and Dylan knew; that in looking at the other, and seeing yourself in one another there is room for dreams. Dreams of a better world. Makes me think of a certain song with a certain phrase quite suitable here. "...some say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."

"Where the people are many and their hands are all empty,
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters,
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison,
Where the executioner's face is always well hidden,
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten,
Where black is the color, where none is the number,
And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it,
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it,
Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin',
But I'll know my song well before I start singin',
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall."

----------------------------------------

Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin',
But I'll know my song well before I start singin'

The reason for writing here really...

2007-04-06T09:36:00.001+02:00

Some time has past now since I first started writing here and to my offense I realized I haven't yet told you (written) about my reason for writing here in the first place. Darfur. There you have it. One word. Quite short, and I don't know about you but the day (a couple of years ago now) I heard about this short little word and its cruel connotations it awoke a long lasting shiver down my spine that hasn't gone away still. And if it does, if I wake up one morning and it has, I will be scared of myself for having become so numb.

For the sake of what's happening there still sign the petition. It's the least thing we can do. I don't know if you're aware of what's really happening there, in the western part of a beautiful country named Sudan. If you're not, I suggest you look into it.

SaveDarfur.org has a post called "Background" that's worth checking out...

And for the sake of the lives of all the hundreds of thousands of Sudanese men, women and children that seem to have ended up in the hands of bureaucratic bullshit discussions, sign the petition now and call for action.

The level of compassion

2007-04-05T10:52:00.001+02:00

So our Swedish Minister of migration went to visit Jordan recently. To the capital city Amman to be correct. He went there with the intentions of discussing the stream of Iraqi refugees that have been flooding into the countries of Syria and Jordan. This due to the well of a warn out war that seems to be laying at rest in Iraq. The water level rising with every day that passes and every drop of rifle gunned rain. So Mr. Billström has met with (and is still in these meetings I believe) governments, NGOs, UN-organs and Iraqi civilians. What's good is that he's seeking to create a dialogue among the parties involved and from there discuss the problems and possibilities of the situation that's gotten quite serious since this last month of March. The UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) has decided to arrange a donor conference for ministers during the 17th and 18th of April and 190 countries have been invited. This is an important part of the constructive process when it comes to the massive financial needs that need to be filled, but what's even more important is what is to happen after this conference when a meeting will take place between the ministers of the European Union. Hopefully, a consensus will be made on how to address not only the refugees and their fear of returning to the Iraqi war zone but also on how to seek an end to what's going on in Iraq. Hopefully, they'll not only address this question in a one-dimensional way, only looking at the refugee "problem" (as have been portrayed at occasions in media being Mr. Billström's strategy) and the need for financial aid (though crucially important and necessary). Hopefully, they'll come up with some concrete directions for once on how to solve a (the actual) problem so washy it's been slipping out of our hands for too long now. What is going to happen in Iraq?

A peaceful solution?

2007-04-04T17:39:00.001+02:00

It began with negative reactions (!) towards Britain's way of dealing in a diplomatic way with the Iranian authorities. That's what caught my eye at first in this hazel over the British sea men held hostage in Iran for crossing Iranian sea territory. Whether they did that or not is a different discussion in itself but what has come to concern me now is, when it comes to the aftermath, that the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has blown this event into rather undiplomatic proportions. Don't take me wrong on this. The fact that I'm questioning Mr. Ahmadinejad's measures is only because I wish to entrust him with being capable of thinking in other terms than fighting the Western world e.g. the Devil. Not that I blame him at times but within limits. So anyhow, the aftermath that I'm speaking of here is mainly the fact that Mr. Ahmadinejad, soon after the fifteen British men and women were to be released awarded the three Iranian military men (officers) that captured them. All this while in his speech referring to a contribution to world peace and the Iranian good will as reasons for releasing them (the fifteen British sea men). Hmm...

Suppose that what the British have claimed to be true all along, that they were situated within Iraqi sea borders the whole time, is a fact, you can do nothing but admire the way that this situation have been dealt with. Then I salute the British officials for not listening to president Bush calling for harsher methods (we all know what that means right) but that they'd rather appeal to the United Nations, recognising the immense importance of the dialogue taking place as related to the international peace organ. What hurts though is that the Iranian president looks upon this act as treating Iran and other Arabic and Asian countries in a condescending and racist (!) way. Here, the UN has a long way to go and to work on for future bridge building between countries that label the UN as being the forum for Westernised countries. However, the failure to realize this may in this case draw upon a different point.

Getting back to where I started, my main point with this text was (or turned out to be) this; A dialogue takes place; the British is concerned with solving the situation by diplomatic means; the Iranian president goes along the same line of thought; the fifteen British sea men are to be released - BUT - this is not accomplished through diplomacy being put in practice but, according to Mr. Ahmadinejad, as a result of Iran's good will towards (Western?) men.

My concern is this: If this is the case [Iran being out to demonstrate her good will towards men], why was an argument made out of this event [Fifteen British sea men crossing Iranian sea border] in the first place? If Iran is truly out to demonstrate herself as a contributor of world peace. All this in mind, suppose that what the British have claimed to be true all along is true, that they were situated within Iraqi sea borders the whole time...

Idealist or just plain stupid?

2007-03-31T23:15:00.001+02:00

And so you might be thinking Heléne, you're an idealist. Idealist meaning what it mainly does in these times - a naive human being's way of looking at the wicked world and mankind. I object! Not of being one (an idealist) but to this seemingly narrow and cynical definition. Believing or dreaming, call it whatever you like, of a better world and inter-relating society must not make one into an idiot, not familiar with the ways of today's reality.

Or is it so that one should have to be plain stupid to believe in such things as Human Rigths, Equality and Freedom? No. I don't think so. And who are we to say we shouldn't take responsibility for the problems we've caused in the first place.

"Strange is our situation here on Earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that man is here for the sake of other men."
-Albert Einstein

The Mugabe mockery

2007-03-30T13:10:00.001+02:00

In case you are aware of the serious situation of Zimbabwe, or should I say, of its autonomous leader, Mr. Robert Mugabe, you know what the world's biggest joke is concerned with right now. The eyes of the fellow countrymen of Africa, the neighbouring countries in the South, may unfortunately have failed to realize the value of their voice and the callous consequences of their indulgence. We in the Western world should ask ourselves why? And why the South African economy is dependant on arranging the Soccer World Championship year 2010? This is serious. This [the Soccer World Championship] is a reason for not intervening in Zimbabwe according to South Africa and some surrounding countries since it will make the continent look bad. As if it hasn't already. The question is...who's fault is it? What kind of world do we want to live in?

And I think to myself...what a wicked world...

The Subway - Tunnelbanan

2007-03-26T19:04:00.001+02:00

Tunnelbanan is a melting pot
Let's stir it up a bit
stir it up a bit

Tunnelbanan is a spacious spot
so why don't we stir it up some more
stir it up some more

Where people meet
and people don't
where there's people who talk
and people who won't
Side by side
but miles away
Sharpened eyes
that's gone astray

You look at me
and I look at you
Wondering if you're wondering
what I'm thinking of you
How can an empty seat
create so much distance
And the void between us
rest assure without resistance

Your Arabic words to me
are like sight to a blind
But your brown-eyed look
penetrates my mind
The African woman
and the man from...where? I don't know
together with me blend into these words that show

that

Tunnelbanan is a melting pot
Let's stir it up a bit
stir it up a bit

Tunnelbanan is a spacious spot
so why don't we stir it up some more
-------to prevent war?-------

What is diplomacy anyway...

2007-03-23T12:31:00.003+01:00

I don't know if you've read or heard about the latest news on the sudden conflict (already blown out of proportion but still to be taken seriously) between the Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt and the Cuban UN-ambassador, Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios. This concerning perhaps the most critical issue and heart of the matter when it comes to the nature of diplomacy - Communication. I feel disappointed today, not at either Mr. Bildr or Mr. Palacios, no. But at the communicational reproachment that is taking place between them, and between every other diplomat, statesmen or minister nowdays...

And behind this there's an even more miserable truth to it that's been puzzling my mind for quite some time now - the lack of seeking an agreement that will lead to some kind of understanding between two people of a different opinion. The essence of diplomacy is it not!?

It's the singular. An agreement. And a different opinion. Not different opinions but a different opinion. It seems like we, as people (at least in the Western world due to a stressful society related to time and structure) are genetically inclined to decide very quickly what kind of person we're dealing with and put our label on him/her. That probably does not account only for Westerners (please forgive me my ignorance), but anyhow we're judging people. And isn't that what diplomacy is about: people. It's dealing with real people as representatives. It's not dealing with a country really, it's dealing with a representative for that country. So my point is, if this applies to the diplomatic profession(s), the outcome will be (as seen quite often today) judging people, and therefore one country, based on one assumption made in one area of discussion at one occasion. Emphasis on one.

You take this attitude and add the communicational reproachment and we have a diplomatic fiasco like this one...