Democracy & Civics

Muslim Teen's Slaying Sparks Canada Debate

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The slaying of a 16-year-old Muslim girl, allegedly by her father, has sparked a furor in the Canadian press and beyond. Aqsa Parvez died in a hospital last week, hours after a man called 911, saying he had killed his daughter. Parvez’s father was arrested and charged in her death. One of her brothers was charged with obstructing the investigation. Parvez and her Mississauga, Ontario, family were immigrants from Pakistan, and early reports said that she had fought with her father over her refusal to wear the traditional Muslim head scarf.

Democracy & Civics

Afghan Reconstruction Faces U.S. Budget Cuts

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An innovative reconstruction program in Afghanistan has been praised for giving decision-making power to small villages and communities, but may be shuttered due to funding shortfalls. Washington Monthly reports that Afghanistan’s National Solidarity Program is a success across the country, even in unstable areas where the Taliban still holds sway. Originally developed by a “maverick” World Bank officer in Indonesia, advocates say the NSP ensures a sense of ownership by involving all community members in public meetings to determine what local needs are, and allows their direct participation in subsequent construction and development. It also enforces local accountability by requiring full, public disclosure of fund uses and project timelines by village leaders to their constituents. The magazine reports that small public works projects in, such as hydropower and irrigation development, tend to stay intact in “low-security environments.”

Democracy & Civics

Protestors say Israel will Exclude Ethiopian Jews

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Hundreds of Ethiopian Jews demonstrated in Jerusalem on Monday, alleging that as many as 8,500 of their family and community members have been cut from Israel’s immigration program. The Jerusalem Post reports that demonstrators displayed photos of loved ones still in Ethiopia, while Avraham Neguise, a leader of the protests, accused the Israeli Interior Ministry of reneging on its promise. Another protestor told the newspaper that the decision to end Jewish immigration from Ethiopia is “definitely rooted in racism.” An Interior Ministry spokeswoman confirmed that the immigration program would be terminated in January, and also said that Neguise’s claims were false. Source:
“Ethiopians protests plan to cut Aliyah”
Jerusalem Post, December 18, 2007

Nation

Iraqi Officers AWOL in U.S.

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At least five and as many as a dozen Iraqi officials have deserted U.S.-based military training, and are at large and unaccounted for, the Washington Times reports. Now, a pair of Texas Republicans are demanding answers from White House officials — more than a year after first inquiring about the disappearances. The desertions occurred between 2005 and 2007, and were reported to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Neither agency would provide details on any investigations on the disappearances, and ICE said asylum requests were confidential. Meanwhile, Reps.

Democracy & Civics

The Stirrings of Islamo-Liberalism

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Plenty of media attention has been given to fundamentalist Islam and Taliban-style “Islamo-fascism.” But three recent articles bring to light the persistence of democracy movements in the Muslim world, and a tolerant spirituality in Islam’s Sufi tradition. The Netherlands-based academic Asef Bayat notes in a recent essay that democracy in the Middle East is impossible without the emergence of a new type of Muslim citizen — “teachers, students, the young, women, workers, artists, and intellectuals” — that can spur a “post-Islamist” interpretation of the Koran supportive of democratic ideals. Though oppressive governments and religious teachings have impeded “post-Islamism” thus far, Bayat says change can emerge through an informed citizenry that asserts its values through daily cultural practice and activism. In fact, youth throughout the Middle East and North Africa are coming together to achieve just that, reports Wiretap Magazine, under the banner of a “cyberdemocracy” Web site called Mideast Youth (www.mideastyouth.com/).

Democracy & Civics

Things Looking Up for the Poor Down Under

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When Australia’s conservative government was voted out of office last month, much of the world’s media emphasized the possible ramifications for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — or the fact that the former singer of politically charged rockers Midnight Oil is now the nation’s environment minister. But the changes go much deeper than that. The newly installed government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is acting quickly to reverse the policies of previous Prime Minister John Howard on a wide range of social justice issues. This week, the government announced that it would discontinue the controversial “Pacific Solution,” whereby Asian refugees seeking asylum in Australia were held in camps in Papua New Guinea. The program, instated by Howard in 2001, had been assailed by human rights groups and the United Nations.

Democracy & Civics

Corruption Roils Alaska Politics

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With two oil executives headed to jail for giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal payments and “benefits” to prominent state politicians, Alaskans can look forward to plenty of court-watching in the months to come. According to The Christian Science Monitor, the appetite in Alaska extends beyond courtroom voyeurism, however, thanks to an array of oil-related issues — from corrosion in pipelines to disputes over the Exxon Valdez oil spill settlement. The issue came to a head on November 16, when Alaska’s legislature passed, with the support of Republican Governor Sarah Palin, a dramatic revision of the state’s “tainted” oil tax laws. The new oil-tax bill is expected to bring in an additional $1.5 billion in revenue to the state, closes loopholes, and limits investment credits and deductions. One industry official decried the new bill as a “feeding frenzy,” reports the Monitor, which also notes that ConocoPhillips canceled a $300 million refinery-upgrade project in response to the law.

Democracy & Civics

A Man, a Dam and a Salmon Plan

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A federal judge has rebuked the government for its latest plan to restore salmon runs along the Columbia and Snake rivers. According to The Oregonian, U.S. District Judge James A. Redden has declared that the government plan, like two previous plans he also rejected, won’t live up to the Endangered Species Act because it does not provide reasonable options for improving salmon habitat. The newspaper also writes that the judge has expressed doubts about the government’s “salmon science” — a view shared by Oregon state officials — and may convene his own panel of experts on the topic. By calling for officials to including the removal of several dams in their plan, Redden has positioned himself squarely against the Bush administration, which has “flatly refused” to consider any dam removals. If no plan is approved, Redden could declare all dam operations illegal, which would affect everything from irrigation to hydropower throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Economy

Oil Industry's Amazon Frontier

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Economic development and ecological conservation are once again at odds in the Amazon, where a remote region thick with rare species — and indigenous peoples in “voluntary isolation” — has been opened to extensive oil and gas development. Environment News Service reports that Brazil’s Petrobras, the U.S. firm Barrett Resources and Spain’s Repsol have all been approved to develop vast territories in the Upper Amazon Basin, in the border regions of Peru and Ecuador. Activists say that 73 percent of the Peruvian Amazon “is now or soon will be” open to oil development, up from 13 percent in 2004. Source:
“Oil Developers Permitted to Penetrate Pristine Upper Amazon”
Environment News Service, December 4, 2007

Nation

Here Comes the Flood

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Heavy weather the world over is raising concerns about the potential of a flood-prone future, and what that means for vulnerable populations. In the U.S. Pacific Northwest, 24-foot waves closed shipping channels, and 13 inches of rain in one 30-hour period shut down commerce, damaged streets and highways, and brought down trees and power lines, reports Bloomberg.com. Five days of continuous rain have had a catastrophic effect in Algeria, causing a house and a bridge to collapse as rivers burst their banks and floodwaters surged through suburban Algiers. At least eleven lives were lost, reports Agence France-Presse. Meanwhile, a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that 40 million people worldwide are vulnerable to similar catastrophes, as storms and rising oceans threaten 136 port cities around the world.