Culture

The Dutch Grapple with Intolerance / Race, religion spur immigration debate

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By Jennifer Hamm
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — After a 19-year-old man of Moroccan descent was run down and killed by a Dutch woman driver trying to recover her stolen purse, mourners blamed Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk for the death. Gathered at a makeshift memorial here earlier this winter, the mourners said Verdonk’s tough immigration reforms have increased Dutch xenophobia against Muslims, spurring the woman’s violent reaction against the alleged purse thief. Though the Dutch are famous for allowing euthanasia, gay marriage and soft-drug use, it is ironically their tolerance that may have laid the foundation for current ethnic tensions. “The problem is we have been tolerant of the intolerant and now we are paying the bill,” said Bart Jan Spruyt, director of the conservative Edmund Burke Foundation in The Hague. “That bill has to be settled first before we can become tolerant again.”

Democracy

FOCUS: Syria and Lebanon

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By Jodi Wynn, Newsdesk.org
The February 14 assassination of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has heightened tensions along the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel. Hariri was a longtime opponent of President Emile Lahoud, who welcomed the ongoing presence of 14,000 Syrian troops in his country. Hariri resigned as prime minister in October 2004 to protest efforts to extend Lahoud’s presidential term by three years. Omar Karami, who supported Lahoud’s pro-Syrian policies, was quickly appointed to fill Hariri’s position. Protestors blamed Lahoud’s government and Syria for Hariri’s death.

Democracy

FOCUS: Women in Iraq

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By Jodi Wynn, Newsdesk.org intern
As democracy takes a step in Iraq, traditional gender roles and the strong ties between religion and government are major obstacles for women. According to a recent report by Amnesty International, women are more confined and limited since the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003. Although the report acknowledged that women faced institutionalized violence prior to Saddam’s fall, it also noted that since the occupation they wear headscarves more often, and avoid school and work due to fears of fundamentalist reprisals. The report also raised concerns of gender-based intimidation and sexual threats by U.S. soldiers, including against female political detainees. Washington said it would review the findings.

Culture

FOCUS: Nepal

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By Jodi Wynn, Newsdesk.org Intern
[Read an update on the Nepal crisis.]
“Down with the royal proclamation!” protestors in Kathmandu shouted before being hauled away by police. According to Agence France-Presse, the protestors, members of Nepal’s Human Rights and Peace Society, were among the hundreds of activists and politicians detained after King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency on February 1. Gyanendra said Nepal’s now-deposed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had failed to “protect democracy” against an ongoing Maoist insurgency. Some detainees have since been released, but the most potentially disruptive remain under lock and key.

Democracy

FOCUS: Beyond the Tsunami — Aceh’s Turmoil

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Before the tsunami, the rebellious Indonesian province of Aceh was hardly a household name — and even after the world’s TV, radio and newspaper reporters descended on the region, the bulk of their coverage focused on the horrors of the giant wave. But Aceh has a rich and troubled history, endowed with extraordinary natural resources, and saddled with a legacy of colonialist violence that is still playing out today. Historical Turmoil
Separatist Origins
Brittle Peace
Feared Militia
The Military: Violence, Corruption
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Historical Turmoil | top
A paradise island by any measure, Sumatra — and its northernmost Aceh province in particular — has nevertheless suffered greatly from catastrophes both natural and human in origin. Of the former class of disaster, the most notable prior to the 2004 Christmas tsunami was the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, a volcanic island in between Java and Sumatra. Tsunamis from the explosion rose 100 feet high, claimed more than 35,000 lives, destroyed 165 coastal villages, and heaved 600-ton blocks of coral onto the shore.

Culture

U.S. Courts Tackle Foreign Abuses: Energy corporations question “law of nations”

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By Jennifer Huang | World Power I: Business & Law

A 215-year-old law originally written to address piracy and crimes abroad against American ambassadors is at the heart of litigation targeting some of the world’s largest energy corporations. Plaintiffs allege that ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, Unocal and Royal Dutch/Shell are responsible for atrocities committed by foreign troops guarding their refineries and facilities overseas. The corporations say that the lawsuits are without merit, and that such human rights problems are the domain of U.S. foreign policy, not domestic courts. But a recent Supreme Court ruling may have left the door open for the suits to proceed. Anticipated ruling

The cases were filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789, a law giving federal courts jurisdiction over international civil suits brought for violations of “the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.”

Culture

A Cold War Legacy of Persian Gulf Conflict: “Oil as the Future”

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By Jennifer Huang | World Power III: Geopolitics

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Critics cite a January 16 article in the Wall Street Journal, describing a meeting between State Department officials and oil company executives. “The Bush administration is eager to secure Iraq’s oil fields and rehabilitate them, industry officials say,” the article reads. “They say Mr. Cheney’s staff hosted an informational meeting with industry executives in October, with Exxon Mobil Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp., ConocoPhillips and Halliburton among the companies represented. Both the Bush administration and the companies say such a meeting never took place.” Former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader believes the meetings happened, and said that “41 members of the administration have ties to the industry.”

Culture

A Cold War Legacy of Persian Gulf Conflict: This Means War

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By Jennifer Huang | World Power III: Geopolitics

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Cold War Legacies

In 1983, under President Ronald Reagan, the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force became the Central Command, the instrument of American military policy in the region, and capable of drawing up troops from all branches of the armed services. “Each of the four services provides personnel on an as-needed basis, depending on the requirements of the mission,” explained Central Command spokesman Commander Dan Gage in an email correspondence. “In other words, there is no set number of personnel who are assigned to Central Command.” The Central Command was never used during the ’80s to directly confront Soviet ambition in Afghanistan, that crucial access route to Persian Gulf and Central Asian oil and natural gas reserves. Such matters were left to the Islamist mujahedeen, who, according to the CIA World Factbook, were trained and armed by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and others.