Fieldnotes on Humanity

-- Here in a program directed by Riz khan on Al Jazeera, young Palestinians and Israelis face off in a debate about their past, present and future. What do they think about their leaders, and do they think that they will see peace in their lifetime? It seems that to Israeli youth, the pain of Palestinians is not quite understandable. What to blame? Their ignorance? State's manufacturing knowledge and history fed to the youth? How do Israelis learn about their country's history? A country that was built from ashes? Ashes of Palestinians? Who lived there before? What happened to the Palestinians who lived there?  (I assume the same questions apply to settlers of the US, Canada, and Australia. What happened to the indigenous population?) Palestinians have suffered from multiple losses, including losses of territories and also human beings since the formation of Israel in 1948. On the other side, Palestinian youth are complaining about the way they are treated by the Israeli soldie...

Daunting news from Egypt in post-mubarakism surprised the world by jailing a blogger for three years . It shocked people because even in the Mubarak era, jailing bloggers was not as common as these last two months after Mubarak was forced to leave the power. The only and the first case during Mubarak was K areem Amir who was sentenced to 4 years in jail because of allegedly insulting Islam and Husni Mubarak. According to BBC , Maikel Nabil was arrested last month for blog posts where he criticized the role of the Egyptian Army during anti-government uprising. Based AFP , a military court sentenced him to three years in prison. The Maikel Nabil case harks back to Mubarak era; it seems the Army is still remaining in its authoritarian nature and it would likely be hard to expect changes in institutions like the military. It clearly tells us that Egyptian Army does not tolerate criticism and it raises lots of unanswered questions about whether people’s efforts would finally succeed to a...

The humanitarian intervention of Western power commits a double standard if they do not intervene in Ivory Coast to stop the massacre. People believe that the Western intervention on Libya is based on some benefits rather than a humanitarian intervention. In Ivory Coast, there is a massacre going on right now where 200 UN peacekeepers are not capable of preventing a mass murder. According to aid agencies, at least 1,000 people have been killed in an act of mass murder by forces loyal to President-elect Alassane Quattara. The news came out just a few weeks after NATO’s intervention in the war in Libya. One would ask why do NATO allies not intervene in Ivory Coast to stop the massacre? Well, let’s see what will happen in the next few days. French troops have already taken control of the airport in the commercial capital Abeidjan as the fighting continues in the country. The answer to the aforementioned question is quiet clear. The countries involved in Libya’s war are taking aim to pr...