One of the initiatives is Sadaka Reut, and this is what they say about their program:

With the majority of Palestinian and Jewish youth physically segregated from one another (in separate communities and schools) and fears, racism and prejudice the result, we look to build alternative models for interaction between the two groups. The ‘Building a Culture of Peace’ program seeks to create a space in which both Palestinian and Jewish youth may feel equal, respected and recognized as individuals and as national collectives.

The members of their program have also been participating in the One Minute Video Project, where they learn about video activism during a one-week workshop. Here are some of the results, and you can see the rest by clicking through to their site:

Arab:

AM/FM:

Few Love Singing:

Another initiative is the Windows for Peace project, which started back in 1991 as an effort to produce a bilingual and bicultural magazine for youth as a way for them to connect and learn about the conflict, promote equality and empower youth. However, it hasn't been easy, as they explain on their site:

It is no simple task for Israeli and Palestinian youth to overcome the vast amount of misinformation and stereotypes they are taught about one another. The limited availability for interaction, a result of living in mostly segregated communities and exacerbated by the ongoing violent political conflict, perpetuates the historical fears, prejudice, and hatred that divide the two peoples. Windows is therefore dedicated to fostering large scale change in the way Israeli and Palestinian youth see themselves, “the other” and the conflict. Participants in Windows programs go through experiences that promote conflict transformation among both peoples, towards a peaceful reality with which both sides can live. We believe that a just and lasting peace must be based on democratic values, human rights, and mutual knowledge and acceptance of “the other.”

They are also working on a new initiative called Through the Lens, where 15 to 17 year old youth who “graduate” from the magazine continue developing skills to create short films, news pieces and other video productions to further “productive, peace-building dialogue and positive interaction”.

Here is a video where the participants of Windows speak about their experience in the group and how they have dealt with the challenges it represents to get out of their comfort zone and speak about difficult topics such as the conflict between Israel and Palestine:

As the children in the video state in so many words: they may have a hard time dealing with many of the opinions and perceptions other children express, but having the space to discuss issues in a safe and secure manner helps them understand the world they live in with a possibility to interact, learn and share with other children and youth and even change these perceptions.

Azahálea Solís Román, from the Nicaragua Autonomous Movement of Women (MAM for its initials in Spanish) wrote in Barricada.com.ni [es]

Ayer por la tarde en Nicaragua, la Corte Suprema de Justicia, por medio de 6 personas que fueron nombradas como magistrados de ese poder del estado, pero que en realidad son militantes de un partido político, declararon la inaplicabilidad de un norma constitucional porque se opone a otra norma constitucional, es decir declararon inconstitucional la Constitución.

The Supreme Court decision produced a minor event a few days later, when a Supreme Court judge, Francisco Rosales (FSLN militant) was being interviewed by a local news tv channel [es], when he was met by a group of young people who attacked him with eggs. In addition, the United States Ambassador in Nicaragua, Robert Callahan, gave a speech where he declared the Supreme Court decision on reelection as inappropriate, undiscussed, and biased towards one party [es]. As a result, protests organized by students took place in front of the US Embassy in Managua.

There was also unrest about the actual budget the universities would receive. By law, they must receive 6% of the National Budget, a budget that is itself is being reduced. However, at the same time, there a proposal to create a new governmental office called the National Council of Evaluation and Accreditation (CNEA for its initials in Spanish). This office will take over functions from the National Center of Universities, which approves all universities in the country and distributes the 6% budget to the public universities, including giving part of this budget percentage to private universities.

Gabriela Montiel wrote on this Facebook page, later reposted on Barricada.com.ni [es], a review of the first day of protest for the 6% budget (October 21st).

El 6% constitucional se ha ido reduciendo a tal punto que son aproximadamente 200 millones los que se han ido recortando y se seguiran recortando. Los perjudicados, LOS ESTUDIANTES, sobre todo los de afuera de managua. Es importante retomar la lucha del 6% hay muchos que creen que por tener un gobierno frentista este 6% esta asegurado pero se han olvidado de los princpios de lucha y se han acomodado al plan del gobierno y no a las necesidades de los estudiantes, que son o deberian ser la prioridad de UNEN.

Two accounts have come up from the first protest of October 29th. Gabriela Montiel wrote on El Boletincito Nica [es]:

Foto: Gabriela Montiel, CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0

Y empezaron a tirar botellas y bolsas de agua hacia la tarima, son tan inteligentes los Universitarios que demandaban que canal 2 y la UCA (Universidad Centroamericana) se fueran, que uno de los botellazos le dio directamente a Edwing Castro (diputado) mientras este declaraba en la tarima el apoyo del gobierno pàra vetar la ley acreedora del CNEA, se logró ver que en la boca de Castro habia sangre…aunque la mayoría de botellas iban directo al periodista y camarógrafo de Canal 2, también se escuchaban abucheos hacia Edwin CASTRO ya que el fue uno de los que votó a favor del CNEA y luego llega aca a estar en contra de CNEA…Incoherencia!!!! Dulce y comoda incoherencia!!!!

Foto: Gabriela Montiel, CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0

The student in the photo carried a sign reading “Assembly: CNU, UNEN and CNEA doesn't represent me, We are students, not ignorant! We demand respect to autonomy and a transparent use of the 6% budget”. Delni Ayala, President of Humanities Faculty of UNAN accused her of damaging the CNU and asked the crowd to repudiate her, which the crowd did with water balloons and other objects.

This shows that the Student Movement is divided because the official association, UNEN, is pro-government, but not all of the students see it that way. That was one of the reasons that Sandinista deputies were booed by the crowd when UNEN and CNU leaders invited them up the stage, while its known they voted for the CNEA law that takes over functions over CNU and 6% budget.

Gaby Castro, UCA Student, wrote on her Facebook [es]:

Pero el grado de hostilidad tuvo su máxima expresión una hora después de concluida la congregación por el 6%. Frente al busto de Casimiro Sotelo, joven sindicalista que murió asesinado por la Guardia Nacional y símbolo de la resistencia en nuestra universidad, nos salimos a gritar más “en lo íntimo” por nuestras becas, en conjunto con algunos de nuestros vecinos, los estudiantes de la UNI y otros de la UNAN. Un grupo de jóvenes encapuchados – unos dicen que eran CPC (Consejos de Poder Ciudadano), otros de la Juventud Sandinista 19 de julio y hasta estudiantes de la UNAN – se bajaron de una camioneta doble cabina y nos agarrabron a morterazos ¡A quemarropa! A los que estábamos en la calle y a las instalaciones de nuestra universidad… Resultado: nueve heridos, todos de la Facultad de Humanidades y Comunicación y daños al edificio en construcción de la UCA. Todo esto a causa de rehusarnos a seguir la protesta organizada por el FNT (Frente Nacional de los Trabajadores, organización satelito del FSLN) en la Embajada Americana, en respuesta a las declaraciones del embajador Callahan emitidas un dia antes, que fueron catalogadas como “injerencistas”.

The USA Embassy was vandalized with wall paintings and minor destruction [es], and the police had to fire tear-gas at the end of the afternoon to disperse the crowd in front of the building [es]. This second protest was caused by the declarations of the USA Embassador, but only Sandinista aligned groups supported this protest.

Later, it was revealed by Twitter user Ojoz [es] that a crew from TV10 news was attacked near UNAM, but there was no aparent reason for this attack.

The blogger Lord-Fame was visited by tax authorities, who found his company to have an insufficient number of employees, below the “industry average” [ru]

What moron came up with this rule? How stupid do you have to be to hold ALL companies within an industry to the same standard?

Continuing the economic theme, Thousand-pa cannot understand why, despite the background of optimistic statements by the government, authorities have decided against the planned increase in salaries for employees of government-funded organizations [ru]:

Why were we talking about the end of the crisis, only to use that same crisis as an excuse to go back on earlier promises a month later?

D-lov is concerned by the lack of discussion in Kazakhstan regarding sexual harassment in the workplace [ru]:

Women here inherently accept male chauvinism on every level and in every form, which is typical of a second world Asian country. Sleeping with the boss is considered a great honor. If an attractive female employee has no intention of flirting with management, and, additionally, demonstrates intelligence and skill in the workplace, she becomes a “competitor,” a “dangerous player,” a “bitch,” etc.

Megakhuimyak is worried about the quality of Kazakhstan’s potential in research science and education [ru]:

Analyzing the history of science in Kazakhstan shows that our perennial leaders have been found in natural science: geologists, mining engineers, biologists. The country no longer has scientists who could perform work on a comparable level – and, given the quality of our education, we will never have them again.

pycm
a href=”http://pycm.livejournal.com/422260.html”>summarizes the situation with a sarcastic aphorism [ru]:

The paradox is that the country has no culture, yet it has a Ministry of Culture. On the other hand, there is corruption everywhere, yet there is no Ministry of Corruption.

Also posted on neweurasia (translated by Andrey)

Zineb Chtit at the trial (courtesy Oujdacity)

In September, we learned about Zineb Chtit, the young Moroccan girl who was severely beaten while working as a maid.  Last week, it was announced that Zineb's attacker Nawal Houmin, the wife of the couple who had hired her, was to be punished for the crime with a sentence of three years imprisonment and a $13,000 fine.  Many human rights groups have spoken out about the sentence, calling it too lenient. 
Says blogger Crazy Moor:

But several Moroccan rights groups say they would appeal on behalf of the country’s estimated 60 thousand to 80 thousand child labourers.

The chair of the Association, “Don’t Touch My Children”, Najia Adib, says the sentence does not regret the scale of the atrocities committed, because the little girl was locked up in a cellar.

The case occurred in the eastern Moroccan city of Oujda.  Popular website Oujdacity.net, which calls itself the “premiere portal for eastern Morocco,” remarked on the incident, saying [ar]:

Solidarité Maroc remarked somewhat sarcastically [fr]:

Malgré les dénonciations concernant les deux époux, seule l'épouse a été inculpée, alors que le juge a été innocenté. Encore une illustration de la justice, au Maroc.

Blogger Moustapha Mouden of the collective blog SidiSlimane [ar], remarking on a 2M program on child labor, says of the issue:

The blogger also remarks on the issue of awareness, something that the laws cannot change:

Special thanks to Hisham for assistance with this post.

Photo of La Loma Library by Convergentes and used with permission. Click on photo to see a larger version of photo.

It is noteworthy that this library was created more than 50 years ago, as an initiative of the residents of La Loma, and throughout its service to the community it has offered classes in literature, painting, and music. The importance of its social role was described by Rezwan at the Rising Voices blog, who notes that that librarian's responsibility goes beyond the simple lending of books.

It is with those reasons that there were united voices of indignation surrounding the events that took place on October 13, which is described by @blueandtanit:

Ladrones robaron el equipo administrativo con información de La Loma, caja menor y El nica de Hiperbarrio en un asalto a la bpp de La Loma.

The director of Hiperbarrio, Álvaro Ramírez described his reaction upon hearing the news. He writes about the consequences of the robbery in his blog Ojo al Texto [es]:

Estoy un poco aturdido. Me concentro y trato de visualizar la modesta y hermosa Biblioteca de La Loma, sus estantes, las mesas y las sillas donde niños y grandes se sientan a diario a leer, a consultar libros, y a conversar.

Alcanzo a imaginar los computadores apagados y en la noche. Un par de intrusos llegan y logran penetrar por el techo. Entran con linternas y comienzan a sacar cosas

(…)

A la mañana siguiente llegan Gabriel Jaime y los otros empleados y encuentran el desastre. Un robo consumado. Un asalto a la comunidad de La Loma y un golpe duro para la Biblioteca Pública Piloto que ha venido dotando, con gran voluntad y paciencia a la filial más antigua de su extendida red de bibliotecas públicas: es decir gratuitas y abiertas para que todos podamos acceder a sus servicios.

(…)

Pienso en el daño que eso representa. En las personas que se van a perjudicar por no poder acceder gratis a los computadores.

Photo of La Loma library by blueandtanit and used under a Creative Commons license. Click on photo to see a larger version of the photo.

News of the robbery soon spread throughout different online networks, and the community also received notes from those who expressed their solidarity during the incident, showing that there is a strong network across the internet. For example, from Chile, Enzo Abbagliati sent a message of support on his blog Cadaunadas [es] after reading the post written by Ramírez:

Cadaunadas varias veces ha sido espacio para la alegría que desde una barriada de Medellín hemos recibido cotidianamente quienes creemos en las bibliotecas públicas como espacio de equidad y construcción de sociedades más democráticas. Reproduzco ahora una triste nota publicada por Álvaro Ramírez en ConVerGentes, quien desde el aturdimiento inicial nos avisa que han robado en la Biblioteca de La Loma. En Chile, en nuestras bibliotecas públicas, a veces sufrimos la misma suerte, la misma frustrante suerte.

¡Animo, amigos de La Loma! Sé que la comunidad estará con ustedes.

Locally, the Colombian digital magazine Equinoxio [es] became one of the first sites to publish news about the acts of vandalism and wrote about the efforts to investigate the crime:

El director de la biblioteca se reunió con las autoridades y con efectivos de la Policía Nacional a fin de coordinar esfuerzos para recuperar los bienes que se llevaron los asaltantes y capturar a los responsables.

Fortunately, the Golden Nicca prize was recovered, as it was found nearby, but the other objects remain missing. A member of Hiperbarrio, Catalina Urquijo of the blog $ujetate (Unknown II) [es] thanked those who sent messages through the different social networking sites:

Ofrecemos nuestros más sinceros agradecimientos a todos aquellos que nos acompañaron por diversos sitios de la red dándonos su apoyo tanto cuando creímos que nos habían robado el nica como ahora.

Finally, Libary Coordinator Gabriel Vanegas of the blog Esas Voces que Nos Llegan [es] summarizes the shock in which, as a public employee, he had to find out about the incident:

Duele ver la ignorancia de quienes perpetúan este delito contra el patrimonio de la comunidad, pero preocupa pensar en quienes dieron la orden de hacerlo y quienes sabiendo y viendo que se hacia no procedieron de manera correcta y oportuna ante las autoridades.