Archive for
October 24th, 2008
Stories
Iraq: Assassination for All Iraqi Interpreters!!!
This is the view that Iraqi Interpreter took of a decision made by the commander of the Multinational Forces in Iraq. Under a new rule, Iraqis who work alongside American soldiers as interpreters are to be required to not cover their face while they take part in operations with the US military. Or as Iraqi Interpreter put it:
It's like they want to say :HEY IRAQI PEOPLE…HERE THEY ARE…THE IRAQI INTERPRETERS…NOW YOU GET CHANCE TO SEE THEIR FACES…DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO OF THEM, KILL THEM,TOURTURE THEM, WE DON'T CARE.
He speculates that the decision is a blatant attempt to force Iraqis working with the US army to resign instead of claiming asylum in America and adds that a recent theft of the list of local interpreters is part of the same policy.
Knowing that his life is now under threat whether he work or not, Iraqi Interpreter is both defiant and proud:
believe me or not, when I begun this job, I [knew] very well, that the death will be our faith, so it doesn't matter no more… I'll continue work until the last breath, not for the Iraq, not for the SIV, not for the Americans …………… but For live (for the money that I use to feed my family)
What's Happing in Mosul
“This time the explosion's shrapnel were very close to hurt my dear four years old son ,who was playing in the garden, enjoying the nice autumnal weather .after a long hot summer ,playing with his bike. Seeing my kid ,fine with no any scratch made me feel so dumbfounded.”
Mama, writing about the explosion opposite her house.
Several bloggers have written about recent news that Christians were being persecuted and forced to leave Iraq's second city, Mosul.
Mama lives in Mosul and writes about how security suddenly deteriorated after the campaign began. She writes:
Brutishly, Christian Iraqi citizens were threatened, attacked and many were killed without any reason, and 2000 families were forced to leave their homes in their own country… then things began sinking so badly many explosions ,car bombs and assassinations took place . my house was among the losses. again our windows doors and some other damages had to be fixed. But what about our emotions? it can't be repaired? the fear, everything was ruined in our life can't be restored.
Sunshine, Mama's daughter, also writes about the explosion near her house and about the Iraqi Christians she knows:
this week was really bad, the situation became unbearable, the terrorists killed many Christians, and bombed their houses for no reason but trying to separate us from each other (which won't happen, our hearts are with the Christians in Mosul, we are praying for them continuously), many families left their city, and went to country side, I am so worried about all Christians I know, my neighbors, teachers, and friends, my best friend in the whole world is Christian, I don't know what will happen to me if terrorists hurts her or her family, I hope she'll remain safe, I pray for her and all Iraqis every single day..I can't imagine that my neighbors, friends, and teachers who taught me for years, in kindergarten, primary and secondary were forced to leave and that they are living in the villages or churches, I heard that my favorite teacher is living in the tent, with her family and kids who left school, such a respectful loving and caring woman who taught generations for over than 30 years shouldn't live in a tent and be treated this way, nor the other Christians ..
What the hell the government is waiting for? 2000 families left Mosul last week, the terrorists are everywhere killing and threatening innocent Iraqis who belong to different religions and casts,.. we want a solution and we want it NOW ..
“Today I was about to go to the net café to publish the post but a huge explosion occurred. A car bomb exploded in the neighbourhood near the hospital.the ambulances carried many injured and dead people.the scene was tragic.,people crying ,wifes and sons became widows and orphans in a moment because of a criminal. one of the mothers was crying and screaming “oh god I lost Hasson (her son)” and kept crying in front of the door of the morgue for a long time. i couldn’t eat that night next morning I was depressed.”
Baghdad Dentist on an explosion he witnessed in Mosul.
Layla Anwar gives some background to the Christian community in Mosul and decides who is responsible:
The Christians of Iraq are one of the oldest, most ancient Christian communities in the whole of the Middle East… Chaldeans and Assyrians constitute the bulk of the Christians of Iraq. They are Iraqis through and through, from time immemorial…They are one of the main arteries, veins, of this bleeding Iraqi heart. An essential aorta. A primordial piece of what used to be the most beautiful mosaic of ethnicities and sects, cohabiting peacefully for centuries…This last week has witnessed the most brutal violent persecution against our brothers and sisters in Faith. Over 3′000 Iraqi Christian families have been forcibly evicted from their homes in Mosul. Mosul was known to have an equal number of Christians and Muslims, who have peacefully coexisted and intermarried for years and years. Contrary to other Arab countries where Christian minorities exist, like in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan or Palestine, intermarriage between Christians and Muslims was common in Iraq. I am a living proof…
What is this irony of history, where under a fundamentalist christian occupation, a “born again” occupation, the true Christians are persecuted. What is this ? Will someone explain it to me for God's sake !
… The ones who have been driving out the Iraqi Christians from Mosul are none other than your “wonderful” Kurds… Today, a communiqué from the Assyrian community confirms that the ones who are persecuting the Iraqi Christians of Mosul are none than … Kurds.
Status of Forces
A new law is being pushed thought the Iraqi parliament to give American soldiers the right to remain in Iraq after the deadline for their UN mandate ends this year. While there has been much controversy in the news, Iraqi bloggers give their own unique perspectives.
Raed makes his own translation of a leaked copy of the agreement and writes:
I think it's really interesting that while the bush administration are putting the last touches on this long term agreement with their Iraqi allies, bush issued a new presidential signing statement last week specifically to allow the U.S. government to control Iraq's oil resources! The statement was issued as a response to a congressional law that prohibits the U.S. government from taking control over Iraq's oil and gas resources.What a great message to be given at this time: not only we're planning to occupy your country military, but we also have the intention of steeling your oil and gas.
Iraq the Model sees such an agreement as a positive step for Iraq. Mohammed argues:
it will mark the beginning of a time in which Iraq is officially a partner of the U.S., as it will join Iraq and the U.S. in a new relationship that serves the national interests of both countries. Above all, it will be a major boost for the effort in the war on terror as it will guarantee that Iraq will not fall prey to extremists. It will ensure that Iraq becomes a barrier against the aspirations of extremists, not a vessel that conveys them. In my opinion this treaty will set the foundations for a new Middle East ripe for transformation and for joining the free world.
While Hammorabi takes the opposing point of view:
We the Iraqis do not want to see the American occupation goes behind the end of the existed mandate. There should be no one occupiers left in Iraq in few months time and if any one stayed then it should be targeted as an occupiers. If the pact as such is going to be signed then those who sign it will be traitors and will be treated as such by the Iraqi resistance. At such time the resistance will not be among certain groups but it will be Jihad against the infidels and the occupiers…The American pact is nothing but humiliation to the Iraqis. This is against the interest and the sovereignty of the Iraqi people and no one should put himself in a position to sign it. In fact such pact with the Americans who destroyed Iraq since 1991 and killed millions of its children by two wars and 12 years barbaric sanction followed by occupation, such pact is nothing but an aggression not against Iraq alone but against Islam and other Muslims.
While Jenan just wonders about the complex wording of the agreement. She writes:
I don't know why the Americans do not say that the immunity they want for their solders is absolute immunity. They are only outside this immunity when the troops are off duty and off their military bases. In addition to that, the American have the authority to determine whether their troops are on duty or not … It is like “entrust a cat with piece of meat” (Iraqi proverb)…. The American negotiators should say that they want absolute immunity and nothing less. They don't need waste time and their effort in worthless, long sentences. As Iraqis we want transparency in this agreement. Iraqis want words that have one meaning, no more no less.No country should ever give permission to kill its people without consequences.
Speaking of Sexual Harassment: Noha makes Egyptians proud!
In an unprecedented case, sexual harasser Sherif Gommaa was sentenced to three years behind bars, hard labour, and was also ordered to pay 5,001 Egyptian pounds fine to Noha Roshdy Saleh for groping her in the street.
Zeinobia celebrated the court ruling saying that Noha's victory is Laila's victory:
Today there was a historical court order against Sexual harassment in Egypt , a victory to Laila, a victory to all women in Egypt.
Noha Roshdy was sexually harassed by Sharif Gabril from couple of months and for the first time she was determinant to bring her harasser in front of justice to pay for his crime , it is crime.
Noha stood bravely on behalf of all the girls and women in Egypt.
The Sexual harasser Gabril took 3 years in jail and this considered the first court rule in the history for the first time in Egypt.
On the secrecy of the trial Zenobia wrote:
The judge made the trial a secret trial which means no one except the involved parties attended the trial despite that the family of the harasser and the friends of Noha attended the historical trial.
Of course the family of the harasser defended their son and accused Noha as if they do not have a girl , saying that they are from the country side with morals that do not permit them to act like this !! And Noha the rude city girl said the word “boobs” in the police reports !! No good girl should stay this word !! Let them say what they want !!
As I previously written, many Egyptian women who get harassed choose silence and many harassers blame it on women's dress code and attire. Zeinobia comments by saying:
Of course it is still long road but Noha ,the brave Laila. To break the silence and taboo , it is not a shame to report sexual harassment , the real shame is to shut up. Prophet Mohamed ‘PBUH’ once said : The one who does not show or does not speak about the truth is a silent devil .
The person who sees a sexual harassment incident in front of his eyes and does not report or even it try to stop it is a silent devil.If we are real religious society that follows the Sunna then why we do not follow this important rule.
The girl or the woman who fears to report the harassment incident is a silent devil because may be she survived a sexual harassment but another sister of her can be a victim of rape from the same person if he is not stopped.
The father or family who does not support her daughter to take her right think that it is sort of shame to open this taboo because it is a stain ,they are a family of devil.
Do not be a silent devil.
Zeinobia also touched base on how harassment victims are mistreated and further harassed by the police:
The police will take it seriously if they find people are taking seriously.
By the way there is an investigation in the interior ministry about the disgraceful treatment Noha received in the police station.
Fantasia's World also wrote about Noha's case:
Yesterday, I read about a brave girl from upper Egypt called Bikhyta, who was attacked by a wolf and kept struggling with it for 3 hours, during which she lost 2 of her fingers.. yet in the end, Bikhyta was able to slay the wolf.. all on her own.
Speaking of the human wolf, Fantasia wrote:
He took it for granted that Noha will be lucky if she just managed to escape a nervous breakdown. He assumed that the best she could do is rise up and continue her walk home, carrying all the shame and pain, and probably going to the first pillow to weep. It never crossed his mind that Noha is not that kind of girl. To his amazement, he found Noha rising up like a tigress, chasing his truck, and jumping over the driver's cabin to force him to pull off and get out. She succeeded! And she held him by the collar determined to take him to the police station to charge him of sexually harassing her.
Most Egyptian girls are not encouraged to speak up or to report such incidents for fear of scandals and public shame:
Imagine that the harasser himself, the truck driver, thought Noha was crazy! He couldn't understand why a girl would jeopardize her life in such a way just to get hold of someone who grabbed her breasts! See? That's what we were talking about girls.. your passiveness in dealing with harassment caused you to be taken for granted in such a humiliating way! The good old wisdom of laissez-passer proved to be not good, huh. That's the way you are viewed by harassers out there.. for them, you are not the polite girl who couldn't get herself to face her attacker because she is a shy cute virgin! You are just a whore who has to shut up after being sexually assaulted. That's who you are.
Passiveness has hit the streets of Cairo:
Noha's shock did not stop there.. For, of course a crowd quickly gathered out of curiosity to see what all the screaming was about. Some of them had witnessed the incident from the start. Yet, Noha says: “Some of them tried helping the driver get back into his truck to flee.. Some tried calming me down by saying that they will make him apologize, and when I refused taking an apology, trying in vain to get them to see the crime he committed, they didn't understand why I was so determined to take to the police station and called me crazy. One of them even told me ‘I don't understand what a girl like you is doing, standing her with men!' While others kept watching from their balconies without even caring to offer any help.”
You may wonder, were there not any women on the street at the time?.. Well, according to Noha, only one woman volunteered to help her.. and her way of help was as follows: She said to Noha, “Never mind my girl, let him go, just don't humiliate yourself like that!”
At the end of her post, Fantasia wonders:
I'What kind of society are we living in?! Are those normal people? Or were they all subjected to some kind of mysterious gas that caused them to lose their minds? Seriously, it seems that our society is suffering from mass hysteria! People are sick in a disgusting way! Have they lost any trace of common sense! Do they stand there blaming the victim for wanting to claim her rights?.. Seriously??.. Are they helping the criminal to get away with his crime??.. Seriously??.. Is that the presumably Religious, Pious, Conservative society of ours?? Damn it!
Yes, justice was served. But not all is well that ends well. In fact, this good ending is just a beginning which opened a tiny window unto a world of evil and ethical rot. For example.. I couldn't help boiling with anger at some of the comments posted by the readers on Al Masry Al Youm this morning. Some of them still blame women for being the cause of harassment!!.. Some of them refuse to admit that Noha is a human being and a citizen that has the right in a safe street!! Some of them can't see beyond Noha's hair!! As if this is what tempted the harasser to grab her breast, and not the fact that she is a female! They haven't learned anything.. They insist on compromising their humanity and degrading themselves to the level of animals. But even animals do not do this to one another!
The image as it says that we have a serious problem in Egypt. A problem with the people, their minds, their psyche, their values, and the way they see matters. Something is very wrong with this country. We have to face it. Noha's case is only the beginning.. It gave us a peek into the darkness inside our souls as a society. Now, we have to see the disease that is eating up our moral system and causing us to fail miserably as human beings.
The blogosphere is celebrating Noha's victory. Facebook users created several groups hailing Noha's courage; All for Noha Roshdy(AR), Kolona Noha Roshdy (AR)(we are all Noha), Noha for President (AR) while other groups posted the verdict on their walls and sent congratulations messages to their members here (AR), here(AR), and here(AR).
Egypt: Blogosphere's Godparents Going South
Manalaa (i.e. Manal and Alaa) the godparents of the Egyptian blogosphere - are going to live in South Africa for a while, and Alaa has written a post [Ar] describing his feelings towards traveling and many other things.
In his post, he writes:
من يومي و أنا واخد على السفر و السنة اللي تعدي علي مسافرش تلاقيني بقيت ملول و مش على بعضي. بس السفر كام يوم حاجة و الانتقال لمدة طويلة حاجة ثانية.
زمان أيام الصحوبية لما كنا صغيريين و عبط مكانش عندنا احساس بأن الواحد له مطرح و أن له علاقة خاصة بمطرحه ده (اللي هي بيجعلصوها و يسموها انتماء)، كان بالنسبة لنا نعيش فين ده قرار الواحد بياخده و ينفذه حسب امكانياته زي قرار ندخل كلية ايه و نشتغل ايه، و كل ما نزور أو نسمع عن بلد نتخيل نفسنا عايشين فيها و بنينا خطط كثييير عن الحياة في بلاد كثييير بما فيهم مصر طبعا لكن احساسنا بكل بلد كان محايد جدا.
على ما اتجوزنا و استقلينا و كبرنا (خدي بالك أنهم حصلوا بالترتيب ده عكس المعتاد)، كانت ابتدت الصورة الرومانسية عن العالم كرقعة مفتوحة لينا تتغير.
بس دي كانت عملية تدريجية اللي كان واضح لينا بشدة هو أن السفر مش سهل زي ما أحنا متخيلين، و أننا عندنا مستقبل و حياة كريمة في مصر و بالتالي مفيش داعي للبهدلة.
Since I was young, I am used to traveling almost every year, and when I stay at home for one year, I start to get bored and don't feel good. But traveling for few days is really different from living for a long period of time in another place.
Earlier when we - Manal and Alaa - were just friends, we were still young and we never had the feeling that we belong to one place (homeland). For us, choosing where to live was just like choosing what to study or where to work. And whenever we hear about some other country we start to imagine ourselves living there, and start to draw our plans for staying there. Our feelings towards many many countries - including Egypt - were neutral.
Then after we got married, had our independence, then grew up (see how the order of the events here is almost the opposite of what happens normally), the image of the whole world as an open place for us to live anywhere was slightly changed.
And gradually we started to see traveling as a not very easy thing, and that we have our own life and future here in Egypt. So we thought that there is no real reason to go and live abroad.
He continues:
بس ما بين الخطة و التنفيذ أربع سنين كاملة، حصل فيهم حاجات كثيييير
However it's been four years since we first planned to move to South Africa, and during those years many things have changed.
He then explains how staying is a foreign country is really different from just visiting it for few days or even weeks:
لكن طلع ليس من زار كمن عاش، الأربع شهور بتوع روما كانوا أكئب فترة في حياتي فعلا و مقدرناش نتألقم على العيشة و المجتمع بالمرة. رجعنا من الرحلة و حالة التصالح مع مصر في ذروتها. و حالة الشك في أننا ينفع نعيش في أي حتة غير مصر برضه في ذروتها.
عشان كده أنا مش عارف أسمي الرحلة اللي جاية لجنوب أفريقيا دي ايه، لو الأمور مشيت هنتنقل هناك لمدة طويلة، بس برضه مش عايز أسميها هجرة، دي نقلة مؤقتة يمكن تصفصف على ثلاث شهور، و يمكن سنة و يمكن خمس سنين (دي حاجة بتاعت ربنا زي ما أنتم عارفين). لكن في النهاية مطرحنا هنا في المخروبة.
أحنا مسافرين من غير المشاعر المعتادة من شباب رايح يشتغل بره بتاعت أن البلد بقيت خنقة، و ملناش مستقبل و العيشة مرة و الكلام ده، بالعكس عيشتنا في مصر ظريفة و مرفهة جدا، و الشغل كويس. و من بعد ما اتفقت على الشغل هناك و الشكوك عمالة تأكل في، مش يمكن تطلع زي ايطاليا و الانطباع اللي خدناه من الزيارة ملوش علاقة بواقع العيشة
But it came out that living somewhere is totally different than just visiting it. And those four months in Rome were the most dull period of my entire life, and we couldn't adapt ourselves to the life and the society there at all. And when we returned back to Egypt, we felt we've really missed it, and we were in a doubt that we can ever live in any other place by Egypt.
That's why I really cannot describe my upcoming visit to RSA. If it were all fine there, we may stay for a long time, but yet we still cannot describe it as an immigration, and we insist to call it just a temporary move. It may last for three months, a year or even five years (who knows), but still we believe that at the end we have to get back to Egypt someday.
Our feelings are really different than those who are willing to travel abroad because they cannot live here anymore, and have failed to find an appropriate job here. On contrary, our lives here are really good and comfortable, and we have good positions. And may be that's why after agreeing on everything there, I started to fear that it may come out to be like our experience in Italy and that the feeling we took in our visit few years ago may be totally different from staying and living there.
Alaa finally notes:
المهم نشوف وشكم بخير،و ادعولنا كده ربنا يفتحها علينا و نقدر نحضر كل ماتشات منتخبنا في كأس العالم
Anyway, good bye and please pray for us to enjoy our stay in South Africa and to be able to attend the football matches of the Egyptian national team in the World Cup there.
Talking to Guyanese litblogger Charmaine Valere
Guyanese litblogger Charmaine Valere of “Signifyin' Guyana” - Photo is the blogger's; used with permission.
C.D. Valere — Charmaine to her friends — was born in Guyana , and has lived in the United States for 22 years. She now lives in New Jersey, and teaches literature at Bloomfield College. In November 2007 she launched her blog Signifyin' Guyana — "focusing on the words and opinions of Guyanese writers." Over the last year, Signifyin' Guyana has grown into one of the most substantial literary blogs in the Caribbean, posting Charmaine's own reviews of Guyanese and other Caribbean books, occasionally covering current affairs in Guyana, and linking to literary discussions elsewhere in the Caribbean blogosphere. I recently interviewed Charmaine via email. Here is an edited version of our conversation.
Nicholas Laughlin: The obvious first question: why did you start blogging? What was your original goal?
Charmaine Valere: It started (no kidding) with a deep deep longing for home. As simple as that. I hit the age of (mumble) last year and just wanted to go home to Guyana. So I went, and discovered there is no bleeping way I could possibly live there anymore (laugh). I felt like an outsider in so many ways. When I returned to the US (sadder than I'd left), I decided to fulfill part of what I was missing by reading Guyanese writers. But I was disappointed in the scant and scattered information available online on Guyanese writers and their work.
So I got this wild idea to start a one-woman writing blitz on as many Guyanese writers and books I could get my hands on. And the idea for the blog was born, although at the time I was considering a newsletter or some such.
NL: Which Caribbean blogs did you read regularly before you started Signifyin' Guyana , and did they influence your decision to become a blogger yourself?
CV: I didn't even know what a blog was until about two or three years ago, when I went online searching for up-to-date information on results from Guyana's last presidential elections . Every search I ran turned up some of the Guyana blogs, and I couldn't stop reading, especially the ones that were being updated regularly. I was impressed with the concept of a low-maintenance space where I could write regularly. But it was ultimately blogs like yours and Guyana Gyal's that convinced me to start my own.
NL: Offline, you are a literature teacher and scholar. Are you also a creative writer?
CV: Be careful how yuh fling "scholar" around, my friend (laugh).
No, I'm not a creative writer (big laugh). Although if you look closely at some of my posts, you'll see glimpses of a wannabe creative writer. But the creative world is safe for now. Nothing's in the works.
NL: Do you think Caribbean writers (and other creative professionals) are making enough use of online tools like blogs? What aspects of Caribbean life or culture would you like to see covered better on the WWW? Which writers would you like to see blogging?
CV: So many Caribbean writers have no web presence, period! I find that shocking in this day and age, when so many people search the web first for most of their information. It's unbelievable that they'd want a readership, yet not even establish a writer's profile on the web, let alone blog.
I'd like to see ALL aspects of Caribbean life and culture covered better on the web. Right now the best information you can get on the Caribbean (as you certainly know) is on Caribbean vacations. At the risk of sounding like a Walcott echo, that seems to be all the Caribbean is good for.
On a branch note, you should see the look of disbelief on the faces of some of my colleagues when I tell them I'm using three books by Caribbean authors in my course, and none of the authors is Danticat, or from Puerto Rico , or the Dominican Republic. Of course I love the writings from the Spanish Caribbean, and Danticat is one of my favourite writers, but I'm a little tired of the monopoly they have been given on Caribbean literature.
And I can't really say which writers I'd like to see blogging, but I would certainly like to see more of them interacting with their readers on the web.
NL: What's been the most unexpected thing about writing Signifyin' Guyana ?
CV: How quickly my work has been noticed. And how quickly I was able to get in contact with the writers I initially reached out to. By the way, I've since stopped doing that, but they still manage to find me. They may not have much of an internet presence, but they certainly google themselves regularly. Which again makes me wonder why more of them aren't actively present on the web.
NL: In an early blog post , you responded to a reader who asked what "signifying" meant. Could you recap for GV readers?
CV: Signifyin' describes my goal of giving Guyanese writers significant, quality space and visibility on the web, and it describes my method (borrowed from black American slang) of giving them that space, which is often by interpreting their words, and suggesting (in some cases) new ways (in addition to the existing interpretations/critiques of their work) of understanding their work.
NL: The Guyanese blogosphere is known for its blunt, outspoken exchanges — sometimes to an outsider it seems unnecessarily violent. Why do you think this is? Have you been on the receiving end of readers' criticism that you thought inappropriate?
CV: The Guyanese bloggers (and some of their friends who comment frequently on their blogs) whom I have come to know, are a passionate, intelligent group of mostly young men who are completely fed up with the corruption in Guyana, and their anger and frustration comes through in their blog writing. When it is aimed at each other it does seem unnecessarily vicious, but I believe most of it is their way of venting. They cuss and fight, and live to cuss and fight another day.
And yes, I started a fight with one blogger over the use of the term "Afro-Guyanese" a few months ago, and I now believe my attack was misplaced and vicious. I've since apologized to the blogger, but I'm not so sure I won't react the same way if I was called an "afro" again.
But I do believe Guyanese bloggers possess a strong spirit of fraternity that I have been fortunate to be included in from time to time.
NL: Does your blog help you feel more connected with everyday affairs in Guyana?
CV: I feel compelled to keep up with everyday affairs in Guyana since I brazenly call myself a Guyanese blogger (although if deh see how ah does cut meh roti and curry with knife and fork….)
So every day I read the Guyana newspapers online, and I read the blogs. I rely a lot on my blog friends in Guyana for talk on what's going on there.
Yep, blogging has definitely helped to ease my longing for a home I actually no longer have there. Through blogging, I've created a new way of belonging to Guyana that fits who I am perfectly.
Nigerian Blogger Arrested For Sponsoring a ‘Guerilla News Agency'
Nigerian blogger, Jonathan Elendu, has been arrested by the State Security Service (SSS), the federal security enforcement agency in Nigeria.
Jonathan Elendu created Elendu Reports in 2005. It is an online news site focusing on federal corruption, economic mismanagement and government inefficiency. Jonathan has been living in the US since 1999:
Born and raised in eastern Nigeria, Elendu has resided in the US since 1999. He is president of Elendu & Associates, Inc., a public relations firm in Lansing, MI. He is Contributing Editor and Columnist for USAfricaOnline.com, the USAfrica Newspaper, Nigeria Central.com and Special Correspondent for the Black Business Journal Magazine. He is also the founder of SongDanceAfrica, Inc., a multi-media company.
According to the Nigerian blog, Nigerian Curiosity, Jonathan was arrested because his activities have generated some national security issues:
Jonathan Elendu, the writer at Elendu Reports, was arrested by Nigeria's SSS on Saturday evening upon arrival in Nigeria from the United States. Elendu was reportedly arrested to answer questions because his ‘activities' have allegedly generated some national security issues. One publication specifically reported that Elendu was arrested for “sponsoring a guerilla news agency.”[sic]
He was held for over 24 hours before he was interrogated.
Jonathan was arrested at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport:
Our source revealed that Sahareporters which is known for alleged subversive reports against the federal government and important personalities in the country, was allegedly the brain child of Elendu.
It was further learnt that when Elendu was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja as soon as he arrived via KLM Airline around 7.30 p.m. on Saturday, he was immediately whisked away to the SSS headquarters, Asokoro, Abuja.
Said our sources: “The hefty publisher was accosted on arrival by two SSS operatives who told him that he was being invited for a chat with their boss, he responded that since it was an invitation, they should give him time to go home and freshen up.
“The security operatives turned down his request, seized his international passport and whisked him away, only for him to remain incommunicado since then.”
Elendu's family members expressed concern and worry over the state of his health, as nobody has been able to communicate with him since Saturday.
Elandu Reports has been publishing articles considered sensitive by the ruling class:
Several of Elendu’s recent articles have been about the economic and ecological disaster under way in the Niger delta, where there have been armed clashes between government forces and separatist rebels for years. It was this story that led to US freelance journalist and filmmaker Andrew Berends and his Nigerian interpreter, Samuel George, being questioned for 10 days at the start of last month.
Was Jonathan arrested because of a mistaken association?:
News reports reveal that Elendu was mistaken to have some association with Sahara Reporters, a Nigerian site, hence the arrest. I have said it before and will say it again- although I can appreciate the interest in the sometimes sensationalist and “juicy” stories Sahara Reporters shares on its website, I am constantly taken back by their inability or refusal, to back up their claims and allegations. As a result, I personally do not endorse that site.
Nevertheless, association with Sahara Reporters on its own should not be cause for arrest, detention and the infringement of Constitutional and Human Rights. There was no need to ambush and arrest Elendu at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport.
Point Blank News writes, “Why SSS Arrested Elendu …As Hunt For Publishers Of Pointblanknews.com, Saharareporters.com Continues”:
According to top SSS sources, the federal government had been on the trail of publishers of internet-based news organizations such as Pointblanknews.com, Saharareporters.com as well as Elendureports.com, and had therefore spread a dragnet to arrest the publishers if and when they are sighted in Nigeria.
According to the sources, the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration has been unsettled by damaging yet true reports from these online news organizations on its activities and style of governance and had, in fact, threaded where angels feared to, by publishing exclusive stories which newspaper editors in Nigeria would not touch.
The worry of government, according to these security sources, was that the opposition may have gone beyond feeding these online publications with damaging stories on government, but financing its activities. This worry is heightened by the fact that with increasing access to the internet by Nigerians, these online publications now gain wider acceptance over conventional Nigerian newspapers as sources of information. The situation is not being helped by Nigerian editors who often cull stories from these online sources to enrich their papers.
According to Aba Boy, the closure of Nigerian television station, Channels TV, was the signal of things to come:
The closure of Channels TV wasn’t a one-off, it was an signal of things to come. Yardy's henchmen on Saturday arrested Mr Jonathan Elendu – online publisher of Elendu Reports. According to PM news, the United States-based publisher, who was arrested on arrival in Nigeria, was allegedly linked to Saharareporters, another online Nigerian news agency.
The Waffarian is very disappointed:
I am very disappointed with this news. The SSS has arrested Jonathan Elendu of Elendu reports, a political blog that features news and political articles about Nigeria. He was arrested on arrival at the airport under suspicion of being a journalist for Sahara Reporters, one of my favourite places to get the main “koko” of the matter.
What is happening? First Channels Tv, and now arresting an online blogger? I am afraid Yar'adua is going to be a surprise to many in that country. He is one of those that actually bites before even barks!
We need to rethink the idea that online journalism is the safest form of journalism, argues Ayobami Ojebode:
Online journalism has been considered the safest form of journalism, the least susceptible to state clampdown. It has negotiated for itself a clear space in the public sphere for citizens’ engagement of government, its actions and policies. This form of journalism is understandably attractive to Nigerians given the experiences of orthodox journalists in the hands of the Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha—Nigerian military dictators who hounded and pounded journalists for nearly fourteen years. (See, for instance, Sunday Dare's Guerrila Journalism)
Media scholars and political scientists who support the idea of a free press find in online journalism an avenue for unfettered freedom of expression. Not only this, online journalism has led them to announce and in fact celebrate the death of gate-keeping and censorship. [See, for instance, Williams and Carpini’s (2000) “Unchained reaction: the collapse of media gate-keeping…”, Journalism (1) 1:61-85]. Jonathan Elendu’s arrest by the government of Nigeria should lead theorists to cut short this celebration and rethink the universality of their conclusions.
The Committee to Protect Bloggers promises updates of the situation:
As of yesterday, 22nd October he had not been released or charged and it is not clear if he will indeed be brought before the courts.
We will give updates as the situation unfolds.
Reporters Without Borders condemns the detention of Jonathan:
Reporters Without Borders condemns the detention of Jonathan Elendu, the publisher of the online newspaper Elendu Reports (www.elendureports.com), since 17 October, when he was arrested by the State Security Service (SSS) on arrival at Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport, in the capital Abuja, on a flight from the United States, where he lives.
Denying that Elendu had been arrested, SSS spokesman Kenechuks Onyegogu said he had been “invited” by the SSS to explain certain matters involving “national security.” Elendu is being held at SSS headquarters in Abuja, where close relatives were refused permission to see him yesterday.
Which Way Nigeria denounces his arrest:
WWN denounce the arrest of Jonathan Elendu by the SSS. Elendu is an online journalist whom the SSS have in their custody and have been denied access to a lawyer. Since the SSS clamped down on Channels Television without any caution, the SSS have been embolden and easily dwindle into military era methods in handling Nigerian journalists that will make the Gestapo look like a rookie.
Human Writers Association of Nigeria describes the arrest as calls for his release:
At least now we know that Elendureports.com is classified by the government as a guerrilla news agency and it has a thing or two against”citizen reporting” websites. We understand that the SSS has refused him access his lawyers and family. How much worse can it get?
Yar ‘Adua not only wins a medal for lack of vision, he also seems set to top us all in stupidity! Whatever the case may be, let them release Jonathan Elendu NOW!
The arrest of Jonathan Elendu is one in a long line of attacks against freedom of press in Nigeria, says Sokari:
The arrest of Jonathan Elendu is one in a long line of attacks against freedom of the press in Nigeria (arrests, harassments and murder of anyone critical of the government) and one which is particularly characteristic of military dictatorships the remnants of which continue to remain active in the country.
Ayobami is disturbed by the silence of most Nigerian papers on the arrest of Jonathan. “Do orthodox Nigerian journalists consider their online colleagues comrades or rivals?,” he wonders:
There is some worry about the silence of most Nigerian papers on the arrest of Mr Jonathan Elendu. We do not know for sure why most papers, unlike bloggers, have been quiet on this. Even the BBC has done a report on the arrest. Do orthodox Nigerian journalists consider their online colleagues comrades or rivals? Maybe this is a good question for empirical investigation. However this goes, in my view, Nigeria is the first African country and the second country in the world (after China) to attempt a clampdown on online journalism.
Why is Tunde Akinloye not surprised by the arrest?:
I'm not surprised that Nigerian security officials arrested Elendu. You'd agree with me why, if you reason that this is the same country where government image makers made fool of themselves lieing openly to the 150 million people where the truth is public knowledge.
Perhaps, now the new generation of Nigerian youths would learn to take charge and elect credible leaders in future elections.
Croatia: Car Bomb Assassination of Journalists Ivo Pukanić & Niko Franjić
Zagreb, Croatia's capital, was stunned by a car bomb attack directed at the editor-in-chief and publisher of Croatian political weekly Nacional, Ivo Pukanić, which killed both him and fellow journalist Niko Franjić on Thursday.
Arhangel summed it up (HRV) in detail:
…tonight around 18:20 pm in Palmotić street in Zagreb in the courtyard of “Nacional” an explosive device killed Ivo Pukanić, chief executive NCL, and Niko Franjić, his colleague. As I was first informed of the news, a remote control detonated the explosive device under Pukanić's Lexus. Croatia is in shock.
Price iz Becke sume concurs (HRV) the current sentiment:
I can not believe, still one mafioso murder in the middle of town, in the middle of the day! Ivo Pukanic killed and a journalist colleague from Nacional. Horror!
And Funky Business wrote (HRV) about the situation on the ground in the center of Zagreb, a city of 1 million people:
…central Zagreb was blocked. On the streets of the capital of the government there is fear, disbelief and panic among citizens. It is recommended to restrict movement for all citizens of the city center due to blockade of police who are trying to blockade a large circle around the town to close a crime that evidence would not be destroyed.
As the head of Croatian newspaper, Nacional, many saw Pukanić as a marked man. Ivo himself believed that there was an assassination plot against him, but others doubted it. Sadly, they were wrong, as noted (HRV) by Denis Avdagić on his blog:
…clearly, and to all who doubted that the previous assassination attempt on Pukanić - were completely wrong!
Zagreb, which has been steadily building itself to be a proper European capital in recent years, has suddenly felt the confidence of its citizens erode with this and other recent events of brutal violence. ViN writes (HRV) more:
Is it time for the mass but little severe protests? Can the police stop all this? Can I help a recent shift in the ministries of Interior and Justice? I doubt it. Can the people change it? Because I believe that today is not easy to be a resident of Zagreb. This will not only stop so easily.
Needless to say, this event will evolve over the coming days as more details become available. Only then will it be possible to place blame and understand what this recent attack truly means to security and free media in Croatia as it gets ready to begin EU accession talks next year.
Links for Fri, 2008-10
“The events that surround the history of the Sri Lankan conflict, their impact and interaction with other events are still highly contentious.” The Peace and Conflict Timeline (PACT) project helps to gain a deeper understanding of the conflict's roots and promote discussions and debates on the issue, according to their website.
Rabi C Dahal traveled across Bhutan on a bike for 13 days and tells about his impressions of the country in Bhutan Observer: “In almost all parts of the country, religious beliefs helped protect the environment.”
My View of JamDown from Up So writes an open letter to Reporters Without Borders, saying he was “disturbed at the high (press freedom) rank of Jamaica in comparison what most people here acknowledge to be reality.”
Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez refuses to be labeled.
Steven's Cuba Blog and Havana Times report on the formal resumption of ties between the European Union and Cuba, while Child of the Revolution adds: “the Cubans say they are happy to restart an open and constructive dialogue with the EU – on the Cubans' terms, of course, which essentially means the Europeans have been told to stay clear of Cuban domestic issues, such as human and political rights.”
The Premier of Bermuda makes a speech that leaves Vexed Bermoothes and Catch a fire feeling a bit disconcerted.
“Many people decide to live in Jamaica because they love the energy and vibe of the culture. Yet, there are those who decide that this is country is far too difficult for them to manage and bolt in less than a year”: Transition Sunshine offers a glimpse into “the real Jamaica.”
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