The commemoration was filled with formative and heated discussions with contents ranging from academic, ethnic and religious perspectives.

Among the contributors was Laween Atroshi, a 22 year old British Kurd and Peace ambassador. Here he discusses the successful and applause worthy developments the Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq has made thus far in its running. Laween raises points such as our strong education system, and the legal laws implemented within the region which condemn honour crimes and honour killings as well as other acts of human injustice.

He also mentions and makes a request for the UK Labour Party to consider Kurdistan’s cause and struggle for independence and the not so long-ago history of our Halabja genocide.

Laween Atroshi on Kurdistan’s Rights & Development

]]> http://www.mideastyouth.com/2011/12/29/kurds-human-rights-talk-uk/feed/ 0 House of Lords,Human Rights Commemoration,Kurdish Youth,Kurdistan,Kurds,london,UK Human Rights Day 2011 was warmly welcomed in London's House of Lords where a board of delegates came together from across Europe in discussion and reflection of the developments and progress made within the global community on the agenda of human right... Human Rights Day 2011 was warmly welcomed in London's House of Lords where a board of delegates came together from across Europe in discussion and reflection of the developments and progress made within the global community on the agenda of human rights. The commemoration was filled with formative and heated discussions with contents ranging from academic, ethnic and religious perspectives. Among the contributors was Laween Atroshi, a 22 year old British Kurd and Peace ambassador. Here he discusses the successful and applause worthy developments the Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq has made thus far in its running. Laween raises points such as our strong education system, and the legal laws implemented within the region which condemn honour crimes and honour killings as well as other acts of human injustice. He also mentions and makes a request for the UK Labour Party to consider Kurdistan's cause and struggle for independence and the not so long-ago history of our Halabja genocide. Laween Atroshi on Kurdistan's Rights & Development Mideast Youth no http://www.mideastyouth.com/2011/11/28/beyond-king-of-the-mountain-2/ http://www.mideastyouth.com/2011/11/28/beyond-king-of-the-mountain-2/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:01:05 +0000 Leyla H. http://www.mideastyouth.com/?p=13901 I’ve been thinking a lot about democracy in the Middle East. That is why I’ve been exploring the most sustainable way that democracy could happen for countries like Iran. I believe that one of the most important prerequisites is understanding the mostly unconscious assumptions underlying our democratic institutions and rethinking them to suite the needs of the age we are living in. In my TEDx talk titled “Beyond King of the Mountain”, I make a case for using media to begin cultivating a culture of mutualism and cooperation rather than adversarialism and contest in order to create sustainable democratic models that benefit the human family. I would love to share this video with you all and would appreciate it if you posted, watched and promoted it:

The villagers were speaking with soldiers demanding paperwork and telling them that court cases are pending and to stop blowing up their lands. Instead the soldiers arrogantly pushed and shoved and as they tried to arrest one young man, a group of Israeli soldiers and native Palestinians fell off the side of the bulldozed area of the route of the apartheid wall. Outside of camera views, Mustafa was beaten repeatedly in the car (I was hit twice) by a mean young Israeli soldiers who said he hated Arabs. The video we have of our abduction:

And still pictures can be seen here and here.

After the US government (under the Yolk of the Israel lobby) cut funding for UNESCO, people of the world and other governments should step up to the plate and donate to this institution. You can do so here.

This’ll be my first departure from Australia since repatriating nearly a decade ago. After spending 20 years based in Verbier, Switzerland, I’ve been rediscovering Australian culture, from Sydney to Yamba, Sandy Beach to Tamworth, to Newcastle, to Auburn in Sydney, before moving north again to Byron Bay. It seems settling down is not to be a quick and easy process for me.

I met comedian Akmal Saleh one night in a service station outside Tweed Heads. I was returning from the Gold Coast having watched the ‘crew screening’ of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when who did I see filling up petrol in front of me? Akmal Saleh no less.

Being a fan, and knowing he’s a resident of the Byron Shire I thought I’d go say g’day and see if he’d do a comedy piece for my www.byronvibe.com website. With a flash of his brooding eyes and a shrug of his shoulders, his inimitable pursed grin replied “yeah, sure”.

A couple weeks later, we were wandering down main street in Byron, vox popping with Frank and some other randoms, having a laugh. (View clips here

After several months passed I get a call from Akmal asking if I’d be interested in going to Egypt to shoot a story. I had to think for all of a micro second before responding with an emphatic YES.

Of course the project had a low probability of coming off, as every project seems to at first in the film biz, so I didn’t get too excited as it was february and the trip was scheduled for August. There was a while to go and any number of factors could cancel the project, the instability of the new military government but one of note.

But we had good advice on that matter from an expert on Egyptian affairs who had recently returned from Egypt as well as another friend of Akmal’s who’d been a solicitor in Egypt for many years, and that seemed good enough for me.

Months rolled by. A couple of meetings at Lulu’s in Mullum. Phone calls from Akmal and I’m thinking, “this guy’s serious! Maybe it will happen!”

Sam has been a solicitor in Egypt for many years

Mitigating circumstances meant Akmal had to go in August or he couldn’t go at all… We tried to get a couple of production companies on board, but really time had run out and we had to make a decision: Go it alone or cancel the trip. But Akmal was keen, so with a month left he said “let’s go!”

New passport and visas had to be sorted. Camera equipment had to be sourced. The desire to shoot with Sony’s latest F3 rig had to give way to the reality of running gun in a place like the streets of Egypt and we decided on Sony’s less cumbersome and more discreet EX1, a compact yet high def solution from the friendly guys at Pro Cam in Brisbane.

With a week to go, packing down my gypsy abode should have been an easy process, but a spent tension pulley in the fan belt config meant I had to tow it to the Gold Coast at a cost which would have been better spent on the trip to Europe (yes, Europe, after Egypt, but that’s another story). The damn plastic spindle cost 90 bucks but the replacement of it cost $800 as they had to pull the front end off…

This setback could only be looked at one way. As a preparation to the many contigencies that I knew Egypt was going to throw at me once we were on the ground. Like a war of attrition I began to cross tasks off my list of things to do, before finally cramming tripod, audio gear, cameras and lenses, clothes, laptop and mobile-office kit into two backpacks and a ready-to-shoot bag. About a 50kg load all up.

Parking the ‘Hotel Benz’ at Karin’s (thanks Karin) I loaded my gear into Catie’s Van (Akmal’s wife and the production’s Line Producer) before we proceeded to the Gold Coast airport. The plan was for me to go two weeks prior to them to film the Abu El Haggag religious festival in Luxor which was advertised as being on the 17th and 18th July. This festival is a coming together of Muslims and Christians in a two day parade through the streets of Luxor around the ancient mosque of Abu El Haggag.

Abu El Haggag Mosque and Temple

Nothing like getting thrown in the deep end, on my own in a country I’ve never been to, don’t speak the language of (hoping my french will get me by if English doesn’t), with some expensive camera kit in tow, much to the consternation of family and friends who see the evening news regarding instability in the region…

But I was on my way to the airport, the one sure sign a project is on and the only time one allows oneself to get excited about the journey ahead, because today, I’m off to Egypt.

The video was considered for an award in the 2011 New Works Contest run by “Art With Impact”, an arts-centered, social engagement organization based in San Francisco. The contest called for submissions of new short films on socially conscious topics. This year, creators were asked to submit short films of any genre on the topic of the Israeli/Palestinian relationship. We submitted our video Voices for Gaza, which was one of two runner-ups for the award. The winner of this year’s contest is “No More Shooting and Crying.”

As for our video, as noted in their press release:

Voices For Gaza urges increased global awareness of Palestinians’ social condition in Gaza, and advocates increased accountability for the atrocities of war.

Our intention is to create an extensive crowdsourced database of information relating to the human rights violations occurring in Gaza due to the growing oppression as well as the blockade.

Our video will be included as a “bonus feature” in the Host Kit for Art With Impact’s Underground Film Series October and November film, Slingshot Hip Hop.

Such statements only highlight the importance of grassroots campaigns that continue to speak out about the plight of minorities in Iran. The “Can You Solve This?” campaign has sent over 1,700 letters to top European leaders, including Secretary-General of the UN, Ban-Ki Moon, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, and German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Guido Westerwelle.  Tireless campaign activists and media attention from Mashable and more have helped bring the message of the denial of education in Iran to thousands more. “Can You Solve This?” is gearing up to launch globally, after having successfully stickered and QR coded many German cities. With the coordinated global efforts of grassroots activists around the world, Catherine Ashton won’t be the only top official to speak out against the persecution of the Baha’i community and the global problem of the denial of education that we can all help solve.

To bring the campaign to your city, or to find events happening locally, email us at hello@can-you-solve-this.org.

[Originally posted at bahairights.org]

What’s new?

Apart from various improvements on usability, the site now allows anyone to create their own page. It takes 2 seconds to sign up to be able to host your own cause on the site. Once your page is up and running, anyone is able to participate without the need to sign up! It’s completely open to the public.

CrowdVoice for Gaza

CrowdVoice.org is also being used to help track down the issues in Gaza. “Voices for Gaza” amplifies voices of support for Gaza and gathers evidence of human rights abuses by the Israeli government, in hope of helping avert further massacres and violations. Watch the demonstrational video here:

As always, we’d appreciate your help in spreading the word!

Below is a link to a brief four minute video of sights and sounds from Friday and Saturday in Palestine. We had participated in the demonstration in Beit Ummar where soldiers tried to prevent farmers from getting to their lands. We were partially successful getting through the soldiers’ lines and entering one of the plots that is threatened near a colonial settlement. Settlers dumped their sewage on 3 acres of land of Beit Ummar the day after our peaceful demonstration. In another sideline, we succeeded in helping a poor family cure their injured donkey (named Ra’d or Thunder); medicines donated by a Beit Sahour veterinarian. A day later we got the family a sheep and her baby lamb but soon found out we were not giving them a decent sheep (old, teeth missing) so we returned it and brought a far better sheep and her weaned lamb. The family will mget milk, butter and cheese now. The cost was nearly $750. $200 was already donated by a friend in the US. Let us know if you want to contribute to this or similar projects.

Ahwaa.org is a bilingual tool for LGBTQ youth in the Middle East that leverages game mechanics to facilitate authentic, high-quality interactions.

To learn more about its mission and some of its features, please watch our video:

We hope you can help us spread the word.