Ali Abunimah Keynote Address — BDS Conference 2009

Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, delivered the keynote address Saturday at the National BDS Conference at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA.

For the next video in the six-part speech, check out Palestine Video. **I’ll be posting more thoughts/ideas/reports from the conference in the next few days, hopefully.

A problem with symmetry

Authentic Journalism

31 scholarship winners from across 24 countries. 10 days in Cancun, Mexico. Writing, reporting, the type of journalism I’ve been wanting to produce. Authentic Journalism, class of 2010.

Hong Kong’s Second Class Citizens

All Roxanne Sonas really wanted was a bed.

“On the day we moved in, IKEA delivered a cabinet,” says the 33-year-old Filipino domestic helper, her eyes swelling up with tears. “It was horrible.”

Sonas slept on top of that wooden cabinet in the living room of her employer’s home in Hong Kong’s trendy Causeway Bay neighborhood for five months.

She didn’t have a pillow or blanket, and worked 22-hour days, six days a week.

“Luckily it was summer so it wasn’t cold,” says Sonas, who, after an arduous process involving the Hong Kong police and labor department, eventually quit. “I was very afraid. I was always crying but I needed to stand.”

An edited version of this article has been published in The Upstream Journal: www.upstreamjournal.org. — check it out, or view the rest of the original article here, after the jump.

Leading the non-violent resistance

Bilin. The leading source of inspiration today for Palestine and its international supporters. Not only that, but by practicing a non-violent means to achieve peace and reach the end of the occupation — despite the constant threat of night raids, tear gas and other violence at the hands of the Israeli army — the residents of Bilin are breaking through the preconceived image Israelis want us to have of Palestinians: terrorists, violent, anti-Semitic, “Other”, etc.

It is clear that the non-violent resistance in Palestine is a major threat to the Israeli occupation, insomuch as it cannot be dismissed or delegitimized as based on hate or violence. It is based on the human rights of self-determination and freedom. And the fact that residents of the small West Bank village are continuing their weekly protests, despite the constant threats leveled at them by 18-year-old Israeli soldiers, is a testament to not only their individual courage, but to their collective tenacity and belief that they have justice on their side.

For these reasons, among others, I was all too happy to write an article for the Electronic Intifada about Bilin’s ongoing legal struggles here in Canada, the result of which will hopefully — someday soon — allow them to achieve the rights they are entitled to.

Hong Kong – Women workers and the fight for a minimum wage

Lin Shiu, 65, walks into the small Hong Kong Women Workers’ Association office, still sweating from her morning shift.

Wearing a blue suit, baseball cap and fluorescent green mesh vest, she gratefully accepts a glass of water. In an hour, she must get back to work cleaning a luxurious Hong Kong mall.

“For my age, it’s difficult to find another job,” says Shiu, who works eight hours a day, six days a week, and makes $3,600 Hong Kong dollars ($505 CAD) each month.

“I will work as long as I can work.”

View the rest of this article in Briarpatch Magazine — November/December 2009 issue.

No Justice for Tiffany

Around the time Tiffany Morrison disappeared, she had started babysitting her older sister Melanie Morrison’s young daughter.

“She was coming to the house to help out and hang out. She wanted to be around my daughter because she loved kids,” said Melanie, thinking back.

Today, nearly four years after Tiffany went missing, Melanie explained that her daughter still recognizes her aunt in pictures and knows her through the stories told about her.

“All of a sudden my daughter will be flipping through the photo album and she’s like, ‘Oh, that’s auntie Tiffany.’ She goes, ‘We’re going to find her, eh? We’re going to bring her home.’ And it just makes you want to cry,” Melanie said, forcing a smile.

“Because deep down, I know my daughter is never going to see her again.”

For the rest of this article, visit The Link (Concordia University’s student newspaper) website.

Tiffany Morrison was last seen leaving Haraiki bar in Lasalle on June 16, 2006. (Photo: Melanie Morrison)

Leduc wins easily in Brossard

With approximately 68.7 percent of the vote, Brossard residents chose compromise over confrontation Sunday night as Priority Brossard leader Paul Leduc was elected Brossard’s new mayor.

“The population said we want change. Without any hesitation, they said they want change in Brossard at city hall and they will get it,” he said.

Leduc – who acted as Brossard mayor from 1990 to 2001 – beat out rival and incumbent mayor Jean-Marc Pelletier, the Brossard Democracy party leader, who earned only 29.1 percent, or 6,159 votes.

“It’s because people wanted change. We now have a real mayor,” said Priority Brossard candidate Pierre O’Donoghue, who was elected in district 2 (B and C sections) with 66.25 percent of the vote.

In total, nine out of ten Priority Brossard candidates were elected Sunday.

To read the rest of this article, pick up a copy of The Brossard Plus Journal, to be published tomorrow, Tuesday November 3, 2009.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

521. That’s the official number of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada since 1980. But for one family from Kahnawake, only one woman truly matters.

** After interviewing Melanie Morrison last week, I turned to my classmate/camera person Maria. “I almost cried,” I said. So had she. Putting together this piece – and learning about the issue of missing and murdered Native women, and the widespread indifference that exists across the board here in Canada – was a truly unforgettable experience. It signaled to me that this is something that I can do for many, many years to come: use journalism to affect positive change and help protect the human rights of all both in this very country and abroad. I sincerely hope that someone, somewhere, will see this piece and help give the Morrison family some much-needed closure. I thank Melanie Morrison and the entire Morrison family for allowing me to tell Tiffany’s story, and Ed Stacey for his openness, availability and all the work he’s done. Niawen’kó:wa.

 

UPDATE (31/10/2009): This story has been posted on Rabble.ca, a progressive national news website here in Canada. It’s one of the featured stories in Rabble’s RabbleTV section (and is – as of now – on the website’s main page, also!), so check it out. And keep spreading the word about Tiffany’s disappearance.

Fading into Focus

Pictures of Fouad Sakr’s family line the walls of his modest Park Extension apartment in Montreal north.

“My son’s wedding in Lebanon,” said Sakr, pointing to a framed photograph displaying the smiling faces of his son, his son’s bride, his wife and himself.

On the other side of the room, school photos of Sakr’s granddaughters hang beneath two recognizable images: a small Palestinian flag and the Lebanese cedar tree, the country’s national symbol.

“They say, ‘Please come. We want to see you. We love you. Come,’” said the 63-year-old Palestinian refugee, about his family who live mostly in Lebanon. He has yet to see some of his youngest grandchildren.

“Only in photos on the Internet,” he explained, taking a sip of Arabic coffee.

For the rest of the article, click here. (The Link, Concordia University student newspaper, October 13, 2009)