Saturday, May 29, 2010

DESERT’S UNSPOKEN WORDS: Western Sahara’s Conflict

This article was originally published here:

http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/deserts_unspoken_words_western_saharas_conflict/


“Refugee Camps are in a permanent oblivion situation. There is a constant repression, a quiet one”.
Silvia Garcia talking referring to Western Sahara’s conflict.

"Saharawi refugee in near Smara refugee camp"
Picture posted by Paulo Nunes dos Santos at gaia-photos.com



Western Sahara’s conflict is indeed confusing and, unfortunately not very well known. In this year, this confrontation turned 35 years old. It is here, in Sahara, where the war continues and hope seems to fade away.


BACKGROUND


-Western Sahara fell under Spanish rule in 1884, becoming a Spanish province in 1934.
-On October 1975 the International Court of Justice rejected territorial claims by Morocco and Mauritania. The court recognised the Saharawis' right to self-determination and Spain agreed to organise a referendum.
-Spain never organized the referendum, until today.
-In November 1975, Moroccan King Hassan II ordered a "Green March" of over 300,000 Moroccans into the territory.
-Spain agreed to end colonial rule.
Status: Disputed territory claimed by Morocco and Saharawis seeking self-determination.
- Different NGOs such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch have declared different torture cases of Saharawis living under Moroccan government.

Information based on the BBC News website.

"Smara, the biggest refugee camp in Tindouf province"
Picture posted by Paulo Nunes dos Santos at gaia-photos.com

TODAY

“What I try to do is to spread Saharawis cause”, told me some days ago Silvia Garcia Díaz, a journalism student at Madrid’s Universidad Complutense.

I met Silvia in one of our last classes of the course, as she started a discussion about Saharawis conflict. Afterwards I had a very interesting chat with her about this issue.

“A refugee camp is supposed to last 5 years or less, Saharawi people have been there for more than 30 years” she expressed, as the tone of her voice-raised immediately.

Silvia is sure that Spain is responsible for what is happening in Western Sahara, as she explained to me: “Western Sahara was once a Spanish colony, and when it got its independence, Spain did not finished a formal decolonization process. Now it is Morocco who has the power in this territory, even if the United Nations recognizes Spain as the responsible state”.

Silvia went to one of the refugee camps in Algeria, and she got to know the territory in a particular way: “Western Saharawis have been there since 1975, when they improvised their own refugee camps. I believe the most significative problem is that time passes by, and people forget. They only survive from humanitarian aid and nothing else”.

It is important to mention that there are some students from Western Sahara that have the opportunity to attend school abroad with financial aid, and they always come back to wait for the liberation of their own nation. “There are engineers, doctors, teachers who studied outside Algeria or Western Sahara, but they cannot work or practice what they studied inside the refugee camps”, she declared.

Picture taken from nytimes.com website

STUDENT’S MOVEMENT

“My duty is to spread and talk about what is happening. They have been waiting 35 years for a resolution, and not because I go and meet them everything will change”, Silvia explained with a vigorous blow. “When you visit those camps you feel you do not know what to do. You create empathy with the people. Then they ask you just to spread the word. Do not let them forget we are waiting here. Peacefully”.

Silvia, next to other students that have had a closer approach to Saharawi refugee camps, formed the “University Platform in favour of Western Sahara”, where students get together to organize events all over Madrid, and to spread Saharawis message. They feel it is their responsibility as Spanish citizens, in order to inform others what is happening in Western Sahara.

Picture taken by Michelle Brehm from christtherockglobal.wordpress.com

Silvia finished this interview with a smile on her face, as she shared one last message not only for Spanish society, but for all nations in the word: “Let’s not forget that people will never be less important, as a fundamental beginning, like in Western Sahara’s conflict. We are responsible as people for what we do; we create politics, economics, etc. It is us (people) who create conflicts too”.

(Andrea Arzaba, May 2010)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The real story / La verdadera historia / FAROE ISLANDS

Un reportaje sobre la tradición Danesa.

Great vid. that explains the Danish tradition.

Masacre en Dinamarca / Denmark's Massacre

Did you know about dolphin/whale slaughter tradition in Denmark?? Let's RAISE AWARENESS!

Sabias de la masacre danesa que ocurre en contra de los delfines y de las ballenas? Vamos a ALZAR LA VOZ!!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

LILA DOWNS EN METEPEC

LILA DOWNS EN METEPEC
Por Andrea Arzaba



¿Cómo se escucharía el tema de “La Cucaracha” con un ritmo de jazz? ¿O acaso “Paloma Negra” podría ser interpretada acompañada de un acordeón? ¿Qué tan bien sonaría la “Cumbia del mole” con toques electrónicos? Al parecer, estas son algunas de las razones por las que Lila Downs ya llegado a como una de las interpretes de música Mexicana más innovadoras y talentosas de nuestros tiempos.

Para leer más da click AQUI (link al BLOG OFICIAL)

Gracias,

Andrea Arzaba

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Pray The Devil Back To Hell trailer

Un documental que no se pueden perder / A documentary that the world cannot miss!

Pray the devil back to hell

Hace tiempo que no escribo en el blog, y tengo tantas historias en mi cabeza que no estoy segura por donde empezar. Por lo pronto escribiré sobre un documental que tuve la oportunidad de ver en el pasado Festival de Cine en Morelia 2009.

El documental nos transporta a la lejana África, exactamente en Liberia. Un grupo de mujeres se encuentran cansadas de la situación de guerra civil que viven día a día, por lo que deciden formar un grupo y llamar la atención de las autoridades para que escuchen su pedido: ¡PAZ EN LIBERIA!

Es verdaderamente sorprendente la manera en las que las mujeres se organizaron y llegaron a coexistir entre musulmanas y cristianas, formaron un equipo y no dejaron que sus creencias las llevaran a dejar de participar en conjunto. La paz efectivamente no tiene una sola religión, como lo muestra el documental. Las maneras por las que llegan a ser tomadas en cuenta por el gobierno son bastante ingeniosas: al principio comenzaron a reunirse con panfletos y recitando diferentes cánticos y rezos hacia la paz, afuera del Palacio de Gobierno.

El grupo de mujeres también pusó presión a los hombres ya que les negaron el tener sexo hasta que sus peticiones fueran tomadas en cuenta. Por esta misma situación los hombres también presionaron para que el gobierno hablara con el grupo de mujeres.
Poco a poco el movimiento se fue dando a conocer hasta que finalmente el gobierno escuchó, las mujeres dieron su punto de vista y ... se los dejo hasta ahí para que ustedes puedan descubrir el final.


Andrea Arzaba


Friday, September 25, 2009

La ecología también tiene letras


TIPOGRAFÍA ECOLÓGICA. Las impresiones que realizamos día a día no solamente usan hojas de papel sino también tinta. Para reducir el consumo de estos cartuchos y formar una conciencia con el consumo sustentable, ha surgido una nueva fuente ecológica que es totalmente legible y ahorra hasta el 20% de tinta. Para descargar la fuente, la cual es gratuita, visita: http://www.ecofont.eu/