‘Our cause is the same’: Teachers unite in demand for respect and a living wage
MIDDLE EAST EYE (28/9/2019) The school bell rings at a quarter past seven in the morning at the al-Rashid primary school in Amman. The day starts as usual with the national anthem and the raising of the Jordanian flag, but things have been a bit different lately. Teachers line up in the schoolyard, but there are […]
Read →Teachers on strike in Jordan demand higher income and ‘dignity’
AL JAZEERA (26/9/2019) Teacher by day, deliveryman by night. In a public secondary school in central Amman, a maths teacher moonlights as a delivery driver outside his schoolroom hours to supplement his income. An Arabic teacher works in a grocery shop. Others drive taxis or give private tuition on the side. Most teachers in the […]
Read →Meet Fado Bicha, Portugal’s queer anti-racist feminist musicians
OPENDEMOCRACY (28.8.2019) 2019 got off to a bad start in Portugal. In January, the leader of a far-right group – who spent 12 years in prison for his role in a racist murder and other hate crimes – was invited to speak on one of Portugal’s most popular TV talk shows. On air, he argued that the country needs a new […]
Read →Darfur refugees dream of return
QANTARA DW (2/9/2019) Military and pro-democracy leaders signed a power-sharing agreement in August paving the way for a promised democratic transition after 30 years of authoritarian rule in Sudan. But refugees who fled genocidal violence in Darfur are expressing their reservations about the deal. When Ahmed Yusuf Ahmed heard that Omar al-Bashir had been overthrown […]
Read →Little hope for change among Sudanese refugees who fled violence in Darfur
AL ARABY (15/8/2019) Ahmed was 16 years old when he fled his village in the Karnoi area in west Darfur. “In the beginning there were planes bombing the area. In November 2003, the Janjaweed came. There were rapes, beatings. They killed my father and stole our cattle,” he says, referring to the Arab militias recruited […]
Read →“Discounted Maids” – ads perpetuate modern slavery conditions in Jordan
PUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL (14/6/2019) “Discounted maids!” announces a male voice on the radio. “If you’re not satisfied you can return your maid for free.” Every week, ads aired on the radio in Jordan offer “one-month trial” periods and “cash on delivery” options for employers who want to hire migrant domestic workers. Online ads via social […]
Read →Music and art help Yazidi genocide survivors to heal
EQUAL TIMES (1/7/2019) In an art therapy session for Yazidi survivors, a girl drew a portrait of her friend who committed suicide to avoid rape while under Da’esh (the so-called Islamic State, or IS) captivity. Another one drew a butterfly because her biggest wish, she explained, was to be able to fly away. These girls […]
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Newroz brings hope of a brighter tomorrow, and reminders of dark past, in Iraqi Kurdistan
EQUAL TIMES (27/3/2019) On 20 March 2019, families and groups of friends gathered at sunset in the mountains surrounding Sulaymaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan. Wearing traditional Kurdish clothes, many sat on picnic blankets, some danced to the sound of popular music, while others gathered to talk around bonfires. With the Kurdish New Year of 2719 fast-approaching, […]
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After fleeing conflict at home, African refugees battle racism in Jordan
EQUAL TIMES (22/3/2019) “There is war in Sudan. Many people are getting killed, women raped, men beaten. In Jordan, we just stay at home but it also feels like war. Discrimination. Not being able to work. It’s just like war,” says Abdul*, who fled Darfur in 2010. He is among the more than 4,000 Sudanese […]
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Tourists, tourists everywhere
NEW INTERNATIONALIST (MARCH 2019) Lurdes Magalhães no longer sees her neighbours, she only sees tourists. The neighbourhood chatter has been replaced by the sound of suitcase wheels on the cobblestones. Tourism is booming in Porto, Portugal’s second largest city, where visitors now outnumber residents 8 to 1 – a higher ratio than Barcelona or […]
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