Registrations are still going on for the open forum. If you are interested in the theme and haven’t registered yet, try to register soon. Your contribution may bring a change to both continents.

The DEA is looking for a new Director to lead and inspire the organisation during a period of expanding interest in global perspectives within education. For further information, click on the link.

Africa in Motion (AiM) will enchant audiences with screenings of more than two dozen African films from all over the continent at Filmhouse Cinema this October. The packed programme covers a variety of genres spanning six decades of filmmaking in Africa.

The RSG/Project has developed Operational Guidelines on Human Rights and Natural Disasters, in consultation with UN agencies. The UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) adopted them in June 2006. By publishing them, the Project hopes to assist the UN in providing the people on the front lines of disaster response with the guidance they need on how to ensure that the rights of people affected by natural disasters are better protected.

To make the best use of the promised doubling of aid to Africa, it should be distributed multilaterally, possibly by a United Nations fund "independent of political pressures", according to a report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The riots that broke out in Atlanta, Georgia between 1898 and 1906 were part of a pattern of anti-black violence that included several hundred lynchings each year. September 22-24, 1906 is the 100th anniversary of the Atlanta Race Riot. In Atlanta, the Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot has planned a series of initiatives and events to increase public awareness of this shameful episode in the city’s history and inspire Atlantans to appreciate differences as opportunities to build community.

The ongoing controversy about the Pope’s ill-judged statement on Islam and violence may not abate easily, as different Muslim populations across the world continue to react in different ways. One hopes that the spate of violent attacks on Christian places of worship end immediately. Governments must assume responsibility for stopping these attacks. It is not the Pope that is hurting, but fellow citizens and neighbours.

All citizens, whether Christian or Muslim or the majority who are neither, deserve and should enjoy the full rights to the protection of their lives, place of worship, and freedom of their consciences along with other rights.

The Pope’s statement may do long lasting damage to inter–faith dialogue and religious tolerance, something that his predecessor, Pope John Paul 11, was closely associated with.

Both the violent reactions from a minority of Muslims and the biased reporting from the dominant Western media suggesting that ‘Muslims are violent’ are not surprising. They fit a template only too familiar.

Not too long ago there were the Danish cartoons and the reactions to them. It is a rather simple ‘audience and cue’ circus: a western person or institution says or does something that is offensive to good taste but specifically offensive to the Muslim faith or Muslims. Then there is a spate of militant and sometimes violent reaction from people in virtually the same countries. The western media then turns on the reactions, suggesting that the Muslims are immature, unable to take criticism and unable to engage in rational debate. Some proceed to conclude that the reactions prove how violent Muslims are.

It is a case of someone slapping you and also dictating that you should not cry. It is not correct that every offended group in the world should be burning places down and killing people. However, those on global platforms must also learn to say and act in ways that do not inflame emotions.

The same pattern repeated itself after the Pope’s statement. The attention soon shifted away from what the Holy Father said, to the reaction of some of those he offended. It is true that the Pope gave an unprecedented apology and is taking very public steps to atone for the misjudgment.

Hopefully with time this may cool things down, but the bad blood generated may not easily subside. It is neither the worst statement ever nor would it be the last time such a statement will be made about Islam, however, it must be pointed out that the Pope is not just any other person. He is the closest the world has to a religious head.

Neither Islam nor other religions like Confucianism or Hinduism that have more adherents to their faith than Christianity (let alone just Catholics) have a head that is as globally influential as the Pope. There are no two Popes in the world. He is also a head of state with diplomatic relations with virtually all governments of the world. With this influence surely comes huge responsibilities.

What he says in private and public will be scrutinized; therefore, he has to weigh up his statements carefully. They carry both moral and political weight well beyond his tiny papacy and faith.

It was a rather evasive reaction to say that the Pope was only quoting an obscure writer. He has made that writer known to everybody now. Would the Pope have quoted many of the more obscure writers that wrote and are writing about Christianity, Hinduism, or the Jewish faith?

Could the Western Media be that understanding if the Pope had quoted a Nazi writer famous or infamous writing about Jews or the Jewish faith? Historians who question the holocaust are taken to court and convicted because Holocaust denial is deemed beyond the limits of academic debate and freedom of expression.

There is so much violence in the name of God that no religion, especially a monotheistic one, has a monopoly over violence and violent methods. That the Pope enjoys the political visibility that he does today is not because Catholics are the majority of the world’s population or that his city–state empire is of any indispensable strategic importance, but the result of historical powers of Rome and the Church.

These powers were built by conquest and pillage. The Roman Empire and the Roman Church were involved in slavery, colonialism, wars, and other forms of non-Christian activities.

More recently in Rwanda, the Church (even if it was not convicted of genocide) bears responsibility for keeping quiet while God’s children were butchered with the connivance of some of its clergy and even Bishops. If anyone is to condemn Christianity for all these crimes such a person will be descended upon. If the Church and all Christians cannot be held responsible why are Muslims always maligned as a group?

Islam and Christianity are both monotheistic religions with shared roots, built by evangelism, through empires that utilized peaceful and non-peaceful means to establish their hegemony. Once hegemonic they declared peace of the victorious!

Even though it is Muslims that gave vent to the offence caused by the Pope’s statement, Dr Jibo Ibrahim (one of very few people, including those reacting violently, who have bothered to read the full text of the paper) the Director of the CDD, a leading researcher on religion and interfaith relations based in Abuja, Nigeria noted that the Pope’s statement should be even more offensive to non-European Christians (the majority of all Christians) because of its Euro-centrist understanding of God, the church and Christianity.

It is not about which religious group(s) are offended but rather the responsibility of a political and religious leader like the Pope in these trying times. Why did the Pope say those things? If he wanted to promote dialogue, he chose a very strange way to do it.

In a world in which Muslims and the Islamic faith replaced Communism in the pantheons of Western phobias, the Pope’s statement is at best mischievous, and at worst deliberately provocative. Whether one is a Muslim or not, both reasons should be unacceptable. I am not sure whether it was a goof or a papal declaration of intent to line up behind Bush in his modern crusade.

* Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is General-Secretary of the Pan African Movement,
Kampala (Uganda) and Co-Director of Justice Africa

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

The downward trend in asylum applications in most industrialised countries continues unabated, according to the latest UNHCR statistical report. Based on provisional data provided to UNHCR by governments, the report indicates that during the first six months of this year, a total of 134,900 asylum applications were submitted in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Internal conflicts based on ethnic tensions and rivalries, political instability, disputes over the control of natural resources, natural disasters, poverty, food insecurity and the imperatives of development have all resulted in significant displacement in West Africa.

The psychological effects of Britain's policy of locking up asylum-seekers were demonstrated yesterday at an inquest into the death of an Angolan man who took his life so that his teenage son might stay in Britain. Tim Finch, director at the Refugee Council, said afterwards: "This totally heartbreaking case is not an isolated one. These cases show the level of desperation of people in these centres.

This past Sunday marked the Global Day of Action for Darfur. The aim was “to show world-wide support for the Darfuri people and to put pressure on our Governments to protect the civilians.” A number of African bloggers posted special pieces to mark the day.

‘Wordsbody’ - (http://wordsbody.blogspot.com/2006/09/endgame-in-darfur.html) a literary blog by Molara Wood, wrote a moving piece entitled “Endgame in Darfur”. Wood reminded us of the “never again” mantra echoed after the Rwandan genocide just over 10 years ago.

“Now it is Darfur. The World again is being its (or is it her?) old useless self. The World is being racist again. Not only are the people being killed in Darfur as black as night, they are Africans - a terrible thing to be if you want the World to care about you.”

Wood continues, “What is more, the Dead, Dying and Displaced of Darfur are Muslims. I don’t know what is the worse thing to be in the current World order - African or Muslim. The people of Darfur have a terrible Double Whammy of an albatross round their necks.”

She writes about the “anxiety” being expressed by various people, countries and organisations over the genocide that is taking place before our eyes. Wood wonders: “And so the new anxiety. And how inadequate a word is ‘Anxiety’. But what word should we grasp and attempt to speak, to express the unthinkable?

"And is the new ‘anxiety’ because Hollywood liberal George Clooney spent 5 days with his father in Darfur in April, and in the last few days urged the US government to do something about 'the first Genocide of the 21st century'"

'Mshairi' - Mshairi (http://www.mshairi.com/blog/2006/09/17/suffer-the-little-children) posted a poem titled “Suffer The Little Children”. Here is a short excerpt:

Who will weep for me?
I died
Famished
Belly distended
Flies clustered
Over my face
Gunfire and screams
The last sounds
I heard

'Alexcia' - Alexcia (http://alexcia.blogspot.com/2006/09/global-day-for-darfur.html) tells us the meaning of Darfur – Land of the Fur. She writes:

“Death and Funeral announcement
Here lies eighty thousands souls
Names and identities – unknown
Passions and pains – unknown
Feelings and fears – unknown
Origin and nationality – Western Sudan Darfur region
Now buried in a mass grave known as Darfur Crisis
All died at home from a janjaweed epidemic
Two million others infected of unknown origin
Inadequate attention from United Nations is believe to have
Played a part in these deaths…”

'Sudanese Thinker' - Sudanese Thinker (http://www.sudanesethinker.com/2006/09/19/jews-stay-away-next-time-p/) reports on a counter demonstration held in Khartoum in which the Global Day for Darfur was labeled a “Jewish Conspiracy”. Demonstrators predictably opposed the deployment of troops in Darfur. Drima (Sudanese Thinker) also takes issue with the lack of protests against the genocide by the Muslim world.

“By the way were there any rallies in the Muslim world to protest the ruthless killing and suffering of “blackies” in Darfur? Okay fine, fine. I’ll stop being the cynical person I am. There were small tiny efforts in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Cairo. I’m starting to see the “light”. In 5 years time we’ll protest things like Darfur besides continuing our violent protests against the Pope. Great improvement huh?!”

'Black Looks' - black Looks (http://www.blacklooks.org/2006/09/global_day_for_darfur_.html) points to an article in African Action looking at some of the similarities between the response of the USA to Rwanda and their response to Darfur. In the case of Rwanda the focus was on Yugoslavia and in the case of Darfur…

“In Darfur at present, the U.S. is focused more urgently on the crisis in the Middle East, on the war in Iraq and on the so-called “War on Terrorism”, which are estimated to be more pressing policy priorities than genocide in Africa.”

'Passion of the Present' passion of the present (http://platform.blogs.com/passionofthepresent/2006/09/global_day_for__1…)has a roundup of the events across the globe to mark the Global day of Action for Darfur.

*Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, www.blacklooks.org

*Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

e-CIVICUS provides weekly news on civil society worldwide, news about CIVICUS and its members and provides links to useful electronic and print resources aimed at strengthening civil society worldwide.

Imagining Ourselves launched with a published anthology and an online exhibit on International Women's Day, March 8, 2006. The project received great acclaim and widespread media attention around the globe, from articles in Bombay's TimeOut Magazine to television coverage in Tijuana and numerous reports in the San Francisco media.

The first round of applications will be due on October 3, 2006. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Short-listed candidates will be notified in November and must submit a second application by January 5, 2007. The HRAP 2007 application form is now available. Those who have questions about the application process should contact Program staff at [email][email protected] or by phone at +1 212 854 3014.

In an attempt to educate the American public about the violence and oppression they charge is intrinsic in the diamond trade, the African People's Solidarity Committee is launching a national action campaign against the diamond industry with a series of demonstrations and actions targeting diamonds retailers in U.S. cities.

The Council on Foundations believes that extraordinary efforts deserve widespread recognition. Therefore, the Council is seeking nominations for grant-funded projects that have had a demonstrated impact on the common good. Civil society that can serve as models for others in philanthropy is encouraged to apply.

What do violence and non-violence mean in today’s world? What are the historical, legal, political perspectives on these concepts? In connection with the universally recognised “Non-Violence Day”, yearly festival of Gandhi Jayanti (2 October 1869 - Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday), and the National Day of India, ASSP (Associazione Studenti di Scienze Politiche) and The Group of Afro-Oriental Studies of the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Trieste invite you to discover the answer to these questions at the International Association of Political Science Stduents Annual Academic Conference 2006.

Every year some half a million women in the developing world die from complications related to pregnancy and child birth, and "it should be an international scandal" that the numbers have stayed that high over the last quarter of a century," columnist Nicholas D. Kristof writes after visiting a hospital in Yokadouma, Cameroon.

This UNESCO publication was released by the International Institute for Educational Planning and written by Susan D'Antoni. E-learning and the virtual university are examples of the use of information and communication technology (ICT) as a teaching and learning approach and an organizational structure. Both raise issues associated with the phenomenon of cross-border education.

Africa is the only continent where the number of desperately poor people continues to grow and social indicators keep worsening. But the continent is not poor. Tens of billions of dollars worth of oil, minerals and other natural resources are being taken out of Africa every year. In a cruel phenomenon known as the 'resource curse,' the countries richest in natural resources are often where corruption, human rights violations and destruction of the environment lead to further impoverishment and sometimes armed conflict.