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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 2 years ago

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The Unification Church and Its Japanese Victims: The Need for “Religious Literacy”

October 28, 2022

https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/d00845/

It is recommended to read the complete article at the above link.

Here are a few extracts:

The shooting death of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō last July raised new questions about the Unification Church’s links with Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, while reviving old concerns about its fund-raising practices. Religious scholar Sakurai Yoshihide offers insight into the growth of the Korean-based movement in Japan, where religious devotion is a rarity.

Sakurai Yoshihide Professor, Hokkaidō University. Conducts research on the sociology of religion with a focus on cults and new religions. Provides counseling services for students involved in cults and their parents. Author of An Introduction to Comparative Sociology of Religion, and other books and articles.

Read in other languages: 日本語 Français Español العربية

What Is the Unification Church? The Unification Church, officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, has come under sharp scrutiny in Japan since the man arrested in connection with the July shooting death of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō told investigators he was motivated by rancor against the UC and the belief that Abe had close ties to the movement. The incident ignited a firestorm over the organization’s allegedly fraudulent and coercive fund-raising methods, as well as its links with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The Unification Church was established by Sun Myung Moon in 1954 in Seoul.(*1) Loosely tied to Judeo-Christian tradition, it preaches that humankind fell from grace as a result of Eve’s fornication, and that Moon himself was the second Messiah, sent to purify humankind through his “blessing ceremonies” (see below). Controversy has long swirled around the religion, known for its mass weddings and high-pressure fund-raising activities, leading many to brand it a cult. Nonetheless, it boasts between 50,000 and 70,000 believers in Japan, according to Sakurai. That is more than twice the number of followers in South Korea and a huge chunk of the UC’s global membership, estimated at between 100,000 and 200,000.

In 1964, the Unification Church in Japan secured the legal status of a religious corporation, entitling it to preferential tax treatment. In 1968, it established a separate political arm, the anticommunist International Federation for Victory Over Communism. Experts say that the movement’s controversial ties with LDP politicians can be traced back to this anticommunist crusade. According to Sakurai, an ongoing behind-the-scenes campaign to influence government policy is a basic feature of the UC as a religious movement.

“They don’t do it out in the open,” Sakurai stresses, comparing the UC’s strategy with that of the Aum Shinrikyō cult responsible for the deadly 1995 sarin attacks on Tokyo’s subway system. “Aum Shinrikyō harbored delusions about taking political control of Japan. They believed they could attract more and more followers and eventually field candidates who would win elections. The Unification Church is more realistic. They know they couldn’t win with their own candidates, but by leveraging the power of bloc voting, they figure they can gain the ear of enough politicians to exert an influence over the country as a whole.”

The UC is also known for its lobbying and other political activities in the United States. The Washington Times, a conservative US newspaper, is owned by a UC-affiliated organization.

Japanese Attitudes Toward Religion ...

Searching for Community ...

Uproar over “Spiritual Sales”

Probably the biggest source of the movement’s notoriety in Japan is its fund-raising methods, particularly the “spiritual sales” (reikan shōhō) that caused a public furor in the 1980s. Members would go door-to-door offering Korean goods like ginseng and marble vessels, often using predatory sales tactics. Vulnerable people became convinced that their troubles were tied to generations of ancestors suffering in hell and were persuaded to buy exorbitantly priced goods (such as seals and urns) and services (such as divination and “ancestral counseling” that claimed to identify problems rooted in one’s family past) in order to reverse that karma. As a result of such practices, the UC was subject to numerous legal claims and was widely vilified in the press.

“From the late 1980s on, the Unification Church was obliged to modify its approach and recruit new members without revealing its true identity. It drew people in through services like palmistry and fortune telling—targeting middle-aged and older individuals as well as younger people—and then invited them to seminars and other events. It also shifted its fund-raising focus from ‘spiritual sales’ to extracting large donations from members.”

The mother of Yamagami Tetsuya, the shooter apprehended at the scene of former Prime Minister Abe’s assassination, apparently paid the UC a total of more than ¥100 million, including her husband’s life insurance. Yamagami claims her donations bankrupted and destroyed the family.

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The Need for Religious Literacy ...

What the Government Can Do ...

But isn’t religious proselytizing and fund raising protected by the Constitution, with its guarantee of freedom of religion?

“There are inherent limitations on religious liberty,” Sakurai insists. “You’re free to believe whatever you want. But you can’t infringe on others’ freedom in the process. It’s not permissible to conceal your true identity when recruiting followers or to deprive people of their power of independent judgment by fueling unfounded fears.”

But why the furor over lawmakers’ connections with the Unification Church? Although the Constitution states that “no religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State, nor exercise any political authority,” it does not ban the involvement of religious organizations in politics or elections. Sōka Gakkai (historically affiliated with the Kōmeitō party) is famous for mobilizing its followers at election time, and it is just one of many Japanese religious groups involved in politics.

“Where the Unification Church is concerned, the problem is that politicians concealed their ties with the group,” explains Sakurai. “To publicly reveal that they were getting organizational support from a group that continued to harm the public through fraudulent ‘spiritual sales’ and excessive donation demands would be tantamount to admitting that they placed their own interests over the good of the country and its people.”

How, then, should the authorities deal with the Unification Church now that the threat has come to light?

“The most realistic approach would be to seek an order of dissolution under article 81, paragraph 1, of the Religious Corporations Act. The government should set the process in motion by putting the issue to the Religious Corporation Council, which includes legal and religious scholars as well as representatives from religious groups, and releasing its conclusions to the public.”

Article 81 states that the Agency for Cultural Affairs, public prosecutors, or other competent authorities can request a court order revoking a corporation’s legal status “when the religious corporation commits an act which is clearly found to harm public welfare substantially.” The provision has been enforced only twice: in 1995, when Aum Shinrikyō was ordered dissolved, and in 2002, when the Myōkakuji temple group had its status revoked over fraudulent practices similar to the UC’s “spiritual sales.”

Up until recently, government officials have expressed doubts as to whether the procedure would apply to the UC, given that none of the organization’s officers have been arrested or charged in connection with any crime. But with public outrage mounting by the day, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio announced on October 17 that his government would launch an investigation under the Religious Corporations Act. This could open the way for a dissolution order.

“It’s a very simple and effective means of rectifying the relationship between religion and politics,” says Sakurai. “If the government requests a dissolution order, the organization has no choice but to release internal information if it wants to defend itself, and that means disclosure of the organization’s operations. But even without that, very few politicians are going to want to maintain ties with a group whose behavior led to a request for dissolution. Ordinary people will be more cautious as well, so there are major benefits to this process.”

That said, a dissolution order simply revokes a religious organization’s legal status; it does not guarantee an end to the group’s activities.

“Affiliated organizations, such as the Universal Peace Federation and the Women’s Federation for World Peace Japan, will continue to exist,” Sakurai acknowledges. “The movement will doubtless reorganize itself and continue its activities. There’s a limit to what legal regulation can accomplish. That’s why we need to foster religious literacy and give people the tools to defend themselves.”

Originally written in Japanese by Kimie Itakura of Nippon.com.

(*1) At the time of its founding, the organization’s official name was the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. In the 1990s, beset with legal challenges, the movement sought to rebrand itself as the Federation for Family Unity. In Japan, it succeeded in having its official name changed in 2015. There are also numerous business, civic, and nongovernmental organizations affiliated with the Unification Church.—Ed.

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Many Japanese women in Korea divorced and returned to Japan with their children in a state of deep dismay

Why did a Japanese Moon church member kill her Korean husband?

Suicide of Japanese ‘Moon money mule’ in Uruguay. Mother of three children

Japanese woman recruited by the Moon church and sold to a Korean farmer

Moon church of Japan used members for profit, not religious purposes

#Sakurai Yoshihide #Unification Church #FFWPU #spiritual sales #Sun Myung Moon #Hak Ja Han #scam #exploitation

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 2 years ago

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“One legacy of the January–February campaign in Paris was the organizational foundation for a regional network. The basic unit of the movement of the unemployed was the Comité des Chômeurs (CdC) which organized the unemployed in the locality. These Comités usually operated in municipal or arrondissement constituencies demonstrating their intended role in municipal and electoral life. The Confédération Générale du Travail Unitaire launched the Comité Central des Comités des Chômeurs de la Région Parisienne (CCC) as the first regional body to coordinate the movement of the unemployed, and its first record dates from February 1931. Monceaux was its leading figure.

At a meeting on 4 April 1931 twenty-five delegates from various local Comités were present to designate a Commission Exécutive (CE) which was to assemble on a weekly basis and oversee the work of the CdCs. It is uncertain how often the Comité Central met, but there are police reports for 11 April, 21 April, 23 August, 6 November and 5 December 1931. Whilst the CE was initially a small body of ten to twenty-four persons, it had expanded to sixty members by November, then disappeared from view in 1932. The widest representation took place at regional congresses held under its aegis.

Three congresses, which hosted delegates from the CdCs of the Paris region, were held in the movement’s first year: on 23 April 1931, 25 July 1931 and 14 January 1932. By September 1931, a Regional Committee of the Unemployed (Comité Régional des Chômeurs, or CRC) had been established and, to further complicate the picture, the movement adopted the title the Union des Comités des Chômeurs de la Région Parisienne (UdC). In terms of decision-making, this organizational confusion masked Parti communiste français (PCF) control. Its members took leading positions on these bodies and at the newspaper, Le Cri des Chômeurs, which was established in May 1931. Chevalier, secretary of the CCC, and Mercier, Le Cri’s editor and treasurer, were both PCF members as were many of the key personnel in the other bodies and the CdCs. Their offices were lodged in the Confédération Générale du Travail Unitaire building at rue de la Grange-aux-Belles.

The PCF could exercise influence over these individuals and on the various bodies that constituted the movement. It could also resort to calling PCF faction meetings of unemployed members in order to win particular positions. For example, a faction meeting was called before the 12 November 1931 demonstration. PCF prerogatives continuously collided with the vicissitudes of unemployed activity. The communist leadership’s efforts to transcend these practical limits was at the source of the organizational complexity of the Parisian unemployed movement. This Byzantine structure generated not only highly personalized clashes but also conflict within and between institutions. To an extent, institutional duplication served the PCF in so far as it could find the line of least resistance to its directives, which could then be transmitted to the movement as a whole via larger or less politically certain bodies. Yet the movement often created countercurrents to PCF policy based on experience, greater realism, local conservatism or political differences. As a result, friction between these different bodies was frequently apparent.

In late November 1931 a police report detailed the conflict between the CCC and the UdC. The CCC was directly accountable to the PCF and attempted to discredit certain leaders of both the UdC and also the CRC; Thouron, secretary of the CRC (himself a PCF member), was a particular target. For its part the CRC wanted the movement to relocate its lodgings in the CGTU offices, an objective which put off some of the unemployed members. On 27 November 1931 a PCF faction meeting aired some of these differences. Lenoir argued for an unemployed congress on 15–17 December. This congress, he hoped, would replace the existing leadership with PCF loyalists because the movement of the unemployed should be part of the revolutionary struggle. Thouron, however, rejected subordination of the movement to the party on the grounds that it would only damage the former. Also, despite the party’s hostility to charity, most of the faction agreed on a ‘commission de secours aux chômeurs’ (commission for the relief of the unemployed).

The conflict between hardliners and Thouron came to a head at the next meeting of the Commission Exécutive on 8 December. Again Thouron clashed with CGTU officials. Thouron successfully opposed Perrot’s suggestion of Christmas demonstrations outside nightclubs patronized by the wealthy (which the PCF leadership strongly favoured). Again to the dismay of the CCC, a congress was postponed until January. Despite his successes, and perhaps calling his opponents’ bluff, Thouron threatened to resign from the leadership of the movement at the executive meeting of 28 November. When the UdC rejected the Christmas demonstrations, the PCF and CGTU forged ahead with the protests. According to the subsequent police report, few unemployed turned up and most of the several hundred demonstrators were communists. There were fifty-four arrests and any foreigners involved had their identity cards confiscated. “

- Matt Perry, “‘Unemployment Revolutionizes The Working Class: Le Cri des Chômeurs, French Communists and The Birth of the Movement of the Unemployed in France, 1931-1932,” French History, Vol. 16, No. 4, 2002. p. 447-449.

#paris #confédération générale du travail unitaire #parti communiste français #chomeurs #chomage #grande dépression #unemployment #unemployed association #unemployed organizing #communism #communist history #histoire de france #political rally #unemployed protest #the great depression #academic quote

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emploimaroc30 · 4 years ago

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Digimind recrute 4 Profils (Contrôleur de Gestion – Manager – Designer – Social Media)

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roidespd-blog · 6 years ago

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Chapter Eighteen : LE MARIAGE POUR TOUS

Part Two of the extensively-researched and exhausting journey through France and its Queer citizens through time. As we explored France’s Past with Queer History yesterday, Today is about that very special time of 2012–2013 with the passing of Same-Sex Marriage. Tomorrow, our present and future. In this article, we’ll explore how we came to same-sex marriage, the opposition, the climate of the time and how much of a cunt you are if you ever thought “yeah, now we have same sex marriage, we can chill”.

As most of you must know by now, Same-sex marriage has been legal in France since May 18, 2013. It became the thirteenth country worldwide to allow same-sex couples to marry (out of 28 as of 2019). Unfortunately, even in a country that promotes itself as gay-friendly, it wasn’t an easy fight. And here are the highlights.

With the implementation of the PACS in 1999, the country was somewhat at peace with LGBTQ+ rights. It didn’t last long though. On June 5, 2004, Mayor of Bègles and former Green Party Presidential Candidate Noël Mamère conducted a same-sex marriage ceremony for two men. The Minister of Justice later declared the union null and void. The case went up to the Court of Cassation and the European Court of Human Rights, to zero positive results and Mamère was suspended from his functions.

In 2006, as the PACS was getting more and more rights, a committee on the “Report of the Family and the Rights of Children” argued that marriage, adoption and medically assisted reproduction for same-sex couples were still out of the question.

Flashforward to 2011. While the government was no longer trying to give more rights to LGBTQ+ people (it should be noted that only the L and G were in the public’s mind. Maybe a little L but with even less consideration), LGBT organizations decided to go the Constitutional Council and ask a review of same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. The demand was rejected and the question was send to the Parliament. On June 14th, the Assembly voted 293–222 NO to same-sex marriage. Socialists deputies were “mostly” in favor of the law and just like that, as gay rights were a major player in the 1981 presidential election, the same happened with the 2012 legislative AND presidential campaigns.

2012 AND ITS PROMISES

Power-thirsty candidate François Hollande announced during his presidential campaign his support for same-sex marriage and adoption for same-sex couples. To be fair, Hollande was already a vocal supporter of those rights back in 2004, while his partner at the time, Ségolène Royal, was less into it. Queer people had their cheerleader and, no spoilers here, Hollande won the election on May 6th, 2012. With a absolute majority at the Assembly a few weeks later came a promise of a bill no later than spring of 2013. The first draft was submitted to Parliament on November 7, 2012. And that’s when…

BIGGOT’S SHIT HIT THE FAN

November 17th, 2012 saw the creation a collective called “La Manif’ Pour Tous” (or MPF) as a response to the new government’s plea for same-sex marriage. Made mostly of faith-based associations (37 to be exact), it was founded by Frigide Barjot, Ludivine de la Rochère and Albéric Dumont. Yep, if you feel the need to thank anyone for feeling like a piece of shit back in 2013, those three seem like the main recipients.

I was going to do a portrait of Frigide Bardot but on second thoughts, she’s so not worth it. The self-proclaimed “press manager of Jesus” also created the ‘Collectif de l’Humanité Durable” which campaigns against abortion and euthanasia rights. Her quotes are as intelligent as “Same-sex marriages are like weddings between animals” and she’s a ridiculous person.

So, back to MPF. Did you know that of those 37 organizations, Le Monde found out that 22 of them did not exist or were just “empty shells” associations ? Hmm. Funny, right ? Anyway, on November 17th, the first manifestation is organized. Around 70,000 people took to the street with slogans like “La Famille, Patrimoine de l’Humain”, “Un Papa, un Maman, on ne ment pas aux enfants” or “Le Gender, c’est pas mon Genre”. What a bunch of clever little Jesus Freaks.

A second manifestation is put together on January 13th, 2013. This time, sources talk to close to 340,000 people all around Paris. Marine LePen was there, all smiling and happy. CUNT. A month later, 700,000 signatures were on a petition sent to the Conseil Economique, Social et Environnemental (CESE). The demands of the Manif pour Tous were rejected by the Tribunal Administratif of Paris, which dimmed it invalid, the Cour d’Appel of Paris and finally the Conseil d’Etat.

Third manifestation on March 24th. 300,000 people attended while the Right Party (UMP) joined the march.

On the fourth manifestation on April 21st, only 45,000 people were present, showing a slowing down of the bigoted movement. The Manif Pour Tous was tearing itself apart from the inside, with Frigite Bardot becoming a too crazy-and-permanent presence in the media and a few important organizations leaving the show, like Printemps Français.

Did you know that the Manif pour Tous was still active and is now a political party ? More on that tomorrow.

Nothing about that was funny. More than dramatic, it was a scary time for Queer People as La Manif pour Tous instigated a new rule to the game of life.

THE RIGHT TO HATE

It became apparent in 2013 that parts of the country was liberating themselves from its political correctness that came with the Aids Epidemic et the arrival of the PACS. A report from May 2014 announced a 78% gain in homophobic slurs and attacks in 2013. In total, 3500 cases were reported to the police at some point during the year. A third of those cases were linked to the Manif pour Tous. The media saturation on the subject made it an everyday debate from Monday to Sunday, from the workplace to the dinner table. A Queer person was being attacked every two days, mostly in public places.

Quote from the report “victims consider that the exposure to aggressive rhetorics gave the attackers a sense of encouragement, a feeling of doing the right thing, and favorable impunity when it came to act”. Queer people were forced back in the closet in some way, as just holding your partner’s hand or kissing in public could land you in the hospital.

Example : A lesbian couple in Lyon cuddled on the subway. A young homophobe saw that, called them “disgusting lesbians, whores, sluts, bitches” and hit them both. Example : On April 7th, 2013, the very public bashing of Wildred de Brujin while he was walking with his boyfriend in the streets of Paris (see article “Queer Community vs Violence”). Example : I COULD DO THIS ALL DAY. I, myself, was punched in the face in my car while surrounded by a group of thugs who didn’t like the fact that two guys were in a car talking in their neighborhood. They asked us “What are you doing here?”. We’re talking, what does it look like ? They said “We don’t want people like you around here, fuck off”. What people ? People who talk ? My window was open just enough for one of them to put his fist in my face. I turned the engine on, open the door wild to push them away and ran away. My friend was living on that street and we had to wait at least half an hour before coming back and letting him go home. I was furious. I kept on driving, my hands were shaking. I stopped the car twice. The first time, to calm myself down as I was about to faint from anger. The second time, I leaned over to my friend — who was just a friend — and kissed him for a full minute, tongue and all, and said “At least now, we were attacked for a reason”.

Social Media was full of openly homophobic tweets and Facebook posts. Poetic phrases like “Beeeeeeeeeeurk dans mes amis sur Facebook y’a une gouine”, “#BrulonsLesPD”, “#LesGaysNeSontPasHumainsCar” or “#LaFranceSansGays”. And don’t think for one second that the anonymity of the internet was the main reason for those statements. They were, but it was so bad back then, you would still hear them out loud ON THE FUCKING STREET.

AND THEN IT HAPPENED

On February 2, 2013, The Assembly approved the first article of the bill, legalization of same-sex marriage, 249 to 97. Opponents then introduced more than 5,000 amendments to the bill in order to slow down its passage. By February 12, the bill as a whole won 329–229 and was sent to the Senate. Same story starting there starting April 4th. First article approved 179–157. By April 23rd, with minor amendments, the bill came on top with 331–225. François Hollande promulgated the bill, commonly known as “Loi Taubira” in reference to its main sponsor, as law on May 18th, 2013. The first same-sex marriage took place in Montpellier on May 29.

146 mayors challenged the law and refused to officiate marriages for same-sex couples. Just so you know, a refusal to implement is considered discrimination based on sexual orientation and is punishable with up to 5 years imprisonment and a 75,000 euros fine. Their cases were send to the European Court of Human Rights in vain, as their were dismissed in October 2018. As of 2018, 40,000 same-sex marriages have been celebrated in France, approximately 3.5% of all French marriages in the 5-year time frame.

THE FIGHT HAS JUST BEGUN. YOU KNOW THAT, RIGHT ?

We talked laws. We talked Homophobia. We talked Fear. I know want to share an impression of the Post-Mariage pour Tous situation that I’ve shared many times with friends, who mostly agree with me. It seemed that after the gigantic milestone was sealed and done, and the celebrations of the 2013 pride went according to plan, there was some sort of general drop of shoulders from Gays and Lesbians all around the country. The common attitude felt like an extension of the commonly heterosexual thought that now that we had marriage, we were all good and equal under the law. Well, absofuckinlutly not. While we have the right to marry and adopt as Queer couples, it didn’t come with IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) for lesbian couples or any types of surrogacy for same-sex couples. Also, Gay men are still discriminated by the Law by not being able to give blood unless we’re a year abstinent. And for fuck’s sake, what about Trans rights ? Don’t you care about your Trans brothers and sisters ? That’s a story for tomorrow. Just know, dear Queer who is totally satisfied by the current situation, now that you have what you want, isn’t time to focus on those who don’t ? Wouldn’t be fair for this year’s pride to be all about parts of the community who is still search for their right to exist ?

See you then.

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rbzpr · 8 years ago

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Jean-Baptiste « Anacharsis » Cloots (G.-R. Ikni)

Gnadenthal, 24 June 1755 - Paris, 24 March 1794

Born in Gnadenthal near Clèves in a family originally from the Netherlands which made its fortune in the East Indies trade. At the age of 21, he was in Paris. He argued with Bergier and frequented the philosophes ; he was a member of the Musée français where he rubbed elbows with Condorcet, Cournand and Garat. From 1789 onwards, he became, according to his own expression, one of the most ardent brochuriers. Cloots participated in the journées of October, frequented the Jacobins and the Cordeliers, was a member of the new lycée with Sieyès, Liancourt, Lavoisier and La Fayette. On the eve of the Fédération he appeared on 19 June 1790 at the head of a deputation of foreigners, calling for a festival which would not only be the one of the French, but of Humankind. He « defeudalised » and « dechristianised » himself, denounced the civil list, demanding the Republic very early, but he did not sign the petition of Champ du Mars. On 21 April 1792, the orator of Humankind rendered homage to the Legislative Assembly with his work, « La République universelle, ou Adresse aux tyrannicides ». Having been elected to the Convention by the department of the Oise (there, he benefitted from the support of Ch. de Vilette and of the farmers from Valois) where he had acquired biens nationaux for 450,000 livres. Being a member of the diplomatic committee, he became an ardent propagandist of the anti-feudal and anti-monarchist war of conquest, demanding the right of the strongest to bring his act of navigation to the Netherlands by means of his constitutional act. All while remaining away from the Montagne, he soon broke with the Girondins which he considered too timid, and whose project of associate republics he disapproved. For his part, he defended the federative Republic of individuals. Having resigned from the diplomatic committee, he developed the principles of the Republic of Humankind on 25 April 1793 and continued to defend the annexations. Politically, he became closer to the group surrounding Hébert. In the autumn of 1793, he was one of the most active artisans of the campaign of violent défanatisation. He prompted Gobel to abjure (16 Brumaire Year II / 6 November 1793) and presided over the Jacobins from 21 Brumaire to 10 Frimaire (11 to 30 November 1793). This triumph was short-lived, as Robespierre unmasked the windbags: « Instead of ceaselessly harassing us with vain declamations, you should strive to facilitate the execution of the popular laws … » Cloots was excluded from the Club on 22 Frimaire Year II (12 December 1793), and soon struck by the decree of the Convention which excluded citizens from its midst who had been born in foreign countries. Having been arrested in the night of 8 Nivôse Year II (28 December 1793), he defended the purity of his intentions. Added to the Cordelier group and compromised in the so-called military plot, he perished with Hébert and the group of foreigners on 4 Germinal Year II (24 March 1794).

The place of Cloots in the French Revolution is unique: at once through the ambiguity of his universalism, and his uncertain political approach which led him from La Fayette to the one of Barnave, then from Brissot to the proximity of Hébert. His theory appears ambiguous, as it indisputably expresses the universalism of natural law through the fraternal momentum of Humankind. But this fraternity is less related to the principles of the right than to a vague sympathy which, like a Newtonian force, connects all victims of monarchical and feudal despotism. Far from drawing all of its consequences from the principle of equality, Cloots reduced it to civil equality. He opposed the old sectors, the great proprietors who lived off rent, to the industrial men taken en bloc, thereby prefiguring Saint-Simon (A. Soboul). All while condemning the appropriation of land, he condemned ever form of agrarian reform which he assimilated to the agrarian law (cf. his favourite Latin reference to Fabius). Finally, his conception of the Nation also abandons fraternity in order to take roots in the territory of a mythical Gaul, destined to become the centre of the universal Republic. Cloots thereby decisively contributed to the formulation of the myth of natural borders, but also exceeded it, leaving behind a bourgeois conception that was strictly nationalist in order to anticipate the universal expansionism of dominant economical liberalism, justified by the illusion of development which had to generate global trade. The primary obstacles to this universal Republic were of a moral and political kind ; monarchical despotism would be annihilated by the war to the mansions, revealed religions and even deism would make way for the civic cult of Humankind, and finally, the federation of individuals would be expressed in a universal language, French.

At the same time, Cloots affirmed that the egotism of men was the driving force of their activity, which is why reason prevails over its instrumental form. Hence, it seems to me, stems a series of surprising affirmations of cynicism or naïveté. Thereby, the war should allow in his eyes to burst the abscess of speculation. On the other hand, the dream of the unification of Humankind did not affect the French colonies, whose independence would benefit the powers. What a strange conception of fraternity, which, while rejecting all forms of interior violence or of a new revolution (let us make the « serres chaudes of typography »), incessantly demands external advance and merrily justifies the September Massacres. Deep down, Cloots was a « Humean » who believed in the civilising virtue of the city and of trade, and which, while acknowledging that inequality would flourish, appealed to the patriotism of the rich (« mangez un million et soyez citoyen »). The rich, after all, is only the purveyor of the poor. The universal Republic would thus be « imperial », consumerist and meritocratic: The Republic of Equality (?) would be the one of the « best heads and best stomachs ». Cloots, who often was driven by nebulous visions, developed a muddled activity which badly concealed the cynicism of the affluent.

Source: Dictionnaire historique de la Révolution française (Albert Soboul)

#french revolution #frev #cloots #anacharsis cloots #translation

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ericfruits · 8 years ago

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Europe is trying to keep Russia from influencing its elections

IN AN influential article in 2013, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian general staff, described a new doctrine (often termed “hybrid warfare”) involving “information conflict” alongside diplomacy and military force to achieve geopolitical aims. To Americans, the Russian-sponsored hacking and distribution of fake news during last year’s presidential election were a shocking example of this strategy. Yet there is little new about it. The Kremlin has been using spooks and shills to sway Western politics since the days of the Soviet Union. The difference now is that the rise of social media and of populist politics, on both the right and the left, have provided new tools and allies to work with. With France and Germany facing elections this year, Europe expects to be the next target of what the KGB used to call “active measures”.

Russia has been trying to shape European politics for years, most visibly through old-fashioned propaganda. Two Kremlin-funded news organisations, Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, launched French and German versions in 2014 and 2015. These pump out gloom about Europe, cheer about Russia and boosterism for pro-Russian populist parties. They sometimes lie. RT whipped up false tales about a Russian-German teenager, “Lisa”, supposedly raped by migrants in Berlin, in the hope of provoking anger among Germans of Russian origin at Angela Merkel’s refugee policies. Other reports insinuate or exaggerate. Sputnik has stirred rumours about the sexuality of Emmanuel Macron, a pro-NATO, pro-European Union candidate for the French presidency. It broadcasts rallies by PEGIDA, an anti-Islam movement, live and without commentary; the pro-EU “Pulse of Europe” marches receive no such publicity.

On their own, RT and Sputnik have very limited reach in Europe. When their stories catch on, it is often because they are amplified online by networks of conspiracy-minded activists, Russian trolls and “botnets” (clusters of fake, automated social-media accounts). Ben Nimmo, an authority on online disinformation, says many of the Twitter accounts that most keenly share RT Français and Sputnik France stories are “almost certainly automated”, so frequent are their posts. Whether they are French or Russian is unclear. Testimonies by former employees tell of a “troll factory” in St Petersburg that churns out anti-Western stories, comments, “likes” and shareable media.

A graver level of political intervention involves cyber-spying. In 2015 Fancy Bear, a Russian cyber-espionage group, broke into computers at the Bundestag in Berlin. They went on to target America’s Democratic Party, releasing hacked e-mails that damaged Hillary Clinton, the most anti-Kremlin candidate in the presidential race. In France that candidate is Mr Macron, and recently his campaign has also suffered hacks. “They said it clearly comes from Russia,” says a staffer, recalling a debriefing with French intelligence services. Stefan Meister, a Russia expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations, reckons targets should expect any embarrassing files to appear on WikiLeaks, a whistleblowing website that likes to embarrass the enemies of Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president.

Other Russian measures involve old-fashioned ideological patronage. Last summer Vladimir Yakunin, an ally of Mr Putin, launched a pro-Russian think-tank in Berlin. Moscow supports Zem a Vek, a magazine that peddles conspiracy theories in Slovakia. The Kremlin-linked First Czech Russian Bank lent €9m ($9.5m) to the National Front of Marine Le Pen (pictured). Rumours of Russian cash for nationalist parties in Italy, Greece and Hungary are more tenuous. But Ms Le Pen, Matteo Salvini of Italy’s Northern League and Frauke Petry of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) have received profile-boosting invitations to Moscow. All are Eurosceptics who want to lift sanctions on Russia.

The Kremlin’s objectives are clear. In France it wants a congenial president—Ms Le Pen or François Fillon, the centre-right candidate. In Germany it wants Angela Merkel gone, a strong AfD in the Bundestag and a government led by the Social Democrats, who are traditionally friendlier to Moscow. Either outcome might help loosen European sanctions and boost Russian economic interests, such as the proposed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. They would also serve Mr Putin’s goal of sowing division in the EU and NATO.

“Active measures” are often ineffective. A recent claim promoted by Russian websites that Mrs Merkel had deliberately invited Islamic State into Germany got nowhere. Mr Macron brushed off the rumours about his private life. A Swedish version of Sputnik folded because of meagre interest. After the Lisa case, Germany made fighting disinformation a priority: on April 5th it published a draft law obliging publishers to nix such stories speedily.

Elsewhere, too, Europeans are pushing back. There is no evidence that Russians have hacked Western voting machines, but ballots in the Dutch election in March were hand-counted, just in case. In February authorities quickly smacked down fake allegations of rape by German soldiers in Lithuania. Le Monde, a French newspaper, and Germany’s Green Party are among several institutions to have launched fact-checking initiatives.

So Europeans should be wary, but not paranoid. Still, Americans have been fact-checking for longer than Europeans, and have hardly defeated fake news. If “information conflict” helps Russia-friendly candidates win elections, it will be because Europe’s bitter politics and anarchic media environment have prepared the ground.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "Shadow puppets"

http://ift.tt/2o6SzYE

#IFTTT #Feedly

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luxmagnafest · 5 years ago

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Sydanie • Mini Massive (Nomadic Massive) • Sarahmée

Lux Magna présente/presents:

☼ Sydanie (Toronto) ☼ Mini Massive [Nomadic Massive] (Montréal) ☼ Sarahmée (Montréal) 20h - 23h à la Sala Rossa, 12$ / 15$ [Tickets/Billets]

(English description below)

On vous offre le meilleur du rap multilingue local avec des artistes de Montréal et Toronto, qui vous présentent un rap non-linéaire, des performances explosives, mais aussi au son éclectique hors de la norme du rap conventionnel.

☼ Sydanie www.dontcallmesyd.net

Ne se limitant pas aux restrictions que n'importe quel genre musical peut imposer à sa créativité, Sydanie est une artiste qui crée un éventail diversifié de sons texturés et uniques, à base de synthétiseurs, transportant son quartier de South Side Jane avec elle partout où elle va. La nominée au Prix Polaris Long List 2019 a sortie deux projets, 999 et Stillwater, et travaille sans relâche sur son nouvel album, dont la sortie est prévue au cours de la nouvelle année.

☼ Mini Massive [Nomadic Massive] www.nomadicmassive.com

Mini Massive est une version réduite du band de Nomadic Massive (Tali Taliwah, Waahli aka Wyzah et Butta Beats), le groupe montréalais rappe et chante en anglais, en français, en créole, en espagnol et en arabe depuis plus de 15 ans. Collectif d’artistes assumés, la formation propose un Hip Hop ouvert sur le monde, qui combine savamment instrumentation live, samples et différents styles de flows. Incroyable machine de scène ayant connu une fascinante évolution depuis ses débuts, Nomadic Massive a su s’imposer en tant que groupe Canadien de premier ordre, cumulant les prestations aux quatre coins du monde, de Montréal, passant par l'Allemagne, la Louisiane et Los Angeles.

☼ Sarahmée www.sarahmee.com

Active depuis 2009, loin d’être une nouvelle venue sur la scène francophone, Sarahmée s’est démarquée en collaborant avec plusieurs artistes Québécois et Français au cours de sa carrière. Sarahmée a trouvé le bon équilibre entre ses influences Rap, Pop, et Afro-beats et possède ainsi sa propre signature musicale. En plus d’être l’une des égéries québécoises pour la dernière campagne publicitaire des cosmétiques Sephora au Canada, Sarahmée a été nomminé ‘’Révélation de l’Année’’ à l’ADISQ cette année.

www.luxmagna.ca Twitter / Instagram: @luxmagnafest

La Sala Rossa se situe au 2ème étage (il y a 38 marches au total). Les toilettes sont de genre neutre et ne sont pas accessibles aux fauteuils roulants. Nous disposons d'un Système d'Aide à l'Audition disponible sur les ondes FM 101.1. Toute personne désirant une assistance pour accéder à notre salle peut nous contacter. C'est avec plaisir que nous tenterons de répondre au mieux à ses besoins.

☼ Sydanie • Mini Massive (Nomadic Massive) • Sarahmée ☼ 8PM - 11PM at Sala Rossa

☼ Sydanie (Toronto) ☼ Mini Massive [Nomadic Massive] (Montréal) ☼ Sarahmée (Montréal)

8PM - 11PM at Sala Rossa

We're showcasing the best of local multilingual inclusive Rap with artists from Montreal and Toronto, offering a non-orthodoxe rap, explosive performances, as well as an eclectic and non-conventional sound.

☼ Sydanie www.dontcallmesyd.net

Not confined to the restrictions that any genre could impose on her creativity, Sydanie is an artist creating a diverse array of texturized and unique, synth-driven sounds, unapologetically carrying her neighbourhood of South side Jane with her everywhere she goes. The 2019 Long List Polaris Prize nominee has released two projects, 999 and stillwater and is steadily working towards her newest project electric circus set to be released in the new year.

☼ Mini Massive [Nomadic Massive] www.nomadicmassive.com

Mini Massive, a reduced version of Nomadic Massive's band (Tali Taliwah, Waahli aka Wyzah and Butta Beats). The Montreal group has been rapping and singing in English, French, Creole, Spanish and Arabic for over 15 years. A collective of committed artists offers Hip Hop sounds open to the world, which skillfully combines live instrumentation, samples and different flow styles. An incredible stage machine that has undergone a fascinating evolution since its inception, Nomadic Massive has established itself as a first-class Canadian band, performing all over the world, from Montreal to Germany, Louisiana and Los Angeles.

☼ Sarahmée www.sarahmee.com

Active since 2009, Sarahmée is far from being a newcomer to the French-rap scene, she has distinguished herself by collaborating with several Quebec and French artists over the course of her career. Sarahmée has found the right balance between her Rap, Pop, and Afro-beat influences and has her own musical signature. In addition to being one of the Quebec muses for the latest Sephora cosmetics advertising campaign in Canada, Sarahmée was nominated as "Revelation of the Year" at ADISQ this year.

www.luxmagna.ca Twitter / Instagram: @luxmagnafest

The Sala Rossa is located on the second floor (there are 38 steps total). There are gender neutral washrooms which are not wheelchair accessible. We have a Hearing Assistance System on the FM dial at 101.1 FM. Anyone needing assistance accessing our space can contact us as we are more than happy to try and accommodate people to the best of our ability.

#2020 #sydanie #nomadic massive #mini massive #sarahmée

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zealharris · 5 years ago

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Black Speculative Arts Movement: Embrace The Blackness

BSAM: An international collection of black speculative artists, academics, activists & futurists.

BSAM LA Sunday Sept 29th Leimart Park, Los Angeles 10am-10pm

Following the Fall Equinox, this Afrofuturist festival will celebrate our darkest time of the year as it seeks to calibrate & align all in attendance towards the powers of the Black Imagination. BSAM -- LA Embrace the Blackness

Schedule 10am-10:20am Welcoming Ceremony 10:25am-10:45am Screenings Doc Futurism 10:50am -11:25am Screening Pantheon & Departure 11:30pm -12:15pm Ghana & Arts 12:20pm - 12:45pm Character Creators 12:50pm -1:45pm Black Power & Politics 1:50pm -2:20pm Lunch 2:25pm-3:10pm The Magic of Cosplay 3:15pm- 4:10pm Seekr: Black Ai & Screenings 4:15- 5:10 Business of Imagination 5:15-6:20 Futurism Presentations 6:25-7:25 Gameplay AfroRitthims 7:30-8:25 Dinner 8:30 Dynamics of Dance Close

Black Power & Politics

This series of talks will explore the Black Imagination in policymaking, where creating paths to social justice requires disbelief to be suspended & fostering movements towards sustainable societies is furthered by speculative approaches capable of imagining better worlds.

Culver City Council member Daniel Lee

In 2018 he was elected in Culver City Council as its first African American Council Member and will soon be sworn as its first African American mayor. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of Southern California in 2000 and became deeply involved in activism. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 2002 and continued to serve in the California Air National Guard in the 261st Combat Communications Squadron. His Air Force Specialty Code was Satellite Wideband Telemetry and Space Systems. While enlisted, he earned an Air Force Achievement medal, a classification as a marksman. He finished his military career with an honorable discharge as a Staff Sergeant in 2008. In 2015, he earned a master’s degree in Social Welfare from UCLA where he focused on nonprofit management and systemic social change.

Senator Holly Mitchell

Thanks to Senator Mitchell it's now illegal to discriminate against natural hair in the state of California. She was named the first African American to chair the powerful Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee in December 2016. Less than two months later, a profile in The Los Angeles Times described Mitchell as “the Legislature’s moral compass.” Less than two months later, a profile in The Los Angeles Times described Mitchell as “the Legislature’s moral compass. She has led the charge to reform the criminal and juvenile justice systems, expand access to healthcare, early care and education, foster care, secure women’s reproductive health and end the trafficking of minors. She is a passionate defender of women’s rights and the environment. Mitchell previously headed California’s largest child and family development organization, Crystal Stairs, and worked for the Western Center for Law and Poverty. This gave her valuable insights in how to improve services to diverse communities whose needs were not being met.

Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager-Dove

Kamlager represents the 54th Assembly District encompassing Mid-City Los Angeles, the Crenshaw community, Baldwin Hills, Ladera Heights, Windsor Hills, all of Culver City, and parts of West LA.

Sydney was first exposed to politics while working with her grandmother to help Harold Washington become the first African American mayor of Chicago in 1983. In 1992 while studying at USC, the Los Angeles riots broke out. That motivated her to work at Rebuild LA, a nonprofit formed to help spur job creation efforts and restore the communities most affected by the riots.

Damien Goodman

Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit Crenshaw Subway Coalition and its successor organization the Citizens’ Campaign to Fix the Expo Rail Line. He seeks to empower stakeholder groups in the area of Crenshaw-Leimert Park-Hyde Park.

Futurists Presentations

An artistic & academic series that will establish, deconstruct and reestablish lenses through which to view & understand Afrofuturism — from an international collection of professors, performers & interventionists.

Dr. Valorie Thomas

Dr. Thomas is Professor of English and Africana Studies at Pomona College. Her presentation Vertigo @ Midnight: Claiming the Whirling Wisdom of Uncertainty engages intuition and the creative tension that lies between familiar binaries, like knowing and ignorance, in states of unknowing, in between, uncertainty, mystery and emptiness.

Dr. Pavithra Prasad

Hanuman of Wakanda a speculative journey through mythical continents, from submarine Lemuria and Drexicya to landlocked Wakanda told through a revisionist story of the monkey-god, Hanuman. Pavi Prasad is Assistant Professor of performance studies at California State University, Northridge. She is a writer, playwright, and performer whose work explores South Asian futurism and speculative nonfiction as decolonial practice.

ZiggZagg3rZ the Bastard

The alternative persona ZiggZaggerZ the Bastard evolved from a Black feminist reimagining of Edmund the Bastard from Shakespeare’s King Lear. ZiggZaggerZ is a transmedia artist, performance poet, and cosplayer. She is author and publisher of the ongoing zine series, The Bastard’s Manifesto, in which she critiques the history of illegitimacy in society as a vehicle of violence. She will be doing an dramatic reading of her manifestos.

Dr. tobias c van Veen

Dr. van Veen is Visiting Professor at Quest University. His performative talk Afrofuturism & Apocalypse discuses Afrofuturism as a potent counterimaginary to racial capitalism that recovers buried pasts and stolen legacies, setting the Black Imagination loose to dismantle white supremacy and its manufacture of global apocalypse.

Character Creators

Where do characters come from? This panel will evaluate the conception of identities & personalities, and discuss how darker skinned bodies have been and will be expressed through various mediums. This panel includes illustrators, comic writers, an animator, game character designer and a novelist.

Keithan

Keithan Jones is the founder and owner of KID comics, a comic book and multi-media publisher based in San Diego, California. The mantra and philosphy behind KID is, “The Kid In You Never Dies”, as a constant reminder that our childhood spirit is the core of who we really are no matter how old we get.

Jordan Jackson

Animator and Illustrator who has designed album covers, created animations for independent films and developed concept art for tv show pitches with studios like Titmouse and Cinemachef. His work depicts the reality of black women and people of color in the world of science fiction and fantasy.

Jervey Tervalon

Jervey Tervalon was born in New Orleans and raised in Los Angeles, and got his MFA in Creative Writing from UC Irvine. He is the author of six books. His most recent was “Monster’s Chef,” published by Amistad books

Taylor Christara Walden Walden is a free-handed artist that specializes in digital anime/semi-realism drawn and colored.

Aside from the drawing aspect of her craft, she loves to breathe life into her characters through the written word, spending countless hours coming up with personality traits, backgrounds, likes/dislikes, and a story to make the people she creates just as unique and wonderfully diverse as any real human being.

The Dynamics of Dance

So much of Black culture is rhythm and dance. This series of performances and demonstrations will embody Afrofuturism through movement.

Daunte Fyall

In his representation of the mission of DAANSEKOU ARTS COLLECTIVE, Daunté “KINGTAE” Fyall and his team of Exceptionally Talented Artists, work with inner city youth while also maintaining corporate, private, and group lessons. He believes his art to heal as he pairs it with the humility to share the value of this living tradition as to encourage people to experience their infinite potential.

Zari Leon

Zari Le’on is an artist and educator who challenges perceptions of either/or. A lone wolf in lineage, heritage and praxis, Zari’s work in liminal space bleeds into her performance, technique classes, scholarship and healing modalities. The late historian Hayden White, called Zari a “radical visionary,” an accurate description, as every mode of Zari’s work challenges existing notions of what “is.

Tanee Osbourne

Ten years after relocating to California and landing in Leimert Park, LA’s premiere cultural hub, you can now catch her playing djembe and dunduns for Debbie Allen Dance Academy, world fusion music duo Nsimbi Music and with DAANSEKOU Arts Collective.

Joseph Reynolds

Joseph Reynolds, is an interdisciplinary artist focused on: Creating his personal approach to movement, deepening his understanding of dance's social, educational, and performative potential, communicating his perspective as a queer black man of Caribbean descent. Formally trained as a Modern and Ballet dancer in college, Joseph expanded his training to include: Salsa, Afro-Cuban, House, Hip Hop, Afro-Brazilian, Dancehall, and Contemporary styles.

Art & Ghana

Zeal speaks and share photos of her recent trip to Accra, Ghana for the Chale Wote Street Art Festival. She is joined in conversation by Jamaal Hasef Tolbert (visual artist), Dominique Clayton (gallerist) and J. Malaika "Eagle Nebula" Beckford (word artist) and possibly others

Jamal Hassef

Artist Jamaal Hasef’s work introduces viewers to a world of critical issues often avoided by society. Exploring ideas of blackness globally, he illustrates his disciplined research with experimental images and video art.

Dominique Clayton

Dominique Clayton is an arts manager, arts writer, and founder of Dominique Gallery. Clayton currently manages the Director’s Office at The Broad and has previously worked with arts organizations and media companies including the Academy of Motion Pictures, ARRAY, Blavity, Brooklyn Museum, Black Entertainment Television, the Tribeca Film Institute.

Zeal Harris

Zeal Harris creates urban-vernacular visual stories. Her influences are highly eclectic and include; Southern Black folk art, Asian scroll paintings, Persian miniatures, Mexican ex-votos, and Afrofuturist literature. Currently, she is working on two series of artworks. One project, Pantheon of Akatas is about ancestral-mother-maroons on the brink of ethnogenesis while on a quest for promised land. Her other project I Be Livin’ Black Love will become a book. It consists of black-feminist themed illustrations of contemporary daily life. www.zealsart.com

The Magic of Cosplay

Cos+play: the act of dressing in costumes, playing to be a different character. Acting without a stage -- or is it more? Are costumes a physiological portal that unlock a player's consciousness to new dimensions of being? This panel unlocks the answers.

Chad Evett

Chad Edward Evett is a part-time sorcerer and renknown costume designer, replicator and creator. His costumes are featured in movies, magazines and television worldwide. He is the preferred designer to many cosplayers including ZiggZaggerZ the Bastard

Mizzie Star

Walden passions for creative and artistic expressions has driven her into cosplay where she can step outside of identity constraints and be whoever she wants to be in that moment with little to no limitations. She aims to fully embody that character with as much accuracy as possible.

ZiggZaggerZ

As part of efforts to stop oil fracking in Los Angeles, ZiggZaggerZ has transformed cosplay into cause-play, performing Gamora in public interventions at Culver City Hall. As a professional cosplayer, she debuted on The View with Whoopi Goldberg, performing as Frank Beddor’s Wonderland character Queen of Club, a Chad Evett design.

The Business of Imagination

Many of us daydream and have wild ideas, but statistically few of us take those ideas and turn them into products that people can buy. Hannibal Tabu, winner of the 2019 Cultural Trailblazer Award from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, brings three people with amazingly creative minds who developed their ideas into amazing creative gifts that have turned into professional success. Joel Anderson Thompson (showrunner for SyFy's Superstition, writer on SyFy’s Krypton), Nikkolas Smith (Dear White People, former Disney Imagineer) and Medusa (Grammy-winning actress and musician, winner of multiple awards and honors) will discuss their process on turning concepts into realities.

Nikkolas Smith After working as a Theme Park Designer at Walt Disney Imagineering for 11 years, he is now a Concept artist, Children's Books Author and Film Illustrator. He is the author/illustrator of the picture books The Golden Girls of Rio (nominated for an NAACP Image Award) and My Hair Is Poofy And That's Okay. He also creates activist art paintings and Hollywood movie posters (Black Panther, Beale Street, Southside With You, Dear White People, Stranger Fruit). He is a proud 2016 White House Innovators of Color fellow. As an illustrator of color, Nikkolas is focused on creating captivating art that can spark important conversations in today's world and inspire meaningful change.

Medusa is a Grammy winning musician and artist who is a Los Angeles legend. She has been seen on HBO and shared stages with Stevie Wonder, Macy Grey, George Clinton, Fishbone and more. As a motivational speaker she has spoken at UCLA and won professionally judged rap battles around the country.

Hannibal Tabu Hannibal Tabu is an author, DJ, poet, vocalist and professional awful person. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children and openly hopes half the world will commit suicide in his honor (the half that are jerks). You can find out more on his virtual clock tower at hannibaltabu.com.

Joel Anderson Thompson TV writer-producer and part-time Instructor at USC and UCLA-Extn. Joel departed medical school to attend NYU to receive an MFA in writing for film, theater and television. Before turning pro, Joel’s day jobs ranged from being a story analyst for Icon Pictures and others, to teaching in the Compton Public School System. His writing credits include House MD, Boomtown, Battlestar Galactica, Falling Skies, Co-Created and was showrunner for SyFy’s Superstition. Presently, Joel is Co-Executive Producer on Krypton.

Afro Rittims Gameplay

The Afrofuturist Podcast’s Ahmed Best, Dr. Lonny Brooks, co-game designer Eli Kosminsky and Fathomers invite you to attend a play-test Afro-Rithms from the Future" as it continues to develop. Afro-Rithms from the Future is a card-driven story-telling game where players take turns inhabiting different roles as they explore and create a Map of the Multiverse.

Ahmed Best Ahmed Best is a senior fellow at the Annenberg Innovation Lab at USC; host of the Afrofuturist Podcast; CEO of BISN Media; and a writer, director, producer, actor, musician, and futurist. A founding member of the acid jazz group the Jazzhole, in New York, he starred in the Broadway musical Stomp and as the first CGI lead character in a motion picture, as Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequel trilogy: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.

Eli Kosminsky

Eli Kosminsky is an educational game designer and developer from the Concord Consortium, a non-profit developing tools for STEM education. He is also one-half of Room and Board Games, a small board-game publisher that launched in 2017 on Kickstarter with Ursa Miner, a game about bears mining honey. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he spent several years at the MIT Education Arcade.

Lonny J. Avi Brooks

Lonny J. Avi Brooks is an associate professor of strategic communication and media studies at California State University, East Bay, where he has piloted the integration of futures thinking into the communication curriculum for the last 15 years. Brooks is co-executive producer and co-creator, with Ahmed Best, of the Afrofuturist Podcast; lead organizer and advisory board member for the Black Speculative Arts Movement (BSAM), in Oakland; and principal leader for BSAM Futures.

Screenings

Dr Philip Butler, Professor at Loyola Marymount University, presents Seekr: Black Ai

A collection of speculative documentaries aimed to capture the future of Indigenous and Afrofuturist films.

DNA

by Joseph Reynolds (Dynamics of Dance) Southern California is one of five Mediterranean regions on Earth. The idyllic mixture of landscape and habitat create a unique environment supporting a wide variety of life. This project answers the question: how do you create choreography inspired by the wildlife and terrain of Southern California?

Land of the Wolves

By Jordan Purnell Jackson (Character Creator) “Land of the Wolves” is the story of a young shaman, Anya, and her journey through a the Guarded Blood Forest. She must battle a vicious clan of Wolves in order to escape.

Don Amon

Don Amon is a Film Producer, Director, Writer and Visual Artist living and working in Los Angeles. He studied film and video at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and acquired his bachelors in fine arts. He has been a staff writer and content creator for companies such as Netflix, MTV, VH1, Lenovo, and Samsung. His work focuses on fusing themes of rock & roll and speculative fiction (sci-fi, horror, fantasy) in contemporary and dystopian societies. His visual art style is highly influenced by comic book, anime, and video game culture as seen through the lens of the black diaspora.

Pantheon

Pantheon is an afrofuturist visual poem about our inner deity. Filmed while Don was working in Lagos, Nigeria for one month. (By Don Amon )

Departure

An alien couple live their life as human beings to determine whether or not Earth is safe for the race. They are suddenly summoned back to their mothership. and must face a disgruntled special agent while battling their uncontrollable urges to stay on Earth. (By Don Amon )

BSAM LA Coordinators & Curators

ZiggZaggerZ & Ben Caldwell

Ben Caldwell

Arts educator and independent filmmaker Ben Caldwell grew up assisting his grandfather, who projected movies at a small theater in New Mexico. His passion for the visual arts lead him to study film at UCLA and reside in the neighborhood of Leimert Park, epicenter for the African American art scene in Los Angeles. After teaching film and video at Howard University in Washington, D.C. from 1981-84, Caldwell returned to Leimert Park and created an independent studio for video production and experimentation that became the KAOS Network, a community arts center that provides training on digital arts, media arts and multimedia. It remains the only organization of its kind in South Central Los Angeles that offers courses in video production, animation, website development, video teleconferencing, CD-ROM production and Internet exploration. Its legendary Project Blowed is a weekly open-mic workshop that gave birth to rappers and rap groups such as Aceyalone, Medusa, Busdriver, Freestyle Fellowship and Jurassic Five.

ZiggZaggerZ the Bastard

ZiggZaggerZ the Bastard is an alien imprisoned on this planet whose redemption lies only in converting humanity out of its harmful legacy. She is a transmedia artist, environmental activist, and cosplayer. She is author of the two-part zine The Bastard’s Manifesto (2018), in which she calls for the revolution of human identity through alien becoming, lived science fiction, and cosplay.

This email was sent to <<Email Address>> why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences ZiggZaggerZ · 11231 Stevens Ave · Culver City, CA 90230-5515 · USA

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onlinevideoproduction · 5 years ago

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Take One Action!: The Time of Forests

As part of the Take One Action! Film Festivals, we are hosting a screening of The Time of Forests by François-Xavier Drouet (2018, 1h43min).

Synopsis A living forest or a green desert? Tomorrow's landscape will be defined by the choices we make today.

As the symbol of authentic, wild nature, forests across Europe are undergoing an unprecedented phase of industrialisation. Changing forest management practices, intensive agricultural models and privatisation — supported by heavy mechanisation, monoculture, fertilisers and pesticides — are compounded by a loss of traditional know-how.

Through interviews with rangers, forestry commission officials, paper mill operators and land rights campaigners in France, The Time of Forests invites the viewer on a journey to the heart of industrial forestry — and its alternatives.

Play Trailer

About Take One Action! Established in 2008, Take One Action are an Edinburgh-based, independent charity founded by film lovers, cultural activists and globally concerned citizens who believe that shared cinematic experience can catalyse lasting change. Their annual programme of activities welcomes upwards of 5,000 audience members each year and includes a 12-day festival in Edinburgh & Glasgow, two weekend festivals in Aberdeen & Inverness, a network of local film clubs and a series of individual screenings, talks and training opportunities.

The Time of Forests (Dir. François-Xavier Drouet | 2018 | 1h43min) Tuesday, 24 September | 5:30pm In French with English subtitles £0 - £8 (sliding scale) | Tickets available here

Beyond the Screen (post-show discussion) Join us after the film for inspiring conversations and opportunities for effective, personal action, as we explore the changing face of Scotland's forests and the role of rewilding.

Institut français d'Ecosse Salle Emilienne Moreau-Evrard (first floor) West Parliament Square Edinburgh EH1 1RF

Access Details The Institut français d'Ecosse and the Salle Emilienne Moreau-Evrard are accessible with step-free access available at West Parliament Square and George IV Bridge.

Booking Tickets are available online and on the door. Take One Action ! operate a sliding scale (£0 - £8) so that customers may pay what they can.

IFE Membership and Discount Rates The Institut programmes many members-only events and offers discounted member rates at other events. Find out more about becoming a member of the Institut français d'Ecosse.

Image and logo: Production still from The Time of Forests, François-Xavier Drouet

from Institut Français Écosse http://www.ifecosse.org.uk/Take-One-Action-The-Time-of.html via IFTTT

#showreel media #media production company #business media specialists #media specialists company

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tropical-abstract · 5 years ago

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I. INTRODUCTION

Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment. From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale.

Reversing the impact of over a century of irresponsible human activity will require immediate and drastic action. According to the International Institute of Development Studies, traditional strategies and alliances are becoming ineffective against the current trends in global warming, thus it is crucial to begin thinking outside of the box and to adopt more innovative initiatives. A failure to take appropriate action today, will make it difficult and more costly to adapt to the consequences in the future.

It is against this background that I have opted to use my end of internship report as an opportunity to conduct research on the topic of climate diplomacy in New York. The message of this report is clear: combatting the impacts of global warming is a leading policy priority for both Switzerland and the State of New York. Thus, this is a topic that has the potential to serve as a bridge between the scientific, economic and civil society communities of both countries and further bilateral dialogue. But most of all, actively communicating about environmental issues, will allow the Consulate General of Switzerland to project a positive image of Switzerland.

This report is made up of two main sections. Firstly, I have highlighting climate action as valuable platform for cooperation and the exchange of good practices between the Switzerland and the United-States (New York). I have done so by analyzing both countries’ attitudes and policies relative to climate action. The following section takes a look at climate diplomacy in New York. I have examined how other diplomatic representation have communicated their country’s climate-related ambitions, and used this to devise a selection of projects ideas for the Swiss Consulate General. I have Indeed identified a number of opportunities to advance Switzerland’s climate change objectives within the consular district of New York, in accordance with the priorities of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE).

In all, I hope to provide the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York with the tools necessary to carry out an effective communications strategy on the topic of climate action, so that it may execute its mandate of projecting Switzerland as an innovative and environmentally active country.

II. CLIMATE ACTION: A COMMON PRIORITY FOR SWITZERLAND AND NEW YORK

Conferences 934: « Climate Change : One Planet, One Future »

Much like our Swiss Touch campaign, Conferences 934 is series of conferences – the title of which refers to the Consulate General’s address situated at 934 on Fifth Avenue – brings together, once a month, a French and an American figure with the objective of providing a double perspective on the major international issues. One of their biggest #Conferences934 events was a panel discussion the use of different approaches to find innovative solutions to global warming. Among the themes addressed was la nécessité de mettre en place un mécanisme de tarification du carbone (taxe ou système de plafonnement et d'échange) pour garantir que le gaz naturel ne constitue qu'un pont vers les énergies renouvelables, plutôt qu'un obstacle.

Their panelists included;

§ François Gave : Mission permanente de la France auprès des Nations Unies.

§ Remy Hemerick: Executive Director of SOS Sahel, a non-governmental organization which works to food security and nutrition of rural communities in countries in the Sahel region.

§ Dr Steven Cohen: Executive Director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and Professor at Columbia’s school of International and Public Affairs.

§ Arnaud Brohé: CEO of CO2logic Inc., an environmental consulting firm that help organizations and companies scale down their climate impact

See below how they promoted the event on their social media channels.

Voir ci-dessous comment les médias sociaux ont été utilisés pour communiquer sur l'événement :

Table Ronde « Open Digital Innovation for Environment: Taking up Together the Climate Challenge»

The French Consulate held a panel discussion during Climate Week NYC, an annual climate summit that runs in coordination with the UN General Assembly. This was an opportunity to take advantage of the high number of international leaders from business, government and civil society that come to New York to discuss global climate action. The panelists for this event included;

§ Ambassador Gerard Araud: Ambassadeur de France aux États-Unis.

§ Mounir Mahjoubi: Entrepreneur et homme politique français, ancien président du Conseil National du Numérique.

§ Brune Poirson: Secrétaire d'État auprès de la ministre de la Transition écologique et solidaire. Vice-présidente de l’Assemblée de l’ONU.

§ Miguel A. Gamiño Jr.: Head of Global Cities at Mastercard

§ Actors from the public and private sectors, NGOs and startups were also in attendance.

Voir ci-dessous comment les médias sociaux ont été utilisés pour communiquer sur l'événement :

1. Le Consulat General de l’Allemagne

Salon Interactive « Creating climate communities through chaos » en Collaboration avec Human Impacts Institute.

The German Consulate has opted to stray away from tradition panel discussions, and adopt more interactive and creative ways to communicate their climate diplomacy in New York. A notable partner that they have collaborated with is the Human Impacts Institute, an organization that creates and shares innovative approaches to tackling social and environmental issues. The result of this collaboration was a Human Impacts Salon that explored how communities can work together in innovative ways to take climate action. The event featured climate-inspired performances by several artists including the Arctic Cycle, a group that uses theatre to foster dialogue about our global climate crisis, create an empowering vision of the future, and inspire people to take action. The performances were followed by a conversation with special guests, including;

§ Meredith Block: Senior Environmental, social and corporate governance Analyst and Vice President, Rockefeller Capital Management.

§ Cindy Chung: Co-Chair NYC Zero Hour, a coalition of city students dedicated to combating climate change and furthering a sustainable future.

§ Farai Chideya: Program Officer, Creativity and Free Expression team at Ford Foundation.

§ Andrew Revkin: Strategic Adviser for Environmental and Science Journalism at the National Geographic Society.

§ Courtney St John: Director of Energy Desk at Climate Nexus, a strategic communications firm focused on climate change and clean energy issues.

Voir ci-dessous comment les médias sociaux ont été utilisés pour communiquer sur l'événement :

B. Proposition de Projet pour le Consulat Général de la Suisse

In this final section, I have identified a few project that I believe will allow the Swiss Consulate General de progresser agenda de la diplomatie public Suisse relatif au climat. I have drawn inspiration from the aforementioned projects and looked into climate themes that are currently of interest to the DFAE.

1. A collaboration with the Human Impacts Institute

The mission of the Human Impacts Institute is to foster sustainable human impacts on ecosystems through inspired engagement, leadership, collaboration, knowledge-building and creative expression. They work with organizations and companies to create and share unique programs to help target audiences personally connect to the most pressing environmental issues of our times, and give them the tools needed to take positive, long-term actions. What is unique about Human Impacts Institute is their ability to bring artists and scientist together for a common goal. The result is a creative, interactive and stimulating project based on sound scientific evidence. The Human Impacts Institute has collaborated with several diplomatic representation in New York to curate unique programs catered to their communications interests on climate.

The Human Impact Stories program

The Human Impact Stories program makes climate science and solutions fun and beautiful by telling the local, personal stories of people taking climate action in diverse ways. Through a combination of visual design, podcasts, and artistic installations, Human Impact Stories make the people behind climate action come to life. Using storytelling as a basis for connecting people with environmental challenges, while giving key information on how to take action. I invite you to visit their website to view and listen to the Human Impact Stories programs curated for the German and French Consulates: https://www.humanimpactsinstitute.org/human-impact-stories.

I would recommend collaborating with the Human Impacts Institute to develop a Human Impact Stories program catered to Switzerland’s priorities. Like the German Consulate, the Swiss Consulate could host its very own salon that would feature an interactive and stimulating experience, followed by a panel discussion.

§ Email: [email protected]

§ Telephone: +1 917 727 9761

2. Panel Discussion on Negative Emissions Technologies

A potential panel discussion topic that fits in perfectly with Switzerland’s environmental foreign policy interests is the use of technological Innovation to reverse climate change. Here I am referring to geoengineering techniques that reflect away sun rays and suck carbon from the atmosphere. Earlier this year, Switzerland submitted a resolution on “Geoengineering and its Governance” to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Franz Perrez, Swiss Ambassador for the Environment, told swissinfo.ch that “Some geo-engineering technologies could have global impacts. We therefore call for an international dialogue to better understand the risks and opportunities and to assess the need for a supervisory authority". Potential panelists for this event could include;

(1) Columbia University

§ Dr Steven Cohen: Executive Director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and Professor at Columbia’s school of International and Public Affairs.

§ Email: [email protected]

§ Telephone: (845) 359-2900

§ Peter Kelemen: Arthur D. Storke Professor & Vice Chair of Deptartement of Earth & Environmental Science. He wrote a report for the United States government which examines strategies for pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

§ Email: [email protected]

§ Telephone: (845) 365-8728

(2) Climeworks

A Swiss startup responsible for developing the world’s first commercial carbon removal technology. Their direct air capture plants remove CO2 from the atmosphere to supply to customers and to unlock a negative emissions future. (The New York Times: https://nyti.ms/2I5Kdix & House of Switzerland: https://bit.ly/2Vo49DA)

§ Email: [email protected]

§ Telephone: +41 (0)44 533 29 99

3. A Screening of ThuleTuvalu, a Documentary by Matthias Von Gunten

ThuleTuvalu est un documentaire du réalisateur suisse Matthias von Gunten sur les conséquences du réchauffement de la planète pour les habitants de Thule dans l'extrême nord du Groenland et de l'archipel de Tuvalu dans l'océan Pacifique. ThuleTuvalu a acquis une reconnaissance internationale importante depuis sa diffusion en 2014. Au fil des années, le documentaire a été projeté dans une vingtaine festivals de films internationaux, et s'est vue décerner plusieurs prix prestigieux. ThuleTuvalu est primé prix du "Meilleur film suisse" au Festival international du film " Visions du Réel ", ainsi que du prix "Coastal Culture Award" du Festival international du film océanique de San Francisco. Il a également été nominée pour deux Prix du cinéma suisse en 2015.

Résumé du film : « Deux pays, en marge de notre terre, font les gros titres à cause du changement climatique: Thulé au Groenland, parce que la glace y fond au fur et à mesure, et Tuvalu, parce que cette île du Pacifique est l’un des premiers pays à être menacé de disparition par l’élévation du niveau de la mer. Alors que, pour nous, le réchauffement de la planète n’a d’existence que dans les médias, il bouleverse complètement l’existence des habitants de Thulé et de Tuvalu. Le film montre comment ils doivent renoncer à leur mode de vie traditionnel pour affronter un avenir incertain. »

La bande d’annonce : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2e8jbzofFQ

I would recommend that the Consulate organize a screening of the documentary at the Swiss Residence, and if possible, to invite Matthias Von Gunten to New York to speak about his masterpiece. This project would be a great opportunity to show off a prominent Swiss artist to our American audience, and highlight Swiss people’s commitment to climate action.

§ Email: [email protected]

§ Telephone: +41 79 661 42 64

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hoshvilim · 6 years ago

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Clash of Worlds : Britain and Palestine Part 1

Clash of Worlds – This is a BBC Documentary focusing on the relationship between Britain and Palestine, the resulting foundation of the state of Israel, and the effects felt to this day. Although this video begins with the so-called betrayal of the Arabs by the British, the BBC is fair enough to list the historical battles between Christians and Muslims. Beginning in the Crusades the battles continued up to the Mahdi War in Sudan and the Muslim revolutionaries in India. Could Britain trust the Muslims? According to this series, many British statesmen certainly did not trust the Muslims.

youtube

In this post, and all the posts for the “Clash of Worlds” series, we have added background information to help you understand the terms in each Part of the series. Enjoy!

David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, seen as an opponent of war, was as surprised as almost everyone else by the outbreak of the First World War. A month after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria he made a speech saying that Britain’s relations with Germany were better than for many years. Lloyd became Prime Minister 1916–1922. Lloyd George wanted to make the destruction of Ottoman Empire a major British war aim, and two days after taking office told General Robertson that he wanted a major victory, preferably the capture of Jerusalem, to impress British public opinion. His objective was “Jerusalem before Christmas”.

David Lloyd George circa 1918

At the end of the Great War, he called for the liberation of the subject peoples of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi

Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi – الحسين بن علي الهاشمي‎, (1853/1854 – 4 June 1931) was the Hashemite Arab leader who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908–1916. Hussein declared himself ‘King of the Arab Countries’. Hussein’s pan-Arab aspirations were not accepted by the Allies. After proclaiming the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, he became the King of the Hejaz from 1916 to 1924. In 1925, the forces of Abdulaziz ibn Abdul Rahman Al Saud (Ibn Saud) captured the holy city of Mecca from Sharif Hussein, ending 700 years of Hashemite rule.

After World War I Hussein refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, in protest at the Balfour Declaration and the establishment of British and French mandates in Syria, Iraq, and Palestine.

Sayyid Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca, King of Hejaz

Hussein’s sons Faisal and Abdullah were made rulers of Iraq and Transjordan respectively in 1921.

Thomas Edward Lawrence – Clash of Worlds

T.E. Lawrence was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer.

Lawrence in 1919

Soon after the outbreak of war he volunteered for the British Army and was stationed in Egypt. In 1916, he was sent to Arabia on an intelligence mission and quickly became involved with the Arab Revolt, providing, along with other British officers, liaison to the Arab forces. Working closely with Emir Faisal, a leader of the revolt, he participated in and sometimes led military activities against the Ottoman armed forces, culminating in the capture of Damascus in October 1918.

Map presented by Lawrence to the Eastern Committee of the War Cabinet in November 1918

During the closing years of WWI Lawrence sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests – with mixed success. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between France and Britain contradicted the promises of independence that he had made to the Arabs and frustrated his work.

Edmund Allenby

Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, in the First World War, led the British Empire’s Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the conquest of Palestine.

The victorious General Allenby dismounted, enters Jerusalem on foot out of respect for the Holy City, 11 December 1917

Allenby dismounted and entered the city on foot through the Jaffa Gate, together with his officers, in deliberate contrast to the perceived arrogance of the Kaiser’s entry into Jerusalem on horseback in 1898 which was not well received by the local citizens. Allenby sent his Indian Muslim soldiers to guard Islamic religious sites, feeling that this was the best way of reaching out to the Muslim population of Jerusalem.

Drawing of Allenby from journal “The War” c. 1917

Allenby’s Proclamation of Martial Law

Allenby’s official proclamation of martial law following the fall of Jerusalem on 9 December 1917 read as follows:

To the Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Blessed and the People Dwelling in Its Vicinity: The defeat inflicted upon the Turks by the troops under my command has resulted in the occupation of your city by my forces. I, therefore, here now proclaim it to be under martial law, under which form of administration it will remain so long as military considerations make necessary. However, lest any of you be alarmed by reason of your experience at the hands of the enemy who has retired, I hereby inform you that it is my desire that every person pursue his lawful business without fear of interruption. Furthermore, since your city is regarded with affection by the adherents of three of the great religions of mankind and its soil has been consecrated by the prayers and pilgrimages of multitudes of devout people of these three religions for many centuries, therefore, do I make it known to you that every sacred building, monument, holy spot, shrine, traditional site, endowment, pious bequest, or customary place of prayer of whatsoever form of the three religions will be maintained and protected according to the existing customs and beliefs of those to whose faith they are sacred. Guardians have been established at Bethlehem and on Rachel’s Tomb. The tomb at Hebron has been placed under exclusive Moslem control. The hereditary custodians at the gates of the Holy Sepulchre have been requested to take up their accustomed duties in remembrance of the magnanimous act of the Caliph Omar, who protected that church.

Al-Karak – الكرك‎

Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II established a resident governor (mutasarif) of Ma’an Province in Al-Karak. One of the first governors, 1895, Hussein Helmy Bey Effendi, ruled with a garrison of 1,200 troops, in 3 regiments, mostly conscripts from West of the River Jordan and 200 Circassian cavalry. He disarmed the local population and also established a Military Hospital with a Jewish doctor.

Castle of Karak Photo: Berthold Werner

Following the San Remo conference, 1920, Great Britain was given a mandate to govern Karak. The newly appointed High Commissioner in Jerusalem, Herbert Samuel, sent several officials east of the River Jordan to create a local administration. In January 1921 Emir Abdullah Hussein arrived in Karak. At the Cairo conference, March 1921, Abdullah was recognised by the British as ruler of Emirate of Transjordan.

Israel – Palestine For Critical Thinkers: #6

Arab and Jewish Nationalism were shaped by World War I. In order to achieve their goals of statehood, both Arab and Jewish people looked to the British for support. However, controversy was not far away, as these alliances would come to overlap when the British pledged land to both groups, creating a conflict for years to come.

WW I and Israel-Palestine

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6,000 Years of Jewish history & legacy at a glance on a one-page infographic. The poster-chart combines different fields on a single timeline such as demography, literature, Jewish and World events, traditions, historical figures and more. Every entry on the timeline is a hot-spot that pops a balloon with an image, further reading and useful links (Wikipedia & more). In addition, you may freely download and print a high resolution version of the Odyeda Jewish Timeline in PDF format in white or parchment backgrounds.