Micropanacea

From here on my couch, the situation in Iran seems a bit discouraging. A lot of people seemed to have hoped for a different outcome to the elections in a lot of ways and many are still fighting to have their voices heard. I have no good solution to resolving the political and ethical mess that seems to abound at present, but I'd like to recommend this video as a pretty amazing demonstration of the kind of humanity that simply can't hurt. You'll have to watch it all the way though to understand what I mean.

Two things converged to pique my interest on the recent Israeli/Gaza conflict. First, I attended a Chomsky lecture at MIT last week where the Professor explained that this was just another example of Israel's internationally criminal attempts to secure their heritage lands and induce by force and international pressure an end to Gaza's [also criminal, but proportionately far less so] rocket fire into Israel. Second, I received an email from Amnesty International urging me to forward the following email to my congressmen. (I sent a somewhat modified version instead.)

Amnesty's solution is outlined in the email below:

As your constituent and as a member of Amnesty International, I urge you to work to help end the violence and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Since the conflict began on December 27, 2008, over 1000 Palestinians have been killed, 398 of them women and children. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians have been killed. The latest violence is compounding an already dire humanitarian situation and the limited amount of supplies permitted to enter is inadequate for a population of 1.5 million people. According to John Ging, a senior UN official, one million people in Gaza were without electricity, with 750,000 lacking access to water.

To ameliorate this crisis, Amnesty International calls on Congress to press the Israeli government to increase the number of trucks allowed in with humanitarian aid, and calls on authorities on both sides to increase the duration of the humanitarian truce so that more supplies can enter. In a recent statement, Amnesty International expressed concern that humanitarian workers and medical staff were not safe to perform their jobs. Nineteen medical personnel have been killed since December 27th. Attacking civilians is a clear violation of international humanitarian law and Amnesty International has condemned both Israel’s disproportionate use of force in its attack on Gaza and rocket fire from armed Palestinian groups, including Hamas, into southern Israel. Amnesty International calls on authorities in Gaza to take immediate steps to cease the firing of missiles into southern Israel.

Congress should also request that Egypt allow for a greater number of wounded Palestinians from Gaza to enter for medical treatment. There are over 4,500 wounded Palestinians but because of a lack of medical supplies and the destruction of much of the medical infrastructure in Gaza, they must leave Gaza to seek medical treatment.

In addition, the US should suspend any transfers of weapons to Israel until a thorough investigation is completed certifying that no US weapons were used or are being used in the commission of human rights violations during these latest attacks on Gaza.

Thank you for your consideration for the above concerns.

Please share any thoughts you might have on how appropriate or effective these measure might be. (Oh, and I added the bold to that little bit about US weapons there at the end.)

A few months ago, I saw an article on the BBC regarding Afghanistan. The interviewer had asked several Afghani citizens about the state of their country and many of the responded not only with a report on the status quo, but with suggestions to improve their own future. Here is a quick sum up of what was mentioned:

1. Set up factories from which to make fruit juices from locally grown fruits. This would provide for a market for the fruit growers to sell their product and create additional jobs for the non-farming villagers. Jobs can also be very stabilizing for those who might otherwise be induced into violence.

2. Make serious efforts to improve irrigation (which were largely destroyed by Russia back in the day) so increased farming can resume in the highly fertile areas of the country.

3. Continue to increase access to global media to promote an increased world view and access to educational programs.

4. Encourage foreign forces to coordinate their operations with Afghan forces in a bigger way in order to avoid civilian casualties, and invite the Taleban to join a broad-based national government, negating the need for foreign troops in the country. This would entail declaring amnesty for all indigenous Taleban to draw them into mainstream politics.

5. Fight corruption by punishing corrupt officials and increasing the salaries of government workers to decrease the incentive to take bribes.

6. Give more aid money directly to the government rather than funneling it through NGOs. The government should then set up an independent commission, made up of honest, patriotic top officials, to receive the aid and allocate it.

7. Increase employment opportunities for women.

Feel free to comment on any of the points that interest you. I was most pleased to see the efforts being made by the people to come up with sustainable solutions to their own problems. My favorite idea was the juice factory - sustainable, and totally attainable. It would also answer a number of problems, including job shortage, food shortage, and need for a revived market. Having a such a specific goal can also be helpful for NGO's looking for the best place for their cash. Its small but could be very wide reaching.

If you want to see the whole article, its at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6763865.stm