“South of Hebron” and “Two Sentences.”
Two Poems
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Human Rights
Swiss Minarets: Only the Tip of the Iceberg
On November 29, a majority of the Swiss population decided to ban the construction of new minarets in their country. Many Muslim leaders and laypeople were “surprised” at the Swiss decision, viewing the decision as an aberration from Western ideals and voicing anti-Swiss criticisms in return. Turkish minister for EU Affairs and chief negotiator Egemen Bağış, for example, argued that Switzerland wouldn’t have taken this decision if it were an EU member. Yet the Swiss decision on minarets reflects a far deeper fear shared by thousands of people in Western Europe. Members of the Christian Democratic Union party in Germany, the Freedom Party in the Netherlands, and the Danish People’s Party have already applauded the decision.
Poets for Peace
Split This Rock offers the following poems for your vigils, demonstrations, and actions.
First Poem
The first poem at a reading
Should always shock and awe
It should be a love poem
Of overwhelming force
Maybe the mother
Of all poems
War reduces everything
To silence
Every soldier’s grave a place
Too loud for sleep
E. Ethelbert Miller
From D.C. Poets Against the War (Argonne House Press, 2004). Used with permission.
A Tale of Two Human Rights Awardees
The annual Robert F. Kennedy Award ceremony took place at the White House this year for the first time in its 28-year history. Also for the first time, the president of the United States was there to honor the awardees.
Postcard From…Tawang
The inhabitants of the remote frontier town of Tawang, in the Himalayan foothills in the northeastern Indian region bordering Chinese-administered Tibet, have lived under many flags. Anyone over the age of 62 can tell the stories of four different empires: British, Tibetan, Chinese, and Indian. During the 1962 war, Chinese troops briefly occupied what is today known as the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Today, India administers the area, though China hasn’t completely renounced its claims.
Obama Takes a Bow?
Critics of the Obama administration were delighted at the images from the president’s recent trip to Asia. There was the deep bow before Emperor Akihito. There was the group photo with the head of the Burmese junta. There was the deferential press conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Morocco: Endangered ‘Model’?
How should the United States relate to a solid ally whose human rights record is better than the norm in its region and better than its own record of 20 years ago — but is now heading in the wrong direction?
Obama: Visit Hiroshima
President Obama has talked a lot about ridding the world of nuclear weapons. He won a Nobel Peace prize largely on the strength of those words. Now, he needs to translate words into actions and vindicate the Nobel committee’s decision. When he goes to Japan this month, the president should make an unprecedented visit to Hiroshima.
Torture and the Bomb
When the United States adopted torture as a weapon in its “war on terror,” it was a turn to methods that shock the conscience, and when discovered, officials and their media surrogates went to great lengths to gain public acquiescence for their policies. It was not the first time the country betrayed its highest ideals, nor the first time U.S. citizens were led to deny that any betrayal had occurred. The United States had gone down the same road in 1945, when it used nuclear weapons to destroy two Japanese cities. One case involved the product of intensive scientific research, the other methods dating back hundreds of years, if not to prehistory. But in the way the U.S. government made and justified these fateful decisions, the two stories contain many disturbing parallels.
Turkmenistan: Still Waiting for the Second Step
Leading officials in Turkmenistan began a series of meetings this fall with leaders of democratic countries and international organizations, starting with the UN General Assembly in New York. After the death of the dictator and "president-for-life" Saparmurat Niyazov, the new leaders declared a commitment to fundamental change. But all they took was a few first steps before everyone declared Niyazov’s successor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, a reformer.