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Issue 1November 2012

Dealing with the worlds biggest issues every month

Will they ever stop?

The Israel-Pales ne conict is the result of almost one century of disagreement between both countries. The Israel-Pales ne conict dates from the beginning of the twen eth century, although the actual war began approximately in 1936. Probably, youll ask why? Let me explain; since the end of the nineteenth century, many Arab countries of the O*oman Empire wanted to achieve independence and they had Britains support. However, Britain signed the Balfour declara on , in which they promised Zionist groups that they could create a Jewish state in Pales ne. A1erwards, the Jewish migra on to Pales ne was reaching really stunning levels, and Pales nians started to worry about it (here lies the main cause of the conict). Hence, the problems, the tensions and the terrorism increased massively and then, all hell broke loose. It is very important to take into account that there are huge socio-economic dierences between both countries and the hate between them causes many, many deaths. While the Pales nians make use of terrorism to defend their land and their ideology, the Jews tackle terrorism with harsh measures as they have much more money and new technologies, and for that reason they gained many more territories than they should have, during the six day war. Anyway, we should know both perspec ves to be able to understand the conict in depth. Although Zionism doesnt care at all about the conict, there are a lot of Jewish people let me say, the majoritywho are against the conict. Due to all the plain that Jewish people have suered since the nineteenth century with their expulsions from many European countries, the Zionists wanted (and currently want) to make a Jewish state and the displacement of many Pales nians due to the crea on of Israel in 1938 is the main reason for Pales nians and Arabs to be outraged, and that is why many conicts (also at an interna onal level!) crop up. On the other hand, we also must take into account that both countries have dierent religions, and both could be very extremist. May be it is just one of the millions of stereotypes that we have about other people, but we usually think that all Muslims are extremist and that all Jewish people have power and money, so these stereotypes also cause not just the tensions between Jews (mainly Zionists) and Muslims, but between the people who support one side or the other and many mes, western people determine their ideas about the conict without knowing it at all and just based on stereotypes. And, in my humble opinion, interna onal support could make the conict greater, (so it is very important to know), so you should look for some informa on because you should know about your world.

20 years since the beginning of the end

March 3rd wasnt a forgettable date in Bosnia. It was the day that marked the beginning of one of the bloodiest wars Europe has seen. Bosnia and Hercegovina would soon become a complex battlefield for several armies, a battlefield of racism, of rage, and above all, a battlefield of death. 20 years have gone by since that 3rd of March, yet noone has been able to fully extinguish its flames, fueled by a war that lasted for more than 3 years. In its background we find many causes: the fall of the Yugoslav Federation, the Independence of Slovenia and Croatia and the arrival of Western influences following the fall of the Soviet Union. But its not posible to talk about the Bosnian war without taking into consideration the different ethnicities that lived thereBosnian muslims, Croat catholics and Serbian orthodoxes. This multicultural situation had worked for decades, but in the end it exploded, destroying every chance of peace. The war had started, and so had the crimes. The threesided brought the xenophobia and the ethnic cleansing to an unknown peak. The weapons embargo meant the superiority of the Serbian army, led by Radovan Karadzic, whose snipers hit hard against civilians. With people receiving bullets out of nowhere, Sarajevo stopped being a safe city. The brutality of the situation made the internationa community react, although politicians were just playing to the gallery. Even when the United Nations and the NATO arrived there, crimes against Humanity were commited. In Srbrenica, a place considered to be part of the safe zone, eight thousand muslims were butchered by the army of the Serbian leader Radko Mladic. Meanwhile, the Western world wasnt worried, at all. In 1992, while hundreds of civilians where being killed in Sarajevo, Barcelona, less tan 2000 km away from there, was hosting the Olympic Games. An utterly absurd situation when we compare the geographical distance between Eastern and Western countries, and the huge gap that divides them. Understated by almost everybody in the beginning, it wasnt until the media started to show the truth behind the war that people woke up and realized that overwhelming events had been taking place while we just looked after ourselves. The war ended in 1995, with a coalition of Bosnians and Croats defeating Serbians and forcing them to reach an agreement. Hostilites stopped, and despite the situation of the country, mostly destroyed, and with more than one million refugees willing to return to their former home, a new country, Bosnia and Hercegovina, arose from the sharpness. 4 years had been too much for a civil war, and the only thing everybody wanted was a long-lasting peace. The country succeeded in its efforts to go on and surpass the difficulties, an example for the rest of the world. Although its a dark chapter of History, the Bosnian War will always be there to demonstrate how humans are capable of doing both the best and the worst.

their ded visits when No recommen ar untries are at w co

The case of the Ivory Coast

Would you like living in a country with warm temperatures every single month of the year, with wonderful beaches and lots of diamonds? Did I hear yes? Would you? Well, you probably would not, because the country we are talking about is the Ivory Coast, and it is embedded with wars and corruption. In fact. They had a Civil War just a few years ago, which I would suggest you to look at in the following paragraphs. the future of their country. But the citizens were not happy at all with this, and they organised a protest to throw them out of the government, which they achieved. Please, do not try to protest against your teachers, even if you do not like them. It will not work.

Laurent Gbabo was chosen as president in functions until the elections, but he did a bad The situation of the country was abso- thing: he rigged the elections by lutely enviable amidst the second part disqualifying 14 out of his 19 of the twentieth century. After gaining opponents and thus, blatantly, independence from France, President he won. But the people knew what had happened and they Felix Huphouet-Boigny ruled the country. There was no corruption, the were not going to let the new economy was outstanding and every- President get away with it. Therefore, they started another thing went well during that period. protest but it was not going to But then in 1990s, when Presidents be that easy, because the people started to be chosen democratically, from the south supported the the first governors started to be accused of acting on behalf of the south- fake President, and they started ern, catholic part of the country rather to fight. than the northern part, which was The war lasted for less than a populated by Muslims. Can you imag- year, the French troops created ine your teachers discriminating some sort of a buffer zone, but against you or your partners because what were the French troops of your religion? That is exactly what doing in there? Nobody knew they did. and then both parts started acAs a result of that, a military, totalitar- cusing France of being an ally ian government was established by some soldiers who wanted to change

of the others, and attacked the buffer zone. France got angry, because it had only gone there to help them to finish the war, and in consequence asked the United Nations to impose an embargo on the Ivory Coasts diamond exportations, which the UN did, and then forced both parts to sign a peace treaty. You might think that everything went well after that, but it didnt: they had lots of problems and it took seven years for them to be able to hold new lections, and they had another Civil War after that, which was won by the Muslims and their candidate, Alasanne Ouattara. As a conclusion, that is why you are not able to visit the Ivory Coast, but you can choose another country (without wars, if possible) and let your imagination fly.

Sudan is preparing for another Civil War Although many of you may have heard about the current riots in Sudan, you probably do not know the story behind them.
Sudan is a country with a high cultural diversity. For instance, it has eight principal languages, such as Arabic - with 20 million speakers in Sudan -, Beja or Ibessana. In addition, we find a country divided into a Muslim area in the North and a Southern area with many tribal groups such as the Jo Luo, Baggar or Nubian. When Great Britain colonised Sudan, it established a government in the Northern part, controlled by the Egyptians. Here starts the conflict. South Sudan wanted to gain more power and political representation, so riots started and the insurgents became more violent.

The first Sudanese Civil War - I bet you did not know It had more than one started with a first stage of guerrilla warfare where the Southern rebels attacked the government in the North. Then a rebel chief joined all of them together so they could have an organised army. This war lasted from 1955 until 1972, and the rebel chief was called Anyanya. But why did the war continue? In 1983 Gafar Nimeiry declared his intention as president of Sudan to create an Islamic state and to take the oil from

Sudanese civilians did not want another war and new elections were held; after some negotiations and government coalitions - with the new UMA party at the front-, the NIF, an extremist Islamic party got the power and killed more than 2 million civilians and rebels from the Southern part. Afterwards, the SPLA surrendered, and on the 9th of January 2005 they signed a peace treaty. Nevertheless, South Sudan remains bloodthirsty and currently they are recruiting a new army. The main problem Is that after nearly 50 years of civil war, 2 million people dead and 4 million refugees the Sudanese population does not want another war, as while the soldiers are killing each other, their people are struggling with famine, diseases and poverty. Should we let this ridiculous war take place? I believe that we must join our voices and make people aware of this terrible situation, Peace for Sudan!

Teenage concerns before thousands of deaths

Asma Al-Assad, wife of the current Syrian political leader of the government, thoughtlessly texts her friends joking about her lack of knowledge about choosing jewels.

A few days after the beginning of the governments repression of the street protests in Damascus and Daraa on the 25th March 2012, the first lady of Syrias text messages are revealed to the population of the world. Not only did she joke in a light hearted way -while the situation in her country was bursting at the seams-, but our tasteful Asma also rejoices at the opening of a new art gallery in London close to her apartment. The new paintings costing between 5.000 and 35.000 pounds- are very popular in the artistic world, so she bought ten of them to be sure of not missing this by the time she goes to the metropolis probably considering her people didnt had a special economical need in that moment though. Her people. These people we watch on TV, their deaths following one another. These people fighting in Free Syrian Army, trying to break free of the hold of a dictatorial government, leaded by a small elite which members come from a powerful sect: the alawites. A religious minority characterized by its beliefs, which are. lets say interesting... For example, they believe in the lack of spirit in women, and on that the Milky Way is made out of spirits of dead alawites.

However, the alawite presidents wife does worry about her country: lately, she made a publicity stunt for her land by representing it in an international badminton event: she arrived at the place with her shiny smile and a lovely T-shirt with the words Syria, land of heaven. Meanwhile, 30 thousands of people have died Died in a guerrilla rebel attack fighting for a freedom that their country has lost 600 years ago, died for being a dissident of Al-Assads regime by saying out loud the governments embers are involved in a sect, or died in their houses just for the guilt of being in the wrong place at the wrong moment Syria, a land of glory before, now a place of injustice. We dont want to live a nightmare like this. No one wants to. They dont want to. Shall we keep watching these clowns playing to the gallery or listen to our moral and ethical values? We are all responsible for our acts as much as they are.