MADRE strongly condemns Israel’s killing of at least 19 international
activists early this morning and the wounding of dozens of others
aboard the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla,” a convoy of ships attempting to
deliver urgently-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The Israeli
navy attacked the ships in international waters off the Gaza coast in
order to prevent the delivery of aid. The convoy was comprised of 700
people from over 50 countries, including the UK, Ireland, Algeria,
Kuwait, Greece and Turkey. Among the passengers were former US Amb.
Edward Peck and retired US Col. Ann Wright, Irish Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Mairead Maguire and former UN assistant Secretary General Denis
Halliday. Also on board were Members of Parliament from Ireland,
Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Malaysia and Palestinian Members of the Israeli
Knesset.
Today’s deadly attack is part of a pattern of Israeli
war crimes and other grave human rights abuses against civilians,
including a mounting crackdown on peaceful activists opposing Israel’s
siege of Gaza and occupation of the West Bank.
The international
community, including the Obama Administration, has refused to oppose
these abuses, giving Israel a green light to act with increasing
violence.
Demand an end to Israeli military violence:
Call the US State Department (+1 202-647-4000, x 1) and the US
Consulate in Jerusalem (+972 2 622 7230) and demand that the Obama
Administration fulfill its obligations to enforce international law and
provide protection for civilians.
Emergency Protests:
NEW
YORK: 3 pm Monday, Times Square. Assemble at 47th St. and 7th Ave. SAN
FRANCISCO: 1 pm Monday, rally (Powell and Market) CHICAGO: 4.30 pm
Tuesday, Israeli Consulate (111 E. Wacker Drive)
Today, we are wrapping up our campaign to send letters to
the editor to local newspapers across the US – and we can’t thank you enough
for the support that many of you have given to this effort. If you have not yet taken part, it’s not too late to make your submission, and
you can take action now by clicking below. Help more people hear Zarbobo’s story.
Please email us to let us know if your letter is published
in your local paper: media@madre.org.
Zarbobo's Story
For over fifteen years, Zarbobo had suffered beatings and abuse from her
husband. She had four children. He killed two of them. One he
threw into a fire pit. The other he left to die from an illness, refusing
to take him to the doctor.
She made her escape one day when her husband was not at home. She was
barefoot and had practically no clothing, but she knew she had to get
away.
She went to the police, who referred her to a shelter supported in part by
MADRE’s Afghan Women’s Survival Fund. Several days after her arrival, she
confessed that this was the first time in her life that she had enough to eat.
Unfortunately, we recently discovered that one of the racist caricatures, the character known as "El Negro Mama," has made a re-appearance on the popular TV comedy show from which he had been temporarily suspended. The other of the two characters, "La Paisana Jacinta," was never removed from the show in the first place.
As we mentioned in our previous blog entry on this topic, the TV station tried to argue that the popularity of the characters -- as demonstrated by the number of fans they have accumulated on Facebook -- justified their continued presence on the show. What's more, upon his return to the show, the actor who portrays "El Negro Mama" made sure to thank the fans on Facebook who had called for the character's return.
LUNDU has joined with a coalition of Peruvian social justice organizations in an anti-racist campaign to stand against these characters, and you can support their efforts.
Help us spread the word about this campaign and counter racist messages -- on Facebook and Twitter -- by updating your status with this message.
Copy and paste either of these messages into your Facebook status:
English: "Fight racism on TV & support Peruvian social justice
orgs - Take El Negro Mama & La Paisana Jacinta off the air. http://bit.ly/bLRvCs"
Español: ”Apúntate contra el racismo en la televisión y apoya
a organizaciónes de justicia social del Perú – Eliminar los personajes El
Negro Mama y La Paisana Jacinta. http://bit.ly/bLRvCs”
Make sure you are logged on to Twitter, and click on the links below to automatically update your status with this message.
We’re giving our readers another opportunity to join our
campaign to help Afghan women tell their stories. Below is the story of Bebe. In just a few clicks, you can send this story
to your local newspaper and bring more attention to this heart-rending story.
Please email us to let us know if your letter is published
in your local paper: media@madre.org.
Bebe's Story
Bebe was only 12 when her family forced her to marry a member of the
Taliban. The abuse started immediately. She was regularly beaten
and forced to sleep with the animals.
Finally, when she was 17, Bebe tried to escape, but her neighbors reported her
to the police. She was forcibly returned to her husband.
Days later, Bebe’s husband cut off her nose and both of her ears. This
was her punishment for running away.
She barely survived the attack. But after receiving treatment, she found a
safe haven at a women’s shelter supported in part by MADRE’s Afghan Women’s
Survival Fund.
(In the coming days,
we will be posting more information about how you can take action to support
Afro-Peruvian anti-racist efforts targeting media. The blog entry below
provides background information about the issue.)
We all know that the story of representations of people of
color on television is generally not a happy one. In countless examples, we are presented with
images that fail utterly to reflect our realities. What’s worse, these images actively advance
racist ideas that deny the humanity of the people they purport to represent.
Through our sister organization in Peru, LUNDU,
we have seized upon a staggering example of racism in media.
LUNDU is dedicated to promoting respect for Peru’s
populations of African descent and to combating racism and sexism. Recognizing the role of the media in propping
up racist ideas, last year they launched a major media monitoring and
anti-racist campaign. (Click here for a myMADRE
blog entry about one element of that campaign.)
Their
blog (in Spanish) reflects their efforts that mobilized over 5,000 people,
bringing together different Afro-Peruvian organizations as well as artists,
athletes, academics and more in support of the cause: to end the reproduction of racist and sexist stereotypes on television.
Those involved in this effort came up with a plan of action:
to push for an agreement from major media outlets to self-regulate the racists
images in their shows. In March 2010,
they made a presentation of their media research findings and put forward
proposals to work with universities to train media decision-makers in
alternative approaches.
Days later, this character re-appeared on a highly-rated
television comedy show:
The character “El Negro Mama” is not new to Peruvian
television. Since 1995, he has been a
popular character among the show’s audience. The actor who portrays him puts on black-face, adds false lips and a
wig, and puts on hairy gloves to create the character. The character is said to be a dim-witted
delinquent whose motto is “Seré negrito, pero tengo mi cerebrito.” (“I may be a
little blackie, but I have my little brainy.”) The same actor also plays another character on the same television
station called “La Paisana Jacinta,” an Indigenous woman who is shown as dirty
and ill-mannered.
LUNDU has joined with other Peruvian social justice organizations
to condemn these atrocious characters. They presented an official complaint to the television station,
Frecuencia Latina, and to national associations including the Society of Radio
and Television. In its defense,
Frecuencia Latina cited the popularity of the characters and the high ratings
of the program to argue that “El Negro Mama” and “La Paisana Jacinta” are not
racist.
If these characters became popular, it is because they cater
to racist ideas that persist in society. The fact that numerousFacebookpages
have cropped up to defend the characters and to attack the Afro-Peruvian
organizations does not demonstrate anything other than the strength of racist
ideas among TV audiences in Peru and around the world.
The television station Frecuencia Latina has decided to
suspend the “El Negro Mama” character, while “La Paisana Jacinta” remains on
the air. LUNDU continues to work with
Peruvian social justice organizations, including CHIRAPAQ
(an Indigenous Peoples’ rights organization and also a MADRE sister
organization) to demand that both characters be removed.
What’s more, they are calling for a legal framework that
denounces racist portrayals in media and for a renewed effort by Peruvian media
to end future racist language and depictions.
In the coming days, we
will be posting information about how you can take action in support of this
anti-racist effort.
We are continuing
our campaign to shine a spotlight on the stories of Afghan women. Today, we are highlighting the Shukria’s
story, and you can help us by sending a letter to your local newspaper. Click on the link at the bottom of her story
to take action.
Please email us to let us know if your letter is published
in your local paper: media@madre.org.
Shukria's Story
When Shukria was 13, her family forced her to leave school and marry an
older cousin who drank and gambled. He began abusing her immediately, often
beating her with metal rods. For years, Shukria tried to flee, but each time,
she was forced by her family and the police to return.
Finally, she managed to escape for good. She found a women’s shelter supported
in part by MADRE’s Afghan Women’s Survival Fund.
The shelter is housing Shukria and her two children, giving her the first peace
she has had in years and providing legal aid as she applies for a divorce.
We posted yesterday about the recent trip that Lisa Davis, an attorney working with MADRE, took to visit our sister organization in Haiti and to gather human rights testimonies. Click here to check out some photos from her trip. A few are included below.
Last week, we posted about our efforts to share the stories of Afghan women through letters to the editor. Thank you so much to everyone who has already taken part! Please email us to let us know if your letter is published in your local paper: media@madre.org.
If you haven't had a chance yet, we would still love for you to participate. Below is the story of Shabana -- click the link at the bottom to take action.
Shabana's Story
In the fall of 2008, Shabana was walking home
from school when she was kidnapped by a man from her neighborhood. She
was forced to marry him and subjected to his beatings for the next seven
months. One night, he choked her until she blacked out. She was almost
killed. The next day, she fled.
She appeared at the doorstep of a
shelter supported in part by MADRE’s Afghan Women’s Survival Fund. She
had nothing: no job, no money and no family support. But now she is
demanding a divorce and taking accelerated classes to finish high
school.
Lisa Davis, an attorney working with MADRE, traveled to Haiti last
week as part of a delegation of human rights attorneys with the Lawyers'
Earthquake Response Network (LERN), a project of the Institute for Justice &
Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), and met with MADRE's local partner
KOFAVIV. Lisa had the opportunity to speak with the organization’s
members and to see the organization in action when she visited one of
the camps in Port-au-Prince where KOFAVIV is working. She shared this
update below.
KOFAVIV is one of the
more critical on-the-ground organizations having a real impact in
Haiti. The organization is comprised of and led by women who are
themselves living in the camps for people displaced by the earthquake.
They are reaching out to other women every day to provide them with the
resources they need to survive and crucial social and psychological
support to make it through this terrible time. In particular, KOFAVIV
provides support to women who have been raped.
Meeting
Immediate Needs
When I was in Haiti, I was able to pass along
contributions from MADRE members to our partner organization, KOFAVIV.
The women from KOFAVIV worked quickly to distribute this support to
women in the camps in the form of much-needed supplies, buying directly
from local vendors (many of them also earthquake survivors who are just
getting back on their feet with very small businesses). KOFAVIV gave
1,100 women clean water, pots and pans for cooking, buckets for washing
clothes, soap and tampons.
You can’t overestimate the importance
of these day-to-day items: How do you feed your children without a pot
to cook in? How do you maintain your dignity without soap? There is a
need for systemic change for us to address broader human rights issues
in Haiti with our partners, and this long-term work is strengthened when
we can help meet people’s pressing immediate needs.
Creating
Community Space
The camps are so crowded that there's barely room
to walk between the tents. There's no space for people to gather or
meet, which breeds a feeling of isolation and despair and prevents
people from organizing. KOFAVIV recognized this problem and set up an
open-air tent where women can come together: to talk, to support each
other and to begin to rebuild the social networks that are so crucial to
recovering from the earthquake.
Providing Security
The
camps are dangerous places for women and girls: they are terribly
overcrowded, without safe housing, lighting or police. Worse, the social
networks that normally provide protection have been destroyed. Women
are raped in their tents, on the way to the bathroom and even in the
bathroom because there's no way to lock a door.
In response,
KOFAVIV organized a community watch system and trained a group of men to
escort women in the camps at night. They distributed whistles,
flashlights and cell phones to women and are teaching some basic
techniques to help prevent rape.
KOFAVIV has a long history of
providing rape survivors with direct support and services, and they are
continuing this work in the camps. They have over 1,000 members in the
camps, and women know that they can turn to KOFAVIV if they've been
raped. The women of KOFAVIV will bring them to the hospital and the
police station, they provide psychological and social support through a
powerful model of peer support groups and they are now working with
MADRE and LERN to seek justice for rape survivors. Women and girls with
KOFAVIV provided testimony that local and international human rights
attorneys will be able to use to address this ongoing abuse and
impunity.
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