| | Center of Innovation: Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding Weekly News Roundup, June 23 - 29, 2011 Media and Journalism Internet and Social Media What's New from PeaceMedia **Click here to subscribe to USIP's Science, Technology and Peacebuilding News Roundup.**
Media and Journalism Myanmar Warns Democracy Leader Suu Kyi that her Planned National Tour could Trigger Riots
Myanmar's state media warned pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday that her planned tour to meet supporters outside Yangon could trigger riots. The commentary published in all three state-run daily newspapers said the government would not stop Suu Kyi but appeared to reflect government anxiety over her plans. The state press serves as a mouthpiece for the government, which otherwise makes few public announcements.
See the full article (AP, 6/29/11)
[Return to top] Avoid Gaza Flotilla, Israel Warns Foreign Journalists
Israel threatened Sunday to bar for up to a decade any foreign journalist who boards a flotilla seeking to challenge an Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. Oren Helman, the director of the Government Press Office, sent a letter to registered foreign correspondents here asserting that the flotilla, scheduled to sail this week, was illegal and that participation in it, even as a reporter, was "liable to lead to participants being denied entry into the State of Israel for ten years, to the impoundment of their equipment and to additional sanctions."
See the full article (New York Times, Ethan Bronner, 6/26/11) *NYT sign-up may be required to view the full article
Click to read about USIP's upcoming event "The Peace and Violence of Judaism: From the Bible to Modern Zionism" on July 7 at 2:00pm.
[Return to top] Iran's Police Chief Criticizes Media Coverage of Rape Cases
Iran's chief of police has criticized the domestic media's "extensive coverage" of a recent spate of alleged rapes in the country, saying it would cause "a sense of insecurity in society," RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. In the past month, state media have reported extensively on three alleged cases of gang rape in the provinces.
See the full article (RFE/RL, 6/23/11)
[Return to top] 'Peacebuilding on Screen' Film Series Highlights Human Dignity, Compassion, and Courage in the Face of Conflict
It's an unlikely union: amid bullet holes and the bureaucracy of occupation, an Israeli Jewish woman and a Palestinian man fall in love. Their marriage, documented in "Love During Wartime," is part of a five-film series that highlights stories of human dignity, compassion, and courage in the face of conflict.
See the full article (Christian Science Monitor, Christa Case Bryant, 6/23/11)
[Return to top] Internet and Social Media 'Internet in a Suitcase' Hopes to Send Repressive Regimes Packing
It looks like a normal suitcase, but it's anything but. Inside you will find a laptop, a small wireless antenna, flash discs, and CDs. Together they can be used to set up a shadow Internet anywhere you like -- say, in a repressive country where the government shuts down communication avenues in times of crisis. The project is informally called "Internet in a Suitcase," and it is being developed by a team of experts at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan research group, with funding from the U.S. State Department.
See the full article (RFE/RL, Sascha Meinrath, 6/28/11)
[Return to top] Google Fears Web Crackdown after Arab Uprisings
Google chairman Eric Schmidt on Monday warned that the ongoing Arab uprisings could lead to an upsurge in internet censorship and an increased risk of arrest for colleagues working in restive nations. Speaking at the Summit Against Violent Extremism in Dublin, Schmidt claimed regimes were keen to clamp down on internet freedoms after the web was widely used by dissidents to organise anti-government movements in the Arab world.
See the full article (AFP, 6/27/11)
[Return to top] Regulating the Internet in a Multifaceted World
Last month, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France invited Internet company executives, digital policy makers and others to the French capital for a special meeting. This week, it is the turn of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to summon the digerati to Paris. Like Mr. Sarkozy, the O.E.C.D., which analyzes the economic policies of the 34 industrialized democracies that make up its membership, aims to highlight the growing importance of the Internet in driving innovation and economic growth.
See the full article (New York Times, Eric Pfanner, 6/26/11) *NYT sign-up may be required to view the full article
[Return to top] Dozens March for Freedom in Saudi Arabia, According to YouTube Video
Dozens of people wearing white shrouds have staged a peaceful march in the oil-producing region of eastern Saudi Arabia, demanding basic rights and the release of prisoners, according to a video posted on YouTube. The video recording showed about 30 men, many in Western clothes, marching with white shrouds that symbolize willingness to die as martyrs, in the mainly Shiite city of Qatif on Friday.
See the full article (Washington Post, 6/25/11)
[Return to top] Seized bin Laden Cellphone Provides Possible Link to Pakistani Spy Agency
A new report heightens suspicion that Osama bin Laden may have been protected on behalf of, or at least with the knowledge of, Pakistan's intelligence agency. The cellphone of bin Laden's courier, seized in the US raid on his Abbottabad compound last month, contained contacts for commanders in a militant group with close ties to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), The New York Times reported today.
See the full article (Christian Science Monitor, Ariel Zirulnick, 6/24/11)
[Return to top] Social Networking Encourages 'Silent Protests' in Belarus
They're called "silent demonstrations;" thousands of people clapping their hands during weekly protests in more than 30 cities across heavily policed Belarus. The applause is for themselves, for overcoming their fear of police beatings and arrest. The demonstrators have been organized by young activists in the former Soviet republic who've taken to Facebook and Twitter to bring thousands onto the streets to protest Lukashenka's mishandling of a serious economic crisis.
See the full article (RFE/RL, Gregory Feifer, 6/24/11)
[Return to top] Google Ideas Think Tank Gathering Former Extremists to Battle Radicalization
Technology giant Google, having conquered the Internet and the world around it, is taking on a new challenge: violent extremism. The company, through its eight-month-old think tank, Google Ideas, is paying for 80 former Muslim extremists, neo-Nazis, U.S. gang members and other former radicals to gather in Dublin this weekend to explore how technology can play a role in de-radicalization efforts around the globe.
See the full article (Washington Post, Allen McDuffee, 6/24/11)
[Return to top] Apple Removes 'Third Intifada' App
Technology giant Apple has removed a pro-Palestinian mobile application from its roster of hosted programmes after Israel complained it incited users to violence. The "Third Intifada" application essentially reproduced the content from a website of the same name - 3rdIntifada.com - which posts news and opinion articles about Israeli aggression and the Palestinian cause.
See the full article (Al Jazeera, 6/23/11)
[Return to top] What's New from PeaceMedia "Lost Generation in Swat Valley"
A New York Times video Produced by Adam B. Ellick on the Pakistani government's failures to rebuild any of the 159 fully destroyed schools that were bombed by the Taliban, and the resulting student outrage.
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