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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on February 26th, 2010 from: CPA <ipa@wmo.int> The first meeting of the High-Level Taskforce for climate services selected Jan Egeland of Norway and Mahmoud Abu-Zeid of Egypt as co-chairs. The High Level Taskforce of independent advisers, which the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Michel Jarraud, was requested by a decision of the World Climate Conference-3 to establish a Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), is meeting on 25-26 February, at the WMO Headquarters in Geneva. Please find attached the press release “High-Level Task Force for Climate Services Starts Work at WMO”. More information: www.wmo.int Best regards, Communications and Public Affairs ——————————- Jan Egeland is an excellent choice – we know him from the UN where he had many past involvements and we know for shure that he was one of those that when in Sudan on efforts regarding Darfur, was ready to look at climate change impact on the evolving atrocities. was the United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from June 2003 to December 2006 under UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He traveled extensively, drawing attention to humanitarian emergencies. In UN fashion – he was balanced out with a representative of the Arab world who has a background in water engineering – so at least there will be a link of climate change and growing water shortage in arid and semi-arid lands. Abu-Zeid is Egyptian Water Minister active on global water problems and has Saudi Arabian support. http://engineering.ucdavis.edu/pages/about/profiles/abu-zeid.html Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on January 4th, 2010 GLOBAL WARMING IGNITES BORDERS AS WELL By Manuel Manonelles, BARCELONA, (IPS) Posted by Other News January 3, 2009. Little by little, it is being confirmed that the melting of the polar ice caps, whether in Antarctica or the Arctic, is happening significantly faster than initially predicted. The consequences of this for peace, one of the main victims of climate change, are enormous. Glaciers and areas of high-altitude mountains that were previously considered zones of perpetual snow are now melting. A paradigmatic case is that of the alpine border between Switzerland and Italy where during a recent routine verification, certain sections of ice or perennial snow that had been on the map since 1861 were found to be missing. In this case, the two countries have enjoyed long periods of peaceful coexistence and are approaching the problem in a logical and cordial fashion, forming a commission to find a technical solution. However, the possible implications of cases like this in other geographical areas are very worrisome. The destabilising potential of a similar development on the India-Pakistan border would be enormous, particularly in the zone of Kashmir or the Siachen glacier, where more than 3000 soldiers of both countries have died since 1984. The same is true of the tense China-India border, or the deeply problematic border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which will grow increasingly porous with melting, contributing to a rise in destabilisation in what are already two of the most unstable countries on the earth. Another major effect of global warming is the gradual opening of major global shipping lanes in areas that had previously been impassable because of ice. The Northeast Passage along the north of Russia, used recently for the first time in history, shortens travel between the ports of China, Japan, and Korea and Hamburg, Rotterdam, and South Hampton by 4,000 kilometres. With the Northwest Passage along northern Canada, travel between the China and the ports of the eastern United States is similarly shortened. The opening of these new routes will completely change the dynamics of intercontinental trade and might render irrelevant places that until now were considered geostrategically essential, such as the Panama and the Suez Canal. This also explains, in part, the speed with which the European Union is processing the application for EU membership of bankrupt Iceland, which would place the body in the best possible position for future negotiations and territorial claims in the area with regard to future access to the “Arctic banquet”. It is important to note in this context that the majority of the global population lives in areas close to the sea, starting with megacities like Mumbai, London, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Buenos Aires, and densely-populated areas like the Ganges delta in Bangladesh, where rising sea levels are already wreaking havoc in the form of water pollution and related effects. Recent studies indicate the possibility of some 200 million new environmental refugees in coming years -refugees who would only increase the already considerable humanitarian pressures and tensions in these areas and exacerbate existing or latent conflict. —————- This and all “other news” issues edited by Roberto Savio can be found at http://www.other-net.info/index.php Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on December 8th, 2009 Siemens study says Scandinavian cities are cleanest Northern cool meets northern clean: The Scandinavian capitals come out best in a survey by German electrotechnical giant Siemens on Europe’s greenest conurbations. Top of the list is Copenhagen, where the biggest UN climate summit of all time is curently into its 2nd day, followed by squeaky-clean Stockholm and the Norwegian capital Oslo. Vienna and Amsterdam score high too. The analysis is based on the efforts of 30 European cities with a total population of 75 million people towards sustainable living and economic development in line with the so-called Green City Index. The Ukrainian capital Kiev – not renowned for its ecological correctness – comes bottom of the list of clean cities. When it comes to yearly C02 output per citizen, the Norwegians are tops. They churn out just 2.2 tonnes of C02 per head each year compared to a EU-average of 8.5 tonnes annually. The survey said most cities has drawn up a climate strategy and all faced challenges ahead. For instance the proportion of renewable energy used by the power utiities averaged out at 7 per cent – well under the 20 per cent which the EU hoeps to achieve by 2020. Martin Bensley, dpa Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on December 1st, 2009 www.SustainabiliTank,info suggests that the following is a great opportunity to tell President Obama that long-term jobs are created Bailing out unsustainable industries does not create new jobs, nor keeps old job, but rather insures that there will be unemployment in the future. We hope that after Copenhagen and Oslo, the President will be ripe for leading the attempt to make 21st Century sense with America. ————————- From:
On Thursday, President Obama is hosting a discussion at the White House to explore every possible avenue for job creation. Small business owners, CEOs, economists, financial experts, and nonprofit groups, as well as Americans who have felt the impact of this economic crisis firsthand, will be there to share ideas. But you don’t need to be here on Thursday to participate. You can join the discussion by organizing your own jobs forum with your family, friends, and co-workers — because these conversations can take place in living rooms and conference tables, not just arenas and convention centers. We’re looking for community leaders like you from all across the country to host discussions from now until December 13th. Your community jobs forum will be a source of insights and ideas that will inform the President’s approach to job creation. To get started, let us know you’re interested, and we’ll send you information that may help you organize a successful jobs forum in your community:
In the coming days, we’ll follow up with discussion questions and other materials to help make your event as productive as possible. We’re not able to offer an events center where anyone can find events already happening, so if you haven’t heard of one in your area, start your own and reach out to your network for participants. After the event, we’ll provide a simple online tool for you to submit job creation ideas and thoughts. Back here at the White House, we’ll compile your feedback and send it to the Oval Office for review. With all of us working together, we’ll get America working again. Get started organizing a jobs forum in your community today. Look forward to hearing from you, Valerie Valerie Jarrett
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 25th, 2009 Associated Press, November 24, 3009 from Washington – this is still unofficial: President Barack Obama will go to Copenhagen next month, a White House official said Wednesday, to participate in a long-anticipated, high-stakes global climate summit. Mr. Obama will attend the summit on Dec. 9 before heading to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, the official said. Mr. Obama’s attendance had been in question until now. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the formal announcement hasn’t been made. The conference had originally been intended to produce a new global climate-change treaty on limiting emissions of greenhouse gases that would replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. However, hopes for a legally binding agreement have dimmed lately, with leaders saying the summit is more likely to produce a template for future action to cut emissions blamed for global warming. While Mr. Obama himself tried to tamp down expectations during his eight-day trip to Asia earlier this month, he also called on world leaders to come to an agreement that has “immediate operational effect” and is not just a political declaration. Obama administration officials said earlier this week that the U.S. will present a target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions at the summit. The development came as the European Union urged the U.S. and China to deliver greenhouse-gas emissions targets at the summit, saying their delays were hindering global efforts to curb climate change. The administration has indicated that it would eventually come up with specific targets for quick reductions in pollution that causes global warming, as part of international negotiations. Those targets will soon be made public, officials said. ———– Now, on the eve of his speech in Oslo, before the Nobel Committee and the World, we hope that the US President will brand his personal credentials with a specially open – personal declaration – in matters of our need to adapt to the idea that there must be found a less energy intensive way for life in developed countries because of global climate change and the needed push for climate change science, technology and economics. Let us note that the meetings days with the Heads of State are usually at the end of the Conference – that is only December 16-17, 2009 – thus by coming to Copenhagen on the 9th, just before the Oslo speech on the 10th, we think can justify Mr. Obama not retuning for the days when the other Heads of State will be there in order to rearrange the shards left after the fact that no deal was sealed at the 2009 meeting. ——— NOW IT IS OFFICIAL – PLEASE SEE THE WASHINGTON POST ALERT: President Obama will travel to Copenhagen Dec. 9, a day before accepting the Nobel Peace Price in Oslo, to help launch a U.N.-sponsored global climate change summit, a White House official said. The president will meet with other world leaders gathered for the summit, which is scheduled for Dec. 7-18. Obama to attend climate talks in Copenhagen write Michael D. Shear and Juliet Eilperin on that alert: DOES THAT MEAN THAT OTHER HEADS OF STATE WILL CHANGE THEIR SCHEDULES ALSO – SO THEY WILL BE THERE AT THE START OF THE MEETINGS? It sounds rather that he decided to come for the kick-start and does not mind indeed if they come later to rearrange the shards as we said above. Oh Well – President Obama might come back if it looks like that something can be achieved there. Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 23rd, 2009 Norway is a shipping world power – so - despite all the positive elements in the country – the masters of shipping do not want to be told to improve their fleet. We know what we say because we were involved years ago in the effort to see the UN make some sort of recommendation to have oil tankers obligated to be built with double hulls and compartments, so that in the case of a spill, not all the oil from a mega-barrel size ocean going monster end up on the beaches, on the fish, and the birds. Brazil suggested the double hulls and compartments, Benin seconded, the G77 did not object in the UN Second Committee, but when it came to be added to the text – it was Norway that said NO! – and that was the end of it. Now we see the following analysis of a very similar situation – the cleaning up of health endangering emissions from the burning of bunker fuel by ships and emissions of sulfur compounds – and we see that some scientists will say that the goo spewed out from the chimney of the ships is good for us because it helped in rejecting some sun rays after creating clouds. Other scientists will even tell us that there is the possibility of geo-engineering rains – just ask the Chinese that a couple of weeks ago managed to see destruction from floods they produced in ways suggested by these folks. We wrote before, we love Norway but watch out when you step on their oil interests – that is when you find that they can be an OPEC auxiliary. ————– Curbs To Ship Pollution Would Stoke Global Warming, Study Says. reported by Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent, Reuters November 23, 2009 “So far shipping has caused a cooling effect that has slowed down global warming,” Jan Fuglestvedt, of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research Oslo (CICERO), told Reuters. But sulphur pollution from the fast-growing shipping industry also helps create clouds by providing tiny seeds around which droplets form. Clouds have a cooling effect since sunlight bounces off their white tops. The scientists argued against deliberate use of pollution from ships as part of possible schemes to shield the planet from sunlight, saying it was too risky and outweighed by the impact on human health. —————– CLIMATE COOLING “The available evidence suggests that ‘climate cooling’ by continued shipping emissions of sulphur dioxide would not be advisable,” they wrote. A clean-up of sulphur from ships will have a “double warming” effect — there will be more sunlight with less pollution and there will be ever more carbon dioxide, the non-toxic greenhouse gas emitted by burning fuel. Some scientists, such as Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen, have suggested dumping sulphur in the upper atmosphere to slow global warming, one of several proposals for deliberate “geoengineering” to alter the climate system. A U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen next month will consider new measures to penalize carbon dioxide emissions by both international shipping and aviation — both are outside the existing Kyoto Protocol for slowing emissions until 2012. Fuglestvedt’s study estimated that it would take roughly 70 years for shipping to become a net contributor to global warming if sulphur dioxide emissions were quickly cut by 90 percent and all other fuel-related emissions stayed at 2000 levels. The International Maritime Organization is seeking cuts in the sulphur content of bunker fuel to a maximum of 3.5 percent by 2012 and then to 0.5 percent by 2020. Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 8th, 2009
But Iceland’s governing coalition is divided over the EU application. The normally euro-sceptic Left Greens gave their okay to moving ahead with negotiations in order to join the government, but much of their membership has not reacted well to the decision and MPs are under pressure from local branches of the party. Some analysts are speculating that it could split the party in two, with the more environmentally minded wing of the party the more pro-EU. The centre left Social Democratic Alliance and their far-left coalition partners are also split over what attitude to take toward energy-intensive industries and a range of other policy issues. It is far from certain if the government were to fall that any new coalition would continue with the application process. On Friday, a poll carried out by the Research Center of Bifröst University for the TV channel Stöð Two found that 54 percent of Icelanders now oppose membership while only 29 percent are in favour, with 17 percent uncertain. The survey suggests that opposition to joining the bloc has hardened in the last few months, as a poll in August had EU supporters on 34.7 percent and opponents on 48.5 percent. In September, another poll put backers of accession on 32.7 percent and opponents on 50.2 percent. After the crash of Iceland’s three banks people are still very angry. They don’t know who they should be angry at, so the EU, seemingly, has turned into a sort of scapegoat. “There’s anger at everything foreign – the Brits, the Dutch, the IMF, the EU. They make no distinction,” said the Ambassador. “Another opinion says that with the banking collapse, there was a panic. a huge majority wanted to join the EU – now that is gone.” This opinion also says - “If we joined the EU, we would get maybe five MEPs, similar to Malta, and three votes in the Council of Ministers. Our voice just would not be heard there. Our interests would instantly be sidelined by the bigger countries.” Iceland’s main interest is in the fisheries, that provide it with one third of the foreign currency earnings, and the EU might not help in this area. Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 3rd, 2009 FIVE NEW SIGNATORIES TO A UN INITIATIVE TO TACKLE DEFORESTATION. Argentina, Cambodia, Ecuador, Nepal and Sri Lanka each asked to participate in the initiative, known as UN-REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries), adding to the initial nine member countries. The initiative targets deforestation and forest degradation as related activities such as agricultural expansion, the conversion of forests to pasture land, infrastructure development, destructive logging and fires account for almost 20 per cent of global emissions of greenhouse gases. In its first year of operations UN-REDD has approved more than $37 million in funding for the national anti-deforestation programmes of countries, including Panama, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Viet Nam. The programme says another 20 countries have voiced interest in joining. Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 13th, 2009 From Stockholm, October 13, 200930th Right Livelihood Awards: Wake-up calls to secure our common future.
The Honorary Award goes to DAVID SUZUKI (Canada) “for his lifetime advocacy of the socially responsible use of science, and for his ——– Three recipients receive cash awards of EUR 50,000 each: RENÉ NGONGO (Democratic Republic of Congo) is honoured “for his ALYN WARE (New Zealand) is recognised “for his effective and creative CATHERINE HAMLIN (Ethiopia) is awarded “for her fifty years dedicated —— Quote - The Right Livelihood Award Jury gave the following motivation for its choice of Laureates: ——- Founded in 1980 the Right Livelihood Awards are presented annually Jakob von Uexkull, a Swedish-German professional philatelist, sold 82 candidates from 46 countries were proposed for the Right
————————– and from Greenpeace: Greenpeace’s René Ngongo wins 2009 Right Livelihood Award: Alternative Nobel Prize for Congo forest protection. Amsterdam/Kinshasa, 13 October 2009 – Greenpeace Africa Political Advisor, René Ngongo has been awarded the 2009 Right Livelihood Award – commonly known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize” – for championing forest protection and social justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).(1). Ngongo, 48, founded the influential “Organisation Concertee des Ecologistes et Amis de la Nature” (OCEAN) in 1996 to give a voice and infrastructure to Congolese civil society in its fight against forest destruction. A University of Kisangani graduate, he is a renowned ecologist, environmentalist and human rights campaigner. Ngongo is an expert on the impacts of environmental destruction in the Congo Forest Basin. He has also worked extensively with forest communities informing them of their rights with respect to both forest protection and environmental conservation.
Born in Goma, eastern DRC, he lives in Kinshasa with his wife and four children, whom he sees as an inspiration for his work. Commenting on the award he said: “We need to protect the Congo Basin forests to ensure the livelihoods of future generations. Beyond that we also know that we need to save the forests to save the climate. The rich biodiversity our forests house might very well help us and our children adapt to a changing climate, which sadly is increasingly necessary. But, we will only manage to save the forests of the Congo Basin by working together locally, nationally and internationally – hopefully this award will help bring more attention to the issue.” Ngongo’s collaboration with Greenpeace began in 2004 and he has worked for the international environmental organisation since 2008. He was the obvious choice to oversee the opening of Greenpeace’s first office in Kinshasa. Since then Ngongo has continued to challenge government and international organisations to ensure transparency for on-going forest reforms. Presenting an open letter to the DRC Minister of Environment, Ngongo recently said on behalf of Greenpeace: “It is not too late to save the intact forests of the DRC and to support truly sustainable development models that benefit the Congolese people. But the time to act is now.”(2) The Congo Basin is home to the second largest rainforest in the world, after the Amazon. Welcoming the award, Greenpeace International Executive Director Gerd Leipold said: “While we hope President Obama turns his Nobel Peace Prize into real action for climate protection at this December’s United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen, it is people like Rene Ngongo who have already started the heavy lifting. People like René are the real climate leaders and it is good to know that at the very least one climate hero will be honored in Scandinavia this December.” The Right Livelihood Award will be presented in Stockholm, Sweden on December 2, 2009 three days prior to the start of the crucial United Nations Climate talks in Copenhagen. Deforestation is responsible for twenty percent of our annual greenhouse gas emissions – more than the global transport sector. Ngongo and the rest of Greenpeace ask that the international community agree at Copenhagen on a forest protection mechanism (3) that brings gross tropical deforestation to an end by 2015 and promotes local development based on alternatives to industrial logging. (4) CONTACTS: Dietlind Lerner, Forests-Climate Communications Manager, Amsterdam: Tel: +55 92 8115 8928 dietlind.lerner@greenpeace.org Fiona Musana, Communications Director, Greenpeace Africa Tel: +27 79 5129381 fmusana@greenpeace.org John Novis, Greenpeace International Head of Photography Tel. +44 7801 615 889 john.novis@int.greenpeace.org Michael Nagasaka, Greenpeace International Video Producer, Tel. +44 7533 625 409 michael.nagasaka@greenpeace.org Notes to Editors: 1. The Right Livelihood Award honours and supports those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today. The Right Livelihood Award, established in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull, is an award that is presented annually, usually on December 9, to honour those “working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today”. An international jury, invited by the five regular Right Livelihood Award board members, decides the awards in such fields as environmental protection, human rights, sustainable development, health, education and peace. The prize money is shared among the winners, usually numbering four, and is SEK2 million (US$310,000). http://www.rightlivelihood.org/ 2. For more information on the Open Letter to the DRC environment minister, please follow this link http://www.greenpeace.org/africa/news/forests-of-the-democratic-repu 3. For information about Greenpeace’s policy on saving forests to protect the climate go to: http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/greenpeace-policy-on-saving-fo-2.pdf 4. See also our recent briefing “Why logging will not save the climate” http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/why-logging-will-not-save-the.pdf For further information about Ngongo and the award please visit: www.rightlivelihood.org
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 12th, 2009 This Sunday, Columbus week-end, the TV programs were dominated by discussions over the US military proposal to enhance US military presence in Afghanistan. There was no time to talk about the Norwegians having honored President Obama with the Nobel Peace Award indeed in hope he will bring about peace in the world’s most serious conflict areas – this, knowingly, that at present the US President chairs two active military conflict councils – the withdrawal from the Iraq war for oil, and a possible too late enhancement of war in the AFPAK region that might please the Bush elements that withdrew early from Afghanistan in order to fight the Iraq war, but are happy now if successful in miring Obama in a Vietnam-kind war in Afghanistan. Richard Hass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, on the Farid Zakaria CNN program “GPS – Global Public Square” said clearly that the Afghan real-estate is of no importance to US security at this time, and that chasing the Al-Qaida in Afghanistan, while it has a home in Pakistan, will do nothing else then move it to other troubled spots in the world – and really there are quite a few such available spots in the Muslim world at this time. Former Republican Presidential candidate John McCain was all over the TV declaring that not strengthening the US involvement in Afghanistan will have “historic” consequences. McCain has not gotten it yet that the American people did not elect him President because they did not trust him – not the least because his choice for Vice President – his proposing Sarah Paley for that job formerly held by Cheney – both darlings of the US extreme right wing. Then, what did McCain achieve in his life beyond having been a prisoner in the Vietnam Hanoi Hilton thanks to the fact that his father was US head commander of the Pacific during the Vietnam war? Was being held in Hanoi Hilton not just one step worse than being non-present member of the National Guard in Texas of a G.W. Bush whose father was once US President? Are these military credentials? Now, again a Norwegian, decides to battle it out with an American at the UN for the honor to declare that the Afghan re-election of President Karzai was fraudulent. It was fraudulent – and both are right – and both point now at the UN as a place were truth has a very hard time of breaking through – but it does come out eventually. So why go to war in order to support a fraudulent head of State who does not even support the US effort but rather chairs over the enrichment of his cronies and nothing more? The UN? This is a body that will back the heads of State that show up at Ban Ki-moon’s doorsteps – and he will roll out the red carpet for them. So it started with the Karzai re-election fiasco that was used by some Americans as justification for continuing to help him – just because they are not ready to point the finger at a much more serious culprit – Pakistan. On TV, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, yesterday, looked totally unbelievable. While the US thinks Al-Qaeda, Pakistan continues to think India. If the US is not careful it will find itself as godfather of renewed India-Pakistan warfare that was avoided to-date because of the Indian decision that it is not worth for them to waste effort on the Pakistani nuisance. But some more attacks like last week’s bombing by Pakistani elements of the Indian embassy in Karzai’s Kabul, may force them to do what the US has not done yet – lash out against Pakistan. And don’t forget this year’s attacks in Mumbai (Bombay) with its anti-Semitic, anti-American elements, that originated in Pakistan and that was not yet acted upon by the Pakistan government. Washington was called to shame for the inaction of the Pakistani friends. This is no reason to increase involvement in Afghanistan – just because you do not have the will to act on Pakistan! If above is not clear – pleas read the attached AP report: ———— UN: ‘Widespread Fraud’ in Afghan Vote By HEIDI VOGT , AP KABUL (Oct. 11) — The top U.N. official in Afghanistan on Sunday acknowledged “widespread fraud” in the disputed presidential election and rejected allegations from a former deputy that he covered up cheating to smooth the path to victory for President Hamid Karzai. The remarks by Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide appeared designed to win back respect for both the troubled U.N. mission and the entire election process ahead of a ruling by investigators on whether fraud was extensive enough in the Aug. 20 balloting to require a runoff. Eide’s reputation was tarnished when his deputy Peter Galbraith alleged that the U.N. mission chief downplayed allegations of widespread ballot-stuffing by Karzai’s supporters. Galbraith, the top-ranking American in the U.N. mission, was fired Sept. 30 by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the widely publicized dispute. A U.N.-backed fraud panel is expected to decide this week whether to throw out enough votes to require a runoff between Karzai and his top challenger, Abdullah Abdullah. Doubts about the U.N.’s neutrality could throw the panel’s rulings into question. The Obama administration and its international partners had hoped the vote — the first presidential election run by Afghans — would restore legitimacy to a government plagued by weakness and corruption. Instead, widespread allegations of ballot-box stuffing have sullied Karzai’s reputation and Galbraith’s accusations threaten to undermine the credibility of the U.N. which helped organize the election. Photos From Afghanistan
APU.S. Marines with 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines take cover during a firefight with Taliban militants in Nawa district, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan on Friday. Photo From Afghanistan In a separate news conference, Karzai told reporters that “confusion” over election results had been “created by Western elements in our country.” He did not elaborate. During a press conference, Eide said Galbraith’s allegations were untrue in some cases and taken out of context in others. Eide was flanked by ambassadors from the United States, Britain and France in a show of international support for the U.N. mission and its embattled leader. Eide said he could “only say that there was widespread fraud” and that “any specific figure at this time would be pure speculation” until the recount is complete. Eide said Galbraith’s allegations against him have “affected the entire election process.” Final results have been delayed by more than a month as a U.N.-backed panel set up as a check on the Afghan-appointed election commission examines complaints and suspicious votes. Though preliminary tallies show Karzai winning with about 54 percent, enough Karzai ballots are suspect that the voiding of fraudulent votes could drop him below the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. Eide said he remains “committed to the process” and pointed to the ongoing fraud investigations as proof that systems set up to catch cheating are working. Last week, Galbraith said he was sticking by his allegations. He accused the United Nations of failing to exercise its responsibility to oversee the Afghan elections, adding that “the fraud that took place in Afghanistan was preventable.” Four U.N. staffers who worked under Galbraith have resigned over the dispute, U.N. spokesman Aleem Siddique said. Among other things, Galbraith complained that polling stations were allowed to open in areas that were insecure, raising the likelihood of fraud. Eide said military operations were launched in a bid to secure to open as many stations as possible. Eide said that closing such stations would have denied a large number of people the opportunity to vote and created “an important element of potential instability in the country.” Many polling stations believed affected by fraud were in areas of the Taliban-controlled south where turnout was low. Eide denied that he had told U.N. staffers not to pass on credible information about ballot-stuffing or low-to-nonexistent turnout. However, he said reports from second- or third-hand sources were not reported because they did not appear credible. “Some of these allegations are based on private conversations whilst he was a guest in my home for two months,” Eide said. “My view is that private discussions around the dinner table remain just that: private.” Eide said both he and the U.N. mission have suffered from the accusations, and that the charges have also “heightened the temperature” of discussions about elections, making it harder to convince people that the process will be fair. Once the election results become clear, President Barack Obama is expected to complete a review of Afghan strategy and decide whether to accept a recommendation by his top commander here, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, for up to 40,000 more troops. Among the options under review is a plan to maintain U.S. troop numbers at their current levels and shift the focus to missile strikes and special operations against al-Qaida leaders, including those sheltering in neighboring Pakistan. In the latest fighting, U.S. and Afghan forces stormed a mountainside compound in eastern Afghanistan before dawn Sunday and killed more than a dozen militants in a compound used by an al-Qaida figure, according to the U.S. military. Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report. ——————- And from October 12, 2009 official UN News no word that the UN punished Mr. Peter Galbraith for his whistle-blowing the truth:
“It is true that in a number of stations that opened in the south and south-east, there was significant fraud – but it’s not only there,” noted Mr. Eide, who added that “the extent of that fraud is now being determined.” In recent days, former Deputy Special Representative Peter Galbraith has accused Mr. Eide of favouring incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the run-up to and after the country’s 20 August election by allowing voting irregularities to occur. “I have spent all my time over the last weeks for one purpose – and that is to bring this election process forward. That’s been a difficult process, marred by so many problems, not least, as you know, by widespread fraud. So it’s not been easy and that has been my only focus,” Mr. Eide told a news conference in Kabul yesterday. “It is important to bring this country through this process and to continue this process of installing democracy in Afghanistan,” said the Special Representative. Mr. Eide – who was flanked at the news conference by the ambassadors of the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany and representatives of the European Union and NATO – refuted allegations made by his former deputy about the election process, including “ghost polling stations” and discrepancies in voter turnout. The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) is in the process of auditing suspicious ballot boxes and other complaints related to the elections. “I believe that the institutional framework we have created – whatever its weaknesses and those are weaknesses we recognize – I understand well that these institutions would, in the end, be able to remove fraudulent votes and honour valid votes,” said Mr. Eide. “We are now at a critical juncture,” he stated. “We have put very solid mechanisms in place to ensure that those steps are taken correctly, and that the result reflects the vote of the Afghan people. “And I do believe, therefore, firmly, that when the result is being certified it will be a result being made on a solid basis and that should be acceptable to the Afghan people.” Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 11th, 2009 The Nobel Prize Committee that dishes out the Nobel Peace Prizes, included Barak Obama in the list of candidates just only two weeks into the Obama Presidency of the United States – let us face it – JUST BECAUSE HE WAS NOT G.W. BUSH – this in full recognition that the whole world had just felt extreme relief by having celebrated “good riddance” of that US Presidency. Now, less then nine full months of the Obama Presidency, with the papers full with news that the US will attain a 1,4 trillion deficit this year, with Obama deep in the mud in his effort to extricate the US from the Iraq oil war, and being pulled deeper into the Vietnam-alike Afghanistan war that was set on the back burner by the Bush people in their attempt to take over the oil of Iraq, thus creating the present AfPak disaster, those Republicans that can see nothing wrong with imposing on the US and the world the dependence on oil interests, just foam and furry about the world’s celebrating Obama. Norway is a complicated State. It is an oil country, but it has a clear strata of pure humanists. They do not back a strong Europe as what they see as their national interest, but they love to see a strong US as they got their lesson in WWII that you must have a strong outside ally. A strong US is not the US of Abu Ghuraib or Guantanamo. They would rather see for the 21-st century a US of good education, racial calm, and national health care system. A US of high technology and science and that has vision and power to lead the world at a time that it becomes clear that global leadership is moving anyway away from the cross-Atlatic to the cross-Pacific. They hate the revival of monkey-trials and back sliding to middle ages that the US never had, but Europe knew so well. Rush Limbaugh found his European ally in Vaclav Klaus, and the Norwegians have no use for either – so they decided to give the prize to progressive America and hope that this will strengthen Obama in his efforts to change the America as it was left behind by the Cheney-Bush Washington DC forces. The Republican leadership is left to chose between honest US patriotism, or back-stabbing mindless infighting. ————————– Columnist Steele went on to rap both Obama and the Nobel committee, saying, “It is unfortunate that the president’s star power has out-shined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain – President Obama won’t be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action.” Steele’s harsh words fell at one end of the spectrum of Republican reaction Friday as party leaders and pundits navigated the tricky terrain of discussing an international honor for an American president. And, even some Democrats were left scratching their heads. Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves Friday to slam Obama’s “incompetence” and the Nobel committee’s bias.”I think the people who used to run the election board for Saddam Hussein’s government were hired by the Nobel committee here to tally the votes,” he said. Fred Thompson, the former Republican presidential candidate and current radio host, wrote on his Twitter feed, “I awoke 2 THE ONION headline Obama had won Nobel Peace prize by appeasing all dictators of world.” Bill Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, said, “I don’t mean to compare Barack Obama to Gorbachev, who was, whatever his faults, a truly historic and courageous figure. But let’s hope the parallel extends this far: that a year from now the Democrats suffer a major electoral repudiation.” Beyond media types and media seekers, elected Republican officials and potential candidates took a more muted, even positive, approach to the Nobel news. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a possible 2012 presidential candidate, said in a radio interview, “Regardless of the circumstances, anytime somebody wins a Nobel Prize I think an appropriate response is to say, ‘Congratulations’.” Mike Huckabee, another possible 2012 contender, counseled Republicans on his Web site, “There will be an outcry from those on the right who will say that Obama’s nomination, made two weeks into his presidency, is impossible to justify, but I think such an outcry will sound like right-wing whining. The better response is simply to allow those on the left to explain what he did in his first two weeks as president that merited such recognition.” Lou Zickar, editor of the moderate Republican Ripon Forum, said Republicans would have done themselves a favor by doing what the rest of America did: “scratch their heads and accept the award for what it is — an honor.” Zickar said Obama’s muted reaction showed his ability to find the right tone and “the complete inability of Republicans to do the same thing.” Of course, Republicans weren’t the only ones guilty of post-prize hyperbole. In response to Steele’s missive, the Democratic National Committee fired off a statement saying the GOP had “no boundaries, no shame,” and had “thrown its lot in with the terrorists — the Taliban and Hamas this morning — in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize.” In the meantime, the truly powerful Republicans in Washington took a different approach entirely. By the end of the day Friday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner had said nothing at all. Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 10th, 2009 I consider it a great honor, whenever in Israel, to dine on Friday night at that wandering table. In effect for years, whenever I am visiting Tel Aviv, I insist on traveling to Israel on Thursdays, so I start gathering inputs on Friday from the Lords of that table. That table is not round – but is made up by a set of tables arranged so that there is a hole in the middle. It has four sides and participants are given assigned seats. At the narrower side sits the Chairman – or discussion leader – Amikam Gurevitch whose 80th birthday we celebrated a month ago. On his right side, at the longer stretch, sit Uri Avnery and his wife Rachel, and on Amikam’s left side longer stretch, in the middle, sits David Shaham who is usually called to speak first and recount the news of the week and his interpretation. He has a perfect memory and nothing escapes his criticism. I mention only those three because of their steady roles. I will add only that whenever Professor Ada Yonath is in Israel, she sits on the long left side close to Amikam’s narrow side. Whenever I happen to be in Israel I get to sit at the narrow side opposite Amikam. Nine days ago, I was in Israel with my wife, and introduced her too to the table. Ada Yonath was not in town, but my wife already met her at Columbia University in New York, at a black tie event, when Ada got a scientific prize there a couple of years ago. Uri Avnery’s 80th birthday we celebrated several years ago, and we wrote much more about him previously. All that can be found on our website. Only addition – again something I just discovered last week, when visiting the Kreisky Foundation in Vienna – The Bruno Kreisky Forum For International Dialogue . I saw there Uri Avnery’s photo hanging on the wall and later got a copy of the 1994 KREISKY LECTURE that was given by Uri Avnery in the presence of the then Austrian Federal Kanzler Franz Vranitzky which I am looking forward to get autographed. The topic was very appropriate – “PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.” Back in 1978, right there in the house where the Foundation is now, at that time the private home of Kanzler Bruno Kreisky, Kreisky said to Avnery – “I have smoothed the way for Anwar El Sadat to Europe; that led to Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem. I would like now, as last task for the Middle East, to do the same for Yassir Arafat – to make him ‘Salon-Acceptable’ in Europe in order to make it to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Do you know a wise Palestinian with whom one could discuss this?” (above is my translation from German) Uri gave him the name of Issam Sartawi and arranged for the meeting that started the Arafat peace track. Eventually Sartawi was killed, but in the opening to Avnery’s lecture in 1994, Kanzler Vranitzky points at Bruno Kreisky friends Karl Kahane and Issam Sartawi, that made Kreisky’s involvement possible, as well as comments about later Shimon Peres, Boutros Boutros Ghali, and Jimmy Carter involvements. Seemingly the only non-complimentary comment was about the Egyptian UN Secretary-General. In so far as Uri Avnery himself, I strongly believe he himself is made of Nobel Peace Prize material. Further, as Professor Ada Yonath will be entitled to a certain number of guests she invites to the Stockholm December award-giving event, I hope that Uri Avnery will be one of her guests, and that Avnery will have the opportunity to meet President Obama and start a new Middle East dialogue in case this was not done already. That is as far as I am ready to digress in this posting. Now to the events of the last two days October 8-9, 2009, as recounted by Uri Avnery: ———— Uri Avnery 10.10.09
The Other Israel
YESTERDAY, OUR table celebrated with Ada Yonath.
This “table” just had its 50th anniversary. It started by accident in “California”, the Café established at the time by Abie Nathan, who later became famous as the Peace Pilot. Afterwards, we met for many years at the legendary Artists’ Café Cassith. Since that place was closed down – like many other Tel Aviv landmarks – the table wandered to several other places and became known as the “Cassith exiles’ table”. The “House of Lords” one newspaper nicknamed it.. The habitués of the table come from very different walks of life. There is a former director of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, several senior journalists, a linguist and Bible expert, a film producer, a professor of medicine, a psychiatrist, a town planner, an industrialist, a translator of literature, a radio program producer. And a scientist. The table is not political. But all its habitués tend, as it so happens, to lean towards the left. For years, Ada Yonath has been our candidate for the Nobel Prize. Nine years ago, she invited us to look at her historic discovery. As far as chemistry – or any other science, for that matter – is concerned, I am a total idiot. So I did not really understand what it is all about: the structure and function of the ribosome, one of the building blocks of life. Not by accident was this discovery made in Israel – Ada had a stroke of genius when she chose for her experiments a microbe found in the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, unique in the world. Throughout the years she has entertained us with amusing stories about the frequent scientific conferences she has attended all over the world, and also about the hair-raising intrigues at the very top of the scientific world. Some very senior scientists tried to expropriate her discovery for themselves. I learned that Ada’s discoveries are immensely significant, far more than many that have been crowned with the prize throughout the years. They concern the fundamentals of life and its creation and are as momentous as the unraveling of the human genome. They may open the door to completely new ways of healing diseases.
I RECOUNT all this not only in order to boast about the fact that Ada “belongs to us”, and not only in order to take part in Ada’s joy, but in order to point to a fact that is often forgotten in the debates about our wars and the occupation: that there is another Israel. This year there were three Israelis among the acknowledged contenders for the Nobel Prizes who made it to the finals: besides Ada Yonath there were also the physicist Yakir Aharonov and the writer Amos Oz. For a small country like Israel, that is an impressive feat
Ada Yonath is as Israeli as can be: a Sabra (native of the country), born in Jerusalem, who received all her education in Israeli schools. Her character traits are those considered typical for Israelis: a direct approach, simple manners, a hatred of formality, a readiness to laugh at oneself. There is not an ounce of arrogance or vanity, but an incredible power of persistence. A stranger who follows the daily news about Israel could not even guess at the existence of this Israel, the Israel Ada belongs to. This week, too, the news was dominated by the occupation, the brutality, the coarseness of the official Israel. The news about Ada’s prize was like an oasis in the desert. Almost all the other news on TV and radio and in the newspapers dealt with blood and riots. The battle for the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif), the clashes between the police and protesters in the Arab quarters of Jerusalem, side by side with ordinary criminal news about murders, drunken youngsters stabbing each other to death, an old man killing his sleeping wife with a hammer, a group of boys robbing and raping a middle-aged women in broad daylight. And over everything there still hovers the Goldstone report about crimes committed during the Gaza War, which the Israeli government almost succeeded in squashing, with the generous assistance of Mahmoud Abbas. THE SUBJECT dominating this week’s news was Jerusalem. Everything happened “suddenly”. Suddenly the flames broke out on the Temple Mount, after the month of Ramadan had passed relatively quietly. Suddenly the Islamic Movement in Israel called upon the Arab citizens to rush and save the al-Aqsa mosque. Suddenly, senior Islamic preachers all over the Muslim world urged the one and a half billion Muslims to rise to the defense of the holy shrines. (Nothing happened.) The police chief in Jerusalem has a ready explanation: the Muslims are “ungrateful”. To wit: we have “allowed them” to pray safely all through Ramadan, and that is how they repay us. This colonial arrogance infuriated the Arabs even more. According to the Israeli authorities, nothing has happened that could justify this “sudden” upheaval. Meaning: it is an Arab provocation, a vile effort to create a conflict out of nothing. But in Arab – and not only Arab – eyes it looks very different. For years now, the Arab community in Jerusalem has been under siege. Since Binyamin Netanyahu became Prime Minister, and since Nir Barkat became mayor of Jerusalem, the sense of siege increased many fold. Both men belong to the radical Right, and both are leading towards ethnic cleansing. This finds its foremost expression in the systematic building of Jewish neighborhoods in the heart of the Arab quarters in the annexed Eastern part of the city, which is supposed to become the capital of the Palestinian state and whose final status is still to be decided by negotiation. The execution is entrusted to a group of extreme Rightists called Ateret Cohanim (“the crown of priests”), financed by the American Bingo king Irwin Moskowitz. After winning a resounding victory in shaving Jebel Abu-Ghneim (“Har Homa”) and building a fortress-like settlement there, they are now establishing Jewish neighborhoods in the heart of Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Ras al-Amud and Abu Dis, not to mention the Muslim Quarter of the Old City itself. At the same time, they are trying to fill up the E1 area between Jerusalem and the giant settlement Ma’aleh Adumim. Seemingly, these are all sporadic actions, initiated by respect-hungry billionaires and power-drunk settlers. But that is an illusion: behind all this feverish activity there lurks a government plan with a well defined strategic goal. It is enough to look at a map in order to understand its purpose: to encircle the Arab quarters and cut them off from the West Bank. And beyond: to enlarge Jerusalem to the East up to the approaches of Jericho, thus cutting the West Bank into two, with the Northern part (Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm) cut off from the Southern part (Hebron, Bethlehem). And, of course: to make the life of the Arab inhabitants of Jerusalem impossible, until they “voluntarily” leave the “United City, Israel’s Capital in all Eternity”.
IN THIS strategy, a central role is played by the thing called “archeology”. For a hundred years, Jewish archeology has sought, in vain, to prove the existence of David’s kingdom, in order to establish once and for all our historic right to the city. Not a shred of evidence has been found to prove that King David ever existed, not to mention his huge empire stretching from Egypt to Hamath in Syria. There is no evidence for the Exodus from Egypt, the Conquest of Canaan, David and his son Solomon. On the contrary, there is no little evidence, especially in ancient Egyptian records, that seem to show that all this never happened. For this desperate search, archeological diggings took off the strata pertaining to the last 2000 years in the country’s life – the periods of the Byzantine empire, the Islamic conquest, the Mamelukes and the Ottomans. The search has a manifest political purpose, and most Israeli archeologists consider themselves soldiers in the service of the national struggle. The scandal that is taking place now at the foot of al-Aqsa is a part of this story. Something unprecedented is happening there: the digging in “David’s Town” (clearly a propaganda appellation) has been turned over to the same ultra-nationalist religious association, Ateret Cohanim, that is building the provocative Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem and around it. The Israeli government, quite officially, has entrusted this scientific task to a political group. Not just any political group, but an ultra-radical one. The digging itself is being conducted by archeologists who accept their authority. Israeli archeologists who care for the integrity of their profession (there still are some) protested this week that the digging is proceeding in a thoroughly unprofessional way: the work is done in an unscientific hurry, artifacts found are not examined properly and systematically, the sole aim is to uncover evidence as quickly as possible to support the Jewish claim to the Temple Mount. Many Arabs believe that the aim is even more sinister: to dig under the al-Aqsa mosque in order to bring about its collapse. These fears were reinforced by the disclosure in Haaretz this week, that the digging is undermining Arab houses and threatens to bring them down. Israeli spokesmen are upset. What vile slanders! Who can even imagine such things?! But it is no secret that in the eyes of many nationalist-religious fanatics, the very existence of the two mosques there – al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock – is an abomination. Years ago, members of a Jewish underground organization planned to blow up the Dome of the Rock, but were caught in time and sent to prison. Recently, a religious website wrote: ”Today there stands there an evil thing, a great witch that must be taken off. The Temple will stand in place of this pustule topped with yellow pus, and everybody knows what to do about a pustule, one has to empty it of the pus. That is our aim, and with God’s help we shall do it.” Already, sheep are being raised for sacrificial purposes in the Temple. One can ridicule these outpourings and assert, as always, that they come from the lunatic fringe. That is what they said about the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. But for Arabs, who see with their own eyes the daily effort to “Judaize” the Eastern city and to push them out, this is no joke. Their fear is genuine. Since the millions of inhabitants of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have no access to the Temple Mount – contrary to all the talk about “religious freedom” – the Islamic Movement in Israel proper has assumed the role of guardian of the two shrines. This week, the call went up to outlaw the movement and to put its leader, Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, in prison. Sheikh Ra’ed is a charismatic leader. I met him 16 years ago, when we both lived for 45 days and nights in a protest tent opposite the prime minister’s office, after Rabin had deported 415 Islamic activists to the Lebanese border. The sheikh was, at the time, a friendly person, pleasant to be with, full of humor, who treated Rachel, too, with utmost friendliness (but without taking her hand, much like our own Orthodox rabbis). I learned from him a lot about Islam, and answered as well as I could his questions about Judaism. Nowadays he is much more tough and uncompromising.
THERE IS something symbolic about the proximity in time of the awarding of the Nobel Prize and the Temple Mount happenings. The two events represent the two options facing Israel. We have to decide what we are: the Israel of Ada Yonath or the Israel of Ateret Cohanim. An Israel that cherishes its culture, science, high-tech, literature, medicine and agriculture, which marches in the first row of progressive human society towards a better future, or an Israel of wars, occupation and settlements, a fundamentalist state that looks to the past. Contrary to the prophets of doom, I believe that this battle is not yet decided. Israel is far from being the monolithic body that appears in the caricatures. It is a varied, multifaceted society with many possibilities, one of which leads to war and the other towards peace and reconciliation. The winner of the Nobel peace prize, Barack Obama, can have a lot of influence on the choice. After all, wasn’t the prize awarded to him as a down payment for deeds to come? Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 10th, 2009
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on September 24th, 2009 The Weekend of September 26-27, 2009, 6000 World Citizens will try in 39 countries to push the Climate Change negotiations from their present dead point. In Vienna the meetings will be at the Renaissance Hotel “The Imperial Riding School.” Backed by the Foreign Ministries of Norway and Denmark, Global Citizens – men and women, enter the race to Copenhagen. September 26-27, 2009, 6000 people in 39 Countries, will spend 36 hours in an effort to move the climate change negotiations from their present dead point.
Phone: 43 1 71175 0
Erster Klimagipfel der WeltbürgerInnen: Gemeinsam für ein Klima mit Zukunft! 26.9.2009 Erstmals in der Geschichte der UN-Klimakonferenzen beteiligen sich BürgerInnen auf der ganzen Erde am Diskussions- und Entscheidungsprozess rund um die Strategien im weltweiten Kampf gegen die globale Erwärmung. Rund 6.000 Menschen aus 39 Nationen erarbeiten im internationalen Projekt “World Wide Views on Global Warming” innerhalb von 36 Stunden Bewertungen und Empfehlungen zu den geplanten Strategien und Maßnahmen, über die bei der 15. UN-Klimakonferenz (COP15) in Kopenhagen im Dezember 2009 verhandelt wird. Auch Österreich ist Teil dieser einzigartigen Initiative: Am 26. September 2009 treffen sich 100 BürgerInnen aus allen neun Bundesländern im Renaissance Hotel “The Imperial Riding School” in Wien und erarbeiten gemeinsam einen Empfehlungskatalog zu den re-levanten Themen der Klimadebatte. Als nationaler Partner von WWViews International übernimmt das Institut für Technikfolgen-Abschätzung (ITA) der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften die Organisation und Durchführung des Projekts. Die nationalen Ergebnisse sollen den politischen EntscheidungsträgerInnen bei der COP15 überreicht werden. Quelle: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Erste Ergebnisse der Bürgerkonferenzen werden noch am gleichen Tag auf www.wwviews.org veröffentlicht. Results from a global citizen consultation on climate change
Right now on September 26, World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews) is carrying out the first-ever, globe-encompassing democratic deliberation in world history. Roughly 4,400 citizens in 38 countries all over the world are now deliberating in order to define and communicate their positions on issues central to the UN Climate Change negotiations (COP15), which take place in Copenhagen from December 7 – 18, 2009. Results From this web page, you can follow the results, as the day progresses and they tick in from the participating countries, starting in Australia and China, and finishing in California. Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on September 15th, 2009 Some of the World Environment News – September 15, 2009 – from Planet Ark of Reuters: DENMARK GERMANY NEW ZEALAND NORWAY SINGAPORE UK Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 29th, 2009 UNITED NATIONS, The Inner City Press, Matthew Russell Lee, August 28 — The UN’s airbrushed versions of its history and present were on display Friday as Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on his way to Norway, stopped in Vienna to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Vienna International Center there. When it was opened in August 1979, the ribbon was cut by then Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, an Austrian exposed for a Nazi past. At Friday’s ceremony the film screened for Ban and local elected officials, “VIC-30 The Practice of Peace,” notably had no footage of Waldheim. Who else could be erased? Vienna sources of Inner City Press say that no questions were allowed about the devastating negative review of Ban’s performance by Mona Juul, the deputy ambassador to the UN of Norway, Ban’s next stop. Rather, a question about criticisms the UN is more comfortable with, those from “some in the United States,” by implication on the right, were responded to. It seems impossible, thought, that Ban can avoid questions about the criticisms made from the left in the Juul memo — of his performance in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, even on climate change — when he arrives in Norway.
On climate change, Inner City Press is informed that staff of the UN’s spokesperson in Vienna participated in the singing of “Come On – Seal the Deal,” a reference to December’s climate talks in Copenhagen. On the UN’s internal web site, staff are being urged to dress in green. Take that, Mona Juul! Reflecting on Waldheim and the UN Office in Vienna, and in light of the recent opening of UN offices in South Korea, some now envision that during Ban Ki-moon’s tenure, whether it be one or two terms, a UN Office in Seoul will emerge. And in thirty years time… * * *
As UN’s Ban to Norway, Juul Memo Spun, Opposition to be Met, Press Browbeaten By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, August 27 — As the UN’s Ban Ki-moon crosses the Atlantic toward Norway, his staff is belatedly trying to spin the leaked and damning memo by Norway’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN Mona Juul. Always on background and without fingerprints, they have tried to blame the leak on internal Norwegian and even U.S. Democratic politics. Meanwhile in Norway, Ban will meet with the opposition Progress Party on August 31. While Inner City Press has this from the party’s foreign policy spokesman, when it put the question to Ban’s Spokesperson, this was the response: “the SG will be meeting with political parties that are represented in the Norwegian parliament (Members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, representatives for IPU and parliamentarians attending the 64th session of the GA). We are still awaiting confirmation of the full list When he travels he often meets with different political parties including opposition parties. They are usually selected by the UN (our political staff and the UN country team on the ground).” But in Sri Lanka, for example, where Mona Juul wrote that Ban showed no moral authority, Ban left major opposition figures excluded. So, some wonder, is the meeting with Norwegian opposition some passive-aggressive form of fight back? In the run-up to Ban’s trip, Team Ban was more focused on speculating who leaked the Juul memo than on responding to its contents. Even one who accompanied U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice to meet Ban on August 26 was accused, although no motive was proffered.
Meanwhile Team Ban’s ham-handed approach to media continues. On Ban’s visit to Myanmar’s Than Shwe, alsocriticized by Juul, Team Ban chose not only which media organizations but even which individual reporters would document his ultimately failed trip. Ban’s Spokesperson answered questions about the failure to inform other, more critical reporters of the chance to cover the trip by promising pool coverage which never came. This time for Norway, the Norwegian government invited a particular wire service. Even so, the UN contacted the reporter and demanded that he provide written pool. The Norwegian government disagreed: it’s their trip, their choice. For Team Ban, the hits just keep on coming. Watch this site. From yesterday: on August 26 moments before the noon briefing was to begin, reporters were ordered out of the room. A bomb sniffing dog entered. The word went out: Ban Ki-moon will speak! More journalists than usual subsequently came downstairs. Bets were taken: was it going to be a unilateral statement about Ted Kennedy, with no questions [about the Mona Juul memo or the trip] taken? Some bet no, pointing at a lectern sometimes used by Ms. Montas while choosing whom to allow to question Mr. Ban. Ms Montas became reading off notices and press releases, including about the dead American civilian employ of the UN in Monrovia and that he was under investigation. Suddenly Mr. Ban came in. Ms. Montas asked him if he wanted to use the lectern or her seat on the podium. Ban took the lectern, and the gamblers in the room concluded there would be no Q&A. Ban rambled on about Ted visiting him “in UNDP” on December 17, 2006, bringing him a photograph with John F. Kennedy from August 1962. JFK and JFK, he said, noting that he has a degree from the JFK School of Government. When he finished, he pauses and a question was shouted out that many surmised had been planted, about climate change. Ban answered it, then as he left several reporters asked about the Mona Juul memo, full text here. Ban was prepared for that too, saying that he welcomes constructive criticism, including from the press. Then he left… * * *
At UN, Norway’s Trashing of Ban Stirs Rumors of Endgame: Full Text By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, August 20 — The indictment of the administration of the UN by Ban Ki-moon signed by Norway’s deputy ambassador Mona Juul [full text below] gathered strength and supporters on Thursday. Inner City Press asked Ban’s deputy spokesperson Marie Okabe on August 19 for Ban’s view of Juul’s memo and “how does it impact his planned trip to Norway at the end of this month?” Ms. Okabe answered that “We do not know the veracity of the reports to which you refer… we have not announced the Secretary-General’s next travel plans.” Transcript here. Thursday it emerged that the plan had been to announced Ban’s Norway trip on August 19, but that the announcement was pulled back in the face of news of and questions about the Juul memo. Inner City Press has interviewed two senior Ban administration officials, both of whom acknowledge that Juul’s critique is devastating, even debilitating. Norway is a big donor, one of them said, noting that Sudan, on the other end of the spectrum, has also protested Ban. “Who will stand up for him?” the other official asked rhetorically. Of the reheated rumors in the memo, including that top humanitarian John Holmes might replace Vijay Nambiar as Ban’s chief of staff, as Inner City Press has previously predicted, the official said that Holmes might do a better job. But India, then, would need another post. The Ban administration officials both said that a new communications strategy is needed. They speculated who will takeover as spokesperson in November. While one has been predicting another outsider from Newsweek, the better placed official now predicts a French speaker from within the Outreach Division of the Department of Public Information. It’s been a disaster, both conceded, of recent and reduced UN noon briefings. Things are actually worse that Juul presents them, in that her memo does not touch on the brewing nepotism and corruption scandals at the UN. Several under-reported aspect of Juul’s memo are eye catching: her description of Deputy Secretary General Migiro’s limited scope of responsibility, her diplomatic dismissal of Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann as a “rather special President of the General Assembly.” She hits Ban even on his signature issue, climate change. Juul describes “a culture of decision-making which is marked by information both up and down the system being filtered by the omnipresent assistant chief of cabinet Kim” Won-soo. Self- (or Norway-) servingly, Juul wrote that “Ban has consistently chosen special representatives and leaders in the Secretariat who don’t distinguish themselves, except for the case of Afghanistan” — the SRSG is Norwegian, Kai Eide. One wonders why Juul didn’t in the memo praise her husband, USG Terje Roed Larsen. Also ill-informed was Juul’s quip that “As a woman from that part of the world, [UNDP's Helen ] Clark could quickly become a competitor for Ban’s second period.” New Zealand may geographically be in Asia, but politically at the UN it is part of the WEOG (Western European and Other Group). More likely is the scenario first laid out by Inner City Press, that China in exchange for getting to head the World Bank in 2012 allows another group — possible WEOG or an Eastern European — to take over the UN Secretary General’s post. Click here for that Inner City Press exclusive; see below for full text of Juul. Watch this site.
The Juul memo, translated by the “Group of Friend on Inner City Press,” is below: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons fruitless visit to Burma at the beginning of July was emblematic of a Secretary-General and an organization that is struggling to show leadership. At a time where the UN and the need for multilateral solutions to global crises is more necessary than ever, Ban and the UN are conspicuous by their absence. In the last half-year, follow-up to the many crises that dominated last fall’s General Assembly should have brought the Secretary-General and the UN fully into the fray, but the opposite seems to have occurred. In relation to the financial crisis, neither the Secretary-General nor the General Assembly – despite the major meeting on the financial crisis at the end of June – have distinguished themselves as the most important arena for discussion, and the vacuum has been filled by the G-20 and other actors. Ban’s voice on behalf of the G-192 and the poor has hardly [there’s a misspelling in the original; “kapt” is not a word but “knapt” means “hardly”] registered. An at times invisible Secretary-General in combination with a rather special President of the General Assembly has gone far to sideline the UN, and the organization hasn’t realized its limits. On the environment/energy area the UN is also struggling to be relevant, despite the planned high-level meeting on climate change at the opening of the General Assembly this fall. Even though the Secretary-General to the point of boredom repeats that Copenhagen is supposed to “seal the deal,” there is widespread worry that the UN-high-level meeting won’t contribute notably to the process leading up to Copenhagen. In the many political/security crises around the world, the Secretary-General’s leadership and ability to deliver on behalf of the UN is still being sought. Burma is a shining example of this. There was no lack of warning that the Secretary-General shouldn’t go at this time. The Americans were among the most doubtful to his trip, but the British thought he should go. Special Representative Gambari was initially also doubtful, but Ban insisted. Gambari pointed to the fact that recent negative press coverage (headlines like “Whereabouts unknown in The Times and “Nowwhere Man [sic]” in Foreign Policy) had made Ban even more set on visiting Burma. After an apparently fruitless visit by the Secretary-General, the UN’s “good offices” will become even more problematic. Special Representative Gambari will have big problems continuing after “the top man” has failed and the generals in Yangoon [sic] no longer want to meet him. Another example of weak handling from the Secretary-General’s side is the war in Sri Lanka. The Secretary-General was a powerless observer to civilians in their thousands losing their lives and being driven from their homes. The authorities in Colombo refused to receive the Secretary-General while the war was going on, but he was an honored guest — and he accepted the invitation — once the war had been “won.” Even though the UN’s humanitarian effort had been active and honorable enough, the Secretary-General’s moral voice and authority have been absent. Also in other “crisis areas,” for example Darfur, Somalia, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and not least Congo, the Secretary-General’s passive and not very committed appeals seem to fall on deaf ears. Many would also claim that the handling of the inquiry commission after the war in Gaza ended up with an unsteady and too-careful follow-up. More surprisingly, and therefore more disappointingly, Ban Ki-moon has been almost absent on the disarmament and non-proliferation area. This was a field he himself presented as one of his priority areas before he started his post. The reorganization of the department of disarmament to an office directly answerable to the Secretary-General, led by a High Representative indicated a big stake in this area, also given the Secretary-General’s own background on the Korean peninsula. With a new nonproliferation treaty review in 2010 and an American administration which has put the team much higher on the agenda, it’s cause for concern that the Secretary-General isn’t more committed. The common thread in all these cases is that an unclear Secretary-General with a lack of charisma is not compensated for by high-profile and visible colleagues. Ban has consistently chosen special representatives and leaders in the Secretariat who don’t distinguish themselves, except for the case of Afghanistan. Furthermore, he seems to prefer to be in the center himself, without competition from his colleagues, and lets it shine through pretty clearly that commenting to the media is a privilege belonging to himself. The result is that the UN becomes a less visible and relevant player in areas where it would have been natural and necessary for an active UN-engagement. A notable exception is the selection of Helen Clark as the new leader for UNDP. She has in her short time on the job shown promise. It will be interesting to follow if she is given room to distinguish the UN’s development side. As a woman from that part of the world, Clark could quickly become a competitor for Ban’s second period. It was common knowledge that it was a conscious choice [NB! The Norwegian word “bevist” which is written here means “proven,” but in this context it appears to be a misspelling of the word “bevisst” meaning “conscious.”] from the then-current American administration that an activist Secretary-General was not wanted. The new American administration hasn’t yet signaled any change in their attitude to Ban, even though there are rumors that some people in Washington are now referring to Ban as “a one-term SG”. It’s said that the people around both Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton are very negative to Ban, but the two are yet to speak on the matter. China is probably pretty happy with him and it’s primarily China which holds the key to whether Ban will be renewed for a second term. Russia has for a long time been dissatisfied with the Secretary-General both in terms of his handling of Kosovo and Georgia, but also because of a lack of recruitment of Russians to important positions. At the same time, Russia is well served by a Secretary-General who isn’t too interventionist. Among the remainder of the member states one notices that the perception of Ban at the midway point is growing steadily more negative. Among the many who thought he should be given some more time, that everything would get better once he warmed up, and that the comparison to his predecessor’s charisma was unfair, the tune is now that the beginner’s goodwill [direct translation: “learning potential”] appears to be spent and that a lack of charisma is actually a problem. The Secretary-General seems to function well enough when he sticks to the script, and shows up to a lot of meetings and other events. The problem arises when he’s “on his own” where he can’t manage to set the agenda, create enthusiasm and show leadership – not internally either. Ban’s lack of engagement and lack of interest in mastering the issues means that he doesn’t become an effective player or negotiator in the many conflict situations he is expected to handle. The mood at “the house” is still characterized as not very motivated, with a culture of decision-making which is marked by information both up and down the system being filtered by the omnipresent assistant chief of cabinet Kim. After recent negative media stories about the Secretary-General, the mood on the 38th floor is said to be pretty tense. Ban has constant temper tantrums [direct translation: outbreaks of rage] which even levelheaded [the Norwegian word “sindig” is untranslatable and describes a quality of being capable and calm as well as having common sense] and experienced colleagues have trouble handling. The relationship with next-in-command Migiro is as strained and her sphere of action appears to have shrunk even further. There are constant rumors of replacements and switch-overs. In addition to rumors that Migiro is on her way out, it’s rumored that OCHA-boss Holms [sic], who is roundly praised, is taking over as Chef de Cabinet, and that Nambiar is quitting. The same is said about the head of the political department, Pascoe, and that Holms [sic] is also a candidate to taking over his job. The British are probably still very concerned about getting that post back. These are, however, only rumors and most probably, Ban will continue with the same crew – at least ‘till the end of this year. If that’s good enough for a second term only time will tell. Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 29th, 2009 Reports of Nepotism for UN’s Ban Ki-moon Removed From Internet After Legal Threats by Ban’s Son in Law By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, August 22 — The son in law of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Siddarth Chatterjee, had used threats of legal action to force the removal from the Internet of comments that he may have gotten his promotion with the UN Office of Project Services in Copenhagen due to nepotism, Inner City Press has learned. In preparing its exclusive August 14 article on nepotism at the UN and Ban’s position on and in it, Inner City Press ran across an article in the Indian Star online, which cited Inner City Press’ previous piece on Chatterjee’s promotion with the UN in Iraq. Recently, that Indian Star article and comments were taken off the Internet — following a threat from Chatterjee and then by his India-based lawyer. Click here for the now-empty page. Free press advocates express concern at the threats, noting that in such matters “the cover-up is always worse that the crime,” and demanding that Ban Ki-moon rebuke and renounce them. But will it happen? Here for the record, and as requested by free press advocates in several continents, are comments which were on the Indian Star page which Ban’s son in law, not stopped and presumably encouraged by Ban, got removed from the Internet by legal intimidation: (Replied: Saturday, May 02, 2009, 06:05 am EST) Interesting indeed. Some of us have, until very recently, had the misfortune of being exposed to this man, in a professional sense, in Iraq. Spineless is a very appropriate term to use in describing this individual. There are more, but few are fit for publication. He is, indeed, a discredit to India, the Indian Army, and now the UN (where, incidentally, he has recently moved on significant promotion – despite already being totally over-promoted in the opinion of all that know, and have to work with, him). The recent recruitment of this man to the United Nations Office of Project Services in Copenhagen is yet another example of the ineptitude, nepotism and corruption which is so prevalent within the UN system, even at the highest levels (in this case, within UNOPS). But those in Baghdad are delighted that UNOPS has taken him away from Iraq all the same. It is a shame. And it would appear people are still being fooled. and Posted: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 06:34 am EST SANDHAYA AGARWAL (India) Siddharth Chatterjee is a spineless man .He could not even pass the staff exams in Indian Army … IT IS A SHAME THAT United Nations… GET FOOLED After the Indian Star article and its comments went offline, they still remained available in the cache of Google and other search engines. Ban’s son in law’s lawyers made more legal threats — “this is round two of the Bans and Google,” said one observer of plans by the UN to get Inner City Press removed from Google News, click here for the most recent — to get it out of cache. Now even that censorship of questions of nepotism within Ban’s UN has been accomplished — click here for the now empty cache page. Siddarth Chatterjee a public figure, and thus his legal threats are spurious, even an abuse of process. He is the son in law of the UN Secretary General, he was awarded a job at the UN’s D-2 level (see below. Now, after refusing to answer Inner City Press’ repeated questions referred by Ban’s Spokesperson’s Office if Chatterjee is a D-2 or a D-1, UNOPS tells other journalists that he is a D-1, in order to forestall other media coverage. Will it work?
Most recently, UNOPS in Copenhagen has told a Nordic newspaper what Chatterjee is a D-1, without explaining that the post was described by UNOPS’ deputy director, in writing, as a D-2 post: From: Vitaly VANSHELBOIM As you know, yesterday EUO and MEO formally merged into a new regional office called EMO (Europe and the Middle East) based in Copenhagen…I will be acting Regional Director of EMO until we have recruited a “permanent” replacement. In response to our advertisement for the D-2 regional director job, we received some 130 applications. Five candidates were short-listed for interviews: four were interviewed last Friday and the last interview is scheduled for Thursday this week. We’d like to make a decision by mid-March. So even assuming that, as in Iraq, the UN decided even if only belatedly to keep Mr. Chatterjee a level below the grade of the post they awarded him, that is only being done to discourage press coverage of nepotism. Even this raises questions of whether Ban, who came into the UN system promising reform and to run things cleanly, is due to his relatives’ promotions so paranoia and angry about questions of nepotism that he has a conflict of interest in dealing with charges of nepotism against others in the UN, for example his own envoy to the Congo Alan Doss — click herefor that. Inner City Press broke the story about Alan Doss asking the UN Development Program for “leeway,” to bend hiring rules and give his daughter Rebecca Doss a job in UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific leading to a “man bite man” incident which was the focus of other media’s follow up coverage. After Inner City Press’ story about Ban and nepotism early on August 14, Ban’s Deputy Spokesperson wrote to Inner City Press that: From: okabe@un.org What I said was that queries on the biting incident should be directed to the NY County DA Office. On the allegations, we take the matter very seriously. “The Secretary-General is aware of the situation. He has been assured that a thorough independent investigation is underway, He takes this matter very seriously, and expects to see a report upon his return to NY.” Ban Ki-Moon returned to New York from his South Korea vacation and delivered prepared remarks at a World Humanitarian Day event in the UN’s visitors’ lobby on August 19. He took no questions. On August 21, after waiting two days, Inner City Press asked Ms. Okabe if Ban had as he expected now received the report on nepotism, and what would he do about it? Ms. Okabe answered that although Ban had returned to New York, he had gone on leave again. So finally, what will he do? Footnotes: in the course of legally threatening the Indian newspaper — but not U.S. based Inner City Press — it was argued that the Indian Star report which triggered the two comments Chatterjee and Ban did not like was “based only on a blog.” The response was that Inner City Press is better read, at least online, than the Indian newspaper they threatened. On that, Reuters of August 21 reported that “U.N. officials also complain bitterly about the indefatigable bloggerMatthew Lee, whose website Inner City Press regularly accuses Ban and other U.N. officials of hypocrisy and failing to keep their promises to reform the United Nations and root out corruption.” Later, a telling second phrase was added: “(Some U.N. officials accuse Lee of not always getting his facts right, but his blog has become unofficial required reading for U.N. staffers around the world.)” Ironically, on August 20 a UN under secretary general approached Inner City Press about the anti-Ban memo by Norwegian deputy permanent representative Mona Juul, having “just read it on your blog.” For all of Ms. Juul’s criticism of Ban, from Myanmar to Sri Lanka to climate change, Juul missed the nepotism and family connection angle. Her husband Terje Roed Larsen works for Ban, as another of his Under Secretaries General who has refused to make any disclosure of his finance or to answer Inner City Press’ questions about them. This is run for the proposition that as well as being a nepotism cover up scandal, this is a story about new media. Ban and his son in law have lawyers threaten ill-read newspapers for daring to carry a report based on what they call the “blog” Inner City Press and two resulting comments. They urge what they view as “real” or mainstream media not to cover stories which are broken by Inner City Press — which, for example, had the world exclusive, acknowledged on Associated Press and in Japan media amog others, of the final draft of the Security Council’s North Korea sanctions. Inner City Press, which writes more about Myanmar than other UN based correspondents, was never even told of the opportunity, given to others, to accompany and report on Ban’s ultimately failed trip there. Some say that in all this, Ban is being ill-advised by those around him. The question remains: is this anachronistic media strategy of cover up, deployed by Team Ban, working? Watch this site. * * *
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 25th, 2009 UN DAILY NEWS from the UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE – 24 August, 2009. SECRETARY-GENERAL TO DEPART FOR AUSTRIA, NORWAY AND SWITZERLAND Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will depart on Thursday on a three-nation While in the Austrian capital, Mr. Ban will commemorate the 30th Designed by Austrian architect Johann Staber, the Centre was handed over to Mr. Ban will deliver the keynote address at the Opening of the Political The Secretary-General will then go to Oslo, Norway, for an official visit From Oslo, the Mr. Ban will travel to Svalbard, in the Arctic Ocean, to see “Over the course of his two-day trip, he will visit polar research stations The visit to the ice rim is part of the Secretary-General’s ongoing efforts It follows Mr. Ban’s visit – the first by a UN Secretary-General – to The UN chief’s last stop will be the Swiss city of Geneva, where he will Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 24th, 2009
OSLO (Reuters) August 23, 2009, from a dispatch from India: Norway’s foreign minister said on Sunday he regretted that criticism of the United Nations secretary-general by Oslo’s ambassador had been leaked days before a visit from the U.N. chief. Ambassador Mona Juul accused Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of weak, ineffective and at times counterproductive leadership, the daily Aftenposten had reported on Wednesday. The newspaper published what it said was a letter from Juul to the foreign ministry in which she said Ban was late in handling challenges and his abrasive style irked diplomats. “I regret that it happened, but let me stress that this is a report to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, it was not a statement by the Norwegian government,” Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told reporters. Stoere said Norway continued to be a strong supporter of the United Nations and its South Korean chief. “This is not the time to waste resources on commenting on job performance, this is a time of renewing our support to the U.N. and thereby the support to the current Secretary-General, whom I have experienced as very hard-working and dedicated,” Stoere said. He said Ban was “heartily welcome” to Norway in one week, for talks with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and himself in Oslo and a visit to Arctic archipelago Svalbard. Permalink |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on June 29th, 2009 Musicians from Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Norway, and the United States, joined together to promote Middle East peace. Itamar Eichner in Yedioth Ahronoth, June 29, 2009. In a pastoral farm near Oslo, capital of Norway-far from the eyes of the media-a group of Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian musicians gathered this past week, and tried to make music together for the sake of peace. Behind this initiative stands a Norwegian peace activist. He invited musicians from the region for a joint 10-day workshop. Participants from Israel included Kobi Oz, Aya Korem, Ohad Hitman and Mika Sadeh. Three musicians came from the Palestinian Authority, and four arrived from Jordan. They were joined by Norwegian and American musicians. Permalink |
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