Young people break down barriers in Middle East
Paul Willis at CNN gives us a look at Face to Face/Faith to Faith, a project that brings together Palestinian and Israeli youth. Organizers say it is one of the only ways youth from both sides can meet “that doesn’t involve shouting.”
Michael Valpy of The Globe and Mail discusses Canadians’ reputation for fairness – and how this “soft power” leads to more effective diplomacy. On the power of this fair reputation to allay conflict, Physician and global health-care advocate James Orbinksi comments, “We’re good at listening and finding a solution, and sometimes that means endless committees and discussion. But you know what? That’s what it takes.” Read more about the weight soft power carries in diplomacy.
It has been fourteen years since apartheid was dismantled and South Africa was dubbed “the rainbow nation.” However, that milestone has not tempered sharp racial tensions that survive there today – divides made all the more evident by recent violence in Johannesburg and elsewhere. Audrey Brown of BBC Radio World Service is conducting a multi-part documentary on this issue and on the ways South Africa’s varied ethnic populations can reconcile their differences. Frank and probing, Brown asks South Africans difficult questions. Is race being used merely as a political tool? With apartheid still so fresh in the collective memory, how do you get ethnic “rivals” to sit down and engage in dialogue? How do you move from strong racial identification to reconciliation? Listen to the first three parts of BBC’s “Race and Reconciliation” documentary to explore these issues.
Is America so different? Our long affair with slavery may have ended more than a century before apartheid, but that does not mean race is not still a divisive issue. On March 18, Senator Obama delivered a now-famous speech on the state of race in America, in which he described the “complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect.” He cited gaps in education, income, and employment; he deplored the urban dilemma of “violence, blight, and neglect.” Most importantly, he elucidated and empathized with the frustrations of both white and black communities.
In large part, Brown and Obama are playing the same role. They are stating candidly what types of racial prejudice remain in democratic societies that are supposed to be color-blind. Is pointing out these very divisive truths a step backwards, an admission of the futility of trying to end racism? On the contrary, there is abundant hope inherent in both approaches. This hope believes that in bringing bitter, divided parties to the same table, to air grievances and share visions, we can move beyond our superficial differences. Obama’s call was thus, “Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.”
The idea of opening a real dialogue about race and racism is not alien in South Africa. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission assembled in 1995 was effective because it invited all victims of crimes under apartheid – and all perpetrators – to speak in order to achieve the greater goal of restorative justice. Only through talking about the racial division and inviting reconciliation are such problems resolved.
June 30, 2008 Radio Netherlands Worldwide
A little more than a decade ago, radio was tragically used to promulgate genocide in Rwanda. Now, rural radio stations in neighboring Uganda are being used to halt conflict and ease the transition of child soldiers back into society. With the prevalent conscription of children into the guerrilla Lord’s Resistance Army, creating a sense of normalcy during this time of relative peace has been difficult for youths who had been forced to leave everything behind. However, Mega FM, a Gulu-based radio station, has became immensely popular among returning LRA soldiers, in part because many of the up-and-coming Ugandan singers featured on it are former soldiers themselves and broadcast a message of hope and love of life. The station also is devoted to bringing separated families back together. Find out more about Mega FM and the use of rural radio to heal post-conflict Uganda.
June 27, 2008 BBC News
This past week, Morocco hosted its 14th festival of World Sacred Music in Fez, a celebration open to musicians and faiths worldwide, in order “to promote better understanding between cultures and faiths through exposure to some of the most sublime expressions of faith – sacred music.” Featuring artists from America, Asia, and Africa, the event saw inspiring, rare cross-faith joint performances. Despite criticism that the event pandered to Western audiences, this festival embodied the ideal that, on their most profound and emotional levels, different faiths have so much in common that they can worship together. Read more about the festival and the artists that shared its stage here at BBC News.
June 23-26 RTE Sport, FOX News, Sport Business
Sunday brings a close to this summer’s thrilling Euro Cup, an event that in its global appeal reminds us of the unifying power of soccer. Even taking into account the sport’s competitive, and sometimes violent nature – two of Turkey’s players were sidelined Wednesday with head injuries, and Zidane’s infamous coup de tête in the 2006 World Cup will not be easily forgotten – soccer also has the capacity to bring people together, highlighted by recent events.
In July, the Football Association of Ireland will establish their “Football Village of Hope” in the Shfeya youth village in Israel. It attempts to “foster new links” between Arab and Israeli children by encouraging the values of teamwork and cooperation. Soccer was similarly used during the troubles in Northern Ireland to help reverse adversarial attitudes. According to FAI president and “Football Village of Hope” coordinator Milo Corcoran, “I saw the co-operation between clubs from both sides of the [conflict] and I thought that if football can bring everybody together in Ireland, why can’t it do the same in the Middle East?”
Similarly, Soccer for Peace, a New York-based non-profit organization, coordinates soccer tournaments that bring together 10- and 11-year-old Israeli and Arab children in Israel. The teams give these youths – and their families – the rare opportunity to work for the same goal. “You see Jewish families and Arab families supporting the same team; they cheer for the same children. They come together and become friends, building trust and confidence,” noted Assaf Toledano, director of the Soccer for Peace partner Maccabim Association.
Soccer has proven equally capable of bridging other social divides beyond violent conflict. This week, the Homeless World Cup will be hosting a qualifier in Washington, DC in order to select the US team to compete abroad. Forty-eight nations were represented at last year’s competition, fielding teams comprised of over 500 homeless players combined. The global soccer tournament, held annually, attempts to reconcile the world’s homeless with the societies they believe have rejected them. According to its organizers, “73% of players [involved in the Homeless World Cup] change their lives for the better by coming off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families and even going on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams.”
The success with which these programs have used sport to stem conflict has inspired governments to take action. President Bush recently lauded the strides Peace Players, International made in using basketball to create ties between children on different sides of the Northern Ireland divide. Earlier this month, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, announced his government’s sponsorship of Generations for Peace, a “global initiative” which uses various sports to breed cooperation and understanding among youth in the Arab world and beyond. Its first training camp, held last year in Amman, Jordan, brought over 8,000 young people together to encourage “peaceful co-existence infused with the values of peace.”
The article on Soccer for Peace aptly describes soccer as a common language for children who cannot or would not otherwise communicate. For this reason, its power to develop non-adversarial stances worldwide is profound.
