The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
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A video has emerged showing Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers raiding Palestinian homes, forcing parents to wake up their children before questioning and photographing the youngsters. Children as young as four have been questioned during the night raids. The list of mistreatment of children doesn't end there. IDF soldiers regularly harass, manhandle and set attack dogs on young Palestinian children in public spaces. The IDF arrests up to 700 children each year. Human Rights Watch contends...
Speaking in the context of American politics, Chris Hedges, former New York Times columnist (who sued the Obama administration for indefinitely detaining people and won) argues, "All of the openings in American democracy were driven by populist and radical movements that never achieved formal positions of power."
According to Hedges, "The question is not, 'How do you get good people to rule?' Most people who are attracted to power are at best mediocre, which is Obama or...
Scientists in the U.S. say that rising sea levels now threaten a third of Florida's beaches, but state employees allege that they are prohibited from talking about climate change. Frustrated, Florida state employee, Kristina Trotta, left her job because dealing with the crisis of rising sea levels became too difficult, as no one was allowed to talk about climate change.
Christopher Berg, formerly an attorney for the state of Florida working to protect its waterways, reports, "They...
Feeling ashamed for not being happier? On an endless quest to transform yourself?
Does our collective fixation with psychological and physical health actually verge on the pathological?
Leading academics Carl Cederström, André Spicer and Renata Salecl gather to explore how wellness has become an unhealthy obsession in western societies, and how living ‘well’ has become synonymous with being morally good.
They argue that visions of social change have been...
This week Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected as prime minister of Israel for the fourth time. In the final days of his campaign, he made it clear that he doesn’t support a two-state solution. Washington has responded by saying, "Now that the foundation has been eroded, it means that our policy decisions need to be reconsidered…" In his latest interview, Netanyahu tried to walk back from his statement, but The New York Times reports that his retreat has done nothing to...
Vincent Cochetel was held hostage for 317 days in 1998, while working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Chechnya. For the first time, he recounts the experience - from what it was like to live in a dark, underground chamber, chained to his bed, to the unexpected conversations he had with his captors. With lyricism and power, he explains why he continues his work today. Since 2000, attacks on humanitarian aid workers have tripled - and he wonders what that rise...
