Israel declares war permanent

Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s Foreign Minister, has told Israelis that the conflict between Israel and Palestine is not going to be resolved. Citing the example of Cyprus, he has called on Israelis to stop seeking peace and make the best of his countries oppression of the Palestinians. In a sense, this isn’t anything new, but it would be easy to see this as merely an admission of hopelessness, rather than a calculated position for Israel to put itself in.

Challenging Africa’s ‘enclosure’

One would hardly think it worth while to invest in African farmland, given the images of starvation which are still attached, and sometimes quite accurately, to the continent. But yet the BBC recently reported on a land grab that could threaten the food sovereignty, as well as the livelihoods, of many  vulnerable Africans.

The “Climate Change Affects Us All” Myth

Like many myths, the myth that says that Climate Change will affect us all is based on some degree of truth. But it is also somewhat unhelpful if we are to understand the imperative to act. We in Britain are already likely to fare much better than those elsewhere in the world, for instance Tuvalu, where the danger of total landmass submersion is now so great, they’ve been forced to act much more decisively than anyone in Europe has managed thus far.

The struggle for justice in South Africa

1994 was supposed to be the turning point for the people of South Africa. New leadership, following a Western model of democracy but with Black leadership, was supposed to be the turning point in ending the suffering townships face. But unrest over the last couple of weeks has dragged the plight of South Africa’s poorest back onto the news agenda.

When Ethical Labelling Fails

When it came in to effect, the Kimberley Process was hailed as a triumph in the struggle to stop Africa’s mineral, and specifically diamond, wealth on internal conflict and human rights abuses. Overseen by the UN, it is possibly one of the most monumental and well established “Ethical Consumerism” labelling schemes that there is. Sadly, as the BBC recently reported, all is not going well for Kimberley Certification.

On Space Exploration

This month has seen the 40th anniversary of the first human visit to the moon, and so discussions of Space Travel have been in the news. The one which caught my eye was the announcement of a 12-week consultation on giving the UK its own Space Agency, much like NASA. Space is an area of fascination, but beyond specific scientific benefits, is investment in space travel really a great thing.

Connecting Rails to Reality

Having written a long winded rant about air transport a few days ago, I thought I’d actually make use of a bunch of reports I have saved on the current situation for the development railways from Africa and Asia to Britain. As with anything that involves railways, its not so much the engineering that has the effects, its the wider political and social impacts that railways have by their presence or absence.

A few personal observations about women’s status

In a break from the excellent series of guest posts on gender issues that have appeared on this blog recently, I’m going to step in and put up some of my own thoughts on recent appearances of gender issues in the media, some positive and some negative.

What have 15 years taught us?

Last night, I gave a talk at the University of York on historical events and movements of the last 15 years that have focused on actions of individuals. It was over 8 pages of writing, so I’ll spare you the boredom, but here’s something of the conclusion I gave, focusing on the timing of the emergence of this flood of movements, and on what they might have taught us.

Why I think Slum Survivor is a good thing

“How bloody patronising” exclaimed my housemate as soon as I began explaining why I needed to locate cardboard boxes in earnest. Last weekend was Slum Survivor here in York, and whilst I wasn’t taking part in slum life, I enjoyed watching the project flow as I stopped off each time I passed St Mikes on my bike.