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Conflict in the Midille East and ceasefire explained
BY ALEX LINDBERG
Staff Writer
For the better part of a century, two sides have been
fighting for land in the Middle East: Palestine and Israel.
Recently, the violence between the two escalated for eight
days, with airstrikes yielding destruction on both sides.
The conflict began in the 1920s when hundreds of
thousands of Jews moved to Palestinian land. Tensions
grew between the arriving Jews and the native Arab
people. In 1948, the U.N. formally recognized Israel as a
state. After this establishment, the Arab League (Egypt,
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq) joined in Palestine's
opposition of Israel.
"The U.N. Partition Plan of 1947 recognized both
Israel and a Palestinian state," said senior Tali Raphael.
"However, no Palestinian state was created after the war,
as the Arab states took the land. Egypt took Gaza (and)
Jordan took the West Bank."
Palestine
Israeli forces built a 25-foot wall around the West Bank
and surrounded major cities with a police force to limit
any uprisings against Israeli rule. In some places, the wall
crosses Palestinian land, including Jerusalem — a holy city
for both the Jewish and Islamic faiths. Locals on either side
know this barrier by different names.
"The 'security fence' to Israeli Jews is an 'apartheid (or)
annexation wall' to Palestinians," said Director of Friends
Center and Campus Ministry Coordinator Max Carter.
Palestinian refugees call their state an "apartheid state,"
as they are segregated from the rest of the community
and surrounded by a militant force. Israeli forces control
their water supplies, roads and markets. This oppression
created another anti-Israel force known as Hamas, which
currently governs the Gaza Strip.
The most violence occurs on the Gaza Strip, currently
under blockade by Israeli troops who allow limited
supplies and relief into the Palestinian territory. Because
Gaza citizens oppose the regulations issued by Israel,
Hamas has launched thousands of rockets across the
border since 2006.
Israel
Israelis believe they have only exercised self-defense
as Palestine and various Arab nations have attacked
them throughout the years. Israeli forces claim to occupy
Palestinian zones to foster peace, not cultivate war.
Were Israel to provide for the 1.5 million refugees in the
Gaza Strip, they would risk becoming a minority within
their own state and watching their democracy crumble.
The blockade still allows relief efforts into the territory,
but prevents Arab nations from smuggling weapons for
terrorist cells in the area. Israel has successfully stopped
much of the illegal arms trade into Palestine, though
they continue to struggle with this issue. Israel's primary
concerns include defending their homes, nation and
culture from invaders and uprisings.
Most Recent Conflict
In November, both sides fired rockets for eight days.
More than 90 rockets were cast from Israel and rained
on the Gaza Strip, killing Hamas leader, Ahmed al-Jaabari.
In retaliation, Gaza specifically targeted Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem for the first time.
"The attack on Jerusalem was especially audacious, both
for its symbolism and its distance from Gaza," reported
Aron Heller for the Huffington Post. "Jerusalem had
previously been considered beyond the range of Gaza
rockets and an unlikely target because it is home to the Al-
Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest shrine."
Because of these high profile targets, Israeli forces
responded with extreme air-strikes on sections of Gaza.
"A large part of the mid-range rockets were destroyed,"
President Barack Obama told Reuters. "Hamas managed
to hit Israel's built-up areas with around a metric ton of
explosives, and Gaza targets got around 1,000 metric tons."
Efforts Toward Peace
The eight-day air-striking dissolved when a multi-party
ceasefire was enacted. In addition to this, the U.N. has
recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state after
more than 60 years of effort by the West Bank. Palestine's
new status offers more rights and acknowledges the unrest
in the borderlands. Many in the Arab world view the
U.N.'s decision as a victory for Palestine, but others see it
as a temporary solution to an enduring problem.
"The resolution enshrines the 2002 Arab peace initiative,
which speaks of a 'just and agreed upon' solution for the
Palestinian refugees," Director of Al-Shabaka Nadia Hijab
told Al-jazeera. "This effectively reaffirms Israel's control
of any solution."
Palestine's new status also works to move the region
toward a "two-state" solution, a concept proposed to end
the ongoing conflict.
The conflict between Palestine and Israel is complex
and ever-evolving. There are a multitude of perspectives
in the region, all contributing equally to both the existing
violence and peace in the Middle East. Moving forward,
compromise and understanding will be critical factors in
resolution of grievances. At this time, much of the region
is in a state of unrest and looks to quell the violence and
destruction that has been present for nearly 90 years.
Dangerous working conditions kill hundreds
BY JORDAN SMITH
Staff Writ®
Unsafe working conditions and meager wages seem
like a distent U.S. memory of the 1900s, but in other
parts of the world, these poor conditions remain a
reality.
In the global markeL various regions contribute to
the products for sale and trade. Among those regions
are working environments that hold the potential for
injury or even death.
This is the case in several factories in India,
particularly in the garment industry. Workers in the
region endure low wages, high work pressure, frequent
overtime and minimal job security.
"In a place like India, labor conditions are bad,
unemployment rates are higher, and people decide
they'll just work for themselves, so they won't have to
ded with things like money, plans and labor conditions,"
said Jeremy Rinker, visiting assistant professor of peaco
and conflict studies.
"When we can't meet the targets, the abuse starts,"
Sakamma, a woman working for Texport, a Gap
supplier in India, told The Guardian. 'There is tcx)
much pressure; it is like torture. We can't take breaks or
drink water or go to the toilet The supervisors are on
our backs all the time," she said.
'They call us donkey, owl (a creature asscxiated with
evil), dog and insult us ... make us stand in front of
everyone, tell us to go and die," Sakamma said.
A textile factory in Karachi, Pakistan had a similarly
unhealthy work environment when it caught fire on
SpeL 12, killing 289 people in the flames. TMs tragedy
was named the worst man-made disaster in Pakistan's
history by the National Disaster Management Authority.
Survivors daim that the factory's emergency exits
were locked, leaving no escape for those working
inside. Many workers resorted to jumping from high
story windows to avoid death. Dangerous chemicals in
the factory were released into the air, making the smoke
even more dangerous.
"We as Americans should be concerned about those
kinds of poor labor conditions, but we are so far removed
because of the chain of manufactured industry, that
it's oftentimes subcontracting upon subcontracting,"
Rinker said.
More recently, on Nov. 24 a fire swallowed a
Bangladesh factory just outside the capital, killing 112
employees.
Though more thorough investigations revealed
the fire was arson, many of the deaths were the result
of flaws in the factory's structure itself. Much like in
Karachi, there were few emergency exits in the building,
many fire extinguishers dicki't work as they should
have, and supervisors urged the workers to stay put,
even while alarms were sounding.
"How the factory caught fire, I don't know. But when
we heard 'fire,' we all rushed out and we were trying to
get out of the factory," survivor Parul Begum told CNN.
The factory made textiles for a number of labels that
are well known in the U.S., including Wal-Mart, Sears
and Disney.
This raises a qu^tion: Why are these events ignored
while so many Americans buy products made in faulty
factories by underpaid workers?
"There are even a lot of people who work under
contract on the supply chain," Rinker said. "Loading
stuff, shipping it onto trucks. There's a whole lot of the
supply chain that we don't ever see. We just see it on a
shelf in Wal-Mart, and we purchase it"
The same issues may have a hold in the U.S. as well.
"Some people woiild argue that that is a form of
forced labor, and these people haven't been able to
find work," Rinker said. "The economic downturn has
caused more unregulated work and the killing of our
labor movement, which has been going on for the last
twenty years."
Poor working conditions directly hinder the safety of
employees in poorer regions, but ffre products of these
dangerous practices are enjoyed by more prosperous
nations every day. To put an end to unsatisfactory
conditions and pay, the global consumer market must
take control of the problem and become aware of the
origin of their products.
King Peggy: female
leader of Ghana
BY EMILY CURRIE
Staff Writbi
Otuam is a coastal fishing village situated in Ghana, West Africa. In this
village, everyone knows everyone. There is no high school, and teenagers
who can't afford secondary school travel to surrounding towns and become
street hustlers to survive. Impoverished t^nageis also farm or fish to make
a living.
At the end of a dusty, rutted road stands the royal palace. Its paint is peeling,
windows are broken, and the thirsty ground surrounding it is unkempt.
As a secretary at the Ghanaian Embassy in Washington, D.C. for over 30
years, Peggielene Bartels organized receptions, prepared coffee and answered
phones. She followed orders from her male boss, the ambassador. Yet in her
work at the Embassy, if p>eople bit her, she would bite bach.
But one night, a career-altering phone call awoke Bartels at 4 a.m. Her
cousin, Kwame Lumpopo, called from Otuam informing Bartels that her
unde had died and that she had been chosen by the elders and ancestors to
be king.
After conferring with the dead ancestors about her new responsibility, she
made plans to travel to Otuam and take charge.
In 2008, Bartels tcxrk the offidal title of Amuah-Afenyi VI, and has ruled
Otuam as King since 2008.
"This woman here is on a mission, and I'm chosen," King Peggy told CBS
News. "I'm not going to allow any male to run me down. I am goine to rule
you and rule you right"
She politely commanded respect in her interview with Erica Hill and Gayle
King of CBS News when she asked to be called "Nana" instead of King Peggy.
"It's (the) name of a woman of stature or a King or a Queen in Ghana," she
said. "It's a very powerful name."
P^ggy said that once she sets her mind to do something, she will not
let anyone deter her.
"(TTie elders) chose me as king because they know I have a really strong
personality, and I can rule," said King Peggy. "The King is the one who makes
all the educated dedsions and (does) all the hard work for the town."
To see the full direct Interview with King Peggy,
visit our website at
www>gMHfoixlian,com