Interviews

Razan Zeitouneh talks with peace activist Ossama Nassar from Darayaa about the chances of the Syrian revolution to remain peaceful.
The trained eye cannot miss a recent change in the general mood in Syria under the pressure of the regime’s crackdown on the opposition and the lack, to date, of any change in the balance of power that could favour the revolution.

Pressenza spoke with Ehad Lotayef who was deported yesteday from an Israeli detention center to Canada. Lotayef was arrested with David Heap on the Canadian ship «Tahrir» on Friday
November 4th. The Israeli navy intercepted the ship about 35 kilometers north of the Gaza Strip in International waters. The Tahrir was part of a flottila to Gaza with the Irish Saoirse vessel.

Lunchtime at the HSBC building Central Hong Kong – gone was its strangely grimy sterility once only broken by smoothly ascending escalators that carry what appear to be robotised humans into its underbelly; the grey flagstone base now replete with a growing tent city, tables of foodstuff, sofas, gaudy banners, quietly disposed youngies at laptops or in small bands, talking.

We interviewed Yordos, a young Greek who came in these days to Madrid to participate in the 15O, and to strengthen ties with the Spanish indignant. He sayd to us: “…We don’t have to wait for others to decide for our lives and how those should be. The squares are waiting for us and I am sure that we people, through debate and dialogue, can find the ways to improve our lives.”

Anti-corruption ‘soldier’ Mr Tony Kwok, former Operation Head, ICAC Hong Kong, interviewed by Hong Kong resident Dilip K. Pandey, a volunteer with India Against Corruption campaign, looking at: the anti-corruption movement in India and the role of an independent anti-corruption agency like Lokpal. Presented in full owing to its usefulness as a reference.

The body bag marked “Victim 0001” on Sept. 11, 2001, contained the corpse of Father Mychal Judge, a Catholic chaplain with the Fire Department of New York. When he heard about the disaster at the World Trade Center, he donned his Catholic collar and firefighter garb and raced downtown. He saw people jump to their deaths to avoid the inferno more than 1,000 feet above.

On the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, the 29th of August 2011, IKV Pax Christi’s NoNukes Campaign launched NUKEM, a Facebook application that makes the effects of nuclear weapons visible to facebook users.

Hugo Muleiro, a journalist, head of the editorial staff for ANSA news agency, specialising in news relating to infancy and adolescence, leads a programme on Radio de las Madres (Mothers’ Radio) and is a member of Comuna (Comunicadores de la Argentina). He agreed to give Pressenza an interview and told us what this new organisation is about.

Despite attempts by Chinese authorities to suppress any form of social change, young Chinese people both in and out of the country are constantly finding new ways to be heard. In 2010 alone there were 320,000 incidents of civil unrest. A move is underway to unite the diverse protests and rebrand them the “Jasmine Revolution”, following in the footsteps of Tunisia.

The UN Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development recognizes that the challenges inherent to the global water crisis can’t be met by governments alone. All key sectors of society have to be engaged and mobilized to collectively address the problem. Dr. Reza Ardakanian says the media can play an important role in mobilizing different players to respond to the water crisis.