Jacob Zuma and AIDS

Yesterday, on World AIDS Day, Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa, announced a surprising plan for fighting HIV/AIDS in his country which is the nation with the largest number of HIV positive people in the world. The new policy calls for earlier treatment for pregnant women who are HIV positive and medical treatment for ALL babies born HIV positive. Finally there is hope for these youngest victims of a disease which infects one in ten South Africans. This is an amazing and welcome change in a nation where the health minister once argued that AIDS could be cured by garlic and beet root. And Zuma is the most unlikely of heroes in this battle against the disease. When he was tried for the rape of an HIV positive woman in 2006, he testified that he had prevented himself from getting the disease by taking a shower after having sex. I criticized and mocked Zuma's ignorant attitude on many occasions. Today, I am pleased to say such positive things about him. I will be very happy if it turns out that I was wrong about him.

Veterans Day + 1

Yesterday President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany held a joint ceremony in Paris to commemorate the end of World War I. What an amazing sight it must have been to see the leaders of these former enemy countries laying a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe. Merkel said, "We will never forget to what point the French suffered because of the Germans in the first half of the 20th century. Still one must learn to rise above one's history...there is a force that can help us: the force of reconciliation."

Wow! What a remarkable thing after all the wars these two peoples fought throughout history, not only the two World Wars, but also the Franco-Prussian War, the Napoleonic Wars and so many earlier conflicts. And now they are in the EU and share a common currency. I am sure that Georges Clemenceau would never have believed if someone had tried to tell him when he represented France at the "peace" conference after World War I. It made me wonder if some current enemies could one say be reconciled and share such a commemoration. The Palestinians and the Israelis? The Pakistanis and the Indians? It seems unthinkable now, but no more unthinkable than this would have seemed in 1918 or 1945.

What do you think?

Muslims can't commit genocide

Thanks to Borana for the tip on this story.

Turkey is hosting an economic summit for the Organization for Islamic Conference. One of the expected attendees was President Hassan Omar al-Bashir of Sudan who is currently under indictment by the ICC for crimes against humanity in Darfur. The EU, the U.S. and human rights groups within Turkey and around the world had urged the Turkish government to not include Bashir on the guest list. Not only did Prime Minister Erdogan extend the invitation, he defended Bashir by saying that no genocide had occurred nor was occurring in Darfur because no Muslim was capable of genocide.

“It’s not possible for a Muslim to commit genocide. That’s why we are comfortable with the visit of al-Bashir.”

Mr Erdogan said he himself visited Darfur three years ago. “We could not find evidence of genocide there,” he said. “It is not possible that a man who has committed himself to our religion, Islam, commits genocide.”

So, according to Erdogan, there is no genocide in Darfur; however, there is one in Gaza.

“Gaza and Darfur should not be confused with each other. Fifteen-hundred people were killed in Gaza. If there was something like this in Darfur, we would follow that to the end as well,” Erdogan said.

I guess the nearly half million people killed in Darfur don't count even though they, themselves, were Muslims.

By the way, Bashir did not attend the conference because of pressing domestic problems.

What do you think of Trukey's chances of being admitted into the EU now?

Berlin Wall

Today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This was surely one of the momentous milestones of the 20th century - and it was all on TV for the world to see. (What a contrast to China and North Korea today!) It marked the end of the Cold War which had brought us the Korean War, Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, the Iron Curtain, the Bamboo Curtain and U.S. support for non-communist leaders like Mobutu in Zaire. When the wall came down so did the post World War II world. In some ways, it was an easier time because it was so oversimplified. We knew who the "good guys" and the "bad guys" were, and the bad guys had that wall as proof that they were evil. In the last twenty years, our world has evolved into a far more complicated geo-political system. Who can label the the good guys and bad guys in eastern Congo with all the groups fighting and changing sides with head spinning speed? The same thing about Bosnia in the 1990's. So many sides instead of just two with clear differences. I once told a Conflicts, much to their amusement, that I was kind of nostalgic for the Cold War! I meant I wish I could know who is right and who is wrong as I thought I did while growing up in the Cold War. Life was simpler, scarier, but simpler.

What do you think the legacy of the Berlin Wall is? Was life really simpler or was that all an illusion?

Nelson

This is a follow-up to the story Graham brought us in the summer. Nelson Mandela used the South Africa rugby team to try to heal some of the racial divide after the end of apartheid. There was a brief trailer during the game tonight, but here is the link to a longer one. (Thanks to Ilana.)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/invictus/

Nobel Peace Prize

Like so many people, I woke up to the surprising, I would say stunning, news that Barack Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. While I am a real admirer of the President, I thought it was perhaps premature although I believe he has changed the direction of world events through his policy of multilateralism and dialogue. I thought his speech in Cairo did more to undermine recruitment by terrorist groups than all the bombs and troops around the world. Here is what someone far more qualified than I had to say:

MOHAMED ELBARADEI

The director-general of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, who received the prize in 2005, said in a statement that he was “absolutely delighted,” adding: “I cannot think of anyone today more deserving of this honor. In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself.”

What do you think of the choice of Obama for the Nobel Peace Prize?

Nick and Sheryl Interview

Alex Berg, 264, read on FB that I wouldn't be able to attend Nick and Sheryl's presentation last night so she sent me information on how to listen to a live interview today. I am urging everyone to listen to the recorded version of it at:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2009/10/07/Nicholas-Kristof-Sheryl-WuDunn

It was wonderful. They talked about many things which Conflicts students across the years will find familiar: FGM, fistulas, sexual slavery, Mukhtar Mai whom Nick describes simply as his "hero", rape as a tactic of war and so much more.

I was struck by so many points, but here are a few which I hope will entice you to listen. They used the term "gendercide" to describe what is happening to girls and women in the 21st century. And they had incredible statistics to back it up. for example, one woman dies every minute in childbirth and twenty are injured seriously. More women died in childbirth during WW I than soldiers died in combat. Sheryl explained why she felt doing something to try to end FGM is not cultural imperialism. Perhaps, most powerful for me was the point they made that the people who victimize women are often (perhaps more often than not) other women. Nick said that he is really hoping Greg Mortenson wins the Nobel Peace Prize this week.

Listen. It is really worth the time you will spend. One special note for Conflicts 266. At the end of the broadcast, Nick was asked if he had some final comment and he used our starfish story. No wonder I love him!