Darfur // Current TV

Visions: Tim Hetherington’s Theater of War

ast week, an upcoming gallery show of work by the late photographer Tim Hetherington was announced, the inaugural exhibition of The Bronx Documentary Center that was founded earlier this year. The exhibition, titled “Visions,” is a collection of never-before-seen photos by Hetherington, a British-American photographer who lived in Brooklyn. He was a longtime Vanity Fair and CNN contributor who died in April while covering the conflict in Libya, along with fellow conflict photographer and Brooklyn resident Chris Hondros.

It is amazingly ironic that the announcement of the exhibition of Tim Hetherington’s work coincided precisely with published reports that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the erratic, provocative dictator who ruled Libya for 42 years, had finally met a violent and vengeful death in the hands of the Libyan forces that drove him from power.

Hetherington was most famous for his Academy Award-nominated 2010 documentary “Restrepo,” which he filmed with Sebastian Junger in 2007. The film follows the Army platoon assigned to what was then the most dangerous posting in Afghanistan, The Korengal Valley, to clear it of insurgents and gain the trust of the local populace. In the course of the film, the platoon builds a new outpost they name after Juan Sebastian Restrepo, a comrade who was killed during the early days of the 15-month assignment.

On April 20, Hetherington was trailing rebels in the besieged coastal city of Misurata in Libya, when he and Hondros were killed in an explosion from a rocket-propelled grenade. He left behind 40 rolls of undeveloped 220mm film. The negatives revealed a fascinating mix of what Tim called “the theater of war,” men strutting with their guns, as well as landscapes, graffiti, and men firing guns and rocket-propelled grenades in battle. And a vase of plastic flowers in a bullet-marked room. Seventeen of the prints will be on display in the Bronx Documentary Center show as 36- by 30-inch prints hanging from the ceiling on two large wood panels, beginning October 22nd.

This piece includes a number of high-resolution color photographs, a remarkable photo-gallery and five documentary short films.

http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/visions-tim-hetheringtons-theater-of-war/ast week, an upcoming gallery show of work by the late photographer Tim Hetherington... more

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Eyeteeth: A journal of incisive ideas: Louis Vuitton sues artist Nadia Plesner -- again -- for using handbag image in Darfur art

repost this as much as possible to show the "entity and General Counsel" of... more

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Super Frat: Diplomacy Requires A Lot of Missiles

Pledgemaster Dick watches the latest on the Libya bombing.

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iOnGround: Refugee Journalism -- Their Lives, Through Their Eyes

We handed out cameras to young Darfuri refugees living in camps close to the... more

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Looking at Hassayna

“All of these here, born here in the camp,” the camp leader told us, as we look at a group of wide-eyed kids. The others in the group, they were probably either in their mother’s womb or too young to remember Darfur. He also said that they do not have the resources to dedicate curriculum towards Darfur history in their schools, so that it’s up to the parents to pass on their culture, through stories and songs.

Today was our last visit to a camp during this trip, my ninth i-ACT Expedition to Eastern Chad since 2005. I’m excited to go back home to see my children, right in time for the holidays. I miss them and I worry about them, even though I know they are safe and well looked after. Sometimes I wonder if I bring too much of my “eyes of a father” to the camps. Do I have too high of expectations, seeing children from my own western perspective? Do I have the right expectation, or am I measuring the wrong way from the start? Should I wish for the little, beautiful girl with the black scarf around her neck the same things I wish for my son and daughter?

I am realistic enough to know that my little team and I do not have the power to bring immediate positive change to the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions of children in this region alone that deserve it. Here I am coming on my ninth trip, and I am seeing so many more children still with little hope to return to a peaceful home. It can become paralyzing. So I try not to think about it, and our team huddles to figure out what we can do–for that little, beautiful girl with the black scarf, and her family, friends, neighbors. We figure, what if our own families, friends, and neighbors are touched and also pitch in; then maybe we can help more!

You know, to hell with status quo expectations and looking at all the limits and what cannot be done. What CAN we do?

As I walk the camps, I always make sure that I look in to the eyes of a child, one specific child out of the dozens following us, so that I do connect with them, with my eyes of a father.

Gabriel

http://www.iactivism.org/2010/12/looking-at-hassayna/“All of these here, born here in the camp,” the camp leader told us, as we... more

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A Scarred South Sudan Sees Its Dream of Freedom at Hand

On Sunday, after decades of war and more than two million lives lost, southern Sudan will get the moment it has been yearning for, a referendum on independence. All signs point to the people here voting overwhelmingly for secession, and the largest country on the continent will then begin the delicate process of splitting in two.

The United States government has played a pivotal role in bringing this moment to fruition, pushing the northern and southern Sudanese to sign a peace treaty in 2005 that set the referendum in motion. A proud, new African country is about to be born, but it will step onto the world stage with shaky legs. As it stands now, southern Sudan is one of the poorest places on earth.

Most people here scrape by on less than 75 cents a day. More than three-quarters of adults cannot read. Decades of civil war and marginalization have left the economy so crushed that just about everything is imported, down to eggs. According to Oxfam, a teenage girl has a higher chance of dying in childbirth than finishing elementary school.

Tens of thousands have flocked back to take part in the referendum, and some analysts, possibly reinforcing stereotypes of Africa as always teetering on the edge, warn south Sudan could be the next Somalia, awash in violence. Already, aid agencies are ringing the alarm about a lack of food, water, health care and sanitation.

“We have an unfolding humanitarian crisis, layered on top of an existing and forsaken one,” said the International Rescue Committee, an American aid organization that works in Sudan.

But this is a land of shared sacrifice, and that may be a cohesive force that helps hold southern Sudan together. After all the years of guerrilla warfare and hardship, oppression and persecution at the hands of the Arabs who rule Sudan, people here are deeply invested in holding a peaceful referendum and building the world’s newest nation.

“We are underdeveloped, yes, but we will do it,” said Gideon Gatpan Thoar, the information minister of Unity State, near the north-south border.

United Nations officials here say something remarkable has already happened. In 2009, ethnic fighting swept the south, with several thousand people killed in military-grade attacks, fueled by longstanding ethnic rivalries and a sudden, suspicious increase in high-powered weaponry. Many southerners suspected that the government in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, was instigating the violence, just as it had in the past when Khartoum fomented a civil war within a civil war.

But in the past six months, there has been almost no major ethnic violence. One of the last holdouts, a renegade general who had been leading a revolt deep in the bush, recently agreed to a cease-fire. “What we are seeing is a real effort for reconciliation,” said a United Nations official in Juba, who was not authorized to speak to the news media and spoke anonymously. “All eyes are on the referendum. They’re all trying to get along now.”

But the official added, “Everybody knows these issues will come up in the future.”On Sunday, after decades of war and more than two million lives lost, southern Sudan... more

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What is the best way to save Darfur??

;_ylt=AnoBxdMxD4_8YZvCxwI85YdvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTJ1dDMxOG41BGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDEwMTEwNS9zdWR... more

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Sympathy From the Devil - Darfur

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Kenya, African Union defend Bashir visit

Kenya and the African Union are defending a visit by Sudanese President Omar... more

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Hundreds Killed in Darfur Fighting

Violence has been increasing in Darfur in recent months. The United Nations says that... more

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Sudan Accused of Brutal War on Dissent

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Blackwater Escapes Charges for Sudan Sanctions Busting

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3 U.N. peacekeepers slain in Darfur

Three U.N. peacekeepers were killed and another was seriously wounded in a shootout Monday with unknown attackers in the West Darfur region of Sudan, the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur said.

The soldiers from a UNAMID Protection Force Battalion were providing security to civilian engineers working at a site near the village of Nertiti, in the Jebel Marra area, around 11:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. ET) when more than 20 attackers in camouflage battle dress began firing on them, UNAMID said in a news release.

That touched off a firefight that lasted nearly an hour, it said. Three of the attackers also were killed before the remaining ones fled, some in a stolen car, it said.

The wounded peacekeeper was taken to a hospital in Nyala, in South Darfur, where he was in critical condition, the news release said.

The last attack on UNAMID peacekeepers occurred last month, when two Egyptian troops were killed and three were wounded in an ambush in South Darfur.

With Monday's attack, 27 UNAMID peacekeepers have been killed -- 24 military personnel and three police officers.

UNAMID patrols reported over the weekend that an estimated 40 people were killed and 10 were wounded in fighting Saturday between the Aballa and Baggara tribes in the areas of Urdi and Kenkoule in West Darfur.

A fact-finding patrol was sent to the area Sunday.

The 26,000-member UNAMID force, a joint operation of the United Nations and the African Union, took over peacekeeping operations in the area at the end of 2007.

Violence in Darfur erupted in 2003 after rebels began an uprising against the Sudanese government. To counter the rebels, Sudanese authorities armed and cooperated with Arab militias, who went from village to village in Darfur, killing, torturing and raping residents, according to the United Nations, Western governments and human rights organizations. The militias targeted civilian members of tribes from which the rebels drew strength.

The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Darfur, and 2.5 million have been forced from their homes. Sudan denies that the death toll is that high.Three U.N. peacekeepers were killed and another was seriously wounded in a shootout... more

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Activists Dismayed at U.S. Reaction to Sudan Polls

Activist groups are calling on the Obama administration to hold the Sudanese... more

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Sudan starts historic vote amid confusion, delays

Confusion, delays and allegations of fraud marked the start of Sudan's first... more

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UNITED NATIONS: WHAT IS HAPPENING THERE!

American should be better informed about what is going in the the United Nations Human... more

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Sudan Threatens to Expel Election Observers

Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, has warned foreign election observers that his... more

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The seven stories you missed this week: Terror, Sharks, Pumpkins and more

It's been a busy week in the news what with the UN General Assembly and now the G-20 in Pittsburgh, so we wanted to give you a quick little round up of some stories you might have missed this week.

Three terror arrests - Surely you heard that a suspect was arrested and indicted on charges of planning to blow up bombs in the US. But did you hear that there were two other terror arrests this week? That's right! One in Texas and one in Illinois. Both suspects believed that they had filled a car with powerful explosives and tried to detonate them remotely via cell phones, but the FBI had duped them with fake explosives. More from ABC News.

Uighurs and sharks - It was a big week for the island nation of Palau, as FP Passport reports. They have agreed to take in six Gitmo detainees, all Uighurs. And they delcared the world's first shark sanctuary in their territorial waters. More from FP Passport.

Daring art heist - A daylight raid on a Brussels museum netted a portrait by painter Rene Magritte. The thieves rang the doorbell, put a gun to the head of the concierge, and walked away with the painting. It's estimated to be worth 3 million euros. More from The Guardian.

FDA bans flavored cigarettes - In an attempt to discourage younger customers from picking up smoking, the FDA has banned all flavored cigarettes. Strawberry, chocolate and clove cigarettes were all seen as a gateway for younger smokers to begin the habit. More from the New York Times.
Related: We blogged this week about the success of smoking bans.

Pumpkin crop crisis - New England's pumpkin farmers may have disappointing news for Halloween. Apparently the heavy rains of June and July swamped pumpkin patches and will mean that many pumpkins won't be orange enough to send to stores in time for the holiday. Read more at Yahoo News.

New fighting breaks out in Sudan - The Sudanese army has reportedly begun skirmishing with rebel groups again in the Darfur region. The Sudan Liberation Army said that nearly two dozen civilians were killed in the clashes. Read more at BBC News.
Related: A video introduction to the SLA

Germany's going to the polls - Though no huge shake-ups are expected, Germany is holding elections this weekend. The big question is whether Chancellor Angela Merkel will be able to gain more power for her CDU party, or if they will need to continue ruling a 'grand coalition' government. Read more at Der Spiegel

Other posts from this week:
- Get pricked in Paris – France’s tattoo art festival
- Floods drench the South; I swear we were talking Southeastern drought just a year ago
- Leader of Philippines rebel movement captured – Setback for MILF rebels
- Red dust storm swallows Sydney – Video
- The tunnel-dwellers of Las Vegas
- Honduras stand-off drags onIt's been a busy week in the news what with the UN General Assembly and now the... more

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Darfur rebel alliance makes peace with Sudan

"Sudan has signed a ceasefire with a major Darfur rebel group, the second deal in... more

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