• A mine in the middle of paradise

    The Tebboune government is brutally suppressing any protest against a lead-and-zinc mine being built in a RAMSAR protected area.

    The region surrounding the #Soummam river has long been renowned for its #agriculture. It is home to centuries’ old olive trees and a diverse and rich flora and fauna with several protected species. It is the core of a major agro food center, which supplies the country and produces several brands of mineral water as well as a local beer, Albrau.

    But a government project launched in July is about to radically disturb its ecosystem and landscape. Algiers is speeding up the exploitation of a lead and #zinc mine which had been planned – and feared – for almost two decades. It will be developed by the joint venture company #Western_Mediterranean_Zinc (#WMZ), a partnership between state-owned mining firm, #Sonarem, which has majority shareholding, and the Australian mining firm, Terramin, in compliance with the 51/49 rule of the finance law, which requires the Algerian side to hold the majority of shares.

    The government insists that the project is national, and consistent with its ambitions to become a major actor in the mining industry. Meanwhile, there have been calls from scientists and activists to investigate Terramin, the Australian miner’s lack of international expertise and scarce information about the agreement with Algerian authorities being issues of concern.

    Many local residents worry the mine’s development could destroy their livelihoods and even push them out. Two villages, Amizour and Tala Hamza, with respectively 45 000 and 15000 inhabitants, will bear the brunt of this decision. If the mine project moves forward, dozens of families will be forced to leave their homes. The region’s historical and intangible heritage will be threatened as well, as martyrs of the Algerian revolution are buried there. So are the loved ones of many inhabitants.

    “This is a mine in the middle of paradise,” a native of the region laments. “The inhabitants are not only afraid of harmful effects on the environment and their health but they do not want to be relocated. They have a special attachment to their land. It is a beautiful region where they lead a quiet life and many of them live from mountain agriculture. Their parents, grandparents and great grandparents are buried there. If the area is destroyed, they will lose everything.”

    In July, Algerian authorities released an executive decree concerning the downgrading of a plot of agricultural land which will be used as a logistical base to access the mine Unsurprisingly, the debate over the exploitation and its environmental consequences has been stifled by local authorities and more importantly, decision-makers in Algiers. The project has been pushed forward as a presidential priority, which makes it more opaque and difficult to oppose, especially given the current repressive context. Regrettably, the local population hasn’t been officially consulted prior to the July announcement, even though their health and that of future generations is at stake.

    What civil society actors and experts are requesting is a transparent and open debate with government officials. According to activists, local residents, especially in #Ait_Bouzid and #Ibazghichen, two neighboring villages in the exploitation area, are largely opposed to the project and expressed their concerns through several petitions sent to the government. They remain unanswered and the government hasn’t reached out to local associations or political actors.

    On May 13, 2022, a group of associations from #Amizour and #Tala_Hamza organised a hike on the site of the mine to raise awareness about the dangers of the extraction of minerals and to call for the preservation of the region. It drew over 200 people although it took place during a wave of repression aimed at silencing the Hirak protest movement and other forms of dissent. According to several people who attended the event, the participants were held at a roadblock and had their personal details and that of their vehicles registered by security forces. A team from Radio M, which was known for its independent coverage and was shut down in December 2022 after the jailing of its editor, Ihsane El Kadi, was stopped for an hour and interrogated. In an interview, an activist claimed several people had been intimidated and even threatened by not only security forces but also local representatives of political parties close to the regime.

    Kamel Aissat, a scientist, university professor and activist of the Socialist Workers’ Party (PST), an opposition party banned in 2022, who lives in the area, has been vocal in his opposition to the project. In July, he was arrested as he was about to travel outside Algeria. He was later summoned and interrogated only to be placed under judicial supervision a few days later by court decision, which means his movements and encounters will be closely monitored and consequently hampered. He’s been charged with harming national unity and publication of information which could harm the national interest. His prosecution redoubles the pressure on local activists. Several people I contacted refused to speak on the record for fear of retribution or due to ongoing judicial procedures due to their involvement in the Hirak.

    “The pouvoir [powers-that-be] has sown a climate of terror,” a local inhabitant told me.

    “[The project] will impact the entire Soummam valley. Everyone and all the neighboring towns will be affected, [all the way to] the Mediterranean sea,” warns Samir Larbi, a PST activist from the neighbouring city of El Kseur.

    Other civil society actors share his concerns over the propagation of heavy metals in the groundwater and the air. “It will have a disastrous impact on agriculture, especially since the region is known for its fertile land. The water table will be contaminated, which in turn, will contaminate all the region of Bejaia,” stresses an activist.

    Critics say the environmental damage outweighs the economic and social benefits. There’s already a great mistrust in the ability of authorities to tackle environmental issues. A recent example is their poor response in 2021 and this summer to the deadly fires in the Bejaia region. Another has been concerns about poor waste management treatment which raises fears over the handling of the toxic waste from the mine.

    The plan, they argue, is in contradiction with the mining legislation passed in 2014, which states that mines in protected areas shouldn’t be developed. The Soummam valley has been classified as a wetland protected by the international Ramsar convention, which Algeria ratified in 1984. Moreover, they point out that there hasn’t been any in-depth public impact study. Furthermore, they mistrust the evaluation of the environmental feasibility of the extraction put forward by the government, which they say should have been performed by an independent organisation. Among the few political actors to speak up against the opacity surrounding the project, members of the opposition party Rally of Culture and Democracy (RCD) in Tala Hamza as well as the party’s regional bureau demanded a genuine and publicly accessible impact study.

    “The expanding of the extraction of underground resources to other natural resources than hydrocarbons does not hide the economic breakdown that is taking hold in the country and must never be done on the sly and by prohibiting debate and advice from experts in the field,” declared the RCD bureau.

    In an interview to the state agency Algeria Press Service in July, the Director General of Mines at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Nadjiba Bourenane claimed that “all the studies necessary for the realization of this strategic project have been carried out, in particular the detailed feasibility study comprising several technical components, namely exploration, exploitation, treatment, mining planning, environmental impact, as well as the technical-economic study with economic modeling, in addition to the development of a market study to be able to prove the profitability of this investment.”

    According to the government, the mine is expected to last about 20 years and directly employ 700 people and 4000 overall. However, in a region where the state has generally been absent, opponents to the project believe it will not lead to sustainable development but is merely a short-term financial opportunity for Terramin and their Algerian counterparts. They stress that the jobs that will be created are non-specialist ones and that the extraction of the mine cannot improve the local economy. The recent history of the country supports their scepticism. Over the last decades, the Algerian population hasn’t generally reaped the benefits of its immense oil and gas resources. The economic policy of the state, which relied on their export, hasn’t led to the development of the regions concerned, only favouring the southern part of the country, perpetuating a rentier economy.

    As the PST activist Larabi argues, these are old government orientations that have accelerated under President Tebboune. “The current policy is based on extractivism and the unbridled use of resources,” he said.

    https://africanarguments.org/2023/09/a-mine-in-the-middle-of-paradise

    #extractivisme #matières_premières #mines #Algérie #plomb #Terramin #résistance

  • Paul Moreira sur X : « Au sujet des #abayas et des signes religieux salafistes, j’ai entendu EmmanuelMacron faire le lien entre la visibilité du vêtement et le terrorisme islamique... Il se trouve que je me suis intéressé de très près à des cellules Daesh en France... » / X
    https://twitter.com/PaulMoreiraPLTV/status/1699111075851964650

    Les mecs dangereux ne ressemblaient pas à des salafistes. Ils détestaient les salafistes qu’ils appelaient #Talafis (mauviettes pour faire court). Parfois les Salafistes les signalaient à la police. Oui, c’est la réalité complexe du terrain, désolé...

    Ceux qu’il fallait combattre, arboraient un style assez moderne, finalement. Jeans, blouson de cuir, barbe courte, une sorte de bonnet de laine en tuyau que je voyais chez les journalistes. Coquets dans leur genre. Taqya ? Pas que... Ces types étaient passés de la case « voyou » au Jihad, sans perdre énormément de temps dans l’étude du Coran.

    Pour certains, leur conversion venait de films conspirationnistes trouvés sur internet. Dans leur cas, la came, l’alcool et une famille en morceaux avaient été le vrai véhicule. Ce qu’on appelle le social, président

    • le pouvoir fait comme si ses flics et préfets, ses journalistes et ses sociologues ne savaient rien, comme si le spectacle d’images d’affrontations où le contrôle du territoire voit se combattre armes à la main y compris des gars en qamis (en Syrie par exemple) tenait lieu ici de réalité.

      et c’est un coup réussi ! la guerre contre l’ennemi intérieur est proxénète, elle prostitue la culture (cf. V. Woolf, Trois guinées). en cette rentrée, Maquereau a réussi à réaliser une unité nationale des partis et des sondages que son show aux chefs de partis de 12h ne pouvait seul lui assurer (Roussel nécessaire, et radicalement insuffisant).

  • Les justes turcs : un si long silence

    Cela fait plus d’un siècle que la #Turquie refuse de reconnaître sa #responsabilité dans le #génocide_arménien et la mort de 1,5 millions d’#Arméniens entre 1915 et 1917. Ce #négationnisme oppose toujours les deux peuples et a jeté dans l’#oubli cette poignée d’hommes et de femmes turcs qui ont choisi de sauver des vies arméniennes.
    Simples bergers ou chefs d’entreprise, soldats ou officiels de l’empire ottoman, ces #Justes Turcs ont désobéi aux ordres de déportations et de massacres, au péril de leurs vies. Mais leurs actes de résistance qui font d’eux des « Schindlers turcs » restent jusqu’à ce jour méconnus et même niés par l’histoire officielle turque.
    Le narrateur, descendant d’une famille arménienne sauvée par des Turcs, se rend en Arménie à la recherche d’autres familles qui comme lui doivent la vie à des Turcs, en Belgique, où il poursuit ses recherches et rencontres et en Turquie, où les descendants de Justes osent témoigner de leur histoire familiale, malgré les risques encourus à parler du génocide arménien dans ce pays.
    Tout au long du documentaire, place sera faite à des récits d’entraide et d’humanité nés au coeur même de la barbarie, rappelant qu’aucun crime, si atroce soit-il, n’empêche l’humanité de se manifester.

    https://lcp.fr/programmes/les-justes-turcs-un-si-long-silence-66261
    #désobéissance #résistance #génocide #histoire #Arménie #Empire_ottoman #refus #silence
    #film #film_documentaire

    –—

    #toponymie, noms en lien avec le génocide :

    Lice, vers Diyarbakir, lieu où a été tué un Juste (à partir de la min 34’20) :

    « Aujourd’hui le lieu est toujours connu sous le nom du ’Turbiller Kaimakam’ (la tombe du sous-préfet), mais les hommes qui m’y conduisent ne semblent ne plus connaître son histoire. Le nom des lieux a pourtant gardé la mémoire des crimes passés : ’La fosse des Arméniens’, ’La Vallée du Massacre’, ’La rivière des morts’, ’L’arbre d’Evan’, du nom d’une jeune arménienne enterrée sous un noyer. Ses noms de lieux parlent plus fort que l’idéologie et le mensonge et rappellent les disparus à la vie ».

    Sur la présence de #Talaat_Pacha (responsable des massacres) (à partir de la minute39’43) :

    « Talaat Pacha a son mausolée en plein coeur d’Istanbul. Selon un décompte récent, pas moins de 8 quartiers, 38 rues et boulevards, 7 écoles nationales, 6 immeubles et 2 mosquées à Istanbul, Ankara et autres villes portent encore le nom de Talaat Pacha. En filmant ces rues, je songe à l’Allemagne, où il serait impensable qu’un tel lieu public porte encore le nom d’Adolf Hitler »

    #toponymie_politique

  • #Winterthur : #Zensur, une occupation pour un centre social
    https://fr.squat.net/2020/10/02/winterthur-zensur-une-occupation-pour-un-centre-social

    Ce vendredi soir, nous avons occupé le bâtiment de la #Talackerstrasse_99. Après plus de trois ans d’inoccupation, nous voulons redonner vie à l’ancien immeuble de bureaux Sulzer et créer un centre social et culturel. L’immeuble est actuellement la « propriété » d’Implenia, qui joue un rôle moteur dans le développement de Winterthur en tant que « Ville […]

    #gentrification #ouverture #Suisse

  • El Ejército desplegará en el Estrecho drones Predator comprados a EEUU para vigilar las pateras

    El Ejército del Aire pondrá a prueba sus nuevos drones ’Predator B’, que recibirá este verano, en el Estrecho de Gibraltar. La misión: vigilar la llegada de pateras y narcolanchas a la provincia de #Cádiz.

    España recibirá este verano los tres primeros drones ‘#Predator-B’ comprados a Estados Unidos. El Ejército del Aire, que se hará cargo de ellos, ya tiene una misión encomendada: la vigilancia de las aguas del Estrecho para suplir la falta de medios en la lucha contra el tráfico de personas y estupefacientes.

    El Ejército del Aire tiene previsto utilizar los drones ‘Predator-B’ que va a recibir en los próximos meses en misiones de vigilancia del Estrecho de Gibraltar. Los aparatos, que tendrán su base estable en Talavera la Real (Badajoz), operarán en el Golfo de Cádiz. Así lo admiten a OKDIARIO fuentes militares próximas a la gestión de estos sistemas.

    Una de las primeras tareas para las que se utilizarán estos aviones no tripulados será la lucha contra la inmigración ilegal en aguas del Estrecho. Los medios que tiene a su disposición ahora mismo la Guardia Civil son insuficientes y, a pocos meses de que comience la temporada de pateras, no se han registrado mejoras por parte del Ministerio del Interior. Se espera un verano ‘caliente’, “posiblemente más que el anterior” indican fuentes de la seguridad del Estado.

    El despliegue de estos drones en el Estrecho será la primera misión que se les encomiende a las tripulaciones del Ejército del Aire encargadas de los Predator. Llevan años acudiendo a formarse a bases militares en Estados Unidos.

    La vigilancia del Estrecho, explican fuentes militares a OKDIARIO, servirá “para poner en práctica todo lo aprendido” durante el proceso de formación de los operadores. Los aparatos serán operados desde puestos situados en la base de #Talavera_la_Real. “Además de familiarizarse con su uso, prestarán un servicio muy necesario”, explican. Se calcula que podrían estar operativos en el último tramo de 2019.

    Tecnología punta

    Los nuevos drones del Ejército del Aire, uno de los modelos más avanzados de cuantos hay en servicio en todo el mundo, han costado unos 216 millones de euros. En el paquete va incluido un sistema de cámaras para vigilancia y un potente radar de largo alcance. Tienen capacidad para ir armados con misiles, pero los que ha adquirido España aún no tienen esa capacidad.

    El preso de los ‘Predator B’ supera las dos toneladas –sin carga extra- y tienen una envergadura de punta a punta de 20 metros. Pueden volar a velocidades de alrededor de 400 kilómetros por hora durante unas 14 horas. Eso les permite cubrir distancias de cerca de 2.000 kilómetros. Suficiente para operar con flexibilidad en el Estrecho.

    Los Predator trabajarán en misiones de vigilancia junto con los aviones de patrulla marítima ‘#P.3_Orión’ que las Fuerzas Armadas llevan años utilizando en el Estrecho.

    Los ‘P.3 Orión’ son capaces de volar durante más de doce horas ininterrumpidas y disponen de una red de sensores capaces de localizar a una pequeña embarcación –como una patera- a kilómetros de distancia. Incluso de noche o con condiciones meteorológicas extremas.


    https://okdiario.com/espana/ejercito-desplegara-estrecho-drones-predator-comprados-eeuu-vigilar-patera
    #militarisation_des_frontières #Méditerranée #Espagne #drones #asile #migrations #réfugiés #fermeture_des_frontières #frontières #complexe_militaro-industriel #armée #surveillance #Détroit_de_Gibraltar

    ping @isskein @karine4

  • BlaBlaMix n°12 | #Radio_Canut
    https://blogs.radiocanut.org/blablamix/2016/12/11/blablamix-n12

    #BlaBlaMix n°12

    Spéciale #Syrie, spéciale Fanny, #oud en live et #cinéma-documentaire. Avec l’association #Alwane et le groupe #Talawine, via Hassan, Hala, élève de #CinéFabrique, École nationale supérieure de Cinéma et de Multimédia et Fanny de #Singa #Lyon, l’association qui fait du bien aux #réfugiés et aux "lyonnais.
    Sumon est en régie. En studio, Véronique anime et interviewe, Dipù s’entraîne. Florian à l’agenda et Lena aux photos et réseaux sociaux.

  • #Saba_Mahmood : « Repenser le #religieux, c’est aussi repenser la laïcité »
    https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/culture-idees/251215/saba-mahmood-repenser-le-religieux-c-est-aussi-repenser-la-laicite

    Comment comprendre l’outrage fait à certains musulmans par les #caricatures du #prophète sans paraître justifier l’action des terroristes ? L’universitaire américaine d’origine pakistanaise Saba Mahmood invite à repenser la conception même de la laïcité et de la #religion, pour éviter un choc frontal entre liberté d’expression et de croyance.

    #Culture-Idées #blasphème #Charlie_Hebdo #Essais #islam #Judith_Butler #laïcité #liberté_de_croyance #liberté_de_religion #Outrage #Talal_Asad #Wendy_Brown

  • Do Muslims Belong in the West? An Interview with #Talal_Asad
    http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/20768/do-muslims-belong-in-the-west-an-interview-with-ta

    Those who urge theological reform to enable the effective condemnation of jihadism (especially after the Paris murders at Charlie Hebdo and the Jewish supermarket) should first inquire into the recency of this phenomenon: the Islamic tradition in all its variety has been around for centuries, and mainstream Muslim authorities have condemned such killing for ages. Why has the phenomenon of jihadism appeared–and proliferated–only now?

    #cause #effet

  • In #Homs’ northern countryside, civilians live under fire
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/homs%E2%80%99-northern-countryside-civilians-live-under-fire

    Women work in the fields of Homs’ countryside. (Photo: Archive) Women work in the fields of Homs’ countryside. (Photo: Archive)

    There are no obstacles on the road leading to the village of Jabourin located on the demarcation line with #Om_Sharshouh, a village outside the control of the Syrian government, except for the rugged nature and sniper bullets. From Jabourin to Kfarnan, the last village held by the army in Homs’ countryside, civilians have to cope with living on the frontlines of a fierce battle, with the villages of Om Sharshouh, #Talbissah, #al-Ghanto, #Ezzeddin, #Rastan, and #al-Houla on the other side.

    Marah Mashi

    read (...)

    #Mideast_&_North_Africa #Al-Nusra_Front #Articles #Homs_Old_City #syria #Talal_al-Barazi #Turkmen

  • Al-Qaeda plays with explosives in #Ain_al-Hilweh
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/al-qaeda-plays-explosives-ain-al-hilweh

    Fighters are seen along a street in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, on 12 March 2013, after one person was killed and several wounded in clashes that erupted in the camp. (Photo: AFP - Mahmoud Zayyat) Fighters are seen along a street in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, on 12 March 2013, after one person was killed and several wounded in clashes that erupted in the camp. (Photo: AFP - Mahmoud Zayyat)

    After the assassination attempt on Colonel #Talal_al-Urduni’s life on May 19, opponents of the #Fatah Movement in Ain al-Hilweh [Palestinian refugee camp] upgraded their weaponry from shells and (...)

    #Palestine #Al-Nusra_Front #Articles #Jund_al-Sham #Lebanon #Palestinian_National_Security_Forces

  • Together for the sake of freedom
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/together-sake-freedom

    From left to right: MP Hassan Fadlallah, Assafir Editor-in-Chief #Talal_Salman, Al-Akhbar Editor-in-Chief #Ibrahim_al-Amin, and owner of #Al-Jadeed TV Tahseen Khayat. They were part of the gathering at the #press_syndicate building on April 28, 2014 to denounce the #STL's charges against Al-Akhbar’s editor-in-chief, Ibrahim al-Amin, and #Karma_Khayat of Al-Jadeed TV. From left to right: MP Hassan Fadlallah, Assafir Editor-in-Chief Talal Salman, Al-Akhbar Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim al-Amin, and owner of Al-Jadeed TV Tahseen Khayat. They were part of the gathering at the Press Syndicate building on April 28, 2014 to denounce the STL’s charges against Al-Akhbar’s editor-in-chief, Ibrahim al-Amin, and Karma Khayat of Al-Jadeed TV. (...)

    #Opinion #Articles #Beirut #Lebanon #Ministry_of_Information #Pierre_al-Daher #Ramzi_Jreij

  • Saudi Prince Accuses Syrian Director of “Sexual Jihad”
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/saudi-prince-accuses-syrian-director-%E2%80%9Csexual-jihad%E2%80%

    Anzour chose Damascus cinemas to show his movie, defying all lawsuits that accused him of “defaming and slandering a royal personality and a royal family.” (Photo: Al-Akhbar) Anzour chose Damascus cinemas to show his movie, defying all lawsuits that accused him of “defaming and slandering a royal personality and a royal family.” (Photo: Al-Akhbar)

    As the film “King of the Sands” debuted in Syrian cinemas, Saudi Prince #Talal_bin_Abdul-Aziz_al-Saud, a half-brother of King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, requested that President Bashar al-Assad stop its screening, describing the film’s director as a promoter of “jihad al-nikah,” or sexual jihad.

    Nadine Kanaan (...)

    #Culture_&_Society #Articles #King_of_the_Sands #Najdat_Anzour #Saudi_Arabia #syria