Islamophobia - A brewing 'Cold War' in the US and the Caribbean

By Rebecca Theodore

Ever since the Runnymede Trust of 1997 made Islamophobia a household name, the usage of the word has spread like wildfire throughout the developed world.   Cemented on the slates of history as a barbaric, primitive and sexist political ideology that supports terrorism, monolithic in origin and does not possess values common with other cultures; Islamophobia is now fulfilling the ideological role that anti-communism served in the Cold War era from which to understand the world.

Although it is the belief of political scientists and sociologists in the US that it was the 9/11 attacks that continues to confirm Islam as “enemy” with destructive clarity, the myth that perpetuate all Muslims as terrorists compressed with the hysteria and outpouring of hate for Islam and Muslims has never been more evident than by the incidence of Koran burning and the debacle over the building of a Muslim community center near Ground Zero.

It follows that if “nothing is more dangerous than the influence of private interests on public affairs” then the way in which the media continues to dehumanize Muslims not only detaches the issue away from its socio-political context, but the “CNN effect” hypothesis, which continues to imply that the media is more influential in shaping policies since the cessation of the Cold War, enforces the culture of victimhood against Muslims and vividly demonstrate that Islamophobia is a one-stop cause for the myriad of problems facing the world today, when in essence it is only a human and technological construct -- an aggressive television sound-bite, that does not exist in time and space.

It is now clear that the finalization of the Cold War now brings a greater focus upon alternative enemies and the portrayal of the binary ‘other’ as a new Cold War is not taking place with socio-economic factors, but with great partition among humankind, hence a dominating cultural conflict that now carries the potency of a blockade mentality, that fuels more antagonism and bitterness and making Muslim communities more inward looking and more open to religious extremism.

In the same way the Holocaust revealed how ferociously unchanged beneath the veneer of civilization lurks the old bête human (human beast) and how moral progress can be stamped by a Darwinian-Malthusian conflict model embedded in intellectual thinking, hostility towards Islam justifies Muslims as “Successor to the Berlin Wall”, thus the buildup hysteria against the Muslim community and their exclusion from mainstream society.  On this assumption, it is impossible to encode the lives of Muslims in Darwinian-Malthusian genetics because the dogma holds no clues for human conduct, no answers to human moral dilemmas and in my view is the most potent intellectual force that is presently eroding the West’s traditional moral order by glorifying ideas of discriminatory practices towards Muslims and confers approval on discrimination as a biological necessity and in this way anti-Islamism is normalized.

As images are important in constructing the discourses of everyday life, the politics of the veil and hatred and abuse of Muslims is exaggerated to suit politicians and journalistic needs in the US and the world at large.   Inflating anti-Muslim prejudice is useful for mainstream politicians to draw attention to themselves and to make monetary gains.   TV personalities, intellectuals, newsworthy Islamophobes, politicians, bestsellers with melodramatic titles by unknown authors with no knowledge of Muslim history are frenziedly defining the dangerous ‘other’ in western society, with no regard to Muslim families who are presently facing a crisis of individuality and freedom in their explanation of the impasse to the younger generation.

Being sensitive to Islamophobia allows politicians to reclaim honorable high ground lost in political mauling over the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The latest of several controversial remarks by Nevada Republican US Senate candidate Sharron Angle that the country needs to address a "militant terrorist situation" that has allowed Islamic religious law to take hold in American cities like Dearborn, Michigan, and Frankford, Texas, strongly indicate that Islamophobia is not limited to the textual, but can be understood with reference to fields of visuality in politics and shows a terrifying lack of connection with reality and that there is big money to be made in promoting bigotry against Muslims.

In the Caribbean, Islam plays a prominent role in Caribbean history, stretching back over one thousand years and tracing its presence to the Atlantic slave trade, the influx of refugees caused by the Spanish persecution of non-Christians in Spain, resulting in Muslims fleeing a ravaged Ottoman Empire in search of opportunities, Arab refugees fleeing persecution by Jews in Palestine, and also Muslim Indians, both indentured servants and immigrants seeking a better way of life.  Regardless of the origin of the Islamic presence, it has endured and is currently growing with a Caribbean Islamic Secretariat playing a prominent role in politics and education and catering to economic development within the business community.

Moreover, new research reveals evidence leading to the presence of Muslims in the ancient Americas long before Columbus’ destructive interference in the fifteenth century.  What is significant about the Islamic presence in the Caribbean is that it has survived for so long.  Alex Haley in his book “Roots” realistically reconstructs the story of his Muslim ancestor Kunta Kinte, who was kidnapped, sold and transported to the Americas, thus showing attempts made by slaves to cling to their Islamic culture and heritage, proving that hostility towards Islam stems from the atrocities and cultural genocide perpetrated by ‘pseudo civilized’ European colonizers in their scathing mission of the cross and the sword and bringing light to the heathens.

Forthwith, in 1848, Karl Marx began his Communist Manifesto with the famous words: “A specter is haunting Europe – the specter of communism.”   Today, another specter is haunting the world.   It is the specter of a brewing Cold War against Islam.

November 3, 2010

caribbeannewsnow

The crucifixion of Obama

BY LLOYD B SMITH




United States President Barack Hussein Obama's The Audacity of Hope has overnight become The Audacity of Hopelessness. At least, this is the opinion of his many detractors, namely the irascible Republicans and Tea Party affiliates, in addition to extreme rightists, disenchanted Independent and blacks, plus outrightly racist Anglo-Saxons who were never comfortable with the idea of a black man being in the White House.In November 2008 Senator Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. And during his subsequent stroll from the Capitol in Washington DC in January 2009 I recall saying to myself here goes "the man of the moment" like Jesus Christ riding on the Democratic Party's proverbial donkey on his way to Jerusalem where he may well be betrayed, accused, tried and condemned to a swift political death.

Politics is an ungrateful profession. Here are some of the descriptions that were made about the first Black man to become president of the world's most powerful and influential country (cannot say it is the richest anymore): "The most exciting politician of the day" - Independent; "In our low-down, dispiriting era, Obama's talent for proposing humane, sensible solutions with uplifting, elegant prose does fill one with hope." - Washington Post; "The Audacity of Hope offers readers on this side of the Atlantic a window not just into the mind of one of America's most exciting politicians, but into the political landscape of post-Bush era...like Bill Clinton, he has the knack of weaving together the personal and the anecdotal with the political and the conceptual, so that each point seems both persuasive and commonsensical." - Guardian

Euphoria has turned to hysteria; love has turned to hate; admiration has turned to vilification; dreams have become nightmares and now the Pharisees and Sadducees, the High Priests and Scribes are shouting, "Crucify him, crucify him!" And whom do they want? Sarah Palin! Now if this scenario does not suggest that many Americans have lost their bearings, what could convince any sane person otherwise?

I am not for one moment saying that Obama has not fouled up in his presidency. There are times when I have quietly expressed anger at some of his decisions, actions and pronouncements, but does this make him into a Communist or Socialist, a Hitler, a Muslim sympathiser and worst of all an illegitimate president by virtue of the propaganda that he is not a born American? Many terrible things have been said of American presidents, but I am yet to be convinced that Obama has not been the most denigrated of them all. I am further convinced that he has suffered this opprobrium even from members of his own party because of his having had a Kenyan father.

Alas, poor Obama. In a bid to be all things to all men, he has failed most miserably and so he has ended up angering just about every spectrum of the American political kaleidoscope - Conservatives, Liberals, Independents, women, the Anglo-Saxon males, youths, seniors, Wall Street, the unemployed, etc. Will he ever be able to get it right? Not as long as he is deemed to be on the left, some say. Today, millions of Americans will go to the polls to vote in the Midterm elections. The latest CNN poll shows the GOP (Grand Old Party) 10 points ahead of the Democrats. It would appear that after today there will be a big, rambunctious elephant charging around in the Oval Office.

The Republicans have skilfully used fear as their major weapon against the Obama administration. Already known as "the party of no", they have set out to make it impossible for Obama to return to the presidency in 2012, if he dares. But history may well be on Obama's side - a history that has shown that incumbent presidents who fare badly in mid-term elections tend to be comeback kids. Ronald Reagan did it and so did Bill Clinton. Within the next two years, his fortunes can turn around, especially if the White House can build consensus with the Republicans on major issues without veering too much from his stated visions; defang Al-Qaeda, grow the economy and create jobs, reduce the national debt, empower the minorities (blacks, Hispanics in particular), deal effectively with the contentious immigration issue, revisit the health-care bill, tackle with compassion and common sense gay and abortion rights, among the many other matters that beset that great nation. A tall order, indeed, but Obama must be pragmatic and come up with an agenda and timetable that are doable within the years he has left in his presidency. Lest he forget, "It's the economy, stupid!"

The spectre of China superseding the USA as the number one world power is most frightening and demoralising to the Americans. It is this fear that has driven many individuals into the lap of the Republicans who, despite today's predicted landslide victory, are not seen by the majority of voters as much better than the Democrats. That is why the Tea Party has emerged in essence as a third party and has attached itself parasitically to the GOP - a marriage that may well end up in a bitter divorce.

I still believe in Obama and I have this gut feeling that he will rebound. After all, if there is any logical historicity to his presidency, then the crucifixion should be followed by the resurrection. His must not be a dream deferred but a dream realised.

lloydbsmith@hotmail

November 02, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

Was CARIFORUM wise in rushing into a 'full' EPA?

By Norman Girvan


Recent news on the stalemate in the EPA negotiations in Southern Africa raises fresh questions about the wisdom of CARIFORUM countries in rushing to sign on to a ‘full’ EPA with Europe in October 2008.

According to an article in one of the region’s leading newspapers, the EPA negotiations with SADC -- the Southern Africa Development Community -- are unlikely to meet the latest deadline for conclusion at the end of 2010.

That will make three years since the expiry of the original deadline of December 31, 2007 for conclusion of a trade agreement to rake the place of the Lome/Cotonou arrangements. We in the Caribbean had been told that this deadline was cast in stone.

One of the main sticking points in the EU-SADC negotiations is EU insistence that “new generation issues” be included in the EPA, even though this is not required under WTO rules. New generation issues include investment, government procurement, competition policy and expansion of intellectual property rights and of trade in services.

The article quotes Namibia’s Director of International Trade as saying that “if we agree to EU demands on new generation issues we would be opening up our economies to very serious problems”. Two major concerns mentioned are the restriction of the right of SADC nations to pursue their own development strategies and the undermining of their regional integration schemes.

Inclusion of these issues was one of the controversial features of the Caribbean’s EPA. Critics had argued that more time was needed to consider the implications of the EPA for development and regional integration.

SADC has apparently also forced the EU to concede ground on its demands for a ‘Most Favoured Nation (MFN) Clause’ whose effect would be to hinder South-South cooperation. The MFN clause was bitterly opposed by CARIFORUM, but the position of European negotiators was ‘take it or leave it’.

Now it seems the Caribbean might have won that battle had they made common cause with the Africans.

CARIFORUM negotiators have always argued that being the first to conclude a ‘full’ EPA with Europe would be an advantage in securing additional development assistance and enhanced access to EU service markets.

It is an open secret, however, that implementation of the EPA by most CARIFORUM countries is well behind schedule because of the onerous legislative, regulatory and administrative obligations and the limited financial means of many countries.

Nearly three years after the conclusion of negotiations, some reassessment of the Caribbean strategy may be necessary; comparing the Caribbean and African experiences.

In addition, the fall-out from the global economic crisis has devastated the financial resources of EU states, which must impact their aid budgets.

And how accessible will European service markets really be, with slow economic recovery and rising unemployment in Europe?

October 30, 2010

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

Jaundiced voters all over send politicians messages

Keeble McFarlane





The severe economic crunch of the past few years has left millions of people from Athens to Atlanta in deep financial distress and frightened about the dismal prospects they face. The result has been a miasma of frustration, confusion and unfocused anger which is having an unsettling effect in the political sphere. In short, voters are feeling like the central character in the mid-1970s movie, Network: "Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!"

Australians voted in June after the then-governing party, Labor, suffered a palace coup. Its leader, Kevin Rudd, had fallen out of public favour and the party held a convention, dumped him and replaced him with his deputy, Julia Gillard, who then called an election. Disenchanted voters rewarded them with Australia's first hung parliament in 70 years. Both Labor and a coalition of the Liberal and National parties each won 72 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives. That's four seats short of what's required for a majority government. The balance of power now lies with two minority party members and four independents. Labor retained power by gaining the support of four cross-benchers.


The next month, grumpy British voters trekked to the polls and denied the ruling Labour Party a fourth term in office. The party, which had had an extraordinarily successful run under the telegenic Tony Blair, was now run by his very competent but totally underwhelming finance minister, Gordon Brown. He was one of the architects of the efforts by the G8 and G20 to use government stimulus to buffer the worst effects of recession but citizens were not happy about the sluggish response of the economy and the huge debts and deficits piling up. So they gave the traditional Labour and Conservative parties less than enthusiastic support but opened up to the traditional outsiders, the Liberal Democrats.

No party had a majority, so rounds of feverish negotiations began and the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats fashioned a workable deal. David Cameron of the Conservatives became prime minister and he appointed Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats as his deputy, while bringing several members of Clegg's party into his Cabinet. They immediately began slimming down the government, social programmes and the armed forces.

Voters are in a cantankerous mood even in well-off Sweden, one of the few countries in the world running a surplus in its national budget. The country is one of the models of the welfare state, paid for, it must be noted, by high taxes. This framework was built by the Social Democratic party, which has formed the government for 65 of the past 78 years and has never before lost two elections in a row. Well, even though they had allied themselves with the relatively new Green Party, they lost the election last month to a centre-right coalition which formed the last government under Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.

The Social Democrats have lost their magic touch to the Swedes of today, who are more focused on the economy and question their country's generosity to outsiders, like the flood of refugees escaping the misery of war in Iraq. The election brought the spotlight on the Sweden Democrats, a xenophobic, anti-immigrant group some describe as racist, which managed to pick up 20 seats and for the first time gain a foothold in the national Parliament.

Just this week, voters in Canada's largest city, Toronto, displayed their anger. A man who runs a lucrative label-printing business with his two brothers accurately captured the dyspeptic voters' mood and ran with it to a very convincing victory for the mayor's chain of office. Rob Ford, the wealthy man who nevertheless personifies Joe Lunch Pail, ran on the mantra Stop the Gravy Train. Ford had been a city councillor for 10 years and always boasted that he never touched the discretionary allowance every councillor gets to help run their constituencies. He constantly criticised his fellow councillors for their spending as well as attacking such practices as having people on staff to water the plants in the multi-storey City Hall.

Newspapers had a field day digging up his record of bad behaviour, such as calling a fellow councillor "a waste of skin" and another of Italian origin the derogatory "Gino-boy"; verbally abusing fellow spectators at a sports arena and being busted for drunken driving and possessing ganja while on a visit to Miami. But the voters liked his simple message which he stuck to during a very disciplined and focused campaign and forgave him for being himself.

What resonated was his focus on the lack of respect for taxpayers' money and taxpayers themselves displayed by councillors and city staff even as taxes and levies kept going up. In his acceptance speech on Monday night, Ford summed up his approach: "The party with taxpayers' money is over!" Of course, the real task now begins, as this lone wolf former councillor who never made any alliances even with like-minded colleagues will now have to learn to work with others and forge alliances in order to wield his cost-cutting cutlass.

Perhaps the most grumpy voters around are those in the United States, and they vote on Tuesday in what the Americans call the off-year elections. They will choose a new House of Representatives, one-third of the Senate, one-third of the state governors and a host of state, county and city officials as well as numerous referendums.

Much of the frustration and anger is focused on President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats. A movement taking its cue from a protest in formative years of the nation's history has been making noise from one end of the US to the other. It calls itself the Tea Party and masquerades as a grass-roots movement but most of its supporters are well-off older white men. They clamour for a return to the past, but their detractors point out that the past was one in which discrimination was the order of the day against people who were poor or black, or both. There's considerable overlap between members of the Tea Party activists and the Republican Party, but the mainstream party has an uneasy relationship with the Tea Partiers, some of whom come out with the most ludicrous of suggestions.

Underlying all the dyspepsia and frustration, the bleating about socialism and freedom from big government are real problems: the hollowing out of the country's mighty industrial base, the atrocious behaviour of the big financial institutions causing millions of people to lose their houses and way of life and the growing realisation that, as happened to Britain a half-century ago, their country is losing its pre-eminent place in the world.

Tuesday's vote will significantly change the political picture in Washington, with Republicans regaining control of one, and possibly both, houses of Congress. Then the US will be right back where it was halfway through Bill Clinton's first term, when the leader of the House Republicans, Newt Gingrich, brought the business of government to a grinding halt. Then the fun began.

keeble.mack@sympatico.ca

October 30, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

Sex, scandal and society

Barbara Gloudon




THERE'S nothing we love more than a juicy scandal. Bring it on, especially if politics and politicians are in the mix-up and blenda. Our adrenalin gets going when the talk turns to corruption and any kinda ruption, which can prove what we believe -- that politics and politricks walk hand in hand. A recent survey says corruption is diminishing a bit, but let's see before we break out the champagne.

Up North, the three-letter word (S-E-X) is part of the scandal equation not only for errant politicians but for sports persons and entertainment superstars. There's nothing to boost ratings in the media like news of a headliner caught with pants down. (Remember President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky?) Efforts to take the US economy out of its tailspin paled in significance to the lurid coverage of Tiger Woods' dalliance.

Now that he's handed over a hefty chunk of his fortune to his ex-wife and is fighting a slump in his golf game, interest in him has waned considerably. He is not the first US hero to crumble under the crushing weight of a sex scandal. It's happened before and will happen again, so long as women are drawn by the aphrodisiac of fame, athletic physiques, and the possibility of a pay-off.

The groupie phenomenon is prevalent in the entertainment world but somehow, if we're to go by reports, entertainers do not seem to crash as spectacularly as sporting heroes. In our territory (the Caribbean), we are not as concerned about the romantic life of our superstars, not even when they mistreat women. Sadly, very often their staunchest defenders, willing to forgive, are women... The boys pretty much do what they want, thanks to the culture of — "Man haffe do wha a man haffe do — yuh nuh". The word for the boys: "If you can afford it, go for it. Nutten wrong wid gal inna bungle."

On the occasions when we do get a glimpse of the dark side of a hero, we don't quite know what to make of it. The recent exposé by England's notorious SUN tabloid of the alleged boudoir exploits of our Number One name-brand runner-boy, may have excited comment Up There but has barely evoked a whisper Down Here. In some quarters, there seems to be nothing but admiration among "the boys" for our young hero's achievement of having two hot young women fighting over him and the drama played out in the media.

The claim of one of the women that she has received text messages to participate in...shall we say, group activities... is definitely TMI — Too Much Information — for some, but not everyone. I met one person who responded, "All that stuff about threesomes and foursomes, who can prove that he really said it? Who knows if the girl is telling the truth?" Another view was, "So what? If he can manage it, why should anybody be concerned?" Then there are the many variations on the theme: "Youthful exuberance, that is all it is. What do you expect of a 24-year-old, with all that money and all that fame?" Not surprisingly, the foregoing responses came from men. One woman's response was, "I don't believe he would do that."

Should it matter really what this young man or any of our other young achievers do with their private time? Why shouldn't an athlete, an entertainer or anyone else who has attained success, be free to enjoy the benefits of their efforts in whatever permutations they choose? So long as no laws are being broken, should the rest of the community have any right to pass judgement on their private conduct? Not everyone is comfortable with that. What about moral values, role model and all that? Shouldn't we expect a certain level of conduct from people whom we hold up as icons?

Let's face it — arguments based on morality don't get very far here. Check the debates on lewd lyrics, slackness in dancehall and in the electronic media. A popular response is that people should be allowed to do what they want to do. "Leave us alone, thank you, please". That is for everybody except the politicians. So far nobody seems interested in their sex life. We leave that to those Up North. But back to the super-heroes, should they care if we find out what they do when the lights are turned off?

They need to be reminded that it doesn't take much for the cheers to stop. It is not such a long way from today's super-hero to tomorrow's "super-who"? The feeling is that we should not be too hard on "the youths". It's not such an easy thing to go overnight from pickney looking a lunch money and a bus fare, to platinum-card millionaire. It seems almost ungracious to warn about the potholes which can develop along the way.

Since Beijing, many of our young athletes have gained worldwide fame, and with it, healthy financial returns. They have become our new standard-bearers representing the best of JA. We've proclaimed them to be our Brand Jamaica. Should we expect any more of them? For the most part, they have been doing so well. Perhaps it is time for a little word of caution, however, that juvenile over-indulgence is to be avoided at all costs, especially too much information on bedroom olympics.

MR CLINTON CAME TO TOWN: Billed as an evening of intellectual challenge, it could not escape, however, being another high society event. It's the times! How could a former President of the United States of America come to town and we didn't play dress-up and nibble on gourmet delicacies? (Never mind that he spoke about poverty.)

The promoters apparently had their own reason for confining it to a high-end audience with an entrance fee of J$13,000 for regulars and US$1,000 for VIPs, I'm told. That was guaranteed to exclude those who wrestle every day with the soaring cost of chicken and flour. Corporate sponsorship more than took care of both the Bill and the bill. Not surprisingly, the event was an overwhelming success, fully sold out.

Feedback is that some thought the speech was the best thing since sliced bread. Others said they'd heard it all before. Some asked, why did it have to take a visitor (no matter how presidential) to make us sit up and listen to what we've been told often before (for example, urgency of solar energy) but haven't been interested enough to hear? Most said just to be in Bill Clinton's presence was worth it all.

DIS-COVER-UP: Did you see the disguises of the new millionaire winners in the Lotto Jackpot advertisement this week? Talk about Halloween! There's no limit to which some people will go to keep friends and relatives from beggie-beggie!... SING ON, COOL RULER... Gregory Isaacs moves on to the Ultimate Engagement. Another page is turned... The vintage list is getting shorter.

gloudonb@yahoo.com

October 29, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

Human smuggling in the US and the Caribbean: A vile and dangerous trade

By Rebecca Theodore

Given the clandestine but booming nature of human smuggling operations in the US and the Caribbean and the enormous social and economic problems that accompany unrestrained immigration, it becomes necessary to understand the context and the factors from whence they evolve.

While human smuggling is considered a covert, illicit activity, it must be seen that the flourishing business of people smuggling in the US and the Caribbean is not only to be understood in the context of globalization and migration or the push and pull factors of escaping poverty, natural disaster, seeking opportunities abroad, economic marginalization for women or conflict and persecution, but also from a combination of weak legislation and lax border controls, to corrupt immigration officials and the power of organized crime. The smuggling of human beings across international borders is growing rapidly and is now a multimillion-dollar activity that is global in scope.

If national security is a protection of a way of life compatible with the needs and genuine interests of others and includes freedom from military attack or coercion, freedom from internal sedition and freedom from the erosion of political, social and economical values, then defending a country’s borders is one of the top responsibilities of any government to its citizens. Tensions over the issue of human smuggling reaching a crescendo, now call for regional co-operation and intelligence sharing between US and Caribbean officials to counter the new and sophisticated criminal threat that is rapidly eroding the borders of the US and the Caribbean.

On the correct supposition that security is one the foremost important social service that a government can deliver to its people, America’s failure to do so is not only dangerous, but is now regarded as a sign of weakness around the world; for to surrender a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Phoenix, Arizona, and San Diego to drug gangs is analogous to going ashore at Normandy on the 6th June 1944 and driving around sightseeing and leaving the enemy the opportunity, flexibility and iniative to attack you when they want.

Edward Luttwak, counterterrorism expert with the Pentagon’s National Security Study Group, says the tri-border is “the most important base for Hezbollah outside Lebanon itself”, proving that terrorist groups such as Hezbollah are now working with drug cartels and the business of human smuggling continues through Central America and across the border without much difficulty. The discovery of tunnels equipped with lights, air-conditioning and railroad tracks, and semi-submersible vessels that evade radar between Tijuana and San Diego not only brings billion dollars worth of drugs into the US, but is the route used by the cartels to smuggle people and begs the question how important is border security and whether it should be taken seriously and also confirms that America has simply lost control of miles of its borderland.

In the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago is the most active country of origin and transit point for regional and extra-regional irregular migration to North America and Europe. Information garnered by authorities in the US and the UK have now resulted in Trinidad and Tobago being placed on a Tier Two Listing by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the US Department of State.

The infant government of Kamla Persaud-Bissessar should be particularly concerned about the vulnerability of its borders to transnational organized crime networks and the risk of being exploited by terrorists and its own immigration officials, as the country is not only one of transit and destination, but the growing evidence of the abuse of immigration stamps, issuance of birth certificates, bribery and government passports to foreign nationals, should provoke immediate actions into tabling legislation to deal with the problem of human smuggling.

On this note, if Trinidad and Tobago is to achieve its declared aim of becoming a developed society by the year 2020 and maintain its reputation as the most prosperous country in the Caribbean with the highest level of direct foreign investment and an expanding tourist industry, then the very creed of national security, and all its code of ethics of the public service will be ceaselessly undermined by the corruption of its own immigration officers and some of its notorious elites, as many who are smuggled also belong to the educated middle class from India, the Philippines, and Nigeria and the pattern proceeds like an aggressive cancer as far north to Wisconsin, Alaska, and Canada thus making human smuggling a reality.

In this regard, The Palermo Protocols are also open to scrutiny because, while the trafficking protocol establishes a useful framework for intervention in the enhancement of human rights protection for trafficked persons, implementing measures to provide for the psychological, and social recovery, including cooperation with NGOs, provision of housing, counseling, material assistance, and employment and training opportunities, by contrast, the smuggling protocol contains minimal reference to the protection needs of smuggled persons.

The preamble to the smuggling protocol does not set out the need to provide migrants with humane treatment and full protection of their rights because they have no rights. There are no provisions regarding medical, psychological, or social recovery, as human smuggling is deemed the procurement for material gain, of the illegal entry of someone into a state of which they are neither citizen nor resident, a meeting of the minds and a contract between the smuggled and the smuggler and a criminal activity.

But if one takes the perceptions of the smuggling protocol seriously then, in that context, anyone can participate directly or indirectly in sustaining the trade in humans by turning a blind eye to the injustices they suffer in domestic servitude, forced labor, torture, rape, and all those who at the time of this writing are presently living in hostage-like conditions in drop houses in Canada and the US until their debts are paid.

For this reason, I believe that the smuggling protocol is oxymoronic and duplicitous because if equality is fundamental to democracy, then the protocol tramples upon the very value that it tends to uphold and obscures more than it illuminates because the lives of humans are not mere digits and cannot continue to go by unnoticed. Smuggled people are living, breathing individuals who committed a crime and should be dealt with accordingly by the authorities.

It is therefore imperative to reassess human smuggling and the smuggling protocol in the US and the Caribbean both as a necessary sense of urgency and a calculated framework that guides overall planning. The open hostility and slave-like conditions that smuggled immigrants are presently facing and the authenticity it lends to hecklers abroad, constitute a great danger to our continued existence as a civilized people and political system.

October 26, 2010

caribbeannewsnow

Nassau - NP - The Bahamas: The City of New Providence

The City of New Providence
by Simon

Nassau is often used as a shortcut or synecdoche for New Providence. There is a logic and history behind this: For most of its history the majority of its residents lived in the City of Nassau and its immediate environs. Understandably, they more easily identified with the town in which they lived rather than the expanse beyond the actual and imagined town-limits.

We call residents of Nassau, Nassuvians. Yet, unlike Abaconians, Cat Islanders and Inaguans, what is the demonym for those of us who live at New Providence?

During the 20th century the population of Nassau climbed significantly through a combination of high birth rates among Bahamians and an influx of immigrants from Haiti who also tended to have high birth rates. The influx of Family Islanders also boosted the capital island’s numbers.

Beginning around the middle of the last century, the mutual forces of majority rule and black economic empowerment ignited an urban expansion. With considerable rapidity, the majority of the island’s population shifted beyond Nassau.

Urbanization has engendered many benefits as well as significant challenges for New Providence. These varied challenges include ongoing infrastructural needs in the areas of housing, ground transportation networks, public services and facilities, and reliable utilities, among others.

There are also a complex of sociological challenges including increased crime and violence, social alienation by some and the changing nature of social networks such as neighbourhoods. The environmental and health challenges related to urbanization are also significant.

What we are continuing to get our hands and collective imagination around are a broad variety of interrelated challenges cum master questions. The questions have been provoked by the transition from the City of Nassau to the City of New Providence, a geographical reality and an idea that is coming of age. To face the challenges of urban development, design and renewal, we have to think and plan in terms of an extended city.

URBAN ADVENTURE

A fitting metaphor for this transition is those motorists on New Providence’s roads who drive at a pace more appropriate to some of our more leisurely Family Islands. We can extend the metaphor to those who recklessly go way beyond the speed limit.

Our task is to get the speed and tempo of New Providence right, maintaining much of an island flavour and the capital island’s historic identity while embracing necessary change. In this urban adventure we might borrow a question from I.M. Pei, one of the masters of modern architecture: “Can we make the past serve the present?”

The journey from Carmichael to Saunder’s Beach may now take as little as 15 minutes courtesy of the new road corridor connecting north to south. Many residents from the eastern end of the island commute daily to jobs on the western end and vice versa.

This road network is one of many networks, which, over several decades resulted in New Providence developing into a highly integrated city. This integration will continue to intensify. It will do so in ways not immediately expected.

Even as more of their grandparents and parents retire to the Family Islands, a younger generation of Bahamians, excited about city living, will imagine, design and build the City of New Providence.

Their enthusiasm will extend to Nassau, Over-the-Hill and areas such as Chippingham and the Fort Hill. They will be joined by Bahamians returning home, who, after living abroad, often in cities, may find city living in Nassau more to their taste.

All of these city enthusiasts will not only play and recreate in downtown Nassau’s hotspots, restaurants and other entertainment venues. They will also begin to live in apartments, condos and cooperatives in historic Nassau and its environs.

Imagine, a group of young Bahamian professionals investing in a cooperative housing development somewhere in historic Nassau and its environs. Of course, this gentrification will be driven by more than a passion for city living. It will also be driven by economics, by supply and demand.

As prices continue to climb for suburban property and the amount of that land decreases, younger Bahamians will look to available land in unexpected areas. This will carry over to long-term investments, with younger Bahamians buying real estate in currently lower income areas of New Providence. Over time a number of these areas will be redeveloped.


COMMUNITY GARDENS

As we only have so much land at New Providence, we will have to think creatively about how it is developed over time. Critical to that development is the use of urban design to respond to two long-term challenges: crime and urban poverty.

Of course, these challenges will require a myriad of responses from economic empowerment to education. But, the way we refashion and redesign New Providence will make an enormous difference.

Take for example the idea of community gardens. Not only do they provide open green spaces, they also have the potential to renew community life while providing young people opportunities for positive alternative activities.

What if, for example, the government made available to a community association part of the large track of land east of Market Street where City Market once had a store?

The idea would be to use the allocated space as a community garden, where residents from Grant’s Town and Bain Town might grow vegetables and other produce for their own consumption and possibly for sale. Students form C.R. Walker may also be granted some space for that school’s agricultural programme.

Similarly, space for community gardens throughout New Providence may have various beneficial effects. So might land set aside for the development of community centres. These centres would host a variety of functions, including space for the development of local government councils and community development associations.

OPEN SPACES

The centres may also host a broad variety of activities related to the arts, youth development, health and well-being, after-school homework and mentoring programmes and parenting classes, among others.

Of course, all of the aforementioned would have to be properly conceptualized and managed. But if we are interested in genuine urban development and community renewal the way we build will help to determine what we build in terms of community life and a shared future.

Our multifaceted approach to crime and violence will have to include preventing such crime, including through various social programmes and alternative sentencing avenues. These programmes need space in our urban landscape, both imaginative and physical.

Despite the number of gated communities we have built, crime has not abated, and we all remain at risk even in some of the supposedly securer areas of New Providence. In that light, in addition to our protective fortresses, we may consider also using open spaces and community gathering places as crime prevention measures.

The contours of the new City of New Providence are emerging. It will include a blend of historic Nassau and the concept of town centres built during a previous administration of Prime Minister Ingraham. It will also include the unprecedented infrastructural investment undertaken by the current Ingraham administration.

As importantly, it will include the reimagining of New Providence by its residents inclusive of various community-based groups, artists and businesses, all working to fashion at New Providence a city with an outstanding quality of life. If we work hard at it, that quality of life will make New Providence one of the more liveable, coolest, funkiest, and safest cities in the Caribbean.

bahamapundit