Human Rights

By Samantha Schmidt | ( Yes | – – In response to overcrowded public schools in countries neighboring Syria, caravan schools provide refugees with free education to keep them from falling behind. ZAATARI, Jordan – In a tiny classroom in a metal trailer, the 11-year-old Syrian refugee writes his name on the chalkboard, practicing the […]

censorship

Berlin Pirate Party Leader Arrested for Erdogan Insult

contributors

TeleSur | – – Bruno Kramm was arrested while protesting against a German law allowing the prosecution of citizens for insulting foreign leaders. The head of Berlin’s Pirate Party branch has been jailed after protesting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the Pirate Party’s news agency, Pirate Times. Bruno Kramm was arrested in […]

censorship

Press Freedom in ‘Deep And Disturbing’ Decline in New Age of Propaganda

contributors

By RFE/RL | – – A leading journalism advocacy group says media freedom experienced a sharp decline around the world over the past year, citing increasing government restrictions in places like Turkey, Poland, Tajikistan, and Egypt. In its 2016 World Press Freedom Index released on April 20, Reporters Without Borders said that there had been […]

Displaced and Refugees

Who are the Syrian Refugees, really, and where are they? Hint: Mainly women and children, & not in the West

contributors

By Jeffrey H. Cohen | (The Conversation) | – – Editor’s note: This article is part of our collaboration with Point Taken, a new program from WGBH that will next air on Tuesday, April 19 on PBS and online at pbs.org. The show features fact-based debate on major issues of the day, without the shouting. […]

censorship

Turkey’s Pres. Erdogan demands Germany prosecute comedian over satirical poem

contributors

RT | (Video News Report) | – – “Turkey has made a formal request to the German government to prosecute a TV comedian over a crude poem about the Turkish President.” RT: “Erdogan demands Germany prosecute comedian over satirical poem”

Children

Lebanon: Over 70% of Syrian Refugee Children Forced into Exploitative Child Labor

contributors

TeleSur | – – A report by an anti-slavery group also details how Syrian refugee girls are being forced into child marriage and sex slavery. Up to 70 percent of Syrian refugee children are being forced into child labor in Lebanon, the anti-slavery Freedom Fund group said in a report Tuesday. The report also pointed […]

Human Rights

Syria won’t have Peace until there is Accountability for War Crimes

contributors

By Neil Sammonds | (Inter Press Service) | – – GENEVA (IPS) – The negotiations on April 11, 2016 in Geneva and the recent reduction of hostilities in Syria may represent important steps towards a peaceful solution to more than five years of turmoil. Few would not welcome the guns falling silent once and for […]

Displaced and Refugees

Dear GOP: Top Myths about Syrian Refugees, refuted by Actual Facts

contributors

By Jeffrey H. Cohen | (The Conversation) | – – Following the March 2016 bombings in Brussels, Donald Trump stated: We have to be smart … We’re taking in people without real documentation. We don’t know where they are coming from … they could be ISIS-related. Not to be outdone, Sen. Ted Cruz added: We […]

National Security Agency

Is Trump Right on Torture?

contributors

Written by Bridge Initiative Team | ( Bridge) | – – In the wake of the Belgium terrorist attacks, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has double-downed on his position in favor of torture. In a recent telephone interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Trump argued “we have to change our law on the waterboarding thing,” that […]