Youth

Mideast Regimes met the Arab Spring youth with Iron Fists and Sectarianization, but anti-Corruption Protests Continue

Simon Mabon | – As the popular refrain of “ash-shab yurid isqat an-nizam” rang out across the Middle East in the early months of 2011, the nature of political life and relations between rulers and ruled began to fragment. The chant – which roughly translates as “the people want the fall of the regime” – […]

Democratic Party

Poet Amanda Gorman’s take on love as legacy points to youth’s power to shape future generations

The Conversation

By Heather Lawford, Heather L. Ramey and Jessica Riddell | – National youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman’s recitation of “The Hill We Climb,” at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in the United States captured the attention of a nation and people globally. Gorman highlighted the power of poets in our current sociopolitical context to speak unique […]

Children

Saudi Arabia must stop Executing Children: Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch

By Bill Van Esveld | – ( Human Rights Watch) – On August 26, the Saudi Human Rights Commission announced the judiciary would review three death sentences in accordance with a recent decree to halt capital punishment for child offenders. Ali al-Nimr, Dawoud al-Marhoun, and Abdullah al-Zaher were sentenced to death for allegedly committing crimes […]

Climate Crisis

Greta Thunberg and Youth to Angela Merkel: ‘Abandon Fossil Fuel Industry’

Benjamin Wehrmann

By Benjamin Wehrmann ( Clean Energy Wire) – Greta Thunberg and fellow activists have met German Chancellor Angela Merkel to exchange views on the fight against climate change. The campaigners said the 90 minute meeting’s atmosphere was friendly, but also added that “we look at the situation from different perspectives.” Merkel’s spokesman said the EU’s […]

Corruption

Beirut: ‘Day of Judgment’ Protesters Occupy Gov’t Buildings, Banking Assn., Forcing New Elections

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced snap elections after a huge crowd of thousands gathered in downtown Beirut Saturday, confronting security forces and taking over government buildings and the Banking Association. Angry about the criminal government negligence that led to the destruction of Beirut’s port and part of the city […]

Children

Syrian Refugee Children Are Still Being Robbed of an Education

Human Rights Watch

By Breanna Small and Bill Van Esveld | ( Human Rights Watch ) – June 30 was possibly the most important day of 2020 for Syrian refugee children. At the annual pledging conference for the “Future of Syria and the Region,” dozens of governments and multilateral donors pledged US$7.7 billion in humanitarian aid for Syrian […]

Children

The Children of Syria: Millions of Young Lives Blighted by a Decade-Long War

Human Rights Watch

By Philippa H Stewart (Senior Media Officer) and Bill Van Esveld (Associate Director, MENA, Children’s Rights Division) | – ( Human Rights Watch) – The war in Syria has been taking its toll on children for nine years – their lives forever marked by the conflict. Hundreds of thousands of children are now fighting to […]

Children

The Shame of Child Poverty in the Age of Trump: Billionaires Are Soaring, Poor Kids Are Losing More

Rajan Menon

By Rajan Menon | – (Tomdispatch.com ) – The plight of impoverished children anywhere should evoke sympathy, exemplifying as it does the suffering of the innocent and defenseless. Poverty among children in a wealthy country like the United States, however, should summon shame and outrage as well. Unlike poor countries (sometimes run by leaders more […]

Climate Crisis

Why Gen Z is at the Vanguard of the Climate Movement

Waging Nonviolence

By Nick Engelfried | – ( Waging Nonviolence) – For the first decade and a half of her life, Jamie Margolin was like any other U.S. teen living in the suburbs. She went to school, made friends and got involved in sports. Yet all the while, beneath the surface, lurked the fear of a looming […]