art imitates life

Two nights ago I finished watching a documentary called Gaza Strip, which was recommended to me by a friend. The doc was filmed during the second intifada in 2001, and the camera mostly follows children in east Gaza, where many were wounded and killed by Israeli soldiers- making the devastation of the conflict all the more difficult to swallow. The film particularly follows one 13 year old, Mohammed Hajezi, and his friends, who are a part of "a new generation of Palestian boys who risk their lives hurling stones over barbed wire fences at Israeli tanks, in symblic gesture of resistance to the occupation."

Upon turning off the DVD player and flipping back to tv mode- which is permanently set to CNN- imagine my suprise to see images of the very same streets in Gaza with headlines about the anarchy resulting in a dissolved Palestinian unity government. It hurts me to think that perhaps some of the bemasked faces I was seeing on the live-feed, today, in 2007, could be the very same young teenage boys I had just watched immortalized in Longley's film 6 years ago, now grown into men with unresolved frustrations ceaslessly fueled by the realities of the life they dealt with in childhood. When will children be able to live as children...

The Rose Revolution

After visiting Tblisi, I couldn't help but notice some very striking differences in the level of development in our neighboring Caucasian capital city. Certainly on the a very surface level the city seems very developed and european. Infrastructure exists, city-planning is paid attention to, the streets are clean, customer service is pleasant, and cops don't take bribes.

It's striking to think that perhaps thanks to the successful Rose Revolution in 2003, Georgia's fate completely turned around while Armenia's attempts to revolt against fraudulent parliamentary elections were violently stamped out in the streets in 2004. How much did that supression affect the will of the Armenian people and undermine their sense of ownership to their state, and how much did the Georgian's success bolster theirs?

There are of course many other factors to consider when comparing the progress of the two countries- such as Georgia's more strategic location with access to the Black Sea, its partership in the Ceyhan-Baku oil pipeline which will undoubtedly make huge profits for the country, and it's very cozy strategic relationship with the US. I also know that Saakashvilli's tactics bordered on authoritarian during the beginning of his presidential tenure, but perhaps that hard-line approach of throwing scores of oligarchs and mafiosos in jail was just the clean-up job that was neccessary.

However, the question is how much of the changes are on the surface. How do actual Georgians' lives compare to their lives pre-rose revolution? Particularly outside of lovely Tblisi?

Just found this very informative, interactive site which discusses progress (or not) in the regions.

"Georgia: Revolution in the Regions"
http://www.eurasianet.org/georgia/index.html

Demonstration cut short...

The idea is to create a concerned citizenry- one which is aware of what is going on its country, and voices its concerns because it recognizes its right and responsibility to play an active role. The idea is growing momentum as evidenced by the fact that attendance at Sunday's Sksela/Transparency organized demonstration was higher than ever.

The 'cause celebre' of this particular demonstration? The illegal construction happening in downtown Yerevan and the unconstitutional eviction of people from their homes in order to make way for said construction.

Great article about the demonstration...I wish you could all read Armenian:
http://echannel.am/?topic_id=238&PHPSESSID=fcc1229b858c3648ff0a94ec0cf76889

However, just a few blocks short of reaching the Mayor's office (the final destination of the petition which was signed by hundreds), the march was cut short as the following, highly unexpected, news became public:

PRIME MINISTER OF RA ANDRANIK MARGARYAN DIED
[02:01 pm] 25 March, 2007

Today Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, head of the Republican Party of
Armenia Andranik Margaryan died of heart attack.

What does this mean?

YEREVAN, March 26 (RIA Novosti) - Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has accepted the government’s resignation following the death of Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan, a government spokesman said Monday.

PM Markaryan, 55, the leader of the Republican Party, part of a ruling coalition, died of a heart attack March 25.

“The head of state has directed Cabinet members to continue with their duties until a new Cabinet of Ministers is formed,” the spokesman said.

Under Armenia’s Constitution, the president can accept the government’s resignation if the post of prime minister becomes vacant for any reason.

A new prime minister is to be appointed within 10 days, while a new government is to be formed within 20 days following the prime minister’s appointment.

And so, the opportunity arises to appoint a new Prime Minister and government just one and half months away from Parliamentary elections...an interesting new chapter of Armenian politics is sure to unfold right before our eyes.

Skeptics will likely denounce the elections as entirely superflous at this point. Let's just let the new predetermined government assemble itself and get it over with, without going through all the symbolic motions and pretending that the public actually has some say in the whole thing...

Ironically, things come full circle. Sksela: Armenia needs you.