unveil magazine

1MARCH 2014 | UNVEIL |

FUTURE INTERNSWould you work for free ?

Nº1

THE RENT GENERATIONLondon’s property market is locked

DEMOCRACYEducation needs urgent reforms

INTERNATIONALWhat’s next for

Ukraine

UNVEIL

unveilmag.com

MAGAZINEMarch 2014

THE NSAA short introduction to Orwell and Kafka

2 | UNVEIL | FEBRUARY 2014

3MARCH 2014 | UNVEIL | 3

Inside this issueUp Front 4 Meet the Team 5 Editor’s letter

International 7 Education Why a counter-revolution is needed 11 Mandela What is left for young South Africans 13 Growing old with HIV 14 Fake food Scandal in your plate 15 Money Living back with Mum and Dad 21 Dieudonné The case of censorship 22 Egypt in turmoil 29 Iran and its lack of human rights 30 Taboo Layla Ismail’s fight against FGM

Columns 26 Student protest and horizontalism 31 48-hours of Hell Tube strike in London 32 The Invisibles: inducing guilt to the white middle class 33 Mathew Bourne’s Swan Lake review

COVER STORIES 19 Future Interns: Would you work for free? 27 The NSA amd Orwell 1984

UNVEIL MAGAZINE

EditorSara Gharsalli Features editorChloe RotterChief Sub Editor Anne-Marie MosesCreative director Hinnah NagshbandPhotography DirectorIrina PaliciProduction editorVeronica GirardiChief WriterSumaiya Farooq

Unveilmag.com

Contributing WriterLua Vollaard

Mandela and the youth 11 Discount degrees 7 Student protests 30

CONTENTNEVERCONTENT


C h ie f s u b e d it o r

MEET THE TEAM

E d ito r in c hi ef

Sara Gharsalli

F e a t u re s e d it o

r

Chloe Rotter

Anne Marie Moses C r ea tiv e d irec t or

P h o to g r a p h y e d it or

P r o d u c tio n e d it o r

Hinnah Nagshband

Irina Palici

Veronica Girardi


LETTER FROMTHE EDITOR

Unveil is a monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. We take an independent stance, trying our best to bring excellent standards to the publication. This doesn’t mean long-form written articles are boring, they just have to be well written. You are a student and you believe, like us, that quality information is essential to people’s life. You are curious, open, passionate. You can write for us! Nobody trusts anyone in authority today, it is the main feature of our age. Wherever you look there are lying politicians, crooked bankers, corrupt police officers, cheating journalists and double-dealing media barons, rotten and greedy energy com-panies and out-of-control security services. And what makes the suspicion worse is that practical-

ly no-one ever gets prosecuted for the scandals. Certainly nobody at the top. We are sometimes tempted to think that history repeats itself, that the government we have is just like the last, that our generation is just like the one that came before, that noth-ing really changes. But history moves in mysterious ways. To-day’s school leavers are tomor-row’s workers, parents and tax-payers. It is important to know what is going on around you, why things are how they are, because if you don’t you can-not question them. And if that knowledge and imagination can be integrated into a new kind of politics - then those worlds could be brought into existence.

We hope you enjoy the articles, and that our rec-ipe for an interesting student magazine will work.


FUTURE INTERNSWould you work for free ?

March 2014Nº1

DEMOCRACYEducation needs urgent reforms

INTERNATIONALWhat’s next for Ukraine?

UNVEIL

unveilmag.com

MAGAZINE

THE RENT GENERATIONLondon’s property market is locked

THE NSAA short introduction to Orwell and Kafka

A peek behind the curtain of the world

By Sara Gharsalli

Veronica Girardi


Become what you want to be.

Today’s students, Tomorrow’s Leaders

LEARN FROM THE BESTBECOME THE BEST

Why anywhere else?Transformed.Inspired.

your dream job is just a degree away

healthy body, for a

20% discount

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Today’s students, Tomorrow’s Leaders

Why anywhere else?

The real cost of going to university

Three years af-ter the UK g o v e r n m e n t announced the complete re-moval of its block grant and

funding of most universities, so far the results are neither impres-sive nor respectable. Recent fig-ures confirms what many com-mentators, academics and experts in Higher Education policies had forecasted, in their analysis of reports such as the 2009 Browne Review, or the 2011 Higher Ed-ucation White Paper. Andrew McGettigan, in his book ‘The Great University Gamble’, labe-led the system change in English universities an “experiment with no proper control in places.” Why have an experiment on what is a worldwide renowned insti-tution - as the historian Howard Hotson pointed out in term of eff-

iciency - when we have already witness the aftermaths of priva-tised education in the United States. The international evidence of failure as a result of increased marketisation is well known by governments, the media and the people. For-profit prioritize mar-keting over teaching, enrolments over student support, ‘visiting’ celebrities professors and ze-ro-hours contracts over full-time tutors, the “student experience” over the student himself, et cae-tera. (3) And to add on top of the list, a lack of democracy: there was no primary legislation for these reforms to be implemented, the new higher fees and funding regime was set out with second-ary legislation and with limited parliamentary scrutiny, over the summer 2011 – while Members

of Parliament were on holiday. The theoretical justification of the radical neoliberal univer-sity reform is to oversimplify market competition: increasing tuition fees and introducing pri-vate for-profit businesses - that will run as ‘universities’ - will ease the strain on public finances and stimulate market competi-tion, which in turn will drive up standards and drive down prices, raise national competition, and offer better value for everyone. “All the evidence is that the new system will be as costly to tax-payers; in consequence of the likely defaults on student loans repayment - calculated at 40% of loans’, says Luke Martell, Profes-sor of Political Sociology at the University of Sussex. “All the ev-idence is that the new system ▶

Despite continuous student protests universities in Eng-land are undergoing dras-tic changes. If taking it up to the street doesn’t work, a new-counter revolution is needed.

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will be as costly to taxpayers; in consequence of the likely defaults on student loans repayment - cal-culated at 40% of loans”, says Luke Martell, Professor of Political So-ciology at the University of Sus-sex.“It is increasingly evident that the current arrangements are not sustain-able.” Academics and experts warned that the Government could go for an even more unfair system, as to reduce the income threshold for the repay-ment of loans down from £21,000. Professor Martell explains that stu-dent loans are the only form of loan where the Government can change the conditions at the time at which they are taken out. When students sign the student loans’ terms and conditions it is written: “You must agree to repay your loan in line with the regulations that apply at the time the repayments are due and as they are amended. The regulations may be replaced by later regulations.”(4)The National Audit Office reported that the num-bers of student loan borrowers is ex-pected to rise from 3m in 2012-13 to 6.5m by 2042, and described the debt as “becoming a substantial pub-lic asset”. Martell says: “The shift has already been a very big and funda-mental one, the latest stage being the privatisation of student loans, and the implications are a change in the whole meaning of what universities are about.” What are universities about? Well, think about consumer choice, because this is the mechanism that determine how and what univer-sities teach. “Think of it more as a coalition of senior university manag-ers and Government policy advisers, including lobbyists for private educa-tion. The new fee regime removes di-rect public funding and makes social sciences, arts and humanities under-graduate degrees funded only by stu-dents from fees supported by loans”, explains John Holmwood, Professor of Sociology at the University of Not-tingham. “This supposedly creates a level playing field to allow for-prof-it universities to enter the ‘market’

– like Pearson and Apollo Group. For-profit education in the United States is widely criticised for target-ing disadvantaged students, leaving them in debt and misspelling degrees – as the Hardin report pointout.”

For-profit univer-sities don’t have to meet the other functions of uni-versities, and other universities - es-sentially the Russell Group (5) - hope

that, and are lobbying for, the fee cap to be lifted. The dominant attitude and the deep changes in Higher Edu-cation is reducing human experience to a set of ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’, prefer-ences and ‘add your comments’ as re-ported on a tick box questionnaire for students during their academic year. This is why many courses have been made redundant, courses that are less likely to attract the customer in terms of value for money, because it is what

the student wants and not what the student should have. We’re all ration-al consumers in a perfect market, not post-teenagers trying to make judg-ments. This entire neoliberal system can be found in its worse pattern in Chile, where universities are among the most expensive in the world – per capita income. And because there is insufficient financial aid the students pay most of the costs. Universities are competing aggressively between each other, with slogan printed on commercial billboards along roads and public transport where you can read ‘come learn at a Real university’.One of the most unequal distribu-tions of income in the world can be found in Chile, where strug-gle for upward mobility is a re-sult of the politics of education. In Germany and in France educa-tion is a right, not a privilege. In Fin-land, universities are also state-fund-ed, and the system includes freedom and a high level of flexibility, with no incessant inspection and pressure for academics, no league tables. The

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The possibility of another system of education is therefore feasible, but, as education is therefore feasible, but, as Luke Martell explains: “The problem is about political will. The shift to students paying fees is not saving money, it is just shifting the burden from the taxpayer to the students, and obviously these two categories overlap. So it is perfect-ly feasible fiscally to go back to a public fair mass HE system.” The problem is ideological, fees were in-troduced by Labour and extended by the Conservatives, and therefore it is the cat and mouse game at the Parliament. Universities are now a ‘pure-ly economistic calculation of value’ (7) with the adequate changes in the structure based on ‘consumer satis-faction’. “We are now in a thorough-going neo-liberal regime where the public good and private benefit, including from the financialisation and privatisation of Higher Educa-tion are regarded as the same.” ex-plains John Wolmood,Professor of Sociology at the university of Not-tingham. Why education should not be bought, why it is primordial to society and therefore should be a free right is part of what we grew up with: democratic ideas. Academics and trade unions are calling for a fight back, though they need to be more than voices of reaction, facing day-to-day issues like conditions, pay and redundancies in their ac-tions. “University managements can see how higher education is being transformed and rather than be-ing compliant or even complicit in that they need to start to stand up for what they are responsible for - the value of education” says Luke Martell. But, why management will start to stand up for the ‘value of education’, when they can easily sit down on a big stack of high wages and wisely think about the ‘value for money’?

Student protests have been constant ever since the reforms were applied, because they still see themselves as citizens of an institu-tion in decline, though

they feel treated as consumers who buy goods and services from the university. Well, why not awake the consumer that is in you? If universi-ties treat its students as customers, it seems more efficient and practical for students to embrace what they are in terms of value, and demand what they have paid for. If vice-chancellors and the management do not seem to be overwhelmed by the situation, i.e. recent student protests, and if many students do not seem to be involved to the politics of Higher Education, it may be the idle idea that being a student doesn’t last long – 3 years more or less – and that after this short period he will shrug off when walking past a student union. And, as Mary Evans, centennial professor at the Gender Institute, London

School of Economics, explains in a book review: “Very few consum-ers, students please note, have to eat the dinner they ordered.” So far, no strategy for long-term disruption have been planned, so what about investee activism?

Taking ideas form Foucault in his lecture at the Collège de France in 1979, and Michel Feher ideas on embracing neoliberalism from the inside, we have to search for radi-cal methods inside the universities’ new system. Whether the strategy for long-term disruption come from the student protests, trade unions or investee activism, we need to fight back for a mass fair public Higher Education. ■S.G.

(1) The Great University Gamble: Money, Mar-kets and the Future of Higher Education, Andrew McGettigan, Pluto 2013.

(2) Student Loans - A guide to Terms and Condi-

tions 2014/15

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Nelson Mandela : what is left forthe youth ?

Nelson Man-dela was an icon to many young

people around the world. He proved through his work that equality and justice can prevail. In a country where poverty, inequality and racism flour-ished, it seemed like there was no hope. However through persistence and 27-years imprisonment, Mandela managed to overthrow the South Af-rican pro-apartheid government and bring peace to the country. Four years after his release he became South Af-rica’s first black president, proving that anything is possible no matter what age you are. To continue his work Mandela encouraged education for the youth, by doing this he pro-vided more opportunities. However with his recent passing on December 5th 2013, many wonder what will be-come of South Africa and its youth. The unemployment rate is 25 per cent in South Africa, the highest in the world. The majority are under 35 and only have basic skills. Youth unemployment is common there. Men prowl the streets of Jo-hannesburg on a hunt to find a job. They are ‘marketing’ themselves with placards that no one reads. The union federation says it’s a ‘tick-ing time bomb’. What will the gov-ernment do to better the situation?In an attempt to reduce the unem-ployment rate the South African gov-ernment has introduced a new Hu-man Resource Development Strategy into the education system. It aims to improve basic education until 2030, but this part of the system has been

deemed ‘in turmoil’ by the union fed-erations. In the middle of all this, the Nelson Mandela Foundation explains the influence Mandela had on the youth. “Nelson Mandela was a power-ful symbol of a compelling and inter-national narrative, he had a winning personal warmth and charm about him,” says Verne Harris, director of the research and archive for the foundation. It uses Nelson Mandela’s methods to make the country adapt-able for the youth. “What is next for South Africa is that we keep walking the long walk to freedom, building our young de-mocracy, fighting injustice and find-ing solutions to intractable problems.

Even though organisations like the Nelson Mandela Foundation helps to empower the youth, government in-tervention is needed. On January 1st the youth wage subsidy was introduced in the hopes of providing temporary relief and re-duction in unemployment. Accord-ing to Richard Pike, CEO of South African labour broker Adcorp, ‘abil-ity, training, productivity and flexible labour’ are the only long term solu-tions to youth unemployment. Meanwhile, other companies such as Solidarity’s CEO Flip Buys, a South African trade union that at-tempts to protect workers rights, claim that unemployment rates are high. ▶

Unemployment in South Africa is one of the highest in the world. Now that the youth lost one of its greatest leaders, what will remain?

CELEBRATION. A South African mother and her baby commemorate Mandela at the South African

Embassy, London.

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In a bid to turn things around for young South Africans the gov-ernment claim they have plenty of initiatives. Oarabile Motlha-ga, from the South African High Commission, explains some of the policies. “The SA government has numerous initiatives to support the growing number of youths in the country. These range from education opportunities to cre-ating enabling environments for budding entrepreneurs through skills development, financing of projects and mentorship.” Mr Oarabile then explains the at-titude taken to tackle the problem. She says: “In this regard, the gov-ernment has also established a Na-tional Youth Development Agency as the overall focal point for youth service to help young South Afri-cans better themselves.” But there are many more problems.

Ho w e v -er many South Afri-cans hope that polit-ical lead-ers both

in the present and future will look upon Nelson Mande-la’ s principles when it comes to decision making. Ensuring that that future generations have more opportunities to work. “The key lessons from Madiba’ s lifebook are the following: reconciliation, tolerance, perseverance, justice, and humanity. Flowing from these virtues, it would be expected that anyone looking up to former Pres-ident Mandela would strive these principles in their interaction with other people including non-South Africans for that matter.” Oarabile continues to explain how Nelson

Mandela influenced the youth. “Former President Mandela also made many of our youth believe that staying the course, especially when driven by the correct convic-tion, is often the best decision one can make.” Living in poverty and struggling to survive has become a reality for a lot of young South Africans. For most the hope they had has now been blown away. An icon who inspired and empowered not only the youth but South Afri-can citizens is now but a memory. A hero for many who shall not be forgotten with time and history. A source of inspiration for many young people who are willing to grasp the sole light which seems to disappear over conflicts, wars and poverty. All that remains is the legacy that he left behind and the hope that future south african leaders will follow that. ■C.R.

HOPE. A message of love left on a tree near the South Africa

embassy, Central London.

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vastated. His condition, Ian lives with it day by day. “To date I re-main healthy with regular blood tests at Manchester Royal Infir-mary and through taking reg-ular medication.” Even though Ian was diagnosed with HIV it h a s n ’ t stopped

h i m f r o m living his life. It has taught him a lot about who to trust and who is really there for you in time of need.“The biggest thing I have learnt about living with HIV is to not tell anyone who

doesn’t need to know. I have lost a few, what I considered to be at the time close friends.” A lot of people around the world are di-agnosed late and have no clue as to what the symptoms are. The NHS said that 80% of people diagnosed with HIV ex-perience symptoms such as sore

throat, fever and body rash. Being diagnosed with HIV

can bring shame and loneliness; the sadness

and stress that comes along with the

illness is not easy to bear. “My best advice to those suffering from HIV is to only tell those who real-ly need to know and don’t take

your doctors word as gospel. Join one

of the many HIV support groups and

listen to the experiences of others who live with the

disease 24/7 and not 9 till 5.” It is through people like Ian Jones that the public can learn about the affects HIV has upon individuals, Ian shows other HIV sufferers that there is hope at the end of the road and that there is always support for those who need it. ■C.R.

Growing old with HIVAn NHS treat-

ment is some-thing that most of us rely on when we are sick. It aims to pro-vide a high

standard of medical service for un-well patients. However the same can’t be said for Ian Jones. Having been misinformed by doctors he trusted, Ian is now one the thousands of peo-ple affected by HIV. After numerous emails, Ian Jones came to the fore-front. He was very open minded and willing to answer most questions I had in regards to his illness. When asked how he got the disease, Mr Jones be-gan explaining how the process of the NHS treatment infected him with HIV. “I was first diagnosed with HIV through having NHS blood products at the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) for my haemophilia in 1985. Initial-ly, I received a letter stating that HTVL3, as it was known then, was similar to a flu virus and that we had no need to wor-ry.” According to research-ers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris in the 1980s, genetic code research showed that LAV and HTVL-3 were the same virus, eventually identi-fied as human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV). The virus spreads through blood and oth-er bodily fluids, and affects the body’s ability to produce enough antibodies to fight infec-tion, leaving the patient endangered of various life-threatening diseases. Since the virus spreads slowly, it could take five to ten years before the victim contracts AIDS. At this stage it gets serious. “It was twelve months later I learned the truth. I was informed I may live up to ten years.” At that time Ian had two young children aged 4 and 6, he and his first wife were de-

What seemed like a minor illness ended up be-ing the biggest weight Ian would have to carry throughout his life. He describes the stigma he has faced since being diagnosed with HIV.

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According to Professor Mark Post, synthetic meat could reduce the environmental footprint of meat by up to 60 per cent. So why spend thousands of pounds on making an artificial burger when we have a good livestock production? It is because most food scientists think that current production methods are unsustainable. With a grow-ing population and an increase in mouths to feed, scientists question how reliable our current produc-tion methods will be in the future. Scientists also estimate that food production will double within the next 50 years to meet the needs of consumers. The UK food pro-duction industry sources most of its food from other countries. Many of these are local countries, the closer the proximity means lower trans-portation costs and fresher food. According to Global Food Security; the UK supplied just under a quar-ter of the fruit and vegetable prod-

ucts. Scientists still predict that the 9 billion people expected to live in 2050 will not get the food they need. Some even question whether tech-nology such as genetic modification and nanotechnology, will feed bil-lions of mouths. They say the com-bination of climate change, water shortages and the increasing food consumption may cause some peo-ple around the world to go hungry. The debate over fake foods in western countries such as the UK and USA make us question why the idea of artificial food is essential, when we have perfectly fit livestock pro-duction methods. So the next time you’re about to eat a sandwich or a ham and pineapple pizza, remember to think twice about where the prod-uct has come from and whether it will benefit your body. As some peo-ple are not fortunate enough to even get food, let alone good quality food. It is now a struggle to find proper food to eat at an affordable price . ■C.R.

Britain’s disturbing fake food scandalIf you’re eating, it may be better to read the next article. Scientists have found “disturbing” prob-lems in more than a third of foods sampled in shocking lab tests.We all love

food. It could be those tempt-ing truf-fles, or that greasy, ex-

tra-large hamburger. However im-agine eating those small treats only to be informed that less than a half of it is real. Food sample tests in West Yorkshire showed the increas-ing number of mislabelled prod-ucts, which claim to be something they are not. The study also found-ed that consumers were being sold food that was less than 50% real. This includes cheese such as mozzarella, ham on fast foods such as pizzas and frozen prawns which were mostly water. Other products such as fruit juices have two addi-tives that are not permitted in the EU; this includes brominated veg-etable oil, designed for use in flame retardants and linked to behavourial problems in rats at high doses. To improve the standard of food made throughout the UK the government has put in place the interim Elliott report. The aim of this program is to identify the current weakness-es of supply chain networks in the UK and suggest measures that can be taken to better them. “Food business operators have a legal re-sponsibility to ensure that any food product is of the ‘nature, substance and quality’ expected by consumers. It is unacceptable for foods to be mislabelled. It is the responsibility of all food businesses to ensure that the food they sell is what it says it is and that consumers are not misled,” says Richard Wood, the Defra cus-tomer contact advisor. “It is against the General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002 to place food on the market that is unsafe, either unfit for consumption or injurious to health.”

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Are we the boomerang generation?

Living back with Mum and Dad is not something you aim for, after years of independence and ‘freedom’. But with the constant

increase of rent prices and incomes that stagnates, it is sometimes the only alternative for some young peo-ple. The Office for National statistics recently revealed that there has been a 20 per cent increase of young adults living with their parents between 1997 and 2011. What is interesting about this data is also the fact that Lon-don has the smallest percentage of young adults living with their parents. I though about the bitter saliva we, the so-called ‘generation rent’, had to swallow when we heard the news, and also that very same bitterness among the thousands of Londoners finding it hard to keep up with their rents, or to pay their mortgages. An accurate depiction of what is London’s property market can be defined into two very different narratives. One, for instance, is about eight-bedroom houses that cost more than £150 mil-lion, and the other is about dilapidat-ed one-single bedrooms to rent for a minimum of £500 per month (bills, privacy and hot water not included). This peculiar bidding warfare for the housing prices and the rental prop-erties exclude most of Londoners from buying. And this widen the gap be-tween the poor and the rich, the young and the old, outnumbering ‘outsiders’, who cannot afford living in London anymore and are driven out of the city, while ‘insiders’ are only inside via their properties, physically living off-shore. Among the young and their disen-chantment of democracy comes the fear of economic criteria to outweigh over human terms and choices. And the of being the eternal mortgage gen

eration, with tuition fees, loans, and more and more loans. “The price of housing is ever rising and it’s taking its toll in the younger gen-eration. It is becoming impossi-ble without parents’ help.” explains Rachel Adams, a recent university graduate who is now unemployed. She says: “I have moved back in with my parents just to be able to af-ford driving lessons and my phone bill and just other needs. I couldn’t afford everyday bills as my rent took up most of my wages.” Yet the younger gener-ation still dream of having their own houses and a good spending power.These stories have been at the centre of discussions and debates, with ques-tions as for the minimum wage, and other ways to improve London for Londoners. The blame that has been put on overseas investors, the ‘cause of the housing crisis in Britain’, is a popul

ular idea. “Foreign investors are the symptom of the shortage of houses in London, not the cause”, says econ-omist Paul Cheschire, professor at the London School of Economics. It is im-portant to demystify the blame put on foreign investors in London, because the media tend to oversimplify the sit-uation, as another scapegoating trick. The shortage of affordable houses in London is an important issue we have to tackle, and as economist Paul Cheschire explains, “it was inevitable, young people are now getting priced out of the market, particularly when mortgages became rather more diffi-cult to get out of the bust of the 2008 financial crisis”. If London suffers from the most extreme form of the problem that is common across Great Britain, it is the result of neglect, the conse-quences of not building any afforda-ble houses for more than 30 years.

Locked out of home ownership and social hous-ing, squeezing Britain’s young adults into the ever more expensive private rented sector have punishing consequences

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Percentage of young adults living with their parents. *Created with DataWrapper

We need to built abvout 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 homes a year, and we are really far

from this number to reach, since the 1960s there has been about 100,000 houses a year for the last several years. “Population in London is increasing, but the main issue is that income in London has been increasing so the demand for housing is going up and so as a result, the younger people are being priced out of the market, and having to go back to their parents with huge distance-commutes”, says Professor Cheschire. The younger generation needs to be angry at the shortage of hous-es, not disenchanted on the idea of home-ownership.We need to fight and demand more houses to be built, and not wait till a more dramatic sit-uation occur. Where the only way to live in London would be to rent a water tank in Paddington, ‘ideal for someone 5’4’’ or smaller with no his-tory of claustrophobia’ (1). ■S.G. (1) Gumtree.com advertised a watertank ‘loft conversion’ to rent in Central London, 10/01/2014

What’s next for Ukraine after Yanukovych?

Ukraine has seen its political land-scape wrecked with the prose-cution of Pres-ident Yanuk-ovych and the

release of opposition leader Ty-moshenko, in less than 48 hours. On February 22, after the

catastrophic days where protest-ers where killed in large num-bers, President Viktor Yanuk-ovych was removed from power.In the past three months the violent clashes killed more than 100 peo-ple, as a result of terror and oppres-sion that governed the politics in Ukraine. Now the Ukrainian par-liament must form a new govern-ment, with the help of the new inter-im president Oleksandr Turchinov. The first ques-tion which can be raised is about the future in the coming months for this country of more than 45 million peo-ple. Ukraine appears divided between pro-Europeans and pro-Russians, and several assumptions are already being made around the coming scenario. What the public fear is a com-plete separation between the Rus-sian-speaking East and the West Ukrainian nationalists. This fear was

repeatedly expressed by the interna-tional community, with all concerns on the terrible crisis that took Ukraine since November 21st, in 2013.The White House declared that “it was not in anyone’s in-terest to see the country split”. Well, after each crisis that shook Ukraine since the 1990s, Rus-sia doesn’t believe that the division of Ukraine will happen. Some see the possibility of a division in two parts, East and West, while oth-ers would rather claim that a di-vision into three states is possible. All these supposed sepa-rations bring the complex situa-tion that Ukraine is at its worst. Because the main current issue is to stabilize the country towards a democratic state, albeit it seems that its politicians are less mature than the Ukrainian society itself.Let’s hope for the best. ■S.G

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What’s next for Ukraine after Yanukovych?

Super-pope : Internet’s most popular name for 2013

It may happen, one of these days, that you are walking through the streets next to the Vatican, and you run into a very special mural. Pope Francis is the charac-

ter portrayed, depicted in the classic pose of Superman while he is about to take off in flight, with his beauti-ful smile, pure white dress flutter-ing about, the crucifix around his neck and the usual briefcase in his left hand. The image of the mural has travelled around the world on

the web in a few hours, such is the popularity of this Pope. According to the 14th annual survey of the Global Language Monitor, Pope Francis, is the most searched online before Obama and Snowden and also the most quoted on the inter-net, far more than presidents and the star system’s characters. The Vatican communications office clearly ap-proves of the image as much as they decided to share a graffiti’s image on Twitter. As a person of the year, Papa Francesco was awarded the cov-er of Time magazine, to emphasize the great popularity reached by this man and by his new pontificate a few months after his election as Pope. He is the Pope that came “from the end of the world”, Argen-tina, as he himself declared the day of his election, overlooking St Peter’s Square, which was crowded with his faithful supporters. A few days ago the magazine Rolling Stone unu-sually featured Pope Bergoglio on their front cover, reserving a pop start treatment for him. Above the photo of the Pontiff, the title appears “The Times They Are A-Changin’” and the article inside is dedicated to the “gentle revolution” carried out by the Pope. So who is this man? Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires. His family is of Italian descent and of Christiantraditions who emigrat-ed to Argentina in the twenties of the last century. Jorge Mario is the first of five children, and he came from a working class family. Regina Maria, his mother, was passionate

about Italian literature and opera and she passed down to the young Pope this interest. His mother was a great example of Christian vocation, during his life at home. He gradu-ated as a chemical technician, then chose the path of the priesthood by entering the seminary. He graduat-ed in philosophy and then in the-ology. In 1969 he was ordained to the priesthood and in 1973 he took his perpetual vows in the Socie-ty of Jesus. Don Giulio Pimazzoni, theologian, now an elderly retired priest, after having taught for many years at the University of theology of the diocese of Verona, says “The cornerstones of spirituality of this Pope are the centrality of union with Christ and the importance, as a good Jesuit, for every Chris-tian, to be apostolic missionaries.” Don Campedelli, parson at the Church of San Nicolò in Verona, a committed priest engaged on the side of the last, admires his attitude towards the poorest and the margin-alized people and says “What I love of this Pope is his attitude of open criticism towards finance, even with-in the Papal State, I am sure he will meet many obstacles on this path, es-pecially within the Church itself, but his commitment seems real.” Espe-cially in a time of financial hardship and often desperation, in Italy and also around the world, he gives hope to the less fortunate through the Bi-ble, exactly as the funny image por-trayed in a Vatican City’s wall, as a superhero who is attempting to pro-tect and save the weakest. ■V.G.

Pope Francis, the man of the moment shows his Christian love for all citizens of the world.

INTERNATIONAL


Future Interns‘We need to talk about corporate reponsibility’

The Future Interns are a cross-campus network of students and graduates opposing the culture of unpaid labour. We campaign for the eradication of all unpaid internships and

precarious work.

The phenome-non of unpaid internships is relatively new in the UK. The Na-tional Minimum Wage (NMW) was introduced

in 1997, and whilst the volunteering clause of this law enables ‘voluntary’ work to be unpaid, as soon as there are set hours, set obligations, or any kind of productivity to-wards the profit of the company, this concerns labour and has to be paid. When your ‘boss’ sends you an email asking you to come in at 9 the next day, you should be paid according to NMW.After you graduate, an unpaid internship might seem like a chance to get experience in your chosen industry. As most unpaid in-ternships are uncontract-ed – and therefore illegal – we have no possibility to get any idea of how many unpaid interns are working in London; I’ve come across numbers ranging from 2,000 up to 12,000 people working long-term, for free. This practice has become normalised across a wide range of in-dustries – fashion, the arts, as well as advertising, finance and law, media, and politics. In the first 18 months of this cabinet, 260 unpaid internships were advertised by MPs. The Future Interns employ a few different strat-egies to work towards the eradica-tion of unpaid internships. The most

important is public awareness. This means going out to different universi-ties to campaign, talking to students, employers and the public about the problem of the current internship culture, and supplying information about the legalities of working for free. Of course, political activism still means demonstrating. When the Ser-pentine Gallery advertised an unpaid internship in December 2013, we set off to the gallery in Santa suits to

hand out Christmas scrolls donning the internship advertisement, accom-panied by a banner that read ‘ALL WE WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS PAY’. The advertisement titled ‘Vol-unteer Research Assistant’ was for a position that didn’t offer vocational training or valuable work experience, but one specifically in search of a graduate with a minimum of a BA de-gree, previous experience and further qualifications. The job description basically came down to that of an of-fice assistant. Even though the action was quite small and friendly, it was

highly publicized, and the Serpentine Gallery have admitted that the adver-tisement was in fact not in line with their terms of placement. They have since changed their employment pol-icy to exclude unpaid internships. A more controversial strategy (which is also employed by HMRC) is naming and shaming. We look for advertise-ments for unpaid internships online and compose lists of these positions. When MTV and Sony announced

the prize to their competition was a three-month unpaid internship, we swiftly took to Twitter to point out the blatant illegality of that prize – it was then changed to a drum kit. The last thing an advertising company wants is a Google hit on being in-volved in illegal activities. This means fighting the free market with its own weapons, but can also be a catch-22; just because a company has stopped advertising an internship, doesn’t mean that intern doesn’t exist. They might wait for a graduate to approach them, or harvest their

COVER STORY


social circles. We would very much like to support legal cases, but have fi-nancially been unable to do so; court fees have been increased since last year from being free to £250 for the claim and £950 for the hearing. That’s a £1200 investment to a case that will pay a maximum of £6,31 an hour back, with no guarantee whatsoever. Even though the fines for companies employing unpaid interns have been quadrupled to £20,000, and this might well work as a discouragement to em-ployers, real enforcement is lacking; according to the 2013 study ‘National Minimum Wage Enforcement’ by the Centre for London, HMRC has been able to prosecute and fine a total of two companies in 2010-2013.

As an unpaid intern, you are not also not legally c o n s i d e r e d an employee, and don’t

enjoy the same protection against discrimination, occupational hazards and sexual harassment. Although ‘paper rights’ might have you covered, real world enforcement places the emphasis on the individual, rather than corporate responsibility. It’s important to see an unpaid internship in light of a broader problem. Whilst I understand that a 3-month internship at that media company in Farringdon is a great opportunity that will look fantastic on your CV, there needs to be an awareness that the people who have this choice were already in the position to have a choice at all. The prospect of having to work for free is frightening. The interns liv-ing off of their parents are of a genera-tion that is in fact sustained by another generation, and not self-sufficient. For

the interns that don’t get money from elsewhere, it means having to work another job, like a bar job, on top of their office hours, in the name of ‘true dedication’ to the industry they want to enter. To the graduates who can’t work such long hours, such as peo-ple with a disability or a dependant, it might mean never entering the in-dustry they’re educated to work in. The emergence of the culture of unpaid internships therefore means a deeper anchoring of class difference and a generational gap. It marginalises groups of people that are already mar-ginalised. Even though an unpaid in-ternship might provide you with a great opportunity to enter an industry, it needs to be understood as a widespread problem that compromises the labour market for young people. Unpaid in-ternships are unethical and immoral, and widen the gap between those who have a choice, and those who plainly don’t. It is central to the Future In-tern’s mission to make everyone aware of this situation: when you are doing labour, you should be getting paid.

If you’re interested in knowing more or supporting the campaign, go to facebook.com/futureinterns or drop us an email at [email protected]

Lua Vollaard for Future Interns

PROTEST. Future Interns at the Serpentine Gallery to protest ungainst unpaid internships, London, 22 January 2014 ©Gharsalli

COVER STORY


Dieudonne and the quenelle The case of censorship

* ‘It is not a bulletproof vest that I need, but a butt protector!’

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omINTERNATIONAL


In January the French comedi-an’s touring stage was banned by the French government through the Gayssot Act, for ‘inducing hatred against Jews’. Based on the findings of the Nuremberg Trial in 1945-46,

this act makes it an offence to question or deny the existence of the Holocaust and other categories of crimes against humanity. Also known under the ti-tle ‘Faurisson law’, named after the French academic Robert Faurisson was sacked for denying the existence of gas chambers in a numbers of arti-cles he has published. For those unfa-miliar with these infamous characters, here is a short topos of the situation. Dieudonné M’bala M’bala is a Camerounese French comedian who recently faced a lot of media attention due to his stand-up shows and an-ti-semitic claims. The French regards him as a ‘dangerous man’ and fre-quently banned his shows this year. A month after the media frenzy shook France, the UK Home Office decid-ed to ban Dieudonné from entering the country. It was shortly af-ter the comedian had said he would visit footballer Anelka to show him support for his ‘quenelle’, the ‘reverse nazi’ sign. All these trivial news may not be of first importance, but they expose, or rather restrain a right we often tend to dismiss. If we believe in freedom of speech, as much as the Lu-mières did, we have to give freedom of speech for everyone, even whom ide-as we hate. Allowing others to speak

does not necessarily mean you agree neither supports their ideas. Only in a totalitarian regime the sacred state has the right to shape historical truth. Think about Stalinisn, where it is the role and duty of the state to punish one for his or her ideas. If we adopt the same system and principles of the victims’ tormentors, it might even be an insult to the memory of the victims. Necessary is the need to educate people, not to punish or ban them. In France the Gayssot Act is within the criminal law, hence soci-ety and the state can punish deniers such as Faurisson or Dieudonne. This highly controversial act, aimed to re-press racists and anti-semitic actions, endanger freedom of speech. It also gives a platform for cretins to advo-cate themselves as liberty pundits and historical revisionists, or to obscurely compare malevolence between our society and the one in Orwell’s 1984. To criminalise historical re-visionism is surely not the right way to tackle the problem; if we believe in transparency for the past, the present and the future. Again, and this needs to be repeated until it is common knowledge, the need to educate peo-ple is necessary. To gag characters like Dieudonne ,and ban some of his ma-terials from the web, will only give a justification for his fans’ rage, the so-called ‘victimes of the system’. “The problem lay in the restrictive choice on what is acceptable to say, depending on the media reaction” says Jade Ger-son, a law student from Université Ly-

on-II, where Faurisson use to give lec-tures for over four years in the 1970s. “With this approach, the gov-ernment needs to be very careful with gagging what it thinks is unac-ceptable” she explains, when “some judges in France do not punish peo-ple who deny the Armenian geno-cide, because they think it has no significant impact on our society.” “All this media attention and talks around Dieudonné is not what we want” says Marion Bar-bieri, a member of the Liberal Jew-ish community in Paris. “I don’t even want to say his name, because there is the word ‘Dieu’ (i.e. ‘God’) in it, and he is just a charlatan.” “The only problem is that many young people follow him and his ide-as, and even if there are ‘against the system’, they need to realise that he indoctrinate them” she added. The radicalism of fools is not a recent phenomenon, and while in Great Britain there are extremist far-right groups such as the English Defence League and its supporters, in France there are also people from the far right, but also from the far left. Rad-ical Muslims and Green extrem-ists, people who are on the margins. Whether these ideas are outra-geous or not, these measures taken by the government and the French Interior Minister Manuel Valls maintains moral censorship of free speech, and this type of preventive action can be damaging for society.■S.G.

Against any form of censorship, in any media

INTERNATIONAL


At least 49 peo-ple died on the 3rd anniversary of the Egyptian Revolt accord-ing to Egypt’s

health ministry. The 25th of Jan-uary marked the day of the start of the revolt against the former president Hosni Mubarak. Streets filled up with Islamists who were in support of the recently oust-ed president Mohammad Morsi, supporters of the newly self- ap-pointed military leader Sisi and left-leaning activists. Whilst most of the protestors were armed only with banners, flags and whistles, there were reports of weapons amongst the crowds. Extra security measures were in place, however that did not stop protestors from fatally clashing. The majority of blood-shed came from the security forces clash with Muslim Broth-erhood loyalists who were defiant in their opposition to Sisi. The Islamist party is currently black-

listed in Egypt. Over a thousand Brotherhood members were also arrested throughout the region on the same day. According to a recent Amnesty International report: “Three years on, the demands of the 25th January Revolution for dignity and human rights seem further away than ever. Several of its architects are behind bars and repression and impunity are the order of the day.” The original 2011 revolution was supposed to put an end to the oppression. Egypt has become a country di-vided in every way. With huge power struggles and an even larger political division among citizens, there seems to be no suf-ficient resolutions and no end to this revolution. With all the chaos in Cairo, there was evidently a growing number of disenchanted youth who seemed fed up of the political upheaval and who were simply craving for normality. It

was clear that even within social circles, whilst some may have or have had political favourites, they were united in their mistrust of the people in power. Hagar Mohamad, a Mus-lim Brotherhood loyalist claimed that she was always in fear of her family members being arrested. “I fear for our lives, the army hate us because they fear we will take over and implement Shariah law here. But all we want is a good future.” A Cairo univer-sity student, Mustafa urged peo-ple to “not join a bunch of crazed leftists”. Although he claimed to be a supporter of the military and general Sisi, he was quick to say that “sometimes we just wish we hadn’t started this revolution.” The majority of the people that turned out to commemorate the anniversary that marked the overthrow of autocrat Mubarak were in support of the army. Al-though on the surface the army seems to have popular support, it was still hard to tell who held most influence. What will be the outcome in the next few weeks, when Egyptian will vote for a new con-stitution? Where does this leave the youth standing? One thing is definite: the Arab spring has many seasons to come.■S.M.

Egypt in turmoil

After years of turmoil, many Egyptians view Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as a saviour - but miracles are unlikely, experts warn.

POVERTY. A young child in poor neighborhood of Coptic Christian Quarter in Cairo, Egypt.

INTERNATIONAL


The end of the emperorBerlusconi is in trouble again: this time he fac-es his trial which banned him from the gov-ernment buildings.

an open vote.” The Italian people are rightly concerned about the present status quo, with the Letta government caught between Forza Italia as the opposition party and the “alfaniani”. Federico Testa commented: “I think that our country needs a moderate and not-populist polit-ical force, able to represent Con-servative voters respectful of in-stitutions.” Gianni Dal Moro, a Democrat, makes a similar refer-ence to the right-wing fraction of Parliament constantly attacking the judiciary as being leftist. Simone Madinelli, voter for the centre-left, is quite forceful on the subject: “Whoever attacks the judiciary is politically biased. For the last twen-ty years, since Silvio Berlusconi came into power, there has been a systematic attack on the judiciary with claims that it is subservient to the opposition.” Madinelli forgets to mention, however, that almost

all of the cases Berlusconi was in-volved with pre-date his going into politics. Berlusconi’s position is that “with their vote the people absolve me.” He has retired to his palatial residence of Arcore, pon-tificating on the country’s urgent need of early elections. Dal Moro seems to endorse this view, “The leader of the Demo-cratic Party, Matteo Renzi, is trying to carry out necessary institution-al reforms in agreement with Ber-lusconi (leader of the third Italian largest party) and then go to new early elections.” In the meantime, Enrico Letta is in a precarious situation, working with a government he would never have anticipated. A government encompassing polit-ical forces that have been clashing for years, both in terms of ideo-logical views and the strength with which these views were articulated.■V.G.

We all enjoy r e a d i n g about Ber-lusconi - the Bunga Bun-ga parties, the spoiled

puppies, the dissolute lifestyle. However, behind the stuccoed mask undergoing continual restoration, is the mastermind and founder of the Italian centre-right, and one of the most controversial figures of the Second Republic. Last November, the upper house of Parliament voted to oust Berlusconi, who was convicted of tax fraud. Elluding to the Severino law which precludes anyone with a custodial sentence of two years to run for election. The same law requires such an individu-al, if already elected, to step down. The MPs of Forza Italia have condemned this as a criminal conspiracy and a political coup conceived to eliminate their per-ennial leader. Federico Testa, professor of economics and business management at the University of Verona, and mem-ber of the Chamber of Deputies for the Democratic Party , said: “I think that the statements of conspiracies and per-secutions are out of place and wrong. Silvio Berlusconi has had three sets of proceedings, by three different courts, and he has used considerable financial resources to systematically delay the processes. In a power struggle twist, the Senate debated whether Berlusconi’s po-litical fate should be subject to an open or secret vote, with MPs of Forza Italia supporting the latter, while the Senate President, Pietro Grasso, supported the former. Professor Testa weighed in: “I believe that the practice of the secret vote in parliament should be limited to very few cases, as elected officials must account for their actions to the voters with transparency.In this specific case, it was a substantial acknowledgment of the final judgment delivered by a high pow-er of the state and that is why there was

INTERNATIONAL


Can you spot the bubble about to burst?

No individual on an average in-

come is allowed to enter the race to buy a property in London. To afford an entry pass, you require a better than average salary or failing that you need to have parents with very deep pockets. Why so? Because Lon-don’s property market is becoming increasingly the preserve of rich foreign investors and is failing to meet the needs of young and aspi

rational first time buyers. Economic forecasters have also expressed little optimism about the London housing market, instead warning that soar-ing house prices will create a bubble in the market that may burst. To be blamed are the rich capitalists, who want to get richer and politicians who care about capitalists. A special report on the housing market pub-lished in February 2014, by EY ITEM Club, a non-governmental forecast

ing group, claims that the invest-ment of super rich investors has de-veloped “bubble-like” conditions in London. Andrew Goodwin, senior economic adviser to the EY ITEM Club, said “London, which is suffer-ing from a combination of strong de-mand and a lack of supply, is increas-ingly giving us cause for concern.” Confirmation arrives also from the Mayor of London, Boris John-son. I decided to get to the heart of

Property’s prices in the UK are sky-rocketing, and it is now a common struggle to find af-

fordable dwellings

INTERNATIONAL


the problem by speaking to Tim Ed-wyn-Jones, the director of Adelaide Jones. He pointed out that “inflation in prices is mainly due to artificially low interest rates, interest only loans and short supply among other fac-tors. Over generous tax incentives to off set letting income also a ma-jor market distortion.” Edwyn-Jones goes on to explain that by “keeping interest rates this low for so long is a big market distortion keeping prices high and coupled with government having no money and deciding printing more of it, is of course a dis-aster which can only end in tears.” Civitas’ study comes with a solu-tion, suggesting that the UK, and in particular London’s housing market, should opt for similar investment systems such as one used in Aus-tralia, which prevents non-residents from purchasing already-existing dwellings. However, Richard Lloyd, the executive director of Which?, explained to us that “it is too easy for the government to point the fin-ger at foreign nationals investing in the UK, arguing that successive gov-ernments have failed to enact prop-er house building policies over the course of the last three decades.” Da-vid Cameron says that his govern-ment is trying is to help those with financial difficulties by re-launching the programme “Help to Buy”, which offers a state contribution of 20% as an interest-free loan to purchase a new home worth less than £600,000. It is available to everyone on the condition that the purchaser is able to pay a deposit of 5 per cent. Yet, Laura Lakin, 29, complained to us that the first-time buyers are competitive and ruthless. “You have to be extremely lucky to get an of-fer when prices are hitting astro-nomical levels.” The “Help to Buy” programme has also received lot of criticism from several economists, calling it a pre-election move that is likely to create an unsustaina-ble housing bubble. The problem is that only a very small part of the

mortgage of 95% turned on at this time is covered by the government guarantee. In fact, only two major banks - Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group - have now joined the government programme.

Other banks have adapted to the grow-ing demand without ‘par-achute’: de-spite the risks,

every week the number of institu-tions willing to attract customers by offering them more generous loans increases. Also, the programme could lash out an uncontrolled in-crease in prices that would open the door to a new devastating bubble, in which, moreover, the Treasury, which is acting as guarantor, would be directly involved. In practice, if everything ended in the worst way, British citizens would have to pay the consequences for this. Between unaffordable properties, high tui-

tion fees, stagnant wages, and a ris-ing pension age may make you think twice about London being your first choice city to live in.■I.P.

NationwideEstate prices in September 2013 were up 0.9% on a monthly basis and 5% annually, marking a record in the last three years.

The increase was recorded in 13 UK regions, which was particularly strong in the southern regions

House prices in London rose by 10% on an annual basis.

INTERNATIONAL


I have never attended a protest, neither saw one where more than twenty people would angrily gather. The only thing I witnessed in my young age as ‘an expression of objection by words and actions’ was in

high school, few years ago. It was the year to pass the baccalaureate, in a paisible small school in the South of France. One day some stubborn stu-dents tried to block the entrance of the school. They were about to protest against recent reforms on pensions and annuities. The majority of the students involved had no clue on the precise reasons of the national protest, or what the word ‘annuity’ meant. They simply wanted to skip class, and this sunny day seemed like the perfect time to do so. Some students were carrying banners with slogan such as ‘WE DEMAND MORE RIGHTS’, or ‘ALGERIA FOR-EVER’. While some others waved the Mo-roccan flag, or the Portuguese one. The scene was somewhat chaotic, with no leader, no proper mes-sages or announcement of any sort, just some really young emo-anarchists who attempted to smash the school’s pub-lic call box, whereas others would try to stop other students to enter in the school with chains and other dramat-ic accessories. Since that day I though that horizontally-led student protests in 21st century Europe was completely grotesque. This was my latest opinion on the matter, when I finally decide to go to the student protest in central Lon-don earlier this year, when thousands of students from across the UK meet for a national day of protest, after the police made a mass arrest during a stu-

dent demonstration before Christmas. I Iwent to the University of London where the first meeting was held, and decided to leave all my apprehensions back home. Outside the student un-ion, hundreds of students are already here, with the press. After 20 minutes, the president of the student union Mi-chael Chessum decides to make a little speech, with the help of colleagues and workers from the 3 cosas!, a campaign aimed to improve the cleaners’ wages at universities. At the end of Chessum’s speech, I quickly squeeze through the crowd to ask him what’s the pro-gramme and aims of their protest. “We are fighting against the mar-ketization of our universities, we will not let the management or the police step over our rights,” says Michael Chessum. “We are trying to fight for public democratic education, free from exploitation and police violence. Today I would say it is mainly based around anti-privatisation, and work-ers’ rights,” he adds. If I may recap,

this protest is mainly against capital-ism. And I was not mistaken. During the march from Holborn to Covent Garden, it wasn’t hundreds of students that were present to be angry, but thousands of students ready to shout, object, disapprove, oppose, challenge, dissent, sing and dance. The anar-chists were at the front of the march, true to themselves, with ‘class war’ banners. An odd situation took place at the Royal Opera House when some protesters – cute little anarchists – de-cided to occupy the building for few minutes to protest against cleaners’ wages. One of the anarchists then draw next to the reception’s desk the anarchy symbol, ‘The circle A’. Did he though about who was going to clean that? Before this unexpected action, the student movement went down to the Royal Court of Justice, to de-mand justice for Mark Duggan, the Tottenham resident who was shot and killed by police and gave the spark for the start of the 2011 riots.

Horizontally-led protests : is it effective ?

PROTEST. In front of the University of London, an old man with his dog. ©Gharsalli

COLUMN


the students stood right in front of the police, for about twenty min-utes. The first five minutes they shouted “JUSTICE FOR PEACE” and “you killed Mark Duggan”, the next five minutes the discourse was ‘scum, murderers, scum, murder-ers’. With no police reactiowhatso-

ever, the protesters seemed confused, and the last ten minutes was partly chaotic. “I didn’t expect that as well” says Joe Reynolds, a young photogra-pher. “But you have to understand, the strong police presence paraly-ses the movement, with the mass arrests and the kittling, people are

a but more careful” he explains. I am still not sure that horizontal-ly-led protests are always horizontal and effective. But at least protests and confusion proves that there are many issues that needs to be lis-tened, whether by government, the public, or that old man with his dog. ■S.G.

“Orwell warned us of the danger of this kind of information”, said Ed-ward Snowden in December 2013 on Britain’s Channel 4 as an “alternative Christmas message”, to show the link between the NSA’s data-gathering activities and the surveillance state George Orwell described in his novel 1984. The Guardian and the Wash-ington Post revealed the scandal brought by Snowden, where it was proved that the National Security

Agency had access to the online com-munications of thousands of mil-lions’ users of Google, Skype, Yahoo, Facebook or Microsoft. This huge scandal provoked outrage among the public, mostly people who were concerned with human rights and freedom. In Orwell’s 1984, the slogan ‘Big Brother is watching you’ was re-peated constantly by the authorities,.Now the idea is back on everyone’s mind. And sales of the book in Amazon have increased since the affair broke out in the media. But it seems that people have ac-cepted to be in constant surveillance. According to a recent poll most A m e r -i c a n s

accepted to be under online sur-veillance if it guaranteed a better protection against terrorism. Many claim that the similitude lays in Kaf-ka’s novel The Trial, according to the legal expert Daniel J.Solove, author of The Digital Person. He explains in his book that Kafka doesn’t real-ly talk about surveillance, neither of the changing behaviour from the public, but most importantly the use of bureaucracy of the data gathered. In the trial, the defendant K doesn’t know what are the charges against him. He has no access to the data gathered about him. These Kaf-kaesque bureaucracies underline the disorienting and senseless situations the citizen face when confronting the institution. The NSA scandal is just another story that demonstrates the important structure and power of the government, thus the power struggle widen the gap of the power itself be-tween the government and individu-als. ■S.G.

Students and the press gathers in front of the Royal Court of Justice in Central London, 22 January 2014.

The NSA scandal

brings us closer to

a kafkaesque epo-

que.

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Politics and the youth: why we don’t vote

The world of pol-itics can often seem confusing and boring for young people. For the majori-ty of young vot-

ers age 18 to 25, among college and university students, politics is the last thing on their minds. Since Russel Brand’s last essay on why the youth is disenchanted with politics, a lot of debate has been going on. He might be right when he claims our generation, the so-called self-generation, boomerang genera-tion, generation Y are showing apa-thy to politics. They don’t think poli-tics is the solution to their problems, and with the lack of trust towards politicians they just don’t vote. I intend to find out what are Londoners’ view on politics. So I went to the Chestnut Commu-nity Centre in Tottenham, where the 2011 summer riots started. There I met friendly Lena Hartley. Lena is the founder of the Pyramid Health & Social Care Association (PHASCA), a non profit organisation

which helps those who are less well off with health, advices, education, etc.We went to her office, and after few minutes a young man came into the office and we started to chat. His name is George Palmer, a 21-year-old youth worker from North Lon-don. We sat face to face on comfy swivel chairs as he explained why he and many other young peo-ple failed to engage with politics. He admitted he has never voted, mentors 15 teenagers be-tween 12 and 19 years old. Even though he gets involved socially, he feels he has been let down too many times. “In the past, I have tried to put my name out there. I tried to be a community ac-tivist but once someone within the community goes into politics, they start to get shunned by other mem-bers of that community. This is be-cause the image of politicians is neg-ative. Even if you are a good person, have a good heart and good inten-tions, once you join that profession, you become a different person.” George felt let down by MPs such as Tottenham MP David Lam-

my, who made a negative lasting impression. Mr Lammy had been in-vited to address young people in the borough, but thirty minutes prior to his arrival, he cancelled. Although he mostly agree with George, he still thinks the government fails to put youth policies on the top priority list. Mainly because less than 32 per cent of 18-24 years old fail to engage with politics. From time to time George watch Question time on BBC because he thinks it is impartial, though when hearing what the pol-iticians claim, it seems they’re really detached from the real world. Ac-cording to Kenny’s 62-page report, 90 per cent of MPs are university graduates, when only 38 per cent of the population went to university. 62 per cent of MPs are white men over the age of 40, and only 4 per cent of MPs are from an ethnic minority. George agreed saying: “They don’t know the nitty gritty, they can’t say they’ve been through shit because they haven’t. David Cameron can’t relate to us. I would like to see David Cameron living in my house. I give him three months, at the end he will blow his brain.” George’s anger intensified when we reached the subject of cuts. In the last four years young people have seen their tuition fees tripled to £9,000 after Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg infamously promised to scrap them if elected. The Education Maintenance Allowance (£30 weekly payments to support college students) was scrapped and due to a lack of fund-ing, some youth centres in deprived boroughs are closed. This young generation have lost faith in our leaders. Defiant George believes that “until politics itself change, nothing is gonna change.”■A.M.

YOUTH. The Chestnut community centre in Tottenham, North London.

Capital punishment in Iran

INTERNATIONAL


In 2012, Iran’s supreme lead-er Ayatalloh Khameini created an official Face-book account when Facebook itself is blocked in

Iran. In the past decade, the regime has censored its citi-zens, especially its political, social and reli- gious ac-tivists

very heavily. Iran’s citizens and its many minorities live in fear of punishment for what they write and say. The Ira-nian regime are notoriously swift to suppress any attempt by media or activists who re-ports the country’s abuse of human rights. According to the United Nations, in 2013 Iran executed 625 people of whom many were wom-en and political prisoners. Whether outspoken or un-

dercover, activists when caught are accused and

charged of ‘Mohara-beh’ or ‘waging war

against God’, a crime punishable by death. “Ac-cording to the UN experts, at least 40 peo-ple have been r e p o r t e d l y hanged in the first two weeks of January. On the 27th January 2014,

the passionate poet and activist

Hashem Shaabani was hanged along-

side his friend Hadi Rashedi after being ar-

rested in February 2011 and subjected to torture, the Middle East newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported.I spoke to a close friend of Hashem Shaabani via Skype and he, who wished to be called ‘Qusay’ instead of his

real name for fear of reprisals claimed that, “Hashem had been targeted solely because he wrote articulate poems against the regime and was openly Sunni Muslim.” The Jerusalem Post reported that in a letter from prison to his family, Shabaani wrote: “I have tried to defend the legit-imate right that every people in this world should have, which is the right to live free-ly with full civil rights. With all these miseries and trag-edies, I have never used a weapon to fight these atro-cious crimes except the pen.”Does the regime carry out public mass executions be-cause it is the most econom-ical way of killing? Possibly one of the reasons. But the more sinister motive is to publicly humiliate activists and leave fear among Irani-ans. To stop anybody who want to stand up and speak out. According to the Guard-ian it came second after Chi-na in world’s rankings for executions. The world may remember the American hostages that were taken pris-oners shortly after the Irani-an revolution in 1979 but not many know of the thousands of young prisoners that were taken from the streets of Teh-ran shortly after, in 1981. The same situation is still happen-ing now. As journalists and global citizens we must give a voice to the voiceless. The main problem in Iran is not the nuclear situation, grant-ed it is a pressing issue. Let’s never forget: your silence is a weapon of mass destruc-tion.■S.M.

Capital punishment in IranIran limits the freedoms of speech, press, and the right of assembly; denies the right of personal freedom; and prevents the freedom of religion.

INTERNATIONAL


Af t e r several emails a n d calls, I f inally gained L a y l a’ s trust

as she opened up about her pain-ful past. Three decades ago, Layla Ismail went through female geni-tal mutilation, an ordeal that many

people could not imagine. “I wasn’t there when she was cut. I came

back to our town the day she was taken to hospital. I was confused and didn’t know what was happening.” Layla knows too well the dangers of FGM which is usual-ly practiced on girls between four and ten. She is truly a brave wom-an. The 39-year-old woman from Somalia experienced FGM at a young age, along with her sister

Zamzam. Although she did not give her age, Zamzam was seven when she was circumcised and was rushed to hospital following com-plications, but thankfully survived. Zamzam had experienced the traumatic aftermath of this archaic practice. Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is illegal in many parts of the world. However the practice, which is car-ried out frequently in twenty-eight African countries, has spread to oth-er parts of the world, due to migra-tion of families from Africa. World Health Organisation defines FGM as ‘all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female

genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs

for non-medi-cal reasons.’

To my sur-p r i s e , L a y l a c o n -f e s s e d

that she was the one

who pushed to have the procedure

done, after succumb-ing to peer pressure from her

friends. “Me and my sister had FGM later than our friends,” she tells me. The peer pressure and eventual bul-lying forced Layla to ask her mother “to arrange a nurse to cut us.” You may think this inhumane practice would be shunned by well educated families, but Layla could not escape it, even though she came from a good home. She said: “I grew up in North Somalia and my father was a bank

manager. All my sisters and broth-ers were educated and both parents treated us with honour and respect. The human rights’ agen-da was high in my family’s day to day life and that is why I want to change what happened to me, which violated my right. It also gave me courage and ability to know what I felt was wrong.” Sadly girls going through this do not know it’s wrong and are often afraid to speak up. The procedure is commonly carried out by an elderly woman without medical training, she uses a varie-ty of tools from scalpels to scissors. To make things worse, no anaesthetic is used to prevent in-fections. Instead Iodine and herbs are used to tighten the vagina and stop bleeding. Complications fol-lowing the procedure include: urine retention, injury to adjacent tissues, immediate fatal haemorrhage and in the long term extensive damage to the external reproductive system, difficulty in menstruation, and sex-ual dysfunction to name but a few. Layla has been an FGM cam-paigner since she came to the UK in 1995. She was shocked about the lack of awareness of FGM in Brit-ain. This spurred her on to take ac-tion. The mother of five is a mod-ern day superwoman, juggling domestic duties with her campaign work at Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development, better known as FORWARD. FOR-WARD is a charity and campaign group which has been running since 1983, helping to raise aware-ness of FGM. Layla also campaigns for Refugee Women of Bristol, she has co-ordinated projects including

Layla Ismail and her fight against female genital mutilation

INTERNATIONAL


the FGM Bristol community project. She credits her support-ive husband and her organised life-style for successfully balancing her hectic work schedule around her family life. She believes her cam-paigns with both organisations will help women protect their children from the same fate. She said : “Our work is on-going. We train women to become community health advo-cates to raise awareness about the practice and work with frontline

professionals to address this issue.” However she believes the only way to eradicate FGM in England is to address issues of in-equality between genders and con-tinuously educate women and en-gage the community. Presently Layla is preparing for a conference in Bristol. In 2010 she was joined by a group of 30 women who pro-tested through the streets of Bristol. The women, armed with plac-ards reading ‘Say no to FGM’ were

supported by Bristol Safe Guarding Children Board. At the time in Bris-tol around 2,000 girls were thought to be at risk with 6 cases a year referred to social services. Sadly, cases go un-reported when girls are illegally tak-en abroad for the procedure. As for the future, Layla says: “I will con-tinue to go to different cities in UK to do presentations about our Bristol FGM work. If I get the opportuni-ty to go back to Somalia to contin-ue this campaign I will”. ■A.M.

“48 hours of Hell: London tube strike” Irina Palici

INTERNATIONAL


‘The Invisibles’, western imperialism and Marc Silver

What is the d i f f e r e n c e between you and an ‘ille-gal’ migrant that will

make the migrant less human? These are the words of Marc Silver, film-maker, director of photography and ‘social impact strategist’, as he likes to call himself. His first film documentary ‘Who is Dayani Christal ?’ premiered at the Sundance Festival 2013 and when I met him after the screening of his film for the International Mi-grants Day, in London at PulseFilm, I wanted to know more about him, his work and his thoughts. Marc Silver started to work on small- scale film documentaries, and “he’d always be interested in the con-struction of fear of the force division”, as he “feels that religion and national-

ity can put you on a sort of animalistic view”. After working with Amnesty International, on “the journey that takes you through Mexico”, a mini-se-ries of films called ‘The Invisibles’. Silver worked with Mexican ac-tor Gael Garcia Bernal and together they started exposing the reality of thousands who try to escape pov-erty by crossing borders, in Central and South America. “Originally, we launched this website to ask people to send their stories about migration, about all these issues between rich and poor, economic policies, barriers and walls”. Now used by Amnesty Inter-national,the four parts film is promoted to bring awareness about the terrible living conditions of people who live on the “wrong side of the border”. Marc Silver wanted to expose the human rights abuses which illegal mi-grants undergi everyday. He’d also like “to bring light on all this economic

issues and barriers that are directly affecting real people”. The filmmaker was always intrigued with the question of immigration, and everything evolv-ing around. “When we first started the project “The Invisibles”, we received a mas-sive amount of feedback from people around the world, sending their sto-ries, sometimes heartbreaking stories”, he explains. “Next time you go home and look at your gardener, or your cleaner, or the person that serves you coffee, you might see them, but see them with this potential backstory that brought them to cross your path in life”. The human angle is what drives Marc Silver and its co-worker Gael Garcia Bernal, and to start the same journey that they begin we can watch ‘Who is Dayani Christal?’ and ‘The In-visibles”, and maybe we can change our ways of seeing the world, as naive and simplistic as we are.■S.G.

©M

ARC

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shot

‘Who

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i Chr

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Inducing guilt to the white mid-dle-class has nev-er been as easy as the time we live in. Show them a film on poor migrants and give them some red wine.

COLUMN


Walking through the only open door to hun-dreds of specta-tors at Sadler’s

Wells Theatre, I had the feeling that I was heading to a school assembly. The desolate appearance of the hall strengthened this feeling. It made me reminisce about the meetings with the teachers I had to attend as a stu-dent, from the ragged seats, to the aging stage. As the lights go down, the sound of music pours out of the op-eratic pit beneath the stage, intro-ducing Matthew Bourne’s novel in-terpretation of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’. While maintaining the immor-tal music of Tchaikovsky, the directoboldly replaces famous traditional female swans with forty threatening male swans each dancing barefoot. Your imagination is stolen in a flash. You lose yourself completely. Every single dance step expresses a specific mood, the group of swans, impecca-bly expresses its movement against the backdrop of a growing crescen-do of music that becomes more and more exciting. While on stage different ac-tions are taking place simultaneous-ly, in the hall, hypnotised heads move both right and left trying to capture every moment. From the Prince who must come to terms with his role, ful-filling his daily repetitive duties and responsibilities, to the Queen, a to-tally neglectful mother who dreams of a glorious future for her son, ig-noring his wishes. Arriving into the scene comes a girl, whose behaviour is contrary to the royal protocol, pro-viding the show with entertaining in-terludes. Still moving my head from right to left, during the ten minute break, I notice a gentleman next to

me trying to make conversation. After introducing ourselves and ex-changing views on the show, smiling, the man says: “From my perspective, un-til now the best part of this perfor-mance was the balance between how it is faithful to the original produc-tion but at the same time it is injected with a good dose of modernism that

brings the story right up to the pres-ent day! Even a philistine like me is enjoying this show!” Swan Lake is a production put on for ballet lovers and first tim-ers at the theatre. The 53-year-old, from South London says: “When my wife told me that were heading to the ballet, I thought, are you having a laugh? Me, a hard-nosed Millwall fan

at the theatre on a Saturday night?” Holding an amazed expression, he continued: “ I’m more of a West End musicals type of guy, but this produc-tion blew off the cobwebs of what I had always considered to be the type of story my grandmother would have encouraged me to watch.” Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake it is not a com-mon story and just another ballet production, neither is it simply a mu-sical. Watching it you realise that it is a mix. The plot presents satirical ele-ments, such as the covert allusion to the Windsor Monarchy, its most illustrious members and internal vicissitudes, as well as the fun rep-resentation of a grotesque ballet of the Romantic tradition in which the evil characters are inexorably defeat-ed. The peak is reached when the in-explicable but inevitable death of the protagonist happens. The colours are magical. The white jumps over the red. The bulky dresses makes you dream. The whole mise en scène has turned the set in a fairy tale. Makes youwonder what is like to be the per-son who has the magic wand in his hand and work together with Bourne. Lez Brotherston, set and costume de-signer for Swan Lake decided to share the secret with us saying: “What I like about working with him the most is the way he blends and fuses the tradi-tional with the progressive and pre-viously unseen on stage. For me and for my contribution to making this season of Swan Lake at Sadler’s Wells a success, this means breaking even more boundaries and creating a set that will capture the imagination of even the most seasoned theatre goer.”The whole elegant, witty, sharp, contemporary adventure would not hesitate to captivate your curiosity. and imagination. ■I.P.

Swan Lake - reviewCOLUMN

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