Contents newint.org
Agenda Stories making the news this month 8 Fed up with corruption in Guatemala 8 Europe’s toxic lobby 9 Abortion by drone in Poland 9 Introducing Selahattin Demirtaş 9 Dutch basic income trialled 10 Kalpana’s Warriors rise 10 The unstoppable water revolution 11 Malawi’s $43m tax dodge 11 King coal up in smoke PLUS: Scratchy Lines by cartoonist Simon Kneebone and
Reasons to be Cheerful.
The Big Story – Syria
Ta m m a m A z z a m
12 A resilient revolution Nonviolent activists are holding out in Syria, despite the destruction. Do not abandon them, says Daniel Adamson. 15 Is anybody out there? ISIS’ savagery must not blind us to the bravery of civil-society activists, says Hania Mourtada. 16 Syrian conflict – the facts 18 Free Mazen Darwish Salman Rushdie pays homage to the pioneering media activist imprisoned since 2012. 19 ‘I love you, and you love 20 million people’ Yara Badr, Darwish’s wife, says she always knew she’d have to share him with the rest of Syria. 20 Bravery’s edge Daniel Adamson profiles four little-known men and women who are risking their lives to build a democratic Syria. 22 Singing in the kingdom of silence A tour of Syria’s creative output in the early days of the uprising and ongoing cultural resistance. 26 Rushing towards death An interview with Raed Saleh, head of the fearless White
Helmets rescue squad. 28 What do Syrians want? The story of how Rafif Jouejati organized a survey in a warzone, and the answers she got.
Features 32 Will humans survive the new economy of the 21st century? Edouard Tétreau makes the case for a more humane economics. 42 Calling time on the MDGs No development process succeeds without the participation of those it targets, argues Maggie Black.
Mixed media 36 Film reviews Theeb, directed by Naji Abu Nowar; and 45 Years, directed by Andrew Haigh. 37 Music reviews Resistance, by Souljazz Orchestra; and Amores Pasados,
by John Potter and Others. 38 Book reviews Now and at the Hour of our Death by Susana Moreira arques; Kill Chain by Andrew Cockburn; The Body Snatcher by Patrícia Melo; and The Seven Good Years by Etgar Keret. PLUS Also out there…
Opinion 35 Mark Engler Team Obama cashes in. 41 Steve Parry In defence of anger.
LUS: Polyp’s Big Bad World cartoon
Regulars 6 Letters 7 Letter from Bangui Help is at hand when Ruby Diamonde is involved in an accident. 30 Country Profile: Mali 40 Worldbeaters Behind his fig leaf of respectability, Honduran President
Juan Orlando Hernández hides some dirty secrets. 44 Making Waves Rajendra Singh is reviving Indian villages through traditional rainwater harvesting. 45 Puzzle Page PLUS: Marc Roberts’ Only Planet cartoon. 46 And Finally Comedian, activist and author Mark Thomas talks dissent,
tax and people power.
This month’s contributors include:
Shahidul Alam is a photographer, writer, curator and human rights activist in Bangladesh. He set up the awardwinning Drik agency and the celebrated school of photography Pathshala, and is the director of the Chobi Mela festival.
Yara Badr is a former director of the Syrian Center for Media and Free Expression. She now lives in exile, in Lebanon, and writes on culture for Al-Quds Al-Arabi. She won the Ilaria Alpi award for brave female journalists in 2012.
orn in Damascus in 1980, Tammam Azzam trained at the Faculty of Fine Arts, with a focus on oil painting. He now uses digital media (see pages 12 & 15) to create visual composites of the conflict in Syria.
Hania Mourtada is a journalist who works for The Syria Campaign advocacy group. She has written for The New York Times, Foreign
Policy Time magazine and other publications.
Front cover: Nikolay Doychinov/Getty Images. Magazine designed by Andrew Kokotka and Juha Sorsa. All monetary values are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
New I nter nat io nalist ● September 2015 ● 5