Search Results for Toward Freedom Journal

Carlos Maaz, a Q'eqchi' fisherman shot and killed during a police crackdown on May 27, 2017 in El Estor. Hundreds of residents took part in his funeral procession across town the following day. Photo: Sandra Cuffe

Maya Q’eqchi’ Fishermen and Journalists Fight Back Against Criminalization and Mining in Guatemala

Sandra Cuffe May 24, 2018 Sandra Cuffe

Maya Q’eqchi’ fishermen faced deadly state repression last year for their opposition to transnational nickel mining and lake pollution in El Estor, Guatemala. Now they are confronting criminal charges for their protest. The court case highlights the ongoing environmental and human rights crisis in a country where corporate power regularly meets indigenous resistance. “Just for defending our rights as Maya Q’eqchi’, we’ve been criminalized,” fishers' union leader Cristóbal Pop told Toward Freedom.

Protests in Rabat, Morocco calling for the release of journalist Ali Anouzla in 2013. Journalist and Al Aoual news website founder Soulaiman Raissouni is pictured in the center. Photo credit: Ilhem Rachidi

The Press and the Palace: Moroccan Journalists Denounce Government Crackdown on Media

Ilhem Rachidi February 23, 2018 Ilhem Rachidi

Most Moroccan journalists admit they do not cross certain “red lines” in Morocco. These lines include critical coverage of Morocco’s king and his advisers, Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara territory, Islam, and big businesses tied to the monarchy. In order to survive, self-censorship is mandatory among journalists. “I cannot write everything I want,” explained journalist Soulaiman Raissouni. “Everybody does self-censorship to different degrees.”

Support Grassroots Media: Donate to Toward Freedom

Benjamin Dangl October 25, 2017 Benjamin Dangl

Dear Toward Freedom Supporter,

Progressive and international. That is the news coverage that Toward Freedom provides. We challenge the idea of patriotic exceptionalism.

We highlight the global scope of human rights and environmental crises. We cover the ways that people are working together for social justice, building bridges over our borders rather than walls.

International Day of Peace in Afghanistan. Photo: Helena Mulkerns/UN

In the coming year we have exciting plans to develop regional writers’ networks in order to strengthen our coverage from Latin America and Africa. We intend to deepen our reports and expand our groups of writers and readers through these networks. Please donate to support this work today. read more

No Picture

Is Morocco Headed Toward Insurrection?

Hisham Aidi August 2, 2017 Hisham Aidi

Source: The Nation

The northeastern Rif, Berber heartland and site of the 1920s Rif Republic, is on fire—and the protests are spreading.

Curfews, roadblocks, checkpoints on highways leading to Al Hoceima in northeastern Morocco; neighborhoods encircled by military trucks; police attacking protesters; mass arrests; activists abducted off the streets. Since May 26, the first day of Ramadan, the city of Al Hoceima has seen continuous tumult, culminating with a day of bloody clashes on June 26, in what is now being called the Black Eid of 2017. Tensions had been running high in the Rif region, with ongoing protests since October, when a young fish vendor died at the hands of the police, crushed to death in a trash compactor as he tried to retrieve his confiscated merchandise. A truce of sorts had been negotiated in mid-May, when a ministerial delegation arrived in the city of Al Hoceima promising various development projects. read more