INTRODUCTION
Today, when opposition forces reached Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire’s political capital, people came out on the streets to welcome them. Since the opposition now controls several towns in both the west and the east, it seems that the balance is shifting in President-elect Alassane Ouattara’s favor. Still in the works, according to most reports, is a big battle for Abidjan, the coastal city that is the country’s commercial capital. In the meantime, Ouattara, who remains under house arrest in the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, has ordered that a ban on the export of cocoa remain in place-- presumably until former-President Laurent Gbagbo steps down. To put more pressure on Gbagbo the UN Security Council has not only condemned his refusal to concede the election but also imposed new sanctions: I) freezing the foreign assets of Gbagbo, his wife, and top aides; ii) prohibiting them from traveling abroad (1).
The refugee crisis continues amid more reports of violence against civilians in Abidjan (2). Where there has been fighting in the countryside civilians caught between pro-Ouattara and pro-Gbagbo forces have fled to safety as best they can. Earlier this week as many as 10,000 people took shelter in a Catholic mission in Duékoué (a western town captured by pro-Ouattara forces). Pope Benedict XVI is sending Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson (a Ghanaian) to Cote "to encourage reconciliation and peace" (3). Most Christians in this former French colony are Roman Catholic.
ACTIVITIES
DISCUSS: For a good summary of the situation on March 30th see the Al Jazeera article (in Resources). It includes striking photo of a young girl, surrounded by bundles of family belongings--apparently a refugee waiting for transport. You could use it in an elementary classroom to discuss, for example, "What would you take if you had to flee in a hurry?" This discussion could move on to Japanese children displaced from their homes by the earthquake, tsunami, and radiation.
VIEW/CREATE: Students can access the two slideshows (see Resources) and then select photos to create PowerPoint presentations about the situation in Cote d’Ivoire.
READ/DISCUSS: The short article reporting the Pope’s decision to send an envoy, Cardinal Peter Turkson, to Ivory Coast is easy to read and includes a picture of the Cardinal. It is suitable for middle school or even elementary students, especially in a parochial school (where the suffering of Ivorians and the Pope’s concern could be discussed in a Religion class).
FIND OUT MORE: The Guardian slideshow features the humanitarian work of Merlin. Go to this organization’s web site (http://www.merlin.org.uk/content/home-page) to learn about its activities in Ivory Coast and in other countries. (Perhaps a student or a group could do this and report back to the class.)
READ/DISCUSS: Print copies or send students to read online "Ivory Coast’s Conflict and Rwanda’s Genocide: Key Differences." ASK students explain the differences and speculate about how important (or not) these may turn out to be. Probably they will have to access online information about the genocide in Rwanda (the Lynx has not listed such resources so let them explore on their own).
LISTEN/DEBATE: Students listen to Riza Khan’s "counterpoint" program on on Al Jazeera (see Resources) and then discuss/debate such issues as the consequences for the region, the legitimacy of the election, and the alleged motives behind the West’s (in particular France’s) backing of Alassane Ouattara. Speaking from a pro-Ouattara POV, Professor Manthia Diawara admits that in the past he had respected Laurent Gbagbo though now he is disappointed that he is unwilling to give up power for the good of the country. Diawara is a prominent scholar in the field of film studies. Defending Gbagbo’s position, Augustin Douogoui is an advisor to President Gbagbo. How credible are these arguments and counterarguments? Encourage students to EXPLORE other sources and to access up-to-date news as they evaluate what each "expert" is saying. Use an excerpt from the program if you wish to focus on a particular issue.
RESOURCES
"Ouattara Forces Enter Cote d’Ivoire Capital." Al Jazeera English (March 30, 2011): http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/20113301026261416.html
"Crisis in Cote d’Ivoire." Riza Khan: What Do You Think? Al Jazeera English (March 15, 2011; 24:55 mins):
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/rizkhan/2011/03/20113157578397357.html
- Despite its being recorded two weeks ago this program provides an excellent opportunity to hear a Gbagbo supporter explain the incumbent’s point of view–followed by rebuttal–and counterargument.
SLIDESHOW: "Ivory Coast Rebels Advance." Wall Street Journal (March 30, 2011):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703461504576230603248561550.html#articleTabs%3Dslideshow
- The related article is behind the WSJ paywall (subscribers only) but the slideshow is free! From the article, access by clicking on tab; or copy URL into browser. A short Reuters video is also available here.
SLIDESHOW: "Ivorian Refugee Crisis–in Pictures." Guardian (March 30, 2011):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/gallery/2011/mar/30/ivory-coast-refugees-liberia-in-pictures
"International health charity Merlin is delivering emergency healthcare to some of the estimated 100,000 refugees who have fled from Ivory Coast to Liberia. These pictures were taken in Liberia's Grand Gedeh county last week."
"Ivory Coast’s Conflict and Rwanda’s Genocide: Key Differences." Christian Science Monitor (March 29, 2011):
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/0329/Ivory-Coast-s-conflict-and-Rwanda-s-genocide-Key-differences
- This guest blog has links to several other items about Ivory Coast but also includes links to posts discussing the impact of the Libyan uprising on West Africa (scroll down to left-side menu).
Holdren, Alan. "Pope Sends Top Vatican Official to Ivory Coast." Catholic News Agency (March 30, 2011):
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-sends-top-vatican-official-to-ivory-coast/
"President Obama's Message to the People of Cote D'Ivoire. The White House Blog (March 25, 2011):
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/03/25/president-obama-s-message-people-cote-d-ivoire
NOTES
1) "Ouattara Forces Enter Cote d’Ivoire Capital," Al Jazeera English (see Resources). Adam Nossiter, "Opposition Forces in ivory Coast Take Towns on 2 Fronts," New York Times (March 30, 2011); "Opposition Forces in Ivory Coast Enter Capital," New York Times (March 30, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/africa/31ivory.html?partner=rss&emc=rss. Monica mark, "Ivory Coast Rebels Seize Cocoa Hub," Wall Street Journal (March 30, 2011). Pauline Bax, "Ivory Coast Cocoa Export Ban Extended," Bloomberg Business Week (March 30, 2011). Bill Varner, "Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo Hit by UN With Asset Freeze, Travel Ban," Bloomberg (March 30, 2011): http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-30/ivory-coast-s-gbagbo-hit-by-un-with-asset-freeze-travel-ban.html.
2) "Ouattara Forces Enter Cote d’Ivoire Capital" (see note 1); Adam Nossiter (see note 1).
3) As quoted in Adam Nossiter, "Opposition Forces in Ivory Coast Enter Capital" (see note 1). Holdren, Alan. "Pope Sends Top Vatican Official to Ivory Coast," Catholic News Agency (see Resources).
(This post is the result of a start-stop-start writing process, largely because I was trying to cover too much. So this is an introduction to get you started as the situation intensifies. In future posts, as time permits, I intend to examine issues of immigration and identity, of economic and social class, that are not totally unlike those currently bedeviling politics in the USA.)
INTRODUCTION
Let me confess, last week my heart was in Ajdabiya, not Abidjan--though I’d read about the escalating situation in Cote d’Ivoire.
With a potential humanitarian disaster imminent Libya it was not surprising that the world’s eyes and ears were turned towards Ajdabiya and Benghazi. People worldwide agonized over the plight of the Libyan rebels–to such an unprecedented extent that even the Arab Union agreed to a no-fly zone under a UN mandate. When the Security Council voted on the authorizing resolution, both China and Russia decided to abstain instead of exercising their veto power. At the same time the triple-whammy disaster in Japan, deservedly, was absorbing a great deal of news reporting resources–and the time and attention of news consumers.
This week the turmoil in the Arab world--protests in Jordan, spreading violence in Syria and a near meltdown in Yemen–filled the online columns of breaking news. On March 24th, at a summit in Nigeria, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to ask the UN Security Council to increase the powers of its mission in Cote d’Ivoire, giving it the ability "to protect life and property and and to facilitate the immediate transfer of power to Alassane Ouattara" (1). ECOWAS and the UN agree that Ouattara won the election held on November 28th, 2010. The ECOWAS request was reported by the BBC News (including a segment on its TV news program).
Aaron Bady, in a somewhat rambling post on Zunguzungu, pivots around the question of WHY global media outlets have not spilled much ink--nor provided many bytes--to inform us about the power struggle in Cote d’Ivoire (2). His answer points to the images and cliches attached to a region where, in fact, conflicts have dominated US news coverage since the 1990s.
As an Africanist, I don’t feel guilty about my decision to delay writing about Cote d’Ivoire. Libya, after all is an AFRICAN country too. As an East Africanist, and by extension a Northeast Africanist (Sudan and the countries of the Horn of Africa) I am naturally drawn to current events in Egypt, whose penetration of Sudan in the early 19th century brought the Nile and Red Sea trade in ivory and slaves as far south, by the 1860s, as northern and western Uganda. Also, my special field is precolonial history and I’ve focused on former British colonies (plus Rwanda, a major kingdom in the Great Lakes region of eastern Africa).
Nevertheless, I do want to turn your attention towards a potential humanitarian and political catastrophe in WEST Africa, centered on unfolding events in Cote d’Ivoire, also known as Ivory Coast (3).
In Abidjan, the country’s sprawling urban capital, more than four million people are at risk–though many have fled to the north and west (as many as 700,000 by March 25th). According to the UNHCR (UN High Commission for Refugees) those endangered but unable to leave the city, seeking refuge in churches and schools or staying with friends may be as high as 80,000. The International Organization for Migration has been evacuating Mauritanians from Abidjan but running into a shortage of buses for transport. Civilians have been heading for the western border with Liberia since mid-March. Others are trying to leave via Ghana. In addition there are more than 300,000 internally displaced people, including some now stranded in a western town with almost no access to shelter, food, water, or medical aid (4).
The conflict in this once prosperous country is a tale of two political contenders: President-elect Alassane Ouattara vs. former President Laurent Gbagbo. Both have been operating from Abidjan although the political capital is officially at Yamoussoukro in the interior. Gbabgo, who has refused to step down, has considerable support within the country, particularly in the south. He forced Ouattara to take refuge in an Abidjan hotel, setting the stage for a stalemate, protests, conflict in Abidjan and elsewhere (for example, attacks on Muslims in rural areas), and perhaps a revived civil war. During the past couple of weeks, as both sides mobilize their troops, young men are joining them and, like their Libyan counterparts, receiving a rough-and-ready sort of minimal military training (5).
I agree with Bady that, in this case (as in so many stories in the news) we need what only history can provide–a path taking us back through a series of antecedent situations. I could make a good case for taking you back to the days of Samori Toure and the Toucouleur Empire (or back even further to the era of Sundjata and the Mali Empire), for northern Cote d’Ivoire is part of the Sahel region and shares borders with Mali and Burkina Faso.
When it comes to Cote d’Ivoire I am not an expert. Furthermore, what I do know about West African politics and recent history is geared much more towards Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Yet, if the problem for many American readers of, for example, the New York Times, is the lack of "a contextual framework which would allow us to understand what is happening in Cote d’Ivoire," then I’m willing to offer what I can, beginning with a summary of recent events and some current resources.
Recent Events
Ironically, Cote d’Ivoire is a country sliding towards civil war after an election meant to repair the breach of a civil war in 2002 that ended in a ceasefire that effectively divided the country into two sectors. Negotiations ensued until, eventually it was agreed that when President Gbagbo’s term expired in 2005, he would set a date for a presidential election. But Gbagbo managed to keep pushing the date forward–until late in 2010. What was the excuse for the delay? It took all those years to devise a way of sorting the ‘real’ Ivorians from the country’s many resident immigrants. In the meantime a UN peacekeeping force of 9,000 was charged with overseeing an uneasy peace. The former rebels still controlled the north while President Gbagbo’s troops dominated the south (6).
In the November 28th runoff election Alassane Outtara defeated the incumbent, President Laurent Gbagbo. According to the UN, the African Union, and ECOWAS the election met widely accepted standards of fairness. But Gbabgo had friends on the Constitutional Council, who were only too willing to throw out more than 660,000 fo the votes cast in northern and central districts, where Ouattara was the preferred candidate (7). That made it possible for Gbagbo declare himself the winner despite the fact that global public opinion considered him the loser. President-elect Ouattara, a technocrat, is superbly qualified to rescue the country’s collapsing economy. He has a doctorate in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and years of experience working for the IMF (International Monetary Fund), where he rose to the post of deputy director. He also had served as prime minister from 1990 to 1993 (8).
Former President Gbagbo has refused to step down--despite the damage being done to the economy, the social fabric, and hopes for a more democratic political system in the future. Like some other African autocrats (a prime example being Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe), he is determined to preserve his power and that of his party whatever the cost (9). In the words of Pierre Schori, a Swedish diplomat, "In Africa, when you are president, you have everything, and when you’re not, you have nothing" (10). To be fair, this is a somewhat overstated appraisal of what constitutes a political economy in Africa, yet leaders like Gbagbo and their cronies believe it is necessarily the case.
It might seem that no one was watching the stew (the situation) in Abidjan, where the Ouattara, the winner, was confined to the Gulf Hotel while Gabagbo, the loser, pontificated from the presidential palace–about how France, the United States, and the United Nations were the source of all his problems. Actually, ECOWAS, the African Union and even South Africa tried various tactics to dislodge Gbagbo, becoming more and more impatient with the stalemate in Abidjan. As the death toll of post-election violence was closing in on 200, West African leaders agreed to use "legitimate force" to remove Gbagbo if he would not step down (11). But how would they pull off such an intervention?
International economic sanctions were imposed by the European Union and the United States, freezing government assets and prohibiting business with any state institution or port controlled by the regime. These sanctions greatly reduced the flow of customs duties, a major source of revenue in an export-driven economy. By late January they were beginning to bite, but not enough to chase Gbabgo out the door. Provoked by Gbagbo’s intransigence, West African leaders decied to cut off his government’s access to the regional bank. As a result Gbagbo seized its local branches, but was dealt a counterpunch when foreign banks closed their doors so that it became difficult for the regime to pay its civil servants and soldiers (12).
This put Gbagbo in a fiscal corner so he decided to tap the country’s wealth by taking over the cocoa industry. He knew that if could sell the beans already in warehouses, worth about $1.5 billion, he would have plenty of cash. From Ouattara’s point of view this was an act of thievery. For decades, beginning in the colonial period, Cote d’Ivoire has been a major exporter of cocoa and it is still the world’s top producer. But sanctions now include a ban on cocoa exports, a severe blow to the economy (13).
In February, after Mubarak stepped down in Egypt, Alassane Outtara called for similar mass protests. Hundreds gathered, resulting in clashes with Gbago’s security forces, in and around Abidjan. In early March the "pot de violence" bubbled over in Adobo. This suburb was a stronghold of Ouattara’s supporters, many of them Muslim migrants from northern Cote d’Ivoire or from neighbors such as Mali and Burkina Faso. In the forefront of the mostly peaceful demonstrations were the urban market women, whose livelihoods and families were in danger. The situation escalated when Gbagbo’s forces attacked, using tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the demonstrators. On March 3rd seven women were the victims of machine-gun fire. On March 8th four more were shot while protesting the brutality and deaths of March 3rd. Human Rights Watch and the UN have called for the investigation of what would appear to be crimes against humanity. Post-election violence has now claimed nearly 500 lives (14).
ACTIVITIES
READ: Select news articles to learn the basics about the situation in Cote d’Ivoire. Those in the Christian Science Monitor, concise and clearly presented (probably the best to use with Middle School students).
FRENCH CLASS: As a substitute teacher, when I landed in a French class, I was always pleased to browse through textbooks that included dialogs in settings across the francophone world. So perhaps your students have been introduced to Abidjan. Here’s an opportunity to bring current events into the mix.
- LISTEN to President-elect Alassane Ouattara speaking in French to the Ivorian people. His diction is very clear, he speaks slowly, and his vocabulary includes many cognates (often typical of political discourse). You can find both video and text of his speeches on his web page: http://www.ado.ci/accueil.php
- READ/TRANSLATE an excerpt from one of Ouattar’s speeches. Building on this, ask students to WRITE a short commentary of their own to put the speech into context.
- Select text from Le Monde to READ/TRANSLATE and DISCUSS (as needed, adding text in English to faciliate comprehension).
GLOBAL STUDIES/JOURNALISM: In any social studies or history class ask for volunteers to serve as a "Cote d’Ivoire caucus," reporting back to the class regularly about events there.
WORLD HISTORY: What part did Ivory Coast and its first president, the venerable Felix Houphouet-Boigny, play in the larger West African movement for independence in the 1950s?
RESOURCES
OUATTARA’s WEB SITE: Access to videos of Alassane Ouattar’s speeches, with French text and other resources in French.
AllAfrica.com http://allafrica.com/
For breaking news, from UN agencies and Africa-based newspapers go to allAfrica.com.
Both of these pages have a constantly updated Twitter roll:
1) For general information, map of Abidjan, background, and older news go to the Ivory Coast page: http://allafrica.com/cotedivoire;
2) For the latest news, reports, photos, and video go to the Ivory Coast crisis page: http://cotedivoire.ushahidi.allafrica.com/
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: "Cote d’Ivoire Roundup: Renewed Civil War." Sahel Blog (March 19, 2011): http://sahelblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/19/cote-divoire-roundup-renewed-civil-war/
- Many links to news, international reactions, blogs, opinion.
- See right column Blogroll for a long list of Africa-centered blogs.
Christian Science Monitor
"Invoking Libya, African Leaders Call for More UN Action," Christian Science Monitor (March 25, 2011).
Drew Henshaw, "The War Over Ivory Coast’s Cocoa Heats Up," Christian Science Monitor (January 26, 2011): http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/0126/The-war-over-Ivory-Coast-s-cocoa-heats-up
Marco Chown Oved, "Tense Ivory Coast Vote Reveals a Nation Divided," Christian Science Monitor (November 28, 2010): http://www.csmonitor.com/345844
New York Times
Times Topics> Ivory Coast: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/ivorycoast/index.html
- When the Lynx checked this out, the list of NYT list of articles needed updating but there were links to breaking news from other sources (right side menu).
- Links to slideshows and video.
SLIDESHOW: "How a Strongman Keeps His Grip on Ivory Coast." http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/01/17/world/20100117IVORY.html?ref=ivorycoast
SLIDESHOW: "Elections in the Ivory Coast." http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/10/31/world/1101-ABIDJAN.html?ref=ivorycoast
VIDEO: "U.N. Truck Burned in Ivory Coast" (1:06): http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/01/13/world/africa/1248069560454/u-n-truck-burned-in-ivory-coast.html?ref=ivorycoast
BBC News
‘‘Ivory Coast: Ecowas wants more UN action on Gbagbo" (March 24, 2010):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12853554
- Excellent map shows area controlled by New Forces in north and government forces in south.
- Access additional BBC coverage from this page.
Le Monde (Paris) http://www.lemonde.fr
Full articles require a subscription. However, for classroom use the free summaries and excerpts are still quite useful.
Use the Search Box to find articles according to relevance. Scroll down the results to find another way to search--limited to today’s or the past week’s news.
GlobalPost
The mission of this news service is "to provide original international reporting ... that informs, entertains and fills the void created by diminished foreign coverage by American media." Articles draw upon other news sources but include endnotes (as links). So this web site will expedite student research! http://www.globalpost.com/
- "Ivory Coast Rebels Take Another Town; Thousands enlist to support Gbagbo." GlobalPost (March 21, 2011): http://globalpost.com/5632289
- "Violence Escalating in Ivory Coast." GlobalPost (March 18, 2011).
GlobalPost also hosts several excellent blogs, such as Africa Emerges (http://www.globalpost.com/globalpost-blogs/africa-emerges)
- Blogger Andrew Meldrum is an award-winning journalist and GlobalPost’s Deputy Managing Editor and Regional Editor for Africa. Having lived and worked as a reporter in Zimbabwe (until he was thrown out for exposing torture) and South Africa and having covered civil wars in Mozambique and Angola, he offers an exceptional point of view.
- See "Civil War Looms in Ivory Coast" (March 21, 2011): http://www.globalpost
Reports, Analysis, and Background
For a vast collection of links to information about Cote d’Ivoire (including culture, development, history, politics) see the Stanford University "Ivory Coast" page: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/cote.html
"Cote d’Ivoire: Crimes Against Humanity by Gbagbo Forces." Human Rights Watch (March 15, 2011): http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/15/c-te-d-ivoire-crimes-against-humanity-gbagbo-forces
"Liberia: Refugee Crisis Needs World’s Attention Says Oxfam as UN High Commissioner," Oxfam (March 21, 2011):http://oxf.am/Zb7 http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressrelease/2011-03-21/liberia-refugee-crisis-un-high-commissioner-refugees-Antonio-Guterres-Ivory-Coast; Permalink: http://oxf.am/Zb7
"Cote d’Ivoire: Is War the Only Option?" Africa Report No. 171. International Crisis Group (March 3, 2011): http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/west-africa/cote-divoire/171-cote-divoire-is-war-the-only-option.aspx
- Click on Ivory Coast (on left side menu) for background reports.
- Consult for analysis of current events in "hot spots" around the globe.
Okeowo, Alexis. "Ivory Coast’s Election Crisis." The New Yorker (January 5, 2011): http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/01/ivory-coasts-election-crisis.html
McGovern, Michael. Making War in Cote d’Ivoire. 2nd edition. London: C. Hurst, 2010; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.
- If you cannot find this edition in a college library, consult the first edition (London: Hurst & Co., 2006) for background, especially the years after President Houphouet-Boigny’s death in 1993, and for the political maneuvering and conflict after the 2000 election.
McGovern, Michael. "International Interventions in Cote d’Ivoire: In Search of a Point of Leverage." Conciliation Resources (2008):
http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/incentives/cote-d-ivoire.php
- "Conciliation Resources (CR) is an international non-governmental organization registered in the UK as a charity. We work with partners in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Pacific. These include local and international civil society organizations and governments."
- See the list of countries and regions on the left side menu.
McGovern, Michael. "This Is Play: Popular Culture and Politics in Cote d/Ivoire." In Anne-Maria Makhulu, Anne-Maria, Beth A. Buggenhagen,and Stephen Jackson, Hard Work, Hard Times: Global Volatility and African Subjectivities Location: Global, Area, and International Archive, 2010. Access from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/24b027x0. McGovern’s contribution (begins on p. 87): http://escholarship.org/uc/item/24b027x0#page-87
- All the contributors are specialists. If you are interested in Africa, you will want to read all the papers.
- For additional academic sources consult the references at end of this e-book.
NOTES
1) "Ivory Coast: Ecowas Wants More UN Action on Gbagbo," BBC News (March 24th, 2011): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12853554
2) Zunguzungu (March 2011): http://zunguzungu.wordpress.com/
3) "Liberia: Refugee Crisis Needs World’s Attention Says Oxfam as UN High Commissioner," Oxfam (March 21, 2011), Permalink: http://oxf.am/Zb7
4) For refugees see Jessica McDiarmid, "Families Fleeing Ivory Coast," The Star [Toronto] (March 18, 2011): http://www.thestar.com/956559; "Liberia: Refugee Crisis (note 3); "Cote d’Ivoire: Violence in West Threatens Increasingly Vulnerable," International Organization for Migration (Geneva), press release (March 26, 2010).
5) For Gbagbo’s new recruits see the photo in "Invoking Libya, African Leaders Call for More UN Action," Christian Science Monitor (March 25, 2011); See them in action, expressing animosity towards UN peacekeepers in the NYT video, "U.N. Truck Burned in Ivory Coast" (see RESOURCES). "Ivorian Youth Leader Tells Followers to Join Army," Reuters (March 19, 2010).
6) Marco Chown Oved, "Tense Ivory Coast Vote Reveals a Nation Divided," Christian Science Monitor (November 28, 2010). For details see Michael McGovern, "International Interventions in Cote d’Ivoire" (see RESOURCES).
7) See "Cote d’Ivoire: Is War the Only Option?" Africa Report No. 171. International Crisis Group (March 3, 2011) in RESOURCES.
8) Wikipedia: "Alassane Ouattara." URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alassane_Ouattara. This article provides a detailed account of Ouattara's professional and political career, with many citations from reputable sources.
9) See Andrew Meldrum, "Mugabe Arrests Cabinet Minister," Africa Emerging (March 10, 2011): http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/africa-emerges/mugabe-arrests-cabinet-ministers
10) Adam Nossiter, "Ensconced in the Presidency, With No Budging in Ivory Coast," New York Times (December 26, 2010).
11) "Ensconced in the Presidency" (see note 10). Scott Baldauf and Savious Kwinika, "Invoking Libya, African Leaders Call for More UN Action in Ivory Coast," Christian Science Monitor (March 25, 2010).
12) NYT 1-26-10. Adam Nossiter, "In Keeping Power Under Sanctions, Leader Goes by the Book," New York Times (March 17, 2010).
13) Drew Henshaw, "The War Over Ivory Coast’s Cocoa Heats Up," Christian Science Monitor (January 26, 2011) (see RESOURCES). Pauline Bax and Olivier Monnier, "Ivory Coast Conflict Escalates as Gbagbo Seizes Control of Cocoa Exports," Bloomberg (March 8, 2010): http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-07/ivory-coast-president-gbabgo-takes-control. Peter Heinlein, Ouattara Says Nationalize Ivory Coast’s Cocoa Sector Is Stealing," Voice of America (March 11, 2011). In the past the Cote’s contribution to the West African region’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has been as high as 40%.
14) "Cote d’Ivoire: Crimes Against Humanity by Gbagbo Forces." Human Rights Watch (March 15, 2011) (see RESOURCES). Ferreira, Emsie. "Cote d’Ivoire: Country Confirms Endorsement of Ouattara." sapa [South African Press Association] (March 15, 2010). Adam Nossiter, "Up to 1 Million Have Fled Ivory Coast Crisis, U.N. Says," New York Times (March 26, 2011).
(This post is dedicated to the memory of those who perished in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, on March 25, 1911, one hundred years ago. And to brave women and men everywhere, who support "the union way" by organizing, paying union dues, and doing what it takes to ensure that working people have safe working conditions, workers’ rights, and fair wages. If it takes agitating, well, so be it! A luta continua!)
Introduction
Try to conjure up the image of a Gibson girl: what do you see? I see a young woman in a white blouse and dark skirt--in a park or at a sidewalk café, perhaps at the beach–with her hair in an early 1900s upswept "do." She seems more relaxed, with a whiff of athleticism, than her mother or older sister who came of age in the "Gay ‘Nineties."
So, how accurate is this image? Charles Gibson created the Gibson girl image in the late 1800s. Illustrations by Gibson and his imitators were abundant for two decades–from 1890 to 1910–and continued to influence the "fashionistas" of the pre-World War I era. Here’s a composite description: "The Gibson girl was tall, athletic, and dignified. She might be pictured at a desk in a tailored shirtwaist or at a tennis party in an informal dress. She wore her long hair upswept in an elaborate mass of curls, perhaps topped by a simple straw hat. Though she was capable and independent, the Gibson girl was always beautiful and elegant" (1).
Though the earliest Gibson girls had "wasp" waists–in what was still a tightly corseted mode--the bodices of their costumes were becoming looser. Blouses were often buttoned in the back, but the shirtwaist-style (buttoned in the front like a man’s shirt) was coming into fashion (1). Judging from images available online, it seems that my idea of a Gibson girl matches more closely the later ones, after about 1905. These "girls" represented the new American woman of the early twentieth century(3).
The Gibson girls depicted so widely in magazines (including Gibson’s illustrations in Life) were middle and upper class gals. Their working class counterparts were increasingly part of the labor force–five million working women in 1900, seven and a half million by 1910. These numbers included many poor immigrant women. In addition more middle class women were taking jobs outside the home. So the need for more practical garments, whether for work or leisure (such as playing tennis), was felt by women across class lines (4).
The combination "shirt" (we called it a blouse when I was growing up) and skirt gave women more flexibility. The shirtwaist blouse, combined with a full skirt falling slightly above the ankles, would achieve great popularity. By 1905 there were 150 versions the shirtwaist in the Sears and Roebuck catalog. This style went through various incarnations in the twentieth century, including the "shirtwaist dress" of the 1950s. And the shirtwaist is now considered a classic of American fashion (5).
Now, back to the early twentieth century. The garment workers sewing all those shirtwaists were mostly women, mostly immigrant women, many Italian, Jewish, and Irish women. In the early 1900s, in the sweatshops of the garment districts, their wages and working conditions were abysmal. Efforts to organize garment workers led to the founding of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) in New York City in 1900. Members who were immigrants, especially Jews from Poland and Russia and Italians, had brought with them ideas from the "old country" that did not sit well with the union’s conservative leadership. Union leaders, mostly men, catered to the interests of skilled rather than unskilled labor and, in general, they were much more concerned with the plight of male workers.
Two strikes–one in 1909 and the other in 1910--re-energized the ILGWU. The "Uprising of the 20,000" in 1909 lasted fourteen weeks (6). The instigators were workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. During this strike Clara Lemlich, a young Jewish immigrant from Russia, was determined to challenge the union’s male leadership. Speaking out for women workers, in Yiddish, she called for a general strike(*). This strike was settled by arbitration in February 1910, but the owners of Triangle Shirtwaist Company, where it all began, would not sign up. The "Great Revolt" in 1910, on a much larger scale, with the participation of as many as 60,000 workers, had an even greater impact. Largely due to the mediation of Louis Brandeis and other leaders of the community, an agreement was reached that recognized the ILGWU.
On March 25th, 2011, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, probably ignited by a cigarette. Amid paper pattern pieces and fabric scraps it quickly spread. To keep the workers from taking breaks in stairwells the owners had locked the doors. Many workers were trapped on the ninth floor, some jumped to their deaths, and others were rescued from the roof. There were 146 fatalities.
The fire and its aftermath--the political fallout of this immense tragedy and its legal ramifications–brought American labor history to one of its major turning points. There was an outcry for safer working conditions, resulting in federal regulations. Today the factory building, at 23-29 Washington Place in New York City, is a National Historic landmark (http://www.nps.gov/hisory/nr/travel/pwwmh/ny30.htm).
The fate of those who died in the Triangle fire and the sorrow of their families have an enduring power to stir our hearts (8). For information about commemorative activities events this year, visit the web site of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition.
So on March 25th (or whenever it best fits into your lesson plans) share the story of the Triangle fire with your students. This would be a fitting tribute--better than any historic marker or monument. Given the anti-runion/right-to-work laws and anti-regulatory fervor in the United States in 2011, students should be learning about our national labor history. Please use this opportunity to explain why we need unions (both public and private) and why we need regulations to ensure safety of workers and consumers!
ACTIVITIES
RECITE/SING: After practicing, students recite or sing "The Uprising of the Twenty Thousand" and/or "Look for the Union Label" (see Resources: Labor Activism and History).
SHOW the two photos listed in the Resources as "Triangle: Remembering the Fire" and "Two Garment Workers" and ASK students to approach them as primary sources. ASK: What do you see here? What are these women doing? How are they dressed? Can you identify the "foreign" script? Can you explain why it is being used? What would you do to test your explanation? Why would anyone compare working conditions during this time period with slavery? (This could be converted to a written assignment–before or after class discussion).
WATCH the American Experience documentary online. Consult the transcript and other resources at the companion web site.
SHOW the online excerpt of "heaven Will Help the Working Girl" as a jumping off point for reading (select from various short, online background articles, primary sources, and/or this documentary’s viewing guide).
LISTEN to the recorded interview and/or READ the transcript of a woman who worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. See "Working for the Triangle Shirtwaist Company" in the Labor History section of the
MATH CLASS: Consult the list of the fire’s victims (part of Remembering the Triangle Factory Fire web site) and create an age profile, using a pie graph. This will require some grouping by age, for example, 14-17 year olds, etc.
READ/DISCUSS: First, students read David W. Dunlap's "Triangle Fire: A Frontier in Photojournalism" (see Resources) to discover how the "next day" availability in newspapers of "candidly brutal pictures" of the fire played a critical role in efforts to reform labor practices and to regulate worker safety. Then, using POWERPOINT, students can create their own exhibits to tell the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, the lives of immigrant working women, and/or garment industry labor history. They can select from ample online collections of photos and primary sources (for quotations). For an individual, group, or class project.
CLASS PROJECT: Is there a factory in your town with a long or interesting history? Organize a research effort to conduct, record, and transcribe interviews with former or present workers. If factories have closed in your town, this would be a good time to documents their histories by interviewing former workers and union members. Do preliminary research in the archives of local newspapers and in the local library. Collaborate with your local historical society (they’d really welcome your efforts)!
RESOURCES
PHOTOGRAPHS showing slogans in Hebrew script:
- "Triangle: Remembering the Fire." Go to the companion web site of the HBO documentary; the opening page photo shows women marching in their shirtwaists, some carrying posters with Hebrew script slogans.
- "Two Garment Workers" on the Adelphi University page. One slogan is in Hebrew script, the other says "Abolish Slavery." URL: http://events.adelphi.edu/trianglefire/index.php
Web Sites and Online Exhibits
Remembering the Triangle Factory Fire. Kheel Center, International Labor Relations School. Cornell University. http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/
- Excellent site with original text documents (primary sources), interviews, photographs (several categories–so check out all of them), timeline, model of the 9th floor; see related resources in the "Legacy" section.
- Be sure to click on the bibliography for many additional resources.
- Check out the list of the victims and their ages (the youngest ones were two 14-year old girls).
Adelphi Triangle Fire Remembrance Project. See for list of related web sites and other resources. http://events.adelphi.edu/trianglefire/index.php
Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition. http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/
Documentaries
"Triangle Fire." Directed and produced by Jamila Wignot. American Experience. PBS. Companion web site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/triangle/
- Photographs, biography of Clara Lemlich, "Further Reading" list of books and other web sites (the best list I’ve found)
- WATCH ONLINE or read transcript (available in HTML or download PDF)
- From transcript page, access to several additional articles and to New York Times coverage of the fire and its aftermath
"Triangle: Remembering the Fire." HBO (Aired March 21, 2011). Companion web site: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/triangle-remembering-the-fire/index.html
- Film trailer and synopis, interview with filmmakers, photographs, lesson plans
"Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl: Immigrant Women in the Turn of the Century City." American Social History Project. Center for Media and Learning. City University of New York. Companion site: http://ashp.cuny.edu/ashp-documentaries/heaven-will-protect-the-working-girl/
Recent New York Times Coverage
These items are just a few of what is available at Times Topics: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/t/triangle_shirtwaist_factory_fire/index.html?scp=5&sq=triangle%20shirtwaist&st=cse
SLIDESHOW: "The Evolving and Enduring Shirtwaist" (9 slides). New York Times (march 22, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/03/22/nyregion/20110322Shirtwaist.html?ref=triangleshirtwaistfactoryfire
Berger, Joseph. "100 Years Later, the Roll of the Dead in a Factory Fire Is Complete." New York Times (February 20, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/nyregion/21triangle.html?scp=3&sq=triangle%20shirtwaist&st=cse
Berger, Joseph. "In Records, Portraits of Lives Cut Short." New York Times (February 20, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/nyregion/21triangleside.html?ref=nyregion
Dunlap, David. "1911 Fire Proved Photojournalism’s Power." The Lens. New York Times (March 23, 2011): http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/1911-fire-proved-photojournalisms-power/?scp=1&sq=triangle%20shirtwaist&st=cse
Dunlap, David. "Triangle Fire: A Frontier in Photojournalism." New York Times (March 23, 2011): http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/triangle-fire-a-frontier-in-photojournalism/
- See for links to NYT and other newpaper articles from March 1911!
- Scroll to end of post to access 5 related items (including "Remembering Triangle Fire’s Jewish Victims")
Dwyer, Jim. "One Women Who Changed the Rules." New York Times (March 23, 2011).
Ferla, Ruth. "Embraced 100 Years Ago, a Style Endures." New York Times (March 23, 2011).
Ferla, Ruth. "Triangle Fire: Liberating Clothing Made in Confinement." New York Times (March 22, 2011).
Hale, Mike. "Two Remembrances of One Deadly Day in 1911." New York Times (February 28, 2011).
Haberman, Clyde. "Choosing Not to Forget What Is Painful to Recall." New York Times (March 25, 2010).
Labor History and Activism
"The Uprising of the Twenty Thousand." Song "Dedicated to the Waistmakers of 1909." Lyrics at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trainglefire/primary/songsPlays/UprisingTwentyThousand.html
"Look for the Union Label." For lyrics and an audio that you can download of song by Paula Green, music by Malcolm Dodds (©1975, UNITE Union of Needltrades, Industrial and Textile Employees): http://unionsong.com/u103.html
"Working for the Triangle Shirtwaist Company" (listen to audio and/or read transcript): http://web.gc.cuny.edu/ashp/heaven/fnewman.html
- "In this oral history interview conducted by historian Joan Morrison, Pauline Newman tells of getting a job at the Triangle Company as a child, soon after arriving in the United States from Lithuania in 1901. Newman describes her life as an immigrant and factory worker... Although she was not working in the factory at the time of the fire, many of her friends perished. Newman later became an organizer and leader of the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union."
Education and Labor Collaborative. Adelphi University affiliated organization "dedicated to teaching youth about the hidden labor heritage of the United States." http://education.adelphi.edu/edulc/
International Labor Relations School. Cornell Univeristy. http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/
International Labor Organization. http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm
UNITE HERE. . http://www.unitehere.org/about/
- In 1995 the ILGWU and Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union merged to form a new union called UNITE. After another merger, with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, the new organization was called UNITE HERE. See the "Textile, Manufacturing, and Distribution" page, which acknowledges the union’s deep roots in clothing industry unions.
Books
Benin, Laura, Rob Linné, Adrienne Sosin, and Joel Sosinsky. The New York City Triangle Factory Fire. Images of America Series. Arcadia Publishing, 2011. (The authors are co-founders of the Education and Labor Collaborative at Adelphi University).
Painter, Nell Irvin. Standing at Armageddon: the United States, 1877-1919. W. W. Norton & Company, 1989.
Von Drehle, David. Triangle: The Fire that Changed America. New York: Grove Press, 2003.
Books for Young Readers
Auch, May Jane. Ashes of Roses. New York: H. Holt, 2002.
- "Sixteen-year-old Margaret Rose Nolan, newly arrived from Ireland, finds work at New York City's Triangle Waist Factory shortly before the 1911 fire in which 146 employees died."
Dash, Joan. We Shall Not Be Moved: The Women's Factory Strike of 1909. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1996.
- "Dash describes the conditions that led to investigations and reforms in the garment industry in New York at the beginning of the twentieth century."
Naden, Corinne J. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, March 25, 1911: The Blaze that Changed an Industry. New York: Franklin Watts, 1971.
- "Discusses the workplace conditions facing garment workers in 1911 and the reforms that took place after the Triangle Fire."
Sherrow, Victoria. The Triangle Factory Fire. Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1995.
- "Describes the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire, the conditions surrounding the disaster, and its effect on industrial safety after the event."
Notes
1) "The Gibson Girl." Fashion Encyclopedia: http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/Modern-World-1900-1918/The-Gibson-Girl.html
2) For a 1896 depiction see the first slide of "The Evolving and Enduring Shirtwaist": http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/03/22/nyregion/20110322Shirtwaist.html?ref=triangleshirtwaistfactoryfire. See the image "Priscilla Shirt Waist Designs" (from a 1906 needlework magazine): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shirtwaist_designs_1906.jpg
3) This is close to what I imagined: Gibson Girl With Bandeline Skirt (Button down front blouse and full length bandeline skirt with center back pleats ): http://www.makebelievecostume.com/detail/RB-90752/Gibson_Girl_W_Bandeline_Skirt_Adult_Theatrical_Costume.html
4) "The Gibson Girl" (see note 1).
5) "The Gibson Girl" (see note 1); Ruth Ferla, "Embraced 100 Years Ago, a Style Endures"(see RESOURCES); "The Evolving and Enduring Shirtwaist" (see note 2). See also "1900's Gibson Girl Blouse Pattern" http://www.hartsfabric.com/gigibl.html
6) See articles and primary sources at web sites and documentary films' web sites (see RESOURCES).
7) For a photo of Clara Lemlich, see #5 in "Shirtwaist Strike & Other Strikes" (part of the Cornell University online exhibit "Remembering the Triangle Factory Fire) OR "One Women Who Changed the Rules," New York Times (March 23, 1011). Note that she is wearing a shirtwaist blouse.
8) Adelphi Triangle Factory Fire Remembrance Project: About the Triangle Factory Fire": http://eents.adelphi.edu/trianglefiee/about.php
(Today’s post is dedicated to the memory of James Clark, my high school World History teacher. Mr. Clark, a proud Irish-American, married to a Polish-American, had a definite POV (point of view)–always on the side of the underdogs of history. In those days World History was still quite Eurocentric, but Mr. Clark was moving away from that model. He taught us about the Opium War from a Chinese POV–perhaps more accurately the anti-British POV of a "green" Irishman. The focus of his take on the Scramble for Africa, though anti-imperialist, was the Berlin Conference rather than events on the ground in Africa, yet it served me well when, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I learned about it from the African perspective. Finally, since March Madness basketball is upon us, I must tell you that Jim Clark was also a very fine basketball coach. Thank you, Mr. Clark, for sharing with us your insight and love of history.)
The "Butterfly Effect" is almost a cliche. It’s the notion that if a butterfly flaps its wings in Beijing it will change the weather in, let’s say Beirut, in ways we can’t easily predict. Here’s a more technical definition: "the idea in meteorology that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings will create a disturbance that in the chaotic motion of the atmosphere will become amplified eventually to change the large scale atmospheric motion, so that the long term behavior becomes impossible to forecast" (1). That’s not really too technical--we really don’t need to consider the nonlinear equations so essential to chaos.
It is the "fantastically complex and chaotic behavior" of those equations that attracted me to chaos theory when I first heard about it years ago. I thought to myself: Hey, this is what we historians have always imagined: small differences, over time, eventually, may result in very different outcomes. This is also referred to as "sensitive dependence on initial conditions" (2).
When Edward Lorenz of MIT, who discovered this effect, first wrote about it he used a seagull metaphor, but most of us are glad he changed it to a butterfly (3). That makes for a more colorful metaphor.
Well, I don’t know how many real butterflies are flapping today in Beijing–though spring is coming soon to Beijing, too. It is another kind of spring that the Chinese Communist Party fears–a spring such as Prague had in 1968–or Cairo in 2011. What I do know is that Chinese officials have plenty of butterflies in their tummies right now. And those flutterings are partly due to the wind of change blowing from Tunisia and Egypt (4).
The Chinese have clamped down on foreign journalists, who might just observe a few protesting Chinese dissidents. Those protesters, even if few in number, might serve as domestic "butterflies" affecting the atmosphere across China (as far west as Xinjian and Tibet). China’s dissidents are mostly cyber-savvy and, being denizens of a society with a high degree of Internet penetration, could stir up a ruckus. Despite the authorities’ many attempts to rein in the Internet, dissidents using social media have managed anonymously to call for what might be labeled "walk-by" demonstrations. The government response? Remove those posts from the Internet and, for good measure, monitor the cellphones of Beijing residents–all 20 million of them! In any case, it’s the possibility of protest that is behind the Chinese government’s decisions to further restrict speech and assembly–and to the arrests and disappearances of political activists (5).
Now for the shamrocks, since its St. Patrick’s day. Every year Irish organizations in Shanghai sponsor a St. Patrick’s Day parade--but this year there was no parade in Shanghai. The Chinese authorities didn’t want the parade (scheduled for March 12th) to draw a crowd along a major thoroughfare in an area targeted by Internet activists. So the Irish organizers nixed it. Instead, one of the Irish organizations held an indoor-celebration, invited-guests only (6). Shamrocks, I suppose, but sequestered and probably subject to surveillance.
Here’s another mind-boggling connection to keep us sober on St. Patrick’s Day. It fits right in with one of today’s top stories, the conflict in Libya. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s support for terrorism is well-known, but did you know that Libya was one of the two main sources of weapons used by the IRA (Irish Republican Army) in Northern Ireland? It seems that Libya deserves a lot of credit for the IRA’s capacity for violence if, as some would claim "the IRA’s acquisition of arms through Libya in the 1980s helped transform the organisation into one that could fight a devastating and sustained campaign" (7). In addition to conventional arms, Libya was the source of the IRA’s "most significant and infamous weapon," the plastic, odorless and thus difficult to detect, explosive known as Semtex. Responding to the release of the man imprisoned for the Lockerbie bombing, relatives of those killed with Libyan weapons–in terrorist incidents perpetrated by IRA–renewed their efforts to wring compensation from the Libyan government (8).
And what country do you suppose was the other major source of IRA weapons? Read Sean Boyle’s article in Jane’s Intelligence Review to find out (see note 7).
ACTIVITIES
WATCH the Frontline video "Behind the Mask" (if you can find it in a library) or READ the transcript (online). There are many excellent additional items on this program’s web site. This could be homework or a project for an interested student–in a social studies or history class. Concerns about how weapons liberated during the Libyan conflict might flow into the "wrong" hand makes this relevant today–rather than just a topic of interest to historians.
READ/DEBATE/WRITE: Send students to the Room for Debate section of the New York Times to read the six short essays in "Why Is China Nervous About the Arab Uprising?" Lead a discussion or ask students to debate the reasons for China’s jitters in this "world historical context." Follow-up with short in-class essays to assess students attention during the debate.
RESOURCES
"Behind the Mask: The IRA & Sinn Fein." Frontline (Aired October 21, 1997) on PBS. Companion web site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ira/. Transcript: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ira/etc/script.html
"Why Is China Nervous about the Arab Uprisings?" Room for Debate. New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/02/28/why-is-china-nervous-about-the-arab-uprisings
- In six short essays six experts consider this question: "Is a growing economy sufficient to keep broader discontent among the Chinese at bay?"
NOTES
1) Michael Cross, "The Butterfly Effect": http://crossgroup.calteach.edu/chaos_new/Lorenz.html
2) "The Butterfly Effect": http://www.stsci.edu/ lbradley/seminar/butterfly.html. I read James Gleich, Chaos: Making a New Science (Viking, 1987). Later I was pleased to discover that Janet L. Abu-Lughod was thinking along the same lines; see Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350 (Oxford University Press: New York, 1989), pp. 368-69.
3) For a bit of history about how Lorenz came up with the notion see source in note 2. For the seagull (1963) to butterfly (1972), see source in note 1.
4) Chinese activists calling for their own "Jasmine Revolution" make the link with Tunisia explicit. See Tom Lasseter, "China Cracks Down on Protest Threats, Rounds Up Dissidents," Truthout (February 20, 2011): http://www.truth-out.org/67924; Andrew Jacobs, "Chinese Government Responds to Call for Protests," New York Times (February 21, 2011); Ian Johnson, "Despite Intimidation, Calls for a ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in China Persist," New York Times (February 24, 2011).
5) Sharon LaFraniere, "China Tightens Controls on Foreign Press," New York Times (March 3, 2011).
6) See note 5.
7) Sean Boyne, "Uncovering the Irish Republican Army," Jane’s Intelligence Review (August 1, 1996): http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ira/inside/weapons.html
This article supports content in the Frontline documentary, "Behind the Mask" (see RESOURCES) . For the quotation and supporting details see "The IRA’s Store of Weaponry," BBC News (August 14, 2001): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/1482426.html.
8) "Call for Libya to Pay IRA Victims," BBC News (August 25, 2009): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8219433.
(In "Libya: Pain, Patience, and Now Action" I wrote about Libyan novelist Muhammad al-Asfar, whose brother was killed in the Abu Salim massacre. My point of departure was al-Asfar’s essay in the New York Times. That piece was translated by Libyan novelist Hisham Matar, whose family’s tale of sorrow takes us into another Libyan experience.)
Today Ajdabiya is in the hands of forces loyal to Muammar el-Qaddafi, opening the way to Benghazi, a rebel stronghold that may fall in a matter of days. Tony Birtley, Al-Jazeera’s correspondent in Benghazi, thinks that rebels in this city of more than 800,000 will "fight this every inch of the way" for "they know they have a lot to lose" (1).
I can’t imagine what Libyans living in exile are feeling. While the rebels were pushing westward, they were so elated, "filled with pride that a new country is being born" (2). Writing in the New York Times, Hisham Matar was convinced that history was on the rebel side, that "the courage and humanity of Libyans has been extraordinary" (3). Now hope is ebbing–amid fears of a bloodbath and brutal recriminations against all those who have opposed Qaddafi’s regime. These fears are very real. People will disappear--to be imprisoned and tortured or killed (4). Children will lose their parents and some, like Hisham Matar, will not know what has happened to them.
Hisham Matar, who lives in London, has not set foot in Libya since 1979. He was only eight years old when his father Jaballa Matar was listed as an enemy of the regime and had to flee Libya. His father returned briefly, allowing his wife and sons to leave, and eventually the family was reunited in Egypt. In Cairo, Jaballa Matar, a former UN diplomat, turned to political activism. In 1990 he was abducted from their home by the Egyptians, who returned him to Libya. He was put in prison, with no means of contacting his family except for two letters smuggled out, the last one in 1995. Another political prisoner reported seeing him in 2002. Now, just as Mohammad Al-Asfar’s daughter asks about her uncle, Hisham Matar’s niece asks him, "Uncle, where is Granddad?" (5). For Matar, this is an arrow through the heart, the question he cannot answer. Is his father dead or alive?
Embedded in Matar’s fiction is the impact of more than twenty years of separation from his father. In his stunning debut novel, In the Country of Men, short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, a young Libyan boy must cope with life after his father, an anti-Gaddafi activist, flees the country. While the novel evokes Tripoli in the 1970s, as Matar remembers it, he did not intend it to be "about Libya." The story began "with the voice of the boy, and then it became a book about love, betrayal and powerlessness" (6). In his second novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance (published this month) Nuri, whose mother died when he was eight, struggles to understand the sudden disappearance--for no apparent reason–of his father. This is coming-of-age-story, complicated by Nuri’s relationship with his stepmother. As an adult he learns that his father was very unlike the man he had supposed him to be. One reviewer finds "the novel’s strength is its examination of the impact of absence for those left behind" (7).
That this is fiction reflecting personal experience, Matar freely admits. As he put it in an interview: "There’s something very bizarre about having a father who has disappeared" and the reason is that "this is so unfamiliar and unexpected." Is this why he turned to fiction? "I sometimes wonder if I would have become a writer if what happened to my father hadn’t happened" (8).
For years Matar has sought information about the fate of his father, yet he also moved on with his life. And he is not seeking retribution. Instead, he poses for all of us a challenging question: "How do we remain whole and free from hate, yet truthful to our memory?" (9).
ACTIVITIES
READ: Put In the Country of Men on your priority or summer reading list and consider making it part of a World History or World Literature course in the near future.
CURRENT EVENTS: If you want to bring a Libyan point of view to a discussion of the Libyan revolution, assign Cressida Leyshon’s e-mail interview with Matar, posted on The New Yorker blog page.
READ/DISCUSS: Students read Hisham Matar’s moving account, "I Just Want to Know What Happened to My Father." How has the history of Libya intersected with Hisham's life? How does the experience of his family explain the fervor of the Libyan rebels?
LISTEN/WATCH: Prepare students for a writing exercise by playing "Looking for Jaballah Matar" or showing "Hisham Matar’s Search for His Missing Father." In addition (or as an alternative) give them time to EXPLORE the Free Jaballa Matar web site. WRITE: If you were Hisham what would you be doing to find out what had happened to your father?
READ: Matar says that "For years after I lost him I wondered if all of his activism and sacrifice was for nothing." How does he feel now? Read "Libya Calling" to find the answer.
RESEARCH: First have students read an excerpt from Matar’s account in The Independent (first five paragraphs) as preparation. Then ask them to find online sources about Muammar el-Qaddafi’s repressive tactics during the late 1970s: the Revolutionary Committees, attacks on the press, book burning; and the persecution of intellectuals, students, and well-to-do businessmen. They might search the New York Times archive, for example.
RESEARCH: Students read "The Men Over the Hill," a short non-fiction narrative about an encounter a five-year old Matar had with the Leader (el-Qaddafi) and President Idi Amin of Uganda. Find out why Libya and Uganda established such close relations (10).
RESOURCES
Free Jaballa Matar. http://freematar.org
LISTEN: "Looking for Jaballah Matar." BBC World Service Radio Documentary (April 21, 2010): http://freematar.org/?p=311
- "In this special documentary, Razia Iqbal reports on the human cost of abduction and disappearance against the backdrop of delicate diplomatic relations and serious trade and business interests."
WATCH (television interview): "Hisham Matar’s Search for His Missing Father." BBC World News (February 25, 2010): http://freematar.org/?p=303
LISTEN (podcast: 36 mins.): "Guardian Books Podcast: Imagining Libya with Hisham Matar, and World Book Day." The Guardian (March 4, 2011): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2011/mar/04/hisham-matar-world-book-day-podcast
- Here Matar shares his views "about the perils of mixing fact and fiction" in the first part of the podcast.
Matar, Hisham. "Hisham Matar: ‘I Just Want to Know What Happened to My Father.’" The Independent (July 16, 2006): http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/hisham-matar-i-just-want-to-know-what-happened-to-my-father-407444.html
Matar, Hisham. "The Men Over the Hill." Words Without Borders (2007): http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/the-men-over-the-hill/
Matar, Hisham. "Seeing What We Want to See in Qaddafi." New York Times (2-5-2007): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/opinion/05matar.html
Matar, Hisham. "After Tunisia: Hisham Matar on Egypt." The Guardian (January 27, 2011): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/28/after-tunisia-hisham-matar-libya
Matar, Hisham. "Hiding Out." Slate (February 26, 2011): http://www.slate.com/id/2286553/
Matar, Hisham. "Hisham Matar on Libya." Posted by Cressida Leyshon. The New Yorker (March 7, 2011): http://www.newyorker.com/online blogs/books/2011/03/hisham-matar-on-libya-1.html
Matar, Hisham. "Libya Calling." New York Times (March 10, 2011):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/opinion/10matar.html
Derbyshire, Jonathan. "The Books Interview; Hisham Matar." New Statesman (January 25, 2011): http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2010/01/interview-father-prison
Nakhoul, Samia. "Libyan Exiles See the Birth of a New Nation." Reuters (March 10, 2011): http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/10/libya-exiles-idUSLDE7271WA20110310
Truth and Justice Can’t Wait: Human Rights Developments in Libya Amid Institutional Obstacles
FICTION BY HISHAM MATAR
In the Country of Men. Viking, 2006. dial Press, 2007.
- Widely-acclaimed novel, translated into more than 20 languages. It was put on the short list for both the Man Booker Prize (2006) and The Guardian First Book Award. In 2007 it won the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize.
- Extract: "Mother’s Ruin," The Guardian (December 2, 2006): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/dec/02/featuresreviews.guardianreview14?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
- Review: Stephen Moss, "Love, Loss and All Points in Between," The Guardian (June 29, 2006): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/jul/29/featuresreviews.guardianreview19?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
- Review: Oscar Turner, "Muammar, We’re All Crazy Now," The Observer (July 16, 2006): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/jul/16/fiction.features2?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
- Review: Lorraine Adams, "The Dissident’s Son," New York Times (March 4, 2007): http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01EEDA133EF937A35750C0A9619C8B63&scp=2&sq=hisham%20matar&st=cse
- Article: Richard Lea, "Matar’s Tale of Latterday Libya Takes Ondaatje Prize," The Guardian (May 3, 2007): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/may/03/news.ondaatjeprize
Anatomy of a Disappearance. Viking, 2011.
"Naima." The New Yorker (January 24, 2011). Also online: http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2011/01/24/11024fi_fiction_matar
NOTES
1) "Gaddafi’s Son: Battle for Libya Almost Over." Al Jazeera (March 16, 2011): http://english.aljzeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201131614230683317.html
2) For the views of Hisham Matar and Huda Abuzeid (whose father, also a dissident, was killed by Qaddafi’s thugs in London) see Samia Nakhol, "Libyan Exiles See the Birth of a New Nation," Reuters (March 10, 2011): http://af.reuters.com/article. Matar’s paternal roots are in Ajdabiya, a town with a long history of resistance and opposition. His grandfather was wounded in a battle against Mussolini’s forces (see "Hisham Matar on Libya" in RESOURCES). Now that Qaddafi’s troops have re-occupied Ajdabiya, any remaining relatives are in danger. Also check Matar’s Twitter account http://twitter.com/hishamjmatar. For other exile responses, see for example, these blogs: Anglo-Libyan (http://www.anglo-libyan.com/); White African (http://whitelibyanafrican.blogspot.com/).
3) Matar, "Libya Calling" (see RESOURCES).
4) See the Human Rights Watch report, Truth and Justice Can’t Wait (see RESOURCES). For arecent traumatic discovery in Benghazi see Sudarsan Raghavan, "In Libya, an Underground Jail a Daunting Reminder of Moammar Gaddafi’s Grip, Washinton Post (March 12, 2011): http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-libya-underground-jail-a-daunting-reminder-of-moammar-gaddafis-grip. Also Richard Cohen, "Gaddafi Has Long History as a Killer–and Must Be Stopped," washington Post (March 14, 2011): http://washingtonpost.com/opinions/gaddafi-has-a-long historya-as-a killer-and-must-be-stopped.
5) Hisham Matar, "I Just Want to Know ..." (see RESOURCES); the niece is the daughter of his brother Ziad (see quotation near end of the piece). Matar describes Ziad’s frightening encounter with Libyan agents in Switzerland in the first half of "Hiding Out" (see RESOURCES).
6) Richard Lea, "Matar’s Tale of Latterday Libya," The Guardian (May 3, 2007): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/may/03/news.ondaatjeprize.
7) Samira Shackle, "In the Name of the Father," New Statesman (March 10, 2011): http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2011/03/father-nuri-disappearance
8) Jonathan Derbyshire, "The Book Interview" (see RESOURCES).
9) Matar, "I Just Want to Know ..."
10) "Libyan Ventures in Sub-Saharan Africa" (http://countrystudies.us/libya/33.htm) includes some information on Libyan-Uganda relations in the 1970s. Another source is Helen Chapin Metz, Libya (reprint edition: Kessinger Publishing, 2004), available as at Google Books: http://books.google.com; search the book for "Uganda."
