AR Rahman: "I share my Oscars with Peter Gabriel"

‘Oscar was like my national award’

CHENNAI: “There are many forces that divide us here from caste to religion. May music be the force that unifies us,” began AR Rahman, in a speech that was marked with characteristic humility and oodles of references to religion. Who better to state that than the musician himself who has left the entire country to collectively celebrate his arrival at the international platform with two Oscars? (...)

AR Rahman says his award was a recognition for World Music, given the nature of his score for the film. “So, I thought I must owe it all to Peter Gabriel, the musician who is seen as one of the forerunners to propagate World Music. He has in fact, inspired many Indians like me and Mandolin U Shrinivas. I’d like to share my award with him,” Rahman said. (...)

Sharadha Narayanan, Express Buzz, 28 Feb 2009

"Beyond Our Differences"

This ambitious 2008 PBS program asks the world's great thinkers and religious and political leaders for solutions to the world's many problems. Hopeful reflections come from such diverse people as Andrew Young, Peter Gabriel, Deepak Chopra, the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Noam Chomsky. Unrated, 72 minutes. No DVD extras. shoppbs.org.

http://www.beyondourdifferences.com/

Diverse musicians 'Change' their tunes for peace

By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

Natural studio: Playing for Change founder Mark Johnson, left, records an Indian musician for the album.

Further proving that music is the universal language, more than 100 musicians across the planet are entwining talents to promote world peace.

Playing for Change — Songs Around the World, a 10-tune CD/seven-track DVD due April 28 on Hear Music, captures mixes of known artists and street musicians from locales as far-flung as Nepal, the Himalayas and the Palestinian territories.

Grammy-winning engineer Mark Johnson spent a decade seeking and sequencing montages, including footage of the late Bob Marley on his War/No More Trouble updated with U2's Bono and players from the Congo, Israel, India, Ireland, South Africa, the USA, Zimbabwe and Ghana.

A video of Stand By Me, with U.S. buskers Roger Ridley and Grandpa Elliott spliced into a single performance with musicians from the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Venezuela, France and Brazil, has drawn 7 million YouTube viewers (also at playingforchange.com).

Others tackle Marley's One Love, U2/Bob Dylan's Love Rescue Me, Peter Gabriel's Biko and Tracy Chapman's Talkin' Bout a Revolution. Some musicians will join a brief tour starting March 20 at South by Southwest in Austin.

Davos: Peter Gabriel Sings Biko

Thomas Crampton, Hong Kong-based digital strategist, Posted February 1, 2009

The most amazing session I attended this year in Davos was a 2-hour Dignity Day event in a local school auditorium. Speakers included the schoolchildren, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Richard Branson and Peter Gabriel, who sang Biko a capella. Hearing Desmond Tutu speak was an incredible experience. I have rarely seen someone captivate and hold an audience with such simplicity, humility and light heartedness. At the end of the event Peter Gabriel led the entire room in singing his tribute to Steve Biko.

Dignity Day

Archbishop Tutu Joins Young Global Leader and Global Dignity Co-Founder John Hope Bryant to Promote the Right to Live a Dignified Life During the Annual World Economic Forum

DAVOS-KLOSTERS, SWITZERLAND -- 01/31/09 -- John Hope Bryant, Operation HOPE (HOPE) CEO and founder, traveled this week to meet with world leaders and corporate chiefs to participate in the 2009 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Bryant, along with fellow YGLs and Global Dignity (GD) co-founders, will join Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others in a special teaching session aimed at helping to solve world problems, while connecting with every person's common need for respect and dignity.

Global Dignity co-founders H.R.H Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Professor Pekka Himanen, a leading philosopher and author, and "silver rights" entrepreneur John Bryant empowered and inspired more than 250 youth at the Swiss Alpine School, shaping their futures through dignity during the 39th Annual World Economic Forum. Dignity Day, Davos also featured global leaders Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Finnish President Tarja Halonen, business mogul Richard Branson, and Miss Universe South Africa 2008, Tansey Coetzee, and 40 YGLs. The session was further enhanced by a performance from music icon and international humanitarian, Peter Gabriel. (...)

http://www.younggloballeaders.org/

http://www.operationhope.org

Hear the World Magazine Special Issue Celebrates "The Voice"

Elle Macpherson, Peter Gabriel, Takahashi Murakami and Frank Sinatra are highlighted in special edition focused on the unique and myriad ways we make ourselves heard

Stäfa, Switzerland (PRWEB) January 23, 2009 -- The latest issue of Hear the World magazine takes an in-depth look at what it means to have (and hear) a voice. From appreciating an artist's unique perspective to appreciating the science that allows each of us to sound unique, the special issue addresses a variety of ways in which our individual "voices" resonate in our daily lives.

Hear the World, the magazine for the culture of hearing, is supported by the global Hear the World initiative, which is dedicated to raising awareness about the topics of hearing and hearing loss - a problem that affects 10% of the world's population. It utilizes a culture and lifestyle platform to address the topic of hearing. Always linking content to the subject of hearing and sound, the magazine's features focus on a broad range of topics, from music, to art, to nature, to anything else that makes life more beautiful.

Recent Golden Globe-nominee Peter Gabriel is on the cover of the issue. Inside, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, artist Takahashi Murakami, crooner Frank Sinatra, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and German actor Sky du Mont are featured, among others.

The latest issue of Hear the World also features a new series of photographs taken by musician and photographer Bryan Adams in his role as official photographer for Hear the World. Images of Elle Macpherson, Lenny Kravitz, Jude Law, John Legend, Emilia Fox, and Charlie Siem are all captured in a pose of conscious hearing. And for the first time, Adams has contributed a portrait he shot of himself in the signature Hear the World pose.

Adams has photographed more than 30 international ambassadors for the initiative. Each of these artists lends his or her name to the initiative to help raise awareness about the importance of hearing as a global issue.

Hear the World is published quarterly and is available at select newsstands, such as Hudson News, and at airports internationally for $8 per issue. A free copy of the magazine can be ordered at www.hear-the-world.com. Net proceeds of the magazine benefit the Hear the World Foundation.

About Hear the World

Hear the World is a global initiative by hearing device manufacturer Phonak created to raise awareness about the importance of hearing. The initiative calls attention to the social and emotional impact of hearing loss and addresses prevention of and solutions to a problem that affects more than 10% of the world's population. In the context of the Hear the World initiative, Phonak has established the non-profit Hear the World Foundation to improve the quality of life of people with hearing loss through financial and technical assistance. The foundation is committed to the prevention of hearing loss as well as the support of people with hearing loss and their families.

About Phonak

Headquartered near Zurich, Switzerland, Phonak has developed, produced and globally distributed state-of-the-art hearing systems and wireless devices for more than 50 years. The combination of expertise in hearing technology, mastery in acoustics and strong cooperation with hearing care professionals allows Phonak to significantly improve people's hearing ability and speech understanding and therefore their quality of life. Phonak offers a complete range of digital hearing instruments, along with complementary wireless communication systems. With 2,500 employees worldwide, Phonak drives innovation and sets new industry benchmarks regarding miniaturization and performance. For more information please visit www.hear-the-world.com or www.phonak.com.

Thousands to march through London over Middle East conflict

Rashid Razaq and Jack Lefley, Evening Standard ,09.01.09

Thousands of protesters will take to the streets this weekend in demonstrations over Israel's assault on Gaza. A national demonstration against the attack will march from Speakers' Corner at Hyde Park tomorrow. It will be followed on Sunday by a pro-Israel rally in Trafalgar Square and march. The protests follow a series of demonstrations outside the Israeli Embassy in Kensington which have led to small businesses in the area losing thousands of pounds.

The pro-Palestinian demonstration is expected to be joined by stars including singers Annie Lennox and Peter Gabriel, actors Corin and Vanessa Redgrave, and Children's Laureate Michael Rosen. Their march will end near the Israeli Embassy in Palace Green. The Board of Deputies of British Jews has planned a rally to call for peace from 11am to 12pm on Sunday in Trafalgar Square. Half an hour later protesters will congregate at Marble Arch and walk to Belgrave Square.

Last night, hundreds gathered at the Friends Meeting House in central London. Speakers condemned the Israeli and British governments, with former Labour Cabinet minister Tony Benn calling for the Israeli ambassador to the UK to be expelled. The protests, which have seen up to 2,000 pro-Palestinian supporters bring Kensington High Street to a standstill, have affected independent traders who have reported takings down by more than 50 per cent. Many have struggled to pay staff and cover overheads.

Residents want the protests moved to Kensington Gardens or Hyde Park. Maryam Taghavi, owner of Foubert's Café, said: "We couldn't open on Saturday or Sunday." Craig Teasdale, manager of Brasserie Gerard, said his restaurant had had virtually no bookings since the protests began on 28 December. Police said they have had talks with organisers, but there are no plans to relocate the demonstrations.

Activists protesting invasion put best foot forward

By Alice Johnson, Staff Reporter, Published: January 08, 2009

Dubai: A collection of old shoes is due to be delivered to the Israeli embassy in London this weekend as part of an organised protest against the invasion of Gaza.

The organisers of the protest, who call themselves the 'Stop the War Coalition', say they are inspired by "the spirit of Iraqi journalist Muntadar Al Zaidi, who used his shoes to protest George Bush's war crimes".

Organisers are encouraging protesters to bring along old shoes, which will be delivered to the embassy at the conclusion of the march that begins at Speaker's Corner (London's dedicated protest platform) in Hyde Park at 12.30pm tomorrow.

Shoes were also collected after a January 4 protest march, with the aim of delivering them to Downing Street. However, after being prevented from "delivering" the items, protesters flung the footwear in the general direction of Downing Street.

A host of British actors, musicians, politicians and writers have added their names to the forthcoming demonstration, including politician George Galloway, who was reportedly injured when a previous protest against the Gaza attacks on January 4 led to clashes with police.

Other famous names being associated with the action include singers Annie Lennox and Peter Gabriel; politician Tony Benn; musicians Michael Nyman and Nigel Kennedy; actress Vanessa Redgrave; and comedians Alexei Sayle, Mark Thomas and Billy Bailey.

The Stop the War Coalition has organised daily protests outside the Israeli Embassy since January 5.

PM briefed

Community warning

A group of prominent Muslims who advise the government on security issues have written to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warning that Israel's invasion of Gaza could fuel violent Islamist extremism. Anger within Britain's Muslim communities had reached "acute levels of intensity", the letter said, calling for pressure on the US to change its approach to the crisis. "The Israeli government's use of disproportionate force to combat threats to its security has revived extremist groups and empowered their message of violence," it said.

Celebrities send get-well messages to new Liverpool hospital unit for mentally ill

Dec 30 2008 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

A HOSPITAL unit to treat men with severe mental health problems has opened for the first time in Liverpool. The Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Rathbone Hospital, Old Swan, will offer an eight-bed in-patient facility for men whose levels of mental distress are so acute they need intensive care. Previously patients needing such treatment were sent out of the area and into private sector establishments.

It is the latest phase of mental health trust Mersey Care’s multi-million pound regeneration of the Rathbone Hospital site, a former Victorian fever hospital now offering several specialist mental health services in modern buildings. The unit has now been filled with get-well messages from some top celebrities who have sent signed photographs, posters, and words of encouragement to the unit.

Among the famous names are musician and singer Peter Gabriel, comedian and Harry Potter actor Robbie Coltrane, Absolutely Fabulous actress Julia Sawalha, Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor, spin-doctor Alastair Campbell, and Dr Who star David Tennant. Liverpool poet Roger McGough has written some prose for the unit too, based around its initials PICU.

Unit manager Nick Wade said: “In the same way that general hospitals have intensive care units for people who are most seriously physically ill, this unit will be for people who are in crisis and need much more intensive intervention than is normally provided in an acute ward.”
The unit was officially opened by chairman of Mersey Care, Stephen Hawkins, at his last official duty on retiring from an eight-year term of office. The incoming chairman Beatrice Fraenkel was also present, along with Liverpool’s Mayor and Mayoress Steve and Sandra Rotheram, and trust service user representative Anne Evans, who wrote to the stars for their words of encouragement.

The unit is already accepting appropriate referrals and should be fully operational and occupied by spring. A spokesman added: “The messages of hope have been put on walls in an area called the hub, in the heart of the unit. The self-contained unit will have a high ratio of staff, as well as recreational and occupational therapy areas for patients.”

Mersey Care NHS Trust provides specialist mental health and learning disability services for adults in Liverpool, Sefton and Kirkby, while also offering medium secure services for Merseyside and Cheshire, and high secure services covering England and Wales.

Peter Gabriel saves Manchester digital agency

December 23, 2008, Crain's Manchester business

Rock star Peter Gabriel’s Real World Holdings has stepped in to save a web design business which went into administration on December 11.

Digital media agency Lightmaker Manchester, a franchise operation from the Tonbridge-based Lightmaker Group Ltd, got into difficulties after bankers HSBC declined to extend its overdraft facility.

Gabriel and his business partners, who are clients of the business, have purchased the assets from the administrator and set up a new company, Great Fridays, Great People. Previous owner Matt Farrar will have a minority shareholding.

Farrar said the business would continue with the same 20 staff at its offices in the Parsonage, Manchester city centre.

Lightmaker Manchester provides web design, flash, 3D, brand building, web development, CMS applications and integration services. Clients have included Habitat, Liberty, MTV, Morphy Richards, Kenwood, Bamford and Sons, Debenhams and Next.

Lightmaker Manchester goes into administration, Peter Gabriel pulls Great Fridays out of the ashes

how-do.co.uk, Monday, 22 December 2008

How-Do has discovered that the Manchester office of leading new media agency Lightmaker has been placed in administration. However, in a stunning development rock legend and digital pioneer Peter Gabriel has effectively bought the firm’s assets out and funded the launch of phoenix company Great Fridays.

Lightmaker is one of the leading agency brands in the new media arena, but, according to insiders, has been struggling over recent months in the economic downturn, forcing it to close offices in Scotland, Boston, San Francisco and Melbourne. The Manchester outpost of the agency was a franchise outfit owned and operated by managing director Matt Farrar.

Farrar took the time to take How-Do through the demise of the firm, but was keen to emphasize that the new operation, although distinct from Lightmaker, would be retaining the same staff and building.

It’s basically business as usual, he stressed, but in highly unusual circumstances.

“The economy has been effecting everyone,” Farrar admitted. “As time was progressing we were getting more and more nervous about our ability to run the business as we would have liked. It became apparent that it was becoming harder to chase the funds that were owed to us for the inter-group work that we had been carrying out… and that made us uneasy about exactly what was going on. It got to the stage when even meeting wage demands was a struggle.”

Farrar told How-Do that this “came to a head” at the end of November when he was informed by HSBC that the firm’s funds had run dry and they would not provide the facility to cover the staff wages. This was, understandably, “a very difficult time” for the management team and led to the move to eventually put the firm into administration on 11 December.

However, during this time Farrar had engaged in conversations with certain clients and friends, many of whom apparently offered support and all of whom, according to him, praised the 20 strong team and noted that they “had something more to offer than just the Lightmaker brand itself.”

Cue the entrance of client Peter Gabriel and his firm Real World Holdings.

Lightmaker Manchester has been carrying out numerous projects for Real World and Farrar made clear that the business was keen to continue engaging with the team - seeing those projects through to their conclusion and exploiting the skills of the staff for new business opportunities.

This led Gabriel and his business partners to step in and purchase the firm out of administration, launching it under the new banner of Great Fridays, Great People (trading as Great Fridays).

“We’ve been very lucky,” Farrar acknowledged, “not only has Peter stepped in, but he and the Real World team are keen to make sure the business continues as normal, and we haven’t lost any members of staff at all.”

He would not reveal the shareholding structure of the new business at the time of writing, but noted that he had retained a stake in the firm and that Tiff Pike and Andy Wood from Real World would now be joining at board level positions.

In terms of clients Farrar opined that “first and foremost they will be looked after and we’ll be working with Lightmaker to ensure this” but added that eventually “clients will make up their own minds” about whom they chose to work with.

“For now we have plenty of work with Peter and the Real World brand,” he stressed.

Lightmaker Manchester has a history of working with a host of well-known brand names, including MTV, Morphy Richards and Habitat.

Earlier this year it launched the worldwide site for popular console game Guitar Hero as it moved onto the Nintendo DS platform.

A holding page for Great Fridays has now been set up at www.greatfridays.com

Nobel Peace Prize winners honor Bono

U2 singer Bono received the Peace Summit Award

Associated Press, LOS ANGELES TIMES, 12/18/08

PARIS — Political Hollywood had to find something to occupy itself between election night and the inaugural balls. It seems Europe — glittering with holiday lights — is the place to be if you’re a star with an international cause.

In Paris last week, such notables as former president and best-selling author Jimmy Carter and pop icons Peter Gabriel and Bono gathered at various events to help commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The highlight of the festivities — which also included such international luminaries as former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, Virgin Airlines Chief Executive Richard Branson and Participant Media founder Jeff Skoll — was a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize laureates who presented their Man of Peace award to the U2 lead singer.

After Hollywood’s deep involvement in the U. S. presidential campaign, the week’s events were a reminder of the industry’s influence as an exporter of entertainment and celebrity activism. Nevertheless, Bono, who is considered the superstar of social action, tried to deflect the attention.

“I am an overawarded, over-rewarded rock star,” Bono told the Nobel winners, including F. W. de Klerk, Lech Walesa and John Hume, at an event at the Hotel de Ville. “You are the people who do the real work.”

But event co-host Walter Veltroni, former mayor of Rome, was determined to give the singer — who has worked to fight poverty and disease in Africa — his due.

“We decided to nominate a man who has given a lot and will continue to give a great deal to the struggle for human rights, to the fight against poverty, with his music and with his words,” said Veltroni, who hosted last year’s award recipients — George Clooney and Don Cheadle — in Rome.

With the Eiffel Tower lit blue (marking France’s presidency of the European Union), the luminaries moved from galas to conference rooms to discuss some of the world’s pressing problems: hunger, poverty, disease and genocide.

“We’ve made great progress,” Carter told a group gathered for the Elders’ annual media awards at La Maison Des Arts et Metiers. “But we have a long way to go.”

Also on hand at the Elders’ event was Mariane Pearl, the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl, whose story was translated to film as “A Mighty Heart.”

A former journalist herself, Pearl was among those singled out by speakers who repeatedly stressed the importance of news and entertainment media in promoting human rights.

The Elders, a group of Nobel Peace laureates and other international activists, paid tribute to 30 journalistic projects designed to expose human abuses. Some of the winners included an Australian television reporter who documented human-rights violations at a Nike plant in South Asia, a magazine that exposed the human consequences of environmental degradation in India and a Web site (borderstories.org) that documents life along the U. S.- Mexico border.

“These stories are reminders that the struggle for human rights is never ending,” said George Papagiannis, program specialist with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Meanwhile, across the channel, Clooney was busy raising money for Darfur. At a dinner party in London last week, the Oscar-winning actor raised more than $14 million to assist refugees in the troubled Sudan region. The guests — who paid up to $14,000 to attend — included Matt Damon, Cindy Crawford and Scarlett Johansson.

IT’S TIME TURKEY, USA AND ENGLAND RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

AZG Armenian Daily #211, 14/11/2008

Armenian Genocide

Famous musicians Jivan Gasparian and Peter Gabriel visited the memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide and laid a wreath at the memorial in commemoration of 1,5 mln innocent victims. "We should go on raising the question of the Armenian Genocide in order the whole world recognizes the Armenian Genocide", J. Gasparian told "Armenpress". Peter Gabriel mentioned that he is aware of the first genocide of the 20th century. "It is important and it’s time Turkey, United States of America and England recognize the Armenian Genocide", underlined the well-known musician.

Tribute: Maestro Jivan Gasparyan welcomes friends in Yerevan as he turns 80

By Marianna Grigoryan, ArmeniaNow reporter, 12 November, 2008

With a long red carpet and stepped up security measures, a series of tribute concerts marking the 80th anniversary of prominent Armenian duduk player Jivan Gasparyan opened at the Sports and Concert Complex Tuesday night. Both Armenian artists and internationally renowned musicians took part in the event.

“All have come here without any fee or remuneration, all are my friends,” the Maestro said from the stage. “And I am thankful to all.”

Despite chilly November weather and a high price of tickets (between 10,000 and 50,000 drams, which is about $30 to $165), the concert hall was full of local fans and guests who have come to honor the man who made Armenian music known worldwide with plaintive melodies of the duduk.

“I am fascinated. I don’t know when I will come to Armenia next time. But Armenia is in my heart and I hope to come back here again. I am grateful to him [Jivan Gasparyan] who allowed me to be his pupil. He is like father to me and I am proud to have known him,” Pedro Eustache, who astounded the audience with his skill of playing different wind instruments during the concert, told ArmeniaNow.

Such well-known musicians as Peter Gabriel, Andreas Vollenweider, Grammy winner Alan Parsons, Zucchero, as well as celebrated guests from other spheres had come to honor the great duduk player.

“Happy birthday, Maestro. You give us strength to score victories,” said unbeaten International Boxing Federation middleweight champion Arthur Abraham, who came to Yerevan after a signal title defense on Saturday. Yuri Vardanyan, a famous Armenian weightlifter who held numerous world records in his sport, gifted one of his records to Gasparyan. “I flew for 16 hours to reach Yerevan and congratulate you,” he said addressing the Maestro. “Now you are also a sport champion.”

The Maestro’s grandson, his full namesake Jivan Gasparyan, also performed during the evening. Jivan Gasparyan, the Master of the Duduk, the winner of four world-wide gold Medal UNESCO competitions (1959, 1962, 1973, and 1980) and the WOMEX (World Music Expo) lifetime achievement award in 2002 embarked on his “champion” career many years ago. (See more on the artist’s official website www.gasparyanjivan.com)

He says that he had given numerous concerts, played for famous people, made friends all over the world. And in 1947 he received an award from Stalin, which he had to sell to make ends meet.“I had a difficult childhood. I lost my parents early on and lived in an orphanage,” Gasparyan told ArmeniaNow in a short interview before the concert. “Since I was a child I had to go through so many hardships that later I could overcome the challenges of life.”

Gasparyan says that he did everything for the duduk to get worldwide recognition so that “people love and feel the sorrow of the duduk.” But he says he feels there is something unfinished. The Maestro says that he wants to set up a school first of all for orphaned children. “I caught a cold a week ago and have not recuperated yet. We will celebrate my 100th birthday anniversary as well,” he smiles. “I still have a lot to do.”

Jude Law peace doc sells across world

Jude Law in The Day after Peace

3DD Entertainment has sold its Jude Law-fronted Peace One Day concert to a host of territories including the US. The concert was held on 21 September at the Royal Albert Hall and featured performances by John Legend, Lenny Kravitz, Annie Lennox, Bryan Adams and Peter Gabriel.

It was presented by film star and Peace One Day ambassador Jude Law and celebrated the UN's International Day of Peace. The 60-minute HD special comprises highlights from the live event and has been sold to VH1 in the UK, Viacom-owned HD music channel Palladia in the US, Network 10 in Australia and Globosat in Brazil.

The concert is accompanied by the documentary The Day After Peace, which tells the story of how British film-maker Jeremy Gilley launched Peace One Day in 1999 and his struggles leading up to Peace Day being recognised by 200 countries around the world.

The documentary has been picked up by Network 10 in Australia, SVT in Sweden and OPTL in the Middle East. There are further deals to be confirmed in the US, Japan and France.

Peter Gabriel’s YouTube for Human Rights: The Hub

Empowered: Witness equips and trains people to document human-rights violations (as above, in Kenya). Its new video-sharing site the Hub extends its reach astronomically. | photograph courtesy of Witness

Peter Gabriel's human-rights group embraces social media. A YouTube for unseen atrocities.

It was an ordinary day of skateboarding dog videos on YouTube last November when a harrowing clip appeared. The grainy shots from Egypt showed police officers beating and sodomizing a man with a nightstick. The clip had been distributed by Egyptian bloggers Wael Abbas and Hossam el-Hamalawy as a call to action against police brutality.

There was one problem. YouTube has strict guidelines against graphic sexual or violent material, and suspended the bloggers' account. Eventually the story got picked up by other bloggers and the mainstream media, and sparked international outrage that led to the prosecution of the offending officers and the reactivation of Abbas and el-Hamalawy's YouTube account.

But with thousands of undocumented abuses playing out around the world every day, the episode highlighted the potential for an online-video network devoted to human rights. Filling that void is the Hub (hub.witness.org), a video-sharing Web site launched by ex -- rock star Peter Gabriel to empower people to document and publicize unseen atrocities. Now in beta, the Hub allows anyone around the world to submit clips to a central site where its target audience of activists can connect and take action. "It's a YouTube for human rights," Gabriel says. And it shows how the dynamics of social networking can be applied in powerful new ways.

The Hub is an offshoot of Witness, the Brooklyn-based human-rights nonprofit that Gabriel started in 1992 after learning the extent of abuses worldwide while headlining a concert tour sponsored by Amnesty International. "What I found extraordinary was that people could suffer in this way and have their stories completely buried," he says. "But it seemed like whenever there was video evidence, it was very hard to deny and bury and forget."

For the past 16 years, Witness has provided video cameras to carefully selected activists and community leaders in more than 100 countries. The group has amassed one of the largest existing collections of human-rights-abuse footage and has shown its videos to policy makers and human-rights groups around the world. There have been plenty of success stories as a result, from the arrest of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for war crimes in the Congo to raising money for land-mine victims in Senegal. Just last year, "Crying Sun," a Witness video on the impact of war on the community of the North Caucasus mountains, was presented to Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, whose private militia had been widely criticized by human-rights organizations. Afterward, Kadyrov funded the rebuilding of homes, a school, a medical center, and other infrastructure.

Despite Witness's achievements, though, the logistical challenge of getting citizens equipped and trained has been a major limitation. "Some cameras don't make it where they're supposed to go, or people don't know what way the film goes in," Gabriel explains. Not to mention it's simply impossible to get cameras in everyone's hands. In recent years, however, technology has provided an answer: cell phones. As handset makers began building both still and video cameras into their phones, ordinary people suddenly had the means -- and power -- to document their lives.

"Once everyone has a camera inside a mobile phone, the issue is about creating a place where people can upload footage safely and make connections with people who might further their cause and their campaigns," Gabriel says. "That's the dream for the Hub." The site also lets users comment on the content and eventually will host discussion groups, online petitions, and interactive maps. As on YouTube or Facebook, users will have their own profile pages with news related to their efforts.

To finance the project, Witness raised $2 million from individual and foundation sources, including Cinereach and Omidyar Network.

The Hub's executive director, Yvette Alberdingk Thijm, who was previously executive vice president of Joost, has initially focused on establishing a system to screen submitted videos before sending them out to the world. Editors at the Hub review each video for propaganda as well as privacy concerns. They know well that some users could be subject to harassment, arrest, or worse if their identities were revealed. Since launching in December, roughly 1,400 videos have been posted on the Hub.

Eric Tars, the human-rights staff attorney for the National Law Center on Homeless and Poverty in Washington, D.C., typifies the Hub's early adopters. In February, Tars attended a meeting of the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, to advocate for issues such as housing rights for domestic-violence victims and affordable housing. While there, Tars caught early word of a UN report condemning the destruction of public housing in New Orleans. Rather than having to wait and hope for the word to trickle down to his constituents in grassroots advocacy groups, he took to the Hub, uploading detailed video blogs about the news. "In the past, we could get maybe a couple of news stories or op-eds; now we have over 6,000 views -- from our constituency," Tars says.

The challenge going forward, says Gabriel, is "to scale up effectively." YouTube recently launched its own channel of human-rights videos from various sources -- including Witness. But so far, there's no other site that's cultivating a community around the videos that can translate awareness into action.

"There will be more challenges," says Thijm, who is working to develop both a mobile version of the site and applications that will run on platforms including Symbian and iPhone. "But it's up to people to change the world. Technology is a tool. How we use it is what counts."

By: David Kushner,Fast Company.com, From Issue 130 | November 2008

Lobbyists to raise funds to build peace centre

Yazeed Kamaldien, The Times.co.za, Published:Oct 13, 2008

Plans to develop the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre in Cape Town are on track, with lobbyists trying to drum up the R150-million it will cost from international philanthropists and even ordinary South Africans.

The centre, which will be the first of its kind to offer peace brokers from international conflict zones a neutral space to strike deals, will be up and running by 2011 if all goes to plan, said centre chief executive Nomfundo Walaza.

It is being driven by its namesake, the retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1984 who has been viewed as an international moral compass.

“[For example] if the South African government is brokering peace for the Democratic Republic of Congo, instead of meeting in the parliament buildings, they can meet at a neutral space at the centre ,” said Walaza .

Tutu’s emissaries and fundraisers are now approaching his friends, such as maverick British businessman Richard Branson and lobbyist Peter Gabriel, to donate cash for the development.

“Branson has indicated he would be of assistance ... but ordinary South Africans can also give R100 or R500 towards the bricks. We don’t want this to be funded only by people from overseas ,” said Walaza.

The centre will be built on a piece of prime real estate close to the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The land was donated by the City of Cape Town in 2004.

le Quadrige de Gabriel

Communiqué du gouvernement luxembourgois : Jean Asselborn, laudateur à la remise des prix "Die Quadriga", le 3 octobre 2008 à Berlin

Le Vice-Premier ministre, ministre des Affaires étrangères et de l’Immigration, Jean Asselborn, sera l’un des laudateurs lors de la cérémonie annuelle de la remise des prix "Die Quadriga", le vendredi soir 3 octobre 2008 à Berlin dans l’enceinte de la "Komische Oper Berlin".

Le prix "Die Quadriga" est décerné chaque année le 3 octobre, Journée de l’unité allemande, en hommage à quatre personnalités ou institutions dont l’engagement est porteur de changement. Il doit son nom au quadrige historique qui domine la Porte de Brandebourg, à Berlin. Le prix "Die Quadriga" est attaché à l’héritage de la révolution pacifique et dédié à tous ceux dont le courage fait effondrer des murs.

Le Vice-Premier ministre remettra le prix dans la catégorie "United we Care", qui récompense l’exercice de la charité mondiale et qui ouvre des possibilités et des perspectives d’avenir. Le prix sera décerné à Peter Gabriel, artiste originaire de Wiltshire en Grande-Bretagne, pour ses efforts dans le domaine humanitaire, notamment par ses projets "The Elders", "Witness" et "Womad".

Le prix "Die Quadriga" comprenant trois autres volets, le président de la République d’Autriche, Dr. Heinz Fischer, décernera le prix au président de la République serbe, Boris Tadic, pour ses efforts courageux de diriger la Serbie vers la famille européenne. Le ministre des Affaires étrangères de l’Allemagne, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, sera le laudateur pour Eckart Höfling, prêtre de l’ordre des Franciscains, qui depuis plus de trente ans abrite et soutient des enfants défavorisés à Rio de Janeiro. Finalement, le philosophe américain David Weinberger remettra le prix à Jimmy Wales, fondateur et président d’honneur de la Fondation "Wikimedia", ainsi que de la fameuse encyclopédie "Wikipedia", pour sa mission éducative et d’éclairage.

A noter que le Premier ministre Jean-Claude Juncker a été lauréat du prix "Die Quadriga" en 2003.

(communiqué par le ministère des Affaires étrangères et de l’Immigration)

I-concerts : Peace One Day 2008

In 1999 filmmaker Jeremy Gilley decided to try and establish the first ever Day of Peace with a fixed calendar date. In September 2001 the Member States of the United Nations unanimously adopted the first-ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence — Peace Day, 21 September.

Peace One Day now works to create global awareness of the day and manifest life-saving activity and individual action throughout the world on September 21 each year.

The day is working. Lives are being saved and individuals are making commitments.

To learn more about Peace One Day, or to make a commitment, please click here.


Peace One Day 2008 - 12 - Peter Gabriel - Interlude

http://home.i-concerts.com/#/?q=en/node/5827/

Peace One Day 2008 - 17 - Peter Gabriel - Father Son (live performance)

http://home.i-concerts.com/#/?q=en/node/5832/

Gabriel gets in the Olympic spirit

Peter Gabriel, the pop guru-turned humanitarian, has joined the lengthy queue of people clamouring for a cut in the budget for London's 2012 Olympics.

"Instead of spending a fortune on the opening ceremony, we should begin with a simple ceremony," he says.

"Perhaps if the Queen walked in to the main arena and declared the Games open with a short speech along the lines of, 'You will all be delighted to learn that the cost of a lavish opening ceremony has been saved this year and all of the money that would have been spent has instead been sent to Africa to be used for much more worthwhile causes'."

Gabriel, who has just received an award from Amnesty International for his human rights work, also suggests the Olympics should be split in two, with a category for clean athletes and another for those who take performance enhancing drugs. "Now that would be interesting," he adds.