Korczak, Janusz [Henryk Goldszmit] (1878–1942)

Janusz Korczak was born Henryk Goldsmit in Warsaw on July 22, 1878. During his youth, he played with children who were poor and lived in bad neighborhoods; his passion for helping disadvantaged youth continued into his adulthood. He studied medicine and also had a promising career in literature.

In 1912 Korczak established a Jewish orphanage, Dom Sierot, in a building which he designed to advance his progressive educational theories. He envisioned a world in which children structured their own world and became experts in their own matters. Jewish children between the ages of seven and fourteen were allowed to live there while attending Polish public school and government-sponsored Jewish schools, known as “Sabbath” schools. The orphanage opened a summer camp in 1921, which remained in operation until the summer of 1940.

Besides serving as principal of Don Sierot and another orphanage, Nasz Dom, and working as a doctor and an author, he also worked at a Polish radio station, was a principal of an experimental school, published a children’s newspaper, and was docent at a Polish university. Korczak also served as an expert witness in a district court for minors. With the rise of anti-Semitism in the 1930s his activities were restricted to Jews.

In 1934 and 1936 Korczak visited Palestine and was influenced by the kibbutz movement. Following his trips, Korczak was convinced that all Jews should move to Palestine. During the Second World War he was imprisoned for his refusal to wear the yellow star. Although offered asylum, he refused to abandon his orphans and went to the Warsaw ghetto with them. There he created a cultural centre which held literary evenings and where the children gave performances.

 

90,000 Tons of Diplomacy



The George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) the nation’s 10th and final Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, from a Northrop Grumman poster.

One of America’s “massive seaborne platform” floating outside their territorial waters.

26th Malagon-Rovirosa Summer Sessions: North-South Course on Child Slavery

Since 26 years ago, Malagón-Rovirosa summer sessions have offered courses that provide essential elements to stop with the manipulation of the dominant imperialist culture.

Counteracting the social mass media, a lifestyle lacking in solidarity, and an educational system at the service of the powers, their aim is to collaborate in the promotion of free people who can lead their personal and collective lives.

NORTH-SOUTH COURSE ON CHILD SLAVERY

From 11 to 14 August, 2011

The speakers are people committed to the fight against Child Slavery.

Marguerite Barankitse, founder and coordinator of Shalom House in Burundi.

Adolfo Uriona, bishop of Añatuya (Argentina) who chairs the Episcopal Aid Commission for areas in most need of assistance.

Aida Noguera, educator and Christian non-violent militant of the Foundation of the Sacred Dignity of the Person (Venezuela).

Célestin Ngore, in charge of Social Communication Media of the diocese of Doba (Chad).

Fortunato di Noto, founder of Meter Asociation (Meter is Italian for womb), a protection agency actively battling pedophilia and child pornography.

The course is chaired by Mariano J. Parra, bishop of Guayana City (Venezuela), in charge of the Youth section of CELAM (Latin American Episcopal Council).

Educators and Christian non-violent militants in charge of the course:

Marina Ponce y Fernando Cuesta.

Organized by Christian Cultural Movement and Solidarity Youth Path

Venue: Emmaus House

45, Uceda St. Torremocha de Jarama – Madrid. CP: 28.189

Further information and registration at:

Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 162 - 28029 MADRID

Tel.: (+34) 91 373 40 86 / (+34) 91 848 55 48

aula-malagón-rovirosa@solidaridad.net

You can also hit: http://www.solidaridad.net/noticias.php?not=6676

Xenophobic attacks on the rise in crisis-hit Greece



'I cannot return back. ...

For we see no future in our countries.'

Things are going from bad to worse for Athens’s immigrants, who are being targeted by resurgent fascist groups. Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi reports from Greece.

Life is tough for the quarter of a million undocumented migrants and asylum seekers living in destitution across Athens. They are packed, sometimes 10 or 20 people to a room, into dark, dingy flats. The unlucky ones bed down in the city’s parks and squares.

Their lives won’t get better anytime soon. Greece has a backlog of around 60,000 asylum cases, mainly from Afghanistan, Palestine, Somalia, Iran and Iraq; they could take years to clear.

Some have already waited for up to a decade for a decision. Even if their cases are looked at, it is unlikely they will be allowed to remain. Greece grants refugee status to less than one per cent of applicants, the lowest rate in the European Union where the average is around 36 per cent.

 

'Sacrifice your life'

In a sign of growing desperation, in December last year, 100 Afghan asylum seekers, some of whom had waited for up to eight years for an asylum decision, set up a protest camp outside Athens University. Twelve of the group, including one young mother, sewed their lips together and went on a hunger strike.

‘The best way to get a response from the Greek government is to really sacrifice your life,’ says 22-year-old Ezmerey Ahmadi, one of the protesters. ‘Most important is getting our papers; we aren’t requesting any economic help.’ The hunger strike ended in February, but the protest continues. Six of the protesters have been granted asylum, six have been refused and the rest remain.

The current economic climate makes life particularly tough for asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in Greece. Financial woes have sparked a rise in support for the political far-right. And as the socialist government implements an unprecedented package of austerity measures, many ordinary Greeks are turning to fascist groups, quick to blame migrants for the country’s problems.

Last October the far-right party Chrysi Avgi, also known as Golden Dawn, won its first seat in Athens city council. Since then it has held several anti-immigrant rallies in areas with large migrant communities. Fascist activists are also alleged to have carried out random revenge attacks on innocent migrants after a Greek man was stabbed to death in central Athens in March.

‘I never come out of the house during the night, because I’m afraid of the fascists,’ says Abolzar Jalily. ‘I came from Afghanistan to be safe.’ Jalily left his home after receiving death threats because he worked as an interpreter for foreign forces. Now he faces a fresh threat from a violent fascist movement operating with near impunity in downtown Athens, where Jalily lives with his family.

‘In one attack the fascists killed some refugees and injured more than 150 people. They beat them very badly and they could not go to the police because they would do nothing for them,’ he says.