PALESTINE/ISRAEL:What is it like to be the UN's special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories? After the launch of the Italian book J'accuse, we spoke to Francesca Albanese – about Israel's war against Gaza, genocide, anti-Semitism and impunity, based on her specialization in international law. She talks about political, legal, psychological and epistemic violence resulting from how Israel, with the consent of the West, has oppressed the Palestinians for decades. (And what about the Oslo agreement, see the sub-section.)
THE MODERN TIMES INTERVIEW: Elisabeth Hoff, WHO's representative in Libya today, wondered why Norway got involved and dropped 700 bombs on Libya in 2011: "It makes no sense at all." For 30 years, Hoff has tried to save lives in war zones such as Afghanistan, Syria and Libya. How can a human endure so much suffering?
TECHNOLOGY: The more I read in Screen Damage, the stronger the guilt for the damage I must have caused my children. Children between zero and six should not be exposed to screens at all, according to the book.
RAPE: Russian soldiers today systematically use sexualized violence. And these abuses are not just due to 'bad discipline' or abuse of power. Commanders can also use sexualized violence as a kind of reward for their soldiers. Internationally, Russian officials categorically deny that soldiers have committed sexual crimes
PLAY: The exhibition by Francis Alÿs at Copenhagen Contemporary neither explains nor defines what play means. Rather, it is an archive of toys and forms lines of connection between people across the places we come from.
ABUSE: Three men in their forties informed their former school, the Jesuit Canisius College in Berlin, about how two priests had sexually abused them decades ago. This led to countless disclosures – not only of the abuse itself, but of the church's consistent secrecy.
CANADA: With the discovery of children's graves in Canada, the Canadians are arguably making the Irish rank as "the world's best Catholics". Children from First Nations were outright stolen, imprisoned in isolation, forced into a foreign culture, a foreign language, subjected to sexual abuse and general neglect.
ESSAY: Sophocles' Elektra asks the question: what happens to a person who fails to formulate for himself who her revenge is directed at and why? Is it the need for revenge that drives us, the urge to punish someone who has ruined for us? And what about young, religious terrorists today who, out of love for the "ruler," perform cruel rituals and rites?
NORWEGIAN GAME FILM:
With Venice-relevant Children, Dag Johan Haugerud paints a thought-provoking and empathetic portrait of Norwegian society, in one of the strongest Norwegian feature films of many years.
Norway has taken a serious step back in terms of children's rights, and we are moving dangerously towards joining a "race to the bottom". It's time to take responsibility.