IPS week's picks April 19 2013

	Religious Youth Could Swing Pakistani Poll  Zofeen Ebrahim  From the local butcher, to the pavement fruit vendor, to the cobbler sitting beside his tools on Elphinstone Road, a busy street in the heart of Karachi, one question is on everyone’s lips: Who will win the upcoming elections on May 11? In Pakistan, a country that is reeling from the Taliban’s ... MORE > >
	Activist Shareholders Slam Brazilian Mining Giant  Fabiola Ortiz  Representatives of social movements and communities affected by Brazilian mining company Vale's operations have bought shares in the company, to make their voices heard. The purchase of shares in transnational corporations, which grants the right to take part in shareholders' meetings, is now ... MORE > >
	Palestinian Expulsions Mapped in Hebrew  Jillian Kestler-D'Amours  Fireworks went off over the Tel Aviv skyline this week as thousands of flag-waving Israelis marked the 65th anniversary of their country’s founding. At the same time, a smaller group of Israeli activists explored the other, most often ignored, side to their country’s creation: the forced displaced ... MORE > >
	Backing a Legal Rhino Horn Trade  Brendon Bosworth  In the face of rampant rhino poaching in South Africa, some conservationists and private rhino farmers are lobbying for removal of the international ban on rhino horn trading and the creation of a legal market, to quell poaching. “The trade ban is creating a situation where rhinos are being ... MORE > >
	Q&A: Why 'Rape Victims Must Talk About Their Trauma'  Rousbeh Legatis  Rape is often perceived as an individual trauma, but in reality its impact extends far beyond a single person and instead affects entire communities, complicating the already challenging task of helping victims of sexual violence. Thérèse Mema Mapenzi, who works with rape victims in South Kivu ... MORE > >
	Where Skis Replace Bullets  Karlos Zurutuza  When 37-year-old Igor Urizar first happened upon the isolated mountain village of Penjwin, 300 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, he had a vision of this border-town -- nestled in the pristine, snow-capped mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan -- transformed into a haven for skiers. Today, after four years ... MORE > >
	Hunger Strikes Put Guantanamo Back in the Spotlight  Joe Hitchon  Public debate here over the military prison at Guantanamo Bay heated up again following Monday’s surprise publication of a highly charged article by an inmate at the prison, one of dozens currently engaged in a months-long hunger strike over detainees’ “indefinite detention”. The op-ed follows ... MORE > >
	The Brazilian State of Pará, Where Land is Power  Fabiola Ortiz  Toiling beneath a blazing sun in the humid heat of the Amazon, Waldemar dos Santos, 60, tends the community garden he shares with other landless peasant farmers in the Brazilian state of Pará, as they wait for agrarian reform to provide them with the opportunity for a better life. “My dream is a ... MORE > >
	Missing Christian Girls Leave Trail of Tears  Cam McGrath  When a young Christian girl goes missing in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, her family will call on a certain Muslim sheikh in the nearby town of El-Ameriya. The local Salafi leader, whose ultra-conservative views condone the marriage of girls as young as nine, has a history of abducting ... MORE > >
	Pakistan Poll Campaign Advances by Degrees  Zofeen Ebrahim  Former parliamentarian Jamshed Dasti, known in his hometown of Muzaffargarh as Rescue 1122, Pakistan’s equivalent of an emergency number, is now a dubious hero. On Apr. 4, a district court served him a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 5,000 rupees (50 dollars) for presenting a fake degree ... MORE > >
	Tents Take on Settlements  Jillian Kestler-D'Amours  Tent cities are being set up by Palestinians all over the West Bank to protest against Israeli settlements, building on a protest during the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama last month. Holding signs reading ‘Obama: you are on the wrong side of history’ and ‘Obama: you promised hope and ... MORE > >
	Agriculture Still the Cinderella of Colombia  Helda Martínez  Wearing a dusty hat and a smile that lights up his face, the septuagenarian José Alicapa does not shrink from the overwhelming bustle of the Colombian capital, which he reached after a 13-hour bus drive from the western province in Caldas. He and hundreds of other small farmers from across ... MORE > >