January 6, 2005

Tsunami Tardiness

In the second half of December I was up to my neck in a paid gig, then I spent my holidays in the Arizona desert of all places, taking care of some personal/family stuff which was hella intense and exhausting (though it had a very happy ending). All this meant I was never more than marginally aware of anything in the news, including what might be the worst tragedy of our lifetime.

So I've feeling guilty for my detachment from the Tsunami story, for not being around to invest all my emotion into it. Then I've been stepping back and wondering what this says about our society in 2005, that I feel derelict in my duties as a world citizen if I'm not fully present as a media consumer. As if anyone who was touched by this disaster needs their loss to be validated by me watching it on TV.

That being said, even my brief glimpses of it are overwhelming, beyond my power to comprehend, to find worthy language for discussing it. My heart goes out to everyone who was indeed touched by it. And for those of you in NY here is a related event:

"ACEH: EPICENTER OF DISASTER"
a teach-in on the history of Aceh and the present catastrophe

When: Saturday, 1/8 1:30-4pm
Where: The Community Church of New York 40 East 35th Street in
Manhattan

featuring:
AMY GOODMAN, of Democracy Now
ALLAN NAIRN, award-winning journalist and activist
WARZAIN, Acehnese activist
and other speakers

Aceh (pronounced "Ah-chayh"), the province on the westernmost tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, was right near the epicenter of the largest earthquake and was also impacted by the largest Tsunami waves. The coastline of Aceh was shattered, countless villages were wiped off the map, and much of the capital, Banda Aceh, was flattened. The Indonesian government has confirmed over 100,000 deaths in the country; most of these dead are in Aceh.

Despite this level of devastation, Aceh has been getting proportionately less attention and assistance than most other areas. This is due to a combined set of factors. First, a longstanding independence struggle by the Acehnese has led to a military invasion and "civil emergency" imposed by the Indonesian government. Up until the disaster struck, Indonesia had banned most journalists from Aceh. Indonesia is now relaxing that ban, but there are still few journalists present.

Second, because of the "civil emergency," there were no Western tourists in Aceh and, consequently, no interest by the Western media in the fate of their "own" people there. Third, because of its corruption and its repressive attitude toward the Acehnese, the Indonesian government cannot be counted on to provide proper assistance. According to a report from one independent journalist in Banda Aceh, much aid is piling up unused at military bases and airports. He also reports that every night military forces are looting those homes still standing in Banda Aceh.

The teach-in will cover the impact of the tsunami on Aceh as well as how the history of Aceh's oppression has affected the present situation. The event is free, but it is also a fundraiser for grassroots Indonesian and Acehnese organizations doing relief work on the ground in Aceh, so bring your checkbook.

Posted by jsmooth995 at January 6, 2005 5:25 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Jay, you bringing in that info and writing about it won't validate their loss, but it just may open the eyes of some of your readers who like their info coming through the filter of your view and not strictly from CNN.

By the way, I'm tired of using Typekey to comment on your blog. It doesn't work sometimes.

Posted by: Hashim at January 6, 2005 6:14 PM

lol. jay give me your username and password. the time for captcha is now.

Posted by: eric at January 6, 2005 6:26 PM

You should be able to post without typekey now..

Tnanks for the captcha stuff you sent me Eric, I never got to it cuz I was out of town etc.. I'm gonna try this other hack first, then if that doesn't work I may enlist your help.

Posted by: Jay Smooth at January 6, 2005 6:41 PM

Then I've been stepping back and wondering what this says about our society in 2005, that I feel derelict in my duties as a world citizen if I'm not fully present as a media consumer.

you've elucidated something murky i've felt but had no words to describe. i feel like the blogosphere exacerbates the guilt of media duty as it's often the very stuffs we're made of...

Posted by: jen b at January 7, 2005 1:31 AM

It seems like this tsunami would be a bigger issue discussed on this forum than Sam Jackson vs. 50 cent, but its not. That right there is a perfect way to sum up the American culturalistic standpoints on foreign disasters. Our country has done nothing but increase its debt and fly a few extra hundred media crews to the scene. Meanwhile, we continue to conciously murder thousands of other innocent civilians in Iraq. This also contributes to our outstanding debt. Maybe if we had some extra troops to send to the disaster areas, the people would be relieved to have some physical help. Economic help is not as important right now! When are people going to realize that. I hear on the news how certain basketball players are donating so many thousands of dollars to the cause. And we are supposed to grovel before their feet and discuss how much they give back to this world? Is this not absolutely ridiculous to anybody else out there? Granted, I have done nothing but post ranting messages on blogs around the net. What the hell? At least I realize my wrong-doing and have a voice to bitch. Maybe we all need to step back and realize that the situation is majorly screwed up, and there's not a whole lot many of us can do. Write your governor, ask for troops to be taken out of Iraq and sent where they are needed. Or just wake up and realize that these ficticious pieces of paper we call "money" do not represent anything of value. When-oh-when is Michael Moore going to tackle the issue of the World Bank? Now there's a story I can sink my teeth in...

I know, this message started getting off subject, but what the hell its been a long day.

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