“Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.” This soaring call to action from Elie Wiesel, the writer, Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate, keeps ringing in my ears this week. I am holding both despair and hope as we dive into the difficult history of Cambodia, the corruption of its current government and the resilience of its human rights activists.
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Land grabbing. Deforestation. Poverty. Corruption.
These words were forefront in my mind when I flew into Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last month with some of my colleagues from AJWS. Together, we met with ten local, grassroots organizations, supported by AJWS, working tirelessly to advance civil and political rights and natural resource rights in their communities.
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In a remote province of northeastern Cambodia sandwiched between Laos and Vietnam, a war is being fought. The war is not between nations or peoples. No armies have been deployed, and no military weaponry is being used. Yet for the thousands of people living in the province, the struggle is a matter of life and death.
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In late July of 2013, something remarkable happened in Cambodia. For the first time since the Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) came to power in 1997, an opposition group posed a real threat in the national elections. If victorious, many hoped the challenger—the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)—would shepherd in a new era of freedom and democracy.
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Lately, my inbox has been flooded with too many emails from retailers proclaiming Holiday Sale! Low Prices! Last Chance! And each time I see sales for sweaters and dresses, I think of the workers who make them — mostly women who toil for long hours in overheated, dirty factories to bring us products at low, low …
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