The Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is likely to be announced soon in the middle of October. Who will win is as always unclear, but some nominees are known. One is rather unusual, but yet somewhat fitting, the Internet. It has been nominated as "a weapon of mass-construction". Although, it would be a decent laureate, I feel it is somewhat missing the point; the Internet is just a tool, the progress must be made by people.

Another nominee is Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and Memorial, a  human rights group she works with. Gannushkina and Memorial mainly works for the right of migrant workers and has been a critic of the Kremlin. 

Liu Xiaobo is a third known nominee, he is branded as a dissident by the Chinese government and is currently in jail. He is an advocate of democracy and demanded reforms in the manifesto Charta -08. He was convicted behind closed doors for challenging the ruling powers. This is controversial for the Chinese government, and threats of damaged relations between Norway and China have been brought forward to the Norwegian commitee.

To me the second two nominees are excellent, championing the fight against corruption, democracy and human rights. In total there are roughly 200 nominees. Soon we will know who wins the prize, it may sound a bit tacky but in a sense we are all winners thanks to these remarkable individuals.

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A step towards peace

 Yet again peace talk between Israel and Palestine are in progress. To me it seems rather obvious that there must be a two-state-solution. However, the details around such solution are very delicate and the situation is extremely infected. Making matters worse during the negotiations are the Israeli plans for more settlements in the West Bank territory. Furthermore, the Israeli occupants need to open up borders for trade and start by expanding the list of allowed imports.

Opening up for imports would be a good way to reduce Palestinian hostility towards Israel and decrease the power of Hamas. By allowing imports, smugglers will be cut out and opportunities for work and improved standard of living for Palestinians.

As of now Palestine is more or less a prison and Israel is the prison guard. This need to be solved, not only for the people of Palestine and Israel, but for the stability of the whole region.

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