Let’s Talk About Riots.
14 Jan 2009 Leave a Comment
There have been several demonstrations against Israel in Nouakchott and elsewhere in Mauritania since Israel started the attacks in the Gaza strip. Most of them have been pretty peaceful; the only ones that have been a little out of control were in Nouakchott. Below are pictures that I took from the roof of the Peace Corps office when there was a demonstration on January 4th. We were on locked down for two hours in the Peace Corps Bureau but we were permitted to go up to the roof. (fyi: the bureau is located in the tallest building in Nouakchott – El Khaima)
The “events” that are occurring in the Gaza are on every Mauritanian’s mind; they watch the news on the Gaza non-stop. Since I do not have a tv I haven’t been able to watch it. However, I did catch a few shots of protests around the world on Al Jazeera a few days ago. I’ve also heard from other volunteers that most of the news are of people (women and children) dying. It’s really disappointing to see that there’s barely anything in the American newspaper about what’s happening there. The average American probably doesn’t even know that there’s something going on there whereas that’s about the only thing people talk about here.
