Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the symposium on conflict photography as part of the Auckland Festival of Photography. I’m not well versed in the personalities who work in this area but after hearing from a few of them I’m staggered that I got to hear them for free – especially Tim Page. His work and experience are mind blowing. I plan on doing a post for each of the  three symposium speakers I [...]

The following images from Sri Lanka include a few from within the war zone during the last days of the civil war and the defeat of the Tamil Tigers (they are the images towards the end). We also have images from the war zone that we chose not to include due to their graphic nature – they are heart breaking. The war zone pictures were taken by an unnamed priest. Also included are images from the [...]

In this edition of the Podcast, with the Sri Lankan government declaring the defeat of the Tamil Tigers and the Red Cross pulling back from it’s aid operations with the victims of recent events due to the government restricting access, we thought we would catch up with Ian McInnes, one of our programme officers and the former director of our partner organisation in Sri Lanka to get an update on the latest events and TEAR [...]

This just appeared in the Guardian UK: Hundreds of civilians are being killed or seriously injured in artillery and gun attacks as the Sri Lankan army attempts to finish off the last Tamil Tiger rebels trapped in a shrinking pocket of land. Injured civilians lucky enough to get out have told of carnage in this so-called “no-fire zone” – a 17 sq km strip of coast where the Tigers are penned in with their backs [...]

There is a book coming out in New Zealand that looks at 5 Christian perspectives on the Palestinian/Israeli issue and puts them in conversation with each other. One of the 5 contributors is Steve Tollestrup, the Executive Director of TEAR Fund. In this edition of the Podcast we chat with Steve about the book, the Christian perspective of the issue and TEAR Fund’s involvement in the West Bank and Gaza. Click here for instructions on [...]

The leaders of New Zealand churches are deeply concerned about the dire situation in Gaza and support the call for an immediate ceasefire in the region The escalation of violence and associated increase in civilian casualties is intolerable. It is time for concerted action to end the suffering of the 1.5 million people trapped within the 360 square kilometers of Gaza with little food, water and medicine, and under almost continuous attack from the land, [...]

AS the death toll in the Gaza war nears 1000, Kiwis have responded quickly by giving to TEAR Fund’s Gaza appeal. TEAR Fund is on target to raise NZ$30,000 and anticipates raising more than NZ$50,000 TEAR Fund executive director Stephen Tollestrup said he is pleased that Kiwis are seeing past the politics of the situation.

The recent conflict between Georgia and Russia, centering around the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, has been a perfect example of the use of propaganda in modern media, with both sides twisting stories to suit their own agendas. Sadly this has only been further exacerbated by the interjection of other states such as the U.S and other NATO members that clearly have interests in the area – namely oil. Surprise. Trying to sift through [...]