On Sustainable Energy, Ban Ki-moon Relies on Bank of America, Of Coal & Ads at UN, Singers and Sponsors

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 27 -- Sustainable Energy for All will be UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's topic today when he speaks to the press along with World Bank president Jim Kim.

   There will be another bank in the mix: Bank of America, implicated not only in the predatory lending meltdown of 2008 but also in funding mountain top removal coal mining.
 
   Ban put Bank of America chairman Chad Halliday is charge of "operational oversight" of Sustainable Energy for All.

   Ban Ki-moon's response on including coal industry lobbyists, for example in the recent climate change talks in Warsaw, is that "We must work together so that everyone can be part of the solution. Of course we recognize the importance of coal and fossil fuels in many economies at this time."

   But Bank of America's presence is part of a growing trends of commercialization at and of the United Nations. On November 26 for example, alongside singer Mohammed Assaf was his corporate promoter from Dubai-based MBC media group, permitted to use the UN press conference as an advertisement for MBC.

  Inner City Press wrote about it, and others have picked it up, saying for example that the "corporate storyteller" of MBC "was there to essentially use Assaf's appearance at the UN as an advertisement for MBC, which is wrong."

   But at the UN, the corporate infiltration continues.

   Earlier this same week, a fine play about violence against women was sponsored by the Italian oil company ENI, which also openly advertises with and sponsors the pseudo press advocacy group Ban partners with.

  One point is, these partnerships hurt the United Nations or what it is supposed to be.

   The UN decided to cancel, preempted by Ban's and Kim's press encounter on SE4ALL, its normal noon briefing, at which questions for example about the Haitian refugees drowned off the Bahamas and bombings in Sudan could be asked. So Inner City Press will cover the Sustainable Energy for All event. Watch this site.

   

Amid Power Cuts In Gaza, Arab Idol Mohammed Assaf Rocks UN, Sponsor MBC in the Wings: UN Commercialized?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- Last night at the UN the Gazan singer Mohammed Assaf triggered dancing in the ECOSOC Chamber with his hit "Raise the Koufiyeh." Today he held a press conference in the UN, flanked with a promoter from MBC Television.

  It was said from the beginning that questions should be limited to Assaf's roles a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

  Inner City Press noted that outgoing UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi recently spoke about the lack of fuel for the power plant in Gaza. Further research found this lack has led to children walked in raw sewage in Az Zeitoun in Gaza.

  The first question, though, went to Pamela Falk of UNCA and CBS (if they cover this), who asked a fawning question about Assaf returning to Gaza to inspire the youth. Another of his promoters spoke of an apartment in Dubai, tours of the US. On the podium the man from MBC touted his company's affiliation with Al Arabiya, linking itself to Arab youth and even, it seemed to the "Arab Spring."

  There have been American musicians who've held UN press conferences, but not with the on-stage participation of their promoters network. This is called an advertisement, in most places.

  Assaf told a funny story of how he pressed to get into the Arab Idol contest in Cairo. (The new Cairo of Sissi and its impact on Gaza is, of course, another topic, one deemed off limits for the MBC press conference.)

  The moderator called on Inner City Press but another journalist, a former UNCA president, insisted on grabbing the floor. Due to the insistence, Inner City Press didn't cede but rather asked its Gaza power and sewage question quickly, without taking the time UNCA did to say, thank you on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access. In fact, FUNCA's focus on this press conference is on the commercialization.

Assaf answered that infrastructure is not UNRWA's job, but donors should come forward. Fair enough. We wish him well. Watch this site.