{"id":1460,"date":"2015-08-07T20:04:34","date_gmt":"2015-08-07T20:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/?p=1460"},"modified":"2015-08-07T20:05:37","modified_gmt":"2015-08-07T20:05:37","slug":"profile-png-west-papua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/?p=1460","title":{"rendered":"Profile PNG: West Papua"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"PROFILE PNG Benny Wenda Deported  issue\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ieo3Uvo2koA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I recently interviewed Benny Wenda, West Papua\u2019s Independence leader, and am really proud that Profile PNG was able to dedicate an entire show to his struggle to win recognition \u2013 and ultimately the right to self-determination \u2013 for his people.<\/p>\n<p>The West Papua conflict \u2013 between the Indonesian Government and indigenous populations of West Papua \u2013 has been going on for over 50 years, and yet many Papua New Guineans (myself included) know little about the situation. Here we are in PNG, freely able to express \u2013 as a democratic right \u2013 our opinions about development and the Government. But right next door in West Papua, men, women and children are being killed for speaking their minds.<\/p>\n<p>This issue really came to life for me \u2013 and for many in our audience \u2013 when we interviewed Benny Wenda. I was fighting back tears, listening to all the horrific things that happened to him and his family. He is such an extraordinary, exemplary leader; not at all aggressive or outspoken like most activists. He is quite the opposite in fact. He has an inner-peace that bellies all he has experienced. Surprisingly, I sensed no anger from him \u2013 just a deep longing to be able to live in the mountains freely, as his ancestors had done.<\/p>\n<p>I am grateful to have had the opportunity to bring this story to PNG\u2019s attention. In Benny Wenda\u2019s words \u201cWest Papua\u2019s struggle is PNG\u2019s struggle\u201d and I believe that statement is true. From Sorong to Samarai we share the same land; the same ancestors. It is only an imaginary line placed by colonizers that divide us. The freedom I take for granted and enjoy, while our brothers and sisters in West Papua are deprived of their most basic rights, saddens me to the core.<\/p>\n<p>The weekend after Benny Wenda\u2019s interview aired, we got feedback from viewers all over the country who expressed feeling guilty and heartbroken, for they too, had little or no idea just how harrowing the plight has been \u2014 and still is \u2014 for West Papuans.<\/p>\n<p>Source:<a href=\"http:\/\/digicelplay.com.pg\/Blog\/profile-png-tvwans-flagship-current-affairs-program\/\"> http:\/\/digicelplay.com.pg\/Blog\/profile-png-tvwans-flagship-current-affairs-program\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently interviewed Benny Wenda, West Papua\u2019s Independence leader, and am really proud that Profile PNG was able to dedicate an entire show to his struggle to win recognition \u2013 and ultimately the right to self-determination \u2013 for his people. The West Papua conflict \u2013 between the Indonesian Government and indigenous populations of West Papua [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,48],"tags":[83,107,134],"class_list":["post-1460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-papua-new-guinea","category-west-papua-media","tag-benny-wenda","tag-papua-new-guinea","tag-profile-png"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1462,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460\/revisions\/1462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}