From news at freedomarchives.org Mon Oct 1 10:49:34 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2018 07:49:34 -0700 Subject: [News] Bloody Friday as Gaza marks six months of protests Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/bloody-friday-gaza-marks-six-months-protests Bloody Friday as Gaza marks six months of protests Maureen Clare? - 29 September 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday marked what Gaza?s health ministry described as the single bloodiest day of the Great March of Return protests since 14 May , when Israeli occupation forces fatally injured more than 60 Palestinians . Seven Palestinians, including two children, were slain on Friday, two days shy of the six-month anniversary of the protest launch. The two children were identified as Nasir Azmi Musbah, 11, shot in the head east of Khan Younis, and Muhammad Nayif Yusif al-Hawm, 14, shot in the chest east of Bureij. Israeli forces shot 14-year-old Mohammed Nayef Yousef al-Houm with live ammunition at 5 pm local time on September 28 near the Gaza perimeter fence near Bureij refugee camp. He sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead in hospital at 5:30 pm. #GazaReturnMarch pic.twitter.com/D8g3wIlAyx ? Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) September 29, 2018 Israeli forces killed 11-year-old Nasser Azmi Khalil Musbeh at 6:15 pm local time near the Gaza perimeter fence in Khan Younis. He was shot in the head with live ammo, killing him instantly. He was reportedly 150-200m (490-650ft) away from the fence when killed. #GazaReturnMarch pic.twitter.com/spg1Uz2tv3 ? Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) September 29, 2018 Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 44 Palestinian children so far in 2018. The vast majority of these fatalities, 38, were Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip. ? Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) September 29, 2018 An adult was also killed in Bureij, in central Gaza: Muhammad Ashraf al-Awawdeh, 25, shot with a live bullet to the chest. And in southern Khan Younis, Muhammad Ali Muhammad Inshasi, 18, was shot in the stomach. Three were killed east of Gaza City: Iyad Khalil Ahmad al-Shaer, 18, shot in the chest; Muhammad Bassam Muhammad Shakhsa, 24, shot in the head; and Muhammad Walid Haniyeh, 32, shot in the face. More than 250 Palestinians were injured during Friday?s protests, 163 of them by live fire, including 20 children, according to the Gaza-based human rights group Al Mezan. One paramedic and four media workers were among those injured, including journalist Haneen Mahmoud Suleiman Baroud, 23, who was hit directly in the head with a tear gas canister, Al Mezan stated. ? Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 28, 2018 A graphic video published by Palestinian media outlets shows the moments after a man was shot in the back of his head during protests east of Gaza City on Friday: "????? ?? ?????"... ????| ???? ??? ???? ???????? ???? ?????????? ??? ????? ????? ????? pic.twitter.com/0LMWDGMW5h ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) September 28, 2018 The man was among a group including women and children waving flags near one of the fences along the Gaza-Israel boundary. It was not immediately clear whether the injured man was among those who had died of their wounds. Palestinian media also published a video said to show a paramedic mourning over the body of her brother, the slain child Nasir Azmi Misbah, in a hospital morgue: ???? ?????? ????????.. ???? | ???? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ( 12??? ) ???? ?????? ????? ???????? ??? ???????. pic.twitter.com/5ZDWOq4jRr ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) September 28, 2018 Al Mezan blamed the ?continued silence of the international community? for encouraging the continuation of the killings ?without any fear of prosecution.? These photos of 11-year-old Nasir Azmi Musbah were shared on social media following his death: ??? ???? ????? ????????? ??????? .. ?????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ???? ???? / ???? ???? ???? .. ????? ?? ????? ?????? ?????? pic.twitter.com/3TsgGvNIcF ? ???? ???? ????? #?????? (@MohamdNashwan) September 28, 2018 150 killed during protests Israel?s use of deadly force against unarmed protesters on Friday is characteristic of its actions throughout the Great March of Return, during which more than 150 Palestinians have been killed , including 31 children , three persons with disabilities, three paramedics and two journalists. More than 10,000 have been injured and required hospitalization, around half of them wounded by live fire . There have been 77 cases of injuries requiring amputation, among them 14 children and one woman. Twelve patients have been paralyzed due to spinal cord injury and two of them have died, a UN spokesperson stated Saturday . In addition to those killed during protests, 52 other Palestinians in Gaza have been slain by Israeli occupation forces since 30 March and Israel is withholding the bodies of 10 of them. Lethal fire against mass protests in Gaza is the subject of an ongoing investigation appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, which was told by human rights groups this week that there is no evidence that a single protester killed by Israel during the Great March of Return was armed. Israel?s violence has also generated an unprecedented warning from the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who stated that Israeli leaders may face trial for the killings of unarmed demonstrators. The prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, met with Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki in New York during the UN General Assembly this week: #ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda meets with H.E. Riyad al-Maliki, Foreign Minister of #Palestine in the margins of #UNGA @Palestine_UN @PalMissionNL pic.twitter.com/L4gMnmqTK1 ? Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) September 27, 2018 Gaza economy ?in free fall? The World Bank stated this week that Gaza?s economy is ?in free fall? after more than a decade of blockade, successive Israeli military assaults and internal division between Palestinian factions. The Gaza economy shrank by six percent in the first quarter of this year, ?with indications of further deterioration since then.? ?The result is an alarming situation with every second person living in poverty and the unemployment rate for its overwhelmingly young population at over 70 percent,? the World Bank added. ?The economic and social situation in Gaza has been declining for over a decade but has deteriorated exponentially in recent months and has reached a critical point,? Marina Wes, director for the West Bank and Gaza, stated. ?Increased frustration is feeding into the increased tensions which have already started spilling over into unrest and setting back the human development of the region?s large youth population.? The UN?s Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council last week that ?the power crisis in Gaza is coming to a head? as the last stocks of emergency fuel to operate critical health, water and sanitation facilities delivered to Gaza run out amid electricity shortages of around 20 hours per day. He added that essential medicines ?are at critically low levels, with almost half of essential medicines at less than one-month?s supply and 40 percent completely depleted.? Meanwhile the commissioner-general of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, said on Tuesday that the body has only enough funding to keep schools and clinics in operation through mid-October. ?We still need approximately $185 million to be able to ensure that all of our services, education system, health care, relief and social services and our emergency work in Syria and Gaza in particular can continue until the end of the year,? Pierre Kr?henb?hl added. Two-thirds of Gaza?s population of two million are refugees from lands on the other side of the boundary with Israel. More than half of Gaza?s residents receive food aid packages from UNRWA, whose food aid budget will be exhausted by the end of the year . Currently, the UN provides food aid packages to 1.3 million people in Gaza, up from just 130,000 in 2005. The US announced last month that it would stop funding UNRWA after freezing $300 million in aid in January, throwing the agency into unprecedented financial crisis. The US has also decided to cut $200 million more in bilateral aid to the West Bank and Gaza. Meanwhile proceedings against the US were initiated at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on Friday over the relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah says is a breach of the Vienna Convention. #Palestine is taking the US to the #ICJ on the ground that moving the US embassy to Jerusalem violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Both states have acceded to the Optional Protocol. Interesting! https://t.co/9IXNgINFGF h/t @MarionHouk ? Kevin Jon Heller (@kevinjonheller) September 28, 2018 Woah, Palestine v. US at the ICJ pic.twitter.com/QBU4obVVTh ? Alonso Gurmendi (@Alonso_GD) September 28, 2018 /This story was updated to include statistics about injuries and to correct the number of children killed during Gaza protests since 30 March./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Mon Oct 1 11:13:42 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2018 08:13:42 -0700 Subject: [News] October 2000 to Gaza 2018: Israeli snipers continue killing unarmed Palestinian demonstrators Message-ID: https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/9601 October 2000 to Gaza 2018: Israeli snipers continue killing unarmed Palestinian demonstrators 30/09/2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Israel blatantly ignoring domestic and international law; Adalah demands accountability and prosecution of those responsible for gross violations of right to life. Eighteen years have passed since the October 2000 Israeli police killings of 13 unarmed Palestinian protesters and ? despite solid condemnation of this practice on both the national and international levels ? the Israeli military continues killing unarmed Palestinian civilian protesters with snipers and live fire in the Gaza Strip, with the approval of Israel?s Supreme Court. Just this past Friday, Israeli troops killed seven people and wounded another 257 in Gaza . 163 of the wounded were hit by live ammunition. Among those Israeli troops killed with live fire were two boys ages 11 and 14. *Adalah ? The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel demands that Israel immediately halt the shooting of civilian protesters with live ammunition.* In October 2000, Israeli police and special sniper units killed 13 unarmed Palestinians ?(12 citizens of Israel and one Gaza resident) and wounded hundreds more when Palestinian citizens of Israel staged mass demonstrations throughout the country to protest Israel's oppressive policies against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) at the beginning of the Second Intifada. 18 years later, however, not a single police officer, commander, or politician responsible for the October 2000 killings has been held to account for their criminal actions. Adalah and the families of the 13 victims continue to demand that those responsible for the crimes of October 2000 be prosecuted. In the wake of the killings, the official Or Commission of Inquiry concluded in 2003 that: /"It should be unequivocally clear that live fire, including by snipers, is not a means for the police to disperse crowds."/ Eighteen years have passed, and despite the clear recommendations of the Or Commission, the Israeli armed forces have not changed their practices but continue to use excessive force and fire live ammunition at unarmed Palestinians in contradiction of both Israeli and international law, this time at protesters in Gaza. Since the start of the Great Return March protests in Gaza on 30 March 2018, Israeli troops have killed 151 people ? including 30 children, one woman, two journalists, three paramedics, and three persons with disabilities, according to figures from Al Mezan Center for Human Rights . Israeli troops also wounded 10,234 persons, including 5,814 ? among them 939 children and 114 women ? with live fire. In April 2018, Adalah and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to order the Israeli military to immediately halt its use of snipers and other live weapons against unarmed protesters. The petition emphasized the absolute ban on opening fire on demonstrators with live ammunition and noted that the norms applicable to confronting civilian demonstrations are based in international law governing "law enforcement and order." These same norms have also been adopted into Israeli law, including via 2003's Or Commission report. /"These universal norms apply equally and without discrimination to citizens and non-citizens alike, regardless of the content of the protest, their slogans, their location, their organizational affiliation, and the ethnic and national affiliation of the participants."/ Nevertheless, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected our petition. Adalah and Al Mezan responded: /"?this ruling, which justifies the shooting of protesters, contradicts the conclusions and preliminary results of international human rights organizations and United Nations bodies documenting and evaluating the events in Gaza. The Supreme Court?s ruling gives full legitimacy to the illegal actions of the Israeli military, which has led to the killing of more than 100 people and the wounding of thousands of protesters, including women, children, journalists, and paramedics. Of those killed, 94 percent were shot by Israeli troops in the upper body." [Casualties figures from 25 May 2018] / Israeli armed forces backed up by the Supreme Court?s ruling, continue to target unarmed Palestinian demonstrators with snipers and live ammunition today in Gaza just as they killed Palestinian citizens of Israel protesting in October 2000. *Adalah calls on Israel to immediately halt these deadly practices and to allow Palestinians to exercise their right to protest and to freedom of political expression. **Adalah will continue to defend Palestinians? right to protest, to support the struggle against racism and Occupation, and to demand accountability for the victims of these gross human rights violations.* Adalah also urges the international community to take strong measures to ensure respect for international law, to provide protection for demonstrators and all civilians in Gaza, and to support the work of the independent UN Commission of Inquiry into the 2018 Protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The 13 young men shot dead by Israeli police in October 2000 : 21-year-old Rami Ghara in Jatt; 26-year-old Eyad Lawabny in Nazareth; 23-year-old Mohammed Jabareen in Umm al-Fahem; 18-year-old Ahmed Jabareen in Mu?awiya; 19-year-old Misleh Abu Jarad in Umm al-Fahem; 17-year-old Asel Asleh in Arrabe; 18-year-old Ala Nassar in Arrabe; 21-year-old Walid Abu Saleh in Sakhnin; 25-year-old Emad Ghanayim in Sakhnin; 19-year-old Mohammad Khamayseh in Kufr Kanna; 24-year-old Ramez Bushnaq in Kufr Manda; 42-year-old Omar Akkawi in Nazareth; and 25-year-old Wissam Yazbak in Nazareth. The High Follow-Up Committee for Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel has declared a general strike to be observed tomorrow, 1 October 2018, to commemorate the October 2000 killings and to protest both Israel?s planned demolition of the Bedouin village of Khan Al Ahmar and the recently-approved Jewish Nation-State Law . -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 2 10:38:53 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2018 07:38:53 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Everyone_Washes_Their_Hands_as_Gaza=E2=80=99s_E?= =?utf-8?q?conomy_Goes_into_Freefall?= Message-ID: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/02/everyone-washes-their-hands-as-gazas-economy-goes-into-freefall/ Everyone Washes Their Hands as Gaza?s Economy Goes into Freefall by Jonathan Cook - October 2, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The moment long feared is fast approaching in Gaza, according to a new report by the World Bank. After a decade-long Israeli blockade and a series of large-scale military assaults, the economy of the tiny coastal enclave is in ?freefall?. At a meeting of international donors in New York on Thursday, coinciding with the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, the World Bank painted an alarming picture of Gaza?s crisis. Unemployment now stands at close to 70 per cent and the economy is contracting at an ever faster rate. While the West Bank?s plight is not yet as severe, it is not far behind, countries attending the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee were told. Gaza?s collapse could bring down the entire Palestinian banking sector. In response, Europe hurriedly put together a ?40 million aid package, but that will chiefly address Gaza?s separate humanitarian crisis ? not the economic one ? by improving supplies of electricity and potable water. No one doubts the inevitable fallout from the economic and humanitarian crises gripping Gaza. The four parties to the Quartet charged with overseeing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians ? the United States, Russia, the European Union and the UN ? issued a statement warning that it was vital to prevent what they termed ?further escalation? in Gaza. The Israeli military shares these concerns. It has reported growing unrest among the enclave?s two million inhabitants and believes Hamas will be forced into a confrontation to break out of the straightjacket imposed by the blockade. In recent weeks, mass protests along Gaza?s perimeter fence have been revived and expanded after a summer lull. On Friday, seven Palestinian demonstrators, including two children, were killed by Israeli sniper fire. Hundreds more were wounded. Nonetheless, the political will to remedy the situation looks as atrophied as ever. No one is prepared to take meaningful responsibility for the time-bomb that is Gaza. In fact, the main parties that could make a difference appear intent on allowing the deterioration to continue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored repeated warnings of a threatened explosion in Gaza from his own military. Instead, Israel is upholding the blockade as tightly as ever, preventing the flow of goods in and out of the enclave. Fishing is limited to three miles off the coast rather than the 20-mile zone agreed in the Oslo accords. Hundreds of companies are reported to have folded over the summer. Intensifying the enclave?s troubles is the Trump administration?s recent decision to cut aid to the Palestinians, including to the United Nation?s refugee agency, UNRWA. It plays a critical role in Gaza, providing food, education and health services to nearly two-thirds of the population. The food budget is due to run out in December, and the schools budget by the end of this month. Hundreds of thousands of hungry children with nowhere to spend their days can only fuel the protests ? and the deaths. The Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, headquartered in the West Bank, has no incentive to help. Gaza?s slowly unfolding catastrophe is his leverage to make Hamas submit to his rule. That is why the Palestinian Authority has cut transfers to Gaza by $30 million a month. But even if Abbas wished to help, he largely lacks the means. The US cuts were imposed primarily to punish him for refusing to play ball with US President Donald Trump?s supposed ?deal of the century? peace plan. Israel, the World Bank notes, has added to Abbas?s difficulties by refusing to transfer taxes and customs duties it collects on the PA?s behalf. And the final implicated party, Egypt, is reticent to loosen its own chokehold on its short border with Gaza. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi opposes giving any succour either to his domestic Islamist opponents or to Hamas. The impasse is possible only because none of the parties is prepared to make a priority of Gaza?s welfare. That was starkly illustrated earlier in the summer when Cairo, supported by the UN, opened a back channel between Israel and Hamas in the hope of ending their mounting friction. Hamas wanted the blockade lifted to reverse Gaza?s economic decline, while Israel wanted an end to the weekly protests and the damaging images of snipers killing unarmed demonstrators. In addition, Netanyahu has an interest in keeping Hamas in power in Gaza, if barely, as a way to cement the geographic split with the West Bank and an ideological one with Abbas. The talks, however, collapsed quietly in early September after Abbas objected to the Egyptians. He insisted that the Palestinian Authority be the only address for discussions of Gaza?s future. So, Cairo is yet again channelling its energies into a futile attempt at reconciling Abbas and Hamas. At the UN General Assembly, Trump promised his peace plan would be unveiled in the next two to three months, and made explicit for the first time his support for a two-state solution, saying it would ?work best?. Netanyahu vaguely concurred, while pointing out: ?Everyone defines the term ?state? differently.? His definition, he added, required that not one of the illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank be removed and that any future Palestinian state be under complete Israeli security control. Abbas is widely reported to have conceded over the summer that a Palestinian state ? should it ever come into being ? would be demilitarised. In other words, it would not be recognisable as a sovereign state. Hamas has made notable compromises to its original doctrine of military resistance to secure all of historic Palestine. But it is hard to imagine it agreeing to peace on those terms. This makes a reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas currently inconceivable ? and respite for the people of Gaza as far off as ever. /A version of this article first appeared in the National, Abu Dhabi./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 2 10:48:39 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2018 07:48:39 -0700 Subject: [News] Regime Change 2.0: Is Venezuela Next? Message-ID: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/02/regime-change-2-0-is-venezuela-next/ Regime Change 2.0: Is Venezuela Next? by Vijay Prashad - October 2, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On September 8, /T//he New York Times/ carried a story with a provocative headline: ?Trump Administration Discussed Coup Plans With Rebel Venezuelan Officers?. The journalists Ernesto Londo?o and Nicholas Casey spoke to 11 current and former United States officials and Venezuelan commanders. These people told the journalists that they had been involved in conversations with the Donald Trump administration about regime change in Venezuela. In August 2017, Trump had bragged that the U.S. had a ?military option? for Venezuela. This statement, these men told the reporters, ?encouraged rebellious Venezuelan military officers to reach out to Washington?. In February this year, then U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, ?In the history of Venezuela and South American countries, it is often times that the military is the agent of change when things are so bad and the leadership can no longer serve the people.? This was an invitation for a military coup in Venezuela. The language Tillerson used has a long history inside the U.S. State Department. It is the logic used since 1954, when the U.S. government overthrew the democratically elected Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz. The theory was known as ?military modernisation?, the idea being that in a former colonial country the only modern and efficient institution is the military. The U.S. government used this theory of military modernisation to defend its support of countries littered with military rulers?Ayub Khan in Pakistan (1958), Castelo Branco in Brazil (1964) and Ren? Barrientos in Bolivia (1964). The ideas that germinated from the conversations between the U.S. officials and the Venezuelans were for a small group of Venezuelan officers to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro. The Venezuelans had no clear plot. They wanted encrypted radios and hoped that ?the Americans would offer guidance or ideas?. On August 4 this year, during the 81st anniversary celebrations of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, an attack took place against Maduro. Two drones?with C4 explosives on them?were driven over the parade and were being directed to strike Maduro. The clumsy, but dangerous, attempt failed. The Venezuelan government arrested 40 people, including a retired colonel (Oswaldo Garcia) and a parliamentarian (Julio Borges). On September 8, Venezuela?s Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, noted that the coup plotters had met with U.S. officials. That the attack on Maduro failed is cold comfort. That there are plots afoot is what is worrisome. Everything about Hugo Ch?vez bothered the U.S. government. That he was a socialist who won an election to govern a country with one of the largest oil reserves irked Washington. It also bothered the administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump that the policy of Ch?vez was to demonstrate in practical terms the importance of regional cooperation rather than surrender to the policies of mostly U.S.-based multinational corporations. Ch?vez had to go. There were no two ways about it. Means to undermine Ch?vez were tried from his accession to the presidency in 1999; not one day went by without plots being hatched and tried out. The most spectacular attempt to unseat Ch?vez came in 2002, when Venezuelan military officials seized power. Ch?vez surrendered to them in an act of political courage. But he did not have to wait long in their custody. Mass protests engulfed the country and the military had to back off. Their allies in the U.S. could not have their way. Not long after this coup attempt, the U.S. State Department set up the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), linked to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) bureaucracy. Four years later, after the agenda of the OTI had been solidified, U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield wrote to Washington about its five-point plan: 1. Strengthening Democratic Institutions. 2. Penetrating Ch?vez?s?Political Base. 3. Dividing Chavismo. 4. Protecting Vital?U.S. Business. 5. Isolating?Ch?vez Internationally. In the decade since Brownfield wrote this note, each of them has been developed by the U.S. government and its Venezuelan allies methodically. To protect U.S. business interests is the key issue here. John Caulfield, the leading U.S. diplomat in Venezuela in 2009, noted that Ch?vez had used petrodollars to make Venezuela ?an active and intractable U.S. competitor in the region?. This was unforgivable?neither could Venezuela be allowed to lead an independent bloc of oil-producing countries (including to revitalise the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC) nor could it be allowed to create a bloc of Latin American states that opposed U.S. interference (by the creation of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas, or ALBA). The 2009 coup in Honduras against the government of Manuel Zelaya, an ally of Ch?vez, was a direct shot across the bow. But it was not enough. Ch?vez and his revolution had to be taken down at home. *Aiding the fractious right wing* The U.S. government and the Venezuelan oligarchy carefully funded institutions inside Venezuela that gave off the appearance of democracy. These are groups that are controlled fully by the oligarchy, but nonetheless are clothed in the style of democratic institutions. The U.S. government?s National Endowment for Democracy and the International Republican Institute have worked closely to train leaders to run both political parties and civil society organisations. One of the key tasks of the U.S. officials involved in this aspect of ?strengthening democratic institutions? was to unify the fractious Venezuelan right wing. Conversations with U.S. State Department officials over the past decade reveal that they have been frustrated by the bickering and petty ambition inside the oligarchy, whose factions are eager to ingratiate themselves to the U.S. rather than to build popular support amongst the Venezuelan people. Through the Pan-American Development Foundation, the U.S. government has allocated funds to work inside Venezuela to cultivate very specific non-governmental organisations (NGOs). These NGOs concentrate their work on the problems of crime, press freedom, judicial independence, and women?s and human rights. Their work has been to document the rise of crime to the harassment of journalists with pointillist focus?exaggerate each individual incident rather than provide the context for their occurrence. The point of this work is not to appeal to the West, where there is already a disposition to hate the Bolivarian experiment, but to sow dissension amongst the key classes that continue to support Ch?vez. Brownfield wrote that the U.S. support of these groups was intended to ?shine a flashlight into the dark corners of the revolution, to collect and document information and make it public?. But the point was not to merely distribute information. It was to package it in such a way as to erase the legitimacy of the Venezuelan experiment. Nothing was out of bounds. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the OTI would enter the drains of Venezuela, flashlights ablaze, and report every detail of what they found?and then, if there was not enough dirt down there, would exaggerate and manufacture evidence. *Regime Change 2.0* On September 11, /T//he New York Times/ published an editorial with a perplexing title, ?Stay Out of Venezuela, Mr. Trump?. Did this mean that the U.S. liberal elite no longer had the appetite for regime change? The subtitle of the article quickly disabuses the reader of any such illusions: ?President Maduro has to Go, but an American Backed Coup is not the Answer?. Regime change by a military coup is disdained, but other means are to be encouraged. What are these other means? More sanctions on Venezuela, more pain for the Venezuelan people. This pressure is expected to release emotions against the Maduro government and drive the people to take to the streets. One avenue to go after Maduro is to draw in the United Nations into the U.S. strategy. The Trump administration has asked the U.N. Security Council to isolate Venezuela?s elected leadership by setting in motion money-laundering investigations and by preventing it from accessing international financial networks. It is clear that these investigations are part of an old road map, that is, to bring the U.N. into the conversation about Venezuela, to establish U.N. sanctions against Venezuela, to put more and more pressure on the government and then to call for some kind of U.N.-sanctioned operations to overthrow the government. This is an old series of developments, already experienced by Iraq, then Iran, North Korea and Syria. Venezuela was always in the queue for such treatment. *Long March of the Campesinos (Farmers)* Conditions inside Venezuela are not easy, with the economy in various stages of crisis. Venezuela has not been able to exit the trap of rent-dependent capitalism?the rents being what it was able to collect for the export of oil. What the Bolivarian revolution has been able to do is to increase social welfare for the public and to generate new kinds of institutions to deliver resources to the hardest hit among the people. But it has not been able to shift the organisation of the economy and of society. The working class and peasantry inside Venezuela have reacted with maturity to the deepening crisis. Over the past year, there have been strikes by electrical workers and nurses, protests by retired people who live in declining government pensions, and a march of the peasants. Each of these protests against the government has been on the premise that it opposes regime change and it defends the Bolivarian revolution, but it has demands to make on the government and on society that cannot be muffled. On July 12 this year, a hundred farmers set off from the city of Guanare (Portuguesa State) for Venezuela?s capital, Caracas. They marched for over a month across the country and then met Maduro in an emotional meeting (broadcast live on television). ?During the past three years, the crisis has become critical because of the lack of food,? said Usmary Enrique of the Platform of the Struggling Farmers (Plataforma de Luchas Campesinas). ?It is ridiculous that we import food when we could produce it,? he said. Maduro promised to take their complaints seriously. A month later, the farmers went on hunger strike until Maduro focussed attention on their revised agrarian policy. Maduro passed an order against land evictions and warned against the use of violence against farmers. Tensions between small farmers and the Venezuelan government are genuine and serious. But there is no expectation that farmers would join a platform set up by the U.S. government for regime change. They do not see the U.S. government or the Venezuelan oligarchy as allies. /*Vijay Prashad?s* most recent book is?No Free Left: The Futures of Indian Communism?(New Delhi: LeftWord Books, 2015)./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 2 11:10:12 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2018 08:10:12 -0700 Subject: [News] Israeli Colonialist Settlers Flood Al-Khan Al-Ahmar With Sewage Message-ID: http://imemc.org/article/colonialist-settlers-flood-al-khan-al-ahmar-with-sewage/ Colonialist Settlers Flood Al-Khan Al-Ahmar With Sewage October 2, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Illegal Israeli colonialist settlers flooded the al-Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin Palestinian community with Sewage water, in an attempt to force the inhabitants to leave their Dwellings, just as the ultimatum set by the Israeli court for their displacement went into effect, Monday. Abdullah Abu Rahma, a senior nonviolent activist and the head of Save al-Khan al-Ahmar Campaign, said both the Israeli soldiers and the colonialist settlers are constantly increasing the suffering of the Palestinians, and continuously violating their rights, even their very existence, in order to remove and displace them. Abu Rahma said the assailants, from Kfar Adumim illegal colony, flooded the community with Sewage water, in yet another means of assaults and violations against nearly 200 Palestinians, including children. ?Both the settlers and the soldiers are partaking in these violations and war on the inhabitants of a-Khan al-Ahmar,? he said, ?But the violations, and isolation of the community, will not only increase the steadfastness and determination of the villagers.? He also called for increasing the support and solidarity with the Bedouin community, to foil the illegal Israeli plans of displacement, and replacing the Palestinians with illegal colonialist settlers. Eid Abu Dahouk, the mayor of al-Khan al-Ahmar, said that ?by flooding the community with sewage, the colonialist settlers are engaging in a new form of war against the inhabitants. He warned of the grave consequences, and health risks resulting from this serious violation against al-Khan al-Ahmar, especially the children, in addition to the livestock, the only source of livelihood of the families. The Palestinians, along with international peace activists, are ongoing with their nonviolent protests in al-Khan al-Ahmar, despite the constant assaults, violations and threats of forceful eviction. On September 5^th , the Israeli supreme court denied an appeal against the demolition of the Palestinian community, and ordered its removal and displacement. The first ruling by the court was made in May of this year, when it granted the military a green light for demolishing it. There are approximately 200 Palestinians living in al-Khan al-Ahmar, %53 of them are children, and %95 of the population are refugees officially registered by the UNRWA. The community has one school providing education to 170 children. It is worth mentioning that al-Khan al-Ahmar is surrounded by several illegal Israeli colonies, while Israel wants to remove it as part of its E1 colonialist project, which aims at surrounding occupied Jerusalem with a chain of Jewish-only colonies, and blocking the geographical contiguity of the occupied West Bank, and completely isolating the Palestinians from Jerusalem. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 3 15:01:55 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2018 12:01:55 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Venezuela=E2=80=99s_Campesino_Struggle=3A_A_Con?= =?utf-8?q?versation_with_Kevin_Rangel_of_the_Bolivar_and_Zamora_Revolutio?= =?utf-8?q?nary_Current?= Message-ID: https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14079 Venezuela?s Campesino Struggle: A Conversation with Kevin Rangel of the Bolivar and Zamora Revolutionary Current By Cira Pascual Marquina ? October 2, 1018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /Born in Caracas, Kevin Rangel joined the Bolivar and Zamora Revolutionary Current (CRBZ ) in 2005. Today he is the organization?s national coordinator, working from the city of Calabozo, Guarico State, in Venezuela?s rural heartland. The CRBZ has been in the forefront of the intense struggles taking place in the Caribbean nation?s countryside where a rural population eager to till the land confronts an old and new landlord class aiming to expand its extensive holdings./ *Two years into the Bolivarian process a new legal framework for the land was put in place. The 2001 laws opened the way for a more equitable reorganization of the rural areas, redistributing idle land to small and mid-size **campesinos**. The Venezuelan oligarchy reacted furiously, assassinating **campesinos**who were beginning to produce on once-idle land. Could you give us some background on how the Bolivarian Process impacted the rural areas?* The Land and Agricultural Development Law [2001] laid out the basis of the agricultural revolution as proposed by Chavez at a time when the strategic path of the Bolivarian Revolution was being defined. A central element of that project is sovereignty. To have sovereignty, of course, one has to make the country produce, i.e. stop being a ?port? economy. The first step in making the country productive ? producing the food we need and raw materials for the country?s industry ? involved the land. Land tenure has important historical dimensions in Venezuela. Since the country?s independence, the latifundio [large estate] was established as the model that would dominate rural Venezuela during its whole history. That was the cause of the Federal War [1859-63] led by Ezequiel Zamora. The interests of the oligarchy, which governed Venezuela for many years, were there: in the land. They accumulated a lot of riches, a lot of land? The campesinos have historically been the most combative sector of our population. They were the ones who fought with Bolivar. In fact, Bolivar was only able to triumph in the Independence War after he united with the Venezuelan peasants, the poor, and the black people. The same with Zamora: the main group that accompanied him and carried out the Federal War was the peasants. That is because it was for that group that injustice and inequality was expressed in the most radical way... The oligarchy?s response [to the 2001 legislation] was to initiate ? and continue during all of these 18 years ? a whole process of conspiring and bringing in paramilitaries as part of a plan to strike at the Bolivarian Revolution. Where they did it most was in the rural areas, because it was the campesinos who best understood Chavez?s call for a total war against the latifundio. Of course, it wasn?t as if the campesinos weren?t doing anything before Chavez arrived. There were conflicts over the land and they had developed projects. As an organization, we too date from before Chavez?s arrival to power, but it was in the context of the Bolivarian process that brought the campesinos into a new scenario of struggle. A struggle emerged in the rural areas, and the oligarchy responded by contracting paramilitaries. The ?demobilization? of Colombian paramilitaries coincided with the incorporation of paramilitary cells in Venezuela. They began to operate in the Sur de Lago [Zulia and Merida States]. Thus there began a war, a war against campesinos which today has left a body count of more than 300 campesinos murdered. Those [killed] were people who were at the front of the land recovery struggle. They wanted to make the campesinos afraid, and they hoped our movement would stop struggling. Thus, on our end, justice for the fallen is one of our most important rallying cries. There must be an end to impunity! *The Bolivarian Revolution once had its epicenter in the urban barrios, but now the countryside seems to be more combative. It is there that the contradictions of the process seem to be most intense. First, there are the longstanding contradictions that pit the small to medium producers and the rural communes against the interests of old landowners and agribusiness. On top of that, now tensions have intensified between the rural communes and the small to medium peasants, on the one side, and the state, on the other. Also, it?s no secret that the judicial system favors old and new landlords and that Agropatria , the state company that distributes agricultural inputs, is permeated by an anti-popular logic. What do you think is happening?* Chavez proposed not only a new Land and Agricultural Development Law but also a new institutional framework for rural development and food sovereignty. That was to be a central goal of those struggles. After the lapse of almost 18 years, the struggles have been changing, mutating. Elements of the dispute have been broadening. In 2001, we struggled against the?Adeco[1] institutional [logic].? We struggled to remove the Adecos and Copeyanos[2] from the Land and Agriculture Ministry and to get the Venezuelan Agrarian Federation out of the IAN [pre?revolutionary land institute] and later out of the INTI [Chavez?era land institute] and the FONDAS [National Agricultural Fund]. One of the main contradictions of the Bolivarian process is with the bureaucracy, bureaucratism, and the corruption that has been penetrating all the state?s institutions, even putting at risk the state?s functioning is some cases. For us, this is part of what explains the economic crisis that Venezuela is now experiencing. It is not only the enemy?s actions and not only imperialism?s actions, but also a question of corruption and inefficiency in government. With regard to the campesino and agrarian institutions created by the revolution, agrarian mafias have embedded themselves, which is taking away force as well as revolutionary and transformative potential from those institutions. The logic of the bourgeois state took hold of those institutions? We have an outstanding task which is transforming and overcoming of capitalist state. That is precisely something that is entering in the struggle today: the struggle against hired killings, against impunity, and also against the agrarian mafias. That?s because those mafias have been infiltrating institutions, not only in the Ministry of Agriculture and Land but also the Supreme Court and the Attorney General?s Office. There are members of the security apparatuses, the Attorney General?s Office, the courts, and judiciary that protect the landlord class today. We didn?t succeed in getting the Adecos and their culture out of our state?s institutions. Today, that is one of the main problems we face. It is necessary to overhaul and restructure the institutions. We need to reorganize from the bottom up institutions such as INTI, FONDEN, and Agropatria. Agropatria was once the transnational Agroisle?a. Elements of that transnational stayed there, sabotaging the institution from the inside. This is the result of a policy that derives from a lack of leadership from those who headed up those institutions ? all of them, not just the current ones. There are people who, for many years, were at the head of the agrarian institutions that are also responsible for not having transformed them, and they share responsibility for the situation today. *Sometimes it seems as if we can?t find a popular tendency ? one that favors the working people ? inside the institutions!* There, public functionaries are totally d?class?. Their raison d?etre ? the concept of a public servant ? has disappeared. There are people in the agrarian institutions that are in the service of cattlemen?s associations and landlords rather than of the campesinos. But there is something we need to ask: Who is the main interested party? Who has an interest that in this country there should be no production? The import sector. We need to identify that sector and make it visible. They have been interfering and have lobbies inside the revolution, so that nothing works. Then if things don?t work there will be chaos, there will be no production, and they will go on importing. So that?s why we say there is a need to look a the way funds are assigned, so that our first priority becomes agricultural production. *More than 300 **campesinos**have been killed since 2001 and five since May of this year. The most recent victim is a 16-year-old boy in the Sur del Lago, which is a hotspot in the dispute between the agrarian cooperatives and the new landowning bourgeoisie. The state has been slow to act in many of these cases, while in others the institutions themselves have become accomplices . How should **campesinos**organize in these circumstances?* Class struggle is intensifying in the rural areas. We are facing a new wave of violence and threats against landless campesinos who have recuperated idle land. The truth is that the situation is even more complex than it was before. As opposed to the earlier wave of violence [in 2001 to 2003], we are not only facing paramilitarism at the service of the old landowners, but also an emerging sector that uses state forces and the state?s institutions to protect and further their private interests. For instance, in Barinas State, there have been campesino evictions from the land where they produce and other human rights violations. These were carried out not by the hired guns of the old landowning class, but by the state apparatus. We can even identify a [Barinas] state policy at the service of the new sectors that are acquiring land. Additionally, there has emerged a practice of criminalizing the campesino bloc, as a way of justifying what is happening. Thus, some sectors are implicitly granted permission to jail campesinos without due process, and to carry out other human rights violations. There is another element: the historical enemy of the revolution is seeking to fuel contradictions between those who are in the government and the popular base. Those in the direction of the revolution must understand this. There is an active attempt on the part of the old oligarchy to generate an internal conflict. The revolution?s most active and loyal sector is the campesinos. Campesinos vote for this project even when they are the victims of aggressions from public institutions. Campesinos are committed to the revolution and loyal. The livestock oligarchy ? and especially FEDENAGAS[3] which is associated with FEDECAMARAS[4] ? have been working with paramilitary leaders. We know that representatives of the landlords have been in meetings in the Norte de Santander department of Colombia with sectors of uribismo[5]. This bloc is responsible for fueling the violence in Sur del Lago, a situation that is near the boiling point, or rather, it has already reached it! In that territory there are constant threats, mobilizations, and public meetings that the cattle-owning oligarchy has been organizing. Intimidation has become quotidian. There have been threats against members of our organization to the effect that we must abandon our struggle for the land in that territory. This is serious stuff, since we are talking about more than 10,000 families who are participating in the struggle in Barinas state and almost 11,000 families who are struggling for their right to the land in Sur del Lago. Thus, in Sur del Lago, the hottest spot, we are preparing our response. We are not going to stay put and let our people die. There cannot be more campesino masacres. The people and the Bolivarian Revolution have given us the tools to defend ourselves. The recent assassination of Kender Garc?a, a 16-year-old son of some campesino leaders, is yet another example of the cattle oligarchy?s modus operandi. To paraphrase Sandino: The masses are patient and, for a while, will wait for justice to be made, but if that doesn?t happen, then the people will take justice into their own hands. We don?t want this to happen because the battle that could take shape would be worse than the one in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Campesinos are more conscious and more organized today than they were before and they have now many more tools, tools that the revolution gave them. In this regard, we have been making a plan so that the people are aware of what we may have to do. The government must act in a much more forceful manner against the landowning class, both old and new. We believe that the revolution, in this moment of struggle, must take radical actions in regard to the property of those who threaten campesinos, who criminalize them, saying that campesinos are robbing the land. It is urgent that the Bolivarian Revolution close ranks and act in a unified manner to confront the growing attacks from the old and new landowning class. Regarding the latter ? the new landowning class who wear red shirts ? those have to be expulsed from the Chavista bloc. We cannot let them continue in the party and at the head of state institutions! *In today?s crisis, the law that Chavez put forward in 2001 calling for an agrarian revolution, seems more relevant than ever! The CRBZ has been promoting self-organization among **campesinos**for years and it has many projects, from the Simon Bolivar Communal City in Apure, a project in a process of consolidation, to the National Productive Alliance, a project that is still being born. Let's conclude the interview by talking about these experiences.* Our organization has a campaign to defend the achievements and advances of the revolution and to carry out the revolution?s pending tasks for campesinos. We don?t limit ourselves to work among landless campesinos. We believe that the revolution must incorporate campesinos with small plots of land, the conuqueros[6] and the collectives that have rescued land, as it has, but it should also incorporate medium producers who aren?t enemies of the people, people who are not conspiring and whose only interest is to produce, because the key interest of the nation now is to produce, thus satisfying the population?s needs. Alliances have to be made with these sectors, which joined the right because the revolution did not know how to connect with them and didn?t know how to keep them with us. With this in mind, and with the objective of generating conditions to produce for small and mid?size?farmers, we are building the National Productive Alliance, which is a space of confluence and work. Those midsize farmers that are committed to producing and are not conspiring should be incorporated. The revolution has negotiated with large capitalists who don?t produce but just import: groups in line with longstanding logic of corruption and who are not going to produce anything. The government sits at the table with them and not the real producers: the small and medium farmers. Unfortunately the latter are not invited to sit at the table. Why? I think it?s obvious! So we have been developing the National Productive Alliance to boost agrarian production. We are committed to building an ample alliance of small to medium producers. Our main objective now is to generate conditions for production, to organize from below and form territorial networks. All of Venezuela's productive potential must be brought together and unified. That is something, which the leadership of the process should do, but isn?t doing. The Agriculture Ministry lost its focus. Yet campesinos are working from below to unify and generate conditions for agricultural production, voicing the sector?s demands. Their demands are many, ranging from the landless campesinos? historical claim to the land to access to seeds, agricultural implements, and fuel and machinery parts for small to medium sized farmers. The truth is that the revolution has to build a national majority. It cannot be that the revolution has political power and it doesn?t represent a national majority. The project of the Bolivarian Revolution is a project of societal consensus, and Chavez succeeded at building that consensus. Most especially, the foundation of the Bolivarian Revolution is participative and protagonic democracy. That should be our political focus now and it?s where the CRBZ is working. That is also why we are now also in a process of giving new impetus to the ?Simon Bolivar? Communal City project, which fell by the wayside when the communal project became the domain of the Ministry of Communes. We believe that the comuneros are the revolutionary subject, and we place our hopes in the commune as the path to build socialism in Venezuela. Now, we see the commune as something that is not ethereal. It shouldn?t be a mere slogan or mural. We believe in the commune-as-government, as people?s territorial power. It is the revolutionary government that will transform the society from below, constituting what Chavez called the ?new shoots? of socialism. The ?Simon Bolivar? Communal City is just that: a space where production, organization, and political revolution take front stage. Regarding the latter, it must be clarified that the economic war shouldn?t be an excuse to halt the political revolution. That is one of the issues that the leadership must come to terms with: the continuation of the political revolution. The economic war is an unavoidable feature of the present, but the emergence of new values, of new forms of organization and of popular empowerment ? all these things are more important than ever if the Bolivarian Revolution is not to lose its transformative force. As for the CRBZ movement, we are working on the Communal City, on the National Productive Alliance, and we are also developing a current within the PSUV, a current that will work from within. It is absolutely necessary that a revolutionary current take shape within the historical party of the revolution, as a force that will help to rebuild Bolivarian Revolution?s strategic objectives and reorient us towards them. NOTES [1] ?Adeco? refers to the clientist and corrupt logic established during the Democratic Action (AD) governments prior to the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998. [2] ?Copeyano? refers to the Christian democrat COPEI party, the second half of the two?party system that governed Venezuela between 1958 and 1998. [3] FEDELAFAS is the national association of large livestock owners. [4] FEDECAMARAS is the Venezuelan business association or chamber of commerce. It is directly responsible for the 2002 coup that ousted President Chavez for 47 hours before he was returned to office by a mass popular uprising. [5] The fascistoid current in Colombian politics that continues the project of former President Alvaro Uribe Velez. [6] ?Conuquero? refers to subsistence farming or very small campesino production. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 4 11:16:29 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2018 08:16:29 -0700 Subject: [News] Israeli violations of international humanitarian law - 9 Palestinians killed during last week alone Message-ID: http://english.pnn.ps/2018/10/04/pchr-report-nine-palestinians-killed-during-last-week-alone/ Nine Palestinians killed during last week alone *October 4, 2018* The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) based in Gaza in its weekly report said I/sraeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the oPt continued during the reporting period //(27 September ? 03 October 2018//). / *Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against unarmed civilians and peaceful protesters?in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.* * /9 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, were killed; 7 of them, including 2 children, were killed on Friday./ * /307 civilians, including 47 children, 5 women, 4 journalists and a paramedic, were wounded./ * /22 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and 4 journalists, were wounded in the West Bank/ * *Israeli forces continued to open fire at the border areas in the Gaza Strip.* * A Palestinian elderly was killed in eastern Maghazi refugee camp. * *Israeli forces conducted 62 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and 3 limited incursions into occupied Jerusalem**.* * /67 civilians, including 18 children, were arrested in the West Bank./ * /24 of them, including 6 children, were arrested in Jerusalem./ * *Israeli authorities continued to create a Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem.* * /Hundreds of settlers raided al-Aqsa Mosque and attacked the Palestinian civilians and their property./ * *Israeli forces continued their settlement activities in the West Bank.* * /A barrack built of tin plates was confiscated in Masafer Yata, south of Hebron./ * *5 Shooting incidents were reported against the Palestinian fishing boats in the Gaza Sea, but no casualties were reported.* * *Israeli forces turned the West Bank into cantons and continued to impose the**illegal closure on the Gaza Strip for the 11^th **?consecutive year.* * /Dozens of temporary checkpoints were established in the West Bank and others were re-established to obstruct the movement of Palestinian civilians./ * /4 civilians, including a child, were arrested at the military checkpoints in the West Bank./ ***_Shooting:_* Israeli forces continued to use lethal force against Palestinian civilians, who participated in peaceful demonstrations organized within the activities of the ?Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege? in the Gaza Strip, which witnessed for the 27^th ?week in a row peaceful demonstrations along the eastern and northern Gaza Strip border area. During the reporting period, the Israeli forces killed 8 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, and wounded 307 civilians, including 47 children, 5 women, 4 journalists, and a paramedic.? Meanwhile, a Palestinian elderly was killed in the central Gaza Strip after Israeli forces opened fire from the eastern borders at the area to the west of the border fence with Israel.? In the West Bank, 22 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and 4 journalists, were wounded; one of those wounded is in serious condition. In the Gaza Strip, on 28 September 2018, which coincided the 27^th ?Friday of the Return and Breaking the Siege protests, in new use of lethal force, Israeli forces killed 7 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children.? Three of them were killed in eastern Malakah intersection in eastern al-Zaytoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City and were identified as Eyad al-Sha?er (18); Mohammed Shakhsah (24), both from al-Shija?iyah; and Mohammed Haniyah (33) from al-Sheikh Redwan neighborhood.? In the central Gaza Strip, Mohammed al-Home (14) and Mohammed al-?Awawdah (25), both from al-Bureij, were killed in addition to Naser Musabeh (12) from ?Abasan al-Kabirah and Mohammed Anshasi (18) from Khan Younis refugee camp.? Three of those killed were hit with bullets in the heads, 2 were hit with bullets to the chest, 1 in the back and another in the abdomen. On 03 October 2018, Israeli forces stationed inside the watchtowers at Beit Hanoun ?Erez? Crossing, northwest of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, killed Ahmed Abu Jabal (15) from Beit Lahia after being hit with a tear gas canister that penetrated his head front, causing a fracture to the skull and parts of his head got out.? The child in question was with dozens of other civilians on the asphalt road leading to the vehicles gate at the crossing when the Israeli forces opened fire and heavily fired tear gas canisters at them. As part of the ongoing shooting from the eastern borders with Israel at civilians? houses and property, Ibrahim al-?Arouqi (74) from al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip was killed on 01 October 2018 after being hit with a bullet to the back when he was 2000 meters away in the vicinity of the area he lived in, west of the border fence.? the Ministry of Health declared in a statement that: ?Following the competent authorities? procedures, it was confirmed that the above-mentioned was wounded in an area near the borders as the competent authorities initiated an investigation to confirm he was wounded by the Israeli forces? fire.? As part of targeting Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Sea, the Israeli forces continued to escalate their attacks against the Palestinian fishermen, pointing out to the ongoing Israeli policy of targeting their livelihoods.? During the reporting period, the Israeli forces opened fire 5 times at the fishermen; 2 incidents in the north-western Beit Lahia and 3 others in the Western Soudaniyah area, west of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, the Israeli forces during the reporting period wounded 22 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and 4 journalists; one of those wounded sustained serious wounds. *_Incursions:_* During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 62 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 9 similar ones into Jerusalem and its suburbs. During those incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 33 Palestinians, including 12 children, in the West Bank.? Meanwhile, 24 other civilians, including 6 children, were arrested in Jerusalem and its suburbs. In the Gaza Strip, on 27 September 2018, Israeli forces moved 100 meters into the southern coastal border fence off Zikim Military Base, northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.? On the same day, the Israeli forces moved 70 meters into eastern Fokhari village, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. On 02 October 2018, Israeli forces moved 100 meters into al-Shawkah village in eastern Rafah City in the southern Gaza Strip.? The vehicles placed barbed wires, west of the main border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel. *_Israeli Forces continued to create a Jewish Majority in occupied East Jerusalem:_* As part of Israeli settlers? attacks against the Palestinian civilians and their property, on 27 September 2018, 1135 settlers raided al-Aqsa Mosque via al-Magharbah Gate on the Fourth Day of Sukkot ?a Jewish holiday.?? Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli police attacked Palestinian worshippers in al-Selseleh Gate area by beating and pushing them in addition to arresting a young man and taking him away. On 30 September 2018, groups of Israeli settlers attacked shops in al-Musrarah neighbourhood and beat the owners under the protection of the Israeli forces, wounding 3 civilians. Eyewitnesses said that the settlers attacked the Palestinian vehicles parked in the neighbourhood and damaged them. *_Israeli Forces continued their settlement activities, and the settlers continued their attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property_* As part of house and civil object demolitions, on 02 October 2018, the Israeli forces confiscated a barrack from al-Halawah area within the area Masafer Yata, south of Hebron.? The barrack is 40 square meters and belongs to Ahmed Abu ?Aram. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 4 11:41:20 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2018 08:41:20 -0700 Subject: [News] US asserts impunity - Withdraws From International Accords After Iran, Palestine Cases Message-ID: telesurtv.net US Withdraws From International Accords After Iran, Palestine Cases Published 4 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This withdrawal by the U.S. is considered largely symbolic as the country has previously ignored ICJ rulings whose compulsory jurisdiction have not been recognized by the U.S. since 1986. The United States withdrew from two international accords Wednesday after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the country's government to ease sanctions against Iran . The international accords allowed Iran and Palestine to pursue legal action against the U.S. *RELATED:**US John Bolton: Palestine Not a State* On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the Donald Trump-led administration took a decision to withdraw from the 1955 United States-Iran Friendship Treaty. The treaty, often ignored by the U.S. completely, served as the foundation of the latest ruling by the ICJ. Soon after the announcement, National Security Advisor John Bolton said that the country will also leave an optional part of 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which allows countries to settle disputes with each other in the ICJ. Last month, Palestinians used the same protocol to sue the U.S. over Trump?s decision to move U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This move came in accordance with Trump Administration?s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel , which Palestinians consider as their holy city and a part of their future state. ?The United States will not sit idly by as baseless politicized claims are brought against us,? Bolton said at the White House. Following the decision to leave the 1955 friendship treaty with Iran, Pompeo said: ?This is a decision, frankly, that is 39 years overdue.? Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded to Wednesday?s moves by calling the U.S. an ?outlaw regime.? The U.S. frequently uses the same phrase in reference to Iran. The Trump administration has been against international institutions which ?constrains U.S. sovereignty,' and National Security Adviser John Bolton has been a driving force against these institutions. Last month he threatened the International Criminal Court and its judges with sanctions if it ?comes after us, Israel or other U.S. allies.? At the White House briefing Wednesday, Bolton also said that the administration would review all international agreements that can be used against the U.S. in the International Court of Justice. During the 73rd UNGA sessions, the U.S. president also opposed globalism and upheld the country?s sovereignty. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 4 11:46:34 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2018 08:46:34 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Colonial_Puerto_Rico_Governor_Calls_for_?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=98Elimination=E2=80=99_of_Venezuelan_Government=2C_Offer?= =?utf-8?q?s_to_Host_=E2=80=98Transition=E2=80=99_Logistics?= Message-ID: https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14081 Puerto Rico Governor Calls for ?Elimination? of Venezuelan Government, Offers to Host ?Transition? Logistics By Paul Dobson ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Merida, October 3, 2018 Puerto Rico?s governor joined regional voices backing the overthrow of the Venezuelan government Tuesday, following the visit of the fugitive ex-Mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, to the US protectorate. Governor Ricardo Rossello called for the ?elimination? of President Maduro, who was democraticallyre-elected in May for a second term with 67.7 percent of the vote in elections qualified as transparent, free, and fair. ?What should happen is that the dictatorship should be eliminated. We are defining what will happen afterwards, and what steps are to be taken,? stated Rossello in a press conference following the meeting with Ledezma. He went on to claim that such ?steps? have ?already been discussed at many levels? and that they point towards ?concrete results.? As part of the announcements, Rossello invited Venezuela?s opposition leaders to a summit this October 20 and 21, to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which will look to establish a ?Commission for the Reconstruction of Venezuela?, with Puerto Rico acting as ?the headquarters? for ?logistical support? to a ?transition? government in Venezuela. ?We want to be ready for the day after, so that Venezuela counts on a government and an ordered and adequate transition. So that you know that you have friends across the world, Puerto Rico is going to be this connector for the coordination of all of this help,? Rossello added. In front of press, the Governor signed an agreement which includes hypothetical land, maritime, and air supply corridors to Venezuela. Rossello?s comments follow controversial declarations by US PresidentDonald Trump , as well as Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Organisation of American States (OAS) Secretary-GeneralLuis Almagro , and others, which have backed acoup d??tat, military intervention, or other forced rupture of democracy in Venezuela. The New York Timesrecently reported that Washington had held meetings with ?rebel? Venezuelan military commanders to discuss the logistics of organising a coup d??tat. Puerto Rico continues to form part of the United States of America, and is the closest US-controlled territory to Venezuela, with only 1000 kilometers of sea separating the two. It was acquired by the US in the Paris Treaty ? alongside Guam and the Philippines ? which culminated the 1898 Spanish-US war. As such, the island is subject to US foreign and military policy, including housing numerous US military bases . The recent agreement between the Puerto Rican government and Ledezma has already been communicated to Washington, as well as to the OAS, authorities informed. For his part, Ledezma told press in San Juan that ?a logistical operation will be launched from this Antillean Island.? He has previously gone on recordcalling for a foreign-led ?intervention? into Venezuela. From exile, the ex-Mayor and longtime anti-government leader heads the ?I Am Venezuela? (Soy Venezuela) movement, just one of the numerous fragmented anti-Chavista groups. His movement boycotted the recent presidential elections, and publicly opposed opposition groupings which decided to participate. Soy Venezuela, which Ledezma leads alongside outspoken government critic Maria Corina Machado, receives substantialcriticism from other anti-government forces who claim that, operating from Madrid, Paris, or Washington, it is disconnected from the local reality. Ledezma is currently fleeingcharges of conspiracy and criminal association in Venezuela for his role in the 2014 violent street protests which looked to oust the government through force. He wasarrested in 2015, and his sentence was later commuted to house arrest, beforedramatically fleeing authorities in November 2017. Since, he hastoured Europe , the US, and Latin America rallying support for his efforts. Caracas is yet to react to the latest statements of the Puerto Rican authorities, but President Maduro has offered firm backing to the independence struggle of the Puerto Rican people in the past. Recently released political prisoner and independence leader Oscar Lopez Rivera has been hosted by Caracas, with Maduro calling on Puerto Ricans to break the shackles of colonialism. Maduro?s position has put him at heads with that of Governor Rossello, who favours full US statehood. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 5 16:42:59 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2018 13:42:59 -0700 Subject: [News] Gaza "laboratory" boosts profits of Israel's war industry Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/content/gaza-laboratory-boosts-profits-israels-war-industry/25636 Gaza "laboratory" boosts profits of Israel's war industry Gabriel Schivone - 5 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ After exploring the vast surveillance regime along the US-Mexico border and finding Israeli systems installed at every turn, the author Todd Miller and I were drawn to investigate Israel as the largest homeland security industry in the world. Israel?s arms industry is twice the size of its US counterpart in exports per capita and employs a percentage of the national workforce double that of the US or France, two of the top global arms exporters. During our 2016 trip, it didn?t take us long to zero in on some of Israel?s most enterprising industrialists who told us how they do it while controlling an area roughly the size of New Jersey. On our first day there, while attending an annual drone conference, we met Guy Keren, the middle-aged and charismatic CEO of an Israeli homeland security firm called iHLS. Keren?s iHLS had organized the drone conference. Several days later, we sat down with Keren in iHLS?s then brand new headquarters in the Mediterranean coastal city of Raanana , known for its high-tech industrial park. We spoke to him in the fishbowl conference room above his company?s computer lab. Below us, gaggles of junior technologists clacked eagerly at their keyboards. This Lighthouse complex , Keren said, could host up to 150 startups. Keren explained how the Gaza Strip affords Israel ? and iHLS ? a competitive advantage over other countries because of the real-time opportunities to test new products year-round. Israel has earned the moniker of ?start-up nation? among business elites around the world. Human Petri dish We asked Keren why it is that Israel?s technology industry performs at an astonishing level of productivity, especially in the military sector. ?Because we are checking our systems live,? he said. ?We are in a war situation all the time. If it?s not happening right now, it will happen in a month.? ?It?s not [just] about building the technology? and having to wait years to try out the systems, Keren told us. The secret of the Israeli tech sector?s success, he explained, lay in ?operating the technology faster than any other country in live situations.? Keren isn?t the first to make this connection. Gaza is widely perceived as a human Petri dish ? to improve killing capacity and cultivate pacification methods ? among the movers and shakers in the Israeli high-tech and military sectors. When Roei Elkabetz, a brigadier general in the Israeli army, addressed a 2012 convention of specialists in border control technology in El Paso, Texas, he clicked onscreen a photo of the wall, built by Magal Systems, that isolates Gaza from the outside world. ?We have learned lots from Gaza,? he said. ?It?s a great laboratory.? Leila Stockmarr, a Danish scholar, has attended the same kinds of Israeli security expos as Todd Miller and I. ?As most of the company representatives I interviewed imparted, it is central to Israel?s cutting-edge military and policing capacities that new pieces of technology are developed and tested in a concrete situation of controlling a population, such as in the Gaza Strip,? she writes in her 2016 essay, ?Beyond the Laboratory Thesis: Gaza as Transmission Belt for War and Security Technology.? Fine tuning in real time As one representative of a major security company told Stockmarr: ?Once an order has been made by the Israeli military, and after initial deployment in the field, the company?s technical departments are often contacted with demands for corrections and tweaks based on experience. Thus every time the military uses Israeli HLS [homeland security] technology, it automatically tests it. Companies benefit greatly from this and every time a new order is placed, this feedback from the battlefield is injected to improve the process of tendering and guarantee quality and effectiveness.? Unusually for a country?s arms industry, Israel has a laboratory in a territory it occupies ? Gaza ? very close to the production facilities for its weapons and surveillance technology. Engagement in the Gaza Strip, as Stockmarr noted in 2016, helps companies generate and refine new ideas and fine tune product lines. In April 2018, Saar Koursh, then the CEO of Magal Systems ? a contender for President Donald Trump?s proposed additions to surveillance infrastructure on the US-Mexico border ? was even reported as having described Gaza as a ?showroom? for the company?s ?smart fences? whose customers ?appreciate that the products are battle-tested.? Stockmarr notes that Palestinians in Gaza themselves play a role in the testing phase, performing a ?crucial part? of this homeland security industry cycle: ?In order to evaluate a given product, the systematic inclusion of the targeted populations? responses to new security technologies are crucial for foreign buyers.? Plenty of global customers are sold on the idea, at least if the profit margin is anything to go by. ?Magal?s US traded shares jumped in late 2016 as Trump talked about a Mexican border wall,? according to /Bloomberg/. And during the first month of Israel?s 2014 attack on Gaza, the share price of Israel?s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, increased by 6.1 percent . More than 2,200 Palestinians were killed in that attack. A never-ending experiment This year, since the Great March of Return protests began on 30 March, Israel?s latest line of crowd-control drones to make their Gaza debut include the appropriately named Sea of Tears drone ? a commercially-produced Chinese camera drone modified by the Israeli police to discharge tear gas onto the human throngs below ? and the Shocko Drone that unleashes ?skunk water ? on protesters. The Gaza health ministry has observed over the past six months the human effects of Israel?s ?butterfly bullets? ? which explode on impact. These are among the deadliest bullets Israel has ever used. Doctors Without Borders personnel treated butterfly bullet-like injuries in 50 percent of the more than 500 patients they treated during the protests. Many of the protesters who weren?t killed outright were severely injured, earning butterfly bullets a new place in the Israeli military?s long history of shoot-to-maim practices , which Jasbir K. Puar details in her book, /The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability/. As of 1 October, more than 150 Palestinians have been killed in the Great March of Return, including more than 30 children. More than 10,000 have been injured, half of them by live fire. Meanwhile, back at the Raanana industrial park, Keren and his staff in the air-conditioned offices of iHLS are busy developing the next players in Israel?s arms industry, updating their systems and expanding their profit margins. /Gabriel M. Schivone is a visiting scholar at the University of Arizona and author of the forthcoming book/ Making the New ?Illegal?: How Decades of US Involvement in Central America Triggered the Modern Wave of Immigration /(Prometheus Books)./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 10 18:15:05 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2018 15:15:05 -0700 Subject: [News] Joint Palestinian Statement on the Occasion of Indigenous Peoples' Day 2018 Message-ID: Joint Statement on the Occasion of Indigenous Peoples' Day 2018 09 October 2018 -http://www.addameer.org/news/joint-statement-occasion-indigenous-peoples-day-2018 *Palestinian Support for Indigenous Peoples? Day Commemorations and Historical Justice from Palestine to Turtle Island* *In August 2018, several Palestinian human rights organizations attended The Red Nation?s annual conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.* We, the undersigned Palestinian human rights and community organizations, state as follows: 1. In August 2018, several Palestinian human rights organizations attended The Red Nation?s annual conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Red Nation, a community organization dedicated to Indigenous liberation, extended an invitation to Palestinian civil society to participate in the conference, exchange strategies for securing human rights and historical justice, and develop shared language around systems of oppression as well as future visions of decolonization and self-determination. 2. October 8, 2018 marks Indigenous Peoples? Day, officially celebrated in the United States as Columbus Day. This day marks the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 to indigenous lands in what is now known as the ?Americas?, and the arrival of foreign domination over its Native peoples. Though recognized as a historical event, the dehumanizing structures introduced by the European settler-colonization of Turtle Island have allowed for the elimination of the Native people, the confiscation of Native land and the extraction of natural resources. Such institutionalized hierarchy of human life continues to the present day. 3. Similarly, the Nakba, Arabic for ?Catastrophe?, is our rupture. In 1948, 85% of the Palestinian people were forcibly displaced from their homeland and over 500 villages were destroyed in order to establish the State of Israel. This process of displacement and dehumanization of Palestinians is ongoing. In addition to continued colonisation and control of the land, Israel attempts to preclude Palestinian collective memory through legal means. In 2011, for example, the Israeli Knesset (parliament) passed the ?Nakba Law? in order to deny public funding to any institution that commemorates Israel?s Independence Day as a ?day of mourning,? violating the rights of the 1.6 million Palestinians who are citizens of Israel to preserve their history. 4. While recognizing the limitations of international law, significant developments have been made in legal discourse and practice to protect and promote the human rights of indigenous peoples to full self-determination, including the right to history, culture and heritage. Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) recognizes the right of all people to self-determination. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples? (UNDRIP) was adopted by the UN general assembly in 2007 to elaborate on existing human rights standards as they apply specifically to indigenous peoples. We call on all governments to fully implement human rights instruments that ensure the survival, dignity and well-being of indigenous peoples. 5. We acknowledge that any advancement for human rights is the result of the ?sumoud? (steadfastness) of the people and their sustained efforts to transform the dehumanizing institutions and structures of colonialism and oppression. We support and celebrate the victories of indigenous people on Turtle Island to change Columbus Day from a holiday that glorifies colonialism, to a day that respects and honours Native people. To date, 55 cities in the United States now celebrate Indigenous People?s Day. We welcome your victories and are reminded that community mobilization is often the strongest path for achieving human rights and collective liberation. 6. Truth, like accountability, is a virtue of justice. Centering the lived experiences of those impacted by oppression lays a foundation of collective knowledge upon which society can construct just legal, social and political solutions. By first publicly reclaiming critical facts about the injustices of the past, restorative practices such as the right of return, reparations for stolen land and labor, and deep institutional changes can usher in a future of justice and decolonization. 7. We call on the international community to center Native history as the necessary beginning of historical reconciliation and a collectively emancipatory process of decolonization. 8. In solidarity, we celebrate Indigenous People?s Day and the continued strength of the world?s indigenous peoples. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 11 11:11:31 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2018 08:11:31 -0700 Subject: [News] Palestinian Mission in Washington Officially Shuts Down Message-ID: http://imemc.org/article/p-a-mission-in-washington-officially-shuts-down/ P.A. Mission in Washington Officially Shuts Down October 11, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Palestinian Representative Office at the United States in Washington D.C. has officially shut down, Wednesday, after the deadline by the Trump Administration for closing it went into effect at 4:30 PM. Dozens of Palestinians and peace activists stood in front of the Palestinian Mission?s office in protest of the U.S. decision, and several speakers condemned the escalating hostilities by President Donald Trump and his Administration against the basic and historic human rights of the Palestinian people, and its support to Israel?s illegal occupation of Palestine, and it?s denial of internationally-guaranteed Palestinian Rights. In a previous statement, Dr. Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister, said the sign that indicates that the building in the Palestinian Diplomatic Mission in the US will be removed, but the Palestinian flag will remain because the building is a private property. ?The owners of the building can keep any flag up, as long as they want to, unless the U.S. government makes it its mission to remove the flag,? he said, ?Our team at the Palestinian Mission has been frequently asked to remove the flag, but we kept it because it is a private building.? He concluded by wondering whether ?the next battle waged by the United States against the basic Palestinian rights will now be about the Palestinian flag!? *Related: * *US Expels Palestinian Envoy And His Family * -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 11 11:16:17 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2018 08:16:17 -0700 Subject: [News] Israel Bars US Medics from Entering Gaza, Citing Links to BDS Message-ID: http://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-bars-us-medics-from-entering-gaza-citing-links-to-bds/ Israel Bars US Medics from Entering Gaza, Citing Links to BDS October 11, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Israeli authorities have refused entry to the occupied Gaza Strip to two members of a US medical delegation because they are Jewish, reported Haaretz. Initially, the refusal was extended to the entire group, from the Washington branch of Physicians for Social Responsibility, citing the organization?s alleged involvement with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Israel bars 2 from of US medical delegation from entering Gaza because they're Jewish. Israel first refused to let the entire group enter due to members' Jewish origins & alleged BDS ties, but folded after a petition by legal center for freedom of movement https://t.co/t3RO2DYTQv ? Adalah-NY (@AdalahNY) October 10, 2018 After Israeli human rights NGO Gisha petitioned the Supreme Court, Haaretz reported, ?The state backtracked on those two reasons and said it would permit eight of the delegation?s 10 members to enter the Strip as planned, on October 21?. However, in regard to two of the members ? ?a neurosurgeon and a social worker with considerable experience treating people with trauma disorders? ? the state said they required ?additional security checks?. The state?s final response is reportedly due tomorrow. Israel's undemocratic anti-BDS law is only further isolating the country and it's institutions from the world. Hard to see universities keeping exchange programs with a country that detains/deports visa-holding students on the basis of race and politics https://t.co/4m3qLsTQ0t ? Rebecca Pierce (@aptly_engineerd) October 8, 2018 The delegation is attempting to enter the blockaded enclave in order to carry out ?consultations with colleagues on various medical issues?, as well as to provide ?medical treatment and instruction in the clinics of the host organization, the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme?. Explaining the entry refusal last month, the Israeli army noted: ?Many of the applicants are Jews, for whom the risk of going to the Gaza Strip is routinely more significant?. Even Jews don't have freedom of speech in Israel: "An American student has become the latest victim of Israel?s law targeting supporters of the global [] (BDS) movement. Lara Alqasem, 22, has been held since last Tuesday at Israel?s Ben Gurion Airport."@ISMPalestine ? M (@Pakeha56) October 11, 2018 However, as Haaretz reported, D?vorah Kost, one of the two delegation members who was refused entry, has visited the Gaza Strip twice: in an affidavit, she wrote that, ?The people she met in Gaza are aware that she is Jewish and that her Judaism had never posed a problem?. Israel bars two members of U.S. medical delegation from entering Gaza because they're Jewish ? andre (@andre17572805) October 11, 2018 The physician who was refused entry, Dr. Donald Mellman, has visited the Gaza Strip seven times. Israeli authorities also claimed that the physicians? organization is ?involved in activities that encourage boycotting Israel, in cooperation with the BDS movement?. (/MEMO, PC, Social Media/) -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 12 16:16:04 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2018 13:16:04 -0700 Subject: [News] The Five-Year-Old Who Was Detained at the Border and Persuaded to Sign Away Her Rights Message-ID: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-five-year-old-who-was-detained-at-the-border-and-convinced-to-sign-away-her-rights?fbclid=IwAR1UjUkCSECwDkNziWMCvTQl3S9e0g0CY2v3X9uxYPpTx7wzhoJNk7w-xOI The Five-Year-Old Who Was Detained at the Border and Persuaded to Sign Away Her Rights By Sarah Stillman - October 11, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Helen, a five-year-old from Honduras, was detained after the Trump Administration announced that it would halt the separation of immigrant families. Photograph Courtesy LUPE Helen?a smart, cheerful five-year-old girl?is an asylum seeker from Honduras. This summer, when a social worker asked her to identify her strengths, Helen shared her pride in ?her ability to learn fast and express her feelings and concerns.? She also recounted her favorite activities (?playing with her dolls?), her usual bedtime (?8 /P.M./?), and her professional aspirations (?to be a veterinarian?). In July, Helen fled Honduras with her grandmother, Noehmi, and several other relatives; gangs had threatened Noehmi?s teen-age son, Christian, and the family no longer felt safe. Helen?s mother, Jeny, had migrated to Texas four years earlier, and Noehmi planned to seek legal refuge there. With Noehmi?s help, Helen travelled thousands of miles, sometimes on foot, and frequently fell behind the group. While crossing the Rio Grande in the journey?s final stretch, Helen slipped from their raft and risked drowning. Her grandmother grabbed her hand and cried, ?Hang on, Helen!? When the family reached the scrubland of southern Texas, U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended them and moved them through a series of detention centers. A month earlier, the Trump Administration had announced, amid public outcry over its systemic separation of migrant families at the border, that it would halt the practice. But, at a packed processing hub, Christian was taken from Noehmi and placed in a cage with toddlers. Noehmi remained in a cold holding cell, clutching Helen. Soon, she recalled, a plainclothes official arrived and informed her that she and Helen would be separated. ?No!? Noehmi cried. ?The girl is under my care! Please!? Noehmi said that the official told her, ?Don?t make things too difficult,? and pulled Helen from her arms. ?The girl will stay here,? he said, ?and you?ll be deported.? Helen cried as he escorted her from the room and out of sight. Noehmi remembers the authorities explaining that Helen?s mother would be able to retrieve her, soon, from wherever they were taking her. Later that day, Noehmi and Christian were reunited. The adults in the family were fitted with electronic ankle bracelets and all were released, pending court dates. They left the detention center and rushed to Jeny?s house, in McAllen, hoping to find Helen there. When they didn?t, Noehmi began to shake, struggling to explain the situation. ?Immigration took your daughter,? she told Jeny. ?But where did they take her?? Jeny asked. ?I don?t know,? Noehmi replied. The next day, authorities?likely from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (O.R.R.)?called to say that they were holding Helen at a shelter near Houston; according to Noehmi, they wouldn?t say exactly where. Noehmi and Jeny panicked. Unable to breathe amid her distress, Noehmi checked herself into a local hospital, where doctors gave her medication to calm her down. ?I thought we would never see her again,? Noehmi said. She couldn?t square her family?s fate with the TV news, which insisted that the government had stopped separating migrant families. A photo taken of Helen during her time in custody. Photograph Courtesy Eugene Delgado Helen had been brought to Baytown, a shelter run by Baptist Child & Family Services, which the federal government had contracted to house unaccompanied minors. Helen was given a pack of crayons and spent the summer coloring patriotic images: busts of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the torch on the Statue of Liberty. She was granted an hour of ?Large Muscle Activity and Leisure Time? each day, and received lessons on the human respiratory system, the history of music, and ?the risk and danger of social media.? ?Helen,? a caseworker observed, ?has excellent behavior at all times.? She had no major sources of stress, her reports noted, aside from ?being separated from her family.? Her teachers encouraged her to develop ?/SMART/ goals??ambitions that are ?Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.? Helen?s goal was simple: ?Minor disclosed wanting to live with her mother and family in the U.S.? According to a long-standing legal precedent known as the Flores settlement, which established guidelines for keeping children in immigration detention, Helen had a right to a bond hearing before a judge; that hearing would have likely hastened her release from government custody and her return to her family. At the time of her apprehension, in fact, Helen checked a box on a line that read, ?I do request an immigration judge,? asserting her legal right to have her custody reviewed. But, in early August, an unknown official handed Helen a legal document, a ?Request for a Flores Bond Hearing,? which described a set of legal proceedings and rights that would have been difficult for Helen to comprehend. (?In a Flores bond hearing, an immigration judge reviews your case to determine whether you pose a danger to the community,? the document began.) On Helen?s form, which was filled out with assistance from officials, there is a checked box next to a line that says, ?I withdraw my previous request for a Flores bond hearing.? Beneath that line, the five-year-old signed her name in wobbly letters. As the summer progressed with no signs of Helen?s return, Noehmi and Jeny contacted /LUPE/, a nonprofit community union based in the Rio Grande Valley, to ask for help winning Helen?s release. Founded by the famed activists C?sar Ch?vez and Dolores Huerta in 1989, /LUPE/ fights deportations, provides social services, and organizes civil mobilizations on behalf of more than eight thousand low-income members across south Texas; Jeny, employed as an office cleaner, was one such member. Tania Chavez, a strategy leader forthe organization, met with the family to hear their story. Helen?s case didn?t fit the typical /LUPE/ mold. ?Historically, we have served longtime residents of the Rio Grande Valley,? Chavez told me, ?but since this new surge of refugees came about, we?ve been on the front lines of advocacy against family separation.? Freeing Helen struck Chavez as a tangible and urgent goal. ?Right away, we said, ?How do we help this little girl?? ? she said. As Chavez saw it, the girl?s seizure by the government showed that the family-separation crisis hadn?t been resolved, as many Americans believed?it had simply evolved. The first stage of the family-separation crisis unfolded largely out of public view, not long after Trump took office. By January, 2018, when I began collecting the stories of parents who had been separated from their children at the border, the government denied that these separations were happening without clear justifications, and insisted that they weren?t encouraged by official policy. In the late spring, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, was still espousing this line, even as she ramped up ?zero tolerance? prosecutions?criminally charging parents with ?illegal entry,? and seizing their kids in the process. Stage two of the crisis unfolded in the national spotlight. As the number of separations soared past two thousand, and their wrenching details surfaced, hundreds of thousands of Americans protested in the streets. Laura Bush said that the practice broke her heart. The American Academy of Pediatrics denounced it as ?abhorrent,? noting that the approach could inflict long-term, irrevocable trauma on children. On June 20th, the President issued an executive order purporting to end the practice. Now stage three has commenced?one in which separations are done quietly, /LUPE/?s Tania Chavez asserts, and in which reunifications can be mysteriously stymied. According to recent Department of Justice numbers?released because of an ongoing A.C.L.U. lawsuit challenging family separations?a hundred and thirty-six children who fall within the lawsuit?s scope are still in government custody. An uncounted number of separated children in shelters and foster care fall outside the lawsuit?s current purview?including many like Helen, who arrived with a grandparent or other guardian, rather than with a parent. Many such children have been misclassified, in government paperwork, as ?unaccompanied minors,? due to a sloppy process that the Department of Homeland Security?s Office of the Inspector General recently critiqued. Chavez believes that, through misclassification, many kids have largely disappeared from public view, and from official statistics, with the federal government showing little urgency to hasten reunifications. (O.R.R. and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to requests for comment.) Noehmi and Jeny connected with /LUPE/?s newly hired attorney, Eugene Delgado. Delgado had grown up in the Rio Grande Valley, a child of migrant workers. He left the region for a life in corporate law, practicing in New York and in the United Arab Emirates. But, when the family-separation crisis flooded the news this summer, he told me, ?I wanted to help my community.? He moved back to McAllen and joined /LUPE/ to fight deportations full time. He agreed to represent Noehmi and her family, and at the summer?s end he went with them to court to represent them in removal proceedings. There, a judge granted Noehmi and her relatives more time to apply for asylum. Toward the end of the hearing, Delgado brought up Helen. ?Judge, this case doesn?t stop here,? Delgado said. ?What about the little child lost in the system?? The judge looked confused. ?What do you mean?? he asked. ?Well, where is Helen, the five-year-old?? The judge, Delgado recalled, seemed startled. Both he and the government prosecutor had no idea that Helen existed, let alone where she was being held. ?I could give you a couple of phone numbers to call?? the prosecutor offered. Delgado began the search. ?It was just a complete maze, trying to trace the girl down,? he recalled. ?I talked to at least ten people?case workers, social workers.? Eventually, he learned of Helen?s placement in Baytown, the Houston shelter. After that, Noehmi and Jeny were allowed two ten-minute calls with Helen per week, during which the girl often pleaded, ?Come get me, Grandma!? The government collected fingerprints and other information from Noehmi and Jeny, to determine whether they were Helen?s rightful guardians; the Office of Refugee Resettlement soon deemed Jeny a fit sponsor, Delgado told me, but the completion of Noehmi?s background check was delayed for unexplained reasons. On August 17th, Helen was transferred to a foster home in San Antonio. ?I feared, did they give Helen away?? Noehmi told me; she worried about the prospect of adoption. Delgado managed to arrange a supervised visit between Noehmi and her granddaughter. At the visit?s start, Helen was gleeful, shouting, ?Grandma, you came to get me!? But the girl exhibited strange new behaviors that troubled Noehmi. ?She kept hiding under the table,? Noehmi said. After an hour, the two were separated again; again, they both cried. A case worker offered Noehmi a chance to ride the elevator downstairs with Helen before the girl was taken away. Noehmi declined. ?I took the stairs, so I could scream and cry,? she told me. But she raced down to meet Helen outside and hugged her one more time before Helen was loaded into a minivan and carted back to foster care. By the end of August, Noehmi felt desperate. She ate only a few spoonfulsof beef stew each day. Again, she sought hospitalization, for anxiety. ?I was sick in the head,? she told me. Tania Chavez asked if the family wanted to escalate their tactics for getting Helen back. ?People forget that family separation has been happening in our community for decades?it?s not a new thing,? Chavez told me, referencing the routine nature of deportations for mothers, fathers, and grandparents with deep Texas roots, and the children often left behind. Chavez had found, in these cases, that authorities sometimes responded to public pressure; she?d never tried this in family-separation cases, but it seemed worth a shot. Chavez reached out to Alida Garcia, the vice-president of advocacy for the group FWD.us, and Jess Morales Rocketto, the chair of an alliance known as Families Belong Together. These teams worked together to craft a national social-media campaign, using Helen?s O.R.R. case-file photograph: an image that eerily resembled a cherub-cheeked mug shot. On August 31st, they began to circulate a petition addressing the O.R.R. official in charge of Helen?s case. ?By that Friday, we already had six hundred signatures,? Chavez said. Right away, they began receiving calls from O.R.R., promising that Helen would be returned to her family as soon as possible. There was simply a holdup with her grandmother?s fingerprint check, they said. On September 7th, /LUPE/ was told that Helen would finally be released, nearly two months after she was taken from Noehmi. ?We were attached to our phones all freaking Saturday,? Chavez said. ?Then she wasn?t released?they played us!? /LUPE/?s team adjusted the petition to address a greater number of O.R.R. officials, each of whom received a personal e-mail every time a person signed. Paola Mendoza, an artist and prominent voice for immigrant rights, tweeted about the petition, as did the actress Alyssa Milano. ?We got six thousand signatures, then ten thousand,? Chavez said. Then, that Monday, Noehmi and Jeny got a phone call: they should be at their local airport at 6:20 /P.M./ At the airport, Noehmi breathlessly scanned the gates: nothing. Then, she heard a little voice cry out, ?That?s my grandma! That?s my grandma!? Helen raced into her arms. ?Is that my mom?? Helen asked. She hadn?t seen her mother since she was an infant. The whole family held one another, and then went home. Noehmi had prepared a surprise for Helen: a giant Teddy bear, a pizza party, a stack of new clothes, and a Disney princess castle with a ?Mulan? theme (?She?s a princess fanatic,? Noehmi told me). Soon after, the shelter sent a small black backpack that Helen had left behind. It held Helen?s legal paperwork, including the document that the five-year-old had been told to sign, withdrawing her request to see a judge. The backpack also held Helen?s colored sketch of Lady Liberty. Beneath the statue?s image, a lesson summary, in Spanish, read, ?Objective: That the students draw one of the most representative symbols of the United States.? Last Thursday, Helen?s family held another party, with cake and more princess gear, to celebrate the reunion and to thank the advocacy groups that helped make it happen. Chavez hoped that the party would also help the family?s healing. ?Helen had resentment,? she said, ?because I think she thought she was abandoned by her family.? Jess Morales Rocketto, of Families Belong Together, told me that Helen?s reunion?the result of the first known public mobilization to free a specific kid from O.R.R. custody?holds lessons for a broader organizing effort. ?One of the things Helen?s story really showed us is that the Trump Administration never stopped separating children from their families,? Morales Rocketto said. ?In fact, they?ve doubled down, but it?s even more insidious now, because they are doing it in the cover of night.? She added, ?We believe that there are more kids like Helen. We have learned we cannot take this Administration at their word.? Noehmi fears that some of the damage inflicted on her family can never be mended. ?Helen was always a very calm girl,? she told me, sitting in /LUPE/?s office on a recent Friday night. ?Now I have to be very patient with her?she?s very attention-seeking.? Lately, at bedtime, Helen hides in the closet and refuses to go to sleep, afraid that her family might leave her in the night. Sometimes Noehmi wants to hide, too; she buried her round face in her hands, weeping, when she recounted one of Helen?s declarations upon her return: ?You left me behind.? But Noehmi decided to share their story with me because she worries that other families are still living out a similar search. ?I fear there are still other children suffering,? she said. ?Other families are feeling this anguish, this struggle, and they need us to act.? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /A document from July shows a checked box where Helen asserted her legal right to have her custody determination reviewed by a judge./ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /Later, in August, officials assisted Helen in filling out a form?signed by the five-year-old, while separated from her family?withdrawing her request for a hearing before a judge. While in custody, she was also given crayons and asked to color patriotic images, including one of the Statue of Liberty./ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Sat Oct 13 12:06:09 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2018 09:06:09 -0700 Subject: [News] Israeli soldier executed Gaza teen at close range - Israel to halt Gaza fuel deliveries Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israeli-soldier-executed-gaza-teen-close-range-witness Israeli soldier executed Gaza teen at close range: witness Maureen Clare Murphy - 13 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ An Israeli soldier killed a Palestinian teen along Gaza?s boundary when the detained youth tried to escape, according to a reporter who witnessed the shooting. The slain Palestinian, identified as Ahmad Abdallah Abu Naim, 17, was one of seven killed during mass protests along Gaza?s boundary with Israel on Friday. Journalist Muhammad Mahawish said that Abu Naim was among a group that had crossed the fence along central Gaza?s eastern boundary with Israel. A journalist who eyewitnessed the inciedent of executing the Palestinian demonstrator, Ahmad Abu Nueem#GreatReturnMarch pic.twitter.com/86sxhyt1QM ? Palestine Live En (@pallive_en) October 12, 2018 ?The occupation forces fired directly towards them, which led to the injury of one Palestinian,? according to Muhawish, who describes the incident in the above video. When soldiers tried to detain the wounded protester, the latter attempted to flee. ?After he tried to escape, he was shot and immediately executed,? Muhawish stated. An image appears to show the soldier in close contact with Abu Naim just before the teen was fatally shot: ?? ????? ???... ???? ????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ???????? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ????? pic.twitter.com/EQyZ5Qx9ht ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 12, 2018 Al Mezan, a human rights group based in Gaza, said that Abu Naim was shot in the stomach with live fire. Two others among the group of around 20 protesters who breached the Gaza-Israel boundary fence and approached army positions were also killed, the Israeli military told media . Israel?s /Ynet/ reported that the group had used a bomb to explode part of the fence. After the group crossed the fence, ?soldiers responded with open fire, pushing them back into Gaza. However, three Palestinians continued to approach the [army] post and were shot to death as a result.? Palestinians carried the bodies of the slain protesters back to Gaza, according to the military. No Israeli soldiers were injured during the incident. In addition to Abu Naim, Al Mezan reported the killing of three protesters along the eastern boundary of central Gaza: Ahmad al-Tawil, 22, Abdallah al-Daghma, 25, and Muhammad Ismail, 29. Two protesters were also killed east of Gaza City: Muhammad Abbas, 21, and Afifi Afifi, 18. The health ministry reported that Tamer Iyad Mahmoud Abu Armana, 22, was killed east of Rafah in southernmost Gaza. All were injured by live fire, according to Al Mezan. Graphic video shows the moment when Abu Armana was shot: #???? : ???? ??????? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ???? #??? ???? ???? ??? ??? ???. pic.twitter.com/utwk7X9X4u ? ????? ????? (@hadafnewsps) October 13, 2018 More than 160 Palestinians, including 33 children, have been killed during mass demonstrations along Gaza?s boundary with Israel since the launch of the Great March of Return protests six months ago. Israel is withholding the bodies of 10 Palestinians slain along the boundary, including two children, according to Al Mezan. More than 250 others were injured during Friday?s protests, some 180 of them by live fire, the rights group said . A paramedic and four media workers were among those injured. Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas? political wing, was injured by tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers during the protests: ???? ???????? ????? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ?????????? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ???? ??????? ???? ???? ??????? ???? "??????? ?????". pic.twitter.com/tCo5yON7lG ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 12, 2018 Israel to halt Gaza fuel deliveries Israeli defense minister Avigdor Lieberman said that he had ordered a halt to fuel deliveries to Gaza after the breaching of the boundary fence, a measure of collective punishment against Gaza?s vulnerable population. ?Israel will not tolerate a situation in which fuel tankers are allowed to enter Gaza on the one hand, while terror and violence are used against [Israeli] soldiers and Israeli citizens on the other,? Lieberman stated . Several truckloads of fuel funded by Qatar were brought into Gaza via Israel in recent days as stocks needed to keep essential services running amid a longstanding electricity crisis depleted over the past several weeks. ?Over the month, the number of trucks per day is expected to rise to 15,? St?phane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations secretary-general, stated on Tuesday . ?In addition to other long-term efforts underway to increase the energy supply, additional fuel for the Gaza power plant remains the fastest and most immediate way to increase electricity to help alleviate the humanitarian and related public health needs on the ground,? Dujarric added. The UN has been brokering indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in order to pull Gaza back from the brink of collapse after more than a decade of siege, repeated military assaults and an impasse between the Palestinian authorities in Gaza and the West Bank. Citing Hamas sources, Lebanon?s /Al-Akhbar/ newspaper reported on Friday that UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick delivered a list of Israel?s preconditions for easing the tightened blockade on Gaza and returning the status quo that followed the August 2014 ceasefire that ended 51 days of bombardment in the territory. Israel?s demands include an end to provocations including the planting of explosives along the boundary and an end to the launching of incendiary balloons from Gaza. Hamas is in turn calling for a 50 megawatt increase of available electricity as a first step towards resolving the crisis entirely, according to /Al-Akhbar/. Households in Gaza have on average only four hours of electricity per day. The resistance group and political party also reportedly demands the expansion of the permitted fishing area off Gaza?s coast to 12 nautical miles initially and then to 20 miles, as is stipulated in the Oslo accords signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s. Hamas also wants Israel to permit unrestricted imports and exports from Gaza, permits for 5,000 laborers from Gaza to work inside Israel, and the establishment of a commercial waterway to Gaza. /Al-Akhbar/ reported that the UN sought to link improvements in Gaza to the approval of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, but his continued rejectionism prompted the UN, which seeks to restore Palestinian Authority governance in Gaza, to implement first steps without Abbas? blessing. Those initiatives include the import of fuel to Gaza?s sole power plant and the transfer of $25 million to Gaza to pay civil servants? salaries and for electricity. The PA has protested these measures by pressuring the Israeli company contracted to transfer fuel to Gaza for power generation into stopping delivery by threatening to end its contracts to supply Gaza with gasoline for transportation. The UN is therefore seeking out Israeli companies immune to PA pressure for the job, a Hamas source told /Al-Akhbar./ Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel is due to visit Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Amman next week to push a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, according to the newspaper. The West Bank-based authority also sent a complaint to the UN secretary-general against Nickolay Mladenov, who has been leading the indirect talks, alleging that the UN envoy is undermining Palestinian national unity. Palestinian dies in Israeli prison Meanwhile on Friday, Wissam Abd al-Majid Nayif al-Shalaldeh, 28, from the occupied West Bank town of Sair, died in Ramla prison in central Israel. The Palestinian Prisoners Society said that the cause of death was unknown. Al-Shalaldeh, a married father of four, had been held by Israel since 2015 and was serving a seven-year prison sentence, the Ma?an News Agency reported. He is the fourth Palestinian to die in Israeli custody so far this year. A photo of al-Shalaldeh circulated on social media after the announcement of his death: ?????? ??? ????? 2018.. ?????? ?????? ???? ???????? (28 ?????) ???? ?????? ?? ??? ?????? ??????????. pic.twitter.com/hd7coVgfGz ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 12, 2018 A Palestinian woman, Ayesha Muhammad Rabi, 48, was reported to have died from head injuries after the car in which she was traveling was attacked by stone-throwing settlers near Zaatara checkpoint south of the West Bank city of Nablus on Friday. A photo published in local media showed the seats of the car covered in blood and debris following the attack. Photos of al-Rabi and her husband Yaqoub, who was also injured during the incident, were published after the announcement of her death: ??????? ????? ???? ?????? (48 ?????) ?? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ????? ????? ????? ??? ???????? ??????? ???????? ???????? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ??? ???? pic.twitter.com/cL6PWJs5Mb ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 12, 2018 ??????| ????? ???? ??? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ???????? ????? ????? (???? ??????? ?????? ????????) pic.twitter.com/ecxhVjt7Qx ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 12, 2018 The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din published video of Israelis from the settlement of Yitzhar, south of Nablus, throwing stones at cars on Friday as soldiers stand by without intervening. It was not clear if the video shows the incident in which which Rabi was killed. This afternoon, a @YeshDin field researcher documented about 15 Israelis descending from Yitzhar & throwing stones at vehicles. The perpetrators are then seen fleeing in escape vehicles as police arrive, all as soldiers stand idly by. Film: @YeshDin pic.twitter.com/9YlwjSeCKT ? Sharona Weiss ? ???? ?????? (@sharona_weiss) October 11, 2018 Here is more of the film by @YeshDin including the stone throwing pic.twitter.com/YUyDMLYvm1 ? Sharona Weiss ? ???? ?????? (@sharona_weiss) October 11, 2018 Late Thursday, Israeli forces arrested a 19-year-old Palestinian suspected of stabbing and moderately wounding a soldier near the West Bank city of Nablus earlier in the day. A woman bystander was lightly injured when Israeli forces opened fire. A Palestinian suspected of shooting and killing two Israelis at his place of work in a West Bank settlement industrial zone on Sunday remains at large. Referring to Ashraf Walid Suleiman Naawla, the suspected gunman, Israeli defense minister Lieberman said, ?The account with him will be settled quickly.? Israeli forces have arrested Naawla?s family members, including his mother , and mapped his family?s home in preparation for destroying it. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 17 10:30:25 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2018 07:30:25 -0700 Subject: [News] Michigan professor punished for supporting boycott - Israel lobby groups pressured the university Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/listen-michigan-professor-punished-supporting-boycott Michigan professor punished for supporting boycott Nora Barrows-Friedman - 16 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /On this episode of The Electronic Intifada Podcast: University of Michigan punishes professor for refusing to write a recommendation letter for a student wishing to study abroad in Israel; Major Jewish communal organizations fund far right-wing, Islamophobic and homophobic groups./ /https://soundcloud.com/intifada / In recent weeks, two professors at the University of Michigan have declined to write recommendation letters for two separate students seeking to join study abroad programs in Israel. The professors cited Israel?s discriminatory laws and policies of occupation and apartheid against Palestinians in their decisions to not write the letters. They have expressed their support for the call to boycott Israeli institutions as long as Israel continues to violate Palestinian rights. In September, after he refused to write a recommendation letter, professor John Cheney-Lippold received death threats. The threats were not publicly addressed by the university. But the administration did choose to comment on the professor?s actions, charging him with interfering in the student?s request with his own ?personal views and politics.? Israel lobby groups pressured the university to discipline Cheney-Lippold, claiming that his choice was an act of discrimination and anti-Semitism. In an apparent effort by the university to appease Israel advocates, an advisory committee declared in late September that ?a student?s merit? must be ?the primary guide for determining how and when to provide letters of recommendation.? On 3 October, the university again bowed to the demands of Israel supporters, sanctioning him with the loss of his earned sabbatical for two years and no merit pay raise for the academic year. Cheney-Lippold is being threatened with further sanctions if his politics guide future decisions about recommendation letters. Another University of Michigan instructor recently refused to write a letter of recommendation for a student wishing to study abroad in Israel. Doctoral student instructor Lucy Peterson said that she had ?pledged myself to a boycott of Israeli institutions as a way of showing solidarity with Palestine.? Last week, she was questioned by the administration. Peterson also faces potential discipline, according to civil rights group Palestine Legal. ?This is an alarming violation of the professor?s First Amendment and 14th Amendment due process rights under the US constitution,? Palestine Legal?s Radhika Sainath told The Electronic Intifada Podcast. As an employee of a public university, Cheney-Lippold has full constitutional protections, she said, ?and that means that the university may not punish him for his viewpoint supporting Palestinian rights, or because he is taking this principled stance to support the boycott for Palestinian rights.? Sainath said that the administration?s punishment is a ?really extreme measure, and it will have a chilling effect? on political speech. Moreover, Sainath noted, by refusing to write the letters for a program that inherently discriminates against students of Palestinian ancestry, Cheney-Lippold and Peterson are merely ?abiding by the university?s really strict anti-discrimination and diversity policies by refusing to write recommendations for institutions that all of their students cannot study at.? Appeals Approximately 800 individuals have signed a petition in support of the professors, urging the university to rescind Cheney-Lippold?s punishment and ensure that Peterson not be subjected to similar sanctions. Academics , scholars , graduate students , alumni and human rights advocates are appealing to the university to drop the punishments as well. . at ProfKFranke : "Like [Michigan professor Cheney-Lippold], I don't write letters of recommendation for students seeking jobs/internships in Israel because I have many students who are structurally disqualified from applying for those opportunities on account of being Palestinian." pic.twitter.com/es9dFe3jFM ? Palestine Legal (@pal_legal) October 11, 2018 USPCN's Abudayyeh praised @UMich professor Cheney-Lippold's stance in support of #BDS : "It's exactly what the academic boycott was established for. We thank him and we support him." https://t.co/Xq5E3m9MxG ? US Palestinian Community Network (@uspcn) October 13, 2018 Essayist and academic Maximillian Alvarez pointed out on Twitter that the University of Michigan renewed and expanded a research grant with Israel?s Technion . The grant is worth $20 million. After @UMich /@DrMarkSchlissel drop the hammer on Prof. Chenney-Lippold over #BDS /rec letter controversy UM Record announces, "$20M Kahn Foundation gift expands Michigan-Israel research partnership." Probably pure coincidence... @palumboliu @stevesalaita https://t.co/k3xc3T59Vp ? Maximillian Alvarez (@maximillian_alv) October 12, 2018 The Technion is a major Israeli research institution that works in partnership with a number of Israel?s arms manufacturers and has even helped develop a remote-controlled function for the Caterpillar bulldozers Israel uses to demolish Palestinian homes. Jewish Community Federation funds hate The Technion has another financial backer in the US: a major Jewish communal organization that has secretly funded a bevy of right-wing, pro-Israel and pro-Trump groups while purporting to represent the ?vibrant, caring and enduring Jewish community? of the San Francisco Bay Area. In early October, an investigation by /The Forward/ revealed that the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma Counties , a major communal philanthropic organization, has been a top funder of Canary Mission ? the anonymous blacklisting website that aims to tarnish the reputations of US supporters of Palestinian rights. The blacklist is also used by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs to bar activists and supporters of Palestinian rights from entering through Ben Gurion airport, according to documents recently released by Israeli newspaper /Haaretz/. Tax filings led reporters to an Israeli company named Megamot Shalom , /The Forward/ reports, ?that operates or operated Canary Mission.? Their address is an abandoned office west of Jerusalem. Last week, /The Forward/ reported that another major charity, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, ?made a series of grants totaling $250,000? to Megamot Shalom. ?Evidence is now building that major Jewish institutions with hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, and boards of directors that include prominent members of the US Jewish community, have played a significant role in bankrolling the site,? /The Forward?s/ Josh Nathan-Kazis wrote. On Monday, /Haaretz/ reported that the head of Megamot Shalom is a British-born Israeli settler named Jonathan Bash. Ben Packer , a far-right rabbi from the United States and a devout follower of racist leader Meir Kahane, works with Bash and both are shareholders in Megamot Shalom. Packer has a long history of racist and inflammatory statements and recently called for a ?death curse? on Durham, North Carolina, after city leaders voted to prohibit ?military-style training? programs for its police force in foreign countries, including Israel. Packer is also a friend of Stephen Miller, the senior White House official who is a key proponent of President Donald Trump?s racist immigration policies separating children from their parents. Prompted by these recent findings, Chicago-based researcher Stephanie Skora sorted through more of the Jewish Community Federation?s (JCF) tax filings and found that it has not only been a top funder of Canary Mission, but of many other far right-wing, anti-Muslim and homophobic groups going back at least 15 years, with funds totalling more than $300 million. The Federation ?seeks to be this progressive Jewish organization that funds aspects of American life and progressive and liberal causes in the US, but is willing to go so far right as a pro-Israel organization that they fund some of the nastiest people that the country has to offer,? Skora told The Electronic Intifada Podcast. Skora?s research indicates that the JCF gave $100,000 to the American Society for Technion, designated for the ?Iron Dome Project.? Iron Dome is an Israeli missile interception system. Federation funds pro-Trump, anti-Semitic groups Among the beneficiaries of the federation?s funding are right-wing, pro-Trump groups such as Turning Point USA , the Tea Party and the anti-LGBTQ Heritage Foundation. Groups with deep ties to white supremacy and anti-Semitism, such as the Tea Party, and the Zionist Organization of America ? which has invited former Trump adviser Steve Bannon to speak at its annual gathering ? highlight the contradictions in the federation?s funding priorities. ?You run into this contradiction where you have this major Jewish organization funding the work of anti-Semites to promote the interests of the Israeli state,? Skora noted. Right-wing Zionist organizations including the David Horowitz Freedom Center , led by David Horowitz, a key player in the Islamophobia industry, and the American Freedom Defense Initiative , headed by notorious anti-Muslim bigots Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer , have also been funded by the federation. The Dutch anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders , who has been funded by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, has also received funding through the federation, according to Skora?s research. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies ? a neoconservative Israel lobby group and the Middle East Forum , which is run by leading anti-Muslim bigot Daniel Pipes ? have collected funding as well. Skora found that other beneficiaries of the federation?s largesse include Israel lobby groups that attempt to disrupt boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns and smear student activists. StandWithUs received almost $1.3 million, while The Israel Project received nearly $2 million. The Israel Project shares a funder , Adam Milstein, with Canary Mission. Other campus-focused right-wing Zionist groups such as the Amcha Initiative , the American Israel Education Foundation , Hasbara Fellowships , Students Supporting Israel and the Israel on Campus Coalition have collectively received millions of dollars through the JCF. Reconsidering support The Federation also supports A Wider Bridge , a group that engages in pinkwashing ? a public relations strategy that deploys Israel?s supposed enlightenment toward LGBTQ issues to deflect criticism from its human rights abuses and appeal particularly to Western liberal audiences. Skora said that she hopes her research prompts progressive US Jewish communities to reconsider their support of the federation. ?I?m sure that most of the Jews in the Bay Area would be horrified to learn that the JCF funded the Tea Party,? she said. For college students, Skora said this research could be helpful for them to know where the funding is coming from ?when they?re fighting against groups such as Students Supporting Israel, the Israel on Campus Coalition, or even just right-wing groups associated with their local Hillel [chapter].? ?These groups that claim to speak for the interests of Jews on campus are in fact representing the Israeli state, and they have the right-wing funding to do it.? Listen to the interviews with Radhika Sainath and Stephanie Skora via the media player above. /Theme music and production assistance by Sharif Zakout/ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 18 10:45:22 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 07:45:22 -0700 Subject: [News] Smith and Carlos embodied many African Americans' Summer of Love and Reckoning Message-ID: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/oct/17/smith-and-carlos-embodied-many-african-americans-summer-of-love-and-reckoning Smith and Carlos embodied many African Americans' Summer of Love and Reckoning Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - October 17, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the summer of 1967, 100,000 fashion-forward and social-forward youth gathered in San Francisco in what has famously been called the Summer of Love . Similar gatherings occurred throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, all in an effort to reject the Vietnam War, consumerism, and governments who had proven less than forthright, while promoting the ideals of love, kindness, and compassion. The Summer of Love has been branded and celebrated as a symbol of the 60s. African Americans had another name for that summer: the Long, Hot Summer of 1967 . During that time, 150 black communities burned in riots, with 26 people killed in Newark, New Jersey, and 43 in Detroit . By the following summer, Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Bobby Kennedy, two guiding lights in civil rights, had been assassinated . Black people were not feeling the love. That?s the context for the 1968 Summer Olympics when, 50 years ago this week, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their gloved fists from the podium in Mexico City, medals dangling from their necks, while the US national anthem played. To many African Americans, /that/ was the Summer of Love ? and Pride, and Reckoning. I was 20 when this happened. I?d been invited to join the Olympic men?s basketball team and had anguished about it for weeks. I gathered with several other black athletes to discuss our misgivings with sociology professor Dr Harry Edwards, who urged us to boycott the Games. We discussed the turmoil in the cities and the systemic oppression. The Vietnam War was also on our minds. We were the same age as many of the soldiers fighting and dying. One Air Force report confirmed what black soldiers already knew: ?Unequal treatment is manifested in unequal punishment, offensive and inflammatory language, prejudice in assignments of details, lack of products for blacks at the PX, harassment by security police under orders to break up five or more blacks in a group and double standards in enforcement of regulation.? Military discrimination had harsh consequences: by 1966 over 20% of US combat casualties in Vietnam were black, which was a much higher percentage than the total of blacks in the military. We had a lively debate, with some athletes explaining that this might be their only chance to compete at this level. Dr Edwards was for the boycott. As he later told the New York Times Magazine: ?For years we have participated in the Olympic Games , carrying the United States on our backs with our victories, and race relations are now worse than ever ? [I]t?s time for the black people to stand up as men and women and refuse to be utilized as performing animals for a little extra dog food.? In the end, we decided that a mass boycott wasn?t the answer. Given the rampant racism of the time, I couldn?t see me competing to glorify the country that was working so hard to keep black Americans from having their constitutional rights. The hypocrisy didn?t sit right with me. Instead, I took a job in my hometown of New York City, teaching basketball to inner-city kids. Fast forward to 16 October 1968. Smith and Carlos, after winning first and third in the 200m dash, raised their black-gloved fists from the medal podium and bowed their heads during the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner. It was a shout-out heard ?round the world. The reaction wasn?t just a matter of race: conservative whites and blacks were disgusted and liberal blacks and whites were elated. Jesse Owens had been sent to talk to the black athletes before the games to dissuade them from showing any form of protest. He was angry that it hadn?t worked. Some blacks thought that such overt displays of frustration and anger only goaded racist America to justify their bigotry. Others, in contrast, were convinced that civility and manners had resulted in very little progress. For me, the sight of those two proud athletes raising their fists to call attention to social injustices, knowing they would face death threats and probable expulsion from the Games, made my heart swell. The public backlash only proved their point: on one hand, you had voter suppression, police brutality, poverty, starving children, lesser education, lesser job opportunities, and a government doing very little to change it. On the other hand, you had people worried that their enjoyment of a sporting event was momentarily ?ruined? because someone silently expressed a shameful truth. Sadly, here we are 50 years later facing some of the same shameful truths and witnessing some of the same shameful reactions. Tommie and John came home heroes to the millions of Americans who they had spoken up for and villains to the millions they had spoken to. The outspoken athletes of today ? like Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Steph Curry, and many others ? face the same hostility from good people who are just ignorant of the facts, from those who are terrified of the gradual browning of America, and from those who profit from social disparity. They already have a voice in the White House under the most dishonest, racist, and reactionary administration in modern history . We all long for the day when no athlete will raise a gloved fist or take a knee or wear a t-shirt that says, ?I can?t breathe.? But most of us want that day to come about because there?s no more need for those gestures, because America has finally committed to following its own Constitution. Until that day ? well, you know. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 18 11:34:23 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 08:34:23 -0700 Subject: [News] Lockheed and Loaded: How the Maker of Junk Fighters Came to Have Full-Spectrum Dominance Over the Defense Industry Message-ID: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/18/lockheed-and-loaded-how-the-maker-of-junk-fighters-like-the-f-22-and-f-35-came-to-have-full-spectrum-dominance-over-the-defense-industry/ Lockheed and Loaded: How the Maker of Junk Fighters Like the F-22 and F-35 Came to Have Full-Spectrum Dominance Over the Defense Industry by Jeffrey St. Clair - October 18, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lockheed-Martin is headquartered in the Bethesda, Maryland. No, the defense titan doesn?t have a bomb-making factory in this toney Beltway suburb. But as the nation?s top weapons contractor, it migrated to DC from southern California because that?s where the money is. And Lockheed rakes it in from the federal treasury at the rate of $65 million every single day of the year. From nuclear missiles to fighter planes, software code to spy satellites, the Patriot missile to Star Wars, Lockheed has come to dominate the weapons market in a way that the Standard Oil Company used to hold sway over the nation?s petroleum supplies. And it all happened with the help of the federal government, which steered lucrative no bid contracts Lockheed?s way, enacted tax breaks that encouraged Lockheed?s merger and acquisition frenzy in the 1980s and 1990s and turned a blind eye to the company?s criminal rap sheet, ripe with indiscretions ranging from bribery to contract fraud. Now Lockheed stands almost alone. It not only serves as an agent of US foreign policy, from the Pentagon to the CIA; it also helps shape it. ?We are deployed entirely in developing daunting technology,? Lockheed?s new CEO Robert J. Stevens told the New York Times report Tim Weiner. ?That requires thinking through the policy dimensions of national security as well as technological dimensions.? Like many defense industry executives, Stevens is a former military man who cashed in his Pentagon career for a lucrative position in the private sector. The stern-jawed Stevens served in the Marines and later taught at the Pentagon?s Defense Systems Management College, an institution which offers graduate level seminars in how to design billion dollar weapons deals. From the Marines, Stevens landed first at Loral, the defense satellite company. Then in 1993 he went to work at Lockheed, heading its ?Corporate Strategic Development Program?. There Stevens wrote the gameplan for how Lockheed would soar past Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and the others, as the top recipient of Pentagon largesse. The plan was as simple as it proved profitable. Instead of risking the competition of the marketplace, Lockheed, under Stevens? scheme, would target the easy money: federal contracts. The strategy was also straightforward: flood the congress with PAC money to get and keep grateful and obedient members in power. Those friendly members of congress would also be surrounded by squads of lobbyists to develop and write legislation and insert Lockheed-friendly line items into the bloated appropriations bills that fund the government. It also called for seeding the Pentagon and the White House with Lockheed loyalists, many of whom formerly worked for the company. ?We need to be politically aware and astute,? said Stevens. ?We need to work with the congress. We need to work with the executive branch. We need to say: we think this is feasible, we think this is possible. We think we have invented a new approach.? The scheme succeeded brilliantly. By the end of the 1990s, Lockheed had made the transition from an airplane manufacturer with defense contracts to a kind of privatized supplier for nearly every Pentagon weapons scheme, from the F-22 fighter to the Pentagon?s internet system. Then 9/11 happened and the federal floodgates for spending on national security, airline safety and war making opened wide and haven?t closed. Lockheed has been the prime beneficiary of this gusher of federal money. Since September 2001, the Pentagon?s weapons procurement program has soared by more than $20 billion, from $60 billion to $81 billion in 2004. Lockheed?s revenues over the same time period jumped by a similar 30 percent. And, despite the recession and slumping Dow, the company?s stock tripled in value. Almost all of this profiteering came courtesy of the federal treasury. More than 80 percent of Lockheed?s revenues derives directly from federal government contracts. And most of the rest comes from foreign military sales to Israel, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Chile. Israel alone spends $1.8 billion a year on planes and missile systems purchased from Lockheed. Lockheed sells its weaponry, from F-16 fighters to surveillance software, to more than 40 nations. ?We?re looking at world domination of the market,? gloated Bob Elrod, a senior executive in Lockheed?s fighter plane division. And there?s little risk involved. Nearly all of these sales are guaranteed by the US government. After 9/11, Bush tapped Lockheed?s Stevens to lead his presidential commission on the Future of the US Aerospace Industry, a body which, not surprisingly, wasted little time pounding home the importance of sluicing even more federal dollars in the form of defense and air traffic control contracts to companies such as Lockheed. But Stevens? position was just the icing on a very sweet cake. Former Lockheed executives and lobbyists toil every day on behalf of the defense giant from the inside the administration and the Pentagon. At the very top of the list is Steven J. Hadley, who replaced Condoleezza Rice as Bush?s National Security Advisor. Prior to joining the Bush administration, Hadley represented Lockheed at the giant DC law firm of Shea and Gardner. Other Lockheed executives have been appointed to the Defense Policy Board and the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Bush?s Transportation Secretary, Norman Mineta, and Otto Reich, the former deputy Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, both once worked as Lockheed lobbyists. But the revolving door swings both ways for Lockheed. On its corporate board reposes E.C. Aldridge, Jr. Before retiring from the Defense Department, Aldridge served as the head of the Pentagon?s weapon procurement program and signed the contracts with Lockheed to build the F-22, the world?s most expensive airplane. When insiders don?t get you everything you need, there?s always political bribery. In the US, politicians who serve Lockheed?s interests get annual dispensations of cooperate swill courtesy of the company?s mammoth political action committee. Each year Lockheed?s corporate PAC doles out more than $1 million, mainly to members of the crucial defense and appropriations committees. Overseas, the Lockheed has often resorted to a direct bribe of government officials. In the 1970s, Lockheed famously handed out $12.5 million in bribes to Japanese officials (and organized crime figures) to secure the sale of 21 Tristar aircraft to Nippon Airlines. The ensuing scandal brought down Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, who was convicted of being on the receiving end of Lockheed?s payola. Even though the imbroglio lead the enactment of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 which set stiff penalties for bribery, Carl Kochian, Lockheed?s CEO at the time, defended the practice of handing out covert cash inducements as a cost-effective way of securing billions in contracts for the company. Bribery was just a cost of doing big business. And indeed the Corrupt Practices Act didn?t deter Lockheed from handing out financial incentives to foreign officials to speed things along. In the 1990s, Lockheed admitted to stuffing the pockets of an Egyptian official with $1.2 million dollars in order to grease the sale of three Lockheed-made C-130 transport planes to the Egyptian military. The clunky old C-130 Hercules continues to bring millions to Lockheed, which sells the cargo plane to Jordan, Egypt and Israel. But the biggest profits continue to derive from sales to the Pentagon, even though the latest model of the transport has been plagued with operational problems and cost overruns. Of course, in the funhouse economics of defense contracts ?cost over-runs? simply mean more millions in taxpayer money going into the accounts of the very defense contractors that performed the untimely or shoddy work in the first place. Since 1999, the Air Force has purchased 50 of the new C-130J prop planes from Lockheed. But none of these planes have performed well enough to allow the Air Force to put them into service. An audit of the C-130 contract by the Inspector General of the Air Force revealed a host of problems with the new plane that had been gilded over by Lockheed and Pentagon weapons buyers. One of the biggest problems with the plane is an ineptly designed propeller system that keeps the C-130 from being flown in bad weather. The C-130J is powered by six-propellers covered in composite material that becomes pitted or even dissolves under sleet, hail or even heavy rain. Ironically, many of the first batch of planes were delivered to an Air Force reserve unit in Biloxi, Mississippi, where they were supposed to function as ?Hurricane Hunters,? plying through thunderstorms and heavy winds in search of the eye of the storm. The planes proved useless for the task. As a result, most of the C-130Js have been used only for pilot training. ?The government fielded C-130J aircraft that cannot perform their intended mission, which forces the users to incur additional operations and maintenance costs to operate and maintain older C-130 mission-capable aircraft because the C-130J aircraft can be used only for training,? the IG audit concluded. Nevertheless, the Air Force paid Lockheed 99 percent of the contract price for the useless planes. ?This is yet another sad chapter in the history of bad Pentagon weapons systems acquisitions,? said Eric Miller, a senior Defense Investigator at the Project on Government Oversight. ?For years, the Air Force has known it was paying too much for an aircraft that doesn?t do what it?s supposed to. Yet it has turned a blind eye. The aircrews who have to fly these aircraft should be very angry. They?ve been betrayed by the very government that should be ensuring that the weapons they receive are safe and effective.? The profits from the C-130 are a mere pittance compared to what Lockheed stands to make from its contracts to produce the two costliest airplanes ever envisioned: the Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor. The Joint Strike Fighter, also known as the F-35, is slated to replace the venerable F-16. Even though the initial designs for the F-35 proved faulty (there continue to be intractable problems with the weight of the plane), the Pentagon, under prodding from influential members of Congress, awarded the Lockheed a $200 billion contract to build nearly 2,000 of the still unairworthy planes. Lockheed plans to sell another 2,500 planes at a sticker price of $38 million apiece to other nations, starting with Great Britain. Once again, most of these sales will be underwritten by US government loans. The F-35 contract was awarded on October 16, 2001. Already, costs have soared by $45 billion over the initial estimate with no end in sight. But the F-22 Raptor stands in a class of its own. With a unit price of more than $300 million per plane, the Raptor is the most expensive fighter jet ever designed. One congressional staffer dubbed it, ?Tiffany?s on wings.? Conceived in the 1980s to penetrate deep into the airspace of the Soviet Union, the F-22 has no function these days, except to keep a slate of defense contractors in business, from Lockheed, which runs the project, to Boeing which designed the wings to Pratt-Whitney which designed the huge jet engines. The F-22 was supposed to be operational a decade ago. But the latest incarnation of the plane continues to suffer severe problems in fight testing. Its onboard computer system is mired with glitches and its Stealth features haven?t prevented the plane from popping up ?like a fat strawberry? on radar. Even worse, several test pilots have gotten dizzy to the point of nearly passing out while trying to put the fighter through evasive maneuvers at high altitudes. Even so, the doomed project moves forward, consuming millions every week, and no one with the power to do so seems to show the slightest inclination to pull the plug. * * * By one account, Lockheed garners $228 in federal tax money from every household in the US each year. But when it comes time to paying taxes Lockheed pleads poverty. By taking advantage of a bevy designer loopholes, Lockheed?s legion of accountants has reduced the corporation?s annual tax liability to a mere 7 percent of its net income. By comparison, the average federal tax rate for individuals in the US is around 25 percent. Of course, these kinds of special dispensations don?t come cheaply. Lockheed spends more money lobbying congress than any other defense contractor. In 2004, a banner year for the company, it spent nearly $10 million on more than 100 lobbyists to prowl the halls of congress, keeping tabs on appropriations bills, oversight hearings and tax committees. Over the past five years, only Philip Morris and GE spent more money lobbying congress. With Lockheed, it?s sometimes difficult to discern whether it?s taking advantage of US foreign policy or shaping it. Take the Iraq war. Lockheed?s former vice-president, Bruce Jackson, headed an ad hoc group called the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. This coven of corporate executives, think tank gurus and retired generals includes such war-mongering luminaries as Richard Perle, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Gen. Wayne Downing and former CIA director James Woolsey. The Washington Post reported that group?s goal was to ?promote regional peace, political freedom and international security through replacement of the Saddam Hussein regime with a democratic government that respects the rights of the Iraqi people and ceases to threaten the community of nations.? This supposedly independent body seems to have gotten its marching orders from inside the Bush White House. Jackson and others met repeatedly with Karl Rove and Steven Hadley, Condoleezza?s Rice?s number two at the National Security Council and a former Lockheed lobbyist. The group eventually got a face-to-face meeting with the dark lord himself, Dick Cheney. After meeting with White House functionaries, members of the Committee would fan out on cable news shows and talk radio to inflame the fever for war against Saddam. Jackson has long enjoyed close ties to the Bush inner circle. In 2000, he chaired the Republican Party?s platform committee on National Security and Foreign Policy and served as a top advisor to the Bush campaign. Naturally, the platform statement ended up reading like catalogue of Lockheed weapons systems. At the top of the list, the RNC platform pledged to revive and make operational the $80 billion Missile Defense program supervised by Lockheed. In 2002, the Bush administration called on Jackson to help drum up support in Eastern Europe for the war on Iraq. When Poland and Hungary came on board, Jackson actually drafted their letter supporting an invasion of Iraq. His company was swiftly rewarded for his efforts. In 2003, Poland purchased 50 of Lockheed?s F-16 fighters for $3.5 billion. The sale was underwritten by a $3.8 billion loan from the Bush administration. Lockheed also made out quite nicely from the Iraq war itself. It?s F-117 Stealth fighters inaugurated the start of the war with the ?Shock and Awe? bombing of Baghdad. Later, the Pentagon stepped up orders of Lockheed?s PAC 3 Patriot missile. The missile batteries, designed for use against SCUD missiles that Iraq no longer possessed, sell for $91 million per unit. After the toppling of Saddam, Lockheed executives saw an opportunity to gobble up one of the big private contractors doing business in Iraq, Titan Corporation. The San Diego-based company was awarded a $10 million contract to provide translators for the Pentagon in Iraq. Two of those translators, Adel Nakhl and John Israel, were later accused of being involved in the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. Titan translators, who are paid upwards of $107,000 a year, were also implicated in a scandal at Guantanamo prison. Like Lockheed, after 9/11 Titan jettisoned almost all of its commercial operations and began to focus entirely on government work. By 2003, 99 percent of its $1.8 billion in corporate income came courtesy of government contracts. The firm also went on a buying spree of other smaller defense contractors. Since 2001, Titan gobbled up ten other defense-related companies. The most lucrative acquisition proved to be BMG, Inc., a Reston, Virginia based company that specializes in information collection and analysis for the Pentagon and the CIA. BMG alone held Pentagon contracts worth $650 million. The abuse scandals didn?t deter Lockheed from pursuing Titan. Indeed, Christopher Kubasik, Lockheed?s chief financial officer, told the Los Angeles Times that the torture allegations ?were not significant to our strategic decision.? The merger was later delayed for other reasons by the Justice Department, which was looking into allegations that Titan executives and subsidiaries paid bribes to government officials in Africa, Asia and Europe in order to win contracts?a method of doing business that Lockheed executives must have admired. Titan, which was formed amid the Reagan defense build up of the early 1980s, saw itself as a new kind of defense contractor, a weapons company that didn?t make weapons. Instead of building missiles or planes, Titan concentrated on developing software and communication packages for Pentagon programs. Its first big contract was for the development of a communications package for the guidance system of the Minuteman missile. Since then Titan has become a major player in the lucrative information technology market. In recent years, Lockheed has begun to aggressively pursue the same types of ?soft defense? programs. In the past decade, Lockheed?s Information Technology sales have increased by more than four hundred percent. The bonanza began during the Clinton administration, when Al Gore?s ?reinventing government? scheme auctioned off most of the data-management tasks of the federal government to the private sector. Now nearly 90 percent of the federal government?s Information Technology has been privatized, most of it to Lockheed, which is not only the nation?s top arms contractor but also its top data-management supplier. This opened vast new terrains of the government to conquest by Lockheed. It now enjoys contracts with the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Energy and EPA. Lockheed also just corralled a $550 million contract to take over the Social Security Administration?s database. The privatization of Social Security has already begun. But even in the IT sector, the big bucks are to be made in the burgeoning surveillance and Homeland Security business. Lockheed now runs the FBI?s archaic computer system, which took some much deserved heat for letting the 9/11 hijackers slip through its net without detection. It also won the $90 million contract to manage the top secret computer network for the Department of Homeland Security, a system that is supposed to function as a kind of ?deep web?, linking the systems of the FBI, CIA and Pentagon. All of this is a precursor to even bigger plans hatched by Lockheed and its pals in the Pentagon to develop an all-encompassing spying system called the Global Information Grid, an internet system that is meant to feed real time tracking information on terrorists suspects directly into automated weapons systems, manufactured, naturally, by Lockheed. ?We want to know what?s going on anytime, any place on the planet,? pronounced Lorraine Martin, Lockheed?s vice-president for Command, Control and Communications Systems. And eliminate them, naturally. On the battlefield of defense contractors, Lockheed has now achieved full-spectrum dominance. /This is adapted from a chapter in Grand Theft Pentagon ./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 18 11:41:54 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 08:41:54 -0700 Subject: [News] Israeli defense minister wants war to keep Gaza under siege Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israeli-defense-minister-wants-war-keep-gaza-under-siege Israeli defense minister wants war to keep Gaza under siege Maureen Clare Murphy - 17 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Israel must launch another war on Gaza to enforce its blockade on the territory, defense minister Avigdor Lieberman told reporters on Tuesday. Lieberman?s comments came the day before Israel launched a series of airstrikes in retaliation for a rocket fired from Gaza that badly damaged a house in the city of Beersheba. Lieberman also ordered the closing of crossings between Gaza and Israel and reduced the permitted fishing zone off of Gaza?s coast to three nautical miles ? decisions described by the human rights group Gisha as ?deliberate punishment of the residents of Gaza for no fault of their own.? The health ministry in Gaza said that one Palestinian was killed as a result of an airstrike in the north of the territory. Three others were reported injured in Israeli attacks in Gaza?s southern and central districts. The Israeli air force published a video showing the moment when Naji Muhammad al-Zaanin, 25, was killed in northern Gaza: The military claimed that the video shows it striking at a squad attempting to launch rockets into Israel. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two Palestinian resistance factions, denied any involvement in the rocket fire, which they said aimed to torpedo ongoing international efforts to broker a long-term ceasefire with Israel in exchange for the lifting of the siege on Gaza. But as factions in Gaza have continued to seek a negotiated way out, Israeli leaders continue to beat war drums. ?When Hamas says that it?s going to continue rioting on the border until there?s an end to the blockade, we need to accept that as it is, without interpretations,? Lieberman stated during a Tuesday press conference at Re?im military base, located to the east of the Gaza Strip. Lieberman ordered a halt to fuel deliveries to Gaza on Friday after several Palestinians crossed into Israel from Gaza during protests. On Saturday he stated that ?As long as the violence doesn?t come to a complete stop in the Gaza Strip, including the dispatch of incendiary balloons and burning tires across from Israeli settlements, there will be no renewal of fuel and gas deliveries to the Gaza Strip.? The United Nations has been mediating efforts to ensure the delivery of fuel to stave off a collapse of essential services in Gaza, with several trucks of Qatari-funded fuel delivered to the Strip last week . ?Since we?ve allowed the United Nations to bring fuel [into Gaza], we have only gotten high-profile violence,? Lieberman said on Tuesday, insisting that lifting the economic blockade, now in its 11th year, ?has one meaning ? allowing Hizballah members and Iranians into Gaza.? He called on Israel?s security cabinet to ?land a strong blow? against Hamas ? even if it risks a ?wide-scale confrontation? ? to crush mass protests held along Gaza?s eastern boundary over the past six months. The primary call of the Great March of Return protests has been to end to Israel?s siege and support Palestinian refugees? right to return to the lands now inside Israel from which their families were expelled. Every two in three Palestinians in Gaza, which has a population of around two million, is a registered refugee. Israel?s blockade has thrust Gaza?s population into poverty and the United Nations has repeatedly warned that the Strip will become an ?unlivable place? by the year 2020 if underlying conditions aren?t reversed. The International Committee of the Red Cross has affirmed that the siege ?constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel?s obligations under international humanitarian law.? ?To me, there?s only one formula: reconstruction in return for disarmament,? Lieberman stated Tuesday. If his view prevails ? in which resistance groups in Gaza must in effect surrender in exchange for basic humanitarian needs to be met ? then the chances of a durable truce would appear slim. Netanyahu?s threats Lieberman?s comments on Tuesday echoed threats made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu days earlier. ?If they don?t stop the attacks against us, they will be stopped in a different way and it will be painful ? very painful,? Netanyahu said of Hamas during a security cabinet meeting on Sunday. ?We are very close to a different kind of activity, an activity that will include very powerful blows. If it has sense, Hamas will stop firing and stop these violent disturbances, now.? Israeli media have reported that defense officials have told the security cabinet that a large-scale confrontation in Gaza is not necessary. But soldiers deployed along the Gaza perimeter are being commanded to ?respond more forcefully? to protesters this coming Friday. A senior military official told the Israeli daily /Haaretz/ that a major operation in Gaza, where health and water and sanitation infrastructure are on the verge of collapse, would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. This would make it impossible for Israel ?to fight without being barraged by international criticism,? according to the newspaper. Israel?s army wants to hold off on a major military confrontation until the end of next year, when the building of infrastructure intended to thwart tunnels underneath the Gaza boundary is due to be completed. More than 160 Palestinians have been killed during the Great March of Return protests, including 33 children. On Tuesday Gaza?s health ministry announced that Saddam Abu Shalash, 27, died from injuries sustained during protests north of Beit Lahia one day earlier. More than 30 Palestinians were injured by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces during Monday?s protest. Demonstrators cut through the boundary fence at Israel?s Zikim beach and raised a Palestinian flag over it on Monday. Palestinian media also reported that protesters cut through the boundary fence east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday: ???? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??????? ??? ??? ????? ????? ??? ????????? ?? ??? ???? ????????. ?????: ???? ???? pic.twitter.com/RibguMF0Rc ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 16, 2018 Explosives were used to blow open a gate at the boundary fence at the same location: ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 16, 2018 ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 16, 2018 Prior to the strikes early Wednesday, Israeli warplanes repeatedly fired on Gaza this week , the army claiming it was responding to groups planting explosive devices along the boundary and launching flaming kites into Israel. The Israeli military confirmed that snipers shot a Palestinian at point-blank range during protests last Friday after several demonstrators approached the boundary fence under the cover of smoke from burning tires and set off an explosion that made a hole in the fence. Paratroopers fired shots toward the group of protesters, dispersing all but three who moved towards a snipers? position. ?Two of them were shot immediately and the third Palestinian reached the sandy mound where the snipers were positioned,? /Haaretz/ reported. ?The [military] investigation describes how one of them shot him from point blank range and that a knife was found on his body.? Palestinian killed in West Bank Meanwhile Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank on Monday. The military claimed that Elias Yassin, 22, was attempting a stabbing attack when soldiers opened fire on him in the Barkan industrial settlement, where two Israelis were killed earlier in the month by a Palestinian coworker who remains at large. No Israelis were injured in Monday?s incident. Seven Israelis and eight Palestinian assailants and alleged assailants have been killed in the context of alleged attacks since the beginning of the year. On Tuesday Israeli occupation forces raided the home of Yassin?s family in the village of Bidya in the northern West Bank. Bidya is also the place of residence of Ayesha Muhammad al-Rabi, who died after suspected Israeli settlers stoned the car in which she and her family were traveling last Friday. Israel?s domestic intelligence apparatus has reportedly launched an investigation into the woman?s slaying, though a gag order has been placed on the probe. Al-Rabi?s death was condemned by US officials as well as Nickolay Mladenov, the UN?s Middle East envoy. My thoughts & prayers are with Mrs. Aysha al-Rabi?s 8 children & husband. Mrs. al-Rabi was killed when her car was struck by a stone thrown onto the roadway. An investigation into this reprehensible act is ongoing. ? Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) October 15, 2018 I condemn this Friday?s attack in the #WestBank in which a #Palestinian woman was killed and her husband injured by stones allegedly thrown by #Israeli assailants. Those responsible must be swiftly brought to justice. I urge all to stand up to violence and terror. ? Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) October 14, 2018 UN Envoy @nmladenov condemns Friday's attack in #WestBank in which #Palestine woman, #AishaAlRabi , was killed by stones allegedly thrown by Israeli assailants. Notes that an investigation was initiated & calls on #Israel 2 ensure that those responsible r swiftly brought 2 justice pic.twitter.com/czdiTVfFxB ? UNSCO (@UNSCO_MEPP) October 14, 2018 Israeli tourism minister Yariv Levin, however, described the slaying of the mother of eight as a ?scrap of an incident? and pointed to what he called the hypocrisy of those who condemned it. ?Terror incidents of stone throwing happen every day; not only don?t they condemn the matter, they give the feeling that it is okay because we are ?occupiers,?? Levin stated. ?It is quite galling that it takes an incident like this in relation to a Palestinian vehicle for it [stone throwing] to be raised on the agenda.? The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently said that settler violence was on the rise since the beginning of the year, ?with a weekly average of five attacks resulting in injuries or property damage, compared with an average of three in 2017 and two in 2016.? The day before al-Rabi was killed, the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din published video of settlers from Yitzhar stoning Palestinian cars on a road near the Palestinian village of Burin in the northern West Bank as soldiers looked on without intervening. That incident took place about four miles north of the Zaatara checkpoint where al-Rabi?s car was stoned. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 18 11:49:10 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 08:49:10 -0700 Subject: [News] Press Release by Joint the Palestinian Resistance Factions on Israeli Attacks on Gaza Message-ID: http://imemc.org/article/press-release-by-joint-operation-room-of-the-palestinian-resistance-factions-on-israeli-attacks-on-gaza/ Press Release by Joint Operation Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions on Israeli Attacks on Gaza October 17, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /On the heels of the Israeli arbitrary bombardment on the Gaza Strip, this morning, the Joint Operation Room of the Palestinian Factions state the following, Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency has reported:/ The Palestinian people have been involved in their peaceful battle against the Israeli occupation through the Great Return March, and we, in the Joint Operation Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions, stand with our people who gather on a weekly basis to strive for their freedom and get their legitimate demands. We, in the armed wings of the Palestinian factions, state that all factions will fight off the Israeli attempts to stop the mass peaceful protests by imposing strict rules of engagement. The Joint Operation Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions lauds the efforts exerted by Egypt to serve the Palestinians achieve their legitimate demands, and we reject any other attempt to undermine the Egyptian endeavors, including the launch of a rockets took place last night . We explicitly stress that the armed wings of the Palestinian factions are prepared to defend the Palestinian people against any Israeli attacks, as we are nationally held responsible for the safety and security of our people. At the same time, our guns will remain aimed at the face of our enemy. /~The Joint Operation Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions/ /*10/17/18 Palestinian Killed as Israeli Military Drops Multiple Bombs in Gaza */ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 18 12:01:18 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 09:01:18 -0700 Subject: [News] At least one Gazan is killed by Israel every single day Message-ID: Euro-Med: 'At least one Gazan is killed every single day' Oct. 18, 2018 - http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=781511 BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) --The Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med) said that Israeli forces caused injuries to one in every 100 Palestinians as Gaza protests conclude 200 days and called on the international community to exert serious pressure on Israel to end its targeting of Palestinian demonstrators. Euro-Med said in a statement "The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor calls on the international community to exert serious pressure to put an end to the targeting of Palestinian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip and to protect their right to peaceful assembly." Euro-Med also called on "all parties concerned to exert pressure on Israel to lift its blockade affecting every aspect of Gaza?s largely civilian population." Euro-Med described the continued use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian protesters at the Israel-Gaza fence as "deeply shocking," noting that in the 200 days of protests, Gaza lost 205 residents. Euro-Med Monitor said that at least "one Palestinian is killed every single day," further noting that "in every 100 Gazans, one injury was recorded." "Despite the fact that the protesters were mostly unarmed civilians and did not in most cases pose a credible threat, the Israeli forces met them with lethal force, including by live fire and explosive bullets, as well as toxic gas and tear gas." In addition, 69 of those injured, 14 of whom were children, suffered permanent disability, according to the latest statistics by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Euro-Med stressed "Israel's response to protests violates the principles of international human rights law; that is, despite the fact that protests have largely been peaceful, Israeli soldiers killed 205 people, including five women and 38 children, while also injuring 22,527 others, 18% of whom are children." "The Israeli authorities continue to impose a relentlessly suffocating blockade that has left civilians unaccounted for, simply as collateral damage to a policy of collective punishment." "The Israeli forces targeted Palestinians indiscriminately." Euro-Med said "Neither medical teams nor journalists were spared; three medical personnel have been killed and 409 others wounded by live ammunition and tear gas canisters since the beginning of demonstrations. In addition, 84 ambulances and medical tents have been targeted using gas bombs." Sarah Pritchett, Euro-Med's spokesperson, said "The Israeli soldiers deliberately caused the greatest harm they could to civilians, added Pritchett, stating that, in light of the international community's failure to take concrete steps to end the Gaza crisis, Israeli soldiers continue to target Gazans with impunity." Pritchett emphasized "The targeting of civilians while exercising their right to peaceful assembly, guaranteed by Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, cannot be justified, and violates the protection accorded to them as civilians - in accordance with Article III of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits attacks on persons not taking part in hostilities." She added "The targeting of medical staff and journalists also contravenes international humanitarian law, specifically articles 15 and 79 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, which stipulate that medical, journalistic and civilian personnel must be respected and protected." -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 19 12:32:31 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 09:32:31 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Israeli_Human_Rights_Violations_in_the_Occupied?= =?utf-8?q?_Palestinian_Territory_=2811_=E2=80=93_17_October_2018=29?= Message-ID: http://imemc.org/article/pchr-weekly-report-on-israeli-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-11-17-october-2018/ Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11 ? 17 October 2018) 34-43 minutes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against unarmed civilians and peaceful protestors in the Gaza Strip. 8 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were killed in the Gaza Strip. 310 civilians, including 62 children, 9 women, 7 journalists and 2 paramedics, were wounded; 11 of them sustained serious wounds./ *_Shooting:_* Israeli forces continued to use lethal force against Palestinian civilians, who participated in peaceful demonstrations organized within the activities of the ?Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege? in the Gaza Strip, which witnessed for the 29^th ?week in a row peaceful demonstrations along the eastern and northern Gaza Strip border area. During the reporting period, the Israeli forces killed 8 Palestinian civilians, including a child, and wounded 310 civilians, including 62 children, 9 women, 7 journalists, and 2 paramedics.? The injury of 11 of them was reported serious.? Moreover, 4 civilians, including 3 national security officers, were wounded during Israeli airstrikes.? In the West Bank, a Palestinian civilian was killed while a woman was killed by settlers in addition to 10 Palestinians wounded by the Israeli forces, including a journalist. In the Gaza Strip, , the Israeli forces killed 8 Palestinian civilians, including a child, during their participation in the Return and Breaking the Siege March.? On 12 Oxtober, they killed 7 civilians, including ?Afifi Mahmoud al-?Afifi (18) and Mohammed ?Issam ?Abbas (20) in eastern al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City; Ahmed Ibrahim al-Taweil (23), Mohammed ?Abdel Hafiz Isma?il (29), Ahmed Ahmed Abu Na?im (17) and ?Abdullah Burham al-Daghmah (25) in eastern al-Bureij in the central Gaza Strip, and Tamer Eyad Abu ?Ermanah (21) in al-Shokah village, east of Rafah City. Four of them were hit with bullets to the chest, 2 to the abdomen and 1 in the head. On 16 October 2018, the medical sources at the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia declared the death of Saddam Shlash (27) after succumbing to wounds he sustained during his participation in the Sea March in the northern Gaza Strip the day before.? Shlash was wounded with a bullet to the upper right thigh that cut the main artery. As part of the use of lethal force against the peaceful protestors along the border fence during the reporting period, Israeli forces wounded 310 civilians, including 62 children, 9 women, 7 journalists and 2 paramedics. Eleven of them sustained serious wounds. As part of targeting Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Sea, the Israeli forces continued to escalate their attacks against the Palestinian fishermen, pointing out to the ongoing Israeli policy of targeting their livelihoods.? On 17 October 2018, the Israeli authorities decided to reduce the area allowed for fishing to 3 nautical miles along the Gaza Strip shores as part of the Israeli policy to restrict fishermen and target their livelihoods.? During the reporting period, the Israeli forces opened fire 5 times at the fishermen; 3 incidents in the north-western Beit Lahia and 2 off al-Sudaniyah shore in western Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.? AS a result of those attacks, 2 fishermen who are also brothers were arrested after one of them sustained wounds while their boats sustained damage. As part of the Israeli airstrikes, on 14 October 2018, the Israeli drones launched a missile at the Palestinians who were walking at the end of the Girls Street, southeast of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, wounding one of them.? On 16 October, the Israeli drone launched a missile at a group of civilians in the aforementioned are, but no casualties were reported. On 17 October 2018, Israeli warplanes carried out many airstrikes in the Gaza Strip targeting military training sites for the Palestinian Armed Groups, a site belonging to the National Security Services and vacant lands. During the airstrikes, 17 air-to-surface missiles were launched resulting ion the injury of 3 Palestinian National Security Officers, including one sustained serious wounds. ?. As part of targeting the border areas, on 08 October 2018, the Israeli forces opened fire at the agricultural lands along eastern al-Shokah village, east of Rafah City in the southern Gaza Strip.? However, no casualties were reported. In the West Bank, as part of excessive use of force, on 15 October 2018, the Israeli forces killed Elias Yasin (22) from Bedia village, northwest of Salfit when he was crossing the traffic light on ?Aber al-Samerah Street, seemingly the traffic light was red and he rapidly crossed the street.? AS a result, an Israeli soldier opened fire at him and killed him immediately.? The Israeli forces claimed that Yasin attempted to stab soldiers so they opened fire at him without any of the soldiers being wounded.? The Israeli soldiers could have used, in case of suspicions about Yasin?s intent to stab, less lethal force and arrested him. During the reporting period, the Israeli forces wounded 10 Palestinian civilians, including a journalist. *_Incursions:_* During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 104 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 6 similar ones into Jerusalem and its suburbs. During those incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 80 Palestinians, including 7 children and 3 women, in the West Bank. Meanwhile, 10 other civilians, including 2 children and a girl, were arrested in Jerusalem and its suburbs. *_Israeli Forces continued to create a Jewish Majority in occupied East Jerusalem:_* As part of the Israeli house demolitions and notices, on 17 October 2018, the Israeli municipality demolished a house belonging to Khalil Za?atrah in al-Mukaber Mount neighbourhood, south of occupied East Jerusalem?s Old City under the pretext of non-licensing.?? The house was established 4 months ago and the municipality issued then a decision to demolish it, but the family resorted to the court and could delay the demolition and tried to obtain a license.? However, they were surprised with the municipality raiding he house and implementing the demolition decision without any prior warning.? The house sheltered 8 family members, including 5 children, and was built on an area on 100square meters and of sheets. *_Israeli Forces continued their settlement activities, and the settlers continued their attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property_* As part of demolition of houses and other civil objects, on 11 October 2018, the Israeli forces demolished 3 residential barracks built of tin plates, a residential tent, barrack, 2 livestock barns, a kitchen and a water tank in Kherbet al-Hadidiyah area in the northern Valleys, east of Tubas belonging to ?Omer Bsharat. On the same day, the Israeli forces levelled 5 dunums and uprooted 100 olive seedlings planted there in al-Khodor village, south of Bethlehem, belonging to Ibrahim Hamdan.? The land targeted is located between the settlements of /?Prophet Daniel? and ?Eli ?Azar?, /south of the city. On 17 October 2018, the Israeli forces demolished a house and water collection well in Um al-Shaqhan area near Kherbet Khelet al-Mayeh, east of Yata in southern Hebron.? The house belonging to Mahmoud Abu Taha and is built on area of 170 square meters while the well capacity was 100 cubic meters.? The house has been built for years and was fully constructed finally so the family of 24 members, including children, were moving their furniture to the house in order to live there. On the same day, the Israeli forces demolished a barrack built of tin plates on an area of 300 square meters and used for livestock breeding in Kherbet Ghwein to the west of al-Samou?a village, south of Hebron.? It should be noted that the barrack belonged to Shafiq al-Hawamdah. As part of the Israeli settlers? attacks against the Palestinians civilians and their property, on 12 October 2018, ?Ashah al-Rabi (47) was killed from Bedia villahe, northwest of Salfit, when the car her husband was driving was thrown with stones by a group of settlers at ?rihalim? settlement between the al-Sawiyah village and intersection of Za?tarah checkpoint, south of Nablus. In addition to the crime mentioned above, PCHR?s fieldworkers in the West Bank documented 8 attacks by settlers against the Palestinian civilians and their property.? The attacks resulted in the injury of 3 civilians with bruises and wounds after being beaten. Moreover, 540 olive trees and grape vines were damaged. *_Female Civilian Killed by Israeli Settlers, who threw Stones at her Car at Za?tarah Checkpoint, south of Nablus:_* * On Friday evening, 12 October 2018, a Palestinian female civilians was killed and her husband and daughter were very shocked after their car was stoned by Israeli settlers near Za?tarah checkpoint, south of Nablus, north of the West Bank. According to PCHR?s investigations, at approximately 23:00 on the same day, a group of settlers, who were at the intersection of /?Rahalim?/?settlement between al-Sawiyah village, and Za?tarah checkpoint, south of Nablus, threw stones at a Palestinian car driven by Ya?qoub Mahmoud al-Rabi (52) and his wife Aisha Mohammed Talal al-Rabi (47) along with their daughter Rama (9), from Bedia village, northwest of Salfit, as they were coming from Hebron. A big stone hit the right side of the front glass, broke the window and fall on Aisha?s head. As a result, Aisha suffered a severe bleeding from right side of the? head front and above the eyebrow. Aisha?s husband drove to Ebn Sina Polyclinic in Howarah village, but she was dead. Aisha was then transferred as a dead body to Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus. After medical examination, it was clear that the brain exited from the head front, causing Aisha?s death. Her husband and daughter were very shocked. Ya?qoub said to PCHR?s fieldworker that: /?I went to bring my wife, who was visiting our daughter in Hebron and were accompanied with our daughter Rama (9). After we crossed al-Sawiyah intersection near ?Rahalim? settlement, adjacent to Za?tarah checkpoint, We suddenly heard a scream in Hebrew language and then stones started hitting our car. A big stone broke the front glass and hit the head of my wife Aisha, but I did not know that she was wounded because she did not scream at all. I looked at her and found that she was bleeding. I called her name twice, but it seemed that she died immediately. Her head was covered with blood. My daughter Rama started screaming as I was calling her mother. I quickly crossed Za?tarah checkpoint and arrived at Ebn Sina Polyclinic in Howarah village. Doctors there confirmed that Aisha died because of the stone that hit her head.?/ *_Use of Force against Demonstrations in Protest against the U.S. President?s Decision to Recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel:_* Israeli forces continued its excessive use of lethal force against peaceful demonstration organized by Palestinian civilians in in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and it was named as ?The Great March of Return and Breaking Siege.? The demonstration was in protest against the U.S. President Donald Trump?s declaration to move the U.S. Embassy to it. According to PCHR fieldworkers? observations, the border area witnessed large participation by Palestinian civilians as the Israeli forces continued to use upon highest military and political echelons excessive force against the peaceful demonstrators, though the demonstration were fully peaceful. The demonstration was as follows during the reporting period: *_Gaza Strip:_* * On Friday evening, 11 October 2018, 5 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded, east of Malakah intersection, east of al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City. Moreover, another civilian was hit with a live bullet to the left thigh, east of Abu Safiyah hill, northeast of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. Doctors classified his injury as serious because the main artery was cut. * On Friday evening, 12 October 2018, thousands of Palestinian civilians swarmed to the Return encampments established by the Supreme National Authority for the Great March of Return and Breaking Siege, east of Abu Safiyah Hill in the northern Gaza Strip, Malakah intersection, east of Gaza City, east of al-Buraij in the central Gaza Strip, east of Khuza?ah village, east of Khan Younis, al-Shawkah village, east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Hundreds of civilians approached the? border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, set fire to tires and threw stones at Israeli forces. The Israeli forces opened fire and fired tear gas canisters at them. As a result, 7 civilians, including a child, were killed. Four of them were hit with live bullets to the chest, 2 to the abdomen and one in the head. Moreover, 225 civilians, including 42 children, 7 women, 4 journalists and a paramedic, were wounded on the same day and doctors classified 12 civilians? injuries as serious. * *In Gaza City: *Israeli forces killed ?Afifi Mahmoud ?Ata al-?Afifi (18) from al-Shati?a refugee camp? after firing a live bullet to the abdomen, and Mohammed ?Essam Mohammed ?Abbas (20), who was hit with a live bullet to the head. Moreover, 98 civilians, including 11 children, 3 women and a journalist, were wounded. Seventy three of them were hit with live bullets, 24 were hit with tear gas canisters and one civilian was hit with a rubber bullet. Doctors classified 3 civilians? injuries as serious. The wounded journalist was identified as Bilal Bassam ?Oudah al-Sabbagh (27) from al-Jala?a Street was hit with a live bullet to the right leg. * *The Central Gaza Strip: *Israeli forces killed 4 civilians, including a child, and wounded 37 others, including 7 children and one woman. Thirty of them were hit with live bullets and their shrapnel and 2 were hit with tear gas canisters during their participation in the March of Return and Breaking Siege, east of al-Buraij. Those killed were identified as: 1. Ahmed Ibrahim Zaki al-Tawil (23) from al-Nuseirat refugee camp was hit with a live bullet to the chest. 2. Mohammed Abdul Hafith Yusuf Ismail (29) from al-Buraij refugee camp was hit with a live bullet to the chest. 3. Ahmed Ahmed Abdullah Abu Na?im (17) from al-Nuseirat refugee camp was hit with a live bullet to the chest. And incised wound to the left arm. 4. Abdullah Barham Suleiman al-Daghmah (25) from ?Abasan al-Jadidah in Khan Younis was hit with a live bullet that penetrated the abdomen from the right side of the abdomen and exited the left side. * *Rafah City: *Israeli forces killed Tamer Eyad Mahmoud Abu ?Armanah (21) after they hit him with a live bullet to the chest. Moreover, 27 civilians, including 4 children and 3 women were hit with a live bullets and their shrapnel and 3 were hit with tear gas canisters during their participation in the March of Return and Breaking Siefe, east of al-Shawkah village, east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Doctors classified 4 civilians? injuries as serious. * *The Northern Gaza Strip:*?44 civilians, including 15 children and a journalist were wounded. Thirty sex of them were hit with live bullets and their shrapnel and 8 were hit with tear gas canisters. Doctors classified 2 civilian?s injury as serious. The wounded journalist identified as Safenaz Baker Mahmoud al-Louh (29), who works as a reporter and a photographer at Amad News Network, from Sheikh Redwan neighborhood was hit with a tear gas canister. * *Khan Younis: *24 civilians, including 5 children, 2 journalists and a paramedic, were wounded. Sixteen of them were hit with live bullets and their? shrapnel and 8 were hit with tear gas canisters. doctors classified 3 civilians? injury as serious. The wounded journalists were identified as: Mohammed Majed Ismail Abu Daqqah (22), a photojournalists at Sharq News Network was hit with a lie bullet to the 2 legs, and Ahmed Riyad Mohammed al-?Amoudi (29), a photographer at Palestine News Network. The wounded paramedic was identified as ?Ammar Abdul Karim Musalam Abu Hamad (35), who works at PRCS was hit with a? tear gas canister to the head. * On Sunday, 14 October 2018, a 26-year-old civilian was hit with a live bullet to the right foot during his participation in the March of Return activities established in the east of Malakah in al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City. * At approximately 15:30 on Monday, 15 October 2018, Israeli gunboats stationed offshore, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, opened fire and fired sound bombs at dozens of Palestinian civilians who were at the Return camp along the border coastal, adjacent to adjacent to ?Zikim? military base , northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. It should be noted that this is the 11th time for Palestinian boats to sail for Breaking the Siege. As a result, 71 civilians, including 17 children, 3 journalists and a female paramedic, were wounded. Forty two of them were hit with live bullets and their shrapnel and 29 were hit with tear gas canisters. Doctors classified the injury of Saddam al-?Abed Mohammed Shalash (27), from Jabalia, as serious where he was hit with a live bullet to the right thigh, causing a cut in the main artery. At approximately 21:50 on Tuesday, 16 October 2018, medical sources at the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia announced Saddam?s death. They carried out a surgery for him to stop the bleeding. Saddam was admitted to the ICU Department where he stayed until his death was announced. The wounded journalists were identified as: 1. Safenaz Baker Mahmoud al-Louh (28), a photojournalists and reporter at Amad News Network from Sheikh Redwan neighborhood in Gaza City, was hit with a live bullet shrapnel to the right arm. 2. Tha?er Khalid Fehmi Abu Rayash (24), a photojournalist at HIA Turkish News Agency from Beit Lahia, was hit with a live bullet shrapnel to the left hand and face. 3. Khalid Ayman Salim Salah (17), a reporter at Noor News Network from Khan Younis, was hit with a live bullet to both legs. The wounded paramedic identified as Habibah Mahmoud Abdul ?Aziz al-Sekafi (22), from Beit Lahia, was hit with a tear gas canister to the feet. * On Tuesday, 16 October 2018, 8 civilians, including 2 children, were wounded during their participation in the March of Return activities established in the east of al-Buraij in the central Gaza Strip. An ambulance belonging to PRCS sustained a shrapnel to the right side. *_West Bank:_* * At approximately 13:40 on Friday, 12 October 2018, Palestinian civilians and International activists organized a demonstration in the center of Kufur Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqiliyah and headed to the eastern entrance to the village, which has been closed for 15 years. The protestors chanted national slogans demanding end of occupation, condemning the Israeli decisions to demolish Khan al-Ahmer Bedouin Community deporting its residents and condemning the Israeli forces? crimes against Palestinian protestors at the eastern border in the Gaza Strip within the Marcg of Return and Breaking Siege activities. Several representatives of national factions and representatives of National Action Factions in the north of the West Bank and a number of foreign and Israeli activists participated in the demonstration. Israeli soldiers fired live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at them. As a result, 6 civilians were hit with rubber bullets. * Following the same Friday prayer, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders gathered on agricultural lands of al-Resan Mount area, west of Ras Karkar village, west of Ramallah in protest against the Israeli settlers? attempt to seize and confiscate the land. When the civilians arrived at the abovementioned area, the Israeli soldiers fired live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the protestors. As a result, a 21-year-old civilian was hit with a rubber bullet to the foot. * *_House Demolitions and Notices:_* * At approximately 05:00 on Wednesday, 17 October 2018, the Israeli Municipality demolished a residential house belonging to Khalil Za?atrah in al-Mokaber Mount, south of occupied East Jerusalem?s Old City under the pretext of non-licensing. Su?ad Za?artah, Khalil?s wife, said that the Israeli forces raided their house at dawn after surrounding it and forcing them to get out of the house without allowing them to vacate its content. She also said that: ?The Israeli forces ordered us to get out of the house. They pushed us and prevented us from taking our IDs, documents and other belongings. The Israeli Municipality staff vacate some furniture before demolishing the house while the Israeli bulldozers demolished another part of the house.? She added that the house was built 4 months ago and the Israeli Municipality issued a decision to demolish the house, but the family headed to the court and managed to delay the demolition and attempted to license the house. She said that on Wednesday morning, they were surprised with storming the house and demolishing it without a prior warning. The 100-square-meter house was sheltering 8 members, including 5 children. *_Settlement activities and attacks by settlers against Palestinian civilians and property_* *_Israeli forces? attack:_* * At approximately 05:30 on Thursday, 11 October 2018, Israeli forces accompanied with military vehicles, a vehicle of the Israeli Civil Administration and 2 bulldozers moved into Kherbit al-Hudaiydah in northern Jordan Valley, east of Tubas. The Israeli soldiers deployed between houses and the Israeli bulldozers demolished a house belonging to Omar ?Aref Mohamed Basharat, in addition to other civilian facilities belonging to him under the pretext of non-licensing. The material damage were identified as: o Three 100-square -meter barracks built of tin plates. o A 450-square -meter barrack used for breeding livestock. o A 30-square -meter residential tent. o A 40-square- meter kitchen. o Two 100-square-meter barns. o A water tank with a?capacity?1.5. * At approximately 07:00 on Thursday, an Israeli bulldozer leveled an agricultural land in al-Khadir village, south of Bethlehem, and uprooted dozens of olives seedlings. Ahmed Salah, a Coordinator in Colonization and Wall Resistance in al-Khadir village, said that the Israeli forces leveled 5 dunums of agricultural land belonging to Ibrahim Hamdan and uprooted 100 olive seedlings under the pretext of state property. The targeted land is located between ?/Prophet Daniel /? and ?/Eli Azar/? settlements, south of Bethlehem. * At approximately 10:00 on Monday, 15 October 2018, Israeli forces accompanied with military vehicles and a vehicle of the Israeli Civil Administration moved into Sosiyia village, south of Yatta, south of Hebron. The Israeli soldiers deployed between residential tents and detained Palestinian civilians while the Israeli Civil Administration staff confiscated excavation tools, electric engine and electric crane used for excavating a water well in the village. The confiscated tools belong to Husam Na?iem Hamamdah. The Israeli authorities claimed that the abovementioned area needs a prior permit for working in it from the Israeli security. * *_At_*?approximately 05:00 on Wednesday, 17 October 2018, Israeli forces accompanied with military vehicles, a vehicle of the Israeli Civil Administration, a digger, and a bulldozer moved into Um Shaqhan area near Kherbet Khelet al-Mayyah, east of Yatta, south of Hebron. The Israeli Civil Administration staff raided a 170-sqaure-meter house belonging to Mahmoud Shehada Taleb Abu Taha (48), vacated some of its content and then demolished it along with a 100-square-meter water well under the pretext of non-licensing. The house was built years ago and the family comprised of 24 members, including 7 children, were transferring the furniture as a prelude to live in the house. It should be noted that the Israeli authorities notified Mahmoud to stop construction work in 2015. It should be noted that Sant Eve institution submitted a request to the Israeli competent bodies in order to license the house, because it is located in area classified as Area C and no written notice was issued to demolish the house. * At approximately 08:00, Israeli forces accompanied with military vehicles, a vehicle of the Israeli Civil Administration and a digger moved into Khebet Ghoween, west of Samou?a village, south of Hebron. The Israeli forces deployed in the area and the digger demolished a 300-sauqre-meter barrack used for breeding livestock under the pretext of non-licensing. The barrack belongs to Shafeeq Saleem ?Awadallah al-Hawamdah. It should be noted that the Israeli authorities fixed a notice on the facility on 24 January 2017 and took photos of it. The notice showed that on 12 February 2017, there was a hearing for the Israeli Civil Administration in ? /Beit Eill/? settlement, in order to discuss the demolishing of the facility. *_Israeli settlers? attack:_* * At approximately 17:00 on Saturday, 13 October 2017, an Israeli settler from an Israeli settler from a settlement outpost in Hebron?s Old City, attacked Nedal Ehmidan Mohamed Suhlob (40) while he was in front of his house in Tal al-Ramida neighborhood. As a result, Nedal?s left jaw bone was fractured and was then taken to al-Ahli Hospital in the city, where he underwent surgery. Nedal said to PCHR?s fieldworker that: ? /I arrived at my house located in Tal al-Ramida neighborhood, returning from my work. My house is around 100 meters away from (56) checkpoint. After my arrival at the house, I heard shouting near the checkpoint, meanwhile, my children were heading to a shop for buying something. I went to the street along with my son Omar (14). We saw an Israeli soldiers pushing an Israeli settler. My son Omar headed to see what happen. Few minutes, he came back quickly and an Israeli settler was chasing him. Omar stood beside me and the settler attempted to steal Omar?s cell phone via which was covering what happened. The settler cursed us and then clapped me on my face. Three Israeli settlers then joint the abovementioned settler. A number of Israeli soldier arrived at the area and one of them attacked me and pushed me toward the wall without saying anything to the settlers. I felt dizzy and 10 munities later, paramedics from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) arrived at the area and took me to al-Ahli Hospital via an ambulance parked behind the checkpoint. At the hospital, I underwent a surgery in my jaw/? * At approximately 17:00, a group of Israeli settlers, protected by the Israeli forces, from ?/Yatizhar/? settlement, moved into al-Safafeer area from the eastern side of ?Oreef village, south of Nablus. The Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian civilians? houses. After that, Palestinian young men gathered, confronted the Israeli forces and settlers and threw stones at them. The Israeli forces then arrested ?Adel ?Abed al-Hafiz Shareef ?Amer (37), an employee in the village council and a volunteer in B?Tselem Insanitation for Human Rights. ?Adel was taken to Jamal Shehadah?s house and detained for over half an hour. The Israeli forces confiscated ?Adel?s camera , delated materials?on?his?memory cards and then released him. * On Sunday, 14 October 2018, a group of Israeli settlers uprooted and damaged dozens of grape and olive seedlings in al-Khadir village, south of Bethlehem. Ahmed Salah, ?a Coordinator in Colonization and Wall Resistance in the village, said that Israeli settlers from ?/Afrat/? settlement established on Palestinian civilians lands, south of Bethlehem, uprooted 370 grape seedlings planted 2 years ago and 30 olive seedlings belonging to Ibrahim Siluman Subaieh. He said that the Israeli settlers, who attacked Subaieh lands several time, placed bee hives in his land. * On Sunday morning, according to a security coordination that previously declared and allowed Palestinian farmers to enter Tal village, west of Nablus, to harvest their olive trees in Khelet al-Doghi area, west of the village. When the farmers entered their lands, a farmer Saqer Ahmed ?Asidah was surprised that settlers from ?/Hafat Gilead?/?settlement, damaged and broke 50 olive trees from his 3 dunums of land. The damaged trees were planted 2 years ago. * At approximately 08:00 on Sunday, Palestinian farmers, from Fer?atah village, northeast of Qalqiliyia, managed to enter their lands in al-Sotouh area east of the village upon a security coordination. ?Abdullah Mahmoud Ibrahim Hasan Salman and Ibrahim Mahmoud Suliman Salah were surprised that their crop was stolen, in addition to damaging the trees. Moreover, around 22 olive trees were uprooted and the land was turned into an empty land for celebration near ?/Gilead?/?Ibrahim Salah said to PCHR?s fieldworker that: ?/?On Sunday, 14 October 2018, I went along with my family and relative to al-Sotouh land, east of Fer?atah village, upon a security coordination, which is necessary to enter the area. When we arrived, we found the crop was harvested and the trees were damaged. There were around 150 olive trees their crops were stolen. We left the land without harvesting any crops.?/ Nada Salman, ?Abdullah Salman?s wife, said that: ?/We entered our land and we could barely recognized it. We found a large area was leveled, in addition to 22 olive trees. The land was turned to an empty yard for celebrations. We also found empty beer bottles put in boxes. All the crops were stolen.?/ * On Sunday evening, a group of Israeli settlers cut with electric saws over 100 olive trees from agricultural lands in al-?Ozal area in al-Moghair village, northeast of Ramallah. The olive trees belong to ?Abed al-Latif Hamed Abu ?Aliyia and his siblings. The settlers also wrote racist slogans on a dwelling in the land. * At approximately 11:40 on Wednesday, 17 October 2018, a group of Israeli settlers from ?/Homesh?/?settlement, north of Barqah village, northwest of Nablus, attacked Mahmoud and Manna? Sa?ied Mahmoud Hussain (20), fro, Bazariyia village. The Israeli settlers stole Mahmoud and Manna?s monkey while they were heading to their land to harvest the olive trees in al-Houd area. Mahmoud was hit with a stone at his left brow and beat with a stick at his right hand. Furthermore, Manna? was hit with a stone at his right shoulder. Mahmoud was then taken to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. * At approximately 14:30 on Wednesday, a group of Israeli settlers, protected by the Israeli forces, from ?/Yatizhar/? settlement established in the eastern side of ?Oreef village, south of Nablus, moved into al-Safafeer area. They threw stones at Palestinian civilians? houses and broke their windows. The attacked houses belong to Sameer Mohamed Mohamed Sawalmah and Ahmed ?Abed al*Kareem Fayiz Shehadah. *Recommendations to the International Community* PCHR warns of the escalating settlement construction in the West Bank, the attempts to legitimize settlement outposts established on Palestinian lands in the West Bank and the continued summary executions of Palestinian civilians under the pretext that they pose a security threat to the Israeli forces. PCHR reminds the international community that thousands of Palestinian civilians have been rendered homeless and lived in caravans under tragic circumstances due to the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip that has been under a tight closure for almost 11 years. PCHR welcomes the UN Security Council?s Resolution No. 2334, which states that settlements are a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions and calls upon Israel to stop them and not to recognize any demographic change in the oPt since 1967.? PCHR hopes this resolution will pave the way for eliminating the settlement crime and bring to justice those responsible for it. PCHR further reiterates that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are still under Israeli occupation in spite of Israel?s unilateral disengagement plan of 2005.? PCHR emphasizes that there is international recognition of Israel?s obligation to respect international human rights instruments and international humanitarian law. Israel is bound to apply international human rights law and the law of war, sometimes reciprocally and other times in parallel, in a way that achieves the best protection for civilians and remedy for the victims. 1. PCHR calls upon the international community to respect the Security Council?s Resolution No. 2334 and to ensure that Israel respects it as well, in particular point 5 which obliges Israel not to deal with settlements as if they were part of Israel. 2. PCHR calls upon the ICC this year to open an investigation into Israeli crimes committed in the oPt, particularly the settlement crimes and the 2014 offensive on the Gaza Strip. 3. PCHR Calls upon the European Union (EU) and all international bodies to boycott settlements and ban working and investing in them in application of their obligations according to international human rights law and international humanitarian law considering settlements as a war crime. 4. PCHR calls upon the international community to use all available means to allow the Palestinian people to enjoy their right to self-determination through the establishment of the Palestinian State, which was recognized by the UN General Assembly with a vast majority, using all international legal mechanisms, including sanctions to end the occupation of the State of Palestine. 5. PCHR calls upon the international community and United Nations to take all necessary measures to stop Israeli policies aimed at creating a Jewish demographic majority in Jerusalem and at voiding Palestine from its original inhabitants through deportations and house demolitions as a collective punishment, which violates international humanitarian law, amounting to a crime against humanity. 6. PCHR calls upon the international community to condemn summary executions carried out by Israeli forces against Palestinians and to pressurize Israel to stop them. 7. PCHR calls upon the States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC to work hard to hold Israeli war criminals accountable. 8. PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfill their obligations under article (1) of the Convention to ensure respect for the Conventions under all circumstances, and under articles (146) and (147) to search for and prosecute those responsible for committing grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions to ensure justice and remedy for Palestinian victims, especially in light of the almost complete denial of justice for them before the Israeli judiciary. 9. PCHR calls upon the international community to speed up the reconstruction process necessary because of the destruction inflicted by the Israeli offensive on Gaza. 10. PCHR calls for a prompt intervention to compel the Israeli authorities to lift the closure that obstructs the freedom of movement of goods and 1.8 million civilians that experience unprecedented economic, social, political and cultural hardships due to collective punishment policies and retaliatory action against civilians. 11. PCHR calls upon the European Union to apply human rights standards embedded in the EU-Israel Association Agreement and to respect its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights when dealing with Israel. 12. PCHR calls upon the international community, especially states that import Israeli weapons and military services, to meet their moral and legal responsibility not to allow Israel to use the offensive in Gaza to test new weapons and not accept training services based on the field experience in Gaza in order to avoid turning Palestinian civilians in Gaza into testing objects for Israeli weapons and military tactics. 13. PCHR calls upon the parties to international human rights instruments, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to pressurize Israel to comply with its provisions in the oPt and to compel it to incorporate the human rights situation in the oPt in its reports submitted to the relevant committees. 14. PCHR calls upon the EU and international human rights bodies to pressurize the Israeli forces to stop their attacks against Palestinian fishermen and farmers, mainly in the border area. /Fully detailed document available at the official website of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)./ /* */ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 19 13:10:57 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 10:10:57 -0700 Subject: [News] Black Internationalism and the Colonial Challenges Facing Haiti and Venezuela Message-ID: https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14105 Black Internationalism and the Colonial Challenges Facing Haiti and Venezuela By Jeanette Charles - Oct 18th 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /Protests in Haiti over the misuse and pocketing of copious amounts of Petrocaribe funds stemming from Venezuela have turned violent this week, with a number of deaths being reported . / /In this piece, originally published before the protests by Haiti Solidarity, VA's Jeanette Charles looks at some of the historic challenges facing both Haiti and //Venezuela,//and the Petrocaribe relationship which Hugo Chavez established between the two nations./ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Solidarity as defined by President Aristide takes root in the African philosophy of Ubuntu, /Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu:/??/a person is a person through other human beings. A person becomes a person through the community. A person is a person when she/he treats others well?.Ubuntu is the source of all philosophy grounded in solidarity, cooperation, unity, respect, dignity, justice, liberty and love of the other/.?? ? Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Ha?ti-Haitii?: Philosophical Reflections for Mental Decolonization ?/Haiti has no debt with Venezuela, just the opposite: Venezuela has a historical debt with that nation, with that people for whom we feel not pity but rather admiration, and we share their faith, their hope./? ? Venezuelan President Hugo Ch?vez upon absolving Haiti of all financial debt in the wake of the 2010 earthquake After 35 years of incarceration, political prisoner and freedom fighter Oscar L?pez Rivera was released in 2017. One of his revolutionary lessons urges us to recognize that ?colonialism is the problem? we continue to face today. While he specifically referred to Puerto Rico and its colonial status, his reflection is applicable to anywhere in the world devastated by exploitation, occupation, and invasion at the hands of European colonialism and US imperialism. As such, we can examine the current and historical challenges facing both Venezuela and Haiti, as well as their complicated relationship, as cases that expose the open wounds and lasting effects of colonialism and counter-revolutionary attacks against revolutionary processes committed to liberation and the reconfiguration of global power. Colonialism explains why United Nations forces implicated in mass rape, human trafficking rings, and the cholera epidemic continue to occupy Haiti. Colonialism is the driving force behind former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson?s spring 2018 tour throughout the Caribbean, intimidating, threatening, and bribing states to vote at the Organization of American States (OAS), in favor of foreign intervention in Venezuela. Colonialism has cultivated the root of complex political, economic, and sociocultural relationships between the states, peoples, and grassroots movements of Venezuela and Haiti. The most recent US efforts to isolate Venezuela from the region, demoralize its people through a concerted economic war, and intervene in its political process?by working with international collaborators to ultimately punish its black majority revolutionary process?have their historical precedents in Haiti. Haitians experienced these counter-revolutionary attacks as they fought to defend their own revolutionary process under the leadership of Fanmi Lavalas President Jean Bertrand Aristide and earlier, throughout the era of Haitian Independence. ?Haiti represents a moral and political reference. Ch?vez once said, you cannot pay back a moral debt, and what Haiti gave us is unpayable,? explains Jes?s ?Chucho? Garc?a?Afro-Venezuelan historian and Consul General for the Bol?varian Republic of Venezuela in New Orleans?with respect to Haiti?s critical role in Venezuelan independence. The bridges that Africans, and later Haitians, built with pre-independence Venezuela throughout the 18th and 19th centuries took on multiple dimensions, including material aid, strategic development, spiritual force, and principled political vision. Haitians? intentional support of abolition throughout the Americas ensured South American independence and sowed the roots of the Bol?varian Revolution, which began in 1998 and continues today. As such, Venezuela?s Bol?varian Revolution has attempted to return this ?historical debt? with Haiti, rectify the harms of colonialism, and consolidate a Caribbean and Latin American united front against US imperialism, by extending its reparations model of oil wealth redistribution beyond its borders and by exercising a diplomatic model rooted in regional integration and cooperation. ?Beyond Venezuela, I?m thinking about the integration of Latin America, this Afroamerica that is scattered throughout all these lands and all these waters,? Ch?vez voiced on May 8, 2005 on his television program Al? Presidente, speaking to the legacy of black liberation in the Americas and identifying Haiti. His call compelled hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Venezuelans to direct their moral and political compass toward the first black republic of the Western Hemisphere. Subsequently, Venezuela has provided funds and subsidized oil for Haiti as well as other Caribbean nations through its program PetroCaribe. In the case of Haiti, Venezuela has also ensured additional disaster relief humanitarian aid and dissolved all loans. However, these significant gestures have facilitated contradictory results. Instead of reaching the people and improving economic conditions for the majority Haitian poor, these initiatives have lined the pockets of Haitian Duvalierist elites. Recent mass mobilizations and legislative accounts have denounced corruption of PetroCaribe funds and the displacement of Haitians across the island of Ile-?-Vache, both cases tied to the Haitian government?s misuse of Venezuelan aid. In October 2017, news surfaced after years of concerns from Haitian grassroots about the PetroCaribe program, after five Haitian senators who commissioned an audit of the international program publicly released the report. The audit attested to the corrupt use of funds and cited payments to private corporations. High level officials in the Haitian Government under then President Michel Martelly?supporter of current President Jovenel Mo?se?were implicated. Months prior, in February 2017, to the disappointment of Haiti?s grassroots movement, the Venezuelan Government immediately recognized the illegitimate (s)election of Mo?se, closely associated with Martelly and the Duvalier dictatorship, at the very moment when mass demonstrations were continuing to protest the fraudulent election that installed him as president. These contradictions, while contemporary examples, speak to the unresolved consequences of the independence era and colonialism?s impact. Similarly, they correspond directly to Venezuela?s attempt to return this ?historical debt,? via the shared resources of oil wealth without an intentional political orientation and management oversight, which has caused harm and exacerbated the economic and political crisis in Haiti. In order to understand today, we must look into the more than two centuries of interwoven histories between Haiti and Venezuela. These histories offer a window into understanding the challenges found in building regional integration and promoting a black internationalist solidarity model that is under constant siege by imperialist powers. Today, it?s necessary for us to uncover, explore, and act on these histories in order to evade damaging historical cycles. The ripple effect of the first Pan-Africanist and Black Internationalist Revolution ?Black internationalism? in this article refers to the solidarity expressed between oppressed nations focused on the liberation and interests of African/black peoples from the continent and throughout the Diaspora. Haiti?s founding is exemplary of a successful black internationalist and pan-Africanist revolutionary process whose solidarity with African peoples and independence forces in Venezuela made shockwaves throughout history. Ch?vez was the first president in Venezuelan history to identify with his African and indigenous descent, as a feminist, as well as an anti-imperialist. He was also the first president to declare Venezuela?s historical debt to the island nation. Yet in spite of these critical testaments, Ch?vez often referred to criollo Independence leaders such as Sim?n Bol?var and Francisco de Miranda?s relationships to Haiti, shadowing accounts of Venezuela?s African and African descendant leaders and their connections to the Haitian Revolution. Historian Gerald Horne attests to the uncontainable impact of the Haitian Revolution, initially marked in 1791 by the Bois Ca?man ceremony led by resistance and spiritual leaders Cecile Fatiman and Dutty Boukman. The ceremony inspired a wave of successful pan-African-led rebellions on the island against mainly French colonialism. Horne attests, ?Haiti, which was not opposed to extending aid to the neighboring enslaved, was invoked even when it was not directly involved in spurring unrest. Haiti, the island of freedom, mocked the pretensions of slaveholders?those on the mainland not least?and inspired the enslaved to believe realistically that their plight was not divinely ordained, nor perpetual, but could be overcome.? The rapidly spreading rebellions from Martinique to Barbados were inspired by and aligned with the Haitian revolution and its call for an end to colonialism. Venezuelan Consul General and historian Garc?a explains, ?[Haiti was] an indisputable reference in the early nineteenth century to all oppressed peoples across Latin America and the Caribbean?.Haiti was the Cuba of the 19th century [which] spread solidarity to our country [of Venezuela] as well as the nations of Colombia, Ecuador, Panam?, Bolivia, and Peru, while bearing in mind liberation projects of Cuba, Santo Domingo, and even Mexico.? One such instance involved African-Indigenous leader Jos? Leonardo Chirino, who orchestrated a maroon rebellion in the Venezuelan Caribbean coastal township of Coro, Falc?n in 1795. Venezuelan historians suggest that Chirino frequently travelled to Curacao and Saint Domingue as part of his enslaved work. This led to his exposure to African anti-colonial and abolitionist struggles. While records of who he met and who he may have trained with or received direct material support from are difficult to secure or may not exist, there are clear accounts that after these travels, Chirino launched a rebellion on May 10, 1795 alongside hundreds of enslaved and free blacks as well as the Jirahara, Ajagua, and Caracas Indigenous peoples. Records indicate they launched attacks on Macanillas Hacienda, which spread to El Socorro, Var?n, Sabana Redonda, La Magdalena, and haciendas in other regions of Venezuela. It?s still undetermined whether or not Africans from Saint Domingue were directly involved in Chirino?s maroon forces as they were across the Americas from the US South to islands stretched across the Caribbean. Upon the arrival of Chirino?s forces to the central square of Coro, the criollo slave-owning elites arrested one hundred black maroons and executed 86 others by firearm. Subsequently, Spanish colonial forces captured Chirino several months later on August 1795. He was publicly executed and dismembered. His wife and children were separated and sold to different haciendas. For Venezuelans, this African-Indigenous insurrection represents one of the first political movements that voiced the demands of the independence era and chipped away at colonialism?s stronghold in South America. The launch of the rebellion is commemorated every year during Afro-Venezuelan history month. Chirino?s rebellion is one of potentially hundreds more examples where Haitian struggles inspired or accompanied revolutionary acts in Venezuela. Today, Afro-Venezuelans have addressed the omission of Haiti in their nation?s founding by exploring documented accounts and oral histories of often anonymous Haitian maroon leaders and warriors and their efforts to topple Spanish colonization across Latin America. Haitians? historical actions solidified the foundations for Venezuela?s future international solidarity efforts, support for Caribbean-wide reparations campaigns, and the very establishment of cumbes (societies founded on the principles of self-determination by self-liberated Africans and indigenous people), which continue to exist as revolutionary organizing spaces. Miranda, Bolivar, and Venezuela's unfulfilled promise to Haiti The names most often mentioned in official Venezuelan accounts on anti-colonial struggle across the Americas are Europeans and their American-born descendants. In the case of Venezuela, this includes Sim?n Bol?var and Francisco de Miranda. Both travelled to Haiti seeking refuge, to enrich their ideological vision, and to develop their military might against Spanish colonialism in South America. Perhaps the most pivotal to understanding Venezuela?s complicated relationship with Haiti today can be seen through the lens of Bol?var?s voyages to Haiti. Bol?var initially sought support from Haiti in 1815, eleven years after the triumph of the Haitian Revolution, after his troops lost to Spanish forces in Cartagenas, present-day Colombia. Southern Haiti?s President Alexandre P?tion provided food and shelter for Bol?var and his company as well as material aid, financial support, and military strength ahead of his upcoming independence battles. P?tion explicitly extended Bol?var solidarity during one of Venezuela?s most dire moments in its independence struggle, on the condition that Bol?var abolish slavery in any territory his forces liberated. According to some scholars, Bol?var departed from Haiti with approximately 4000 rifles, gunpowder, a small fleet, printing press, food, and at least 250 Haitian veterans who fought in the revolutionary wars. Despite this incredible show of support, after another bout of defeats, Bol?var returned to Haiti to recuperate, re-arm, and regroup. In one of his letters written December 4, 1816 before sailing back to South America, Bol?var etched into historical memory Venezuela?s debt to Haiti: ?If men are bound by the favors they have received, be sure, General [Marion], that my countrymen and myself will forever love the Haitian people and the worthy rulers who make them happy.? On this voyage, after his exchanges in Haiti, Bol?var was victorious in South America. Bol?var along with African and indigenous forces succeeded in liberating Venezuela from Spanish control. The independence forces also freed today?s Brazil, Guayana, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Bolivia, northern Peru, and Panama. Upon this incredible feat, Bol?var declared slavery abolished in these territories and issued the first decree in Venezuela on June 2, 1816. Bol?var himself had already freed enslaved Africans associated with his family?s properties earlier in 1813. However, it wasn?t until thirty-eight years later on March 24, 1854 that slavery was officially abolished in Venezuela, under President Jo?e Gregorio Monagas. Despite Bol?var?s greatest efforts, he faced fierce resistance by other slave-owning independence generals and high-level authorities in the new South American republic. Consul Garc?a reminds us that even General Miranda stood against abolition and advocated that enslaved Africans serve thirty years in the Venezuelan military before granting their freedom. This contradiction left lasting effects on the relationship between Haiti and Venezuela and speaks volumes to the engrained nature of white supremacist slave economies in the Americas. Moreover, in addition to the aforementioned delay on abolition, while Bol?var held P?tion and Haiti with the utmost respect, he did not formally recognize Haiti or establish official diplomatic relations once Venezuela became independent. Consul Garc?a as well as historical records remind us that this decision was significantly informed by external intimidation from imperialist forces, including the US which feared the implications of recognizing the Black Republic. Haiti represented to the US and its colonial allies?and what they have declared Venezuela since 2015??an unusual and extraordinary threat to [US] national security.? Perhaps a strategic decision, yet undoubtedly one that undermined Haiti?s unwavering commitment to regional liberation, Bol?var also excluded Haiti from the first regional gathering of independent states in the Americas?the Congress of the American States in Panama in 1826. Today, we find Venezuela facing the similar exclusion at the hands of OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro and the Lima Group, namely rightwing states from Latin America and the Caribbean in alignment the US, calling for intervention in Venezuela?s domestic affairs. Overwhelmingly, however, progressive states have stood beside Venezuela in these trying times. Bol?var?s unfortunate decision to omit Haiti played a role in the French and US?s racist counter-revolutionary backlash against the nation that persist to this day. France devastated the Haitian economy, demanding financial restitution for sugar industry losses after the Revolution, further exposing the French state?s racist notions concerning their control over African life. Threatening military intervention and surrounding the island, Haiti paid France 150 million gold francs, the equivalent of $22 billion in gold, lumber, and other resources until 1947, under-developing its infrastructure?as we have witnessed occur with other majority African and indigenous nations. We must center black internationalism and reparations These histories touch the surface of what we need to know to understand the layers involved in Venezuela and Haiti?s contemporary relationship and the dilemmas they face together and independently at this present conjuncture. How does Venezuela return the historical, moral, political, material, and spiritual ?debt? of Haiti?s hand in its independence? And how do Venezuelans repair harms caused by the decisions their founding leaders made in the 19th century? What measures can be taken by Venezuelan grassroots movements to demand that the Bolivarian Revolution also responds to concerns raised in light of cases like the Haitian Government?s mismanagement and corruption of PetroCaribe funds? How can Venezuelans stand in solidarity with Haiti?s majority poor? And how can Venezuelans? actions and strategic interventions to rectify these contradictions serve as examples for grassroots movements around the world? Haiti?s deeply abolitionist, black internationalist, and pan-Africanist solidarity model were critical and necessary to defeat occupying colonial forces in South America. Given this, it is critical that Venezuela, as a majority black nation, as well as other black nations and those around the world fighting for liberation, study Haiti?s historical internationalism and commit their struggles to active solidarity now with the Haitian people. Our solidarity must follow earlier models of anti-colonial struggles as manifested in Haiti?s example as well as the Cuban revolutionary model which has transformed over time, from direct military support in anti-colonial struggles in Africa and internationally, to present-day medical training for youth from majority poor nations. Our revolutionary work with Haiti should emerge in our collective efforts to accompany the people?s grassroots movement and inherited revolutionary process: /Fanmi Lavalas/. The Bolivarian Revolution should be directly tied to the Haitian grassroots movement. There are historical and, at present, intentional imperialist reasons intervening and preventing this relationship from taking shape. However, ensuring that this relationship flourish would encourage steps toward a reparatory approach to this historical debt. The Bolivarian Revolution is facing the same global confusion campaign, media smear tactics, economic strangulation, and racist attacks?not only experienced by Chile?s Salvador Allende?but also experienced by Fanmi Lavalas. There are countless lessons to learn and share between these two nations which will contribute to all our movements moving forward. Until such a black internationalist relationship is forged, we will continue to witness inefficient, unsatisfactory, and contradictory results in the solidarity model Venezuela and other international movements apply to Haiti. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 19 15:38:59 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 12:38:59 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Native_American_Sovereignty_Is_Under_Attack=2E_?= =?utf-8?q?Here=E2=80=99s_How_Elizabeth_Warren=E2=80=99s_DNA_Test_Hurt_Our?= =?utf-8?q?_Struggle?= Message-ID: https://theintercept.com/2018/10/19/elizabeth-warren-dna-native-americans/ Native American Sovereignty Is Under Attack. Here?s How Elizabeth Warren?s DNA Test Hurt Our Struggle Nick EstesNick Estes - October 19 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _Half a century_ ago, the Standing Rock Dakota scholar Vine Deloria Jr. wrote, ?Whites claiming Indian blood tend to reinforce mythical beliefs about Indians.? Throughout her career, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has used that mythical belief ? what Deloria mocked as the ?Indian-grandmother complex? ? to stake a claim to Native American identity, like how her European settler ancestors staked a claim to land once called Indian Territory, or what is currently Oklahoma. For Warren, her claims are like a moving target. At one time, it was ?Cherokee.? Now it?s just generic ?Native American ancestry.? President Donald Trump, being a bigot, has consistently taunted Warren ? frequently referring to her as ?Pocahontas ? ? about her claims with a million-dollar wager : Take a DNA test to prove she?s ?an Indian.? It was an obvious ploy, and Warren took the bait. Yet her reaction hurt more than she might realize. Reducing Native American identity to ?race,? whether through biology or the law, is harmful to Native sovereignty and nationhood, despite Warren?s professed good intentions. Warren, however, didn?t walk into Trump?s trap with her eyes closed. What she didn?t see, however, was how low Trump had set the bar when he said ?jump? and she tripped on it, landing face first ? on stolen Native land. Like many Native people, I am jealous of Warren and white people like her. Native plebeians, such as myself, a poor Indian kid born on the wrong side of the tracks in Podunk, South Dakota, lack her pedigree and life story. She might as well have rare Romanov ancestry, a secret but ill-fated royal bloodline, when compared to my proletarian biography. It was Warren?s self-identified Republican family members ? the white guys drinking beer telling family stories in a living room ? that bolstered her Native credentials in a recent video defending her ?Native American ancestry.? I wish I had such relatives to do the same for me, but, if my relatives were captured drinking like that on camera, they might spend a night in the slammer or get labeled as ?drunk Indians .? There is an irony here. The white guys drinking beer have become the arbiters of Native identity, while those who have survived genocide and the theft of an entire continent have become mere background noise to the spectacle of powerful elites duking it out for control over land that is not rightfully theirs. Such is the history of the United States. _The worst irony,_ though, is Warren?s appropriation of Native identity while simultaneously fetishizing and instrumentalizing it. To Warren, Native people are little more than a currency, a million-dollar ticket to the White House, a one-up to Trump. That?s how this game has been played so far: Trump asked her to prove that she?s ?an Indian? (not that she has ?ancestry?) with a DNA test, something that is, by all accounts, impossible. Indianness isn?t defined by DNA . It?s a legal, social, cultural, and historical construct, where Indigenous nations self-define the parameters of belonging. Put simply, it?s not about who you claim, it?s about who claims you. In response to Warren, the Cherokee Nation issued a statement saying that ?using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong.? Falsely claiming Native American identity is a white American tradition, with a deeply racist past. Falsely claiming Native American identity is a white American tradition, with a deeply racist past. Forrest Carter, also known as Asa Earl Carter ? a Ku Klux Klan leader and the former speechwriter for George Wallace (he co-wrote Wallace?s famous 1963 line, ?Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever?) ? reinvented himself later in life as a ?Cherokee ? writer of the famous children?s book ?The Education of Little Tree.? Famous white Southern Americans like Miley Cyrus, Johnny Cash, and Bill Clinton have also all falsely claimed ?Cherokee heritage. ? I?ll admit, I?m not a geneticist. (And I?d refer anyone interested in the political and social aspects of ?Native American DNA? to read Kim Tallbear?s excellent book on the subject .) I am, however, a historian and I can tell you that proving ?Native American ancestry? by using Native body parts has a long, racist history. Genes are part of the human body, and to use genes to measure a degree or percentage of race to make a scientific claim is called race science, which discredits the legitimate science of DNA testing. A century ago, Native people were considered a disappearing people. Anthropologists and others flooded Indian reservations intent on preserving the last vestiges of a dying race. With them, they brought calipers to measure Native skulls from the graves they robbed. Sometimes they used captured Indigenous children in boarding schools and prisoners of war for racial experiments, displaying their live specimens at traveling zoological exhibits. The goal was to prove a racial and civilizational superiority by showing just how far white Europeans had evolved from primitive conditions. Such a people were also seen as too incompetent to manage their own lands and raise their own children. Their land and children were taken from them for their own good. The children were placed into the special care of white families and the land into the hands of white farmers (like Warren?s settler ancestors). Those who could not be killed or assimilated were placed under the supervision of the Department of Interior, which manages wildlife and public lands, where it was hoped that they would just disappear. In other words, Native people, living or dead, were relegated to a tragic past with no place in the future of a white settler nation. Their identities and lands were simply absorbed and made into sports mascots and names for states and military equipment. Countless Native people were lost to this system , torn from their families and their Indigenous nations. Indigenous nations are still searching to reclaim their lost relatives ? but Warren is not one of those people. _While Warren and_ white people like her are rushing to get DNA tests that prove ?Native American ancestry,? there is less enthusiasm among white people about proving ?African ancestry.? That?s the unspoken racist undertone of this whole debate, especially since many Black Americans have actual connections to Indigenous nations of this hemisphere. The ?one-drop rule? of African ancestry, a racial calculus created to increase the size of slaveowners? property through biological reproduction, was designed to make one Black and nothing more ? not Indigenous and especially not white. (Even the descendants of Cherokee slaves were disallowed tribal citizenship until recently .) These racial logics simply don?t grant Black and Native people the same visibility or authority over their own identities the same way they do to a powerful white woman who takes a DNA test. That?s called white supremacy. Warren?s claims and Trump?s attacks have never been about upholding Native sovereignty. It?s pure opportunism. While Trump applauded the Cherokee Nation?s dismissal of Warren?s claims, his self-proclaimed policy of ?American carnage? has opened billions of acres for offshore drilling ? threatening circumpolar Indigenous nations as ice sheets melt and global temperatures rise ? and has opened millions of acres of the Bears Ears National Monument, a once-protected Indigenous sacred site in the Southwest, for coal and uranium mining. And North Dakota recently passed legislation disenfranchising thousands of Native American voters in the state, in places like Standing Rock that desperately fought the Dakota Access pipeline. Today, Standing Rock and the entire Sioux Nation in the Northern Plains are planning to halt the trespass of the Keystone XL pipeline through our treaty territory, a pipeline that imperils our water, our sovereignty, and therefore our lives. While Indigenous nations face existential threats, Warren?s conflation of her ?Native American ancestry? with Native American identity only continues a history theft. There are plenty of other examples. Some are even race-based, along the lines of the pseudoscience through which Warren tried to hitch her wagon to Native Americans. A federal court recently ruled that the Indian Child Welfare Act, a four decade-old law created to keep Native families intact, is ?race-based ? legislation and therefore ?unconstitutional.? Created to protect children who are members of Native nations or whose biological parents are members of Native nations, the law, in fact, was designed to prevent the disintegration of Native nations: the widespread practice of taking Native children and adopting them out to white families or placing them into state foster care systems. While Indigenous nations face existential threats ? from losing their children, land, and water ? Warren?s conflation of her ?Native American ancestry? with Native American identity only continues a history theft. The purposeful distortion and misunderstanding of Native sovereignty and identity, whether by Trump or Warren, is a longstanding tradition of American imperialism that has facilitated the taking of resources, whether they?re Native lands or Native bodies. And we still want our stolen relatives and stolen land back, regardless of the settler infighting currently taking place. Warren has taken some concrete steps in an effort to help Native Americans, but her recent entry into the waters of Native identity stands to outweigh any efforts she has made?for Natives. I?m not holding my breath for her to do the right thing ? such as making a formal apology . Like Vine Deloria, the Standing Rock Dakota writer whose people are currently under threat, I don?t resent white people like Warren. I just hope she can accept herself and just leave us alone. While Warren has become the punchline of a lot of jokes in Indian Country ? ?I?m Cherokee on my white side,? and so on ? boiling Native American identity and race down to biology, and, more specifically, genomics, is racist. It needs to stop. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 19 17:40:30 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 14:40:30 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?My_Morehouse_Brother_Chinedu_Okobi_Died_After_B?= =?utf-8?q?eing_Electrocuted_by_Police=2E_Tasers_Are_Not_=E2=80=9CLess_Let?= =?utf-8?b?aGFs4oCdIFdlYXBvbnMu?= Message-ID: https://theintercept.com/2018/10/19/taser-chinedu-okobi-less-lethal/ My Morehouse Brother Chinedu Okobi Died After Being Electrocuted by Police. Tasers Are Not ?Less Lethal? Weapons. Shaun King - October 19 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _Every single day,_ families suffering from police violence find themselves in the fog of unspeakable setbacks. Some have lost their fathers or sons, their mothers or daughters, their brothers or sisters, their neighbors or friends. I am sometimes enlisted to help them. Before I was a journalist, I was a pastor, and it was often my job to guide families through grief and loss. But it?s a unique crisis to have the life of your loved one taken by the state. Who do you call? 911? Who leads the investigation? Who brings you justice? The answers for these families are altogether different than in other murder cases. When I got the call that Chinedu Okobi had been killed by police from the San Mateo County Sheriff?s Office in the San Francisco Bay Area, it was different. This was my Morehouse brother. You?d almost have to have lived at 830 Westview Drive, on that red clay hill in Georgia called Morehouse College, to truly understand how that bond is formed. We are close. We have each other?s back. Comparing Morehouse to a regular Greek fraternity is not good enough. It?s a brotherhood in the truest sense: It?s a family. I was Chinedu?s student government president. He and I lived in the same dorm. He was close friends with many of my close friends. His sister Ebele, a revered executive at Facebook, is close with many of my closest friends at the company. When I got a call from her this past Saturday to discuss Chinedu Okobi?s death, I had to fight hard to hold back tears. I was surprised at my own fragile state. My dear brother, Jason, just passed away a few weeks ago. While his death had absolutely nothing to do with police violence, for the first time I understood the unique pain of losing a brother who was supposed to have his whole life ahead of him. Chinedu Okobi should be alive right now. At the very most, he should be in a hospital receiving mental health treatment. By now, he likely would?ve been released back to the care of his family. Local police have not responded to my repeated requests for more information about Chinedu?s death, but this much we know: While he was technically unarmed, meaning that he had no gun or knife or illegal weapon on his body, he was armed in a very American way. He was a big Black man, a dark-skinned Nigerian who was 6?feet, 3 inches tall and weighed 330 pounds. In the eyes of American police, that might as well be armed. This nation has long since weaponized blackness. This country?has also weaponized mental illness. Chinedu lived with mental illness. He received treatment, took medications, and worked hard to balance his life the best he could. I never knew it. What I do know is that in this country, when someone is having a mental health crisis, police are called ??which is like bringing in a bulldozer to fix a leaky faucet. It?s a stupid system. Chinedu needed to go to the hospital. He needed medical treatment. Instead, he was surrounded by officers who appear to have repeatedly used a Taser on him until he died. Let me phrase that another way: Chinedu was still shot, but by guns that electrocute people to death instead of tearing apart their flesh and organs with bullets. In the name of being safer than guns, hundreds of thousands of police officers have now been armed with Tasers, but they aren?t safe ? not at all. Chinedu?s black life didn?t matter. Those cops would not have treated their own family that way. If Chinedu was their son or father or brother, those men would?ve found another way to deal with his crisis. _Since 2000, American_ police have killed at least 1,000 people with Tasers . They are horrible. The primary company that makes them, Taser, has changed its name to Axon ? just like Corrections Corporation of America, the notorious private prison company, changed its name to CoreCivic. It?s an attempt to escape their baggage, but it?s the same old shit. And Axon has gotten a complete pass for what the company makes. The company deflects from the fact that they make machines that send uncontrollable electricity into people?s bodies. The problem, of course, is that the human body simply was not built to take these surges of electricity. Axon advertises these weapons as ?less lethal,? but the comparison to guns and other weapons?would be cold comfort for the more than 1,000 people who have died from the electric shocks. Worse yet, the ?less lethal? moniker has meant that many cities and states don?t have robust regulations for how law enforcement is supposed to use these weapons. So the mythical ?less lethal? marketing is working ? for the company, not for victims of the weapons. That such dangerous shocks would be administered to people with mental illnesses is especially upsetting. Every single day in this country, hundreds of thousands of nurses treat adults and children who are living with mental illness. Those patients are regularly in crisis, and nurses consistently face them down without ever having to electrocute them into submission. If five police officers were unable to do the same thing with Chinedu without killing him, the problem is not Chinedu ? it?s the police officers. It?s the consistent impatience with black people in distress that is shown by law enforcement. The United States, particularly the United States government, seems to have long ago given up on completely reimagining how to solve its most complex problems. This much, though, should be obvious: Electrocuting people into submission is a horrible idea, no matter how supposedly ?less lethal? the weapon is. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Mon Oct 22 10:54:41 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2018 07:54:41 -0700 Subject: [News] SF - This Thursday - Women's Imprisonment from the U.S. to Palestine Event In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Cross Walls & Borders Women's Imprisonment from the U.S. to Palestine A /Teaching Palestine /Event *The U.S. and Israel have developed coordinated strategies of repression and imprisonment for decades which include the use of similar forms of gendered violence. Understanding the impact of imprisonment on women in both contexts and women?s counter-strategies for resistance can help us develop cross border solidarity and action.* * Presentation by Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, Professor San Francisco State University * Slideshow by California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) * Comments by Critical Resistance and Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee * Next steps for action *Thursday, October 25, 2018 ? 6:30 pm* *518 Valencia St., San Francisco * Presented by FireStorm , a project of CCWP and The AMED Teaching Palestine Project For more information and to RSVP, please visit event FB page. Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 23 13:43:01 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2018 10:43:01 -0700 Subject: [News] Military Courts in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Message-ID: http://www.addameer.org/publications/military-courts-occupied-palestinian-territory Military Courts in the Occupied Palestinian Territory October 23, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *_Background and History_* On June 7^th , 1967,? three proclamations and a series of military orders were issued as proclamations throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Proclamation Number 1, announced the administrative takeover of the Israeli military and the powers of preserving public security and order. Proclamation Number 2,? assured the continuity of a judiciary system, and declared the powers of the military commander of Israeli occupation forces. Finally, Proclamation Number 3, put forth legal procedures of Military Courts, and Order Number 3 established the military courts (initially Jerusalem, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, and Jericho). The Order Concerning Security Provisions was replaced in 1970 to a new order 378, ?Order Concerning Security Provisions? which has become the basis of the Military Courts which routinely administer the detention, interrogation, prosecution, trial, and sentencing of Palestinians.[1] <#_ftn1> Additional courts were opened during the first intifada (1987-1993) in Hebron and Jenin. Following, the Oslo Accords, these courts were closed.[2] <#_ftn2>?? Currently, there are two military courts which operate in the West Bank, Ofer Court and Salem Court, located in closed military zones, that prosecute Palestinians from the West Bank who are arrested by the Israeli military and charged with security violations (as defined by Israel) and other crimes. Not all Palestinians who are arrested are prosecuted in the military courts; some are released while others are administratively detained without trial (see administrative detention below). The conviction rate is 99% percent of those who are charged, and of these convictions, the vast majority are the result of plea bargains.[3] <#_ftn3> _Categorical and Geographical Scope of the Military System_ A wide-ranging set of military regulations governs every aspect of Palestinian civilian life, including when Palestinians living in the oPt are arrested and detained.? These military orders provide for a wide range of offenses divided into five categories: ?Hostile Terrorist Activity?; disturbance of public order; ?classic? criminal offenses; illegal presence in Israel; and traffic offenses committed in the oPt. These sweeping offenses criminalize many aspects of Palestinian civic life. As one example, even though Israel has been engaged in peace negotiations with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) since 1993, the political parties that compose the PLO are still considered ?illegal organizations.? Carrying a Palestinian flag is also a crime under Israeli military regulations. Participation in a demonstration is deemed a disruption of public order. Even pouring coffee for a member of a declared illegal association can be seen as support for a terrorist organization. These military courts are used to prosecute Palestinians living in the occupied territory, while Israel settlers living in illegal settlements in the occupied territory are prosecuted in civilian courts. In addition, it is military officers who make judgment and are therefore prone to bias.[4] <#_ftn4> It may be argued that the categorical and territorial scope the military court transcends its requirements under international law. The Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, also addresses the use of military courts in Article 66, which states: /In case of a breach of the penal provisions promulgated by it by virtue of the second paragraph of Article 64, the Occupying Power may hand over the accused to its *properly constituted, non-political military courts*, on condition that the said courts sit in the occupied country. Courts of appeal shall preferably sit in the occupied country /[emphasis added]/./[5] <#_ftn5> Under military order 1651 (2009), throwing stones is considered a ?security offence?, and its punishment is up to 20 years imprisonment. Additionally, the criminalization of civic activities by Military Order 101, results in the continued targeting of Palestinian students, activists, human rights defenders and civil society leaders. This targeting must be viewed in a broader context of systematic attempts by the Israeli occupation to suppress Palestinian civil society, which attempts to hold Israel accountable for the crimes committed against Palestinians. Evidence of this repression can be seen in the rate of arrest, which is perhaps another testimony. While international law stipulates that civilians may be prosecuted in military courts under a temporary basis, possibly reflecting the general conceptualization of occupation as a temporary situation, these courts have been used to prosecute Palestinians in the occupied territories for decades. Since 1967, approximately 800,000 Palestinians have been tried in these courts.[6] <#_ftn6> The geographical scope may also be contested in this regard. In contravention with the terms of territorial jurisdiction of the occupying power set forth by Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations, which states that ?the occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised,? the military court extends its jurisdiction to crimes in Rule of Criminal Responsibility Order (1968) even to alleged crimes not completely committed in the territory.[7] <#_ftn7> Additionally, the categorical scope of the violations addressed in the military court system are also contestable. Articles 64 and 66 of the Fourth Geneva Convention state that such courts should be for the use of violations which constitute a threat to the security of the state and threaten the lives of soliders.[8] <#_ftn8> Despite this, Palestinians are regularly brought to Ofer and Salem military courts for violations including ?trespassing?, ?public disturbance?, and even traffic violations.? The military legal system?s wide-reaching geographical and legal jurisdiction altogether have been seen to make way for ?extensive control by the military legal authorities? and for ?judicial domination of the army over the Palestinian civilian population?.[9] <#_ftn9> Military Order 101 which was issued in August 1967 at the onset of the occupation, criminalizes civic activities such as taking part in vigils, organizing and participating in protests, waving flags or other political symbols, even the printing and distributing of political material. In addition, ?support to a hostile organization? any activity that demonstrates sympathy for an organization that military orders deems illegal is itself illegal. This is despite that fact that the majority of Palestinian political parties are in fact illegal. The order also states that any assembly or a gathering of ten people or more as defined by the provisions that may be interpreted as political requires a permit. The order also prohibits the printing of political material without a permit from the military commander. The effect of such provisions is the prevention of civic political life in the occupied territory. This arguably violates aforementioned articles 64 and 66 of the Geneva conventions, which stipulate that the use of such military courts must be solely for the sake of charges which involving threats to the security of the state.[10] <#_ftn10> Altogether, such military orders criminalize civic activities. _Fair trial procedures_ According to international humanitarian law, Israel has the right to establish military courts in the oPt as an Occupying Power, but relevant international human rights and humanitarian law restrict the jurisdiction of such courts to violations of criminal security legislation. However, the jurisdiction of Israeli military courts is far broader and includes offenses outside of the relevant legislation. This overgrown jurisdiction has meant the inclusion of vast sections of the domestic Israeli criminal code into the operations of the military court. This has included the utilization of precedents from domestic Israeli cases in the military court itself. Meaning that Palestinian lawyers must be fully versed in all relevant domestic Israeli cases in order to effectively represent clients, putting them at a distinct disadvantage. Furthermore, it is questionable whether the use of military courts to try civilians can ever satisfy the requirements under international human rights law that require trials to take place before independent and impartial tribunals. Under international law, fundamental fair trial rights are guaranteed, but Israeli military courts consistently disregard these rights. Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention categorizes ?wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed in the present Convention? as a grave breach. Article 105 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Third Geneva Convention) 12 August 1949, which the Fourth Geneva Convention? indicates accused persons should benefit from, states: /The advocate or counsel conducting the defence on behalf of the prisoner of war shall have at his disposal a period of two weeks at least before the opening of the trial, as well as the necessary facilities to prepare the defence of the accused. He may, in particular, freely visit the accused and interview him in private. He may also confer with any witnesses for the defence, including prisoners of war. He shall have the benefit of these facilities until the term of appeal or petition has expired. /[11] <#_ftn11> The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has affirmed that certain International Human Rights Law (IHRL) instruments including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) are applicable in the occupied territory[12] <#_ftn12>. Article 14 (3) of the ICCPR states that individuals who are charged are entitled minimum guarantees, including the right to be informed promptly of charges, to be provided adequate time and facilities for his or her defence, and to be held in trial without undue delay.[13] <#_ftn13> Trial standards are also addressed under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) as codified by the Fourth Geneva Convention also indicate that, ?No sentence shall be pronounced by the competent courts of the Occupying Power except after a regular trial?[14] <#_ftn14>. The Fourth Geneva Convention also indicates in Article 71 that: /Accused persons who are prosecuted by the Occupying Power shall be promptly informed, in writing, in a language which they understand, of the particulars of the charges preferred against them, and shall be brought to trial as rapidly as possible./[15] <#_ftn15> Arrested persons living in the occupied territories are rarely ever told the charges against them, if there are any,[16] <#_ftn16> upon arrest. The absence of fair trial standards is also marked in the trials of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli custody when preparing for an adequate defense. Article 71 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that accused persons ?shall have the right to be assisted by a qualified advocate or counsel of their own choice, who shall be able to visit them freely and shall enjoy the necessary facilities for preparing the defence.?[17] <#_ftn17> A salient violation to this article involves severe restrictions upon visitation by counsel. According to an approximation by a former military prosecutor, nearly 60% of GSS-interrogated suspects were denied attorney-client meetings as a result of orders issued by General Security Service (GSS). These orders are effective up to one month from the arrest.[18] <#_ftn18> This may also be renewed by a military court for an additional 30 days, according to Military Court Order 1651. In addition, Ofer prison, which is located in the West Bank, does not have adequate meeting rooms for counsel. Palestinian lawyers generally cannot obtain permission to enter Israeli territory for the purpose of visitations to prisons. When visitations by counsel do take place, they are generally held from behind a glass and with a telephone conversations. Legal counsel of Addameer have indicated that the table is too small for holding up a notebook and that the facilities provided are inadequate for preparation of an adequate defense. Further, while Article 71 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that accused persons should have the aid of an interpreter during investigation and hearings (which are held in Hebrew),[19] <#_ftn19> translators in courtrooms (Arabic-speaking soldiers) are often unskilled in translation and unable therefore to provide appropriate interpretation, often leaving defendants unable to understand what is being said in the courtrooms.[20] <#_ftn20> _Conclusion_ In conclusion, the Military Court is an institution working hand in hand with the occupation. It is staffed by the occupation army, administered by its commanders, and passing judgment on the occupied. The formation of such an institution is in keeping with the letter of international humanitarian law, but not with its spirit. More than being an organ of justice, it is an organ of control providing a layer of legitimacy to the continued domination of the Palestinian people. *_Key Figures for the Military Court 2017*_[21]_* <#_ftn21>_* Indictments Filed in the Military Court 10,454 The percentage of indictments relating to ?Security Offences? 20% The percentage of indictments relating to ?Traffic Violations? 50% Administrative Detention orders handed down 1205 Total amount of fines paid to the military court 20 Million NIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ^^[1] <#_ftnref1> Yesh Din. (2007).?Backyard proceedings: The Implementation of Due Process Rights in the Military Courts in the Occupied Territories. [2] <#_ftnref2> Yesh Din. ?Backyard Proceedings: The Implementation of Due Process in the Military Courts in the Occupied Territories?. December 2007, pages 35-40. [3] <#_ftnref3> Official Report of the Work of the Military Courts in the West Bank in 2010 (Hebrew), published in 2011, Military Courts Report 2010. [4] <#_ftnref4> Yesh Din. ?Backyard Proceedings: The Implementation of Due Process in the Military Courts in the Occupied Territories?. December 2007. [6] <#_ftnref6> Addameer Documentation, 2017. [7] <#_ftnref7> Sharon Weill, ?The judicial arm of the occupation: the Israeli military courts in the occupied territories?. International Review of the Red Cross. Volume 89, no. 866. June 2007, pages 404. [8] <#_ftnref8> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287. [9] <#_ftnref9> Sharon Weill, ?The judicial arm of the occupation: the Israeli military courts in the occupied territories?. /International Review of the Red Cross/. Volume 89, no. 866. June 2007, pages 418-419. [10] <#_ftnref10> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287. [11] <#_ftnref11> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Third Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 135. [12] <#_ftnref12> International Court of Justice. 9 July 2004. ?Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory?. [13] <#_ftnref13> UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 999, p. 171 [15] <#_ftnref15> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287. [16] <#_ftnref16> See the section on Administrative Detention, following. [17] <#_ftnref17> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287. [18] <#_ftnref18> Yesh Din. ?Backyard Proceedings: The Implementation of Due Process in the Military Courts in the Occupied Territories?. December 2007, page 17. [19] <#_ftnref19> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287. [21] <#_ftnref21> All figures were provided to Addameer by the Military Court itself. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 23 16:09:03 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2018 13:09:03 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Venezuela=E2=80=99s_Maduro_Meets_Commune_Leader?= =?utf-8?q?s=2C_Calls_for_Devolution_of_State_Power?= Message-ID: https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14110 Venezuela?s Maduro Meets Commune Leaders, Calls for Devolution of State Power By Paul Dobson - October 22, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ M?rida, October 22, 2018 (venezuelanalysis.com ) ? Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro led a gathering of commune leaders this weekend as part of the IV Congress of Communes and Social Movements, during which he made a series of important announcements in the area. The event follows a host of meetings by President Maduro during past months, withcampesinos in August , businesspeople and international investors in September, and more recently withworkers . The Commune Congress comes on the heels of a series of regional encounters to elect delegates of community leaders to participate. It was organised under the auspices of the Ministry for Communes, and whilst participation levels were unclear, unconfirmed reports suggested that some of the most self-sufficient communes did not participate. Speaking from Miraflores presidential palace where the congress was held, Maduro began byhighlighting some of his government?s failings in making progress towards the communal state. ?I think that if we review these six years [since Chavez?s passing], critically and self-critically we can say that only achieved and advanced half-heartedly,? he told community leaders gathered. Maduro spoke on the sixth anniversary of late President Chavez?s most emblematic final speech, known as ?Strike at the Helm,? in which he publicly criticized his ministers for failing to make promoting communal self-government their top priority. Communes are agglomerations of local communal councils, which according to Chavez?s vision, combine participatory democracy with socialized ownership of the means of production in a bottom-up effort aimed at gradually displacing the existing bourgeois state apparatus and constituting a decentralized, self-governing communal state. ?We haven?t advanced in the plan for the transfer of power to the communes. It has been simply speeches and applause. ?Let?s transfer power to the Communes? and then nothing. This is the government?s responsibility, which hasn?t completed the task! I tell you ministers, let?s make it happen, I want a detailed plan for the transfer of state power to the communes,? Maduro declared. The Chavista leader also specified that his orders are to take effect immediately , announcing,?I want to start next week to hand power over to the people in the communes, and I ask for your forgiveness for having failed in this aspect.? More communes and inclusion in the new constitution At the gathering, Maduro was presented with aseries of proposals from communal leaders .One of the proposals taken up by the president was a request that the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) place the series of laws regulating the organisations of popular power as a ?central nucleus of the new constitutional text,? effectively making them ?untouchable.? Maduro also called on community leaders and Communes Minister Blanca Eekhout to speed up the formation of the 403 communes needed to reach the target of 3,000 communal organisations in the country. ?In Venezuela there are 47,634 communal councils,? he explained. ?Of these, 23,418 are active with different levels of development and grouped into communes, of which there are 2,597 functioning,? he continued. However, many communal activists have been critical of government efforts to foster communes ?from above,? which they argue tends to stifle local initiative, resulting in corruption, deficits in democracy and transparency, as well as long term dependence on the state which they are meant to replace. Universities, micro missions, and communications Maduro also announced the creation of a new university following the demands of those present at the gathering, which will be known as the Bolivarian University of the Venezuelan Communes (UBCV). It is, though, unclear how the new educational institution will benefit the organised communities, or what topics are to be taught. Likewise, Maduro ordered the launch of the ?Nourishing the Nation? micro-mission which looks to strengthen the communityFood Houses in the poorest sectors of the country. Food Houses provide free or low cost food to the most needy, and are often run by the communities themselves. Equally, Maduro encouraged community leaders to step up their efforts in the communicational field, especially on social networking, as part of a bid to dispute the hegemony of the right-wing opposition in this crucial arena. Petro mining and crop sowing The president also approved the creation ofelectronic cryptocurrency mining installations in all of the communes and communal banks of the country, so as to reportedly enable them to ?self-finance? by generating Petros and other hard currencies. Cryptocurrency mining requires expensive high-tech computers and draws excessive amounts of electricity. An expansion in mining ?farms? was recentlyidentified as one of the causes of an electrical meltdown in Zulia State . Maduro also approved resources for the Communal Crop Plan 2018, which focuses on small scale production of white and yellow corn, high demand products in Venezuela that require relatively little secondary or tertiary processing. The plan looks to sew 200 hectares across the country both in urban and rural areas, with financing reportedly guaranteed for the ?seeds, storage, and logistics? necessary in production. Communal crop production has been aflagship policy of Maduro since 2013, when he urged Venezuela?s communities to start producing, even on a very small scale. Communal plots are normally owned, managed, and administered by the community, with the produce shared among or sold to the members of the same community. Whilst the vast majority are limited to primary production without the capital to invest in secondary or tertiary processing, some communities, such as El Maizal Commune in Lara State, have managed to achieve a significant degree of financial self-sufficiency, allowing them to acquire processing machines and produce with larger economies of scale. Unanswered demands The list of demands from the communal leaders also contained a series of elements which the president made no comment on during his speech to the Congress. Amongst the unanswered demands are calls for better efficiency and planning in public administration, especially in local government, the transfer of Orinoco Woods and unnamed cotton industries to community management, and the installation of a commune leader-government workgroup to identify state-run companies which may be transferred to communal administration. Delegates also requested that the government create a series of communally-run transport companies for public, cargo, land, and water transport. Likewise, they called on the government to culminate the long anticipated but incomplete rail networks set to link Venezuela?s key industrial sectors, such as Caracas, Miranda, Aragua, and Carabobo, as well as create a new network of cargo land transport to address problems affecting the distribution of products. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 24 11:48:20 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2018 08:48:20 -0700 Subject: [News] Why Israel targets Palestinian schools Message-ID: https://english.palinfo.com/articles/2018/10/24/A-cruel-choice-Why-Israel-targets-Palestinian-schools Why Israel targets Palestinian schools By Ramzy Baroud - October 24, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Several Palestinian students, along with teachers and officials, were wounded in the Israeli army attack on a school south of Nablus in the West Bank on 15 October. The students of Al- Sawiya Al-Lebban Mixed School were challenging an Israeli military order to shut down their school based on the ever-versatile accusation of the school being a ?site of popular terror and rioting?. ?Popular terror? is an Israeli army code for protests. The students, of course, have every right to protest, not just the Israeli military occupation but also the encroaching colonization of the settlements of Alie and Ma?ale Levona. These two illegal Jewish settlements have unlawfully confiscated thousands of dunams of land belonging to the villages of As-Sawiya and Al-Lebban. ?The Israeli citizens? that the occupation army is set to protect by shutting down the school, are, in fact, the very armed Jewish settlers who have been terrorizing this West Bank region for years. According to a 2016 study commissioned by the United Nations, at least 2,500 Palestinian students from 35 West Bank communities must cross through Israeli military checkpoints to reach their schools every day. About half of these students have reported army harassment and violence for merely attempting to get to their classes or back home. However, this is only half of the story, as violent Jewish settlers are always on the lookout for Palestinian kids. These settlers, who ?also set up their own checkpoints?, engage in regular violence as well, by ?throwing stones? at children, or ?physically pushing (Palestinian children) around.? ?UNICEF?s protective presence teams have reported that their volunteers have been subjected to physical attacks, harassment, arrest and detention, and death threats,? according to the same UN report. In other words, even the ?protectors? themselves often fall victim to the army and Jewish settler terror tactics. Add to this that Area C ? a major part of the West Bank that is under full Israeli military control ? represents the pinnacle of Palestinian suffering. An estimated 50,000 children face numerous hurdles, including the lack of facilities, access, violence, closure and unjustified demolition orders. The school of Al-Sawiya Al-Lebban located in Area C is, therefore, under the total mercy of the Israeli military, which has no tolerance for any form of resistance, including non-violent popular protests by school children. What is truly uplifting, however, is that, despite the Israeli military occupation and ongoing restrictions on Palestinian freedom, the Palestinian population remains one of the most educated in the Middle East. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the literacy rate in Palestine (estimated at 96.3 per cent) is one of the highest in the Middle East and the illiteracy rate (3.7 per cent among individuals over the age of 15) is one of the lowest in the world. If these statistics are not heartening enough, bearing in mind the ongoing Israeli war on Palestinian school and curricula, consider this: the besieged and war-stricken Gaza Strip has an even higher literacy rate than the West Bank, as they both stand at 96.6 per cent and 96 per cent respectively. In truth, this should not come as a total surprise. The first wave of Palestinian refugees that were ethnically-cleansed from historic Palestine was so keen on ensuring their children strive to continue their education, they established school tents, operated by volunteer teachers as early as 1948. Palestinians understand well that education is their greatest weapon to obtain their long-denied freedom. Israel, too, is aware of this dichotomy, knowing that an empowered Palestinian population is far more capable of challenging Israeli dominance than a subdued one, thus the relentless and systematic targeting of the Palestinian educational system. Israel?s strategy in destroying the infrastructure of Palestinian schooling system is centered on the allegation of ?terror?: that is, Palestinians teach ?terror? in their schools; Palestinian school books celebrate ?terrorists?; schools are sites for ?popular terror? and various other accusations that, per Israeli logic, compels the army to seal off schools, demolish facilities, arrest and shoot students. Take for example the recent comments made by the Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, who is now leading a government campaign aimed at shutting down operations by the UN organisation that caters for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. ?It is time to remove UNRWA from Jerusalem,? Barkat announced early October. Without any evidence whatsoever, Barkat claimed that ?UNRWA is strengthening terror,? and that ?the children of Jerusalem are taught under their auspices, terror, and this must be stopped.? Of course, Barkat is being dishonest. The jibe at UNRWA in Jerusalem is part of a larger Israeli-US campaign aimed at shutting down an organisation that proved central to the status and welfare of Palestinian refugees. According to this skewed thinking, without UNRWA, Palestinian refugees would have no legal platform, thus closing down UNRWA is closing down the chapter of Palestinian refugees and their Right of Return altogether. The link between the shutting down of Al-Sawiya Al-Lebban, the targeting of UNRWA by Israel and the US, the numerous checkpoints separating students from their schools in the West Bank and more, have more in common than Israel?s false allegation of ?terror?. Israeli writer, Orly Noy, summed up the Israeli logic in one sentence. /By destroying schools in Palestinian villages in Area C and elsewhere, Israel is forcing Palestinians to make a cruel choice ? between their land and their children?s futures./ she wrote earlier this year. It is this brutal logic that has guided the Israeli government strategy regarding Palestinian education for 70 years. It is a war that cannot be discussed or understood outside the larger war on Palestinian identity, freedom, and, in fact, the very existence of the Palestinian people. The students? fight for their right to education in Al-Sawiya Al-Lebban Mixed School is by no means an isolated skirmish involving Palestinian school kids and trigger-happy Israeli soldiers. Rather, it is at the heart of the Palestinian people?s fight for their freedom. /-?Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. / -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 25 11:50:26 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2018 08:50:26 -0700 Subject: [News] When the Klan Came to Town Message-ID: http://bostonreview.net/race/michael-mccanne-when-klan-came-town?fbclid=IwAR04As6NJwJTc8r93ZgPEF_ZksDDu-poKYHaxnOBfZGv4dRLS8VnUajqHow#.W9DPQaDox9g.facebook When the Klan Came to Town Michael McCanne ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Oct 23, 2018 ?The Great Army for Truth and Americanism Makes Rome Tremble? (1928); Image: Wikimedia History reminds us that firm and sometimes violent opposition to racists is a time-honored American tradition. In Perth Amboy, New Jersey, members of the Ku Klux Klan assembled to hear a xenophobic celebrity speak. An angry crowd gathered outside the building and as the lecture began inside, protestors interrupted the speaker and tried to shout him down. Eventually the crowd outside forced its way in. Scuffles broke out and several Klansmen were attacked. Later, the Klansmen complained that their constitutional rights had been violated and promised to return in larger numbers, ready to fight it out with their enemies. It is worth remembering that Americans have?a proud tradition of confronting?and exposing?racist and xenophobic movements. The confrontation could have taken place during the last year in Berkeley or Portland or any number of cities where racists and anti-racists have clashed. But the Perth Amboy riot was one of numerous confrontations with the Ku Klux Klan that occurred during the early 1920s. The Klan was in a second ascendency, riding a wave of anxiety about crime, immigration, and economic unrest, and like the alt-right today, the Klan sought out confrontations by rallying in unfriendly cities. In response to white supremacist organizing in our own time, radical voices on the left, notably Antifa, have drawn on the tradition of European resistance to fascists to declare that the appropriate response to racist organizing is physical opposition, doxing (publicly ?outing? racists), and violent retaliation. Liberal critics, on the other hand, have argued that Antifa tactics break with U.S. traditions of free speech, open debate, and civility. For the most part, both sides of the debate fail to note that the United States has a long history of homegrown militant resistance to racist organizing. In the 1920s, when the Klan sought to secure a place in the U.S. political mainstream by organizing large public demonstrations and mounting electoral campaigns, anti-Klan organizers confronted the KKK using a range of techniques that included open ridicule and violence. Their goals were similar to anti-racists of today: expose the bigots and deny them the ability to march or rally in public. This all-but-forgotten story serves to remind that as long as racist and xenophobic movements have mobilized in this country, Americans have struggled to confront and expose them using every option at hand. The Klan did return to Perth Amboy three months after the failed lecture, determined to show they would not be intimidated. They rented an Odd Fellows hall downtown and publicized their meeting. Perth Amboy was a multiracial, working-class city but Klan membership was strong in the surrounding countryside and 500 Klansmen, in robes and masks, marched into the building, believing their numbers, and the police, would protect them. In response, 6,000 protestors surrounded the Odd Fellows building carrying?bricks. The police called in the fire department to push them back with water but the crowd slashed the fire hoses with knives and axes. The police fired tear gas bombs, which did nothing to deter the demonstrators, and the Klansmen had to flee out the back door and fight their way through the streets. Most were badly beaten and some had their cars overturned. What seemed at first like organic anti-racist violence was actually the fruit of organized resistance. In the 1920s, several groups formed to prevent the Klan from gathering publically and to undermine the secrecy behind which they hid. This resistance comprised disparate communities?Catholics, Jews, African Americans, bootleggers, union organizers?unified against the KKK?s vision for the United States. Some organizations, such as the American Unity League, used public shaming and boycotts to counter the Klan?s influence, while a shadowy group known as the Knights of the Flaming Circle confronted the Klan more directly, blocking their marches and attacking their rallies. By the middle of?the 1920s, the KKK was politically mainstream. In some states, as many as a third of white men paid dues. The original Ku Klux Klan, formed by ex-Confederate soldiers after the Civil War, all but died out by the end of Reconstruction. Then, in 1915, inspired by D. W. Griffith?s film /Birth of Nation/, a veteran of the Spanish?American War named William J. Simmons recreated the Klan as a fraternal society dedicated to white supremacy/./ To inaugurate the new organization, Simmons and some friends climbed to the top of Stone Mountain, Georgia, and burned a cross?something they had seen in Griffith?s film but which had not been done by the original KKK. The Klan grew rapidly, thanks to a range of factors that included rising anti-immigrant sentiment, and the social and economic tumult of the early 1920s. Prohibition, universal suffrage, and rising crime caused many white Protestants to feel that their country was coming apart. The Klan capitalized on these anxieties. Its official newspaper, /The Fiery Cross/, detailed lurid crimes committed by foreigners and called for restricted immigration. The Klan of the 1920s especially targeted Catholics, playing on lingering suspicions from World War I that Catholics maintained dual loyalties and were part of a secret plot directed from Rome. Klan newspapers derided the ?Romans? and ?papists? in their midst. The Klan vigorously supported Prohibition and saw its enforcement as a way to terrorize immigrant communities?many Klansmen joined the newly formed Prohibition Unit. By the middle of the decade, the Klan was on the cusp of integrating into the center of U.S. political life. At its peak in 1925, it boasted between 2 and 5 million members. In some states, such as Indiana, perhaps as many as a third of white men were dues-paying KKK members. The organization successfully ran candidates in local and state elections and even caused a split between pro- and anti-Klan delegates at the 1924 National Democratic Convention. The organization downplayed its racism and emphasized patriotism, Christian values, and what it called ?100 percent Americanism.? When its parades and rallies were disrupted, the Klan claimed its constitutional rights were being violated. After one anti-Klan riot, the KKK?s Imperial Wizard released a statement lamenting that ?peaceable Americans banding themselves into a patriotic organization are prevented from exercising the same rights as Catholics, Jews and negroes.? The Klan thrived on secrecy so politicians, public officials, and?anti-racist activists aimed to strip away that veil. This played well in smaller cities and rural counties where most of the residents were native-born, white, and Protestant. But in larger cities across the industrial spine of the Midwest, where Catholics and immigrants made up large majorities, the response was open hostility. The Klan also ran into resistance in the steel and coal regions of Appalachia, where organized labor, especially the United Mine Workers Union, viewed the Klan as a threat to the multiethnic coalition it had built. African American organizations organized boycotts of businesses that supported the Klan and turned Emancipation Day celebrations into anti-Klan rallies. In New York and New Jersey, African Americans organized vigilance committees to defend their communities. In bigger cities, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish leaders spoke out against the Klan, as did the American Legion and the Knights of Columbus. Some public officials, especially Irish and Italian politicians, took exception to the Klan organizing in their cities and used their power to persecute its members. They passed laws requiring organizations to make their membership rolls public. They banned parading with masks, and in some places banned the Klan outright, despite the questionable legality of such a move. New York?s mayor, John H. Hylan, dispensed with legal niceties and ordered his police to crush the Klan, to break up its meetings, and seize its membership lists. When Chicago?s fire commissioner discovered that every man at one firehouse had joined the Klan, he had them split up and reassigned separately to Catholic and African American neighborhoods. In Chicago, a combative Irish Catholic lawyer named Patrick O?Donnell decided to go on the offensive. O?Donnell had been involved in Irish nationalist groups and he used these skills to organize the American Unity League (AUL), which was mainly made up of Catholics but included African American ministers and rabbis in its leadership. O?Donnell reasoned that the Klan thrived on secrecy and, much like anti-racist activists today, aimed to strip away that veil. He paid leakers for Klan membership rolls and sent informers into the organization. In some instances, the AUL broke into Klan offices to get the names. The lists were printed in the AUL newspaper, /Tolerance/, and in leaflets?a form of proto-doxing. Once exposed, workers lost their jobs and businessmen faced boycotts. In one prominent case, the president of a Chicago bank had to resign from his position. The AUL also used mockery to diminish the power of the Klan, whose bizarre lingo and silly titles provided easy fodder. Klan meetings were ?klonklaves,? a local chapter was called a ?klavern,? and the organization?s book of rules was the Kloran. The head of the Klan was called the Imperial Wizard, and local leaders were known as Exalted Cyclops. The AUL dubbed the Klansmen ?Kluxers? and ?Koo Koos.? It also published internal scandals of klaverns, tales of graft and adultery, as well as testimonies from Klansmen who had quit the organization. The tactics caused great distress among Klan leadership. The Klan?s paper decried the tactics of the ?Un-American Unity League? run by ?Mad Pat O?Donnell.? The Klan even mounted lawsuits against the AUL for slander and defamation, which ultimately crippled /Tolerance /financially. While the AUL battled the Klan in a publicity war, another, more secretive, organization called the Knights of the Flaming Circle emerged to confront the Klan. Little is known about this organization, but the /New York Times/ reported that around the same time as?the second clash in Perth Amboy, the Knights of the Flaming Circle was founded at a huge meeting in Kane, Pennsylvania, at which participants wore robes and set a thirty-foot-high circle on fire. In a letter to the local newspaper, the Knights declared their bitter opposition to the Klan and promised to ?ring the earth with justice to all? regardless of race or religion. Opposition to the 1920s Klan often made for strange bedfellows. Although the historical record on the Knights of the Flaming Circle is spotty, it seems they were committed to using the Klan?s own methods against them. The press dubbed them the ?Red Knights? because they purportedly wore red robes?although, unlike the Klan, they made a point of not wearing masks. They burned circles of hay or tires on Klansmen?s lawns. Like the AUL, the Knights also stole membership rolls and donation records, which they used to publically shame Klansmen, and organize boycotts of Klan-owned businesses. The Knights main function, though, was to disrupt Klan events and organize counterprotests. If the Klan mounted a surprise parade, the Knights would march the next day to voice their opposition. When the Klan announced an event in advance, the Knights would strive to block it in any way they could. In Canfield, Ohio, the Knights of the Flaming Circle scattered roofing tacks on the road to flatten the Klansmen?s tires on the way to a parade. When the Klan planned a march through Niles, Ohio, in 1924, the Knights of the Flaming Circle called a counterdemonstration of thousands. The mayor had granted a permit to the Klan?despite pleas from local citizens?but refused a permit to the Knights. On the morning of November 1, the Knights of the Flaming Circle set up roadblocks outside Niles, stopping Klansmen?s cars and seizing their regalia. Some of the cars were overturned and the occupants beaten up. The ones who made it through tried to march but scuffles devolved into a riot, which lasted eighteen hours; the Klan parade never took place. While some of the Knights were motivated by the Klan?s racism and xenophobia, others may have had different reasons. The Klan often attacked local liquor rackets, which in turn were more than willing to defend their businesses and communities with violence, and may well have played a significant role in the Knights. It is also possible that the Knights of the Flaming Circle was never a formal organization at all, but instead a name used to claim victories or rally support by various clandestine anti-Klan activists and bootleggers. In an interview many years later, a member from Youngstown, Ohio, said that the group was a ?thrown-together outfit? made up of local ethnic gangs and that the newspapers invented the image of an organization. Jonathan Kinser, who is completing a book on the Knights of the Flaming Circle, speculates that wire services helped spread the group?s legend across the country and inspired others to take up the name: ?People would read about the clashes and say, ?hey, let?s do it too.?? In places such as southern Illinois, however, the Knights seemed better organized?with meetings and officers?and more prepared to defend themselves against the Klan. In Williamson County, in what is known locally as the Klan War, the Red Knights?with the backing of miners, bootleggers, and the sheriff?battled with Klansmen who enjoyed the support of prohibition agents and local police. The tit-for-tat attacks left several people dead and forced the governor to bring in the National Guard to restore the peace. For those who joined the Klan for a sense of belonging, the risks started to outweigh the benefits. Opposition to the 1920s Klan often made for strange bedfellows. Democrats and Republicans both found themselves battling to keep the Klan out of political life. Immigrant communities that were at each other?s throats, such as the Irish and Italians, joined forces to smash up Klan parades. The Catholic Church found itself on the same side as bootleggers. In short, the Klan had?grown so large and antagonized so many communities that?anti-Klan activity represented a diverse swath of the country. The Klan used violence and intimidation to achieve its goals, but seemed overwhelmed when it was opposed by the same tactics, particularly in the North and Midwest. The violent disturbances tarnished the Klan?s reputation as a respectable political organization and in many instances forced the Klan to give up trying to rally and organize in cities that were not dominated by sympathetic residents. According to Kinser, the targeted violence against Klansmen, especially by those with ties to bootlegging, caused a precipitous decline in membership in the Midwest. For those who joined the Klan for a sense of belonging or were motivated by anger over illegal alcohol or immigration, the risks started to outweigh the benefits. By 1926 the Klan had lost all but a symbolic presence in the North, and by the end of the decade, the second iteration of the Ku Klux Klan had collapsed under the weight of public scandals, declining membership, and external opposition. The number of white supremacists organizing today is nowhere near that of the 1920s. But their ranks have increased since the 2016 election, and they are gaining influence in the government and at the margins of electoral politics, riding high on a wave of xenophobia and perceived white victimization. Opposition to them is also growing, but so far only on the hard left. This history reminds us, though, that firm and sometimes violent opposition to racists is a time-honored American tradition, one that has in the past enjoyed support from across the political spectrum, by citizens who may have agreed on little else. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 26 17:21:49 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2018 14:21:49 -0700 Subject: [News] Tax Havens and Other Tricks Let U.S. Firms Steal $180 Billion Message-ID: https://theintercept.com/2018/10/26/tax-havens-and-other-dirty-tricks-let-u-s-corporations-steal-180-billion-from-the-rest-of-the-world-every-year/ Tax Havens and Other Tricks Let U.S. Firms Steal $180 Billion From the Rest of the World Every Year Jon Schwarz - October 26, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _Are tax havens_ an enraging but tangential subject? Or do they have a powerful effect on how the U.S. economy functions and should therefore be a part of every political debate? The startling findings of a new academic study ?indicate that it?s the latter. Titled ?The Exorbitant Tax Privilege,? the paper is co-written by Thomas Wright and University of California, Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman, one of the world?s top authorities on tax havens and author of the best layperson?s introduction to the subject, ?The Hidden Wealth of Nations .? Tax havens ? the most significant include Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, and Bermuda ? serve two purposes. The first is tax /evasion /by individuals, which is illegal. Think of Russian or Nigerian plutocrats transferring their assets to small Caribbean nations with strict banking secrecy laws, freeing them from the dreary necessity of paying taxes in their home countries. The second is tax /avoidance /by huge multinational corporations, which ? as long as the lawyers are doing their jobs ? is perfectly legal. Here imagine Apple using various forms of accounting chicanery to claim that tens of billions of its profits generated in countries with normal corporate tax rates were actually all made in Ireland , where Apple had negotiated a special 2 percent tax rate for itself. (Apple has on occasion gone even further, asserting that some of its profits were made, for the purposes of taxation, in no country at all.) Zucman conservatively estimated in his book ?that tax avoidance and evasion translate into hundreds of billions of dollars in unpaid taxes every year ? money that, for the most part, ends up in the pockets of the world?s wealthiest people. The Zucman and Wright paper addresses the multinational corporation part of the equation. Among their conclusions: ? As of 1970, American multinationals claimed that under 10 percent of their profits were generated in tax havens; that number is now, preposterously enough, almost 50 percent. In other words, U.S. companies want us to believe that nearly half their economic activity is occurring in places like the Cayman Islands. Goldman Sachs, for instance, has 511 subsidiaries there, yet zero offices. By contrast, European multinationals generally say under 20 percent of their profits were made in tax havens. U.S. multinationals engage in this white shoe, three-card monte for obvious reasons: They pay effective tax rates of 27 percent on profits generated in non-tax havens, the paper finds, and 7 percent in tax havens. ? The sheer fraudulence of tax havens has reached breathtaking levels. One clear measure of whether a multinational corporation is engaging in genuine economic activity in a country is the ratio of its reported profits to wages paid: The higher the ratio, the clearer it is that profits are being illegitimately claimed in that country because of its low tax rate. In non-tax haven countries, the average ratio is 36 percent ? that is, corporations report 36 cents in pre-tax profits for every $1 they paid in wages. By contrast, the ratio has been as high as 800 percent for foreign multinationals in Ireland and an eye-popping 1,625 percent in Puerto Rico. ? For decades, thanks in part to tax havens, both the statutory and effective tax rates for multinationals have been steadily ratcheted down around the world. Since the early 1990s, the rate paid by U.S. non-oil multinationals on foreign profits has fallen from 35 percent to 20 percent. ? Similarly, the tax rate paid by U.S. oil companies to foreign governments plummeted from an average of 70 percent before the 1991 Gulf War to 45 percent since ? a peculiar phenomenon which, Zucman and Wright say, may reflect ?a return on military protection granted by the United States to oil-producing States.? (Tax rates for oil multinationals are higher than for other corporations because hydrocarbon states have greater leverage ? for example, Ivanka Trump can transfer the production of her shoe line from Bangladesh to Ethiopia, but Exxon can?t threaten to move an oil extraction project from the United Arab Emirates to Belgium.) U.S. oil multinationals are also astonishingly profitable: From 1966 to 2010, their pre-tax foreign profits accounted for over a third of all the foreign profits of U.S.-based multinationals. U.S. Global Power Taken together, this all suggests that tax havens play a measurable role in bolstering U.S. global power. The U.S. has for decades bought much more from other countries than?it has sold them, and?its accumulated foreign debt is now far larger than that of any other country ? about $8 trillion, or more than 40 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. This $8 trillion is the difference between $35 trillion in foreign investments in U.S. assets and $27 trillion in U.S. investments in foreign assets. Under normal economic logic, this should mean huge amounts of money would drain out of the U.S. economy each year, as foreigners collect returns on their American assets. Yet somehow America?s returns on our foreign assets are so much higher than foreign returns on their U.S. assets that the opposite happens ? money keeps flowing /into /the U.S. Zucman and Wright estimate that almost half of the difference between U.S. returns and foreign returns can be attributed to abnormally low tax rates for U.S. multinationals, which in turn are thanks to U.S. power and tax havens. If their conclusions are correct, this exorbitant tax privilege translates into about $180 billion per year, or almost 1 percent of U.S. GDP. (If 1 percent doesn?t sound like a lot to you, remember that for the past decade the U.S. economy has usually grown between just 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent per year.) In a fairer world economy, this money would largely be collected by non-tax haven foreign governments in taxes. Instead, it flows to U.S. multinationals and their shareholders. This is a blizzard of statistics, of course. But they have many intriguing implications ? ones that go beyond what Zucman and Wright?s?report?says ? which suggest that the effects of tax havens will show up in numerous political issues to which they seem unconnected. First, if U.S. elites were intelligent enough to understand the implications of?tax havens ? by no means a foregone conclusion ? they would likely squelch any serious effort to eliminate them. This is not just because the wealthy disproportionately own U.S. stock and directly benefit from tax avoidance by U.S. multinationals. It?s also because shutting down tax havens could lower the returns on our foreign assets. This in turn would force the U.S. to submit to the normal laws of economic gravity and cause the dollar to weaken. This would be good for many normal Americans because it would boost U.S. manufacturing. But this would be quite unpalatable to U.S. elites because a weaker dollar makes the U.S. relatively poorer compared to the rest of the world and thus, reduces our might on the global stage.?(Closing tax havens should also reduce inequality in the U.S. by reducing corporate profits.) Then there?s the fact that the fall in corporate tax rates over the past decades isn?t over. Prior to the passage of the GOP tax bill last year, corporations theoretically were required to pay U.S. tax rates on profits booked in foreign countries when they repatriated the profits back to the U.S. (In practice, they just never brought the money home.) But the 2017 bill changed the rules. Now any money that corporations claim they made in a foreign country will only be liable for that country?s taxes. Thus, companies will have even more incentive to bogusly shift profits to tax havens. The bill also slashed the U.S. statutory corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, purportedly because America had to be ?competitive? with other countries with lower rates. This will now put pressure on those countries to further lower their corporate tax rates to compete with us. Once they do, multinationals will use that to demand lower corporate tax rates in the U.S. And so on. There?s also the issue of who has what power in the U.S.-Saudi relationship in the wake of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Pundits have confidently proclaimed that because the Saudis now produce a smaller proportion of world oil than in the past, we now need them less. But U.S. elites don?t just care about Saudi influence on the price of oil, they care about U.S. involvement in the extraction and refining of all the Persian Gulf?s hydrocarbons. If the U.S. truly broke with the Riyadh, the Saudis and their similarly oil-rich Gulf allies might attempt to punish U.S. oil multinationals by turning to the oil multinationals of Russia or China. And take the issue of statehood for Puerto Rico, something which would likely increase the power of the Democratic Party in Congress. Puerto Rico has been a tax haven for the pharmaceutical industry for decades and more recently, has been trying to market itself as a tax haven for superwealthy individuals. If Puerto Rico became a state, both corporations and a lot of hedge fund expatriates would find themselves paying U.S. tax rates, and hence, they both can be counted on to lobby extremely hard against it ever happening. Taxes Versus Smallpox and Golf All in all, the continuing metastasizing of tax havens around the world should be a central preoccupation of economists beyond outliers like Zucman ? as well as front-page news and fascinating to everyone. Yet it?s not. Why? Almost 100 years ago, the acerbic misanthrope H.L. Mencken wrote an essay about academic economists. The subject of taxation, Mencken said, ?is eternally lively; it concerns nine-tenths of us more directly than either smallpox or golf, and has just as much drama in it.? Yet somehow, Mencken wrote, economists have made taxes and economics in general seem mind-crushingly boring. This happens, Mencken explained, because there are many academic subjects ? math, archeology, Latin grammar ? about which the superrich don?t care. But economics ?hits the employers of the professors where they live. ? It is, in brief, the science of the ways and means whereby they have come to such estate, and maintain themselves in such estate, that they are able to hire and boss professors. ? over practically every [economist] there stands a board of trustees with its legs in the stock-market and its eyes on the established order, and that board is ever alert for heresy in the science of its being.? Economists therefore have every incentive to be extremely orthodox, extremely dull, and never communicate ?the violet of human interest? to the rest of the world. We?re lucky that Zucman & Co. have ignored these incentives. ?Some people in economics feel,? Zucman?said , ?that economics should be only about efficiency, and that talking about distributional issues and inequality is not what economists should be doing.? He?s even been accused of engaging in ?French economics,? whatever that means. Fortunately, he and his colleagues continue to focus on what truly matters and have the talent to inform the rest of us. Top photo: An evening view of the city of Geneva, Switzerland, on Aug. 11, 2018. Switzerland is one of the world?s best-known tax havens. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Mon Oct 29 16:24:48 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2018 13:24:48 -0700 Subject: [News] Jair Bolsonaro Is Elected President of Brazil. Read His Extremist, Far-Right Positions in His Own Words Message-ID: https://theintercept.com/2018/10/28/jair-bolsonaro-elected-president-brazil/ Jair Bolsonaro Is Elected President of Brazil. Read His Extremist, Far-Right Positions in His Own Words Andrew Fishman - October 28, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _Jair Bolsonaro was_ elected president of Brazil on Sunday evening. The far-right candidate received more than 55 percent of valid votes. His opponent, Fernando Haddad of the Workers? Party, received less than 45 percent. In a country with compulsory voting, almost 29 percent of adults preferred to annul or not cast their ballot. Across Brazil, city streets echoed with fireworks, shouts, and car horns as preliminary election results came in. Thousands of supporters, many dressed in green and yellow, assembled outside the president-elect?s beach-front residence in Rio de Janeiro. On S?o Paulo?s main street, Avenida Paulista, police used tear gas to separate Haddad and Bolsonaro voters. Bolsonaro, who has taken aim at the media throughout his campaign, chose to make his first statement after the election via Facebook Live, rather than a press conference. ?We could not continue to flirt with socialism, communism, populism, and the extremism of the left,? he said. The broadcast was picked up by major TV networks, but repeatedly froze due to connection issues. ?All of the promises made to?political groups and the people will be kept,? he added. Soon after, he stepped outside, made a brief statement to the media, and asked a key supporter, Sen. Magno Malta, to lead the group in prayer. He then read a prepared statement and took questions from a representative of the press. The Workers? Party originally ran former President Luiz In?cio Lula da Silva as their candidate, and he was the clear favorite in the polls. However, they were forced to swap him out at the last minute for Haddad,?a former mayor of S?o Paulo who had failed to win re-election in 2016, after Lula was sent to prison on a questionable corruption conviction, and it became clear that higher courts would not overturn the sentence . Hindered by a late start and the lack of a national profile, Haddad struggled to gain name recognition and failed to distance himself from public perceptions that linked his party to corruption and the status quo. Nonetheless, with the strong base of the Workers? Party and?the?message, ?Haddad is Lula,? the 55-year-old academic was able to scrape his way through the first round of elections on October 7, taking 29 percent of the vote in a 13-way contest. This year?s elections were particularly fraught, marked by dramatic polarization , political violence , and massive disinformation campaigns on social media, in a country?that has been roiled by years of social, economic, and political crises. Since 2013, millions of people of all political stripes have repeatedly?taken to the streets in protest ;?Brazil has struggled to climb out of the worst recession in history; massive corruption scandals have destabilized political institutions and major economic players; former President Dilma Rousseff (also?from the Workers? Party) was impeached on dubious grounds; her successor, President Michel Temer (the most despised leader in Brazil?s democratic history ), has pushed through a series of unpopular austerity measures; and Lula was jailed, a process?that has exposed the judiciary to relentless criticism for perceived partisanship. In short, every major political institution has?been increasingly discredited as Brazil has spiraled deeper and deeper into a dark void. And from the abyss emerged a former army captain and six-term congressman from Rio de Janeiro, Jair Bolsonaro, with?the slogan ?Brazil above everything, God above everyone,? and promises to fix everything with hard-line tactics. Seven years ago, Bolsonaro was a punchline for the political humor program CQC, where he?d make outrageous statements. A former presenter, Monica Iozzi, said they interviewed him multiple times ?so people could see the very low level of the representatives we were electing.? Now, it?s Bolsonaro who is laughing, and Iozzi says she regrets giving him airtime . Riding the wave of public discontent, Bolsonaro campaigned against the Workers? Party, corruption, politicians, crime, ?cultural Marxism,? communists, leftists, secularism, and ?privileges? for historically marginalized groups.?Instead, he favored??traditional family values,? ?patriotism,? nationalism, the military, a Christian nation, guns, increased police violence , and neoliberal economics that he promises will revitalize the economy. Despite his actual political platform being short on specific proposals, the energy around his candidacy was enough to win the presidency and turn his previously insignificant Social Liberal Party into the second-largest bloc in Congress. But what has frightened his opponents, many international observers , and even some fervent Workers? Party critics , are Bolsonaro?s repeated declarations in favor of Brazil?s military dictatorship,?torture, extrajudicial police killings, and violence against LGBTQ people, Afro-Brazilians, women, indigenous people, minorities, and political opponents, as well as his opposition to democratic norms and values. Here?is Brazil?s next president in his own words over the years. In the coming months, Brazil and the world will discover if Bolsonaro will make good on?these drastic promises?when he takes office on January 1, 2019: ?I am in favor of a dictatorship, a regime of exception.? ? Open session of the C?mara dos Deputados , 1993 /Interviewer: If you were the president of the Republic today, would you close the National Congress?/ ?There?s no doubt about it. I?d do a coup on the same day! It [the Congress] doesn?t work! And I?m sure at least 90?percent of the population would throw a party, would applaud, because it does not work. Congress today is good for nothing, brother, it just votes for what the president wants. If he is the person who decides, who rules, who trumps the Congress, then let?s have a coup quickly, go straight to a dictatorship.? ? C?mara Aberta TV program , May 23, 1999 ?The /pau-de-arara/ [a torture technique] works. I?m in favor of torture, you know that. And the people are in favor as well.? ? C?mara Aberta TV program , May 23, 1999 ?Through the vote, you will not change anything in this country, nothing, absolutely nothing! It will only change, unfortunately, when, one day, we start a civil war here and do the work that the military regime did not do. Killing some 30,000, starting with FHC [then-President Fernando Henrique Cardoso], not kicking them out, killing! If some innocent people are going to die, fine, in any war, innocents die.? ? C?mara Aberta TV program , May 23, 1999 ?I will not fight nor discriminate, but if I see two men kissing in the street, I?ll hit them.? ? Folha de S?o Paulo newspaper , May 19, 2002 ?I?m a rapist now. I would never rape you, because you do not deserve it ? slut!? ? Rede TV , speaking to Congresswoman Maria do Ros?rio, November 11, 2003 ?I would be incapable of loving a homosexual child. I?m not going to act like a hypocrite here: I?d rather have my son die in an accident than show up with some mustachioed guy. For me, he would have died. ? ?If your son starts acting a little gay, hit him with some leather, and he?ll change his behavior.? ? Participa??o Popular, TV C?mara , October 17, 2010 /Preta Gil, actress and singer: If your son fell in love with a black woman, what would you do?/ ?Oh, Preta, I?m not going to discuss promiscuity with whoever it is. I do not run this risk and my children were very well raised and did not live in the type of environment that, unfortunately, you do.? ? CQC, TV Bandeirantes , March 28, 2011 ?If a homosexual couple comes to live next to me, it will devalue my home! If they walk around holding hands and kissing, that devalues it.? ? Playboy Magazine , June 7, 2011 /Interviewer: Are you proud of the story of Hitler?s life?/ ?No, pride, I don?t have, right?? /Interviewer: Do you like him?/ ?No. What you have to understand is the following: War is war. He was a great strategist.? ? CQC, TV Bandeirantes , March 26, 2012 /Interviewer: Have you ever hit a woman before?/ ?Yes. I was a boy in Eldorado, a girl was getting in my face ?? /Interviewer: Put her against the wall, a few taps? Pah!/ ?No, well, no ? [laughs] I?m married. My wife isn?t going to like this response.? ? CQC, TV Bandeirantes , March 26, 2012 ?[Homosexuals] will not find peace. And I have [congressional] immunity to say that I?m homophobic, yes, and very proud of it if it is to defend children in schools.? ? TWTV , June 5, 2013 ?I would not employ [a woman] with the same salary [of a man]. But there are many women who are competent.? ? SuperPop, RedeTV! , February 15, 2016 ?Beyond Brazil above all, since we are a Christian country, God above everyone! It is not this story, this little story of secular state. It is a Christian state, and if a minority is against it, then move! Let?s make a Brazil for the majorities. Minorities have to bow to the majorities! The law must exist to defend the majorities. Minorities must fit in or simply disappear!? ? Event in Campina Grande, Para?ba , February 8, 2017 ?Violence is combated with violence.? ? The Noite with Danilo Gentili, SBT , March 20, 2017 ?I went with my three sons. Oh, the other one went too, there were four. I have a fifth also. I had four men and on the fifth, I had a moment of weakness and a woman came out.? ? Speech at the Hebraica Club, Rio de Janeiro , April 3, 2017 ?If I [become president], there won?t be any money for NGOs. These worthless [people] will have to work. If I get there, as far as I?m concerned, every citizen will have a firearm in their home. You will not have a centimeter demarcated for indigenous reserves or /quilombolas/?[settlements of the descendants of escaped and freed slaves that have protected status].? ? Speech at the Hebraica Club, Rio de Janeiro , April 3, 2017 ?Has anyone ever seen a Japanese begging for charity? Because it?s a race that has shame. It?s not like this race that?s down there, or like a minority ruminating here on the side.? ? Speech at the Hebraica Club, Rio de Janeiro , April 3, 2017 ?The big problem in Brazil is that the government is at the jugular of businessmen. ? The worker will have to decide: less rights and employment or all the rights and unemployment.? ? Event in Deerfield Beach, FL , October 8, 2017 ?I?ll give carte blanche for the police to kill.? ? Event in Deerfield Beach, FL , October 8, 2017 ?Since I was single at the time, I used the money from my [congressional] housing stipend to get laid.? ? TV Folha , January 11, 2018 ?This group, if they want to stay here, will have to put itself under the law of all of us. Leave or go to jail. These red marginals will be banished from our homeland.? ? Live video address to a rally in S?o Paulo , October 21, 2018 ?You will not have any more NGOs to quench your leftist hunger. It will be a cleansing never before seen in the history of Brazil.? ? Live video address to a rally in S?o Paulo , October 21, 2018 ?You will see a proud Armed Forces which will be collaborating with the future of Brazil. You, /petralhada /[a derogatory term for Workers? Party supporters]?will see a civilian and military police with a judicial rearguard to enforce the law on your backs.? ? Live video address to a rally in S?o Paulo , October 21, 2018 * Update: October 28, 2018, 8:02 p.m. BRT */This post has been updated with details about the election results and Bolsonaro?s first statement as president-elect./ *Update: October 28, 2018, 9:25 p.m. BRT* /This post has been updated with final election results./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 30 10:17:38 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2018 07:17:38 -0700 Subject: [News] Brazil: The Indispensable Need for Resistance Message-ID: http://resumen-english.org/2018/10/brazil-the-indispensable-need-for-resistance/ Brazil: The Indispensable Need for Resistance By Carlos Azn?rez on October 28, 2018 The die is cast. There are no longer any polls that can be used to draw un provable results. The truth is that a fascist has come to the presidency of Brazil by a vote of millions. The fact is serious from any point of view, and not only for Brazilians, but this vote will undoubtedly have an unpredictable impact on the rest of the continent and beyond. The Nazi Bolsonaro won by nearly a ten point advantage thanks to many factors that will have to be analyzed starting from this very moment. One of them, the fundamental one, is this insistence from many popular sectors of not taking into account that in the framework of these bourgeois democracies that they are absolutely controlled by the enemies of the peoples. To continue to insist on voluntarily competing in that racket is like putting your arm in the mouth of a hungry lion. Let?s see if we can convince ourselves that when they say ?democracy? they are announcing precisely the exact opposite of what we imagine. At this point in time, after a new test of playing the game on the enemy?s field, with Lula, a popular leader handcuffed and censored, it would have been better to withdraw from the competition all together, denouncing it and explaining that in those conditions the fraud was consummated. Bolsonaro would have won anyway but at least the political fact would have been made to show that those institutions that call themselves ?sovereign? are not, and instead have become the great trap of authentic democracy; popular democracy, participatory and arising from the grassroots and not from campaigns of mass intoxication. There are several elements that paved the way for this failed path like the repeated tricks of the hegemonic media; the liars and makers of scenarios as fictitious as they are effective that were drilled into the brains of many people with zero political consciousness. To this must be added the ?imprisoned Lula? effect, which was useful for the opposition in removing him from the scene, with charges of corruption never proven. Not only that, but then working to humiliate him and diminish his charisma so as to not influence the results. Then there will have to be computed other unavoidable elements that have masked the victory of those who have carried out an electoral campaign loaded with threats to the popular sectors and who have opened the door to sectarian violence, very similar to that experienced by Germany in the brutal days of Adolf Hitler. In this regard, we must not forget just how big a role that the reactionary evangelical Pentecostal churches played in turning Bolsonaro into the ?angel of salvation? in their sermons while characterizing ?Lula and his followers as the ?demons? to be destroyed. Another issue to bear in mind is how the anti-PT vote has played out, as a result of many lies, but also the acts of corruption in which several of its leaders undoubtedly fell into. In this aspect, the onslaught of the right was fed by this reality. To continue denying it at this point is of no use. And in no way does this take away from the many positive aspects of the PT, especially in Lula?s time. Now, as Joao Pedro Stedile of the MST said, and as Fernando Haddad himself repeated on his post-election night speech; the only great path left to the Brazilian people is that of resistance. In order to do this, it is useless to become discouraged or fall into depressive wells no matter how hard this blow is received. It is important to emphasize the role that many in Brazil have played all these years. There has been the constant and militant Landless and the Homeless movements, also the recent strength given to the struggle by women and sexual dissidents, who have not stopped fighting for a single day, many times submerged in the impotence of not being heard by those who had the obligation to do so. There have been thousands who have confronted hit men, millionaire landowners, Mother Earth?s predators, xenophobes, racists and more. For them, talking about resistance is commonplace and surely, because they are part of those who have threatened Bolsonario in the electoral campaign, they will have to continue to be in the front line of the battle against the plundering and oppressive bourgeoisie. The issue is to not to leave them out there by themselves, as happened in part during several periods of the Temer government. They are part of a vanguard of popular unity that will have to be built step by step from this point on, including incorporating the Brazilian trade union movement. It is essential there and in other countries that suffer right-wing tyrannies that their respective fuhrers (with Bolsonaro at the head) do not find governance easy, there must be a wearing down of their authoritarian mandate, rejecting their bravado and denouncing their brutalities locally and internationally. Fascism ?made in Brazil? cannot be given the slightest advantage in these four years mandate. In the name of Marielle Franco, for Moa and for all the young people who have fallen from the hands of ?barbarity of Bolsonaro?s ?black shirts?. http://www.resumenlatinoamericano.org/2018/10/28/brasil-la-indispensable-necesidad-de-la-resistencia-por-carlos-aznarez/ Source: Resumen Latinoamericano, translated by North America bureau -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 30 12:09:08 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2018 09:09:08 -0700 Subject: [News] Israel kills children and protester despite ceasefire Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-kills-children-and-protester-despite-ceasefire Israel kills children and protester despite ceasefire Maureen Clare Murphy - 29 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian protester in Gaza on Monday, one day after killing three children in an airstrike. Muhammad Abd al-Hay Abu Ubada, 27, was fatally shot during a naval march in protest of Israel?s air, sea and land blockade on Gaza, approaching its 12th year. Eighty others were injured during the protests, including 15 wounded by live fire. Seven medical workers, including volunteer paramedics, were injured by live fire and tear gas, according to Gaza?s health ministry. Video appears to show a medic who was shot in the leg on Monday: ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 29, 2018 Palestinians across Gaza also protested the killing of three teenage boys in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday. Many demanded that Palestinian resistance groups retaliate against Israel: ???? ??? ????? ?? ???????? ??? #??? ??? ???? ??????? ???????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ??????? ??????? ??? ???.#?????_??????? pic.twitter.com/qiktEaJ9dC ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 29, 2018 ???? ?? ??????? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ??????? ???????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ???????? ?????? ????? ???? ???????#?????_??????? #?????_??????? pic.twitter.com/xJnf4anB7x ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 29, 2018 "?? ????? ?? ????..???? ???? ?? ????".. ?????? ????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ??? ??????? ????? ?????? ???? ????????#?????_??????? pic.twitter.com/ifmALAC67a ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 28, 2018 "?????? ??? ????????..?? ????? ??? ????".. ???? ??????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ??????? ???????? ????? ????? ???? ???????? ??? ??? ?????#?????_??????? pic.twitter.com/cg73xB6xZF ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 28, 2018 The children ? identified as Khalid Bassam Mahmoud Abu Said, 14, Abd al-Hamid Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Abu Thahir, 13, and Muhammad Ibrahim Abdallah al-Satari, 15 ? were struck by at least one missile near the Gaza-Israel boundary fence east of Deir al-Balah, according to Al Mezan, a rights group based in the territory. Israeli forces fired at paramedics and prevented them from reaching the children, who were wounded by shrapnel throughout their bodies, for two hours. Israel stated that it had targeted a group of Palestinians who were attempting to place an explosive device near the boundary fence. That claim was rejected by the boys? families, who said that the young friends were trapping birds on land owned by one of the children?s families when they were hit. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, condemned the ?deliberate? killing of the children and appealed to the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel?s ?flagrant war crimes being committed against the Palestinians.? The UN?s Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov expressed his sympathies to the boys? families, saying ?such tragedies must be avoided at all costs?: My sympathies go out to the families of the 3 #Palestinian children killed yesterday as a result of an #Israeli airstrike in #Gaza . Such tragedies must be avoided at all costs. Children must be protected, not exposed to #violence or put in danger @UNICEFpalestine #UN ? Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) October 29, 2018 The killing of the three children came after intense military escalation in Gaza overnight Friday. Military escalation Israeli warplanes struck dozens of sites across Gaza, including densely populated areas, late Friday and early Saturday after armed groups in Gaza fired rockets into Israel. Israel?s air force said it hit 95 targets on Friday and Saturday before a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian resistance and political group in Gaza. Israeli officials attributed the rocket fire from Gaza to a power struggle between Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which administers the internal affairs in the territory, and has been involved with indirect talks with Israel to ease the blockade and tensions along the boundary. The Israeli military destroyed a four-story building in Gaza City that it said served as Hamas? general security forces headquarters. Israel has taken the line that it will hold Hamas responsible for any fire from Gaza even if it doesn?t believe the group is behind the launching of rockets. In addition to terrorizing Gaza?s civilian population and destroying buildings, the bombing caused schools to suspend class on Saturday. The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza was damaged when Israeli warplanes bombarded a nearby military training site. No injuries were reported. Photos showed damage to the hospital: Indonesian Hospital in #Gaza damaged after escalation in the vicinity last night. Vital health services were disrupted, with seriously ill patients evacuated. WHO calls for the protection of health facilities at all times. Health care is #NotATarget . pic.twitter.com/oihEcnffLF ? WHO-oPt (@WHOoPt1) October 27, 2018 Gaza?s health ministry deplored the targeting of the area of the hospital, ?causing serious material damage, as well as terrorizing patients and medical crews,? and disrupting operations at the facility. COGAT, the bureaucratic arm of Israel?s military occupation, took to social media to defend itself from accusations that it deliberately caused harm to a hospital. ?Israel does everything in its power to prevent damage to hospitals and civilians, however, Palestinian terror groups continue to purposefully place military sites containing weaponry adjacent to civilian infrastructure,? COGAT claimed . During Israel?s 51-day bombardment of Gaza in summer 2014, however, 24 ambulances and 70 medical facilities were damaged or destroyed and 11 ambulance drivers and civil defense workers were killed. In some cases, ambulances and facilities appear to have been deliberately targeted by Israel. The damage to the Indonesian Hospital comes one month after a school run by the United Nations was hit by an Israeli artillery shell in southern Gaza?s Khan Younis. COGAT decries damaged checkpoint Meanwhile COGAT decried damage caused by Palestinian fire to the ambulance crossing at Erez checkpoint, where the Israeli military controls movement of people in and out of the Gaza Strip. COGAT described the crossing as one through which ?children in need of life-saving treatment, terminally ill patients for whom this is their last hope to extend their lives, and those in need of the progress of world medicine to provide a response to their diseases, enter Israel on a daily basis.? Israel denied exit permits to nearly 800 patients in Gaza during the first seven months of 2018. Palestinians in Gaza requiring treatment in the West Bank or Israel have their cases referred to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which pays for the treatment, and then on to Israel, which has the final say in whether an individual may travel. Patients who require multiple procedures and follow-up care are repeatedly subjected to bureaucratic delays and sometimes even interrogation and arrest at Erez checkpoint. The result is that patients often die from diseases and conditions that could be treatable under normal circumstances. ?They have not a single drop of compassion for children, the elderly, or the unfortunate patients among them,? COGAT stated. ?The terrorist organizations harm the residents of Gaza, first and foremost.? Last year, the World Health Organization documented that 54 Palestinians, most of them cancer patients, died while waiting for Israel to let them out of Gaza for treatment, as the rate of approvals issued by Israel fell to the lowest level since records began. Meanwhile two Palestinians wounded during protests along the eastern perimeter under the banner of the Great March of Return on Friday died of their injuries over the weekend. bringing to six the number of Palestinians fatally injured during the day of protest . Mujahid Ziyad Zaki Aqil, 24, from Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, died on Saturday after being shot in the thigh east of Bureij refugee camp the previous day. Yahya Bader Muhammad al-Hassanat, 37, from al-Mughraqa village in central Gaza, died on Sunday after he was shot in the head east of Bureij on Friday. Al Mezan called on third states to end the siege on Gaza, which it described as ?the gateway to all its economic and social problems,? and to take steps to ensure accountability for those suspected of having been involved in violations of international law. Electricity increases up to eight hours per day On Sunday, the electricity company in Gaza announced that it would be providing households with power for eight hours, followed by eight hours of outage, an increase made possible by a donation from Qatar to pay for fuel to run a third turbine at Gaza?s only generating plant. For years, Palestinians in Gaza have had as little as two to four hours of electricity per day. With the 3rd turbine running, #Gaza ?s Power Plant (GPP) is producing 74MW. The last time the GPP produced this amount of electricity was in March 2017. https://t.co/5Pal8wk1yl ? UNSCO (@UNSCO_MEPP) October 28, 2018 #BREAKING : As #Gaza ?s Power Plant runs 3rd turbine, people see electricty supply increase to 8 hrs. An opportunity that must not be wasted to de-escalate, resolve all #humanitarian issues and reunite #Palestinians under a single, democratic, national government. #UN ? Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) October 28, 2018 Gaza?s Great March of Return protests aim to end Israel?s siege, in addition to demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the lands from which their families were expelled during, before and after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Two-thirds of Gaza?s population are refugees, many of them originating from areas just beyond the boundary fence where the protests are held. More than 225 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 30 March, which marked the launch of the Great March of Return protests. Around 170 of those killed were fatally injured during demonstrations, including 33 children, one woman, two journalists, three paramedics and four persons with disability, according to Al Mezan. Israel announced that it would suspend operations at the Kerem Shalom checkpoint, through which goods are transferred in and out of Gaza, on Tuesday due to local elections. The Israeli rights group Gisha stated that ?there is no justification for denying Gaza?s two million residents, most of whom are children, access to ? basic provisions? by closing the checkpoint. ?The residents of Gaza have no possibility of participating in and influencing the political system denying them the fundamental human rights they deserve,? the group added . On Monday Israeli protesters reportedly blocked a road leading to the checkpoint in an attempt to prevent goods from entering Gaza. Video shows dozens of trucks queued on the road leading to the checkpoint on Monday: -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 30 12:40:34 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2018 09:40:34 -0700 Subject: [News] Israeli embassy used fake Facebook profiles to spy on students Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-embassy-used-fake-facebook-profiles-spy-students/25841 Israeli embassy used fake Facebook profiles to spy on students Asa Winstanley and Ali Abunimah - 30 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ An Israeli embassy officer spied on student supporters of Palestinian rights, undercover video released exclusively by The Electronic Intifada shows. Julia Reifkind wrote reports on boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) activists, which were then sent back to intelligence agencies in Israel. Her superior at the embassy did this via a classified server designated ?Cables? which, Reifkind emphasized, ?I don?t have access to because I?m an American.? The undercover footage also suggests that Reifkind was engaging in deception when she suggested that Palestinian students were behind an anti-Semitic incident on campus the previous year. The footage is the latest leaked excerpt from from Al Jazeera?s censored film /The Lobby ? USA/ , which The Electronic Intifada has viewed in full. In January 2015, painted swastikas were found on a Jewish frat house at the University of California, Davis . Reifkind was then president of the student group Aggies for Israel, and had yet to be directly employed by the embassy. Contrary to what she told journalists at the time, in the leaked Al Jazeera footage, Reifkind admits that the racist graffiti had almost certainly not been done by pro-BDS students, but was likely the work of white supremacists from off campus. Defaming Palestinian rights The effort to falsely implicate Palestine solidarity activists in the 2015 incident is particularly disturbing in light of the massacre of 11 Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday. The gunman arrested after that attack is Robert Bowers, a white supremacist with a history of conspiratorial and virulently anti-Semitic social media postings. Yet since the attack, leading Israel lobby figures have continued to defame supporters of Palestinian rights as linked to the Pittsburgh massacre, and push for further crackdowns against them. Meanwhile, members of Israel?s ruling Likud Party have engaged in apologetics and damage control for the American far-right that nurtures the kind of anti-Jewish hate that Bowers expressed. Talking points used by the party cast blame for the massacre on a ?left-wing Jewish group that promoted immigration to the US and worked against Trump? and echoed the gunman?s own anti-Semitic rhetoric. Days before the 2015 graffiti incident at UC Davis, the student senate had voted in favor of boycotting Israel ? a major victory for the BDS movement. Reifkind had already been accusing the student movement of anti-Semitism, and reacted to the graffiti by drawing media attention. She and other pro-Israel activists strongly implied in the press that Palestinian and other pro-BDS students had been behind the swastikas ? without evidence. ?Random white supremacist? Reifkind complained that university administrators had refused to blame the swastikas on campus Palestine solidarity activists. The /Jewish Journal/ reported at the time that Reifkind had ?expressed disappointment that school leaders have not drawn a more direct and public ?connection between the divestment resolution itself and anti-Semitism.?? AEPi, the Jewish fraternity on whose house the swastikas were found, also blamed the incident on Palestine solidarity activism. ?On campuses throughout North America and Europe, AEPi brothers have been leading the Jewish community and leading the student movement to defend Israel,? the fraternity?s executive director said . ?Because of that leadership, in the last few months alone, our brothers have been the targets of anti-Semitic attacks at a dozen universities,? including ? he claimed ? UC Davis. On its Facebook page, Reifkind?s group Aggies for Israel posted a photo of the graffiti. The group stated that ?AEPi was clearly targeted? due to its ?strong track record of championing pro-Israel causes,? including campaigning against the divestment vote at UC Davis. Aggies for Israel alerted media outlets including /BuzzFeed/ by tagging them in comments. But in the footage, viewable above, Reifkind admits to Al Jazeera?s undercover reporter ?Tony? that ?we don?t even know? who did the graffiti. ?We just think it was like some random white supremacist type people who just came, did it and left. We don?t think it was students,? she states. Marcelle Obeid was then president of the campus group Students For Justice in Palestine at UC Davis. In the Al Jazeera film ? though not in the leaked excerpts ? she explains that Reifkind?s false allegations were ?hugely damaging? to the group at the very moment they had won a victory for BDS . Obeid reacts to the undercover footage of Reifkind admitting the graffiti was likely the work of a ?random white supremacist? by saying: ?That?s very surprising, because it was very clear from their behavior towards us and their attitudes towards us that we had done some heinous crime towards them and we deserved to pay for it.? Islamophobia The backlash that Reifkind and other anti-Palestinian activists drove was part of a general atmosphere of Islamophobic coverage of the divestment resolution. Fox News, for example, claimed that pro-Israel students had been shouted down and ?heckled? during the Student Senate vote. The national media attention on the California campus peaked with former TV star Roseanne Barr tweeting : ?I hope all the Jews leave UC Davis? and ?then it gets nuked!? In reality, as video from the night demonstrates, Reifkind was respectfully given ample time to speak at the debate , where she harangued students as being part of a ?campus plagued by anti-Semitism.? She was not heckled or interrupted even as she denounced the BDS movement as ?anti-Semitic and hate-promoting.? She and her group then staged a walkout as a way to attract press attention, as they expected to heavily lose the vote. At the time, in January 2015, Reifkind was a student and campus pro-Israel activist not yet employed by the Israeli embassy in Washington. But in the clip, she admits to ?Tony,? Al Jazeera?s undercover reporter, that as president of Aggies for Israel she had been in touch with the Israeli consulate in San Francisco. Immediately after she graduated in 2016, her on-campus efforts for Israel paid off, and she was offered a job at the Israeli embassy in Washington. She spoke to ?Tony? soon after, in September. Her official title seen in a business card in the clip was ?director of community affairs.? But as she explains to ?Tony? in the film, her role mainly entailed ?monitoring BDS things and reporting it back? to agencies in Israel. ?Report back? to Israel Neither Reifkind nor the Israeli embassy in Washington replied to Al Jazeera?s request for comment, and she left her role at the embassy in October 2017. In the clip above, Reifkind describes her role as ?mainly gathering intel, reporting back to Israel. That?s a lot of what I do. To report back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs.? The strategic affairs ministry is Israel?s semi-covert agency dedicated to fighting a global war on the BDS movement, often utilizing ?black-ops.? It is run by a high-ranking military intelligence officer, Sima Vaknin-Gil , and staffed mostly from the ranks of Israel?s various spy agencies. The names of its operatives are mostly classified. In the clip above, Reifkind describes to ?Tony? how she monitors the activities of Students for Justice in Palestine, using several fake Facebook accounts. ?I follow all the SJP accounts,? she explains. ?I have some fake names. My name is Jay Bernard or something. It just sounds like an old white guy, which was the plan. I join all these groups.? The ?intel? she got from such activities was then fed into the classified ?Cables? server via her boss at the embassy. The surveillance seems to have been effective. SJP president Marcelle Obeid explains in another part of the film that ?every single event that I put on, you would have these pro-Israel groups coming out ? before our guests even got there ? with their cameras videotaping.? ?That behind-the-scenes way? Reifkind, as the president of Aggies for Israel, received assistance from the Israeli consulate in 2015. In the same manner, she, as part of her role at the Washington embassy, gave pro-Israel groups all over the US ?our support, in that behind-the-scenes way.? This arms-length approach through front organizations is key to how Israel operates in the West. In 2016, the Israeli embassy in London warned in a cable that the strategic affairs ministry was ?operating? British Jewish organizations behind the embassy?s back in a way that could put them in violation of UK law. It later emerged ? from an Al Jazeera film about the Israel lobby in the UK broadcast last year ? that the embassy was attempting to ?take down ? a British minister deemed critical of Israel. The embassy agent, Shai Masot , was also working through proxies to set up a fake pro-Israel youth organization within the main opposition Labour Party. In the US, Reifkind was also active with the powerful lobby group AIPAC while she was on campus. In another part of the censored film she explains to ?Tony? that ?When you?re lobbying on behalf of AIPAC, you never say you?re AIPAC, you say, ?I am a pro-Israel student from UC Davis.?? The undercover footage of Reifkind explaining her activities shows how Israel ? with total impunity ? spies on and disrupts US citizens involved in lawful advocacy for Palestine. A key Israeli front organization spying on US students is the Israel on Campus Coalition , as The Electronic Intifada revealed in its reporting on a previously leaked clip of /The Lobby ? USA/. The film indicates that the Israel on Campus Coalition is connected to the anonymous blacklisting site The Canary Mission on behalf of multimillionaire pro-Israel financier and convicted tax evader Adam Millstein . In undercover footage yet to be leaked, the Israel on Campus Coalition admits to coordinating its covert spying and sabotage campaigns with Israel?s strategic affairs ministry. Like other groups profiled in the film it did not respond to Al Jazeera?s requests for comment. Al Jazeera?s film raises questions about the nature of Israel?s network of front organizations in the US and to what extent they may be violating the law in acting as undeclared agents for a foreign state. As Reifkind sums up to Tony in the clip above, ?I can?t say anything negative about Bibi [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] or the government because I definitely work for them. Not directly. I?m just a normal American.? -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 30 14:53:21 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2018 11:53:21 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Federal_Judge_Permanently_Throws_Out_Lawfare_Pr?= =?utf-8?q?oject=E2=80=99s_Case_Against_Professor_Rabab_Abdulhadi_and_SF_S?= =?utf-8?q?tate?= Message-ID: https://palestinelegal.org/news/2018/10/30/lawfare-case-thrown-out Victory! Lawsuit Against SFSU and Abdulhadi Dismissed October 30, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Federal Judge Permanently Throws Out Lawfare Project?s Case Against Professor Rabab Abdulhadi and San Francisco State University San Francisco ? Yesterday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Professor Rabab Abdulhadi and San Francisco State University (SFSU) that had sought to compel the university to restrict the speech of students and faculty who support Palestinian freedom. The case, /Mandel v. Board of Trustees/, was first filed in June 2017 by the Lawfare Project, a right-wing anti-Palestinian organization with an explicit plan to ?inflict massive punishments? against critics of Israel. Having dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in March 2018, Judge William Orrick III this time dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the lawsuit cannot be filed again. ?The unfounded and malicious nature of this bogus suit against Dr. Abdulhadi is now clear for all to see.? This has disrupted nearly two years of her life and her work for justice in Palestine, which is the purpose of 'lawfare,?? explained Abdulhadi?s attorney, Mark Kleiman. ?This ruling vindicates Dr. Abdulhadi from the anti-Palestinian smear campaigns that she has been forced to endure,? noted Abdulhadi?s attorney, Ben Gharagozli. The lawsuit is part of a years-long campaign of harassment against campus activists and Abdulhadi, an outspoken scholar and advocate for justice in and for Palestine. The Lawfare Project had three chances, and a team of corporate lawyers, but could not allege a successful claim. Judge Orrick repeatedly emphasized that the Lawfare Project?s complaint is ?devoid? of facts alleging discrimination. He wrote, ?Absolutely no facts have been alleged to support their mere assertion of differential treatment.? "The white supremacist murder of Jewish elders in a synagogue this past weekend is a brutal reminder that anti-Jewish bigotry is real and that we need to fight all forms of racism together, said Liz Jackson, attorney with Palestine Legal. "Judge Orrick was right to reject Lawfare?s attempt to equate calls for justice with discrimination. Instead of trying to censor campus activism for human rights, we hope these groups will call for an end to all forms of discrimination and equality for all people." Abdulhadi is represented by Mark Kleiman, Ben Gharagozli and Gavin Cunningham & Hunter. SFSU is represented by Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. For more background, see Palestine Legal?s case summary . -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 31 10:30:30 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2018 07:30:30 -0700 Subject: [News] Argentina in Turmoil Message-ID: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/31/argentina-in-turmoil/ Argentina in Turmoil by J?r?me Duval - October 31, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seventeen years after the 2001 crisis in Argentina, the Macri government, which came to power in December 2015, is reinforcing a fierce structural adjustment plan for its population following the loan requested from the IMF . The country, which in 2018 holds the presidency of the G20 , is one of the most affected by the rise in interest rates in the United States, the leakage of capital, the soaring dollar and speculation on the stock market, as with the crisis that is emerging in Turkey. In the context of President Trump?s trade war to favour US exports over others, the rise in interest rates in the United States has led to a rush on the dollar, which is now seen as safer than ever. Dollars are being repatriated to the United States to take advantage of the interest rate hike, cash flows suddenly dry up, the currencies of so-called ?emerging? countries fall sharply. *Turbulence in Argentina* The peso is in free fall, prices are exploding, consumption is reduced to a minimum, the middle classes are being squeezed, many firms and businesses are closing, hunger is spreading in outlying areas and speculators are panicking without knowing what to invent to avoid the shipwreck that has been announced. However, we could have learned from past crises not to reproduce them: Argentina has already seen this situation before? the people remember it, 2001; there was hunger, the clatter of empty pots hit by hammering spoons in front of closed banks. This was the ?corralito??[1 ]. On the other side, capital flitters away discreetly to await better times. The scenario orchestrated by the IMF all over the globe infinitely repeats itself, which does not prevent it from distilling its same nauseating recommendations whatever the latitude of the country concerned. ?Zero poverty? Macri repeated during his election campaign. Today his popularity is plunging, and this slogan lies among his many election promises that will never be fulfilled, once again the people?s trust has been trampled on, betrayed by the power of money. At fault, the austerity cure that only aggravates the social situation already rolled out by more than two years of a hard right government. The first 15 billion dollars of the IMF?s 50 billion dollar mega-loan in June does not seem to be enough to stabilise the economy, which has been buffeted by inflation of around 30%, itself stimulated by a depreciation of its currency. The Argentine peso lost nearly 20% of its value against the dollar in two days, 29^th and 30^th of August, and 98% over the last 12 months (more than 50% since the beginning of the year) reaching an historic all-time low at over 40 pesos for a dollar. In a frenzy, the Argentine Central Bank raised its key rate from 45% to 60% on 30 August, one of the highest in the world after having increased it from 40% to 45% on 13 August, to encourage investment in local currency?[2 ]. However, this action, like the efforts of the Central Bank of Argentina, which has sold more than 12 billion dollars of its foreign exchange reserves since the beginning of the year to stabilise the peso?[3 ], failed to contain investors? fear of default, or to mitigate falling prices. As if provocatively, on 31 August, the day after the spectacular rise in central bank rates, the US rating agency , Standard & Poor?s, placed the note of the Argentine debt ?under negative watch?. *IMF austerity* Argentine President Mauricio Macri announced, on 3^rd September, a brutal austerity plan under IMF supervision. This included the introduction of a tax on agricultural exports of 4 pesos per dollar exported?[4 ], which Macri himself acknowledged were ?very bad taxes?, but the level of the budget deficit required emergency action. After so much austerity applied to the poor, this measure may not appeal to the producers of soybeans and maize, the largest purveyors of foreign exchange of the state, hard hit by a record drought early this year. In addition, Macri announced the removal of 12 out of 22 ministries! Mr?Macri is claiming to eliminate the ministries of Culture, Labour, Science and Technology, Energy, Agribusiness, Health, Tourism and the Environment to convert them into State secretariats under the dome of other ministries: Culture and Science and Technology pass for example under the mandate of the Ministry of Education, Work under the orbit of the Ministry of Production, Health is absorbed by that of Social Development and Agro-industry moves to the Treasury Department while dismissing 600 workers. So far, only the dictators Pedro Eugenio Aramburu and Juan Carlos Ongan?a had ventured to eliminate the Ministry of Health. On 4 September, Argentine Economy Minister Nicolas Dujovne and Central Bank Vice President Gustavo Ca?onero went to the IMF in Washington to negotiate a revision of the agreement signed in June and speed up payments. Argentina is sorely lacking in cash. At the same time, the prosecutor Jorge Di Lello indicted President Mauricio Macri for abuse of authority and violation of the duties of a public official for signing the agreement with the IMF on 7 June, without submitting it to Parliament, thus violating the Constitution. For his part, President Macri is unable to calm the growing discontent. He has said on TV and keeps repeating, ?This crisis is not just another crisis, it must be the last (?) the worst is behind us.?[5 ] However, the same mistakes produce the same effects and history repeats itself? In the street, soaring prices are resurging popular discontent. In Buenos Aires, La Plata, Rosario, Mar del Plata, or in other cities of the country, the people express their anger at the rise in prices or the budget cuts imposed on the public administration in exchange for the IMF loan, like those applied to public universities. On strike for more than a month, the professors of the fifty-seven public universities are demanding pay rises. Awakening the tragic memories of the financial collapse of 2001, soup kitchens are again overwhelmed, not only with children but entire families? Galloping inflation is reducing margins on falling consumption and the US supermarket giant, Walmart, has sold a dozen hypermarkets. The price of bread has increased by more than 20% in a few days?[6 ]. As in 2001, the people are hungry, for social justice and bread. /This article was originally published on the French blog *Un monde sans dette * from the journal Politis ./ /English translation by?Jenny Bright./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 31 10:46:00 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2018 07:46:00 -0700 Subject: [News] Chinese investments in Israel grew exponentially from $50m in the early 1990s to a whopping $16.5bn Message-ID: *For years, China has**maintained **a consistent (sic) position in support of the Palestinian people, calling for an end to the Israeli Occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. However, Beijing?s firm position regarding the rights of Palestinians, seems of little consequence to its relationship with Israel, as joint technological ventures, trade, and investments continue to grow unhindered. ____________________________ * http://www.palestinechronicle.com/it-is-a-new-era-but-chinas-balancing-act-will-fail-in-the-middle-east/ It Is a New Era, but China?s Balancing Act Will Fail in the Middle East October 31, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *By Ramzy Baroud * Although ties between Washington and Tel Aviv are stronger than ever, Israeli leaders are aware of a vastly changing political landscape. The US? political turmoil and the global power realignment ? which is on full display in the Middle East ? indicate that a new era is, indeed, in the making. Unsurprisingly, this new era involves China. China?s Vice President, Wang Qishan, arrived inIsrael on October 22 on a four-day visit to head the fourth China-Israel Innovation Committee. He is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Israel in nearly two decades. In April 2000, the former president ofChina , Jiang Zemin, was the first Chinese leader ever to visit Israel, touring the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and paying diplomatic dues to his Israeli counterparts. At the time, he spoke of China?s intentions to cement the bond between the two countries. Wang Qishan?s visit, however, is different. The ?bond? between Beijing and Tel Aviv is much stronger now than it was then, as expressed in sheer numbers. Soon after the two countries exchanged diplomatic missions in 1992, trade figures soared. The size of Chinese investments in Israel also grew exponentially, from$50m in the early 1990s to a whopping $16.5bn according to 2016 estimates. China?s growing investments and strategic ties to Israel are predicated on both countries? keen interest in technological innovation, as well as on the so-called ?Red-Med? Railway, a regional network of sea and rail infrastructureaimed at connecting China with Europe via Asia and the Middle East. Additionally, the railway would also link the two Israeli ports of Eilat and Ashdod. News of China?s plan to manage the Israeli port of Haifa has already raised the ire of the US and its European allies. Times have changed, indeed. Whereas in the past, Washingtonordered Tel Aviv to immediately cease exchanging American military technology with China, forcing it to cancel the sale of the Phalcon airborne early-warning system, it is now watching as Israeli and Chinese leaders are managing the dawn of a new political era that ? for the first time ? does not include Washington. For China, the newfound love for Israel is part of a broader global strategy that can be considered the jewel of China?s revitalized foreign policy. Qishan?s visit to Israel comes on the heels of accelerated efforts by Beijing to promote its mammoth trillion-dollar economic project,the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China hopes that its grand plan will help it open massive new opportunities across the world and eventually guarantee its dominance in various regions that rotated, since World War II, within an American sphere of influence. BRI aims to connect Asia, Africa, and Europe through a ?belt? of overland routes and a maritime ?road? of sea lanes. The China-US competition is heating up. Washington wants to hold on to its global dominance for as long as possible while Beijing is eagerly working to supplant the US? superpower status, first in Asia, then in Africa and the Middle East. The Chinese strategy in achieving its objectives is quite clear: unlike the US? disproportionate investments in military power, China is keen on winning its coveted status, at least for the time being, using soft power only. The Middle East, however, is richer and, thus, more strategic and contested than any other region in the world. Rife with conflicts and distinct political camps, it is likely to derail China?s soft power strategy sooner rather than later. While Chinese foreign policy managed to survive the polarising war in Syria through engaging all sides and playing second to Russia?s leading role at the UN Security Council, the Israeli Occupation of Palestine is a whole different political challenge. For years, China hasmaintained a consistent position in support of the Palestinian people, calling for an end to the Israeli Occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. However, Beijing?s firm position regarding the rights of Palestinians, seems of little consequence to its relationship with Israel, as joint technological ventures, trade, and investments continue to grow unhindered. China?s foreign policymakers operate with the mistaken assumption that their country can be pro-Palestine and pro-Israel at once, criticizing the Occupation, yet sustaining it; calling on Israel to respect international law while at the same time empowering Israel, however unwittingly, in its ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights. Israeli hasbara has perfected the art of political acrobats, and finding the balance between US-western discourse and a Chinese one should not be too arduous a task. Indeed, it seems that the oft-repeated clich? of Israel being ?the only democracy in the Middle East?, is being slightly adjusted to meet the expectations of a fledgling superpower, which is merely interested in technology, trade, and investments. Israeli leaders want China and its investors to think of Israel as the only stable economy in the Middle East. As expected, Palestinian priorities are wholly different. With the Palestinian struggle for freedom and human rights capturing international attention through the rise of theBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, more and more countries are under pressure to articulate a clear stance on the Israeli Occupation and apartheid. For China to enter the fray with an indecisive and self-serving strategy is not just morally objectionable, but strategically unsustainable as well. The Palestinian and Arab peoples are hardly interested in swapping American military dominance with Chinese economic hegemony that does little to change or, at least challenge, the prevailing status quo. Sadly, while Beijing and Tel Aviv labor to strike the needed balance between foreign policies and economic interests, China finds itself under no particular obligation to side with a clear Arab position on Palestine, just because the latter does not exist. The political division of Arab countries, the wars in Syria and elsewhere have pushed Palestine down from being a top Arab priority into some strange bargain involving ?regional peace? as part of Trump?s so-called ?Deal of the Century?. This painful reality has weakened Palestine?s position in China, which, at least for now, values its relationship with Israel at a higher level than its historical bond with Palestine and the Arab people. /? Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His forthcoming book is ?The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story? (Pluto Press, London). Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. His website is //www.ramzybaroud.net/ /./ ** -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Mon Oct 1 10:49:34 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2018 07:49:34 -0700 Subject: [News] Bloody Friday as Gaza marks six months of protests Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/bloody-friday-gaza-marks-six-months-protests Bloody Friday as Gaza marks six months of protests Maureen Clare? - 29 September 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday marked what Gaza?s health ministry described as the single bloodiest day of the Great March of Return protests since 14 May , when Israeli occupation forces fatally injured more than 60 Palestinians . Seven Palestinians, including two children, were slain on Friday, two days shy of the six-month anniversary of the protest launch. The two children were identified as Nasir Azmi Musbah, 11, shot in the head east of Khan Younis, and Muhammad Nayif Yusif al-Hawm, 14, shot in the chest east of Bureij. Israeli forces shot 14-year-old Mohammed Nayef Yousef al-Houm with live ammunition at 5 pm local time on September 28 near the Gaza perimeter fence near Bureij refugee camp. He sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead in hospital at 5:30 pm. #GazaReturnMarch pic.twitter.com/D8g3wIlAyx ? Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) September 29, 2018 Israeli forces killed 11-year-old Nasser Azmi Khalil Musbeh at 6:15 pm local time near the Gaza perimeter fence in Khan Younis. He was shot in the head with live ammo, killing him instantly. He was reportedly 150-200m (490-650ft) away from the fence when killed. #GazaReturnMarch pic.twitter.com/spg1Uz2tv3 ? Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) September 29, 2018 Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 44 Palestinian children so far in 2018. The vast majority of these fatalities, 38, were Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip. ? Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) September 29, 2018 An adult was also killed in Bureij, in central Gaza: Muhammad Ashraf al-Awawdeh, 25, shot with a live bullet to the chest. And in southern Khan Younis, Muhammad Ali Muhammad Inshasi, 18, was shot in the stomach. Three were killed east of Gaza City: Iyad Khalil Ahmad al-Shaer, 18, shot in the chest; Muhammad Bassam Muhammad Shakhsa, 24, shot in the head; and Muhammad Walid Haniyeh, 32, shot in the face. More than 250 Palestinians were injured during Friday?s protests, 163 of them by live fire, including 20 children, according to the Gaza-based human rights group Al Mezan. One paramedic and four media workers were among those injured, including journalist Haneen Mahmoud Suleiman Baroud, 23, who was hit directly in the head with a tear gas canister, Al Mezan stated. ? Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 28, 2018 A graphic video published by Palestinian media outlets shows the moments after a man was shot in the back of his head during protests east of Gaza City on Friday: "????? ?? ?????"... ????| ???? ??? ???? ???????? ???? ?????????? ??? ????? ????? ????? pic.twitter.com/0LMWDGMW5h ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) September 28, 2018 The man was among a group including women and children waving flags near one of the fences along the Gaza-Israel boundary. It was not immediately clear whether the injured man was among those who had died of their wounds. Palestinian media also published a video said to show a paramedic mourning over the body of her brother, the slain child Nasir Azmi Misbah, in a hospital morgue: ???? ?????? ????????.. ???? | ???? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ( 12??? ) ???? ?????? ????? ???????? ??? ???????. pic.twitter.com/5ZDWOq4jRr ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) September 28, 2018 Al Mezan blamed the ?continued silence of the international community? for encouraging the continuation of the killings ?without any fear of prosecution.? These photos of 11-year-old Nasir Azmi Musbah were shared on social media following his death: ??? ???? ????? ????????? ??????? .. ?????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ???? ???? / ???? ???? ???? .. ????? ?? ????? ?????? ?????? pic.twitter.com/3TsgGvNIcF ? ???? ???? ????? #?????? (@MohamdNashwan) September 28, 2018 150 killed during protests Israel?s use of deadly force against unarmed protesters on Friday is characteristic of its actions throughout the Great March of Return, during which more than 150 Palestinians have been killed , including 31 children , three persons with disabilities, three paramedics and two journalists. More than 10,000 have been injured and required hospitalization, around half of them wounded by live fire . There have been 77 cases of injuries requiring amputation, among them 14 children and one woman. Twelve patients have been paralyzed due to spinal cord injury and two of them have died, a UN spokesperson stated Saturday . In addition to those killed during protests, 52 other Palestinians in Gaza have been slain by Israeli occupation forces since 30 March and Israel is withholding the bodies of 10 of them. Lethal fire against mass protests in Gaza is the subject of an ongoing investigation appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, which was told by human rights groups this week that there is no evidence that a single protester killed by Israel during the Great March of Return was armed. Israel?s violence has also generated an unprecedented warning from the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who stated that Israeli leaders may face trial for the killings of unarmed demonstrators. The prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, met with Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki in New York during the UN General Assembly this week: #ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda meets with H.E. Riyad al-Maliki, Foreign Minister of #Palestine in the margins of #UNGA @Palestine_UN @PalMissionNL pic.twitter.com/L4gMnmqTK1 ? Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) September 27, 2018 Gaza economy ?in free fall? The World Bank stated this week that Gaza?s economy is ?in free fall? after more than a decade of blockade, successive Israeli military assaults and internal division between Palestinian factions. The Gaza economy shrank by six percent in the first quarter of this year, ?with indications of further deterioration since then.? ?The result is an alarming situation with every second person living in poverty and the unemployment rate for its overwhelmingly young population at over 70 percent,? the World Bank added. ?The economic and social situation in Gaza has been declining for over a decade but has deteriorated exponentially in recent months and has reached a critical point,? Marina Wes, director for the West Bank and Gaza, stated. ?Increased frustration is feeding into the increased tensions which have already started spilling over into unrest and setting back the human development of the region?s large youth population.? The UN?s Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council last week that ?the power crisis in Gaza is coming to a head? as the last stocks of emergency fuel to operate critical health, water and sanitation facilities delivered to Gaza run out amid electricity shortages of around 20 hours per day. He added that essential medicines ?are at critically low levels, with almost half of essential medicines at less than one-month?s supply and 40 percent completely depleted.? Meanwhile the commissioner-general of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, said on Tuesday that the body has only enough funding to keep schools and clinics in operation through mid-October. ?We still need approximately $185 million to be able to ensure that all of our services, education system, health care, relief and social services and our emergency work in Syria and Gaza in particular can continue until the end of the year,? Pierre Kr?henb?hl added. Two-thirds of Gaza?s population of two million are refugees from lands on the other side of the boundary with Israel. More than half of Gaza?s residents receive food aid packages from UNRWA, whose food aid budget will be exhausted by the end of the year . Currently, the UN provides food aid packages to 1.3 million people in Gaza, up from just 130,000 in 2005. The US announced last month that it would stop funding UNRWA after freezing $300 million in aid in January, throwing the agency into unprecedented financial crisis. The US has also decided to cut $200 million more in bilateral aid to the West Bank and Gaza. Meanwhile proceedings against the US were initiated at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on Friday over the relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah says is a breach of the Vienna Convention. #Palestine is taking the US to the #ICJ on the ground that moving the US embassy to Jerusalem violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Both states have acceded to the Optional Protocol. Interesting! https://t.co/9IXNgINFGF h/t @MarionHouk ? Kevin Jon Heller (@kevinjonheller) September 28, 2018 Woah, Palestine v. US at the ICJ pic.twitter.com/QBU4obVVTh ? Alonso Gurmendi (@Alonso_GD) September 28, 2018 /This story was updated to include statistics about injuries and to correct the number of children killed during Gaza protests since 30 March./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Mon Oct 1 11:13:42 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2018 08:13:42 -0700 Subject: [News] October 2000 to Gaza 2018: Israeli snipers continue killing unarmed Palestinian demonstrators Message-ID: https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/9601 October 2000 to Gaza 2018: Israeli snipers continue killing unarmed Palestinian demonstrators 30/09/2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Israel blatantly ignoring domestic and international law; Adalah demands accountability and prosecution of those responsible for gross violations of right to life. Eighteen years have passed since the October 2000 Israeli police killings of 13 unarmed Palestinian protesters and ? despite solid condemnation of this practice on both the national and international levels ? the Israeli military continues killing unarmed Palestinian civilian protesters with snipers and live fire in the Gaza Strip, with the approval of Israel?s Supreme Court. Just this past Friday, Israeli troops killed seven people and wounded another 257 in Gaza . 163 of the wounded were hit by live ammunition. Among those Israeli troops killed with live fire were two boys ages 11 and 14. *Adalah ? The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel demands that Israel immediately halt the shooting of civilian protesters with live ammunition.* In October 2000, Israeli police and special sniper units killed 13 unarmed Palestinians ?(12 citizens of Israel and one Gaza resident) and wounded hundreds more when Palestinian citizens of Israel staged mass demonstrations throughout the country to protest Israel's oppressive policies against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) at the beginning of the Second Intifada. 18 years later, however, not a single police officer, commander, or politician responsible for the October 2000 killings has been held to account for their criminal actions. Adalah and the families of the 13 victims continue to demand that those responsible for the crimes of October 2000 be prosecuted. In the wake of the killings, the official Or Commission of Inquiry concluded in 2003 that: /"It should be unequivocally clear that live fire, including by snipers, is not a means for the police to disperse crowds."/ Eighteen years have passed, and despite the clear recommendations of the Or Commission, the Israeli armed forces have not changed their practices but continue to use excessive force and fire live ammunition at unarmed Palestinians in contradiction of both Israeli and international law, this time at protesters in Gaza. Since the start of the Great Return March protests in Gaza on 30 March 2018, Israeli troops have killed 151 people ? including 30 children, one woman, two journalists, three paramedics, and three persons with disabilities, according to figures from Al Mezan Center for Human Rights . Israeli troops also wounded 10,234 persons, including 5,814 ? among them 939 children and 114 women ? with live fire. In April 2018, Adalah and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to order the Israeli military to immediately halt its use of snipers and other live weapons against unarmed protesters. The petition emphasized the absolute ban on opening fire on demonstrators with live ammunition and noted that the norms applicable to confronting civilian demonstrations are based in international law governing "law enforcement and order." These same norms have also been adopted into Israeli law, including via 2003's Or Commission report. /"These universal norms apply equally and without discrimination to citizens and non-citizens alike, regardless of the content of the protest, their slogans, their location, their organizational affiliation, and the ethnic and national affiliation of the participants."/ Nevertheless, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected our petition. Adalah and Al Mezan responded: /"?this ruling, which justifies the shooting of protesters, contradicts the conclusions and preliminary results of international human rights organizations and United Nations bodies documenting and evaluating the events in Gaza. The Supreme Court?s ruling gives full legitimacy to the illegal actions of the Israeli military, which has led to the killing of more than 100 people and the wounding of thousands of protesters, including women, children, journalists, and paramedics. Of those killed, 94 percent were shot by Israeli troops in the upper body." [Casualties figures from 25 May 2018] / Israeli armed forces backed up by the Supreme Court?s ruling, continue to target unarmed Palestinian demonstrators with snipers and live ammunition today in Gaza just as they killed Palestinian citizens of Israel protesting in October 2000. *Adalah calls on Israel to immediately halt these deadly practices and to allow Palestinians to exercise their right to protest and to freedom of political expression. **Adalah will continue to defend Palestinians? right to protest, to support the struggle against racism and Occupation, and to demand accountability for the victims of these gross human rights violations.* Adalah also urges the international community to take strong measures to ensure respect for international law, to provide protection for demonstrators and all civilians in Gaza, and to support the work of the independent UN Commission of Inquiry into the 2018 Protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The 13 young men shot dead by Israeli police in October 2000 : 21-year-old Rami Ghara in Jatt; 26-year-old Eyad Lawabny in Nazareth; 23-year-old Mohammed Jabareen in Umm al-Fahem; 18-year-old Ahmed Jabareen in Mu?awiya; 19-year-old Misleh Abu Jarad in Umm al-Fahem; 17-year-old Asel Asleh in Arrabe; 18-year-old Ala Nassar in Arrabe; 21-year-old Walid Abu Saleh in Sakhnin; 25-year-old Emad Ghanayim in Sakhnin; 19-year-old Mohammad Khamayseh in Kufr Kanna; 24-year-old Ramez Bushnaq in Kufr Manda; 42-year-old Omar Akkawi in Nazareth; and 25-year-old Wissam Yazbak in Nazareth. The High Follow-Up Committee for Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel has declared a general strike to be observed tomorrow, 1 October 2018, to commemorate the October 2000 killings and to protest both Israel?s planned demolition of the Bedouin village of Khan Al Ahmar and the recently-approved Jewish Nation-State Law . -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 2 10:38:53 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2018 07:38:53 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Everyone_Washes_Their_Hands_as_Gaza=E2=80=99s_E?= =?utf-8?q?conomy_Goes_into_Freefall?= Message-ID: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/02/everyone-washes-their-hands-as-gazas-economy-goes-into-freefall/ Everyone Washes Their Hands as Gaza?s Economy Goes into Freefall by Jonathan Cook - October 2, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The moment long feared is fast approaching in Gaza, according to a new report by the World Bank. After a decade-long Israeli blockade and a series of large-scale military assaults, the economy of the tiny coastal enclave is in ?freefall?. At a meeting of international donors in New York on Thursday, coinciding with the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, the World Bank painted an alarming picture of Gaza?s crisis. Unemployment now stands at close to 70 per cent and the economy is contracting at an ever faster rate. While the West Bank?s plight is not yet as severe, it is not far behind, countries attending the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee were told. Gaza?s collapse could bring down the entire Palestinian banking sector. In response, Europe hurriedly put together a ?40 million aid package, but that will chiefly address Gaza?s separate humanitarian crisis ? not the economic one ? by improving supplies of electricity and potable water. No one doubts the inevitable fallout from the economic and humanitarian crises gripping Gaza. The four parties to the Quartet charged with overseeing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians ? the United States, Russia, the European Union and the UN ? issued a statement warning that it was vital to prevent what they termed ?further escalation? in Gaza. The Israeli military shares these concerns. It has reported growing unrest among the enclave?s two million inhabitants and believes Hamas will be forced into a confrontation to break out of the straightjacket imposed by the blockade. In recent weeks, mass protests along Gaza?s perimeter fence have been revived and expanded after a summer lull. On Friday, seven Palestinian demonstrators, including two children, were killed by Israeli sniper fire. Hundreds more were wounded. Nonetheless, the political will to remedy the situation looks as atrophied as ever. No one is prepared to take meaningful responsibility for the time-bomb that is Gaza. In fact, the main parties that could make a difference appear intent on allowing the deterioration to continue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored repeated warnings of a threatened explosion in Gaza from his own military. Instead, Israel is upholding the blockade as tightly as ever, preventing the flow of goods in and out of the enclave. Fishing is limited to three miles off the coast rather than the 20-mile zone agreed in the Oslo accords. Hundreds of companies are reported to have folded over the summer. Intensifying the enclave?s troubles is the Trump administration?s recent decision to cut aid to the Palestinians, including to the United Nation?s refugee agency, UNRWA. It plays a critical role in Gaza, providing food, education and health services to nearly two-thirds of the population. The food budget is due to run out in December, and the schools budget by the end of this month. Hundreds of thousands of hungry children with nowhere to spend their days can only fuel the protests ? and the deaths. The Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, headquartered in the West Bank, has no incentive to help. Gaza?s slowly unfolding catastrophe is his leverage to make Hamas submit to his rule. That is why the Palestinian Authority has cut transfers to Gaza by $30 million a month. But even if Abbas wished to help, he largely lacks the means. The US cuts were imposed primarily to punish him for refusing to play ball with US President Donald Trump?s supposed ?deal of the century? peace plan. Israel, the World Bank notes, has added to Abbas?s difficulties by refusing to transfer taxes and customs duties it collects on the PA?s behalf. And the final implicated party, Egypt, is reticent to loosen its own chokehold on its short border with Gaza. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi opposes giving any succour either to his domestic Islamist opponents or to Hamas. The impasse is possible only because none of the parties is prepared to make a priority of Gaza?s welfare. That was starkly illustrated earlier in the summer when Cairo, supported by the UN, opened a back channel between Israel and Hamas in the hope of ending their mounting friction. Hamas wanted the blockade lifted to reverse Gaza?s economic decline, while Israel wanted an end to the weekly protests and the damaging images of snipers killing unarmed demonstrators. In addition, Netanyahu has an interest in keeping Hamas in power in Gaza, if barely, as a way to cement the geographic split with the West Bank and an ideological one with Abbas. The talks, however, collapsed quietly in early September after Abbas objected to the Egyptians. He insisted that the Palestinian Authority be the only address for discussions of Gaza?s future. So, Cairo is yet again channelling its energies into a futile attempt at reconciling Abbas and Hamas. At the UN General Assembly, Trump promised his peace plan would be unveiled in the next two to three months, and made explicit for the first time his support for a two-state solution, saying it would ?work best?. Netanyahu vaguely concurred, while pointing out: ?Everyone defines the term ?state? differently.? His definition, he added, required that not one of the illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank be removed and that any future Palestinian state be under complete Israeli security control. Abbas is widely reported to have conceded over the summer that a Palestinian state ? should it ever come into being ? would be demilitarised. In other words, it would not be recognisable as a sovereign state. Hamas has made notable compromises to its original doctrine of military resistance to secure all of historic Palestine. But it is hard to imagine it agreeing to peace on those terms. This makes a reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas currently inconceivable ? and respite for the people of Gaza as far off as ever. /A version of this article first appeared in the National, Abu Dhabi./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 2 10:48:39 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2018 07:48:39 -0700 Subject: [News] Regime Change 2.0: Is Venezuela Next? Message-ID: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/02/regime-change-2-0-is-venezuela-next/ Regime Change 2.0: Is Venezuela Next? by Vijay Prashad - October 2, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On September 8, /T//he New York Times/ carried a story with a provocative headline: ?Trump Administration Discussed Coup Plans With Rebel Venezuelan Officers?. The journalists Ernesto Londo?o and Nicholas Casey spoke to 11 current and former United States officials and Venezuelan commanders. These people told the journalists that they had been involved in conversations with the Donald Trump administration about regime change in Venezuela. In August 2017, Trump had bragged that the U.S. had a ?military option? for Venezuela. This statement, these men told the reporters, ?encouraged rebellious Venezuelan military officers to reach out to Washington?. In February this year, then U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, ?In the history of Venezuela and South American countries, it is often times that the military is the agent of change when things are so bad and the leadership can no longer serve the people.? This was an invitation for a military coup in Venezuela. The language Tillerson used has a long history inside the U.S. State Department. It is the logic used since 1954, when the U.S. government overthrew the democratically elected Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz. The theory was known as ?military modernisation?, the idea being that in a former colonial country the only modern and efficient institution is the military. The U.S. government used this theory of military modernisation to defend its support of countries littered with military rulers?Ayub Khan in Pakistan (1958), Castelo Branco in Brazil (1964) and Ren? Barrientos in Bolivia (1964). The ideas that germinated from the conversations between the U.S. officials and the Venezuelans were for a small group of Venezuelan officers to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro. The Venezuelans had no clear plot. They wanted encrypted radios and hoped that ?the Americans would offer guidance or ideas?. On August 4 this year, during the 81st anniversary celebrations of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, an attack took place against Maduro. Two drones?with C4 explosives on them?were driven over the parade and were being directed to strike Maduro. The clumsy, but dangerous, attempt failed. The Venezuelan government arrested 40 people, including a retired colonel (Oswaldo Garcia) and a parliamentarian (Julio Borges). On September 8, Venezuela?s Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, noted that the coup plotters had met with U.S. officials. That the attack on Maduro failed is cold comfort. That there are plots afoot is what is worrisome. Everything about Hugo Ch?vez bothered the U.S. government. That he was a socialist who won an election to govern a country with one of the largest oil reserves irked Washington. It also bothered the administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump that the policy of Ch?vez was to demonstrate in practical terms the importance of regional cooperation rather than surrender to the policies of mostly U.S.-based multinational corporations. Ch?vez had to go. There were no two ways about it. Means to undermine Ch?vez were tried from his accession to the presidency in 1999; not one day went by without plots being hatched and tried out. The most spectacular attempt to unseat Ch?vez came in 2002, when Venezuelan military officials seized power. Ch?vez surrendered to them in an act of political courage. But he did not have to wait long in their custody. Mass protests engulfed the country and the military had to back off. Their allies in the U.S. could not have their way. Not long after this coup attempt, the U.S. State Department set up the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), linked to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) bureaucracy. Four years later, after the agenda of the OTI had been solidified, U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield wrote to Washington about its five-point plan: 1. Strengthening Democratic Institutions. 2. Penetrating Ch?vez?s?Political Base. 3. Dividing Chavismo. 4. Protecting Vital?U.S. Business. 5. Isolating?Ch?vez Internationally. In the decade since Brownfield wrote this note, each of them has been developed by the U.S. government and its Venezuelan allies methodically. To protect U.S. business interests is the key issue here. John Caulfield, the leading U.S. diplomat in Venezuela in 2009, noted that Ch?vez had used petrodollars to make Venezuela ?an active and intractable U.S. competitor in the region?. This was unforgivable?neither could Venezuela be allowed to lead an independent bloc of oil-producing countries (including to revitalise the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC) nor could it be allowed to create a bloc of Latin American states that opposed U.S. interference (by the creation of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas, or ALBA). The 2009 coup in Honduras against the government of Manuel Zelaya, an ally of Ch?vez, was a direct shot across the bow. But it was not enough. Ch?vez and his revolution had to be taken down at home. *Aiding the fractious right wing* The U.S. government and the Venezuelan oligarchy carefully funded institutions inside Venezuela that gave off the appearance of democracy. These are groups that are controlled fully by the oligarchy, but nonetheless are clothed in the style of democratic institutions. The U.S. government?s National Endowment for Democracy and the International Republican Institute have worked closely to train leaders to run both political parties and civil society organisations. One of the key tasks of the U.S. officials involved in this aspect of ?strengthening democratic institutions? was to unify the fractious Venezuelan right wing. Conversations with U.S. State Department officials over the past decade reveal that they have been frustrated by the bickering and petty ambition inside the oligarchy, whose factions are eager to ingratiate themselves to the U.S. rather than to build popular support amongst the Venezuelan people. Through the Pan-American Development Foundation, the U.S. government has allocated funds to work inside Venezuela to cultivate very specific non-governmental organisations (NGOs). These NGOs concentrate their work on the problems of crime, press freedom, judicial independence, and women?s and human rights. Their work has been to document the rise of crime to the harassment of journalists with pointillist focus?exaggerate each individual incident rather than provide the context for their occurrence. The point of this work is not to appeal to the West, where there is already a disposition to hate the Bolivarian experiment, but to sow dissension amongst the key classes that continue to support Ch?vez. Brownfield wrote that the U.S. support of these groups was intended to ?shine a flashlight into the dark corners of the revolution, to collect and document information and make it public?. But the point was not to merely distribute information. It was to package it in such a way as to erase the legitimacy of the Venezuelan experiment. Nothing was out of bounds. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the OTI would enter the drains of Venezuela, flashlights ablaze, and report every detail of what they found?and then, if there was not enough dirt down there, would exaggerate and manufacture evidence. *Regime Change 2.0* On September 11, /T//he New York Times/ published an editorial with a perplexing title, ?Stay Out of Venezuela, Mr. Trump?. Did this mean that the U.S. liberal elite no longer had the appetite for regime change? The subtitle of the article quickly disabuses the reader of any such illusions: ?President Maduro has to Go, but an American Backed Coup is not the Answer?. Regime change by a military coup is disdained, but other means are to be encouraged. What are these other means? More sanctions on Venezuela, more pain for the Venezuelan people. This pressure is expected to release emotions against the Maduro government and drive the people to take to the streets. One avenue to go after Maduro is to draw in the United Nations into the U.S. strategy. The Trump administration has asked the U.N. Security Council to isolate Venezuela?s elected leadership by setting in motion money-laundering investigations and by preventing it from accessing international financial networks. It is clear that these investigations are part of an old road map, that is, to bring the U.N. into the conversation about Venezuela, to establish U.N. sanctions against Venezuela, to put more and more pressure on the government and then to call for some kind of U.N.-sanctioned operations to overthrow the government. This is an old series of developments, already experienced by Iraq, then Iran, North Korea and Syria. Venezuela was always in the queue for such treatment. *Long March of the Campesinos (Farmers)* Conditions inside Venezuela are not easy, with the economy in various stages of crisis. Venezuela has not been able to exit the trap of rent-dependent capitalism?the rents being what it was able to collect for the export of oil. What the Bolivarian revolution has been able to do is to increase social welfare for the public and to generate new kinds of institutions to deliver resources to the hardest hit among the people. But it has not been able to shift the organisation of the economy and of society. The working class and peasantry inside Venezuela have reacted with maturity to the deepening crisis. Over the past year, there have been strikes by electrical workers and nurses, protests by retired people who live in declining government pensions, and a march of the peasants. Each of these protests against the government has been on the premise that it opposes regime change and it defends the Bolivarian revolution, but it has demands to make on the government and on society that cannot be muffled. On July 12 this year, a hundred farmers set off from the city of Guanare (Portuguesa State) for Venezuela?s capital, Caracas. They marched for over a month across the country and then met Maduro in an emotional meeting (broadcast live on television). ?During the past three years, the crisis has become critical because of the lack of food,? said Usmary Enrique of the Platform of the Struggling Farmers (Plataforma de Luchas Campesinas). ?It is ridiculous that we import food when we could produce it,? he said. Maduro promised to take their complaints seriously. A month later, the farmers went on hunger strike until Maduro focussed attention on their revised agrarian policy. Maduro passed an order against land evictions and warned against the use of violence against farmers. Tensions between small farmers and the Venezuelan government are genuine and serious. But there is no expectation that farmers would join a platform set up by the U.S. government for regime change. They do not see the U.S. government or the Venezuelan oligarchy as allies. /*Vijay Prashad?s* most recent book is?No Free Left: The Futures of Indian Communism?(New Delhi: LeftWord Books, 2015)./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 2 11:10:12 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2018 08:10:12 -0700 Subject: [News] Israeli Colonialist Settlers Flood Al-Khan Al-Ahmar With Sewage Message-ID: http://imemc.org/article/colonialist-settlers-flood-al-khan-al-ahmar-with-sewage/ Colonialist Settlers Flood Al-Khan Al-Ahmar With Sewage October 2, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Illegal Israeli colonialist settlers flooded the al-Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin Palestinian community with Sewage water, in an attempt to force the inhabitants to leave their Dwellings, just as the ultimatum set by the Israeli court for their displacement went into effect, Monday. Abdullah Abu Rahma, a senior nonviolent activist and the head of Save al-Khan al-Ahmar Campaign, said both the Israeli soldiers and the colonialist settlers are constantly increasing the suffering of the Palestinians, and continuously violating their rights, even their very existence, in order to remove and displace them. Abu Rahma said the assailants, from Kfar Adumim illegal colony, flooded the community with Sewage water, in yet another means of assaults and violations against nearly 200 Palestinians, including children. ?Both the settlers and the soldiers are partaking in these violations and war on the inhabitants of a-Khan al-Ahmar,? he said, ?But the violations, and isolation of the community, will not only increase the steadfastness and determination of the villagers.? He also called for increasing the support and solidarity with the Bedouin community, to foil the illegal Israeli plans of displacement, and replacing the Palestinians with illegal colonialist settlers. Eid Abu Dahouk, the mayor of al-Khan al-Ahmar, said that ?by flooding the community with sewage, the colonialist settlers are engaging in a new form of war against the inhabitants. He warned of the grave consequences, and health risks resulting from this serious violation against al-Khan al-Ahmar, especially the children, in addition to the livestock, the only source of livelihood of the families. The Palestinians, along with international peace activists, are ongoing with their nonviolent protests in al-Khan al-Ahmar, despite the constant assaults, violations and threats of forceful eviction. On September 5^th , the Israeli supreme court denied an appeal against the demolition of the Palestinian community, and ordered its removal and displacement. The first ruling by the court was made in May of this year, when it granted the military a green light for demolishing it. There are approximately 200 Palestinians living in al-Khan al-Ahmar, %53 of them are children, and %95 of the population are refugees officially registered by the UNRWA. The community has one school providing education to 170 children. It is worth mentioning that al-Khan al-Ahmar is surrounded by several illegal Israeli colonies, while Israel wants to remove it as part of its E1 colonialist project, which aims at surrounding occupied Jerusalem with a chain of Jewish-only colonies, and blocking the geographical contiguity of the occupied West Bank, and completely isolating the Palestinians from Jerusalem. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 3 15:01:55 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2018 12:01:55 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Venezuela=E2=80=99s_Campesino_Struggle=3A_A_Con?= =?utf-8?q?versation_with_Kevin_Rangel_of_the_Bolivar_and_Zamora_Revolutio?= =?utf-8?q?nary_Current?= Message-ID: https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14079 Venezuela?s Campesino Struggle: A Conversation with Kevin Rangel of the Bolivar and Zamora Revolutionary Current By Cira Pascual Marquina ? October 2, 1018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /Born in Caracas, Kevin Rangel joined the Bolivar and Zamora Revolutionary Current (CRBZ ) in 2005. Today he is the organization?s national coordinator, working from the city of Calabozo, Guarico State, in Venezuela?s rural heartland. The CRBZ has been in the forefront of the intense struggles taking place in the Caribbean nation?s countryside where a rural population eager to till the land confronts an old and new landlord class aiming to expand its extensive holdings./ *Two years into the Bolivarian process a new legal framework for the land was put in place. The 2001 laws opened the way for a more equitable reorganization of the rural areas, redistributing idle land to small and mid-size **campesinos**. The Venezuelan oligarchy reacted furiously, assassinating **campesinos**who were beginning to produce on once-idle land. Could you give us some background on how the Bolivarian Process impacted the rural areas?* The Land and Agricultural Development Law [2001] laid out the basis of the agricultural revolution as proposed by Chavez at a time when the strategic path of the Bolivarian Revolution was being defined. A central element of that project is sovereignty. To have sovereignty, of course, one has to make the country produce, i.e. stop being a ?port? economy. The first step in making the country productive ? producing the food we need and raw materials for the country?s industry ? involved the land. Land tenure has important historical dimensions in Venezuela. Since the country?s independence, the latifundio [large estate] was established as the model that would dominate rural Venezuela during its whole history. That was the cause of the Federal War [1859-63] led by Ezequiel Zamora. The interests of the oligarchy, which governed Venezuela for many years, were there: in the land. They accumulated a lot of riches, a lot of land? The campesinos have historically been the most combative sector of our population. They were the ones who fought with Bolivar. In fact, Bolivar was only able to triumph in the Independence War after he united with the Venezuelan peasants, the poor, and the black people. The same with Zamora: the main group that accompanied him and carried out the Federal War was the peasants. That is because it was for that group that injustice and inequality was expressed in the most radical way... The oligarchy?s response [to the 2001 legislation] was to initiate ? and continue during all of these 18 years ? a whole process of conspiring and bringing in paramilitaries as part of a plan to strike at the Bolivarian Revolution. Where they did it most was in the rural areas, because it was the campesinos who best understood Chavez?s call for a total war against the latifundio. Of course, it wasn?t as if the campesinos weren?t doing anything before Chavez arrived. There were conflicts over the land and they had developed projects. As an organization, we too date from before Chavez?s arrival to power, but it was in the context of the Bolivarian process that brought the campesinos into a new scenario of struggle. A struggle emerged in the rural areas, and the oligarchy responded by contracting paramilitaries. The ?demobilization? of Colombian paramilitaries coincided with the incorporation of paramilitary cells in Venezuela. They began to operate in the Sur de Lago [Zulia and Merida States]. Thus there began a war, a war against campesinos which today has left a body count of more than 300 campesinos murdered. Those [killed] were people who were at the front of the land recovery struggle. They wanted to make the campesinos afraid, and they hoped our movement would stop struggling. Thus, on our end, justice for the fallen is one of our most important rallying cries. There must be an end to impunity! *The Bolivarian Revolution once had its epicenter in the urban barrios, but now the countryside seems to be more combative. It is there that the contradictions of the process seem to be most intense. First, there are the longstanding contradictions that pit the small to medium producers and the rural communes against the interests of old landowners and agribusiness. On top of that, now tensions have intensified between the rural communes and the small to medium peasants, on the one side, and the state, on the other. Also, it?s no secret that the judicial system favors old and new landlords and that Agropatria , the state company that distributes agricultural inputs, is permeated by an anti-popular logic. What do you think is happening?* Chavez proposed not only a new Land and Agricultural Development Law but also a new institutional framework for rural development and food sovereignty. That was to be a central goal of those struggles. After the lapse of almost 18 years, the struggles have been changing, mutating. Elements of the dispute have been broadening. In 2001, we struggled against the?Adeco[1] institutional [logic].? We struggled to remove the Adecos and Copeyanos[2] from the Land and Agriculture Ministry and to get the Venezuelan Agrarian Federation out of the IAN [pre?revolutionary land institute] and later out of the INTI [Chavez?era land institute] and the FONDAS [National Agricultural Fund]. One of the main contradictions of the Bolivarian process is with the bureaucracy, bureaucratism, and the corruption that has been penetrating all the state?s institutions, even putting at risk the state?s functioning is some cases. For us, this is part of what explains the economic crisis that Venezuela is now experiencing. It is not only the enemy?s actions and not only imperialism?s actions, but also a question of corruption and inefficiency in government. With regard to the campesino and agrarian institutions created by the revolution, agrarian mafias have embedded themselves, which is taking away force as well as revolutionary and transformative potential from those institutions. The logic of the bourgeois state took hold of those institutions? We have an outstanding task which is transforming and overcoming of capitalist state. That is precisely something that is entering in the struggle today: the struggle against hired killings, against impunity, and also against the agrarian mafias. That?s because those mafias have been infiltrating institutions, not only in the Ministry of Agriculture and Land but also the Supreme Court and the Attorney General?s Office. There are members of the security apparatuses, the Attorney General?s Office, the courts, and judiciary that protect the landlord class today. We didn?t succeed in getting the Adecos and their culture out of our state?s institutions. Today, that is one of the main problems we face. It is necessary to overhaul and restructure the institutions. We need to reorganize from the bottom up institutions such as INTI, FONDEN, and Agropatria. Agropatria was once the transnational Agroisle?a. Elements of that transnational stayed there, sabotaging the institution from the inside. This is the result of a policy that derives from a lack of leadership from those who headed up those institutions ? all of them, not just the current ones. There are people who, for many years, were at the head of the agrarian institutions that are also responsible for not having transformed them, and they share responsibility for the situation today. *Sometimes it seems as if we can?t find a popular tendency ? one that favors the working people ? inside the institutions!* There, public functionaries are totally d?class?. Their raison d?etre ? the concept of a public servant ? has disappeared. There are people in the agrarian institutions that are in the service of cattlemen?s associations and landlords rather than of the campesinos. But there is something we need to ask: Who is the main interested party? Who has an interest that in this country there should be no production? The import sector. We need to identify that sector and make it visible. They have been interfering and have lobbies inside the revolution, so that nothing works. Then if things don?t work there will be chaos, there will be no production, and they will go on importing. So that?s why we say there is a need to look a the way funds are assigned, so that our first priority becomes agricultural production. *More than 300 **campesinos**have been killed since 2001 and five since May of this year. The most recent victim is a 16-year-old boy in the Sur del Lago, which is a hotspot in the dispute between the agrarian cooperatives and the new landowning bourgeoisie. The state has been slow to act in many of these cases, while in others the institutions themselves have become accomplices . How should **campesinos**organize in these circumstances?* Class struggle is intensifying in the rural areas. We are facing a new wave of violence and threats against landless campesinos who have recuperated idle land. The truth is that the situation is even more complex than it was before. As opposed to the earlier wave of violence [in 2001 to 2003], we are not only facing paramilitarism at the service of the old landowners, but also an emerging sector that uses state forces and the state?s institutions to protect and further their private interests. For instance, in Barinas State, there have been campesino evictions from the land where they produce and other human rights violations. These were carried out not by the hired guns of the old landowning class, but by the state apparatus. We can even identify a [Barinas] state policy at the service of the new sectors that are acquiring land. Additionally, there has emerged a practice of criminalizing the campesino bloc, as a way of justifying what is happening. Thus, some sectors are implicitly granted permission to jail campesinos without due process, and to carry out other human rights violations. There is another element: the historical enemy of the revolution is seeking to fuel contradictions between those who are in the government and the popular base. Those in the direction of the revolution must understand this. There is an active attempt on the part of the old oligarchy to generate an internal conflict. The revolution?s most active and loyal sector is the campesinos. Campesinos vote for this project even when they are the victims of aggressions from public institutions. Campesinos are committed to the revolution and loyal. The livestock oligarchy ? and especially FEDENAGAS[3] which is associated with FEDECAMARAS[4] ? have been working with paramilitary leaders. We know that representatives of the landlords have been in meetings in the Norte de Santander department of Colombia with sectors of uribismo[5]. This bloc is responsible for fueling the violence in Sur del Lago, a situation that is near the boiling point, or rather, it has already reached it! In that territory there are constant threats, mobilizations, and public meetings that the cattle-owning oligarchy has been organizing. Intimidation has become quotidian. There have been threats against members of our organization to the effect that we must abandon our struggle for the land in that territory. This is serious stuff, since we are talking about more than 10,000 families who are participating in the struggle in Barinas state and almost 11,000 families who are struggling for their right to the land in Sur del Lago. Thus, in Sur del Lago, the hottest spot, we are preparing our response. We are not going to stay put and let our people die. There cannot be more campesino masacres. The people and the Bolivarian Revolution have given us the tools to defend ourselves. The recent assassination of Kender Garc?a, a 16-year-old son of some campesino leaders, is yet another example of the cattle oligarchy?s modus operandi. To paraphrase Sandino: The masses are patient and, for a while, will wait for justice to be made, but if that doesn?t happen, then the people will take justice into their own hands. We don?t want this to happen because the battle that could take shape would be worse than the one in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Campesinos are more conscious and more organized today than they were before and they have now many more tools, tools that the revolution gave them. In this regard, we have been making a plan so that the people are aware of what we may have to do. The government must act in a much more forceful manner against the landowning class, both old and new. We believe that the revolution, in this moment of struggle, must take radical actions in regard to the property of those who threaten campesinos, who criminalize them, saying that campesinos are robbing the land. It is urgent that the Bolivarian Revolution close ranks and act in a unified manner to confront the growing attacks from the old and new landowning class. Regarding the latter ? the new landowning class who wear red shirts ? those have to be expulsed from the Chavista bloc. We cannot let them continue in the party and at the head of state institutions! *In today?s crisis, the law that Chavez put forward in 2001 calling for an agrarian revolution, seems more relevant than ever! The CRBZ has been promoting self-organization among **campesinos**for years and it has many projects, from the Simon Bolivar Communal City in Apure, a project in a process of consolidation, to the National Productive Alliance, a project that is still being born. Let's conclude the interview by talking about these experiences.* Our organization has a campaign to defend the achievements and advances of the revolution and to carry out the revolution?s pending tasks for campesinos. We don?t limit ourselves to work among landless campesinos. We believe that the revolution must incorporate campesinos with small plots of land, the conuqueros[6] and the collectives that have rescued land, as it has, but it should also incorporate medium producers who aren?t enemies of the people, people who are not conspiring and whose only interest is to produce, because the key interest of the nation now is to produce, thus satisfying the population?s needs. Alliances have to be made with these sectors, which joined the right because the revolution did not know how to connect with them and didn?t know how to keep them with us. With this in mind, and with the objective of generating conditions to produce for small and mid?size?farmers, we are building the National Productive Alliance, which is a space of confluence and work. Those midsize farmers that are committed to producing and are not conspiring should be incorporated. The revolution has negotiated with large capitalists who don?t produce but just import: groups in line with longstanding logic of corruption and who are not going to produce anything. The government sits at the table with them and not the real producers: the small and medium farmers. Unfortunately the latter are not invited to sit at the table. Why? I think it?s obvious! So we have been developing the National Productive Alliance to boost agrarian production. We are committed to building an ample alliance of small to medium producers. Our main objective now is to generate conditions for production, to organize from below and form territorial networks. All of Venezuela's productive potential must be brought together and unified. That is something, which the leadership of the process should do, but isn?t doing. The Agriculture Ministry lost its focus. Yet campesinos are working from below to unify and generate conditions for agricultural production, voicing the sector?s demands. Their demands are many, ranging from the landless campesinos? historical claim to the land to access to seeds, agricultural implements, and fuel and machinery parts for small to medium sized farmers. The truth is that the revolution has to build a national majority. It cannot be that the revolution has political power and it doesn?t represent a national majority. The project of the Bolivarian Revolution is a project of societal consensus, and Chavez succeeded at building that consensus. Most especially, the foundation of the Bolivarian Revolution is participative and protagonic democracy. That should be our political focus now and it?s where the CRBZ is working. That is also why we are now also in a process of giving new impetus to the ?Simon Bolivar? Communal City project, which fell by the wayside when the communal project became the domain of the Ministry of Communes. We believe that the comuneros are the revolutionary subject, and we place our hopes in the commune as the path to build socialism in Venezuela. Now, we see the commune as something that is not ethereal. It shouldn?t be a mere slogan or mural. We believe in the commune-as-government, as people?s territorial power. It is the revolutionary government that will transform the society from below, constituting what Chavez called the ?new shoots? of socialism. The ?Simon Bolivar? Communal City is just that: a space where production, organization, and political revolution take front stage. Regarding the latter, it must be clarified that the economic war shouldn?t be an excuse to halt the political revolution. That is one of the issues that the leadership must come to terms with: the continuation of the political revolution. The economic war is an unavoidable feature of the present, but the emergence of new values, of new forms of organization and of popular empowerment ? all these things are more important than ever if the Bolivarian Revolution is not to lose its transformative force. As for the CRBZ movement, we are working on the Communal City, on the National Productive Alliance, and we are also developing a current within the PSUV, a current that will work from within. It is absolutely necessary that a revolutionary current take shape within the historical party of the revolution, as a force that will help to rebuild Bolivarian Revolution?s strategic objectives and reorient us towards them. NOTES [1] ?Adeco? refers to the clientist and corrupt logic established during the Democratic Action (AD) governments prior to the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998. [2] ?Copeyano? refers to the Christian democrat COPEI party, the second half of the two?party system that governed Venezuela between 1958 and 1998. [3] FEDELAFAS is the national association of large livestock owners. [4] FEDECAMARAS is the Venezuelan business association or chamber of commerce. It is directly responsible for the 2002 coup that ousted President Chavez for 47 hours before he was returned to office by a mass popular uprising. [5] The fascistoid current in Colombian politics that continues the project of former President Alvaro Uribe Velez. [6] ?Conuquero? refers to subsistence farming or very small campesino production. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 4 11:16:29 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2018 08:16:29 -0700 Subject: [News] Israeli violations of international humanitarian law - 9 Palestinians killed during last week alone Message-ID: http://english.pnn.ps/2018/10/04/pchr-report-nine-palestinians-killed-during-last-week-alone/ Nine Palestinians killed during last week alone *October 4, 2018* The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) based in Gaza in its weekly report said I/sraeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the oPt continued during the reporting period //(27 September ? 03 October 2018//). / *Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against unarmed civilians and peaceful protesters?in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.* * /9 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, were killed; 7 of them, including 2 children, were killed on Friday./ * /307 civilians, including 47 children, 5 women, 4 journalists and a paramedic, were wounded./ * /22 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and 4 journalists, were wounded in the West Bank/ * *Israeli forces continued to open fire at the border areas in the Gaza Strip.* * A Palestinian elderly was killed in eastern Maghazi refugee camp. * *Israeli forces conducted 62 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and 3 limited incursions into occupied Jerusalem**.* * /67 civilians, including 18 children, were arrested in the West Bank./ * /24 of them, including 6 children, were arrested in Jerusalem./ * *Israeli authorities continued to create a Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem.* * /Hundreds of settlers raided al-Aqsa Mosque and attacked the Palestinian civilians and their property./ * *Israeli forces continued their settlement activities in the West Bank.* * /A barrack built of tin plates was confiscated in Masafer Yata, south of Hebron./ * *5 Shooting incidents were reported against the Palestinian fishing boats in the Gaza Sea, but no casualties were reported.* * *Israeli forces turned the West Bank into cantons and continued to impose the**illegal closure on the Gaza Strip for the 11^th **?consecutive year.* * /Dozens of temporary checkpoints were established in the West Bank and others were re-established to obstruct the movement of Palestinian civilians./ * /4 civilians, including a child, were arrested at the military checkpoints in the West Bank./ ***_Shooting:_* Israeli forces continued to use lethal force against Palestinian civilians, who participated in peaceful demonstrations organized within the activities of the ?Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege? in the Gaza Strip, which witnessed for the 27^th ?week in a row peaceful demonstrations along the eastern and northern Gaza Strip border area. During the reporting period, the Israeli forces killed 8 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, and wounded 307 civilians, including 47 children, 5 women, 4 journalists, and a paramedic.? Meanwhile, a Palestinian elderly was killed in the central Gaza Strip after Israeli forces opened fire from the eastern borders at the area to the west of the border fence with Israel.? In the West Bank, 22 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and 4 journalists, were wounded; one of those wounded is in serious condition. In the Gaza Strip, on 28 September 2018, which coincided the 27^th ?Friday of the Return and Breaking the Siege protests, in new use of lethal force, Israeli forces killed 7 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children.? Three of them were killed in eastern Malakah intersection in eastern al-Zaytoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City and were identified as Eyad al-Sha?er (18); Mohammed Shakhsah (24), both from al-Shija?iyah; and Mohammed Haniyah (33) from al-Sheikh Redwan neighborhood.? In the central Gaza Strip, Mohammed al-Home (14) and Mohammed al-?Awawdah (25), both from al-Bureij, were killed in addition to Naser Musabeh (12) from ?Abasan al-Kabirah and Mohammed Anshasi (18) from Khan Younis refugee camp.? Three of those killed were hit with bullets in the heads, 2 were hit with bullets to the chest, 1 in the back and another in the abdomen. On 03 October 2018, Israeli forces stationed inside the watchtowers at Beit Hanoun ?Erez? Crossing, northwest of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, killed Ahmed Abu Jabal (15) from Beit Lahia after being hit with a tear gas canister that penetrated his head front, causing a fracture to the skull and parts of his head got out.? The child in question was with dozens of other civilians on the asphalt road leading to the vehicles gate at the crossing when the Israeli forces opened fire and heavily fired tear gas canisters at them. As part of the ongoing shooting from the eastern borders with Israel at civilians? houses and property, Ibrahim al-?Arouqi (74) from al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip was killed on 01 October 2018 after being hit with a bullet to the back when he was 2000 meters away in the vicinity of the area he lived in, west of the border fence.? the Ministry of Health declared in a statement that: ?Following the competent authorities? procedures, it was confirmed that the above-mentioned was wounded in an area near the borders as the competent authorities initiated an investigation to confirm he was wounded by the Israeli forces? fire.? As part of targeting Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Sea, the Israeli forces continued to escalate their attacks against the Palestinian fishermen, pointing out to the ongoing Israeli policy of targeting their livelihoods.? During the reporting period, the Israeli forces opened fire 5 times at the fishermen; 2 incidents in the north-western Beit Lahia and 3 others in the Western Soudaniyah area, west of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, the Israeli forces during the reporting period wounded 22 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and 4 journalists; one of those wounded sustained serious wounds. *_Incursions:_* During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 62 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 9 similar ones into Jerusalem and its suburbs. During those incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 33 Palestinians, including 12 children, in the West Bank.? Meanwhile, 24 other civilians, including 6 children, were arrested in Jerusalem and its suburbs. In the Gaza Strip, on 27 September 2018, Israeli forces moved 100 meters into the southern coastal border fence off Zikim Military Base, northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.? On the same day, the Israeli forces moved 70 meters into eastern Fokhari village, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. On 02 October 2018, Israeli forces moved 100 meters into al-Shawkah village in eastern Rafah City in the southern Gaza Strip.? The vehicles placed barbed wires, west of the main border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel. *_Israeli Forces continued to create a Jewish Majority in occupied East Jerusalem:_* As part of Israeli settlers? attacks against the Palestinian civilians and their property, on 27 September 2018, 1135 settlers raided al-Aqsa Mosque via al-Magharbah Gate on the Fourth Day of Sukkot ?a Jewish holiday.?? Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli police attacked Palestinian worshippers in al-Selseleh Gate area by beating and pushing them in addition to arresting a young man and taking him away. On 30 September 2018, groups of Israeli settlers attacked shops in al-Musrarah neighbourhood and beat the owners under the protection of the Israeli forces, wounding 3 civilians. Eyewitnesses said that the settlers attacked the Palestinian vehicles parked in the neighbourhood and damaged them. *_Israeli Forces continued their settlement activities, and the settlers continued their attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property_* As part of house and civil object demolitions, on 02 October 2018, the Israeli forces confiscated a barrack from al-Halawah area within the area Masafer Yata, south of Hebron.? The barrack is 40 square meters and belongs to Ahmed Abu ?Aram. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 4 11:41:20 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2018 08:41:20 -0700 Subject: [News] US asserts impunity - Withdraws From International Accords After Iran, Palestine Cases Message-ID: telesurtv.net US Withdraws From International Accords After Iran, Palestine Cases Published 4 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This withdrawal by the U.S. is considered largely symbolic as the country has previously ignored ICJ rulings whose compulsory jurisdiction have not been recognized by the U.S. since 1986. The United States withdrew from two international accords Wednesday after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the country's government to ease sanctions against Iran . The international accords allowed Iran and Palestine to pursue legal action against the U.S. *RELATED:**US John Bolton: Palestine Not a State* On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the Donald Trump-led administration took a decision to withdraw from the 1955 United States-Iran Friendship Treaty. The treaty, often ignored by the U.S. completely, served as the foundation of the latest ruling by the ICJ. Soon after the announcement, National Security Advisor John Bolton said that the country will also leave an optional part of 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which allows countries to settle disputes with each other in the ICJ. Last month, Palestinians used the same protocol to sue the U.S. over Trump?s decision to move U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This move came in accordance with Trump Administration?s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel , which Palestinians consider as their holy city and a part of their future state. ?The United States will not sit idly by as baseless politicized claims are brought against us,? Bolton said at the White House. Following the decision to leave the 1955 friendship treaty with Iran, Pompeo said: ?This is a decision, frankly, that is 39 years overdue.? Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded to Wednesday?s moves by calling the U.S. an ?outlaw regime.? The U.S. frequently uses the same phrase in reference to Iran. The Trump administration has been against international institutions which ?constrains U.S. sovereignty,' and National Security Adviser John Bolton has been a driving force against these institutions. Last month he threatened the International Criminal Court and its judges with sanctions if it ?comes after us, Israel or other U.S. allies.? At the White House briefing Wednesday, Bolton also said that the administration would review all international agreements that can be used against the U.S. in the International Court of Justice. During the 73rd UNGA sessions, the U.S. president also opposed globalism and upheld the country?s sovereignty. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 4 11:46:34 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2018 08:46:34 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Colonial_Puerto_Rico_Governor_Calls_for_?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=98Elimination=E2=80=99_of_Venezuelan_Government=2C_Offer?= =?utf-8?q?s_to_Host_=E2=80=98Transition=E2=80=99_Logistics?= Message-ID: https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14081 Puerto Rico Governor Calls for ?Elimination? of Venezuelan Government, Offers to Host ?Transition? Logistics By Paul Dobson ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Merida, October 3, 2018 Puerto Rico?s governor joined regional voices backing the overthrow of the Venezuelan government Tuesday, following the visit of the fugitive ex-Mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, to the US protectorate. Governor Ricardo Rossello called for the ?elimination? of President Maduro, who was democraticallyre-elected in May for a second term with 67.7 percent of the vote in elections qualified as transparent, free, and fair. ?What should happen is that the dictatorship should be eliminated. We are defining what will happen afterwards, and what steps are to be taken,? stated Rossello in a press conference following the meeting with Ledezma. He went on to claim that such ?steps? have ?already been discussed at many levels? and that they point towards ?concrete results.? As part of the announcements, Rossello invited Venezuela?s opposition leaders to a summit this October 20 and 21, to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which will look to establish a ?Commission for the Reconstruction of Venezuela?, with Puerto Rico acting as ?the headquarters? for ?logistical support? to a ?transition? government in Venezuela. ?We want to be ready for the day after, so that Venezuela counts on a government and an ordered and adequate transition. So that you know that you have friends across the world, Puerto Rico is going to be this connector for the coordination of all of this help,? Rossello added. In front of press, the Governor signed an agreement which includes hypothetical land, maritime, and air supply corridors to Venezuela. Rossello?s comments follow controversial declarations by US PresidentDonald Trump , as well as Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Organisation of American States (OAS) Secretary-GeneralLuis Almagro , and others, which have backed acoup d??tat, military intervention, or other forced rupture of democracy in Venezuela. The New York Timesrecently reported that Washington had held meetings with ?rebel? Venezuelan military commanders to discuss the logistics of organising a coup d??tat. Puerto Rico continues to form part of the United States of America, and is the closest US-controlled territory to Venezuela, with only 1000 kilometers of sea separating the two. It was acquired by the US in the Paris Treaty ? alongside Guam and the Philippines ? which culminated the 1898 Spanish-US war. As such, the island is subject to US foreign and military policy, including housing numerous US military bases . The recent agreement between the Puerto Rican government and Ledezma has already been communicated to Washington, as well as to the OAS, authorities informed. For his part, Ledezma told press in San Juan that ?a logistical operation will be launched from this Antillean Island.? He has previously gone on recordcalling for a foreign-led ?intervention? into Venezuela. From exile, the ex-Mayor and longtime anti-government leader heads the ?I Am Venezuela? (Soy Venezuela) movement, just one of the numerous fragmented anti-Chavista groups. His movement boycotted the recent presidential elections, and publicly opposed opposition groupings which decided to participate. Soy Venezuela, which Ledezma leads alongside outspoken government critic Maria Corina Machado, receives substantialcriticism from other anti-government forces who claim that, operating from Madrid, Paris, or Washington, it is disconnected from the local reality. Ledezma is currently fleeingcharges of conspiracy and criminal association in Venezuela for his role in the 2014 violent street protests which looked to oust the government through force. He wasarrested in 2015, and his sentence was later commuted to house arrest, beforedramatically fleeing authorities in November 2017. Since, he hastoured Europe , the US, and Latin America rallying support for his efforts. Caracas is yet to react to the latest statements of the Puerto Rican authorities, but President Maduro has offered firm backing to the independence struggle of the Puerto Rican people in the past. Recently released political prisoner and independence leader Oscar Lopez Rivera has been hosted by Caracas, with Maduro calling on Puerto Ricans to break the shackles of colonialism. Maduro?s position has put him at heads with that of Governor Rossello, who favours full US statehood. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 5 16:42:59 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2018 13:42:59 -0700 Subject: [News] Gaza "laboratory" boosts profits of Israel's war industry Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/content/gaza-laboratory-boosts-profits-israels-war-industry/25636 Gaza "laboratory" boosts profits of Israel's war industry Gabriel Schivone - 5 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ After exploring the vast surveillance regime along the US-Mexico border and finding Israeli systems installed at every turn, the author Todd Miller and I were drawn to investigate Israel as the largest homeland security industry in the world. Israel?s arms industry is twice the size of its US counterpart in exports per capita and employs a percentage of the national workforce double that of the US or France, two of the top global arms exporters. During our 2016 trip, it didn?t take us long to zero in on some of Israel?s most enterprising industrialists who told us how they do it while controlling an area roughly the size of New Jersey. On our first day there, while attending an annual drone conference, we met Guy Keren, the middle-aged and charismatic CEO of an Israeli homeland security firm called iHLS. Keren?s iHLS had organized the drone conference. Several days later, we sat down with Keren in iHLS?s then brand new headquarters in the Mediterranean coastal city of Raanana , known for its high-tech industrial park. We spoke to him in the fishbowl conference room above his company?s computer lab. Below us, gaggles of junior technologists clacked eagerly at their keyboards. This Lighthouse complex , Keren said, could host up to 150 startups. Keren explained how the Gaza Strip affords Israel ? and iHLS ? a competitive advantage over other countries because of the real-time opportunities to test new products year-round. Israel has earned the moniker of ?start-up nation? among business elites around the world. Human Petri dish We asked Keren why it is that Israel?s technology industry performs at an astonishing level of productivity, especially in the military sector. ?Because we are checking our systems live,? he said. ?We are in a war situation all the time. If it?s not happening right now, it will happen in a month.? ?It?s not [just] about building the technology? and having to wait years to try out the systems, Keren told us. The secret of the Israeli tech sector?s success, he explained, lay in ?operating the technology faster than any other country in live situations.? Keren isn?t the first to make this connection. Gaza is widely perceived as a human Petri dish ? to improve killing capacity and cultivate pacification methods ? among the movers and shakers in the Israeli high-tech and military sectors. When Roei Elkabetz, a brigadier general in the Israeli army, addressed a 2012 convention of specialists in border control technology in El Paso, Texas, he clicked onscreen a photo of the wall, built by Magal Systems, that isolates Gaza from the outside world. ?We have learned lots from Gaza,? he said. ?It?s a great laboratory.? Leila Stockmarr, a Danish scholar, has attended the same kinds of Israeli security expos as Todd Miller and I. ?As most of the company representatives I interviewed imparted, it is central to Israel?s cutting-edge military and policing capacities that new pieces of technology are developed and tested in a concrete situation of controlling a population, such as in the Gaza Strip,? she writes in her 2016 essay, ?Beyond the Laboratory Thesis: Gaza as Transmission Belt for War and Security Technology.? Fine tuning in real time As one representative of a major security company told Stockmarr: ?Once an order has been made by the Israeli military, and after initial deployment in the field, the company?s technical departments are often contacted with demands for corrections and tweaks based on experience. Thus every time the military uses Israeli HLS [homeland security] technology, it automatically tests it. Companies benefit greatly from this and every time a new order is placed, this feedback from the battlefield is injected to improve the process of tendering and guarantee quality and effectiveness.? Unusually for a country?s arms industry, Israel has a laboratory in a territory it occupies ? Gaza ? very close to the production facilities for its weapons and surveillance technology. Engagement in the Gaza Strip, as Stockmarr noted in 2016, helps companies generate and refine new ideas and fine tune product lines. In April 2018, Saar Koursh, then the CEO of Magal Systems ? a contender for President Donald Trump?s proposed additions to surveillance infrastructure on the US-Mexico border ? was even reported as having described Gaza as a ?showroom? for the company?s ?smart fences? whose customers ?appreciate that the products are battle-tested.? Stockmarr notes that Palestinians in Gaza themselves play a role in the testing phase, performing a ?crucial part? of this homeland security industry cycle: ?In order to evaluate a given product, the systematic inclusion of the targeted populations? responses to new security technologies are crucial for foreign buyers.? Plenty of global customers are sold on the idea, at least if the profit margin is anything to go by. ?Magal?s US traded shares jumped in late 2016 as Trump talked about a Mexican border wall,? according to /Bloomberg/. And during the first month of Israel?s 2014 attack on Gaza, the share price of Israel?s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, increased by 6.1 percent . More than 2,200 Palestinians were killed in that attack. A never-ending experiment This year, since the Great March of Return protests began on 30 March, Israel?s latest line of crowd-control drones to make their Gaza debut include the appropriately named Sea of Tears drone ? a commercially-produced Chinese camera drone modified by the Israeli police to discharge tear gas onto the human throngs below ? and the Shocko Drone that unleashes ?skunk water ? on protesters. The Gaza health ministry has observed over the past six months the human effects of Israel?s ?butterfly bullets? ? which explode on impact. These are among the deadliest bullets Israel has ever used. Doctors Without Borders personnel treated butterfly bullet-like injuries in 50 percent of the more than 500 patients they treated during the protests. Many of the protesters who weren?t killed outright were severely injured, earning butterfly bullets a new place in the Israeli military?s long history of shoot-to-maim practices , which Jasbir K. Puar details in her book, /The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability/. As of 1 October, more than 150 Palestinians have been killed in the Great March of Return, including more than 30 children. More than 10,000 have been injured, half of them by live fire. Meanwhile, back at the Raanana industrial park, Keren and his staff in the air-conditioned offices of iHLS are busy developing the next players in Israel?s arms industry, updating their systems and expanding their profit margins. /Gabriel M. Schivone is a visiting scholar at the University of Arizona and author of the forthcoming book/ Making the New ?Illegal?: How Decades of US Involvement in Central America Triggered the Modern Wave of Immigration /(Prometheus Books)./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 10 18:15:05 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2018 15:15:05 -0700 Subject: [News] Joint Palestinian Statement on the Occasion of Indigenous Peoples' Day 2018 Message-ID: Joint Statement on the Occasion of Indigenous Peoples' Day 2018 09 October 2018 -http://www.addameer.org/news/joint-statement-occasion-indigenous-peoples-day-2018 *Palestinian Support for Indigenous Peoples? Day Commemorations and Historical Justice from Palestine to Turtle Island* *In August 2018, several Palestinian human rights organizations attended The Red Nation?s annual conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.* We, the undersigned Palestinian human rights and community organizations, state as follows: 1. In August 2018, several Palestinian human rights organizations attended The Red Nation?s annual conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Red Nation, a community organization dedicated to Indigenous liberation, extended an invitation to Palestinian civil society to participate in the conference, exchange strategies for securing human rights and historical justice, and develop shared language around systems of oppression as well as future visions of decolonization and self-determination. 2. October 8, 2018 marks Indigenous Peoples? Day, officially celebrated in the United States as Columbus Day. This day marks the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 to indigenous lands in what is now known as the ?Americas?, and the arrival of foreign domination over its Native peoples. Though recognized as a historical event, the dehumanizing structures introduced by the European settler-colonization of Turtle Island have allowed for the elimination of the Native people, the confiscation of Native land and the extraction of natural resources. Such institutionalized hierarchy of human life continues to the present day. 3. Similarly, the Nakba, Arabic for ?Catastrophe?, is our rupture. In 1948, 85% of the Palestinian people were forcibly displaced from their homeland and over 500 villages were destroyed in order to establish the State of Israel. This process of displacement and dehumanization of Palestinians is ongoing. In addition to continued colonisation and control of the land, Israel attempts to preclude Palestinian collective memory through legal means. In 2011, for example, the Israeli Knesset (parliament) passed the ?Nakba Law? in order to deny public funding to any institution that commemorates Israel?s Independence Day as a ?day of mourning,? violating the rights of the 1.6 million Palestinians who are citizens of Israel to preserve their history. 4. While recognizing the limitations of international law, significant developments have been made in legal discourse and practice to protect and promote the human rights of indigenous peoples to full self-determination, including the right to history, culture and heritage. Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) recognizes the right of all people to self-determination. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples? (UNDRIP) was adopted by the UN general assembly in 2007 to elaborate on existing human rights standards as they apply specifically to indigenous peoples. We call on all governments to fully implement human rights instruments that ensure the survival, dignity and well-being of indigenous peoples. 5. We acknowledge that any advancement for human rights is the result of the ?sumoud? (steadfastness) of the people and their sustained efforts to transform the dehumanizing institutions and structures of colonialism and oppression. We support and celebrate the victories of indigenous people on Turtle Island to change Columbus Day from a holiday that glorifies colonialism, to a day that respects and honours Native people. To date, 55 cities in the United States now celebrate Indigenous People?s Day. We welcome your victories and are reminded that community mobilization is often the strongest path for achieving human rights and collective liberation. 6. Truth, like accountability, is a virtue of justice. Centering the lived experiences of those impacted by oppression lays a foundation of collective knowledge upon which society can construct just legal, social and political solutions. By first publicly reclaiming critical facts about the injustices of the past, restorative practices such as the right of return, reparations for stolen land and labor, and deep institutional changes can usher in a future of justice and decolonization. 7. We call on the international community to center Native history as the necessary beginning of historical reconciliation and a collectively emancipatory process of decolonization. 8. In solidarity, we celebrate Indigenous People?s Day and the continued strength of the world?s indigenous peoples. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 11 11:11:31 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2018 08:11:31 -0700 Subject: [News] Palestinian Mission in Washington Officially Shuts Down Message-ID: http://imemc.org/article/p-a-mission-in-washington-officially-shuts-down/ P.A. Mission in Washington Officially Shuts Down October 11, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Palestinian Representative Office at the United States in Washington D.C. has officially shut down, Wednesday, after the deadline by the Trump Administration for closing it went into effect at 4:30 PM. Dozens of Palestinians and peace activists stood in front of the Palestinian Mission?s office in protest of the U.S. decision, and several speakers condemned the escalating hostilities by President Donald Trump and his Administration against the basic and historic human rights of the Palestinian people, and its support to Israel?s illegal occupation of Palestine, and it?s denial of internationally-guaranteed Palestinian Rights. In a previous statement, Dr. Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister, said the sign that indicates that the building in the Palestinian Diplomatic Mission in the US will be removed, but the Palestinian flag will remain because the building is a private property. ?The owners of the building can keep any flag up, as long as they want to, unless the U.S. government makes it its mission to remove the flag,? he said, ?Our team at the Palestinian Mission has been frequently asked to remove the flag, but we kept it because it is a private building.? He concluded by wondering whether ?the next battle waged by the United States against the basic Palestinian rights will now be about the Palestinian flag!? *Related: * *US Expels Palestinian Envoy And His Family * -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 11 11:16:17 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2018 08:16:17 -0700 Subject: [News] Israel Bars US Medics from Entering Gaza, Citing Links to BDS Message-ID: http://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-bars-us-medics-from-entering-gaza-citing-links-to-bds/ Israel Bars US Medics from Entering Gaza, Citing Links to BDS October 11, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Israeli authorities have refused entry to the occupied Gaza Strip to two members of a US medical delegation because they are Jewish, reported Haaretz. Initially, the refusal was extended to the entire group, from the Washington branch of Physicians for Social Responsibility, citing the organization?s alleged involvement with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Israel bars 2 from of US medical delegation from entering Gaza because they're Jewish. Israel first refused to let the entire group enter due to members' Jewish origins & alleged BDS ties, but folded after a petition by legal center for freedom of movement https://t.co/t3RO2DYTQv ? Adalah-NY (@AdalahNY) October 10, 2018 After Israeli human rights NGO Gisha petitioned the Supreme Court, Haaretz reported, ?The state backtracked on those two reasons and said it would permit eight of the delegation?s 10 members to enter the Strip as planned, on October 21?. However, in regard to two of the members ? ?a neurosurgeon and a social worker with considerable experience treating people with trauma disorders? ? the state said they required ?additional security checks?. The state?s final response is reportedly due tomorrow. Israel's undemocratic anti-BDS law is only further isolating the country and it's institutions from the world. Hard to see universities keeping exchange programs with a country that detains/deports visa-holding students on the basis of race and politics https://t.co/4m3qLsTQ0t ? Rebecca Pierce (@aptly_engineerd) October 8, 2018 The delegation is attempting to enter the blockaded enclave in order to carry out ?consultations with colleagues on various medical issues?, as well as to provide ?medical treatment and instruction in the clinics of the host organization, the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme?. Explaining the entry refusal last month, the Israeli army noted: ?Many of the applicants are Jews, for whom the risk of going to the Gaza Strip is routinely more significant?. Even Jews don't have freedom of speech in Israel: "An American student has become the latest victim of Israel?s law targeting supporters of the global [] (BDS) movement. Lara Alqasem, 22, has been held since last Tuesday at Israel?s Ben Gurion Airport."@ISMPalestine ? M (@Pakeha56) October 11, 2018 However, as Haaretz reported, D?vorah Kost, one of the two delegation members who was refused entry, has visited the Gaza Strip twice: in an affidavit, she wrote that, ?The people she met in Gaza are aware that she is Jewish and that her Judaism had never posed a problem?. Israel bars two members of U.S. medical delegation from entering Gaza because they're Jewish ? andre (@andre17572805) October 11, 2018 The physician who was refused entry, Dr. Donald Mellman, has visited the Gaza Strip seven times. Israeli authorities also claimed that the physicians? organization is ?involved in activities that encourage boycotting Israel, in cooperation with the BDS movement?. (/MEMO, PC, Social Media/) -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 12 16:16:04 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2018 13:16:04 -0700 Subject: [News] The Five-Year-Old Who Was Detained at the Border and Persuaded to Sign Away Her Rights Message-ID: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-five-year-old-who-was-detained-at-the-border-and-convinced-to-sign-away-her-rights?fbclid=IwAR1UjUkCSECwDkNziWMCvTQl3S9e0g0CY2v3X9uxYPpTx7wzhoJNk7w-xOI The Five-Year-Old Who Was Detained at the Border and Persuaded to Sign Away Her Rights By Sarah Stillman - October 11, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Helen, a five-year-old from Honduras, was detained after the Trump Administration announced that it would halt the separation of immigrant families. Photograph Courtesy LUPE Helen?a smart, cheerful five-year-old girl?is an asylum seeker from Honduras. This summer, when a social worker asked her to identify her strengths, Helen shared her pride in ?her ability to learn fast and express her feelings and concerns.? She also recounted her favorite activities (?playing with her dolls?), her usual bedtime (?8 /P.M./?), and her professional aspirations (?to be a veterinarian?). In July, Helen fled Honduras with her grandmother, Noehmi, and several other relatives; gangs had threatened Noehmi?s teen-age son, Christian, and the family no longer felt safe. Helen?s mother, Jeny, had migrated to Texas four years earlier, and Noehmi planned to seek legal refuge there. With Noehmi?s help, Helen travelled thousands of miles, sometimes on foot, and frequently fell behind the group. While crossing the Rio Grande in the journey?s final stretch, Helen slipped from their raft and risked drowning. Her grandmother grabbed her hand and cried, ?Hang on, Helen!? When the family reached the scrubland of southern Texas, U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended them and moved them through a series of detention centers. A month earlier, the Trump Administration had announced, amid public outcry over its systemic separation of migrant families at the border, that it would halt the practice. But, at a packed processing hub, Christian was taken from Noehmi and placed in a cage with toddlers. Noehmi remained in a cold holding cell, clutching Helen. Soon, she recalled, a plainclothes official arrived and informed her that she and Helen would be separated. ?No!? Noehmi cried. ?The girl is under my care! Please!? Noehmi said that the official told her, ?Don?t make things too difficult,? and pulled Helen from her arms. ?The girl will stay here,? he said, ?and you?ll be deported.? Helen cried as he escorted her from the room and out of sight. Noehmi remembers the authorities explaining that Helen?s mother would be able to retrieve her, soon, from wherever they were taking her. Later that day, Noehmi and Christian were reunited. The adults in the family were fitted with electronic ankle bracelets and all were released, pending court dates. They left the detention center and rushed to Jeny?s house, in McAllen, hoping to find Helen there. When they didn?t, Noehmi began to shake, struggling to explain the situation. ?Immigration took your daughter,? she told Jeny. ?But where did they take her?? Jeny asked. ?I don?t know,? Noehmi replied. The next day, authorities?likely from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (O.R.R.)?called to say that they were holding Helen at a shelter near Houston; according to Noehmi, they wouldn?t say exactly where. Noehmi and Jeny panicked. Unable to breathe amid her distress, Noehmi checked herself into a local hospital, where doctors gave her medication to calm her down. ?I thought we would never see her again,? Noehmi said. She couldn?t square her family?s fate with the TV news, which insisted that the government had stopped separating migrant families. A photo taken of Helen during her time in custody. Photograph Courtesy Eugene Delgado Helen had been brought to Baytown, a shelter run by Baptist Child & Family Services, which the federal government had contracted to house unaccompanied minors. Helen was given a pack of crayons and spent the summer coloring patriotic images: busts of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the torch on the Statue of Liberty. She was granted an hour of ?Large Muscle Activity and Leisure Time? each day, and received lessons on the human respiratory system, the history of music, and ?the risk and danger of social media.? ?Helen,? a caseworker observed, ?has excellent behavior at all times.? She had no major sources of stress, her reports noted, aside from ?being separated from her family.? Her teachers encouraged her to develop ?/SMART/ goals??ambitions that are ?Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.? Helen?s goal was simple: ?Minor disclosed wanting to live with her mother and family in the U.S.? According to a long-standing legal precedent known as the Flores settlement, which established guidelines for keeping children in immigration detention, Helen had a right to a bond hearing before a judge; that hearing would have likely hastened her release from government custody and her return to her family. At the time of her apprehension, in fact, Helen checked a box on a line that read, ?I do request an immigration judge,? asserting her legal right to have her custody reviewed. But, in early August, an unknown official handed Helen a legal document, a ?Request for a Flores Bond Hearing,? which described a set of legal proceedings and rights that would have been difficult for Helen to comprehend. (?In a Flores bond hearing, an immigration judge reviews your case to determine whether you pose a danger to the community,? the document began.) On Helen?s form, which was filled out with assistance from officials, there is a checked box next to a line that says, ?I withdraw my previous request for a Flores bond hearing.? Beneath that line, the five-year-old signed her name in wobbly letters. As the summer progressed with no signs of Helen?s return, Noehmi and Jeny contacted /LUPE/, a nonprofit community union based in the Rio Grande Valley, to ask for help winning Helen?s release. Founded by the famed activists C?sar Ch?vez and Dolores Huerta in 1989, /LUPE/ fights deportations, provides social services, and organizes civil mobilizations on behalf of more than eight thousand low-income members across south Texas; Jeny, employed as an office cleaner, was one such member. Tania Chavez, a strategy leader forthe organization, met with the family to hear their story. Helen?s case didn?t fit the typical /LUPE/ mold. ?Historically, we have served longtime residents of the Rio Grande Valley,? Chavez told me, ?but since this new surge of refugees came about, we?ve been on the front lines of advocacy against family separation.? Freeing Helen struck Chavez as a tangible and urgent goal. ?Right away, we said, ?How do we help this little girl?? ? she said. As Chavez saw it, the girl?s seizure by the government showed that the family-separation crisis hadn?t been resolved, as many Americans believed?it had simply evolved. The first stage of the family-separation crisis unfolded largely out of public view, not long after Trump took office. By January, 2018, when I began collecting the stories of parents who had been separated from their children at the border, the government denied that these separations were happening without clear justifications, and insisted that they weren?t encouraged by official policy. In the late spring, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, was still espousing this line, even as she ramped up ?zero tolerance? prosecutions?criminally charging parents with ?illegal entry,? and seizing their kids in the process. Stage two of the crisis unfolded in the national spotlight. As the number of separations soared past two thousand, and their wrenching details surfaced, hundreds of thousands of Americans protested in the streets. Laura Bush said that the practice broke her heart. The American Academy of Pediatrics denounced it as ?abhorrent,? noting that the approach could inflict long-term, irrevocable trauma on children. On June 20th, the President issued an executive order purporting to end the practice. Now stage three has commenced?one in which separations are done quietly, /LUPE/?s Tania Chavez asserts, and in which reunifications can be mysteriously stymied. According to recent Department of Justice numbers?released because of an ongoing A.C.L.U. lawsuit challenging family separations?a hundred and thirty-six children who fall within the lawsuit?s scope are still in government custody. An uncounted number of separated children in shelters and foster care fall outside the lawsuit?s current purview?including many like Helen, who arrived with a grandparent or other guardian, rather than with a parent. Many such children have been misclassified, in government paperwork, as ?unaccompanied minors,? due to a sloppy process that the Department of Homeland Security?s Office of the Inspector General recently critiqued. Chavez believes that, through misclassification, many kids have largely disappeared from public view, and from official statistics, with the federal government showing little urgency to hasten reunifications. (O.R.R. and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to requests for comment.) Noehmi and Jeny connected with /LUPE/?s newly hired attorney, Eugene Delgado. Delgado had grown up in the Rio Grande Valley, a child of migrant workers. He left the region for a life in corporate law, practicing in New York and in the United Arab Emirates. But, when the family-separation crisis flooded the news this summer, he told me, ?I wanted to help my community.? He moved back to McAllen and joined /LUPE/ to fight deportations full time. He agreed to represent Noehmi and her family, and at the summer?s end he went with them to court to represent them in removal proceedings. There, a judge granted Noehmi and her relatives more time to apply for asylum. Toward the end of the hearing, Delgado brought up Helen. ?Judge, this case doesn?t stop here,? Delgado said. ?What about the little child lost in the system?? The judge looked confused. ?What do you mean?? he asked. ?Well, where is Helen, the five-year-old?? The judge, Delgado recalled, seemed startled. Both he and the government prosecutor had no idea that Helen existed, let alone where she was being held. ?I could give you a couple of phone numbers to call?? the prosecutor offered. Delgado began the search. ?It was just a complete maze, trying to trace the girl down,? he recalled. ?I talked to at least ten people?case workers, social workers.? Eventually, he learned of Helen?s placement in Baytown, the Houston shelter. After that, Noehmi and Jeny were allowed two ten-minute calls with Helen per week, during which the girl often pleaded, ?Come get me, Grandma!? The government collected fingerprints and other information from Noehmi and Jeny, to determine whether they were Helen?s rightful guardians; the Office of Refugee Resettlement soon deemed Jeny a fit sponsor, Delgado told me, but the completion of Noehmi?s background check was delayed for unexplained reasons. On August 17th, Helen was transferred to a foster home in San Antonio. ?I feared, did they give Helen away?? Noehmi told me; she worried about the prospect of adoption. Delgado managed to arrange a supervised visit between Noehmi and her granddaughter. At the visit?s start, Helen was gleeful, shouting, ?Grandma, you came to get me!? But the girl exhibited strange new behaviors that troubled Noehmi. ?She kept hiding under the table,? Noehmi said. After an hour, the two were separated again; again, they both cried. A case worker offered Noehmi a chance to ride the elevator downstairs with Helen before the girl was taken away. Noehmi declined. ?I took the stairs, so I could scream and cry,? she told me. But she raced down to meet Helen outside and hugged her one more time before Helen was loaded into a minivan and carted back to foster care. By the end of August, Noehmi felt desperate. She ate only a few spoonfulsof beef stew each day. Again, she sought hospitalization, for anxiety. ?I was sick in the head,? she told me. Tania Chavez asked if the family wanted to escalate their tactics for getting Helen back. ?People forget that family separation has been happening in our community for decades?it?s not a new thing,? Chavez told me, referencing the routine nature of deportations for mothers, fathers, and grandparents with deep Texas roots, and the children often left behind. Chavez had found, in these cases, that authorities sometimes responded to public pressure; she?d never tried this in family-separation cases, but it seemed worth a shot. Chavez reached out to Alida Garcia, the vice-president of advocacy for the group FWD.us, and Jess Morales Rocketto, the chair of an alliance known as Families Belong Together. These teams worked together to craft a national social-media campaign, using Helen?s O.R.R. case-file photograph: an image that eerily resembled a cherub-cheeked mug shot. On August 31st, they began to circulate a petition addressing the O.R.R. official in charge of Helen?s case. ?By that Friday, we already had six hundred signatures,? Chavez said. Right away, they began receiving calls from O.R.R., promising that Helen would be returned to her family as soon as possible. There was simply a holdup with her grandmother?s fingerprint check, they said. On September 7th, /LUPE/ was told that Helen would finally be released, nearly two months after she was taken from Noehmi. ?We were attached to our phones all freaking Saturday,? Chavez said. ?Then she wasn?t released?they played us!? /LUPE/?s team adjusted the petition to address a greater number of O.R.R. officials, each of whom received a personal e-mail every time a person signed. Paola Mendoza, an artist and prominent voice for immigrant rights, tweeted about the petition, as did the actress Alyssa Milano. ?We got six thousand signatures, then ten thousand,? Chavez said. Then, that Monday, Noehmi and Jeny got a phone call: they should be at their local airport at 6:20 /P.M./ At the airport, Noehmi breathlessly scanned the gates: nothing. Then, she heard a little voice cry out, ?That?s my grandma! That?s my grandma!? Helen raced into her arms. ?Is that my mom?? Helen asked. She hadn?t seen her mother since she was an infant. The whole family held one another, and then went home. Noehmi had prepared a surprise for Helen: a giant Teddy bear, a pizza party, a stack of new clothes, and a Disney princess castle with a ?Mulan? theme (?She?s a princess fanatic,? Noehmi told me). Soon after, the shelter sent a small black backpack that Helen had left behind. It held Helen?s legal paperwork, including the document that the five-year-old had been told to sign, withdrawing her request to see a judge. The backpack also held Helen?s colored sketch of Lady Liberty. Beneath the statue?s image, a lesson summary, in Spanish, read, ?Objective: That the students draw one of the most representative symbols of the United States.? Last Thursday, Helen?s family held another party, with cake and more princess gear, to celebrate the reunion and to thank the advocacy groups that helped make it happen. Chavez hoped that the party would also help the family?s healing. ?Helen had resentment,? she said, ?because I think she thought she was abandoned by her family.? Jess Morales Rocketto, of Families Belong Together, told me that Helen?s reunion?the result of the first known public mobilization to free a specific kid from O.R.R. custody?holds lessons for a broader organizing effort. ?One of the things Helen?s story really showed us is that the Trump Administration never stopped separating children from their families,? Morales Rocketto said. ?In fact, they?ve doubled down, but it?s even more insidious now, because they are doing it in the cover of night.? She added, ?We believe that there are more kids like Helen. We have learned we cannot take this Administration at their word.? Noehmi fears that some of the damage inflicted on her family can never be mended. ?Helen was always a very calm girl,? she told me, sitting in /LUPE/?s office on a recent Friday night. ?Now I have to be very patient with her?she?s very attention-seeking.? Lately, at bedtime, Helen hides in the closet and refuses to go to sleep, afraid that her family might leave her in the night. Sometimes Noehmi wants to hide, too; she buried her round face in her hands, weeping, when she recounted one of Helen?s declarations upon her return: ?You left me behind.? But Noehmi decided to share their story with me because she worries that other families are still living out a similar search. ?I fear there are still other children suffering,? she said. ?Other families are feeling this anguish, this struggle, and they need us to act.? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /A document from July shows a checked box where Helen asserted her legal right to have her custody determination reviewed by a judge./ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /Later, in August, officials assisted Helen in filling out a form?signed by the five-year-old, while separated from her family?withdrawing her request for a hearing before a judge. While in custody, she was also given crayons and asked to color patriotic images, including one of the Statue of Liberty./ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Sat Oct 13 12:06:09 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2018 09:06:09 -0700 Subject: [News] Israeli soldier executed Gaza teen at close range - Israel to halt Gaza fuel deliveries Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israeli-soldier-executed-gaza-teen-close-range-witness Israeli soldier executed Gaza teen at close range: witness Maureen Clare Murphy - 13 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ An Israeli soldier killed a Palestinian teen along Gaza?s boundary when the detained youth tried to escape, according to a reporter who witnessed the shooting. The slain Palestinian, identified as Ahmad Abdallah Abu Naim, 17, was one of seven killed during mass protests along Gaza?s boundary with Israel on Friday. Journalist Muhammad Mahawish said that Abu Naim was among a group that had crossed the fence along central Gaza?s eastern boundary with Israel. A journalist who eyewitnessed the inciedent of executing the Palestinian demonstrator, Ahmad Abu Nueem#GreatReturnMarch pic.twitter.com/86sxhyt1QM ? Palestine Live En (@pallive_en) October 12, 2018 ?The occupation forces fired directly towards them, which led to the injury of one Palestinian,? according to Muhawish, who describes the incident in the above video. When soldiers tried to detain the wounded protester, the latter attempted to flee. ?After he tried to escape, he was shot and immediately executed,? Muhawish stated. An image appears to show the soldier in close contact with Abu Naim just before the teen was fatally shot: ?? ????? ???... ???? ????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ???????? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ????? pic.twitter.com/EQyZ5Qx9ht ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 12, 2018 Al Mezan, a human rights group based in Gaza, said that Abu Naim was shot in the stomach with live fire. Two others among the group of around 20 protesters who breached the Gaza-Israel boundary fence and approached army positions were also killed, the Israeli military told media . Israel?s /Ynet/ reported that the group had used a bomb to explode part of the fence. After the group crossed the fence, ?soldiers responded with open fire, pushing them back into Gaza. However, three Palestinians continued to approach the [army] post and were shot to death as a result.? Palestinians carried the bodies of the slain protesters back to Gaza, according to the military. No Israeli soldiers were injured during the incident. In addition to Abu Naim, Al Mezan reported the killing of three protesters along the eastern boundary of central Gaza: Ahmad al-Tawil, 22, Abdallah al-Daghma, 25, and Muhammad Ismail, 29. Two protesters were also killed east of Gaza City: Muhammad Abbas, 21, and Afifi Afifi, 18. The health ministry reported that Tamer Iyad Mahmoud Abu Armana, 22, was killed east of Rafah in southernmost Gaza. All were injured by live fire, according to Al Mezan. Graphic video shows the moment when Abu Armana was shot: #???? : ???? ??????? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ???? #??? ???? ???? ??? ??? ???. pic.twitter.com/utwk7X9X4u ? ????? ????? (@hadafnewsps) October 13, 2018 More than 160 Palestinians, including 33 children, have been killed during mass demonstrations along Gaza?s boundary with Israel since the launch of the Great March of Return protests six months ago. Israel is withholding the bodies of 10 Palestinians slain along the boundary, including two children, according to Al Mezan. More than 250 others were injured during Friday?s protests, some 180 of them by live fire, the rights group said . A paramedic and four media workers were among those injured. Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas? political wing, was injured by tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers during the protests: ???? ???????? ????? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ?????????? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ???? ??????? ???? ???? ??????? ???? "??????? ?????". pic.twitter.com/tCo5yON7lG ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 12, 2018 Israel to halt Gaza fuel deliveries Israeli defense minister Avigdor Lieberman said that he had ordered a halt to fuel deliveries to Gaza after the breaching of the boundary fence, a measure of collective punishment against Gaza?s vulnerable population. ?Israel will not tolerate a situation in which fuel tankers are allowed to enter Gaza on the one hand, while terror and violence are used against [Israeli] soldiers and Israeli citizens on the other,? Lieberman stated . Several truckloads of fuel funded by Qatar were brought into Gaza via Israel in recent days as stocks needed to keep essential services running amid a longstanding electricity crisis depleted over the past several weeks. ?Over the month, the number of trucks per day is expected to rise to 15,? St?phane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations secretary-general, stated on Tuesday . ?In addition to other long-term efforts underway to increase the energy supply, additional fuel for the Gaza power plant remains the fastest and most immediate way to increase electricity to help alleviate the humanitarian and related public health needs on the ground,? Dujarric added. The UN has been brokering indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in order to pull Gaza back from the brink of collapse after more than a decade of siege, repeated military assaults and an impasse between the Palestinian authorities in Gaza and the West Bank. Citing Hamas sources, Lebanon?s /Al-Akhbar/ newspaper reported on Friday that UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick delivered a list of Israel?s preconditions for easing the tightened blockade on Gaza and returning the status quo that followed the August 2014 ceasefire that ended 51 days of bombardment in the territory. Israel?s demands include an end to provocations including the planting of explosives along the boundary and an end to the launching of incendiary balloons from Gaza. Hamas is in turn calling for a 50 megawatt increase of available electricity as a first step towards resolving the crisis entirely, according to /Al-Akhbar/. Households in Gaza have on average only four hours of electricity per day. The resistance group and political party also reportedly demands the expansion of the permitted fishing area off Gaza?s coast to 12 nautical miles initially and then to 20 miles, as is stipulated in the Oslo accords signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s. Hamas also wants Israel to permit unrestricted imports and exports from Gaza, permits for 5,000 laborers from Gaza to work inside Israel, and the establishment of a commercial waterway to Gaza. /Al-Akhbar/ reported that the UN sought to link improvements in Gaza to the approval of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, but his continued rejectionism prompted the UN, which seeks to restore Palestinian Authority governance in Gaza, to implement first steps without Abbas? blessing. Those initiatives include the import of fuel to Gaza?s sole power plant and the transfer of $25 million to Gaza to pay civil servants? salaries and for electricity. The PA has protested these measures by pressuring the Israeli company contracted to transfer fuel to Gaza for power generation into stopping delivery by threatening to end its contracts to supply Gaza with gasoline for transportation. The UN is therefore seeking out Israeli companies immune to PA pressure for the job, a Hamas source told /Al-Akhbar./ Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel is due to visit Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Amman next week to push a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, according to the newspaper. The West Bank-based authority also sent a complaint to the UN secretary-general against Nickolay Mladenov, who has been leading the indirect talks, alleging that the UN envoy is undermining Palestinian national unity. Palestinian dies in Israeli prison Meanwhile on Friday, Wissam Abd al-Majid Nayif al-Shalaldeh, 28, from the occupied West Bank town of Sair, died in Ramla prison in central Israel. The Palestinian Prisoners Society said that the cause of death was unknown. Al-Shalaldeh, a married father of four, had been held by Israel since 2015 and was serving a seven-year prison sentence, the Ma?an News Agency reported. He is the fourth Palestinian to die in Israeli custody so far this year. A photo of al-Shalaldeh circulated on social media after the announcement of his death: ?????? ??? ????? 2018.. ?????? ?????? ???? ???????? (28 ?????) ???? ?????? ?? ??? ?????? ??????????. pic.twitter.com/hd7coVgfGz ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 12, 2018 A Palestinian woman, Ayesha Muhammad Rabi, 48, was reported to have died from head injuries after the car in which she was traveling was attacked by stone-throwing settlers near Zaatara checkpoint south of the West Bank city of Nablus on Friday. A photo published in local media showed the seats of the car covered in blood and debris following the attack. Photos of al-Rabi and her husband Yaqoub, who was also injured during the incident, were published after the announcement of her death: ??????? ????? ???? ?????? (48 ?????) ?? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ????? ????? ????? ??? ???????? ??????? ???????? ???????? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ??? ???? pic.twitter.com/cL6PWJs5Mb ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 12, 2018 ??????| ????? ???? ??? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ???????? ????? ????? (???? ??????? ?????? ????????) pic.twitter.com/ecxhVjt7Qx ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 12, 2018 The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din published video of Israelis from the settlement of Yitzhar, south of Nablus, throwing stones at cars on Friday as soldiers stand by without intervening. It was not clear if the video shows the incident in which which Rabi was killed. This afternoon, a @YeshDin field researcher documented about 15 Israelis descending from Yitzhar & throwing stones at vehicles. The perpetrators are then seen fleeing in escape vehicles as police arrive, all as soldiers stand idly by. Film: @YeshDin pic.twitter.com/9YlwjSeCKT ? Sharona Weiss ? ???? ?????? (@sharona_weiss) October 11, 2018 Here is more of the film by @YeshDin including the stone throwing pic.twitter.com/YUyDMLYvm1 ? Sharona Weiss ? ???? ?????? (@sharona_weiss) October 11, 2018 Late Thursday, Israeli forces arrested a 19-year-old Palestinian suspected of stabbing and moderately wounding a soldier near the West Bank city of Nablus earlier in the day. A woman bystander was lightly injured when Israeli forces opened fire. A Palestinian suspected of shooting and killing two Israelis at his place of work in a West Bank settlement industrial zone on Sunday remains at large. Referring to Ashraf Walid Suleiman Naawla, the suspected gunman, Israeli defense minister Lieberman said, ?The account with him will be settled quickly.? Israeli forces have arrested Naawla?s family members, including his mother , and mapped his family?s home in preparation for destroying it. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 17 10:30:25 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2018 07:30:25 -0700 Subject: [News] Michigan professor punished for supporting boycott - Israel lobby groups pressured the university Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/listen-michigan-professor-punished-supporting-boycott Michigan professor punished for supporting boycott Nora Barrows-Friedman - 16 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /On this episode of The Electronic Intifada Podcast: University of Michigan punishes professor for refusing to write a recommendation letter for a student wishing to study abroad in Israel; Major Jewish communal organizations fund far right-wing, Islamophobic and homophobic groups./ /https://soundcloud.com/intifada / In recent weeks, two professors at the University of Michigan have declined to write recommendation letters for two separate students seeking to join study abroad programs in Israel. The professors cited Israel?s discriminatory laws and policies of occupation and apartheid against Palestinians in their decisions to not write the letters. They have expressed their support for the call to boycott Israeli institutions as long as Israel continues to violate Palestinian rights. In September, after he refused to write a recommendation letter, professor John Cheney-Lippold received death threats. The threats were not publicly addressed by the university. But the administration did choose to comment on the professor?s actions, charging him with interfering in the student?s request with his own ?personal views and politics.? Israel lobby groups pressured the university to discipline Cheney-Lippold, claiming that his choice was an act of discrimination and anti-Semitism. In an apparent effort by the university to appease Israel advocates, an advisory committee declared in late September that ?a student?s merit? must be ?the primary guide for determining how and when to provide letters of recommendation.? On 3 October, the university again bowed to the demands of Israel supporters, sanctioning him with the loss of his earned sabbatical for two years and no merit pay raise for the academic year. Cheney-Lippold is being threatened with further sanctions if his politics guide future decisions about recommendation letters. Another University of Michigan instructor recently refused to write a letter of recommendation for a student wishing to study abroad in Israel. Doctoral student instructor Lucy Peterson said that she had ?pledged myself to a boycott of Israeli institutions as a way of showing solidarity with Palestine.? Last week, she was questioned by the administration. Peterson also faces potential discipline, according to civil rights group Palestine Legal. ?This is an alarming violation of the professor?s First Amendment and 14th Amendment due process rights under the US constitution,? Palestine Legal?s Radhika Sainath told The Electronic Intifada Podcast. As an employee of a public university, Cheney-Lippold has full constitutional protections, she said, ?and that means that the university may not punish him for his viewpoint supporting Palestinian rights, or because he is taking this principled stance to support the boycott for Palestinian rights.? Sainath said that the administration?s punishment is a ?really extreme measure, and it will have a chilling effect? on political speech. Moreover, Sainath noted, by refusing to write the letters for a program that inherently discriminates against students of Palestinian ancestry, Cheney-Lippold and Peterson are merely ?abiding by the university?s really strict anti-discrimination and diversity policies by refusing to write recommendations for institutions that all of their students cannot study at.? Appeals Approximately 800 individuals have signed a petition in support of the professors, urging the university to rescind Cheney-Lippold?s punishment and ensure that Peterson not be subjected to similar sanctions. Academics , scholars , graduate students , alumni and human rights advocates are appealing to the university to drop the punishments as well. . at ProfKFranke : "Like [Michigan professor Cheney-Lippold], I don't write letters of recommendation for students seeking jobs/internships in Israel because I have many students who are structurally disqualified from applying for those opportunities on account of being Palestinian." pic.twitter.com/es9dFe3jFM ? Palestine Legal (@pal_legal) October 11, 2018 USPCN's Abudayyeh praised @UMich professor Cheney-Lippold's stance in support of #BDS : "It's exactly what the academic boycott was established for. We thank him and we support him." https://t.co/Xq5E3m9MxG ? US Palestinian Community Network (@uspcn) October 13, 2018 Essayist and academic Maximillian Alvarez pointed out on Twitter that the University of Michigan renewed and expanded a research grant with Israel?s Technion . The grant is worth $20 million. After @UMich /@DrMarkSchlissel drop the hammer on Prof. Chenney-Lippold over #BDS /rec letter controversy UM Record announces, "$20M Kahn Foundation gift expands Michigan-Israel research partnership." Probably pure coincidence... @palumboliu @stevesalaita https://t.co/k3xc3T59Vp ? Maximillian Alvarez (@maximillian_alv) October 12, 2018 The Technion is a major Israeli research institution that works in partnership with a number of Israel?s arms manufacturers and has even helped develop a remote-controlled function for the Caterpillar bulldozers Israel uses to demolish Palestinian homes. Jewish Community Federation funds hate The Technion has another financial backer in the US: a major Jewish communal organization that has secretly funded a bevy of right-wing, pro-Israel and pro-Trump groups while purporting to represent the ?vibrant, caring and enduring Jewish community? of the San Francisco Bay Area. In early October, an investigation by /The Forward/ revealed that the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma Counties , a major communal philanthropic organization, has been a top funder of Canary Mission ? the anonymous blacklisting website that aims to tarnish the reputations of US supporters of Palestinian rights. The blacklist is also used by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs to bar activists and supporters of Palestinian rights from entering through Ben Gurion airport, according to documents recently released by Israeli newspaper /Haaretz/. Tax filings led reporters to an Israeli company named Megamot Shalom , /The Forward/ reports, ?that operates or operated Canary Mission.? Their address is an abandoned office west of Jerusalem. Last week, /The Forward/ reported that another major charity, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, ?made a series of grants totaling $250,000? to Megamot Shalom. ?Evidence is now building that major Jewish institutions with hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, and boards of directors that include prominent members of the US Jewish community, have played a significant role in bankrolling the site,? /The Forward?s/ Josh Nathan-Kazis wrote. On Monday, /Haaretz/ reported that the head of Megamot Shalom is a British-born Israeli settler named Jonathan Bash. Ben Packer , a far-right rabbi from the United States and a devout follower of racist leader Meir Kahane, works with Bash and both are shareholders in Megamot Shalom. Packer has a long history of racist and inflammatory statements and recently called for a ?death curse? on Durham, North Carolina, after city leaders voted to prohibit ?military-style training? programs for its police force in foreign countries, including Israel. Packer is also a friend of Stephen Miller, the senior White House official who is a key proponent of President Donald Trump?s racist immigration policies separating children from their parents. Prompted by these recent findings, Chicago-based researcher Stephanie Skora sorted through more of the Jewish Community Federation?s (JCF) tax filings and found that it has not only been a top funder of Canary Mission, but of many other far right-wing, anti-Muslim and homophobic groups going back at least 15 years, with funds totalling more than $300 million. The Federation ?seeks to be this progressive Jewish organization that funds aspects of American life and progressive and liberal causes in the US, but is willing to go so far right as a pro-Israel organization that they fund some of the nastiest people that the country has to offer,? Skora told The Electronic Intifada Podcast. Skora?s research indicates that the JCF gave $100,000 to the American Society for Technion, designated for the ?Iron Dome Project.? Iron Dome is an Israeli missile interception system. Federation funds pro-Trump, anti-Semitic groups Among the beneficiaries of the federation?s funding are right-wing, pro-Trump groups such as Turning Point USA , the Tea Party and the anti-LGBTQ Heritage Foundation. Groups with deep ties to white supremacy and anti-Semitism, such as the Tea Party, and the Zionist Organization of America ? which has invited former Trump adviser Steve Bannon to speak at its annual gathering ? highlight the contradictions in the federation?s funding priorities. ?You run into this contradiction where you have this major Jewish organization funding the work of anti-Semites to promote the interests of the Israeli state,? Skora noted. Right-wing Zionist organizations including the David Horowitz Freedom Center , led by David Horowitz, a key player in the Islamophobia industry, and the American Freedom Defense Initiative , headed by notorious anti-Muslim bigots Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer , have also been funded by the federation. The Dutch anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders , who has been funded by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, has also received funding through the federation, according to Skora?s research. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies ? a neoconservative Israel lobby group and the Middle East Forum , which is run by leading anti-Muslim bigot Daniel Pipes ? have collected funding as well. Skora found that other beneficiaries of the federation?s largesse include Israel lobby groups that attempt to disrupt boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns and smear student activists. StandWithUs received almost $1.3 million, while The Israel Project received nearly $2 million. The Israel Project shares a funder , Adam Milstein, with Canary Mission. Other campus-focused right-wing Zionist groups such as the Amcha Initiative , the American Israel Education Foundation , Hasbara Fellowships , Students Supporting Israel and the Israel on Campus Coalition have collectively received millions of dollars through the JCF. Reconsidering support The Federation also supports A Wider Bridge , a group that engages in pinkwashing ? a public relations strategy that deploys Israel?s supposed enlightenment toward LGBTQ issues to deflect criticism from its human rights abuses and appeal particularly to Western liberal audiences. Skora said that she hopes her research prompts progressive US Jewish communities to reconsider their support of the federation. ?I?m sure that most of the Jews in the Bay Area would be horrified to learn that the JCF funded the Tea Party,? she said. For college students, Skora said this research could be helpful for them to know where the funding is coming from ?when they?re fighting against groups such as Students Supporting Israel, the Israel on Campus Coalition, or even just right-wing groups associated with their local Hillel [chapter].? ?These groups that claim to speak for the interests of Jews on campus are in fact representing the Israeli state, and they have the right-wing funding to do it.? Listen to the interviews with Radhika Sainath and Stephanie Skora via the media player above. /Theme music and production assistance by Sharif Zakout/ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 18 10:45:22 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 07:45:22 -0700 Subject: [News] Smith and Carlos embodied many African Americans' Summer of Love and Reckoning Message-ID: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/oct/17/smith-and-carlos-embodied-many-african-americans-summer-of-love-and-reckoning Smith and Carlos embodied many African Americans' Summer of Love and Reckoning Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - October 17, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the summer of 1967, 100,000 fashion-forward and social-forward youth gathered in San Francisco in what has famously been called the Summer of Love . Similar gatherings occurred throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, all in an effort to reject the Vietnam War, consumerism, and governments who had proven less than forthright, while promoting the ideals of love, kindness, and compassion. The Summer of Love has been branded and celebrated as a symbol of the 60s. African Americans had another name for that summer: the Long, Hot Summer of 1967 . During that time, 150 black communities burned in riots, with 26 people killed in Newark, New Jersey, and 43 in Detroit . By the following summer, Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Bobby Kennedy, two guiding lights in civil rights, had been assassinated . Black people were not feeling the love. That?s the context for the 1968 Summer Olympics when, 50 years ago this week, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their gloved fists from the podium in Mexico City, medals dangling from their necks, while the US national anthem played. To many African Americans, /that/ was the Summer of Love ? and Pride, and Reckoning. I was 20 when this happened. I?d been invited to join the Olympic men?s basketball team and had anguished about it for weeks. I gathered with several other black athletes to discuss our misgivings with sociology professor Dr Harry Edwards, who urged us to boycott the Games. We discussed the turmoil in the cities and the systemic oppression. The Vietnam War was also on our minds. We were the same age as many of the soldiers fighting and dying. One Air Force report confirmed what black soldiers already knew: ?Unequal treatment is manifested in unequal punishment, offensive and inflammatory language, prejudice in assignments of details, lack of products for blacks at the PX, harassment by security police under orders to break up five or more blacks in a group and double standards in enforcement of regulation.? Military discrimination had harsh consequences: by 1966 over 20% of US combat casualties in Vietnam were black, which was a much higher percentage than the total of blacks in the military. We had a lively debate, with some athletes explaining that this might be their only chance to compete at this level. Dr Edwards was for the boycott. As he later told the New York Times Magazine: ?For years we have participated in the Olympic Games , carrying the United States on our backs with our victories, and race relations are now worse than ever ? [I]t?s time for the black people to stand up as men and women and refuse to be utilized as performing animals for a little extra dog food.? In the end, we decided that a mass boycott wasn?t the answer. Given the rampant racism of the time, I couldn?t see me competing to glorify the country that was working so hard to keep black Americans from having their constitutional rights. The hypocrisy didn?t sit right with me. Instead, I took a job in my hometown of New York City, teaching basketball to inner-city kids. Fast forward to 16 October 1968. Smith and Carlos, after winning first and third in the 200m dash, raised their black-gloved fists from the medal podium and bowed their heads during the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner. It was a shout-out heard ?round the world. The reaction wasn?t just a matter of race: conservative whites and blacks were disgusted and liberal blacks and whites were elated. Jesse Owens had been sent to talk to the black athletes before the games to dissuade them from showing any form of protest. He was angry that it hadn?t worked. Some blacks thought that such overt displays of frustration and anger only goaded racist America to justify their bigotry. Others, in contrast, were convinced that civility and manners had resulted in very little progress. For me, the sight of those two proud athletes raising their fists to call attention to social injustices, knowing they would face death threats and probable expulsion from the Games, made my heart swell. The public backlash only proved their point: on one hand, you had voter suppression, police brutality, poverty, starving children, lesser education, lesser job opportunities, and a government doing very little to change it. On the other hand, you had people worried that their enjoyment of a sporting event was momentarily ?ruined? because someone silently expressed a shameful truth. Sadly, here we are 50 years later facing some of the same shameful truths and witnessing some of the same shameful reactions. Tommie and John came home heroes to the millions of Americans who they had spoken up for and villains to the millions they had spoken to. The outspoken athletes of today ? like Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Steph Curry, and many others ? face the same hostility from good people who are just ignorant of the facts, from those who are terrified of the gradual browning of America, and from those who profit from social disparity. They already have a voice in the White House under the most dishonest, racist, and reactionary administration in modern history . We all long for the day when no athlete will raise a gloved fist or take a knee or wear a t-shirt that says, ?I can?t breathe.? But most of us want that day to come about because there?s no more need for those gestures, because America has finally committed to following its own Constitution. Until that day ? well, you know. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 18 11:34:23 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 08:34:23 -0700 Subject: [News] Lockheed and Loaded: How the Maker of Junk Fighters Came to Have Full-Spectrum Dominance Over the Defense Industry Message-ID: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/18/lockheed-and-loaded-how-the-maker-of-junk-fighters-like-the-f-22-and-f-35-came-to-have-full-spectrum-dominance-over-the-defense-industry/ Lockheed and Loaded: How the Maker of Junk Fighters Like the F-22 and F-35 Came to Have Full-Spectrum Dominance Over the Defense Industry by Jeffrey St. Clair - October 18, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lockheed-Martin is headquartered in the Bethesda, Maryland. No, the defense titan doesn?t have a bomb-making factory in this toney Beltway suburb. But as the nation?s top weapons contractor, it migrated to DC from southern California because that?s where the money is. And Lockheed rakes it in from the federal treasury at the rate of $65 million every single day of the year. From nuclear missiles to fighter planes, software code to spy satellites, the Patriot missile to Star Wars, Lockheed has come to dominate the weapons market in a way that the Standard Oil Company used to hold sway over the nation?s petroleum supplies. And it all happened with the help of the federal government, which steered lucrative no bid contracts Lockheed?s way, enacted tax breaks that encouraged Lockheed?s merger and acquisition frenzy in the 1980s and 1990s and turned a blind eye to the company?s criminal rap sheet, ripe with indiscretions ranging from bribery to contract fraud. Now Lockheed stands almost alone. It not only serves as an agent of US foreign policy, from the Pentagon to the CIA; it also helps shape it. ?We are deployed entirely in developing daunting technology,? Lockheed?s new CEO Robert J. Stevens told the New York Times report Tim Weiner. ?That requires thinking through the policy dimensions of national security as well as technological dimensions.? Like many defense industry executives, Stevens is a former military man who cashed in his Pentagon career for a lucrative position in the private sector. The stern-jawed Stevens served in the Marines and later taught at the Pentagon?s Defense Systems Management College, an institution which offers graduate level seminars in how to design billion dollar weapons deals. From the Marines, Stevens landed first at Loral, the defense satellite company. Then in 1993 he went to work at Lockheed, heading its ?Corporate Strategic Development Program?. There Stevens wrote the gameplan for how Lockheed would soar past Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and the others, as the top recipient of Pentagon largesse. The plan was as simple as it proved profitable. Instead of risking the competition of the marketplace, Lockheed, under Stevens? scheme, would target the easy money: federal contracts. The strategy was also straightforward: flood the congress with PAC money to get and keep grateful and obedient members in power. Those friendly members of congress would also be surrounded by squads of lobbyists to develop and write legislation and insert Lockheed-friendly line items into the bloated appropriations bills that fund the government. It also called for seeding the Pentagon and the White House with Lockheed loyalists, many of whom formerly worked for the company. ?We need to be politically aware and astute,? said Stevens. ?We need to work with the congress. We need to work with the executive branch. We need to say: we think this is feasible, we think this is possible. We think we have invented a new approach.? The scheme succeeded brilliantly. By the end of the 1990s, Lockheed had made the transition from an airplane manufacturer with defense contracts to a kind of privatized supplier for nearly every Pentagon weapons scheme, from the F-22 fighter to the Pentagon?s internet system. Then 9/11 happened and the federal floodgates for spending on national security, airline safety and war making opened wide and haven?t closed. Lockheed has been the prime beneficiary of this gusher of federal money. Since September 2001, the Pentagon?s weapons procurement program has soared by more than $20 billion, from $60 billion to $81 billion in 2004. Lockheed?s revenues over the same time period jumped by a similar 30 percent. And, despite the recession and slumping Dow, the company?s stock tripled in value. Almost all of this profiteering came courtesy of the federal treasury. More than 80 percent of Lockheed?s revenues derives directly from federal government contracts. And most of the rest comes from foreign military sales to Israel, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Chile. Israel alone spends $1.8 billion a year on planes and missile systems purchased from Lockheed. Lockheed sells its weaponry, from F-16 fighters to surveillance software, to more than 40 nations. ?We?re looking at world domination of the market,? gloated Bob Elrod, a senior executive in Lockheed?s fighter plane division. And there?s little risk involved. Nearly all of these sales are guaranteed by the US government. After 9/11, Bush tapped Lockheed?s Stevens to lead his presidential commission on the Future of the US Aerospace Industry, a body which, not surprisingly, wasted little time pounding home the importance of sluicing even more federal dollars in the form of defense and air traffic control contracts to companies such as Lockheed. But Stevens? position was just the icing on a very sweet cake. Former Lockheed executives and lobbyists toil every day on behalf of the defense giant from the inside the administration and the Pentagon. At the very top of the list is Steven J. Hadley, who replaced Condoleezza Rice as Bush?s National Security Advisor. Prior to joining the Bush administration, Hadley represented Lockheed at the giant DC law firm of Shea and Gardner. Other Lockheed executives have been appointed to the Defense Policy Board and the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Bush?s Transportation Secretary, Norman Mineta, and Otto Reich, the former deputy Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, both once worked as Lockheed lobbyists. But the revolving door swings both ways for Lockheed. On its corporate board reposes E.C. Aldridge, Jr. Before retiring from the Defense Department, Aldridge served as the head of the Pentagon?s weapon procurement program and signed the contracts with Lockheed to build the F-22, the world?s most expensive airplane. When insiders don?t get you everything you need, there?s always political bribery. In the US, politicians who serve Lockheed?s interests get annual dispensations of cooperate swill courtesy of the company?s mammoth political action committee. Each year Lockheed?s corporate PAC doles out more than $1 million, mainly to members of the crucial defense and appropriations committees. Overseas, the Lockheed has often resorted to a direct bribe of government officials. In the 1970s, Lockheed famously handed out $12.5 million in bribes to Japanese officials (and organized crime figures) to secure the sale of 21 Tristar aircraft to Nippon Airlines. The ensuing scandal brought down Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, who was convicted of being on the receiving end of Lockheed?s payola. Even though the imbroglio lead the enactment of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 which set stiff penalties for bribery, Carl Kochian, Lockheed?s CEO at the time, defended the practice of handing out covert cash inducements as a cost-effective way of securing billions in contracts for the company. Bribery was just a cost of doing big business. And indeed the Corrupt Practices Act didn?t deter Lockheed from handing out financial incentives to foreign officials to speed things along. In the 1990s, Lockheed admitted to stuffing the pockets of an Egyptian official with $1.2 million dollars in order to grease the sale of three Lockheed-made C-130 transport planes to the Egyptian military. The clunky old C-130 Hercules continues to bring millions to Lockheed, which sells the cargo plane to Jordan, Egypt and Israel. But the biggest profits continue to derive from sales to the Pentagon, even though the latest model of the transport has been plagued with operational problems and cost overruns. Of course, in the funhouse economics of defense contracts ?cost over-runs? simply mean more millions in taxpayer money going into the accounts of the very defense contractors that performed the untimely or shoddy work in the first place. Since 1999, the Air Force has purchased 50 of the new C-130J prop planes from Lockheed. But none of these planes have performed well enough to allow the Air Force to put them into service. An audit of the C-130 contract by the Inspector General of the Air Force revealed a host of problems with the new plane that had been gilded over by Lockheed and Pentagon weapons buyers. One of the biggest problems with the plane is an ineptly designed propeller system that keeps the C-130 from being flown in bad weather. The C-130J is powered by six-propellers covered in composite material that becomes pitted or even dissolves under sleet, hail or even heavy rain. Ironically, many of the first batch of planes were delivered to an Air Force reserve unit in Biloxi, Mississippi, where they were supposed to function as ?Hurricane Hunters,? plying through thunderstorms and heavy winds in search of the eye of the storm. The planes proved useless for the task. As a result, most of the C-130Js have been used only for pilot training. ?The government fielded C-130J aircraft that cannot perform their intended mission, which forces the users to incur additional operations and maintenance costs to operate and maintain older C-130 mission-capable aircraft because the C-130J aircraft can be used only for training,? the IG audit concluded. Nevertheless, the Air Force paid Lockheed 99 percent of the contract price for the useless planes. ?This is yet another sad chapter in the history of bad Pentagon weapons systems acquisitions,? said Eric Miller, a senior Defense Investigator at the Project on Government Oversight. ?For years, the Air Force has known it was paying too much for an aircraft that doesn?t do what it?s supposed to. Yet it has turned a blind eye. The aircrews who have to fly these aircraft should be very angry. They?ve been betrayed by the very government that should be ensuring that the weapons they receive are safe and effective.? The profits from the C-130 are a mere pittance compared to what Lockheed stands to make from its contracts to produce the two costliest airplanes ever envisioned: the Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor. The Joint Strike Fighter, also known as the F-35, is slated to replace the venerable F-16. Even though the initial designs for the F-35 proved faulty (there continue to be intractable problems with the weight of the plane), the Pentagon, under prodding from influential members of Congress, awarded the Lockheed a $200 billion contract to build nearly 2,000 of the still unairworthy planes. Lockheed plans to sell another 2,500 planes at a sticker price of $38 million apiece to other nations, starting with Great Britain. Once again, most of these sales will be underwritten by US government loans. The F-35 contract was awarded on October 16, 2001. Already, costs have soared by $45 billion over the initial estimate with no end in sight. But the F-22 Raptor stands in a class of its own. With a unit price of more than $300 million per plane, the Raptor is the most expensive fighter jet ever designed. One congressional staffer dubbed it, ?Tiffany?s on wings.? Conceived in the 1980s to penetrate deep into the airspace of the Soviet Union, the F-22 has no function these days, except to keep a slate of defense contractors in business, from Lockheed, which runs the project, to Boeing which designed the wings to Pratt-Whitney which designed the huge jet engines. The F-22 was supposed to be operational a decade ago. But the latest incarnation of the plane continues to suffer severe problems in fight testing. Its onboard computer system is mired with glitches and its Stealth features haven?t prevented the plane from popping up ?like a fat strawberry? on radar. Even worse, several test pilots have gotten dizzy to the point of nearly passing out while trying to put the fighter through evasive maneuvers at high altitudes. Even so, the doomed project moves forward, consuming millions every week, and no one with the power to do so seems to show the slightest inclination to pull the plug. * * * By one account, Lockheed garners $228 in federal tax money from every household in the US each year. But when it comes time to paying taxes Lockheed pleads poverty. By taking advantage of a bevy designer loopholes, Lockheed?s legion of accountants has reduced the corporation?s annual tax liability to a mere 7 percent of its net income. By comparison, the average federal tax rate for individuals in the US is around 25 percent. Of course, these kinds of special dispensations don?t come cheaply. Lockheed spends more money lobbying congress than any other defense contractor. In 2004, a banner year for the company, it spent nearly $10 million on more than 100 lobbyists to prowl the halls of congress, keeping tabs on appropriations bills, oversight hearings and tax committees. Over the past five years, only Philip Morris and GE spent more money lobbying congress. With Lockheed, it?s sometimes difficult to discern whether it?s taking advantage of US foreign policy or shaping it. Take the Iraq war. Lockheed?s former vice-president, Bruce Jackson, headed an ad hoc group called the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. This coven of corporate executives, think tank gurus and retired generals includes such war-mongering luminaries as Richard Perle, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Gen. Wayne Downing and former CIA director James Woolsey. The Washington Post reported that group?s goal was to ?promote regional peace, political freedom and international security through replacement of the Saddam Hussein regime with a democratic government that respects the rights of the Iraqi people and ceases to threaten the community of nations.? This supposedly independent body seems to have gotten its marching orders from inside the Bush White House. Jackson and others met repeatedly with Karl Rove and Steven Hadley, Condoleezza?s Rice?s number two at the National Security Council and a former Lockheed lobbyist. The group eventually got a face-to-face meeting with the dark lord himself, Dick Cheney. After meeting with White House functionaries, members of the Committee would fan out on cable news shows and talk radio to inflame the fever for war against Saddam. Jackson has long enjoyed close ties to the Bush inner circle. In 2000, he chaired the Republican Party?s platform committee on National Security and Foreign Policy and served as a top advisor to the Bush campaign. Naturally, the platform statement ended up reading like catalogue of Lockheed weapons systems. At the top of the list, the RNC platform pledged to revive and make operational the $80 billion Missile Defense program supervised by Lockheed. In 2002, the Bush administration called on Jackson to help drum up support in Eastern Europe for the war on Iraq. When Poland and Hungary came on board, Jackson actually drafted their letter supporting an invasion of Iraq. His company was swiftly rewarded for his efforts. In 2003, Poland purchased 50 of Lockheed?s F-16 fighters for $3.5 billion. The sale was underwritten by a $3.8 billion loan from the Bush administration. Lockheed also made out quite nicely from the Iraq war itself. It?s F-117 Stealth fighters inaugurated the start of the war with the ?Shock and Awe? bombing of Baghdad. Later, the Pentagon stepped up orders of Lockheed?s PAC 3 Patriot missile. The missile batteries, designed for use against SCUD missiles that Iraq no longer possessed, sell for $91 million per unit. After the toppling of Saddam, Lockheed executives saw an opportunity to gobble up one of the big private contractors doing business in Iraq, Titan Corporation. The San Diego-based company was awarded a $10 million contract to provide translators for the Pentagon in Iraq. Two of those translators, Adel Nakhl and John Israel, were later accused of being involved in the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. Titan translators, who are paid upwards of $107,000 a year, were also implicated in a scandal at Guantanamo prison. Like Lockheed, after 9/11 Titan jettisoned almost all of its commercial operations and began to focus entirely on government work. By 2003, 99 percent of its $1.8 billion in corporate income came courtesy of government contracts. The firm also went on a buying spree of other smaller defense contractors. Since 2001, Titan gobbled up ten other defense-related companies. The most lucrative acquisition proved to be BMG, Inc., a Reston, Virginia based company that specializes in information collection and analysis for the Pentagon and the CIA. BMG alone held Pentagon contracts worth $650 million. The abuse scandals didn?t deter Lockheed from pursuing Titan. Indeed, Christopher Kubasik, Lockheed?s chief financial officer, told the Los Angeles Times that the torture allegations ?were not significant to our strategic decision.? The merger was later delayed for other reasons by the Justice Department, which was looking into allegations that Titan executives and subsidiaries paid bribes to government officials in Africa, Asia and Europe in order to win contracts?a method of doing business that Lockheed executives must have admired. Titan, which was formed amid the Reagan defense build up of the early 1980s, saw itself as a new kind of defense contractor, a weapons company that didn?t make weapons. Instead of building missiles or planes, Titan concentrated on developing software and communication packages for Pentagon programs. Its first big contract was for the development of a communications package for the guidance system of the Minuteman missile. Since then Titan has become a major player in the lucrative information technology market. In recent years, Lockheed has begun to aggressively pursue the same types of ?soft defense? programs. In the past decade, Lockheed?s Information Technology sales have increased by more than four hundred percent. The bonanza began during the Clinton administration, when Al Gore?s ?reinventing government? scheme auctioned off most of the data-management tasks of the federal government to the private sector. Now nearly 90 percent of the federal government?s Information Technology has been privatized, most of it to Lockheed, which is not only the nation?s top arms contractor but also its top data-management supplier. This opened vast new terrains of the government to conquest by Lockheed. It now enjoys contracts with the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Energy and EPA. Lockheed also just corralled a $550 million contract to take over the Social Security Administration?s database. The privatization of Social Security has already begun. But even in the IT sector, the big bucks are to be made in the burgeoning surveillance and Homeland Security business. Lockheed now runs the FBI?s archaic computer system, which took some much deserved heat for letting the 9/11 hijackers slip through its net without detection. It also won the $90 million contract to manage the top secret computer network for the Department of Homeland Security, a system that is supposed to function as a kind of ?deep web?, linking the systems of the FBI, CIA and Pentagon. All of this is a precursor to even bigger plans hatched by Lockheed and its pals in the Pentagon to develop an all-encompassing spying system called the Global Information Grid, an internet system that is meant to feed real time tracking information on terrorists suspects directly into automated weapons systems, manufactured, naturally, by Lockheed. ?We want to know what?s going on anytime, any place on the planet,? pronounced Lorraine Martin, Lockheed?s vice-president for Command, Control and Communications Systems. And eliminate them, naturally. On the battlefield of defense contractors, Lockheed has now achieved full-spectrum dominance. /This is adapted from a chapter in Grand Theft Pentagon ./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 18 11:41:54 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 08:41:54 -0700 Subject: [News] Israeli defense minister wants war to keep Gaza under siege Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israeli-defense-minister-wants-war-keep-gaza-under-siege Israeli defense minister wants war to keep Gaza under siege Maureen Clare Murphy - 17 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Israel must launch another war on Gaza to enforce its blockade on the territory, defense minister Avigdor Lieberman told reporters on Tuesday. Lieberman?s comments came the day before Israel launched a series of airstrikes in retaliation for a rocket fired from Gaza that badly damaged a house in the city of Beersheba. Lieberman also ordered the closing of crossings between Gaza and Israel and reduced the permitted fishing zone off of Gaza?s coast to three nautical miles ? decisions described by the human rights group Gisha as ?deliberate punishment of the residents of Gaza for no fault of their own.? The health ministry in Gaza said that one Palestinian was killed as a result of an airstrike in the north of the territory. Three others were reported injured in Israeli attacks in Gaza?s southern and central districts. The Israeli air force published a video showing the moment when Naji Muhammad al-Zaanin, 25, was killed in northern Gaza: The military claimed that the video shows it striking at a squad attempting to launch rockets into Israel. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two Palestinian resistance factions, denied any involvement in the rocket fire, which they said aimed to torpedo ongoing international efforts to broker a long-term ceasefire with Israel in exchange for the lifting of the siege on Gaza. But as factions in Gaza have continued to seek a negotiated way out, Israeli leaders continue to beat war drums. ?When Hamas says that it?s going to continue rioting on the border until there?s an end to the blockade, we need to accept that as it is, without interpretations,? Lieberman stated during a Tuesday press conference at Re?im military base, located to the east of the Gaza Strip. Lieberman ordered a halt to fuel deliveries to Gaza on Friday after several Palestinians crossed into Israel from Gaza during protests. On Saturday he stated that ?As long as the violence doesn?t come to a complete stop in the Gaza Strip, including the dispatch of incendiary balloons and burning tires across from Israeli settlements, there will be no renewal of fuel and gas deliveries to the Gaza Strip.? The United Nations has been mediating efforts to ensure the delivery of fuel to stave off a collapse of essential services in Gaza, with several trucks of Qatari-funded fuel delivered to the Strip last week . ?Since we?ve allowed the United Nations to bring fuel [into Gaza], we have only gotten high-profile violence,? Lieberman said on Tuesday, insisting that lifting the economic blockade, now in its 11th year, ?has one meaning ? allowing Hizballah members and Iranians into Gaza.? He called on Israel?s security cabinet to ?land a strong blow? against Hamas ? even if it risks a ?wide-scale confrontation? ? to crush mass protests held along Gaza?s eastern boundary over the past six months. The primary call of the Great March of Return protests has been to end to Israel?s siege and support Palestinian refugees? right to return to the lands now inside Israel from which their families were expelled. Every two in three Palestinians in Gaza, which has a population of around two million, is a registered refugee. Israel?s blockade has thrust Gaza?s population into poverty and the United Nations has repeatedly warned that the Strip will become an ?unlivable place? by the year 2020 if underlying conditions aren?t reversed. The International Committee of the Red Cross has affirmed that the siege ?constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel?s obligations under international humanitarian law.? ?To me, there?s only one formula: reconstruction in return for disarmament,? Lieberman stated Tuesday. If his view prevails ? in which resistance groups in Gaza must in effect surrender in exchange for basic humanitarian needs to be met ? then the chances of a durable truce would appear slim. Netanyahu?s threats Lieberman?s comments on Tuesday echoed threats made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu days earlier. ?If they don?t stop the attacks against us, they will be stopped in a different way and it will be painful ? very painful,? Netanyahu said of Hamas during a security cabinet meeting on Sunday. ?We are very close to a different kind of activity, an activity that will include very powerful blows. If it has sense, Hamas will stop firing and stop these violent disturbances, now.? Israeli media have reported that defense officials have told the security cabinet that a large-scale confrontation in Gaza is not necessary. But soldiers deployed along the Gaza perimeter are being commanded to ?respond more forcefully? to protesters this coming Friday. A senior military official told the Israeli daily /Haaretz/ that a major operation in Gaza, where health and water and sanitation infrastructure are on the verge of collapse, would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. This would make it impossible for Israel ?to fight without being barraged by international criticism,? according to the newspaper. Israel?s army wants to hold off on a major military confrontation until the end of next year, when the building of infrastructure intended to thwart tunnels underneath the Gaza boundary is due to be completed. More than 160 Palestinians have been killed during the Great March of Return protests, including 33 children. On Tuesday Gaza?s health ministry announced that Saddam Abu Shalash, 27, died from injuries sustained during protests north of Beit Lahia one day earlier. More than 30 Palestinians were injured by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces during Monday?s protest. Demonstrators cut through the boundary fence at Israel?s Zikim beach and raised a Palestinian flag over it on Monday. Palestinian media also reported that protesters cut through the boundary fence east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday: ???? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??????? ??? ??? ????? ????? ??? ????????? ?? ??? ???? ????????. ?????: ???? ???? pic.twitter.com/RibguMF0Rc ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 16, 2018 Explosives were used to blow open a gate at the boundary fence at the same location: ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 16, 2018 ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 16, 2018 Prior to the strikes early Wednesday, Israeli warplanes repeatedly fired on Gaza this week , the army claiming it was responding to groups planting explosive devices along the boundary and launching flaming kites into Israel. The Israeli military confirmed that snipers shot a Palestinian at point-blank range during protests last Friday after several demonstrators approached the boundary fence under the cover of smoke from burning tires and set off an explosion that made a hole in the fence. Paratroopers fired shots toward the group of protesters, dispersing all but three who moved towards a snipers? position. ?Two of them were shot immediately and the third Palestinian reached the sandy mound where the snipers were positioned,? /Haaretz/ reported. ?The [military] investigation describes how one of them shot him from point blank range and that a knife was found on his body.? Palestinian killed in West Bank Meanwhile Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank on Monday. The military claimed that Elias Yassin, 22, was attempting a stabbing attack when soldiers opened fire on him in the Barkan industrial settlement, where two Israelis were killed earlier in the month by a Palestinian coworker who remains at large. No Israelis were injured in Monday?s incident. Seven Israelis and eight Palestinian assailants and alleged assailants have been killed in the context of alleged attacks since the beginning of the year. On Tuesday Israeli occupation forces raided the home of Yassin?s family in the village of Bidya in the northern West Bank. Bidya is also the place of residence of Ayesha Muhammad al-Rabi, who died after suspected Israeli settlers stoned the car in which she and her family were traveling last Friday. Israel?s domestic intelligence apparatus has reportedly launched an investigation into the woman?s slaying, though a gag order has been placed on the probe. Al-Rabi?s death was condemned by US officials as well as Nickolay Mladenov, the UN?s Middle East envoy. My thoughts & prayers are with Mrs. Aysha al-Rabi?s 8 children & husband. Mrs. al-Rabi was killed when her car was struck by a stone thrown onto the roadway. An investigation into this reprehensible act is ongoing. ? Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) October 15, 2018 I condemn this Friday?s attack in the #WestBank in which a #Palestinian woman was killed and her husband injured by stones allegedly thrown by #Israeli assailants. Those responsible must be swiftly brought to justice. I urge all to stand up to violence and terror. ? Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) October 14, 2018 UN Envoy @nmladenov condemns Friday's attack in #WestBank in which #Palestine woman, #AishaAlRabi , was killed by stones allegedly thrown by Israeli assailants. Notes that an investigation was initiated & calls on #Israel 2 ensure that those responsible r swiftly brought 2 justice pic.twitter.com/czdiTVfFxB ? UNSCO (@UNSCO_MEPP) October 14, 2018 Israeli tourism minister Yariv Levin, however, described the slaying of the mother of eight as a ?scrap of an incident? and pointed to what he called the hypocrisy of those who condemned it. ?Terror incidents of stone throwing happen every day; not only don?t they condemn the matter, they give the feeling that it is okay because we are ?occupiers,?? Levin stated. ?It is quite galling that it takes an incident like this in relation to a Palestinian vehicle for it [stone throwing] to be raised on the agenda.? The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently said that settler violence was on the rise since the beginning of the year, ?with a weekly average of five attacks resulting in injuries or property damage, compared with an average of three in 2017 and two in 2016.? The day before al-Rabi was killed, the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din published video of settlers from Yitzhar stoning Palestinian cars on a road near the Palestinian village of Burin in the northern West Bank as soldiers looked on without intervening. That incident took place about four miles north of the Zaatara checkpoint where al-Rabi?s car was stoned. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 18 11:49:10 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 08:49:10 -0700 Subject: [News] Press Release by Joint the Palestinian Resistance Factions on Israeli Attacks on Gaza Message-ID: http://imemc.org/article/press-release-by-joint-operation-room-of-the-palestinian-resistance-factions-on-israeli-attacks-on-gaza/ Press Release by Joint Operation Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions on Israeli Attacks on Gaza October 17, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /On the heels of the Israeli arbitrary bombardment on the Gaza Strip, this morning, the Joint Operation Room of the Palestinian Factions state the following, Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency has reported:/ The Palestinian people have been involved in their peaceful battle against the Israeli occupation through the Great Return March, and we, in the Joint Operation Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions, stand with our people who gather on a weekly basis to strive for their freedom and get their legitimate demands. We, in the armed wings of the Palestinian factions, state that all factions will fight off the Israeli attempts to stop the mass peaceful protests by imposing strict rules of engagement. The Joint Operation Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions lauds the efforts exerted by Egypt to serve the Palestinians achieve their legitimate demands, and we reject any other attempt to undermine the Egyptian endeavors, including the launch of a rockets took place last night . We explicitly stress that the armed wings of the Palestinian factions are prepared to defend the Palestinian people against any Israeli attacks, as we are nationally held responsible for the safety and security of our people. At the same time, our guns will remain aimed at the face of our enemy. /~The Joint Operation Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions/ /*10/17/18 Palestinian Killed as Israeli Military Drops Multiple Bombs in Gaza */ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 18 12:01:18 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 09:01:18 -0700 Subject: [News] At least one Gazan is killed by Israel every single day Message-ID: Euro-Med: 'At least one Gazan is killed every single day' Oct. 18, 2018 - http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=781511 BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) --The Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med) said that Israeli forces caused injuries to one in every 100 Palestinians as Gaza protests conclude 200 days and called on the international community to exert serious pressure on Israel to end its targeting of Palestinian demonstrators. Euro-Med said in a statement "The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor calls on the international community to exert serious pressure to put an end to the targeting of Palestinian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip and to protect their right to peaceful assembly." Euro-Med also called on "all parties concerned to exert pressure on Israel to lift its blockade affecting every aspect of Gaza?s largely civilian population." Euro-Med described the continued use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian protesters at the Israel-Gaza fence as "deeply shocking," noting that in the 200 days of protests, Gaza lost 205 residents. Euro-Med Monitor said that at least "one Palestinian is killed every single day," further noting that "in every 100 Gazans, one injury was recorded." "Despite the fact that the protesters were mostly unarmed civilians and did not in most cases pose a credible threat, the Israeli forces met them with lethal force, including by live fire and explosive bullets, as well as toxic gas and tear gas." In addition, 69 of those injured, 14 of whom were children, suffered permanent disability, according to the latest statistics by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Euro-Med stressed "Israel's response to protests violates the principles of international human rights law; that is, despite the fact that protests have largely been peaceful, Israeli soldiers killed 205 people, including five women and 38 children, while also injuring 22,527 others, 18% of whom are children." "The Israeli authorities continue to impose a relentlessly suffocating blockade that has left civilians unaccounted for, simply as collateral damage to a policy of collective punishment." "The Israeli forces targeted Palestinians indiscriminately." Euro-Med said "Neither medical teams nor journalists were spared; three medical personnel have been killed and 409 others wounded by live ammunition and tear gas canisters since the beginning of demonstrations. In addition, 84 ambulances and medical tents have been targeted using gas bombs." Sarah Pritchett, Euro-Med's spokesperson, said "The Israeli soldiers deliberately caused the greatest harm they could to civilians, added Pritchett, stating that, in light of the international community's failure to take concrete steps to end the Gaza crisis, Israeli soldiers continue to target Gazans with impunity." Pritchett emphasized "The targeting of civilians while exercising their right to peaceful assembly, guaranteed by Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, cannot be justified, and violates the protection accorded to them as civilians - in accordance with Article III of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits attacks on persons not taking part in hostilities." She added "The targeting of medical staff and journalists also contravenes international humanitarian law, specifically articles 15 and 79 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, which stipulate that medical, journalistic and civilian personnel must be respected and protected." -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 19 12:32:31 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 09:32:31 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Israeli_Human_Rights_Violations_in_the_Occupied?= =?utf-8?q?_Palestinian_Territory_=2811_=E2=80=93_17_October_2018=29?= Message-ID: http://imemc.org/article/pchr-weekly-report-on-israeli-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-11-17-october-2018/ Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11 ? 17 October 2018) 34-43 minutes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against unarmed civilians and peaceful protestors in the Gaza Strip. 8 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were killed in the Gaza Strip. 310 civilians, including 62 children, 9 women, 7 journalists and 2 paramedics, were wounded; 11 of them sustained serious wounds./ *_Shooting:_* Israeli forces continued to use lethal force against Palestinian civilians, who participated in peaceful demonstrations organized within the activities of the ?Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege? in the Gaza Strip, which witnessed for the 29^th ?week in a row peaceful demonstrations along the eastern and northern Gaza Strip border area. During the reporting period, the Israeli forces killed 8 Palestinian civilians, including a child, and wounded 310 civilians, including 62 children, 9 women, 7 journalists, and 2 paramedics.? The injury of 11 of them was reported serious.? Moreover, 4 civilians, including 3 national security officers, were wounded during Israeli airstrikes.? In the West Bank, a Palestinian civilian was killed while a woman was killed by settlers in addition to 10 Palestinians wounded by the Israeli forces, including a journalist. In the Gaza Strip, , the Israeli forces killed 8 Palestinian civilians, including a child, during their participation in the Return and Breaking the Siege March.? On 12 Oxtober, they killed 7 civilians, including ?Afifi Mahmoud al-?Afifi (18) and Mohammed ?Issam ?Abbas (20) in eastern al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City; Ahmed Ibrahim al-Taweil (23), Mohammed ?Abdel Hafiz Isma?il (29), Ahmed Ahmed Abu Na?im (17) and ?Abdullah Burham al-Daghmah (25) in eastern al-Bureij in the central Gaza Strip, and Tamer Eyad Abu ?Ermanah (21) in al-Shokah village, east of Rafah City. Four of them were hit with bullets to the chest, 2 to the abdomen and 1 in the head. On 16 October 2018, the medical sources at the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia declared the death of Saddam Shlash (27) after succumbing to wounds he sustained during his participation in the Sea March in the northern Gaza Strip the day before.? Shlash was wounded with a bullet to the upper right thigh that cut the main artery. As part of the use of lethal force against the peaceful protestors along the border fence during the reporting period, Israeli forces wounded 310 civilians, including 62 children, 9 women, 7 journalists and 2 paramedics. Eleven of them sustained serious wounds. As part of targeting Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Sea, the Israeli forces continued to escalate their attacks against the Palestinian fishermen, pointing out to the ongoing Israeli policy of targeting their livelihoods.? On 17 October 2018, the Israeli authorities decided to reduce the area allowed for fishing to 3 nautical miles along the Gaza Strip shores as part of the Israeli policy to restrict fishermen and target their livelihoods.? During the reporting period, the Israeli forces opened fire 5 times at the fishermen; 3 incidents in the north-western Beit Lahia and 2 off al-Sudaniyah shore in western Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.? AS a result of those attacks, 2 fishermen who are also brothers were arrested after one of them sustained wounds while their boats sustained damage. As part of the Israeli airstrikes, on 14 October 2018, the Israeli drones launched a missile at the Palestinians who were walking at the end of the Girls Street, southeast of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, wounding one of them.? On 16 October, the Israeli drone launched a missile at a group of civilians in the aforementioned are, but no casualties were reported. On 17 October 2018, Israeli warplanes carried out many airstrikes in the Gaza Strip targeting military training sites for the Palestinian Armed Groups, a site belonging to the National Security Services and vacant lands. During the airstrikes, 17 air-to-surface missiles were launched resulting ion the injury of 3 Palestinian National Security Officers, including one sustained serious wounds. ?. As part of targeting the border areas, on 08 October 2018, the Israeli forces opened fire at the agricultural lands along eastern al-Shokah village, east of Rafah City in the southern Gaza Strip.? However, no casualties were reported. In the West Bank, as part of excessive use of force, on 15 October 2018, the Israeli forces killed Elias Yasin (22) from Bedia village, northwest of Salfit when he was crossing the traffic light on ?Aber al-Samerah Street, seemingly the traffic light was red and he rapidly crossed the street.? AS a result, an Israeli soldier opened fire at him and killed him immediately.? The Israeli forces claimed that Yasin attempted to stab soldiers so they opened fire at him without any of the soldiers being wounded.? The Israeli soldiers could have used, in case of suspicions about Yasin?s intent to stab, less lethal force and arrested him. During the reporting period, the Israeli forces wounded 10 Palestinian civilians, including a journalist. *_Incursions:_* During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 104 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 6 similar ones into Jerusalem and its suburbs. During those incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 80 Palestinians, including 7 children and 3 women, in the West Bank. Meanwhile, 10 other civilians, including 2 children and a girl, were arrested in Jerusalem and its suburbs. *_Israeli Forces continued to create a Jewish Majority in occupied East Jerusalem:_* As part of the Israeli house demolitions and notices, on 17 October 2018, the Israeli municipality demolished a house belonging to Khalil Za?atrah in al-Mukaber Mount neighbourhood, south of occupied East Jerusalem?s Old City under the pretext of non-licensing.?? The house was established 4 months ago and the municipality issued then a decision to demolish it, but the family resorted to the court and could delay the demolition and tried to obtain a license.? However, they were surprised with the municipality raiding he house and implementing the demolition decision without any prior warning.? The house sheltered 8 family members, including 5 children, and was built on an area on 100square meters and of sheets. *_Israeli Forces continued their settlement activities, and the settlers continued their attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property_* As part of demolition of houses and other civil objects, on 11 October 2018, the Israeli forces demolished 3 residential barracks built of tin plates, a residential tent, barrack, 2 livestock barns, a kitchen and a water tank in Kherbet al-Hadidiyah area in the northern Valleys, east of Tubas belonging to ?Omer Bsharat. On the same day, the Israeli forces levelled 5 dunums and uprooted 100 olive seedlings planted there in al-Khodor village, south of Bethlehem, belonging to Ibrahim Hamdan.? The land targeted is located between the settlements of /?Prophet Daniel? and ?Eli ?Azar?, /south of the city. On 17 October 2018, the Israeli forces demolished a house and water collection well in Um al-Shaqhan area near Kherbet Khelet al-Mayeh, east of Yata in southern Hebron.? The house belonging to Mahmoud Abu Taha and is built on area of 170 square meters while the well capacity was 100 cubic meters.? The house has been built for years and was fully constructed finally so the family of 24 members, including children, were moving their furniture to the house in order to live there. On the same day, the Israeli forces demolished a barrack built of tin plates on an area of 300 square meters and used for livestock breeding in Kherbet Ghwein to the west of al-Samou?a village, south of Hebron.? It should be noted that the barrack belonged to Shafiq al-Hawamdah. As part of the Israeli settlers? attacks against the Palestinians civilians and their property, on 12 October 2018, ?Ashah al-Rabi (47) was killed from Bedia villahe, northwest of Salfit, when the car her husband was driving was thrown with stones by a group of settlers at ?rihalim? settlement between the al-Sawiyah village and intersection of Za?tarah checkpoint, south of Nablus. In addition to the crime mentioned above, PCHR?s fieldworkers in the West Bank documented 8 attacks by settlers against the Palestinian civilians and their property.? The attacks resulted in the injury of 3 civilians with bruises and wounds after being beaten. Moreover, 540 olive trees and grape vines were damaged. *_Female Civilian Killed by Israeli Settlers, who threw Stones at her Car at Za?tarah Checkpoint, south of Nablus:_* * On Friday evening, 12 October 2018, a Palestinian female civilians was killed and her husband and daughter were very shocked after their car was stoned by Israeli settlers near Za?tarah checkpoint, south of Nablus, north of the West Bank. According to PCHR?s investigations, at approximately 23:00 on the same day, a group of settlers, who were at the intersection of /?Rahalim?/?settlement between al-Sawiyah village, and Za?tarah checkpoint, south of Nablus, threw stones at a Palestinian car driven by Ya?qoub Mahmoud al-Rabi (52) and his wife Aisha Mohammed Talal al-Rabi (47) along with their daughter Rama (9), from Bedia village, northwest of Salfit, as they were coming from Hebron. A big stone hit the right side of the front glass, broke the window and fall on Aisha?s head. As a result, Aisha suffered a severe bleeding from right side of the? head front and above the eyebrow. Aisha?s husband drove to Ebn Sina Polyclinic in Howarah village, but she was dead. Aisha was then transferred as a dead body to Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus. After medical examination, it was clear that the brain exited from the head front, causing Aisha?s death. Her husband and daughter were very shocked. Ya?qoub said to PCHR?s fieldworker that: /?I went to bring my wife, who was visiting our daughter in Hebron and were accompanied with our daughter Rama (9). After we crossed al-Sawiyah intersection near ?Rahalim? settlement, adjacent to Za?tarah checkpoint, We suddenly heard a scream in Hebrew language and then stones started hitting our car. A big stone broke the front glass and hit the head of my wife Aisha, but I did not know that she was wounded because she did not scream at all. I looked at her and found that she was bleeding. I called her name twice, but it seemed that she died immediately. Her head was covered with blood. My daughter Rama started screaming as I was calling her mother. I quickly crossed Za?tarah checkpoint and arrived at Ebn Sina Polyclinic in Howarah village. Doctors there confirmed that Aisha died because of the stone that hit her head.?/ *_Use of Force against Demonstrations in Protest against the U.S. President?s Decision to Recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel:_* Israeli forces continued its excessive use of lethal force against peaceful demonstration organized by Palestinian civilians in in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and it was named as ?The Great March of Return and Breaking Siege.? The demonstration was in protest against the U.S. President Donald Trump?s declaration to move the U.S. Embassy to it. According to PCHR fieldworkers? observations, the border area witnessed large participation by Palestinian civilians as the Israeli forces continued to use upon highest military and political echelons excessive force against the peaceful demonstrators, though the demonstration were fully peaceful. The demonstration was as follows during the reporting period: *_Gaza Strip:_* * On Friday evening, 11 October 2018, 5 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded, east of Malakah intersection, east of al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City. Moreover, another civilian was hit with a live bullet to the left thigh, east of Abu Safiyah hill, northeast of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. Doctors classified his injury as serious because the main artery was cut. * On Friday evening, 12 October 2018, thousands of Palestinian civilians swarmed to the Return encampments established by the Supreme National Authority for the Great March of Return and Breaking Siege, east of Abu Safiyah Hill in the northern Gaza Strip, Malakah intersection, east of Gaza City, east of al-Buraij in the central Gaza Strip, east of Khuza?ah village, east of Khan Younis, al-Shawkah village, east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Hundreds of civilians approached the? border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, set fire to tires and threw stones at Israeli forces. The Israeli forces opened fire and fired tear gas canisters at them. As a result, 7 civilians, including a child, were killed. Four of them were hit with live bullets to the chest, 2 to the abdomen and one in the head. Moreover, 225 civilians, including 42 children, 7 women, 4 journalists and a paramedic, were wounded on the same day and doctors classified 12 civilians? injuries as serious. * *In Gaza City: *Israeli forces killed ?Afifi Mahmoud ?Ata al-?Afifi (18) from al-Shati?a refugee camp? after firing a live bullet to the abdomen, and Mohammed ?Essam Mohammed ?Abbas (20), who was hit with a live bullet to the head. Moreover, 98 civilians, including 11 children, 3 women and a journalist, were wounded. Seventy three of them were hit with live bullets, 24 were hit with tear gas canisters and one civilian was hit with a rubber bullet. Doctors classified 3 civilians? injuries as serious. The wounded journalist was identified as Bilal Bassam ?Oudah al-Sabbagh (27) from al-Jala?a Street was hit with a live bullet to the right leg. * *The Central Gaza Strip: *Israeli forces killed 4 civilians, including a child, and wounded 37 others, including 7 children and one woman. Thirty of them were hit with live bullets and their shrapnel and 2 were hit with tear gas canisters during their participation in the March of Return and Breaking Siege, east of al-Buraij. Those killed were identified as: 1. Ahmed Ibrahim Zaki al-Tawil (23) from al-Nuseirat refugee camp was hit with a live bullet to the chest. 2. Mohammed Abdul Hafith Yusuf Ismail (29) from al-Buraij refugee camp was hit with a live bullet to the chest. 3. Ahmed Ahmed Abdullah Abu Na?im (17) from al-Nuseirat refugee camp was hit with a live bullet to the chest. And incised wound to the left arm. 4. Abdullah Barham Suleiman al-Daghmah (25) from ?Abasan al-Jadidah in Khan Younis was hit with a live bullet that penetrated the abdomen from the right side of the abdomen and exited the left side. * *Rafah City: *Israeli forces killed Tamer Eyad Mahmoud Abu ?Armanah (21) after they hit him with a live bullet to the chest. Moreover, 27 civilians, including 4 children and 3 women were hit with a live bullets and their shrapnel and 3 were hit with tear gas canisters during their participation in the March of Return and Breaking Siefe, east of al-Shawkah village, east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Doctors classified 4 civilians? injuries as serious. * *The Northern Gaza Strip:*?44 civilians, including 15 children and a journalist were wounded. Thirty sex of them were hit with live bullets and their shrapnel and 8 were hit with tear gas canisters. Doctors classified 2 civilian?s injury as serious. The wounded journalist identified as Safenaz Baker Mahmoud al-Louh (29), who works as a reporter and a photographer at Amad News Network, from Sheikh Redwan neighborhood was hit with a tear gas canister. * *Khan Younis: *24 civilians, including 5 children, 2 journalists and a paramedic, were wounded. Sixteen of them were hit with live bullets and their? shrapnel and 8 were hit with tear gas canisters. doctors classified 3 civilians? injury as serious. The wounded journalists were identified as: Mohammed Majed Ismail Abu Daqqah (22), a photojournalists at Sharq News Network was hit with a lie bullet to the 2 legs, and Ahmed Riyad Mohammed al-?Amoudi (29), a photographer at Palestine News Network. The wounded paramedic was identified as ?Ammar Abdul Karim Musalam Abu Hamad (35), who works at PRCS was hit with a? tear gas canister to the head. * On Sunday, 14 October 2018, a 26-year-old civilian was hit with a live bullet to the right foot during his participation in the March of Return activities established in the east of Malakah in al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City. * At approximately 15:30 on Monday, 15 October 2018, Israeli gunboats stationed offshore, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, opened fire and fired sound bombs at dozens of Palestinian civilians who were at the Return camp along the border coastal, adjacent to adjacent to ?Zikim? military base , northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. It should be noted that this is the 11th time for Palestinian boats to sail for Breaking the Siege. As a result, 71 civilians, including 17 children, 3 journalists and a female paramedic, were wounded. Forty two of them were hit with live bullets and their shrapnel and 29 were hit with tear gas canisters. Doctors classified the injury of Saddam al-?Abed Mohammed Shalash (27), from Jabalia, as serious where he was hit with a live bullet to the right thigh, causing a cut in the main artery. At approximately 21:50 on Tuesday, 16 October 2018, medical sources at the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia announced Saddam?s death. They carried out a surgery for him to stop the bleeding. Saddam was admitted to the ICU Department where he stayed until his death was announced. The wounded journalists were identified as: 1. Safenaz Baker Mahmoud al-Louh (28), a photojournalists and reporter at Amad News Network from Sheikh Redwan neighborhood in Gaza City, was hit with a live bullet shrapnel to the right arm. 2. Tha?er Khalid Fehmi Abu Rayash (24), a photojournalist at HIA Turkish News Agency from Beit Lahia, was hit with a live bullet shrapnel to the left hand and face. 3. Khalid Ayman Salim Salah (17), a reporter at Noor News Network from Khan Younis, was hit with a live bullet to both legs. The wounded paramedic identified as Habibah Mahmoud Abdul ?Aziz al-Sekafi (22), from Beit Lahia, was hit with a tear gas canister to the feet. * On Tuesday, 16 October 2018, 8 civilians, including 2 children, were wounded during their participation in the March of Return activities established in the east of al-Buraij in the central Gaza Strip. An ambulance belonging to PRCS sustained a shrapnel to the right side. *_West Bank:_* * At approximately 13:40 on Friday, 12 October 2018, Palestinian civilians and International activists organized a demonstration in the center of Kufur Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqiliyah and headed to the eastern entrance to the village, which has been closed for 15 years. The protestors chanted national slogans demanding end of occupation, condemning the Israeli decisions to demolish Khan al-Ahmer Bedouin Community deporting its residents and condemning the Israeli forces? crimes against Palestinian protestors at the eastern border in the Gaza Strip within the Marcg of Return and Breaking Siege activities. Several representatives of national factions and representatives of National Action Factions in the north of the West Bank and a number of foreign and Israeli activists participated in the demonstration. Israeli soldiers fired live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at them. As a result, 6 civilians were hit with rubber bullets. * Following the same Friday prayer, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders gathered on agricultural lands of al-Resan Mount area, west of Ras Karkar village, west of Ramallah in protest against the Israeli settlers? attempt to seize and confiscate the land. When the civilians arrived at the abovementioned area, the Israeli soldiers fired live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the protestors. As a result, a 21-year-old civilian was hit with a rubber bullet to the foot. * *_House Demolitions and Notices:_* * At approximately 05:00 on Wednesday, 17 October 2018, the Israeli Municipality demolished a residential house belonging to Khalil Za?atrah in al-Mokaber Mount, south of occupied East Jerusalem?s Old City under the pretext of non-licensing. Su?ad Za?artah, Khalil?s wife, said that the Israeli forces raided their house at dawn after surrounding it and forcing them to get out of the house without allowing them to vacate its content. She also said that: ?The Israeli forces ordered us to get out of the house. They pushed us and prevented us from taking our IDs, documents and other belongings. The Israeli Municipality staff vacate some furniture before demolishing the house while the Israeli bulldozers demolished another part of the house.? She added that the house was built 4 months ago and the Israeli Municipality issued a decision to demolish the house, but the family headed to the court and managed to delay the demolition and attempted to license the house. She said that on Wednesday morning, they were surprised with storming the house and demolishing it without a prior warning. The 100-square-meter house was sheltering 8 members, including 5 children. *_Settlement activities and attacks by settlers against Palestinian civilians and property_* *_Israeli forces? attack:_* * At approximately 05:30 on Thursday, 11 October 2018, Israeli forces accompanied with military vehicles, a vehicle of the Israeli Civil Administration and 2 bulldozers moved into Kherbit al-Hudaiydah in northern Jordan Valley, east of Tubas. The Israeli soldiers deployed between houses and the Israeli bulldozers demolished a house belonging to Omar ?Aref Mohamed Basharat, in addition to other civilian facilities belonging to him under the pretext of non-licensing. The material damage were identified as: o Three 100-square -meter barracks built of tin plates. o A 450-square -meter barrack used for breeding livestock. o A 30-square -meter residential tent. o A 40-square- meter kitchen. o Two 100-square-meter barns. o A water tank with a?capacity?1.5. * At approximately 07:00 on Thursday, an Israeli bulldozer leveled an agricultural land in al-Khadir village, south of Bethlehem, and uprooted dozens of olives seedlings. Ahmed Salah, a Coordinator in Colonization and Wall Resistance in al-Khadir village, said that the Israeli forces leveled 5 dunums of agricultural land belonging to Ibrahim Hamdan and uprooted 100 olive seedlings under the pretext of state property. The targeted land is located between ?/Prophet Daniel /? and ?/Eli Azar/? settlements, south of Bethlehem. * At approximately 10:00 on Monday, 15 October 2018, Israeli forces accompanied with military vehicles and a vehicle of the Israeli Civil Administration moved into Sosiyia village, south of Yatta, south of Hebron. The Israeli soldiers deployed between residential tents and detained Palestinian civilians while the Israeli Civil Administration staff confiscated excavation tools, electric engine and electric crane used for excavating a water well in the village. The confiscated tools belong to Husam Na?iem Hamamdah. The Israeli authorities claimed that the abovementioned area needs a prior permit for working in it from the Israeli security. * *_At_*?approximately 05:00 on Wednesday, 17 October 2018, Israeli forces accompanied with military vehicles, a vehicle of the Israeli Civil Administration, a digger, and a bulldozer moved into Um Shaqhan area near Kherbet Khelet al-Mayyah, east of Yatta, south of Hebron. The Israeli Civil Administration staff raided a 170-sqaure-meter house belonging to Mahmoud Shehada Taleb Abu Taha (48), vacated some of its content and then demolished it along with a 100-square-meter water well under the pretext of non-licensing. The house was built years ago and the family comprised of 24 members, including 7 children, were transferring the furniture as a prelude to live in the house. It should be noted that the Israeli authorities notified Mahmoud to stop construction work in 2015. It should be noted that Sant Eve institution submitted a request to the Israeli competent bodies in order to license the house, because it is located in area classified as Area C and no written notice was issued to demolish the house. * At approximately 08:00, Israeli forces accompanied with military vehicles, a vehicle of the Israeli Civil Administration and a digger moved into Khebet Ghoween, west of Samou?a village, south of Hebron. The Israeli forces deployed in the area and the digger demolished a 300-sauqre-meter barrack used for breeding livestock under the pretext of non-licensing. The barrack belongs to Shafeeq Saleem ?Awadallah al-Hawamdah. It should be noted that the Israeli authorities fixed a notice on the facility on 24 January 2017 and took photos of it. The notice showed that on 12 February 2017, there was a hearing for the Israeli Civil Administration in ? /Beit Eill/? settlement, in order to discuss the demolishing of the facility. *_Israeli settlers? attack:_* * At approximately 17:00 on Saturday, 13 October 2017, an Israeli settler from an Israeli settler from a settlement outpost in Hebron?s Old City, attacked Nedal Ehmidan Mohamed Suhlob (40) while he was in front of his house in Tal al-Ramida neighborhood. As a result, Nedal?s left jaw bone was fractured and was then taken to al-Ahli Hospital in the city, where he underwent surgery. Nedal said to PCHR?s fieldworker that: ? /I arrived at my house located in Tal al-Ramida neighborhood, returning from my work. My house is around 100 meters away from (56) checkpoint. After my arrival at the house, I heard shouting near the checkpoint, meanwhile, my children were heading to a shop for buying something. I went to the street along with my son Omar (14). We saw an Israeli soldiers pushing an Israeli settler. My son Omar headed to see what happen. Few minutes, he came back quickly and an Israeli settler was chasing him. Omar stood beside me and the settler attempted to steal Omar?s cell phone via which was covering what happened. The settler cursed us and then clapped me on my face. Three Israeli settlers then joint the abovementioned settler. A number of Israeli soldier arrived at the area and one of them attacked me and pushed me toward the wall without saying anything to the settlers. I felt dizzy and 10 munities later, paramedics from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) arrived at the area and took me to al-Ahli Hospital via an ambulance parked behind the checkpoint. At the hospital, I underwent a surgery in my jaw/? * At approximately 17:00, a group of Israeli settlers, protected by the Israeli forces, from ?/Yatizhar/? settlement, moved into al-Safafeer area from the eastern side of ?Oreef village, south of Nablus. The Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian civilians? houses. After that, Palestinian young men gathered, confronted the Israeli forces and settlers and threw stones at them. The Israeli forces then arrested ?Adel ?Abed al-Hafiz Shareef ?Amer (37), an employee in the village council and a volunteer in B?Tselem Insanitation for Human Rights. ?Adel was taken to Jamal Shehadah?s house and detained for over half an hour. The Israeli forces confiscated ?Adel?s camera , delated materials?on?his?memory cards and then released him. * On Sunday, 14 October 2018, a group of Israeli settlers uprooted and damaged dozens of grape and olive seedlings in al-Khadir village, south of Bethlehem. Ahmed Salah, ?a Coordinator in Colonization and Wall Resistance in the village, said that Israeli settlers from ?/Afrat/? settlement established on Palestinian civilians lands, south of Bethlehem, uprooted 370 grape seedlings planted 2 years ago and 30 olive seedlings belonging to Ibrahim Siluman Subaieh. He said that the Israeli settlers, who attacked Subaieh lands several time, placed bee hives in his land. * On Sunday morning, according to a security coordination that previously declared and allowed Palestinian farmers to enter Tal village, west of Nablus, to harvest their olive trees in Khelet al-Doghi area, west of the village. When the farmers entered their lands, a farmer Saqer Ahmed ?Asidah was surprised that settlers from ?/Hafat Gilead?/?settlement, damaged and broke 50 olive trees from his 3 dunums of land. The damaged trees were planted 2 years ago. * At approximately 08:00 on Sunday, Palestinian farmers, from Fer?atah village, northeast of Qalqiliyia, managed to enter their lands in al-Sotouh area east of the village upon a security coordination. ?Abdullah Mahmoud Ibrahim Hasan Salman and Ibrahim Mahmoud Suliman Salah were surprised that their crop was stolen, in addition to damaging the trees. Moreover, around 22 olive trees were uprooted and the land was turned into an empty land for celebration near ?/Gilead?/?Ibrahim Salah said to PCHR?s fieldworker that: ?/?On Sunday, 14 October 2018, I went along with my family and relative to al-Sotouh land, east of Fer?atah village, upon a security coordination, which is necessary to enter the area. When we arrived, we found the crop was harvested and the trees were damaged. There were around 150 olive trees their crops were stolen. We left the land without harvesting any crops.?/ Nada Salman, ?Abdullah Salman?s wife, said that: ?/We entered our land and we could barely recognized it. We found a large area was leveled, in addition to 22 olive trees. The land was turned to an empty yard for celebrations. We also found empty beer bottles put in boxes. All the crops were stolen.?/ * On Sunday evening, a group of Israeli settlers cut with electric saws over 100 olive trees from agricultural lands in al-?Ozal area in al-Moghair village, northeast of Ramallah. The olive trees belong to ?Abed al-Latif Hamed Abu ?Aliyia and his siblings. The settlers also wrote racist slogans on a dwelling in the land. * At approximately 11:40 on Wednesday, 17 October 2018, a group of Israeli settlers from ?/Homesh?/?settlement, north of Barqah village, northwest of Nablus, attacked Mahmoud and Manna? Sa?ied Mahmoud Hussain (20), fro, Bazariyia village. The Israeli settlers stole Mahmoud and Manna?s monkey while they were heading to their land to harvest the olive trees in al-Houd area. Mahmoud was hit with a stone at his left brow and beat with a stick at his right hand. Furthermore, Manna? was hit with a stone at his right shoulder. Mahmoud was then taken to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. * At approximately 14:30 on Wednesday, a group of Israeli settlers, protected by the Israeli forces, from ?/Yatizhar/? settlement established in the eastern side of ?Oreef village, south of Nablus, moved into al-Safafeer area. They threw stones at Palestinian civilians? houses and broke their windows. The attacked houses belong to Sameer Mohamed Mohamed Sawalmah and Ahmed ?Abed al*Kareem Fayiz Shehadah. *Recommendations to the International Community* PCHR warns of the escalating settlement construction in the West Bank, the attempts to legitimize settlement outposts established on Palestinian lands in the West Bank and the continued summary executions of Palestinian civilians under the pretext that they pose a security threat to the Israeli forces. PCHR reminds the international community that thousands of Palestinian civilians have been rendered homeless and lived in caravans under tragic circumstances due to the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip that has been under a tight closure for almost 11 years. PCHR welcomes the UN Security Council?s Resolution No. 2334, which states that settlements are a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions and calls upon Israel to stop them and not to recognize any demographic change in the oPt since 1967.? PCHR hopes this resolution will pave the way for eliminating the settlement crime and bring to justice those responsible for it. PCHR further reiterates that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are still under Israeli occupation in spite of Israel?s unilateral disengagement plan of 2005.? PCHR emphasizes that there is international recognition of Israel?s obligation to respect international human rights instruments and international humanitarian law. Israel is bound to apply international human rights law and the law of war, sometimes reciprocally and other times in parallel, in a way that achieves the best protection for civilians and remedy for the victims. 1. PCHR calls upon the international community to respect the Security Council?s Resolution No. 2334 and to ensure that Israel respects it as well, in particular point 5 which obliges Israel not to deal with settlements as if they were part of Israel. 2. PCHR calls upon the ICC this year to open an investigation into Israeli crimes committed in the oPt, particularly the settlement crimes and the 2014 offensive on the Gaza Strip. 3. PCHR Calls upon the European Union (EU) and all international bodies to boycott settlements and ban working and investing in them in application of their obligations according to international human rights law and international humanitarian law considering settlements as a war crime. 4. PCHR calls upon the international community to use all available means to allow the Palestinian people to enjoy their right to self-determination through the establishment of the Palestinian State, which was recognized by the UN General Assembly with a vast majority, using all international legal mechanisms, including sanctions to end the occupation of the State of Palestine. 5. PCHR calls upon the international community and United Nations to take all necessary measures to stop Israeli policies aimed at creating a Jewish demographic majority in Jerusalem and at voiding Palestine from its original inhabitants through deportations and house demolitions as a collective punishment, which violates international humanitarian law, amounting to a crime against humanity. 6. PCHR calls upon the international community to condemn summary executions carried out by Israeli forces against Palestinians and to pressurize Israel to stop them. 7. PCHR calls upon the States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC to work hard to hold Israeli war criminals accountable. 8. PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfill their obligations under article (1) of the Convention to ensure respect for the Conventions under all circumstances, and under articles (146) and (147) to search for and prosecute those responsible for committing grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions to ensure justice and remedy for Palestinian victims, especially in light of the almost complete denial of justice for them before the Israeli judiciary. 9. PCHR calls upon the international community to speed up the reconstruction process necessary because of the destruction inflicted by the Israeli offensive on Gaza. 10. PCHR calls for a prompt intervention to compel the Israeli authorities to lift the closure that obstructs the freedom of movement of goods and 1.8 million civilians that experience unprecedented economic, social, political and cultural hardships due to collective punishment policies and retaliatory action against civilians. 11. PCHR calls upon the European Union to apply human rights standards embedded in the EU-Israel Association Agreement and to respect its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights when dealing with Israel. 12. PCHR calls upon the international community, especially states that import Israeli weapons and military services, to meet their moral and legal responsibility not to allow Israel to use the offensive in Gaza to test new weapons and not accept training services based on the field experience in Gaza in order to avoid turning Palestinian civilians in Gaza into testing objects for Israeli weapons and military tactics. 13. PCHR calls upon the parties to international human rights instruments, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to pressurize Israel to comply with its provisions in the oPt and to compel it to incorporate the human rights situation in the oPt in its reports submitted to the relevant committees. 14. PCHR calls upon the EU and international human rights bodies to pressurize the Israeli forces to stop their attacks against Palestinian fishermen and farmers, mainly in the border area. /Fully detailed document available at the official website of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)./ /* */ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 19 13:10:57 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 10:10:57 -0700 Subject: [News] Black Internationalism and the Colonial Challenges Facing Haiti and Venezuela Message-ID: https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14105 Black Internationalism and the Colonial Challenges Facing Haiti and Venezuela By Jeanette Charles - Oct 18th 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ /Protests in Haiti over the misuse and pocketing of copious amounts of Petrocaribe funds stemming from Venezuela have turned violent this week, with a number of deaths being reported . / /In this piece, originally published before the protests by Haiti Solidarity, VA's Jeanette Charles looks at some of the historic challenges facing both Haiti and //Venezuela,//and the Petrocaribe relationship which Hugo Chavez established between the two nations./ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Solidarity as defined by President Aristide takes root in the African philosophy of Ubuntu, /Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu:/??/a person is a person through other human beings. A person becomes a person through the community. A person is a person when she/he treats others well?.Ubuntu is the source of all philosophy grounded in solidarity, cooperation, unity, respect, dignity, justice, liberty and love of the other/.?? ? Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Ha?ti-Haitii?: Philosophical Reflections for Mental Decolonization ?/Haiti has no debt with Venezuela, just the opposite: Venezuela has a historical debt with that nation, with that people for whom we feel not pity but rather admiration, and we share their faith, their hope./? ? Venezuelan President Hugo Ch?vez upon absolving Haiti of all financial debt in the wake of the 2010 earthquake After 35 years of incarceration, political prisoner and freedom fighter Oscar L?pez Rivera was released in 2017. One of his revolutionary lessons urges us to recognize that ?colonialism is the problem? we continue to face today. While he specifically referred to Puerto Rico and its colonial status, his reflection is applicable to anywhere in the world devastated by exploitation, occupation, and invasion at the hands of European colonialism and US imperialism. As such, we can examine the current and historical challenges facing both Venezuela and Haiti, as well as their complicated relationship, as cases that expose the open wounds and lasting effects of colonialism and counter-revolutionary attacks against revolutionary processes committed to liberation and the reconfiguration of global power. Colonialism explains why United Nations forces implicated in mass rape, human trafficking rings, and the cholera epidemic continue to occupy Haiti. Colonialism is the driving force behind former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson?s spring 2018 tour throughout the Caribbean, intimidating, threatening, and bribing states to vote at the Organization of American States (OAS), in favor of foreign intervention in Venezuela. Colonialism has cultivated the root of complex political, economic, and sociocultural relationships between the states, peoples, and grassroots movements of Venezuela and Haiti. The most recent US efforts to isolate Venezuela from the region, demoralize its people through a concerted economic war, and intervene in its political process?by working with international collaborators to ultimately punish its black majority revolutionary process?have their historical precedents in Haiti. Haitians experienced these counter-revolutionary attacks as they fought to defend their own revolutionary process under the leadership of Fanmi Lavalas President Jean Bertrand Aristide and earlier, throughout the era of Haitian Independence. ?Haiti represents a moral and political reference. Ch?vez once said, you cannot pay back a moral debt, and what Haiti gave us is unpayable,? explains Jes?s ?Chucho? Garc?a?Afro-Venezuelan historian and Consul General for the Bol?varian Republic of Venezuela in New Orleans?with respect to Haiti?s critical role in Venezuelan independence. The bridges that Africans, and later Haitians, built with pre-independence Venezuela throughout the 18th and 19th centuries took on multiple dimensions, including material aid, strategic development, spiritual force, and principled political vision. Haitians? intentional support of abolition throughout the Americas ensured South American independence and sowed the roots of the Bol?varian Revolution, which began in 1998 and continues today. As such, Venezuela?s Bol?varian Revolution has attempted to return this ?historical debt? with Haiti, rectify the harms of colonialism, and consolidate a Caribbean and Latin American united front against US imperialism, by extending its reparations model of oil wealth redistribution beyond its borders and by exercising a diplomatic model rooted in regional integration and cooperation. ?Beyond Venezuela, I?m thinking about the integration of Latin America, this Afroamerica that is scattered throughout all these lands and all these waters,? Ch?vez voiced on May 8, 2005 on his television program Al? Presidente, speaking to the legacy of black liberation in the Americas and identifying Haiti. His call compelled hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Venezuelans to direct their moral and political compass toward the first black republic of the Western Hemisphere. Subsequently, Venezuela has provided funds and subsidized oil for Haiti as well as other Caribbean nations through its program PetroCaribe. In the case of Haiti, Venezuela has also ensured additional disaster relief humanitarian aid and dissolved all loans. However, these significant gestures have facilitated contradictory results. Instead of reaching the people and improving economic conditions for the majority Haitian poor, these initiatives have lined the pockets of Haitian Duvalierist elites. Recent mass mobilizations and legislative accounts have denounced corruption of PetroCaribe funds and the displacement of Haitians across the island of Ile-?-Vache, both cases tied to the Haitian government?s misuse of Venezuelan aid. In October 2017, news surfaced after years of concerns from Haitian grassroots about the PetroCaribe program, after five Haitian senators who commissioned an audit of the international program publicly released the report. The audit attested to the corrupt use of funds and cited payments to private corporations. High level officials in the Haitian Government under then President Michel Martelly?supporter of current President Jovenel Mo?se?were implicated. Months prior, in February 2017, to the disappointment of Haiti?s grassroots movement, the Venezuelan Government immediately recognized the illegitimate (s)election of Mo?se, closely associated with Martelly and the Duvalier dictatorship, at the very moment when mass demonstrations were continuing to protest the fraudulent election that installed him as president. These contradictions, while contemporary examples, speak to the unresolved consequences of the independence era and colonialism?s impact. Similarly, they correspond directly to Venezuela?s attempt to return this ?historical debt,? via the shared resources of oil wealth without an intentional political orientation and management oversight, which has caused harm and exacerbated the economic and political crisis in Haiti. In order to understand today, we must look into the more than two centuries of interwoven histories between Haiti and Venezuela. These histories offer a window into understanding the challenges found in building regional integration and promoting a black internationalist solidarity model that is under constant siege by imperialist powers. Today, it?s necessary for us to uncover, explore, and act on these histories in order to evade damaging historical cycles. The ripple effect of the first Pan-Africanist and Black Internationalist Revolution ?Black internationalism? in this article refers to the solidarity expressed between oppressed nations focused on the liberation and interests of African/black peoples from the continent and throughout the Diaspora. Haiti?s founding is exemplary of a successful black internationalist and pan-Africanist revolutionary process whose solidarity with African peoples and independence forces in Venezuela made shockwaves throughout history. Ch?vez was the first president in Venezuelan history to identify with his African and indigenous descent, as a feminist, as well as an anti-imperialist. He was also the first president to declare Venezuela?s historical debt to the island nation. Yet in spite of these critical testaments, Ch?vez often referred to criollo Independence leaders such as Sim?n Bol?var and Francisco de Miranda?s relationships to Haiti, shadowing accounts of Venezuela?s African and African descendant leaders and their connections to the Haitian Revolution. Historian Gerald Horne attests to the uncontainable impact of the Haitian Revolution, initially marked in 1791 by the Bois Ca?man ceremony led by resistance and spiritual leaders Cecile Fatiman and Dutty Boukman. The ceremony inspired a wave of successful pan-African-led rebellions on the island against mainly French colonialism. Horne attests, ?Haiti, which was not opposed to extending aid to the neighboring enslaved, was invoked even when it was not directly involved in spurring unrest. Haiti, the island of freedom, mocked the pretensions of slaveholders?those on the mainland not least?and inspired the enslaved to believe realistically that their plight was not divinely ordained, nor perpetual, but could be overcome.? The rapidly spreading rebellions from Martinique to Barbados were inspired by and aligned with the Haitian revolution and its call for an end to colonialism. Venezuelan Consul General and historian Garc?a explains, ?[Haiti was] an indisputable reference in the early nineteenth century to all oppressed peoples across Latin America and the Caribbean?.Haiti was the Cuba of the 19th century [which] spread solidarity to our country [of Venezuela] as well as the nations of Colombia, Ecuador, Panam?, Bolivia, and Peru, while bearing in mind liberation projects of Cuba, Santo Domingo, and even Mexico.? One such instance involved African-Indigenous leader Jos? Leonardo Chirino, who orchestrated a maroon rebellion in the Venezuelan Caribbean coastal township of Coro, Falc?n in 1795. Venezuelan historians suggest that Chirino frequently travelled to Curacao and Saint Domingue as part of his enslaved work. This led to his exposure to African anti-colonial and abolitionist struggles. While records of who he met and who he may have trained with or received direct material support from are difficult to secure or may not exist, there are clear accounts that after these travels, Chirino launched a rebellion on May 10, 1795 alongside hundreds of enslaved and free blacks as well as the Jirahara, Ajagua, and Caracas Indigenous peoples. Records indicate they launched attacks on Macanillas Hacienda, which spread to El Socorro, Var?n, Sabana Redonda, La Magdalena, and haciendas in other regions of Venezuela. It?s still undetermined whether or not Africans from Saint Domingue were directly involved in Chirino?s maroon forces as they were across the Americas from the US South to islands stretched across the Caribbean. Upon the arrival of Chirino?s forces to the central square of Coro, the criollo slave-owning elites arrested one hundred black maroons and executed 86 others by firearm. Subsequently, Spanish colonial forces captured Chirino several months later on August 1795. He was publicly executed and dismembered. His wife and children were separated and sold to different haciendas. For Venezuelans, this African-Indigenous insurrection represents one of the first political movements that voiced the demands of the independence era and chipped away at colonialism?s stronghold in South America. The launch of the rebellion is commemorated every year during Afro-Venezuelan history month. Chirino?s rebellion is one of potentially hundreds more examples where Haitian struggles inspired or accompanied revolutionary acts in Venezuela. Today, Afro-Venezuelans have addressed the omission of Haiti in their nation?s founding by exploring documented accounts and oral histories of often anonymous Haitian maroon leaders and warriors and their efforts to topple Spanish colonization across Latin America. Haitians? historical actions solidified the foundations for Venezuela?s future international solidarity efforts, support for Caribbean-wide reparations campaigns, and the very establishment of cumbes (societies founded on the principles of self-determination by self-liberated Africans and indigenous people), which continue to exist as revolutionary organizing spaces. Miranda, Bolivar, and Venezuela's unfulfilled promise to Haiti The names most often mentioned in official Venezuelan accounts on anti-colonial struggle across the Americas are Europeans and their American-born descendants. In the case of Venezuela, this includes Sim?n Bol?var and Francisco de Miranda. Both travelled to Haiti seeking refuge, to enrich their ideological vision, and to develop their military might against Spanish colonialism in South America. Perhaps the most pivotal to understanding Venezuela?s complicated relationship with Haiti today can be seen through the lens of Bol?var?s voyages to Haiti. Bol?var initially sought support from Haiti in 1815, eleven years after the triumph of the Haitian Revolution, after his troops lost to Spanish forces in Cartagenas, present-day Colombia. Southern Haiti?s President Alexandre P?tion provided food and shelter for Bol?var and his company as well as material aid, financial support, and military strength ahead of his upcoming independence battles. P?tion explicitly extended Bol?var solidarity during one of Venezuela?s most dire moments in its independence struggle, on the condition that Bol?var abolish slavery in any territory his forces liberated. According to some scholars, Bol?var departed from Haiti with approximately 4000 rifles, gunpowder, a small fleet, printing press, food, and at least 250 Haitian veterans who fought in the revolutionary wars. Despite this incredible show of support, after another bout of defeats, Bol?var returned to Haiti to recuperate, re-arm, and regroup. In one of his letters written December 4, 1816 before sailing back to South America, Bol?var etched into historical memory Venezuela?s debt to Haiti: ?If men are bound by the favors they have received, be sure, General [Marion], that my countrymen and myself will forever love the Haitian people and the worthy rulers who make them happy.? On this voyage, after his exchanges in Haiti, Bol?var was victorious in South America. Bol?var along with African and indigenous forces succeeded in liberating Venezuela from Spanish control. The independence forces also freed today?s Brazil, Guayana, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Bolivia, northern Peru, and Panama. Upon this incredible feat, Bol?var declared slavery abolished in these territories and issued the first decree in Venezuela on June 2, 1816. Bol?var himself had already freed enslaved Africans associated with his family?s properties earlier in 1813. However, it wasn?t until thirty-eight years later on March 24, 1854 that slavery was officially abolished in Venezuela, under President Jo?e Gregorio Monagas. Despite Bol?var?s greatest efforts, he faced fierce resistance by other slave-owning independence generals and high-level authorities in the new South American republic. Consul Garc?a reminds us that even General Miranda stood against abolition and advocated that enslaved Africans serve thirty years in the Venezuelan military before granting their freedom. This contradiction left lasting effects on the relationship between Haiti and Venezuela and speaks volumes to the engrained nature of white supremacist slave economies in the Americas. Moreover, in addition to the aforementioned delay on abolition, while Bol?var held P?tion and Haiti with the utmost respect, he did not formally recognize Haiti or establish official diplomatic relations once Venezuela became independent. Consul Garc?a as well as historical records remind us that this decision was significantly informed by external intimidation from imperialist forces, including the US which feared the implications of recognizing the Black Republic. Haiti represented to the US and its colonial allies?and what they have declared Venezuela since 2015??an unusual and extraordinary threat to [US] national security.? Perhaps a strategic decision, yet undoubtedly one that undermined Haiti?s unwavering commitment to regional liberation, Bol?var also excluded Haiti from the first regional gathering of independent states in the Americas?the Congress of the American States in Panama in 1826. Today, we find Venezuela facing the similar exclusion at the hands of OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro and the Lima Group, namely rightwing states from Latin America and the Caribbean in alignment the US, calling for intervention in Venezuela?s domestic affairs. Overwhelmingly, however, progressive states have stood beside Venezuela in these trying times. Bol?var?s unfortunate decision to omit Haiti played a role in the French and US?s racist counter-revolutionary backlash against the nation that persist to this day. France devastated the Haitian economy, demanding financial restitution for sugar industry losses after the Revolution, further exposing the French state?s racist notions concerning their control over African life. Threatening military intervention and surrounding the island, Haiti paid France 150 million gold francs, the equivalent of $22 billion in gold, lumber, and other resources until 1947, under-developing its infrastructure?as we have witnessed occur with other majority African and indigenous nations. We must center black internationalism and reparations These histories touch the surface of what we need to know to understand the layers involved in Venezuela and Haiti?s contemporary relationship and the dilemmas they face together and independently at this present conjuncture. How does Venezuela return the historical, moral, political, material, and spiritual ?debt? of Haiti?s hand in its independence? And how do Venezuelans repair harms caused by the decisions their founding leaders made in the 19th century? What measures can be taken by Venezuelan grassroots movements to demand that the Bolivarian Revolution also responds to concerns raised in light of cases like the Haitian Government?s mismanagement and corruption of PetroCaribe funds? How can Venezuelans stand in solidarity with Haiti?s majority poor? And how can Venezuelans? actions and strategic interventions to rectify these contradictions serve as examples for grassroots movements around the world? Haiti?s deeply abolitionist, black internationalist, and pan-Africanist solidarity model were critical and necessary to defeat occupying colonial forces in South America. Given this, it is critical that Venezuela, as a majority black nation, as well as other black nations and those around the world fighting for liberation, study Haiti?s historical internationalism and commit their struggles to active solidarity now with the Haitian people. Our solidarity must follow earlier models of anti-colonial struggles as manifested in Haiti?s example as well as the Cuban revolutionary model which has transformed over time, from direct military support in anti-colonial struggles in Africa and internationally, to present-day medical training for youth from majority poor nations. Our revolutionary work with Haiti should emerge in our collective efforts to accompany the people?s grassroots movement and inherited revolutionary process: /Fanmi Lavalas/. The Bolivarian Revolution should be directly tied to the Haitian grassroots movement. There are historical and, at present, intentional imperialist reasons intervening and preventing this relationship from taking shape. However, ensuring that this relationship flourish would encourage steps toward a reparatory approach to this historical debt. The Bolivarian Revolution is facing the same global confusion campaign, media smear tactics, economic strangulation, and racist attacks?not only experienced by Chile?s Salvador Allende?but also experienced by Fanmi Lavalas. There are countless lessons to learn and share between these two nations which will contribute to all our movements moving forward. Until such a black internationalist relationship is forged, we will continue to witness inefficient, unsatisfactory, and contradictory results in the solidarity model Venezuela and other international movements apply to Haiti. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 19 15:38:59 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 12:38:59 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Native_American_Sovereignty_Is_Under_Attack=2E_?= =?utf-8?q?Here=E2=80=99s_How_Elizabeth_Warren=E2=80=99s_DNA_Test_Hurt_Our?= =?utf-8?q?_Struggle?= Message-ID: https://theintercept.com/2018/10/19/elizabeth-warren-dna-native-americans/ Native American Sovereignty Is Under Attack. Here?s How Elizabeth Warren?s DNA Test Hurt Our Struggle Nick EstesNick Estes - October 19 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _Half a century_ ago, the Standing Rock Dakota scholar Vine Deloria Jr. wrote, ?Whites claiming Indian blood tend to reinforce mythical beliefs about Indians.? Throughout her career, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has used that mythical belief ? what Deloria mocked as the ?Indian-grandmother complex? ? to stake a claim to Native American identity, like how her European settler ancestors staked a claim to land once called Indian Territory, or what is currently Oklahoma. For Warren, her claims are like a moving target. At one time, it was ?Cherokee.? Now it?s just generic ?Native American ancestry.? President Donald Trump, being a bigot, has consistently taunted Warren ? frequently referring to her as ?Pocahontas ? ? about her claims with a million-dollar wager : Take a DNA test to prove she?s ?an Indian.? It was an obvious ploy, and Warren took the bait. Yet her reaction hurt more than she might realize. Reducing Native American identity to ?race,? whether through biology or the law, is harmful to Native sovereignty and nationhood, despite Warren?s professed good intentions. Warren, however, didn?t walk into Trump?s trap with her eyes closed. What she didn?t see, however, was how low Trump had set the bar when he said ?jump? and she tripped on it, landing face first ? on stolen Native land. Like many Native people, I am jealous of Warren and white people like her. Native plebeians, such as myself, a poor Indian kid born on the wrong side of the tracks in Podunk, South Dakota, lack her pedigree and life story. She might as well have rare Romanov ancestry, a secret but ill-fated royal bloodline, when compared to my proletarian biography. It was Warren?s self-identified Republican family members ? the white guys drinking beer telling family stories in a living room ? that bolstered her Native credentials in a recent video defending her ?Native American ancestry.? I wish I had such relatives to do the same for me, but, if my relatives were captured drinking like that on camera, they might spend a night in the slammer or get labeled as ?drunk Indians .? There is an irony here. The white guys drinking beer have become the arbiters of Native identity, while those who have survived genocide and the theft of an entire continent have become mere background noise to the spectacle of powerful elites duking it out for control over land that is not rightfully theirs. Such is the history of the United States. _The worst irony,_ though, is Warren?s appropriation of Native identity while simultaneously fetishizing and instrumentalizing it. To Warren, Native people are little more than a currency, a million-dollar ticket to the White House, a one-up to Trump. That?s how this game has been played so far: Trump asked her to prove that she?s ?an Indian? (not that she has ?ancestry?) with a DNA test, something that is, by all accounts, impossible. Indianness isn?t defined by DNA . It?s a legal, social, cultural, and historical construct, where Indigenous nations self-define the parameters of belonging. Put simply, it?s not about who you claim, it?s about who claims you. In response to Warren, the Cherokee Nation issued a statement saying that ?using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong.? Falsely claiming Native American identity is a white American tradition, with a deeply racist past. Falsely claiming Native American identity is a white American tradition, with a deeply racist past. Forrest Carter, also known as Asa Earl Carter ? a Ku Klux Klan leader and the former speechwriter for George Wallace (he co-wrote Wallace?s famous 1963 line, ?Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever?) ? reinvented himself later in life as a ?Cherokee ? writer of the famous children?s book ?The Education of Little Tree.? Famous white Southern Americans like Miley Cyrus, Johnny Cash, and Bill Clinton have also all falsely claimed ?Cherokee heritage. ? I?ll admit, I?m not a geneticist. (And I?d refer anyone interested in the political and social aspects of ?Native American DNA? to read Kim Tallbear?s excellent book on the subject .) I am, however, a historian and I can tell you that proving ?Native American ancestry? by using Native body parts has a long, racist history. Genes are part of the human body, and to use genes to measure a degree or percentage of race to make a scientific claim is called race science, which discredits the legitimate science of DNA testing. A century ago, Native people were considered a disappearing people. Anthropologists and others flooded Indian reservations intent on preserving the last vestiges of a dying race. With them, they brought calipers to measure Native skulls from the graves they robbed. Sometimes they used captured Indigenous children in boarding schools and prisoners of war for racial experiments, displaying their live specimens at traveling zoological exhibits. The goal was to prove a racial and civilizational superiority by showing just how far white Europeans had evolved from primitive conditions. Such a people were also seen as too incompetent to manage their own lands and raise their own children. Their land and children were taken from them for their own good. The children were placed into the special care of white families and the land into the hands of white farmers (like Warren?s settler ancestors). Those who could not be killed or assimilated were placed under the supervision of the Department of Interior, which manages wildlife and public lands, where it was hoped that they would just disappear. In other words, Native people, living or dead, were relegated to a tragic past with no place in the future of a white settler nation. Their identities and lands were simply absorbed and made into sports mascots and names for states and military equipment. Countless Native people were lost to this system , torn from their families and their Indigenous nations. Indigenous nations are still searching to reclaim their lost relatives ? but Warren is not one of those people. _While Warren and_ white people like her are rushing to get DNA tests that prove ?Native American ancestry,? there is less enthusiasm among white people about proving ?African ancestry.? That?s the unspoken racist undertone of this whole debate, especially since many Black Americans have actual connections to Indigenous nations of this hemisphere. The ?one-drop rule? of African ancestry, a racial calculus created to increase the size of slaveowners? property through biological reproduction, was designed to make one Black and nothing more ? not Indigenous and especially not white. (Even the descendants of Cherokee slaves were disallowed tribal citizenship until recently .) These racial logics simply don?t grant Black and Native people the same visibility or authority over their own identities the same way they do to a powerful white woman who takes a DNA test. That?s called white supremacy. Warren?s claims and Trump?s attacks have never been about upholding Native sovereignty. It?s pure opportunism. While Trump applauded the Cherokee Nation?s dismissal of Warren?s claims, his self-proclaimed policy of ?American carnage? has opened billions of acres for offshore drilling ? threatening circumpolar Indigenous nations as ice sheets melt and global temperatures rise ? and has opened millions of acres of the Bears Ears National Monument, a once-protected Indigenous sacred site in the Southwest, for coal and uranium mining. And North Dakota recently passed legislation disenfranchising thousands of Native American voters in the state, in places like Standing Rock that desperately fought the Dakota Access pipeline. Today, Standing Rock and the entire Sioux Nation in the Northern Plains are planning to halt the trespass of the Keystone XL pipeline through our treaty territory, a pipeline that imperils our water, our sovereignty, and therefore our lives. While Indigenous nations face existential threats, Warren?s conflation of her ?Native American ancestry? with Native American identity only continues a history theft. There are plenty of other examples. Some are even race-based, along the lines of the pseudoscience through which Warren tried to hitch her wagon to Native Americans. A federal court recently ruled that the Indian Child Welfare Act, a four decade-old law created to keep Native families intact, is ?race-based ? legislation and therefore ?unconstitutional.? Created to protect children who are members of Native nations or whose biological parents are members of Native nations, the law, in fact, was designed to prevent the disintegration of Native nations: the widespread practice of taking Native children and adopting them out to white families or placing them into state foster care systems. While Indigenous nations face existential threats ? from losing their children, land, and water ? Warren?s conflation of her ?Native American ancestry? with Native American identity only continues a history theft. The purposeful distortion and misunderstanding of Native sovereignty and identity, whether by Trump or Warren, is a longstanding tradition of American imperialism that has facilitated the taking of resources, whether they?re Native lands or Native bodies. And we still want our stolen relatives and stolen land back, regardless of the settler infighting currently taking place. Warren has taken some concrete steps in an effort to help Native Americans, but her recent entry into the waters of Native identity stands to outweigh any efforts she has made?for Natives. I?m not holding my breath for her to do the right thing ? such as making a formal apology . Like Vine Deloria, the Standing Rock Dakota writer whose people are currently under threat, I don?t resent white people like Warren. I just hope she can accept herself and just leave us alone. While Warren has become the punchline of a lot of jokes in Indian Country ? ?I?m Cherokee on my white side,? and so on ? boiling Native American identity and race down to biology, and, more specifically, genomics, is racist. It needs to stop. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 19 17:40:30 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 14:40:30 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?My_Morehouse_Brother_Chinedu_Okobi_Died_After_B?= =?utf-8?q?eing_Electrocuted_by_Police=2E_Tasers_Are_Not_=E2=80=9CLess_Let?= =?utf-8?b?aGFs4oCdIFdlYXBvbnMu?= Message-ID: https://theintercept.com/2018/10/19/taser-chinedu-okobi-less-lethal/ My Morehouse Brother Chinedu Okobi Died After Being Electrocuted by Police. Tasers Are Not ?Less Lethal? Weapons. Shaun King - October 19 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _Every single day,_ families suffering from police violence find themselves in the fog of unspeakable setbacks. Some have lost their fathers or sons, their mothers or daughters, their brothers or sisters, their neighbors or friends. I am sometimes enlisted to help them. Before I was a journalist, I was a pastor, and it was often my job to guide families through grief and loss. But it?s a unique crisis to have the life of your loved one taken by the state. Who do you call? 911? Who leads the investigation? Who brings you justice? The answers for these families are altogether different than in other murder cases. When I got the call that Chinedu Okobi had been killed by police from the San Mateo County Sheriff?s Office in the San Francisco Bay Area, it was different. This was my Morehouse brother. You?d almost have to have lived at 830 Westview Drive, on that red clay hill in Georgia called Morehouse College, to truly understand how that bond is formed. We are close. We have each other?s back. Comparing Morehouse to a regular Greek fraternity is not good enough. It?s a brotherhood in the truest sense: It?s a family. I was Chinedu?s student government president. He and I lived in the same dorm. He was close friends with many of my close friends. His sister Ebele, a revered executive at Facebook, is close with many of my closest friends at the company. When I got a call from her this past Saturday to discuss Chinedu Okobi?s death, I had to fight hard to hold back tears. I was surprised at my own fragile state. My dear brother, Jason, just passed away a few weeks ago. While his death had absolutely nothing to do with police violence, for the first time I understood the unique pain of losing a brother who was supposed to have his whole life ahead of him. Chinedu Okobi should be alive right now. At the very most, he should be in a hospital receiving mental health treatment. By now, he likely would?ve been released back to the care of his family. Local police have not responded to my repeated requests for more information about Chinedu?s death, but this much we know: While he was technically unarmed, meaning that he had no gun or knife or illegal weapon on his body, he was armed in a very American way. He was a big Black man, a dark-skinned Nigerian who was 6?feet, 3 inches tall and weighed 330 pounds. In the eyes of American police, that might as well be armed. This nation has long since weaponized blackness. This country?has also weaponized mental illness. Chinedu lived with mental illness. He received treatment, took medications, and worked hard to balance his life the best he could. I never knew it. What I do know is that in this country, when someone is having a mental health crisis, police are called ??which is like bringing in a bulldozer to fix a leaky faucet. It?s a stupid system. Chinedu needed to go to the hospital. He needed medical treatment. Instead, he was surrounded by officers who appear to have repeatedly used a Taser on him until he died. Let me phrase that another way: Chinedu was still shot, but by guns that electrocute people to death instead of tearing apart their flesh and organs with bullets. In the name of being safer than guns, hundreds of thousands of police officers have now been armed with Tasers, but they aren?t safe ? not at all. Chinedu?s black life didn?t matter. Those cops would not have treated their own family that way. If Chinedu was their son or father or brother, those men would?ve found another way to deal with his crisis. _Since 2000, American_ police have killed at least 1,000 people with Tasers . They are horrible. The primary company that makes them, Taser, has changed its name to Axon ? just like Corrections Corporation of America, the notorious private prison company, changed its name to CoreCivic. It?s an attempt to escape their baggage, but it?s the same old shit. And Axon has gotten a complete pass for what the company makes. The company deflects from the fact that they make machines that send uncontrollable electricity into people?s bodies. The problem, of course, is that the human body simply was not built to take these surges of electricity. Axon advertises these weapons as ?less lethal,? but the comparison to guns and other weapons?would be cold comfort for the more than 1,000 people who have died from the electric shocks. Worse yet, the ?less lethal? moniker has meant that many cities and states don?t have robust regulations for how law enforcement is supposed to use these weapons. So the mythical ?less lethal? marketing is working ? for the company, not for victims of the weapons. That such dangerous shocks would be administered to people with mental illnesses is especially upsetting. Every single day in this country, hundreds of thousands of nurses treat adults and children who are living with mental illness. Those patients are regularly in crisis, and nurses consistently face them down without ever having to electrocute them into submission. If five police officers were unable to do the same thing with Chinedu without killing him, the problem is not Chinedu ? it?s the police officers. It?s the consistent impatience with black people in distress that is shown by law enforcement. The United States, particularly the United States government, seems to have long ago given up on completely reimagining how to solve its most complex problems. This much, though, should be obvious: Electrocuting people into submission is a horrible idea, no matter how supposedly ?less lethal? the weapon is. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Mon Oct 22 10:54:41 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2018 07:54:41 -0700 Subject: [News] SF - This Thursday - Women's Imprisonment from the U.S. to Palestine Event In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Cross Walls & Borders Women's Imprisonment from the U.S. to Palestine A /Teaching Palestine /Event *The U.S. and Israel have developed coordinated strategies of repression and imprisonment for decades which include the use of similar forms of gendered violence. Understanding the impact of imprisonment on women in both contexts and women?s counter-strategies for resistance can help us develop cross border solidarity and action.* * Presentation by Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, Professor San Francisco State University * Slideshow by California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) * Comments by Critical Resistance and Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee * Next steps for action *Thursday, October 25, 2018 ? 6:30 pm* *518 Valencia St., San Francisco * Presented by FireStorm , a project of CCWP and The AMED Teaching Palestine Project For more information and to RSVP, please visit event FB page. Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 23 13:43:01 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2018 10:43:01 -0700 Subject: [News] Military Courts in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Message-ID: http://www.addameer.org/publications/military-courts-occupied-palestinian-territory Military Courts in the Occupied Palestinian Territory October 23, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *_Background and History_* On June 7^th , 1967,? three proclamations and a series of military orders were issued as proclamations throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Proclamation Number 1, announced the administrative takeover of the Israeli military and the powers of preserving public security and order. Proclamation Number 2,? assured the continuity of a judiciary system, and declared the powers of the military commander of Israeli occupation forces. Finally, Proclamation Number 3, put forth legal procedures of Military Courts, and Order Number 3 established the military courts (initially Jerusalem, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, and Jericho). The Order Concerning Security Provisions was replaced in 1970 to a new order 378, ?Order Concerning Security Provisions? which has become the basis of the Military Courts which routinely administer the detention, interrogation, prosecution, trial, and sentencing of Palestinians.[1] <#_ftn1> Additional courts were opened during the first intifada (1987-1993) in Hebron and Jenin. Following, the Oslo Accords, these courts were closed.[2] <#_ftn2>?? Currently, there are two military courts which operate in the West Bank, Ofer Court and Salem Court, located in closed military zones, that prosecute Palestinians from the West Bank who are arrested by the Israeli military and charged with security violations (as defined by Israel) and other crimes. Not all Palestinians who are arrested are prosecuted in the military courts; some are released while others are administratively detained without trial (see administrative detention below). The conviction rate is 99% percent of those who are charged, and of these convictions, the vast majority are the result of plea bargains.[3] <#_ftn3> _Categorical and Geographical Scope of the Military System_ A wide-ranging set of military regulations governs every aspect of Palestinian civilian life, including when Palestinians living in the oPt are arrested and detained.? These military orders provide for a wide range of offenses divided into five categories: ?Hostile Terrorist Activity?; disturbance of public order; ?classic? criminal offenses; illegal presence in Israel; and traffic offenses committed in the oPt. These sweeping offenses criminalize many aspects of Palestinian civic life. As one example, even though Israel has been engaged in peace negotiations with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) since 1993, the political parties that compose the PLO are still considered ?illegal organizations.? Carrying a Palestinian flag is also a crime under Israeli military regulations. Participation in a demonstration is deemed a disruption of public order. Even pouring coffee for a member of a declared illegal association can be seen as support for a terrorist organization. These military courts are used to prosecute Palestinians living in the occupied territory, while Israel settlers living in illegal settlements in the occupied territory are prosecuted in civilian courts. In addition, it is military officers who make judgment and are therefore prone to bias.[4] <#_ftn4> It may be argued that the categorical and territorial scope the military court transcends its requirements under international law. The Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, also addresses the use of military courts in Article 66, which states: /In case of a breach of the penal provisions promulgated by it by virtue of the second paragraph of Article 64, the Occupying Power may hand over the accused to its *properly constituted, non-political military courts*, on condition that the said courts sit in the occupied country. Courts of appeal shall preferably sit in the occupied country /[emphasis added]/./[5] <#_ftn5> Under military order 1651 (2009), throwing stones is considered a ?security offence?, and its punishment is up to 20 years imprisonment. Additionally, the criminalization of civic activities by Military Order 101, results in the continued targeting of Palestinian students, activists, human rights defenders and civil society leaders. This targeting must be viewed in a broader context of systematic attempts by the Israeli occupation to suppress Palestinian civil society, which attempts to hold Israel accountable for the crimes committed against Palestinians. Evidence of this repression can be seen in the rate of arrest, which is perhaps another testimony. While international law stipulates that civilians may be prosecuted in military courts under a temporary basis, possibly reflecting the general conceptualization of occupation as a temporary situation, these courts have been used to prosecute Palestinians in the occupied territories for decades. Since 1967, approximately 800,000 Palestinians have been tried in these courts.[6] <#_ftn6> The geographical scope may also be contested in this regard. In contravention with the terms of territorial jurisdiction of the occupying power set forth by Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations, which states that ?the occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised,? the military court extends its jurisdiction to crimes in Rule of Criminal Responsibility Order (1968) even to alleged crimes not completely committed in the territory.[7] <#_ftn7> Additionally, the categorical scope of the violations addressed in the military court system are also contestable. Articles 64 and 66 of the Fourth Geneva Convention state that such courts should be for the use of violations which constitute a threat to the security of the state and threaten the lives of soliders.[8] <#_ftn8> Despite this, Palestinians are regularly brought to Ofer and Salem military courts for violations including ?trespassing?, ?public disturbance?, and even traffic violations.? The military legal system?s wide-reaching geographical and legal jurisdiction altogether have been seen to make way for ?extensive control by the military legal authorities? and for ?judicial domination of the army over the Palestinian civilian population?.[9] <#_ftn9> Military Order 101 which was issued in August 1967 at the onset of the occupation, criminalizes civic activities such as taking part in vigils, organizing and participating in protests, waving flags or other political symbols, even the printing and distributing of political material. In addition, ?support to a hostile organization? any activity that demonstrates sympathy for an organization that military orders deems illegal is itself illegal. This is despite that fact that the majority of Palestinian political parties are in fact illegal. The order also states that any assembly or a gathering of ten people or more as defined by the provisions that may be interpreted as political requires a permit. The order also prohibits the printing of political material without a permit from the military commander. The effect of such provisions is the prevention of civic political life in the occupied territory. This arguably violates aforementioned articles 64 and 66 of the Geneva conventions, which stipulate that the use of such military courts must be solely for the sake of charges which involving threats to the security of the state.[10] <#_ftn10> Altogether, such military orders criminalize civic activities. _Fair trial procedures_ According to international humanitarian law, Israel has the right to establish military courts in the oPt as an Occupying Power, but relevant international human rights and humanitarian law restrict the jurisdiction of such courts to violations of criminal security legislation. However, the jurisdiction of Israeli military courts is far broader and includes offenses outside of the relevant legislation. This overgrown jurisdiction has meant the inclusion of vast sections of the domestic Israeli criminal code into the operations of the military court. This has included the utilization of precedents from domestic Israeli cases in the military court itself. Meaning that Palestinian lawyers must be fully versed in all relevant domestic Israeli cases in order to effectively represent clients, putting them at a distinct disadvantage. Furthermore, it is questionable whether the use of military courts to try civilians can ever satisfy the requirements under international human rights law that require trials to take place before independent and impartial tribunals. Under international law, fundamental fair trial rights are guaranteed, but Israeli military courts consistently disregard these rights. Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention categorizes ?wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed in the present Convention? as a grave breach. Article 105 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Third Geneva Convention) 12 August 1949, which the Fourth Geneva Convention? indicates accused persons should benefit from, states: /The advocate or counsel conducting the defence on behalf of the prisoner of war shall have at his disposal a period of two weeks at least before the opening of the trial, as well as the necessary facilities to prepare the defence of the accused. He may, in particular, freely visit the accused and interview him in private. He may also confer with any witnesses for the defence, including prisoners of war. He shall have the benefit of these facilities until the term of appeal or petition has expired. /[11] <#_ftn11> The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has affirmed that certain International Human Rights Law (IHRL) instruments including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) are applicable in the occupied territory[12] <#_ftn12>. Article 14 (3) of the ICCPR states that individuals who are charged are entitled minimum guarantees, including the right to be informed promptly of charges, to be provided adequate time and facilities for his or her defence, and to be held in trial without undue delay.[13] <#_ftn13> Trial standards are also addressed under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) as codified by the Fourth Geneva Convention also indicate that, ?No sentence shall be pronounced by the competent courts of the Occupying Power except after a regular trial?[14] <#_ftn14>. The Fourth Geneva Convention also indicates in Article 71 that: /Accused persons who are prosecuted by the Occupying Power shall be promptly informed, in writing, in a language which they understand, of the particulars of the charges preferred against them, and shall be brought to trial as rapidly as possible./[15] <#_ftn15> Arrested persons living in the occupied territories are rarely ever told the charges against them, if there are any,[16] <#_ftn16> upon arrest. The absence of fair trial standards is also marked in the trials of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli custody when preparing for an adequate defense. Article 71 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that accused persons ?shall have the right to be assisted by a qualified advocate or counsel of their own choice, who shall be able to visit them freely and shall enjoy the necessary facilities for preparing the defence.?[17] <#_ftn17> A salient violation to this article involves severe restrictions upon visitation by counsel. According to an approximation by a former military prosecutor, nearly 60% of GSS-interrogated suspects were denied attorney-client meetings as a result of orders issued by General Security Service (GSS). These orders are effective up to one month from the arrest.[18] <#_ftn18> This may also be renewed by a military court for an additional 30 days, according to Military Court Order 1651. In addition, Ofer prison, which is located in the West Bank, does not have adequate meeting rooms for counsel. Palestinian lawyers generally cannot obtain permission to enter Israeli territory for the purpose of visitations to prisons. When visitations by counsel do take place, they are generally held from behind a glass and with a telephone conversations. Legal counsel of Addameer have indicated that the table is too small for holding up a notebook and that the facilities provided are inadequate for preparation of an adequate defense. Further, while Article 71 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that accused persons should have the aid of an interpreter during investigation and hearings (which are held in Hebrew),[19] <#_ftn19> translators in courtrooms (Arabic-speaking soldiers) are often unskilled in translation and unable therefore to provide appropriate interpretation, often leaving defendants unable to understand what is being said in the courtrooms.[20] <#_ftn20> _Conclusion_ In conclusion, the Military Court is an institution working hand in hand with the occupation. It is staffed by the occupation army, administered by its commanders, and passing judgment on the occupied. The formation of such an institution is in keeping with the letter of international humanitarian law, but not with its spirit. More than being an organ of justice, it is an organ of control providing a layer of legitimacy to the continued domination of the Palestinian people. *_Key Figures for the Military Court 2017*_[21]_* <#_ftn21>_* Indictments Filed in the Military Court 10,454 The percentage of indictments relating to ?Security Offences? 20% The percentage of indictments relating to ?Traffic Violations? 50% Administrative Detention orders handed down 1205 Total amount of fines paid to the military court 20 Million NIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ^^[1] <#_ftnref1> Yesh Din. (2007).?Backyard proceedings: The Implementation of Due Process Rights in the Military Courts in the Occupied Territories. [2] <#_ftnref2> Yesh Din. ?Backyard Proceedings: The Implementation of Due Process in the Military Courts in the Occupied Territories?. December 2007, pages 35-40. [3] <#_ftnref3> Official Report of the Work of the Military Courts in the West Bank in 2010 (Hebrew), published in 2011, Military Courts Report 2010. [4] <#_ftnref4> Yesh Din. ?Backyard Proceedings: The Implementation of Due Process in the Military Courts in the Occupied Territories?. December 2007. [6] <#_ftnref6> Addameer Documentation, 2017. [7] <#_ftnref7> Sharon Weill, ?The judicial arm of the occupation: the Israeli military courts in the occupied territories?. International Review of the Red Cross. Volume 89, no. 866. June 2007, pages 404. [8] <#_ftnref8> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287. [9] <#_ftnref9> Sharon Weill, ?The judicial arm of the occupation: the Israeli military courts in the occupied territories?. /International Review of the Red Cross/. Volume 89, no. 866. June 2007, pages 418-419. [10] <#_ftnref10> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287. [11] <#_ftnref11> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Third Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 135. [12] <#_ftnref12> International Court of Justice. 9 July 2004. ?Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory?. [13] <#_ftnref13> UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 999, p. 171 [15] <#_ftnref15> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287. [16] <#_ftnref16> See the section on Administrative Detention, following. [17] <#_ftnref17> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287. [18] <#_ftnref18> Yesh Din. ?Backyard Proceedings: The Implementation of Due Process in the Military Courts in the Occupied Territories?. December 2007, page 17. [19] <#_ftnref19> International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287. [21] <#_ftnref21> All figures were provided to Addameer by the Military Court itself. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 23 16:09:03 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2018 13:09:03 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Venezuela=E2=80=99s_Maduro_Meets_Commune_Leader?= =?utf-8?q?s=2C_Calls_for_Devolution_of_State_Power?= Message-ID: https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14110 Venezuela?s Maduro Meets Commune Leaders, Calls for Devolution of State Power By Paul Dobson - October 22, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ M?rida, October 22, 2018 (venezuelanalysis.com ) ? Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro led a gathering of commune leaders this weekend as part of the IV Congress of Communes and Social Movements, during which he made a series of important announcements in the area. The event follows a host of meetings by President Maduro during past months, withcampesinos in August , businesspeople and international investors in September, and more recently withworkers . The Commune Congress comes on the heels of a series of regional encounters to elect delegates of community leaders to participate. It was organised under the auspices of the Ministry for Communes, and whilst participation levels were unclear, unconfirmed reports suggested that some of the most self-sufficient communes did not participate. Speaking from Miraflores presidential palace where the congress was held, Maduro began byhighlighting some of his government?s failings in making progress towards the communal state. ?I think that if we review these six years [since Chavez?s passing], critically and self-critically we can say that only achieved and advanced half-heartedly,? he told community leaders gathered. Maduro spoke on the sixth anniversary of late President Chavez?s most emblematic final speech, known as ?Strike at the Helm,? in which he publicly criticized his ministers for failing to make promoting communal self-government their top priority. Communes are agglomerations of local communal councils, which according to Chavez?s vision, combine participatory democracy with socialized ownership of the means of production in a bottom-up effort aimed at gradually displacing the existing bourgeois state apparatus and constituting a decentralized, self-governing communal state. ?We haven?t advanced in the plan for the transfer of power to the communes. It has been simply speeches and applause. ?Let?s transfer power to the Communes? and then nothing. This is the government?s responsibility, which hasn?t completed the task! I tell you ministers, let?s make it happen, I want a detailed plan for the transfer of state power to the communes,? Maduro declared. The Chavista leader also specified that his orders are to take effect immediately , announcing,?I want to start next week to hand power over to the people in the communes, and I ask for your forgiveness for having failed in this aspect.? More communes and inclusion in the new constitution At the gathering, Maduro was presented with aseries of proposals from communal leaders .One of the proposals taken up by the president was a request that the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) place the series of laws regulating the organisations of popular power as a ?central nucleus of the new constitutional text,? effectively making them ?untouchable.? Maduro also called on community leaders and Communes Minister Blanca Eekhout to speed up the formation of the 403 communes needed to reach the target of 3,000 communal organisations in the country. ?In Venezuela there are 47,634 communal councils,? he explained. ?Of these, 23,418 are active with different levels of development and grouped into communes, of which there are 2,597 functioning,? he continued. However, many communal activists have been critical of government efforts to foster communes ?from above,? which they argue tends to stifle local initiative, resulting in corruption, deficits in democracy and transparency, as well as long term dependence on the state which they are meant to replace. Universities, micro missions, and communications Maduro also announced the creation of a new university following the demands of those present at the gathering, which will be known as the Bolivarian University of the Venezuelan Communes (UBCV). It is, though, unclear how the new educational institution will benefit the organised communities, or what topics are to be taught. Likewise, Maduro ordered the launch of the ?Nourishing the Nation? micro-mission which looks to strengthen the communityFood Houses in the poorest sectors of the country. Food Houses provide free or low cost food to the most needy, and are often run by the communities themselves. Equally, Maduro encouraged community leaders to step up their efforts in the communicational field, especially on social networking, as part of a bid to dispute the hegemony of the right-wing opposition in this crucial arena. Petro mining and crop sowing The president also approved the creation ofelectronic cryptocurrency mining installations in all of the communes and communal banks of the country, so as to reportedly enable them to ?self-finance? by generating Petros and other hard currencies. Cryptocurrency mining requires expensive high-tech computers and draws excessive amounts of electricity. An expansion in mining ?farms? was recentlyidentified as one of the causes of an electrical meltdown in Zulia State . Maduro also approved resources for the Communal Crop Plan 2018, which focuses on small scale production of white and yellow corn, high demand products in Venezuela that require relatively little secondary or tertiary processing. The plan looks to sew 200 hectares across the country both in urban and rural areas, with financing reportedly guaranteed for the ?seeds, storage, and logistics? necessary in production. Communal crop production has been aflagship policy of Maduro since 2013, when he urged Venezuela?s communities to start producing, even on a very small scale. Communal plots are normally owned, managed, and administered by the community, with the produce shared among or sold to the members of the same community. Whilst the vast majority are limited to primary production without the capital to invest in secondary or tertiary processing, some communities, such as El Maizal Commune in Lara State, have managed to achieve a significant degree of financial self-sufficiency, allowing them to acquire processing machines and produce with larger economies of scale. Unanswered demands The list of demands from the communal leaders also contained a series of elements which the president made no comment on during his speech to the Congress. Amongst the unanswered demands are calls for better efficiency and planning in public administration, especially in local government, the transfer of Orinoco Woods and unnamed cotton industries to community management, and the installation of a commune leader-government workgroup to identify state-run companies which may be transferred to communal administration. Delegates also requested that the government create a series of communally-run transport companies for public, cargo, land, and water transport. Likewise, they called on the government to culminate the long anticipated but incomplete rail networks set to link Venezuela?s key industrial sectors, such as Caracas, Miranda, Aragua, and Carabobo, as well as create a new network of cargo land transport to address problems affecting the distribution of products. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 24 11:48:20 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2018 08:48:20 -0700 Subject: [News] Why Israel targets Palestinian schools Message-ID: https://english.palinfo.com/articles/2018/10/24/A-cruel-choice-Why-Israel-targets-Palestinian-schools Why Israel targets Palestinian schools By Ramzy Baroud - October 24, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Several Palestinian students, along with teachers and officials, were wounded in the Israeli army attack on a school south of Nablus in the West Bank on 15 October. The students of Al- Sawiya Al-Lebban Mixed School were challenging an Israeli military order to shut down their school based on the ever-versatile accusation of the school being a ?site of popular terror and rioting?. ?Popular terror? is an Israeli army code for protests. The students, of course, have every right to protest, not just the Israeli military occupation but also the encroaching colonization of the settlements of Alie and Ma?ale Levona. These two illegal Jewish settlements have unlawfully confiscated thousands of dunams of land belonging to the villages of As-Sawiya and Al-Lebban. ?The Israeli citizens? that the occupation army is set to protect by shutting down the school, are, in fact, the very armed Jewish settlers who have been terrorizing this West Bank region for years. According to a 2016 study commissioned by the United Nations, at least 2,500 Palestinian students from 35 West Bank communities must cross through Israeli military checkpoints to reach their schools every day. About half of these students have reported army harassment and violence for merely attempting to get to their classes or back home. However, this is only half of the story, as violent Jewish settlers are always on the lookout for Palestinian kids. These settlers, who ?also set up their own checkpoints?, engage in regular violence as well, by ?throwing stones? at children, or ?physically pushing (Palestinian children) around.? ?UNICEF?s protective presence teams have reported that their volunteers have been subjected to physical attacks, harassment, arrest and detention, and death threats,? according to the same UN report. In other words, even the ?protectors? themselves often fall victim to the army and Jewish settler terror tactics. Add to this that Area C ? a major part of the West Bank that is under full Israeli military control ? represents the pinnacle of Palestinian suffering. An estimated 50,000 children face numerous hurdles, including the lack of facilities, access, violence, closure and unjustified demolition orders. The school of Al-Sawiya Al-Lebban located in Area C is, therefore, under the total mercy of the Israeli military, which has no tolerance for any form of resistance, including non-violent popular protests by school children. What is truly uplifting, however, is that, despite the Israeli military occupation and ongoing restrictions on Palestinian freedom, the Palestinian population remains one of the most educated in the Middle East. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the literacy rate in Palestine (estimated at 96.3 per cent) is one of the highest in the Middle East and the illiteracy rate (3.7 per cent among individuals over the age of 15) is one of the lowest in the world. If these statistics are not heartening enough, bearing in mind the ongoing Israeli war on Palestinian school and curricula, consider this: the besieged and war-stricken Gaza Strip has an even higher literacy rate than the West Bank, as they both stand at 96.6 per cent and 96 per cent respectively. In truth, this should not come as a total surprise. The first wave of Palestinian refugees that were ethnically-cleansed from historic Palestine was so keen on ensuring their children strive to continue their education, they established school tents, operated by volunteer teachers as early as 1948. Palestinians understand well that education is their greatest weapon to obtain their long-denied freedom. Israel, too, is aware of this dichotomy, knowing that an empowered Palestinian population is far more capable of challenging Israeli dominance than a subdued one, thus the relentless and systematic targeting of the Palestinian educational system. Israel?s strategy in destroying the infrastructure of Palestinian schooling system is centered on the allegation of ?terror?: that is, Palestinians teach ?terror? in their schools; Palestinian school books celebrate ?terrorists?; schools are sites for ?popular terror? and various other accusations that, per Israeli logic, compels the army to seal off schools, demolish facilities, arrest and shoot students. Take for example the recent comments made by the Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, who is now leading a government campaign aimed at shutting down operations by the UN organisation that caters for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. ?It is time to remove UNRWA from Jerusalem,? Barkat announced early October. Without any evidence whatsoever, Barkat claimed that ?UNRWA is strengthening terror,? and that ?the children of Jerusalem are taught under their auspices, terror, and this must be stopped.? Of course, Barkat is being dishonest. The jibe at UNRWA in Jerusalem is part of a larger Israeli-US campaign aimed at shutting down an organisation that proved central to the status and welfare of Palestinian refugees. According to this skewed thinking, without UNRWA, Palestinian refugees would have no legal platform, thus closing down UNRWA is closing down the chapter of Palestinian refugees and their Right of Return altogether. The link between the shutting down of Al-Sawiya Al-Lebban, the targeting of UNRWA by Israel and the US, the numerous checkpoints separating students from their schools in the West Bank and more, have more in common than Israel?s false allegation of ?terror?. Israeli writer, Orly Noy, summed up the Israeli logic in one sentence. /By destroying schools in Palestinian villages in Area C and elsewhere, Israel is forcing Palestinians to make a cruel choice ? between their land and their children?s futures./ she wrote earlier this year. It is this brutal logic that has guided the Israeli government strategy regarding Palestinian education for 70 years. It is a war that cannot be discussed or understood outside the larger war on Palestinian identity, freedom, and, in fact, the very existence of the Palestinian people. The students? fight for their right to education in Al-Sawiya Al-Lebban Mixed School is by no means an isolated skirmish involving Palestinian school kids and trigger-happy Israeli soldiers. Rather, it is at the heart of the Palestinian people?s fight for their freedom. /-?Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. / -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Thu Oct 25 11:50:26 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2018 08:50:26 -0700 Subject: [News] When the Klan Came to Town Message-ID: http://bostonreview.net/race/michael-mccanne-when-klan-came-town?fbclid=IwAR04As6NJwJTc8r93ZgPEF_ZksDDu-poKYHaxnOBfZGv4dRLS8VnUajqHow#.W9DPQaDox9g.facebook When the Klan Came to Town Michael McCanne ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Oct 23, 2018 ?The Great Army for Truth and Americanism Makes Rome Tremble? (1928); Image: Wikimedia History reminds us that firm and sometimes violent opposition to racists is a time-honored American tradition. In Perth Amboy, New Jersey, members of the Ku Klux Klan assembled to hear a xenophobic celebrity speak. An angry crowd gathered outside the building and as the lecture began inside, protestors interrupted the speaker and tried to shout him down. Eventually the crowd outside forced its way in. Scuffles broke out and several Klansmen were attacked. Later, the Klansmen complained that their constitutional rights had been violated and promised to return in larger numbers, ready to fight it out with their enemies. It is worth remembering that Americans have?a proud tradition of confronting?and exposing?racist and xenophobic movements. The confrontation could have taken place during the last year in Berkeley or Portland or any number of cities where racists and anti-racists have clashed. But the Perth Amboy riot was one of numerous confrontations with the Ku Klux Klan that occurred during the early 1920s. The Klan was in a second ascendency, riding a wave of anxiety about crime, immigration, and economic unrest, and like the alt-right today, the Klan sought out confrontations by rallying in unfriendly cities. In response to white supremacist organizing in our own time, radical voices on the left, notably Antifa, have drawn on the tradition of European resistance to fascists to declare that the appropriate response to racist organizing is physical opposition, doxing (publicly ?outing? racists), and violent retaliation. Liberal critics, on the other hand, have argued that Antifa tactics break with U.S. traditions of free speech, open debate, and civility. For the most part, both sides of the debate fail to note that the United States has a long history of homegrown militant resistance to racist organizing. In the 1920s, when the Klan sought to secure a place in the U.S. political mainstream by organizing large public demonstrations and mounting electoral campaigns, anti-Klan organizers confronted the KKK using a range of techniques that included open ridicule and violence. Their goals were similar to anti-racists of today: expose the bigots and deny them the ability to march or rally in public. This all-but-forgotten story serves to remind that as long as racist and xenophobic movements have mobilized in this country, Americans have struggled to confront and expose them using every option at hand. The Klan did return to Perth Amboy three months after the failed lecture, determined to show they would not be intimidated. They rented an Odd Fellows hall downtown and publicized their meeting. Perth Amboy was a multiracial, working-class city but Klan membership was strong in the surrounding countryside and 500 Klansmen, in robes and masks, marched into the building, believing their numbers, and the police, would protect them. In response, 6,000 protestors surrounded the Odd Fellows building carrying?bricks. The police called in the fire department to push them back with water but the crowd slashed the fire hoses with knives and axes. The police fired tear gas bombs, which did nothing to deter the demonstrators, and the Klansmen had to flee out the back door and fight their way through the streets. Most were badly beaten and some had their cars overturned. What seemed at first like organic anti-racist violence was actually the fruit of organized resistance. In the 1920s, several groups formed to prevent the Klan from gathering publically and to undermine the secrecy behind which they hid. This resistance comprised disparate communities?Catholics, Jews, African Americans, bootleggers, union organizers?unified against the KKK?s vision for the United States. Some organizations, such as the American Unity League, used public shaming and boycotts to counter the Klan?s influence, while a shadowy group known as the Knights of the Flaming Circle confronted the Klan more directly, blocking their marches and attacking their rallies. By the middle of?the 1920s, the KKK was politically mainstream. In some states, as many as a third of white men paid dues. The original Ku Klux Klan, formed by ex-Confederate soldiers after the Civil War, all but died out by the end of Reconstruction. Then, in 1915, inspired by D. W. Griffith?s film /Birth of Nation/, a veteran of the Spanish?American War named William J. Simmons recreated the Klan as a fraternal society dedicated to white supremacy/./ To inaugurate the new organization, Simmons and some friends climbed to the top of Stone Mountain, Georgia, and burned a cross?something they had seen in Griffith?s film but which had not been done by the original KKK. The Klan grew rapidly, thanks to a range of factors that included rising anti-immigrant sentiment, and the social and economic tumult of the early 1920s. Prohibition, universal suffrage, and rising crime caused many white Protestants to feel that their country was coming apart. The Klan capitalized on these anxieties. Its official newspaper, /The Fiery Cross/, detailed lurid crimes committed by foreigners and called for restricted immigration. The Klan of the 1920s especially targeted Catholics, playing on lingering suspicions from World War I that Catholics maintained dual loyalties and were part of a secret plot directed from Rome. Klan newspapers derided the ?Romans? and ?papists? in their midst. The Klan vigorously supported Prohibition and saw its enforcement as a way to terrorize immigrant communities?many Klansmen joined the newly formed Prohibition Unit. By the middle of the decade, the Klan was on the cusp of integrating into the center of U.S. political life. At its peak in 1925, it boasted between 2 and 5 million members. In some states, such as Indiana, perhaps as many as a third of white men were dues-paying KKK members. The organization successfully ran candidates in local and state elections and even caused a split between pro- and anti-Klan delegates at the 1924 National Democratic Convention. The organization downplayed its racism and emphasized patriotism, Christian values, and what it called ?100 percent Americanism.? When its parades and rallies were disrupted, the Klan claimed its constitutional rights were being violated. After one anti-Klan riot, the KKK?s Imperial Wizard released a statement lamenting that ?peaceable Americans banding themselves into a patriotic organization are prevented from exercising the same rights as Catholics, Jews and negroes.? The Klan thrived on secrecy so politicians, public officials, and?anti-racist activists aimed to strip away that veil. This played well in smaller cities and rural counties where most of the residents were native-born, white, and Protestant. But in larger cities across the industrial spine of the Midwest, where Catholics and immigrants made up large majorities, the response was open hostility. The Klan also ran into resistance in the steel and coal regions of Appalachia, where organized labor, especially the United Mine Workers Union, viewed the Klan as a threat to the multiethnic coalition it had built. African American organizations organized boycotts of businesses that supported the Klan and turned Emancipation Day celebrations into anti-Klan rallies. In New York and New Jersey, African Americans organized vigilance committees to defend their communities. In bigger cities, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish leaders spoke out against the Klan, as did the American Legion and the Knights of Columbus. Some public officials, especially Irish and Italian politicians, took exception to the Klan organizing in their cities and used their power to persecute its members. They passed laws requiring organizations to make their membership rolls public. They banned parading with masks, and in some places banned the Klan outright, despite the questionable legality of such a move. New York?s mayor, John H. Hylan, dispensed with legal niceties and ordered his police to crush the Klan, to break up its meetings, and seize its membership lists. When Chicago?s fire commissioner discovered that every man at one firehouse had joined the Klan, he had them split up and reassigned separately to Catholic and African American neighborhoods. In Chicago, a combative Irish Catholic lawyer named Patrick O?Donnell decided to go on the offensive. O?Donnell had been involved in Irish nationalist groups and he used these skills to organize the American Unity League (AUL), which was mainly made up of Catholics but included African American ministers and rabbis in its leadership. O?Donnell reasoned that the Klan thrived on secrecy and, much like anti-racist activists today, aimed to strip away that veil. He paid leakers for Klan membership rolls and sent informers into the organization. In some instances, the AUL broke into Klan offices to get the names. The lists were printed in the AUL newspaper, /Tolerance/, and in leaflets?a form of proto-doxing. Once exposed, workers lost their jobs and businessmen faced boycotts. In one prominent case, the president of a Chicago bank had to resign from his position. The AUL also used mockery to diminish the power of the Klan, whose bizarre lingo and silly titles provided easy fodder. Klan meetings were ?klonklaves,? a local chapter was called a ?klavern,? and the organization?s book of rules was the Kloran. The head of the Klan was called the Imperial Wizard, and local leaders were known as Exalted Cyclops. The AUL dubbed the Klansmen ?Kluxers? and ?Koo Koos.? It also published internal scandals of klaverns, tales of graft and adultery, as well as testimonies from Klansmen who had quit the organization. The tactics caused great distress among Klan leadership. The Klan?s paper decried the tactics of the ?Un-American Unity League? run by ?Mad Pat O?Donnell.? The Klan even mounted lawsuits against the AUL for slander and defamation, which ultimately crippled /Tolerance /financially. While the AUL battled the Klan in a publicity war, another, more secretive, organization called the Knights of the Flaming Circle emerged to confront the Klan. Little is known about this organization, but the /New York Times/ reported that around the same time as?the second clash in Perth Amboy, the Knights of the Flaming Circle was founded at a huge meeting in Kane, Pennsylvania, at which participants wore robes and set a thirty-foot-high circle on fire. In a letter to the local newspaper, the Knights declared their bitter opposition to the Klan and promised to ?ring the earth with justice to all? regardless of race or religion. Opposition to the 1920s Klan often made for strange bedfellows. Although the historical record on the Knights of the Flaming Circle is spotty, it seems they were committed to using the Klan?s own methods against them. The press dubbed them the ?Red Knights? because they purportedly wore red robes?although, unlike the Klan, they made a point of not wearing masks. They burned circles of hay or tires on Klansmen?s lawns. Like the AUL, the Knights also stole membership rolls and donation records, which they used to publically shame Klansmen, and organize boycotts of Klan-owned businesses. The Knights main function, though, was to disrupt Klan events and organize counterprotests. If the Klan mounted a surprise parade, the Knights would march the next day to voice their opposition. When the Klan announced an event in advance, the Knights would strive to block it in any way they could. In Canfield, Ohio, the Knights of the Flaming Circle scattered roofing tacks on the road to flatten the Klansmen?s tires on the way to a parade. When the Klan planned a march through Niles, Ohio, in 1924, the Knights of the Flaming Circle called a counterdemonstration of thousands. The mayor had granted a permit to the Klan?despite pleas from local citizens?but refused a permit to the Knights. On the morning of November 1, the Knights of the Flaming Circle set up roadblocks outside Niles, stopping Klansmen?s cars and seizing their regalia. Some of the cars were overturned and the occupants beaten up. The ones who made it through tried to march but scuffles devolved into a riot, which lasted eighteen hours; the Klan parade never took place. While some of the Knights were motivated by the Klan?s racism and xenophobia, others may have had different reasons. The Klan often attacked local liquor rackets, which in turn were more than willing to defend their businesses and communities with violence, and may well have played a significant role in the Knights. It is also possible that the Knights of the Flaming Circle was never a formal organization at all, but instead a name used to claim victories or rally support by various clandestine anti-Klan activists and bootleggers. In an interview many years later, a member from Youngstown, Ohio, said that the group was a ?thrown-together outfit? made up of local ethnic gangs and that the newspapers invented the image of an organization. Jonathan Kinser, who is completing a book on the Knights of the Flaming Circle, speculates that wire services helped spread the group?s legend across the country and inspired others to take up the name: ?People would read about the clashes and say, ?hey, let?s do it too.?? In places such as southern Illinois, however, the Knights seemed better organized?with meetings and officers?and more prepared to defend themselves against the Klan. In Williamson County, in what is known locally as the Klan War, the Red Knights?with the backing of miners, bootleggers, and the sheriff?battled with Klansmen who enjoyed the support of prohibition agents and local police. The tit-for-tat attacks left several people dead and forced the governor to bring in the National Guard to restore the peace. For those who joined the Klan for a sense of belonging, the risks started to outweigh the benefits. Opposition to the 1920s Klan often made for strange bedfellows. Democrats and Republicans both found themselves battling to keep the Klan out of political life. Immigrant communities that were at each other?s throats, such as the Irish and Italians, joined forces to smash up Klan parades. The Catholic Church found itself on the same side as bootleggers. In short, the Klan had?grown so large and antagonized so many communities that?anti-Klan activity represented a diverse swath of the country. The Klan used violence and intimidation to achieve its goals, but seemed overwhelmed when it was opposed by the same tactics, particularly in the North and Midwest. The violent disturbances tarnished the Klan?s reputation as a respectable political organization and in many instances forced the Klan to give up trying to rally and organize in cities that were not dominated by sympathetic residents. According to Kinser, the targeted violence against Klansmen, especially by those with ties to bootlegging, caused a precipitous decline in membership in the Midwest. For those who joined the Klan for a sense of belonging or were motivated by anger over illegal alcohol or immigration, the risks started to outweigh the benefits. By 1926 the Klan had lost all but a symbolic presence in the North, and by the end of the decade, the second iteration of the Ku Klux Klan had collapsed under the weight of public scandals, declining membership, and external opposition. The number of white supremacists organizing today is nowhere near that of the 1920s. But their ranks have increased since the 2016 election, and they are gaining influence in the government and at the margins of electoral politics, riding high on a wave of xenophobia and perceived white victimization. Opposition to them is also growing, but so far only on the hard left. This history reminds us, though, that firm and sometimes violent opposition to racists is a time-honored American tradition, one that has in the past enjoyed support from across the political spectrum, by citizens who may have agreed on little else. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Fri Oct 26 17:21:49 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2018 14:21:49 -0700 Subject: [News] Tax Havens and Other Tricks Let U.S. Firms Steal $180 Billion Message-ID: https://theintercept.com/2018/10/26/tax-havens-and-other-dirty-tricks-let-u-s-corporations-steal-180-billion-from-the-rest-of-the-world-every-year/ Tax Havens and Other Tricks Let U.S. Firms Steal $180 Billion From the Rest of the World Every Year Jon Schwarz - October 26, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _Are tax havens_ an enraging but tangential subject? Or do they have a powerful effect on how the U.S. economy functions and should therefore be a part of every political debate? The startling findings of a new academic study ?indicate that it?s the latter. Titled ?The Exorbitant Tax Privilege,? the paper is co-written by Thomas Wright and University of California, Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman, one of the world?s top authorities on tax havens and author of the best layperson?s introduction to the subject, ?The Hidden Wealth of Nations .? Tax havens ? the most significant include Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, and Bermuda ? serve two purposes. The first is tax /evasion /by individuals, which is illegal. Think of Russian or Nigerian plutocrats transferring their assets to small Caribbean nations with strict banking secrecy laws, freeing them from the dreary necessity of paying taxes in their home countries. The second is tax /avoidance /by huge multinational corporations, which ? as long as the lawyers are doing their jobs ? is perfectly legal. Here imagine Apple using various forms of accounting chicanery to claim that tens of billions of its profits generated in countries with normal corporate tax rates were actually all made in Ireland , where Apple had negotiated a special 2 percent tax rate for itself. (Apple has on occasion gone even further, asserting that some of its profits were made, for the purposes of taxation, in no country at all.) Zucman conservatively estimated in his book ?that tax avoidance and evasion translate into hundreds of billions of dollars in unpaid taxes every year ? money that, for the most part, ends up in the pockets of the world?s wealthiest people. The Zucman and Wright paper addresses the multinational corporation part of the equation. Among their conclusions: ? As of 1970, American multinationals claimed that under 10 percent of their profits were generated in tax havens; that number is now, preposterously enough, almost 50 percent. In other words, U.S. companies want us to believe that nearly half their economic activity is occurring in places like the Cayman Islands. Goldman Sachs, for instance, has 511 subsidiaries there, yet zero offices. By contrast, European multinationals generally say under 20 percent of their profits were made in tax havens. U.S. multinationals engage in this white shoe, three-card monte for obvious reasons: They pay effective tax rates of 27 percent on profits generated in non-tax havens, the paper finds, and 7 percent in tax havens. ? The sheer fraudulence of tax havens has reached breathtaking levels. One clear measure of whether a multinational corporation is engaging in genuine economic activity in a country is the ratio of its reported profits to wages paid: The higher the ratio, the clearer it is that profits are being illegitimately claimed in that country because of its low tax rate. In non-tax haven countries, the average ratio is 36 percent ? that is, corporations report 36 cents in pre-tax profits for every $1 they paid in wages. By contrast, the ratio has been as high as 800 percent for foreign multinationals in Ireland and an eye-popping 1,625 percent in Puerto Rico. ? For decades, thanks in part to tax havens, both the statutory and effective tax rates for multinationals have been steadily ratcheted down around the world. Since the early 1990s, the rate paid by U.S. non-oil multinationals on foreign profits has fallen from 35 percent to 20 percent. ? Similarly, the tax rate paid by U.S. oil companies to foreign governments plummeted from an average of 70 percent before the 1991 Gulf War to 45 percent since ? a peculiar phenomenon which, Zucman and Wright say, may reflect ?a return on military protection granted by the United States to oil-producing States.? (Tax rates for oil multinationals are higher than for other corporations because hydrocarbon states have greater leverage ? for example, Ivanka Trump can transfer the production of her shoe line from Bangladesh to Ethiopia, but Exxon can?t threaten to move an oil extraction project from the United Arab Emirates to Belgium.) U.S. oil multinationals are also astonishingly profitable: From 1966 to 2010, their pre-tax foreign profits accounted for over a third of all the foreign profits of U.S.-based multinationals. U.S. Global Power Taken together, this all suggests that tax havens play a measurable role in bolstering U.S. global power. The U.S. has for decades bought much more from other countries than?it has sold them, and?its accumulated foreign debt is now far larger than that of any other country ? about $8 trillion, or more than 40 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. This $8 trillion is the difference between $35 trillion in foreign investments in U.S. assets and $27 trillion in U.S. investments in foreign assets. Under normal economic logic, this should mean huge amounts of money would drain out of the U.S. economy each year, as foreigners collect returns on their American assets. Yet somehow America?s returns on our foreign assets are so much higher than foreign returns on their U.S. assets that the opposite happens ? money keeps flowing /into /the U.S. Zucman and Wright estimate that almost half of the difference between U.S. returns and foreign returns can be attributed to abnormally low tax rates for U.S. multinationals, which in turn are thanks to U.S. power and tax havens. If their conclusions are correct, this exorbitant tax privilege translates into about $180 billion per year, or almost 1 percent of U.S. GDP. (If 1 percent doesn?t sound like a lot to you, remember that for the past decade the U.S. economy has usually grown between just 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent per year.) In a fairer world economy, this money would largely be collected by non-tax haven foreign governments in taxes. Instead, it flows to U.S. multinationals and their shareholders. This is a blizzard of statistics, of course. But they have many intriguing implications ? ones that go beyond what Zucman and Wright?s?report?says ? which suggest that the effects of tax havens will show up in numerous political issues to which they seem unconnected. First, if U.S. elites were intelligent enough to understand the implications of?tax havens ? by no means a foregone conclusion ? they would likely squelch any serious effort to eliminate them. This is not just because the wealthy disproportionately own U.S. stock and directly benefit from tax avoidance by U.S. multinationals. It?s also because shutting down tax havens could lower the returns on our foreign assets. This in turn would force the U.S. to submit to the normal laws of economic gravity and cause the dollar to weaken. This would be good for many normal Americans because it would boost U.S. manufacturing. But this would be quite unpalatable to U.S. elites because a weaker dollar makes the U.S. relatively poorer compared to the rest of the world and thus, reduces our might on the global stage.?(Closing tax havens should also reduce inequality in the U.S. by reducing corporate profits.) Then there?s the fact that the fall in corporate tax rates over the past decades isn?t over. Prior to the passage of the GOP tax bill last year, corporations theoretically were required to pay U.S. tax rates on profits booked in foreign countries when they repatriated the profits back to the U.S. (In practice, they just never brought the money home.) But the 2017 bill changed the rules. Now any money that corporations claim they made in a foreign country will only be liable for that country?s taxes. Thus, companies will have even more incentive to bogusly shift profits to tax havens. The bill also slashed the U.S. statutory corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, purportedly because America had to be ?competitive? with other countries with lower rates. This will now put pressure on those countries to further lower their corporate tax rates to compete with us. Once they do, multinationals will use that to demand lower corporate tax rates in the U.S. And so on. There?s also the issue of who has what power in the U.S.-Saudi relationship in the wake of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Pundits have confidently proclaimed that because the Saudis now produce a smaller proportion of world oil than in the past, we now need them less. But U.S. elites don?t just care about Saudi influence on the price of oil, they care about U.S. involvement in the extraction and refining of all the Persian Gulf?s hydrocarbons. If the U.S. truly broke with the Riyadh, the Saudis and their similarly oil-rich Gulf allies might attempt to punish U.S. oil multinationals by turning to the oil multinationals of Russia or China. And take the issue of statehood for Puerto Rico, something which would likely increase the power of the Democratic Party in Congress. Puerto Rico has been a tax haven for the pharmaceutical industry for decades and more recently, has been trying to market itself as a tax haven for superwealthy individuals. If Puerto Rico became a state, both corporations and a lot of hedge fund expatriates would find themselves paying U.S. tax rates, and hence, they both can be counted on to lobby extremely hard against it ever happening. Taxes Versus Smallpox and Golf All in all, the continuing metastasizing of tax havens around the world should be a central preoccupation of economists beyond outliers like Zucman ? as well as front-page news and fascinating to everyone. Yet it?s not. Why? Almost 100 years ago, the acerbic misanthrope H.L. Mencken wrote an essay about academic economists. The subject of taxation, Mencken said, ?is eternally lively; it concerns nine-tenths of us more directly than either smallpox or golf, and has just as much drama in it.? Yet somehow, Mencken wrote, economists have made taxes and economics in general seem mind-crushingly boring. This happens, Mencken explained, because there are many academic subjects ? math, archeology, Latin grammar ? about which the superrich don?t care. But economics ?hits the employers of the professors where they live. ? It is, in brief, the science of the ways and means whereby they have come to such estate, and maintain themselves in such estate, that they are able to hire and boss professors. ? over practically every [economist] there stands a board of trustees with its legs in the stock-market and its eyes on the established order, and that board is ever alert for heresy in the science of its being.? Economists therefore have every incentive to be extremely orthodox, extremely dull, and never communicate ?the violet of human interest? to the rest of the world. We?re lucky that Zucman & Co. have ignored these incentives. ?Some people in economics feel,? Zucman?said , ?that economics should be only about efficiency, and that talking about distributional issues and inequality is not what economists should be doing.? He?s even been accused of engaging in ?French economics,? whatever that means. Fortunately, he and his colleagues continue to focus on what truly matters and have the talent to inform the rest of us. Top photo: An evening view of the city of Geneva, Switzerland, on Aug. 11, 2018. Switzerland is one of the world?s best-known tax havens. -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Mon Oct 29 16:24:48 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2018 13:24:48 -0700 Subject: [News] Jair Bolsonaro Is Elected President of Brazil. Read His Extremist, Far-Right Positions in His Own Words Message-ID: https://theintercept.com/2018/10/28/jair-bolsonaro-elected-president-brazil/ Jair Bolsonaro Is Elected President of Brazil. Read His Extremist, Far-Right Positions in His Own Words Andrew Fishman - October 28, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _Jair Bolsonaro was_ elected president of Brazil on Sunday evening. The far-right candidate received more than 55 percent of valid votes. His opponent, Fernando Haddad of the Workers? Party, received less than 45 percent. In a country with compulsory voting, almost 29 percent of adults preferred to annul or not cast their ballot. Across Brazil, city streets echoed with fireworks, shouts, and car horns as preliminary election results came in. Thousands of supporters, many dressed in green and yellow, assembled outside the president-elect?s beach-front residence in Rio de Janeiro. On S?o Paulo?s main street, Avenida Paulista, police used tear gas to separate Haddad and Bolsonaro voters. Bolsonaro, who has taken aim at the media throughout his campaign, chose to make his first statement after the election via Facebook Live, rather than a press conference. ?We could not continue to flirt with socialism, communism, populism, and the extremism of the left,? he said. The broadcast was picked up by major TV networks, but repeatedly froze due to connection issues. ?All of the promises made to?political groups and the people will be kept,? he added. Soon after, he stepped outside, made a brief statement to the media, and asked a key supporter, Sen. Magno Malta, to lead the group in prayer. He then read a prepared statement and took questions from a representative of the press. The Workers? Party originally ran former President Luiz In?cio Lula da Silva as their candidate, and he was the clear favorite in the polls. However, they were forced to swap him out at the last minute for Haddad,?a former mayor of S?o Paulo who had failed to win re-election in 2016, after Lula was sent to prison on a questionable corruption conviction, and it became clear that higher courts would not overturn the sentence . Hindered by a late start and the lack of a national profile, Haddad struggled to gain name recognition and failed to distance himself from public perceptions that linked his party to corruption and the status quo. Nonetheless, with the strong base of the Workers? Party and?the?message, ?Haddad is Lula,? the 55-year-old academic was able to scrape his way through the first round of elections on October 7, taking 29 percent of the vote in a 13-way contest. This year?s elections were particularly fraught, marked by dramatic polarization , political violence , and massive disinformation campaigns on social media, in a country?that has been roiled by years of social, economic, and political crises. Since 2013, millions of people of all political stripes have repeatedly?taken to the streets in protest ;?Brazil has struggled to climb out of the worst recession in history; massive corruption scandals have destabilized political institutions and major economic players; former President Dilma Rousseff (also?from the Workers? Party) was impeached on dubious grounds; her successor, President Michel Temer (the most despised leader in Brazil?s democratic history ), has pushed through a series of unpopular austerity measures; and Lula was jailed, a process?that has exposed the judiciary to relentless criticism for perceived partisanship. In short, every major political institution has?been increasingly discredited as Brazil has spiraled deeper and deeper into a dark void. And from the abyss emerged a former army captain and six-term congressman from Rio de Janeiro, Jair Bolsonaro, with?the slogan ?Brazil above everything, God above everyone,? and promises to fix everything with hard-line tactics. Seven years ago, Bolsonaro was a punchline for the political humor program CQC, where he?d make outrageous statements. A former presenter, Monica Iozzi, said they interviewed him multiple times ?so people could see the very low level of the representatives we were electing.? Now, it?s Bolsonaro who is laughing, and Iozzi says she regrets giving him airtime . Riding the wave of public discontent, Bolsonaro campaigned against the Workers? Party, corruption, politicians, crime, ?cultural Marxism,? communists, leftists, secularism, and ?privileges? for historically marginalized groups.?Instead, he favored??traditional family values,? ?patriotism,? nationalism, the military, a Christian nation, guns, increased police violence , and neoliberal economics that he promises will revitalize the economy. Despite his actual political platform being short on specific proposals, the energy around his candidacy was enough to win the presidency and turn his previously insignificant Social Liberal Party into the second-largest bloc in Congress. But what has frightened his opponents, many international observers , and even some fervent Workers? Party critics , are Bolsonaro?s repeated declarations in favor of Brazil?s military dictatorship,?torture, extrajudicial police killings, and violence against LGBTQ people, Afro-Brazilians, women, indigenous people, minorities, and political opponents, as well as his opposition to democratic norms and values. Here?is Brazil?s next president in his own words over the years. In the coming months, Brazil and the world will discover if Bolsonaro will make good on?these drastic promises?when he takes office on January 1, 2019: ?I am in favor of a dictatorship, a regime of exception.? ? Open session of the C?mara dos Deputados , 1993 /Interviewer: If you were the president of the Republic today, would you close the National Congress?/ ?There?s no doubt about it. I?d do a coup on the same day! It [the Congress] doesn?t work! And I?m sure at least 90?percent of the population would throw a party, would applaud, because it does not work. Congress today is good for nothing, brother, it just votes for what the president wants. If he is the person who decides, who rules, who trumps the Congress, then let?s have a coup quickly, go straight to a dictatorship.? ? C?mara Aberta TV program , May 23, 1999 ?The /pau-de-arara/ [a torture technique] works. I?m in favor of torture, you know that. And the people are in favor as well.? ? C?mara Aberta TV program , May 23, 1999 ?Through the vote, you will not change anything in this country, nothing, absolutely nothing! It will only change, unfortunately, when, one day, we start a civil war here and do the work that the military regime did not do. Killing some 30,000, starting with FHC [then-President Fernando Henrique Cardoso], not kicking them out, killing! If some innocent people are going to die, fine, in any war, innocents die.? ? C?mara Aberta TV program , May 23, 1999 ?I will not fight nor discriminate, but if I see two men kissing in the street, I?ll hit them.? ? Folha de S?o Paulo newspaper , May 19, 2002 ?I?m a rapist now. I would never rape you, because you do not deserve it ? slut!? ? Rede TV , speaking to Congresswoman Maria do Ros?rio, November 11, 2003 ?I would be incapable of loving a homosexual child. I?m not going to act like a hypocrite here: I?d rather have my son die in an accident than show up with some mustachioed guy. For me, he would have died. ? ?If your son starts acting a little gay, hit him with some leather, and he?ll change his behavior.? ? Participa??o Popular, TV C?mara , October 17, 2010 /Preta Gil, actress and singer: If your son fell in love with a black woman, what would you do?/ ?Oh, Preta, I?m not going to discuss promiscuity with whoever it is. I do not run this risk and my children were very well raised and did not live in the type of environment that, unfortunately, you do.? ? CQC, TV Bandeirantes , March 28, 2011 ?If a homosexual couple comes to live next to me, it will devalue my home! If they walk around holding hands and kissing, that devalues it.? ? Playboy Magazine , June 7, 2011 /Interviewer: Are you proud of the story of Hitler?s life?/ ?No, pride, I don?t have, right?? /Interviewer: Do you like him?/ ?No. What you have to understand is the following: War is war. He was a great strategist.? ? CQC, TV Bandeirantes , March 26, 2012 /Interviewer: Have you ever hit a woman before?/ ?Yes. I was a boy in Eldorado, a girl was getting in my face ?? /Interviewer: Put her against the wall, a few taps? Pah!/ ?No, well, no ? [laughs] I?m married. My wife isn?t going to like this response.? ? CQC, TV Bandeirantes , March 26, 2012 ?[Homosexuals] will not find peace. And I have [congressional] immunity to say that I?m homophobic, yes, and very proud of it if it is to defend children in schools.? ? TWTV , June 5, 2013 ?I would not employ [a woman] with the same salary [of a man]. But there are many women who are competent.? ? SuperPop, RedeTV! , February 15, 2016 ?Beyond Brazil above all, since we are a Christian country, God above everyone! It is not this story, this little story of secular state. It is a Christian state, and if a minority is against it, then move! Let?s make a Brazil for the majorities. Minorities have to bow to the majorities! The law must exist to defend the majorities. Minorities must fit in or simply disappear!? ? Event in Campina Grande, Para?ba , February 8, 2017 ?Violence is combated with violence.? ? The Noite with Danilo Gentili, SBT , March 20, 2017 ?I went with my three sons. Oh, the other one went too, there were four. I have a fifth also. I had four men and on the fifth, I had a moment of weakness and a woman came out.? ? Speech at the Hebraica Club, Rio de Janeiro , April 3, 2017 ?If I [become president], there won?t be any money for NGOs. These worthless [people] will have to work. If I get there, as far as I?m concerned, every citizen will have a firearm in their home. You will not have a centimeter demarcated for indigenous reserves or /quilombolas/?[settlements of the descendants of escaped and freed slaves that have protected status].? ? Speech at the Hebraica Club, Rio de Janeiro , April 3, 2017 ?Has anyone ever seen a Japanese begging for charity? Because it?s a race that has shame. It?s not like this race that?s down there, or like a minority ruminating here on the side.? ? Speech at the Hebraica Club, Rio de Janeiro , April 3, 2017 ?The big problem in Brazil is that the government is at the jugular of businessmen. ? The worker will have to decide: less rights and employment or all the rights and unemployment.? ? Event in Deerfield Beach, FL , October 8, 2017 ?I?ll give carte blanche for the police to kill.? ? Event in Deerfield Beach, FL , October 8, 2017 ?Since I was single at the time, I used the money from my [congressional] housing stipend to get laid.? ? TV Folha , January 11, 2018 ?This group, if they want to stay here, will have to put itself under the law of all of us. Leave or go to jail. These red marginals will be banished from our homeland.? ? Live video address to a rally in S?o Paulo , October 21, 2018 ?You will not have any more NGOs to quench your leftist hunger. It will be a cleansing never before seen in the history of Brazil.? ? Live video address to a rally in S?o Paulo , October 21, 2018 ?You will see a proud Armed Forces which will be collaborating with the future of Brazil. You, /petralhada /[a derogatory term for Workers? Party supporters]?will see a civilian and military police with a judicial rearguard to enforce the law on your backs.? ? Live video address to a rally in S?o Paulo , October 21, 2018 * Update: October 28, 2018, 8:02 p.m. BRT */This post has been updated with details about the election results and Bolsonaro?s first statement as president-elect./ *Update: October 28, 2018, 9:25 p.m. BRT* /This post has been updated with final election results./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 30 10:17:38 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2018 07:17:38 -0700 Subject: [News] Brazil: The Indispensable Need for Resistance Message-ID: http://resumen-english.org/2018/10/brazil-the-indispensable-need-for-resistance/ Brazil: The Indispensable Need for Resistance By Carlos Azn?rez on October 28, 2018 The die is cast. There are no longer any polls that can be used to draw un provable results. The truth is that a fascist has come to the presidency of Brazil by a vote of millions. The fact is serious from any point of view, and not only for Brazilians, but this vote will undoubtedly have an unpredictable impact on the rest of the continent and beyond. The Nazi Bolsonaro won by nearly a ten point advantage thanks to many factors that will have to be analyzed starting from this very moment. One of them, the fundamental one, is this insistence from many popular sectors of not taking into account that in the framework of these bourgeois democracies that they are absolutely controlled by the enemies of the peoples. To continue to insist on voluntarily competing in that racket is like putting your arm in the mouth of a hungry lion. Let?s see if we can convince ourselves that when they say ?democracy? they are announcing precisely the exact opposite of what we imagine. At this point in time, after a new test of playing the game on the enemy?s field, with Lula, a popular leader handcuffed and censored, it would have been better to withdraw from the competition all together, denouncing it and explaining that in those conditions the fraud was consummated. Bolsonaro would have won anyway but at least the political fact would have been made to show that those institutions that call themselves ?sovereign? are not, and instead have become the great trap of authentic democracy; popular democracy, participatory and arising from the grassroots and not from campaigns of mass intoxication. There are several elements that paved the way for this failed path like the repeated tricks of the hegemonic media; the liars and makers of scenarios as fictitious as they are effective that were drilled into the brains of many people with zero political consciousness. To this must be added the ?imprisoned Lula? effect, which was useful for the opposition in removing him from the scene, with charges of corruption never proven. Not only that, but then working to humiliate him and diminish his charisma so as to not influence the results. Then there will have to be computed other unavoidable elements that have masked the victory of those who have carried out an electoral campaign loaded with threats to the popular sectors and who have opened the door to sectarian violence, very similar to that experienced by Germany in the brutal days of Adolf Hitler. In this regard, we must not forget just how big a role that the reactionary evangelical Pentecostal churches played in turning Bolsonaro into the ?angel of salvation? in their sermons while characterizing ?Lula and his followers as the ?demons? to be destroyed. Another issue to bear in mind is how the anti-PT vote has played out, as a result of many lies, but also the acts of corruption in which several of its leaders undoubtedly fell into. In this aspect, the onslaught of the right was fed by this reality. To continue denying it at this point is of no use. And in no way does this take away from the many positive aspects of the PT, especially in Lula?s time. Now, as Joao Pedro Stedile of the MST said, and as Fernando Haddad himself repeated on his post-election night speech; the only great path left to the Brazilian people is that of resistance. In order to do this, it is useless to become discouraged or fall into depressive wells no matter how hard this blow is received. It is important to emphasize the role that many in Brazil have played all these years. There has been the constant and militant Landless and the Homeless movements, also the recent strength given to the struggle by women and sexual dissidents, who have not stopped fighting for a single day, many times submerged in the impotence of not being heard by those who had the obligation to do so. There have been thousands who have confronted hit men, millionaire landowners, Mother Earth?s predators, xenophobes, racists and more. For them, talking about resistance is commonplace and surely, because they are part of those who have threatened Bolsonario in the electoral campaign, they will have to continue to be in the front line of the battle against the plundering and oppressive bourgeoisie. The issue is to not to leave them out there by themselves, as happened in part during several periods of the Temer government. They are part of a vanguard of popular unity that will have to be built step by step from this point on, including incorporating the Brazilian trade union movement. It is essential there and in other countries that suffer right-wing tyrannies that their respective fuhrers (with Bolsonaro at the head) do not find governance easy, there must be a wearing down of their authoritarian mandate, rejecting their bravado and denouncing their brutalities locally and internationally. Fascism ?made in Brazil? cannot be given the slightest advantage in these four years mandate. In the name of Marielle Franco, for Moa and for all the young people who have fallen from the hands of ?barbarity of Bolsonaro?s ?black shirts?. http://www.resumenlatinoamericano.org/2018/10/28/brasil-la-indispensable-necesidad-de-la-resistencia-por-carlos-aznarez/ Source: Resumen Latinoamericano, translated by North America bureau -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 30 12:09:08 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2018 09:09:08 -0700 Subject: [News] Israel kills children and protester despite ceasefire Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-kills-children-and-protester-despite-ceasefire Israel kills children and protester despite ceasefire Maureen Clare Murphy - 29 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian protester in Gaza on Monday, one day after killing three children in an airstrike. Muhammad Abd al-Hay Abu Ubada, 27, was fatally shot during a naval march in protest of Israel?s air, sea and land blockade on Gaza, approaching its 12th year. Eighty others were injured during the protests, including 15 wounded by live fire. Seven medical workers, including volunteer paramedics, were injured by live fire and tear gas, according to Gaza?s health ministry. Video appears to show a medic who was shot in the leg on Monday: ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 29, 2018 Palestinians across Gaza also protested the killing of three teenage boys in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday. Many demanded that Palestinian resistance groups retaliate against Israel: ???? ??? ????? ?? ???????? ??? #??? ??? ???? ??????? ???????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ??????? ??????? ??? ???.#?????_??????? pic.twitter.com/qiktEaJ9dC ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 29, 2018 ???? ?? ??????? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ??????? ???????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ???????? ?????? ????? ???? ???????#?????_??????? #?????_??????? pic.twitter.com/xJnf4anB7x ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 29, 2018 "?? ????? ?? ????..???? ???? ?? ????".. ?????? ????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ??? ??????? ????? ?????? ???? ????????#?????_??????? pic.twitter.com/ifmALAC67a ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 28, 2018 "?????? ??? ????????..?? ????? ??? ????".. ???? ??????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ??????? ???????? ????? ????? ???? ???????? ??? ??? ?????#?????_??????? pic.twitter.com/cg73xB6xZF ? ???? ??? ????????? (@qudsn) October 28, 2018 The children ? identified as Khalid Bassam Mahmoud Abu Said, 14, Abd al-Hamid Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Abu Thahir, 13, and Muhammad Ibrahim Abdallah al-Satari, 15 ? were struck by at least one missile near the Gaza-Israel boundary fence east of Deir al-Balah, according to Al Mezan, a rights group based in the territory. Israeli forces fired at paramedics and prevented them from reaching the children, who were wounded by shrapnel throughout their bodies, for two hours. Israel stated that it had targeted a group of Palestinians who were attempting to place an explosive device near the boundary fence. That claim was rejected by the boys? families, who said that the young friends were trapping birds on land owned by one of the children?s families when they were hit. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, condemned the ?deliberate? killing of the children and appealed to the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel?s ?flagrant war crimes being committed against the Palestinians.? The UN?s Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov expressed his sympathies to the boys? families, saying ?such tragedies must be avoided at all costs?: My sympathies go out to the families of the 3 #Palestinian children killed yesterday as a result of an #Israeli airstrike in #Gaza . Such tragedies must be avoided at all costs. Children must be protected, not exposed to #violence or put in danger @UNICEFpalestine #UN ? Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) October 29, 2018 The killing of the three children came after intense military escalation in Gaza overnight Friday. Military escalation Israeli warplanes struck dozens of sites across Gaza, including densely populated areas, late Friday and early Saturday after armed groups in Gaza fired rockets into Israel. Israel?s air force said it hit 95 targets on Friday and Saturday before a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian resistance and political group in Gaza. Israeli officials attributed the rocket fire from Gaza to a power struggle between Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which administers the internal affairs in the territory, and has been involved with indirect talks with Israel to ease the blockade and tensions along the boundary. The Israeli military destroyed a four-story building in Gaza City that it said served as Hamas? general security forces headquarters. Israel has taken the line that it will hold Hamas responsible for any fire from Gaza even if it doesn?t believe the group is behind the launching of rockets. In addition to terrorizing Gaza?s civilian population and destroying buildings, the bombing caused schools to suspend class on Saturday. The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza was damaged when Israeli warplanes bombarded a nearby military training site. No injuries were reported. Photos showed damage to the hospital: Indonesian Hospital in #Gaza damaged after escalation in the vicinity last night. Vital health services were disrupted, with seriously ill patients evacuated. WHO calls for the protection of health facilities at all times. Health care is #NotATarget . pic.twitter.com/oihEcnffLF ? WHO-oPt (@WHOoPt1) October 27, 2018 Gaza?s health ministry deplored the targeting of the area of the hospital, ?causing serious material damage, as well as terrorizing patients and medical crews,? and disrupting operations at the facility. COGAT, the bureaucratic arm of Israel?s military occupation, took to social media to defend itself from accusations that it deliberately caused harm to a hospital. ?Israel does everything in its power to prevent damage to hospitals and civilians, however, Palestinian terror groups continue to purposefully place military sites containing weaponry adjacent to civilian infrastructure,? COGAT claimed . During Israel?s 51-day bombardment of Gaza in summer 2014, however, 24 ambulances and 70 medical facilities were damaged or destroyed and 11 ambulance drivers and civil defense workers were killed. In some cases, ambulances and facilities appear to have been deliberately targeted by Israel. The damage to the Indonesian Hospital comes one month after a school run by the United Nations was hit by an Israeli artillery shell in southern Gaza?s Khan Younis. COGAT decries damaged checkpoint Meanwhile COGAT decried damage caused by Palestinian fire to the ambulance crossing at Erez checkpoint, where the Israeli military controls movement of people in and out of the Gaza Strip. COGAT described the crossing as one through which ?children in need of life-saving treatment, terminally ill patients for whom this is their last hope to extend their lives, and those in need of the progress of world medicine to provide a response to their diseases, enter Israel on a daily basis.? Israel denied exit permits to nearly 800 patients in Gaza during the first seven months of 2018. Palestinians in Gaza requiring treatment in the West Bank or Israel have their cases referred to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which pays for the treatment, and then on to Israel, which has the final say in whether an individual may travel. Patients who require multiple procedures and follow-up care are repeatedly subjected to bureaucratic delays and sometimes even interrogation and arrest at Erez checkpoint. The result is that patients often die from diseases and conditions that could be treatable under normal circumstances. ?They have not a single drop of compassion for children, the elderly, or the unfortunate patients among them,? COGAT stated. ?The terrorist organizations harm the residents of Gaza, first and foremost.? Last year, the World Health Organization documented that 54 Palestinians, most of them cancer patients, died while waiting for Israel to let them out of Gaza for treatment, as the rate of approvals issued by Israel fell to the lowest level since records began. Meanwhile two Palestinians wounded during protests along the eastern perimeter under the banner of the Great March of Return on Friday died of their injuries over the weekend. bringing to six the number of Palestinians fatally injured during the day of protest . Mujahid Ziyad Zaki Aqil, 24, from Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, died on Saturday after being shot in the thigh east of Bureij refugee camp the previous day. Yahya Bader Muhammad al-Hassanat, 37, from al-Mughraqa village in central Gaza, died on Sunday after he was shot in the head east of Bureij on Friday. Al Mezan called on third states to end the siege on Gaza, which it described as ?the gateway to all its economic and social problems,? and to take steps to ensure accountability for those suspected of having been involved in violations of international law. Electricity increases up to eight hours per day On Sunday, the electricity company in Gaza announced that it would be providing households with power for eight hours, followed by eight hours of outage, an increase made possible by a donation from Qatar to pay for fuel to run a third turbine at Gaza?s only generating plant. For years, Palestinians in Gaza have had as little as two to four hours of electricity per day. With the 3rd turbine running, #Gaza ?s Power Plant (GPP) is producing 74MW. The last time the GPP produced this amount of electricity was in March 2017. https://t.co/5Pal8wk1yl ? UNSCO (@UNSCO_MEPP) October 28, 2018 #BREAKING : As #Gaza ?s Power Plant runs 3rd turbine, people see electricty supply increase to 8 hrs. An opportunity that must not be wasted to de-escalate, resolve all #humanitarian issues and reunite #Palestinians under a single, democratic, national government. #UN ? Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) October 28, 2018 Gaza?s Great March of Return protests aim to end Israel?s siege, in addition to demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the lands from which their families were expelled during, before and after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Two-thirds of Gaza?s population are refugees, many of them originating from areas just beyond the boundary fence where the protests are held. More than 225 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 30 March, which marked the launch of the Great March of Return protests. Around 170 of those killed were fatally injured during demonstrations, including 33 children, one woman, two journalists, three paramedics and four persons with disability, according to Al Mezan. Israel announced that it would suspend operations at the Kerem Shalom checkpoint, through which goods are transferred in and out of Gaza, on Tuesday due to local elections. The Israeli rights group Gisha stated that ?there is no justification for denying Gaza?s two million residents, most of whom are children, access to ? basic provisions? by closing the checkpoint. ?The residents of Gaza have no possibility of participating in and influencing the political system denying them the fundamental human rights they deserve,? the group added . On Monday Israeli protesters reportedly blocked a road leading to the checkpoint in an attempt to prevent goods from entering Gaza. Video shows dozens of trucks queued on the road leading to the checkpoint on Monday: -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 30 12:40:34 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2018 09:40:34 -0700 Subject: [News] Israeli embassy used fake Facebook profiles to spy on students Message-ID: https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-embassy-used-fake-facebook-profiles-spy-students/25841 Israeli embassy used fake Facebook profiles to spy on students Asa Winstanley and Ali Abunimah - 30 October 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ An Israeli embassy officer spied on student supporters of Palestinian rights, undercover video released exclusively by The Electronic Intifada shows. Julia Reifkind wrote reports on boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) activists, which were then sent back to intelligence agencies in Israel. Her superior at the embassy did this via a classified server designated ?Cables? which, Reifkind emphasized, ?I don?t have access to because I?m an American.? The undercover footage also suggests that Reifkind was engaging in deception when she suggested that Palestinian students were behind an anti-Semitic incident on campus the previous year. The footage is the latest leaked excerpt from from Al Jazeera?s censored film /The Lobby ? USA/ , which The Electronic Intifada has viewed in full. In January 2015, painted swastikas were found on a Jewish frat house at the University of California, Davis . Reifkind was then president of the student group Aggies for Israel, and had yet to be directly employed by the embassy. Contrary to what she told journalists at the time, in the leaked Al Jazeera footage, Reifkind admits that the racist graffiti had almost certainly not been done by pro-BDS students, but was likely the work of white supremacists from off campus. Defaming Palestinian rights The effort to falsely implicate Palestine solidarity activists in the 2015 incident is particularly disturbing in light of the massacre of 11 Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday. The gunman arrested after that attack is Robert Bowers, a white supremacist with a history of conspiratorial and virulently anti-Semitic social media postings. Yet since the attack, leading Israel lobby figures have continued to defame supporters of Palestinian rights as linked to the Pittsburgh massacre, and push for further crackdowns against them. Meanwhile, members of Israel?s ruling Likud Party have engaged in apologetics and damage control for the American far-right that nurtures the kind of anti-Jewish hate that Bowers expressed. Talking points used by the party cast blame for the massacre on a ?left-wing Jewish group that promoted immigration to the US and worked against Trump? and echoed the gunman?s own anti-Semitic rhetoric. Days before the 2015 graffiti incident at UC Davis, the student senate had voted in favor of boycotting Israel ? a major victory for the BDS movement. Reifkind had already been accusing the student movement of anti-Semitism, and reacted to the graffiti by drawing media attention. She and other pro-Israel activists strongly implied in the press that Palestinian and other pro-BDS students had been behind the swastikas ? without evidence. ?Random white supremacist? Reifkind complained that university administrators had refused to blame the swastikas on campus Palestine solidarity activists. The /Jewish Journal/ reported at the time that Reifkind had ?expressed disappointment that school leaders have not drawn a more direct and public ?connection between the divestment resolution itself and anti-Semitism.?? AEPi, the Jewish fraternity on whose house the swastikas were found, also blamed the incident on Palestine solidarity activism. ?On campuses throughout North America and Europe, AEPi brothers have been leading the Jewish community and leading the student movement to defend Israel,? the fraternity?s executive director said . ?Because of that leadership, in the last few months alone, our brothers have been the targets of anti-Semitic attacks at a dozen universities,? including ? he claimed ? UC Davis. On its Facebook page, Reifkind?s group Aggies for Israel posted a photo of the graffiti. The group stated that ?AEPi was clearly targeted? due to its ?strong track record of championing pro-Israel causes,? including campaigning against the divestment vote at UC Davis. Aggies for Israel alerted media outlets including /BuzzFeed/ by tagging them in comments. But in the footage, viewable above, Reifkind admits to Al Jazeera?s undercover reporter ?Tony? that ?we don?t even know? who did the graffiti. ?We just think it was like some random white supremacist type people who just came, did it and left. We don?t think it was students,? she states. Marcelle Obeid was then president of the campus group Students For Justice in Palestine at UC Davis. In the Al Jazeera film ? though not in the leaked excerpts ? she explains that Reifkind?s false allegations were ?hugely damaging? to the group at the very moment they had won a victory for BDS . Obeid reacts to the undercover footage of Reifkind admitting the graffiti was likely the work of a ?random white supremacist? by saying: ?That?s very surprising, because it was very clear from their behavior towards us and their attitudes towards us that we had done some heinous crime towards them and we deserved to pay for it.? Islamophobia The backlash that Reifkind and other anti-Palestinian activists drove was part of a general atmosphere of Islamophobic coverage of the divestment resolution. Fox News, for example, claimed that pro-Israel students had been shouted down and ?heckled? during the Student Senate vote. The national media attention on the California campus peaked with former TV star Roseanne Barr tweeting : ?I hope all the Jews leave UC Davis? and ?then it gets nuked!? In reality, as video from the night demonstrates, Reifkind was respectfully given ample time to speak at the debate , where she harangued students as being part of a ?campus plagued by anti-Semitism.? She was not heckled or interrupted even as she denounced the BDS movement as ?anti-Semitic and hate-promoting.? She and her group then staged a walkout as a way to attract press attention, as they expected to heavily lose the vote. At the time, in January 2015, Reifkind was a student and campus pro-Israel activist not yet employed by the Israeli embassy in Washington. But in the clip, she admits to ?Tony,? Al Jazeera?s undercover reporter, that as president of Aggies for Israel she had been in touch with the Israeli consulate in San Francisco. Immediately after she graduated in 2016, her on-campus efforts for Israel paid off, and she was offered a job at the Israeli embassy in Washington. She spoke to ?Tony? soon after, in September. Her official title seen in a business card in the clip was ?director of community affairs.? But as she explains to ?Tony? in the film, her role mainly entailed ?monitoring BDS things and reporting it back? to agencies in Israel. ?Report back? to Israel Neither Reifkind nor the Israeli embassy in Washington replied to Al Jazeera?s request for comment, and she left her role at the embassy in October 2017. In the clip above, Reifkind describes her role as ?mainly gathering intel, reporting back to Israel. That?s a lot of what I do. To report back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs.? The strategic affairs ministry is Israel?s semi-covert agency dedicated to fighting a global war on the BDS movement, often utilizing ?black-ops.? It is run by a high-ranking military intelligence officer, Sima Vaknin-Gil , and staffed mostly from the ranks of Israel?s various spy agencies. The names of its operatives are mostly classified. In the clip above, Reifkind describes to ?Tony? how she monitors the activities of Students for Justice in Palestine, using several fake Facebook accounts. ?I follow all the SJP accounts,? she explains. ?I have some fake names. My name is Jay Bernard or something. It just sounds like an old white guy, which was the plan. I join all these groups.? The ?intel? she got from such activities was then fed into the classified ?Cables? server via her boss at the embassy. The surveillance seems to have been effective. SJP president Marcelle Obeid explains in another part of the film that ?every single event that I put on, you would have these pro-Israel groups coming out ? before our guests even got there ? with their cameras videotaping.? ?That behind-the-scenes way? Reifkind, as the president of Aggies for Israel, received assistance from the Israeli consulate in 2015. In the same manner, she, as part of her role at the Washington embassy, gave pro-Israel groups all over the US ?our support, in that behind-the-scenes way.? This arms-length approach through front organizations is key to how Israel operates in the West. In 2016, the Israeli embassy in London warned in a cable that the strategic affairs ministry was ?operating? British Jewish organizations behind the embassy?s back in a way that could put them in violation of UK law. It later emerged ? from an Al Jazeera film about the Israel lobby in the UK broadcast last year ? that the embassy was attempting to ?take down ? a British minister deemed critical of Israel. The embassy agent, Shai Masot , was also working through proxies to set up a fake pro-Israel youth organization within the main opposition Labour Party. In the US, Reifkind was also active with the powerful lobby group AIPAC while she was on campus. In another part of the censored film she explains to ?Tony? that ?When you?re lobbying on behalf of AIPAC, you never say you?re AIPAC, you say, ?I am a pro-Israel student from UC Davis.?? The undercover footage of Reifkind explaining her activities shows how Israel ? with total impunity ? spies on and disrupts US citizens involved in lawful advocacy for Palestine. A key Israeli front organization spying on US students is the Israel on Campus Coalition , as The Electronic Intifada revealed in its reporting on a previously leaked clip of /The Lobby ? USA/. The film indicates that the Israel on Campus Coalition is connected to the anonymous blacklisting site The Canary Mission on behalf of multimillionaire pro-Israel financier and convicted tax evader Adam Millstein . In undercover footage yet to be leaked, the Israel on Campus Coalition admits to coordinating its covert spying and sabotage campaigns with Israel?s strategic affairs ministry. Like other groups profiled in the film it did not respond to Al Jazeera?s requests for comment. Al Jazeera?s film raises questions about the nature of Israel?s network of front organizations in the US and to what extent they may be violating the law in acting as undeclared agents for a foreign state. As Reifkind sums up to Tony in the clip above, ?I can?t say anything negative about Bibi [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] or the government because I definitely work for them. Not directly. I?m just a normal American.? -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Tue Oct 30 14:53:21 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2018 11:53:21 -0700 Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Federal_Judge_Permanently_Throws_Out_Lawfare_Pr?= =?utf-8?q?oject=E2=80=99s_Case_Against_Professor_Rabab_Abdulhadi_and_SF_S?= =?utf-8?q?tate?= Message-ID: https://palestinelegal.org/news/2018/10/30/lawfare-case-thrown-out Victory! Lawsuit Against SFSU and Abdulhadi Dismissed October 30, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Federal Judge Permanently Throws Out Lawfare Project?s Case Against Professor Rabab Abdulhadi and San Francisco State University San Francisco ? Yesterday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Professor Rabab Abdulhadi and San Francisco State University (SFSU) that had sought to compel the university to restrict the speech of students and faculty who support Palestinian freedom. The case, /Mandel v. Board of Trustees/, was first filed in June 2017 by the Lawfare Project, a right-wing anti-Palestinian organization with an explicit plan to ?inflict massive punishments? against critics of Israel. Having dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in March 2018, Judge William Orrick III this time dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the lawsuit cannot be filed again. ?The unfounded and malicious nature of this bogus suit against Dr. Abdulhadi is now clear for all to see.? This has disrupted nearly two years of her life and her work for justice in Palestine, which is the purpose of 'lawfare,?? explained Abdulhadi?s attorney, Mark Kleiman. ?This ruling vindicates Dr. Abdulhadi from the anti-Palestinian smear campaigns that she has been forced to endure,? noted Abdulhadi?s attorney, Ben Gharagozli. The lawsuit is part of a years-long campaign of harassment against campus activists and Abdulhadi, an outspoken scholar and advocate for justice in and for Palestine. The Lawfare Project had three chances, and a team of corporate lawyers, but could not allege a successful claim. Judge Orrick repeatedly emphasized that the Lawfare Project?s complaint is ?devoid? of facts alleging discrimination. He wrote, ?Absolutely no facts have been alleged to support their mere assertion of differential treatment.? "The white supremacist murder of Jewish elders in a synagogue this past weekend is a brutal reminder that anti-Jewish bigotry is real and that we need to fight all forms of racism together, said Liz Jackson, attorney with Palestine Legal. "Judge Orrick was right to reject Lawfare?s attempt to equate calls for justice with discrimination. Instead of trying to censor campus activism for human rights, we hope these groups will call for an end to all forms of discrimination and equality for all people." Abdulhadi is represented by Mark Kleiman, Ben Gharagozli and Gavin Cunningham & Hunter. SFSU is represented by Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. For more background, see Palestine Legal?s case summary . -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 31 10:30:30 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2018 07:30:30 -0700 Subject: [News] Argentina in Turmoil Message-ID: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/31/argentina-in-turmoil/ Argentina in Turmoil by J?r?me Duval - October 31, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seventeen years after the 2001 crisis in Argentina, the Macri government, which came to power in December 2015, is reinforcing a fierce structural adjustment plan for its population following the loan requested from the IMF . The country, which in 2018 holds the presidency of the G20 , is one of the most affected by the rise in interest rates in the United States, the leakage of capital, the soaring dollar and speculation on the stock market, as with the crisis that is emerging in Turkey. In the context of President Trump?s trade war to favour US exports over others, the rise in interest rates in the United States has led to a rush on the dollar, which is now seen as safer than ever. Dollars are being repatriated to the United States to take advantage of the interest rate hike, cash flows suddenly dry up, the currencies of so-called ?emerging? countries fall sharply. *Turbulence in Argentina* The peso is in free fall, prices are exploding, consumption is reduced to a minimum, the middle classes are being squeezed, many firms and businesses are closing, hunger is spreading in outlying areas and speculators are panicking without knowing what to invent to avoid the shipwreck that has been announced. However, we could have learned from past crises not to reproduce them: Argentina has already seen this situation before? the people remember it, 2001; there was hunger, the clatter of empty pots hit by hammering spoons in front of closed banks. This was the ?corralito??[1 ]. On the other side, capital flitters away discreetly to await better times. The scenario orchestrated by the IMF all over the globe infinitely repeats itself, which does not prevent it from distilling its same nauseating recommendations whatever the latitude of the country concerned. ?Zero poverty? Macri repeated during his election campaign. Today his popularity is plunging, and this slogan lies among his many election promises that will never be fulfilled, once again the people?s trust has been trampled on, betrayed by the power of money. At fault, the austerity cure that only aggravates the social situation already rolled out by more than two years of a hard right government. The first 15 billion dollars of the IMF?s 50 billion dollar mega-loan in June does not seem to be enough to stabilise the economy, which has been buffeted by inflation of around 30%, itself stimulated by a depreciation of its currency. The Argentine peso lost nearly 20% of its value against the dollar in two days, 29^th and 30^th of August, and 98% over the last 12 months (more than 50% since the beginning of the year) reaching an historic all-time low at over 40 pesos for a dollar. In a frenzy, the Argentine Central Bank raised its key rate from 45% to 60% on 30 August, one of the highest in the world after having increased it from 40% to 45% on 13 August, to encourage investment in local currency?[2 ]. However, this action, like the efforts of the Central Bank of Argentina, which has sold more than 12 billion dollars of its foreign exchange reserves since the beginning of the year to stabilise the peso?[3 ], failed to contain investors? fear of default, or to mitigate falling prices. As if provocatively, on 31 August, the day after the spectacular rise in central bank rates, the US rating agency , Standard & Poor?s, placed the note of the Argentine debt ?under negative watch?. *IMF austerity* Argentine President Mauricio Macri announced, on 3^rd September, a brutal austerity plan under IMF supervision. This included the introduction of a tax on agricultural exports of 4 pesos per dollar exported?[4 ], which Macri himself acknowledged were ?very bad taxes?, but the level of the budget deficit required emergency action. After so much austerity applied to the poor, this measure may not appeal to the producers of soybeans and maize, the largest purveyors of foreign exchange of the state, hard hit by a record drought early this year. In addition, Macri announced the removal of 12 out of 22 ministries! Mr?Macri is claiming to eliminate the ministries of Culture, Labour, Science and Technology, Energy, Agribusiness, Health, Tourism and the Environment to convert them into State secretariats under the dome of other ministries: Culture and Science and Technology pass for example under the mandate of the Ministry of Education, Work under the orbit of the Ministry of Production, Health is absorbed by that of Social Development and Agro-industry moves to the Treasury Department while dismissing 600 workers. So far, only the dictators Pedro Eugenio Aramburu and Juan Carlos Ongan?a had ventured to eliminate the Ministry of Health. On 4 September, Argentine Economy Minister Nicolas Dujovne and Central Bank Vice President Gustavo Ca?onero went to the IMF in Washington to negotiate a revision of the agreement signed in June and speed up payments. Argentina is sorely lacking in cash. At the same time, the prosecutor Jorge Di Lello indicted President Mauricio Macri for abuse of authority and violation of the duties of a public official for signing the agreement with the IMF on 7 June, without submitting it to Parliament, thus violating the Constitution. For his part, President Macri is unable to calm the growing discontent. He has said on TV and keeps repeating, ?This crisis is not just another crisis, it must be the last (?) the worst is behind us.?[5 ] However, the same mistakes produce the same effects and history repeats itself? In the street, soaring prices are resurging popular discontent. In Buenos Aires, La Plata, Rosario, Mar del Plata, or in other cities of the country, the people express their anger at the rise in prices or the budget cuts imposed on the public administration in exchange for the IMF loan, like those applied to public universities. On strike for more than a month, the professors of the fifty-seven public universities are demanding pay rises. Awakening the tragic memories of the financial collapse of 2001, soup kitchens are again overwhelmed, not only with children but entire families? Galloping inflation is reducing margins on falling consumption and the US supermarket giant, Walmart, has sold a dozen hypermarkets. The price of bread has increased by more than 20% in a few days?[6 ]. As in 2001, the people are hungry, for social justice and bread. /This article was originally published on the French blog *Un monde sans dette * from the journal Politis ./ /English translation by?Jenny Bright./ -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From news at freedomarchives.org Wed Oct 31 10:46:00 2018 From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News) Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2018 07:46:00 -0700 Subject: [News] Chinese investments in Israel grew exponentially from $50m in the early 1990s to a whopping $16.5bn Message-ID: *For years, China has**maintained **a consistent (sic) position in support of the Palestinian people, calling for an end to the Israeli Occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. However, Beijing?s firm position regarding the rights of Palestinians, seems of little consequence to its relationship with Israel, as joint technological ventures, trade, and investments continue to grow unhindered. ____________________________ * http://www.palestinechronicle.com/it-is-a-new-era-but-chinas-balancing-act-will-fail-in-the-middle-east/ It Is a New Era, but China?s Balancing Act Will Fail in the Middle East October 31, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *By Ramzy Baroud * Although ties between Washington and Tel Aviv are stronger than ever, Israeli leaders are aware of a vastly changing political landscape. The US? political turmoil and the global power realignment ? which is on full display in the Middle East ? indicate that a new era is, indeed, in the making. Unsurprisingly, this new era involves China. China?s Vice President, Wang Qishan, arrived inIsrael on October 22 on a four-day visit to head the fourth China-Israel Innovation Committee. He is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Israel in nearly two decades. In April 2000, the former president ofChina , Jiang Zemin, was the first Chinese leader ever to visit Israel, touring the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and paying diplomatic dues to his Israeli counterparts. At the time, he spoke of China?s intentions to cement the bond between the two countries. Wang Qishan?s visit, however, is different. The ?bond? between Beijing and Tel Aviv is much stronger now than it was then, as expressed in sheer numbers. Soon after the two countries exchanged diplomatic missions in 1992, trade figures soared. The size of Chinese investments in Israel also grew exponentially, from$50m in the early 1990s to a whopping $16.5bn according to 2016 estimates. China?s growing investments and strategic ties to Israel are predicated on both countries? keen interest in technological innovation, as well as on the so-called ?Red-Med? Railway, a regional network of sea and rail infrastructureaimed at connecting China with Europe via Asia and the Middle East. Additionally, the railway would also link the two Israeli ports of Eilat and Ashdod. News of China?s plan to manage the Israeli port of Haifa has already raised the ire of the US and its European allies. Times have changed, indeed. Whereas in the past, Washingtonordered Tel Aviv to immediately cease exchanging American military technology with China, forcing it to cancel the sale of the Phalcon airborne early-warning system, it is now watching as Israeli and Chinese leaders are managing the dawn of a new political era that ? for the first time ? does not include Washington. For China, the newfound love for Israel is part of a broader global strategy that can be considered the jewel of China?s revitalized foreign policy. Qishan?s visit to Israel comes on the heels of accelerated efforts by Beijing to promote its mammoth trillion-dollar economic project,the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China hopes that its grand plan will help it open massive new opportunities across the world and eventually guarantee its dominance in various regions that rotated, since World War II, within an American sphere of influence. BRI aims to connect Asia, Africa, and Europe through a ?belt? of overland routes and a maritime ?road? of sea lanes. The China-US competition is heating up. Washington wants to hold on to its global dominance for as long as possible while Beijing is eagerly working to supplant the US? superpower status, first in Asia, then in Africa and the Middle East. The Chinese strategy in achieving its objectives is quite clear: unlike the US? disproportionate investments in military power, China is keen on winning its coveted status, at least for the time being, using soft power only. The Middle East, however, is richer and, thus, more strategic and contested than any other region in the world. Rife with conflicts and distinct political camps, it is likely to derail China?s soft power strategy sooner rather than later. While Chinese foreign policy managed to survive the polarising war in Syria through engaging all sides and playing second to Russia?s leading role at the UN Security Council, the Israeli Occupation of Palestine is a whole different political challenge. For years, China hasmaintained a consistent position in support of the Palestinian people, calling for an end to the Israeli Occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. However, Beijing?s firm position regarding the rights of Palestinians, seems of little consequence to its relationship with Israel, as joint technological ventures, trade, and investments continue to grow unhindered. China?s foreign policymakers operate with the mistaken assumption that their country can be pro-Palestine and pro-Israel at once, criticizing the Occupation, yet sustaining it; calling on Israel to respect international law while at the same time empowering Israel, however unwittingly, in its ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights. Israeli hasbara has perfected the art of political acrobats, and finding the balance between US-western discourse and a Chinese one should not be too arduous a task. Indeed, it seems that the oft-repeated clich? of Israel being ?the only democracy in the Middle East?, is being slightly adjusted to meet the expectations of a fledgling superpower, which is merely interested in technology, trade, and investments. Israeli leaders want China and its investors to think of Israel as the only stable economy in the Middle East. As expected, Palestinian priorities are wholly different. With the Palestinian struggle for freedom and human rights capturing international attention through the rise of theBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, more and more countries are under pressure to articulate a clear stance on the Israeli Occupation and apartheid. For China to enter the fray with an indecisive and self-serving strategy is not just morally objectionable, but strategically unsustainable as well. The Palestinian and Arab peoples are hardly interested in swapping American military dominance with Chinese economic hegemony that does little to change or, at least challenge, the prevailing status quo. Sadly, while Beijing and Tel Aviv labor to strike the needed balance between foreign policies and economic interests, China finds itself under no particular obligation to side with a clear Arab position on Palestine, just because the latter does not exist. The political division of Arab countries, the wars in Syria and elsewhere have pushed Palestine down from being a top Arab priority into some strange bargain involving ?regional peace? as part of Trump?s so-called ?Deal of the Century?. This painful reality has weakened Palestine?s position in China, which, at least for now, values its relationship with Israel at a higher level than its historical bond with Palestine and the Arab people. /? Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His forthcoming book is ?The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story? (Pluto Press, London). Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. His website is //www.ramzybaroud.net/ /./ ** -- Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: