Educate ! Organize ! Agitate !

On June 30, the government of Israel committed an act of piracy when the Israeli Navy in international waters illegally boarded the "Spirit of Humanity," kidnapped its 21-person crew from 11 countries, including former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Nobel Laureate Mairead MaGuire, and confiscated the cargo of medical supplies, olive trees, reconstruction materials, and children’s toys that were on the way to the Mediterranean coast of Gaza

If it's Israel, the US government and media are silent and paralyzed. What if Iran imprisoned a former US Congressomen. The entire EU is thrreatening Iran with sanctions if it doesn't release 1 Iranian employee of UK Embassy

Fatah's Revolutionary Council holding its sixth general conference Aug. 4 in Bethlehem will be an indicator whether the fragmented Fatah is a spent political force and a mere footnote in the history of the Palestinian national liberation struggle. The conference will also lay the groundwork for unity talks with arch-rival Hamas and peace talks with Israel

When Netanyahu makes Palestinian recognition of Israel as a “Jewish state” as the cornerstone of his “peace” policy and has Avigdor Lieberman, who calls on record for the transfer of Israeli Arab Palestinians, as the foreign minister of his ruling coalition, he officially raises ethnic cleansing to the level of state policy

An interview with pedagogue Bill Ayers, the black President's “terrorist” friend

The continuing concentration of over 250,000 people in the camps both blocks the search for answers to these questions, and itself constitutes a most serious crime. If the doors are not opened quickly, this will raise questions of whether the government seriously intends a restoration of Tamil society in the conquered zone. This would indeed pose a question of genocide, in the sense of the deliberate destruction of a population group in its home territory

The U.S. Empire of Bases -- at $102 billion a year already the world's costliest military enterprise -- just got a good deal more expensive. As a start, on May 27th, we learned that the State Department will build a new "embassy" in Islamabad, Pakistan, which at $736 million will be the second priciest ever constructed, only $4 million less, if cost overruns don't occur, than the Vatican-City-sized one the Bush administration put up in Baghdad

The United States corporacracy is a monstrous devouring beast and “Islamist terror” is her illegitimate offspring

After Obama apologized for the strike which the Afghan government claimed killed well over a hundred ordinary country folk, came the report that the families of those killed, and subsequent Afghani dead falling in harms way of the US military, continuing as before, can apply to receive up to $2,000 compensation. This is the price the great United States of America puts on an Afghan or Pakistan human being, while awarding $100,000 to families of Americans who die while fighting and killing wherever

There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but our government can’t find one to quit Afghanistan. Nor propose a truce. Nor, after seven brutal years, disclose an exit strategy, despite recent legislation from fed-up House Democrats

Drone or any other attacks that routinely result in civilian casualties must be curtailed or the reasons for the U.S. presence and the purpose for the ongoing war must be, and should be, questioned

Recently, an American Civil Liberties Union report pointed out, "Anti-terrorism training materials currently being used by the Department of Defense (DoD) teach its personnel that free expression in the form of public protests should be regarded as ‘low level terrorism’.”

Lee Sustar sets out 30 years of background to the mass demonstrations that shook Iran after the June 12 election

The coup is likely to crumble, and Obama’s first attempt to re-tame Latin America will have failed. The actions of the U.N. and OAS are striking examples of the shrinking international influence of the U.S., meaning that future interventions — both military and economic — are likely to be more direct to restore U.S. hegemony. Obama’s more-subtle attempts to uphold U.S. “influence” in the world will ultimately require blunter, Bush-like tactics

The Iraq War boils on at still dangerous levels of violence, while the war in Afghanistan (and across the border in Pakistan) only grows, as does the U.S. commitment to both. It's already clear that even an all-volunteer military isn't immune to dissent. If violence in either or both occupations escalates, if the Pentagon struggles to add more boots on the ground, if the stresses and strains on the military, involving endless redeployments to combat zones, increase rather than lessen, then the acts of Agosto, Bishop, and Shepherd may turn out to be pathbreaking ones in a world of dissent yet to be experienced and explored

On June 30, 2009 around 3:30 PM, 23 miles off the coast of Gaza, Israeli Naval Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY and abducted 21 human rights workers representing 11 countries

The very public disagreement about the “settlement freeze” came as a complete surprise to many observers

First written in 1972, it was updated in a 2003 edition that's every bit as relevant now - thus this review focusing on Hudson's new preface, introduction, and detailed account of the book's theme

Israeli jounalist Amnon Kapeliouk was my kind of Journalist and my kind of Jew. Sadly, he died the other day and was buried near his birth place in West Jerusalem. For more than 40 years Kapeliouk reported on Palestinian and Arab affairs for half a dozen newspapers and was an old school Robert Fisk- Janet Stevens’s type journalist

South African Ambassador Ebrahim M. Saley says that Africans still believe in the dream of a united continent. The South African ambassador to Tehran made the remarks in an interview with the Tehran Times earlier this month in which he also discussed the new South African government’s program, political developments in Africa, the war in the Congo, the Palestine issue, the prospects for Iran-South Africa trade, Iran’s nuclear program, and a number of other issues

The SEZ Act ( Special Economic Zone Act ) heralds the integration of the powers of the executive, the elected institutions and the judiciary, centralisd in the SEZ Authority – the Development Commissioner (DC) and/or the developer (company) – paving the way for the creation of of a political and economic entity, separate from the Indian state. SEZs internally are structured for the establishment of authoritarian capitalism with the Indian state as an instrument of capital

It is fitting that today’s deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq’s cities coincides with a meeting in Baghdad to auction off some of the country’s largest oil fields to companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron and British Petroleum. It is a reminder of the real motives for the 2003 invasion and in whose interests over one million Iraqis and 4,634 American and other Western troops have been killed. The Iraq war was, and continues to be, an imperialist war waged by the American ruling elite for control of oil and geo-strategic advantage

On June 30 major companies - including Exxon, Shell, BP and Total - will gather at Iraq's oil ministry in Baghdad for a two-day meeting to take part in the first bidding round for oil service contracts. However, what the oil companies will be entitled to if they secure a contract has become one of the most controversial elements of the bidding process

The author is going to prison--for peacefully resisting settler and army violence against West Bank Palestinians and the illegal expropriation of their land

Israel’s watchdog body on medical ethics has failed to investigate evidence that doctors working in detention facilities are turning a blind eye to cases of torture, according to Israeli human rights groups

According to U.S. leaders and their Zionist handlers, the term “extremist” is any nation or movement resisting U.S.-Israel domination and murderous ideology is defamed and deemed extremist. Whether in Afghanistan, in Iraq or in Pakistan, the extremists are part of the U.S. strategy to justify war of aggression

At this point, there is no stopping the arc of history or the icons of industry. We're all hanging onto the roller-coaster ride of economic collapse, which is fueled by the flawed notion of never-ending economic growth. Unless you're planning to withdraw to an anarcho-primitivist society beyond the reach of the industrial world, there's little you can do, as an individual, to mitigate the damage to Earth or your wallet

Protest by Hindutva organisations against construction of a mosque in Rohini Sector 16, Delhi...Prayer by the muslims not allowed by hindutva forces on 26.6.2009 and those who were coming for the NAMAJ were beaten up and chased back. .. Hooligans marched in street to look out for muslims...Women also participated in large numbers

If you believe that you are fully aware of what the Federal Government, the media and the two major political parties are doing in regard to the economy and also our civil liberties, you needn’t read on. If you have a nagging feeling that something is definitely wrong with the direction that this country is headed, or you believe that the situation is somehow different than what’s been reported and what you have heard from the politicians and the mainstream media…read on

So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement. But 212 representatives voted no. A handful of these no votes came from representatives who considered the bill too weak, but most rejected the bill because they rejected the whole notion that we have to do something about greenhouse gases

If the reporting on Jackson’s death by the media wasn’t salacious and ignorant enough, it didn’t get any better the next day, June 26

Only about 10 percent of the world’s land surface is arable, whereas the other 90 percent is just rock, sand, or swamp, which can never be made to produce crops, whether we use “high” or “low” technology or something in the middle. In an age with diminishing supplies of oil and other fossil fuels, this 10:90 ratio may be creating two gigantic problems that have been largely ignored

A team of pro-war, pro-coal, pro-Zionist, right-wing Apartheid Australian politicians from both major political parties and led by Australian Deputy PM Julia Gillard, is visiting Apartheid Israel with a attendant expressions of “mutual admiration” between Apartheid Australia and Apartheid Israel

Events in Iran send shock waves through all the Arab regimes that deny basic rights to their citizens. Iranian women are an example for Arab women, and Iranian workers are an example for Arab workers whose right to form unions is denied. This is the real "Iranian bomb."

Simplifying the events in Iran as yet another attempt at a U.S. financed “color revolution” is shortsighted, to say the least. But this is the shallow position many on the left are taking. Fortunately, millions of people partaking in mass demonstrations cannot be reduced to “mere puppets” of Uncle Sam — they have aspirations of their own and ways to achieve them

Neither the recent elections or events in Iran appear unlikely to fundamentally affect Hezbollah. Neither inside Lebanon's new government or internationally

The core issue isn't whether Iran's government is benign or repressive or if its June 12 election was fair or fraudulent. It's that (justifiable criticism aside) no country has a right to meddle in the internal affairs of another unless it commits aggression in violation of international law and the UN Security Council authorizes a response. Washington would never tolerate outside interference nor should it and neither should Iran

On Tuesday, an unmanned US Predator drone fired missiles into a funeral procession in the Pakistani region of South Waziristan, killing as many as 80 people and maiming dozens more. It was the deadliest US attack within Pakistan to date

Israel’s second largest bank will be forced to defend itself in court in the coming weeks over claims it is withholding tens of millions of dollars in “lost” accounts belonging to Jews who died in the Nazi death camps

Despite the best efforts of the Obama administration, the economy is a long ways from recovery. The speculative system that created the mess remains intact, and foreclosures and unemployment continue to rise. But at the same time, a new economy is taking form. It’s built on a recognition that the only thing too big to fail is the Earth itself

America's "Bases of Empire" menace world societies. Okinawan women and young girls bear testimony to how grievously

In the national debate about health care reform absolutely nothing makes less sense than the positive views of much of the public about private health insurers. There is no good reason to have positive views of private health insurers, the companies that have relentlessly increased the costs for very limited health insurance

There is little doubt that at their age, both former United States presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter remain vigorous, energetic, spirited individuals. The activities they engaged in this past week however, could not have been more different

Throughout the gruesome finale of the civil war, the government of Sri Lanka claimed to be engaged in the largest hostage rescue mission ever, to release civilians in the Vanni who were being held against their will by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Yet the vast majority of these civilians are still not free. So what exactly has been happening?

It is now more than one month since the Sri Lankan military detained the final batch of Tamil refugees fleeing the northern war zone on May 19. They joined more than a quarter of a million civilians already incarcerated in camps set up near Vavuniya and on the Jaffna Peninsula during the last phase of the war. About 160,000 people are interned in four units in the biggest camp, known as Manik Farm

By and large, the ongoing U.S. financial mess provides signs that, while China's rising, the USA will never gain back its former glory days that gave rise to both world dominance and a large middle class. As the country continues to lose jobs at the rate of approximately one every thirty seconds to either offshore company sites or business cutbacks, it has nowhere else to go except to sink down into increased hardship, as well as some degree of destitution, for an increasing number of Americans and the nation as a whole

The empire ends with a pull out. Not, as many supposed a few years ago, from Iraq. There, as well as in Afghanistan, we are mulishly staying the course, come what may, trapped in the biggest of all the "too-big-to-fail" boondoggles. But from Detroit

The FSB appears to be a step closer toward global monetary control under the direction of the G-7 dominated BIS, IMF and other international lending agencies. Given its inclusion in Obama's financial reform proposal makes the entire package suspect and perhaps just cover for the above-outlined sinister scheme - as well as letting Wall Street be self-regulating

Polls consistently show overwhelming support for single-payer by the American people. When physicians are polled, the results are the same. Health cost pressures on big business are pushing even it away from the “legacy” of providing health care to employees under the current system. But Congress and the President want no part of it

In the current context of Iran, it’s important to know the similarities of the various media spins and propaganda we’ve seen over the history. It’s important to find similarities between extremely rich, corrupt and abhorred-by-people puppet personalities such Chalabi of Iraq, Karzai of Afghanistan and Rafsanjani of Iran. It’s important to know what they've done before, and what connections they have had with groups both in the U.S. and elsewhere

No, I do not support any government actions that involve killing its own citizens. At the same time I do not support any U.S. interference, regardless of rhetoric, as their actions speak much more towards geopolitical control than concerns for democracy or nuclear proliferation. My perplexity remains – how can the U.S. media not be able to see the double standards that exist within U.S. policy towards Iran, towards Palestine, towards the Middle East, towards the world?

Commentators are "explaining" the Iran elections based on their own illusions, delusions, emotions, and vested interests. Whether or not the poll results predicting Ahmadinejad's win are sound, there is, so far, no evidence beyond surmise that the election was stolen. However, there are credible reports that the CIA has been working for two years to destabilize the Iranian government

Neoconservative Kenneth Timmerman let the cat out of the bag that there was an orchestrated "color revolution" in the works. Before the election, Timmerman wrote: "there’s talk of a ‘green revolution’ in Tehran." Why would protests be organized prior to a vote and announcement of the outcome? Organized protests waiting in the wings are not spontaneous responses to a stolen election

Who can say if he, Ommni, or others are right or if Washington is plotting regime change, much like before in Iran and throughout the world. Thus far, events are fast moving with no clear outcome in sight. It remains to be seen whether Iranians or imperial America will prevail, then what happens next in this volatile part of the world

The 'Green Revolution' is underway. Iranians have put aside their greatest fears, and now carry the destiny of the nation in their own hands. We are in 1979 all over again; only that now, it is the ‘mullahs’ who have become the fleeing Shah. Tensions on the Iranian streets have boiled over to a simple equation: “whose violence threshold is higher?”

The election victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is likely to complicate US President Barack Obama’s new approach to his country’s conflict with Iran. The reason behind the foreseen obstacle is neither the US nor Iran’s refusal to engage in future dialogue but rather Israel’s insistence on a hard-line approach to the problem

One cannot deny that the grip of the clergy has been weakened; people have become restive and desperate for change, especially the bulk of the urban youth. In the event of a divided clergy’s failure to hold power any longer, a military takeover not people’s power or democracy seems to be the next alternative order in Iran

Beneath the Holocaust Museum tragedy one can discover overlapping racist mythologies that have so far entirely escaped the commentators on the crime. Both the Aryan Nation and Zionist ideologies claim a God-given right for the Chosen People to commit genocide to redeem real estate inhabited by other people

Humanity will achieve the dubious distinction this year of having more than 1 billion members of its species living in hunger for the first time in history. The number of undernourished is estimated to soar by about 100 million over last year, to 1.02 billion, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Canada’s chief diplomat in Israel has been honoured at an Israeli public park -- built on occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law -- as one of the donors who helped establish the park on the ruins of three Palestinian villages

Amidst the talk of peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka the plight of the Tamil population has hardly changed according to the British Channel 4 news report [Please see below video link]. To be fair, it must be said however, that none of the reports can be verified. Fear is looming large in the minds of the Tamils

From our team, therefore when we see the current violence, which many media houses are branding as ‘anarchy’, we have a different opinion. We have seen the genuine anger of the people, their tolerance, their suffering. And we have no hesitation at all in holding the police, administration and CPM responsible for the current precipitation of the situation

Transcript of former US President Jimmy Carter's Address to the United Nations Relief Works Agency's Human Rights Graduation in Gaza

US commentators (left, right and center) who bought into the electoral fraud hoax are inadvertently providing Netanyahu and his American followers with the arguments and fabrications: Where they see religious wars, we see class wars; where they see electoral fraud, we see imperial destabilization

Governments - concerned about future food security - have been furiously signing deals with other governments across the world. Saudi Arabia has tied up 25,000 ha in Sudan to grow corn, soy and wheat, with Jordan and Syria inking similar deals. China has reportedly signed numerous deals, as in Laos , where a state rubber company has acquired 160,000 ha, and Mozambique , where 10,000 "settlers" are reportedly set to assist in the conversion of thousands of hectares to export crop production. Even tiny Mauritius has agreed a deal with Mozambique to farm 5,000 ha of land in a country where over 50 percent of the people live on less than a dollar a day

The rights of Palestinian children are routinely violated by Israel’s security forces, according to a new report that says beatings and torture are common. In addition, hundreds of Palestinian minors are prosecuted by Israel each year without a proper trial and are denied family visits

The recently appointed chief of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal is a hired gun, an assassin, a man known for committing war crime atrocities as head of the Pentagon's infamous Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) - established in 1980 and comprised of the Army's Delta Force and Navy Seals, de facto death squads writer Seymour Hersh described post-9/11 as an "executive assassination wing" operating out of Dick Cheney's office

A civil war is brewing in Pakistan. Thanks to President Barack Obama, who is shifting the American war from Iraq to “the real enemies” operating from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Cash-strapped Pakistan could not defy Obama persuasion and decided to wage a war against its own people, the Pashtuns inhabiting the Northern Province and the tribal areas of Waziristan

Consumed by its passion for hegemony, America is driven to prevail over others, morality and justice be damned. This world-threatening script will play until America bankrupts itself and has so alienated the rest of the world that it is isolated and universally despised

Dozens of Indians were killed or are missing, scores have been injured and arrested and a number of Peruvian police, held hostage by the indigenous protestors were killed in the assault. President García declared martial law in the region in order to enforce his unilateral and unconstitutional fiat granting of mining exploitation rights to foreign companies, which infringed on the integrity of traditional Amazonian indigenous communal lands

CBO Estimates 36 million will still be uninsured ten years from now under most robust Democratic Plan

The need of the hour now is to pass the Women’s Bill in its present form without a moment’s further delay. If indeed experience reveals that women’s reservation is resulting in any appreciable decline in OBC representation, OBC quota in assemblies and parliament, in general as well as within the women’s quota, can be accommodated through amendment

Under a new proposed Bill, the government is arming itself with the power to block websites without the right to be heard. Why is no one talking about it?

Mousavi’s so-called reforms were pitched largely to a relatively privileged and narrow social base. The reforms themselves consisted essentially of a toning down of the rhetoric employed by Ahmadinejad in order to smooth the way to improved relations with Washington, an easing of US-backed sanctions and the opening up of the country to foreign capital

Come the Iranian elections and the unexpected landslide victory in favour of Ahmedinejad, and once again rushing to enlighten the world are the normatively 'All-Knowing' Western capitals and media pundits. Swarming the airwaves, one and all cried out ‘fraud’, ‘stolen elections’ and a ‘nation’s will silenced’

Full text and a critique of the address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University ,Sunday 14 June 2009

I was not disappointed at all after listening to Netanyahu speech simply because I do not believe that the Israeli society is capable in the time being of producing an Israeli De Klerk

A day with the Israeli dissident and whistle blower who told the world about the Israeli nukes

Apartheid is dead in South Africa, but a new version of white supremacy lives on

Pakistan has initiated a mega power project in its administrative part of Kashmir without fulfilling mandatory environmental obligations required for development projects

Climate change is a weapon of mass destruction. Mitigating global warming by whatever means necessary should be the new Indian government's priority number one. The government should make a major push to develop low-cost alternative energy technologies that don't require finite, toxic fuel sources

What will happen next in Tehran in the aftermath of the election remains unknown. But as for the candidacy of Mir-Hossein Mousavi and his run for the presidency, credit should be given where credit is due. And none of it goes to President Obama

There seems to be some impending changes in America’s Pakistan policy or as one may put it, in its India policy. What one gets in the media and can only guess about what President Obama’s personal letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveys is that the US wants to play the role of an honest broker in India-Pakistan disputes, mainly over Kashmir

Clearly there are numerous ways of improving the financial health of the U.S. while helping most Americans. However, the financial/political elites continue to focus on programs that enrich themselves and harm most of us. So far it appears that these arrogant elites are unaware or disdainful of our anger and suffering. These elites run the risk that Americans will finally say enough at some point. Will Americans rise up? We shall see

On May 26, the UN Human Rights Council issued a report titled "Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Including the Right to Development - Report of the Special Rapporteur (Philip Alston) on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions." Alston was damning in his criticism regarding "three areas in which significant improvement is necessary if the US Government is to match its actions to its stated commitment to human rights and the rule of law"

The spate of bomb blasts in Nepal raises the global dimensions of Hindutva Terror. It is high time that one dwelves deeper into Hindutva terrorisms different aspects and understand the potent threat it poses before humanity much on the lines of terrorisms brandishing names of other religions may it be Sikh, Christian or Islam

Only when corporate money is removed from the political campaigns, and PAC’s and lobbyists are strictly regulated so that corporate influence is not the predominant power in government, only then will the people be once again represented by their elected officials. Corporate money is the prime funding for State and Federal election campaigns. It has been said that the business of America is business. I don’t believe however, that this is what anyone desired

Here are ten actions that are urgently required to keep local memory of the Sri Lankan genocide alive against the grave danger of global forgetting

how did March 14 do it? The reasons are multifactorial, but primarily involve heavy-handed American interference, Israeli threats and salient domestic political endorsements

Last week, holders of an Isracard and/or MasterCard credit cards in Israel received an offer for a "City of David tour" with "attractions for the entire family" - which makes no mention of the fact that the tour is to be conducted by the Elad settlers

The power of irrational fear in the US is extraordinary. It ranks up there with the Israel Lobby, the military/security complex, and the financial gangsters. Indeed, fear might be the most powerful force in America

Michael Tsokas, director of Pathology at the Charité hospital in Berlin, has reported the existence of a body that could be that of communist leader Rosa Luxemburg

At least three US federal laws should concern all Americans and suggest what may be coming - mandatory vaccinations for hyped, non-existant threats, like H1N1 (Swine Flu). Vaccines and drugs like Tamiflu endanger human health but are hugely profitable to drug company manufacturers

Only a modern democratic theory with republican ideas as envisioned by Dr Ambedkar can be their true emancipator otherwise, caste based identities are threatening basic Dalit unity in the country and it is fast becoming a self defeating exercise

The recent release of the 2009 IEO has provided energy watchers with a feast of significant revelations. By far the most significant disclosure: the IEO predicts a sharp drop in projected future world oil output (compared to previous expectations) and a corresponding increase in reliance on what are called "unconventional fuels" -- oil sands, ultra-deep oil, shale oil, and biofuels

PCHR's report bears testimony to Israel's contempt for international laws, its imperial agenda, culture of violence, disdain for peace, genocidal intentions, disparagement of Arabs and Islam, and its scorn for Palestinian lives and welfare

Like Sobhi, disgracefully growing numbers of children forever maimed, dismembered and killed by Israel are not only somehow disregarded by the world media and therefore the world’s conscience - but to add insult to injury - they are even denied access to healthcare

Every river, stream, and brook in the continental U.S. is tainted with carcinogenic material. There are approximately 41 million Americans drinking water that has traces of pharmaceuticals in it – in India the waters contain 150 times the highest levels of pharmaceutical contamination than in the U.S. The reasons for this abuse to our watersheds and freshwaters runs deep folks, but if we want to preclude further devastation we must act now, we must engender what the residents in East Montpelier had last year, this time on a global scale

Krugman, who so smugly dismisses alternatives to capitalism in his first chapter, spends the rest of his book giving us considerable reasons for requiring an alternative. Capitalism has caused great misery around the globe over the past several centuries, and a small number of us (relative to the world's population) have done well over the past 100 years (give or take). Now, as this financial crisis continues, the benefits are becoming even more restricted. Not only is a better world possible, it is required

Missing from Buchenwald and D-Day observances is the awareness that famous and wealthy US industrialists and bankers made enormous profit from heavily investing in Nazi Germany's rearming.And while conglomerate media presents Muslim hostility to Zionism as being virulently hateful of Jews, it buries deep the memory of the extreme anti-Semitic climate in the US before and during World War II experienced by the author

What happened at Shopian two weeks ago is not the first instance of cruelty by the security forces and shows how men in uniform, instead of protecting people, continue to indulge in the serious human rights violations. Which why the Kashmir valley has once again erupted with violent protests with slogans of separatism renting the air

The following facts suggest a grand-coalition of all secular parties with a 5 to 10 member Chief Ministerial Council (CMC) that would have equal power vested in each of the members of CMC. It should include one or more Dalits, Upper Castes, Muslims, members of UBC (Upper of BC) and members LBC (Lower of BC) as members of the UP-CMC on the pattern of Swiss Federal Executive Council. If that happens in UP, it may become a precursor of making each of Indian states as well as India itself towards becoming a South Asian Switzerland!

Israel's latest strategy for complicating the peace process is to delay discussions of Jerusalem's future. Steering debate to other agendas enables Israel to establish more "facts on Jerusalem ground," which consists of annexing lands, constructing bypass roads and housing and preparing for the decisive moment that will allow expansion of the Maale Adumim settlement and the development of the E1 corridor

Within the last ten days, 120 CODE PINK activists have made their way into Gaza through Egypt and have built three playgrounds, played with hundreds of children. Today, over forty more CODE PINK activists will converge at Erez Checkpoint with hope to build playgrounds and it's all about the children. "The fierce urgency of now" [MLK] should compel all people of conscience to petition their governments to force an end to the occupation of Palestine Gaza, in this, the final year of the UN's Decade of Creating a Culture of Nonviolence for all the children of the world

A community in northern Israel has changed its bylaws to demand that new residents pledge support for “Zionism, Jewish heritage and settlement of the land” in a thinly veiled attempt to block Arab applicants from gaining admission

The protests in Peru therefore have a global significance - both in terms of resistance against neo-colonial investment laws and in terms of environmental sustainability. The massacre at Bagua speaks to all of us

Lebanon's pro-western coalition has won the election. But the message from Lebanon is that the age of resistance lives

Obama’s speech in Cairo was full of nice politically correct (PC) expressions of love for Islam and Muslims but dishonestly evaded the central issue of ongoing US Alliance occupation and devastation of Muslim countries and abusive mass imprisonment of the conquered populations of these Occupied Territories including Occupied Somalia (not mentioned), Occupied Palestine, Occupied Syria (not mentioned), Occupied Lebanon (not mentioned), Occupied Iraq, Occupied Afghanistan and US robot-bombed NE Provinces of Pakistan

Even as President Barrack Obama waxed eloquent in Cairo, Egypt, on the moral imperatives of the community of nations, public opinion polls released in the United States revealed that, by a substantial percentage, its citizens believe torture is an acceptable option for interrogation of suspects deemed terrorist by various US governmental agencies

Overall, Obama proposed no concrete measures to redress decades of Palestinian grievances, nor those of Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis, and others in Eurasia - the region America covets for its vast energy and other resource riches

The Tamil Diaspora could be an eloquent voice for the suffering people in the Tamil territories. But the Tamils who live through the daily post-war trauma must be given the choice and the will to elect their leaders from among themselves. To achieve this end the Diaspora must fight not usurp

Being fully confident about the proven eminence and integrity of the Chairman of the SIT, well meaning citizens are optimistic about positive move from the SIT, soon, against the planners and executioners of 2002 butchery of the innocents in Gujarat

After the euphoric attention to idealistic rhetoric dies down, Obama will be criticized for extravagant words that create unrealizable expectations. But were the extravagant words other than a premier act of schmoozing Muslims designed to quiet the Muslim Brotherhood in our Egyptian puppet state and to get Muslims to accept US aggression in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan?

The Bekaa Valley seems to like Obama, are hopeful that American will finally stop enabling Zionist colonialism in their part of the World, and will be a friend and ally for Lebanon

If he does not follow up with concrete policies, these lofty words and ideas, the critics would have been proven right, but one needs to give him some time

Both the content and the tone of President Obama’s speech at the Cairo University differ distinctively from his predecessor’s similar exercises says Tomichan Matheikal

Throughout history Jews, like many other minorities, have indeed been persecuted, but the modern state of Israel never was the victim. Since its inception it has been the coloniser, aggressor, tormentor and oppressor. Exploiting the memory of Hitler's victims to perpetuate the myth of "victim Israel" is cynical. To do so while attacking its neighbours and inflicting Nazi-style state terrorism, apartheid and genocide on the Palestinians is cynical in the extreme

Clearly it's the wrong time to be Muslim in America as well as an environmental or animal rights activist. It was true under George Bush and no different under Barack Obama

The fight for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) appears to be astumbling, with Corporate America increasingly confident that it will defeat the most “controversial” parts of the pro-union legislation

Rajapaksha is a war president. The real test is to see how he conducts himself as a peace-builder. Will he genuinely honour the rights of the Tamils or will he simply follow the duplicitous route of all the previous Sinhala leaders?

One hopes the Government thinks of using the public money in a better way than raising statue. The making of statue should also take into consideration the ecological factors, and if these factors permit the statue, it should come up, with a proviso that the money for the statue will be raised from people. The government money should not be spent on this

The speech delivered by US President Barack Obama in Cairo yesterday was riddled with contradictions. He declared his opposition to the “killing of innocent men, women, and children,” but defended the ongoing US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the US proxy war in Pakistan, while remaining silent on the most recent Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. These wars have killed at least one million Iraqis and tens of thousands in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories

A CNN headline, reporting Obama's plans for his June 4 Cairo address, reads 'Obama looks to reach the soul of the Muslim world.' Perhaps that captures his intent, but more significant is the content hidden in the rhetorical stance, or more accurately, omitted

His speech shows little real change. In most regards his analysis maintains flawed American policies intact

Given below is a list of the top ten myths about contemporary Sri Lanka , the dispelling of each of which is indispensable to finding a lasting solution to the seemingly perpetual tragedy of its diverse population

We all wept when the Asian Tsunami took the lives of thousands in Sri Lanka. But the world remained silent when thousands of women and children experienced painful slow death in the killing fields of Sri Lanka

Though Haitian priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste died May 27, 2009, at age 62, in Miami from a stroke and breathing problems, he remains present to millions. Justice-loving people world-wide mourn his death and celebrate his life. Pere Jean-Juste worked uncompromisingly for justice for Haitians and the poor, both in Haiti and in the U.S.

The Neocons are fabricating and propagating the idea that Muslims are invading America to dominate and impose Sharia Laws without any substantiation. Cashing in on fears is Neocons modus operandi. They know how to scare the devil out of those few self proclaimed conservative Americans, and get them to open their check books, and the poor suckers pay the ransom

How justified are we as Indians to raise a hue and cry on these ghastly acts of prejudiced murder? Do we tow the same line when it comes to our equality records? How good are we, the brown men, in treating the brown and blacks amongst us? How fair are we, the citizens of a free and democratic country in giving justice to our own citizens? Do we fulfill the criteria to condemn these attacks? These are difficult questions with equally thorny answers

The British press last week revealed that senior leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were in negotiations with British and American diplomats to surrender, immediately prior to their killing by the Sri Lankan army on May 18. Also involved in the talks was the United Nations secretary general’s chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar

Despite considerable international pressure, the Sri Lankan government is continuing to block free access for the media and aid agencies to the military-run internment camps where more than 275,000 Tamil civilians have been detained under shocking conditions since fleeing the military’s final offensive against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the country’s north

After, the Leadership's seeming demise, there are some interesting explorations published by Tamilnet. Their reading is, that the oppression to Tamil nationalism is trans-national and hence the diaspora must come up with an elected trans-national government (Government in exile?) that could "negotiate" with the world (perhaps meaning the democratic Western world!)

A credible political solution would need to abolish the Executive Presidency and special place for Buddhism in the Constitution; ensure real parity for Sinhala and Tamil; put in place a Bill of Rights that rules out discrimination on any grounds whatsover in all parts of the island, and guarantees other rights like freedom of expression and association; includes the right to life, which is missing from the existing Constitution; devolves power to the Provincial Councils to a much greater degree than the 13th Amendment; and ensures greater representation of minority communities at the centre through a bicameral legislature

Yesterday, the last surviving person from the Titanic disaster passed away. She escaped certain death that night and went on to live another 97 years. So can we survive our own Titanic in all the Flint Michigans of this country. 60% of GM is ours. I think we can do a better job

In conjunction with its Monday bankruptcy filing, General Motors announced that it will shutter nine more plants and place three others on indefinite suspension. GM will also break contracts with more than 2,100 auto dealerships. The closings and layoffs were dictated and worked out in their detail by the Obama White House and its Auto Task Force

It is the duty of reporters to remind their readers of the internationally accepted understandings about the settlements. They should not forget that international law, and possibly now the White House’s vision of peace, requires the removal of 200,000 settlers in East Jerusalem too

The Vatican hardly notices what Haitians now endure, their deep poverty and deprivation, and how oppressively Washington-backed governments treat them. Only humanitarian opposition engenders its ire, the kind no one practiced better than Fr. Gerry

If the United States and international community, working with the Pakistani government to build the people’s governing capacities, can implement successful strategic development in Pakistan, the insurgency can be undermined, stability can take hold, and the people themselves will deny the return of the Taliban and Al Quaeda

Reports Continue to come out of Bangladesh more than a week after cyclone Aisla struck concerning the ongoing humanitarian crisis there. The cyclone which struck on May 25 has killed at least 237 people and left tens of thousands of others homeless. According to Heather Blackwell, Oxfam's Bangladesh representative, "It's an emerging humanitarian crisis. And its getting worse every day."

As if the Chhattisgarh government was not good enough to rain destruction on a soul like Dr Binayak Sen, we now have the Madhya Pradesh government arrest Mrs. Shamim Modi, a social activist and a law graduate working among the tribals in Betul district of the state. Geographically they seem to be different states with different issues; the fact that they are ruled by the same party is uncanny. What is even more interesting is the fact that both Dr Sen and Mrs Modi were involved in raising issues of the local people; their health, their employment and very importantly their environment

On Sunday 31 May 2009 about 2,000 Indians protested in the heart of the Melbourne Central Business District against brutal, racist violence against Indian students

The British Times newspaper and France’s Le Monde have both published articles pointing to a far higher civilian death toll in the final months of the civil war in Sri Lanka than previously reported. The reports come in the wake of a resolution sponsored by Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council last Wednesday blocking an investigation into war crimes committed during the fighting

The opportunity to build a global treaty at Copenhagen in December to mitigate climate change is slipping away as the US once again refuses to recognize the seriousness of this humanity threatening problem and refuses to lead in taking necessary mitigation steps in reducing their own emissions

At least 20 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq in May, the most since last September, along with more than 50 wounded. Iraqi casualties are, as usual - and in both categories - at least ten times that number

The political left, occasionally a powerful revolutionary force for change in this nation, is currently disorganized and ineffectual, but it is not dead. And because it is not dead, it is likely to rise again in response to a future crisis. Some catalyzing event, such as an economic depression and massive job loss, is likely to revive it. This is arguably the only force capable of saving the republic, and much of the world, from self-annihilation

For over 14 years, Daniel Estulin has investigated and researched the Bilderberg Group's far-reaching influence on business and finance, global politics, war and peace, and control of the world's resources and its money

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