Spanish Police Brutality 1st October 2017 Catalonia Full Compilation
Image by Mike Flugennock
SPANISH POLICE BRUTALITY CAUGHT ON VIDEO
October 31, 2017 at 13:34 (Civil Liberties, Dictatorship, Spain)
STEVIE WONDER SUPPORTS AMERICA ~~~ ON HIS KNEES
October 30, 2017 at 13:22 (Dissent)
Stevie Wonder takes both knees ‘for America’
Stevie Wonder Performs National Anthem On Knees
“Feel me, feel me, Mr. President.”
Music icon Stevie Wonder showed solidarity with the NFL players protesting the American flag by taking a knee while singing The Star-Spangled Banner over the weekend.
Appearing at the 2017 Formula 1 Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on Sunday (October 22), Wonder performed the national anthem on his harmonica as he lowered to his knees. During the song, Wonder called out President Trump when he said: “Feel me, feel me, Mr. President.”
Wonder has been an ardent supporter of the NFL protests since the beginning. Later on in the show, Wonder called for the nation to unify.
“I’ve never seen the color of my skin, nor the color of your skin,” said Wonder in reference to his blindness. “Not to get political, because I don’t like to do that. It is time for the leader of this nation, the leaders in the varied political positions that they hold, the people, we as artists — all of us come together as a united people of these United States of America.”
Wonder may say he does not like to get political, but past actions show that he indeed does like to get political, especially in forums that do not call for it.
In August, while serving on the telethon to raise relief money for Hurricane Harvey, Wonder used his platform on television to blast “climate change deniers” and President Trump.
“Anyone who believes that there’s no such thing as global warming must be blind or unintelligent,” said Wonder, adding, “Lord save us all.”
Text FROM
WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WOLF?
October 30, 2017 at 11:20 (Boycott Israel, Interview)
Who’s Afraid of BDS?
The movement to boycott Israel isn’t going away, despite the numerous attempts to quash it. Leading activist Omar Barghouti sits down with Ahmed to explain why.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY ~~ APARTHEID LOVE FEST
October 30, 2017 at 09:45 (Apartheid, Collaboration, Israel, Palestine)
Mural believed to be the work of Australian graffiti artist Lushsux; with face hidden by headdress, man identifying himself as Lushsux says he hopes his painting would draw attention to Palestinians stuck in ‘an indoor prison.’
(Photo: Reuters)
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(Photo: Reuters)
Full report here (Click on link)
Trump and Netanyahu share a kiss on West Bank wall mural
JUMP- START PALESTINE
October 30, 2017 at 09:35 (Associate Post, Economy, Palestine)
Not a day goes by without one of us being asked if Palestine really has an economy, given that we have been living for five decades under an increasingly well-entrenched Israeli military occupation. The question usually comes from people passing through on a short visit: some are Palestinians living in the diaspora, others are foreigners who come either singly or in groups; and some visitors arrive, under a variety of auspices, to study our reality. More troubling than to hear this question from outsiders is how often we hear it from our recent graduates. To all, our answer is yes – unequivocally.
Image by Carlos Latuff
Jump-Start Palestine: A Story of Economic Survival
By Sam Bahour and Nisreen Musleh
Not a day goes by without one of us being asked if Palestine really has an economy, given that we have been living for five decades under an increasingly well-entrenched Israeli military occupation. The question usually comes from people passing through on a short visit: some are Palestinians living in the diaspora, others are foreigners who come either singly or in groups; and some visitors arrive, under a variety of auspices, to study our reality. More troubling than to hear this question from outsiders is how often we hear it from our recent graduates. To all, our answer is yes – unequivocally.
If you happen to be one of those who question that an economy, despite aspects that are truly painful, nonetheless survives under Israeli military occupation, we ask for your indulgence. Palestinians are not superheroes who can sustain their prolonged struggle for freedom and independence without putting bread on the table or pay their children’s tuition, let alone love, marry, establish families, buy homes, purchase cars, and eat out. And so forth.
This article is a call to jump-start the nation of Palestine, economically. Palestine’s economy is in an iron fist grip of the State of Israel. Forty-four thousand Palestinians are graduating and entering the labor market every year. Only around 10,000 of them are being absorbed in the market, in both the public and private sectors. Palestine’s economic survival, and maybe political survival as well, depends on finding livelihoods for many more Palestinians, and at an unprecedented rate. This is our collective challenge.
We who are writing this are both blessed to have, in our respective surroundings, positive people. At home and at work, along with our respective circles of loved ones, colleagues and friends, we refuse to dwell on the negative. Instead, we analyze our bitter reality, look around at our own children and siblings, and always come to the same conclusion: We simply must find ways to create meaningful livelihoods for us and for them, because otherwise we would be reinforcing the longstanding Israeli fantasy that all Palestinians will, eventually, voluntarily, emigrate from Palestine — family by family, new graduate by new graduate. Or, worse yet, we would be fueling extremist elements in our society by giving them ready-made fodder to recruit from—a generation of youth in despair.
Our future and our families are at stake, so we engage with our damaged economy as a means of survival, while entertaining no illusions that we can properly develop it under Israeli occupation.
Just to make sure we are clear about how bitter our reality is, we share with you the opening paragraph of the Executive Summary of the World Bank’s latest Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) from September 18, 2017. It speaks volumes.
Despite its potential, the Palestinian economy is currently heavily distorted and failing to generate the jobs and incomes needed to improve living standards. Restrictions on trade and the access to resources, along with a decade long blockade of Gaza have hollowed out the productive base. The share of manufacturing in the economy has halved in the last twenty-five years, while agriculture is only one third its previous size. The economy is import dependent with imports over three times the size of exports and a trade deficit close to 40 percent of GDP (one of the highest in the world), while trade is overly concentrated with Israel. Investment rates have been low with the bulk channeled into relatively unproductive activities that generate insufficient employment. As a result, growth, which has mainly been driven by consumption, has run out of steam. With a sharp decline because of the 2014 Gaza war and a drop in aid levels, growth in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) slowed to 2 percent on average between 2013 and 2016, and dropped to a mere 0.7 percent in early 2017. Unemployment remains close to 30 percent on average, with youth unemployment twice as high in Gaza where the humanitarian situation has significantly worsened in recent months following the electricity crisis which has serious implications on the health, water and sanitation sectors as well as business activity.
That’s the bad news.
And the good news?
Nearly five million Palestinians awake every morning under military occupation with a stubborn determination to survive. As per the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 729,971 are infants (0-4 years), about 142,000 are in kindergarten, over 1.2 million are primary and secondary school students being served by 55,000 teachers, and over 207,000 are enrolled in universities and colleges, over 128,000 Palestinian workers work in Israel and Israeli settlements, and approximately 229,133 are 60 years and over. About 3 million residents are in the working-age (15 years and above), and over 1.5 million people are either working or seeking work.
With skyrocketing unemployment rates that now exceed 30%, to wish or hope that Palestinians remain steadfast without livelihoods is the equivalent of praying that your car will run without gasoline or electricity.
That noted, this month alone we have engaged two separate projects emerging out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) aiming to create jobs in Palestine; we have met with the Country Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) who is exploring the state of venture capital and equity funds in Palestine. Also, a meeting is already planned with Switzerland’s Federal Councilor Johann Schneider-Amman, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, who is leading a 50-person delegation of academics and businesspersons to Palestine. Bottom line, there are loads of global interest in Palestine to leverage.
Enter the real Palestine
Palestine’s economy did not drop fully formed from the sky with the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993 and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. Historically, in addition to consumer trading, the economy has revolved around agriculture, tourism and laborers who work in Israel. Since 1994, a new service sector has been added, mainly communications and financial services, as well as a mini-army of professionals serving civil society and civil servants serving the government bureaucracy.
Sustained Israeli actions have nearly paralyzed two of our most promising sectors, agriculture and tourism. The World Bank has stated that structural damage has been made to our agriculture sector. This is not surprising, given that agriculture is about land and water, two front lines in this conflict. Additionally, the World Bank notes that, in general, the “…continued existence of a system of [Israeli] closures and restrictions is creating lasting damage to economic competiveness [sic] in the Palestinian Territories.” (Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, March 19, 2013).
Tourism is a sensitive sector by nature and the illegal Separation Wall as well as the volatile security situation have suffocated our tourism sector, but not to the point where it has disappeared. Instead of buckling under to Israeli-invoked actions aimed at our de-development, our tourism sector has turned to the domestic tourism market and to alternative tourism products, including political, rural and experiential tourism, to keep going.
Our laborers who work in Israel are the untold saga of our five-decade old economic reality. These are the nameless and faceless who put their health, their family relations, and even their lives at risk to cross Israeli checkpoints in the early morning hours, day after day, returning home long after nightfall and after a back-breaking workday to find their children sound asleep. These Palestinian workers, if given the opportunity for decent livelihoods in their own communities, would be the first to benefit from fuller employment opportunities in Palestine.
Looking forward
Together with colleagues, as a group of Palestinian private sector stakeholders, we are seeking new, creative and sustainable ways to more significantly challenge our reality. We are exploring how to put our capital, knowhow and efforts into business opportunities that would employ a critical mass of Palestinians. Yes – we are aiming for a critical mass of jobs under military occupation. That is our challenge because this is our reality.
We fully respect and would never belittle, under any circumstances, the many small-scale projects that hire a few persons here and there. In fact, we work in that domain every day and will continue to do so. However, we see that the scale of these projects involving a low number of employment opportunities will only keep us behind the curve, despite the fanfare they typically receive.
We have set for ourselves a goal, to come up with 3-5 new business opportunities—structured either for-profit or as social enterprises—to research, each of which will have the potential to hire 100 or more persons located in one or more locations in Palestine. Our hope is that those reading this will come forward with new idea, market connections, actual business opportunities, and the like. We stand ready to invest where needed, train where needed, and manage where qualified to do so.
So, addressing all of you who yearn to assist Palestinians in their non-violent struggle for freedom and independence: We are placing this challenge in front of you, too. Help us conceptualize real business opportunities, that will serve real markets, that will employ real Palestinians and will place real bread on the table. Send your ideas via http://www.aim.ps/contact_us.html.
Sam Bahour, Managing Partner of Applied Information Management in Ramallah and chairman of Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy. He blogs at epalestine.com. Follow Sam Bahour @SamBahour
Nisreen Musleh, Managing Director of Ritaj Managerial Solutions in Ramallah and vice chairwoman of the Palestinian Trainers’ Association. Follow Nisreen Musleh @nisreen_musleh
Originally posted AT
IN TOONS ~~ NO FREEDOM FOR CATALONIA
October 29, 2017 at 08:53 (Associate Post, Cartoons, Civil Liberties, Collective Punishment, Democracy, Spain)
Franco’s ghost rears its ugly head in time for Halloween
Images by Carlos Latuff
OUR VOTES MATTER NOT
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ALL WE WANT IS INDEPENDENCE AND FREEDOM
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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy invades Catalonia on the back of a tank
And finally, from Israel
‘THE ONLY DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST’ (HA!)
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BOO! …. TWICK OR TWEET
October 29, 2017 at 08:51 (Cartoons, Holidays)
A HALLOWEEN TREAT
Silly Symphony: The Skeleton Dance. One of my all-time Halloween favorites! 
Latuff adds the following ….
The SCARIEST Halloween Pumpkin EVER!
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And here’s how they celebrate Halloween in the maternity ward ….
And finally ….. The Monster Mash
UN BLACKLISTS THE OCCUPATION
October 26, 2017 at 09:31 (Apartheid, Boycott Israel, Occupied West Bank, United Nations)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights al-Hussein warns Israeli firms of their inclusion in ‘blacklist’ of companies operating in West Bank, east J’lem, Jordan Valley; list includes prominent companies such as Bezeq, Hot, Ahava, Cellcom, Bank Hapoalim and others; Bezeq CEO scorns ‘entirely anti-Israeli propaganda.’
130 Israeli companies, 60 int’l corporations on UN ‘blacklist’
In the past few weeks, 130 Israeli companies and 60 international corporations operating in Israel received warning letters from United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid bin Ra’ad al-Hussein cautioning them of their impending inclusion in a “blacklist” of companies active beyond the Green Line in “violation of international law and UN resolutions.”
Ynet has gained access to part of the list, which is set to be published in late December and cites 25 well-known Israeli companies. The companies operate in different sectors—some in food manufacturing, others in services, pharmaceuticals and even high-tech—but have one thing in common: they all operate in settlements, east Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley.
Among the companies in the commissioner’s sights are Ahava, Dor Alon, Amisragas, Angel Bakeries, Arison Investments, Ashdar, Clal Industries, Café Café, Cellcom, Danya Cebus, Electra, HP, Hot, the Israel Aerospace Industries, Matrix Systems, Motorola, Nesher, Partner, Paz, Rami Levy, Remax, Housing & Construction (Shikun Binui), Shufersal, Sonol and Trima.
The above companies are joined by the 12 companies already published on Channel 2 News including Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Bezeq and Bezeq International, Coca Cola, Africa Israel, Teva, IDB, Egged, Mekorot, Netafim and Elbit Systems.
The “Washington Post” published American companies will also be appearing on the list, including Caterpillar, Tripadvisor and Airbnb.
Some of the companies to be included on the list are still considering their response, but others are already fighting back with the claim their inclusion on the list may cause them financial harm and tarnish their brand, and are therefore looking into filing suits against the Commissioner and the UN’s Human Rights Council that called for the list’s preparation in the first place.
The companies claim the list’s creation was politically motivated and point to the fact that the commissioner constructed no such lists pertaining to other regions of conflict—such as the Crimean Peninsula and Western Sahara—as proof.
Both Israel and the US have been working behind the scenes in the past few weeks to prevent the list’s publication, but it appears it may be presented with a fait accompli. Despite the fact the list carries no operational or legal ramifications, the symbolic move nevertheless caused concern among the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials due to the fact it may provide a serious boost to BDS efforts, deter foreign investors and convince foreign companies operating in Israel to reduce their operations.
“It may cause large investment firms or pension funds carrying stocks of various Israeli companies to divest in them because they, in turn, operate in the settlements. It may lead to a snowball effect that will greatly harm the Israeli economy eventually,” said a senior Israeli official.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates the Human Rights Commissioner received most of his information about the Israeli firms from Israeli non-profits operating in the settlements and investigating business activities beyond the Green Line.
AIPAC goes to war
In an effort to scuttle the move, the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby has been working in the US on promoting rapid legislation in Congress determining any company divesting its business dealings from Israel will be considered to have “capitulated” to the Arab boycott, and would thus be in violation of American law.
The Human Rights Council’s efforts to isolate Israel—executed through the office of the commissioner—have largely been facilitated by what Israel frequently slams as the UN body’s years-long anti-Israeli majority which has a long record of a bias slant.
Bezeq CEO Stella Handler published a Facebook post 12 days ago in which she made public the overture she received from the UN’s Human Rights Commissioner. After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted her, Handler took the post down.
“Here’s something the UN’s Human Rights Council doesn’t want you know: we’ve received a message from Special Assistant to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mohammad Ali Alnsour. Alnsour communicated to us that Bezeq was to be included on a list of Israeli companies operating in the West Bank. He asked us to keep that information confidential and to not publically comment on it,” Handler’s Facebook post said.
“Before we get started, here’s some background about the UN’s Human Rights Council. Since it was founded in 2006, it published 68 decisions denouncing Israel, making up 50 percent of the total resolutions pertaining to specific countries the council has made. Not North Korea, not Syria, not Sudan and not Yemen were afforded such attention,” the post continued.
“We will not be cooperating with a move that’s entirely anti-Israeli propaganda. Despite the council’s attempts to harm Israel by harming Bezeq, we give you our solemn commitment to keep focused on what we do best: providing all of Israel’s citizens with quality service, to provide our employees with a fair workplace and to manufacture profits for our shareholders. That is our role as Israel’s communications infrastructures company,” Handler concluded.
SHARIA LAW COMES TO MY HILL
October 25, 2017 at 13:53 (DesertPeace Editorial, Israel, Tolerance)
Be sure to click on links …
In the ‘nest of Peace‘ that I call home, a new development is in the making ….When I went to the local shopping plaza this afternoon a new shoppe was in the process of opening …. A BBQ and Shwarma eatery. This will be a most welcome addition to our community …
BUT
It won’t be classified as ‘Kosher‘. It will be governed by Sharia Law making it ‘Halal’.
Undoubtedly this will upset the handful of right-wingers living in our community (to the point that hopefully they will move). Thank goodness, the majority of our locals make this area a special one.
I’ll be sure to keep you updated on opening day.
Hopefully this will NOT be the case
THIS is what the case should be
CENSORING PALESTINE ON CAMPUS
October 25, 2017 at 10:52 (Academic Freedom, Censorship, Israel, zionist harassment)
Israel lobby stalwart and retired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz appears determined to use Columbia as a proving ground for censorship of dissent, especially from the left.
FaceBook is also guilty of censoring Palestine by censoring Latuff
First they censor Palestine …
Three students at Barnard College, which is affiliated with New York’s Columbia University, are facing punishment for protesting a speech earlier this month by a notorious white supremacist.
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the British Islamophobe and English Defence League founder who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, spoke to Columbia students via Skype on 10 October.
According to campus newspaper The Columbia Spectator, dozens of students interrupted Robinson’s speech and held up signs, while 250 more protested outside the venue.
Almost 5,000 people have signed a petition supporting the students, and mobilizations to defend them are being organized on campus.
“By attempting to silence protesters while providing space and funds for hate speech at Columbia, Suzanne Goldberg and other university administrators are demonstrating complicity with violent ideologues whose claims continue to actively harm historically marginalized students,” the petition states.
The petition quotes a mass email from Columbia vice-president Suzanne Goldberg that “it is foundational to Columbia’s learning and teaching missions that we allow for the contestation of ideas, as President Bollinger has often made clear.”
If Goldberg and university president Lee Bollinger “truly believed in open dialogue and the ‘contestation of ideas,’ they would not be threatening student protesters with disciplinary action,” the petition states.
Selective freedom
A few days after the protest, university provost John Coatsworth issued another mass email with the subject line “Statement on disrupting speakers.”
“As President Bollinger made clear in his Commencement Address last May, freedom of speech is a core value of our institution,” Coatsworth wrote. “The university is committed to defend the right of all the members of our community to exercise their right to invite, listen to and challenge speakers whose views may be offensive and even hurtful to many of us. It is the duty of every member of the community to help preserve freedom of speech for all, including protesters.”
Such arguments might be persuasive in a hypothetical world where elite universities actually provide equal access and support to all viewpoints.
But in reality, these increasingly corporatized institutions privilege speech by the powerful while marginalizing those who actually challenge orthodoxies and centers of power.
A glaring example of that is Harvard University’s decision in September to rescind a fellowship to Chelsea Manning, after an objection from CIA director Mike Pompeo.
Manning’s courageous and personally costly leaking of classified information brought to light some of the most brutal US war crimes in Iraq – crimes for which no one has yet been held to account.
Meanwhile, Harvard offers a comfortable retreat for all manner of miscreants, from Afghanistan and Iraq war general David Petraeus (convicted in 2015 of passing classified information to his girlfriend), to former Trump spokesperson Sean Spicer.
Harvard even has special programs to fund dozens of Israeli government officials to attend the university.
Alums include a host of senior officers of the Israeli military.
Censorship through “civility”
The Columbia crackdown on students protesting a white supremacist fulfills the prediction that censorship of campus speech related to Palestine – often under the banner of promoting “civility” – would be the test case later expanded to silence other forms of dissent.
“Using the Question of the Palestinians and Israel as the entry point to suppress dissent inside the walls of the academy is both tactical and strategic,” Columbia professor Joseph Massad wrote for The Electronic Intifada in 2014.
“It is tactical because once successful, it would take away key aspects of faculty governance and transfer them to neoliberal university administrations, and would set a precedent and an ensuing chilling effect on other, perhaps even more dangerous, kinds of dissent that command larger public support than do the Palestinians,” Massad added.
Massad was writing amid the protests over the University of Illinois’ firing of Steven Salaita over his tweets criticizing Israel’s attack on Gaza – tweets university administrators deemed “uncivil.”
As the frequent target of anti-Palestinian witch-hunters, Massad can speak from experience.
More than a decade ago, the university set up a committee to investigate bogus charges of anti-Semitism against Columbia faculty including Massad. Its mandate was “to identify cases where there appear to be violations of the obligation to create a civil and tolerant teaching environment.”
After the months of inquisition endured by Massad, the committee concluded that the allegations were unsubstantiated and there was no evidence of anti-Semitism. This did not stop the vilification of Massad by pro-Israel groups and media, nor did it prompt an outpouring of support for his free speech rights from liberal commentators.
Yet the same kinds of arguments and tactics rooted in a concern for civility are now being used by administrators to ensure that white supremacists and other bigots can appear on campuses unchallenged by students.
Not surprisingly, Columbia, which was founded from the profits of the slave trade, remains materially tied to the interests of white supremacists.
The university has been identified by liberal blog ThinkProgress as an investor in a hedge fund run by Robert Mercer, the co-owner of Breitbart and a major funder of white nationalists.
Those calling on Columbia to divest from white supremacy may however find themselves contending with the arguments and tactics honed for use against the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for Palestinian rights.
Targeting “intersectionality”
Israel lobby stalwart and retired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz appears determined to use Columbia as a proving ground for censorship of dissent, especially from the left.
In late September, Dershowitz, one of the most ubiquitous and high-profile media commentators, wrote an article in New York’s Daily News painting himself as an embattled “centrist liberal” who was scheduled to speak at the Columbia campus to share his “moderate” ideas.
Dershowitz cited “reports in the media” to claim that “radical students plan to disrupt my speech in an effort to prevent me from sharing my moderate ideas with Columbia students.”
“I expect that my speech will be protested not only by anti-Israel and anti-Semitic students and outsiders, but also by some radical feminists, gay rights activists, Black Lives Matter supporters and others who, under the false banner of ‘intersectionality,’ believe they must stand together against their common oppressors,” Dershowitz predicted.
To his apparent dismay, no such protests or disruptions materialized when he spoke on campus this week.
But in the Daily News article, Dershowitz had made clear what he demanded of the university: “I expect Columbia to assure not only my physical safety and the physical safety of those students who come to listen to me, but also my ability to communicate my views to open-minded students.”
In other words, Dershowitz wanted the university to discipline and punish the feminist, LGBTQ, Black Lives Matter and “anti-Israel” activists he hoped would show up.
As an authority for his position, Dershowitz also cited Columbia president Bollinger’s 2017 commencement speech.
Free speech for the powerful
Right-wing ideologues are championing a notion of “free speech” which means, in effect, unfettered platforms for the already powerful, while the marginalized who seek a voice can be silenced under the banner of protecting that “freedom.”
Bret Stephens, the virulently anti-Palestinian New York Times columnist is holding up University of Chicago president Robert Zimmer as a hero of this type of free speech.
The headline of Stephens’ recent column declares Zimmer “America’s best university president” because of his disdain for trigger warnings and his declaration that “we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.”
What Stephens does not mention is the sheer hypocrisy of Zimmer’s statements. The University of Chicago does in fact create and condone “safe spaces” – but only for the powerful.
This is what it did when it banned media and imposed other severe speech restrictions for a university-sponsored lecture by Ehud Olmert in October 2009, weeks after a UN-commissioned independent inquiry found evidence of major war crimes in the December 2008 attack on Gaza Olmert had ordered as prime minister of Israel.
Faced with the university’s determination to provide Olmert with a privileged and unchallenged platform, dozens of people – including this writer – disrupted his speech.
We were not protesting Olmert’s opinions. We were protesting his actions, including the destruction of dozens of schools and universities in Gaza and the killing of hundreds of teachers and students.
But in the new concept of free speech promoted by universities like Columbia, the freedom of expression of racists and war criminals is to be cherished and protected far above the rights of their victims and those in solidarity with them to protest for their right not to be oppressed, exterminated or to have their history erased because of who they are.
In a stark example, the University of California at Berkeley was prepared to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to ensure that far-right demagogues could speak on campus.
In advance of a campus speech by right-wing anti-Palestinian pundit and former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro last month, Berkeley’s city council granted police permission to use pepper spray against “violent” protesters.
The campus was put on virtual lockdown for Shapiro’s 14 September speech.
Barely a year earlier, UC Berkeley administrators had censored a student-taught course on Palestine.
The censorship to come
Censorship around Palestine serves as a reliable guide of what will likely come next.
Concern about “incivility” operates “as a primary policing mechanism of dissident academics,” Massad wrote in 2014.
“Achieving this, however, would not be easy in a university culture that values academic freedom and freedom of opinion. A weak link in the chain of academic freedom had to be found, one around which people could more easily mobilize – one that could set a precedent. Enter the Question of the Palestinians and Israel.”
Earlier this year, New York’s Fordham University refused to allow the establishment of a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, claiming that the group would “encourage disruptive conduct” and contradict the college’s values of “civility.”
In April, students filed a federal lawsuit against Fordham, charging the private university with violating its own free expression policies and engaging in viewpoint discrimination.
The case has attracted little attention – at least none from the mainstream liberal and conservative pundits who chatter incessantly about free speech on campus while ignoring the pervasive censorship of views critical of Israel.
But much likely hangs on its outcome. If Fordham gets away with banning Students for Justice in Palestine, it won’t be too long before organizations challenging racism and white supremacy, police violence, mass incarceration or fracking could find themselves outlawed as well.
THE STAR OF OPPRESSION
October 25, 2017 at 09:50 (Associate Post, Corrupt Politics, Israel, Palestine, Terrorism)
The “Jewish State” has managed it to exploit its “right for self-defense” so that such violence licenses Zionist state terror regime to get away with anything. In all its wars of aggression, pre-emptive attacks, targeted homicides and raids, the Jewish State has abrogated international law including human rights. Is this the “Jewish ethics” the propaganda talks about?
The “Jewish State” – a symbol of terror!
By Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, English Translation – Milena Rampoldi
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Let us imagine the following scenario: Syrian, Lebanese, Turkish, Russian, or Iranian jets carry out surveillance flights over the “Jewish State.” The hypocritical world community would be up in arms and rush to support the “threatened” Jewish State. Since the Zionist regime has special rights at an international level and is allowed to violate all rules with impunity, a war could break out, and this war would be tolerated by the “world community.”
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The “Jewish State” has managed it to exploit its “right for self-defense” so that such violence licenses Zionist state terror regime to get away with anything. In all its wars of aggression, pre-emptive attacks, targeted homicides and raids, the Jewish State has abrogated international law including human rights. Is this the “Jewish ethics” the propaganda talks about? I cannot love a state, and I cannot love the “Jewish” State. How can you see something positive in a State that oppresses, denigrates, and ethnically cleanses Palestinians from even before its foundation, and maintains its policy of continues with this reason of state of the judaisation. For this reason we are forced to support Israel’s “security” which permits its policy of violating international law and human rights. Have we learnt absolutely nothing from history? Can anyone claim they knew nothing about it!
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And the new political situation, the right-wing parties gaining strength in Europe, from France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Austria, and perhaps the future Kurz-Coalition, and the AfD in Germany, make the situation even worse. What do they all have in common? They support Jews and the “Jewish State”, and they struggle against the alleged “Islamisation” of the “Christian Occident.” The increase of this terrifying policy is reached when right-wing and traditional German parties read from the same page.
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Russia is informed about the air strike against Syria, as it was the case on 7 September, when the Israeli Air Force had attacked a military plant in Hama. In the German media we read the justification of Israel, based on the motto that “good” bombs are allowed to attack a Syrian chemistry plant of the “bad” Assad regime and to kill to Syrian soldiers. These attacks are part of a countless number, and one of the most sensational was the attack of 7 June 1981, when the IDF destroyed an Iraqi research plant near Bagdad. Not to speak of the regular strikes against Hezbollah convoys, and of drone attacks in Lebanon. What would have happened, if it was “Jewish defense soldiers” killed by Syrian fighter jets? Western value hypocrites would have condemned such barbarous acts and supported the Zionist regime.
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When Star of David jets attack an alleged chemistry plant, it is ok, and no journalists or politicians question such violations against international law, and the violation are not worth talking about in the State news of ARD. While in the news will discuss football and car racing, it will fail to mention how the “Jewish Defense Army” launches its attacks from the illegally occupied region territory. This is a deliberate, misleading, and brainwashing of the people.
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This “special” relationship stylizes the “Jewish Occupation State” as a “light among the peoples” and an illuminating model for questions about security, defense, and integration of refugees. In his new book Ilan Pappe describes this state as the “biggest prison” in the world. This State can act in a total freedom, can break all rules, and can continue its land grabbing, its occupation, the negation of international law and can be sure to get the support by the community of states. At the first front there is U.S. president Trump, the most dangerous of all U.S. presidents who actively supports this kind of policy. Trump threatens other countries and puts the world in danger of a third World War. Then you can be sure of one thing: Netanyahu will be his fan and supporter, and racism and Zionism will be their common objectives, even if they represent a big risk for the peace of this world.
This “special” relationship stylizes the “Jewish Occupation State” as a “light among the peoples” and an illuminating model for questions about security, defense, and integration of refugees. In his new book Ilan Pappe describes this state as the “biggest prison” in the world. This State can act in a total freedom, can break all rules, and can continue its land grabbing, its occupation, the negation of international law and can be sure to get the support by the community of states. At the first front there is U.S. president Trump, the most dangerous of all U.S. presidents who actively supports this kind of policy. Trump threatens other countries and puts the world in danger of a third World War. Then you can be sure of one thing: Netanyahu will be his fan and supporter, and racism and Zionism will be their common objectives, even if they represent a big risk for the peace of this world.
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This risk is further increased by Trump who wants to destroy the tediously negotiated nuclear deal with Iran because he considers it a “bad deal” with a shameful state. In addition, Trump today threatens North Korea with “total” destruction. However, when you listen to his claim to put an end to the “bad” nuclear deal with Iran, you know very well who are his “whisperers.” And if you read certain Israeli newspapers and think thanks for the Netanyahu regime’s annulment of this deal, you should understand that is not enough because Israel wants to prepare an independent military attack against Iran to destroy the Iranian nuclear infrastructure by the use of all kinds of force and with “determination and creativity.” For many years this policy of pretension to power has been the result produced by Zionist “thought leaders” like, at the first front, the Bar-Ilan university, the Begin Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies (BESA Centre) or the Israel Project. Terms like occupation, nakba, cluster bombs, and Sharon’s slaughter festivity in Lebanon, the genocide in Gaza have been declared taboo. Also the countless verbal pirouettes which pursue the goal to let the occupation and the crimes under international criminal law disappear from the media are produced by these scientifically accompanied Israel lobby thought leaders. They ruthlessly exploit Holocaust comparisons, so as to demonize critics of the Israeli policy as anti-Semites. So they have successfully transformed peaceful states like Iran which has never attacked another country into demonized Holocaust players, and fighters of Hezbollah and Hamas, opposed to the occupation under international criminal law, are called terrorist organizations. This week, the Israeli war minister Lieberman will meet the Russian and US defense ministers to put them back on track. He wants to induce his US colleague Mattis to more actively engage in the struggle against Iran and in the Syrian war, because the Netanyahu regime considers itself as being “surrounded by enemies” (Iran, Turkey, Russia, Hezbollah, and Hamas!). It is also more than plausible that the Netanyahu regime and its co-puppet masters are behind the Qatar crises to weaken the big sponsor of Hamas in Gaza, Qatar.
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As a consequence, also the newly proclaimed unity between Fatah and Hamas has to be seen with some skepticism because it is a reconciliation agreement which will not have any sustainability. In the end, Hamas is completely right when it says that only the armed resistance can end the illegal occupation of Palestine, and that of course it will not accept to dissolve the Qassam brigades. As long as Palestinian President Abbas who contributed to all this to extremely worsen the situation in the occupation Gaza Strip even by encouraging the Jewish occupation power to cut electricity and by thinking of other harassments to overthrow Hamas. He acted based on the model of the Western “alliance of values” like in Egypt, Ukraine, Venezuela, just to mention some examples of (tried) regime changes. If now in the Gaza Strip Fatah will come back to power, this cannot go well in the long run. Only free elections would help both in the Gaza Strip and in the illegally occupied West Bank. Of course, this would be unconceivable for the Netanyahu regime because in that case it would have to negotiate with a legitimate Palestinian head of government and not with the legitimated collaborationist president Abbas who will do all in his power to avoid these elections because he would not win them.
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Alternatives would be Mohammed Dahlan, the former chief of the secret services of Fatah and Abbas’ mortal enemy, and Marwan Barghouti the “Palestinian Mandela,” in “eternal” Israeli solitary confinement, and symbol of the resistance against the occupation of Palestine! However, this is a dream worth fighting for, even if it is unconceivable thanks to the “Jewish occupiers’ regime.” Finally, Netanyahu does not want to recognize a Palestinian unity government in which Hamas co-governs. A small glimmer of hope is on horizon that Egypt as mediator will open the border crossing blocked on the Egyptian side, so to allow freedom to the imprisoned people of Gaza to leave their distress in the concentration camp. The “coup Pharaoh” al-Sisi pursues the goal to extend his power and to control the Sinai region.
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While the “Jewish State,” with all its Zionist power, has been trying for decades now to avoid the foundation of a Palestinian state, the Netanyahu regime was immediately ready to recognize “Kurdistan.” Imagine Netanyahu arming the Kurds to cause a further destabilization in the region. Probably this is exactly in the interests of the “Jewish State.”
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These new political constellations and power relations in the USA, Europe, and Germany may give cause for concern. Trump and Netanyahu are the embodiment of terror, and their common withdrawal from the UNESCO to protest against the alleged “Israel hostility” is ridiculous, if you consider that even calling the “Jewish State” an “occupation power” is said to be anti-Semitic.
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However, it is extremely questionable whether the UNESCO President Audrey Azouley, the Moroccan-French Jewish woman, and former French minister of culture, proposed by Manuel Valls, will try to keep Palestine on the agenda. Azoulay narrowly beat Qatar’s Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari in the final 30-28 vote, after his being defamed as anti-Semite. And probably in spite of this “Jewish presidency” the U.S. and Israel will not revert their withdrawal. However, the USA still owes UNESCO 500 million US-Dollars.
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This “Jewish State” as “symbol of terror” cannot be internationally supported anymore. The BDS is an important objective in the struggle for a free Palestine.
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Originally posted AT
ASSORTMENT OF TOONS FOR TOOSDAY
October 24, 2017 at 16:00 (Associate Post, Cartoons)
Images by Carlos Latuff
What does helping hurricane victims in Texas have to do with supporting Israel?
Before you can get aid for hurricane relief you need to sign on the dotted line
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The West’s disturbing bigotry when it comes to the value of life
Who will the West choose to cry about this week and who will warrant no more than a shrug?
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How Turkey has showed its unwillingness to join the EU
Should I Go … or Not?
HOW THE ISRAELI LOBBY IS ASSAULTING OUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH
October 23, 2017 at 10:22 (Boycott Israel, Corrupt Politics, Free Speech, Israel, Palestine, zionist harassment)
The First Amendment squarely protects the right to boycott. Lately, though, a legislative assault on that right has been spreading through the United States – designed to stamp out constitutionally protected boycotts of Israel…
The First Amendment is Under Serious Assault in Order to Stifle Anti-Israel Boycotts
Assaults on freedom speech can be found in many aspects of American life these days, but one specific area that isn’t getting the attention it deserves relates to boycotts against Israel. Increasingly, we’re seeing various regional governments requiring citizens to agree to what essentially amounts to a loyalty pledge to a foreign government in order to participate in or receive government services.
I’m going to highlight two troubling examples of this, both covered by Israeli paper Haaretz. The first relates to Kansas.
From the article, In America, the Right to Boycott Israel Is Under Threat:
The First Amendment squarely protects the right to boycott. Lately, though, a legislative assault on that right has been spreading through the United States – designed to stamp out constitutionally protected boycotts of Israel…
Over the past several years, state and federal legislatures have considered dozens of bills, and in some cases passed laws, in direct violation of this important ruling. These bills and laws vary in numerous respects, but they share a common goal of scaring people away people from participating in boycotts meant to protest Israeli government policies, including what are known as Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns.
Today, the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging one of those laws — a Kansas statute requiring state contractors to sign a statement certifying that they do not boycott Israel, including boycotts of companies profiting off settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
We are representing a veteran math teacher and trainer from Kansas who was told she would need to sign the certification statement in order to participate in a state program training other math teachers. Our client is a member of the Mennonite Church USA. In response to calls for boycott by the church and members of her congregation, she has decided not to buy consumer goods and services offered by Israeli companies and international companies operating in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Our client is boycotting to protest the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians and to pressure the government to change its policies.
Earlier this year, our client was selected to participate as a contractor in a statewide training program run by the Kansas Department of Education. She was excited to use her skills to help train math teachers throughout the state, but when she was presented with a form requiring her to certify that she “is not currently engaged in a boycott of Israel,” she told the state that she could not sign the form in good conscience. As a result, the state refuses to let her participate in the program.
Kansas’s law, and others like it, violates the Constitution. The First Amendment prohibits the government from suppressing one side of a public debate. That means it cannot impose ideological litmus tests or loyalty oaths as a condition on hiring or contracting.
If this was the only example of such behavior, I suppose we could dismiss it as a one-off, misguided directive. Unfortunately, this sort of thing is far more common than any of us would like to admit.
Here’s another recent example, from the article, Houston Suburb Won’t Give Hurricane Relief to Anyone Who Boycotts Israel:
A Houston suburb will not approve grants to repair homes or businesses damaged in Hurricane Harvey if the applicant supports boycotting Israel.
The city of Dickinson’s application form for storm damage repair funding includes a clause stating that “By executing this Agreement below, the Applicant verifies that the Applicant: (1) does not boycott Israel; and (2) will not boycott Israel during the term of this Agreement.”
No other clauses about political affiliations or beliefs are included in the form.
The state of Texas passed a law in May banning state entities from contracting with businesses that boycott Israel. The law, one of 21 passed in states around the country in the past few years, has been criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union as unconstitutional.
This is totally insane. I don’t care what you think about Israel, the above is completely unacceptable in a free society and we should all be making a stink about it. Please share with friends and family.
HELP CHILDREN PAVE THE WAY TO PEACE IN ISRAEL
October 23, 2017 at 08:25 (Education, Israel, Palestine)
NEVER SAY NEVER!
This is definitely an institution worth supporting ….. click HERE for details
Hand in Hand Learning together Living together | יד ביד يداً بيد
The story of Hand in Hand pioneering schools, almost the only bilingual ones in Israel, and the joint Arab – Jewish communities surrounding them.
IN TOONS ~~ LOGO CONTEST TO ‘CELEBRATE’ 70 YEARS OF THE IDF
October 22, 2017 at 09:33 (Associate Post, Cartoons, Israel, Soldier Brutality)
Submission by Latuff (via Mondoweiss)
Those once hounded mercilessly are the ones doing the hounding now.
Two submissions by Adel Sabaaneh
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SOME PHOTOS TRUMP WANTS YOU NOT TO SHARE OR SEE
October 22, 2017 at 09:32 (Corrupt Politics, DesertPeace Exclusive, Humour)
Apparently Trump doesn’t like this photo and doesn’t want it shared on social media. You know what to do.
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Note the white line which was covered by his hair
Trump wants this photo of his dodgy tan removed from the internet. Please do not share.
US President Donald Trump greets Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upon arrival outside of the West Wing of the White House CREDIT: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
TWO MUST WATCH VIDEOS ABOUT THE PALESTINIAN CATASTROPHE
October 20, 2017 at 12:16 (DesertPeace Exclusive, Israel's Shame, Nakba, Palestine, Refugee Crisis, Videos)
The year 1948 saw the establishment of the state of Israel, the culmination of generations of Jewish persecution across Europe and Russia. But that same year proved catastrophic for the Palestinians — 700,000 to 900,000 men, women and children were forced to leave their homes and never allowed to return. 1948 was the most pivotal year in the most controversial conflict in the world, but it is almost never mentioned on American television, radio, or newspaper stories. This documentary aims to change that.
1948: Creation & Catastrophe
This is just a trailer for the film …. you MUST seek it out and watch in full
AL NAKBA: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948
Arguably the first film that seriously tackles the historical events that lead to the creation of 750.000 Palestinian refugees at the end of the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948. Based on historian Benny Morris’ book “The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947-49”.
DISRESPECTING APPROVAL RATINGS ….
October 19, 2017 at 09:25 (Corrupt Politics, Democracy)
First watch these videos ….
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Bottom line is …..
Sixty-seven percent disapproval rating.
The handwriting is on the wall.
THE POLITE (CANADIAN WAY) TO GET RID OF BEARS
October 19, 2017 at 08:31 (Canada, Humour)
Typically polite …. even the bears
Desertpeace 