Raising orphans in Tanzania

This is a 5-month-old orphaned elephant being loved up by his caretaker, Thomas Chalice, at the Tony Fitzjohn rhino sanctuary in Mkomazi, Tanzania. Chalice has a tough job ahead of several years to get this baby through the grief of losing his mother & emotionally able to survive. It would be interesting to interview Chalice & other caretakers about the grief they feel when they finally have to say good-bye to their wards. They probably have to hire elephants to care for grieving caretakers.(Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty)

They're useless without their guns, tanks, bulldozers, & bombers!

The Palestinian people have fought alone for so long & so fiercely but they have never given up against the overwhelming might of Israeli apartheid bankrolled by US treachery. Children, young & old men & women have stood with nothing but rocks & determination against Israeli tanks, bulldozers, & bombers for nearly 65 years without backing down, without giving up, & with little international support. The movement for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid & ethnic cleansing is changing all that. After so many decades alone, people of good will around the world now, on every continent are responding to the Palestinian clarion call for justice. Israel is in a panic & trying to use sports & cultural events to clean up its image & cover for it’s crimes. Many celebrity sycophants like Elton John, Madonna, & U2 have participated in the deceit; others have joined the side of justice. Those of us who champion justice, even if we don’t know a damn thing about sports & can't carry a tune, will join this section in the bleachers at a soccer game in Scotland to demand, “Free Palestine”. You can add your voice to those in the bleachers by boycotting all Israeli products (barcode number 729).

Don't mess with miners!

Those striking coal miners in northern Spain certainly mean business! Coal mining unions are waging not just a general strike but what looks like war against IMF-European Union austerity. Here a miner is building a road barricade next to the Santiago mine near Oviedo, Spain but this is going on at over 40 mines. The intransigence of these miners is an inspiration to us all & says to the oligarchs, "don't mess with people who actually know how to do something!" May they bring the Spanish government to its knees. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP)

Human rights crisis on Burma-Bangladesh border

Aung San Suu Kyi is the Burmese opposition politician put under house arrest from 1989 to 2010 by the military junta in her country. For this, she became a democracy icon as “the Mandela of Asia” & is presently being feted throughout Europe after belatedly accepting the Nobel Peace Prize she won in 1991. Her list of international awards as a champion of democracy & human rights is nearly a mile long so there is certainly no one in the world at the present moment in a better position to speak out against racist violence, suppression of democratic rights, persecution. That’s why many are puzzled that she is not speaking out against the violence & human rights crisis in Burma causing over 30,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee for their lives. Many are appalled that her responses to repeated reporter queries are shabby little platitudes urging people in Burma to get along with each other & calls for rule of law. The Rohingyas are publicly pleading for her support & the UN, Human Rights Watch, & Amnesty International have already spoken out so Suu Kyi wouldn’t stand alone. Some have excused her platitudes as diplomacy & political caution. Well if such an international icon can’t speak out, who the hell can!? What’s the point of those honorifics if you have to clam up to get them?

Media reports the conflict as a religious one between Muslims & Buddhists but Suu Kyi surely knows that the 800,000 Rohingyas have been subject for decades to violent state-sponsored persecution & discrimination conducted by the military, including denial of citizenship (though they have lived in the region for decades), religious persecution, forced labor, land confiscations, arbitrary taxation & various forms of extortion, forced eviction & house destruction, restrictions on travel for health & work, restrictions on marriage, education, & trade. The violence is so extreme & sustained going back decades that hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas flee for asylum to Malaysia, & to squalid refugee camps in Thailand & Bangladesh. Bangladesh has long been trying to deport the thousands living in refugee camps, has subjected them to harrowing human rights violations, & is refusing to accept the new refugees. Boats of desperate Rohingya refugees are now being turned back by Bangladeshi border guards. There were several incidences of Rohingya refugees to Thailand being towed by the military in dilapidated boats & abandoned on the open sea. In this photo, a Bangladeshi border guard is denying entry to asylum seekers in violation of elementary human decency & international law. (Photo by Saurabh Das/AP)

No human being is illegal!

Obama just announced what his administration calls “Deferred Action” for undocumented youth, which means many young people brought here as children by undocumented immigrant parents will no longer be subject to deportation. This is certainly one of the most shameless--out of a plethora of such acts--against undocumented immigrants by the Obama regime. One’s immediate reaction is that this is just a pre-election stunt to curry favor with a disenchanted Latino electorate since his administration has deported more immigrants, audited more businesses, & conducted more workplace raids on suspicion of hiring the undocumented than the Bush regime. Obama’s deportation policies have shown arrant contempt for child welfare by deporting parents & forcing thousands of children into a bankrupt, over-taxed foster system. The thousands of unaccompanied minors caught trying to cross the US-Mexico border are offered detainment in place of social services. Nearly 800,000 immigrant child farm workers were just denied protective legislation because it conflicted with the profit needs of agribusiness. So why is Obama showing such concern for undocumented youth? Is it just an election stunt!? And the answer is “no”; it is even more cynical & malignant than that.

First of all, as Obama has insisted, this is not an amnesty. It is provisional. It has several restrictions, including age, residency, & time restrictions. It is likely to be legally challenged & almost certain to be reversed. One must register, & reregister every two years to even become eligible for a work permit. In other words, there is no reciprocity here. You hand the government your identity & location without receiving any promises or legal commitments in return. So when they do reverse it, they know just who & where you are.

The cynical & treacherous aspect of this maneuver is that the Dreamer generation is the most active, energetic, growing segment of the immigration rights movement. More than being an electoral stunt, this is an attempt to cut the Dreamer movement off at the knees, to confuse & neutralize young activists. The Democratic Party throws millions of dollars in foundation money at immigration rights organizations to mute their protests & mortgage immigration rights to that party. Some will ignore the shameful record of the Obama administration & tout this “Deferred Action” as a victory. But emphasis should be placed on the word “Deferred”. They won’t grab you & deport you now; that will be deferred until after the elections. Undocumented youth are well-advised to think twice before handing their identity & location to immigration control authorities. The movement is being thrown this sop to demobilize it. The demands must remain “Amnesty for all without restrictions of any kind”, “Stop the deportations”, “Immigration is a human right”, “No human being is illegal”. (Photographer not identified; from protest in St. Paul, Minnesota)

Women role models & caricatures

This cogent article is well worth reading about women’s studies but more importantly about how women are seen in our world. If you ask many young girls to name a woman “hero” or role model, they will likely come up with Wonder Woman or some other sexualized caricature, like on the left & not of such remarkable figures as Sojourner Truth, on the right. Before you read it, try to think of a few women in history--in art, music, invention, science, politics whom you consider noteworthy. You’re going to draw a blank. But women have played significant roles in all these endeavors despite systematic exclusion, arrant ridicule, & refusal to acknowledge. Though it might be said, in politics women have been less involved in government than in rebellion & social movements. (Portrait of Sojourner Truth by Andrew Barthelmes)
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/06/failing-girls-trista-hendren/

Ferocity, thy name is bird

They say birds are descendants of dinosaurs & that’s easy to believe since the little squirts have a real outsized attitude problem. They’ll tangle with a gorilla if he gets in their way or messes with their babies. This fierce little momma is just daring someone to go near her babies. Many human mothers will identify with the bird. (Photographer not identified)

Horsey birthday, Betty Windsor!

This is a special day in feudal England called Trooping the Colour to celebrate the birthday of Betty Windsor. Phil, her “anus horribilis” was let out of hospital ostensibly for bladder problems but everyone knows he has chronic flatulence problems due to the psychological stress of suppressing Nazi outbursts in public. Her birthday was celebrated with an extravagant martial display (they had to close 10 hospitals to pay for it) of military bands, 41-gun salutes, RAF flybys, mounted troops & horse parades. The history of this thing is buried in ancient feudalism & the esoteric arts but the horse thing is a special tribute to Betty. If there’s one thing Betty knows, it’s horses--after all, she married the rear end of one & spends most of her time at the track. That explains why she doesn’t mind the smell of all that horse manure. This was a martial display unlike any other; it makes all that goose-stepping in Pyongyang, North Korea pale by comparison. The thousands of foot soldiers on parade don’t goose-step; they prance like fillies. England, you’ve got to put a stop to this nonsense! There were many special moments in the day but this one of WWWWilly, Chucky, & some ancient relative they dragged from a crypt is most memorable. They can’t see so they’re completely dependent on the horse. There’s a metaphor there. (Photographer not identified)

Egyptian uprising in jeopardy

The Egyptian revolution is today entering an ominous & threatening period. When a massive, popular uprising threw Hosni Mubarak out on his ass last year, the military junta promised democratic elections & an end of military rule. But you never trust a snake not to bite. The Egyptian uprising plays such a central role in inspiring other Arab uprisings & protests in Africa, Europe, Latin America, & the US against austerity & tyranny that in the minds of the oligarchs it must be reversed. The most malignant minds around the world are working overtime to find a way to destroy the resistance & spirit of the Egyptian people. Yesterday, Egypt’s highest court--certainly at the behest of the junta--ruled that Mubarak’s last prime minister can remain in the presidential race despite massive protests against his candidacy & they ruled that the newly elected parliament must be dissolved. This leaves the Egyptian people right back where they were before they ousted Mubarak--with military dictatorship fully in control. They have already paid too high a price with activists beaten, tortured, incarcerated, murdered. They need our full active solidarity. Here a young boy (with the date of the revolution painted on his face) joins thousands of others protesting in front of the court against the rulings. The Egyptian military has yet to learn what Israel knows so well from Palestinian youth standing with rocks against tanks & bulldozers: when the young are aligned against you, there will be no peace for a very long time. All solidarity with the Egyptian people in their struggle against the military junta! (Photo by Amr Nabil/AP)

The Greek radicals

Alexis Tsipras is the candidate of the Greek electoral alliance called SYRIZA with a radical program opposing the IMF-European Union austerity program impoverishing working people. The election is this coming Sunday & here supporters attend a rally for Mr. Tsipras in Athens. In the parlance of their youth, can you dig it!? Women & the elderly have a special investment in opposing the austerity measures but they have always played a central role in social struggle. Today, with international communication that role can no longer be denied or buried. (Photo by Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News)

The Gulabi gang of India

The Gulabi gang (named after the fluorescent pink saris they wear) was founded by Sampat Pal Devi in 2006 in Banda in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. They began as a sisterhood that became more a squad of vigilantes in response to widespread domestic, sexual, & governmental violence against women & they use bamboo sticks to threaten or punish abusive husbands & officials. They now claim 20,000 members across North India. In the style of Robin Hood, they protest child marriages, dowry, female illiteracy, & official corruption. Abusive husbands are negotiated with first, threatened, & then pummeled with the bamboo sticks if they persist in violence. In one notorious instance they ambushed the local utility office which was withholding electricity unless they received bribes or sexual favors, roughed up the staff, locked them out, & took off with the key until power was restored. An hour later, the power which had been withheld for over two weeks was back on. Their most daring exploit was hijacking trucks of food meant for the poor being taken to market for sale by corrupt officials.

The founder, Sampat Pal Devi is the daughter of a shepherd put to work on family land while her brothers went to school & married off at the age of 12 to a 20-year old-ice cream vendor she had never met. She had the first of her five children at 15 & was not allowed by her mother-in-law to stop having children until she produced a boy. She now has a long list of criminal charges against her, including unlawful assembly, rioting, attacking a government employee, & obstructing an officer in the discharge of duty. She is nevertheless a folk hero in the tradition of Phoolan Devi, a woman from the same region, known as the Bandit Queen of India who was gang-raped by upper caste men & led a gang of robbers in retribution on upper caste villagers.

Vigilantism is certainly preferable to the despondency of women taking out the violence on themselves through self-immolation or hanging. But political activism is an alternative to vigilantism. Much political heft can be thrown around with 20,000 women carrying bamboo sticks & trained to wield them. The Gulabi gang is only the most prominent female gang & is often favorably reported in the media. India is sustaining a rise of female vigilante groups--termed a “mini-revolution” by some journalists--who are taking things into their own hands. Though it’s hard to see the downside to this female militancy, more violent vigilantism has been reported elsewhere in India among dispossessed women. In 2004, hundreds of women brutally killed a serial rapist after the courts failed to convict him over a period of 10 years. The women collectively claimed guilt for the murder, making it difficult for the police to charge anyone for the crime.

The gut reaction to this phenomenon of women defending themselves is to cheer them on exuberantly, but there is a long, regrettable history to vigilantism that begins as self defense & doesn’t inform itself with a vision of transformation. It gets stuck in retribution & ends up in criminality. The Gulabi gang has the potential to move beyond retribution to political transformation & when they do, media coverage will be far less favorable. The linked article is an interesting portrait of some of the women in the gang. In this photo "Commander" Sampat Pal of the Gulabi gang teaches women how to wield the bamboo baton.  (Photo by Sanjit Das)
http://www.vice.com/read/flux-pink-indians-v15n2

Kashmiri workers still demanding justice

Kashmiri government workers in Srinagar, India, have protested several times since April demanding payment of arrears in wages & to raise the retirement age by two years (because India has no social security net)--& they’re out again this week, met once again by cops with water cannons spraying purple dye. Using dye in water cannons is not new against government workers in Srinagar (it goes back to a strike in 2008) & is not exclusive to India. Several countries use it since it can identify protestors for arrest. In 1989, anti-apartheid protestors in South Africa being sprayed with purple water wrested the water cannon from cops & turned it back on them & government buildings--creating the anti-apartheid slogan, “The purple shall govern”. Dyes shot from water cannons are not non-violent weapons. Water cannons alone cause serious injuries, including broken bones, damage to internal organs, eye injuries. The chemical in purple dye is toxic & may cause skin rashes & cancer but will certainly cause eye injuries. (Indians have been warned not to use the same chemical during Holi, the Hindu color festival.) The combination of water cannon & dye can lead to any number of health hazards. Our fullest solidarity with the striking workers of Srinagar who were not just assaulted but also arrested. (Photo by Mukhtar Khan/AP)

Al fresco dining for working people

This scene of dumpster diving for food is now so common, you probably thought it was your own city, just up the block from your house. But in this case, it’s outside a grocery store in Bilbao, Spain. A Catholic church charity estimates more than 11 million people already live below the poverty level in Spain. That’s a quarter of it’s population (46,185,697) & includes children & the elderly! This is when you thank your lucky stars for rebellion like they’re demonstrating all over Spain & for the intransigence of those 8,000 miners in northern Spain who show no sign of flagging in their resistance to the austerity plans. This is when you see the power of solidarity & unity in opposing these attacks on working people.  (Photo by Vincent West/Reuters)

Housing is a human right

Migrant workers in New Delhi, India, sleep on the side of a road. As we have seen in so many countries, a huge percentage of the homeless are immigrants unable to afford exorbitant rents at the pitiful wages they earn for often backbreaking work. Immigration status & ability to pay should have no bearing whatsoever on access to housing. It is a human right & the most compelling need for millions of people in every country. Money for housing, not for war! And that holds just as true for India as it does the US & dozens of other countries.  (Photo by Kevin Frayer/AP)

A tribute to Li Wangyang

There is a very tragic story out of China which should not go unnoticed by all who respect & honor those who place themselves at risk & give their lives for the ideals of human freedom. Li Wangyang (photo on the left) was a worker in a glass factory & a labor rights activist who advocated & set up labor unions independent of Chinese government control. In 1989, Li pasted a poster on a Shaoyang city traffic sign urging a general strike to support the democracy movement throughout China that became known as Tiananmen Square. Following the massacre of activists by the military, Li organized a memorial for the victims. As a result of his fearless activities, he served 21 years in prison on charges of counterrevolutionary propaganda, incitement, & subversion. During that time, he was subject to hard labor, torture, beatings (which caused blindness & loss of hearing), solitary confinement. In May 2011, Li was released for reasons of poor health & checked into a hospital for treatment of diabetes & heart disease. His sister visited him daily. Last week on June 6th, Li was found hanged in his hospital room which officials declared a suicide--& there isn’t a single person outside of the Chinese government stupid enough to  believe that. Li remained outspoken until his death in demanding vindication of those massacred at Tiananmen Square. He could not be broken so they murdered him. Thousands of protestors (photo on the right) marched in Hong Kong (on June 10th) to mourn Li & to demand a formal criminal investigation of his death. The banner in the foreground reads, “Mourn.” We should all take a moment to honor this remarkable man. May he rest in peace; may his life & death keep us steadfast & inspire a whole new generation of freedom fighters not just in China but throughout the world.  (Photo by Vincent Yu/AP)

Prominent Indian musician cancels Israel appearance

Zakir Hussain, considered one of the world's most influential Indian musicians, cancels planned concerts in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, citing security concerns.

Zakir Hussain, an internationally known tabla (hand drum) player, who is considered one of the world's most influential Indian musicians, has canceled planned appearances in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv scheduled for July.

The reason given was fear for the personal security of Hussain and his musicians, due to tension in the region.

"He encountered strong objections to his visit to Israel, which manifested themselves in personal requests and an Internet petition that garnered signatures from more than 85 Indian artists," his managers said.

Ilan Pappé: the boycott will work

By Ilan Pappe

Ilan Pappe (Photo: Paula Geraghty)

Even before one begins to define more specifically what such outside pressure entails, it is essential not to confuse the means (pressure) with the objective (finding a formula for joint living). In other words, it is important to emphasize that pressure is meant to trigger meaningful negotiations, not take their place. So while I still believe that change from within is key to bringing about a lasting solution to the question of the refugees, the predicament of the Palestinian minority in Israel, and the future of Jerusalem, other steps must first be taken for this to be achieved.

What kind a pressure is necessary? South Africa has provided the most illuminating and inspiring historical example for those leading this debate, while, on the ground, activists and NGOs under occupation have sought nonviolent means both to resist the occupation and to expand the forms of resistance beyond suicide bombing and the %ring of Qassam missiles from Gaza. These two impulses produced the BDS campaign against Israel. It is not a coordinated campaign operated by some secret cabal. It began as a call from within the civil society under occupation, endorsed by other Palestinian groups, and translated into individual and collective actions worldwide.

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More reasons to change the world

Kibera is a neighborhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya. It is the second largest slum in Africa & the third largest slum in the world. Residents are extremely impoverished, the area heavily polluted by garbage & contaminated by human & animal feces due to the open sewage system. Lack of sanitation combined with inadequate nutrition jeopardizes health, spreads diseases, & means 1 out of 5 children do not live to their 5th birthday. A government plan to move & rehouse the residents has been embroiled in controversy, frequently delayed, & at its present rate is estimated to take 1,178 years to complete. These children are on break at a school of 500 children where classrooms are falling apart & lacking basic needs such as electricity. But you wouldn’t know all that from the glorious smiles on these children’s faces--providing more compelling reasons to change the world.  (Photo by Ruben Salgado Escudero)

Now is the time to end child labor

Today (June 12th)  is World Day Against Child Labor 2012. In 2010, international organizations led by the the UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO) adopted a resolution to end the worst forms of child labor by 2016. You don’t have to be a cynic to know they were blowing smoke since the trend in every single country is a dramatic increase in the most violent forms of child exploitation & homelessness. These agencies appear to exist for the sole purpose of promulgating lengthy treatises, delivering ceremonial homiletics on days like today, & resolutions up the wazoo that go nowhere. The ILO has offices in nearly 100 countries, a budget of millions of dollars & almost nothing to show for their efforts. When the Obama administration & the US Department of Labor recently refused to provide protective legislation to 800,000 child farm workers in violation of ILO Convention 182 (signed by President Clinton in 1999) there was nary a peep of protest from the ILO. But today their sentimental speeches will bring us to tears--& nausea. Child labor is an abomination involving extreme violence against children, as the face of this child so clearly shows. It is a priority to get our little brothers & sisters out of the factories, mines, brothels, hell-holes & back to school & playgrounds. Those who victimize children as labor should be prosecuted to the full extent of those ILO declarations. (Photographer not identified)
http://www.wisdomblow.com/?p=2895

“Nature red in tooth & claw”

“Nature red in tooth & claw”: it’s not a pretty thing but you can’t fight it. Every day as I walk I pit myself against it’s unseemly predations, rescuing caterpillars from birds, wee birds from grackles, cats from dogs. I even had to pull dogs off a bird fallen from a nest. It’s one of nature’s least attractive features & this fierce little Indian myna doesn’t give a hoot as she feeds her babies an unfortunate grasshopper. (Photo by Parivartan Sharma/Reuters)

Anan, please bugger off!

Anan. Time for you to understand (hard, I know!) that you're unwelcome to comment on this site. Your "produce" from now on will be systematically deleted as is the case with all your past comments. If you still bother, you should understand that it takes me only seconds to delete what you spent hours laboring on. That would be moronic of you, wouldn't it?

Promises, promises!

There’ve been several protests in Bolivia in the past several months against the policies of Evo Morales who talks the rhetoric but doesn’t walk the walk of anti-neoliberalism. He’s been threatening to nationalize the mining industry since he was elected in 2006. Mining is the second largest source of export income in Bolivia & the largest employer after agriculture. Morales has tinkered with some legislation & made foreign investors nervous with his rhetoric but mining companies acknowledge very little limit is placed on their plunder of the immense natural mineral resources of Bolivia. To calm investor’s fears, JP Morgan revealed that while Morales is talking nationalization, Bolivia is sending delegations to mining investment conferences to solicit new private investment. Here, in La Paz, members of indigenous communities from the Mallku Kota region are attacked by cops during a protest against the mining operations on their lands by a Canadian mining company. The Malku Khota project in Bolivia is one of the world's largest undeveloped silver, indium and gallium deposits. These natural resources should be under the control of the people in that region & not private plunderers from Canada. Judging from the increased protests, Morales’ rhetoric is running out of steam. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP)

Afghan refugees from US-NATO war

The photographer, Muhammed Muheisen, has captured many moments of the 5 million Afghan refugees from the US-NATO war living in squalor in Pakistan. Most are of children. Some are poignant; some just show the beauty of children even in the harsh & unrelenting conditions of war, migration, & poverty. You will surely agree, this is the latter kind.  (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP)

No justice, no peace!

Riot police used tear gas & water cannons to break up a protest yesterday against the screening of right-wing propaganda billed as a documentary honoring the Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet violently took power in a US-backed 1973 coup that overthrew the democratically elected socialist president, Salvador Allende. The total number of people murdered, tortured, &  imprisoned for political reasons during Pinochet’s regime is estimated at over 40,000 including 3,100 executed & 1,200 disappeared. The film portrays Pinochet as a national hero who saved Chile from communism & who died hounded by radicals accusing him of human rights crimes. Members of the current government, along with many other public officials supported Pinochet’s dictatorship & of course, the military is still intact. About 700 military officials are accused of the disappearances of dissidents but nearly 40 years after the crimes, they are unlikely to face justice. Pinochet’s corpse has been rotting since 2006. He was never tried for his crimes. May his supporters never rest in peace until justice is addressed. (Reuters photo)

The popular response to scorched earth fiscal policies in the eurozone

Banks & euro backers are relieved & thrilled at the $125 billion Spanish bank bailout; Spanish working people not so much since it will entail even greater attacks on their standard of living, increase unemployment, homelessness, & impoverishment. While European finance ministers lauded the rescue, one media source reported with pitiful understatement “some protesters in Madrid shouted slogans against labour reform & the deal”. How about thousands have been protesting in the streets of Spain for days--not counting the striking miners in northern Spain!? Protestors are banging pots & pans & carrying placards which read, "This isn't a rescue, it's a fraud", "Hands up, this is a rescue", "Why should they rescue the banks when our children are starving?", "We don't owe, we don't pay". One woman protestor said, "This is not a rescue for Spain, it's a rescue for the rich. The poor will only get poorer and suffer even more in the months to come.” There are few photos that capture the scale of popular resistance to the strings-attached bailout but this photo of the miner’s strike captures the mood.

Cultural boycott of Israel is biting, but quietly, Israel Festival’s classical music advisor admits

The cultural boycott of Israel is beginning to bite, a prominent figure in Israel’s classical music world has admitted.

Gil Shohat, an Israeli composer and conductor, who is also the Classical Music Advisor to the Israel Festival and Artistic Advisor to Israel’s Red Sea International Classical Music Festival, told Israeli reporter Sharon Dubkin:

In the world of classical music things are neither in-your-face nor crass, by the very nature of classical art, which is more noble, quite, and introverted, but there are are choirs and opera companies which are not interested in coming to Israel. Even if they don’t say it’s because of the political issue, they prefer not to get involved in such a sticky situation. As a composer active on the world scene, I can testify that more than once projects have been cancelled or postponed based on their ‘Israeliness.’ And again - these things are not said crassly, no one will say: we are conducting a boycott. The word boycott doesn’t exist, but the political situation of Israel also impacts this field. This is primarily true about larger projects, and less so regarding the activity of individual musicians.

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Miko Peled (son of Israeli general Matti Peled): Debating the roots of Israel's Six-Day War

On June 7, 1967, Israeli forces move through the Sinai as they press the attack on Egyptian troops. (Associated Press / June 8, 2012)

"The 1967 Israeli war was one of choice and conquest and not one of defense against an existential threat. The myth of the existential threat notwithstanding, Israel Defense Forces generals saw an opportunity to assert Israeli might against an ill-prepared Egyptian army, and as the generals anticipated, the destruction of the Egyptian forces was swift and relatively easy. This allowed them to then "finish the job" and take the West Bank and the Golan Heights, two regions that Israel had coveted for many years.

Even Menachem Begin, who was a member of the 1967 Cabinet and later prime minister, asserted: "Egyptian army concentrations in the Sinai approaches did not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him."

The IDF knowingly decided to perpetuate the notion of an existential threat. This scare tactic was helpful in applying public pressure against a hesitant government reluctant to give the green light for a preemptive strike against Egypt."

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US-NATO out now!

Afghanis gather at a house destroyed Wednesday in a NATO night bombing in Logar province. NATO officials claim several Taliban militants were killed in the bombing & 2 civilian women who suffered minor injuries were treated at a military facility. Afghani villagers say they were not Taliban militants at all but civilians gathered from out of town for a wedding party. They showed 18 bodies to reporters, including 5 women, 7 children, & 6 men. A news report claimed, “The differing casualty counts could not immediately be reconciled.”  That’s the way it is with NATO lies, night time bombing, & reckless disregard for human lives. Nothing can be reconciled. NATO dispatched a team ostensibly to investigate the discrepancies but since the US & NATO have still not come clean on the massacre of 17 Afghans last March, we can expect zilch to come from this except more lies. (If you recall, the Pentagon account claimed the massacre in March was the work of a lone gunman while Afghan witnesses said several soldiers were involved.) US war minister, Leon Panetta, was in Afghanistan at the time of the bombing criticizing Pakistan for inaction against al-Qaeda & threatening more US drone attacks in Pakistan to root out al-Qaeda. The US regime appears to be driven by an irrational compulsion to war & wreaking havoc & they must be stopped. 2014 is not soon enough for the withdrawal of troops. Demand the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all US-NATO troops. (Photo by Ihsanullah Majroh/AP)

Homeless in Mumbai

Homeless in Mumbai, India: a homeless man & his child sleep on a sidewalk while striking Air India pilots walk a picket line. There’s an uncomfortable metaphor here. Airline pilots & other personnel were always privileged in relation to other working people, with substantial wages & benefits. But at least in the US, they have been under major assault since Ronald Reagan’s attack on air traffic controllers in 1981--which was a major turning point in US labor history. Now Air India & the Indian government have pulled a “Ronald Reagan” by firing the striking pilots after one month & hiring scabs to replace them. We don’t know who this homeless man is: is he unemployed or perhaps a migrant worker unable to afford housing? What we do know is that it’s a short step for most working people, now including pilots, from having a regular check that can accommodate rent to being homeless & sleeping on cardboard. What we know is that it’s an abomination this man & his wee child are sleeping on the streets. Housing is a human right & must become a battle cry in every country.  (Photo by Indranil Mukherjee/AFP)

Grandma at the barricades

This photo will surely touch our beleaguered hearts: a striking coal miner in Pozo Candin, Spain helps an elderly woman pass a barricade of burning tires used to fend off riot cops. Or maybe he’s escorting her to the barricade so she can kick ass too.  (Photo by Javier Bauluz/AP/Periodismo Humano)

Die old but die glamorously

There is just nothing one can say to enhance this wonderfully witty piece of art. Make sure your lipstick is on before they bury you? And make sure you cop an attitude when you go!? It is the work of a young woman art student & the daughter of a friend & we wish her well in producing such ironic masterpieces.

Singing to the crops

How will the US propaganda machine ever explain this photo!? A group of North Korean musicians are either singing to the crop or greeting farmers on Hwanggumpyong Island, North Korea. You don’t see agribusiness doing that. And we thought they only goose-stepped all over Pyongyang or held public orgies of grief over the death of their exalted leader, Kim Jong-il. Of course, after that flotilla up the Thames with Betty Windsor, it’s hard to claim North Korea has anything on England. (Photo by Jacky Chen/Reuters)

Crackdown in Yemen

We’re being set up again. This time in Yemen. And it’s the democracy movement in Yemen who will pay the price. A few weeks ago, media covered the military muscle flexing in Yemen (ostensibly celebrating the 1990 unification of North & South Yemen) interrupted in rehearsal by a soldier blowing himself up along with 90 other soldiers. Media proclaimed al-Qaeda responsibility & said al-Qaeda had taken advantage of the Yemen uprising to grab territory in the southern provinces by invading cities, “getting close to their dream of their own Caliphate” & threatening shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden & the Red Sea. Reports said the new dictator, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, had stepped up the fight against al-Qaeda, particularly with the use of US drone strikes & even more US military advisors. Obomba & his counter-terrorism tsar, John Brennan, offered condolences & even more terrorist aid. After the fishy suicide bombing, an official of Hadi’s regime proclaimed: "Yemenis must stand together in the face of this deadly terrorist threat. We will celebrate our unity tomorrow with the blood of our martyrs on our hands and faces." Oh, so now the martyrs are 90 soldiers used to enforce military rule & not the thousands of democracy activists murdered & incarcerated under the Saleh & Hadi regimes!? This all signals a military crackdown on the uprising & it’s no coincidence Hadi ordered bulldozers to clear “Change Square”, the area in Sana’a occupied for over a year by protestors demanding prosecution of the old dictator, Ali Saleh, & justice for the murdered. Nobel peace laureate, Tawakkul Karman, kept her tent in place in Change Square but has not denounced the military assault on democracy. Her political association with the US could explain her silence. Here a democracy protestor moves out before bulldozers & soldiers mow him down. (Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA)

Haute couture for the ostentatious

There was no identification on this photo either of the couple or the photographer. Just as well. How could she ever explain this folly!? It’s not nice to make fun of people--unless they’re politicians or aristocrats, of course. But when you show up for an elegant evening out wearing a  pink log on your head, you’re asking for it sister.

The struggle in Bahrain continues

This wall in the village of Malkiya, Bahrain is spray painted with images of jailed democracy activists. The caption on this photo of a protest said, “Clashes broke out after a march demanding democracy & that prisoners be freed”--as if police assaults on protestors caused spontaneous combustion. Media reports of the Bahrain uprising ignore the massive protests & most often depict young people with petrol bombs; they don’t show the excessive use of tear gas by riot cops which has caused serious injuries, health problems, & deaths. All solidarity with the protestors of Bahrain who use the only weapons they have to bring down tyranny.  (Photo by Hasan Jamali/AP)

Che on the barricades

It’s not a good sign for the Spanish state when strikers start showing up at the barricades with Che Guevara tee shirts. The oligarchs thought they could silence him by murdering him. Many of his supporters feared putting his image on posters & tee shirts would make him iconic & render him mute. Look how that’s working out for capitalism. (Photo by Eloy Alonso/Reuters)

There will be no peace until there is justice

Once again the murdered victims of tyranny come back to haunt justice. Here a mother protesting in Tahrir Square holds up a photo of her young son killed by Mubarak agents during protests to oust the dictator. Thousands of protestors continue to demand retrials for the six security officials acquitted in the military’s kangaroo court. Mubarak’s life sentence will probably be served in a luxury suite. The only way justice can be truly addressed is to dismantle the entire military apparatus down to the last bullet & torture cell. There will be no peace until there is justice.  (Photo by Nasser Nasser/AP)

A pox on both their houses

Bill Clinton says a Mitt Romney presidency would be “calamitous” for the US & for the world. If there’s one guy who knows calamitous, it’s Billy Goat Clinton since he has done nothing but wreak havoc on the people of Haiti for the past several years. But regrettably, he is carrying out Barack Obama’s policies in doing so. What’s calamitous is believing there’s a modicum of difference between the two parties which both serve the oligarchs--one to deceive & control progressives & the other to deceive & control the right-wing. But, as this article makes clear, the shell game is running out of steam & is no longer fooling a good share of the electorate. A  pox on both their houses!
http://www.cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_706.shtml

Israeli bombing in Gaza

Palestinian boys in Gaza City sift through the rubble of a dairy factory completely destroyed in an Israeli bombing attack on June 3rd. When you investigate each new bombing attack by Israelis on Gaza, you must carefully check the dates of the reports since they are so frequent & so indiscriminate, including attacks on refugee camps, power plants, cities. In this rampage, the Israeli military admitted that bombers attacked five sites in Gaza, including the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza & the cheese factory because they “belong to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organizations". Seven people, including four children were injured at Nuseirat. This was in retaliation for a border scuffle on Friday where an Israeli soldier & a Palestinian were killed. Make your opposition to Israeli war crimes heard by boycotting all Israeli products (barcode 729) (Photo by Hatem Moussa/AP)

Showdown in Spain

Striking Spanish miners are now on the front lines of opposition to IMF-European Union austerity attacks. Eight thousand miners at over 40 coal mines in northern Spain continue to set up road blocks as barricades & strike & sit in at mines to oppose cuts in what are called “coal subsidies” but which mean slashed wages & pensions, & removal of already minimal safety protections. Using riot police against protestors & strikers is now an international phenomenon which means the oligarchs are girding for battle to wrench from us what they call “entitlements” & we call human rights. It’s no coincidence media is making such a spectacle over all this royal crap; they want us to get used to serfdom & bending the knee again. Our fullest solidarity with the miners of Spain. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano/AP)

Sometimes art is not just in the eye of the beholder

Here a model poses near a public art installation in Beijing & the question is raised: do you think there’s a crisis of art in China? Is this what the great Chinese Revolution has come to?  ((Photo by Alexander F. Yuan/AP)

The endless homage

The BBC has suspended all news operations for the duration of the Diamond Jubilee in abject homage to Betty Windsor. It’s all Betty all the time. The news agency recognizes no other reality for now, which should make us circumspect about its reporting when it does resume it’s usual broadcasting--or, as put more colloquially, when they pull their snout out of her ass. Here is an example of jubilee coverage which trumps the Eurozone crisis, major protests in Hong Kong & Egypt, 8,000 striking miners in Spain, Israeli bombing in Gaza, & in general, a world collapsing around our ears. (AP photo)

The power of defying tyranny

The Chinese democracy protestor from Tiananmen Square, known only as “Tank Man” (whose fate remains unknown): posted to commemorate & honor him & the thousands of men, women, & children from China to Kashmir to Palestine to Egypt, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Yemen, Bahrain, (& the list goes on & on) who have stood up to the armored machines of tyranny armed only with rocks & defiance & belief in a better world.

23rd anniversary of Tiananmen Square

Protestors marched in Hong Kong on May 27th not just to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the June 4, 1989 military crackdown on the democracy movement in China but to demand justice for the several hundred murdered (hundreds more were injured) when troops indiscriminately opened fire on unarmed protestors. The number of those shot in cold blood are not definitive but most estimate about 1,000 (not massacred in the square but in attempting to get to it). The placards read “Exonerate June 4th”. In spring of 1989, more than one million Chinese students & workers occupied Beijing’s Tiananmen Square & the upheaval spread to cities & universities nationwide. Tens of thousands in at least five cities began several weeks of the largest political protest movement since the communists came to power in 1949. In this brief video, the lone protestor known only as “Tank Man” attempted to block tanks heading to Tiananmen Square. To this day, the fate of that unarmed man remains unknown despite investigations to find out who he is & what happened to him. After the massacre on June 4th, Deng Xiaoping, the official responsible for ordering the massacre, blamed the protests on counter-revolutionaries trying to overthrow communism. The leaders wanted to be able to do that themselves. (Photo by Vincent Yu/AP)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-nXT8lSnPQ

Gaudy grandeur on the Thames

It’s just so hard to pick out my favorite Diamond Jubilee moment--but that flotilla is certainly among them. It must have taken its gaudy, funereal inspiration from “Cleopatra” as envisioned by Cecil B. DeMille. One difference though is that while Cleo killed herself with an asp, Betty decided to marry one--the man she calls, “anus horribilis”. The boys were all decked out in military uniforms with a chest full of medals they didn’t do a damn thing to earn & the girls all wore hats renowned as architectural & aesthetic atrocities. Other than that, not much happened. The Windsors only show animation at the horse track. But please tell me, England--who the hell were those people lined up along the Thames waving the flag (which is even uglier than ours) & watching nothing happen? Wasn’t there anything on the telly better than that!? (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty)

Far right Israeli minister Eli Yishai sees African immigrants as threat to ‘white’ rule

As Israel implements a law aimed at stemming the flow of Africans entering the Jewish state from the south, Interior Minister Eli Yishai says Israel must protect itself from a demographic threat. Africans pose such a threat, Yishai says, because they don’t recognize that Israel belongs to “the white man.”

The new law will allow immigrants to be placed in a massive concentration camp (currently under construction) for up to three years.

Aryeh Eldad, one of Yishai’s colleagues in the Knesset, wants immigrants to be shot on sight if they attempt to cross the border.

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Israel is new South Africa as boycott calls increase

After Madonna began her world tour there last week, campaigners urge cutting of cultural ties

The Independent

"Some of the world's biggest stars – from Madonna to the Red Hot Chili Peppers – are being accused of putting profit before principle in a growing backlash against artists performing in Israel.

Campaigners angry at human rights abuses against the Palestinian people – symbolised by Israel's policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians and allowing Israeli settlers to take over their land – are demanding a boycott of Israeli venues in a campaign that echoes the 1980s protests against South Africa and the infamous venue Sun City.

Last week Madonna came under fire for her decision to perform in Israel to kick off her world tour last Thursday. "By performing in Israel, Madonna has consciously and shamefully lent her name to fig-leafing Israel's occupation and apartheid and showed her obliviousness to human rights," said Omar Barghouti of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel."

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Uri Avneri: Transfer in Israel: Who and to Where?

"When a strategist plans a war, he first of all defines its aim. That is the Main Effort. Every other effort must be considered accordingly. If it supports the main effort, it is acceptable. If it hurts the main effort, it must be rejected.

The Main Effort of the Zionist/Israeli movement is to achieve a Jewish State in all of Eretz Israel – the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. In other words: the prevention of an Arab Palestinian state.

When one grasps this, all the events of the last 115 years make sense. All the twists and turns, all the seeming contradictions and deviations, all the curious-looking decisions make perfect sense.

In a bird’s eye view, the Zionist-Israeli policy looks like a river striving towards the sea. When it meets an obstacle, it goes around it. The path deviates to the right and to the left, sometimes even going backwards. But it perseveres with a wondrous determination towards its goal.

The guiding principle was to accept every compromise that gives us what we can get at any stage, but never let the final aim out of our sight.

This policy allows us to compromise about everything, except one: an Arab Palestinian state that would confirm the existence of an Arab Palestinian people.

All Israeli governments have fought this idea with all available means. In this respect there was no difference between David Ben-Gurion, who had a secret agreement with King Abdullah of Jordan to obstruct the setting up of the Palestinian state decreed by the UN General Assembly’s 1947 resolution, and Menachem Begin, who made a separate peace with Anwar Sadat in order to get Egypt out of the Israeli-Palestinian war. Not to mention Golda Meir’s famous dictum: “There is no such thing as a Palestinian people”. Thousands of other decisions by successive Israeli governments have followed the same logic.

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Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran

WASHINGTON — From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.
Mr. Obama decided to accelerate the attacks — begun in the Bush administration and code-named Olympic Games — even after an element of the program accidentally became public in the summer of 2010 because of a programming error that allowed it to escape Iran’s Natanz plant and sent it around the world on the Internet. Computer security experts who began studying the worm, which had been developed by the United States and Israel, gave it a name: Stuxnet.
At a tense meeting in the White House Situation Room within days of the worm’s “escape,” Mr. Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency at the time, Leon E. Panetta, considered whether America’s most ambitious attempt to slow the progress of Iran’s nuclear efforts had been fatally compromised.
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Detained at Ben Gurion: 'Not only do we google you, we read your emails, too!'

Ben Gurion Airport

I am an American citizen. I went to American schools my entire life, graduated from an American university and work as an architect in New York City. Why was this happening to me? It all started with a simple question. “What is your father’s name?”

“Bassam.”

“Okay, please wait a few moments in the waiting room over there.”

Little did I know that my father’s Arab name would make me guilty until proven innocent. A “few moments” would turn into a 14-hour nightmare at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

Sasha Al-Sarabi and Najwa Doughman

I was hoping they wouldn’t separate me from my friend Sasha, whom I was traveling with. We had been warned about possible interrogations and security checks but were reassured that since we were both young, female professionals from New York City with American passports, it wouldn’t be a problem to enter Israel. It was going be my third visit and Sasha’s first.

Sasha was called in to be interrogated by a bleach-blonde pregnant woman and was led into a small office to the left of our waiting room. Twenty minutes passed until Sasha came out, walking quickly back to her seat.

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Tahrir Square after Mubarak verdict

Egyptian protestors in Tahrir Square today chanting "Down with military rule" in reaction to the Mubarak verdict finding him guilty of murdering 900 protestors last year but acquitting six other officials also involved. This video gives an idea of the power & fury against this travesty of justice which the military junta will live to regret.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WJrK3F0fHgE

Roll back the fuel increase!

The way photojournalism presented this, a handful of rowdy guys up there in Jammu, India overreacted to a rise in gasoline prices by setting fire to a scooter & chanting angry slogans. In fact, India’s opposition political parties & trade unions held a nation-wide, day-long strike, with protests, roadblocks, & pickets after the state-run oil companies announced the biggest increase in fuel prices in nearly a decade. The oil companies blamed rate subsidies, increases in international oil prices, a troubled rupee. Petrol increases have been a focus of attack around the world--& also a focus of opposition to neoliberal economics. (Photo by AFP)

Homeless in Cairo

Homeless in Cairo, Egypt: in her arthritic hands & etched face, but mostly in the deep-set, grieving eyes of this elderly woman we see everything condemnable about military rule in Egypt. She lives & sleeps alongside thousands of other Egyptians in an ancient cemetery called the City of the Dead because in a military dictatorship bankrolling the agencies of repression & tyranny are more important than housing. When you look at her face, you understand why people are out protesting the candidacy of Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak’s prime minister & right hand man, & why they burned his campaign headquarters to the ground. The military’s theatrics of sending Mubarak to jail for life (until they find an excuse to spring him) is belied by the temerity & insularity of putting one of his henchmen up for office instead of prosecuting him. (Photo by Khalil Hamra/AP)

You'll never guess who this is!

Police in London arrested this monster trying to crash the gate at Betty’s garden party in the back yard at Buckingham. He insisted he was an invited guest & sure enough his identification said Tony Blair, though he still wasn’t admitted. They didn’t want him to upstage Phil. We’ve observed this unfortunate morphing thing on war criminals & other despicable sorts throughout the world: Madeleine Albright, both Hillary & Bill Clinton, Hosni Mubarak, Tony Blair (although he was also born ugly), & many others. It’s nature’s way of branding them. (Photo by Matt Cardy)

Veterans protest lack of benefits in Nicaragua

The Sandinista Popular Army (EPS) was the military established in 1979 by the Sandinista government to replace the US-trained blood-thirsty army of dictator Anastasio Somoza following his overthrow. The EPS fought to defend the Sandinista government led by Daniel Ortega against the US-backed Contra army. After the Sandinistas were electorally defeated in 1990, the EPS was demobilized & the army reformed into the National Army of Nicaragua. While many EPS officers were given a retirement package of land, pensions, healthcare, & job training, the rank & file soldiers received nothing except a salute. The new National Army does however receive pension benefits. The government has repeatedly promised to address this inequity & actually started benefits during the election campaign in 2011, but following Daniel Ortega’s reelection last November, the programs stopped abruptly. Last March, EPS veterans blocked traffic on major northbound highways for a few weeks to pressure the government to address their demands. The roadblock ended after the government promised to provide social benefits. EPS veterans were out again yesterday in a coordinated campaign of protests against the government’s refusal to comply with those promises. Protestors blocked a highway, protested outside the parliament, & attempted to occupy the Managua international airport. Nicaraguan riot police used extreme violence against the veterans to disperse them. This veteran with a severe head wound is being arrested & ushered to a paddy wagon, not an ambulance. After all, he’s not entitled to medical benefits. (Photo by Esteban Felix/AP)

An air of Nazism: Troops aided by settlers force village to sing and dance to " I Iove Israel"

JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 30 May -- Israeli forces and settlers raided a village northwest of Jerusalem earlier this week, and humiliated and abused its residents, a local official said. Residents of al-Nabi Samwil were working on their land on Monday when Israeli forces, accompanied by settlers, arrived and demanded to see villagers' ID cards, head of the local governor's office Mohammad Tari told Ma‘an. Israeli officers ordered young men from the village to sing, dance and say "I love Israel." When the villagers refused they were physically attacked, Tari said. Village resident Eid Barakat said Israeli border police were behind the forced humiliation, which left a number of villagers with moderate injuries. Meanwhile, a group of settlers drove around the village trying to run over youths, and assaulted 16-year-old Ahmad Barakat, Tari added.
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