Powerful piece to persuade the Methodist Church to divest from companies that support the Israeli occupation: A quarter-century ago I barnstormed around the United States encouraging Americans, particularly students, to press for divestment from South Africa. Today, regrettably, the time has come for similar action to force an end to Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian…
Showing all posts tagged human rights
If you only read one investigative piece this week…
Read this stunning… story… by Ken Silverstein in Foreign Policy. It’s about corporate power, energy needs, corruption, immunity from prosecution, Bill Clinton, the company Glencore and how our world is increasingly ordered: When Glencore, the world’s biggest commodities brokerage firm, went public in May 2011, the initial public offering (IPO) on the London and Hong Kong stock…
The Australian right to target businesses complicit with Israeli occupation
The position of BDS [boycott, divestment and sanctions] in Australia remains highly relevant. Debating Israeli apartheid in Palestine is necessary. This case starts today: On May 1, 19 Melbourne activists will be put on trial for their political activity. In a precedent-setting case, these pro-Palestine activists will be fighting a variety of charges designed to…
Long past time to retire Zionism
Gideon Levy in Haaretz writes a provocative essay that proves how Zionism has become a word and ideology that largely represents occupation and exclusion: Zionism is already 115 years old; it should have retired long ago. If on Independence Day we’re concerned about the future of a state approaching retirement age (presuming it’s a man,…
“Gender trumps everything” in Middle East
I don’t agree with all the points made here by Mona Eltahawy about gender repression in the Muslim world but it’s an important discussion:
What standing in solidarity with Palestine means on day to day basis
Step by step, BDS grows: Palestine human rights campaigners today welcomed news that the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer, The Co-operative Group, will “no longer engage with any supplier of produce known to be sourcing from the Israeli settlements”. The Co-op’s decision, notified to campaigners in a statement, will immediately impact four suppliers, Agrexco, Arava…
Former Israeli intelligence head slams Netanyahu et al
This is a pretty remarkable set of comments by a former senior member of the Israeli elite. No commentary required: Former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin expressed harsh criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday in a meeting with residents of the city of Kfar Sava, saying the pair…
Peacefully resisting in Israel is now illegal?
Welcome to “democratic” Israel. +972 magazine reports: Reports started flowing in at around 22:30 p.m. through text messages and phone calls. Some 15 activists from… Zochrot (“Remembering”), an Israeli NGO dedicated to preserving the memory the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) among the Hebrew-speaking public, had gathered in the group’s offices on Ibn Gabirol Street in central Tel…
Who has power to fly drones inside the USA?
Electronic Frontier Foundation is digging: This week the… Federal Aviation Administration… (FAA) finally released its first round of records in response to… EFF’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit… for information on the agency’s drone authorization program. The agency says the… two… lists… it released include the names of all public and private entities that have applied for authorizations to fly drones…