Archive | February, 2009

Fog covered El Alto, Bolivia on Saturday morning as social movements from around the country marched into the city to mark the official passage of Bolivia’s new constitution.  “This is the second independence, the true liberation of Bolivia,” Bolivian President Evo Morales said as he signed the new constitution. The new constitution was approved by […]

34 year-old Kashif ul-Huda runs TwoCircles.net, the leading Indian Muslim news and features web site.  In this interview with Yoginder Sikand he talks about his work and reflects on Indian Muslims and the media. Q: What made you set up TwoCircles.net?  What was your source of inspiration? A: I come from a working class family […]

  6 February 2009 The Congress of South African Trade Union is pleased to announce that its members, dock workers belonging to the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), achieved a victory last night when they stood firm by their decision not to offload the Johanna Russ, a ship that was carrying Israeli […]

What is the story American Jews have been told about Israel and Zionism, and how does it differ from the reality of what happened in Palestine?  Like many American Jews, I was told by my teachers at Hebrew School and in the Jewish Day School I attended that the creation of Israel meant that Jews […]

Granted, the Somali political conundrum is multifaceted in nature.  And, one of these facets, indeed the most frequently cited element perpetuating Somalia’s violence and anarchy, is the lack of good leadership capable of ensuring good governance.  According to the official account, this very element is what toppled the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The indicators of […]

Now, more then ever, Israeli activists need a powerful global movement to help us build a just peace in Israel/Palestine.  Looking for effective tools for ending the occupation, we have launched a new website WhoProfits.org listing companies directly involved in the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.  […]

In the last few weeks, following the recent military attack on Gaza, we have seen an increase in calls for boycott of Israeli institutions in general, and academic institutions in particular.  A general boycott strategy can be useful indeed in mobilizing solidarity with Palestinians and undermining support for Israeli war crimes internationally and within the […]

TERMINÓ EL RECESO Y EL SABADO 7 DE FEBRERO VUELVE “LEÑA AL FUEGO” CON UN DEBATE “LEÑA AL FUEGO”: Programa semanal que desde hace nueve años y diez meses se viene emitiendo los sábados de 18 a 20 por Radio de la Ciudad, AM 1110, bajo la conducción del periodista HERMAN SCHILLER.  Este programa se […]

As economists in the US warn against the potential for double-digit unemployment, much of the world is already experiencing that reality.  In Spain, 200,000 workers lost their jobs in January alone, the most for a single month on record, pushing that country’s unemployment rate to over 14%.  Over 9% of workers in the Republic of […]

The response came barely a few hours later. Rahm Emmanuel, the White House chief of staff, spoke. It is of no importance that he failed to mention my modest Reflection. What is important is the response.

The Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) will soon be no more.  On Thursday, 5 February, its activists will vote for its self-dissolution to create the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA).  Some seven hundred delegates are expected at a four-day conference, 5-8 February, in la Plaine-Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), to launch the new party of Olivier Besancenot. The death certificate […]

  “In Tunisia, the youth have lost hope and prospects.  The movement of Gafsa is a matter of the whole society.”  So says Tunisian biologist Maya Jribi, the leader of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), which strongly supports the struggle of miners in Gafsa.  The PDP is one of the main opposition parties against President […]

First they rammed the Dignity.  Then they harassed the Spirit of Humanity into turning back to its berth.  Now 18 corsair ships from the Israeli Navy have surrounded the Al-Ikhwa (The Brotherhood) ship, out of Lebanon, and boarded it, ransacking the boat and assaulting its passengers.  The ship was plainly up to no good: it […]

The other day I noted some of Obama’s ideas that point to his role within a system that is the negation of every just principle.

Featuring interviews with Abbas Abdi, Ervand Abrahamian, Hamid Algar, Ali Ansari, Abbas Attar, Shaul Bakhash, Abolhassan Banisadr, Daniel Brumberg, Abdolmajid Majidi, Hedayat Matin-Daftari, Abbas Milani, Parviz Mina, Seyed Ali Akhbar Mohtashamipur, Grand Ayatollah Ali Montazeri, Hojatolislam Seyed Hamid Rohani, Barry Rosen, Hashem Sabbaghian, Ayatollah Yousof Sanei, Ebrahim Yazdi, Ardeshir Zahedi, Marvin Zonis. Part 1 Part […]

  Hadash released a great set of four election commercials today, which feature conversations between a supporter of Meretz and a supporter of Hadash, “The Left vs. the New Left.”  You can see the clips here. My favorite is the one on the Gaza war, which you can watch here in Hebrew.  The Leftie stutters […]

The demonstrations of the indigenous tribal people [‘adivasis’] of West Bengal, India against longstanding police brutality have not dissipated with time, contrary to the expectations of the police, the ruling party of West Bengal the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], and the other mainstream parties, the Congress and the longtime Hindutva fascist allied Trinamool […]

please keep in mind as you prepare to pass sentence you may at some time be in need of a presidential pardon and I may, understandably, be reluctant to grant it. Dennis Brutus is a South African poet.  Active against Apartheid, he was arrested in 1963 and imprisoned for 18 months on Robben Island.  After […]

Barack H. Obama won the White House on the promise of “change.”  One of the big donors for Obama’s campaign for change was the Service Employees International Union, which spent nearly $30 million for his presidential campaign according to the Center for Responsive Politics.  One of the first changes brought about by the SEIU under […]

COSATU and PSC launch Week of Action for Palestine supported by YCL and other progressive organisations In a historic development for South Africa, South African dock workers have announced their determination not to offload a ship from Israel that is scheduled to dock in Durban on Sunday, 8 February 2009.  This follows the decision by […]