Archive | May, 2011

Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist.  This cartoon was first published in his blog on 23 May 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.  Cf. Gil Ronen, “South Sudan Wants Ties with Israel” (Arutz Sheva, 17 February 2011); “Israel Hopes to Attain a New African Ally in S. Sudan” (Jerusalem Post, 29 February […]

The parties involved in the revolt in Syria so far have not made their programs public.  Undoubtedly, the drift of the Ba’athist regime, won over to neoliberalism and singularly passive in the face of the Israeli occupation of Golan, is the reason for the uprising of people.  However, the CIA’s intervention must not be ruled […]

Arguably the most important reason for the international interest in Iran is its strategically pivotal geography.  Like some of its Muslim neighbours, it has tremendous oil and gas reserves.  For the United States, the revolution in Iran was nothing less than a geopolitical shock. Revolutionary dynamics in the Arab World have recently rekindled the debate […]

The General Assembly of the Sol Camp made a consensus decision at its meeting this morning to continue the encampment at Puerta del Sol, until, at least, Sunday, 29 May. None of the thousands of participants in the assembly opposed the idea.

I’ve talked with the Syrian president, our brother Bashar, a couple of minutes ago.  Syria is a victim of a fascist onslaught.  God Help Syria! Hugo Chávez Frías is the president of Venezuela.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).  Cf. Karin Leukefeld, “Syriens Kommunisten sehen »Chance« für Veränderungen” (junge Welt, 14 May […]

I absolutely love how shamelessly frank Naguib Sawiris‘s tweets tend to be. . . Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian socialist, journalist, and photographer.  Visit his blog: .  Follow Hossam el-Hamalawy at .  This article was first published in his blog on 21 May 2011 under a Creative Commons license. | Print

Terry Everton is a cartoonist.  Visit his blog Working Stiff Review at .  Cf. Bill Bigelow, “Got Coal? Teaching About the Most Dangerous Rock in America” (Rethinking School, Spring 2011); “Wisconsin Uprising: Justice Is in the Air” (Rethinking School, Spring 2011). | Print

In 2006, I found myself working with a variety of Palestinian groups who wanted to establish an educational center downtown, to create a space for discussion of their legitimate grievances, both about the right of return to Palestine and their situation within Lebanon.  The center went up, but then a few days later Israel started […]

ICC to Sudan: “Who committed the crimes of genocide?” STL to Lebanon: “Who killed Hariri?” Justice, however, is asleep when it comes to Iraq, Gaza, and Afghanistan. . . . Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist.  This cartoon was first published in his blog on 9 March 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational […]

There is no doubt about it.  The wind that has electrified the Arab world in recent months, the spirit of the repeated protests in Greece, the student struggles in Britain and Italy, the mobilizations against Sarkozy in France . . . has come to Spain. These are not days of “business as usual.”  The comfortable […]

Abstract: Using concepts of feminist economics, this paper demonstrates the range of ways in which carework is undervalued in Canada, from the labour of the unpaid care worker within the home, to the paid labour of the registered nurse in institutions.  Through qualitative analysis of various caring occupations, and a comparison of wages of caring […]

  “All of the Egyptian people are behind you and anyone who wants to make a revolution, anyone who wants to achieve something.  There is a saying: If the people want life, destiny should give it to them.” Hamdy Reda is an Egyptian visual artist.  Artellewa Space for Contemporary Art in Giza, established in 2007, […]

Opportunistic Leb Tribunal changes indictment to now finger Syria.  Oh please.  http://bit.ly/jCNnIK #STL #Bellemare #Imperialism Sharmine Narwani is a Senior Associate at St Antony’s College, Oxford University.  Read her blog Mideast Shuffle at <mideastshuffle.com>.  Follow Narwani at <twitter.com/#!/snarwani>.  The text above is one of her tweets today.  Cf. Elias Muhanna, “Syria: Conveniently Vulnerable Once Again?” […]

No one can be sure that, in its agony, the empire might not drag humanity into a catastrophe.… As is known, as long as human life exists, everyone has the sacred responsibility to be optimistic. Ethically, any other type of behavior would be inadmissible. I remember well a day, almost 20 years ago, when I said that one species was in danger of extinction: the human race.

  Address to the Conference “Debt and Austerity: From Southern Countries to Europe,” Athens, Greece, 6-8 May 2011 Honorable guests, Dear participants, Comrade activists, Fellow fighters, The Greek initiative for the establishment of a Committee for the Accounting Audit of Its Public Debt welcomes you to this very important three-day event for the exchange of […]

May 18, 2011 In an effort to define the dominant narrative about the ongoing Arab awakening and America’s role in the Middle East, President Obama will give what the White House is billing as a major address on Middle East policy.  However eloquently delivered, the address will not be able to overcome or compensate for […]

Sanctioning President Assad — what can it accomplish? Most importantly, it will help President Obama in his presidential campaign.  He can stand as someone who acts firmly against Arab dictators.  He killed Bin Laden and sanctioned Bashar al-Assad.  He takes decisive action and stands with the Arab street and for democracy.  This will serve him […]

  Introduction We, the undersigned, are sponsoring a citizens’ debt audit for Ireland.  In the interest of transparency, we wish to know how the Irish debt — especially the bank debt for which the state has assumed responsibility — was incurred and to whom it is owed.  We sponsor this audit as organizations that have […]

  The movement, which I’d call a popular movement for a Syrian revolution, has sought the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad since it first began in the southern city of Daraa when [two teenagers were arrested for painting a slogan on the walls] that has been the main one at every demonstration ever since: “The people […]

Meanwhile, Iran keeps growing its nuclear program (Bushehr, Natanz, Isfahan, etc.) . . . Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist.  This cartoon was first published in his blog on 17 May 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.  Cf. “‘Sit long enough by the river and the corpse of your enemy will float […]