Archive | May, 2011

  Tariq Ali: I don’t think sanctions work.  They are essentially a symbolic measure.  Usually when sanctions are applied against a country, they affect the poor people in that country more than the ruling elites, as we saw for years before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.  They had imposed a bloody sanctions regime, […]

DAMASCUS, May 18 (RIA Novosti) The Syrian opposition’s calls to hold a general day-long strike on Wednesday have been largely ignored, Aljazeera reported. The Syrian opposition called for a general strike as the government denied reports that it has been burying anti-government protesters in mass graves. “Wednesday will be a day of punishment for the […]

Madrid.  Tens of thousands of people, especially youth, demonstrated again on Tuesday evening in the Spanish capital of Madrid, against the political and economic system of the country, which they called corrupt.  The participants in the rally at the central Puerta del Sol square shouted slogans such as “Less Policing, More Education” and “They Call […]

13 May 2011 Tonight, the transnational delegation from the Knowledge Liberation Front (KLF) reunited in Tunis to begin the Liberation Without Borders Tour.  This delegation is a project of activist research that was initiated at a meeting in Paris last February.  It aims to reinforce the relations with the Tunisian movement activists that were forged […]

Terry Everton is a cartoonist.  Visit his blog Working Stiff Review at . | Print

What follows below is about the economic and political significance of the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK hereafter), the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.  It will say nothing about the merits (or lack thereof) of the charges against DSK.  All cases of alleged sexual assault brought against high-profile men place two equally important […]

  Over 800 homeowners, clergy, and workers converged in Columbus, Ohio to directly confront JPMorgan Chase and deliver a message that Wall Street banks need to pay their fair share and stop foreclosing on America. For more information, visit <npa-us.org>, <ohorganizing.org>, and <showdowninamerica.org>.   var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print  

  Question: Today, Clinton stated that the US considered it necessary to step up pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  How can you comment on this? Foreign Minister Lavrov: No one is happy when in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, as in all other states there are disturbing developments, with blood […]

  Hassan Hijazi, a Syrian-Palestinian youth, is as surprised as the Israeli police.  Hassan, who is a civil servant in the Education Ministry of Syria, had never imagined, even in his wildest dream, that one day he would be able to stroll on the streets of Jaffa, a city annexed to Tel Aviv.  “My parents […]

NATO: “Bah!  It’s just African immigrants dying of hunger.” Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).  Cf. Barbara Lewis, “U.N. Says 10 Percent Fatality for Libya Sea Migrants” (Reuters, 13 May 2011).  var idcomments_acct = […]

Scores of protesters in Cairo clash with Egyptian security forces in front of the Israeli embassy. They were gathering to urge Egypt to cut ties with Israel and also show support for the Palestinians’ Third Intifada. As tensions grew, security forces used live rounds, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. According to Egyptian officials over 10 protesters were injured and 30 arrested.

  April 7, 2011 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500 Re: An open letter concerning the crisis in Libya Dear President Obama: In 2002 you made the following statement: “I don’t oppose all wars.  What I am opposed to is a dumb war.  What I am opposed to […]

“We say to the Israeli establishment in the name of each and every one of us: I am not a stranger in my homeland, I am not a hostage to your ideas, I am free, despite your accusation, I am the owner of this land, despite your oppression.” — Omar Siksik, 14 May 2011 Cf. […]

“There must constantly be an intifada.  I am for the one state solution, so there must be an intifada in Palestine.  The liberation of Palestine is a part of every one of these Arab revolutions.  Now, even after the revolution, the [Egyptian] army is banning these peaceful convoys [to Gaza] and this show of solidarity […]

  “It is forbidden to mourn on the founding day of the state.” — Israel 2011 Tel Aviv, Israel, 9 May 2011 Zochrot is an NGO whose goal is to introduce the Palestinian Nakba to the Israeli-Jewish public, to express the Nakba in Hebrew.  This is in order to promote an alternative memory to the […]

Two months after the disasters of March 11, most of the rhythms of everyday life have returned to Tokyo.  Although dimmed city streets remain as daily reminders of the critical nuclear situation 140 miles north, the university campuses that were deserted over an extended spring break have refilled.  Although the earth still shivers, the anxious […]

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent in April and at a 6.2 percent annualized rate over the last three months.  Headline inflation continues to be driven in large part by rapid increases in energy prices — up 2.2 percent last month, and at a 42.8 percent annualized rate over the last three months as […]

  STITCH invites you to join us on a ten-day women’s delegation to Honduras as we assess the impact of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) five years later.  Our labor solidarity delegation to Honduras, PUSHING BACK: WOMEN SPEAK OUT ON TRADE will take place July 27-August 06, 2011. Participants will meet with women […]

  Michael Munk’s The Portland Red Guide is a historical guidebook of social dissent in Portland, Oregon, and links notable radicals, their organizations, and their activities to physical sites in the city. We had a brief conversation over e-mail with Michael Munk to talk about the book, now in its Second Edition, and his experience […]

With the release of some detainees, the Syrian government has met at least partially one of the demands of the Syrian opposition, according to Reuters, which interviewed Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria on Thursday. Hassan Abdel Azim, who is 81 years old, and Hazem al-Nahar were released on Monday.  […]