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Presbyterians of the World, Unite!
In June 2004, the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), resolved to consider a phased, selective divestment from companies profiting from Israel’s occupation. Subsequently it came under intense pressure from Jewish organizations (and their allies) and will consider rescinding the resolution at the next General Assembly meeting on June 15-22 in Birmingham, Alabama. To firm up […]
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A Specter Is Haunting the AFL-CIO’s Foreign Policy Program: The Worker to Worker Solidarity Committee
The room had been arranged, the speakers ready — with a last minute, unannounced substitution of Wilfredo Berrios of El Salvador’s SUTTEL (telecom) union replacing Miguel Gonzalez Vargas from the Oil Workers Union of Venezuela who had not been able to come due to problems back home — and the only remaining question was, “Would […]
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Queen Hussein
The Palestinian gay and lesbian community has yet to leave the closet, but it’s on its way. Today it’s possible to go to parties of gays from the Occupied Territories and see young residents of the West Bank perform drag. They have not told their mother about this, but one day they intend to […]
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Cadet Bush at West Point: Screw That Chin In, Beanhead!
Mister Bush, you deserve a good reaming for your performance at the United States Military Academy graduation on Saturday. Post around to my room for some character guidance. Come in, wackhead. Slam up against that wall! Suck up that capacious gut! Shoulders back! Pop up that puny chest! Fingers along the seams of your trousers! […]
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Canadian Union Takes Important Step against Israeli Apartheid
At the annual convention of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario, held 24-27 May 2006 in Ottawa, the union passed a resolution of historic importance. Resolution 50 — adopted unanimously by the 900 delegates at the largest convention in the union’s history — expressed support for the global campaign against Israeli apartheid. The […]
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Iranian Cold Warriors in Sheep’s Clothing
Erik C. Nisbet & James Shanahan, “MSRG Special Report: Restrictions on Civil Liberties, Views of Islam, & Muslim Americans,” Media & Society Research Group, Cornell University, December 2004 Actual mass murderers are higher on my watch list than those who just think or shout hateful beliefs. But you would be mistaken if you thought the […]
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Stop Saying This Is a Nation of Immigrants!
A nation of immigrants: This is a convenient myth developed as a response to the 1960s movements against colonialism, neocolonialism, and white supremacy. The ruling class and its brain trust offered multiculturalism, diversity, and affirmative action in response to demands for decolonization, justice, reparations, social equality, an end of imperialism, and the rewriting of history — not to be “inclusive” — but to be accurate. What emerged to replace the liberal melting pot idea and the nationalist triumphal interpretation of the “greatest country on earth and in history,” was the “nation of immigrants” story.
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Ontario’s “Sharia Law” Controversy: How Muslims Were Hung Out to Dry
“A lie can travel halfway around the world,” the American writer Mark Twain once said, “while the truth is putting on its shoes.” That statement could apply to the recent phony debate over “sharia tribunals” in Ontario. Odds are that if you consulted the average man or woman in the street on the matter, you […]
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Finding Common Ground in New Orleans: An Interview with Malik Rahim
Malik Rahim Malik Rahim is a longtime activist and co-founder of Common Ground. Founded last September, Common Ground is a grassroots collective that has provided 80,000 people in and around New Orleans with legal, health, bio-remedial, immigrant, and eviction defense services. See www.commongroundrelief.org. Global Exchange will present Mr. Rahim, along with Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano […]
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Iraq, Iran, and the New World Order
The present crisis concerning Iran’s nuclear program cannot be reduced to merely the ongoing rivalry between Tehran and Washington. Rather, it reveals all the new parameters of the post-Cold War world order that American strategists want to avoid. Iran’s Machiavellian diplomatic brinkmanship has succeeded so far, not only because the Ahmadinejad administration is exploiting the […]
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The One Cent Solution: A Day Without a Transportation Worker
Someone left a copy of the May 17 Wall Street Journal on a break table at work. I picked up a section and flipped through it. Familiar corporate names popped from the headlines — then, a common thread emerged from the journalist’s prose. Wal-Mart: “The retailer said its second-quarter results could be weighed down by […]
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The Next Greed Revolution
“Green-minded activists failed to move the broader public not because they were wrong about the problems, but because the solutions they offered were unappealing to most people.” — Alex Steffen, “The Next Green Revolution,” Wired Magazine, May 2006 — It’s about time you woke up to the good news, Jimmy! If we can just unleash the […]
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First Working-Class Film and Video Festival in Turkey a “Resounding Success”
The first international working-class film and video festival titled “Against Neo-Liberalism, 20 Countries and 40 Films” was held in Turkey in early May 2006 — a resounding success. Over 8,000 attended the various film screenings, and, for the first time, working people in Turkey had an opportunity to see the global struggle of other […]
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Circling the Wagons and Building Walls:Washington’s Immigration Policy
So Bush and company want to put thousands of armed troops on the border between the United States and Mexico. The supposed reason for this move is to stem the flow of immigrants coming into the US from the south. I have a feeling that this move will be probably popular in Congress and amongst […]
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Stiglitz: Those Who Must Be Compensated Are the Bolivians, Not the Companies [De haber compensación, debe ser para los bolivianos, no para las empresas: Stiglitz]
Consecuencias de largo alcance tras la nacionalización en Bolivia: FMI La manera de negociar con los afectados será el factor clave, según el organismo financiero Evidente, el fracaso del modelo neoliberal impuesto por EU, sostiene el Nobel de Economía Imagen de la planta de gas San Alberto, que operaba la brasileña Petrobras, el pasado 1º […]
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Good Neighbor Senator Sessions Walls Out Mexico . . . and Robert Frost
“The Senate fence measure was embodied in an amendment offered by Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, who borrowed from the poet Robert Frost. ‘Good fences make good neighbors,’ he said. ‘Fences don’t make bad neighbors.’” — New York Times, 17 May 2006 What Senator Sessions knows is of no interest to me. It must […]
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The Sewing Factory in Gaza, the Administration in Tel-Aviv, and the Owners in New York: Israeli Industrialists’ Strategy in the Global Supply Chain
The aim of this paper is to try to understand the Israeli industrialists’ strategy in the globalization process in the course of the recent years. The new strategy was implemented in the days of the first Intifada (the Palestinian uprising) in the late 80s. At that time voices were heard in the Association of Israeli […]
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Quiet Gestures, Heroic Acts: A Conversation with Robert Ellsberg
Robert Ellsberg is a well-known activist and author of numerous books, but most importantly, a tireless advocate for social justice and a witness to the lives of others whose integrity and purpose provide useful models. His most recent book is Blessed Among All Women: Women Saints, Prophets and Witnesses for Our Times. One of my […]
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Amnesty Now!
When a gun-touting cowboy, who calls for 6,000 National Guard troops to be stationed along the US-Mexico border, is presented as having taken the “middle ground” in the immigration debate, you know how far to the right mainstream politics are in the US. Bush’s address on May 15 calls not only for strict border control […]
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The Nakba: Then and Now
On the 58th anniversary of the Nakba, or the “Catastrophe,” prominent Palestinians share their thoughts on the day when more than 700,000 of their brethren became refugees. The Institute for Middle East Understanding asked the panel, ranging from business leaders to comedians, what comes to mind on the 58th anniversary of the Nakba and why […]