Prodded by Amnesty International (AI), the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Asian Human Rights Commission, Reporters Without Borders, and other international organizations, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently cobbled a group to look into the allegations of massive human rights violations — over 729 victims of extrajudicial killings, and 180 involuntary “disappearances,” by the latest count — during her […]
Geography Archives: Middle East
The Decline of Israel: An Interview with Nahla Chahal [Nahla Chahal Le déclin d’Israël]
Coordinatrice des Campagnes civiles internationales pour la protection du peuple palestinien (CCIPPP), Nahla Chahal est chercheur à Paris. Elle fut l’une des dirigeantes, dans les années 1970, de l’Organisation d’action communiste du Liban (OACL). De retour du Liban, où elle a passé plus d’un mois pendant l’offensive israélienne, elle raconte et analyse ces événements. Quel […]
Just Sign on the Dotted Line: Iraqi Oil and Production Sharing Agreements
“A critical component of the overall strategy is to contain expenditures within revenues and available financing, by prioritizing expenditures, controlling the wage and pensions bill, reducing subsidies on petroleum products, and expanding the participation of the private sector in the domestic market for petroleum products. . . . The authorities have recently increased prices of […]
Preface to the Turkish Edition of Naming the System
I am honored to write this preface to the Turkish edition of my book, Naming the System: Inequality and Work in the Global Economy. I thank Neset Kutlug and everyone else who helped bring this edition to fruition. I wrote the book with an international audience in mind, so it is gratifying to see […]
Praise/Protest Your Senator for Voting for/against the Use of Cluster Bombs in Lebanon
Praise/Protest your Senator for voting for/against the use of cluster bombs in Lebanon. In response to Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs in heavily populated areas of Lebanon, Senators Feinstein and Leahy introduced legislation that would require recipients of such munitions not to use them in or near civilian centers. The Cluster Munitions Amendment failed […]
The Rebirth of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
A small kitten scampers up the steps of ivy-laden Cobb Hall at the University of Chicago. Nearby, a mohawked student attempts to spear a stale, “dumpstered,” bagel mid-air with a PVC pipe. He’s surrounded by dozens of other young radicals mingling in the school’s immaculate green courtyard, chatting about music, activism, and revolution. Just […]
Address at the Washington National Cathedral, 7 September 2006
In the Name of God Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Guests, “As-Salam-u-‘Alaikum” — Peace be upon you. Knowledge of the human soul has been one of the most significant debates in philosophical discourse throughout history. A part of this tale was written in the Orient and another part in the Occident. It is important to […]
Marathon for Peace
“I was born by the river in a little tent And just like the river, I’ve been running ever since It’s been a long time coming But I know a change is gonna come.” — Sam Cooke Dear family & friends, “A Change Is Gonna Come” was one of my favorite anthems back in the […]
Appraising the Bamako Appeal: A Contribution to the Debate
1. Introduction This commentary is offered as a contribution to the ongoing debate on the Bamako Appeal. On the 18th of January, on the day preceding the start of the Polycentric World Social Forum in Bamako, Mali, a conference was held in the same capital, commemorating the holding of the Bandung Conference 50 years back. […]
Anti-Arab Racism, Islam, and the Left
Racism against Arabs and Muslims long preceded the 9-11 terrorist attacks and has much of its roots in Western imperialism in the Middle East, especially Israel’s colonization of Palestine. Yet, the escalation that we witness today can be traced to the war on terror launched after 9-11 by Bush and his neoconservative ideologues with the […]
The Case against Collaboration between India and Israel
After thirty-four days of relentless aerial bombardment and a ground invasion, Israel’s brutal assault on Lebanon’s civilian population has come to a halt, at least temporarily. As the dust from the rubble of Lebanon’s ruined cities, villages, and infrastructure settles, and as bodies of victims are recovered and buried, and the human losses mourned by […]
U.S. Out of the Middle East
To endorse the following statement, please send your name, location, affiliation and title (if any) to nyclaw@comcast.net, or NYCLAW, PO Box 3620166, PACC, New York, NY 10129. U.S. Out of the Middle East New York City Labor Against the War August 11, 2006 For weeks, Israel has turned Lebanon into a killing ground, slaughtering and […]
Interview with Paul LeBlanc
Paul LeBlanc Paul LeBlanc is what I have called an “organic intellectual,” a scholar and activist who has risen directly out of the working class. Paul is the author of many books, including A Short History of the U.S. Working Class (Humanity Books, 1999) and Black Liberation and the American Dream (Humanity Books 2003), […]
“The Immigrants’ Rights Movement Is in Good Hands”: An Interview with Nativo Lopez
I was at a conference titled Build the Left, Fight the Right this past June. The speakers and workshops at the conference ranged from the war in Iraq to the immigrant rights movement in the United States. One of the most interesting (and there were many) and hopeful (in terms of a brighter future for […]
A New Europe: Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and the Nation-State
Matti Bunzl‘s work entitled “Between Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia: Some Thoughts on the New Europe,” published in American Ethnologist (Vol. 32, No. 4, November 2005), is groundbreaking. It is evident from the article, as well as the commentaries on it that appeared in the same issue, that, to understand contemporary Europe, we need to rethink some […]
Ordinary Citizens’ Complicity in Crimes against Humanity
With the exception of a couple years here and there, I grew up in Germany and attended German schools until I was 19 years old. History teachers at the time were obsessed with helping our generation grapple with the questions: how could the Germans have let it happen? How did so many get roped in […]
News from the Back of the Front
POST-9/11 SCIENCE: AMERICANS ARE WORLD’S ONLY HUMANS (PU) Just in time for the 5th anniversary of the World Trade Center disaster, scientists have discovered that United States citizens — alone out of every other people on planet Earth — possess qualities identifying them as homo sapiens. The finding was announced today at the Center for […]
Slavery Now
King’s legacy dead as doornail America still run by Plantation Hillary proclaims, she a knowledgeable house slave who carried Massah George’s lies all the way to Baghdad and said it wasn’t even heavy. Stew Albert Photo by Robert Altman © 2006 Stew Albert, a co-founder of Yippies who died on 30 January 2006, published […]
Will US Hijack UN Resolution on Iran?
In an article published by the Mail & Guardian Online on June 27, titled “Iran Cannot Engage in Serious Talks with US,” I briefly explained some of the reasons why Iran would not be able to engage in serious talks with the United States or accept the European incentives package offered in exchange for […]
Boycott Japan
Today’s Liberation Day, one of the few holidays celebrated in both North and South Koreas, so it’s a good day to start boycotting Japan. Outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid his respects at Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine for war dead on Tuesday, the anniversary of his country’s World War Two surrender, a parting shot […]
