New York — The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) demands the immediate release of its former president, Professor Peter Erlinder, whom Rwandan Police arrested early today on charges of “genocide ideology.” He had traveled to Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, on May 23, to join the defense team of Rwandan presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza. Erlinder is […]
Geography Archives: United States
Arizona: Grassroots Organizing to Repeal All Anti-Immigrant Laws
Joel Olson is a member of the Repeal Coalition in Flagstaff, Arizona. Repeal spearheaded the grassroots mobilization that successfully pressured the Flagstaff City Council to pass an injunction threatening a lawsuit against the state for its anti-immigrant law SB 1070. SB 1070 has clearly reignited the immigrant rights movement. What is SB 1070 and […]
Someone Is Watching: The Peril and Promise of School Surveillance
Torin Monahan, Rodolfo D. Torres, eds. Schools under Surveillance: Cultures of Control in Public Education. Critical Issues in Crime and Society Series. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2010. vi + 264 pp. $72.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8135-4679-7; $24.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-8135-4680-3. In the fall of 2009, Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, was caught […]
Empire against Democracy
After the Second World War, from which the Allied forces emerged victorious, the government of the United States sought to make the most of its military victory. It structured the Assembly of the United Nations to be led by a Security Council composed of the seven most powerful countries, with veto power over decisions […]
No Justice, No Euro!
The current turmoil in financial markets around the world is another illustration of the damage that can be done by a bloated and politically powerful financial sector, combined with finance ministers and central bankers who identify with this sector and have their own right-wing policy agenda. Welcome to Europe, which has become the epicenter of […]
President Obama Should Be Honest about the Iran-Turkey-Brazil Nuclear Deal
Brazilian President Lula, Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan, and their foreign ministers have been too polite in their characterization of President Obama’s role in the nuclear deal they mediated with Iran last week. For we now have documentary evidence that President Obama’s Secretary of State and his White House spokesman are simply not telling the truth […]
People’s Voices Must Be Heard in Climate Negotiations
In April 2010 more than 35,000 people from 140 countries gathered in Cochabamba, Bolivia and developed the historic Cochabamba People’s Accord, a consensus-based document reflecting substantive solutions to the climate crisis. We, the undersigned organizations, both participated in and/or supported this historic process. Reflecting the voices of global civil society and the agreements reached […]
Pakistan: Beyond the Sound Bites
D. Raghunandan: [Media reports of] Pakistan tend to be overdetermined, or overwhelmed, by the issues of terrorism and extremism. Professor Aijaz Ahmad . . . recently spent some time in Pakistan, and we thought this offers a good opportunity to look at other aspects of life in Pakistan. Aijaz, what do you think Indians and […]
A “New World Order” Is Possible — and Needed
The efforts of Brazil and Turkey to find a negotiated solution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, which generated a negotiated agreement with Iran last week, must be seen in the context of a growing challenge to the international political order. That political order has been dominated by the United States, with Europe as […]
Iran and the United States: Next Steps on the Brazil-Turkey Deal?
On May 24, Iranian representatives, accompanied by Brazilian and Turkish counterparts, met with the IAEA’s Director General, Yukiya Amano. The purpose of the meeting was to present a letter to Amano — as called for in the May 17, 2010 Joint Declaration by Iran, Turkey, and Brazil — formally notifying the IAEA of the Islamic […]
The Unspoken Alliance: Military and Nuclear Ties between Israel and Apartheid South Africa
Amy Goodman: As nuclear nonproliferation talks at the United Nations focus on the Middle East this week, we turn to new revelations about Israel’s nuclear weapons program and its close alliance with apartheid South Africa. Israeli President Shimon Peres has denied reports that he offered to sell nuclear weapons to apartheid South Africa when […]
Interviewing Ousama Hamdan, Hamas Leader in Lebanon
Ousama Hamdan is the top Hamas leader in Lebanon and a member of the Hamas politburo. Manuela Paraipan: How do you see European engagement in the area and what do you think are the main challenges for the international community in dealing with the region? Ousama Hamdan: Most of the time, Europeans support American […]
Arizona: State of Shame / Estado de Vergüenza
Arizona, state of shame What have you done with your fear? Instead of being known for your beauty You are now famous for racism and hatred Photos by Bill Steen of the Canelo Project. Song composed by Eugene Rodriguez. Performed by Los Cenzontles (The Mockingbirds). | Print
75 Years of UAW — and Where Are We?
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the UAW in May 1935. In December 1936, UAW members seized GM’s Flint plants in a sit-down strike and held on for 44 days to force GM to recognize their union. The victory set off a wave of organizing across the Midwest. For decades […]
India Needs Course Correction on Iran
The agreement between Iran, Turkey and Brazil for a swap deal on the stockpile of Tehran’s nuclear fuel sets the stage for a diplomatic pirouette of high significance for regional security. The paradigm shift affects Indian interests. The Barack Obama administration has hastily debunked the Iran-Turkey-Brazil deal, which was announced in Tehran on Monday, and […]
Iran, the Brazil-Turkey Deal, and New Sanctions: What the Media Are Missing
Two documents are driving the Iran-related news these days: the agreement announced Monday on refueling the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) brokered by Brazil and Turkey and the draft “Elements” of a potential new Iran sanctions resolution agreed by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and circulated on Tuesday to the Council’s […]
Public-Sector Unions
In an age where only 7.2 percent of private-sector workers in the United States belong to unions, it may come as a surprise that 37.4 percent of all public-sector (i.e. government) workers are unionized. Put another way, there are more public-sector workers in unions (7.9 million) than in the private-sector (7.4 million), despite the […]
The US-Russia START Treaty: Just What Does “Arms Control” Really Mean?
There’s a funny if intimidating gun-nut bumper sticker you may have seen on the road: “gun control means using both hands.” It’s clever, invoking and mocking gun control at the same time. This last week the United States government, by its actions, formally adopted this bumper sticker as its de-facto nuclear weapons and arms control […]
“Homes, Not Shelters!” Day of Action in NYC, on Malcolm X’s Birthday
Manhattan/Brooklyn/Bronx — Early on Wednesday morning, the anniversary of Malcolm X‘s birth, Picture the Homeless carried out two banner drops. Transgressing into vacant buildings in Brooklyn and El Barrio, they dropped banners from the top that read “Homes Not Shelters / Casas No Refugios,” and “Let Housing Bloom . . . berg.” For more […]
2010 U.S. Assembly of Jews: Confronting Racism and Israeli Apartheid
Our Purpose, Goals, Assumptions, and Expectations for the Assembly What Is Zionism? Zionism is a political movement that supports the ongoing project of colonizing Palestine for the purposes of building a state premised on Jewish nationalism. Therefore, a central goal of the current Zionist movement is to ensure that Israel maintains the maximum area […]
