Hany Abu-Assad is a Dutch-Palestinian filmmaker, whose 2005 film Paradise Now won the 63rd Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film award among other awards. “A Boy, A Wall and A Donkey” was made as part of Art for the World’s “Stories on Human Rights” on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal […]
Subjects Archives: Movements
Sweet Crude
“For fifty years, crude oil has been flowing from under the feet of the people of the Niger Delta. For fifty years, they have been promised that this would mean a better life. This promise has never been kept. Now, the people have had enough.” Sandy Cioffi is a Seattle-based film and video artist. […]
Massive Casualties Feared in Nigerian Military Attack on Niger Delta Villages
Go to <www.democracynow.org/2009/5/21/nigeria> for the transcript of this program. ABUJA, 22 May 2009 (IRIN) — Thousands of civilians have fled their villages in Nigeria’s Delta state after government troops launched an offensive against militant groups in the state on 13 May. Villagers in Delta state’s Gbramatu kingdom reported Oporoza and Okerenkoko villages being attacked […]
Ideas for the Struggle #1 Insurrections or Revolutions? The Role of the Political Instrument
This is the first in a series of articles on “Ideas for the Struggle” by Marta Harnecker. 1. The recent popular uprisings at the turn of the 21st century that have rocked numerous countries such as Argentina and Bolivia — and, more generally, the history of the multiple social explosions that have occurred in […]
The Union Premium
Countless academics have sought to measure the tangible benefits of being a union member. The difference between union and non-union wages, often referred to as the “union premium,” can be calculated in many different ways. It’s a profoundly complex field. . . . Here’s a classic example of the poop one has to wade […]
Indonesia: Tough Times for Returning Labor Migrants
JAKARTA, 14 May 2009 (IRIN) — For Risti Ariyani, the dream of working abroad and helping her family is over. Her contract with a computer components factory in Malaysia was abruptly cancelled because of the global financial crisis, leaving her no choice but to return home to Central Jaffa Province. “My family was counting on […]
Mexican Human Rights Organizations Speak Out against US Militarization of Mexico
On May 6, 67 Mexican human rights organizations (all non-governmental organizations) along with several other Mexican organizations and individuals, made a call to end US support to the Mexican military in the war on drugs. The letter came after the approval of the 2009 installment of the controversial three-year Merida initiative which provides US […]
Help Israeli Human Rights Activist Ezra Nawi
“Nawi is not a typical rights activist. A member of Ta’ayush Arab-Jewish Partnership he is a Jewish Israeli of Iraqi descent who speaks fluent Arabic. He is a gay man in his fifties and a plumber by trade. Perhaps because he himself comes from the margins, he empathises with others who have been marginalised — […]
Guerrilla Ad Campaign Replaces “Study in Israel” Billboards
Students and community members near the UC Berkeley campus were surprised one weekend to see a series of bus shelter billboards asking, “What country uses live ammunition against unarmed children?” Below a photo of identically dressed schoolboys in front of a barbed wire fence is the answer: Israel. The guerrilla ads replaced ads which […]
How Ideological Enemies Collaborated to Achieve Divergent Goals
Francis R. Nicosia. Zionism and Anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. Cambridge University Press, 2008. xiv + 324 pp. $85.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-521-88392-4. In his latest book, Francis R. Nicosia returns to and explores in greater detail one of the major topics of his important earlier book, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (1985): the complex […]
Sex Workers March on May Day in India
Sex workers from Kolkata took to the streets in their dozens to demand the legalization of the world’s oldest profession on International Labor Day. Sonagachi is the biggest red light district in Kolkata and one of the largest in Asia. Around 500 sex workers took part in the march, which was organized by a […]
The Free Union — How Did We Build It?
Kamal abu Eita. Photo by Hossam el-Hamalawy. The first time I participated in a discussion about independent unions, and about the idea of pluralism, was at a conference organized by the Al-Tagammu party — back in the days when Al-Tagammu was really “united” — when one of the veteran unionists, Atiyah Al-Sirafi, explained the […]
Chrysler’s Plan? Send Pay and Standards Down the Drain
The media consensus is that union auto workers escaped the government-imposed restructuring of their industry basically unharmed, exchanging a few dings for control of the companies. Nothing could be further from the truth. Chrysler retirees — like me — were assured in 2007 that our retiree health care benefits, funded through the Voluntary Employee […]
Israel: The Killing of Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahme
Clayton Swisher, “Palestinians Mourn Demonstrator’s Death,” Al Jazeera, 18 April 2009 Clayton Swisher: Laying to rest one of their own, the village of Bil’in mourn the death of Bassem Abu Rahme, killed while protesting against Israel’s West Bank separation wall. It divides Bil’in in two, with Palestinians on both sides and Israeli settlers not […]
Scottish Trade Union Congress Votes for BDS against Israel
22 April 2009 — On Wednesday, Scotland joined Ireland and South Africa when the Scottish Trade Union Congress, representing every Scottish trade union, voted overwhelmingly to commit to boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. This is the third example of a national trade union federation committing to BDS and is a clear indication that, […]
The Case of Dr. Binayak Sen: “Punishment by Trial” Threatens Democracy
The text of a letter written by the venerable Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, former Supreme Court Judge, to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, dated April 17, 2009: I would like to bring to your attention a case of grave injustice which is a cause of much shame to Indian democracy: that of Dr. Binayak Sen, […]
India’s Maoist Revolution
Click here to read the transcript of “India’s Maoist Revolution.” This program was aired by Australia’s SBS Dateline on 23 July 2008.
Latin America Changes: Hunger Strikes in Bolivia, Summits in the Caribbean
After Bolivia beat the Argentine soccer team led by legendary Diego Maradona by 6 to 1, Maradona told reporters, “Every Bolivia goal was a stab in my heart.” Bolivia was expected to lose the April 1 match as Argentina is ranked as the 6th best soccer team in the world, and Maradona enjoys godlike status […]
Red Showdown in Bangkok
After a day of chaos and violence, Bangkok is currently in a tense stand off. Thousands of Red Shirt protesters are in control of a large geographic area around Government House. They have armed themselves and have erected a number of roadblocks around the city. In response to this challenge, the government has declared […]
Venezuela: The Coup of 11 April 2002, in Images
VTV’s “La Hojilla” program’s production team republished the images of the coup d’état of 11 April 2002, which kidnapped President Hugo Chávez and trampled on the Constitution and the rights of the Venezuelan people for 48 hours. After seven years, now that justice is beginning to be done in the cases of the massacre […]
