Palestinian Pundit

2009-11-22T06:45:00.000-08:00

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As if We Needed a Reminder That Puppets Don't Make Decisions on Their Own....

2009-11-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

Palestinian panel to sidestep vote
ABBAS WOULD STAY IN POST
Move embodies 'political consensus of the PLO'

The Washington Post

"JERUSALEM -- To keep the Palestinian Authority government working after its term expires in January, Palestinians are turning to an unelected group of political insiders instead of holding new elections, according to Palestinian officials and outside analysts.

The Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council -- more than 100 political officials and activists, labor federation leaders and others -- is slated to meet in December to authorize Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to remain the movement's chief political figure and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to continue running the day-to-day affairs of government in Ramallah.

The session will resolve an immediate political problem while maintaining an air of legality around a Palestinian government that relies on hundreds of millions of dollars in outside aid. Abbas's term expires Jan. 24, but election officials have ruled that a planned vote cannot take place while the Islamist Hamas movement rules the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority, dominated by Abbas's Fatah movement, holds political power only in the West Bank.

Abbas has said he does not want to run for reelection, but the council's endorsement will mean that he can continue as the Palestinian figurehead until peace talks resume or a longer-term plan is worked out to pick his successor.

"From a legal point of view, there is not a big problem. It is a situation that needs the intervention of the PLO," said Qais Abdul Karim, a member of the PLO Central Council who is also familiar with the discussions inside the PLO's top body, the executive committee. "It is a substitute for democratic elections, but it is the only way to go. At least it represents the political consensus of the PLO, and legitimacy emanates from the PLO's status.".......

Abbas, whose multiple roles include chairman of the PLO, remains a troubled politician with somewhat opaque plans.

After a dramatic speech two weeks ago in which he announced that he would not run for reelection when his term expired in January, he embarked on what seemed like a campaign swing. He appeared at a series of rallies in the West Bank, the government-run television channel was full of tributes, and clan leaders published tribal-style loyalty oaths in local newspapers.

But Palestinian, Israeli, U.S. and other officials close to the situation say he remains in deep turmoil over what to do -- frustrated by the lack of progress toward a peace agreement, feeling undercut politically by a U.S. administration that has pushed him to make decisions that were unpopular among Palestinians, and, at 74, fatigued. Yet he is also unwilling to walk away from what could be the culmination of his career.

Palestinian, Israeli, U.S. and other international leaders seem to agree that if peace efforts are to progress in the foreseeable future, Abbas will need to rebuild his political standing among Palestinians as a prelude to renewed negotiations with Israel, and that he needs help doing it. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in particular has been urged by the United States and some of his top security officials to look for ways to bolster the Palestinian leader and convince him that it is worthwhile to stick around. "

You Want to Laugh? Read This: LAF Opens Fire at Israeli Reconnaissance Plane over South

2009-11-21T04:53:00.000-08:00

"The Lebanese Army Command – Orientation Directorate said in a statement on Saturday that army forces have fired anti-aircraft rounds at an Israeli reconnaissance plane over the Bint-Jbeil region in the south. The statement added that the plane was flying at a medium altitude and that the anti-aircraft fire forced it to fly higher and then leave Lebanon’s airspace.... "

Celebrate Now and Withhold Tea Service!

Emad Hajjaj's Latest Cartoon

2009-11-21T04:43:00.000-08:00

تنديد بزيارة ليفني للمغرب

2009-11-21T04:30:00.001-08:00

This Notorious War Criminal is Afraid of Visiting Western Capitals for Fear of Arrest.....
But She is Currently in Morocco, Received with Open Arms!

FIFA and Germany helped finance a soccer stadium in the Palestine. Now that it is almost complete, Israel has decided to tear it down.

2009-11-20T14:55:00.001-08:00

Oon October 11 of this year, Israeli soldiers and representatives of the Civil Administration showed up at the site. They arrived via the neighboring Jewish settlement of Psagot, which overlooks Palestinian neighborhoods and was built on Al-Bireh land. They delivered a stop-work order from the administration to one of the workers (whose name was handwritten, in Hebrew, on it).

On November 1, the municipality received a "final" stop-work order - addressed anonymously to "the holder," from "the Supreme Planning Council's building inspection subcommittee," and issued by "Assaf."

The document claims that work on the stadium's stands is being carried out "without a license," and contains other standard admonitions: "You were given an opportunity to appear before the inspection subcommittee to state your case. The subcommittee has concluded that the aforementioned work was carried out without proper permission ... You are hereby obligated, in accordance with section .... of the 1966 City, Village and Buildings Planning Law, to cease activity upon and use of said land, and to raze the building ... and to restore the location to its previous state within 7 days ... If you do not act as required, all legal means will be taken against you, including demolition of the structure and any means required to restore the situation to its prior state, at your expense."

A German source has told Haaretz: "This could become a major diplomatic issue between Germany and Israel. Just imagine: A German-financed project being torn down. It would definitely be a political scandal."

53% of Israelis polled prefer ethnic cleansing as a final solution to the conflict

2009-11-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

Transfer of Arabs from the Palestinian Authority to "actual Arab countries" was the most popular solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, according to a poll this week by Israel National News. Of the more than 6,400 people surveyed, 53.2 said 'Transfer of Palestinians to another Arab country' when asked, "What's the best solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict?"

The "two-states for two peoples" solution being pushed by the United States and the international community received 30.8 percent support, while the idea of giving Palestinians Jordanian citizenship was approved by 14.5 percent. Maintaining the status quo received 1.3 percent of the vote.

"أم المعارك" بين مصر والجزائر كشفت عورة الأمّة

2009-11-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

A Great Comment (Arabic)

اختلاط الأوراق

كرة القدم وفلسطين

التاريخ يعلمنا

"...
هل ما وقع بين مصر والجزائر لم يكن ليحدث لو أنّ القائد الراحل هواري بومدين، كان لا يزال رئيساً للجزائر، وطيّب الذكر جمال عبد الناصر، زعيماً لمصر؟
....
أثبت الشعب الجزائري وشقيقه المصري، أننّا ما زلنا في مرحلة ما قبل الأمّة، كنّا وما زلنا شعوبيين، نلعن "سنسفيل" الدولة وحكامها الطغاة طيلة أيام السنة، ولكن عندما وصلنا الموقعة، أي المباراة الحاسمة، سامحنا الحكام الفاسدين والمفسدين، وبدأنا بصب جام غضبنا على الشعب الآخر، العدو، ونسينا إسرائيل وأميركا وأوروبا، وتناسينا ماذا فعلوا بنا، نحن العرب والمسلمين،
......
يمكن القول إنّ تصرفات الجمهور الجزائري والمصري على حدٍ سواء، نابعة فيما هي نابعة من حالة الاحتقان التي تعيشها هذه الشعوب بسبب الأنظمة العربية الشمولية والديكتاتورية، التي تقوم بقمع المواطن بشكل منهجي، عن طريق المخابرات التي تحكم السواد الأعظم من الوطن العربي، وتحاول عن طريق لعبة كرة قدم أن تسمح له بالتنفيس عن حالة الاحتقان الشديد، وهكذا يربح الحاكم الشعب، الذي يتحول إلى شعبه، فبدل أن يتظاهر هذا الشعب ضدّ الحاكم وسياسته الاستبدادية، يقوم بالتظاهر ضدّ الفريق العربي الشقيق
.....
خرج مئات آلاف المصريين للتظاهر، بدون رخصة وبدون تراخيص، تخيّلوا لو أنّ هذا الكم الهائل من المواطنين المصريين خرج للتظاهر لنصرة شعب غزة المحاصر والمجوع، ماذا كان جرى، وكيف كانت قوات الأمن ستقمع المظاهرات بالأسلحة،
.....
تذكروا يا عرب المحيط، ويا عرب الخليج، أنّه في عام 1982 فازت الدولة "العربية الشقيقة"، إيطاليا، بكأس العالم، تذّكروا أنّ المنتخب الإيطالي، من إداريين ولاعبين، قام بإهداء الكأس للشعب العربي الفلسطيني، الذي كان يتعرض آنذاك لأبشع عدوان من قبل دولة الاحتلال في لبنان، هذا العدوان الذي تُوّج بمجزرة صبرا وشاتيلا، وبطرد الرئيس عرفات من بيروت إلى تونس.
هذه الخطوة النبيلة من قبل الإيطاليين كانت وما زالت وستبقى مكتوبة بأحرف من ذهب في تاريخ الشعب الإيطالي، أما أنتم أيُها العرب، فماذا فعلتم من أجل نصرة القضية،
......
الروح الرياضية معدومة في بلادنا، والشوفينية باتت سيّدة الموقف، والتعصب الشعوبي أصبح الماركة المسجلة التي نهتدي بنورها، ونصل بواسطتها إلى حالة من الهذيان والنشوة العارمة
.....
ديفد بن غوريون، الذي يعتبر مؤسس الدولة العبرية، والذي رفض حمل الهوية الزرقاء حتى مماته بسبب وجود اللغة العربية بين طيّاتها، سئل مرّة: ماذا نفعل بالعرب في إسرائيل، فردّ امنحوهم قليلاً من الديمقراطية لكي ينشغلوا بعضهم ببعض ويتركونا في شأننا، وفي أواخر السبعينيات من القرن الماضي، فاز مناحيم بيغن، المتطرف الذي صنع السلام مع مصر قبل أكثر من ثلاثين عاماً، بيغن، الذي كان لا يقل دهاءً وخبثاً وكرهاً للعرب عن بن غوريون، قال للمسؤولين الجدد في حكومته، علينا أن نمنح العرب في إسرائيل الفرصة لتأسيس فرق كرة قدم لكي ينشغلوا بذلك، وفعلاً نجح المخطط وباتت مناطق الـ48 تعج بالفرق الرياضية، وهو النهج المستمر حتى اليوم، ولا نكشف سراً بأنّ العنف في المباريات بين الفرق العربية يسيطر على المشهد، وهذا العنف لا يختلف بالمرة عن العنف بين الجزائر ومصر، وبالتالي لا يبقى لنا سوى أن نقول: نتيجة المباراة أفرزت فريقاً فائزاً وفريقاً خاسراً، ولكنّ الخسارة الكبرى هي خسارة الأمّة العربية برمتها، وبالتالي نقول: كل مونديال والأمّة العربية بألف خير.
....."

It’s Show Trial Time!

2009-11-20T08:58:00.000-08:00

By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
CounterPunch

".....The scenario envisaged by Obama, his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Holder is presumably that somehow a jury of unprejudiced citizens will be convened, and ultimately – hopefully sometime before the election of 2012, at least Khaled Sjhaikh Mohammed will step into the execution chamber, thus vindicating Obama’s oft-advertised commitment to track down the perps of 9/11 and kill them. So eager is Obama to underline this point that last Friday he declared in Japan that those offended by the trial will not find it “offensive at all when he’s convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him.”. This remark came right after his assertion that the trial would be “subject to the most exacting demands of justice.” Realising that the latter remark might be construed by some pettifogging civil libertarians as prejudicial to a fair trial , Obama then added that he was “not going to be in that courtroom. That’s the job of the prosecutors, the judge and the jury.”......

Of course there are those who gravely lament the impending spectacle, the fakery of judicial “impartiality”, the pompous sermons about the rule of law, the hysteria, the howls for vengeance. Bring them on, say I. Let's face it, we could do with some drama and American political life is at its most vivid amid show trials. Their glare discloses the larger political system in all its pretensions and its disfigurements. The show trial is as American as cherry pie , as the former Black Panther H. Rap Brown – currently serving life without the possibility of parole in the Supermax in Florence, Colorado – famously said about violence."

Rabbi's Followers 'Terror Cell in Parliment'

2009-11-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

By JONATHAN COOK in Nazareth
CounterPunch

"A plan by right-wing legislators in Israel to commemorate the anniversary this month of the death of Meir Kahane, whose banned anti-Arab movement is classified as a terrorist organization, risks further damaging the prospects for talks between Israel and the Palestinians, US officials have warned.

A move to stage the commemoration in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, is being led by Michael Ben-Ari, who was elected this year and is the first self-declared former member of Kahane’s party, Kach, to become a legislator since the movement was banned 15 years ago.

The US Embassy, in Tel Aviv, has sent a series of e-mails to Reuven Rivlin, the parliamentary speaker, asking that he intervene to block the event......"

Israel Under Widespread International Criticism for Settlement Expansion Plan

2009-11-20T07:15:00.000-08:00

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"Israel is coming under widespread international criticism for its plan to engage in a new round of illegal settlement expansion on occupied Palestinian land. Israel says it will build 900 new housing units in the East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority leaders began a renewed effort last week to win international support for formal Security Council endorsement of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. We speak with UCLA professor Saree Makdisi, author of “Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation.”....."

On 20th Anniversary of Killings of 6 Jesuit Priests by U.S.-Backed Salvadoran Forces, Thousands to Protest “School of the Assassins” at Ft. Benning

2009-11-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"Thousands are gathering at Fort Benning in Georgia this weekend for the annual protest to shut down the U.S. Army training center dubbed by critics as the “School of the Assassins” for having trained some of the worst human rights violators in Latin America. This year’s protest will mark the 20th anniversary of the murder of six Jesuit priest in El Salvador by the US-backed Salvadoran military. It comes days after the priests were posthumously bestowed El Salvador’s highest civilian award, marking the first time the Salvadoran government has honored the priests since their deaths. To talk about the priests and the overall state of Latin American affairs, we’re joined by Blasé Bonpane, Director of the Office of the Americas. A former Maryknoll priest, he was worked for more than four decades to promote human rights in Latin America...."

As UC Regents Approve Major Tuition Hike, Students, Faculty Decry Erosion of Public Education in CA and Nationwide

2009-11-20T07:09:00.000-08:00

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"Amid thousands of student protesters and armed police standing guard, the University of California’s Board of Regents has approved a 32 percent increase in student fees. The vote will bring the total cost of a UC education to more than $10,000 dollars per year for the first time. We discuss the protests and the growing privatization of public education with UCLA student activist Zen Dochterman and the president of the UC American Federation of Teachers, Bob Samuels....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Tunnels provide lifeline for Gazans - 20 Nov 09

2009-11-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

"While Israel maintains its blockade around the Gaza Strip, tunnels used for smuggling goods continue to provide a lifeline for the beseiged people living there.

According to World Bank officials, 80 per cent of Gazas imports currently come through the tunnels, which has only increased the worth of Gaza's tunnel smuggling economy from $30 million in 2006 to $650 million in 2007.

However, rampant smuggling makes the price of basic goods almost unbearable for the average Gazan."

Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners' affairs: Israeli army kidnapped 6200 children since 2000

2009-11-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

Official Report

"An official report, received by Arab League from the minister of prisoners' affairs in the Palestinian Authority (Ramallah), revealed that the Israeli occupation forces have kidnapped about 6,200 Palestinian children since the beginning of Al Aqsa Intifada (2000), including approximately 337 children still detained in Israeli prisons and interrogation centers....."

Worker Occupations And The Future Of Radical Labor

2009-11-20T06:32:00.000-08:00

An Interview With Noam Chomsky
By Noam Chomsky and Diane Krauthamer
Znet

"....
DK: On that note, I'm also looking to think ahead with what's in the future for the labor movement and the IWW. More generally, if you had one piece of advice to offer future generations of Wobblies—especially in light of the tough financial times that we are facing and will probably continue to face for a long time in the Western world—what would it be?

NC: Well, I get a lot of letters from people. When I go home tonight I'll have 15 letters today from mostly young kids who don't like what's going on and want to do something about it, and [they ask me] if I can give them some advice as to what they should do, or can I tell them what to read or something. ......

First of all, don't believe anything you hear from power systems. So if Obama or the boss or the newspapers or anyone else tells you they're doing this, that, or the other thing, dismiss it or assume the opposite is true, which it often is. You have to rely on yourself and your associates—gifts don't come from above; you're going to win them, or you won't have them, and you win by struggle, and that requires understanding and serious analysis of the options and the circumstances, and then you can do a lot. So take right now, for example, there is a right-wing populist uprising. It's very common, even on the left, to just ridicule them, but that's not the right reaction. If you look at those people and listen to them on talk radio, these are people with real grievances. I listen to talk radio a lot and it's kind of interesting. If you can sort of suspend your knowledge of the world and just enter into the world of the people who are calling in, you can understand them. I've never seen a study, but my sense is that these are people who feel really aggrieved. These people think, "I've done everything right all my life, I'm a god-fearing Christian, I'm white, I'm male, I've worked hard, and I carry a gun. I do everything I'm supposed to do. And I'm getting shafted." And in fact they are getting shafted. For 30 years their wages have stagnated or declined, the social conditions have worsened, the children are going crazy, there are no schools, there's nothing, so somebody must be doing something to them, and they want to know who it is. Well Rush Limbaugh has answered - it's the rich liberals who own the banks and run the government, and of course run the media, and they don't care about you—they just want to give everything away to illegal immigrants and gays and communists and so on.

Well, you know, the reaction we should be having to them is not ridicule, but rather self-criticism. Why aren't we organizing them? I mean, we are the ones that ought to be organizing them, not Rush Limbaugh. There are historical analogs, which are not exact, of course, but are close enough to be worrisome. This is a whiff of early Nazi Germany. Hitler was appealing to groups with similar grievances, and giving them crazy answers, but at least they were answers; these groups weren't getting them anywhere else. It was the Jews and the Bolsheviks [that were the problem].

I mean, the liberal democrats aren't going to tell the average American, "Yeah, you're being shafted because of the policies that we've established over the years that we're maintaining now." That's not going to be an answer. And they're not getting answers from the left. So, there's an internal coherence and logic to what they get from Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and the rest of these guys. And they sound very convincing, they're very self-confident, and they have an answer to everything—a crazy answer, but it's an answer. And it's our fault if that goes on. So one thing to be done is don't ridicule these people, join them, and talk about their real grievances and give them a sensible answer, like, "Take over your factories." "

Bantustans and the unilateral declaration of statehood

2009-11-20T04:30:00.000-08:00

A Very Good Piece

Virginia Tilley, The Electronic Intifada, 19 November 2009
(Virginia Tilley is a former professor of political science and international relations and since 2006 has served as Chief Research Specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa. She is author of The One-State Solution (U of Michigan Press, 2005) and numerous articles and essays on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.)

"From a rumor, to a rising murmur, the proposal floated by the Palestinian Authority's (PA) Ramallah leadership to declare Palestinian statehood unilaterally has suddenly hit center stage. The European Union, the United States and others have rejected it as "premature," but endorsements are coming from all directions: journalists, academics, nongovernmental organization activists, Israeli right-wing leaders (more on that later). The catalyst appears to be a final expression of disgust and simple exhaustion with the fraudulent "peace process" and the argument goes something like this: if we can't get a state through negotiations, we will simply declare statehood and let Israel deal with the consequences.

But it's no exaggeration to propose that this idea, although well-meant by some, raises the clearest danger to the Palestinian national movement in its entire history, threatening to wall Palestinian aspirations into a political cul-de-sac from which it may never emerge. The irony is indeed that, through this maneuver, the PA is seizing -- even declaring as a right -- precisely the same dead-end formula that the African National Congress (ANC) fought so bitterly for decades because the ANC leadership rightly saw it as disastrous. That formula can be summed up in one word: Bantustan......

Still, when "separate development" flounders in the West Bank, as it must, Israel will face a Palestinian insurrection. So Israel needs to anchor one last linchpin to secure Jewish statehood before that happens: declare a Palestinian "state" and so reduce the "Palestinian problem" to a bickering border dispute between putative equals. In the back halls of the Knesset, Kadima political architects and Zionist liberals alike must now be waiting with bated breath, when they are not composing the stream of back-channel messages that is doubtless flowing to Ramallah encouraging this step and promising friendship, insider talks and vast benefits. For they all know what's at stake, what every major media opinion page and academic blog has been saying lately: that the two-state solution is dead and Israel will imminently face an anti-apartheid struggle that will inevitably destroy Jewish statehood. So a unilateral declaration by the PA that creates a two-state solution despite its obvious Bantustan absurdities is now the only way to preserve Jewish statehood, because it's the only way to derail the anti-apartheid movement that spells Israel's doom.

This is why it is so dangerous that the South African Bantustan comparison has been neglected until now, treated as a side issue, even an exotic academic fascination, to those battling to relieve starvation in Gaza and soften the cruel system of walls and barricades to get medicine to the dying. The Ramallah PA's suddenly serious initiative to declare an independent Palestinian state in non-sovereign territory must surely force fresh collective realization that this is a terribly pragmatic question. It's time to bring closer attention to what "Bantustan" actually means. The Palestinian national movement can only hope someone in its ranks undertakes that project as seriously as Israel has undertaken it before it's too late."

Madness of Crowds & Bankruptcy of Arab Regimes: Israeli Cairo Embassy Safe & Secure with No Crowds Attempting to Storm it; Gaza Ghetto Starved, but...

2009-11-20T04:05:00.000-08:00

Protestors Clash with Police near Algeria Cairo Embassy

Al-Manar

"20/11/2009 Protestors hurled stones and firebombs at police near the Algerian embassy in Cairo on Friday, wounding 11 officers as anger mounted over attacks on Egyptians after the countries' World Cup qualifier.

The interior ministry said 11 officers were hurt and 15 cars were damaged in the violence. The protest started on Thursday night on a street leading to the embassy, when riot police repeatedly turning back the demonstrators, who burned Algerian flags.

The demonstrators were enraged by reports of attacks against Egyptian fans in Khartoum on Wednesday after a World Cup qualification decider with Algeria, and demanded the expulsion of the Algerian ambassador. Egyptian fans told AFP that stones were thrown at their bus as they made their way back to Khartoum airport after the 1-0 defeat, which followed a 2-0 victory for the Pharoahs in Cairo on Saturday......"

British TV documentary tackles taboo of Israel's lobby

2009-11-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

Diane Langford, The Electronic Intifada, 19 November 2009

"For the first time a mainstream British television program has tackled the Zionist lobby head-on. Channel 4's Dispatches (Posted here), broadcast on 16 November, promised to hold the pro-Israel lobby up to rigorous public scrutiny and it succeeded. Presented by Peter Oborne, former political editor of the right-wing weekly The Spectator, Dispatches revealed the cozy relationship between Britain's pro-Israel lobby and both the Conservative and Labour parties as well as its attempts to stifle criticism of Israel in the press......

Perhaps the most revealing aspect of the program are those who refused to talk on camera. Oborne describes how while gathering material for the show, he was subjected to taunts from a Member of Parliament who stated that "You would never have the guts to make a television program about the pro-Israel lobby." The MP explained that it was "the most powerful lobby by far in parliament. It's a big story. If you have any balls you'll make a program about it." Like many others approached, the MP who made those comments declined when Oborne asked to interview him on camera. One can only hope that this will be the first of many programs to expose the influence and implications of the pro-Israel lobby on British politics and policies. "

Exiting Afghanistan

2009-11-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

A Letter to President Obama

By RALPH NADER
CounterPunch

"....
Mr. Hoh proceeds to list these persistent failings and adds his articulate doubts about the strategic purposes of your Administration's military presence in Afghanistan. He asks, "Why and to what end?" His letter of conscience and protest concludes by noting the limitless effects on our foreign and military policy, and on our country and its economy.
Your staff estimates each U.S. soldier is costing $1 million a year, in addition to the horrific toll on these soldiers and the Afghan people. You owe the American people an un-Bush-like explanation. Why are you not receiving these groups of American from varied backgrounds and experience at the White House on this pending Afghan decision?

They may wonder, by contrast, why you have so many White House meetings with major corporate CEOs from Wall Street, from the health insurance companies and the drug companies. Is not the White House the peoples' House? Along with many other citizens in our country, I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Ralph Nader"

As Wall Street Posts Record Profits and U.S. Hunger Rate Grows, Robert Scheer Asks: “Where is the Community Organizer We Elected?”

2009-11-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"A pair of new government reports released this week paint a startling picture more than a year after the economic meltdown. On Tuesday, the New York Comptroller Office said Wall Street profits are set to exceed the record set three years ago. The four largest firms took in $22.5 billion in profits through September. Meanwhile far more people are going hungry in the United States than previously thought. The Department of Agriculture estimates 50 million Americans—including a quarter of all children—struggled to get enough to eat last year. We speak to veteran journalist Robert Scheer....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Boycott targets Israeli settlement products - 19 Nov 09

2009-11-19T07:04:00.000-08:00

"boycott several large supermarket chains in the West Bank that carry Israeli products.

The decision targets upscale markets in Ramallah, in an attempt to pressure the stores to discontinue the sale of fruits and vegetables grown and processed on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh reports from Ramallah. "

One by One, The Zionists Line Up; Now it is Kouchner's Turn...

2009-11-19T06:50:00.000-08:00

Kouchner Claims Gilo Settlement Expansion Would Not Hinder Peace

"French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, claimed Wednesday that the Israeli plan to construct hundreds of homes in Gilo settlement, near Bethlehem, would not hinder the peace process. He also expressed opposition to a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood...."

Neoliberalism and the Dynamics of Capitalist Development in Latin America

2009-11-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

By James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer

"An analysis of the dynamics of capitalist development over the last two decades has been overshadowed by an all too prevalent “globalization” discourse. It appears that much of the Left has bought into this discourse, tacitly accepting globalization as an irresistible fact and that in many ways it is progressive, needing only for the corporate agenda to be derailed and an abandonment of neoliberalism.

This is certainly the case in Latin America where the Left has focused its concern almost exclusively on the bankruptcy of “neoliberalism”, with reference to the agenda pursued and package of policy reforms implemented by virtually every government in the region by the dint of ideology if not the demands of the global capital or political opportunism. In this concern, imperialism and capitalism per se, as opposed to neoliberalism, have been pushed off the agenda, and as a result, excepting Chavéz’s Bolivarian Revolution, the project of building socialism has virtually disappeared as an object of theory and practice.

In this paper we would like to contribute towards turning this around—to resurrect the socialist project; to do so by deconstructing the discourse on “neoliberal globalization” and reconstructing the actual contemporary dynamics of capitalist development......"

The Architecture of Apartheid

2009-11-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

By Sarah Lazare and Clare Bayard
Znet

"The word "Revenge" is scrawled in Hebrew on a Palestinian school in Hebron. The windows are covered with screens and the play yard obstructed with more screens tipped with barbed wire, to obstruct the stones regularly pelted down by Jewish settlers. The space between the school and the neighboring building is blocked off with large, wooden slabs, to ensure that Palestinian school children do not encroach into settler territory. Nearby checkpoints and cameras placed on rooftops serve as constant reminder that these kids' every movement is monitored and contained.

This schoolyard scene, on an empty weekend day, illustrates the separation and containment that has become written into the architecture of Hebron. In this city where 1,500 Israeli soldiers are stationed on any given day, the 170,000 Palestinians living here are kept under constant watch, their movements restricted while their safety is under constant threat. The Jewish settlers who have been moving in since the late '70s, now numbering 800, are known for repeatedly attacking Palestinians while Israeli soldiers sit idly by......"