By Emilye Crosby | (Zinn Education Project) In this 50th anniversary year of the Selma-to-Montgomery March and the Voting Rights Act it helped inspire, national media will focus on the iconic images of “Bloody Sunday,” the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the interracial marchers, and President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act. […]
Online Freedom of Speech under Siege even in “Democracies”
By Jillian York | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) In the midst of the global surveillance debate, talk of online censorship has often taken a backseat. Yet, all around the world, the inalienable right to freedom of expression is violated on a regular basis. While in 2014, issues such as terrorism and online harassment generated new discussions […]
Stealing Bethlehem: How the Israelis are economically Strangling the Palestinian Town of Jesus’ Birth
By James Zogby (Ma’an News Agency) For those who do not know the place, Bethlehem possesses a timeless quality, derived from these artistic creations. It is a place of mystery and contradictions. It is the peaceful little town that played an out-sized role in history; the birthplace of Jesus, the child born in a cave, […]
Can History Resolve the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict?
Joel Beinin, Stanford University (History News Network /American Historical Association) — “Joel Beinin is a professor of history at Stanford University. On January 3, 2015 he spoke at a roundtable convened by the Mid-Atlantic Radical Historians’ Organization (MARHO) on the subject: ”What is the Responsibility of Historians Regarding the Israel/Palestine Conflict?” ” HNNeditor: “Joel Beinin: […]
Iraq has Worst Year since Bush Invaded, is a Ghost of Former Self
By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) — The past year in Iraq is not easy to review. The assorted crises, both in security and politics, are well known around the world and for many Iraqis it’s been one long nightmare. NIQASH went to gather ordinary Iraqis’ opinions on the year gone by and ended […]
Why the US should welcome Palestine Pres. Abbas joining Int’l Criminal Court
by Aaron Magid | (Ma’an News Agency) Criticism against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority is mounting after his United Nations Security Council Resolution and bid to join the International Criminal Court. Aside from Netanyahu and the usual hawkish Israeli right, even officials generally sympathetic to the Palestinian plight are attacking Abbas. Former […]
When will it Explode? Jerusalem’s Silwan district is a Global Powder Keg
Vice News | — “Throughout the past several months, Jerusalem has been a scene of clashes and violent attacks. Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood just steps away from Jerusalem’s Old City, has been at the heart of the unrest, and is becoming one of the most contentious neighborhoods in the most contested city in the world. […]
Sen. Lindsey Graham pledges allegiance to Israel’s Netanyahu vs. Obama
Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks) — “”During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday, incoming chair of the Senate Foreign Appropriations Committee Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told the foreign leader Congress would “follow his lead” on a bill to reinforce sanctions on Iran. “In January of next year, there will […]
After 500 Strikes: Is America’s Drone War Crashing And Burning?
AJ+ | — “Drone strikes are the weapon of choice in America’s so-called War on Terror. They’ve been used nearly 500 times in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia since 2002. But while U.S. officials praise their “surgical precision,” the reality on the ground tells a different tale. Here’s what you need to know about the U.S. […]