All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

PHOENIX — Transporter of Stolen Migrant Children was ‘Black Contract’ Operator in Iraq and Afghanistan

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MVM secret black contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan were exposed when MVM was sued by an employee. Now in Phoenix, MVM was caught on video stashing migrant children in an abandoned office building. Photos 2 and 3: MVM advertised for youth care workers in Phoenix in June. In the photos, Native youths can be seen taking young migrant children into the black site in midtown Phoenix, including one

Key moments from Trump and May’s joint press conference – video

Murdoch will love him calling him a liar too.

Trump says his quotes in the Sun are ‘fake news’, Boris Johnson would make a great PM and the relationship between Britain and the US is ‘the highest level of special’. After Trump dismisses US immigration laws as non-existent, May says the UK has welcomed immigrants and immigration has been good for the UK

Donald Trump in the UK – live

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‘The highest level of special’: Trump praises US relationship with UK

First hand exposure to his false face, hair and lies

From Brexit and Boris to Putin and fake news, US president and Theresa May put on a show of unity after their Chequers meeting

Donald Trump’s press conference with Theresa May at Chequers lasted 50 minutes, and took in everything from transatlantic relations to immigration, Boris Johnson, attacks on the media and at least one outright lie by the US president.

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Friday Finds: Excerpt from ‘Shatila Stories’

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The magazine Refinery 29 has published an extract from Shatila Stories, a commissioned novel that was written by nine Syrian and Palestinian refugees, edited by Suhir Helal, translated by Nashwa Gowanlock, and published by Peirene Press:

It opens:

Chaos everywhere. Thundering sounds rip through my ears. I blink and blink again. I take snapshots with my eyes. Racing feet, dragging feet; old people, young people; cars of different colours, of different shapes; grey sky, swaying trees. Hundreds, thousands are waiting at the closed gate, paperwork in hand, hoping to pass through. They want to cross the border. A scene worthy of the Day of Reckoning. Worry and fear are paramount. A pallor has settled across everyone’s face, no matter how dark or fair their complexion. Desperate eyes.

You can keep reading at Refinery 29and you can also meet the nine writers in this YouTube interview:

Trump blasts UK PM May’s Brexit plan, says it puts trade deal in doubt

A disunited Europe is Putin’s goal and, hence, a must do for #PuppetTrump! U.S. President Donald Trump said a free trade deal with Britain might be impossible if it went ahead with Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposals for post-Brexit ties with the European Union, in a damaging intervention set to further criticism of her plans.

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Israel denies lecturers from entry to Palestine

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Since the beginning of the current academic year (2017-2018), scores of foreign passport holders, many of Palestinian origin but without residence documents, living and working in the occupied Palestinian territory have been denied entry in the country, or have had their visa renewal applications refused by the Israeli authorities. At Birzeit University alone, 15 visa renewal requests of foreign passport-holding faculty members have been refused or significantly delayed.

These faculty members have full-time status, work in all the various faculties on our campus, and include senior faculty and department chairpersons. Our faculty who are currently under threat teach in the BA, MA, and Ph.D. programs at Birzeit University, are members of university committees, and serve the larger Palestinian community through public seminars and lectures. Already some professors have been forced to leave the country; including one from the Department of English and Literature, and a professor of European History at the Ibrahim Abu Lughod Institute for International Studies who has devoted his entire academic career to Palestine and the university for the past four decades.

These international professors play a critical role not only in the ongoing provision of quality education at Birzeit University but also in the long-term development of Palestinian higher education. If this policy continues, Palestinian universities, including Birzeit University, will be further isolated from the global academic environment. Our ability to deliver a world class education will be further compromised if we lose the international perspectives, diverse professional experiences and high-level skills these faculty members crucially bring to Palestinian academic life and the campus environment as a whole. In the global academic environment of the 21st Century, having an internationally diverse faculty has become a fundamental cornerstone of academic excellence at universities worldwide. If Birzeit University and Palestinian higher education as a whole are denied the right to engage international faculty members, what is ultimately being denied is our right to deliver a quality and standard of education that meets the accepted global norm.

The right to education is a fundamental human right as established in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That article simultaneously underlines the critical link between education and the furthering of global perspectives, understanding and connection  between diverse peoples and nations:

Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

A long line of UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, and rulings of the International Court of Justice affirm Israel’s obligation to exercise its responsibility as the occupying power in West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in accordance with international humanitarian law (including the Hague Convention of 1907 and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949) as well as applicable international human rights law. Israel is obligated by international law to both protect and facilitate the functioning of Palestinian civil institutions, including higher education. All states that are signatories to these resolutions also bear a responsibility to ensure that Israel exercises its obligations towards Palestinian education under international law; including that itexercises its control over the entry and presence of foreign academics in a manner that avoids unnecessary harm to Palestinian higher education and to the occupied population’s fundamental right to education.

Birzeit University called on everyone – including governments, institutions, academics, and associations – to decry these policies, protect our fundamental right of academic freedom at Birzeit University and for all Palestinian higher education.