All posts by nedhamson

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

Norway hairdresser on trial for refusing client in hijab – The Local

The 47-year-old hairdresser told the court she saw the hijab as a political symbol representing an ideology that frightens her, rather than as a religious symbol. “I see it as a totalitarian symbol. When I see a hijab, I don’t think of religion, but of totalitarian ideologies and regimes,” she told the judges, cited by daily VG. “A hijab is not religious, it’s political,” she added. Described by Norwegian media as a former activist in Islamophobic movements such as Pegida, Hodne recently told TV2 news channel that the headscarf was a symbol of “Islamic ideology” — which she called “evil” — just like “the swastika is that of Nazism”. She said that accepting a woman in hijab as a client would have meant she would have had to turn away male customers, since the woman would not have been able to expose her hair with men present.

Source: Norway hairdresser on trial for refusing client in hijab – The Local

Ferguson protest leader Darren Seals shot and found dead in a burning car | US news | The Guardian

More than 100 people gathered Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil at the site where Seals’ body was found, friends said. Activists who attended the vigil said they were furious to find that police had not taped off the crime scene, and that there were still bullet casings on the ground they thought police should have collected as evidence.“We were literally stepping on the ashes from his car and his body,” said Tamara “Bates” Dodd, a St Louis hip-hop artist and activist. “That was probably the thing that shook me up the most, seeing little kids walking past, not knowing what they’re standing on.”Local activists were also troubled by the parallels between Seals’ death and the 2014 murder of 20-year-old Deandre Joshua, who was shot and left in a burning car on the same night a grand jury chose not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in Brown’s death. In all, according to one activist’s count, five other men in the St Louis area have been shot and left in burning cars since 2014.“Many people are really worried. We don’t know if there’s some type of movement serial killer on the loose,” said Patricia Bynes, a protester and former Democratic committeewoman for Ferguson.

Source: Ferguson protest leader Darren Seals shot and found dead in a burning car | US news | The Guardian

The Dancing Medicine. | Rebelle Society

Why, as we grow, do we disconnect from the medicine of our divine, inner child? Why do we block an untamed trust in the wisdom of our non-linear instincts? Why do we stop harvesting the beauty of a flexible mind?

Because society values clear divisions between children and adults. Because we become wounded and afraid. Because we do not want to be rejected.

Source: The Dancing Medicine. | Rebelle Society

The Lonely Path – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.

Early next morning I heard quite a commotion. I could see faintly through the fabric placed over the small window. Someone was trying to come in through the door at the other end of the courtyard. Someone was speaking in English!‘Yes, but I’d like to check all the same…’‘Help! In here – behind the green cloth on the window!’ I howled.A few tense moments passed; the door opened, and in came a tall English man, and a Pakistani woman.My father and mother, and various relatives all followed.‘Are you Leyla Ali?’I nodded, my body trembling profusely.‘I’m Roger Ellis, from the British High Commission, and this is my assistant. We’re here to help, if that’s what you want.’I looked at my father’s face, dark with indignation, his nostrils flaring. My mother stood behind him, fear casting a gloomy shadow all around her.I nodded again.My father spoke coldly, but steadily, ensuring I heard every single word. ‘If you leave now, you’re dead to us. You’ll never see your family again. Think carefully before you take this huge step. It can never be undone.’Why did it have to be like this?If I chose my family, I chose a marriage I didn’t want with a man I didn’t love.If I chose not to marry him, I had to leave, and be a stranger to my family forever.That was a choice? Some choice!‘I love you both, but I can’t sacrifice my whole life to a marriage I don’t want, just so you can please your biradari, over and above me, your child. Am I so insignificant? Do I matter so little? Abbu you can’t really love me if you’re prepared to do that. I won’t stay.’I turned to Mr Ellis.‘I am ready.’On the drive to Islamabad, I was told what would happen next; where I would stay, where I would be housed when I got to the UK, what support I would get – but it didn’t help me feel any better. I was petrified of how I would survive alone. The last twenty-one years with my family was all I had known.A spasm of painful sombreness jolted through my body.I didn’t ask to be born. I didn’t ask to be treated so unjustly, yet I had to live with the consequences. I had taken the lonely path; and it was loneliness I feared most.

Source: The Lonely Path – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.

Soledad O’Brien calls out CNN for “mainstreaming racism” Nails it!

“And then Donald Trump will say, ‘Hillary Clinton, she’s a bigot.’ And it’s covered, the journalist part comes in, ‘They trade barbs. He said she’s a bigot and she points out that he might be appealing to racists.’ It only becomes ‘he said, she said.’ When in actuality, the fact that Donald Trump said she’s a bigot without the long laundry list of evidence, which if you looked at Hillary Clinton’s speech, she actually did have a lot of really good factual evidence that we would all agree that are things that have happened and do exist. They are treated as if they are equal.”

Source: Soledad O’Brien calls out CNN for “mainstreaming racism”

Trump Touts Pledge of Allegiance with Socialist Roots – LA Progressive

Francis Bellamy, a Christian socialist, wrote the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892 to express his outrage at the nation’s widening economic divide. And, in contrast to Romney’s recitation, Bellamy did not include the phrase “under God” as part of the original version.Bellamy, who lived from 1855 to 1931, was a Baptist minister and a leading Christian socialist. He was ousted from his Boston church for his sermons depicting Jesus as a socialist, and for his work among the poor in the Boston slums.

Source: Trump Touts Pledge of Allegiance with Socialist Roots – LA Progressive

Israel admits it kills innocent Palestinian — again | The Electronic Intifada

A familiar narrative unfolded on Monday: Israeli forces killed a Palestinian, and media dutifully published a police spokesperson’s claim that the young man was shot dead during an attempt to attack soldiers with a car.But for the second time in just over a week, Israel soon admitted that the young man shot dead by its forces in Shuafat refugee camp near Jerusalem was not attempting any attack when he was killed.This was the news given to 27-year-old Mustafa Nimir’s parents by Israeli intelligence, who had summoned the couple to a police station in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday.But the couple already knew that their son was not attempting an attack when he was killed, and that Mustafa and his brother-in-law, 25-year-old Ali Tayseer Nimir, were bringing home food and baby clothes when their car came under fire.Videos and a photo of the aftermath show the backseat of the vehicle with loaves of bread and shopping bags still sitting on the back seat, spattered with blood.Sprayed with bulletsMustafa and Ali were driving home after visiting Mustafa’s older brother when they came under fire. Palestinian youth were confronting raiding Israeli forces in the area at the time.A Palestinian eyewitness told the Ma’an News Agency that confrontations broke out when Israeli forces raided the street connecting the camp to the neighboring village of Anata.“The area of Shufat and Anata is surrounded on three sides by Israel’s separation wall – to the west, north and south,” according to Ma’an.The witness said that dozens of soldiers were in the streets, firing rubber-coated steel bullets at protesters.“During the clashes, a white Opel Corsa was driving in the area and Israeli forces opened heavy fire on the car,” he told Ma’an, adding that the car was moving at a moderate speed and soldiers were standing to the sides of the street.After being sprayed with bullets, the driver lost control of the vehicle, and ran into a parked car.Another camp resident told Ma’an that she was woken up by the shooting and she saw from her balcony that when the white car crashed to a halt, a soldier opened the driver’s side door and demanded that the driver, Ali, who had been shot, get out of the car.She told Ma’an that she saw the driver get out of the car with his hands up while stating repeatedly, “I didn’t do anything.”“Israeli soldiers pushed him on the ground, ordered him to take his pants off, and searched him, despite his injuries,” the witness said.Video of the scene shows soldiers shouting orders at Ali, who emerges from the car with his hands up before lying on the ground:The witness added that Mustafa’s body was left sitting in the passenger’s seat while Ali was left on the ground for half an hour without receiving medical care before both were taken away in Israeli military vehicles.Mustafa’s father Talal told Ma’an on Tuesday that “There are no justifications for killing our children.”“Even if soldiers really did order them to stop the vehicle, why would they immediately start shooting at them?”Killed on way to bakery, returning from pool partyThe incident in Shuafat is similar to the slaying of 22-year-old Anwar Falah al-Salaymeh in nearby al-Ram weeks earlier.Israeli forces claimed that soldiers fired on a “speeding vehicle heading towards them,” killing al-Salaymeh and seriously wounding one of the other two Palestinians in the car.“However, the surviving passengers in the car categorically denied that they had attempted to run over the soldiers,” Ma’an reported at the time, “saying that they were heading to a bakery and had been unaware that Israeli forces were deployed in the area.”And in June, Israeli soldiers in the central West Bank opened fire on a car full of young Palestinians returning from a late-night pool party celebrating Ramadan, killing 15-year-old Mahmoud Badran and injuring four others.In that case, too, Israel admitted that the youths were “mistakenly hit” while soldiers were responding to reports that Palestinians were throwing rocks and firebombs on a highway used by settlers.More than 220 Palestinians have been killed since a new phase of violence began last October, many shot dead in what Israel says were attacks or alleged attacks which have killed more than 30 soldiers and civilians.Human rights groups have condemned Israel’s reflexive use of deadly force in such incidents, saying it amounts to an unofficial shoot-to-kill policy encouraged by Israel’s top leadership.The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has also called for full investigation of incidents in which Israeli forces have caused death and injury.

Source: Israel admits it kills innocent Palestinian — again | The Electronic Intifada

Harvard Republican Club Just Did THIS For The First Time In Their History…And Trump Is Furious. – Democratic Review

In every presidential election since 1888, the members and Executive Board of the Harvard Republican Club have gathered to discuss, debate, and eventually endorse the standard-bearer of our party. But for the first time in 128 years, we, the oldest College Republicans chapter in the nation, will not be endorsing the Republican nominee.Donald Trump holds views that are antithetical to our values not only as Republicans, but as Americans. The rhetoric he espouses –from racist slander to misogynistic taunts– is not consistent with our conservative principles, and his repeated mocking of the disabled and belittling of the sacrifices made by prisoners of war, Gold Star families, and Purple Heart recipients is not only bad politics, but absurdly cruel.If enacted, Donald Trump’s platform would endanger our security both at home and abroad. Domestically, his protectionist trade policies and draconian immigration restrictions would enlarge our federal deficit, raise prices for consumers, and throw our economy back into recession. Trump’s global outlook, steeped in isolationism, is considerably out-of-step with the traditional Republican stance as well. The flippancy with which he is willing to abdicate the United States’ responsibility to lead is alarming. Calling for the US’ withdrawal from NATO and actively endorsing nuclear proliferation, Donald Trump’s foreign policy would wreak havoc on the established world order which has held aggressive foreign powers in check since World War II.Perhaps most importantly, however, Donald Trump simply does not possess the temperament and character necessary to lead the United States through an increasingly perilous world. The last week should have made obvious to all what has been obvious to most for more than a year. In response to any slight –perceived or real– Donald Trump lashes out viciously and irresponsibly. In Trump’s eyes, disagreement with his actions or his policies warrants incessant name calling and derision: stupid, lying, fat, ugly, weak, failing, idiot –and that’s just his “fellow” Republicans.He isn’t eschewing political correctness. He is eschewing basic human decency.

Source: Harvard Republican Club Just Did THIS For The First Time In Their History…And Trump Is Furious. – Democratic Review

Israel using “black ops” against BDS, says veteran analyst | The Electronic Intifada

Black ops

In Maariv, Melman sounds a somewhat skeptical note, pointing out that the fight against BDS may be more of an excuse for the ministry to maintain its budget after its original purpose, facing the “threat” from Iran, became irrelevant following last year’s nuclear agreement.But that does not mean it is not capable of damaging actions.Among the ministry’s activities are what Melman terms “special operations” or “black ops” which may include “defamation campaigns, harassment and threats to the lives of activists” as well as “infringing on and violating their privacy.”In this context Melman points to recent attacks on the websites of the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) and other organizations supporting Palestinian rights.He also notes the death threats received by Nada Kiswanson, an attorney with the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, which is collecting evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza to submit to the International Criminal Court.These threats are being investigated by Dutch authorities, where the ICC is based.The well-connected Melman does not confirm long-standing suspicions of Israeli involvement, but hints strongly at an Israeli role.“Of course, no one has assumed responsibility for the incident against the Palestinian lawyer, and no one has addressed the BDS campaign’s claims that the Israeli intelligence is running a cyber war against it,” Melman states. “But it is no secret that at the ministry of strategic affairs, as well as Israeli intelligence agencies which are assisting in the struggle against the BDS and delegitimization movement, diverse means which may be applied are being discussed.”“It cannot be ruled out that these actions, if indeed taken by Israel, were a ‘shot across the bow,’” he adds.Melman also suggests that the efforts may have been curtailed by concerns at Israel’s justice ministry that “the passion for secret actions and operations in the strategic affairs ministry may eventually end up in mishaps which would harm Israel’s foreign relations.”As examples of such “mishaps,” Melman recalls “an elimination action, entry into buildings or the use of a false passport” – operations in which Israel “did not hesitate to violate the laws and sovereignty of foreign states, including its best friends.”In recent years, countries including Canada and New Zealand have protested over Israel’s use of their passports to provide cover for agents from the Mossad spying and assassination agency.

Source: Israel using “black ops” against BDS, says veteran analyst | The Electronic Intifada

AfD supporters attack activists, journalists in Munich – The Local – Wannabe Nazis Start a Fight and then Blame the Victims – One more Putsch Deflated!

A member of the press who was at the event told The Local that three men from the AfD party attacked demonstrators and journalists, with Ares “running madly into the crowd attacking everything in front of him.”The journalist said she did not see any left-wing demonstrators carrying weapons.All three men are reportedly linked to right-wing extremist groups and appear regularly at AfD events in Bavaria.Photographic evidence also shows one AfD supporter, reportedly Ares, aiming a kick at a journalist. Other media reports suggest a journalist was punched in the face.

Source: AfD supporters attack activists, journalists in Munich – The Local