Category Archives: human rights

Israeli army jails two new conscientious objectors | +972 Magazine

Tamar Alon and Tamar Ze’evi, who are asking to perform civilian national service instead of military service, see things differently. “From a young age I met my parents’ Palestinian friends — I met people who are supposed to be my enemies who smiled at me, played with me, and spoke with me,” wrote Tamar Alon in a declaration ahead of her refusal. “I can’t accept the claim that the oppression of another people, the denial of basic human rights, and racism and hate are necessary for the existence of State of Israel.”Alon added that she finalized her decision to refuse serving in the army after hearing the speeches of two bereaved brothers, an Israeli and a Palestinian, at a joint memorial day ceremony in which they both asked others to learn from their personal tragedies and instead work for peace.“On the one hand, it’s my legal and societal obligation, which I always intended and expected to fulfill — the right to safeguard the security of my home and the people most dear to me,” Tamar Ze’evi wrote in her declaration. “But on the other hand, is a childhood in the shadow of terror attacks and wars real security? What about the security of those human beings on the other side of the walls? Am I, as a daughter of the people controlling the another people, responsible for their well-being? Where is the line where we stop collaborating, have we already crossed it? I am not willing to lend a hand to a situation in which two peoples are living in fear of each other, and are paying such a heavy price for dozens of years. Out of love for this land and the human beings who live in it, I want to believe, and I do believe that there is a different path and that we can effect change.”

Source: Israeli army jails two new conscientious objectors | +972 Magazine

Swedish politician suspends Twitter account over ‘hate’ – The Local

A former Social Democrat MP and one of the party’s most outspoken feminist and anti-racist campaigners on Tuesday said ‘lies and hate’ had prompted her to take a break from Twitter.Racist and sexist trolls target Sweden’s Twitter account (06 Oct 16)Veronica Palm, a former member of parliament and chairwoman of the centre-left Social Democrat party’s local branch in Stockholm, said the increasingly hostile social climate on Twitter was behind her decision to suspend her account.”As you have noticed I’ve been tweeting less and less. The reason is simple: it actually bloody hurts,” she wrote in a tweet on Tuesday morning.”I simply don’t have the energy. I am human and want to continue to be human. Not switch off my feelings about what other people say. And in that case, lies and hate hurts. It gets under my skin, every day,” Palm, 43, continued.”I have promised that I won’t be silenced by hate and threats. I know that the democratic conversation and free speech is the foundation of democracy, but right now I just can’t do it. I won’t stay quiet, but I’m taking a break from Twitter.”

Source: Swedish politician suspends Twitter account over ‘hate’ – The Local

Trump-Branded Buildings Being Renamed After Complaints | Hollywood Reporter

Tenants learned on Tuesday from the company that owns and manages the New York skyscrapers, which hold 1,325 rental apartments, that the huge gold letters spelling out “Trump Place” would be removed from the sides of the buildings within days.”We’re all very excited and thrilled, and it’s about time,” said Marjorie Jacobs, who has lived in one of the buildings for five years. “We’re disgusted with the results of the presidency.”

Source: Trump-Branded Buildings Being Renamed After Complaints | Hollywood Reporter

US elections: The end of a dream | In English | EL PAÍS

Electing Hillary Clinton would not only have put a woman in charge of the most important country in the world, along with other great nations like Germany (Angela Merkel), the United Kingdom (Theresa May and before her, Margaret Thatcher) and Brazil (Dilma Rousseff until she was impeached). More importantly it would have allowed the United States to make two symbolic moves in two back-to-back revolutions: racial equality and gender equality. And if it were on a roll, why not imagine a Hispanic man or woman in the White House?Instead, the United States has elected the enemy of minorities, women, immigrants, Muslims and the political correctness that has made coexistence possible in democracies. The dream fades and, in its place, a nightmare begins.

Source: US elections: The end of a dream | In English | EL PAÍS

Photos: Largest Anti-Trump Protest Yet Swarms In Downtown L.A. For Fifth Day : LAist

An enormous gathering of more than 8,000 people expressing their disapproval of President-Elect Donald Trump have taken to the streets of downtown Los Angeles. The thousands of people began gathering this morning in MacArthur Park at around 10:00 a.m. Soon after, the march began walking east towards downtown Los Angeles on Wilshire Boulevard. By 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, the protest has begun circling through downtown Los Angeles’ streets.Wick reports that the gathering is a largely peaceful assembly of Angelenos from different backgrounds, many of whom have brought their kids along for a taste of their first amendment right to peaceful assembly.The march was organized the group Union del Barrio, a political organizing group that aims to increase political literacy in America’s growing Latinix community.

Source: Photos: Largest Anti-Trump Protest Yet Swarms In Downtown L.A. For Fifth Day : LAist

I’m Muslim, but My Roommate Supports Trump – The New York Times

Now that an us-versus-them system has been voted into office, I want to write for those who feel like the latter, the “them.” National unity in this moment may be nonexistent, but the unity among us is real and crucial. To the first trans kid I ever met; to my Muslim and Hispanic and female friends; to my sister and my mother, both hijabis; to all of the individuals who helped me feel love on Tuesday night, who offered me water as I cried on their bathroom floors, who marched from Union Square to Trump Tower on Wednesday — I believe in us, in our ability to regroup and find a course of action.Mobilization depends on all of us — everyone who has been or could be a target of Mr. Trump, everyone who has been appalled by this election, at the parody of American democracy that has unfolded. We do not need to be silent. We do need to find resilience, inspiration and hope in one another.

Source: I’m Muslim, but My Roommate Supports Trump – The New York Times

Hearts Open, Fists Up | Race Files

In the long term, we will need a different kind of politics fueled not by rage but by a deep-seated belief that the future belongs to us. A younger, more progressive, more inclusive, and more diverse generation is already here. The path forward will require a truly and deeply feminist vision that goes beyond simply electing female bodies to office, and instead reaches past the logic of brutal domination and rivalry toward interdependence, humanity, compassion, and respect for the earth. This feminism has its roots in Black feminist traditions and Indigenous world views, and has no meaning without race at the center.We will need to draw on all of our resources – the deep knowledge of survival in queer and trans communities, in Indigenous communities, in criminalized Black and Brown communities – to build the alternative services and systems we will need in this coming period as access to existing services gets dismantled. We will need the humanity of whites who want to live in a different world, one shaped not by the rivalries of race but by the wholeness of justice. We will need to forge a vision for a new economy and society. This will take work, but I know we have the immense talent and fortitude we need in our movements to achieve it.When we do this, we will have arrived not as Asian Americans, not as immigrants, not as people of color, but as a nation that finally acknowledges that society functions best and security can only exist when we all have what we need: home, health, family, education, culture, community, creativity, and spiritual growth. We will have arrived as a people who understands that you are not me and I am not you, and because of this, we need each other. We will understand that our collective survival hinges upon understanding, confronting, and dismantling race.The future is ours. But for now, we must build the unity and genuine capacity we need to declare clearly: No one comes for any of us without going through all of us. Hearts open, fists up.

Source: Hearts Open, Fists Up | Race Files

US elections: A presidency of fear | In English | EL PAÍS

Put simply, one half of the United States has voted against the rights of the other half. The people celebrating Trump’s victory on Tuesday night were celebrating the triumph of boorishness, intolerance, fear, and ignorance. The only sure thing we know about Trump is that he will say one thing one day and another the next, depending on which way the political wind is blowing, or which side of bed he got out of. In a single day he has been for and against abortion rights, same-sex marriage and banning Muslims from entering the country. And when it suits him, he has no problem lying.

Source: US elections: A presidency of fear | In English | EL PAÍS

Massive Anti-Trump Demonstration Planned For Saturday In MacArthur Park: LAist

The event is organized by Union del Barrio Los Angeles, the L.A. chapter of the Latin-American political group that also has hubs out in San Diego, Oxnard, and the Bay Area. According to the event’s Facebook page, the demonstration will start at 10 a.m. in MacArthur Park, where participants will meet and go on a march that will end by the Edward Roybal Federal Building downtown.According to Ron Gochez, an organizer with Union del Barrio, planners expect about 10,000 people to show up. “You look at the previous protests, and you see that several thousands of people showed up, even though that wasn’t entirely organized,” said Gochez. “It was a spontaneous thing and thousands still showed up.”

Source: Massive Anti-Trump Demonstration Planned For Saturday In MacArthur Park: LAist

It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and I Don’t Feel Fine. | Rebelle Society

Here’s the problem, folks…She doesn’t have a penis.Oh, I can feel your eyes rolling. Your brain is screaming about her f*cking emails, and how oily and polished she comes across. Like a typical politician. To you, I say: I don’t give a !@#$ about her emails. I like oily and polished. In this case, it meant the candidate had equilibrium because she knew what she talking about.Say what you want to say about Hillary Clinton’s off-putting demeanor, her lack of charisma, and her distrustful air. There’s no debating that she’s brilliant. Something Donald Trump isn’t.And see, Trump hates everything I am. Despises what I believe in. He has offended me as a woman. A Latina. And as a person who believes in a God by many names. Any time he offends people who lead with their faith, he is offending me.Before now, when I did not see eye to eye with a candidate and he was elected, I did not feel despair, thrown away, or less of an American because none of those men attacked me personally. None of them told me that the way I showed up in the world was intrinsically less-than. They had not assaulted me with their words and their hatred.Inside my body, in my heart, what I carry is rejection by my country. The country that I love. If this nation could elect Donald Trump to be our leader, I am a disposable American. Everything I am is being tossed in the bin.As Van Jones stated on CNN, “This was a White-lash.” The Men and the Whites rallied to elect Trump because they detest the changes that have occurred in America — what I consider progress.Plainly speaking, I’m terrified for my country. What does this election say about our path? Our legacy? What will the world think, and how will it affect international affairs and the economy throughout the next four years?There is a small part of me still clinging to hope that one day a woman will lead the United States. Another part of me wonders, if it does happen while I breathe, whether it will be a nation I recognize. Or if it will recognize me.The faith I have always held sacred, that has carried me through painful moments, wavers. On this day, I pray God sees us through the next four years. I’m too anxious to focus on my chores and my work.I just don’t know if it will ever happen for us.I haven’t got high hopes to see it in my lifetime.But then again, a racist, xenophobic misogynist with the temper of a hangry lab monkey got elected as the President of the United States.I suppose anything is possible.

Source: It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and I Don’t Feel Fine. | Rebelle Society