Category Archives: human rights

Netanyahu: Muslims are “dangerous animals” | PNN

During the international conference in Occupied Jerusalem with the French Ambassador, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu described Muslims as “animals”  who need to be defeated. According to Israel Hayom daily, Netanyahu made this statement during the foreign diplomats conference, tackling last week’s attacks on France.Referring to Muslims as “dangerous animals,” Netanyahu also said that there were a lot of them in [Israel], adding that the world needs to understand the seriousness of the problem, indicating the need to “defeat these animals.”“The beasts increasingly have a name — it is radical Islam. That is what is doing the killing, the murder, the rape, the burning, the beheading.A day before, the Israeli minister of Education, MK Naftali Bennett said that “[Israel] should have killed more [Arabs] because anyone who lifts a hand against Israel must die.”

Source: Netanyahu: Muslims are “dangerous animals” | PNN

Rights group urges justice for Nepali maids allegedly gang raped by Saudi diplomat | News | DW.COM | 19.11.2015

India and Saudi Arabia should bring justice to two Nepali maids allegedly gang raped and tortured by a Saudi diplomat, Amnesty International has said. The case is one of many reported abuses of domestic workers.

Source: Rights group urges justice for Nepali maids allegedly gang raped by Saudi diplomat | News | DW.COM | 19.11.2015

Humans of Amsterdam — Joaquin (left): “I met Mohamed a few days ago. I…

Joaquin (left): “I met Mohamed a few days ago. I educate refugees on Dutch culture. Instead of starting my previous class with all the do’s and don’ts of this country I asked everyone about their profession. I wanted to amplify the fact that everyone’s identity is much broader than being a refugee. When it was Mohamed’s turn he told us that he used to be a part of the National Syrian Gymnastic team. After the class I contacted one of my friend’s who owns a gym and told him about Mohamed. He immediately suggested Mohamed would come over and train at his club. Mohamed now has free access to his gym so he can stay in shape. I hope one day Mohamed will be part of the Dutch national team.”

Source: Humans of Amsterdam — Joaquin (left): “I met Mohamed a few days ago. I…

‘Striking on the Job’: Joe Hill’s Living Message | Labor Notes

Like millions of immigrants today, Joe Hill lived much of his life in the shadows and on the road. He worked the odd jobs available to immigrants.He was pressganged into rescue work after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, had to talk his way out of deportation when he returned to the U.S. after joining other Wobblies (members of the Industrial Workers of the World) who fought alongside the Magonistas in the Mexican Revolution, and was routinely harassed by police—as an agitator, but also because he was poor.At age 36, Hill was convicted and executed in Salt Lake City on what are widely seen as trumped-up murder charges. Despite a near-complete lack of evidence, Utah’s governor—who had campaigned on the promise to crack down on unions in the mines, where Hill was working—refused to commute the sentence or grant Hill’s demand

Source: ‘Striking on the Job’: Joe Hill’s Living Message | Labor Notes

www.german-foreign-policy.com – Portugal still not safe yet!

It is still unclear how this will develop in Portugal. On November 10, a vote of no-confidence by the center-left parliamentary majority defeated Passos Coelho’s second attempt to form a government. The plan to maintain Passos Coelho in power – with the help of renegade PS parliamentarians – has failed. In accordance with democratic traditions, Cavaco Silva would have at least handed government power over to the left majority by now, which he persistently refusing to do. If he continues to persist, Passos Coelho will remain in office until new elections can be held, which, according to Portuguese law, can take place in June 2016, at the earliest. Passos Coelho could therefore continue governing without democratic legitimacy, for more than six months, in spite of a functional democratic parliamentary majority.No Room for DemocracyWithin the EU, over the past few years, democratic majorities have repeatedly been nullified, if they would not guarantee the implementation of a German-dictated austerity policy imposed on the entire Eurozone. In Italy for example, Mario Monti’s “cabinet of experts” ruled from November 16, 2011 until April 28, 2013. Prime Minister Monti did not rise to power through democratic elections. He was installed under pressure from Brussels. The “Troika” comprised of representatives of the EU, ECB and IMF – without democratic legitimacy – decides varying degrees of national policies in Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Cyprus. Last July – under German pressure – the EU even disregarded the Greek population’s clear rejection of a continuation of the austerity policy, imposed by Berlin and Brussels. A three-fifths majority had voted “No” in a referendum on the question. Greece was then punished with the imposition of even harsher austerity measures.[4] A leading German daily considered the de facto suspension of democracy in indebted countries to be an appropriate measure, by seeking to apply private law conditions to interstate relations, which are entirely different. “There are a few things in the world, where there is no room for democracy,” the daily wrote, “for example, debts.”[5]The Only WayIn Portugal, Cavaco Silva has repeatedly reiterated over the past few days that he will take his time in deciding on the next government. At the beginning of the week, he ostentatiously made a two day visit to Madeira for business talks, in spite of considerable indignation in Lisbon. Today, he will discuss the situation with board members of several Portuguese banks. Carlos Costa, head of the Central Bank, has already stated his opposition to a possible center-left government, warning that the country will have to “pay for all the mistakes made today,” meaning the sovereign decisions taken by an elected government.[6] The results of Cavaco Silva’s talks today with leading Portuguese bankers will also depend on the concessions the PS candidate for prime minister, António Costa, has made to leading bankers, with whom he negotiated on Monday.[7] Relinquishing all positions critical of the EU and its German-inspired austerity policy is usually the only way to win the acceptance by the EU-oriented establishment.

Source: www.german-foreign-policy.com

House passes bill to tighten flow of Syrian refugees over Obama’s objections – The Washington Post {The vote – 289 anti-American cowards to 137.

The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation aimed at tightening controls on refugees from Syria and Iraq, in what Republican leaders say is a swift and strong response to last week’s terror attacks in Paris.The vote was 289 to 137.

Source: House passes bill to tighten flow of Syrian refugees over Obama’s objections – The Washington Post

Syrian ceasefire would be announced ′in the coming hours′ | News | DW.COM | 19.11.2015

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday a 15-day ceasefire between Syrian rebels and government forces in Eastern Ghouta, an area near Syria’s capital Damascus, would be announced “in the coming hours.”If agreed, the ceasefire would take place early on Thursday as a “test period” and could be extended if further agreements are made, the British-based Observatory said.However, no agreement was made for the precise time for the start of the ceasefire, and an agreement has yet to be finalized, the Observatory said.Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told the French news agency AFP, if an agreement is reached “a ceasefire in Eastern Ghouta would begin at 6:00 a.m. (0400 UTC) Thursday and will last 15 days.”Abdel Rahman added that the most powerful rebel group in Eastern Ghouta, Jaish al-Islam, was the main negotiator on the rebel side. However, a spokesperson for the rebel group could not be reached for comment.

Source: Syrian ceasefire would be announced ′in the coming hours′ | News | DW.COM | 19.11.2015

Video: Israeli soldiers arrest young child | The Electronic Intifada

“If you get one step closer to me I’ll detain you,” a soldier shouts at Amirah in Hebrew, and yanks the boy backwards. The soldiers then attack Amirah while continuing to detain the child.Ajarma said that the boy’s mother, father and grandfather came to the scene.The soldiers ordered the mother and father to go and tell local youths to stop throwing stones if they wanted their son to be released, Ajarma said.They arrested Amirah and let the boy go after holding him for several hours.Ajarma said that he visited the family on Wednesday morning and that Abdallah was traumatized by the experience.Ajarma said that the Israeli soldiers looked little older than teenagers.“You’re young, but you must have a family. What you’re doing to a young child isn’t right,” Ajarma recalled telling one of the gunmen holding the child.“I feel that if this soldier was a father, he wouldn’t be able to carry on this way,” Ajarma told The Electronic Intifada.“The one thing that made the army act in a slightly less violent way is that I was filming everything,” Ajarma said.

Source: Video: Israeli soldiers arrest young child | The Electronic Intifada

19 Officers Swarm Black Woman As She Tries To Get Into Her Own Apartment: LAist

Fay Wells, who is the vice president of strategy at a multinational corporation, penned a piece in The Washington Post today, detailing the harrowing ordeal that took place on Sept. 6 and how she is still shaken up. She writes, “I’m heartbroken that the place I called home no longer feels safe.”Wells had just gotten back from her weekly soccer game and found that she had locked herself out of her home, and hired a locksmith to open the door for her. But after she got inside her apartment, that’s when things escalated. A large dog was barking in her stairwell, and officers pointed guns at her. They entered her apartment, and an officer pulled Wells’ hands behind her back and took her outside. That’s when she saw an “ocean of officers.” Though Wells says that the officers at the time wouldn’t explain to her why they were there, she later found out that a total of 19 were dispatched and that her white neighbor had reported a burglary at her apartment.Wells writes:It didn’t matter that I told the cops I’d lived there for seven months, told them about the locksmith, offered to show a receipt for his services and my ID. It didn’t matter that I went to Duke, that I have an MBA from Dartmouth, that I’m a vice president of strategy at a multinational corporation. It didn’t matter that I’ve never had so much as a speeding ticket. It didn’t matter that I calmly, continually asked them what was happening. It also didn’t matter that I didn’t match the description of the person they were looking for — my neighbor described me as Hispanic when he called 911. What mattered was that I was a woman of color trying to get into her apartment — in an almost entirely white apartment complex in a mostly white city — and a white man who lived in another building called the cops because he’d never seen me before.It’s still been an uphill battle for Wells, who says she’s had to jump through hoops to get from the Santa Monica Police Department the names of the officers who showed up that night. Even then, the facts don’t match up. She only received 17 of the 19 names from authorities, and the Washington Post got 17 names that didn’t all match up with the list Wells received. She’s since filed an official complaint with internal affairs. The department told the Washington Post that it was within protocol based on this type of call to warrant “a very substantial police response.”

Source: 19 Officers Swarm Black Woman As She Tries To Get Into Her Own Apartment: LAist