Category Archives: racism

Army surrounds Tamil daily’s headquarters in Jaffna – Reporters Without Borders

No peace, no reconciliation, just more conquest and ethnic oppression – Members of the intelligence services were seen among the soldiers who continued to block the Kannarthiddin Road and Navalar Road access to the newspaper until this morning. Some of the intelligence officers carried guns while others noted who was entering and leaving the newspaper.

The military operation appeared to be a response to Uthayan’s publication yesterday of a supplement entitled “Mullivaikkal Thuyar Malar – May 18,” consisting of poems and accounts by survivors of the Sri Lankan army’s massacre of thousands of Tamil civilians in 2009, in the final stages of the civil war between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.

via Army surrounds Tamil daily’s headquarters in Jaffna – Reporters Without Borders.

Divide grows between Israeli, Palestinian journalists – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

The situation of Palestinian journalists has created anger toward their Israeli counterparts for a number of reasons. For instance, Israel continues to restrict Palestinian journalists’ movements, while Israeli journalists are freely granted access to Palestinian areas.

While the Palestinian Journalists’ Association has denounced all acts of violence against journalists, including the attacks against the two Israelis in Beitunia, their Israeli counterparts rarely speak out about the travel restrictions on Palestinian journalists and regular Israeli army attacks on Palestinian journalists. Of note, on May 15, Palestinian cameramen Issam Rimawi and Abdul Kareem Mestaif were injured by rubber bullets that Palestinians believe were directed at them specifically because they were carrying cameras. The Foreign Press Association in Israel, currently headed for the first time by a Palestinian, Samer Shalabi, issued a statement that “condemns in the strongest terms” the incident and called on everyone to “respect the right of journalists on assignment to work unharmed to freely and unhindered pursue their profession.”

via Divide grows between Israeli, Palestinian journalists – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

Israeli forces uproot trees, level land near Bethlehem | Maan News Agency

Israeli bulldozers leveled large tracts of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem-area village of Nahalin on Monday, locals said.

Head of the village council, Majid Ghayatha, told Ma’an that Israeli bulldozers uprooted dozens of olive and almond trees in the Wad Salem area.

Several grapevines were also destroyed.

Israeli military forces deployed on hilltops above the village to prevent land owners from accessing their fields.

Locals told Ma’an that they believe Israeli forces are clearing land for a new road connecting the Neve Daniel and Beitar Ilit settlements.

via Israeli forces uproot trees, level land near Bethlehem | Maan News Agency.

Shinzo Abe reveals plans to lift Japan’s ban on fighting in conflicts overseas | World news | theguardian.com

(Wonder how long it would take him to come to South Korea’s assistance to quell disruptions and help defend against North Korean aggression – and then declare that the unified Korea wanted to become part of a Greater Japan – while claiming to not be waging war)

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has announced plans to lift the country’s ban on fighting in conflicts overseas – a move that is certain to raise tensions with China and anger voters at home.

Abe called for a review of the way Japan interprets its pacifist constitution, to allow its military to participate in conflicts beyond its borders for the first time since the end of the second world war.

In an apparent attempt to address concerns in Chin and other parts of Asia where memories of Japan’s wartime conduct remain strong, he said Japan would never again become “a country that wages war”.

via Shinzo Abe reveals plans to lift Japan’s ban on fighting in conflicts overseas | World news | theguardian.com.

Bundy Supporters Drove ATVs Through Native American Ruins – The Wire

Anti-Native American and Anti-Brains!

Both the BLM and the sheriff’s department came to the rally, but whatever skirmishes the ATV riders were anticipating/hoping for didn’t come to pass. The BLM simply recorded the proceedings to prosecute offenders later. The sheriff’s deputies said they were only there to keep the peace, and any punishment would have to come from the BLM, since “they’re the ones that closed the road.” Thanks, deputies.

Lyman won’t have to worry about any federal repercussions, as he ultimately did not drive on the trail. Bundy did ride on the illegal trail, but I guess he doesn’t think there will be consequences for his actions for some reason.

A Navajo Warrior ceremony for returning veterans was scheduled for the area that weekend, but the rally forced organizers to reschedule it for October. So the rally was a slap in the face of Native Americans from the past and the present.

“Damage to archaeological sites is permanent and the information about our collective past is then lost forever,” said Jerry Spangler, director of the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance. “It is sad that irreplaceable treasures of importance to all Americans would be sacrificed on the altar of anti-government fervor. It is worse that protesters would be so blinded to their own insensitivity as to what others consider to be sacred treasures of their past.”

via Bundy Supporters Drove ATVs Through Native American Ruins – The Wire.

Nepalese women torn between slavery in Lebanon and poverty at home | Global development | theguardian.com

When the 39 Nepalese migrant domestic workers spilled out of the arrivals gate at Kathmandu airport last month, many vowed to return to the country in which they had experienced terrible hardship. Some had been beaten and forced to endure slave-like conditions; the majority had been trafficked.

For years, the women lived illegally in Lebanon, with no means to return home after fleeing abusive employers. The country’s stringent kafala system, which binds migrant staff to their boss, meant that when the women escaped, they lost everything: their legal status, passports and wages.

It was only with the help of a local association, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), as well as the Nepali embassy in Egypt (Nepal does not have an embassy in Lebanon), that the women were eventually able to return to home.

via Nepalese women torn between slavery in Lebanon and poverty at home | Global development | theguardian.com.

Jewish extremists vandalize Jerusalem church | Maan News Agency

Vandals sprayed anti-Christian graffiti on a Jerusalem church on Friday, despite Israeli police stepping up security around religious sites ahead of a visit by Pope Francis later this month.

“Price tag… King David for the Jews… Jesus is garbage” was spray-painted in Hebrew on the wall of St George’s, a Romanian Orthodox church near an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood.

Israeli police said that “Death to Arabs” was found written on a house in the Old City in East Jerusalem, and swastikas were scrawled on the wall of a west Jerusalem apartment.

via Jewish extremists vandalize Jerusalem church | Maan News Agency.

Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi (H. Res. 567) providing for the Establishment of the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi. (H.Res. 575) – GovTrack.us

(Which terrorist attack in Benghazi? There were numerous terrorist attacks in that city with dozens of Libyans wounded and killed, as well as foreigners?The police chief and numerous other government officials have been attacked.

This “investigation” will tell us nothing about how out of control the Benghazi area was and is – it is just looking to lay “blame” at feet of US officials and not with terrorists and will ignore all other killings and violence. And quite simply, there was and is no way that “help” could have gotten there in time to have any effect, even if a US carrier had been offshore. Add to that the refusal to fund increased protection for foreign service personnel by the GOP in the year previous and if there is anyone to blame for US deaths, it would be GOP majority in the House of Representatives!)

 

H.Res. 575: Providing for consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 567) providing for the Establishment of the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi.

Introduced:

May 07, 2014 (113th Congress, 2013–2015)

Status:

Agreed To (Simple Resolution)

via Providing for consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 567) providing for the Establishment of the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi. (H.Res. 575) – GovTrack.us.