Category Archives: racism

Video: Israeli sniper shoots youth during assault on refugee camp | The Electronic Intifada

 

This video shows part of an incident in which an Israeli military sniper severely wounded 22-year-old Palestinian Muhammad al-Amsi during a massive army raid on al-Fawwar refugee camp in the southern West Bank city of Hebron in mid-August.Al-Amsi was standing on his roof talking on the telephone when the sniper shot him four times.It was filmed by Mahmoud Abu Yousef, a videographer with the Ma’an News Agency, and published on Friday by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem as part of a report into the Israeli raid in which another youth, 19-year-old Muhammad Abu Hashhash, was shot dead by Israeli forces.A separate B’Tselem investigation has found that Abu Hashhash was killed as he posed no danger to anyone.Meanwhile, two Palestinians and a Jordanian citizen – one reportedly 15 years old – were shot dead by Israeli forces on Friday in separate incidents. Another Palestinian was shot dead on Saturday morning. On Thursday, a person died from wounds he received when Israeli forces shot him during a raid on his village. Last week, a Palestinian youth was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Source: Video: Israeli sniper shoots youth during assault on refugee camp | The Electronic Intifada

Sarkozy comes out of the closet as a climate skeptic – The Local – “What he really supports is eugenics, fewer colored, non-white French and definitely no more Polish immigrants like himself?”

The former president believes the world should be concentrating on the rise in the population and movement of people rather than worrying so much about global warming. “Never has the earth experienced such a demographic shock as it is about to,

Source: Sarkozy comes out of the closet as a climate skeptic – The Local

The Multiple Abuses of Reina Maraz – Intercontinental Cry

Sexual Violence and ‘that night’

Maraz told in court how one night Limber Santos and Vilca went out drinking. Around 5am, Vilca came back to the kiln and into Maraz’s room, where she was sleeping with the children. He woke her and horrifyingly told her ‘your husband owes me a debt, and he gave me you.’ Then he raped her in front of her children.The lead judge, Marcela Alejandra Vissio, described the incident as improbable in her verdict because Maraz did not make a police report.  But not filing a police report for rape is not unusual for women, who face significant barriers in the legal system such as reliving trauma and being victim-blamed. Data on unreported rape is hard to find in Argentina, as in many countries, but it is likely to be far under-reported. On top of the usual barriers, Maraz has the additional barrier of not fully understanding or speaking Spanish.The aftermath of Maraz’s rape included a vicious beating at her husband’s hands. It also sparked violent conflict between Vilca and Santos.On the morning of her husband’s death, 14 November 2010, Maraz got up at 4am to help him prepare for a trip to visit his sister to pay her back a debt. Maraz explained in court that Vilca was also up that morning, drunk. Limber Santos and he started arguing through the window of the room, and then Santos went out. At that moment, Maraz heard the sound of a padlock locking her and the children into the room.The person who removed the lock and came into the room shortly after was not Maraz’s husband, but Vilca. She asked him where her husband was, and Vilca said Limber Santos had left for his sister’s. Then he raped her again, again in the presence of her two children.The Aftermath of Limber Santos’ deathMaraz had no idea that her husband was dead at that moment. When there was no sign of him, she went to stay at her father-in-law’s house with her sons. She testified that she was afraid to stay at the brick kiln because of Vilca’s presence. And she went to the police and reported her husband as missing – she was worried he had been robbed when he didn’t appear at his sister’s.Limber Santos’ body was then found in a rubbish heap on the grounds of the brick kiln. Maraz and Tito Vilca were arrested and jailed as responsible. In jail, Maraz discovered she was pregnant. Her little girl was born in Unit 33 of Prison Los Hornos of Buenos Aires.It took nearly a full year until Maraz was informed of the charges against her in her own language. The Argentine human rights advocacy organization La Comisión Provincial por la Memoria —‘The Provincial Commission for Memory’ — carried out one of its regular prison inspections in Prison Los Hornos and realized that Maraz was unable to communicate well in Spanish. They brought a Quechua speaker to visit her.

Source: The Multiple Abuses of Reina Maraz – Intercontinental Cry

Mothers wearing headscarves ′blocked′ from entering nursery school in Corsica | News | DW.COM | 06.09.2016 “Brave”, err, dumb Corsicans display bigotry as if it’s OK.

Two Muslim mothers wearing headscarves have been prevented by two other parents from entering a nursery school on the French island of Corsica. The incident comes amid simmering intercommunal tensions in France.

Source: Mothers wearing headscarves ′blocked′ from entering nursery school in Corsica | News | DW.COM | 06.09.2016

Essentializing Islam will not stop Islamophobia | Nervana

Muslims’ attitudes towards divisive trends have also been disturbing. In fact, Muslims are divided between those who immediately adopt a reflexive defensive attitude in justifying practices such as wearing the Niqab, even if they do not agree with it on a personal level. On the other hand, other Muslims quietly agree with the bans on the Niqab and Burkini, but refrain from saying it loudly for fear of looking as if they are betraying their community.As a result, slowly, but surely, Islam has been essentialized into a religion that is at best benignly conservative, and at worse, rigidly radical. Both the red and blue camp are using the Hijab, Niqab, and Burkini as weapons in their battles, enforcing consciously or sub-consciously the narrative of political Islam, which wrongly portrays itself as the most authentic model of Islam. Yes, the ban on the Burkini has been suspended, but it has left behind an unhealed and divided landscape.That is neither healthy for the Western world nor for the Muslim communities in the West. In fact, it is profoundly disturbing.It is indeed great to see Hijabi Muslim women celebrated for their achievements, and Burkini-wearing Muslims defended against an unjust ban, but we should also accept the right of others, including many Muslims, to voice disdain about the Niqab or Burkini. Freedom of expression goes both ways. Expecting that conservative Islam will be loved and embraced by all native Europeans is simply naïve; forcing respect for regressive Islamic patterns on traditional Western communities can be perceived as provocative.Moreover, while defending freedom, it is crucial not to be an advocate of illiberal multiculturalism, in which Islamist Muslims can demand respect and understanding for their conservative, often illiberal attitudes, while non-Muslims’ illiberalism is damned as sick and unacceptable. It is infantilizing and reductive to portray Muslims as a collective bunch of victims who need more protection and less scrutiny. The notion that Islam is exceptional, and not necessarily liberal, has gained a sympathetic ear from the same people who were outraged at France for its illiberal ban on the Burkini. This hypocritical notion is not just untrue, it will ignite more resentment and anger among many non-Muslims.The Western world needs a centrist approach to its Muslim communities that acknowledges and highlights their diversity, maintains the rights of conservative Muslims, and addresses the fears (even irrational ones) of local communities. The best way to fight Islamophobia is to show sympathy for local anxieties, celebrate and support Islamic diversity, and encourage liberal Muslims’ voices. Reductive emotional outrage, however, will never be part of the solution.

Source: Essentializing Islam will not stop Islamophobia | Nervana

North Dakota pipeline protest turns violent after cultural sites destroyed | US news | The Guardian

Tribe spokesman Steve Sitting Bear said protesters reported that six people had been bitten by security dogs, including a young child. At least 30 people were pepper-sprayed, he said. Preskey said law enforcement authorities had no reports of protesters being injured.There were no law enforcement personnel at the site when the incident occurred, Preskey said. The crowd dispersed when officers arrived and no one was arrested, she said.The incident occurred within half a mile of an encampment where hundreds of people have gathered to join the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s protest of the oil pipeline that is slated to cross the Missouri River nearby.The tribe is challenging the army corps of engineers’ decision to grant permits for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access pipeline, which crosses the Dakotas and Iowa to Illinois, including near the reservation in southern North Dakota. A federal judge will rule before 9 September whether construction can be halted on the Dakota Access pipeline.Energy Transfer Partners did not return phone calls and emails seeking comment.The tribe fears the project will disturb sacred sites and impact drinking water for thousands of tribal members on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and millions farther downstream.

Source: North Dakota pipeline protest turns violent after cultural sites destroyed | US news | The Guardian

Palestinian who filmed Hebron shooting faces threats to his life | +972 Magazine

Last week B’Tselem filed a complaint with Israeli police, claiming that Hebron police prevented Abu Shamsiya from submitting his own request following threats he received on the internet.Abu Shamsiya describes how last Sunday he arrived at the police station in Hebron to file a complaint about the threats, which included comments such as “I will kill you, you disabled asshole,” “your time will come,” and threatening videos. After a lengthy wait he was told that the station was too busy and that he should return the following day. The next day, after another long wait, he was told that he could not file a complaint, since the only officer who could deal with issue was not present. Abu Shamsiya returned for a third day, waiting a number of hours to be helped. When he approached one of there investigators, he was told to go home and threatened with arrest should he refuse to do so.

Source: Palestinian who filmed Hebron shooting faces threats to his life | +972 Magazine

Black Americans on ‘what they have to lose’ if Trump becomes president | US news | The Guardian

Lou Gehrig’s disease has robbed Leroy Peete, a 72-year-old Detroit native and Vietnam veteran, of speech. He communicates by moving a pen toward letters printed on a sheet, spelling out words.Asked about Trump’s visit to Detroit, an acquaintance read aloud his response.“Don’t want his ass here.”Asked about Trump’s outreach to African Americans, Peete moved the pen again over the letters.“Bullshit.”

Source: Black Americans on ‘what they have to lose’ if Trump becomes president | US news | The Guardian

Kurds Fear the U.S. Will Again Betray Them, in Syria – The New York Times AKA: TIK, TOK – trust in Kurds, trust only Kurds.

So, many Kurds shuddered when Turkish tanks and soldiers recently rolled into northern Syria, with American support, to push back against Kurdish gains. They saw it, perhaps prematurely, as a replay of a century of betrayal by world powers, going back to the end of World War I, when they were promised, then denied, their own state in the postwar settlement.“The Kurds are going to scream betrayal at every turn when they think things are not going to go their way, because they’ve had a century of it,” said Joost Hiltermann, the program director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group, and a longtime expert on the Kurds.The Syrian Kurds say their aim is to establish an autonomous region, not their own state, where their rights are protected, in whatever settlement comes from the long Syrian civil war. And they say they hope that the United States will support them in that desire.To accomplish that, though, they need to connect two of their territories: Afrin, in the west, and Kobani, in the east, an effort that Turkey sees as a national security threat to be thwarted at virtually any cost.

Source: Kurds Fear the U.S. Will Again Betray Them, in Syria – The New York Times

The metamorphosis of a Jewish supremacist | +972 Magazine

Jerusalem is divided between different people – leftists and rightists, secular and religious – these definitions erect walls and restrict our humanity. At the end of the day, when you talk to someone on the level and do it genuinely you realize that we all have a lot in common, even when we disagree with each other, which is fine. They look different and they think different, but we must respect each other, we are all the sons of one god.

I then shed all my prejudice and the preconceptions that I had, having grown up in Jerusalem during the Second Intifada, having seen blown-up buses and thought every Arab was a terrorist. Many times in my life I incited and acted against Arabs.

And today, three years on, I’m coming full circle. I’m going to meet with Mohammed Ghadir, shake his hand talk to him. I’m the happiest man alive.

I’ve recently started speaking against racism and for love and tolerance. Many eyebrows were raised. I was harassed along the way, and many are still annoyed with me.

But when I see kids that thanks to me choose love over hate, I couldn’t be happier. I have made lovely Arab, religious, secular, ultra-Orthodox friends, really of all kinds. I’m trying to shed my prejudices and be sensitive, empathetic, loving and accepting. I’ve shed all the fears that I had. I’ve won.”Later, after he met with Ghadir, he wrote another post describing the meeting as “one of the most emotional moments of my life.”

Source: The metamorphosis of a Jewish supremacist | +972 Magazine