Category Archives: racism

Permission to Narrate: Bethlehem: Living Between Tear Gas and Christmas Ornaments

In the Western imagination, the “little town of Bethlehem” is a romanticized, mythological town that appears on Christmas cards and is usually depicted by a bucolic nativity scene with wise men, animals, Mary, Joseph, Jesus in a manger, and a bright star above all.  In reality, Bethlehem is a besieged city surrounded by a 26-foot-high wall erected on much of its perimeter. This imposing edifice prevents many farmers from getting to their land and restricts residents from performing everyday actions, like going to school or work. By the time it is completed, 56 kilometers of this barrier—which many call the apartheid wall—will leave 12 communities physically separated from the rest of Bethlehem.Fully 85 percent of the Governorate of Bethlehem is classified as part of Area C—under complete Israeli control in all security and civil matters. In addition, there are 19 settlements—illegal according to international law and officially opposed by the U.S. government—surrounding the governorate which house over 100,000 Israeli settlers. In the last three months, there were 39 incidents of settler violence in Bethlehem—these are cases that involve assault, raids, destruction of property, abductions, injuries, and other aggressive acts perpetrated against Palestinians by Israeli settlers. Settler violence goes largely unpunished, so settlers feel they have tacit impunity for their actions.

Source: Permission to Narrate: Bethlehem: Living Between Tear Gas and Christmas Ornaments

Catholic Bishops react to shocking statements of a Rabbi against “Christian vampires” – Fides News Agency

In recent days, the Rabbi, known for his extremist positions and leader of the Lehava movement, born to oppose marriages between Jews and non-Jews, published his proposal on a website to ban Christian holidays and expel Christians from Israel, “before these vampires” wrote Gopstein, “drink our blood”. In his speech, the rabbi accused the Christians of wanting to proselytize in the Jewish state.

Source: Catholic Bishops react to shocking statements of a Rabbi against “Christian vampires” – Fides News Agency

Chris Christie Loosens NJ Gun Restrictions To Show What A Great Republican He Is: Gothamist – The Blood from the Next Gun Murder Will Be on Governor Christie’s Hands

Permitting was found to have been “unevenly” applied across New Jersey’s townships, so regulations will be broadened to apply to more people who desire firearms for protection. The qualifications for “justifiable need” have also been expanded, and applications from victims of domestic violence will be expedited.In some cases, out-of-state residents passing through New Jersey with firearms legally owned in their home states will not be prosecuted. For instance, gun owners are required to go from point-to-point unless a stop is deemed “reasonably necessary,” the criteria for which does not currently exist.Lastly, the Attorney General will crack down on towns that fail to speedily process gun permit applications, and processing times will be collected and published in an effort to create greater transparency.”New Jersey citizens should be permitted to defend themselves and not encounter unlawful delays and impediments,” Christie said a statement released to media, adding that the commission provided “a set of recommendations that I am proud to wholeheartedly embrace. We will work through the Attorney General to put these changes into effect as quickly as possible.”

Source: Chris Christie Loosens NJ Gun Restrictions To Show What A Great Republican He Is: Gothamist

Muslim Teacher Fired for Mentioning Islam in Class

In case anyone was still wondering whether American Islamophobia is an emergency: Recently, a Muslim-American high school history teacher of Palestinian descent, Sireen Hashem, was fired from her job at Hunterdon Central High School in New Jersey after being banned from mentioning Islam in class.As if that wasn’t enough, Hashem and her attorney report that soon after she was dismissed, she received a knock on the door from… Jesus Christ, the FBI.Hashem’s apparent offense? Using the same teaching materials as everyone else.Hashem had shown a video about Malala Yousafzai in class — a pedagogical move apparently unoffensive in the classrooms of other, non-Muslim teachers. Hashem also used a writing prompt touching on Osama bin Ladin. Both pedagogical moves, reads the suit contesting the dismissal, were considered acceptable from other (non-Muslim) teachers. According to the suit, Hashem was told that “she could not teach current events in the same manner as her non-Arab, non-Palesinian, and non-Muslim colleagues.”Racism in the age of Trump is not the territory of ignorant people totally unlike “us,” but fundamental to everywhere from our most prestigious universities to the places we grew up.This incident — Hashem’s firing — literally happened in the place I grew up. Hunterdon County, New Jersey is the sixth richest county in the United States. According to the 2010 census, It is 91 percent percent white. It is not the abstract working class white Trump middle America of wealthy liberal fantasies. It is a place full of nice, white college graduates who smile at each other in the grocery store. I am ashamed, but not surprised, that this has happened at home.

Source: Muslim Teacher Fired for Mentioning Islam in Class

Minority Sheet Metal Workers in New York Get Back Pay After Decades of Bias – The New York Times

The union’s white members have received more work and larger pensions, data show. In contrast, minority members, who have lagged for decades, often struggle to find steady jobs and to earn enough credit to retire on time with full pensions.Continue reading the main storyRelated Coverage Settlement in Bias Suit That Stalled for 37 YearsJAN. 16, 2008Last month, the union began paying the first installments of $12.7 million in back pay to hundreds of black and Hispanic members in a partial settlement of a bias lawsuit decades old — the oldest such case in the hands of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Source: Minority Sheet Metal Workers in New York Get Back Pay After Decades of Bias – The New York Times

Erdogan says Kurdish militants will be ‘annihilated’ – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East – Armenian Genocide Deja Vu – The Turkish Caliphate Sticks Again!

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Kurdish militants Dec. 15 that “you will be annihilated,” and pledged that Turkish security forces will continue their massive military assault on Kurdish towns in southeastern Turkey until they are “completely cleansed and a peaceful atmosphere established.”Metin Gurcan reports that the escalation in military operations in towns where Kurdish militants associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have taken hold has increased the possibility of a civil war.

Source: Erdogan says Kurdish militants will be ‘annihilated’ – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Demographic change a threat to Hindus: Giriraj Singh – Times of India {Religious Racism despite his protest that it is not}

“The geography and history of vast Aryavart are still there but many parts of this Aryavart have no Sanatan dharma followers,” he added. He also advocated a wide discussion on the definition of minority.Citing examples, he said that population of Hindus had declined in 60 districts of UP and 26 districts of Bihar, while they have turned into minority in five districts of Kerala.On the issue of intolerance, the minister said that tolerance was in the blood of India, which firmly believes in the philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ and ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina’. “It is the country’s tolerance that the court sat at night for a terrorist Yakub Memon and thousands of people took part in his funeral,” he said, adding that some people were questioning the country’s tolerance by raising the issue of increasing intolerance but the world accepts India’s tolerance.

Source: Demographic change a threat to Hindus: Giriraj Singh – Times of India

‘Nothing changed’: Martu elders fight against removal of Aboriginal children – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

There are now about 15,000 Aboriginal children in care, compared to about 2,400 in 1997.In WA, the number increased by 9 per cent in the last year, making Aboriginal children 15 times more likely to be in care than their non-Aboriginal counterparts.Heather Samson alluded to the film Rabbit-Proof Fence when trying to illustrate her despair.The movie told the true story of three girls taken from the Jigalong area to the Moore River Native settlement, north of Perth, in the 1930s.”Nothing changed,” Ms Samson said.”This Stolen Generation never ended.”They think it is changed, but nothing. I don’t believe it.”

Source: ‘Nothing changed’: Martu elders fight against removal of Aboriginal children – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Video: Cop Shatters Window With Handcuffed Teen’s Face: Gothamist

http://www.dailymotion.com/widget/jukebox?list=%2Fplaylist%2Fx40zg8_Gothamist_gothamist-films

The glass pierced Payne’s lung, lodged in his windpipe, and took four hours of surgery and 50 stitches to patch up. Payne spent four days hospitalized. Charges against him were later dropped.Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson declined to prosecute Pabon, in part because an expert determined the glass had a crack from an existing hole, and was not the shatter-resistant safety class required for commercial businesses. A report by Johnson’s office cites Pabon and a witness saying that he did not intend to break the glass. The witness called it “a freak accident.” Payne’s lawyer Scott Rynecki said that’s absurd.”It’s mind-boggling that the DA did not present the evidence to a grand jury,” Rynecki told the News.

Source: Video: Cop Shatters Window With Handcuffed Teen’s Face: Gothamist

Turkey intensifies military operation against Kurds | News | DW.COM |{Turkish Genocide Part Two – After the Armenians, the Kurds become target for Turkish Ethnic Cleansing by death?}

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed to continue the operations and pursue the militants “neighborhood by neighborhood, house by house, and street by street.””We will turn … every piece of our homeland into an area of peace, stability and freedom,” the premier said on Tuesday.The conflict between the PKK and Ankara has killed over 40,000 people since 1984. The Kurdish minority, which comprises 15 percent of Turkey, complains of systematic discrimination by the state.The renewed violence also coincided with two general elections in Turkey this year; in the first, a pro-Kurdish party cleared the prohibitive 10-percentle hurdle to win seats in parliament. Davutoglu’s ruling AK Party, unwilling or unable to form a coalition afterwards, ultimately called a fresh ballot – whose build-up was overshadowed by clashes between the PKK and the military. Second time around, the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) fell short of the 10 percent of the vote needed to enter parliament.Escalating violenceThe army offensive in Turkey’s southeastern towns has angered the residents as they protest against search operations, curfews and barricades set up by the authorities.Three police officers were killed in a roadside bombing on Tuesday. Ankara blamed the attack on Kurdish rebels based in the Diyarbakir province. The attack came after two Kurds were shot dead on Monday during violent clashes between local Kurds and security forces in the Sur district of Diyarbakir.

Source: Turkey intensifies military operation against Kurds | News | DW.COM | 16.12.2015