Category Archives: Viva!

BDS Movement for Palestinian Rights Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Oh yeah!

Awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to the BDS movement would be a powerful sign demonstrating that the international community is committed to supporting a just peace in the Middle East and using peaceful means to end military rule and broader violations of international law.

The Shuafat refugee camp can be seen across the separation wall from the Israeli settlement Pisgat Ze’ev. Credit: Jillian Kestler-D’Amours/IPS

By Bjørnar Moxnes
OSLO, Norway, Feb 2 2018 (IPS)

As a member of the Norwegian parliament, I proudly use my authority as an elected official to nominate the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Nominating the BDS movement for this recognition is perfectly in line with the principles I and my party hold very dear. Like the BDS movement, we are fully committed to stopping an ascendant, racist and right-wing politics sweeping too much of our world, and securing freedom, justice and equality for all people.

Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement and the American Civil Rights movement, the grassroots, Palestinian-led BDS movement is a peaceful, global human rights movement that urges the use of economic and cultural boycotts to end Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights and international law.

Awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to the BDS movement would be a powerful sign demonstrating that the international community is committed to supporting a just peace in the Middle East and using peaceful means to end military rule and broader violations of international law.The BDS movement seeks to end Israel’s half-century of military rule over 4.5 million Palestinians, including the devastating ten-year illegal siege collectively punishing and suffocating nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, the ongoing forcible eviction of Palestinians from their homes, and the theft of Palestinian land through the construction of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

It seeks equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel, currently discriminated against by dozens of racist laws, and to secure the internationally-recognized legal right of Palestinian refugees to return to homes and lands from which they were expelled.

Palestinian refugees constitute nearly 50 percent of all Palestinians, and they are being denied their right to return, guaranteed by law to all refugees, simply because of their ethnicity.

The BDS movement’s aims and aspirations for basic human rights are irreproachable. They should be supported without reservation by all democratically-minded people and states.

The international community has a longstanding history of supporting peaceful measures such as boycotts and disinvestment against companies that profit from human rights violations. International support for such measures was critical in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and the racist colonial regime in former Rhodesia.

If the international community commits to supporting BDS to end the occupation of Palestinian territory and the oppression of the Palestinian people, new hope will be lit for a just peace for Palestinians, Israelis and all people across the Middle East.

The BDS movement has been endorsed by prominent figures, including the former Nobel Peace Prize winners Desmond Tutu and Mairead Maguire. It is gaining support from unions, academic associations, churches, and grassroots movements for the rights of refugees, immigrants, workers, women, indigenous peoples and the LGBTQI community. It is increasingly embraced by progressive Jewish groups and anti-racist movements across the world.

Eleven years since BDS’ launch, it’s high time for us to commit to doing no harm, and for all states to withdraw their complicity in Israel’s military occupation, racist apartheid rule, ongoing theft of Palestinian land, and other egregious human rights violations.

Awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to the BDS movement would be a powerful sign demonstrating that the international community is committed to supporting a just peace in the Middle East and using peaceful means to end military rule and broader violations of international law.

My hope is that this nomination can be one humble but necessary step towards bringing forth a more dignified and beautiful future for all peoples of the region.

The post BDS Movement for Palestinian Rights Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Tehran hijab protest: Iranian police arrest 29 women

2994.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&f

New wave of protests spread across country, sparking personal freedoms debate

Police in Iran’s capital have arrested 29 women accused of being “deceived” into joining protests against a law that makes wearing the hijab compulsory.

Women across the country have been protesting by climbing onto telecom boxes, taking off their headscarves and waving them aloft on sticks.

Continue reading…

Exclusive: In letter, U.S. steel firms urge Trump to curb steel imports

US Steel is in the sorry shape it is in because – when they were protected by high tariffs, they stopped innovating. Japan, Germany, Sweden, Korea had many more patents in steel than US after 1960s. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chief executives of top American steel companies and related groups urged President Donald Trump on Thursday to urgently impose trade measures to curb excess steel capacity and surging imports they say are undermining the U.S. industry.

topNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA topNews?i=Z4arA7g9mBA:k231uV3ZbOg:V_sGLi topNews?i=Z4arA7g9mBA:k231uV3ZbOg:-BTjWO

Federal prosecutors dismiss corruption charges against Senator Bob Menendez

Now how does he get his reputation back?

3500.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&f

The move brings to an end a more than five-year investigation that began with never-substantiated allegations about consorting with prostitutes

Federal prosecutors decided Wednesday not to retry Senator Bob Menendez on corruption charges that ended in a hung jury last fall, lifting the legal cloud hanging over the New Jersey Democrat as he gears up for re-election this year to the closely divided Senate.

The move brings to an end a more than five-year investigation that began with never-substantiated allegations about consorting with prostitutes and eventually resulted in a bribery indictment.

Continue reading…

Mass. Gaming Commission says Wynn didn’t disclose $7.5M settlement

stevewynn*100xx2048-2048-0-101.jpgAttorneys for Wynn Resorts Ltd. confirmed to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Wednesday that a $7.5 million settlement was paid to a manicurist at Wynn Las Vegas resort who has alleged casino mogul Steve Wynn forced her to have sex with him.

Casino regulators said that Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) did not disclose that settlement — first described last week in a Wall Street Journal story — to investigators during a 2013 examination to determine Wynn’s suitability to receive a gaming license.

The…

bizj_national?d=yIl2AUoC8zA bizj_national?i=Qia04IVUGL0:VqTn3TOifKo: bizj_national?i=Qia04IVUGL0:VqTn3TOifKo: bizj_national?d=qj6IDK7rITs