Educate!
Education is the foundation of political change. In this section we provide news and analyses of current events that you won’t likely read or hear in the corporate media. Our sources are from organizations and independent media outlets free of corporate and government propaganda. We strongly encourage you to share these articles by email and social media so that together we create an echo chamber that overcomes the influence of the oligarchy. You will find large social media sharing buttons on the left side of each article when you open the article to read.
The ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel can be approached through several lenses. The most significant is the cumulative blows that Israel has dealt to the Lebanese resistance, systematically targeting its cadre, leadership, and operational capabilities since September. These operations have raised the cost of Hezbollah’s “unity of fields” strategy, signaling that maintaining an active military posture across multiple fronts comes with a greater toll than anticipated. Signs had already begun to surface suggesting that Hezbollah was prepared to entertain a ceasefire, provided it allowed them to preserve their operational standing, safeguard the integrity of southern Lebanon, and uphold their ontological narrative of resistance.
The Zionist Effort To Defund Climate And Environmental Justice
November 28, 2024
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright, Black Agenda Report.
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Climate Justice, Congress, Environmental Justice, Nonprofits, Repression, Zionism
While the emissions reduction efficacy of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is still in question, it’s less debatable that the “historic climate law” has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, to certain climate and environmental justice organizations (CEJ). Many in the U.S. climate community herald this development as CEJ groups have been historically underfunded and markedly less resourced than historically white-led environmental organizations, commonly referred to as “Big Green.” According to a 2020 report by researcher Michael Thomas, environmental justice organizations received between $25 and $50 million.
Israel’s Chemical Weapons Stockpile Is A Global Threat
November 28, 2024
Abdul Rahman, People's Dispatch.
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Chemical Weapons, Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), Crimes against humanity, Iran, Iran-Iraq war, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine
Iran raised the issue of Israel’s refusal to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on Monday, November 25, claiming that this lack of accountability poses a grave risk to global peace and stability.
Iran’s Deputy Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, addressed the 29th session of the Conference of the State Parties to the CWC, which began in The Hague on Monday. He also called for international action against Israel for using chemical weapons, which are banned by international conventions, in Palestine and in Lebanon.
The CWC prohibits the development, production, storage, and use of all types of chemical weapons.
1934 And Now: History Lives!
November 28, 2024
Peter Rachleff, Portside.
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Education, History, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Strikes, Unions
Over the first three decades of the 20th century, Minneapolis was the most notorious “open shop” city in the country. An employers’ organization (the “Citizens’ Alliance”) leveraged the power of banks, manufacturers, and local government to resist workers’ attempts to unionize. In February 1934 the city’s truck drivers and coal yard workers organized and struck their industry, winning union recognition in a week. Their success inspired other truckers and warehouse workers to organize and strike twice, in the spring and summer of 1934, facing down the power of police and private “deputies.”
Crisis And Cover-Up At Red Onion Super-Max
November 27, 2024
Phil Wilayto, Black Agenda Report.
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Criminal Justice and Prisons, Human Rights, Virginia
Just how bad are things at Virginia’s Red Onion supermax prison?
On May 24, 2023, DeAndre Gordon deliberately started a fire in his cell that caused a third-degree burn on his leg. Gordon, who is Black, said he had been badly beaten by guards at the prison and feared for his life.
“I didn’t know any other way that I could get out of their custody besides to set myself on fire,” Gordon told a reporter with Radio IQ. “Because they don’t have a burn center in Southwest Virginia, I knew that I would be going to Richmond.”
According to the American Burn Association, Virginia has just three facilities capable of dealing with severe burns.
Legislating Silence: How Congress Plans To Target Critics Of Israel
November 27, 2024
Robert Inlakesh, MintPress News.
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Anti-protest Bills, Congress, Israel, Palestine, Protests, Suppression
A coalition of civil rights groups is sounding the alarm over three proposed bills that, they argue, represent an audacious attempt to stifle dissent and curb free expression in the United States. The legislation—H.R.6408, H.R.9495, and S.4136—claims to combat terrorism by targeting the tax-exempt status of nonprofits deemed to be in violation. But critics insist the true aim is more insidious: to suppress organizations that are critical of Israel. Championed by lawmakers with deep ties to AIPAC, the bills, if passed, could pave the way for an unprecedented crackdown on dissent under the guise of national security.
Death In The Bekaa Valley
November 27, 2024
Craig Murray, Consortium News.
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Drones, Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Wars and Militarism, Zionism
On Thursday evening news came through that we had at long last gained the full list of approvals required to travel to report outside Beirut; we were cleared by the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Defence, and the local authorities.
Laith Marouf of Free Palestine TV called me and suggested we go down together on Friday to the southern capital of Nabatieh, which has been enduring heavy bombing.
I asked Laith to give me half an hour, and did some quick research. Nabatieh is about 12 miles from the Israeli border and has been devastated by Israeli bombing attacks. In the South of the country some 70,000 homes have been destroyed.
US To Deepen Footprint In Lebanon According To Ceasefire Plan
November 27, 2024
Sean Mathews and Josephine Deeb, Middle East Eye.
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Ceasefire, Israel, Lebanon, US Imperialism, US Intervention
The US is set to deepen its footprint in Lebanon as part of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
According to details of the agreement shared with Middle East Eye by current and former US and Arab officials, the 60-day ceasefire will see all Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanon in phases, with Hezbollah moving north of the Litani River.
The deal could be announced late on Tuesday and is broadly based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and was supposed to see the Lebanese army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) deployed to southern Lebanon.
US Response To ICC Netanyahu Warrant Could Deal Death Blow To International Law
November 27, 2024
Marjorie Cohn, Truthout.
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Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza, Genocide, International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel, Israeli war crimes, Palestine
The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) stunning issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity is a major game changer. After years of impunity, the chickens unleashed by Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza have finally come home to roost.
These charges against Netanyahu and Gallant are momentous. This is the first time the ICC has issued arrest warrants against an Israeli official for crimes against the Palestinian people. It is only the second time in its 22 years of existence that the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for someone who is not from the African continent.
Ukraine’s Leaders Discuss Continued War Against Russia
November 27, 2024
Dmitri Kovalevich, Orinoco Tribune.
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British imperialism, Donald Trump, Neocolonialism, Russia, Ukraine, US Imperialism, Volodymyr Zelensky
After Donald Trump’s election victory on November 5, the Ukrainian authorities and media are visibly concerned about a possible change of policy in Washington. During the recent presidential and Congress elections, US media close to the Democratic Party were full of scare stories that Trump and the Republican Party, if elected, would force Ukraine into negotiations and concessions with the Russian Federation.
The unelected, governing regime in Kiev is entirely dependent on Western powers for arms to pursue the war against Russia and for loans and investments to keep its economy afloat.
Mexico’s Leftist President Rips Trump Tariff Threat
November 27, 2024
Jake Johnson, Common Dreams.
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Donald Trump, Mexico, Pentagon Budget, Tariffs, US Foreign Policy
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday sharply criticized U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose a 25% tariff on all imported goods from Canada and Mexico, calling the proposal a potentially disastrous distraction from meaningful solutions to drug trafficking and mass migration.
"Migration and drug consumption in the United States cannot be addressed through threats or tariffs," Sheinbaum, a member of Mexico's leftist Morena party, wrote in a letter to Trump. "What is needed is cooperation and mutual understanding to tackle these significant challenges."
We Need A Care System That Treats Patients With Dignity
Earlier this year, I lost my dad to complications from diabetes. He was first admitted to the hospital two days before Thanksgiving of last year. Over the course of the next nine months, he suffered through 15 surgeries and 14 hospital stays.
In between those stays, he was shuffled between skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and board and care homes. While watching my dad’s decline in health, I learned the differences of what those terms meant in real-time as my family and I tried to navigate a complicated, and oftentimes unforgiving, health care system. All in all, he went to four separate hospitals and six outpatient facilities to receive his so-called “care.”
Israel’s genocide Day 416: Minimal Food Aid Allowed Into Gaza
November 26, 2024
Qassam Muaddi, Mondoweiss.
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Gaza, Hezbollah, Humanitarian Aid, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Wars and Militarism
Israel and Lebanon are very close to concluding a ceasefire deal, claimed Israeli reports on Monday, after two days of intense fire exchange between Hezbollah and the Israeli army over the weekend.
On Monday, the Israeli ambassador to the US told the Israeli army’s radio that Israel was close to reaching a ceasefire deal with Lebanon within days, while the Israeli minister of immigration told the same radio station that ceasefire talks with Lebanon reached advanced stages.
These Israeli reports came as the Israeli daily Israel Hayom reported that Netanyahu held a meeting with key ministers in his cabinet late on Sunday
Biden’s ‘Samson Option’
November 26, 2024
Patrick Lawrence, Consortium News.
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Foreign Policy, Joe Biden, Multipolar World, US Empire
It has been clear since the terror attacks in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001 — the date I choose to mark a great turn in the global order — that America’s abdication of its postwar hegemony was to rank high among the 21st century’s defining events.
The questions from that day onward have been how the policy cliques in Washington would respond to such a change in America’s place in the community of nations and what they might do — how great the risks they would take — to avoid, or at least forestall, this world-historical shift.
How chaotically or otherwise, to put this question another way, would the arrival of a new, post–American world order prove?
Students Who Protested Gaza Genocide Face Felony Mob Charges
November 26, 2024
Tara Goodarzi, Truthout.
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Freedom of Speech, Gaza, Illinois, Israel, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, State Repression
Pre-trial hearings for students who participated in a Gaza solidarity encampment in central Illinois last spring are being held on November 20 and December 4, 2024. The outcome of the four students’ trials will determine whether they will risk up to three years of incarceration on felony “mob action” charges for having exercised their free speech rights on campus.
The students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) — one of the largest public universities in the country — constructed an encampment known as the Popular University for Gaza in April 2024, after months of Israel’s relentless slaughter of Palestinians, mirroring dozens of other student-led sites across the United States.