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.
Last week during the Democratic Party’s annual convention in Chicago, the story wasn’t just about the speakers who took the stage. For all of the hoopla surrounding compelling speeches offered by Democratic Party brass including the Obamas, the Clintons, and the Vice President herself, all of this was overshadowed by who was not allowed to speak - Palestinian Americans and, in particular, the Uncommitted Delegate movement who secured over 700,000 protest votes against the Biden administration for their continued military support of the State of Israel and its ongoing genocide of the people of Gaza.
Human Rights Activist Sarah Wilkinson Arrested By UK Police
August 29, 2024
News Desk, The Cradle.
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Human Rights, Israel, Journalists, Palestine, Suppression, Terrorism Act, United Kingdom (UK)
British human rights activist and social media influencer Sarah Wilkinson was arrested by UK police on 29 August, reportedly over “content she posted online.”
“The police came to her house just before 7.30am. [Twelve] of them in total, some of them in plain clothes from the counter-terrorism police. They said she was under arrest for ‘content that she has posted online.’ Her house is being raided, and they have seized all her electronic devices," Jack Wilkinson is quoted as saying by the social media account Suppressed News.
“The pro-genocide UK regime has arrested [MENAUncensored's] roving reporter and Human Rights Activist Sarah Wilkinson for supporting the Palestinian resistance and relaying what is really happening in Gaza and the West Bank to the world,” MENA Uncensored announced.
Palestine Action Co-Founder Faces Charges Under Terrorism Act
August 29, 2024
Charlie Kimber, Socialist Worker.
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Israel, Palestine, Palestine Action, Palestine Solidarity, State Repression, Terrorism Act, United Kingdom (UK)
Labour home secretary Yvette Cooper is going to court to force through Tory anti-protest laws. And the government is presiding over a blizzard of repressive arrests, jailings and charges.
On Thursday Palestine Action announced that its co-founder Richard Barnard is facing three charges for two speeches. He is accused of supporting a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act and encouraging “criminal activity”.
On the same day counter-terrorism police re-raided one of the “Filton 10” Palestine activists’ addresses, over three weeks after they were first arrested. Cops arrested six of the Filton 10 on 6 August after they broke into the Israeli-owned arms research, development and manufacturing hub in Filton, Bristol.
Acclaimed Journalist Charged With ‘Anti-Semitism’
August 29, 2024
Joe Lauria, Consortium News.
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Australia, Genocide, Israel, Journalists, Media, Palestine, Suppression
For retweeting two tweets on X critical of Israel, famed Australian journalist Mary Kostakidis is facing charges of allegedly violating the country’s Racial Discrimination Act.
The complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission from Alon Cassuto, the CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia, highlights just two Kostakidis retweets from January this year, both of which contain a video of a speech by Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in which he allegedly called for the ethnic cleansing of Israel.
One of the retweets is from independent British journalist Richie Medhurst, who was arrested at Heathrow airport and held for nearly 24 hours under the U.K. Terrorism Act this month.
Selective Democracy: US Hegemony And Global Consequences
August 28, 2024
Erica Caines, Black Agenda Report.
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Democracy, Gaza, Joe Biden, US Foreign Policy, US Imperialism
The United States often claims to promote democracy and human rights, but its actions reveal a deeper agenda of spreading global hegemony, exposing the hypocrisy in its foreign policy. A glaring example is the Biden-Harris administration’s simultaneous rhetoric of humanitarian concern and unwavering support for Israel, despite the latter’s ongoing military actions in Gaza. This contradiction exposes the inauthenticity of the U.S.’s commitment to democratic principles and human rights, especially when these principles conflict with its strategic alliances.
In a recent convention speech, President Joe Biden embarked on what can only be described as a journey into an alternative universe of political guile.
The Slide Into Authoritarianism
August 28, 2024
John Kiriakou, Consortium News.
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Authoritarianism, Journalism, Press Freedom, Richard Medhurst, State Repression
All of us who care about civil liberties, civil rights, human rights and freedom of the press have had a front-row seat lately to a slide toward what can only be described as authoritarianism. The governments of the U.S., U.K. and even Canada have been working hard, sometimes in a coordinated fashion, to silence dissenting voices. The governments’ tactics have been heavy-handed, to say the least.
Most recently, journalist Richard Medhurst was arrested last week by British authorities. Richard, who is one of the loudest and most important voices in support of human rights for Palestinians, was arrested at Heathrow Airport.
Detaining a journalist is not terribly unusual in the U.K., unfortunately.
Update On The ICC Arrest Warrants For Benjamin Netanyahu And Yoav Gallant
August 28, 2024
David Kattenburg, Mondoweiss.
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Arrest Warrants, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza, Genocide, International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel, Palestine
It was a landmark ruling by the world’s supreme judicial body.
Israel’s 57-year occupation and colonial settlement of the Palestinian territories are unlawful, it must withdraw from the territories “as rapidly as possible,” and UN member states must hold Israel to account for its wrongful acts, the International Court of Justice declared last July 19, in The Hague, in a non-binding 12-3 vote.
Sometime this fall, across town, a 3-judge panel of a totally different court – the International Criminal Court (independent from the UN) – will issue one of two far more consequential rulings.
Israel Launches Largest Occupied West Bank Offensive Since Second Intifada
August 28, 2024
Fayha Shalash and Huthifa Fayyad, Middle East Eye.
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Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Israeli Occupying Forces, Palestine, Violence, West Bank
Israel launched its largest offensive on the occupied West Bank since the Second Intifada, attacking three cities - Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas - from land and air.
Drone strikes were reported in the three cities as troops opened fire at Palestinians on the ground, killing at least nine people, including seven in Tubas and two in Jenin, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The assault began just after midnight local time (21:00 GMT) after undercover Israeli soldiers entered the Jenin refugee camp and the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm.
In Tubas, Israeli troops arrived via military helicopters and led the assault there, particularly in the Far'a refugee camp, according to Israeli and Palestinian media.
Three Amigos No More?
August 28, 2024
Nick Corbishly, Naked Capitalism.
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Canada, Democracy, Diplomacy, Imperialism, Latin America, Mexico, United States
Just a week ago, we wagered that the US and Canadian embassies would soon begin piling pressure on Mexico as the outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (aka AMLO) seeks to pass sweeping constitutional reforms to its mining laws, energy laws and judicial system, among other things, in his last month in office. Just two days later, the US Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, sent a communique warning that the proposed judicial reforms could have serious consequences for the US’ trade relations with its biggest trade partner:
Based on my lifelong experience supporting the rule of law, I believe popular direct election of judges is a major risk to the functioning of Mexico’s democracy. Any judicial reform should have the right kinds of safeguards that will ensure the judicial branch will be strengthened and not subject to the corruption of politics.
The Biggest Military Base Empire On Earth
August 28, 2024
Greta Zarro, World Beyond War.
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Indigenous Peoples, US Foreign Bases, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism
The United States of America, unlike any other nation on Earth, maintains a massive network of foreign military bases around the world, more than 900 bases in more than 90 countries and territories. If the peace movement is serious about ending the United States’ and its allies’ warmaking, then this global constellation of bases must be curtailed.
The permanent stationing of more than 220,000 U.S. troops, weapons arsenals, and thousands of aircraft, tanks, and ships in every corner of the globe makes the logistics for U.S. aggression, and that of its allies, quicker and more efficient. Bases also facilitate the proliferation of nuclear weapons, with the United States keeping nuclear bombs in five NATO member countries, and nuclear-capable planes, ships, and missile launchers in many others.
‘Sustainable Square Mile’ Tests Power Of Biden’s Billions For Climate Justice
August 28, 2024
Adam Mahoney, In These Times.
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Child Poverty, climate crisis, Climate Justice, Joe Biden, Sustainability
Two days after a series of tornadoes ripped through Chicago’s South Side, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without electricity, Naomi Davis and Suzanne Waddell met in the front yard of Emmett Till’s childhood home to assess the damage. Fencing had been blown down. Their organization, Blacks in Green, founded by Davis in 2007, owns the historic landmark. It will open as a playhouse, community farm and museum in 2025, honoring the life the 14-year-old deserved to have. Even in 92-degree heat, people stopped by to take photos, a regular occurrence that reminds Davis of the larger duty marginalized people in America have “to remind each other of our greatness.”
‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 325: Ceasefire Talks Falter
August 27, 2024
Qassam Muaddi, Mondoweiss.
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Ceasefire, Gaza, Genocide, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Wars and Militarism
Lebanon’s foreign minister, Abdallah Abu Habib, urged the European Union to pressure Israel to end its attacks on Lebanon and comply with UN resolution 1701. The resolution calls for the full cessation of hostilities, the deployment of Lebanese forces to Southern Lebanon, the parallel withdrawal of Israeli forces behind the Blue Line, the strengthening of the UN force (UNIFIL) to facilitate the entry of Lebanese Forces into the region and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between the Blue Line and the Litani River.
The Lebanese minister reportedly made his remarks during a conversation with the EU chief diplomat, Joseph Borrell, on Monday.
Colonialism As A Bulwark Against China
August 27, 2024
Mick Hall, Consortium News.
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China, Colonialism, Pacific Island Forum, US Foreign Policy, US Imperialism
The 53rd annual Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), which opened Monday in Tonga, takes place amid a backdrop of simmering violence and confrontations between French security forces and protesters in New Caledonia that has so far left a dozen dead, as well as increased geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S. with its regional allies.
On the agenda are talks on the impact of climate change. But for the West, the political thrust of the gathering is keeping Pacific nations outside of China’s orbit and enmeshed instead in Western military architecture.
The five-day meeting, which runs until Friday, is being attended by the 18 leaders of strategically important islands and archipelagos spread across the vast Pacific Ocean, as well as think-tank analysts and politicians from sub-imperial countries like Australia and New Zealand who are sounding the alarm over the supposed dangers of “malign” Chinese influence in the region.
US Starts Another Round Of War Games In Korean Peninsula
August 27, 2024
Abdul Rahman, People's Dispatch.
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Military Exercises, North Korea, South Korea, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism
The US and South Korea began yet another military drill in the Korean Peninsula this week, further heightening the possibility of nuclear confrontation and threatening peace and stability in the region. The Ulchi Freedom Shield, as the exercise is called, allegedly aims to strengthen both countries’ joint “defense capabilities” against nuclear power North Korea, as stated by the spokespersons of both nations earlier this month.
France Slaps Telegram CEO With 12 Criminal Charges
August 27, 2024
News Desk, The Cradle.
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Censorship, France, Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Palestine, State Repression, Telegram
Telegram founder Pavel Durov is being held in custody by French authorities as part of a cyber-criminality investigation, the Paris prosecutor said in a statement on 26 August.
The Russian-born billionaire and founder of the popular messaging app was arrested upon landing in the French capital on Saturday evening.
The prosecutor’s statement mentioned 12 different offenses under investigation for “complicity” in organized crime, including illicit transactions, child pornography, fraud, and the refusal to disclose information to authorities.
The statement added that Durov’s time in custody had been extended and could now last until Wednesday.