speak-out against government harassment of activists, rochester, ny, september 27, 2010 – photograph by al brundage.

I heard Aisha’s story from her a few weeks before the image of her face was displayed all over the world. She told me that her father-in-law caught up with her after she ran away, and took a knife to … Continue reading →

As head of state, president Dilma Rousseff would outrank Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor, and Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State: her enormous country of 200 million people is revelling in its new oil wealth. Brazil’s growth rate, rivalling China’s, … Continue reading →

for all my friends who have asked me about kashmir. Maintaining bookmarks is a wonderful practice. But when one has to make a selection of 20 from hundreds of bookmarked items, not many of which you would remember anyway, it … Continue reading →

As part of a sting against anti-war activists suspected of connections to terrorism, on September 24 the FBI raided six homes in Minneapolis-St. Paul and elsewhere in the country. At the Hard Times Cafe in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, we interviewed … Continue reading →

ann wright spoke about “afghanistan: the need to dissent” yesterday here in rochester. she started her lecture with the FBI raids on the homes of american peace activists (they were looking for links to foreign terrorist organizations) and aafia siddiqui’s … Continue reading →

disgusting, disgusting, disgusting. americans have totally lost the moral high ground, nay the mere ability, to talk about justice anywhere in the world! Dr Aafia Siddiqui has been sentenced to 86 years of imprisonment by the federal court in Manhattan … Continue reading →

Industrialized nations, the source of most pollutants now warming the earth, have a clear responsibility for the flooding, and thus have a powerful additional reason, beyond ordinary human compassion, to give assistance. These are connections that count, and they have … Continue reading →

Google and Verizon want the FCC and Congress to allow media giants to transform wireless communications into a digital version of a bad cable TV package. Instead of a free and open Internet that will take Americans where they want … Continue reading →

Early this morning (September 22, 2010) an Israeli security guard working for the Silwan settlers shot and killed a Palestinian resident of Silwan and wounded two others, one seriously. Riots broke out in Silwan following the shooting and continue as … Continue reading →

interview with omar barghouti – everything that u ever wanted to know about BDS. More at The Real News

Too frequently ignored or overlooked in the great ground zero mosque debate is the attribution of irrational violence to Islam, which effectively subdues acknowledgment of the profound violence perpetrated by the American state (military intervention, police brutality, labor exploitation, torture, … Continue reading →

most interesting lecture by john mearsheimer. What about the Palestinians? I believe that the two-state solution is the best outcome for them as well as the Israelis. However, the Palestinians have little say in whether there will be two states … Continue reading →

this is dr finkelstein’s answer to my email wherein i asked him to clarify his stance on BDS: September 22, 2010 Thank you for requesting a clarification. IF the supporters of BDS stated clearly and unambiguously that their goal was … Continue reading →

To speak means to be in a position to use a certain syntax, to grasp the morphology of this or that language, but it means above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization. (Fanon)

Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and subsequent 22-year-long occupation has been the focus of three acclaimed Israeli films in recent years: Lebanon, Waltz with Bashir and Beaufort tell the story of this era from the perspective of the occupiers. Not one … Continue reading →

a summary of all the “disasters” in pakistan (natural and otherwise) by tariq ali. just heartbreaking… As if everyday life in Pakistan weren’t dispiriting enough, last month the swift and turbulent Indus burst its banks and swathes of the country … Continue reading →

sabra and shatila massacre (sept 16-18, 1982): Journalist Robert Fisk returns to the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon…

To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget. (Arundhati Roy) For 40 hours in September 1982, members of the Israeli-allied Lebanese Phalangist militia raped, killed, and … Continue reading →

Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germs of every other … In war, too, the discretionary power of the executive is extended and all the … Continue reading →

?When America goes to war, it is the poorer and less educated in society who are more likely to die in combat. Although Americans more generally might bemoan the casualty gap, they won’t exert themselves to close it. The reason … Continue reading →

a short documentary from israeli social tv with english subtitles: occupation or democracy?

Iraqis have reacted with disbelief and anger after their country agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to American victims of Saddam Hussein. The package, worth $400 million, will settle outstanding claims by US citizens who were … Continue reading →

pls sign this petition to ask pakistan’s president zardari not to build a monument to his dead wife for 1 billion rupees but rather spend the money on desperately needed flood relief (can’t believe one has to sign a petition … Continue reading →

The Cordoba House is not about religious freedom. It is about freedom. It is about the constitutional protection of our civil liberties. Not just the friends and families of those innocent lives that perished during the horrors of 9/11, but … Continue reading →

Feryal Ali Gauhar is a Pakistani actress, filmmaker, writer, human rights activist and the only UN Goodwill Ambassador who quit over the invasion of Iraq: “He actually mentioned to me that the River Indus, which is one of the largest … Continue reading →

excuse me while i get sick! This week, as flood waters ravage Pakistan’s land and 20 million of its people, and after Pakistan’s own president, Asif Ali Zardari, managed to muster only $58,000 of his own vast wealth to the … Continue reading →

The official probe of her death would later note that earlier she had been “reprimanded” for showing “empathy” for the prisoners. One of the most moving parts of the report, in fact, is this: “She said that she did not … Continue reading →

So a 91 year old man, his grandson and a friend of his were killed while tending to their livestock on their own farm, 700 metres from the border with Israel. Where is the clamour for justice? Where is the … Continue reading →

Fisk reported that a “very accurate source in Washington” in close contact with military personnel has confirmed “terrible stories of gang rape” by US forces at Abu Ghraib. The unnamed source told Fisk that images of women being raped were … Continue reading →

A community gathering to reflect on the tragedy of 9/11 and the state of civility in our country today. Presented and sponsored by the interfaith community of Rochester, supported by Nazareth College’s Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue. Community prayers … Continue reading →

norman finkelstein talked about “israel and palestine after the flotilla” at le moyne college, syracuse, on sept 16, 2010. 400 people attended the talk on a rainy thursday evening at 5pm! the times they are a changin’…

“Iraq has quietly agreed to pay $400 million in claims to American citizens who say they were tortured or traumatized by Saddam Hussein’s regime after his 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The controversial settlement ends years of legal battles and could … Continue reading →