Six More Years of Obama
By Margaret Kimberley | BAR | August 9, 2011
January 20, 2017 will be liberation day. That date will be the last day that Barack Obama can possibly be President of the United States. Assuming he will be reelected in 2012, his second term will end on Inauguration Day in 2017 and that will be a wonderful moment, even if his successor is a Republican.
If those words seem heretical, consider the following. Before Obama’s election, Social Security and Medicare were sacrosanct, safe from any political evil intent. George W. Bush’s legislative successes ended with his plans to “reform” Social Security. Bush took on Social Security and faced both tepid support from his own party and unified opposition from Democrats. The certainty of political support for these programs was such that they were often referred to as “the third rail of politics.”
Now the budget deal has made that once non-negotiable position as negotiable as anything else. The “super committee” which will make budgetary decisions away from the eyes and ears of public scrutiny, is under no obligation to support what ought to be completely off the budget cutting table.
Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi had this to say when asked about Social Security and Medicare. She would not “draw lines in the sand” regarding proposed cuts to entitlement programs. Her Senate colleague and partner in crime Harry Reid, had a similar response. He wanted to appoint committee members who had “open minds” and who were “willing to do entitlement cuts.”
When Reid was locked in a tough election last year, Democrats were mobilized to keep him in office, lest the Tea Party candidate emerge triumphant. It is now an open question as to whether or not his victory mattered at all to the progressive cause.
When the ruling class who hire and fire politicians chose a black Democrat to serve as president, they pulled off what can only be thought of as stroke of genius, the perfect crime if you will. Almost every aspect of what used to be solidly Democratic principles are now in question.
In just two years in office, Barack Obama has completely upended any and all expectations that Democrats have historically had. If a Democratic president can reverse decades of ideological discipline in such a short period of time, what more can happen between now and January 2017? The mania to follow what is now a worthless party affiliation should be seen for the hoax that it is.
While Obama was falsely thought of as the peace candidate in 2008, it must be pointed out that his democratic predecessors were as willing to wage war as Republicans were. Harry Truman is the only man to order atomic weapons dropped on human beings. John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were responsible for the carnage in Vietnam and throughout Southeast Asia. The war imperative in the Obama administration should come as no surprise, but his desire to eviscerate the welfare state is ground breaking, and in the worst sense of that term possible.
No matter how awful their overseas debacles and atrocities, no Democratic president ever declared on television that Social Security was originally meant to be only for “widows and orphans.” Those words are lies, and come straight from right wing talking points which have been used to attack government programs for decades.
In the next six years we can expect more of the same. We may not be able to predict the circumstances of the betrayals, but they will certainly take place. Obama will not be alone either. He will have plenty of help from Reid, Pelosi, and their ilk in congress.
A Republican president will automatically get some push back from the Democratic rank and file. If we hope for anything in our political future, it should be that Republicans ought to be elected president instead of Democrats. Progressives are only concerned with whether the letter D follows the candidates name instead of R. If the Democrat favors the social policies which excite them more than ideology does, then any other acts committed by said Democrat will be declared acceptable. If current trends continue, gay marriage will be legal but Social Security and Medicare will no longer exist and most Democrats will say nothing as long as the deed was carried out by one of their own.
The only hope comes from as yet unknown circumstances and forces that may stop the onslaught. For now, Obama’s chances for re-election are good (rich people have certainly not stopped putting money into his campaign coffers.) We can only hope for the damage to be limited and for time to pass quickly. The year 2017 can’t get here soon enough.
Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR.
Israeli official reprimands EU diplomats
Ma’an – August 8, 2011
TEL AVIV, Israel — European diplomats said the head of Israel’s National Security Council aggressively berated them for European policies towards Israel in a July political-security briefing, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Monday.
Yaakov Amidror was “aggressive, contemptuous and arrogant,” one of the ambassadors told Haaretz. “Some of the ambassadors were genuinely traumatized.”
The report said Amidror slammed the European Union for constantly criticizing Israel but refraining from condemning the Palestinians at the July 14 diplomatic event, saying that the EU was unable of being balanced.
Amidror urged the EU diplomats, “You need to speak more like Hillary Clinton and less like [Russian Foreign Minister] Sergey Lavrov,” the report said.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Haaretz reported, said Amidror “expressed his opinion at the forum of European Union ambassadors in a direct and candid manner, but he wasn’t insulting or patronizing as claimed.”
BBC & Travel Channel show ‘staged, false, fabricated and distorted’
Survival International | August 2, 2011
Matsigenka girls, Peru © G Shepard/ Survival
A TV series about an Amazonian tribe has been slammed as ‘staged, false, fabricated and distorted’ by experts on the tribe.
‘Mark & Olly: Living with the Machigenga’ was shown on the Travel Channel in the US, and on the BBC last year. In the show Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds lived in a Matsigenka Indian village for several months to show the ‘reality’ of life among the tribe.
But now two experts on the tribe have gone public with a string of highly damaging accusations. Dr. Glenn Shepard is an anthropologist who has worked with the Matsigenka Indians for 25 years and speaks their language fluently. Ron Snell, the son of US missionaries, grew up with the tribe and and is also fluent in the Matsigenkas’ tongue.
A Matsigenka hunter returns with wild pig.© G Shepard/ Survival
Just some of Shepard’s accusations, published in the highly-respected journal Anthropology News, are:
• In order to present a ‘false and insulting’ portrayal of the tribe as sex-obsessed, mean and savage, many of the translations of what the Indians are saying are fabricated.
• Many events presented as real in the show must have been ‘staged’.
• A key scene in the show in which Olly is subjected to painful ant stings, since “according to Matsigenka tradition he must be cleansed” and “endure the ancient punishments” for buying deer meat is denounced by Shepard as ‘fabricated and [with] no basis in ethnography.’
Ron Snell, in an article on his blog, accused the film-makers of ‘paying the Machiguengas to perform for them, saying things the Machiguengas wouldn’t ordinarily say and doing things the Machiguengas wouldn’t normally do.’
After interviewing two of the Indians in the series, Snell reported, ‘Our suspicions were correct. They [Mark and Olly] entered the village on a well traveled path and only veered a few feet off the path to film themselves ‘hacking their way through the jungle.’ They contracted someone to make new cushmas [cotton tunics] so everyone would be wearing one. They staged the whole drama about one of the guys being accepted and the other treated as a lazy outsider…
‘The translator quickly became disillusioned with the whole thing, but kept going because of the money. He is ashamed and embarrassed that he had anything to do with it.’
The series was previously at the centre of a media storm when a scouting expedition for the show was accused in Peru of provoking a flu epidemic among isolated Indians which caused the deaths of four of them. The show was eventually filmed a short distance from this incident.
The Matsigenka were repeatedly mistranslated in the series © Cicada
Cicada, the production company responsible for the series, has made no comment on the accusations.
Stephen Corry, Director of Survival, said, ‘‘Mark & Olly: Living with the Machigenga’ was a depressing example of the way tribal people are routinely portrayed on TV. One stereotype followed another, with the Matsigenka variously portrayed as callous, perverted, cruel, and savage. Is this what the film crew really thought of those whose guests they were? Broadcasters wouldn’t dare to make similarly false claims about other such minority groups: imagine the same descriptions applied to any ethnic minority in the industrialized world. Sadly this is all too common – TV is now getting away with portrayals which wouldn’t be out of place in the Victorian era.’
In response to a worrying trend to portray tribal peoples in a negative manner, Survival is drawing up a code of practice for documentary makers to follow when filming with them.
A background briefing with further examples of mistranslations and inaccuracies in the show is available to download here.
Note to Editors:
1. The tribe’s name is today usually spelt Matsigenka. Previously, Machiguenga was more common. Machigenga, as used in the Mark and Olly TV show, is incorrect.
2. Dr. Glenn Shepard is an ethnobotanist and medical anthropologist who specializes in the indigenous peoples of the Amazon. He has published more than 50 scientific papers and is currently a researcher in Indigenous Ethnology at the Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi in Belém, Brazil.
3. Ron Snell grew up with the Matsigenka, where his parents were missionaries. He is the author of several books about his childhood there, and still visits the area regularly. He is now the director of a homeless people’s shelter in Nebraska, USA. His mother, who has also watched the series and corroborates the accusations, is the author of a 900-page Matsigenka dictionary.
4. A longer version of Dr. Shepard’s article can be found on his blog: ethnoground.blogspot.com
Related article
- ‘Noble Savages’: Chagnon’s new book triggers resignation and protests (alethonews.wordpress.com)
The War on You
By Michael Collins | The Money Party | July 31, 2011
Let the word go forth from Washington! The corporate rulers occupying our nation’s capital have declared war on just about every citizen.
Have no doubt: those in the upper ranges of the top 1% of wealth in this country (aka The Money Party) want to kick you to the curb.
They want to reduce your social security and make you go broke paying for medical care.
They want to lower your wages and trash your retirement.
They ignore the clear facts that we’ve had negative job growth since 2000 and the situation is just getting worse.
They want to ship jobs, factories, and entire businesses overseas and give companies that do that a big fat tax credit for doing so.
They’ve been given so much for nothing for so long. Now, they’re ready to take it all. It’s their time!
The most recent assault is the ridiculous debate about raising the debt ceiling. There should be no debate. Failing to raise the ceiling right now means deliberate default on debts, refusing to pay bills the government can pay. It’s called fraud.
The pressing need to fix the budget is a separate issue. Reduced spending and increased revenues should come through broad public involvement and open debate. It mandates that the rulers behave like adults.
But this crisis isn’t about putting together a real budget. It’s about creating a budget that punishes you, your family, and friends. It’s about taking your attention away from your vital interests to maximize income and control by The Money Party.
Were the leaders on either side of the debate serious, the Bush era tax cuts would be rescinded. These cuts on the top 1% were temporary. Guess what? Congress lied. When the temporary tax breaks ran out a few months ago, they were revived and renewed just when we had the greatest need for revenues.
The Money Party won’t give up its wars either. Iraq and Afghanistan have added $4 trillion to the national debt of $14 trillion. Why not stop the wars? How hard is that to figure that out?
Getting rid of Bush tax cuts for the super-rich, ending the wars, and moving out of the recession/depression would be huge steps toward balancing the budget. But that won’t happen with this Congress and this president. Why? That would cost the financial elite money for taxes and lost income for all those weapons they sell to support the wars.
The Attack on You Began in Earnest Just Years Ago
Congress repealed Depression era banking regulation that kept your banks from risky investments in 1999.
Congress enacted legislation in 2000 that allowed extremely risky investments in real estate and other derivatives, illegal for nearly a century.
In 2001, the big banks and Wall Street celebrated its newly purchased freedoms with a decade-long binge of fraud and risky investments. Like a greedy con artist, they took everything they could from people here and around the world until there was no more to take. We have now hit the wall thanks to them.
The outrageous expenses of wars based on lies caught up with us and shoved the deficit to new heights. The tax cuts for the top 1% took away revenues needed to balance the budget.
The money they steal from the Social Security surplus is no longer enough. They want to keep the tax in place for us and take an even bigger rake-off.
This crisis is manufactured by the ongoing greed of The Money Party. It is funded by the US Treasury. You pay for it, all of it.
Dutch Islamophobe Geert Wilders reaffirms Norway killer’s goals but rejects methods
By Ali Abunimah – The Electronic Intifada – 07/26/2011
Dutch politician, and leading European Islamophobe Geert Wilders says Anders Breivik, who perpetrated the massacre of dozens of people in Norway is actually inspired by Al Qaeda.
And, while rejecting the massacre of innocents in Norway, Wilders affirms his support for the “anti-Islamization” to which the killer was committed.
Wilders says the Norway massacre must not be allowed to discredit the broader anti-Muslim campaign in Europe, which the “Freedom Party” Wilders leads has spearheaded.
The Dutch politician, whose party supports his country’s ruling coalition in parliament, has been in the spotlight as a result of the attack. The perpetrator of the Norway massacre, Anders Breivik cited Wilders’ anti-Muslim views extensively and approvingly in his manifesto explaining that he carried out the massacre to spark a “civil war” to rid Europe of Muslims.
In a Dutch-language statement on the website of the Freedom Party (known by its Dutch initials PVV), Wilders wrote:
The brutal murders a few days ago of dozens of innocent Norwegian citizens has deeply shocked the PVV. We mourn and stand with the Norwegian people who have have been struck with this enormous blow.
Wilders forcefully rejected any responsibility that his hate-filled anti-Muslim propaganda could have inspired the killer and instead sought to cast the blame back on Muslims, writing:
The manifesto of the perpetrator makes clear that this is a madman. He wants to work with Al Qaeda (which he cherishes great admiration for)…
He then goes on to state that Breivik’s act must not be allowed to discredit his anti-Muslim campaign:
Neither the PVV nor I are responsible for a lone idiot who twisted and violently abused freedom-loving anti-Islamization ideals, no matter how much some people would like that. We are democrats at heart. The PVV has never, ever called for violence and will never do. We believe in the power of the ballot box and the wisdom of the voter. Not bombs and guns. We fight for a democratic and nonviolent means against the further Islamisation of society and will continue to do so. The preservation of our freedom and security is our only goal.
It seems impossible to imagine a politician in any European democracy speaking openly of “freedom-loving anti-Semitic ideals” or “freedom-loving anti-Jewish ideals” yet Wilders’ words indicate just how acceptable this kind of sentiment has become when directed at Muslims.
And, despite his affirmations that he doesn’t support violence, Wilders has been the leading European supporter of violent Israeli settlers, bent on expelling Palestinians from the occupied West Bank by any means necessary. Last year Wilders spoke at a conference of Israeli settler leaders who advocate following Israel’s violent colonization of Palestinian land in violation of international law with formal annexation of the territory.
Along with becoming an iconic figure for European and American Islamophobes, Wilders has been a leading force in the Dutch government’s shift to embrace Israel’s extreme right-wing government.
Rahm Emanuel: Chicago’s War Criminal/Anti-Labor Mayor
By Stephen Lendman | July 19, 2011
Except for Harold Washington’s 1983 – 1987 tenure until his untimely death, Chicago never had populist mayors, notably under father Richard J. (April 20, 1955 – December 20, 1976) and son Richard M. Daley (April 24, 1989 – May 16, 2011).
However, after two months in office, Emanuel looks likely to be Chicago’s worst, based on policy initiatives he supports.
As White House chief of staff, he was criminally part of Obama’s war cabinet. As Chicago’s mayor, he’s waging it against labor.
Candidate Emanuel, in fact, promised draconian anti-worker cuts “in attacking our budget deficit, (so) there must be no sacred cows…. Chicago will have to make tough choices, (forcing) more than $500 million in efficiencies” on the backs of working Chicagoans already struggling to get by when they need help, not greater sacrifices they can’t afford.
No matter, slash and burn now is policy, including layoffs, wage freezes, and benefit cuts, notably targeting healthcare and pensions. Then in June, Emanuel rescinded a contractual 4% raise owed 30,000 teachers, indicating the same policy would follow for other Chicago Public Schools (CPS) employees as part of his war on public education and Chicago workers.
In late June, it continued with 1,000 teachers fired, besides 4,000 since 2009, school closures, larger class sizes, and other draconian measures. Reassigned teachers retain salaries and benefits for one year as “interim” substitute staff. If not kept after 10 months, they’re “honorabl(y) terminated.”
In other words, fired, no matter their qualifications, tenure, or student needs. In fact, many other teachers were sacked without temporary pay or benefits, according to union officials, who have little to boast about after endorsing Illinois Senate Bill 7 (SB 7).
Its provisions include using standardized tests to fire teachers, regardless of seniority, tenure, qualifications, or how students respond to effective classroom practices, what rote memory tests can’t measure. It also lets school districts increase hours per day, and add extra school weeks, with no additional compensation. In addition, teacher strikes are prohibited until after four months of negotiations plus a special arbitration panel’s ruling.
Even then, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) must give 10 days notice backed by 75% of its members to approve a walkout. In other words, SB 7 empowers state and city authorities over their right to demand equity or walk out.
At the same time, CPS executives got salary increases up to 30% over their predecessors. Emanuel’s new CPS head, Jean-Claude Brizard, earns $250,000 plus a 15% incentive package. Earlier as Rochester, New York public schools superintendent, 95% of teachers deplored his policies in office.
Moreover, he’s named in two federal lawsuits regarding improper handling of budget cuts and school closures. Earlier, he attended the notorious Superintendents’ Academy of the Broad Center for the Management of School Systems, founded by corporate predator Eli Broad to train administrators on restructuring and privatizing public education at the expense of educating kids.
Nonetheless, Emanuel wants him to replicate what he did in Rochester. Elizabeth Swanson is his deputy chief of staff, formerly (billionaire Penny) Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation executive director.
It advocates merit pay, school privatizations, and other regressive policies supported by Arne Duncan, former CPS head. He’s now Obama’s Education Secretary, appointed to wreck public education nationwide through his Race to the Top scheme, linking federal funding to compliance with retrograde federal standards. They mandate:
— open-ended conversion of public schools to charter or for-profit ones;
— running them by marketplace rules;
— requiring state laws conform with federal ones;
— linking teacher pay to student achievement as determined by standardized tests that measure rote memory, not real learning or preparation for higher education;
— destroying unions and teacher benefits;
— empowering bureaucrats over parents to decide what’s best for their children;
— creating a two-tiered, class and income-based system, favoring affluent communities over poor ones, denying poor kids real education and a chance for a better future; and
— destroying public education by creating another business profit profit center.
Emanuel plans more of it for Chicago, including weakening collective bargaining and teachers’ right to strike, the same core issues Wisconsin state workers tried and so far failed to save, perhaps heading for the chopping block in Chicago.
In fact, Emanuel explained:
“As we (prohibit strikes by) police and firefighters, I would have it for teachers because they provide an essential service.”
Of course, so do all public and private workers, entitled to rights like everyone, including to bargain collectively and strike if treated inequitably.
Since taking office, however, Emanuel waged war on Chicago workers, implementing austerity like Obama’s doing nationally at a time massive stimulus is needed.
Sworn in on May 16, his 25-minute address mimicked Obama, calling for “shar(ing) the necessary sacrifices fairly and justly.” In other words, make working Chicagoans sacrifice so corporate interests and city elites share, the same cancer metastasizing across America, destroying an earlier time long gone.
Saying “Chicago is ready for change,” he omitted hard truths he began implementing on the backs of struggling working households. They need help, not greater hardships with lots more coming to close a $700 million budget gap and resolve $14.6 billion in underfunded pension liabilities perhaps by expunging them and cheating retirees.
While campaigning, in fact, he told city unions he planned pension cuts for all city employees, privatizations of many city services, selling Chicago incrementally to corporate favorites, and restructuring of revenue, finance, fleet management, and general service systems.
Prioritized is:
— downsizing government;
— slashing the city’s $6.15 billion budget;
— cutting management payrolls by 10% by merging departments;
— laying off city workers;
— privatizing city services, including public education more intensively;
— ending past social reforms;
— deregulation;
— encouraging private investment through tax breaks;
— getting tougher on crime by reassigning 1,000 police to city streets, including hundreds to poor neighborhoods to harass Blacks and Latinos;
— improving Chicago’s business climate in collaboration with complicit unions, betraying their rank and file for a seat at the table plus high salaries, excellent benefits, and generous perks.
On July 15, Emanuel announced laying off 625 city workers. Affected are custodians, water department call center operators, and transportation department seasonal workers.
He also announced new privatizations. In addition, cost-cutting work rules are being discussed with union bosses, including unpaid days off, paid holidays reduced from 12 to nine, and new hoisting engineer wage differentials, based on machines they operate.
Other work rules he wants implemented include:
— paying workers time-and-a-half for overtime instead of double;
— paying regular, not extra wages for prep time;
— a standard 40-hour week for all city employees, replacing 35 hours for some;
— regardless of union affiliation, workers doing the same job will get no wage differential;
— salaried employees will get the same number of sick days and holidays as hourly ones;
— rate differences for driving different vehicles or operating various non-vehicular equipment will be eliminated;
— workers alone on a truck paid no more than as part of a crew; and
— union apprenticeship cost saving programs will be enhanced.
Moreover, city workers no longer will provide airport and library custodial services. Private companies will replace them at greater cost.
In addition, seasonal transportation department workforces will be cut 75%. As a result, 61 fewer blocks of curb and gutter improvements will be made, as well as 76 fewer sidewalk blocks repaired.
Henceforth, a professional benefits management company, not public staff, will handle city benefit services at greater cost to the city and taxpayers.
Chicago’s water bill call center will also be privatized, again at greater cost.
Overall, hundreds of city workers will be sacked to allegedly save millions of dollars. In fact, costs will be increased, not cut, making Chicagoans pay for privatized services public workers can do as well cheaper.
According to American Federation of State, County and Municipal (AFSCME) Council 31 executive director Henry Bayer:
“Mayor Emanuel’s announced intention to lay off 625 employees will diminish the availability and quality of city services on which Chicago residents depend. It will also” increase already high city unemployment.
“We are surprised and disappointed at (his) scattershot approach to the city’s budget shortfall. We are particularly disappointed that most of his bullets are aimed at frontline employees who do the real work of city government.”
“Contrary to (his) claim, neither he nor his representatives have ever made any attempt to meet with our union to negotiate changes to work rules….If the mayor were serious about (instituting positive changes), he would have taken the appropriate measures to engage in such discussions.” Not doing so shows “blaming union work rules for (Chicago’s) massive deficit is mere public relations gimmickry.”
“In that spirit, we call on the Mayor to rescind his layoff threat and work collaboratively to reduce costs while protecting city services and jobs.”
In fact, AFSCME, CTU, and other city union bosses collaborate with city management, furthering their own interests over rank-and-file members they pretend to represent. As a result, Bayer’s statement rings hollow, common practice to make workers think he’s on their side when, in fact, he and other union heads fall short.
In Chicago, Illinois and across America, government and corrupted union bosses collaborate against workers, agreeing on wage freezes, benefit cuts, and layoffs, making already dire conditions worse.
As a result, harder than ever hard times deepen to assure corporate favorites and wealthy elites benefit at the expense of troubled working households being scammed.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
Denying Palestinian Children Education
By Stephen Lendman | July 20, 2011
In July 2011, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) issued a new report titled, “Education Denied: Israel’s Systematic Violation of Palestinian Children’s Right to Education,” even though it’s a fundamental human right.
It involves progressively developing children as individuals and responsible citizens. It’s key in helping them “raise their standard of living, and (be able to further their) economic, social and cultural development and growth of society.”
PCHR’s report addresses Israeli policies that affect primary education achievement for all Palestinians by 2015.
International law recognizes the right to education for everyone, including Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) stating:
“The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education….(It) shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups,” as well as advance activities for peace.
Fourth Geneva’s Article 50 states:
“The Occupying Power shall, with the cooperation of the national and local authorities, facilitate the proper working of all institutions devoted to the education of children.”
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) calls it an indispensable human right, essential to include the following features:
— Availability in proper, well-functioning, educational institutions;
— Accessibility to everyone without discrimination or unaffordability;
— Acceptability in terms of substance and quality; and
— Adaptability to reflect the needs of changing societies.
“The best interests of (students) must always be the primary consideration.”
Various other core international law provisions affirm that “basic learning needs of all children….be satisfied.” Primary responsibility falls on State Parties, obligated to respect, protect, and fulfill “positive measures to enable and assist individuals and communities to enjoy the right to education.”
As an occupying power, Israel is obligated by law to provide and encourage proper education for everyone. Nonetheless, it systematically denies Palestinian children the right to primary (and secondary) education. Its quality and accessibility are hampered by:
— military operations;
— physical safety issues;
— home demolitions and forced displacements;
— school overcrowding;
— too few facilities;
— many in disrepair;
— lack of teaching materials; and
— deteriorating children’s mental health, living in a violent environment.
In addition, basic rights for all besieged Gazans are denied or severely restricted, including for school children to be properly educated. Earlier from 2000 – 2004, Israeli attacks destroyed 73 educational institutions. During Cast Lead, public and private schools were deliberately targeted, damaged or destroyed.
Afterwards, Israel banned construction materials to prevent rebuilding, a policy still largely in force. As a result, “82 per cent of (damaged) Gaza schools (haven’t) been repaired due to the lack of reconstruction materials.” As a result, quality and accessibility of education to all students have been severely compromised.
Frequent Israeli incursions also jeopardize children’s safety. Moreover, they and schools are “consistently targeted by Israeli forces….Instances of killing and wounding of children at school have been recorded,” as well as educational facilities closed following military attacks.
In fact, schools in Gaza’s “buffer zone” near Israel face frequent sniper and other attacks, targeting Palestinians (including children) in so-called restricted areas. In 2010, five children were killed, another 44 wounded. As of April 2011, three children were killed, another 10 injured.
As a result, trauma, anxiety, and lack of concentration affect student performance, worried more about safety than learning. Isolation, an electricity crisis, unsafe water, and lack of basic necessities exacerbate conditions further.
East Jerusalem also faces a chronic classroom shortage at all levels. As a result, a February 8, 2010 memo from Deputy Attorney General Yehudit Karp to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said Israel’s failure to fulfill its legal obligations causes “disastrous consequences for the education system in East Jerusalem.”
Overall, around 5,300 students aren’t enrolled in any educational institution. Israel has done nothing to alleviate the problem or reduce the high dropout rate, “notably in the post-elementary educational cycle.”
West Bank performance also is unsatisfactory. In 2009, PA Ministry of Education and Higher Education standardized tests showed:
— only 43% of fourth-graders passed math;
— 66.7% passed Arabic; and
— 45.8% passed science.
PCHR noted that today’s tragic situation is easily reversed and preventable. Only the international community’s failure to hold Israel accountable prevents it. “This is not acceptable….Palestinian children’s fundamental right to education (must be) ensured, and their future(s) protected.”
A Final Comment
A new B’Tselem report titled, “No Minor Matter: Violation of the Rights of Palestinian Minors by Israel on Suspicion of Stone-Throwing” discusses another issue affecting hundreds of persecuted children.
From 2005 through 2010, “at least 835 Palestinian minors were arrested and tried in military courts – not for vandalism, arson, robbery, rape or murder, for alleged stone-throwing. Thirty-four were aged 12 – 13, 255 aged 14 – 15, and 546 aged 16 -17.
All except one were convicted. Due process and judicial fairness are nonstarters. Children are illegally treated like adults in violation of international law, including:
Article 37(b) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) stating:
“The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child…shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.”
However, Israeli military orders systematically violate international law provisions, norms and standards, operating extrajudicially with regard to arrests, interrogations, detentions, treatment, family member visitation rights, and legal representation, even for minors aged 10 or younger.
Even though Israel established a West Bank Military Youth Court in November 2009, serious violations of children’s rights continue.
B’Tselem interviewed 50 minors for its report, obtaining information from their arrest to release. Numerous rights violations were revealed, including:
— soldiers arrested 30 minors at home in the middle of the night;
— parents weren’t allowed to accompany them or know details of their detention;
— three were interrogated the same night; 19 the next morning; three that afternoon; and two five days later;
— only three got enough sleep prior to questioning; five said soldiers woke them if they dozed off;
— 19 said they were threatened and treated violently;
— 23 were denied basic functions, including going to the bathroom, eating and drinking;
— most children arrested were detained without bail until proceedings against them concluded; as a result, most (like adults) accept a plea bargain, pleading guilty to lesser charges (whether or not culpable for any) for shorter sentences; otherwise, they could be kept in jails or prison for long periods pre-trial, exacting a terrible toll;
— military courts impose incarceration in lieu of alternative punishments, in violation of international law.
In fact, 93% of minors convicted of stone-throwing were imprisoned for a few days to 20 months. Nineteen were 13 or younger even though Israeli law prohibits incarceration of children under age 14. Their only relief was shorter sentences when, in fact, stone-throwing, at most, is a misdemeanor, warranting nothing more than a reprimand, regardless of age.
Israel, however, convicted them lawlessly for being Muslims in a Jewish state. Most were denied family visitations, telephone privileges, and availability of educational services other than a few subjects inadequately, denying their ability to learn and be promoted.
Few Israeli officials involved in security and judicial procedures called for reforming brazen practices, infringing the rights of minors, even though Israel is obligated under international law to do so.
In fact, Principle 1 of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child states:
“Every child, without exception whatsoever, shall be entitled to (fundamental human and civil) rights, without distinction or discrimination on account of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, whether of himself or of his (or her) family.”
Israel, however, spurns all international laws, norms and standards, doing what it damn pleases extrajudicially because world leaders don’t hold it accountable. As a result, Palestinians chafe grievously under the yoke of its repression.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
Ron Paul condemns U.S. regime change promotion in Belarus or in “any other sovereign nation”
Statement on H.R. 515, the Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2011
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the “Belarus Democracy Act” reauthorization. This title of this bill would have amused George Orwell, as it is in fact a US regime-change bill. Where does the United States Congress derive the moral or legal authority to determine which political parties or organizations in Belarus — or anywhere else — are to be US-funded and which are to be destabilized? How can anyone argue that US support for regime-change in Belarus is somehow “promoting democracy”? We pick the parties who are to be supported and funded and somehow this is supposed to reflect the will of the Belarusian people? How would Americans feel if the tables were turned and a powerful foreign country demanded that only a political party it selected and funded could legitimately reflect the will of the American people?
I would like to know how many millions of taxpayer dollars the US government has wasted trying to overthrow the government in Belarus. I would like to know how much money has been squandered by US government-funded front organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute, Freedom House, and others meddling like the old Soviet Union in the internal politics of a country that has neither threatened nor attacked the United States. It the arrogance of our foreign policy establishment that leads to this kind of schizophrenic legislation, where we demand that the rest of the world bend to the will of US foreign policy and we call it “democracy.” We wonder why we are no longer loved and admired overseas.
Finally, I strongly object to the sanctions that this legislation imposes on Belarus. We must keep in mind that sanctions and blockades of foreign countries are considered acts of war. Do we need to continue war-like actions against yet another country? Can we afford it?
I wish to emphasize that I take this position not because I am in support of the regime in Belarus, or anywhere else. I take this position because it is dangerous folly to be the nation that arrogates to itself the right to determine the leadership of the rest of the world. As we teeter closer to bankruptcy, it should be more obvious that we need to change our foreign policy to one of constructive engagement rather than hostile interventionism. And though it scarcely should need to be said, I must remind my colleagues today that we are the U.S. House of Representatives, and not some sort of world congress. We have no constitutional authority to intervene in the wholly domestic affairs of Belarus or any other sovereign nation.
Tip of the hat to The Passionate Attachment
BBC hides royal wedding coverage costs
Press TV – June 7, 2011
The BBC has used a “controversial exemption” in Britain’s regulations to avoid revealing the astronomical costs of the royal wedding coverage and the number of complaints it received on the day.
British anti-monarchy campaign group Republic hit out at the broadcaster for resorting to the exception in the Freedom of Information Act saying it is going to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office to lift the exemption.
“The BBC has been widely criticised for misjudging the level of interest in the royal wedding and was predicted to receive an unprecedented number of complaints about its non-stop, wall-to-wall coverage,” Republic said on its website.
The group said the BBC allocated “vast sums of resources” to the royal wedding while “other areas of the corporation’s output had fallen victim to funding cuts”.
“Over a thousand staff were reportedly sent to cover the wedding, more than five times the number of commercial rival Sky,” Republic said.
The Freedom of Information Act allows the BBC to withhold information that is related to “journalism, art or literature” but the state broadcaster’s insistence on keeping the royal wedding costs secret has raised concerns that it has gone out of its way to accredit a monarchy many people do not bother about.
“The only conclusion we can draw is that the BBC has something very embarrassing to hide. There is a very significant public interest in knowing how licence fee-payers’ money is spent, particularly when it comes to highly controversial issues such as the monarchy,” Republic’s campaign manager Graham Smith said.
Smith also said the broadcaster’s royal wedding coverage is under question as its attitude toward the event has reportedly angered many of the people who pay license fees to keep the corporation running.
“An exemption introduced to protect the independence of the BBC was not intended to shield the corporation from legitimate scrutiny. The BBC must be seen to be impartial and must be seen to be making appropriate decisions based on viewer feedback. If tens of millions of pounds of licence fee payers’ money was spent on the wedding, if thousands of viewers lodged complaints about the BBC’s coverage, clearly the licence fee payer has the right to know,” he said.
Smith went on to attack the BBC for turning into the public relations apparatus for the monarchy.
“Throughout its royal wedding coverage the BBC let itself be co-opted into the Palace PR machine. It’s time for the BBC to come clean, admit its mistake and move toward more objective and proportionate coverage of royal events,” he added.
This comes as Republic had earlier warned in another article on its website that the BBC did not present an impartial picture of the event to the public.
“While we accept that the royal wedding is a news story that the BBC, and other broadcasters, need to report, we believe the degree, style and substance of the BBC’s coverage is biased in favour of the monarchy,” the campaign group said.
Featured Video
The Empire Enters the Cocaine Trade
or go to
Aletho News Archives – Video-Images
Book Summary
The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food
Lies Are Unbekoming | January 20, 2026
Soybeans generate approximately $80 million annually in mandatory producer assessments alone, funding a marketing apparatus that has transformed an industrial commodity into one of America’s most trusted “health foods.” The campaign succeeded. Soy milk lines supermarket shelves beside dairy. Soy protein fortifies everything from infant formula to energy bars. Vegetarians rely on tofu and tempeh as dietary staples. Doctors recommend soy to menopausal women. School lunch programs serve soy-based meat substitutes to children. An estimated 60 percent of processed foods contain soy derivatives. The premise underlying this proliferation—that Asians have thrived on soy for millennia and that modern science validates its health benefits—has been repeated so often it functions as established fact.
Kaayla T. Daniel’s The Whole Soy Story dismantles this premise through systematic examination of the scientific literature. The book documents that traditional Asian soy consumption averaged roughly one tablespoon daily, consumed as fermented condiments after processing methods that neutralized inherent toxins—a pattern bearing no resemblance to American consumption of industrially processed soy protein isolate, soy flour, and soy oil. Daniel catalogs the antinutrients that survive modern processing (protease inhibitors, phytates, lectins, saponins), the toxic compounds created by industrial methods (nitrosamines, lysinoalanine, hexane residues), and the heavy metals concentrated in soy products (manganese, aluminum, fluoride, cadmium). She traces the mechanisms by which soy isoflavones—plant estrogens present at pharmacologically significant levels—disrupt thyroid function, impair fertility, and interact with hormone-sensitive cancers. The evidence emerges from peer-reviewed journals, FDA documents, and industry sources themselves.
The stakes extend beyond individual dietary choices. Infants fed soy formula receive isoflavone doses equivalent to several birth control pills daily, with blood concentrations 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than their natural estrogen levels. Soy protein isolate—the ingredient in formula, protein bars, and thousands of products—has never received GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status; its only pre-1960s use was as an industrial paper sealant. Two senior FDA scientists formally protested their own agency’s approval of soy health claims, citing evidence of thyroid damage and reproductive harm. The Honolulu Heart Program found that men consuming tofu twice weekly showed accelerated brain aging and increased dementia. These findings have not penetrated public awareness because the institutions responsible for consumer protection have been compromised by the industry they regulate. The Whole Soy Story presents the evidence that has been systematically excluded from mainstream health messaging, enabling readers to evaluate for themselves what the soy industry prefers they never learn. … continue
Blog Roll
Recent Comments
seversonebcfb985d9 on French court jails pro-Palesti… eddieb on Fourteen Incredible Facts Abou… Bill Francis on European leaders’ shift in the… seversonebcfb985d9 on Villains of Judea: Philip Esfo… loongtip on Report warns that ‘Jewish terr… Craig Nelms on New study shows that toxic gas… loongtip on A Funny Thing Happened on the… loongtip on EU free trade pact on hold as… John Edward Kendrick on Regime Change In Iran Is The F… Bill Francis on Australia Passes New Hate Spee… seversonebcfb985d9 on Australia Passes New Hate Spee… Bill Francis on Britain’s AI Policing Plan Tur…
Aletho News- Germany to build 10GW of baseload gas plants (disguised as “future” hydrogen plants)
- French court jails pro-Palestine activist and mother over Gaza genocide speech
- Shot, amputated, and imprisoned: Palestinian man seeks to rebuild life after being maimed and tortured by Israeli forces
- Building Disney Land on the Moon More Likely than Kushner’s Gaza Plan
- U.S. Funds Continue to Flow to Ecuadorian Groups Despite Trump-Era Suspension
- A pro-EU regime is moving to suppress this proud nation. Will they be able to withstand it?
- US-Russia Arms Control May Face ‘Very Dark Period’ – Scott Ritter
- Israel moves to restrict Palestinian re-entry to Gaza, ‘encourage outflow’: Report
- Trump aims to create new UN and own it, Brazil’s Lula warns
- UN rapporteur says Israeli demolition of UNRWA compound reflects broader attack on UN system
- If Americans Knew
- Israeli drone strike kills two children collecting firewood in Gaza – Not a ceasefire Day 107
- Another Gaza baby freezes to death on Netanyahu’s watch – Not a ceasefire Day 106
- Oppose Israel’s Abuses While You Still Can
- UNRWA Heads Tell Ha’aretz: ‘We Don’t Radicalize Palestinians – Their Lived Existence Does’
- Plans Call for “New Rafah” Built in Israel’s Image — Without Palestinians
- Posing as priest, reporter is spat at many times, highlighting anti-Christian sentiment in Israel
- Leaked Documents: “Planned Community” in Rafah Would Force Palestinians Into Israeli Panopticon
- ‘Permits of Humiliation’: How Israel Strangles Christian Education in Jerusalem
- “The world sees death, destruction and injustice – and they see dollar signs” – Not a ceasefire Day 105
- War criminal Netanyahu kills 11 in Gaza, joins Board of Peace – Not a ceasefire Day 104
- No Tricks Zone
- Germany’s Natural Gas Crisis Escalates … One Storage Site Near Empty …Government Silent
- Polar Colding…Antarctica Saw Its Coldest October In 44 Years!
- New Study: Sea Levels Rose 20 Times The Modern Rate During The Roman Warm Period
- As German Gas Storage Dips Dangerously Low…Shortage Hardly Avoidable
- New Study: Brazil’s Relative Sea Level Was 2+ Meters Higher And SSTs 3-4°C Warmer 6000 Years Ago
- Philosopher Schopenhauer: Climate Science Certainty Stems From Stupidity, Ignorance
- New Study: Species Extinction Rates Declining Since 1980 – ‘Climate Change Is Not An Important Threat’
- Denmark Places Climate Protection Above Animal Welfare, Poisoning And Culling Cows
- New Study: Greenland Was 3-7°C Warmer And Far Less Glaciated Than Today 6000-8000 Years Ago
- German Media Report That Current Frigid Weather Can Be Explained By Arctic Warming!
Aletho News 