Following a similar resolution passed last week by the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate voted Thursday night to support Israel's ongoing invasion of the Gaza Strip. No dissenting vote was cast, and no mention was made of the hundreds of Palestinian civilians killed.
photo by Steve Rhodes, Demotix.com
People of conscience must stand against and resist the crimes of our own government, and that includes U.S. political and military support for the crimes of its allies, when those powers commit crimes against humanity. During the 1980's when wars rocked Central America, and also when South African apartheid was being challenged -- it made a real difference when people inside the U.S. woke up to the facts of what their own government was doing, and questioned which side America was on, right or wrong -- and if it was the WRONG side (oppressive, corrupt, immoral, etc.) a dividing line became clear - and many, many people inside the empire publicly stood up and said NO to the U.S. Empire. That is what is needed today, once again!
Year after year, Israel receives billions in funding from the United States. In 2007 the U.S. government agreed to provide Israel with $30 billion in military aid over the next decade. The transfer of this aid to Israel actually violates U.S. law. But don't expect U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to seek any arrest warrants against Barack Obama or any other U.S. officials.
The U.S. government must be brought to account for arming Israel. We must demand that illegal support of Israel stop immediately -- and also, we must demand that threats and other actions against Iraq by the U.S. and Israel also cease.
As Iraq's disintegration into darkness progresses, it sickens me to think of all the Iraqis I met and became friends with, who have since been killed, disappeared or have become refugees. What is left of Iraq, this mess that is no longer a country, should be considered the legacy of decades of US policy there, dating back to the moment when Saddam Hussein was in power and enjoyed Washington's support. With Maliki, it has simply been a different dictator, enjoying even more such support (until these last weeks), and using similarly barbaric tactics against Iraqis.
-- Dahr Jamail, A Nation on the Brink
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"Drones buzzing overhead are a source of daily trauma for Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip...
Meanwhile, for most Palestinians in Gaza the anxiety-inducing soundtrack to their lives is the constant buzz of the remotely piloted aircraft - better known as "drones" - that hover in the skies above.
Drones are increasingly being used for surveillance and extra-judicial execution in parts of the Middle East, especially by the US, but in nowhere more than Gaza has the drone become a permanent fixture of life."
As violence escalates, opponents from within Iraq and across the world condemn Obama's push for military strikes on the war-tattered nation.
"We need to challenge this idea that Iraq has a legitimate government that is fighting terrorist organizations." -- Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies
Saturday, June 21: Rally and March with the World Can't Wait contingent
National "No New U.S. War on Iraq" - ANSWER Coalition
12:00 noon
Powell BART Plaza (Fifth and Market Street), San Francisco
The most serious sectarian and ethnic tensions in Iraq's modern history followed the 2003 US-led occupation, which faced massive popular opposition and resistance.The US had its own divide-and-rule policy, promoting Iraqi organisations founded on religion, ethnicity, nationality or sect rather than politics. Many senior officers in the newly formed Iraqi army came from these organisations and Saddam's army. This was exacerbated three years ago, when sectarian groups in Syria were backed by the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
-- Sami Ramadani, London Metropolitan University
AeroVironment "Puma AE" gets pre-flight checkout on Sunday in preparation for flights at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
Torture is a war crime, and a crime against humanity. International and U.S. law prohibit torture, under any and all circumstances, without exception. If we fail to hold our government and its officials accountable for the American torture state they have constructed, we are condoning that torture and it will continue to occur.
photo: May 23rd Bay Area Global Day of Action
Activists keep momentum from #YesAllWomen going offline
Patti Lee/KTVU.com
SAN FRANCISCO --
Citing the rapidly deteriorating condition of Abu Wa'el Dhiab, Federal District Court Judge Gladys Kessler yesterday lifted a temporary restraining order on force-feeding, saying "The court simply cannot let Mr. Dhiab die..."
Mr. Diyab had asked to be fed at the base hospital without being strapped into the restraint chair and without having the feeding tube reinserted and then removed for each cycle, sparing him the "agony" of that procedure.
If he could have been fed in
that manner to prevent him from committing suicide by starvation, "it would
have then been possible to litigate his plea to enjoin certain practices used
in his force-feeding in a civilized and legally appropriate manner," she wrote.
"The Department of Defense refused to make these compromises."
