A Street in Baghdad…
Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues
| …Those of you out there who are familiar with Baghdad’s streets and neighborhoods, and who are of my generation, this is not quite applicable to those born during the sanction years or just a little before, because they would have no recollection whatsoever…and of course this is not applicable to those who never visited Baghdad, or only landed there in 2003 or later… Those who knew Baghdad of before, will attest to the excellent urban planning, the mapping of t he city, the architecture of the houses, the buildings…actually Baghdad was known to have one the best school of Architecture and Urban Planning in the Middle East. Some even called this city, the Paris of the Middle East. I recall my daily walks by the river’s bank…usually in the late afternoon. Stretches of walking paths along the river, adorned with red flowers, trees…am talking of the 80′s here. The streets were clean, well kept, but most importantly safe…
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Israeli soldiers poisoned well in West Bank village, say local officials
Ma’an News
| Israeli soldiers poured dirt, stones and toxic chemicals in the only well in the hamlet of Khirbat Makehl near the village of Ya’bad in the northern West Bank overnight on Saturday, according to Palestinians in the community. The village’s official representative, Walid Hamdan, said soldiers riding in three military jeeps entered the community overnight and sabotaged the well. The chemicals caused the water to change color and taste, he sa id. The 80 cubic-meter well is the only source of water for the village of 70 to 80 families, Hamdan said..
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US states’ budget crisis sets stage for new attack on the working class
By Tom Eley
| By Tuesday, many US state governments must pass budgets for the coming fiscal year. The state capitals are now the scene of bitter feuding among governors and legislators over how the deficits will be met. But there is unanimity that the working class must foot the bill. Forty-six states confront significant deficits, and their collective shortfall for 2010 stands at more than $130 billion. This comes after a $104 billion deficit in 2009, for a two-year total of $234 billion in red ink—$91 billion more than President Barack Obama’s stimulus package allocated to all municipalities and the 50 states for the next two years…
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Thousands of Pakistanis hold anti-US rally
‘Go America Go’ rally demands end to US interference
Regional Times
| A mammoth ‘Go America Go’ rally organized here on Sunday by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chapter lambasted the USA for interference into Pakistani affairs and asked local rulers to shun toeing the US agenda and keep supreme the interests of Pakistani nation and country. In a resolution, passed at the end of the Go America Go rally, the participants demanded immediate end to the US interference in th e internal affairs of Pakistan. They said the root cause of all the problems facing Pakistan is this unwanted US meddling. The US has even violated the sanctity of territories of Pakistan and killed thousands of innocent men, women and children in drone and missile attacks, but the rulers instead of raising voice against this hegemony are playing role of silent spectator…
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An Iraqi Charade…
Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues
| It’s well past midnight here and I am very tired…but I feel this urgency to write this post as I think it is very important. At first I was torn between writing this post on the Iraqi charade that is due to take place on the 30th of June 09, torn between that and that of writing an equally important post on the current Iranian charade… But I have learned to get my priorities right and since both are very much interlinked, I will start with the most important one – I raq. There are HUGE misconceptions surrounding U.S troop withdrawal on the 30th of June…
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FREE AHMAD SA’ADAT AND ALL PALESTINIAN PRISONERS!
A Letter to Ban Ki-Moon
The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat
| We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, call upon you to immediately take action in defense of the lives, health and rights of the over 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners held inside Israeli occupation jails. This number includes numerous elected members of Palestinian Legislative Council, among them Ahmad Sa’adat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; Mar wan al-Barghouthi, Fateh leader; Abdel-Aziz Dweik, Hamas leader and President of the Council, just freed after three years in prison, and dozens of other elected political leaders, in addition to thousands of other Palestinian activists, union members, community organizers, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters…
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East Africa: Is Obama Following in the Disliked Footsteps of Bush in East Africa?
Africom to Continue Under Obama
| With the Obama administration set to oversee significant increases in US security assistance programmes for African countries, Daniel Volman examines the US government’s plans for its military operations on the African continent over the coming financial year. Stressing that the US president is essentially continuing the policies outlined under his predecessor George W. Bush, the author considers the proposed funding increases for initiatives like the Foreign Military Financing programme and the International Military Education and Training (IMET) programme. Pointing out that the administration is yet to offer any public explanation of its policy, Volman concludes that it would be a mistake to assume that there will be no US military action if the situation in Somalia deteriorates….
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Video: Israeli incursion in Faraheen
International Solidarity Movement
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Deal on Gaza Makes Headway
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
| Under a complex twin-pronged initiative from the U.S. and Egypt, Israel’s hard- line government is moving towards backtracking on two major planks of its policy in the occupied territories – resisting demands for a blanket freeze on all settlement building in the West Bank, and acquiescing in the end of its tight siege of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. As a result, several pieces in an elaborate diplomatic puzzle that seeks to resolve both a lo ng stand-off in Israeli-Palestinian relations and a three-year showdown in Palestinian-Palestinian relations since Hamas won the Palestinian elections, are beginning to fall into place…
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Video: Gaza war victims testify before UN panel
Aljaeera.net
| Though it is a story he has told several times before, Wael Samouni does not mind retelling what he says Israeli soldiers did to his family during the Gaza war. To highlight his story, Samouni is prepared to present photos of the 27 members of his family who were killed in the war to a UN hearing set up to investigate allegations of human rights violations during the conflict…
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The scramble for Iraq’s ‘sweet oil’
By Nicole Johnston, Al Jazeera correspondent
| With proven oil reserves of around 112 billion barrels and up to another 150 billion barrels of probable reserves, Iraq is the greatest untapped prize for international oil companies. To put that in context, if Iraq does turn out to have around 300 billion barrels of oil, it will rival the world’s biggest producer Saudi Arabia – which has around 160 billion barrels of proven reserves. So it is little wonder that giant international oil compan ies are lining up to get back into Iraq after the industry was nationalised in the 1970s and the oil majors were kicked out. On June 30 major companies – including Exxon, Shell, BP and Total – will gather at Iraq’s oil ministry in Baghdad for a two-day meeting to take part in the first bidding round for oil service contracts…
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The Obama Wars: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Chic
Ashley Sanders
| As we all know by now, both the House and the Senate have passed a $106 billion bill to fund the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, and, while they were at it, the IMF and Mexico’s war on drugs. But since you already know that, let’s talk about what we don’t know, or at least what we claim we didn’t. For example, that Obama is pro-war. Because progressives everywhere have their hands over their mouth in shock. We talk of betrayal and defection. Joshua Frank summed up the progressive problem pithily: “These are Obama’s wars now.” The only real problem with this statement is that they have always been Obama’s wars: His opposition to the Iraq war, despite the flowers trailing from it and the flowers we wove onto those, was merely tactical; in his support for the ‘good war’ in Afghanistan he didn’t even bother with flowers — it was so much ‘bring it on.’ As for the broader picture, Obama’s so-called noble rhetoric is of the ‘kinder, gentler imperialism’ strain; nowhere does he fundamentally question the right of the United States to rule the world economy, practice abject self-interestedness, and maintain a global military presence. His “peace” rhetoric is tinkering rhetoric, oiled with calls for diplomacy and schlocky hope-hope-hurrah expressly employed to make us feel good about doing what we have always done…
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Obama’s Ludicrous Declaration on Torture Day
James Bovard
| President Obama issued his statement on the United Nations International Day in Support of Torture Victims. I wonder if Obama’s ghostwriter was wearing hip boots when this statement was put together. The opening of his statement could have been recycled from the George W. Bush years: “Torture is contrary to the founding documents of our country, and the fundamental values of our people.”…
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More Palestinian lands annexed for settlement construction
Saed Bannoura – IMEMC
| The Al Quds newspaper reported that the Lands Registration Department at the Maaleh Adumin settlement in East Jerusalem published advertisements in Israeli papers declaring intentions to annex nearly 139.000 Dunams claimed to be ‘unregistered’. The announcement stated that the officials at the so-called State Lands Department submitted a request register the 139.000 Dunams in the Dead Sea area under ‘abandoned lands’ registry in preparation to assume control over them and use them for settlement construction…
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THE BEEB INVESTIGATES BAGRAM
“Even Guantánamo Bay is better than this”
By William Fisher
| An investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has revealed that former detainees at the U.S. Bagram airbase in Afghanistan were beaten, deprived of sleep, and threatened with dogs. The BBC’s conclusions are based on interviews with 27 former detainees who were held at Bagram between 2002 and 2006. None of these men were ever charged with a crime. Hundreds of detainees are still being held in U.S. custody at the Afghan prison without charge or trial…
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