2020-06-01: News Headlines

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies (2020-06-01). Who Are the Secret Puppet-Masters Behind Trump's War on Iran? counterpunch.org On May 6th, President Trump vetoed a war powers bill specifying that he must ask Congress for authorization to use military force against Iran. Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign of deadly sanctions and threats of war against Iran has seen no let-up, even as the U.S., Iran and the whole world desperately need to set aside

Ceren Sagir (2020-06-01). Black Lives Matter U.K.: London activists demand justice for George Floyd. peoplesworld.org LONDON—Hundreds of anti-racists gathered in London's Trafalgar Square Sunday to protest against the death of George Floyd, the Black man killed last week in Minneapolis by white police officers, who held him down while one pressed his knee into his neck as he cried: "I can't breathe." The demonstration was organized by Black Lives Matter. …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-01). Amid lockdown, dissenting voices choked in Indian universities. peoplesdispatch.org Two student-activists of the Aligarh Muslim University were apprehended by the police in the State of Uttar Pradesh on May 28. With a growing number of such arrests, human rights defenders in India are raising concern about the ongoing COVID-19 crisis being used to target critics of the government and control dissent…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-01). Activists demand end to illegal confinement of Sahrawi human rights defender. peoplesdispatch.org Moroccan authorities have kept prominent Sahrawi activist Mahfouda Lekfir illegally confined in her father's house after she was released on May 15 following six months of political detention…

Tim Sullivan, Amy Forliti (2020-05-29). 3rd degree murder charge for George Floyd's killer; activists say #RaiseTheDegree. peoplesworld.org MINNEAPOLIS (AP)—The Minneapolis police officer who was seen on video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a handcuffed Black man who died in custody after pleading that he could not breathe, was arrested Friday and charged with murder. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, after …

Monica Moorehead (2020-05-29). Against police violence and capitalism, to rebel is justified. workers.org Workers World salutes all the brave protesters in Minneapolis, currently ground zero against police terror. We also salute those activists in Los Angeles, Memphis and other cities who are organizing protests and braving the pandemic to be in the streets or in car caravans to show solidarity with the demand: . . . |

Joe Emersberger (2020-05-27). In 2007, acclaimed US physician Paul Farmer pushed for Cuban Medical Brigades to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. zcomm.org Today Code Pink is making a push for that. It would be a lock in a civilized world. Click below to here to read Farmer's letter. In it, he glowingly sums up his decades of working closely with Cuban doctors in Haiti.

Staff (2020-05-26). Grassroots Organizers Continue To Move The Needle For Change Despite Little Fanfare. therealnews.com Activists like Cameron Miles, Vonya Quarles, Erica Smith, and Amber Rose-Howard discuss organizing tactics that work in the continued fight for social justice and prison abolition.

Matthew Rothschild (2020-05-25). Remembering Slain Activists on Memorial Day. progressive.org This Memorial Day, we remember yesterday's activists and honor today's essential workers.

Staff (2020-06-01). "America's Moment of Reckoning": Cornel West Says Nationwide Uprising Is Sign of "Empire Imploding" democracynow.org As thousands from coast to coast took to the streets this weekend to protest the state-sanctioned killing of Black people, and the nation faces its largest public health crisis in generations and the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression, professor Cornel West calls the U.S. a "predatory capitalist civilization obsessed with money, money, money." He also makes the connections between U.S. violence abroad and at home. "There is a connection between the seeds that you sow of violence externally and internally."

Staff (2020-06-01). Police Attacked Protesters After Kneeling for Solidarity Photo Op, Activists Say. truthout.org Some of the police officers who have been prominently photographed kneeling or praying alongside demonstrators against police violence have turned around and harmed protesters soon afterward, according to numerous accounts posted by activists on social media. | Twitter user @NeeNeinNyetNo, for example, showed an image of Orlando Police praying with protesters and wrote, "Literally 45 minutes later they maced us in the face for the crime of standing in their vicinity." | t.co/85a6zU

RT (2020-06-01). 'Violence was taught to us, we're tired of racism & injustice': BLM protesters reveal grievances as riots rage in DC. rt.com While violence is counterproductive, it is "necessary" during the riots currently plaguing US cities, because people of color are fed up with stigma and racial bias, Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists told Ruptly video agency. | "I just want to be able to walk around every day and not feel like I'm going to get shot, just because I'm black," BLM protester Aryana Evan told Ruptly in the middle of large rallies blighting in the US capital for several days in a row. | "I am tired," Evan said, nearly bursting into tears. "All these black people, all these allies out here, all of these different faces, we are all t…

_____ (2020-06-01). Beating Swords Into Plowshares. popularresistance.org Inscribed on a wall across from the United Nations in New York City are ancient words of incalculable yearning: | "They will beat their swords into plowshares | and their spears into pruning hooks. | Nation will not take up sword against nation, | nor will they train for war anymore." — Isaiah 2: 4 | I've stood with activists in front of that same wall singing Down by the Riverside, a song promising we'll lay down our swords and shields, -"and study war no more, no more."