Daily Archives: December 4, 2020

2020-12-04: News Headlines

MEE staff (2020-12-04). UK's Times newspaper pays £30,000 in damages to Cage over false story. middleeasteye.net UK's Times newspaper pays £30,000 in damages to Cage over false story | Advocacy organisation also receives apology following publication of article that claimed it supported Reading knife attacks suspect
| Fri, 12/04/2020 – 11: 53 | 'This will not be the last time The Times uses its pages to generate more hostility towards Muslim activists,' said Begg (Screengrab) | The Times newspaper has agreed to…

Pip Hinman (2020-12-04). Thai activists stage creative protest. greenleft.org.au Thailand's royal excesses were mercilessly parodied in street theatre in Sydney, reports Peter Boyle.

RT (2020-12-03). Labour suspends two activists for backing Corbyn in anti-Semitism row & accusing Starmer of 'colluding with Tories'. rt.com Britain's Labour Party has suspended two leading members of a local organisation, one of whom is Jewish, after they publicly accused Keir Starmer of using an anti-Semitism probe to crack down on former party leader Jeremy Corbyn. | Those sanctioned are the chair of Chingford and Woodford Green Constituency Labour Party, Gary Lefley, and its vice-chair, Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi. | The suspension came after the two staged an online meeting with fellow party members earlier this week, criticising that way the Labour leadership has handled the Equalities and Human Rights Commission's (EHRC) report on anti-Semitism i…

_____ (2020-12-03). The Streetlight Effect: When People Look Within the System for Solutions to the System. strategic-culture.org The US political system is not designed to be moved to the left. It is not designed to facilitate a revolution. It is not designed to reflect the general will of the public in any way. The US political system is designed to keep the public placid and obedient while the imperialists run the empire. Nothing else is allowed. Nothing else will ever be allowed.

CP Editor (2020-12-03). Welcome to the Intersectional Empire | Ash Sarkar Meets Naomi Klein. counterpunch.org

Pip Hinman (2020-12-03). Right-wing extremist jailed for targeting left, Muslims. greenleft.org.au Far-right activist Phillip Galea has been jailed on terrorism charges after threatening to commit violence against left-wing activists and Muslims. Sue Bolton discusses what it will take to defeat such extremists.

A Guest Author (2020-12-02). Stop ICE's rush to illegally deport families! workers.org By Marta Guttenberg Philadelphia Around 50 people, including immigrant community members, Shut Down Berks Coalition activists, and elected Pennsylvania State Representatives Chris Rabb and Joseph Hohenstein, took part in an emergency rally outside Philadelphia's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office on Nov. 25. Demonstrators tell ICE, "Don't deport the 28," . . . |

Monica Moorehead (2020-12-02). Black activists demand Biden make a down payment on reparations NOW! workers.org On Nov. 27, a People's Webinar entitled, "Post Election Fight for Reparations Now!" was organized by the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based December 12th Movement to demand that President-Elect Joe Biden issue an executive order to make a down payment of at least $500 billion on the debt owed to the descendants of . . . |

Ali Harb (2020-12-02). US senators and activists push to block huge arms deal with UAE. middleeasteye.net US senators and activists push to block huge arms deal with UAE | Legislators in Washington introduce resolution against $23bn arms package for Abu Dhabi that includes killer drones and F-35 jets | Wed, 12/02/2020 – 23: 20 | Saudi Arabia and UAE have been accused of war crimes in Yemen (Reuters/File photo) | Opposition in Washington is mounting against an enormous arms deal with the United Arab Emirates that woul…

Tom Engelhardt (2020-12-02). The History of the Decline and Fall of the American Empire. zcomm.org Or What It Means to Fall on a Failing Planet…

Eleanor J. Bader (2020-12-02). 'We Need Real Housing Relief for All Tenants'. progressive.org In New York City and throughout the nation, activists are standing up for renters' rights. Rising rents, stagnant wages, and low rental vacancy rates were a toxic mix long before COVID-19 hit U.S. shores.

teleSUR (2020-12-01). Three LATAM Women Were Awarded the 2020 Goldman Prize. telesurenglish.net The 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize was awarded to five activists in the fight against environmental pollution and climate change. Three of the winners are from the Latin American and Caribbean region. | RELATED: | The Mayan indigenous leader Leydy Pech was honored for her contribution to put an end to the farming of genetically modified soybeans in Mexico by the U.S. company Monsanto. In September 2017, Mexico's Fo…

John Pilger (2020-12-01). "I spoke to impoverished families in 1975 and little has changed since then" dissidentvoice.org A British family from the film Smashing Kids, 1975. Photograph: John Garrett John Pilger interviewed Irene Brunsden in Hackney, east London about only being able to feed her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes in 1975. Now he sees nervous women queueing at foodbanks with their children as it's revealed 600,000 more kids are in poverty …

Ron Jacobs (2020-12-01). We Know Joe. counterpunch.org We know this man Joe Biden. We know the politics he champions. We know his corporate and financial backers. We know what we're up against. Barack Obama and the Clintons operated in the same neoliberal and essentially reactionary sphere. The faces in power may be female, Black, Latino and gay, but the policies are designed to keep the power from the people, the money from the vast numbers of working people, and the war machine's troops around the globe. We cannot afford to get fooled again.

RT (2020-12-01). LGBT activists demand boycott of cosmetics chain Lush over donation to 'anti-trans' group Woman's Place UK. rt.com Activists are calling for cosmetics brand Lush to be 'cancelled' over the discovery that its UK arm donated £3,000 to Woman's Place UK, a women's rights group that has been accused of stoking anti-trans sentiment. | Women's Place UK received the donation for "events organisation," according to a financial filing published by the group over the weekend. All hell broke loose when LGBT outlet Pink News revealed the grant and claimed it came from Lush's "charity pot," despite supposedly violating the company's donation rules. Woke Twitter erupted in a cancellation frenzy. | Will be not buying a single thing…

Project Censored (2020-12-01). #24. Silenced in Savannah: Journalist Abby Martin Challenges Georgia's BDS "Gag Law" projectcensored.org Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin, a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that aims to end support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians, was scheduled to give a…

Project Censored (2020-12-01). #2. Monsanto "Intelligence Center" Targeted Journalists and Activists. projectcensored.org The agricultural giant Monsanto—which the German pharmaceutical corporation Bayer acquired in 2018—created an "intelligence fusion center" in order to "monitor and discredit" journalists and activists, Sam Levin reported for the Guardian…

Project Censored (2020-12-01). #11. New Green Scare: Law Enforcement Crackdown on Environmental Activism. projectcensored.org As scientists warn of imminent climate change, environmental welfare activists in the United States are facing growing legal penalties and a crackdown by law enforcement agencies designed to counteract environmental…

Medea Benjamin (2020-11-30). Trump risks war again: Will the world condemn the murder of Iran's top nuclear scientist?>. salon.com Israel wouldn't have killed Mohsen Fakhrizadeh without Trump's say-so. Now Biden and the UN must lower tensions…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-30). As Thailand continues repression, protesters stand guard against coup. peoplesdispatch.org Five Thai human rights activists presented themselves before the police on Monday. Meanwhile, over the previous days, protesters held "coup prevention" actions and marched to the barracks of a regiment commanded by the king…

Jonathan Cook (2020-11-30). The Planet Cannot Heal Until We Rip the Mask Off the West's War Machine. counterpunch.org Making political sense of the world can be tricky unless one understands the role of the state in capitalist societies. The state is not primarily there to represent voters or uphold democratic rights and values; it is a vehicle for facilitating and legitimating the concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands.

MEE staff (2020-11-30). Egypt prosecutor 'temporarily' closes file on Giulio Regeni murder case. middleeasteye.net Egypt prosecutor 'temporarily' closes file on Giulio Regeni murder case | No suspects have been identified in case of slain Italian student who was tortured and killed four years ago, Egyptian prosecutor says | Mon, 11/30/2020 – 19: 31 | Activists of human rights organisation Amnesty International take part in a demonstration in Piazza Castello in Turin on 25 January (AFP/File photo) | Egypt's public prosecuto…

MEE and agencies (2020-11-30). Egyptian man returns to Australia after jailing in Egypt over Facebook post. middleeasteye.net Egyptian man returns to Australia after jailing in Egypt over Facebook post | Waled Youssef was accused of belonging to a banned political group and imprisoned in the notorious Tora prison in Cairo

| Mon, 11/30/2020 – 07: 35 | Youssef's return home comes as Egypt continues to imprison rights activists from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights after meeting with European dip…

MEE and agencies (2020-11-30). Egyptian man returns to Australia after 10 month imprisonment in Egypt over Facebook post. middleeasteye.net Egyptian man returns to Australia after 10 month imprisonment in Egypt over Facebook post | Waled Youssef was accused of belonging to a banned political group and imprisoned in the notorious Tora prison in Cairo

| Mon, 11/30/2020 – 07: 35 | Youssef's return home comes as Egypt continues to three rights activists from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights after meeting with E…

Staff (2020-11-30). Firing Squads, Poison Gas, Electric Chair: Trump Moves to Expand Ways to Kill Prisoners. 18.224.45.15 Sister Helen Prejean, one of the world's best known anti-death-penalty activists, says the spate of federal executions carried out by the Trump administration reflect a "fundamental flaw" in the law, which does not set limits on use of the death penalty. "When you give absolute power over life and death to government officials, they can really do what they want," she says.

teleSUR (2020-11-30). Campaign for Free Vaccination Against COVID-19 in Europe. telesurenglish.net Political and trade union organizations, together with social activists, are launching today in Europe a campaign to promote free and inclusive access to COVID-19 vaccines. | RELATED: | The national secretary of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, recalled in a statement this campaign, coordinated with a dozen political forces, citizens and union leaders, under the labels in social networks #Right2Cure (Right to the Cure) and #PasdeProfitsur…

Miko Peled (2020-11-30). A "Fringe Member" of the Jewish Community: How Hasbara Trolls Reacted to My Campus Appearance. mintpressnews.com Hasbara groups represent a racist, supremacist, and violent ideology. They defend a state that is engaged in the worst type of violence against the Palestinian people, yet they feel that they are in a position to question the motives of organizers, speakers, and activists who call for justice and tolerance.

Staff (2020-11-30). Trump Moves to Expand Ways to Kill Prisoners Including Firing Squads. truthout.org Sister Helen Prejean, one of the world's best known anti-death-penalty activists, says the spate of federal executions carried out by the Trump administration reflect a "fundamental flaw" in the law, which does not set limits on use of the death penalty. "When you give absolute power over life and death to government officials, they can really do what they want," she says. We also speak with Sandra Babcock, faculty director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, who says there is "a parox…

Staff (2020-11-30). Trump Moves to Expand Ways to Kill Prisoners — Including Firing Squads. truthout.org Sister Helen Prejean, one of the world's best known anti-death-penalty activists, says the spate of federal executions carried out by the Trump administration reflect a "fundamental flaw" in the law, which does not set limits on use of the death penalty. "When you give absolute power over life and death to government officials, they can really do what they want," she says. We also speak with Sandra Babcock, faculty director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, who says there is "a parox…