Human Rights
Departing Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan clearly had an unpleasant experience at the world’s largest international institution.
In an interview published in the Israeli newspaper Maariv on August 20, the disgruntled envoy said that “the UN building should be closed and wiped off from the face of the earth.”
Whether Erdan has made this realization or not, his aggressive statement indicates that his four-year career as Israel’s top UN diplomat was a failure.
each of you on this list who worked for human rights and for a just and
sustainable planet. Tens of thousands of you receive my emails and I have
personally met the vast majority and know that you care and act and give of
yourself daily. Please take care of yourself, rest and recharge frequently.
Keep the hope alive. Standing with oppressed people is a marathon not a
sprint. Do take time to appreciate your own contribution. Khalil Gibran
summed up the beauty of giving eloquently in his book "The Prophet":
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/817768-you-give-but-little-when-you-give-of-your-possessions
One day, when picketing the White House in opposition to the Vietnam war, a
On October 25, Israeli politician Moshe Feiglin told Arutz Sheva-Israel National News that “Muslims are not afraid of us anymore.”
It might sound odd that Feiglin saw the element of fear as critical to Israel’s well-being if not its very survival.
In actuality, the fear element is directly linked to Israel’s behavior and fundamental to its political discourse.
Project 2025, labeled the Presidential Transition Project, is the 920-page Republican Party plan to be implemented after (not if) they “win” the presidential and congressional elections in November. It describes how Trump and his allies intend to destroy America’s democracy and create something like a monarchy or fascist political order. Independently of the 2025 Project, Trump believes he will win the election and then become the absolute leader. The federal government will then be under his control, obviating the need for elections and the rule of law. The rich and powerful will be the chief beneficiaries.
According Project 2025, opponents of Trump will be imprisoned or deported, as will millions of undocumented workers residing in the country. Thousands of Trump loyalists will be appointed to executive branch jobs. And a full-blown right-wing agenda will be instituted, involving lowered taxes on the rich, deregulation, and privatization of critical public institutions. The social safety net will be eviscerated. The production and consumption of fossil fuels will be maximized and global warming will increase.
The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, ending the right to abortion that had existed since 1973.
Nina Totenberg and Sarah McCammon review the new law for NPR (https://npr.org/2022/06/24/1102305878/supreme-court-abortion-roe-v-wade-decision-overturn). Here are excerpts and comments from their analysis.
“The decision, most of which was leaked in early May [2022], means that abortion rights will be rolled back in nearly half of the states immediately, with more restrictions likely to follow. For all practical purposes, abortion will not be available in large swaths of the country. The decision may well mean too that the court itself, as well as the abortion question, will become a focal point in the upcoming fall elections and in the fall and thereafter.”
This is very important and no country can claim these are "disputed
territories" or that there is a "conflict" any more. In a stunning and
highly researched opinion, the International Court of Justice (highest
global legal authority) concluded that all activities carried out by Israel
(the occupying power) in the occupied areas (Golan, Gaza, West Bank
including Jerusalem) are illegal (violate international law) and must be
dismantled and reparations made. Illegal activities include Jewish
settlements building, home demolitions, walls, economic deprivation, ethnic
cleansing etc. The court ruled per international law that the decades long
occupation must end and that Palestinian must have self-determination
While walking through the woodlands of the Black Hills, Chase gives us an astonishing narration about the need to free Leonard Peltier.
In a brilliant, uniquely moving discourse, Chase takes us through the ordeal of Indigenous people at the hands of European settler-colonialism.
He also makes up close and personal Leonard’s tragic imprisonment and the need to get him paroled and free.
VINNIE DESTEPHANO, WENDI LEDERMAN, LYNNE FEINERMAN, STEVE CARUSO contribute beautifully to the dialogue.
We are then honored by ANA MALINOW and her spectacular presentation on MEDICARE and the scam of for-profit national health care.
DR. NANCY NIPARKO joins with Ana in dissecting the American decline in life expectancy and quality of care, a true human and national tragedy.
We hear further on this vital topic as MIKE HERSH, PATRICK HEARNDON, SANDY BOLZENIUS, DAVID SALTMAN, DR. RUTH STRAUSS chime in with their usual genius.
This great two hours remind us of why we love to get together. See you next Zoom.
Humanitarian aid should never be politicized though, quite often, the very survival of nations is used as political bargaining chips.
Sadly, Gaza remains a prime example. Even before the current war, the Gaza Strip suffered under a 17-year hermetic blockade, which has rendered the impoverished area virtually 'unlivable'.
That very term, ‘unlivable’ was used by the then-UN Special Rapporteur for the Situation of Palestine, Michael Lynk, in 2018.
After twelve years — including five years of solitary confinement at Belmarsh Prison in London — Julian Assange is free. God bless America! He wasn’t extradited to the U.S. to stand trial, where he faced a sentence of 170 years in prison for violating the so-called Espionage Act.
Instead, he took a plea deal with the U.S. government, pleading guilty to one count of violating that act — you know, threatening America’s freedom — for which he had paid by his time already served. He was officially pronounced free at a U.S. federal court in Saipan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands (a U.S. territory), after which he flew home to his wife and two children in Australia.
My emotional relief at his escape from the clutches of this government far outweighs my feelings about the broader implications of the guilty plea, which has justifiably stirred concern and controversy. The government got its little triumph: a “legal” acknowledgment of its right to keep monstrous secrets about what it does and punish any unauthorized spilling of the beans as “espionage.”
Why Palestine matters: The most important moral test of our time
[References at end]
This was said 30 years ago: “This is a unique colonialism that we’ve been
subjected to where they have no use for us. The best Palestinian for them
is either dead or gone. It’s not where they want to exploit us, or that
they need to keep us there in the way of Algeria or South Africa as a
subclass.” (Edward Said, in The Pen and the Sword: Conversations with
Edward Said, by David Barsamian, 1994.)
Day 262 of the murderous and genocidal attacks on Gaza Strip. Over 150,000
Palestinians killed or injured. 80% of buildings destroyed including
residential buildings, hospitals, schools, universities, streets, and other
infrastructure [R01]. But this genocide is implemented not merely with
bombing civilians but with starvation and denial of water, medicine, and
all aspects of livability. More people are now dying of diseases and famine
than from bombings. The environmental impact of this genocidal war has also
been devastating [R02]. In parallel with this, there is an attack here in