Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Even before the nation-wide demonstrations that have racked the nation and led to arrests in 17 cities, over the wrongful death at the hands of a Minneapolis policeman of George Floyd, the situation of African-Americans in this country was cratering because of the pandemic and its associated economic Depression. Some […]
Archives for May 2020
The Revolution IS being Televised*
Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – There is nothing like another outrageous tragedy to compound the initial tragedy. This is NOT to diminish the outrage that sparked these nationwide urban riots. George Floyd was not only murdered, but lynched and tortured for suspicion of passing a phony $20, and being black. We’ve all seen […]
Palestine activists have 2 billion opportunities to pressure for divestment
( Middle East Monitor) – Local government pension schemes hold direct investments worth more than £2.3 billion in companies involved in Israeli war crimes and apartheid, it was revealed this week. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) on Friday published a new database documenting the many ways that local government employees’ pension contributions are being misused […]
Why cellphone videos of black people’s deaths should be considered sacred, like lynching photographs
By Allissa V. Richardson | – As Ahmaud Arbery fell to the ground, the sound of the gunshot that took his life echoed loudly throughout his Georgia neighborhood. I rewound the video of his killing. Each time I viewed it, I was drawn first to the young black jogger’s seemingly carefree stride, which was halted […]
Trump’s ‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts’ is Classic Fascism, Classic Racism
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – “Between 18 and 20 December 1922 Turin Fascism unleashed a 3 day terror campaign on a recalcitrant anti-Fascist labour movement.” So informs us Antonio Sonnessa.* Turin (Torino) was a site of resistance to Fascism. It had a powerful labor union, dissident newspapers, a Communist Party (Antonio Gramsci was there and […]
Normalising Far-Right Israeli violence against Palestinians during the pandemic
(Middle East Monitor) – In April, the Israeli Civil Administration stated that it would halt the demolition and destruction of Palestinian dwellings during the coronavirus pandemic. The decision, communicated as a victory by the Palestinian Authority, attempted to portray Israel as being concerned with the humanitarian consequences of the pandemic for a displaced population. However, […]
Riot or resistance? How media frames unrest in Minneapolis will shape public’s view of protest
Danielle K. Kilgo | – A teenager held her phone steady enough to capture the final moments of George Perry Floyd’s life as he apparently suffocated under the weight of a Minneapolis police officer’s knee on his neck. The video went viral. What happened next has played out time and again in American cities after […]
Sadistic or Crazy? Trump is cutting Food Stamps in the Midst of Pandemic Depression
( Otherwords.org ) – Tens of millions of us are out of work. Why on earth is Trump trying to cut food aid? In some ways, this horrible pandemic has brought out the best in humanity. Where I live, neighbors are helping neighbors. A friend who cleans houses for a living says about half of […]
Israel’s Netanyahu says the Quiet Part Out Loud: Palestinians to be “subjects,” not Citizens in Apartheid Annexation
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In an interview with corrupt casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s free newspaper, Israel ha-Yom, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the quiet parts out loud. Although he did not use the word, he described an Apartheid regime in the Israeli-controlled Palestinian West Bank. He openly referred to the stateless Palestinians as […]