Human Rights

By Rebecca Gordon Once upon a time, if a character on TV or in a movie tortured someone, it was a sure sign that he was a bad guy. Now, the torturers are the all-American heroes. From 24 to Zero Dark Thirty, it’s been the good guys who wielded the pliers and the waterboards. We’re not only living in […]

Apartheid

Israeli Rhetoric Hides War Crimes against Gaza

contributors

By Chloé Benoist As Israeli forces began their assault on the Gaza Strip, Israel’s leaders and media ramped up a rhetoric offensive, using dehumanizing discourse to garner support for deadly military action in the besieged Palestinian territory. Operation “Protective Edge” – Israel’s latest military offensive to be given a name with nurturing undertones after “My […]

African-Americans

The Return of Jim Crow in North Carolina

contributors

By Lauren McCauley Rights Groups Call for Halt to 'Worst Since Jim Crow' Voting Law Hundreds of people were turned away outside of a packed courtroom in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Monday where inside voting rights activists demanded a halt to what they said was the most restrictive voter suppression legislation since the Jim Crow […]

Apartheid

Gaza by the Numbers: Who the People are, how They got There

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Population of Palestinians of Gaza: 1.7 million Number of Palestinians in Gaza whose families were expelled as refugees from their homes in what is now southern Israel: 1.2 million Number of Palestinians in Gaza still living in the 8 recognized refugee camps, “which have one of the highest population densities in the […]

Democracy

Exiled Governor of Mosul: We Need Local Troops to Take it Back

contributors

niqash | Special Correspondent | Erbil | Prominent Sunni Muslim politician, Atheel al-Nujaifi, who is also the governor of Ninawa province in-exile, talks about why he fled the city when Sunni Muslim extremists attacked. He also explains why the solution for the current Iraqi crisis must come from within the Sunni Muslim population, and why […]

Apartheid

Palestinians attack Jerusalem Rail to Protest Annexation of Arab East

contributors

By Hanna Baumann The destruction of tram stations during the protests in East Jerusalem is much more than vandalism, it shows that Palestinians are not quietly acquiescing to the ‘unification’ of the city, which they understand as the annexation of occupied land. Decolonising space. The Shuafat tram stop. Photo courtesy of Tarek Bakri The clashes […]

Economy

Highway Patrol Officer aims Knockout Punches at Woman along Freeway

contributors

CNN: “A highway patrol officer was caught on camera hitting a woman with what a witness says were “knockout punches.” Aviva Shen at Thinkprogress writes: “The officer said the woman was walking barefoot along the freeway on Tuesday and refused to stop when asked. The video shows the cop tackle her, pin her down, and […]

Apartheid

Top Things you need to know about the next Israeli-Palestinian crisis

contributors

By Hugh Lovatt “Destroying Hamas infrastructure and removing its leaders could also lead to de-centralisation” The abduction and killing of three young Israelis has brought to the fore painful memories for Israelis of the second Intifada. But in spite of their horrendous fate levels of violence on both sides have actually remained relatively low over […]

Apartheid

Americans need to Answer: When Will Palestinians get their Fourth of July?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Americans are commemorating the Fourth of July today, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The grievances that the four million inhabitants of British North America had in 1776 were not felt by them to be narrow or specific but rather universal, and so too was the remedy. They laid against the […]