Day: July 10, 2009

The journey to Gaza begins by Michael Prysner

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9 July, 2009 — Dandelion Salad

After five days in Cairo, we are ready to set off with vehicles and medical supplies

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Iraq war veteran and ANSWER Coalition representative Michael Prysner reports on the Viva Palestina delegation’s journey to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian supplies.

In the past several months, the ANSWER Coalition has organized several rallies, marches and demonstrations in support of the Palestinian struggle, and raised funds for humanitarian supplies for Gaza and to send representatives to Gaza as part of a humanitarian delegation.

We filled New York’s JFK airport on July 4 with Palestinian flags and kaffiyehs, chanting ‘Viva, Viva Palestina!’ as hundreds of international travelers watched us unload a truck full of wheelchairs, walkers and medical aid.

This powerful image was a visual reminder of the hundreds of people in Gaza who have endured amputations and crippling injuries from U.S. munitions fired by Israel during the recent December-January massacre. The cruel Israeli blockade prevents even wheelchairs from entering Gaza.

At the Cairo airport, the Egyptian security forces were overwhelmed by the number of Viva Palestina t-shirts amassed outside. With local press trying to cover the event, the Egyptian police tried to shut down the spectacle and shuffle everyone onto busses. Everyone stood strong, ignoring the Egyptian authorities and giving the media ample time to get images and conduct interviews.

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International Journalists Union Expels Israel After Fight Over Politics and Money By Alex Weisler and Nathan Jeffay

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8 July, 2009 — Forward.com

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Journalists on The Front Line: The Israeli government’s decision to keep journalists out of Gaza during the conflict earlier this year has become a flash point in a fight between journalist unions. getty images

The expulsion of an Israeli journalists’ union from the International Federation of Journalists is mired in a murky cocktail of politics and money.

The Israeli group –— the National Federation of Israel Journalists — was ousted June 7 in a unanimous vote of the international union’s executive committee. The vote immediately raised the specter of another effort by international unions to boycott Israel for political reasons; recently, a number of academic unions around the world have voted to boycott Israeli professors.

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The Queerness of Michael Jackson: A Function of Society’s Homophobia? By the Rev. Irene Monroe

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9 July, 2009 — The Black Commentator – Issue 332

mj.jpgAt Michael Jackson’s memorial service the Rev. Al Sharpton gave a rousing speech that had the congregation at the Staple Center rise to their feet at times with shouts of Amen.

Sharpton made one particular statement in his speech to MJ’s three children, addressing the reasons for Jackson’s eccentricities when he said, ‘I want his children to know there was nothing strange about your daddy, it was strange what your daddy had to deal with, but he dealt with it anyway.’

While clearly Sharpton’s statement hinted to the racism Michael Jackson ensued in the music industry as an African American entertainer trying to be a crossover success, Sharpton’s statement totally ignored, as much as the black community has, in their tribute to Jackson, the homophobia too, from us and the music industry.

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Media Disinformation: “Saudis give nod to Israeli raid on Iran” by F. William Engdahl

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9 July, 2009 — Global Research

Contrary to Times accounts relations between Ahmedinejad and Saudi King Abdullah seem to be cordial

The world-renowned Times newspaper of London published a report in its July 5th edition titled, ‘Saudis give nod to Israeli raid on Iran.’ The story, were it true, would imply a dramatic change in Saudi foreign and military policy whose consequences potentially could lead to a World War III. A more serious investigation reveals that there are nasty elements of what military psychologists and intelligence specialists term ‘disinformation’ at work trying to foster discord across the Muslim oil-producing world. The question is Qui Bono? Who ultimately benefits from such disinformation?

According to the London Times, the flagship paper of the giant media group owned by naturalized American citizen, Australian media mogul, Rupert Murdoch, ‘The head of Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran’s nuclear sites.’

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Cuba Enemies Advised Honduras Coup

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9 July, 2009 — Havana (Prensa Latina)

Cuban counterrevolutionaries Carlos Alberto Montaner and Otto Reich, former State assistant secretary of the government of George W. Bush, collaborated as advisers in the coup d’état on Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.

A report in Granma newspaper Thursday, taken from Radio Miami station, states that a secret report sent to an embassy from a European country very allied to the US government convincingly reveals in detail those actions.

According to this report, Montaner and Reich have been in permanent contact with the coupists, through direct or phone intermediate agents.

The former used an electronic bridge from Madrid and Miami, while the latter did so from Panama.

Montaner advised Honduran coupists to resist international pressure to prevent Zelaya’s return to his country, and hold presidential elections in advance, convened for late this year.

The two men are in Miami, from where they maintain constant communication with the coupists from the mentioned Central American country as a ‘collaborating friends.’

Carlos Alberto Montaner is an agent from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His aim is to practice State terrorism, before in Puerto Rico and now in Spain, and harass the Cuban Revolution.

Otto Reich, a furious enemy of the Cuban Revolution, also works for the CIA, organizing coups d’état and planning of destabilizations of progressive governments, as well as protecting terrorists like Luis Posada Carriles.”