Day: July 22, 2009

Obama Lies on Two Continents, is Denounced in New York By Glen Ford

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22 July, 2009 — Black Agenda Report

‘Obama peddled his relabeled imperial snake oil to Blacks on both sides of the Atlantic.’

obama-africa.jpgBarack Obama may be the most effective propagandist for U.S. imperialism in a very long time. But his narrative to Africans is built on blatant falsehoods, and his spiel to Black America is fundamentally dishonest and evasive. Demonstrators in Manhattan declared: ‘We will no longer tolerate a message from within our community, that the policies of Barack Obama cannot be criticized.’

President Barack Obama tells essentially the same lies as his predecessors, but does it better. His deceptions are aided enormously by the willed receptivity of the desperately hopeful – and none are more eager to believe than Africans and African Americans. In July, Obama peddled his relabeled imperial snake oil to Blacks on both sides of the Atlantic. At the NAACP’s national convention in Manhattan, and before the Ghanaian parliament in Accra, Obama’s message was the same: There will be no redress of your historical and current grievances. Get over it.

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Iraq: Release Hassan Ahmad and grant him asylum in the UK

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INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF IRAQ REFUGEES-IFIR

Name: Hassan Ahmed, Date of Birth: 17/03/1974
Home Office Ref: A1060342

Hassan is an active member of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees. He is currently detained in Doncaster IRC and awaiting deportation also Hassan has been a member of the Worker Communist Party of Iraq since 1993. The Worker Communist Party of Iraq is a banned organisation in Iraq and Kurdistan. Its members both at home and abroad are persecuted by the Kurdish and Iraq security forces. Hassan’s life will be in danger if he is deported back to the Kurdish area of Iraq. Hassan has lived in the UK for nine years during this time he has been an active campaigner for International Federation of Iraqi Refugees and helped many refugees integrate into the UK.

Before he left Iraq Hassan was a member of a theatre company in Iraq and performed in a number of plays in the town of Halabja and other towns across the Kurdish region. The theatre productions were often controversial and critical of both the Kurdish authorities and Islam which lead to Hassan being detained by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in 1997. Hassan was also threatened by the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan of Iraq-IMIK (because of his theatre work) who shot at him. Hassan became well known as an actor, theatre worker and party member of the WCPI across the Kurdish region.

Hassan was forced to leave Iraq after trying to help a women friend (Sonia). Sonia’s father tried to give her away to pay off his gambling debts. Hassan interceded and stopped her father from doing this. Sonia’s father subsequently reported Hassan to IMIK who tried to shoot him. Sonia committed suicide

If Hassan is returned to the Kurdish region of Iraq he will be under threat from both the PUK and Sonia’s family who believe he harmed the honour of their family when he stopped her father giving her away. Hassan has lived in the UK since 2001. He is unable to return to Kurdistan or anywhere else in Iraq for fear of his life and persecution. Please help us stop this deportation.

Please sign the petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/IFIRhass/petition.html
and please send support letters to:

Ministers of State for Borders and Immigration
3rd Floor, Peel Buildings,
2 Marsham St
London SW1 4DF
Fax: 020 8760 3132
Emails:UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk
CITTO@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

http://www.petitiononline.com/IFIRhass/petition.html

Dashty Jamal
International Federation of Iraqi Refugees

Arafat Assassination Allegations: The Plot Thickens By TOUFIC HADDAD

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21 July, 2009 — Faster Times

The scandal surrounding allegations made by Farouq al Qaddoumi against the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership continues to make waves across the Palestinian political landscape.

Qaddoumi heads the PLO politburo and Fateh’s Central Committee. Last week he released a document that implicated current PA president Abu Mazen and his henchman Mohammed Dahlan in Israeli intentions to poison former PA president Yasser Arafat. The damning allegations were a frontal attack on the legitimacy of Abu Mazen and Dahlan, who remains a powerful, albeit controversial figure in its backrooms, despite not currently holding any governmental position. Qaddoumi’s allegations have weight to them because he is one of the last remaining, heavy-hitting Palestinian revolutionary figures from the era when the PLO was established, and one of a handful of surviving founders of Fateh. The allegations also cast a shadow over the upcoming August 4 Fateh Conference to be held in Bethlehem, raising questions about the extent to which the matter will genuinely be investigated internally, and if needed, whether Abu Mazen and Dahlan will be held accountable by the party’s base.

It is first necessary to update developments in this case to see where things have been heading.

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“Be Bold” By Dahr Jamail

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21 July, 2009 — t r u t h o u t | Report

US Army Specialist Victor Agosto, who publicly refused to deploy with his unit to Afghanistan, was to receive the harshest court-martial possible for his decision – one that would land him in jail for up to one year, followed by a dishonorable discharge. However, within hours of the publication of a Truthout report about his story, Agosto received word from the military that his court-martial had been reduced.

The military had at first agreed to a less punitive court-martial for Agosto, but then, in a move that surprised both he and his lawyer, opted to push for a more stringent court-martial.

Agosto’s lawyer, James Branum, who is also the legal adviser to the GI Rights Hotline and co-chair of the Military Law Task Force, was in negotiations with the Army in efforts to seek a lower-level court-martial, so that Agosto would suffer the minimum penalties possible.

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UQ Wire: 9/11 FEMA Videographer Goes Public

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Kurt Sonnenfeld : Exclusive interview — Distribution via the Unanswered Questions


voltairenet.org Exclusive Interview

As official videographer for the U.S. government, Kurt Sonnenfeld was detailed to Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, where he spent one month filming 29 tapes: “What I saw at certain moments and in certain places… is very disturbing!” He never handed them over to the authorities and has been persecuted ever since. Kurt Sonnenfeld lives in exile in Argentina, where he wrote “El Perseguido” (the persecuted). His recently-published book tells the story of his unending nightmare and drives another nail into the coffin of the government’s account of the 9/11 events. Below is an exclusive interview by The Voltaire Network.

Introduction

Kurt Sonnenfeld graduated from the University of Colorado (USA) with studies in International Affairs and Economics, as well as in Literature and Philosophy. He worked for the United States government as official videographer and served as Director of Broadcast Operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s National Emergency Response Team. Additionally, Kurt Sonnenfeld was contracted by several other governmental agencies and programs for classified and “sensitive” operations at military and scientific installations throughout the United States.

On September 11, 2001, the area known as “Ground Zero” was sealed from the public eye. Sonnenfeld, however, was given unrestricted access enabling him to document for the investigation (that never took place) and provide some “sanitized” pool video to virtually every news network in the world. The tapes that reveal some of the anomalies which he discovered at Ground Zero are still in his possession.

Accused of a crime that did not occur in a manifest frame-up scenario, especially in light of ensuing events [1], Kurt Sonnenfeld has been persecuted across continents. After several years of fear, injustice and isolation, he has decided to take a public stand against the Government’s official story and is prepared to submit his material to the close scrutiny of reliable experts.


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