31 October, 2009 — Real News Network
Mexico has taken steps to allow foreigners whether legally or illegally, to apply for citizenship
Day: October 31, 2009
Alexander MEZYAEV Karadzic Trial Opened
29 October, 2009 — Strategic Culture Foundation
The trial of President of the Serb Republic in Bosnia Radovan Karadzic started on October 26. Karadzic was not present he refused to attend, and this was due to serious reasons. Though the prosecution started putting the indictment together 14 years ago, it kept tailoring the document throughout the term. The most recent changes were introduced on October 19, leaving Karadzic just 7 days to prepare his defense, which is outrageous even for the Hague Tribunal.
Over the past years mass media have spent unbelievable amounts of black paint on Karadzic. The charges in the final version of the indictment include deportations, persecution, killings, terror against civilian population, hostage-taking, and, of course, genocide. The alleged crime sites span half the territory of Bosnia, but for the most part the focus is on Sarajevo and Srebrenica. Karadzic is charged with planning and implementing the genocide against Bosnian Muslims and Croats. To support allegations that Karadzic was open about his genocide plans, Prosecutor A. Tiger cited him as addressing the Bosnians with the following statement: Don’t you understand that you are going to perish? A lot of us will die, but none of you will survive! A. Tiger failed to mention, however, that Karadzic was talking about the Bosnians’ plan to start a war and the words were a warning, not an indication of the existence of some mythical genocide plan.
Goldstone challenges US over Gaza report Pt 2
31 October, 2009 — Real News Network
Justice Richard Goldstone challenges US government to justify its claims that his findings are flawed
Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi talks to Judge Richard Goldstone about the investigation into the Gaza war. He travelled to the United Nations in New York to find out if the war on Gaza has transformed Richard Goldstone from a sober jurist into a man on a mission to discredit Israel on an international stage.
Did Richard Goldstone hide more sinister crimes in Gaza? – Part 1: White Phosphorus and Flechettes By Peter Eyre
28 October, 2009 — Palestine Telegraph
There was much praise for the UN investigations into war crimes committed in Gaza, led by Richard Goldstone. However, I feel that this report did not go far enough to investigate some other more serious allegations that were made.
There is a sense of urgency to bring this investigation forward and to put those responsible on trial but one must understand that something much more sinister did not even get a mention and has since been swept under the carpet.
Let’s take a closer look at some aspects of this report which certainly showed a distinct weakness in the team’s ability to understand what constitutes a breach of the Geneva Convention.
Goldstone’s Detailed Response to the Berman- Ros-Lehtinen Resolution Criticizing the Report
30 October, 2009 — The Magnes Zionist
The Honorable Howard Berman
Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs
The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Ranking Member, House Committee on Foreign Affairs
October 29, 2009
Dear Chairman Berman and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen,
It has come to my attention that a resolution has been introduced in the Unites States House of Representatives regarding the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which I led earlier this year.
I fully respect the right of the US Congress to examine and judge my mission and the resulting report, as well as to make its recommendations to the US Executive branch of government. However, I have strong reservations about the text of the resolution in question – text that includes serious factual inaccuracies and instances where information and statements are taken grossly out of context.
I undertook this fact-finding mission in good faith, just as I undertook my responsibilities vis à vis the South African Standing Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation, the International War Crimes Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Panel of the Commission of Enquiry into the Activities of Nazism in Argentina, the Independent International Commission on Kosovo, and the Volker Committee investigation into the UN’s Iraq oil-for-food program in 2004/5.
Chomsky on Palestine and the region in the Obama era: the emerging framework
29 October, 2009 — Political Philosophy Society
Time: 14:00
Location: Logan Hall, Institute of Education, Bedford Way
Speakers:
Prof. Noam Chomsky – Professor Emeritus in Linguistics at MIT; world renowned author and leading intellectual
Tariq Ali – Historian, Author and well known political commentator
The Imperial College Political Philosophy Society, in association with Palestine societies at UCL, SOAS, Goldsmiths, LSE, Imperial and Kings, proudly present one of the greatest political philosophers of all time: MIT Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky, for what could be his last trip to London.
http://widgets.vodpod.com/w/video_embed/Groupvideo.3790351
more about “ICU Political Philosophy Society“, posted with vodpod
Negative spacemen By Alan Simpson MP
30 October, 2009 — The Morning Star Online
Sometimes in politics what is absent is more revealing than what is present
Negative space is a concept that artists are more familiar with than either politicians or the BBC. This is the space between objects that helps to define the objects themselves. Often what is absent is far more intriguing and revealing that what is present.
This is the notion that has stayed with me long after the BBC’s inclusion of British National Party leader Nick Griffin on its Question Time panel.
The law and not the BBC will ultimately decide whether the BNP is a legitimate political party or not.
The recent court ruling that its constitution is racist will test whether the party’s desire for a platform will override its more visceral appeal to ignorance and prejudice.
What the BBC decided, however, was that the BNP was both legitimate and significant.
The New Dark Age 