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Peace in Colombia should mean land reform and an end to hunger
Since the end of April, Colombia’s streets have smelled of tear gas. The government of Colombian President Iván Duque imposed policies that put the costs of the pandemic on the working class and the peasantry and tried to suffocate any advancement of the Havana peace accords of 2016. Discontent led to street protests, which were repressed harshly by the government. These protests, Rodrigo Granda of Colombia’s Comunes party told us in an interview, “are defined by the wide participation of youth, women, artists, religious people, the Indigenous, Afro-Colombians, unions and organizations from neighborhoods of the poor and the working class. Practically the whole of Colombia is part of the struggle.” A range of concrete demands defines the protest: running water and schools, the disbandment of the riot police (ESMAD), and the expansion of democratic possibilities. Continue reading
How getting a vaccine in India is a ‘privilege’ especially for those in rural areas
Indian states have been left to compete with each other in the global market for vaccine procurement.
If the month of April was marked by images of endless rows of burning funeral pyres from major Indian cities, the images of floating bodies in the Ganges River near the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in May were a grim reminder of the unchecked spread of the virus in rural India where a majority of Indians, without access to basic health care, vaccines or infrastructure, have been fighting the virus. Continue reading
The fumbling king of Palestine: Palestinians are defeating the Oslo culture
The political discourse of Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, is similar to that of an ineffectual king who has been isolated in his palace for far too long. The king speaks of prosperity and peace, and tirelessly counts his innumerable achievements, while his people are dying of starvation outside and pointlessly begging for his attention. Continue reading
Is Colombia’s military displacing peasants to protect the environment or sell off natural resources?
Corporations, not wildlife, stand to benefit from the emptied lands.
Colombia witnessed a series of mass protests at the end of April following a call for a national strike. Still ongoing, the protests have many causes: an apparent “tax reform” that was going to transfer even more wealth to the 1 percent in Colombia; the failure of the most recent peace accords; and the inability of Colombia’s privatized health care system to contain the COVID-19 crisis. In response to these ongoing protests, the government has killed dozens, disappeared hundreds, imposed curfews on multiple cities, and called in the army. But the protests continue—because they are, at least in part, a repudiation of the militarization of everything in the country. Continue reading
The emperor’s new rules
The world is reeling in horror at the latest Israeli massacre of hundreds of men, women and children in Gaza. Much of the world is also shocked by the role of the United States in this crisis, as it keeps providing Israel with weapons to kill Palestinian civilians, in violation of U.S. and international law, and has repeatedly blocked action by the UN Security Council to impose a ceasefire or hold Israel accountable for its war crimes. Continue reading
Colombia’s rebellion against the capitalist system
Colombia has been burning with the flames of resistance ever since a national strike began on April 28, 2021. The initial impetus for the large-scale demonstrations came from a regressive tax reform. The tax bill came into being due to the necessity of the Colombian state to push down the rising fiscal deficit, which could reach 10% of GDP this year. On top of this, the tight integration of the Colombian economy into the architectures of imperialism has resulted in an external debt of $156,834,000,000 (51.8% of GDP, projected to come up to 62.8%). Continue reading
‘Anti-Zionist Naples’: Award-winning Italian Artist speaks about Palestine and why he quit photojournalism
On April 1, a mural appeared in the Southern Italian city of Naples, depicting Palestinian workers lining up at an Israeli military checkpoint near the occupied city of Bethlehem, in the West Bank. It is called ‘Welcome to Bethlehem.’ Continue reading
Freedom Rider: The end of low wage work
The combination of unemployment and additional stimulus support has made staying home a better economic decision than working for peanuts under stressful conditions. Continue reading
House Dems push postal banking pilots as an alternative to predatory firms
Thirty-three members have asked for federal budget funding to test out expanded postal financial services in 10 rural and urban communities.
At a recent press conference, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described a common scene at the check-cashing places that dot her Bronx neighborhood. Continue reading
Palestine’s moment of reckoning: On Abbas’ dangerous decision to ‘postpone’ elections
The decision on April 30 by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to ‘postpone’ Palestinian elections, which would have been the first in 15 years, will deepen Palestinian division and could, potentially, signal the collapse of the Fatah Movement, at least in its current form. Continue reading
A Palestinian prayer for Ramadan: May the voices of the oppressed be heard
COVID-19 cases in Palestine, especially in Gaza, have reached record highs, largely due to the arrival of a greatly contagious coronavirus variant which was first identified in Britain. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: The minimal minimum wage
Most Democrats either don’t want a minimum wage increase or are too afraid of bucking their party’s donor class. Continue reading
Is Biden committing diplomatic suicide over the Iran nuclear agreement?
As Congress still struggles to pass a COVID relief bill, the rest of the world is nervously reserving judgment on America’s new president and his foreign policy, after successive U.S. administrations have delivered unexpected and damaging shocks to the world and the international system. Continue reading
Them, then and now
We’ve already rejected the servant state once. We certainly can once again.
We don’t know exactly why Uma Subramanian wanted to become an engineer. Did she believe her fascination with how things work could help make the world better place? We’ll never know for sure. What we do know: Subramanian, the aerospace engineer turned CEO of the luxury private-jet company Aero, now believes she has truly made humanity an awesome contribution. Continue reading
JFK, Allen Dulles, and Indonesia
A review of “JFK vs. Allen Dulles” by Greg Poulgrain
Before I digress slightly, let me state from the outset that the book by Greg Poulgrain that I am about to review is extraordinary by any measure. The story he tells is one you will read nowhere else, especially in the way he links the assassination of President Kennedy to former CIA Director Allen Dulles and the engineering by the latter of one of the 20th century’s most terrible mass murders. It will make your hair stand on end and should be read by anyone who cares about historical truth. Continue reading
The ‘insurrection’ and its discontents: ‘American exceptionalism’ revisited
History is being written in the United States today. Even the most pessimistic about the prospects of American democracy have rarely ventured out this far while offering a bleak analysis of America’s future, whether in terms of political polarization at home or global standing abroad. Continue reading
Why Biden can’t govern from the center
I keep hearing that Joe Biden will govern from the “center.” He has no choice, they say, because he’ll have razor-thin majorities in Congress and the Republican party has moved to the right. Continue reading
The great divider: COVID-19 reflects global racism, not equality
The notion that the COVID-19 pandemic was ‘the great equalizer’ should be dead and buried by now. If anything, the lethal disease is another terrible reminder of the deep divisions and inequalities in our societies. That said, the treatment of the disease should not be a repeat of the same shameful scenario. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: Black demands for the Biden administration
The Black Misleaders give the impression of exercising black empowerment when they are in fact only promoting themselves. Continue reading
Debunking the ‘opium of the people’ maxim: Football is about politics and class struggle
Noam Chomsky is right when he says that, in the US, sports creates the necessary “fantasy world” required to shield people from understanding, organizing, and attempting to “influence the real world.” Continue reading
The king’s man: Blinken’s appointment reassures Israel that little will change under Biden
Right-wing Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has nothing to worry about as the man who will directly handle America’s foreign policy in the Middle East is a loyal friend of Israel. Crisis averted. Continue reading
Future of American democracy: On inequality, polarization and violence
In January 2017, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Democracy Index downgraded the state of democracy in the United States from “full democracy” to “flawed democracy.” Continue reading
End the government’s war on America’s military veterans
The 2020 presidential election may be over, but nothing has really changed. Continue reading
Escalating the demographic war: The strategic goal of Israeli racism in Palestine
The discussion on institutional Israeli racism against its own Palestinian Arab population has all but ceased following the final approval of the discriminatory Nation-State Law in July 2018. Indeed, the latest addition to Israel’s Basic Law is a mere start of a new government-espoused agenda that is designed to further marginalize over a fifth of Israel’s population. Continue reading
Obituary for the Trump era
The American people have rendered their ultimate decision on the fate of Donald Trump, and their message to the reality-TV-star-turned-politician: You’re fired. Continue reading
The stock market is not the economy
Whatever happens to the economy—jobs, wages, the hardships so many are facing—the stock market seems to be in a world of its own. Why? Continue reading
Calling this ‘our democracy’ is like slaves referring to ‘our plantation’
While Americans are reprogrammed every four years for the most important desperately crucial national emergency election since the last one, which will assure that Wall Street, the Pentagon, Israel and billionaires maintain power and control over everything that matters, most eligible voters will choose neither of the ruling power’s candidates and in a sense exercise democratic values by refusing to act as majority puppets. Continue reading
The Biden tax plan: The more progressives look, the more progressives like
This package of serious tax-the-rich proposals will have no easy road through Congress.
Want to know where the 2020 presidential election is heading? Don’t obsess about the polls. Pay attention to the tax lawyers and accountants who cater to America’s most wealthy. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: Left out of the debate
If the needs of the people aren’t being addressed, what is the purpose of putting Biden and Harris into office? Continue reading
Black lives should always matter: Delinking social justice from seasonal US politics
After viewing the first US presidential debate on September 29, one is left with no doubt about the degenerating political discourse among America’s ruling elites. Continue reading
Renewed Azerbaijani attacks seek to destabilize Caucasus region and deprive Armenians of right to live on their own lands
Repelling foreign invaders has been the single most recurring event throughout all of Armenian history. This year is no different. Continue reading
Free market illusions: What is the US’ endgame in China?
Posted on June 8, 2021 by Ramzy Baroud
Why does the US advocate a free market while doing its utmost to stifle it? The current US-China economic war is a perfect example of this perplexing question. Continue reading →