2014

Articles

• 1 December 2014, by Vacy Vlazna

  Merkel’s Wall Of Hypocrisy

  "The Berlin Wall, this symbol of state abuse cast in concrete, took millions of people to the limits of what is tolerable, and all too many beyond it.” On the 25th anniversary of the fall of (…)
• 1 December 2014, by Pervez Hoodbhoy

  Why Does Malala Yusufzai’s Nobel Bother So Many On The Left?

  Arundhati Roy’s charm and lucidity have iconized her in the world of left-wing politics. But, asked by Laura Flanders what she made of the 2014 Nobel Prize, she appeared to beswallowing a live (…)
• 1 December 2014, by Praful Bidwai

  Why The Right To Dissent Is Indispensable: Romila Thapar Speaks Out

  When Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani famously said of the media during the Emergency that “when asked to bend, they crawled”, he received widespread praise from the intelligentsia and even (…)
• 1 December 2014, by Charlotte María Sáenz

  Mexico’s Undead Rise Up

  With 43 disappeared student teachers presumed dead, Mexican popular resistance is creating new alternatives to the militarized narco-state. “Alive they were taken, and alive we want them (…)
• 1 December 2014, by Emran Feroz

  US Journalist Blumenthal Sees Similarity in Islamic State And Israel

  STUTTGART: When Gaza was attacked during the summer, Angela Merkel promised to “stand by the side of Israel.” The German chancellor has done much more than offer verbal support for Israel’s (…)
• 1 December 2014, by Immanuel Wallerstein

  "NATO: Danger to World Peace"

  The official mythology is that between 1945 (or 1946) and 1989 (or 1991), the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) confronted each other continuously - politically, militarily, and above all (…)
• 1 December 2014, by Shiv Visvanathan

  Poetics of a Nation: Remembering Nehru

  Jawaharlal Nehru cannot be seen merely as an object of history, a fragment of policy. He was a dream, a hope, a claim to innocence, an aesthetic, which gave to modernity a touch of elegance (…)
• 1 December 2014, by Immanuel Wallerstein

  "Syria: Turkish Ambivalence"

  Amid the many and ever-evolving shifts of policies and geopolitical alliances in the various countries of the Middle East, one used to be at least sure what are the prime objectives of the major (…)
• 1 December 2014, by Fr. Cedric Prakash sj

  The Nanavati Commission: Another Hoax On The People Of India!

  Finally, yesterday (November 18th 2014), exactly 12 years 8 months and 12 days after it was first constituted by the Gujarat Government on March 6th 2002 to probe the burning of the Godhra train (…)
• 1 December 2014, by Eli Aminov

  Israel’s Nation State Law: Jewish Sharia

  The nation state law currently proposed by the government is yet another signal to Israel’s Palestinian citizens: Israel is for Jews! Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government are currently (…)
• 1 December 2014, by Michelle Weinroth

  In Memoriam: Jeanette (née Epstein) Weinroth: June 18, 1929 – October 18, 2014

  "Let me not forget that I am the daughter of a woman who herself … never ceased to flower, untiringly, during three quarters of a century." Sidonie Colette A widely recognized public voice in (…)
• 2 November 2014, by Matthew Behrens

  Reflections on a Violent Day in Ottawa

  I often find it hard to feel empathy for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. But when I saw the grim picture of him talking on the phone following the end of his confinement in the locked down House of (…)
• 2 November 2014, by John Feffer

  Recognizing Palestine

  As more European governments line up to recognize a Palestinian state, Israel (and the U.S.) look more isolated than ever. In his recent meeting with President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister (…)
• 2 November 2014, by Murray Dobbin

  From Israel to ISIS: Harper’s ‘Orwellian’ Foreign Policy

  It’s getting difficult to remember a time when the Canadian Parliament actually tried to make principled decisions regarding foreign policy and our place in the community of nations. But we should (…)
• 2 November 2014, by Jawed Naqvi

  Have Indian Intellectuals Been Co-opted?

  Increasingly of late, Prof Romila Thapar is required to assume the nearly impossible role of Emperor Akbar, who, according to the official plaque at his tomb near Agra, had “created a nation out (…)
• 2 November 2014, by Stefan Christoff

  Gunmen in Ottawa : Questioning Canadian militarism

  Only minutes after shots rang outinside Canada’s parliament buildings and on the streets of Ottawa today, mainstream media quickly launched into fear-driven reporting, largely failing to look (…)
• 2 November 2014, by Michel Warschawski

  Unilateralism and Chutzpah

  The word ’chutzpah’ cannot be translated into English. As an essential part of human behaviour, however, it has entered the daily language of many East Coast Americans or, more precisely, in its (…)
• 2 November 2014, by Gustave Massiah

  The Movement’s Strategic Challenges

  Since the publication of Une stratégie altermondialiste, history has shifted into high gear. We can say that the hypotheses and proposals of the book have been confirmed, together with their (…)
• 2 November 2014, by Sergio Yahni

  Israel: First Gaza, Now Jerusalem

  Just like against the Gaza Strip, Israel has launched an offensive against Jerusalem. And just like in the 1980’s under General Ariel Sharon, Israel is attempting to re-engineer Middle East (…)
• 2 November 2014, by Idil isse

  Glenn Greenwald in Montreal

  This past month, Glenn Greenwald stopped by Montreal on his Canadian speaking tour. The Concordia University event was a fundraiser for the Freedom of the Press Foundation and began with a trailer (…)
• 1 October 2014

  Russell Tribunal on Palestine

  “The Gaza War (2014) under International Law: An Inquiry into Israel’s Crimes, Responsibility and the Response of the International Community” Extraordinary Session Brussels, 25 September 2014 (…)
• 1 October 2014, by George Monbiot

  Bomb Everyone

  Humanitarian arguments, if consistently applied, could be used to flatten the entire Middle East Let’s bomb the Muslim world – all of it – to save the lives of its people. Surely this is the (…)
• 1 October 2014, by Pablo Solon

  How Did Leaders Respond to the People’s Climate March?

  About 400,000 people went to the streets on September 21st to ask for real actions to address climate change. It was the greatest climate march in history. The UN Climate Summit organized by (…)
• 1 October 2014, by Tariq Dana

  The Misery of Palestinian Unity

  Contrary to some optimistic expectations about positive internal political changes stemming from the recent Israeli war on Gaza, intra-Palestinian division continues to define and fragment the (…)
• 1 October 2014, by Pervez Hoodbhoy

  How TV Promoted Terrorism In Pakistan

  IF today, with remote in hand, you randomly flip through channels on your TV, or browse through nearly two dozen online newspapers, you will see video clips or photos of Pakistan Air Force jets (…)
• 1 October 2014, by Messaoud Romdhani

  A Flawed Education System Could Jeopardize Democracy

  “Young people must take it upon themselves to ensure that they receive the highest education so that they can represent us in the future.” Nelson Mandela The Tunisian Forum for Economic and (…)
• 1 September 2014, by Michel LAMBERT

  Peoples’ Social Forum 2014 and Beyond

  Much has been said, for the most part very positive, about the incredible Peoples’ Social Forum, which took place from August 21st to 24th in Ottawa. Naomi Klein’s comment during her opening (…)
• 1 September 2014, by Miriam Katawazi

  Peoples’ Social Forum: 500 Workshops, 19 Assemblies, 5,000 Voices and a Declaration

  After the Peoples’ Social Forum (PSF) ended this weekend, tents at the University of Ottawa were left empty. Booths covered with art and information that lined the once busy streets had (…)
• 1 September 2014, by Alternative Information Center (AIC)

  Palestinians support resistance in post-Gaza reality

  This growing Palestinian support for resistance as the recent Gaza conflict evolved demonstrates the failure of Israeli tactics, which targeted Gaza’s civilian population in order to weaken Hamas. (…)
• 1 September 2014, by Elizabeth Austwick

  Israel Ramps up Pressure on PFLP

  Following Tuesday morning’s detention of 12 leaders from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the party has declared that Israel is conducting a clear campaign against it. (…)
• 1 September 2014, by Siddharth Varadarajan

  The Futility of Not Talking to Pakistan

  Modi has erred greatly by cancelling talks instead of pursuing an enlightened internal Kashmir policy India is perhaps the only major power in the world to regard dialogue with an adversary as (…)
• 1 September 2014, by David Mandel

  Understanding the Civil War in Ukraine

  The Ukrainian conflict, like most political phenomena, is multi-dimensional and highly complex. As such, it calls for a holistic – dialectical, if you wish – approach. But to judge by American and (…)
• 1 September 2014, by Messaoud Romdhani

  Women in Tunisia: The Struggle for Equality is Not Over

  On August 13, 2014, Tunisian women commemorated the 58th anniversary of the promulgation of the Personal Status Code (PSC) that transformed married and family life in Tunisia. In fact, the PSC (…)
• 1 September 2014, by Roger Waters

  Why Moral Perversity of U.S. Position in Gaza is Stunning

  I think it’s safe to say that if U.S. neighborhoods were living under siege, folks like Rand Paul wouldn’t take it The carnage in Gaza continues after the latest collapse of cease-fire talks (…)
• 1 August 2014, by Michael Reford

  Casualties of a Conservative Government

  Canada is still the calm, expansive landmass just above the United States. In recent memory, that idea is being increasingly challenged by Stephen Harper’s Progressive Conservative government. The (…)
• 1 August 2014, by Michael Bramadat-Willcock

  Lac-Mégantic: One year later

  As my childhood home of Lac-Mégantic reeled in the wake of the July 6, 2013 derailment that left its center destroyed, journalists flocked to the small town. After the explosion my family and I (…)
• 1 August 2014, by Stefan Christoff

  Trudeau Embraces Injustice, in Canada and Gaza

  Justin Trudeau is failing to speak out against ongoing Israeli war crimes in Gaza, clearly illustrating a broader hypocritical and unprincipled political orientation. Although the dynasty (…)
• 1 August 2014, by Eli Aminov

  Renewed Slaughter in Gaza Ghetto

  Another round of fighting, another massacre larger than its predecessor, another genocidal war and another failure. This is the future that the state of Jews promises for its citizens and (…)
• 1 August 2014, by Messaoud Romdhani

  Setting Path to Next Elections: Hardships and Challenges

  One point to be made at the outset: Tunisian citizens are not queuing up to register for the next elections. Out of the roughly four million new eligible voters to cast their vote for the next (…)
• 1 August 2014, by Belén Fernandez

  Make Love and War

  Back in 2007, the pages of Maxim magazine played host to a public relations effort to refurbish the image of the Israel Defense Forces, which had been tarnished by—among other nefarious (…)
• 1 August 2014, by Norman Finkelstein

  Do Palestinians Have the Legal Right to Resist the Israeli Blockade and Occupation?

  On July 7, Israel unleashed Operation Protective Edge against Gaza. When it launched a ground invasion on July 18, Israel had already killed 230 Gazan Palestinians — of whom 75% (171) were (…)
• 1 July 2014, by Bradley Castelli

  Peoples’ Social Forum: Canada

  The 2014 Peoples’ Social Forum will take place from August 21 to 24 this summer in Ottawa. The first ever pan-Canadian social forum is expected to draw some 10 000 participants from all over the (…)
• 1 July 2014, by Nathalie Baptiste

  Soccer Is Democratic. The World Cup Is Oligarchy.

  It’s the biggest sporting event in the world. Fans from virtually every place on Earth don jerseys, scarves, and caps and head to the nearest bar to chug an ice-cold beer while passionately (…)
• 1 July 2014, by Stefan Christoff

  On ‘reasonability’ in activism and demanding the impossible

  Over recent days in Montréal, after joining multiple activist discussions (including those at the Montréal Student Movement Convention), revolving around possible frameworks for asserting (…)
• 1 July 2014, by Sudhish Kamath

  The World Before Her: Two women, two worlds

  Very rarely do we see the world through the eyes of the heroine in Indian cinema. Most of it, if not all, has been the hero’s journey. The heroine is always playing a supporting role or a (…)
• 1 July 2014, by Rick Staggenborg

  We Are All Palestinians Now- A Review Of Max Blumenthal’s Goliath

  Jewish American reporter Max Blumenthal’s latest book is a must-read for anyone struggling to understand why Jewish Israelis support ultimately self-destructive policies of their government. While (…)
• 1 July 2014, by ICSSI

  A Voice From Inside Mosul

  Interview by the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI), with an Iraqi human rights defender (“QC”) from Mosul – the 18th of June 2014 What is the situation now in the city of (…)
• 1 May 2014, by Siddharth Varadarajan

  The Cult of Cronyism

  Who does Narendra Modi represent and what does his rise in Indian politics signify? Given the burden he carries of the 2002 anti-Muslim massacres, it is tempting to see the Gujarat chief (…)
• 1 May 2014, by Siddharth Varadarajan

  What Money Can Buy

  Should we worry that Modi may be spending as much on advertising as Obama spent on his entire 2012 campaign? The 2014 election is a reminder of the one big loophole in India’s election rules (…)
• 1 May 2014, by C.P. Chandrasekhar

  Modi & Constraints Of Democracy

  If India is not to be handed over to big business and a rabidly communal fringe, it is best to keep Narendra Modi out of the Prime Minister’s Office. ELECTIONS 2014 are remarkable for a number (…)
• 1 May 2014, by Harsh Kapoor

  India: Big Business Taking Over Will be Undoing of Democracy

  The run-up to the 2014 general elections in India has been an unprecedented demonstration of the massive infusion of money in electoral campaigning. A veritable carpet-bombing of India’s voters (…)
• 1 May 2014, by Jim Shultz

  To My Friend the Climate Defeatist: Here’s Why I’m Still In the Fight

  It is good to mourn for what’s being lost. But giving up just gives the fossil fuel industry what it wants. My English friend Paul Kingsnorth was the subject of a long article two weeks ago in (…)
• 1 May 2014, by Amira Hass

  Palestinian Reconciliation: Real Unity, or Tactic?

  While the Hamas and PLO delegations in Gaza were preparing to declare reconciliation on Wednesday, in Ramallah the diplomatic business of the “state of Palestine” was proceeding as usual. (…)
• 1 May 2014, by Vacy Vlazna

  The Signing of the Palestinian Spring

  At the low point of the farcical ‘peace’ process stalemate, President Mahmoud Abbas signed, on Tuesday 1st April 2014, letters of accession to 15 multilateral treaties and conventions, (a right (…)
• 1 May 2014, by Messaoud Romdhani

  Tunisia: Impunity After 14 January 2014

  The 23 October 2011 National Constituent Assembly elections was meant to entrench the democratic process that had been set in train-not without difficulties and hesitations- in the aftermath of (…)
• 1 May 2014, by Barak Ravid

  Palestinian Reconciliation is an Opportunity for Israel

  Mere minutes after first reports of a breakthrough in the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation talks on ending a seven-year rift began to emerge, the prime minister’s bureau launched a broadside attack on (…)
• 1 May 2014, by Chris Gilbert

  Gabriel García Márquez and the Coming-into-Being of Latin America

  One of the greatest Latin American authors, Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, died last Thursday. As with any writer whose work becomes a mass culture phenomenon, his work is also the (…)
• 1 May 2014, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

  The Solitude Of Latin America

  The full text of the Nobel lecture delivered on December 8, 1982 by the Colombian great who’s died at his home in Mexico City on April 17, 2014 Antonio Pigafetta, a Florentine navigator who (…)
• 1 April 2014, by Roger Rashi

  2014 People’s Social Forum Takes Aim At Austerity And The Right

  The first ever pan-Canadian social forum will be held this year in Ottawa from August 21 to 24. More than 10,000 participants from all over Canada are expected to come to the University of Ottawa (…)
• 1 April 2014, by Nadim Nashif

  Palestinians Must Resist Israel’s Efforts To Foment Sectarianism

  On 24 February, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, approved a controversial law aimed at de-Arabizing Palestinian Christians. The new law identifies them as a non-Arab minority group. The (…)
• 1 April 2014, by Gideon Levy

  The Western Devil Wears Prada

  The annexation of Crimea may be problematic, but it is less problematic than the occupation of the Palestinian territories by Israel. Saddam Hussein has already been executed, and so has (…)
• 1 April 2014, by Meg Borthwick

  Harper Government Attacks Non-Profits To Muzzle Dissent

  When you donate to a Canadian non-profit organization, with or without charitable status, did you know that your donor dollars may be used in the latest attack by the Harper government against its (…)
• 1 April 2014, by Roger Waters

  Why I Must Speak Out On Israel, Palestine And BDS

  After more than two decades of negotiations, the vulnerable Palestinian population still lives under occupation, while more land is taken, more illegal settlements built, and more Palestinians are (…)
• 1 April 2014, by Gideon Levy

  Israel’s Nation-State Talk Means the Return of The Yellow Star

  Israelis are judging people by their ancestors and withdrawing into a ghetto-state whose nature will be determined by its purity. This kind of talk could only take place in darkness; in beer (…)
• 1 April 2014, by Tariq Ali

  How Vladimir Putin Became Evil

  The US and UK condemn him for Crimea but supported him over the war in Chechnya. Why? Because now he refuses to play ball. Once again, it seems that Russia and the United States are finding it (…)
• 1 March 2014, by Bradley Castelli

  Exhausting Means of Resolution in Syria

  Many were relieved when Western powers relented in their haste to intervene militarily in Syria back in September 2013. It was a chemical attack just outside of Damascus that served as the tipping (…)
• 1 March 2014, by John Feffer

  Ukraine: Out of the Frying Pan

  The very fact that Ukrainian protesters can oust their leader and plunge their country into political uncertainty testifies to the diminished influence of the major international players trying to (…)
• 1 March 2014, by Messaoud Romdhani

  The New Constitution: The Text and the Old Biases

  After a delay of fifteen months and intense controversies between Islamists on the one hand, and other liberal groups and civil society associations on the other, over several issues such as, the (…)
• 1 March 2014, by Naomi Klein

  How Science is Telling us All to Revolt

  In December 2012, a pink-haired complex systems researcher named Brad Werner made his way through the throng of 24,000 earth and space scientists at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical (…)
• 1 March 2014, by FRANK BARAT

  Remembering Stéphane Hessel

  Stephane Hessel, died a year ago today. I wrote this about him at the time, won’t change a word today. Mon cher Stéphane, Wherever you are, I know you are well and at peace. I am also (…)
• 1 March 2014, by Ratna Kapur

  Totalising History, Silencing Dissent

  The agreement by Penguin Books India to destroy all existing copies of Wendy Doniger’s book represents the destruction of the very fabric of Indian culture The agreement by Penguin Books (…)
• 1 February 2014, by Messaoud Romdhani

  Three years after the Tunisian Revolution

  14 January 2014 marked three years after ousting Ben Aly and his family and announcing the breakdown of the despotic regime under the pressure of an unprecedented insurrection that burst out in (…)
• 1 February 2014, by Norman Finkelstein

  A Time to Live, A Time to Die

  I can’t remember my first Pete Seeger concert. But I do vividly recall that in my mid-20s I became a Pete Seeger groupie. I probably went to one of Pete’s concerts every month. He was (…)
• 1 February 2014, by Omar Barghouti

  Why the Boycott Movement Scares Israel

  If Secretary of State John Kerry’s attempts to revive talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority fail because of Israel’s continuing construction of illegal settlements, the Israeli (…)
• 1 February 2014, by Vijay Prashad

  Scarlett Johansson is Right – The Face of Sodastream Doesn’t Fit With Oxfam

  Thanks to the star’s involvement with the Israeli company, illegal settlement activity is under increased scrutiny Global charities seek global ambassadors to help them raise the profile of (…)
• 1 February 2014, by Derrick O’Keefe

  Why we need the Peoples’ Social Forum

  Building toward the Peoples’ Social Forum There are many important ongoing political struggles that demand our attention and action in Canada. In some cases, the resistance is even dynamic and (…)
• 1 February 2014, by Michel (Mikado) Warschawski

  Israeli Leaders Worried About BDS Successes

  "We are pleased to announce that the planned June 2014 "International Oral History Conference" being organized by Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been rendered a double blow with the withdrawal (…)
• 1 February 2014, by Saba Naqvi

  India: The Anarchy of Simple Living

  For the first time in decades political pundits in India’s capital New Delhi are being compelled to take note of local politics in the city state as opposed to pontificating on the state of (…)
• 1 January 2014, by Sam Noumoff

  NELSON MANDELA – FROZEN ICON

  Much has been written, and is still counting, about the iconic figure of Nelson Mandela. He has been portrayed as the quintessential symbol of a new non racist Africa, having endured the hardships (…)
• 1 January 2014, by Ronald Cameron

  People’s Social Forum in 2014 and the World Social Forum in 2016

  While expressing support for the idea of eventually holding a World Social Forum (WSF) in Montreal, the board of Alternatives nonetheless spoke out against the project to hold one in 2015. This (…)
• 1 January 2014, by FRANK BARAT

  Israeli filmmaker Lia Tarachansky tells Frank...

  Israeli filmmaker Lia Tarachansky tells Frank Barat about the challenges and rewards of making On The Side of the Road. Your film On The Side of the Road premiered in Tel Aviv on 28 November (…)
• 1 January 2014, by Robin D. G. Kelley and Erica Lorraine Williams

  Madiba in Palestine

  Nelson Mandela’s death has produced both an outpouring of international solidarity, remembrance, and celebration commemorating Madiba’s leadership in defeating apartheid in South Africa. It has (…)
• 1 January 2014, by Michel (Mikado) Warschawski

  How Dare Israeli Leaders Mourn Mandela?

  “Mandela was an exemplary figure of our era, and he will be remembered as a first class moral leader. He was a liberation fighter who rejected violence…” By these words, Israeli Prime Minister, (…)
• 1 January 2014, by Edward Snowden

  NSA Surveillance Is About Power, Not "Safety"

  An open letter to the people of Brazil. This letter was published today in the Brazilian newspaper A Folha in Portuguese and this original text was provided via the Facebook page of Glenn (…)
• 1 January 2014, by FRANK BARAT

  An Interview with Roger Waters

  Frank Barat: When did you make the decision to make the Wall tour (that ended in Paris in September 2013) so political? And why did you dedicate the final concert to Jean-Charles De Menezes? (…)
• 1 January 2014, by Donald Cuccioletta

  Geo-Strategic Challenges in the United States and China Relationship

  Current Sino-U.S. relations seem to be, as we progress into the second decade of the 21st century, in a holding pattern. This state of affairs leads some observers to believe, that this (…)