Articles

"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 the Berlin Wall, German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a speech of sublime hypocrisy when juxtaposed beside the illegal Apartheid/Annexation Wall and beside the blockade ‘wall’ of Gaza constructed (…)

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 frog: “Well, look, it is a difficult thing to talk about because Malala is a brave girl and I think she has even recently started speaking out against the US invasions and bombings…but she’s only a (…)

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 from people opposed to the BJP’s ideology—because he spoke the truth about the loss of independence and professional integrity on the part of the Fourth Estate and other institutions. Today, not (…)

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 back!” That’s become the rallying cry for the 43 student teachers abducted by municipal police and handed over to the Guerreros Unidos drug gang last September in Iguala, Mexico. None have been seen (…)

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 crimes. Under her leadership, the Berlin government has been equipping Israel with submarines that reportedly carry nuclear weapons. Some German politicians have tried to muzzle debate about Israel by (…)

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 ideologically. This was called the "cold war." If it was a war, the word to underline is "cold" since the two powers never engaged in any direct military action against each other throughout the (…)

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 This week, India will celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru. I must confess that I hate anniversaries when they turn out to be rote affairs, when memory, which hurts like frostbite, (…)

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 actors, both in the region and in the outside world. This is not true of Syria today. Syrian politics today are formed by a triad: supporters of the Bashar al-Assad regime; supporters of the (…)

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 and the subsequent carnage which broke out in several parts of Gujarat, the Commission headed by G.T Nanavati (a former judge of the Supreme Court of India) submitted its report to the current Chief (…)

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 promoting the crème de la crème of anti-semitic laws: the definition of Israel as a state of the “Jewish nation”, i.e. the state of Jews of the world and not of its non-Jewish citizens. So Israel is (…)

"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 the Montreal community, Janet Weinroth rose to prominence in the early 1980s as possibly the city’s first (female) Jewish critic of Zionism, committed to exposing Israel’s brutal oppression of (…)

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 Commons yesterday, I sensed in him a vulnerability he rarely exhibits. Harper, like his fellow MPs, Parliamentary staff, media, visitors and children in the downstairs daycare, had likely hunkered (…)

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 Benjamin Netanyahu saidthat he was “committed to the vision of peace for two states for two peoples.” That sounds nice. But if he’d been pressed, Netanyahu might have admitted that the two states he had (…)

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 try. Perhaps a first step in returning to such a time was the decision of the NDP and Liberal Party to oppose Stephen Harper’s most recent ill-considered and cynical march to war with his decision of (…)

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 of a mob”. To her credit (and sorrow), the ageless historian stands firm among a handful of public intellectuals left in India who have refused to be pulverised by the rise of right-wing Hindutva mobs. (…)

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 critically at the incident. Importantly, this shooting occurs as Canada’s Conservative government moves to join a violent and cynical US-driven military campaign in Iraq and Syria, moving both military (…)

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 Yiddish pronunciation: ’chutzpeh’. Chutzpah is exaggerated self confidence, often with a lack of consideration for the other. Chutzpah is an essential component of the Israeli psyche, and Israeli (…)

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 uncertainties and contradictions. They now need to be specified in light of recent events. The deepening of the structural crisis is confirmed and the ruling class has intensified its violence to maintain (…)

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 politics and erase the Palestians as a political actor. The Palestinian leadership, Arab governments and international community condemned the new Israeli settlement plans in Jerusalem. Washington (…)

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 of CITIZENFOUR, a film portrait of Edward Snowden, which is being screened on the November 13 by Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montreal (RIDM). Greenwald stood in front of an audience (…)

“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 Jury: John Dugard, Miguel Angel Estrella, Christiane Hessel, Richard Falk, Ronnie Kasrils, Paul Laverty, Ken Loach, Michael Mansfield, Radhia Nasraoui, Vandana Shiva, Ahdaf Soueif and Roger (…)

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 only consistent moral course? Why stop at blowing up Islamic State, when the Syrian government has murdered and tortured so many? This, after all, was last year’s moral imperative. What’s changed? (…)

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 Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon took place two days later with the participation of 100 heads of state and 800 leaders from business. How did this Summit react to the demands of the peoples climate march? (…)

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 Palestinian political spectrum. Shortly after its assault on Gaza, Israel confiscated 4,000 dunums of Palestinian land near Bethlehem in the West Bank. While the Israeli Peace Now movement described (…)

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 pounding targets in North Waziristan, artillery firing into the mountains, or, perhaps, some other celebration of Operation Zarb-i-Azb. But hang on! You rub your eyes. Our jets bombing Islamic fighters (…)

“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 Social Rights (French acronym, FTDES) has published a report on school dropout in Tunisia, a phenomenon that is increasing at an accelerated rate, affecting 107,000 pupils in 2013 after reaching the (…)

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 speech that the Forum was the most important meeting of social movements in Canada since the American Summit in April 2001 really resonated with me. The comparison between these two events is striking (…)

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 disappeared. There were no longer people standing on the corners of streets passing out magazines and independent film screening ads. But while the forum may be over, participants and organizers are hoping that (…)

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. Palestinian officials report that Israel began implementing the terms of the ceasefire agreement signed in Cairo as life began returning to a new normal in Gaza. Palestinian farmers returned to (…)

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. The arrests took place just one day before the 13th anniversary of the assassination of PFLP general secretary Abu Ali Mustafa by Israel on 27 August 2001. The Ma’an News Agency reports that party (…)

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 a form of surrender, or at best, a reward to be granted on pain of good behaviour. As a corollary, the Indian establishment believes that not talking is a form of punishment, perhaps even of coercive (…)

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 NATO spokespersons and by their mass media, there is only one really decisive factor that explains everything: Russia’s imperialism, Vladimir Putin’s determination to dominate and further dismember (…)

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 allowed women to acquire essential rights they were deprived of for centuries, such as the free choice of a husband, legal divorce, ban of polygamy and setting a minimum age of marriage. The text of (…)

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 and over four weeks of asymmetrical bombardment by Israel. With the death of more than 2,000 Palestinians, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands more, the complicity of the American 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 Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a hugely divisive issue globally and its resurgence this summer is no different. The Internet is abuzz with opinions and accusations; but throughout all of this, the (…)

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 were in a state of shock. Wanting to be of whatever help we could and to connect with friends who were affected, we went to the relief center that had been set up in the local high school. Journalists (…)

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 politician often deploys language that vaguely suggests a “progressive” orientation, most evidence points in the opposite direction. As Israeli air strikes continued to obliterate young children, (…)

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 residents of the area. It once again becomes apparent that the sole factor threatening the citizens of Israel and endangering the lives of its residents and the surroundings is not Iran, not Islam and not (…)

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 parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled this fall, only a small number have turned up to register. More than two weeks after the Independent High Electoral Commission (French acronym, ISIE), (…)

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 affairs—the organized slaughter of civilians in Lebanon and Gaza the previous year. The magazine spread featured scantily clad women, sporting bust-accentuating bikinis and come-hither looks—“The Chosen (…)

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 civilians and 20% (48) children — wounded more than 1,700, and destroyed or rendered uninhabitable hundreds of homes leaving more than 10,000 Gazans without shelter. On the other side, according to daily (…)

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 country, with specific representation from English and French Canadians, as well as First Nations communities. According to its website, the Peoples’ Social Forum is a critical public space aimed at (…)

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 yelling and cheering their team on—hopefully to victory. The World Cup only happens every four years, and for most of us, there’s nothing like it. In a test of stamina, national pride, and strength, (…)

Over recent days in Montréal, after joining multiple activist discussions (including those at the Montréal Student Movement Convention), revolving around possible frameworks for asserting political demands in opposition to austerity economics and neoliberalism, my mind is racing with critical reflections. One key problematic point that rests in my thoughts, is rooted in addressing the (…)

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 cheerleader. More importantly, very rarely have we seen India through the eyes of the young Indian woman. And in the context of rising violence against women, moral policing by extreme right-wing (…)

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 expressing understanding of the sociological roots of its endemic racism, Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel is a searing indictment of Israeli policies and society. Through exhaustive (…)

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 Mosul? QC: In terms of the security situation, there is no fighting or bombing. The roads are open, but there is a shortage of basic goods and services. For example there is no electricity or Internet, (…)

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 minister’s arrival on the national stage as a watershed moment in the escalation of communal politics. Certainly the cult-like following he has amongst the sangh parivar faithful and a wider section of the (…)

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 designed to favour parties backed by the rich: While individual candidates are not allowed to spend more than Rs. 54-70 lakh, there is no limit to what political parties may spend to promote their (…)

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 of reasons. The most remarkable is that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have sought to frame their campaign as a battle to make Narendra Modi (…)

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 with the opposition BJP’s message is everywhere to be seen, from advertisements in newspapers, on TV, Youtube, Radio, Mobile Phones, CDs and the Internet, to billboards in all metropolitan cities and (…)

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 The New York Times magazine, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It ... and He Feels Fine.” A former editor of The Ecologist, Paul has gained new attention of late for his passionate and public (…)

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. Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour arrived for a visit, meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and signing various economic, health and security cooperation agreements with PA Prime (…)

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 gained following Palestine’s upgrade to Observer State status by the UN General Assembly back in November 2012) in defiance of Israel’s refusal to release 30 pre-Oslo prisoners on 29 March 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 the revolution, not only through drafting a constitution that would be in line with the legitimate expectations of hundreds of thousands of protesters across the country, but also through strengthening (…)

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 the development on all fronts. Talking points were distributed to the ministers, reporters’ phones bombarded with text messages, and fire and brimstone began pouring from the prime minister’s Facebook (…)

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 focus of diverse readings. These readings in turn have a direct bearing on the understanding of our continent’s reality. For this reason putting pressure on the legacy of "Gabo" — as he was sometimes (…)

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 went with Magellan on the first voyage around the world, wrote, upon his passage through our southern lands of America, a strictly accurate account that nonetheless resembles a venture into fantasy. In (…)

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 to discuss ways and means of combating the austerity policies of the Harper regime and the provincial governments. While we have been witness to often spirited resistance in many spaces and places (…)

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 initiative is led by the extreme right-wing member of the Knesset (MK) Yariv Levinfrom the governing Likud party. Some consider this to be only a small symbolic action but we in Baladna, the Association (…)

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 Osama bin Laden. But all is not lost for the enlightened West. There is a new devil, and his name is Vladimir Putin. He hates gay people, so the leaders of the enlightenment did not go to Sochi. Now he is (…)

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 critics? According to fundraising and direct mail campaign expert Harvey McKinnon, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is using the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as his own personal attack dog. "By (…)

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 imprisoned, injured or killed struggling for the right to live in dignity and peace, to raise their families, to till their land, to aspire to each and every human goal, just like the rest of us. The (…)

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 cellars, at violent fringe demonstrations or at the headquarters of outlawed organizations. Only the extreme, fascist, neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic and xenophobic right would dare to breathe a word of it. (…)

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 difficult to agree on how to deal with their respective ambitions. This clash of interests is highlighted by the Ukrainian crisis. The provocation in this particular instance, as the leaked recording (…)

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 point that threatened Western intervention, though such action was ultimately averted by Syria agreeing to establish a timetable through which it would eventually surrender its chemical arsenal. (…)

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 control outcomes in Kiev. John Feffer In the end, the street triumphed over the elite. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych tried to hang on to power, and failed. Russian President Vladimir (…)

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 status of women, the place of Sharia and religion in the text, the National Constituent Assembly adopted the new constitution with an absolute majority of votes. Such adoption has been welcomed by (…)

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 Union, held annually in San Francisco. This year’s conference had some big-name participants, from Ed Stone of Nasa’s Voyager project, explaining a new milestone on the path to interstellar space, to (…)

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 sure of one thing; you must be kicking yourself for having gone a few weeks before the closing session of an initiative that you were deeply involved with, from its birth, the Russell Tribunal on (…)

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 India, a unit of Penguin Random House, to withdraw as well as destroy all existing copies of its 2009 book titledThe Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger, a professor of religion at the (…)

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 Sidi Bouzid, on December 2010 and spread across all regions and sectors. The popular movement overwhelmed the huge repressive machine that had killed and injured hundreds of martyrs across the country (…)

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 everywhere, at big rallies and (very) small ones. And if he was there, so was I. I doubt anyone went to a Pete Seeger to hear him perform, although my eldest brother, who’s the World’s Leading Authority on (…)

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 government will likely face an international boycott ‘‘on steroids" as Mr. Kerry warned last August. These days, Israel seems as terrified by the ‘‘exponential’’ growth of the Palestinian-led Boycott, (…)

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 their work. Simply doing their best to stem the tide of suffering is not enough to gain potential donors’ attention. But if a celebrity goes among the poor on behalf of the charity, the media flocks to (…)

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 inspiring — like the Indigenous-led wall of opposition to expanding the tar sands and building new export pipeline mega-projects. But we need to be honest: there is a void in this country, the (…)

"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 of their two international keynote speakers:Alessandro Portelli (Italy) and Mary Marshall Clark (USA). The university’s claim to be hosting the "first international oral history conference" was (…)

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 affairs of the nation. On December 28, 2013, Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of AAP (common man’s party) became the chief minister of New Delhi. At the end of the solemn swearing in ceremony (that involves (…)

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 of struggle, incarceration, and ultimate freedom. His most enduring achievement was his destruction of the pernicious system of apartheid in which class and race were organically fused. He (…)

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 was in order to protect the mobilization for Peoples Social Forum (PSF) in 2014, which enjoys significant support from civil society organizations in Quebec, Canada and the first nations. In this (…)

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 during the International Film Festival on Nakba and Return. Can you tell us about this festival, and the subject of your film? The film festival is the first in the world that focuses entirely on (…)

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 also generated a wave of historical revision and mythmaking—the sort of thing we’ve come to expect when radicals become icons. Mainstream media outlets and statesmen who had only a few years earlier (…)

“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, Benjamin Netanyahu not only reveals his very limited of South African history (to say the least), but has passed over on the other side of decency. In the unanimous worldwide expression of admiration (…)

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 Greenwald’s husband David Miranda Six months ago, I stepped out from the shadows of the United States Government’s National Security Agency to stand in front of a journalist’s camera. I shared with the (…)

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? Roger Waters: The first show was October 14th 2010. We started working on content of show with Sean Evans in 2009. I had already decided to make it much broader politically than it had been in 1979/80. (…)

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 relationship is in a state of limbo while others believe, because of the lack of a clear definition of this relationship, that we are heading towards a “Quasi Cold War “ senario. One of the major proponents of (…)