be just

“Tell no lies; claim no easy victories,” said the West African anti-colonial revolutionary Amilcar Cabral in 1965. These words ring true for those of us dedicated to helping end the US-funded Israeli military occupation, and working towards the fulfillment of the full rights of the Palestinian people. We know that the struggle to justice is an uphill one. But after a measure to divest approximately $17 million of the Presbyterian Church USA’s funds from corporations profitting from the Israeli occupation was defeated by only two votes in Pittsburgh tonight, “no easy victories” is just as true for groups who wield much more power and boast far greater resources than the Palestine solidarity movement.

NATO Proxies Turkey and Saudi Arabia Move to War Footing on Eve of Syrian ‘Peace Summit’        : Information Clearing House June 29, 2012 "Information Clearing House" -- The NATO-backed covert aggression against Syria could be reaching a tipping point for all-out war involving state forces. That should be no surprise. For the past 16 months, NATO and its regional proxies have been steadily increasing the violence and turmoil inside and outside Syria, while the Western corporate-controlled media maintain the ridiculous fiction that the bloody chaos is largely due to the government forces of President Bashar Al Assad cracking down on “peaceful protesters”.

US-backed gunmen stage massacre at Syrian TV station US-backed gunmen stage massacre at Syrian TV station By Bill Van Auken 28 June 2012 Gunmen stormed a pro-government television station in Syria Wednesday, slaughtering seven employees, wounding others and taking several people hostage. The attack came a day after President Bashar al-Assad declared Syria to be in “a real state of war.”

   Free Speech Under Attack for Muslim Americans          : Information Clearing House Sami Al-Arian, a professor at the University of South Florida, and an activist on behalf of Palestinian human rights, was arrested over 9 years ago on terrorism charges. His daughter, journalist Laila Al-Arian, tells The Nation how the FBI built a case against her father that was based on intimidation, coercion and pervasive fear. She wrote about the case and the FBI's infilitratration of Muslim communities in The Nation's special issue on Islamophobia."......"

Rabbi who called for slaughter of a million Palestinians is to supervise Israel's 'Red Cross' A notoriously racist rabbi who once called on Israel to slaughter a million Palestinian civilians has been appointed to head a supervisory committee for Magen David Adom (MDA) – Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Haaretz reported that under pressure from ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups MDA decided to set up a rabbinical committee to dictate religious guidelines – including gender relations – for volunteers in the rescue service. The committee is headed by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Safad, whose salary is paid by the Israeli government. Eliyahu has a long, well-documented history of extreme racism and has called for violence against Palestinians. Since 2006, Magen David Adom – whose name means Red Star of David – has been a full member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and is Israel’s internationally recognized agency for d...

Israel in Breach of International Law in Treatment of Palestinian Children -- News from Antiwar.com There is a “spiral of injustice” and breaches of international law in Israel’s treatment of child detainees in military custody, according to an independent report by a delegation of British lawyers backed by the British Foreign Office.

5 Reasons America Is Not -- And Has Never Been -- a Christian Nation 5 Reasons America Is Not -- And Has Never Been -- a Christian Nation By Rob Boston June 25, 2012 "Information Clearing House" -- "The United States is a Christian nation.” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard this statement at a religious Right meeting or in the media, I wouldn’t be rich—but I’d probably have enough to buy a really cool iPad. The assertion is widely believed by followers of the religious Right and often repeated—and, too often, it seeps into the beliefs of the rest of the population as well. But like other myths that are widely accepted (you use only 10 percent of your brain, vitamin C helps you get over a cold, and the like), it lacks a factual basis.