be just

A veteran American journalist has been fired after referring to Israel's occupation of Palestinian and Syrian land as "brutal." Sunni Khalid, managing news editor at WYPR-FM in Baltimore, was dropped by the public radio station on Thursday after more than nine years on the job. He had been on probation following criticism of comments he made on Facebook about Israel's continued illegal occupation of Palestine. "I, for one, have had enough of this pandering before the Israeli regime," he wrote. "The war-mongering toward Iran has, once again, distracted the world from Israel's brutal military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights." Khalid, who previously worked for National Public Radio, has also written for Time Magazine, The Washington Times, and USA Today. Israel maintains a siege of Gaza and a military occupation in the West Bank, with devastating consequences for the indigenous Palestinian population. Rights grou...

'Belambai' is Afghanistan's 'My Lai'  : Information Clearing House March 23, 2012 "Al Jazeera" - - San Pedro, CA - I immediately thought of the My Lai Massacre when I heard the news of a US Army sergeant who murdered at least 16 civilians, including nine children and three women, burning most of their bodies after murdering them, in their homes near Belambai in Kandahar, Afghanistan. As with My Lai - where 504 unarmed civilians were murdered on March 16, 1968 - it was a single bloody incident that seemed to epitomise the entire misbegotten war.  Whatever illusions or delusions might have been harboured early on, had by then either faded or been violently stripped away. The massacre of innocents came as no real surprise, however much some might still pretend to be shocked or surprised. Also like My Lai, Belambai is clearly a massacre after the war has already been lost, but before the generals and politicians are prepared to admit it. To be honest, b...