José Antonio Gutiérrez and David Landy, Electronic Intifada, 6 August 2010

Photo Upside Down World Yankees get out of Colombia and the World

At the beginning of this month the Israeli government announced it would cooperate with one out of two international UN-sponsored investigation commissions into the 31 May Gaza Freedom Flotilla massacre, a move which UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon claimed was “unprecedented.” However, the details of this commission and who will take part in it — particularly the notorious outgoing president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe Vélez — cast doubt over its impartiality.

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open sit-in by FuturePipe Workers in Akkar, North Lebanon

Photo Farah Koubaissy Half of Lebanese population lives with two dollars.

Since the 12th of July 2010, workers of the FuturePipe Factory in North Lebanon have been holding an open sit-in protesting against the closure of the factory. The management of the factory had stated that the reason behind closure is due to significant losses.

Yet the workers clearly indicate that the factory is not making any losses. It is actually generating substantial profit. Only about a month ago, the owners of the factory bought new equipment at a cost of more than a million US dollars. They also opened branches in different Arab countries.

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Report, IRIN 5 August 2010

Photo IRIN Suhair Karam: The UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) says 222,000 children are enrolled in its schools in Gaza.

Gaza City, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) – The quality of life, the economy and food security for Palestinians living in Gaza have been severely impaired by Israel’s strict four-year blockade, according to the UN.

Israel says its closure regime is designed to protect Israeli citizens from attacks by militants in Gaza. Hamas, the ruling group in Gaza, says Israel’s blockade is aimed at undermining its rule.

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Jillian Kestler-D’Amours, Electronic Intifada, 6 August 2010

Photo Graffiti at Al-Quds University in Palestine.

Al-Quds University is maintaining a joint Israeli-Palestinian master’s degree program with Haifa, Hebrew and Tel Aviv universities, despite a decision taken by its own University Council in February 2009 to distance itself from Israeli academic institutions.

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Haidar Eid, Al-Shabaka, Palestinian Policy Network, 2 August 2010

Photo Matthew Cassel Does Gaza today resemble South Africa under apartheid?

The Palestinian national movement has overlooked this question: does the Gaza Strip resemble the racist Bantustans of apartheid South Africa? During the apartheid era, South Africa’s black population was kept in isolation and without political and civil rights. Is Gaza similar? The answer is yes and no.

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August 2010, Montreal, Quebec

Photo Beirut skyline from airplane over Mediterranean.

The Tadamon! collective wishes to express its full solidarity with Mr. Samah Idriss, editor of Al Adab (“Literature”) Magazine.

About Al Adab

Since its inception in 1953, this important Arabic cultural magazine has played a key role in encouraging progressive thought and debate in the Arab world.

Published in Beirut, Lebanon, Al Adab magazine has become a meeting place for critical reflection on grassroots democratic movements and a platform for voices decrying both colonization and dictatorship throughout the Middle East.

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IcACBI | July 2010

Photo Graffiti writing on Israeli apartheid wall in Palestine.

Both the academia and the arts are profoundly rooted in the values of democracy, equality and justice, and the pursuit of excellence in both these fields has meaning only if it is imbued with conscience. As Indian academics, intellectuals and artists in the decolonised world, we have historically played a crucial role in the liberation of our peoples, and to this day continue to lend our voices in support to all those who are struggling to be rid of the yoke of colonialism and foreign domination.

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Lorraine Guay, Juillet 2010

Photo MaanImages Thaeer al-Hassany: Jeunes Palestiniens renferment des chandelles à d’une manifestation pacifique, dans la ville de Gaza.

Dans un récent reportage à TV5, un habitant d’une colonie de peuplement juif, installée illégalement en plein cœur du territoire palestinien, traitait de « terroristes » de jeunes palestiniens faisant du porte-à-porte auprès de leurs concitoyens pour leur demander de boycotter les produits fabriqués dans cette colonie en guise de résistance pacifique à l’occupation/colonisation dont ils sont victimes depuis plus de cinq décennies.

Ces jeunes marquaient à leur manière le 5e anniversaire de l’appel lancé en juillet 2005 par plus de 170 organisations de la société civile palestinienne invitant les sociétés civiles du monde entier à initier des campagnes de Boycott, Désinvestissement et Sanction contre les politiques israéliennes, comme celles appliquées à l’Afrique du Sud à l’époque de l’apartheid. Des personnalités aussi peu « terroristes » que Mgr Tutu et l’ex-président Carter n’hésitent pas d’ailleurs à qualifier la situation globale qui prévaut en Palestine de véritable apartheid.

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Monday, August 02, 2010 Al Jazeera

Photo Palestinians inspect ground after Israeli bombing in Gaza.

A global treaty banning cluster munitions has gone into force.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which became binding international law on Sunday, prohibits the use, production and stockpiling of the weapon, which is blamed for killing and maiming tens of thousands of civilians.

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Independent Robert Fisk, Saturday, 31 July 2010

Photo Israeli air force cadets at military training.

The death of five Israeli servicemen in a helicopter crash in Romania this week raised scarcely a headline.

There was a Nato-Israeli exercise in progress. Well, that’s OK then. Now imagine the death of five Hamas fighters in a helicopter crash in Romania this week. We’d still be investigating this extraordinary phenomenon. Now mark you, I’m not comparing Israel and Hamas. Israel is the country that justifiably slaughtered more than 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza 19 months ago – more than 300 of them children – while the vicious, blood-sucking and terrorist Hamas killed 13 Israelis (three of them soldiers who actually shot each other by mistake).

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