January 2017 - Page 2 of 2 - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

Israel Denies Entry To Impoverished Venezuelan Jews

An Israeli flag blows in the wind against a blue sky. (Flickr / Izhar Laufer, CC NC ND)

January 11, 2017

Israel Denies Entry To Impoverished Venezuelan Jews

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite frequent assertions that it is a homeland for all Jews, Israel has rejected a group of would-be immigrants from Venezuela despite years of devotion to their religion.

Under the policy known as aliyah, a Hebrew word meaning “ascending,” any Jewish person may emigrate to Israel, regardless of their nation of origin. Once in Israel, new arrivals are provided with stipends and benefits to help them get on their feet. When Europe was struck by deadly anti-Semitic violence two years ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged all Jews to move to Israel.

“I would like to tell all European Jews and all Jews wherever they are: Israel is the home of every Jew,” Netanyahu said after an attack on a synagogue in Copenhagen in January of 2015.

However, this policy has been selectively enforced in cases involving poor or non-white Jews.

Standing Rock Isn’t The Only Pipeline Fight: West Texas Activists Resist Trans-Pecos Pipeline

A sign at a San Francisco rally for Standing Rock water protectors reads, "No Trans-Pecos Pipeline." November 15, 2016. (Flickr / Peg Hunter, CC NC)

January 10, 2017

Kit

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Standing Rock Isn’t The Only Pipeline Fight: West Texas Activists Resist Trans-Pecos Pipeline

Posted in Journalism, and Lee Camp

After the recent, short-term victory in the battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline, a pair of new encampments led by Native Americans opposed to the Trans-Pecos Pipeline in West Texas show that the tactics of the #NoDAPL water protectors have spread nationwide.

The Army Corps of Engineers denied a critical permit to the Dakota Access Pipeline on December 4, delaying completion of construction until Donald Trump takes office, and giving opponents more time to target the pipeline’s financial sponsors. On Saturday, one Native American water protector and one local resident of Alpine, Texas, a community threatened by the Trans-Pecos Pipeline, locked themselves to construction equipment owned by Energy Transfer Partners, the Dallas-based company behind both pipelines.

Despite Pervasive Anti-Semitism, Alex Jones’ Infowars Backs Israel Over Obama

Alex Jones in downtown New York City on September 12, 2007. (Flickr / 911conspiracy, CC)

January 10, 2017

Kit

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Despite Pervasive Anti-Semitism, Alex Jones’ Infowars Backs Israel Over Obama

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Infowars, an alternative multimedia outlet notorious for peddling hoaxes and anti-Semitic ideas, is now toeing a far-right, extremist line on U.S.-Israel relations.

The site’s shifting political viewpoint is another sign of the transformation that Alex Jones, the site’s founder, has undergone as he’s transitioned from an offbeat talk show host on public access TV to a Washington insider with intimate access to President-elect Donald Trump.

Despite his modest beginnings, Jones has built an expansive and profitable media empire that includes multiple websites, TV and radio programs, documentaries, and lucrative advertising deals that promote products ranging from Infowars-branded male “vitality” supplements to doomsday preparation supplies.

Creating An LGBTQIA Safe Space In Rural America

January 7, 2017

Kit

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Creating An LGBTQIA Safe Space In Rural America

Posted in Journalism, and Yes! Magazine

In the heart of rural New England, two queer women built a space for art and community.

Amid the relatively conservative, rural surroundings of Manchester, New Hampshire, The Gal-lery is a sanctuary from judgment and oppression. Located deep inside the twisty hallways of a converted former mill, the space to showcase art isn’t marked by flashy signs or promoted with widespread advertising. It’s a place where LGBTQIA people, and others who are marginalized, can simply exist without having to justify their identities to others.

Catherine Graffam, an intersex, nonbinary transgender woman, cofounded The Gal-lery more than two years ago with Madeline Jones, a queer woman who also sometimes uses nonbinary pronouns, after the pair graduated from the New Hampshire Institute of Art. The two began hosting events in 2015 and have since built a successful community of regular visitors and friends. About 50 people attended the Nov. 3 opening of “Gals and Pals,” their first gallery show, which also featured nine visiting artists in addition to the works of Graffam and Jones.

DEA Threatens Legal CBD Oil, Trump’s Anti-Peace Ambassador To Israel (Black Tower Radio Interview)

A dense cluster of hemp plants. December 23, 2003. (Flickr / Edward the Bonobo, CC NC ND)

January 5, 2017

Kit

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DEA Threatens Legal CBD Oil, Trump’s Anti-Peace Ambassador To Israel (Black Tower Radio Interview)

Posted in Audio, Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite widespread misinformation, the Drug Enforcement Agency hasn’t made CBD oil illegal, yet. And, thanks to multiple protections passed by Congress, it’s unlikely that they can simply make CBD products disappear. Even so, the misinformation created by a recent administrative move by the agency to reclassify CBD created a lot of needless fear. At the very least, the DEA can expect to face serious legal action if they attempt to ban CBD.

I also recently covered Donald Trump’s decision to appoint his bankruptcy lawyer, David Friedman, as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel. Friedman is openly supportive of Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, which underwent record growth in 2016. While the president-elect often surrounds himself with anti-Semites, he’s also selected numerous cabinet members and advisers who supports a far-right, anti-peace view on Israel and Palestine.