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Category: Journalism

Oaxaca Protests Swell Over Police Killings And Neoliberal Education Reforms
In this June 23, 2016 photograph, dancers and drummers at the Texas Capitol honor activists killed by police in Oaxaca, Mexico while protesting neoliberal education reforms. (Kit O'Connell)
June 27, 2016
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Oaxaca Protests Swell Over Police Killings And Neoliberal Education Reforms

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and MintPress News

A brutal attack on protesters in Mexico has drawn expressions of solidarity from around the world, including a vigil held on Thursday at the Texas State Capitol.

At least eight civilians were killed and dozens injured on June 20, when police opened fire on a group of teachers, students and their allies blocking a section of highway connecting the state of Oaxaca to Mexico City. A journalist was also killed during the protests.

“They’re killing our people,” Magdalena Maria Gutierrez, a resident of Austin, Texas, who was born in Oaxaca, said in an interview with MintPress News before she spoke to the crowd gathered at the Texas State Capitol on Thursday for a vigil organized by the Committee in Solidarity with Teachers in Mexico.

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Foreign Policy ‘Hypocrisy’: Canada Becomes Second-Largest Weapons Exporter To Middle East
August 6, 2015. A city street in Sa'ada, Yemen lies in ruins after heavy bombing by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia. (Flickr / United Nations OCHA)
June 24, 2016
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Foreign Policy ‘Hypocrisy’: Canada Becomes Second-Largest Weapons Exporter To Middle East

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite its reputation as our less war-inclined neighbor to the north, Canada has become second only to the United States in weapons exports to the Middle East.

The increase in military equipment and weapons sales was noted by IHS Jane’s in its annual “Global Defence Trade Report,” published June 13 by IHS, Inc., a corporate data analysis think tank.

“Canada is the second-largest exporter of defence equipment to the Middle East with $2.7 billion in sales, moving the UK down the table to fourth place, just behind France,” IHS reported in a press release.

Read moreForeign Policy ‘Hypocrisy’: Canada Becomes Second-Largest Weapons Exporter To Middle East
ACLU & Anti-Poverty Campaign Sue Philadelphia Over The Right To Protest At DNC
Protest signs hang on a fence blocking access to the site of the Democratic National Convention in Boston. July 28, 2004. (Flickr / Tom Marshall)
June 24, 2016
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ACLU & Anti-Poverty Campaign Sue Philadelphia Over The Right To Protest At DNC

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

The ACLU of Pennsylvania is suing the City of Philadelphia after anti-poverty activists were denied the right to protest during next month’s Democratic National Convention.

The NGO is suing on behalf of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. The interracial, intergenerational movement to end poverty is led by activist Cheri Honkala, who served as Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s running mate in the 2012 presidential election.

“We are filing the lawsuit today because the last thing that poor people have is their voice, and we can’t allow our voice to be taken away,” Honkala said in a press release issued on Thursday.

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Islamophobia Industry Spent $206M Building Hatred In US, But Here’s How To Create Love Instead
September 11, 2010: A protest against a proposed Muslim cultural center in downtown New York City. A banner reads "Stop Islamization of America! Wake Up!" (Flickr / Chris Rojas)
June 23, 2016
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Islamophobia Industry Spent $206M Building Hatred In US, But Here’s How To Create Love Instead

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Islamophobia is more profitable than ever in America, but a new report from a leading Muslim civil rights organization offers a new strategy to take the national conversation back from the proprietors of hate.

Thirty-three key organizations promoting anti-Muslim sentiment had access to a combined budget of $205,838,077 between 2008 and 2013, according to “Confronting Fear: Islamophobia and its Impact in the U.S. 2013-2015,” a report published on Monday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations in collaboration with the Center for Race and Gender at the University of California, Berkeley.

In addition to these core organizations promoting hatred, the report identified 74 groups involved in the larger “U.S. Islamophobia network.” That’s an increase from the 69 groups identified in the previous report, “Legislating Fear: Islamophobia and its Impact in the United States,” published in 2013.

Read moreIslamophobia Industry Spent $206M Building Hatred In US, But Here’s How To Create Love Instead
WikiLeaks’ Assange Enters Year 5 Of Confinement, War On Whistleblowers To Continue Indefinitely
Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on Aug. 18, 2014. (Wikimedia Commons / Cancillería del Ecuador)
June 23, 2016
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WikiLeaks’ Assange Enters Year 5 Of Confinement, War On Whistleblowers To Continue Indefinitely

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

On Sunday, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange marked the fourth anniversary of the day he entered the Ecuadorean Embassy in London on asylum.

Many, including fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and philosopher and political analyst Noam Chomsky, voiced their support for Assange and their hopes for his eventual freedom. But Assange is just one of many victims of the U.S. war on whistleblowers, an unprecedented crackdown on government transparency that’s unlikely to end any time soon.

Assange entered the embassy on June 19, 2012 under threat of extradition to Sweden for questioning over allegations of improper sexual behavior toward two women. Swedish officials have refused to guarantee that Assange will not be extradited to a third country, and until recently, they’ve also refused invitations to question him at the embassy. Though the case against him has weakened over time, Assange still fears he could face decades in prison, or even the death penalty, if he were extradited from Sweden to the U.S., where a secretive, federal grand jury could indict him for hosting classified, leaked information on WikiLeaks.

Read moreWikiLeaks’ Assange Enters Year 5 Of Confinement, War On Whistleblowers To Continue Indefinitely
Amid Anti-BDS Pressure, Facebook Israel Appoints Long-Time Netanyahu Advisor To Policy Post
File: A Muslim woman wearing a hijab uses a tablet computer to photograph a fence in Israel. January 6, 2016. (Flickr / U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv)
June 23, 2016
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Amid Anti-BDS Pressure, Facebook Israel Appoints Long-Time Netanyahu Advisor To Policy Post

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

An advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking a top post at Facebook amid calls for increased censorship on the social network.

Facebook recently announced that Jordana Cutler would head policy and communications at the social media giant’s Israel office. Cutler currently works as the chief of staff for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, and is a long-time advisor to the prime minister.

“The appointment comes amidst growing Israeli government frenzy concerning incitement allegations and BDS, the global non-violent movement against the Israeli occupation of Palestine, whose often viral presence online exposes Israeli human rights violations,” wrote Dorgham Abusalim, a foreign policy analyst at Mondoweiss, on Monday.

Read moreAmid Anti-BDS Pressure, Facebook Israel Appoints Long-Time Netanyahu Advisor To Policy Post