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Category: Journalism

Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement Urges Carlos Santana To Cancel Tel Aviv Concert
Two photos of Carlos Santana performing on electric guitar. January 21, 2000 in München, Germany. (Wikimedia Commons)
June 29, 2016
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Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement Urges Carlos Santana To Cancel Tel Aviv Concert

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Opponents of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine are urging superstar guitarist Carlos Santana to support their boycott of Israel’s apartheid policies.

Santana’s Luminosity Tour is scheduled to stop in Tel Aviv’s HaYarkon Park on July 30, but activists from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement are hoping he’ll change his mind at the behest of his peace-loving fans.

If he follows through with his plans, it would be Santana’s first performance in Israel in 29 years.

The Mexican-American musician canceled a 2010 appearance, although reports diverge over whether the cancellation was due to scheduling difficulties or pressure from pro-Palestine activists.

Read moreBoycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement Urges Carlos Santana To Cancel Tel Aviv Concert
House Passes Koch-Backed Bill Aimed At Opening Doors To Foreign Donors, Dark Money
At the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, activists project an image readiing "Corporations ≠ People. Money ≠ Speech." (Flickr / Peg Hunter)
June 28, 2016
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House Passes Koch-Backed Bill Aimed At Opening Doors To Foreign Donors, Dark Money

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Rather than following the lead of prominent advocates for campaign finance reform, the House of Representatives recently voted to make American politics less transparent than ever.

The issue of the influence of so-called “dark money” on politics — hidden, high-dollar donations made possible by reforms to campaign finance law like the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision — is receiving renewed attention this election cycle thanks to successful awareness-raising campaigns by presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein, and legislators like Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

A September poll by Bloomberg Politics found that 78 percent of Americans would like to see Citizens United overturned. And that opposition isn’t coming from just one corner; it’s consistent across the party spectrum, from Democrats to Republicans to independents.

Read moreHouse Passes Koch-Backed Bill Aimed At Opening Doors To Foreign Donors, Dark Money
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.

Read moreOaxaca Protests Swell Over Police Killings And Neoliberal Education Reforms
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.

Read moreACLU & Anti-Poverty Campaign Sue Philadelphia Over The Right To Protest At DNC
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