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Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words Posts

Israel Cutting Palestinians Off From Their Own Water Supply

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Apartheid Israel is limiting access to water in Palestine, a long-standing practice that’s only intensified during the holy month of Ramadan, when access to water becomes even more important than usual.

Cuts in water supply are hitting the Occupied West Bank especially hard, Al-Jazeera reported on June 23.

“Water shortages and cuts have … been reported throughout the northern Jenin and Nablus districts of the West Bank, although Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit, the Israeli body in charge of the occupied West Bank, denied water had been cut or reduced at all,” wrote Sheren Khalel.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.