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Wikileaks Sony Hack Reveals Hollywood’s Hand In Repairing Israel’s Broken Image

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

A MintPress News analysis of emails contained in WikiLeaks archive of the Sony Hack reveals how Hollywood executives are working to repair Israel’s public image in the wake of the savage death toll from last summer’s Operation Protective Edge offensive against Gaza. This includes a proposed documentary which would attempt to tie support for Palestine to anti-semitic violence in Europe and the United States.

A group of hackers called Guardians Of Peace held Sony computers hostage last year before leaking thousands of files to the Internet. The U.S. government has attempted to link the crime to North Korea, citing retaliation for the controversial Sony Pictures film “The Interview.”

Previous analysis of the leaked documents revealed how Sony executives, including Amy Beth Pascal, chairwoman of the Motion Pictures Group of Sony Pictures Entertainment from 2006 until just after the Sony Hack in 2015, made racially insensitive comments about Barack Obama.

WikiLeaks released a searchable archive of leaked internal emails and documents on April 16. Investigation of the archive shows a pattern of support for Israel and its violent Zionist policies both during and after the 2014 assault on Gaza by Sony employees and other important members of the film industry.

Protests In Baltimore Joined In Solidarity in Chicago, Oakland, Elsewhere

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

While the recent protests in Baltimore began soon after the death of Freddie Gray on April 19, the mainstream media has only recently arrived on the streets. Similar to their coverage of Ferguson and other protests in the wake of recent police slayings of black Americans, the focus remains on violent clashes between militarized police and angry citizens.

On Tuesday, after the first night of a citywide curfew was met with arrests and tear gas, two tweets were being widely shared which seemed to ironically highlight the ways police routinely lie about the situation on the ground:

World Ignores Genocide In Central African Republic Because It’s Not ISIS & There’s No Oil

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

When the Seleka, a group of mostly Muslim rebels, led a successful coup in the Central African Republic in March 2013, one of the world’s poorest countries was plunged into turmoil as Christian militias targeted the nation’s minority Muslim population in what amounts to genocide.

The Seleka were ousted from power in January 2014, and the country has since been embroiled in a civil war between the Seleka and an armed coalition called the Anti-Balaka.

While the entire civilian population has suffered enormously throughout the conflicts in the Central African Republic, perhaps no group has suffered more than the country’s Muslim minority.

Police Brutality Activists #ShutdownA14 Nationwide To Oppose Killer Cops

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

As highly publicized killings of unarmed Americans continue to make headlines, activists once again took to the streets nationwide to demand a halt to police murders and oppression. Tuesday’s day of action, centered around the hashtag #ShutDownA14, saw protests in 30 U.S. cities in 18 states.

The protest was organized by the Stop Mass Incarceration Network in response to the recent killing of Walter Scott — a tragedy in which an eyewitness recorded not just the slaying, but also police attempting to plant evidence near his body.

Protesting George Friedman, CEO Of Stratfor, In Austin & San Francisco

Posted in Austin, Journalism, MintPress News, and Occupy Wall Street

On January 22, journalist and political prisoner Barrett Brown was convicted in a Texas court of controversial charges. In addition to a 63-month sentence, Brown is expected to pay $890,250 in restitution to the private spy agency, Strategic Forecasting (a.k.a. “Stratfor”).

This monumental fine, which turns a theoretically free citizen into an indentured servant of a corporation, is meant to hold Brown responsible for a hack by the Anonymous group LulzSec — even though the government admitted it didn’t have any concrete evidence to show he’d taken any material part in the hack.

Jeremy Hammond, a member of LulzSec, pled guilty in May of 2013 and was sentenced to ten years in prison. The hack, carried out under the instruction of the FBI’s agent saboteur and snitch Sabu, revealed millions of emails that showed the complex interrelationship between the private intelligence firm, multinational corporations, and the surveillance state. The emails also revealed how Stratfor had infiltrated activist groups from Texas to India.

On February 2, 2015, George Friedman, Stratfor’s CEO, was scheduled to sign his book “Flashpoints: The Emerging Crisis in Europe,” at Book People, an independent bookstore in Austin, Texas. It would be Hammond’s 1,065th day in prison; Brown had been incarcerated for 874.

George Friedman, you should have expected us.

Zim Shipping “On The Ropes” In Oakland As Activists Prepare To Block The Boat Again

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

After multiple Block The Boat actions, even opponents of the blockade movement admit that Zim Integrated Shipping Services, Israel’s largest maritime cargo corporation, is on the defensive.

The next in this series of direct actions, which attempt to prevent Zim shipping vessels from unloading at U.S. ports in a show of support for Palestine, was scheduled to take place on the morning of Oct. 25. But Block The Boat organizers announced via Twitter that Zim Beijing, the latest vessel due in Oakland, California, haddelayed its arrival.

There’s a long history of unions and activists collaborating to blockade business at the Port of Oakland, but the movement has spread in recent months. Attempts to prevent unloading, with varying degrees of success, have also occurred at the Ports of Long Beach, Seattle, Vancouver and Tampa Bay. There are signs that Zim may soon abandon Oakland entirely or may already be in the process of doing so.

In addition to the costs Zim incurs as a result of these actions, organizers suggest these actions damage the company’s reputation in international shipping circles just as it attempts to cement alliances with other similar corporations.