Everybody Pays

Stories must not stop at the sight of blood, but give us the stench of money. Crime is a business and everybody pays in one way or another. And real heroism is not just in big gestures but when ordinary, good people resist, and refuse on their own terms.

—Roberto Saviano

A Paradoxical Matter

Institutionally, Israel — like the United States — is a crime against humanity: nation-states founded on genocide, built on theft. Restitution is now the only humane agenda.

But the psychology and psychiatry of the Israeli state in world consciousness is a paradoxical matter. Even Nobel laureates like Nadine Gordimer — noted for her contributions to undoing apartheid in South Africa — can get it wrong.

In this letter from Gaza university lecturer Dr. Haider Eid, the relationship between apartheid states and the role of writers like Gordimer is put in plain language. Conflicting loyalties and ethical dilemmas are part of life, but for moral models like Gordimer, an explanation is in order.

Iran-Contra 2

Vanity Fair’s David Rose describes how President Bush, Secretary of State Rice, and National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams inadvertently rearmed the Hamas army in Palestine. Documenting the White House covert initiative intended to arm Hamas’ political rival Fatah in the June 2007 failed coup, Rose describes the bungled civil war in Gaza as “Iran-Contra 2.”

Earth Way

President Morales of Bolivia speaks to the UN on the imperative to end the capitalist economic system in order to save the planet and humanity. Morales seeks support from indigenous leaders to take action against exploitation of humans and pillage of nature. Real News has the video of his address to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

A Lucrative Form of Oppression

The sex industry, like other global enterprises, has domestic and international sectors, marketing sectors, a range of physical locations out of which it operates in each community, is controlled by many different owners and managers, and is constantly expanding as technology, law, and public opinion permit. Many governments protect commercial sex businesses because of the monstrous profits. Like slavery, prostitution is a lucrative form of oppression.

—Melissa Farley, Yale Journal of Law and Feminism

Democracy Requires

The Irish have their problems, but silence isn’t one of them. Unlike their American counterparts, major media in Ireland are actually willing to participate with independent journalists and activists in debating coverage of the American war in Iraq. RTE recently teamed up with Real News and MediaBite to produce the following vibrant discussion.

Worth Thinking About

I was viewing Sinn Fein’s YouTube proclamation against imperialism, fascism, and racism, and thought to myself, “What bona fide political party in the United States would do anything like that?” Certainly neither of the two parties controlling our government.

Which reminded me of the recent decision by the Mapuche nation to organize a political party open to indigenous as well as non-indigenous citizens of the Chilean state, in order to fight for values, rights and beliefs betrayed by liberals and conservatives.

I don’t know how such an endeavor might be launched in the US, but it’s something worth thinking about. I mean, we’re certainly not going to make any headway against imperialism, fascism, or racism by supporting Democrats and Republicans.

War on Ideas

Social Research lists foreign scholars invited by US universities who were denied visas by the US State Department for holding beliefs contrary to US policy.

Indicting Justice

In their April 2007 report Maze of Injustice, Amnesty International documents the failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA. In an attempt to address this brutal legacy of ongoing colonialism in Indian country, Amnesty International — with the cooperation of Indigenous women’s organizations across the country — has compiled both an earth-shattering indictment of the US justice system, as well as a solid plan of action. Failing to act on this plan is not merely racist, it is inhuman.

Undermining Coexistence

Anti-Indian agent provocateurs are notorious for inciting hatred among confused citizens attempting to come to terms with Native American sovereignty. One of the worst fearmongers in the 1980s and 1990s was Chuck Cushman, the registered agent for American Land Rights Association located in Clark County, Washington. But Cushman is just one of many masters of political violence who work with Anti-Indian organizations like One Nation United, a national non-profit headquartered in King County, Washington.

In addition to field work in promoting bigotry, these corporations also organize lobbying against Native American sovereignty, as well as conduct public relations campaigns to generate public fear of tribal initiatives. In 2006, for instance, American Land Rights Association and Alliance Against Reservation Shopping* joined One Nation United in sponsoring an Anti-Indian conference in Washington, D.C.

Capitalizing on genuine concerns of tribal neighbors across the US, Anti-Indian Movement entrepreneurs have become adept at manipulating ill-informed citizens into opposing tribes seeking to enforce federal treaties in pursuing self-determination, resource protection, and economic development. While there is usually room for negotiation between the good-faith parties involved, it is the persistent politics of land and bigotry that often undermines just resolution and peaceful coexistence.

*This is probably a typo for Citizens Against Reservation Shopping.