Category Archives: Freedom of Speach
Yahya Abu Zakariya: "Dropping al-Mayadin first fig leaf first "
ANTI-US SENTIMENT ON THE RISE IN TURKEY
Turkey: Facing International Responsibility
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
Posted in Erdogan, Freedom of Press, Freedom of Speach, PKK, Turkey, USA, War on syria
Integrity – Prof. NORTON MEZVINSKY’s letter on Today’s NYT
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at 10:00AM
http://www.nytimes.com/
To the Editor:
Re “Amid Criticism, College Says Event on Israel Can Proceed“ (news article, Feb. 5):
The president of Brooklyn College, Karen L. Gould, is correct in allowing speakers who are critical of Israeli policies regarding Palestinians in the West Bank and who favor Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions to be allowed to speak on campus when invited by students and/or faculty. Not allowing these speakers to present their views on campus would violate freedom of expression and academic freedom.
Likewise, B.D.S. advocates should realize that their attempts to boycott and disallow speakers and others who support Israeli policies regarding Palestinians and who are in opposition to B.D.S. also violate principles of freedom of expression and academic freedom.
NORTON MEZVINSKY
New York, Feb. 5, 2013
The writer is a professor at Central Connecticut State University and president of the International Council for Middle East Studies.
Interview with Gilad Atzmon by Prof. Norton Mezvinsky-Washington Report
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Posted in BDS, Freedom of Speach
More on the Gilad Atzmon controversy – and why it matters…
I’d rather be researching and writing articles on Palestine-Israel; analyzing media coverage ; placing advertisements and billboards around the country; creating fact-sheets, cards, booklets and other materials on the topic; updating the websites (e.g. here and here and here) we’ve created to get the facts out; creating new initiatives; and numerous other productive activities for justice and peace.
However, I feel I need to briefly take time out to provide information about the Gilad Atzmon controversy, since I feel the attacks on him are enormously unfair, they continue to occasionally interfere with productive efforts, are sometimes used to try to block my presentations (more on this later), and because an important new article on the topic has just come out.
Gilad Atzmon, an Israeli who moved to London about 20 years ago, is a superb jazz musician who has written several books, and blogs about Israel-Palestine.
His most recent book, and the center of the controversy, is The Wandering Who: A Study of Jewish Identity Politics, in which he draws on his background in philosophy (he has a Masters degree in the subject) to explore the Jewish connection to the Jewish state.
Some activists found this topic impermissible and began to launch attacks on Atzmon, which largely seemed geared at preventing others from reading his work for themselves.
In February 2012 a public letter denouncing him was launched with 33 signatories, none of them Palestinian. (One signatory, listed first, is Lebanese; the full list is below).
The letter was circulated widely and reposted various places; eventually accruing 173 names. This time a handful were Palestinian.
(At least one prominent US activist, not Palestinian, didn’t sign the letter publicly, but privately attempts to block Atzmon’s events in the US.)
In March a second public letter denouncing Atzmon was published – this one with a particularly defamatory headline and somewhat militaristic terminology: “Granting No Quarter: A Call for the Disavowal of the Racism and Antisemitism of Gilad Atzmon.“
It contained a grand total of 23 signatories. All were Palestinian, most of them living in the US.
Some of the individuals who signed these letters later admitted they had never read Atzmon’s book. (In fact, given how busy we all are, I would guess few of them did.)
Many others – including both Palestinian and Jewish activists, authors, and scholars – refused to sign it.
In fact, many prominent and widely respected individuals – such as Richard Falk, Mazin Qumsiyeh, Ramzy Baroud, lauren Booth, David Rovics, Sameh Habeeb, Sheldon Richman, Nahida Izzat, and Cynthia McKinney – openly praised it. (See more here.)
I myself wrote a mild commentary saying that I respected people on both sides of the controversy but came down on the side of free speech and against “thought police.” I also posted a commentary by another person.
Because of this, some solidarity activists now openly attack Richard Falk and others because of their stand on Atzmon, and there are apparently a few who attack me because of my comments.
One person emailed the sponsors of one of my talks in London, falsifying what Atzmon says and I had written, in an attempt to persuade the organizers to cancel the event.
Other individuals, endeavoring to block my talks and prevent If Americans Knew tables at conferences and events, have claimed that I tried “to tell Palestinians what to do” because I had commented on this controversy, even though 23 signatories hardly represents all Palestinians, and even though many other Palestinians also disagreed with the letter these individuals had signed.
Now there is a new development. An individual named Blake Alcott has written a thorough analysis of Atzmon’s writings and of the attacks against him, published on CounterPunch and Redress. (I will also post it below.) As Redress Editor Nureddin Sabir
writes:
“Blake Alcott debunks the ‘anti-Semitism’ slur levelled at musician and writer Gilad Atzmon by US academic Ali Abunimah, and explains that Atzmon ‘illuminates the ‘pro-Semitic’ racist ideology fatal to Palestinians’.”
To reiterate what I wrote in my first post on this controversy:
I respect and like people on both sides of this controversy, including a number of people who signed the letters attacking Atzmon.
Even though I disagree with the decision some made to sign these letters, I still feel we are allies in an urgent cause and hope we will continue to work together to bring the change that is so desperately needed. Let us set aside attacks on Atzmon and others, let us not let others exploit this issue to block presentations by those who differ on this issue, and let us turn our full focus, time, and efforts to our life-and-death struggle against the continued oppression of millions of men, women, and children in Palestine and beyond.
To read more:
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Journalist BLOCKED and CENSORED by TIME WORLD!
by Eileen Fleming
Thursday, January 17th, 2013
Two days ago, this reporter posted the following comment at the TIME WORLD article, Iran: Khamenei’s Ban of Nuclear Weapons Binding | TIME.com:
In April 2010, Iran hosted a conference in Tehran on nuclear disarmament and sixty countries were represented but NOT the USA!
Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei issued a statement delivered at the conference stating that nuclear weaponry was “haram” meaning prohibited under Islam and he also blew the doors off Israel’s and America’s nuclear deceptions:
“If America’s claims of fighting the proliferation of nuclear weapons were not false, would the Zionist regime be able to turn the occupied Palestinian lands into an arsenal where a huge number of nuclear weapons are stored while refusing to respect international regulations in this regard, especially the NPT?
“There is only one government that has committed a nuclear crime so far. Only the government of the United States of America has attacked the oppressed people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs in an unfair and inhumane war”using or even threatening to use such weapons is a serious violation of the most basic rules of philanthropy and is a clear manifestation of war crimes.
“The greatest violators of the NPT are the powers who have reneged on their obligation to dispose of nuclear weapons mentioned in Article 6 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. These powers have even surpassed other countries with respect to promoting nuclear weapons in the world. By providing the Zionist regime with nuclear weapons and supporting its policies, these powers play a direct role in promoting nuclear weapons which is against the obligations they have undertaken according to Article 1 of the NPT.
“We believe that besides nuclear weapons, other types of weapons of mass destruction such as chemical and biological weapons also pose a serious threat to humanity.
“The Iranian nation, which is itself a victim of chemical weapons, feels more than any other nation the danger that is caused by the production and stockpiling of such weapons and is prepared to make use of all its facilities to counter such threats. We consider the use of such weapons as haram (religiously forbidden) and believe that it is everyone’s duty to make efforts to secure humanity against this great disaster.”
On 5 April 2009, President Obama stood on the world stage in Prague and admitted, “As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act. When we fail to pursue peace, then it stays forever beyond our grasp. We know the path when we choose fear over hope. To denounce or shrug off a call for cooperation is an easy but also cowardly thing to do. That’s how wars begin. That’s where human progress ends.
“The voices of peace and progress must be raised together.
“Human destiny will be what we make of it.
“Words must mean something.”
In 1987, from Ashkelon prison, Israel’s Nuclear Whistle Blower Mordechai Vanunu wrote:
“The passive acceptance and complacency with regard to the existence of nuclear weapons anywhere on earth is the disease of society today.
“This struggle is not only a legitimate one – it is a moral, inescapable struggle.
“Already now there are enough nuclear missiles to destroy the world many times over [and] this issue should unite us all, because that is our real enemy.
“Is any government qualified and authorized to produce such weapons?” –The Fierce Urgency of All Thing Nuclear
Since that comment and link remains-and before the worn out and inaccurate canard of ‘SPAMMING’ is hurled at me because I OFFER information- I wonder WHAT happened and WHY the following COMMENTS have disappeared-as in CENSORED- from Obama, Netanyahu Seem Headed for US-Israel Clash by AP / Amy Teibel and I am no longer able to login with my Facebook Account..
What is now missing from the TIME WORLD thread but remains on my Facebook Wall are:
Israeli peacemaker Jonathan Ben Artzi, a PhD candidate at Brown University and nephew to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has witnessed a lifetime of Israel’s abuse of Palestinians, declared:
“Sometimes it takes a good friend to tell you when enough is enough. As they did with South Africa two decades ago, concerned citizens across the US can make a difference by encouraging Washington to get the message to Israel that this cannot continue.”
“If Americans truly are our friends, they should shake us up and take away the keys, because right now we are driving drunk, and without this wake-up call, we will soon find ourselves in the ditch of an undemocratic, doomed state.”-excerpted from VANUNU’S WAIT for LIBERTY, Remembering the USS LIBERTY and My Life as a Candidate of Conscience for US HOUSE 2012
LibertySurvivor wrote: “Is it not time for the US to allow a real Congressional Investigation of the deliberate attack on the USS Liberty? Is it? Forty five years plus the survivors have been waiting. Justice in this country? LOL”
My response ‘disappeared’ within seconds-but remains captured on my FB WALL:
YES indeed and BTW, one reason I ran for US HOUSE in 2012 to raise awareness about Israel’s attack on America’s premier spy ship on 8 June 1967.
VERY sad that TIME keeps deleting my efforts/comments-although the one they just censored from this thread remains on my FACEBOOK WALL and also in my 4th book- VANUNU’S WAIT for LIBERTY, Remembering the USS LIBERTY and My Life as a Candidate of Conscience for US HOUSE 2012
All TIME WORLD accomplished was to lead me back to my dinner conversation with Journalist and Former White House correspondent Ms. Helen Thomas and another excerpt from my fourth book:
After cheese cake for desert I asked Ms. Thomas what she would advise anyone who wanted to go into the field of journalism and she stated,
“Go for it! It’s the greatest profession in the world because you are always learning and you are aware of the world, so you just might be able to affect change.
“You cannot have a democracy without an informed people.
“Information is everything; it enlarges your intellect and that guides you.
“The job is to follow the truth and report where it leads you!
“Right and wrong is not relative. Empathy is fine but kindness and sympathy do not change the facts and conscience is everything!
“Leaders are suppose to do the right thing and we should back up the president when he does the right thing; but drop him when he doesn’t.
“The WHY is the most important question-not that something happened- but WHY did it happen?
“Somewhere along the way America lost its soul.
“People have to rise up but Americans have become so passive and power overwhelmingly abusive.”
I responded, “So how do we fix this situation?”
Ms. Thomas replied, “It’s being done!”
I also brought up Ms. Thomas’s first and last question to President Obama regarding Middle East nuclear weapons when he blew her off claiming he didn’t want to ‘speculate’ and her ‘peers’ remained mute, although the State Department has reams of documentation about Israel’s WMD.
Ms. Thomas replied, “They have no conscience.”
I also claim their lack of integrity borders on treason!
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
Posted in Censorship, Corporate Media, Eileen Fleming, Freedom of Speach, Iran, nuclear arsenal, USA, Vanunu, WMD, Zionist entity
Turkish Police Crackdown on Students Provokes National Protest
Hundreds of demonstrators marched to the prime minister’s office in Ankara on Friday to protest a police crackdown on university students earlier this week.
Around 500 protesters, estimated by Agence France Presse, chanted slogans blasting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, unfurling banners reading “Set Free Detainees” — referring to students who were arrested Tuesday after protesting the prime minister’s visit to Middle East Technical University (METU).
Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protest at the university, where Erdogan went to watch the launch of a Turkish earth observation satellite into orbit aboard a Chinese rocket.
Around 50 protesters were injured, and police detained 12 students after the clashes, according to local media outlets.
One of the protesters, Baris Barisik, suffered a brain hemorrhage after a gas bomb hit him in the head during the protest.
The police crackdown sparked outrage among academics and opposition parties, which accused the AKP of authoritarianism.
A group of METU academics boycotted classes Thursday to protest police violence and detentions, which were also criticized by the mainstream media and a rights group.
For its part, the human rights group Amnesty International called on Turkish officials to launch a “speedy, comprehensive and neutral investigation into the incident … where police used excessive force against peaceful protesters at the METU campus.”
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Posted in Democracy, Erdogan, Freedom of Speach, Turkey
Qatari poet gets life sentence in secret trial
Mohammad Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami was arrested on 16 November 2011 on charges of “insulting” the emir of Qatar and “inciting to overthrow the ruling system,” AFP reported.
Ibn al-Dheeb’s lawyer, Nagib al-Naimi, confirmed the court’s sentence, and indicated that he would appeal the verdict. Al-Naimi said his client has been jailed in solitary confinement for almost a year during which he has not seen his family.
According to activists, the evidence used by the prosecution against Ibn al-Dheeb centered on his “Jasmine poem,” written in 2010 in support of the Tunisian uprising.
The insult charges appear to be based on the verse: “we are all Tunisia in the face of the repressive” regimes. The poem can be heard below:
A document allegedly obtained from the court detailing Ibn al-Dheeb’s sentence was circulating online on Thursday, sparking outrage from advocates.
Picture: The verdict in the case of Mohamed Bin al-Deeb al-Ajmi who was sentenced to life in prison in #Qatar today pic.twitter.com/VDvyde9R
Amnesty also denounced irregularities in Ibn al-Dheeb’s trial, since court sessions were reportedly “held in secret.”
Al-Naimi was reportedly barred from attending one of the court sessions, and had to provide a written defense, Amnesty reported.
Ibn al-Dheeb’s ruling stands in stark contrast to Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani public advocacy for freedom of expression. He set up the Doha Centre for Media Freedom in to promote press freedom in 2008.
But freedom of expression is strictly controlled in the oil-rich nation, which is a close ally of the United States.
“Inciting to overthrow the regime” is a charge punishable by death in Qatar, while “insulting the emir” carries a five-year prison sentence, the watchdogs said.
Human Rights Watch denounced Ibn al-Dheeb’s incarceration as “further evidence of Qatar’s double standard on freedom of expression.”
(Al-Akhbar, AFP, Reuters)
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Posted in Freedom of Speach, Qatar
Irish TV host: ‘Israel is a cancer in foreign affairs’
“Israel is a cancer in the foreign affairs. It polarises the Islamic community of the world against the rest of the world,” said Browne.
“Unless you deal with the problem of Israel and Palestinians in that part of the world, there’s going to be conflict and disharmony. It’s a massive injustice – they stole the land from Arabs,” added Browne.
On the show, Vincent also blasted both US president Barack Obama and his main challenger Mitt Romney for avoiding to discuss Israel’s harmful effects on American foreign policy – which has fueled Muslim hatred toward America and the West. Incidentally, the US third party presidential candidate, Jill Stein (Jewish herself), has called both Obama and Romney as Israeli slaves.
Israel’s deputy ambassador to Ireland, Nurit Tinari-Modai, called Browne “an anti-Semite” while claiming her parents were brutally murdered during the Holocaust. Interestingly, Rabbi Wolf Gunther Plaut, in his 1990 book, ‘The Man Who Would Be Messiah’, has claimed that Holocaust was committed by Frankist Jews.
“I would have never believed that the day would come when a presenter on an Irish TV station would make racist, anti-Semitic remarks,” she said.
In response, Browne said:”What I resent is the suggestion that because you’re critical of Israel, you’re automatically anti-Semitic. I don’t think that’s acceptable“. Browne also refused to apologise for his statement and insisted that the Zionist entity was established in 1948 after European Jews stole Arab land.
Browne claimed that pro-Israel Jewish groups are in habit of blackmailing Israel’s critics by branding them as “anti-Semites” or “Holocaust deniers”. He insisted his remarks were not much different from Irish or European foreign policy.
Vincent Browne 68, is a journalist, editor, talkshow host and founder of popular Village Magazine which he sold in 1998. As a war-reporter, Browne covered Czechoslovakia in 1968 and later IRA-British war for The Irish Times.
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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!