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[uruknet.info] Aafia Siddiqui's Struggle for Justice

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 18:04
February 14, 2012 - Previous articles discussed her 2003 abduction, detention, torture, false charges, prosecution, and conviction despite clear evidence she's innocent. Nonetheless, in September 2010, she was wrongly sentenced to 86 years in prison. Imprisoning her for hours, let alone years, constitutes gross injustice. Doing so compounded years of horrific treatment in US custody, including sadistic torture....

[uruknet.info] Egypt state media accuses U.S. of spreading anarchy

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 17:33
February 14, 2012 - State-run newspapers splashed accusations of a U.S. plan to spread "anarchy" in Egypt, escalating a dispute that Washington said on Tuesday must be resolved to ensure their continued military cooperation. Based on remarks by a government minister, the headlines marked another low in the crisis between Washington and Cairo triggered by the investigation into U.S.-based non-governmental organizations that has resulted in criminal charges against Americans who have been banned from leaving the country....

[uruknet.info] Dying to live: A hunger striker speaks in Gaza

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 09:31
February 14, 2012 - As hundreds of Palestinians rallied in Gaza today to demand that Israel release Palestinian administrative detainee Khader Adnan, Yassar Salah, a 17-year veteran of Israel's prison system, spoke about Adnan's 60-day hunger strike and his own reasons for joining it. "We are on hunger strike to show our sympathy and solidarity with Sheikh Khader Adnan, who is battling to overcome Israel's system of administrative detention," he told me in the protest tent outside Gaza's International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) compound....

[uruknet.info] A Biohazard Valentine of Dissent

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 08:57
February 14, 2012 - Recently, discourse, within the free-range pathogen zone of the U.S. political realm, has been infected and inflamed by the use of verbiage (applied both in the metaphoric and literal sense) related to disease and contagion by editorial scribes and political hacks. For example, we have been informed that Occupy D.C. sites were attacked and destroyed by police authorities for reasons related to public health and hygiene. These actions (part of a series of ongoing coordinated, anti-democratic measures) carried out on orders from the current governing class of the U.S. display the tendency of the hyper-authoritarian mindset to regard the inherent messiness of freedom - including those individuals who engage in acts of dissent in public space - to pose a danger to civil order and the wellbeing of the general public on the level of that of bio-hazardous material...

[uruknet.info] Center: Settler violence peaked in 2011

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 08:47
February 14, 2012 - Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank have tripled in the past five years, a Washington-based think tank said Tuesday. Violence by Israelis living in Jewish-only settlements reached a peak in 2011, when the number of attacks grew by 39 percent from the previous year, according to the report by the Palestine Center. Most settler attacks now occur in the northern West Bank governorate of Nablus, overtaking the southern Hebron district as the most concentrated center of violence, the report said....

[uruknet.info] Iraq snapshot - February 14, 2012

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 08:22
Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, Nouri's accusations are noted by those he accused, Iraqiya calls for those imprisoned who have not been convicted to be released, US Senator Patty Murray talks with veterans in a new format, and more... In Iraq violence continues, AP notes a Baghdad bombing has claimed 1 life and left six other people injured. In addition, Reuters notes 1 Asaish was shot dead in Kirkuk and, dropping back to Monday, the corpse of 1 woman was discovered in Baquba (strangled), 2 corpses were discovered elsewhere in Baquba (the two are thought to have been killed in 2006). Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reports military General Aziz Hamzah was shot dead in Baghdad, a second Baghdad bombing left two peple injured and a Mosul bombing claimed 3 lives and left nineteen people injured. Violence includes the targeting of various groups in Iraq with threats of violence or with actual violence....

[uruknet.info] Pentagon wants $3 billion for the War in Iraq that we thought was over

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 08:07
February 14, 2012 - The American public has been told that the Iraq War is a thing of the past. Even still, the US Department of Defense is asking the federal government for almost $3 billion for "activities" in a country that they shouldn't be in. The last US troops were supposedly withdrawn from Iraq just before 2012 began, but after years of a war that abruptly ended this past December, the Pentagon still wants billions to continue doing...something in Iraq. According to the latest budget request, the DoD think around $2.9 billion should cover the cost of "Post-Operation NEW DAWN (OND)/Iraq Activities."...

[uruknet.info] Clinton: We need Assad's consent to put troops in Syria

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 08:02
February 14, 2012 - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had a clear and unified message coming out of their meeting in Washington, D.C. Monday: They are looking for a political solution in Syria and won't consider putting international troops there unless the Syrian regime agrees... "Ultimately, it's going to be important to convince the Assad regime that they are leading Syria into the outcome that we all deplore. We do not want to see a civil war in Syria," Clinton said. "No one wants to see a civil war in Syria. So we have to encourage the Assad regime, and those who support it, to understand that there's either a path toward peacemaking and democratic transition - which is what we are promoting - or there's a path that leads toward chaos and violence, which we deplore." ...

[uruknet.info] Relentlessly bombed, Homs is now nearly completely cut off

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 07:47
February 14, 2012 - For the tenth day straight, the flashpoint city of Homs is the target of intense bombing by the Syrian army. Due to frequent electricity outages and severed Internet connections, it is becoming harder and harder to obtain images of what's happening on the ground. At least six people were killed just on Tuesday in Homs, according to activists. Of our numerous Observers in the city, Omar is the only one we were able to contact today, thanks to his satellite connection....

[uruknet.info] Unhappy Valentine's Day in Israel A racist Israeli law divides married Palestinian couples; Jewish couples are exempt

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 07:32
February 14, 2012 - This Valentine's Day, I live in fear of being separated from my wife by the force of the Israeli state and the whim of bureaucrats enforcing a discriminatory law that can separate Palestinian citizens of Israel from Palestinian spouses from the occupied West Bank. This fear will hang over us for years if the "Citizenship and Entry Into Israel Law" is not revoked as the state can use this law to separate me from my family. Lana, my wife, is from Jenin in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. She has a diploma in economics from Al-Najah University in Nablus. We met and fell in love in Jenin in late 2002 after Israel's destruction of the Jenin refugee camp during the second intifada. She moved to Israel in 2005 to live with me. We now have two children, Adnan, who is 4 and a half years old and Yosra, who is 3 and a half years old...

[uruknet.info] Drone Assaults on Civil Liberties

uruknet - Wed, 02/15/2012 - 07:25
February 14, 2012 - When people typically complain about the lack of bipartisanship in American politics, their outrage is grossly misplaced. While it is certainly true that our political discourse is home to contentious debates, this, in itself, is not the major problem. Rather, it is a distraction from the most potent toxin in American politics, which is our widespread bipartisan disregard for the preservation of civil liberties. When it comes to this issue, the distinction between Democrats and Republicans blurs to the point of non-existence. While right-wing politicians have a well-established history of ignoring civil liberties, Democrats have recently become much worse. The well-deserved condemnation that the Bush administration received from Democrats regarding civil-liberties violations has proven to be simply flowery political rhetoric based on their recent actions. The left's outrage at Bush's policies coupled with their acceptance of Obama's reveals undeniable hypocrisy...
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