(2021-05-24). The US Isn't An Israel Puppet, Israel Isn't A US Puppet. popularresistance.org Nearly 200,000 protesters attended a pro-Palestine demonstration in Central London on Saturday afternoon, another clear sign that support for Palestinian rights is becoming increasingly mainstream and the imperialists are losing control of the Israel narrative. | The real consequence of this is that people will begin losing trust in the government and media institutions which support Israel, because without trust the empire can't propagandize people, and without the ability to propagandize us our rulers cannot rule. There's no risk for Israel of losing US backing due to the US government suddenly evolving a consc…
(2021-05-24). Irish Parties and People demand Expulsion of Israeli ambassador, Fines for importing Settler-made Goods. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — The recent Israeli assault on the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and the bombardment of Gaza, has stirred passions in the Irish Republic, where public opinion has swung around to be strongly in favor of Palestinian rights and critical of the Apartheid, Occupation government of Israel. Rallies have …
(2021-05-24). Rivers are Key to Restoring the World's Biodiversity. counterpunch.org Alessandra Korap Munduruku is a Munduruku Indigenous woman leader from Indigenous Reserve Praia do Ândio in the Brazilian Amazon. She is a member of Pariri, a local Munduruku association, as well as the Munduruku Wakoborûn Women's Association. In 2020, Alessandra won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for her work defending the culture, livelihoods and rights of Indigenous peoples in Brazil. | Darryl Knudsen is the executive director of International Rivers. He has 20 years' experience channeling the power of civil society movements to create enduring, positive change toward social and environmental justice…
(2021-05-24). U.S. trying to extradite Venezuelan Diplomat for the "crime" of securing food for the hungry: the case of Alex Saab v. The Empire. mronline.org 
The case of Alex Saab raises dangerous precedents in terms of extraterritorial judicial abuse, violation of diplomatic status, and even the use of torture to extract false confessions. | May 24, 2021…
(2021-05-24). Canadian Media Launches Sinophobic Anti-China Campaign, Amid Years of Attacks on Chinese-Canadian Institutions. orinocotribune.com 
(2021-05-24). The Weekly Round-up: Criminal justice scandals and 'prison-like' hotels for victims of modern slavery. ukhumanrightsblog.com 
In the news: Failures of the criminal justice system were once again under the spotlight this week. On Wednesday, business minister Paul Scully announced a statutory inquiry into the sub-postmaster scandal, following widespread outrage at one of the greatest miscarriages of justice un UK legal history. After the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of 39 former …
(2021-05-24). Over 800 Algerians detained for questioning in 118th week of Hirak protests. peoplesdispatch.org The latest round of Hirak protests saw police place multiple restrictions in Algiers and other parts of the country. Friday's mobilizations were the second round since the government announced a ban on unauthorized demonstrations…
(2021-05-24). Let Lebanon be Lebanon: Paris should Stop Threatening Beirut with EU Sanctions. juancole.com John Hickman "Governing Lebanon is surely more daunting than governing France."[1] That pearl of wisdom in an essay defending consociational democracy by University of Pennsylvania political scientist Brendan O'Leary has never been more accurate. A delicate balance of domestic interests with institutional vetoes at the best of times, Lebanese politics has been stalemated for months …
(2021-05-24). Morrison hardens law against asylum seekers. greenleft.org.au Paul Gregoire looks at new changes to the Migration Act, which allow the federal government to lock people in immigration detention indefinitely.
(2021-05-24). Denmark: Do not copy Australia's draconian detention laws. greenleft.org.au Refugee rights activists protested at the Danish Consulate against that government's plans to detain asylum seekers and process them in Rwanda. Stephen Langford reports.
(2021-05-24). 'State Treachery to the Extreme': Belarus Accused of Inventing Airplane Bomb Threat to Arrest Dissident Journalist. commondreams.org "There is little doubt that the Belarusian authorities used a false bomb threat and a MiG fighter jet to force an airplane flying from one country of the European Union to another to land with the apparent sole purpose of detaining an exiled critical journalist whom they badly wanted silenced." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2021-05-24). To Sanction Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Add Them to the State Department's List. counterpunch.org In Jerusalem today, Lehava, the virulent Israeli citizen's group at the epicenter of armed attacks, race-mongering, and incitement of terror against Palestinians, is inextricably bound-up and politically enabled by Otzma Yehudit (translated as "Jewish Power"), an extremist right wing political party now serving as a key player within Netanyahu's governing coalition. Otzma represents one of
(2021-05-24). United Kingdom: Animal Rights Group Blockades McDonalds. popularresistance.org Environmental activits are blockading four McDonald's distribution centres in a bid to stop deliveries to the fast food giant's restaurants across the country this weekend. | Animal Rebellion say that some 50 demonstrators have used trucks and bamboo towers to stop lorries leaving depots in Hemel Hempstead, Basingstoke, Coventry and Heywood in Greater Manchester. | They have poured fake animal blood over signage with some protesters dressed as the chain's mascot, Ronald McDonald. | Demonstrators say they are targeting the chain because of its "role in the climate emergency" and are demanding McDonald's — wh…
(2021-05-23). As Boteach comes for Dua Lipa, has Tactic of Smearing People as anti-Semites for Backing Palestinian Human Rights jumped the Shark? juancole.com 
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — Orthodox Rabbi Shmuely Boteach has come after the brilliant, Grammy-award-winning Kosovar-British pop star Dua Lipa with an ad in the New York Times accusing her of anti-Semitism for supporting Palestinian rights. She vigorously denied the charge and denounced the ad. She should also sue for libel. Boteach is a huge …
(2021-05-23). Sanctions, Making Venezuela Scream: A Conversation with Alexander Main (Part I). orinocotribune.com 
A director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research explains the economic and political impact of the sanctions. | Alexander Main is Director of International Policy at the
(2021-05-23). UN Recognizes Venezuela's Efforts to Strengthen Human Rights. orinocotribune.com The United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights recognized this Friday, May 21, via Twitter, the efforts of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to strengthen the exercise of human rights. | The UN body, led since 2018 by High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, expressed its satisfaction after the government of President Nicolás Maduro adopted procedures that coincide with the recommendations issued by the multilateral organization. | In this sense, the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, recently announced the restructuring of the SEBIN and the DGCIM, Venezuelan State secur…
(2021-05-23). US Trying To Extradite Diplomat For The 'Crime' Of Securing Food For The Hungry. popularresistance.org Special envoy and ambassador to the African Union for Venezuela, Alex Saab, was on a humanitarian mission flying from Caracas to Iran to procure food and gasoline for the Venezuelan CLAP food assistance program. Saab was detained on a refueling stop in the African nation of Cabo Verde and has been held in custody ever since June 12, 2020. | Saab's "crime," according to the US government, which ordered the imprisonment, was money laundering. That is, Saab conducted perfectly legal international trade, but his circumventing the US sanctions — which are designed to prevent relief to the Venezuelans — is…
(2021-05-23). Dollarization in Venezuela Causes a Boom in Imported Goods Stores. orinocotribune.com 
By Michele de Mello — May 17, 2021 | The private sector sidesteps blockade and replaces the State in supplying goods | In the last six years of sanctions, Venezuela's economy has suffered serious attacks. As the country's GDP and oil activity dropped by 60%, imports were taken over by the private sector. Along with the recent process of forced dollarization, the country now faces a boom of bodegons, commercial shops that specialize in selling imported goods. They sell about everything — items of the basic food basket, cleaning and personal hygiene products, candies, beverages, medications. | The first…
(2021-05-23). Sanctions, Making Venezuela Scream. zcomm.org Interview on the economic and political impact of the sanctions…