2020-01-20: News Headlines

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-20). Palestinian administrative detainee after 116 days of hunger strike. peoplesdispatch.org Israel has released Palestinian administrative detainee, Ahmad Zahran, who was on hunger strike for 116 days. Qadri Abu Bakr, the head of the Palestinian Commission of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners' Affairs announced Zahran's release, as quoted by the Palestine Chronicle, on January 15, Wednesday. Zahran was on hunger strike protesting his illegal and arbitrary administrative detention. | According to Abu Bakr, Zahran was released by the Israeli prison authorities after an agreement was reached by Zahran and the authorities for his release. He added that the commission's lawyer, Jawad Boulos, who was representing Za…

sputniknews (2020-01-20). Apple's Voice Assistant App Siri Called Israel 'Zionist Occupation State' After Wikipedia Hack. sputniknews.com Siri, Apple's voice-controlled personal assistant, offers a seamless way to interact with one's Apple device, as the user asks questions, or issues commands for her to execute on one's behalf, hands-free.

Labor Video Project (2020-01-20). SF Treasure Island Conservation Corps Nightmare, Cover-up & Environmental Racism. indybay.org Workers at the California Conservation Corps Treasure Island training center talk about their contamination from radiation. Other residents of Treasure Island and Hunters Point connect their…

Ipek S. Burnett (2020-01-20). MLK and the Ghost of an Untrue Dream. counterpunch.org King's dream of economic justice and equality required America's power structures to change. It required America to take a critical look at the unbridled capitalist system that gave way to perpetual injustice. It required a radical and deep reconstruction of both politics and society, where the tangled roots of racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism would be exposed and eliminated. More

Common Dreams staff (2020-01-20). Because 'I Can Feel Bernie Beating Trump,' Pramila Jayapal Endorses Sanders for President. commondreams.org The co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus "has led the fight against Trump's racism, sexism and xenophobia," Sanders said responding to the news. "Together, we will defeat Trump and build a working class movement and transform this country so it works for all." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

WSWS (2020-01-20). As neo-Nazis head to Richmond, Trump boosts gun-rights rally. wsws.org The president's tweet is a declaration of solidarity with ultra-right forces on the eve of his impeachment trial.

Anna North (2020-01-20). The Drive to Pass the Equal Rights Amendment, Explained. zcomm.org The resurgence of interest stems from a combination of factors like the Women's March, the Me Too movement, and the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court even after he was publicly accused of sexual assault…

yenisafak (2020-01-20). Myanmar govt-appointed panel finds no 'genocide' against Rohingya. yenisafak.com A government-appointed panel established in Myanmar to probe allegations of abuses in Rakhine state in 2017 that drew global outrage said on Monday they had found no evidence of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority.More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine state during weeks of brutal violence, during which the United Nations says gang rapes and mass killings were carried out with "genocidal intent". Hundreds of villages were burned to the ground and later razed and scraped.The commission of inquiry said there were "reasonable grounds" to conclude members of the security forces among "multiple actors" were…

Paul Buehl (2020-01-19). Louis Adamic's Life Fighting Fascism. truthdig.com "Death to Fascism: Louis Adamic's Fight for Democracy" | Purchase in the Truthdig Bazaar | Louis Adamic, a popular nonfiction writer of the 1920s-40s, never escaped—perhaps never wished to escape—his status as an enigma. He was a talented journalist whose work appeared in a variety of magazines, as well as the author of well-received works of fiction and nonfiction. He was also a Slovene immigrant, from that sliver of land once part of Yugoslavia and now an independent st…

IMEMC News (2020-01-19). PPS: "Army Abducts Eleven Palestinians In West Bank" imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, earlier Sunday, at least eleven Palestinians, including a guard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, from several parts of the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported. The PPS office in the occupied Palestinian capital, Jerusalem, said the soldiers stormed and searched homes, and …

teleSUR (2020-01-19). UK Universities Invested $600m in Israel Crimes: Report. telesurenglish.net British universities have invested almost US$600 million in companies involved in Israeli violations of international law, year-long research from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), reported Sunday by the Middle East Eye, revealed. | RELATED: | NGOs Urge UN to Disclose Firms Involved in Israel's Settlements | At the end of 2019, the PSC made public a database listing 117, out of the United…

IMEMC News (2020-01-19). Army Abducts Four Palestinians Near Qalqilia. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Saturday evening, four young Palestinian men, near Qalqilia, in northern West Bank. Media sources said the soldiers abducted the four Palestinians at a military roadblock, which was installed between Qalqilia and Nablus. They added that the abducted Palestinians have been identified as Amro Mohammad Abu Haniyya, …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-01-19). Illegal Settlers Hurl Stones and Glass at Palestinian Homes in Hebron. imemc.org Illegal, extremist colonists, on Saturday night, attacked several Palestinian homes with stones and glass bottles, in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron. WAFA correspondent said that dozens of settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Keryat Arba', protected by a military escort, hurled rocks and glass bottles at …

Al-Shabaka (2020-01-19). Maps, Technology, and Decolonial Spatial Practices in Palestine. imemc.org by Zena Agha for Al-Shabaka Palestinian Policy Network Overview The practice of mapping in Palestine-Israel has long been an exercise in power, imperialism, and dispossession. From the British Mandate to the present day, Zionist (later Israeli) cartographers have used maps to obfuscate and eradicate physical, geographic, and social markers of Palestinians' …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-01-19). Israeli Soldiers Invade Palestinian School West of Ramallah. imemc.org Israeli forces raided, on Sunday, a Palestinian school and terrorized its students in the village of Deir Nizam, west of Ramallah in central occupied West Bank. According to the Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA), soldiers invaded the school and ransacked classrooms, causing panic and fear among students as soldiers …

IMEMC News & Agencies (2020-01-19). Abbas Visits Bethlehem's Walled Off Hotel. imemc.org PA President Mahmoud Abbas, on Saturday, along with Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, visited Banksy's 'Walled-Off Hotel,' in Bethlehem, which is surrounded by the Israeli apartheid wall, describing it as a significant achievement in delivering the Palestinian national message by art. The visit came upon the president's arrival in Bethlehem to …

IMEMC News (2020-01-19). Israeli Soldiers Abduct A Palestinian Woman In Jerusalem. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, Saturday, a Palestinian woman at Damascus Gate, one of the gates of the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem, allegedly after she attempted to stab them. Media sources said the many soldiers jumped at the woman near the heavily fortified military gate, and detained her, before moving …

teleSUR (2020-01-19). Matteo Salvini Vows to Recognize Jerusalem as Israeli Capital. telesurenglish.net Matteo Salvini recently conducted an interview with Israel's Ynet News to discuss Italian-Israeli relations and his bid for the premiership of the Mediterranean country. | RELATED: | Israel, Greece, Cyprus to Sign Pipeline Deal in Mediterranean | In his interview with Ynet, Salvini said he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite harming relations with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank region. | "Yes, absolutely", Salvini said, answering the reporter's…

IMEMC News & Agencies (2020-01-19). Bennett Gives Orders Restricting Peace Activists. imemc.org Israeli Minister of Defense Naftali Bennett, Saturday evening, gave the Israeli army instructions that restrict the activities of peace activists who participate in the weekly protests against the apartheid wall in the occupied West Bank. Hebrew channel 12 reported that the decision is made in cooperation with Israeli army and …

Ryan Cristián (2020-01-19). Revealed Iran's Attack Did Cause Casualties, US/Israeli Cyberattack & Pompeo Threatens The World. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (1/18/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

IMEMC News & Agencies (2020-01-19). Former Mufti Ordered Out of Al-Aqsa. imemc.org After summoning him this morning, the Israeli security ordered the former Mufti of Jerusalem and current head of the Higher Islamic Council, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, out of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compund for one week, according to WAFA sources. The security forces raided Sabri's home in occupied Jerusalem and handed him …

teleSUR (2020-01-19). Jordan Passes Law Banning Israeli Gas Imports. telesurenglish.net The Jordanian parliament passed a new law on Sunday that will ban Israeli gas imports to the Middle Eastern country. The parliament's decision comes just days after Jordan started a multibillion-dollar deal, which was struck in 2016 and opposed by much of the population. | RELATED: | Netanyahu, Trump Discuss 'Opportunity' to Seize Jordan Valley | According to Reuters, the law was passed unanimously by Jordan's 130 lawmakers and will be referred to the cabinet to be made law, altho…

IMEMC News (2020-01-19). Israeli Colonist Injured In Hebron. imemc.org Israeli sources have reported, Saturday, that one settler was injured in a stabbing attack, in Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. The sources said that the colonist, 22 years of age, suffered a moderate injury, and was moved to an Israeli Medical Center. The incident took …

Julia Conley (2020-01-19). Too Many Americans Feel Establishment Has 'Failed Them'. zcomm.org "Bernie Sanders teaches Demagoguery and Fascism 101 to a very skeptical New York Times editorial board."

Emily Apple (2020-01-19). At first I couldn't stop laughing at the cop's counter-terror list. But I stopped because it's utterly sinister. thecanary.co On 17 January, the Guardian revealed a counter-terrorism document listing a variety of protest and left-wing groups alongside neo-Nazis and the far-right and their associated symbols. | My first reaction to it was laughter and piss-taking. The list contains groups from Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) to Greenpeace and Animal Aid. It's also woefully out-of-date. It's as if someone has taken a roll call of groups from ten years ago and added Extinction Rebellion (XR) to the list. | It also c…

Staff (2020-01-19). As Citizens United Turns 10, We Need to Fight to Get Money Out of Politics. truthout.org Ten years ago this week, the Supreme Court released its disastrous 2010 Citizens United decision. | The court, either through remarkable naivety or sheer malevolence, essentially married two terrible ideas: that "money equals speech" and that "corporations are people." The ruling put a for sale sign on our democracy, opening up a flood of corporate, special interest, and even foreign money into our politics. | Through Citizens United and a collection of other terrible and related decisions, the…

RT (2020-01-18). Simpsons actor Hank Azaria quits Apu role amid continued 'racism' controversy over hit show's Indian character. rt.com One of the actors on the hit show The Simpsons, Hank Azaria, has said he will no longer be voicing the character of Apu, following years of tedious controversy and accusations of racism. | The veteran actor has voiced the Indian shopkeeper since 1990, but Azaria has now revealed that his time portraying the Kwik-E-Mart owner has come to an end. | The 55-year-old, who also plays Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum and various other characters in the long-running show, told Slashfilm: "All we know there is I won't be doing the voice anymore…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-01-18). AFL-CIO to the nation: Make King's dream America's reality. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Faced with the renewed and rising right-wing onslaught against women, workers, immigrants and people of color, unionists at the AFL-CIO's annual Martin Luther King Civil and Human Rights Conference spent their two days in D.C. focusing on reclaiming voting rights, battling voter suppression and educating and empowering workers to ensure they can vote this year …

teleSUR (2020-01-18). Palestinians Benefit From China-Funded Desalination Plants. telesurenglish.net Abdul-Rahim Abu Gouda, a Palestinian living in a small village in the Gaza Strip's southern border town of Rafah, breathed a sigh of relief after two China-funded water desalination plants opened this month in his impoverished al-Naser village. | RELATED: | Israel Breaches Law, Transfers 34 Palestinian Minors From Prisons | "This is a joyful day for my family and we can now get drinking water instantly and for free. We no longer need to wait for trucks selling filtered drinki…

Tom Anderson (2020-01-18). A British woman explains why she intended to cut the Gaza fence. thecanary.co This week Julia Lister, a British Palestine solidarity activist, was arrested with a group who were on their way to the Israeli fence separating the Palestinians of Gaza from Israel. | Gaza is surrounded by a fence on three sides. Israeli snipers shoot at any Palestinian who dares to go near it. Israeli drones and F-16s patrol the skies and military…

Peadar O'Cearnaigh (2020-01-18). A hate crime worker rejects James Cleverly's ridiculous comments on racism in Britain. thecanary.co On 15 January, Conservative Party chair James Cleverly told ITV's Robert Peston that Britain isn't becoming more racist and it's an "infinitely, infinitely more open and tolerant country" than when he was growing up. Cleverly insisted that back then there was "casual racism" on the TV and in society. | "Racism is on the rise": | But Labour MP Nadia Whittome, who was a hate crime worker in Nottingham, hit back a…

Sameena Mustafa, Arti Walker-Peddakotla (2020-01-18). Hindu Fascism: An All-American Threat. commondreams.org U.S. President Donald Trump with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo: White House / Flickr) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

teleSUR (2020-01-18). Brazil's Peoples: Bolsonaro Means Genocide, Ethnocide, Ecocide. telesurenglish.net After a four-day meeting carried out in Piaracu village, at the Mato Grosso state, in Brazil, over 600 Indigenous leaders Friday issued a manifesto denouncing the "genocide, ethnocide, and ecocide" planned by the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. | RELATED: | Brazil to Go Through With Mining on Tribal Lands | "The white man is very greedy," chief Raoni Metuktire said and explained that the Brazilian government is threatening the survival of Indigenous peoples with plans to allow commercial…

Jessicah Pierre (2020-01-17). MLK's final campaign lives on: The war against racism and poverty. peoplesworld.org As we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., it's natural to remember his courageous advocacy for racial equity. But before he was assassinated, King had also begun to broaden his efforts to unify the movement around economic justice. That's worth remembering today. In December 1967, King, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and other …

Staff (2020-01-17). 3 Arrested for Plans to Incite Violence at 'Gun Rights' Rally in Richmond. therealnews.com Three suspected neo-Nazis were arrested, accused of planning to incite violence at the upcoming gun rights rally in Richmond, VA. The state's capitol is in a state of emergency after finding a pattern of communications sounding like the leadup to the 2017 Charlottesville rally that killed Heather Heyer.

Staff (2020-01-17). Turkey Cuts Deal with Russia, Intensifying the War for Gas in Libya. therealnews.com Turkey sent Syrian fighters to Libya to back the government and keep its control of offshore natural gas reserves. Egypt, Russia, ExxonMobil, Israel, and Greece are expanding Libya's civil war in a fight over control of the natural gas that Europe needs.

Ramzy Baroud (2020-01-17). Sealed Off and Forgotten: What You Should Know about Israel's 'Firing Zones' in the West Bank. counterpunch.org A seemingly ordinary news story, published in the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, on January 7, shed light on a long-forgotten, yet crucial, subject: Israel's so-called "firing zones" in the West Bank. "Israel has impounded the only vehicle available to a medical team that provides assistance to 1,500 Palestinians living inside an Israeli military firing zone in More

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-17). Israeli court bans media from Pegasus spyware case trials. peoplesdispatch.org In an apparent move to save the NSO group — owner of the Pegasus spyware — from public criticism, an Israeli court cited national security concerns and ordered a closed-door hearing in the case against the company. The case was filed by Amnesty International and they are demanding a ban on the export of Pegasus along with restrictions on the NSO group. The judge also imposed a ban on the media, preventing it from reporting on the proceedings of the case. | The Pegasus spyware has been used in recent years by various countries to target journalists and dissidents, including in India. The NSO group had ea…

Middle East Eye (2020-01-17). Israel Bombs Gaza Strip in Response to Incendiary Balloons. theantimedia.com (MEE) — The Israeli military said an attack helicopter struck a Hamas target in the northern Gaza Strip late Thursday in response to the launch of incendiary balloons into Israeli territory earlier in the day, the Associated Press reported. 2 milions in Gaza Can not sleep because Israel attacks on Gaza 9: 21 PM pic.twitter.com/JPbOkFBClU — Heba Khaled (@heba_khaled1998) …

Ryan Cristián (2020-01-17). Israel Bombs Gaza And Syria Killing 3 & Iran Says US Sabotage/Cyberattack Likely Behind 737 Downing. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (1/16/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

Vijay Prashad (2020-01-17). Not an Inch: Indian Students Stand Against the Far Right. counterpunch.org With her head bandaged and her arm in a sling, university student Aishe Ghosh went before the cameras to say that the students of the university she attends in New Delhi would move "not an inch back." The students would continue to agitate to defend Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and its union, and to fight More

Staff (2020-01-17). Headlines for January 17, 2020. democracynow.org Senate Impeachment Trial Opens as Accountability Office Says Trump Broke Law by Withholding Aid, Pentagon Contradicts Trump and Says 11 U.S. Troops Injured in Iranian Strikes, Senate Votes to Approve USMCA, Report: Six Banks Reaped $18 Billion Last Year from Trump Tax Cuts, Guatemalan Protesters Demand Outgoing President Be Arrested for Corruption, Deported Immigrant Rights Leader Jean Montrevil Sues U.S. Government, FBI Arrests 3 Suspected Neo-Nazis Ahead of Pro-Gun Rally in Richmond, Virginia, Florida Supreme Court Upholds Law Limiting Voting Rights for People with Felony Convictions, Harvard Law Students Prote…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-17). Bolsonaro's Culture secretary fired after quoting Nazi Goebbels. peoplesdispatch.org Brazil's Culture secretary, Roberto Alvim, was fired on Friday, a day after his office posted a video on social media in which he quoted parts of a speech delivered by the Nazi propaganda boss, Joseph Goebbels. | The video was posted by the Special Culture Office of the Jair Bolsonaro administration to promote a national arts prize. | "Brazilian art in the next decade will be heroic and national," said Alvim, with the Brazilian flag and a portrait of Bolsonaro in the background. The video played to Wagner's Lohengrin, infamously said to be Hitler's favorite opera. | The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, rel…

splcenter (2020-01-17). Weekend Read: Dr. King's words inspire us to act. splcenter.org Nearly 52 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "The Other America" speech in a high school gym in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

Brigitte Amiri (2020-01-17). The Supreme Court Takes Up the Issue of Birth Control Coverage — Again. aclu.org The Supreme Court just announced that it will hear | yet another case about the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) birth control coverage | requirement. If you are experiencing déjà vu, you are not alone. Court battles | over the birth control coverage requirement have been raging for almost a | decade. How did we get here? | 2012: | The Birth Control Benefit is Established | Congress passed the Women's Health Amendment to the | ACA to try to close the disparity in health care costs that women have | historically experienced. In 2012, the independent, nonpartisan Institute of | Medicine was tasked with determining wh…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-01-17). Trump's Racist Demagoguery Only Works, Says Sanders, Because Too Many Americans Feel Establishment Has 'Failed Them'. commondreams.org In his interview with the New York Times as the newspaper determines which 2020 Democratic presidential candidate it will endorse, Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke about how President Donald Trump weaponized racism and many Americans' sense that the political and media establishments have abandoned them in 2016 to win support. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

RT (2020-01-16). 'Are we seriously doing this again?' New phony 'White Power' controversy 'investigated' by MSM. rt.com CBS news has blown the lid off the hate crime of the century: a crew of firefighters making the upside-down "okay" hand gesture in a group photo. Yet again, a reputable media outlet fell for a well-worn 4chan prank. | According to CBS affiliate WUSA-TV, a group of recruits with the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services posed for a team photo back in March 2019. The network sounded the alarm on Wednesday when it noticed several of them were making the thumb-and-index finger "okay" hand gesture – a gesture CBS pointed out is "a possible 'white power'" symbol. | D.C. Fire Department recruits mi…

splcenter (2020-01-16). Conspiracy Theories, Threats of Violence Loom Over Coming Gun Rally in Richmond. splcenter.org Gun-rights activists and antigovernment extremists are planning a protest in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday fueled by antigovernment conspiracy theories and accompanied by online calls for violence.

Michele Goodwin (2020-01-16). Arkansas Legislators' Attack on Abortion is Unconstitutional. aclu.org The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled time and again that | reproductive privacy is "central to personal dignity and autonomy, [which] are | central to the liberty protected by" the Constitution. The Court has made | eminently clear that under the Constitution, the right of a pregnant person to | terminate a pregnancy prior to viability is a right so essential to our freedom | that our government cannot ban or impose an undue burden on its exercise. But | despite the long-standing clarity of this principle, reproductive health and rights | continue to come under blistering, unrelenting attack. | Nowhere is this cl…

pip.hinman (2020-01-16). Relatives demand answers after Yorta Yorta woman dies in custody. greenleft.org.au First Nations Chloe de SilvaIssue 1249 Australia Racism death in custody MelbourneJanuary 16, 2020Disgracefully, Victorian authorities t…