2020-05-18: News Headlines

Yves Engler (2020-05-18). Ottawa's Ties with Far Right Colombian President Undermines Human Rights Rhetoric Regarding Venezuela. globalresearch.ca A week ago a former Canadian soldier instigated a harebrained bid to kidnap or kill Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Launched from Colombia, the plot failed spectacularly with most of the men captured or killed. | Still, the leader of the …

Ted Glick (2020-05-18). Opening Up for Demonstrations? zcomm.org Stop racist killings! Act together to end the pandemic! Living wages or income now! A Green New Deal and Medicare for All! Trump must go!

Elijah J. Magnier (2020-05-18). Twenty Years After the Unconditional Israeli Withdrawal From Lebanon, What Has Been Achieved? globalresearch.ca "We were Hezbollah trainers. It is an organisation that learns quickly. The Hezbollah we met at the beginning (1982) is different from the one we left behind in 2000". This is what the former Chief of Staff and former Minister …

The Levant (2020-05-18). Over 250 Artists, Writers Urge Israel to Stop Siege of Gaza. globalresearch.ca More than 250 global artists and writers including rocker Peter Gabriel, director Ken Loach and actor Viggo Mortensen have appealed to Israel to stop the "siege" of Gaza. | The coronavirus epidemic could have a devastating effect in "the world's largest …

graham (2020-05-18). Outspoken Palestinians — transformed into antisemites simply because they call for peace. truepublica.org.uk By Jonathan Cook: An attack on a prominent British-Palestinian doctor and academic, Ghada Karmi, by a self-styled "antisemitism watchdog" looks suspiciously like a new trend in anti-Palestinian bigotry and bullying dressed up as victimhood. Late last month, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), which claims to represent the interests of the UK's Jewish community, said it …

Robert Mackey (2020-05-18). Long Island Protest Praised by Trump Featured Anti-Vaxxer Call to "Hang Fauci" zcomm.org On Saturday morning, in a tweet that echoed his infamous praise for white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville in 2017, Trump described the protesters who had harassed the reporter as "Great people!"

Adriaan Alsema (2020-05-17). The sad story of Colombia's Supreme Court judge who only accidentally gets people in legal trouble. colombiareports.com Colombia's Supreme Court magistrate Cristina Lombana seems to have a special gift to accidentally get her allegedly criminal former army buddies in legal trouble. Since President Ivan Duque swore in…

Philip Giraldi (2020-05-17). Remembering Palestine on Nakba Day: Use the Hashtag COVID1948. globalresearch.ca Palestinians worldwide have an annual day of remembrance called

Fight Back (2020-05-17). Boisterous Nakba Day car rally rolls through Minneapolis suburb. fightbacknews.org Columbia Heights, MN – Just outside city limits from Northeast Minneapolis, Central Avenue was awash with Palestine flags during Friday rush hour as Palestinian-Americans and solidarity activists commemorated Al-Nakba. Nakba Day, held each year on May 15, remembers the 1948 ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of indigenous Palestinians from their national homeland by Zionist settlers. Around 60 cars and dozens of families drove in a long caravan through the heavily Arab-American neighborhood, with chants of "From the river to the sea…" echoing for blocks. The protest was one of many actions that happened…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-05-17). Armed Israeli Settlers Uproot 40 Olive Trees, South of Nablus. imemc.org Armed Israeli colonists reportedly uprooted, early on Sunday morning, forty olive trees, owned by local Palestinian farmers, south of Nablus city, in the occupied West Bank. Ghassan Daghlas, Palestinian chief for the Israeli settlements' file in the northern West Bank, told media outlets that dozens of armed Israeli settlers invaded …

Najwan Simri (2020-05-17). Jews to Palestinian Whose Home They Occupy: What Do You Want? globalresearch.ca "On the anniversary of the

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-05-17). Tunisian President Reiterates Support for Palestinian Cause. imemc.org Tunisian President, Qais Said, reportedly said, on Saturday, that his country continues to support the Palestinian people and their cause of justice. The president's remarks came on the sidelines of a Ramadan breakfast banquet, he held for various Arab and Islamic ambassadors to Tunisia. "We in Tunisa are still dedicated …

Fight Back (2020-05-17). 1000 rally in Brunswick, Georgia demanding justice for Ahmaud Arbery. fightbacknews.org Brunswick, GA — Around 1000 people took to the streets of Brunswick, Georgia, May 16, to demand justice for Ahmaud Arbery, the young African American man murdered in late February by the racist vigilantes Gregory and Travis McMichael. Organized by a coalition of many organizations, protesters also demanded the resignation of State Attorneys Jackie Johnson and George Barnhill, both prosecutors who originally declined to press charges against the McMichaels for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

Fight Back (2020-05-16). Wisconsin FRSO condemns state Supreme Court ruling that ends 'safer-at-home'. fightbacknews.org Milwaukee, WI – Ryan Hamann, a Wisconsin Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) leader stated, "The Wisconsin Supreme Court – meeting virtually, I might add – voted 4-3 to strike down the 'safer-at-home' order. While this is disappointing, it is not a surprise. The judicial system, much like the government, is intricately tied to the wealthy business owners and their anti-people agenda. What it proves is that the ruling class in this state is willing to sacrifice the lives of the working class just to maintain a higher rate of profit." | Hamann continued, "Governor Evers' order itself was fairl…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-05-16). On Nakba Day, Palestinians vow to continue resistance. peoplesdispatch.org May 15 is the anniversary of the Nakba, which means catastrophe or disaster. The day marks the forced exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes during the formation of Israel in 1948. This year, despite the COVID-19 quarantine, Palestinians across the world will mark the Nakba. Despite Netanyahu's apartheid policies and Trump's fradulent deal of the century, the resistance of the people of Palestine continues.

Tayseer Khaled (2020-05-16). The Nakba has two narratives, one based on facts, the other on lies. peoplesdispatch.org Tayseer Khaled of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine writes about the Israeli and Palestinian versions of the Nakba. The Israeli version, despite being based on lies, has dominated global understanding of the events of 1948…

Staff (2020-05-16). The ŸêAnnexation After Seventy-Two Years Of Continuous Nakba. imemc.org By: Marwan E. Toubassi, Ambassador of the State of Palestine in Greece:…

Romana Rubeo (2020-05-16). My Beit Daras, My Nakba: Two Palestinian Intellectuals Reminiscing about Their Destroyed Village. dissidentvoice.org Dr. Ghada Ageel and Dr. Ramzy Baroud have more in common than their scholarly research on Palestinian history and politics. They are both refugees, and the direct descendants of Palestinian refugees who have been expelled from their historic village of Beit Daras at gunpoint during the catastrophic events that led to the Palestinian Nakba of …

yenisafak (2020-05-18). Turkey condemns pig's-head vandalism of German mosque. yenisafak.com An Islamophobic incident in which a pig's head was mounted onto the door of mosque in southern Germany drew condemnation from Turkey on Monday."Even during the holy month of Ramadan and the epidemic, racism and hostility against Islam continues in Europe. The ugly attack on our mosque in Germany is the latest example of this," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted on Monday.Denouncing the perpetrators' "sick mentality," he urged that they be caught immediately.The incident took place Saturday at the Fatih Mosque in the city of Vaihingen, run by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs. The incident too…

sputniknews (2020-05-18). Old Faces, New Positions: Who's Who in Israel's 35th Government. sputniknews.com After a year and a half of political turmoil, Israel's 35th government was finally sworn in on Monday. Featuring 34 ministers and half a dozen deputies, amid an economic crisis caused by the spread of COVID-19, the coalition has become the most expensive in the history of the country, stirring criticism from left, right, and centre.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-18). Intl. professors, figures to discuss Palestine via webinars. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 18 (MNA) — International Association of Muslim University Professors (IAOMUP) is organizing three webinars on the issue of Palestine from Monday to Wednesday.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-18). Parl. ratifies outlines of a motion to counter Zionist regime's hostile moves. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 18 (MNA) — Lawmakers at the Iranian Parliament approved the generalities of a motion which obliges the government to take certain measures against hostile moves of the Israeli regime.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-18). Details of anti-Zionism motion adopted by Iranian Parliament. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 17 (MNA) — Iranian lawmakers have approved a motion unanimously to counter the hostile measures of the Israeli regime.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-18). Zionist regime disturbing region by its hostile activities: Larijani. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 18 (MNA) — The Speaker of Iran's Parliament Ali Larijani said on Monday that the Zionist regime is disturbing the region by its hostile activities and Majlis has accordingly approved a motion which obliges the government to take certain measures against hostile moves of the Israeli regime.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-18). US forced by Zionism lobby to assist in establishing Israel despite its will. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 17 (MNA) — In an interview with Mehr News agency, American thinker Alison Weir said that despite the US officials and nation will, the US was forced to assist in establishing Israel due to pressure of the Zionism lobby.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-18). NAM blasts Zionist regime's illegal annexation plan. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 18 (MNA) — Non-Aligned Movement condemned the Zionist regime's plans to annex large parts of the West Bank and East Quds to the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Commonwealth Club (2020-05-18). Halting Bigotry in Its Tracks: History of Prejudice & Racism Against Asians (webinar). indybay.org Online via livestream…

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-17). The Soviet Union Defeated Germany in World War II — Not the Western Forces. strategic-culture.org Eric MARGOLIS | President Donald Trump claimed last week that the US and Britain had won World War II. This was a shameless lie and distortion of the facts. | Many Americans and Canadians like to believe their nations won the war in Europe and give insufficient recognition to the decisive Soviet role. Most Europeans would rather not think about the matter. By contrast, Russians know that it was their soldiers who really won the war. They remain angry that their military achievements are ignored by American triumphalists and myth-makers. | Not only did Stalin's Soviet Union play the key role in crushing Nazi Germa…

Zero Hedge (2020-05-17). Chinese Ambassador To Israel Found Dead, Sparking Avalanche Of Rumors Amid Tensions. iranian.com China's Ambassador to Israel has been found dead inside his home near Tel Aviv Sunday morning, Israel's Foreign Ministry has confirmed. 57-year old ambassador Du Wei had only assumed his post in February 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, due to which he entered a two week mandatory self-quarantine upon his arrival. He'd previously been China's envoy to …

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-05-16). Supreme Court Election Year Vacancy 'Would be Different' This Time From Merrick Garland in 2016, Says Lindsey Graham. commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Elijah Magnier (2020-05-16). 20 years after the unconditional Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon: what has been achieved? (1). thealtworld.com "We were Hezbollah trainers. It is an organisation that learns quickly. The Hezbollah we met at the beginning (1982) is different from the one we left behind in 2000". This is what the former Chief of Staff and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabi Ashkenazi, said twenty years after the Israeli "For the first time we met a non-conventional army, but also an ideological organisation with deep faith: and this faith triumphed over us. We were more powerful, more technologically advanced and better arm…

Elijah Magnier (2020-05-16). 20 ans après le retrait inconditionnel d'Israà´l du Liban, où en sommes-nous? 1/3. thealtworld.com ´ Nous avons formé le Hezbollah. C'est une organisation qui apprend vite. Le Hezbollah que nous avons connu à notre arrivée (1982) était différent de celui que nous avons laissé derrière nous en 2000. ª Ce sont les mots de l'ancien chef de cabinet et ministre des Affaires étrangères Gabi Ashkenazi, vingt ans après le retrait ´ C'était notre premier affrontement avec une armée non conventionnelle, qui était aussi une organisation idéologique animée d'une foi profonde, une foi qui a…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-05-16). Israeli Troops Throw Fire Bombs, Burn Palestinian Homes, Farm Land in Hebron. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly fired, on Friday evening, fire bombs in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron, causing Palestinian-owned farm lands to be set ablaze. Palestinian sources in Yatta village, south of Hebron, said that Israeli troops fired some torch bombs in the sky over Hebron, which burned half …

Ali Salam (2020-05-16). Israeli Forces Isolate Ya'bad Town, Assault Disabled Palestinian Man. imemc.org Israeli forces blocked all entrances to Ya'bad town, west of Jenin city, on Friday morning, after several days of military invasions into the northern West Bank town. On Tuesday, a 21-year old Israeli soldier was killed during a pre-dawn invasion of the town, the military has since invaded the town …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-05-16). Israeli Courts Extend Detention of 47 Palestinian Prisoners. imemc.org Two Israeli military courts reportedly extended, on Saturday, the detention of 47 Palestinian prisoners. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) said, early this morning, that the Israeli military courts of Ofer and Salem, extended the detention of 47 Palestinian prisoners, under some pretexts. The PPS noted that the courts' decisions …

Staff (2020-05-16). Israeli Hospital Guards Kill Epileptic Palestinian Man. imemc.org Security guards at a Tel Aviv hospital on Wednesday killed an epileptic Palestinian man in front of his mother. He was killed at the entrance to the hospital where he frequently received treatment for his epilepsy. Mustafa Younis, from Aara town, was killed by the guards after an argument at …

Ali Salam (2020-05-16). Israeli Forces Shoot, Assault and Injure 5 Palestinian Protestors near Nablus. imemc.org Israeli forces attacked a peaceful protest, on Friday, and wounded five Palestinians in the village of As-Sawiya, south of Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank. Quds News Network correspondent stated that dozens of Palestinians held a peaceful protest, waving Palestinian flags, to express their opposition to Israel's illegal settlement …

news.un (2020-05-16). UN welcomes arrest of top genocide suspect, Félicien Kabuga. news.un.org UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the arrest on Saturday of one of the world's most wanted fugitives, his Spokesperson said in a statement.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-05-15). 'Boogaloo Boy' Arrested in Texas, Charged With Plotting To Murder Cops on Facebook Live. splcenter.org "Boogaloo Boys" — individuals associated with an online community characterized by calls for civil strife and ownership of firearms and tactical gear — have advocated for an armed revolution online and at public rallies for months. On April 11, one self-proclaimed "Boogaloo Boy" allegedly used Facebook Live to show himself attempting to murder police.

ACLU (2020-05-15). DeRay McKesson on the Threat to Protesters' Rights. aclu.org Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, protests have erupted across the country. Some are related to the virus: Protestors in Ohio and Michigan took to the streets and state capitols to call for an end to their governors' stay-at-home orders. Others are calling out an ongoing injustice: the killing, often at the hands of the state, of Black Americans. Now, the rights of participants in protests across the spectrum could be at stake unless the Supreme Court weighs in on an important decision., , In this episode of At Liberty, we speak with DeRay McKesson, an activist at the center of an important ACLU…

Staff (2020-05-15). Democracy At Stake: "Faithless Electors" SCOTUS Case Tests If Electoral College Members Can Go Rogue. democracynow.org The Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a case that could shape the outcome of future presidential elections. The question at hand was whether Electoral College members can "go rogue" and support candidates who did not win the state's popular vote. In 2016, one of Colorado's nine electors, Michael Baca, attempted to cast his Electoral College ballot for Republican John Kasich instead of Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Colorado secretary of state at the time — a Republican — removed Baca as an elector. Colorado is one of 31 other states that has a law requiring presidential electors to vote for…

Richard Becker (2020-05-15). 72 years after 'al-Nakba' in Palestine. liberationnews.org May 14 marks the 60th anniversary of what is billed in the U.S. and Israeli mainstream media as Israel's "independence," and what the Palestinian and Arab peoples as a whole know as al-Nakba—the Catastrophe.

Staff (2020-05-15). "Can Democracy Survive the Pandemic?": Election Hangs in the Balance as Trump Attacks Mail-In Voting. democracynow.org The coronavirus pandemic poses unprecedented challenges to the November presidential election, as President Trump and the GOP capitalize on the moment to attack voting rights. We speak with Emily Bazelon, staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, whose new cover story examines the bureaucratic and political challenges of mobilizing widespread vote-by-mail by November. We also speak with Jena Griswold, secretary of state of Colorado, which already has universal vote-by-mail and the second-highest voter turnout in the country.

Paul Street (2020-05-15). Dark Winter? Honey Badger Trump Don't Care. counterpunch.org "This coalition of the business elite, right-wing Christian evangelicals, and white nationalists and other white supremacists is very dangerous. Fascism is ultimately a death cult." — Jason Stanley , May 11, 2020 From the Annals of "The Most Dangerous Criminal in Human History" Despite timely alerts given by senior public health experts and warnings from

Mirinda Crissman (2020-05-15). Andrea Circle Bear and six centuries of genocide. workers.org Andrea Circle Bear, of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation near Eagle Butte, S.D., was the 29th federal inmate to die due to the coronavirus in Bureau of Prisons custody. She was sentenced to serve 26 months. Circle Bear was being held at Tripp County Jail in South Dakota up until . . . |

A. Majumdar (2020-05-15). PDF download of May 14 issue. workers.org Download entire 12-page PDF here. Justice for Ahmaud Arbery. Kent State and Jackson State. Also: COVID‚Äë19: capitalism's end stage; workers resist. Editorial: Changing narrative in Michigan. World: China, Vietnam, Haiti, Ecuador. Tear down prisons: victory in PA; San Quentin caravan; No cages for migrants; Global prisons & white supremacy; Solidarity . . . |

RT (2020-05-15). Jailing people who use Covid-19 as bioweapon would be 'discrimination.' So better lock up everyone instead? rt.com Accidentally spreading Covid-19 is wanting grandma dead, say opponents of ending lockdowns. Yet activists now worry that proposed laws to punish those who threaten to spread it deliberately would discriminate against minorities. | A Florida man spat and coughed on a police officer responding to a domestic violence call, and faces up to five years in prison on a federal charge of biological weapons hoax (he was negative for Covid-19). Another man in Texas, who falsely claimed on Facebook that he paid someone to spread the virus at local grocery stores, was charged with the same thing. A Michigan man who wiped h…

Abdul Rahman (2020-05-15). For Palestinians under occupation, every day is Nakba. peoplesdispatch.org May 15 is Nakba Day, which marks the death of thousands of Palestinians and the forced exile of many more during the formation of Israeli in 1948. To this day, the Palestinians living under occupation continue to resist the apartheid policies of Israel…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-05-15). Israeli Troops Halt Construction of Palestinian Home in Bethlehem. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly intercepted, on Friday, the construction of a Palestinian home in the southern occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem. Local sources in Bethlehem told media outlets that an Israeli army force stormed the site of the construction and prevented workers from building. Mayor of the Palestinian municipality of …

Howie Hawkins (2020-05-15). Oppose the Israeli Annexation of West Bank Settlements. dissidentvoice.org It is time for the United States to end its bipartisan blanket support for Israeli policies that violate the human rights of Palestinians. At this critical moment, where Israel has announced its intention to annex Israeli settlements on the West Bank with the support of the Trump administration, we must speak out and resist this …