2020-12-22: News Headlines

Binoy Kampmark (2020-12-22). Brexit, Billionaires and the Little People. counterpunch.org Capitalism and patriotism do not share the same stable. When those in the business of accumulating profits suggest a love for flag and country, be wary. Wars might take place and trade agreements struck by governments, but the capitalist will go for the market that matters, whatever the flag. A recent exponent of this proposition

Martha Grevatt (2020-12-22). Cleveland baseball team finally retires racist name, mascot. workers.org Cleveland It's official. And it's about time. After months of discussions and rumors, Cleveland's Major League Baseball team announced Dec. 14 that 2021 would be the last season for the racist, offensive name "Indians." With it will go the team's demeaning mascot, which was being phased out after it was . . . |

Monica Moorehead (2020-12-22). Baseball's racist legacy today as MLB finally recognizes 'Negro Leagues'. workers.org Major League Baseball first announced on Dec. 9 that it would finally incorporate all of the players, statistics and records from the "Negro Leagues" (NL) into its present-day records. Many said it was about time and that this recognition is long overdue. Both sentiments are justified. Pennsylvania's Homestead Grays, founded . . . |

Miko Peled (2020-12-22). Israel's Genocide in Gaza Goes Uninterrupted, But Is Europe Finally Taking Notice? mintpressnews.com A long and cruel siege, constant Israeli attacks resulting in the killing of countless civilians, destruction of homes and infrastructure, extreme poverty, and trauma remain the daily bread of Palestinians in Gaza.

MEE staff (2020-12-22). Kushner leads US-Israeli delegation to Morocco to mark normalisation deal. middleeasteye.net Kushner leads US-Israeli delegation to Morocco to mark normalisation deal | Officials land in Morocco and are expected to meet King Mohammed VI and restore relations that existed in the 1990s | Tue, 12/22/2020 – 15: 33 | Kushner said normalisation of ties between Morocco and Israel will bring new opportunities for the two countries (Reuters) | Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner led a delegation from Isra…

Ali Harb (2020-12-22). US spending bill: Five gifts to Israel. middleeasteye.net US spending bill: Five gifts to Israel | An enormous US spending bill that accompanied the Covid-19 relief package contains many financial and political perks for Israeli government | Tue, 12/22/2020 – 22: 27 | Israel did not receive coronavirus relief funds, but the aid to its military at a time when Americans are struggling drew criticism (AFP/File photo) | The US Congress has passed an enormous $2.3 trillion s…

Staff (2020-12-22). Black Critical Care Dr. Taison Bell of UVA on Fighting COVID, Racism & Securing Fair Vaccine Access. democracynow.org More than 40 countries have temporarily suspended some or all travel from the United Kingdom after British health officials announced a highly infectious variant of the novel coronavirus has been spreading in the country. South Africa has detected a similar variant. The new variant is believed to be 70% more contagious, but health experts say existing vaccines will still be effective against it. "What's important to remember is that mutations will naturally happen in the course of a virus that's in the community and circulating," says Dr. Taison Bell, critical care and infectious disease physician at the Universi…

splcenter (2020-12-22). Freedom Denied: Minor parole violations keep Alabama man tangled in state's prison system. splcenter.org &nbsp…

Alison Weir (2020-12-22). U.S.-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act: US Congress Votes $4 Billion to Israel for 2021. globalresearch.ca Congress just voted billions of dollars of U.S. tax money to Israel, No mainstream US media appear to have told Americans that both houses of Congress just voted massive aid to Israel, a tiny country with a long record …

Online News Editor (2020-12-22). First direct flight between Morocco, Israel lands in Rabat. laprensalatina.com Rabat, Dec 22 (efe-epa).- The first direct commercial flight between Morocco and Israel since the two countries normalized relations landed in Rabat from Tel Aviv on Tuesday with an Israeli-American delegation led by Jared Kushner, son-in-law and advisor to outgoing US president Donald Trump. The flight follows the agreement on the restoration of bilateral ties …

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-12-21). The Brexiteer Elites and Britain's Patriotic Billionaires: "Making Britain Great Again" (MBGA). globalresearch.ca Capitalism and patriotism do not share the same stable. When those in the business of accumulating profits suggest a love for flag and country, be wary. Wars might take place and trade agreements struck by governments, but the capitalist will …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-21). Dozens of Al-Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using Israeli spyware. peoplesdispatch.org On Monday, December 21, Monday, the Citizen's Lab of Toronto University in Canada claimed that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have used the Israel-made Pegasus malware to hack the personal phones of at least 36 journalists, producers and anchors working with Qatar-based Al-Jazeera in July. This was weeks before the UAE announced a " The hacking was allegedly part of an espionage campaign launched by these countries against Al…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-12-21). The Great Divider: Covid-19 Reflects Global Racism, Not Equality. counterpunch.org The notion that the COVID-19 pandemic was 'the great equalizer' should be dead and buried by now. If anything, the lethal disease is another terrible reminder of the deep divisions and inequalities in our societies. That said, the treatment of the disease should not be a repeat of the same shameful scenario.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Elliott Smith (2020-12-21). Remembering Bruce Carver Boynton, anti-segregation fighter and Freedom Ride inspiration. peoplesworld.org On Dec. 20, 1958, exactly 62 years ago, a young law student on his way home for the holiday break was on the brink of setting the country one step forward towards racial equality. His arrest on misdemeanor charges in a racially charged case resulted two years later in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation …

MEE and agencies (2020-12-21). 'The new Khashoggi': Death threats prompted probe of Al Jazeera hack. middleeasteye.net 'The new Khashoggi': Death threats prompted probe of Al Jazeera hack | Dozens of journalists' phones hacked in operation suspected to be led by Saudi and Emirati governments | Mon, 12/21/2020 – 12: 44 | Several reports have shown Israeli technology being used by Gulf states against political opponents (AFP) | An Al Jazeera journalist said he was told he would be made "the new Jamal Khashog…

Mohammad Ayesh (2020-12-21). Arabic press review: Saudi Arabia and UAE bankrolling Arab states' Israel deals. middleeasteye.net Arabic press review: Saudi Arabia and UAE bankrolling Arab states' Israel deals | Meanwhile, Jordanian prisoner numbers soar and Egypt revokes citizenship of 17 people under nationality law | Mon, 12/21/2020 – 16: 12 | A Moroccan diplomat said that the UAE and Saudi Arabia were sponsoring normalisation agreements on behalf of the US (AFP) | Saudi Arabia, UAE bankrolling normalisation agreeme…

CP Editor (2020-12-21). Beer in Palestine. counterpunch.org

Joseph Gedeon (2020-12-21). A Covid Christmas in Palestine. thenation.com A Covid Christmas in Palestine…

WSWS (2020-12-21). Active-duty Spanish soldiers chant fascist songs in online videos. wsws.org This underscores the criminal role of the Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government, which downplayed fascist sentiment in the army.

Fight Back (2020-12-21). Today is Stalin's birthday. fightbacknews.org December 21 marks the birthday of Joseph Stalin, leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. | Though reviled in the West, Stalin oversaw the period of socialist construction in the USSR. Under his leadership the country abolished illiteracy, unemployment, homelessness, and put an end to Russia's centuries-long history of famines. Under the leadership of Stalin, the USSR played a key role in turning back the tide of fascism and the defeat of Nazi Germany. This victory was not just a victory for the Soviet Union and socialism, but a victory for the peoples of the world…

teleSUR (2020-12-21). Germany: Author of Anti-Semitic Attack Gets Life in Prison. telesurenglish.net Stephan Balliet, the author of the anti-Semitic attack in Halle in 2019, was sentenced to life imprisonment at a Naumburg court on Monday. | RELATED: | The ruling classifies this 28-year-old German as a "danger" to society and removes the option of conditional freedom during his sentence. This means that the sentence amounts to at least 15 years in prison for Balliet. | Contrary to what his defenders argued, a psyc…

Matthew Ehret-Kump (2020-12-21). Today's China Espionage Scandals Revive the Gouzenko Hoax That Unleashed the Cold War. globalresearch.ca Today, a new coordinated psychological operation has been sprung to convince every living patriot across the Five Eyes sphere of influence that the enemy of the free world who lurks behind every conspiracy to overthrow governments, and western values is…China….

Chris Gelardi (2020-12-21). Detroit is Suing Black Lives Matter Protesters for "Civil Conspiracy" zcomm.org The city's lawsuit came after protesters won a restraining order against Detroit cops for their violent response to the George Floyd protests…

news.un (2020-12-21). Return to 'path of meaningful negotiations', UN envoy urges Israelis, Palestinians. news.un.org Addressing the UN Security Council on Monday, the UN envoy for the Middle East Peace Process urged Israelis, Palestinians, regional States and the broader international community to "take practical steps to enable the parties to re-engage" in the peace process.

James Zogby (2020-12-21). Conservative Christians Remain Silent About Suffering Bethlehem. commondreams.org "To most in the West, Palestinian Christians are simply invisible. To conservative Christians, they are at best a nuisance who stand in the way of their unquestioning ideological attachment to Israel." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Juan Cole (2020-12-20). Everyday War Crimes: Israeli PM Netanyahu Gets Covid Vaccine, Squatters Get Vaccine, But Not Occupied Palestinians. commondreams.org Vaccines will be supplied to the hundreds of thousands of government-backed illegal Israeli squatters on Palestinian land in the West Bank, but not to the indigenous Palestinian population. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

South Front (2020-12-20). Video: Is Israel Searching for A Pretext to Invade Southern Syria? globalresearch.ca The Russian military and Russian-backed Syrian forces have been increasing their presence on the border with Iraq. | Less than a week ago, the Russian Military Police established a local HQ in al-Bukamal. Recently, the 5th Corps of the Syrian Army, …

Kaamil Ahmed (2020-12-20). Far-right US group Boogaloo Bois member admits plans to work with Hamas. middleeasteye.net Far-right US group Boogaloo Bois member admits plans to work with Hamas | Palestinian movement Hamas has denied links to US militia members who call themselves 'Boojahideen' | Sun, 12/20/2020 – 09: 39 | An American man pleaded guilty of plotting to help Hamas to support far-right group Boogaloo Bois (AFP) | A "self-described member" of an United States group calling for a second civil war has admitted…

Mehr News Agency (2020-12-20). At least 140 Palestinians contract COVID-19 in Israeli jails. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 20 (MNA) — At least 140 Palestinian inmates in the Zionist regime's jails have contracted COVID-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic in early March this year, a Palestinian official said.

Newsclick (2020-12-20). Now China achieves quantum supremacy — What does this mean? peoplesdispatch.org Chinese quantum computer Jiuzhang achieved quantum supremacy. It is only the second quantum computer to ever do so, after Google's Sycamore. How does this computer work and what does quantum supremacy mean for us?

Campaign for Free Speech (2020-12-20). UK 'Campaign for Free Speech' 12/12 – How & Why Free Speech Is Coming Under Attack. indybay.org An international panel in London was held to discuss the attack on free speech and how the Zionists are seeking to codify laws and rules that criticism of Israel is anti-semitism.

Taj Ali (2020-12-20). Islamophobia: a year-round struggle. zcomm.org Islamophobia Awareness Month may be over, but the fight must continue now more than ever…

RT (2020-12-19). Netanyahu calls Covid-19 vaccine 'giant step for health' as he becomes first Israeli to get Pfizer jab. rt.com Hoping to lead by example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got a jab of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine in an event broadcast live, as the polls showed a high level of mistrust to the immunization drive among Israelis. | The ceremonial injection took place at the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv on Saturday, with Netanyahu sticking to his earlier promise and becoming the first person in the country to be vaccinated against Covid-19. | The PM was administered a shot of the immunization jointly developed by US pharma giant Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech. Israel, which plans to begin the vaccination of…

Editor (2020-12-19). France Cynically Hides Its Islamophobia Behind 'LaàØcité'. scheerpost.com MEAE ] By Mariamne Everett "… Our country is one that has no problems with any of the world's religions whatsoever, because they are all practised freely in our country. And to all French people of the Muslim faith, and indeed to citizens from anywhere else in the world whose religion is Islam, I should like to say to them that France is a country in which this religion, too, is freely practised."… |

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2020-12-19). Health Care and Black Lives Matter. zcomm.org "The backlash in which white people proclaimed All Lives Matter clearly had no understanding of the issue. Blacks weren't saying that Black lives mattered more, they were emphasizing that, the way the system works now, Black Lives Matter … Less."

_____ (2020-12-19). US Votes Against UN Resolution Condemning Nazis. popularresistance.org The United States and Ukraine were the only two nations to vote against a United Nations resolution Wednesday on, "Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance." The resolution passed 130-2. | The resolution featured 70 fairly bland statements condemning the crimes of Adolf Hitler, while also expressing concern at the rise of contemporary Neo-Nazi groups. | "Neo-Nazism is more than just the glorification of a past movement, it is a contemporary phenomenon with strong vested inte…