Monthly Archives: April 2020

2020-04-04: News Headlines

WSWS (2020-04-04). Amid India's calamitous lockdown, Modi seeks to censor coronavirus reports. wsws.org India's Supreme Court has ordered media outlets to publicize "official" government-authored coronavirus reports, and threatened prosecution if they disseminate "fake news."

John Nichols (2020-04-04). 'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'. thenation.com 'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'

sputniknews (2020-04-04). Russian Historian Reveals Which Puppet Ally Hitler Was Ready to Sacrifice Berlin For. sputniknews.com 75 years ago, from January to May 1945, the Allies began the final push for the heart of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, knocking down one puppet regime after another and counting down the days to the Nazis' surrender.

RT (2020-04-03). AOC slammed for blaming coronavirus deaths on inequality… after championing shutdown that accelerated it. rt.com Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demanded minority-focused "reparations" for coronavirus, insisting "inequality is a comorbidity" exacerbating the deaths — after calling for shutdowns that impoverished millions. | The New York Democrat called for coronavirus relief to be "drafted with a lens of reparations," insisting that deaths from the virus were "disproportionately spiking in Black [and] Brown communities" in a tweet on Friday. | Blaming "the chronic toll of redlining, environmental racism, wealth gap," she smoothly conflated economic inequality — a problem in white and nonwhite commun…

RT (2020-04-03). 'Dark day' in Prague: Czech authorities use sham 'no mask' Covid-19 excuse to tear down monument to Soviet liberator. rt.com A monument to Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev, who commanded the forces that liberated Prague from the Nazis in 1945, has been removed and mocked for 'not having a mask' by one local official, in what Russia has condemned as an insult.

Eds. (2020-04-03). Brazil Supreme Court asks to suspend Bolsonaro for 180 days. mronline.org Marco Aurélio Mello, a Minister of Brazil's Supreme Court, sent the Attorney General's Office a request to suspend President Jair Bolsonaro from his post for 180 days for committing various actions that have put the country at risk in the face of the covid-19 health emergency, according to a Telesur report.

Omar Shaban (2020-04-03). Gaza's New Conflict: COVID-19. counterpunch.org At a time when everyone was celebrating the arrival of a new decade, a rare once-in-a-100-year event took the world by surprise: a major global pandemic named COVID-19. Governments around the world struggled to fight the virus, taking extreme measures to contain it with nearly one billion people now living in confinement. At first, Palestinians

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-03). Israeli Police Abducts Palestinian Minister Of Jerusalem Affairs. imemc.org The Israeli police forces in the internationally recognized occupied East Jerusalem, abducted early on Friday dawn the Palestinian Authority's minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Fadi al-Hidmi. Local Palestinian media outlets said a police force broke into the home of al-Hadmi in the Suwwana neighborhood and abducted him. The sources added several …

PCHR (2020-04-03). PCHR: Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (26 March — 1 April 2020). imemc.org Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) 26 March — 1 April 2020 Summary Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued to violate Palestinians' human rights and commit crimes against civilians and their properties, conducting raids into Palestinian cities without regard to the state of emergency declared across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) …

The Palestinian News & Info Agency (2020-04-03). WAFA: "10 Detainees At Ofer Embark On Hunger Strike" imemc.org RAMALLAH, Thursday, April 2, 2020 (WAFA) — Ten Palestinian political prisoners at Ofer detention camp, southwest of Ramallah, embarked today on an open-ended hunger strike in protest against the ongoing solitary confinement of two fellow prisoners, as well as against Israel's failure to provide the conditions to prevent a high …

Ramzy Baroud (2020-04-03). Tunisia Leads the Way: New Report Exposes Israel's False Democracy. counterpunch.org Tunisia is the Middle East's greatest success story, according to the findings of the V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019. One of the world's most regarded annual reports on democracy and good governance, the V-Dem Report is produced by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. While Tunisians can be

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-03). PLO official Decries Israeli Actions Amidst Spread of Coronavirus. imemc.org Member of Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Dr. Hanan Ashrawi denounced on Friday, Israel's actions which she described as hampering Palestinian efforts, underway, to fight the Coronavirus (COVID-19). | In a statement released Friday, the high-ranking Palestinian official, Dr.

Fight Back (2020-04-03). Anti-war leaders condemn Trump's war moves against Venezuela. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN — Anti-war leaders are condemning U.S. war moves against Venezuela. The Trump administration has indicted Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro, and a U.S. naval deployment is underway. | Cassia Laham, of the Florida anti-war group People's Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism (POWIR), states, "The indictment against Maduro is an absolutely transparent move by the U.S. imperialists to try, yet again, to take down the two-time democratically-elected government of Venezuela." | Laham continued, "The U.S. cannot stand that Venezuela has rejected American neoliberalism and has been trying…

splcenter (2020-04-03). Detained immigrants across Deep South feel like 'sitting ducks' as ICE ignores their safety amid global pandemic. splcenter.org COVID-19 began to infect the nation at rapid speed in March, reaching every corner of the country and taking the lives of more than 6,000 people by April 3. The United Nations has dubbed the coronavirus the "most challenging" crisis the globe has witnessed since World War II.

Kenneth Good (2020-04-03). The Apartheid Wars: Non-Accountability and Freedom for Perpetrators. counterpunch.org The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a vital means to save the country from unending civil war. These had raged with increasing intensity since 1960, and in 1994 the forces of oppression were militarily intact. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, soon to be chair of the Commission observed in 1995, "Nuremberg trials" were not for

Ramzy Baroud (2020-04-02). New Reports Place Israel Among World's 25 "Declining Democracies" mintpressnews.com Both Freedom House and V-DEM's Annual Democracy Report shows Israel is experiencing a precipitous decline in democracy. Thought that would hardly be surprising to the 2 million Arab citizens that live there.

Ali Salam (2020-04-02). Israeli Army Demolishes 3 Palestinian Homes under Construction near Jenin. imemc.org The Israeli army demolished, on Wednesday morning, three under construction buildings in the northern West Bank village of Rummaneh, west of the city of Jenin, reported WAFA correspondent. The source said that a large Israeli force invaded the village and proceeded to destroy the three buildings that were being built …

Ali Salam (2020-04-02). PPS Calls for Immediate Release of over 1,000 Palestinian Prisoners. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS), on Tuesday, released a statement regarding fears for the fate of 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation jails, after the declaration of jailers and investigators being infected with the coronavirus, COVID-19. The Prisoners's Society added that they have experienced great difficulty in obtaining prisoner health …

Jonathan Cook (2020-04-02). How the Joint List Got it All Wrong for ever Believing Benny Gantz. dissidentvoice.org Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, abandoned the central plank of his platform at the weekend — that he would never sit in a coalition with Benjamin Netanyahu, who has led Israel continuously for the past 11 years. A former military general, Gantz justified his dramatic change of course under cover of …

IMEMC News (2020-04-02). Archbishop Hanna Calls For Releasing All Detainees As Coronavirus Detected In Prison. imemc.org Archbishop of Sebastia from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of occupied Jerusalem, Attallah Hanna, issued a statement calling on Israel to release the Palestinian political prisoners in its jails, especially after a recently released detainee was found to be infected with the Coronavirus. The Archbishop said that Israel must release all …

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-02). Israeli Troops Abduct 3 Palestinians, Seize 100 Sheep. imemc.org Israeli forces, overnight Wednesday, invaded Palestinian homes and abducted three residents in East Jerusalem, southern occupied West Bank, local sources reported. Sources told media outlets that Israeli troops stormed the Silwan neighborhood on Thursday at dawn, broke into several homes and abducted two Palestinian civilians, identified as Bahaa Abu Tayeh …

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-02). Israel Puts Forth a Condition for Aiding Gaza Over Coronavirus. imemc.org Palestinian media reports, citing Israeli sources, reported on Thursday that the Israeli government put forth a condition for shipping medical aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, for fighting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Sources said that Israeli Defense Minister, Naftali Bennett, was quoted during a press briefing in Tel-Aviv, as saying …

Fight Back (2020-04-02). Stop Trump's anti-Asian Racism; Speak out against hate crimes! fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 29 statement from the Twin Cites based Anti-War Committee. | Racism against Asian Americans is on the rise with 650 attacks reported this last week of March, 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic deepens, Donald Trump is PURPOSEFULLY inciting these attacks. President Trump is using anti-Asian racism to distract from his bungled COVID-19 response and to demonize China. Despite the fact that Trump previously praised China's transparency and heroic efforts to curb the pandemic, he is now maliciously labeling the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus." | Trump has repea…

Katrina Huber (2020-04-02). Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic. splcenter.org As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world — people in immigrant detention centers.

Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker (2020-04-02). Alabama prisons hold more than 1,100 older people at greater COVID-19 risk. splcenter.org More than 1,100 people age 65 or older are locked away in Alabama prisons, putting a group already highly susceptible to the deadly COVID-19 virus at an even greater risk, according to an SPLC analysis of the state's prison system.

Manar Waheed (2020-04-02). COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate — Neither Should Congress' Response. aclu.org Congress' third bill addressing the impacts of COVID-19, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), was a necessary attempt to respond to this public health crisis but its exclusion of immigrant communities is downright racist and xenophobic. Immigrants were

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-02). UN Official Calls for Assisting the Palestinian Government in Fight against Coronavirus. imemc.org United Nations' Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, called on Thursday for helping the Palestinian Authority fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19). In a new statement, reported by local media outlets, Mladenov urged key international donor countries to promptly aid the Palestinian Authority, voicing concerns amidst the rapid spread …

John Nichols (2020-04-02). 'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'. thenation.com 'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'

Chris Time Steele (2020-04-01). These Songs Kill Fascists. dissidentvoice.org These Songs Kill Fascists, my latest album, is an ode to Woody Guthrie, a call to fight fascism outside and internally. Featuring Mick Jenkins, Psalm One, Denver jazz legend Ron Miles, and platinum producer DJ Pain 1, the album tackles issues such as the murder of Heather Heyer, Denver's history with the KKK, gentrification, rape …

Steven K. Choi (2020-04-01). The Added Importance of the Census, in Light of COVID-19. aclu.org Last year around this time, my biggest worry was how the inclusion of the Trump administration's proposed citizenship question would depress participation in the decennial census. Thankfully, our Supreme Court victory means there is no citizenship question on the census. Now, I have a new worry: a global pandemic and the health of my loved ones. As it turns out, the 2020 Census plays a role here too, as it will have enormous implications on our health care for decades to come. | Specifically, the census will determine the allocation of $300 billion dollars of federal aid for the states' health care — mo…

splcenter (2020-04-01). SPLC, partners seek temporary restraining order to prevent immigration courts from becoming public health hazard. splcenter.org

Karl Grossman (2020-03-31). Right-Wing Media Joined Trump in Enabling Health Disaster. fair.org "If Hitler succeeds in pointing the way of peace and order and an ethical development which has been destroyed throughout the world by war, he will have accomplished a measure of good not only for his own people but for all humanity."—William Randolph Hearst (New York Times, The downplaying of the coronavirus by the right-wing press in the United States was preceded decades ago by the media owned by William Randolph Hearst enabling a different sort of toxicity by promoting a positive image of Nazism in the US.

Staff (2020-03-31). Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19. democracynow.org As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…

Miko Peled (2020-03-31). Remembering Theresa Halasa: Revered Veteran of the Palestinian Resistance. mintpressnews.com Amman, Jordan — "I didn't join the Palestinian resistance because I experienced suffering, I joined out of a sense of patriotism," Theresa Halasa, a revered veteran of the Palestinian resistance said this in an In 1972, Halasa was one of four Palestinians who hijacked a Belgian Sabena airliner en route to Tel-Aviv. The objective was to keep the passengers hostage until the Israeli government agreed to release Pal…

Susan Price (2020-03-31). Palestinians face two enemies: Occupation and pandemic. greenleft.org.au The number…

splcenter (2020-03-30). Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative: COVID-19 Parole Informational Guide for Sponsors. splcenter.org

Hatewatch Staff (2020-03-30). Neo-Confederate Group Moves Ahead with Conference Amid Covid-19 Outbreak. splcenter.org Michael Hill has no intention of letting a global pandemic cancel plans for the League of the South's annual conference.

splcenter (2020-03-30). The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan. splcenter.org The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.

Declan Terence Bradley, Mariam Abdulmonem Mansouri, Frank Kee, Leandro Martin Totaro Garcia (2020-03-28). [Commentary] A systems approach to preventing and responding to COVID-19. thelancet.com A novel zoonotic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a pandemic of respiratory infection [1,2]. COVID-19 has provoked restrictive infection control measures, social and economic disruption, and expressions of racism [3]. Systems thinking can help policymakers understand and influence the spread of infection and its multifaceted consequences across the community since society is itself a complex adaptive system [4]. It can provide a framework to look beyond the chain of infection and better understand the multiple implications of decisions and (in)actions in face of such a complex situation involving many inte…

splcenter (2020-03-27). Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers. splcenter.org

Cassie Miller (2020-03-26). White Supremacists See Coronavirus as an Opportunity. splcenter.org Far-right extremists believe the intense uncertainty surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19 will aid their ability to recruit new members into their movement.

splcenter (2020-03-25). Once a High-Profile Neo-Nazi, Azzmador Has Pulled a Disappearing Act. splcenter.org At "Unite the Right" in Charlottesville, Virginia, Azzmador appeared to be everywhere.

splcenter (2020-03-25). SPLC and allies seek federal court injunction in system-wide suit to protect people detained by ICE from contracting COVID-19. splcenter.org The SPLC and its allies asked a federal court today to issue a preliminary injunction requiring that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) take immediate steps to protect people in its custody, particularly those who have medical conditions making them more susceptible to serious illness and death from COVID-19.

Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker (2020-03-24). Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama. splcenter.org Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-03-23). Hate Group Leaders, Antigovernment Extremists Push Anti-China Coronavirus Rhetoric. splcenter.org A litany of conservative groups and figures, including members of hate and antigovernment extremist groups, have signed a March 17 letter to President Trump asking him to investigate China for its alleged role in spreading the novel coronavirus and hiding its origins.

splcenter (2020-03-20). COVID-19 Updates: SPLC continues fight against injustice. splcenter.org We are only beginning to feel the impacts of the coronavirus, but we know that the communities we serve — including low-income people, immigrants and people of color — are already among the most affected.

splcenter (2020-03-20). Grassroots effort sponsored by SPLC protects voting rights for hundreds across South Florida. splcenter.org Clutching a clipboard full of voter registration forms under his arm, Marq Mitchell knocked on the front door of a small, beige, stucco house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

splcenter (2020-03-20). SPLC responds to Trump's Racist and Xenophobic Attacks on Asians. splcenter.org President Trump continued to use racist and xenophobic language today during a news conference about the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. by calling it the "Chinese virus."

Michael Edison Hayden and Hannah Gais (2020-03-20). As White House Contemplates Coronavirus Asylum Ban, Hate Groups Urge Trump to Seize the Moment. splcenter.org The Trump administration took steps to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This nativist policy course has been pushed by anti-immigrant pundits and hate groups from the time the crisis started to unfold.

Andrea Flores (2020-03-20). How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses. aclu.org Two years ago, the ACLU set a clear goal: push Greyhound to refuse Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers access to their buses to conduct warrantless searches. As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CBP officers were targeting bus passengers around the country, boarding their buses to racially profile, harass, and too often, detain people who they suspected of being undocumented. Of course, you can't tell someone's immigration status by how they look or sound — this practice is unconstitutional and blatantly racist. By pushing aggressively with the help of our membership and…

2020-04-04: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

First COVID-19 Death Reported in Asia's Largest Slum, Dharavi
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-04
Asia's largest slum located in India's financial capital of Mumbai has reported its first COVID-19 fatality, according to local reports. | RELATED: | Amid COVID-19, India Buys $116M Worth Of Weapons to Israel | The patient, a 56-year-old man, had no travel history and was admitted to a local hospital with a fever on Sunday and tested positive for the new coronavirus on Wednesday, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said, according to Al Jazeera. | The aut…
telesurenglish.net/news/First-COVID-19-death-reported-in-Asias-largest-slum-Dharavi-20200403-0016.html

Amid India's calamitous lockdown, Modi seeks to censor coronavirus reports
wsws.org | 2020-04-04
India's Supreme Court has ordered media outlets to publicize "official" government-authored coronavirus reports, and threatened prosecution if they disseminate "fake news."
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/04/inco…

'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-04-04
'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'…
thenation.com/article/activism/public-transportation-worker-covid/

Russian Historian Reveals Which Puppet Ally Hitler Was Ready to Sacrifice Berlin For
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-04
75 years ago, from January to May 1945, the Allies began the final push for the heart of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, knocking down one puppet regime after another and counting down the days to the Nazis' surrender.
sputniknews.com/military/202004041078832571-russian-historian-reveals-which-puppet-ally-hitler-was-ready-to-sacrifice-berlin-for/

Gaza's New Conflict: COVID-19
Omar Shaban | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-03
At a time when everyone was celebrating the arrival of a new decade, a rare once-in-a-100-year event took the world by surprise: a major global pandemic named COVID-19. Governments around the world struggled to fight the virus, taking extreme measures to contain it with nearly one billion people now living in confinement. At first, Palestinians…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/03/gazas-new-conflict-covid-19/

PLO official Decries Israeli Actions Amidst Spread of Coronavirus
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-03
Member of Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Dr. Hanan Ashrawi denounced on Friday, Israel's actions which she described as hampering Palestinian efforts, underway, to fight the Coronavirus (COVID-19). | In a statement released Friday, the high-ranking Palestinian official, Dr.
imemc.org/article/plo-official-decries-israeli-actions-amidst-spread-of-coronavirus/

Tunisia Leads the Way: New Report Exposes Israel's False Democracy
Ramzy Baroud | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-03
Tunisia is the Middle East's greatest success story, according to the findings of the V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019. One of the world's most regarded annual reports on democracy and good governance, the V-Dem Report is produced by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. While Tunisians can be…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/03/tunisia-leads-the-way-new-report-exposes-israels-false-democracy/

WAFA: "10 Detainees At Ofer Embark On Hunger Strike"
The Palestinian News & Info Agency | imemc.org | 2020-04-03
RAMALLAH, Thursday, April 2, 2020 (WAFA)

Israeli Police Abducts Palestinian Minister Of Jerusalem Affairs
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-03
The Israeli police forces in the internationally recognized occupied East Jerusalem, abducted early on Friday dawn the Palestinian Authority's minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Fadi al-Hidmi. Local Palestinian media outlets said a police force broke into the home of al-Hadmi in the Suwwana neighborhood and abducted him. The sources added several …
imemc.org/article/israeli-police-abducts-palestinian-minister-of-jerusalem-affairs/

Anti-war leaders condemn Trump's war moves against Venezuela
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-03
Minneapolis, MN

AOC slammed for blaming coronavirus deaths on inequality… after championing shutdown that accelerated it
rt.com | 2020-04-03
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demanded minority-focused "reparations" for coronavirus, insisting "inequality is a comorbidity" exacerbating the deaths

Brazil Supreme Court asks to suspend Bolsonaro for 180 days
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-04-03
Marco Aurélio Mello, a Minister of Brazil's Supreme Court, sent the Attorney General's Office a request to suspend President Jair Bolsonaro from his post for 180 days for committing various actions that have put the country at risk in the face of the covid-19 health emergency, according to a Telesur report.
mronline.org/2020/04/03/brazil-supreme-court-asks-to-suspend-bolsonaro-for-180-days/

'Dark day' in Prague: Czech authorities use sham 'no mask' Covid-19 excuse to tear down monument to Soviet liberator
rt.com | 2020-04-03
A monument to Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev, who commanded the forces that liberated Prague from the Nazis in 1945, has been removed and mocked for 'not having a mask' by one local official, in what Russia has condemned as an insult. | …
rt.com/news/484924-konev-monument-prague-coronavirus/

The Apartheid Wars: Non-Accountability and Freedom for Perpetrators
Kenneth Good | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-03
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a vital means to save the country from unending civil war. These had raged with increasing intensity since 1960, and in 1994 the forces of oppression were militarily intact. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, soon to be chair of the Commission observed in 1995, "Nuremberg trials" were not for…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/03/the-apartheid-wars-non-accountability-and-freedom-for-perpetrators/

Detained immigrants across Deep South feel like 'sitting ducks' as ICE ignores their safety amid global pandemic
splcenter.org | 2020-04-03
COVID-19 began to infect the nation at rapid speed in March, reaching every corner of the country and taking the lives of more than 6,000 people by April 3. The United Nations has dubbed the coronavirus the "most challenging" crisis the globe has witnessed since World War II.
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/03/detained-immigrants-across-deep-south-feel-sitting-ducks-ice-ignores-their-safety-amid

How the Joint List Got it All Wrong for ever Believing Benny Gantz
Jonathan Cook | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-02
Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, abandoned the central plank of his platform at the weekend

New Reports Place Israel Among World's 25 "Declining Democracies"
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-02
Both Freedom House and V-DEM's Annual Democracy Report shows Israel is experiencing a precipitous decline in democracy. Thought that would hardly be surprising to the 2 million Arab citizens that live there.
mintpressnews.com/new-report-show-decline-democracy-israel/266307/

Israel Puts Forth a Condition for Aiding Gaza Over Coronavirus
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
Palestinian media reports, citing Israeli sources, reported on Thursday that the Israeli government put forth a condition for shipping medical aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, for fighting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Sources said that Israeli Defense Minister, Naftali Bennett, was quoted during a press briefing in Tel-Aviv, as saying …
imemc.org/article/israel-puts-forth-a-condition-for-aiding-gaza-over-coronavirus/

PPS Calls for Immediate Release of over 1,000 Palestinian Prisoners
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS), on Tuesday, released a statement regarding fears for the fate of 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation jails, after the declaration of jailers and investigators being infected with the coronavirus, COVID-19. The Prisoners's Society added that they have experienced great difficulty in obtaining prisoner health …
imemc.org/article/pps-calls-for-immediate-release-of-over-1000-palestinian-prisoners/

Archbishop Hanna Calls For Releasing All Detainees As Coronavirus Detected In Prison
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
Archbishop of Sebastia from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of occupied Jerusalem, Attallah Hanna, issued a statement calling on Israel to release the Palestinian political prisoners in its jails, especially after a recently released detainee was found to be infected with the Coronavirus. The Archbishop said that Israel must release all …
imemc.org/article/archbishop-hanna-calls-for-releasing-all-detainees-as-coronavirus-detected-in-prison/

Tunisia Leads the Way: New Report Exposes Israel's False Democracy
Ramzy Baroud | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-02
Tunisia is the Middle East's greatest success story, according to the findings of the V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019. One of the world's most regarded annual reports on democracy and good governance, the V-Dem Report is produced by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. While Tunisians can be …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/tunisia-leads-the-way-new-report-exposes-israels-false-democracy/

Israeli Army Demolishes 3 Palestinian Homes under Construction near Jenin
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
The Israeli army demolished, on Wednesday morning, three under construction buildings in the northern West Bank village of Rummaneh, west of the city of Jenin, reported WAFA correspondent. The source said that a large Israeli force invaded the village and proceeded to destroy the three buildings that were being built …
imemc.org/article/israeli-army-demolishes-3-palestinian-homes-under-construction-near-jenin/

Israeli Troops Abduct 3 Palestinians, Seize 100 Sheep
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
Israeli forces, overnight Wednesday, invaded Palestinian homes and abducted three residents in East Jerusalem, southern occupied West Bank, local sources reported. Sources told media outlets that Israeli troops stormed the Silwan neighborhood on Thursday at dawn, broke into several homes and abducted two Palestinian civilians, identified as Bahaa Abu Tayeh …
imemc.org/article/israeli-troops-abduct-3-palestinians-seize-100-sheep/

Stop Trump's anti-Asian Racism; Speak out against hate crimes!
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-02
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 29 statement from the Twin Cites based Anti-War Committee. | Racism against Asian Americans is on the rise with 650 attacks reported this last week of March, 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic deepens, Donald Trump is PURPOSEFULLY inciting these attacks. President Trump is using anti-Asian racism to distract from his bungled COVID-19 response and to demonize China. Despite the fact that Trump previously praised China's transparency and heroic efforts to curb the pandemic, he is now maliciously labeling the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus." | Trump has repea…
fightbacknews.org/2020/4/2/stop-trumps-anti-asian-racism-speak-out-against-hate-crimes

Alabama prisons hold more than 1,100 older people at greater COVID-19 risk
Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2020-04-02
More than 1,100 people age 65 or older are locked away in Alabama prisons, putting a group already highly susceptible to the deadly COVID-19 virus at an even greater risk, according to an SPLC analysis of the state's prison system.
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/02/alabama-prisons-hold-more-1100-older-people-greater-covid-19-risk

Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic
Katrina Huber | splcenter.org | 2020-04-02
As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world

UN Official Calls for Assisting the Palestinian Government in Fight against Coronavirus
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
United Nations' Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, called on Thursday for helping the Palestinian Authority fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19). In a new statement, reported by local media outlets, Mladenov urged key international donor countries to promptly aid the Palestinian Authority, voicing concerns amidst the rapid spread …
imemc.org/article/un-official-calls-for-assisting-the-palestinian-government-in-fight-against-coronavirus/

'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-04-02
'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'…
thenation.com/article/politics/wisconsin-democratic-primary/

These Songs Kill Fascists
Chris Time Steele | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-01
These Songs Kill Fascists, my latest album, is an ode to Woody Guthrie, a call to fight fascism outside and internally. Featuring Mick Jenkins, Psalm One, Denver jazz legend Ron Miles, and platinum producer DJ Pain 1, the album tackles issues such as the murder of Heather Heyer, Denver's history with the KKK, gentrification, rape …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/these-songs-kill-fascists/

The Added Importance of the Census, in Light of COVID-19
Steven K. Choi | aclu.org | 2020-04-01
Last year around this time, my biggest worry was how the inclusion of the Trump administration's proposed citizenship question would depress participation in the decennial census. Thankfully, our Supreme Court victory means there is no citizenship question on the census. Now, I have a new worry: a global pandemic and the health of my loved ones. As it turns out, the 2020 Census plays a role here too, as it will have enormous implications on our health care for decades to come. | Specifically, the census will determine the allocation of $300 billion dollars of federal aid for the states' health care

SPLC, partners seek temporary restraining order to prevent immigration courts from becoming public health hazard
splcenter.org | 2020-04-01
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/01/splc-partners-seek-temporary-restraining-order-prevent-immigration-courts-becoming-public

Remembering Theresa Halasa: Revered Veteran of the Palestinian Resistance
Miko Peled | mintpressnews.com | 2020-03-31
Amman, Jordan

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-31
As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/31/abul_el_s…

Right-Wing Media Joined Trump in Enabling Health Disaster
Karl Grossman | fair.org | 2020-03-31
"If Hitler succeeds in pointing the way of peace and order and an ethical development which has been destroyed throughout the world by war, he will have accomplished a measure of good not only for his own people but for all humanity."–William Randolph Hearst (New York Times, 8/23/1934) | The downplaying of the coronavirus by the right-wing press in the United States was preceded decades ago by the media owned by William Randolph Hearst enabling a different sort of toxicity by promoting a positive image of Nazism in the US.
fair.org/home/right-wing-media-joined-trump-in-enabling-health-disaster/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=right-wing-media-joined-trump-in-enabling-health-disaster

Palestinians face two enemies: Occupation and pandemic
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-31
Healthcare Tamara NassarIssue 1259 Palestine COVID-19 PalestineMarch 31, 2020Despite the global pandemic, it is business as usual for the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. | The number…
greenleft.org.au/content/palestinians-face-two-enemies-occupation-and-pandemic

Neo-Confederate Group Moves Ahead with Conference Amid Covid-19 Outbreak
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
Michael Hill has no intention of letting a global pandemic cancel plans for the League of the South's annual conference.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/30/neo-confederate-group-moves-ahead-conference-amid-covid-19-outbreak

Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative: COVID-19 Parole Informational Guide for Sponsors
splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
splcenter.org/20200401/southeast-immigrant-freedom-initiative-covid-19-parole-informational-guide-sponsors

The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan
splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/rev-dr-joseph-e-lowery-played-key-role-launching-splcs-legal-battle-against-ku-klux-klan

[Commentary] A systems approach to preventing and responding to COVID-19
Declan Terence Bradley, Mariam Abdulmonem Mansouri, Frank Kee, Leandro Martin Totaro Garcia | thelancet.com | 2020-03-28
A novel zoonotic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a pandemic of respiratory infection [1,2]. COVID-19 has provoked restrictive infection control measures, social and economic disruption, and expressions of racism [3]. Systems thinking can help policymakers understand and influence the spread of infection and its multifaceted consequences across the community since society is itself a complex adaptive system [4]. It can provide a framework to look beyond the chain of infection and better understand the multiple implications of decisions and (in)actions in face of such a complex situation involving many inte…
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30069-9/fulltext?rss=yes

Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers
splcenter.org | 2020-03-27
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/weekend-read-splc-demands-ice-act-amid-pandemic-save-lives-countless-immigrants-trapped-its

White Supremacists See Coronavirus as an Opportunity
Cassie Miller | splcenter.org | 2020-03-26
Far-right extremists believe the intense uncertainty surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19 will aid their ability to recruit new members into their movement.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/26/white-supremacists-see-coronavirus-opportunity

Once a High-Profile Neo-Nazi, Azzmador Has Pulled a Disappearing Act
splcenter.org | 2020-03-25
At "Unite the Right" in Charlottesville, Virginia, Azzmador appeared to be everywhere.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/26/once-high-profile-neo-nazi-azzmador-has-pulled-disappearing-act

SPLC and allies seek federal court injunction in system-wide suit to protect people detained by ICE from contracting COVID-19
splcenter.org | 2020-03-25
The SPLC and its allies asked a federal court today to issue a preliminary injunction requiring that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) take immediate steps to protect people in its custody, particularly those who have medical conditions making them more susceptible to serious illness and death from COVID-19.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/25/splc-and-allies-seek-federal-court-injunction-system-wide-suit-protect-people-detained-ice

Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama
Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2020-03-24
Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/28/arbitrary-excessive-marijuana-trafficking-sentences-alabama

Hate Group Leaders, Antigovernment Extremists Push Anti-China Coronavirus Rhetoric
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2020-03-23
A litany of conservative groups and figures, including members of hate and antigovernment extremist groups, have signed a March 17 letter to President Trump asking him to investigate China for its alleged role in spreading the novel coronavirus and hiding its origins.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/24/hate-group-leaders-antigovernment-extremists-push-anti-china-coronavirus-rhetoric

COVID-19 Updates: SPLC continues fight against injustice
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
We are only beginning to feel the impacts of the coronavirus, but we know that the communities we serve

Grassroots effort sponsored by SPLC protects voting rights for hundreds across South Florida
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
Clutching a clipboard full of voter registration forms under his arm, Marq Mitchell knocked on the front door of a small, beige, stucco house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/20/grassroots-effort-sponsored-splc-protects-voting-rights-hundreds-across-south-florida

As White House Contemplates Coronavirus Asylum Ban, Hate Groups Urge Trump to Seize the Moment
Michael Edison Hayden and Hannah Gais | splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
The Trump administration took steps to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This nativist policy course has been pushed by anti-immigrant pundits and hate groups from the time the crisis started to unfold.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/23/white-house-contemplates-coronavirus-asylum-ban-hate-groups-urge-trump-seize-moment

SPLC responds to Trump's Racist and Xenophobic Attacks on Asians
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
President Trump continued to use racist and xenophobic language today during a news conference about the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. by calling it the "Chinese virus."
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/20/splc-responds-trumps-racist-and-xenophobic-attacks-asians

How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses
Andrea Flores | aclu.org | 2020-03-20
Two years ago, the ACLU set a clear goal: push Greyhound to refuse Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers access to their buses to conduct warrantless searches. As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CBP officers were targeting bus passengers around the country, boarding their buses to racially profile, harass, and too often, detain people who they suspected of being undocumented. Of course, you can't tell someone's immigration status by how they look or sound

2020-04-03: News Headlines

Alastair Brown, Richard Horton (2020-04-04). [Comment] A planetary health perspective on COVID-19: a call for papers. thelancet.com It is natural during the unfolding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to focus on emergency response planning, including containment, treatment procedures, and vaccine development, and nobody would doubt the need for these measures. However, an emergency can also open a window of opportunity for reflection and learning. We live in increasingly global, interdependent, and environmentally constrained societies and the COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies these aspects of our world. We would therefore be wise to take a broad integrated perspective on this disease, the impacts of which are already spilling over in…

thelancet (2020-04-04). [Department of Error] Department of Error. thelancet.com Mease PJ, Rahman P, Gottlieb AB, et al. Guselkumab in biologic-naive patients with active psoriatic arthritis (DISCOVER-2): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial. Lancet 2020; 395: 1126—36—In this Article, the following sentence from the Participants section has been corrected as follows: "Patients were permitted, but not required, to continue stable use of selected standard treatments, including NSAIDs or other analgesics up to the regional marketed dose approved; oral corticosteroids (‚â§10 mg/day of prednisone or equivalent dose); or non-biologic DMARDs (limi…

The Lancet (2020-04-04). [Editorial] Redefining vulnerability in the era of COVID-19. thelancet.com What does it mean to be vulnerable? Vulnerable groups of people are those that are disproportionally exposed to risk, but who is included in these groups can change dynamically. A person not considered vulnerable at the outset of a pandemic can become vulnerable depending on the policy response. The risks of sudden loss of income or access to social support have consequences that are difficult to estimate and constitute a challenge in identifying all those who might become vulnerable. Certainly, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable groups are not only elderly people, those with ill health and comorbidities, or…

Gorka Orive, Unax Lertxundi (2020-04-04). [Correspondence] Mass drug administration: time to consider drug pollution? thelancet.com Mass drug administration is the strategy recommended by WHO to control or eliminate many neglected tropical diseases that cause devastating consequences worldwide. This strategic approach, which has produced unquestionable benefits, consists of treating every person, infected or not, living in a defined geographical area at approximately the same time.1 In 2017, more than 1 ∑7 billion treatments (mainly albendazole, mebendazole, ivermectin, azithromycin, and praziquantel) were delivered to 1 ∑04 billion individuals.

Genichi Sugihara, Nori Takei (2020-04-04). [Correspondence] Obsolete medical law in Japan harms doctors' health. thelancet.com Japan has achieved one of the most successful health-care systems in the world.1 Under the nation's insurance scheme, Japanese citizens have taken for granted that anyone can choose any health-care facility and receive the most advanced medical care across the nation. However, little attention has been paid to the fact that such a health system is supported by dedicated and self-sacrificing medical professionals. Such overloaded expectation is especially high in rural areas where the number of doctors remains low.

The Lancet (2020-04-04). [Editorial] Open versus endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms. thelancet.com When the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) released draft guidelines on the diagnosis and management of abdominal aortic aneurysms in May, 2018, it caused outcry. By recommending that endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of unruptured aneurysms should not be offered—even in patients for whom open surgical repair was contraindicated—critics said that many patients would be denied life-saving treatment and that the guidelines were unworkable.

Fathiah Zakham, Olli Vapalahti, Hilal A Lashual (2020-04-04). [Correspondence] Education and research are essential for lasting peace in Yemen. thelancet.com Yemen, known to many as the land of Sheba, and Manhattan of the desert, is now referred to only as one of the poorest countries on Earth. The name Yemen has become synonymous with cholera, famine, death, instability, and war. The war continues to erase the lives, history, and the future of Yemenis, and meaningful aid and peace have yet to reach Yemen.

Richard Horton (2020-04-04). [Comment] Offline: COVID-19—what countries must do now. thelancet.com How should countries plan for the approaching health crisis caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)? In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, himself struck down with infection, has written to every household warning that, "we know things will get worse before they get better". The UK Government is right to prepare the public for the coming human catastrophe. All governments have a responsibility to do the same. But this advice does not go far enough. Here are five critical actions that need to be considered immediately.

Talha Burki (2020-04-04). [World Report] 2020 Canada Gairdner Award winners announced. thelancet.com On March 31, the Gairdner Foundation announced the winners of its annual prizes in biomedical science and global health. Talha Burki spoke with the laureates.

The Lancet (2020-04-04). [Editorial] COVID-19 will not leave behind refugees and migrants. thelancet.com Never has the "leave no one behind" pledge felt more urgent. As nations around the world implement measures to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, including lockdowns and restrictions on individuals' movements, they must heed their global commitments. When member states adopted the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, they promised to ensure no one will be left behind. Chief among the world's most vulnerable people are refugees and migrants. The COVID-19 crisis puts these groups at enormous risk.

Renato D Lopes, Claudio Gimpelewicz, John J V McMurray (2020-04-04). [Correspondence] Chagas disease: still a neglected emergency? thelancet.com 10 years after highlighting the health consequences for millions of people infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, a 2019 report from the Pan American Health Organization concluded that there has been little progress in the prevention and treatment of Chagas disease, a problem that now extends beyond Latin America.1…

Fay Bound Alberti (2020-04-04). [Perspectives] Face transplants as surgical acts and psychosocial processes. thelancet.com In 2017 the face of Katie Stubblefield made headlines. Not the face she was born with or the face that emerged after 22 reconstructive surgeries. This was another face altogether: a transplant that Stubblefield would receive from Adrea Schneider. There have been 46 recorded face transplants in history. Katie's was the 40th—only the third to have taken place at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, which also undertook the first face transplant in the USA, on Connie Culp, in 2008. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it took 11 surgeons and staff from 15 specialties more than 31 hours to transplant Stubblefield's new…

Juan M Pericà s (2020-04-04). [Correspondence] Authoritarianism and the threat of infectious diseases. thelancet.com Punitive social policy, encompassing the dismantling of the welfare state with the expansion of the penal state and its associated institutions, as nicely stated by Elias Nosrati and Michael Marmot in their Perspective,1 might indeed be considered an upstream social determinant of health. Nosrati and Marmot's analysis relates to the findings described by Navarro and colleagues,2 linking political ideology with policies aimed at reducing social inequalities such as welfare state and labour market policies.

Gerardo Chowell, Kenji Mizumoto (2020-04-04). [Comment] The COVID-19 pandemic in the USA: what might we expect? thelancet.com As of March 19, 2020, 191‚Äà127 cases of, including 7807 deaths attributed to, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported worldwide.1 The incidence of reported cases in China has dramatically reduced to tens per day as a result of strict social distancing measures; however, the pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is now generating sustained transmission in many countries including the USA. In The Lancet, Isaac Ghinai, Tristan D McPherson, and colleagues2 report details of the first known human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the USA, which was…

Anna Petherick (2020-04-04). [World Report] Developing antibody tests for SARS-CoV-2. thelancet.com Laboratories and diagnostic companies are racing to produce antibody tests, a key part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Anna Petherick reports.

Eds. (2020-04-03). Brazil Supreme Court asks to suspend Bolsonaro for 180 days. mronline.org Marco Aurélio Mello, a Minister of Brazil's Supreme Court, sent the Attorney General's Office a request to suspend President Jair Bolsonaro from his post for 180 days for committing various actions that have put the country at risk in the face of the covid-19 health emergency, according to a Telesur report.

Omar Shaban (2020-04-03). Gaza's New Conflict: COVID-19. counterpunch.org At a time when everyone was celebrating the arrival of a new decade, a rare once-in-a-100-year event took the world by surprise: a major global pandemic named COVID-19. Governments around the world struggled to fight the virus, taking extreme measures to contain it with nearly one billion people now living in confinement. At first, Palestinians

Ramzy Baroud (2020-04-03). Tunisia Leads the Way: New Report Exposes Israel's False Democracy. counterpunch.org Tunisia is the Middle East's greatest success story, according to the findings of the V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019. One of the world's most regarded annual reports on democracy and good governance, the V-Dem Report is produced by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. While Tunisians can be

Kenneth Good (2020-04-03). The Apartheid Wars: Non-Accountability and Freedom for Perpetrators. counterpunch.org The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a vital means to save the country from unending civil war. These had raged with increasing intensity since 1960, and in 1994 the forces of oppression were militarily intact. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, soon to be chair of the Commission observed in 1995, "Nuremberg trials" were not for

sputniknews (2020-04-03). Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan Compares India's Ruling Party With Nazis. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): India and Pakistan have been involved in three wars – two over Kashmir and a third over Bangladesh.

yenisafak (2020-04-03). Israel demolishes 40 structures since virus outbreak. yenisafak.com Israel has demolished or seized 40 Palestinian structures in Area C of the occupied West Bank since March 5, according to a report published on Friday by the UN."Since the declaration of the COVID-19 State of Emergency in Palestine on 5 March, the Israeli authorities demolished, forced people to self-demolish or seized 40 structures," said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) report.It added that the demolition led to the displacement of 26 Palestinians and otherwise affected over 260 others.On Thursday, Israel informed the UN that it would temporarily halt demolitions of inhabited…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-04-02). New Reports Place Israel Among World's 25 "Declining Democracies" mintpressnews.com Both Freedom House and V-DEM's Annual Democracy Report shows Israel is experiencing a precipitous decline in democracy. Thought that would hardly be surprising to the 2 million Arab citizens that live there.

IMEMC News (2020-04-02). Archbishop Hanna Calls For Releasing All Detainees As Coronavirus Detected In Prison. imemc.org Archbishop of Sebastia from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of occupied Jerusalem, Attallah Hanna, issued a statement calling on Israel to release the Palestinian political prisoners in its jails, especially after a recently released detainee was found to be infected with the Coronavirus. The Archbishop said that Israel must release all …

Jonathan Cook (2020-04-02). How the Joint List Got it All Wrong for ever Believing Benny Gantz. dissidentvoice.org Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, abandoned the central plank of his platform at the weekend — that he would never sit in a coalition with Benjamin Netanyahu, who has led Israel continuously for the past 11 years. A former military general, Gantz justified his dramatic change of course under cover of …

Ali Salam (2020-04-02). Israeli Army Demolishes 3 Palestinian Homes under Construction near Jenin. imemc.org The Israeli army demolished, on Wednesday morning, three under construction buildings in the northern West Bank village of Rummaneh, west of the city of Jenin, reported WAFA correspondent. The source said that a large Israeli force invaded the village and proceeded to destroy the three buildings that were being built …

Ali Salam (2020-04-02). PPS Calls for Immediate Release of over 1,000 Palestinian Prisoners. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS), on Tuesday, released a statement regarding fears for the fate of 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation jails, after the declaration of jailers and investigators being infected with the coronavirus, COVID-19. The Prisoners's Society added that they have experienced great difficulty in obtaining prisoner health …

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-02). Israeli Troops Abduct 3 Palestinians, Seize 100 Sheep. imemc.org Israeli forces, overnight Wednesday, invaded Palestinian homes and abducted three residents in East Jerusalem, southern occupied West Bank, local sources reported. Sources told media outlets that Israeli troops stormed the Silwan neighborhood on Thursday at dawn, broke into several homes and abducted two Palestinian civilians, identified as Bahaa Abu Tayeh …

Ali Salam (2020-04-02). Several Agricultural Roads Closed by Israeli Forces near Tulkarem. imemc.org Palestinian farmers said on Tuesday, that Israeli forces stormed the greenhouses they were working in, and forced them to leave, while a bulldozer started to close nearby agricultural roads with dirt mounds. The roads, utilized by local Palestinian farmers, were connecting the Palestinian villages of Kafa and Shufa with a …

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-02). Israel Puts Forth a Condition for Aiding Gaza Over Coronavirus. imemc.org Palestinian media reports, citing Israeli sources, reported on Thursday that the Israeli government put forth a condition for shipping medical aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, for fighting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Sources said that Israeli Defense Minister, Naftali Bennett, was quoted during a press briefing in Tel-Aviv, as saying …

Fight Back (2020-04-02). Stop Trump's anti-Asian Racism; Speak out against hate crimes! fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 29 statement from the Twin Cites based Anti-War Committee. | Racism against Asian Americans is on the rise with 650 attacks reported this last week of March, 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic deepens, Donald Trump is PURPOSEFULLY inciting these attacks. President Trump is using anti-Asian racism to distract from his bungled COVID-19 response and to demonize China. Despite the fact that Trump previously praised China's transparency and heroic efforts to curb the pandemic, he is now maliciously labeling the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus." | Trump has repea…

commondreams (2020-04-02). Patriotic Millionaires Endorse Eight 2020 Congressional Challengers. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Manar Waheed (2020-04-02). COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate — Neither Should Congress' Response. aclu.org Congress' third bill addressing the impacts of COVID-19, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), was a necessary attempt to respond to this public health crisis but its exclusion of immigrant communities is downright racist and xenophobic. Immigrants were

Katrina Huber (2020-04-02). Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic. splcenter.org As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world — people in immigrant detention centers.

Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker (2020-04-02). Alabama prisons hold more than 1,100 older people at greater COVID-19 risk. splcenter.org More than 1,100 people age 65 or older are locked away in Alabama prisons, putting a group already highly susceptible to the deadly COVID-19 virus at an even greater risk, according to an SPLC analysis of the state's prison system.

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-02). UN Official Calls for Assisting the Palestinian Government in Fight against Coronavirus. imemc.org United Nations' Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, called on Thursday for helping the Palestinian Authority fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19). In a new statement, reported by local media outlets, Mladenov urged key international donor countries to promptly aid the Palestinian Authority, voicing concerns amidst the rapid spread …

John Nichols (2020-04-02). 'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'. thenation.com 'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'

Ron Skolnik (2020-04-01). A rosy phantasmagorical (and probably counterfactual) report from Israel's future. peoplesworld.org As Israel celebrated its centennial Independence Day in May 2048, its media reflected back on the many red-letter dates that had marked the tumultuous life of the nation: The UN vote of 1947, the various wars, of course, and the diplomatic agreements reached, first with Egypt and Jordan, and decades later with the rest of …

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-01). Israeli Troops Seize a Palestinian-owned Caravan in Jordan Valley. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly seized on Wednesday, a Palestinian-owned caravan, located in the Israel-occupied area of Al-Aghwar, in the eastern occupied West Bank. Witnesses told media outlets, earlier today, that the confiscated caravan is owned by a local Palestinian resident in the Jordan Valley. Local legal activist, Aref Daraghma, told local …

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-01). Palestinian Prisoner Contracts Coronavirus in Israeli Jail. imemc.org The Ramallah-based Palestinian Committee for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners confirmed on Wednesday, that a newly released Palestinian prisoner tested positive for the coronavirus. The announcement came after the prisoner, Noureddin Sarsour, a resident of Betunia town, west of Ramallah city, who was incarcerated for 2 weeks at Ofer Israeli prison, upon …

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-01). Young Palestinian Man Dies of Wounds Inflicted by Israeli Forces Last Month. imemc.org Palestinian medical sources in the West Bank city of Nablus, pronounced dead, a young Palestinian man, after he had sustained wounds caused by Israeli troops, last month. The sources identified the young man as Islam Dwaikat, 22, and said he was wounded by Israeli troops that opened fire at Palestinian …

Chris Time Steele (2020-04-01). These Songs Kill Fascists. dissidentvoice.org These Songs Kill Fascists, my latest album, is an ode to Woody Guthrie, a call to fight fascism outside and internally. Featuring Mick Jenkins, Psalm One, Denver jazz legend Ron Miles, and platinum producer DJ Pain 1, the album tackles issues such as the murder of Heather Heyer, Denver's history with the KKK, gentrification, rape …

Steven K. Choi (2020-04-01). The Added Importance of the Census, in Light of COVID-19. aclu.org Last year around this time, my biggest worry was how the inclusion of the Trump administration's proposed citizenship question would depress participation in the decennial census. Thankfully, our Supreme Court victory means there is no citizenship question on the census. Now, I have a new worry: a global pandemic and the health of my loved ones. As it turns out, the 2020 Census plays a role here too, as it will have enormous implications on our health care for decades to come. | Specifically, the census will determine the allocation of $300 billion dollars of federal aid for the states' health care — mo…

splcenter (2020-04-01). SPLC, partners seek temporary restraining order to prevent immigration courts from becoming public health hazard. splcenter.org

Miko Peled (2020-03-31). Remembering Theresa Halasa: Revered Veteran of the Palestinian Resistance. mintpressnews.com Amman, Jordan — "I didn't join the Palestinian resistance because I experienced suffering, I joined out of a sense of patriotism," Theresa Halasa, a revered veteran of the Palestinian resistance said this in an In 1972, Halasa was one of four Palestinians who hijacked a Belgian Sabena airliner en route to Tel-Aviv. The objective was to keep the passengers hostage until the Israeli government agreed to release Pal…

Karl Grossman (2020-03-31). Right-Wing Media Joined Trump in Enabling Health Disaster. fair.org "If Hitler succeeds in pointing the way of peace and order and an ethical development which has been destroyed throughout the world by war, he will have accomplished a measure of good not only for his own people but for all humanity."—William Randolph Hearst (New York Times, The downplaying of the coronavirus by the right-wing press in the United States was preceded decades ago by the media owned by William Randolph Hearst enabling a different sort of toxicity by promoting a positive image of Nazism in the US.

Staff (2020-03-31). Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19. democracynow.org As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…

Susan Price (2020-03-31). Palestinians face two enemies: Occupation and pandemic. greenleft.org.au The number…

Hatewatch Staff (2020-03-30). Neo-Confederate Group Moves Ahead with Conference Amid Covid-19 Outbreak. splcenter.org Michael Hill has no intention of letting a global pandemic cancel plans for the League of the South's annual conference.

splcenter (2020-03-30). The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan. splcenter.org The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.

splcenter (2020-03-30). Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative: COVID-19 Parole Informational Guide for Sponsors. splcenter.org

2020-04-03: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

[Correspondence] Education and research are essential for lasting peace in Yemen
Fathiah Zakham, Olli Vapalahti, Hilal A Lashual | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
Yemen, known to many as the land of Sheba, and Manhattan of the desert, is now referred to only as one of the poorest countries on Earth. The name Yemen has become synonymous with cholera, famine, death, instability, and war. The war continues to erase the lives, history, and the future of Yemenis, and meaningful aid and peace have yet to reach Yemen.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30162-8/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] Authoritarianism and the threat of infectious diseases
Juan M Pericà s | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
Punitive social policy, encompassing the dismantling of the welfare state with the expansion of the penal state and its associated institutions, as nicely stated by Elias Nosrati and Michael Marmot in their Perspective,1 might indeed be considered an upstream social determinant of health. Nosrati and Marmot's analysis relates to the findings described by Navarro and colleagues,2 linking political ideology with policies aimed at reducing social inequalities such as welfare state and labour market policies.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)32595-4/fulltext?rss=yes

[Comment] The COVID-19 pandemic in the USA: what might we expect?
Gerardo Chowell, Kenji Mizumoto | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
As of March 19, 2020, 191‚Äà127 cases of, including 7807 deaths attributed to, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported worldwide.1 The incidence of reported cases in China has dramatically reduced to tens per day as a result of strict social distancing measures; however, the pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is now generating sustained transmission in many countries including the USA. In The Lancet, Isaac Ghinai, Tristan D McPherson, and colleagues2 report details of the first known human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the USA, which was…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30743-1/fulltext?rss=yes

[Obituary] Philip Leder
Geoff Watts | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
Molecular geneticist and genetic code breaker. He was born in Washington, DC, USA, on Nov 19, 1934, and died from complications of Parkinson's disease in Chestnut Hill, MA, USA, on Feb 2, 2020, aged 85 years.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30685-1/fulltext?rss=yes

[Department of Error] Department of Error
thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
Mease PJ, Rahman P, Gottlieb AB, et al. Guselkumab in biologic-naive patients with active psoriatic arthritis (DISCOVER-2): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial. Lancet 2020; 395: 1126–36–In this Article, the following sentence from the Participants section has been corrected as follows: "Patients were permitted, but not required, to continue stable use of selected standard treatments, including NSAIDs or other analgesics up to the regional marketed dose approved; oral corticosteroids (‚â§10 mg/day of prednisone or equivalent dose); or non-biologic DMARDs (limi…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30741-8/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] Obsolete medical law in Japan harms doctors' health
Genichi Sugihara, Nori Takei | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
Japan has achieved one of the most successful health-care systems in the world.1 Under the nation's insurance scheme, Japanese citizens have taken for granted that anyone can choose any health-care facility and receive the most advanced medical care across the nation. However, little attention has been paid to the fact that such a health system is supported by dedicated and self-sacrificing medical professionals. Such overloaded expectation is especially high in rural areas where the number of doctors remains low.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30176-8/fulltext?rss=yes

[Editorial] Redefining vulnerability in the era of COVID-19
The Lancet | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
What does it mean to be vulnerable? Vulnerable groups of people are those that are disproportionally exposed to risk, but who is included in these groups can change dynamically. A person not considered vulnerable at the outset of a pandemic can become vulnerable depending on the policy response. The risks of sudden loss of income or access to social support have consequences that are difficult to estimate and constitute a challenge in identifying all those who might become vulnerable. Certainly, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable groups are not only elderly people, those with ill health and comorbidities, or…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30757-1/fulltext?rss=yes

[World Report] 2020 Canada Gairdner Award winners announced
Talha Burki | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
On March 31, the Gairdner Foundation announced the winners of its annual prizes in biomedical science and global health. Talha Burki spoke with the laureates.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30789-3/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] Chagas disease: still a neglected emergency?
Renato D Lopes, Claudio Gimpelewicz, John J V McMurray | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
10 years after highlighting the health consequences for millions of people infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, a 2019 report from the Pan American Health Organization concluded that there has been little progress in the prevention and treatment of Chagas disease, a problem that now extends beyond Latin America.1…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30171-9/fulltext?rss=yes

[Perspectives] Man up
Tom Shakespeare | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
Masculinities: Liberation through Photography explores half a century of photographic representations of men–their bodies, their identities, and their social roles. Contemporary politics is full of powerful men–Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan–behaving in stereotypically dominant ways. You could be forgiven for thinking that the more things change, the more things remain the same. But #MeToo is here to say it can't go on like this, in the wake of the conviction of Harvey Weinstein.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30683-8/fulltext?rss=yes

[Perspectives] Face transplants as surgical acts and psychosocial processes
Fay Bound Alberti | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
In 2017 the face of Katie Stubblefield made headlines. Not the face she was born with or the face that emerged after 22 reconstructive surgeries. This was another face altogether: a transplant that Stubblefield would receive from Adrea Schneider. There have been 46 recorded face transplants in history. Katie's was the 40th–only the third to have taken place at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, which also undertook the first face transplant in the USA, on Connie Culp, in 2008. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it took 11 surgeons and staff from 15 specialties more than 31 hours to transplant Stubblefield's new…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30684-X/fulltext?rss=yes

[Comment] A planetary health perspective on COVID-19: a call for papers
Alastair Brown, Richard Horton | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
It is natural during the unfolding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to focus on emergency response planning, including containment, treatment procedures, and vaccine development, and nobody would doubt the need for these measures. However, an emergency can also open a window of opportunity for reflection and learning. We live in increasingly global, interdependent, and environmentally constrained societies and the COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies these aspects of our world. We would therefore be wise to take a broad integrated perspective on this disease, the impacts of which are already spilling over in…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30742-X/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] Mass drug administration: time to consider drug pollution?
Gorka Orive, Unax Lertxundi | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
Mass drug administration is the strategy recommended by WHO to control or eliminate many neglected tropical diseases that cause devastating consequences worldwide. This strategic approach, which has produced unquestionable benefits, consists of treating every person, infected or not, living in a defined geographical area at approximately the same time.1 In 2017, more than 1 ∑7 billion treatments (mainly albendazole, mebendazole, ivermectin, azithromycin, and praziquantel) were delivered to 1 ∑04 billion individuals.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30053-2/fulltext?rss=yes

[Editorial] Open versus endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms
The Lancet | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
When the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) released draft guidelines on the diagnosis and management of abdominal aortic aneurysms in May, 2018, it caused outcry. By recommending that endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of unruptured aneurysms should not be offered–even in patients for whom open surgical repair was contraindicated–critics said that many patients would be denied life-saving treatment and that the guidelines were unworkable.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30759-5/fulltext?rss=yes

[Comment] Offline: COVID-19–what countries must do now
Richard Horton | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
How should countries plan for the approaching health crisis caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)? In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, himself struck down with infection, has written to every household warning that, "we know things will get worse before they get better". The UK Government is right to prepare the public for the coming human catastrophe. All governments have a responsibility to do the same. But this advice does not go far enough. Here are five critical actions that need to be considered immediately.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30787-X/fulltext?rss=yes

[Department of Error] Department of Error
thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
Biswal S, Borja-Tabora C, Martinez Vargas L, et al. Efficacy of a tetravalent dengue vaccine in healthy children aged 4–16 years: a randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet 2020; published online March 17. dox.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30414-… appendix of this Article has been corrected as of April 2, 2020.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30682-6/fulltext?rss=yes

[World Report] Developing antibody tests for SARS-CoV-2
Anna Petherick | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
Laboratories and diagnostic companies are racing to produce antibody tests, a key part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Anna Petherick reports.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30788-1/fulltext?rss=yes

[Editorial] COVID-19 will not leave behind refugees and migrants
The Lancet | thelancet.com | 2020-04-04
Never has the "leave no one behind" pledge felt more urgent. As nations around the world implement measures to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, including lockdowns and restrictions on individuals' movements, they must heed their global commitments. When member states adopted the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, they promised to ensure no one will be left behind. Chief among the world's most vulnerable people are refugees and migrants. The COVID-19 crisis puts these groups at enormous risk.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30758-3/fulltext?rss=yes

Gaza's New Conflict: COVID-19
Omar Shaban | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-03
At a time when everyone was celebrating the arrival of a new decade, a rare once-in-a-100-year event took the world by surprise: a major global pandemic named COVID-19. Governments around the world struggled to fight the virus, taking extreme measures to contain it with nearly one billion people now living in confinement. At first, Palestinians…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/03/gazas-new-conflict-covid-19/

Tunisia Leads the Way: New Report Exposes Israel's False Democracy
Ramzy Baroud | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-03
Tunisia is the Middle East's greatest success story, according to the findings of the V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019. One of the world's most regarded annual reports on democracy and good governance, the V-Dem Report is produced by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. While Tunisians can be…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/03/tunisia-leads-the-way-new-report-exposes-israels-false-democracy/

Brazil Supreme Court asks to suspend Bolsonaro for 180 days
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-04-03
Marco Aurélio Mello, a Minister of Brazil's Supreme Court, sent the Attorney General's Office a request to suspend President Jair Bolsonaro from his post for 180 days for committing various actions that have put the country at risk in the face of the covid-19 health emergency, according to a Telesur report.
mronline.org/2020/04/03/brazil-supreme-court-asks-to-suspend-bolsonaro-for-180-days/

The Apartheid Wars: Non-Accountability and Freedom for Perpetrators
Kenneth Good | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-03
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a vital means to save the country from unending civil war. These had raged with increasing intensity since 1960, and in 1994 the forces of oppression were militarily intact. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, soon to be chair of the Commission observed in 1995, "Nuremberg trials" were not for…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/03/the-apartheid-wars-non-accountability-and-freedom-for-perpetrators/

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan Compares India's Ruling Party With Nazis
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-03
New Delhi (Sputnik): India and Pakistan have been involved in three wars – two over Kashmir and a third over Bangladesh.
sputniknews.com/india/202004031078814647-pakistan-prime-minister-imran-khan-compares-indias-ruling-party-with-hitlers-nazis/

Israel demolishes 40 structures since virus outbreak
yenisafak.com | 2020-04-03
Israel has demolished or seized 40 Palestinian structures in Area C of the occupied West Bank since March 5, according to a report published on Friday by the UN."Since the declaration of the COVID-19 State of Emergency in Palestine on 5 March, the Israeli authorities demolished, forced people to self-demolish or seized 40 structures," said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) report.It added that the demolition led to the displacement of 26 Palestinians and otherwise affected over 260 others.On Thursday, Israel informed the UN that it would temporarily halt demolitions of inhabited…
yenisafak.com/en/world/israel-demolishes-40-structures-since-virus-outbreak-3515869

Israeli Troops Abduct 3 Palestinians, Seize 100 Sheep
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
Israeli forces, overnight Wednesday, invaded Palestinian homes and abducted three residents in East Jerusalem, southern occupied West Bank, local sources reported. Sources told media outlets that Israeli troops stormed the Silwan neighborhood on Thursday at dawn, broke into several homes and abducted two Palestinian civilians, identified as Bahaa Abu Tayeh …
imemc.org/article/israeli-troops-abduct-3-palestinians-seize-100-sheep/

Israel Puts Forth a Condition for Aiding Gaza Over Coronavirus
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
Palestinian media reports, citing Israeli sources, reported on Thursday that the Israeli government put forth a condition for shipping medical aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, for fighting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Sources said that Israeli Defense Minister, Naftali Bennett, was quoted during a press briefing in Tel-Aviv, as saying …
imemc.org/article/israel-puts-forth-a-condition-for-aiding-gaza-over-coronavirus/

Archbishop Hanna Calls For Releasing All Detainees As Coronavirus Detected In Prison
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
Archbishop of Sebastia from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of occupied Jerusalem, Attallah Hanna, issued a statement calling on Israel to release the Palestinian political prisoners in its jails, especially after a recently released detainee was found to be infected with the Coronavirus. The Archbishop said that Israel must release all …
imemc.org/article/archbishop-hanna-calls-for-releasing-all-detainees-as-coronavirus-detected-in-prison/

Israeli Army Demolishes 3 Palestinian Homes under Construction near Jenin
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
The Israeli army demolished, on Wednesday morning, three under construction buildings in the northern West Bank village of Rummaneh, west of the city of Jenin, reported WAFA correspondent. The source said that a large Israeli force invaded the village and proceeded to destroy the three buildings that were being built …
imemc.org/article/israeli-army-demolishes-3-palestinian-homes-under-construction-near-jenin/

Several Agricultural Roads Closed by Israeli Forces near Tulkarem
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
Palestinian farmers said on Tuesday, that Israeli forces stormed the greenhouses they were working in, and forced them to leave, while a bulldozer started to close nearby agricultural roads with dirt mounds. The roads, utilized by local Palestinian farmers, were connecting the Palestinian villages of Kafa and Shufa with a …
imemc.org/article/several-agricultural-roads-closed-by-israeli-forces-near-tulkarem/

PPS Calls for Immediate Release of over 1,000 Palestinian Prisoners
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS), on Tuesday, released a statement regarding fears for the fate of 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation jails, after the declaration of jailers and investigators being infected with the coronavirus, COVID-19. The Prisoners's Society added that they have experienced great difficulty in obtaining prisoner health …
imemc.org/article/pps-calls-for-immediate-release-of-over-1000-palestinian-prisoners/

New Reports Place Israel Among World's 25 "Declining Democracies"
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-02
Both Freedom House and V-DEM's Annual Democracy Report shows Israel is experiencing a precipitous decline in democracy. Thought that would hardly be surprising to the 2 million Arab citizens that live there.
mintpressnews.com/new-report-show-decline-democracy-israel/266307/

Tunisia Leads the Way: New Report Exposes Israel's False Democracy
Ramzy Baroud | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-02
Tunisia is the Middle East's greatest success story, according to the findings of the V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019. One of the world's most regarded annual reports on democracy and good governance, the V-Dem Report is produced by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. While Tunisians can be …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/tunisia-leads-the-way-new-report-exposes-israels-false-democracy/

How the Joint List Got it All Wrong for ever Believing Benny Gantz
Jonathan Cook | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-02
Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, abandoned the central plank of his platform at the weekend

Stop Trump's anti-Asian Racism; Speak out against hate crimes!
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-02
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 29 statement from the Twin Cites based Anti-War Committee. | Racism against Asian Americans is on the rise with 650 attacks reported this last week of March, 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic deepens, Donald Trump is PURPOSEFULLY inciting these attacks. President Trump is using anti-Asian racism to distract from his bungled COVID-19 response and to demonize China. Despite the fact that Trump previously praised China's transparency and heroic efforts to curb the pandemic, he is now maliciously labeling the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus." | Trump has repea…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/4/2/stop-trum…

Patriotic Millionaires Endorse Eight 2020 Congressional Challengers
commondreams.org | 2020-04-02
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/04/02/patriotic-millionaires-endorse-eight-2020-congressional-challengers?cd-origin=rss

UN Official Calls for Assisting the Palestinian Government in Fight against Coronavirus
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-02
United Nations' Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, called on Thursday for helping the Palestinian Authority fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19). In a new statement, reported by local media outlets, Mladenov urged key international donor countries to promptly aid the Palestinian Authority, voicing concerns amidst the rapid spread …
imemc.org/article/un-official-calls-for-assisting-the-palestinian-government-in-fight-against-coronavirus/

Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic
Katrina Huber | splcenter.org | 2020-04-02
As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world

Alabama prisons hold more than 1,100 older people at greater COVID-19 risk
Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2020-04-02
More than 1,100 people age 65 or older are locked away in Alabama prisons, putting a group already highly susceptible to the deadly COVID-19 virus at an even greater risk, according to an SPLC analysis of the state's prison system.
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/02/alabama-prisons-hold-more-1100-older-people-greater-covid-19-risk

'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-04-02
'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'…
thenation.com/article/politics/wisconsin-democratic-primary/

Young Palestinian Man Dies of Wounds Inflicted by Israeli Forces Last Month
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-01
Palestinian medical sources in the West Bank city of Nablus, pronounced dead, a young Palestinian man, after he had sustained wounds caused by Israeli troops, last month. The sources identified the young man as Islam Dwaikat, 22, and said he was wounded by Israeli troops that opened fire at Palestinian …
imemc.org/article/palestinian-young-man-dies-of-wounds-inflicted-by-israeli-forces-last-month/

Palestinian Prisoner Contracts Coronavirus in Israeli Jail
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-01
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Committee for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners confirmed on Wednesday, that a newly released Palestinian prisoner tested positive for the coronavirus. The announcement came after the prisoner, Noureddin Sarsour, a resident of Betunia town, west of Ramallah city, who was incarcerated for 2 weeks at Ofer Israeli prison, upon …
imemc.org/article/palestinian-prisoner-in-israeli-jail-contracts-coronavirus/

Israeli Troops Seize a Palestinian-owned Caravan in Jordan Valley
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-01
Israeli troops reportedly seized on Wednesday, a Palestinian-owned caravan, located in the Israel-occupied area of Al-Aghwar, in the eastern occupied West Bank. Witnesses told media outlets, earlier today, that the confiscated caravan is owned by a local Palestinian resident in the Jordan Valley. Local legal activist, Aref Daraghma, told local …
imemc.org/article/israeli-troops-seize-a-palestinian-owned-caravan-in-jordan-valley/

A rosy phantasmagorical (and probably counterfactual) report from Israel's future
Ron Skolnik | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-01
As Israel celebrated its centennial Independence Day in May 2048, its media reflected back on the many red-letter dates that had marked the tumultuous life of the nation: The UN vote of 1947, the various wars, of course, and the diplomatic agreements reached, first with Egypt and Jordan, and decades later with the rest of …
peoplesworld.org/article/a-rosy-phantasmagorical-and-probably-counterfactual-report-from-israels-future/

These Songs Kill Fascists
Chris Time Steele | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-01
These Songs Kill Fascists, my latest album, is an ode to Woody Guthrie, a call to fight fascism outside and internally. Featuring Mick Jenkins, Psalm One, Denver jazz legend Ron Miles, and platinum producer DJ Pain 1, the album tackles issues such as the murder of Heather Heyer, Denver's history with the KKK, gentrification, rape …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/these-songs-kill-fascists/

The Added Importance of the Census, in Light of COVID-19
Steven K. Choi | aclu.org | 2020-04-01
Last year around this time, my biggest worry was how the inclusion of the Trump administration's proposed citizenship question would depress participation in the decennial census. Thankfully, our Supreme Court victory means there is no citizenship question on the census. Now, I have a new worry: a global pandemic and the health of my loved ones. As it turns out, the 2020 Census plays a role here too, as it will have enormous implications on our health care for decades to come. | Specifically, the census will determine the allocation of $300 billion dollars of federal aid for the states' health care

FARC Party Denounces Murder of Another Ex-Combatant in Colombia
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-01
The Colombian Alternative Revolutionary Force of the Common's party (FARC) denounced Wednesday the murder of the former 57th Front combatant, Jose Isidoro Cuesta, in the rural area of Carmen del Darien, belonging to the Choco department, northwest Colombia. | RELATED: | Pot-Banging in Colombia Against Government's Political Genocide | The incident occurred last Sunday and the political organization called on Ivan Duque's government not to be indifferent, claiming that the enemie…
telesurenglish.net/news/FARC-Denounces-Murder-of-Another-Ex-Combatant-in-Colombia-20200401-0020.html

SPLC, partners seek temporary restraining order to prevent immigration courts from becoming public health hazard
splcenter.org | 2020-04-01
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/01/splc-partners-seek-temporary-restraining-order-prevent-immigration-courts-becoming-public

Remembering Theresa Halasa: Revered Veteran of the Palestinian Resistance
Miko Peled | mintpressnews.com | 2020-03-31
Amman, Jordan

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-31
As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/31/abul_el_s…

Right-Wing Media Joined Trump in Enabling Health Disaster
Karl Grossman | fair.org | 2020-03-31
"If Hitler succeeds in pointing the way of peace and order and an ethical development which has been destroyed throughout the world by war, he will have accomplished a measure of good not only for his own people but for all humanity."–William Randolph Hearst (New York Times, 8/23/1934) | The downplaying of the coronavirus by the right-wing press in the United States was preceded decades ago by the media owned by William Randolph Hearst enabling a different sort of toxicity by promoting a positive image of Nazism in the US.
fair.org/home/right-wing-media-joined-trump-in-enabling-health-disaster/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=right-wing-media-joined-trump-in-enabling-health-disaster

2020-04-02: News Headlines

RT (2020-04-02). Netanyahu, just out of isolation, goes back in after health minister tests positive for Covid-19. rt.com On Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended his self-isolation period, but now he has to go back into quarantine after another senior official tested positive for Covid-19. | Netanyahu is one of several top government officials who will be quarantined following the positive test of Health Minister Yaakov Litzman. Others include Yossi Cohen, the head of the Israeli spy agency Mossad, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, and several leadership-level figures in the Health Ministry who all recently came into contact with Litzman. | The 71-year-old health minister and his wife Chava…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-04-02). Tunisia Leads the Way: New Report Exposes Israel's False Democracy. dissidentvoice.org Tunisia is the Middle East's greatest success story, according to the findings of the V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019. One of the world's most regarded annual reports on democracy and good governance, the V-Dem Report is produced by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. While Tunisians can be …

Stephen Corry (2020-04-02). It's Time to Clean Ecofascism Out of Environmentalism. counterpunch.org The coronavirus pandemic is lethal, but could there be a silver lining beyond the pain? Social media is awash with how the newly cleaned environment is hosting wildlife not seen for years. Dolphins are swimming in Venetian canals: except they aren't, they're really near Sardinia as usual. Swans? Yes, but they've always been there. The

John Colby (2020-04-02). Dominican Hospital's (mis)treatment of (disabled) homeless people. indybay.org As an advocate for (disabled) homeless people who blogs about this advocacy (thus I'm an independent journalist), I've come across numerous incidents of discrimination by Dignity Health's Dominican Hospital against (disabled) homeless people. I obtained a media statement about how Dignity Health's Dominican Hospital will (equally) serve homeless COVID-19 victims. Please report non-compliance to me.

yenisafak (2020-04-02). COVID-19 infections surge in several Arab countries. yenisafak.com Health authorities in Morocco, Oman, Palestine and Lebanon confirmed new cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus on Thursday. The Moroccan Health Ministry said 22 coronavirus infections were confirmed, bringing the country's total infections to 676 in addition to 39 deaths. | In Oman, health authorities said 21 new cases were added to the country's COVID-19 infections, raising the total to 231. | On Wednesday, Oman's first fatality from coronavirus was reported. | In Lebanon, total infections jumped to 494, along with 16 fatalities related to the virus. | In Palestine, the Health Ministry said 21 coronavirus…

Ron Skolnik (2020-04-01). A rosy phantasmagorical (and probably counterfactual) report from Israel's future. peoplesworld.org As Israel celebrated its centennial Independence Day in May 2048, its media reflected back on the many red-letter dates that had marked the tumultuous life of the nation: The UN vote of 1947, the various wars, of course, and the diplomatic agreements reached, first with Egypt and Jordan, and decades later with the rest of …

Michael Berkowitz (2020-04-01). 'Unorthodox': The vagaries of victimization. peoplesworld.org Esty Shapiro is being persecuted for being a Jew. Her rights are taken away. She's denied education, subject to sexual abuse, cut off from the larger society, routinely humiliated and turned into a breeding machine. Everything in her environment reinforces discrimination and a second-class role. Esther Shapiro, granddaughter of Holocaust victims, is clearly being persecuted …

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-01). Israeli Troops Seize a Palestinian-owned Caravan in Jordan Valley. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly seized on Wednesday, a Palestinian-owned caravan, located in the Israel-occupied area of Al-Aghwar, in the eastern occupied West Bank. Witnesses told media outlets, earlier today, that the confiscated caravan is owned by a local Palestinian resident in the Jordan Valley. Local legal activist, Aref Daraghma, told local …

Ali Salam (2020-04-01). Home of Palestinian Prisoner and Slain Brother to be Demolished by Israeli Forces. imemc.org Israeli forces on Monday, handed a home demolition order to the family of slain Palestinian Saleh Barghouthi and his brother, Qassam Barghouthi Barghouthi's family were given until April 8 to evacuate their two-floor home in Kobar village, in the central West bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian Information Center reported. …

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-01). Palestinian Prisoner Contracts Coronavirus in Israeli Jail. imemc.org The Ramallah-based Palestinian Committee for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners confirmed on Wednesday, that a newly released Palestinian prisoner tested positive for the coronavirus. The announcement came after prisoner, Noureldin Sarsour, a resident of Betunia town, west of Ramallah city, who was incarcerated for 2 weeks at Ofer Israeli prison, upon his …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-01). Euro-Med Monitor: Israeli Forces' Incursions and Soldiers' Behavior Jeopardize Measures to Prevent Outbreak of COVID-19. imemc.org The Euro-Med Monitor followed with a great concern reports of suspicious behaviors of Israeli soldiers and settlers, during the storming of Palestinian houses, as some of them spat at parked cars, ATMs and shop locks, which raises fears of deliberate attempts to spread the virus and cause panic in the …

Ali Salam (2020-04-01). Israeli Forces Demolish Palestinian Home, Deliver Stop Work Order for Livestock Barn. imemc.org Israeli forces demolished on Tuesday, a Palestinian-owned house still under construction in the village of Jbara, south of Tulkarem, according to the head of Jbara village council, Ihsan Tahsin. Tahsin told Palestinian WAFA News Agency that a large army force broke into the village, in the northern occupied West Bank, …

teleSUR (2020-04-01). Israeli Settlements are 'Loophole' in COVID-19 Fight: Palestine. telesurenglish.net Palestine on Wednesday said that the only loophole in its fight against the novel coronavirus is the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. | RELATED: | "The real weakness in the Palestinian battle against the spread of coronavirus is the occupation, settlements, checkpoints, and all its (Israeli) policies that attempt to thwart our efforts to protect our people," said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Ishtaye in a press statement. | "The P…

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-01). Palestinian Young Man Dies of Wounds Inflicted by Israeli Forces Last Month. imemc.org Palestinian medical sources in the West Bank city of Nablus, pronounced dead, a young Palestinian man, after he had sustained wounds caused by Israeli troops, last month. The sources identified the young man as Islam Dwaikat, 22, and said he was wounded by Israeli troops that opened fire at Palestinian …

Rami Almeghari (2020-04-01). Israeli Army Tanks Invade Parts of Gaza, Raze Palestinian Farmlands. imemc.org Armored vehicles of the Israeli army invaded early on Wednesday, the northern besieged Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, according to local sources. Sources and witnesses said that a number of armored vehicles including combat tanks, rolled about tens of meters, deep into farm lands, owned by local Palestinian farmers …

Chris Time Steele (2020-04-01). These Songs Kill Fascists. dissidentvoice.org These Songs Kill Fascists, my latest album, is an ode to Woody Guthrie, a call to fight fascism outside and internally. Featuring Mick Jenkins, Psalm One, Denver jazz legend Ron Miles, and platinum producer DJ Pain 1, the album tackles issues such as the murder of Heather Heyer, Denver's history with the KKK, gentrification, rape …

Steven K. Choi (2020-04-01). The Added Importance of the Census, in Light of COVID-19. aclu.org Last year around this time, my biggest worry was how the inclusion of the Trump administration's proposed citizenship question would depress participation in the decennial census. Thankfully, our Supreme Court victory means there is no citizenship question on the census. Now, I have a new worry: a global pandemic and the health of my loved ones. As it turns out, the 2020 Census plays a role here too, as it will have enormous implications on our health care for decades to come. | Specifically, the census will determine the allocation of $300 billion dollars of federal aid for the states' health care — mo…

teleSUR (2020-04-01). India's Top Court Holds Govt Accountable Over Migrant Crisis. telesurenglish.net India's top court on Monday sought a report from the government over the steps taken for tens of thousands of migrant laborers as they try to return home after losing jobs following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak. | RELATED: | The Supreme Court was hearing two petitions through a video-conferencing as the situation turned grim amid reports of more than 20 migrant laborer…

splcenter (2020-04-01). SPLC, partners seek temporary restraining order to prevent immigration courts from becoming public health hazard. splcenter.org

Miko Peled (2020-03-31). Remembering Theresa Halsa: Revered Veteran of the Palestinian Resistance. mintpressnews.com Amman, Jordan — "I didn't join the Palestinian resistance because I experienced suffering, I joined out of a sense of patriotism," Theresa Halsa, a revered veteran of the Palestinian resistance said this in an In 1972, Halsa was one of four Palestinians who hijacked a Belgian Sabena airliner en route to Tel-Aviv. The objective was to keep the passengers hostage until the Israeli government agreed to release Palest…

Staff (2020-03-31). Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19. democracynow.org As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…

Karl Grossman (2020-03-31). Right-Wing Media Joined Trump in Enabling Health Disaster. fair.org "If Hitler succeeds in pointing the way of peace and order and an ethical development which has been destroyed throughout the world by war, he will have accomplished a measure of good not only for his own people but for all humanity."—William Randolph Hearst (New York Times, The downplaying of the coronavirus by the right-wing press in the United States was preceded decades ago by the media owned by William Randolph Hearst enabling a different sort of toxicity by promoting a positive image of Nazism in the US.

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-31). Israeli Troops Abduct Four Palestinians in Pre-Dawn Raids. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly abducted on Tuesday four Palestinian residents in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the town of Albeira, after invading their towns and their homes. Local media outlets, quoting witnesses, reported that among the four abducted was a local lawyer, and that the abduction occurred in the …

Jonathan Cook (2020-03-31). As Israel's Netanyahu uses Coronavirus to Consolidate Power, his Chief Rival Caves In. dissidentvoice.org Benny Gantz, the former Israeli general turned party leader, agreed late last week to join his rival Benjamin Netanyahu in an "emergency government" to deal with the coronavirus epidemic. Two weeks ago he had won a wafer-thin majority vote in the parliament that gave him first shot at trying to put together a coalition government. …

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-31). Israeli Colonial Settlers Raze Palestinian Farm Lands near Nablus. imemc.org Israeli colonial settlers on Tuesday, razed vast areas of Palestinian-owned farm lands in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. Local media outlets said that the lands razed, are located near the illegal Israeli colonial settlement of Shefout Rahel. The sources confirmed that today's bulldozing caused widespread harm to tens …

John Nichols (2020-03-31). On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times. thenation.com On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times…

Susan Price (2020-03-31). Palestinians face two enemies: Occupation and pandemic. greenleft.org.au The number…

PCHR (2020-03-30). COVID-19 State of Emergency: Powers and Restrictions Under Palestinian and International Law. imemc.org The Palestinian Center For Human Rights (PCHR): Introduction: On 05 March 2020, the Palestinian President issued a decree declaring a 30-day state of emergency to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Palestine.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-03-30). Neo-Confederate Group Moves Ahead with Conference Amid Covid-19 Outbreak. splcenter.org Michael Hill has no intention of letting a global pandemic cancel plans for the League of the South's annual conference.

splcenter (2020-03-30). Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative: COVID-19 Parole Informational Guide for Sponsors. splcenter.org

splcenter (2020-03-30). The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan. splcenter.org The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.

Declan Terence Bradley, Mariam Abdulmonem Mansouri, Frank Kee, Leandro Martin Totaro Garcia (2020-03-28). [Commentary] A systems approach to preventing and responding to COVID-19. thelancet.com A novel zoonotic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a pandemic of respiratory infection [1,2]. COVID-19 has provoked restrictive infection control measures, social and economic disruption, and expressions of racism [3]. Systems thinking can help policymakers understand and influence the spread of infection and its multifaceted consequences across the community since society is itself a complex adaptive system [4]. It can provide a framework to look beyond the chain of infection and better understand the multiple implications of decisions and (in)actions in face of such a complex situation involving many inte…

Andrew Green (2020-03-28). [Obituary] Aron Goldhirsch. thelancet.com Medical oncologist specialising in breast cancer. Born on April 25, 1946, in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, he died on Feb 26, 2020, in Lugano, Switzerland, aged 73 years.

splcenter (2020-03-27). Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers. splcenter.org

Cassie Miller (2020-03-26). White Supremacists See Coronavirus as an Opportunity. splcenter.org Far-right extremists believe the intense uncertainty surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19 will aid their ability to recruit new members into their movement.

splcenter (2020-03-25). Once a High-Profile Neo-Nazi, Azzmador Has Pulled a Disappearing Act. splcenter.org At "Unite the Right" in Charlottesville, Virginia, Azzmador appeared to be everywhere.

splcenter (2020-03-25). SPLC and allies seek federal court injunction in system-wide suit to protect people detained by ICE from contracting COVID-19. splcenter.org The SPLC and its allies asked a federal court today to issue a preliminary injunction requiring that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) take immediate steps to protect people in its custody, particularly those who have medical conditions making them more susceptible to serious illness and death from COVID-19.

Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker (2020-03-24). Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama. splcenter.org Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-03-23). Hate Group Leaders, Antigovernment Extremists Push Anti-China Coronavirus Rhetoric. splcenter.org A litany of conservative groups and figures, including members of hate and antigovernment extremist groups, have signed a March 17 letter to President Trump asking him to investigate China for its alleged role in spreading the novel coronavirus and hiding its origins.

splcenter (2020-03-20). COVID-19 Updates: SPLC continues fight against injustice. splcenter.org We are only beginning to feel the impacts of the coronavirus, but we know that the communities we serve — including low-income people, immigrants and people of color — are already among the most affected.

splcenter (2020-03-20). SPLC responds to Trump's Racist and Xenophobic Attacks on Asians. splcenter.org President Trump continued to use racist and xenophobic language today during a news conference about the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. by calling it the "Chinese virus."

Andrea Flores (2020-03-20). How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses. aclu.org Two years ago, the ACLU set a clear goal: push Greyhound to refuse Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers access to their buses to conduct warrantless searches. As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CBP officers were targeting bus passengers around the country, boarding their buses to racially profile, harass, and too often, detain people who they suspected of being undocumented. Of course, you can't tell someone's immigration status by how they look or sound — this practice is unconstitutional and blatantly racist. By pushing aggressively with the help of our membership and…

splcenter (2020-03-20). Grassroots effort sponsored by SPLC protects voting rights for hundreds across South Florida. splcenter.org Clutching a clipboard full of voter registration forms under his arm, Marq Mitchell knocked on the front door of a small, beige, stucco house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

splcenter (2020-03-20). The Fight to Vote: Overcoming voter suppression in the South. splcenter.org Voter suppression is alive and well across the South.

Michael Edison Hayden and Hannah Gais (2020-03-20). As White House Contemplates Coronavirus Asylum Ban, Hate Groups Urge Trump to Seize the Moment. splcenter.org The Trump administration took steps to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This nativist policy course has been pushed by anti-immigrant pundits and hate groups from the time the crisis started to unfold.

splcenter (2020-03-20). Fight To Vote: Florida man's voting rights restored by Amendment 4. splcenter.org Abdul Yaw Akachi was talking to his neighbors one sunny day in Florida when a voting rights advocate walked up to him.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-03-19). California Anti-Immigrant Activist Robin Hvidston Seeking State Assembly Seat. splcenter.org Robin Hvidston, a longtime anti-immigrant activist, is running as a Republican for a California Assembly seat in District 41.

Irena Stepanikova, Sanjeev Acharya, Safa Abdalla, Elizabeth Baker, Jana Klanova, Gary L. Darmstadt (2020-03-04). [Research Paper] Gender discrimination and depressive symptoms among child-bearing women: ELSPAC-CZ cohort study. thelancet.com The findings provide the first evidence that perceived gender discrimination is associated with depressive symptoms among child-bearing women. Social intervention programs aimed at reducing gender discrimination can potentially contribute to better mental health of women.

Middle East Eye (2020-02-07). Russia Says Israel Used Civilian Plane as Human Shield During Syria Strikes. theantimedia.com Russia accused Israel of "making a total mockery of the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians."

CounterSpin (2020-01-31). Omar Baddar on Israel/Palestine 'Peace' Plan, Rainey Reitman on Greenwald Persecution. fair.org MP3 Link This week on CounterSpin: It is strange to think that you could create a plan to shape the relationship between two entities, in consultation with one but not the other, and then not just declare it, yourself, a "win-win," but also say to the unconsulted party, "You better take it, or else." Yet …

2020-04-02: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

Tunisia Leads the Way: New Report Exposes Israel's False Democracy
Ramzy Baroud | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-02
Tunisia is the Middle East's greatest success story, according to the findings of the V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019. One of the world's most regarded annual reports on democracy and good governance, the V-Dem Report is produced by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. While Tunisians can be …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/04/tunisia-leads-the-way-new-report-exposes-israels-false-democracy/

Netanyahu, just out of isolation, goes back in after health minister tests positive for Covid-19
rt.com | 2020-04-02
On Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended his self-isolation period, but now he has to go back into quarantine after another senior official tested positive for Covid-19. | Netanyahu is one of several top government officials who will be quarantined following the positive test of Health Minister Yaakov Litzman. Others include Yossi Cohen, the head of the Israeli spy agency Mossad, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, and several leadership-level figures in the Health Ministry who all recently came into contact with Litzman. | The 71-year-old health minister and his wife Chava…
rt.com/news/484768-netanyahu-isolation-health-minister/

It's Time to Clean Ecofascism Out of Environmentalism
Stephen Corry | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-02
The coronavirus pandemic is lethal, but could there be a silver lining beyond the pain? Social media is awash with how the newly cleaned environment is hosting wildlife not seen for years. Dolphins are swimming in Venetian canals: except they aren't, they're really near Sardinia as usual. Swans? Yes, but they've always been there. The…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/02/its-time-to-clean-ecofascism-out-of-environmentalism/

Dominican Hospital's (mis)treatment of (disabled) homeless people
John Colby | indybay.org | 2020-04-02
As an advocate for (disabled) homeless people who blogs about this advocacy (thus I'm an independent journalist), I've come across numerous incidents of discrimination by Dignity Health's Dominican Hospital against (disabled) homeless people. I obtained a media statement about how Dignity Health's Dominican Hospital will (equally) serve homeless COVID-19 victims. Please report non-compliance to me.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/01/18832005.php

COVID-19 infections surge in several Arab countries
yenisafak.com | 2020-04-02
Health authorities in Morocco, Oman, Palestine and Lebanon confirmed new cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus on Thursday. The Moroccan Health Ministry said 22 coronavirus infections were confirmed, bringing the country's total infections to 676 in addition to 39 deaths. | In Oman, health authorities said 21 new cases were added to the country's COVID-19 infections, raising the total to 231. | On Wednesday, Oman's first fatality from coronavirus was reported. | In Lebanon, total infections jumped to 494, along with 16 fatalities related to the virus. | In Palestine, the Health Ministry said 21 coronavirus…
yenisafak.com/en/world/covid-19-infections-surge-in-several-arab-countries-3515773

Israeli Settlements are 'Loophole' in COVID-19 Fight: Palestine
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-01
Palestine on Wednesday said that the only loophole in its fight against the novel coronavirus is the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. | RELATED: | UN Regrets Lack of Progress in Middle East Peace | "The real weakness in the Palestinian battle against the spread of coronavirus is the occupation, settlements, checkpoints, and all its (Israeli) policies that attempt to thwart our efforts to protect our people," said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Ishtaye in a press statement. | "The P…
telesurenglish.net/news/Israeli-Settlements-are-Loophole-in-COVID-19-Fight-Palestine-20200401-0006.html

Israeli Forces Demolish Palestinian Home, Deliver Stop Work Order for Livestock Barn
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-04-01
Israeli forces demolished on Tuesday, a Palestinian-owned house still under construction in the village of Jbara, south of Tulkarem, according to the head of Jbara village council, Ihsan Tahsin. Tahsin told Palestinian WAFA News Agency that a large army force broke into the village, in the northern occupied West Bank, …
imemc.org/article/israeli-forces-demolish-palestinian-home-deliver-stop-work-order-for-livestock-barn/

Palestinian Young Man Dies of Wounds Inflicted by Israeli Forces Last Month
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-01
Palestinian medical sources in the West Bank city of Nablus, pronounced dead, a young Palestinian man, after he had sustained wounds caused by Israeli troops, last month. The sources identified the young man as Islam Dwaikat, 22, and said he was wounded by Israeli troops that opened fire at Palestinian …
imemc.org/article/palestinian-young-man-dies-of-wounds-inflicted-by-israeli-forces-last-month/

A rosy phantasmagorical (and probably counterfactual) report from Israel's future
Ron Skolnik | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-01
As Israel celebrated its centennial Independence Day in May 2048, its media reflected back on the many red-letter dates that had marked the tumultuous life of the nation: The UN vote of 1947, the various wars, of course, and the diplomatic agreements reached, first with Egypt and Jordan, and decades later with the rest of …
peoplesworld.org/article/a-rosy-phantasmagorical-and-probably-counterfactual-report-from-israels-future/

Home of Palestinian Prisoner and Slain Brother to be Demolished by Israeli Forces
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-04-01
Israeli forces on Monday, handed a home demolition order to the family of slain Palestinian Saleh Barghouthi and his brother, Qassam Barghouthi Barghouthi's family were given until April 8 to evacuate their two-floor home in Kobar village, in the central West bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian Information Center reported. …
imemc.org/article/home-of-palestinian-prisoner-and-slain-brother-to-be-demolished-by-israeli-forces/

Euro-Med Monitor: Israeli Forces' Incursions and Soldiers' Behavior Jeopardize Measures to Prevent Outbreak of COVID-19
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-04-01
The Euro-Med Monitor followed with a great concern reports of suspicious behaviors of Israeli soldiers and settlers, during the storming of Palestinian houses, as some of them spat at parked cars, ATMs and shop locks, which raises fears of deliberate attempts to spread the virus and cause panic in the …
imemc.org/article/euro-med-monitor-israeli-forces-incursions-and-soldiers-behavior-jeopardize-measures-to-prevent-outbreak-of-covid-19/

Israeli Army Tanks Invade Parts of Gaza, Raze Palestinian Farmlands
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-01
Armored vehicles of the Israeli army invaded early on Wednesday, the northern besieged Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, according to local sources. Sources and witnesses said that a number of armored vehicles including combat tanks, rolled about tens of meters, deep into farm lands, owned by local Palestinian farmers …
imemc.org/article/israeli-army-tanks-invade-parts-of-gaza-raze-palestinian-farmlands/

Palestinian Prisoner Contracts Coronavirus in Israeli Jail
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-01
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Committee for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners confirmed on Wednesday, that a newly released Palestinian prisoner tested positive for the coronavirus. The announcement came after prisoner, Noureldin Sarsour, a resident of Betunia town, west of Ramallah city, who was incarcerated for 2 weeks at Ofer Israeli prison, upon his …
imemc.org/article/palestinian-prisoner-in-israeli-jail-contracts-coronavirus/

Israeli Troops Seize a Palestinian-owned Caravan in Jordan Valley
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-04-01
Israeli troops reportedly seized on Wednesday, a Palestinian-owned caravan, located in the Israel-occupied area of Al-Aghwar, in the eastern occupied West Bank. Witnesses told media outlets, earlier today, that the confiscated caravan is owned by a local Palestinian resident in the Jordan Valley. Local legal activist, Aref Daraghma, told local …
imemc.org/article/israeli-troops-seize-a-palestinian-owned-caravan-in-jordan-valley/

These Songs Kill Fascists
Chris Time Steele | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-01
These Songs Kill Fascists, my latest album, is an ode to Woody Guthrie, a call to fight fascism outside and internally. Featuring Mick Jenkins, Psalm One, Denver jazz legend Ron Miles, and platinum producer DJ Pain 1, the album tackles issues such as the murder of Heather Heyer, Denver's history with the KKK, gentrification, rape …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/these-songs-kill-fascists/

India's Top Court Holds Govt Accountable Over Migrant Crisis
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-01
India's top court on Monday sought a report from the government over the steps taken for tens of thousands of migrant laborers as they try to return home after losing jobs following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak. | RELATED: | Rohingyas in India Abandoned to Fate in Face of Pandemic | The Supreme Court was hearing two petitions through a video-conferencing as the situation turned grim amid reports of more than 20 migrant laborer…
telesurenglish.net/news/Indias-Top-Court-Holds-Govt-Accountable-Over-Migrant-Crisis-20200331-0020.html

The Added Importance of the Census, in Light of COVID-19
Steven K. Choi | aclu.org | 2020-04-01
Last year around this time, my biggest worry was how the inclusion of the Trump administration's proposed citizenship question would depress participation in the decennial census. Thankfully, our Supreme Court victory means there is no citizenship question on the census. Now, I have a new worry: a global pandemic and the health of my loved ones. As it turns out, the 2020 Census plays a role here too, as it will have enormous implications on our health care for decades to come. | Specifically, the census will determine the allocation of $300 billion dollars of federal aid for the states' health care

'Unorthodox': The vagaries of victimization
Michael Berkowitz | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-01
Esty Shapiro is being persecuted for being a Jew. Her rights are taken away. She's denied education, subject to sexual abuse, cut off from the larger society, routinely humiliated and turned into a breeding machine. Everything in her environment reinforces discrimination and a second-class role. Esther Shapiro, granddaughter of Holocaust victims, is clearly being persecuted …
peoplesworld.org/article/unorthodox-the-vagaries-of-victimization/

SPLC, partners seek temporary restraining order to prevent immigration courts from becoming public health hazard
splcenter.org | 2020-04-01
splcenter.org/news/2020/04/01/splc-partners-seek-temporary-restraining-order-prevent-immigration-courts-becoming-public

FARC Party Denounces Murder of Another Ex-Combatant in Colombia
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-01
The Colombian Alternative Revolutionary Force of the Common's party (FARC) denounced Wednesday the murder of the former 57th Front combatant, Jose Isidoro Cuesta, in the rural area of Carmen del Darien, belonging to the Choco department, northwest Colombia. | RELATED: | Pot-Banging in Colombia Against Government's Political Genocide | The incident occurred last Sunday and the political organization called on Ivan Duque's government not to be indifferent, claiming that the enemie…
telesurenglish.net/news/FARC-Denounces-Murder-of-Another-Ex-Combatant-in-Colombia-20200401-0020.html

Remembering Theresa Halsa: Revered Veteran of the Palestinian Resistance
Miko Peled | mintpressnews.com | 2020-03-31
Amman, Jordan

Israeli Colonial Settlers Raze Palestinian Farm Lands near Nablus
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-03-31
Israeli colonial settlers on Tuesday, razed vast areas of Palestinian-owned farm lands in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. Local media outlets said that the lands razed, are located near the illegal Israeli colonial settlement of Shefout Rahel. The sources confirmed that today's bulldozing caused widespread harm to tens …
imemc.org/article/israeli-colonial-settlers-raze-palestinian-farm-lands-near-nablus/

As Israel's Netanyahu uses Coronavirus to Consolidate Power, his Chief Rival Caves In
Jonathan Cook | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-31
Benny Gantz, the former Israeli general turned party leader, agreed late last week to join his rival Benjamin Netanyahu in an "emergency government" to deal with the coronavirus epidemic. Two weeks ago he had won a wafer-thin majority vote in the parliament that gave him first shot at trying to put together a coalition government. …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/as-israels-netanyahu-uses-coronavirus-to-consolidate-power-his-chief-rival-caves-in/

Israeli Troops Abduct Four Palestinians in Pre-Dawn Raids
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-03-31
Israeli troops reportedly abducted on Tuesday four Palestinian residents in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the town of Albeira, after invading their towns and their homes. Local media outlets, quoting witnesses, reported that among the four abducted was a local lawyer, and that the abduction occurred in the …
imemc.org/article/israeli-troops-abduct-four-palestinians-during-protests-in-ramallah/

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-31
As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/31/abul_el_s…

Right-Wing Media Joined Trump in Enabling Health Disaster
Karl Grossman | fair.org | 2020-03-31
"If Hitler succeeds in pointing the way of peace and order and an ethical development which has been destroyed throughout the world by war, he will have accomplished a measure of good not only for his own people but for all humanity."–William Randolph Hearst (New York Times, 8/23/1934) | The downplaying of the coronavirus by the right-wing press in the United States was preceded decades ago by the media owned by William Randolph Hearst enabling a different sort of toxicity by promoting a positive image of Nazism in the US.
fair.org/home/right-wing-media-joined-trump-in-enabling-health-disaster/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=right-wing-media-joined-trump-in-enabling-health-disaster

On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-03-31
On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times…
thenation.com/article/politics/dissent-debate-massie-aoc/

Palestinians face two enemies: Occupation and pandemic
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-31
Healthcare Tamara NassarIssue 1259 Palestine COVID-19 PalestineMarch 31, 2020Despite the global pandemic, it is business as usual for the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. | The number…
greenleft.org.au/content/palestinians-face-two-enemies-occupation-and-pandemic

COVID-19 State of Emergency: Powers and Restrictions Under Palestinian and International Law
PCHR | imemc.org | 2020-03-30
The Palestinian Center For Human Rights (PCHR): Introduction: On 05 March 2020, the Palestinian President issued a decree declaring a 30-day state of emergency to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Palestine.
imemc.org/article/covid-19-state-of-emergency-powers-and-restrictions-under-palestinian-and-international-law/

Neo-Confederate Group Moves Ahead with Conference Amid Covid-19 Outbreak
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
Michael Hill has no intention of letting a global pandemic cancel plans for the League of the South's annual conference.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/30/neo-confederate-group-moves-ahead-conference-amid-covid-19-outbreak

The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan
splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/rev-dr-joseph-e-lowery-played-key-role-launching-splcs-legal-battle-against-ku-klux-klan

Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative: COVID-19 Parole Informational Guide for Sponsors
splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
splcenter.org/20200401/southeast-immigrant-freedom-initiative-covid-19-parole-informational-guide-sponsors

[Commentary] A systems approach to preventing and responding to COVID-19
Declan Terence Bradley, Mariam Abdulmonem Mansouri, Frank Kee, Leandro Martin Totaro Garcia | thelancet.com | 2020-03-28
A novel zoonotic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a pandemic of respiratory infection [1,2]. COVID-19 has provoked restrictive infection control measures, social and economic disruption, and expressions of racism [3]. Systems thinking can help policymakers understand and influence the spread of infection and its multifaceted consequences across the community since society is itself a complex adaptive system [4]. It can provide a framework to look beyond the chain of infection and better understand the multiple implications of decisions and (in)actions in face of such a complex situation involving many inte…
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30069-9/fulltext?rss=yes

[Obituary] Aron Goldhirsch
Andrew Green | thelancet.com | 2020-03-28
Medical oncologist specialising in breast cancer. Born on April 25, 1946, in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, he died on Feb 26, 2020, in Lugano, Switzerland, aged 73 years.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30642-5/fulltext?rss=yes

Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers
splcenter.org | 2020-03-27
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/weekend-read-splc-demands-ice-act-amid-pandemic-save-lives-countless-immigrants-trapped-its

White Supremacists See Coronavirus as an Opportunity
Cassie Miller | splcenter.org | 2020-03-26
Far-right extremists believe the intense uncertainty surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19 will aid their ability to recruit new members into their movement.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/26/white-supremacists-see-coronavirus-opportunity

SPLC and allies seek federal court injunction in system-wide suit to protect people detained by ICE from contracting COVID-19
splcenter.org | 2020-03-25
The SPLC and its allies asked a federal court today to issue a preliminary injunction requiring that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) take immediate steps to protect people in its custody, particularly those who have medical conditions making them more susceptible to serious illness and death from COVID-19.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/25/splc-and-allies-seek-federal-court-injunction-system-wide-suit-protect-people-detained-ice

Once a High-Profile Neo-Nazi, Azzmador Has Pulled a Disappearing Act
splcenter.org | 2020-03-25
At "Unite the Right" in Charlottesville, Virginia, Azzmador appeared to be everywhere.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/26/once-high-profile-neo-nazi-azzmador-has-pulled-disappearing-act

Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama
Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2020-03-24
Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/28/arbitrary-excessive-marijuana-trafficking-sentences-alabama

Hate Group Leaders, Antigovernment Extremists Push Anti-China Coronavirus Rhetoric
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2020-03-23
A litany of conservative groups and figures, including members of hate and antigovernment extremist groups, have signed a March 17 letter to President Trump asking him to investigate China for its alleged role in spreading the novel coronavirus and hiding its origins.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/24/hate-group-leaders-antigovernment-extremists-push-anti-china-coronavirus-rhetoric

COVID-19 Updates: SPLC continues fight against injustice
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
We are only beginning to feel the impacts of the coronavirus, but we know that the communities we serve

SPLC responds to Trump's Racist and Xenophobic Attacks on Asians
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
President Trump continued to use racist and xenophobic language today during a news conference about the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. by calling it the "Chinese virus."
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/20/splc-responds-trumps-racist-and-xenophobic-attacks-asians

As White House Contemplates Coronavirus Asylum Ban, Hate Groups Urge Trump to Seize the Moment
Michael Edison Hayden and Hannah Gais | splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
The Trump administration took steps to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This nativist policy course has been pushed by anti-immigrant pundits and hate groups from the time the crisis started to unfold.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/23/white-house-contemplates-coronavirus-asylum-ban-hate-groups-urge-trump-seize-moment

Grassroots effort sponsored by SPLC protects voting rights for hundreds across South Florida
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
Clutching a clipboard full of voter registration forms under his arm, Marq Mitchell knocked on the front door of a small, beige, stucco house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/20/grassroots-effort-sponsored-splc-protects-voting-rights-hundreds-across-south-florida

The Fight to Vote: Overcoming voter suppression in the South
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
Voter suppression is alive and well across the South.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/24/fight-vote-overcoming-voter-suppression-south

How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses
Andrea Flores | aclu.org | 2020-03-20
Two years ago, the ACLU set a clear goal: push Greyhound to refuse Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers access to their buses to conduct warrantless searches. As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CBP officers were targeting bus passengers around the country, boarding their buses to racially profile, harass, and too often, detain people who they suspected of being undocumented. Of course, you can't tell someone's immigration status by how they look or sound

Fight To Vote: Florida man's voting rights restored by Amendment 4
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
Abdul Yaw Akachi was talking to his neighbors one sunny day in Florida when a voting rights advocate walked up to him.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/24/fight-vote-florida-mans-voting-rights-restored-amendment-4

California Anti-Immigrant Activist Robin Hvidston Seeking State Assembly Seat
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2020-03-19
Robin Hvidston, a longtime anti-immigrant activist, is running as a Republican for a California Assembly seat in District 41.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/19/california-anti-immigrant-activist-robin-hvidston-seeking-state-assembly-seat

Who are we, America?
Eric K. Ward | splcenter.org | 2020-03-19
Just as the authoritarian-tinged tenure of Donald Trump underscores the question, the coronavirus and near shut-down of public life in response highlight this defining time in our democracy.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/22/who-are-we-america

[Research Paper] Gender discrimination and depressive symptoms among child-bearing women: ELSPAC-CZ cohort study
Irena Stepanikova, Sanjeev Acharya, Safa Abdalla, Elizabeth Baker, Jana Klanova, Gary L. Darmstadt | thelancet.com | 2020-03-04
The findings provide the first evidence that perceived gender discrimination is associated with depressive symptoms among child-bearing women. Social intervention programs aimed at reducing gender discrimination can potentially contribute to better mental health of women.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30041-9/fulltext?rss=yes

2020-04-01: News Headlines

RT (2020-04-01). 'Ask the government': Former Celtics star claims NBA season could resume at classified US Air Force site Area 51. rt.com Having held the 2019 Summer League at the University of Nevada, NBA chiefs could find a novel solution to ending the season at a less conventional base in the state — with Area 51 suggested by former champion Paul Pierce. | Area 51, the US Air Force base which is notorious among conspiracy theorists and UFO enthusiasts, could become the home of the NBA as a makeshift setting for the conclusion of the season, former All-Star Paul Pierce has suggested. | Responding to a proposal by former rival Jay Williams that the remainder of the campaign could be played on cruise ships, Boston Celtics icon Pierce named…

Chris Time Steele (2020-04-01). These Songs Kill Fascists. dissidentvoice.org These Songs Kill Fascists, my latest album, is an ode to Woody Guthrie, a call to fight fascism outside and internally. Featuring Mick Jenkins, Psalm One, Denver jazz legend Ron Miles, and platinum producer DJ Pain 1, the album tackles issues such as the murder of Heather Heyer, Denver's history with the KKK, gentrification, rape …

teleSUR (2020-04-01). India's Top Court Holds Govt Accountable Over Migrant Crisis. telesurenglish.net India's top court on Monday sought a report from the government over the steps taken for tens of thousands of migrant laborers as they try to return home after losing jobs following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak. | RELATED: | The Supreme Court was hearing two petitions through a video-conferencing as the situation turned grim amid reports of more than 20 migrant laborer…

John Colby (2020-04-01). Dominican Hospital's (mis)treatment of (disabled) homeless people. indybay.org As an advocate for (disabled) homeless people who blogs about this advocacy (thus I'm an independent journalist), I've come across numerous incidents of discrimination by Dignity Health's Dominican Hospital against (disabled) homeless people. I obtained a media statement about how Dignity Health's Dominican Hospital will (equally) serve homeless COVID-19 victims. Please report non-compliance to me.

Robert Norse (2020-04-01). Updates from the "Ignore Them Until they Disappear or Die Off" Genocide Zone. indybay.org While City & County officials who live indoors postulate, ponder, and predict, no safe shelters, sanitary shithouses, or reliable food services have opened up to replace those shut down. HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) critic passes on some updates and the latest in-the-field reports from Food not Bombs still-serving-under-fire foodster Keith McHenry.

Dawn Foster (2020-04-01). Review: The Far Right Today by Cas Mudde. zcomm.org The far right thrives on 'economic anxiety and cultural backlash'

sputniknews (2020-04-01). IDF Converts Tank Factory to Make Weapons Against COVID-19 – Photos. sputniknews.com Israel has nearly 5,600 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and has joined countries around the world in going into lockdown mode to try to curb the virus's spread.

sputniknews (2020-04-01). Mossad Member: Global Race Underway to Scoop Up Ventilators for COVID-19 Patients. sputniknews.com There are currently 76 coronavirus patients on ventilators in Israel; the country is estimated to have between 1,400 and 2,800 machines, and Benjamin Netanyahu's government has ordered the Mossad to take over the national effort to import more equipment from abroad.

Staff (2020-03-31). Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19. democracynow.org As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…

Miko Peled (2020-03-31). Remembering Theresa Halsa: Revered Veteran of the Palestinian Resistance. mintpressnews.com Amman, Jordan — "I didn't join the Palestinian resistance because I experienced suffering, I joined out of a sense of patriotism," Theresa Halsa, a revered veteran of the Palestinian resistance said this in an In 1972, Halsa was one of four Palestinians who hijacked a Belgian Sabena airliner en route to Tel-Aviv. The objective was to keep the passengers hostage until the Israeli government agreed to release Palest…

Karl Grossman (2020-03-31). Right-Wing Media Joined Trump in Enabling Health Disaster. fair.org "If Hitler succeeds in pointing the way of peace and order and an ethical development which has been destroyed throughout the world by war, he will have accomplished a measure of good not only for his own people but for all humanity."—William Randolph Hearst (New York Times, The downplaying of the coronavirus by the right-wing press in the United States was preceded decades ago by the media owned by William Randolph Hearst enabling a different sort of toxicity by promoting a positive image of Nazism in the US.

teleSUR (2020-03-31). UN Regrets Lack of Progress in Middle East Peace. telesurenglish.net UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov on Monday said he regretted the lack of progress on the ground, expressing concern over Israeli settlements and its plans to annex Palestinian land. | RELATED: | The expansion of Israeli settlements continues to pose a significant obstacle to achieving a viable two-state solution, Mladenov told the Security Council via video teleconference…

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-31). Israeli Colonial Settlers Raze Palestinian Farm Lands near Nablus. imemc.org Israeli colonial settlers on Tuesday, razed vast areas of Palestinian-owned farm lands in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. Local media outlets said that the lands razed, are located near the illegal Israeli colonial settlement of Shefout Rahel. The sources confirmed that today's bulldozing caused widespread harm to tens …

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-31). Israeli Troops Abduct Four Palestinians in Pre-Dawn Raids. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly abducted on Tuesday four Palestinian residents in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the town of Albeira, after invading their towns and their homes. Local media outlets, quoting witnesses, reported that among the four abducted was a local lawyer, and that the abduction occurred in the …

Jonathan Cook (2020-03-31). As Israel's Netanyahu uses Coronavirus to Consolidate Power, his Chief Rival Caves In. dissidentvoice.org Benny Gantz, the former Israeli general turned party leader, agreed late last week to join his rival Benjamin Netanyahu in an "emergency government" to deal with the coronavirus epidemic. Two weeks ago he had won a wafer-thin majority vote in the parliament that gave him first shot at trying to put together a coalition government. …

teleSUR (2020-03-31). Twitter Blocks Iranian Leader's Accounts. telesurenglish.net In the early hours onTuesday morning, Twitter blocked the accounts of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. | RELATED: According to the Twitter notification, the Iranian supreme leader accounts violate the social network policies. Twitter administration did not give more details of specific reasons for the action. | The profiles in Arab, English, and Persian were censored. Then Persian and English on…

John Nichols (2020-03-31). On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times. thenation.com On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times…

Susan Price (2020-03-31). Palestinians face two enemies: Occupation and pandemic. greenleft.org.au The number…

Staff (2020-03-30). Palestinians Cancel Land Day March Over Coronavirus Concerns. imemc.org March 30th marks Palestinian Land Day, commemorating the day on March 30, 1976, when Palestinians inside Israel protested against the Israeli government announcement of the seizure of 21,000 dunams (5,189 acres) of Palestinian land. The Israeli police violently suppressed the demonstrations, killing 6 young Palestinians, and injuring and arresting many …

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-30). Israeli Authorities to Uproot Ancient Palestinian Trees in Northern Nablus. imemc.org Israeli authorities in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, reportedly warned Palestinian residents in the area, that Israeli forces would soon uproot dozens of trees in the tourist zone of Almasoudiya. Palestinian Chief of Israeli colonial settlements file in northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told local media outlets that …

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-30). Palestinian Prisoners Concerned, as Coronavirus Hits Israeli Prisons. imemc.org The Ramallah-based Palestinian Committee for Prisoners and Ex-prisoners, said on Monday, that Israeli authorities have reported three Coronavirus-positive cases among Israeli wardens in both the Ofer and Nitsan jails, where there are hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The committee added that the discovery of such positive cases signals a crisis for …

Ali Salam (2020-03-30). Israel's Shin Bet Slaps PLC Member with Administrative Detention. imemc.org The Shin Bet, Israel's intelligence agency, on Sunday, decided to renew the detention of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and Hamas leader, Hasan Yousuf, for four months, under administrative detention. Sheikh Hasan Yousuf, 65, was scheduled for release on March 31, 2020, and just two days before his release, …

PCHR (2020-03-30). COVID-19 State of Emergency: Powers and Restrictions Under Palestinian and International Law. imemc.org The Palestinian Center For Human Rights (PCHR): Introduction: On 05 March 2020, the Palestinian President issued a decree declaring a 30-day state of emergency to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Palestine.

PCHR (2020-03-30). PCHR Calls upon International Community to Assist Healthcare System in Gaza Strip to Fight Coronavirus. imemc.org The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is closely monitoring the health conditions in the Gaza Strip, and the healthcare system's preparedness to combat the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and its possible outbreak. PCHR confirms that the healthcare system will not be able to deal with patients infected with the coronavirus …

Hatewatch Staff (2020-03-30). Neo-Confederate Group Moves Ahead with Conference Amid Covid-19 Outbreak. splcenter.org Michael Hill has no intention of letting a global pandemic cancel plans for the League of the South's annual conference.

splcenter (2020-03-30). The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan. splcenter.org The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.

Fréa Lockley (2020-03-30). Amid a global pandemic, Palestine has been wiped from the map. Again. thecanary.co Amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Palestine has been removed from the map. The global tracker for cases from Johns Hopkins University no longer lists Palestine. This couldn't come at a more poignant time. Because 30 March is Land Day in Palestine. This has been an important date since Where is Palestin…

Ali Salam (2020-03-29). Israeli Navy Shoots, Injures Palestinian Fisherman off Gaza Coast. imemc.org One Palestinian fisherman was wounded by Israeli forces on Sunday, while fishing off the coast of the northern besieged Gaza Strip, according to local sources. Sources told Quds News Network (QNN) that the fisherman was in his boat fishing, when Israeli soldiers opened fire at him, wounding him with a …

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-29). League of Arab States Reiterates Support to the Palestinian People. imemc.org The Cairo-based League of Arab States, comprising of 22 Arab countries, reiterated on Sunday its support to the Palestinian people's struggle against the Israeli occupation and called for unveiling all Israeli practices that undermine the existence of Palestinians on their own homeland. The league's reiteration came in a statement, issued …

news.un (2020-03-28). COVID-19: UN envoy hails strong Israel-Palestine cooperation. news.un.org Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, has praised the coordination between the Israeli and Palestine authorities in reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Declan Terence Bradley, Mariam Abdulmonem Mansouri, Frank Kee, Leandro Martin Totaro Garcia (2020-03-28). [Commentary] A systems approach to preventing and responding to COVID-19. thelancet.com A novel zoonotic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a pandemic of respiratory infection [1,2]. COVID-19 has provoked restrictive infection control measures, social and economic disruption, and expressions of racism [3]. Systems thinking can help policymakers understand and influence the spread of infection and its multifaceted consequences across the community since society is itself a complex adaptive system [4]. It can provide a framework to look beyond the chain of infection and better understand the multiple implications of decisions and (in)actions in face of such a complex situation involving many inte…

Andrew Green (2020-03-28). [Obituary] Aron Goldhirsch. thelancet.com Medical oncologist specialising in breast cancer. Born on April 25, 1946, in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, he died on Feb 26, 2020, in Lugano, Switzerland, aged 73 years.

splcenter (2020-03-27). Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers. splcenter.org

Moss Robeson (2020-03-26). How a network of Ukrainian ultra-nationalists penetrated Canada's Conservative Party to lobby for military conflict. thegrayzone.com Once an underground network of fascist ideologues shunned by the Ukrainian Canadian community for "criminal ideas," Canada's ultra-nationalist Bandera lobby…

Cassie Miller (2020-03-26). White Supremacists See Coronavirus as an Opportunity. splcenter.org Far-right extremists believe the intense uncertainty surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19 will aid their ability to recruit new members into their movement.

splcenter (2020-03-25). Once a High-Profile Neo-Nazi, Azzmador Has Pulled a Disappearing Act. splcenter.org At "Unite the Right" in Charlottesville, Virginia, Azzmador appeared to be everywhere.

splcenter (2020-03-25). SPLC and allies seek federal court injunction in system-wide suit to protect people detained by ICE from contracting COVID-19. splcenter.org The SPLC and its allies asked a federal court today to issue a preliminary injunction requiring that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) take immediate steps to protect people in its custody, particularly those who have medical conditions making them more susceptible to serious illness and death from COVID-19.

Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker (2020-03-24). Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama. splcenter.org Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-03-23). Hate Group Leaders, Antigovernment Extremists Push Anti-China Coronavirus Rhetoric. splcenter.org A litany of conservative groups and figures, including members of hate and antigovernment extremist groups, have signed a March 17 letter to President Trump asking him to investigate China for its alleged role in spreading the novel coronavirus and hiding its origins.

splcenter (2020-03-20). COVID-19 Updates: SPLC continues fight against injustice. splcenter.org We are only beginning to feel the impacts of the coronavirus, but we know that the communities we serve — including low-income people, immigrants and people of color — are already among the most affected.

Andrea Flores (2020-03-20). How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses. aclu.org Two years ago, the ACLU set a clear goal: push Greyhound to refuse Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers access to their buses to conduct warrantless searches. As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CBP officers were targeting bus passengers around the country, boarding their buses to racially profile, harass, and too often, detain people who they suspected of being undocumented. Of course, you can't tell someone's immigration status by how they look or sound — this practice is unconstitutional and blatantly racist. By pushing aggressively with the help of our membership and…

splcenter (2020-03-20). SPLC responds to Trump's Racist and Xenophobic Attacks on Asians. splcenter.org President Trump continued to use racist and xenophobic language today during a news conference about the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. by calling it the "Chinese virus."

Michael Edison Hayden and Hannah Gais (2020-03-20). As White House Contemplates Coronavirus Asylum Ban, Hate Groups Urge Trump to Seize the Moment. splcenter.org The Trump administration took steps to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This nativist policy course has been pushed by anti-immigrant pundits and hate groups from the time the crisis started to unfold.

splcenter (2020-03-20). Grassroots effort sponsored by SPLC protects voting rights for hundreds across South Florida. splcenter.org Clutching a clipboard full of voter registration forms under his arm, Marq Mitchell knocked on the front door of a small, beige, stucco house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

splcenter (2020-03-20). The Fight to Vote: Overcoming voter suppression in the South. splcenter.org Voter suppression is alive and well across the South.

splcenter (2020-03-20). Fight To Vote: Florida man's voting rights restored by Amendment 4. splcenter.org Abdul Yaw Akachi was talking to his neighbors one sunny day in Florida when a voting rights advocate walked up to him.

splcenter (2020-03-19). West Virginia Tourist Hub Rejects VDARE's 'Negative' Message‚Äã. splcenter.org A vacation hub known for its placid spas and lush hiking trails, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia has hardly been defined by Trump-era political strife in recent years.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-03-19). California Anti-Immigrant Activist Robin Hvidston Seeking State Assembly Seat. splcenter.org Robin Hvidston, a longtime anti-immigrant activist, is running as a Republican for a California Assembly seat in District 41.

splcenter (2020-03-18). 2019 Year in Hate and Extremism Report Release. splcenter.org

splcenter (2020-03-17). SPLC's Three Strikes Project helps nonviolent offenders move from prison to parole. splcenter.org Drugs were a way of life in the economically struggling "Brickyard" neighborhood of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Nicky Patterson grew up.

2020-04-01: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

These Songs Kill Fascists
Chris Time Steele | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-04-01
These Songs Kill Fascists, my latest album, is an ode to Woody Guthrie, a call to fight fascism outside and internally. Featuring Mick Jenkins, Psalm One, Denver jazz legend Ron Miles, and platinum producer DJ Pain 1, the album tackles issues such as the murder of Heather Heyer, Denver's history with the KKK, gentrification, rape …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/these-songs-kill-fascists/

India's Top Court Holds Govt Accountable Over Migrant Crisis
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-01
India's top court on Monday sought a report from the government over the steps taken for tens of thousands of migrant laborers as they try to return home after losing jobs following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak. | RELATED: | Rohingyas in India Abandoned to Fate in Face of Pandemic | The Supreme Court was hearing two petitions through a video-conferencing as the situation turned grim amid reports of more than 20 migrant laborer…
telesurenglish.net/news/Indias-Top-Court-Holds-Govt-Accountable-Over-Migrant-Crisis-20200331-0020.html

Review: The Far Right Today by Cas Mudde
Dawn Foster | zcomm.org | 2020-04-01
The far right thrives on 'economic anxiety and cultural backlash'…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/review-the-far-right-today-by-cas-mudde/

Updates from the "Ignore Them Until they Disappear or Die Off" Genocide Zone
Robert Norse | indybay.org | 2020-04-01
While City & County officials who live indoors postulate, ponder, and predict, no safe shelters, sanitary shithouses, or reliable food services have opened up to replace those shut down. HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) critic passes on some updates and the latest in-the-field reports from Food not Bombs still-serving-under-fire foodster Keith McHenry.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/30/18831951.php

Dominican Hospital's (mis)treatment of (disabled) homeless people
John Colby | indybay.org | 2020-04-01
As an advocate for (disabled) homeless people who blogs about this advocacy (thus I'm an independent journalist), I've come across numerous incidents of discrimination by Dignity Health's Dominican Hospital against (disabled) homeless people. I obtained a media statement about how Dignity Health's Dominican Hospital will (equally) serve homeless COVID-19 victims. Please report non-compliance to me.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/01/18832005.php

'Ask the government': Former Celtics star claims NBA season could resume at classified US Air Force site Area 51
rt.com | 2020-04-01
Having held the 2019 Summer League at the University of Nevada, NBA chiefs could find a novel solution to ending the season at a less conventional base in the state

Mossad Member: Global Race Underway to Scoop Up Ventilators for COVID-19 Patients
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-01
There are currently 76 coronavirus patients on ventilators in Israel; the country is estimated to have between 1,400 and 2,800 machines, and Benjamin Netanyahu's government has ordered the Mossad to take over the national effort to import more equipment from abroad.
sputniknews.com/middleeast/202004011078789757-mossad-member-global-race-underway-to-scoop-up-ventilators-for-israels-covid-19-patients/

IDF Converts Tank Factory to Make Weapons Against COVID-19 – Photos
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-01
Israel has nearly 5,600 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and has joined countries around the world in going into lockdown mode to try to curb the virus's spread.
sputniknews.com/military/202004011078789661-idf-converts-tank-factory-to-make-weapons-against-covid-19—photos/

UN Regrets Lack of Progress in Middle East Peace
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-31
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov on Monday said he regretted the lack of progress on the ground, expressing concern over Israeli settlements and its plans to annex Palestinian land. | RELATED: | Palestinian Shoemaker Starts West Bank's Mask Factory Overnight | The expansion of Israeli settlements continues to pose a significant obstacle to achieving a viable two-state solution, Mladenov told the Security Council via video teleconference…
telesurenglish.net/news/UN-Regrets-Lack-of-Progress-in-Middle-East-Peace-20200331-0003.html

Remembering Theresa Halsa: Revered Veteran of the Palestinian Resistance
Miko Peled | mintpressnews.com | 2020-03-31
Amman, Jordan

Israeli Colonial Settlers Raze Palestinian Farm Lands near Nablus
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-03-31
Israeli colonial settlers on Tuesday, razed vast areas of Palestinian-owned farm lands in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. Local media outlets said that the lands razed, are located near the illegal Israeli colonial settlement of Shefout Rahel. The sources confirmed that today's bulldozing caused widespread harm to tens …
imemc.org/article/israeli-colonial-settlers-raze-palestinian-farm-lands-near-nablus/

Israeli Troops Abduct Four Palestinians in Pre-Dawn Raids
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-03-31
Israeli troops reportedly abducted on Tuesday four Palestinian residents in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the town of Albeira, after invading their towns and their homes. Local media outlets, quoting witnesses, reported that among the four abducted was a local lawyer, and that the abduction occurred in the …
imemc.org/article/israeli-troops-abduct-four-palestinians-during-protests-in-ramallah/

As Israel's Netanyahu uses Coronavirus to Consolidate Power, his Chief Rival Caves In
Jonathan Cook | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-31
Benny Gantz, the former Israeli general turned party leader, agreed late last week to join his rival Benjamin Netanyahu in an "emergency government" to deal with the coronavirus epidemic. Two weeks ago he had won a wafer-thin majority vote in the parliament that gave him first shot at trying to put together a coalition government. …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/as-israels-netanyahu-uses-coronavirus-to-consolidate-power-his-chief-rival-caves-in/

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-31
As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/31/abul_el_s…

Twitter Blocks Iranian Leader's Accounts
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-31
In the early hours onTuesday morning, Twitter blocked the accounts of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. | RELATED: US Sanctions 20 Iranian, Iraqi Entities Despite Virus Outbreak | According to the Twitter notification, the Iranian supreme leader accounts violate the social network policies. Twitter administration did not give more details of specific reasons for the action. | The profiles in Arab, English, and Persian were censored. Then Persian and English on…
telesurenglish.net/news/twitter-blocks-official-iranian-leader-profiles-20200331-0011.html

Language Barriers Leave US Communities out of COVID-19 Info
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-31
Various communities across the United States (U.S.) are struggling to keep up with information concerning the spread and the dangerousness of the novel coronavirus because of language barriers, a report from Al Jazeera showed Tuesday. | RELATED: | Latin American Trans People Face Discrimination Over COVID-19 | In a city with a long history of receiving refugees like Des Moines, Iowa, not less than 100 spoken languages exist. | Around 22 percent of the students in public schools qualify…
telesurenglish.net/news/Language-Barriers-Leaves-US-Communities-out-of-COVID-19-Info–20200331-0012.html

Right-Wing Media Joined Trump in Enabling Health Disaster
Karl Grossman | fair.org | 2020-03-31
"If Hitler succeeds in pointing the way of peace and order and an ethical development which has been destroyed throughout the world by war, he will have accomplished a measure of good not only for his own people but for all humanity."–William Randolph Hearst (New York Times, 8/23/1934) | The downplaying of the coronavirus by the right-wing press in the United States was preceded decades ago by the media owned by William Randolph Hearst enabling a different sort of toxicity by promoting a positive image of Nazism in the US.
fair.org/home/right-wing-media-joined-trump-in-enabling-health-disaster/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=right-wing-media-joined-trump-in-enabling-health-disaster

On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-03-31
On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times…
thenation.com/article/politics/dissent-debate-massie-aoc/

Palestinians face two enemies: Occupation and pandemic
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-31
Healthcare Tamara NassarIssue 1259 Palestine COVID-19 PalestineMarch 31, 2020Despite the global pandemic, it is business as usual for the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. | The number…
greenleft.org.au/content/palestinians-face-two-enemies-occupation-and-pandemic

Amid a global pandemic, Palestine has been wiped from the map. Again
Fréa Lockley | thecanary.co | 2020-03-30
Amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Palestine has been removed from the map. The global tracker for cases from Johns Hopkins University no longer lists Palestine. This couldn't come at a more poignant time. Because 30 March is Land Day in Palestine. This has been an important date since 1976 which honours six Palestinians shot dead by Israeli police that year and the ongoing apartheid and violence Palestinian people suffer as a result of the illegal Israeli occupation. | Where is Palestin…
thecanary.co/trending/2020/03/30/amid-a-global-pandemic-palestine-has-been-wiped-from-the-map-again/

Palestinian Prisoners Concerned, as Coronavirus Hits Israeli Prisons
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-03-30
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Committee for Prisoners and Ex-prisoners, said on Monday, that Israeli authorities have reported three Coronavirus-positive cases among Israeli wardens in both the Ofer and Nitsan jails, where there are hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The committee added that the discovery of such positive cases signals a crisis for …
imemc.org/article/palestinian-prisoners-concerned-as-coronavirus-hits-israeli-prisons/

Israel's Shin Bet Slaps PLC Member with Administrative Detention
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-03-30
The Shin Bet, Israel's intelligence agency, on Sunday, decided to renew the detention of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and Hamas leader, Hasan Yousuf, for four months, under administrative detention. Sheikh Hasan Yousuf, 65, was scheduled for release on March 31, 2020, and just two days before his release, …
imemc.org/article/israels-shin-bet-slaps-plc-member-with-administrative-detention/

Palestinians Cancel Land Day March Over Coronavirus Concerns
Staff | imemc.org | 2020-03-30
March 30th marks Palestinian Land Day, commemorating the day on March 30, 1976, when Palestinians inside Israel protested against the Israeli government announcement of the seizure of 21,000 dunams (5,189 acres) of Palestinian land. The Israeli police violently suppressed the demonstrations, killing 6 young Palestinians, and injuring and arresting many …
imemc.org/article/palestinians-cancel-land-day-march-over-coronavirus-concerns/

Israeli Authorities to Uproot Ancient Palestinian Trees in Northern Nablus
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-03-30
Israeli authorities in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, reportedly warned Palestinian residents in the area, that Israeli forces would soon uproot dozens of trees in the tourist zone of Almasoudiya. Palestinian Chief of Israeli colonial settlements file in northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told local media outlets that …
imemc.org/article/israeli-authorities-to-uproot-ancient-palestinian-trees-in-northern-nablus/

COVID-19 State of Emergency: Powers and Restrictions Under Palestinian and International Law
PCHR | imemc.org | 2020-03-30
The Palestinian Center For Human Rights (PCHR): Introduction: On 05 March 2020, the Palestinian President issued a decree declaring a 30-day state of emergency to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Palestine.
imemc.org/article/covid-19-state-of-emergency-powers-and-restrictions-under-palestinian-and-international-law/

PCHR Calls upon International Community to Assist Healthcare System in Gaza Strip to Fight Coronavirus
PCHR | imemc.org | 2020-03-30
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is closely monitoring the health conditions in the Gaza Strip, and the healthcare system's preparedness to combat the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and its possible outbreak. PCHR confirms that the healthcare system will not be able to deal with patients infected with the coronavirus …
imemc.org/article/pchr-calls-upon-international-community-to-assist-healthcare-system-in-gaza-strip-to-fight-coronavirus/

Neo-Confederate Group Moves Ahead with Conference Amid Covid-19 Outbreak
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
Michael Hill has no intention of letting a global pandemic cancel plans for the League of the South's annual conference.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/30/neo-confederate-group-moves-ahead-conference-amid-covid-19-outbreak

The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan
splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/rev-dr-joseph-e-lowery-played-key-role-launching-splcs-legal-battle-against-ku-klux-klan

Israeli Navy Shoots, Injures Palestinian Fisherman off Gaza Coast
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-03-29
One Palestinian fisherman was wounded by Israeli forces on Sunday, while fishing off the coast of the northern besieged Gaza Strip, according to local sources. Sources told Quds News Network (QNN) that the fisherman was in his boat fishing, when Israeli soldiers opened fire at him, wounding him with a …
imemc.org/article/israeli-navy-shoots-injures-palestinian-fisherman-off-gaza-coast/

League of Arab States Reiterates Support to the Palestinian People
Rami Almeghari | imemc.org | 2020-03-29
The Cairo-based League of Arab States, comprising of 22 Arab countries, reiterated on Sunday its support to the Palestinian people's struggle against the Israeli occupation and called for unveiling all Israeli practices that undermine the existence of Palestinians on their own homeland. The league's reiteration came in a statement, issued …
imemc.org/article/league-of-arab-states-reiterates-support-to-the-palestinian-people/

COVID-19: UN envoy hails strong Israel-Palestine cooperation
news.un.org | 2020-03-28
Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, has praised the coordination between the Israeli and Palestine authorities in reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1060572

[Commentary] A systems approach to preventing and responding to COVID-19
Declan Terence Bradley, Mariam Abdulmonem Mansouri, Frank Kee, Leandro Martin Totaro Garcia | thelancet.com | 2020-03-28
A novel zoonotic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a pandemic of respiratory infection [1,2]. COVID-19 has provoked restrictive infection control measures, social and economic disruption, and expressions of racism [3]. Systems thinking can help policymakers understand and influence the spread of infection and its multifaceted consequences across the community since society is itself a complex adaptive system [4]. It can provide a framework to look beyond the chain of infection and better understand the multiple implications of decisions and (in)actions in face of such a complex situation involving many inte…
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30069-9/fulltext?rss=yes

[Obituary] Aron Goldhirsch
Andrew Green | thelancet.com | 2020-03-28
Medical oncologist specialising in breast cancer. Born on April 25, 1946, in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, he died on Feb 26, 2020, in Lugano, Switzerland, aged 73 years.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30642-5/fulltext?rss=yes

Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers
splcenter.org | 2020-03-27
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/weekend-read-splc-demands-ice-act-amid-pandemic-save-lives-countless-immigrants-trapped-its

How a network of Ukrainian ultra-nationalists penetrated Canada's Conservative Party to lobby for military conflict
Moss Robeson | thegrayzone.com | 2020-03-26
Once an underground network of fascist ideologues shunned by the Ukrainian Canadian community for "criminal ideas," Canada's ultra-nationalist Bandera lobby…
thegrayzone.com/2020/03/26/canadian-conservative-party-bandera-canada/

White Supremacists See Coronavirus as an Opportunity
Cassie Miller | splcenter.org | 2020-03-26
Far-right extremists believe the intense uncertainty surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19 will aid their ability to recruit new members into their movement.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/26/white-supremacists-see-coronavirus-opportunity

Malaysian socialist calls out dangerous myth of COVID-19 'mitigation'
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-26
Asia & the Pacific Healthcare Jeyakumar DevarajIssue 1258 Malaysia COVID-19March 26, 2020I received a video on March 22 featuring an Israeli minister making an argument supporting "mitigation" as a strat…
greenleft.org.au/content/malaysian-socialist-calls-out-dangerous-myth-covid-19-mitigation

SPLC and allies seek federal court injunction in system-wide suit to protect people detained by ICE from contracting COVID-19
splcenter.org | 2020-03-25
The SPLC and its allies asked a federal court today to issue a preliminary injunction requiring that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) take immediate steps to protect people in its custody, particularly those who have medical conditions making them more susceptible to serious illness and death from COVID-19.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/25/splc-and-allies-seek-federal-court-injunction-system-wide-suit-protect-people-detained-ice

Once a High-Profile Neo-Nazi, Azzmador Has Pulled a Disappearing Act
splcenter.org | 2020-03-25
At "Unite the Right" in Charlottesville, Virginia, Azzmador appeared to be everywhere.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/26/once-high-profile-neo-nazi-azzmador-has-pulled-disappearing-act

Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama
Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2020-03-24
Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/28/arbitrary-excessive-marijuana-trafficking-sentences-alabama

Hate Group Leaders, Antigovernment Extremists Push Anti-China Coronavirus Rhetoric
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2020-03-23
A litany of conservative groups and figures, including members of hate and antigovernment extremist groups, have signed a March 17 letter to President Trump asking him to investigate China for its alleged role in spreading the novel coronavirus and hiding its origins.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/24/hate-group-leaders-antigovernment-extremists-push-anti-china-coronavirus-rhetoric

COVID-19 Updates: SPLC continues fight against injustice
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
We are only beginning to feel the impacts of the coronavirus, but we know that the communities we serve

The Fight to Vote: Overcoming voter suppression in the South
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
Voter suppression is alive and well across the South.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/24/fight-vote-overcoming-voter-suppression-south

SPLC responds to Trump's Racist and Xenophobic Attacks on Asians
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
President Trump continued to use racist and xenophobic language today during a news conference about the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. by calling it the "Chinese virus."
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/20/splc-responds-trumps-racist-and-xenophobic-attacks-asians

As White House Contemplates Coronavirus Asylum Ban, Hate Groups Urge Trump to Seize the Moment
Michael Edison Hayden and Hannah Gais | splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
The Trump administration took steps to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This nativist policy course has been pushed by anti-immigrant pundits and hate groups from the time the crisis started to unfold.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/23/white-house-contemplates-coronavirus-asylum-ban-hate-groups-urge-trump-seize-moment

Grassroots effort sponsored by SPLC protects voting rights for hundreds across South Florida
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
Clutching a clipboard full of voter registration forms under his arm, Marq Mitchell knocked on the front door of a small, beige, stucco house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/20/grassroots-effort-sponsored-splc-protects-voting-rights-hundreds-across-south-florida

How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses
Andrea Flores | aclu.org | 2020-03-20
Two years ago, the ACLU set a clear goal: push Greyhound to refuse Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers access to their buses to conduct warrantless searches. As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CBP officers were targeting bus passengers around the country, boarding their buses to racially profile, harass, and too often, detain people who they suspected of being undocumented. Of course, you can't tell someone's immigration status by how they look or sound

Fight To Vote: Florida man's voting rights restored by Amendment 4
splcenter.org | 2020-03-20
Abdul Yaw Akachi was talking to his neighbors one sunny day in Florida when a voting rights advocate walked up to him.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/24/fight-vote-florida-mans-voting-rights-restored-amendment-4

Who are we, America?
Eric K. Ward | splcenter.org | 2020-03-19
Just as the authoritarian-tinged tenure of Donald Trump underscores the question, the coronavirus and near shut-down of public life in response highlight this defining time in our democracy.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/22/who-are-we-america

California Anti-Immigrant Activist Robin Hvidston Seeking State Assembly Seat
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2020-03-19
Robin Hvidston, a longtime anti-immigrant activist, is running as a Republican for a California Assembly seat in District 41.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/19/california-anti-immigrant-activist-robin-hvidston-seeking-state-assembly-seat