Daily Archives: June 17, 2020

2020-06-17: News Headlines

Max Parry (2020-06-17). Beware the hijacking of U.S. Protests into a "Color Revolution" dissidentvoice.org The May 25th killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota shocked the world and set off mass protests against racism and police brutality in dozens of cities from the mid-western United States to the European Union, all in the midst of a global …

Miko Peled (2020-06-17). The Murders of Floyd and Halak Exposed the US and Israel as Settler-Colonial Enterprises. mintpressnews.com The systemic oppression faced by blacks and Palestinians in the United States and Israel is indicative of a deeply rooted racism rarely found in true democracies.

_____ (2020-06-17). How To Effectively and Safely Topple A Statue Using Science. popularresistance.org From Bristol, England to Birmingham, Alabama, people all over the world have been grappling with the legacy of racism by tossing their grappling hooks around the heads of problematic monuments. | Should you happen to find yourself near a statue that you decide you no longer like, we asked scientists for the best, safest ways to bring it to the ground without anyone getting hurt—except, of course, for the inanimate racist who's been dead for a century anyway. The force required to pull down a statue isn't as great as you think, says mechanical engineer Scott Holland. Most statues are bronze, using an alloy o…

Labor Video Project (2020-06-17). LWU Local 10 & 34 Leaders On Juneteenth & Fight Against Racism & Worker Action. indybay.org ILWU Local 10 president Trent Willis and ILWU Local 34 president Keith Shanklin talk about why their union is stopping work on Juneteenth on the west coast and the fight against racism and the system that perpetrates it.

Len Yannielli (2020-06-17). The bitter aftertaste of fascism—and a foretaste. peoplesworld.org Fascism must leave a bitter aftertaste. Like tasting the rotten area of an apple, it shows as eyes narrow and lips squeeze together, as if to prevent any more entering one's body. Punta Arenas is the last city at the end of continental South America, at the very tip. I was on a plane heading …

ahtribune (2020-06-17). After the West Bank When (How Soon) Will the East Follow? ahtribune.com Whatever percentage of the West Bank Israel begins to annex in July, it will eventually annex the rest. Will it then turn to the east bank of the Jordan river? | Since the 19th century, the Zionist project was based on the seizure of all Palestine, including territory east of the Jordan. The map of 'Israel' presented to the Paris peace conference in 1919 extended northwards into what is now Lebanon and included the city of Sidon; in the northeast, all the Golan Heights and Syria almost as far as Damascus; in the southeast the entire Jordan River valley, with the territory it desired extending almost to the tow…

Betsey Piette (2020-06-17). Delbert Africa °Presente! workers.org MOVE's Minister of Defense Delbert Africa, 73, died from cancer on June 15 at home and surrounded by his family. Delbert was one of the MOVE 9, who all received life sentences following a racist Philadelphia police raid on the MOVE house and headquarters in 1978. Delbert Africa, January 2020. . . . |

John Bachtell (2020-06-17). Support grows in Chicago for a new approach to police accountability. peoplesworld.org CHICAGO- This city is the national epicenter of police torture of African American men. So, it's not surprising tens of thousands have taken to the streets following the police execution of George Floyd. "The wounds run deep here. Many protests make this an uprising," Jazmine Salas, 28, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and …

Joshua Hanks (2020-06-17). CHAZ Seattle: Imagining the police-free future. workers.org In the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police May 25, demonstrations, protests, marches, rallies and rebellions have spread across the U.S. This is now the largest display of civil unrest in decades, a true revolt against the racist police state that has occupied this stolen . . . |

Arielle Robinson (2020-06-17). Atlanta's Black community demands: Justice for Rayshard Brooks! workers.org June 13 — Amid existing protests in support of Black people murdered by police and white supremacists in Georgia and elsewhere, Atlanta protesters continue to brave the streets to fight for Rayshard Brooks — murdered by Atlanta police on Friday night, June 12. Demonstrators near I-75/85 in Atlanta to protest . . . |

Editor (2020-06-17). Stonewall still means fight back! workers.org The reactionary rulers of the U.S. are attempting to discourage, divide and defeat poor, oppressed and working people in any way possible, at any possible opportunity. Look at the psychological operations ploy tried by white supremacist Trump in setting his first 2020 campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla. — site of . . . |

Editor (2020-06-17). Stonewall means unite to fight back. workers.org The reactionary rulers of the U.S. are attempting to discourage, divide and defeat poor, oppressed and working people in any way possible, at any possible opportunity. Look at the psychological operations ploy tried by white supremacist Trump in setting his first 2020 campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla. — site of . . . |

Saul Kanowitz (2020-06-17). Fearing a greater rebellion, Supreme Court rules for protection of LGBTQ workers. liberationnews.org The ruling, while welcome, was surprising given the conservative nature of the current court.

Chase Strangio (2020-06-17). Supreme Court Bars Workplace Discrimination Against LGBTQ People. zcomm.org Ruling May Be Transformative…

Josh Gerstein (2020-06-17). With LGBT Ruling, Supreme Court Hands Liberals a Surprise Victory. zcomm.org Two of the court's Republican appointees joined the court's Democratic appointees to deliver an unexpected 6-3 triumph for LGBT advocates…

Rose Saxe (2020-06-17). SCOTUS Must Now Ensure LGBTQ People Are Not Turned Away From Taxpayer-Funded Programs. aclu.org On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a

William rivers Pitt (2020-06-17). From Trans Rights to Black Lives Matter, Trump Supporters Are Outnumbered. zcomm.org An F-5 tornado has roared through Trumpland, the rural/exurban village where Trump's base resides with Fox News playing on one channel and OANN on the other…

The Palestinian News & Info Agency (2020-06-17). UN experts: Israel's annexation of West Bank land a serious violation of UN Charter, Conventions. imemc.org GENEVA, Tuesday, June 16, 2020 (WAFA): Israel's planned annexation of large swaths of the occupied West Bank land starting July 1 constitutes a serious violation of the United Nations Charter and the Geneva Conventions and the international community has a duty to prevent it, today said 47 of the independent …

IMEMC News (2020-06-17). Army Uproots Palestinian Lands Near Bethlehem. imemc.org Israeli army jeeps and armored bulldozers invaded, Wednesday, the al-Badia ash-Sharqiya area in the al-Freidis village, east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, before bulldozing and uprooting Palestinian lands. Hasan Breijiyya, the head of the Bethlehem office of the "Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission," has reported that the Israeli …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-17). Hamas calls for greater Palestinian unity to resist Israeli annexation plan. peoplesdispatch.org The Hamas movement has called for a broader unity among Palestinians to confront Israel's proposed annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank from July 1. Addressing the media on Monday June 15, senior Hamas official and member of its political bureau, Salah al-Bardawil said that a united struggle will bring the "Palestinian project back on track." | Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that his government will start the process of extending Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and in areas of the occupied West Bank where illegal Israeli settlements are located beginning on July 1. Accor…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-06-17). Israeli Forces Close an Archaeological Site in Nablus City. imemc.org Israeli forces closed, early on Tuesday, an ancient archaeological site in the northern occupied West Bank city of Nablus. Mayor of Sebastia village, north of Nablus city, Mr. Mohammad Azem, confirmed that Israeli troops invaded the village in the early hours of dawn, and began cordoning off the Sebastia archaeological …

IMEMC News (2020-06-17). Israeli Army Demolishes Many Structures, Stores, Near Jerusalem. imemc.org On Wednesday morning, Israeli soldiers, accompanied by bulldozers, invaded Abu Dis town, east of occupied East Jerusalem, before demolishing a shed, an under-construction building, and several stores, owned by Palestinians from the town. The WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency has reported that the soldiers demolished a shed owned by …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-17). UN experts condemn Israeli annexation plan. peoplesdispatch.org UN experts, in a joint statement on June 16, said the controversial Israeli plan to annex the Jordan valley and the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank is illegal and would be a grave violation of the human rights of Palestinians…

IMEMC News (2020-06-17). Soldiers Abduct Seven Palestinians, Including Four Children, In Silwan. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Wednesday at dawn, five children, in addition to a mother and her son, in Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in occupied East Jerusalem. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic) has reported that the soldiers stormed and ransacked many homes in the town, …

Middle East Eye (2020-06-17). Israel Increases Secretive Nuclear Stockpile to 90 Warheads: Report. globalresearch.ca Israel may have increased its nuclear stockpile from 80 warheads in 2019 to 90 in 2020, according to a new report by a leading global arms watchdog. | The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) said in its

Kester Kenn Klomegah (2020-06-17). Controversy over History of World War II. Russia Marks 75 Years, Military Parade. globalresearch.ca The world celebrates the year 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Victory over Nazism during the World War II. For the first time in history, Russia postponed its military parade traditionally held on Moscow's Red Square on May …

_____ (2020-06-17). Will Moscow Save The West Bank From Annexation? popularresistance.org Palestinian efforts against Israel's plans to annex Palestinian territory are being exercised on three levels. Locally, Palestinians have severed all relations, including security coordination, with Israel and the United States. Regionally, Jordan has been spearheading the Arab response to the Israeli plan, including efforts by the only two Arab countries that have a peace plan with Israel: Jordan and Egypt. | On the international level, Palestinian energy has been largely focused on three members of the Middle East Quartet — the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia. The focus is on these three in…

_____ (2020-06-17). German Party Calls For Sanctions On Israel. popularresistance.org Germany's left-wing party Die Linke is calling for sanctions on Israel if it proceeds with its planned annexation of large parts of the occupied West Bank. | In Germany there is a strictly enforced — but intellectually lazy and morally repugnant — elite consensus that unconditional support for Israel and inaction in the face of its crimes against Palestinians are necessary to atone for the murder of millions of European Jews in German government death camps. | Few prominent German politicians have the courage or moral clarity to understand that genuine and principled atonement would mean applying the…

yenisafak (2020-06-17). Scores of Israelis storm Al-Aqsa complex in Jerusalem. yenisafak.com The official with the Jordan—run Islamic Waqf Department said 171 settlers toured the site under the protection of Israeli police. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. | The Waqf department has repeatedly called on the Israeli government to halt settler visits to the holy site as they trigger confrontations with Muslim worshippers.. | Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times. | Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 196…

Movement for Black Lives (2020-06-17). Friday 6/19: #SixNineteen: Nationwide M4BL Actions to Defend Black Lives Juneteenth Weekend. indybay.org SF Bay Area, across the USA, & Online…

Sit.Walk.Listen. and SF Sanghas (2020-06-17). Sunday 6/21: Sit. Walk. Listen. Because Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Civic Center Plaza (Polk & McAllister)…

Andrey Areshev (2020-06-17). Battle of Belorussia — June 1944: The Greatest Victory That Still Shapes Our 21st Century World. strategic-culture.org On June 16 this year, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was removing another 10,000 U.S. troops from Germany reducing American troop levels there to a derisory 24,500. | The move came only a week before the 76th anniversary of the start of the most decisive battle of World War II, the destruction of the heart of the fearsome and monstrous Nazi war machine — Army Group Center — in the Battle of Belorussia. It was an achievement that continues to shape our 21st century world. | The COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd tragedy have at least shut up the usual childish fairy tales that flood the U.S.

Robtel Neajai Pailey, Amy Niang (2020-06-16). The Long Blue Line Connecting Police Brutality to Drone Strikes. thenation.com The Long Blue Line Connecting Police Brutality to Drone Strikes…

F. Elizabeth Dahab (2020-06-16). Systemic Racism and the Killing of Rayshard Brooks. counterpunch.org The killing of 27 year old Rayshard Brooks on Friday, June 12th, in Atlanta, Georgia, occurred less than three weeks after the murder of George Floyd. Both were killed by a white police officer. It seems that 18 days of protests over the May 25 murder of Floyd did not deter from this new heinous

Jack Metzgar (2020-06-16). Racism and the Working Class. zcomm.org We cannot address the magnitude of racial injustice without simultaneously addressing economic injustice, and to achieve economic justice we're going to need the kind of interracial solidarity that's been marching in our streets these past few weeks…

Staff (2020-06-16). Civil Rights Activist Annie Chambers Is Marching Again Against Police Brutality. therealnews.com Reverend Annie Chambers marched for civil rights with Dr. Martin Luther King throughout the 60s. This month she took to the streets to demand an end to police brutality when Baltimore City joined the nationwide movement calling for justice for George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in Minnesota. | The lifelong organizer says that while history repeats itself, racism is even worse than in her youth. "In the 50s and 60s we were taught to suffer. We got beat and shot and attacked by dogs. And you heard what Donald Trump say—get the dogs out on them," Chambers said in a phone interview with The Real News on…

WSWS (2020-06-16). Atlanta police killing of Rayshard Brooks ruled a homicide as Democrats posture as reformers. wsws.org Brooks' killing has fueled the mass protests against police violence and racism that have taken place in all 50 states and dozens of cities internationally.

Joe Sims (2020-06-16). The uprising against racism must result in Trump's removal. peoplesworld.org Joe Sims, Co-Chair of the CPUSA, presented this keynote at the National Committee meeting on June 6, 2020. Watch the report here or read on. Our country is in the midst of an unprecedented uprising. Initiated by the African-American people and joined by our Asian, Latinx, Native American, and white sisters and brothers, millions are saying, "hell …

_____ (2020-06-16). July 1: Call To Action To Confront Israeli Annexation, Free Palestine. popularresistance.org We know that many Palestinians in exile and supporters of Palestine are, like Samidoun's members, engaged in the uprisings and mass mobilizations taking to the streets to confront anti-Black racism and demand the defunding and dismantling of police and other structures of oppression. Confronting Israel's annexation plans — fully backed by U.S. imperialism and inspired by Zionist racism — also comes as part of the global fightback against racism, colonialism and imperialism. Israel's crimes are backed by $3.8 billion in military aid from the U.S. each year as well as unlimited diplomatic, political and…

_____ (2020-06-16). Act On Dr. King's Call To Tackle Evils Of Racism, Economic Exploitation And War. popularresistance.org Martin Luther King, Jr. King called us to address "Three major evils—the evil of racism, the evil of poverty and the evil of war" to the consternation of the establishment. It is time to tell the truth about the US-Russian relationship and US complicity in driving the nuclear arms race if we are ever to reverse it as well as the race to weaponize space. Perhaps, by addressing the triple evils, we can fulfill King's dream and the mission envisioned for the United Nations, to end the scourge of war! At a minimum, we should be promoting UN Secretary-General António Guterres' call for a global ceasefire while o…

_____ (2020-06-16). Corporations Now Love 'Black Lives'—But What About Their Own Black Workers? popularresistance.org Never underestimate US business community's capacity for hypocrisy. | That's one of the lessons to be drawn from the explosive reaction to George Floyd's murder. As demonstrators began flooding streets, corporate PR departments flew into rapid response mode, issuing a flurry of agonized, apologetic pledges to do more to combat racism and inequality. | Such statements may, on a personal level, be sincere: the depth of righteous pain and anger expressed by African Americans has induced widespread soul-searching, even in executive suites. Yet this high-profile hand-wringing is used to uncouple the outpouring of outr…

_____ (2020-06-16). UN Should Establish A Commission Of Inquiry On Systemic Racism And Law Enforcement In The US. popularresistance.org On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, the United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an "Urgent Debate" on systemic racism in law enforcement. The proximate catalyst for this debate is the recent police killing of George Floyd and many other Black people in the United States, and the breath-taking national and transnational uprising of the past two weeks against systemic racism in law enforcement. | The Urgent Debate is more than opportunity for discussion—it's an opportunity for meaningful action. In a letter to the President of the UN Human Rights Council, I, along with the UN Working Group of Experts on People…

The Canary (2020-06-16). Allies defend 'talented' No 10 aide Munira Mirza over race commission role. thecanary.co Senior Tories have rallied around Boris Johnson's aide Munira Mirza after the prime minister was accused of waging a "culture war" by allowing her to play a major role in setting up his commission on racial disparity.Mirza, the head of the No 10 policy unit, has previously questioned the existence of institutional racism and hit out at a "culture of grievance" among anti-racism campaigners.Her involvement in establishing the body was condemned by shadow justice secretary David Lammy, who claimed her role undermined the commission.The prime minister announced the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities after a s…

Staff (2020-06-16). Henry Giroux: Black Lives Matter Rebellions Are Pushing for Structural Change. truthout.org A protester kneels and holds up a fist as he and others demonstrate against the death of George Floyd by closing down and blocking traffic on I-395 in Washington, D.C., on June 15, 2020.Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images | In this interview, Henry A. Giroux argues that the current rebellions taking place across the globe offer new hope for both educating people about the interrelated registers of racism, militarism, neoliberalism and scandalous inequality. This is a diverse political rebellion in…

Lee Siu Hin, Immigrant Solidarity Network (2020-06-16). Summer 2020 National Immigrant Solidarity Network Immigrant News Alert! indybay.org Justice for George Floyd, Black Lives Matter! Multi-Ethnic Unity Against Racism & Police Brutality!

WSWS Repost (2020-06-16). US tech giants aid police militarization and surveillance. indybay.org Despite issuing statements of sympathy for protesters demanding an end to police violence and racism, tech corporations are integral to the increasing militarization of the police.

ahtribune (2020-06-16). The RCMP (And Justin Trudeau) Should Not Get Away with Naming 'The RCMP Problem' As Racism…Only. ahtribune.com [Since the RCMP/GRC is believed by many to be frequently sexist (anti-feminist), frequently anti-the indigenous people and "people of colour" (racist), and – as this column suggests – frequently corrupt… perhaps it should be completely de-commissioned and replaced with a wholly new, "peoples'" National Police Force.] | In the minds of most Canadians who have looked at the 22 murders in Nova Scotia happening over thirteen or so hours in April the RCMP did major things wrongly …. The result of that was, assuredly, the high number of deaths … which (it is alleged) could and would have been, at least, very m…

Staff (2020-06-16). Goodbye, Columbus: Bree Newsome Bass on the Movement to Topple Racist Statues Across the Globe. democracynow.org As protesters worldwide continue to topple monuments to racists, colonizers and Confederates as part of the wave of demonstrations against racism and state violence, we speak to Bree Newsome Bass, artist and antiracist activist based in North Carolina, who five years ago was arrested at the state Capitol in South Carolina after scaling a 30-foot flagpole to remove the Confederate flag. She says the current backlash against racist symbols reflects "impatience with the pace of incremental progress" both in the United States and elsewhere. "People are tired of centuries of colonialism and white supremacist ideology.

Joe Allen (2020-06-16). The Return of the 'Hamburgs'? White Vigilantes, the Chicago Police, and Anti-Fascism in Chicago. counterpunch.org Chicago has seen some of the largest and most militant demonstrations in the United States during the two weeks that followed the murder of George Floyd. Thirty thousand people marched and rallied on June 6 in Union Park, for example. While demonstrators have suffered repeated acts of violence by the Chicago Police Department and seen

James J. Zogby (2020-06-16). Israel's Illegal Annexation of Palestine. globalresearch.ca With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising to annex portions of the West Bank, liberal critics here in the US and across Europe are in a tizzy. They have been quick to point fingers blaming this crisis on Netanyahu and …