Should this old Palestinian village be saved from Israeli development?
The clip is over the fold.
Continue reading “The ethnic cleansing of Lifta”
Author: alannahpriestley
The evolution of Arab revolutions
The Arab Spring is in full bloom. Peaceful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt sparked a democratic tide that has swept across the region.
In Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain, it is now a tale of two protests, with the situation deteriorating into widespread violence and outright war.
It seems some regimes will stop at nothing to resist change. So with no unified leadership or clear agenda, and with domestic complications in each and every country, is this truly a revolution? And if this is an Awakening — what path will it follow — that of Turkey? Of Iran? Or rather a third way, an Arab way. Empire finds out.
Fisk on the Syrian Uprising
The veteran Middle East reporter for the UK’s Independent newspaper discusses the shooting of protesters on “Great Friday”.
Fisk argues that the Syrian president is fast losing control of the situation, though he is unlikely to go quietly.
With his belated concessions, Assad is “is now enduring the failures that he committed 11 years ago,” the journalist says.
Colombia’s Wayuu: Still Holding on at the Top of the Continent
by Ken Kelley
Sitting for hours in the market of Uribia in the Colombian department of La Guajira, watching indigenous Wayuu women in long flowing dresses selling smuggled gasoline and other Venezuelan wares, I started to wonder if I would ever reach the tiny fishing village of Cabo de la Vela on the Guajira Peninsula.
I kept getting conflicting stories as to whether the truck for Cabo had already left and whether there would be another that day. I was almost ready to backtrack to the city of Riohacha when two more travelers appeared, followed by the truck, into which were then loaded all kinds of goods plus myself and the other passengers. We set off.
Located on the northernmost tip of South America, the arid Guajira Peninsula straddles the border of Venezuela and Colombia. Until recently, it was rarely visited by outsiders, due in part to its Wild West reputation as a hub for trafficking in humans, drugs, and other items, and as the home of the strong-willed Wayuu, who were never subjugated by the Spanish and who have lived on their own terms in the La Guajira desert for centuries.
Continue reading “Colombia’s Wayuu: Still Holding on at the Top of the Continent”
Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, R.I.P.
Two of the world’s best photojournalists, Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, were killed Wednesday in Misurata. They were part of a group of six photographers reporting on the Libyan conflict in a particularly dangerous part of the besieged city.
Rebel Workshop
The rebel army which John Pilger and other Western leftists tell us is a front for CIA.
Facing superior firepower on the battlefield, fighters seeking to overthrow Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are left renovating ageing, abandoned military hardware.
As the rebels refurbish old tanks and make launching systems from doorbells, they appeal for new weapons.
Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Benghazi, has more from the rebels’ workshop.
Chase Madar: In defense of Bradley Manning
In this TomDispatch.com interview Civil rights attorney and PULSE contributor Chase Madar outlines the case against––and the defense on behalf of––the soldier who allegedly provided the documents for the latest WikiLeaks release as well as the now infamous “Collateral Murder” video, Private First Class Bradley Manning. Also, don’t miss Chase’s brilliant piece on Bradley Manning.
Tribute to Vittorio
Huwaida Arraf’s video tribute to Vittorio Arrigoni
Three Cups of Hooey
UPDATE: ‘Three Cups of Deceit‘, Jon Krakauer’s extensive expose of Mortenson is now available for download (but only for a brief time, so hurry). Also check out Nosheen Ali’s article from the Third World Quarterly on the Mortenson saga and the discourse of humanitarianism. (via Mike Barker)
Fellow PULSEr Chase Madar calls this Missionary Imperialism. Once a critic of Donald Rumsfeld, he notes, Greg Mortenson had taken to touring the US with Pentagon officials stumping for the Afghan effort, portraying it as a Peace Corps project that just happens to have 130k armed soldiers attached.
The US, Gulf Kings and Brutal Repression in Bahrain
The brutal repression of demonstrators by the US-backed monarchies continues.
Adam Hanieh: US policy in region based on Gulf Cooperation Council ability to suppress opposition
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