Violence or Nonviolence (peace?) on Earth

Good will to or ill will perpetrated by men —
A LONG, OLD STRUGGLE — Will the women instill a new narrative?
Reporting, editing by Carolyn Bennett

“A few months ago the conscience of this country was shocked because, after a two-week trial, a French judicial tribunal pronounced Captain Dreyfus guilty. And yet, in our own land and under our own flag, [I] can give day and detail of one thousand men, women, and children who during the last six years were put to death without trial before any tribunal on earth. Humiliating indeed, but altogether unanswerable, was the reply of the French press to our protest: ‘Stop your lynchings at home before you send your protests abroad.’” Activist journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett, 1900

“In today’s environment, there has to be a different way to hold the mirror of morality up in such a way that it might break the cycle of violence. Women can be the key to this if they reach out to each other across international boundaries.” Nonviolence activist Lucy Nusseibeh, 2010

Violence ending and turning earlier American centuries

It was “not the creation of an hour, a sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable brutality of an insane mob,” American teacher and journalist, Ida B. Wells wrote of an American pastime in the late 1890s. It was “the cool, calculating deliberation of intelligent people who openly avowed that there is an ‘unwritten law’ that justified putting human beings to death without complaint under oath, without trial by jury, without opportunity to make defense, and without right of appeal.”

“The ‘unwritten law’ excused the rough, rugged, and determined man who left the civilized centers of eastern States in search of quick returns in the gold fields of the far West. Following in uncertain pursuit of continually eluding fortune, they dared … the Indians, the hardships of mountain travel, and the … border State outlaws. They tolerated traitors in their own ranks; it was enough to fight the enemies from without— woe to the foe within! Far removed from and entirely without protection of the courts of civilized life, these fortune-seekers made laws to meet their varying emergencies.…”

Under this ‘unwritten law,’ “butchery is made a pastime. National savagery is condoned.”

“[The ‘unwritten law’ caused the deaths] of many men later found to have been innocent. “Sufficient excuse and reasonable justification for putting a prisoner to death under this ‘unwritten law’ [was] a frequently repeated charge that lynching horrors were necessary to prevent crimes against women.…

Leading journals [of the day] inflamed the public mind to the lynching point with scare-headlined articles and offers of rewards. Whenever a burning was advertised, railroads ran excursions, photographs were taken. “The same jubilee is indulged in that characterized public hangings of a hundred years before.”

In the old days, “the multitude was permitted to stand by, gaze or jeer.” Now, “the lynch mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the crowd. If the leaders of the mob are so minded, they pour coal oil over the body and the victim is then roasted to death.…”

The lynching issue “affects the entire American nation — ‘land of the free and the home of the brave.’ … Brave men do not gather by the thousands to torture and murder an individual, so gagged and bound as to be incapable of even feeble resistance or defense.… Brave men or women do not stand by and watch without compunction of conscience or read of them without protest. …

“Our nation has been active and outspoken in its endeavors to right the wrongs of the Armenian Christian, the Russian Jew, the Irish Home Ruler, the native women of India, the Siberian exile, and the Cuban patriot. Surely, it should be the nation’s duty to correct its own evils!”

Today’s Despair

“There is a closure of minds and futures as well as roads,” writes the founder of Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy. “The economy is in almost total collapse. There is no sign of a turnaround, only more of the same.

“Many children no longer dream of anything other than becoming ‘martyrs.’ It is all that most women can do just to cope for themselves and for their families. In this situation of siege and bomb attacks — with women and children paying the heaviest price — such coping is itself an assertion of nonviolence. Nonviolence in this situation is just coping with the fear, devastation, poverty, humiliation, and constant, all-pervasive tension to try to remain human.…”

Violence cuts off potential. Nonviolence asserts humanity and develops potential in spite of opposing odds. Violence breeds hatred and leads to a vicious and inhuman cycle. Nonviolence — as a form of assertiveness and empowerment — enables people to stand, even in the face of overwhelming violence, to retain their humanity, and to break the cycle of violence.…

“Palestinian women have used nonviolent approaches since the very beginning of the conflict early in the last century.…

“In today’s environment, there has to be a different way to hold the mirror of morality up in such a way that it might break the cycle of violence. Women can be the key to this if they reach out to each other across international boundaries. If women from outside the Middle East come as international observers to witness the plight of Palestinian women and talk about what they see, perhaps [the voices of Palestinian women within] can be heard.”

Sources and notes

“Ida B. Wells-Barnett, ‘Lynch Law in America,’ The Arena 23.1 (January 1900): 15-24. Chicago,
American Public Address, Department of Communication, University of Washington (archived)
http://courses.washington.edu/spcmu/speeches/idabwells.htm

Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells-Barnett (b. July 16, 1862, Holly Springs, Mississippi, U.S., d. March 25, 1931, Chicago, Illinois), née Ida Bell Wells, was an African American journalist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s. She was first a teacher then a journalist, who bought an interest in the Memphis Free Speech. In 1892, after three friends were lynched by a mob, Wells began an editorial campaign against lynching. Her newspaper office was destroyed but she continued her anti-lynching crusade, first as a staff writer for the New York Age, then as a lecturer and organizer of anti-lynching societies. She traveled and spoke in a number of major U.S. cities and twice visited Britain for the cause. Britannica notes

“Palestinian Women and Nonviolence,” (Lucy Nusseibeh), Mediterranean Women, http://www.mediterraneas.org/article.php3?id_article=41

Lucy Nusseibeh
Lucy Nusseibeh is founder and director of Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy (MEND), a non-governmental organization that educates grassroots political leaders, Palestinian youth, their teachers and their families about nonviolence and democracy through innovating media techniques as well as establishing resource centers. In addition to educational activities and training programs in active nonviolence, MEND has conducted two women-specific projects: one in coordination with UNIFEM (the UN Development Fund for Women) and the other a cross-community project bringing together Palestinian and Israeli women, in coordination with Search for a Common Ground-USA and the Truman Institute. Some of MEND’s cross-community work includes the organization of two year-long projects with the Truman Institute on co-facilitation between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the organization of an international conference on leadership innovation and transformation that also included Israelis.

Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy or MEND promotes active nonviolence and encourages alternatives to violence among youth and adults throughout Palestine. MEND is an active member in the Arab Partnership for Conflict Prevention and Human Security but has no political affiliations and does not discriminate. Women and men of a wide range of nationalities, religions and political affiliation work and have worked with MEND, http://www.mendonline.org/aboutus.html
http://www.mendonline.org/anvcenters.html
http://www.amin.org/eng/lucy_nusseibeh/2002/jan14.html
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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
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Performance for lords lets down “liberals”

BREAKDOWN
Editing by Carolyn Bennett

Today on Democracy Now, journalist Chris Hedges links the Obama performance to his latest book and roundly condemns the performance.

The death of the liberal class, Hedges said, is “the collapse of the primary pillars of the liberal establishment, those liberal institutions—the press, labor, public education and, in particular institutions of higher education and culture … that have been under assault.”

The performance of the current president is “a disaster,” he said, “a poster child for the bankruptcy of the liberal class.”

Like [William Jefferson] Clinton, “[Barack Obama] is somebody who is a self-identified liberal who speaks in the traditional language of liberalism; but who has waged war on the core values of liberalism. This is a concern for those people outside the narrow power elite. The tragedy — if tragedy is the right word — is that Obama, who made this Faustian bargain [grabbing immediate gain, disregarding future costs] with corporate interests in order to gain power, has now been crumpled up and thrown away by these interests.”

He functioned as a brand after the disastrous eight years of George Bush. Now, they do not need him.

“What we are watching is a craven attempt on the part of the White House to cater to forces that are literally destroying the United States; have reconfigured — are reconfiguring — this country into a kind of [medieval] feudalism.

“All of the traditional, the pillars of the liberal establishment, that once provided some kind of protection; and, more importantly, a kind of safety valve, a mechanism by which legitimate grievances and injustices in this country can be addressed — have shut tight. They no longer work.

“We are getting these terrifying, proto-fascist movements that are leaping up around the fringes of American society. Their anger is not only a rage against government, but a rage also — not misplaced — against liberals.”

Source
Democracy Now: “Chris Hedges: Obama is a ‘Poster Child for the Death of the Liberal Class’ — The compromise tax-cut deal that President Obama signed into law on Friday has angered many of his supporters. In his new book, Death of the Liberal Class, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Chris Hedges argues that the failure of President Obama to represent the interests of his supporters is just another example of a quickly dying liberal class. In the book, Hedges explains how the five pillars of the liberal class—the press, universities, unions, liberal churches and the Democratic Party—have become corrupt,” December 20, 2010, http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/20/chris_hedges_obama_is_a_poster
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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
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Innocents in crossfire — Children in endless war

Endless consequences of war
Deutsche Welle visited two hospitals in war-torn Helmand region of Afghanistan
Editing, excerpting, re-reporting by Carolyn Bennett
These are edited excerpts from Deutsche Welle’s findings.

Patients’ testimonies sound “painfully familiar.” Locations of incidents, the means of death or injuries (gunshot, IED, mortar attack) vary but the victims’ profile remains constant —

Civilian

Under 14 years old

Amputated limbs

From Doctors without Borders
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971 [http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/aboutus/?ref=main-menu].

16-year-old boy Sharifullah
Kids were running alongside the road. One was shot in the stomach during end-of-Ramadan celebrations. “Soldiers probably took [the kids] for a gang of Talibs and shot.” Four months earlier four children in his village were killed the same way.

16-year-old shepherd, Ihmatullah
He was hit by rocket shrapnel one night while he was sleeping outdoors. Ihmatullah from Musa Qala was “possibly injured by coalition fire.”

13-year old Abdulraziq from Farah province
He lost an eye and his right hand in the blast of an Improvised Explosive Device.

6-year-old Daudchan, 4-year-old Mahmadullah
Brothers: One brother lost his leg; the other lost both legs. “They were travelling with their father on a motorcycle when they had the misfortune of running over an IED.” The boys’ father “lost the toes of his right foot.”

It is often difficult to know just who is behind each attack in Helmand province. Together with American and British soldiers are also Estonians, Canadians, Danish, Georgians and Arabs from Bahrain fighting in Helmand. There are also the Taliban or drug smugglers or simply road bandits.

From Emergency
Emergency is an independent NGO, founded in Italy to provide high quality and free-of-charge health care to war and poverty victims. Emergency promotes a culture of solidarity, peace and respect for human rights. The work of Emergency around the world is possible thanks to the help of thousands of volunteers and supporters. Emergency is present also in UK, USA and Japan [http://www.emergency.it/who-we-are.html]. Emergency specializes in treating the war-wounded, specializing in victims of land mines.

15-year old shepherd, Ziacho
“I was walking my flock in Greshek (Helmand). I remember I sat down to rest when I spotted a mine nearby. I also saw a helicopter over me so I'm not sure what caused the explosion.” Ammunition rounds tore off both his legs.

12-year-old Mohamed
Mohamed was on the roof of his house when he noticed an impact on his body. “When they brought him to Emergency his liver was stuck onto his lungs.”

Musa Qala villager, Abdulwahid
“I was working in my farm when the battle began… The fighting lasted between one and two hours. In the end, I felt a sharp pain in my chest and leg. I couldn't tell where the shot came from.” He lost his leg in the middle of the crossfire.

12-year-old Quadratullah
“Back in my village we spotted some people getting into an empty house. We were most curious so we decided to see what was inside … I went first but I had to push the door hard because it was blocked. Then something exploded...When I woke up here, my father told me it happened to be a warehouse where the Taliban stored their weapons and explosives.”

…What kind of life awaits a kid from Afghanistan who has lost his right eye and arm, and both his legs, in a seemingly endless war?

Afghanistan’s children

Around 90 percent of the patients admitted to hospital in the war are civilians. According to Emergency hospital’s Matteo Dell'Aira, 40 percent of the patients are children.

A UN report on civilian casualties in Afghanistan, released in the summer of 2010, showed civilian deaths and injuries in the country had increased by 31 percent from a year earlier— to 3,268.

Civilian casualties and deaths continue to rise in Afghanistan, despite a NATO commitment to avoid them.


Sources and notes
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) “relies solely on private funds and, unlike many other groups, does not have paid soldiers protecting the safety of its staff. Even the usual barbed wire and sandbags are not to be found at the camp where MSF staff lodges. ‘We try not to be in the same place as foreign troops. Nonetheless, our best calling card is our work … We have earned the respect of local people because everybody knows what we are all about.”

Boost Hospital
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) resumed its work in Afghanistan after an absence of five years, following the murder of five of its staff in Badghis province in 2004. Their humanitarian mission in Lashkar Gah supporting Boost hospital was launched in November 2009. Boost is one of the two reference hospitals in the war-torn south of the country, alongside the one in Kandahar. A reference hospital is the term used by the World Health Organization for hospitals that accept complex cases for cutting-edge diagnosis and treatment.

At Boost, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is primarily responsible for pediatrics and maternity and handles many cases of “malnutrition in infants after drinking cow or goat milk. [Infants’] mothers are anemic and can’t breast-feed, so the children suffer from chronic gastroenteritis because they are unable to process the animal milk.’”

Emergency
The Emergency hospital in Lashkar Gah has been in operation since 2004 and is the third one the Milan-based NGO runs in Afghanistan. The other two are in the northern districts of Panjshir and Kabul, open since 1999 and 2001 respectively.

Matteo Dell’Aira, the local medical coordinator of Emergency and eight other colleagues, both Italian and Afghan, were arrested in April by a mixed group of Afghan police and British troops. The nine doctors were accused of participating in a plot to assassinate Helmand’s governor, Gulab Mangal.

Police claimed Matteo Dell’Aira and Emergency colleagues “‘were handing information to the Taliban and that they had even found weapons and explosives in one of our warehouses at the hospital.’

“The arrest came under the aegis of Operation Moshtarak (‘together’ in the Afghan Dari language) which was one of innumerable ISAF military offensives in the region. Emergency complained that they were denied the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to evacuate the wounded from Marjah, a nearby village which was heavily shelled for months. Finally, the detainees were released after nine days in jail without charges. Immediately afterward, Gino Strada, who founded Emergency, said that the attempt to discredit his organization had failed. He said Emergency in Afghanistan, especially in Helmand province, was ‘an uncomfortable witness to what the Coalition forces are doing here.’”

Deutsche Welle’s news article
“Hospitals in Helmand hot zone treat more ‘collateral’ patients — A visit to the two hospitals in the war-torn Helmand region of Afghanistan exposes the horrors that innocent civilians, so-called collateral damage caught in the crossfire, experience in modern wartime,” (author Karlos Zurutuza, editor Jennifer Abramsohn), December 13, 2010, http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6299162,00.html

Legacy of War — The Vietnam War ended 35 years ago

Around 16,000 children from Da Nang, where the U.S. military was based, have suffered genetic damage from exposure to the toxic chemical Agent Orange.

The winner of UNICEF Photo of the Year for 2010 was U.S. photographer Ed Kashi with his picture of a nine-year-old girl from Vietnam. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,1429,00.html



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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]

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U.S. war dead, U.S. mercenaries

Compiled and edited, re-reported by Carolyn Bennett

How many (est.) in two-theater

U.S.-led

WAR DEAD?

Casualty sites reporting December 19, 2010

(accurate totals unknown)

• Anti-war dot com Casualties in Iraq since March 19, 2003

[U.S. war dead since the Obama inauguration January 20, 2009: 201]

Wounded 32,937-100,000

U.S. veterans with brain injuries 320,000

Suicides estimated: 18 a day

Latest update on this site: November 22, 2010

http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/

• Iraq Body Count (civilian deaths from violence) figures:

99,152 – 108,235

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

• ICasualties figures:

IRAQ: 4,430 U.S., 4,748 Coalition

AFGHANISTAN: 1,438 U.S., 2,269 Coalition

http://icasualties.org/oif/

• Just Foreign Policy Iraqi deaths due to U.S. invasion —

“The number is … at least 10 times greater than

most estimates cited in U.S. media yet it is

based on a scientific study of violent Iraqi deaths

caused by the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003” [no recent updates]:

1,421,933 http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq

AL JAZEERA REPORTS FROM
U.S. aggression, occupation
Middle East, Southwest Asia

OCCUPIED TERRITORIES — East Jerusalem, West Bank, Gaza
[internationalist, human rights activist’s opinion]

“… [A] habitual armed robber was being asked to stop robbing a few banks for three months in exchange for a huge financial payoff,” international law professor and author Richard Falk writes in an opinion piece in Al Jazeera. “Such an arrangement qualifies as a transparently shameless embrace of Israeli lawlessness on behalf of a peace process that has no prospect of producing peace, much less justice. Justice here is conceived in relation to the satisfaction of Palestinian rights, especially the right of self–determination that has through the years been whittled down.…

“The shamelessness continues.

“Instead of castigating Israel for its refusal to show even a pretense of pragmatic flexibility that would make the Obama approach seem slightly less fatuous and regressively wimpy, the U.S. government simply announced its abandonment of efforts to persuade Israel to extend the moratorium. And embarked on a resumption of the negotiations between the parties without any preconditions, that is, settlement expansion and ethnic cleansing could now continue uncontested.…

“While this mindless diplomatic spinning goes forth, other clocks are ticking madly. Settlements expanding at accelerating rates, new segments of the wall are being constructed, ethnic cleansing intensifies in East Jerusalem, the apartheid practices and structures in the West Bank are being steadily strengthened, the entrapped and imprisoned population of Gaza lives continuously on the brink of a survival crisis, the refugees in their camps endure their dreary and unacceptable confinement. …

“Is it not better at this time to rely on the growing Palestine Solidarity Movement, peace from below, and the related success being experienced in waging the Legitimacy War against Israel, what Israel itself nervously calls ‘the de-legitimacy project’ that is viewed by its leaders and think tanks as a far greater threat to its illicit ambitions than armed resistance?”

In April of this year, Falk described the Legitimacy War as “a second war that is essentially based on the reliance on a variety of non-violent tactics of resistance.” Though Palestinian armed resistance has not been renounced, he wrote, “It has been displaced by this emphasis on non-violent tactics.…

“The essence of this legitimacy war is to cast doubt on several dimensions of Israeli legitimacy: its status as a moral and law abiding actor, as an occupying power in relation to the Palestinian people, and with respect to its willingness to respect the United Nations and abide by international law. Those that wage such a legitimacy war seek to seize the high moral ground in relation to the underlying conflict, and on this basis, gain support for a variety of coercive, but non-violent initiatives designed to put pressure on Israel, on governments throughout the world and on the United Nations to deny normal participatory rights to Israel as a member of international society.”

GAZA December 19
Five Palestinians fighters died today when Israel conducted an air raid on the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials. Israeli aircraft had targeted the area of Dier el-Balah on Saturday.

Southwest/Central Asia — Afghanistan/Pakistan

AFGHANISTAN December 19
Ten people (est.) died today (among the dead police officers and soldiers) when Taliban fighters launched attacks in Kabul and in the Afghan northern province of Kunduz. “Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Kabul said the incidents “‘took place almost simultaneously’ [and] as the death toll for foreign troops in Afghanistan hit 700 in 2010 — by far the deadliest year of the near decade-long war.” Five hundred and twenty-one “(521) foreign troops died 2009, previously the worst year of the war, but operations against the Taliban-led campaign have intensified over the past 18 months.”

PAKISTAN December 17
Twenty-four people (est.) died Friday when a barrage of missiles (three suspected U.S. drone missiles) struck two villages in Khyber’s Tirah valley along the Pakistan-Afghan border.… The frequency of these attacks has more than doubled this year compared to 2009.”

IRAQ December 17
“The U.S. government, not Xe Services (formerly known as Blackwater), “should be held accountable for a 2007 shooting by the security company’s contractors that killed 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square in Baghdad.”

Lawyers for Xe or Blackwater argued Thursday before a U.S. federal judge that “Blackwater contractors were essentially acting as employees of the U.S. government because they were providing security to State Department personnel.…

“The North Carolina-based company and several of its contractors are seeking dismissal of a lawsuit that was filed on behalf of three people killed in the shooting: Ali Kinani, Abrahem Abed Al Mafraje and Mahde Sahab Naser Shamake. The lawsuit accuses the parties of wrongful death and negligence, and seeks punitive damages. In 2009, Blackwater was barred from Iraq for ‘excessive force.’

“U.S. government documents released in October by the WikiLeaks website reveal another 14 incidents, in addition to the Nisour Square shooting, in which Blackwater shot at civilians in Iraq.” However, despite this company’s record, the U.S. government in recent months has awarded “another lucrative contract to a front company for Xe.”

Sources and notes
“The delusions of the peace process — The politics of the peace process have emphatically ensured that the mere prospect for producing peace is nonexistent” (Opinion, Richard Falk), December 18, 2010, http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/12/201012188187905194.html

Richard Falk
Professor Emeritus of International Law and Practice at Princeton University and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Richard Falk was Albert G. Milbank Professor of International Law and Practice at Princeton University. He is a prolific writer, speaker and activist of world affairs and author or co-author of more than 20 books, among them Crimes of War, Revolutionaries and Functionaries, The War System, A Study of Future Worlds, The End of World Order, Revitalizing International Law, Nuclear Weapons and International Law, and On Human Governance; and is currently serving his third year of a six-year term as a United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/tff/people/r_falk.html

“The Palestinians are winning the legitimacy war: will it matter? (Richard Falk), April 5, 2010,
http://www.redress.cc/palestine/rfalk20100405

“Legitimacy war” — “In recent years, especially beginning with the brutal experience of the Lebanon war of 2006 and even more dramatically in the aftermath of the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2008-09 (December 27, 2008-January 18, 2009), there has been a notable change of emphasis in Palestinian strategy. The new strategy has been to initiate what might be described as a second war, ‘a legitimacy war’ that is essentially based on the reliance on a variety of non-violent tactics of resistance. Armed resistance has not been renounced by the Palestinians, but it has been displaced by this emphasis on non-violent tactics…. “

“Israeli attack kills Gaza fighters — Five members of the Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance Committees are killed in the strike,” December 19, 2010, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/12/2010121823546201234.html

“Many killed in Afghan city attacks — Police and soldiers are among those dead after army recruitment centre in Kunduz was attacked,” December 19, 2010, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/12/2010121944648778319.html

“Missiles strike northwest Pakistan — At least 24 killed in suspected US drone attack on two villages in northwest Khyber region, in second day of strikes,” December 17, 2010, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/12/2010121781529735681.html

“Blackwater killings: ‘U.S. at fault’ — Private security company, now known as Xe Services, says responsibility for 2007 Iraq killings lies with U.S. government,” December 17, 2010,
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/12/2010121710658402557.html


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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
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78 percent’s multiple misery—104 nations’ poverty

It doesn’t have to be this way
Re-reporting, editing, comment by Carolyn Bennett

“Economic unfreedom, in the form of extreme poverty, can make a person a helpless prey in the violation of other kinds of freedom… [The] 1970s were probably the golden years of social choice theory across the world. … The constructive possibilities that the new literature on social choice produced directed us immediately to making use of available statistics for a variety of economic and social appraisals: measuring economic inequality, judging poverty, evaluating projects, analyzing unemployment, investigating the principles and implications of liberty and rights, assessing gender inequality…” Amartya Sen

Thirty years later —

More than three quarters of the world’s people are desperately poor in education, health, and living standards—“multidimensionally poor”

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development program Human Development Report (UNDP HDR), identifies people who contend with multiple deprivations across three dimensions: education, health, and living standards. A person is identified as multidimensionally poor if the person experiences deprivation in at least 30 percent of the weighted indicators. One deprivation alone may not represent poverty.

The latest Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is estimated for 104 countries representing 5.2 billion people, 92% of the population of developing countries and 78.5% of the world’s population (2007). Its findings in brief —

1.7 billion people (32%) are identified as multidimensionally poor.

51% of the MPI poor people live in South Asia, 28% in sub-Saharan Africa.

Countries with the highest incidence of poverty tend to have the highest intensity of poverty.
Countries do not need to have reached middle-income status to have low MPI.

Among the 93 countries for which income poverty data are published, the incidence of MPI poverty is higher than $1.25/day for 57 countries; lower than $1.25/day for 36 countries. This means that a number of countries, which have succeeded in reducing monetary poverty, still face massive challenges in other dimensions of deprivation.

Multidimensional  poverty varies across region and ethnic group, in Kenya, e.g., —
60% of people are deprived on average
Among the Masai, 96%
Among the Kikuyu, 39%

Eight States of India have an MPI above 0.32; they are home to 421 million people — more people than the 26 African countries that also have an MPI above 0.32 (410 million).

Composition of multidimensional poverty varies:
Nutritional deprivations among the multidimensionally poor, e.g., are highest in South Asia.

Sources and notes

Nobel Prize Award Ceremony Amartya Sen lecture, Autobiography, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1998/sen-autobio.html

The 2010 MPI forms a baseline for subsequent work. It is based on the latest data that was publicly available in January 2010 from three sources: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), and the World Health Survey (2003). Subsequent HDRs will include updated MPIs. However, the overall data availability is surprisingly weak, underlining the importance of efforts to improve the coverage and regularity of such information.

More and better data are needed. Categories of critical information that is missing in surveys and reports are quality of education, work, empowerment, information on consumption and violence. http://www.ophi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/MPI-One-Page-final.pdf

National Multidimensional Poverty Measures: The international MPI was devised as a tool to compare acute poverty across nations. The MPI approach can usefully be adapted using country-specific data and indicators to generate richer national multidimensional poverty measures that reflect local cultural, economic, climatic and other factors. Mexico, Bhutan and Colombia have developed, or are developing, their own national multidimensional measures with indicators and cutoffs tailored to their context and goals.

The MPI was developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development program Human Development Report (UNDP HDR) to develop ideas and policies that can improve people’s lives.

The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), established in 2007, is an economic research centre led by Sabina Alkire, within the Oxford Department of International Development at the University of Oxford. OPHI’s work is grounded in Amartya Sen’s capability approach — OPHI works to implement this approach by creating real tools that inform policies to reduce poverty. http://www.ophi.org.uk/about/

In 2001 Jonathan Steele wrote in the Guardian (UK), “[Amartya Kumar] Sen is a rare example of an intellectual who has had a major effect on politics. His work on the causes of famine changed public perceptions by showing why thousands might starve even when a country's food production has not diminished, and his analysis of poverty has been enormously influential. Arguing that simple measures of GNP were not enough to assess the standard of living, he helped to create the United Nations’ Human Development Index, which has become the most authoritative international source of welfare comparisons between countries. As Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, since January 1998, and the first Asian to head an Oxbridge college, Sen is also deeply immersed in the debate over globalization.” [“Food for thought,” March 31, 2001, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/mar/31/society.politics]

Amartya Kumar Sen (b. 1933) is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in problems of society’s poorest people. Sen was best known for his work on the causes of famine, which led to the development of practical solutions for preventing or limiting the effects of real or perceived shortages of food. He is currently the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University. [Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amartya_Sen]

Sabina Alkire directs the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), is a Research Associate at Harvard, and Secretary of the Human Development & Capability Association (HDCA). Her research interests include multidimensional poverty measurement and analysis, welfare economics, the capability approach, the measurement of freedoms and human development. Publications include ‘Valuing Freedoms: Sen’s Capability Approach and Poverty Reduction’, as well as articles in Philosophy and Economics. She holds advanced degrees in Economics and Economics for Development. http://www.ophi.org.uk/about/people/current-people/sabina-alkire/

See also: “Three hundred million people suddenly added to global poverty statistics in November as United Nations Development Programme launches a new poverty index)” (‘Why 300 million more people are suddenly poor’, Christian Science Monitor, November 17, 2010), Between the Lines (December 15, 2010-week ending December 24, 2010), in the week’s summary of under-reported news, http://btlonline.org/2010/101224-btl.html
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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]_________________________________________________

Washington’s paranoiac wig out on WikiLeaks

Sadly, this is far from the first time politicians and powers- that-be have found the First Amendment inconvenient for their purposes
Experts testify on “Espionage Act, Legal and Constitutional Implications of WikiLeaks”
Editing, excerpt , comment by Carolyn Bennett

In his testimony on Thursday before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Thomas Blanton, the Director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University developed three points:

• Government always overreacts to leaks, and history shows we end up with more damage from the overreaction than from the original leak.
• Government’s national security classification system is broken, overwhelmed with too much secrecy, which actually prevents the system from protecting the real secrets. The rest should all come out.
• National affliction with ‘Wikimania’ wherein Wikimyths are common lends far more heat than light – heat that will actually produce more leaks, more crackdowns, less accountable government, and diminished security.

This is some of Blanton’s detailed testimony.

“The heated calls for targeted assassinations of leakers and publishers remind me of the Nixon White House discussions of firebombing the Brookings Institution on suspicion of housing a copy of the Pentagon Papers. It was the earlier leak of the secret bombing of Cambodia that started President Nixon down the path to the Watergate plumbers, who began with righteous indignation about leaks, then moved to black bag jobs, and break-ins, and dirty tricks, and brought down the presidency.…

“Few have gone as far as Nixon, but overreaction to leaks has been a constant in recent American history. Almost every president has tied his White House in knots over embarrassing internal leaks. … 

The moment of greatest conflict between President Reagan and his Secretary of State George Shultz was not over the Iran-contra affair, but over the idea of subjecting Shultz and other high officials to the polygraph as part of a leak prevention campaign.

President Ford went from supporting to vetoing the Freedom of Information Act amendments of 1974 because of his reaction to leaks (only to be overridden by Congress).

President George W. Bush was so concerned about leaks — and about aggrandizing presidential power — that his and Vice President Cheney’s top staff kept the Deputy Attorney General (number two at Justice) out of the loop on the warrantless wiretapping program. [They] didn’t even share legal opinions about the program with the top lawyers of the National Security Agency that was implementing the intercepts. 

“Even with this background, I have been astonished at the developments of the last week, with the Air Force and the Library of Congress blocking the WikiLeaks web site, and warning their staff not to even peek. I should have known the Air Force would come up with something like this. The [National Security] Archive’s own Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over the last 5 years had already established that the Air Force created probably the worst FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] processing system in the entire federal government – the federal judge in our case ruled the Air Force had ‘miserably failed’ to meet the law’s requirements. Now, apparently, the worst FOIA system has found a mate in the worst open-source information system?

“This policy is completely self-defeating and foolish. If Air Force personnel do not look at the leaked cables, then they are not doing their job as national security professionals.

“Now comes the Library of Congress, built on [third U.S. President] Thomas Jefferson’s books, also blocking access to the WikiLeaks site. On the LC blog, a repeated question has been ‘when exactly are you going to cut off the New York Times site too?’ One might also ask: when will you remove Bob Woodward’s books from the shelves?

“Official reactions like these show how we are suffering from ‘Wikimania.’…

“We need to clear out our backlog of historic secrets that should long since have appeared on the public shelves, and slow the creation of new secrets. Those voices who argue for a crackdown on leakers and publishers need to face the reality that their approach is fundamentally self-defeating because it will increase government secrecy, reduce our security, and actually encourage more leaks from the continued legitimacy crisis of the classification system....”

Sources and notes

Since 1992, Thomas Blanton has been the director (since 1992) of the National Security Archive at George Washington University (www.nsarchive.org). The Archive relies for its $3.5 million annual budget on publication royalties and donations from foundations and individuals. The organization receives no government funding and carries out no government contracts.

Blanton is series editor of the Archive’s Web, CD-DVD, fiche and book publications of over a million pages of previously secret U.S. government documents obtained through the Archive’s more than 40,000 Freedom of Information Act requests. Blanton co-founded the virtual network of international FOI advocates www.freedominfo.org, and is co-chair of the steering committee of the public interest coalition OpenTheGovernment.org.

Blanton is author of The Chronology (1987) on the Iran-contra scandal; White House E-Mail (1995) on the 6-year lawsuit that saved over 30 million records; and Masterpieces of History (2010) on the collapse of Communism in 1989. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Foreign Policy, Diplomatic History and in languages ranging from Romanian to Spanish to Japanese to Finnish, inventors of the world’s first Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.

Statement of Thomas Blanton, Director, National Security Archive, George Washington University, www.nsarchive.org, to the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives Hearing on the Espionage Act and the Legal and Constitutional Implications of Wikileaks, Thursday, December 16, 2010, Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2141 Washington D.C., http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/Blanton101216.pdf

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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
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Rep. Berman leads end-year attack on Palestinians

Re-reporting, comment Carolyn Bennett

In a critical foreign affairs situation in which U.S. Legislative and Executive branches of government have done nothing to evenhandedly assist peace in the Middle East or in Palestine in particular — and have shamelessly sided with Israel, resulting in the loss of all credibility in any peace process — now, 53 legislative members, led by a Jewish community leader, depart on their holiest shopping holiday, lobbing another maliciously threatening shot against the Palestinian people.

House Resolution 1765
In its summary of the legislation that passed without amendment on December 16, Congressional Research Service (CRS) writes that the resolution —

“Urges Palestinian leaders to:

(1) Cease efforts to circumvent the negotiation process, including efforts to gain recognition of a Palestinian state from other nations, within the United Nations, and in other international forums; and

(2) Resume direct negotiations with Israel.

“Supports the Administration’s opposition to a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state

“Calls upon the Administration to:

(1) Lead a diplomatic effort to persuade other nations to oppose a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state and to oppose recognition of a Palestinian state by other nations, within the United Nations, and in other international forums prior to a final agreement between Israel and the Palestinians; and

(2) Affirm that the United States would deny recognition to any unilaterally declared Palestinian state and veto any resolution by the U.N. Security Council to establish or recognize a Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated by the two parties.” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HE01765:@@@D&summ2=m&

Leader of this legislation—
Representative Howard L. Berman (CA)
Representative, United States House of Representatives (28th District, California), 1983-present
Party: Democratic
Birthplace: Los Angeles, CA
Home City: Panorama City, CA
Religion: Jewish
Organizations:
Regional Board Member, Anti-Defamation League
Committees:
Foreign Affairs, Chair
Judiciary, Member
Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law Membership, Member, http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=26756

Co-sponsors of this legislation—
Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 12/15/2010
Rep Alexander, Rodney [LA-5] - 12/15/2010
Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 12/15/2010
Rep Bilirakis, Gus M. [FL-9] - 12/15/2010
Rep Blackburn, Marsha [TN-7] - 12/15/2010
Rep Buchanan, Vern [FL-13] - 12/15/2010
Rep Burton, Dan [IN-5] - 12/15/2010
Rep Campbell, John [CA-48] - 12/15/2010
Rep Capito, Shelley Moore [WV-2] - 12/15/2010
Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] - 12/15/2010
Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7] - 12/15/2010
Rep Culberson, John Abney [TX-7] - 12/15/2010
Rep Deutch, Theodore E. [FL-19] - 12/15/2010
Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-17] - 12/15/2010
Rep Foxx, Virginia [NC-5] - 12/15/2010
Rep Garrett, Scott [NJ-5] - 12/15/2010
Rep Granger, Kay [TX-12] - 12/15/2010
Rep Green, Gene [TX-29] - 12/15/2010
Rep Hensarling, Jeb [TX-5] - 12/15/2010
Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2] - 12/15/2010
Rep King, Peter T. [NY-3] - 12/15/2010
Rep King, Steve [IA-5] - 12/15/2010
Rep Klein, Ron [FL-22] - 12/15/2010
Rep Lamborn, Doug [CO-5] - 12/15/2010
Rep Lance, Leonard [NJ-7] - 12/15/2010
Rep LoBiondo, Frank A. [NJ-2] - 12/15/2010
Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18] - 12/15/2010
Rep Mack, Connie [FL-14] - 12/15/2010
Rep McClintock, Tom [CA-4] - 12/15/2010
Rep McCotter, Thaddeus G. [MI-11] - 12/15/2010
Rep McMahon, Michael E. [NY-13] - 12/15/2010
Rep McMorris Rodgers, Cathy [WA-5] - 12/15/2010
Rep Murphy, Tim [PA-18] - 12/15/2010
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] - 12/15/2010
Rep Pence, Mike [IN-6] - 12/15/2010
Rep Poe, Ted [TX-2] - 12/15/2010
Rep Quigley, Mike [IL-5] - 12/15/2010
Rep Roe, David P. [TN-1] - 12/15/2010
Rep Rogers, Mike D. [AL-3] - 12/15/2010
Rep Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana [FL-18] - 12/15/2010
Rep Roskam, Peter J. [IL-6] - 12/15/2010
Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] - 12/15/2010
Rep Scalise, Steve [LA-1] - 12/15/2010
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] - 12/15/2010
Rep Schauer, Mark H. [MI-7] - 12/15/2010
Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29] - 12/15/2010
Rep Schmidt, Jean [OH-2] - 12/15/2010
Rep Sherman, Brad [CA-27] - 12/15/2010
Rep Sires, Albio [NJ-13] - 12/15/2010
Rep Tiberi, Patrick J. [OH-12] - 12/15/2010
Rep Waxman, Henry A. [CA-30] - 12/15/2010
Rep Weiner, Anthony D. [NY-9] - 12/15/2010
Rep Wolf, Frank R. [VA-10] - 12/15/2010
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HE01765:@@@P

H.RES.1765
Latest Title: Supporting a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] (introduced 12/15/2010)
Cosponsors (53)
Related Bills: H.RES.1731, H.RES.1734
Latest Major Action: 12/15/2010 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution Agreed to by voice vote.
Latest Action: 12/15/2010 Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.res.01765:
The Library of Congress > THOMAS Home > Bills, Resolutions >
Bill Summary & Status - 111th Congress (2009 - 2010), H.RES.1765, CRS Summary
Howard L. Berman
California-28th, Democrat
2221 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515-0528
Phone: (202) 225-4695
Committees:
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittees:
Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law (Judiciary
http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mem_contact_info.html
Also http://www.house.gov/berman/


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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]

Touch of the REAL...

Journalists, feminists, progressives…
Beware those who conveniently pretend
Excerpting, editing by Carolyn Bennett

“It is too easy for Western journalists to see humanity in terms of its usefulness to ‘our’ interests and to follow government agendas that ordain good and bad tyrants, worthy and unworthy victims and present ‘our’ policies as always benign when the opposite is usually true. It is the journalist’s job, first of all, to look in the mirror of his own society.” John Pilger

“Rape is being used in the Assange prosecution in the same way that women’s freedom was used to invade Afghanistan.”  Naomi Klein

From Pilger’s Wednesday U.S. v. WikiLeaks-era article “Protect Assange, don’t abuse him”

Back in the day
“Political action had failed and only ‘culture’ and introspection could change the world,” journalist and filmmaker John Pilger writes of an intellectual dictum, a creed that permeated the land forty years ago.

“This merged with an insidious corporate public relations campaign aimed at reclaiming western capitalism from the sense of freedom inspired by the civil rights and anti-war movements,” he writes.

“The new propaganda’s euphemisms were postmodernism, consumerism and ‘me-ism.’ … Driven by the forces of profit and the media, the search for individual consciousness all but overwhelmed the spirit of social justice and internationalism. Proclaimed was a new deity; the personal was the political.…”

Regress
Post-Cold War — “The revival of militarism in the west and the search for a new ‘threat’ following the end of the cold war depended on the political disorientation of those who, 20 years earlier, would have formed a vehement opposition.” On September 11 2001, the nail drove deep into the coffin. Those who would have opposed militarism’s revival “were silenced, finally. Many were co-opted into the ‘war on terror.’”

Fake “feminists”
“The invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001 was supported by leading feminists, especially in the United States, where Hillary Clinton and other false tribunes of feminism made the Taliban’s treatment of Afghan women the rationale for attacking a stricken country and causing the deaths of at least 20,000 people while giving the Taliban new life.

“That the warlords — backed by America were as medievalist as the Taliban — was not allowed to interrupt such a right-on cause.

“… The years of ‘personal’ depoliticizing and distracting true radicalism, had worked. Nine years later, the disaster that is Afghanistan is the consequence.

Rights abolished—slay the messenger
“It seems the lesson must be learned all over again as a group of media feminists joins the assault on Julian Assange and WikiLeaks…. From the Times to the New Statesman, apparent feminist credence is given to the chaotic, incompetent and contradictory accusations against Assange in Sweden…

“The Australian barrister, James Catlin, who acted for Assange in October, says that both women in the case told prosecutors that they consented to have sex with Assange. Following the ‘crime,’ one of the women threw a party in honor of Assange. …

Assange has been charged with nothing. “He has never been a ‘fugitive.’ He sought and got permission to leave Sweden. British police have known his whereabouts since his arrival. [However, this] did not stop a London magistrate on December 7 ignoring seven sureties and sending [Assange] to solitary confinement in Wandsworth Prison.…”

At every turn, there has been a breach of Assange’s basic human rights… “In her public remarks, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has shamefully torn up the presumption of innocence that underpins Australian law. …”

Lone Feminist
However, despite governments’ human rights abuses, “vast numbers of decent people all over the world have rallied to Assange’s support — among them, people who are neither misogynists nor ‘internet attack dogs’ …”  Distinguished feminist Naomi Klein wrote —

“‘Rape is being used in the Assange prosecution in the same way that women’s freedom was used to invade Afghanistan.  

“‘Wake up!’”

Sources and notes
“Protect Assange, don’t abuse him” (John Pilger in New Statesman), December 15, 2010, http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2010/12/women-rights-pilger-assange

John Pilger
World-renowned journalist, author and documentary filmmaker John Pilger began his career in 1958 in his homeland, Australia (moved to London in the 1960s). His work as foreign correspondent and front-line war reporter began in 1967 with the Vietnam War.

Pilger regards eye-witness as the essence of good journalism and is an impassioned critic of foreign military and economic adventures by Western governments.

“It is too easy for Western journalists to see humanity in terms of its usefulness to ‘our’ interests and to follow government agendas that ordain good and bad tyrants, worthy and unworthy victims and present ‘our’ policies as always benign when the opposite is usually true. It is the journalist’s job, first of all, to look in the mirror of his own society.” http://www.johnpilger.com/biography

“John Pilger: ‘The War You Don’t See’” (ITV1, by Jane Simon, Daily Mirror) December 14, 2010,
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv-entertainment/tv/todays-tv/2010/12/14/john-pilger-the-war-you-don-t-see-itv1-10-35pm-115875-22782231/

“Rape is being used in the Assange prosecution in the same way that women’s freedom was used to invade Afghanistan. Wake up! [Naomi Klein, wikilieaks 4:12 AM December 8, 2010 via web, http://twitter.com/NaomiAKlein/statuses/12479573723709440

Naomi Klein
Journalist and syndicated columnist Naomi Klein is author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

“WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange released on bail” Deutsche Welle, December 16, 2010, http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6346863,00.html

Julian Assange was released from jail in London today. British High Court Judge Duncan Ouseley handed down his decision, confirming a lower court’s ruling that the 39-year-old Australian could be freed on 200,000 GBP bail (236,000 euros, $317,000) under strict conditions.”

The WikiLeaks founder is reported saying, “‘I hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal, as we get it, which we have not yet, the evidence from these allegations.’…

“British prosecutors have been trying to keep Assange behind bars until his extradition hearing, arguing that there was a risk he would flee the country. … Assange has been in jail since December 7, after he turned himself in to British police over a Swedish sex crimes warrant. Two women in Sweden, who are WikiLeaks volunteers, have accused him of rape and sexual molestation.” Assange’s release is under strict conditions and until a ruling is made on a Swedish extradition warrant.

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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
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“Criticism is not a crime”—UNHCHR Pillay

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay
Human Rights Day December 10 — Geneva

“Since the United Nations was established over 60 years ago, there have been dramatic advances in crafting and implementing a system of universal human rights – rights which are, under international law, applicable to each and every one of us: old and young, male and female, rich and poor, whoever we are and wherever we are from.

“We owe the progress we have made to the enormous efforts of hundreds of thousands of largely unsung heroes, known collectively as human rights defenders.

“Human rights defenders come from all walks of life, ranging from princesses and politicians, to professionals such as journalists, teachers and doctors, to people with little or no formal education. There are no special qualifications. All it takes is commitment, and courage.

“We can all be human rights defenders, and – given how much we owe to others for the rights many of us now take for granted – we all should be human rights defenders. At the very least, we should do our utmost to support those who do defend human rights.

“Every year, thousands of human rights defenders are harassed, abused, unjustly jailed and murdered. That is why Human Rights Day 2010 is dedicated to Human Rights Defenders and their courageous battle to stop discrimination of all sorts. We need to stand up for their rights as much as they stand up for ours.

“We need to do a much better job of defending our defenders.

“The 21st century is witnessing the emergence of new economic and political forces, which, like others before them, will face the responsibility of promoting development at home and abroad while at the same time being held accountable for their actions. Human rights defenders will play a crucial role in this process, by pointing out flaws and benefits in current and future policies and actions. Yet, despite the benefits they bring to society, in some parts of the world they are facing increased harassment, persecution and restrictions on their activities, especially freedom of speech.

“On this Human Rights Day, I call on Governments to acknowledge that criticism is not a crime, and to release all those people who have been detained for peacefully exercising their fundamental freedoms to defend democratic principles and human rights.”

Source

“Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,” December 10, 2010, http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/2010/pillay.shtml

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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]

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World’s two billion people lack energy

We can and must do better — Greenpeace proposes

“Energy (R)evolution”

“Bringing energy to these parts of the developing world would not only help us address the ongoing issue of poverty but, if done in the right way, we would also be a big step closer to a fairer and more sustainable future. Such a move would also help curb global warming and create millions of new jobs along the way.” Kumi Naidoo

Excerpting and editing by Carolyn Bennett

Under the current system of energy production, distribution and consumption, the world produces “large amounts of energy at a few centralized locations and sends that energy over very long distances to where it is consumed,” Kumi Naidoo writes. “This system is inflexible, often wasteful, and leaves large swathes of the world’s population un-served and without access to any energy.…

“In addition to being centralized geographically, energy production is also centralized in terms of influence with control lying in the hands of a few very powerful energy companies. All too often, these companies operate as monopolies, dictating availability, prices and access.

“Because energy corporations do not cater to the poor, about a third of the world’s population (over 2 billion people) lives with little or no access to reliable energy services.

“… People and organizations have realized that it is in our collective interest as citizens of the world to pursue a green industrial policy. This should start with a re-evaluation of the way we produce and distribute energy.

The Energy (R)evolution calls for decentralized energy, which comes wherever possible from renewable sources such as wind or solar energy and is connected to a local distribution network system. This local “micro-grid” supplies homes and offices, rather than the high voltage transmission system. The scenario would see a huge proportion of global energy produced by such decentralized energy sources – supplemented, as needed, by large offshore wind farms, concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the sunbelt regions of the world, and other renewable sources of energy by 2050. Creating a closer proximity of electricity-generating plants to consumers will allow any waste heat from combustion processes to be piped to nearby buildings, a system known as cogeneration or combined heat and power. This means that nearly all the input energy is finally put to use.

The Energy [R]evolution is a win not just for the environment, but also for local people. Towns, villages and local communities will be empowered to produce, monitor and profit from their own energy thus bypassing major monopolies.

Properly implemented, the Energy (R)evolution would also create millions of new jobs starting with the global power supply sector which could create up to 12.5 million jobs by 2015 (4.5 million more than the current projection). A significantly increased uptake of renewable energy would create over 8 million jobs by 2020 in that sector alone, four times more than today.

“For developing countries this presents a great opportunity to catch up both financially and technologically with the more developed world. By implementing new forms of energy, these countries could leapfrog the era of dirty energy that the world’s developed countries are just emerging from – and move straight to clean and sustainable energy thereby avoiding rising oil prices, dwindling fossil fuel reserves and the ongoing dangers that come with these types of energy.

“The Energy [R]evolution won’t happen by itself. We need governments and industry around the world to implement the right policies to make substantial structural changes in the energy and power sector.…

“We need an international movement of honest men and women that encompasses environmental organizations, trade unions, development organizations and many others who have not actively thought about how the environment touches all of our lives.”

“History teaches us that real change only comes when good men and women are prepared to put their lives and personal safety on the line to advance the cause of justice, equity and peace.”

Sources and notes
“Talking About an Energy and Jobs Revolution” (Kumi Naidoo), December 13, 2010,

http://www.social-europe.eu/2010/12/talking-about-an-energy-and-jobs-revolution/?pfstyle=wp

http://www.social-europe.eu/2010/12/talking-about-an-energy-and-jobs-revolution/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SEJColumns+%28Social+Europe+Journal+%C2%BB+Columns%29

Greenpeace’s proposal for an Energy (R)evolution at www.greenpeace.org/energyrevolution

The column was first published by the Global Labor University

Greenpeace is present in 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific; and has been campaigning against environmental degradation since 1971 when a small boat of volunteers and journalists sailed into Amchitka, an area north of Alaska where the U.S. Government was conducting underground nuclear tests. This tradition of ‘bearing witness’ in a non-violent manner continues today Greenpeace’s and ships are an important part of all our campaign work.

“Greenpeace exists because this fragile earth deserves a voice. It needs solutions. It needs change. It needs action.” Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organization that acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace by—

Catalyzing an energy revolution to address the number one threat facing our planet: climate change

Defending our oceans by challenging wasteful and destructive fishing, and creating a global network of marine reserves
Protecting the world's ancient forests and the animals, plants and people that depend on them
Working for disarmament and peace by tackling the causes of conflict and calling for the elimination of all nuclear weapons
Creating a toxic free future with safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals in today's products and manufacturing
Campaigning for sustainable agriculture by rejecting genetically engineered organisms, protecting biodiversity and encouraging socially responsible farming
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/

Kumi Naidoo (b. 1965) became the Executive Director of Greenpeace International in November 2009 and is recognized internationally as a forceful advocate for gender equity and against gender violence. In 1997, he organized South Africa’s first National Men's March Against Violence on Women and Children. Kumi Naidoo is an active board member of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development.

He has said, “In any platform I am given, whether environmental, NGO law, voluntary organizations, whatever it is, at least 25 percent of my time is directed toward the issue of gender equity…I think it is very important that if you support the notion of democracy, then you must also support gender equity.…

“History teaches us that real change only comes when good men and women are prepared to put their lives and personal safety on the line to advance the cause of justice, equity and peace. I believe today that Greenpeace is the leading organization in embracing that approach.”  http://www.africansuccess.org/visuFiche.php?id=441&lang=en

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