Category Archives: International issues

UCI Suspends Muslim Student Union

Posted on June 20, 2010 by Julie

I’m embarrassed that I didn’t hear about this until last night, especially since my husband attends the very campus in question. (In my defense, I was in the mountains for most of last week.) In response to Muslim students’ protest* … Continue reading →

Posted in Free speech, censorship, copyright law, etc., Palestine & Israel | 26 Comments

A wee bit more on Helen Thomas

Posted on June 15, 2010 by Julie

I’d really rather stop writing about this – I have a post about compost (a com-post?) that’s been sitting on the backburner for about two weeks now – but I’ve been absolutely gobsmacked by the tropes people are pulling out … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues, Palestine & Israel | 4 Comments

Why Does Egypt Support The Gaza Blockade?

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Ampersand

One question I’ve seen come up again and again this week is, why has Egypt’s Mubarak regime been blockading Gaza — an extraordinarily unpopular move not only worldwide, but within Egypt? The best answer I’ve seen comes from Issandr Amrani, … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues, Palestine & Israel | 11 Comments

Some facts that people with an opinion on Israel need to have.

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Julie

The context (via Feministe). 1. Jews have lived continuously in Palestine, in varying numbers, since before the destruction of the second temple. To say that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine” implies that the actions of the Israeli … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, International issues, Jews and Judaism, Palestine & Israel | 44 Comments

Boom Goes the Dynamite

Posted on April 16, 2010 by Jeff Fecke

Humans are everywhere on this planet. We have cities on six continents and outposts on a seventh. We live from the frozen depths of Antarctica and Siberia to the damp, sticky tropics to the middle the desert — and everywhere … Continue reading →

Posted in Environmental issues, In the news, International issues | 3 Comments

Women's Status in Iraq, Before And After

Posted on April 15, 2010 by Ampersand

Interesting article in The Media Line: Houzan Mahmoud, the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq’s representative abroad, agreed that the comparison was problematic. “Both situations are horrible,” she told The Media Line. “Just because we have a terrible situation at … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, sexism, etc, Iraq | 2 Comments

This is what war looks like: leaked footage of Iraquis and Reuters employees being massacred

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Ampersand

From a US Army press release, July 13, 2007: Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, both operating in eastern Baghdad under the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, along with … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, Media criticism | 38 Comments

500 Massacred in Nigeria are Victims of Religious Violence

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

From ABC News: The killers showed no mercy: They didn’t spare women and children, or even a 4-day-old baby, from their machetes. On Monday, Nigerian women wailed in the streets as a dump truck carried dozens of bodies past burned-out … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, In the news, International issues | 14 Comments

Thousands Protest Settlers In Jerusalem

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Ampersand

For me, this was the most exciting news all week. The Magnes Zionist describes the scene: Around five thousand demonstrators protested the eviction of Arab families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem and the settlement … Continue reading →

Posted in Palestine & Israel | 3 Comments

Bigotry, Thy Name is Marty Peretz

Posted on March 6, 2010 by Jeff Fecke

Glenn Greenwald is right. This pro-Iraq War column by Marty Peretz is not only wrong, but it contains an unbelievably racist statement: There were moments–long moments–during the Iraq war when I had my doubts. Even deep doubts. Frankly, I couldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues, Iraq | 39 Comments