Feature Archives

On November 18th, US citizen and activist Darlene Wallach, along with a British citizen and an Italian, was detained with 15 Palestinian fisherman by the Israeli Navy. The group was fishing seven miles off the coast of Deir Al Balah. The US and European citizens, who are human rights observers, were kidnapped with the Palestinians by the Israeli Navy, despite the fact that they were clearly in Gaza fishing waters and well within the fishing limit detailed in the Oslo Accords of 1994.

On November 2, Hebrew University student Ali Bahar was detained for three hours after refusing to shake hands with Israeli president Shimon Peres. Upon approaching Bahar, the student refused to shake Peres' hand and stated "I will not shake hands with murderer of kids." Immediately following the encounter, Bahar was detained by university security personnel and his student ID was confiscated.

Monday October 27th was the first day of a landmark jury trial against Chevron in San Francisco. A protest took place Monday afternoon at the Chevron gas station at the corner of 9th and Howard in San Francisco in solidarity with Nigerian plaintiffs who were in Federal court nearby. Chevron has been charged with gross human rights abuses associated with its oil production activities in Nigeria. The lawsuits are based on a 1998 incident in which Nigerian soldiers shot nonviolent protesters at Chevron’s Parabe offshore platform.

For almost two months, the teachers union in the Mexican state of Morelos rose up against the "Alliance for Quality Education", a neo-liberal plan akin to "No Child Left Behind" that would pave the way to the privatization of education, among other things. They were supported by the people of Morelos in their marches, encampments in public plazas, and blockades of interstate highways. On October 7, 8, and 9, the army and state and federal police were sent in to brutally smash the movement.

On September 15th, the Israeli police started an investigation into whether an anti-military organization has violated the law by providing information to teens on how to avoid military service. The investigation was called by Israel’s Military Advocate General, Avichai Mendelblit, who also recommended prosecuting Mohammad Bakri, the maker of “Jenin Jenin” for libel. A few weeks later, Mendeblit was ordered by the Israeli High Court to reconsider a decision to give a light sentence to a General and a soldier who participated in shooting a bound Palestinian.

The Director General of Police of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Vishwa Ranjan, faced intense questioning at a Conference on Indian Democracy: Justice and the Law held at the University of California, Berkeley. He admitted that arresting documentary filmmaker Ajay T.G. may have been a “mistake,” and signed a postcard supporting the release of imprisoned civil rights leader Dr. Binayak Sen.

The subprime mortgage crisis has combined with the deregulation of the financial systems and new financial instruments called credit default swaps to cause an international crisis in the capitalist system. As everyone tries to turn their money into cash and nobody knows which company will go under next, banks are unwilling to loan and stock markets around the world are crashing.