This is not in any way to dismiss the tragedies of Orlando or the Paris bombings last November–because innocent people were involved–but how long do you think before media puts the Istanbul bombing behind us (except for purposes of war-mongering)? If it happens in the US or some parts of Europe, media wants us to mourn for weeks, even months. But in Istanbul & elsewhere, the news cycle lasts a couple days. If that. Some lives are just held of more value.

Affordable, safe childcare is a worldwide urgency for working families

Okhla Station, New Delhi (Shams Qari:Barcroft Images) June 29 2016

This would be every parent’s nightmare: a little girl, who can’t be more than five or six, holding her infant brother only feet from a moving high-speed train. It’s likely she’s been entrusted with his care because their parents work. The Guardian-UK caption read only, “A girl holds her brother while a train passes behind them near Okhla railway station,” in New Delhi, India. Honestly, one would think a little journalistic investigation would be required here.

One can damn parents till the cows come home for being reckless but this is the reality all over the world, not just in India, since childcare is considered solely a parent’s responsibility, private care is costly, family members cannot always provide it–& to eat & have housing, work is essential. Affordable, safe childcare is a primary demand of women’s rights.

These little kids are likely from the community of 20 mostly Dalit & Muslim families (150 people) who live in a slum near the Okhla Railway Station. Close proximity to the railway means they bear the brunt of waste, including human poop, discharged from the trains along with a persistent water stagnation problem in the area due to sewage runoff & lack of sanitation. This causes many health problems but under neoliberal policies there are no public clinics in the district so people have to shell out money for private care.

Maybe if Modi pulled his ass out of his peace asana, ended the military occupation of Kashmir, & stopped buying bombers & military arsenals from the US & Israel, then India would be able to afford sanitation, healthcare, & childcare for working families–& they wouldn’t have to put their little kids in charge of their infants. But such is the price of militarism which the poor of every country bear the brunt.

(Photo by Shams Qari/Barcroft Images)

Ending verbal abuse & bullying: a tutorial from the battlefield

Bullying photo

http://thegirlgod.blogspot.no/2015/09/ending-verbal-abuse-by-mary-scully.html

Recently, someone reminded me of this piece I wrote last year about how to defend ourselves against verbal abuse–which seems to be a hallmark of social media. Women in particular get hammered with it. Either that or we get ignored.

I’m reposting it because I learned the hard way how to ward off abuse. Now that I’m a senior, I would like young people to bypass the difficult learning process, to understand what’s going on in abuse, & learn how to handle it without internalizing or spending years wondering what the hell is wrong with you that others take liberties with your dignity.

My hope is that you will learn from this & let it make you a monster in warding off insults. Once you see that you don’t have to tolerate it, that there are techniques you can develop (in front of a mirror, no less) to stop it, you will love the liberty of holding fast to your dignity.

My beloved friend Trista Hendren reposted it on her blog & I am reposting it from there.

Israeli police create provocation at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound

Palestinian youth with Quran ( REUTERS:Ammar Awad) June 29 2016

Many think the Israeli conflict with Palestinians is inscrutable, even intractable because media coverage is half-assed at best & lying-assed as a norm.

Reuters news service posted this caption, of the half-assed genre, along with this photo: “Masked Palestinians read the Koran before clashes with Israeli police erupted during the holy month of Ramadan near the Dome of the Rock (seen in background) on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary & to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City June 28, 2016. An Israeli police spokesman said that the compound would be closed to visitors, including Jewish visitors, for three days in response to clashes, in which masked Palestinians threw stones at Israeli policemen and some 16 suspects were detained by the police.”

IBTimes posted a series of photos of the same event with reporting of the lying-assed genre: “Violence was witnessed at the holy site back in September. Since then, Palestinian’s have carried out dozens of attacks, including shootings & car ramming assaults, killing 32 Israelis & two visiting Americans. According to AP, 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time, most of which were identified as attackers by Israel.”

Let’s see if the truth can be told in not much more space than all those lies: This is the last ten days of the Muslim holy period of Ramadan. Thousands of worshippers from the West Bank bypassed the apartheid wall & tight security measures imposed by the Israeli military to get to prayer services at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. According to mosque officials, 250,000 Palestinians performed noon prayers on Friday despite Israeli restrictions excluding all males under the age of 45.

According to the director of the mosque, disturbances began on Sunday when Israeli police opened a gate to the Al-Aqsa compound to allow tourists & Israelis to enter the site–even though the agreement governing the mosque excludes non-Muslims from entering the mosque during Ramadan. It didn’t say how many they allowed to enter but in April of this year they pulled the same stunt & allowed over 1,000 to enter. If it isn’t a provocation to parade hundreds of hostile “tourists & Israelis” through the mosque during Ramadan while at the same time excluding Palestinian males from prayer, then what the hell is!?

Palestinians had every right to protest the presence of those provocateurs & of Israeli police–not just because it breached Al-Aqsa regulations but because it was an act of Israeli aggression intended to justify violence against Palestinians. Palestinian medical teams took seven Palestinians to the hospital for treatment of injuries from sponge-tipped bullets, tear gas, & beatings.

The best way to defend Palestinian religious freedom is to honor & build BDS, the economic, cultural, & academic boycott of Israel.

(Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)