Rebuilding the international antiwar movement is the imperative of our era but it is weak, if existent at all, in most countries. However, with the US military buildup against China in the Asia-Pacific region, the big battalions of the antiwar movement in the Philippines & in Japan are leading the way. They are leading the way because US military operations & bases in their countries have created social & cultural havoc for generations of wars.

This is a demonstration in Okinawa yesterday where an estimated 65,000 people protested to demand the US permanently remove its 26,000 troops from the island–that is more than half of the 47,000 US troops & 70 percent of all US bases in Japan. Their placards read, “Our anger is past its limits,” “Pull out the US Marines,” “Don’t rape Okinawa.” Reuters called it “one of the biggest demonstrations in two decades.” There were also an estimated 10,000 protesters in Tokyo, 500 in Sapporo, & 1,000 in Nagoya.

Many Zionists take umbrage at the comparison of Israeli apartheid to German Fascism. Actually just as apt a comparison is to ISIS in Iraq & Syria. Take umbrage if you like, but can you define the operative distinctions? At least in Gaza?

Yesterday, the Israeli government approved $18 million (16 million euros) to fund additional settlements in the occupied West Bank. According to Haaretz newspaper, that amount is in addition to an already allocated $88 million. An estimated 600,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank & East Jerusalem which are Palestinian territories occupied by the Israeli military in 1967.

Netanyahu said the funding was to “assist small businesses, encourage tourism, & strengthen security.” What that boils down to is that Israel is going to strengthen its military occupation to pull off thousands more settlers moving in & taking Palestinian lands against Palestinian resistance.

Fatherhood is problematic under patriarchy & not every man has overcome that impediment to be loving & nurturant with their children. It was considered unmanly to be so.

My father, named Sylvester, was one of the aloof ones. He also worked 12 to 16 hours a day to support 19 kids. I have sweet moments with my dad from childhood but that changed when I came of age & rejected my parent’s conservative views on life.

The thing I am most grateful to him for is his implacable hatred of ridiculing other people, in particular Blacks (who he had grown up near) & undocumented Mexican immigrants (he was also undocumented all of his life).

Obama met with the Dalai Lama for the fourth time last week despite protests from the Chinese government. Media reports about it were a cornucopia of banalities. It was about Obama’s personal affection for the Dalai Lama; it was to accept condolences for the Orlando shootings; it was so Obama could encourage “direct dialogue between the Dalai Lama & his representatives with Chinese authorities to lower tensions & resolve differences.”

Actually, the Dalai Lama has not been the official political leader of Tibetans in exile since he resigned in 2011. A prime minister was then elected in a process the Dalai Lama said would make the government in exile democratic & secular.

As for his spiritual leadership, he is now 80 years old & has to consider who will be chosen as his reincarnation–though the Chinese government is in an imbecilic dispute with him about who he will reincarnate as.

The call for dialogue with the Chinese government is curious–as is the entire US relationship with the Dalai Lama. After a failed uprising against the Chinese in 1959, he fled to India & as political leader of tens of thousands of Tibetans in exile called for Tibetan autonomy, that Tibet be an independent self-governing political entity. But in 1988, he went public in a speech where he accepted that Tibet would remain part of China which would control the political & economic affairs of Tibet while protecting its culture & religion. He reaffirmed that position–which is in fact the formal longstanding position of the US government–in an interview with Fox News last week after meeting with Obama.

There must be more to the story that would explain why the US continues to court the Dalai Lama rather than the prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile. Do they believe he wields such authority that he is indispensable to maintaining the status quo of Chinese control & countering those Tibetans who campaign for independence? And what does the US have at stake in maintaining that status quo?

Why is the Chinese government so incensed at Obama’s meetings with him? In a statement of protest, they said he “has long been engaged in anti-China separatist plots under the cloak of religion.” That’s possible but can they elaborate any? He’s a fairly conservative political thinker & not much threat to the status quo anywhere.

The occupation of Tibet is inextricable to political developments in China as a whole. The evidence is clear that it is not protecting the traditional culture & religion of Tibetans but moving in Chinese immigrants to alter the character. There were anyway problems in the political tradition which included persecution of Muslims.

Tibet is an important question & not just about who reincarnates the Dalai Lama. But to understand it, much of the secrecy & obscurantism will have to be removed from the discussion. If you can tell the political character of people by their associations, Tibetan exiles now dispersed over 30 countries would be wise to question the association of the Dalai Lama with the US government.

(Photo is from June 14th meeting by Pete Souza/The White House)

Ziaur Rahman is a 24-year-old Rohingya refugee & victim of human trafficking. He has now become an advocate for Rohingya human rights against genocide in Myanmar, against human trafficking, against state persecution & incarceration in countries where they sought asylum. It’s been one year since thousands were adrift in the Andaman Sea without food & water. Regimes in the region like Thailand & Indonesia turned them away & regimes around the world didn’t lift a finger to rescue them–some because their navies were occupied in the Mediterranean thwarting African refugees.

Let Zaiur speak on behalf of the Rohingya:
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One year on, no justice for the ‘boat crisis’ survivors & human trafficking victims.

Still survivors are deteriorating in sub-human conditions with constant threat to life & liberty. With no legislation for the protection of boat survivors & kidnapped victims, they are suffering & human rights abuses continue. Governments are failing to protect survivors & UNHCR is failing to register & give protection to the survivors. So many human rights groups have discussed these concerns with EU & US officials as well as other members of the diplomatic community. Still no investigations & no protection for survivors.

Rohingya refugees are being kept in indefinite detention. Hundreds of refugees who survived the 15th May 2015 boat crisis in South East Asia have been locked up in poor conditions in Malaysia ever since. Survivors needs urgent action to stop detaining those out of prison & release detainees from prison & detention camp & start implementing genuine protections & urgent solutions, especially for human trafficking & kidnapped victims.

After harrowing footage of desperate refugees & migrants stranded at sea was beamed around the world last May, Malaysia agreed to accept 1,100 people. Almost 400 of those were identified as Rohingya refugees–people fleeing persecution in Myanmar. One year on, the majority of the Rohingya remain in Malaysia’s Belentik Detention Centre (IDC).

So who is investigating the fate of the boat crisis survivors? Women, men & children fled from persecution in Myanmar only to undergo the horror of being abandoned at sea by the unscrupulous gangs who run the sea routes. Malaysia should have been their place of safety but instead they have spent a year in detention with no end in sight.

The Malaysian government is criminalizing & punishing Rohingya refugees who are most likely victims of human trafficking. I am calling you to take action for the immediate release of the survivors & to work with international partners to ensure they are given the protection they are entitled to under international law.

The 15th May 2015 Andaman Sea ‘boat crisis’ claimed global attention when dozens of boats carrying thousands of desperate people were abandoned at sea & the governments of Thailand, Malaysia & Indonesia refused to allow them to disembark. Malaysia & Indonesia eventually accepted a total of three boats carrying more than 2,900 refugees & migrants. They agreed to provide temporary shelter to the group for a one-year time frame provided they would be resettled or repatriated by the international community within that period. To date, approximately 36 Rohingya refugees from the boat survivors group in Malaysia were resettled to the USA on last 26th May 2016.”

(This is a slightly shortened & edited version of Ziaur’s article.)

(Photo is Rohingya on a drifting boat in the Andaman Sea from a Financial Times article about the crisis & about Ziaur)

“The Frozen Moon” by Rollie Mukherjee: on a full moon night a Kashmiri man rows a boat through Dal Lake in Srinagar with a girl, probably his daughter, crouched behind him & a boat filled with skulls. In the background two women with a child row a boat also filled with skulls. “The moon is cruel & coldly observes the unfolding tragedy.”
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The artist said about this work that it “shows a gruesome reality…that chills ones spine……on the day to day basis Kashmiris are existing by rowing through the misery of death of their dear ones……the coldblooded moon silently witnesses the deaths every night.”

Just watched an old episode of Wonder Woman. Do you think she accomplished so much more for world peace than the rest of us because of that bustier & hot pants?

Apparently some people think Russophobia is a dangerous international problem. Russians are mostly white people, aren’t they? Nobody has to like Russian culture. Most of us don’t know a damn thing about it–except for their remarkable literature & revolution. But there is no possible comparison between the alleged dislike of Russian culture or any other culture & racism against black & brown people which is one of the most destructive political forces in the world.

Just so we’re clear, disagreeing with Putin’s military policies is not a Russophobic reaction. It is an antiwar imperative.

On Tuesday, the US Senate voted 85-13 in favor of a $600 billion defense spending bill called the National Defense Authorization Act. There are several controversial & reactionary provisions in the bill, including prohibiting the closure of Guantanamo. How could US defense appropriations be anything other than reactionary?

Included in the bill–which is far from being law because the House of Representatives has a conflicting defense spending bill–is a provision to require women to register for the draft & would impose the same requirements that now apply to men after they turn 18 years old.