45 children treated for injuries from Russian bombing of Arbin

Injured kids at Arbin hospital after July 23 2017 air strike (SAMS) July 26 2017

Some of the 45 children injured in air strikes last Sunday on Arbin, Syria, designated a ceasefire zone by Russia. They are waiting in hospital to be treated. Five children were killed.

US, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah & all foreign military forces out of Syria. Bombers, special forces, & paramilitary militias have never been freedom fighters & they are decidedly not in Syria.

Out now!

(Tweeted by SAMS‏ @sams_usa)

Russia bombs in Syrian ceasefire zones

Syrian boy after bombing of Arbin (REUTERS:Bassam Khabieh) July 26 2017

A young boy near the rubble of buildings after Russian bombing of Arbin, a town outside Damascus frequently bombed by Assad forces.

Arbin was designated one of four “de-escalation zones” in a deal reached last May between Russia, Iran & Turkey. Within these zones, militias & Assad forces were to maintain a ceasefire, including air strikes, for six months. Russia would continue to fly over the areas but not conduct bombing operations, the Syrian government would allow humanitarian aid into the area without bombing it, & public services like electricity & water would be restored. In the Eastern Ghouta zone where Arbin is located, there are an estimated 690,000 civilians.

Perhaps Russia should explain why it bombed Arbin last Sunday, killing five children & injuring 45 children.

US, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, & all other foreign military forces out of Syria. Out now!

(Photo by Bassam KhabiehReuters)

Landscape of Gaza, July 26, 2014: mountains of rubble from Israeli carpet bombing

July 26 2014 landscape of the Shuja’iyya residential neighborhood in Gaza City ((Photo by Oliver Weiken:EPA)

Landscape of the Shuja’iyya residential neighborhood in Gaza on July 26, 2014 as a result of the Israeli carpet bombing operation that lasted seven weeks from July 8th to August 26th.

Any questions about Israel being the only democracy in the Middle East? Any lingering doubts about Israeli ethnic cleansing & colonialism?

End the occupation. End the blockade of Gaza. Self-determination for Palestine.

(Photo by Oliver Weiken/EPA)

Media bias against Palestinians

Hamas in Gaza (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa:Reuters) July 26 2017

Here we come face to face with the pernicious bias in media against Palestinians. Reuters has photojournalist coverage all over the world, much of it quite powerful. But remarkably, they have almost no reportage on the Israeli siege & occupation of Al Aqsa compound & no photo coverage. Except for this photo which they describe as Hamas militants in Gaza protesting in solidarity with the prayer protesters outside Al Aqsa. Since Gaza is an open air prison they are unable to travel to East Jerusalem to participate in defense of Al Aqsa.

At the sight of these fighters we’re supposed to shudder in fear of Hamas at the gates of Israel & do an obligatory, unsparing denunciation of Hamas ideology. You can stuff that melodrama. Because of the Israeli blockade, Gaza is on the verge of collapse. If there are to be any denunciations, let them be of the barbarous Israeli blockade of Gaza. We may disagree vigorously with the politics of Hamas but Palestinians have a right to defend themselves against ethnic cleansing by any means necessary. Reuters should be all over East Jerusalem documenting the monstrous violence against thousands of unarmed Palestinian protesters & worshippers–not in Gaza at a parade of a handful of fighters without anything close to the military might of Israel, one of the most powerful armies & bomber fleets in the world.

End the occupation. End the blockade of Gaza. Self-determination for Palestine.

(Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

PS: If anyone can find photojournalist coverage by Reuters of the Al Aqsa siege, I would gladly be proven wrong.

On Israeli surveillance cameras in the Al Aqsa compound

It’s worth highlighting this comment by Anne Silver about why Palestinians object to Israeli surveillance cameras within the Al Aqsa compound. Israel has removed the metal detectors but not the cameras. The Jordanian role she refers to is that the Noble Sanctuary is administered by the Jordanian Waqf trust.:

“These cameras will be able to detect faces and identities. This means that Israel is imposing complete control over the al-Haram al-Sharif area. The Jordanian role is being sidelined and the presence of Palestinian guards becomes null, because the real players are going to be those behind the screens watching the cameras,” Khalil Shaheen, a Ramallah-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera.

“There are large numbers of Palestinians who refuse to pay Israeli taxes in Jerusalem, and many from the West Bank who enter Jerusalem on Fridays without permits [illegal under Israeli law], as well as activists and others. For Israel to know who these people are is very dangerous and could harm these Palestinians,” he added. “This is a new form of surveillance and control … Palestinians must reject such measures, because these cameras are more dangerous than the metal detectors.”

Vignette from the life of a Rohingya refugee in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh:

An elderly Rohingya man, formally registered as a refugee with the UNHCR, has been suffering from liver cancer for about two years. His acute pain causes him to scream, making his suffering unbearable for his family to witness. He is not being hospitalized or provided suitable home care treatment because the UNHCR claims there is a budget crisis & providing treatment to an elderly person likely to die soon is not possible.

Stand in solidarity with the Rohingya struggle for human, democratic, citizenship, refugee rights.

Senator McCain, the contemptible putz

McCain the putz (Aaron P. Bernstein:Reuters) July 26 2017

For Senator McCain to drag his bony ass out of a death bed to deprive millions of working people of shoddy healthcare plans makes him not just a putz but an utterly contemptible one. Him, with the best healthcare plan in the world at taxpayer’s expense.

We don’t lower ourselves to his level to wish evil on him. At least not in this world. But when he croaks, let him rot in hell for all eternity. Amen.

(Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters)

Kashmiri tribute to work of Rollie Mukherjee

Came across this Kashmiri tribute to the role of Rollie Mukherjee’s art in building solidarity & educating about the occupation. How the hell I got honorable mention in the article beats me but I am more than honored. Reposting it out of my immense respect for Rollie’s artistic & political work which she combines with a powerful humanity.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/kashmir/portraying-unrest-in-kashmir-through-medium-of-art/223750.html

Imagine coming of age under occupation

Kashmiri throws wooden plant at police & paramilitary men in Srinagar July 25 2017 )Basit Zargar

Srinagar: imagine coming of age under occupation with this measure of conflict & tension, with soldiers–one to every seven Kashmiris–prowling the streets. All they have to do to end it is submit to colonialism, give up all claims to living as a free people, agree to live like whipped puppies under Modi-think & Hindutva nationalism. That’s why the Kashmiri struggle is so important: because they won’t.

The Kashmiri struggle may & certainly a Kashmiri victory would contribute monumentally to the titanic struggles in India against caste oppression, religious persecution & intolerance, the struggle against scorched earth neoliberal economics. That’s why so many of the most powerful voices of solidarity with Kashmiri self-determination are Indians. They understand the dialectical unity between freedom for Kashmir & the struggle against oppression in India.

Long live Kashmiri Intifada. End the occupation. Self-determination for Kashmir.

(Photo by Basit Zargar)