ANALYSIS: The Victim that is Israel

Amid the continuing fallout over the deadly confrontation on the Gaza aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, there is a critical historical lesson: There is only one real victim, and that is Israel. Read more »

From the IndyBlog

National

• The Gulf Disaster: No End in Sight
  By Brian Marks, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill has again focused the nation on southern Louisiana. For the second time in less than five years, we are on the front pages of U.S. newspapers. And again, this region is terribly misunderstood. (4 comments)
• Cultural Extinction: Fear of No Recovery in the Gulf
  By Jordan Flaherty, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  As BP’s deepwater well continues to discharge oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the economic and public health effects are already being felt across coastal communities. But it is likely this is only the beginning. (0 comments)
• EXCLUSIVE: Illustrating the Crash: New book shows how we got into the Great Recession … and how we can get out of it.
  By Seth Tobocman, Eric Laursen and Jessica Wehrle, in the Jun 2, 2010 issue
  When the end of the housing bubble sent Wall Street into a nosedive, it created a disastrous economic downturn that the rest of us are still struggling to survive. Two years later, Congress is trying — and failing — to pass a financial reform to stop the lending practices that led to the bubble and put the banking behemoths that speculated on it on a tight leash. (0 comments)
• ANALYSIS: Finance Bill Misses the Mark: We need to restructure Wall Street, not just regulate it
  By Robert Reich, in the Jun 2, 2010 issue
  The most important thing to know about the 1,500-page financial reform bill passed by the U.S. Senate on May 20 — now on the way to being reconciled with the House bill — is that it is regulatory. It does nothing to change the structure of Wall Street. (1 comment)
• Arizona Heats Up National Immigration Debate
  By Randall Amster, in the May 12, 2010 issue
  If you’re reading this from outside Arizona, you may be wondering what the heck is going on here. The political process in the desert has gone completely haywire, resulting in the adoption of openly racist laws, dehumanizing police practices and legalized harassment of marginalized groups, all in the name of deterring undocumented immigration. (16 comments)
• When an Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Harm
  By Laura S. Boylan, in the May 12, 2010 issue
  Preventive medicine is widely considered a panacea for all that ails both the body and the healthcare system. But sometimes an ounce of alleged prevention can lead to a pound of real harm. (2 comments)
• Banker Haters: What our anger reveals about us
  By Graham Parsons, in the May 12, 2010 issue
  Everyone is down on Goldman Sachs. The recent New York Post headline said it all: “Sachs of Sh*%t!” As a teacher of business ethics, I am most curious about the reasons for our anger and what they say about our visions of a just economy. Ultimately, I see our anger as an expression of what Americans are not typically thought to embrace: collectivism. Here’s why. (3 comments)
• Baseball Strikes Out in Arizona
  By Dave Zirin, in the May 12, 2010 issue
  “If you are upset with Arizona’s immigrant laws, please don’t take it out on Major League Baseball! Sports and politics do not mix!” (0 comments)
• Reclaiming Earth Day: With Climate Chaos on the Horizon, the Environmental Movement Needs Traction
  By Brian Tokar, in the Apr 21, 2010 issue
  On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day April 22, many seasoned environmentalists are left wondering how, in recent decades, so little has actually been accomplished. (2 comments)

Local

• Students Win Last Chance for Diploma
  By Jaisal Noor, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  Samuel J. Tilden High School, one of the last schools in Brooklyn to offer bilingual instruction in Haitian Creole and English, will close its doors this summer despite more than three years of struggle by a coalition of community advocates against the city’s Department of Education. (0 comments)
• Flotilla Attack Fuels Movement Targeting Israel
  By Alex Kane, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  As Israel continues to deal with the international condemnation of its May 31 raid on an aid flotilla trying to break the Gaza blockade, Palestine solidarity groups in New York City have mobilized thousands of people to participate in protests... (1 comment)
• INTERVIEW: Getting Real on Food with Jen Griffith
  By Elizabeth Gyori, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  As local greenmarkets are bursting with fresh food from farms in the tri-state area, The Indypendent’s Elizabeth Gyori caught up with Jen Griffith, the farm network coordinator for Just Food, an organization that helps connect New York City residents to our local farmers. (0 comments)
• Out on the Streets: Understanding the Section 8 Housing Crisis
  By Mary Williams, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  As summer begins, thousands of families throughout New York City may soon have to choose between the shelter system and the streets. (1 comment)
• Ticket to Ride: Students Win MetroCard Fight
  By Jaisal Noor, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  Students scored a major victory June 18 when state lawmakers agreed to continue funding free and reduced-fare MetroCards. (3 comments)
• Community Calendar
  By Indypendent Staff, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  (0 comments)
• Reader Comments
  By Indypendent Staff, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  (1 comment)
• Activists Recount Events on the Mavi Marmara
  By Ellen Davidson, in the Dec 31, 1969 issue
  By Ellen Davidson A near-capacity crowd packed House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn June 17 to hear speakers from the MV Mavi Marmara, the Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza that was boarded by Israeli commandos May 31. Nine passengers were killed and dozens wounded in the raid. Counterdemonstrator at June 17 Gaza Freedom Flotilla [...] (2 comments)
• Palestine Solidarity: One Woman’s Journey
  By Alex Kane, in the Jun 2, 2010 issue
  Last New Year’s Eve, Debbie Mardon did not celebrate with noise makers or confetti — instead, she headed to Cairo’s main square to participate in the Gaza Freedom March with her daughter Jenna Bitar, 18, and son Joel, 23. (3 comments)

International

• Africa News Briefs from Global Information Network
  By Lisa Vives, in the Dec 31, 1969 issue
  SUPREME COURT VICTORY FOR NIGERIAN FAMILIES IN DRUG SUIT Nigerian families got the go-ahead this week from the U.S. Supreme Court to sue the drug company Pfizer for carrying out an illegal trial of a new antibiotic on their children that produced fatalities. The families say Pfizer did not get the proper consent to test the drug [...] (0 comments)
• Honduras on the March
  By Chris Thomas, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras—On June 28 of last year, soldiers burst into the Honduran presidential palace in the middle of the night, put Manuel Zelaya, the country’s leftleaning, democratically elected president, on an airplane and exiled him to Costa Rica. (0 comments)
• ANALYSIS: The Victim that is Israel
  By Arun Gupta, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  Amid the continuing fallout over the deadly confrontation on the Gaza aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, there is a critical historical lesson: There is only one real victim, and that is Israel. (4 comments)
• Activists Recount Events on the Mavi Marmara
  By Ellen Davidson, in the Dec 31, 1969 issue
  By Ellen Davidson A near-capacity crowd packed House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn June 17 to hear speakers from the MV Mavi Marmara, the Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza that was boarded by Israeli commandos May 31. Nine passengers were killed and dozens wounded in the raid. Counterdemonstrator at June 17 Gaza Freedom Flotilla [...] (2 comments)
• ‘Soldiers Were Opening Fire’: An Account of the Flotilla Attack
  By Indypendent Staff, in the Jun 2, 2010 issue
  On May 30, Israeli commandos stormed an unarmed flotilla of a half-dozen ships bringing humanitarian supplies to the people of the Gaza Strip. At least nine activists are reported to have been killed and dozens more injured when Israeli troops opened fire on the passengers of one of the six ships. (1 comment)
• Showdown in the Himalayas
  By Jed Brandt, in the May 12, 2010 issue
  A nation of 28 million people, Nepal is in the middle of a tense standoff between a revolutionary movement and a weakened regime — and the moment of truth is fast approaching. Two power structures are at loggerheads in Nepal. One just finished filling the streets of the capital city with a massive civil uprising marked by both discipline and revelry. The other is backed by the rifles of the Nepalese Army and the heavy weight of feudal tradition. (7 comments)
• The Climate Justice Groundswell From Copenhagen to Cochabamba to Cancun
  By Karah Woodward, in the May 12, 2010 issue
  TIQUIPAYA, Bolivia — Bolivian President Evo Morales spoke for many developing nations last December when he rejected the United Nation’s Copenhagen Accord as “an agreement reached between the world’s biggest polluters that is based on the exclusion of the very countries, communities and peoples who will suffer most from the consequences of climate change.” (6 comments)
• The Dusty Road to a Socialist State
  By Alex van Schaick, in the May 12, 2010 issue
  TOTORCAHUA, Bolivia—Ten minutes down a dusty dirt road from the World Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change, Don Cristobal points to a plot of wilted corn on the same land his grandparents tended. (1 comment)
• Meltdown Greek Style
  By Costas Panayotakis, in the Apr 21, 2010 issue
  As a Greek teaching at the City University of New York, I can’t help but notice the parallels between brutal budget cuts in Greece and the impact of the economic crisis in the United States. Economic and political leaders around the world are bent on resolving the latest capitalist crisis by shifting the burden onto those least responsible for its eruption. One of the most recent examples is on display in Greece, where cutbacks amid an economic meltdown have met widespread resistance. (0 comments)

Culture

• Take Back the Summer: The Indypendent’s Summer Culture Guide
  By Kate Perkins, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  The nonprofit urban environmentalist organization Shorewalkers has been instrumental in preserving and promoting New York and New Jersey’s public parks, shorelines and riverfronts. (1 comment)
• Take Back the Summer: Summer Lit Picks
  By Indypendent Staff, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  It’s hard to come by a political optimism that isn’t served up with winking campaign propaganda or tone-deaf idealism, but two recently published books that survey the dark developments of our time through the eyes of preeminent intellectuals read like affirming challenges to forge a better world. (0 comments)
• Take Back the Summer: Stage, Screen and Rooftop: Film and Comedy
  By Indypendent Staff, in the Jun 23, 2010 issue
  For city dwellers in summertime, movie theaters are the ultimate indoor oasis. Dark and cool, they save us from New York’s humidity, noise and crowds — and there are plenty of non-blockbuster movie venues to counter the worst effects of summer. These are highlights from their summer programming. (0 comments)
• Iranian Protest Music Keeps Struggle Alive
  By Bryan Farrell, in the Dec 31, 1969 issue
  The New York Times ran an interesting piece about the power of protest music in Iran earlier this week, saying: Since the Iranian authorities have cracked down on the demonstrations that rocked the country after a disputed election a year ago, a flood of protest music has rushed in to comfort and inspire the opposition. If [...] (0 comments)
• INTERVIEW with ‘Green Gone Wrong’ Author Heather Rogers
  By Irina Ivanova, in the Jun 2, 2010 issue
  If you’ve ever taken comfort in buying “certified fair trade” instead of just organic, or optimistic about driving a fully electric vehicle within the next five years, you’ll have to think again. (0 comments)
• ‘Undercurrents’ Makes an Ecological Museum of New York City
  By Mike Newton, in the Jun 2, 2010 issue
  Poor George. Lonesome George, the subject of a video installation by Rachel Berwick: he’s a 90-year-old tortoise from the Galápagos Islands who, thanks to some overeager biologists, is now the last surviving member of his subspecies. That’s how it is to think about ecosystems in 2010 — you have to consider The End. (0 comments)
• ESSAY: A Look at Art and Public Pedagogy in New York City
  By Mimi Luse, in the Jun 2, 2010 issue
  In the late 1990s, an art movement called relational aesthetics undertook, according to theoretician Nicholas Bourriaud, to put art to work. The idea was that art-making would be a socially progressive act, repairing the social gaps identified by Robert Putnam in Bowling Alone: the fragmenting of community, the demise of collaboration and so on. (3 comments)
• Take it to the Streets: A Review of Street Art from City Walls to the Silver Screen
  By Arturo Conde, in the Jun 2, 2010 issue
  For the most part, Exit Through the Gift Shop follows Thierry Guetta, a French amateur cameraman with long sideburns that merge with his mustache from under a fedora. The owner of a vintage clothing shop in Los Angeles, Guetta is an obsessive recorder who shoots practically every moment of his life on video, collecting tape after tape, without ever watching them. (0 comments)
• Common Narrative: Molly Reed Discusses her Audio Archiving Project
  By Molly Reed, in the May 12, 2010 issue
  I’ve always romanticized the notion of history represented by dusty stacks and rare archives, and last summer I decided to produce an audio collection of my grandfather’s small, but precious, library of pre-modern poetry and classic literature. (0 comments)