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Tuesday, 01 June 2010 11:18 |
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Tuesday, 01 June 2010 11:27 |
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In the early afternoon of Monday the 31st of July (New Zealand time) Israeli troops attacked the first of a flotilla of ships from all around the world trying to bring aid to the beseiged people gaza, dubbed the "Freedom Flotilla". Details have been sketchy, largely due to a massive PR campaign by the Israeli state designed to obscure the truth, but a few things are known for certain. As the flotilla of aid workers, human rights and Palestinian activists as well as journalists and reporters approached Gaza, the lead ship - the Mavi Marmara - was hailed by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) troops, and when they freely admitted that they were intending to deliver 10,000 tonnes of aid to the people of Gaza they had their communications cut off and were boarded. Despite the fact that Turkish port authorities (who oversaw the loading of the Mavi Marmara) insist that there were no weapons on board, Al Jazeera journalists on the Mavi Marmara reported that the IDF troops opened fire on the passengers of the ship more or less as soon as they stepped on board.
At least 20 of the passengers are believed to be dead (though the names have yet to be released) and dozens of others were injured.
These ships were in international waters, 65 kilometers off the Gaza coast. They were flying their sovereign flags, and were not breaching any law, international or otherwise. Attacking a sovereign vessel in international waters is called piracy. |
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Sunday, 30 May 2010 11:08 |
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By Walden Bello
May 25, 2010 -- Nearly a week after the event, Thailand is still stunned by the military assault on the Red Shirt encampment in the tourist centre of the capital city of Bangkok on May 19. The Thai government is treating captured Red Shirt leaders and militants like they're from an occupied country. No doubt about it: A state of civil war exists in this country, and civil wars are never pretty.
The last few weeks have hardened the Bangkok middle class in its view that the Red Shirts are "terrorists" in the pocket of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. At the same time, they have convinced the lower classes that their electoral majority counts for nothing. "Pro-Thaksin" versus "Anti-Thaksin": This simplified discourse actually veils what is — to borrow Mao's words — a class war with Thai characteristics.
Epic tragedy
No doubt there will be stories told about the eight weeks of the "Bangkok Commune". As in all epic tragedies, truth will be entangled with myth. But one thing will be clear: The government's decision to order the Thai military against civilian protesters can never be justified.
The casualties are still being counted. Government sources say some 52 people were killed in the week ending on May 19. Bodies are, however, still turning up, including about nine that rescue workers discovered at the massive Central World shopping mall at the Rajprasong Intersection, which was torched by protesters. The final count is likely to be much higher. One soldier, for instance, claims to have counted 25 dead bodies on May 20, as he went with his unit on a room-to-room operation to flush out suspected Red Shirt protesters in the Siam Square area. |
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Thursday, 27 May 2010 04:25 |
Analysis: Antonis Davenellos
February 10, 2010
Sweeping budget cuts by the Greek government have provoked a fightback by labor unions and students. Tax collectors have already called a 48-hour strike, to be followed by a strike by all public sector workers set for February 10, even as the government demands a 5.5 percent wage cut for public employees. The national trade union federation has called a general strike for February 24.
But the far right is mobilizing, too. Hundreds of neo-Nazis, who have escalated physical assaults on immigrants in recent months, rallied in Athens February 6 to protest a proposed law that would grant citizenship to Greek-born children of immigrants.
Antonis Davenellos, a member of International Workers Left (DEA) in Athens, looks at the background to Greece's economic and political crisis.
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Thursday, 27 May 2010 02:58 |
The crisis that nearly led to the collapse of the Euro underlines the fragility of the economic system. The eurozone states have put up 500 billion euros to bail out crisis-ridden economies.
This shows the deep structural difficulties that exist and equals the biggest bailout since the collapse of Lehman brothers in 2008.
The eurozone states have also asked the IMF for a 250 billion euro loan facility. Headlines across Europe were about rescuing the Greek economy. But there is a much deeper issue—the survival of Europe’s banking system
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