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Targeted for protesting Israel

This story first appeared in the 22 June 2010 edition of Socialist Worker. The Electronic Intifada ran a more in-depth account of the controversy on 14 July 2010.

ACTIVISTS ARE outraged after administrators at the University California (UC) Irvine announced plans to suspend the Muslim Student Union (MSU) for a whole year starting in September because students protested Israel's ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren.

The Law School and Political Science Department cosponsored an event February 8 in which Oren spoke on the recent findings of the UN Human Rights Commission's fact-finding mission to Gaza. Oren maintains that the Israeli Defense Forces' 2008/2009 invasion of Gaza was justified and the IDF acted appropriately in all its operations.

OECD Rewards Israel's Occupation

This story first appeared in the 20 May 2010 edition of Socialist Worker and the 21 May 2010 edition of The Palestine Chronicle.

By Brian Napoletano – Paris

The governments of the 31 member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) all agreed on May 10 that Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, its institutionalized discrimination against non-Jewish citizens, and its multiple alleged war crimes will not disqualify the state from joining the ranks of the world's strongest economic powers.

Evan Bayh gets something right

I was not particularly distraught when I learned that US Senator Evan Bayh, a Democrat from Indiana, will not be seeking a third term in the upcoming elections. What most pundits call his "bipartisanship" is largely a product of the cynical view of government spending that he shares with most Republicans, whereby the investment of public funds in helpful social programs like Medicare and welfare is frowned upon, but wasteful military spending and large subsidies to private corporations is applauded. During his tenure in the Senate, Bayh has backed some of the Republicans' worst initiatives and has repeatedly blocked or undermined efforts to implement genuinely beneficial initiatives that the public supports, such as a single-payer health plan and many of the useful features of Obama's economic stimulus plan. That said, the exception that Bayh has taken with the Supreme Court's idiotic ruling on 21 January 2010 is, however, a sentiment I share with the Senator, and his recent initiative to introduce some minor reforms to the nightmare that political campaigns have become is a step in the right direction.

A setback for Internet freedom

This story first appeared in the 19 April 2010 edition of Socialist Worker.

A FEDERAL court declared unanimously April 6 that media corporations--and not the public--can dictate who uses the Internet and what they use it for.

Unless the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decides to reclassify the broadband Internet access industry from an "information service" to a "telecommunications service," the court's 3-0 ruling could block the government agency from preventing Internet service providers (ISPs) from barring access to certain Web sites or Internet services.

Strike threat wins new contract

This story first appeared in the 12 April 2010 issue of Socialist Worker.

GRADUATE STUDENT employees at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) won a new contract following a threat by the 1,400-member union to go on strike if its demands, particularly around tuition waivers and differentials, weren’t met by university officials.

The tentative agreement was hammered out during a 13-hour marathon bargaining session that began as supporters of the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) at UIC rallied on campus on April 5.The union was able to gain stronger language securing tuition waivers for graduate employees, an increase in the minimum stipend for the next two years, and more money from the university for health insurance.

Has the Occupation Finally Reached a Turning Point?

A Review of Norman Finkelstein's "'This Time We Went Too Far': Truth & Consequences of the Gaza Invasion"

'This Time We Went Too Far': Truth & Consequences of the Gaza Invasion
Norman G. Finkelstein
OR Books, 2010
204 pages · $20

The title of Norman Finklestein's latest book on the Israeli occupation of Palestine is a direct quote from a column written by Haaretz's Gideon Levy regarding the international community's response to Israel's brutal assault on Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. The implicit argument in Levy's column is also the central theme of Finkelstein's book: the worldwide public response to Israel's massacre of 1,400 Palestinians, 800 of whom were civilians and 400 of whom were women and children, in “Operation Cast Lead” marks a turning point away from unconditional approbation of Israel's occupation of Palestine. Prior to the massacre in Gaza, politicians and media spokespersons had been largely successful at silencing or marginalizing any criticism of Israel's militarism and of US backing for it. While the political and media establishments were still quick to rush to Israel's defense this time, they were unable to keep all criticisms out of the mainstream debate, particularly when the United Nations Human Rights Council commissioned Justice Richard Goldstone, a liberal Zionist, and a team of investigators to determine whether the laws of war were violated in Israel's assault. In “'This Time We Went Too Far,'” Professor Finkelstein examines what prompted Israel to subject a defenseless population to “22 days of death and destruction” (to quote the title of Amnesty International's first report on the assault) and how Israel's failure to silence the international outcry raises the possibility of reaching a viable solution that allows everyone to enjoy peace, security, and human dignity.

Who will be the first to land the job the actaully want?

A Request for Clarification on the Goldstone Report

Five months have passed since Justice Richard Goldstone et al. submitted their report on the UN fact-finding mission's investigation into the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip. Shortly after it was submitted, the Obama administration claimed that the report was "deeply flawed" and unduly critical of Israel, and the US ambassador to the UN voted against the Resolution in the United Nations General Assembly. Despite the serious nature of these allegations, the Obama administration has not offered any objective evidence or analysis to substantiate them.

Google Notebook's Early Retirement

Sadly, everyone's favorite search engine and web application provider, Google, has decided to discontinue development of its Notebook utility. I discovered this when I finally decided to upgrade my Inspiron from Ubuntu's Jaunty Jackalope to Karmic Koala 1, and found that no Notebook extension exists for Firefox 3.5. While the developers at Google don't offer any explanation as to why they decided to discontinue development, the advice they offer seems to suggest that they consider much of its functionality redundant with other services that they offer. Once I learned that Notebook would be retired, I began researching the alternatives discussed below.

  1. 1. Despite my faith in the Ubuntu development team, the issues I encountered when going from Hardy to Intrepid have turned me into something of a late adopter when it comes to the latest releases. Much of this hesitation stems from the knowledge that my computer has reached the technological equivalent to middle age.

To the White House: Do not recognize the 29 November elections in Honduras

The climate of repression that dominated the elections held in Honduras on 29 November has exacerbated, rather than resolved, the threat that the June coup d'état represents to democracy in Latin America. Recognizing these corrupt elections will do nothing but further undermine the credibility of the U.S. government in a region where it has historically been a threat to democracy and national sovereignty.

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