Archive for July 4th, 2015

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04/07/2015

The Second Battle of Trafalgar

Human Wrongs Watch

By Uri Avnery*

4 July 2015

A MIGHTY naval battle took place this week on the waves of the Mediterranean. It will go down in history as the equal of Salamis or Trafalgar.

Uri Avnery

Uri Avnery

In a daring move, the navy of the State of Israel intercepted the enemy, consisting of the trawler Marianne and the 18 people aboard. Israel naval commandos captured the ship and towed it to the harbor of Ashdod.

The admiral who commanded this glorious action has so far modestly remained anonymous.

Therefore we cannot honor him with a column in the center of Tel Aviv, like Admiral Horatio Nelson’s column in London’s Trafalgar Square. Pity.

However, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lauded the courage of the victors in glowing terms, expressing the gratitude and admiration of the nation for their gallant deed.

I WOULD continue in this vein, but even sarcasm has its limits.

The whole affair was a masterpiece of stupidity.

Five years ago, several boats tried to reach Gaza, as a symbolic act of support for the beleaguered enclave, and were let through by the Israeli navy. No one mentioned them again.

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Posted in Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

04/07/2015

Southeast Asia Sets Up a Task Force and Trust Fund to Respond to the Tragedy of Muslim ‘Boat People’

Human Wrongs Watch

The United Nations refugee agency on 3 July 2015 welcomed proposals by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to set up a task force and trust fund to respond to the irregular movement of refugees and migrants in the region.

Fishing boats head out into the Bay of Bengal. UNHCR fears thousands could be stranded on smugglers’ boats between the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca and in need of rescue. Photo: UNHCR/S. H. Omi

Fishing boats head out into the Bay of Bengal. UNHCR fears thousands could be stranded on smugglers’ boats between the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca and in need of rescue. Photo: UNHCR/S. H. Omi

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), recommendations were made during yesterday’s Emergency ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on “Transnational Crime Concerning Irregular Movement of Persons in Southeast Asia” held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – the latest in a series of regional meetings to respond to the “boat crisis” that has seen thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals stranded at sea in May this year.

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Posted in Asia, Market Lords, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

04/07/2015

Rumbles of Military Coup as Greek Workers Demand End to EU Austerity

Human Wrongs Watch

By Alex Lantier*

4 July 2015 (WSWS) – Hours before anti-austerity demonstrators flooded the streets of central Athens on Friday, a number of retired Greek military officers publicly called for a “yes” vote in Sunday’s referendum on the European Union’s demands, defying Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s call for a “no” vote.

**Photo: 3 July 2015: Demonstration for voting NO in front of the Greek parliament, Syntagma Square, Athens. | Author: Ggia | Wikimedia Commons

**Photo: 3 July 2015: Demonstration for voting NO in front of the Greek parliament, Syntagma Square, Athens. | Author: Ggia | Wikimedia Commons

The contrast between masses of workers denouncing EU austerity and the pronouncements of prominent military figures could not have been starker.

Retired General Fragkoulis Fragkos, a former defense minister and one-time head of the Greek army general staff, called for a “loud yes on Sunday.” In 2011, Fragkos was cashiered by then-Prime Minister George Papandreou amid rumors of a coup.

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Posted in Market Lords, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

04/07/2015

Will the Real Issues Be Discussed in 2016?

Human Wrongs Watch

By John Scales Avery*

4 July 2015 – In the United States, campaigns for the presidential election of 2016 have already begun. This might be an occasion for a realistic discussion of the enormously important challenges which we now face, not only in the America, but also throughout the world. But will the central issues be discussed? Or will the campaigns focus on personalities and trivia?

**Map showing where natural disasters caused/aggravated by global warming may occur. | Author: KVDP | Wikimedia Commons

**Map showing where natural disasters caused/aggravated by global warming may occur. | Author: KVDP | Wikimedia Commons

Most thoughtful people agree that the two most important issues facing humanity today are the threat of catastrophic and uncontrollable climate change, and the threat of nuclear war. Each of these threatened disasters has the potential to destroy human civilization and much of the biosphere.

But will these vitally important issues be discussed in an honest way? Or will the campaign spectacle presented to us by the mass media be washed down into the murky depths of stupidity by rivers of money from the fossil fuel giants and the military industrial complex?

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Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | 1 Comment »

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