Yash Tandon
Pambazuka News
2010-01-28, Issue 467
Haiti is a tragedy for us all. It is a tragedy for you and me. It is a tragedy for Africa, for the poor countries of Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. An earthquake is a global phenomenon, it can happen anywhere. It can happen in the US, in Europe and in Japan. So why then is it so destructive in its effects in the countries of the South? It is because of the failure of development. Haiti is a microcosm of the disastrous outcome of the failed so-called ‘development’ policies of the last thirty years in the South, and the destructive effects of foreign interventionist policies in the affairs of the poor countries of the South – from Somalia to Bangladesh to Haiti.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected president, in his passionate book, The Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization gives a graphic account of what happens when local economies and local initiatives of a poor country like Haiti are subordinated to the will of global finance and corporate power masked by the ideologies of ‘free trade’ and ‘development aid’. ‘In a world oriented only toward profit, it may be difficult for us to hear God’s voice among the din and the racket of the moneychangers who have filled the world’s temples’, he writes.
He describes how he had to wrestle with his heart and mind to resist the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) that was being forced on him as a condition for donor aid. When he remained faithful to his heart and mind, he was forced out of power. The government that replaced him relented to the pressure of the donors and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank (WB). In 2004 in what he described as his ‘kidnapping’ with the connivance of France and the US, he was forced into exile. He was unceremoniously transported first to Jamaica and then, eventually, to South Africa.
[Read the article]
Former prime minister accused of ‘not facing up to facts’ as he gives evidence to Chilcot inquiry
Paul Lewis and Vikram Dodd, guardian.co.uk, 29 January 2010
[Highlights from Tony Blair's evidence to the Iraq inquiry - video]
The families of British military personnel killed in Iraq condemned Tony Blair’s performance before the Chilcot inquiry today, accusing him of being disrespectful.
[Read the report]
Related:
STOP THE WAR COALITION
Web: http://stopwar.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk
UPDATE: BLAIR INQUIRY PROTEST
People are coming from across Britain for the protest outside the Iraq inquiry when Blair gives evidence on 29 January.
29 January 2010
MAP is pleased to present a series of films that will be launched over the course of 2010. We look to highlight not only our work but also the challenges faced by average Palestinian mothers, fathers and children living under occupation or as refugees. Our first film examines the lives of Palestinians a year on from the Israeli attack on Gaza.
[Read more]
Mazin Qumsiyeh
21 January 2010
I entered Jerusalem through the apartheid wall yesterday without using the temporary “Israeli permit” that was issued to me (and that expired yesterday). My family had applied for me and many others through our church for the Eastern Christian Holidays. Yet, those who could enter like I did (with or without permits) are a tiny fraction of the Palestinian population. I have not been in Jerusalem in nearly four years due to Israeli restrictions.
Continue reading ‘Mazin Qumsiyeh: Entering Jerusalem’
TEN THESES ON THE PROLIFERATION OF NEO-PRIMITIVES
1
Human beings look for the easiest solution to any problem they may face. This is as true for the problem of abolishing class society as it is for the problem of securing food, clothing, shelter, etc. Since what appears at first glance to be the “easiest” solution is usually so badly misleading as to be useless, it often takes a long time before people give up the “easy” answer and begin to make real process in solving their problems.
2
The “easiest solution” to all human problems was summed up by Walt Disney: “wishing will make it so:” This answer requires no physical and very little mental work. Anyone can do it in their spare time. Whether you use it to invent Gods and Devils or to explain how class society will be overthrown, it remains equally useful and always available. Of course, it does have one tiny little shortcoming. it doesn’t work.
[Read more]
Editorial by Kevin Pina, Haiti Information Project
Haiti is facing one of its most severe challenges after a large earthquake rocked the capital yesterday destroying most government buildings and killing possibly thousands. Now more than ever the people of Haiti need hope for the future and, as Haiti’s ambassador to Washington, Raymond Joseph, said yesterday on CNN, “We need unity to meet the challenge of this crisis.”
That unity must reach beyond the nasty and vindictive politics that have divided this tiny nation since the ouster of President Jean Bertrand Aristide in February 2004. Haiti needs all the help she can get to provide the population with hope so that they might rally to mobilize against endemic despair in this darkest hour.
[Read the editorial]
By Timothy Williams, New York Times, 13 January 2010
BAGHDAD — A wide-ranging plot to bomb government ministries and other public places, to be followed by a wave of political assassinations, was uncovered by Iraqi officials, who responded Tuesday by bringing much of the capital to a virtual standstill while security forces conducted raids that netted large quantities of explosives, officials said.
At least 4 suicide car bombers — and as many as 10 — were apparently on their way to government buildings Tuesday morning when they were stopped by the police and arrested, the authorities said.
[Read the article]
PressTV
12 January 2010
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it has found traces of US and Israel’s involvement in the assassination of an Iranian nuclear physics scientist.
“Primary investigations into the assassination revealed signs of the involvement of the Zionist regime [Israel], the US and their allies in Iran,” ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said.
Professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at Tehran University, was killed by a booby-trapped motorbike blast in the Iranian capital earlier in the day.
[Read the report]
Related:
Tehran Students Say Professor Killed in Bombing Was Opponent of Regime
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
Press release
11 January 2010
The raid was conducted to apprehend Eva Nováková, a Czech citizen, who has been the International Solidarity Movement‘s media coordinator for the past few weeks. The raid was held despite a recent statement by president Mahmoud Abbas, who said the PA is considering scaling back security ties with Israel over area A operations.
Israeli soldiers raided the Ramallah home of Eva Nováková tonight at 3 am near the Manara square. The operation to apprehend Nováková, the ISM’s media coordinator in past few weeks, was carried out by a force of both soldiers and members of the “Oz” immigration police unit. During the raid, the army occupied a number of rooftops at a location adjacent to the Palestinian Police Ramallah headquarters. She is currently being held in Givon detention center awaiting deportation to the Czech Republic.
For more details:
Continue reading ‘Israel stages night-time Ramallah raid to arrest an international solidarity activist’
Written by Free Gaza Team | 11 January 2010
This spring, the Free Gaza Movement is sending at least six boats to Gaza to break Israel’s illegal blockade on 1.5 million Palestinians. This blockade constitutes an act of collective punishment, a crime prohibited under international humanitarian law. Gaza’s man-made and internationally perpetuated crisis is set to deepen as Egypt builds an Iron wall 30 meters deep and 20 meters high on the southern Rafah border, closing off the final route for Palestinians to get basic supplies.
The urgency of breaking the blockade grows by the day as Palestinians living in this prison are denied their most basic rights.
[Read the announcement]
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