The Christmas Hope: A to-do list for a better world

"The Christmas hope for peace and good will toward all men can no longer be dismissed as a kind of pious dream of some utopian. If we don't have good will toward men in this world, we will destroy ourselves by the misuse of our own instruments and our own power. Wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete. We must either learn to live together as brothers or we are going to perish together as fools." - Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Christmas Eve sermon, 1967

© galleryhip.com

As a child, my Christmas wish list came right out of the Sears and Roebuck catalogue - toys, board games, bikes, action figures, etc. My parents, like so many in their day, belonged to the working-class poor, so while I never lacked for the necessities of life, many of the items on my wish list never came to be. Even so, I was no worse off for it.

I wish the same could be said of those still unfulfilled items on my adult Christmas wish list. Each year, I wish for the same things - an end to war, poverty, hunger, violence and disease - and each year, I find the world relatively unchanged. Millions continue to die every year, casualties of a world that places greater value on war machines and profit margins than human life.

I've seen enough of the world in my 68 years to know that wishing is not enough. We need to be . It's not possible to solve all of the world's problems right away. For most people, putting an end to world hunger, poverty, disease and the police state may seem too insurmountable a task to even tackle. But as I point out in my book , there are practical steps each of us can take to hopefully get things moving in the right direction. Here's what I would suggest for a start:

Tone down the partisan rhetoric, the "us" vs. "them" mentality. Politicians frequently perpetuate a "good" versus "evil," "us" versus "them" rhetoric which pits citizen against citizen and allows the politicians to advance their personal, political agendas. Instead of wasting time and resources on political infighting, which gets us nowhere, it's time Americans learned to work together to solve the problems before us. The best place to start is in your own communities, neighbor to neighbor. After all, at the end of the day, it makes no difference what politician you voted for - Republican, Democrat or otherwise - politics will never be the answer. Politicians have mastered the art of creating dissension, but they're all the same. Grassroots activism is the only kind of change you can count on.

Turn off the TV and tune into what's happening in your family, in your community and your world. Read your local newspaper. Attend a school board or city council meeting. Get involved with a nonprofit that works in your community. Whatever you do, reduce your intake of mindless television and entertainment news. The only reality programming worth taking notice of is the one playing in your home and community

Show compassion to those in need, be kind to those around you, forgive those who have wronged you, and teach your children to do the same. Increasingly, people seem to be forgetting their p's and q's - basic manners that were drilled into older generations. I'm talking about simple things like holding a door open for someone, helping someone stranded on the side of the road, and saying "please" and "thank you" to those who do you a service - whether it be to the teenager bagging your groceries or the family member who just passed the potatoes. As author Robert Heinlein observed, "A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot..."

Talk less, listen more. Take less, and give more. If people spent less time dwelling on and attending to their own needs and more time trying to help and understand those around them, many of the problems we currently face could be eliminated.

Stop acting entitled and start being empowered. We have moved into the Age of Entitlement, where more and more people feel entitled to certain benefits without having to work for them. There's nothing wrong with helping those less fortunate, but as my parents taught me, there's a lot to be said for an honest day's work.

Remember that all people are endowed with inalienable rights. I've heard a lot of chatter in recent years in favor of torturing detainees and denying basic rights to non-citizens, but doing so not only goes against everything that the U.S. is supposed to stand for, but it also goes against every principle common to all world religions - forgiveness, charity, nonjudgmentalism, nonviolence, etc. America cannot continue to lambast terrorist groups for their contempt for human life and dignity when our own nation violates these same principles time and again.

Stop being a hater. Increasingly, we as a society have come to reflect the hostility at work in the world at large. This is so even in such a virtual microcrosm as Facebook, where "unfriending" those with whom you might disagree has become commonplace. How can we ever hope to curb the hatred and animosity that have spurred global terrorism over the past few decades if we can't even forgive the human failings of those in our immediate circles?

Learn tolerance in the true sense of the word. There's no need to legislate tolerance through hate crime legislation and other politically correct mechanisms of compliance. True tolerance stems from a basic respect for one's fellow man or woman. And it should be taught to children from the time they can understand right from wrong.

Treat women like people, not things. If pop culture and the media are any reflection of how women and girls are viewed today - primarily as sex objects - then one can only wonder what exactly the women's rights movement has been doing in recent years. The use of sex and its impact on young girls is particularly troubling. As professor Henry A. Giroux observed: "Market strategists are increasingly using sexually charged images to sell commodities, often representing the fantasies of an adult version of sexuality. For instance, Abercrombie & Fitch, a clothing franchise for young people, has earned a reputation for its risqué catalogues filled with promotional ads of scantily clad kids and its over-the-top sexual advice columns for teens and preteens; one catalogue featured an ad for thongs for ten-year-olds with the words 'eye candy' and 'wink wink' written on them. Another clothing store sold underwear geared toward teens with 'Who needs Credit Cards ...?' written across the crotch. Children as young as six years old are being sold lacy underwear, push-up bras and 'date night accessories' for their various doll collections. In 2006, the Tesco department store chain sold a pole dancing kit designed for young girls to unleash the sex kitten inside."

Value your family. The traditional family, such that it is, is already in great disrepair, torn apart by divorce, infidelity, overscheduling, overwork, materialism, and an absence of spirituality. Despite the billions we spend on childcare, toys, clothes, private lessons, etc., a concern for our children no longer seems to be a prime factor in how we live our lives. And now we are beginning to see the blowback from collapsing familial relationships. Indeed, more and more, I hear about young people refusing to talk to their parents, grandparents being denied access to their grandchildren, and older individuals left to molder away in nursing homes. Yet without the family, the true building block of our nation, there can be no freedom.

Feed the hungry, shelter the homeless and comfort the lonely and broken-hearted. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Take part in local food drives. Take a meal to a needy family. "Adopt" an elderly person at a nursing home. Support the creation of local homeless shelters in your community. Urge your churches, synagogues and mosques to act as rotating thermal shelters for the homeless during the cold winter months.

Give peace a chance. So far, the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan have cost American taxpayers more than $4 trillion, and that doesn't even begin to approach the human cost in lives lost - military and civilian - and families rent asunder. The military industrial complex has a lot to gain financially so long as America continues to wage its wars at home and abroad, but you can be sure that the American people will lose everything unless we find some way to give peace a chance. We can start by bringing all of our men and women in uniform home.

Start your own teaspoon brigade. You don't have to solve all the world's problems single-handedly, nor do you have to solve them overnight. Little by little, you'll get there, but you have to start somewhere. It is up to each of us to do our part to make this a better world for all. As the legendary singer, songwriter and activist Pete Seeger once remarked to me:

I tell everybody a little parable about the "teaspoon brigades." Imagine a big seesaw. One end of the seesaw is on the ground because it has a big basket half full of rocks in it. The other end of the seesaw is up in the air because it's got a basket one-quarter full of sand. Some of us have teaspoons, and we are trying to fill it up. Most people are scoffing at us.

They say, "People like you have been trying for thousands of years, but it is leaking out of that basket as fast as you are putting it in." Our answer is that we are getting more people with teaspoons every day. And we believe that one of these days or years - who knows - that basket of sand is going to be so full that you are going to see that whole seesaw going zoop! in the other direction. Then people are going to say, "How did it happen so suddenly?" And we answer, "Us and our little teaspoons over thousands of years."

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Read More

Flash floods in Sri Lanka displace 46,000

Three days of heavy rainfall have caused flash floods in northern and central areas of Sri Lanka. Eastern, North-Central, Northern and North-Western provinces have all seen heavy rain since Saturday 20 December 2014. Sri Lanka's Disaster management Centre (DMC) say that as many as 452,960 people have been affected by floods or landslides in the past 3 days.

Evacuations

DMC say that around 46,000 people have evacuated their homes and are currently staying in temporary accommodation, including local schools and community centres. Some of the latest TV news reports in Sri Lanka have the total number displaced as being much higher at over 200,000. This as yet has been unconfirmed by Sri Lanka authorities.

Eastern province is thought to be the worst affected. According to the latest situation report from Sri Lanka's Disaster management Centre (DMC), over 30,000 people from the districts of Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampara. DMC also say that 3 deaths have occurred in the province as a result of the recent floods. One person was reported as injured in the floods in Anuradhapura, North Central Province.

The huge amounts of rain have increased river and reservoir levels across the provinces, forcing the authorities to open flood gates. Xinhua report that 29 of the big dams and 83 of the medium ones have reached spill level, forcing sluice gates to be opened, threatening people living downriver.

[embedded content]

President calls for relief for flood victims

In a statement made earlier today, President Mahinda Rajapaksa instructed the authorities to provide immediate relief. DMC confirmed that the distribution of food and other relief for those affected by the inclement weather was being carried out through the District Secretaries with the coordination of other regional stakeholders and tri-forces personnel.

More rain and possible landslides

As the heavy rain continues, the threat of landslide is increasing. Sri Lanka is still recovering from the disaster of Wednesday 29 October 2014, when heavy rain led to a mudslide in the Meeriyabedda tea plantation near the town of Haldummulla.

The National Department of Meteorology has issued an Amber Warning for further rainfall and strong winds. Sri Lanka's National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) warned people to be alert to the possibility of landslides and cut slope failures in Matale, Kandy, Badulla and Nuwara Eliya.

WMO rainfall totals, 24 hour period from 21 to 22 December

Badulla - 56.8 mm

Batticaloa - 84.6 mm

Trincomalee - 59.6 mm

Anuradhapura - 72.9

Vavuniya - 61.9 mm

Maha Illuppallama - 76.3 mm

Puttalam - 52.8 mm

Mannar - 52.8 mm

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Read More

A new Cold War? It's our fault

Late Thursday night, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a far-reaching Russia sanctions bill, a hydra-headed incubator of poisonous conflict. The second provocative anti-Russian legislation in a week, it further polarizes our relations with Russia, helping to cement a Russia-China alliance against Western hegemony, and undermines long-term America's financial and physical security by handing the national treasury over to war profiteers.

© AP /J. Scott Applewhite

We’ve superimposed the congressional record on top of a photo of the chamber of the House of Representatives. It shows H.R. 5859 passing by unanimous consent in the span of one second.

Here's how the House's touted "unanimity" was achieved: Under a parliamentary motion termed "unanimous consent," legislative rules can be suspended and any bill can be called up. If any member of Congress objects, the motion is blocked and the bill dies.

At 10:23:54 p.m. on Thursday, a member rose to ask "unanimous consent" for four committees to be relieved of a Russia sanctions bill. At this point the motion, and the legislation, could have been blocked by a single member who would say "I object." No one objected, because no one was watching for last-minute bills to be slipped through.

Most of the House and the media had emptied out of the chambers after passage of the $1.1 trillion government spending package.

The Congressional Record will show only three of 425 members were present on the floor to consider the sanctions bill. Two of the three feigned objection, creating the legislative equivalent of a 'time out.' They entered a few words of support, withdrew their "objections" and the clock resumed.

According to the clerk's records, once the bill was considered under unanimous consent, it was passed, at 10:23:55 p.m., without objection, in one recorded, time-stamped second, unanimously.

Then the House adjourned.

I discovered, in my 16 years in Congress, that many members seldom read the legislation on which they vote. On Oct. 24, 2001, House committees spent long hours debating the Patriot Act. At the last minute, the old bill was swapped out for a version with draconian provisions. I voted against that version of the Patriot Act, because I read it. The legislative process requires attention.

Legislation brought before Congress under "unanimous consent" is not read by most members simply because copies of the bill are generally not available. During the closing sessions of Congress I would often camp out in the House chamber, near the clerk's desk, prepared to say "I object" when something of consequence appeared out of the blue. Dec. 11, 2014, is one of the few times I regret not being in Congress to have the ability to oversee the process.

The Russia Sanctions bill that passed "unanimously," with no scheduled debate, at 10:23:55 p.m. on Dec. 11, 2014, includes:

1. Sanctions of Russia's energy industry, including Rosoboronexport and Gazprom.

2. Sanctions of Russia's defense industry, with respect to arms sales to Syria.

3. Broad sanctions on Russians' banking and investments.

4. Provisions for privatization of Ukrainian infrastructure, electricity, oil, gas and renewables, with the help of the World Bank and USAID.

5. Fifty million dollars to assist in a corporate takeover of Ukraine's oil and gas sectors.

6. Three hundred and fifty million dollars for military assistance to Ukraine, including anti-tank, anti-armor, optical, and guidance and control equipment, as well as drones.

7. Thirty million dollars for an intensive radio, television and Internet propaganda campaign throughout the countries of the former Soviet Union.

8. Twenty million dollars for "democratic organizing" in Ukraine.

9. Sixty million dollars, spent through groups like the National Endowment for Democracy, "to improve democratic governance, and transparency, accountability [and] rule of law" in Russia. What brilliant hyperbole to pass such a provision the same week the Senate's CIA torture report was released.

10. An unverified declaration that Russia has violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, is a nuclear "threat to the United States" and should be held "accountable."

11. A path for the U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty, which went into force in 1988. The implications of this are immense. An entire series of arms agreements are at risk of unraveling. It may not be long before NATO pushes its newest client state, Ukraine, to abrogate the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Ukraine signed when it gave up its nuclear weapons, and establish a renewed nuclear missile capability, 300 miles from Moscow.

12. A demand that Russia verifiably dismantle "any ground launched cruise missiles or ballistic missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers ..." - i.e., 300 and 3,300 miles.

Read the legislation, which Congress apparently didn't.

As reported on GlobalSecurity.org, earlier that same day in Kiev, the Ukrainian parliament approved a security plan that will:

1. Declare that Ukraine should become a "military state."

2. Reallocate more of its approved 2014 budget for military purposes.

3. Put all military operating units on alert.

4. Mobilize military and national guard units.

5. Increase military spending in Ukraine from 1 percent of GDP to 5 percent, increasing military spending by $3 billion over the next few years.

6. Join NATO and switch to NATO military standards.

Under the guise of democratizing, the West stripped Ukraine of its sovereignty with a U.S.-backed coup, employed it as a foil to advance NATO to the Russian border and reignited the Cold War, complete with another nuclear showdown.

The people of Ukraine will be less free, as their country becomes a "military state," goes into hock to international banks, faces structural readjustments, privatization of its public assets, decline of social services, higher prices and an even more severe decline in its standard of living.

In its dealings with the European Union, Ukraine could not even get concessions for its citizens to find work throughout Europe. The West does not care about Ukraine, or its people, except for using them to seize a strategic advantage against Russia in the geopolitical game of nations.

Once, with the help of the West, Ukraine fully weighs in as a "military state" and joins the NATO gun club, its annual defense budget will be around $3 billion, compared with the current defense budget of Russia, which is over $70 billion.

Each Western incitement creates a Russian response, which is then given as further proof that the West must prepare for the very conflict it has created, war as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

That the recent Russia sanctions bill was advanced, "unanimously," without debate in the House, portends that our nation is sleepwalking through the graveyards of history, toward an abyss where controlling factors reside in the realm of chance, what Thomas Hardy termed "crass casualty." Such are the perils of unanimity.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Read More

Ukraine Central Bank defrauded of $300,000 - buys gold-plated lead bricks

© RIA Novosti/Pavel Lisitsyn

Cunning fraudsters have conned the Ukraine Central Bank branch in Odessa into buying $300,000 worth of gold which turned out to be lead daubed with gold paint.

"A criminal case has been opened and we are now carrying out an investigation to identify those involved in the crime," a spokesman for the Odessa police force is quoted by .

The news was first reported by Odessa's State Ministry of Internal Affairs.

A preliminary investigation suggests the gang had someone working for them inside the bank that forged the necessary paperwork to allow the sale of the fake gold bullion. It's also been discovered that bank staff were not regularly checked when entering or exiting the premises.

Since the discovery, the National Bank no longer buys precious metal over the counter, as it cannot be sure of its authenticity, says the First Deputy Head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Aleksandr Pisaruk.

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has confirmed the theft of several kilograms of gold in the Odessa region. The cashier involved has apparently fled to Crimea, reports. Criminal proceedings began on November 18, even though the scam apparently took place between August and October.

In November, the Central Bank reportedly lost $12.6 billion in gold reserves, putting the total stockpile at just over $120 million.

However, the Central Bank reports that foreign currency and gold reserves stood at $9.97 billion at the end of November.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Read More

UN predictions fall short: Gaza is already uninhabitable

© Eva Bartlett

Five months ago the world watched in horror as the bully of the Middle East, Israel, launched the most brutal massacre on the Palestinians of Gaza since the Nakba (perhaps more brutal, Palestinian friends in Gaza have said).

Lasting over twice as long as the 2008-09 war on Gaza (formerly the most-brutal massacre since the Nakba), and killing over 800 more Palestinians than in the attack six years ago, the July-August 51-day offensive killed 2,131 Palestinians and injured over 11,000, and destroyed tens of thousands of homes, buildings, businesses, hospitals , Gaza's only power plant and other key components of Gaza's infrastructure .

Palestinian and foreign activists and journalists within the 40 kilometer-long strip of open-air prison tweeted and live-streamed images more horrific than the best Hollywood productions. Weathered journalists broke down sobbing at the sight of Palestinian civilians, especially children being targeted like prey by one of the world's most wickedly powerful armies and navies. Doctors who have seen the mutilated corpses and scarcely-living bodies of Palestinian elderly, men, women and children many times before were yet still appalled by the brutality of these latest attacks.

Worldwide, protesters, journalists of integrity called the bombardment of Gaza genocidal (as Israeli officials and politicians called for genocide ). One of the most shocking of many images was that of 4-year-old Saher Abu Namous's half blown-off head, his father cradling him and wailing. Entire families were murdered in this latest Israeli offensive. Not for the first time, the Israeli army bombed schools hosting internally displaced, hospitals (including a rehabilitation hospital for disabled and invalid), and entire neighborhoods.

As with prior military operations, the Israelis in 2014 targeted water and sewage lines, electricity networks, hospitals, primary health centers, ambulances and medics, bridges and major roads, key governmental buildings, schools and universities.They went further and attacked water, electricity and sanitation personnel, killing at least 14, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted. The resulting electricity, water and sanitation crises are such that until November, power was out 18 hours a day, and just 10 percent of the 1.8 million Palestinians get water once a day (for a matter of hours). As of mid-November, Oxfam reported, power cuts were 12 hours per day in some areas.

While the bombs rained down, some Israelis pulled up seats to watch the bloodshed, as 21st Century Wire noted: "Old sofas, garden chairs, battered car seats and upturned crates provide seating for the spectators. ...Some bring bottles of beer or soft drinks and snacks. ...Nearly all hold up smartphones to record the explosions or to pose grinning, perhaps with thumbs up, for selfies against a backdrop of black smoke."

The Israeli army used the same banned weapons on Palestinians this summer that they've used in the past two massacres, as well as "armour piercing bombs" which have "high explosive capabilities" and were used on Palestinian homes. Weapons-seekers flocked to Israel after seeing the effects of its weaponry and technology. Israel's weapons industry thrives with each massacre of the Gaza testing ground.

Strangling and starving Gaza

In September 2005, the 8,500 Israeli colonists finally, unwillingly leave their homes on stolen land. With no Jewish colonists in Gaza, Israel has since been free to lock-down all of Gaza and bomb whenever the whim occurs, with no fear of any Israeli loss of life. The Israelis have waged wars against Gaza every year or two since pulling their colonists out.

Since the June 28, 2006 Israeli repeating bombing of Gaza's sole power plant - destroying all six transformers - Palestinians in Gaza have neither been allowed to import the transformers and materials needed to rehabilitate the plant, nor offered an alternative solution. Through the now-destroyed tunnels, Palestinians did import smaller transformers and got the power plant hobbling again, but never to full capacity.

In a 2006 report on Israel's bombing of Gaza's power plant, B'Tselem called for Israel to:

"Cover the expenses needed to return the power plant to full capacity; Finance the upgrading of the infrastructure to transfer electricity from Israel to the Gaza Strip; Permit the entry of the equipment needed to rehabilitate the power plant, without delay."

However, Israel did none of the obliged, nor has it ever paid (in any sense of the word) for the reconstruction of buildings and infrastructure it has repeatedly targeted over the years.

The supply of electricity bought from Israel and Egypt doesn't suffice for Gaza's now 1.8 million Palestinians. The crisis impacts on every facet of life: hospital functions, sanitation, water supply, refrigerators and appliances, and education.

In 2006, B'Tselem noted: "The sewage system is on the verge of collapse." Mohammed Omer's photos of the village of Um al-Nasser, flooded with overflown sewage in 2007, should have been a wakeup-call if official institutional and NGO warnings are not. At least five drowned in their own sewage, including an infant. A year ago, reports from Gaza showed the misery of Palestinians' homes flooded with a combination of that same overflown sewage compounded by heavy rains. Kids waded through sewage to get to school; elderly were, if lucky, paddled by small fishing boats. This, save the rains, was entirely preventable...if the UN and influential world bodies and leaders truly cared and dared to face up to the Israeli lobby.

In 2010, it was revealed that the Israeli authorities were implementing a plan to starve Palestinians. "The security establishment had calculated the number of calories consumed by Gaza residents and used it to establish a 'humanitarian minimum', a bottom line to which it was possible to reduce food supply to Gaza without causing hunger or malnutrition....These procedures included mathematical formulas for calculating the quantities of food and the basic products Israel would allow into the Gaza Strip." The idea was mentioned back in 2006, when Dov Weissglass said, "The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger. "

Power outages, 95 percent undrinkable water, constant fuel and cooking gas shortages, sewage and sanitation crises, a shattered economy (unemployment at 45 percent) and manufactured poverty rendering 80 percent of the population dependent on inadequate and dignity-shattering food aid hand-outs (no vegetables or fruit, high carb, almost no protein); food insecurity (72 percent insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity), stunting (31.4 percent) and anemia (72.8 percent) among children. This is Gaza, and with each passing month, even each day, life is less and less tolerable. In August, 2012, UNRWA questioned if by 2020 Gaza would be a livable place. We don't have to wait till 2020 for Gaza to be declared unlivable: it already is unlivable by any standards.

No crossing them

Since 2008, Israel has incrementally closed down three of Gaza's four commercial crossings, depriving Palestinians of adequate means for import and export. At present, the only operating (I use that term lightly) crossings are: Karem Abu Salem (commercial), Erez (transit), and Rafah (transit). The closure of Karni crossing, closed in March 2011, dramatically impacted on Gaza's economy. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) noted that Karni "is the biggest crossing in the Gaza Strip, in terms of its capacity to absorb the flow of imports and exports." Gisha noted that Karni, the "main transit point (via truck) for goods" was "partially closed in 2007 save for the movement of grain and animal feed via conveyer belt. The conveyer belt was shut down in 2011."

Nahal Oz crossing, closed in 2010, was the primary point for entry of gas and other fuel. And the closed Sufa crossing was notably the main point of entry of construction materials. The sole remaining commercial crossing, Karem Abu Salem, does not have the capacity to allow in the amount of goods needed, assuming the Israelis were to allow them entrance in the first place.

Al Akhbar reported: "Karm Abu Salem crossing has a maximum capacity to receive 450 trucks a day while the Gaza Strip needs a total of 1,000 trucks every day of the year without any interruptions. Today, the crossing is not working in full capacity, allowing only about 320 trucks to pass through each day. ...According to the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, the crossing closed down for 130 days in 2014, which means it was not operational for 35 per cent of the year."

PCHR noted that closure of Karem Abu Salem has meant a cooking gas crisis. "Israeli authorities only allow an average of 98 tons of cooking gas into Gaza per day. This limited quantity is less than half of the daily needs, which is 200 tons per day of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip during winter. The crisis has unprecedentedly aggravated for around six weeks due to cold weather and overconsumption in addition to the power outage and using gas as an alternative in many instances of electricity. The lack of diesel and benzene led to the aggravation of the crisis as a result of using the gas cylinder for cars or as an alternative for benzene to run generators."

Before ever visiting Gaza, I recall reading on how Palestinians overcame these fuel crises. At one point, they used cooking oil as fuel for their vehicles ("Gaza smelled like one big falafel shop ," I was told). They also used their kerosene lanterns (baboor) to cook over, that one I saw. The Israelis learned of their ingenuity and added kerosene to the banned items list.

Israel has shattered Gaza's economy in a variety of clever ways: firing on farmers and bulldozing and burning their land; firing on fishers and stealing their fishing boats and equipment; bombing businesses and factories and preventing the materials needed to rebuild; drastically restricting imports. And banning exports save a token few trucks when Israelis need palm leaves for Jewish holidays. Oxfam in December 2014 noted: "Under the blockade, exports from Gaza have fallen to around 2 percent of pre-blockade levels, with devastating impact on the economy. While some extremely limited exports to international markets have been approved, the transfer of produce to Palestinian markets in the West Bank - and markets in Israel - has been banned since 2007. These were traditionally the most important markets for producers in Gaza." And it isn't only produce. Furniture, clothing, and a surprising number of other goods which once flowed from Gaza's borders are banned from being exported.

Art of war

Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert has shared the last three major wars with the Palestinians in Gaza. Recently, Israeli authorities banned him from entering Gaza, in spite of him maintaining a professional neutrality. Gilbert said: "I think the truth is the security risk because when I, as a white medical doctor with blue eyes and white hair, tell the real story of the realities in the sharp end of the Israeli attacks, the Palestinians change from being terrorists to being humans, the numbers change from being numbers to being people, and the children appear as yours and my children. ...this is actually a danger to the Israeli narrative and, in a way, the global reputation of Israel, which is partially falling apart now. "

Aside from Gilbert's heart-breaking observations on the slaughter of Palestinians, he notes poignantly, "The average age is 17.6 years, ...a child ghetto of 1.2 million children and young people are being denied the right to escape the bombs, to fly, because they cannot get out." This, incidentally, was the third major massacre for Palestinians six years or older in Gaza since December 2008.

Six years ago, I was a month into what would be a year and a half stay in Gaza (followed by another cumulative year and a half over the years). In December 2008, the situation in Gaza was already desperate. Back then, Palestinians in Gaza were already feeling the choke of closed borders, no exports, sadistically-limited imports (between 30-40 items), and the beginning of cold winter months during which they would suffer in darkness without the means to even heat water.

The 23-day in 2008-09 offensive killed over 1,400 Palestinians. I shared the three plus weeks of hell, losing my own friends to Israeli bombs and bullets, meeting tortured parents and families whose children had been shot dead point blank by Israeli soldiers. Like Amer al Helu's infant daughter Farah; like 4-year-old Ahmed al-Samouni with two bullets to his chest; like KhaledAbed Rabbo's 2 and 7 year old children, shot dead by soldiers casually snacking on junk food.

Canada's CBC interviewed then-frantic me some days after my medic friend Arafa was murdered by an Israeli dart-bomb shot directly at his ambulance, after the media building I was in was bombed, and after I had seen more mutilated bodies and white-phosphorous-charred skin than I could have imagined. My interview-balancing counterpart, a Canadian volunteering at an Israeli base, gushed about the weather and what a relaxed time he was having... and, oh yes (to the prompting of the CBC host), he did have to run down to the bomb shelter the other day. I'd just finished saying there were no bomb shelters in Gaza, everything was a target, the Israelis were even bombing schools, kindergartens, hospitals.

The white phosphorus was a first for Gaza. The flechette bombs (shells packed with thousands of razor-sharp dart-nails) were old news. Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana was martyred by such a shell while filming victims of Israeli shelling in Johr ad-Dik in April 2008. Shana, like other Palestinian journalist maimed and martyred by Israeli attacks, wore the markings of a journalist when targeted.

Post-massacre, as I'd walked through the ruins of Ezbet Abed Rabbo to the east of Jabaliya, my friend from the neighborhood (whose mother was killed in the very first minutes of bombings as she walked to buy bread), joked in the way oppressed people do when getting on with life, "they make like art here," gesturing to the graveyard of houses surrounding us.

In November 2012, the Israelis "mowed the lawn" again, murdering over 170 Palestinians. During the 8 days of slaughter, Israeli figures called to "blow Gaza back to the Middle Ages, destroying all the infrastructure including roads and water," and to "Flatten all of Gaza. There should be no electricity in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing," said the deputy Israeli Prime Minister Eli Yishai and Gilad Sharon respectively.

But these massacres haven't been without a fight. In spite of the massive power imbalance, Palestinian resistance have fought back by any means possible, as is their right, as noted in the UN General Assembly. For those who call for Palestinians to be non-violent (they are, the media just doesn't speak of the murdered, Bassem Abu Rahmes of Palestine), I quote political analyst Sukant Chandan:

"What we have is a largely defenseless population who has been usurped historically, who have been boxed into a ghetto of nearly 2 million people, in a tiny strip of land... and these people haven't got the right to resist? Absolutely Palestinians have the right to resist, and they should have more rockets, they should have better rockets, and they should have a Resistance that can match conventionally one of the biggest genocidal entities on the planet, which is the white, colonial state of 'Israel'."

Status Quo and 2015?

There are daily mini-massacres that go largely unnoticed, whether on the sea, in the Israeli-imposed "buffer zone" or by denying Palestinians the right to exit for health care unattainable within the confines of Gaza.

On December 6, Israeli gunboats machine-gunned Palestinian fishers 2-3 miles off the coast, surrounded and abducted 12 fishers, and stole their boats. A few days prior On Dec 3, a Palestinian fisherman was critically injured by shrapnel to his head after Israeli navy shelling, Maan News reported.

On November 22, an Israeli soldier shot and killed a Palestinian bird hunter 500 metres from the border, east of Jabaliya, shooting him in the back. The same day, in southeastern Gaza, an Israeli soldier shot a 17-year-old Palestinian in the chest. He was 1500 meters from the border. The combination of Israeli jeeps present at the border and the remotely-controlled machine gun towers make Gaza's border region - the most fertile area of Gaza - a killing field.

Naturally, these incidents, daily realities for Palestinians, didn't make the headlines.

Now, nearing the end of 2014, the reports coming out of Gaza are even more dismal than one could imagine. After lofty 5.4 billion pledges of rebuilding Gaza, virtually none of the 20, 000 homes destroyed or badly damaged , including entire neighborhoods like Sheyjaiyee , have been rebuilt. Palestinians stand blinking, wondering when and if that promise will materialize. At the end of October, the NY Times reported, "Officials say they have yet to collect a dime of the $5.4 billion that international donors have pledged to the effort. "

The 106,000 Palestinians rendered homeless (40,000 of whom are staying in emergency shelters; many others living in the shells of their homes or in ramshackle tents) face cold rains and flooding. In its latest situation report, UNRWA noted extreme weather in Gaza and said a state of emergency was declared on November 27 "in Gaza City after severe flooding over a 48 hour period," noting the evacuation of hundreds in flooded areas in Sheikh Radwan district.

Sara Roy notes the insidious nature of what rebuilding plans there are: Israel gets to decide who (if any) receive cement and building materials, and a "permanent and complex permit and planning system similar to the one Israel uses in Area C of the West Bank , which is under total Israeli control, " is being planned for Gaza.

Oxfam's December 2014 report notes that Gaza needs "at least 89,000 new homes, 226 new schools, as well as massive repairs to other infrastructure." Even prior to the summer IDF military operation, Gaza faced a deficit of 71,000 housing units, OCHA noted. Gisha reported that "around 5 million tons of construction materials are required just for the most immediate needs. With 52,351 tons - or 1% - entering since the ceasefire, at this rate it would take more than 23 years to meet "immediate" needs alone." According to PCHR, "For almost 8 consecutive years, Israeli forces have continued to prevent the delivery of construction materials to the Gaza Strip."

Egypt has kept the Rafah crossing closed since October 25, justifying this after a suicide bomb killed 33 Egyptian soldiers, even though there is no evidence linking the bombing and Gaza. Only as of November 26 was the crossing briefly opened (for 2 days), allowing just 300 Palestinians in Egypt to return to Gaza, and briefly again from November 30 to December 2. A reported 6,000 more Palestinians remain stranded in Egypt or third countries. In early December, OCHA reported that 10,000 Palestinians wait to exit Gaza, including over 1,000 medical patients.

Egypt has also long-since destroyed the network of tunnels which were known as Gaza's "lifeline" for a very good reason: they imported the goods, including building materials, that Palestinians needed and Israel bans. They also served as an alternative conduit to the normally closed Rafah crossing, and having seen them I can attest they were far more efficient than the bureaucracy of the Egyptians' border crossing terminal. But they are largely extinct, and reports have Egypt creating a buffer zone extending 1 km to ensure the tunnels don't re-manifest, and to tighten the already strangling noose on Palestinians in Gaza.

During the summer Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, protests raged around the world. Indian peace activist and journalist, Feroze Mithiborwali, noted at a recent Beirut conference in solidarity with Palestine, "In practically every town and city across India, there were pro-Gaza, pro-Palestine demonstrations. There was a continuous spate of protests across India."South African delegate Firoz Osman, of Media Review Network said, "Two hundred thousand people came out to demonstrations to support Gaza. That's even more than when Mandela was released."

So there is an increased awareness of the unjust plight of Palestinians in Gaza and throughout occupied Palestine. But as we approach the end of the year, a time when much of the West will be preoccupied by holiday shopping and celebrations, will this awareness be enough to sustain pressure on Israel and prevent a new massacre of Gaza? Will it be enough to pressure both Israel and Egypt into allowing building materials into Gaza and opening the Rafah crossing to Palestinians needing to re-enter or to exit Gaza? Will it be enough for American citizens to call for an end to the billions of dollars of aid given to Israel, let alone munitions, including a reported 3,000 more precision-guided munitions of the type used over the summer? Or for British citizens to demand Britain end arms export to Israel ?

Mads Gilbert said it spot on: "As a doctor, I say don't send more bandages, don't send more drugs, and don't send equipment. Stop the bombing, lift the siege, treat the Palestinians as humans, include them in the human family, protect them by international law and find a peaceful political solution to the occupation of Palestine. That's the preventative medicine of this mayhem that is going on."

The status quo of Palestinian suffering in Gaza cannot continue as it has these past 8 years.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Read More

US police on high alert following cop killings

© Reuters/Carlo Allegri

Police departments across big cities in the US are warning officers to take extra care after a spate of cop killings. Officers are advised to wear bulletproof vests and not make inflammatory posts on social media amid increased fears for their safety.

A message from the New York Police Department (NYPD) union told cops that they should respond to every radio call with two cars, "no matter what the opinion of the patrol supervisor," while they should not make arrests "unless absolutely necessary," AP reported.

Meanwhile, President of the Detectives Union Michael Palladino also warned of the dangers facing officers, stating, "Detectives assigned to Precinct Detective Squads and similarly-sized units should operate in teams of three when possible until we better assess the threat that exists against us," in an email sent to officers.

© Reuters/Stephanie Keith

Police officers line the route as vehicles containing the bodies of the two New York Police officers who were shot dead drive by in the Brooklyn borough of New York, December 20, 2014.

Other forces outside New York were also telling their officers to take extra care when responding to calls. Marc Kovar, executive vice-president of the New Jersey Police said in the email that all cops should take extra care and change their routines over the next few weeks in the wake of nationwide protests that he says have led to a "fever pitch of anti-police sentiment."

Police are also advised not to go on patrol alone and to avoid people who are looking for confrontations.

"This open hostility has created more tense encounters with officers even on routine incidents such as motor vehicle stops," Kovar said. "The State PBA is advising officers to be alert for any interaction where a person may be looking for a confrontation," according to AP.

When police officers are murdered, it tears at the foundation of our society. This heinous attack was an attack on our entire city.- Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) December 21, 2014

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey called for calm following the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, advising not to let the situation escalate any further. Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said alerts had been issued to officers following the shooting of the two New York officers, while the force had been instructed the police to be wary since the decision by the Ferguson grand jury not to charge Darren Wilson for killing Brown.

© Reuters/Carlo Allegri

Police stand solemn during a late night vigil at a makeshift memorial at the site where two police officers were shot in the head in the Brooklyn borough of New York December 21, 2014.

NYPD cops Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were sitting in their patrol car on December 20, when they were approached by Ismaaiyl Brinsley who shot the two officers dead from point blank range. The gunman later committed suicide.

In a separate incident on Sunday morning, Marco Antonio Parilla Jr. shot and killed veteran officer Charles Kondek in Florida. The suspect fled the crime scene in by car, before crashing into a pole, where he was arrested.

Ramos' aunt, Lucy Ramos has appealed for calm following the killings, saying, "I hope we can reflect on this tragic loss so we can move forward to find an amicable path to a peaceful coexistence," according to AP.

[embedded content]

Her sentiments were shared by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who said, "We want the entire New York Police Department family to understand that we all mourn together... We do not want anything to divide us from how much we appreciate the men and women who wear a blue uniform every day to provide public safety."

In the wake of the ambush, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani lashed out at current Mayor Bill de Blasio, President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. Speaking on Fox News, Giuliani said, "We've had four months of propaganda, starting with the president, that everybody should hate the police."

"They have created an atmosphere of severe, strong, anti-police hatred in certain communities, and for that, they should be ashamed of themselves," he said.

In a tweet, former New York Governor George Pataki called the killings the "predictable outcome of divisive, anti-cop rhetoric of Attorney General Eric Holder and Bill De Blasio."

New York police officers turned their backs on de Blasio in protest during a news conference, and their union said the mayor had blood on his hands after Saturday's shooting. De Blasio, who was elected last year on a platform of promoting greater civil liberties, has been largely sympathetic towards protesters in New York, who took to the streets after a grand jury decided not to indict Daniel Pantaleo, who strangled Garner in a chokehold in July.

© Reuters/Carlo Allegri

People take part in a candle light vigil at the site where two police officers were shot in the head in the Brooklyn borough of New York, December 21, 2014.

Meanwhile political analyst Caleb Maupin says he believes many of the protests have been an expression of an "atmosphere of terror and repression," that exists across the US as people live in fear of police brutality.

Speaking to RT, Maupin believes the NYPD is likely to use this latest incident with the murders of officers Liu and Ramos to introduce an even greater public crackdown.

"The New York City Police Department has the biggest public relations budget that any police department of the entire US. They are going to try to neutralize what occurred today, they are going to try to neutralize it to create sympathy for the police and to justify probably a bigger crackdown on the peaceful protest that has been taking place," he said.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Read More

Flying pigsh*t! Drone catches Smithfield pork farms spraying animal waste into air

© Still from Youtube video, SpeciesismTheMovie

Smithfield Foods farms in N. Carolina

Thousands of huge pig farms in N. Carolina are spraying untreated animal waste into the air and contaminating neighboring communities, Mark Devries, who shot a shocking aerial video with a spy drone, told .

This environmental problem "has for some reason received very little attention in the American press" says documentary filmmaker and activist Mark Devries, whose drone captured footage of cesspools at over 2,000 industrial pork factory farms in the US state.

"These pools are near people's homes, people's schools, people's neighborhoods" Devries said in an interview Monday to . "And in order to get rid of these giant open-air cesspools, the manure is actually sprayed into the air with giant spraying devices, which causes it to turn into a fine mist."

[embedded content]

Spread by the wind later on, the mist containing pig waste "has serious health impacts and also deeply affects people's lives," he said. There have been studies investigating respiratory diseases, such as childhood asthma, which is quite common in the area, along with blood pressure problems.

"You think it's raining" Elsie Herring, a woman who lives near a pig farm said in the video. "We don't open the doors or the windows, but the odor still comes in. It takes your breath away"

[embedded content]

"I was shocked," Devries commented in his video. "Pig manure is fairly similar to human waste, so it would be similar to having a pit of untreated human sewage the size of several football fields out in the open - and in many cases, right in the vicinity of people's homes"

Describing the situation with air pollution, the chemicals and the smell as "lax," Devries said that North Carolina has a law that makes it more difficult for local residents to take the pig farms to court over the waste.

"The law is really acting on the side of these giant industrial pig farms, and the neighbors have very little - if any - reprieve," he said. "I hope that with my investigation and with others there will be more public discussion and thus more pressure on these corporations to change and improve their practices."

The drone video was released a few days ago, but there have already been some improvements, "both from environmental perspective and from an animal welfare perspective," Devries said.

He told RT that in recent years experts have reported fewer major cesspool spills, leaking manure into the ground. The animals' welfare also has improved, he said, with farms reportedly ending the practice of using so-called "gestation crates" for pregnant pigs, where they are kept in metal cages so small they can barely move for months.

© Still from Youtube video, SpeciesismTheMovie

Pregnant pigs kept in gestation crates

The owner of the farms in Devries' video, either directly or through contractors, is Smithfield Foods Corporation, the world's largest pork producer.

"On our farms we strive to be good neighbors and respect the rights and property of those who live near our operations," Kathleen Kirkham, a spokeswoman for Smithfield Foods, said in an emailed statement to the . "We work closely with all of our farmers to meet strict environmental management policies that encourage continuous improvement and exceed most state and federal compliance standards."

Environmentalists and animal rights groups have long criticized the meat processing giant, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had a special campaign to improve conditions and reduce water pollution from its North Carolina and Virginia factory farms. According to magazine, the company was fined $12.6 million for 6,900 violations of the Clean Water Act in Virginia in 1997, in the third-largest civil penalty in the history of the EPA.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Read More