Day: June 24, 2013

Greater Middle East
Iran

Podcast: the Iran MoU in the Great Game

The “Memorandum of Understanding” signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is contingent on the cooperation of two entities not a party to it: Hezbollah and Israel—which continues to commit war crimes in Lebanon. The provisions on Iran’s nuclear program do not even recoup the progress won in Obama’s nuclear deal that Trump tore up in his first term. And Trump’s claim when hostilities began back in February to be acting on behalf of Iranians who rose up in mass protests against the regime are now completely betrayed in a “non-interference” pledge. In Episode 334 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues to urge support for alternative voices that take a neither/nor position regarding MAGA-imperialism and the Islamic Republic, and again recalls the anarchist slogan: Neither your war nor your peace! (Image: Pixabay)

South Asia
Manipur

Podcast: from Manipur to the West Bank

In Episode 179 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg compares the military and settler attacks on Palestinian towns in the West Bank with the eruption of ethnic violence in Northeast India’s state of Manipur—and uncovers the unlikely connection between the two. The Kuki indigenous people now targeted in Manipur includes a sub-group, the Bnei Menashe, who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, and practice an ancient form of Judaism. Israeli NGOs are raising the alarm about the violence in Manipur, but also exploiting it, luring Bnei Menashe to emigrate to Israel—with some settled on the West Bank, serving as demographic cannon fodder for the Zionist project. The Kuki and Palestinians, both land-rooted peoples usurped of their traditional territory, are pitted against each other—despite the convergence of their enemies in a Hindutva-Zionist alliance. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo: E-PAO)

Mexico
oaxaca

Mexico: comuneros massacred in Oaxaca

An attack by armed men on local comuneros in San Mateo del Mar, in Mexico’s southern Oaxaca state, left at least 15 dead, with several more wounded or reported as “disappeared.” The confrontation began when residents of the outlying community of Huazantlán del Río attempted to gather for a public meeting and were blocked by gunmen. Some of the slain were bludgeoned to death, and several appear to have been burned, mutilated or tortured. Huazantlán residents claim municipal police were backing up the gunmen in the attack, ostensibly because the gathering violated COVID-19 restrictions. Municipal authorities in turn accuse the Huazantlán residents of being involved in criminal gangs, and are calling on state authorities to investigate. (Image: FreeWorldMaps.net)

The Andes

Colombia: river defenders assassinated —again

Amid growing protests against the controversial Hidroituango dam on Colombia's Río Cauca, three opponents of the project were slain by unknown assailants—weeks before a tunnel in the complex collapsed due to a landslide, backing up water behind the dam to dangerous levels and causing cracks to emerge in its facade. Authorities now fear an imminent disaster, posing a grave threat to downstream communities. Several opponents of the project have been assassinated over the years of its construction, leading to demands for an investigation of possible paramilitary collusion by the dam's builders. (Photo via El Espectador) 

Europe

Break-up of United Kingdom impending?

The Brexit may signal the beginning of the dissolution of the UK, renewing calls for Scottish independence, a united Ireland, and even for London to secede as a free city-state.

South Asia

Revered Sufi singer assassinated in Pakistan

Thousands of people attended the funeral of slain qawwali singer Amjad Sabri in Karachi, the day after he was shot dead in an attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

The Amazon

Colombia: campesinos block oil operation

Colombia's feared anti-riot force, the ESMAD, used tear-gas against campesinos occupying lands in the Amazonian department of Caquetá to block oil exploration efforts.

Palestine

UN Gaza report finds evidence of war crimes

A report by the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict finds that both Israel and Hamas may have committed war crimes during the 51-day conflict.

Greater Middle East

Syria: UN investigates new chemical attacks

A report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian war states that new reports of chemical attacks this year are under investigation.

South Asia

Sri Lanka: fear in wake of anti-Muslim riots

Police declared a curfew in Sri Lanka's coastal town of Aluthgama after simmering tensions between Buddhist militants and local Muslims escalated into deadly clashes.

North Africa

Mali: will peace hold with Tuareg rebels?

A Malian government mission arrived in Kidal, stronghold of the separatist National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), days after the signing of a ceasefire.