Monthly Archives: January 2021

2021-01-23: News Headlines

Alon Ben-Meir (2021-01-23). Israel Shows No Moral Tenet: Justice for Mohammed El-Halabi. dissidentvoice.org Israel's continued treatment of Palestinian political prisoners is unconscionable. Mohammed El Halabi, an aid worker from Gaza, has been in prison for four years while he awaits his trial; this is nothing short of cruel absurdity. He has been forced before the court over 150 times, many of those appearances secret, without word of when …

MEE staff (2021-01-22). UN expert condemns Egypt's detention of journalists, human rights defenders. middleeasteye.net UN expert condemns Egypt's detention of journalists, human rights defenders | Special rapporteur calls on authorities to stop silencing dissent and shrinking civic space in country | Fri, 01/22/2021 – 21: 23 | Egypt has embarked on brutal crackdown on dissent since 2013, jailing more than 60,000 activists (AFP) | A UN rights expert condemned Egypt for targeting journalists, human rights defenders and their fam…

Alex MacDonald (2021-01-22). Turkey: Doctor's map labelling Alevi villages outrages minority. middleeasteye.net Turkey: Doctor's map labelling Alevi villages outrages minority | An investigation was launched into the map identifying Alevi-majority villages, amid outcry over sectarian discrimination | Fri, 01/22/2021 – 15: 30 | Members of Turkey's Alevi community hold pictures of victims as they march in Ankara on 2 July 2019 to mark the 26th anniversary of an arson attack on Madimak Hotel that killed 37 p…

IMEMC News (2021-01-22). Israeli Soldiers Abduct Eighteen Palestinians In West Bank. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Thursday at dawn, eighteen Palestinians from their homes in several parts of the occupied West Bank, during extensive and violent searches of homes, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has confirmed. The PPS office in Hebron, in southern West Bank, said the soldiers abducted Mohammad Bader, a former member of the Palestinian …

Ted Kelly (2021-01-22). 2021 is the Year of the Political Prisoner. workers.org The U.S. "justice" system, like every institution of a capitalist state, is a weapon designed and wielded by the billionaires to beat workers into submission. Special bodies of armed troops, deputized by the ruling class, round up workers by the millions and contrive laws to justify locking them in dangerously . . . |

IMEMC News (2021-01-22). Four More Detainees Diagnosed With Coronavirus In Ramon Prison. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported that four additional detainees, held in the Ramon Israeli prison, have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, raising the number of infected political prisoners to seventy-three this month. In a statement released Friday, the PPS said the detainees who have been officially diagnosed with the virus are held in …

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2021-01-22). 48 Years After Landmark Ruling, Advocates Push to #ReimagineRoe and Build Abortion Justice. commondreams.org "Roe is the floor. We want an end to Hyde. We want people to access abortion care, when they need it, without discrimination, stigma, or harm." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12292968371.jpg

Roger Sollenberger (2021-01-22). Texas lawyer fired after Capitol riot files ambitious suit: Dissolve Congress, don't arrest him. salon.com "This is not a Sidney Powell lawsuit," Paul Davis assures court. True! Powell didn't argue for abolishing Congress…

Arianna Demas (2021-01-22). The First Amendment Protects Scabby, the 12-Foot Inflatable Rat, Too. aclu.org Living in New York City, there are some things you just know. You know that if you see a gigantic rat in the subway station you look the other way and pretend it doesn't exist. And you know that if you see a gigantic inflatable rat in front of a business it means that workers are protesting unfair employer practices., , Scabby the Rat, a 12-foot inflatable rat balloon, is a familiar sight not just in New York but around the country. But the government is now trying to deflate him. Luckily for Scabby, the First Amendment is on his side., , Under existing precedent, unions have a legal right to display Scabby. T…

Staff (2021-01-21). Headlines for January 21, 2021. democracynow.org Joe Biden Sworn In as 46th President of the United States, Ending Trump Era, Kamala Harris Sworn In as Vice President, Setting Several Historic Firsts, Biden Signs Executive Orders on Environment, Immigration, Civil Rights, Economy & Pandemic, Biden Unveils Pandemic Strategy as U.S. COVID-19 Deaths Near Record High, VP Harris Swears In Three Senators, Giving Democrats Narrow Control of Senate, Senate Confirms Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence, House to Vote on Waiver Paving Path for Retired General Lloyd Austin to Lead Pentagon, President Biden Fires Union-Busting Lawyer Who Refused to Resign from…

Judy Greenspan (2021-01-21). The criminal injustice system is a bipartisan effort. workers.org Family members and prisoners' rights advocates gather outside the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez to demand the release of a prisoner suffering from medical neglect during the COVID pandemic. On Jan. 15 at the death row prison in Terre Haute, Ind., with less than a week to go of . . . |

Stephen Lendman (2021-01-21). Shut Down Dissent. Going After the New "US Domestic Terrorists" globalresearch.ca Post-9/11, war on dissent in the US raged. | In 2010, the ACLU said "freedom is under fire in the US." | "There is a pall over our fire. (There are) attempts to squelch dissent." | "A chilling message has gone out across …

RT (2021-01-21). Politicians among 48 arrested in huge Italian bust on 'Ndrangheta mafia, hundreds of millions in cash seized. rt.com Anti-mafia police carried out sweeping early-morning raids against Italy's most powerful mafia, the 'Ndrangheta, on Thursday, arresting 48 people and placing the leader of a political party under investigation. | Officers from the Direzione Investigativa AntiMafia (DIA) immediately jailed 13 people, while 35 were placed under house arrest, with multiple politicians, low-level mob bosses and businessmen among those detained, according to local media. | The crackdown on the organized crime syndicate, based in Calabria, southern Italy, primarily targeted the economic arm of its operations, which prosecutors said…

Ragip Soylu (2021-01-21). Refusal to retry Turkish MP triggers second ruling by high court. middleeasteye.net Refusal to retry Turkish MP triggers second ruling by high court | Lower courts continue to dismiss the rulings of higher courts in politically sensitive cases, such as the imprisonment of former MP Enis Berberoglu | Thu, 01/21/2021 – 10: 31 | Enis Berberoglu, a former MP from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leaves after taking his oath at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Oct…

IMEMC News (2021-01-21). Israeli Soldiers Abduct Fifteen Palestinians In West Bank. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Thursday at dawn, fifteen Palestinians from their homes, in several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported. The PPS office in Jericho, in northeastern West Bank, said the soldiers invaded and searched many homes in Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, southwest of the Jericho city, before …

Mumia Abu-Jamal (2021-01-21). The Trump mobs attack America. workers.org By Mumia Abu-Jamal Taken from a Jan. 7, 2021 audio column aired on prisonradio.org It was a sight that will be long remembered — hundreds, then thousands of men scaling the walls of the U.S. Capitol like soldiers on a web. Then ripping, tearing, shredding all they could touch, . . . |

Mirinda Crissman (2021-01-21). WW commentary: Diet discrimination in prisons, jails, and detention centers. workers.org Imam Siddiqui Abdullah Hasan, on death row in Ohio, was falsely convicted of the murder of a guard during the 1993 Lucasville prison rebellion. The rebellion started after Muslim prisoners objected to being forced to take a tuberculosis test containing alcohol, in violation of their religious practice. The interlocking systems . . . |

Mirinda Crissman (2021-01-21). Diet discrimination in prisons, jails, and detention centers. workers.org The interlocking systems of prisons, jails and detention centers were built up by descendants of those made rich from colonial conquest of this continent. The prison-industrial complex continues to benefit this very class of people every day by its existence. As the Prisoners Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party stated . . . |

Ali Salam (2021-01-21). Palestinian Prisoner Dies After 14 Years in Israeli Jail. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society, and the Prisoners and Executives Affairs Authority in a joint statement, on Wednesday, announced the death of a Palestinian political prisoner Maher Thieb Sa'sa, 45, in an Israeli jail. Sa'sa died Wednesday in Rimonim Israeli prison, after spending years incarcerated and suffering from chronic illnesses, however no clear cause of death …

commondreams (2021-01-21). 135 Civil Rights Organizations Oppose a New Domestic Terrorism Charge. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2021-01-21). 135 Civil Rights Groups Oppose New Domestic Terrorism Statutes, Say Tackle Far-Right Violence With Existing Laws. commondreams.org "Members of Congress should not reinforce counterterrorism policies, programs, and frameworks that are rooted in bias, discrimination, and denial or diminution of fundamental rights like due process." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/capitol_police.png

Commonwealth Club (2021-01-21). Wednesday 2/3: Talk on the Mothers of the Civil Rights Movement w/ Author Anna Malaika Tubbs. indybay.org Online event…

Pip Hinman (2021-01-21). Medevac refugees released from torture centres, activists vow to continue the campaign. greenleft.org.au The release of refugees from detention has given activists hope that there will be a change in policy. But, as Chloe DS writes, they won't stop organising until all refugees are released from onshore and offshore prisons and given permanent protection.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-21). In Pakistan's North Waziristan, residents take to the streets against murder of doctor. peoplesdispatch.org Dr. Waliullah Dawar was killed last week by unknown assailants. On Wednesday, led by Pashtun Tahafuz Movement leader Mohsin Dawar, protesters demanded legal action against the perpetrators and immediate release of all political prisoners…

No Justice Under Capitalism (2021-01-20). Sunday 1/31: Newsom, Stop The Executions! Car Caravan to End the COVID Deaths in Prisons. indybay.org Middle Harbor Shoreline Park | 2777 Middle Harbor Road | (in the Port of Oakland)…

IMEMC News (2021-01-20). Fifteen More Detainees Contract Coronavirus In Ramon Israeli Prison. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported, Wednesday, that fifteen more detainees have been officially diagnosed with the coronavirus in Ramon Israeli prison, bringing the number of infected detainees in the facility to fifty-three since January 11th, and increasing the total number of infected political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers to more than …

Mike Ervin (2021-01-20). Smart Ass Cripple: Zoom's Inaccessibility for Hard-of-Hearing and Deaf Users. progressive.org The video-chat platform is facing a federal lawsuit for charging a monthly fee to folks who need closed captioning.

Lawrence Davidson (2021-01-20). A Brief But Portentous Insurrection. counterpunch.org There is a difference between attempts to change policy through public pressure and seeking to change the very nature of government through an insurrection. The civil rights protests of the late 1950s and 1960s; the anti-war protests of the latter half of the 1960s and early 1970s; more civil rights protests (these have occurred repeatedly)

WSWS (2021-01-20). Coronavirus cases surge again at Fort Dix federal prison in New Jersey. wsws.org For the second time in a matter of months, officials at Fort Dix have reported more coronavirus cases than at any other federal prison.

2021-01-22: News Headlines

Ted Kelly (2021-01-22). 2021 is the Year of the Political Prisoner. workers.org The U.S. "justice" system, like every institution of a capitalist state, is a weapon designed and wielded by the billionaires to beat workers into submission. Special bodies of armed troops, deputized by the ruling class, round up workers by the millions and contrive laws to justify locking them in dangerously . . . |

Arianna Demas (2021-01-22). The First Amendment Protects Scabby, the 12-Foot Inflatable Rat, Too. aclu.org Living in New York City, there are some things you just know. You know that if you see a gigantic rat in the subway station you look the other way and pretend it doesn't exist. And you know that if you see a gigantic inflatable rat in front of a business it means that workers are protesting unfair employer practices., , Scabby the Rat, a 12-foot inflatable rat balloon, is a familiar sight not just in New York but around the country. But the government is now trying to deflate him. Luckily for Scabby, the First Amendment is on his side., , Under existing precedent, unions have a legal right to display Scabby. T…

Stephen Lendman (2021-01-21). Shut Down Dissent. Going After the New "US Domestic Terrorists" globalresearch.ca Post-9/11, war on dissent in the US raged. | In 2010, the ACLU said "freedom is under fire in the US." | "There is a pall over our fire. (There are) attempts to squelch dissent." | "A chilling message has gone out across …

Ragip Soylu (2021-01-21). Refusal to retry Turkish MP triggers second ruling by high court. middleeasteye.net Refusal to retry Turkish MP triggers second ruling by high court | Lower courts continue to dismiss the rulings of higher courts in politically sensitive cases, such as the imprisonment of former MP Enis Berberoglu | Thu, 01/21/2021 – 10: 31 | Enis Berberoglu, a former MP from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leaves after taking his oath at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Oct…

Mirinda Crissman (2021-01-21). WW commentary: Diet discrimination in prisons, jails, and detention centers. workers.org Imam Siddiqui Abdullah Hasan, on death row in Ohio, was falsely convicted of the murder of a guard during the 1993 Lucasville prison rebellion. The rebellion started after Muslim prisoners objected to being forced to take a tuberculosis test containing alcohol, in violation of their religious practice. The interlocking systems . . . |

Ali Salam (2021-01-21). Palestinian Prisoner Dies After 14 Years in Israeli Jail. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society, and the Prisoners and Executives Affairs Authority in a joint statement, on Wednesday, announced the death of a Palestinian political prisoner Maher Thieb Sa'sa, 45, in an Israeli jail. Sa'sa died Wednesday in Rimonim Israeli prison, after spending years incarcerated and suffering from chronic illnesses, however no clear cause of death …

Judy Greenspan (2021-01-21). WW Commentary: The criminal injustice system is a bipartisan effort. workers.org Family members and prisoners' rights advocates gather outside the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez to demand release of a prisoner suffering from medical neglect during the COVID pandemic. On Jan. 15 at the death row prison in Terre Haute, Ind., with less than a week to go of Donald . . . |

Mumia Abu-Jamal (2021-01-21). The Trump mobs attack America. workers.org By Mumia Abu-Jamal Taken from a Jan. 7, 2021 audio column aired on prisonradio.org It was a sight that will be long remembered — hundreds, then thousands of men scaling the walls of the U.S. Capitol like soldiers on a web. Then ripping, tearing, shredding all they could touch, . . . |

Mumia Abu-Jamal (2021-01-21). The Trump mobs attack America. workers.org Mumia Abu-Jamal By Mumia Abu-Jamal Taken from a Jan. 7, 2021 audio column aired on prisonradio.org It was a sight that will be long remembered — hundreds, then thousands of men scaling the walls of the U.S. Capitol like soldiers on a web. Then ripping, tearing, shredding all they could . . . |

Mirinda Crissman (2021-01-21). Diet discrimination in prisons, jails, and detention centers. workers.org The interlocking systems of prisons, jails and detention centers were built up by descendants of those made rich from colonial conquest of this continent. The prison-industrial complex continues to benefit this very class of people every day by its existence. As the Prisoners Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party stated . . . |

IMEMC News (2021-01-21). Israeli Soldiers Abduct Fifteen Palestinians In West Bank. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Thursday at dawn, fifteen Palestinians from their homes, in several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported. The PPS office in Jericho, in northeastern West Bank, said the soldiers invaded and searched many homes in Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, southwest of the Jericho city, before …

Judy Greenspan (2021-01-21). The criminal injustice system is a bipartisan effort. workers.org Family members and prisoners' rights advocates gather outside the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez to demand the release of a prisoner suffering from medical neglect during the COVID pandemic. On Jan. 15 at the death row prison in Terre Haute, Ind., with less than a week to go of . . . |

Staff (2021-01-21). Headlines for January 21, 2021. democracynow.org Joe Biden Sworn In as 46th President of the United States, Ending Trump Era, Kamala Harris Sworn In as Vice President, Setting Several Historic Firsts, Biden Signs Executive Orders on Environment, Immigration, Civil Rights, Economy & Pandemic, Biden Unveils Pandemic Strategy as U.S. COVID-19 Deaths Near Record High, VP Harris Swears In Three Senators, Giving Democrats Narrow Control of Senate, Senate Confirms Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence, House to Vote on Waiver Paving Path for Retired General Lloyd Austin to Lead Pentagon, President Biden Fires Union-Busting Lawyer Who Refused to Resign from…

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2021-01-21). 135 Civil Rights Groups Oppose New Domestic Terrorism Statutes, Say Tackle Far-Right Violence With Existing Laws. commondreams.org "Members of Congress should not reinforce counterterrorism policies, programs, and frameworks that are rooted in bias, discrimination, and denial or diminution of fundamental rights like due process." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/capitol_police.png

Commonwealth Club (2021-01-21). Wednesday 2/3: Talk on the Mothers of the Civil Rights Movement w/ Author Anna Malaika Tubbs. indybay.org Online event…

Pip Hinman (2021-01-21). Medevac refugees released from torture centres, activists vow to continue the campaign. greenleft.org.au The release of refugees from detention has given activists hope that there will be a change in policy. But, as Chloe DS writes, they won't stop organising until all refugees are released from onshore and offshore prisons and given permanent protection.

commondreams (2021-01-21). 135 Civil Rights Organizations Oppose a New Domestic Terrorism Charge. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-21). In Pakistan's North Waziristan, residents take to the streets against murder of doctor. peoplesdispatch.org Dr. Waliullah Dawar was killed last week by unknown assailants. On Wednesday, led by Pashtun Tahafuz Movement leader Mohsin Dawar, protesters demanded legal action against the perpetrators and immediate release of all political prisoners…

Judy Greenspan (2021-01-20). For exposing COVID-19 outbreak, Black newspaper editor faces retaliation. workers.org What happens when a federal prisoner who has just become the Editor-in-Chief of the San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper is paroled to a halfway house run by GEO Group? That company is one of the largest managers of lockdown units and ICE detention centers in the U.S. Malik . . . |

IMEMC News (2021-01-20). Israeli Soldiers Abduct Four Palestinians From Tulkarem And Nablus. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Wednesday at dawn, three Palestinians from Tulkarem and one from Nablus, in northern West Bank. The Tulkarem office of the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS), in northern West Bank, said several army jeeps invaded Tulkarem refugee camp, before the soldiers stormed and violently searched homes in Anabta town, east of the city, …

IMEMC News (2021-01-20). Fifteen More Detainees Contract Coronavirus In Ramon Israeli Prison. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported, Wednesday, that fifteen more detainees have been officially diagnosed with the coronavirus in Ramon Israeli prison, bringing the number of infected detainees in the facility to fifty-three since January 11th, and increasing the total number of infected political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers to more than …

_____ (2021-01-20). Could Baltimore's Climate Change Suit Become A Supreme Court Test Case? popularresistance.org What began as a narrow jurisdictional question to be argued Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court in a climate change lawsuit filed by the city of Baltimore could take on far greater implications if the high court agrees with major oil companies to expand its purview and consider whether federal, rather than state courts, are the appropriate venue for the city's case and possibly a host of similar lawsuits. | The high court initially agreed to hear a request by the oil and gas industry to review a ruling by the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in which the court affirmed a federal district judge's decision to…

No Justice Under Capitalism (2021-01-20). Sunday 1/31: Newsom, Stop The Executions! Car Caravan to End the COVID Deaths in Prisons. indybay.org Middle Harbor Shoreline Park | 2777 Middle Harbor Road | (in the Port of Oakland)…

Lawrence Davidson (2021-01-20). A Brief But Portentous Insurrection. counterpunch.org There is a difference between attempts to change policy through public pressure and seeking to change the very nature of government through an insurrection. The civil rights protests of the late 1950s and 1960s; the anti-war protests of the latter half of the 1960s and early 1970s; more civil rights protests (these have occurred repeatedly)

WSWS (2021-01-20). Coronavirus cases surge again at Fort Dix federal prison in New Jersey. wsws.org For the second time in a matter of months, officials at Fort Dix have reported more coronavirus cases than at any other federal prison.

Mike Ervin (2021-01-20). Smart Ass Cripple: Zoom's Inaccessibility for Hard-of-Hearing and Deaf Users. progressive.org The video-chat platform is facing a federal lawsuit for charging a monthly fee to folks who need closed captioning.

Center For Biological Diversity (2021-01-20). Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration's Gutting of Federal Protection for Migratory Birds. globalresearch.ca National environmental groups filed a

Staff (2021-01-19). New Documents Suggest J. Edgar Hoover Was Involved in Fred Hampton's Murder. truthout.org In March 1976, we sat in a cavernous Chicago courtroom while FBI agent Roy Martin Mitchell testified in the federal civil rights case that we and our partners at the People's Law Office had brought on behalf of the families of slain Illinois Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark and the seven survivors of the murderous pre-dawn Chicago police raid on their West Side apartment. | Thanks to the liberation of FBI documents from the Media, Pennsylvania FBI offices, the revelations of the…

MEE and agencies (2021-01-19). Qatar blockade ends: BeIN Sports unofficially returns to Saudi Arabia. middleeasteye.net Qatar blockade ends: BeIN Sports unofficially returns to Saudi Arabia | Riyadh cafes broadcast banned Doha-based broadcaster, as Qatar expected to drop $1bn piracy lawsuit against Riyadh | Tue, 01/19/2021 – 11: 21 | A woman watches beIN Sports from her home in Riyadh in January 2020, months before a Saudi ban on the broadcaster (AFP/File photo) | Qatar-owned beIN Sports was broadcast in Sa…

IMEMC News (2021-01-19). Israeli Soldiers Abduct Two Siblings In Jenin, Two In Nablus. imemc.org Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday at dawn, Kafr Ra'ey village, south of Jenin, and Salem village, east of Nablus, in the northern parts of the occupied West Bank, searched homes and abducted four siblings. Montaser Sammour, the head of the Jenin office of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), said the soldiers abducted Bilal Nabil Thiab, …

commondreams (2021-01-19). Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Joins Lawsuit on Behalf of Black Man in Violent Attack by White West Va. Officers. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-19). Public Oral Argument in Lawsuit Challenging the Labeling of Hydroponically-Grown Foods as Organic. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Eric Toussaint (2021-01-19). In Memory of Patrice Lumumba, Assassinated on 17 January 1961. globalresearch.ca After a resounding victory in the first real elections in which the Congolese participated, Patrice Lumumba became Prime Minister of Congo from 24 June 1960 until his overthrow and imprisonment on 14 September of the same year by Colonel Joseph-Désiré …