To achieve justice and peace in Israel, its popular portrayal as the victim of Palestinian aggression must be replaced with the state accepting responsibility in its role as a colonial power with all the attendant political, military, and financial hegemony. As an occupying power, they must protect the civilian population, and their actions must be proportional and measured towards perceived injustice, granting rights and self determination to the Palestinian people. Otherwise, war, death, hatred, and instability will continue. Essay by Ajamu Baraka with two films by John Pilger.
International Issues
Ocean Acidification Threatens Alaskan Crab Fishery
Ocean acidification, the lesser-known twin of climate change, threatens to scramble marine life on a scale almost too big to fathom. Scientists fear changing ocean chemistry will drive the collapse of Alaska’s iconic crab fishery. Watch the video from PBS NewsHour and the Seattle Times.
Indonesia: Peat Swamp Forest Protection Key to Climate
During the dry season in Sumatra, and hundreds of thousands of hectares of Indonesian peatland fires burn for months, releasing its massive storehouse of organic carbon. Those fires are a direct result of decades of forest and peatland destruction, which must be protected writes Loren Bell, saving ecosystems, air quality, and the global climate.
Rio’s Favela Pacification: Militarized Gentrification With Benefits?
The Brazilian government’s militarized efforts to clean up Rio de Janeiro’s notoriously dangerous favelas is giving hope to some people living there, while others question the violent tactics and the whether it will make a difference. We provide counterpoint to Joshua Hammer’s 2014 investigation.
Land Grab in “Paradise”: Haiti’s Île à Vache Fights Back
While Ile à Vache, a 20-square mile island off of Haiti’s southern coast, has been promoted as a jewel of Caribbean ecotourism, the subsistence fishermen and farmers of the island have been ignored. As the government moves forward with development plans, the people have responded with a series of protests.
Thirty-Four Colombian Tribes Face Extinction
The Nukak People of Colombia have been forced from their homes by illegal armed groups, in the latest attack against the country’s most recently-contacted tribe. Mining, palm oil, cattle ranching and coca threaten the majority of the country’s 102 indigenous communities.
Great Canal of Nicaragua: Environmental Ruin and Fiscal Folly
A planned 300-kilometer Nicaraguan canal joining the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans could wreak environmental and cultural ruin, home of the Miskitu and other indigenous groups. Sam Gordon argues that many of the issues and impacts are hidden from public view and should require an independent environmental assessment.