The Lawfare Project's Anti-Democratic Agenda

Stephen Lendman

Its web site (thelawfareproject.org) calls Lawfare:

"The use of the law as a weapon of war."

Fact Check

Provided they contradict no others, laws are sacrosanct, especially fundamental international ones like the UN Charter, Four Geneva Conventions, their Common Article 3, the Rome Statute, Nuremberg Tribunal and judgment, Genocide Convention, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and many others - ones Israel and America are sworn to uphold but consistently violate with impunity.

Lawfare Project (LP) claim: "The abuse of the law and legal systems (is used) for strategic or military ends."

Fact Check

International law is clear and unequivocal. The UN Charter explains under what conditions violence and coercion by one state against another are justified. Article 2(3) and Article 33(1) require peaceful settlement of international disputes. Article 2(4) prohibits force or its threatened use, and Article 51 allows the "right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member....until the Security Council has taken measures to maintain international peace and security."

In other words, justifiable self-defense is permitted, and Articles 2(3), 2(4), and 33(1) absolutely prohibit all unilateral threats or use of force not allowed under Article 51 or authorized by the Security Council. Even then, under Fourth Geneva, civilians are "protected persons" off-limits to attack. Doing it is a war crime.


PFLP salutes Danish comrades' challenge to "anti-terrorist" listings

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine / Dissident Voice

"This won’t stop me or us. We will continue to seek an end to these terror laws, to their terror wars. Our struggle is worth it regardless of court judgments. We act in the long history of solidarity, supporting those who fight for liberation and self-determination."

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine salutes the efforts of the Danish comrades in Oprør (Rebellion) and Fighters + Lovers to challenge so-called "anti-terror" laws and defend the right to support national liberation movements. We salute Patrick Mac Manus and all those who struggle around the world in solidarity with the cause of the Palestinian people and all oppressed peoples and call upon all to emulate this example of courageous defiance and solidarity in the face of injustice and oppression.


Welcome to the world's first murdochracy

John Pilger

In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger goes back to Australia, where Rupert Murdoch launched his worldwide media empire, and describes how his and Murdoch's homeland has become a murdochracy - a country where important media, issues and perception are influenced if not dominated by Murdochism: "an inspiration to his choir on seven continents".

Adelaide is Australia’s festival city. Its arts festival is currently in swing. Polite debate, aesthetics and high-octane wine are putting the world to rights. With one exception. Adelaide is where Rupert Murdoch began his empire. The voracious trail starts here. No statue stands; his is a spectral presence, controlling the only daily newspaper, even the printing presses. Across Australia, he owns almost 70 per cent of the capital city press and the only national newspaper, and Sky Television, and much else. Welcome to the world’s first murdochracy.

What is a murdochracy? It is where the fealty and augmentation of Murdoch’s editors and managers are undisguised, an inspiration to his choir on seven continents, where even his competitors sing along and wise politicians heed the Murdochism: “What’ll it be? A headline a day or a bucket of shit a day?”


Israel Crackdown Puts Liberal Jews on the Spot

Chris Hedges


Israeli soldiers take position next to the highly contro-
versial security barrier, which has been used, critics say,
to seize Palestinian land and manipulate the population.
(AP / Muhammed Muheisen)

The Israeli government, its brutal war crimes in Gaza exposed in detail in the U.N. report by Justice Richard Goldstone, has implemented a series of draconian measures to silence and discredit dissidents, leading intellectuals and human rights organizations inside and outside Israel that are accused—often falsely—of assisting Goldstone’s U.N. investigators. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to shut down Israel’s premier human rights organizations, including B’Tselem, the New Israel Fund (NIF) and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. It is busy expelling or excluding peace activists and foreign nationals from the Palestinian territories. The campaign, if left unchecked, will be as catastrophic for Palestinians as it will be for Israel.

The Goldstone report, which is over 500 pages, investigated Israel’s 22-day air and ground assault on Gaza that took place from Dec. 27, 2008, to Jan. 18, 2009. The United Nations and the European Parliament have endorsed the report. The report found that Israel used disproportionate military force against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip while failing to take adequate precautions to protect the civilian population against the military assault. The Israeli attack killed 1,434 people, including 960 civilians, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. More than 6,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, leaving behind some $3 billion in destruction in one of the poorest areas on Earth. No Israelis were killed by Hamas rockets fired into Israel during the assault. The report did not limit itself to the 22-day attack; rather, it went on to indict the occupation itself. It examines the beginning of the occupation and condemns Israel for the border closures, the blockade and for the wall or security barrier in the West Bank. It has two references to the right of return, investigates Israeli torture and criticizes the willful destruction of the Palestinian economy.


The Story of Star Boy

Thunder Horse

It was a warm summer night and many of the Indians had emerged from their airless tipis to sleep under the open sky among the cool, sweet smelling prairie grass. One, a young girl called Feather Woman, awoke early, it was not yet dawn, and the morning star had just begun to rise above the distant horizon. The girl propped herself on one elbow and watched the star as it climbed steadily into the dark sky. She thought that she had never seen anything quite so beautiful. “I love the morning star,” she whispered to herself. “How clear and bright it is. If only I could find a husband half as handsome as that star, how happy I should be!” Her loving gaze followed the star until it faded into the paler light of the coming day.

The camp was busy that summer. The buffalo were plentiful and there was always meat to be cooked and dried, and skins to be dressed and made into warm clothing for the winter. There was little time to be fanciful and Feather Woman thought no more about the morning star.


The Ancient Art of Arkhelogy: The Importance of the Core Self and Core Writing

Jennifer van Bergen

[Note: This is the fourth part in a seven-part series.]

PART FOUR: The Arkhelogy Program

The Arkhelogy Program is made up of an introductory or beginner course, an intermediate course, and advanced work. The introductory course teaches all the component skills through exercises. At the conclusion of the introductory course, the teacher shows the students how the component skills work together, but students are not yet asked to integrate the skills. This course takes from six weeks to four months, depending on how often the class meets.


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