Stephen Lendman

Voting in stolen land: Jewish squatters casts their illegitimate vote
in the occupied West Bank town of Hebron during so-called legis-
lative elections. The Palestinians were, and still are, irrelevant.

Israeli election results hardened fascist rule. Dominant right-wing parties control 102 of 120 Knesset seats. Israelis have themselves to blame. They elected Israel's most extremist government in history. Militarism, belligerence, state-sponsored terrorism, occupation ruthlessness, settlement expansions, and neoliberal harshness reflect official policy.

Peace is a non-starter. A so-called process never existed and doesn't now. Israel won't tolerate it. Netanyahu scorns it. He calls it a waste of time.

Palestinians and Israeli Arabs have the greatest cross to bear. They're marginalized, denied, persecuted and brutalized. Institutionalized racism terrorizes them. Their rights are off the table. Israeli Arabs are enfranchised in name only. Millions of Occupied Palestinians are entirely denied. They're disenfranchised. They had no say in Tuesday's election. Around 600,000 West Bank/East Jerusalem settlers alone got to vote.

Imagine holding an election excluding millions. Imagine calling fascism, colonization, apartheid and militarized occupation democratic. Imagine extolling the results. Imagine ignoring police state terror. Imagine coverup and denial. Imagine the world community and scoundrel media turning a blind eye. Imagine ignoring what demands headlines.

Don't expect media scoundrels to explain. They spurn journalistic ethics. They mock truth and full disclosure. They’re pro-Israeli apologists. They sanitize and conceal its worst crimes. They call hardline fascism “centrist.”

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Adnan Al-Daini

So Michael Gove, the education secretary, is "minded to accept the recommendations from the Teachers' Review Body". He was referring to the introduction of performance-related pay for teachers. Does he really think this is what is needed in schools to improve the performance of teachers?

Teaching in a school is not for the fainthearted. I should know, for I taught mathematics in a school, taught engineering in a university and worked in industry. School teaching was the most demanding, the poorest paid, and the least appreciated, and that was before government interference in the minutiae of education became fashionable.

It is an all-consuming job that requires your best endeavour at all times. Moreover, you need the support of your colleagues, particularly if you are just starting. Their advice, and possibly some of their teaching materials are invaluable.

Not everything can be measured, and any system you use to say teacher A should be rewarded and not teacher B will be flawed. It will be divisive, destroying the cooperative, collaborative dynamic among the teaching staff, which is at the heart of a good school.

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Stephen Lendman

Lynne Stewart during happier days. Now US prison
authorities have denied her a cancer treatment that
could save her life.

Lynne Stewart's Appeal Brief
Lynne Stewart Transferred to Texas
Lynne Stewart Appeal for Justice
Updating Lynne Stewart's "Love Struggle"
Updating Lynne Stewart's "Love Struggle:" Part II

Numerous previous articles discussed her case, character, and dedication to rule of law principles. She's an internationally recognized human rights lawyer. She tirelessly worked for justice. She devoted her life and work to upholding principles too important to reject. She knew the risks and took them. She did so because it matters. For 30 years, she defended America's poor, underprivileged, unwanted, and forgotten. Without advocates like her, they never have a chance for due process and judicial fairness. She was targeted for representing clients prosecutors want convicted.

One case made her especially vulnerable. At former US Attorney General Ramzy Clark's request, she joined his Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman's defense team. In 1995, he was wrongfully convicted of seditious conspiracy, solicitation of murder, solicitation of an attack on American military installations, conspiracy to commit murder, and conspiracy to bomb in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center attack. He was bogusly accused. He was innocent of all charges. It didn't matter. He never had a chance. Prosecutorial injustice framed him. It's standard Justice Department practice.

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