This is a slideshow of photographs I took in the West Bank and Jerusalem in late 2006. The intent is to give a glimpse of life in an occupied, conflicted land, with a focus on the human face. You'll notice a frequent focus on hands too, for what they gather and hold, pull or throw, uplift or shame -- the actions of our hands shape faces, both our neighbors and our own, and so they shape history too. The music is "Abwoon (Our Father)", by Lisa Gerrard & Patrick Cassidy.

Climate change sceptics are an endangered species in Australia, a national survey shows. The survey of almost 3100 Australians found 74 per cent believe the world's climate is changing. When asked a different question about the causes of climate change, which removed the reference to personal beliefs, 90 per cent of respondents said human activity was "a factor".

Just five per cent said climate change was entirely caused by natural processes. Overall, less six per cent of respondents could reasonably be classified as true climate change sceptics, the study by Griffith University researchers found. The survey was commissioned by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility and funded by the federal government's Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency's Climate Change Adaptation Research Grants program.

AWIP: CLIMATE Archive

● When they bombed Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, El Salvador and Nicaragua I said nothing because I wasn't a communist.
● When they bombed China, Guatemala, Indonesia, Cuba, and the Congo I said nothing because I didn't know about it.
● When they bombed Lebanon and Grenada I said nothing because I didn't understand it.
● When they bombed Panama I said nothing because I wasn't a drug dealer.
● When they bombed Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen I said nothing because I wasn't a terrorist.
● When they bombed Yugoslavia and Libya for "humanitarian" reasons I said nothing because it sounded so honorable.
● Then they bombed my house and there was no one left to speak out for me. But it didn't really matter. I was dead.

It's become a commonplace to accuse the United States of choosing as its bombing targets only people of color, those of the Third World, or Muslims. But it must be remembered that one of the most sustained and ferocious American bombing campaigns of modern times — 78 consecutive days — was carried out against the people of the former Yugoslavia: white, European, Christians. The United States is an equal-opportunity bomber. The only qualifications for a country to become a target are: (A) It poses an obstacle — could be anything — to the desires of the American Empire; (B) It is virtually defenseless against aerial attack.

A series of heavy explosions has rattled the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as NATO warplanes keep pounding positions of forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in the city.

Four blasts were first heard at 11:35 pm local time (2135 GMT) from the centre of Tripoli, followed by several more about 15 minutes later, AFP reported on late Thursday. NATO fighter jets have blasted Tripoli with a growing spate of airstrikes for several days amid serious concerns that the death toll among civilians is rapidly increasing. However, the Western coalition has decided to extend its operations in Libya until the end of September 2011. NATO was previously scheduled to halt its war mission at the end of June. On Thursday, Russia once again lashed out at NATO over its military intervention in Libya, emphasizing that the crisis in the country should be resolved through peaceful means instead of military action.

Michel Chossudovsky: Military Escalation: "Phase Two" of the War on Libya

American ship carrying Jewish passengers to sail in June’s flotilla to ‘play role in ending siege of Gaza.’ Participant: Tradition of Dr. King’s principles.

An American ship carrying 34 passengers, some Jewish, is set to join the new Gaza-bound flotilla in June, according to a New York Times report Thursday. Writer and Pulitzer Prize winner, Alice Walker (see video below), and Hedy Epstein, 86, whose parents died in the holocaust will also board the United States ship. “It’s in the tradition of Dr. King’s direct-action principles, to create a situation so tension-packed that it forces the world to look and see what’s happening to the Palestinians,” a student explained her reasoning for taking part in the flotilla. The American ship, named “The Audacity of Hope” after US President Barack Obama’s book title, is intended to send a message of hope according to Leslie Cagan, a political organizer who is the coordinator of the boat.

End the Occupation: Support the Freedom Flotilla II to Gaza

Israeli forces force a Palestinian civilian to demolish his house in
Wad al-Jouz neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period.

Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF wounded two Palestinian civilians, including a child, in the West Bank. The child was wounded when IOF moved into Iraq Bourin village, south of Nablus, while the other Palestinian was wounded in a peaceful protest against settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. On 30 June 2011, IOF moved into Iraq Bourin village, south of Nablus, amid intensive firing of sound bombs and tear gas canisters. A number of boys gathered and stoned IOF who immediately replied by firing rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters. A 16-year-old child was wounded as a result. IOF used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to Israeli settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. As a result, Ibrahim Abdul Fattah Burnat, 29, was hit by a tear gas canister in the right shoulder and his eye was affected because of the gas. In addition, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders participating in peaceful protests in the West Bank suffered from tear gas inhalation and bruises as they were beaten by IOF. [...]

Israeli Settlers' Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property: Israeli settlers living in the OPT in violation of the international humanitarian law have continued to commit systematic crimes against Palestinian civilians and Palestinian property with protection provided by IOF who ignore conducting investigations into complaints submitted by Palestinian civilians against settlers. On 29 May 2011, IOF moved into the northern plain of Kafr Dan village, northwest of Jenin. IOF soldiers stepped down from vehicles and deployed in Palestinian farms and told Palestinian farmers that they had orders to demolish 12 artisan wells claiming that they were established without licenses. Guarded by soldiers, IOF bulldozers and digging machines started demolishing the wells. Two hours after the start of the demolition works, large numbers of Palestinians from Kafr Dan village and from Jenin arrived at the scene and gathered in farms closed to IOF’s locations. Some of the Palestinians stopped in front of bulldozers trying to stop them. IOF talked with the Palestinians who were protesting in the scene and agreed to stop the demolition works asking Palestinians to withdraw from the scene. At this time, IOF had already completed the demolition works. [...] On 30 May 2011, nearly 10 settlers from "Yitzhar" settlement which is established on parts of Palestinians' lands in the south of Madma village, south of Nablus, set fire to farms planted with barleys in Ein al-Eshreh and al-Sawawin areas which are located nearly 2 kilometers from "Yitzhar" settlement. The fire destroyed nearly 4 donums of land planted with barleys before the Palestinian villagers manage to extinguish the fire. The damaged farms belong to Hassan Mohammed Zyada, member of the Local Council of Madma village.

PressTV: Israel to evict 30,000 Palestinians
PressTV: Gaza hospitals in dire need of medicine - Video
AWIP: The Ethnic Cleansing Continues: Israel Demolishes Eight Palestinian Homes, Shelters, Wells in Five Days

CHICAGO — The United States is experiencing its deadliest year for tornadoes since 1936 and the fifth worst year on record, officials said Thursday.

With the tornado season far from over, the 2011 toll rose to 523 Thursday. It includes four new victims who died in hospital nearly two weeks after the deadliest single twister in more than six decades destroyed much of Joplin, Missouri. That toll now stands at 138, the Missouri Department of Public Safety said in a statement. The mile-wide May 22 twister reduced a third of the Missouri town of Joplin to rubble, tearing apart homes, businesses, a hospital, churches and schools along a four-mile (six-kilometer) path of destruction. It came after a horrific outbreak left 361 dead in several US states in April.

NEW YORK (AFP) – The New York Times announced on Thursday that Bill Keller was stepping down as executive editor and would be replaced by Jill Abramson, the first woman to hold the top editorial post at the newspaper.

Abramson, a native New Yorker, joined the Times in 1997 from The Wall Street Journal and has been managing editor since 2003. She became the newspaper's Washington editor in 1999 and Washington bureau chief in 2000. Current Washington bureau chief Dean Baquet, a former editor of The Los Angeles Times, was named to replace Abramson as managing editor. The Times said Keller, who took over as executive editor in 2003, will become a full-time writer for the newspaper. "Without question, Jill is the best person to succeed Bill in the role of executive editor," publisher Arthur Sulzberger said.

Libya’s rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) is ready to recognise Israel, according to French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, who says he has passed the message on to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The NTC “will be concerned with justice for the Palestinians and security for Israel” it it takes power, Lévy said after meeting Netanyahu Thursday. “The future regime will maintain normal relations with other democratic countries, including Israel.” Netanyahu's office confirmed the meeting with Lévy but did not comment on the discussion. "The prime minister likes to meet intellectuals," a spokesperson said. Lévy, who helped persuade France to be the first country to recognise the NTC, visited the rebel-held Libyan city of Misrata last weekend and went on to Jerusalem this week. Moamer Kadhafi’s regime refused to recognise Israel, even after Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat peace treaty with the country in 1979.

Heavy fighting between anti-government rebels and forces loyal to president Ali Abdullah Saleh raged through Wednesday night and into Thursday in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. Dozens of people were believed killed, many of them civilians caught in the crossfire between tribal militiamen and various factions of army troops.

At least three separate military conflicts were taking place across Yemen. In the capital city, as many as 200 people have been killed in ten days of fighting sparked by Saleh’s reneging on an agreement to step down as president after 33 years of authoritarian rule. It was the third time this year that Saleh has gone back on such a deal. Other conflicts were taking place in the southern city of Taiz, where troops loyal to Saleh massacred unarmed demonstrators, killing an estimated 68 people, and in Zinjibar on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, where Saleh called in air strikes on his own citizens, claiming that “terrorists” linked to Al Qaeda had seized control of the town.

Mohamed Khodr: YEMEN: The Forgotten Tyrant and His Daily Bloodbath

The Greek government is preparing to announce another €6.4 billion in austerity measures, after Moody's, the debt rating agency, cut the country's credit rating three notches, sending it deep into junk status.

The Greek government responded to the downgrade by stating that it will go through with the austerity measures demanded by the EU and IMF regardless of domestic opposition. “The Government has made absolutely clear that it seeks to build the broadest possible consensus around the significant reforms that need to be made, but that in any case it is determined to implement the difficult policies the country needs to exit the crisis,” the government said in a statement Wednesday night. The downgrade contributed to the general destabilization of the world economy, driving up yields on European government bonds and sending world stock values plummeting. The political fight over the Greek bailout comes as a slew of economic data - including lackluster jobs and consumer sentiment figures in the US - are pointing to a worsening of the economic crisis.

PressTV: Greek austerity protests enter 9th day

Yanomami and Yekuana health is suffering as thou-
sands of goldminers operate illegally on their land.

Yanomami Indians in the Brazilian Amazon have captured an airplane used by health workers, in protest at corruption within the health service.

The Yanomami are outraged by the nomination of a new indigenous health coordinator, who has little connection with indigenous peoples, and who is thought to be favored for political reasons. Yekuana Indians have also joined the protest. In 2007 political appointees to the regional health office were arrested in a major police operation, which revealed that US$19 million designated for indigenous health care had been stolen.

In a letter sent from the Yanomami organization Hutukara to the Minister of Health, the Indians state, ‘We are very angry… the politicians did not consult the leaders in the Yanomami territory. We do not know what the authorities are up to behind closed doors, when it comes to the health situation’.

Last month, Yanomami protested outside the regional health authorities’ office, and held another plane captive in the Yanomami territory.