My complaint to the Israeli Embassy elicits a remarkably informal and rude reply, to which I respond as politely as I can under the circumstances...

Related Links:
Emergency Protest: Israel must Release the Free Gaza activists | Reports that Free Gaza boat 'Spirit of Humanity' has been boarded by the Israeli Navy. | IFPAL Press Release 29th June | Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign | Raymond Deane's Facebook Page

From the Letter:
"... Your final gambit constitutes the standard recourse to red herrings: the fact that Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia violate human rights doesn't in some mysterious way mitigate Israeli crimes, although it's interesting that you implicitly acknowledge that Israel belongs in such dubious company. Even if it were true that Israel is "a liberal democracy" - which it is not, because Israel is an Apartheid ethnocracy or racial state - this would in no way mitigate its crimes." - Raymond Deane.

The Iranian government’s campaign to mold ‘model’ Islamic citizens has not only fashioned a profound crisis of loyalty to the religious ‘ideals of the revolution’, it has nurtured action that many have silently prayed for - as the public sphere, the last bastion of the religious elite's grip on power, was shot open by their own guns Sunday.

Related Links: Secret Police Open Fire At Opposition Demo In Tehran | Support the Mass Stuggles in Iran | Iran: Leader Remains Supreme | Hands off the People of Iran -www.hopoi.org

Legacy of martyred flowers committed me to life,
Legacy of martyred flowers,
Don’t you see?
--Forough Farokhzad, Only the Sound Will Last

Since the close of polling late Friday, and the hasty confirmation of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s second term in office, protests have broken out across Iran. Many Iranians, who consider the landslide victory for Ahmadinejad a symbol of their country’s deeply corrupt political system, have endeavoured to force the government to nullify the results and hold another election.

In what can only be considered a classic case of state-repression, police and Revolutionary Guards have soaked the streets in blood; shooting into crowds of peaceful protestors, arresting scores of demonstrators, and targeting constituencies known for their criticism of the government. Just yesterday, the Guardian conservatively reported that as many as twelve students from universities throughout the country lost their lives as they courageously and openly opposed state forces.

Awajun, Wampis, mestizos y blancos unidos en defensa del territorio, luchando para derogatoria de los DS
Awajun, Wampis (native tribes), mestizos (mix of native and spanish blood) and whites united in defense of the land, Struggling to repeal the Court Orders

An ongoing, many month old peaceful protest in the Bagua region of the north western area of Peru was brutally attacked this week by state forces, resulting in the deaths of, at least, 25 native Indigenous Amazonian Peruvians. A motorway in the "curve of the devil" region had been blocked by local communities of the area who feel their land, health, livelihood and community is threatened by the government's giveaway of the area, and its precious resources, to multinational oil and gas exploration. They are perhaps right to feel sad, threatened and terrified, knowing how things have faired in neighbouring areas with a similar story, Sion, Equador and beyond... Perhaps even as far a field as Rossport.

Related Links: Racism, Violence and Neo Nazism: Politics as usual in Santa Cruz Bolivia | Shell security attack Willie Corduff after illegal Glengad compound dismantled | Shell on Trial in New York for the Murder of Ken Saro Wiwa | Shell on CorpWatch.org | A Timeline of Oil and Violence | DemocracyNow.org: "Peruvian Police Accused of Massacring Indigenous Protesters in Amazon Jungle"

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FORCED TO SETTLE HUMAN RIGHTS CASE OUT OF COURT, pays $15 million

It was inevitable that the economic catastrophe caused by Fianna Fáil’s economic policies would dominate, almost exclusively, the Euro Election Campaign so far. However, it is also vital that we focus on some vital issues pertaining to the future direction of the European Union.

It is quite deplorable that the guarantees that the Government says it will have from the EU with regard to the Lisbon Treaty have not been published so that they could be debated during the current campaign.

However when it comes to the thrust toward militarisation of the EU firmly implanted in the Lisbon Treaty, no guarantees can change what are very categorical dictates to Member States.

Related Links: Joe Higgins column on how Lisbon would lead to more militarisation of the EU | Joe Higgins' Euro election Website | Socialist Party Website

Help Joes campaign: www.joehiggins.eu/help-out 0.09 Mb

The Irish media has not been objective in its coverage of the killing of an Irish man in Santa Cruz Bolivia last week. By choosing to largely critique the left wing Government of Evo Morales, they have played into the hands of a racist elite in Santa Cruz determind to impede the process of social change in this country.

Related Links:
The Bolivian Solidarity Campaign say 'Bolivian People need help to gather information and support'
Article claiming that 'Dwyer worked for Shell Security Company in Mayo'

THERE has been much coverage in the Irish media this past week on the killing of Irishman Michael Dwyer in Bolivia on 16 April. Dwyer, who was shot by police along with two other men in a hotel room in the city of Santa Cruz, was thought to have been a member of an illegal armed group who had received funding from opposition groups to assassinate the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales. An official, and if necessary an international, investigation will do much to clarify the circumstances surrounding the killing of the three men and whether the Bolivian Police acted illegally or in self-defence.