Protesting students in Italy are attacked by fascist gangs with help from the police.
Friday, 14 November 2008
Reminder of protest today-Tak the rich to fund education
Meet SOAS steps at 2pm. Or at your Uni's usual place of assembly.
Anti-terror police 'need Muslims' ...
An article in the Times today reports that the police force, in response to the 'increase in terrrorism' needs to recruit more Muslims 'with a cultural, religious or linguistic understanding of the individuals most likely to be involved in these groups'
...oh, perlease. Why? So Muslims can be arrested in their 'own language'? Just as Enoch Powell studied Urdu at SOAS in order to be able to continue the Imperial rule in the Sub-continent, this is nothing more than a false attempt to present the police as a caring force for the community.
Why not teach other police that not all Muslims are the same, or that not all brown people are Muslims (think John Charles de Menezes) . Employing more Muslim police officers will not detract from the fact that the police force is institutionally racist (See the National Black Police Association's call for recruitment boycott ).
why don't they spend more money on arresting the real criminals in society-tax evaders,brutal police, war criminals, State terrorists, exploiters, racist/homophobic/sexist bigots.
I have written this in a rush so please continue my train of thought below...
...oh, perlease. Why? So Muslims can be arrested in their 'own language'? Just as Enoch Powell studied Urdu at SOAS in order to be able to continue the Imperial rule in the Sub-continent, this is nothing more than a false attempt to present the police as a caring force for the community.
Why not teach other police that not all Muslims are the same, or that not all brown people are Muslims (think John Charles de Menezes) . Employing more Muslim police officers will not detract from the fact that the police force is institutionally racist (See the National Black Police Association's call for recruitment boycott ).
why don't they spend more money on arresting the real criminals in society-tax evaders,brutal police, war criminals, State terrorists, exploiters, racist/homophobic/sexist bigots.
I have written this in a rush so please continue my train of thought below...
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Possibly the most boring thing in the world: A Beginners Guide to Compositing
Drafting Commission/compositing for NUS Extraordinary Conference 2008.
My very first video coming soon (as soon as i figure out how to upload it)...
Done it-wee hee! Sound quality a bit poor but well done to luddite me anyway. Check out all the fancy effects :-)
My very first video coming soon (as soon as i figure out how to upload it)...
Done it-wee hee! Sound quality a bit poor but well done to luddite me anyway. Check out all the fancy effects :-)
News: Ali Baher re-instated
Cross posted from FreeSpeech08: Ali Baher
THS JUST IN: The University returned Ali’s student card, cancelled all disciplinary charges (it’s now pretending that there never were any), and has reinstated him to the dorms!!
A ton of thanks is in order to all the people that made it happen. First and foremost to the 538 signatories of the English petition and 220 of the Hebrew one, discounting the odd anti/pro-semitic troll here and there; the 600 people who joined the campaign’s Facebook group; and very importantly, the many of you who emailed the University. A separate thank-you is in order to the many more that posted the info on their blogs, forwarded our emails, and generally chipped in.
The campaign also received a (somewhat belated) comment from the University. We will be adding it to this post later in the night.
The Freedom of Speech 2008 blog will now formally shut down (unless there are other attacks on students and faculty you want us to report on!), as will the petitions, the Facebook group and our email page. We would also ask you to stop e-mailing the University officials, unless you want to congratulate them on making the right decision - the fight is won, and there’s little point in rubbing it in. However, for those of you who subscribed to our RSS feeds, please don’t cut the links just yet - if there’s another attempt at freedom of speech on Israeli campuses, we will be the first to let you know. Thank you, goodnight, and see you around :)
In solidarity,
Your campaign teamTuesday, 11 November 2008
Monday, 10 November 2008
Activist Nora Younis awarded Human Rights Prize-well done Nora
From Nora's site
I was just awarded Human Rights First 2008 award.
I am quoting HRF here: “One of the few well-known women bloggers in Egypt, Younis, 31, represents a growing movement of young activists who use new media technologies -blogs and websites like Flickr and YouTube- to expose and document human rights abuses
I was just awarded Human Rights First 2008 award.
I am quoting HRF here: “One of the few well-known women bloggers in Egypt, Younis, 31, represents a growing movement of young activists who use new media technologies -blogs and websites like Flickr and YouTube- to expose and document human rights abuses
Socialist Aotearoa Post Election Debate begins
The NZ Election- Notes to kickstart a Socialist Aotearoa electoral analysis
from Joe C
The mobile's been hopping all day with texts from activists and disillusioned union members- all looking for a post electoral strategy. When the Soft Left was in power, many people saw us socialists as a moral conscience, out fighting the brave fight that might push things a little further to the left- like the $12 an hr minimum wage and youth rates campaign.
But now the Soft Left is in disarray- people are actually looking for some bravery and firm ideas. Who's going to take the battle to Key and Hide? And a lot of rank and file members are calling for a harder fightback than they got from the weak reformist electoral leaders- there is a huge potential anger in a lot of the young Greens, Labour and working class Maori Party voters.
What's going to happen?
Click here for more...Results breakdown here
Hebrew uni student faces suspension for refusing to shake hands with Shimon Peres
THIS IS A FACEBOOK GROUP DEDICATED TO RESTORING THE STUDENT RIGHTS OF ALI BAHER, A STUDENT OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY, WHO HAD BEEN KICKED OUT OF HIS DORMS AND IS PENDING SUSPENSION - ALL FOR REFUSING TO SHAKE HANDS WITH PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES.
*********!!!!!!!!!!!********************
Ali's hearing about his dorm room is tomorrow 8am. We will submit the petition tomorrow at 7am. PLEASE SIGN HERE ASAP: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/freespeech2008
********!!!!!!!!!!!!*******************
Running updates of the campaign here: http://freespeech2008.wordpress.com
Sign English petition here: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/freespeech2008
עצומה בעברית כאן: http://www.atzuma.co.il/petition/freespeech2008/1/
Contact the campaign here: free.speech.huji@gmail.com
To find out what this about and what you can do to help, keep reading..
הסבר בעברית: http://freespeech2008.wordpress.com/עברית/
What is this about?
--------------
According to Haaretz (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1033605.html ), Ali Baher, Chairman of the Arab Student Committee at the Hebrew-U, was studying in the university library, when the President walked in and began shaking hands with students. Ali refused to shake hands with Peres, saying that he was a child murderer and reminding him of the Qana massacre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qana_Massacre ), which was carried out under Peres's premeirship.
When the president left the library, Ali was assaulted by security guards, who questioned him for three hours before serving him with a demand to appear before the discplinary committee of the university, on suspicion of "inappropriate conduct". This charge can potentially lead to Ali's suspension from the university. The guards also confiscated Ali's student card, which restricts his access to essential university services, such as, indeed, the library.
Later on this week, Ali came home to the dorms to find his room broken into, with political sticker torn off and the door handle vandalized. He submitted a complaint to the security staff, and was visited in the morning by the manager of the dorms, Mr Yitzhak Hofy, and his staff. They made no mention of the break-in, and instead proceded to inform Ali that his halls contract was ended, on the feeble ground that a shisha pipe was found in his room and his walls had posters on it - admittedly an infringement of dorms regulations but a fairly light and common one.
Ali needs to evict the room by Wednesday, November 11. The date for the hearing had not yet been set.
What is our stance?
---------------
We believe that the assault on Ali's freedom and academic future is purely political and has little to do with university regulations. Ali is an elected representative and chairman of the Arab Student Commitee, a legal and registered organization set up to assist Arab students who feel underrepresented by the ordinary Student Union. The University sees the Committee - political and committed as it is - as a threat, and the unprecdented attack on Ali is both a result and a proof of that; and while Ali's comments on Peres's record may sound harsh to some and even innaccurate to others, he was perfectly within his rights to make them. Free speech, even angry speech, should not etch a question mark on a young man's professional and academic future.
What are the demands?
------------------
We demand that Ali's student card be restored, his dorms contract reinstated, and all proceedings against him will be stopped. We also demand that the University apologizes to Ali for this gross impingement of his freedom and dignity, and that the incident be struck off from his disciplinary and academic record.
We also demand that the President of Israel and the Peres Peace Centre - both ostenstibly committed to democratic and liberal values - make clear their position on this outrage.
What can we do?
-------------
1. Spread the word!
2. Sign out petition! http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/freespeech2008
3. Visit our website frequently to learn more and to stay in touch: http://freespeech2008.wordpress.com
We welcome everyone and anyone, of any political persuaison, Left, Right, Centre, Green, religious, secular, atheists agnostics muslims jews christians and anyone at all. Free speech is not a luxury - it's a necessity. Free speech is not a privilege for the "right-thinking" or even the "nice" or "polite" - it's the one tool that any person or group have at their disposal to work for change.
Suppression of one person is the suppression of each and every one of us.
*********!!!!!!!!!!!***************
Ali's hearing about his dorm room is tomorrow 8am. We will submit the petition tomorrow at 7am. PLEASE SIGN HERE ASAP: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitio
********!!!!!!!!!!!!***************
Running updates of the campaign here: http://freespeech2008.wordpress.com
Sign English petition here: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitio
עצומה בעברית כאן: http://www.atzuma.co.il/petition/fr
Contact the campaign here: free.speech.huji@gmail.com
To find out what this about and what you can do to help, keep reading..
הסבר בעברית: http://freespeech2008.wordpress.com
What is this about?
--------------
According to Haaretz (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages
When the president left the library, Ali was assaulted by security guards, who questioned him for three hours before serving him with a demand to appear before the discplinary committee of the university, on suspicion of "inappropriate conduct". This charge can potentially lead to Ali's suspension from the university. The guards also confiscated Ali's student card, which restricts his access to essential university services, such as, indeed, the library.
Later on this week, Ali came home to the dorms to find his room broken into, with political sticker torn off and the door handle vandalized. He submitted a complaint to the security staff, and was visited in the morning by the manager of the dorms, Mr Yitzhak Hofy, and his staff. They made no mention of the break-in, and instead proceded to inform Ali that his halls contract was ended, on the feeble ground that a shisha pipe was found in his room and his walls had posters on it - admittedly an infringement of dorms regulations but a fairly light and common one.
Ali needs to evict the room by Wednesday, November 11. The date for the hearing had not yet been set.
What is our stance?
---------------
We believe that the assault on Ali's freedom and academic future is purely political and has little to do with university regulations. Ali is an elected representative and chairman of the Arab Student Commitee, a legal and registered organization set up to assist Arab students who feel underrepresented by the ordinary Student Union. The University sees the Committee - political and committed as it is - as a threat, and the unprecdented attack on Ali is both a result and a proof of that; and while Ali's comments on Peres's record may sound harsh to some and even innaccurate to others, he was perfectly within his rights to make them. Free speech, even angry speech, should not etch a question mark on a young man's professional and academic future.
What are the demands?
------------------
We demand that Ali's student card be restored, his dorms contract reinstated, and all proceedings against him will be stopped. We also demand that the University apologizes to Ali for this gross impingement of his freedom and dignity, and that the incident be struck off from his disciplinary and academic record.
We also demand that the President of Israel and the Peres Peace Centre - both ostenstibly committed to democratic and liberal values - make clear their position on this outrage.
What can we do?
-------------
1. Spread the word!
2. Sign out petition! http://www.petitionspot.com/petitio
3. Visit our website frequently to learn more and to stay in touch: http://freespeech2008.wordpress.com
We welcome everyone and anyone, of any political persuaison, Left, Right, Centre, Green, religious, secular, atheists agnostics muslims jews christians and anyone at all. Free speech is not a luxury - it's a necessity. Free speech is not a privilege for the "right-thinking" or even the "nice" or "polite" - it's the one tool that any person or group have at their disposal to work for change.
Suppression of one person is the suppression of each and every one of us.
Sunday, 9 November 2008
URGENT ALERT (Sunday 9 Nov): Israeli gunboats firing on fishing boat (Update 11am)
Greta Berlin just emailed this from Cyprus. She is on the satellite phone with David Schermerhorn. He is out fishing with Vik, Nicos and the Palestinians. They were attacked from the moment they passed the 6-mile limit. Water cannons and machine gun fire into the water. At 9:29, he called me again. The gunboat has come within 50 feet of the fishing boat and has cut across where the nets are.
Vik is yelling at the Israeli gunboat, telling them that three internationals are on board and they are all unarmed and they just want to go fishing. The pleas were met by water cannon so strong that all of the people on board went into the cabin for protection. David is trying to get water samples to bring back and have analyzed.
The connection is very difficult to understand, but I can hear Vik in the background and hear the machine gun fire and the water hitting the wheelhouse. They are trying to break the windows in the wheelhouse. Another fishing boat about 100 yards off is also being attacked. He then yelled in the phone that the boat was being hit by water from the front, that the Israeli gunboat is trying to actually break up the boat.
The connection just broke. Please put whatever pressure on that you can ...
Update:
At 10:53 an Israeli gunboat is off the port side of the fishing boat getting ready to spray dirty water on the crew and the fish. The crew is trying to raise the nets and the fish inside. The Israeli military on board the gunboat have masks on before they spray the boat, an indication that the water is going to be dirty.
The way point of the boat is .021 as the fishermen frantically try to raise their nets. The larger gunboat with the water cannon mounted on it has gone around to the winward side of the fishing boat, where they always shoot the water cannon. It is 50 yards off and preparing to fire as the nets are being hauled in as fast as the crew can work. As David is talking at 11:05, gunboat started to fire dirty water, attacking the crew and the fish. Nicos has collected the water in a sample jar and will bring it back for analysis. They are trying to ruin the catch.
Update: 11:23 The large gunboat has dropped back after spraying the crew with dirty water. The crew dropped the fish back into the sea to protect them and they were not hit. David said that the military men on the gunboat were wearing hazmat suits an masks, an indication of how dangerous the water must be. Everyone on board was hit, but no fish were ruined.
URGENT ALERT: Israeli gunboats firing on fishing boat (Update 11am)
| Date : 11-9-08 | |
Greta Berlin just emailed this from Cyprus. She is on the satellite phone with David Schermerhorn. He is out fishing with Vik, Nicos and the Palestinians. They were attacked from the moment they passed the 6-mile limit. Water cannons and machine gun fire into the water. At 9:29, he called me again. The gunboat has come within 50 feet of the fishing boat and has cut across where the nets are.
Vik is yelling at the Israeli gunboat, telling them that three internationals are on board and they are all unarmed and they just want to go fishing. The pleas were met by water cannon so strong that all of the people on board went into the cabin for protection. David is trying to get water samples to bring back and have analyzed.
The connection is very difficult to understand, but I can hear Vik in the background and hear the machine gun fire and the water hitting the wheelhouse. They are trying to break the windows in the wheelhouse. Another fishing boat about 100 yards off is also being attacked. He then yelled in the phone that the boat was being hit by water from the front, that the Israeli gunboat is trying to actually break up the boat.
The connection just broke. Please put whatever pressure on that you can ...
Update:
At 10:53 an Israeli gunboat is off the port side of the fishing boat getting ready to spray dirty water on the crew and the fish. The crew is trying to raise the nets and the fish inside. The Israeli military on board the gunboat have masks on before they spray the boat, an indication that the water is going to be dirty.
The way point of the boat is .021 as the fishermen frantically try to raise their nets. The larger gunboat with the water cannon mounted on it has gone around to the winward side of the fishing boat, where they always shoot the water cannon. It is 50 yards off and preparing to fire as the nets are being hauled in as fast as the crew can work. As David is talking at 11:05, gunboat started to fire dirty water, attacking the crew and the fish. Nicos has collected the water in a sample jar and will bring it back for analysis. They are trying to ruin the catch.
Update: 11:23 The large gunboat has dropped back after spraying the crew with dirty water. The crew dropped the fish back into the sea to protect them and they were not hit. David said that the military men on the gunboat were wearing hazmat suits an masks, an indication of how dangerous the water must be. Everyone on board was hit, but no fish were ruined.
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Some wise words from wordster Dizzie Rascal
When asked whether he believes in political parties, he sharply replies:
"yeah, they exist-i believe in them, i don't know if I care...Politicians are gonna say what they say...every now and again you get a genuine one. People as a whole make the difference. I don't think one person or party can make a difference".True say Mr Rascal.
**Dizzie for Prime Minister**
Historical Materialism conference at SOAS this weekend
Historical Materialism is a high level conference with some fabulous speakers right on our dorrsteps at SOAS this weekend.
Sessions on Adorno-Emancipatory praxis and conceptuality in Adorno: Some notes on the time of insurrection. One on "All that is fluid is frozen to stone: sex, individuality, non-identity"
Vygotsky, Gramsci, Zizek, Althusser, Lucaks, Orientalism, Postcolonialism, New left in Palestine and much more.
It suggests a donation for entrance but you could blag it if you bemoan the fact that we are studying at universties in a neo-liberal world; (correct this time? please, please say yes) fees, kids, having to work etc!!
Call me on 07958 034 181 if you want to meet up.
Link to website and full program: http://mercury.soas.ac.uk/hm/
Two sessions to wet (whet?) your whistle eg. Friday 10am:
MARX AND PHILOSOPHY SOCIETY: NORMATIVITY AND ALIENATION
Chair: Martin McIvor
Sean Sayers
Alienation as a critical concept
Gaspar Miklos Tamas
The uniqueness of capitalism and the normative content of a socialist political philosophy
Nicholas Joll
The normativity problem in critical theory: Adorno, Bernstein, Freyenhagen
MARXISMS AND RELIGION
Chair: Peter Thomas
John Roberts
Marx and the "critique of the critique of religion‟ today
Sami Khatib
Capitalism as religion: Re-reading Walter Benjamin‟s Marxism
Alberto Toscano
The mask of apocalypse, the flag of fanaticism: Marxism, religion and revolt
Anyway, hope to see you there...x
Sessions on Adorno-Emancipatory praxis and conceptuality in Adorno: Some notes on the time of insurrection. One on "All that is fluid is frozen to stone: sex, individuality, non-identity"
Vygotsky, Gramsci, Zizek, Althusser, Lucaks, Orientalism, Postcolonialism, New left in Palestine and much more.
It suggests a donation for entrance but you could blag it if you bemoan the fact that we are studying at universties in a neo-liberal world; (correct this time? please, please say yes) fees, kids, having to work etc!!
Call me on 07958 034 181 if you want to meet up.
Link to website and full program: http://mercury.soas.ac.uk/
Two sessions to wet (whet?) your whistle eg. Friday 10am:
MARX AND PHILOSOPHY SOCIETY: NORMATIVITY AND ALIENATION
Chair: Martin McIvor
Sean Sayers
Alienation as a critical concept
Gaspar Miklos Tamas
The uniqueness of capitalism and the normative content of a socialist political philosophy
Nicholas Joll
The normativity problem in critical theory: Adorno, Bernstein, Freyenhagen
MARXISMS AND RELIGION
Chair: Peter Thomas
John Roberts
Marx and the "critique of the critique of religion‟ today
Sami Khatib
Capitalism as religion: Re-reading Walter Benjamin‟s Marxism
Alberto Toscano
The mask of apocalypse, the flag of fanaticism: Marxism, religion and revolt
Anyway, hope to see you there...x
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