Op het bericht, dat Saoedische vrouwen vanaf juli 2018* mogen autorijden, mits er een man naast hen zit, reageerde de Britse premier, hare kwaadaardigheid May, met een opgetogen praatje, waarin ze stelde blij te zijn met deze lamme beslissing……
May is dus blij dat de Saoedische vrouw mag autorijden, met een manlijke passagier naast zich, tja ‘vrouwen blijven nu eenmaal wezens die je als kind moet beschouwen en die kunnen misschien wel autorijden, maar zelfstandig naar buiten gaan is niet vertrouwd……’
Alsof met deze bepaling de Saoedische vrouw ook maar iets verder geëmancipeerd zal raken…….
Het is dan ook duidelijk dat May de beslissing van de reli-fascistische dictator ziet als een gedeeltelijke legitimatie voor het leveren van wapens, munitie (waaronder clusterbommen en raketten), pantservoertuigen, straaljagers en helikopters aan het soennitische Saoedi-Arabië dat o.a. met deze wapens een genocide uitvoert op de sjiitische bevolking in Jemen………
Door de blokkade van de Jemenitische landgrenzen, havens en de bombardementen op vliegvelden door Saoedi-Arabië (waar de VS de Saoedische dictatuur helpt met de blokkade op zee) komen humanitaire goederen maar mondjesmaat het land in…….
Kortom: onder meer met die wapens heeft S-A Jemen geblokkeerd, de infrastructuur vernietigd en daarmee een hongersnood en cholera veroorzaakt in Jemen…….. Dit nog buiten het enorme aantal bombardementen van de Saoedische coalitie op dat land, waarbij intussen meer dan 10.000 burgers zijn vermoord………. Waar naast GB, de VS deze moorddadige coalitie verder steunt middels bombardementen, drone-aanvallen en troepen aan de grond in Jemen (zogenaamd in de strijd tegen IS, een strijd waar juist de sjiitische Houthi rebellen goed mee bezig waren, de reden voor het ingrijpen van S-A een paar jaar geleden……)
* Waarom pas per juli volgend jaar? Moet de Saoedische vrouw voor die tijd eerst bewijzen volwassen te zijn? Belachelijk!!
TheCanary bracht op 16 september jl. een artikel waarin stuitend bewijs wordt geleverd over de BBC, die de Britse regering uit de ‘VN-wind’ houdt.
De VN heeft een rapport uitgebracht, waarin de bezuinigingen op het budget voor minder valide mensen, door de inhumane neoliberale regering May aan de paal wordt genageld. Volgens het rapport zijn deze bezuinigingen levensbedreigend en leiden tot moord, suïcide en euthanasie……*
De regering May insinueert met haar uitlatingen t.a.v. deze groep zwakkere mensen, dat het parasieten en uitnemers van de sociale zekerheid zijn, ze zouden leven op het belastinggeld van anderen………………….
Op 14 september jl. publiceerde de VN een audiobestand van de persconferentie over deze zaak, waarin het ook een volledig BBC interview overnam van 10 minuten, een interview met Theresia Degener, voorzitter van de VN commissie voor mensen met een handicap (UNCRPD).
‘Vreemd genoeg’ zond de BBC maar 20 seconden uit van dit interview…… U had het al begrepen: totaal niet vreemd, daar staatsomroep BBC vooral het regeringsbeleid verdedigt, hoe fout dat beleid ook is
Lees de uitstekende analyse van Steve Topple over deze ongelofelijke zaak (bij mijn noot (*) onder dat artikel nog een kleine aanvulling over het Nederlandse beleid op hetzelfde gebied, dat zoals u wellicht weet, weinig beter is (terwijl de reguliere pers hier, Rutte 2 de hemel in prijst..)……
The
BBC didn’t want you to hear the UN’s most damning interview about
the UK government in full. So here it is
A BBCinterview,
of which only 20 seconds out of more than 10 minutes were broadcast,
has come to light. And it has exposed the UN’s most scathing attack
on the Conservative government to date.
Published by
the UN, it reveals the organisation thinks that austerity is “life
threatening” to many disabled people in the UK. And it sees the
government’s actions potentially leading to “killings and
euthanasia”, because it has helped create a society where a whole
group of people are viewed as “parasites”. But it’s an
interview the BBC completely
dumbed down for its viewers.
A
‘human catastrophe’
In
August, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(UNCRPD) met in Geneva, Switzerland. It was assessing if the UK
government meets its obligations under the UN Convention on the
Rights of Disabled People.
And
it was publicly unequivocal
in its opinion on how disabled people are treated by the Conservative
government. Its Chair, Theresia Degener, said in a statement
seen by The
Canary:
“Evidence
before us… reveals that [welfare] cut policies [have] led to human
catastrophe in your country, totally neglecting the vulnerable
situation people with disabilities find themselves in”.
But
on 14 September, the UN published the audio of
the committee’s concluding press conference. And it left in a
full BBCinterview with
Degener. John Pring at Disability
News Service (DNS)
discovered the audio; you can read his full analysis here and
listen to the full audio here.
Disabled people: ‘parasites’ who could be ‘killed’
In the BBC interview, one of the UN’s most scathing comments was about public attitudes towards disabled people. Degener said [20.43] that the government and the media “have some responsibility” for society seeing [20.12] disabled people as “parasites, living on social benefits… and [living on] the taxes of other people”. And she said [20.23] these “very, very dangerous” attitudes could [20.52] “lead to violence… and if not, to killings and euthanasia”. And she urged [21.10] the government to “stop” this (audio):
Overarching
concerns
You
can read The
Canary‘s
full analysis of the UNCRPD report here.
Broadly, it only noted two areas
which it considered “positive” in the Tory government’s
approach to disabled people. But it highlighted nearly 70 criticisms
over the Conservative government’s treatment of disabled people.
And it made over 90 recommendations to the government. It was
these concerns and recommendations that Degener referenced in
her BBC interview.
Degener said
[11.40] that
rights for disabled people in the UK were “going backwards”.
She said
[12.14] that
the Tories have implemented:
“a
policy of austerity… which discriminates against disabled people by
taking away benefits which were supposed to help disabled people to
live an independent life… [one] equal to others…”
Human
rights breaches
She
went on to explain how the UN believed successive Conservative-led
governments had breached “human rights laws” (audio):
Degener
continued by saying
[14.45] that
the UN believes that austerity has left disabled people reliant on
“voluntary” support; that disabled people cannot “participate
in culture and public life”; that schools are excluding disabled
children, leaving parents without “any support”. And she said
[15.55] the
loss of the Independent Living Fund (ILF) had led to disabled people
being “homeless”, “desperate”, and suffering mental health
issues. But she also noted
[16.34] “terrible”
reports of people taking their own lives “because of the cuts”.
The
UK government: ‘threatening’ disabled people’s lives
The BBCasked
[16.46] Degener
why the UN gave “the longest list of conclusions and
recommendations” it has ever given to a country. She said
[17.05] it
was because her committee had “set the bar very high”. But
she noted
[17.10] that,
while the UK “claims to be a world leader when it comes to
disability rights”, it is actually going backwards; and that this
“worries” the UN “a lot”. She then said
[18.25] government
policies had become “life threatening to many disabled people” (audio):
Overall,
the committee condemned the
UK’s attempts to misrepresent the impact of policies through
“unanswered questions”, “misused statistics”, and a “smoke
screen of statements”. It also said the government had introduced
policies and legislation which “fail to implement” disabled
people’s rights in “reality”.
The BBC response?
The BBC journalist told
[14.17] Deneger
that she can “edit” the interview. And edit it the BBC did,
as the only section broadcast was
20 seconds, containing some of Degener’s least contentious
comments. So The
Canary asked
the BBC why
it chose to edit the interview so heavily; only including a tiny
section of Degener’s responses.
A BBC spokesperson
told The
Canary:
“This
is misleading. We make editorial decisions about what is newsworthy
for inclusion in our coverage every day which often means using only
key parts of interviews. On the News at Six and Ten and radio
bulletins we very clearly reported on the UN report and its
criticisms of the UK’s record on protecting the rights of disabled
people, its concerns about the number of disabled living in poverty
and the effects of cuts to benefits – including relevant sections
of an interview with Theresa Degener”.
“We’re
disappointed that this report does not accurately reflect the
evidence we gave to the UN, and fails to recognise all the progress
we’ve made to empower disabled people in all aspects of their
lives. We spend over £50bn a year to support disabled people and
those with health conditions – more than ever before, and the
second highest in the G7. We’re committed to furthering rights and
opportunities for all disabled people, which is why it is encouraging
that almost 600,000 disabled people have moved into work in the UK
over the last four years.”
“We’re
also a recognised world leader in disability rights and equality,
which is why we supported the development of the UN convention”.
The
UK government and the media must take responsibility
The
UN has now reportedfourtimes in
the space of a year on human rights violations by the
Conservative-led government. As one disabled activist told The
Canary:
“If
this was happening in a Middle Eastern country, the US would probably
have invaded by now, under the guise of ‘humanitarian’ grounds”.
But
the government’s response to all these reports? To simply shrug
their shoulders and say they didn’t believe them. And now, we see
the BBC cherry-picking
the most palatable parts of an interview with the UN to broadcast.
There is no discernible reason why the BBC could
not have published the interview in full on its website. But as the
UN implied, the BBC and
the rest of the media must take some responsibility for disabled
people’s appalling situation. The full responsibility, however,
lies directly at the Conservative government’s door.
This
article was updated at 5.10pm on Friday 15 September to reflect a
statement from the BBC.
*Nu nog een VN rapport, waarin de Nederlandse bezuinigingen op het budget voor invaliden, chronisch zieken, ouderen en de GGZ zorg aan de kaak worden gesteld……… Intussen kan hier als bewezen worden geacht, dat deze bezuinigingen al tot een fiks aantal suïcides hebben geleid…… Met dank aan hare VVD kwaadaardigheid Schippers en PvdA opperschoft Martin ‘die vrouw’ van Rijn……. (en ja, de zorg over de schutting van de lokale politiek gooien, is een hele smerige manier van bezuinigen, die zoals gezegd veel mensen in diepe ellende heeft gestort……..
Een prominent Tory-lid, journalist en leider van de ‘CLEAR Cannabis Law Reform campaign group’*, Peter Reynolds heeft zijn lidmaatschap van de partij opgezegd en steekt dit bepaald niet onder stoelen of banken.
Lees zijn relaas, waarin hij May als premier zonder mandaat en misdadiger afschildert, een misdadiger die ‘in het openbaar’ zou moeten worden gestraft………
Het neoliberale beleid van May en haar regering is desastreus, zeker voor de grote onderlaag in Groot-Brittannië, een onderlaag waarvan meer dan 4 miljoen kinderen al jaren met honger naar school moeten, waar ze te eten krijgen…… Je gaat als inhumane neoliberale regering natuurlijk niet zorgen dat de ouders meer geld krijgen, zodat ze zelf hun kinderen te eten kunnen geven, ‘stel je voor……..’
Normaal toch, dat die kinderen met een trauma komen te zitten, dat ze hun leven lang niet meer kwijt raken…..? De armoede moet natuurlijk wel als afschrikwekkend middel op grootte worden gehouden, zodat de arbeiders braaf hun werk tegen een veel te laag salaris blijven uitvoeren, niet gaan staken, waarbij ze de kans lopen ontslagen te worden en ze ook in armoede kunnen wegzinken……..
Lees ook de links onder het volgende artikel van the Canary, naar andere berichten over de regering May
A
prominent Tory’s resignation letter is the most delicious thing
you’ll read this week
A
journalist and prominent member of the Conservative Party has handed
in his resignation.
But instead of going quietly, he has made his feelings known
publicly. And he pulls no punches, saying Theresa May should be “led
in chains out of Downing Street and placed in stocks in Parliament
Square”.
A
rather liberal Tory
Peter
Reynolds is
a journalist and leader of the CLEAR Cannabis Law Reform
campaign group. He previously worked as Creative Director for PR
firm Saatchi & Saatchi, and wrote a weekly column for The
Independent.
But Reynolds is also a vocal member of the Conservative
Party, writing about
party policy and general politics.
On
31 August, he used his blog to publish his resignation letter from
the Tory party – following months of
criticism of May’s leadership.
“Farcical”
May
Reynolds
reproduced his emailed resignation, which you can read in full here.
It began:
“After
the disastrous handling of the EU referendum result, the ludicrous
decision to appoint one of the most incompetent and out-of-touch
ministers as Prime Minister and her farcical election performance, I
have been wrestling for some time as to whether to renew my
membership.”
He
went on to call May
an “authoritarian bigot” with “no mandate” and “no
respect”. He also took aim at the cabinet, saying:
“It
is also self-evident that all other minsters are too weak, cowardly
and neurotic about their own jobs to do anything to stop her.”
Prepare
your rotten tomatoes
But
he also gave a critical appraisal of how May and her cabinet are
dealing with Brexit, saying they
have:
“failed
entirely to plan for a leave vote and they have dithered, waffled,
dodged and tripped up again and again, achieving absolutely nothing
in the period since the result.”
He
concludes that May has “wrecked” Brexit and “damaged Britain
irreparably in the process”. He says this has left the UK in a
“tragic and diminished state”. And he also thinks May
“richly deserves” a punishment for her failings:
“ if
I had my way Mrs May would be led in chains out of Downing Street and
placed in stocks in Parliament Square to endure the humiliation she
so richly deserves.”
Oh,
Jeremy Corbyn!
But
while Reynolds’ email is blistering, it’s his
previous appraisal of
the Conservative Party more broadly which could give May food for
thought. In an article called Has
There Ever Been A Worse UK Government Than This?,he points to
multiple failings going back to David Cameron’s era which have led
the Tories to the weakened position they’re in now.
“fake
Tory, an authoritarian bureaucrat with big government, nanny state
instincts, daughter of a high Anglican priest stuck in some 1950s
delusion of what Britain is today.”
“a
socialist activist but a man with integrity, courage and vision has
stolen our place. Jeremy Corbyn provides more leadership in the UK
than the entire Conservative cabinet put together. He was magnificent
at Glastonbury, seizing the hearts and minds of not just the young
but the young at heart – seizing the future! Where is the Tory
alternative?”
Not
unusual
Reynolds’
views come as the latest opinion polling gives Corbyn’s
Labour a five-point lead over the Tories. So the PM would do well to
have a read of Reynolds’ criticisms.
Because as it stands, her party is looking more and more fragile by
the day. And the views of this rather ‘liberal’ Tory could well
ring true with the public.
Get
Involved!
– JoinThe
Canary,
so we can keep holding the powerful to account.
Whitney Webb publiceerde op 25 augustus jl. een artikel op MintPress News, een bericht over het nieuwe censuur beleid van Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft en Twitter.
Webb geeft in het artikel de alternatieven waarmee je de censoren en geheime onderzoekers (geheime diensten) van de overheid en het bedrijfsleven kan omzeilen, zo kan u uw eigen ‘Virtual Private Network’ (VPN) opzetten, waarmee u zelfs uw IP-adres geheim kan houden.
Google heeft de laatste maanden diverse onafhankelijke mediaorganen geblokkeerd, die niet het algemene westerse politieke (neoliberale) beleid volgen en zich verzetten tegen de enorme berg leugens in de reguliere westerse massamedia……… Google en anderen doen dit in de strijd tegen ‘fake news’, waarbij men voor het gemak even vergeet dat vooral diezelfde massamedia verantwoordelijk zijn voor het brengen van nepnieuws, ofwel ‘fake news……….’ Anders gezegd: Google verzet zich tegen ‘fake news’, door juist de alternatieve media te blokkeren, die ditzelfde ‘fake news’ dag in dag uit aan de paal nagelen!!
‘Fake news’ (of nepnieuws zo je wilt) in de westerse massamedia >> neem de berichtgeving voor en tijdens de illegale oorlogen tegen: Afghanistan, Irak, Libie en nu weer Syrië…….. Om over het tot voor kort lange zwijgen door die media over de oorlog tegen Jemen nog maar te zwijgen… (wat ik nu dus niet doe..) De smerige oorlog en genocide die de reli-fascistische dictatuur van Saoedi-Arabië tegen de sjiitische bevolking van Jemen voert/uitvoert, dit met behulp van een arabische coalitie, aangevuld met de hulp van de VS en Groot-Brittannië……. (en met de stilzwijgende goedkeuring die de meerderheid van westerse politici, als de mislukte PvdA sierkwast Koenders, aan deze oorlog en genocide geven….. Die goedkeuring geven ze door te zwijgen!)
Of wat dacht je van de totaal foute en valse berichtgeving in de westerse massamedia t.a.v. de fascistische apartheidsstaat Israël……
Hier het bewuste artikel van Webb dat ik overnam van Anti-Media, doe er je voordeel mee!
Your
Guide to Avoiding Internet Censorship of Independent News Journalism
There
are lots of good strategies for beating both corporate and government
Internet censors and snoops. These range from alternatives to Google,
Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter — to direct subscriptions to
authors and pubs — to setting up your own VPN. All are worth the
effort.
(MPN) — While Google’s
Information Age dominancehas
long been recognized to have some unsavory consequences, the massive
technology corporation has, in recent months, taken to directly
censoring content and traffic to a variety of independent media
outlets across the political spectrum — essentially muting the
voices of any site or author who does not toe the establishment line.
This
new offensive has coincided with Google efforts to clamp down on
“fake news” and “extremist” content, which – on its
subsidiary, YouTube – led to the
categorical blocking of
videos portraying war crimes and other disturbing events of the
Syrian conflict and Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Other
independent media figures, such as Luke
Rudowski and Carey Wedler,
on the popular video streaming service, saw many
of their videos demonetized.
Though
the crackdown on YouTube was more obvious, the Google search engine –
the most popular in the world – is now burying or blocking
independent media sites from its search results.
Conservatives have
long claimed that
Google was selectively targeting their content due to the personal
political bias of the company’s executives — but now, since
Google announced its new guidelines, numerous progressive,
transparency, and anti-war websites that act as watchdogs to the
establishment have seen their traffic diminish substantially.
Counterpunch,
World Socialist Website, MintPress News, Democracy Now, American
Civil Liberties Union and Wikileaks are just
a handful of
the sites that have seen massive drops in their returns from Google
searches. The World Socialist Website alone experienced a 67 percent
decrease in returns from Google following the implementation of
Google’s new algorithm targeting so-called “fake news.”
MintPress News, however, has suffered the steepest decline, having
seen a 76 percent decrease in traffic from Google since the new
algorithm was put into effect.
Google
has its reasons for choosing to censor viewpoints that clash with or
even raise questions about the official narrative. Google shares deep
connections with the U.S.’ political powerbrokers, notably with the
CIA, which originally
helped fund Google
into existence with the intention of controlling the flow of
information.
Understandably
— in light of its deep connections to those who stand the most to
lose from the actual free flow of information — Google has emerged
as a leader of the “fight” against so-called “fake news.” The
concept of “fake news” took on sudden weight following last
November’s U.S. presidential election: in the tweets and rants of
newly-elected President Donald Trump, media predictions of a Clinton
victory were ridiculed as “FAKE NEWS,” while Clinton supporters
also wound up blaming “fake news” for Clinton’s loss in the
election.
In
short order, the term became a term of derision and dismissal applied
to any and all disagreeable reporting. With the “fake news” net
cast so wide, the ground was fertile for a campaign against the
official story-challenging work of independent media — dependent
for its reach, to a far greater extent than its mainstream media
counterparts, upon the good graces of monster Internet traffic cops
such as Google.
The
following guide offers a variety of solutions and options for those
concerned with Google’s overreach and its decision to become the
Internet’s unelected “Ministry of Truth.”
Dumping
Google Search
Dominating over
80% of
global searches made on the Internet, Google’s chokehold on the
flow of information is undeniable. Now that its algorithm has been
shown to target news sites critical of the establishment on both
sides of the aisle, finding an alternative becomes an essential task
irrespective of one’s political leaning.
However,
don’t expect other brand name search engines like Microsoft’s
Bing or Yahoo to come to the rescue, as these too have
been caught censoring
search results in the past. Microsoft, in particular, is very
untrustworthy, given its eager
participation in
the NSA’s PRISM surveillance program — where it illegally shared
the Internet user data, including search queries, of U.S. citizens
without their knowledge.
Given
its willingness to cooperate with the government against the interest
of American citizens, Microsoft would be perhaps more willing even
than Google to censor access to so-called “fake news.”
Yahoo
is little better, as it too was an early adopter of the PRISM
surveillance program, second only to Microsoft. Like Microsoft,
they willingly
cooperate with
government censorship efforts – as well as the outing
of dissidents –
in other countries.
Thankfully,
as far as search engines go, there are other options available that
not only respect your privacy but also offer fairer searches,
including some features that even Google doesn’t offer.
DuckDuckGo
Of
all the viable Google alternatives, DuckDuckGo is
the most well-known, having been promoted by PCMag.com, the Guardian,
and The New York Times as a “long-term” threat to Google’s
search dominance. It was even one of the top 50 sites of 2011,
according to Time magazine.
However,
the “mainstream” accolades are, in this case, well-deserved.
DuckDuckGo is best known for its motto “the
search engine that doesn’t track you,” complete with Tor
browser functionality. While
this is a clear boon for privacy enthusiasts – or anyone concerned
about illegal NSA spying – it also results in search results that
are not filtered based on your search history. In other words, users
are more likely to be presented with search results that challenge
their existing ideas.
DuckDuckGo
also boasts an
impressive search algorithm that
excludes Google results but includes results from other well-known
search engines, mixed with the data obtained by DuckDuckGo’s
own web
crawler bot.
The results are filtered for spam and re-ordered using its trademark
“Instant Answers” platform, which places high-quality answers
above other results and advertisements. The “Instant Answers”
platform gathers answers provided by top popular websites, like
Wikipedia, in addition to community-built answers.
For
those tech-savvy users who don’t trust the spam filtering or even
the “Instant Answer” platform, these functions — as well as
DuckDuckGo itself — is open-source and also offers DuckDuckHack,
where users can create their own plug-ins for use in DuckDuckGo and
even help improve the search engine overall.
For
less savvy tech users, DuckDuckGo conveniently functions like any
other search engine, in addition to providing several features even
Google doesn’t offer. It
also has a search app for both iPhone and Android, as well as
plug-ins for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, and offers support in
several languages.
Ixquick/StartPage
Ixquick is
an American/Dutch meta-search engine, meaning itsimultaneously
searches multiple
databases and other search engines,
including Google, across the Internet. It uses a “star system” to
rank search results, placing a star next to each result for every
search engine that ranks that result as one of its 10 best for a
given search. A five-star result, for example, means that five search
engines considered that result to be among the 10 most relevant.
Ixquick
— which has now merged with its subsidiary, StartPage — also
tackles the issue of privacy by not storing user-specific details
such as cookies or past search results. Like DuckDuckGo, Ixquick
offers unfiltered search results generated by Google’s
“personalized” searches. Privacy enthusiasts may recognize
Ixquick as the default search engine for the Tor browser.
Ixquick
is supported in 17 languages and offers a plug-in for Mozilla
Firefox. They also offer a privacy-minded, encrypted email server
called StartMail.
Gibiru
Gibiru,
like the aforementioned search engines, prides itself on offering
maximum privacy. It avoids tracking its users by providing anonymous
and encrypted searches. It describes itself as “the preferred
Search Engine for Patriots” and offers non-personalized, anonymous
web results while emphasizing the disdain of its developers for the
NSA. Part of what sets Gibiru apart is its claim to offer
“uncensored” searches, as their web crawlers intentionally
include pages that Google has blocked or buried in its search
results.
Gibiru
also has a unique feature called “Uncensored News.” In addition
to aggregating results from other search engines, Gibiru adds its own
algorithm that specifically looks for results from independent media
outlets, particularly those that tend to “promote ‘alternative’
views from the mainstream.”
Recognizing
that mainstream media results are picked up by Google and Bing,
Gibiru does not use its bandwidth searching through these results.
Even up-and-coming independent media sites can gain inclusion in
Uncensored News results by communicating with the Gibiru team.
Gibiru
offers both a toolbar and a plugin for Mozilla Firefox.
Subscribe
directly to your favorite pages
Though
the above search engines can assist in more accurate and less
censored internet searches, the best way to get news you trust is
directly from the source. Anyone who reads independent media
eventually develops preferences for certain sites and authors whose
content they consistently find reliable and interesting.
If
you are concerned with Google’s clampdown on independent media, the
most surefire way to ensure your access to the sites you enjoy is by
subscribing directly to them via email. Most independent media pages
offer you the option to subscribe to their mailing lists, where you
receive their top stories on a daily basis. Some pages charge for
subscriptions, but most – such as MintPress
News’ Daily Digest –
are free and allow you to unsubscribe at any time. Some websites,
including MintPress, also
offer apps for
Android or iPhone, which allow users direct and convenient access to
the content of those pages.
If
you are concerned that all of the newsletters and stories of the
pages you want to follow will clutter your email, there are several
good options. Some mail servers allow you to label certain types of
incoming mail, and creating a specific label for “news” can
streamline the process of following all of your favorite pages in one
place. Alternatively, you can create an email account dedicated to
news in order to keep it separate from email accounts more focused on
work or socializing.
In
some cases, however, your favorite writers may not regularly publish
in the same place, making their work difficult to follow via email
subscription. Many authors have either their own web pages dedicated
to their work or publish on websites such as Medium —
a site offering both free and premium membership options, that hosts
the writings of many big names in independent news from across the
political spectrum.
Signing
up for Medium allows you to follow any writer you like, even
mainstream ones – a boon, for instance, if you like a certain
writer at, say, The Wall Street Journal but don’t trust the paper
as a whole. Certain popular writers in independent media — such
Nafeez Ahmed’s Insurge
Intelligence —
even publish some of their biggest stories exclusively on Medium.
Dump
social media for news
Facebook’s moderation system, which combines an automated flagging system with limited human oversight, has consistently drawn criticism, once banning a satirical account which criticized U.S. military spending.(AP/Czarek Sokolowski)
Though
some may value their Facebook account for keeping in touch with
friends and family, the social media giant is quickly becoming
unreliable for receiving news content posted by your friends as well
as the people or pages you follow. Facebook and Twitter have each
been caught censoring on several occasions and both now openly patrol
for “fake news” and “hate speech” — burying stories that
users would otherwise see, based on the recommendations of Facebook
or Twitter-approved flaggers. Many of these flaggers have been found
to publish “fake news” themselves or have a strong bias against
particular viewpoints, particularly those critical of conservative
politics.
Just
as with Google, Facebook and Twitter users can no longer be sure that
their newsfeeds contain the news they want to read, just as content
creators and publishers can no longer expect the same scope and reach
they once enjoyed on social media.
Unfortunately,
the alternatives to Facebook and Twitter are few and lack the large
user communities that make a social network successful. However,
there are two notable sites that are attempting to change that.
One
of those sites is Steemit. Steemit is
a social media platform that runs a blogging and social network
website built on top of a blockchain database. Steemit now boasts a
decently sized community, though it hardly compares to Facebook in
terms of daily users. Part of its success has been due to the site’s
commitment to paying users for creating and curating popular content
on the site.
Per the site’s system, users receive digital points (“Steem”)
depending on the success of their posts, which they can exchange for
more tangible rewards or payment via online exchanges. With $1 of
Steem now
worth just
over $4 USD, some people have found using Steemit to be both socially
and economically beneficial.
Another
potential Facebook competitor is Minds —
anopen
source, encrypted, and community-owned social network site that
values free speech and
doesn’t bow to government or advertiser pressure. It hosts
individual user profiles and blogs and creates an unfiltered
newsfeed for its users.
Members
can even be paid for posting their content if it garners a
significant number of views and upvotes. Although at present the
Minds community is tiny compared to that of Facebook, it may in years
to come become a more popular alternative, as Facebook continues to
disappoint.
Avoiding
outright censorship if and when It happens
While
censorship has long
been a reality in
countries like China, Western governments like to tout themselves as
being the guardians of freedom and the free flow of information. But
many of these governments, particularly the United States, have come
to realize in recent years that they are on
the losing side of
the “information war,” as trust in the corporate-owned media and
the government itself has sunk to historic lows.
Though
Western governments have, so far, outsourced censorship to technology
companies like Google and Facebook, there is little reason to believe
that these governments will refrain from demanding the outright
censorship of information that doesn’t toe the official line.
Take,
for example, the recent rhetoric of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May
who, in the wake of the Manchester bombing, has pushed for censoring
“extremist propaganda” online. May’s assertion concerned
internet watchdog groups,
who likened her proposals to China’s widespread censorship of the
Internet.
If
official government censorship comes to your country – or if you
suspect that it is already there – the easiest workaround is
setting up a virtual private network, or VPN. A VPN allows you to use
your computer as though it were connected to a network other than the
one you actually use. In the event of government censorship in your
country, a VPN allows you to virtually connect to a network set up in
another country where such censorship is not in effect. Using a VPN
has the added bonus of greater Internet privacy — as effective VPN
protocols encrypt your traffic, helping to protect you from
government surveillance as well as censorship.
VPNs
are provided by VPN service providers, not all of whom are created
equal. VPN providers with good reputations include Strong VPN,
SurfEasy, and TunnelBear. Of these, TunnelBear is the least
expensive – offering a free service – and SurfEasy the most
expensive at $11.99 per month. However, the Opera browser now
includes SurfEasy’s VPN services for free. A comprehensive guide on
how to choose the best VPN service provider for your needs can be
found here.
‘Groot-Brittannië’ (wat er nog groot is aan Brittannië is me niet geheel duidelijk, niet letterlijk en niet figuurlijk) heeft onder de neoliberale regering van de Tories (of: ‘Conservatieve’ Partij) een onmenselijk bezuinigingsprogramma uitgevoerd, waardoor het arme deel van de Britse bevolking onevenredig hard werd getroffen. Gevolg van deze bezuinigingen o.a.: een nooit eerder gezien aantal mensen, dat zich het leven heeft benomen, ofwel een ongeziene piek in het aantal suïcides……..
Vickie Cooper en David Whyte hebben een boek over deze inhumane bezuinigingen geschreven, onder de titel ‘The Violence of Austerity’. Dat geweld zien de schrijvers bijvoorbeeld in het grote aantal huisuitzettingen, die velen al niet meer opvallen, het is ‘een normaal verschijnsel’ in de Britse straten geworden…… Zoals ook daklozen, de voedselbanken, bedelen en de suïcide epidemie ‘een normaal verschijnsel’ zijn geworden in de Britse straten (hetzelfde geldt overigens voor Nederland: leve het ijskoude, inhumane neoliberalisme!!)……..
De onderlaag werd en wordt onevenredig hard geraakt met deze bezuinigingen. Verder wijst men in het boek op de vernederingen en degradatie die kinderen ten deel vallen, waarmee deze kinderen gestigmatiseerd worden (armoede zorgt bij kinderen voor een trauma, dat ze hun leven lang niet meer kwijt raken..).
Dagelijks gaan in GB meer dan 4 miljoen kinderen met honger naar school, waar men deze kinderen van voedsel voorziet…… Niet de situatie thuis wordt verbeterd, maar het gevolg van die armoede wordt met een pleister weggeplakt, een pleister die voor alle andere kinderen duidelijk zichtbaar is en waarmee ze hun onfortuinlijke leeftijdsgenoten pesten……… In de vakanties lijden deze kinderen dus ‘gewoon’ honger en dat anno 2017 in een rijk westers land……..
Twee andere schrijvers, David Stuckler en Sanjay Basu stelden in hun boek ‘The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills?’, dat wanneer men bezuinigingen zou onderzoeken als medicijnen, deze zouden worden afgekeurd…………..
U begrijpt dat er niet veel uitleg nodig is, om aan te tonen, dat deze bezuinigingen op den duur, door misdaad, frustraties, geweld enz, de maatschappij een veelvoud zullen kosten, dan de opbrengsten die werden behaald met deze bezuinigingen (tenzij men ommuurde getto’s creëert, waar de onderlaag van de maatschappij wordt opgesloten, veel westerse politiekorpsen ‘lopen al stage in Israël, om zo te leren, hoe men getto’s in de hand kan houden en ‘terreur’ tegen kan gaan, ‘terreur’ veroorzaakt door ongebreidelde overheidsterreur….)….. Al moet ik toegeven dat mensen die zich uit wanhoop het leven hebben benomen, in de toekomst geen cent meer kosten en niet in opstand zullen komen…….
Het volgende artikel komt van the Canary:
An
eye-opening book has given the Tories’ austerity programme a whole
new meaning
Austerity
has been at the heart of politics in the UK since the 2008 global
financial crash; in particular since the Conservative party took
control in 2010.
And
the book The
Violence of Austerity from
Pluto Press persuasively shows why. Through its collection of essays,
editors Vickie Cooper and David Whyte argue that [p.2]:
People
most affected by austerity cuts are not only struggling under the
financial strain but are becoming ill, physically and emotionally,
and many are dying.
The
book lays out how the government justifies its “violent” policy;
who the policy affects and its impact; and it presents what really
lies behind the neoliberal agenda of austerity and how we can oppose
it.
Chillingly
normal
One
thing the book comments on is how violence occurs through apparently
harmless forms [p.3]:
The
routine order and administration involved in, for example, seeking
asylum or determining whether a person is legally homeless can have
lasting and damaging effects whereby the failure to properly support
people exacerbates and reproduces other violent circumstances in
their lives. These routine administration practices are not always
identified as violent; but they are.
It
argues that the way violence is carried out through legitimate means,
makes it seem normal [p.24]:
Perhaps
we have become so accustomed to the ease with which people are
evicted and become homeless, or to the food banks, the street-begging
and the epidemics
in suicides, that we do not make the most obvious observations: that
the age that we live in is one in which the political violence of the
state is becoming normalised.
And
because of this normalisation, people don’t always see the
violence.
Four-part
exploration
The
book explores how violence has occurred in four parts.
In
Part I, Deadly
Welfare,
the book looks at groups of people unduly hit by austerity. It also
highlights how government work programmes can enable employers to
ruthlessly exploit unpaid volunteers. But soaring suicide rates show
the worst impact of austerity, which has been on mental health.
Part
II walks through how austerity has amplified poverty. And it points
to some very visible examples, such as the rising number of food
banks. It touches on non-tangible impacts such as the stigma of
poverty, which is also discussed in Chapter Six of Part I, The
Degradation and Humiliation of Young People.
And the “othering” in the media has made this stigma worse. These
are all signs, the book argues, of symbolic violence.
Parts
II and III present an overview of how state regulation and state
control is slowly erasing social protections; while taking the means
to oppose austerity out of public control. For instance, the
shrinking social housing stock and lack of rent controls have led to
a violent process of evictions. And law enforcement are now policing
peaceful protestors by using counter-terrorism methods. Austerity is
also no longer just a policy, its been turned into law, forcing local
authority actors to carry out its violent agenda [p.185]:
Law-sterity
always involves the threat of the state imposing fines upon local
government officials, which can ultimately lead to prison sentences.
The
neoliberal agenda of austerity and what to do about it
Mary
O’Hara, who authors the first chapter, quotes David Stuckler and
Sanjay Basu who wrote the book The
Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills?.
They wrote in The
New York Timessaying:
If
austerity were tested like medication in a clinical trial, it would
have been stopped long ago…
But
the government remains committed to its austerity agenda. The editors
say its motive is to stabilise the economy in a way that
benefits the rich. It does this by growing inequality and
privatisation, which will end in the permanent disassembly of
the state.
This
is not something that members of the public have to accept however.
The book notes examples where countries have rejected austerity, like
Iceland, which happened on the back of public protest. And activists
have taken many successful legal actions against the government due
to its unreasonable measures.
The
book is enlightening and an education. And it’s a very accessible
read, so that ultimately
the violence of austerity is plain to see.
Het is nog niet tot de Nederlandse media doorgedrongen, maar de Tory partij van premier May lekt als een dolle berichten naar de pers, waarin men elkaar afmaakt. Volgens John Shafthauer is er een fenomeen ontstaan, dat deskundigen een bastaard cyclone of een ‘arshole typhoon’ noemen.
Lees het volgende uiterst humoristische stuk van Off the Perch (The Canary):
Tory leaks caused by Tory ‘shower of bastards’ fresh leak suggests
As the Tory party has been subject to a number of damaging leaks, many people have noticed:
“They’re leaking like an incontinent greyhound that’s drunk a year’s supply of Red Bull! What’s going on?”
A new leak has confirmed what we suspected all along though. That an absolute torrent of bastards has been raining down on the party apparatus for so long that leaks were inevitable.
Shower of bastards
The problem with the Tories – even with the ones who pretend they’re ‘woke’ or ‘modern’ – is that they’re all truly disgusting people. And if one of them tells you otherwise, ask them why they silently stood by as Iain Duncan Smith tore through disability claimants like Theresa May through an unguarded field of wheat.
The problem with having so many bastards together in one place is that you get what scientists call a ‘bastard cyclone’, ‘arsehole typhoon,’ or ‘twatnado’. A phenomenon in which all of the bastards spiral around the centre – the centre being the seat of power.
The problem occurs when that centre is no longer stable, as is the case with Theresa ‘strong and stable’ May. Because when the centre can no longer keep the twats spinning, the bastards start smashing into one another.
This leads to a troubling build-up of pressure that they attempt to release via leaks. A move which may stop them stabbing one another in the back for the short term, but ultimately betrays them as the shower of bastards they are.
Forecast
The good news is that once a ‘bastard cyclone’ reaches this stage, it doesn’t take long to fizzle out.
The bad news is that we’re forecast more torrential pain in the short term.
Als de wet krom is, kan er geen recht worden gesproken. Zo bleek ook afgelopen maandag weer eens, toen het Britse Supreme Court besliste dat de enorme wapenleveranties van de regering May aan Saoedi-Arabië, zoals onlangs (voor de zoveelste keer) overeengekomen, volkomen legaal zijn………
Vredesorganisatie Campagne tegen Wapenhandel (CAAT) had een zaak aanhangig gemaakt, maar helaas speculaas. Het gerechtshof oordeelde dat men niet kan weten, of S-A de wapens die het koopt in GB zal inzetten tegen de bevolking van welk land dan ook…….. Bovendien kan niet bewezen worden, dat S-A de wapens doelbewust inzet om burgers te doden…………
Mensen, er waren nog meer redenen, maar u begrijpt het, toen die genoemd werden hing ik al kotsend boven de WC……….
Saoedi-Arabië heeft o.a. Jemenitische waterinstallaties gebombardeerd, waardoor er nu meer dan 300.000 mensen cholera hebben opgelopen, dagelijks komen daar 7.000 mensen bij (uiteraard veel kinderen en zwakke mensen)…….. S-A heeft Jemenitische ziekenhuizen, scholen en woonwijken gebombardeerd………. S-A en de VS hebben blokkades opgeworpen, zodat er in Jemen een groot tekort is ontstaan aan voedsel, medicijnen, water en brandstof. De hongersnood in Jemen (weet u nog de laatste giro555 actie?) is dan ook te danken aan S-A en de VS (resp. de nummer 2 en 1 terreurentiteit op onze wereld)…….. Maar ‘de rechter’ ziet ondanks de Saoedische genocide op de sjiitische bewoners van Jemen, geen reden Britse wapenleveranties aan S-A te verbieden……
Gistermiddag prominent op BBC World Service (radionieuws) het bericht dat hare Tory kwaadaardigheid May een traantje heeft gelaten na de voor haar zo desastreus uitgepakte verkiezingen.
Verdomd mensen, in één van die berichten meldde de nieuwslezer, dat May altijd een hard karakter wordt toegedicht……… ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! Alsof deze ijskoude, inhumane neoliberale ploert de goedheid zelve zou zijn!
Die traan is dus duidelijk een truc om haar als menselijk te doen overkomen bij het volk…….
Een onmogelijke taak als je ziet, wat deze helleveeg in een jaar tijd heeft geflikt*, ook zij deed niets aan het feit dat de ouders van meer dan 4 miljoen kinderen zo in armoede zitten, dat hun kinderen dagelijks met honger naar school gaan…….. Daar worden die kinderen van voedsel voorzien, zodat de rest van de klas weet hoe arm de ouders van hun klasgenoten zijn, traumatiserend voor de rest van het leven van die kinderen……… Daarnaast zal u begrijpen, dat deze kinderen fiks gepest zullen worden…… De ijskoude, inhumane neoliberale Tory partij weigert die ouders van extra geld te voorzien, zodat hen zelfs de normale basisbehoeften worden ontzegd…….
Nadat May vorig jaar het premierschap van Cameron overnam, stelde ze in navolging van de VS, dat ze het atoomwapen niet langer als afschrikkingswapen ziet (dus nooit als eerste ingezet zal worden), maar dat ze dit vreselijke massavernietigingswapen als eerste aanvalswapen ziet…… Gevraagd met hoeveel burgerslachtoffers deze helleveeg akkoord kon gaan, stelde ze te kunnen leven met 100.000 burgerdoden…..
Uiteraard weet deze ploert dondersgoed, dat met het afschieten van een kernraket er teruggeschoten zal worden met kernwapens, waarna al snel een groot deel van de wereldbevolking op het noordelijk halfrond het slachtoffer zal zijn (het noordelijk halfrond is de plek waar e.e.a. zal gebeuren, wat ‘god’ verhoede..). Bij een fikse kernoorlog zal het overigens snel afgelopen zijn met alle mensen die geen toegang tot atoomschuilkelders hebben, ook die op het zuidelijk halfrond………
Nee, May heeft een traantje gelaten, dus dat zit wel goed…….. ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! Wat een oplichter!
* Om nog maar te zwijgen over de ‘prestaties’ ‘van May, voordat zij premier van GB werd…….
De hypocriete hysterie na weer een lancering van een raket door Noord-Korea kent geen grenzen meer….. Op welke radiozender je ook afstemde, van Groot-Brittannië, Duitsland., Frankrijk, België, tot de grootste VS kontenlikker Nederland, allen waren ze het erover eens dat de laatste raketlancering door Noord-Korea een groot gevaar is voor de VS………..
Afgelopen dinsdag wist BBC World Service (radio na 11.00 u. CET) een commentaar los te peuteren bij een non-proliferatie bureau uit Californië. De woordvoerder stelde dat Noord-Korea met deze raket een kernkop kan vervoeren naar Alaska (alsof Alaska het eerste doel is, als je de VS wil treffen…..)……. Aannames, daar de raket niet is geborgen door wie dan ook, bovendien heeft Noord-Korea niet eens een atoombom*, laat staan een kernkop voor een raket!!
Vlak voor 16.00 u. (CET) maakte BBC W.S. het helemaal bont, toen werd gesteld dat Noord-Korea een raket richting VS had gestuurd…….. ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! Als je vanaf elke willekeurige plek in Noord-Korea naar het oosten wijst, wijs je naar de VS…….
Gistermorgen was het op BNR (rond 8.40 u.) de beurt aan nucleair deskundige van oorlogslobby instituut Clingendael, Sicco van der Meer. Deze flapdrol durfde te zeggen, dat Noord-Korea 15 à 20 atoombommen heeft…… ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! Wat een vuile oplichter, al moet gezegd, dat hij prima leugenwerk verrichtte als grootlobbyist van het militair-industrieel complex, terreurentiteit VS en haar terroristische waakhond de NAVO.
Alsof Noord-Korea al atoombommen heeft gebruikt, i.p.v. de VS…… Daarover gesproken, van der Meer moest nog even anti-Rusland propaganda maken en zei dat Rusland haar kernwapens niet meer alleen als afschrikkingswapen beschouwt….. U begrijpt ‘t al: van der Meer vertelde er niet bij, dat dit de reactie was op de VS regering Obama, die vorig jaar zonder veel omhaal stelde, dat het kernwapen niet meer als afschrikkingswapen wordt beschouwd, maar zelfs als eerste aanvalswapen….. Deze stelling door een ‘land’ dat alleen deze eeuw al 4 illegale oorlogen is begonnen en Rusland tot nu toe zelfs niet 1 keer, al zal van der Meer met de intussen overduidelijke leugens komen, dat Rusland De Krim heeft geannexeerd en haar leger in Oost-Oekraïne heeft gestationeerd……..
Overigens ook Hillary Clinton liet in de aanloop van de VS presidentsverkiezingen weten, het kernwapen als aanvalswapen te zien. In Groot Brittannië, liet hare kwaadaardige inhumaniteit May, na haar aanstelling als premier, hetzelfde weten….. Pas na de uitspraken van de VS en Groot-Brittannië kwam de reactie van Rusland, die heel wat genuanceerder is! Je snapt werkelijk niet, dat er nog iemand is die van der Meer en lobbyinstituut Clingendael serieus neemt…….. (klik ‘voor de gein’ op het label met zijn naam en dat van Clingendael, direct onder dit bericht)
Gistermiddag bakte BBC W.S. ze ook weer donkerbruin. Volgens een ‘deskundige’ is de laatste raketlancering van Noord-Korea een belediging aan het adres van de VS…….. ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! Ik weet niet hoe het met u is, maar als er één land is dat voortdurend wordt beledigd, is het Noord-Korea wel!
Daarover gesproken wat dacht u trouwens, van de jaarlijkse grootschalige militaire oefening van de VS en Zuid-Korea, langs de gedemilitariseerde zone en langs de territoriale wateren van Noord-Korea? ondanks dat Noord-Korea er al vele jaren op aandringt, deze oefeningen niet meer te houden…… Hiervoor is geen of amper aandacht in de westerse reguliere media en politiek, echter als er zaken van Noord-Korea worden geëist en het land voldoet daar niet aan, zijn ‘de hysterische rapen’ weer gaar…….
Dezelfde deskundige van de BBC die stelde dat de raketlancering een belediging aan het VS adres was, stelde doodleuk, dat die militaire oefeningen van de VS en Zuid-Korea een waarschuwing zijn aan het adres van Noord Korea……ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! Bij die oefeningen worden overigens ook een aantal raketten afgeschoten, met als denkbeeldig doel….. Noord-Korea!!! Let wel: Noord-Korea heeft geen geschiedenis van het illegaal binnenvallen in andere landen, dit i.t.t. de VS, m.a.w. dat men in Noord-Korea bang is en probeert een antwoord te vinden op de ongebreidelde VS agressie, is om het zachtjes te zeggen, niet zo vreemd…….
Vanmorgen hoorde ik ‘een staartje van een gesprek’ met nitwit Hammelburg op BNR (na 9.00 u.). Ook deze oplichter durfde te zeggen, dat Noord-Korea de VS kan raken met raketten en ja, ook Hammelburg is overtuigd van de atoombom in handen van Noord-Korea…….
Vanmorgen hoorde ik Trump op BBC W.S. zeggen, dat: “North Korea is a threat to the world…..” ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! Noord-Korea een dreiging voor de wereld? De VS is in dit geval weer eens een enorme gitzwarte pot die een klein keteltje verwijt grauw te zien!!
* Na een ondergrondse proef met een atoombom, kan men middels satellieten in de dagen na de explosie radioactiviteit meten boven de plek waar de test werd uitgevoerd. Daar is tot op heden nooit enig bewijs voor geleverd!!
De Britse band Radiohead zal op 19 juli a.s. spelen in Israël. Het aangekondigde concert in Tel Aviv heeft een storm van protest opgeroepen (‘natuurlijk amper of niet’ in Nederland…..). Zelfs veel fans hebben de band verzocht het fascistische apartheidsregime in Israël niet te legitimeren met een concert…..
Opvallend dat Yorke, de ‘voorman’ van Radiohead o.a. met het algemeen lamme westerse excuus kwam, dat een boycot op Israël niet constructief is voor de situatie en het zou de dialoog (tussen Israël en de Palestijnen, Ap) dwarsbomen……. ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! U weet wel, de eenzijdige dialoog van Israël, die keer op keer aankondigt de illegale nederzettingen op de illegaal bezette West bank uit te breiden, de dialoog waarmee Israël zelfs kinderen zonder enige vorm van proces vast zet, de dialoog waarmee Israël de openluchtgevangenis Gazastrook bombardeert als het zo uitkomt, de dialoog waarmee Israël humanitaire projecten zoals die uit Nederland de nek omdraait……*
Hier het antwoord van Thom Yorke op de aan Radiohead verzochte boycot van het optreden in terreurstaat Israël, gepubliceerd op Al Jazeera 3 juni jl.:
UK band Radiohead breaks silence on Israel concert
The Radiohead frontman called boycott efforts ‘an extraordinary waste of energy’ [Reuters]
Radiohead have hit back at a campaign urging the British band to cancel a scheduled concert in Israel, calling efforts to get them to adhere to the Palestinian call to Boycott, Divest from, and Sanction (BDS) Israel “offensive”.
The experimental rock icons are scheduled to close a tour on July 19 in Tel Aviv, but a number of activists and artists, including Nobel Prize-winning anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu, novelist Alice Walker and Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters, have urged Radiohead to heed Palestinian activists’ calls.
The open letter, signed by dozens of other artists and public figures, reminded Radiohead: “Palestinians have appealed to you to take one small step to help pressure Israel to end its violation of basic rights and international law.”
“Please do what artists did in South Africa’s era of oppression: stay away, until apartheid is over,” the letter added.
Radiohead had initially stayed silent on the boycott calls, even as a banner urging them to cancel the Tel Aviv show was hung at a recent concert in Berkeley, California.
But Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke responded on Friday that boycott campaigns sow divisions that fuel right-wing leaders such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
“All of this creates divisive energy. You’re not bringing people together. You’re not encouraging dialogue or a sense of understanding,” Yorke told Rolling Stone magazine.
“It’s such an extraordinary waste of energy. Energy that could be used in a more positive way,” he said.
But Samir Eskanda, a British-Palestinian musician and manager, said that boycotts are in fact meant to be divisive.
“Boycotts called for by an oppressed people against that system of oppression are by definition ‘divisive’,” Eskanda told Al Jazeera.
“They divide those who support human rights and an end to oppression from those who choose to be oblivious to the struggle for those rights and who abrogate their moral obligation to do no harm.”
Yorke and his bandmates have played concerts to support Tibetan rights, Amnesty International and the battle against climate change.
The Radiohead frontman called it “patronising in the extreme” to presume Radiohead is unfamiliar with the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, pointing out that guitarist Jonny Greenwood’s wife is an Israeli.
“It’s really upsetting that artists I respect think we are not capable of making a moral decision ourselves after all these years,” he said.
“They talk down to us and I just find it mind-boggling that they think they have the right to do that,” he said.
But Seamus O’Brolchain, a member of the UK-based activist group Radiohead Fans for Palestine, said that Yorke seemed to be mistaken about the origins of the boycott call.
“Thom seems to think the call to boycott has come from people like [award-winning director] Ken Loach and Roger Waters, but that isn’t true. The call has come from the Palestinian people who are living under apartheid – how can they talk down to a millionaire rock star?” O’Brolchain told Al Jazeera.
“Our fans campaign has tried to open a dialogue with the band, but they ignored us,” O’Brolchain added. “Radiohead bassist] Colin Greenwood refused to accept our letters when they were presented to him. He didn’t even want to read them. The band’s publicists and agents haven’t returned our calls.”
“We made the mistake of thinking Radiohead were the kind of band who would be willing to have a dialogue with their fans.”
In the interview, Yorke also lashed out at the academic boycott, saying of universities: “The one place where you need to be free to express everything you possibly can. You want to tell these people you can’t do that?”
But according to Eskanda, Yorke’s comments appear to be made without regard to the situation that the Palestinians live under: “While the Palestinian BDS movement endorses a free exchange of ideas, it is obvious that it has to be just that: free, which excludes situations of colonial oppression, apartheid and military occupation.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera in response as to why Yorke “just can’t understand why going to play a rock show [in Israel … is a problem]”, Eskanda quoted Enuga S. Reddy, who was director of the UN Centre Against Apartheid, and in 1984 spoke of “people who have performed in South Africa because of ignorance of the situation or the lure of money or unconcern over racism.
“They need to be persuaded to stop entertaining apartheid, to stop profiting from apartheid money and to stop serving the propaganda purposes of the apartheid regime,” Reddy said.
Yorke’s latest comments also appeared to be at odds with public opinion in the UK.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s findings also found that “support for Palestine is remarkably consistent across party lines – despite [Labour Party leader Jeremy] Corbyn and May’s differing views on the subject”, as nearly half the British population think the UK should review its trade and financial relationships with illegal Israeli settlements.
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De hoogste tijd voor het boycotten van Radiohead!!
Hier de link naar het originele artikel van Al Jazeera, inclusief een paar Twitter berichten, die ik niet overnam.
* Vanmorgen werd bekend gemaakt, dat Israël een Nederlands zonnepanelen project, waarmee een Palestijns dorp op de West Bank van elektriciteit werd voorzien, deels heeft vernield en in het geheel heeft ontmanteld. Dit omdat de illegale Israëlische militaire autoriteit op de illegaal bezette West Bank, geen bouwvergunning had afgegeven……… De Nederlandse correspondent van Radio1 Jan Franke, stelde dat bij de ontmanteling van het project ‘ook vernielingen werden aangericht’, dit terwijl de BBC al berichtte, dat het grootste deel van de zonnepanelen werd vernield……
