The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
From the Middle East to the West - a discontent with the status quo. Whether it's with the iron grip of entrenched governments or with the widening economic divide between the rich and those struggling to get by.
Where are those so hungry for change heading and how profound is their long term vision for transformation?
Al Jazeera puts the question to Slovenian-born philosopher, Slavoj Zizej, whose critical examination of both capitalism and socialism has made him an internationally...
Five years ago Palestinian fighters launched a daring raid that ended in the capture of an Israeli Soldier, Gilad Shalit. The goal was to exchange him for the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
That swap took place on Tuesday this week with 470 Palestinians and the Isreali soldier released in the first stage of a deal mediated by Egypt.
Eventually a total of 1000 palestinians will go free. Despite this over 5000 prisoners will remain in Israeli jails.
The deal...
Pinning its hopes on the sole support of the US, Israel risks a collapse if it is ever withdrawn - much like apartheid-era South Africa, prominent scholar Professor Noam Chomsky warns. He recalls how South Africans felt safe to ignore a UN embargo and corporations pulling out of their country throughout the 1980s, as long as the Reagan administration continued to support them. As soon as the US withdrew its support, the apartheid regime collapsed.
"For 35 years, the US and Israel...
Sandy Tolan -
The State to Which the U.N. May Grant Membership Is Disappearing
It's the show that time and the world forgot. It’s called the Occupation and it’s now in its 45th year. Playing on a landscape about the size of Delaware, it remains largely hidden from view, while Middle Eastern headlines from elsewhere seize the day. Diplomats shuttle back and forth from Washington and Brussels to Middle Eastern capitals; the Israeli-Turkish alliance ruptures amid bold declarations from the...
On 1 September 2011, the panel of inquiry established by the secretary general of the UN into events that transpired when Israeli commandos attacked a flotilla, which included Turkish ships en route to break the blockade on Gaza, found that while Israel did use excessive force, boarding the ships was legal because the blockade on Gaza is legal.
However, talking about the findings of the Palmer Report, Michael Ratner, the president of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, an American...
President Obama publicly confirmed Monday that the United States will oppose any attempt by the Palestinians to achieve statehood at the United Nations, but Palestinians leaders are still vowing to move ahead with their bid for statehood this week. What will the ramifications of a U.S. veto be?
For more, Democracy Now speak with Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus, Noam Chomsky. “If the Palestinians do bring the issue to the Security Council and the US vetoes it,...
