Diverse voices oppose apartheid policies, zionism

An Open Letter From Jewish Youth in Canada: Diverse voices oppose apartheid policies, zionism | The Dominion

Even though there have been approximately 100 Palestinian deaths for every Israeli killed by rocket fire, we recognize that Israeli Apartheid also leads to Israeli casualties. The blame for these deaths lies with Israel – if there were no occupation and no apartheid policies, there would be no rocket fire. If Israel, the world's fourth largest military power, is concerned about its citizens, it would abandon its apartheid policies and seek out justice for the Palestinian people.

It seems that many Jews outside of Israel don't support the Israeli policies and actions against the Palestinian people. It's too bad that most Jews inside Israel feel differently.

Independent Groups Debunk Israeli War Propaganda

Independent Groups Debunk Israeli War Propaganda | ForeignPolicy | AlterNet < read me for the full story!

The situation in Gaza is so abominable that both the U.N. and international human rights organizations have refused to remain silent. Israel has been accused of violating both humanitarian law and the Geneva conventions on military operations.

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council Friday, the London-based Amnesty International (AI) called for firm action "to ensure full accountability for war crimes and other serious abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law".

AI also urged the Council to dispatch international human rights monitors to Gaza and southern Israel to investigate and report on the continuing abuses by both warring parties.

Even the Vatican seemed outraged by the unmitigated violence by the Israelis.

Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, compared Gaza to a "concentration camp", reminiscent of the horrors of a Nazi era -- provoking anger from the Israelis.

"Look at the conditions in Gaza," the Cardinal was quoted as saying, "more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp."

Death of Free Internet in Canada?

Another Point of View: Reloaded: Death Of Free Internet In Canada? < read me!

The great value of the open Internet is that it allows us to envision and, in fact, produce a more democratic media system.

But the open Internet is under threat by the very companies that bring it into our homes and workplaces, Internet Service Providers (ISPs). These big telecommunication companies want to become the gatekeepers of the Internet, charging hefty fees to reach large audiences, as they do with other mediums.

Big telecom companies are trying to do away with the governing guidelines of the Internet called "net neutrality" (or "common carriage"). Net neutrality requires that Internet service providers not discriminate - including speeding up or slowing down web content - based on its source, ownership or destination. Net neutrality protects our ability to direct our own online activities, and also maintains a level playing field for online innovation and social change.

The activity of limiting or slowing access to specific content and services is referred to as "traffic shaping" or "throttling," and it fundamentally changes how the Internet works. According to Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, ISPs already have a "history of blocking access to contentious content (Telus), limiting bandwidth for alternative content delivery channels (Rogers), and raising the prospect of levying fees for priority content delivery (Bell)."

If we let big ISPs have their way, media producers, online entrepreneurs and social change makers will need to ask Bell, Rogers and other big ISPs for permission and pay large sums of cash to effectively distribute content or innovate.

Israel's shiny new weapons

Montreal Simon: Gaza and Israel's Shiny New Weapons

Nothing better than testing shiny new weapons on a helpless population trapped in a cage like laboratory animals. I bet the Pentagon can't wait to see the results.

And can you imagine what life will be like in one of the poorest little places on earth, with not enough shelter, not enough food or water, not enough medical equipment, and so many traumatized people with no arms or legs .....dragging themselves over the ruins.

Believe me, I have no axe to grind in this conflict. I love the Israeli and Palestinian people like I love all the other people of the world.

But what the Israeli hawks have done in Gaza is a war crime pure and simple.

First must come the ceasefire.

Then must come the RECKONING...