http://www.zcommunications.org/a-multifaceted-fraud-by-justin-podur
Continue reading “A Multifaceted Fraud: Reviewing Irshad Manji’s ‘Trouble With Islam’”
Letter to a Zionist
http://www.zcommunications.org/letter-to-a-zionist-by-justin-podur
It’s been almost a year. Do you remember it? It was a speaking event like any other but it sticks out in my mind even now. A friend from the International Solidarity Movement had come back from the Occupied Territories and was giving his report. Others offered some analysis of the situation there. It was well attended. I was the moderator.
Colombia’s Referendum
On October 25, 2003 Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez placed before the people of Colombia a referendum of questions that he hoped would endorse his leadership and increase his power. Presented as an ‘anti-corruption’ initiative, most of the questions sought to gut the public sector of the country and facilitate further privatizations. Conveniently, one question would have made it possible for a president to be re-elected after one term, opening the way for Uribe’s own re-election in 2006.
Q & A on Bolivia
http://www.zcommunications.org/q-and-a-on-bolivia-by-justin-podur
What is happening in Bolivia?
A massive popular mobilization is demanding the resignation of the President, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, and several ministers, including the Minister of Defense. On October 16 hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled the main square in La Paz, Bolivia’s capital. The presidential palace, guarded by tanks and trenches, is surrounded by demonstrators.
After the Common Sense Revolution
http://www.zcommunications.org/after-the-common-sense-revolution-by-justin-podur
After 8 years in office, the Ontario Tories were finally thrown out on October 2, 2003. They were replaced by a Liberal majority government that won 72 seats to the Tories’s 24. The social democratic NDP, after a strong campaign, won 7 seats. As is virtually always the case in North America, the electoral outcome was a poor reflection of the popular vote, which would have given the Tories and the NDP more seats. The Liberals took 47%, the Tories 33%, and the NDP 16%.
When Terrorists Talk of Human Rights
On September 8, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez said “when terrorists start feeling weak, they immediately send their spokesmen to talk about human rights.” He said while some human rights groups were “respectable”, others were “political agitators in the service of terrorism, cowards who wrap themselves in the banner of human rights, in order to win back for Colombian terrorism the space which the armed forces and the public have taken from it.”
From Aguascalientes to Caracoles
http://www.zcommunications.org/from-aguascalientes-to-caracoles-by-justin-podur
For some 10 years, the Zapatistas have inspired people all over the world. The Zapatistas’ ‘Autonomous Municipalities’, in particular, have been models of community organization and democratic self-governance. These municipalities managed to provide not only better basic services (health, education, culture, infrastructure) than the Mexican state ever had, but they did so in spite of violent opposition by the (US-backed) state and the paramilitary auxiliaries it employed.
To a (Social Democratic) Youth
http://www.zcommunications.org/to-a-social-democratic-youth-by-justin-podur
Road Map Theatrics
http://www.zcommunications.org/road-map-theatrics-by-justin-podur
On August 3, 2003, the Associated Press reported on the progress of the road map. Some of the ‘wanted men’ of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades were to be packed off to Jericho from Arafat’s compound in Ramallah. It is not always clear what a Palestinian has to do to make himself a ‘wanted man’.
Two Venezuelan Mayors
http://www.zcommunications.org/two-venezuelan-mayors-by-justin-podur