Turning the West Bank and Gaza into Prisons

http://www.zcommunications.org/turning-the-west-bank-and-gaza-into-prisons-by-justin-podur

[Interviewed by Cynthia Peters]

1. Describe what’s happening in Jenin.

This is a society that’s slowly being choked to death. It is marked by fear, random violence, and irrational destruction. No one is allowed peace of mind. Even the relatively well-off — those with jobs and some money — live in constant fear. The poor, of course, are the hardest hit.

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Instead of Nation States

It’s disturbing to see how neatly nationalism dovetails into fascism. While we must not allow the fascists to define what the nation is, or who it belongs to, it’s worth keeping in mind that nationalism, in all its many avatars-socialist, capitalist and fascist-has been at the root of almost all the genocides of the twentieth century. On the issue of nationalism, it’s wise to proceed with caution.

Arundhati Roy, April 2002

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Movements of Resistance in the Americas

A proposed view of history

Much of Latin America won independence from Spain in the 19th century. All countries that were independent faced the same problem: the former imperial powers continued to control decisive military, financial, and propaganda might. How could the newly decolonized (or, in the case of indigenous nations, never decolonized) countries prevent a recolonization?

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Against Fear and Invisibility

The struggle of Colombians is a struggle against fear and a struggle against invisibility. These are two of the worst weapons used against Colombians. Fear, because it causes the silence elites need to fulfill their agendas. Invisibility, because of its isolating effect: people cannot fight alongside, or build solidarity with, those they cannot see. In this article we bring you two movements who are exemplary in their struggles against fear and invisibility: The Popular Women’s Organization (Organizacion Femenina Popular), and the Black People’s Process (Procesas Comunidades Negras).

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Re-colonization Is Still On Schedule

http://www.zcommunications.org/re-colonization-is-still-on-schedule-by-justin-podur

For the months leading up to the April 12 coup in Venezuela, there were reports and rumours coming that a coup was imminent. In December 2001, the San Francisco Examiner ran a story by Conn Hallinan who had detected the ‘scent of another coup in Venezuela’ (http://www.zmag.org/content/Colombia/hallinanchavez.cfm). This was cause for alarm. John Pilger, and others, made the analogy to Chile.

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The War Foretold

Most of the victims of the perpetual war in Colombia are unarmed poor civilians. For every military casualty there are six civilian deaths. In the words of one peasant leader, the Colombian war ‘is not a civil war. It’s a war against civilians’. Paul Valery put it another way when he said “war is a massacre between people who don’t know each other, for the benefit of people who do know -but do not massacre- each other.”

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