Ahmad Tibi, the Palestinian legislator who walked out of Stephen Harper’s Knesset speech said in an interview with CBC’s Evan Solomon that Harper’s views on Israel were “unbalanced” and “right of Likud.” Sounds pretty accurate. Harper’s views are indeed extreme even by some Israeli standards and certainly more extreme than
Continue readingAuthor: Jay Cables
drive-by planet: MIT report contests US intelligence on sarin attack: Lloyd – "The Syrian rebels most definitely have the ability to make these weapons"
Top: Fighters from the Free Syrian Army’s Saif al-Umayyad brigade prepare to launch a rocket towards regime forces in Ghouta, east of Damascus January 1, 2014. Bottom: Spent rockets from August 21 sarin attack A recently published MIT report titled Possible Implications of Faulty U.S. Technical Intelligence calls into question
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria opens school for kids in Daraa
Screenshots from al-Qaeda school video Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, isn’t just in the business of jihad. It has set up “education” programs to indoctrinate Syrian children. On the walls of a jihad-friendly school in Daraa you don’t find any colorful artwork or alphabets, instead there are posters celebrating
Continue readingdrive-by planet: RT’s Breaking the Set: George Galloway on ‘Killing of Tony Blair’, Yemen drone attack and the death of Abbas Khan
In this RT interview British Respect Party MP, George Galloway, talks about his upcoming documentary film The Killing of Tony Blair. He also gives his views on the harassment of The Guardian by British authorities and the strange death of Dr Abbas Khan in a Syria prison. British citizen Khan
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Ghouta sarin attack whodunnit: Seymour Hersh ‘old media’ methods criticized by Brown Moses
In a recent article Whose Sarin? Pullitzer-prize winning investigative journalist, Seymour Hersh, makes the case that the Obama administration misled Americans about the August 21 sarin attack outside Damascus. Hersh also raises questions about who might have been behind the attack. We know the neurotoxin sarin was used to devastating
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Voice for the exiled: the powerful and moving poetry of Susan Abulhawa
If you’re considering a gift for anyone in the new year I strongly recommend a wonderful poetry collection entitled My Voice Sought the Wind by Susan Abulhawa. Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian-American writer and activist. Her highly acclaimed novel Mornings in Jenin has been translated into 32 languages since it
Continue readingdrive-by planet: RT interview with president Grimsson of Iceland – the little nation that stood for democracy and rights over banks
Came across this RT interview recently. It was recorded earlier this year and features host Oksana Boyko with President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. Grimsson served as a representative the left-wing People’s Alliance in Reykjavik and was finance minister from 1988-1991. More on his background – here. The description accompanying
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Irony of Raul Castro – Obama handshake: Cuba helped defeat S.A. apartheid in battle whereas U.S. sent Stingers to UNITA
Raúl Castro at Mandela memorial service / Nelson Mandela with Fidel in Cuba At the memorial service for Nelson Mandela, the media seized on the handshake between Barack Obama and the president of Cuba, Raúl Castro, as possible evidence of something more significant afoot in the relations between the two
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Two Mandelas – remembering the legacy that matters most
Nelson Mandela in company with Fidel Castro (left) and Yasser Arafat (right) With Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams (bottom left) The death of Nelson Mandela may have been anticipated given his advanced age and health status, but the impact of his passing has been no less powerful. In recent decades
Continue readingdrive-by planet: The face of Israel we don’t see in Canadian mainstream media
In the light of Stephen Harper’s announcement of an upcoming visit to Israel, it might be worth taking a closer look at the country he will be visiting. Coverage of Israel’s apartheid-like policies isn’t readily available via Canadian mainstream media outlets. Instead we get stories such as the report in
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Israeli Prawer plan to expel Bedouin: Day of Rage protests: open letter signed by 50 UK public figures
Day of Rage protests against Prawer Plan A group of 50 public figures in the UK have written an open letter to the Israeli government opposing the Prawer Plan that will involve the forced expulsion of the Bedouin from their ancestral land. The signatories characterize the plan as “systematic discrimination
Continue readingdrive-by planet: The New Yordim – Jews who are fleeing Israel for Europe and the U.S.
A different kind of exodus has been underway in Israel for a while. This time “the promised land” features destinations such as Berlin, London and New Jersey. Well educated Jews have been leaving Israel in what has been described as a brain drain although the incentives to move abroad aren’t
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Report: Canada ranks last out of 27 developed countries on environmental protection: Canada’s COP 19 ‘irrelevance’
Top: Canada environment minister, Leona Aglukkaq Canada’s climate policy – rated as the worst in the developed world – makes environment minister Leona Aglukkaq’s presence at COP 19 in Warsaw seem more of a formality than anything else. Christian Holz head of Climate Action Network Canada is quoted by CBC
Continue readingdrive-by planet: COP 19 Warsaw: interview with Filipino negotiator Yeb Saño: leaked doc shows U.S. concern about ‘blame and liability’
At the UN climate summit in Warsaw (COP 19), Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman talked with Naderev “Yeb” Saño, the lead negotiator for the Philippines. At the time he spoke with Democracy Now, Saño was on the 9th day of a fast to make the case for an urgent climate deal
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Max Blumenthal’s Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel – reviews: liberal hypocrisy on Israel
Max Blumenthal‘s Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel is a remarkable and courageous book that reveals hard truths about Israel’s dark side. What makes Goliath especially impressive is the amount of time Max Blumenthal spent in Israel and the occupied West Bank in order to gather information and get
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Israeli ‘master of disinformation’ Danny Ayalon takes a hit: hasbara fantasies exposed in new video
Lara Sawalha and Dana Dajani take on the hasbara revisionism of Danny Ayalon in a video that sets the record straight. Some bio information on Lara Sawalha – here – and Dana Dajani – here.
Continue readingdrive-by planet: "The real truth about the West Bank" video: Lara Sawalha and Dana Dajani expose Danny Danon’s hasbara fictions
Informed comment is always more engaging when it is delivered with wit and a touch of sarcasm. Lara Sawalha and Dana Dajani do just that in this clever video that takes aim at Israeli right-wing denial-ist Danny Danon and his self-serving version of recent history. For a little background about
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Noam Chomsky in Montreal: Canada on fast track to "destroy the environment"
Chomsky in Montreal/ Tar Sands/ Syncrude upgrader plant north of Fort McMurray Noam Chomsky was in Montreal last week on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Canadian Dimension magazine. While in the city he delivered a speech. In an interview covered by the Guardian, Chomsky took direct aim at
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