israel & deadly viruses?

israel injects palestinian prisoners with dangerous viruses before releasing them, a report says.

READ FULL STORY HERE

meanwhile in syria

at least 138 killed today in syria, including 26 children and 17 women!

for god sake let us not forget about syria!

clashes in cairo

protesters clash near a bus belonging to muslim brotherhood supporters, it was reportedly set alight by anti-government protesters.

egyptian muslim brotherhood members throw stones towards members of the anti-muslim brotherhood (top) during clashes in central cairo.

april, 19 2013

developing: multiple casualties in texas fertilizer plant explosion

a massive explosion has rocked a fertilizer plant near waco, texas. hundreds of people were likely injured, state official says.

the explosion occurred around 7:50 p.m. local time in the town of west, north of waco. a fireball of nearly 100 feet high has been reported along with a massive power outage.

a spokesman for the texas department of public safety, D.L. wilson, told reuters the explosion had resulted in "probably hundreds of casualties," saying he did not know if any of those were fatalities.

an official number of fatalities has yet to be confirmed but 60 people have been admitted to hillcrest hospital in waco, just one of the multiple emergency facilities in the area.

the explosion destroyed a nearby nursing home, where it is thought that people may still be trapped inside.

roughly 150 survivors from the damaged nursing home had been evacuated and sent to a community center outside of town, while doctors and staff of the hillcrest hospital have been taking in the first wave of burn victims. fire units were draining water from community pools to douse the flames.

more than 1,000 people are said to be without electricity, according to local ABC news affiliate KXXV.

a large swath of west was "leveled" in the explosion, according to WFAA-TV dallas reporter jason whitely.

wests population was 2,674 at the 2010 census. the town is located 19.3 miles north of waco, texas and 70 miles south of the dallas/fort worth metropolitan area.

first responders requested a bomb squad to investigate a pervasive scent of flammable chemicals. multiple barns in the area are engulfed in flames.

nine emergency helicopters were reported to be en route to the local high school. emergency officials were also trying to evacuate a neighborhood near the site of the explosion. hospital officials told CNN they were anticipating as many as 100 victims.

police officers were seen transporting the injured in their squad cars.

april, 17th 2013

SOURCE

today in baghdad

a series of bomb blasts across iraq on monday 15th of april 2013 killed at least 42 people and wounded more than 257 others, police said.

also, bomb blasts in boston killed 2 people, injured 23.

blast in mogadishu

a somali girl and her brother run to safety near the scene of a blast in mogadishu. at least 16 people were killed as two car bombs exploded outside the law courts in somalias capital mogadishu and gunmen stormed the building on sunday, before a gunbattle erupted with security forces besieging the compound, witnesses said.

april, 14th 2013.

zaire

a mother, a rwandan refugee, keeps returning to the place where her sons body was placed to check to see if maybe he was still alive. the boy succumbed to cholera during an outbreak which killed an estimated 50'000 people.

about to lose my mind

the amount of hypocrisy in this world, its too much to handle.

"The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, asserted that the indefinite detention of the detainees “is in clear breach … of international law” and “severely undermines the United States’ stance” as “an upholder of human rights.” The majority of prisoners at Guantánamo are held in solitary confinement, and grotesque violence and degradation are reportedly common. Guards have beaten prisoners without provocation, cut them and urinated on them."

this week in war

a friday round-up of what happened and whats been written in the world of war and military/security affairs this week. its a mix of news reports, policy briefs, blog posts and longform journalism.subscribe here to receive this round-up by email.

syria denied access to a UN team seeking to investigate chemical weapons use.

a new human rights watch report details details “deliberate and indiscriminate air strikes on civilians” by the syrian government.

from PBS frontline: from PBS frontline: “syria behind the lines: the bombing of al-bara.”

the al-nusra front, a group fighting in syria, has formally pledged support to al-qaeda.

egyptian doctors were ordered to operate on protesters without anesthetic during protests against military rule according to an investigation commissioned by president morsi.

according to a UN panel, weapons in libya are spreading at ”an alarming rate.”

yemens president has ordered a military command shake-up.

saudi arabia is building a giant fence to seal off its border with yemen.

two people have died in detention in mali after being tortured

12 people (5 UN peacekeepers, 2 UN staffers, and 5 civilian contractors) were killed in an ambush on a convoy in south sudan.

obama approved military assistance to somalia.

an iraqi blogger, "riverbend" who documented daily life in iraq from 2003 to 2007 before going silent after leaving for syria, posted again with a look back on the ten years of the war.

a french photographer, pierre borghi, kidnapped four months ago in kabul, has been freed.

a suicide attack in southern afghanistan killed five, three soldiers and two civilians, one of whom was diplomat anne smedinghoff, the first US diplomat to die in afghanistan since the 1970s.

a special ops raid in southern afghanistan resulted in the death of khiraullah janan, a man with family ties to afghan president hamid karzai.

taliban peace envoys were sent to qatar for negotiations in 2010. they havent left (although they are having children).

an NPR interview afghan photojournalist farzana wahidy

a candidate for provincial election in sindh province, pakistan, was assassinated, the second such killing during the country’s election campaign.

tirah valley in pakistan has become a nexus of violence as the pakistani army fights tehreek-i-taliban and lashkar-e-taiba, causing an exodus.

drone strikes are not actually only being used to target senior terrorist leaders, but lesser suspected militants and other unidentified militants within certain areas.

anonymous hacked north korean social media and networking accounts.

japan set up interceptor missiles in tokyo as a reaction to tensions on the korean peninsula.

april 10th was the official fifteenth anniversary of the good friday agreement, which ended the troubles in northern ireland.

drones will accompany an 8000 strong police force in northern ireland to provide security for the upcoming G8 summit.

a new round of trials seventy years later may bring some former guards at auschwitz to justice.

a mysterious disappearance of the defenses legal documents has delayed pretrial hearings for the guantanamo war crimes trials.

wikileaks published 1.7 million US diplomatic and intelligence records from the 1970s.

a judge ruled at a pretrial hearing that bradley mannings prosecutors are required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that manning "had reason to believe" that the files he leaked could be harmful.

defense secretary hagel has asked congress to pass legislation that would remove the power of the convening authority to overturn court martial convictions for major crimes like sexual assault.

an interview at the nation with the makers of "the invisible war"

Photo: drapes and curtains are hung all over the city of aleppo to allow safe (or the closest approximation of safe) passage of residents across streets, a protection from snipers. conflict photographer franco pagetti took a series of photographs of these colorful protective drapes, which can be viewed at TIMEs lightbox blog.

death toll in syria reached 119 friday 4/12/2013

by the end of friday, the local committees documented 119 martyrs, including 6 women, 5 children and 10 martyrs under torture:

47 martyrs were reported in damascus and its suburbs 21 in aleppo

16 in homs

12 in daraa

9 in raqqa

9 in hama

5 in idlib

since march, 15 2011

this makes me feel so... sad, useless, empty.

my life is nothing...

this picture really breaks me

***HORRIFIC*** 10 MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN ARE LITERALLY SLAUGHTERED BY ASSAD’S FORCES

***WARNING: THIS IS AN EXTREMELY EXPLICIT VIDEO, PLEASE READ THE POST BEFORE YOU PUSH PLAY***

4 are children and 3 are women, every single one of them had their throats slit or were bludgeoned to death.

assads forces raided this village, entered their homes and simply slaughtered them. why? because thats what they do. thats what assad ordered them to do. to carry out massacres so horrible that the people of syria dare not rise up against him anymore.... yet, these massacres have the exact opposite effect, it only hardens the resolve of the survivors to topple this regime.

you wont hear about this on your local news nor see it on CNN. the world simply accepts that these little kids were butchered without as much as mentioning them. i urge you all to reflect on your own lives and give thanks for the many blessings we are fortunate to have, think about this (and possibly the video) next time you complain about your bad day at work... or how the barista FKD up your starbucks coffee.

april, 11 2013

syrian rebels

in aleppo, syria, a female rebel fighter monitored the movements of government forces.

april, 11 2013

innocence forever gone

theres no way an apology will ever bring back this kids childhood.

think for yourself

stop islamophopia

death toll in syria reached 120 tuesday (4/9/13)

including 8 women, 19 children, and 1 who was martyred under torture

35 in damascus/suburbs

30 in aleppo

24 in homs

12 in daraa

6 in idlib

4 in hama

2 in raqqa

1 in lattakia

may they all rest in peace.

the US soldier who fought for syria

federal prosecutors could seek the death penalty for a 30 year old american man who took up arms to fight against the army of syrian leader bashar al-assad.

at a court hearing in alexandria, Virginia on monday, prosecutors said eric harroun of arizona could be sentenced to death if convicted of using a weapon of mass destruction with deadly force. now the FBI will try to determine if harroun, a retired US army private first class, killed any soldiers in the line of battle.

READ MORE

hey, about syria...

with all the talk about north korea, here is a reminder of the situation in syria these days.

muslim fraternity confronting stereotypes

members of "alif laam meem" the founding chapter of the new alpha lambda mu fraternity, protest domestic violence at a rally in dallas. this muslim fraternity belong to the university of texas and they took to the streets to protest against domestic violence.

muslim america rocks! we just dont hear about it often.

NATO airstrike kills afghan children

afghan villagers sit near the bodies of 11 children who were killed during a NATO air strike in kunar province. i fail to understand how innocent children are being killed instead of taliban.

april 7, 2013

READ MORE

female sniper of aleppo

guevara, right, a syrian-palestinian woman married to a rebel battalion commander, holds a sniper rifle in aleppo. guevara was the director of a secondary school before the revolution and is now one of the main snipers of the battalion on the front line in aleppo.

rabbi’s against zionism

these guys are so awesome they walked to williamsburg like this!

i cant explain to you how much i love this picture.

daraya in ruins

YOU ONLY NEED 13 SECONDS TO SEE THE UNBELIEVABLE DEVASTATION. damascus (daraya) april 7, 2013 this town, known as the epicenter of peaceful protests and as the site of the single worst massacre of the revolution where 1000+ residents were murdered over 3 days, the terrible misfortune of being next to one of assads last and strongest air bases. this is the reason his forces have been destroying the town building by building and block by block. soon there will be nothing left.

make sure to keep watching, live and in color until its all gone.

this satellite photo was taken a well over a month ago in daraya.

car bomb in damascus

a syrian woman after a car bomb blew a hole in her apartment building in damascus.

april 8, 2013

rwanda genocide

over 800,000 were killed in rwanda.

yet on the 19th anniversary of the genocide, the world seems quiet.

smuggled bride

this palestinian couple travel through a smuggling tunnel between the southern gaza strip and egypt. the bride entered gaza via tunnel after egyptian authorities prevented her from entering via rafah border crossing.

palestinian boy shot & killed at innab military checkpoint

israel murdered a 17 year old child "amer nasser" at checkpoint earlier today

because, you know, if a 18 month old baby is a threat, so is a 17 year old. zero justice, no peace.

CLICKHERETO VIEW POST

april, 4 2013

FEMEN topless jihad

femen protesters in front of the ahmadiyya mosque in berlin. besides the fact that femin just seems to be encouraging the sort of self congratulatory islamophobia one sees in europe with these protests at various mosques in general (as opposed to tunisian embassies and consulates), maybe they should also know that ahmadiyya muslims are currently at great risk from "islamist" attacks,

in pakistan particularly. two years ago this mosque was firebombed, probably by islamophobes who hate all muslims equally, however.

ah, FEMEN at it again. Not only did they ridicule a persecuted minority, they also proved the group is way behind in their geographical study of cultures and societies and, you know, minorities.

white feminists always find new ways to prove they are racist, conformist and counterproductive as hell. this racism inspired tit-praxis is not only terribly misguided and ironically anti-women (as it declares one form of lifestyle superior to the other in addition to completely forgetting that subverting patriarchy does not have only way to go about it intersectional inclusion, anyone?), it is embarrassing and ultimately boring. good job at aligning with right wing islamophobes (whose male gaze, in case you didn’t notice, has been reinforced and satisfied with your media sensationalist approach) and xenophobes who wouldnt mind a peak or two at your boobies while mocking those evil brown people.

april, 4 2013

CLICKHEREFOR MORE

south korea & north korea

south korean soldiers patrol at the border of north korea in the demilitarized zone near imjingak in gyeonggi-do province, south korea on april 2nd. north korea said it plans to restart its five megawatt nuclear reactor that was shut down under an agreement reached at the six-party talks in 2007, a move that will allow the north to extract plutonium from spent fuel rods.

usual?

watching tv on balcony with black smoke rising in background, beirut lebanon

afghan protestors

afghan men chant "US special operations forces out" as several hundred demonstrators march to the afghan parliament building to protest against the continued presence of US commandos in afghanistans troubled wardak province. the demonstrators were demanding the release of nine local citizens they believe were detained by the US forces.

march 16, 2013

ignorance

muslims are no longer safe in bangladesh, anyone looking “islamic/muslim” are being attacked by the brutal regime.

may god protect them.

the US increasingly irrelevant to arab audiences

the arab uprisings have transformed many peoples views on the role played by the US in their region, writes mousa.

US policy in the arab world has long been widely unpopular, to put it mildly. nonetheless, many in the region recognised the influence of the US on their governments and consequentially on their own lives, and paid careful attention to american statements. signs of change in president obamas 2009 speech in cairo were met with great enthusiasm. from the halls of cairo university to the old citys souks, obama was a near iconic figure.

throughout the region, people celebrated obama as a potentially revolutionary force via US policy in the arab world. they were quick to be disappointed, however, as they came to realise the emptiness of the presidents rhetoric, especially regarding palestine, among the most important issues for many throughout the region.

the arab uprisings transformed many peoples views on the role played by the US in their region. while obama and secretary of state hillary clinton did offer verbal support to most of the protest movements, hypocritical selective support, initial american hesitation in backing the uprisings and past policies bolstering dictatorships were not forgotten.

more crucially, it became clear to many that the outcome of the uprisings was up to them, and not to US policymakers. in the case of egypt US statements only called for hosni mubarak to step down when it became entirely clear that it was inevitable. while the gesture may have been appreciated by parts of the egyptian opposition, it was not viewed as a significant turning point.

declared support for the uprisings also came to plainly confirm the incongruity between US statements and actions. even while obama celebrated egyptian protesters, US made tear gas which continued to be sent to cairo long after the toppling of mubarak, confirmed for many that american policy remained antagonistic to popular arab interests. while US actions such as this may be obstacles to realise popular interests in the arab world, they are no longer viewed as deterministic.

obamas recent visit to the occupied 1948 palestinian territories and west bank was the first of his presidency. here in the US, obamas tour of the area and speeches in jerusalem and ramallah were widely covered many american media outlets commended obamas performance as a bold call for peace.

in palestine, it was viewed quite differently. young activists referred to the speeches as "insipid" and "sycophant". the part of obamas jerusalem speech that many palestinians paid most attention to was an interruption by palestinian audience member

rabeea eid:

“did you really come here for peace or to give israel more weapons to kill and destroy the palestinian people? did you happen to see the apartheid wall on your way here? there are palestinians sitting in this hall. this state should be for all of its citizens, not a jewish state only. who killed rachel corrie? rachel corrie was killed by your money and weapons!”

more important than the points eid brought up was obamas reaction. as eid was dragged out of the hall and handed over to police, obama referred to the interruption as a good display of "lively debate", to which he was greeted with wild applause from the israeli audience. obama even joked about how he was accustomed to similar incidents at home.

in palestine, news and recordings of the incident quickly spread. while obama may not have heard the actual statements made by eid, his failure to address any of these issues throughout his visit and the irony of his response, said cheerfully just as eid was dragged away and handcuffed made him a mockery in palestinian eyes.

the US is increasingly irrelevant to movements throughout the region. in his march visit to cairo, secretary of state john kerry extended invitations to meet with members of opposition parties. many turned him down. distour party member gamila ismail explained her rejection of the invitation in a scathing letter to kerry, in which she criticised self interested US policy that has supported repressive regimes in egypt for decades. ismail asked the US to step back and allow revolutionaries to continue their struggle. she turned american rhetoric upside down as she

wrote: “this is a revolution that will teach the world, as obama, your president has said. and we want to teach the world and be a model for it. and we will become different than what you see. your embassy reports see that we do not deserve anything except this [limited] amount of democracy. and that this [limited] amount is 'enough'.” with the arab uprisings, a new wave has emerged one less forgiving of decades of american antagonism towards popular arab interests and less willing to allow for a continuation of self entitled US claims to dominance of the regional trajectory.

sarah mousa graduated from princeton universitys woodrow wilson school of public and international affairs in 2010, and was a 2010-2011 fulbright scholar in egypt. she is currently a graduate student at the center of contemporary arab studies at georgetown university. the views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect al jazeera’s editorial policy.

march, 24 2013

seleka coalition VS suspected looter

in bangui central african republic, rebels in the seleka coalition that captured the city over the weekend confronted a man suspected of looting a house.

march 26, 2013.

drone war: every attack in pakistan visualised

if i had to sum the viewing of this up id use one word: chilling.

if i had to talk about americas knowledge and consensus on these attacks in pakistan id use one word: typical.

initially when i would discuss drone strikes within pakistan, i would often receive very angry emails and messages highlighting (wrongly) how america "cares" about these lives but later on as polls showed the american public not only has very little authentic knowledge of these drone strikes in pakistan as well as afghanistan, yemen and somalia but the majority supports what is being supposedly done in the name of US drone strikes in these countries. you are told that actual terrorists are being targeted, that USA is being protected from a very prominent threat to its security and freedom, ad nauseum, ad infinitum but most of you do not realize that since 2004 more than 3000 pakistanis have been killed by US drone strikes. less than 2% of pakistani victims under US drone strikes are high profile targets. the remaining are children, civilians and alleged combatants.

in october 2006, 69 pakistani children were killed in a drone attack. no word from the US government or local government was heard on such mindless bloodshed.

this interactive map will show you the commencement of the drone strikes under george w bushs regime and the aggressive, reckless increase of strikes under barack obamas. please spare a few minutes of your routine to see the mayhem these drone strikes cause in pakistan.

to viewCLICK HERE

passover preparations

two boys watch as leavened items are burned in final preparation for the passover holiday in the ultra orthodox jewish town of bnei brak, near tel aviv israel, jews are forbidden to eat leavened foods during the passover holiday that celebrates the biblical story of the israelites escape from slavery and exodus from egypt.

march, 25th 2013

standing proud

an anti-mursi protester stands with the national flag after protesters burned muslim brotherhood buses during clashes near the muslim brotherhoods national headquarters in caiross moqattam district

march 22, 2013

iraqi orphan

this is a picture of an orphan iraqi boy who lost his mother so he drew himself a mother on the ground and slept next to her.

PNK TAXI

a female taxi driver fetches a passenger in arbil, about 220 miles north of baghdad, on november 19, 2011. inspired by the success stories of the ladies taxis services in lebanon and dubai, 25yrr old civil engineer "lana khoshabaan" has recently started an all women taxi firm in the kurdish city of arbil. the black cars imprinted with the words "PNK TAXI" are dispatched upon calls to pick up female passengers from all parts of arbil. currently, only three cars are in operation on two shifts daily.

something to think about

you know, when osama bin laden worked with the CIA in the cold war years as an ally.... that part of our imperialist history your textbooks keep hush hush.

car bomb in somalia

at least 10 people were killed when a car bomb exploded in mogadishu, the capital of somalia.

march 18, 2013.

bomb goes off as little girl sings

this little girl was singing about a "free syria".

syrian child speaks on "bashar al-assad"

mystery child

i came upon this image by accident, not exactly sure where it comes from nor the story behind it but it speaks to me. its very horrifying that a child goes through such things at a tender age (any age for that matter). i think to myself, what exactly is going through this childs mind as he runs towards safety? if he even managed to get there in the first place.

how european immigrants became "white" in america

in siskiyou county, california, lumber industry in 1909, complaints from immigrants reached an italian consular official who contacted the governor because italian americans were being treated as nonwhite. the governor replied frankly that the term “white” was one way people of that locality had of distinguishing “americans” from italians.

late european immigrants including irish, jewish, eastern european, and italian immigrants were often referred to as not being part of the “white race”. this can be attributed to the fact that race was a very muddled concept around the turn of the century. anthropologists, sociologists, politicians, courts, and the general population could not agree on what race truly meant. the lack of opportunities that late european immigrants faced is no way comparable to what people of color in the united states faced.

there were numerous ways to classify new immigrants: by nationality (the “italian race”), as a kind of racial mix with black or asian ancestry (as southern italians and hungarians were sometimes classified, respectively), or as white. in reality, race was not a concept of white and non white, but the general population instead picked up on social hierarchy that could be observed from public opinion surveys only in the early 1920s held that early white americans were at the top, followed by late european immigrants, then asian americans, and finally, black americans.

the racialization of white european immigrants was often dependent upon customs and culture, rather than purely appearance, as proven by early 20th century studies. a study of over 2,000 jewish men in new york city revealed that only 14 percent had the nose that is stereotypically referred to as a “jewish nose”. a study done before world war II showed that italians and jews in ethnic enclaves in new york city had very particular gestures and mannerisms, but this was only applicable to those who were not working class and unassimilated. the same could not be said about asian, black, or latino americans who were distinguishable on sight (with the exception of the few who passed for white). additionally, white immigrants could marry into “old european stock” and lose class markers through education and distinguishable surnames through marriage or name change.

the emphasis on racialization for white americans was on was on their class and cultural markers their desire to assimilate, the social problems associated with their arrival, and their english language and technical skills. as stanley lieberson notes, for black americans the main barrier was that they were castigated if they dared to leave their “place” or “station”, particularly with the “racial etiquette” present in the south. european immigrants, on the other hand, were actually encouraged to achieve. they were encouraged to assimilate and to become american (and white). black americans tried as hard as european immigrants but were considered to be biologically inferior and thus not suitable for many jobs or neighborhoods and even rights. chinese immigrants faced a different experience than european immigrants. they were unable to assimilate and were oppressed by other immigrants.

what european immigrants experienced was for the most part prejudice and effects of nativism. they were largely not denied access to institutions based on their race, and even when they were, they were considered better than people of color. courts decided that european immigrants were white before world war I (as it was necessary for citizenship). michael omi and howard winant believe that europeans’ race was actually settled by the 1890s. robert blauner believed that these immigrants were “viewed racially” but were not victims of racism. while the earlier experiences of white european immigrants were not ideal nor equal to those of earlier immigrants, they were also not the same as those of asian, black, latino, or native americans though it is important to note that racialization of many ashkenazi jewish immigrants was not the same as that of gentiles.