Author: Brett Wilkins

As Russia's invasion and NATO's support of Ukraine have heightened nuclear tensions in Europe to their highest level since the Cold War, a Wisconsin peace activist is set to become the first American jailed in Germany for an antinuclear protest.

John LaForge, the 66-year-old co-director of Nukewatch, was convicted in December 2021 by the Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany on two charges of trespassing in connection with two 2018 protests against US nuclear weapons at Büchel Air Base near Cochem. LaForge has been ordered to serve 50 days behind bars at JVA Billwerder prison in Hamburg and was also fined €600 ($633).

During one of the demonstrations, LaForge and other activists entered the base, and climbed a bunker likely housing B61 thermonuclear gravity bombs.

Continue reading “John LaForge Set To Be First US Activist Jailed in Germany for Anti-Nuke Protests”

Editor’s Note: Ben-Gvir entered Al-Aqsa Wednesday morning.

Israel's far-right national security minister on Monday postponed a planned visit Islam's third-holiest site amid warnings from the country's opposition leader and Palestinian officials that such a trip would have deadly consequences.

The Times of Israel reports Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir temporarily put off a promised visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem – which sits on what Jews call the Temple Mount, Judaism's most sacred site since biblical times – after speaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the right-wing Likud party.

The previous day, Ben-Gvir vowed to visit the contested site – which has been illegally occupied by Israel for over half a century – sometime this week, possibly as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday.

Continue reading “Israel’s Ben-Gvir Postpones Visit to Al-Aqsa Amid Warnings That ‘People Will Die’”

The Pentagon’s stated commitment to transparency on civilian casualties was questioned Tuesday in an Intercept report noting that the Department of Defense has failed to respond to a group of House Democrats who set a three-month deadline to explain the US military’s role in a 2017 Nigerian airstrike that killed more than 160 noncombatants.

On September 8, Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) – the Protection of Civilians in Combat Caucus – sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin citing reporting that the US military provided Nigerian forces with intelligence support ahead of a January 17, 2017 airstrike on a refugee camp in Rann, Borno state, in the country’s northeastern corner.

Continue reading “Pentagon Blows Deadline To Explain US Role in Nigerian Airstrike That Killed 160 Civilians”

As the deadliest year for West Bank Palestinians since the end of the second intifada draws to a close, a group of United Nations human rights experts on Thursday condemned the “rampant violence” perpetrated by Israeli security forces and settlers against residents of the illegally occupied territory.

The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that “150 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces so far this year, including 33 children,” making 2022 the “deadliest in this area of the occupied Palestinian territory since the United Nations started systematically documenting fatalities in 2005.”

Ten Israelis, including five settlers, a guard, and four members of Israeli state forces, were killed so far this year.

Continue reading “UN Experts Decry Record Year of Israeli Violence in Occupied West Bank”

The Biden administration is considering an offer from military-industrial complex giant Boeing to supply Ukraine with long-range precision-guided bombs capable of striking targets up to nearly 100 miles away, Reutersreported Monday.

The Pentagon is reviewing Boeing’s proposal to send Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) – manufactured jointly with Sweden’s SAAB – to Ukrainian forces, a move that would enable them to hit targets deep behind enemy lines as they fight to repel invading Russian troops.

The GPS-guided GLSDB combines the GBU-39 bomb and the M26 rocket motor, both of which are cheap and relatively abundant. GLSDB is compatible with existing launchers used by Ukrainian forces and could be added to Kyiv’s arsenal by early next year.

Continue reading “Biden Mulls Sending Long-Range Missiles to Ukraine”

Peace advocates on Thursday said that the near-unanimous vote by United Nations member states to demand an end to the US economic embargo of Cuba underscores the imperative for the Biden administration to lift the crippling 60-year blockade.

For the 30th straight year, UN General Assembly members voted in favor of a Cuban resolution condemning the embargo, first enacted during the administration of then-President John F. Kennedy, who according to close confidant and historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., wanted to unleash “the terrors of the Earth” on Cuba following Fidel Castro’s successful overthrow of a brutal U.S.-backed dictatorship.

Thursday’s vote was 185-2, with only the United States and Israel dissenting, and Ukraine and Brazil abstaining.

Continue reading “US, Israel Only ‘No’ Votes as UN Members Condemn Cuba Embargo for 30th Straight Year”