Excellent Interview: Goodman-Barstow

Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman did an excellent interview last week with David Barstow, a New York Times reporter who recently won the Pulitzer prize for his April, 2008 story about Rumfeld’s “Force Multiplying” generals sent on combat missions to America TV news studios to lie us into war (and all the giant piles of cash money they made selling military hardware). In the interview Barstow discusses his story, the recently repudiated Pentagon Inspector General report which denied his claims and the TV networks’ continued blackout on his story.

Remember Fallujah?

Friday on Antiwar Radio I’ll be talking with Mark Manning whose award-winning film “The Road to Fallujah,” about his travel there just after the massacre of November, 2004, recently premiered. (2-4 eastern.)

It is a great film and should be a great interview as well.

(The best part about watching films like this noticing how little American TV portrays what it is like for those left alive in the country they helped destroy.)

Aid for Gazans

Prof. Floyd Rudmin sends the following:

Material aid to Palestinians in Gaza can be given by donations to the following aid agencies. These are not listed in any order of priority.

1) The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has been responsible for the necessities of life for refugees in Gaza since 1948. UNRWA runs hospitals and schools, and provides basic food supplies for Palestinian families long trapped in Gaza. Donations can be made online here. Donations by bank transfer and international checks are also possible.

2) The Norwegian People’s Aid (Norsk Folkehjelp) has been actively helping Palestinians since 1987 and opened a local office in Gaza in 1996, with a focus on supporting women’s rights and development. Donations can be made online here. Select "Gaza" as the "Cause" which you wish to support.

3) Action by Churches Together (ACT) International is a Swiss-based alliance of Protestant and Orthodox churches to provide aid during emergencies. On January 14, ACT International delivered 3 truckloads of food, milk, and medicine to the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. Donations can be made following instructions here via bank transfers or international checks. The Church World Service is a member organization, accepting online donations here, for fund #6824, "2009 Gaza Humanitarian Response." Church World Service meets all 20 Better Business Bureau standards and has a 2-star rating by Charity Navigator.

4) Medecins sans frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) runs a clinic in Gaza and has 21 tons of medical supplies and a team of surgeons set to enter Gaza as soon as allowed. MSF meets 19 of 20 Better Business Bureau standards and has a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator. Donations can be made online here.

5) The United Palestinian Appeal (UPA) is a registered US charity with a focus in Gaza on first aid training and mobile clinics. The UPA meets 19 of 20 Better Business Bureau standards and has a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator. They are now fund raising for medical and food supplies. Donations can be made online here.

6) American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) is a registered US charity, founded in 1968, to give aid to impoverished Palestinian families. On January 9, ANERA delivered 81 pallets of fortified milk to Gaza. ANERA meets all 20 Better Business Bureau standards and has a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator. Donations can be made online here.

7) Oxfam America is a well-known aid agency. It meets all 20 Better Business Bureau standards and has a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator. Oxfam has established a "Middle East Crisis" fund to help with emergency medical needs. Donations can be made online here.

8) The International Medical Corps (IMC) delivers aid to Gaza via Heart-to-Heart International, International Relief Teams, and The Bridge Foundation. The IMC meets all 20 Better Business Bureau standards and has a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator. Donations can be made online here or by 24-hour phone line.

9) Episcopal Relief & Development operates in Gaza via the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. It supports the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza and is sheltering 400 Gazans displaced by the conflict. Episcopal Relief & Development meets all 20 Better Business Bureau standards and has a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator. Donations can be made online here, where you can select the "Middle East" fund.

10) CARE was established in 1945 to deliver aid to war-torn Europe. It is now one of the most reputed U.S. aid NGOs, active in Gaza since 1948, with a focus on food security and clean water. CARE meets all 20 Better Business Bureau standards and has a 3-star rating by Charity Navigator. Donations can be made online here.

11) World Vision is a Christian relief agency with field offices in many countries, including Gaza. World Vision meets all 20 Better Business Bureau standards and has a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator. Donations can be made online here.

12) Medical Aid for Palestine is a registered Canadian charity established in 1982. It is subsidized by two government agencies: the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Secrétariat à l’Aide Internationale du Québec (SAI). Donations can be made online here.

Floyd Rudmin is a professor of psychology in Arctic Norway.

Jerusalem Post Cranks Out More Hasbara Fodder

In the course of approving news links this morning, I read this article from the Jerusalem Post that claims that Hamas has taken to seizing and selling truckloads of international aid “to the highest bidders.” I looked for a few minutes for a mention of this in other publications, but the only material I found were stories that mentioned the one in the Post.

Of course it’s not completely implausible that Hamas would do such a thing in order to raise funds to fight the invading Israeli Army, but newspapers like the Jerusalem Post do not inspire confidence that this story is true, especially since Hamas is normally an organization that spends money on charitable works in Palestine. This is likely just another bit of fodder to disseminate to the worldwide hasbara machine.

Until we see corroboration by any other news organization, this item will not be presented as news. I guess that’s what Israel gets for banning press coverage.

The Spineless Huffington Post Gives ‘Equal Time’

Huffington Post was so very kind this week to give space to almost frustratingly moderate Palestinian intellectual Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi. In his well-reasoned article, “Palestine’s Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood,” he supplied all the basic facts behind the problems in Palestine. One would expect the hordes of so-called “liberal” Democrat ignoramuses who infect that publication’s comment areas to bleat tired, false old bromides about Israel’s porcelain-white innocence in the face of attacks by grizzled Arab barbarians, but what gives with the long disclaimer marring the top of Barghouthi’s article?

“HuffPo” runs all kinds of commentary from all over the political spectrum (or at least its leftish side), but only those who dare speak against the sainted Israelis seem to require an editorial explanation that resembles an apology.

Shame on Huffington Post for its disgusting lack of integrity.

Say What You Will About Cynthia McKinney…

But no matter what one thinks of Ms. McKinney, she backs her convictions not just with her own money but her very skin: she went as a human rights advocate aboard a Gaza relief boat. And this morning, that boat was rammed three times by an Israeli patrol vessel, leaving it damaged and forcing it to take a detour in Tyre, Lebanon.

Sometimes former US Rep. and recent Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney comes across a little…ah…wild-eyed. I do happen to agree with most of her foreign policy positions, and she even seems to prefer a hands-off approach to Zimbabwe and, surprisingly, liberal cause célèbre Darfur. I do find her positions on trade to be poorly informed but this isn’t kookery — most politicians hold similarly dirigiste views.

But no matter what one thinks of Ms. McKinney, she backs her convictions not just with her own money but her very skin: she went as a human rights advocate aboard a Gaza relief boat. And this morning, that boat was rammed three times by an Israeli patrol vessel, leaving it damaged and forcing it to take a detour in Tyre, Lebanon.

“I would call it ramming. Let’s just call it as it is,” McKinney said. “Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and once on the side.

“Our mission was a peaceful mission, but our mission was thwarted by the Israelis, the aggressiveness of the Israeli military.”

No other current or former US Congressperson has done something similar, as far as I know. Dennis Kucinich is calling for a United nations inquiry, and I suppose that’s a nice gesture. But Ms. McKinney got herself on board a ship to steward relief supplies to the suffering civilians of a war zone beseiged by weapons her own country financed. Maybe it takes a little wackiness to get us some real activism.