We recently noted that militant West Bank settlers have joined the Tel Aviv tent town protest, pitching a line that aggressive settlement of the West Bank is the solution to the crisis—a fascistic pseudo-solution predicated on expropriating others of their lands. We asked whether the protest movement will take the bait. Here, fortunately, is a statement from the opposite tendency—linking the expropriation of the Israeli working class to that of the Palestinians, and building unity rather than sowing further division. A "Letter from Tel Aviv," Aug. 4:

The Supreme Court of Israel on Aug. 2 issued for the first time an order for the Israeli government to dismantle an illegal outpost in the West Bank. The order calls for Migron, the largest "illegal" outpost in the West Bank, to be razed by the end of March 2012. The action came as the result of a petition filed by Peace Now in 2006 calling for the court to order Migron to be dismantled. In response the government had decided to remove the flagship settlement outpost (established by the Binyamin Regional Council) by August 2008, but later reached a compromise with settlers that delayed the razing until the state could build them a new neighborhood in a nearby settlement. However, the delay only allowed more houses to be built, and the Court noted during deliberations that the intended two-year postponement had actually turned into an indefinite delay.

Moisés Montero Álvarez AKA "El Coreano" (The Korean), alleged to be a top leader of the Independent Cartel of Acapulco (CIDA), was captured by Mexican federal police in the wee hours of Aug. 1 in a raid of a high-end restaurant in the resort city in southern state of Guerrero. Three others were arrested with him, including José Arturo Lareta Álvarez AKA "El Pulpo" (The Octopus) and a 16-year-old boy. Álvarez was wanted in the kidnapping and killing last year of 20 Mexican tourists who were vacationing in Acapulco. The victims worked in a mechanic shop in Michoacán state and traveled together annually to Acapulco. Last year, 22 of the men, driving cars with Michoacán plates, arrived in the city, where they were apparently assumed to be members of the Michoacán Family, a rival of the CIDA. Two of the 22 survived because they were not with the group at the time of the mass abduction. The disappearance of the rest provoked marches by their friends and relatives in Michoacán, who demanded justice. (CNN, Aug. 2; Milenio, Aug. 1)

The supreme court of Cuba (officially, the Supreme Popular Tribunal) on Aug. 5 upheld a 15-year sentence for Alan Gross, a US citizen accused of "acts against the independence or integrity of the state." Gross was arrested in 2009 and has served 20 months of his sentence for his work as a consultant for Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), a business that contracts with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Gross claims that he was aiding the Cuban Jewish community to achieve unfiltered Internet access by distributing various communications devices, while the Cuban government alleges that he was creating internal networks to foment protests on behalf of the US government.

Two developments in the news this week that advance the privatization of life and portend the bifurcation of humanity into sub-humans and uber-humans. First, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in a case brought by the ACLU and others that the company Myriad Genetics is entitled to patents it has claimed for two natural human gene mutations, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. (PHG Foundation, Aug. 5; GEN, July 29) The idea is ostensibly finding ways to fight cancer, but it beats us why a private company should have the right to patent something created by nature—much less a part of the human genetic code! Days earlier, the Daily Mail revealed that scientists in the UK "have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos," which has left critics "warning of a 'Planet of the Apes' scenario."

Israeli soldiers fired tear gas Aug. 5 to disperse the weekly anti-wall protest in the Palestinian village of Bil'in, west of Ramallah on the West Bank—marking the first Friday of the Ramadan holy month. (Ma'an News Agency, Aug. 5) Thousands gathered at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque for prayers, despite Israeli restrictions that barred Palestinian men under the age of 50 from entering the city. (MSNBC, AFP, Aug. 5)

The International News Safety Institute (INSI) issued a statement Aug. 5 expressing concern over a July 30 NATO air-strike on the Tripoli headquarters of state broadcaster al-Jamahiriya that killed three staff and wounded 21, according to media reports. The statement calls on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to determine whether the air-strike was a breech of a 2006 Security Council resolution that bans attacks on journalists. NATO said the bombing was in line with its UN mandate. Countered INSI director Rodney Pinder: "NATO forces in Libya are acting under a Security Counsel mandate to protect civilians and journalists are civilians." He added that such attacks could not be excused "on the basis that you disagree with the point of view of the news organizations." AP notes that the International Federation of Journalists also condemned the bombing and called for a probe.

Tens of thousands returned to the streets in towns and cities across Syria for the first Friday protests of the Ramadan holy month Aug. 5, especially declaring their support for the residents of Hama, where an estimated 200 have been killed in a military crackdown over the past week. Rights advocates said 14 were killed in Erbin, Homs and Mouadhamiya. State-run Syrian TV broadcast footage from inside Hama for the first time, showing scenes of burned-out buildings, barricaded streets and damaged cars. In YouTube footage purporting to come from protesters in Hama, heavy gunfire can be heard and improvised roadblocks seen in the street, with a tank in the background. A voice says in Arabic: "Hama, 5 August 2011, severe artillery shooting in Hama... tanks incursion of Hama... gangs of Bashar al-Assad are shooting Hama neighborhoods." The date and name of the city are repeated. (The Guardian, Reuters, Aug. 5)