Daily Report

Bush proposes thousands of Guard troops for Mexican border; raids and protests continue

From AP, May 13:

WASHINGTON - President Bush, trying to build momentum for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, is considering plans to shore up the Mexican border with National Guard troops paid for by the federal government, the Associated Press reported Friday, citing unnamed administration officials.

Iraqi civil resistance leader confronts Richard Perle

From the Iraqi Freedom Congress, May 14:

During his visit to the United States to deliver workshops and seminars and meet with the leaders of the anti war movement, Samir Adil, president of the Iraqi Freedom Congress (IFC) met coincidently with Richard Perle (The former Chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee in the US, whose role [is] known as the war on Iraq engineer and the closest advisor to Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush) in a press conference in Washington.

Israeli court upholds apartheid

According to this decision, if he married her now and she was under 25, an Israeli parliamentarian's wife wouldn't be allowed to live with him in Israel. From Ha'aretz, May 14:

MK Barakeh: High Court ruling supplies an 'alibi for racism'
Senior Arab Israeli lawmaker Mohammed Barakeh on Sunday strongly condemned the High Court's ruling banning Israeli Arabs and their Palestinian spouses from living together, saying it "gives racism a shady alibi."

Long Island: fear of turbans

C'mon already. 9-11 was almost five years ago. When are people gonna knock it off already? From Newsday, May 13:

LI Sikh angered by terror suspicion
Indian immigrant Jaspal Arora, a religious Sikh, wears a turban everywhere he goes, including to morning workouts at the Mid-Island Y Jewish Community Center in Plainview.

Rebels or government behind Ethiopia terror blasts?

Nine bombs exploded across Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa May 12, killing four people and wounding dozens. (AP, May 13) The Oromi separatists deny involvement. But Ethiopia has no shortage of ethnic separatist struggles, as we have noted. And also no shortage of reasons to suspect its own government. From the Sudan Tribune, May 13:

Protesters block highways in Mexico City

Hundreds of mostly young protesters blocked traffic throughout Mexico City yesterday to demand the release of those arrested in the unrest at the village of San Salvador Atenco a week earlier. APRO reported more than 20 blockades throughout the Federal District. Tear gas was used in one instance, but police refrained from massive arrests, in an apparent bid to calm the situation. From Reuters, May 11:

Nigeria: 200 dead in pipeline blast

We can already anticipate the blame-the-victim chorus that will be raised by the oil companies, Nigeria's rulers and the global media. But when resource hyper-exploitation co-exists with dire poverty, such incidents are absolutely inevitable. From the Lagos Vanguard, May 13, via AllAfrica:

Israeli troops shoot two foreigners

The two were shot with rubber bullets at close range in the head. From the International Solidarity Movement: [photos at the link]

May 12, Bi'lin, occupied West Bank
"I saw blood gushing out of his head, and helped bandage it. As we were getting him into the ambulance an Israeli soldier grabbed his long hair and they all tried to stop him from leaving in the ambulance even though they knew he was injured", said American eyewitness Zadie Susser who saw Phil sitting in shock immediately after he was hit.

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