Politics

For years, the image of Chile as an example of the success of the neo-liberal model has been exported to the world. In terms of social justice, this model is a complete failure, since only a very small percentage of the country’s inhabitants have benefited from it. Today, when hundreds of thousands of Chileans are protesting on the streets, the world can finally see the truth.

The “Human Rights Network” (HRN) on Thursday denounced some countries’ attempts to confuse the public opinion about Syria, using newspaper articles and news on the reported death and injury of journalists who entered the country clandestinely, such as the U.S. reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik.

In spite of some legal setbacks the London Occupy movement continues to develop, mature and diversify in order to face the challenge of becoming a credible force for nonviolent change – political, economic, existential and spiritual – in a violent and dehumanising system. We reproduce here its latest newsletter as an update.

Our democracy has not taken even first step in the direction of people-oriented politics. Gandhiji rightly pointed out in the discussion on home rule that without people-oriented politics we would be simply replacing the British with the Indian rulers. Gandhiji could not be more correct. On re-seeing the film ‘Gandhi’ – a reassessment.

Terrible images are circulating through the world’s media, chronicling the desperate plight of the Greek people as they try to stand up to their government and stop the destruction of their society. Kostas Klokas, who wrote for us back in September in graphic terms about a modern-day Greek tragedy and his hope for nonviolent struggle, updates his story.

The UN General Assembly strongly condemned the continued “widespread and systematic” human rights violations by the Syrian authorities and demanded that the Government immediately cease all violence and protect its people.

The present powers calling the shots in Israel want a Jewish State saying the Palestinians can live there freely. Given the state of affairs in Israel vis a vis the Palestinians which has Israel as an apartheid state, that claim does not generate any good vibrations. Here we have the other side’s offering of a secular Palestinian State.

From February 16th to the 18th, the Empowerment and
Education working group of Occupy Wall Street organized a forum to reflect
on the direction and aims of the Occupy movement and articulate strategies for the
movement’s future. The forum occurred at the Church of the Ascension at
122 Java Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and was open to the public.

“I continue both personally and through my office to lend all possible support to formal and informal efforts and events dedicated to a timely convening of the 2012 conference. These efforts will continue,” Al-Nasser told Global Perspectives, IDN’s monthly magazine for international cooperation, in a wide-ranging, exclusive question-and-answer interview.

Journalist Pepe Naranjo writes from Dakar the the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, has acknowledged for some time that he is not legally able to run for a third term of office. Now, he has changed tack and the outstanding issue is that having changed his ‘opinion’ he is going for it and the population sees its democracy endangered.