Israel issues disproprtionate response to South African move on settlement produce

Mideast Monitor

South Africa's cabinet has decided that all goods produced in illegal Jewish settlements must be labelled as originating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This is the culmination of several months of consultation, with the trade ministry inviting public comment back in May, saying that the labels should be introduced so that consumers are "not misled".

"This is in line with South Africa's stance that recognises the 1948 borders delineated by the United Nations and does not recognise occupied territories beyond these borders as being part of the state of Israel," government spokesman Jimmy Manyi told a press conference.

On the face of it, it all sounds quite straightforward. Not a single foreign government supports the building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, which are illegal under international law. There is a substantial movement even within Israel to boycott goods produced over the so-called "Green Line", and this represents the far more moderate side of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. In fact, it is worth noting that South Africa is not advocating a boycott of these goods, simply clear labelling, and it has no bearing on goods produced in mainland Israel.

However, that is not how the Israeli Foreign Ministry sees it, releasing a very strongly worded statement: "Such exclusion and discrimination bring to mind ideas of a racist nature which the government of South Africa, more than any other, should have wholly rejected."

This reaction is completely out of proportion, particularly given that South Africa cites its history of apartheid, oppression and human rights abuses as the reason it backs the Palestinian cause. This view was summarised by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who said in 1989: "If you changed the names, the description of what is happening in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank would be a description of what is happening in South Africa."

The relationship between Israel and South Africa has never been easy. Israel had close ties to the white, apartheid regime, which fell in 1994. Although Israel nominally participated in western sanctions against South Africa from the 1980s, it retained a behind-closed-doors trade and defence relationship with the apartheid government. Prior to that, the two countries collaborated in military training and weapons development. The African National Congress has long-standing links to Palestinian freedom movements, and many leading figures have denounced Israel's policies. "We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians," said Nelson Mandela in a speech in Pretoria in 1997.

US Neo-Nazi music scene flourishing

Aljazeera  A recent mass killing at a Sikh temple in the United States has put neo-Nazi music into the spotlight. The gunman, Wade Michael Page, was a white supremacist who played in several bands. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, music sales are a primary source of income for racist groups and a rich recruiting ground for new members. There is also evidence that Neo-Nazis have a presence in the institution that Americans say they most admire: the US military

South Africa miners start returning to work

ALjazeera

Some platinum mine workers in North West province report to work after strike violence that left 44 people dead.

Jeb Bush: GOP ‘Needs To Change… Reach Out To A Much Broader Audience Than We Do Today’

ThinkProgress

This morning on NBC, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush delivered a pointed critique of the modern Republican party. Bush acknowledged that that the GOP “needs to change” and “reach out to a much broader audience.”

Bush insisted, however, that the problems with the Republican Party would not impact this year’s election. 

"Right On": Conservative Media Applaud, Defend Romney For Birther Comment

Media Matters

Conservative media figures are defending and applauding Mitt Romney for invoking at a Michigan rally the false conspiracy theory that President Obama was not born in the United States.

Romney Makes Birth Certificate Comment At Rally

Romney: "No One's Ever Asked To See My Birth Certificate." At an August 24 rally in Michigan, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said:

ROMNEY: I love being home, in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born at Henry Ford Hospital. I was born at Harper Hospital. No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised. [Talking Points Memo, 8/24/12]

"Right On, Right On": Conservatives Cheer Romney's Birther Remark

Limbaugh: "Right On, Right On, Right On." On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh aired audio of Romney's comments and responded, "right on, right on, right on." From the August 24 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: Mitt Romney and Ryan, drawing a huge crowd in Michigan. And get this.

ROMNEY [audio clip]: I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.

LIMBAUGH: Right on, right on, right on. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/24/12]

Limbaugh: Romney Is "Test-Driving" Birther Line. Later in his show, Limbaugh suggested that Romney's "line is a test drive.

Empire State Building shooting victim says NYPD fired 'randomly' into street

Citizens for Legit Gov

Questions have been raised over the New York Police Department's handling of a shooting near the Empire State Building after armed officers injured nine passers-by as they pursued a gunman who had just shot dead his former boss. One of those injured by police told the Guardian that officers appeared to fire "randomly" as they confronted Jeffrey Johnson, 58. Reports suggest that while Johnson drew his gun when he was confronted by officers, he did not fire; all those injured appear to have been shot by police.

Obama attacks Romney's 'extreme views' while pledging to implement more GOP proposals in second term

Citizens for Legit Gov

President Barack Obama said Mitt Romney has locked himself into "extreme positions" on economic and social issues and would surely impose them if elected, trying to discredit his Republican rival at the biggest political moment of his life. Mr Obama also offered a glimpse of how he would govern in a second term of divided government, insisting rosily that the forces of the election would help break Washington's stalemate. He said he would be willing to make a range of compromises with Republicans [as he's done since January 2009], confident there are some who would rather make deals than remain part of "one of the least productive Congresses in American history."

Pennsylvania Supreme Court expedites challenge to state voter ID law

The Jurist

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court [official website] on Thursday agreed to expedite its hearing [order, PDF] of the challenge to the state's new voter ID law [HB 943 materials]. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court [official website] declined to issue an injunction [JURIST report] against the law last week. The decision prompted the challengers, 10 voters and several rights groups including the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Racism is Costing Australia

Sbs.com

Racism is costing Australia and taking a toll on communities, the race discrimination commissioner says.

A national strategy to help stamp out racism was launched in Melbourne on Friday. Federal race discrimination commissioner Dr Helen Szoke said racism not only exists in Australia, but costs the country "financially and culturally". "We're going to have a go at identifying racism," Dr Szoke told the launch on Friday.

"We're going to make the point that racism can take a real toll on people's lives and communities."

The strategy was launched on behalf of the Australian Human Rights Commission and is backed by a campaign, "Racism stops with me".

Federal Multicultural Affairs Minister Kate Lundy said the strategy was about encouraging people to challenge racism and put an end to discrimination. "Racism discounts the contribution thousands of migrants have made to our nation," Senator Lundy said.

Already Struggling to Attract the Best & Brightest - Hampton University Dean Bans Cornrows and Dreads

Complex.com

This is well beyond the generation gap, it's just flat-out sad. Sid Credle, the Dean of Hampton University's Business School, has banned MBA students from wearing cornrows or dreadlocks. If Credle has an issue with students choosing to wear their hair however they like at the Virginia historically black college, that's fine, but his opinion shouldn't be forced upon students. Especially when it's articulated like this:

Dean Credle disagrees and says when people criticize the ban for denying cultural aspects of style, he believes cornrows and dreadlocks have not been a historically professional look.

"I said when was it that cornrows and dreadlocks were a part of African American history?"

Credle added, "I mean Charles Drew didn't wear, Muhammad Ali didn't wear it. Martin Luther King didn't wear it."

Prosecutors Control the Criminal Justice System - Power Goes Unchecked

NY Times

Angela Y. Davis, a professor of law at American University and former director of the D.C. Public Defender Service, argues in The New York Times that prosecutors are “the most powerful officials in the criminal justice system” and because “95 percent of all criminal cases are resolved with guilty pleas, it is very clear that prosecutors control the criminal justice system through their charging and plea bargaining powers.”

Deportation Program Costs L.A. County More Than $26 Million

ColorLines

Los Angeles County is spending an estimated $26 million a year to hold undocumented immigrants under the Secure Communities program, according to a report released Thursday by Justice Strategies. Secure Communities, also known as S-Comm, checks the legal status of anyone booked into a local jail and transfers those who are undocumented to ICE custody.

Among the report's findings: - Los Angeles County taxpayers spend over $26 million per year to detain immigrants for ICE. - Individuals in Los Angeles County custody who are subject to immigration detainers spend, on average, 20.6 extra days in county custody. - California taxpayers spend an estimated $65 million annually to detain immigrants for ICE. - Based on L.A. County averages the report concludes S-Comm is costing the state an estimated $65 million.

Retrieving Insights From Fanon: Systemic and Social Violence

MaulenaKarenga.org

In his classic work, The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon laid out an extensive explanation of how an oppressed people, which does not fight fiercely and self- consciously against its own oppression, will witness the emergence of those who turn the pent-up anger, disdain and righteous rage they have for their oppressor into self-destructive explosions and aggression against themselves and others of their people. And in this month of marking his coming into being, and in the light and context of the recent rise of gang- related shootings and killings in the Black community, I thought of him and how relevant and resourceful many of his ideas remain for us.

All shooting victims outside Empire State Building were hit by NYPD gunfire

Citizens For Legit Gov

Officer Craig Matthews shot seven times. Officer Robert Sinishtaj fired nine times. All nine people wounded during a dramatic confrontation between police and a gunman outside the Empire State Building were struck by bullets fired by the two officers, police said Saturday, citing ballistics evidence. Based on ballistic and other evidence, "it appears that all nine of the victims were struck either by fragments or by bullets fired by police," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters on Saturday at a community event in Harlem.

U.S. appears to expand probe of Abuse at L.A. County jails

LA Times

A federal grand jury has demanded that Los Angeles County sheriff's officials turn over all correspondence they have had with a county commission created to examine allegations of excessive force by deputies in the county jails, according to a sheriff's email obtained by The Times.

The subpoena suggests that federal authorities, in the midst of a widespread investigation of the jails, are expanding their probe to include allegations unearthed by the commission.

In recent months, that county panel has heard testimony from current and former sheriff's supervisors who have publicly alleged that top managers fostered a culture of abuse inside the jails.

But many more sheriff's employees have spoken to the commission privately. The subpoena could inadvertently force those sheriff's officials to out themselves to the department as informants.