“Last week, [University of Ottawa professor, Dr.] Attaran alleged that the uncensored documents suggest that Canadian officials intended some prisoners to be tortured in order to gather intelligence. If the allegation is true, such actions would constitute a war crime, he argued.”

“In response to the CP report, Defence Minister Peter MacKay acknowledged the military has “relied heavily on other departments, including CSIS” to counter the severe threat to Canadian troops in Afghanistan.”"

– More damning evidence against CSIS, and the louts who work for them.

“Around 5,000 Arab and Jewish peace activists flocked to Sheikh Jarrah [in East Jerusalem] in one of the largest rallies yet against the evictions.”
“Protesters, including several communists and other members of the Hadash Front for Peace and Equality, marched under red banners and Palestinian flags, chanting: “Sheikh Jarrah residents don’t lose hope, we are blocking the road to settlement” and “There is no sanctity in an occupied city.” “

–Have a quick look at what happened yesterday in the US student movement.

Apartheid week one-sided but not anti-Semitic – thestar.com.

Judy Rebick outlines a convincing argument for why Israel is an apartheid state:
1. Different rights for different races.
2. Separation of so-called racial groups into different geographical areas.
3. Security and Repression Matrix of Laws and Security.
4. It is an apartheid state under the definition of the UN Convention on Apartheid.

“So why are politicians including some from the NDP setting a student activity like IAW in their sites? An all party coalition of parliamentarians has been holding hearings on what they call the “new anti-Semitism,” by which they mean criticism of Israel. They heard from every University President who appeared before them that there is no rise of anti-Semitism on their campuses and yet the false rumours of such a rise persist because of the equation of criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism… In Canada, the only way to shut down the movement is to vilify it as hateful or anti-Semitic. That is what our parliamentarians are now trying to do.”

OR
(addition by Graham)

You could just listen to the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU) which is lead by and has as its members people that fought South African Apartheid. Of all the people that should know what Apartheid is, they should. The hand-wringing that goes on in our supposed labour party is astounding especially given the embarrassing history that the Canadian state played around South Africa’s Apartheid.

–It is shameful what this government is trying to do. The vast majority of Canadians do not support the type of social conservatism that the Harper government is infusing into our public discourse. We must make our voices heard.

–Brooklyn ACORN members cleared of any wrong-doing.

“Police have fired tear gas and imposed an overnight curfew in Concepcion on Sunday in an attempt to control desperate citizens looking for food in the city as Chile’s earthquake toll surpassed 700.”

“The Ontario government is poised to take the final legislative step in relinquishing control of Ipperwash Provincial Park and putting it [the land, back] in aboriginal hands.”

““So today we see the seething resentment of British voters – including established migrants – towards those they blame for taking their jobs, living off benefits they haven’t paid for… and threatening to harm the very country that provides them with a home.”

Socialist Worker tackles some of the key myths about immigration.”

“Spain approved a sweeping new law on Wednesday that eases restrictions on abortion, declaring the procedure a woman’s right and doing away with the threat of imprisonment, despite opposition from conservatives and the Catholic church.

The new law allows the procedure without restrictions up to 14 weeks and gives 16 and 17-year-olds the right to have abortions without parental consent.

The senate’s passage of the Bill on Wednesday gives it final approval.”

“US legislators voted to extend controversial provisions of the notorious Bush-era Patriot Act on Thursday…. President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law this weekend… Legislators renewed three sections of the Patriot Act, which was originally rushed through both houses of Congress in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks.”

“Agents of Canada’s spy agency, who travelled to Egypt and corresponded with Egyptian officials, indirectly led to the mistreatment of a Toronto man by authorities there, according to previously classified information released on Tuesday.”

- More evidence demonstrating CSIS’s involvement in using outsourced torture.

All of them are First Nations reservations. The analysis in the article is, of course atrocious, and plays with the idea that the poverty may be caused by corrupt chiefs, instead of examining the continuing colonial policies of Canada.

“The N.B. postal codes that rank among the 10 poorest according to income are all First Nations communities: Kingsclear, Eel Ground, Tobique, Elsipogtog, Red Bank and Esgenoopetitj, also known as Burnt Church.

The median income in those areas was below $14,000 in 2006, with Esgenoopetitj ranking as the poorest neighbourhood in Canada, with a median income of $9,200.”

by David Zirin
“… the AABA would be a league exclusively for native-born whites. According to its press release, “only players that are natural-born United States citizens with both parents of Caucasian race are eligible to play in the league.”

“Yes, the AABA is lunatic and racist–and doesn’t deserve an ounce of our attention. But it must be acknowledged that without the incessant and utterly unnecessary backlash against NBA players, led by the media and the league’s own commissioner, the league never would have seen the light of day.”

“Egyptian women and human rights activists have staged a protest in Cairo against a recent decision that bars women from holding judicial positions.

Thursday’s protest came after the Council of State’s association voted on Monday by an overwhelming majority against the appointment of women as judges in the council, an influential court which advises Egypt’s government.

Up to 80 women showed up at the protest with most of the activists holding up posters that read in Arabic: “This is a black day for Egypt’s history.”"

“For one small village on the ouskirts of Bethlehem, the wall has effectively imprisoned its Palestinian residents.

Al-Nu’man village was cut off from Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank in 2003 and it is walled-in on three sides by the West Bank separation barrier, which was illegally constructed beyond the Green Line drawn after the 1949 Arab-Israeli war.

A permanent checkpoint is now the only entrance to and from from the village.”

“On February 4, Dr. Siddiqui was convicted by a New York jury for attempted murder . . . The people who should have been on trial are the people who abducted her, disappeared her young children, shipped her across international borders, violated her civil liberties, tortured her apparently for the fun of it, raped her, and attempted to murder her with two gunshots to her stomach. Instead, the victim was put on trial and convicted.
“This is the unmistakable hallmark of a police state. And this victim is an American citizen.”

“Japan’s government has begun a new process aimed at making amends for the mistreatment of its islands’ indigenous people – the Ainu.

Land was annexed by Japan from the Ainu people in the 19th century, which then imposed laws banning their language, hunting and religious practices.”

–Solidarity with the people of Bolivia.

“Gildan Activewear Inc. hasn’t heard from six of its 44 employees in Haiti, where it has been operating for the past 10 years, and by now the Montreal T-shirt maker is assuming the worst. One of its contractors’ buildings collapsed while in full production, with 1,000 people inside. “It appears there are no survivors,” said Laurence Sellyn, executive vice-president of finance and administration.”

The New York Times described it as “probably one of the largest losses of life in a single location”.