Society's ChildS


Star of David

Foreign fighters flocking to Middle East to wage jihad, for Israel

israel
© EPAAround 5,000 Jews carry the title "Lone Soldier" given to volunteers from abroad, writes Hanine Hassan
Her name is Katie. She is from the Netherlands, and chose to serve in the Israeli navy instead of remaining in her country.

Will her government label her and the rest of the hundreds of Dutch youth serving in the Israeli military asjihadstrijders (jihad fighters), the name given to the hundred or so that went to Syria? Katie, a Dutch-Israeli dual citizen, is after all a jihadist in occupied Palestinian lands.

Israel's genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip is entering its second week. The death toll has risen to more than 600, with thousands more injured and displaced - alongside arbitrary arrests, the demolition of family homes and a policy of apartheid towards Palestinians both in the West Bank and within the state of Israel. What's more, these war crimes are directly supported by the recruits from Europe and the United States that land at Ben Gurion airport throughout the year.

The notion of Europeans and Americans serving in the Israeli army isn't new.

Pistol

Gun violence NYC: Police officer and gunman wounded in Brooklyn shootout

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© Marc Herman, NY Daily NewsA NYPD police officer was shot around 2:30 a.m. Sunday in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Police investigate the scene at Gates Ave. and Marcus Garvey Boulevard.
A gunman who shot a police officer in the leg was in turn shot and wounded by other officers early Sunday morning in Brooklyn, the police said.

The encounter began around 2:30 a.m., when plainclothes officers on patrol in an unmarked vehicle noticed a man adjusting his waistband near Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Monroe Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the Police Department said. Suspecting the man was carrying a gun, the police said, the officers got out of the vehicle and approached him.


Comment: Take note, adjusting your waistband in public may attract the attention of police.


When they did, the man ran, the police said.

A block away, at the intersection of Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Gates Avenue, the man came upon two other officers on foot patrol and opened fire, the police said. He hit the officer, John Hirschberger, 28, in the left thigh, and continued running as the other officers returned fire, the police said.

Green Light

Hands up! Don't shoot! Michael Brown solidarity march in Washington, DC

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© Reuters/Larry DowningProtesters march as they call for a thorough investigation of the shooting death of teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on a street in front of the White House in Washington, August 28, 2014
A crowd of protesters has taken to the streets of Washington, DC, expressing their solidarity with the people of Ferguson who gathered earlier on Saturday in remembrance of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager killed by police earlier this month.

Chanting "Hands up! Don't shoot!" the Washington protesters took over the streets in a northeast neighbourhood, blocking the traffic. Wondering "How many must die?" till police brutality and racism is stopped, protesters demanded "Justice for Mike Brown!"

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© Unknown
Earlier in the day, hundreds of people gathered in Ferguson, Missouri calling for justice over the killing of Brown. Protesters said that this is just the beginning of a movement to highlight US racial inequality.

The rally started where the unarmed 18-year old was shot dead on August 9th by white police officer Darren Wilson in the small Missouri town, AP reports. There were children and families among the protesters who wore T shirts and carried banners with the ubiquitous sign "hands up, don't shoot."

Comment: The Michael Brown shooting: What you're not being told


Stock Down

Russian State Duma: EU paying the price for US led sanctions on Russia

Sergey Naryshkin
© RIA NovostiSergey Naryshkin at RT on August 30, 2014
Blacklisting Russian individuals and targeting the country's economy is but an emotional step the EU took after an apparent instruction from the US, Russian State Duma speaker Sergey Naryshkin told RT. But Moscow hasn't sought to even the score, he added.

Naryshkin called the personalized sanctions imposed on Russian MPs, including Naryshkin himself, by European counterparts "strange, or even absurd" since Europeans "have always prided themselves on their democratic tradition," while the personalized sanctions are "absolutely at odds" with that.

"Our partners keep saying that it's very important to hear Russia's stance on this highly complex situation that presents a threat to Europe. But then they go ahead and limit their own ability to maintain contact and dialogue with the Russian side, and specifically Russian MPs," Naryshkin said, adding that sanctions are not the "end of the world."

"We should convey our point of view to the European public and our colleagues - the MPs - through every possible means, including the media and the contacts we MPs - and I - personally have," the speaker said.

Dollar

International Labor Organization: More chance of dying from work than going to war

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© Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji
Going to war may seem one of the most hazardous ordeals on the planet, but perhaps not. The International Labor Organization (ILO) says there is more chance of dying from work than fighting for your country on the battlefield.

The admission was made by Guy Ryder, the ILO's director-general, who was speaking at the 20th World Congress in Frankfurt to participants from 141 countries in what is the world's largest occupational safety event.

"The challenge we face is a daunting one. Work claims more victims around the globe than does war: an estimated 2.3 million workers die every year from occupational accidents and diseases," said Ryder, in an article published on the organizations website.

Ryder believes that work related deaths should get more attention than they currently do in the mass media.

"Ebola and the tragedies it is causing are in the daily headlines - which is right. But work-related deaths are not. So, the task ahead is to establish a permanent culture of consciousness," he said.

While health and safety around the work place is improving, this is certainly not the case around the globe. In 2013, over 1,100 laborers died in a Bangladeshi factory after the building where they were working collapsed. Ryder believes it is unacceptable that people are forced to work in such conditions, where their lives are unnecessarily put at risk.

Comment: See also:
  • Worked to death: New Jersey woman working 4 jobs dies while napping in car between shifts



Red Flag

Ukrainians having to get creative in their natural gas and heating solutions


Comment: Below we see one of the effects of the U.S. "cold war" against Russia. The U.S. sees this as merely collateral damage, they care very little for the suffering of the average Ukrainian and whether or not they have to live without heat in the brutal Eastern European winter. The comforts of the average person is of little consideration in the war against Russia. In the minds of psychopaths, such things are not even considered.


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With natural gas shortages central heating may not be in place in Ukrainian flats for the cold winter. While people are rushing to buy electric heaters, authorities have issued brochures with advice on how to cope with freezing temperatures.

Recognizing that it is extremely hard to keep a city flat warm with no central heating, Kiev authorities, for example, launched a campaign aimed at informing citizens on tricks and methods they could use to save energy and heat - at temperatures of -10 degrees Celsius and lower.

Firstly, the heat insulation of windows and doors is strongly advised, as well as the purchase of a personal boiler or energy-saving heating installation. In fact, people are already starting to buy the boilers: shop owners in Kiev told TCH TV channel that demand for such devices has increased at least threefold since the beginning of the crisis.

Also, it is suggested in the brochures that city residents should buy warm clothes made of natural fabric, valenki, and headwear to protect themselves from freezing temperatures.

Where there is heating in flats, the authorities advise to paint the radiators red or brown instead of traditional white, in order to increase their heat output - or wrap them in foil.

With so many heating devices power consumption will increase and may overload the grid, authorities are also giving advice on electricity savings: from switching to lower wattage light bulbs, to giving up on devices' stand-by functions and instead unplugging them completely.

Airplane

Protest group pours fake blood in Belgium's Liege airport - 'No weapons for Israel!'

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© AFP/Nicolas Lambert
A Belgian feminist activist group LilithS literally painted Liege Airport red with a hundred liters of fake blood at the facility's role in arming Israel. The red pool of 'blood' symbolized their perceived 'slaughter' of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel.

Six women took part in the protest at 11.30 am on Tuesday. The members were all wearing t-shirts bearing the colors of the Palestinian flag as well as the slogans "Terrorism is real" and "Free Palestine." They also unveiled a banner with the slogan: "How many tons of weapons for so many liters of blood?" the groups Facebook page stated.
#Gaza activist action in #liege airport #belgium agaisnt weapon transport to #Israelpic.twitter.com/PQ4O3gxHUS
- Little Lou ن (@LOUPARI) August 30, 2014
Their man gripe was how they believe Liege Airport is being used to transport arms for Israel, which are used against the people of Palestine. LilithS says that the Belgian government and the European Union are turning a blind eye to this, as long as the military material being transported does not change vehicles.

26 Belgian non-profit organizations and other political parties have also spoken out against the lack of transparency shown by the airport.

Wedding Rings

'United Continent' travels to fight fascism: European volunteers fighting Kiev troops in Eastern Ukraine

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© RTFrench fighter Nikola
European volunteers are streaming into Ukraine to join the fighting on both sides. While Kiev's forces are beefed up with mercenaries from private military companies, Europeans have also come to defend the rebel Donbass region of their own free will.

One of the latest reinforcements of anti-Kiev troops in Eastern Ukraine are four French ex-serviceman who have come to fight this war, thousands of kilometers from home.

"It's our war. It's everybody's war, it's every European's war," Guillaume, a French fighter in Ukraine defending the Donbass region, told RT's Paula Slier.

Comment: As Europeans continue to unite in defense of Ukraine, hopefully their leaders are also learning just how dangerous the US is, and how terrible the consequences of its foreign policy will be for them. From the Donetsk People's Republic's press conference:
Unfortunately, dear journalists, the West tries to invade us with a regularity of 30-50 years. That is, every 30-50 years the Western civilization tries to impose on us their opinion and their way of life. The First World War, the Great Patriotic war, the Crimean war before that and so on well into the depths of history. As a result, the West traditionally gets the fall of Berlin, Paris, etc. There is Maidan every year In Kiev - "Those who don't jump are Moskals". The West comes every 30-50 years to get what it deserves. Now in 2014, they are slightly delayed.



V

6,500 protesters rally in Berlin to end government spying

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© AFP/DPAA demonstrator holds a placard depicting German chancellor's Angela Merkel and US President Barck Obama reading "That does not work" (Das geht gar nicht) during a demonstration against governmental surveillance on August 30, 2014 in Berlin.
The rally in Berlin against federal surveillance gathered thousands of people under the motto 'Freedom not fear,' who were calling for stricter control of German intelligence agencies.
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© Reuters/Thomas PeterA woman wearing a mask depicting German Chancellor Angela Merkel stands behind a mock telescope during a "Freiheit Statt Angst" (Freedom instead of Fear) protest calling for the protection of digital data privacy and the reigning in of digital surveillance practices, in Berlin August 30, 2014.
The organizers said about 6,500 demonstrators, a broad coalition of pro-transparency, anti-surveillance and civil rights groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Reporters Without Borders, Digital Courage, and Amnesty International joined the rally as they marched from the Brandenburg Gate to the Federal Chancellery.

Family

Orthodox Jews expelled from Guatemalan refuge after being threatened 'with lynching'

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A controversial group of Orthodox Jews has been ordered out of a village in Guatemala after disputes with the local people.

A member of Lev Tahor, which was founded in the 1980s in Israel, said they had been threatened "with lynching" if they did not leave San Juan La Laguna. They started moving out on Friday after Mayan village elders voted to ask them to go.

Misael Santos, said: "We decided to leave because the Council of Elders does not want us. It's sad to leave, and there are people who like us here... when we left there were people who cried." Lev Tahor were "a people of peace", he said, and had decided to leave "to avoid an incident", according to the AFP news agency. "We have a right to be there, but they threatened us with lynching if we don't leave," he said.

Known for anti-Zionist views, the group created by Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans left Israel for the US in the 1990s, then went to Canada and Guatemala.