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The (fantastic) organization Reprieve today announced the release of a UN report (click that link to download the full report) into secret detention that exposes UK collusion in secret detention and torture. The investigation found, among other things, that the UK knew of the US’ rendition practices in 2002 but continued to hand them [...]

Max and I were just having a conversation last night about the one-state versus two-state solution argument for the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  I was saying that I was surprised to hear, when in Belfast recently at a rally in support of Gaza, all of the calls for a peaceful future centered on a two-state solution–something which [...]

First, a confession: I yoinked this image from my friend’s Facebook page.  This is the famed wall at Free Derry Corner in Derry, Ireland, and is pretty regularly painted to show solidarity with oppressed people the world over.  I think the image speaks for itself, don’t you?

From the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network:
The world majority stands with the Palestinian people in this devastating time that Israeli Defense Secretary Ehud Barak calls “just the beginning.” Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past 24 hours have killed over 200 people and injured hundreds more. We decry the multiple forms of collective punishment currently being [...]

If you read any of the commentary on Obama’s administration picks, read “This is Change? 20 Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons to Watch for in Obama’s White House,” by journalist Jeremy Scahill.  Scahill writes of the momentus opportunity that Obama has to create real change–how he was elected on a popular mandate to challenge the militaristic [...]

Went to hear Jeremy Scahill speak at UM the day before Halloween.  I thought this would be a suitable post for the holiday, seeing as how *actually* terrifying the subject is, but I am only getting around to it now.  I have yet to read his book, Blackwater: The Rise of America’s Most Powerful Mercenary [...]

The following statement was just released by Relatives for Justice:
British paratrooper Lee Clegg was convicted of the 1990 murder of West Belfast teenager Karen Reilly, an incident that also claimed the life of Martin Peake and the wounding of a teenage girl -Markievitz Gorman - when a joint British army RUC patrol fired upon a [...]

Article by David Granville from the Irish Democrat:
THE MOTHER of the Peter McBride, the Belfast teenager murdered by two Scots Guardsmen on 4 September 1992, has appealed to the Iraqi government to cancel the contracts of private security firm Aegis Defence Services and to expel it from the country.
Jean McBride’s appeal follows a decision [...]

From the Pat Finucane Centre:
Following the decision  of the Iraqi government to expel private security company Blackwater*from the country Belfast mother Jean Mc Bride has appealed to the Iraqis to ‘also show the door’ to British company Aegis Defence Services.   The CEO of Aegis is former Scots Guards officer and mercenary Tim Spicer. Soldiers under [...]

The following is the first part of an article by Irish peace activist Damien Moran, whom some of you may remember as one of the Pitstop Ploughshares.  To read Damien’s reflections in their entirety, please go here.
The following is not intended to be an attempt at a comprehensive analysis of the current situation in the [...]