CounterCurrents: Cash Crunch Turns Orange Trade Sour, Turkey, Russia, Iran Sign Deal On Syria After Shooting Of Russian Ambassador To Turkey

Dear Friend,

Russian, Turkish, and Iranian officials met in Moscow a day after the assassination of Russian ambassador to Turkey in Ankara and signed a declaration towards ending war in Syria. It marks a remarkable shift of Turkish diplomacy in Syrian conflict.  

Moin Qazi writes that orange growers of Vidarbha region are feeling the pinch of demonetisation. Prices have crashed by 50%. Vidarbha is a region where thousands of cotton farmers have committed suicide. "We fear that the situation can lead to increase in suicides of farmers”    says a memorandum that was given to the government from the orange farmers of Vidarbha.

Our video series #HumansOfDeMonetisedIndia tells the plight of people from another part of India. 

Eminent journalist Chris Hedges joins the 'Fake News' debate and his article is a must read. 

The British government of Theresa May officially adopted on December 12 a new definition of anti-Semitism that includes legitimate criticism of Israel.  It is    a rather dangerous move which will most likely lead to an expanding chasm between British civil society and Britain’s political elite, write Dr Ramzy Baroud. 

Dr Binoy Kampmark pays glowing tribute to South African anti-apartheid activist  Steve Biko who would have been 70 years today. 

Romi Mahajan looks deep into US society and asks whether color blindness is the right solution to the racial question. He says 'if we can’t equip our kids to have empathy for how others’ feel then we are indeed doomed.'

Also other stories from around the world. 

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Editor
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Turkey, Russia, Iran Sign Deal On Syria After Shooting Of Russian Ambassador To Turkey
by Alex Lantier 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/turkey-russia-iran-sign-deal-on-syria-after-shooting-of-russian-ambassador-to-turkey/

Yesterday, top Russian, Turkish, and Iranian officials met in Moscow and signed a declaration they billed as ending the US-instigated war in Syria. Coming after Russian-backed Syrian army units captured the key city of Aleppo from US-backed Islamist fighters, the deal shows that moves to improve ties between the three countries are continuing despite Monday’s assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov.





Cash Crunch Turns Orange Trade Sour
by Moin Qazi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/cash-crunch-turns-orange-trade-sour/

The orange growers of Nagpur have now  joined the fellowship of pain of their peers in the cotton farming community.  Demonetization has dented the orange trade in Vidarbha. The orange exporters who export to Bangladesh   have suffered the most as the fruit prices have fallen by up to 50%. “Prices have crashed by 50% and the time to harvest the fruits is getting over. We fear that the situation can lead to increase in suicides of farmers,” was written in a memorandum that was given to the government from the orange farmers of Vidarbha.





#HumansOfDeMonetisedIndia: We Don’t Have Work

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/humansofdemonetisedindia-we-dont-have-work/

The demonetisation scheme has put people in the unorganised sector out of work. People don’t have work, money and are barely surviving. One person in the video says “when the note ban happened nobody cared about the plight of the poor people. Think about the families who collected some money for a marriage.” Many marriages have been postponed.





The Masses Support Modi (Not)
by Walt Gelles 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/the-masses-support-modi-not/

You destroyed the economy
with one colossal blunder.
You’ve brought untold misery
and torn our lives asunder.

But Modi-ji, whatever you do
or say or think is fine.
There’s just one more little thing
you ought to do. RESIGN.





‘Fake News’ In America: Homegrown, And Far From New
by Chris Hedges 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/fake-news-in-america-homegrown-and-far-from-new/

The corporations that own media outlets, unlike the old newspaper empires, view news as simply another revenue stream. Revenue streams compete inside a corporation. When the news division does not make what is seen as enough profit, the ax comes down. Content is irrelevant. Most of the sections of a newspaper—“life style,” travel, real estate and fashion, among others—are designed to appeal to the “1 percent.” They are bait for advertising. Only about 15 percent of any newspaper is devoted to news. If you were to remove from that 15 percent the content provided by the public relations industry inside and outside government, news falls to single digits. For broadcast and cable news, the figure for real, independently reported news would hover close to zero





Stifling The Debate On Israel: For Palestinians, Zionism Only Means One Thing
by Dr Ramzy Baroud 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/stifling-the-debate-on-israel-for-palestinians-zionism-only-means-one-thing/

The British government of Theresa May officially adopted on December 12 a new definition of anti-Semitism that includes legitimate criticism of Israel. The definition was adopted earlier in the year by a pro-Israeli group IHRA, although it was considered but abandoned by the European anti-racism agency in 2005. It is also a rather dangerous move which will most likely lead to an expanding chasm between British civil society and Britain’s political elite.





Palestine’s Achilles Heel: The Begging Bowl
by Dr Vacy Vlazna 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/palestines-achilles-heel-the-begging-bowl/

Poor Palestine – the major Palestinian players, Fatah and Hamas have degraded and set back the liberation movement by crawling with begging bowls to self-interested, absolutely not Palestine-interested, Arab states, and furthermore both are fickle beggars switching loyalties to conform to the US volatile currents in the Middle East.






Steve Biko At 70
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/steve-biko-at-70/

Biko’s contribution was primarily the notion of Black Consciousness, which he considered “an attitude of the mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time.”  Gradually, his activities earned the violent ire of authorities.  It began gradually.  The ban in February 1973 was meant to neuter his drive to organise, speak and publicise. It did the opposite.





A Colorblind Society? Not So Fast!
by Romi Mahajan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/a-colorblind-society-not-so-fast/

If we can’t equip our kids to have empathy for how others’ feel then we are indeed doomed





Russian Ambassador Shot Dead In Ankara: Fall Out Of Allepo or Abortive Anti-Erdogan Coup
by Abdus Sattar Ghazali 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/russian-ambassador-shot-dead-in-ankara-fall-out-of-allepo-or-abortive-anti-erdogan-coup/

The man who assassinated the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, is identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, a former officer of the Turkish police who was fired from the forces of law and order in the course of investigation of the July 15 abortive coup, according to Haberturk news.






Discourse On National Anthem: From Heart Warming To Chest Thumping Nationalism
by T Navin 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/discourse-on-national-anthem-from-heart-warming-to-chest-thumping-nationalism/

We seem to be moving to a situation of proving ‘nationalism’ at every step. It is not surprising that the discourse on national anthem glorifies this shift ‘from heart warming to chest thumping nationalism’.





Village Moneylender: The All Season Vampire
by Moin Qazi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/21/village-moneylender-the-all-season-vampire/


Almost every farmer across India’s arid cotton-bearing central plateau is a hostage, in one way or another, of  the moneylender. The present demonetization has come as a blessing for the moneylenders