CounterCurrents: Israel Presses Settlement Expansion, Defies UN Resolution

Dear Friend,

The window to deposit old 'demonetised'  notes in India is coming to a close. It looks like almost all the withdrawn notes will return to the banks, thus busting government's main claim that the note ban was a war on 'black money'. What happened in the meantime and is fast unfolding is everybody's nightmare. Hundreds of deaths, starvation, economic stagnation, job loss..... This morning I read the report of a woman committing suicide due to demonetisation. The misery continues. The right to food campaign in its statement says  "this move serves no clear purpose and is a major attack on the right to food and the right to life."

On December 23 UN Security council passed Resolution 2334. Surprisingly United States didn't veto it or lobbied for voting. It may be Obama's last gasp effort to  show some guts towards Israel. 

It seems, as always, Israel shows no concern for international laws or world opinion. Showing utter contempt to the UN resolution  the Israeli government has announced that it will move ahead with the construction of thousands of new homes in East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank territories.

And also more stories from around the world. 

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In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org





Demonetisation Undermines The Right To Food And The Right To Life
Statement by Right To Food Campaign 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/28/demonetisation-undermines-the-right-to-food-and-the-right-to-life/

The right to food campaign is dismayed by the Indian government’s reckless attempt to renew currency notes, known as “demonetization”, without any serious attention to the consequences it may have for poor people. This move serves no clear purpose and is a major attack on the right to food and the right to life.






Israel Presses Settlement Expansion, Defies UN Resolution
by Patrick Martin 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/28/israel-presses-settlement-expansion-defies-un-resolution/

Flatly defying last week’s United Nations Security Council resolution, the Israeli government has announced that it will move ahead with thousands of new homes in East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank territories seized by force nearly 50 years ago in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.






Reviving Israel’s Dying Two State Solution
by Dr Arshad M Khan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/28/reviving-israels-dying-two-state-solution/

President-elect Trump has signaled the last gasp of the two-state solution through his choice of ambassador to Israel.    His friend and bankruptcy lawyer (used often) David Friedman is noted for his affinity with extremist Israeli settlers, illegally squatting in universally condemned settlements that also violate the Fourth Geneva Convention.  He is president of the American Friends of Bet El Yeshiva and Bet El Institutions, raising money to support settlers.






Is UN Security Council Resolution 2334 The Beginning Of The End For Apartheid Israel?
by Dr Gideon Polya 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/28/is-un-security-council-resolution-2334-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-apartheid-israel/

Resolution 2334 (2016) of the UN Security Council could have been stronger by condemning the Occupation but it nevertheless condemned other Israeli crimes in the Palestinian Territory that are in gross violation of international law,   and was passed 14-0 on 23 December 2016,  with the racist, pro-Zionist, pro-Apartheid US Obama Administration remarkably failing to veto and recording an unprincipled abstention. Hopefully UNSC Resolution 2334 is the beginning of the end for Apartheid and Apartheid Israel.






Palestine 2017: Time To Bid Farewell To Washington And Embrace The Globe
by Dr Ramzy Baroud

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/28/palestine-2017-time-to-bid-farewell-to-washington-and-embrace-the-globe/

There is no doubt that the UN Security Council condemnation of Israel on Friday, December 23, was an important and noteworthy event. In fact, unlike the December 23 resolution 2334, the past UN condemnations were far stronger – for some resolutions did not just demand an immediate halt of illegal Jewish settlement construction, but the removal of existing settlements as well. 






Portraits From Kabul
by Carolyn Coe 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/28/portraits-from-kabul/

Portraits of some ordinary people who are living the hard way in Kabul






Why Are India’s Development Programmes Not Delivering?
by Moin Qazi

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/28/why-are-indias-development-programmes-not-delivering/

In India, most development programmes for   poor have been designed on the assumption that the poor need charities and they cannot afford to pay for the services .This is   erroneous   and we have witnessed how dollops of free money have stifled their initiatives 





Dangal: A Sociological Review
by Prakash Gupta  

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/28/dangal-a-sociological-review/

Dangal presents a ‘limited’ version of women empowerment whose protagonist is a patriarch. Namrata Joshi aptly describes this in her Review featured in The Hindu on Thursday. She describes Mahavir of Dangal as “A patriarch who may seem rigid, unbending and dictatorial; whose ways may seem to cause immediate pain and discomfort but ensure a happy future for the daughters (and the nation) in the long run.” But not a ‘patron’ for women empowerment.





Vaarasa (The Inheritance ) – A Compelling Short Fiction On Caste

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/28/vaarasa-the-inheritance/

“The Inheritance” is a compelling fictional narrative of a young man who is sucked up by the whirlpool of caste system. This short fiction depicts with conviction how even educated young people of lower castes are tragically drowned by the inheritance of their own caste.





Grass Hills
by Mirza Yawar Baig 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/28/grass-hills/

An ecological memoir