mintpressnews--2020-04-17--The Great Gray Hope: Bernie Sanders Tests the Limits of US Political Systems

The Great Gray Hope has bowed out of the presidential primary race , leaving tottering Joe Biden as the last Democrat standing .
What Bernie Sanders accomplished electorally was remarkable , revealing both how far a progressive can venture and the limits proscribing further advancement to the left within the Democratic Party .
Sanders pushes the limits of the system That Sanders was once the frontrunner and might have swept the Democratic primaries is an indicator of the neoliberal order ’ s decay .
The coronavirus pandemic was both the final blow to the Sanders campaign and the world-historic event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ universal health care and fairness to the working class was the medicine needed for an ailing nation .
Shelter-in-place is Biden ’ s strong suit , while Sanders ’ contagious ability to enthuse the youth was sequestered .
And , no , Biden ’ s healthcare public option is not even a baby step towards universal health care .
It is a leap in the opposite direction , propping up the private insurance industry by having the taxpayers pick up high-risk cases .
The lie that money was not available to fund single-payer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cash mainlined tax-free to resuscitate parasitic speculative financial markets .
With unemployment rampant and Jeff Bezos ’ net worth swelling by the billions daily , Sanders had the temerity to say : “ If Trump can put a trillion and a half into the banking system , we can protect the wages of everyday workers.
” When in the Democratic debates the ninth richest man in the world claimed he made his billions by hard work , only Sanders was in the position to quip , as he did , that Bloomberg ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bloomberg offered to bankroll the eventual Democratic Party nominee , only the Sanders campaign gave a hard “ no.
” Bloomberg was correct , however , when he said of his primary rivals : “ I ’ m doing exactly the same thing they ’ re doing , except that I am using my own money .
They ’ re using somebody else ’ s money , and those other people expect something from them.
” That Sanders raised three million dollars within hours of announcing his candidacy and garnered over a million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beholden .
Sanders was not willing to simply mumble hypocritical homilies about the “ middle class.
” He explicitly defended the “ working class ” from the ravages of neoliberalism , raising issues that wouldn ’ t be taken up by the two-party duopoly .
Monday morning quarterbacks have been unkindly critical of Sanders for not going for the jugular against Biden .
But despite criticisms , Sanders did what some leftists have been asking politicians to do .
He stayed on message , stuck to the issues , and did not get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ snipes .
What Sanders didn ’ t do is politically critique the Obama/Biden record , hamstrung by his determination not to harm the Democratic Party .
The courtesy was not returned , to say the least .
Unlike Trump in 2016 , who savaged the Republican establishment and won , Sanders pulled his punches and lost .
The system pushes the limits of Sanders Paradoxically , running in the Democratic Party was both the grounds for his success and the source of his failure .
Had Sanders not run in the Democratic Party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pulpit to advance his candidacy and – in the absence of a mass movement – would have been summarily relegated to obscurity .
Running as a major party candidate gave him access to a ballot line , to the debates , and other perks of the party apparatus .
Sanders , nominally an independent , was both the greatest gift and the greatest challenge to the Democratic Party .
The party had problems : liberalism was dead and with it the New Deal agenda , which was the cement holding the faithful together @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exhausted many times over , had Sanders not appeared the neoliberal Dems would have had to invent someone like him to keep their constituency from bolting .
And along came Sanders , saying , “ we must take up the unfinished business of the New Deal and carry it to completion.
” The rub was that Sanders genuinely believed in that agenda , so he had to be used and then discarded .
Sanders arguably could have beaten Trump but not the DNC .
Or to turn that around , had the DNC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have beaten his Democratic rivals and gone on to defeat the incumbent president…if what passes for the “ liberal ” establishment ( e.g.
, the Pelosi and Schumer ) didn ’ t sabotage him .
Sanders showed true grit , suffering the triple afflictions of a heart attack , the Washington Post , and MSNBC .
But the DNC would likely have eventually derailed him in any case .
If the DNC could so easily , as it did , change the rules to take Tulsi Gabbard out of the debates and put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found a way to block a progressive , who was anathema to their class loyalties and donor base .
Sanders is receiving rancorous left disparagement for his early departure from the primary race and quick endorsement of Biden , failure to criticize the Obama/Biden record , and voting for the CARES bailout among other transgressions .
It should be crystal clear , now , that what you saw is what you got : a sincere New Deal liberal wedded to the Democratic Party , not a leftist superhero .
He shouldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not .
Sanders helped mainstream the word “ socialism ; ” a welcome accomplishment .
When red-baited , Sanders didn ’ t back down : “ We must recognize that in the 21st century , in the wealthiest country in the history of the world , economic rights are human rights .
That is what I mean by democratic socialism.
” To be precise , Sanders is a “ social democrat ; ” one who supports the rule of the owners of capital with workers as junior partners .
He is not a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rule of the capitalists with that of the workers .
Sanders has made clear , “ I don ’ t believe government should own the means of production.
” What he wants is a nice capitalism that shares its crumbs with those who create the wealth .
Nor is he an anti-imperialist , despite his statement that “ it might be a good idea to be honest about American foreign policy and that includes the fact that America has overthrown governments all over the world.
” Sanders endorses the bipartisan consensus to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his own words ) in Venezuela , where social democratic reforms there are similar to ones that Sanders is championing for the US .
Sanders yearns for a nice imperialism , which somehow avoids messy excesses while not challenging US hegemony .
Sanders proved on one hand that a sizable potential constituency would support and fund a progressive agenda .
On the other hand , the Democrats – who would rather risk four more years of Trump than back someone with a mild New Deal agenda – are the graveyard for such a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instrument of class rule and not a democratic institution .
For all his remarkable accomplishments , Sanders ’ legacy in 2020 will likely be that of 2016 , which was to be the sheepdog that herded progressives into the Democratic Party and got nothing in return .
If your obsession in life is to defeat Trump , by all means hold your nose and vote for what you perceive as the lesser evil .
But if your interest is broader – to pull the US political spectrum to the left and buck the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the working class , instead of encouraging the Democrats to be more reactionary than the Republicans – then vote for a left party such as Peace and Freedom or Green .
And , taking a lesson from Bernie , help build the mass movement .
Significantly Sanders understood the limits of electoral politics and the corresponding necessity of building a mass movement : “ When I talk about a political revolution , it means being an administration unprecedented , certainly in the modern history of this country… It is rallying the American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Sanders ’ parting remark on April 8 was “ we have won the ideological battle.
” Of course , ideas don ’ t have agency on their own .
The battle is to organize a progressive constituency and not self-defeat by tethering to the Democratic Party .
Feature photo | Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt. , speaks during a campaign rally , March 9 , 2020 , in St. Louis .
Jeff Roberson | AP Roger D. Harris is on the state central committee of the Peace and Freedom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party in California .

The Great Gray Hope has bowed out of the presidential primary race, leaving tottering Joe Biden as the last Democrat standing. What Bernie Sanders accomplished electorally was remarkable, revealing both how far a progressive can venture and the limits proscribing further advancement to the left within the Democratic Party.
Sanders pushes the limits of the system
That Sanders was once the frontrunner and might have swept the Democratic primaries is an indicator of the neoliberal order’s decay. The coronavirus pandemic was both the final blow to the Sanders campaign and the world-historic event that proved unquestionably that his platform of universal health care and fairness to the working class was the medicine needed for an ailing nation.
Shelter-in-place is Biden’s strong suit, while Sanders’ contagious ability to enthuse the youth was sequestered. And, no, Biden’s healthcare public option is not even a baby step towards universal health care. It is a leap in the opposite direction, propping up the private insurance industry by having the taxpayers pick up high-risk cases.
The lie that money was not available to fund single-payer healthcare is now exposed by tsunamis of cash mainlined tax-free to resuscitate parasitic speculative financial markets. With unemployment rampant and Jeff Bezos’ net worth swelling by the billions daily, Sanders had the temerity to say: “If Trump can put a trillion and a half into the banking system, we can protect the wages of everyday workers.”
When in the Democratic debates the ninth richest man in the world claimed he made his billions by hard work, only Sanders was in the position to quip, as he did, that Bloomberg’s workers must have helped. When Bloomberg offered to bankroll the eventual Democratic Party nominee, only the Sanders campaign gave a hard “no.”
Bloomberg was correct, however, when he said of his primary rivals: “I’m doing exactly the same thing they’re doing, except that I am using my own money. They’re using somebody else’s money, and those other people expect something from them.” That Sanders raised three million dollars within hours of announcing his candidacy and garnered over a million small donors shows what constituency Sanders was beholden.
Sanders was not willing to simply mumble hypocritical homilies about the “middle class.” He explicitly defended the “working class” from the ravages of neoliberalism, raising issues that wouldn’t be taken up by the two-party duopoly.
Monday morning quarterbacks have been unkindly critical of Sanders for not going for the jugular against Biden. But despite criticisms, Sanders did what some leftists have been asking politicians to do. He stayed on message, stuck to the issues, and did not get lost in the weeds of ad hominem snipes.
What Sanders didn’t do is politically critique the Obama/Biden record, hamstrung by his determination not to harm the Democratic Party. The courtesy was not returned, to say the least. Unlike Trump in 2016, who savaged the Republican establishment and won, Sanders pulled his punches and lost.
The system pushes the limits of Sanders
Paradoxically, running in the Democratic Party was both the grounds for his success and the source of his failure. Had Sanders not run in the Democratic Party, he would have had no bully pulpit to advance his candidacy and – in the absence of a mass movement – would have been summarily relegated to obscurity. Running as a major party candidate gave him access to a ballot line, to the debates, and other perks of the party apparatus.
Sanders, nominally an independent, was both the greatest gift and the greatest challenge to the Democratic Party. The party had problems: liberalism was dead and with it the New Deal agenda, which was the cement holding the faithful together. With impeachment now history and Russiagate exhausted many times over, had Sanders not appeared the neoliberal Dems would have had to invent someone like him to keep their constituency from bolting.
And along came Sanders, saying, “we must take up the unfinished business of the New Deal and carry it to completion.” The rub was that Sanders genuinely believed in that agenda, so he had to be used and then discarded.
Sanders arguably could have beaten Trump but not the DNC. Or to turn that around, had the DNC not sandbagged him, Sanders surely would have beaten his Democratic rivals and gone on to defeat the incumbent president…if what passes for the “liberal” establishment (e.g., the Pelosi and Schumer) didn’t sabotage him.
Sanders showed true grit, suffering the triple afflictions of a heart attack, the Washington Post, and MSNBC. But the DNC would likely have eventually derailed him in any case. If the DNC could so easily, as it did, change the rules to take Tulsi Gabbard out of the debates and put Michael Bloomberg in, they could have found a way to block a progressive, who was anathema to their class loyalties and donor base.
Sanders as a socialist
Sanders is receiving rancorous left disparagement for his early departure from the primary race and quick endorsement of Biden, failure to criticize the Obama/Biden record, and voting for the CARES bailout among other transgressions. It should be crystal clear, now, that what you saw is what you got: a sincere New Deal liberal wedded to the Democratic Party, not a leftist superhero. He shouldn’t be blamed for being someone he was not.
Sanders helped mainstream the word “socialism;” a welcome accomplishment. When red-baited, Sanders didn’t back down: “We must recognize that in the 21st century, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, economic rights are human rights. That is what I mean by democratic socialism.”
To be precise, Sanders is a “social democrat;” one who supports the rule of the owners of capital with workers as junior partners. He is not a “socialist,” who would replace the rule of the capitalists with that of the workers. Sanders has made clear, “I don’t believe government should own the means of production.” What he wants is a nice capitalism that shares its crumbs with those who create the wealth.
Nor is he an anti-imperialist, despite his statement that “it might be a good idea to be honest about American foreign policy and that includes the fact that America has overthrown governments all over the world.” Sanders endorses the bipartisan consensus to overthrow the “vicious dictator” (his own words) in Venezuela, where social democratic reforms there are similar to ones that Sanders is championing for the US. Sanders yearns for a nice imperialism, which somehow avoids messy excesses while not challenging US hegemony.
Exit the Great Gray Hope – don’t mourn, organize
Sanders proved on one hand that a sizable potential constituency would support and fund a progressive agenda. On the other hand, the Democrats – who would rather risk four more years of Trump than back someone with a mild New Deal agenda – are the graveyard for such a movement. The Democratic Party is an instrument of class rule and not a democratic institution.
For all his remarkable accomplishments, Sanders’ legacy in 2020 will likely be that of 2016, which was to be the sheepdog that herded progressives into the Democratic Party and got nothing in return.
If your obsession in life is to defeat Trump, by all means hold your nose and vote for what you perceive as the lesser evil. But if your interest is broader – to pull the US political spectrum to the left and buck the neoliberal tide of imperial plunder and austerity for the working class, instead of encouraging the Democrats to be more reactionary than the Republicans – then vote for a left party such as Peace and Freedom or Green.
And, taking a lesson from Bernie, help build the mass movement. Significantly Sanders understood the limits of electoral politics and the corresponding necessity of building a mass movement: “When I talk about a political revolution, it means being an administration unprecedented, certainly in the modern history of this country… It is rallying the American people… I will be organizer in chief.”
Sanders’ parting remark on April 8 was “we have won the ideological battle.” Of course, ideas don’t have agency on their own. The battle is to organize a progressive constituency and not self-defeat by tethering to the Democratic Party.
Feature photo | Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign rally, March 9, 2020, in St. Louis. Jeff Roberson | AP
Roger D. Harris is on the state central committee of the Peace and Freedom Party, the only ballot qualified socialist party in California.


mintpressnews--2020-04-17--As US Shale Oil Plunges, Trump Admin Takes Aim at Venezuela

WASHINGTON DC ( The Last American Vagabond ) — IPresident Trump recently praised a deal reached largely by Saudi Arabia and Russia , two of the top oil producers in the world who together dominate the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC ) , saying that the agreed upon production cuts would “ save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States.
” Despite the president ’ s rosy tone , most analysts have called the agreement – which presumably will freeze the Saudi-Russian oil price war that broke out last month – “ too little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a slew of bankruptcies from the U.S. shale oil industry are inevitable , despite the actions that have been taken .
Even the Federal Reserve has stated that around 40 % of domestic shale companies now face bankruptcy in just a few months if the price of oil remains under $ 30 , a figure it is unlikely to pass for some time due to slumping demand caused by global lockdowns , among other factors that have emerged as the current coronavirus ( Covid-19 ) crisis has played out .
Trump has since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oil imports to drive up oil prices and favor the domestic consumption of U.S. shale oil , but it remains to be seen if that policy will materialize .
Michael Hudson , President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends ( ISLET ) , a former Wall Street financial analyst and Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri , told The Last American Vagabond that , not only are numerous shale oil companies set to go out of business , but the entire shale oil industry in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saved.
” “ We have peak shale oil , ” Hudson stated , “ It was always an awful idea … It ’ s an over indebted sector and is one of the first to go.
” Hudson further asserted that the U.S. government ’ s “ nurturing ” of the shale oil sector in recent years was chiefly aimed at targeting Russia ’ s oil industry by driving down global oil prices , calling it an unsuccessful “ anti-Russian cold war campaign ” that has since backfired .
He added that Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the shale oil industry are likely aimed at “ making an excuse to give huge loans to the shale oil producers , as if it ’ s to keep them in business , and then they [ the oil companies ] are just going to pay the loans to themselves and go out of business .
It ’ s a cover story for a huge corporate giveaway before this sector falls and goes bankrupt.
” Thus , the imminent reckoning for shale oil in the U.S. is unlikely to be stopped , despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s efforts last month to set aside billions for the purchase of shale oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve ( SPR ) , a move critics labeled as a bail-out for domestic “ Big Oil ” producers .
In addition , the fate of U.S. shale oil is compounded by the possibility that the production cuts will not hold and that the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia could flare up again at any time .
Previous yet recent OPEC-brokered deals of a similar nature have ended in this way , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not likely – that it will happen again .
With oil extremely cheap at the moment , some of the issues raised by shale oil bankruptcies are not necessarily of immediate concern while demand remains low .
Yet , if enough U.S. domestic oil producers go bankrupt , once current lockdowns are relaxed and oil demand creeps back up to relatively normal levels , there will be less domestic oil available , despite the SPR .
As a result , the U.S. will again have to look more to other countries in order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the media thus far has explored the economic effects of this eventuality , less attention – if any – has been given to how it will impact U.S. foreign policy .
For years , President Trump has publicly claimed on several occasions that U.S. foreign policy objectives in the Middle East were no longer guided by oil due to the U.S. having obtained “ energy independence , ” “ independence ” that relies heavily on U.S. shale oil production .
However , critics – including Michael Hudson – have long charged that this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deliberate falsification.
” Such claims are also supported by the fact that U.S. foreign policy in Iraq , Syria and elsewhere has remained linked to oil in key ways during this period of so-called “ domestic energy independence ” under Trump .
Yet , the bankruptcies of 40 % ( or perhaps more ) of U.S. shale oil producers would likely greatly increase the role oil plays in guiding U.S. foreign policy .
While there are many reasons as to why oil has long been a key factor in U.S. foreign policy ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) , another often overlooked reason is the U.S. military ’ s heavy reliance on oil .
Indeed , the U.S. military is the largest institutional purchaser and consumer of oil in the world and , therefore , securing a reliable , stable and –ideally – geographically nearby source of oil has long been deemed a critical , strategic objective by the Pentagon .
The Pentagon has said as much on numerous occasions , stating recently that “ … longer operating distances , remote and austere geography , and anti-access/area denial threats [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] are challenging the Department ’ s ability to assure the delivery of fuel .
As the ability to deliver energy is placed at risk , so too is the Department ’ s ability to deploy and sustain forces around the globe.
” In other words , long distances from fuel sources as well as fuel sources located in or near areas/nations that are hostile to the U.S. directly threaten U.S. empire and its global military presence .
In addition , control and influence over global oil flows has long been a key @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the “ Wolfowitz Doctrine.
” It is also worth noting that the economic calamity that threatens the domestic oil industry is not the only reliable , stable and geographically close oil supply to be hit by the crisis .
For instance , Argentina ’ s shale oil industry in the “ Vaca Muerta ” area also faces ruin , an endeavor that had largely been “ kick-started ” by Exxon Mobil after that company had been ejected from Venezuela and also includes considerable investments from another U.S. oil giant , Chevron – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stop doing business in Venezuela by April 22 .
Venezuela , the country with the world ’ s largest proven oil reserves , has also made a seemingly odd reappearance on the Trump administration ’ s list of priorities during the current coronavirus crisis .
On March 26 , the Department of Justice , led by Attorney General William Barr , announced narco-terrorism and other criminal charges against top Venezuelan officials , including the country ’ s president Nicolás Maduro , alleging that these officials are involved in the trafficking of cocaine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were odd for a few reasons , one of the main ones being that the U.S. government ’ s own data shows that Colombia , not Venezuela , is the source of the vast majority of cocaine that ends up in the U.S. Then , on March 31 , former CIA director and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a plan entitled “ Democratic Framework for Venezuela , ” where he demanded that Maduro resign and the “ opposition ” figure Juan Guaidó also relinquish his claim to the Venezuelan presidency , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had previously backed .
Pompeo ’ s plan calls for the formation of a council that would be led by an “ interim president ” ( a title the U.S. had previously reserved for Guaidó ) and that the council would be formed by members of Venezuela ’ s largest four political parties , including that led by Maduro .
Unsurprisingly , Maduro ’ s government rejected the plan .
The criminal charges against Maduro and Pompeo ’ s “ democratic ” plan were quickly followed with much more troubling news .
Announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , President Trump , alongside top government officials , announced that U.S. Southern Command would begin a new “ counter-narcotics effort ” targeting Venezuela that would include the deployment of Navy destroyers , combat ships , aircraft , helicopters and more .
The official justification of this large deployment is to surveil , disrupt and seize shipments allegedly containing “ drugs ” that are leaving Venezuela .
“ We must not let narco-terrorists exploit the pandemic to threaten American lives , ” Trump said at the time .
It was also announced that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in what amounts to both a military build-up and a de facto blockade of Venezuelan exports , including its oil .
Soon after the announcement regarding this new build-up and de facto naval blockade of Venezuela , U.S. media accused President Trump of using these announcements to deflect criticism about his administration ’ s handling of the federal response to the coronavirus crisis .
One report in Newsweek revealed that these initiatives with respect to Venezuela had been planned several months ago and were set to be announced this May .
That report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that the administration had decided to announce the planned crackdowns on Venezuela sooner in order to “ redirect attention.
” However , there may be another reason that these initiatives targeting Venezuela were sped up : the carnage in shale oil markets in the U.S. as well as Argentina and the implications of that for U.S. access – particularly the military ’ s access – to oil supplies once lockdowns and their associated economic effects begin to lessen .
Michael Hudson told The Last American Vagabond that the U.S. pivot towards Venezuela @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carnage in global oil markets and particularly the U.S. oil industry .
He further argued that the U.S. was seeking to reimpose a debt-for-oil system that it had enjoyed under pre-Chavista governments in Venezuela : “ Under U.S.-backed dictators , Venezuela provided the collateral [ for its debt ] with all of its oil reserves… [ Now , ] America wants to give IMF [ International Monetary Fund ] loans to Venezuela and [ oversee ] the collateralization of Venezuela ’ s foreign debt with its oil reserves and then foreclose .
[ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do to Venezuela what it did to Argentina , to grab Venezuela ’ s oil reserves as collateral by … preventing Venezuela from paying its foreign debt , [ thus ] forcing it to default on its foreign debt.
” This certainly seems to be a big part of the equation , as the U.S.-backed Juan Guaidó has long promoted IMF loans and personally sought sizable loans from that organization to finance his “ interim government , ” which controls essentially nothing in Venezuela .
More recently , the IMF rejected Venezuela @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help it combat the coronavirus crisis , but the IMF has reportedly offered to give the country such a loan were Venezuela ’ s President , Nicolas Maduro , to step down and cede authority to a U.S.-backed “ emergency government.
” Yet , there is much more to be concerned about than the IMF and the U.S. ’ interest in imposing a debt-for-oil scheme on Venezuela .
As Hudson told The Last American Vagabond , one very notable “ great threat ” is the parallel between the recent U.S. policy and military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were made by the George H.W .
Bush administration just prior to the 1989 invasion of Panama .
“ America would like to grab Venezuela ’ s oil and it wouldn ’ t be the first time , ” said Hudson .
Regime change in the time of coronavirus Though recent mainstream media reports claimed that the sudden reappearance of Venezuela on the White House ’ s agenda was merely political theater , subsequent events suggest something else .
This past Saturday , U.S. envoy for Venezuela – war criminal and Project for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – stated that , if Venezuela ’ s Maduro did not agree to the Pompeo plan for a new “ transition government , ” a transition in Venezuelan governance would still occur , but would be more “ dangerous and abrupt.
” Abrams ’ comments failed to generate much buzz in the media , as the April 1 press conference and announcement had done , despite the fact that Abrams was essentially starting that “ dangerous and abrupt ” action would be taken to force Maduro from power .
There is also the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place right before the announcement of the large deployment of U.S. military assets to target “ narco-terrorism.
” On the last day of March , a Venezuelan coast guard ship asked a Portuguese cruise ship , the “ RCGS Resolute , ” that was in Venezuelan territorial waters to accompany it to port .
Instead , the cruise ship rammed the Venezuelan vessel , sinking it .
Maduro subsequently claimed that the cruise ship “ was being used to transport mercenaries , ” noting that Dutch authorities in Curacao , where the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been instructed to not inspect the ship .
The company that owns the cruise ship , however , asserts that it is carrying no passengers and disputes Venezuela ’ s account of why the coast guard vessel was sunk .
In addition to this disconcerting event , there is the fact that the U.S. ’ recently announced military build-up is the largest in the region since the U.S. invasion of Panama , which took place in 1989 during the George H.W .
Bush administration .
Disturbingly , the same Attorney General that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serves in that same role in today ’ s administration , William Barr .
At the time of the Panama invasion , it was Barr who created the legal justification for the war , arguing that the U.S. had the “ legal authority ” to arrest Panama ’ s then-dictator Manuel Noriega on drug charges , despite him not residing in the U.S. To think that Barr would not do so again is naive , especially considering that Trump had previously pushed to invade Venezuela , citing the invasion of Panama as an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” and has long talked about “ taking the oil ” of foreign countries and , in places like Syria , has used military force to do just that .
Though the 1989 invasion of Panama was dressed up in the typical rhetoric of restoring “ democracy ” and promoting “ human rights , ” it was actually waged with the intention to utterly destroy Panama ’ s military .
Why would the U.S. want to destroy Panama ’ s capacity for self-defense ?
The answer lies in the treaty that then existed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Panama canal , whereby control over the canal would eventually be returned to the Panamanians .
The only “ loophole ” for the U.S. to retain control of the canal , per that treaty , was if Panama became incapable of defending it .
Notably , the gradual turnover of control of the canal was set to begin just ten days after the Bush administration ’ s invasion of Panama ended .
Not long after the invasion , in 1991 , the U.S. passed a law that ensured an indefinite U.S. military presence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact that Panama ( thanks to the U.S. invasion ) could no longer defend that territory .
There are other notable points regarding the invasion of Panama that are seemingly relevant today as well .
For instance , media ’ s effort to manufacture public consent for the invasion was largely centered around pointing out Manuel Noriega ’ s involvement in narco-trafficking and Panama ’ s lack of democracy under his rule .
Of course , this rhetoric has obvious similarities to current rhetoric involving Venezuela .
However , this media campaign , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to note that the Noriega ’ s role in drug smuggling was largely on the behalf of U.S. interests and that Noriega had closely collaborated with then-President , George H.W .
Bush , when he had served as CIA director .
In addition , Noriega was well known at the time to have been on the CIA payroll for years .
Such reports also overlooked the fact that the CIA had recently been caught driving the trafficking of drugs and weapons between Central America and the U.S. as part of the Iran Contra @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this out , it would have made Noriega ’ s involvement in these matters , including his supporting role in Iran Contra , appear negligible by comparison .
Similarly , today , efforts to link Venezuelan leadership to the drug trade fail to note that the U.S.-backed Juan Guaidó took selfies with a narco-paramilitary organization just a few months ago and that Colombian leadership and its military , the U.S. ’ biggest regional supporter of its Venezuela regime change agenda , both share direct ties to drug cartels .
It is also worth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. military hide the actual civilian death toll and cover up the war crimes committed during the invasion , they tested out new experimental weapons on the Panamanian people , which CounterPunch noted was “ a kind of dress rehearsal for the Persian Gulf War the following year.
” As many readers of this article are likely aware , the Trump administration has been making strong overtures about regime change , and potentially war , in Iran alongside their push for regime change in Venezuela .
Were a similar invasion to occur @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this pattern would repeat and would be treated as an experimental battlefield for a subsequent war in Iran .
The current confluence of factors suggests that such a Panama-style invasion of Venezuela is not only a possibility , but increasingly likely .
Indeed , as previously mentioned , the U.S. has ordered the few U.S. companies that have been given waivers to avoid sanctions for their operations in Venezuela ( namely Chevron ) to terminate their dealings in the country by April 22 – next Wednesday .
In addition , soon after that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is set to resume two joint oil ventures , one of which involves two European oil companies and another that involves Russia ’ Rosneft , which the U.S. sanctioned in February for doing business with Venezuela ’ s state oil company .
Those projects are due to re-initiate in May and July , respectively .
The U.S. is openly opposed to these projects going forward and has threatened sanctions ( and further sanctions in Rosneft ’ s case ) against the companies involved .
Taken in combination with Elliott Abrams ’ recent statements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the collapse of U.S. oil markets , such events seem to be pointing in the direction of an invasion being more likely than not .
There is also the added layer of the U.S. facing a new “ Great Depression ” and these major economic downturns are often followed by the U.S. entering a major war .
On the other hand , there is also the fact that most of the U.S. population is on lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis , making domestic resistance against such an invasion unlikely to manifest in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t careful and don ’ t quickly begin to pay attention , the country could soon sleepwalk into another devastating and deadly “ war for oil.
” Whitney Webb is a MintPress News contributing journalist based in Chile .
She has contributed to several independent media outlets including Global Research , EcoWatch , the Ron Paul Institute and 21st Century Wire , among others .
She has made several radio and television appearances and is the 2019 winner of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism .

WASHINGTON DC (The Last American Vagabond) — IPresident Trump recently praised a deal reached largely by Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the top oil producers in the world who together dominate the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), saying that the agreed upon production cuts would “save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States.”
Despite the president’s rosy tone, most analysts have called the agreement – which presumably will freeze the Saudi-Russian oil price war that broke out last month – “too little too late” and have noted that a slew of bankruptcies from the U.S. shale oil industry are inevitable, despite the actions that have been taken. Even the Federal Reserve has stated that around 40% of domestic shale companies now face bankruptcy in just a few months if the price of oil remains under $30, a figure it is unlikely to pass for some time due to slumping demand caused by global lockdowns, among other factors that have emerged as the current coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis has played out. Trump has since fielded the possibility of imposing tariffs on oil imports to drive up oil prices and favor the domestic consumption of U.S. shale oil, but it remains to be seen if that policy will materialize.
Michael Hudson, President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends (ISLET), a former Wall Street financial analyst and Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, told The Last American Vagabond that, not only are numerous shale oil companies set to go out of business, but the entire shale oil industry in the U.S. “can’t be saved.”
“We have peak shale oil,” Hudson stated, “It was always an awful idea … It’s an over indebted sector and is one of the first to go.” Hudson further asserted that the U.S. government’s “nurturing” of the shale oil sector in recent years was chiefly aimed at targeting Russia’s oil industry by driving down global oil prices, calling it an unsuccessful “anti-Russian cold war campaign” that has since backfired. He added that Trump’s recent overtures with respect to the shale oil industry are likely aimed at “making an excuse to give huge loans to the shale oil producers, as if it’s to keep them in business, and then they [the oil companies] are just going to pay the loans to themselves and go out of business. It’s a cover story for a huge corporate giveaway before this sector falls and goes bankrupt.”
Thus, the imminent reckoning for shale oil in the U.S. is unlikely to be stopped, despite the new production cuts and Trump’s efforts last month to set aside billions for the purchase of shale oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), a move critics labeled as a bail-out for domestic “Big Oil” producers. In addition, the fate of U.S. shale oil is compounded by the possibility that the production cuts will not hold and that the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia could flare up again at any time. Previous yet recent OPEC-brokered deals of a similar nature have ended in this way, and it is very possible – if not likely – that it will happen again.
With oil extremely cheap at the moment, some of the issues raised by shale oil bankruptcies are not necessarily of immediate concern while demand remains low. Yet, if enough U.S. domestic oil producers go bankrupt, once current lockdowns are relaxed and oil demand creeps back up to relatively normal levels, there will be less domestic oil available, despite the SPR. As a result, the U.S. will again have to look more to other countries in order to make up the difference. Though the media thus far has explored the economic effects of this eventuality, less attention – if any – has been given to how it will impact U.S. foreign policy.
For years, President Trump has publicly claimed on several occasions that U.S. foreign policy objectives in the Middle East were no longer guided by oil due to the U.S. having obtained “energy independence,” “independence” that relies heavily on U.S. shale oil production. However, critics – including Michael Hudson – have long charged that this claim of energy independence is a “deliberate falsification.” Such claims are also supported by the fact that U.S. foreign policy in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere has remained linked to oil in key ways during this period of so-called “domestic energy independence” under Trump. Yet, the bankruptcies of 40% (or perhaps more) of U.S. shale oil producers would likely greatly increase the role oil plays in guiding U.S. foreign policy.
While there are many reasons as to why oil has long been a key factor in U.S. foreign policy (with the petrodollar ranking chief among them), another often overlooked reason is the U.S. military’s heavy reliance on oil. Indeed, the U.S. military is the largest institutional purchaser and consumer of oil in the world and, therefore, securing a reliable, stable and –ideally – geographically nearby source of oil has long been deemed a critical, strategic objective by the Pentagon.
The Pentagon has said as much on numerous occasions, stating recently that “… longer operating distances, remote and austere geography, and anti-access/area denial threats [areas or nations unfriendly to the U.S.] are challenging the Department’s ability to assure the delivery of fuel. As the ability to deliver energy is placed at risk, so too is the Department’s ability to deploy and sustain forces around the globe.”
In other words, long distances from fuel sources as well as fuel sources located in or near areas/nations that are hostile to the U.S. directly threaten U.S. empire and its global military presence. In addition, control and influence over global oil flows has long been a key component of military strategy, as noted in the “Wolfowitz Doctrine.”
It is also worth noting that the economic calamity that threatens the domestic oil industry is not the only reliable, stable and geographically close oil supply to be hit by the crisis. For instance, Argentina’s shale oil industry in the “Vaca Muerta” area also faces ruin, an endeavor that had largely been “kick-started” by Exxon Mobil after that company had been ejected from Venezuela and also includes considerable investments from another U.S. oil giant, Chevron – a company ordered by the Trump administration to stop doing business in Venezuela by April 22.
US returns attention to Venezuela amid domestic oil collapse
Venezuela, the country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves, has also made a seemingly odd reappearance on the Trump administration’s list of priorities during the current coronavirus crisis. On March 26, the Department of Justice, led by Attorney General William Barr, announced narco-terrorism and other criminal charges against top Venezuelan officials, including the country’s president Nicolás Maduro, alleging that these officials are involved in the trafficking of cocaine to the United States. The charges were odd for a few reasons, one of the main ones being that the U.S. government’s own data shows that Colombia, not Venezuela, is the source of the vast majority of cocaine that ends up in the U.S.
Then, on March 31, former CIA director and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a plan entitled “Democratic Framework for Venezuela,” where he demanded that Maduro resign and the “opposition” figure Juan Guaidó also relinquish his claim to the Venezuelan presidency, a claim to power that the U.S. had previously backed. Pompeo’s plan calls for the formation of a council that would be led by an “interim president” (a title the U.S. had previously reserved for Guaidó) and that the council would be formed by members of Venezuela’s largest four political parties, including that led by Maduro. Unsurprisingly, Maduro’s government rejected the plan.
The criminal charges against Maduro and Pompeo’s “democratic” plan were quickly followed with much more troubling news. Announced at a press conference on April 1, President Trump, alongside top government officials, announced that U.S. Southern Command would begin a new “counter-narcotics effort” targeting Venezuela that would include the deployment of Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft, helicopters and more. The official justification of this large deployment is to surveil, disrupt and seize shipments allegedly containing “drugs” that are leaving Venezuela. “We must not let narco-terrorists exploit the pandemic to threaten American lives,” Trump said at the time. It was also announced that other countries would be joining the U.S. in what amounts to both a military build-up and a de facto blockade of Venezuelan exports, including its oil.
Soon after the announcement regarding this new build-up and de facto naval blockade of Venezuela, U.S. media accused President Trump of using these announcements to deflect criticism about his administration’s handling of the federal response to the coronavirus crisis. One report in Newsweek revealed that these initiatives with respect to Venezuela had been planned several months ago and were set to be announced this May. That report also alleged, citing senior Pentagon officials, that the administration had decided to announce the planned crackdowns on Venezuela sooner in order to “redirect attention.”
However, there may be another reason that these initiatives targeting Venezuela were sped up: the carnage in shale oil markets in the U.S. as well as Argentina and the implications of that for U.S. access – particularly the military’s access – to oil supplies once lockdowns and their associated economic effects begin to lessen.
Michael Hudson told The Last American Vagabond that the U.S. pivot towards Venezuela was “absolutely” related to the carnage in global oil markets and particularly the U.S. oil industry. He further argued that the U.S. was seeking to reimpose a debt-for-oil system that it had enjoyed under pre-Chavista governments in Venezuela: “Under U.S.-backed dictators, Venezuela provided the collateral [for its debt] with all of its oil reserves… [Now,] America wants to give IMF [International Monetary Fund] loans to Venezuela and [oversee] the collateralization of Venezuela’s foreign debt with its oil reserves and then foreclose. [They want to] find an excuse to do to Venezuela what it did to Argentina, to grab Venezuela’s oil reserves as collateral by … preventing Venezuela from paying its foreign debt, [thus] forcing it to default on its foreign debt.”
This certainly seems to be a big part of the equation, as the U.S.-backed Juan Guaidó has long promoted IMF loans and personally sought sizable loans from that organization to finance his “interim government,” which controls essentially nothing in Venezuela. More recently, the IMF rejected Venezuela’s request for a loan to help it combat the coronavirus crisis, but the IMF has reportedly offered to give the country such a loan were Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro, to step down and cede authority to a U.S.-backed “emergency government.”
Yet, there is much more to be concerned about than the IMF and the U.S.’ interest in imposing a debt-for-oil scheme on Venezuela. As Hudson told The Last American Vagabond, one very notable “great threat” is the parallel between the recent U.S. policy and military moves towards Venezuela and the moves that were made by the George H.W. Bush administration just prior to the 1989 invasion of Panama. “America would like to grab Venezuela’s oil and it wouldn’t be the first time,” said Hudson.
Regime change in the time of coronavirus
Though recent mainstream media reports claimed that the sudden reappearance of Venezuela on the White House’s agenda was merely political theater, subsequent events suggest something else. This past Saturday, U.S. envoy for Venezuela – war criminal and Project for a New American Century neo-con Elliott Abrams – stated that, if Venezuela’s Maduro did not agree to the Pompeo plan for a new “transition government,” a transition in Venezuelan governance would still occur, but would be more “dangerous and abrupt.” Abrams’ comments failed to generate much buzz in the media, as the April 1 press conference and announcement had done, despite the fact that Abrams was essentially starting that “dangerous and abrupt” action would be taken to force Maduro from power.
There is also the added mystery of an incident that took place right before the announcement of the large deployment of U.S. military assets to target “narco-terrorism.” On the last day of March, a Venezuelan coast guard ship asked a Portuguese cruise ship, the “RCGS Resolute,” that was in Venezuelan territorial waters to accompany it to port. Instead, the cruise ship rammed the Venezuelan vessel, sinking it. Maduro subsequently claimed that the cruise ship “was being used to transport mercenaries,” noting that Dutch authorities in Curacao, where the “RCGS Resolute” is currently docked, had been instructed to not inspect the ship. The company that owns the cruise ship, however, asserts that it is carrying no passengers and disputes Venezuela’s account of why the coast guard vessel was sunk.
In addition to this disconcerting event, there is the fact that the U.S.’ recently announced military build-up is the largest in the region since the U.S. invasion of Panama, which took place in 1989 during the George H.W. Bush administration. Disturbingly, the same Attorney General that greenlit the invasion of Panama once again serves in that same role in today’s administration, William Barr. At the time of the Panama invasion, it was Barr who created the legal justification for the war, arguing that the U.S. had the “legal authority” to arrest Panama’s then-dictator Manuel Noriega on drug charges, despite him not residing in the U.S. To think that Barr would not do so again is naive, especially considering that Trump had previously pushed to invade Venezuela, citing the invasion of Panama as an example of successful “gunboat diplomacy,” and has long talked about “taking the oil” of foreign countries and, in places like Syria, has used military force to do just that.
Though the 1989 invasion of Panama was dressed up in the typical rhetoric of restoring “democracy” and promoting “human rights,” it was actually waged with the intention to utterly destroy Panama’s military. Why would the U.S. want to destroy Panama’s capacity for self-defense? The answer lies in the treaty that then existed between Panama and the U.S. over the Panama canal, whereby control over the canal would eventually be returned to the Panamanians.
The only “loophole” for the U.S. to retain control of the canal, per that treaty, was if Panama became incapable of defending it. Notably, the gradual turnover of control of the canal was set to begin just ten days after the Bush administration’s invasion of Panama ended. Not long after the invasion, in 1991, the U.S. passed a law that ensured an indefinite U.S. military presence in the canal zone due to the fact that Panama (thanks to the U.S. invasion) could no longer defend that territory.
There are other notable points regarding the invasion of Panama that are seemingly relevant today as well. For instance, media’s effort to manufacture public consent for the invasion was largely centered around pointing out Manuel Noriega’s involvement in narco-trafficking and Panama’s lack of democracy under his rule. Of course, this rhetoric has obvious similarities to current rhetoric involving Venezuela.
However, this media campaign, in Noriega’s case, failed to note that the Noriega’s role in drug smuggling was largely on the behalf of U.S. interests and that Noriega had closely collaborated with then-President, George H.W. Bush, when he had served as CIA director. In addition, Noriega was well known at the time to have been on the CIA payroll for years. Such reports also overlooked the fact that the CIA had recently been caught driving the trafficking of drugs and weapons between Central America and the U.S. as part of the Iran Contra scandal. If these reports had pointed this out, it would have made Noriega’s involvement in these matters, including his supporting role in Iran Contra, appear negligible by comparison.
Similarly, today, efforts to link Venezuelan leadership to the drug trade fail to note that the U.S.-backed Juan Guaidó took selfies with a narco-paramilitary organization just a few months ago and that Colombian leadership and its military, the U.S.’ biggest regional supporter of its Venezuela regime change agenda, both share direct ties to drug cartels.
It is also worth pointing out that, not only did the U.S. military hide the actual civilian death toll and cover up the war crimes committed during the invasion, they tested out new experimental weapons on the Panamanian people, which CounterPunch noted was “a kind of dress rehearsal for the Persian Gulf War the following year.” As many readers of this article are likely aware, the Trump administration has been making strong overtures about regime change, and potentially war, in Iran alongside their push for regime change in Venezuela. Were a similar invasion to occur in Venezuela, it seems likely that this pattern would repeat and would be treated as an experimental battlefield for a subsequent war in Iran.
The current confluence of factors suggests that such a Panama-style invasion of Venezuela is not only a possibility, but increasingly likely. Indeed, as previously mentioned, the U.S. has ordered the few U.S. companies that have been given waivers to avoid sanctions for their operations in Venezuela (namely Chevron) to terminate their dealings in the country by April 22 – next Wednesday. In addition, soon after that date, Venezuela’s oil sector is set to resume two joint oil ventures, one of which involves two European oil companies and another that involves Russia’ Rosneft, which the U.S. sanctioned in February for doing business with Venezuela’s state oil company. Those projects are due to re-initiate in May and July, respectively. The U.S. is openly opposed to these projects going forward and has threatened sanctions (and further sanctions in Rosneft’s case) against the companies involved.
Taken in combination with Elliott Abrams’ recent statements, the massive U.S. military build-up and the collapse of U.S. oil markets, such events seem to be pointing in the direction of an invasion being more likely than not. There is also the added layer of the U.S. facing a new “Great Depression” and these major economic downturns are often followed by the U.S. entering a major war. On the other hand, there is also the fact that most of the U.S. population is on lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis, making domestic resistance against such an invasion unlikely to manifest in any significant way. If Americans aren’t careful and don’t quickly begin to pay attention, the country could soon sleepwalk into another devastating and deadly “war for oil.”
Feautre photo | A man walks past a mural featuring oil pumps and wells in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 3, 2020. Matias Delacroix | AP


mintpressnews--2020-04-20--Experts Warn: Years of US Intervention Have Set the Stage for a Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak in Haiti

For a population of 11 million people , Haiti has only 62 ventilators and barely 100 intensive care beds .
The Caribbean nation spends just $ 13 per capita on healthcare , less than 10 percent of what even its neighbor the Dominican Republic spends .
And while the country officially has only 47 COVID-19 cases , nobody believes that figure .
While tests are hard to come by in the U.S. , in Haiti they are like gold dust .
Decades of neoliberalism and U.S. intervention have left the poor , unequal island a perfect breeding ground for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Moïse has issued standard social distancing decrees , but the reality is that few but the wealthiest Haitians can comply .
The large majority of the country works in the informal sector , with 60 percent living on less than $ 2 per day .
Most Haitians have neither the savings nor the housing to socially distance , living in cramped and often informal accommodation .
Only half the country has access to running water , meaning sanitation is a huge issue and that number has actually been steadily decreasing since the U.S.-backed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ authoritarian neoliberal rule that followed it .
Moïse has been ruling by decree since January after canceling elections and has faced over a year and a half of constant , nationwide protests that he has brutally repressed .
The ongoing crescendo of violence , because it has been carried out by a loyal U.S. client , has been almost completely ignored across the media spectrum .
Now he appears to be using the crisis to further cement his shaky grip on power .
“ They have also been forcing people to stand in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dermalog biometric system card in order to qualify for additional aid .
This new card replaces the old national ID cards and by no coincidence will double as the new voter registration card .
So they are using the cover of COVID-19 to continue strengthening the grip of armed gangs over communities to stifle grassroots dissent , they are also preparing the ground for stealing elections yet again.
” Jeb Sprague , Research Associate at the University of California , Riverside and author of Paramilitarism and the assault on democracy in Haiti , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s actions , telling MintPress that , “ Instead of focusing on state projects that would benefit the country ’ s marginalized and working poor , instead of focusing on healthcare and education , the reconstituted right-wing under [ former president Michel ] Martelly and Moïse have built up 17 special police units and reformed the brutal army .
They govern over a country ill-prepared for the coronavirus.
” To grasp the situation Haiti finds itself in today it is necessary to understand its history .
The Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804 resulted in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the great European and American powers have been torturing the country ever since , making sure it does not serve as an example for others to follow .
After a blockade of the island was imposed , Haiti agreed to pay huge reparations to France for liberating itself from enslavement , reparations they did not finish paying off until 1947 .
And for much of the early 20th century , the United States directly occupied it militarily in the same style as the old European empires did to Africa and Asia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ dark history was offered in 1990 , with the country ’ s first ( reasonably ) democratic election .
The U.S. was confident that its man , former World Bank official Marc Bazin , Minister of Finance under the infamous dictatorship of Jean-Claude “ Baby Doc ” Duvalier , would easily win .
But unbeknownst to Washington , poor Haitians were organizing across the nation to elect a radical priest , Jean-Bertrand Aristide , into power .
Fittingly for a party that called itself Lavalas ( avalanche in Haitian creole ) , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ won 68 percent of the vote to Bazin ’ s 14 .
However , hope was dashed as he was almost immediately deposed in a coup that the first Bush administration , behind the scenes , worked hard to ensure was successful .
Bazin was installed as leader anyway .
With their man at the helm , Washington , the World Bank and others were confident that Haiti would finally become “ the Taiwan of the Caribbean ” they had been predicting it would be since the 1980s .
But the only results @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destroy Haitian agriculture and to turn the country into the most exploited sweatshop state in the world .
Remarkably , Aristide ’ s career was far from over , and his movement managed to elect him into power again in 2001 .
But , as with the slave revolt 200 years earlier and the 1991 election , hope in Haiti was short-lived as he was again overthrown at the behest of the U.S. government ( this time the second Bush administration ) and the country returned to its role of servitude to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2004 coup that ex-army and paramilitary commanders and their financiers achieved total impunity , with court cases and charges dropped .
It was through the 2004 coup and its aftermath that popular grassroots forces in the country were beaten down and divided , ” said Sprague : Since 2004 , successive administrations have partnered with Washington to loot the country , stripping away its assets and public services to the point of collapse .
As Pina said , “ Billions of dollars intended to upgrade Haiti ’ s healthcare system and the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two successive ruling party governments .
As a result Haiti ’ s dilapidated healthcare system is ill-equipped to manage and treat the outbreak of COVID-19.
” The result of decades of plunder is that the country is one of the world ’ s poorest , and is at the bottom of the pecking order for the importation of food and medical equipment .
Nearby Cuba has sent a reported 348 doctors and nurses to the country , but no amount it could reasonably muster can replace a non-functioning state .
Haiti has become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with its population the unwilling guinea pigs in the macabre experiment .
“ This could be the beginning of a major disaster not just for Haiti , but for many other global south countries that lack adequate healthcare infrastructure , ” warned Sprague .
Feature photo | City Hall workers spray disinfectant in the street and a park in Petion-Ville against coronavirus , Haiti , April 7 , 2020 .
Dieu Nalio Chery | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

For a population of 11 million people, Haiti has only 62 ventilators and barely 100 intensive care beds. The Caribbean nation spends just $13 per capita on healthcare, less than 10 percent of what even its neighbor the Dominican Republic spends. And while the country officially has only 47 COVID-19 cases, nobody believes that figure. While tests are hard to come by in the U.S., in Haiti they are like gold dust. Decades of neoliberalism and U.S. intervention have left the poor, unequal island a perfect breeding ground for a pandemic.
The dictatorial government of Jovenel Moïse has issued standard social distancing decrees, but the reality is that few but the wealthiest Haitians can comply. The large majority of the country works in the informal sector, with 60 percent living on less than $2 per day. Most Haitians have neither the savings nor the housing to socially distance, living in cramped and often informal accommodation. Only half the country has access to running water, meaning sanitation is a huge issue and that number has actually been steadily decreasing since the U.S.-backed coup of 1991 and the decades of authoritarian neoliberal rule that followed it.
US-backed tyranny leaves Haiti unprepared
Moïse has been ruling by decree since January after canceling elections and has faced over a year and a half of constant, nationwide protests that he has brutally repressed. The ongoing crescendo of violence, because it has been carried out by a loyal U.S. client, has been almost completely ignored across the media spectrum. Now he appears to be using the crisis to further cement his shaky grip on power.
Kevin Pina, Contributing Editor to the Haiti Information Project, told MintPress:
The tyranny and corruption of the U.S.-imposed Moïse government has only been amplified by the COVID-19 crisis now gripping the country. We are seeing them use food giveaways in an overtly political manner such as using armed gangs they are allied with in some areas of the capital to take charge of distribution.”
“They have also been forcing people to stand in crowded lines to apply for a new Dermalog biometric system card in order to qualify for additional aid. This new card replaces the old national ID cards and by no coincidence will double as the new voter registration card. So they are using the cover of COVID-19 to continue strengthening the grip of armed gangs over communities to stifle grassroots dissent, they are also preparing the ground for stealing elections yet again.”
Jeb Sprague, Research Associate at the University of California, Riverside and author of Paramilitarism and the assault on democracy in Haiti, shared similar fears about the government’s actions, telling MintPress that, “Instead of focusing on state projects that would benefit the country’s marginalized and working poor, instead of focusing on healthcare and education, the reconstituted right-wing under [former president Michel] Martelly and Moïse have built up 17 special police units and reformed the brutal army. They govern over a country ill-prepared for the coronavirus.”
#Haiti is reopening its textile export industry. A factory owner has said “Haitians have to choose between dying from hunger or the virus” https://t.co/X0zSg9UhTt — Etant Dupain (@gaetantguevara) April 16, 2020
Haiti’s colonial legacy lives on
To grasp the situation Haiti finds itself in today it is necessary to understand its history. The Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804 resulted in a fully successful slave revolt. However, the great European and American powers have been torturing the country ever since, making sure it does not serve as an example for others to follow. After a blockade of the island was imposed, Haiti agreed to pay huge reparations to France for liberating itself from enslavement, reparations they did not finish paying off until 1947. And for much of the early 20th century, the United States directly occupied it militarily in the same style as the old European empires did to Africa and Asia.
A glimmer of light in a long dark history was offered in 1990, with the country’s first (reasonably) democratic election. The U.S. was confident that its man, former World Bank official Marc Bazin, Minister of Finance under the infamous dictatorship of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, would easily win. But unbeknownst to Washington, poor Haitians were organizing across the nation to elect a radical priest, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, into power. Fittingly for a party that called itself Lavalas (avalanche in Haitian creole), the result was an enormous landslide: Aristide won 68 percent of the vote to Bazin’s 14.
However, hope was dashed as he was almost immediately deposed in a coup that the first Bush administration, behind the scenes, worked hard to ensure was successful. Bazin was installed as leader anyway. With their man at the helm, Washington, the World Bank and others were confident that Haiti would finally become “the Taiwan of the Caribbean” they had been predicting it would be since the 1980s. But the only results of the structural adjustment reforms was to destroy Haitian agriculture and to turn the country into the most exploited sweatshop state in the world.
Remarkably, Aristide’s career was far from over, and his movement managed to elect him into power again in 2001. But, as with the slave revolt 200 years earlier and the 1991 election, hope in Haiti was short-lived as he was again overthrown at the behest of the U.S. government (this time the second Bush administration) and the country returned to its role of servitude to the empire.
“It was through the 2004 coup that ex-army and paramilitary commanders and their financiers achieved total impunity, with court cases and charges dropped. It was through the 2004 coup and its aftermath that popular grassroots forces in the country were beaten down and divided,” said Sprague:
The 2004 coup was the most recent major assault in a history marked by foreign intervention and racialized exploitation propelled through world capitalism and colonialism. As the country is integrated into global capitalism, parts of its population are completely marginalized (and become targets for intense repression), while other portions of its population – the working poor – become nodes in a process that strengthens the revenue base and profitability of transnational corporations.”
Decades of plunder
Since 2004, successive administrations have partnered with Washington to loot the country, stripping away its assets and public services to the point of collapse. As Pina said, “Billions of dollars intended to upgrade Haiti’s healthcare system and the country’s infrastructure have been stolen under two successive ruling party governments. As a result Haiti’s dilapidated healthcare system is ill-equipped to manage and treat the outbreak of COVID-19.”
The result of decades of plunder is that the country is one of the world’s poorest, and is at the bottom of the pecking order for the importation of food and medical equipment. Nearby Cuba has sent a reported 348 doctors and nurses to the country, but no amount it could reasonably muster can replace a non-functioning state. Haiti has become the perfect breeding ground for the virus, with its population the unwilling guinea pigs in the macabre experiment. “This could be the beginning of a major disaster not just for Haiti, but for many other global south countries that lack adequate healthcare infrastructure,” warned Sprague.
Feature photo | City Hall workers spray disinfectant in the street and a park in Petion-Ville against coronavirus, Haiti, April 7, 2020. Dieu Nalio Chery | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-04-20--Man Who Filmed Police Murder of Eric Garner Says Prison Guards Threatened to Give Him COVID-19

Ramsey Orta , the man who filmed the police murder of Eric Garner in July 2014 , has been transferred to the medical wing of the Midstate Correctional Facility prison in Marcy , New York .
The group WeCopwatch , an activist organization dedicated to the nonviolent observation of the police , noted that corrections officers had for weeks been threatening to deliberately infect him as a punishment for standing up to authority , claiming he was told : “ he will be lucky to get out alive.
” WeCopwatch considers filming the police abusing their powers like Orta did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outbreak , Orta had already been facing systematic abuse and torture by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision , ” they wrote , “ the barbaric measures against Orta have gone on for years , but now with the onset of Covid-19 at his facility , the targeted abuse has intensified.
” He has , like many others inside America ’ s prison system , been denied basic cleaning supplies and soap throughout the outbreak .
“ Ramsey risked everything when he filmed the death of his friend Eric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and now six years later , his own life is at risk , ” said his fiancé , Deja Richardson , “ We just want him home.
” Orta shot to national attention in 2014 when he filmed NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo dragging Garner to the ground in a chokehold , suffocating him to death on the streets of Staten Island .
Garner ’ s last words , “ I can ’ t breathe , ” became a rallying cry for African-Americans and opponents of a racist law enforcement system and sparked protest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coroner ruling Garner ’ s death a homicide , a grand jury decided later that year not to indict Pantaleo , fueling further demonstrations .
“ Death by cop ” is a leading cause of death for African-Americans ; around 1 in 1,000 black males will be killed by the police .
Although it is commonly said that Garner was assaulted for selling loose cigarettes , this is untrue : while he was known to police for doing so , on the day of his death he was simply standing in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s killing , the only person charged with anything was Orta , after accepting a plea deal for weapons and drugs charges .
Orta said he had faced repeated harassment from authorities as retaliation for filming the police killing Garner , having been arrested many times on bogus charges .
He has since been constantly moved from prison to prison , often increasingly further from his home and his family .
Midstate Correctional Facility is in upstate New York , over 200 miles from Staten Island .
In contrast to Orta ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bodyguard and modified his house , installing panic buttons for him .
While Orta has a high temperature and was transferred to the medical wing , authorities have not confirmed whether his condition is indeed the coronavirus that is currently running rampant through American prisons .
As of Monday , there are over 1,200 people at the notorious Rikers Island jail ( where Orta was previously held ) that have been confirmed as corona-positive .
Meanwhile , more than 1,800 inmates and 100 staff at Marion Correctional Institution in Ohio have contracted it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This accounts for one-sixth of all Ohioan confirmed cases .
For weeks , health professionals have warned that “ a storm is coming ” and American prisons are a deathtrap , completely unprepared for the wave of illness .
The decision , therefore , to keep so many locked up when other countries have released their prison population seems like a calculated political and economic choice that puts for-profit institutions ahead of human life .
Like Orta , another figure who revealed to the public the oft-hidden brutality of the state , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is despite his health failing and him having pre-existing medical conditions making him far more likely to die from COVID-19 than most .
Orta ’ s story is another reminder of the punitive measures that await those who challenge the power of the state .
The United States by far leads the world in COVID-19 infections , with 767,189 confirmed cases and over 41,000 deaths .
Nearly half of those deaths have been in New York State .
However , even the official numbers are certainly an undercount , as Mayor de @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Orta was indeed given COVID-19 on purpose by vengeful guards , it would not have been difficult : it appears it is only a matter of time before all those incarcerated contract it .
Correction | An earlier version of this article stated that Orta had already tested positive for COVID-19 but new information revealed to MintPress by people close to Orta revealed that authorities have yet to confirm a positive result .
Feature photo | Ramsey Orta , who filmed the chokehold death of Eric Garner , is detained during a march @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lamont Scott in Manhattan on September 21 , 2016 .
Andrew Kelly | Reuters Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the police murder of Eric Garner in July 2014, has been transferred to the medical wing of the Midstate Correctional Facility prison in Marcy, New York. The group WeCopwatch, an activist organization dedicated to the nonviolent observation of the police, noted that corrections officers had for weeks been threatening to deliberately infect him as a punishment for standing up to authority, claiming he was told: “he will be lucky to get out alive.” WeCopwatch considers filming the police abusing their powers like Orta did a civil duty.
“Before the outbreak, Orta had already been facing systematic abuse and torture by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision,” they wrote, “the barbaric measures against Orta have gone on for years, but now with the onset of Covid-19 at his facility, the targeted abuse has intensified.” He has, like many others inside America’s prison system, been denied basic cleaning supplies and soap throughout the outbreak. “Ramsey risked everything when he filmed the death of his friend Eric Garner at the hands of the NYPD and now six years later, his own life is at risk,” said his fiancé, Deja Richardson, “We just want him home.”
Orta shot to national attention in 2014 when he filmed NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo dragging Garner to the ground in a chokehold, suffocating him to death on the streets of Staten Island. Garner’s last words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry for African-Americans and opponents of a racist law enforcement system and sparked protest marches throughout the United States. Despite the coroner ruling Garner’s death a homicide, a grand jury decided later that year not to indict Pantaleo, fueling further demonstrations. “Death by cop” is a leading cause of death for African-Americans; around 1 in 1,000 black males will be killed by the police.
Although it is commonly said that Garner was assaulted for selling loose cigarettes, this is untrue: while he was known to police for doing so, on the day of his death he was simply standing in the street.
Two years after Garner’s killing, the only person charged with anything was Orta, after accepting a plea deal for weapons and drugs charges. Orta said he had faced repeated harassment from authorities as retaliation for filming the police killing Garner, having been arrested many times on bogus charges. He has since been constantly moved from prison to prison, often increasingly further from his home and his family. Midstate Correctional Facility is in upstate New York, over 200 miles from Staten Island. In contrast to Orta’s treatment, authorities gave Pantaleo a 24-hour bodyguard and modified his house, installing panic buttons for him.
While Orta has a high temperature and was transferred to the medical wing, authorities have not confirmed whether his condition is indeed the coronavirus that is currently running rampant through American prisons. As of Monday, there are over 1,200 people at the notorious Rikers Island jail (where Orta was previously held) that have been confirmed as corona-positive. Meanwhile, more than 1,800 inmates and 100 staff at Marion Correctional Institution in Ohio have contracted it (three-quarters of its total population). This accounts for one-sixth of all Ohioan confirmed cases. For weeks, health professionals have warned that “a storm is coming” and American prisons are a deathtrap, completely unprepared for the wave of illness. The decision, therefore, to keep so many locked up when other countries have released their prison population seems like a calculated political and economic choice that puts for-profit institutions ahead of human life.
Like Orta, another figure who revealed to the public the oft-hidden brutality of the state, Julian Assange, remains in custody. This is despite his health failing and him having pre-existing medical conditions making him far more likely to die from COVID-19 than most. Orta’s story is another reminder of the punitive measures that await those who challenge the power of the state.
The United States by far leads the world in COVID-19 infections, with 767,189 confirmed cases and over 41,000 deaths. Nearly half of those deaths have been in New York State. However, even the official numbers are certainly an undercount, as Mayor de Blasio has admitted. Thus, if Orta was indeed given COVID-19 on purpose by vengeful guards, it would not have been difficult: it appears it is only a matter of time before all those incarcerated contract it.
Correction | An earlier version of this article stated that Orta had already tested positive for COVID-19 but new information revealed to MintPress by people close to Orta revealed that authorities have yet to confirm a positive result.
Feature photo | Ramsey Orta, who filmed the chokehold death of Eric Garner, is detained during a march against the Charlotte police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in Manhattan on September 21, 2016. Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-04-20--From Settler Violence to Attacks on Haredi Jews, Coronavirus is Laying Israeli Attitudes Bare

Occupied Palestine – In light of the COVID-19 pandemic , one would expect that the desire to work as one world to curb the spread of the virus would outweigh any considerations of politics , race or religion .
However , the violence and neglect of Israel ’ s Zionist government and non-governmental bodies towards Palestinians not only continues in full force but in many cases , has increased .
March and April of 2020 will be remembered not only for the pandemic but for the violence meted out by the Israeli authorities against the populations that Zionists are determined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the large ghettos erected by Israel , Palestinian citizens of Israel , and those who languish in Israeli jails .
In addition , there are the Ultra-Orthodox , or Haredi Jews who live in segregated communities and are despised by the Israeli state .
The neglect and the violence of the authorities , paired with the callousness of Israeli society and the major elected politicians , are all symptomatic of a society that is inherently racist .
A society that is incapable of demonstrating even the slightest measure of sympathy for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s reality , the spread of coronavirus among Palestinians is , in fact , dangerous to Israeli Jews as well .
Still , the authorities and their various agencies continue to destroy clinics , demolish homes , and raid towns and neighborhoods rather than offer the help needed to ward off the virus .
One of the plagues that Palestinians have to live with is a group of violent , severely troubled , sociopathic Jewish teenagers who call themselves the “ Hilltop Youth.
” The name may sound somewhat endearing but the boys @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radically indoctrinated , violent and racist and were capable of burning to death a family in their home .
Radical groups of violent Zionists have always been looked upon favorably by the Zionist authorities .
Even though from time to time they may have crossed the line .
Because they are ideologically aligned with the Zionist leadership , they are never punished even when they are involved in murder .
This was the case was when armed terror gangs conducted the massacre at Deir Yasin in April of 1948 , and so it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s deadly attacks on Palestinians .
Even the coronavirus pandemic has not changed that the way the state of Israel allows these violent gangs to terrorize Palestinians .
In fact , they have stepped up their attacks on Palestinians .
According to a report by the United Nations , Jewish gang violence against Palestinians has spiked by 78 percent between March 17 and 30 .
The report , which was even mentioned in the pro-Zionist publication The Jerusalem Post , cites “ at least 16 attacks by Israeli settlers ” that “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ property damage.
” The United Nations specified that “ The attacks include stoning of vehicles , vandalizing structures and physical assault.
” “ In the Gush Etzion region , ” in which many of the most violent Jewish gangs reside and are indoctrinated , “ some 100 Palestinian-owned olive trees were uprooted and in Hebron , surveillance cameras were damaged or stolen from a home and a school.
” Palestinian Prisoners Day which was commemorated this April brought attention to the grim reality in Israeli prisons .
While information is not readily available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it has been reported that there are cases of COVID-19 within the prison walls .
It is well known that conditions in the prisons are inadequate at best and criminally negligent at worst .
With overcrowding , lack of proper hygiene and no proper sanitation , the prisons hold the potential for a massive spread of the virus .
In a case that was recently reported by Addameer , the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association , a Palestinian prisoner was placed in isolation due to COVID-19 symptoms .
However , the conditions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from being suitable for a sick person .
In another case , Nourredin Sarsour was infected and this was only revealed once he was released .
In the days since I reported here about Israel ’ s unhinged attacks against the Ultra-Orthodox or Haredi Jewish community , more reports have emerged about violent raids by the Israeli authorities .
In an email I received from Rabbi Hirsh of Neturei Karta in Jerusalem , the Rabbi writes , “ those in charge of our “ public health ” conduct constant raids on our neighborhoods @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beat the residents.
” Another email came to me from local Haredi activists begging for help from the outside .
This email included the following videos , which are already creating shock waves .
The violence displayed by authorities only confirms their lack of interest in creating an environment of understanding and tolerance .
When Israeli police enter the Haredi neighborhoods they do so like violent invaders and not like agencies that are trusted to help the residents .
The immense differences that exist between the Haredi Jews and secular Israeli society and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state authorities are enormous .
Now , with each raid on a Haredi neighborhood , the anger and frustration grow and the potential for clashes grows with it .
Israeli secular society , with its bigoted attitudes towards the Haredi Jews , stands by the state and its policies of persecution and demands that they do more .
It is a vicious circle where the state of Israel clearly wants to see things escalate .
The Palestine Chronicle reported recently about a coronavirus testing station that was closed down by the Israeli authorities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Palestinian town of 55,000 people adjacent to the Old City of Jerusalem .
“ According to Sami Mshasha , a spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ) , Israel has prevented his organization from providing health services related to the coronavirus for Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem.
” Mshasha also told the Palestinian news agency WAFA , that the Israeli measures are a “ continuation ” of restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on UNRWA activities in Jerusalem , “ following the US recognition of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
” Furthermore , Palestine Chronicle reports that , according to Israeli sources , “ the main reason behind the Israeli government action is to prevent any Palestinian Authority activity in Jerusalem.
” This is not the first time that the Israeli police interfere when Palestinian organizations provide much-needed services to residents of East Jerusalem .
They cite Palestinian Authority intervention in the city as the reason .
The problem is that while Israeli authorities prohibit Palestinian organizations from providing services , Israel itself will not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr. Yousef Jabareen , a member of Knesset for the Joint Arab List , Israeli authorities have conducted over 200,000 coronavirus tests .
Less than ten percent of them were conducted in towns inhabited by Palestinian citizens of Israel , leaving them vulnerable and without crucial information about the scope of the virus in their communities .
Now , a serious outbreak has been reported in the towns of Dayr el-Asad and Al-Ba ’ ane in the north of Palestine and it is causing a great deal of concern .
Similarly , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Naqab to live in overcrowded conditions in extreme poverty with a lack of water and infrastructure and a state that provides them no resources to deal with the spread of the virus .
If one were to look at the official definition of the crime of genocide as it is outlined by the United Nations and compare that to all the different ways in which Israel kills or plainly allows Palestinians to die , the similarities are striking .
The question that remains is when will the world intervene to sanction Israel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Feature photo | An Israeli police officer confronts a Christian after he prayed outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , traditionally believed by many to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ , in Jerusalem ’ s old city , April 17 , 2020 .
Ariel Schalit | AP Miko Peled is an author and human rights activist born in Jerusalem .
He is the author of “ The General ’ s Son .
Journey of an Israeli in Palestine , ” and “ Injustice , the Story of the @ @ @ @ @ @

Occupied Palestine – In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, one would expect that the desire to work as one world to curb the spread of the virus would outweigh any considerations of politics, race or religion. However, the violence and neglect of Israel’s Zionist government and non-governmental bodies towards Palestinians not only continues in full force but in many cases, has increased.
March and April of 2020 will be remembered not only for the pandemic but for the violence meted out by the Israeli authorities against the populations that Zionists are determined to destroy – Palestinians living under occupation in the large ghettos erected by Israel, Palestinian citizens of Israel, and those who languish in Israeli jails. In addition, there are the Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi Jews who live in segregated communities and are despised by the Israeli state.
The neglect and the violence of the authorities, paired with the callousness of Israeli society and the major elected politicians, are all symptomatic of a society that is inherently racist. A society that is incapable of demonstrating even the slightest measure of sympathy for the suffering of others.
In today’s reality, the spread of coronavirus among Palestinians is, in fact, dangerous to Israeli Jews as well. Still, the authorities and their various agencies continue to destroy clinics, demolish homes, and raid towns and neighborhoods rather than offer the help needed to ward off the virus.
Troubled teenagers
One of the plagues that Palestinians have to live with is a group of violent, severely troubled, sociopathic Jewish teenagers who call themselves the “Hilltop Youth.” The name may sound somewhat endearing but the boys who are part of this group are radically indoctrinated, violent and racist and were capable of burning to death a family in their home.
Radical groups of violent Zionists have always been looked upon favorably by the Zionist authorities. Even though from time to time they may have crossed the line. Because they are ideologically aligned with the Zionist leadership, they are never punished even when they are involved in murder. This was the case was when armed terror gangs conducted the massacre at Deir Yasin in April of 1948, and so it is with recent cases of Zionist youth’s deadly attacks on Palestinians.
Even the coronavirus pandemic has not changed that the way the state of Israel allows these violent gangs to terrorize Palestinians. In fact, they have stepped up their attacks on Palestinians. According to a report by the United Nations, Jewish gang violence against Palestinians has spiked by 78 percent between March 17 and 30. The report, which was even mentioned in the pro-Zionist publication The Jerusalem Post, cites “at least 16 attacks by Israeli settlers” that “resulted in five Palestinian injuries and extensive property damage.”
The United Nations specified that “The attacks include stoning of vehicles, vandalizing structures and physical assault.” “In the Gush Etzion region,” in which many of the most violent Jewish gangs reside and are indoctrinated, “some 100 Palestinian-owned olive trees were uprooted and in Hebron, surveillance cameras were damaged or stolen from a home and a school.”
Palestinian Prisoners
Palestinian Prisoners Day which was commemorated this April brought attention to the grim reality in Israeli prisons. While information is not readily available and the authorities are not forthcoming, it has been reported that there are cases of COVID-19 within the prison walls.
It is well known that conditions in the prisons are inadequate at best and criminally negligent at worst. With overcrowding, lack of proper hygiene and no proper sanitation, the prisons hold the potential for a massive spread of the virus. In a case that was recently reported by Addameer, the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a Palestinian prisoner was placed in isolation due to COVID-19 symptoms. However, the conditions in a prison isolation cell are far from being suitable for a sick person.
In another case, Nourredin Sarsour was infected and this was only revealed once he was released.
Attacking Haredi communities
In the days since I reported here about Israel’s unhinged attacks against the Ultra-Orthodox or Haredi Jewish community, more reports have emerged about violent raids by the Israeli authorities. In an email I received from Rabbi Hirsh of Neturei Karta in Jerusalem, the Rabbi writes, “those in charge of our “public health” conduct constant raids on our neighborhoods, throw stun grenades, and indiscriminately beat the residents.”
Another email came to me from local Haredi activists begging for help from the outside. This email included the following videos, which are already creating shock waves.
The violence displayed by authorities only confirms their lack of interest in creating an environment of understanding and tolerance. When Israeli police enter the Haredi neighborhoods they do so like violent invaders and not like agencies that are trusted to help the residents.
The immense differences that exist between the Haredi Jews and secular Israeli society and the way that the two communities view state authorities are enormous. Now, with each raid on a Haredi neighborhood, the anger and frustration grow and the potential for clashes grows with it. Israeli secular society, with its bigoted attitudes towards the Haredi Jews, stands by the state and its policies of persecution and demands that they do more. It is a vicious circle where the state of Israel clearly wants to see things escalate.
Closing a coronavirus testing clinic
The Palestine Chronicle reported recently about a coronavirus testing station that was closed down by the Israeli authorities. This was in Silwan, a Palestinian town of 55,000 people adjacent to the Old City of Jerusalem. “According to Sami Mshasha, a spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Israel has prevented his organization from providing health services related to the coronavirus for Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem.”
Mshasha also told the Palestinian news agency WAFA, that the Israeli measures are a “continuation” of restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on UNRWA activities in Jerusalem, “following the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.” Furthermore, Palestine Chronicle reports that, according to Israeli sources, “the main reason behind the Israeli government action is to prevent any Palestinian Authority activity in Jerusalem.”
This isn't #Israeli apartheid, it is #genocide. Israel refuses to test Palestinians for COVID-19 and shuts testing sites down when they try to do it themselves. "Israel Shuts Coronavirus Testing Clinic in East Jerusalem and Arrests Organizers" https://t.co/WqfZa8BKE5 — IPMN of PCUSA (@IPMN) April 15, 2020
This is not the first time that the Israeli police interfere when Palestinian organizations provide much-needed services to residents of East Jerusalem. They cite Palestinian Authority intervention in the city as the reason. The problem is that while Israeli authorities prohibit Palestinian organizations from providing services, Israel itself will not provide these services either.
Genocide has many forms
According to Dr. Yousef Jabareen, a member of Knesset for the Joint Arab List, Israeli authorities have conducted over 200,000 coronavirus tests. Less than ten percent of them were conducted in towns inhabited by Palestinian citizens of Israel, leaving them vulnerable and without crucial information about the scope of the virus in their communities.
Now, a serious outbreak has been reported in the towns of Dayr el-Asad and Al-Ba’ane in the north of Palestine and it is causing a great deal of concern. Similarly, the apartheid system that forces Palestinian Bedouin in the Naqab to live in overcrowded conditions in extreme poverty with a lack of water and infrastructure and a state that provides them no resources to deal with the spread of the virus.
If one were to look at the official definition of the crime of genocide as it is outlined by the United Nations and compare that to all the different ways in which Israel kills or plainly allows Palestinians to die, the similarities are striking. The question that remains is when will the world intervene to sanction Israel for committing these crimes against humanity.
Feature photo | An Israeli police officer confronts a Christian after he prayed outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem’s old city, April 17, 2020. Ariel Schalit | AP
Miko Peled is an author and human rights activist born in Jerusalem. He is the author of “The General’s Son. Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” and “Injustice, the Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five.”