Page 324 – Toward Freedom

The controversial U.S. drone strike program in the Middle East aims to pinpoint and kill terrorist leaders, but new documents indicate that a staggering number of these “targeted killings” affect far more people than just their targets.

According to a new report from The Intercept, nearly 90 percent of people killed in recent drone strikes in Afghanistan “were not the intended targets” of the attacks.

Documents detailing a special operations campaign in northeastern Afghanistan, Operation Haymaker, show that between January 2012 and February 2013, U.S. special operations airstrikes killed more than 200 people. Of those, only 35 were the intended targets. During one five-month period of the operation, according to the documents, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not the intended targets. In Yemen and Somalia, where the U.S. has far more limited intelligence capabilities to confirm the people killed are the intended targets, the equivalent ratios may well be much worse. read more

Black Lives Matter Activists Declare Solidarity with Palestine

Salim Muwakkil October 16, 2015 Salim Muwakkil

Source: In These Times

The statement revives the internationalism of the ’60s and ’70s, when black activists saw themselves as part of a global fight against Western colonialism

Long before the killing of Michael Brown by a Ferguson cop coincided with the bombing of Gaza by Israeli forces, there were parallels between the Palestinian and African-American freedom struggles. On Nov. 1, 1970, black activists published an ad in the New York Times titled, “An Appeal by Black Americans Against United States Support of the Zionist Government of Israel.” Signed by more than 50 writers, educators, students and union leaders, the statement opened, “We, the black American signatories of this advertisement, are in complete solidarity with our Palestinian bothers and sisters, who, like us, are struggling for self-determination and an end to racist oppression.” read more

Three Years Ago, These Chicago Workers Took Over a Window Factory. Today, They’re Thriving

Sarah van Gelder October 16, 2015 Sarah van Gelder

Source: Yes! Magazine

When Republic Windows and Doors closed down without giving workers notice, the issue drew national attention. Since then, they’ve turned the factory into a worker-owned co-op—where they hold the power.

Back in the day, factory workers at the Chicago-based Republic Windows and Doors were simply told what to do. That wasn’t unusual. Workers might have seen ways to improve the production process, but at Republic their supervisor wasn’t interested, said former employee Armando Robles. read more

Black Farmers’ Lives Matter: Defending African-American Land and Agriculture in the Deep South

Beverly Bell October 11, 2015 Beverly Bell

The 2015 US Food Sovereignty Prize goes to two organizations that are demonstrating just how much Black lives matter, as they defend their ancestral lands for community-controlled food production. The Federation of Southern Cooperatives, primarily African-American farmers across the deep South, shares the prize with the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras, Afro-indigenous farmers and fisher-people.

South Africa’s Shack Dwellers Movement Celebrates a Decade of Struggle

Abahlali baseMjondolo October 11, 2015 Abahlali baseMjondolo

South Africa’s shack dwellers movement was founded ten years ago by citizens frustrated by the ruling ANC’s failure to deliver the promises of democracy in the “new” nation. It has been a worthwhile struggle against a neo-liberal state that pays scant attention to needs of the majority poor Black people.

Listen to Syrians: The Media Jackals and the People’s Narrative

Ramzy Baroud October 11, 2015 Ramzy Baroud

Imagine the Syrian war from the point of view of ordinary Syrians from a variety of backgrounds. They are most likely to offer a different perspective and to hold entirely different expectations than most other parties involved.