Press TV – January 29, 2012

Kuwait has reportedly provided the US Army with 10 hectares of its Failaka Island to be used for US military bases.

According to Kuwaiti media, the United States has stationed about 15,000 new troops in its military bases in Kuwait. The troops have been relocated to Kuwait from Iraq.

The United States has also installed radar and missile systems in the Kuwaiti seaport region of Shuaiba, the report said.

The report comes despite Kuwait’s denial in November 2011 that the country would host more US troops.

The US currently has several military bases on an area of about 40 percent of Kuwait’s land. Kuwaiti residents are not allowed to pass without a permit through these areas.

Press TV – January 29, 2012

A British Muslim pilot who was dismissed from his position in 2010 has complained to an employment tribunal, saying he was axed because of his religion.

The Metropolitan police officers arrested the Muslim pilot, who was not named by the British press, in 2007 over the allegations of being linked with terror suspects.

Following the arrest, the airline employer, which was not named by the British press either, suspended the Heathrow-based pilot over the allegations that he would be a threat to national security.

The allegations were made based on the British police’s claim that the two suspected extremists could have links with the Muslim pilot and he could be part of an alleged terror plot.

One of the suspects was the pilot’s landlord and the other was someone with whom the Muslim pilot’s brother conducted business transactions.

The pilot was dismissed in 2010 over the accusations that he could “cause considerable harm” to the “national security.”

During the hearing at the employment tribunal in Havant, Hampshire, the pilot said that if he had been a non-Muslim, he would have received a different treatment.

Moreover, the tribunal was told that the case was “unique and unprecedented” and never before had a pilot been axed over accusations of having links with terror suspects.

A union official who represented the pilot during the airline’s inquiry said the airline employer had no substantial evidence to prove any links between the pilot and the suspects.

Moreover, the official revealed that the airline had explicitly stated that the pilot’s religion and race were the main reasons for accusing him of plotting to hijack a plane and sabotage it.

“The airline’s line of questioning came across to us as, ‘You’re a Muslim man with a Pakistani-sounding name. You must therefore believe in all this stuff or at least be familiar with it,’” said the official.

By Shazia Arshad | Middle East Monitor | 29 January 2012

As candidates prepared for elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in 2006, the Israeli authorities began a campaign of detention and imprisonment to thwart the growing move towards democracy in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Israeli authorities began to arrest members of Hamas: 450 were detained in 2005 to prevent their participation in the election the following year; many were held in administrative detention, without trial or charge. Despite this the elections took place and a number of the candidates in prison were elected to the PLC.

The 2006 Palestinian elections were overseen by international observers, who declared them to be free and fair (more open, it has been said, than the 2004 re-election of George W Bush). Hamas ended up as the democratically-elected Palestinian government. A number of PLC members under the Change and Reform List (including Hamas members and supporters) were also chosen by the electorate and became the target of the Israeli authorities’ constant campaign of arrest and detention.

There are, at the moment, 27 PLC members and 2 Ministers being detained by the Israeli authorities.

Download Fact Sheet

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29 January 2012 | Global March to Jerusalem

Join us as we intensify our struggle against forced exile and the system of Israeli apartheid on Land Day 2012. We Palestinians have been ethnically cleansed and uprooted from our lands starting in the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe) which resulted in the creation of the millions of refugees who are now living in the Diaspora. Nineteen years later, in 1967, Israel illegally annexed East-Jerusalem and the West Bank in a move which marked the Naksa (Setback), and subjected the remaining Palestinians to a brutal military occupation.

We are now in 2012, and we are still living in exile or under the Israeli apartheid regime, the illegal construction of colonial settlements is confiscating the remaining parts of Palestine, the Separation Wall divides and separates villages and towns, and Palestinians in Jerusalem are threatened with being driven out of their homes and lands for the mere purpose of the Judaization of this sacred city.

But we will not leave. We will stand and be firm. We will not permit thousands of years of our attachment to our land and our Holy City to be broken. We therefore invite and call upon all persons of courage and good will around the world to stand up and walk, with your fellow human beings, regardless of religion, of political affiliation – to stand up as responsible human beings and walk peacefully towards Jerusalem on the 30th of March, 2012.

We therefore ask all our brothers and sisters throughout the world to join Palestinians on Land Day, 30 March, 2011, in challenging the barriers, borders and procedures that separate Palestinians from Jerusalem and from their homes and lands in all of historic Palestine.

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Al-Manar | January 29, 2012

Russia condemned on Sunday the suspension of Arab monitoring mission in Syria, saying it was surprised by the decision taken by the Arab League.

The condemnation was announced by the Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who said: “We would like to know why they are treating such a useful instrument in this way”.

“We are surprised that after a decision was taken on prolonging the observers’ mission for another month, some countries, particularly Persian Gulf countries, recalled their observers from the mission”, Lavrov said on a visit to Brunei.

“I would support an increased number of observers”, Lavrov was quoted by the Russian ITAR-TASS news agency.

Lavrov said that he did not back those Western countries that said the mission was pointless and that it was impossible to hold dialogue with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

“I think these are very irresponsible statements because trying to sabotage a chance to calm the situation is absolutely unforgivable,” Lavrov said, cited by the Interfax news agency.

The Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi announced on Saturday the halt of Syria observers’ mission because of escalating violence in the country.

Russian has repeatedly said it would oppose any UN Security Council resolution against Syria, stressing that such resolution would surpass the “red lines” it has drawn.

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By GoddardsJournal | September 22, 2011

Sources cited

The BBC Program
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014s49z
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vywZ84mixs

CNN Report Quoted
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-06/world/japan.nuclear.meltdown_1_nuclear-rea…

The Yomiuri Daily Table
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110607005367.htm

Atomic-Bombing Survivors Study
http://www.dmphp.org/cgi/reprint/5/Supplement_1/S122

In light of that study, it’s worth noting that the Japanese government calculated that the Cesium-137 alone emitted from Fukushima as of late August was 168 times more radioactive than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8722400/Fukushima-caesiu…

IAEA Report Quoted
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/meetings/PDFplus/2011/cn200/documentation/cn200_…

NYAS Review (Yablokov et al.) Cited
http://www.strahlentelex.de/Yablokov%20Chernobyl%20book.pdf

Extra: detailed complaint submitted to BBC over the program critiqued in this video :
http://www.nfznsc.gn.apc.org/docs/news/NFLA_BBC_Fukushima_final_complaint.pdf

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The CSU system has recently taken steps to reinstate the Israel Study Abroad Program.   It was suspended in 2002 because of costs and because of the U.S. State Department travel warning on travel to Israel.

We strongly urge you not to reinstate the CSU Israel Study Abroad Program.

The signers of this letter, CSU faculty, staff, students, and administrators, represent a wide range of views and political perspectives, but each one of us shares that conclusion along with some or all of the following concerns:

1) The original reasons, from 2002, for suspending the program remain valid, and may, in some respects, be even more compelling.  The CSU is facing unprecedented funding cuts, and programs serving greater numbers of students than this program may be more deserving of the limited available funds.  The State Department travel warning also remains in effect [1].

2) Additional dangers to U.S. citizens, not described in the State Department travel warning, deserve consideration. There have been multiple instances of U.S. citizens, including students, who have been severely injured, and in some cases killed by Israeli military forces. For example, in 2010, Emily Henochowicz, a 21-year-old Jewish American art student, lost an eye when Israeli soldiers shot her in the head with a high velocity tear gas canister. She had joined protests against Israel’s attack on the humanitarian aid flotilla, during which Furkan Dogan, aged 19, another U.S. citizen, was killed by Israeli troops.   Other young Americans killed or injured by Israeli forces include Rachel Corrie, Brian Avery, and Tristan Anderson.

3) If the Israel Study Abroad Program is reinstated, participating CSU students could face discriminatory treatment, based on race and ethnicity.  According to a U.S. State Department document [2]:

4) During its October 2011 meeting, the Academic and Fiscal Affairs Committee of the CSU Academic Council on International Programs made a recommendation as follows [3]:

Reinstating a CSU Study Abroad Program in conjunction with Israeli universities without similar programs in cooperation with Palestinian universities would be one-sided.

5) To restart the CSU International program in Israel at this time would not reflect well on the CSU’s commitment to the universal right to education. Israel has consistently violated its obligation under Article 50 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which requires the Occupying Power to facilitate the proper functioning of educational institutions in occupied territories. Israel remains the Occupying Power because it retains effective control in all these areas, and exercises this control by making education difficult or impossible for Palestinians in a variety of ways: blockading, besieging and bombing schools and universities; suspending delivery of books and educational supplies; restricting or barring the movement of students, teachers and researchers to their institutions of learning, as well as to travel abroad for educational purposes. Because of these actions, Israel has deprived hundreds of thousands of Palestinians of their right to education.

6) Recognized leaders and prominent intellectuals have compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to Apartheid in South Africa.  Among these are Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and Mairead Maguire [4].  John Dugard, a South African professor of international law, has served as Judge ad hoc on the International Court of Justice and as a Special Rapporteur for both the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the International Law Commission.  In his 2007 report to the Human Rights Council, Mr. Dugard described Israel’s “features of colonialism and apartheid.” South Africa’s statutory research agency the Human Sciences Research Council concluded in a 2009 report that, “the State of Israel exercises control in the [Occupied Palestinian Territories] with the purpose of maintaining a system of domination by Jews over Palestinians and that this system constitutes a breach of the prohibition of apartheid.” Richard Falk, emeritus professor of international law at Princeton University and the successor of John Dugard as UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine, has detailed indicators of apartheid in the occupied territories.  Similar Findings were made by Human Rights Watch [5,6].  CSU participation with the government of Israel in the proposed study abroad program could be interpreted as an endorsement of the international crime of apartheid.

Affiliations of the signatories are included for identification purposes only.

CSU Faculty, Staff, and Administrator Endorsements

David Klein, Professor
Department of Mathematics
CSU Northridge

Bernardo Abrego, Professor
Department of Mathematics
CSU Northridge

As`ad AbuKhalil, Professor
Department of Politics
CSU Stanislaus

Roberta Ahlquist, Professor
Secondary Teacher Education
San Jose State University

Kazem Alamdari, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology
CSU Northridge

Alexander Alekseenko, Associate Professor
Department of Mathematics
CSU Northridge

Ece Algan, Assistant Professor
Department of Communication Studies
CSU San Bernardino

Karren Baird-Olson, Associate Professor
Department of Sociology
CSU Northridge

Ian Barnard, Professor

CSU Northridge

Mahmood Ibrahim, Professor
Graduate Coordinator and Adviser
Department of History
Cal Poly Pomona

Randa Jarrar, Assistant Professor
Department of English
MFA program in Creative Writing
CSU Fresno

Robert L. Karen, Professor Emeritus
Department of Psychology
San Diego State University

Sang Hea Kil, Assistant Professor
Justice Studies Internship Coordinator
Department of Justice Studies
San José State University

Dennis Kortheuer
History Department
CSU Long Beach

Rose Marie Kuhn, Ph.D.
Professor of French
CSU Fresno

J William Leasure, Professor Emeritus
San Diego State University

Paul Lee, Professor
Department of Physics & Astronomy
CSU Northridge

Jane L. Lehr, Assistant Professor
Ethnic Studies Department
Women’s & Gender Studies Department
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Cecile Leneman, Professor Emerita
Creative Writing
San Diego State University

Ronald Lopez, Assistant Professor
Chicano and Latino Studies
Sonoma State University

Rick Luttmann, Professor
Department of Mathematics
Sonoma State University

Sheena Malhotra, Professor and Chair
Gender and Women’s Studies
CSU Northridge

Afshin Matin-Asgari, Professor
Department of History
CSU Los Angeles

Gina Masequesmay, Professor
Asian American Studies Department
CSU Northridge

Robert McNamara, Professor
Department of Political Science
Sonoma State University

Markar Melkonian, Ph.D.
Department of Philosophy
CSU Northridge

Ahlam Muhtaseb, Associate Professor
Department of Communication Studies
CSU San Bernardino

Jamal Nassar, Dean
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
CSU San Bernardino

Jesús Nieto, Associate Professor
College of Education
San Diego State University

Tae Oh, Professor and Chair
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
CSU Northridge

Joel J. Orth, Ph.D.
Credential and Minor Advisor
History Department
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Sirena Pellarolo, Professor
Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
CSU Northridge

Peter Phillips, Professor
Department of Sociology
Sonoma State University
President, Media Freedom Foundation/Project Censored

Edie Pistolesi, Professor
Department of Art
CSU Northridge

Mike Powelson, Instructor
Department of History
CSU Channel Islands

James Quesada, Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
San Francisco State University

Radha Ranganathan, Professor
Department of Physics & Astronomy
CSU Northridge

Kasturi Ray, Assistant Professor
Department of Women and Gender Studies
Co-Director, South Asian Studies Program
San Francisco State University

Jerry Rosen, Professor
Department of Mathematics
CSU Northridge

Mary Rosen, Professor
Department of Mathematics
CSU Northridge

Jasamin Rostam-Kolayi, Assistant Professor
Department of History
CSU Fullerton

Ken Sakatani, Professor and Chair
Department of Art
CSU Northridge

Judy D. Saltzman, Professor Emerita
Philosophy Department
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Vida Samiian, Dean
College of Arts and Humanities
CSU Fresno

Elizabeth Say, Dean
College of Humanities
CSU Northridge

Rebecca Say
Administrative Support Assistant II
Department of Mathematics
CSU Northridge

Evalyn F. Segal, Professor Emerita
San Diego State University

Bharath Sethuraman, Professor
Department of Mathematics
CSU Northridge

Ali Shaban, Professor
Electrical Engineering Department
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Kathryn Sorrells, Professor
Department of Communication Studies
CSU Northridge

Jerry Stinner, Dean
College of Science and Mathematics
CSU Northridge

Stella Theodoulou, Dean
College of Social and Bavioral Sciences
CSU Northridge

John Thompson, Professor
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Victor Valle, Professor Emeritus
Ethnic Studies
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Ericka Verba, Associate Professor
History Department
CSU Dominguez Hills

Calvin Wilvert, Professor Emeritus
Department of Social Sciences
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Terry Winant, Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy
CSU Fresno

Erica Wohldmann, Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
CSU Northridge

Nan Towle Yamane, Lecturer and Advisor
Department of History
CSU Northridge

CSU Student Endorsements (Current and Alumni)

Hana Abed, Students for Justice in Palestine, CSU Northridge

Safeh Abed, CSU Northridge

Breanne Acio, CSU Northridge

Malek Al-marayati, President, Muslim Student Association, CSU Northridge

Edy Alvarez, President, CSUN Greens, CSU Northridge

Issa Araj, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Stella Atiya, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, class of 2007

Brian Baker, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, class of 2008

Heather Dean Balsavage , Occupy CSUN, CSU Northridge

Zachariah Barghouti, General Union of Palestine Students, Palestinian Youth Movement, San Francisco State University

Patricia Belt, Occupy CSUN, CSU Northridge

Zahra Billoo, CSU Long Beach, class of 2006

Jason Bornstein, Occupy CSUN, CSU Northridge

Christopher Bowers, President, Campus Allies for Racial Responsibility, Sonoma State University

Rachael Byrne, Department of Women and Gender Studies, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) Campus Network Coordinating Committee, San Francisco State University

Humza Chowdhry, M.S., P.E. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo class of 2006

Nicholas E. Dibs, CSU Long Beach class of 1991, 1992 (Teaching Credential)

Blake Dieda, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, class of 2010

Joseph Glatzer, CSU Northridge, class of 2010

Eugene Hernandez, CSU Northridge, class of 1974

Berl Jay Hubbell, CSU Fresno, class of 1968.

Sana Ibrahim, CSU San Bernardino, class of 2009

Mona Kadah, CSU San Marcos, class of 2004

Temba Kamara, San Francisco State University

Ara Kim, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, class of 2010

Naiyerah Kolkailah, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, class of 2008

Yael Korin, M.S. from CSU Dominguez Hills, class of 1994

Amr Mabrouk, President, Muslim Student Association, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Zaki Mansoory, CSU Northridge

Karim Maraqa, San Diego State University

Omar Masood, Muslim Student Association, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Marcello Mundo Jr, founder of Students for Justice in Palestine at CSU San Marcos

Zuhdi Nadia, Students for Justice in Palestine, CSU Northridge

Sara Nasrallah, President, Students for Justice in Palestine, CSU Northridge

Ankur Patel, Occupy CSUN, CSU Northridge

Sarkis Peha, former president of Students for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, class of 2010

Lee Perkins, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, class of 1994, and retired staff member 2003

Rosalie Platzer, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, class of 2011

Aida Porteneuve, CSULB classes of 1982 and 1990, and retired staff member 1990

Lorain Rihan, Students for Justice in Palestine, San Diego State University

Jasmine Roashan, Students for Justice in Palestine, San Diego State University

Daleen Saah, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (currently Columbia University), class of 2008

Nada Saeed, CSU Fresno

Marlon Stern, CSU Northridge, class of 2009

Nabil Wahbeh, CSU Hayward, MBA class of 1981

Darlene Wallach, CSU Chico, class of 1973

Donna Wallach, CSU Sacramento, class of 1974

Kathleen O’Connor Wang, CSU Fullerton, class of 1975

Clayton Whitt, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, class of 2004

Jeff Woodruff, Occupy CSUN, CSU Northridge

References

[1] Travel Warning,
U.S. Department Of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5511.html

[2] Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Country Specific Information, Travel.State.Gov: A service of the Bureau of Consular Affairs: U.S. Department of State http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1064.html

[3] Item 3 from the minutes of the Academic and Fiscal Affairs Committee, October 20-21, 2011.

[4] See for example:
Jimmy Carter: Israel’s ‘apartheid’ policies worse than South Africa’s, Haaretz, November 12, 2006
http://www.haaretz.com/news/jimmy-carter-israel-s-apartheid-policies-worse-than-south-africa-s-1.206865
Tutu condemns Israeli ‘apartheid’ BBC News, Monday, 29 April, 2002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1957644.stm
Nelson Mandela’s Memo to Thomas Friedman, March 28, 2001
http://www.keghart.com/Mandela-Palestine
Stand Up to Israeli Apartheid, Letter to President Obama from Mairead Maguire, May 1, 2009
http://www.counterpunch.org/2009/05/01/stand-up-to-israeli-apartheid/

[5] Richard Falk, General Assembly: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, August 30, 2010
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/downloads/other_reports/report-of-the-special-rapporteur-on-the-situation-of-human-rights-in-the-palestinian-territories-occupied-since-1967.pdf
Human Rights Watch, 2010 Report: Separate and Unequal: Israel’s Discriminatory Treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/iopt1210webwcover_0.pdf
Crime of Apartheid, Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_of_apartheid

[6] Richard Falk endorsed and expressed support of this open letter.

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By Jillian C. York | EFF | January 28, 2012

This January 28 marks International Privacy Day. Different countries around the world are celebrating this day with their own events.

Throughout history, there have been a number of reasons why individuals have taken to writing or producing art under a pseudonym. In the 18th century, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay took on the pseudonym Publius to publish The Federalist Papers. In 19th century England, pseudonyms allowed women–like the Brontë sisters, who initially published under Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell–to be taken seriously as writers.

Today, pseudonyms continue to serve a range of individuals, and for a variety of reasons. At EFF, we view anonymity as both a matter of free speech and privacy, but in light of International Privacy Day, January 28, this piece will focus mainly on the latter, looking at the ways in which the right to anonymity–or pseudonymity–is truly a matter of privacy.

Privacy from employers

Human beings are complex creatures with multiple interests. As such, many professionals use pseudonyms online to keep their employment separate from their personal life. One example of this is the Guardian columnist GrrlScientist who, upon discovering her Google+ account had been deleted for violating their “common name” policy, penned a piece explaining her need for privacy. Another example is prominent Moroccan blogger Hisham Khribchi, who has explained his use of a pseudonym, stating:

When I first started blogging I wanted my identity to remain secret because I didn’t want my online activity to interfere with my professional life. I wanted to keep both as separate as possible. I also wanted to use a fake name because I wrote about politics and I was critical of my own government. A pseudonym would shield me and my family from personal attacks. I wanted to have a comfortable space to express myself freely without having to worry about the police when I visit my family back in Morocco.

Though Khribchi’s reasoning is two-fold, his primary concern–even stronger than his need for protection from his government–was keeping his online life separate from his employment.

Privacy from the political scene

In 2008, an Alaskan blogger known as “Alaska Muckraker” (or AKM) rose to fame for her vocal criticism of fellow Alaskan and then-McCain-running-mate Sarah Palin. Later, after inveighing against a rude email sent to constituents by Alaska State Representative Mike Doogan, AKM was outed–by Doogan–who wrote that his “own theory about the public process is you can say what you want, as long as you are willing to stand behind it using your real name.”

AKM, a blogger decidedly committing an act of journalism, could have had any number of reasons to remain anonymous. As she later wrote:

I might be a state employee. I might not want my children to get grief at school. I might be fleeing from an ex-partner who was abusive and would rather he not know where I am. My family might not want to talk to me anymore. I might alienate my best friend. Maybe I don’t feel like having a brick thrown through my window. My spouse might work for the Palin administration. Maybe I’d just rather people not know where I live or where I work. Or none of those things may be true. None of my readers, nor Mike Doogan had any idea what my personal circumstances might be.

Though Doogan claimed that AKM gave up her right to anonymity when her blog began influencing public policy, he’s wrong. In the United States, the right to anonymity is protected by the First Amendment and must remain so, to ensure both the free expression and privacy rights of citizens.

Similarly, in 2009, Ed Whelans, a former official with the Department of Justice, outed anonymous blogger John Blevins–a professor at the South Texas College of Law–in the National Review, calling him “irresponsible”, and a “coward.” Blevins took the fall gracefully, later explaining why he had chosen to blog under a pseudonym. Like Khribchi, Blevins’ reasons were numerous: He feared losing tenure and legal clients, but he also feared putting the jobs of family members in the political space at risk.

Privacy from the public eye

A friend of mine–let’s call him Joe–is the sibling of a famous celebrity. But while he’s very proud of his sibling, Joe learned early on that not everyone has his best interests at heart. Therefore, Joe devised a pseudonym to use online in order to protect the privacy of himself and his family.

In Joe’s case, the threat is very real: celebrities are regularly stalked, their houses broken into. His pseudonym keeps him feeling “normal” in his online interactions, while simultaneously protecting his sibling and the rest of his family from invasions of privacy.

Achieving anonymity online

Anonymity and pseudonymity may seem increasingly difficult to achieve online. Not only do companies like Facebook restrict your right to use a pseudonym, but even when you do think you’re anonymous, you might not be–as blogger Rosemary Port found out in 2009 after Google turned over her name in response to a court order.

While we should continue to fight for our privacy under the law, the best thing we can do as users to who value our right to anonymity is to use tools like Tor. Anonymous bloggers can use Global Voices Advocacy’s online guide to blogging anonymously with WordPress and Tor. And all Internet users should educate themselves about what is–and isn’t–private on their online accounts and profiles.

Related articles

• International Privacy Day: Fighting Data Retention Mandates Around the World (alethonews.wordpress.com)
• Google And Privacy: Nothing To See Here, Move On (informationweek.com)
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• Google Says Bye Bye to User Privacy (forbes.com)
• Google+ relaxes real-name policy, allows pseudonyms (plus.google.com)

Rehmat’s World | January 28, 2012

Under pressure from pro-Israel Jewish groups – California State University, Northridge (CSUN) has reinstated its three Israel Study Abroad programs at Haifa University, Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University in Israel. The programs were halted in 2002, with three students enrolled in the program, when the US State Department issued a travel warning. Now, the CSUN management is convinced that Israel is a safe place even though Benji Netanyahu government claims that Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran are planing to “wipe Israel off the map.”

The University Chancellor Charles Reed ignored the opposition by 127 US academics to reinstating the program was led by California  State Northridge professor David Klein, many from CSUN. One of the signatories, Long Beach Professor Emerita Sherna Gluck says: “I cannot support cooperation with Israeli universities and certainly cannot endorse our CSU students attending these institutions any more than I supported exchanges with South African apartheid universities.”

In late 2009, 389 signatories endorsed a letter to UC Davis Provost William Lacy protesting the system-wise reinstatement on the grounds that the program would be inherently discriminatory Muslims and Arab students.

The Campus Watch, a Philadelphia-based, Israel Hasbara (propaganda in Hebrew) website, has long been campaigning against Dr. David Klein for his criticism of Israel’s Zionazi policies. The website is run by the Middle East Forum, to monitor US college campuses for academic pro-Palestinian bias and happenings. It publishes dossiers on professors, as well as some examples of their writings.

The Campus Watch encourages students to snitch on their professors. It has a whole section dedicated to student reports. The Campus Watch is essentially forming a paramilitary thought police, a private TIPS program for pro-Israeli advocates.

Dr. Klein is also accused of ‘anti-Semitism’ by organizations such as ‘Never Again Canada’ and ‘AMCHA’ who seek to impose their pro-Israel, pro-Zionist politics upon the California State University. There is no content on his website that could even arguably be labeled ‘anti-Semitic’ without the offensive conflation of Jews and Jewishness with the State of Israel, its government, and its motivating ideology, Zionism. This is not the first occasion of organized pro-Israel lobbies and groups targeting faculty and students for their advocacy for Palestine. From battles over tenure faced by extraordinarily qualified Palestinian professors to unjust firings or demotions of faculty who have spoken in support of Palestine, efforts to intimidate professors are increasing.

Dr. David Klein, a renowned Jewish professor of Mathematics, is listed at the “Self-Hating Israel-Threatening (S.H.I.T)” Jewish list where he is credited for saying:

“Israel is the most racist state in the world at this time. Support for Israel must stop. In pursuit of a Zionist agenda, Israel has followed a 60-year program of ethnic cleansing, including expulsion of the Palestinian population, military occupation, and mass murder. The attack of Gaza is only the latest in a long history of crimes against humanity. Israel avoids peace because peace interferes with territorial expansion and ethnic cleaning”.

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Press TV – January 28, 2012

The US military plans to deploy a large floating base, unofficially dubbed the “mothership,” for commando teams to the Middle East amid recent developments in the region.

The Navy is converting an aging warship it had planned to decommission into a makeshift staging base for the commandos in response to requests from the US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

The floating base could accommodate smaller high-speed boats and helicopters commonly used by the United States Navy’s Sea, Air, and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs.

Lieutenant Commander Mike Kafka, a spokesman for the Navy’s Fleet Forces Command, declined to elaborate on the floating base’s purpose or to say where exactly it will be deployed in the Middle East.

There are indications that the Pentagon will send the vessel to the region by early summer, and Navy documents show that it could be headed to the Persian Gulf.

The deployment of the floating base to the Middle East marks a return to maritime missions for SEAL teams, who have been engaged in ground operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past decade.

The US Navy had earlier planned to retire the amphibious assault ship USS Ponce and decommission it in March 2012 after 41 years of service. The warship was sent to the Mediterranean Sea last year to provide military support to NATO air strikes on Libya.

The USS Ponce will be instead transformed into what the US military calls an Afloat Forward Staging Base.

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