World

Glued to the television, myself and my partner watched the entire July 5 showdown in the Central American nation Honduras play out from Caracas.

Street protests and blockades occurred throughout Peru on July 8, in the middle of a three day strike against the neoliberal policies of President Alan Garcia.

An appeal for action from US-based anti-racist group Colour of Change reported on the actions of the Vally Club just outside Philidelphia. The appeal said that “65 children from a summer camp tried to go swimming at a club that their camp had a contract to use. Apparently, the people at the club didn't know that the group of kids was predominantly Black.”

Speaking on behalf of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) on July 6, former Venezuelan interior minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin called on United States President Barack Obama to clarify his government’s position on the coup d’etat in Honduras.

On May 15, HR 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 was introduced in the US House of Representatives, purportedly “To create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy”.

Nazy (a pseudonym) is an activist with the Voice of Freedom and Democracy in Iran, which organised a protest outside the Iranian Embassy on July 9. She came to Australia on July 6 after attending the pro-democracy protests in Tehran that were organised in response to the Iranian regime’s repression of the mass demonstrations alleging vote-rigging in the June 12 presidential elections.

A new report by Oxfam, released on July 5, reveals that seasons that were once distinct are shifting, destroying harvests and causing widespread hunger.

Mumia Abu-Jamal is a radical African American journalist on death row after being framed for the 1981 murder of a police officer in Philadelphia. For more information, and to find out how to get involved in the international campaign for Abu-Jamal’s freedom, visit Freemumia.org.

On July 5, the racist, far-right National Front (FN) was narrowly defeated in the second round of the Henin Beaumont municipal by-election.

In the aftermath of Israel’s brutal December-January war on Gaza, which killed more than 1300 civilians, it is under greater scrutiny than ever. Its attempts to spin its crimes against humanity as justified self-defence are increasingly falling on deaf ears.

“The US Vice-President, Joe Biden, says America will not stand in the way of an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities”, a July 7 Sydney Morning Herald article said.

The statement published below was released in December last year by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, which unites 17 Palestinian organisations. It is reprinted from Electronicintifasa.net.