Israel Slammed By Rights Groups (And Arrests A Former Member Of Congress)

Israel, on Wednesday, was slammed by not one but two of the world's leading human rights groups over its conduct in last January's military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

First, Human Rights Watch blasted Israel for its use of unmanned drone aircraft armed with air-to-ground rockets, which HRW said was responsible for the deaths of 29 civilians, eight of them children. Drone aircraft were said to be responsible for incidents where Palestinian children were killed while playing on a rooftop and another where a group of students were killed while waiting for a bus. Because of the high-resolution cameras that drone aircraft use to view the ground below them, HRW investigators said that Israeli operators should have realized they were targeting civilians and not militants in those situations.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International accused Israel of "wanton destruction" in their Gaza campaign, saying that much of the damage done could not be justified under the rules of war. Thousands of buildings in Gaza were destroyed or heavily damaged in the fighting, while estimates are that between 1,100 and 1,400 Palestinians were killed. Amnesty also found no evidence to support Israeli claims that Hamas militants were using civilians as "human shields", but did basically accuse Israel of doing just that by forcing Palestinians civilians to stay in buildings that were taken over by Israeli troops.

Amnesty International did also accuse Hamas of their own war crimes for deliberately targeting civilians by launching rockets and mortars into towns in Southern Israel along the border with Gaza.

And you would think if a former member of Congress were arrested in a foreign country, it might make the evening news. But Israel's detention of former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has gone all but unnoticed (after all it has only been a week since Michael Jackson died), even though Israeli forces detained her on Tuesday. McKinney was one of 20 human rights activists onboard a boat loaded with humanitarian supplies that tried to break Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The ship was stopped and its passengers, McKinney included, detained by the Israelis.

The Green Party, which organized the boat trip, is demanding the immediate release of all the activists, a demand the US Congress so far has failed to echo.

Give A Kid A Walkman...

It turns out that thirty years ago today Sony launched the Walkman, and if you have an iPod or any other portable MP3 player, then thank Sony. The cassette-playing Walkman was the world's first portable personal music-player (even though its positively gigantic by today's personal electronics standards), and it ushered in the whole idea of taking your music with you wherever you go.

So what better way to celebrate the birthday of an electronics icon than by dusting off one that's been lurking in your closet for the past few decades and giving it to your 13-year old son for a week? That's exactly what the BBC's Scott Campbell did, you can check out the results here (the reviews weren't entirely negative).

Happy Birthday Walkman!

China Opens Its Wallet For Zimbabwe

While Western governments were reluctant to dole out foreign aid for Zimbabwe, China apparently, is not, today offering up a nearly billion-dollar line of credit to the impoverished nation.

Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai spent the past three weeks on tour, visiting Western heads of state (including Barack Obama), hoping to put together an aid package that would plug the $8 billion hole in his country’s economy. But despite Tsvangirai’s attempts to put a good face on the tour (like touting the $150 million in aid from the European Union), Western governments were skeptical (make that very skeptical) about the power-sharing deal between Tsvangirai and long-time President Robert Mugabe, and largely decided to take a wait-and-see attitude towards giving Zimbabwe aid – wanting to first see real signs of change before investing large sums of money in the country.

A collection of Zimbabwean exiles also decided it’s best to wait and see, even shouting down Tsvangirai’s request that they return home during a meeting with the exile community in London. His ‘partner’, Mugabe took the chance to slam his PM for the poor results of his tour, saying that the Western governments were “imperialists” (the standard Mugabe refrain) and chiding Tsvangirai that they were not his friends.

But then there’s China. While Tsvangirai was away, Chinese officials hashed out a deal with Zimbabwe’s finance minister to provide a $950 million line-of-credit to the nation, apparently with no strings attached.

It’s another example of the differing ways the West and China are approaching Africa these days. Western governments are increasingly linking foreign aid to government reforms – they want to see that African governments are spending the aid money responsibly (and not just dumping it in the Swiss bank accounts of the president’s inner circle), and that governments are responsive to the people – fair elections, a free press, and all those sorts of things. China, meanwhile, has just been tossing huge amounts of cash around, with few strings attached.

Of course the motivation for China’s investment in Africa is to secure raw materials for the ever-expanding manufacturing base that drives their economy. Zimbabwe is no exception – the country is rich in minerals, including: platinum, nickel, zinc, tin, coal and to top it off, diamonds. China’s hoping that a billion dollar line-of-credit will them get more access to Zimbabwe’s mineral reserves.

France, Israel Have War (Of Words)

Israel and France are in the midst of a diplomatic spat over a comment French President Nicolas Sarkozy apparently made to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At a meeting in Paris last week, Sarkozy is said to have told Netanyahu he needed to “get rid” of his Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, Sarkozy went on to suggest that Netanyahu replace him with Tzipi Livni, the former foreign minister. Lieberman has a long history of controversial comments that have led many critics to brand him as anti-Palestinian, if not an outright racist (Lieberman recently suggested Israel’s Arab population should take “loyalty oaths” to Israel or be stripped of their citizenship). But Lieberman used the third-place finish of his political party, Israel Our Home, in last February’s elections to force Netanyahu to give him a plum position in the new government.

Lieberman’s office slammed Sarkozy for meddling in Israel’s internal affairs, while Netanyahu gave his “full confidence” to his foreign minister. And this isn’t the first time Sarkozy has caused a stir in international politics lately – his perceived snub of Queen Elizabeth II cast a shadow over the D-Day commemorations earlier this month, and French-Chinese relations are still suffering following his decision last year to basically treat the Dalai Lama as a visiting head of state, much to the annoyance of China, which views the Dalai Lama not as a spiritual leader, but a political troublemaker who continually focuses the world’s attention onto China’s actions in Tibet.

Ayatollahs: Thanks Michael!

According to author David Rothkopf over at Foreignpolicy.com, the ayatollahs ought to give thanks to Michael Jackson. His rationale? That Jackson’s sudden death effectively drew the media’s attention away from the street protests in Iran and lessened the pressure from the Western world on Iran’s government. Without the world’s focus squarely on them, the Revolutionary Guard’s Basiji militias managed to brutally silence the protestors, and Revolutionary Council even conducted a recount of 10% of the ballots cast (guess what? A-jad won!).

I think that Rothkopf is onto something. On Friday I posted a note on my Facebook page that I thought it was sad the media’s coverage of Jackson’s death was better in both quantity and quality than their coverage of the Iranian protests up to that point. The difference was most noticeable on CNN, where when it came to Michael, they actually had their reporters talking to people instead of relying on an endless string of ‘tweets’ like they had done with their coverage of Iran.

Rothkopf also notes that because the media spent a few days being all Michael all the time, they missed the passage of the Waxman-Markey Bill – also known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act (a.k.a. ACES, since these things have to have a snappy acronym) in the House of Representatives that will set caps on greenhouse gas emissions and funnel billions of dollars into creating “green” jobs.

Weekend Round-up, June 27

Now for a small collection of interesting stories from the past week that didn't seem to fit in elsewhere, but that are still worth a look.

First up, North Korea. While the saber-rattling continues between the North Korean government and, basically, the rest of the world, it’s good to know that there's an almost-complete map of the Hermit Kingdom's extensive railroad network. The amazing thing is that the map was compiled not by the CIA, MI-5 or any other government intelligence agency, but rather by a George Mason University doctoral student.

Curtis Melvin put the map together using Google Earth satellite images, backed up by testimonies from North Korean defectors (Melvin operates the website North Korean Economy Watch). He says that his map is "90% complete" and includes some of the private railway lines used by the North Korean elite to whisk them away to secure luxury retreats far from the crushing poverty endured by the rest of the country.

Australia. For years now, enthusiasts have pointed to crop circles (geometric patterns traced into farmers' fields by flattening crops apparently without human intervention) as evidence of intelligence life in the universe. Officials in Tasmania though have finally identified the mystic creators of at least some of the circles - stoned wallabies.

Apparently the little marsupials have been wandering into the poppy fields of Tasmania and eating the poppy heads, getting stoned in the process. The wasted wallabies are then said to stumble around in circles (creating the aforementioned crop circles), before passing out in a drug-induced stupor. And here it’s important to remember that poppies provide the raw material for heroin and other opiates.

Russia. Finally, while checking out the site EnglishRussia I came across this story about the art of book covers in Russia, with many examples of science-fiction/fantasy novel covers by artist Leo Hao. It's interesting to look at, but there was something about the one pictured here that I found really fascinating. It's obviously a scene from some post-apocalyptic future war of a Russian soldier (who looks oddly like Daniel Craig, the current James Bond) standing in front of a wrecked enemy tank. The flag on the tank though isn't the Stars and Stripes, like you'd expect, but rather it's China's.

A sign of the future of international relations perhaps?

Suicide Bombing Puts Southern Russia On Edge

Russia could be dealing with a new wave of terrorism after a suicide bombing nearly killed Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the President of the Southern Caucasus region of Ingushetia on Monday. As of Thursday night, Yevkurov was still reported to be in serious condition from injuries suffered when an explosives-packed Toyota swerved into his presidential motorcade and blew itself up, several people in his entourage were killed in the attack.

The Caucasus Mountains along Russia's southern border have historically been a hard-to-control region, home to fiercely independent ethnic groups. Since the end of the Soviet Union, Russia has fought two wars in the Caucasus in Chechnya - the second Chechen war sparked a wave of high-profile terrorist attacks across Russia that killed hundreds of civilians. Chechnya has calmed down in recent years since President (and local strongman) Ramzan Kadyrov took control of the territory and was given a free hand by Moscow to crush dissent, by any means necessary. Kadyrov, whose family once fought against the Russians before switching sides, brutally cracked down on Chechen rebels (human rights groups accuse him of many rights violations), to the point where Russia ended anti-terrorism operations in Chechnya earlier this year.

But instead of just going away, the terrorist problem seems to have shifted to the neighboring regions of Ingushetia and Dagestan. And while Yevkurov was the highest-profile official killed or wounded by terrorists, he's far from the first - judges and local government ministers have also been recent victims.

Having pacified Chechnya, Kadyrov is now saying he's ready to take on the Ingush terrorists as well, promising "cruel revenge" against Yevkurov's attackers. "I warn that the terrorists, the inhuman ones, the devils who badly wounded Yevkurov will soon regret it," Kadyrov said, vowing revenge "according to mountain traditions." There are reports that Kadyrov was personally asked by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to take on the anti-terrorist campaign, though officials in Ingushetia say they would prefer to handle matters themselves. The Ingush are also apparently worried that letting Chechnya's Kadyrov take the lead in anti-terrorism operations could be the first step in merging the two regions, like they had been in Soviet times. Recently there's been a drive in Russia to combine some of the country's 83 sub-divisions into bigger regions in an effort to streamline the government.

Meanwhile, there have been no claims of responsibility for the suicide attack on President Yevkurov.

Could Prisioner Release Been the End of "President" Abbas?

I have to wonder if Israel's decision to release a high-profile Palestinian prisoner could lead to political change in Palestine.

On Tuesday, Isreal decided to let Aziz Dweik out of jail two-months early. Mr. Dweik is also the Speaker of the Palestinian Parliament and a member of Hamas, his membership in that organization is what prompted the Israelis to throw him in jail for a three year stretch on charges of being a member of an illegal organization.

But now that Speaker Dweik is out of jail will he, and Hamas, push to formally take over the Palestinian government? While Palestine is currently led by President Mahmoud Abbas, his term in office officially ended in January, meaning that under the Palestinian constitution, Abbas legally has no claim on the job. Power should pass, according to the structures spelled out in the constitution, to the Speaker of the Legislative Council, Mr. Dweik, though formally taking power would obviously have been difficult with him stuck in prison.

Now that's changed. Hamas didn't push the matter of control when Abbas' term ended, because back in January Palestine was reeling from the three-week Israeli incursion into Gaza. But with Dwiek out of jail, the peace process stalled and the relationship between Israel and their chief ally, the United States, strained over the issue of Israeli settlements, you have to wonder if Hamas will think the time is right to make a bid for full control over the Palestinian government.

Cool Picture of the Day

The folks at NASA provide us with the cool picture of the day - a volcanic eruption as seen from space.



The International Space Station happened to be flying over Sarychev Peak, on the Russian island of Matua in the Northern Pacific, while it was erupting. Some quick camera work captured this awesome shot.

Pirate Fear Grips Tuvalu

Even though half the globe separates them, the residents of the tiny South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu are fearful of the Somali pirates.

No, the Somalis haven't sailed all the way to the Pacific (at least not yet), but they did capture 11 Tuvaluan sailors when they seized the German-owned freighter Hansa Stavanger, but to the isolated, tight-knit nation, it's like they’ve captured all of Tuvalu.

Subsistence farming and fishing are the meager ways that Tuvalu's 12,000 residents eek out a living, that and by signing on as seamen on foreign cargo ships. Approximately 40% of Tuvalu's men are estimated to be working as merchant sailors. Many of the men work with shipping firms in Germany, so Tuvaluans never thought that pirates would be a threat to their safety. According to the cousin of one of the captured sailors, as reported by the BBC, many Tuvaluans have never even seen a gun.

To make matters worse, the $15 million ransom that the Somali pirates are requesting for the release of the Hansa Stavanger is more than the entire annual budget for Tuvalu (luckily negotiations are actually going on with the Hansa Stavanger's owners). In the past, the Somali pirates have usually released captured sailors unharmed once some sort of ransom is paid. Until then the folks on Tuvalu will have to wait for their sailors to come home.