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WHO RULES: THE ISRAEL LOBBY
OR UNCLE SAM?
The answer
at last! Uri Avnery, former Knesset member, assesses the Lobby's
power. "If the Israeli government wanted a law tomorrow
annulling the 10 Commandments, 95 U.S. Senators (at least) would
sign the bill forthwith." But, yes, in the end the dog wags
the tail.Fifty
years ago Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" blew the cobwebs
out of millions of young minds and drove a stake through the
heart of Eisenhower's America. Lenni Brenner remembers Ginsberg
in the East Village.Dr Mengele died in exile, in disguise. Dr Ishii
died rich and recognized, in his own Tokyo home. Christopher
Reed on Japanese WW2 medical tortures and how the U.S. covered
them up.CounterPunch
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Venezuela
Deserves the Support of All Those Who Believe in Democracy and
Social Justice
Welcome to London,
President Chavez!
By KEN LIVINGSTONE
President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela
will today become the second head of state--after the Queen--to
be welcomed to London's City Hall. When it comes to the social
transformation taking place in Venezuela, the political qualifications
often necessary in our imperfect world can be set aside. It is
crystal clear on which side right and justice lies. For many
years people have demanded that social progress and democracy
go hand in hand, and that is exactly what is now taking place
in Venezuela.
It therefore deserves the unequivocal
support of not only every supporter of social progress but every
genuine believer in democracy in the world.
Venezuela is a state of huge
oil wealth that was hitherto scarcely used to benefit the population.
Now, for the first time in a country of over 25 million people,
a functioning health service is being built. Seventeen million
people have been given access to free healthcare for the first
time in their lives. Illiteracy has been eliminated. Fifteen
million people have been given access to food, medicines and
other essential products at affordable prices. A quarter of a
million eye operations have been financed to rescue people from
blindness. These are extraordinary practical achievements.
Little wonder, then, that
Chávez and his supporters have won 10 elections in eight
years. These victories were achieved despite a private media
largely controlled by opponents of the government. Yet Chávez's
visit has been met with absurd claims from rightwing activists
that he is some kind of dictator.
The opponents of democracy
are those who orchestrated a coup against Chávez, captured
on film in the extraordinary documentary The
Revolution Will Not Be Televised. It is a film that literally
changes lives. By chance, a TV crew was in the presidential palace
when the military coup of April 2002 against Chávez took
place. It captured minute by minute the events that unfolded.
Anti-Chávez gunmen,
in league with the coup organisers, opened fire on a pro-Chávez
demonstration. As guns are commonplace in Venezuela, some in
the crowd returned fire. US television stations manipulated these
images by editing out the gunfire aimed at the pro- Chávez
crowd to claim that anti-Chavez demonstrators had been attacked.
A million people took to the
streets of Caracas to demand Chávez's release. The moment
when the army deserted the coup leaders and went over to support
the demonstrators is shown on film.
It is a sign of how little
David Cameron's Conservative party has changed that London Tories
are boycotting today's meeting with Chávez. This contrasts,
of course, with the Tories' longstanding feting of the murdering
torturer General Augusto Pinochet. To justify their position
they ludicrously compare Chávez to Stalin. Sometimes it
is necessary to choose the lesser of two evils. Britain fought
with Stalin against Hitler. But with Chávez the choice
is not difficult at all. He is both carrying out a progressive
programme and doing so through the mandate of the ballot box.
George Bush's refusal to respect
the choices of the Venezuelan people shows that his administration
has no real interest in promoting democracy at all.
Not since the 1973 coup that
brought Pinochet to power have people faced a clearer or more
important international choice. In Venezuela millions are struggling
to take their country out of poverty. They are doing so by means
that are among the most democratic in the world. Both are inspiring.
Today Venezuela is being opposed
largely on the basis of lies. We have to make sure Venezuelans
have to face nothing worse. It is the duty of all people who
support progress, justice and democracy to stand with Venezuela.
Ken Livingstone is the mayor of London. He can be
reached at: mayor@london.gov.uk
Now
Available
from CounterPunch Books!
The Case
Against Israel
By Michael Neumann
CounterPunch
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