Sunday Roundup - May 25, 2014

This is the weekly selection of news and opinion from sources outside the US mainstream corporate media.  Today we look at Israeli-Palestinian relations,  honeybees, the World Cup, and, in brief, Memorial Day, Libya, escalating food prices, and Pope Francis on climate change.

Quote of the Week

“Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude.”

- Pope Francis

Israeli-Palestinian Relations
The "Price Tag" movement has been around since 2008 but has been little covered by the US media.   "Price Tag" attacks "target mosques, churches, Arab and Jewish homes and property, Israeli military bases and vehicles, as well as other Israeli Jews. They involve the desecration of property with anti-Arab and anti-government slogans including the phrase 'price tag', often accompanied by hateful and racist slogans."  The attacks are carried out "by extremist Israeli Jews against Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, often in reprisal for Israeli government action against illegal settlement activity." [Anti-Defamation League, May 7]  Price Tag is getting some attention in the Western press as Pope Francis plans a trip to the Holy Land and a US State Department report has issued a travel warning.  Much to the dismay of Israelis and the powerful Jewish Lobby in Washington DC, the US State Department have even issuing travel warnings now regarding extremist ‘Jewish hate groups’ in Israel [with]... Israelis ...angry that such warnings have been posted on a US government website.  [21st Century Wire, May 11] The attacks have been roundly condemned by the Anti-Defamation League and Peace Now but they continue as enforcement or punishment has been absent or ineffective.  Haaretz reported on May 19 of a demonstration by Israeli Army reservists against ongoing attacks against Palestinians.  Dozens of Israeli reservists staged a protest against what they termed "hate crimes and racism" outside the radical West Bank settlement of Yitzhar on Sunday evening.  Yair Fink, one of the organizers, told the rally: "We regard defending Israel to be the highest value – both against terrorists from the outside and terrorists from within."  

It's a shame that it took the defamation of Christian churches and an upcoming papal visit to get coverage in the Western press of these hate crimes.  But this is no surprise here in the US.  The widespread ignorance of the facts of the Israeli Occupation and the strength of right-wing Israel lobbyists pretty much assure that.  Aaron Mann writes in New Jersey Jewish News on May 15: In March, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spoke at an RNC fundraiser hosted by extreme right-wing “superdonor” -- and prominent Likud supporter -- Sheldon Adelson. The governor’s comments about Israel were just as uncritically hawkish and hardline as one would expect. Until a bit of uncomfortable truth slipped out when Christie mentioned the “Occupied Territories.”  It mattered little that Christie had referenced a term used by almost the entire world, including previous Republican presidents. Many in the audience were aghast, and the governor subsequently offered a personal apology to Adelson for the supposed affront.  Thus, Christie joined ranks with occupation-deniers...[but] the reality is not that complicated. Israel has never annexed the West Bank or Gaza, and the Palestinians living there are under Israeli control, subject to Israeli military law, and have no political rights in Israel. The occupation exists, and the only way to end it is through a two-state solution that brings an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...To deny the occupation and oppose a two-state solution might make one pro-Likud, but that’s not the same thing as being pro-Israel. 

Americans for Peace Now's "Price Tag" Escalation Timeline: Jan 2011 - Present [APN website, May 9]


Honeybee Colony Collapse

European honeybee extracting nectar (Wikipedia)

Honeybees pollinate several hundred billion dollars worth of global crops every year.  So when honeybees started dying off in Europe and North America at unprecedented rates in the 2000's, scientists worked to find the cause. Studies have pointed to neonicotinoid pesticides as a contributor to colony collapse disorder.  The EU voted to impose a two-year moratorium on these pesticides last April but the US is still studying the problem.  On May 20, Mother Jones reported on a Harvard study that strengthens the argument against this widely used pesticide class.  Harvard researcher Chensheng Lu and his team treated 12 colonies with tiny levels of neonics and kept six control hives free of the popular chemicals....Come winter,...the bees in six of the treated hives vanished, leaving behind empty colonies—the classic behavior of colony collapse disorder. None of the six control hives experienced a CCD-style disappearing act....What makes the new Harvard study remarkable is that it actually simulated colony collapse disorder—neonic-treated bees suddenly abandoned hives that had been healthy all summer, while untreated bees hung around and repopulated their hives....More research is needed to identify the mechanism by which neonic pesticides trigger the evacuations, they write, but the results point to "impairment of honeybee neurological functions, specifically memory, cognition, or behavior."  There is a bit of good news.  The USDA has released a preliminary report on its nationwide survey asking beekeepers how their hives fared over the winter. The report found that 23.2 percent of hives collapsed—the lowest levels since CCD began in 2005-06, and down from a peak of about 35 percent in the winter of 2007-08. The previous year's losses clocked in 31 percent.  Note that this is an average for the entire country with some areas exhibiting much higher losses.  Ohio, for example, reported losses from 50 to 80 percent.

Link to other posts on honeybee colony collapse

World Cup
The World Cup tournament kicks off in Brazil on Thursday June 12.  Team USA plays its first game against Ghana on June 16.  The Azzurri's opener is against England June 14.  You can find the complete Group Stage schedule here.  The pre-tournament favorite, currently at 3 to 1, is Brazil.  Italy is 28 to 1.  USA is 225 to 1.  Oh well.

The May 21 Sydney Morning Herald carried a story on Pele's thoughts on the preparations for the games: Brazil legend Pele was critical of his country's preparations.  "It's clear that politically speaking, the money spent to build the stadiums was a lot, and in some cases was more than it should have been," Pele said.  He said "some of this money could have been invested in schools, in hospitals.... Brazil needs it. That's clear. On that point, I agree (with the protests)." 4 billion US$ have been spent on stadiums alone.  Several are still incomplete with just 3 weeks to go until the first game.  Pele was particularly critical of the stadium in Sao Paulo, the venue for the opening match between Brazil and Croatia on June 12.  Officials acknowledged last week that a portion of the roof won't be completed until after the World Cup ends on July 13.  

Brazilian star Marta Vieira da Silva (from The Far Post article)

The April 29 article in The Far Post series from Roads & Kingdoms relates the slow development of women's soccer in Brazil.  The article leads with the story of Marta Vieira da Silva (aka "Pele in skirts").  Marta’s game—like Pelé’s—is Brazilian football: quick, explosive, and exhibiting the impeccable ball control that comes from a childhood spent playing in the streets and in the country’s ubiquitous enclosed concrete courts.She also shares the narrative so common to male Brazilian footballers, of rising to stardom from humble origins. ...she played street football as a child but like the neighborhood girls (and most girls in the country), she was discouraged from participating...She would rise through the ranks of the women’s team associated with Rio’s Vasco de Gama club,...has played for numerous professional clubs in her country and abroad, and has starred for the Brazilian women’s national team, becoming a World Cup and Olympic medalist, a five-time FIFA Player of the Year, and an international icon.  As striking as Marta’s story is, her success is even more striking in the context of her country. In the land of the jogo bonito, women still face immense hurdles to simply participating in the sport, let alone achieving recognition for their footballing talent.  The article also relates the story of Aline Pellegrino, another Brazilian woman soccer star, and former American player Caitlin Fisher who played in Brazil and was a co-founder of the Guerreiras Project.  Led by professional female football players, the project ...uses football as the language with which to address gender justice. The group runs workshops...to open discussions about gender norms, it trains young girls to be leaders, and it encourages the creation of more opportunities for girls and women to play.

In Brief
Link to The Left Bank Cafe post "Remembering the Fallen" (Memorial Day 2013)

While House Republicans play politics on Benghazi, Libya is on the verge of imploding.  The Guardian May 22 post describes "Khalifa Haftar: renegade general causing upheaval in Libya".

The price of popular breakfast cereals is set to soar over the next 15 years as a result of climate change...Staples like corn and rice will double in cost by 2030, with half of that increase due to climate change [Mother Jones]

Pope Francis made the religious case for tackling climate change...calling on his fellow Christians to become “Custodians of Creation” and issuing a dire warning about the potentially catastrophic effects of global climate change: “Safeguard Creation,” he said. “Because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us!" [Think Progress/Climate Progress]