International

AIPAC is an Enemy of Humanity By Julianne Malveaux

April 22, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Let me begin with the obligatory statements. What happened on October 7, 2023, was horrible. Hamas launched an attack on Israel that some describe as "unprovoked." But at an AIPAC (American Israel Political Action Committee) conference during the 2020 Presidential campaign, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bragged about annexing Palestinian land. While decrying the loss of life from October 7, one might also look at the provocation that prompted extreme action by Hamas.

There is another obligatory statement. Israel has a right to exist. But under what terms and on what land? When the Prime Minister encourages Jewish settlers to occupy Palestinian land, that's an act of aggression. No wonder there are so many angry Palestinians, victims of Israel, who demand self-determination but deny self-determination to others. And if anyone dares question these tactics, they become a target for AIPAC. This rabidly pro-Israel organization refuses to recognize that Palestinians are human beings who also have rights. The organization has gone after those calling for a cease-fire and peace in the Middle East. They are raising $100 million to defeat progressive members of Congress who do not toe the narrow Israel line. And they are indifferent to the fact that as many as 13,000 children have been murdered by Israel's aggression.

AIPAC and its co-conspirators spent nearly $7 million to defeat progressive Donna Edwards because she was not sufficiently pro-Israel. Instead, in a safe Democratic district, AIPAC supported the more moderate Glen Ivey, who was the State Attorney for Prince George's County. Except for his blind support of Israel, Ivey and Edwards are politically similar, though Edwards' positions are often to the left of Ivey's. AIPAC's political interference meant that Maryland's Congressional delegation is now entirely male.

AIPAC is up to its old tricks in this election cycle. They've targeted New York Congressman Jamal Bowman, Pennslyvania Congresswoman Summer Lee, and Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush because they aren't pro-Israel enough for them. These are all African American members of Congress who have the best interest of the Black community at heart. AIPAC has placed itself in direct opposition to the African American community, but why should it care about the African American community?

Lee, Bowman, and Bush aren't the only targets of AIPAC's ire. They've gone after "The Squad," especially Congresswomen Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) and Rashida Talib (Michigan). And they attempt to define anti-Semitism broadly so that even the slightest criticism of Israel is considered objectionable. But members of Congress abdicate their responsibility to raise budget issues if they don't question why, even before the April 20 Congressional action sending more weapons to Israel, our country allocated $3.3 billion to Israel's so-called "self-defense."

I object to my tax dollars being used to murder Gazan children. Those members of Congress who are raising questions are doing the right thing. Those calling for a cease-fire are responding to a moral imperative about the value of human life. Israel is using food as a weapon, blocking supplies to Palestine and killing innocent relief workers and people who are simply trying to provide food for the hungry in Palestine.

Senator Bernie Sanders, Jewish himself, described AIPAC as a "platform for those who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights." He has described Netanyahu as a "reactionary racist ."Many in Israel oppose Netanyahu's strong-arm tactics and would love to topple his government. He has cynically used the war with Hamas to maintain his political position. And Gazan children are dying. While many embrace the notion of an eye for an eye, Netanyahu wants twenty Palestinian eyes for every lost Israeli eye. He has vowed to eliminate Hamas. In practice, he is attempting to eliminate Palestine with his aggressive policies toward settlements and his ruthless land grabbing.

Negotiations about a cease-fire and hostage exchange continue, but children are dying, and AIPAC is blatantly indifferent. Conscientious members of Congress – Bowman, Lee, Bush, Talib, Omar, and others- are targeted because they dare ask questions. AIPAC's bullying may help, not hurt, these progressive legislators as their supporters are rallying around them. Summer Lee raised more than a million dollars in response to AIPAC's attacks, and they've decided to stop targeting her. Voters are concerned about the carnage in Gaza, some so concerned that they may withhold support from President Biden, potentially causing him the 2024 election.

I consider AIPAC and its affiliated groups enemies of humanity and decency. Their take-no-prisoners support for Israel ignores the humanity of the Palestinian people. Their fatwa against those who criticize Israel amounts to censorship. As the conflict continues to rage and more children die, Israel has much to be ashamed of. They are aided and abetted by the powerful AIPAC lobby that believes that Israel can do no wrong.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author and educator.

Haiti At The Bottom Of The Abyss, Soon to Be Led By Outlaws by Joseph Guyler C. Delva

March 12, 2024

Jimmy Cherisier, nicknamed Barbecue, is a gang leader and spokesman for the armed movement.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Trice Edney News Wire) - Haiti has been struggling to exist since 1804, but historians say it had never reached such a low point during the past two centuries; and worse, the impoverished Caribbean country faces now a situation of general dispair, disabling it to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to seize its chance.Since the brutal assassination, in July 2021 of president Jovenel Moise, the international community has been trying, in vain, to get Haitians to agree on a way out of the political crisis, but all the efforts and initiatives have failed because of the shocking unpatriotism of haitian political actors, from all sides.Now, the world's first black free and independent republic could, anytime now, be led by a gang-picked government, in the face of the intransigence of the so-called haitian socioeconomic and political elites.One of the gang leaders, Jimmy Cherisier, nicknamed Barbecue - in the role of a spokesman for the armed mouvement - said gunmen ,from the ghettos, are determined to take over power, regardless of the stands taken by other national and international actors." We, armed men from the ghettos, are now taking over power and no one can prevent us from achieving our goal, in order to facilitate the change the population has always been demanding," Barbecue told journalists with a smile on his face." The time has come. We have put an end to the evil reign of a criminal government and of corrupt oligarchs who have, for too long, held the population hostage'," said Barbecue warning the haitian police and military not to try to stop them.Barbecue said "until now we've been acting with moderation, but if there are people who try to stand in our way, they'll be run over."The gangs have made several attempts to take over the presdential palace, but the well trained and equiped guards protecting the palace have resisted. However, the armed groups have promised to come back stronger.CRIMINAL GANGS COULD BE GRANTED AMNESTYBesides overthowing the Henry government, one of the key objectives pursued by the armed gangs was to be amnestied for the crimes they have committed in recent years, including assassinations and numerous cases of kidnapping and rape.Another leader of the upheaval is former rebel leader and ex police commissioner, Guy Philippe, who has announced that a process to grant amnesty to the gangs will be launched, once the new regime inaugurated."First there would be the Truth Commission, because we have to know how we came to reach the stage where we are now. We need to know who have armed those young people, who gave them the weapons they use, who's given them orders, and how they operate," Philippe explained in a newly released video." After collecting the information, you'll know the truth and then you'll have to address the Justice issue, because a lot of people have fallen victim, a lot of people had been killed or forced to flee their homes," Guy Philippe assured."And after justice has been made, the pardon issue should be addressed, provided that the individuals concerned continue to cooperate with State authorities so it becomes known how the whole problematic has been orchestrated," explained Guy Philippe.Philippe said the approach would help authorities to get better informed about their mode of operation and how those young people had been used, to prevent the situation from happening again.Philippe said the most important thing now is to determine what measures should be taken to prevent future occurrences."Today you may kill all of those guys, and tomorrow the problem becomes worse. This won't, in any way, help serve the interests of the republic," according to the former rebel chief."The reason why a number of people have panicked when the issue is raised, is because they don't want the population to discover the truth, to know about the identity of those who had been arming those young men and women," Philippe stated."We have to hear the armed men and they have to feel that they have interest in helping us understand the complexity of the problem. Otherwise, we're going to have to face the same problem.""That's what the corrupt elites want to impose on the country.But this time, the truth will come out!" Philippe concluded.In a voice note widely published on social media, gang leaders have, in turn, given the guarantee that people may go about their businesses without any fear.They have also called on Haitians from the diaspora not to be afraid any longer to come back to the country."Nothing will happen to you.We are not doing this because someone told us to, but we're doing it because our conscience has demanded it from us," said Jeff "Gwolwa", the gang leader reigning over the district of Canahan, in the West region that includes the capital Port-au-Prince."We kneel to ask forgiveness from all those who have been harmed or who have fallen victim as a result of our actions", Gwolwa said."We have taken the resolution to renounce such actions," he said.Actually a number of hostages have been released over the past 4 days hours, including Douglas Pape, son of famous and philantropic Dr. William Pape, who, among other great endeavors, has set up a specialized center to treat AIDS patientsNEW PROPOSAL FROM CARICOM TALKS DEEMED IMPROBABLE WITHOUT FORCELeaders from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and a series of Haitian political stakeholders have agreed to the appointment of a 7-member presidential Council to lead the political transition.After the announcement, Monday night, by Prime minister Ariel Henry that he would resign and allow for a new regime to assume power, many politicians and other pundits have expressed skepticism as to the possibility for a new regime to be installed, without prior deployment of needed foreign security forces.PM Henry had travelled to Kenya, late Feb, to witness the signature of a reciprocal agreement which has created a legal basis for the Kenyan government to deploy some 1,000 police officers to Haiti in a near future.The US and Canada, two of the most influencial countries in Haiti, have ruled out any possibility to send troops to help stabilize the country, and defeat the armed bands.However, national and international experts agree that a robust multinational force may help provide the needed security and stability for the country to move forward.The plan to deploy Kenyan troops here still stands, but the delay has caused gangs to regain confidence in their capacity to continue to defy state authorities.The so-called Montana group and several others have been disputing different approaches to solving the crisis, but no important steps have been effectively taken.And the continued lack of compromise on the part of the different traditional political actors, can only facilitate the plans orchestrated by the gangs and their allies to take over power, or to move on with their plans to wreack havoc.

Blacks Led Whites in Supporting Cease-Fire Between Israel and Hamas By Richard Prince

Nov. 28, 2023

Christopher Shell (PHOTO: Sharon Farmer)

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Journal-isms

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In a survey nearly three weeks after the Hamas terror attack against Israel, one in four Blacks said the U.S. should play no role in the conflict. Forty-three percent of Black Americans were supporting some form of a cease-fire, versus 35 percent of White Americans. Ninety-five percent of Blacks rejected the idea of unwavering support for Israel while only 77 percent of Whites did.

After an international clamor, such a pause is now in effect. “Hamas released a second group of hostages on Saturday night, the Israeli military said, after an hourslong delay raised fears that a fragile truce in Gaza could collapse altogether. Israel was expected to release Palestinians prisoners within hours,” The New York Times reported Saturday evening, Nov. 25.

The figures on attitudes toward a cease-fire were part of a preview of a survey by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace presented Sunday, Nov. 26, at the Journal-isms Roundtable. They were delivered by Christopher Shell a fellow in Carnegie’s American Statecraft program, who introduced himself as having “done extensive surveys looking at Black American opinion on some pressing foreign policy issues like the war in Ukraine, looking at opinion on issues like US.-China relations, so on and so forth.”

At the end of the survey, taken Oct. 20-25 among 800 Black and 800 White respondents, was this question, Shell said: “How would you rate the media’s coverage” of the Israeli-Hamas conflict?

“And what’s quite interesting is equal shares of Black and white Americans. . . . 30% say that they’re not sure,” he continued. “They’re very unsure about how the media is covering the conflict. So I’m trying to think through this; whether it means that they don’t know they can trust the media and they don’t, maybe they’re not watching the media at all. . . .But what was also quite interesting as well was that Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to think that the media is providing fair coverage to both sides.

“So, 29 percent of Black Americans said the media is providing fair coverage of both sides. 19 percent of white Americans said so.”

However, the survey also showed, “Black Americans are slightly more likely, 35 percent, to believe that the media is providing more coverage in favor of Israel versus 31% of white Americans, and then, on the question of Palestine, only 7 percent of Black Americans think that the media is providing coverage favorable of Palestine versus 20 percent of white Americans.”

Forty people attended the Journal-isms Roundtable by Zoom, with 60 more having watched on Facebook by Thanksgiving day, and 85 more saw it on YouTube before the video was taken down temporarily on Tuesday for editing.

Sunday’s primary speaker was Malcolm Nance, the former counterintelligence agent, author and former MSNBC commentator. Toasts were raised to the new NABJ-Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, and to Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins, new president of the Society of Professional Journalists, the first Black woman in the role. NABJ-Philadelphia was represented by chapter president Michael Days, vice president Melanie Burney and other chapter leaders.

In other survey findings, Shell said 24 percent of Black Americans told survey-takers that the United States should not be involved in any way in the Israeli conflict, versus about 19 percent of White Americans.

Also, 65 percent of Black Americans said, “I pretty much feel the same about [President] Biden,” after the president’s initially unequivocal support for Israel, but 20 percent of independent Black voters and young voters said they felt worse about Biden in the wake of the attack.

Ghanaian Pleads for Help Finding Missing Journalist Brother

July 30, 2023

Ahmed Hussein Suale Divela

Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela is still missing

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Global Information Network

(TriceEdneyWire.com/GIN) - It’s been over four years since assassins came to his neighborhood, waited for investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela, and then shot him in his car.

“We heard the gunshot,” Kamilu Ibrahim Tahidu, Divela’s brother, recalled in a recent interview with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). “Someone ran and said that they were killing our brother.”

Tahidu expressed frustration with the failure by Ghanaian authorities to apprehend those responsible. Certain political elites have not been sufficiently scrutinized, he said, and his speaking out about the murder had brought new threats.

In the year before his murder, Divela was publicly threatened by a politician now seeking to be Ghana’s president.

“If a journalist gets murdered and everyone is silent, nobody seems to take it up,” said a heart-broken Kamilu. “We know that whatever happens, our brother is not coming back. But something should have been done to make sure it never happens again and the only way is to find the people, punish them, and justice will have been served.”

Divela became a journalist out of dissatisfaction with the economic situation for average people in Ghana, his family told CPJ. He worked as a reporter with Tiger Eye Private Investigations, an investigative journalism group headed by Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

The identities of Tiger Eye PI members are not publicly known, as they operate largely undercover to document alleged wrongdoing by those in positions of power.

The year before the murder, Anas and Divela received public threats from Kennedy Agyapong, a prominent member of Ghana’s ruling party now seeking to be Ghana’s president.

The threats came ahead of the release of a Tiger Eye PI film exposing alleged corruption among African soccer officials, including then-president of the Ghana Football Association Kwesi Nyantakyi.

The documentary, “Number 12,” caused an uproar in Ghana’s soccer world when it aired in 2018, prompting Nyantakyi’s resignation and world governing body FIFA to ban him for life from football-related activities.

CPJ reached Nyantakyi by phone, but when asked about the police investigation into him after the killing, he said, “OK, thank you” and then the line disconnected. Follow-up calls rang unanswered.

In March, a Ghanaian judge dismissed Anas’ defamation suit brought in response to Agyapong’s comments. A similar defamation suit filed in the U.S. is ongoing.

Ghana’s presidential election is scheduled for December 2024 and opposition candidate John Mahama recently committed to “speed up” the investigation into Divela’s January 2019 killing. But words from authorities have offered the family little clarity or comfort.

“They promised to get results very soon,” Tahidu said, recalling a conversation with Ghanaian Inspector General of Police George Akuffo Dampare following his appointment back in 2021. “Soon is yet to come.”

Wagner Group - Believed to Have Planned Coup Against Putin - is Deeply Involved in Parts of Africa

June 27, 2023

Wagner Group with Africans

Wagner Group soldiers in the Central African Republic

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from BlackMansStreet.Today

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The Wagner Group, a mercenary Army with business connections, nearly reached Moscow in what many believe was a coup attempt to oust Russian President Vladimir Putin before abruptly turning around last week.

But the Wagner Group has been involved in several African countries since 2017, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The council added that in January 2023, the U.S. government called Wagner Group a "transnational criminal organization.

The Wagner Group, which is led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, is active in the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, and Sudan. The Wagner Group has supported African governments in combatting rebel groups.

Approximately 1,000 troops in the Wagner Group are located in the Central African Republic to defend the government of President Faustim-Archange Touadera against rebel attacks in the capital city of Bangui. In return, Wagner has unrestricted logging rights and control of the Ndassima gold mine, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Wagner forces also fought the Libyan National Army during the 2019 Tripoli campaign during which they were accused of extrajudicial killing and planting land mines in civilian neighborhoods. In Mozambique in 2019, the Wagner Group fought against the self-proclaimed Islamic State in the northern Cabo Delgado province.

And in Sudan, Wagner is training troops to protect mineral deposits and to suppress dissent against President Omar al-Bashir.

The Wagner Group is involved in Africa to make money and to build diplomatic support the United Nations. The Wagner Group has an estimated 5,000 members in Africa. The mercenary group is made up of former Russian soldiers, convicts, and foreign nationals.