I can’t remember when the first time I heard this chant at a protest. But it struck me as a powerful and true statement. I thought it came from the early union struggles here in the US. Only recently I learned that the chant is the title of a Chilean song ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido! which was written as a sort of unoffical anthem for Allende’s political movement. The song and chant became even more popular and widely used by protest movements around the world, after Pinochet’s bloody coup. You can read the lyrics and listen to it here. (I can’t say I love the lyrics or the music – it sounds more like a turn-of-the-20th-century Russian socialist “workers” song than an indigenous Chilean melody).
As quoted on the link above, the composer of the song himself notes how he heard the chant at a rally and it inspired him to write the song. I have been unable to trace the history of the chant any further back. Whatever its origins, it came to mind this week as I watched events unfold in Iran.
Tags: Iran
Yesterday’s post cited an article from the WSJ entitled Iran’s Web Spying Aided by Western Technology. I added some commentary which I decided to pull out since the article has broad implications about government use of the Internet to spy on its citizenry.
Tags: Propaganda
The situation is so fluid on the ground, that I hesitate to comment, This post is a collection of news articles and commentary I personally found educational and enlightening. I start with a quote which expresses my own feelings about what is going on. It seems exceedingly strange to me that I quote a sitting President as the person who most eloquently expresses my own feelings. But Barack Obama does have a gift with words, and he is an exceptionally kind and intelligent man:
The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.
As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.
Martin Luther King once said – “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.
Tags: Iran
Nearly a year ago I wrote this post on the topic. I actually began the part 2, but let it lie for a while. Given the dramatic events in Iran and the pseudo-debate in the US about how Obama should react, I find it apt to finish up the topic now.
Tags: Empire, Feature, Human Rights, Hypocrisy, Nationalism
Ha’aretz hands the paper over to writers instead of journalists for one day. Go to the Ha’aretz site and choose June 10th under “Previous Editions” to see it. This article by Etgar Keret is amongst my favorites:
Barak spoke Tuesday night to the Council for Peace and Security, in an auditorium full of veterans of the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet security service and the Mossad – or as one journalist described it, “generations of defense officials. These people led us from disaster to disaster.” …
The speech was erudite and precise. The text was pragmatic. But the subtext was depressing: We cannot survive without a treaty, but we have no one to sign one with. We must try, but just between the two of us, it won’t work. The word “opportunity” was mentioned repeatedly, but every time, it was accompanied by a sigh. Pessimism is part and parcel of being a rightist leader, but to be a pessimistic leftist leader is unpleasant.
Three reactions to the Obama speech by left-leaning Israeli journalists. More below.
The NY Times headline reads: “Obama Pins Mideast Hope on Limiting Settlements.” They label it “News Analysis” but it’s really a propaganda opinion piece. More below.
Tags: Feature, Israeli Politics, Propaganda
A review of the current political situation in Israel. It’s quite amusing and predictable. It amazes me that Bibi got re-elected in the first place. What were they thinking? Did anyone really believe he had “improved” somehow?
It is hard not to be amazed by the speed with which Netanyahu’s second term has become a kind of rerun of his first, in nearly every sense. Within 60 days, including holidays, he has entered into a conflict with the United States and its popular new president; his government started off with tension in the legal establishment, after caving in to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s demand to give his party the Justice and Public Security Ministries and chairmanship of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. The prime minister also took a beating after the budget deliberations, when he was depicted as having zigzagged and then surrendering to the chairman of the Histadrut labor federation.
In public opinion polls, Netanyahu is already deep into the red. The percentages of satisfaction with him are approaching those of former prime minister Ehud Olmert after the Second Lebanon War. We have already seen that polls do not topple prime ministers, but they do make his term an agonizing, hair-whitening, humiliating journey.
Tags: Israeli Politics
Israeli right wing group (Hazit) plans on plastering the country with the poster shown below. If I didn’t know better I would assume its a joke. Bad Photoshop job plus he looks so kind.
Obama in a Kafiyeh
Tags: Propaganda, Settlers
Relevant Quotes
Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz: Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace -- Benito Juárez
It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it. -- Eleanor Roosevelt
Let them call me a rebel and welcome. I feel no concern from it. But should I suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul -- Thomas Paine