World Other Press Newswire Archive

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Wednesday October 5th, 2011

On September 27th Lauren Ellis published an essay in Mother Jones Magazine entitled “Is #OccupyWallStreet Working?”

The essay argues that Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is not working because the movement has no clear message and is not demographically representative of those who are affected most by the current economic problems. While Ellis does raise important points about movement-messaging and political representation, she in no way tries to understand the internal logic and outward expression of OWS.

Ellis’ conclusions center around four main points: that OWS’s “kitchen sink approach” is a form of ineffective messaging; that the media’s focus on the police brutality distracts from OWS’s main message (or lack thereof); that the hacktavist collective Anonymous inhibits the OWS movement; and that the OWS participants are the “usual suspects” of “dreamers.” In what follows, I provide counter-arguments to each of Ellis’ points as an attempt to flesh-out some of the philosophies, practices, and communicative strategies of Occupy Wall Street. I want to note that I am not seeking to attack Lauren Ellis in any way. Instead, I am trying to demonstrate why her arguments—representative of many like-minded skeptics—are insufficiently substantiated.

The "Occupy Wall Street" protests in the financial district took a dramatic turn on Saturday when protesters tried to march across the Brooklyn Bridge. When police arrested 700 of the demonstrators, the event quickly turned into one of the largest arrests of non-violent protesters in recent history. Some protesters claim police lured them onto oncoming traffic on the bridge’s roadway; others said they did not hear instructions from police telling them to use the pedestrian walkway. Meanwhile, similar "Occupation" protests have spread to other cities, including Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles, where hundreds of protesters are now camped out in front of City Hall. We host a roundtable discussion with Marisa Holmes, an organizer with the main organizing group of Occupy Wall Street, called the General Assembly, Marina Sitrin, an attorney who is part of Occupy Wall Street’s legal working group, and Laurie Penny, a writer and journalist who reported on protests in London earlier this summer

#OccupyWallStreet protests are now well into their second week, and they are increasingly capturing the public spotlight. This is because, whatever limitations their occupation has, the protesters have done many things right.

The rebellious anarchist magazine is back with another 92 pages of resistance and revolution to keep you ticking. D.I.Y and not for profit, this magazine aims to be a voice from the uncontrollables.

In complete denial of the genocides perpetrated by ten years of Anglo-American-led wars across the globe, Mr Cameron and Mr Obama would still have us believe that their aim is “to spread peace, prosperity, democracy”.

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Thursday September 22, 2011.

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Wednesday September 21, 2011.

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Thursday September 15, 2011

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Wednesday September 14, 2011

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday September 13, 2011

Unlike George Bush, who kept a low profile since leaving presidency in 2009, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (1997-2007), the other war criminal-in-chief, is still at the forefront of war propaganda efforts.

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Thursday September 8, 2011.

The western media find it more difficult to deny a pattern of murderous ethnic cleansing by the racist Libyan rebels they have treated as saints and heroes for the past six months. Thousands of black Libyans and sub-Saharan immigrants have been murdered by NATO-financed, heavily Islamist fighters who, as African Union chairman Jean Ping says, seem to “confuse black people with mercenaries.” In truth, the Libyan rebels are no more confused about the identity of their victims than South Carolina lynch mobs or German Nazis; they’re racist killers, pure and simple.

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Wednesday, September 7th, 2011.

To this day, 9/11 mythology remains official dogma on air and in print. As a result, most Americans remain unaware of the biggest lie of our time and its horrific consequences, touching their lives directly.

Sunday marks the 10th 9/11 anniversary. As on previous anniversaries, the media cover everything except what Americans most need to know - the truth.

If you thought the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 would be an endless barrage of media coverage rehashing the official story and taking occasional swipes at the 9/11 truth movement, think again.

Well, if you live in Europe, that is.

This coming Sunday, September 4, three major European channels will air in-depth stories on the Remember Building 7 campaign. M6, among France’s largest channels, will show a 90-minute documentary about various 9/11 family and first responder groups, a significant portion of which will cover Remember Building 7 (click here to see the trailer). In the same vein, RAI 3, Italy’s BBC, will show a feature length documentary that devotes significant time to Remember Building 7. And RTL, one of Germany’s largest channels, will show a Spiegel TV special about Remember Building 7 and the 9/11 truth movement.

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Thrsday September 1, 2011.

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Wednesday August 31, 2011.

IJID Note: As this interview took place just before the launching of the NATO military attack against Libya at the end of March, it can be taken as a third party’s testimony reflecting the feelings of most of Libyan people just before the western aggression.

Leonor’s note: First of all, I want to note that my testimony is my personal opinion and I don't have any economic or political interests. My only wish is to talk about the country and about the people who live in it because I think there's a lot of ignorance about it. In fact, all the mass media information is being focused on a particular man (Gaddafi) in a very biased way.