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U.S. Owes Black People Reparations for a History of `Racial Terrorism,' Says U.N. Panel

Ishaan Tharoor The Washington Post
The legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remains a serious challenge, as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent, a United Nations report stated. "Contemporary police killings and the trauma that they create are reminiscent of the past racial terror of lynching."

Russians May Have a Strong Case in Turkish Shootdown

Charles J. Dunlap Jr. The Hill
While President Obama is certainly correct in saying that "Turkey, like every country, has a right to defend its territory and its airspace," exactly how it may do so is more complicated than the president implies. In fact, the Russians may have strong legal arguments that any such right under international law was wrongly asserted in this instance.

Beyond Abbas and Oslo

Rashid Khalidi The New Yorker
The Oslo Accords have been a disaster for Palestinians and a boon to those who wish to maintain Israel’s nearly half-century-old occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. In his U.N. speech, Abbas, one of Oslo’s architects, declared that he would no longer abide by its terms unless Israel stopped running roughshod over them. This declaration won’t mean much unless it’s translated into concrete action.

#GlobalGoals? The Truth About Poverty and How to Address It

Rajesh Makwana Share The World
It's high time UN agencies and the mainstream media acknowledge the true scale of global poverty and engage in a long overdue public debate on how ambitious and transformative the international development agenda really is.

US Cited for Police Violence, Racism in Scathing UN Review on Human Rights

Natasja Sheriff Al Jazeera
117 countries criticized, shamed and attacked the U.S. for police violence and racial discrimination at the United Nations Human Rights Council hearing in Geneva. Among the various concerns raised were the failure to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, the continued use of the death penalty, the need for adequate protections for migrant workers and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples.

MLK's Call to Honor Peace, Justice and Our Planet Still Challenges Us

Jacqueline Cabasso, Joseph Gerson and Kevin Martin Truthout
Thousands of peace, social justice and environmental activists from around the world will gather in New York City from April 24-26 for the Peace and Planet Mobilization for a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World - challenges articulated by Dr. Martin Luther King. Peace and Planet convenes prior to the April 27 - May 22 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference at the United Nations, bringing the voice of civil society to the governmental confab.

Youth Resistance Unleashed

Bernardine Dohrn Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership
Now and historically, it is the youth who reject taken-for-granted injustices. In this moment, young people are the social actors – the leadership, catalysts, the activists, and the organizers – who seized and defined a continuing travesty of North American life: the police murder of Black lives. Rising up against the thickening layers of institutionalized white supremacy, young people are insisting that Black Lives Matter.

Gaza in Ruins After Receiving Only 5% of Pledged Reconstruction Funds

Ken Klippenstein Reader Supported News
Palestinian children dying of hypothermia, 90% of water undrinkable and other daily realities resulting from Israeli criminal occupation and blockade are reviewed by Chris Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as he discusses the causes and consequences of the fact that only about 5% of pledged donations have reached Gaza.
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