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xhxhxhx · 4 years

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The more we restore detail to the German reparations project the less applicable it becomes to the American debate. The Luxembourg Agreement of 1952 – reached between Adenauer’s government and the state of Israel, along with representatives of the Jewish Claims Conference – and the legislation that followed it, the Additional Federal Compensation Act of 1953, didn’t apply to Jews in general, or to their descendants, or to the tens of millions of other victims of the Nazi regime. Under the agreement Germany paid Israel compensation for resettling half a million Jewish refugees. The use of the money was severely restricted: most of it could be used only to purchase goods produced in Germany – telephone systems, electrical generators, railway sleepers, chemicals. There is no question that this was good for the new Jewish state as well as for German business, and it improved the standing of the Bundesrepublik with its Allied occupiers. But it has little relevance for those in the US who want to think about how reparations for slavery could be arranged.

A revised Federal Compensation Act in 1956 also offered reparations to a narrowly delineated subset of German Jews who had suffered specific sorts of ill-treatment and to their surviving dependants. Claims had to be filed by the end of 1969. Over the next fifty years other groups became eligible for reparations, each with a different compensation schedule. The last large-scale payments were agreed late in 1999 after a series of lawsuits were brought in the US on behalf of people who had worked as forced and slave labourers during the war, as well as claimants against various German insurance companies and banks. Hundreds of lawyers and functionaries representing clients with divergent interests came up with a schedule of payments with which no one was happy. By the time the fund was established in 2000, 10 per cent of those who might have benefited were dead.

The Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future paid out €4.45 billion, and was jointly financed by the German government and 6500 Germany companies. Smaller amounts are still being distributed: in 2018 the Claims Conference and the German government announced that there would be a one-off payment of €2500 to each of the few remaining survivors of the Kindertransport. But many of those who had suffered most were beyond reparations, including the rabbis who were murdered with their congregations in the forests of Ukraine or the death camps of Poland. The German rabbis who managed to escape to safety were given back pay or pensions as the civil servants they had been, or reparations for lost personal property if they could document chair by chair and fork by fork what had been taken from them. The chasm between suffering and recompense was vast.

I need to declare an interest here: a coming to terms with my own past. As a child of the German Jewish diaspora I lived in some intimacy with the Wiedergutmachung, the German reparations. There was a lot of talk in my family and among our friends about finding documents that would establish eligibility and prove damages; there was a lot of talk about who got how much and what for. There was general agreement that the single biggest determinant of success in obtaining reparations was the effectiveness of your lawyer. I don’t remember there being any of the moral fervour that informs the debate about reparations to African Americans for slavery. But an elegiac sadness was attached to the country they had lost: every household in my parents’ circles in the US and England and Israel had copies of Goethe and Schiller. For them, an inner Germany remained: ‘Die Schweine’ – the swine – had captured their Germany, the real Germany, but it remained the home of the soul even if return was impossible, just as the South has remained home to some of the African Americans who left it.

My cousin Gunther emigrated to Holland with his mother, my father’s oldest sister, after Hitler came to power. In the summer of 1943, when he was 22 and she was 44, they were caught up in one of a series of raids on Amsterdam’s Jewish areas. Gunther, wearing a leather bomber jacket of the sort the SS favoured, started shouting abuse at his fellow Jews, was presumably mistaken for a German, and allowed to walk away. At least, that’s how he tells the story. He never saw his mother again. He lived underground for nearly two years until Amsterdam was liberated in early May 1945. His mother was murdered at Sobibor on 9 July 1943. Gunther fell between the stools of eligibility for reparations: too young for a profession, he couldn’t get reparations for his career being interrupted; being between high school and university when the war began, he couldn’t argue that his studies had been interrupted.

My grandmother never quite believed that her daughter had been murdered: she was somewhere in ‘the East’, she claimed. I’m not sure she was ever told what had become of her own older sister: the Yad Vashem database says only that she was ‘murdered in the Shoah’; according to Red Cross records, she received a care package in Terezín. Maybe she died there. My grandmother escaped to Turkey in December 1939 with all her possessions in a couple of suitcases. She had no documentation for her Bechstein grand piano, which had kept her in Germany until it was almost too late, or for the other possessions she’d left behind, and so had no chance of proving a claim for material losses. The law held that German citizens whose relatives could be shown to ‘have been killed or driven to death within eight months of persecution’ were eligible to apply for reparations, but only if the person killed had been the family’s primary breadwinner. My grandmother got a share of the pension due to her husband as director of the health insurance system in Hamburg.

On the scale of Holocaust suffering my family’s was modest. But those who had suffered far more got proportionally much less. My colleague Paula Fass, the child of camp survivors, has written about discovering her ghost family, the families her mother and father lost before they met in a displaced persons’ camp in Germany and started anew. These were the families of which they would not speak. Her mother sent off her nine-year-old son with a bit of bread in a sack she had sewn when he was taken from the children’s ghetto in Lodz to be murdered on 4 September 1942; her then husband was murdered later. Paula’s father, his first wife and four children – aged between ten and fifteen – were transported to Auschwitz when the Lodz ghetto was liquidated in August 1944. Only he survived, and there is no record of when the rest of his family was killed: ‘presumed murdered’ is all the Yad Vashem database says. By that point, in 1944, the Germans were murdering and burning Jews at the rate of ten thousand a day and their record-keeping had slipped. I asked Paula whether her parents received any reparations. They had: for impairment to their health. He was judged 40 per cent disabled; she 30 per cent, the lowest level for which compensation was available. Their eligibility had to be recertified every year by a German doctor.

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pope-francis-quotes · 4 years

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12th April >> (@ZenitEnglish) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis Holy Father’s ‘Urbi et Orbi’ Blessing This Easter From Inside an Empty Vatican Basilica (Full Text).

‘May Christ, who has already defeated death and opened for us the way to eternal salvation, dispel the darkness of our suffering humanity and lead us into the light of his glorious day, a day that knows no end’

Pope Francis after his Easter Mass, gave his message “Urbi et Orbi” from inside the Vatican Basilica. In light of the worldwide coronavirus epidemic, no pilgrims were present. Only present in St. Peter’s Square were police, journalists and seagulls. Millions more listened through radio and television around the world:

Following is the Vatican-provided text of his prepared message:

Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!

Today the Church’s proclamation echoes throughout the world: “Jesus Christ is risen!” – “He is truly risen!”.

Like a new flame this Good News springs up in the night: the night of a world already faced with epochal challenges and now oppressed by a pandemic severely testing our whole human family. In this night, the Church’s voice rings out: “Christ, my hope, is risen!” (Easter Sequence).

This is a different “contagion”, a message transmitted from heart to heart – for every human heart awaits this Good News. It is the contagion of hope: “Christ, my hope, is risen!”. This is no magic formula that makes problems vanish. No, the resurrection of Christ is not that. Instead, it is the victory of love over the root of evil, a victory that does not “by-pass” suffering and death, but passes through them, opening a path in the abyss, transforming evil into good: this is the unique hallmark of the power of God.

The Risen Lord is also the Crucified One, not someone else. In his glorious body he bears indelible wounds: wounds that have become windows of hope. Let us turn our gaze to him that he may heal the wounds of an afflicted humanity.

Today my thoughts turn in the first place to the many who have been directly affected by the coronavirus: the sick, those who have died and family members who mourn the loss of their loved ones, to whom, in some cases, they were unable even to bid a final farewell. May the Lord of life welcome the departed into his kingdom and grant comfort and hope to those still suffering, especially the elderly and those who are alone. May he never withdraw his consolation and help from those who are especially vulnerable, such as persons who work in nursing homes, or live in barracks and prisons. For many, this is an Easter of solitude lived amid the sorrow and hardship that the pandemic is causing, from physical suffering to economic difficulties.

This disease has not only deprived us of human closeness, but also of the possibility of receiving in person the consolation that flows from the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist and Reconciliation. In many countries, it has not been possible to approach them, but the Lord has not left us alone! United in our prayer, we are convinced that he has laid his hand upon us (cf. Ps 138:5), firmly reassuring us: Do not be afraid, “I have risen and I am with you still!” (cf. Roman Missal, Entrance Antiphon, Mass of Easter Sunday).

May Jesus, our Passover, grant strength and hope to doctors and nurses, who everywhere offer a witness of care and love for our neighbours, to the point of exhaustion and not infrequently at the expense of their own health. Our gratitude and affection go to them, to all who work diligently to guarantee the essential services necessary for civil society, and to the law enforcement and military personnel who in many countries have helped ease people’s difficulties and sufferings.

In these weeks, the lives of millions of people have suddenly changed. For many, remaining at home has been an opportunity to reflect, to withdraw from the frenetic pace of life, stay with loved ones and enjoy their company. For many, though, this is also a time of worry about an uncertain future, about jobs that are at risk and about other consequences of the current crisis. I encourage political leaders to work actively for the common good, to provide the means and resources needed to enable everyone to lead a dignified life and, when circumstances allow, to assist them in resuming their normal daily activities.

This is not a time for indifference, because the whole world is suffering and needs to be united in facing the pandemic. May the risen Jesus grant hope to all the poor, to those living on the peripheries, to refugees and the homeless. May these, the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters living in the cities and peripheries of every part of the world, not be abandoned. Let us ensure that they do not lack basic necessities (all the more difficult to find now that many businesses are closed) such as medicine and especially the possibility of adequate health care. In light of the present circumstances, may international sanctions be relaxed, since these make it difficult for countries on which they have been imposed to provide adequate support to their citizens, and may all nations be put in a position to meet the greatest needs of the moment through the reduction, if not the forgiveness, of the debt burdening the balance sheets of the poorest nations.

This is not a time for self-centredness, because the challenge we are facing is shared by all, without distinguishing between persons. Among the many areas of the world affected by the coronavirus, I think in a special way of Europe. After the Second World War, this beloved continent was able to rise again, thanks to a concrete spirit of solidarity that enabled it to overcome the rivalries of the past. It is more urgent than ever, especially in the present circumstances, that these rivalries do not regain force, but that all recognize themselves as part of a single family and support one another. The European Union is presently facing an epochal challenge, on which will depend not only its future but that of the whole world. Let us not lose the opportunity to give further proof of solidarity, also by turning to innovative solutions. The only alternative is the selfishness of particular interests and the temptation of a return to the past, at the risk of severely damaging the peaceful coexistence and development of future generations.

This is not a time for division. May Christ our peace enlighten all who have responsibility in conflicts, that they may have the courage to support the appeal for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world. This is not a time for continuing to manufacture and deal in arms, spending vast amounts of money that ought to be used to care for others and save lives. Rather, may this be a time for finally ending the long war that has caused such great bloodshed in Syria, the conflict in Yemen and the hostilities in Iraq and in Lebanon. May this be the time when Israelis and Palestinians resume dialogue in order to find a stable and lasting solution that will allow both to live in peace. May the sufferings of the people who live in the eastern regions of Ukraine come to an end. May the terrorist attacks carried out against so many innocent people in different African countries come to an end.

This is not a time for forgetfulness. The crisis we are facing should not make us forget the many other crises that bring suffering to so many people. May the Lord of life be close to all those in Asia and Africa who are experiencing grave humanitarian crises, as in the Province of Cabo Delgado in the north of Mozambique. May he warm the hearts of the many refugees displaced because of wars, drought and famine. May he grant protection to migrants and refugees, many of them children, who are living in unbearable conditions, especially in Libya and on the border between Greece and Turkey. In Venezuela, may he enable concrete and immediate solutions to be reached that can permit international assistance to a population suffering from the grave political, socio-economic and health situation.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Indifference, self-centredness, division and forgetfulness are not words we want to hear at this time. We want to ban these words for ever! They seem to prevail when fear and death overwhelm us, that is, when we do not let the Lord Jesus triumph in our hearts and lives. May Christ, who has already defeated death and opened for us the way to eternal salvation, dispel the darkness of our suffering humanity and lead us into the light of his glorious day, a day that knows no end.

[Original text: Italian]

12th APRIL 2020 12:53CATHOLIC CHURCH, POPE AND HOLY SEE

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newstfionline · 2 years

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Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Across US, faith groups mobilize to aid Ukrainian refugees (AP) As U.S. refugee resettlement agencies and nonprofits nationwide gear up to help Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion and war that has raged for nearly six weeks, members of faith communities have been leading the charge to welcome the displaced. In Southern California, pastors and lay individuals are stationing themselves at the Mexico border waving Ukrainian flags and offering food, water and prayer. Around the country, other religious groups are getting ready to provide longer-term support for refugees who will have to find housing, work, health care and schooling. Refugee resettlement agencies can use all the help they can get to accommodate the influx. Deep cuts during the Trump administration led them to slash staffing and programming, and they have already been scrambling to help tens of thousands of Afghans seeking asylum after fleeing last year’s Taliban takeover.

States look for solutions as US fentanyl deaths keep rising (AP) As the addiction and overdose crisis that has gripped the U.S. for two decades turns even deadlier, state governments are scrambling for ways to stem the destruction wrought by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. In statehouses across the country, lawmakers have been considering and adopting laws on two fronts: reducing the risk to users and increasing the penalties for dealing fentanyl or mixing it with other drugs. Meanwhile, Republican state attorneys general are calling for more federal action, while some GOP governors are deploying National Guard units with a mission that includes stopping the flow of fentanyl from Mexico. The urgency is heightened because of the deepening impact of the drugs. Last year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the nation had hit a grim milestone. For the first time, more than 100,000 Americans had died of drug overdoses over a 12-month period. About two-thirds of the deaths were linked to fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, which can be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, heroin or prescription opioids.

Mexico suspends gasoline subsidy as U.S. drivers cross border for deals (Reuters) Mexico, which has been subsidizing gasoline to soften price spikes, said on Saturday the policy would not apply in the U.S. border region this week, citing shortages as more Americans drive south to fill their tanks. The suspension of the subsidy from April 2-8 covers cities in the border states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora and Baja California, including Tijuana, one of the world’s busiest border crossings. “In the United States, gasoline prices are higher than in Mexico, and citizens of that country cross the border to stock up,” the finance ministry said. As fuel prices have spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine, more people living in the United States are driving across the border into Mexico in search of lower gas prices.

Brazil eases COVID-related restrictions on international travelers (Reuters) Brazilian health agency Anvisa on Saturday issued a new set of rules for incoming international travelers, easing restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic as the health crisis subsides in the South American nation. Anvisa said vaccinated Brazilians and foreigners are now exempt from presenting proof of a COVID-19 test with a negative or non-detectable result. They are only required to present proof of vaccination, printed or electronically. Under the rules, a traveler is considered fully vaccinated after taking two doses or a single dose of a anti-COVID vaccine, depending on the type of immunizer. The vaccination scheme must be complete at least 14 days before the date of departure, Anvisa said.

Hungary’s Orban popular at home, isolated abroad after win (AP) As Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban prepares to continue his autocratic governance of Hungary for another four years, he faces a shattered opposition at home but an increasingly isolated position abroad, where his flouting of democratic standards and approach to the war in Ukraine has riled the European Union and other nations. On Sunday, as officials from his right-wing Fidesz party gathered at an election night event on the Danube river in Budapest, Orban told supporters that their landslide victory in the country’s national election was a message to Europe that his model of “illiberal democracy” was a prophecy for the continent’s future. But while Orban’s party won 53% of the vote in Hungary, convincing Europe to get on board won’t be so easy. Orban already faces heavy pressure in the EU to change tack on his approach to corruption, minority rights and media freedom, and as war rages in neighboring Ukraine, his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin have alienated even some of his closest allies.

In a Kyiv Suburb, ‘They Shot Everyone They Saw’ (NYT) When a column of Russian tanks drove into the Kyiv suburb of Bucha in the first days of the war, Tetiana Pomazanko thought they held Ukrainian soldiers and went out to her front gate to see. But the troops opened fire on Ms. Pomazanko, 56. Bullets ripped through the wooden gate and fence around her house, killing her instantly. Her body still lay in the garden on Sunday, where her 76-year-old mother had covered her as best she could with plastic sheeting and wooden boards. Ms. Pomazanko’s killing is just one of scores being uncovered days after Russian troops withdrew from the outlying suburbs of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, after weeks of fierce fighting. On Sunday, Ukrainians were still finding the dead in yards and on the roads amid mounting evidence that civilians had been killed purposely and indiscriminately. Ukrainian officials said 410 civilian bodies were found in the area. After the discovery, President Vlodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of committing genocide. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Zelensky's spokesman, Sergiy Nikiforov, also accuse Russia of war crimes and intentional massacre. French President Emmanuel Macron demanded additional sanctions on Russian oil and coal.

Does the war in Ukraine mark a ‘turning point in history’? (Washington Post) Five weeks ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivered a fateful speech in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His government’s decision to, among other things, inject more than $100 billion into the country’s military and deliver lethal support to Kyiv marked a sweeping policy shift away from decades of constitutional pacifism that had kept Germany often on the sidelines of major conflicts. It was, in the words of Scholz and his allies, a “Zeitenwende”—a turning point in history, a watershed moment. After clinging to European visions of perpetual peace, war in the heart of the continent had shaken Germany’s cautious political establishment into action. For many on both sides of the Atlantic, the battles in Ukraine may even mark something more stark—a “Zeitenbruch,” as coined by former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer, which is a rupture in history, the closing of one age and the entry into another marked by even deeper uncertainty and great power rivalry. In Washington, let alone the capitals of Western Europe, there’s a palpable change in atmosphere. In the West, the fight over Ukraine is seen with almost Churchillian clarity. Elsewhere—particularly in countries that have reasons to doubt Winston Churchill and Western moralism—suspicion and distrust endures. “You never know when the U.S. will spring a nasty surprise on you and start to look at you negatively, which is something the world’s only Hindu-majority country has to worry about,” right-wing Indian journalist Raghavan Jagannathan told my colleague Gerry Shih. “You have an Abrahamic past. There’s a strong binary of, ‘You’re right or wrong, you’re with us or against us.’”

Sri Lanka ministers quit after protests, 4 new ministers sworn in (AP) Twenty-six of Sri Lanka’s ministers, with the exception of President Gotabaya Rajapaksaha and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksaha, have resigned after mass protests about the economic crisis. Just hours after the mass resignation, four new ministers were sworn in. The governor of Sri Lanka's central bank also announced his resignation.

Hong Kong leader Lam won’t seek new term after rocky 5 years (AP) Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Monday she wouldn’t seek a second term after a rocky five years marked by huge protests calling for her resignation, a security crackdown that has quashed dissent and most recently a COVID-19 wave that overwhelmed the health system. Her successor will be picked in May and the city’s security chief during the 2019 protests is among the possible choices. She presided over a period in which Beijing firmly established control over the former British colony that was returned to China in 1997. For years, the city rocked back and forth between calls for more freedom and growing signs of China extending its reach into the city, even after Hong Kong was promised 50 years of freedom to govern itself semi-autonomously from the mainland.

‘Fighting Was Easier’: Taliban Take On a Treacherous, Avalanche-Prone Pass (NYT) The Taliban commander’s sneakers had soaked through from the melting snow, but that was the least of his problems. It was avalanche season in the Salang Pass, a rugged cut of switchback roads that gash through the Hindu Kush mountains in northern Afghanistan like some man-made insult to nature, and he was determined to keep the essential trade route open during his first season as its caretaker. The worry about traffic flow was both new and strange to the commander, Salahuddin Ayoubi, and his band of former insurgents. Over the last 20 years, the Taliban had mastered destroying Afghanistan’s roads and killing the people on them. Culverts, ditches, bridges, canal paths, dirt trails and highways: None were safe from the Taliban’s array of homemade explosives. But that all ended half a year ago. After overthrowing the Western-backed government in August, the Taliban are now trying to save what’s left of the economic arteries they had spent so long tearing apart. Nowhere is that more important than in the Salang Pass, where, at over two miles high, thousands of trucks lumber through the jagged mountains every day. It is the only viable land route to Kabul, the capital, from Afghanistan’s north and bordering countries like Uzbekistan. Everything bumps up its slopes and down its draws: Fuel, flour, coal, consumer goods, livestock, people. After decades of war, overuse and ad hoc repairs, the highway is in poor shape and prone to calamity. “The fighting was easier than dealing with this,” Mr. Ayoubi, 31, said last month, before hopping in his mud-spattered white pickup truck and making his way down the road, stopping occasionally to manage clogged columns of trucks. Accidents and breakdowns are common occurrences on the potholed and perilous journey across the pass. But the greatest fear is getting stuck in a traffic jam in one of the highway’s long, pitch-black tunnels, where the buildup of carbon monoxide can suffocate those trapped within.

#headlines #news

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xtruss · 2 years

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Peace Now in Ukraine

— Column: By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan

— DemocracyNow.Org | January 27, 2022

Is a Russian invasion of Ukraine imminent? At the heart of this avoidable catastrophe is Moscow’s concern over the ever-increasing U.S. military threat on its doorstep. Since the Soviet Union fell, the United States, through its NATO allies, has pushed troops and arms closer to Russia, despite the “not one inch eastward” promise made by U.S. Secretary of State James Baker to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990. Now, close to 100,000 Russian troops are massed on the Ukrainian border. The Ukrainian military is on high alert. Adding fuel to the fire, President Biden ordered 8,500 U.S. troops on high alert and is pouring weapons into Ukraine.

Katrina vanden Heuvel, who has reported on Russia for decades, explained on the Democracy Now! news hour: “Russia, the Soviet Union, lost 27 million people in World War II. There is a real continuing fear, even in younger generations, about being encircled…What if Russian troops suddenly decided to alight in Mexico? Borders matter, especially in the Russian historical consciousness.”

Pope Francis said on Wednesday, “Today, I especially ask you to join in praying for peace in Ukraine,” Invoking Ukraine’s 20th century history, he continued, “More than five million people were annihilated during the time of the last war. They are a suffering people; they have suffered starvation, they have suffered so much cruelty, and they deserve peace…Please: War never again!”

About 30% of Ukraine’s 50 million citizens are native Russian speakers, most in the southeast region of Donbas bordering Russia and on the Crimean Peninsula. Russia militarily annexed Crimea in 2014, as “Euromaidan” protesters in Kyiv’s main square and in other cities demanded closer ties to the European Union. The national debate on whether to align with East or West erupted into a military conflict, with close to 14,000 people killed, 1.5 million displaced, and two regions within the Donbas, Donetsk and Luhansk, declaring independence from Ukraine and aligning with Russia.

Anatol Lieven, a senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, offered his analysis on Democracy Now!: “The crisis has grown to this point because of Russia’s deep unhappiness with the expansion of NATO to its borders and the threat of NATO admitting Ukraine, which Russia regards in much the same light that America regards the appearance of hostile military alliances in Central America.”

President Kennedy’s confrontation with the Soviet Union during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis is considered the closest we have ever come to all-out nuclear war. Kennedy acted much like Putin is now, engaging in military brinksmanship to deter the deployment of foreign weapons and troops along a national border.

In addition to the mobilization of U.S. troops, the U.S. and NATO allies are shipping weapons to Ukraine. William Hartung, also with the Quincy Institute, has long followed the unchecked growth of Pentagon spending and the weapons manufacturers that profit from war. “The U.S. has sent $2.7 billion in military aid and training to Ukraine since 2014. President Biden is talking about a couple hundred million more. And more, no doubt, will follow,” Hartung said on Democracy Now!

The United States, the biggest spender in NATO, has forced the “2% defense investment guideline” on NATO’s 29 other member nations, pressuring European countries to increase military spending. As NATO states on its website, “In 2014, three Allies spent 2% of GDP or more on defense; this went up to 11 Allies in 2020 and a majority of Allies have national plans in place to meet this target by 2024.” Hartung added, “the tensions that are related to [Ukraine] augur for their ability to keep military spending and military procurement high.”

Thich Nhat Hanh is one peace activist whose voice will be missing throughout this crisis. The legendary Buddist monk and spiritual leader died in his native Vietnam this week at the age of 95.

Considered the founder of the engaged buddhism movement, Thich Nhat Hanh was exiled from Vietnam in 1966 for opposing the war. In his 1967 book “Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire” he explained how the movement of young buddhists was pushing their less engaged elders: “In a river current, it is not the water in front that pulls the river along, but the water in the rear that acts as the driving force, pushing the water in front forward.”

The U.S. media provides a parade of pro-war politicians and pundits from both the Democratic and Republican parties, while progressive peace advocates are almost entirely shut out. Progressive Congressmembers Pramila Jayapal and Barbara Lee warned the Biden administration on Wednesday, “there is no military solution” to the crisis.

Grassroots movements must demand peace and diplomacy, now, before the outbreak of war.

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erzhankz · 5 years

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“WE ARE WARRIORS. A LAND OF SURVIVORS. A NATION OF LOVE AND HOSPITALITY. WE ARE K.A.Z.A.K.H.” - Kuanysh Arystanbekuly

SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN;

Life under the Soviet communist regime was excruciating, painful, and deadly for the state of Kazakhstan. The monarchy fell apart and the Russians took over. Kazakhs were forced to work for the Soviet Police and in this position, were forced to betray their own people or risk their own lives.

Severe man-made famine took the lives of millions in what was known as the Goloshchekin genocide in 1930-1933. 1.3 million were ethnic Kazakhs.

38% of all Kazakhs died, the highest percentage of any ethnic group killed in the Soviet famines of the early 1930s.

Kazakhstan lost more than half of its population due to the actions of the Soviet power.

Under a repressive regime, many were arrested and jailed for conspiracy. Countless were executed during the “Great Terror” in the 1930s.

In the 60s, Kuanysh, grandson of the former monarch, enlisted to work for the Soviet government. He acted loyal to the communist party, but acted strategically in order to work on bettering the lives of Kazakhs under such terrible living conditions. He made sure not to preach about independence or anything that could be deemed even the least bit controversial in the eyes of the Soviets. But a difference was felt by the nation. Lives were slowly improving and people were able to work more peacefully, though still in fear of being uprooted from their homes and jailed under false suspicions. Kuanysh became a beacon of hope that one day Kazakhstan might be liberated.

POST-SOVIET KAZAKHSTAN;

After the Soviet collapse in 1990, Kuanysh Khan wasted no time in seizing control over the former Soviet state and began rebuilding the kingdom. The newly independent Kazakhstan was in desperate need of order and with a new King reclaiming the former monarchy so soon after the collapse, it was believed to have minimized the country’s state of disarray. He reclaimed the former land and its borders. After his former silent efforts towards improvement from his post in the communist party, he was successful in gaining favoritism and strong support from the Kazakhs.

The country gradually moved away from lifestyle under the Soviet regime and more traditional Kazakh values were instilled into the lives of residents. For native Kazakhs, Chinese Kazakhs, and other regional ethnic groups who wanted to break away from communism, this was a relief. For Russian residents, not so much, since they suddenly felt a sense of displacement. Some relocated to former Soviet states such as Ukraine or Belarus or even the southern Uzbekistan, while many others stayed and tried to assimilate to the burst of Kazakh culture. With the Kazakh population strongly outnumbering any other group in the region, the new monarchy held up and support from the people was strong. However, with the fall of communism, a split in social class began to form, separating the rich, who took advantage of their new occupational freedom, and the poor, who wanted to keep their lives as they were used to and live in the peaceful suburbs.

Under Kuanysh Khan, Kazakhstan’s relationship with China flourished. Migration between Kazakhstan and China (specifically the Xinjiang province) was at its highest and the two countries formed a strong relationship over the expansion of commerce and partnership over their economic development. Agreements were made to keep foreign military bases (particularly from the United States) out of the two countries and their common border. Relations with Russia, however, took a hit after coming out of the soviet era. Kazakhstan was striving as an independent country and wanted to distance itself from the former political turmoil. However, some things remained from the time of the soviet rule. Russian was still a language taught in all schools and was the main language spoken in the workplace, and most, if not all, residents were bilingual.

Kuanysh Khan took temporary residency in the old imperial palace in the southern region of Almaty, but started work on building a new, more modernized capital city further north, which would eventually be named Astana. A new imperial palace was build in Astana and the old palace was converted into a museum for tourism and history enthusiasts. The eastern quarter of the old palace was kept as the family’s summer house and was where his grandparents resided, and the southern quarter was kept for extended family who did not want to relocate. Kuanysh Khan, his wife, and their youngest son relocated to the new palace in Astana in 1998.

In 2002, Kuanysh Khan abdicated the throne and the crown prince, Altynbek succeeded him. He is the current leader of the country. Under Altynbek’s rule, relations with Russia were smoothed over. The king formed a friendship with the Russian ruler, as he wanted more resources and protection for the country that Russia could provide. In return, Kazakhstan’s vast agriculture was offered to provide Russia with quality meats and dairies.

When Altynbek Khan declared Kazakhstan under the Confluence alliance rather than under Alacrity, it caused tension between Kazakhstan and China, even though the monarch promised that the alliance was merely to reconcile with Russia and had nothing to do with the country’s relations with China. He promised that Chinese and Uyghur citizens would not be treated any different than they had been up until that point, but tensions are still present.

#hshqtask015 #// i already had this written out and then realized there was a task for it so why not #I modified it and added things

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narcisbolgor-blog · 6 years

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The ‘Liquidators’ Who Risked It All to Clean Up Chernobyl

The meltdown at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukraine on April 26, 1986 was a massive tragedy that ultimately claimed at least 9,000 lives and affected millions more. It also created a toxic mess. Radioactive particles choked the atmosphere and rained down on cities, forests, and roads. In the immediate aftermath, fires had to be put out, debris cleared, contaminated waste buried deep underground.

It was, obviously, not an easy task. Remote-controlled bulldozers and other robots proved too weak for the job, their circuitry fried by radiation. So the Soviet Union sent in humans—600,000 of them. These brave firefighters, soldiers, janitors, and miners—the so-called "liquidators"—did everything from hosing down streets to felling trees to building a concrete sarcophagus around the exposed reactor ... all the while charged subatomic particles ravaged their cells and shortened their life spans.

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The Coldest Place on Earth | Talking Pictures

New Zealand based photographer Amos Chapple traveled to Siberia, to make images of life in Oymakon, Russia, said be the coldest place on earth. There hardy residents endure winters with 21 hours of darkness and temperatures can plunge to –90 Fahrenheit.

Original Article : HERE ; This post was curated & posted using : RealSpecific

=> *********************************************** Learn More Here: The ‘Liquidators’ Who Risked It All to Clean Up Chernobyl ************************************ =>

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clubofinfo · 6 years

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Expert: The corporate grip on opinion in the United States is one of the wonders of the Western world [….] No First World country has ever managed to eliminate so entirely from its media all objectivity, much less dissent. — Gore Vidal, A View from the Diner’s Club, 1991 One of the most amusing elements of the current anti-Russian hysteria produced by U.S. state/corporate propagandists is the notion that Russia is this bold, aggressive challenger to “U.S. and Western interests” when the reality has always been the opposite. In the tumultuous period after the Soviet Union disintegrated, the Russian Federation emerged as the dominate power under the leadership of the clownish Boris Yeltsin. The Russian capitalist oligarchy that developed during that period and expanded under the leadership of Vladimir Putin has always just wanted to be part of the global capitalist game. They had demonstrated on more than one occasion their willingness to cooperate with the agenda of Western powers. However, they wanted to be respected with their regional interests recognized. But as result of greed, hubris and just plain incompetence, U.S. policy-makers, especially the amateurs running foreign policy during the Obama years, pushed the Russians out of their preferred zone of caution in international affairs, with Syria being exhibit A. Forcing the Russians hand in Syria was followed by the Ukraine when the U.S. sparked a coup in that nation as the second front against Russian “intervention” in Syria. So it was quite comical to see how the announcement that Russia will deliver the S-300 air defense system to the Syrian government was met with feigned horror by U.S. and NATO forces. This decision was taken after the U.S. allowed or didn’t stop the Israeli Air Force from playing games that resulted in a Russia cargo plane being shot out of the air by Syrian ground defenses who mistook the Russia plane for an Israeli aircraft. Without an adequate air defense system capable of covering the entire nation and strategic territories within Syria, the Israeli Air Force has had almost unimpeded access to Syria air space during the Syrian war to attack military forces associated with the Syrian government, Hezbollah and the Iranian state. Yet in their zeal to push out anti-Russian propaganda, the state/corporate propagandists in the U.S. exposed once again Russia’s conservatism and acquiensce to the global colonial U.S./EU/NATO agenda. While the headlines screamed traitor at Turkish President Erdogan for concluding a deal for the Russian S-400, the most advanced system the Russians are selling on the open market, very few seemed to have noticed that those wily, evil Russians that were propping up their partner in Syria hadn’t even delivered on the S-300 sale to the Syrian state that had been concluded five years ago! The Russians said that they failed to deliver the system that the Syrians purchased due to a request from the Israeli government in 2013. This decision took place a year after the debacle of Geneva I, the United Nations sponsored conference to resolve the Syrian War, where the Russians appeared ready to abandon Assad as long as the Syrian state was maintained, and their interests protected. Getting rid of Assad but maintaining the Syrian state was also U.S. policy at the time. However, instead of a negotiated settlement in which the Russians would play a role, the Obama administration rejected Geneva I believing that it could topple the government in Syria through its jihadist proxies. The U.S. knew that those elements were never going to be allowed to govern the entire nation but that was the point. The Syrian state was slated to be balkanized with its territory divided and a permanent presence by the U.S. directly on the ground. Those forces in Syria would be bolstered by the thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq that had been reintroduced as a result of the U.S. reinvasion supposedly to fight ISIS – that it helped to create. Although the Russian position on Assad came out just a year after the Chinese and Russians gave the green light to the U.S. and NATO to launch a vicious war on Libya is old news, it points out how in the global game of power relations the peoples of the former colonial world continue to lose. The Russians, like the Chinese, have demonstrated repeatedly their willingness to collaborate with the U.S. and the “Western colonialist alliance,” even as successive U.S. administrations have singled them out, along with Iran and Venezuela, as geostrategic threats to U.S. global hegemony. This observation is not meant to be another Russia and China bashing that plays into the hands of the reactionaries driving U.S. policies who see military conflict with those two nations as inevitable. Instead what is being argued here is the absolute necessity for African/Black people and oppressed peoples and nations to be clear about the international correlation and balance of forces and competing interests at play so that “we” the people are not confused regarding our objective interests. Russian intervention in Syria was not as cynical as the U.S. and Western European powers, which knew from the beginning that “progressive” forces in Syria could not win a military conflict. Nevertheless, they encouraged those forces to engage in military opposition while the U.S. and its allies decided to back various Islamist forces – not for democratic change – but to destroy the Syrian state. Maintaining an independent, critical perspective on the national and global dispensation of social forces means not having any illusions about the world and the national, class and racial politics in play. We need to be clear that supporting Syria’s attempt to assert full sovereignty over its territory was only a secondary concern for the Russians. The back seat given to the Syrian government in the negotiations between Russia, Iran, and Turkey regarding Idlib confirms that. Protecting Russian interests in Syria and the Mid-East was and is the driving force for Russian military and diplomatic activity, nothing else! The delivery of the S-300 anti-aircraft system to Syria resembles the Russia cooperation with the U.S., Israel and Turkey on the Turkish Afrin operation, which was basically an invasion of Syria by Turkey in order to establish a “buffer zone”. These are all decisions based on the objective interests of Russia and secondarily the interests of the Syrian government. It remains to be seen how the deployment of the S-300’s will alter the situation on the ground in Syria. It would not be surprising if the deployment was limited and only covered the territory around Latakia, the site of the Russian air base and close to its warm-water port. It may not be in Russia’s interests to allow the Syria government the means to block Israeli intrusions into Syrian air space. If the Syrian government had the ability to really ensure the security of its national territory from Israeli intrusions, it could mean that Russia would have less leverage over the Syrian government to force a withdrawal of Iranian forces from Syria. Additionally, the land corridor and security of the “Islamic pipeline” between Iran, Iraq and Syria could be secured that may not be necessarily conducive for maintaining Russia’s share of the energy market in Europe. The U.S. and Israel overplayed their cards and made a strategic blunder by precipitating the shooting down of the Russian cargo plane. Although National Security Adviser John Bolton claims that the decision to supply Syrian forces with the S-300 is a “significant escalation,” the escalation really took place in 2012 when the Obama administration decided to allow U.S. vassal states to significantly increase military support for radical Islamic forces. Michael Flynn revealed this as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency – something the Obama forces never forgot. Syria has been a difficult object lesson for the left that has had a devastating consequence for the people of that embattled nation. Hundreds of thousands have died, and millions have been displaced primarily because left and progressive forces lacked the organizational, but more importantly, the ideological, political, and moral clarity to mount an opposition to the machinations of their national bourgeoisie in Europe and the U.S. The very idea that the bourgeois leadership of their respective states might have some benevolent justifications for military intervention in Syria revealed a dangerous nationalist sentimentality that is driving the left version of white supremacist national chauvinism. Before the dramatic rightist turn of the left in the U.S. and Europe over the last two decades, the left – at least much of the Marxist-Leninist left – opposed Western imperialist intervention out of a theoretical and principled commitment to the national-colonial question in the global South. As citizens in “oppressor nations,” opposing their own bourgeoisie’s interventions into oppressed nations was seen as a responsibility for the left and indeed was a measurement of what was actually an authentic left position. That stance has virtually disappeared. The first response by the Western left to plans or actual interventions by their nation’s ruling class is a strange conversation regarding rather or not the intervention is justified or not based on the nature of the government being toppled by the intervention. For those of us who are members of oppressed peoples and nations, it is quite obvious that without independent organizations and global solidarity structures buttressed by the few progressive states that exist on the planet, we cannot depend on any bourgeois state to really care about our humanity or on the radical or left forces in Northern nations to put a brake on repression and intervention against non-Europe states and peoples. The bloodletting will continue in Syria. Candidate Trump raised some serious questions about the wisdom of U.S. policies in Syria and indicated that he might be willing to reverse U.S. involvement. But President Trump surrendered to the pressure from the foreign policy establishment and the warmongering corporate press. Instead of extricating the U.S., the administration announced a few weeks ago that the U.S. will essentially engage in an illegal and indefinite occupation in Syria. There is reasonable doubt that Israel and the U.S. will allow the deployment of the S-300s even if the Russians followed through with the delivery. Which means the possibility of another dangerous escalation in the conflict at any moment. It also means why despite one’s opinion about the nature of any government’s internal situation, it is important to reaffirm and defend the principles of national sovereignty and international law in opposition to the arbitrary and illegal interventions to effect a change in government by any outside forces. The people’s movements for social justice and human rights around the world must not allow the people to be drawn into the machinations and contradictory struggles and conflicts between essentially capitalist blocs, which include the Russians and the state-capitalism of China. This is not to suggest a moral or political equalization between the emergence of capitalist Russia and China and the systematic degradation unleashed on the world by the Pan-European colonial/capitalist project that emerged in 1492 with the invasion of the “Americas.” That would be a perversion of history and divert us from the primary global contradiction and target: The Western capitalist alliance and the corporate and finance oligarchy at its center. In the competition between blocs and the real possibility of global conflict, we must be vigilant not to repeat the tragic mistake made before the first world war when workers enthusiastically signed up as cannon fodder in the clash of capitalist empires. Imperialist war really is a class issue! Totalitarian capitalist domination is not a figment of our imaginations, it is real. Penetrating the ideological mystifications that divert us away from the matrix of power that distorts consciousness and renders the people as collaborators in their own subjection is the task of the moment. The global order is changing, the only question is what will emerge. Will the new order be a multipolar one dominated by emerging capitalist states or will a new transitional order develop that is oriented toward an association of states and people’s movements moving toward authentic de-colonization, ecological rationality, and socialist construction? There is still time for the people to choose. http://clubof.info/

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investmart007 · 6 years

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BERLIN | US deports 95-year-old ex-Nazi guard to Germany

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/A1deqj

BERLIN | US deports 95-year-old ex-Nazi guard to Germany

BERLIN — A 95-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard who lived quietly in New York City for decades was carried out of his home on a stretcher by federal agents and flown to Germany early Tuesday in what could prove to be the last U.S. deportation of a World War II-era war-crimes suspect.

Jakiw Palij’s expulsion, at President Donald Trump’s urging, came 25 years after investigators first accused Palij of lying about his wartime past to get into the U.S. But it was largely symbolic because officials in Germany have repeatedly said there is insufficient evidence to prosecute him.

Trump “made it very clear” he wanted Palij out of the country, and a new German government that took office in March brought “new energy” to expediting the matter, U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell said.

Eli Rosenbaum, the former head of the U.S. office investigating accused Nazi war criminals, said Palij’s removal “is a landmark victory in the U.S. government’s decades-long quest to achieve a measure of justice and accountability on behalf of the victims of Nazi inhumanity.”

Palij lived quietly in the U.S. for years, as a draftsman and then as a retiree, until nearly three decades ago when investigators found his name on an old Nazi roster and a fellow former guard spilled the secret that he was “living somewhere in America.”

Palij, an ethnic Ukrainian born in a part of Poland that is now Ukraine, said on his 1957 naturalization petition that he had Ukrainian citizenship. When their investigators showed up at his door in 1993, he said: “I would never have received my visa if I told the truth. Everyone lied.”

A judge stripped Palij’s U.S. citizenship in 2003 for “participation in acts against Jewish civilians” while he was an armed guard at the Trawniki camp in Nazi-occupied Poland and he was ordered deported a year later.

But because Germany, Poland, Ukraine and other countries refused to take him, he continued living in limbo in the two-story, red brick home in Queens he shared with his late wife, Maria. His continued presence there outraged the Jewish community, attracting frequent protests over the years that featured such chants as, “Your neighbor is a Nazi!”

According to the Justice Department, Palij served at Trawniki in 1943, the same year 6,000 prisoners in the camps and tens of thousands of other prisoners held in occupied Poland were rounded up and slaughtered. Palij has acknowledged serving in Trawniki but denied any involvement in war crimes.

Last September, all 29 members of New York’s congressional delegation signed a letter urging the State Department to follow through on his deportation.

“Good riddance to this war criminal,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat.

The deportation came after weeks of diplomatic negotiations. Grenell told reporters there were “difficult conversations” because Palij is not a German citizen and was stateless after losing his U.S. citizenship. But “the moral obligation” of taking in “someone who served in the name of the German government was accepted,” he said.

Video footage from ABC News showed federal immigration agents carrying Palij out of his home Monday on a stretcher. Palij, with a fluffy white beard and a brown, newsboy-style cap atop his head, was wrapped in a sheet as the agents carried him down a brick stairway in front of his home and into a waiting ambulance. He ignored a reporter who shouted, “Are you a Nazi?” and “Do you have any regrets?”

Palij was flown on a specially chartered air ambulance from Teterboro, New Jersey, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and arrived in Dusseldorf, Germany, at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Palij’s lawyer, Ivars Berzins, declined to comment.

The local German government in Warendorf county, near Muenster, said Palij would be taken to a care facility in the town of Ahlen. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said “there is no line under historical responsibility,” but added in a comment to the German daily Bild that doing justice to the memory of Nazi atrocities “means standing by our moral obligation to the victims and the subsequent generations.”

Jens Rommel, head of the German federal prosecutors’ office that investigates Nazi war crimes, said Tuesday that the deportation doesn’t change the likelihood that Palij will be prosecuted for war crimes. “A new investigation would only come into question if something changed in the legal evaluation or actual new evidence became known,” he said.

However, Efraim Zuroff, the head Nazi-hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said he hoped prosecutors would revisit the case now that Palij is in Germany.

“Trawniki was a camp where people were trained to round up and murder the Jews in Poland, so there’s certainly a basis for some sort of prosecution,” he said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem. “The efforts invested by the United States in getting Palij deported are really noteworthy and I’m very happy to see that they finally met with success,” he said.

Palij’s deportation is the first for a Nazi war crimes suspect since Germany agreed in 2009 to take John Demjanjuk, a retired Ohio autoworker who was accused of serving as a Nazi guard. He was convicted in 2011 of being an accessory to more than 28,000 killings and died 10 months later, at age 91, with his appeal pending.

Palij, whose full name is pronounced Yah-keev PAH’-lee, entered the U.S. in 1949 under the Displaced Persons Act, a law meant to help refugees from post-war Europe.

He told immigration officials that he worked during the war in a woodshop and farm in Nazi-occupied Poland, as well as at another farm in Germany and finally in a German upholstery factory. Palij said he never served in the military.

In reality, officials say, he played an essential role in the Nazi program to exterminate Jews as an armed guard at Trawniki. According to a Justice Department complaint, Palij served in a unit that “committed atrocities against Polish civilians and others” and then in the notorious SS Streibel Battalion, “a unit whose function was to round up and guard thousands of Polish civilian forced laborers.”

After the war, Palij maintained friendships with other Nazi guards who the government says came to the U.S. under similar false pretenses.

The Justice Department’s special Nazi-hunting unit started piecing together Palij’s past after a fellow Trawniki guard identified him to Canadian authorities in 1989. Investigators asked Russia and other countries for records on Palij beginning in 1990 and first confronted him in 1993.

It wasn’t until after a second interview in 2001 that he signed a document acknowledging he had been a guard at Trawniki and a member of the Streibel Battalion. Palij suggested at one point during that interview that he was threatened with death if he refused to work as a guard, saying, “If you don’t show up, boom-boom.” Though the last Nazi suspect ordered deported, Palij is not the last remaining in the U.S.

Since 2017, Poland has been seeking the extradition of Ukrainian-born Michael Karkoc, an ex-commander in an SS-led Nazi unit that burned Polish villages and killed civilians during the war. But it could take years before the 99-year-old, who currently lives in Minneapolis, faces deportation. He was the subject of a series of 2013 reports by The Associated Press that led Polish prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant for him.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, DAVID RISING and RANDY HERSCHAFT, Associated Press

#accused palij #Deportation #ethnic ukrainian born #Germany #germany early tuesday #insufficient evidence #Investigators #Investigators found #lived quietly #nazi guard #President Donald Trump #prosecute #repeatedly #TodayNews #York City

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torncurtain1991 · 7 years

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Three Years Later & Russia Still Stumps Free World

As the 2014 Winter Olympic Games – which together with the Summer Olympics comprise humanity’s celebrated quadrennial exhibition of peace and fraternity – were winding down, host country Russia abruptly shattered global peace and stability. Moscow launched its blitzkrieg to re-subjugate Ukraine and the other x-captive nations and restore the iron curtain.

The free world was staggered by Russia’s invasion of an independent European country. But all along Moscow has been forthright with its intentions regarding what it perceives as its sphere of influence. The Kremlin habitually asserted its authority on its so-called near abroad and warned that the countries will face dire consequences it they violate its directives or seek to accede to EuroAtlantic political, military or economic pacts.

Vladimir Putin personally warned Kyiv and his in-country gauleiter Viktor Yanukovych against leaving Moscow’s orbit in the summer of 2013 during the commemorations of the millennium of Christianity of Kyiv-Rus. Yanukovych feigned Ukrainian patriotism but ultimately rejected EU accession igniting the national Revolution of Dignity.

The free world declined to consider seriously Putin’s threat but the Russian leader held fast. As the Ukrainian nation was defeating Russia on the streets of Kyiv and sending a strong signal to the world that only it will be the master of its destiny, Moscow invaded the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

The free world was again aghast, wondering why Putin decided to invade Ukraine, disrupt global affairs and international relations, and sow distrust among nations.

This confusion stems from a historical lack of appreciation of the invader and misplaced belief. Today’s mediators are addressing the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-17 as a conflict between two rational opponents. In reality, it is far from that. For centuries, Russia – tsarist, communist or federal – has sought to conquer and subjugate Ukraine and other neighboring countries for the glory of Mother Russia. The same holds true today.

The Russian national mentality and that of its leadership oozes visions of imperial aggression, which today is strengthened by pure hatred.

During a discussion at the recent global security conference in Munich that was broadcast by TV 112 Ukraine, President Poroshenko offered this succinct clarification:

“Putin hates Ukraine deeply and sincerely. He denies distinctiveness and unique identity of the Ukrainian people. I know that personally. He publicly proclaims Ukrainian identity as a part of Russian dominant identity. He sees no place for Ukraine at the political map of Europe, and he wants to draw a place for Ukraine in Russian colors. But, it would be a mistake to think that the Russia’s appetites are limited to Ukraine only.”

Indeed, Russia in all of its imperial phases, personified today by Putin, built and reinforced its prison of nations.

The past three years have seen a real – not hybrid, ersatz or cyber – war in Ukraine. The mere photographs of war-torn eastern Ukraine reveal the devastation caused by Russia’s military assault against Ukraine that rival images of postwar Europe.

“The appalling number of victims highlights the immorality of Kremlin’s war against the Ukrainian people: over 9,800 Ukrainian people were killed, about 23,000 wounded and almost 1.8 million of internally displaced persons. 7.2 % of Ukrainian territory has been seized by Russia and millions of the citizens of Ukraine live there under occupation and endless terror. Russia persists in sending new fighters, weaponry and ammunition to Ukraine through the section of the Ukrainian-Russian state border of 409.7 km long, which remains out of control of the Ukrainian government,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said on this anniversary.

In Crimea, Russia seized the land, terrorized and imprisoned Crimean Tatars, staged a fabricated referendum and annexed the peninsula for itself. Crimea became occupied territory, where Russia regularly violates the people’s cultural, spiritual and human rights. Following in the footsteps of the draconian tsarist and communist phases of Russian imperialism, today’s Kremlin rulers are persecuting, arresting and imprisoning anyone in Crimea who criticizes or opposes the occupation regime.

“Occupied Crimea, closed for any form of international control and monitoring, is now an area for systemic violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, targeting, first of all, the Ukrainian activists and the indigenous people of Crimea – Crimean Tatars. The citizens of Ukraine are being groundlessly detained and imprisoned, activists are disappearing, their families and friends are facing intimidation. The Mejlis, a representative body of the Crimean Tatar people, was banned,” the Ukrainian government said.

Furthermore, in the course of the past three years, Russia has been busy militarizing the peninsula in the Black Sea by stationing aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Russia’s violation of the UN Charter and international law and order as well as its invasion of Ukraine are common knowledge but the world is incapable of forcing Moscow to withdraw. With a few exceptions, such as the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, other countries haven’t condemned Russia’s latest belligerence. Such a disunited front merely bolsters Moscow’s resolve to pursue its invasion of Ukraine as Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius has pointed out.

France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine as well as Russia’s domestic and regional mercenary-terrorists have concluded a few ceasefires that have been consistently trampled by Russia. European powers again are betting on the ultimate success of today’s ceasefire, but if history is a teacher it is also bound to fail because of Russian military violations and escalations. The time, money and effort wasted on the quadrilateral negotiations would have been better served if they were earmarked to rebuild Donbas schools destroyed by Russian bombardment.

The latest ceasefire began on Monday, February 20, amid a bloody escalation in fighting that began in January. Since then at least 30 civilians died in what Kyiv describes as Russia’s unsuccessful offensive against the city of Avdiyivka. According to the Ukrainian military, more than a dozen Ukrainian soldiers were killed and about 100 were wounded at the same time.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry observed: “Russia remains unwilling to implement the Minsk Agreements thus undermining all efforts taken by Ukraine and the international community towards de-escalation and stabilization in the region. Moscow’s propaganda has no limits to lie, falsification and doublespeak. Human life has no value for the aggressor. Besides their actions in Ukraine, the Russian structures were regularly spotted interfering in the internal affairs of other sovereign states. The aggressive policy of the Russian Federation poses a threat for the entire world order.”

NATO recognizes Russia’s guilt in the war with Ukraine and notes that Moscow has become more assertive than in the past. NATO Secretary General Jens Soltenberg told CNBC at the Munich Security Conference. “We have seen a Russia that has invested heavily in new military capabilities, which has tripled spending on defense over the last years, and — most importantly — which has been willing to use military force against neighbors in Georgia and Ukraine. And that’s exactly why NATO is responding in a measured defensive way.”

Is it possible that Russia has an unbreakable stranglehold on the free world?

As the Russian war against Ukraine begins its fourth year, Ukraine is confronted by a new White House administration that has not yet taken a clear stand in support of Ukraine’s rightful, sovereign place under the sun. President Donald J. Trump has expressed more support for Putin and Russia than Poroshenko and Ukraine. Trump’s trusted captains Paul Manafort and his connections with Yanukovych and Putin as well as Michael Flynn and his rendezvous with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak are the stuff of John le Carre’s novels. The policies Inside the Beltway reflect what I’ve labeled a Kremlin on the Potomac rather than the White House.

A few Cabinet members have expressed support for Ukraine, among them Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Ambassador Nikki Haley and Secretary of Defense James Mattis. Vice-President Mike Pence is also a vocal member of the pro-Ukraine chorus.

In Munich, Poroshenko expressed confidence in US support, observing: “I had a wonderful conversation with Vice President of the United States Mike Pence. We share the same values, and Pence is informed about the situation in eastern Ukraine in detail. He also knows the reasons for failures in the implementation of the Minsk agreement and that Russia is responsible for those failures.”

I have my doubts because the Trump is the President and he calls the shots not spokesman Sean Spicer, who made pro-Ukraine references at press conferences on behalf of Trump. To the point, when Trump had the opportunity to personally declare support for Ukraine, insist that Russia returns Crimea to Ukraine and end the “conflict” at his first 77-minute long news conference, he didn't. Trump did mention Ukraine a few times in his remarks in reference to Manafort’s work in Kyiv but he faltered about what Manafort actually did in Ukraine, omitting to note that it was detrimental to Ukraine and the USA. The President did use the loathed “THE” Ukraine noun.

Foreign policy experts have been wondering what if Putin expands the war against Ukraine to other x-captive nations – as they expect he will. Will President Trump then continue to stand with Putin? If so, Trump will completely bankrupt America’s moral credibility around the world.

The free world must consider these venues of critical assistance for Ukraine.

Sanctions: As it rattles its saber around the world, Russia continues to wage its war in Ukraine even in the face of economic sanctions against its leaders. Fortunately, on this point, the free world is united: sanctions will not be lifted until Russia withdraws from Ukraine and Crimea. Sanctions must be continued and intensified. Complete, unconditional Russian withdrawal from Ukraine and surrender of its mercenary-terrorists will allow Kyiv to rebuild Ukraine. Anything less will contribute to organized or sporadic acts of Russian terrorism across Ukraine for years to come.

Weapons: Ukraine urgently needs more military aid from the United States and other allies, some of which are helping Kyiv with training and non-lethal materiel. The free world must publicly recognize the frontline in the defense of the European Union is in eastern Ukraine, where NATO is getting a free lesson about Russia’s military tactics.

Poroshenko, who advocates peaceful solutions, said as much in an interview with Bild German newspaper.

“You know that I am the President, who advocates peace, but now we are talking about the protection of our country and the people. To do this, we urgently need defensive weapons," he said, adding he believes that the US and Europe are aware of this need.

Legislatures: Ukraine must continue to depend on the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus and other legislative advocates for Ukraine on Capitol Hill. Congressmen Sander Levin (D-MI), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Andy Harris (R-MD) recently sponsored a resolution (H. Res. 88) in the US House of Representatives calling on the Russia to stop the violence in eastern Ukraine, cease aiding its mercenary-terrorists, honor the Minsk ceasefire agreement, withdraw military weaponry from Ukraine, and repair Ukraine’s infrastructure damaged in the war. The resolution expresses the sense of Congress that additional sanctions might be imposed on Russia if the violence doesn’t subside.

Unity in Banishment: The free world must regard Russia as a criminal pariah that must be banned from all global events. This stigma must remain in place until Russia atones for its crimes against humanity.

#Ukraine #Putin #Russia #Poroshenko #Trump #POTUS #Senate #ceasefire

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pope-francis-quotes · 4 years

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12th April >> (@RomeReports) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis Urbi et Orbi message, Easter 2020 (Full Text)

Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!

Today the Church’s proclamation echoes throughout the world: “Jesus Christ is risen!” – “He is truly risen!”.

This is not a time for self-centredness, because the challenge we are facing is shared by all, without distinguishing between persons. Among the many areas of the world affected by the coronavirus, I think in a special way of Europe. After the Second World War, this continent was able to rise again, thanks to a concrete spirit of solidarity that enabled it to overcome the rivalries of the past. It is more urgent than ever, especially in the present circumstances, that these rivalries do not regain force, but that all recognize themselves as part of a single family and support one another. The European Union is presently facing an epochal challenge, on which will depend not only its future but that of the whole world. Let us not lose the opportunity to give further proof of solidarity, also by turning to innovative solutions. The only alternative is the selfishness of particular interests and the temptation of a return to the past, at the risk of severely damaging the peaceful coexistence and development of future generations.

This is not a time for division. May Christ our peace enlighten all who have responsibility in conflicts, that they may have the courage to support the appeal for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world. This is not a time for continuing to manufacture and deal in arms, spending vast amounts of money that ought to be used to care for others and save lives. Rather, may this be a time for finally ending the long war that has caused such great bloodshed in beloved Syria, the conflict in Yemen and the hostilities in Iraq and in Lebanon. May this be the time when Israelis and Palestinians resume dialogue in order to find a stable and lasting solution that will allow both to live in peace. May the sufferings of the people who live in the eastern regions of Ukraine come to an end. May the terrorist attacks carried out against so many innocent people in different African countries come to an end.

This is not a time for forgetfulness. The crisis we are facing should not make us forget the many other crises that bring suffering to so many people. May the Lord of life be close to all those in Asia and Africa who are experiencing grave humanitarian crises, as in the Province of Cabo Delgado in the north of Mozambique. May he warm the hearts of the many refugees displaced because of wars, drought and famine. May he grant protection to migrants and refugees, many of them children, who are living in unbearable conditions, especially in Libya and on the border between Greece and Turkey. And I do not want to forget the island of Lesvos. In Venezuela, may he enable concrete and immediate solutions to be reached that can permit international assistance to a population suffering from the grave political, socio-economic and health situation.

Dear brothers and sisters,

With these thoughts, I would like to wish all of you a happy Easter.

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newstfionline · 6 years

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How’s Life in the War Zone? Not Great

By Alisa Sopova, NY Times, May 26, 2018

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--I have a strong accent. When I say hello, people ask where I’m from. Ukraine, I answer. The eastern part not controlled by the government. The so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, from which I recently returned after a three-month visit.

Invariably, the next questions are: “Oh, what’s happening there? Is there a war still going on?” This indicates a failure of media coverage. We write about things extensively while they are new and exciting--and drop them as soon as they get boring.

The war in Ukraine has become boring. So I answer:

Well, it’s still taking lives at an average of one to two people every day. However, it has become so static that it’s sort of weird. Two armies sit before each other, sometimes just 100 feet apart. Bound by the Minsk truce agreements of 2014 and 2015, they cannot really fight each other. But without a political solution, they cannot leave. Sometimes they exchange fire, mostly at night while international monitors sleep. Mostly it’s just to let off steam.

Recently, violence has escalated, but the world has hardly noticed. This happens from time to time, without bringing any change. Then comes a new period of simmering.

Because the fighting is so ritualized, predictable and low-profile, civilian life is returning near the front lines, where war and peace coexist bizarrely and uneasily. I’ve seen a school that operates 500 feet from the front. Children are bused there along a narrow road through minefields. I’ve heard that another school was shelled earlier this month. The windows were blown out while 370 children were inside. Four days later, the glass was fixed and the classes resumed. War is war, but you’ve got to go to school.

I’ve seen people fishing and picnicking close to the front line, taking short breaks if shelling starts--if it “becomes loud,” as they say.

One man I met lives in his bathroom because it’s the only part of his house that has survived the shelling, which was most intense early in the war, in 2014 and 2015. Another man is rebuilding his house a mile from the Donetsk airport, where fighting reignites now and then. His house has taken five hits, but the foundation is O.K. and the owner is optimistic. “Why are you doing it?” I asked. “Well,” he said, “I am an old man, and I have two daughters. I want to leave the house for them in good condition, but if I wait for the war to end I might not live that long.”

When I tell these stories, people ask if I still have family there. Yes, my family remains in Donetsk. What’s life like? It’s hard to explain. But I try:

When you think of war, you imagine terror, action and panicked people enduring bombings and shootings. There, it’s different. In downtown Donetsk, life looks pretty normal: hipster coffee shops, mothers pushing strollers, and in spring blossoming lilacs and roses.

But life is hard for other reasons.

Ukraine’s breakaway territory is the size of New York State, with about four million inhabitants facing impossible choices. Held hostage by opportunistic separatist authorities, they are simultaneously cast as outlaws by the Ukrainian government--as separatist sympathizers and disloyal citizens, whose sin was having been taken hostage. Even when they leave, as I did, accusations of treason and collaboration follow them.

As a result, these people have trouble receiving pensions, traveling to “mainland” Ukraine and back, obtaining passports, working or voting. Locked in a ghettoized quasi-state, they are torn between both sides’ unclear and repressive rules.

One of my relatives runs a small business in Donetsk but finds it difficult. Ukraine’s government has imposed an economic blockade on local businesses that are accountable only to the Ministry of Finance of the breakaway republic. The chairman of this ministry is known not by his given name, but by a nom de guerre--Tashkent.

Every two months, my grandmother must travel to government-controlled territory to claim her pension. The trip is not fun: You spend a whole day waiting in maddeningly slow lines at multiple checkpoints. People swarm on a narrow road that bisects a minefield. Because of the lack of facilities, they use roadside bushes as lavatories and occasionally become land-mine casualties. You can avoid this by traveling with a smuggler, who bribes the checkpoint bureaucrats to skip the lines. But that costs a whole month’s pension. You get to choose.

A friend of mine had a grandmother who wasn’t receiving her pension because she was too old for the grueling trip. She died recently. The death certificate issued by separatist authorities has no legal force, and there is no mechanism to issue a Ukrainian one for people who lived in uncontrolled territory. When my friend sought help in court, the judge demanded evidence--three witnesses to grandma’s death, or a video of the funeral. So goes the surrealism of life in this war.

Soon enough, the final question comes: So, whom do local people support--the separatists or the government? My answer disappoints everyone: Most support neither. It’s tempting to root for good guys against bad guys in a conflict on TV, especially if Russia is involved. But when you find soldiers digging trenches in your backyard, you suddenly don’t care if they are good or bad soldiers. You just want them out.

Our real-life choices are seldom political. People choose to stay in the war zone for many reasons--work, property, old age, disability, sentimental attachment to home. The lack of support from the state and the stigma attached elsewhere to being a displaced person also make it sensible to stay put.

Those who remain hope that somehow something will change. But hope is gradually yielding to despair and fatalism. The conflict is at a geopolitical deadlock in which everyone seems more satisfied with the status quo than with any proposed solution. Everyone except the people who must pay the price.

Recently, a thoughtful interlocutor who pursued a conversation like this concluded by telling me: “Frankly speaking, people in the U.S. are tired of hearing about this chronic conflict in Ukraine poisoned by corruption and the lack of political will to move anywhere.”

All I could say was, “If you are tired, imagine how tired we are.”

#Ukraine #Eastern Ukraine #Donetsk People’s Republic #life in war zone

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investmart007 · 6 years

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BERLIN | US deports former Nazi camp guard, 95, to Germany

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/XWs6Nc

BERLIN | US deports former Nazi camp guard, 95, to Germany

BERLIN — The last Nazi war crimes suspect facing deportation from the U.S. was taken from his New York City home and spirited early Tuesday morning to Germany, following years of efforts to remove him from the United States.

The deportation of the 95-year-old former Nazi camp guard, Jakiw Palij, came 25 years after investigators first confronted him about his World War II past and he admitted lying to get into the U.S., claiming he spent the war as a farmer and factory worker.

Palij told Justice Department investigators who showed up at his door in 1993: “I would never have received my visa if I told the truth. Everyone lied.”

A judge stripped Palij’s citizenship in 2003 for “participation in acts against Jewish civilians” while an armed guard at the Trawniki camp in Nazi-occupied Poland and was ordered deported a year later.

But because Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and other countries refused to take him, he continued living in limbo in the two-story, red brick home in Queens he shared with his wife, Maria, now 86. His continued presence there outraged the Jewish community, attracting frequent protests over the years that featured such chants as “your neighbor is a Nazi!”

According to the Justice Department, Palij served at Trawniki in 1943, the same year 6,000 prisoners in the camps and tens of thousands of other prisoners held in occupied Poland were rounded up and slaughtered. Palij has admitted serving in Trawniki but denied any involvement in war crimes.

Last September, all 29 members of New York’s congressional delegation signed a letter urging the State Department to follow through on his deportation.

Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador who arrived in Germany earlier this year, said President Donald Trump — who is from New York — instructed him to make it a priority. He said the new German government, which took office in March, brought “new energy” to the matter.

The deportation came after weeks of diplomatic negotiations.

Grenell told reporters that there were “difficult conversations” because Palij is not a German citizen and was stateless after losing his U.S. citizenship, but “the moral obligation” of taking in “someone who served in the name of the German government was accepted.”

Video footage from ABC News showed federal immigration agents carrying Palij out of his Queens apartment on a stretcher sometime during the day Monday.

Palij, with a fluffy white beard and a brown, newsboy-style cap atop his head, was wrapped in a sheet as the agents carried him down a brick stairway in front of his home and into a waiting ambulance. He ignored a reporter who shouted, “Are you a Nazi?” and “Do you have any regrets?”

His attorney, Ivars Berzins, did not immediately return telephone or email messages.

Palij landed in the western German city of Duesseldorf on Tuesday. The local government in Warendorf county, near Muenster, said Palij would be taken to a care facility in the town of Ahlen.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that “there is no line under historical responsibility,” adding in comment to German daily Bild that doing justice to the memory of Nazi atrocities “means standing by our moral obligation to the victims and the subsequent generations.”

German prosecutors have previously said it does not appear that there’s enough evidence to charge Palij with wartime crimes.

Now that he is in Germany, Efraim Zuroff, the head Nazi-hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said he hoped prosecutors would revisit the case.

“Trawniki was a camp where people were trained to round up and murder the Jews in Poland, so there’s certainly a basis for some sort of prosecution,” he said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem, adding that the U.S. Department of Justice “deserves a lot of credit” for sticking with the case.

“The efforts invested by the United States in getting Palij deported are really noteworthy and I’m very happy to see that they finally met with success.”

Palij, whose full name is pronounced Yah-keev PAH’-lee, entered the U.S. in 1949 under the Displaced Persons Act, a law meant to help refugees from post-war Europe.

He told immigration officials that he worked during the war in a woodshop and farm in Nazi-occupied Poland; at another farm in Germany; and finally in a German upholstery factory. Palij said he never served in the military.

In reality, officials say, he played an essential role in the Nazi program to exterminate Jews in German-occupied Poland, as an armed guard at Trawniki. According to a Justice Department complaint, Palij served in a unit that “committed atrocities against Polish civilians and others” and then in the notorious SS Streibel Battalion, “a unit whose function was to round up and guard thousands of Polish civilian forced laborers.”

After the war, Palij maintained friendships with other Nazi guards who the government says came to the U.S. under similar false pretenses. And in an interesting coincidence, Palij and his wife purchased their home near LaGuardia Airport in 1966 from a Polish Jewish couple who had survived the Holocaust and were not aware of his past.

Though the last Nazi suspect ordered deported, Palij is not the last in the U.S.

Since 2017, Poland has been seeking the extradition of Ukrainian-born Michael Karkoc, an ex-commander in an SS-led Nazi unit that burned Polish villages and killed civilians during the war. The 99-year-old who currently lives in Minneapolis was the subject of a series of 2013 reports by the AP that led Polish prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant for him.

In addition to Karkoc, there are almost certainly others in the U.S. who have either not yet been identified or investigated by authorities.

The American public did not become fully aware until the 1970s that thousands of Nazi persecutors had gone to the U.S. after World War II. Some estimates say 10,000 may have made the U.S. their home after the war.

Since then, the Justice Department has initiated legal proceedings against 137 suspected Nazis, with about half, 67, being removed by deportation, extradition or voluntary departure. Of the rest, 28 died while their cases were pending and 9 were ordered deported but died in the U.S. because no other country was willing to take them.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, DAVID RISING and RANDY HERSCHAFT, Associated Press

#admitted lying #armed guard #Citizenship #claiming #continued presence #Deportation #factory worker #guard spilled #jewish civilians #justice department #nazi camp guard #occupied poland #ordered deported #participation #TodayNews #United States #world war ii past #york city home

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