VIDEO — Israeli Sniper Shoots Palestinian Cameraman at Ofer Protest
nsnbc international
Apr 7, 2014
Chris Carlson (IMEMC) : Video emerged, on Sunday, of the moment an Israeli sniper shot a Palestinian cameraman in the stomach while he was covering a protest at Ofer prison, on Friday.
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli security forces shot and injured Mohammed Basman Yasin, a volunteer cameraman for the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, while he was filming a protest in the West Bank city of Beitunia, according to Israeli website +972.
The video, which could not be independently verified, appears to show Palestinian protesters sitting on the road when Israel forces arrive and begin firing tear gas canisters at them.
At times, protesters are seen throwing rocks at Israeli forces, although in other scenes activists can be seen walking towards an ambulance when Israeli forces open fire without warning in their direction.
At 5:30, meanwhile, two activists can be seen throwing rocks at the heavily-armed Israeli soldiers, when the video cuts to a scene showing Yasin, who is at the back of a large crowd watching the scene, being shot in the stomach.
Israeli forces caused severe damage to his internal organs, and according to B’Tselem, doctors have said they may be forced to remove his liver and kidneys.
Yasin is currently hospitalized in Ramallah.
The clashes took place near the Israeli Ofer prison, located in the occupied West Bank, in protest against the Israeli government’s refusal to release a fourth group of veteran Palestinian prisoners it had previously agreed to release as part of ongoing US-sponsored negotiations with the PLO.
13 were reported injured during the clashes, including seven with live bullets.
An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma’an that Israeli forces fired at “rioters” who threw rocks and burning tires at security forces, “lightly injuring” five.
Chris Carlson, IMEMC
The Kiev Government Has Lost Control of Security Forces in Eastern Ukraine
by Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research
Apr 8, 2014
Kiev has hired foreign mercenaries to take over law enforcement duties as well as covert operations in eastern Ukraine, as the country struggles to regain control of its security apparatus, economist Michel Chossudovsky told RT.
RT: Activists in Kharkov are saying that policemen from other Ukrainian regions arrived in the city and they were the ones, who provoked the violence. What were they trying to achieve in your opinion?
Michel Chossudovsky: First of all the Kiev government has lost control of its security forces, its law enforcement in Eastern Ukraine. And this, they’ve realized several weeks back, because Ukraine’s interim government confirmed they were hiring a private military company, named Greystone Ltd, a company that was founded by (former) British SAS in the heyday, but actually they’re bringing in private mercenaries, which are now most probably integrating with the police forces, but they are also acting outside the realm of official law enforcement agencies.
And witnesses said that these people came in, they could have been agents provocateurs, I suspect they were. They also integrate the US, NATO-supported military company which is acting in Eastern Ukraine.
At the same time there is also the role of the ultra conservative neo-Nazis factions in the government given the fact that we know that the two extreme right parties Svoboda and the Right Sector are in control of the committee for national security and defense, which plays a key role. And I would suspect that the government in Kiev is also divided between the ministry of interior on the one hand and the right wing extremists on the other.
RT: With protests swelling up in the south-east of the country, Kiev is threatening ‘a harsh response’. What does that mean do you think?
MC: First of all that government does not really control the shots. It is an instrument of the puppet masters namely the US, NATO, and to a lesser extent the EU. They obey orders and we have seen the position, they’ve taken with regard to the IMF reforms. They simply stated, we will accept whatever reforms are proposed to us by the IMF.
And essentially what they have accepted is the impoverishment of the entire population, from West to East, because that reform package is going to create a further process of impoverishment of a country which has already been impoverished in the course of the last 20 years.
This reform package essentially destroys the livelihood of the Ukrainian population and the people in Eastern Ukraine are now protesting against this government which is committed to implementing the IMF program. And they actually have acknowledged that this is going to impoverish the population.
RT: The Russian foreign ministry said that the most troubling thing is that there are mercenaries from an American private security firm among them. What do you think about this?
MC: I’m going by a report that was published on March 25 by a Russian news agency. It was based on the statements made by the interim government to the effect that a US private military company, in fact it is not a US registered private military company, it is registered somewhere in the Caribbean, on an island. It is Greystone Ltd., and this particular company was hired with a view to essentially taking over law enforcement activities as well as most probably covert operations in eastern Ukraine.
It is not in the interest of Russian government to see this process erupting in the form of a violent protest movement or a process that will ultimately destabilize eastern Ukraine. There is no evidence that the Russian government is in any way interfering with the unfolding events in eastern Ukraine. This is a spontaneous movement which is emanating from the grassroots, which also has considerable support within the Ukrainian population of eastern Ukraine.
About the author:
Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal and Editor of the globalresearch.ca website. He is the author of The Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order (2003) and America’s “War on Terrorism”(2005). His most recent book is entitled Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War (2011). He is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His writings have been published in more than twenty languages. He can be reached at crgeditor@yahoo.com ——————————————————————————————————————Michel Chossudovsky est directeur du Centre de recherche sur la mondialisation et professeur émérite de sciences économiques à l’Université d’Ottawa. Il est l’auteur de “Guerre et mondialisation, La vérité derrière le 11 septembre”, “La Mondialisation de la pauvreté et nouvel ordre mondial” (best-seller international publié en plus de 10 langues). Contact : crgeditor@yahoo.com
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Protests erupt in Eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov. Donetsk announced Independence
nsnbc international
Apr 7, 2014
nsnbc : Protesters in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, occupy the City Council building and announced independence of the region from Ukraine and a referendum to be held no later than May 11. Yesterday, thousands of protesters went into the streets in eastern Ukraine’s predominantly Russian-speaking cities of Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov, seizing public buildings and demanding a federalization of Ukraine. The situation reflects the volatility of the Western-imposed Kiev government and its policies and metaphysical questions about Ukrainians as a people’ and the feasibility of a Ukrainian state construct, that was created by German World War I Generals.
In Ukraine’s industrial capital Donetsk, yesterday, some 2,000 protesters gathered in Lenin Square, denouncing the trials against security police officers from the special police unit Berkut in Kiev, whom the post-coup government in Kiev accused of being responsible for the killing of 90 and injuring of over 500 protesters and police officers.
Evidence to the contrary, and evidence for the involvement of right-wing members of the new administration is reportedly being swept under the rug.
The protesters denounced the new government in Kiev and newly installed local authorities in the region as illegal. Demands ranged from a federalization of Ukraine to a referendum on independence similar to that held in Crimea. Protests were reportedly sparked after the unelected local administration aired a “Good bye Russia” banner on the administrations life TV report. Several hundred protesters began occupying the city council building. Clashes between protesters and police have taken place, at least two were killed.
A similar situation evolved in Lugansk, where protesters, according to TV Channel 5 stormed the offices of the Ukrainian Security Service SBU. After negotiations between the governor of Lugansk, the local SBU chief and the protesters, police released six persons who had been arrested during previous protests.
In Kharkov anti-Maidan protesters clashed with members of the ultra right wing Pravy Sector. Police intervened to separate the two groups. Following that incident, some 1,500 anti-Maidan protesters stormed Kharkov’s regional headquarters, where after several thousand protesters surrounded the building. According to the anti-Maidan protesters own account, some 10,000 people took part in Sunday’s protest in the city.
People’s Council announced independence and a referendum, no later than May 11.
Today protests continued, with protesters in Donetsk announcing independence from Kiev. At 12:30 local time, a session of “the people’s council of Donbass (Donetsk)” was held in the Regional Council building’s main hall, with the absolute majority of those present voting in favor of declaring “The Independent Republick of Donetsk“.
The people’s council proclaimed, that it is the legitimate governing body of the region and denounced Kiev and the local administration enforced by Kiev after the ousting of the elected government. The council called for a referendum on the independence of Donezk to be held no later than May 11. A statement, issued by the council said:
“The Donetsk Republic is to be created within the administrative borders of the Donetsk region. This decision will come into effect after the referendum”.
The council called on Russia and the Russian president for protection, saying that without support, it will be hard to stand against the junta in Kiev, adding, “we are addressing Russian President Putin because we can only entrust our security to Russia”. Protests continue throughout eastern Ukraine as well as in Kiev, where a growing number of protesters voice their dissatisfaction with the new regime.
The interim secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Andrey Parubiy, is set to visit the Lugarsk together with the acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine, while Interim First Prime Minister Vitaly Yaremail and acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov reportedly are visiting Kharkov.
The protesters in Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov have been threatened with counter-terrorism operations by acting President Alexandr Turchinov, announcing harsh measures to be taken. Experts warned as early as December that the situation risks escalating and that Ukraine risks developing into a failed state and, or break apart.
The founding fathers of modern Ukraine: Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg (left) and General Erich Ludendorff (right), who ruled Germany in the name of the German General Staff in 1917-1918
The renown Historian Webster G. Tapley points out that Ukraine did not exist on European maps until German generals aided its creation as a communist nation state, with the intend to weaken the Russian Empire and the Tsar.
The founding fathers of Ukraine, stressed Tarpley in an article titled “Metaphysical Doubts Concerining the Existence of Modern Ukraine, a 1918 Creation of the German General Staff”, that the de-facto founding fathers of Ukraine were the German Field Marshal von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorf.
One of the German strategies to aid the creation of a “Ukrainian national identity”, was to school some 50.000 Russian prisoners of war, where off some 10.000 were successfully indoctrinated and shipped back east after the Austrian army had conquered Lemberg/Lvov in June 1915.
Tarpley stressed that these troops became a vital catalyst in the cause of Ukrainian autonomy or independence.
The situation in Ukraine continues deteriorating, with the post-coup Kiev government having to take increasingly drastic and desperate steps to hold onto power.
Although both Moscow, Washington, Berlin and Brussels attempt to downplay the volatility of the situation, the number of independent observers who warn about a Sarajevo like situation, where developments on the ground begin to determine the decisions of policy makers, rather than the other way around, persists and increases the risk of a military escalation.
Ch/L – nsnbc 07.04.2014
N.B.:We regret any eventual inconvenience cause by the fact that our website, unexpectedly, went “offline” for several hours today. The technical “issues” have been solved. Thank you for reading and supporting nsnbc international.
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VIDEO — Pro-Russian activists occupy govt buildings in eastern Ukraine
RT
Apr 6, 2014
Thousands of people waving Russian flags flooded the streets of eastern Ukraine on Sunday. Demonstrators in the cities of Donetsk, Lugansk, and Kharkov seized state offices, while in Donetsk they also demanded an independence referendum.
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[related article from March 28th, 2014: Darth Vader wants to run for Ukrainian presidency]
VIDEO — German police beat protesters as far-right march sparks disturbance in Wittenberge
RT
Apr 5, 2014
Clashes between police, left-wing protesters and demonstrators participating in a march aligned with the far-right group ‘Freie Kraefte Neuruppin/Osthavelland’ (NSFKN) broke out in the German town of Wittenberge, resulting in several people being detained.
The group marched under the slogan ‘Don’t watch as your city dies, become active!’ as counter-protesters rallied with the slogan ‘Stop the Nazi march in Wittenberge!’ While the NSFKN was allowed to march, police in riot gear were deployed to keep the protests separated.
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VIDEO — #WaveOfAction: Violent clashes as cops disperse protesters in Brussels
RT
Apr 4, 2014
Thousands rallying in waveofaction protest in Brussels against austerity measures. FULL STORY: http://on.rt.com/zoitcf
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1000s stage fresh anti-austerity protests in Spain — video included
PressTV
Apr 4, 2014
Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated in cities across Spain in fresh protests against the government’s tough austerity measures.
On Thursday, demonstrations were held in the capital Madrid and 53 other cities by more than 100 organizations, including the country’s top trade unions.
Several thousand people, many waving red-and-white labor union flags, marched through the streets of Madrid, calling for an end to the austerity policies.
The protests came amid highly unpopular tax rises, public salary freezes and spending cuts, which the government has been implementing to reduce its public deficit under pressure from the European Union.
Spain has promised the EU it will lower the public deficit to 5.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, 4.2 percent next year and 2.8 percent in 2016.
The demonstrations were held ahead of a major march planned in Brussels by the European Trade Union Confederation to demand an end to the austerity drive across the EU.
Official figures show Spain’s public debt increased to a new record high last year despite numerous budget-cutting measures implemented due to financial crisis.
According to data released by the Spanish central bank on March 14, the government’s debt reached 93.9 percent of the GDP in 2013. The figure showed a sharp rise compared to the previous record of 86 percent registered a year earlier.
Spain has been struggling to deal with its worst economic crisis since World War II, which has left millions of Spaniards jobless and unable to make a living.
A fifth of the country’s population is living under the poverty threshold as defined by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office. The dearth of jobs and the deepest austerity in more than 30 years have pushed average household income down 10 percent since 2008.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government has been sharply criticized over its austerity measures.
Spaniards have staged numerous protests against the government’s spending cuts, arguing that austerity measures have resulted in more job losses in recent years.
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