WhatWouldKarlDo

One more disillusioned by the lies.

Whatever credibility the United States had as an advocate for human rights has almost entirely vanished since the war began. Members of civil society have refused to respond to my efforts to contact them. Our office seeks to support journalists in the Middle East; yet when asked by NGOs if the US can help when Palestinian journalists are detained or killed in Gaza, I was disappointed that my government didn’t do more to protect them. Ninety Palestinian journalists in Gaza have been killed in the last five months, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That is the most recorded in any single conflict since the CPJ started collecting data in 1992.

This is a great editorial I came across today about the history of the UN declaration that Zionism is a form of racism. It's a bit on the old side, but still very relevant today.

Yesterday in the Tienanmen Square post, someone mentioned to me that US atrocities are taught and remembered by the US population. In light of that, I thought it would be fun to do a series of This Day in History posts with a brief blurb on whatever vile thing that the US did on that day in the style of western reporting on China. I would like to continue these until I get bored/busy/hungover (as Karl would do), or the US somehow fails to do something awful on any particular day.

Today is the anniversary of the Los Angeles Rebellion (also known as the Watt's Riot) which happened from August 11 - 16, 1965. A brutal traffic stop of an unarmed young black man sparked thousands in the black community to rise against the oppressive racist regime. 14000 soldiers were called in to squash the fledgling rebellion, and after 6 days of urban guerrilla warfare, the fledgling rebellion was crushed. Government propaganda framed the issue as a riot, and little was changed. However, the black population continues to fight for equality against the authoritarian government to this day.