Daily Archives: 5. Juli 2023


05.07.2023 - 19:03 [ Haaretz ]

Netanyahu‘s Judicial Overhaul: Knesset Takes First Step to Disband Israel‘s Bar Association

The Knesset passed in a preliminary vote on Wednesday a bill to dismantle the Israel Bar Association and replace it with a politically appointed council. The bill would replace the bar association with a “lawyer’s council” with its head appointed by the justice minister.

The bar association selects two people named to the Judicial Appointments Committee, whose composition the coalition seeks to alter in its favor. Last month, the election for its leadership saw the candidate backed by opponents of the judicial overhaul overwhelmingly defeating his rival, a supporter of the overhaul.

05.07.2023 - 18:04 [ Rolling Stone ]

Biden’s DOJ Is Pressuring Journalists to Help Build Its Case Against Assange

The Department of Justice and FBI are pressuring multiple British journalists to cooperate with the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, using vague threats and pressure tactics in the process. I know because I am one of the British journalists being pressured to cooperate in the case against him, as someone who used to (briefly) work and live with him, and who went on to blow the whistle on WikiLeaks’ own ethical lapses.

05.07.2023 - 17:54 [ Democracy Now ]

Daniel Ellsberg’s Dying Wish: Free Julian Assange, Encourage Whistleblowers & Reveal the Truth

(July 03, 2023)

Whistleblower Dan Ellsberg joined us after the Justice Department charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act for publishing U.S. military and diplomatic documents exposing U.S. war crimes. Assange is locked up in London and faces up to 175 years in prison if extradited and convicted in the United States. Ellsberg died in June, and as we remember his life and legacy, we revisit his message for other government insiders who are considering becoming whistleblowers: “My message to them is: Don’t do what I did. Don’t wait ’til the bombs are actually falling or thousands more have died.”

(…)

„It’s this generation, not the next one, the people living right now, that have to change these problems fast. And I think truth-telling is crucial to mobilize that.“

05.07.2023 - 17:07 [ Scheerpost.com ]

Patrick Lawrence: Ellsberg and ‘The Process of My Awakening’

Imagine reading Kerouac, training to a place he writes of, and there meeting one of the novelist’s close friends. In the accounts I have read, the Vietnam War was a major topic of conversation. Ellsberg was still a dedicated supporter; Snyder, who by this time had the sturdy composure of the monks under whom he studied, talked of it from the other side. They liked one another, a little improbably from our perspective. They had lunch together the next day, continuing the conversation begun the previous evening.

A decade later Ellsberg identified the encounter with Snyder with his “awakening.” And so the defense technocrat drove a long way, we have to assume, to thank the poet. There is something in this to love.

05.07.2023 - 17:04 [ Chris Hedges / Zerohedge ]

Chris Hedges: They Lied About Afghanistan. They Lied About Iraq. And They Are Lying About Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a war crime, although one that was provoked by NATO expansion and by the United States backing of the 2014 “Maidan” coup which ousted the democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych wanted economic integration with the European Union, but not at the expense of economic and political ties with Russia. The war will only be solved through negotiations that allow ethnic Russians in Ukraine to have autonomy and Moscow’s protection, as well as Ukrainian neutrality, which means the country cannot join NATO. The longer these negotiations are delayed the more Ukrainians will suffer and die. Their cities and infrastructure will continue to be pounded into rubble.

05.07.2023 - 12:56 [ Middle East Eye ]

‚No red lines‘: US response to West Bank assault underlines Israel‘s free hand

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has wasted no time trumpeting US support as a counter to domestic opponents who say his far-right government has imperiled relations with Israel‘s closest ally.

„America has provided Israel with moral and political backing,“ Netanyahu said. „Security cooperation [with the US] has never been better, intelligence sharing has never been deeper.“

05.07.2023 - 12:20 [ Times of Israel ]

Netanyahu in weekend interview: Overhaul necessary as Supreme Court ‘too powerful’

(27 March 2023)

In an interview recorded Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his government’s planned judicial overhaul was necessary as the Supreme Court is “too powerful,” claiming the controversial attempts to neuter the court would result in a “stronger democracy.”

While the interview was expected to air Monday evening, it was released online hours earlier amid concerns it was fast becoming outdated as the country was roiled by mass protests and Netanyahu was expected to announce a freeze to the controversial overhaul.

05.07.2023 - 12:12 [ Washington Post ]

Biden faces renewed pressure to embrace Supreme Court overhaul

As Democrats reel from another painful set of defeats at the Supreme Court in recent weeks, President Biden is facing renewed pressure from a range of elements in his party, from liberal lawmakers to abortion rights activists, to more forcefully embrace far-reaching changes to the high court.

05.07.2023 - 12:04 [ Fox News ]

Biden likely violated First Amendment during COVID-19 pandemic, federal judge says

A U.S. District Court judge is temporarily preventing White House officials from meeting with tech companies about social media censorship, arguing that such actions in the past were likely First Amendment violations.

The Tuesday injunction by Louisiana Judge Terry A. Doughty was in response to recent lawsuits from Louisiana and Missouri attorneys general. The suits allege that the White House coerced or „significantly encourage[d]“ tech companies to suppress free speech during the COVID-19 pandemic.

05.07.2023 - 12:00 [ APnews.com ]

Judge limits Biden administration in working with social media companies

U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana granted the injunction in response to a 2022 lawsuit brought by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri. Their lawsuit alleged that the federal government overstepped in its efforts to convince social media companies to address postings that could result in vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic or affect elections.