With the Oscars upon us, many eyes will be on James Cameron and his sci-fi digital adventure, Avatar, which has already grossed $2.5 billion worldwide. It will win best special effects and may win for best director, best film, and six other awards for which it is nominated. read more »

The sixth annual Israeli Apartheid Week is only a couple of days away–and New York City isn’t missing out on the action. Meant as an education tool to show the world what organizers call Israel’s apartheid policies towards Palestinians and to further the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) targeting Israel, dozens of cities around the [...] read more »

By Jeff Friedrich Jeff Biggers is a journalist, cultural historian and prolific blogger. He has written extensively on the impact of coal mining on Appalachian communities and is a vocal critic of the so-called “clean coal” technologies. On Friday, Feb. 26, he will be speaking at the Harlem Arts Salon about his new book,  Reckoning at Eagle Creek: [...] read more »

PHOTO: Desertpeace/Bud Korotzer. Mock ballet street theater is performed by Palestine solidarity activists outside the Israel Ballet's performance in Brooklyn Over 40 Palestine solidarity activists demonstrated, performed street theater, and handed out mock programs outside of the Israel Ballet’s Brooklyn performance Feb. 21.   Protesters [...] read more »

It wasn’t quite Hiram Monserrate proposing a bill to get tough on domestic violence, but it came close. State Senator Pedro Espada (D/R/D-Bronx) came to City Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 17, to announce his new proposal for a rent freeze. Espada’s bill, S.6811, would freeze rents for all rent-stabilized tenants who make less than $45,000 a [...] read more »

There are several important reasons why charter schools not only harm public school children, but are a direct threat to public education as we know it. The harm is not ideological in nature, it is direct. read more »

PHOTO: Alex Kane While Valentine’s Day weekend is usually a time to buy jewelry or beauty products for your spouse, Palestine solidarity activists in New York used the occasion as an impetus to further the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel. Dozens of activists gathered outside billionaire Lev Leviev’s high-end jewelry store in Manhattan [...] read more »

  Dr. Mads Gilbert speaks to a packed room at Columbia University Feb. 3. PHOTO: Alex Kane Dr. Mads Gilbert manages to bounce around the streets of Manhattan with a bright green track jacket on, smiling and taking photos.  The Norwegian doctor’s infectious energy betrays the dark places his stories take you. Dr. Gilbert has worked [...] read more »

Norman Finkelstein gives a talk at Suffolk University in 2005. PHOTO: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Norman_finkelstein_suffolk.jpg These days, Dr. Norman Finkelstein is a busy man.  The outspoken scholar on Israel/Palestine has a new book about the Israeli assault on Gaza that is scheduled to come out in March.  Finkelstein is the author of five books, with his latest [...] read more »

Israeli and Palestinian responses to Richard Goldstone's (pictured above) report are inadequate, human rights organizations have said. PHOTO: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P1010796.JPG A chorus of statements from human rights organizations has determined that both Israel and Palestinian authorities have failed to conduct independent, impartial investigations into alleged war crimes committed during last year’s Israeli assault on Gaza. The [...] read more »