Spokesman Books

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Summer, 69 years later. The burning sun takes us back to "that day."   August 6, 1945. A single atomic bomb renders Hiroshima a burnt plain.   From infants to the elderly, tens of thousands of innocent civilians lose their lives in a single day. By the end of the year, 140,000 have died. To avoid forgetting that sacred sacrifice and to prevent a repetition of that tragedy, please listen to the voices of the survivors.   Approximately 6,000 young boys and girls died removing buildings for fire lanes. One who was a 12-year-old junior high student at the time says, "Even now, I carry the scars of war and that atomic bombing on my body and in my heart. Nearly all my classmates were killed instantly. My heart is tortured by guilt when I think how badly they wanted to live and that I was the only one who did." Having somehow survived, hibakusha still suffer from severe physical and emotional wounds.   "Water, please." Voices from ...

German experts point finger at Ukrainian air-force jets. By John Ward July 28, 2014 Surface to air missile attack ruled out as calibre of cockpit bullet holes puts Ukraine pilots in the frame for MH17 murders. This is what a German pilot-cum-air technology expert Peter Haisenko has just published on the subject of the MH17 disaster (my emphases): The misfortune of the Malaysian MH 017 is known to all. The flight recorder is in England and is being evaluated. What can come of this? May be more than you want to accept….if you look at the image of Cockpit-Fragments, this picture is certainly shocking. Entry And Exit holes from bullets in the area of the Cockpit. This is not speculation, but analysis of clear facts: the cockpit shows clear evidence of bullet holes. You can see the entry holes and some exit points. The edges of the bullet holes are bent inwards, these are much smaller and round in shape. A 30mm calibre. The exit holes are less well formed and the edges are torn o...

Peace News , August 2014 Review by Gabriel Carlyle A. W. Zurbrugg (ed), Not Our War: Writings Against the First World War (Merlin Press, 2014; 264pp; £12.95) / Ernst Friedrich, War against war! (Spokesman, 2014; 242pp; £9.99) In the UK, the centenary of the First World War has already prompted a deluge of books, events and media coverage. The BBC alone has announced 2,500 hours of programmes, which – like 99% of the mainstream response – will doubtless run the A to B of the mainstream political spectrum. True, Thatcherite historian and apologist for imperialisms past and present, Niall Ferguson, was granted 90 mins on BBC2 to argue that Britain should have stayed out of the war, at least at the outset. In his view, it was ‘a great mistake’. Even this had to be ‘balanced’ by an hour-long slot with former Telegraph editor Max Hastings, arguing that Britain’s participation was ‘tragically necessary’. Almost completely absent, it seems, are the voices and arguments of those s...

Dearest friends - The last night was extreme. The "ground invasion" of Gaza resulted in scores and carloads with maimed, torn apart, bleeding, shivering, dying - all sorts of injured Palestinians, all ages, all civilians, all innocent. The heroes in the ambulances and in all of Gaza's hospitals are working 12-24hrs shifts, grey from fatigue and inhuman workloads (without payment all in Shifa for the last 4 months), they care, triage, try to understand the incomprehensible chaos of bodies, sizes, limbs, walking, not walking, breathing, not breathing, bleeding, not bleeding humans. HUMANS! Now, once more treated like animals by "the most moral army in the world" (sic!). My respect for the wounded is endless, in their contained determination in the midst of pain, agony and shock; my admiration for the staff and volunteers is endless, my closeness to the Palestinian "sumud" gives me strength, although in glimpses I just want to scream, hold someone ...

Disappointing global response to Israeli aggression calls for more grassroots efforts to help Palestinian struggle. Richard Falk For the third time in the last six years, Israel has cruelly unleashed the full fury of its military machine against the defenceless 1.7 million people of Gaza, inflicting heavy civilian casualties and further devastation on the long besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip. With cynical disregard of the realities of this latest confrontation between Israel and Palestine, instead of condemning such recourse to massive violence as "aggression" that violates the UN Charter and fundamental international law principles, the reaction of western diplomats and mainstream media has perversely sided with Israel. From the UN Secretary-General to the president of the United States, the main insistence has been that Hamas must stop all rocket attacks while Israel is requested ever so politely to show "maximum restraint". Up to now, the Israeli atta...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      Contact: Scott Campbell: +510-295-8843 (US) Jamal Juma’ (Stop the Wall): +970-598921821 (Palestine)   8 July 2014                                                    On 10 th Anniversary of Historic Ruling against Israel’s Wall, Legal Scholars call on world to act   As protests continue in Palestine, worldwide events to stop Israeli impunity; At the UN, 86 top legal experts urge UN and third-state action   Leading international jurists and legal networks from all continents, among them UN special Rapporteurs, acting and former judges, leading law professors as well...