Allow Media into Gaza

By Peter Rothberg

As America's leaders knew at least as far back as Thomas Jefferson, a functioning media is critical to the informed citizenry necessary for a working democracy. That was the partial basis of the Israeli high court ruling on December 31 directing the Israeli government to allow foreign media into Gaza, where it has so far prevented all reporters from visiting since it commenced bombing raids nine days ago.

The decision by the High Court came in response to a petition by the Israeli Foreign Press Association, which represents more than 400 members from the world's leading international print and electronic media. The association, composed of media outfits across the political spectrum, called the ban "an unprecedented restriction of press freedom" on Israel's part.

The Israeli High Court specifically ruled that the Israeli government should allow a press pool of at least twelve foreign journalists into the Gaza Strip. The government countered that it will allow eight reporters into Gaza every time it opens the border at the Erez crossing, but so far the crossing has remained completely closed to entry.

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January 5, 2009

War in Gaza

By Peter Rothberg

Since Saturday, Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 325 people, including civilians and children, according to a wide range of sources. The attacks have left more than 1,400 people wounded, medical facilities wholly unable to respond to the crisis and desperate shortages of fuel, food and medicine.

CARE International has responded swiftly to the growing catastrophe, starting on December 27, the day the attack began, with provisions of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals that were in short supply. CARE, along with its partner the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, intends to continue providing emergency medical supplies and winterization equipment like heaters, blankets, and window coverings to families who have had their homes damaged in the bombing. Contributions to help continue this work can be made through the CARE.org website and should be sent with a note that the funds are for CARE Gaza emergency response.

Gaza's people were already vulnerable and its institutions and infrastructure fragile as a result of more than a year of economic blockade in response to Hamas' aggression against Israel. The blockade has denied the Strip fuel, spare parts, building materials, cash, agricultural inputs, medical supplies, or equipment. In particular, the health system has been hard hit by increased demand and an inability to secure supplies or to repair or replace equipment.

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December 29, 2008

Justice in New Orleans

By Peter Rothberg

In an 18-month investigation appearing this week on the cover of The Nation (directed and underwritten by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute), reporter A.C. Thompson paints a terrifying picture of New Orleans in the days following Hurricane Katrina. Black residents, desperate to flee the Lower Ninth Ward, were gunned down with impunity by white vigilantes in the Algiers Point neighborhood, which stood between the Lower Ninth Ward and the nearest rescue point. In Katrina's Hidden Race War and a companion piece, Body of Evidence, Thompson uncovers at least eleven unreported, un-investigated vigilante shootings.

This exclusive Nation Institute video features Thompson talking with two victims of post-Katrina violence describing their experiences fleeing vigilantes as well as some of the unrepentant shooters defending their actions.

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December 19, 2008

Bush's Midnight Regulations

By Peter Rothberg

President Bush may have hospitably welcomed his successor and his wife into the White House while promising a "transition of the highest order," but despite voters' overwhelming rejection of Republican ideology, his administration has been using its waning days in power to codify a host of harmful new pro-industry, anti-environmental rules and regulations.

As R. Jeffrey Smith and Juliet Eilperin wrote recently in the Washington Post, "In a burst of activity meant to leave a lasting stamp on the federal government, the Bush White House in the past month has approved 61 new regulations on environmental, security, social and commercial matters that by its own estimate will have an economic impact exceeding $1.9 billion annually."

These so-called "midnight regulations" are free of Congressional oversight and will be completely legal once Bush signs off on them. They'll allow factories to pollute more, let food manufacturers hide their toxins more easily, gives states the chance to restrict women's access to abortion services and force municipalities to cut off aid to needy families in the middle of a recession.

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December 17, 2008

Toxic Toys

By Peter Rothberg

For the second straight year, HealthyToys.org is highlighting test results for more than 1,500 toys and children's products. Researchers at the Ecology Center, a Michigan-based nonprofit, tested more than 1,500 popular children's toys for lead, cadmium, arsenic, PVC and other harmful chemicals in time for this year's holiday shopping season. The results are sobering: One in three toys tested were found to contain "medium" or "high" levels of chemicals of concern.

Lead was detected in 20 percent of the toys tested this year. In fact, lead levels in some of the products were well above the 600 parts-per-million (ppm) federal recall standard used for lead paint, and will exceed the US legal limit in February, according to the new Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulations. Levels of lead in many toys were significantly above the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended ceiling of 40 ppm of lead in children's products. (Children's jewelry remains the most contaminated product category, maintaining its spot at the top of HealthyToys.org's "worst" list.)

The site's utility allows ease of use for busy parents and children's advocates. Type in "Dora," and several varieties of toys appear. Click on a specific toy, and up pop product ratings based on test results for lead, cadmium, chlorine, arsenic and mercury. The ratings range from low- to high-risk. A primer on the hazards of each substance and a breakdown of which components were tested lets consumers evaluate the risk.

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December 15, 2008

The Grinch as Hero

By Peter Rothberg

My blogging has been off lately as I've been recuperating from my first-ever bout of food poisoning. Nasty thing. If you're ever so unlucky, check here.

But I'm healthy now and find myself suddenly confronted with holiday shopping so I've decided to embrace the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood's Guide to Commercial-Free Holidays.

Not that I'd play grinch to my two little kids but there is something about the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression that makes this season's rampant commercialism seem more off-key than usual. (Concerns about the economy are so great that experts predict far less spending on presents this year. Reports indicate, however, that spending on advertising will not reflect the downturn.)

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December 9, 2008

World AIDS Day

By Peter Rothberg

Despite the dramatic costs that the AIDS virus is still exacting, many people have the mistaken impression that the epidemic has been virtually conquered in the US and is now just a scourge of poor nations abroad.

Today -- the 20th anniversary of the first World AIDS Day -- is a good time to check the numbers, usefully compiled by the Think Progress blog.

AIDS is the number one killer for black women between the ages of 25 and 34.

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December 1, 2008

Power Shift 2009

By Peter Rothberg

In November of 2007 the Energy Action Coalition brought together more than 6,000 young activists for the first ever national youth conference to solve the climate crisis. Watch highlights from the historic and inspiring Power Shift.

This February 27, the movement is re-convening in Washington, DC for three days of training, strategy and action. More than 10,000 activists are expected for Power Shift 2009. Find out about and register for the conference and support Energy Action, a youth-led coalition of 48 organizations across the US and Canada, which has been instrumental in galvanizing youth action to save the planet.

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November 25, 2008

Block Bush's Pardons

By Peter Rothberg

Our friends at Democrats.com have launched a campaign in support of Rep. Jerry Nadler's H.Res. 1531. The New York City Congressman and Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties' bill demands that President Bush refrain from issuing any pre-emptive pardons of senior officials in his Administration during the final 90 days of office.

The Resolution, which aims to prevent undeserved pardons of officials who may have been co-conspirators in the President's unconstitutional policies, such as torture, illegal surveillance and curtailing of due process for defendants, is a sensible legal remedy to an administration that widelyabused its power.

Beyond preventing pre-emptive pardons, the Resolution also recommends the establishment of a special commission or select committee to investigate the potentially illegal activities of senior Bush Administration officials and also calls for the next Attorney General to appoint an independent counsel to investigate and prosecute any crimes.

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November 24, 2008

Take the Joe Lieberman Pledge

By Peter Rothberg

As my colleague John Nichols reports, to the surprise of few on Capitol Hill -- but to the disappointment of many beyond the beltway -- Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman will retain his chairmanship of the powerful Senate Homeland Security Committee and his place in the Democratic Caucus. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he "feels good" about the decision and won't "apologize to anyone for what we did today."

Lieberman thus gets away with his full-throated endorsement of John McCain, his long-standing alliance with the Bush Administration on foreign-policy and his public skepticism regarding Barack Obama's fitness for the presidency.

Or does he?

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November 18, 2008