https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-adl-and-kkk-born-of-the-same-murder-100-years-ago/?fbclid=IwAR1cBRT9ZRY15bKH3_us3bddC7Ug4GH00HUvzH0inrnmGOX29XMAm_yiLYo https://forward.com/culture/books/375506/musical-sparks-fresh-tensions-with-blacks-over-infamous-leo-frank-case/ The importance of the Leo Frank case is not just historical. It seems to have marked a turning point. With the founding of the Anti-Defamation League in 1913 Jews in America stopped being simply white people (mostly) and became, as it were, Jews. The evidence that Frank was guilty of murder seems very strong, and he was indeed convicted and sentenced to hang, by a jury including a number of prominent American Jews. But this is not accepted, or is at least pushed under the carpet as “irrelevant”, by the Anti-Defamation League, by Frank’s wealthy Jewish supporters of the time and more or less by the subsequent “historical record”. His supporters’ initial attempts to play the anti-Negro racist card in Atlanta, against all the odds, were not working and it became necessary to detect anti-Semitism behind accusations against Frank. This did not save Frank: his sentence was commuted but he was lynched by what are now called the “deplorables”. The lynching was meant as a lesson to interfering Yankees but, it seems, also reflected genuine moral outrage. Frank nevertheless went on to become “a martyr” and the Anti-Defamation-League commenced a successful career as a lobby willing and able … Continue reading →

Source WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains in solitary confinement inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he was granted asylum in 2012 against the threat of extradition to the United States for his publishing activities. In recent months, Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno, under pressure from the U.S. began threatening to evict this political refugee. In response to this dire situation, people across the political spectrum began to form solidarity through #Unify4J, an online platform to organize a social media movement in support of Assange. Among those include prominent Trump’s supporters. In the midst of Trump administration’s draconian measures on immigrants and empowerment of white supremacist groups, the idea of working with Trump’s key allies triggered reaction among the left. Recently, Classconscious.org, an outlet spearheading global civic action for Assange’s freedom, scrutinized the idea of uniting with ultra-right forces that back Trump and urged the movement to draw a line. Strife around the same issue arose from the former associate and early proponents of WikiLeaks. Barrett Brown, an award-winning journalist, previously imprisoned for charges relating to a Stratfor hack, has been one of the strong voices in support of the whistleblowing site. He described how he has long stood up for … Continue reading →

Yanis Varoufakis and Julian Assange On DiEM25’s advisory panel is Julian Assange, an Australian who fled European law by entering the Ecuadorian embassy. Is he a fit person to advise on Europe? Varoufakis: I’m very proud to count Julian as one of my friends. You will have noticed that the Swedish prosecutor has dropped any intention of charging him. It seems absurd that someone is deemed guilty even though no charge have been laid upon him. Julian Assange is being persecuted for a very simple reason: he embarrassed the US and the surveillance establishment. Wikileaks is a brilliant attempt to turn the mirror on Big Brother. This is why Julian is effectively incarcerated in the Ecuadorian embassy. Are we to believe his accusers were part of a conspiracy to extradite him to the US? Varoufakis: I have no interest in speculation. What I do know is that the Swedish prosecutor never charged Julian with anything. Now the US government has explicitly stated that there is a grand jury convening in secret, all ready to request his extradition on charges of espionage. The court case will be a sham. His lawyers will not be given the charges or evidence. It will … Continue reading →