Drones Quilt Project
The Drones Quilt Project is a way to memorialize the victims of U.S. combat drones, and to educate and inform the public.
Each square of the quilt is made by someone like you who puts their name and then the name of a civilian victim on a square of fabric. These are then sewn together to create a quilt panel that can be used in many ways:
FaceBook Founder Gets an Earful After Promoting XL Pipeline
Mark Zuckerberg's complaint box is filling up. The billionaire founder of FaceBook is behaving as destructively as other sociopaths who hoard vast riches while others starve and die for lack of medical care. And people are letting him know how they feel about it.
Zuckerberg's new advocacy group FWD.us is running TV ads in support of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A petition asks him to stop. The comments that people are leaving on the petition ask him to do a number of other things I won't repeat. You'll never guess what they've found that rhymes with Zuck.
FWD.us is a group of plutocrats who, instead of advocating for education funding, are advocating for the immigration of educated workers. And in order to win over certain members of Congress on immigration policy, FWD.us has funded two front groups, one for Republicans and one for Democrats. Both are buying TV ads supporting Congress members who support tar sands and drilling in ANWR.
Pressure is building from the backlash, and two tech executives have just quit FWD.us in protest. To continue to build momentum, check out the comments below and add your own:
"Integrity goes a long way -- longer then any pipelines."
"How can you live with your billions and support something like this?"
"If you think this pipeline is a good idea, you need to visit the Arkansas spill, see the damage done, & maybe buy everyone affected a new house in a clean environment.
"What? REALLY?? May I suggest that you visit Arkansas...."
"Yes, what is this about - are you kidding me? This is the earth where we live that is going to be damaged."
"Are you out of your mind, supporting tar sands? Get a grip and a clue or we'll start a mass exodus from FB and bring you down! This is unacceptable and boycott-able."
"Stop talking about subjects you don't understand."
"Back to MySpace -- or whatever is next -- GOODBYE FACEBOOK! Shame on you, Zuckerberg!!"
"Only greedy creeps push the tar sands."
"F--- THE ZUCK!
"You did a great thing with creating Facebook, however, that doesn't qualify you to be making big decisions for the rest of us."
"After reading about this, I'm seriously considering divesting my 1500 shares of stock in Facebook."
"So after we get all that nasty sludge you think we should burn it up and put more crap in the atmosphere? Are you insane or suicidal? Maybe just greedy."
"Please don't share the destruction of our climate! Unlike."
"I'll be avoiding facebook until I hear that you've had a change of heart."
"Zuck, your billions don't make you God!
"Mark Zuckerberg, your young voice should not be speaking for our common destruction; has your wealth turned you plumb crazy? Has cash power corrupted you utterly? Wake up young man!"
"I have an 11 year old daughter. I put her, and the planet ahead of my business and personal profits. Wish you had the same concerns. I'm about to cancel my Facebook page."
"Go back to school and learn how to respect the earth and life!"
Small Miracle: Guantanamo Dissected at House Briefing, May 10
The Deepening Shame of Guantanamo
Editor Note: For more than a decade, the Guantanamo Bay prison has been a blot on America’s conscience. President Obama vowed to close it but acceded to congressional demands to keep it open. Now, an emerging humanitarian crisis – a mass hunger strike – is drawing only scant attention.
By Ray McGovern
There have been nine congressional hearings on the Benghazi controversy – with more to come – but almost no one in Congress dares put the spotlight on the unfolding scandal surrounding the Guantanamo Bay prison where most of the remaining 166 inmates have opted to “escape” from indefinite detention via the only way open to them – starving themselves to death.
Syria News May 14
Syrian army takes villages near Qusayr - AFP
Abandoned arms as Syria rebels pull back near Qusayr - AFP
Weapons, ammunition shipments slowing to Syria’s moderate rebel factions - McClatchy
Syrians losing patience, confidence in revolution - Reno Gazette-Journal
Syria: Assad Still Popular In Parts Of Country (VIDEO) - Sky News
Six ways Assad has turned the tide in Syria - washingtonpost.com
Report: German freelance journalist detained in Syrian city of Aleppo - Fox News
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Obama pushes for Syria peace talks but warns of huge challenges - Reuters
Syria Opposition: Consult Allies Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar Before Peace Push - ABC News
Western Stance on Syria Becomes More Realistic - Syria PM Jamil - RIA Novosti
In Saudi, Iran FM Warns of Syria Breakup - Naharnet
Lavrov urges Iran presence in Syria talks - alalam.ir
Putin Vows Snap Military Drills in Future – Kremlin - RIA Novosti
Israel Minister Criticizes Russia Over Syria Arms - ABC News
Turkey’s Syria policies are criticized as Erdogan prepares to meet with Obama - The Washington Post
Former opposition leader Khatib berates Syrian National Coalition - .arabstoday.net
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"Sometimes you cannot apply the rules" - Syrian rebels and international humanitarian law - IRIN
Syrian rebels on international humanitarian law: In their own words - IRIN
VIDEO: Formation Al-Omar and Al-Farooq Battalion - FSA - YouTube
VIDEO: Syria opposition coalition publishes videos on rules of war - YouTube
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Israeli Lobby Power in America
Israeli Lobby Power in America
by Stephen Lendman
In 1949, the American Zionist Council (AZC) was established. It operated until 1962. It was ordered to register as a foreign agent.
It failed to do so. It transferred its responsibilities to AIPAC. It calls itself "America's Pro-Israel Lobby. It operates as an unregistered foreign agent.
If U.S. Supports Israel in Attacking Iran, Millions Will Die
Read these two articles:
Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent Iranians would likely die within the first year of such a strike, while millions more would die within a decade or two of some form of radiation-induced cancer. And since a significant portion of that nuclear fallout would end up either immediately, or over the course of the next weeks and months in the Arabian Desert, where the winds, year after year, would gather it up along with the particles of sand and dust into gigantic roiling irradiated storms (remember, “hundreds” of such sand and dust storms annually), not a person living anywhere in the Gulf State region would be safe from exposure. The Persian Gulf, too, would soon be so irradiated and toxic and lifeless that it might as well be renamed the New Dead Sea.
Tomgram: Nick Turse, Israel, Iran, and the Nuclear Freight Train
Iranian cities -- owing to geography, climate, building construction, and population densities -- are particularly vulnerable to nuclear attack, according to a new study, “Nuclear War Between Israel and Iran: Lethality Beyond the Pale,” published in the journal Conflict & Health by researchers from the University of Georgia and Harvard University. . . .
An Israeli attack on the Iranian capital of Tehran using five 500-kiloton weapons would, the study estimates, kill seven million people -- 86% of the population -- and leave close to 800,000 wounded.
Why We Allow the Destruction of Our Planet
It's not enough to point out that our political system is completely corrupted by money, including money from coal and oil and nukes and gas. Of course it is. And if we had direct democracy, polls suggest we would be investing in green energy. But saying the right thing to a pollster on a phone or in a focus group is hardly the extent of what one ought sensibly to do when the fate of the world is at stake.
Nor do we get a complete explanation by recognizing that our communications system is in bed with our political system, cooperatively pushing lies about our climate and our budget (defunding wars and billionaires is not an option, so there's just no money for new ideas, sorry). Of course. But when the planet's climate is being destroyed for all future generations, most of which will therefore not exist, the only sensible course of action is to drop everything and nonviolently overthrow any system of corruption that is carrying out the destruction.
Why don't we?
Misinformation is a surface-level explanation. Why do people choose to accept obvious misinformation?
Here's one reason: They've already chosen to accept other obvious misinformation to which they are deeply and passionately attached and which requires this additional self-deception. The beliefs involved correlate with poor education, so government choices to fund fossil fuels and highways and prisons and Hamid Karzai rather than schools certainly contribute. But perhaps we should confront the misinformation directly, even while pursuing the creation of an education system worthy of a civilized country.
According to a Newsweek poll, 40 percent of people in the United States believe the world will end with a battle between Jesus Christ and the Antichrist. And overwhelmingly those who believe that, also believe that natural disaster and violence are signs of the approach of the glorious battle -- so much so that 22 percent in the U.S. believe the world will end in their lifetime. This would logically mean that concern for the world of their great great grandchildren makes no sense at all and should be dismissed from their minds. In fact, a recent study found that belief in the "second coming" reduces support for strong governmental action on climate change by 20 percent.
Apart from the corruption of money, whenever you have 40 percent of Americans believing something stupid, the forces of gerrymandering in the House, disproportionate representation of small states in the Senate, the Senate filibuster, the winner-take-all two-party system that shuts many voices out of the media and debates and ballots while allowing Democrats to get elected purely on the qualification of not being Republicans, and a communications system that mainstreams Republican beliefs almost guarantees that the 40-percent view will control the government.
Congressman John Shimkus, a Republican from a gerrymandered monstrosity in southeastern Illinois says the planet is in fine shape and guaranteed to stay that way because God promised that to Noah.
Senator James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma (a state whose citizens get 10 times the representation in the Senate that Californians do -- if one can accuse Diane Feinstein of representing anyone), says that only God could possibly change the climate, and we should stop being so arrogant -- as if taking $1.4 million in campaign "contributions" from fossil-fuel profiteers and imagining that your positions are purely determined by your access to an all-powerful being who runs the universe on behalf of the 30 percent of the world raised on the same fairy tales as you isn't an arrogant belief.
Another senator who claims to be a theist but not of the Inhofe-Shimkus variety, publicly denounced an unnamed colleague this week for pushing the don't-worry-God-is-on-the-job line in a recent meeting.
When a large portion of the population believes that catastrophe is a good thing, rather than a bad thing, and wars are celebrated and crises bring excitement and solidarity to our lives, the influence is toxic. Of the 40 percent who believe Jesus is on his way, some no doubt believe it more than others, allow it to shape more of their other beliefs and actions. Of the other 60 percent, some are no doubt influenced to varying degrees by the armageddonists.
Belief in theism itself reaches as much as 80 percent in the United States and includes strong activists for sustainable policies, including some who passionately proselytize using the argument that only theism can save us from our apathy in the face of global warming. And there is no question that our most dedicated peace and justice activists include some strong religious believers. But theism is essentially the belief that some more powerful being is running the show. Perhaps the armageddonists haven't really found a solution to the problem of evil ("If there is a God, he'll have to beg forgiveness from me," said a prisoner in a Nazi camp), but the non-armageddonist theists have never found a logical solution to the problem of free will, either. Theists can go either way and all make as little sense as each other. But they must all of necessity promote the notion that a more powerful being is in charge.
And where does that belief show up to damaging effect? In our politics it shows up primarily as an attitude toward presidents. While President Obama has spent five years working diligently to destroy our natural environment for all time to come, the largest block of those concerned about global warming have spent their time telling each other to trust in Him, that he works in mysterious ways, that he is up against the Evil One and must be allowed time to succeed in his battle. You see, the problem with theism is not that some of its spin-off beliefs succeed in an undemocratic system. The problem is that theism is anti-democratic at its core. It moves us away from relying on ourselves. It teaches us to rely on someone supposedly better than we. And the same 80 percent or so also believe in something called heaven, which renders real life far less significant even for those generations that get to experience it.
This, in turn, fuels a belief in optimism. We are all told to be optimists regardless of the facts, as if it were a personal lifestyle choice. Combine that with a belief that everything is part of a secret master plan, and you've got a recipe for submissive acceptance. I've had great activists tell me that everything will work out for the best, either because that keeps them going, or because they've learned that saying anything else earns them fewer speaking invitations. Hardcore optimism is compatible with active engagement. But the net effect is almost certainly a contribution to apathy.
I wish it were needless to say that I am not advocating the equally dumb position of willful pessimism. I'm proposing the unpopular position of taking the facts as they come, acting accordingly, and acting cautiously when it comes to the fate of generations as yet unborn -- even if that caution requires huge sacrifices.
There are other powerful forces weighing against action as well. There is our love of technology, including our fantasies about inventing our way out of catastrophe, colonizing other planets, re-creating species. Maybe our senator friend is onto something after all when he points to arrogance. There is also greed, including our fear that living sustainably would involve living with less of the materialistic crap that currently clutters our lives and fuels our obesity. There is also the con job continuously played on us by our government that persuades so many of us that we are powerless to effect change. It's not enough to believe that the world is being destroyed and that we humans are on our own with the plants and the other animals, if we've fallen for the biggest scam governments pull on their people, the lie that says they pay no attention to us. History teaches the opposite. People's influence on their governments is much more powerful than we usually imagine. It's weakened primarily by people's failure to do anything. Impotence is a self-fulfilling loop. Those longing for the end of the world are far from alone in imagining that we don't have the power to make the world over ourselves. Nonetheless, among the things we should be doing right now is explaining to our neighbors that Jesus isn't coming back.
Iran War Weekly May 12, 2013
Iran War Weekly
May 12, 2013
Hello All – While nuclear negotiators will meet Wednesday in Istanbul, little progress is expected in the diplomatic standoff about Iran’s nuclear program before Iran’s presidential election, which will take place on June 14th. With Iran’s reform movement still not recovered from its crushing defeat in 2009, until now the presidential election appeared to be a mere jockeying for power within conservative leadership circles, but it took on a more volatile character on Saturday, when both former president Rafsanjani and a protégé of current president Ahmadinejad registered their candidacies at the last minute. There are some very good articles about the election – both candidates and electoral procedures – linked below.
Another Anti-Assad False Flag
Another Anti-Assad False Flag
by Stephen Lendman
Since early 2011, Obama's been waging proxy war on Syria. Imported death squads masquerade as freedom fighters. The scheme's familiar. It repeats. It reflects US imperialism's dark side.
In the 1980s, CIA-recruited mujahideen fighters battled Afghanistan's Soviet occupiers. Ronald Reagan called them "the moral equivalent of our founding fathers." He characterized Contra killers the same way.
Israelis Protest Austerity Harshness
Israelis Protest Austerity Harshness
by Stephen Lendman
On May 11, thousands of Israelis protested publicly. They did so for social justice. More on that below.
In summer 2011, widespread social justice protests erupted. They continued for weeks. Others followed in summer 2012.
"Winding Down" War on Afghanistan to Continue With Nine Huge Bases After it "Ends" in a Year and a Half
The United States has requested the use of nine large military bases in Afghanistan after international forces complete their combat mission here at the end of next year, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday.
In the first public disclosure of the number of bases under discussion in security talks between the U.S. and Afghanistan, Karzai indicated that he would agree to the U.S. request. But he said Washington must provide unspecified "security and economic" guarantees in return.
But, of course, neither non-combat combat forces nor combat non-combat forces nor even plain old combat forces will ever do enough combatting to win Karzai's government the support of the people of Afghanistan. So, at some point, ending the war is going to have to involve ending the war.
Syria News May 13
Damascus denies responsibility for Turkey bombings - AFP
Erdogan says country won’t be drawn into Syria conflict after deadly bombings - The Washington Post
Turkey says world must act against Syria after bombings - Reuters
Turkey opposition criticizes Erdogan's Syria policy - todayszaman
Why is Turkey Building a Tent City for Syrian Christians?
VIDEOS: Links To Photos And Videos From The Reyhanli Car-Bombings - Brown Moses Blog
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Syria Christian village breathes easier as army advances on Qusayr - AFP
On the Golan Heights, the people are (mostly) with Assad - Haaretz Daily Newspaper
Palestinian-Syrian group forming units to fight for Golan - JPost
Syrian Rebels Release 4 UN Filipino Peacekeepers - ABC News
UN praises Qatar key role in release of Golan peacekeepers - Saudi Gazette
Syria Promises Ibrahim to Help in Abducted Lebanese Pilgrims Case - Naharnet
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Under the black flag of al-Qaeda, the Syrian city Raqqa ruled by gangs of extremists - Telegraph
VIDEO: : Telegraph dispatch from Raqqa, Syria - Telegraph
PHOTOS: Exclusive pictures from Syria by Telegraph photographer David Rose - Telegraph
800 Tunisian Islamists fighting in Syria, minister says - NOW
Claims Australians killed in Syria were fighters, not aid workers - SMH
VIDEO: Insurgent Eats Heart of Syrian Soldier - YouTube
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Syrian opposition to meet to decide whether to join peace talks - Reuters
Gates: US military involvement in Syria a 'mistake' - NOW'
Drugs, prostitution and official corruption: Syrian refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan - ekurd
VIDEO: Direct U.S. military involvement in Syria "would be a mistake," says Gates - CBS News Video
VIDEO: US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford poses with rebel of Aleppo - LiveLeak.com
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Eroding Freedom in America
Eroding Freedom in America
by Stephen Lendman
US democracy is illusory. America never was beautiful. It's not the land of the free and home of the brave. It wasn't created that way. More than ever, it's not now.
Freedom is a four-letter word. It's fast disappearing. It's an endangered species. Wealth, power and privilege alone matter. America's war on terror priorities advance them.
Thirdworldizing America
Thirdworldizing America
by Stephen Lendman
Center for Economic and Policy Research co-director Dean Baker calls poverty America's "new growth industry." The state of today's America is deplorable.
Anti-Assad Rhetoric Intensifies
Anti-Assad Rhetoric Intensifies
by Stephen Lendman
US-led anti-Assad efforts continue. Obama's going all out to topple him. He's heading America for more war.
His imperial strategy prioritizes it. Rule of law principles are discarded. Unchallenged global dominance alone matters. America's longstanding permanent war agenda advances it.
Malcolm Shabazz's Suspicious Death
Malcolm Shabazz's Suspicious Death
by Stephen Lendman
On May 9, Amsterdam News (AN) headlined "Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X, killed."
Protest Kissinger Getting Intrepid Freedom Award
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger will receive the Intrepid Freedom Award on May 23rd for his distinguished career "defending" the values of freedom and democracy. Kissinger developed the plans for millions of war deaths, millions of refugees, millions maimed. He was responsible for the crimes against humanity in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Chile and many other countries, including Iraq. Protest Kissinger at Manhattan's Intrepid Museum, Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th St., NYC May 23rd, 5:30pm
New York Times Ad On Closing Guantánamo
by Debra Sweet My friend Stephen Phelps, Senior Minister at The Riverside Church, signed The New York Times ad on closing Guantanamowe plan to publish next week, and sent a note saying he would “begin to send the hope around to some others.” This hit me strongly. For the last four+ years, since Obama promised to close it, nothing hopeful has come out of Guantanamo.
Syria News May 11
VIDEO: Biden outlines US policy on Syrian conflict - Firstpost Topic
Hagel: ‘Political, not military’ solutions needed in Syria and Iran - Alarabiya.net
Russian Pacific Fleet Warships to Appear in Eastern Mediterranean Sea - LiveLeak.com
Germany spy chief visited Syria: Report - PressTV
Syria's chemical arsenal nearly 1,00 tons, watchdog chief says - Anadolu Agency
VIDEO: Nuclear arms expert discusses chemical weapons in Syria - Alarabiya.net
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Al Nusra Front to be added to UN sanctions list as terrorist organization, diplomats say - AFP
Hezbollah and Al Qaeda Fighters Edging Closer to Confrontation - ABC News
3 Lebanese jihadists killed in Syria, 36 others missing - THE DAILY STAR
Militants in Syria shell Lebanese border areas - abna.ir
Palestinians from Syria in Lebanon number 55,000 - THE DAILY STAR
Syrian army warns civilians to leave Qusayr - Alarabiya.net
Al Manar TV: 3500 militant rebels in Qusayr offering to surrender to Syria’s Assad - Zimbio
Is Saudi Arabia behind the substitution of Syrian opposition PM Hitto? - The Syrian Observer News
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Are PKK Fighters Moving to Syria? - Al-Monitor
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Love Letters from Kabul
Dear friends and fellow human beings,
9th May , 2013 ( Gregorian calendar )
20th Saur , 1392 ( Afghan calendar )
From Abdulhai
I can’t quite bear to see the forever-sorrow in my mother.
She walks in a sad way.
Once, I had called from Kabul to speak to her in Bamiyan, and I can’t recall what I had laughed over. She thought I was ridiculing her, despite my explanations of how I would never ridicule her, my widowed mother.
Since then, I’ve been calling her less often because I don’t quite know how to respond to her sadness.
I mean, I myself have a heaviness which sits inside. I used to cry easily as a kid, until I was older.
Last year, when I got angry with Hakim, and I said I wanted to leave the community, it hurt me very much to hear Hakim say, “If you really want to go, you are free to leave.”
Watch ‘Can Abdulhai and Samia be happy in Afghanistan?’
Can you imagine why, like most other Afghans, I sometimes get tired of my feelings?
My mother and I and all, we are all war children.
From Samia
Hakim asked me to describe what makes me happy.
‘Friends and family’ was my answer.
On a wall in the Afghan Peace Volunteers’ house, one of the volunteers, Sadaf, had painted two doves flying away from a cage, into the blue ‘lake’.
I told Hakim this drawing was a happy one. “Why?” Hakim asked.
“The doves are beautiful.”
From Hakim
Part of the loss of human dignity experienced by Afghans is the feeling that no one notices.
Bare mountains, rivers drying up, children with malnourished cheeks, beings under ‘burqas’, chair-less tent schools, fatherlessness, family-less-ness…..and yet, still un-regarded.
I re-print some thoughts I had sometime in 2004 ( italicized below ) , as I crossed over the harsh, no-man’s land from Quetta to Kandahar, learning from Abdulhai whom I met years later that we often walk like we’re in a prison, and that we can be happy when, like the imaginative art offered by doves, we labor daily to be free.
As I was going on foot from the Pakistan Immigration office into Afghanistan, I quietly felt fatigued, wishing for the comforts of home and the company of friends. But we have all taken this road before, venturing past unfamiliar limits and handling uneasy tasks, knowing that while it is ideal to travel together, sometimes, we need to walk a little way on our own.
Near the Pakistan Afghanistan border
Crossing the border
I wanted to shout out loud
As I crossed the border alone
Just so I could hear my voice
Above the bareness of my bones
The lines that divide our hearts
Are a hazy black and white
I can’t tell a right from a lie
Or when a struggle becomes a fight
I remembered the orphan boy Najib
His hard work and his strife
How he took that foreign journey
His mistake or his hope or his life
These zones, these places of nowhere
Can strengthen or cripple our course
Such that when we cross those borders
For a second, our history breathes a pause…
For a moment, I lost my resolve
Love,
Abdulhai, Samia and Hakim
VA Whistleblower Ignites Firestorm Over Vets’ Illnesses
Epidemiologist says VA hid and manipulated data regarding burn pits and Gulf War syndrome.
It’s not every day that a scientist creates such intense drama on Capitol Hill.
But Dr. Steven S. Coughlin’s charges that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials hid, manipulated, and even lied about research pertaining to Gulf War Illness (GWI) and health problems plaguing Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are still causing fallout a month after his stunning testimony before a key House subcommittee.
“The implications of his testimony are profound,” declared Anthony Hardie, 45, a Gulf War veteran who serves on the congressionally appointed Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses (RAC).
Obama's Syria Game Plan: Libya 2.0
Obama's Syria Game Plan: Libya 2.0
by Stephen Lendman
Obama's already waging multiple direct and proxy wars. He's heading America for more. Media scoundrels support it. They back all US aggression. They're beating the drums again now. They're manipulating public sentiment for support.
Russia, China and most other nations want peace. May 8 commemorates Victory in Europe Day (VE Day). Russia's toll was greatest. For many, war horrors still echo.
Hawking Boycotts Israel
Hawking Boycotts Israel
by Stephen Lendman
Hawking was invited to participate in a June 18 - 20 Israeli Presidential Conference. Initially he accepted. In early May he declined. He's boycotting. He's protesting Israel's occupation. More on that below.
Hawking's a renown British physicist. His web site says he's the "former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge."
