ARUNDHATI ROY ON ANTI-DAM STRUGGLE

Arundhati Roy in Znet (June 12)
http://www.zmag.org/content/SouthAsia/roy_ahimsa.cfm

While the rest of us are mesmerised by talk of war and terrorism and
wars against terror, (can you go to war against a feeling?) in Madhya
Pradesh a little life-raft has set sail into the wind. On a pavement in
Bhopal, in an area called 'Tin Shed', a small group of people has
embarked on a journey of faith and hope.

There's nothing new in what they're doing. What's new is the climate
they're doing it in....

Today is the 23rd day of the indefinite hunger strike by four activists
of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. They have fasted two days longer than
Gandhi did on any of his fasts during the freedom struggle. Their
demands are more modest than his ever were. They are protesting against
the Madhya Pradesh government's forcible eviction of more than a
thousand adivasi families to make way for the Maan Dam. All they're
asking is that the government of MP implement its own policy of
providing land for land to those being displaced by the Maan Dam.
There's no controversy here. The dam has been built. The displaced
people must be resettled before the reservoir fills up in the monsoon
and submerges their villages.....


...In the 21st century the connection between religious fascism, nuclear
nationalism and the pauperisation of whole populations because of
corporate globalisation is becoming impossible to ignore. While the
Madhya Pradesh government has categorically said it has no land for the
rehabilitation of displaced people, reports say that it is preparing the
ground (pardon the pun) to make huge tracts of land available for
corporate agriculture. Which in turn will set off another cycle of
uprootment and impoverishment.....


.....it's not enough to sing songs about giving peace a chance. Doing
everything we can to support movements like the Narmada Bachao Andolan
is how we give peace a chance. This is the real war against terror.

http://www.zmag.org/content/SouthAsia/roy_ahimsa.cfm

Links to struggle

Nuclear Power Plant Safety in View of Earthquake
Shizuoka Newspaper June 5, 2002
Editorial
By Kiyoo Mogi (the former professor at Tokyo University, the former chairman
of Coordination Committee for Earthquake Prediction)
Water leak accident at Hamaoka Unit 2

At a little over 2:00 am on May 25, a radioactive water leak was found in
the ECCS system at Hamaoka Unit 2 in Shizuoka prefecture, resulting in the
shutdown of the plant.

Hamaoka Unit 1 started its operation in 1976, and Unit 2 in 1978. Last
November, the operation of Unit 1 was suspended due to its two accidents-a
pipe rupture caused by hydrogen explosion and a water leak from its reactor
vessel. Following these accidents, Unit 2, which has the same structure as
Unit 1, had its operation suspended and safety measures were implemented
such as installing valves on some pipes.

Since the Unit 1 accident, I have written three editorials, explaining how
risky it would be to have Hamaoka nuclear power plants being constructed and
being operated. Since 1969, the seismologists have been pointing out that a
M8 earthquake could occur in Tokai area (200km west of Tokyo).
Consequently, the government enacted a bill called the Special
Countermeasures on the Large Scale Earthquake Act, and has established the
Earthquake Prediction Committee. I pointed out the danger of the Tokai
Earthquake for the first time in 1969, and since then on, I have been
working for the mitigation of disasters to be caused by the Tokai
Earthquake. I had been a committee member of Earthquake Prediction
Committee, and the chairperson of the same, and became the chairman of the
Coordination Committee for Earthquake Prediction.

However, Hamaoka nuclear power plants are located in the very center of the
earthquake source region, and furthermore, the Unit 5 is still under
construction. It has been 30 years since the Great Tokai Earthquake issue
was announced for the first time. In the latter half of these 30 years, I
had been tackling this issue as an executive member. Yet, the Chubu
Electric Company has never sought for my opinion regarding the siting or
safety of the nuclear power plants even for a single time.

There are many nuclear power plants in the world, and most of them are in
advanced nations. In the output wise, the US is on the top, followed by
France, Japan, and Germany. However, most nuclear power plants are in
western nations. Japan, Korea, etc are exceptions. When we take a look at
the earthquakes more than M7 in the world in this 100 years, there have been
almost no earthquakes in western nations with a number of nuclear power
plants, and thus, we can see that their lands are very stable. Even in
Korea, there is almost no prominent earthquake in modern age.

Overall Review is Necessary

Compared to other nations in the world, Japan is unique. Japan has the
third largest number of nuclear power plants in the world and at the same
time, it has seen a number of M7 or more earthquakes occurring in such a
small area. Moreover, there is no nation that has four nuclear power plants
on the middle of a region where M8 (30 times more than M7 in energy level)
earthquake is predicted. It is simply extraordinary.

I hear opinions stating that there is no danger because of measures
implemented for earthquake resistance on nuclear power plants. I do not
understand why anybody can assure such a theory. A Nuclear power plant has
a complex structure, which contains many weak parts in regard to their
strength. In the past, the earthquake resistance standards have been
revised each time unexpected things took place. Nuclear power plant safety
is no exception.

These are the reasons why I insisted that a drastic review should be
conducted on Hamaoka nuclear power plants after the Unit 1 accident.
However, Chubu Electric did not listen to such voices, and resumed the Unit
2 operation only within six months after the Unit 1 accident.

Agency for Nuclear and Industry Safety (ANIS) in Ministry of Economy,
Industry and Trade (METI) gave the approval on the inspection result of the
Unit 2, to which Hamaoka town and Shizuoka prefecture were made to agree.
It is not a surprising thing that voices of criticism are now gathering to
Chubu Electric and ANIS after the accident of Unit 2. In the worst case, an
accident in Hamaoka would affect almost all the areas of mainland Japan. I
would like to stress repeatedly that Hamaoka issue needs a drastic review
from a wide point of view.

THE MAD MULLAHS OF THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA--Corporate Law, Capitalist Fundamentalism and the Media

MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media

June 13, 2002

Prologue - When Lies Are Killing People, Liars Must Be Exposed

As democracy and freedom continue to melt away beneath the withering heat of
state-corporate power, it becomes ever more difficult to tell the truth. We
live in an age when critical thought, honest dissent, speaking out against
absurdity, are rarely experienced by the public. This gives the impression
of a bland but civilised consensus, where in fact are found only stifling
power, cynical silence, selfish compromise, and unthinking conformity.

In these conditions, dissent comes to seem frightening and strange - we have
a sense of what is supposed to be said, supposed to be believed, of what is
expected of us, and we fear isolation from the safety of the herd. The
collapse of honesty is such that even 'radicals' live in dread that they
might alienate the media gatekeepers whom they foolishly believe will
somehow help them undermine the gatekeepers' own corrupt values, interests
and positions. Many of us have been persuaded that cooperating with power is
the only way to progressively enlighten and humanise power. We believe that
entering a dark room with the profoundly self-deceived is the best way to
increase the light.

This brings to mind the story of the Sufi figure, Mullah Nasruddin. One
night some of Nasruddin's friends found him crawling around on his hands and
knees searching for something beneath a lamp-post. When they asked him what
he was looking for, he told them that he had lost the key to his house. They
all got down to help him look, but without success. Finally, one of them
asked Nasruddin where exactly he had lost the key. Nasruddin replied, "In
the house."
"Then why," his friends asked, "are you looking under the lamp-post?"
Nasruddin replied, "Because there's more light here." (Quoted, Joseph
Goldstein and Jack Kornfield, Seeking The Heart of Wisdom, 1987, p.95)

Working with systems born of unrestrained greed to undermine greed is like
looking beneath the lamp-post - it feels like there is more light there,
more power. But in fact the key to resisting selfish power is found
elsewhere - in compassion, in selfless concern for others, in honesty and
courage. All the qualities that are filtered out by power.

When lies are killing people, liars +must+ be exposed. Even the most
compassionate and peaceful traditions support vigorous opposition to lies.
An ancient sage of the Buddhist tradition notes of the truly spiritual
individual:

"He will slander an unwholesome adviser of a person, and use harsh, severe
words to move someone from unwholesome to wholesome action." (Quoted, Peter
Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics, Cambridge University Press,
2000, p.139)


Corporate Fundamentalism And The Media

The term 'fundamentalism', or "strict maintenance of ancient or fundamental
doctrines" (Oxford Concise Dictionary), is generally used in connection with
belief systems deemed fanatical, intolerant, irrational and brutal. Nothing
could fit the bill better than the corporate system, the corporate media
included. This we learn from Robert Hinkley, who spent 23 years as a
corporate securities attorney advising large corporations on securities
offerings and mergers and acquisitions.

In his article, 'How Corporate Law Inhibits Social Responsibility', Hinkley
explains how every jurisdiction where corporations operate has its own law
of corporate governance. But, remarkably, the corporate design contained in
hundreds of corporate laws throughout the world is nearly identical. This is
it:

"...the directors and officers of a corporation shall exercise their powers
and discharge their duties with a view to the interests of the corporation
and of the shareholders....

Although the wording of this provision differs from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction, Hinkley writes, its legal effect does not:

"This provision is the motive behind all corporate actions everywhere in the
world. Distilled to its essence, it says that the people who run
corporations have a legal duty to shareholders, and that duty is to make
money. Failing this duty can leave directors and officers open to being sued
by shareholders.

"Corporate law thus casts ethical and social concerns as irrelevant, or as
stumbling blocks to the corporation's fundamental mandate. That's the effect
the law has inside the corporation. Outside the corporation the effect is
more devastating. It is the law that leads corporations to actively
disregard harm to all interests other than those of shareholders.

"When toxic chemicals are spilled, forests destroyed, employees left in
poverty, or communities devastated through plant shutdowns, corporations
view these as unimportant side effects outside their area of concern. But
when the company's stock price dips, that's a disaster. The reason is that,
in our legal framework, a low stock price leaves a company vulnerable to
takeover or means the CEO's job could be at risk. In the end, the natural
result is that corporate bottom line goes up, and the state of the public
good goes down. This is called privatising the gain and externalising the
cost." (Hinkley, 'How Corporate Law Inhibits Social Responsibility',
January/February 2002 issue of Business Ethics: Corporate Social
Responsibility Report How Corporate Law Inhibits Social Responsibility A
Corporate Attorney Proposes a 'Code for Corporate Citizenship' in State
Law - see articles section www.medialens.org)

It is also called fundamentalism.

The media are businesses run by managers who "shall exercise their powers
and discharge their duties with a view to the interests of the corporation
and of the shareholders". 'Serious' broadsheets are such companies, and are
dependent for 75% of their income on other companies, advertisers, also run
by managers who "shall exercise their powers and discharge their duties" in
the agreed way. The media are also deeply embedded in the wider corporate
system as Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky explain in their classic work on
the subject, Manufacturing Consent:

"In essence, the private media are major corporations selling a product
(readers and audiences) to other businesses (advertisers). The national
media typically target and serve elite opinion, groups that, on the one
hand, provide an optimal 'profile' for advertising purposes, and, on the
other hand, play a role in decision-making in the private and public
spheres. The national media would be failing to meet their elite audiences'
needs if they did not present a tolerably realistic portrayal of the world.
But their 'societal purpose' also requires that the media's interpretation
of the world reflect the interests and concerns of the sellers, buyers, and
the governmental and private institutions dominated by these groups."
(Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent - The Political
Economy of the Mass Media, Pantheon, 1988, p.303)

Within the media, taking the freedom of the press for granted is an
important entry requirement for those who "exercise their powers and
discharge their duties" in the expected manner. Declaring that the 'free
press' is a lie does not "serve the interests of the corporation and of the
shareholders", because it erodes the credibility of the media corporation
itself (damaging credibility with the public, advertiser support and, so,
profits). It also threatens wider corporate control of society by revealing
precisely the facts and crimes of corporate control filtered out by the
media. For the corporate media to tell the truth about itself involves
undermining its own position as an individual corporation and as part of a
corporate system that is also thereby undermined.

The ugly truth about the media, then, is in a sense subject to a de facto
legal ban in a corporate media system legally obliged to serve the
"interests of the corporation and of the shareholders".

Speaking recently at The British Academy Television Awards, culture
secretary Tessa Jowell described how, "talented, courageous teams of
reporters, producers and technical staff have brought us the news that we
need to know... 2001 showed the task gets no easier, the expectations get
higher, yet the standards still rise." (Jowell, The British Academy
Television Awards, ITV, April 22, 2002)

Jowell's speech came two days before the Guardian devoted just 275 words on
page 11 - sandwiched, appropriately enough, between two large adverts - to
the news that British newspapers are "the least trusted in Europe". Research
conducted by Eurobarometer, the polling arm of the European Commission,
found that British papers were trusted by 20% of the population - less than
half the European Union average of 46%. Fully 75% said they "tended not to
trust" the written press. The next worst result was Italy - where the media
is dominated by billionaire prime minister Silvio Berlusconi - where trust
was 39%. (Ian Black, 'British newspapers are "the least trusted in Europe"',
the Guardian, April 24, 2002)

Much the same is true of the US media. A survey commissioned by the American
Society of Newspaper Editors, showed that 78% of readers surveyed "thought
the press was either not open-minded and neutral about facts, or pursued an
agenda and shaped the news to report it." 78% also said that "powerful
people or organisations can shape or kill a story. The most frequently cited
groups to wield such influence were politicians and government officials,
big business and rich individuals".

Overall 73% said they had "become more sceptical about the accuracy of
news". More than half of all those surveyed believed the press to be out of
touch with its readers. "In many ways - educational attainment, income,
circle of friends and working hours - many journalists are in a different
class [to average Americans]," the study said. (Edward Helmore, 'Get it
right and make it fair, readers tell reporters', the Guardian, January, 4,
1999)

The media is inextricably linked to the wider corporate system in many
ways - for example, by its dependence on advertising. Roy Greenslade
described how most media owners, "have been disproportionately reliant on ad
revenue..." (Roy Greenslade, 'Oh no, sales are up...' the Guardian, October
15, 2001)

Writing in the Observer in 2001, Richard Ingrams noted that The Daily
Telegraph had lost 100,000 readers over the previous year, adding:

"No doubt this alarming fall explains a recent meeting between Telegraph
executives and advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, at which the admen
attacked the poor old Telegraph editor Charles Moore for his outdated Little
England attitudes couple with homophobia." (Richard Ingrams's week, the
Observer, November 4, 2001)

The consequences of a stock market-shaking disaster like September 11 are
dire for a media so dependent on advertising. In the Guardian, Emily Bell
described how "For the advertising-based media industry, the current
recession is best characterised as abyss-shaped. Almost from nowhere, the
ground has opened up under our feet and swallowed businesses, jobs, TV
channels and magazines... The Independent on Sunday axed five journalists.
IPCC, the magazine company, axed six titles and 115 staff in one fell
swoop." (Emily Bell, 'Staring into the abyss', Guardian, November, 19,
2001)

In the aftermath of September 11, journalists liked to present themselves as
independent voices of reason, caution and restraint. In fact they were
spokespeople for an industry in desperate need of a rapid and decisive
response to the threat of terrorism to calm the nerves of the stock market
and of advertisers. Peter Preston pointed in the direction of the truth in
the Observer:

"When the Times - and it is by no means alone - wants something decisive
done on the ground before 'the winter blizzards set in', something 'to show
that the US genuinely means to fight and win', it also wants a resolution
that will set advertising flowing again and slash the coverage costs. When
it excoriates the 'long-haul' thesis, it inevitably has the full price of
'waiting till next spring' somewhere in mind." (Peter Preston, 'Too much
jaw-jaw on war-war - Colin Powell may be talking about a 'long haul', but
the media has neither the stomach nor finances for a protracted campaign,'
the Observer, October 21, 2001)

Just three weeks after September 11, a BBC news reporter said:

"The time for talking is drawing to a close and the time for acting is
approaching." (BBC 1 O'Clock news, October 4, 2001)

In the United States, media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
(FAIR) reported a similarly gung-ho approach. FAIR counted a total of 44
columns in the New York Times and Washington Post (the two national US
papers) that clearly stressed a military response, against only two columns
stressing non-military solutions. Overall, the Post was more militaristic,
running at least 32 columns favouring military action, compared to 12 in the
Times. But the Post also provided the only two columns in the first three
weeks after September 11 that argued for non-military responses; the Times
had no such columns. (FAIR, ACTION ALERT: Op-Ed Echo Chamber: 'Little space
for dissent to the military line', November 2, 2001)


Visit the Media Lens website: http://www.MediaLens.org

BETWEEN THE LINES RADIOFOR THE WEEK ENDING June 21, 2002

Listen to RealAudio version of program:
http://click.topica.com/maaao9JaaSuoBb2PMWqb/
(Needs RealPlayer)

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

1) Despite End of Cold War, Danger of Nuclear Conflict
Looms Like Never Before
Interview by Scott Harris

Dr. Helen Caldicott, a leading anti- nuclear activist for 30 years and founder of the Nobel prizewinning group Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dr. Caldicott's whose latest book is "The New Nuclear Danger, George W. Bush's Military Industrial Complex," examines the peril she sees in the Bush administration's nuclear weapons policy.

2)FBI Given Green Light to Spy on Americans
Engaged in Lawful Activities
Interview by Scott Harris

Attorney Jerome Paun, treasurer of the National Lawyers Guild, challenges the notion that we must sacrifice our civil liberties for enhanced security.

3) Bush Administration Ignores its Own EPA's Report
Acknowledging Growing Danger of Global Warming
Interview by Melinda Tuhus

Jon Coifman, a spokesperson with the National Resources Defense Council, talks about the EPA's report, the current status of the Kyoto protocol and actions the U.S. can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

4) This week's summary of under-reported news
Compiled by Bob Nixon and Nigel Rees

- Growing solidarity movement with Palestinians on U.S. college campuses
confronted by charges of anti-Semitism.
- Mexico's Baja authorities cracking down on migrant housing activists.
- Cruelty to animals hidden in ESPN's coverage of rodeos.

Fighting deportation from Israel: Three peace activists (U.S., U.K., Japan) granted bail in unprecedented move


June 13, 2002

For Immediate Release


U.S. government providing little help to citizen falsely arrested

NEW YORK - Three international peace activists, including one U.S. citizen,
were released from one of Israel's most notorious prison complexes last
Sunday after prosecutors failed to present charges against them. In an
unprecedented move for a deportation case in Israel, the judge not only
granted bail but set it at half the usual amount, as she said she had no
grounds to hold the activists any longer.

The case is attracting attention around the world, as activists prepare for
Freedom Summer, which is expected to bring thousands to the Occupied
Territories in support of Palestinian freedom starting June 26.

The three activists - Darlene Wallach (U.S.), Josie Sandercock (U.K.), and
Makoto Hibino (Japan) - were among a group of seven activists and one
Jordanian journalist who were arrested on May 31 at Balata refugee camp in
the West Bank. The activists had been helping to protect families after the
Israeli Defense Force had removed all adult males and begun ransacking and
bulldozing homes. The activists were also escorting injured and sick
Palestinians to ambulances and hospitals.

They were shown no arrest warrant and have still not been told what they are
charged with. They have repeatedly been lied to by authorities and asked to
sign untranslated "transcripts" of their statements to police. The
journalist was deported after considerable abuse, while the activists were
held in the notorious Israeli prison complex at Ramle. Four elected not to
fight the deportation order, citing pressing commitments.

While prosecutors say the activists were entering a closed military zone,
the activists have a videotaped record of soldiers telling them they could
stay in Balata. They have also assembled affidavits from people in the camp
showing they had permission and were staying with families there. This mass
of evidence, and prosecutors' failure to show any evidence to the contrary,
means that the court may compel the Israeli Government to allow the
activists to remain in the country - a significant victory for the
fast-growing international movement on behalf of Palestinian freedom.
U.S. government fails to help citizen
The case is also casting a harsh light on the attitude and conduct of the
U.S. government toward American peace activists in Palestine: Wallach, a
Jewish-American from California, herself says the U.S. Embassy in Israel has
taken little interest either in her case or in her welfare in prison, where
she, Sandercock, and Hibino were "punished" for going on hunger strike by
being kept in solitary lockup 23 hours a day. By contrast, Hibino says that
the Japanese Government has interceded on his behalf and provided personal
assistance since his arrest.

Donna Wallach, Darlene's sister, says she tried for nearly two weeks to
obtain help from elected officials and the State Department in her sister's
case, but that they have offered none. Other activists say the State
Department has explicitly distanced itself from Wallach's case.

All three activists say they plan to remain if they win their case, and are
encouraging others to come to Palestine for Freedom Summer. "It's probably
more important for Americans to come than from any other country, because
other people aren't being kept from understanding what's going on the way
Americans are," says Wallach. "There has to be a grassroots movement that
informs the American people about the conditions here and what the
Palestinians are suffering. And they need to know that the Palestinians are
a wonderful, loving, incredible people. They don't have hate in their hearts
and they don't teach hate."

The three activists are scheduled to present their affidavits on Sunday,
June 16, in Jerusalem District Court; prosecutors have been ordered to
explain by Sunday, June 23 what the charges are; and the judge has set June
25 for her final decision. The activists are being represented by Mahmoud
Jabarin, a Palestinian attorney with LAW (the Palestinian Society for the
protection of Human Rights and the Environment) and Gaby Lasky, an Israeli
lawyer with the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.

For the latest information about the status of the three activists, please
call Mahmoud Jabarin at 011-972-2-626-2005 or at (cell) 011-972-5-137-0413.
For other information, interview requests, or to obtain copies of videotape
relevant to the case, please call the contact numbers above.

# # # # # >>

ASIAN PROGRESSIVE LINKS THIS WEEK

SHUUKAN KINYOUBI LINKS
SHUUKAN KINYOUBI SITE MAP
JAPAN PRESS SERVICE
JINBO NET (SOUTH KOREA)
KOREA WEB WEEKLY
JAPAN WATCH
Violence Against Women in War and Conflict Situations Network, Japan
LaborNet Japan (INCLUDES ANTI-WAR ACTIONS)
FEM NET
PRESS RELEASE...ATTAC Japan...グリーンピース・ジャパン (GREENPEACE).....