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This week on Uprising:

* China Deals with Devastation of Earthquake: 50,000 Feared Dead
* Black Agenda Report on Bush and Burma
* Palestinians Mourn 60th Anniversary of “Al Nakba”
* Empire Notes on Palestine and the Future
* UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities: First of its Kind

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China Deals with Devastation of Earthquake: 50,000 Feared Dead

GUEST: Robert Weil, author of Red Cat, White Cat: China and the Contradictions of ‘Market Socialism’

The death toll following Monday’s devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China could surpass 50,000. The Chinese government has already confirmed 19,500 deaths as troops and rescue workers continue to search for thousands buried under the rubble in the province of Sichuan. River dams near the quake’s epicenter have reportedly been damaged by cracks increasing fears of potential floods following any aftershocks. In fact, on Friday morning, a strong aftershock at 5.9 on the Richter scale struck near the original epicenter. The Chinese government has been accepting foreign disaster relief aid even from its rival Taiwan as countless survivors are now without shelter and desperately need food and water. As the summer Olympics approach, one Washington-based organization has already called on the Chinese government to cancel the games. The Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition says that, at the very least, the opening ceremony should be called off. State media, which has been one of several points of international criticism ahead of the Olympics, has had increasingly transparent coverage of the aftermath of the earthquake, distancing itself from previous disaster reporting by allowing foreign journalists unrestricted access in Sichuan.

Black Agenda Report on Bush and Burma

GUEST: Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report

This week’s commentary is about Bush and Burma. Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Palestinians Mourn 60th Anniversary of “Al Nakba”

GUEST: Haneen Zoabi, originally from Nazareth, member of the political bureau of the Arab National Al-Tajamu’ party, lecturer at Mar Elias College in Ibillin, Palestine

President Bush visited Israel this past week to mark the 60th anniversary of the formation of the Jewish nation – an event that Palestinians name Al Nakba, or the Catastrophe. Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said in a televised speech, “After 60 years since the ‘Nakba,’ the time has come for the Palestinian people to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.” Within hours of Bush’s arrival, a rocket fired from Gaza struck a mall in Ashkelon injuring dozens. The rocket attack was preceded by Israeli airstrikes that killed four people in the Gaza strip.

Sixty years ago, the formation of Israel resulted in more than 700,000 Palestinians or two-thirds of the Palestinian population being forced into exile by Israeli troops. More than 450 towns and villages were depopulated and then demolished to prevent the return of the refugees. Some journalists reflecting in the Palestinian press argue that the events of 1948 have never really ended. One writer in Al Ayyam said, “The situation today is a repeat of the 1948 al-Nakba, but with different participants. The same scene is repeated: land is confiscated while the settlement expansion increases as if in a race against time.

While most of the US press focused their coverage entirely on the Israeli celebrations, Palestinians organized many commemorations of Al Nakba. Palestinians in Lebanon marched peacefully along the Israel-Lebanon border in the North, making a human chain called the “March of Return.” The Palestinian Authority stopped work and traffic while the Hamas government suspended schools and universities to mark the occasion. Thousands of black balloons were flown over several West Bank cities and Jerusalem as a sign of grief over the creation of Israel and in protest of Bush’s visit.

Empire Notes on Palestine and the Future

GUEST: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade

Empire Notes are weekly commentaries filed by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today’s commentary is about Palestine and the Future.

Empire Notes is online at www.empirenotes.org.

UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities: First of its Kind

GUEST: Kasey Corbit, attorney with Disability Rights Advocates, a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting and advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities

It is estimated that about 10% of the world’s population lives with some form of disability – making disabled people the world’s largest minority. Yet only recently did the United Nations ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The CRPD is a landmark agreement aimed at giving the world’s 650 million disabled people full equality. So far more than two dozen countries have ratified the convention. Notably absent in the list of signees is Russia and the United States. The CRPD guarantees disabled people the right to make their own decisions, to refuse being institutionalized, to refuse medical or psychological treatment, to live in the community and be able to participate in daily life without barriers. The CRPD also has an “Optional Protocol” by which groups or individuals can seek redress if their government has violated the convention. The UN Assembly President said of the CRPD that it is “a key measure of our civilization. The rights and opportunities that people with disabilities are able to enjoy reflect directly on our common humanity.”

For more information visit www.dralegal.org, and www.un.org/disabilities.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought For the Day

“The time is always right to do right.” — Nelson Mandela