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This week on Uprising:

* Israel Arms Settlers Amid Palestinian Statehood Bid
* Mexican Protesters Indignant, Outraged Over Calderon’s Policies
* Troy Davis’s Sister Makes a Public Appeal for her Brother’s Life
* Activists Push to Improve 2012 Farm Bill, Warn Against Cuts

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Israel Arms Settlers Amid Palestinian Statehood Bid

The Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt was attacked a week ago by hundreds of Egyptians who tore down the building and its flag. The incident has peaked tensions between Egypt’s transitional military government and Israel after the killing of three Egyptian soldiers on the border by Israel, for which Israel has not apologized. Israel is also facing serious tensions with its other former regional ally, Turkey. Turkey just expelled Israel’s ambassador in the latest tensions over the killing by Israeli forces last year of 9 Turks aboard a ship with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. These regional crises coincide with the attempt by Palestinian officials to gain recognition for statehood at the United Nations. The Israeli Ha’aretz newspaper has reported that Israel is readying settlers in Palestinian territories for possible clashes with Palestinians after the anticipated UN General Assembly vote on Palestinian statehood. The settlers are being trained by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the use of tear gas, stun grenades, and crowd dispersal techniques as part of the military’s ‘Operation Summer Seeds.’ The United Nations General Assembly is expected to formally recognize Palestine during its upcoming session, beginning on September 20th. Israel is warning of “mass disorder” and possible confrontations with Palestinians following the vote. An IDF spokesman told Ha’aretz the settlers were being trained for, “readiness for possible scenarios” from a “defensive standpoint.” The documents acquired by Ha’aretz detail the IDF’s strategy of establishing two lines around Settlements. If Palestinian demonstrators cross the first line, they can be fired on with tear gas. If the second line is crossed soldiers may shoot the legs of demonstrators. Palestinians do not have access to the maps. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is dealing with yet another domestic crisis – anger from its own citizens. Over 400,000 protestors turned-out across Israel on Saturday September 3rd as part of ongoing demonstrations over the summer, rallying behind the slogan: “The people demand social justice.” Among the grievances of Israelis are the high cost of housing, transportation, childcare, food and fuel, and low wages.

GUEST: Max Blumenthal, is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author. His articles and video documentaries have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, The Nation, Electronic Intifada, Salon.com, Al-Jazeera English and many other publications. He is a writing fellow for the Nation Institute and blogs at Al Akhbar English. His book, Republican Gomorrah: Inside The Movement That Shattered The Party, is a New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller.

Read Max Blumenthal’s work at www.maxblumenthal.com.

Mexican Protesters Indignant, Outraged Over Calderon’s Policies

With Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s term coming to an end next year, our neighbor to the South is also gearing up for 2012 elections. In preparation, Calderon reshuffled his cabinet this week to allow two members to run for office: Finance Minister Ernesto Cordero, and Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova. Calderon himself came into office in a controversial election in 2006, barely beating his main rival Andres Manual Lopez Obrador. Many Mexicans believe Obrador was the rightful winner of that election. Calderon’s tenure has borne out most of what Mexican progressives and the labor movement feared: a full frontal assault on unions that have left hundreds of thousands reeling without jobs in a global recession. Mexico’s unemployed population as a whole numbers at many millions. The official unemployment rate is 5.4%, but 25% of the employable population is “under-employed.” In 2009, more than 40,000 electrical workers were summarily fired when President Calderon illegally dissolved their union in a bid to privatize the company that provides electricity to most of central Mexico. Organized miners and airline workers have also had their unions decimated by Calderon. Added to the labor crisis is Mexico’s deadly drug war, which has claimed upwards of 50,000 lives. The bodies of two bloggers who dared to criticize the drug cartels on social networking sites were found dead and mutilated in Nuevo Laredo this week. Links between Calderon’s government, Mexico’s business elite, and the drug cartels have further enraged the population. Tens of thousands of Mexicans protested a week ago to express their wrath at Calderon as he delivered his annual state-of-the-nation speech. Workers gathered in the main square or Zocalo in Mexico City, calling themselves the “indignados,” or indignants.

GUEST: David Bacon, labor reporter and photo-journalist, recently returned from Mexico

Read David Bacon’s article and view his photos on the Mexican Indignados movement here: http://www.truth-out.org/mexicos-indignados-have-had-it-here/1315597112

Visit David Bacon’s website at dbacon.igc.org.

Troy Davis’s Sister Makes a Public Appeal for her Brother’s Life

A Global Day of Action will be held this Friday for Troy Davis, a death row prisoner in the state of Georgia. Troy Davis was convicted in 1989 of killing an off-duty police officer in Savannah, Georgia. In the ensuing 20 years Davis has maintained his innocence and the case has garnered international attention. During Davis’ trial nine witnesses placed him at the scene. Seven have since recanted their testimony, with some saying they were subjected to intense pressure by police to testify against an innocent person. At least two have named another man as the killer. No physical evidence linking Davis to the scene has ever been found. A coalition of prominent individuals and groups pleading for clemency includes former FBI director William Sessions, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the NAACP, and Amnesty International. Davis has been given three execution dates, but each was postponed as his case was reviewed. It has been before the Georgia Board of Pardon and Parole, the Supreme Court, and lower courts since the initial conviction, but no ruling has granted Davis a new trial. In 2009 the Supreme Court ordered a Federal Judge to review whether the defense’s new evidence would likely result in a different verdict. On August 23, U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. ruled against Davis, writing in a 172 page order, “[t]he state’s case may not be ironclad,” but a new jury would likely not find Davis innocent. Troy Davis is set to be executed on September 21st . Two days before that, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole will hear a final argument, this time for clemency, from Davis’ legal team.

Martina Correia, Troy Davis’s sister, recorded a recent public plea for her brother’s life.

Find out more about the petition to stop Troy Davis’ execution and the Global Day of Action this Friday at www.justicefortroy.org. Follow Amnesty’s twitter feed here: @amnesty and @lauramoye.

Activists Push to Improve 2012 Farm Bill, Warn Against Cuts

Bloomberg Businessweek reported this week that corn and soybean futures are down 3 to 5 cents a bushel, while wheat futures are up by a few pennies. Market speculation sees a coming rise in the price per bushel of soybean and wheat if a cold snap reduces production in the US. The fluctuation in cost between units of food commodities may get stock market traders excited, but the price uncertainty is a significant cause for concern among farmers. Stabilizing prices, and thus the incomes of farmers and the sustainability of their enterprises, is one of many things a revised 2012 Farm Bill could do, if the political will exists to get it done. The bill is up for re-authorization, as it is every five years. It’s a complex piece of legislation. Roughly 2/3 of Farm Bill funding is dedicated to providing food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. A sliver of it goes to innovative, community specific programs that support local agriculture and healthy eating. Roughly one-third goes to direct payments to farmers. This is the most controversial aspect of the bill, opposed by many of the same people who care passionately about seeing small farms proliferate nationwide to increase access to fresh, healthy products. Subsidies to farmers have a reputation for being government welfare for unsustainable farming that produces corn and soybean crops used as animal feed, and for processed food manufacturers. Congress is poised to slash funding for the Farm Bill, sending Food and Water Watch on a mission to reeducate, and solicit support for revised legislation. The organization says a better bill will include subsidies, and mechanisms to ensure the money isn’t simply buoying the profit margins of agribusiness monopolies.

GUEST: Patty Lovera, Assistant Director of Food and Water Watch

Find out more about Food and Watch Watch at www.foodandwaterwatch.org or 323-843-8446.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“If we do not maintain justice, justice will not maintain us.” — Francis Bacon