From LAMZ at sympatico.ca Mon Apr 1 11:22:21 2002 From: LAMZ at sympatico.ca (Lysander Zimmerman) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] International Non-Violent Activists Attacked with Live Gunfire Message-ID: <001001c1d9aa$2ad9f780$33378d18@Indy1> images from todays protest shootings in beit jalla by Gary Anderson . Monday April 01, 2002 at 09:57 AM James Budd leaving the Al Hussein hospital in Bethleham after having been shot at by IDF soldiers during a non violent protest http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/news/2002/04/2250.php ____________________________________________________________________________ _________ April 01, 2002 1645: Internationals Attacked with Live Gunfire Moments ago international civilians and two members of the Palestinian press were wounded by live fire in Beit Jalla.The internationals were attempting to visit the people in homes that have been taken over by the Occupation Forces. Among the wounded are: - British citizen: Aisa Kiysue, Kunle Ibidun, Chris Dunham - Australian citizen: Kate Irving (currently undergoing surgey) - American citizen: Said Khulil Wounded have been taken to Al Huissen Hospital in Bethlehem. Word from the hospital staff is people were hit in the back of the head, face and one was hit in the upper thigh and knees. The Palestinians were hit in the chest. http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/ From LAMZ at sympatico.ca Mon Apr 1 11:28:50 2002 From: LAMZ at sympatico.ca (Lysander Zimmerman) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] Israeli army reduces Ramallah to concentration camp Message-ID: <003401c1d9ad$2ceca380$33378d18@Indy1> Israeli army reduces Ramallah to concentration camp by PIC . Monday April 01, 2002 at 12:47 AM Occupied Jerusalem - The Israeli occupation army continued to rampage throughout the city of Ramallah in the west Bank, terrorizing townspeople and vandalizing private and public property. The invading army also severed electricity and water supplies to the city and cut off telephone communications to the headquarters of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. Full article: http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/news/2002/04/2125.php From mstainsby at tao.ca Mon Apr 1 13:15:13 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] New US paper aims at Afghan war truth Message-ID: <008301c1d9b9$ef08e800$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Can someone please tell me where I can order this? In Vancouver, we have a tri-weekly that produces some 10 000 copies, but this seems wonderful! Macdonald, get in touch with me at: mstainsby@tao.ca ----- http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,676269,00.html New US paper aims at Afghan war truth Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles [Friday March 29 2002] The Guardian A newspaper aimed at providing news of the war in Afghanistan is to be launched this month. Its editors argue that the mainstream media in the US are not providing a full picture of the war and its effects. War Times, produced in San Francisco, will make its first bi-weekly appearance on April 12. It will be published in English and Spanish and will be distributed throughout the US. Its editors say it is a response to a demand for more information about what is happening in Afghanistan and the possibility of conflict elsewhere. The venture is supported by a number of academics, including Noam Chomsky, labour organisations and anti-war groups. Its managing editor, Bob Wing, said the response to the idea had been extraordinary. "We originally planned to print only 7,500 copies of the pilot," he said, "but the demand was so great that we printed and distributed 100,000." He said the aim was to bring more information about the war into the public debate and "to report hidden truths, to put a human face on events, and explore the real interests behind the 'permanent war'." The pilot issue carried an interview with the actor Danny Glover, who said: "Bombing Afghanistan and creating the idea that the US is the judge, the jury and the executioner is the wrong way to respond." "It's hard because of the anger, the pain and the humiliation we feel about September 11. But we have to understand that other people have faced the same kind of pain, the same kind of anger. "Their lives have been transformed by acts of terrorism and violence, often supported or perpetrated by the US." _____________________________________ Copyright [UK] Guardian Newspapers Limited http://www.guardian.co.uk/ ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina" --WEF protesters. ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht From shniad at sfu.ca Mon Apr 1 15:32:26 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] Will Sharon exorcize dybbuk Arafat, or beatify him? Haaretz Message-ID: <200204012232.g31MWQk23762@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Haaretz April 2, 2002 Will Sharon exorcize dybbuk Arafat, or beatify him? By Bradley Burston, Ha'aretz Correspondent Israelis of all political stripes questioned the aims of the IDF offensive in the West Bank, prompting speculation that if Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's goal was to exorcize his personal dybbuk Yasser Arafat, Israel's focus on Arafat as the godhead of terror could backfire, with the Palestinian leader already taking on the mantle of a living, breathing martyr. Israel has repeatedly stressed that the massive IDF operation was meant to head off Palestinian suicide attacks and other terror strikes which have rocked Israel to the core. But world attention had focused on the plight of Arafat, holding court in an ever-shrinking area of his Israeli-surrounded and occupied headquarters compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "All in all, you could call these operations the Peace for Arafat War," remarks Ha'aretz commentator Danny Rubinstein. "We [Israelis] ourselves did this. We turned this into a war over Arafat." Official Israel has represented and continues to represent Arafat as "the ultimate monster, the liar, the cheat, the one who's fooled us all the way," Rubinstein says. But all could boomerang on Israel. Rubinstein notes that Arafat's confinement and isolation has already elevated him to a hero status in the Arab world perhaps unrivalled by any period in the long history of his conflict with Israel - and with arch-nemesis Sharon. "If Israel in fact holds to its promise not to strike at Arafat, and he's neither harmed nor deported, in another few days or weeks when we pull out of there, he will come out of there as a great victor, with tremendous power," Rubinstein said, indicating that Arafat's newfound backing could mean that if there are to be future peace negotiations, the wily Palestinian leader could come to the table in a position of power. Ran Cohen of the leftist Meretz party said the right-center Sharon government was unable to present any aim for the war because it was unwilling to face up to the only alternative course - separating from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to allow a Palestinian state alongside Israel. "The policy is one of total failure, not because of a lack of military activity - there is that. But there is no diplomatic direction or goal." Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg, a leader of the dovish wing of Labor, also took issue with the IDF actions, saying that negotiations were the only route to a solution. "The Israelis' greatest problem is that some of us have fallen in love with the stupidity of the Palestinians. Just because the position of the Palestinians is a stupid one, just because they cannot overcome terrorism and they fled the peace process in a violent manner, does that require us to enter this insane cycle?" But Finance Minister Silvan Shalom, a senior figure in Sharon's Likud, dismissed the calls for a return to talks, saying that Israel should deport Arafat, not show him the way back to the bargaining table. "Whoever speaks of a diplomatic accord is misleading the people," said Shalom, citing the failed negotiations in 2000-2001in which then-prime minister Ehud Barak, backed by the Clinton White House, made far-reaching concessions to Arafat, who ultimately turned them down. "There's no way to reach an agreement with a man who received an offer of 100 percent [of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip], including an independent state, including [East] Jerusalem as its capital, including exchange of lands as part of the [Palestinian] right of return, and he still said no." Shalom said that instead of fostering the "delusion" that Israel had failed to offer Arafat the magic formula for peace, "we should know how to make the courageous decision... the simple decision, to expel this man out of here." Far-right MK Avigdor Lieberman, who resigned his cabinet seat earlier this month in protest over Sharon's easing of hard-line policies regarding Arafat and his Palestinian Authority, went further, declaring that Arafat's Ramallah headquarters - the PA chairman included - should be "erased from the face of the earth." Referring to Arafat's headquarters compound, Lieberman said "I don't see why we don't erase that Mukata [compound] from the face of the earth. If it was up to me - we have enough F-16s and helicopters, we should simply erase this whole complex, along with everything inside - including everyone who's sitting inside." Speaking to Israel Radio, Lieberman declared that Israelis of all parties must unite behind the government and the army. But he quickly added that the operation lacked "a clear definition or direction. We are not moving in the right direction, and this operation will also fail to stop the terrorism," he said. "What does Yasser Arafat care if some hick from Daheisheh [refugee camp] blows himself up in the center of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. As far as he's concerned, 100 - 1,000 - 20,000 can blow themselves up - the more the better. He has no sensitivity to human life. Taking an uncharacteristically broad view, however, Lieberman said that in Arafat caged and alive, the government had chosen the worst of both worlds. Referring to separate statements Sunday by Sharon and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, Lieberman noted that "On the one hand the prime ministre declares Arafat to be the enemy of the Israeli people and of humanity, while on the other hand the foreign minister still announces that he's a partner [for negotiations]. "If he's the enemy, we have to go all the way with him. If he's a partner, we need not humiliate him, allow him room for negotiating. But to leave him like this, like a wounded animal, is the least correct thing to do." From furuhashi.1 at osu.edu Mon Apr 1 21:42:26 2002 From: furuhashi.1 at osu.edu (Yoshie Furuhashi) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] Tue., April 9: _Lumumba_ Message-ID: Critical Perspectives on Wars, Classes, & Empires Screening: _Lumumba_ (Dir. Raoul Peck, 2000) Tue., April 9, 7:30 p.m. 264 MacQuigg Lab, OSU 105 W. Woodruff Ave., Columbus, OH At the Berlin Conference of 1885, Europe divided up the African continent. The Congo became the personal property of King Leopold II of Belgium. On June 30, 1960, a young self-taught nationalist, Patrice Lumumba, became, at age 36, the first head of government of the new independent state. He would last two months in office. This is a true story. _Lumumba_ is a gripping political thriller which tells the story of the legendary African leader Patrice Emery Lumumba. The brilliant and charismatic Lumumba rose rapidly to the office of Prime Minister when Belgium conceded the Congo's independence in June, 1960. Lumumba's populist and anti-imperialist vision of a united Africa gained him powerful enemies: the Belgian authorities, who sought to perpetuate neo-colonial control in their former colony's affairs, and the CIA, who supported Joseph Mobutu in order to protect U.S. business interests in Congo's vast resources and ensure U.S. dominance in the Cold War. The ruthless machinations behind Lumumba's brutal assassination in 1961 (a mere nine months after he became the country's first Prime Minister) are dramatized for the first time in _Lumumba_. (For more info on _Lumumba_, visit .) Sponsors: the Student International Forum and Social Welfare Action Alliance. OSU campus map: . For more info, contact Yoshie Furuhashi at or 614-668-6554; or Keith Kilty at or 614-292-7181. Download the flyer for _Lumumba_ at . Download the flyer for other upcoming SIF/SWAA events at . Please spread the word! -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: * Anti-War Activist Resources: * Student International Forum: * Committee for Justice in Palestine: From hunterbadbear at earthlink.net Tue Apr 2 08:35:32 2002 From: hunterbadbear at earthlink.net (Hunter Gray) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] Colorado blood and Four Corners Uranium: The Utes Say No Message-ID: <000b01c1da5c$08fb0700$3d70fa43@ibm22761429477> Note by Hunterbear: "Nothing lives long / Only the Earth and the Mountains," was the death song sung by a Cheyenne leader as the blood-thirsty Colorado militia legions of Colonel John Chivington [an ordained Methodist preacher] closed in and shot down at least 450 unarmed Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women, and children at their village on Sand Creek in eastern Colorado in 1864. Chivington defended this hideous, massive atrocity, stating that Indians are "vermin deserving of extermination" and, on the specific matter of murdering dozens and dozens of small children, "Nits breed lice." See Dee Brown's, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee [New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971 -- many editions]; and Duane Schultz, Month of the Freezing Moon: The Sand Creek Massacre [New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990]. This, of course, presaged the Ludlow Massacre of 1914 in which the Colorado militia and Rockefeller gunmen murdered many striking multi-ethnic coal miners [the total number has never really been determined] and at least two of the strikers' women and eleven of their children -- and, again, in Colorado, the Columbine Massacre of 1927 when state police machine-gunned striking coal miners, killing six and injuring dozens. Among the excellent discussions of the Ludlow tragedy is John Reed's oft-reprinted "The Colorado War" in John Stuart's nicely done The Education of John Reed: Selected Writings [New York: International Publishers, 1955 and subsequent editions]. On the Columbine atrocity, see Ronald McMahon, "Rang-U-Tang: The IWW and the 1927 Colorado Coal Strike" in Joe Conlin's At the Point of Production -- The Local History of the IWW [Westport: Greenwood, 1982]. Along with the Earth and the Mountains, the Death Aura of uranium lives very long -- and it lives very lethally as well. When the uranium mining / milling / refining saga was beginning with the springtime of the Cold War in the late 1940s, there was little knowledge nor cognizance of the active and potentially deadly effects of carnotite [uranium] ore -- once it's substantially disturbed. Most uranium in the United States was and is on and around the vast Navajo reservation [bigger than West Virginia] which covers much of northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico, and a slice of southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado as well. Native people had no say in those days when the ever obliging US Bureau of Indian Affairs ushered the eager, voracious uranium companies [e.g., Kerr-McGee and Anaconda and Union Carbide and many, many more] onto Indian lands. And now there are many, many bones -- mostly Navajo, many Laguna, and Anglo and Chicano also -- under the Turquoise Sky. Thousands of uranium workers and community people have died, are dying and will -- and much land and sky have been poisoned for eons to come. For background on this, see articles of mine -- e.g., American Socialist ["Navaho Indians: Oil and Mining Buzzards Hover Overhead"], September 1957; and Labor Notes, ["Navajo Uranium Miners Dying of Lung Cancer," July 22, 1980] -- at our large social justice Lair of Hunterbear website, at this link http://www.hunterbear.org/a_native_rights_sampling.htm The Earth and Mountains -- and the deadly impact of uranium [and nuclear matters generally] -- continue to live on. But something has changed. Native tribal nations now have a great deal to say about who and what "does business" in their respective settings in and around Indian Country. Navajos are much united in their increasingly effective opposition to any further uranium development and doings on their lands. So are other tribes. But the Federals and the companies and some other Anglo forces are pushing -- pushing very hard. These are boiling issues -- and very much now around what-to-do with huge quantities of uranium and related nuclear wastes. As this contemporary article indicates, the Utes of southwestern Colorado and environs are not about to serve as a dumping ground for thirteen million -- yes, indeed, that's 13 million -- tons of uranium waste. Hunter Gray [Hunterbear] Hunter Gray [ Hunterbear ] www.hunterbear.org ( social justice ) ================================================================ Tribe opposes Utah pipeline for uranium tailings slurry Associated Press http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2002/04/01/11071.php 4/1/2002 08:35 am Colorado's Ute Mountain Utes have opposed construction of a slurry pipeline to carry uranium mill tailings from Moab to near White Mesa. Reprocessing the radioactive Atlas Uranium Mill tailings is among options under discussion as a way to dispose of tons of material piled beside the Colorado River. Estimates of the amount of material left by the defunct mill range to 13 million tons. One possibility is to build a pipeline to slurry the tailings from Moab to a uranium mill 85 miles south of Blanding for reprocessing. International Uranium Corp., which owns the White Mesa Mill, has been considering the plan. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council, based in Towaoc, Colo., recently passed a resolution opposing the construction. The 82-mile pipeline, which would employ a 10-inch diameter pipe, would end at a site three miles north of a tribal community at White Mesa, said Tom Rice, director of the Ute Mountain Ute Environmental Department. "If the slurry line were constructed, the IUC mill would receive approximately 13 million tons of mill tailings,"Rice said. About 3 million tons could be processed for removal of uranium and the remaining 10 million tons would be stored, he said. Tribal council members are concerned about possible impacts to the health and environment of the White Mesa community. They believe the plan would result in little or no economic return, Rice said. "IUC's proposal stated the removal and transportation of Atlas materials to the (White Mesa) mill would offer many benefits to the community of Moab, Utah,"he said."However, Tribal Council sentiments indicated that what would benefit Moab would be at the expense of the White Mesa community." Another worry was that receiving the tailings for storage could open the door to more radioactive material arriving, turning the area into a storage site rather than a processing facility."Threats to tribal air and water resources were also of concern to the council,"Rice said. From debsian at pacbell.net Tue Apr 2 17:06:44 2002 From: debsian at pacbell.net (michael pugliese) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] ISRAEL'S NEW ECONOMY AND THE INTIFADA Message-ID: <02040292.57996@webbox.com> Received: 4/2/02 3:44:26 PM From: michael pugliese Add to People Section To: pen- l%galaxy.csuchico.edu.asdnet%igc.topica.com.DemocraticLeft@yahoogroups.com CC: Subject: [PEN-L:24596] Fw: ISRAEL'S NEW ECONOMY AND THE INTIFADA MIME Ver: 1.0 Attachments: Received: 4/2/02 1:03:53 PM From: nd Add to People Section To: wsn@csf.colorado.edu, Psn@csf.colorado.edu, redazione@manifesto.it CC: Subject: A MUST READ: ISRAEL'S NEW ECONOMY AND THE INTIFADA MIME Ver: 1.0 Attachments: ISRAEL'S NEW ECONOMY AND THE INTIFADA: A note on the boycott campaign. by Naxos This article is Copyleft [see below] December 2001. At one end of London's Oxford Street the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has mounted a picket on Selfridge's department store, to persuade the management to stop selling produce from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. A similar campaign has been organised [March 2002] by Ya Basta in Italy (http://www.yabasta.it). In this article I take these actions as the starting point for a discussion of the radical transformations that have taken place in the Israeli economy during the past decade, and Israel's very specific location within the global knowledge economy. To Summarise: I would argue that Israeli capitalism of today offers a precious microcosmic possibility for the study of immaterial labour in action. It is also crucial that we understand this economy, because in a real "world war" sense our futures depend on what is happening here. In recent years the Israeli economy has undergone fundamental changes. An entirely new class composition was created by the ex-Soviet migrations of the 1990s. Markets for traditional Israeli produce became more restricted. The Internet created the conditions for transnational exports of high-value immaterial labour (knowledge) products to replace previous low-value products with high transit costs. And the nature of the new knowledge economies opened new interstitial possibilities for insertion. A new and technically skilled workforce proves capable of creating the flows of innovation that are the precondition for the survival of the large capitalist firms of this and the preceding era (head-hunting of promising new start-ups). Among other things, Israeli companies are particularly well-suited to meet the new demand for biomedical products. They also have a powerhouse of R&D represented by the Israeli Defence Force's high-tech academies. And they have a guaranteed point of entry into the US military-industrial complex by virtue of lines of communication between "Silicon Valley" and the "Silicon Wadi" of Northern Israel. More than this, Israel also exports models of behaviour ñ biopower ñ in the form of knowledges of how to limit, constrain and eventually crush dissident behaviours. This is marketed as "methods for defeating terrorism", but is in fact a set of methods for the creation and freezing of an adversarial "other". I shall deal with each of these aspects in turn. In passing I would say that this conjunctural shift in the Israeli economy, this radical change in the composition of both class and capital in Israel, have been the necessary precondition for ñ and partial explanation of ñ the Israelis' radical break with the Palestinian labour-power which had served previous phases of production (notable in agriculture and construction). Put briefly, the inflow of Soviet ("Russian") Jews made possible the break with Palestinian labour power. And simultaneously the Soviet Jews have turned out to be the electoral bedrock of the Israeli government's "final solution" for the Palestinians. Thus the political and economic precondition for Israelís radical break with Palestinian labour-power was the shift from traditional forms of agriculture and manufacture into the arena of immaterial labour which took place in the 1990s. But more than that, I would argue that the Israelis' war with the Palestinians operates as a "factory of immaterial labour export possibilities". This war is, in a real sense, productive for the Israeli economy. Calls for boycotts of Israeli produce are symbolically significant and completely worthwhile. A necessary element of ethical hygiene. They should be supported. But the way in which the campaign is framed is simple-minded to the point of naivety. We are not talking a few packets of pretzels, a crate of Jaffa oranges and a face-pack of cosmetics. Two things need to be said. First, Israel's new immaterial economy and its immaterial-labour products are organically integrated into the very highest levels of the globalised high-tech communications, military and security economy. Second, and perhaps more importantly it appears that the trade-mark Israeli model of suppression of opponents has been exported and projected onto the world stage, to become the dominant paradigm of US foreign policy. The characteristics of this model are (a) radical negation of the Other (for several decades, in Israeli discourse the Palestinians have always and only been "the terrorists"; (b) Preventive security strikes, extending increasingly to assassination; (c) micro-level capillary monitoring of populations at all levels, and installation of administrative and technological means to that end; (d) intransigent and defiant unilateralism. We are at a crucial turning point. After the first phase of the Afghan war world opinion seemed to be expecting a Powellisation of Israeli policy (towards negotiation). Instead we have seen a Sharonisation of American policy [Note 1]. 1. The necessity of leaving the old economy. A large part of Israelís ìold economyî consisted of agricultural products. Citrus fruits in particular. ìTwenty years ago Israelís main industry was oranges.î By the early 1950's, fuelled by mass immigration and large capital investments, the citrus subsector grew rapidly. Hectarage rose from 14,000 to over 40,000 hectares. With the well respected "Jaffa" label Israeli oranges and grapefruit dominated many markets. However, by the late 1970's stiff competition from Spain, Morocco and Cyprus and changing consumer tastes led to a levelling off of demand. The 1980's saw a major decline in international competitiveness and profitability with more than 20% of its planted citrus area uprooted, packing houses mothballed and volume levels falling to 1930's levels. Several factors led to Israel's decline. These included:- a) rapid cost inflation in the mid 1980's; b) the strength of the $US vis ý vis European currencies; c) a rise in international shipping costs in the early 1980's; d) financial crisis within Israel's agricultural settlements. [Note 2] We may also adduce the resulting dependence on Palestinian or foreign migrant labour; the use of agricultural land for housing (eg in Jaffa); susceptibility to international trade boycotts; and the fact that water is a military resource in the Middle East. Exporting oranges is to export water. I shall not deal here with the question of the diamond trade, except to note that it lies at the heart of some of the warmongering which is destroying a good part of Africa. For example the gangster economy in Sierra Leone, and in Liberia "a major centre for massive diamond-related criminal activity, with connections to guns, drugs and money-laundering throughout Africa and considerably further afield. Diamonds are a key part of Israel's economy. [Note 3] 2. The material precondition for a new economy The first precondition for the ìnew economyî is highly skilled technical labour-power. That was provided by the mass arrival of the ìRussianî Jews emigrating from the Soviet Union. Coming in two distinct waves, with the second in the 1990s. Upwards of 600,000 arrived, and many of them were highly skilled personnel ñ doctors, lawyers, musicians, scientists and computer programmers. More than 13,000 doctors arrived in Israel, more than half of them women. The health service could only absorb 20%, leaving the rest excess to requirements and needing to be redeployed elsewhere. The ìRussiansî constituted 15% of the 4.5 million electorate, had their own political parties, and were notoriously hostile to any negotiation with the Palestinians. A further 600,000 went to the USA and settled in the Los Angeles area. In 1999 an article in the Los Angeles Magazine spoke of an emerging Russian underworld in the LA region: ìThey come from a dog-eat-dog ëdemocracyí where the shortest books in the library are the ones on business ethics and criminal justice, theyíre not only tougher and slyer, but their crooks, according to our cops, are the smoothest thing since iced vodka.î [Note 4] In LA there was talk of a Russian mafia, with organised gangs involved in kidnappings, financial fraud and Internet crime. Some of this talk has since been denounced as racist. However the newly emerging transnational diasporic Israelo-American nexus constituted by "the Russians" clearly invites analysis. A job for another time. 3. Conjunctural factors in the promotion of high-tech sectors The global ìknowledge economyî took off in the 1990s. Special factors applied in Israel, assuring the rapid growth of a networked society. During the Gulf War the threat of Iraqi rockets and gas/biological weapons set in place ìnational emergency planningî, whereby communities used Internet and related technologies as a means of civil defence, thereby turning Israel into one of the worldís most wired societies. By law, all Israeli houses built since the Gulf War are required to have a secure room that can function as a shelter against terrorist attack. Israel is also dotted with ìneighbourhood response centresî ìLocated in the basement of a community center, the command room is staffed by citizen volunteers and army conscripts. Radios and ubiquitous cell phone links, as well as homing beacons and microphones built into settlersí cars, allow travellers to be closely tracked, and let authorities know right away when trouble is developing.î [Note 5] The presence of excesses of skilled and unemployed immigrant labour was a pressure in the direction of innovation. By its nature the emerging immaterial sector of the Internet and communications was a huge, lumbering thing, open to experimentation, but most of all subject to the pressures of its own growth. In growing very big very fast it opened interstitial possibilities for small start-up companies. There was a huge need for innovation. Small start-up companies could get big very fast. And intelligent applications were required in order to clear the blockages imposed by the scale of the sectorís growth. ìWith revenue growth for PC chips slowing, communication chips have become the hottest growth area in the semiconductor market [...] ëThe driving force is the increased demand for bandwidth in every aspect of communications, whether itís home users accessing the Internet, providing a corporation, or the emerging demand in the third world. The demand is literally everywhere.î[Note 6] This sector has a strong presence of start-up companies in Israel. The US-based giant Intel, suffering from the drop in demand for PC chips, moved to buy up communication-chip companies. By 2002 Intel-Israel, with 5,0005 employees in Jerusalem, Haifa and Kirya Gat, had exports of $2 billion, compared with $810m the previous year, a growth deriving from the opening of a new plant at Kiryat Gat.[Note 7] The Israeli government provided favourable terms and conditions for high-tech start-up companies, creating ìtechnological incubatorsî in areas such as Yokneam. The Israeli company DSP, which has developed chips used in wireless and mobile phone communications, was recently sold to Intel for $1.6 billion.[Note 8] At this point a large part of Israeli intervention in the high-tech sector was interstitial ñ seeking emerging niche possibilities within the overall growth of the sector: For instance when ìYear 2000î (Y2K) emerged internationally as a problem area, Israeli company Sapiens International [Note 9] built a Year 2000 remediation niche and staffed it almost entirely with immigrant Russian programmers. These were people who had worked for Soviet governments building computer systems for the railway, oil and auto industries. About 70 of Sapiensí s 100-strong staff were emigrÈ Soviet Jews. The firm also applied itself to another window of conjunctural opportunity ñ Europeís changeover to the euro currency. And it built a specialisation in converting computer systems from old languages into new languages (converting assembler code into C code).[Note 10] Remediation was a key word at this stage ñ upgrading and problem-solving in older computer systems. This new Israeli high-tech sector operated through the extended networks of the Jewish diaspora, seeking opportunities for fleet-footed action and innovation. In a sense the diaspora offers a metaphor for the new realities of the cybertariat within immaterial labour. Networks and connections meant that the ìSilicon Wadiî which emerged in Israel became a fundamental, necessary and integrated part of the ìSilicon Valleyî operating in the USA. The technology park at Yokneam, for instance, has a twinning relationship with St Louis. The American-Israel Chamber of Commerce organises trade visits of small Israeli companies to St Louis, where future trade relations are developed with the likes of Boeing. Similar trips were organised by the AICC of Minnesota, which has the four largest medical devices companies in the world (and the Israeli immaterial labour sector is developing a strong presence in biomedicals and high-tech healthcare ñ see below) [Note 11]. 4. Israel as a military economy Israel is a highly militarised society. Decades of war (against the British, against the Arabs, and internal war against the Palestinians) has created a powerhouse of military techniques and technologies. These include hardware (rockets, bombs, guns and ammunitions) and systems (integrated battlefield computer systems), and also the ìbio-powerî spin-off of the production of mindsets, philosophies and ways of being in the world. Israel Military Industries was founded in 1933, producing munitions to fight the British. In 1990 it became a government owned corporation. A 4,000 workforce, of whom over half are engineers, scientists and technology experts. It recruits top-level skilled personnel, the product of Israelís prestige military academies. As well as traditional armaments, it also has a telecomms subdivision, IMI Telecom, which ìspecialises in the field of telecommunications and electronic commerceî.[12] Capitalising on its unique experience as a wired society geared to daily disaster mitigation and capillary counterinsurgency, it was well placed to exploit the niche offered by Americaís vulnerability to the attacks of September 11. On 5 February 2002 it organised an international ìNational Emergency Managementî seminar for foreign local and national governments and private companies. In a real sense this is an Israeli export of imaterial labour. As is the output of another of its ìfactoriesî ñ the IMI Academy for Advanced Security and Anti-Terror Training, a large campus with an interdisciplinary team of instructors who are ìall former commanders from elite Israeli security unitsî.[Note 13] To this extent we can say that the Israelisí war against the Palestinians is effectively a productive sector, a factory of expertises and techniques which are then marketed worldwide. Another case in point is Krav Maga. This is a self-defence martial arts technique. Created and developed by the Israeli Army, Krav Maga is not only the official combat system of the Israeli Army, but is also taught in Israeli schools as part of the curriculum. It has a characteristically Israeli vocation of democracy: "It is our belief that everybody, no matter what age, weight, gender or body type, has the right to defend themselves and their loved ones." The method was developed to suit everyone ñ men, women, children, old people ñ as a way of saving their own lives or minimising harm from attack. It developed originally in the 1940s, in training elite units of the Hagana and Palmach, and embodies "preventive self-defence". It is a stance, a whole way of being in the world, based on objective paranoia and pre-emptive preparedness. Ariel Sharon (formerly of the Hagana) is of this school. I suggest that as well as being exported to the world as a martial arts technique, this stance is being marketed as a geopolitical product.[Note 14] 5. Israelís integration into the US military-industrial complex The Gulf War provided moments of both tension and cooperation between Israel and the US military-industrial complex. As the price for Israeli restraint and inactivity in the face of incoming Iraqi missiles, the US and Israeli military collaborated in the production of anti-missile devices. One of these (designed to combat Katyusha missiles incoming from S. Lebanon) was the Tactical High-Energy Laser (THEL). However there are also tensions. Ehud Barak was forced by Bill Clinton to renege on a contract with China, already signed, for supply of Phalcon AWACS surveillance systems.[Note 15] The business opportunities accruing to Israel from the September 11 attacks includes interest in a ìrevolutionary explosives sniffer deviceî ñ again a spin-off from Israelís war with the Palestinians. The MS-Tech company developed the ìMini-Nose for Detectionî with 80% of the funding being provided by the US Department of Defense and theMinistry of Defense. Company founder Moses Shalom is also negotiating with Ion Track Instruments, which provides security systems for the perimeters of jails.[Note 16] What is more interesting than these public manifestations of collaboration is what happens behind the scenes in universities and research institutes. One of the new paradigms of military thinking is C3I ñ command, control, communications and intelligence ñ operating in cyberspace. "The rapid progress in computer power and miniaturization in the 1980s and 1990s made it possible to think of introducing computers and computerized systems into every element of combat, including the complex and often incoherent environment of gound battlesÖ Every component of US military forces is now being designed and rebuilt around computerized weapons, systems, and C3I".[Note 17] It is no surprise that the Israeli military plays a role in the development of these US military systems. Intelligence Online reported in 2000 that "The US concern Mercury ComputerSystems, a leading manufacturer of computers able to gather and analyse signal intelligence, has just signed a $1.2 million contract with Israel's defence ministry" for research collaboration.[Note 18] Israel is known for its military academies which provide advanced research bases for the cream of the countryís high-tech personnel. However this ìnationalî personnel operates within the global context of the diaspora, and is equally at home in the military-industrial complex of the USA. A detailed search through lists of US university personnel would throw up many people who trained initially in Israel and then moved to the US to pursue further studies. One person whose research has both an Israeli and a US dimension is Professor Ouri Wolfson of the University of Chicago at Illinois. His project funding ranges between the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Isaeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He has developed a DOMINO software, designed for tracking cars and aircraft, which was developed with the US Army Research Laboratories. Wolfsonís early research was in computer science at the Technion University of Haifa. (In a civilian spin-off from this, a company has been set to provide systems for lorry freight companies to track their vehicles). I suggest that this would be a good time to return to the 1960s US radical methodology of charting interlinking directorships between companies in order to establish the true nature of Israel's involvement in this newly-emerging global military-industrial economy. Some of this information can be gleaned from NASDAQ share flotation documents.[Note 19] 6. A medieval model The history of intellectual and scientific development of the medieval West cannot be written without acknowledging the key contribution of the Jewish intellectual diaspora in Andalus, Provence and elsewhere. The Ibn Tibbon family, with their translations of Greek scientific texts mediated through the Arabs, and the school of Jewish mathematicians, c.1250-1350. Their contribtion the productive and military techniques and technologies of their time was immense. The Prophatian Quadrant (a remodelling of the complex Arab astrolabe onto a device that was simply a piece of card and a bit of string) is one example, as theorised by Jakob ben Mahir Ibn Tibbon.[Note 20] There are tantalising parallels with the globalised diasporic intelligentsia of today. One observer has suggested that the medieval Jews, with the daily realities of comercial life in the diaspora, were in a real sense the precursors of globalisation. As I suggest above, the Israeli capitalism of today ñ the extent of its global reach, the deterritorialised space in which it operates and the merceological nature of the commodities it produces ñ offers a precious microcosmic possibility for the study of immaterial labour in action within globalisation. 7. Visionics Inc ñ Biometrics as a growth sector The unexpected domestic vulnerabiliy of the US revealed by September 11 mant that fast responses were needed at the level of security. Paranoia, xenophobia and the fear of dying provided a massive market opportunity. The Airport Security Improvement Act (2001) was passed, requiring a dramatic upgrading of security systems. Into the picture steps Visionics Inc. This company produces face-recognition and fingerprint recognition equipment, based on the new science of ìbiometricsî. The chairman of Visionics Inc., Joseph Atick, lived in Israel (on the West Bank) till he was 15. He dropped out of high-school and set about writing a large textbook on physics ñ in Arabic. He was accepted into the Maths programme of Stanford University in the US. And moved on from there to become professor at the Rockefeller University. The elements of diaspora, movement, Arabic, mathematics, university, radical conceptual innovation leading to new technologies are strikingly reminiscent of the medieval predecessors.[Note 21] Here science and mathematics are used to generate a police-state technology. The software and technology involved in these products have a strongly Israeli dimension. Biometrics is one of the fields being explored by Israeli software companies, and these in turn have a symbiotic relation with the Israeli military. One of the earliest uses of Visionics face recognition technology was to monitor the faces of commuting Palestinian day labourers at Israeli army checkpoints. An article describing this Israeli-American productive node as it operates in Minnesota speaks of "high-tech companies joining in a mad dash to develop and market a dazzling new generation of security devices". It is worth noting the extent, the depth of intellectual labour that has gone into this venture. We are just now at the point where our entire picture of the physical composition of the universe is being revised way from particles to superstrings. This is frontier science. Atick's work on biometrics and facial recognition derives precisely from his earlier work as a physicist at the Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, where he researched superstrings and the related theories of supersymmetry.[Note 22] 8. Loosening up the lumbering monster I referred above to the success of Israeli companies in the "increased growth in the demand for bandwidth in every aspect of communications". Characteristically, the boom new-technology economy has internal problems created by the very speed of its growth. A large, lumbering monster creates for itself blockages and restrictions which need to be overcome. This has proved a characteristic area of intervention by small Israeli start-up companies monitoring and removing problems of blockages of delivery, bottlenecks, restrictions of bandwidth etc. Speeding up the flow of information-as-capital. The following is a small list of such ventures: Foxcom Wireless: Makes an RFiber optic-fibre product, which enables wireless technologies to operate in hard-to-reach urban and shadow areas such as railway stations, tunnels etc. Chiaro Networks: Uses the scalability of optic fibre to remove capacity bottlenecks from intersections of optical carrier backbones. Unique optical switching technology. These expand the availability of bandwidth. Xact Technologies: of Ramat Gan and Santa Clara: "A Santa Clara start-up" which monitors Internet customers' usage of the network on the basis of how much bandwidth they use. Like estimating a gas bill. The crucial aspect of Xact software is that it enables Internet usage to be monetised. Mavix: Produces a multimedia streaming system for monitoring and security. It routes all security inputs into one control unit. Can be used for surveillance of football stadiums, metros, ferries, prisons etc. Mercado Software: A product entitled Intuifind which adds more refined searchability to e-commerce search engines. Integrated search and browse facilities. Sapiens International: Specialises in programmes that gather discrete packets of information and shuttle them around at speed. For instance, remediation of insurance quotation systems, where installation of new systems would be hugely expensive. Operates via internetted cyberspace conferencing for its global marketing.[23] 9. Biomedical production As we know, the concept of immaterial labour extends far into the fields of the caring and the corporal, and here too Israeli companies have made major interventions. This development is driven in part by commercial spin-out interests of teaching-hospitals in Israel, and in part by the excesses of medical skilled labour-power in-migrating from the Soviet Union in the 1990s.[Note 24] "The evolution of new medical device companies in Israel continues its unabated growth, spurred by the influx of highly trained immigrants in the physical, biological and engineering sciences, and expanding sources of capital from venture firms in Israel and the US, as well as from corporate strategic partners." [Note 25] This growth is so marked that the multinational pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson maintains a permanent office in Israel to search for start-up companies in which to invest. The following is a small list of such ventures. As is the case with the companies cited above, most of these companies have one foot in Israel and the other in the USA, clearly catering to the massively emerging US market for health products. Applied Spectral Imaging: Techniques for treating retinal eye diseases that otherwise might lead to blindness. Biocontrol: An electronic device to control urinary incontinence. Vision Cure: Implantable telescopic lenses for treatment of macular degeneration. Or Sense: A non-invesive technology to measure cholesterol levels and blood viscosity. Novamed: Clinical diagnostic tests. Transdermics: Through-the-skin non-invasive drug delivery technology. Advanced Monitoring Systems: Home-use salival testing techniques, to monitor safe levels of drug administration. It is important to stress that in no sense are these "caring and sharing" technologies separate from the military industrial complex outlined above. For instance: Given Imaging has delivered a pill-sized capsule for transmitting pictures as it passes through the patient's intestine. This is a spin-off from a CMOS device developed by NASA. Galil Medical: Cryosurgery techniques which enable minimally invasive treatment of prostate cancers. This is an outgrowth of the Rafael Development Corporation, the largest R&D organisation in Israel, which seeks commercial applications of defence technologies. We should also be in no doubt about the radicality of some of these interventions. They will affect our lives fundamentally. For instance, I have spoken of Israeli start-up projects involving the monitoring and resolution of problems of blockage and delivery. In this vein, Labour Control Systems of Nesher, Israel, has produced a vaginal electronic monitor which will reduce the need for frequent examination of dilation during child-birth. Such a process is likely to contribute immensely to the ongoing factoryisation of the birth process. 10. Back to the start In a moment it will be time to return to Oxford Street, December 2001. But first we should look at the case of one of the most famous Israeli new-technology start-ups. Mirabilis, founded by "legendary high-tech entrepreneur Yassi Vardi" produced an internet messaging system which identifies which of your Internet correspondents are on-line at any given time, and enables you to exchange messages with them.[Note 26] I imagine that this is a direct spin-off of Israeli electronic battlefield technology. The product was known as ICQ ("I-seek-you"). In a very short time Mirabilis built a community of users of over 50 million, covering most of Western Europe. In 1998 Mirabilis was bought by AOL.com, and the system became an industry standard in messaging technology. It is now part of the operating system of AOL, the world's biggest Internet, e-mail and chatroom operator. The most notable political characteristic of this Israeli export-product is that it disappears, it becomes invisible, it becomes grafted into the very flesh and bone of the operating systems of today's capitalism. In short, it is more or less immune from being boycotted. And that characteristic is shared by many of the products described above. Which brings us to Mercado Software, a company with Israeli roots and a Palo Alto headquarters. Mercado produces the Intuifind software system. This product is the outcome of advanced studies in psycholinguistics combined with new search-engine technologies. In provides an "intuitive and easy to navigate on-line shopping experience". Put briefly, on-line shopping is developing very fast. But the systems are stupid, monolithic and lumbering. A shop's catalogue may have many "lamps" in store, but if you search on-line for a "light" you will get no result. Therefore, teaming up with technology >from Backweb.com (Ramat Gan and San Jose), Intuifind has built a system "utilising more that 50 powerful linguistic knowledge banks, including stemming, spelling and thesauri, which help customers define requests in their own words." A truly immaterial labour product. This system has been installed at Macy's, Caterpillar, Sears, Blockbuster Video etc. And now the irony. At the same moment that the Palestine Solidarity Campaign was picketing Selfridges Store against the sale of Israeli goods, at the other end of Oxford Street the John Lewis store (much frequented by Britain's liberal middle classes) was installing a new Israeli export product ñ Mercado's "Intuifind" search-and-shop technology ñ as a central part of its operating system. Grafted, invisible, immune to boycott. 11. A note on Jaffa Oranges To end, I would merely add that many people in the Internet community have had the experience of using the opportunites for anonymity which the Internet affords. Israeli capitalist companies are no exception. They begin their life as small locally-based Israeli start-ups. In no time at all they set up their websites. They provide themselves with a nominal HQ in the leafier high-tech glades of the USA and UK. They market their produce on-line, often by offering on-line cyberspace teleconferencing facilities which transcend national border problems. Then, very quickly, these companies merge, blend, are bought up by bigger non-Israeli companies. There is a tendency to conceal their "Israeli-ness", which anyway becomes effaced in the merger process. Thus they become a neutral capitalist product, free of the taint of association with the country in which they were produced. Incidentally, those among us who are boycotters of Jaffa oranges might note the following. On 27 December 2001 the Jerusalem Post reported that the Chinese government is negotiating "to market its own fruit under the Jaffa brand name and purchase the rights" from the Israeli Citrus Marketing Board. Jaffa is now playing the logo-game. So it could turn out to be a Chinese orange that you are boycottingÖ[Note 27] NOTES 1. Interview with Alain Joxe, Multitudes No. 7, Paris, December 2001. 2. S. Carter, Global Agricultural Marketing Management, FAO, Rome, 1997. Available on-line at http://www.fao.org. 3. "Criminal diamond trade fuels African war, UN is told", by Victoria Brittain, Guardian online edition, 13 January 2000. I cannot say whether Israeli companies are involved in the dirty side of this trade, but in 2000 the American Drug Enforcement Administration sent a team to train Israeli police in how to detect and seize money from drug dealing. Article in Intelligence Online, at http://www.indigo-net.com/intel.html. See also Note 19 below. 4. Thomas Cornay, in Los Angeles Magazine Internet edition, March 1999. 5. Eli Lehrer, in The American Enterprise Online, December 2001, p. 2. 6. "Specialty chips find their niche", by Wylie Wong, http://news.cnet.com, 5 April 1999. 7. Article at http://www.start-ups.co.il, 12 February 2002. 8. ibid. 9. The name itself suggests a vocation for globalised immaterial labour. http://www.sapiens.com 10. Article at http://www.cnn.com, 19 September 1999. 11. http://www.aiccmn.org 12. http://www.imi-israel.com 13. ibid. 14. http://www.krav-maga.com. There was a similar export of "stance" in Britain's global marketing of Margaret Thatcher's privatisation agenda in the 1990s. 15. Articles in Pravda On-line, 20 December 2001 and Arabicnews.com, 14 May 1999. 16. Dror Marom. ìUS Cos interested in Israelís MS-Tech explosives snifferî, http://new.globes.co.il, 18 December 2001. 17. Rochlin, Trapped in the Net, Princeton University Press, 1997. Online summary. 18. Article at Intelligence Online, at www.indigo-net.com/intel.html. 19. Where are they now? For instance, Tamir Segal, whose "Truster" technology featured in the Guardian On-line on 21 January 1998: "How much would you pay to know when people are lying to you? How about $149? Because that's what Israeli based Makh-Shevet is asking for a software package that turns your multimedia PC into a lie detector." The technology was "originally envisaged for the security forces at entry points into Israel (a military version is undergoing tests)". http://www.truster.com. And "Danny Yatom, who was forced to resign as head of Mossad last April following an abortive attempt by Israeli agents to assassinate Khaled Meshal, the political boss of Hamas, in Amman in September 1997, has switched to making a living in business." Yatom, "infamous for his creative torturing techniques and well known to many Palestinians who were tortured under his supervision" (Ghazi Saudi, article at http://star.arabia.com, November 2000) is cited in an exemplary article by Christian Dietrich, in connection with the firm Strategic Consulting Group, and its involvement in Kazakhstan, Algeria and "a large security project in Angola". Angola, significantly, is diamond country. Christian Dietrich, "Blood Diamonds: Effective African-based monopolies", in African Security Review, Vol. 10, No. 3, 2001, available at http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/ASR/10No3/Dietrich.html. 20. http://www.astrolabes.QUADRANT.HTM 21. International Herald Tribune, 23 January 2002. 22. Superstrings ñ http://www.sciam.com 23. Other Israeli high-tech companies which can be search-researched via the Internet include Opticom (integration of biometric technology), Shonut ñ Probabilistic Solutions Ltd (voice recognition, fingerprint analysis), TeKey (biometrics and human recognition simulation), Tadiran Co. ("over 40 years experience in military communications technology"), Proneuron, Net2Wireless, Batm Advanced Communications, Luz Industries, Mercury Interactive, Team Computers, and SAFe-Mail.. The strength of the Israelo-American diasporic nexus in military-security technologies can be gauged from the following. On 27 November 2001, BIO-key International (formerly the Israeli company SAC Technologies, optical fingerprint scanning, founded 1993) announced from its US headquarters in Minnesota that it was taking on former prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu as its Senior Strategy Advisor. "The current addition [sic] of his book "Fighting Terrorism" is a terrific example of the insights he possesses to combat terrorism and secure freedom for us all". Article at http://biz.yahoo.com/bw011127/272262_l.html. 24. See Note 10 above. 25. Jeffrey Berg, in The BBI (Biomedical Business International) Newsletter, September 2000. 26. Article at http://www.malibutel.com/mobilemediaworld/features/israeli.html. The AOL buy-out of Mirabilis was "an event which spurred Israel's high-tech frenzy". 27. Jerusalem Post Internet edition, 27 December 2001. +++++++++++++++++++++ Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided that the following notice is preserved. Copyleft Naxos Inc. [2002] You are encouraged to alter, edit and add to the material contained in this article and you may create further postings, but only on condition that the copyleft is preserved. Please post any emended versions to NaxosInc@hotmail.com _______________________________________________ Rekombinant mailing list http://www.rekombinant.org From mstainsby at tao.ca Tue Apr 2 18:02:19 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] Calgary/G8 organising Message-ID: <013e01c1daab$34c0d500$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Basis of Unity Solidarity Village is organized along the lines of the Basis of Unity adopted through the G8 Spokescouncil process in Alberta: * We are a diverse and dynamic movement, united in our desire for self-determination and a just, equitable society. * We are building local and global alternatives that are open, inclusive, and non-hierarchical. * We assert that the direct participation of people is essential to ensure that society reflects their needs and desires. * We reject the dehumanizing and antidemocratic system perpetuated by institutions like the G8. We reject a world vision where people, environments and culture are only valued as commodities to be exploited for profit. * In order to eliminate the oppressive power of authoritarian structures, we support bold and creative actions that respect the natural environment and human safety. * We encourage the involvement of other individuals and autonomous groups who affirm this basis of unity. [ http://www.oxygensmith.com/~g8camp/home/index.php#basis http://g8.activist.ca/basisofunity.html ] A Call to Action: Defy the G8, Come to Kananaskis June 21 to 28, 2002 The G8 meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta June 26-27, 2002 presents a challenge to social movements around the world. This summit of the dominant economies of the world strives to present the G8 vision of the world as one of development and democracy. In fact, it represents an agenda of corporate globalization, which results in the social exclusion of growing millions of people, systemic global poverty, and the degradation of the natural environment, supported by escalating international militarism. Civil society in Alberta is mobilizing to confront the G8 and present an alternative vision to corporate globalization. We invite people across the country and around the world to join with us in building a festival of resistance to the G8 in Kananaskis. Solidarity Village will be a microcosm of the possible - a place where we can strategize, tell stories, share regional issues; build long-term coalitions; demonstrate living alternatives to capitalism and teach each other new ways to manifest dissent. Solidarity Village will provide a setting for education, teach-ins, and workshops, and celebrate art, music, and drama as an integral part of building a global popular movement. It will provide a space for convergence, medical and legal aid, independent media, and other support to individuals and groups participating in direct action. It will strive to create a collective, inclusive and diverse space that respects human safety, the environment, and the First Nations people. Solidarity Village will grow out of the foothills near the summit site of Kananaskis Village. Workshops and training will begin on summer solstice, June 21, and the camp will build to its height the days of the G8 Summit, June 26 and 27. The Village will be a collective vision, and we call on individuals and groups to participate in the camp by organizing workshops, coordinating tents, creating art and music, providing resources, assisting with logistics, or by mobilizing your community to challenge the G8 with Albertans. We also call on people to act in solidarity with us in Kananaskis by resisting the G8 in their communities, their regions, and their countries. To get involved in Solidarity Village: Visit the website at solidarityvillage.cjb.net or e-mail us at solvil@activist.ca. In Solidarity, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Alberta Federation of Labour, Co-Motion Collective, EcoCity, Edmonton, Council of Canadians, Edmonton G8 Planning Collective, Alberta Council for Global Cooperation, Calgary & District Labour Council. [ http://g8.activist.ca/calltoaction/solvil.html http://www.oxygensmith.com/~g8camp/home/index.php#about ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina" --WEF protesters. ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht From ifa at anarchy.no Tue Apr 2 18:14:49 2002 From: ifa at anarchy.no (IJA) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] 02.04.2002 THE OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP THE RUMORS! Message-ID: <000c01c1daac$f423c6e0$ecacb33e@chello.no> PRESS RELEASE AND NOTE FROM THE Anarchist International Embassy in Oslo http://www.anarchy.no/embassy.html (published in IJ@ 4(31)) THE OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP THE RUMORS! The rumors that some high ranking, mainly marxist Norwegians and their "useful" idiots, have given much aid-money to Arafat, so he could support the terrorists, to make trouble in the Mid East and thus hike the oil price (and tank-rates), must be seen as a 1st of April joke and nothing else. The Anarchy of Norway just doesn't play politics so dirty, although the oil-price of course have hiked now as usual when there is trouble in the Mid East, and the PLO-state of Arafat has gotten relatively much money in aid from Norway. These events should not be seen combined, and introducing a (false) conspiracy theory is not correct. There are also other reasons for a hike in the oil-price, say, the USA's talks vis-?-vis Saddam Hussein, and better economical conjunctures in general. 02.04.2002. Although the Conference on terrorism and IJ@ yesterday tried to stop the rumors, they continue to grow. We must simply repeat that these growing rumors are not based on facts! The whole idea of the so called secret operation, code name "Bongo from Congo" where 1. the Yes to EU-bureaucrats in the Labor Party, some of them having got top jobs in Statoil without too much qualifications, 2. the UN's "peace envoy for the Middle East" Terje "Red" Larsen plus Gro Harlem Brundtland and tops in the Royal Norwegian Foreign Ministry, UD; 3. the leaders of the "Red oil-workers unions", plus 4. the coming bureaucrats of the Labor Party's Youth organization AUF, have a conspiracy with 5. Y. Arafat and the PLO-State terrorists, to 6. hike the oil-price, and share the profit through different channels, aid included, to make even more trouble in the Mid East and hike the oil-price even more, etc., in 7. an oil-price&terrorism spiral, in a prolonged war with Israel, also including trade boycott etc. too make it real long, that's 8. just far out! Although 9. the marxist influenced Norwegian media also write about a long Mid East war today, and thus contribute perhaps to even more oil-price hike, there are no reasons to believe that 10. the "Oil price & Terrorism Conspiracy" , code name "Bongo from Congo", really exists. NACO demands such nonsense rumors should be stopped at once! However to stop further rumors, more restrictions on the aid-money to the PLO-State of Arafat should perhaps be introduced, NACO says: "It must be certain not an "?re" of the Norwegian aid-money to Palestine goes to support the terrorists, directly or indirectly, to avoid the Anarchy of Norway gets a bad reputation internationally. Even 1st of April joke rumors may spread and be harmfull, if there is just a small fraction of possible truth in it. So all support that doesn't go directly to peaceful organizations of the Palestinian people, and 100% certain avoid "their" corrupt authorities plus terrorists, and other political measures that may make Norwegians be looked upon as warprofit sharks, should stop at once! More news and comments about the Mid East and terrorism in general, see IJ@ 4(31). Click on URL www.anarchy.no and then the rollerbanner for IJ@. Search for 01.04 and 02.04, Jews, Middle, Arafat, etc. in the IJ@ 4 (31) See also: 1. The system theory of anarchist political economy and social organization research at URL http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html 2. The general theory of anarchist economics at URL http://www.anarchy.no/aneco1.html 3. The anarchist class analysis, i.e. economic-political sociology and industrial organization research, at URL http://www.anarchy.no/klasse.html for a theoretical update and 4. http://www.anarchy.no/iat.html to see the resolutions from the International Anarchist Tribunal. Search for Arafat in the file of the International branch. Cordially .... C. d'a. A. Quist for AIE From shniad at sfu.ca Tue Apr 2 19:06:55 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] Violence and Excuses in the Mideast - Michael Lerner and Cornel West Message-ID: <200204030206.g3326tk10071@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The Philadelphia Inquirer April 2, 2002 Violence and Excuses in the Mideast Future generations of Jews may unfairly suffer for the silence of this generation By Rabbi Michael Lerner and Cornel West Many are calling for the Bush administration to intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. And such intervention could help. Yet the Bush administration is making no effort to conceal that its heart lies elsewhere: in creating a coalition in the Islamic world that will support forthcoming U.S. attempts to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Though little evidence links Saddam to Osama bin Ladin or al-Qaeda, the White House has used the cover of outrage at terror to legitimate a new war in Iraq that will complete what the last Bush administration left unresolved. All the more reason to ask the United States to move beyond its narrow concerns with overthrowing Saddam and instead show the Israeli people that they have no alternative but to end the occupation. The real pro-Israel forces are those willing to push Israel to change its policies. Bush and the Saudis would like to set up negotiations, restoring the image of calm while the United States pursues its Iraq adventure, meanwhile allowing Bush to weigh in on the side of peace and rational discourse. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will appear to be making a major concession to his Labor party allies by sitting in negotiations. Meanwhile, he will block any concessions that weaken Israel's hold over a substantial part of the West Bank. And Bush can then have his war. This strategy faces some severe limitations. Yasir Arafat is not going to be able to quiet outrage among millions of Palestinians at the latest round of carnage. No matter what he agrees to, it's unlikely he can stop acts of revenge against Israelis. And many Palestinians will see the next round of talk as just another smoke screen to prolong the occupation. Israel has become increasingly polarized, between a large group (now close to 46 percent) who favor ethnic cleansing of Palestinians (the polite word being used is transfer) and a growing minority (now close to 25 percent) who sympathize with the Israeli Defense Force Reservists refusing to serve in the West Bank and Gaza. The peace forces have been betrayed by a Labor Party that remains part of Sharon's government, so Israelis who seek to restore the moral coherence and spiritual health of the Jewish people are increasingly turning to civil disobedience and direct action. Many Americans have been intimidated into silence by the forces of Jewish-establishment political correctness. They fear they will be labeled either anti-Semitic Christians or self-hating Jews should they say aloud what they feel privately: that Israel is behaving immorally and at times even savagely. Yet unless Jews and morally principled Christians speak these truths, it will be anti-Semites and other haters who will eventually challenge Jewish p.c. and in a very destructive way. Future generations of Jews may unfairly suffer for the silence of this generation. We identify with those in the Jewish world who will not allow Israel to become a modern-day Pharoah to the Palestinian people. Americans of many faiths are determined to stand with them and with Jewish liberals and progressives who continue to tell the story of liberation and continue to believe in the possibility of peace and justice. Tens of thousands of Jews raised these issues at their seders this year - turning the dinner table into mini teach-ins on Israel's current behavior. Two fundamental truths underlie our vision: that Palestinian and Israeli lives are equally precious and that the violence of both sides must stop. Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun Magazine. Cornel West is a professor at Harvard University and author of "Race Matters." From shniad at sfu.ca Tue Apr 2 19:07:47 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] Blair under fire over adviser's call for 'imperialism' - Independent Message-ID: <200204030207.g3327lk10909@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The Independent 28 March 2002 Blair under fire over adviser's call for 'imperialism' By Paul Waugh Deputy Political Editor Senior Labour MPs reacted with fury last night after Tony Blair's key foreign policy adviser called for "a new kind of imperialism" to enable the UK to intervene abroad to combat global terror threats. In a move that will further unnerve backbenchers worried about possible military action against Iraq, Robert Cooper said that it was the task of liberal democracies to "bring order" to the rest of the world. Writing in a new pamphlet on the long-term implications of 11 September, Mr Cooper, a senior Foreign Office diplomat attached to Downing Street, said: "The need for colonisation is as great as it ever was in the 19th century". A diplomat appointed personally by Mr Blair to represent the UK at the Bonn conference on Afghanistan's future last year, Mr Cooper's views on global threats have heavily influenced the Prime Minister since the terror attacks. The mandarin has long argued that indifference to international crime and terrorism is no longer an option for the West and is a firm believer that the European Union should do more to effect change overseas. However, Mr Cooper's provocative comments, made in a new pamphlet published by the Foreign Policy Centre, triggered outrage among Labour MPs last night. Mr Blair faced further warnings against action on Iraq when Romano Prodi, the European Commission President, said that "escalation of conflict would have terrible consequences everywhere". In Reordering the World, a pamphlet which has a foreword by Mr Blair, Mr Cooper said that Osama bin Laden had proved the dangers of allowing rogue states to continue unchecked. "All the conditions for imperialism are there .... the weak still need the strong and the strong still need an orderly world. A world in which the efficient and well-governed export stability and liberty. "Empire and imperialism are words that have become terms of abuse in the post-modern world. Today, there are no colonial powers willing to take on the job, though the opportunities, perhaps even the need, for colonisation is as great as it ever was in the 19th century. "What is needed is a new kind of imperialism, one acceptable to a world of human rights and cosmopolitan values. We can already discern its outline: an imperialism which, like all imperialism, aims to bring order and organisation but which rests today on the voluntary principle." Mr Cooper said that if terrorists or criminals based in undemocratic states posed a threat, the West had to act. "If they become too dangerous for established states to tolerate, it is possible to imagine a defensive imperialism," he said. He added that the EU could offer the best form of the new imperialism. "The post-modern EU offers a vision of co-operative empire. Like Rome, this commonwealth would provide its citizens with some of its laws, some coins and the occasional road. That perhaps is the vision," he said. Tam Dalyell, the MP for Linlithgow who is leading the backbench opposition on Iraq, said Mr Cooper's comments ran against the Labour Party's long history of anti-colonialism. "The Tsarina of Russia was better advised by Rasputin than the Prime Minister is by this maniac. To claim that the need for colonialism may be as great as in Victorian times is extraordinary," he said. Alan Simpson, Labour MP for Nottingham South, said that it was clear that Mr Cooper was attempting to offer some intellectual justification for the US and UK bypassing the United Nations. "The very idea of a 'liberal imperialism' is like an 'enlightened slavery' - it just doesn't make any sense. The great tragedy of this analysis is that it totally ignores the UN. It is thinking down the barrel of a gun," Mr Simpson said. The number of Labour MPs who have signed up to a Commons motion objecting to an attack on Iraq rose yesterday to 121 after the suggestion by the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, that Britain would not need a special UN resolution for such an assault on the country. From shniad at sfu.ca Tue Apr 2 19:16:54 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] U.S. lied about Cuban role in Angola - historian (Reuters) Message-ID: <200204030216.g332Gsk17564@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Reuters April 1, 2002 U.S. lied about Cuban role in Angola - historian By Anthony Boadle Washington - The United States and South Africa intervened in Angola months before Cuban troops arrived in 1975, and not afterward as Washington claimed, according to a historian who recently wrote a book on the subject. Piero Gleijeses, a professor at Johns Hopkins' School of International Studies, said that President Gerald Ford's administration lied about Cuban military presence to justify its covert operations against Marxist guerrillas. Angola was a Portuguese colony until 1975. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger denied then and in his memoirs later that the U.S. government knew that South African troops invaded Angola posing as mercenaries in 1975, he said. He also required the Central Intelligence Agency to rewrite a document on Angola to show an earlier Cuban presence than was accurate, Gleijeses said in an interview. "Kissinger had the CIA rewrite its report to serve the political aim of the administration, and so the poor CIA ended up lying," he said, speaking tongue-in-cheek. Declassified CIA papers for August through October of 1975 talk of the presence of only a few Cubans in Angola trying to pass themselves off as tourists, the historian said. The first academic to gain access to archives in Havana, Gleijeses has put together a almost day-to-day account of the arrival of Cuban troops in Angola. With the departure of the Portuguese in 1975, Angola had a power vacuum that the Marxist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, or MPLA, and conservative UNITA sought to take advantage of. The fighting that marked the struggle for independence became a civil war. A CIA-funded covert operation was launched from Zaire in July, at the same time as a South African operation from the south backed the UNITA rebel group, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, led by led by Jonas Savimbi, who died this year. But by October 1975, the groups with U.S. and South African support were losing the war and white-ruled South Africa sent in regular troops. Cuban President Fidel Castro decided on Nov. 4, 1975, to send soldiers to Angola but did so without informing Moscow, which two months later halfheartedly provided Aeroflot IL-62 planes for an airlift. The arrival of 30,000 Cubans tilted the civil war in favor of the MPLA which had controlled the capital of Luanda, Gleijeses said, and the South Africans withdrew in March 1976. The war stretched on for another 25 years, with the latest cease-fire deal signed just last weekend. SOUTH AFRICAN LINK DENIED "The key element of the covert operation was cooperation with South Africa, and that was totally denied," Gleijeses said. "Kissinger went to the extreme of saying he only learned a couple of weeks later that South Africa had invaded." In his book "Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington and Africa 1959-1976," based on U.S. documents and archival research in Cuba and Angola, Gleijeses maintains that Cuba dispatched troops as a result of the South African invasion. He argues that Kissinger's account of the U.S. role in Angola was misleading, both in testimony to Congress in 1976 and more recently in the third volume of his memoirs "Years of Renewal." The historian interviewed the then CIA station chief in Luanda, Robert Hultslander who, speaking on the record for the first time, criticized U.S. policy in Angola as "shortsighted and flawed." The former CIA agent told Gleijeses that he was unaware at the time that "the U.S. would eventually beg South Africa to directly intervene to pull its chestnuts out of the fire." CHINA'S DENG HELD OFF Gleijeses also argues that Kissinger misled Americans by saying that an attempt to gain China's help in Angola was thwarted by the refusal of the U.S. Congress to approve funding for the covert operation. In his memoirs, Kissinger recounts a meeting he and Ford had on Dec. 2, 1975, in Beijing with Chairman Mao Tse-tung in which Angola was discussed and Mao suggested China was willing to cooperate. Gleijeses said Kissinger failed to mention a meeting held the following day with Deng Xiaoping in which, according to a White House memorandum, the Chinese president refused to help in Angola while South Africa was involved. "The reason why China held back was not Congress' refusal to vote additional aid. It was because the South Africans were there," he said, adding that Mao was very ill by then and Deng was in charge of decisions of state. "Kissinger ignores the other document which contradicts what he wants to say, and that is very dishonest," Gleijeses said. The documents can be found at http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB67/ .. From shniad at sfu.ca Tue Apr 2 19:19:18 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] A week of setback for US hegemony - Dawn Message-ID: <200204030219.g332JIk19849@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> http://www.dawn.com/2002/04/01/int13.htm Dawn 1 April 2002 A week of setback for US hegemony By Jim Lobe Washington - It was a bad week for the aspiring global hegemonies around US President George W. Bush. Not only did virtually all of Washington's closest Middle East "allies" - Arab and Israeli alike - reject its efforts to ensure a smooth Arab League endorsement of Saudi Arabia's latest peace proposals, its next target in the "war against terrorism," Iraq, was welcomed back into the Arab fold with open arms. As the week in which Bush had hoped to achieve a cease-fire in the ever escalating struggle between Israel and the Palestinians ended, a new spiral of killing was already underway, with Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers moving into the West Bank and Gaza on Friday in retaliation for the latest Palestinian suicide bombings. Meanwhile, Europe continued to seethe over the latest manifestations of US unilateralism - a 30 per cent hike in tariffs on steel imports - and China blocked a routine port call by a US warship at Hong Kong to protest the Pentagon's reception of a top Taiwanese defence official. And, after insisting for months that US troops would not be used for peacekeeping in Afghanistan, the Pentagon rejected desperate pleas from the United Nations and Afghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, to expand the size and reach of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). US forces would have to keep peace between the warlords who control most of the country, after all, said Washington. Nor was that all. Pakistan rejected outright the suggestion that US troops be permitted to operate on its side of the border with Afghanistan to prevent Taliban and al Qaeda forces from gaining sanctuary there. Finally, uniformed military commanders, who have long grumbled privately about the hegemonic ambitions of the civilian hawks who now dominate the Pentagon, have been going public. In Congressional hearings over the past two weeks, they suggested their forces are already stretched too thin by the war on Afghanistan and other deployments to take on major new missions. That provoked a visibly irritated and testy defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, to warn on Thursday: "It's a disservice to them to leave that impression, in my view." "It's not easy ruling the world," noted one caustic Congressional staffer, whose Democratic boss has been among those lawmakers gradually more willing to question the administration's goals in its anti-terrorist campaign. Rumsfeld's testiness reflected more than frustration with his more cautious commanders concerned about the administration's promiscuity in taking on new military tasks virtually around the world. More important, things are not going well for administration hawks clustered around Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney who, after claiming victory with the swift and virtually painless ouster of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan late last year, had hoped to take the war next to Iraq. Indeed, preparing the diplomatic groundwork for such a campaign, to be launched as early as next fall, was the major purpose of Cheney's 11-day trip to see US allies in the Mideast and Gulf region. But, with the exception of Israel itself, Cheney received the same message in virtually every capital he visited, most bluntly expressed by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, the country that provides the US Navy with its main base in the Gulf. "The people who are dying today on the streets are not a result of any Iraqi action," the Crown Prince told Cheney. "The people are dying as a result of an Israeli action. And likewise the people in Israel are dying as a result of actions taken in response." The administration had hoped that dispatching Bush's special Mideast envoy to the region to try to negotiate a ceasefire during Cheney's trip would have appeased Arab sensitivities sufficiently to focus the trip on how to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Just in case, it threw in unprecedented US sponsorship of a UN Security Council resolution affirming support for a Palestinian state "within secure and recognised borders". But Washington's Arab clients were unusually steadfast in the face of Cheney's appeals. They underlined that position at their summit in Beirut this week, not only by arranging an unexpected reconciliation between Iraq and Kuwait, but also by approving a resolution that - in addition to offering peace to Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from territories occupied since 1967 - warned that any attack on Iraq would be considered an attack against all Arab states. Their action followed a series of stunning rebuffs to Washington: Arab leaders insisting to Cheney that the Israeli-Palestinian question was more urgent than Iraq, then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejecting the vice president's personal appeal to permit Palestine Authority Chairman Yassir Arafat to attend the Beirut summit, with the assurance that he could return. "The US expended a lot of political capital to no avail, illustrating how deadlocked the situation is and the limits of American influence," Samuel Lewis, a former US ambassador to Israel, told the Washington Post. His successor, Martin Indyk, warned darkly that "the situation on the ground is going to full-scale war. But even as events and actors in the Middle East appeared to spin out of Washington's grasp by week's end, the administration found itself grappling with other problems. The European Union, for example, has drawn up a politically explosive list of US exports that it has targeted for retaliation against the steel tariffs. Highest on the list are major products from states where Bush's Republican party is especially vulnerable in upcoming Congressional elections. Brussel's action, according to David Broder, one of Washington's most influential political analysts, reflects in part the suddenly widening gap between Europe and Washington over the latter's anti-terrorist goals, particularly its plans on Iraq. Writing from Rome, Broder, who is not prone to hyperbole, described the Europeans as "furious" with the administration and "ready to fight back". From furuhashi.1 at osu.edu Wed Apr 3 00:19:57 2002 From: furuhashi.1 at osu.edu (Yoshie Furuhashi) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:11 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fri., April 5: Demonstration in Support of Palestinians (OH) Message-ID: DEMONSTRATION IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINIANS PROTEST THE ISRAELI CRIMES AGAINST THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE WHAT: On Friday April 5, 2002, the Central Ohio-area Coalition for Palestine calls on all people of conscience to participate in a DEMONSTRATION to protest the latest Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people. You participation is important to show support for those who are being murdered in cold blood under the Israeli occupation. In the past week, scores of Palestinian men, women, and children have been killed and hundreds have been wounded. The continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian land -- accompanied by its unbearable policy of killing, destruction, and humiliation -- ordered by Israeli right-wing extremist Prime Minister Ariel Sharon must stop. Sharon has been blamed for a 1953 massacre in the West Bank and for allowing Lebanese militiamen to kill more than 2,000 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in refugee camps near Beirut, Lebanon, in 1982. Regrettably, American taxpayer dollars are being used to finance this mass murder. WHEN: FRIDAY April 5, 2002, at 3:00 p.m. WHERE: Federal Building, 200 N. High Street, Columbus, Ohio (Intersection of Spring and High Streets, Downtown Columbus) Parking: City Center parking garage or any parking nearby CONTACT: Jad Humeidan, CAIR-Ohio, (614) 395-3583 Hazem Gheith, ISGC, (614) 806-4472 The Program will include an update on the situation in Palestine and brief talks by local religious leaders and community activists. Bring Your Families and Friends. SPONSORS: Arab Americans of Central Ohio, Arab Student Association, Council on American-Islamic Relations-Ohio, Committee for Justice in Palestine, Community Organizing Center, Columbus Campaign for Arms Control, Islamic Society of Greater Columbus, Islamic Foundation of Central Ohio, Muslim Student Association, Student International Forum -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: * Anti-War Activist Resources: * Student International Forum: * Committee for Justice in Palestine: From miyachi9 at gctv.ne.jp Wed Apr 3 05:21:20 2002 From: miyachi9 at gctv.ne.jp (miychi) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] On terrorism In-Reply-To: <200204030219.g332JIk19849@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Message-ID: On 2002.04.03 11:19 AM, "shniad@sfu.ca" wrote: > http://www.dawn.com/2002/04/01/int13.htm > > Dawn 1 April 2002 > > A week of setback for US hegemony > > By Jim Lobe > > Washington - It was a bad week for the aspiring global hegemonies around US > President George W. Bush. Not only did virtually all of Washington's closest > Middle East "allies" - Arab and Israeli alike - reject its efforts to ensure > a smooth Arab League endorsement of Saudi Arabia's latest peace proposals, > its next target in the "war against terrorism," Iraq, was welcomed back into > the Arab fold with open arms. > > As the week in which Bush had hoped to achieve a cease-fire in the ever > escalating struggle between Israel and the Palestinians ended, a new spiral > of killing was already underway, with Israeli tanks and armoured personnel > carriers moving into the West Bank and Gaza on Friday in retaliation for the > latest Palestinian suicide bombings. > > Meanwhile, Europe continued to seethe over the latest manifestations of US > unilateralism - a 30 per cent hike in tariffs on steel imports - and China > blocked a routine port call by a US warship at Hong Kong to protest the > Pentagon's reception of a top Taiwanese defence official. > > And, after insisting for months that US troops would not be used for > peacekeeping in Afghanistan, the Pentagon rejected desperate pleas from the > United Nations and Afghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, to expand the > size and reach of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). US > forces would have to keep peace between the warlords who control most of the > country, after all, said Washington. > > Nor was that all. Pakistan rejected outright the suggestion that US troops > be permitted to operate on its side of the border with Afghanistan to > prevent Taliban and al Qaeda forces from gaining sanctuary there. > > Finally, uniformed military commanders, who have long grumbled privately > about the hegemonic ambitions of the civilian hawks who now dominate the > Pentagon, have been going public. > > In Congressional hearings over the past two weeks, they suggested their > forces are already stretched too thin by the war on Afghanistan and other > deployments to take on major new missions. That provoked a visibly irritated > and testy defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, to warn on Thursday: "It's a > disservice to them to leave that impression, in my view." > > "It's not easy ruling the world," noted one caustic Congressional staffer, > whose Democratic boss has been among those lawmakers gradually more willing > to question the administration's goals in its anti-terrorist campaign. > > Rumsfeld's testiness reflected more than frustration with his more cautious > commanders concerned about the administration's promiscuity in taking on new > military tasks virtually around the world. > > More important, things are not going well for administration hawks clustered > around Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney who, after claiming victory > with the swift and virtually painless ouster of the Taliban regime in > Afghanistan late last year, had hoped to take the war next to Iraq. > > Indeed, preparing the diplomatic groundwork for such a campaign, to be > launched as early as next fall, was the major purpose of Cheney's 11-day > trip to see US allies in the Mideast and Gulf region. But, with the > exception of Israel itself, Cheney received the same message in virtually > every capital he visited, most bluntly expressed by Crown Prince Salman bin > Hamad Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, the country that provides the US Navy with its > main base in the Gulf. > > "The people who are dying today on the streets are not a result of any Iraqi > action," the Crown Prince told Cheney. "The people are dying as a result of > an Israeli action. And likewise the people in Israel are dying as a result On 2002.04.03 08:13 AM, "Seyed Javad" wrote: What is terror? What is terrorism? Who is a terrorist? These and many such questions have been in one Clausewitz define that war is continuance of politics. If so, in may be possible to say that terrorism is continuance of war. In 9-11. I was asked how about it? I answered Very welcome. I can't never forget Palestine children ware delighted by terrorist attack news. Although if Laden is merchant of terrorism, I welcomed. In current situation, especially Mid-East crisis, are there meaning of distinction between terrorism and war or other forms of armed struggle such as Colombia or Nepal rebel? In 9-11, I thought US suffer for its massive global terrorism, for example, Korea war, Vietnam war, intervention to Chili coup d'etat, Intervention to Nicaraguan revolution, El-salvador, Gulf war ,Kosovo, Afghan war ,intervention to Phillipine, Colombia,etc. US is in reality top of terrorist country, but Bush declare war against terrorism,it is highly ridiculous. Against Global credit capital system, wide range of social movement develops. In the process violent, radical,armed, movement may happen. I think that we may not better determine in advance form of tactics,or movement. If determined, people's power can't appear fully, in contrary restricted. Forms of struggle are many. For example Jihad is religious forms of global class struggle and Jihad admit terrorism. Who can accuse this? MIYACHI TATSUO Psychiatric Department Komaki municipal hosipital 1-20.JOHBUHSHI KOMAKI CITY AICHI From ifa at anarchy.no Wed Apr 3 07:24:54 2002 From: ifa at anarchy.no (IJA) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! Message-ID: <034d01c1db1b$53388ee0$ecacb33e@chello.no> >From IJ@ 4(31) updated 03.04.2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRESS RELEASE AND NOTE FROM THE Anarchist International Embassy in Oslo http://www.anarchy.no/embassy.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP !!! THE RUMORS!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The rumors that some high ranking, mainly marxist Norwegians and their "useful" idiots, have given much aid-money to Arafat, so he could support the terrorists, to make trouble in the Mid East and thus hike the oil price (and tank-rates), must be seen as a 1st of April joke and nothing else. The Anarchy of Norway just doesn't play politics so dirty, although the oil-price of course have hiked now as usual when there is trouble in the Mid East, and the PLO-state of Arafat has gotten relatively much money in aid from Norway. These events should not be seen combined, and introducing a (false) conspiracy theory is not correct. There are also other reasons for a hike in the oil-price, say, the USA's talks vis-?-vis Saddam Hussein, and better economical conjunctures in general. 02.04.2002. Although the Conference on terrorism and IJ@ yesterday tried to stop the rumors, they continue to grow. We must simply repeat that these growing rumors are not based on facts! The whole idea of the so called secret operation, code name "Bongo from Congo" where 1. the Yes to EU-bureaucrats in the Labor Party, some of them having got top jobs in Statoil without too much qualifications, 2. the UN's "peace envoy for the Middle East" Terje "Red" Larsen plus Gro Harlem Brundtland and tops in the Royal Norwegian Foreign Ministry, UD; 3. the leaders of the "Red oil-workers unions", plus 4. the coming bureaucrats of the Labor Party's Youth organization AUF, have a conspiracy with 5. Y. Arafat and the PLO-State terrorists, to 6. hike the oil-price, and share the profit through different channels, aid included, to make even more trouble in the Mid East and hike the oil-price even more, etc., in 7. an oil-price & terrorism spiral, in a prolonged war with Israel, also including trade boycott etc. to make it real long, that's 8. just far out! Although 9. the marxist influenced Norwegian media also write about a long Mid East war 02.04.2002, and thus contribute perhaps to even more oil-price hike, there are no reasons to believe that 10. the "Oil-price & Terrorism Conspiracy" , code name "Bongo from Congo", really exists. 11.- 03.04.2002 the rumors are getting even wilder: A faction of OPEC with ramifications to rich muslims and bin-Laden's al-Qaeda, some factions in the UN and in CIA connected to some warprofit sharks in USA, are part of this Grand Conspiracy, and they also are behind the 11.09.2001 events. 12. IJ@ can not confirm that the rumors are rooted back to some leftists at Industrial Workers of the World, that earlier have made up smearstories and lies about the Anarchy of Norway and the International Workers of the World, or some rightist Americans , that think UN is a commie nest ruling the USA. Both groups have however traditionally a tendency to dream up large Conspiracies, and think economy is the basis - or the only thing that counts - to explain what is going on in society, and try to make up scapegoats. However to think Gro Harlem Brundtland, the other Labor Party bosses and the UD tops, etc. are the real spiders behind the Grand Conspiracy and the 11.09. 2001 attacks as well as the Mid East trouble is far out. To make the Anarchy of Norway scapegoat for the 11.09 and Mid East trouble is not fair! NACO demands such nonsense rumors should be stopped at once! However to stop further rumors, more restrictions on the aid-money to the PLO-State of Arafat should perhaps be introduced, NACO says: "It must be certain not an "?re" of the Norwegian aid-money to Palestine goes to support the terrorists, directly or indirectly, to avoid the Anarchy of Norway gets a bad reputation internationally. Even 1st of April joke rumors may spread and be harmfull, if there is just a small fraction of possible truth in it. So all support that doesn't go directly to peaceful organizations of the Palestinian people, and 100% certain avoid "their" corrupt authorities plus terrorists, and other political measures that may make Norwegians be looked upon as warprofit sharks, should stop at once! Also other organizations seemingly being a part of this so called Grand Conspiracy of Oilprice & Terrorism, should perhaps think twice, and not do things that can make such harmful rumors grow further. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More news and comments about the Mid East and terrorism in general, see IJ@ 4(31). Click on URL www.anarchy.no and then the rollerbanner for IJ@. Search for 01.04 and 02.04, 03.04, Jews, Middle, Mid, Arafat, etc. in the IJ@ 4 (31) See also: 1. The system theory of anarchist political economy and social organization research at URL http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html . 2. The general theory of anarchist economics at URL http://www.anarchy.no/aneco1.html 3. The anarchist class analysis, i.e. economic-political sociology and industrial organization research, at URL http://www.anarchy.no/klasse.html for a theoretical update and 4. http://www.anarchy.no/iat.html to see the resolutions from the International Anarchist Tribunal. Search for Arafat in the file of the International branch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cordially .... C. d'a. A. Quist for AIE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From lani at dojo.tao.ca Wed Apr 3 14:14:09 2002 From: lani at dojo.tao.ca (lani@dojo.tao.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fwd: An Overview of March 22/23 OCF Protests Message-ID: <20020403211409.19AFB17DC4B@dojo.tao.ca> Forwarded From: ocap@tao.ca > Resistance and Retreat: > An Overview of March 22/23 OCF Protests > Written by the OCAP Executive > > The OCF actions over the weekend of the March 22/23rd were inspiring and > are at the forefront of resistance to the Tory regime. As a result, they > were also the target of a large police operation aimed at crippling the > OCF as a functional coalition of working-class political resistance. While > union leaderships mobilized a respectable and ineffective gathering at the > Convention Centre, we stood up and raised a banner of defiance and > disruption. It is true that because we are mobilizing under such tough > conditions in the face of naked state repression, some nervousness and > doubt have crept in and needs to be responded to. Indeed, we are always > ready to look at our mistakes and learn lessons so that we can do better > but, fundamentally, the actions were successful in OCAP's view and we draw > the following from what took place. > > > Friday > > We defended our right to mobilize and our capacity to challenge the agenda > we are confronting. On Friday night a crowd of up to 800 marched through > the streets and, just as had been said, opened an empty building complete > with unused running water, electricity and heat, so that the ugliness and > injustice of the Tory attacks could be seen by all. Under the chants of > What do we want? Housing! When do we want it? Now! and If you dont build > it, we will take it! people re-took the empty Mission Press building at 53 > Dundas East turning it into free, tenant controlled, social housing. > > In the words of one young women who occupied the building, Were here in > peace, were here non-violently, and were not causing anybody any harm. All > we want is a place to sleep, a home, affordable housing and a living wage. > > The anger of the police at this was telling. Quickly hundreds of riot > police and the Emergency Response Team surrounded the demonstration and > the occupied building. The riot police violently pushed the crowd gathered > outside past the buildings entrance trapping the people inside. Then, in a > deliberate provocation, the police charged the crowd from the rear > violently arresting a number of people who had some oh-so-dangerous bongo > drums. However, the police attempt to manufacture a violent confrontation > was unsuccessful as people stood their ground but bravely refrained from > responding in kind. Having failed in producing even the smallest pretext > for a outright police riot the police soon pushed the demonstration off > the block leaving only the police, the squatters and patrons and staff > trapped inside the Imperial Pub as witnesses to their brutality. > > Shortly after the evening news, they fired, unannounced, numerous tear gas > canisters through glass windows behind which squatters stood. Facing the > very real possibility of the ERT assaulting the building with pistols and > submachine guns and having difficulty breathing due the use of chemical > weapons in such an enclosed space people decided to leave the building one > at a time where they were arrested at gunpoint. One young man was > electrocuted four times by the police using their newest instrument of > repression the Taser, which fires tens of thousands of volts of > electricity with a single shot. He was left with numerous burn marks from > where he was shot, including two on his neck, but fortunately survived. > Even by police standards this was clearly uncalled for as the Taser is > only supposed to be used as a substitute for a firearm and the young man > was both unarmed and not resisting in any way. > > After being arrested the brutality continued with people faced up to > twelve hours handcuffed in police vans, holding cells with open windows > blowing the cold winter air, one man was literally slapped around while > being strip searched, and in one instance a young girl was hit in the > throat and had her head slammed between a door while handcuffed. Despite > the brutality of the police, the 58 people arrested at the squat stayed > strong and were eventually released on a single count of mischief under > $5000. (At the time of this writing, the last defendant was released on > bail today, a full 12 days later.) The police used tear gas, Tasers, > beatings and mass arrests to intimidate and break the spirit of those who > joined. However, their efforts were largely unsuccessful as the events of > the next day showed. > > > Saturday > > On the Saturday, the event proceeded despite the intimidation of the > previous night and despite the police declaring over megaphone that the > demonstration was an illegal assembly. They ordered the crowd to disperse > and threatened to make mass arrests. Attacks were made on the crowd as it > left and arrests and harassment continued throughout. As a result the > police succeeded in preventing people from marching on the street, and in > many ways controlled the speed and route of the march. It should be > remembered that the level of police mobilization required for such a small > victory on their part comprised of no less the combined efforts of > hundreds of OPP riot cops, Chief Fantino (as a so called observer), Metro > Intelligence, the Mounted Unit, Toronto Police Service, and at least two > other jurisdictions of police. The combativeness and defiance of the > demonstrators in the face of such a large and over-powering police > presence prevented the march from being completely crushed. Many times > marchers faced off with police trying to take the street, and each time > more were arrested. It is clear people coming into the OCF will not be > diverted from their aims or, much less, be silenced. Never before, since > the free speech fights of the 1930s, has the right to assemble been so > viciously attacked or so courageously defended. > > 79 people were arrested in less than 24 hours for engaging in protest > activity that was in no way new to Toronto. On the Saturday police were > seen brazenly pointing out organizers for arrest before the demonstration > even started. At least one young man was beaten so savagely his nose and > ribs were broken, while in the background an unprecedented amount of > anti-protest firepower was proudly displayed. The point must be made that > the police did not simply over-react. Like police tactics in Montreal at > the recent anti-police brutality demonstration where 371 people were > arrested en masse, the new strategy being pursued is, to quote the head of > the Torontos Public Order Unit, hit as hard as you can. This is a very > deliberate political choice being made by the Toronto Police Service, > designed primarily to dissuade popular participation in effective > demonstrations and foster a climate of gun-shyness in the established > activist community. Headlines like Fantino Calls for Tougher Protest Laws > suggest a pre-formulated game plan including disinformation to the press: > protesters bring drums to spook police horses. The police are looking to > break the spine of those forces that have continued to resist in Toronto, > and the union leadership is playing perfectly into their strategy. A lack > of unity, increasing isolation and marginalization, and misinformation > campaigns undermine our ability to hold on to three of the essential > ingredients for an effective fight back: numbers, militancy, and > sustainability. > > > Leaving the Fight to Single Mothers and Homeless People > > The role of the labour leaders in this situation is sad to the extreme. No > one in the OCF is anti-labour. We realize that the Labour Movement was > created in mass militant action like the 1937 Oshawa GM strike and the > landmark car blockade of Ford in Windsor in 1945. This tradition was > continued in the 1960s when postal workers struck illegally, establishing > their union and unleashing a wave of public sector unionization. Most > social gains, from unemployment insurance to minimum wages to medicare > would have been impossible without the unions. We stand on the shoulders > of the men and women who built the trade unions and the generations of > activists who came after them. > > It is because of our respect for this proud and vital history of struggle > that we have been frank and vocal about what is wrong with the Labour > Movement in Ontario today. The truth is that the Tories have dismantled > social programs and attacked communities, and even gutted the Employment > Standards Act, without the Labour Movement seriously attempting to stop > them. The Days of Action had vast potential but were never allowed to > reach the level of a General Strike. Today, we have slipped back to a > situation where a new Tory leader is elected to launch a whole new series > of attacks and the labour leaders allow this to unfold without even making > a show of resistance, even as tens of thousands of OPSEU members are > actually out on strike! > > On the Saturday we faced down police repression while the union leaders > organized another rally timed, quite deliberately, to be a 'respectable' > antidote to the OCF action. The police openly praised the union leaders in > the media and made dark threats about shutting us down. At one point on > Friday night a PR officer fell over himself in a news interview > underlining the point that the OCF had no connection to organized labour, > and that he expected no problems from the union rally the next day. Their > rally, despite the fact that hundreds of sincere union members attended it > in good faith, was an exercise in tame, futile protest. The cops put token > forces in front of it. They knew that the union marshals would do their > work for them and hold back any workers who tried to express their anger. > The event was hurried through so as to make sure that the OCF march would > not be able to link up with it. The OCF had made supportive banners and > was looking forward to standing in solidarity while being an agitational > shot in the arm. The police made sure the union rally had ended and > dispersed before they let the OCF march proceed to the convention centre. > In the end the great power of organized labour was reduced to an insulting > token while blocks away single mothers, homeless people, students, and > workers struggled with the police. > > Two notable exceptions to the literal retreat of the OFL were the > Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) > Local 707 Flying Squad. The IWW contingent at the OFL rally made an effort > to rally unionists to leave the rally and join the OCF who were facing > heavy police repression. While the IWW crossed the street and joined up > with the OCF the only other contingent to leave the rally, the CAW 707 > Flying Squad, chose to stay on the other side of the street and act as > observers to any police brutality but not to join the OCF march itself. > While we welcome this development and seek to re-establish working with > CAW Flying Squads we are obviously a long way away from the level of trust > and coordination that we once enjoyed. > > > Sleeping Giants > > We are all out to build unity in the face of the Tories and their attacks > but we have to face up to one undeniable fact. Under the present > leadership, unions have become a sleeping giant and the vast power of > organized labour is held back from being brought into the struggle. The > old Wobbly song points to the strength of the strike weapon when it says > that 'without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn', yet > health care is destroyed before our very eyes, the homeless die on the > streets, the Walkerton tragedy unfolds and the sixty hour work week is > brought back from the Dark Ages while the union leaders act as if nothing > can be done. The Ontario Common Front is determined to build a militant, > united movement that can stop these attacks. We have mobilized First > Nations people, the homeless, tenants, university and high school students > and anti-globalization activists but, as yet, only a thin layer of union > members. We want to change this but we can't go on waiting for the top > leadership in the unions to decide that the time has come to take real > action. That's why we are appealing directly to rank and file workers to > join us. Get involved in our struggles. Get ready to fight the next Tory > budget. Call upon your Local to affiliate to the OCF or, if its > conservative minded leaders block this, form a rank and file committee > that will work with us. > > The OCF is ready to fight the Tories and all they stand for and, as this > weekend has shown, face the dangers involved in such a struggle. We can > defeat this Government and derail its vile agenda but we need a union > movement by our side that is ready to fight to win. > > > > > > > -- From mstainsby at tao.ca Wed Apr 3 14:40:17 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fwd: An Overview of March 22/23 OCF Protests References: <20020403211409.19AFB17DC4B@dojo.tao.ca> Message-ID: <003b01c1db58$294b72e0$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> ----- Original Message ----- From: Thanks for this, Lani... I'm also hoping you can possibly update us on the Picnic at the Premiers action? As well, have you seen any movement in the anti-Campbell coalition(s) that actually seems to have any cohesion? So far, we just have some nasty language from Labour- once again, the hierarchy of official labour seems destined to sell out the working class. You know, before Quebec `happened', the unions who took their people to the rally carried out massive educationals within the unions themselves. Thus, when those workers got there, they were armed with the weapon of knowledge. To have the resources available to help members gain the strength to beat back the offensive of the bourgeoisie and _not to use it_ is the ultimate betrayal. Then, when they don't lift a finger to help the workers, the Trade Union Bureaucrats turn around and tell us their members are less militant than they are. Gee, I wonder why. If the working class is to make a revolution in North America- and if we don't, the future is one of extinction-- the enemy that will hold on the longest will be these Quisling TUB's. What's more, they are like Malcolm X's description of the fox: "(paraphrase from memory) the fox is always more dangerous in the forest than the wolf. you can see the wolf coming, you see his teeth and you know what he's up to. The fox will fool you. He looks at you in such a way that you think he's smiling and take him for a friend." If there is to be a defeat of the Campbell "globalised" agenda, it will be by burying the NDP once and for all and making sure their class-collaborationist TUB friends go with them. No compromise with what is clearly an enemy; no reliance on elections and no attempts to "convince". Macdonald From mstainsby at tao.ca Wed Apr 3 14:46:40 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! References: <034d01c1db1b$53388ee0$ecacb33e@chello.no> Message-ID: <004101c1db59$0a4d60a0$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> ----- Original Message ----- From: "IJA" The rumors that some high ranking, mainly marxist Norwegians and their "useful" idiots, have given much aid-money to Arafat, so he could support the terrorists, to make trouble in the Mid East and thus hike the oil price (and tank-rates), must be seen as a 1st of April joke and nothing else. ----- anyone who can send weapons to the Palestinian resistance right now is a true hero and it is of the highest internationalist order that people the world over do more than sing "we shall overcome" in response to the chorus of genocide being sung by Israel. Yes, politics are "dirty". These kinds of idiots live in some non-reality where they can remain two things: A--- pure B--- irrelevant. Using the term "terrorist" to describe the actions of desperate Palestinian bombers is the language of the Nazionists. What's more, the "Norway Anarchists" could do well to garner the honour of working with the Palestinian resistance. With revolutionaries like that, we don't need reactionaries. "Third way" doesn't work any more on the anti-capitalist side of things than it does on the Blairist side of things. Grow up and have an impact. Your purity will get you nothing. Macdonald From shniad at sfu.ca Wed Apr 3 17:15:12 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] The first casualty - The Independent Message-ID: <200204040015.g340FCS18399@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=280281 The Independent 31 March 2002 The first casualty Don't always trust what they tell you in the war on terror Downing Street said al-Qa'ida was using chemical weapons: It was wrong. The Pentagon said Saddam Hussein was to blame for the anthrax attacks on the US: It was wrong. Raymond Whitaker and James Palmer unravel the West's war of lies and propaganda Truth is already a casualty in the war against terror, but as the campaign against Iraq hots up, distinguishing facts from propaganda may become even harder to discern. According to a flurry of reports on both sides of the Atlantic, Tony Blair and George Bush will be drawing up a dossier of evidence on Iraqi efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction when the two get together on the President's Texan ranch next weekend. But the attempt to build a case against Saddam Hussein went seriously wrong a week ago. Downing Street claimed that American troops had found a biological warfare laboratory in Afghanistan, and that Baghdad was supplying al-Qa'ida with weapons of mass destruction, only for the Pentagon and British military sources to rubbish both suggestions. The Prime Minister's spokesman, Alastair Campbell, is said to be working closely with the White House on information policy, but there was little sign of co-ordination here. As the following case studies show, however, the Pentagon has also been responsible for stories appearing in the media which have later been retracted, disputed or disproved. Case 1 Claim: On 22 March Downing Street briefs news organisations that US forces have found an al-Qa'ida biological warfare laboratory in eastern Afghanistan, just as Britain deploys 1,700 Royal Marines to fight in the country. In another briefing, Iraq is said to be supplying al-Qa'ida with chemical and biological weapons. Fallout: The Pentagon vehemently denies the laboratory story the following day but too late for British papers, which carry headlines such as "Marines called in after discovery of germ war plant". The alleged link between Iraq and al-Qa'ida not only contradicts No 10's previous position, but is denied by a senior military source, who tells The Independent: "We are not aware of evidence, intelligence or otherwise, that the Iraqi government or its agencies are passing on weapons of mass destruction to al-Qa'ida. Nor have we seen any credible evidence linking the Iraqi government to the 11 September attacks." Verdict: A cock-up, at the very least. Case 2 Claim: In mid-March, Pentagon officials say a satellite positioning device found in a cave in Afghanistan belonged to a US commando killed in the "Black Hawk Down" incident in Somalia in 1993. This is considered a "smoking gun" linking al-Qa'ida to the Somalia fighting, in which 18 US troops lost their lives. Fallout: The manufacturer of the device points out that that model was not made before 1997, and the serial number shows it was sold to the US military in 1998. Officials were misled by the name G. Gordon, which matched that of a master sergeant killed in Somalia but it was also the nickname of the real owner, a helicopter pilot operating in Afghanistan. Verdict: Pentagon was far too quick on the trigger. Case 3 Claim: On 11 March, when Vice President Dick Cheney is visiting Downing Street, the Washington Times reports that British intelligence has provided evidence that a US pilot, Navy Lieutenant Commander Michael Speicher, who was shot down in the Gulf War, is still alive and in captivity in Iraq. Speicher, declared killed in action in 1991, was reclassified as "missing in action" by the Pentagon last year, after information from an Iraqi defector. Fallout: Iraq which says Speicher is dead invites a US delegation, including American journalists, to investigate the case. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld retorts: "I don't believe very much what the regime of Saddam Hussein puts out. They're masters at propaganda." Verdict: Not proven. Case 4 Claim: The week before Christmas, the Special Boat Service intercepts the sugar freighter Nisha off Beachy Head in East Sussex, after a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency that it could be concealing materials for a bomb or anthrax attack. Press speculation runs riot, with headlines such as "Bin Laden plot to put anthrax into our sugar" (People), and "Armada of terror" (Daily Star). Fallout: The vessel is searched for a week and found to be carrying nothing more than sugar from Mauritius to an east London refinery. Weeks later, however, it was still being alleged that the seizure of the ship by security services had "foiled a plot". Verdict: Too good a story to admit to a huge mistake. Case 5 Claim: During last October's anthrax attacks in the US, Mr Rumsfeld threatened direct action against Baghdad if there was any evidence of Iraqi involvement. A spate of reports sourced to US intelligence officials said the airborne form of anthrax used was difficult and expensive to produce, requiring state sponsorship. Even though there was no "credible evidence" to tie the anthrax attacks to al-Qa'ida, said the director of homeland security, Tom Ridge, "we ought to operate under the presumption that it is." Fallout: Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector, said accusations that Iraq was the source of the anthrax were unsubstantiated and irresponsible. It emerged that the spores had been treated with an additive designed to allow them to stay in the air longer, suggesting it was unlikely they originated from Iraq or the former Soviet Union. They appear to have been launched by a scientist from within US biological warfare laboratories, making use of a strain from the US Army's medical research institute. Verdict: It is easy to blame Iraq or al-Qa'ida for any incident of terror, but hard to establish proof. Case 6 Claim: A US special forces raid at Hazar Qadam in central Afghanistan on 23 January, in which 16 men were killed and 27 taken prisoner, was first described by the Pentagon as a successful strike on two al-Qa'ida compounds. Later it was suggested the men were Taliban fighters. Fallout: Last month the prisoners were released. Far from fighting for the Taliban, they were local men who had fought against the regime. The freed men said they had been punched, kicked and clubbed by US special forces while in detention. Two of the dead men were found with their hands bound behind their backs, fuelling suspicions that they were executed. One man told the Los Angeles Times he had seen his cousin being bound with white plastic handcuffs by American soldiers. He later found his cousin dead, still handcuffed, with bullet holes in the neck, chest and stomach. Relatives of the dead said they had been handed up to $2,000 per family, which some called "hush money". American officials conceded that CIA officers distributed money, but said it was compensation. Mr Rumsfeld ordered an inquiry into the raid, but on Friday General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, released a report that said there was no evidence the detainees had been mistreated by US forces. Their injuries "were not serious or life-threatening" and were consistent with the reasonable use of force to secure them, the report found. The other claims were not addressed. Verdict: One of several incidents in the war where Pentagon responses have left unanswered questions. From shniad at sfu.ca Wed Apr 3 17:16:26 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Interview with Chomsky about Middle East situation - ZNet Message-ID: <200204040016.g340GQS19585@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Z Magazine April 2, 2002 Interview with Chomsky Z: Is there a qualitative change in what's happening now? I think there is a qualitative change. The goal of the Oslo process was accurately described in 1998 by Israeli academic Shlomo Ben-Ami just before he joined the Barak government, going on to become Barak's chief negotiator at Camp David in summer 2000. Ben-Ami observed that "in practice, the Oslo agreements were founded on a neo-colonialist basis, on a life of dependence of one on the other forever." With these goals, the Clinton-Rabin-Peres agreements were designed to impose on the Palestinians "almost total dependence on Israel," creating "an extended colonial situation," which is expected to be the "permanent basis" for "a situation of dependence." The function of the Palestinian Authority (PA) was to control the domestic population of the Israeli-run neocolonial dependency. That is the way the process unfolded, step by step, including the Camp David suggestions. The Clinton-Barak stand (left vague and unambiguous) was hailed here as "remarkable" and "magnanimous," but a look at the facts made it clear that it was -- as commonly described in Israel -- a Bantustan proposal; that is presumably the reason why maps were carefully avoided in the US mainstream. It is true that Clinton-Barak advanced a few steps towards a Bantustan-style settlement of the kind that South Africa instituted in the darkest days of Apartheid. Just prior to Camp David, West Bank Palestinians were confined to over 200 scattered areas, and Clinton-Barak did propose an improvement: consolidation to three cantons, under Israeli control, virtually separated from one another and from the fourth canton, a small area of East Jerusalem, the center of Palestinian life and of communications in the region. And of course separated from Gaza, where the outcome was left unclear. But now that plan has apparently been shelved in favor of demolition of the PA. That means destruction of the institutions of the potential Bantustan that was planned by Clinton and his Israeli partners; in the last few days, even a human rights center. The Palestinian figures who were designated to be the counterpart of the Black leaders of the Bantustans are also under attack, though not killed, presumably because of the international consequences. The prominent Israeli scholar Ze'ev Sternhell writes that the government "is no longer ashamed to speak of war when what they are really engaged in is colonial policing, which recalls the takeover by the white police of the poor neighborhoods of the blacks in South Africa during the apartheid era." This new policy is a regression below the Bantustan model of South Africa 40 years ago to which Clinton-Rabin-Peres-Barak and their associates aspired in the Oslo "peace process." None of this will come as a surprise to those who have been reading critical analyses for the past 10 years, including plenty of material posted regularly on Znet, reviewing developments as they proceeded. Exactly how the Israeli leadership intends to implement these programs is unclear -- to them too, I presume. It is convenient in the US, and the West, to blame Israel and particularly Sharon, but that is unfair and hardly honest. Many of Sharon's worst atrocities were carried out under Labor governments. Peres comes close to Sharon as a war criminal. Furthermore, the prime responsibility lies in Washington, and has for 30 years. That is true of the general diplomatic framework, and also of particular actions. Israel can act within the limits established by the master in Washington, rarely beyond. Z: What's the meaning of Friday's Security Council Resolution? The primary issue was whether there would be a demand for immediate Israeli withdrawal from Ramallah and other Palestinian areas that the Israeli army had entered in the current offensive, or at least a deadline for such withdrawal. The US position evidently prevailed: there is only a vague call for "withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian cities," no time frame specified. The Resolution therefore accords with the official US stand, largely reiterated in the press: Israel is under attack and has the right of self-defense, but shouldn't go too far in punishing Palestinians, at least too visibly. The facts -- hardly controversial -- are quite different. Palestinians have been trying to survive under Israeli military occupation, now in its 35th year. It has been harsh and brutal throughout, thanks to decisive US military and economic support, and diplomatic protection, including the barring of the long-standing international consensus on a peaceful political settlement. There is no symmetry in this confrontation, not the slightest, and to frame it in terms of Israeli self-defense goes beyond even standard forms of distortion in the interests of power. The harshest condemnations of Palestinian terror, which are proper and have been for over 30 years, leave these basic facts unchanged. In scrupulously evading the central immediate issues, the Friday Resolution is similar to the Security Council Resolution of March 12, which elicited much surprise and favorable notice because it not only was not vetoed by the US, in the usual pattern, but was actually initiated by Washington. The Resolution called for a "vision" of a Palestinian state. It therefore did not rise to the level of South Africa 40 years ago when the Apartheid regime did not merely announce a "vision" but actually established Black-run states that were at least as viable and legitimate as what the US and Israel had been planning for the occupied territories. Z: What is the U.S. up to now? What U.S. interests are at stake at this juncture? The US is a global power. What happens in Israel-Palestine is a sidelight. There are many factors entering into US policies. Chief among them in this region of the world is control over the world's major energy resources. The US-Israel alliance took shape in that context. By 1958, the National Security Council concluded that a "logical corollary" of opposition to growing Arab nationalism "would be to support Israel as the only strong pro-Western power left in the Middle East." That is an exaggeration, but an affirmation of the general strategic analysis, which identified indigenous nationalism as the primary threat (as elsewhere in the Third World); typically called "Communist," though it is commonly recognized in the internal record that this is a term of propaganda and that Cold War issues were often marginal, as in the crucial year of 1958. The alliance became firm in 1967, when Israel performed an important service for US power by destroying the main forces of secular Arab nationalism, considered a very serious threat to US domination of the Gulf region. So matters continued, after the collapse of the USSR as well. By now the US-Israel-Turkey alliance is a centerpiece of US strategy, and Israel is virtually a US military base, also closely integrated with the militarized US high-tech economy. Within that persistent framework, the US naturally supports Israeli repression of the Palestinians and integration of the occupied territories, including the neocolonial project outlined by Ben-Ami, though specific policy choices have to be made depending on circumstances. Right now, Bush planners continue to block steps towards diplomatic settlement, or even reduction of violence; that is the meaning, for example, of their veto of the Dec. 15 2001 Security Council Resolution calling for steps towards implementing the US Mitchell plan and introduction of international monitors to supervise the reduction of violence. For similar reasons, the US boycotted the Dec. 5 international meetings in Geneva (including the EU, even Britain) which reaffirmed that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the occupied territories, so that critically important US-Israeli actions there are "grave breaches" of the Convention - war crimes, in simple terms - as the Geneva declaration elaborated. That merely reaffirmed the Security Council Resolution of October 2000 (US abstaining), which held once again that the Convention applied to the occupied territories. That had been the official US position as well, stated formally, for example, by George Bush I when he was UN Ambassador. The US regularly abstains or boycotts in such cases, not wanting to take a public stand in opposition to core principles of international law, particularly in the light of the circumstances under which the Conventions were enacted: to criminalize formally the atrocities of the Nazis, including their actions in the territories they occupied. The media and intellectual culture generally cooperate by their own "boycott" of these unwelcome facts: in particular, the fact that as a High Contracting Party, the US government is legally obligated by solemn treaty to punish violators of the Conventions, including its own political leadership. That's only a small sample. Meanwhile the flow of arms and economic support for maintaining the occupation by force and terror and extending settlements continues without any pause. Z: What's your opinion of the Arab summit? The Arab summit led to general acceptance of the Saudi Arabian plan, which reiterated the basic principles of the long-standing international consensus: Israel should withdraw from the occupied territories in the context of a general peace agreement that would guarantee the right of every state in the region, including Israel and a new Palestinian State, to peace and security within recognized borders (the basic wording of UN 242, amplified to include a Palestinian state). There is nothing new about this. These are the basic terms of the Security Council resolution of January 1976 backed by virtually the entire world, including the leading Arab states, the PLO, Europe, the Soviet bloc, the non-aligned countries -- in fact, everyone who mattered. It was opposed by Israel and vetoed by the US, thereby vetoed from history. Subsequent and similar initiatives from the Arab states, the PLO, and Western Europe were blocked by the US, continuing to the present. That includes the 1981 Fahd plan. That record too has been effectively vetoed from history, for the usual reasons. US rejectionism in fact goes back 5 years earlier, to February 1971, when President Sadat of Egypt offered Israel a full peace treaty in return for Israeli withdrawal from Egyptian territory, not even bringing up Palestinian national rights or the fate of the other occupied territories. Israel's Labor government recognized this as a genuine peace offer, but decided to reject it, intending to extend its settlements to northeastern Sinai; that it soon did, with extreme brutality, the immediate cause for the 1973 war. The plan for the Palestinians under military occupation was described frankly to his Cabinet colleagues by Moshe Dayan, one of the Labor leaders more sympathetic to the Palestinian plight. Israel should make it clear that "we have no solution, you shall continue to live like dogs, and whoever wishes may leave, and we will see where this process leads." Following that recommendation, the guiding principle of the occupation has been incessant and degrading humiliation, along with torture, terror, destruction of property, displacement and settlement, and takeover of basic resources, crucially water. Sadat's 1971offer conformed to official US policy, but Kissinger succeeded in instituting his preference for what he called "stalemate": no negotiations, only force. Jordanian peace offers were also dismissed. Since that time, official US policy has kept to the international consensus on withdrawal (until Clinton, who effectively rescinded UN resolutions and considerations of international law); but in practice, policy has followed the Kissinger guidelines, accepting negotiations only when compelled to do so, as Kissinger was after the near-debacle of the 1973 war for which he shares major responsibility, and under the conditions that Ben-Ami articulated. Official doctrine instructs us to focus attention on the Arab summit, as if the Arab states and the PLO are the problem, in particular, their intention to drive Israel into the sea. Coverage presents the basic problem as vacillation, reservations, and qualifications in the Arab world. There is little that one can say in favor of the Arab states and the PLO, but these claims are simply untrue, as a look at the record quickly reveals. The more serious press recognized that the Saudi plan largely reiterated the Saudi Fahd Plan of 1981, claiming that that initiative was undermined by Arab refusal to accept the existence of Israel. The facts are again quite different. The 1981 plan was undermined by an Israeli reaction that even its mainstream press condemned as "hysterical," backed by the US. That includes Shimon Peres and other alleged doves, who warned that acceptance of the Fahd plan would "threaten Israel's very existence." An indication of the hysteria is the reaction of Israel's President Haim Herzog, also considered a dove. He charged that the "real author" of the Fahd plan was the PLO, and that it was even more extreme than the January 1976 Security Council resolution that was "prepared by" the PLO, at the time when he was Israel's UN Ambassador. These claims can hardly be true, but they are an indication of the desperate fear of a political settlement on the part of Israeli doves, backed throughout by the US. The basic problem then, as now, traces back to Washington, which has persistently backed Israel's rejection of a political settlement in terms of the broad international consensus, reiterated in essentials in the current Saudi proposals. Until such elementary facts as these are permitted to enter into discussion, displacing the standard misrepresentation and deceit, discussion is mostly beside the point. And we should not be drawn into it -- for example, by implicitly accepting the assumption that developments at the Arab summit are a critical problem. They have significance, of course, but it is secondary. The primary problems are right here, and it is our responsibility to face them and deal with them, not to displace them to others. From shniad at sfu.ca Wed Apr 3 17:17:33 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Israel's state terrorism - Lev Grinberg Message-ID: <200204040017.g340HXS21046@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> http://www.alternativenews.org/ Sunday, March 31st, 2002 Israel's state terrorism By Lev Grinberg What is the difference between State terrorism and individual terrorist acts? If we understand this difference we'll understand also the evilness of the US policies in the Middle East and the forthcoming disasters. When Yassir Arafat was put under siege in his offices and kept hostage by the Israeli occupation forces, he was constantly pressed into condemning terror and combatting terrorism. Israel's State terrorism is defined by US officials as "self-defense", while individual suicide bombers are called terrorists. The only "small" difference is that Israeli aggression is the direct responsibility of Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Ben Eliezer, Shimon Peres and Shaul Mofaz, while the individual terrorist acts are done by individuals in despair, usually against Arafat's will. One hour after Arafat declared his support of a cease fire and wished the Jews a Happy Passover feast, a suicide bomber exploded himself in an hotel in Netanya, killing 22 innocent Jews celebrating Passover. Arafat was blamed as responsible for this act, and the present IDF offensive has been justified through this accusation. At the same time, Sharon's responsibility for Israeli war crimes is being completely ignored. Who should be arrested for the targeted killing of almost 100 Palestinians? Who will be sent to jail for the killing of more than 120 Palestinian paramedics? Who will be sentenced for the killing of more than 1,200 Palestinians and for the collective punishment of more than 3,000,000 civilians during the last 18 months? And who will face the International Tribunal for the illegal settlement of occupied Palestinian Lands, and the disobedience of UN decisions for more than 35 years? Suicide bombs killing innocent citizens must be unequivocally condemned; they are immoral acts, and their perpetrators should be sent to jail. But they cannot be compared to State terrorism carried out by the Israeli Government. The former are individual acts of despair of a people that sees no future, vastly ignored by an unfair and distorted international public opinion. The latter are cold and "rational" decisions of a State and a military apparatus of occupation, well equipped, financed and backed by the only superpower in the world. Yet in the public debate, State terrorism and individual suicide bombs are not even considered as comparable cases of terrorism. The State terror and war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli Government are legitimized as "self-defense," while Arafat, even under siege, is demanded to arrest "terrorists." I want to ask: Who will arrest Sharon, the person directly responsible for the orders to kill Palestinians? When is he going to be defined a terrorist too? How long will the world ignore the Palestinian cry that all they want is freedom and independence? When will it stop neglecting the fact that the goal of the Israeli Government is not security, but the continued occupation and subjugation of the Palestinian people? As Israelis in the opposition, we are fighting against our government, but the international support that Sharon receives is constantly jeopardizing our struggle. The whole international public opinion must be reverted, and the UN must deploy intervention forces in order to stop the bloodshed and the imminent deterioration. Israelis and Palestinians desperately need the awakening of the international community's public opinion and a reversal in the global attitude. These are needed both in order to save our lives (literally), and preserve our hope in a better future. *Dr. Lev Grinberg is a political sociologist, Director of the Humphrey Institute for Social Research, at Ben Gurion University. From shniad at sfu.ca Wed Apr 3 17:19:28 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] US ignores international mood and lays blame on Palestinians - The Independent Message-ID: <200204040019.g340JSS22996@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=280552 The Independent 1 April 2002 US ignores international mood and lays blame on Palestinians By Andrew Buncombe in Washington Amid a wave of international concern over Israel's ongoing siege of Yasser Arafat, the United States again condemned the latest Palestinian suicide bombings yesterday and said Mr Arafat could do more to stop such attacks. Several world leaders made direct appeals to Israel, asking it to show restraint and to ensure Mr Arafat's safety. The foreign ministers of China and Japan, and Morocco's King Mohammed called either the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, or the Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, to voice concern. France, Germany, Turkey and Arab states also urged restraint. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, has called on Mr Sharon to pull back his tanks from Mr Arafat's headquarters. Mr Straw tried to speak to Mr Arafat by telephone but the line went dead. He hopes to speak soon to Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, about the siege. The Speaker of Greece's parliament accused Israel yesterday of committing "genocide". Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates all made diplomatic appeals, and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia contacted the US to voice his concerns. Germany's Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, said in a statement: "The military confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians is cause for great concern. It holds the danger of a destabilisation of the entire region. The German government urgently appeals to the Israeli side to guarantee Palestinian President Arafat will not be harmed." Amid such growing concern over Israel's siege of Mr Arafat's compound in Ramallah, the US has stood almost alone - backing Mr Sharon's right to defend his country. On Saturday - with Mr Arafat still trapped and with his communications under threat - President George Bush told reporters at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, that the Palestinian leader could, and should, do more to prevent suicide attacks, including the most recent in Tel Aviv. Yesterday, a senior official repeated Mr Bush's assertion. "We condemn these terrorist attacks," the official said. "Chairman Arafat knows what he needs to do. President Bush was very clear about that yesterday and in previous days and our heartfelt sympathies and condolences go out to the victims and the families of the victims of these brutal attacks." Washington's refusal to express anything other than "grave concern" about the situation in Ramallah underlines the difficulty which the Bush administration faces in addressing the problem of the Middle East, while also prosecuting its so-called war on terror. When Mr Bush came to office last year, it was immediately made clear that the United States would play a much-reduced role in trying to achieve a peaceful settlement in the region and that the President would not expend the sort of personal and political capital that the previous president, Bill Clinton, had. A series of initiatives aimed at attempting to bring both sides together was terminated. The attacks of 11 September have made criticism of Israel more difficult for Mr Bush - even if he wished to indulge in such activity. In the aftermath of the attacks on New York and Washington, Mr Sharon visited Mr Bush, and argued the Palestinian suicide bombers were no different to those who had attacked the US. It was an argument which the US did not seek to counter. While Mr Bush last year became the first US President to use the word "Palestine" in terms of an independent state, his administration's dealings with the two sides remain unbalanced. Though Mr Arafat has repeatedly condemned the spate of suicide bombings, Mr Bush has refused to meet the Palestinian leader until he makes a public call in Arabic for the suicide bombings to end and to arrest those involved in the attacks. From shniad at sfu.ca Wed Apr 3 17:18:25 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Opening the debate on the Right of Return - ZNet Message-ID: <200204040018.g340IPS21973@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> www.zmag.org/content/Mideast/hanafi_right-of-return.cfm ZNet Opening the debate on the Right of Return By Sari Hanafi MERIP March 31, 2002 Sari Nusseibeh, the Palestinian Authority's diplomatic representative in Jerusalem, started an enriching debate when he declared that, in the framework of a two-state solution, the Palestinians cannot demand the return of refugees to homes now inside the state of Israel. Spirited responses to Nusseibeh came from scholar Salman Abu Sitta and refugee advocate Terry Rempel of Badil, among others. The al-Awda network - formed to press for the refugees' right of return to their pre-1948 homes - even collected signatures on a petition to Palestinian Authority (PA) head Yasser Arafat, demanding Nusseibeh's dismissal from his post. This initial debate was crucial, though it has been followed by less productive ones. The importance of the right of return should not interfere with the right to free expression. Just as some within Islamist movements argue that some topics are not up for discussion lest "God's will" be violated or the Qur'an contravened, a new nationalist and secular fundamentalism refers to "national consensus" to silence the opinions of Nusseibeh and others.(1) But what is this national consensus? Is it a consensus concerning the establishment of two states, one Palestinian and the other Israeli, or one secular state? Is it a consensus over the targeting of civilians during a national struggle? Or is it a consensus concerning the position of Palestinian refugees awaiting implementation of their right of return? More than a few massacres have been perpetrated and justified in the name of "national consensus" in the Arab world. New ideas, whether valid or invalid, are often considered a break from the national consensus and thus tantamount to treason. Ironically, the discourse of national consensus has historically not been consensual, but instead has been used by dominant forces to retain their positions. The Zionist movement itself had no "national consensus," but encompassed different political forces, though some groups came to dominate over time. If the PA does not embrace those who do not agree with its global vision, dominant political forces in Palestine may establish a one-party state like others in the Arab world. Things Unheard Of? At the level of content, what Sari Nusseibeh has said is not very new, nor is it surprising. Azmi Bishara has said as much, though as a criticism of the two-state framework envisioned by the Oslo "peace process."(2) Inside the Palestinian establishment, PA officials like Saeb Erekat and Yasser Abed Rabbo have recently reiterated their long-standing contention that while the right of return should be recognized, its implementation should be flexible. Arafat's own op-ed published February 3, 2002 in the New York Times clarified the PA's position: "We seek a fair and just solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees who for 54 years have not been permitted to return to their homes.We understand Israel's demographic concerns and understand that the right of return of Palestinian refugees, a right guaranteed under international law and UN Resolution 194, must be implemented in a way that takes into account such concerns." What is new about Nusseibeh's declaration is its level of clarity relative to issues left unaddressed in other statements. What is surprising is not only that Palestinians in general have regarded Nusseibeh's declaration as highly provocative, but also that Israeli intellectuals pretend they have never heard such things before. How has the new debate over the right of return been received by Israeli and Palestinian audiences? On the Israeli side, responses have been couched in colonial stereotypes that characterize the colonized as a mob containing very few voices of reason. Danny Rubinstein, columnist for the liberal daily Ha'aretz, summarizes the Palestinian debate by saying that Nusseibeh's declarations "are the extraordinary that prove the ordinary."(3) Historian Benny Morris considers Sari Nusseibeh "an exception. His statements are putting his life in danger. He is not one of the first-rank senior leadership. I never heard Muhammad Dahlan, Jibril Rajoub or Abu 'Ala' and their guys saying this. Even if they sign on to such a text at one stage or another, a new generation will emerge in ten or twenty years and argue that they had no right to give up [the right of return]."(4) These understandings show a total ignorance of the debate on the Palestinian side. Since Nusseibeh's statement, discussions have taken place in newspapers, inside political parties and in the camps, even assuming the form of an exchange of communiqués between the Fatah youth organization (supporting Nusseibeh) and another faction in Fatah (reiterating the traditional position of the Palestinian leadership). Since the beginning of the second intifada, Israeli media and intellectuals have reverted to parotting the opinions of representatives of the military-political system. For the first time, scholars like Morris and A.B. Yehoshua are writing on the question of Palestinian return in the language of phobia. An Enduring Syndrome The dominant Israeli discourse on Palestinian return psychologizes the conflict: there are a lot of writings about Israeli anxieties, worries and nightmares, and about the Palestinian hater. This discourse is also ethnically structured. Its major concern is demography: how returnees would disorder the colonial legacy of expulsions. Israel's public relations campaigns have indeed worked intensively since the Camp David talks of July 2000 to convince the world that there actually is a possibility of massive Palestinian return, to bolster Israel's claim that return means the erasure of Israel through the destruction of its "Jewish character." This perspective has been disseminated in many articles published in Israeli and Western newspapers by well-known members of the Israeli "peace camp."(5) This enduring syndrome of victimization makes any serious discussion of the Palestinian right of return, let alone other rights, impossible. Unfortunately, the Nusseibeh declarations reinforce the Israeli attitude about the importance of the demographic issue in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This Israeli discourse is also hegemonic. In an article entitled "Refugees Forever," Yossi Alpher wrote that "Israel could recognize some humanitarian right of family reunification, which Palestinians could label 'return,' for all first-generation refugees, i.e., those over 54 who were actually born in present-day Israel, who wish to return and who have relatives that could assist in their absorption. Their number would not be large, nor would they affect the long-term demographic balance, but their 'return' could provide a degree of satisfaction for the Palestinian narrative without seriously challenging the Israeli narrative."(6) While Sari Nusseibeh's declarations open up debate over the right of return and its meaning in the Palestinian polity, on the Israeli side he is used by his "peace partners" as evidence that Palestinians will yield their rights. At a rally of 15,000 organized in Tel Aviv on February 16, 2002 by Peace Now and the Beilin-Sarid "Peace Coalition," Nusseibeh demanded justice for the refugees and spoke of the need for Israel to take responsibility for the creation of the refugee problem, even apologize. But the Peace Now report on the rally recorded only Nusseibeh's statement that "the path to peace is through the return of the refugees to the state of Palestine and the return of the settlers to the state of Israel." As the Israeli sociologist Lev Grinberg argued, this partial silencing of Nusseibeh reveals the game played by his counterparts. It is telling that a main slogan at the rally was: "Leave the territories and be ourselves again." Palestinian negotiating positions have no place in this formulation. Yehudith Harel, a member of the Peace Now movement, summarized the attitude of many Israeli intellectuals: "The attitudes reflected in Oz's article, even more than the political positions expressed, are the epitome of the intellectual corruption and the emotional handicap of the Israeli mainstream peace camp intelligentsia. This has generated within Israeli circles a deep-rooted, patronizing, self-righteous discourse, a lack of empathy for other people's suffering, a lack of understanding of their perspective and needs and, above all, an almost chronic conviction that the 'other' has to act in the best of Israeli interests."(7) A Lacking Strategic Dimension The Palestinian debate is more dynamic than the Israeli one, though it suffers from a lack of strategic political thinking. Palestinian politics is caught between two discourses. The first is a moral discourse based on the justice of the Palestinian cause. With regard to the refugee issue, this means that the refugees uprooted from their land should return home, according to international law and principles of human rights. The second discourse is externally oriented, based on fragments of positions usually taken under pressure to answer specific crises. This discourse integrates many tactical elements and differs from one constituency to another. What is lacking in the Palestinian discourse is the strategic dimension: a discourse based necessarily on moral premises, but which understands the international balance of power and transmits this understanding to the public. This means that the political leadership must be able to tell the public of its inability to realize promises made by past elites. It is symptomatic of the lack of strategic discourse that Palestinians are less interested in knowing what decisions are taken in the central committee of the PLO or in enlarged PA cabinet meetings than they are in declarations Palestinian leaders make when they visit Western capitals. In the same spirit, Sari Nusseibeh's declarations at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University created much more debate about the right of return and the refugee issue in the Oslo framework than Azmi Bishara's commentary in an Egyptian monthly. Right of Return Even in the framework of a two-state solution, Nusseibeh did not adequately evaluate the centrality of the right of return. There are two dimensions to the right of return: symbolic and material. When Nusseibeh speaks of the illogic of four million Palestinians returning to Jewish Israel, he sees mainly the material dimension. By contrast, Edward Said sees mainly the symbolic dimension with his concept of mutual pardon or forgiveness. Both dimensions are important. In order for Israel to recognize the Palestinian right of return, it must not only acknowledge the refugees' rights but also redress the root of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israel's central role in the dispossession of Palestinians for the past 54 years. Regardless of the solution that concludes the conflict - one state or two - the refugee issue cannot be considered secondary. The current intifada has uncovered the importance of the refugees, as they represent the social and political actors most unable to bear the impasse of the Oslo process begun in 1993. The al-Awda network has been the primary force in defining the issue of the right of return as essential to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Western and Arab public spheres. This network, composed of Palestinian diaspora activists and supporters of the Palestinian cause, has lobbied Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to take positions in favor of the right of return, in a rare case of a Southern network undertaking the Herculean effort to influence the policies of Northern organizations. Beyond the moral and symbolic value of realizing the right of return, this right is useful in creating the framework for providing refugees with the choice between remaining in their host countries, returning to their village of origin or coming to the political entity in the Palestinian territories (or relocating to an attractive third locale). The right of return is a necessity for those who have for half a century been forced to live as foreigners without basic civil rights, in miserable camps and in states that have not always embraced them with open arms. The right of return and the right of choice, however, do not only depend on Israel's recognition, but also on the policies of Arab countries that host refugee populations. Volume of Eventual Return Both Nusseibeh and his main critic Salman Abu Sitta assume the problematic position that the implementation of the right of return will trigger the actual return of a huge number of refugees. Nusseibeh believes that such an influx would change the "character" of the Jewish state within the framework of a two-state solution, and hence cannot be contemplated. Abu Sitta, who supports such a return, has not adequately explored the potential sociology of return if it becomes possible. What would actual Palestinian return look like? Will there be a mass of refugees rushing in simultaneously or a trickle of fragmented groups induced by factors more powerful than nationalism, identity and the experience of exile? Abu Sitta's work has been important in opening up the debate concerning geographic absorption in Israel. He demonstrates, after dividing Israel into three demographic areas, that the majority of Israeli Jews (68 percent of the population) is now concentrated in one area making up eight percent of Israeli territory. A second area (six percent of Israeli territory) holds a mixed population including another ten percent of Israel's Jewish citizens. Hence, Abu Sitta says, the areas in and around former Palestinian villages remained empty and unused, and could readily absorb returning refugees, most of whom were peasants when they fled in 1948. Of course, 50 years later, the majority of these refugees dwell in metropolitan areas like Damascus, Amman, Cairo, Chicago and New York. They are no longer peasants. But the land's ability to absorb the refugees should not be the only factor in determining return scenarios. Irish-Americans did not return to Ireland following the end of British colonialism, few Armenians returned to Armenia after its independence and only a small number of Lebanese returned to Lebanon following the civil war. In each of these cases, there was not only ample capacity in the countries of origin, but ample political will for reabsorption. In general, UN High Commissioner for Refugees data demonstrates that the number of refugees returning to their various countries of origin, once return is possible, is far less than the number choosing resettlement in the host country or repatriation to a third-party state. The structure of the global labor market plays a major role. Researching Return Return is determined by many factors. Field work and studies conducted in 13 countries have not uncovered a homogeneous population of four million refugees who would exercise their right of return, but a far smaller number. The exact number is impossible to give: the uncertainties of a negotiated settlement and the possible reactions of the Arab states would cause estimates to vary tremendously. In his letter criticizing Nusseibeh, Abu Sitta refers to polls conducted in some areas, particularly within the Palestinian territories, that demonstrate a refugee "consensus" on the intention to return. Any such poll, whether conducted by amateurs or highly professional research centers, and certainly any research based on questionnaires in Arab dictatorships, is vulnerable to critique. No matter how the question is presented, responses will obviously tend toward a political position that is influenced more by protracted conflict, disillusionment and the prospect of defeat than the subject's actual intent. Factors influencing the subject's decisions range from the experience and memories of exile to his or her economic situation. If the question of desire to return is posed only in conceptual terms, interviewees might get a 100 percent positive response as to whether the refugees will return. If the question is narrowed, however, to include such factors as the prospect of returning to a village under Israeli sovereignty and holding Israeli nationality, or one without guaranteed adequate employment or housing, the percentage might drop significantly. A Palestinian residing in Lebanon may not be able to determine his or her intention to return if the Lebanese position remains unclear. Will the Palestinians be literally thrown onto the border, as occurred in Libya, or will they be given the right of choice? Such factors often invalidate the methodology of polls and surveys. The person asking the questions can determine the results. Four years ago, I visited my family living in a Palestinian refugee camp in an Arab host country. My father refused to see photos I had taken in Haifa because, in his words, it was not "his Haifa." Haifa was now an Israeli city, he declared. He was adamant that he could not return as long it remained under Israeli sovereignty. The very next day a Swiss journalist interviewed my father and asked him if he would return to Haifa if it became possible. Suddenly, he waxed ideological and eloquent, announcing that "as a Palestinian, like any other, I long to return no matter what the conditions." It is not sufficient to prove that the Palestinian right of return is enshrined in international human rights law and humanitarian law. Research must also demonstrate that recognition of return is a necessity for regional security and, in some cases, a humanitarian necessity as well. Beyond the Sacred A decade after Oslo, Palestinian negotiators have reached an impasse in the debate concerning refugee return. Refugee rights discussions should be opened to creative ideas outside the sacred discourse. In a special bulletin published by the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA) in early 2001, Muhi 'Abd al-Hadi and Jan de Jong proposed an extension of the Palestinian territories to include the Galilee and some areas of the Negev in order to absorb portions of refugee populations, without denying the remainder's right of return. This solution resolves the Israeli fear of altering the character of the Jewish state. 'Abd al-Hadi and de Jong went so far as to say that the Galilee communities should be annexed to a future Palestinian state, a proposal vehemently opposed by Palestinians inside Israel (and worth opposing for that very reason). At the same time, the spirit of this idea was included in the Taba talks, where Israel proposed giving up five percent of the land within its pre-1967 borders to a Palestinian state, in exchange for land expropriated for illegal settlements. New ideas, even those that won't work, can shake loose new possibilities. Author's Note: The author thanks Omar Yassin for his help editing this article. Endnotes 1 For instance, Husam Khader, the Palestinian legislator from the Balata refugee camp, said: "Sari Nusseibeh has taken himself away from the national camp." 2 "It is impossible to apply the right of return in the two-state framework! There is a structural contradiction between the two-state solution and the right of return for Palestinian refugees, which would change the demographic nature of the Jewish state, with the permission of the Jewish state itself. The Palestinian national liberation movement should decide whether the establishment of the Palestinian state without the right of return constitutes an acceptable historical compromise (as long as the state has sovereignty over the Haram al-Sharif and as long as the agreement allows refugees to return to inside the state's borders). If such a historical compromise is impossible from both Palestinian and Israeli points of view, we have before us a long struggle against apartheid, a struggle based on full citizenship for two peoples in one country. Israel will prefer a total war over this last option." Azmi Bishara, "Liberating the Homeland, Liberating Human Beings," Wijhat Nazar 23 (Cairo: al-Ahram, December 2001) [in Arabic]. 3 Ha'aretz November 12, 2001 4 Interview with Benny Morris, "'The Arabs Are Responsible': Post-Zionist Historian Benny Morris Clarifies His Thesis," Yediot Aharonot, December 9, 2001. 5 In addition to Morris, Amos Oz, novelist and founder of Israel's Peace Now movement, reiterated the view that Palestinians had rejected "the most far-reaching offer Israel can make" by insisting "on the right of return for millions of refugees to their homeland." The Guardian, January 5, 2002. Novelist A.B. Yehoshua wrote a similar article in Liberation, July 23, 2001. 6 Featured at http://www.bitterlemons.org, December 31, 2001. 7 Yehudith Harel, "Peace Now and Its 'Other'," Al-Ahram Weekly, January 11-17, 2001. From debsian at pacbell.net Wed Apr 3 17:37:32 2002 From: debsian at pacbell.net (michael pugliese) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: e: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! Message-ID: <03040293.59851@webbox.com> ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 03 Apr 2002 16:28:52 -0500 From: Chuck Munson Subject: Re: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! michael pugliese wrote: > > Message: 3 > From: "IJA" > To: "The people & anarchists and authorities world wide" > > Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 16:24:54 +0200 > Organization: International Journal of Anarchism > Subject: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY > - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! > Reply-To: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu > > >From IJ@ 4(31) updated 03.04.2002 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------= > > ------- > > PRESS RELEASE AND NOTE FROM THE > Anarchist International Embassy in Oslo > http://www.anarchy.no/embassy.html=20 I'd just like to point out to everybody that the person who sends out messages from is a nutcase living in Norway. His news releases have nothing to do with anarchism and his project is pretty bizarre to say the least. For several years he sent out electronic "brown cards" to people he disagreed with. << Chuck0 >> Personal homepage -> http://flag.blackened.net/chuck0/home/index.html Infoshop.org -> http://www.infoshop.org/ Alternative Press Review -> http://www.altpr.org/ Practical Anarchy Online -> http://www.practicalanarchy.org/ Anarchy: AJODA -> http://www.anarchymag.org/ MutualAid.org -> http://www.mutualaid.org/ Factsheet 5 -> http://www.factsheet5.org/ AIM: AgentHelloKitty Web publishing and services for your nonprofit: Bread and Roses Web Publishing http://www.breadandrosesweb.org/ "...ironically, perhaps, the best organised dissenters in the world today are anarchists, who are busily undermining capitalism while the rest of the left is still trying to form committees." -- Jeremy Hardy, The Guardian (UK) ------------------------------ From mstainsby at tao.ca Wed Apr 3 22:08:18 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM References: <03040293.59851@webbox.com> Message-ID: <012501c1db96$bbef8b20$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Michael, while I thank you for your concern, next time please send such notes about listmembers to me directly. Others don't need it. Macdonald ----- Original Message ----- From: "michael pugliese" From ifa at anarchy.no Thu Apr 4 00:25:57 2002 From: ifa at anarchy.no (IJA) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! References: <034d01c1db1b$53388ee0$ecacb33e@chello.no> <004101c1db59$0a4d60a0$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Message-ID: <006d01c1dba9$f6c2c4c0$ecacb33e@chello.no> Comment to Mac Donald Stainsby and others. Misunderstandings? As 1. AFIN the Anarchist Federation of Norway compared to the 4,5 million inhabitants is probably the largest anarchist federation in the world, and the one with most influence, although it must not be exaggerated, and 2. the International Anarchist Tribunal is the organ of the Anarchist International, founded at the international congress of the Anarchist International in Oslo 1982, as is easy to confirm by reading the mandate at http://www.anarchy.no/iat.html and seen in a general historical context at http://www.anarchy.no/ifadok.html , and "not one man" or "crackpot". (Several are working at the IFA/AI secretariate in Oslo voluntary part time, and 3. data a.o. consultants are working for a small salary) 3. And we see R.G list as a serious revolutionary list, not allowed for smearstories and crackpots serving direct lies, so far. - We must clearifie a couple of things. 4. Everybody should read the whole summary (it's quite long, because politics is not just about headlines and polemics but also reasoning and facts) of the International Conference on Terrorism at IJ@ 4(31), to see where main stream revolutionary anarchism stands in this question 5. Perhaps Mac Donald and his friends and AI do not perfectly agree on everything, but that is natural since we have different general policy. Anarchism is not marxism, leninist-communism included, and has never been. But differences should not be decided in advance, but after matter of fact discussion, based on facts and reasoning, not childish crackpot smearstories and lies. (Neither Mac Donald nor we are going to the Mid East this time, so we are just talking radicals anyway. Then why not discuss matter of fact? 6. The basics are that AI is for the Palestinian and the Jewish workingclass people against "their" respective authorities, the upper classes, the rich and powerful That's where the anarchists stand. Then we can discuss how these interests best can be achieved in practice, in politics broadly defined H. Fagerhus and A. Quist for the IJ@ and the Tribunal ----- Original Message ----- From: "Macdonald Stainsby" To: Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2002 11:46 PM Subject: Re: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "IJA" > The rumors that some high ranking, mainly marxist Norwegians and their "useful" > idiots, have given much aid-money to Arafat, so he could support the terrorists, > to make trouble in the Mid East and thus hike the oil price (and tank-rates), > must be seen as a 1st of April joke and nothing else. > ----- > anyone who can send weapons to the Palestinian resistance right now is a true > hero and it is of the highest internationalist order that people the world over > do more than sing "we shall overcome" in response to the chorus of genocide > being sung by Israel. Yes, politics are "dirty". These kinds of idiots live in > some non-reality where they can remain two things: > A--- pure > B--- irrelevant. > > Using the term "terrorist" to describe the actions of desperate Palestinian > bombers is the language of the Nazionists. What's more, the "Norway Anarchists" > could do well to garner the honour of working with the Palestinian resistance. > With revolutionaries like that, we don't need reactionaries. > > "Third way" doesn't work any more on the anti-capitalist side of things than it > does on the Blairist side of things. Grow up and have an impact. Your purity > will get you nothing. > > Macdonald > > > _______________________________________________ > Rad-Green mailing list > Rad-Green@lists.econ.utah.edu > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green From mstainsby at tao.ca Thu Apr 4 03:49:36 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Steps the RCMP are taking to "crush dissent" in Kananaskis. Message-ID: <00d801c1dbc6$6a0f9c20$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Please read this, it's kinda informative but scary... P-Luck of the Red And Black Flag Collective in Montreal [www.redblackflag.org] Steps the RCMP are taking to "crush dissent" in Kananaskis. posted by Jordan Thornton The intent of this post is not to intimidate. If anything, I think this should make the desire to attend the G8 Summit to protest corruption even more powerful. More importantly, we need to know what we're up against. I heard this from a girl whose husband is in the RCMP, and an old friend who is a Mountie backed it up. In Regina, Saskatchewan, the RCMP is currently conducting full-time readiness training in riot control tactics, in preparation for the G8 Summit. The Mounties are being trained to rush the crowd as a whole, then to split into groups of thirty, and splinter the protest into smaller, easier to handle units. The cops at the head of the crowd are solely to do the arrests. They will be armed with tazers, pepper spray, and extra long batons. These batons not only extend the reach of the police, but also add greater momentum to their swings. (On camera, they said, you will not be able to tell how much extra force is behind the baton strikes. Nice PR victory for the RCMP ... Yippee.) Behind them, will be a line of Mounties armed with high powered and extremely accurate rubber pellets. *** WEAR A CAN!!! *** The RCMP shooters are being trained to aim for the groin. Please wear protection, as these pellets sail through the air with much of the same momentum as real bullets. Every time the cops gain any substantial ground, they will fire tear gas cannisters further ahead, in order to break up more of the crowd, and gain more ground. Wear your masks... A number was not given, but some of the Mounties behind the police line will be armed with machine guns. At two or three points, fifty calibre heavy machine emplacements will be set up. During the Summit, all RCMP officers are on call. No vacation days or days off for the duration. Also, the air space will be closed for ten days (nine?), and CF-18's and helicopters will be a common sight. And we haven't even done anything yet! And if you live in Canada, this is what your tax dollars are doing. No saving healthcare, no social programs ... "Crush the Rebellion!!!!" What happened to the proud Mountie tradition? The legendary Mounties like Sam Steele, who was known for his composure in stressful situations, famous for his lack of firearms? Is this the world we want to live in? For $hame ... Keep it peaceful, and come prepared. If I learn anything more, I'll be sure to pass it along. ******** ****** The A-Infos News Service ****** News about and of interest to anarchists ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina" --WEF protesters. ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht From ifa at anarchy.no Thu Apr 4 05:16:47 2002 From: ifa at anarchy.no (IJA) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: Fw: [R-G] SMEARSTORIES AND OPEN DEBATE - 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM References: <03040293.59851@webbox.com> <012501c1db96$bbef8b20$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Message-ID: <008b01c1dbd2$97dddfc0$ecacb33e@chello.no> Dear Macdonald and friends. We are meaning the quite opposite to Macdonald, se below. An open society need free dialog and matter of fact criticism. This means people directly concerned should all get the relevant information. We are glad the smearstories and lies about AFIN and the IFA/AI-secretariat was openly spread, so we can reply to all, to clear up misunderstandings. If this is not possible, the "air gets brown", conspiracies and smearstories will rule, i.e. ochlarchy (mod rule) and no real freedom for workingclass people, as anarchists usual are, will exist. Thus we are opposed to Macdonald in this case. If someone talks derogatively about us, we will like to know, and have the right to reply. S.y. H. Fagerhus, editor of IJ@ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Macdonald Stainsby" To: Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 7:08 AM Subject: Re: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM > Michael, while I thank you for your concern, next time please send such notes > about listmembers to me directly. Others don't need it. > > Macdonald > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "michael pugliese" > > > _______________________________________________ > Rad-Green mailing list > Rad-Green@lists.econ.utah.edu > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green From ifa at anarchy.no Thu Apr 4 05:46:18 2002 From: ifa at anarchy.no (IJA) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! References: <03040293.59851@webbox.com> Message-ID: <009201c1dbd6$b7262820$ecacb33e@chello.no> As Chuck Munson has spread direct lies and smearstories about the International Anarchist Tribunal as well as The Anarchist International, the secretariate in Oslo and the Anarchist Federation of Norway, AFIN, hosting the secretariate and its institutions; we will answer to this, to avoid misunderstandings. We will reply point by point below: ----- Original Message ----- From: "michael pugliese" To: Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 2:37 AM Subject: e: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Wed, 03 Apr 2002 16:28:52 -0500 > From: Chuck Munson > Subject: Re: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM > CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! > > michael pugliese wrote: > > > > Message: 3 > > From: "IJA" > > To: "The people & anarchists and authorities world wide" > > > > > Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 16:24:54 +0200 > > Organization: International Journal of Anarchism > > Subject: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY > > > - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! > > Reply-To: rad-green@lists.econ.utah.edu > > > > >From IJ@ 4(31) updated 03.04.2002 > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------= > > > > > ------- > > > > PRESS RELEASE AND NOTE FROM THE > > Anarchist International Embassy in Oslo > > http://www.anarchy.no/embassy.html=20 > > I'd just like to point out to everybody that the person who sends > out > messages from is a nutcase living in Norway. It is true that most of the people directly working at the Anarchist International's secreatriate in Oslo are Norwegians. But we are not "one person" and not at all "a nut case". There are several persons working at the secreatriate voluntary part time, and 3 data a.o. consultants are working for small salaries. > His news > releases have nothing to do with anarchism and his project is > pretty > bizarre to say the least. If main stream anarchism where a whole lot of delegates from different anarchist groups, organizations, and media, have their contributions summarized over months and some time years is not valid, then what is valid? As it sio clear to anyone who can read Yes read it all, the AIIS-pages and the mentioned literature on the pages! For several years he sent out electronic > "brown > cards" to people he disagreed with. There are as mentioned several persons working at the secretariate. It is not only men. Say, Anna Quist, co-writer of the anarchafemist manifesto and secretary of the Anarchafeminist International, is also working regularely at the secreatriate. (see http://www.anarchy.no/iaf.html ) Chuck Munson is not a real anarchist, but a leftist semilibertarian crackpot, who think smeartories lies and similar ochlarchy (mob rule) is anarchy. "och" is not "an". It is as simple as that. Thus to prove that Chuck Munson is not an narchist is done very well just by stating the fact that he is trying to rule with the most primitive "psycho" ruling technique on earth. 1, Trying to make something relatively big, that he don't agree with, small = "one person" 2. Even saying he is insane = "nutcase" 3. An thus trying to make AFIN and AI's arguments not valid, without discussing, in advance. It should be clear by this simple reasoning to all that Chuck Munson has no competence on anarchism, and is no anarchist, say, read about the method of anarchism at http://www.anarchy.no/kropot1.html and http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html . He demonstartes clearly that he is a small time "crackpot psycho", and if he continues with this nonsense he will also get a brown card from the tribunal, as a ticket out of the political movement for good, see http://www.anarchy.no/iat.html He has never got a Brown Card before, as he indicates, but some groups he has been working with has got a warning, not to mix up 1. anarchy, anarchist and anarchism and 2. ochlarchy and other authoritarian tendencies. H. Fagerhus editor of IJ@ > > << Chuck0 >> > > Personal homepage -> > http://flag.blackened.net/chuck0/home/index.html > Infoshop.org -> http://www.infoshop.org/ > Alternative Press Review -> http://www.altpr.org/ > Practical Anarchy Online -> http://www.practicalanarchy.org/ > > Anarchy: AJODA -> http://www.anarchymag.org/ > MutualAid.org -> http://www.mutualaid.org/ > Factsheet 5 -> http://www.factsheet5.org/ > AIM: AgentHelloKitty > > Web publishing and services for your nonprofit: > Bread and Roses Web Publishing > http://www.breadandrosesweb.org/ > > "...ironically, perhaps, the best organised dissenters in > the world today are anarchists, who are busily > undermining capitalism while the rest of the left is > still trying to form committees." > -- Jeremy Hardy, The Guardian (UK) > > ------------------------------ > > > > _______________________________________________ > Rad-Green mailing list > Rad-Green@lists.econ.utah.edu > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green From pieinsky at igc.org Thu Apr 4 07:47:19 2002 From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] U.S. Special Forces Aiding Israeli Genocide Message-ID: <008e01c1dbe7$a82e00c0$be7df2d0@bypass.com> DEBKAfile's military sources: US and Israeli Special Forces Try to Head Off Arafat's Next Terror Offensive www.debka.com 4 April: Four men are now in Israel's sights. Two - Yasser Arafat and Palestinian intelligence chief Tawfik Tirawi - are under siege in Ramallah. The other two - Fatah-Tanzim militia chief Marwan Barghouti and Rashid Abu Shbak, deputy to Gaza preventative security chief Mohammed Dahlan - are running for their lives with Israeli intelligence services on their heels. These manhunts take time. Palestinian bombmaker Yahya Ayyash was not caught in a day, while the world's most wanted fugitive, al Qaeda's Osama bin Laden, and his senior lieutenant, the notorious Imad Mughniyeh, continue to elude the most intensive pursuits. A senior Israeli security source, asking to remain anonymous, told the Washington Post that Israel's biggest mistake in the past 18 months of the Intifada was to show too much respect for the Palestinian Authority's top executives. They were awarded VIP passes, weapons, their entr?e to the White House, money, territory, an airport, a seaport, health services and jobs. Israel was repaid with lynching, explosives belts and a widening culture of suicide bombings. Back in October 2000, DEBKAfile was the first to carry the transcript of a telephone conversation between Arafat and Barghouti, in which the Palestinian leader told the militia chief, "Kill - kill as many Jews as you can." Several days later, DEBKAfilerevealed that Tirawi, the intelligence chief, had taken charge of the terror offensive on the Modi'in-Jerusalem highway, and that he and Barghouti had split up the terror orbit between them - the Ramallah-Jerusalem highway for Barghouti; the Modi'in-Jerusalem Route 443 for Tirawi. Dahlan is the equal of any of the other four terror chiefs. DEBKAfilewas again the first publication to take a close look at the Gaza security chief' s exploits in the long months of the Palestinian confrontation. An innovator, with a good scientific brain - if terrorism can be termed a science - it was Dahlan who first applied cellular telephones to triggering car bombs and explosive devices. He created the Palestinian "military industries", that manufacture mortars and rockets. Most recently, Dahlan orchestrated the bomb-blasts that destroyed two Merkava-3 tanks. Arafat also entrusted him with welcoming Hizbollah arrivals in the Gaza Strip. All the same, not he but his deputy, Abu Shbak is the object of Israeli pursuit. The Gaza terror executive has drawn an immunity card against a promise to the Americans and Israelis to kept the Gaza Strip calm as long as battles rage in the West Bank. Overnight, bombings, infiltrations and shooting attacks have tapered off in the territory he controls. An unseen hand has miraculously silenced every rifle barrel and explosive. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have melted into the background, and talk of dialogue with their leaders instead of Arafat's Fatah has dried up. Dahlan believes that after the Israeli army cleanses the West Bank of terrorists, his big chance will come to take over that territory too. He has promised that he will bring tranquility there, like the Gaza Strip. In more than half the world, meanwhile, Israeli is being condemned for its operation to purge terror. UN secretary general Kofi Annan and leaders in Europe, China and Japan, backed by vocal media, demand an immediate halt to Israel's counter-terror offensive. On the other hand, the US leaders -- President George W. Bush, defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and secretary of state Colin Powell - sing a different tune. They are quietly supported by German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Russian president Vladimir Putin and British prime minister Tony Blair, who thus indirectly sanction the Israel action. Arguments heard from opposition groups in Israel, contending that the Sharon government is taking on the whole world by continuing its offensive, are treated by the Israeli majority as self-serving rather than representing the true situation. Some Israeli media, for example, distorted US secretary of state Colin Powell's latest message. He was represented as voicing a strong opinion against Arafat's removal. All he said in fact, was that the Palestinian leader must not be forcibly deported. If Arafat chose to leave voluntarily, it would be perfectly acceptable to Washington. One of his comments struck a note of hostility to the Palestinian leader: If Arafat moves somewhere else, he warned sternly, he will keep on doing there what he has been doing here. The implication was that those doings would not become more salutary if transplanted. Clearly, the US secretary of state is under no illusion about Arafat continuing his war of terror against Israel and the Jewish people wherever he goes. To make sure the war situation does not zoom out of control, Washington has posted two very senior officers in the Israel-Palestinian arena: CIA chief George Tenet has been shuttling between Israel and other Middle East capitals, while former Marine Corps general Anthony Zinni remains in place even after he failed to secure a ceasefire. Furthermore, DEBKAfile reports that members of American special forces units have been spotted in undercover action for the first time. Sporting US special forces combat gear and weapons, they were seen moving against suspected terrorists during the battle around the monasteries and churches of Bethlehem on Wednesday, April 2. When the moment came to extricate US and European citizens - some held hostage by Palestinian militants - US armored cars drove up through the streets of Bethlehem and well-armed American "security men" alighted to pick them up. Israel tanks, helicopters and drones provided cover for the five-hour operation to rescue all the foreign civilians stranded or held hostage in Bethlehem. That was not their primary mission. DEBKAfile's military sources report that the US commando contingent is present for an undercover assignment that could determine the outcome of the entire Israeli military operation to root out the terrorist menace. Even Barghouti, Tirawi and Abu Shbak are secondary targets, belonging to the past. A new threat is posed by the foreign crack force Arafat has been able to smuggle into the country from Lebanon. It is made up of highly-trained fighters - Palestinian, Hizballah and al Qaeda. This group has been designated the special target of the US contingent. This seek-and- destroy mission is underway in deep secrecy. But when it is over, Arafat's latest threat will be exposed as having posed one of the most decisive confrontations of the global war against terror. US and Israeli commandos are now focusing all their strength on the effort to catch the infiltrators before they can do their worst. President Bush, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, Arafat and Middle Eastern leaders have all suspended their next moves pending the outcome of this clash. Bush, Powell and Rumsfeld are defending the combined operation against critics the world over - some inside Israel too - so as to give Sharon and the US contingent the time it needs to complete its mission. From mstainsby at tao.ca Thu Apr 4 10:52:01 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! References: <03040293.59851@webbox.com> <009201c1dbd6$b7262820$ecacb33e@chello.no> Message-ID: <001401c1dc01$6de53360$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> This thread about one poster is going to stop or the poster will be asked to "unsub himself" (how's that for obnoxious administration language?). no replies, no furtherance. From anyone. Macdonald ----- Original Message ----- From: "IJA" From pieinsky at igc.org Thu Apr 4 11:14:24 2002 From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Unite to Fight U.S. Imperialism Message-ID: <002501c1dc04$bc2e10c0$347df2d0@bypass.com> DHKC:Joint declaration by the DHKC (Devrimci Halk Kurtulu? Cephesi- Revolutionary People's Liberation Front) and the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) THE USA IS THE BIGGEST TERRORIST Following September 11, the USA has declared war on the entire world. It has compelled all countries, all organisations to prostrate themselves before it, saying that "those who are not with us are against us". The USA is trying to build a world empire. It is trying to sell this world domination by America as "the New World Order" or "globalisation".. This domination is in fact domination by the major monopolies which condemn the people to hunger and poverty. To attain its ends, America counts on the firepower of its missiles and on its dollars, and has recourse to threats and demagogy. After three countries were ostracised as "the axis of evil", our organisations were designated by the CIA as "targets which the USA aims at after the Al-Qaida network". >From this, we would like to ask two questions. Firstly: Why us? Secondly: Is it only us? Our being described as "targets" is certainly not an accident. The reality of Colombia, Palestine and Turkey explains why we are in their gun sights. Our peoples have been abandoned to hunger, poverty and unemployment. Our peoples have been exposed to the tyranny of dictatorships. Our countries have been occupied by people like Sharon. Our countries are under the sway of the IMF and the World Bank. Our countries' mineral and agricultural resources are being plundered. We are fighting on the side of the oppressed of the world. We refuse to be obedient peoples who are passed over in silence, while dwelling in colonised countries. We reject the pro-American world order. We only desire that the peoples be freed from poverty and live in prosperity. We want to live in countries where there would be liberty and justice, freed from the domination of the Ariel Sharons and the American monopolies. In short, we want the independence of our countries and freedom for our peoples. THAT IS WHY WE HAVE BEEN NAMED AS "TARGETS"! These are the indisputable reasons for our being ostracised. But the USA, the CIA and their demagogy of terrorism aim to obscure the truth. Here are the reasons cited by the CIA. They repay close examination: "These groups have not yet carried out attacks on US civilians or US interests abroad." (Washington Post, February 10, 2002) But they might do. "Then let's exterminate them!" Isn't that what they aim to do? The "reasons" cited for each organisation are equally valueless. In relation to FARC, the CIA says the following: "FARC constitutes a danger for US interests in Latin America because they link the government they are fighting against with the USA." The DHKP-C is also a target,and you know why? Because according to the director of the CIA George Tenet: "This group has openly and in the public domain criticised US operations and those operations we have carried out in Afghanistan." As for the motives for naming the PFLP, Islamic Jihad and Hamas as targets. "If these groups feel the USA threatens their existence, they could see the USA as a target." The motivation cited by the CIA reveals the type of mentality they have. The USA wants nobody to oppose their domination, nobody to aspire to independence and justice, nobody to fight against the corrupt governments they support. In the name of civilisation, peace and human rights, the USA is bombing other countries and forcing us to live under the occupation of Sharon and people like him and to put up with our peoples being hungry, massacred and plundered. In this repressive policy, is there the least trace of legality and justice? The Americans are not motivated to act by terrorism, violence or whatever. For them, there are just two criteria: not infringing on their interests and not opposing their domination. Citing these two criteria also helps us to answer the second question: for the present, only five organisations have been cited as targets, but tomorrow this list will swell to encompass all those who oppose the USA. WE EXIST BECAUSE THERE IS INJUSTICE, HUNGER, POVERTY AND OPPRESSION! Violence is created and encouraged by the USA which nurtures all the Sharons who exist around the world, encourages them and supports them, economically, politically and militarily. For the sake of the monopolies, the USA bombards countries, condemns 1.2 billion people to hunger and keeps 4 billion people impoverished. It is not ourselves but the CIA which supports juntas, launches invasions, foments conspiracies and carries out coups d'?tat. It is not us but the CIA which gives instruction in torture methods and orders massacres to be carried out. It is not a secret nor is it unknown that they have done this. So do those who oppress the people and make them hungry have the right to complain when the peoples of the world engage in rebellion, anger and violence? The only thing which will put an end to war, rebellion and the anger of the peoples is a just world. In a world without hunger and misery, without military occupation and colonialism, without torture and massacres, without fascist regimes, where nations could enjoy self-determination, where chemical, nuclear and biological weapons no longer exist, and where the fundamental needs of the peoples such as food, health, accommodation and education would be the key aim of government.... There would be no reason for violence. We demand justice. But since our world is not like the scenario described by us above, we are compelled to organise, resist and fight the invaders, tyrants and colonisers. We fight those who take away the bread of the peoples and rule unjustly. OUR APPEAL: We appeal to all forces opposed to hunger, poverty, massacres, fascist dictatorships and invaders, to all those who want bread and justice, to take sides with those who are fighting. We appeal for mobilisation against "American interests". We call for open criticism and condemnation of the American policy of educating and supporting tyrants, and destroying everything in its path to make things easier for the monopolies. In order to bar the path of US aggression, to destroy their threats and "proscribed lists" aimed at various countries and organisations, we call on all the oppressed, socialists, patriots, progressives, anti-imperialists, opponents of America, whether individuals, institutions or organisations, to shout out with one united voice. Today, even institutions tied to imperialism recognise the reality of an unjust world divided in two, with on one side hunger, thirst and poverty, and on the other, the arrogant opulence of the monopolies. We call on everyone to view the world and our countries in the truest light: we affirm in the light of historic and scientific data that a world free of the domination of US imperialism would be a more just world. Let us unite for a just world! Let us take a stand against the USA which wants to make all the countries, peoples and people's organisations surrender, and let us unite to express our thirst for justice! March 30, 2002 DHKC (Revolutionary People's Liberation Front) PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) From lani at dojo.tao.ca Thu Apr 4 12:46:31 2002 From: lani at dojo.tao.ca (lani@dojo.tao.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] picnic at the premier's -- summary Message-ID: <20020404194631.1CD4317DC56@dojo.tao.ca> PICNIC AT THE PREMIER'S On Monday, April 1st, the day the Liberal war on the poor was officially launched in BC, approximately 800 people from East Vancouver took a field trip to Premier Gordon Campbell's private residence in West Point Grey - one of the wealthiest neigbourhoods in Vancouver. The rally was organized by the Anti-Poverty Committee, who provided food and bus tickets to enable people with little or no money to attend. By all measures, the event was a success, despite the dismissiveness in the media, who largely focused on the opinions of Gordo's yuppie neighbours. The protesters met in West Point Grey Park, where there was some street theatre and some soap-box ranting about the assaults of the Liberals on the poor. All the major media was there, mostly fixating on the sanctity of >private property, which we were about to violate by marching to the Premier's house. The rational for this action is that the attack on the poor is a personal, not just a political attack. Peoples most basic needs will increasingly go unmet as a direct result of this government. Those deemed employable will be thrown into the streets after 2 years on welfare; the lack of new social housing will result in a mushrooming of the homeless population; inner-city schools will be gouged of their ability to provide decent education, ensuring the next generation of paupers; single mothers will be forced into the labour market without sufficient support for childcare provision; the working poor are being further impoverished by the lowering of the minimum wage, earnings and family maintenance exemptions are being axed, thus lowering the already paltry incomes of those most in need; seniors on government assistance are seeing a reduction of their incomes; hardship assistance for those who don't otherwise qualify for welfare but whose very survival is threatened without assistance is being cut; and so on. The hardest hit by this war on the poor is, as usual, woman, immigrants, First Nations, seniors -- the most marginalized in society. For those affected, these cuts are very personal. For the non-poor, it will mean more crime, squeegee kids and panhandlers throughout the city, greater health care costs that goes hand in hand with increased poverty and tax cuts for the rich. All of this is happening at a time where the economy is deeply in a slump. Perhaps the greatest strength of this picnic was that it was direct class confrontation. When I was in the playground with my daughter, a local woman asked me what was going on. After I told her, she rolled her eyes and lamented "can't they find something nicer to do on a holiday Monday?" Such obliviousness to the political reality reflects the stark class segregation in this city, and similar exchanges happened throughout the protest. We marched from the park several blocks to Campbell's house, with pigs on bikes circling like vultures waiting for the kill. At his house, there were two security guards doing their macho posing at the entrance to Campbells house. People chowed down on barbecued hot dogs, salad, and other picnicky food while speaker after speaker gave appropriately militant speeches from seniors, native sovereigntists, Victoria anti-poverty activists, the bus riders union, mothers, and others. All were openly pissed at the new regime, many located this struggle in the historical context of neoliberalism and as a continuation and intensification of the previous governments assaults, with more than one reference to the social democratic military assault on natives at Gustafson Lake. The crowd was a mixed bag, including all age groups, rank and file unionists, workers and the unemployed, abled and disabled, illustrating the broad cross section of people affected by the cuts. The media and the police seemed somewhat disappointed that it was a peaceful protest -- the threat of violence being the best media draw around. However, the event went off without incidence. The success and significance of this rally can be summed up as follows: 1) hundreds of poor people were mobilized in a foreign neighbourhood 2) the political space for action is being carved out on the streets in lieu of any opportunity for democratic participation 3) a strong signal was sent of things to come if this government doesn't dramatically change course. This is only the beginning of a truly grassroots escalation. 4) solidarity between various constituencies was advanced in a city with deep divisions in the working class. 5) a further delegitimizing of this government, and broad recognition of the need for etra-parliamentary activity, specifically, a general strike. Although this action did not bring about a social transformation or even concessions, it was a step in the right direction. It helped set the stage for the ongoing militant struggle necessary for defeating this government's class war agenda. From pieinsky at igc.org Thu Apr 4 13:12:42 2002 From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fw: U.S. Special Forces Aiding Israeli Genocide Message-ID: <005e01c1dc15$1dcd43e0$347df2d0@bypass.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Muhammad Abu Nasr" To: Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 2:48 PM Subject: Re: U.S. Special Forces Aiding Israeli Genocide > Dear Jay, > > Thanks for the interesting posts. I didn't translate > the news today because a great deal of the initial > story was devoted to diplomatic activity and I thought > that would be covered elsewhere. > > At the moment the western media seem to be concocting > all sorts of pro-Zionist nonsense about Bethlehem. > According to the priest inside the church who spoke to > al-Jazeera the Zionists blew off the back door of they > chuch. They have also knocked holes in the > surrounding walls presumabely with a view to storming > the place. The priest says there are no hostages, > contrary to some western reports. I see that one > company even said the Palestinians shot their way into > the church in the first place! Such liars. > > The story from Debka (where did they get that name > anyhow, it's a Palestinian-Syrian-Lebanese folkdance! > They even have to steal names!) sounds in large part > like the sort of self delusion that professional > paranoids such as work for the FBI, CIA and I suppose > Mossad regularly concoct. Either it flows from their > delusions of self importance or else they make them up > to make their jobs seem more necessary to those who > fund them and more romantic to the general pabulum > loving public. > > Anyhow, as usual with these reports that "the Iraqis > have mass destruction weapons," "terrorists are ready > to assassinate president Reagan," "terrorist threats > to US embassies," this stuff about a super secret band > of elite fighters from Hizballah, al=Qa`idah and > Palestinians sounds like it was invented to keep the > US firm in its determination to fight terrorism in the > nurseries and orphanages and nunneries of Palestine. > > Today Bush has said to the Zionists that "enough is > enough" -- not because he abhores their massacres -- > he virtually endorsed them when he responded to > questions about them by saying that Israel has a > "right" to defend itself. No, he wants a cease fire > before the Arab states fall under irresistable > pressure to intervene, or open borders to volunteers. > Mubarak is blaming the US for Palestine, (i.e., > putting pressure on Bush) and I think Mubarak's > problem is that he had 50,000 demonstrators in his > streets yesterday and, like anyone who regularly does > dirty work for America, he's scared of the masses when > they get aroused because he knows that they can get > him a lot more easily than they can get Bush. > > Even today Bush blamed Arafat for the present > situation! Whatever Arafat's faults, his forces are > not now occupying one inch of any other people's land. > Can Mr. Bush think of any regime in the Middle East > that is occupying somebody's land? Obviously that is > irrelevant here. > > I haven't heard anything about the joint PFLP > statement with the Turkish comrades, but perhaps that > was done locally somewhere. Also the PFLP has its > hands rather full domestically now and they may not > have had the opportunity to publish it anywhere. > Anyway, that the US is the ultimate enemy is > absolutely true, though the extent to which Zionism is > intertwined with the US establishment and with > imperialism around the world needs further disclosure > and denunciation. Zionism is directly involved > through the Turkish military in the repression in > Turkey and it has also been directly involved in > training ultra reactionaries in Latin America. As old > Mao Zedong would perhaps say, they are the "running > dog" ("zou gou" in Chinese) of imperialism, and I > would add they are particularly vicious. > > Best, > > Muhammad > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ From ifa at anarchy.no Thu Apr 4 14:46:52 2002 From: ifa at anarchy.no (IJA) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! References: <03040293.59851@webbox.com> <009201c1dbd6$b7262820$ecacb33e@chello.no> <001401c1dc01$6de53360$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Message-ID: <006e01c1dc22$3bbe2380$ecacb33e@chello.no> Sorry "Macdonald's"! English is only our second language. We talk mathematics, logic and other matter of fact language.We don't really understand you know, because English is too much a "1984-newspeak" language that is nearly impossible to use for anarchists.It is too authoritarian! It is not clear and matter of fact enough. That's why no revolution will ever going to happen in English/American areas. You are not capabable at all to understand what is going on! Try to be less dialectical and marxist and explain in clear languae? But I guess you can't! Wannabes!!!! Have a nice time. Join the debate on conspiracy at http://www.anarchy.no/conspir1.html H.F. iginal Message ----- From: "Macdonald Stainsby" To: Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 7:52 PM Subject: Re: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM CONSPIRACY - STOP!!! THE RUMORS! > This thread about one poster is going to stop or the poster will be asked to > "unsub himself" (how's that for obnoxious administration language?). > > no replies, no furtherance. From anyone. > > Macdonald > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "IJA" > > > _______________________________________________ > Rad-Green mailing list > Rad-Green@lists.econ.utah.edu > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green From pieinsky at igc.org Thu Apr 4 15:27:52 2002 From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fw: al-Jazeera report from early evening Message-ID: <007001c1dc27$fb44a620$347df2d0@bypass.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Muhammad Abu Nasr" To: Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 4:34 PM Subject: al-Jazeera report from early evening > Dear Jay here are some of the highlights on the > fighting today. > > Best, > > Muhammad > ---------------- > > At 19:48 today 4-4-2002, the al-Jazeera website > reported that Israel has given permission to Anthony > Zinni to meet Arafat in his besieged headquarters in > Ramallah. Meanwhile a team of two European > representatives who had wanted to meet with > Palestinians and Israelis to bring about a cease fire > have left "Israel" with nothing after Sharon refused > them permission to meet Arafat and the Palestinian > representatives refused to meet the Europeans unless > the latter met Arafat first. > > Palestinian eye witnesses report that Israeli tanks > have this evening invaded the city of al-Khalil > [Hebron] in the latest incursion into areas under the > Palestine Authority on the West Bank. The new Israeli > penetration comes one day after a similar invasion of > Nablus. > > Witnesses report that tanks, armored personnel > carriers and military jeeps supported by four war > helicopters have penetrated into al-Khalil from the > south. Men of the Palestinian resistance are > resisting the occupation forces and sporadic battles > are occuring between the two sides. > > Other Israeli tanks invaded the regions belonging to > the Palestine Authority from the pocket that Israel > controls inside the divided city of al-Khalil. The > occupation army has not commented on the invasion of > the city. A military spokesman says he has absolutely > no information about an invasion of al-Khalil. > > Earlier today al-Jazeera's correspondent reported that > an Israeli soldier waskilled in clashes with > Palestinian fighters in the city of al-Khalil. The > clashes occurred when occupation forces raided a house > in Wadi Harriya, which also led to the injury of two > Palestinians. > > With its invasion of al-Khalil, the Israeli army has > re-occupied all the regions belonging to the Palestine > Authority in the West Bank other than the city of > Jericho. > > Violent battles have continued today in the city of > Nablus, largest city in the West Bank, between men of > the Palestinian resistance and the occupation army, > which has pushed hundreds of tanks and armored > vehicles toward the city from numerous directions > since yesterday (Wednesday) evening. > > Occupation forces are besieging four main refugee > camps in the city of Nablus but have not invaded them. > News reports indicated that Palestinian fighters at > the southern entrace to the city of Nablus used > mortars in response to the Israeli barrage. > > A Palestinian was killed as a martyr in his home when > an Israeli sniper shot him in the head. The martyr's > family says that they cannot take the body to the > hospital. Israeli forces have imposed a curfew on the > city. > > Battle of the Church of the Nativity > > Meanwhile news reports indicated that the sound of > explosions can be heard in the environs of the > besieged Church of the Nativity. A (female) > correspondent of al-Jazeera reports that the church is > being subjected to intense firing on the part of the > occupation forces. She adds that the Israeli soldiers > have blown up the back gate to the church leading to > the Grotto of Milk causing its destruction. The > Israelis have also blown a hole in the outer wall of > the church in an apparent attempt to storm it. > > A priest who is besieged inside the Church of the > Nativity complex said that the Israeli soldiers > destroyed a door to the church and battled with the > besieged Palestinians inside the building. > > The pastor of the Church, Father Ibrahim Filtis, said > in a telephone conversation with al-Jazeera that the > situation is very grave. He said, "the Jews have > destroyed the door of the Church of the Nativity in > the part where the Palestinians are gathered." He > said that a battle is going on between the two sides. > "We are besieged in the middle. We are in danger. > Try to save us!" > > Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli forces are pushing > more reinforcements towards the church. They have > seized control of the houses near the building. About > 200 Palestinians yesterday took refuge in the church > complex in which there are also about 40 monks and > nuns. > > Eye witnesses report that earlier today they heard the > sound of explosions and intense gunfire from behind > the church. An Israeli military spokesman denies that > the Israeli troops that are besieging the churche have > opened fire or stormed the church. > > The Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem, Michel Sabah, had > said that armed Palestinians had been given the right > of sanctuary in the Church of the Nativity after they > handed over their weapons. Four Palestinians died as > martyrs, among them a captain in the National Security > Service, during battles with the occupation forces in > Bethlehem. > > The Embassies of the United States, Britain, and Italy > hurried their nationals from one of the hotels in the > city. Amercian embassy security evacuated nine > Americans, four Britons and a Japanese woman from the > zone of the fighting. The Italians evacuated at least > five of their citizens. > > Jenin Continues to Resist > > In the Jenin refugee camp three Palestinian fighters > died as martyrs in the continuing battle to stop the > Israeli forces and prevent them from invading the > camp. It has been learned that one of the martyrs was > a member of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the > military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement, > Hamas. > > These martyrdoms occurred in the course of the second > Israeli attempt to storm the camp. An Israeli officer > was killed in this attempt and six others were > injured. American-made Apache helicopters, tanks and > cannon have been shelling and rocketing the camp since > the early hours of the morning without letup. > > Palestinian fighters say that they have besieged an > Israeli force after it invaded a house. A Palestinian > woman died a martyr in Jenin hospital when the > Israelis shelled the hospital store room for oxygen > containers. > > Israeli forces also shelled the City Hospital of Jenin > in the West Bank using percussion bombs and > anti-personnel bombs. The City Hospital's director > said that the occupation forces aimed at the store > room for oxygen and the water tanks and that the > hospital has now been paralyzed and unable to perform > surgical operations just as the number of wounded is > increasing. > > Reports from Ramallah indicate that the occupation > forces, accompanied by tanks and armored vehicles have > occupied the headquarters of the Palestinian > Preventive Security Service in the town of Bitouniya > and raised the Israeli flag over it. > > The occupation army says that its military operation > that has continued now for a week, has yielded 1,100 > Palestinians arrested, many of them men who were > wanted by Israel for attacks on Israeli targets. > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ From mstainsby at tao.ca Thu Apr 4 15:56:45 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: Fw: [R-G] 03.04.2002 THE GRAND OIL PRICE & TERRORISM References: <03040293.59851@webbox.com> <009201c1dbd6$b7262820$ecacb33e@chello.no> <001401c1dc01$6de53360$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> <006e01c1dc22$3bbe2380$ecacb33e@chello.no> Message-ID: <001f01c1dc2b$ff374040$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Say good bye to "IJA", everybody... It's strange, really... some of our finest listmembers are anarchists- for example Lysander Zimmerman and his work out in Ontario as well as the former member of the IWW, Hunter Gray. I've never felt the slightest bit inclined to fight with them about stupid nonsense unrealted to anything the tiniest bit useful for struggle. Anyhow, let us continue our fine work and my apology for all that nonsense getting left alone, truth be told I couldn't read the turgid rants anyhow. Pugliese: wipe that smirk off your face :-) Macdonald (Moderator) ----- Original Message ----- From: "IJA" From mstainsby at tao.ca Thu Apr 4 16:00:43 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] picnic at the premier's -- summary References: <20020404194631.1CD4317DC56@dojo.tao.ca> Message-ID: <003b01c1dc2c$8cf012e0$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Thanks for the prompt, thorough reply Lani. See you soon. Macdonald ----- Original Message ----- From: From mstainsby at tao.ca Thu Apr 4 16:03:11 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fw: al-Jazeera report from early evening References: <007001c1dc27$fb44a620$347df2d0@bypass.com> Message-ID: <004301c1dc2c$e511b820$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Jay, thank you and please keep these coming, and can you post a link to English Al-Jazeera? I can't find one. comradely (but of course), Macdonald ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jay Moore" From shniad at sfu.ca Thu Apr 4 16:33:22 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Canadian faces life in prison for selling goods to Cuba - CP Message-ID: <200204042333.g34NXMS22872@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Times Colonist (Victoria) Thursday, April 4, 2002 Canadian faces life in prison for selling goods to Cuba Philadelphia (CP) -- A Canadian businessman charged with violating the 1960 U.S. trade embargo against Cuba was found guilty of selling goods through foreign middlemen by a jury on Wednesday. James Sabzali, 42, becomes the first Canadian to be convicted of trading with Cuba, something that is legal in Canada but could send him to prison in the United States. "I'm shocked," said Sabzali, who fully co-operated with the five-year investigation. "It doesn't make any sense." "It's unbelievable," added Sharon Moss, Sabzali's Canadian wife, who was clearly shaken by the verdict. In the unprecedented case widely regarded as a challenge to Canadian sovereignty, Sabzali was found guilty of a total of 21 counts -- 20 counts of violating the U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act and one count of conspiracy. Seven of the 21 charges relate to actions taken on Canadian soil. Canadian law makes it illegal to comply with the U.S. embargo. Sabzali faces up to life in prison and fines of more than $19 million US for sales of water-purification supplies on behalf of international subsidiaries of the Pennsylvania-based BroTech Corp. He is expected to be sentenced June 28. The Department of Foreign Affairs has criticized as "objectionable and unacceptable" the fact that a Canadian citizen was charged in the United States for acts committed in Canada that are not crimes in Canada. In fact, when he was operating from Canada, Sabzali was bound by the Canadian Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act not to comply with the U.S. embargo against Cuba, his lawyers said. According to prosecutors, BroTech shipped the chemicals to Canadian and Mexican companies, which forwarded them to Cuba. The chemicals, called ion exchange resins, are used by the petroleum, sugar and pharmaceutical industries, among others. Sabzali is one of three executives found guilty in the case. Also convicted were Brotech owners Donald B. Brodie, 54, of Bryn Mawr and his brother Stefan E. Brodie, 58, of Philadelphia. All were convicted of one count of conspiring to violate the embargo. The corporation was convicted of 45 specific counts of trading with the enemy; Sabzali of 21 counts, Donald Brodie of 34 counts and Stefan Brodie of one count. While the jury convicted Sabzali for sales made from Canada to Cuba, it found him not guilty on all charges up to March 1995, during his employment by Purolite International, a Canadian company. Despite the mixed results, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Poluka said, "We're very happy with the verdict." But the defendants planned to challenge what they considered to be insufficient evidence, defence lawyer Robert Welsh said. "I can say we will be pursuing an appeal," he said, declining to comment further. The former Hamilton salesman along with Donald Brodie and the corporation itself were originally charged with 76 counts of violating the 1919 U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act and one count of conspiracy. Stefan Brodie was charged solely with conspiracy. Almost half of those original charges relate to Sabzali's activities while he was living in Canada. Sabzali resided in Hamilton from 1992 to 1996, frequently visiting Cuba, before moving to BroTech's Philadelphia-area head office in 1996. The jury's decision highlighted Sabzali's April 1995 appointment as marketing director for Brotech, rather than his relocation to the United States. At the crux of the jury's verdict was Sabzali's approval of reimbursements to Canadian salesman Claude Gauthier for travel expenses "to, from and within Cuba," while acting as Brotech's marketing director. "The jury looked carefully at the evidence and worked hard," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Poluka. "There is nothing willy-nilly about this verdict." The case had seen an earlier clash between the U.S. and Canadian governments over U.S. efforts to indict Gauthier, Sabzali's replacement. Gauthier reportedly never set foot in the United States. Following protests by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa, then U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright issued a statement withdrawing the attempted indictment of Gauthier. In Sabzali's case, both sides agreed that chemicals used to purify and soften water made their way to Cuba from plants owned, directly or indirectly, by BroTech. However, they disagreed on whether the sales were designed to violate the ban begun by the U.S. in 1960, a year after Fidel Castro assumed power in Cuba. From shniad at sfu.ca Thu Apr 4 16:34:20 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Drop peace effort, Right urges Bush - LAT Message-ID: <200204042334.g34NYLS23882@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> http://www.latimes.com/la-000023864apr03.story The Los Angeles Times April 3, 2002 Drop peace effort, Right urges Bush By Ronald Brownstein, Times staff writer Washington -- As President Bush struggles to define a consistent course in the Middle East, a chorus of leading conservative voices has begun loudly discouraging the administration from inserting itself into peace negotiations--and instead is urging the president to give Israel a freer hand to respond militarily to Palestinian suicide bombings. In a series of articles over the last two weeks, conservative thinkers such as William Kristol and William J. Bennett--and leading right-leaning media such as the Wall Street Journal editorial page and the National Review--have used phrases such as "amateur hour," "moral confusion" and "Clintonite wishful thinking" to describe the administration's recent initiatives to breathe life into the flagging Mideast peace process. This criticism inverts the charge from many Democrats--echoed in the editorial pages of many newspapers--that Bush hasn't done enough to encourage talks between the two sides. Instead, the conservatives are arguing that promoting talks amounts to rewarding Palestinian terrorism and risks undercutting the "Bush doctrine" of punishing states that nurture terrorists. "There's a fundamental tension between the war on terrorism and the peace process, if the peace process means negotiating with terrorists or tolerating terrorism," argues Kristol, publisher of the Weekly Standard, a leading conservative magazine. The criticism on the right has quieted somewhat since Bush condemned Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat last weekend and said he could "understand" the new Israeli offensive in the West Bank. As they do on many issues, White House aides brushed off the criticism as carping from the margins. "I see a little bit of hubbub . . . but I don't read it as a big deal," said a senior White House official. But the harsh conservative words for the administration's diplomatic efforts--particularly Vice President Dick Cheney's recent trip through the Mideast--suggest that as the bloody conflict continues, Bush will face sustained pressure within his party to accept Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's aggressive use of force. "I don't think there is anybody who puts much stock in talks right now," said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a top conservative supporter of Israel. "Many people are saying, 'How can we tell Israel to pull back [militarily] when, if terrorists were hitting us that way, we would be going back at them hammer and tong?' " Such comments underscore the shift in the GOP's center of gravity on the Middle East just since the inauguration of Bush, whose administration sought a more impartial stance. "It is very hard for Bush to be seen as pressuring Israel in the classic way his father did," says Steven L. Spiegel, associate director of the Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA. Indeed, the entire American debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has tilted right, especially since the collapse of the Camp David peace negotiations under President Clinton in 2000. In Israel, the rising level of Palestinian violence has strengthened the hands of those who see military action as the key to confronting the problem. Across the American political spectrum, the differences on how to deal with the crisis today are relatively narrow--especially when compared with the call from the European Union on Tuesday for Israel to immediately withdraw its troops. But important nuances still divide the parties. Most leading Democrats have echoed Bush in viewing the Israeli West Bank offensive as legitimate self-defense. But Democrats generally believe that Bush erred by reducing American involvement in the region last year and should be trying harder now to encourage negotiations. Even Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), usually one of the most hawkish Democrats, told CNN on Monday that Bush should convene an international conference to begin negotiations between Israel and the Arab nations over the "vision of peace" that the Arab League endorsed in Beirut last week. It is precisely such an intensified diplomacy that the conservatives are urging Bush to avoid. Administration's Efforts Called 'Amateur Hour' Cheney's trip through the region last month--which was designed to rally Arab support for action against Iraq but ended with the vice president holding out the possibility of meeting with Arafat--drew a hail of bricks from the right. In the Weekly Standard, Kristol and co-author Robert Kagan compared the trip to Clinton Secretary of State Warren Christopher's unsuccessful 1993 mission to rally European support for intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina. "The past two weeks have been amateur hour in American diplomacy," they wrote. Conservatives have also recoiled from Bush's encouragement of the Arab League peace initiative--a proposal under which the Arab nations would recognize Israel if the Jewish state withdrew to its pre-1967 borders and allowed the creation of a Palestinian state. Many of the conservative thinkers have argued that constructive peace discussions can begin only after a much greater level of Israeli military action. "I don't think you can have negotiations now. You have to fight it out," argues Bennett, a leader among social conservatives and a secretary of Education under Ronald Reagan. "And then once they have fought it out . . . the United States can play a major role." Others say peace between Israel and the Palestinians may come only after the U.S. shows the Arab world its own commitment to resisting terror by toppling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. "The path to a calmer Mideast now lies not through Jerusalem but through Baghdad," said the Wall Street Journal editorial page. One White House official sympathetic to the conservative critique says Bush can never go as far as the right wants in emphasizing military over diplomatic solutions. While criticizing Arafat and sympathizing with the Israeli action in recent days, Bush has also said that Israel must leave open a "pathway to peace" through negotiations and has refused to label Arafat a terrorist. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell criticized Israel's suggestion that it might exile Arafat. Still, Bush's instinctive support of Israel places him at the center of a generational shift in Republican thinking about the Mideast. For the first decades of the Jewish state's existence, the Republican Party was generally less supportive of Israel than Democrats, and more concerned than Democrats about protecting America's economic and political interests in the Arab world. "The classic position of the Republican Party, the Dwight Eisenhower approach, was that we have an obligation to Israel . . . but let's face it, our interests lie fundamentally on the Arab side, in anti-communism and the oil question," said Spiegel. Republican attitudes began to shift in the 1980s under Reagan, who identified more closely with Israel than any previous GOP president. Reagan was heavily influenced by the so-called neoconservatives, mostly Jewish (and formerly Democratic) intellectuals who portrayed support for Israel as a moral commitment to a fellow democracy. Bush's Father Had a Different Approach As on many issues, the attitude of Bush's father toward Israel represented a temporary interruption in the GOP's Reaganite drift. Harking back to the earlier Eisenhower position, the elder Bush's administration (particularly Secretary of State James A. Baker III) frequently clashed with the Israeli government and took positions that Israel advocates considered pro-Arab. Yet around the elder Bush, Republican thinking was continuing to tilt more toward Israel. Along with the neocons, Israel benefited through the 1980s and '90s from the rising clout inside the GOP of conservative evangelical Christians. To a broad range of conservative Christians, support for Israel is virtually ordained by the Bible. Last month, for instance, Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), a staunch social conservative, declared on the Senate floor that Israel should maintain control of the Palestinian territories "because God said so. . . . Look it up in the book of Genesis." Republican ties to Israel have also increased as the Israelis have elected more conservative governments and as the increased lethality of Palestinian terrorism has generally diminished sympathy in America for the Palestinian cause. These currents have moved the GOP closer to Israel even though American Jews--often considered the most powerful force in shaping U.S. Mideast policy--have remained solidly Democratic in their voting behavior. Today, the evolution of Republican thinking is encapsulated in the space between George W. Bush and his father. "Bush 41 just had a different view on this one," said the White House official sympathetic to the conservative critique. "I just think President Bush is closer to Reagan than his father in his instincts on many things, and Israel is one of them. When you listen to him, his instincts are more to be critical of Arafat than his father's were." From shniad at sfu.ca Thu Apr 4 16:35:35 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] US twists arms in the Middle East - New Statesman Message-ID: <200204042335.g34NZZS25271@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The New Statesman 1 April 2002 The US twists arms in the Middle East In return for supporting a new Gulf war, Turkey could get Iraqi oilfields By Dan Plesch Many countries have spoken out against the Bush administration's plans to overthrow Saddam Hussein, but it would be a mistake to suppose that they will in fact cause trouble if the bombs start to fall. Washington has a long record of bringing its allies into line. Take Turkey. Its prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, continues to oppose publicly the idea of attacking Iraq. But there is every reason to believe that the US has already offered control of Iraq's northern oilfields to Turkey in return for its support in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is what informed sources in Washington tell me; and it is confirmed by press reports of what Richard Perle, an influential adviser in the Bush administration, said while he was in Ankara with the vice-president, Dick Cheney. The oil-rich Mosul area has been disputed since the collapse of the Ottoman empire at the end of the First World War. The British drew the maps and invented the states that exist today. Turkey disputed the British decision to give the Mosul province to the new Kingdom of Iraq, but finally accepted it in a treaty signed in 1926. The issue remained dormant until Iraq, under Saddam, attacked Iran in the mid- 1980s. Weakened by the war, Saddam invited Turkey to crush Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. At this time, a total collapse of the Iraqi state seemed entirely possible and Turkish interest in the oilfields revived, particularly in the Turkish media. Yet when George Bush Snr raised the "Mosul option" in the wake of Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, the government in Ankara declined the "invitation". It feared an Arab backlash against redrawing the borders and it was not anxious to acquire more territory populated by Kurds. In 1995, however, 35,000 Turkish troops attacked the Kurds in northern Iraq, an act ignored by the British and US governments who had made much of their protection of the Kurds from Saddam Hussein. As the Turkish troops withdrew, President Suleyman Demirel said: "The border on those heights is wrong. Actually, that is the boundary of the oil region. Turkey begins where that boundary ends. Geologists drew that line. It is not Turkey's national border." He retracted these statements after Arab protests. But Turkish interest has continued, and today the Turkish national oil company is drilling new wells in the Khumala field as part of a UN-sanctioned oil-for-food programme. Turning this commercial presence into a guaranteed supply of cheap oil, courtesy of a new puppet regime in Baghdad, may be the carrot that the US is offering Turkey. It would go some way to compensating for the decade-long loss of trade with Iraq that has damaged the Turkish economy. But oil is not the only, or even the biggest, lever that the US has over Turkey. It also funds half its IMF and World Bank loans. As it happens, the US is now less reliant than it was on Turkish airbases, as it is taking over huge former Soviet airbases in Bulgaria and Romania. But Turkey's army has a reputation for brutal effectiveness, and the US would like to make use of it. Turkish forces are already serving in Kabul, and are set to take on a greater role. Such power-projection fits into the nationalist objectives that Turkey has pursued in the Caucasus and Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. One US option in Iraq - an alternative to the more commonly mentioned options, including an invasion through the Gulf and support for internal uprisings - is to seize one or more airbases in the country and use these to launch commando and larger ground-force raids. Such "in-country" bases are essential for special forces operations, as proved to be the case in Afghanistan - you cannot perform effective missions on day trips. And this is where the Turks come in: their forces could help to secure a main operating base inside Iraq. If, in the process, they crush Kurdish "terrorists", Washington will not complain. The real objective of the US in Iraq is to destroy the idea that anyone can fight America and get away with it. For US conservative strategists, this was Bush Snr's strategic failure in the Gulf war. Once the US has bases in Iraq as well as in Afghanistan, military operations against Iran, next on the list of "axis of evil" countries, become more viable. This approach to the axis of evil may seem too reckless to take seriously, and there is no certainty that the Americans will pursue it, but we should not underestimate the White House's determination to destroy its enemies. So what should Britain and Europe do? In the short term, if Europe offered more economic support, Turkey could afford to be more flexible and independent in handling Washington's demands. In the longer term, Europe should remove its dependency on Gulf oil, which leaves it reliant on the US military's ability to control supplies. Wind, solar and fuel-cell technology could provide our energy and transportation needs. If we developed them, we would have freedom of action in the Middle East and be able to form a policy more independent of the US. As we plan for 2010 and 2020, energy independence offers a far more practical and - to use a fashionable phrase - "asymmetric" strategy for reducing the sources of conflict and increasing our power than an attempt to compete with the Pentagon by creating a European army. Dan Plesch is senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and the author of Sheriff and Outlaws in the Global Village (Menard Press, £5) http://www.newstatesman.co.uk/site.php3?newTemplate=NSArticle_NS&newDisplayU RN=200204010014 From pieinsky at igc.org Thu Apr 4 16:34:45 2002 From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fw: al-Jazeera report from early evening References: <007001c1dc27$fb44a620$347df2d0@bypass.com> <004301c1dc2c$e511b820$76195218@vc.shawcable.net> Message-ID: <00a201c1dc31$80112500$347df2d0@bypass.com> Hi Mac et al -- Unfortunately, there is no English Al-Jazeera on the Web (or on the Tube). What I'm sending out are translations done from the Arabic into English by my Palestinian friend Muhammad Abu Nadr (PFLP guy). best, jay www.neravt.com/left/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Macdonald Stainsby" To: "Jay moore" Cc: "Rad Green" Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 6:03 PM Subject: Re: [R-G] Fw: al-Jazeera report from early evening > Jay, thank you and please keep these coming, and can you post a link to English > Al-Jazeera? I can't find one. > > comradely (but of course), > > Macdonald > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jay Moore" > > > _______________________________________________ > Rad-Green mailing list > Rad-Green@lists.econ.utah.edu > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green From shniad at sfu.ca Thu Apr 4 16:37:41 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Zinn's plan let Israel continue attacks - Guardian Message-ID: <200204042337.g34NbfS27614@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4387026,00.html The Guardian Thursday April 4, 2002 Truce plan let Israel continue attacks Furious Palestinians leak 'one-sided' US envoy draft By Brian Whitaker Israel would be allowed to continue attacks on Palestinian presidential buildings, security headquarters and prisons as part of a Middle East "ceasefire" plan proposed by US envoy General Anthony Zinni, it emerged yesterday. Furious Palestinian negotiators have released a copy of the document, presented by Gen Zinni on March 26, the day before Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had been due to attend the Arab summit in Beirut. Israel treated the document as an ultimatum, demanding Mr Arafat sign it as a condition of being allowed to attend the summit, but he refused. Gen Zinni submitted a first draft of his plan on March 25 for both sides to comment, and came back 24 hours later with a new draft - called a "bridging proposal" at the time - which was much more favourable towards the Israelis. One main Palestinian objection is that the plan tries to satisfy Israel's immediate security demands without pledging any political follow-up leading to peace talks. Both drafts ignore what the Mitchell report - commissioned by President Bill Clinton and published last May - recognised as a key problem: "That security cooperation cannot long be sustained if meaningful negotiations are unreasonably deferred." Mitchell's proposed solution was to follow a ceasefire with confidence-building measures - including a freeze on Jewish settlement activity in the occupied territories - and a resumption of peace talks. Since the report, one of the main goals of the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has been to avoid being manoeuvred into the confidence-building stage because of the political difficulties a freeze on settlements would cause him. Gen Zinni's stated aim in talks last week was to find a mechanism to implement an earlier ceasefire plan put forward by CIA director George Tenet and accepted by both sides last June. But Palestinian negotiators accuse him of backtracking on the Tenet plan and rewriting parts of it. Gen Zinni dropped the Tenet requirement that Israel should not attack "innocent civilian targets". In Gen Zinni's first draft, Israel would "commit" to cease "proactive" operations in areas under Palestinian Authority control, "including attacks on PA security forces or institutions". His revised version would permit Israeli attacks on PA buildings, including prisons, "in self-defence to an imminent terrorist attack". In a commentary sent to the Guardian, the Palestinian negotiators say: "It is impossible to imagine a scenario in which bombing a prison or the president's compound would be 'self-defence' ... this, in effect, justifies all the so-called 'retaliatory' attacks the Israelis have conducted so far." The negotiators, who included two Palestinian security chiefs, Mohammed Dahlan and Jibril Rajoub, also said that: "The proposal uses unconditional language requiring the PA 'to cease' [violent] activities, whereas the Israelis ... are only asked to 'commit to cease'." From shniad at sfu.ca Thu Apr 4 16:36:35 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] U.S. supported al-Qaeda cells during Balkan Wars - NP Message-ID: <200204042336.g34NaZS26302@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The National Post March 15, 2002 U.S. supported al-Qaeda cells during Balkan Wars Fought Serbian troops By Isabel Vincent Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network has been active in the Balkans for years, most recently helping Kosovo rebels battle for independence from Serbia with the financial and military backing of the United States and NATO. The claim that al-Qaeda played a role in the Balkan wars of the 1990s came from an alleged FBI document former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic presented in his defence before the Hague tribunal last week. Mr. Milosevic faces 66 counts of war crimes and genocide. Although Hague prosecutors have challenged the veracity of the document, which Mr. Milosevic identified as a Congressional statement from the FBI dated last December, Balkan experts say the presence of al-Qaeda militants in Kosovo and Bosnia is well documented. Today, al-Qaeda members are helping the National Liberation Army, a rebel group in Macedonia, fight the Skopje government in a bid for independence, military analysts say. Last week, Michael Steiner, the United Nations administrator in Kosovo, warned of "importing the Afghan danger to Europe" because several cells trained and financed by al-Qaeda remain in the region. "Many members of the Kosovo Liberation Army were sent for training in terrorist camps in Afghanistan," said James Bissett, former Canadian ambassador to Yugoslavia and an expert on the Balkans. "Milosevic is right. There is no question of their participation in conflicts in the Balkans. It is very well documented." The arrival in the Balkans of the so-called Afghan Arabs, who are from various Middle Eastern states and linked to al-Qaeda, began in 1992 soon after the war in Bosnia. According to Lenard Cohen, professor of political science at Simon Fraser University, mujahedeen fighters who travelled to Afghanistan to resist the Soviet occupation in the 1980s later "migrated to Bosnia hoping to assist their Islamic brethren in a struggle against Serbian [and for a time] Croatian forces." The Bosnian Muslims welcomed their assistance. After the Bosnian war, "hundreds of Bosnian passports were provided to the mujahedeen by the Muslim-controlled government in Sarajevo," said Prof. Cohen in a recent article titled Bin Laden and the war in the Balkans. Many al-Qaeda members decided to stay in the region after marrying local Muslim women, he said. They also set up secret terrorist training camps in Bosnia -- activities financed by the sale of opium produced in Afghanistan and secretly shipped through Turkey and Kosovo into central Europe. In the years immediately before the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the al-Qaeda militants moved into Kosovo, the southern province of Serbia, to help ethnic Albanian extremists of the KLA mount their terrorist campaign against Serb targets in the region. The mujahedeen "were financed by Saudi and United Arab Emirates money," said one Western military official, asking anonymity. "They were mercenaries who were not running the show in Kosovo, but were used by the KLA to do their dirty work." The United States, which had originally trained the Afghan Arabs during the war in Afghanistan, supported them in Bosnia and then in Kosovo. When NATO forces launched their military campaign against Yugoslavia three years ago to unseat Mr. Milosevic, they entered the Kosovo conflict on the side of the KLA, which had already received "substantial" military and financial support from bin Laden's network, analysts say. In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes on the United States, NATO began to worry about the presence in the Balkans of the Islamist terrorist cells it had supported throughout the 1990s. ivencent@nationalpost.com http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?f=/stories/20020315/344843 ..html From shniad at sfu.ca Thu Apr 4 16:42:39 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] WLUML statement on the current situation in Palestine/Israel Message-ID: <200204042342.g34NgdS03397@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> 4 April 2002 WLUML statement on the current situation in Palestine/Israel The international solidarity network Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) is well placed to identify extreme Right political projects hidden under religious/ethnic agendas and their devastating effects on progressive forces at large and on women in particular. The present escalation in Palestine/Israel is not due to a conflict between religious and ethnic communities. Clearly, it is the result of the coming to power in Israel of extreme Right forces mercilessly bent on implementing a colonial project. Unfortunately, its brutality sparked off the hijacking of the legitimate protest and struggle of the Palestinians by extreme right fundamentalist forces within them. We know from experience that the rise of such forces will inevitably work against the interests of people, especially minorities and women in Palestine. We here pay tribute to the progressive people in Israel who have for decades now struggled against the colonial project of their successive governments and today continue to do so under such violent and dangerous circumstances. We pay tribute to Israeli women and men who have refused to participate as soldiers in the war against the Palestinian people. We pay tribute to those who demonstrate daily against occupation of Palestinian land, be it by creating new settlements, by evictions, by destruction of properties or by military occupation. We pay tribute to those who physically joined, as human shields, the Palestinian villages attacked by the Israeli army, the Palestinian plantations of orange trees and olive trees that were pinpointed for destruction by the Israeli army. We especially pay tribute to the Women in Black anti war movement and to all the women organizations that have consciously and stubbornly attempted and succeeded in bridging the divide between Jews and Arabs. We fully support their struggle and share their analysis of the fascist nature of the present government of Israel. We also pay tribute to all those from Arab countries who have struggled for a just peace in the region without falling into the arms of fascist fundamentalists, without adopting hatred and racism as rallying elements of their struggle. We pay tribute to all those who fight fundamentalist fascism from within their own contexts. We pay tribute to all those who have recently met with their fellows in peace making within Israel, confronting the accusation of betrayal for doing so and bearing with the following threats they suffer. We pay tribute to all those Palestinians women and men who, under such a deluge of fire from the Israeli government and army, maintain their human and political links with Israeli progressive and anti war forces in the hope of building a durable and just political settlement. We pay tribute to all those who, in Europe and especially in France these days, confront the rise of anti-Semitic racism - i.e. racism against "Jews" as well as racism against "Arabs" or "Muslims"- and the terrorist acts of destruction that are now taking place against synagogues or shops owned by French Jews. We pay tribute to the Muslim religious authorities and ordinary immigrants from North Africa who have arrived at the scene of these barbarities to show their solidarity and speak up against racism. We call on international media to - at last - give visibility to progressive forces within Israel and within Palestine who offer the only viable alternative to the war in the region. In order to immediately stop the bloodshed, we call upon the UN Security Council to take extraordinary but necessary measures, including steps to enforce an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal from Palestinian cities and send UN peacekeeping troops to Palestine/Israel. We call on the Security Council to force the Israeli government to immediately implement past UN resolutions that it has systematically disregarded. By failing to act decisively, the UN Security Council becomes an ally in the massacre of Palestinians by the Israeli government. We demand that the women and men from Israel and from Palestine who have actually worked hand in hand towards a just peace during the past decades of conflict be the ones to be called to the negotiation table. No other group can bring peace to the region. ------------ The petition below will help the lawyers in Belgium who are suing Ariel Sharon for war crimes. http://www.petitiononline.com/warcrime They need 1,000,000 signatures. Please sign and forward the petition to all your contacts. ------------- Email: wluml@wluml.org WWW: www.wluml.org From furuhashi.1 at osu.edu Thu Apr 4 18:58:42 2002 From: furuhashi.1 at osu.edu (Yoshie Furuhashi) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Thu., April 11: Dan La Botz, Sweatshops & Solidarity (Mexico, Indonesia, USA) Message-ID: Critical Perspectives on Wars, Classes, & Empires Global Sweatshops, Global Solidarity: USA, Mexico, Indonesia Speaker: Dan La Botz Dan La Botz is a visiting professor of history at Miami University. He is the author of _Rank-and-File Rebellion: Teamsters for a Democratic Union_ (1990, ), _Mask of Democracy: Labor Suppression in Mexico Today_ (1992, ), _Democracy in Mexico: Peasant Rebellion and Political Reform_ (1995, ), and _Made in Indonesia: Indonesian Workers Since Suharto_ (2001, ), as well as the editor of _Mexican Labor News and Analysis_ . His writing appears regularly in _Against the Current_ and _Labor Notes_ . Thursday, April 11, 5 PM CWA Local 4501 Union Hall 27 Euclid Ave. (between 8th & King Avenues, a little to the east of High St.), Columbus, OH Click on for a map. Sponsors: the Student International Forum, Social Welfare Action Alliance, Jobs with Justice (Columbus), Columbus Unites Students Against Sweatshops, Graduate Employees and Students Organization - OSU, & Columbus State Community College Contract Faculty Association. Contact: Yoshie Furuhashi, , 614-668-6554; & Keith Kilty, , 614-292-7181. Please download the flyer for this event at & help spread the word. The flyer for other upcoming events is available at . -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: * Anti-War Activist Resources: * Student International Forum: * Committee for Justice in Palestine: From pieinsky at igc.org Fri Apr 5 10:34:25 2002 From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fw: This morning on al-Jazeera Message-ID: <005d01c1dcc8$2cb4c960$7b7df2d0@bypass.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Muhammad Abu Nasr" To: Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 9:55 AM Subject: This morning on al-Jazeera > Dear Jay, > > Here's the morning news from al-Jazeera. > > Best, > > Muhammad > > --------------------------------- > > http://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2002/4/4-5-13.htm > > Al-Jazeera TV Website. 5 April 2002. 13:16 G.M.T. > > American emissary, Anthony Zinni, has concluded his > discussions with Palestinian President Yasir Arafat in > his besieged headquarters in Ramallah, the first such > meeting between Arafat and a foreign personality since > the Israeli occupation army laid siege to his offices > and isolated him inside a few rooms in the building in > Ramallah. > > Nabil Abu Rudayna, an adviser to President Arafat, > said that Arafat's meeting with General Zinni ended > with an agreement by both sides to continue the > American-Palestinian meetings in the next few hours. > Senior Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said that > Israel refused to allow any Palestinian officials > accompany Zinni to take part in the meeting with > Arafat. He said that preventing them from attending > is a clear indicationof the Israeli side's ill-will. > He emphasized the importance of members of the > negotiating team participating in the meetings because > they have the details and the documents that President > Arafat needs. > > The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, on Thursday > gave permission for Zinni to meet Arafat. The > Zinni-Arafat meeting is aimed, evidently, at preparing > for the visit next week of the US Secretary of State > Colin Powell to the Middle East. > > The Situation on the Ground > > Israeli occupation forces have used Apache helicopters > to continue intense rocket attacks on the cities of > Nablus and Jenin and the refugee camps located in > those areas. Twenty have died as martyrs and there > are large numbers of wounded. > > Al-Jazeera's correspondent in Palestine reports that > 14 died as martyrs in Nablus alone. The old city in > Nablus has been subjected to intense bombardment. The > correspondent indicated that the occupation army has > begun intentionally and systematically to destroy > houses and cars, invading houses by blowing off their > doors. The occupation army invaded the town of > Toubas, north of Nablus, where a girl of fourteen was > killed by occupation army gunfire. > > The correspondent reports that the Israelis are > carrying out intentional and systematic wrecking and > destruction of the Palestinian infrastructure in an > operation that covers all Palestinian cities and > towns. They are targeting electricity grids, water > supplies and sewers, trees, sidewalks, and schools - > things that will take dozens of years to rebuild. > > The correspondent reported that four Israeli soldiers > were injured in two separate attacks on the Israeli > occupation forces in Nablus. In the environs of the > city, Palestinian operations against Israeli armor > continue. Five tanks have been destroyed and another > set on fire in the western part of the old city. > Eyewitnesses say that Israeli helicopters could be > seen taking away their wounded. > > In Jenin the bombardment of Jenin refugee camp and the > old city continued, leaving five Palestinian martyrs > dead and numerous others injured. Occupation forces > have still not been able to invade the camp. The > Chief of Staff of the Israeli army has announced that > he would reinforce the troops there. > > Occupation forces shelled Al-Razi Hospital and Jenin > Hospital near where violent battles are underway. > Earlier the occupation forces shelled the water > storage tanks and oxygen store rooms in the hospitals, > preventing them from treating the sick and injured. > Dr. Ali Jabbarin of Al-Razi Hospital told al-Jazeera > that the hospital's ambulance came under attack and > that the ambulance crews are unable to get to the > wounded and martyred as the hospital and its staff are > subjected to gunfire. > > In Bethlehem, news reports say that four explosions > occurred in the environs of the besieged Church of the > Nativity. There has been no word regarding dead or > wounded as a result of the blasts. A number of > explosions also occurred in the area of the church > yesterday. > > A (female) correspondent for al-Jazeera reports that > the church has been subjected to intense fire from the > occupation forces. She added that the Israeli troops > blew up the back gate of the church and broke open a > hole in the outer wall in an apparent attempt to storm > it. The church's bell ringer was killed by Israeli > gunfire when he was ringing the church bells. > > Also in Bethlehem a Palestinian security source > reported that the bodies of seven Palestinians accused > of collaborating with Israelwere found today about 300 > meters from the Church of the Nativity. It is > believed they were killed on Monday. > > In al-Khalil [Hebron] eyewitnesses report that two > Israeli helicopters fired two rockets at a car in the > city, injuring five persons. Israeli tanks and troops > have by now invaded most of the cities and towns of > the West Bank, other than Jericho, in the framework of > their current aggression and in an attempt to isolate > President Arafat. > > The Israeli occupation army has prevented journalists > from covering events around the headquarters of the > Palestinian President in Ramallah. The troops > detonated a percussion explosive in the direction of > about 40 correspondents and their armored vehicle on > which the word "Press" was written in Hebrew, English, > and Arabic. > > The tanks that were on Manger Square and near by > trained their cannon on the journalists when they were > outside their vehicle, while two Israeli military > vehicles and a black military Mercedes took up > positions in the area to push the group of reporters > away from Arafat's headquarters, allowing them to stay > for only a few seconds. A back windows of car > belonging to the American CNN network were broken by > live gunfire. Israeli troops also confiscated the > press cards of a team from Canadian television (CBC). > > Security Council Resolution > > The United Nations Security Council has unanimously > adopted a resolution in the early hours of this > morning that expresses deep concern over the > continuing deterioration of the situation in the > Middle East. The resolution, No. 1403, demands the > "immediate implementation of Resolution 1402" that > called for an immediate cease fire and the withdrawal > of Israeli forces from the cities of the West Bank, > including Ramallah. > > UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged Israel to allow > all peace envoys in the Middle East from Russia, the > European Union, the United Nations, and the United > States to meet with Palestinian President Yasir Arafat > whom Israeli forces have besieged in his ruined > headquarters in Ramallah. > > The Palestinian President announced today his > agreement with the speech of US President George Bush > who called for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from > the cities of the West Bank as a prelude to reaching a > truce and to holding peace talks. Senior Palestinian > negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Arafat had accepted > the contents of Bush's speech "unconditionally." For > its part, Israel welcomed the decision of US President > Bush to send US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the > region in the latest American move to deal with the > situation in the area. But Israel rejected the call > to pull its forces out of the Palestinian areas. It > said that that would need to take place in the > framework of a cease-fire. > > [Translator's note: As was pointed out in the > independent Beirut newspaper "as-Safir" today, US > President Bush's speech did not include a specific > call for an immediate Israeli pullout from the > Palestinian cities that it has re-occupied. What he > said was, "I ask Israel to halt incursions into > Palestinian-controlled areas and begin the withdrawal > from those cities it has recently occupied."] > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ From shniad at sfu.ca Fri Apr 5 15:41:35 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] Nobel's regrets on Peres award - BBC Message-ID: <200204052241.g35MfZS03566@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> BBC Friday, April 5, 2002 Nobel's regrets on Peres award Members of the Norwegian committee that awards the annual Nobel Peace Prize have launched an unprecedented verbal assault on Israeli Foreign Minister and Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres. Mr Peres accepted the peace prize jointly with the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israel's late prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, in 1994. In an interview with a Norwegian newspaper, committee members said they regretted that Mr Peres' prize could not be recalled because, as a member of the Israeli cabinet, he had not acted to prevent Israel's re-occupation of Palestinian territory. One member said Mr Peres had not lived up to the ideals he expressed when he accepted the prize. "What is happening today in Palestine is grotesque and unbelievable," said Hanna Kvanmo. "Peres is responsible, as part of the government. He has expressed his agreement with what [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon is doing," she said. "If he had not agreed with Sharon, then he would have withdrawn from the government." Oslo Bishop Gunnar Stalsett, a committee member for the past eight years, describes as "absurd" what he sees as the involvement of a Nobel laureate in human rights abuses. Other committee members argue that the Israeli government's actions in general and Mr Peres' involvement in particular are threatening to bring the prize into disrepute. Ms Kvanmo said however that "at the time, it was a correct decision" to honor Peres. "He was the one of the three that really deserved the prize, because he took the initiative to the talks that led to the Oslo accords," she said. Committee chairman Geir Lundestad voiced the concern of several members that if Mr Arafat were to be killed as a result of Israeli actions, one Nobel laureate might in effect be said to have killed the other. From shniad at sfu.ca Fri Apr 5 15:42:26 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:12 2006 Subject: [R-G] The world just watches - IHT Message-ID: <200204052242.g35MgQS04592@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The International Herald Tribune April 5, 2002 The world just watches By Neta Golan For the international peace observers currently holed up within Yasser Arafat's presidential compound - myself among them - it is not Israeli actions but the inaction of the international community that has most shocked us. Inside the pock-marked building surrounded by Israeli tanks and snipers, there is one question on everyone's minds: How many international laws does Israel need to break before the United Nations demands a full and immediate Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank? The list of violations is reaching unprecedented levels, even for a conflict with a long history of ugly behavior on both sides. Collective punishment is illegal under international law, but Israel has now escalated from interrupting food shipments to shutting off water to the Palestinian city of Ramallah, endangering the lives of 120,000 people. The shelling of Palestinian civilian structures such as power plants, schools and sewage facilities is occurring at an alarming rate. Unarmed civilians are being killed daily. There are also growing reports of Israeli troops raiding hospitals and firing on ambulances and journalists. These are grave breaches of international conventions. Anthony Shadid, a correspondent for The Boston Globe, was shot on Sunday as he walked away from an interview in our building. The area, under full Israeli control, was quiet and there was no crossfire. Shadid was wearing the required signs on his back and front indicating that he was with the official press. Soon after he arrived at a hospital, Israeli troops raided it with machine guns drawn. When he was subsequently transferred for further medical treatment, his ambulance came under fire from Israeli soldiers manning a checkpoint. Israel is making a mockery of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the founding document of international human rights law, and by its tacit acceptance, the United Nations is severely eroding its credibility in the region and beyond. Those of us inside the presidential compound need help desperately - but not half as much as those on the outside who are facing the full brunt of the mass round-ups and house-to-house raids. The situation cannot deteriorate much further. Medical supplies have run out. Food is scarce. Pressure from abroad is essential. The presence of international "human shields" throughout the occupied territories has been very important in limiting the indiscriminate nature of Israeli military actions. Nothing short of a UN demand for a full withdrawal to the 1967 UN recognized borders, however, will succeed in restoring calm and opening the way for peace negotiations. Simply pulling the troops out of the recently invaded regions will not suffice. In the compound we are left wondering, not without fear, whether the international community will allow the permanent expansion of the already illegal occupation and the exile if not assassination of the Palestinian leader. Neta Golan, an Israeli, is among the 40 international peace observers occupying Yasser Arafat's besieged office. This comment, which she wrote with Ian Urbina, an associate editor of the Washington-based magazine Middle East Report, was contributed to the International Herald Tribune. From shniad at sfu.ca Fri Apr 5 15:43:28 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] 11 September-speak applied to the Middle East - Independent Message-ID: <200204052243.g35MhSS05696@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The lndependent April 5, 2002 A speech laced with obsessions and little else 11 September-speak applied to the Middle East By Robert Fisk Ariel Sharon could not have done better. The heaping of blame upon an occupied people, the obsessive use of the word terror - by my rough count there were 50 references in just 10 minutes - and the brief, frightened remarks about "occupation" and (one mention only) to Jewish settlements and the need for Israeli "compassion" at the end were proof enough that President Bush had totally failed to understand the tragedy he is supposedly trying to solve. The mugger became the victim and the victim became the mugger. What, I wonder, is the exact distance between the Rose Garden and Bethlehem? So the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, is traveling to "the region'' next week. Next week? Why not now? But of course, the White House, which according to the Israeli press has repeatedly been asking Mr Sharon how long he intends to reoccupy the Palestinian cities of the West Bank, is to give the Israeli Prime Minister more time to finish his invasion, destroy the Palestinian infrastructure and dismantle the Palestinian Authority. The speech was laced with all the "war on terror'' obsessions: Iraq as a sponsor of terror for donating money to a family of Palestinian "martyrs'', and Syria for not making up its mind if it is "for or against terror''. The European Union, fearful of rising oil prices and their effect on the eurozone economy, had earlier dispatched a mission to Israel; with typical contempt, Mr Sharon told its members they could not visit Yasser Arafat in Ramallah. The delegation, which had earlier announced that the Americans had failed in their mission as peacemaker in the Middle East, simply packed up and left Tel Aviv within hours. But will Mr Powell do any better? The dollar has fallen against world currencies because of the Middle East crisis - as good a reason as any for Mr Bush to act - and the possible restrictions on Middle East oil production, though more damaging to Europe, must have helped to prompt the President's decision to dispatch Mr Powell. The Palestinian suicide bombings, however, were the core of Mr Bush's address. He talked of the 18-year-old Palestinian girl who blew herself up and killed a 17-year-old Israeli girl, the Jewish state's "dream'' of peace with its neighbors. "Terror must be stopped ... no nation can negotiate with terrorists ... leaderships not terror ... you're either with the civilized world or you're with the terrorists ... all in the Middle East ... must move in word and deed against terrorists ... I call on the Palestinian Authority to do everything in their power to stop terrorist activities.'' Arafat had agreed to control "terrorism'' - "he failed'.' The reoccupation of the West Bank was a "temporary measure'', Mr Bush announced, trusting the word of the Israeli occupiers. "Suicide bombing missions could well blow up the only hope of a Palestinian state.'' On it went, 11 September-speak applied to the Middle East. Israel's enemies must be eliminated - Al Aqsa, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbollah, which yesterday beat up a UN observer on the Lebanese border in the most dangerous incident of its kind since the Israeli withdrawal in 2000. The whole Bush speech revolved around Israel's well-being, with scarcely three minutes devoted to the Palestinians and their 35 years under occupation. Israel should, Mr Bush decided, show a "respect'' for and "concern'' for the Palestinian people. There was some ritual mention of UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, which calls for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in the 1967 war but which Mr Sharon has already said he cannot accept, and an appeal to halt settlement building. But Jewish settlements are still being built, at an ever-faster rate, on Palestinian land. Only a heart of stone could not respond to the suffering of those Israeli families whose loved ones have been so wickedly cut down by the Palestinian suicide bombers. But where was Mr Bush's compassion for the vastly greater number of Palestinians who have been killed by the Israelis over the past 19 months, or his condemnation of Israel's death squads, house demolition and land theft? They simply didn't exist in the Bush speech. The money for "martyrs" does not, of course, only go to the kin of suicide bombers - it goes to families of all those killed by Israelis, most of whom have been struck down by American-made weapons. Certainly, America has never offered to make reparations for the innocents killed by the air-to-ground missiles and shells it has sold to Israel. Far more instructive than the Bush speech was the measured, fair way in which Terje Larson, the UN's special Middle East envoy, and Nigel Roberts, the local director of the World Bank, tried to describe the tragedy. In a short press conference they appealed to both sides to end violence and respect international law and cited Israel as well as the Palestinians for breaking it. The so-called Israeli "closed military areas" were, Mr Larson said, "illegitimate and in direct violation of the [Oslo] Agreements". Mr Roberts talked of the surge in violence as a threat that could "consign to history the unique opportunity for reconciliation''. But "closed military areas" achieved another Israeli victory over the Western television satellite stations. Yesterday, the BBC, Sky and CNN, with their own crews largely prevented from filming in the reoccupied Palestinian cities, all ran footage of the Bethlehem battle taken by Israeli soldiers. Rather than refuse to use the tape unless their own crews were permitted access to the carnage, the three channels all dutifully used the film taken by the army of occupation. Another milestone in the collapse of journalism in the Middle East. But not so serious as the collapse of America's peace-making. From shniad at sfu.ca Fri Apr 5 15:44:29 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Not in our name - John Pilger, Daily Mirror Message-ID: <200204052244.g35MiTS06952@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The Daily Mirror (UK) April 5, 2002 Not in our name How dare George Bush preach peace to Israel when he's meeting Blair to plan war on Iraq ... and the deaths of thousands more innocent people? By John Pilger President George W Bush yesterday called on Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian cities occupied by its forces during the last week. He excused Israel's violence, but lectured the Palestinians and the rest of the Middle East on the need for restraint and a lasting peace. "The storms of violence cannot go on," said Bush. "Enough is enough." What he neglected to say was that he needs a lull in the present crisis to lay his own war plans; that while he talks of peace in the Middle East, he is secretly planning a massive attack on Iraq. This historic display of hypocrisy by Bush will be on show at his ranch in Texas today, with Tony Blair, his collaborator, in admiring attendance. Yes, enough is enough. It is time Tony Blair came clean with the British people on his part in the coming violence against a nation of innocent people. AS THE crisis in Israeli-occupied Palestine deepens, Tony Blair will meet George W Bush today to plan an attack on another country, Iraq. Their decision may condemn to death more than 10,000 civilians. That is the "medium case scenario" drawn up by the Pentagon. If the Americans implement their current strategy of "total war" and target Iraq's electricity and water, the consequences will be even more horrific. There is no mandate in any United Nations resolution for this invasion. It will be as lawless as Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, which triggered the Second World War. Indeed, it may well trigger a Third World War, drawing in nations of the region and beyond. As Blair arrives at Bush's Texas ranch the question begs: Why does he condemn Iraq, but is silent on Israel's current bloody and illegal rampage through Palestine? Why has he not demanded that the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon comply with UN Security Council resolutions, to which Britain is a signatory, and withdraw from the Occupied Territories? Why has Blair said nothing as Sharon has sent tanks and gunships and snipers against civilians - a government targeting innocent people, like the deaf old lady shot by an Israeli sniper as she tried to get to hospital? Why has Blair not called at least for military sanctions against Israel, which has 200 nuclear weapons targeted at Arab capitals? Blair's culpable silence is imposed by the most dangerous American administration for a generation. The Bush administration is determined to attack Iraq and take over a country that is the world's second largest source of oil. The aim is to get rid of America's and Britain's old friend, Saddam Hussein, whom they no longer control, and to install another compliant thug in Baghdad. THAT is why Bush now tells Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian cities it recently occupied while continuing to replenish the Israeli war machine. The Americans want a rampant Israel guarding their flank as they attack Iraq and expand their control across the Middle East, whose oil is now more critical than ever to US military and economic dominance. For almost two months, Downing Street, through the discredited system of unattributable briefings that are secret to the public, have spun two deceptions. The first is that the Prime Minister will play a vital role at today's meeting with Bush on his Texas ranch in "counseling caution." The second is that Blair has a "dossier of detailed evidence" that "proves" that Saddam Hussein has "a nuclear capability" and is "investigating a way to launch unsophisticated nuclear bombs" and is also building chemical and biological weapons. The fiction of Blair as a steadying hand on his Texas buddy is to be read in Blair's unrelenting bellicose statements, and his attempts, against the wishes of his senior military advisers, to send thousands of British troops into the quagmire of Afghanistan, where his "cautionary influence" on Bush saw as many as 5,000 civilians bombed to death while the Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders got away. While remaining silent on Israel, Blair is alone in Europe in his promotion of an attack on Iraq, a nation of 22 million people with whom the British have no quarrel. Mysteriously, the "dossier of proof" of the dangers posed by the Iraqi regime has now been "shelved." This is because no such proof exists and because, suddenly, more than 130 Labour Members of Parliament are in revolt, including Cabinet and former Cabinet members. It must be dawning on many of them that so much of this government's "spin" during the "war on terrorism" has been a farrago of lies and half-truths provided by an American intelligence apparatus seeking to cover its failure to provide warning of the attacks of September 11. Lie Number One is the justification for an attack on Iraq - the threat of its "weapons of mass destruction." Few countries have had 93 per cent of their major weapons capability destroyed. This was reported by Rolf Ekeus, the chairman of the United Nations body authorized to inspect and destroy Iraq's arsenal following the Gulf War in 1991. UN inspectors certified that 817 out of the 819 Iraqi long-range missiles were destroyed. In 1999, a special panel of the Security Council recorded that Iraq's main biological weapons facilities (supplied originally by the US and Britain) "have been destroyed and rendered harmless." As for Saddam Hussein's "nuclear threat," the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iraq's nuclear weapons program had been eliminated "efficiently and effectively". The IAEA inspectors still travel to Iraq and in January reported full Iraqi compliance. Blair and Bush never mention this when they demand that "the weapons inspectors are allowed back". Nor do they remind us that the UN inspectors were never expelled by the Iraqis, but withdrawn only after it was revealed they had been infiltrated by US intelligence. Lie Number Two is the connection between Iraq and the perpetrators of September 11. There was the rumor that Mohammed Atta, one of the September 11 hijackers, had met an Iraqi intelligence official in the Czech Republic last year. The Czech police say he was not even in the country last year. On February 5, a New York Times investigation concluded: "The Central Intelligence Agency has no evidence that Iraq has engaged in terrorist operations against the United States in nearly a decade, and the agency is convinced that Saddam Hussein has not provided chemical or biological weapons to al-Qaeda or related terrorist groups." Lie Number Three is that Saddam Hussein, not the US and Britain, "is blocking humanitarian supplies from reaching the people of Iraq." (Foreign Office minister Peter Hain). The opposite is true. The United States, with British compliance, is currently blocking a record $5billion worth of humanitarian supplies from the people of Iraq. These are shipments already approved by the UN Office of Iraq, which is authorized by the Security Council. They include life-saving drugs, painkillers, vaccines, cancer diagnostic equipment. This wanton denial is rarely reported in Britain. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, mostly children, have died as a consequence of an American and British riven embargo on Iraq that resembles a medieval siege. The embargo allows Iraq less than £100 with which to feed and care for one person for a whole year. This a major factor, says the United Nations' Children's Fund, in the death of more than 600,000 infants. I have seen the appalling state of the children of Iraq. I have sat next to an Iraqi doctor in a modern hospital while she has turned away parents with children suffering from cancers that are part of what they call a "Hiroshima epidemic" - caused, according to several studies, by the depleted uranium that was used by the US and Britain in the Gulf War and is now carried in the dust of the desert. Not only is Iraq denied equipment to clean up its contaminated battlefields, but also cancer drugs and hospital equipment. I showed a list of barred drugs given to me by Iraqi doctors to Professor Karol Sikora, who as chief of the cancer program of the World Health Organization, wrote in the British Medical Journal: "Requested radiotherapy equipment, chemotherapy drugs and analgesics are consistently blocked by United States and British advisers (to the UN Sanctions Committee). There seems to be a rather ludicrous notion that such agents could be converted into chemical and other weapons." He told me: "Nearly all these drugs are available in every British hospital. It seems crazy they couldn't have morphine. When I was in Iraq, in one hospital they had a little bottle of aspirin pills to go around 200 patients in pain." No one doubts that if the murderous Saddam Hussein saw advantage in deliberately denying his people humanitarian supplies, he would do so; but the UN, from the Secretary General himself, has said that, while the regime could do more, it has not withheld supplies. Denis Halliday, the assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, resigned in protest at the embargo which he described as "genocidal". Halliday was responsible for the UN's humanitarian program in Iraq. His successor, Hans Von Sponeck, also resigned in disgust. Last November, they wrote: "The death of 5-6,000 children a month is mostly due to contaminated water, lack of medicines and malnutrition. The US and UK governments' delayed clearance of equipment and materials is responsible for this tragedy, not Baghdad." Those who speak these facts are abused by Blair ministers as apologists for Saddam Hussein - so embroiled is the government with the Bush administration's exploitation of America's own tragedy on September 11. This has prevented public discussion of the crime of an embargo that has hurt only the most vulnerable Iraqis and which is to be compounded by the crime of attacking the stricken nation. Unknown to most of the British public, RAF and American aircraft have been bombing Iraq, week after week, for more than two years. The cost to the British taxpayer is £800million a year. The Wall Street Journal reported that the US and Britain faced a "dilemma" because "few targets remain". "We're down to the last outhouse," said a Pentagon official. IN any attack on Iraq, Saddam Hussein's escape route is virtually assured - just as Osama bin Laden's was. The US and Britain have no wish to free the Iraqi people from a tyranny the CIA once described as its "greatest triumph". The last thing they want is a separate Kurdish state and another allied to the Shi'ite majority in neighboring Iran. They want another Saddam Hussein: one who will do as he is told. On March 13, the Foreign Office entertained Brigadier-General Najib Salihi, a former commander of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard and chief of the dreaded military intelligence who took part in the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Now funded by the CIA, the general "denies any war crimes". Not that he would ever face arrest in the West. At the Foreign Office, he is known as a "rapidly rising star". He is their man, and Washington's man. The British soldiers who take part in an invasion have every right to know the dirty secrets that will underpin their action, and extend the suffering of a people held hostage to a dictatorship and to international power games over which they have no control. Two weeks ago, the Americans made clear they were prepared to use "low yield" nuclear weapons, a threat echoed here by Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon. When will Europe stand up? If the leaders of the European Union fall silent, too, in the face of such danger, what is Europe for? In this country, there is an honorable rallying cry: Not In Our Name. Bush and Blair must be restrained from killing large numbers of innocents in our name - a view, according to the polls, shared by a majority of the British people. An arms and military equipment embargo must be enforced throughout the region, from Saddam Hussein's Iraq to Ariel Sharon's Israel. Above all, the siege of both the Iraqi and Palestinian peoples must end now. From shniad at sfu.ca Fri Apr 5 15:45:28 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] A Rightwing blueprint for the Middle East - AlterNet Message-ID: <200204052245.g35MjaS07942@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12785 AlterNet April 4, 2002 A Rightwing blueprint for the Middle East By Jim Lobe George W. Bush's silence in the face of the destruction of the Palestine Authority (PA) -- and with it, the nine-year-old Oslo peace process -- marks a sweeping change in U.S. policy in the Middle East. The appeals of Arab allies to rein in Sharon have fallen on utterly deaf ears. The lack of response to date suggests that the Bush White House has now fully embraced the rightwing view that Israel is the U.S.' only strategic ally in the region. And that the interests of Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, will have to take second place to the broader "war against terrorism." This shift in perspective marks a huge and potentially decisive victory for a coalition of largely Jewish neo-conservatives and Christian Right Republicans both inside and outside the administration. They have argued with increasing vehemence in recent months that Washington's traditional deference -- which they label as "appeasement" -- to Arab rulers is ultimately counter-productive. Who is the Pro-Israel Lobby? Members of the anti-Arab lobby within the administration include: Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, the second and third in command at the Pentagon respectively; Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff and national security adviser; Elliott Abrams, a senior member of the National Security Council Staff; John Bolton, Undersecretary of State for international security; and John Ashcroft, the evangelical Christian who heads the Department of Justice. It is also evident that Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney generally share the views of their immediate deputies. Outside the White House, William Bennett-- the influential former Reagan and Bush Sr. appointee who often spans the divide between neo-cons and the Christian Right -- is one of the prominent advocates of Israel. "America's fate and Israel's fate are one and the same," he wrote two weeks ago. Criticizing the State Department for calling on Sharon to exercise restraint, Bennett claimed that "Israel is being pressured so that we can assuage countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Yet it just so happens that those countries are responsible for the reappearance of the worst forms of anti-Jewish propaganda since (Nazi Propaganda Minister) Joseph Goebbels." Bennett's article was one of dozens that have been churned out by the pro-Likud Right through publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, the National Review, and Washington Times, as well as the nationally syndicated columns of Charles Krauthammer, William Safire, and Michael Kelly. Targeting the State Department Many of these sources favor the even harder line of Sharon's main Likud rival, Benyimin Netanyahu. They have not hesitated to attack Sharon himself when he has shown any hesitation in destroying the Oslo peace process -- an initiative they have opposed from the outset. But their principal target has been the State Department, and especially its Near East Bureau, which the Right believes has long been a hotbed of pro-Arab, if not anti-Semitic, sentiment. In their view, the Bureau's analysts (and Mideast specialists in the Central Intelligence Agency which tend to back up the Bureau) are simply wrong. For example, the State Department's perspective -- which is shared by virtually all Mideast specialists in the United States, Europe, and even Israel -- sees the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a central factor in the region's politics. Bureau analysts argue that any effort by Washington to build Arab support for an attack on Iraq will be made far more difficult by an escalation of the conflict or, worse, the complete collapse of the peace process. Their view of Israeli actions is best summed up by Nicholas Veliotes, retired head of the Bureau and ambassador to Egypt, who told CNN that the situation "in the West Bank and Gaza is an obscenity," which will badly damage U.S. interests in the region. The right-wing lobby however disagrees. "Washington needs to wean itself from viewing the Israeli-Palestinian collision as the center of the Middle East," according to Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA covert operator who is now at the staunchly neo-con thinktank American Enterprise Institute. It is a view repeatedly echoed on the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, which noted just last week that "the path to a calmer Mideast now lies not rhough Jerusalem but through Baghdad." A Radical Plan of Action To the argument that Sharon's march into the Palestinian territories inspires "fury and hatred against the United States on the Arab "street," Gerecht responds, "Arabs only respect strength." "In the Middle East, America's awe -- the key element that gives both us and our Israeli and Arab friends security -- can only be damaged by a Bush administration publicly fretting about Ariel Sharon's prosecution of his war against the Palestinian Authority," he writes. "Though the Near East Bureau at State hates the notion, the tougher Sharon becomes, the stronger our image will be in the Middle East." Regional experts have also repeatedly argued that the conflict in Israel and Palestine makes it far more difficult for long-time U.S. allies and clients, especially Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to maintain their control -- and hence their "moderate" policies -- since their people demand strong action against Israel. The Right subscribes to the radical view that the destabilization of such autocratic governments may be a good thing. Permitting Arafat to set up a Palestinian Authority "is only the latest example of how dealing with Mideast dictators has become a Faustian bargain, not just for Israel but also for the U.S.," wrote the Journal's editorial staff Wednesday. "American presidents have gambled for 40 years that these rulers can buy stability, and that the alternative is far worse; in the long run they come back to haunt us." The answer, according to this view, is to invade Iraq and establish a democratic government that can serve as a model for the region. "Liberating Iraq from Saddam and sponsoring democracy would not only rid the region of a major military threat. It would also send a message to the Arab world that self-determination as part of the modern world is possible," according to the Journal, which dismisses Arafat as a petty despot rather than leader elected by the population of the Palestinian Authority. This view received strong support from Joshua Muravchik in The Standard few months ago. Reviewing a survey by another neo-con group, Freedom House, he noted that people in the Arab world enjoy the least freedom. "Far from pointing toward a relaxation of military efforts (in the war against terror)," Muravchik wrote, "(the survey) suggests that the more terror-loving tyrannies the United States can topple the better." And what if the Saudi royal family were replaced by a democratic government that was nonetheless hostile to the United States? The Wall Street Journal would be ecstatic: "It would force a decision on whether to take over the Saudi oilfields, which would put an end to OPEC." From shniad at sfu.ca Fri Apr 5 15:53:48 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Sharon buys time [with Bush's approval] - Haaretz Message-ID: <200204052253.g35MrmS16431@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Haaretz April 6, 2002 Sharon buys time [with Bush's approval] By Aluf Benn U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday granted Israel a few more days' grace to complete the Protective Wall offensive - until Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives in the region - according to Jerusalem's assessment of the American leader's speech. Powell called Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday afternoon to inform him of the main points of the impending speech. Sharon put in a request "to buy time" for the IDF mission in the territories. He dispatched Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., David Ivri, to the White House with a message: Let us complete the offensive and break the back of Palestinian terror; this would be the most significant contribution toward peace. Sharon was pleased with Bush's speech; the IDF offensive received presidential justification. While Bush called on Israel "to halt incursions and begin [its] withdrawal", he did not talk of an immediate withdrawal. He spoke particularly forcefully against Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, whom he held responsible for the situation and for missing "his opportunities and thereby [betraying] the hopes of the people he's supposed to lead." Bush also took into consideration Israel's position vis-a-vis the Saudi initiative and vis-a-vis Syria, which he called on to act against Hamas and Hezbollah. The prime minister now has two foreign ministers to contend with - Colin Powell and Shimon Peres. Sharon did not like Powell's remarks two days ago in which he called for accelerating the political component and effectively took the side of the Palestinians, saying it was insufficient to implement a cease-fire and security measures unless they were accompanied by a political process. In a meeting yesterday with U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni, Sharon stressed that holding negotiations before terrorism is wiped out will merely lead to further terrorism. However, Sharon realizes he cannot walk on thin ice any longer, and has agreed to Zinni's meeting with Arafat - a humiliation for the EU which requested a similar meeting but was refused. However, Sharon is not enthralled about stepped-up American involvement, particularly Powell's impending visit. The stand-off between Sharon and Peres is heating up. Peres, who is not enamored with the IDF offensive, has been trying to persuade Arafat to accept the Zinni initiative - to declare a cease-fire and to stop speaking about martyrs. Peres is frustrated by Arafat, but believes the PA and its leaders will survive the offensive. Sharon knows that Peres' "pressure" on Arafat to accept the Zinni proposal is actually a lifeline for the beleaguered Palestinian leader. The prime minister would like the offensive to end with a decisive IDF victory. Peres and Sharon met Monday but failed to resolve their differences. Nevertheless, the foreign minister does not plan to leave the government. He still believes his presence is essential, whether as a lever for peace moves or as an obstacle to extremist steps. http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=148533&contrassID =2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=148533 From shniad at sfu.ca Fri Apr 5 16:51:42 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Military achievements of US campaign in Afghanistan have fallen short of targets - Frontline Message-ID: <200204052351.g35NpgS13940@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1907/19070460.htm Frontline Volume 19 - Issue 07, Mar. 30 - Apr. 12, 2002 War and resistance The heavy-handed U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan proceeds on its weary course, but the military achievements have clearly fallen short of the targets. By John Cherian THE recent spurt in the extent and furiousness of the fighting in eastern Afghanistan shows that the Taliban and the Al Qaeda forces continue to be active. In early March, the Pentagon had announced that this time it would not allow the enemy fighters to escape. But the American forces were taken by surprise when they were ambushed by enemy forces in the Sah-i-Khot valley near the city of Gardez in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Earlier, the American military had launched "Operation Anaconda" with much fanfare to trap what the Pentagon described as Al Qaeda and non-Taliban fighters. The ambush resulted in the downing of an MH-47 army transport helicopter and damage to another. Eighteen U.S. soldiers were killed in the incident, the highest number killed in one battle since two American helicopters were downed in Mogadishu in 1993 by Somali rebels opposed to the U.S. presence there. That incident had led to the precipitate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Somalia. "Operation Anaconda" lasted 12 days, during which period seven more U.S. soldiers lost their lives. For the first time, helicopter gunships were used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, the Pentagon claimed that "Anaconda" was a grand military success. The U.S. military announced that more than 700 Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters were killed and claimed that their command and control structure in Shah-e-Kot had been destroyed. But all that reporters were shown were three unmarked graves near the site of the fighting. From all indications, the militants made yet another escape, similar to the one in Tora Bora. In the third week of March, the interim government in Kabul announced that large numbers of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters were regrouping across southern Afghanistan. The government had mobilised more troops for deployment in these regions, heightening fears that fresh fighting might break out across the country. The government troops mostly comprise Tajiks, who are disliked in the Pashtun-dominated south. Now, the U.S. acknowledges that its military offensive in the Tora Bora mountain ranges failed to eliminate or capture the members of the Taliban or the Al Qaeda leadership. The Pentagon has admitted that thousands of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters, including possibly Osama bin Laden, escaped the heavy bombardment that lasted several weeks. American forces used missiles and even lethal "Daisy Cutter" bombs in an attempt to smoke the militants out of their caves. In February, a Hellfire missile was fired at three men, one of whom was strikingly tall. American intelligence presumed that the tall man was Osama bin Laden. However, the three turned out to be poor Afghans who had been scrounging for scrap metal. They were blown to pieces. During the past three months, there have been sporadic guerilla attacks on American and allied troops. The U.S. response, as usual, was heavy-handed. In Madoo village American missiles killed at least 50 civilians. In January, U.S. Commandos killed 21 people, who were labelled as Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. They happened to be loyalists of the interim President, Ahmad Karzai. It was only after Karzai protested that the Americans ordered an enquiry. However, the U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismisses reports of massive civilian casualties as "enemy propaganda". Several senior Bush administration officials reluctantly concede that some "collateral damage" could have taken place. A Pentagon spokesman admitted that it was difficult to distinguish between friend and foe in Afghanistan; "People are on multiple sides and they switch sides". The spectre of urban guerilla warfare is looming over the American forces as Islamists and disgruntled elements slowly regroup. A major preoccupation of the 4,000-strong American troops seems to be to shore up the authority of the interim Afghan President. In February, American aircraft dropped precision guided bombs near the southeastern city of Khost, where militias opposed to Karzai were holed up. The killing of Civil Aviation Minister Abdul Rahman in February is another indication of the uncertain political climate in Kabul. Rahman like Karzai was a royalist who wanted former King Zahir Shah to return to active politics. Karzai had characterised the killing of Rahman as the outcome of a "political conspiracy". But many of the so-called warlords are already running big cities like Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif as virtually independent fiefs, while others profit from the chaos wrought by American military intervention. The U.S. launched its war in October, at the beginning of the poppy cultivation season. The ousted Taliban government had successfully implemented its pledge to the international community to stop the production of opium. But once again, areas under the control of the warlords are involved in the lucrative opium business. However, the U.S. seems to be unconcerned as it does not involve the Taliban or the Al Qaeda and because the illegal trade in narcotics mainly impacts on countries such as Iran. It is easier for Karzai to undertake international travel than to travel within Afghanistan. There is hardly any serious attempt under way to raise an independent and professional army for Afghanistan. Experts say that if the interim government wishes to extend its authority beyond Kabul, the government needs a fighting force of at least 60,000 troops. The international community too has not bothered to earmark funds for this. At the international donors' conferences held in Berlin and Tokyo recently, large amounts of money was pledged for the reconstruction of Afghanistan but none for security. Human rights groups in the U.S. have put estimates of civilian deaths among Afghans since October 2001 between 4,000 and possibly 8,000, with an additional 3,000 people dying of hunger and cold as they fled the relentless American bombing. They plan to send teams to Afghanistan to investigate the scale of the American military attacks on civilian targets and the allegations of excessive and illegitimate use of force by the U.S. military. The U.S. Air Force is estimated to have dropped a huge number of cluster-bombs. Such bombs were responsible for a large number of civilian casualties in the Gulf War and the war against Yugoslavia. Each cluster bomb sprays more than 200 bomblets, the size of a small bottle. Human rights organisations say that there are at least 36,000 unexploded bomblets strewn across Afghanistan today. THE first signs of dissent in the U.S. over the Bush administration's military campaign are meanwhile visible. The failure to capture bin Laden or Mullah Omar has seriously dented the Bush administration's claim of a famous military victory in Afghanistan. The U.S. Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle, recently said that if neither Omar or Osama were captured, "we will have failed". Critics had warned the Bush administration that going to war against the Taliban would not dismantle the Al Qaeda's global network and that casualties among Afghan civilians would be high. The number of civilian deaths in Afghanistan seems to have exceeded that of those killed in the carnage in New York and Washington on September 11. Recently, the Central Intelligence Agency Director, George Tent, admitted that the Al Qaeda continues to have cells in more than 59 countries. Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich said that the U.S. President was not authorised to declare war (Operation Enduring Freedom) against the world without limit or reason: "We did not ask that the blood of the innocent people, who perished on September 11, be avenged with the blood of innocent villagers in Afghanistan." From LAMZ at sympatico.ca Fri Apr 5 18:50:01 2002 From: LAMZ at sympatico.ca (Lysander Zimmerman) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Bush Abruptly Drops Demand for Israel Pullout Message-ID: <000f01c1dd0d$5e2968d0$33378d18@Indy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: "t r u t h o u t" To: "t r u t h o u t" Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 8:25 PM Subject: Bush Abruptly Drops Demand for Israel Pullout > t r u t h o u t | 04.06 > > BREAKING NEWS SPECIAL | Israel and Palestine in Mortal Conflict > U.S. Envoy, Arafat Meet > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/03.31.BK.IDFvArafat.htm > > Bush Abruptly Drops Demand for Israel Pullout > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.06A.Israel.Pullout.htm > > Israel Ignores Bush Appeal But Lets Envoy Meet Arafat > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.06B.Envoy.Arafat.htm > > Judge Refuses to Bar Secret Evidence > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.06C.Secret.Evidence.htm > > Jennifer Van Bergen | Repeal the USA Patriot Act > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.06D.JVB.Patriot.htm > > White House Stonewall: Day 42 > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.06E.Stonewall.htm > > Sweeney Dismisses Bush Ergonomics Plan as "Meaningless" > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.06F.Bush.Plan.htm > > John Pilger | Not In Our Name > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.06G.JP.Name.htm > > Study by Governors Calls Bush Welfare Plan Unworkable > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.06H.Bush.Unworkable.htm > > t r u t h o u t, is a non-profit independent news source. > http://www.truthout.org > > t r u t h o u t - Newsletter Sign-up (Free) : > https://www.truthout.org/membership/membership.htm > > _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ > > t r u t h o u t | 04.05 > > Bush Says U.S. Is to Assume Stronger Role in Ending Violence > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.05A.Ending.Violence.htm > > Imprisoned American Indian Activist Sues FBI for Violating Civil Rights > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.05B.Peltier.htm > > Conyers on Haddad Ruling : "A Victory for Fundamental Fairness" > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.05C.Conyers.Haddag.htm > > Jennifer Van Bergen | Repeal the USA Patriot Act > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.05D.JVB.Patriot.htm > > Washington Is Criticized for Growing Reluctance to Sign Treaties > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.05E.Sign.Treaties.htm > > White House Stonewall: Day 41 > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.05F.Stonewall.htm > > Poor Women Less Likely to be Promptly Diagnosed, Treated for Breast Cancer, Study Shows > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.05G.Breast.Cancer.htm > > Senate Trade Bill to Go Well Beyond President's Request for Trading Authority > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.05H.Trade.Bill.htm > > Federal Government vs The Last American Wild Buffalo Herd | Update 4/03/2002 > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.05I.BFC.Update.htm > > t r u t h o u t, is a non-profit independent news source. > http://www.truthout.org > > t r u t h o u t - Newsletter Sign-up (Free) : > https://www.truthout.org/membership/membership.htm > > _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ > > t r u t h o u t | 04.04 > > Oprah Winfrey : White House Set Me Up > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.04A.Oprah.Set-up.htm > > Oil Company Memo Calls for Dr. Watson's Dismissal; Administration Obliges > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.04B.Oil.Company.htm > > Israeli Tanks Enter Nablus > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.04C.Israeli.Tanks.htm > > Bernard Weiner | An American Jew Talks About His Shame > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.04D.BW.Shame.htm > > Jennifer Van Bergen | Repeal the USA Patriot Act > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.04E.JVB.Patriot.htm > > John Cory | Democrats and Doormats > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.04F.JC.Democrats.htm > > No, Mr. Sharon! No, Mr. Arafat | Both of You Have it Wrong > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.04G.Sharon.Arafat.htm > > Sierra Club Criticizes Old Allies > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.04H.Sierra.Club.htm > > "The Treasures of Taos: Art, Culture, Scenery" > http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.04I.Taos.NM.htm > > t r u t h o u t, is a non-profit independent news source. > http://www.truthout.org > > t r u t h o u t - Newsletter Sign-up (Free) : > https://www.truthout.org/membership/membership.htm > > _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ > > > > --+------------------------------------------------------------------ > You are subscribed as: lamz@sympatico.ca > To unsubscribe, go to: > http://list.truthout.com/unsub.php/newsletter1/lamz@sympatico.ca > or e-mail: > --+-- > From hunterbadbear at earthlink.net Fri Apr 5 22:45:06 2002 From: hunterbadbear at earthlink.net (Hunter Gray) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] The Navajo and the Southwest Message-ID: <002401c1dd2e$36a06540$2570fa43@ibm22761429477> Note by Hunterbear: In Portside Tidbits of today -- April 5 -- "Dan" takes issue with a major point in my recent Portside-posted piece, "Anthropology and Anthropologists etc." He is very wrong indeed in his contention that the Navajo came late to the Southwest -- i.e. 1600 -- and his accusation that the Navajos have done a "recent rewrite of history" is obviously as pejorative as it is puzzling. Here are the facts and, since there has been a tendency in some quarters to minimize the historical length of Native residence in various locales, I'm posting this beyond simply that of conventional response on Portside: From: Dan Re: Anthropology and anthropologists; Chagnon and the Yanomami > grew up among the Navajo, adversaries of the Anasazi > in the "old time" [mostly over water resources], who > have nothing whatsoever in their very carefully > maintained and intricate oral history to indicate > that cannibalism was ever practiced by these long ago > pueblo neighbors. I think the timing is off. Anasazi as a culture dispersed around 1200 AD, Navajo do not seem to have appeared (no matter their recent rewrite of history) until around 1600 AD. ============================= The Athabascan-speaking Navajo -- known as Dine' or Dineh -- came down from the Far North. [There are suggestive phrases from far away in the language -- among them "Sleep paddles away from me like a canoe." I can recall a 1940s Western movie at Flagstaff which had been filmed in Canada's Northwest Territories -- and included Natives who spoke in their own Dine' language -- stimulating immediate, swift and excited responses from my Navajo companions. ] In any event, the Navajo entered the Southwest in a number of family bands -- sometimes known today as "the outfit" and with clan systems fully intact to this present moment -- before and slightly after 1,000 A.D. "Dan" would have them arriving long after the Spanish who the Navajo, of course, fiercely resisted -- even as, seizing Spanish horses, they became very great horsepeople and remain so. "Dan" does not contest my statement that the Anasazi were in the Southwest 800 and more years ago. A solid, easy to find reference on Navajo basics is Clyde Kluckhohn and Dorothea Leighton, The Navajo, Harvard University Press, 1946 and then Doubleday Anchor revised edition, 1962. And, of course, there are many more recent works -- but Kluckhohn and Leighton, whose rapport was always very solid with the Navajo, are extremely authoritative. Hunter Gray [ Hunterbear ] www.hunterbear.org ( social justice ) From pieinsky at igc.org Sat Apr 6 07:15:21 2002 From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fw: al-Jazeera this morning Message-ID: <005401c1dd75$85a85c00$ba7df2d0@bypass.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Muhammad Abu Nasr" To: Sent: Saturday, April 06, 2002 8:33 AM Subject: al-Jazeera this morning > Dear Jay, > > Here's the latest this morning. > > Best, > > Muhammad > ----------------- > http://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2002/4/4-6-7.htm > > Al-Jazeera TV website. Saturday, 6 April 2002, 10:30 > G.M.T. > > Mofaz himself leading the Israeli drive to storm and > destroy Jenin refugee camp > > An al-Jazeera correspondent in Palestine has reported > that the Israeli Chief of Staff, General Shaul Mofaz, > is personally leading the operation to destroy Jenin > refugee camp after two days of failed Israeli attempts > to storm the camp. He adds that the commander of the > brigade who had been in charge of the operation has > been relieved of his command and Mofaz is personally > in charge of the operation to destroy the camp over > the heads of its residents. > > Residents of the camp whom al-Jazeera was able to > contact say that the Israeli chief of staff who is > leading the operation from a helicopter in the air > gave orders to his forces to intensify the bombardment > from helicopters, tanks, and heavy artillery on the > houses and positions in which the resistance fighters > are taking cover and on anything that moves in the > camps. Residents add that bodies are strewn > throughout the streets and that their numbers can't be > counted because of the intensity of the shelling. > Meanwhile this morning six bodies were discovered, > three of which belong to Palestine Security Force men. > > Senior Palestinian Negotiator, Saeb Erekat, has > announced that all means of communication with > President Yasir Arafat, who is besieged in his > headquarters in Ramallah, have been cut off since dawn > this morning. Erekat said on the American news > network CNN from Ariha [Jericho] that this morning he > had failed to make contact with Arafat. > > An al-Jazeera correspondent in Palestine reports that > explosions and gunfire can be heard near the > headquarters of the Palestinian President as Israeli > helicopters hover in the area. This was shortly after > Israel cut the electricity off from the President's > headquarters. Palestinians say that these explosions > might be the prelude to an assault on the headquarters > that has been surrounded by Israeli tanks. > > The Palestine News Agency (Wafa) quotes security > sources as saying that the Headquarters of the > Presidency in the city of Ramallah this morning came > under sporadic heavy machine gun fire from Israeli > occupation tanks concentrated near the headquarters. > Grenades were also used. > > Invasions of New Areas > > Two Palestinians died as martyrs and seven others were > wounded today as the Palestinian resistance stood up > to the Israeli occupation forces that were storming > the town of Yata, south of al-Khalil [Hebron]. > Israeli infantry units supported by tanks this morning > entered the town of Yata where battles are still > continuing between occupation force and the > Palestinian resistance. > > Occupation forces also stormed al-Fawwar refugee camp > south of al-Khalil [Hebron] and the town of `Atil in > the Tulkarm region, and the town of Qabatiya in the > area of Jenin. Palestinian security sources said that > theoccupation army this morning, Saturday, entered > Qabatiya, located 10 kilometers south of Jenin. > > The Resistance Continues > > In the cities of Jenin and Nablus and their adjoining > refugee camps - where the number of martyred dead > since yesterday has risen to 36, including a child - > the Palestinian resistance fighters have defied death > in their resistance to the occupation forces. Israeli > helicopters and tanks have intensified their > bombardment of the two cities and camps. A > correspondent for al-Jazeera in Palestine says that > there are numerous wounded people who are bleeding to > death without medical assistance in the camps of Jenin > and `Askar and the old town in Nablus. He said that > columns of tanks are massed at the entrance to the > city of Jenin in preparation for an assault. > > The correspondent explained that the occupation forces > are carrying out an operation of systematic > destruction of Jenin camp that is surrounded on all > sides. Fifteen houses have been destroyed with > everyone inside. The Palestinian resistance announced > a guerrilla operation carried out yesterday by a > Palestinian among a group of Israeli soldiers inside a > house in Jenin. Palestinian security officials said > that the leader of the al-Aqsa Martys Brigades in the > West Bank, Nasir `Uways, died a martyr in a commando > operation in the city of Nablus when he blew himself > up among a group of occupation troops in the Ras > al-`Ayn area. > > Three Israeli soldiers were killed and more than ten > injured, one of them in grave condition, in > Palestinian guerrilla attacks in Nablus, Jenin, and > the adjacent camps. In an appeal he broadcast over > al-Jazeera network, Palestinian Minister of > Information, Yasir Abd Rabbuh warned of a massacre in > Jenin refugee camp in the next few hours as more than > fifty Israeli tanks have surrounded the camp. > > In Bethlehem the occupation forces have maintained > their grip on the city despite their declaration that > the curfew had been partially lifted. The blockade > that the occupation forces have imposed on the Church > of the Nativity is still in force. Inside, food and > medical supplies have been exhausted for the more than > 200 people besieged in the building. As many foreign > countries have evacuated their nationals from > Bethlehem in fear for their safety, occupation forces > are targeting ambulance crews who have as a result > failed to reach the wounded Palestinians to take them > to hospitals. > > Christian sources expressed their fear that the > Israeli forces would try to legalize an attack, that > appears imminent, on the church by claiming that the > monks inside are being held as hostages. > > Attack on a Jewish Settlement > > In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian died a martyr in a > violent battle that erupted inside the Rafih Jewish > settlement that is next to the city of Rafah. A > correspondent for al-Jazeera in the Gaza Strip reports > on the authority of eye-witnesses that a number of > Palestinians infiltrated into the settlement and > battled with Israeli forces inside. Four Israelis > were wounded during the battle. > > The Islamic Jihad Movement announced its > responsibility for the operation over loudspeakers in > the streets of Rafah. Palestinian security sources > said that Israeli tanks opened fire on the Tell Sultan > area in Rafah inflicting damage on a number of > buildings. > > Powell - Arafat Meeting > > In another development, Saeb Erekat, Senior > Palestinian Negotiator, has repeated today in an > interview with al-Jazeera that Palestinian officials > will refuse to meet with American Secretary of State > Colin Powell if he refuses to meet with the > Palestinian President Yasir Arafat during his trip to > the Middle East, which is schedulled to begin > tomorrow. > > Erekat said that "If he does that, Powell will cause > the failure of his trip before it even starts." But > Erekat believes that Powell will meet Arafat "because > he knows full well that the Palestinian President is > the address of the Palestinian people and the key to > any solution of the crisis." > > A spokesman for the American President, Ari Fleischer, > said yesterday that Powell had not yet decided whether > he would meet Arafat during his trip. After meeting > the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Marwan al-Ma`shar in > Washington, Powell said in response to a question > about Fleischer's statement that there are no plans at > the moment for a meeting of this kind, but that does > not mean that it would not take place at an > appropriate time. > > Powell said that Israel must withdraw its military > forces from the Palestinian territories quickly and > without delay. Powell told journalists that President > George Bush expects that the Israeli incursions would > stop in the shortest possible time and that the > withdrawal of forces would begin without delay. > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ From pieinsky at igc.org Sat Apr 6 13:30:49 2002 From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fw: al-jazeera update Message-ID: <000c01c1dda9$f570b3a0$477df2d0@bypass.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Muhammad Abu Nasr" To: Sent: Saturday, April 06, 2002 12:14 PM Subject: al-jazeera update > Dear Jay, > > an urgent update > best > Muhammad > ---------- > http://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2002/4/4-6-12.htm > > al-Jazeera TV Website. Saturday, 6 April 2002. 15:38 > G.M.T. > > Israeli soldier killed in an operation by al-Jihad > al-Islami near Rafah in the Gaza Strip. > Dozens killed in Jenin and Nablus. > > The Palestinian leadership today has issued an urgent > appeal in which it called on all international > organizations and bodies to intervene immediately to > rescue Jenin refugee camp from the massacres that > threaten it at the hands of the occupation forces led > by Israeli Chief of Staff, Shaul Mofaz. > > In the city of Nablus, near Jenin, the number of > martyred dead has risen to 13 as a result of the > continued Israeli attacks that are concentrated on the > old city in the city. > > The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine has announced > its responsibility for a guerrilla attack that took > the life of an Israeli soldier in a Jewish settlement > in Rafah Yam in the south of the Gaza Strip. > > Meanwhile political interest is attached the expected > visit of the American Secretary of State, Colin Powell > to the region and the possibility of his meeting with > besieged Palestinian President Arafat. > > Massacre in Jenin > > Local attention is focused now on the Jenin refugee > camp where occupation forces are continuing their > offensive on the camp amid widely shared fears that > the residents might suffer ugly massacres at the hands > of occupation troops. > > An entrenched Palestinian fighter in the camp said > that he counted at least thirty bodies in one area of > the camp. Bodies of martyrs and wounded are strewn > throughout the streets and lanes. The Palestinian > fighter said that everyone would be shocked at the > number of victims in the crowded refugee camp. > > Another Palestinian resistance fighter in a telephone > conversation with al-Jazeera said that the occupation > forces are using Palestinian civilians - the elderly, > women, and children - as human shields in front of > their tanks as they try to storm the camp. > > He believes that the occupation forces have been able > to impose their control over parts of the camp, > despite the violent resistance that the Palestinian > resistance is putting up. The resistance has > announced a guerrilla operation carried out yesterday > by a Palestinian amid a group of Israeli troops inside > one of the houses of Jenin. The extent of Israeli > losses as a result of the operation is not yet known. > > A correspondent for al-Jazeera reports that seven > Israeli military helicopters are firing continuously > at all parts of the camp. Occupation bulldozers have > begun to destroy the Palestinians' houses, razing them > to the ground. > > The Palestinian Information Minister, Yasir Abd > Rabbuh, said in a statement to al-Jazeera that the > first estimates indicate that at least a hundred > martyrs have died in the massacre of Jenin. Abd > Rabbuh said that Jenin is witnessing a new Sabra and > Shatila. > > The commander of the attacking Israeli forces has > declared that those who battle with the Israeli forces > will be killed. The Israeli forces' commander in the > region told Israeli radio that the Palestinian > fighters are in an extremely difficult situation. He > added, "we have blockaded them and attacked them with > the aim of getting them to surrender. Whoever does > not surrender, we will kill him." > > The Israeli Chief of Staff, Shaul Mofaz, is > supervising the Israeli attack on Jenin camp. At the > same time, the occupation forces have declared Jenin a > closed military zone and prohibited journalists from > getting to it. > > The director of the Jenin hospital, Dr. Nader Rashid, > said that occupation forces are preventing medical > teams from getting to the wounded who are strewn on > the streets. > > Thirteen Martyrs in Nablus > > Meanwhile Palestinian sources say that at least 13 > persons have died as martyrs and dozens others wounded > seriously in the city of Nablus in the West Bank. > They indicated that the entrances to the city have > witnessed violent fighting. Israeli helicopters have > fired at many districts in Nablus. Palestinian > sources added that the bombardment has caused the > destruction of many houses and that the bodies of the > martyrs and wounded are still strewn on the streets of > the city where the occupation forces prevent > ambulances from getting to them. The fate of about 60 > persons remains unknown after the occupation forces > bombarded the homes in which they had taken refuge. > > Palestinian security officials said that the leader of > the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank, Nasir > `Uways, died a martyr in a commando operation in the > city of Nablus when he blew himself up among a group > of occupation troops in the Ras al-`Ayn area. The > occupation forces have not disclosed information on > any losses they may have suffered from the attack. > > Battles in Bethlehem > > Battles are continuing in Bethlehem for the fifth > straight day between Israeli occupation forces and > Palestinians inside one of the churches in Bethlehem. > The sound of sporadic gunfire could be heard coming > form Israeli positions surrounding the Church of the > Nativity. > > Occupation forces have re-imposed the curfew after > lifting it for a few hours to allow the residents to > take their dead and wounded to hospitals and to stock > up with food supplies. > > The Vatican has proposed a plan to Israel for ending > without bloodshed the blockade that the occupation > forces have imposed on the Church of the Nativity in > Bethlehem. > > In Ramallah two Palestinians have died as martyrs, one > of them a child aged 10, from occupation forces' > gunfire in two incidents in Ramallah and the > neighboring town of Bitouniya. Khalid al-`Umari (56 > years old) was martyred after being struck by three > bullets in his chest as he drove his car through > Ramallah. Isra' `Uthman was martyred in Bitouniya. > > Arafat's situation > > Palestinian Minister of Local Rule, Saeb Erekat, has > announced that Palestinian President Yasir Arafat > informed him at noon today that the situation in his > headquarters is very bad. There is no electricity, no > running water, no drinking water, and no fuel to power > the generators. > > Erekat said that President Arafat asked him > immediately to contact the whole world to stop the > massacres that are happening in Jenin and Nablus. > Erekat added that he had communicated with General > Zinni and other American officials and asked them to > help in getting ambulances admitted to Jenin refugee > camp and into the old city in Nablus. He asked for > help in stopping the massacres that are being > committed in those two locations. > > An official source in the Islamic Resistance Movement, > Hamas, has reported that the occupation forces have > raided the home of Shaykh Hasan Yousuf, one of the > Hamas leaders in the West Bank in the city of > Ramallah. They arrested his son after searching the > house and not finding Hasan Yousuf himself. > > Three Martyrs in al-Khalil [Hebron] > > The number of Palestinian martyrs in the al-Khalil > [Hebron] area has risen to three. A young Palestinian > aged 13 died as a martyr today from Israeli gunfire in > al-Fawwar refugee camp south of al-Khalil. Robin > Khaddour was martyred by a fatal gunshot to his chest > when the occupation forces opened fire on a little > girl near the town of Yata south of al-Khalil. The > pretext for the incident was the claim that a convoy > of Israeli vehicles had been subjected to stoning. > > Earlier, two Palestinians died as martyrs and seven > others were wounded as the Palestinian resistance > stood up to occupation forces when they began attempts > to storm the town of Yata this morning. > > Israeli soldier killed in Rafah > > Meanwhile, in a statement of which al-Jazeera has > received a copy, the Squadrons of Jerusalem, the > military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement in > Palestine, has announced its responsibility for an > operation today that killed one Israeli soldier and > wounded four others near the city of Rafah in the Gaza > Strip. Two Palestinians died as martyrs in the > violent battle that took place in the Jewish > settlement Rafih Yam that is adjacent to the city of > Rafah in the Gaza Strip. > > A correspondent for al-Jazeera in the Gaza Strip > reports on the authority of eyewitnesses that the two > Palestinians had infiltrated into the settlement and > battled with the occupation forces inside. > > In a related incident, a Unified Operations Chamber > has been established by the forces and military wings > of the Fateh Movement, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam > Brigades [affilitated with Hamas], the National > Liberation Brigades [affiliated with the Democratic > Front for the Liberation of Palestine], the Martyr Abu > Ali Mustafa Brigades [affiliated with the Popular > Front for the Liberation of Palestine], and the > Squadrons of Jerusalem [affiliated with the Islamic > Jihad of Palestine], in coordination with the military > and security apparatuses of the Palestine National > Authority. > > In its first communiqu?, the United Operations Chamber > declared a general call to arms and a state of extreme > emergency in the Khan Younus Province in the Gaza > Strip to confront any possible Israeli military > attack. The communiqu? called on Palestinian citizens > to be ready to obstruct those forces, to defend one > another, to stand together and to coordinate, and to > organize fighting unity on the field of battle. > > Powell - Arafat Meeting > > In another development, Saeb Erekat, Senior > Palestinian Negotiator, has repeated today in an > interview with al-Jazeera that Palestinian officials > will refuse to meet with American Secretary of State > Colin Powell if he refuses to meet with the > Palestinian President Yasir Arafat during his trip to > the Middle East, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow. > > Erekat said, "If he does that, Powell will cause the > failure of his trip before it even starts." But > Erekat believes that Powell will meet Arafat "because > he knows full well that the Palestinian President is > the address of the Palestinian people and the key to > any solution of the crisis." > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ From pieinsky at igc.org Sun Apr 7 08:44:02 2002 From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fw: al-Jazeera news roundup Message-ID: <002b01c1de42$ac469840$c27df2d0@bypass.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Muhammad Abu Nasr" To: Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2002 1:21 AM Subject: al-Jazeera news roundup > Dear Jay, > > Here's an al-Jazeera news roundup from early morning > over there. > > So the march is 20 April. They'll say the Arabs are > anti-semites, marching on Hitler's birthday! > > I'm supposedly finishing my dissertation (though that > is really hard to focus on now); I don't know how > we'll pay the rent and I need to scrape together money > for my renewed subscription to the main news magazine > from over there that I have a political duty to pay > for soon (I've let them down for too long). So > probably it'll be impossible to go. They say the old > Islamic mystics could be in two places at once though. > So, in sha' Allah, I'll be there in spirit! > > Best, > > Muhammad > ------------------------ > > http://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2002/4/4-7-3.htm > > al-Jazeera TV website. Sunday, 7 April 2002. 01:01 > G.M.T. > > At least fifty Palestinians died as martyrs, among > them thirty in Jenin, yesterday, Saturday, in an > Israeli military campaign against the West Bank and > during attacks and incidents in Gaza according to > information provided by Palestinian sources. > Meanwhile, five Israeli soldiers were killed, four of > them in Jenin where violent battles have raged, and > the fifth in the Gaza Strip in a Palestinian attack > that left the two attackers martyred dead. > > In the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the West > Bank, that Israel began to attack on Wednesday, more > than thirty Palestinians died as martyrs under the > gunfire of the Israelis during violent battles with > Palestinian fighters. A Palestinian who had put on an > explosive belt was also martyred near the city of > Jenin. > > As the camp witnessed violent battles, the Israeli > military commander said that they had completely cut > off the Palestinian fighters and that the attack would > continue until they have been forced to surrender or > have been killed. Residents of the camp who spoke by > telephone with al-Jazeera said that bodies of martyrs > are strewn about the streets and that the wounded are > bleeding to death without anyone being able to take > them to hospitals. The Palestinian leadership called > on international organizations to intervene > immediately to rescue Jenin camp from what they called > a massacre with which it is threatened at the present > time. > > In Nablus in the north of the West Bank, Palestinian > medical sources reported that fourteen Palestinians, > including a child of eight years old, have died as > martyrs. > > Israeli helicopters are bombarding many areas of the > city and this has led to some dying as martyrs and to > the destruction of a large number of houses. The > bodies of the martyrs and the wounded are still strewn > about the streets of Nablus. The occupation forces > are preventing ambulances from getting to the wounded. > The fate of about 60 people is still unknown after > occupation forces bombarded the home where they had > taken refuge. Israeli forces also destroyed a mosque > in the city of Nablus. > > Israeli forces have continued their siege of the > Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in which some 200 > Palestinian fighters and monks are taking refuge with > no sign of a solution to the crisis in sight. > > In the area of al-Khalil [Hebron] a 13-year-old > Palestinian youth was killed as a martyr by Israeli > gunfire in al-Fawwar refugee camp according to > witnesses. Two other Palestinians were martyred by > Israeli gunfire in a town near the city according to > medical sources that were able to identify the > martyrs. > > In the Gaza Strip, three Palestinians died as martyrs > in Israeli army gunfire in separate incidents > according to medical sources. A Palestinian medical > source said that two children, one of them aged six > years, and a Palestinian youth were martyred and 12 > others were wounded in Israeli bombardment of the Tell > as-Sultan area in the city of Rafah in the south of > the Gaza Strip. > > A Rocket attack on Arafat's Headquarters > > Palestinian security sources report that four of the > Palestinian President's aides were injured seriously > in an Israeli attack yesterday evening on the besieged > headquarters in Ramallah. Arafat himself, however, > was not injured. The occupation army said that it > fired an anti-tank rocket on Arafat's headquarters on > the pretext that armed men had opened fire on Israeli > units there. > > A correspondent of al-Jazeera in Ramallah reports that > the Presidential Headquarters was subjected to intense > bombardment as Israeli tanks fired their shells and > heavy machine-guns at Arafat's office and a number of > buildings in the headquarters of the Palestine > Authority in Ramallah. Israel has prevented Arafat > from holding meetings with his aides since it > blockaded him in his office in one of the buildings in > the Presidential complex. > > Palestinian medical sources reported that two > Palestinians, one of them a child of ten, were > martyred by Israeli occupation troops' gunfire in two > separate incidents in Ramallah and the near-by town of > Bitouniya. A female correspondent for al-Jazeera > reports that the occupation forces continued to impose > a curfew and have continued their raids on houses and > arrests of Palestinians in Ramallah. The Israeli > authorities earlier cut off electric power to Arafat's > headquarters and prevented supplies of food from > reaching the building. > > Sharon races with time > > The office of the Israeli Prime Minister has announced > that Sharon informed the American President George > Bush by telephone that Israel will try to put a quick > end to the military operations that it has been waging > for nine days in the West Bank. > > Sharon's office said in a press release that "Israel > will do all that it can do to put a quick end to the > operation "defensive wall" in a reference to the name > that Israel has given to the military campaign in the > West Bank. The press release added that "Sharon said > that he understands the concern of the President > (George Bush) that the operation be ended quickly." > > A high-ranking American official had declared earlier > in Crawford, Texas, USA, that President Bush held > telephone conversations with Sharon in which he called > for Israeli forces to "withdraw without delay" from > the Palestinian Territories. > > This official who preferred not to be named, said that > Bush "told Sharon that it is Israel's obligation to > make progress now in defusing the situation so that > diplomacy could act" in a reference to Bush's decision > to send his Secretary of State to the Middle East. > > The Supreme Follow Up Committee of the Patriotic and > Islamic Forces in the Gaza Strip yesterday appealed to > the Arab and Islamic peoples to escalate their > positions and to pressure their rulers to intervene > immediately to stop the "crime" of Israeli Prime > Minister Ariel Sharon. > > In its statement, the Committee, which unites 13 of > the Islamic and patriotic Palestinian organizations, > also called for a "boycott of American goods and for > compelling (American President George) Bush and the > international community to act immediately to provide > protection for the Palestinian people." > > The statement indicated that "the American > administration is still providing political cover and > immoral justification for the terrorist Israeli > aggression and invasion that is led by the criminal > Sharon and his Tel Aviv gang of murderers and > generals." > > The Committee condemned "the American positions and > the interference in our internal affairs that they > represent, which all peoples reject, and which > demonstrate that the Bush administration's democracy > is false. The Committee also condemns the Bush > Administration for its persistence in pursuing its > naked effort to isolate this (Palestinian) leadership > simply because it has maintained its rights and > rejected Israeli and American dictates and > conditions." > > The Palestinian forces called on the Arab leaders to > refuse to meet with the American Secretary of State if > he continues to insist on not meeting President > Arafat. They called on the Palestinian leadership to > "maintain the positions and demands of the masses that > it is necessary to boycott Powell if he does not > declare his readiness to meet President Arafat and > lift the siege on him and on our people, stop the > aggression, and immediately withdraw the forces of > invasion, occupation, and murder unconditionally." > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ From hunterbadbear at earthlink.net Sun Apr 7 17:27:18 2002 From: hunterbadbear at earthlink.net (Hunter Gray) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case [Link to Site] Message-ID: <000301c1de8b$c56474c0$9070fa43@ibm22761429477> Note from Hunterbear: >From two enthusiastic, younger activists based in Hawaii, this now feathered-out Link to a project in which each of them has been much involved: National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case. The Rosenberg Tragedy is something that richly warrants reopening in any case -- its injustices cry out across decades and generations. But, given the gray and rapidly darkening skies of repression in America north of Mexico, its legacy and lessons carry enormously contemporary relevancy. Any person with an ounce of honesty in his or her makeup who was alive and aware during the Cold War / Red Scare epoch which seared -- and scarred -- civil liberties and human rights generally in both the United States and Canada for years, will certainly understand my contention that any Federal targets in the "Rosenberg case" stood about as much chance of getting a fair trial as did Mack Charles Parker -- a Black man falsely accused of rape in Pearl River County, Mississippi in 1959. Mack Parker was lynched -- directly and physically -- by a mob of Anglo "respectables" all of whose names were widely known at the time and none of whom was ever punished for his murder. One of the current oddities afoot these days is the fervent embrace, selectively -- by an entourage of right-wing American historians, some wearing neo-liberal clothing -- of various self-serving alleged reports by Soviet operatives that are currently being "discovered" in Russian archives and marketed globally to eager book-writing academics. Some of these "documents" -- touted enthusiastically in the US right wing press [e.g., American Spectator] -- are held to hold a few words which cast doubt on the innocence of the Rosenbergs et al. Several years ago, the American Spectator ran things professing to have found the CPUSA membership card of Harry Bridges of ILWU in Soviet archives. [On that one, I can only say, I've got a nice stretch of Arizona sea coast to sell -- real cheap, for cash.] For my part, a Native activist who came of age during the years of the Red Scare and who remembers its manufactured and spontaneous and extraordinarily destructive fear and hysteria only too well, I'd never trust anything -- ever -- like the FBI or CIA -- or the NKVD / MVD / KGB. If any readers of this have ever read that great Arthur Koestler novel, Darkness at Noon [New York: Macmillan, 1941 -- and many subsequent editions], they'll certainly savvy what I mean when I say that the Old Bolshevik policeman, Ivanov and his old friend and charge, Old Bolshevik organizer Rubashov [possibly drawn in part from Karl Radek], were men of great grace and honour. But Gletkin, the New Cop & Sycophant, of the post-Revolution generation, much closer than a first cousin to J. Edgar Hoover et al., did them both in with cold-blooded efficiency. The stony faced, tight-lipped men in dark suits that surrounded Hoover and filled the seats of the House Un-American Activities Committee and the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee etc. et al., live in continuing incarnations in the FBI and the Justice Department and related police agencies of today. They appear to have no sense whatsoever of the Bill of Rights. Of the Gletkins, thought Rubashov, "they were born without umbilical cord, without frivolity, without melancholy." As this country and Canada now plunge ever deeper into manufactured and spontaneous [and frequently self-serving] fear and hysteria -- replete with summary arrests and mass incarcerations and other rapidly proliferating injustice -- this comprehensive website on the sanguinary times in which Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and other victims lived and died is well worth extensive visiting. Hunter [Hunterbear] ===================================================================== >From Rob and Dan [Hawaii] to Hunterbear: aloha. we are pleased and proud, honored and enthused to notify you that as of sunday, the 7th of april, 2002, 11:00am daylight savings time, the site (http://rosenbergtrial.org) is officially up! may the spirit of spring and the energy of the new embrace you like a playful puppy. all the best, rob and dan ps - for a printer-friendly one page summary of the site, please go to: http://rosenbergtrial.org/summary.html _______________________________________________ Hunter Gray [ Hunterbear ] www.hunterbear.org ( social justice ) From LAMZ at sympatico.ca Sun Apr 7 17:32:07 2002 From: LAMZ at sympatico.ca (Lysander Zimmerman) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] G8 Organizing Materials: Time for Everyone to Get Started! Message-ID: <003001c1de8c$6ed7f900$33378d18@Indy1> The protests in Ottawa against the G8 Summit in Alberta will draw activists from all over North Eastern America. With only a couple of months left, it's time for everyone to start postering and leafleting. POSTERS TO PUT UP: Take the Capital #1: http://members.rogers.com/dracoman99/leaflet1.gif Take the Capital #2: http://ontario.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=8516&group=webcast Take the Capital #3: http://ontario.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=8519&group=webcast PAMPHLETS TO HAND OUT: Flyer on the G8: http://g8.activist.ca/print/g8pamphlet.pdf Anarchist Attack on Global Governance: http://www.tao.ca/%7Etakethecapital/pamphlet.pd f INFO ON THE NORTHEAST ANTI-G8 ROADSHOW AND CARAVAN: http://hamilton.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=1390&group=webcast [Hamilton Caravan Stop Info: http://hamilton.indymedia.org] LINKS: http://www.takethecapital.net Take the Capital! http://www.quebec2001.net/ CLAC (Convergence des luttes anti-capitalistes) http://flag.blackened.net/nefac NEFAC (NorthEastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists) http://g8.activist.ca Anti-G8 organizing http://www.tao.ca/~wrench/dist/g8 Ewok Council http://g8.michiganimc.org Michigan Anti-G8 mobilization http://www.agp.org Peoples' Global Action, Acci?n Global de los Pueblos, Action Mondial des Peuples http://ww.tao.ca/~ocf Ontario Common Front http://www.ocap.ca OCAP (Ontario Coalition Against Poverty) http://www.tao.ca/~ocat OCAT (Ottawa Coalition Against the Tories) http://www.tao.ca/~gan Guelph Action Network http://www.tao.ca/~lombrenoire Salon du Livre Anarchist ? Montreal, Montreal Anarchist Bookfair http://www.tao.ca/~cobp Collectif Oppos? ? la Brutalit? Polici?re, Collective Opposed to Police Brutality, Colectivo Opuesto a la Brutalidad Policial http://www.tao.ca TAO communications http://www.tao.ca/~colours Colours of Resistance From jmarshal at ol.com.au Sun Apr 7 08:33:58 2002 From: jmarshal at ol.com.au (Jon Marshall) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] on iraq Message-ID: <3CB058D6.ADE8962D@ol.com.au> I wonder if people could help me? One of Australia's more reputable right wing journalists (if such a thing is possible) has recently alledged that the deaths of children in Iraq as a result of sanctions is an "elaborate hoax" and that "Sanctions have never prohibited or limited the import of medicine.... The UN has actually urged Iraq to import more basic medicines, but Baghdad has refused, prefering to use Suffering children as propaganda" (Sydney Morning HErald Sat April 6, p37) He, of course gives no references, but this kind of stuff has its effects, and i'm not sure of a reputable reference to refute his claims. So if any could help then that would be of use in discussions with people here. jon From hunterbadbear at earthlink.net Mon Apr 8 08:20:31 2002 From: hunterbadbear at earthlink.net (Hunter Gray) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Garden of Genocide -- and grassroots killings Message-ID: <000301c1df08$8c9fcd60$d870fa43@ibm22761429477> The Garden of Genocide has many poisonous manifestations. Even discounting the existence of genocide as Israeli/state policy [something about which one cannot sometimes help but wonder at this point], it's brutally obvious that much of the leadership of Israel has seeded hard-line policy intractability against moderation and conciliation, callousness vis-a-vis basic human rights alchemically into the waters of racism, and ethnic hatred -- all of these to the point that an increasing number of Israelis are practicing a kind of very lethal genocide against the Palestinians at this very moment. The closest thing to pervasive fascism that has existed in this country was Mississippi ["The Closed Society."] Other Southern states had, within their borders, very large areas that were just as segregated, just as racist, just as brutally violent as the Magnolia State. But with Mississippi, from the latter 1950s into the mid-1960s, it was all in a fully feathered- out totalitarian framework. Almost no non-Whites could even register to vote and many poor Whites were without franchise. Powerful police forces existed at every level -- backed up by ignorant Anglo rabbles. Virtually every public official -- all of whom were White -- was a member of the Citizens' Council [the "uptown KKK"] and committed to "States Rights, Racial Integrity." [The exceptions were very, very few: courageous Bill Winter, then state tax collector -- and eventually, much later, governor from 1980-84; and one or two state legislators.] The leadership of Mississippi at virtually every level, especially during the sanguinary Ross Barnett rule and the first part of the Paul Johnson administration, was convinced the state was under attack by "Communist race mixers" from within and via the Federal government and The North, as well as by sea -- i.e., Cuba. Massive resistance and day-after-day paranoia and hatred -- laced with sanctimonious and hypocritical platitudes disclaiming violence and proclaiming democracy, etc -- incited much of the White population. White moderates were especially hated. The leadership would have been both horrified and insulted to have been accused of promoting genocide -- BUT: Among the evil effects of the Mississippi system were many, many many Blacks killed with dreary frequency -- much of this unreported nationally and all of this unpunished [if even investigated.] This was grassroots genocide. It wasn't disclaimed by the leadership which -- looked the other way. It was certainly a variety of genocide -- and much of it was carried out by so-called official "lawmen" -- constables, police, sheriffs and deputies, highway patrolmen -- often "under color of law." Dissent was systematically stifled -- often strangled. And then brutally repressed. And if Black kids threw rocks at the violent Mississippi "lawmen", as some did in the aftermath of Medgar Evers' funeral [I had already been arrested and saw much through the tiny circle of bars in a paddy wagon located conveniently in the middle of it all], shots were fired at them, the Governor proclaimed this a "riot" and called up even more National Guardsmen to bolster the huge racist forces of "lawmen" already mobilized for the status quo. And there were people in the Kennedy administration who decried the matter of Black kids throwing rocks at Mississippi lawmen -- who were clubbing and police-dogging and fire-hosing and tear-gassing -- and shooting. [Mississippi was not alone in all of this, of course, and these atrocities occurred across much of the South and in many parts of the country -- and still continue in varying forms in Free America.] The Blacks of the United States and the other dispossessed are not committed to genocide again anyone. Even in the very "old time," there were many Native American leaders who sought some sort of accommodation with the Europeans -- but always had their efforts destroyed by the invaders whose hunger, of course, was consistently [and often still is] insatiable. I doubt if most Palestinians are committed to genocide against Israel, either -- but many more days of this could certainly ensure that a very huge number move into that camp. In any case, from what the world sees, the State of Israel with all of its official might and means is attacking an almost completely civilian population: people that are increasingly destitute and scattered -- and dead. Human courage and persistence for social justice always endure in the long run. Mississippi et al. changed -- and so will Israel. Let's hope that the United States does as well. Hunter Gray [Hunterbear] Hunter Gray [ Hunterbear ] www.hunterbear.org ( social justice ) From pieinsky at igc.org Mon Apr 8 09:37:36 2002 From: pieinsky at igc.org (Jay Moore) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fw: al-Jazeera report from Palestine Message-ID: <000f01c1df13$53483ba0$277df2d0@bypass.com> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Muhammad Abu Nasr" To: Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 10:29 AM Subject: al-Jazeera report from Palestine > Dear Jay, > > The US media are quoting Colin Powell as saying as he > was leaving on his trip to the Middle East that Israel > has got the message from Bush and taken it to heart. > One can judge, then, what the real content of that > American message is from the escalation of their > murders today. > > Further evidence of the extent of the Bush > Administration's concern for innocent lives being lost > and wanton destruction being inflicted on a destitute > people, can be found in the fact that Colin Powell > will be stopping in Morocco, Spain, Egypt, and Jordan > before he even gets to "Israel" on Friday. > > The following is an excerpt from the al-Jazeera > report. It also contained information on the > situation around the Church of the Nativity in > Bethlehem that is substantially same as that found on > the BBC report at: > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1916000/1916580.st m > > Other material in the al-Jazeera report dealt with > diplomatic activities such as the threat by Spain that > Israel could face sanctions by the European Union if > it continues its activity. But these have yet to > materialize. > > Best, > > Muhammad > > --------- > http://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2002/4/4-8-9.htm > > Al-Jazeera website, Monday 8 April 2002., 11:41 GMT > > Jenin refugee camp and the old city in Nablus and the > area around the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem > are witnessing violent battles that have left an > unknown number of martyrs, of whom at least 120 have > been counted. Fears are on the rise that Jenin camp > will be transformed into a pile of dust as it has been > subjected to intense Israeli bombardment since last > night. > > Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that his > forces would withdraw from the occupied Palestinian > lands to buffer zones after completing their extensive > military operations in the West Bank, this in spite of > international pressure that is demanding an immediate > Israeli withdrawal and end of the war that Israeli > forces have been waging against Palestinian cities for > 11 days. > > Israeli forces last night and this morning have been > attacking with rockets the residents of the Jenin > refugee camp in which hundreds of Palestinian fighters > are besieged. Using loudspeakers, the occupation > oarmy instructed residents of Jenin camp to evacuate > the camp of all residents warning that Israeli > airplanes will bomb the camp if they do not go out to > the open square in the camp. > > An al-Jazeera correspondent says that the steadfast > camp has been subjected to intense bombardment since > the residents rejected the Israeli calls to them to > gather in the square. He adds that Israeli military > helicopters are intensely bombarding the camp, firing > dozens of rockets at the buildings in the heavilly > populated camp. > > Palestinian sources in the city of Jenin sya that the > number of martyred dead in the camp is in the > hundreds. Two Israeli soldiers were killed during > battles with armed Palestinians inside the camp. > > Eyewitnesses there said that the Israeli forces have > intensified their attacks in the last few hours in an > attempt to crush the resistance as quickly as > possible. The Israelis also warned the Palestinian > fighters to surrender so that the camp can be > inspected, after announcing that they had discovered > explosives and a number of home-made Qassam 2 rockets. > > The commander of an armed group of Hamas fighters in > the camp, Jamal Abd al-Salam said that they would > fight until the last drop of their blood. He added > that all of those who had surrendered to the Israeli > soldiers were children, women, and the elderly. The > commander of the Squadrons of Jerusalem, affilliated > with the Islamic Jihad, al-Hajj Ali confirmed this. > He said tha the Palestinian resistance is determined > to continue the fierce fighting and will not allow the > occupation troops to take over Jenin camp. > > The fighter `Ata Abu Armila told al-Jazeera that the > fighters are steadfast and will continue to fight > until they are martyred. The Israeli army should not > dream that any Palestinian fighter will raise the > white flag. > > The Seige of Nablus > > In Nablus Israeli forces are besieging hundreds of > Palestinians in the old city. Sources in the city say > that the occupation army has bombarded and destroyed a > number of buildings in the city. It is preventing > ambulances from getting to the wounded and martyrs. > > Head of Medical Aid, Mustafa al-Barghouthi, says that > the residents of al-Yasminiya district in the heart of > the old city have issued an appeal to international > bodies to protect them from the Israeli occupation > forces who are using human shields as they storm their > district. In addition they are indiscriminately > bombarding houses there. Al-Barghouthi says that a > massacre could occur if there is no urgent > international intervention to halt the aggression. > > Medical teams this morning found three bodies of > martyred Palestinians. The teams said that they were > killed last night by occupation troops' gunfire in the > streets of old Nablus. > > A prominent activist in the Fateh movement fighting in > Nablus said that the Israeli forces are extending > their control over the old city. He said that > occupation troops fire dozens of missiles from time to > time at the houses in which the armed Palestinians are > holed up. He emphasized that they would not surrender > and will fight until martyrdom. > > Bodies of martyrs and wounded are still strewn > throughout the streets of the city as the occupation > is preventing ambulances from getting to them. > Israeli forces say that they have killed about two > hundred Palestinians in violent battles in the last > few days in Jenin and Nablus. > > Atrocities > > The United Nations Reliev Works Agency for the > Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) demands that Israel put > an end to its atrocities in the refugee camps in the > West Bank. In a statement, the General Commissioner > of UNRWA, Peter Hanssen, said "the Israeli forces have > created a hellish battle zone among the civilians" in > the camps of Jenin and Bulata in Nablus. > > He confirmed that information is coming out "that > speaks about real atrocities," and he pointed out that > "helicopters are firing at areas inhabited by > civilians, and there are hundreds of wounded because > of systematic bombardment by tanks. Bulldozers are > destroying houses of the refugees and there is a > shortage of medicine and food supplies. > > One field commander of the camp, by the name of Abu > Jandal, told al-Jazeera that more than 120 martyrs at > least were killed in the Israeli bombardment that has > been going on since last evening, in addition to > others that are still under the rubble. > > He indicated that they are unable to evacuate the > martyrs and wounded who lie on the streets without > aid. He said that children are acting as medical > orderlies. > > He said that more than ten bulldozers are bulldozing > houses one after the other, destroying them on top of > whoever is inside without prior warning. They are > turning these houses into rubble and there won't be > anything left in the camp except flattened earth. > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ From furuhashi.1 at osu.edu Mon Apr 8 13:16:36 2002 From: furuhashi.1 at osu.edu (Yoshie Furuhashi) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Rabbi Lerner's Call for Civil Disobedience Message-ID: Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2002 11:57:29 -0700 From: Michael Lerner X-Sender: rabbilerner@mail.tikkun.org To: Yoshie Furuhashi Would you please send this out to all your email lists--because some people on those list may wish to join us, or be strengthened in their resolve to make public statements. Thanks. Rabbi Michael Lerner The TIKKUN Community Invites you to participate with us in CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN PROTEST OF US FAILURE TO INTERVENE in the Middle East -- AND CALLS FOR U.S. governement TO TAKE LEAD IN CREATING A UN INTERNATIONAL PEACE KEEPING FORCE TO INTERVENE, SEPARATE AND PROTECT PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS FROM EACH OTHER. ACTIONS IN D.C., NYC, AND SF ON THURSDAY, APRIL 11 Here is the overview of the coming days. Wednesday, April 10: 7:30 p.m. Talk by Michael Lerner about the need for an International Force to Intervene in the Middle East. Temple Shalom, 8401 Grubb Road (corner of East/West Highway), Chevy Chase Md. Thursday, April 11th 10:30 assemble at State Dept. 2201 C Street, N.W., Washington DC (meet at corner of 22nd & C) 11:00 a.m. demonstration and possible civil disobedience--with Cornel West and Michael Lerner and others from the Tikkun Community. Civil disobedience will depend on events in the Middle East and the US stance--we are calling for the US, working through the UN, to constitute an Internation Force to Intervene. PLEASE NOTE: you don't have to get arrested to help make this demonstration important. Just come--there may not be arrests, but if there are, they will need lots of support. [WOULD YOU HELP US PLEASE BY CALLING NATIONAL MEDIA AND ASKING THEM TO COVDER THIS STORY OF A DEMONSTRATION DEMANDING US TO CONSTITUTE THROUGH THE UN AN INTERNATIONAL PEACE KEEPING FORCE TO MILITARILY INTERVENE AND SEPARATE AND PROTECT ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS FROM EACH OTHER. They can call Liat or Deb at 415 575 1200 for more information ] Here is the concrete information you may need: For Washington, D.C.: ****Meet Wednesday night, April 10, 2002. 7:30-9 p.m. Michael Lerner will speak on the topic "Prophetic Witness: Direct Action to Stop the Killings in the Middle East" at Temple Shalom, 8401 Grubb Road, Chevy Chase, Maryland (on East-West Highway close to 16th Street). Contact Judith Lelchook at (202) 782-4319 [daytime] or Yael Flusberg at (202) 745-2630 [evenings] for more information. Bring your friends. We look forward to seeing you there. ******Thursday morning: April 11 Nonviolent Protest (and possibly civil disobedience) at The U.S. State Department (near Foggy Bottom subway station) Be there at 10:30 a.m. Action begins: 11 a.m. Only people committed to non-violence are welcome. Let us know if you are coming: community@tikkun.org If you know you are planning to participate in nonviolent civil disobedience, please send us your name, name of contact person should you be arrested and their phone number and email, your driver's license or other i.d. number, your home address, and your home phone and email. Do not resist arrest. And come on Wednesday night to the event at Temple Shalom if that is at all possible for you. Contact us: community@tikkun.org or call 415 575 1200 *************** In NEW YORK CITY Thursday, April 11: Vigil at Israel Consulate with possible non-violent civil disobedience. Tikkun Community will follow thelead of John Deats,. of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. More info:Rev. Richard Deats Editor, Fellowship magazine Box 271 Nyack, NY 10960 845.358-4601. Fax 845-358-4924 ****Then, that evening, April 11, Rabbi Lerner will speak and meet with people interested in The Tikkun Community at the Church of St Paul and st. Martin, northeast corner of 86th and West End Ave, 7 p.m. Spread the word, please! And bring dessert! ************************ San Francisco: Thursday April 11 Israeli Consulate this Thursday at Noon at 456 Montgomery Street between Sacramento and California in downtown San Francisco, where we will hold a press conference during which we will present officials at the Consulate with a DECLARATION OF BAY AREA JEWS FOR AN END TO THE OCCUPATION AND FOR AN IMMEDIATE CESSATION OF VIOLENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. Possible non-violent civil disobedience,depending on world circumstances. Then, Sunday, April 21st: 1:30-6 p.m. West Coast Teach-In on The Middle East. Sponsored by The TIKKUN COMMUNITY in San Francisco (check the Calendar part of The TIKKUN COMMUNITY home page--screen down on www.tikkun.org-- in a few days for more details). ******************************* Boston: Sunday April 14 Rabbi Lerner and Cornel West speak to The Tikkun Community of'New England. 1 p.m. at Belmont Methodist Church. Spiritual Transformation and Social Change American Jews and Christians Together Rabbi Michael Lerner - Responses by Harvard Professor Cornel West 7 Workshops on: Reform of the Catholic Church, Peace in the Middle East, Mandates for Peace and Justice in Abrahamic Religions, Globalization of Capital, Bringing Spiritual Wisdom Into Our Workplaces, Professions and Schools, Negotiating with Evil Rabbi Michael Lerner will address the gathering. He will be speaking on the State of the Spirit and other subjects including the Middle East conflict, Sunday, April 14th. Professor Cornel West of Harvard University will be responding. The event will be held from 1:00PM ? 6:30 pm, in Belmont, MA There will be seven open workshops on matters of spirit and transformation after an address by Michael Lerner. Lerner is also speaking at a conference on The Anatomy of Evil in Worcester on April 13th at Holy Cross College. The April 14th event is co-sponsored by the New England branch of two reform oriented religious groups The Tikkun Community and Call To Action. Call To Action is a Catholic 25,000-member social action group, which is planning to have the first area workshop on needed reforms in the Catholic Church. Tikkun Community has emerged from the approximately 10,000 readers of Tikkun Magazine and Lerner is leading a workshop on how to find peace in the Middle East. Together the groups are also having workshops on the (1) spiritual foundations for peace and justice in the Christianity, Judaism, and Islam; (2) how to wage peace in an atmosphere of war; (3) bring spirituality into our workplaces, (4) globalization of capital, (5) negotiating with evil. Join TIKKUN COMMUNITY co-chairs Rabbi Michael Lerner and Cornel West in a demonstration at the State Department in D.C. at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 11, or in similar demonstrations in NYC and S.F. that same day. Sorry to inconvenience you during the work week, but the slaughter is happening right now. Some of us may engage in non-violent civil disobedience (depending on whether it makes sense given developments till that moment), others will be there to publicly support our call for an international force to intervene immediately to separate and protect both sides. This is the moment to act decisively. If you share our outrage at the slaughter of innocents on both sides of this struggle in the Middle East, then join us in putting our bodies on the line for sanity. STOP THE KILLINGS ON BOTH SIDES! Yes, we are glad that President Bush is calling for Israeli troops and tanks to withdraw from Palestinian cities. But as long as they remain ready to return the moment Bush's attention turns back to his insane plan for a war against Iraq, Ariel Sharon will be able to use the pretext of the (inevitable) next strike by Hamas (which benefits every time their terror is rewarded by a strike by Israel at Hamas' domestic enemy the Palestinian Authority) to return to complete the devastation of Palestinian society. Only the presence of a well-equipped and very large international force, led by the United States, can actually achieve the goal of creating safety for the Palestinian people. And only when that safety is achieved will Arafat be able (or willing) to actually do something to stop terror, which in the meantime appears to Palestinians to be the only way they can retain their dignity in the face of humiliation and powerlessness. But separation is not enough--peace requires that the international community, acting through the UN, impose on both parties a settlement of the conflict, based on Israeli withdrawal to the pre-67 borders (with slight emendations to include Jewish sections of Jerusalem and Gush Etzion), reparations for Palestinian refugees (and for Jewish refugees from Arab lands), a Truth and Reconciliation commission, and a new spirit of generosity and open-hearted repentance from both sides for the evils they have committed. Both sides are responsbile for the present mess, but they are unable to settle this without the intervention of outside international leadership. If you can't come to D.C., create some action in your own community. A march to some nearby federal building, or get a group of people together to form a local chapter of The Tikkun Community and call a press conference in support of our demands, or suddenly appear inside a federal building and get your message known, or do some other dramatic but totally non-violent and non-property-destructive action. One key guideline: make it clear that we are equally outraged at Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians as by the human rights violating daily assault on human dignity that is being carried out by the Israeli army in its current rampage through Palestinian homes in major cities. Far from providing security for Israel, Ariel Sharon is guaranteeing the creation of yet new terrorists. We want to stop the cycle--and to do that, we call upon the US through the UN to intervene. If you can't do direct action, you can do the following: 1. Send us $1,000, $500, $250 or whatever you can afford to help us buy some ads in support of this message. 2. Join The TIKKUN COMMUNTY (go to www.Tikkun.org or call us at 415 575 1200 to give us your credit card information. 3. Go to the website and on the Home page www.tikkun.org go to the section on The TIKKUN COMMUNITY and there connect with our media project under Current Projects. Follow some of our ideas for how to reach and challenge the media--so that they give a more balanced coverage. 4. Come to volunteer time in our San Francisco office. 5. Help us create a national conference of students Oct 11-14 in New York City 6. Come to our activisttraining to be an activist-- * July 3-7 at Walker Creek Ranch an hour north of San Francisco * Aug. 10-14 at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck New York 7. Help us reach out to opinion shapers in your community--so we can break the hold of AIPAC and others in the Jewish establishment who have managed to intimidate public officials into believing that they can't speak the moral truths they see for fear that the Jewish lobby will destroy their political future. The same dynamic impacts on the kinds of people who get promotions in news agencies. Help us show people in your community that another voice exists: help us make The Tikkun Community an effective force for community education and social action. Whatever you do, many blessings to you. As we approach the commemoration of the Holocaust, it is all the more imperative that we not allow the memory of those who died be misused to justify current immoral policies which, while not at the level of Nazis or genocide, are nevertheless disgusting and likely to generate shame among Jews for generations to come. We who love the Jewish people must defend its interests by tryiing to change what Israel is doing. And this is not just an imperative for Jews--Christians also should be joining us and working for these same goals: because our bottom line is that everyone on the planet deserves to be treated as though created in the image of God. -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: * Anti-War Activist Resources: * Student International Forum: * Committee for Justice in Palestine: From Johannes.Schneider at gmx.net Tue Apr 9 06:38:05 2002 From: Johannes.Schneider at gmx.net (Johannes Schneider) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Europeans embargo sale of defense supplies to Israel Message-ID: <00b301c1dfc3$672ffee0$4a1e050a@fgl.atitech.com> The report from the Israeli press is conformed by German media as well. See e.g. http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,190966,00.html Is this only a temporarily incident or a permanent shift of policies? Johannes >From today's Ha'aretz: Europeans embargo sale of defense supplies to Israel Germany, France and England are imposing an embargo on sales of certain defense equipment to Israel, a senior defense official here said yesterday. Reports from Israeli missions in Europe say that nearly all western European countries have delayed or are dragging their feet providing export approval to parts for security purposes. The steps were taken without any formal decision by the European Union. As a result of the delays, parts for the Merkava tank engine and gear box have been delayed in Germany for more than three months. The parts are for both current generation Merkava V-IIIs and for the next generation of the tank, the V-IV, which goes into production in early 2003. German authorities are not confirming there is an embargo on the parts. Defense Ministry Director-General Amos Yaron talked it over with his counterpart at the German Defense Ministry and with German Foreign Minister Joschke Fischer. Both said they would look into the matter. Defense Ministry sources said the steps against Israel were taken in the wake of international reports that Merkava tanks are being used in the hostilities against the Palestinians. As a result, Green organizations that support the German government coalition applied heavy pressure on the Social Democrats in Germany to cease all defense sales to Israel. The Greens object to any German involvement where there is violence, and oppose any military aid to those places where violence takes place. The cooperation between Germany and Israel on the Merkava began in the beginning of the 1980s with technology know-how transfers regarding the power train and gears of the tank. The know-how was given to the Ashot plant in Ashkelon, a subsidiary of Israel Military Industries. The cooperation widened in recent years when a 1,500 horsepower engine made by Germany's MTU corporation was chosen for the V-IV. The company built the engines for the three new German-made submarines currently in the Israeli navy. The experience with MTU was widened to include American involvement, with General Dynamics, manufacturers of the Abrams tank, which is equipped with an MTU engine. Because of the three-way venture, Israel is able to use American military grant funds to make purchases from Germany. According to Yaron, he is in touch with the German government on the issue, and the delays should be regarded as "temporary." From LAMZ at sympatico.ca Tue Apr 9 08:06:47 2002 From: LAMZ at sympatico.ca (Lysander Zimmerman) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] A22: Anti-Capitalist Call Against Racism Message-ID: <008601c1dfcf$c99b5870$33378d18@Indy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lysander Zimmerman" To: "a-infos" Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 10:03 AM Subject: [A-C] A22: Anti-Capitalist Call Against Racism > A22: Anti-Capitalist Call Against Racism > by A22 Collective 12:43am Tue Apr 9 '02 article#2365 > druidarab@yahoo.com > > Anti-Capitalist Call for Direct Action against Ariel Sharon and Racism in Washington, DC on April 22nd > > full story here: http://www.stlimc.org/front.php3?article_id=2365&group=webcast > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> > Buy Stock for $4 > and no minimums. > FREE Money 2002. > http://us.click.yahoo.com/k6cvND/n97DAA/ySSFAA/XgSolB/TM > ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > anti-capitalism-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > From citizen at comcast.net Tue Apr 9 08:12:02 2002 From: citizen at comcast.net (Bob Anderson) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] 7 arrested at Texaco to free Palestine - Albuquerque In-Reply-To: Message-ID: http://www.dailylobo.com/ Check out the University of New Mexico campus paper for a couple photos (you will have to go to a second page for the other photo) and not much of a story on our action yesterday where seven people chained themselves to Texaco gas station pumps to call for an end to the genocide against Palestinians. We did this action at 7am to hit the morning rush hour traffic at a key interstate intersection. The tv stations did show up and do a brief live cut in to their morning programs. We had the whole station shut down with large banners reading, Stop Israeli Terror, No Blood for Oil, Free Palestine. The seven chained them selves in pipe sleeves and I stood chained to a pump. The local media did not give us much coverage and the campus paper is the best so far. We can supply digital film and video if someone can give us a feed site. Sincerely, Bob Anderson Robert L. Anderson 1867 Tramway Terrace Lp NE Albuquerque, NM 87122 505-858-0882 citizen@comcast.net From hunterbadbear at earthlink.net Tue Apr 9 18:39:32 2002 From: hunterbadbear at earthlink.net (Hunter Gray) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Part of a dream gets badly mixed up Message-ID: <001401c1e028$39b40fa0$4c70fa43@ibm22761429477> Note by Hunterbear: Thirty-five or so years ago, no one would have foreseen this controversy -- and anyone who would have predicted it would've been judged either ridiculous or malicious. I know or knew almost all of the civil rights people mentioned in this article -- living and dead -- including Martin King. I worked with them. [I do not know the King children.] I have a tie with Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. I have met Clay Carson a couple of times but, though a historian, he is not at all a Movement vet. My opinion -- for what it's worth? In the more narrow sense, the King family has -- as the genuinely excellent C.T. Vivian suggests -- the right to make these decisions. And, if the family can [as it seems to], it has the right to live very comfortably. But this has obviously gone well beyond that -- into a kind of canyon where much of the snarly manzanita and black-jack [scrub oak] come from and run in directions quite antithetical to the vigorous and sensitive radical humanism of the man whose short physical stature always so surprised me -- given his very high mountains of courage and commitment and his vision which went to the four corners of the universe. All of that placed -- and very consistently so -- the highest premium on serving one's community, the whole human family, rather than in ever serving oneself. One can climb out of even this kind of canyon. It can be done. It takes very hard work and the development of an enduring commitment to the Sun and Sky. Hunter Gray [ Hunterbear ] www.hunterbear.org ( social justice ) Protected by Na?shdo?i?ba?i? By Darryl Fears Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, April 8, 2002; Page A01 ATLANTA -- After the lights were dimmed in the elegant ballroom of a downtown hotel here this past January, a video presentation rolled. Within minutes, one of the most influential voices in American history cut through the darkness, saying, "I have a dream." It was, of course, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. But on this occasion -- the annual dinner hosted by the King Center -- those famous words weren't meant as an introduction to King's plea for racial equality. They were part of a promotion by Target Corp., which was heralding its work to help keep the dream alive by renovating the center's gift shop. Several diners in the audience openly groaned. It's been 34 years since King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, but on this anniversary the talk is increasingly about whether his family is more consumed with using the King name to cut rich corporate deals to enrich the estate than with promoting his legacy. King died in Memphis while planning a massive poor people's march on Washington, yet over the past few years the family estate -- led by his 41-year-old second son, Dexter Scott King -- has sought to sell the rights to his works and name to corporate bidders such as Alcatel, Cingular Wireless and AOL Time Warner. With the family's permission, the Alcatel and Cingular communications companies featured King in a pair of television commercials pitching their products. The family has also supported congressional legislation that would allow the Library of Congress, to which material is usually donated, to purchase papers in the King Center archives for $20 million. Last year, the Kings stood in the way of an effort by the nonprofit Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., of which King was a member, to erect a memorial in his honor at the Tidal Basin on the National Mall. The family wanted a fee for the right to use King's image. "If nobody's going to make money off of it, why should anyone get a fee?" asked the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was co-founded by King. "I don't think it's a mortal sin for them to ask for money, but I think it's a venial sin." Other institutions named after American icons rely heavily on grants, endowments and the sale of intellectual works for money, as the King Center has. But the family has departed from the image of caretakers of former presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, and Malcolm Shabazz, formerly Malcolm X, among others, in allowing companies to use King as a corporate pitchman and even as the subject of a proposed interactive theme park. NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, who was active in the civil rights movement, has criticized the family. Two of King's closer allies in the movement, Hosea Williams, who served as sergeant-at-arms in the SCLC, and James Farmer, a co-founder of the Congress of Racial Equality, spoke out against the family before their deaths. "I think the family is seeking profit," Farmer told the Dallas Morning News in 1998, "and I don't think Martin would have approved." Farmer died a year later, and Williams died in 2000. Dexter King declined nearly a dozen requests for an interview. Robert Vickers, a spokesman for Intellectual Property Management, which represents the King Center, asked for and received a list of questions, but did not respond. Staunch supporters of the Kings spoke to The Washington Post on the family's behalf, however. They said the Kings have a right to produce income from their patriarch's intellectual works, and that criticizing them for enforcing their copyright is shameful. "I am firmly of the opinion that the family needs to decide the image of Martin Luther King," said the Rev. C.T. Vivian, a former director of SCLC affiliates under King. "No one else is capable of determining what that should be." Vivian said the family's critics assume "they have a right to say the family should not be rich and well-off. As far as I'm concerned, they're the first family of black America. I want Martin's children's children to be well-off, to be secure and have whatever they want." Americans often fawn over the "I Have a Dream" speech. But shortly before he was killed, King said that his dream of racial equality could not be realized unless black Americans achieved economic parity with white people. Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University, said the nation's lofty expectations of the King family are unfair. "I didn't hear a peep out of people when the government paid tens of millions of dollars to get the Nixon papers," he said. "And he was a public official on the public payroll. "When the Kennedys sell Jackie's stuff, they get a free pass," Carson said. "If the King kids had done exactly the same thing, had their mother died, they would have taken a huge hit. It's just amazing to me that there's this double standard." Nothing's wrong with entrepreneurship and using King's name as a brand, Carson said. "Quite frankly, I don't see how it's any different from the Disney corporation saying, 'We own Mickey Mouse, and if you want Mickey Mouse on your pages you have to pay a fee.' " But critics say there's a difference between promoting King and promoting Mickey Mouse. And they are worried that Dexter King, who bears a striking resemblance to his father, is running the King Center as if it were Disney. After taking control of the King Center from his mother, Coretta Scott King, in 1995, Dexter King traveled to Memphis to consult with the managers of Elvis Presley's gaudy Graceland estate for tips on how to market an icon. During that trip, King didn't seek an audience with Arun Gandhi, who runs the Memphis-based M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in honor of his grandfather, Mohandas Gandhi. Arun Gandhi had been trying to talk with anyone in the King family since he founded the Memphis institute in 1991. "They don't want to be a part of what I'm doing, and they don't give any reasons for it either," Gandhi said. It doesn't seem to matter that Mohandas Gandhi's teachings were the inspiration behind King's philosophy of nonviolence. "After a while, I gave up asking for cooperation," Gandhi said. "I just do what I do." Dexter King returned to Atlanta from Graceland, determined to build an interactive theme park devoted to his father. A critic viciously mocked the idea, calling the proposed park "I Have a Dreamland." The name stuck, and the idea faded, but King went on to sign a deal with AOL Time Warner to distribute his father's works. He boasted that it might eventually bring the estate $30 million to $50 million. Meanwhile, the King Center is falling apart. Holes in the brownish carpet leading to its display rooms are patched with silvery duct tape. Black blotches of gum discarded by tourists haven't been scraped away. A journalist visiting the center from Ohio this year wrote that he was appalled by the stench in a men's restroom. "I had been greatly disappointed by the dismal and dirty circumstances I found at Dr. King's final resting place," Mansfield B. Frazier wrote. "The grounds of the building hadn't been properly maintained, and the men's restroom was in deplorable condition," Frazier wrote. The center is no longer active in teaching nonviolence, its original mission. Part of the problem is money. Dexter King laid off much of the staff to help erase a $600,000 debt when he took over seven years ago, declaring that the center was never meant to be a civil rights organization. In subsequent years, tax records show, the center's income from donations and grants steadily fell. Nevertheless, Dexter King pays himself a salary of $149,000, the kind of paycheck his mother never received. While the center languishes in Atlanta, its director lives 3,000 miles away in a beach house in Malibu, Calif., where he's pursuing an acting career. Last year, he portrayed his father in a television movie, "The Rosa Parks Story." In a story about Dexter King and his brother, Martin Luther King III, Gentleman's Quarterly reporter Matthew Teague wrote that Dexter could not remember a few sentences from his father's speech to a church gathering. The director, frustrated, turned to cue cards. In a dressing room trailer afterward, Teague wrote, Dexter King -- who was only 2 during the march on Washington -- commented that the King Center, which he directs, teaches six principles of social nonviolence. Teague asked what those were. More than 15 minutes later, King was able to recall only four. D. Louise Cook, a former director of the King Center archives and museum, said Coretta King once asked her to give her son Dexter a job after he left an Atlanta college in the mid-1980s. Cook put him to work transcribing one of his father's speeches. "He didn't last the day," Cook said. Since retiring in 1987, Cook has refused to return to the King Center, because "it would break my heart," she said. Conditions were bad enough while she was there, she said. "Windows in certain parts of the floor in the archive needed special screens to block out light so they didn't damage the documents," she said. "But they would never replace those. There are leaks of water lines, no money to buy supplies. They had many directors of development -- fundraising people -- and they would leave out of sheer frustration." During her stay, Cook developed a measure of respect for Coretta King, even when they argued. Coretta King was prophetic, holding on to the papers containing her husband's powerful words and reflections even though appraisers told her after his death that the papers weren't worth much. "She thought it was her main legacy to the kids," Cook said. "She proved to be right." Cook said it upset her when Coretta King wouldn't allow the papers to be viewed, even after accepting thousands of dollars in grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities to make them available for public viewing. "I had to fight her," Cook said. "It was a pitched battle, but her lawyer told her she'd better to do this. She was concerned about the money. She had the experience during King's life where he gave away a lot of money, he had no property. He left nothing for the kids. She had always had a concern about how to support the family." Coretta King believes she has not been credited for her accomplishments. Because of her work at the King Center, she said, there will be another civil rights movement. "We've put a lot of stuff out there; a lot of people have gone forth," she said. "I'm very pleased with what I have done in terms of being faithful to the legacy." But what about the Alcatel commercial that had King huckstering for the company's communications technology, and the Cingular advertisement where the esteemed leader was placed with Kermit the Frog, a Muppet singing about "dreamers like me"? And what of the King memorial? The organizers trying to build it, the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, need $50 million by fall 2003 to break ground -- a deadline set by Congress. Raising funds has been difficult, and the last thing the fraternity says it needs is to have to pay a generous license fee to the Kings. When outrage poured in from black Americans after the fee made news, Dexter King issued a statement saying the family supported the memorial and did not seek the fee. But that same statement said negotiations involving a permissions fee were ongoing. "If this family stops this monument from being built, they will never stop hearing from me," said Cynthia Tucker, the editorial page editor for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a frequent critic of the Kings. "I can't believe that they'd interfere with this project. Even their supporters are so frustrated that they're finally speaking out." ? 2002 The Washington Post Company ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Hunter Gray [ Hunterbear ] www.hunterbear.org ( social justice ) Protected by Na?shdo?i?ba?i? From aaron at istop.com Tue Apr 9 20:46:27 2002 From: aaron at istop.com (aaron@istop.com) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Save the Brazilian Rain Forests! Message-ID: <20020410024627.722B617016@ns.istop.com> Some of you may think that this is a usless wast of time but I disagree. When people see how many have signed already,that give them more hope and a realisation of how many people care. Natives in central and south america have a wise saying that has been passed down from generation to generation. The say that the rainforests hold up the sky,cut them down and tragedy will fallow. P.S IF you pass this on, do not copy what you are now reading, just the next stuff that starts with a petition.......... a petitionThe Brazilian congress is now voting on a project that will reduce the Amazon forest to 50% of its size. It will take 1 MINUTE to read this, but PLEASE put your names on the list and forward this on. The area to be deforested is 4 times the size of Portugal and would be mainly used for agriculture and pastures for livestock. All the wood is to be sold to international markets in the form of wood chips, by large multinational companies. The truth is that the soil in the Amazon forest is useless without the forest itself. Its quality is very acidic and the region is prone to constant floods. At this time more than 160,000 square kilometres deforested with the same purpose are abandoned and in the process of becoming deserts. Deforestation and the subsequent processing of the wood chips) on this scale will also release huge amounts of carbon which is currently locked up in the wood) back into the atmosphere worsening the problem of climate change. We just cannot let this happen. Please copy the text into a 'new email' put your complete name in the list below, and send to everyone you know. (DON'T JUST FORWARD IT THOUGH AS IT WILL THEN END UP WITH ROWS AND ROWS OF <'s.) If you are the 400th person to sign please send a copy to: fsaviolo@openlink.com.br fsaviolo@openlink.com.br mailto:fsaviolo@openlink.com.br mailto:fsaviolo@openlink.com.br Thank you for your help 01 - Fernanda de Souza Saviolo - Rio de Janeiro -RJ 02 - Nara Maria de Souza - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - 03 - Julio Cesar Fraga Viana - Rio de Janeiro - RJ- 04 - Monica Grotkowsky Brotto -Sao Paulo - SP - 05 - Mauricio Grotkowsky Brotto - Sao Paulo - 06 - Ricardo A.Corrallo - SP 07 - Sunny Jonathan - SP 08 - Leonardo Larsen Rocha - SP 09 - Evandro Sestrem - 10 - Marco Aurlio Wehrmeister - Blumenau - SP 11 - Angela Maria Gonalves - Blumenau -SP 12 - Alessandra Bernardino- Blumenau - SP 13 - Pedro Carstens Penfold - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - 14 - Annelena Porto Delgado - S*o Paulo - 15 - Erica Couto -S*o Paulo - 16 - Elaine Couto- S*o Paulo - SP 17 - Tatiana de Almeida Voivodic - S*o Paulo 18 - Solange B Furlanetto - S*o Paulo / SP! 19 - Marcos deSouza Mello - S*o Paulo / SP 20 - Eliane Santiago - S*o Paulo/ SP 21 - Francisca J. Bezerra Alves Ara*jo - S*o Paulo SP 22 - Carlos Alberto Dantas Junior - Rio de Janeiro> RJ 23 - Daniel Rodrigues da Cruz - Rio de Janeiro / RJ 24 - Gabriella Gaida - Rio de Janeiro - RJ 25 - Ceclia Silva Teixeira Pinto - RJ - 03/06/75 26 - Tania Santos Miguel 27 - Celso Henrique Diniz Valente de Figueiredo -RJ 28 - Marcelo Lopes Rheingantz - Rio de Janeiro - RJ 29 - Rodrigo Tassinari de Oliveira - Rio de Janeiro 30 - Andr Lobato Pinheiro - Rio deJaneiro - RJ 31 - Ismael dos Santos Silva - RJ - 32 - Gustavo Alexandre Caetano Correa - RJ - 33 - Juana Varella Barca de Amorim - Rio de Janeiro 34 - Nara Faria Silva Rio de Janeiro -RJ- 35 - Isabella Jaggi S*oPaulo- SP - 36 - Diana de Andrade Freitas - Rio de Janeiro -RJ 37 - Karina Dourad! o - S*o Paulo - 38 - Pablo Genuncio Garcia - Rio de Janeiro - 39 - Fabola Morais de Lucca - S*o Paulo - 40 - Alexei Morais de Lucca - S*o Paulo - SP - 41 - Renata Regina Roxo - S*o Paulo - SP - 42 - Fernanda Teixeira - S*o Paulo - SP - 43 - Patricia Freitas - S*o Paulo - SP 44 - Cintia Regina K*rner -Alemanha - DE - 45 - Wolfgang K*rner - Alemanha - DE 46 - Roseani Vieira Rocha - San Francisco - CA 47 - Angela Ichimura - S*o Paulo - SP 48 - Assunta Viola - Sao Paulo - SP 50 - Marina Amaral - Alemanha - DE 51 - Fabian Rodrigues Caetano - Sao Paulo - SP - 52 - Luciana Cabrera- Santa Barbara- Ca 53 - Andrea Torres- Lahaina, Hawaii 54 - Carla Duarte- New York, NY 55 - Sergio Goes - New York, NY 56 - Itaal Shur - New York, NY 57 - Hiroyoku Sanada-New York, NY, US 58 - Marianne Ebert-new york, NY, US 59 - Gloriana M. Calhoun - New York,! NY 60 - Roger Jazilek - New York, NY 61 - Cheryl To - New York, NY 62 - Judy Mercer - Paris, France 63 - Evelyne Pouget- Woodstock, NY 64 - Hera-Woodstock, NY 65 - Nicos Peonides - Cyprus - New York NY 66 - Fiona Cousins - New York, NY 67 - Alistair Millington - London, UK 68 - Edgar Craggs - Bristol, UK 69 - Chris Hastie - Nottingham, UK 70 - Adam Barley - Bristol, UK 71 - Dawn Morgan - Bristol, UK 72 - Lottie Berthoud - Bristol, UK 73 - Julia Simnett - Bristol, UK 74 - Lindsey Colbourne - Bath, UK 75 - Wendy Lawton - Bath, UK 76 - James Friel - Birmingham, UK 77 - Sylvia Magyar - Budapest, Hungary 78 - Danco Uzunov - Budapest Hungary 79 - Vladimir Jurukovski - New York, USA 80 - Laste Stojanovski - Auckland, New Zealand 81 - Katerina Rusevska - Skopje, Macedonia 82 - Snezana Pesic -Kragujevac, Yugoslavia 83 - Sladjan Pavlovic - Beograd, Yugoslavia 84 - Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailovic - Belgrade,Yugoslavia 85 - Begoqa Arano-Brussels, Belgium 86 - Brendan Kelly-Brussels, Belgium 87 - Rafael Marquez-Madrid, Spain 88 - Ignacio De la Riva-Madrid, Spain 89 - A. Townsend Peterson - Lawrence,Kansas 90 - Anita Gamauf-Vienna, Austria 91 - Desmond Allen-Tokyo, Japan 92 - Krys Kazmierczak, London, UK. 93 - Anand Prasad, Denmark 94 - Pauline McLeod, York, UK 95 - Lee Casey, Harrogate, United Kingdom 96 - Sibylle Rhovier, Bournemouth, UK 97 - Peter McCaig, London UK 98 - Robert Vint, Totnes, UK 99 - Hugh Warwick, Oxford, UK 100 - Richard Madden, Brighton, UK 101 - Amanda Marks, Woodbridge, UK 102 - Jane Laws, Woodbridge, UK 103 - Joanna Hayes, London, UK 104 - Julian Matthews - London UK 105 - Anna Davies, London, UK 106 - Darren Lucas, M! ansfield, UK 107 - Nic Masters, Taunton, UK 108 - Kate Dougal, London, UK 109 - Richard Dolan, London, UK 110 - Stacey Watson, London, UK 111 - Shannon O'Brien, London, UK 112 - Jigna Patel, London, UK 113 - Lisa O'Brien, Malmo, Sweden 114 - Johan Luyckx, Malmo, Sweden 115 - John Dolecek, Malmo, Sweden 116 - Steven Huynh, Malmo, Sweden 117 - Bodil Johansson, Malmo, Sweden 118 - Anna-Maj Wandt, Dalby, Sweden 119 - Kajsa Nordstrom, Uppsala, Sweden 120 - Anna Hillerberg, Stockholm, Sweden 121 - Annika Jegbert, Stockholm, Sweden 122 - Christer Jegbert, Stockholm, Sweden 123 - Anna-Carin Collin, Taby, Sweden 124 - Nadja von Kantzow, Stockholm, Sweden 125 - Johan von kantzow, Stockholm, Sweden 126 - Calle Rosengren, stockholm, sweden 127 - Daniel Achilles, Stockholm, Sweden 128 - Cecilia Andersson, Stockholm, Sweden 129 - ! Henrik Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden 130 - Pontus Holmgren, Stockholm, Sweden 131 - J.B. Russell, Paris, France 132 - S.D. Smith, Virginia, United States 135 - January Harris, Virginia, United States 136 - Tarki L. - Crook, Virginia, United States 137 - Marcia L. Rutledge, Syracuse, NY, USA 138 - Justin A. Cohen, Syracuse, NY, US 139 - Stephen C. Shriber, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 140 - Laura I.Shriber, Den Haag, The Netherlands 141 - Rutje V. Gorissen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 142 - Floris Mansvelt Beck 143 - Herbert A. Hauer 144 - Dorien Culo, Denderleeuw, Belgium 145 - Heidi De Glas , denderleeuw , Belgium 146 - Van Wesemael Emily J., Nafraiture, Belgium 147 - Tina Hendrickx, Tienen, Belgium 148 - Aerin Sizelove, Chicago, USA 149 -Cynthia Cooper,California,U.S.A. 150 - Luna Nokomis, Tallahassee, FL, USA 151 - Fiona Hayes, Tallahassee, FL, USA 152 - Louise Pike, Budgewoi NSW 2263 AUSTRALIA 153 - Maarten Tacq, Antwerpen, belgium 154 - Wouter Tacq, Mortsel, Belgi? 155 - erwin Verbruggen, Antwerpen, Belgium 156 - An Coppens, Antwerpen, Belgium 157 - Wilfried Coppens, Schoten, Belgium 158 - Els Lion, Deurne, Antwerpen 159 - Wim De Swert, Rumst, Belgium 160 - Johan Spruyt, Lint, Belgium 161 - Marijke Theunis, Grimbergen, Belgium 162 - Ann De Wit, Ternat, Belgium 163 - Mieke Bogaert, Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium 164 - Miriam Schellen, Destelbergen, Belgium 165 - Arvi Ramaswami, Destelbergen, Belgium 166 - Chantal Dorf, Savannakhet, Lao PDR 167 - Steven Serneels, Amsterdam, Nederland 168 - Luc Beke, Lier, Belgium 169 - Els Dandois, Oelegem, Belgium 170 - Iris Clemens, Brasschaat, Belgium 171 - Ilse Verreth, Ekeren, Belgium 172 - Inge Creus, Brasschaat, Belgium 173 - Sandra De Clercq, Belgium 174 - Guido Roelants, Belgium 175 - Werner Verberckt, Belgium 176- Frank Hoelen,Belgium 177- Ren?Vanhove, Belgium 178 - Ilse Lauwens, Belgium 179 - Nico Lenaerts, Belgium 180 - Jeanneke van de Ven, Belgium 181 - Thomas Ryckewaert, Belgium 182 - Wim De Belder, Belgium 183 - Magali Decloedt, Belgium 184 - Joke Kerkhof, Belgium 185 - Nele Verhoeven, Belgium 186 - Alessandro Soleschi, Italy 187 - maurizio medici, italy 188 - tanya holmes, australia 189 - Julia Chard, auckland, New Zealand 190 - Melanie Jacobsen, Melbourne, Australia 191 - Ali Griffin, Melbourne, Australia 192 - Louise Dewar, Melbourne, Australia 193 - Meredith Roberts, Perth, Australia 194 - Des 'winner' McKenzie, Perth, Western Australia 195 - Melissa Johnston, Sydney, Australia 196 - Tim Kreibig, Sydey, Australia 197 - Brad Indrele, canberra, Australia 198 - Russell Mottram, Caberra, Australia 199 - Chris Mansfield, Canberra, Australia 200 - Sarah Price - Melbourne, Australia 201 - Stephen Nitschke - Melbourne, Australia 202 - Katherine Meyer - Melbourne, Australia 203 - Kelly Cridland - Melbourne, Australia 204 - Laura Brennan - Brisbane, Australia 205 - Peta Geles - Brisbane, Australia 206 - Tanya Geles - Brisbane, Australia 207 - Amrit Hallan - New Delhi, India 208 - Michael Pastore - Denver, Colorado, USA 209 - Gord Perks - Toronto, Canada 210 - Donna Samoyloff Hale - Toronto, Canada 211 - Lysander Zimmerman - Hamilton, Canada 212 - Aaron Doncaster - Cape Breton, Canada From furuhashi.1 at osu.edu Wed Apr 10 07:34:42 2002 From: furuhashi.1 at osu.edu (Yoshie Furuhashi) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] The Consequences of Telling the Truth About Palestine Message-ID: Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 14:19:35 -0400 From: John Lacny Subject: [It's No Accident] The Consequences of Telling the Truth About Palestine To: "It's No Accident" A Special Announcment from It's No Accident, April 9, 2002 Dear friends and comrades, Since January of this year my political column, "It's No Accident," had been making regular appearances in the pages of The Pitt News, the student newspaper at the University of Pittsburgh. Well, no longer. Here's the story why. On April 5 I submitted a column which argued that Israel's current assault on the Palestinians has passed beyond the realm of even an ordinary colonial war and has come perilously close to what in any other context would be described as "ethnic cleansing." The talk within Israel of a "security separation" and even of "population transfer" were signals that all people of conscience -- no matter how "apolitical" they fancied themselves -- had to speak up now, or risk making themselves accomplices to crimes against humanity because of their silence. I quoted the veteran anti-apartheid fighter Ronnie Kasrils, who said in Al-Ahram Weekly that Israel's repression had surpassed even that of the apartheid state; I celebrated the heroism of the Israeli reservists who were refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories; and I called on people to support the Palestinians in their fight to claim their human rights, a struggle that is every day becoming a struggle for their very survival as a people. Despite the ferocity of the repression, the intifada ("uprising") continues. On April 7 I received a communication from my editor informing me that the paper was not going to print my column on the grounds that it was "too rhetorical" and constituted "an endorsement of terrorism." In response, I made clear that I had no intention of toning down the moral urgency of my column, and that if they were choosing not to print it, it was time for me to quit. There were other issues in the dispute that I should mention for the sake of context. The (needless to say, groundless) accusation that I had endorsed terrorism was offensive, and I said so. Beyond that, though, my editor was unclear on what I meant by the term "Occupation"! This is a disturbing indication of the ignorance of basic information on this issue in the United States, where the simple fact of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem is somehow subject to debate. Further, the editor accused me of using my column to further the views of a student group of which I am a member. I wrote that this accusation was ridiculous, because an earlier column of mine (about Martin Luther King, Jr., on the occasion of the April 4 anniversary of his assassination) -- which they had printed without incident -- was much more directly related to an event my student group was organizing, while the column on the Palestinians was an expression of my own deep moral outrage at what was going on. Clearly something else was at work in the paper's decision not to print my column on the Palestinians. This is not the first time The Pitt News has done its readers a disservice in the matter of Israel/Palestine. Keep in mind that, as a student newspaper, The Pitt News prints all manner of self-indulgent and irrelevant fluff (about dating or oral sex, for example), but when anyone writes a substantive political column that challenges the status quo, all of a sudden the editors start flashing warning signals and intoning pieties about bourgeois-journalistic "respectability." Earlier in the year I wrote a column about Israel/Palestine in which I called for a cessation of the $5 billion in US aid to Israel. The Pitt News printed a letter from a pro-Zionist student group in response. Not only did this letter trot out the tired (and totally spurious and disgusting) accusation of anti-Semitism, but it displayed a supreme contempt for facts. For example, it alleged that US aid to Israel was only about $2 billion a year. A routine resort to a fact-checker would have turned up the tidbit that Israel receives $2 billion in military aid, nearly $1 billion in direct economic assistance, and another $2 billion or so in other forms of aid like loan guarantees. In other words, then, my original figure of $5 billion was the correct one. However, I had no forum in which to respond to this underhanded and dishonest attempt to discredit the rest of my column, because one standard of truth (roughly, no standard at all) applies to people who support the conventional wisdom, while those of us who challenge it are expected to provide copious footnotes in support of rudimentary facts. If this kind of moral cowardice is the norm even at student newspapers, what does that say about the climate that prevails in mainstream dailies? For my part, I hold to the journalistic principles espoused by the great abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who promised never to temper his staunch advocacy of the truth in the face of evil. I'm appending the original, rejected column -- "Victory to the Intifada" -- to this message, and I encourage people to circulate this story. You can sign up to receive my column, "It's No Accident," for free by sending an e-mail to lacny-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or by going to the website at groups.yahoo.com/group/lacny In solidarity, John Lacny ********** It's No Accident, April 5, 2002 Victory to the Intifada by John Lacny There are moments in history when people of conscience are called to raise their voices in unison against cant, hypocrisy, and those libels on a whole people that facilitate a program of wholesale race-murder. This is one of those moments. Anyone -- even among those who fancy themselves "apolitical" or unconcerned -- who cannot spare a word of solidarity with the Palestinian people in their hour of need (or who -- even worse -- side with the aggressors) will stand condemned before the bar of history as an accomplice to crimes against humanity. It is easy to feel helpless at this moment, as the Israeli tanks crash through Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus. Perhaps Hebron or Jericho will have fallen by the time you read this, their men rounded up and blindfolded, with even more homes destroyed, random people -- including children -- gunned down in the streets, curfews imposed and entire cities placed under house arrest without access to basic utilities like electricity or water. And all of this -- the latest round of humiliation imposed on a people who have suffered under military occupation for thirty-five years -- facilitated by the settler-state's degraded paymaster, the United States of America. When the Bosnian Serbs talked about "ethnic cleansing," the whole world recognized it as the bloody-minded euphemism for mass murder that it was. Now as the Israelis talk openly of "creating a separation" (by which they mean the confinement of Palestinians into even smaller and more meticulously-policed ghettoes) and even "population transfer" (by which they mean the wholesale expulsion of Palestinians from the Occupied Territories), we indeed see outrage around the world, but not where it counts: in the United States, from which Israel draws its sustenance. Let us not kid ourselves: without the resolute action of decent people, the future looks very grim. Ronnie Kasrils, the South African Minister of Water Affairs who was a militant activist in the anti-apartheid movement for decades, granted a fascinating interview to the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Weekly. Kasrils points out that "The South African apartheid regime never engaged in the sort of repression Israel is inflicting on the Palestinians. For all the evils and atrocities of apartheid, the government never sent tanks into black towns." For statements like these, Kasrils -- who is Jewish -- has been attacked by the leadership of major South African Jewish organizations, but he brushes off such criticism: after all, these same organizations used to denounce other Jews who struggled against apartheid. Yet those of us who cherish human rights must embrace what the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish has called "an incurable malady": hope. And there is cause to do so. As of this writing 398 Israeli reservists have signed a statement (available online at seruv.org.il) saying that they will not serve in the Occupied Territories, and there are even more "refuseniks" out there, even if they have not signed. The bulk of world opinion outside of the United States and the top levels of a few other governments is resolutely on the side of the Palestinians. Many a Zionist has used this as "proof" of the world's enduring anti-Semitism, but as Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery says bluntly: "World public opinion is always on the side of the underdog. In this fight, we are Goliath and they are David." You will note that all of the inspiring examples I have cited so far are Jews. This is no accident, because these courageous individuals represent a break from the grotesque tribalism that has led to so much oppression and bloodshed. These individuals recognize that the prerequisite for any solution in the Middle East must be an unconditional end to the Occupation. But above all, let us in these dark times honor the courage of the Palestinians themselves who are fighting for their survival as a people. For my part I will say it unequivocally: Victory to the Intifada. - - - - - - - - - - "I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- and I will be heard." -- William Lloyd Garrison, 1831 "It's No Accident" is a political column by John Lacny, a student activist at the University of Pittsburgh. If you forward it, please include this notice to let people know how to subscribe. To subscribe to "It's No Accident" send an e-mail to: lacny-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To unsubscribe send an email to: lacny-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com To contact John Lacny directly send an e-mail to: jplst15+@pitt.edu You can change the settings of your subscription and read archives of these columns at the website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lacny There, under "Bookmarks," you can also find a small but respectable list of links to progressive organizations and sources of information. Use them. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: * Anti-War Activist Resources: * Student International Forum: * Committee for Justice in Palestine: From furuhashi.1 at osu.edu Wed Apr 10 08:17:32 2002 From: furuhashi.1 at osu.edu (Yoshie Furuhashi) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Students Rally for Palestinians Message-ID: As usual, reporters underestimate the number of protesters in the article below, but here's news about rallies for Palestinians, including one at OSU. April 10, 2002 Students Rally for Palestinians By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 6:34 a.m. ET Marching and handing out fliers, students who sympathize with Palestinians under siege from Israel rallied on some of the nation's campuses. Most events during Tuesday's loosely organized protests were modest and peaceful, though some demonstrators were heckled. A rally for the Palestinian cause drew about 1,000 supporters and spectators at the University of California, Berkeley, including pro-Israel demonstrators who shouted their disapproval while police kept watch. After the rally, campus police arrested 79 pro-Palestinian protesters who stormed into a classroom building. Some students hung a Palestinian flag from a third-story window, while others marched in the hallways of the building, which houses classrooms for Middle Eastern studies. Students for Justice in Palestine likened the current Mideast violence to the Holocaust -- only with the Palestinians as the victims. They also called for the university to divest any Israel-related investments. ``This really should be Holocaust prevention day,'' said Sarah Weir, a 23-year-old cognitive science major. As speakers made their case during the rally, counter-demonstrators tried to drown them out crying ``Stop the suicide bombings!'' They also booed, cursed and chanted ``Shame!'' At the same time, a small knot of people in a tent nearby read aloud the names of people killed by the Nazis, part of a 24-hour vigil for Yom Hashoah, the Jewish Holocaust remembrance day. ``They are trying to subvert language used in the Holocaust,'' said Eddan Katz, 26, a third-year law student and Israeli-American. ``I hear no one in Israel politics today talking about the eradication of all Palestinians.'' At the University of Michigan, about 50 protesters, some with arms tied and mouths gagged, paraded mutely through the Ann Arbor campus. A group called Students Allied for Freedom and Equality said in a statement their demonstration was ``to draw attention to the brutal tactics used by the state of Israel in its illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.'' One young man, clad only in underwear, bore a sign saying he was representing the ``Palestinians who were asked to strip naked by the Israeli Army, lie on their stomachs and then taken on to an unknown location.'' At Ohio State University, about 60 protesters lined a campus sidewalk that faces a busy Columbus thoroughfare and chanted: ``Stop the hate. Stop the crime. Help save Palestine.'' Some also wore yellow armbands in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust. Ora Wise, 21, a junior and rally organizer, was born in Jerusalem and raised to support Israel by her American parents but decries Israel's current policies, she said. ``I've always been taught my Jewish heritage is one of fighting for social justice,'' Wise said. ``It's abhorrent to me, my people would be enacting such brutality, such atrocities, on the Palestinian people.'' At one point, a van passed and a young man leaned out a window to shout: ``Go, Israel! Go!'' At Columbia University in New York, several members of Students for Justice in Palestine manned a card table handing out informational fliers. ``The issue is enormously complex. It's not an issue you can categorically oppose or support,'' said Nadim El Gabanni, a 21-year-old junior who holds dual citizenship in Egypt and Canada. At the University of Minnesota, about 75 people turned out to demonstrate. One was Hussan Mahmoud, a 28-year-old graduate engineering student from Egypt. ``I just hope this makes a difference,'' Mahmoud said, ``but I don't see how it will. You can have all your Bill of Rights and freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but it doesn't make a difference if the leaders don't want to make it happen.'' -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: * Anti-War Activist Resources: * Student International Forum: * Committee for Justice in Palestine: From mstainsby at tao.ca Wed Apr 10 12:58:32 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] The Consequences of Telling the Truth About Palestine References: Message-ID: <003701c1e0c1$b725c3e0$291f5318@vc.shawcable.net> Hi Yoshie.... I intend to personally deliver John's article to the school paper here. *Despite* his attacks on the Serbs (always gratuitously laid out for us by dear mr Lacny) :-). Let's see how it goes. Macdonald ----- Original Message ----- From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" From furuhashi.1 at osu.edu Wed Apr 10 21:43:37 2002 From: furuhashi.1 at osu.edu (Yoshie Furuhashi) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fri., 4/12: Demo in Support of Palestinians (Columbus, OH) Message-ID: Salam Everyone; We need to continue a sustained pressure, so this is why we are calling for another demonstration on Friday the 12th. Please forward this message to all you friends and the lists and groups that you belong to. Salam Jad Humeidan ---------------------- DEMONSTRATION IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINIANS PROTEST THE ISRAELI CRIMES AGAINST THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE WHAT: On Friday April 10, 2002, Central Ohio-area Coalition for Palestine calls on all people of conscience to participate in a DEMONSTRATION to protest the latest Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people. You participation is important to show support for those who are being murdered in cold blood under the Israeli occupation. Regrettably, American taxpayer dollars are being used to finance this mass murder. WHEN: FRIDAY, April 12, 2002, at 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM WHERE: State House Building Downtown Columbus (Intersection of Broad and High Streets) Parking: City Center parking garage or any parking nearby CONTACT: Jad Humeidan, CAIR-Ohio, (614) 451-3232 Bring Your Families and Friends. -- Yoshie * Calendar of Events in Columbus: * Anti-War Activist Resources: * Student International Forum: * Committee for Justice in Palestine: From hunterbadbear at earthlink.net Thu Apr 11 09:11:18 2002 From: hunterbadbear at earthlink.net (Hunter Gray) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] American Indians answer call to fight Western fires [with personal reminiscence] Message-ID: <001301c1e16b$258c8180$ad70fa43@ibm22761429477> Note by Hunterbear: It's about as egalitarian as any phenomenon in the Cosmos: fire. Fire doesn't give a damn about your race or culture -- or your politics. And, unless you're talking about a friendly campfire or very carefully controlled ecological burning, fire is something to fight -- and you won't give a damn about a fellow worker's background when you're all together doing that. I was barely into my mid-teens on a hot, dry June day -- a big kid already -- when the A-I Mountain Fire exploded just west of my home town of Flagstaff, Arizona. Its huge column of smoke -- black from Ponderosa Pine with a massive red base -- roiled and boiled. An Anglo friend rolled up in his dad's pickup at our out-on-the-edge house. "Let's go fight it," he yelled -- and, grabbing my wide-brimmed hat, I joined him. The Coconino National Forest fire headquarters on the northern edge of Flagstaff was milling with guys of all ages and races. Interpreters were working with non-English speakers -- many of them Navajo and Hopi and Chicano. My buddy and I were signed up fast by one of several men at outdoor tables. He looked at us from under his Stetson. "You got to be 18, boys," said he, adding suggestively, "You sure look it." We assured him that we were. As we gave our names, a man signing guys up at the adjoining table suddenly jerked and looked at us, grinning. It was one of our teachers, a really great person, who I suddenly remembered worked summers for the Coconino. He didn't blow our age cover. Within minutes, a truck was taking us and others into combat -- very, very dangerous combat. By the time we got to the fire lines, the mushrooming A-1 horror had already destroyed over a thousand acres of Ponderosa Yellow Pine -- some of which had taken hundreds of years in the dry Southwest to grow up. We stopped it just before it burned up Lowell Observatory, situated up on Mars Hill, just above Flagstaff on the west. By that time, lawmen were stopping tourists on Highway 66 which went through town as Santa Fe Avenue, and pressing any reasonably fit males into fire duty. That launched one of my greatest work experiences -- and also one which brought me into maturity very fast. I had tasted smoke, felt danger and death -- and I worked the rest of that summer on various burns. Some were massive. No one cared about my race and ethnicity one way or the other. I was big and tough and fearless -- good with a Kordick [combination rake/hoe] and with a Pulaski [combination axe/hoe] and great with a double-bitted axe and crosscut saw. In some situations, where we dynamited trees to make super quick fire lines in settings where Cats couldn't go, I proved my worth in demolition -- something that I did very effectively in other work settings in the years that followed. At the end of that summer, I was a fire vet -- and I'd made far more money than my peers who'd followed conventional mid-teen work stuff in town. And I'd learned that fire can be the great equalizer. Everyone -- Native, Chicano, Anglo, Black, Oriental -- gets sweaty-black from wood-ash and smoke within minutes. "Come back next summer," the Coconino fire dispatcher told me, "and we'll put you on the regular summer payroll." I did -- I was 18 again -- and 18 again another summer, until I was finally 18 in full reality. Then, not long at all thereafter, I went into the Army -- and it was another time and another world. But long before that, I was handling fire lookout work -- initially replacing one of the veteran lookouts, an old family friend, Bill Pratt -- a Laguna from New Mexico -- when Bill took a few days off from his far up and far away perch. Then, with his strong recommendation, I had my very own remote lookout: overlooking some of the most critical areas in the Coconino National Forest -- along with an extremely complex radio set-up. It was a high responsibility job -- couldn't have been higher. It would be years before I could legally vote or legally buy a drink. And all over the West, there were Natives fighting fires. Natives of all tribes. Long before I came along and long afterward -- right to the present moment. In those tough old days when I was growing up, many of the restaurants in Flagstaff -- and in the other reservation border towns -- had signs: "No Indians or Dogs Allowed." But I never saw those at any forest fire camp -- never did. And never will. Hunter Gray [ Hunterbear ] www.hunterbear.org ( social justice ) Protected by Na?shdo?i?ba?i? ==================================== American Indians answer call to fight Western fires [April 10, 2002] BY TOM RAGAN The Gazette LAKE GEORGE, Colo. - KRT NEWSFEATURES http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/nation/3034670.htm (KRT) - They drove a rickety yellow school bus through the night to get here. It took 12 hours, going 55 mph all the way. Nicknamed the "gutless wonder" by its driver, the bus barely made it up Ute Pass. But the 21 members of the Oglala Lakota tribe made it in time to help contain a wildfire that started in the Pike National Forest last week in south Park County. When they left their homes on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwest South Dakota in the early evening, it was beginning to snow. Later, they learned, it turned into a blizzard. By the next morning, with only two hours of sleep, they were hefting shovels and pickaxes, digging lines in the thick of the national forest, struggling to keep the 250-acre fire from spreading out of control. On the reservation, they're mechanics, construction workers, security guards and casino cashiers. Here they're hardworking firefighters who've been called to duty by the federal government in a capacity that's similar to the U.S. Army Reserves. The only difference is, they're protecting federal land, not defending their country - although sometimes the stakes are just as high. Property and lives have been saved because of their efforts. It's not uncommon for American Indians to fight forest fires across the West during the summer. The U.S. Forest Service has relied on them for decades. And it's a highly coveted part-time job that pays as much as $16 an hour, a princely sum compared with some of their jobs back home. But it's not all about the money, they say. It's about getting off the reservation once in a while, even if it means taking life-threatening risks and mixing it up with dangerous elements like wind and fire. "We get to see parts of the country that some of us can only dream about," said 31-year-old Alan Backward as high winds fanned the flames of tiny fires around him. In the late 1980s, Backward was so enthralled by the idea of fighting fires he lied about his age on an application to the Bureau of Indian Affairs so he could be shipped out immediately. Since then, he's fought forest fires in every Western state except Nevada. So has Felix Rodriguez, another American Indian firefighter called to the Pike National Forest wildfire. He's been battling flames for more than a decade. When a wildfire began in the Okanogan National Forest in July last year in Washington state, Rodriguez was among hundreds of firefighters sent. "At one point, we were up so high we saw Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainer," said Rodriguez, 33. "A storm was coming in. We saw the sky change before us. It was beautiful. I don't think I'd ever been that high up before and seen something that beautiful before." Fighting fires, however, is about more than great scenery. Wildland firefighters for the Bureau of Indian Affairs must pass basic training, which includes strapping 45-pound packs on their backs and walking three miles in less than 30 minutes. A strong lower back is important because most of the time the crew is stooped over, digging lines, clearing dead and downed trees, making sure the fire doesn't get into the tops of trees in what is referred to as "crowning." Many times, the crew has faced close calls. Last summer, Lisa Lamont, 32, the crew's only woman, thought she was going to die as she and Backward drove their tanker straight into a fire in Fort Yates, N.D. "I panicked," said Lamont, a construction worker on the reservation when she isn't fighting fires. "Now I don't panic. I do what I'm told." In another week or two, the Lakota tribe will drive back to the reservation, where 30,000 other residents live. They'll wait for their next call to another part of the country. When it's their turn, they'll head out once more. --- ? 2001, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Hunter Gray [ Hunterbear ] www.hunterbear.org ( social justice ) Protected by Na?shdo?i?ba?i? From wmmmandel at earthlink.net Sun Apr 7 23:54:46 2002 From: wmmmandel at earthlink.net (William Mandel) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Re: [Redbadbear] National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case [Link to Site] References: <000301c1de8b$c56474c0$9070fa43@ibm22761429477> Message-ID: <3CB130A6.2519A129@earthlink.net> Simply to suggest that the chapter, "We Bury the Rosenbergs," in my autobiography, described below, would also be of interest to any who want to understand both that case and the times. William Mandel Hunter Gray wrote: > > Note from Hunterbear: > > >From two enthusiastic, younger activists based in Hawaii, this now > feathered-out Link to a project in which each of them has been much > involved: National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case. > > ======================================================== My autobiography, SAYING NO TO POWER (Creative Arts, Berkeley, 1999), was written for the general reader. However, if you teach in the social sciences consider it for student reading. It is a history of how the American people fought to defend and expand its rights in my lifetime, employing the form of the life story of one who was involved in most serious movements: labor, student, peace with the USSR, civil rights South and North, civil liberties (I seriously damaged the Senate Internal Security Committee, the McCarthy Committee, and the House Un-American Activities Committee with spectacular testimonies that may be heard/seen on my website, http://www.billmandel.net ), the RADIO OF DISSENT (37 YEARS ON PACIFICA), with very extensive information on its history) and the feminist movement, although I am male. The book contains some fifty pages on my late wife, Tanya, appearing appropriately throughout the book. They may be found in the index under Mandel, Tanya. My activities began in 1927. I am 84. The book is available through all normal sources. If you want an autographed copy, send me $23 at 4466 View Pl., Apt. 106, Oakland, CA. 94611 ======================================================== From LAMZ at sympatico.ca Fri Apr 12 00:46:00 2002 From: LAMZ at sympatico.ca (Lysander Zimmerman) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Right-Wing Coup in Venezuala! Message-ID: <001501c1e1ed$b51ed500$33378d18@Indy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe R. Golowka" To: "syndicalists" ; "Labor Rights Alliance" ; "ncfpj-antiwar" ; "Cecile Meyer" ; "GreenFreeSpeech" ; ; Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 11:46 PM Subject: Right-Wing Coup in Venezuala! Chavez outsted! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! > I knew this was going to happen eventually. :( Just like Chille. This is the fatal > flaw of parliamentary socialism. > > > Article by: AP > > Thursday 11 Apr 2002 > > > > Summary:40 Generals declared themselves against Chavez tonight in this AP report. A > coup is underway. > > > > Reference at indymedia website: > http://www.indymedia.org:8081//front.php3?article_id=169798 > > > > Article: > > Venezuelan president under siege > > Associated Press > > > > > > Caracas - The commander of the army and other top military officers rebelled > against President Hugo Chavez on Thursday after police and armed Chavez supporters > fired upon a march by 150,000 opposition protesters near the presidential palace. At > least 12 people were killed and as many as 110 wounded, officials said. > > > > Army Commander General Efrain Vasquez Velasco ordered all his officers to join him > in rebellion against Mr. Chavez. > > > > \"We ask the Venezuelan people\'s forgiveness for today\'s events,\" he said. \"Mr. > President, I was loyal to the end, but today\'s deaths cannot be tolerated.\" More > than 40 other high officers joined the rebellion, including General Luis Alberto > Camacho Kairuz, vice-minister for citizen security. > > > > There were news reports Mr. Chavez was preparing to leave the country, and three > executive jets were seen preparing for takeoff at La Carlota military airbase, which > usually closes after dark. Televised reports that Mr. Chavez and his family were > leaving could not be confirmed. A Chavez spokeswoman denied the reports, saying the > president was meeting with officials at the palace. > > > > Small tanks guarded the palace as caravans of armored troop vehicles patrolled > Caracas streets and highways. > > > > Earlier Thursday, Mr. Chavez ordered five private Caracas television stations to > close for allegedly abusing freedom of expression by inciting opposition protests > that erupted in violence. The stations continued transmitting by satellite, however, > and some were able to re-establish their signals intermittently to report on the > violence and casualties. The Organization of American States demanded the > restrictions be lifted. > > > > A group of 30 military officers declared themselves in rebellion against Chavez > \"for violating democratic principles, guarantees and the human rights of > Venezuelans.\" > > > > \"The Constitution obliges us to maintain internal order and avoid more spilling of > blood and the destruction of our brave people and their institutions,\" the officers > said in a communique read by Navy Vice-Admiral Hector Ramirez. > > > > Earlier, 11 other generals, admirals and commanders of the armed forces declared > themselves in rebellion. None had active commands, palace officials said. But General > Carlos Alfonso Martinez, inspector general of the National Guard, condemned the armed > pro-Chavez civilian groups known as \"Bolivarian Circles\" for firing on civilians. > > > > National Guard troops fired tear gas at the front ranks of stick-bearing, > rock-throwing marchers to keep them about 100 yards away from the palace and from > thousands of Chavez supporters. Tear gas drifted into the presidential compound. > > > > Several shots were fired near the palace, and scuffles with police erupted in > several downtown locations. Witnesses said snipers belonging to pro-Chavez street > groups fired on crowds from rooftops. Caracas Fire Department Commander Rodolfo > Briceno said that snipers fired on ambulance crews as they tried to evacuate the > wounded near the palace. > > > > Greater Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena, accused government snipers of firing on crowds, > especially upon opposition demonstrators. \"Chavez has shown his true face,\" Mr. > Pena claimed. > > > > Vargas Hospital director Manuel Rojas said at least 12 people were killed and 96 > wounded. > > > > \"This is state terrorism. The international community must condemn these killings. > This government is criminal,\" said Ramon Escobar Salon, a former attorney-general. > > > > Jorge Tortoza, 45, a photographer with Diario 2001 newspaper, was shot in the face > by a man in civilian clothing while he was covering the protest, said reporter Angel > Arraez. Mr. Tortoza was in critical condition at Vargas hospital. > > > > Many protesters reassembled at a rally late Thursday in eastern Caracas to demand > that the armed forces intervene and oust Chavez. Luis Miquilena, Mr. Chavez\'s > longtime mentor and a powerful interior minister until earlier this year, denounced > the repression. > > > > General Carlos Alfonso Martinez, inspector general of the National Guard, condemned > the armed pro-Chavez groups, known as \"Bolivarian Circles,\" for firing on > civilians. > > > > The violence erupted on the third day of a general strike called to support oil > executives who want Mr. Chavez to sack new management at the state oil monopoly > Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA. The executives are conducting a work slowdown that > has seriously cut production and exports in Venezuela, the No. 3 oil supplier to the > United States and the No. 4 oil exporter in the world. > > > > PDVSA management charged the board appointments were based on political > considerations and not merit. After six weeks of protests, Mr. Chavez fired seven > more executives Sunday and sent 12 others into early retirement. > > > > The 950,000-barrel-per-day Paraguana refinery, one of the world\'s largest, ran at > less than 50 percent capacity, and loading of tankers proceeded slowly, with at least > 20 vessels anchored at main ports. The 130,000-barrel-per-day El Palito refinery will > not reach full capacity until the weekend. > > > > Industry officials said gasoline supplies to major Venezuelan cities could be > threatened if the slowdown continues. > > > > The International Energy Agency warned that Venezuela\'s crisis and political > uncertainties in the Middle East could upset the oil market. The Organization of the > Petroleum Exporting Countries has said it has no plans to pump more oil to replace > supplies being withheld by Iraq to protest Israel\'s offensive against Palestinians. > > > > The general strike was called Tuesday by the 1 million-member Venezuelan Workers > Confederation, or CTV, and Fedecamaras, Venezuela\'s largest business group. On > Thursday, the groups demanded that Mr. Chavez resign. > > > > \"There is no accommodation possible. What we\'re seeking is Chavez\'s > resignation,\" said Gregorio Rojas, Fedecamaras\'s treasurer. > > > > He said the opposition was trying to persuade the armed forces to force Chavez to > step down and establish a \"transition government\" that would call new elections. > > > > In a highly unusual announcement, Venezuela\'s military high command went on > national television to deny persistent rumors, spawned by this week\'s labor unrest, > that Mr. Chavez was in military custody or had been asked by the army to resign. > > > > Mr. Chavez has not been seen in public since a general strike began earlier this > week. Strike leaders have openly appealed to the armed forces to join them in their > campaign to oust the president, and two lower-ranking generals rebelled on Wednesday. > > > > \"The president is in his offices. . . . I deny all rumors about the alleged > resignation of the high command,\" said the armed forces commander in chief, General > Lucas Rincon. He was flanked by the military high command. > > > > Gen. Rincon urged Venezuelans to \"maintain calm\" and to \"dialogue for the > well-being of the nation.\" > > > > Defence Minister Jose Vicente Rangel insisted the military fully backs Chavez, a > former army officer who staged a failed coup in 1992. The United States has said it > opposes any coup against Mr. Chavez, a leftist who was democratically elected in 1998 > and whose term ends in 2006. > > > > Mr. Rojas said strike organizers responded to a government offer to meet with > dissenting oil executives Thursday by first demanding that Mr. Chavez personally > attend. Calls for Mr. Chavez\'s ouster followed, and talks were postponed. > > > > A PDVSA source said that dissident staff stepped up demands and now want a public > apology from Mr. Chavez and the resignations of the company board, Oil Minister > Alvaro Silva and Deputy Minister Bernardo Alvarez. > > > > Mr. Chavez was last seen in public Tuesday, when he condemned the strike as a > brazen attempt to oust him. > > > > > > > > > > ==^================================================================ > This email was sent to: LAMZ@sympatico.ca > > EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84tq1.a92wpV > Or send an email to: stoptheWTO-unsubscribe@topica.com > > T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! > http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register > ==^================================================================ > From citizen at comcast.net Fri Apr 12 01:07:14 2002 From: citizen at comcast.net (Bob Anderson) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Texaco station lock down photos Message-ID: http://www.nm.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=773&group=webcast From LAMZ at sympatico.ca Fri Apr 12 08:58:39 2002 From: LAMZ at sympatico.ca (Lysander Zimmerman) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Cynthia McKinney calling for a 9/11 investigation Message-ID: <00c701c1e232$88306640$33378d18@Indy1> To all the Idiots who Discounted the Theories Regarding 9/11/01 (english) The WASHINGTON POST 5:17am Fri Apr 12 '02 (Modified on 7:40am Fri Apr 12 '02) article#170066 Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) is calling for an investigation into whether President Bush and other government officials had advance notice of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 but did nothing to prevent them. By Juliet Eilperin, the Washington Post. FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=170066&group=webcast From hunterbadbear at earthlink.net Fri Apr 12 22:11:02 2002 From: hunterbadbear at earthlink.net (Hunter Gray) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:13 2006 Subject: [R-G] Native people, Taos and Sedona, the Luhans, John Collier, Charlot and much more Message-ID: <002d01c1e2a1$3d76ea60$d033e243@ibm22761429477> Note by Hunterbear: The more functional sovereignty any Native tribal nation can maintain and can regain and preserve -- and continue to expand -- the better. But this present Taos, New Mexico matter, discussed in the attached short article, is simply a broadening legal recognition of long-standing, traditional jurisdiction. Some Anglos may see the sky falling, but I doubt very much that most people of whatever ethnicity are flying into hysterics. Indians certainly are not -- and I imagine most long standing non-Indian residents of Taos aren't, either. Taos has always had its fascinating moments. This is precisely why Mabel [Ganson] Dodge left New York and her salon with its colorful and challenging entities and came to Taos as the United States was becoming enmeshed in World War I. She emerged, in soon due course, as Mabel Dodge Luhan via her marriage to the excellent Native [Taos Pueblo] artist, Tony Luhan. And she was followed by a flood of artists and writers, some much better than others. And, as I've noted in previous posts, she brought her old pre-War friend, John Collier, out to New Mexico as a long-term guest. He arrived, knowing virtually nothing about Native tribal nations and cultures and the compelling problems they faced [and continue to face] -- but he left Taos and the Luhans with his new, and very sturdily enduring life-long commitment to Native people. That splendid commitment by John Collier was, with whatever few mistakes, reflected in his excellent work with his American Indian Defense Association -- which he founded following his visit at Taos. Through this, Collier, also a close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt who he interested mightily in Indian concerns, pushed for repeal of the massively land-stealing Dawes Act [General Allotment Act] and related measures and policies; fought for the preservation and support of all Native tribes and cultures as living, vital entities; and pushed vigorously for Native American religious and political and economic rights. All of these efforts and others were signal components of his essentially successful Indian New Deal which characterized his long tenure [1933-1945] as FDR's Indian Commissioner. Although the Collier policies were savagely attacked from the latter 1940s through the 1950s, by many of the Western politicians and their Eastern counterparts and their land hungry oil and mining and lumbering and ranching constituents -- often using the Cold War atmosphere as their cover to generate such anti-Native policies as "urban relocation" and "termination" -- much of Collier's fine work ultimately endured and prevailed. [As do our Native people!] John Collier's labors all served as a foundation for -- at whatever glacial pace and occasional set-backs -- newer Native American policy victories [e.g., Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975 and the National Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 and some other significant measures.] I was fortunate as a child and young person to occasionally visit Santa Fe and Taos -- where my parents had many good friends. En route from Flagstaff on long narrow highways, we would always stop at Laguna Pueblo [west of Albuquerque] and then at San Felipe Pueblo [north of Albuquerque] -- where our friends have been numerous over several generations. Closer to home, the wintering cow-town of Sedona -- in and below Oak Creek Canyon and just south of Flagstaff in a warmer clime -- drew a number of fine artists and writers in the post-World War II era: e.g., Max Ernst, ground-breaking surrealist from Germany; Cecil Murdock, a fine Kickapoo Indian painter; Nassan Abiskaroun, very productive Egyptian sculptor; excellent writer Robert Kittredge; and others. My folks spent a fair amount of time at Sedona -- as did, in due course, Ned and Jessica Danson from the Museum of Northern Arizona [ the people also known as the parents of present actor, Ted Danson.] My Native father's ties with Indian Mexico were dramatically forged at an early age. Jean Charlot, a very close, life-long family friend whose life span [1898-1979] was almost precisely that of my father --exceeding his by only one year -- and whose trails with Dad's had intersected and paralleled at many points before he [Charlot] settled at the University of Hawaii, was, with his, wife Zohmah and children, a very frequent summer visitor of ours at Flagstaff and a sojourner, with my parents at Sedona -- as well as in the Hopi and Navajo country. They all spent much time in Mexico. Jean Charlot was, first and foremost, a Mexican Indian artist. His father, Henri, had been a French businessman and free spirit who was also an early Bolshevik sympathizer -- and who'd been, by various vagaries of migration, born and reared in Russia. Jean Charlot's mother, Anna, was an artist and the daughter of Louis Goupil, a native of Mexico City who was French and Mexican Indian. Charlot was a long-time assistant of Diego Rivera [patron of Trotsky] -- and a colleague and friend, among others, of radical artists David Alfaro Siqueiros and Jos? Clemente Orozco. In addition to all of these very constructive influences, I should add, I myself sometimes ran an extensive and successful trap-line northwest of Sedona in Dry Creek Basin, at the mouth and up into Boynton Canyon and Secret Mountain -- before I embarked forever on the high seas of Saving the World. Regrettably, Sedona has never been privileged -- as has Taos -- to be immediately adjacent to a Native tribal nation reservation. Perhaps, lacking those very positive influences, that's why Sedona gradually became inundated with right-wing types and then New Age Nonsense. Long before that, virtually all of Sedona's solid folk moved away. My parents sold their Sedona land. The Charlots continued to visit my folks at Flagstaff -- and they all went to Mexico -- but they didn't go down to Sedona. After my father died, my two brothers and I -- with Mother's consent -- sold the sizeable acreage we held well below Sedona, on Lower Oak Creek, at Cornville. That setting, too, had become loaded with non-creative out-of-staters and our old Yavapai Indian friends and small Chicano rancher amigos had sold their places to Big League Ball Players. We sold our land to a Phoenix doctor who was grateful to escape. Nice to see Taos still kicking up its heels. There's much to be said for the creatively flaring pitchy-pine and the enduring oak-wood fires of Tradition. Hunter [Hunterbear] Hunter Gray [ Hunterbear ] www.hunterbear.org ( social justice ) Protected by Na?shdo?i?ba?i? New Mexico Town Is on Indian Land, and in Limbo By MICHAEL JANOFSKY http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/12/national/12INDI.html?tntemail0 TAOS, N.M., April 11 - Early last year, the local police arrested Del E. Romero, a member of the Taos Pueblo, on charge of aggravated battery after a man was severely beaten in a parking lot here. On probation at the time, Mr. Romero was sent to jail. But he was lucky the incident happened where it did. A state judge dismissed the charge last month because of customs and laws, originating with the king of Spain in the 1500's, that have preserved certain lands throughout the southwestern United States as "Indian country," no matter where they are or who owns the buildings on them. Until the judge, Peggy J. Nelson, ruled, few people in Taos knew that half the town, including the parking lot where the incident occurred, is on Indian land, part of a grant to indigenous people by Spain that was upheld by Mexico after it won independence in 1821, and by the United States after New Mexico became a territory in 1853 and a state in 1912. Indian lands, even if not connected to a reservation, are sovereign, like foreign countries, and only tribal and federal authorities have the right to arrest and prosecute American Indians accused of committing crimes on them. Courts in other states, including North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida, have upheld the standard in similar cases. Now Mr. Romero, 32, is free, and many Taos residents are wondering what impact Judge Nelson's ruling will have on this famous art community of 6,000. Already, limited resources prevent federal and tribal authorities from pursuing every criminal case on Indian land, and now fears are mounting that state and local authorities may be less aggressive, knowing that a defense lawyer can raise the issue of venue and have the case thrown out. Reflecting on Judge Nelson's ruling, Chief Neil W. Curran of the Taos Police Department, said, "Once it becomes common knowledge, and you're a Native American inclined to become involved with something like shoplifting, you'll know to do it in Indian country." The implications of the ruling were not lost on Judge Nelson. In a letter explaining how history and cases elsewhere influenced her decision, she told Mr. Romero's public defender, Alan Maestas, and the local district attorney's office that Congress needed to clarify issues of jurisdiction over all Indian lands. For now, the matter is in the courts. The state has appealed the ruling to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, and each side expects the loser to petition the state Supreme Court to hear the case. Eventually, it may go to the United States Supreme Court, which some legal experts say has eroded tribal authority. Speaking last week in Albuquerque at the Federal Bar Association's annual conference on Indian law, Senior Judge William C. Canby Jr. of the federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco said this is "a terrible time for tribes to find themselves in court, especially the Supreme Court." Representative Tom Udall, a Democrat whose district includes Taos, said Congress had not examined the issues. But until it does, Mr. Udall said, he urges local, state and federal law enforcement officials to define their responsibilities for the sake of "comfort in the community." Chief Curran said that after Judge Nelson ruled, Mayor Frederick A. Peralta and Town Attorney Tomas Benavidez told him to respond to crimes as if nothing had changed. But the larger concern, Chief Curran said, is how the police will handle a case, and already there are uncertainties. Despite telling the force's 17 officers that their work will proceed as usual, Chief Curran said an officer responding to an assault last Sunday night called him at home to ask if he should investigate what happened. "So it has already caused problems," Chief Curran said. "The officer had to call me for direction." Beyond that, residents who live or work in the north side of town, which includes the historic square, galleries and hotels, said they wonder what may happen with the crimes like shoplifting or drunken driving that tribal authorities and agents from the F.B.I. and the Bureau of Indian Affairs judge not worth pursuing. Felonies are prosecuted by the federal government. Norm Cairns, an assistant United States attorney for New Mexico, said his office had also prosecuted some misdemeanors. But in the case of other offenses, Mr. Cairns said, "logistics, manpower and resources have to be taken into consideration." Senior officials with the Taos Pueblo declined to comment, pending final review of Judge Nelson's ruling. A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Nedra Darling, did not respond to requests for information. To Chief Curran and the local district attorney, Donald Gallegos, any problems in the short term can be addressed by deputizing police and sheriff's department officers as federal agents, something Mr. Udall said could be done without Congressional involvement. Meanwhile, Chief Curran said, "We have encouraged the United States attorney to prosecute the Romero case." All that brings little solace to people like Mike Neglia, whose father owns the Taos General Store, which faces the parking lot where Mr. Romero is accused of beating a man. "It's very concerning," he said of uncertainties about law enforcement response. "We have just two middle-aged ladies working here. It would be easy for a couple of guys to take what they want and leave. We could call the cops. But then what?" From shniad at sfu.ca Sat Apr 13 13:08:26 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] Fears grow of Afghan war without end - G&M Message-ID: <200204131908.g3DJ8QU6007655@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The Globe and Mail Saturday, April 6, 2002 Fears grow of Afghan war without end Despite declaration of success by U.S., the actual proof remains patchy, objectives obscure By PAUL KORING WASHINGTON -- It's received a ringing declaration of success, but there's still no victory and no end is in sight. Six months after the first cruise missile slammed into a Taliban target on Oct. 7, the war on international terrorism has been declared a series of unbroken successes by U.S. President George W. Bush and his top commanders. But the proof is patchy, the objectives remain obscure, cracks are appearing in the U.S.-led coalition and fears are growing that it could become a war without end. "As we approach . . . six months of the commencement of the war on terrorism . . . many of our goals with regard to Afghanistan have been accomplished," says U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Ticking off the achievements is easy: One brutal, repressive regime -- the militant Islamic Taliban -- has been toppled. Afghanistan, once the world's primary refuge and base of operations for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, now has a pro-West interim government -- although its authority seems to extend scarcely beyond Kabul and it is propped up by thousands of foreign troops. One, maybe more, top al-Qaeda leader has been killed. Mohammed Atef, the operations chief and reputed No. 2 in the terrorist organization was reported killed in an air strike. One, maybe more, senior al-Qaeda operative is in custody. Abu Zubaydah, captured last week in Pakistan, wasn't even on the FBI's "Top 20" terrorist list but the White House claims he is the most senior al-Qaeda in custody and describes him as a "key terrorist recruiter and operational planner" and part of Mr. bin Laden's inner circle. One person has been charged in connection with the Sept. 11 hijackings that felled the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon. Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen, is allegedly the 20th hijacker who missed one of the four hijacked planes because he was already in FBI custody, having aroused suspicions at a flight school a month earlier. After this short checklist, however, the claims of success are much harder to verify. They include hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters killed or captured. As well, similar vague numbers are believed to still be hiding in Afghanistan or to have escaped through the country's notoriously porous borders to neighbouring countries. Hundreds more, most of them still unidentified, are in custody in cages at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. None has been charged. Senior U.S. officials also claim to have disrupted the communication links and financial flows vital to al-Qaeda, and profess an increasing lack of concern about the failure to locate, let alone kill or capture, Mr. bin Laden or Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. While Mr. Bush warned from the very beginning that the first war of the 21st century would be a long one, and while Mr. Rumsfeld has repeatedly said there will be no clear end, the progress of this war seems uncertain at best. Comparisons are imperfect, of course, but six months after the war in the Persian Gulf started in 1991, it was over. Iraq had been driven from Kuwait, although Saddam Hussein's brutal regime remains in power in Baghdad to this day. Six months after the war in Kosovo was launched, it too was over. The forces of Slobodan Milosevic, then the president of Yugoslavia and now indicted for war crimes, had retreated from Kosovo; three years later, however, more than 20,000 NATO troops are still deployed there. Even the battle of Midway, considered by many to be the turning point in the Second World War's Pacific theatre, came barely six months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Yet six months after the United States launched its war against terrorism in Afghanistan, it's not clear when military operations in that country will end or whether any turning points have been reached. "We should expect to be doing this for a long, long time into the future," says General Tommy Franks, the overall U.S. commander. That future is already unfolding. U.S. special forces have been sent to the Philippines, Yemen and the former Soviet republic of Georgia, where they will train and support antiterrorist operations. Meanwhile, Mr. Bush has massively widened the scope of potential targets. Iran, Iraq and North Korea, which Mr. Bush has dubbed the "axis of evil," have been put on notice that Washington will not tolerate possession of weapons of mass destruction -- nuclear, chemical or biological. Yet military action, even against Iraq, which tops the list, isn't imminent and may never be required. Militarily, the war in Afghanistan demonstrated the awesome combination of U.S. firepower and sophistication. "Smart bombs," directed by special commandos or satellites or remotely piloted drones, systematically reduced the Taliban's military infrastructure to ruins. U.S. air power and intelligence turned the rag-tag militias of the Northern Alliance into a formidable proxy army, which did most of the hard slogging on the ground. However, the two major military operations since late fall, first in Tora Bora in December and then in Shahi Kot last month, were far less conclusive. Both were launched against supposedly large concentrations of regrouping al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in high mountain redoubts. Tora Bora relied mostly on air strikes and, although it was never explicitly admitted, many, if not most, of the fugitive fighters managed to survive the bombing and slip away. Tactics were changed for Shah-e-Kot. Large numbers of U.S. ground forces were airlifted in to encircle the killing zone and prevent escape. U.S. commanders claimed it worked. The lack of bodies raised doubts. So far, U.S. losses in the war effort remain light, with 31 deaths and fewer than 100 troops injured. Public support for the campaign remains solid and Mr. Bush's approval ratings remain sky high. But the first signs of doubt are emerging. A Gallup poll late last month showed a sharp drop in the number of Americans who believe the country is winning the war against terrorism. Nearly two-thirds thought so in December, barely half in March. Nor is there much public appetite for expanding the war to topple Mr. Hussein. Although two-thirds of poll respondents back air strikes, less than half support using ground forces. Yet most military analysts believe large numbers -- hundreds of thousands -- of U.S. soldiers would be required to oust the Iraqi regime militarily. The public's impatience will grow, predicts William Taylor, a highly decorated retired U.S. army colonel with Korean and Vietnam combat experience and now a senior analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. "Americans are not patient and there will be more and more demands for clear objectives and measurable achievements," he said in an interview. Impatience may not mean dwindling support, but if U.S. casualties mounted, while objectives and achievement remained fuzzy, public backing for the war could suffer. In many ways, toppling the Taliban was both easy and clear-cut. Unless a full-blown war is launched against Iraq or some other "rogue" state, measuring success in the continuing war on terrorism will become harder, not easier. Meanwhile, the much-vaunted international coalition joining Mr. Bush's war remains largely a Chimera, at least militarily. The only countries with combat troops to join the United States are Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Britain and other countries are participating in the UN-mandated peacekeeping force in Kabul. In the Arab world especially, Mr. Bush's effort to widen the war has run smack into demands that Washington do far more to further the Palestinian cause for an independent homeland. So far, Mr. Bush and his commanders have been able to prosecute the war with little or no opposition, either domestically or from allies or rivals abroad. Their confidence remains boundless. "At the end of the day, we will absolutely, without question, get this job done," Gen. Franks said. "We will defeat terrorism on a global scale." From shniad at sfu.ca Sat Apr 13 13:09:59 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories Message-ID: <200204131910.g3DJ9xU6008276@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> http://www.canpalnet.ca/stmt.html Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories Prepared by The Canada Palestine Support Network (Canpalnet) support@canpalnet.ca www.canpalnet.ca Tel: 604-534-8275 or 604-298-9638 Fax: 604-298-9638 Contact Canpalnet to join this campaign Please sign and ask your organization(s) to endorse this statement protesting Israel's onslaught against the Palestinians and to demand an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Contact Canpalnet at support@canpalnet.ca or call 604-534-8275 or 604-298-9638 for further information or to have your name listed on the statement. It is the responsibility of all people in Canada to insist on the inviolability and universality of human rights. As such, and compelled by our government's failure to meet its obligations to the Palestinian people, we call for an immediate change in Canada's Middle East policy. While proclaiming that all peoples in the region have a right to security, successive Canadian governments have condoned Israel's systematic violation of the Palestinian population's basic human right to live free of military coercion and violence. Collective punishment, land expropriation, home demolitions, extra-judicial killings and the daily humiliation of an entire population provide fertile soil for the growth of brutality and the perpetration of atrocities. Continuing military occupation is the root cause of the present spiral of violence between the Palestinian and Israeli populations. We urgently demand that the Canadian government assume its international responsibilities regarding the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. We call on the Canadian government to publicly and unequivocally demand the immediate and unilateral withdrawal of all Israeli military forces from the Palestinian Territories occupied in June 1967 and the dismantlement of illegal settlements. We demand the Canadian government uphold the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention regarding civilian populations under military occupation (enacted following the atrocities of World War II). We call on the Canadian government to respond to Israel's continuing non-compliance with the rule of law by joining the international community in the censure and sanction of the illegal Israeli occupation and colonization of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. In so doing, we affirm the universality of our basic human rights, and protest their selective application by the Canadian government. WE CALL ON PEOPLE OF ALL BACKGROUNDS TO JOIN US IN THIS CAMPAIGN. END THE OCCUPATION NOW. 325 signers as of April 10, 2002 Where individual names are followed by an organizational affiliation in brackets and with an asterisk (*), this is to indicate the affiliation is only for purposes of identification. When an organization as a whole has endorsed the statement, the name of the organization appears separately. Bill Saunders (President, Vancouver and District Labour Council)* Judy Rebick (New Political Initiative)* Denise Nadeau (Vancouver Non-violent Training Collective)* Nettie Wild, film maker Naomi Klein, journalist Leo Panitch, co-editor Socialist Register George Heyman Cathy Walker (CAW)* Evert Hoogers David Fennario, playwright performer Tito Alvarado, President (International Proyecto Cultural SUR)* Faye Blaney (Aboriginal Women?s Action Network)* Sunera Thobani (Women?s Studies, UBC)* Libby Davies MP Women?s International League for Peace and Freedom in BC South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy Sam Gindin, professor (York University)* Earl Peach, conductor (Vancouver Solidarity Notes)* Riadh Muslih (editor, Al Shorouq)* Carl Rosenberg (editor, Outlook)* Dave Havard (Dean, St. Margaret?s Anglican Church)* Natalie Polansky La Roche (OPSIEU)* Cynthia Flood, author Sandy Shreve, poet David Diamond, artistic director (Headlines Theatre)* Agnes Huang (Direct Action Against Refugee Exploitation)* Campaign to End the Sanctions Against the People of Iraq Raymond Favreau, attorney Kikelola Roach Rehab Nazzal Women Against the Occupation Filomena Carvalho (immigrant women?s Health Centre, Toronto)* Pam Frache, president (Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1281)* Reverend Sue Jackson (Bethany United Church)* Luis Lama, Blackcat Karrie Porter, chair (Niagara Coalition Against War and Racism)* Dr. Fred Judson, political science professor (University of Alberta)* Elia Zureik, sociology professor (Queen?s University) Dr. Gabor Mate, physician and author Gloria J. Catch, writer Glamorous Outcasts, Toronto membership Amina Sherazee, staff lawyer (Downtown Legal Services, Toronto)* and counsel (Canadian Arab Federation)* Annaliese Schultz, Lecturer in Italian (University of British Columbia)* Kelly B. Schnare, (Dalhousie University)*, sister to a Navy soldier Halifax Mobilization for Global Justice Charles Demers, opinions editor (Peak newspaper, Simon Fraser University)* The Reverend Margaret Marquardt (St. Margaret?s Anglican Church)* Jason Wettstein (Eyeaxis Communications)* Linda Cornwell, Community Health Promoter Ron Bourgeault, sociology professor (University of Regina)* Anne Hubert, psychologist Ruth Birn Garry Kinsman, professor (Laurentian University)* Lee Lakeman Linda Morgan Guy Pocklington Dr. Hari Sharma Mike Lebowitz, professor emeritus (SFU) Sharon Yandle (B.C. Teachers Federation ret?d) Jeannie Kamins Barry Weisleder, editor Socialist Action Colin Leys, co-editor Socialist Register and emeritus professor (York)* Adolqadir Balouch (Iranian Writers Society in Exile)* International South Asia Forum Stephen Aberle Phil Lyons (Seniors Network B.C.)* Will Offley (New Socialist Group)* Paul Tetrault, lawyer (CUPE)* Isabel Dos Santos Yom Shamash Martin Last Karen Moe Andrew Pope John Barnes Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta Elsie Moser (NPI)* Eleanor Grant Joanne Ganeva Mark Brill William Cleveland, professor Middle East history (SFU)* Robert Brian Rahn Susan Kent Davidson R. I. D. Davidson Sarah Shartal Rape Relief NDP Socialist Caucus Youth for Socialist Action Abigail Bakan, professor (Queen?s)* Camyar Chai, artistic producer (New World Theatre)* Mara Coward Henry Krause Jews for a Just Peace Sid Shniad Susan Stout Anne Grant Brian Campbell W. Donald Burton Dr. Ismail Zayid, (President, Canada Palestine Association) Paul Lavallee Barbara J. Cullen Socialist Action Gary Cristall, cultural worker Marsha Drake (End Legislative Poverty)* Wes Midmore, teacher Heidi Eisenberg Dave Meslin (Toronto Public Space Committee)* Alex Levant (CUPE 3903)* Stuart Ryan, Jonnie Bakan, shop steward (CUPE 3903)* Morgan Keating Maryann Farkas, teacher John Farkas, engineer Simon Horn, writer Susan Howard-Azzeh (Al-Awda, Niagara) Burham Azzeh (Niagara Palestinian Association) Greg Albo, professor (York University)* Herman Rosenfeld (Canadian Auto Workers)* John Saul, professor (York University)* Neil Braganza, graduate student (York University)* Bill Fitzpatrick (Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees Employees International)* Jerry J. Khouri Tim Murphy, editor of zines PONYBOYS and NOISE QUEEN Dr. Michael Frishkopf, professor (School of Music, University of Alberta)* Dionne Brand, writer (and Ruth Wynn Woodward Professor, Women?s Studies, Simon Fraser University}* Josee Vanasse, Conseillere syndicale (CCMM, CSN)* Dr. Joyce Green, political science professor (University of Regina)* Carmen Rodriguez, co-chair Social Justice Task Force (Writers Union of Canada)* Tom Sandborn, writer and community activist Steve Guiliano, (UFCW local 1000a REAP)* Miriam Abu-Dib (National Action Committee on the Status of Women)* Hassan Husseini (CUPE Local 4600)* Dr. Ayeda Ayed (University Health Network, Princess Margaret Hospital)* Johnny Roberts, human rights activist Mughir al Hindi Al-Awda Canada (Palestine right of return coalition) Max Silverman Jewish Youth Against the Occupation David Cadman, president (Society for Promoting Environmenal Conservation ? SPEC)* Beth Learn Humaira Irfan (University of Toronto)* Awad Halabi, Department of Middle East Civilization (University of Toronto)* Alex Kerner, president (Students Administrative Council, University of Toronto)* Nehal Saleh Pamela Taylor, freelance writer El Farouk Khaki, barrister and solicitor Elizabeth Thor-Larsen, (Vancouver/Richmond Mental Health Network Society)* Nahlo Abdo, sociology professor (Carelton University)* Ryan Slashinsky, teacher Mariam Ibrahim, high school student Dr. Stephen Pender, professor of English (University of Windsor)* Blagoja Ristic Katja Clark Catherine Holliday Jill Glessing Charlie Clark Sarah Buhler Nuzat Abbas, writer Sharmini Fernando, community worker Ahmad Korchid (Ontario Cancer Institute)* Shahnaz Kahn (Women?s Studies, St. Francis Xavier)* Harriet Friedman (Munk Centre for International Studies)* Kim Cummings, teacher Bonnie Glassford, church worker Sobia Khan, ?For Palestine? group, University of Toronto* Yasmen Abu-Laban, professor (University of Alberta)* Edik Zwarenstein, P.Eng Louise Rolingher Elias Assad James Kafieh, Canadians for Palestine Right of Return Javid Mirza, President of Muslim Association of Hamilton Oksana Gowin, student Miguel Figuieroa, leader Communist Party of Canada Barbara Abu-Zahra Cynthia Wright Hassan Al-Saleem Alisa Gayle-Deutsch Samar Fatima Dallas Thompson Rod S. Murray Nadia Abu-Zahra, student John Farah Daiva K. Stasiulis, sociology professor (Carelton University)* Elliott Anderson James Terral, freelance editor Sarah Buhler Marlene Thomas Osbourne Maeve Mahon, academic Mary Catherine McCarthy (CUPE)* Paul Kellog, editor Socialist Worker Douglas Maggach Janet Siltanen, professor (Carelton University)* Andre St. Hilaire Mary-Jo Nadeau Laura Marks, professor (Carelton University)* Malinda S. Smith (Athabaska University)* Sofia Khan Janice Williamson, professor (University of Alberta)* Rod Doran Arif Dajmi, engineering George Gidora, B.C. Provincial leader of the Communist Party of Canada Frank L. Showler Mohammed Ali Ghayyur Sheena Ali Ghayyur Tasnim Ali Ghayyur Malaeka Ali Ghayyur Taha Ali Ghayyur Peter Kerr Ahmed Naji Luba Szkambara Merryn Edwards Francine Bellerose Michelle Robidoux, National organizer for International Socialists Robin Wylie, instructor (Douglas College)* Erin George, journalist (Socialist Worker)* Lyne Lemieux Kymn Azzeh Wael Azzeh Joanna Clark Don and Helen Hicks Nathalie Kermoal, historian Artour Rakhmoo, Ph.D Jan Hynan Donald Swartz, professor Public Administration (Carelton University)* Brian Champ Sylvain Archambault Jeanne Laux Adrien Noel Calvin Climie Gassan W. Shahwan Seema M. Tannous Robert Brandon Bendad Warda Mauricio Gonzalez Esther Vise Trish Salah (CUPE, Local 3903) Elizabeth Raymer, freelance journalist Zarine Tilak, writer Monika Danowska Imaan Bayoumi John Beeching Elizabeth Beeching Munar Abder Razek Karren Al-Rubaie Raysan Mohsn Helen Mintz Peter Wright Khalil Vermezyari Leila Marshy Reena Husein Mark Layden Julie Taylor Rick Hesch Joshua Budd Ali Azyad Anna Camilleri, writer Colleen Glynn Thamer Alsafar, (Iraqi Communist Party, Canada)* Ardis Harriman April Matisz Jua Shilander Richard Collier Jason Devine Nat Ghersetti Vanja Krtolica Sohan Mann Judith A. Garber, political science professor (University of Alberta)* Luis Tapia Maria-Teresa Wilson Tito Pino Christine Grotefeld Charles Boylan (Communist Party of Canada Marxist-Leninist, BC)* Nancy Illman Denise Haskett Ann Rosenberg Denis Lou-Hing Dave Paquet Bob Nickelson, (Workers Communist Party of Iran)* Majid Ghorbani Gary Coward Helmut-Harry Loewen (Western Anti-Racist Network)* Carol Stone Marg Adams Paul Burrows Cindy Reeves Jessica Squires Navreet Kang, student (University of Toronto)* Abeer Arafat Saeed Parto Shabina Kahn Ashok Joshi Craig Yeo Gary McCollum Nahid Yeasmin Choudhury Nilufar Choudhury Ajmer Rode, writer Young Socialist Alliance of Red Deer College Allen Creighton-Kelly Fred Hahn (CUPE 2191)* Ahmed Bayoumi Katie Budreau, student (University of Toronto)* and member (Coalition Against War and Racism)* Maria Cecilia Tagle Sandra Brush, student Wilma Yvyenko (CDA II) Hannah Briemberg, physician Vanessa Harden Elizabeth Fox Katrine Kaarsemaker Moraia Grau Lopez Bahija reghai Dr. Naim Shafey, P.Eng Dina Hamza Jorge E. Cancino, poeta-escritor-cineaste Alfonso Alvarez Salma Saadi Tudeh Party of Iran in Canada Amro Gamal Fiona Bishop, researcher Ella Haley (Athabaska University)* John Kirk Joanne Fox Gaik Cheng Koo, (University of Victoria)*(Anti-racist Action Committee)* Harry Berbrayer John Price, professor (University of Victoria)* (Canada Asia Pacific Resource Network)* Morgan McGuigan Ken Hiebert Where individual names are followed by an organizational affiliation in brackets and with an asterisk (*), this is to indicate the affiliation is only for purposes of identification. When an organization as a whole has endorsed the statement, the name of the organization appears separately. To add your name or the name of your organization to this statement write to: support@canpalnet.ca requesting to be added. We aim to promote the statement and signers publicly and send the list to the Canadian government when we have a large list. __________________________________________________________ Prepared by The Canada Palestine Support Network (Canpalnet) support@canpalnet.ca www.canpalnet.ca Tel: 604-534-8275 or 604-298-9638 Fax: 604-298-9638 Contact Canpalnet to join this campaign Return to Activities Page From shniad at sfu.ca Sat Apr 13 13:13:32 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] U.S. Jews cannot acquiesce to Sharon?s monstrous behaviour - LAT Message-ID: <200204131913.g3DJDWU6009957@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The Los Angeles Times April 9, 2002 U.S. Jews cannot acquiesce to Sharon?s monstrous behaviour By Robert Scheer What does it mean to be Jewish? Is it belief in a set of religious values, identity with a much-splintered ethnic tribe or automatic membership among God's chosen people as certified by the lineage of one's mother? For many, being Jewish carries with it the lessons of universal tolerance and compassion, while for others it is a "never again" pride in the military power of a David turned modern-day Goliath. This latter allusion to the Holocaust, a horror that occurred in the center of modern European civilization and had little to do with the Arabs, nonetheless provides the enduring rationale for Israeli brutality in the name of self-defense. What irony that many Jews now comfortably vacation in Germany but insist that Arab anti-Semitism is an immutable aspect of Muslim culture that can be met only with the crushing power of tanks. Not that anyone asked me, but those are not my tanks careening around the West Bank bringing fear and havoc in their wake. Yet they are marked as Jewish tanks and consequently they and I bear some familial resemblance on my mother's side. I am thus obligated to consider what cruelty is being done in the name of defending my people. Some of us make a deliberate effort to disassociate from the mayhem of Ariel Sharon's carnage, while others seem to wallow in it, as if displaying the awesome firepower of the Israeli army is necessary to the survival of the Jewish state. I would like to think that the peacemakers still outnumber the militarists among U.S. Jews, but my own e-mail and street-corner conversations no longer bear out that hope. While Jews are hardly monolithic, even in their views of Israel, their large presence in the media contrasts sharply with a near total exclusion of Palestinian Americans. Palestinian Americans in particular, and Arabs in general, are the ghosts haunting U.S. newsrooms by their embarrassing absence. As journalists, we do not know them as a people, we have little connection with their slights and sorrows, and we can only, even with the best of intentions, experience their suffering as an abstraction. While the family tales of Jewish oppression during the pogroms of czars, the Holocaust and Soviet anti-Semitism have been merged into the dominant American culture, horrific tales of Arab suffering are systematically ignored. But, as when blacks and Latinos were absent from newsrooms and nightly death in the ghetto was not thought to be news, it is difficult to escape the notion that many in the media, Jews and non-Jews alike, lean to the view that Arab life is cheap. Despite all the attention accorded affirmative action by news organizations on the grounds that diversity is necessary to better news reporting, the exclusion of Arabs has been ignored. It is not appropriate, particularly given the past decades in which Arab-Israeli strife has never left the news and has frequently been a front-page headline -- a story covered far differently by the European media, where Arab voices are much more integrated. One can recognize this enormous imbalance without endorsing the anti-Semitic slanders of the late Richard M. Nixon and the Rev. Billy Graham, who asserted in tapes made 30 years ago, which were recently released, that Jews control the media. They don't own the media. Nor do Jewish journalists toe a common Israeli party line. Indeed, they are less inclined to apologize for Israel than Graham, who has lined up consistently behind Israeli militarism as somehow godly. For Nixon there were good Jews, such as his speech writer William Safire, who was hawkish back then and whose current columns in the New York Times provide the most reliable outlet for Sharon's propaganda. Sharon himself is a man of barbaric impulse, demonstrated all too clearly in his terrorizing of civilians two decades ago in Lebanon and now on the West Bank. He has been a consistent provocateur, undermining peace efforts no matter their content, and now he is using his tanks to poison the ground for future generations. Yes, Yasser Arafat also has poisoned the ground under his feet and shares responsibility with Sharon for the breakdown of the peace process. But until recently, Arafat has been unrelentingly reviled by the news media while Sharon, no less monstrous in his behavior, hardly has been criticized. Both are killers of the innocent. Both are to be roundly condemned by all, and the failure of prominent moderate Arabs to do their part to restrain Arafat is all too obvious. No less a moral offense is the acquiescence of too many Jews, in Israel and abroad, to the comparable crimes of Sharon. From shniad at sfu.ca Sat Apr 13 13:14:46 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] ICC Creation Pits US Against World - London Times Message-ID: <200204131914.g3DJEkU6010495@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The London Times April 11, 2002 ICC Creation Pits US Against World War crimes court pits United States against the world From James Bone in New York THE United States will be put on a collision course with the rest of the world today when at least seven countries gather for a ceremony at the United Nations that will trigger the creation of the world's first permanent international criminal court. After the statute of the new International Criminal Court was adopted in Rome in 1998, diplomats believed that it could take up to two decades to get the 60 ratifications needed for the new court to come into being. However, with Washington isolated in its opposition to the proposed new permanent war crimes tribunal in The Hague, other countries have been stampeding to show their support. Bosnia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Ireland, Mongolia, Romania, and Slovakia have all signalled their intention to deposit articles of ratification today, which would push the Rome treaty over the threshold for the court to come into existence. Niger, Jordan and the Democratic Republic of Congo have also promised to ratify soon. Britain has ratified the treaty. From today Greece will be the only European Union nation not to have ratified. "That is exceeding our expectations," Philippe Kirsch, the Canadian chairman of preparatory negotiations, said. "When we finished the conference in Rome, the pessimists were saying 20 years and the optimists were saying ten years. We will be under four years." The result is that the Rome treaty will come into effect on July 1. After that date, war criminals will be subject to the jurisdiction of the court. The court itself is expected to be up and running in offices already set aside in The Hague in the first three months of next year. "The court has the potential to be the most important human rights instrument created in the last 50 years," Richard Dicker, of Human Rights Watch, said. "Building on Nuremberg, building and carrying further the work of the Yugoslav and Rwanda tribunals, the court will limit the gross impunity of the Pinochets, Saddam Husseins and Pol Pots of the future." In a significant rift with its European allies, the Bush Administration rejects the jurisdiction of the court and is actively considering withdrawing former President Clinton's signature from the Rome treaty. Republican politicians have floated a variety of possible retaliatory measures in Congress, including one proposal that the United States be willing to use force to free any American held by the court. Washington fears that the new court does not have adequate safeguards to prevent political prosecutions of American soldiers captured abroad. But US servicemen will still be subject to the court's jurisdiction if their alleged offences take place on the territory of a nation that has ratified the treaty. Iraq has not yet signed the treaty, but if it were to ratify it, US soldiers participating in any alleged war crimes on Iraqi soil could be liable to prosecution by the new court. Israel, which followed the American lead in signing but not ratifying the treaty, could face similar risk in military actions against any Arab neighbours that ratify the treaty. Jordan is the only Arab country whose ratification is considered imminent and there is legal controversy about whether Palestinians could accede to it. The court's proponents insist that it will act as a judicial, and not a political, body. Under the principle of complementarity, the court will act only when national legal systems are unwilling or unable to do so. Prosecutions can be initiated only by the UN Security Council, by a state-party or by an elected prosecutor, who must vet all decisions with a pre-trial chamber. From shniad at sfu.ca Sat Apr 13 13:15:54 2002 From: shniad at sfu.ca (shniad@sfu.ca) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] 'Yanqui' presence grows on Havana's streets - G&M Message-ID: <200204131915.g3DJFsU6011057@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> The Globe and Mail Monday, April 8, 2002 'Yanqui' presence grows on Havana's streets Despite rhetoric of a Cold War embargo, U.S. culture invades the Cuban capital By EGLE PROCUTA AND MIRO CERNETIG HAVANA and MIAMI -- Americans are everywhere in Havana these days, despite their government's travel ban and tough-talking policies toward U.S. trade with Cuba. You just have to walk the streets of the island's capital to get a sense of the gulf between Washington's rhetoric and the reality of the thriving interplay between Cuba and the United States. After an ice cream at the Coppelia, epicentre of Havana social life, movie fans cross the street to the mammoth Yara Cinema to catch one of the latest Hollywood flicks, subtitled versions of Moulin Rouge and Shrek. It isn't until you get close enough to overhear that you can tell that some of the crowd are Cubans, speaking in a rich, rapid stream of Spanish, and that others are Americans, talking English with the drawl of a typical Yanqui, to use the Cuban word. Elsewhere in the city, backpackers mingle with habaneros on the massive steps of the Capitolio Nacional, a scaled-down replica of Washington's Capitol, after writing home from the Internet café inside. And in the rundown suburb of San Francisco de Paula, tour buses disgorge loads of New Englanders at La Vigia, the whitewashed bungalow where Ernest Hemingway lived for years. Almost without exception on the streets of Havana, ordinary Cubans and ordinary Americans alike dismiss as a cruel and outdated aberration the 42-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, under which Canadian businessman James Sabzali was convicted in Philadelphia last week. "Most Americans around where I live don't even know the embargo exists," said Delia Hernandez, a 20-year-old communications student from Washington State University, as she hung out with some Cuban friends at the bar of the Hotel Victoria, a few blocks from the cinema. "The embargo is so unfair. It's so hard on the ordinary Cubans who can't buy medicine or the food they need because of it," she said. "There has to be a way of getting ahead in life that isn't all about the American way." In fact, the "American way" increasingly includes interaction with the former Cold War foe to the south. Although it is illegal for anyone to do direct business with Cuba from the United States or for U.S. citizens to travel there as tourists, there are a multitude of ways around the embargo. Coca-Cola sells its products in Cuba. AT&T provides telephone service. An estimated 70,000 to 100,000 Americans travel there without their government's permission every year. "I would say that last year there were 200,000 Americans who went to Cuba -- about half of them went illegally," estimated John Morency, who runs the San Cristobal Travel company in Moncton. A major number of his clientele are U.S. tourists or business people on "fact-finding tours" who book travel to Cuba through him and thus get around the embargo. Under U.S. law, Americans are supposed to have travel licences to go to Cuba and spend no more than $180 (U.S.) a day. Those federal permits are for trips deemed to be educational, professional or familial in nature. But a growing number of Americans go to Cuba without Washington's consent. They contact agents such as Mr. Morency, who book air tickets to Cuba legally from Toronto, Montreal, Mexico or Jamaica. "The Cubans don't stamp an American's passport," he said, "so nobody knows about their travel to Cuba." Getting caught violating the law is a serious matter; fines of up to $10,000 (U.S.) and 10 years in jail are possible, although rare. Meanwhile, multinational firms get around the embargo by selling through foreign subsidiaries. Coca-Cola, for example, gets its products into Cuba through a Mexican subsidiary -- the company's U.S. entity is not dealing directly with President Fidel Castro's regime. AT&T does the same thing, providing Cuba with telephone service through AT&T Latin America. But Mr. Sabzali, a Pennsylvania resident, ran afoul of Washington by shipping water-purification products from the United States to Cuba, using Canada as a conduit. In Miami's Little Havana, home to Cuban exiles who have waited 40 years for Mr. Castro to die or his regime to crumble, there is little hand-wringing over the Canadian businessman's fate. "The law is the law. I think it's reprehensible that people do business through dirty, bloody dictatorships," said Joe Garcia, a spokesman for the vehemently anti-Castro Cuban American National Foundation. "I support the [U.S.] embargo against Cuba." But in the past three months, numerous official U.S. delegations have visited Havana, some calling for normalization of relations. For Cuba, this development would be welcomed with open arms. The country, economically dependent on tourism, is desperate to get the travel ban lifted. "When American citizens arrive here, 99 per cent change their minds about Cuba," said Rafael Dausa, head of the U.S. division at Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "They see for themselves that they are receiving a lot of misinformation about us." Mr. Dausa said he is not worried that the increasing U.S. presence on the island is a threat to Cuban culture. But the ubiquitous signs of Westernization are already starting to creep into the capital's streetscape. In one folk club for Havana's residents, a proud young Cuban singer holds a cigar in one hand and a can of Coke in the other. In another bar, a muscled DJ peddling pirated CDs has a Nike swoosh tattooed on his bicep. Asked why he chose the logo, he shrugged good-naturedly. "I don't know," he said. "I just liked it." From LAMZ at sympatico.ca Sat Apr 13 15:46:25 2002 From: LAMZ at sympatico.ca (Lysander Zimmerman) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] Several articles on the Venezualan Coup Message-ID: <000701c1e334$a9b069c0$33378d18@Indy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe R. Golowka" To: "Labor Rights Alliance" ; "GreenFreeSpeech" ; "syndicalists" ; "Cecile Meyer" ; Sent: Saturday, April 13, 2002 4:45 PM Subject: Several articles on the Venezualan Coup > http://www.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=170967&group=webcast > > http://www.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=171057&group=webcast > > http://www.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=170975&group=webcast > > http://www.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=170990&group=webcast > > http://www.zmag.org/content/LatinAmerica/dieterich_imperial-coup.cfm > > http://www.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=171043&group=webcast > -- > Joe R. Golowka > JoeG@ieee.org > > "Terrorism is now being used and has been used pretty much the same way communism was used. If you > want to press some agenda, you play the terrorism card. If you don't follow me on this, you're > supporting terrorism." - Noam Chomsky > > ==^================================================================ > This email was sent to: LAMZ@sympatico.ca > > EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84tq1.a92wpV > Or send an email to: stoptheWTO-unsubscribe@topica.com > > T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! > http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register > ==^================================================================ > > From mstainsby at tao.ca Sat Apr 13 18:17:15 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] Re: U.S. Jews cannot acquiesce to Sharon?s monstrous behaviour - LAT References: <200204131913.g3DJDWU6009957@rm-rstar.sfu.ca> Message-ID: <00c401c1e349$bb8d4540$291f5318@vc.shawcable.net> ----- Original Message ----- From: > The Los Angeles Times > April 9, 2002 > > U.S. Jews cannot acquiesce to Sharon?s monstrous behaviour > > By Robert Scheer *snip* > Both are killers of the innocent. Both are to be roundly condemned by all, > and the failure of prominent moderate Arabs to do their part to restrain > Arafat is all too obvious. Utter nonsense and opportunism. Criticism of Arafat can be levelled at his attempts to nergotiate with this most racist of states, but certainly not for his resistance. A horrible end to an otherwise decent article. What on earth was Arafat supposed to do, anyhow? He has less control than when he was in Tunisia. > No less a moral offense is the acquiescence of > too many Jews, in Israel and abroad, to the comparable crimes of Sharon. They are not comparable. One is a genocidal lunatic, the other is simply a corrupted populist resisting genocidal attacks and military massacres. Macdonald From mstainsby at tao.ca Sat Apr 13 18:51:16 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] Grave events in Venezuela: Granma Message-ID: <01be01c1e34e$7cd25d40$291f5318@vc.shawcable.net> The Cuban take on recent events: http://www.granma.cu/ingles/abril02-2/venezuela-i.html ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina" --WEF protesters. ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht From mstainsby at tao.ca Sun Apr 14 04:55:02 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] Iraq hails the return of Venezuela's Chavez. Message-ID: <00aa01c1e3a2$d45175c0$291f5318@vc.shawcable.net> Reuters. 14 April 2002. Iraq hails the return of Venezuela's Chavez. BAGHDAD -- Iraq hailed the return to power of fiery Venezuelan populist Hugo Chavez on Sunday as a "victory against American conspiracy." "I would like to congratulate the friendly Venezuelan people for their victory against the American conspiracy," Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz told reporters. Aziz said the United States would "fail not only in Venezuela but in all parts of the world," in a reference to U.S. attempts to overthrow Saddam. ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina" --WEF protesters. ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht From mstainsby at tao.ca Sun Apr 14 04:54:09 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] BBC: Chavez returns to power Message-ID: <009e01c1e3a2$b57a9000$291f5318@vc.shawcable.net> For one day, if only for a moment, it feels ever clearer that there is a point in resistance. Viva Ch?vez, and may the Bolivarian Republic grow strong and old with the people themselves. We are all Bolivarists today! Macdonald -- BBC. 14 April 2002. Chavez returns to power. CARACAS -- Venezuela's ousted President Hugo Chavez has made a dramatic return to power, two days after being forced out by the country's military. He formally resumed his presidential powers in a televised ceremony at the Miraflores presidential palace in the capital, Caracas The smiling Mr Chavez raised his fist in jubilation as he moved through crowds of supporters into the Miraflores palace. "Venezuela would not tolerate an autocracy," Mr Chavez said, once inside the palace. After being formally reinstated, Mr Chavez made an emotional televised address, thanking his supporters and appealing for calm. Thousands of supporters sang the national anthem and set off fireworks, while a military band played. "Today we are celebrating a new democracy," said one man who grabbed a microphone to greet Mr Chavez. An unemployed man, wearing a tattered shirt, said: "The people want him back. He works for the poor." ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina" --WEF protesters. ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht From mstainsby at tao.ca Mon Apr 15 01:37:01 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] Chavez supporters party Message-ID: <004101c1e450$5617c700$291f5318@vc.shawcable.net> AFP. 14 April 2002. Chavez supporters party. CARACAS -- Clad in red berets and waving Venezuelan flags, hundreds of people celebrated outside Venezuela's presidential palace Sunday, in testimony to the popularity that helped sweep President Hugo Chavez back to power after a two-day coup. "We haven't budged from here, the victory is ours," said Eyuminada Bolivar, 50, who said she had been posted outside the presidential palace since dawn, shortly after Chavez returned to office and delivered an emotional hour-long speech. Residents of modest neighborhoods of Caracas and other cities of Venezuela held an impromptu party outside the presidential offices, with music blasting and food for sale. Posters carried by the crowd and slogans painted on surrounding walls read "It's a class struggle," "Out with the coup participants," "Down with tyranny," and "Viva Chavez." Many members of the crowd called for justice for the military officers and business leaders who ousted Chavez early Friday, in the shortest coup in Latin American history. "Where is the OAS and human rights?" read graffiti in red paint sprawled on the wall of a building in downtown Caracas. Wearing a red beret, the symbol of Chavez's Fifth Republic political movement, Aurora Urbina, 47, proudly carried an enormous photo of her leader. "They kidnapped him, the rich wanted to snatch him away from us, but we have gotten him back," she said. ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina" --WEF protesters. ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht From mstainsby at tao.ca Mon Apr 15 03:30:13 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] Israel buries the bodies, but cannot hide the evidence Message-ID: <01dc01c1e460$257989c0$291f5318@vc.shawcable.net> Israel buries the bodies, but cannot hide the evidence By Justin Huggler in Jenin and Phil Reeves in Jerusalem 13 April 2002 Middle East Israel was trying to bury the evidence in Jenin refugee camp yesterday, but it cannot bury the terrible crime it has committed: a slaughter in which Palestinian civilians were cut down alongside the armed defenders of the camp. Israeli tanks circled journalists menacingly as foreign reporters tried to get into the camp, cutting off their approach. But a man who had just fled the camp said he had seen Israeli soldiers burying the bodies of the dead in a mass grave. "I saw it all with my own eyes," said the man. "I saw people bleeding to death in the streets. I saw a 10-year-old child lying dead. There was a big hole in his side and his arm had been blown away. "I saw them burying the bodies. They started work on the grave a few days ago. I recognised some of the bodies in it. I can give you the names." And he reeled them off: "Mohammed Hamed, Nidal Nubam and Mustafa Shnewa". He said the mass grave he saw was in a neighbourhood called Harat Al- Hawashiya. "They dug a big hole in the ground. I saw them filling it in today. They had a big bulldozer pushing dirt in on top of it." And so the grieving of Jenin will not be certain where their relatives lie. They will not return to bury their dead, however - the Israeli army will have done that to keep the devastating sight of the carnage away from the eyes of the waiting world. Yesterday, though, they were unable to stifle the evil smell. The reek of putrefying bodies wafted out of the narrow, rubble-strewn alleys which were barred for a fifth day to international aid agencies trying to send ambulances and doctors to evacuate the many wounded, and recover the dead. One after another, international officials, angered by Israel's rampant violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the human misery that has resulted, confided to The Independent yesterday that they had reached the inevitable conclusion: a crime has been committed which Israel is trying to cover up. "It is clear they have something to hide - that is the bottom line," said one senior diplomatic source. Red Cross and Red Crescent ambulances waited on stand-by for yet another day, without getting in to the camp. The agencies have been tirelessly collecting information in the face of Israel's news black-out, building up details of the scene inside the half- wrecked, water-starved camp - a sprawl of tightly packed homes over one square kilometre. In effect, it has been turned into a prison where thousands of refugees are still in hiding, terrified that the soldiers will add them to the three-figure death toll. A grim, if incomplete, picture is forming. Electricity supplies in Jenin Hospital are so low that the morgue's refrigerators are not running. Decomposing bodies, retrieved from other parts of the West Bank town, have been buried in the hospital gardens. But yesterday morning corpses lay unburied in the camp itself, where 15,000 refugees, half of them under 18, lived before the assault, and the ensuing battles, began. "People who got to the edge of the camp found it incredibly smelly," one UN official said. How much of the camp still stands is unclear; reports say that bulldozers have cut a swath through homes near the entrance - a tactic which the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, used against the refugees of Gaza 30 years ago, when he was an army commander trying to subdue the same forces that have now reared up against him anew. Some accounts say that a third of the camp has been flattened. The besieged Palestinians of Jenin fall into three categories. There is an unknown number in hiding in the refugee camp itself. These are without water, medicines, and risk being shot by Israeli snipers if they step outside, violating the curfew. There are also an estimated 2,000-3,000 who have fled the camp, and are living in schools and mosques in poor conditions, with limited supplies. Finally, there are the many thousands of residents of the rest of the town, parts of which have been devastated by tanks, bulldozers and rockets from helicopters. All of them have been under the army curfew, placing the sick and elderly in serious jeopardy. Tracing all the dead is likely to be a long and complex task. UNWRA, the United Nations relief agency for refugees, keeps a computer list of the residents of the densely populated camp. When its officials are finally allowed access to the camp, this will be used to identify the number of missing - either in detention, hiding or dead. Israel may be able to hide the bodies of the dead but it cannot hide all the evidence. Hundreds of refugees have poured out of Jenin camp, many with harrowing stories to tell. The Palestinians are not going to let these stories be buried under the rubble. Volunteers are compiling meticulous records of the testimony of every refugee who staggered beaten and humiliated by Israeli soldiers out of detention. The Independent has seen the laborious hand-written notes, of which several copies have been made. Among them lies the story of Jamal Wardun. He was detained in the refugee camp when he tried to take his wife to hospital. She was pregnant and going into labour. The last time he saw her was when he was forced to leave her behind in the street. ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina" --WEF protesters. ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht From mstainsby at tao.ca Mon Apr 15 04:07:58 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] Libyan News Excerpt Message-ID: <02bc01c1e465$6bdc15e0$291f5318@vc.shawcable.net> Monday, 15 April, 2002: Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi telephoned Venezuelan president Chavez to congratulate him on his "safe comeback," the Libyan JANA news agency reported. "Our happiness is doubled today as the victory of the will of the Venezuelan people comes at the same time we celebrate our victory over those who attacked us with hundreds of planes," Qadhafi said, referring to the anniversary of a 1986 U.S. airstrike on Libya. [AP] ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina" --WEF protesters. ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht From mstainsby at tao.ca Mon Apr 15 04:26:31 2002 From: mstainsby at tao.ca (Macdonald Stainsby) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] BBC excerpts of Chavez address Message-ID: <033a01c1e468$02f92a60$291f5318@vc.shawcable.net> BBC. 14 April 2002. Chavez calls for national unity. The following are excerpts from his address, as broadcast on Venezuelan Globovision Television: "To God what belongs to God, to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to the people what belongs to the people. "I begin with these words with who knows how many feelings inside me. "I don't know how many feelings stir my breast, my soul, my mind - thoughts and feelings. In this moment I am like the multi-coloured sea. "Nevertheless, I must confess to all Venezuelans, to the Venezuelan people, that I am still in shock. "I am still assimilating this process which we can now give a name to and write down in many books for Venezuelan history and as an example to the world. "This is a process of counter-counter-revolution... "What has happened in Venezuela in these last few hours is truly unprecedented in the world... "The Venezuelan people and its armed forces, those soldiers of the people, have written - this is not exaggerating - a new page, what a great page for Venezuelan, Latin American, and perhaps world history. "The people have recognised their rights. The armed forces, whose essence, whose structural heart, whose officers and troops are aware of their historical responsibilities, did not allow themselves to be confused, manipulated or deceived. "From the core of the situation, from the soul of the situation, strength has emerged that has reinstated the legitimacy and the constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela... "The most important thing is for Venezuelans to return home. I ask people to remain calm... "We need a great deal of spiritual peace at this time for the whole country and every section of society. "I make a call for peace, for calm, for common sense from all. I make a call for the whole country to reunite. "These events that have brought blood and pain are nevertheless, and should be, a huge lesson for all of us. "Venezuela has the respect of the international community, and the international community recognises the legitimacy and sovereignty and courage and valour of the Venezuelan people that was demonstrated here again today... "I would like in particular to thank the international press and international organisations for their role... "On behalf of the government, I do not come here with hate and revenge. We must make decisions and adjust many things... "I call on local governments, governors, mayors, and all men and women who follow me on this path, not to fall into the extremes that some sectors fell into. "We revolutionaries respect the human being, no retaliation. There will be no witch hunt here. There will be no abuses here. Things have to return to the constitutional framework... "Venezuela needs an opposition, but an opposition loyal to the people, an opposition with true criticisms, with options for the country. "I call on the opposition to work in the streets and towns with ethics, with good faith, accepting what has to be accepted. "There are two countries here - a virtual and a real country. The virtual country set up a conspiracy in an adventurist spirit, and the real country has the spirit of reason, strength of love... "I was not mistreated at any point during my detention, and the soldiers guarding me often burst into tears on seeing me... "You haven't resigned? one young soldier asked me. When I replied in the negative he saluted me and declared 'In that case you are my president'... "As for the armed forces, the central structure has proven once again that no matter how much manipulation there is, they will not fall for it." ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina" --WEF protesters. ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht From hunterbadbear at earthlink.net Mon Apr 15 06:42:48 2002 From: hunterbadbear at earthlink.net (Hunter Gray) Date: Sat Aug 5 04:32:14 2006 Subject: [R-G] Makah Whale Hunt -- and protests Message-ID: <001001c1e47b$0e313220$e070fa43@ibm22761429477> Note by Hunterbear: This is another instance where the complex Human Family divides on an issue -- this one pitting some [I say, some] environmentalists against Native Americans. The Makah have every right -- culturally, historically, and legally -- to hunt the grey whales. Like other special entities for other Native people -- e.g., the Bear -- Makah whale hunting is done with great respect and care. It encompasses and engenders and strengthens very deep religious/cultural dimensions -- which, in turn, play a significantly positive role in the socio-cultural survival and enhancement of the Makah Nation. Hunter Gray [ Hunterbear ] www.hunterbear.org ( social justice ) Protected by Na?shdo?i?ba?i? Whale-hunt protests The Province Sunday, April 14, 2002 http://www.canada.com/v