From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov  4 14:59:26 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:59:26 -0800
Subject: [News] University of Arizona using lasers on migrants
Message-ID: <mailman.626.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>



<http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/11/university-of-arizona-becomes-spy.html>University 
of Arizona becomes spy central, coopted by dollars

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

University of Arizona using lasers on migrants, US spy dollars are a 
threat to human rights

By Brenda Norrell

TUCSON -- In Tucson, a community known for its human rights 
organizations setting global standards, the University of Arizona has 
been co-opted by dollars to become spy central.

The university is very proud of its new millions to spy on people, by 
way of the Internet, and develop "technologies," including lasers on 
migrants' arteries.

Under the guise of the war on terror, human rights activists, 
especially peace activists, have been targeted throughout the United 
States and the world by unbridled US spy technology and US government 
lawlessness.

Are the students who promote human rights safe writing on their 
Internet computers at the university? Many do not feel they are. Are 
peaceful protesters safe gathering and legally voicing their 
concerns? Many do not feel they are safe with millions of spy dollars 
pouring into the university.

The university and Homeland Security are promoting Dr. Hsinchun Chen, 
in charge of Internet spying worldwide and based at the university. 
He is on the lookout for "suspicious" behavior.

"Dr. Chen is the founder of the Knowledge Computing Corporation, a 
university spin-off company and a market leader in law enforcement 
and intelligence information sharing and data mining," according to a 
statement to publicize Dr. Chen's efforts.

The 
<http://www.homelandsecurityssi.com/ssi/content/view/95/97/>latest 
news is that the university is using lasers on migrants.

Jay Nunamaker, director of UA's Center for Management of Information 
in the Eller College of Management, said the university is using the 
laser doppler vibrometer on migrants.

"Nunamaker said the goal is to make the laser beam that is aimed at 
the suspect's carotid artery invisible and have it be accurate up to 
100 yards," according to the Tucson Citizen. The lasers are an 
experiment to determine truth telling and lies.

Is it safe? Not everyone believes this laser is safe. But apparently 
the university feels it is OK to experiment on migrants with these lasers.

Homeland Security said, "The Center for Border Security and 
Immigration, led by the University of Arizona in Tucson and the 
University of Texas at El Paso, will develop technologies, tools and 
advanced methods to balance immigration and commerce with effective 
border security, as well as assess threats and vulnerabilities, 
improve surveillance and screening, analyze immigration trends, and 
enhance policy and law enforcement efforts."

The university is receiving $16 million from Homeland Security.

Because of the fear of an economic collapse in the US, university 
researchers are scrambling after the dollars.

Homeland Security dollars are also funding 
<http://www.homelandsecurityssi.com/ssi/content/view/95/97/>US 
intelligence training in Israel, according to Security Solutions International.

The security industry around the world, including intelligence, 
security guards and private prisons, became one of the most 
profitable industries in the world following 9/11.

The Homeland Security funded Israeli training follows the news that 
the same security corporations responsible for building the Apartheid 
Wall in Palestine, including Israel's Elbit Systems, were 
subcontracted for security work on the US Apartheid Wall on the 
US/Mexico border.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, of the Organization of 
American States, named the US Border Wall and Guantanamo as 
international human rights concerns, in a statement released last 
week. The Commission pointed out how the US has targeted Indigenous 
Peoples and the poor in discriminatory actions in construction of the 
border wall and urged the closure of Guantanamo detention facility, 
long known as a place of US torture, secret renditions and other 
violations of the Geneva Conventions.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081104/5a4a8c31/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov  4 15:05:39 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:05:39 -0800
Subject: [News] US Finally Exacts Revenge on Iran/Contra Whistleblower
Message-ID: <mailman.627.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

US Finally Exacts Revenge on Iran/Contra Whistleblower Cele Castillo
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2008/11/us-government-finally-exacts-revenge-irancontra-whistleblower-cele-cast

Posted by 
<http://narcosphere.narconews.com/users/bill-conroy>Bill 
Conroy - November 1, 2008 at 9:20 pm

Celerino ?Cele? Castillo III, a former DEA agent 
who played a key role in exposing the U.S. 
government?s role in narco-trafficking as part of 
the Iran/Contra scandal, is now a discredited man.

At least that is what the office of U.S. Attorney 
Johnny ?House of Death? Sutton in San Antonio, 
Texas, who is a 
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070719-3.html>?dear 
friend? of President George W. Bush, would like 
us to believe. The black mark now affixed to 
Castillo?s reputation courtesy of Sutton?s 
office, however, is a thin conceit on the eve of 
a presidential election that is expected to usher 
in a sea change in American politics that might 
well lead to a re-examination of Castillo?s 
revelations ? which also were supported and 
advanced by legendary investigative journalist 
<http://www.narconews.com/darkalliance/>Gary Webb 
and a host of congressional inquiries in subsequent years.

?United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced 
that in San Antonio yesterday [Oct. 22], 
58-year-old former Drug Enforcement 
Administration agent Celerino ?Cele? Castillo, 
III, of McAllen, Texas, was sentenced to 37 
months in federal prison for his role in dealing 
firearms without a license,? states a 
<http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/press_releases/2008/Castillo_Sentencing.pdf>press 
release issued recently by Sutton?s office.

In other words, Castillo, a Vietnam veteran (an 
expert marksman who was awarded the Bronze Star 
for bravery) will spend the next three years of 
his life in prison, even though he has no prior 
criminal record, for the act of selling some 
firearms (mainly hunting rifles and shotguns at 
gun shows in South Texas) absent the proper 
paperwork. The federal judge in San Antonio 
ordered that Castillo be committed to a medical 
facility due to his multiple medical problems, 
including diabetes and heart problems.

?I thought the judge was doing me a favor by 
sentencing me to a medical facility,? Castillo 
says. ?But I recently talked to someone who just 
got out of one of these medical facilities and he 
said there isn?t a day that goes by where someone 
inside doesn?t die because of a dose of the wrong 
medication or maybe an overdose of chemo. So 
maybe it is a death sentence. I can?t tell you.?

For those who have an aversion to guns and the 
NRA, it?s important to remember that the Second 
Amendment does protect an individual?s right to 
possess firearms ? as much as the First Amendment 
protects an individual?s right to protest the 
Second Amendment. The government?s role, as the 
law is now constructed, is to regulate that right 
to ?keep and bear arms? ? but the regulations it 
has created are byzantine in nature and subject 
to many degrees of nuance in interpretation.

For example, the Gun Control Act distinguishes 
between individuals who sell firearms as a hobby 
and those who engage in the practice as a 
business ? the latter requiring a license issued by the government.

Here is the wording from that 
<http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/gca.htm>act:

The term ?engaged in the business? means 
 a 
person who devotes time, attention, and labor to 
dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade 
or business with the principal objective of 
livelihood and profit through the repetitive 
purchase and resale of firearms, but such term 
shall not include a person who makes occasional 
sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for 
the enhancement of a personal collection or for a 
hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal 
collection of firearms. [Emphasis added.]

The definition above is further rarified by a 
host of complex case law developed at the expense 
of accused violators over the years. So anyone 
who is charged with a firearms violation is well 
advised to find good legal counsel, since the law 
can easily be twisted to the wrong ends by 
over-zealous federal agents and prosecutors.

Castillo is honest about his activity in this 
case, but whether the government actually had the 
evidence that he crossed the line into committing 
a crime is a bigger question. And even if 
Castillo did broach that line, the question of 
the punishment fitting the crime is now a matter 
of an appeal filed in the case ? though Castillo 
says he is still trying to find the money and an 
attorney to handle that appeal.

Here is what Castillo says about the case against 
him on his <http://www.powderburns.org/donation.html>Web Site:

Approximately three years ago, I started to 
attend the Saxet Gun Show by selling my book, 
"Powderburns.? I found the experience 
overwhelming because it turned out to be great 
therapy for my PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress 
Disorder). To ease my "cutting edge" a bit, I was 
back to wearing my Vietnam attire for the gun shows.


 As time went on I started to collect Vietnam 
vintage surplus to sell. But before long, I began 
to do what most of the vendors were doing at the 
gun show, selling and buying both used and new 
guns without a license. Over half of the gun show 
vendors are still doing what I got charged with. 
However, I strongly believe that because of my 
involvement as an "expert witness" and an 
activist against certain actions of our 
government, I obviously had become a target.

After all, I had been forewarned by a defense 
attorney, that an AUSA Federal prosecutor had 
advised him to instruct me that in some way, 
shape or form, they were going to target me until 
they got me. And that they did.

Whistleblower

Castillo, while a DEA agent in Central America in 
the 1980s, during the Reagan/Bush administration, 
uncovered evidence that the CIA and the White 
House National Security Council, through San 
Antonio, Texas, native and national 
counter-terrorism coordinator Lt. Col. Oliver 
North and other CIA assets, were carrying out 
illegal operations at two hangers at Ilopango 
Airport in El Salvador. Those airport hangars, 
Castillo contends, served as weapons and 
narcotics transshipment centers for funding and 
arming the U.S.-backed Contra counter-insurgency 
against the government of Nicaragua.

 From that moment forward, Castillo became a 
target of those pulling the strings in that dirty war.

?Cele became a household word inside DEA,? says 
Sandalio Gonzalez, a retired DEA commander who 
worked in Latin America at the same time Castillo 
was stationed in the region. ?They ruined his 
reputation over the stuff that happened in El 
Salvador [Iran/Contra] and he became a target. He 
took on the Establishment, and it didn?t come out so good for him.?

<http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/9712/ch10p1.htm>Castillo?s 
investigation into the Ilopango operation was 
eventually torpedoed via CIA interference and he 
was subjected to a steady stream of retaliatory DEA internal investigations.

Castillo subsequently, after a 12-year career, 
retired from the DEA, but to this day he has 
remained an outspoken critic of the hypocrisy of 
the war on drugs, penning a book about his 
experiences in DEA, called Powderburns, and 
appearing on numerous radio and TV shows ?most 
recently in a Showtime series called 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kp8bLVh_Bg>American 
Drug War<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kp8bLVh_Bg>.





Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081104/33b9bbe3/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov  5 11:57:49 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:57:49 -0800
Subject: [News] Morning in Obamerica
Message-ID: <mailman.628.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.counterpunch.org/reed11052008.html

November 5, 2008


Change, Change, Change?


Morning in Obamerica

By ISHMAEL REED

The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb, and the  leopard shall lie 
down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling 
together; and a little child shall lead them.

The great American satirist George Schuyler's prescient and comic 
work, Black No More, is about a scientist named Dr. Crookmore who 
comes up with a formula that turns blacks to white (I wonder how 
Schuyler would treat the current profitable back- to- Africa DNA 
hokum). As a result of a country that is totally white, The Civil 
Rights organizations go out of business, and even the last hold out, 
the character, based upon the black nationalist Marcus Garvey, in the 
end, tries some of Dr.  Crookmore solution. Would something like this 
happen were Barack Obama to become president?  A country where there 
exists no social divisions and the issue of race has become defused.

The leader of the NAACP says that the work of the organization will 
continue even with an Obama victory.  Why?Wouldn't it be better that 
the NAACP shut its doors as cable's leading conservative 
intellectual, Tucker Carlson has suggested?Auction off its assets and 
join the post race fever?  In his "The New Black Aesthetic, " (1989,) 
author Trey Ellis announced the arrival of a generation of African 
Americans who would place the issue of race in the background unlike 
we "curmudgeons" and "cranks, " who came of age in the 1960s and who 
are still carrying on like those Japanese soldiers who weren't aware 
that the war was over. "The New Black Intellectuals" were even 
praised by Robert Boynton in an essay that appeared in the Atlantic 
Monthly (March, 1995:53-69. )

To many, Martin Luther King's dream  has been realized. He said, " I 
have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill 
and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, 
and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the 
Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." 
Obviously me and my over sixty pals are still lingering in those 
crooked places and refusing to process the sunlight that is available 
to everybody else.  (Tavis Smiley is our leader).  People like us are 
going to have to adjust to this post race America which resembles a 
painting by Edward Hicks. A place where Blacks  have reached the 
Promised Land?

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1568583397/counterpunchmaga>What 
does this promise land look like?This Obamerica? Shortly after Obama 
is sworn in, the police, instead of subjecting blacks and Hispanics 
to capricious traffic stops, will only stop them to offer free 
tickets to the policeman's ball.  Throughout the country, they will 
address blacks and Hispanics as sir and ma'm. The overcrowding prison 
problem will end, because all of the blacks and Hispanics who've been 
sent there as a result of prosecutorial and police misconduct, 
-probably half- will be set free. And all of those police who have 
murdered unarmed blacks only to be acquitted by all-white juries will 
be retried. Blacks will have the freedom to shop in department stores 
without being watched.

In the media, all of the black Hispanic and Native American and Asian 
American journalists, who, according to the Maynard Institute's media 
watcher, Richard Prince, are being "shown the door, " will be 
rehired. The progressive media will spend as much time on the torture 
of black suspects in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles as they do 
torture at Gitmo. Blacks will be liberated from the crime, 
entertainment and sports pages exclusively and appear in other 
sections. More cerebral sections as scientists, 
engineers,   astronomers. Jonathan Klein and other cable producers 
will stop managing black opinion so that it doesn't alienate its 
white audience and voices other than those of black correspondents 
from Rev.  Moon's church will be awarded air time. Global warming 
denier Michelle Bernard will be replaced by Jill Nelson.

  Jesse Jackson will be appointed lead editorial writer for The Wall 
Street Journal. and Al Sharpton will assume duties at The National 
Review.  Rush Limbaugh will inaugurate a series called "Great African 
American Inventors." Spike Lee will be invited to run Columbia 
Pictures  and Amy Goodman will take over at NBC. The Newspaper 
Society of America will apologize for the lynchings and civil 
disturbances caused by an inflammatory media over the last one 
hundred or so years. A choked up Rupert Murdoch will read the 
statement on behalf of his colleagues.

In an emotional press conference, John McWhorter, Ward Connerly and 
Shelby Steele will admit that  they have been tools of the Eugenics 
movement and donate all of the millions they have received from far 
right organizations to scholarships for black and Hispanic students. 
Blacks will have as much access to a good education as those members 
of Al-Qaeda and Saddam's government who studied in  the United 
States. This will end the policy of you educate them, we fight them.

Gertrude Himmlefarb and Lynne Cheney will insist that the works by 
Hispanic, black and Native Americans be added to the cannon.  Cornel 
West will co host  a show with Dr.  Phil. The New York Review of 
Books will end its white only policy and begin to resemble America. 
Phillip Roth will
admit that all of his novels are autobiographical. Several prominent
abstract expressionists will confess that they can't draw.

All of the blacks and Hispanics who have been driven out of New York, 
Oakland, and San Francisco, as a result of the policies of ethnic 
cleansing, advocated by Jerry Brown, Giuliani and Newsom, will be 
invited to return. The banks that aimed toxic mortgage loans to 
blacks and Hispanics, who would have qualified for conventional loans 
had they been white, will halt the foreclosure process and 
renegotiate these loans. CEOs on Wall Street will forego bonuses and 
golden parachutes. Sales conferences will be held at Day's Inn. For 
rent signs will go up on K street. The American Enterprise will close 
its doors.

The right will stop using worn out phrases like " political 
correctness, ' and victimization" and hire Sean "Puffy" Combs to 
provide them with some hip language.

An Obama administration will launch the Obama doctrine, which will 
advocate friendly aggression and soft diplomacy in Africa, Asia  the 
Middle East and other global spots where American forces are killing 
people.  These trouble spots will be inundated with artists, writers, 
dancers and musicians, engineers, doctors and people who speak their 
languages.

American students will be required to lean an Asian and African 
languages well as a western one. He will call for an end to warfare 
by air so that these forces will at least look their victims in the 
eye before murdering them.  No more drones. Missiles. Members of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff will address him as Mr, President, both in 
private and in public. The white house, haunted by the ghosts of the 
Indian fighters and slave owners and KKK sympathizers like Woodrow 
Wilson, who once ruled from there, will be demolished and the first 
family will reside in a St.  Louis condo as the country seeks a fresh 
start.  Cindy McCain will sell her wardrobe and donate the proceeds 
to rebuilding New Orlean's 9th ward. Any one outfit that she wears on 
a given day would help to rebuild a block. John McCain will 
acknowledge the black members of his family whom he has snubbed up to 
now.  Obama critic Governor Schwarzenegger's will be among the new 
president's well wishers. He will offer to improve president Obama's 
physique by sending him some steroids from his private stash. And, by 
the way, doesn't an effort to put some meat on somebody's bones begin  at home?

A big step toward a green America would be to return the land that 
was stolen from Native Americans. (The southwest will be returned to Mexico).

And as a gesture to this new Era of Good Feeling, George Bush, Condi 
Rice, Henry Kissinger, Dick Cheney, Judith Miller, Osama Bin Laden 
and Jonathan Klein will turn themselves in at the Hague.

Ishmael Reed is the publisher of Konch. His new book, 
"<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1568583397/counterpunchmaga>Mixing 
It Up, Taking On The Media Bullies" was published by De Capo.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081105/95d335d6/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov  5 12:05:38 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:05:38 -0800
Subject: [News] Media Silent On Evidence Of Israeli Targeting Of Youngsters
Message-ID: <mailman.629.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Children In The Crosshairs
Media Silent On Evidence Of Israeli Targeting Of Youngsters

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/19348

November 05, 2008 By David Cromwell


On the afternoon of Thursday 28 February, 2008, a group of 
Palestinian boys were playing football on some open ground near their 
homes in the Gaza Strip. At around 3.20pm, an Israeli aircraft fired 
a missile at the boys, killing four of them instantly and seriously 
injuring another three. The four dead boys were Omar Hussein 
Dardouna, aged 14, Dardouna Deib Dardouna, aged 12, Mohammed Na'im 
Hammouda, aged 9, and Ali Munir Dardouna who was just 8.

Palestinian human rights fieldworkers investigated the circumstances 
of this attack by Israeli forces. They concluded there was no 
Palestinian resistance in the area at the time and that the boys 
"must have been clearly visible to the [Israeli] aircraft that fired 
the missile."

Similar cases abound. A new study by the Palestinian Centre for Human 
Rights reports that 68 children died in Gaza between June 2007 - June 
2008 (PCHR press release, October 21, 2008; 
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2008/2008/43-2008.html). 
Over the same period, 12 children were killed by Israeli forces in 
the West Bank. The report highlights the "deliberate targeting of 
civilians, including children". (Palestinian Council for Human 
Rights, 'Blood on their hands. Child killings by the Israeli 
Occupation Forces (IOF) in the Gaza Strip. June 2007 - June 2008', 
October 22, 2008, p. 4; 
http://www.electronicintifada.net/downloads/pdf/081021-pchr-childkillings.pdf) 


Since the Second Intifada, which began in September 2000, Israeli 
forces have killed 859 children in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. 
The child death toll rose dramatically during the first six months of 
2008, mostly as the result of a large-scale Israeli military 
operation in the Gaza Strip. The massive assault, code-named 
'Operation Winter Heat', was launched on February 27. The Israeli 
military killed more children (47) in the Gaza Strip during the first 
four months of 2008 than during the whole of 2007 (32 children). A 
total of 110 civilians were killed during 'Operation Winter Heat' in 
February-March 2008. (See our earlier Media Alerts: 'Israel's Illegal 
Assault On The Gaza "Prison"', March 3, 2008, 
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/08/080303_israels_illegal_assault.php; 
and 'Israeli Deaths Matter More', March 11, 2008, 
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/08/080311_israeli_deaths_matter.php)

The website Remember These Children reports that 123 Israeli children 
have been killed by Palestinians and 1,050 Palestinian children have 
been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000. 
(http://rememberthesechildren.org/about.html)

Most children killed in recent years in the Gaza Strip have died as a 
result of bombardment, surface-to-surface missiles, or missiles fired 
from aircraft. The Palestinian human rights investigation notes that 
Israel has "consistently bombed either inside or extremely close to 
densely populated residential areas, including schools and areas in 
close proximity to schools." It uses "disproportionate and excessive 
force across the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territories], without 
regard for civilian life, including the lives of children."

But the report is even more damning than that. It concludes that 
Israeli forces "deliberately target unarmed civilians, including 
children, as part of their policy of collective punishment of the 
entire Palestinian civilian population."

The human rights investigation also concludes that:

"There is also strong and consistent evidence to suggest that 
[Israeli forces] deliberately kill Palestinian children in reprisal 
for the deaths of Israeli civilians or members of the [Israeli 
forces], which amounts to a war crime." (PCHR, op. cit., p. 46)

According to international humanitarian law, children are to be 
afforded special protection during international armed conflicts. 
This includes military occupation such as exists in the Palestinian 
territories under Israel. Legal protection is provided by the 1949 
Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as by the 1989 United Nations 
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Israel signed the CRC in 1991.

Protection was strengthened by the (CRC) Optional Protocol on the 
Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. The Protocol reaffirms 
"that the rights of children require special protection" and condemns 
"the targeting of children in situations of armed conflict and direct 
attacks on objects protected under international law, including 
places that generally have a significant presence of children, such 
as schools and hospitals." Israel signed the Optional Protocol on 14 
November 2001 (PCHR, op. cit., p. 14), but it endlessly tramples the 
legal agreements to which it is a signatory.

Finally, the PCHR report notes that Israel has consistently failed to 
investigate Israeli killings of unarmed civilians, including 
children. On the rare occasions that official investigations are 
launched, these have been conducted by the Israeli forces themselves. 
The persistent result is a whitewash, and a travesty of justice.

And while Israel continues to kill unarmed civilians with impunity, 
the international community has failed to intervene effectively to 
exert pressure on Israel to stop killing Palestinian civilians, 
including children. These killings ought to be publicly condemned by 
the international community who, as High Contracting Parties to the 
Fourth Geneva Convention, are obliged to act immediately in order to 
protect all unarmed civilians from Israeli attacks.

As the PCHR observes:

"The lives of Palestinian children are as sacred as the lives of 
children from Israel, Europe or anywhere else in the world."


Minimal Response From A Protective Media

The report from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights was shocking. 
Guy Gabriel, an adviser to the London-based Arab Media Watch, told us 
that the group "is a credible organisation with a lot to commend it, 
and is better placed than many - in terms of location, resources and 
support - to inform the wider world about the situation in Gaza." 
(Email, October 31, 2008). Journalist John Pilger commented: "The 
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights is, in my experience, a highly 
credible statistics gathering body." (Email, October 27, 2008)

This credible human rights group, then, had produced compelling 
evidence of a persistent pattern of deliberate targeting of 
Palestinian civilians, +including children+, by the Israeli military. 
Surely this would have been headline news everywhere.

Sadly no. In the entire British press there was a giant, gaping hole 
in coverage.

The only exception we could find was a short, 400-word piece in the 
Guardian on the day of the report's publication: Rory McCarthy, 
'Palestinian group says Israel killed 68 children in Gaza in year', 
The Guardian, October 21, 2008; 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/21/israel-palestinian-children

As McCarthy pointed out:

"A prominent Palestinian human rights group says it has found 
evidence that 68 children were killed in the Gaza Strip in the 12 
months to June this year as a result of 'disproportionate and 
excessive lethal force' by the Israeli military."

This was welcome coverage. But, crucially, there was no mention of 
the military policy of deliberately targeting civilians, including 
children. In his report, McCarthy said he was unable to obtain any 
response to the study from an Israeli official (it was a Jewish 
religious holiday). He then inserted the standard Israeli disclaimer:

"[Israel] has in the past repeatedly defended its military actions in 
Gaza, saying it does not intentionally target civilians, and noting 
that Palestinian militants frequently fire from civilian areas."

On October 27, 2008, we emailed McCarthy and praised him for 
reporting the publication of the study. We then pointed to the 
study's central, repeated message - backed by multiple eye-witness 
testimony - that Israel deliberately targets civilians, including 
children. We asked why his Guardian article had omitted this core 
conclusion. McCarthy did not respond to our email, nor to a second 
sent on October 29.

As for the "balanced" and "impartial" BBC, the corporation appears to 
have performed its usual role of protecting the powerful. Judging by 
the PCHR report's apparent absence from headline BBC news coverage 
and the BBC's website, the corporation has buried the report's 
findings. As far as we could determine, the same shameful silence 
characterised ITN and Channel 4 News.

By contrast, Al Jazeera aired a three-minute segment on the report 
that included a moving interview with a bereaved mother. There was 
also disturbing footage of injured and traumatised children, one of 
whom had seen his father killed by an Israeli missile (Al-Jazeera, 
October 22, 2008; http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=PTzQOsO32ro). In the 
Al Jazeera news piece, Hamdi Shokri of the Palestinian Centre for 
Human Rights emphasised:

"We have clear evidence to suggest and to say that there were 
patterns of deliberate killing and deliberate targeting of children."

We emailed Jeremy Bowen, the BBC's Middle East editor, on October 26, 
2008. We asked him why the BBC had done so little, if anything, to 
bring this damning human rights report to the public's attention. Why 
had the BBC failed to expose a deliberate Israeli practice of 
targeting children? In short, why can't the BBC do better in its 
coverage of the occupied territories? Bowen did not respond.

Greg Philo, of the world-renowned Glasgow Media Group, recently 
commissioned YouGov to ask a sample of 2,086 UK adults whether they 
thought that more news coverage should be given to the Israeli point 
of view, or more to the Palestinians, or equal for both. Nearly twice 
as many people thought that the Palestinians should have the most as 
compared with the Israelis, but the bulk of the replies (72%) were 
that both should have the same. A staggering 95% of the population 
were unhappy with the main news output of the broadcasters. (Philo, 
'More News, Less Views', September 30, 2008; 
http://www.gla.ac.uk/centres/mediagroup/MoreNews.html)

Routine silences and omissions in coverage of the Middle East are 
symptoms of a deep-rooted bias that suppresses public awareness of 
the true gravity of Israel's human rights abuses. Rarely, if ever, do 
we hear of the "indiscriminate beating, tear-gassing, and shooting of 
children", as documented in a thousand-page study from Save the 
Children. The average age of the victims was ten years old; the 
majority of those shot were not even participating in stone throwing. 
In 80 per cent of cases where children were shot, the Israeli army 
prevented the victims from receiving medical attention. The report 
concluded that more than 50,000 children required medical attention 
for injuries including gunshot wounds, tear gas inhalation and 
multiple fractures.

In 1989, a bulletin from the Israeli League for Human and Civil 
Rights, titled 'Deliberate Murder', reported the targeting of 
Palestinian children in leadership roles. Israeli army and snipers 
from "special units" had "carefully chosen" the children who were 
shot in the head or heart and died instantaneously. Other evidence, 
from Israeli human rights groups and the Israeli press, point to 
extensive use of torture, such as severe beating and electric shocks, 
against detainees including children. (Mike Berry and Greg Philo, 
'Israel and Palestine - Competing Histories', Pluto Press, London, 
2006, pp. 86-87)

Amnesty International has also reported that groups of Palestinian 
civilians, including children, appear, "on many occasions, to have 
been deliberately targeted". Israeli soldiers themselves have 
admitted that they have deliberately shot and killed unarmed 
civilians including children (Ibid., p. 116). Indeed, for many years, 
Amnesty has documented and condemned Israeli violations of human 
rights against Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories. Most 
of these violations are grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva 
Convention and are therefore war crimes. (Ibid., pp. 60-61).


Israeli Terror: Not Terror, By Definition

In his 2002 documentary, 'Palestine Is Still The Issue', John Pilger 
interviewed Dori Gold, then Senior Adviser to the Israeli Prime 
Minister. Pilger asked why Israel fails to condemn its own leaders 
for their terrorist acts in the same way that they condemn terrorist 
acts against Israel:

John Pilger (JP): When those Israelis, who are now famous names 
[Menachem Begin, Yitzak Shamir and Ariel Sharon], committed acts of 
terrorism just before the birth of Israel, you could have said to 
them, nothing justifies what you've done, ripping apart all those 
lives. And they would say it did justify it. What's the difference?

Dori Gold (DG): I think we have now, as an international community, 
come to a new understanding. I think after September 11th the world 
got a wake-up call. Because terrorism today is no longer the mad 
bomber, the anarchist who throws in an explosive device into a crowd 
to make a point. Terrorism is going to move from the present 
situation to non-conventional terrorism, to nuclear terrorism. And 
before we reach that point, we have to remove this scourge from the 
Earth. And therefore, whether you're talking about the struggle here 
between Israelis and Palestinians, the struggle in Northern Ireland, 
the struggle in Sri Lanka, or any of the places where terrorism has 
been used, we must make a global commitment of all free democracies 
to eliminate this threat from the world. Period.

JP: Does that include state terrorism?

DG: No country has the right to deliberately target civilians, as no 
organisation has a right to deliberately target civilians.

JP: What about Israeli terrorism now?

DG: The language of terrorism, you have to be very careful with. 
Terrorism means deliberately targeting civilians, in a kind of 
warfare. That's what the terrorism against Israeli schools, coffee 
shops, malls, has been all about. Israel specifically targets, to the 
best of its ability, Palestinian terrorist organisations.

JP: All right, when an Israeli sniper shoots an old lady with a cane, 
trying to get into a hospital for her chemotherapy treatment, in 
front of a lot of the world's press for one, and frankly we'd be here 
all day with other examples, isn't that terrorism?

DG: I don't know the case you're speaking about, but I can be 
convinced of one thing. An Israeli who takes aim - even an Israeli 
sniper - is taking aim at those engaged in terrorism. Unfortunately, 
in every kind of warfare, there are cases of civilians who are 
accidentally killed. Terrorism means putting the crosshairs of the 
sniper's rifle on a civilian deliberately.

JP: Well that's - that's what I've just described.

DG: That is what - no. I can tell you that did not happen.

JP: It did happen. And - and I think that's where some people have a 
problem with the argument that terrorism exists on - on one side. 
Your definition is absolutely correct, about civilians. And those 
suicide bombers are terrorists.

DG: If you mix terrorism and counter-terrorism, if you create some 
kind of moral obfuscation, you will bring about not just a problem 
for Israel, but you will bring ab - bring about a problem for the 
entire western alliance. Because we are all facing this threat.

As John Pilger concluded:

"It's hard to see the difference between what the Israelis call 
'counter-terrorism' and terrorism. Whatever the target, both involve 
the killing of innocent people." (John Pilger, 'Israeli Terror', 
http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=143; 'Palestine Is Still 
The Issue' documentary can be viewed here: 
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=1259454859593416473; Dori 
Gold interview starts at around 34 mins:32 secs)

Today, Dori Gold "spends his time traveling around the world raising 
awareness about the situation going [sic] in Israel and the fight 
over Jerusalem [and] is available for speaking engagements, 
fundraisers and corporate events." 
(http://www.bookthebest.com/profile/dori_gold)

We asked John Pilger for his response to the new study from the 
Palestinian human rights group and the report's effective burial by 
the corporate media. He told us:

"That this shocking report has been virtually ignored across the 
mainstream media, with the exception of the Guardian, is a striking 
example of the media's two classes of humanity in Palestine. There is 
first class humanity, worthy of meticulous, often emotive coverage; 
these are the Israelis, including those guilty of great crimes, such 
as Ariel Sharon. And there is second class humanity, unworthy of even 
acknowledgement of their brutalising let alone the epic injustice 
done to them; these are the Palestinians. No, 'second class' is too 
high. They are third and fourth class victims, for not even the 
suffering and murder of their children is considered human enough to 
warrant reporting." (Email, October 27, 2008)

We are reminded of British historian Mark Curtis's term, "Unpeople", 
to describe those on the receiving end of the West's policies, 
actions and massive firepower. For those unfortunate individuals in 
the crosshairs of Western violence, their human aspirations, hopes, 
dreams, loves and lives are simply of no value.


SUGGESTED ACTION

The goal of Media Lens is to promote rationality, compassion and 
respect for others. If you do write to journalists, we strongly urge 
you to maintain a polite, non-aggressive and non-abusive tone.

Rory McCarthy, Guardian reporter
Email:  rory.mccarthy at guardian.co.uk

Siobhain Butterworth, readers' editor of the Guardian
Email: reader at guardian.co.uk

Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor
Email: jeremy.bowen at bbc.co.uk

Helen Boaden, director of BBC News
Email: helenboaden.complaints at bbc.co.uk

David Mannion, ITV News editor in chief
Email: david.mannion at itn.co.uk

Jim Gray, editor of Channel 4 News
Email: jim.gray at itn.co.uk

Please send a copy of your emails to us
Email: editor at medialens.org





Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081105/4d0007cf/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov 12 15:42:09 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:42:09 -0800
Subject: [News] Obama Picks Bill Ayers as Secretary of Defense
Message-ID: <mailman.630.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>


OBAMA PICKS BILL AYERS AS SECRETARY OF DEFENSE!

(PU) Barak Hussein Obama, newly elected President of the
People's Republic of America, today announced his choice of William
Ayers, a former leader of the 70s militant antiwar group, the Weather
Underground, for U.S. Secretary of Defense. The appointment allays
concerns of many peace movement progressives who had feared that
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, overseer of the military surge in
Iraq, would be asked to stay on.

"Man, oh, man ? socialism has finally come to America!"  sobbed
Mr. Ayers, when reached by telephone. "I've waited so long ? now
I'll show them who's washed up!"

Mr. Ayers was referring to attacks by John McCain's
presidential campaign, which alleged that Barak Obama harbored some
sort of nefarious, anti-American ties to the 63-year-old Ayers, whose
organization in the 1970s bombed government sites and staged
confrontational rallies to stop America's war in Vietnam. As Mr.
McCain became more desperate for support, his insinuations of an
Ayers conspiracy became increasingly common. The final presidential
debate contains a McCain reference to Mr. Ayers as a "washed-up
terrorist."

Bill Ayers is, in fact, an elementary education theorist who
has spent his last few decades above ground, infiltrating the
University of Illinois at Chicago as a Distinguished Professor of
Education and Senior University Scholar. In 1997, he won Chicago's
Citizen of the Year award for his work on a public school reform
project. Today, he says his past activism would make him the perfect
advisor to the President in matters of "armed struggle."

History, however, may prove that some Republican suspicions
were correct. Bursting with post-election glee, Mr. Ayers revealed
that he has indeed been advising Barak Obama all along, even in such
matters as his election night appearance. "Who do you think told
Michelle to dress the whole family in red and black?" asked Mr.
Ayers. "Way to subliminally convey our radical egalitarian,
anarcho- communist values!"

Mr. Ayers says he looks forward to implementing
further "right-on" changes.

"Comrade Obama and I share a common dream," continued Mr.
Ayers. "We agree the only way to achieve true human dignity and
justice is by securing the United States as an iron-fisted, free-love
liberated zone. To that end, I shall recommend starting our
administration off with a series of small property bombings ? of  our
own military-industrial complex."

      Such a project would, according to Mr. Ayers, effectively end
the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and prevent further
encroachments into Pakistan. "First, we bring the boys and girls
home," explained Mr. Ayers. "Then we order them to blow up Lockheed
Martin, Blackwater, Raytheon, AIG ? all the major military
contractors and implicated multinationals. Finally, we get them to
organize the masses so that, together, we turn these corporate/military
installations into daycare centers, food coops, legal
clinics. Whoa, let's not forget the Capitol Building ? that  would
make a great birthing center."

Ever "unrepentant," Mr. Ayers added, "I feel we can't do enough."

President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney
have not returned phone calls for several days. Anonymous sources
close to the President-elect say that Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney are
among several officials from the outgoing administration who are
being held incommunicado at socialist labor camps, newly constructed
for "the real washed-up terrorists."

Experts are unable to predict how long it will take to
accomplish the "People's liberation" of the U.S. defense
infrastructure. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who may well
be positioning himself for a role in the new administration,
cheerfully conjectured: "We could be in this for years."

Reached by email, past presidential contender Hillary Rodham
Clinton, who denies rumors of her own ambitions for an Obama Cabinet
post, nevertheless supported the Ayers appointment. "Let's remember
that Barak Obama is the first African-American to be elected
President," wrote Ms. Clinton, whose current Senate webpage photo
shows her sporting an attractive blue headband with matching fringed
poncho. "No way is Barak going to play the Establishment game and
pull the same imperialist crap ? that would be so lame. Peace  Out. ;)"

Everyone in the so-called "red" states who voted for McCain was
unavailable for comment. However, the rest of America appears
audacious enough to hope for real change.

"I want to be able to tell my kids that everybody's equal, war
is bad, and the Earth should be saved ? without them thinking  I'm
some whacked-out, post-hippie depressive," said Minerva Blaustein,
58, kindergarten teacher in Astoria, Queens. "I need to know that
things are getting better."

Nineteen-year-old Ricky Sandoval of Brooklyn agrees. "Baby, I
could enlist, get my degree, and still be able to stay home and
protect my country from its own war economy," said Sandoval.
"Because, now that Obama's won, the LAST thing this country would do
is forget about the deaths we've already caused and send more troops
to the Middle East ? right? The last thing?"

Details at 11:00. On the Weather channel.



?? Susie Day, 2008



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081112/76a6d6db/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Nov 13 14:20:28 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:20:28 -0800
Subject: [News] Miriam Makeba transitions
Message-ID: <mailman.631.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHgKcPP6yK0

Video piece on Miriam Makeba

***************************************************************************************
Adieu Mama Africa Makeba
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200811130738.html

The New Times (Kigali)

COLUMN
13 November 2008
Posted to the web 13 November 2008

By Kelvin Odoobo
Kigali

The curtain has drawn on the illustrious living and career of the 
high priestess of African Music.

At 76, the very dynamic, winding journey of life for Miriam Zenzi 
Makeba, which started in a Johannesburg ghetto in 1932, ended in a 
small Italian town where she had gone to what she is best known for; 
to sing for a good cause.

The shining light of African collapsed on Sunday as she was leaving 
the stage in Castel Volturno, near Naples, Italy according to a 
statement issued by South African foreign minister Dlamini Zuma.

Singer, songwriter, political activist, actress, great-grandmother 
and both United Nations and South African government goodwill 
ambassador, Miriam Makeba's life has been a story of gracious singing 
talent and resilience against apartheid in her homeland, South Africa.

She began her career in the 1950s as a vocalist in the South African 
jazz group the Manhattan Brothers. She then formed her own group, the 
Skylarks, singing a blend of traditional melodies and jazz that was 
to become her trademark.

In 1956, she released her monster track 'Pata pata' that assured her 
worldwide fame, but not just yet. 1959 was the landmark year.

She played a leading role in the South African stage production of a 
black jazz opera, King Kong, "My mother was in the audience," 
recounts Makeba to Gamal Nkrumah, a profiler, wiping away a tear with 
her handkerchief. "That was the only time my mother saw me on stage.

At one point in the play, I am strangled and my mother jumped from 
her seat and screamed: 'No. You will not get away with murder. You 
cannot do this to my daughter.' In the same year she made her US 
debut in November 1959 and also became the first African to win a 
Grammy award for the album "An Evening with Harry Belafonte & Miriam Makeba".

In 1960, she appeared in anti-apartheid documentary, 'Come Back 
Africa' which was to become a turning point in her life. When her 
mother died, she leant that she could not go back to South Africa to 
bury her because the apartheid government had withdrawn her 
citizenship and consigned her to a life as 'a citizen of the world.' 
That was her price for playing the anti-apartheid role in the movie.

In 1967, more than ten years after she wrote the song, "Pata Pata" 
was released in the United States and became a world-wide hit, 
instantly assuring her of an American and global audience that has 
stuck with her until the last of her days.

She continued to sing and put African music of the world map and 
collaborated with many renowned figures in the America music industry 
like Dizzy Gillespie, Odette and Nina Simone, Paul Simon's in 1987 
and South African musical group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Many countries offered her honorary passports (she once held nine) 
and she found a new 'home' in Guinea. She described performances for 
world leaders such as John F Kennedy, Francois Mitterrand, Fidel 
Castro, Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyatta, Kwame Nkrumah 
and the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie as "unforgettable."

During her three decades in exile she became an outspoken figure 
against apartheid, aside from her titillating music and crisscrossed 
the world; spoke at the United Nations assembly.

In 1990 lady luck smiled on to her. On leaving prison, Nelson Mandela 
invited her back home. By that time, all her siblings, save one, 
Joseph, were dead.

"My brother's was the first face I spotted in the crowd," she said quietly.

"After a stopover at his house, I went straight to my mother's grave. 
I spent hours alone in the graveyard, remembering, weeping and 
contemplating in silence."

It has not been rosy for the first Africa music superstar. She has 
weathered many storms in her life, including several car accidents, 
the loss of her only child, a plane crash and even cancer. She 
remained as active in her latter years as she did as a young girl 
with stars in her eyes.

"I'm 70 next year, and I guarantee that when you see the show 
tonight, I'll be in better shape than I was 20 years ago," she winked 
and chuckled while talking to the Al-Ahram Weekly in Egypt in 2001.

"The knees sometimes give way, but they are going to be on their best 
behavior," she says, patting them proudly as she would one of her 
great-grandchildren. In one of her last interviews with on a visit to 
Kampala last month, she gave a talk to women entrepreneurs.

"Women who want to be successful at singing must love it. Don't be a 
sometime singer, be a full time singer and love what you do."

Edwin Nuwagaba wrote in The Monitor newspaper that, whereas the event 
was supposed to be sort of a speech day, Makeba did not say much.

Instead she dropped her crutches and did what she knows best - 
performing on the stage. Little did her fans know that Mama Africa 
was bidding her fair byes how she knew best; on the dance floor, on the stage.

Perhaps, in one of her quotes we will find the strong knowledgeable 
and unflappable character "Age is getting to know all the ways the 
world turns, so that if you cannot turn the world the way you want, 
you can at least get out of the way so you won't get run over."

Her role on the stage called earth, in the play of life, has closed. 
She has left rich and fulfilling years for us to celebrate. Adieu to 
the lady with an outstanding zeal, a golden voice and a special touch.
.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081113/89e39e95/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Nov 13 15:53:24 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:53:24 -0800
Subject: [News] Israel stops Gaza aid delivery
Message-ID: <mailman.632.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>


[]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/11/20081113143955227206.html

UPDATED ON:
Thursday, November 13, 2008
22:34 Mecca time, 19:34 GMT

Israel stops Gaza aid delivery

The United Nations is to suspend its food distribution effort to the 
Gaza Strip after Israel said it would not allow emergency supplies 
into the Palestinian territory, a UN spokesman has said.

Israel had initially permitted the UN Relief and Works Agency to send 
30 lorries of supplies to Gaza on Thursday but later reversed the 
agreement, citing a barrage of mortar fire by fighters in the enclave.

"They [Israel] have told us the crossings are closed today. At the 
end of today we will suspend our food distribution," Chris Gunnes, a 
spokesman for Unrwa, said on Thursday.

"Our warehouses are effectively empty."

Unrwa usually distributes emergency food rations to about 750,000 
people in the Gaza Strip, half the population of the territory.

"Pushing people to the brink of desperation every few months and 
forcing Unrwa into yet another cycle of crisis management, is not in 
the interest of anyone who believes in peace, moderation 
and  stability," Gunness said.

Lorries turned back

The passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza has repeatedly been stopped 
over the last few days, aid agencies say, marking a turning point on 
Israel's grip on the territory.

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday 
that Israeli border authorities had turned back its lorries from the 
Kerem Shalom crossing.

Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent, said that a queue of 
lorries had waited at the Kerem Shalom crossing throughout Thursday, 
waiting in vain for the Israeli military's green light.

"It is the second time this year that UN supplies have not reached 
Palestinians," he said from the crossing point.

"And it really highlights what Palestinians say has become their 
routine - not knowing when border crossings will open, not when when 
they can leave, and not knowing if they can get what they need."

Truce under pressure

Gaza, which is controlled by the Palestinian group Hamas, has faced a 
crippling Israeli blockade in recent months.

Israel says the blockade is aimed at improving its security from 
Palestinian rocket fire.

A six-month truce between Israel and Hamas has come under increasing 
strain in the last week, after Israeli forces entered Gaza in a move 
against a tunnel network used  by Palestinian fighters.

At least 11 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in recent 
days, while more than 130 rockets have been fired from Gaza.

"The rockets are a natural response to [Israel's] aggression," Fawzi 
Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said.

Power cut

In another development, Israel cut off European Union-funded fuel 
supplies to Gaza's only power plant on Thursday.

"It is completely shut down," Qanaan Obeid, an official from the 
Palestinian Energy Authority, said.

Between a quarter and a third of Gaza's power comes from the plant, 
with the remainder the supplied by Egyptian and Israeli national grids.

Katharina Ritz, mission leader for the ICRC, said that "every day the 
situation is getting more and more precarious for Gazans".

She said that medical equipment is in particularly short supply in 
the coastal territory.

Peter Lerner, an Israeli defence ministry spokesman, said that the 
closure of the Gaza crossings came in response to rocket fire.

Reopening the crossings "has been delayed because of the mortar 
shelling that impedes the proper functioning of the crossing points", he said.

The Israeli government first implemented a blockade of the territory 
after fighters loyal to Hamas, which Israel and the US deems a 
terrorist organisation, forced Palestinian Fatah fighters out of Gaza 
in June 2007.

  Source: Al Jazeera and agencies




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081113/ad67916b/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Nov 13 18:20:17 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:20:17 -0800
Subject: [News] Mumia Abu-Jamal on President Obama
Message-ID: <mailman.633.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

November 13, 2008

The Meanings of Victory

[col. writ. 11/04/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal



     The count has been called and Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. has 
become the 44th President of the United States of America.

     But, in truth, history will record him as #1 - the first 
African-American president.

     It is undeniable that this is a singular political achievement, 
a work of impressive political skill, and (we must admit) a gift of 
the political gods.

     Among friends, in the privacy of a prison visiting room I've 
often made the following half-joke.  Obama wins handsomely, and in 
his acceptance speech, flush with victory, loaded with 'political 
capital', he would open by saying, "My fellow Americans -- first and 
foremost, I want to thank the one person who made my election 
possible (if not inevitable): George W. Bush!"

     I always got a laugh, for like all good jokes  the truth makes it happen.

     And the truth is, without the blunders of Bush, Obama would've 
been an also-ran.  His fundamental issue, which set him apart from 
the rest of the Democratic pack, was his early opposition to the Iraq 
War.  That gave him a wind that carried him far and long beyond his 
competitors, who were, for the most part, half-hearted war supporters 
-- or worse, people who supported the war only because to not do so, 
would've harmed their political careers (or so they thought).

     That wind carried him to the Oval Office, the grandest prize in 
U.S. politics.

     But what does it mean?

     We cannot deny its symbolic value.  In millions of Black homes, 
his picture will be placed on walls, beside Martin, John F. Kennedy, 
and a pale painting of Jesus. I'd be that quite a few African homes 
(especially in Kenya) will also boast his smiling visage.

     But beyond symbol is substance, and substantively, some scholars 
have defined Obama as little different from his predecessors. 
Political scientist Clarence Lusane, writing in a recent issue of The 
Black Scholar pointed to the money men behind both Obama and the 
Democratic Party, and noted the following:

    The promotion of U.S. hegemony, expansion of markets for U.S. 
corporations, security-based multilateral relations, protectionist 
trade policies, and a focus on terrorism will likely be key 
priorities demanded by the major political and financial backers of 
the Democratic Party. In other words, in a number of key areas, an 
Obama administration would echo the policies of both George H.W. Bush 
and Bill Clinton." *

     Yet, symbols are powerful things.  Sometimes, they have a life 
all their own.  They may come to mean something more than first intended.

     History has been made.

     We shall see exactly what kind of history it will be.

--(c) '08 maj

{Source: Lusane, C., " 'We Must Lead the World' : The Obama Doctrine 
and the Rebranding of U.S. Hegemony, " The Black Scholar, [v.38: n.1] 
(Spr. '08), p.3.}


The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!

PLEASE CONTACT:
International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ
P.O. Box 19709
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Phone - 215-476-8812/ Fax - 215-476-6180
E-mail - 
<http://by109fd.bay109.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=458931ce7693250bf4de92ee3d31fdfcc2801c36e89fb1ab49ff773c4e331c28&mailto=1&to=icffmaj%40aol.com&msg=6F5C57AE-66C4-4D41-A244-51ABA7FE5BCE&start=0&len=8358&src=&type=x>icffmaj at aol.com 

AND OFFER YOUR SERVICES!

Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at:
Mumia Abu-Jamal
AM 8335
SCI-Greene
175 Progress Drive
Waynesburg, PA 15370







Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081113/4aaefc7a/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 14 12:00:43 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:00:43 -0800
Subject: [News] NY Times announces an end to the war in Iraq
Message-ID: <mailman.634.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.nytimes-se.com/

to be viewed for its humor only



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081114/b9e2e937/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 14 12:32:38 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:32:38 -0800
Subject: [News] =?iso-8859-1?q?Popular_Minga_Marches_on_to_Bogot=E1?=
Message-ID: <mailman.635.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Despite National and Global Distractions, the 
Popular Minga Marches on to Bogot?

Written by Mario Murillo
Friday, 14 November 2008
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1579/1/

Bogot?, Colombia-The order to keep them out of 
the city apparently came from President Alvaro Uribe.

As up to 6,000 indigenous protesters 
participating in the ongoing "Minga Popular" 
approached the city limits of Ibagu?, in the 
department of Tolima, they were met by a squadron 
of mounted and special forces police known as 
ESMAD, as well as the Army, who were given 
explicit orders not to let them into the main highway of the city.

On Tuesday, President Uribe had said the 
indigenous protesters should pass right through, 
but not stay in Ibagu?, as a result of the 
"yellow alert" that had been announced related to 
the possible eruption of the 
<http://www.portafolio.com.co/economia/pais/2008-11-11/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_PORTA-4657023.html>Mach?n 
Volcano. Already some 
<http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/tolima/actividad-volcanica-del-machin-provoco-desplazamiento-de-familias-de-6-veredas-tolimenses-_4657388-1>local 
families had been displaced as a result of the 
warning, so the government thought the presence 
of thousands of outsiders would only make matters 
worse for the local authorities. At least that's how it was presented publicly.

The leadership of the Minga, however, saw the 
order as yet another attempt to stifle their 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9123>long 
march to Bogot?, a march called to protest the 
government's economic development and security 
policies. The indigenous protesters, joined by 
union activists and sectors of the peasant 
movement, resumed their march on Monday in the 
city of Cali, on the 24th anniversary of the 
assassination of one of the indigenous movement's 
most iconic leaders, 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9127>Alvaro 
Ulcu?. In actuality, the Minga really kicked off 
over a month ago, with the mobilization that 
began in La Maria, Piendam?, in the department of Cauca, on October 12th.

Given the 
<http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia296.htm>over-the-top 
show of force the state security forces utilized 
against the people during the start of the 
mobilization several weeks back, one could not 
help but appreciate the frustration and anger 
expressed by the people as they arrived yesterday 
in Ibagu?, only to be told they could not stay.

"This is yet another example that should be shown 
to the rest of the world, of the ongoing attacks 
that we as indigenous communities are facing 
here," said Lu?s Evelis Andrade, Chief Council of 
the 
<http://www.onic.org.co/actualidad.shtml?x=35433>National 
Indigenous Organization of Colombia, ONIC.

Andrade and others pointed out that theirs was a 
peaceful protest that, if anything, would show 
solidarity with the families displaced by the 
unexpected seismic activity of Mach?n. There was 
no legitimate reason to keep them out of the 
city, other than to sidetrack their message and 
keep them from talking directly with the people of Ibagu?.

A Dialogue with the People

Indeed, one of the main purposes of the Minga is 
to expand the scope of the popular movement that 
over the last several weeks has been publicly 
confronting the Uribe Administration on issues 
ranging from the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement 
to human rights abuses carried out by the 
military as a result of the government's 
so-called "Democratic Security Strategy." After 
meeting with the President in a 
<http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1556/1/>dramatic 
public debate on November 2nd in La Maria, Cauca, 
the communities decided to continue their protest 
with a national march to the capital, culminating 
with a massive "Congress of the People" scheduled for November 24th.

Along the way, they will carry out barridos with 
local communities throughout the country, an 
ongoing dialogue designed to dispel the myth 
propagated by the government in the mainstream 
media, that the indigenous protests are a local 
phenomenon solely concerned about "returning some 
lands" to certain native communities in Cauca. 
Keeping the marchers out of Ibagu? would have 
prevented them from reaching a very important sector of the population.

Nevertheless, after some tense moments at the 
entrance of town that lasted a little bit over a 
half hour, it was agreed that the protesters 
could proceed with their planned march, and make 
their way to the famous Parque Murillo Toro, 
where they held a town-hall like meeting with the 
community. Once there, they articulated the 
<http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2008/10/official-proposal-of-indigenous-and.html>five-point 
agenda of the Minga, and the need to continue 
building the mobilization throughout the country.

As they made their way through the streets of 
Ibagu?, the protesters were welcomed with cheers 
from the people lining the streets. They were 
later met with messages of solidarity from local 
and national union leaders, including Pedro 
Var?n, president of the 
<http://www.cut.org.co/>Central Workers Union, 
CUT, and Carlos Rivas of the Tolima Teacher's 
Union, SIMATOL, both of whom acknowledged the 
important role the indigenous communities were 
playing in bringing together so many popular 
sectors in Colombia at this point in time, 
including women's organizations, 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9148>youth 
groups, the sugar cane workers, and the trade union movement.

U.S. Transition Getting Considerable Attention

The timing of the mobilization coincides with 
major events that are taking place in Washington 
with the Presidential transition process. Some 
activists see this as an opportunity to present 
the movement's agenda vis a vis free trade and 
Plan Colombia, to both national and international 
public opinion, while, at least for the time 
being, Colombia is making headlines once again up north.

Earlier in the week, much attention was given in 
the Colombian media to the high-profile meeting 
between outgoing President George W. Bush and 
President-elect Barack Obama, and more 
specifically, whether or not the two addressed 
the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in their 
private discussions. It was reported in the 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/us/politics/11auto.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>New 
York Times that during their meeting, President 
Bush had placed the bilateral trade deal between 
Washington and Bogot? as a condition to Obama's 
request for an emergency recovery package for the 
ailing U.S. automobile industry. Later it was 
denied by both camps that there was a quid pro 
quo on these issues, although the report left 
considerable doubt in the minds of both the union 
and indigenous leadership here in Colombia.

The Association of Indigenous Councils of 
Northern Cauca, 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9153>ACIN, 
said on its website the "exchange of favors may 
not have been discussed explicitly (between Bush 
and Obama), but no doubt it was a tacit proposal. 
Impunity in exchange for the US-Colombia FTA. The 
lives of trade unionists in exchange for the FTA. 
The lives of 1,200 indians killed over the last 
six years in exchange for the FTA. We cannot 
accept that life is traded for a free trade agreement."

Anti-FTA activists in Colombia welcomed the 
election of Barack Obama, who had spoken against 
the Colombia trade deal throughout his campaign, 
including in the last Presidential debate held 
just three weeks before election day. During the 
campaign, President Uribe had been extremely 
critical of Obama, especially after the Illinois 
Democrat spoke out against the rampant human 
rights abuses committed against trade union 
activists in Colombia in an April 2008 speech. On 
several occasions, Uribe called Obama 
mis-informed, a tag that Senator John McCain used 
against Obama on this particular issue during the 
debate. President Uribe - and McCain - argued 
that the U.S.-backed "democratic security 
strategy" led to marked improvements in the 
everyday work of organized labor in Colombia, 
<http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/colombias-government-denies-human-rights-situation-20081028>a 
claim that Amnesty International called the 
President's relentless denial of his country's human rights crisis.

In the last week, Uribe has claimed in the 
Colombian media that he was "totally neutral" 
with respect to the U.S. elections, although a 
number of columnists had to remind him that he 
continuously courted the Republican ticket, 
hoping for a continuation of Bush's policies 
regarding Colombia. He embraced Sen. McCain in 
the coastal city of Cartagena in July, and met 
face to face with Sarah Palin at the Colombian 
mission to the UN in New York when he was there 
for the General Assembly sessions. Now Uribe is 
faced with a temporary snub from the Obama team. 
How long it will last is anybody's guess.

With Obama in the White House come January, there 
is considerable hope from Colombia's popular 
movement that the focus of U.S. policy towards 
Colombia will gradually move away from its 
emphasis on militarization and free trade, and 
shift towards human rights and social concerns. 
People are not naive to think it will lead to 
revolutionary change in policy, remembering that 
it was a Democratic Administration that pushed 
through Plan Colombia. Yet there is some degree 
of optimism, and a general feeling that Obama 
will be more open to their concerns. In an open 
letter to the President-elect, ACIN expressed 
gratitude for Obama's recognition of the problem 
facing the trade union movement, but urged him to 
also consider the violence and aggression committed against indigenous peoples.

"We hope that you will contribute to change all 
this," they wrote. "We hope that you will listen 
to our words. ... These are the words that we 
have shared throughout Colombia since October 
10th, through the Minga of Resistance, a national 
mobilization we convened as indigenous peoples, 
in association with other peoples and processes. 
We believe that the spirit of change in your people cannot be contained."

The chances of these words being heard and felt 
by Barack Obama hinge on whether or not the Minga 
can reach many more people, both here in Colombia 
and in the U.S. Unfortunately, at least for the 
time being, their message to the Colombian people 
is not getting the same media coverage that the 
protests were receiving several weeks back, when 
the national police were firing on peaceful 
protesters in La Maria. Naturally, a non-violent 
march, even with thousands of people, meeting in 
permanent assembly with concerned citizens in 
cities and towns throughout the country, does not 
have the same dramatic impact that violent 
confrontations have, at least for the major 
corporate media. As a result, the Minga's 
collective message of resistance is instead being 
drowned out by, for example, tonight's Latin 
Grammy Awards ceremony, where several Colombian 
artists are up for some big prizes.

This is the banal stuff that Colombian media love to report on, relentlessly.

As for the U.S. public, it's an even more 
difficult challenge. Colombia has never been, and 
is not now, high up on the agenda of policy 
makers and the corporate media. That said, there 
is considerable reason to be concerned. Both the 
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-colombia12-2008nov12,0,1081981.story?track=rss>Los 
Angeles Times and the 
<http://twp.com/detail.jsp?key=314675&rc=to_op&p=1&all=1>Washington 
Post published editorials in the last few days 
urging the passage of the US-Colombia FTA. They 
see it as a matter of U.S. national security, and 
argue that now is the time to "seal the deal." It 
is strikingly clear that the urgent cries of the 
Minga Popular are not even on the radar screen of 
the shortsighted editorial writers in the U.S.

But the resilience of the thousands of people 
participating in this historic march is evident 
nonetheless, and is resonating in many circles 
within Colombia and outside. The consistent 
messages of solidarity have been coming in from 
throughout Latin America, Europe and Canada. The 
hope is that the movement will keep growing, from 
Ibagu?, where it left this morning, to its next 
several stops along the way, until it reaches 
Bogot? next week for the People's Congress at the 
footsteps of the Presidential Palace.

And eventually makes untilit makes its presence 
felt, all the way up to Washington.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081114/d76b22e3/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Nov 17 11:46:32 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:46:32 -0800
Subject: [News] The Real Goal of Israel's Blockade of Gaza
Message-ID: <mailman.636.1696591157.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.counterpunch.org/cook11172008.html

November 17, 2008


"They Are All Hamas"


The Real Goal of Israel's Blockade of Gaza

By JONATHAN COOK

The latest tightening of Israel?s chokehold on 
Gaza ? ending all supplies into the Strip for 
more than a week ? has produced immediate and 
shocking consequences for Gaza?s 1.5 million inhabitants.

The refusal to allow in fuel has forced the 
shutting down of Gaza?s only power station, 
creating a blackout that pushed Palestinians 
bearing candles on to the streets in protest last 
week. A water and sanitation crisis are expected to follow.

And on Thursday, the United Nations announced it 
had run out of the food essentials it supplies to 
750,000 desperately needy Gazans. ?This has 
become a blockade against the United Nations itself,? a spokesman said.

In a further blow, Israel?s large Bank Hapoalim 
said it would refuse all transactions with Gaza 
by the end of the month, effectively imposing a 
financial blockade on an economy dependent on the 
Israeli shekel. Other banks are planning to 
follow suit, forced into a corner by Israel?s 
declaration in Sept 2007 of Gaza as an ?enemy entity?.

There are likely to be few witnesses to Gaza?s 
descent into a dark and hungry winter. In the 
past week, all journalists were refused access to 
Gaza, as were a group of senior European 
diplomats. Days earlier, dozens of academics and 
doctors due to attend a conference to assess the 
damage done to Gazans? mental health were also turned back.

Israel has blamed the latest restrictions of aid 
and fuel to Gaza on Hamas?s violation of a 
five-month ceasefire by launching rockets out of 
the Strip. But Israel had a hand in shattering 
the agreement: as the world was distracted by the 
US presidential elections, the army invaded Gaza, 
killing six Palestinians and provoking the rocket fire.

The humanitarian catastrophe gripping Gaza is 
largely unrelated to the latest tit-for-tat 
strikes between Hamas and Israel. Nearly a year 
ago, Karen Koning AbuZayd, commissioner-general 
of the UN?s refugee agency, warned: ?Gaza is on 
the threshold of becoming the first territory to 
be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution?.

She blamed Gaza?s strangulation directly on 
Israel, but also cited the international 
community as accomplice. Together they began 
blocking aid in early 2006, following the 
election of Hamas to head the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The US and Europe agreed to the measure on the 
principle that it would force the people of Gaza 
to rethink their support for Hamas. The logic was 
supposedly similar to the one that drove the 
sanctions applied to Iraq under Saddam Hussein 
through the 1990s: if Gaza?s civilians suffered 
enough, they would rise up against Hamas and 
install new leaders acceptable to Israel and the West.

As Ms AbuZayd said, that moment marked the 
beginning of the international community?s 
complicity in a policy of collective punishment 
of Gaza, despite the fact that the Fourth Geneva 
Convention classifies such treatment of civilians as a war crime.

The blockade has been pursued relentlessly since, 
even if the desired outcome has been no more 
achieved in Gaza than it was in Iraq. Instead, 
Hamas entrenched its control and cemented the 
Strip?s physical separation from the Fatah-dominated West Bank.

Far from reconsidering its policy, Israel?s 
leadership has responded by turning the screw 
ever tighter ? to the point where Gazan society 
is now on the verge of collapse.

In truth, however, the growing catastrophe being 
unleashed on Gaza is only indirectly related to 
Hamas?s rise to power and the rocket attacks.

Of more concern to Israel is what each of these 
developments represents: a refusal on the part of 
Gazans to abandon their resistance to Israel?s 
continuing occupation. Both provide Israel with a 
pretext for casting aside the protections offered 
to Gaza?s civilians under international law to make them submit.

With embarrassing timing, the Israeli media 
revealed at the weekend that one of the first 
acts of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister 
elected in 2006, was to send a message to the 
Bush White House offering a long-term truce in 
return for an end to Israeli occupation. His offer was not even acknowledged.

Instead, according to the daily Jerusalem Post, 
Israeli policymakers have sought to reinforce the 
impression that ?it would be pointless for Israel 
to topple Hamas because the population [of Gaza] 
is Hamas?. On this thinking, collective 
punishment is warranted because there are no true 
civilians in Gaza. Israel is at war with every single man, woman and child.

In an indication of how widely this view is 
shared, the cabinet discussed last week a new 
strategy to obliterate Gazan villages in an 
attempt to stop the rocket launches, in an echo 
of discredited Israeli tactics used in south 
Lebanon in its war of 2006. The inhabitants would 
be given warning before indiscriminate shelling began.

In fact, Israel?s desire to seal off Gaza and 
terrorise its civilian population predates even 
Hamas?s election victory. It can be dated to 
Ariel Sharon?s disengagement of summer 2005, when 
Fatah?s rule of the PA was unchallenged.

An indication of the kind of isolation Mr Sharon 
preferred for Gaza was revealed shortly after the 
pull-out, in Dec 2005, when his officials first 
proposed cutting off electricity to the Strip.

The policy was not implemented, the local media 
pointed out at the time, both because officials 
suspected the violation of international law 
would be rejected by other nations and because it 
was feared that such a move would damage Fatah?s 
chances of winning the elections the following month.

With the vote over, however, Israel had the 
excuse it needed to begin severing its 
responsibility for the civilian population. It 
recast its relationship with Gaza from one of 
occupation to one of hostile parties at war. A 
policy of collective punishment that was 
considered transparently illegal in late 2005 has 
today become Israel?s standard operating procedure.

Increasingly strident talk from officials, 
culminating in February in the deputy defence 
minister Matan Vilnai?s infamous remark about 
creating a ?shoah?, or Holocaust, in Gaza, has 
been matched by Israeli measures. The military 
bombed Gaza?s electricity plant in June 2006, and 
has been incrementally cutting fuel supplies ever 
since. In January, Mr Vilnai argued that Israel 
should cut off ?all responsibility? for Gaza and 
two months later Israel signed a deal with Egypt 
for it to build a power station for Gaza in Sinai.

All of these moves are designed with the same 
purpose in mind: persuading the world that 
Israel?s occupation of Gaza is over and that 
Israel can therefore ignore the laws of 
occupation and use unremitting force against Gaza.

Cabinet ministers have been queuing up to express 
such sentiments. Ehud Olmert, for example, has 
declared that Gazans should not be allowed to 
?live normal lives?; Avi Dichter believes 
punishment should be inflicted ?irrespective of 
the cost to the Palestinians?; Meir Sheetrit has 
urged that Israel should ?decide on a 
neighbourhood in Gaza and level it? ? the policy 
discussed by ministers last week.

In concert, Israel has turned a relative blind 
eye to the growing smuggling trade through Gaza?s 
tunnels to Egypt. Gazans? material welfare is 
falling more heavily on Egyptian shoulders by the day.

The question remains: what does Israel expect the 
response of Gazans to be to their immiseration 
and ever greater insecurity in the face of Israeli military reprisals?

Eyal Sarraj, the head of Gaza?s Community Mental 
Health Programme, said this year that Israel?s 
long-term goal was to force Egypt to end the 
controls along its short border with the Strip. 
Once the border was open, he warned, ?Wait for the exodus.?

Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in 
Nazareth, Israel. His latest books are ?Israel 
and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and 
the Plan to Remake the Middle East? (Pluto Press) 
and ?Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments 
in Human Despair? (Zed Books). His website is 
<http://www.jkcook.net>www.jkcook.net.

A version of this article originally appeared in 
The National 
(<http://www.thenational.ae>www.thenational.ae), published in Abu Dhabi.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081117/630895d4/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov 18 10:54:54 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:54:54 -0800
Subject: [News] Kidnapped by the Israeli Navy
Message-ID: <mailman.637.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Caoimhe (Gaza) + 972 598 273 960
Donna (Gaza)  + 972 598 836 420
Fida (Gaza - Arabic) ? + 972 599 681 669
ISM Media Office - + 972 2-2971824

Fifteen Palestinian fishermen along with three 
internationals have been kidnapped in Palestinian 
waters by the Israeli Navy. They were fishing 
seven miles off the coast of Deir Al Balah, 
clearly in Gaza fishing waters and well within 
the fishing limit detailed in the Oslo Accords of 1994.

The fishermen and the human right's observers 
were transferred from 3 separate boats to the 
Israeli warships. Other Palestinian fishermen 
reported that the 3 boats were seen being taken north by the Israeli Navy.

The three internationals are Andrew Muncie from 
Scotland, Darlene Wallach from the United States 
and Victor Arrigoni from Italy. The U.K., U.S. 
and Italian embassies in Tel Aviv have been 
contacted and know about the abductions.

Please call the Israeli Ministry of Justice at 
+972 26 46 66 66 and register your outrage over 
these illegal actions by the Israeli Navy. Then 
call the Embassies in Jerusalem and make sure 
they know that many of us are appalled by Israel's illegal search and seizure.

Stephen Brown, UK Consulate +972 25 41 41 00
U.S. Consulate General + 972-2-6227230
Luigi MATTIOLO, Italian Ambassador +972 3 5104004


-- 
Greta Berlin
Media Team
Free Gaza Movement
357 99 08 17 67
<http://www.freegaza.org>www.freegaza.org
www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/29205195 at N02/>www.flickr.com/photos/29205195 at N02/ 




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081118/50cacfce/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov 18 12:09:46 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:09:46 -0800
Subject: [News] Orchestrating a Civic Coup in Bolivia
Message-ID: <mailman.638.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.counterpunch.org/burbach11182008.html

November 18, 2008


How Bush Tried to Bring Down Evo Morales


Orchestrating a Civic Coup in Bolivia

By ROGER BURBACH

Evo Morales is the latest democratically-elected 
Latin American president to be the target of a US 
plot to destabilize and overthrow his government. 
On September 10, 2008 Morales expelled US 
Ambassador Philip Goldberg because ?he is 
conspiring against democracy and seeking the division of Bolivia.?
Observers of US-Latin American policy tend to 
view the crisis in US-Bolivian relations as due 
to a policy of neglect and ineptness towards 
Latin America because of US involvement in the 
wars in the Middle East and Central Asia. In 
fact, the Bolivia coup attempt was a conscious 
policy rooted in US hostility towards Morales, 
his political party the Movement Towards 
Socialism (MAS) and the social movements that are aligned with him.

?The US embassy is historically used to calling 
the shots in Bolivia, violating our sovereignty, 
treating us like a banana republic,? says Gustavo 
Guzman, who was expelled as Bolivian ambassador 
to Washington following Goldberg?s removal. In 
2002, when Morales narrowly lost his first bid 
for the presidency, US ambassador Manuel Rocha 
openly campaigned against him, threatening, ? if 
you elect those who want Bolivia to become a 
major cocaine exporter again, this will endanger 
the future of US assistance to Bolivia.? Because 
he led the Cocaleros Federation prior to assuming 
the presidency, the US State Department called 
Morales an ?illegal coca agitator.?Morales 
advocated ?Coca Yes, Cocaine No,? and called 
which for an end to violent U.S.-sponsored coca 
eradication raids, and for the right of Bolivian 
peasants to grow coca for domestic consumption, 
medicinal uses and even for export as an herb in tea and other products.

?When Morales triumphed in the next presidential 
election,? says Guzman, ?it represented a defeat 
for the United States.? Shortly after his 
inauguration, Morales received a call from George 
Bush, offering to help "bring a better life to 
Bolivians." Morales asked Bush to reduce US trade 
barriers for Bolivian products, and suggested 
that he come for a visit. Bush did not reply. As 
Guzman notes, ?the United States was trying to 
woo Morales with polite and banal comments to 
keep him from aligning with Venezuelan President 
Hugo Ch?vez.? David Greenlee, the US ambassador 
prior to Goldberg, expressed his "preoccupation" 
with Bolivia's foreign alliances, while Secretary 
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and others at the 
Pentagon began talking about "security concerns" in Bolivia.

Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon, the 
highest ranking US official to attend Morales? 
inauguration, declared a willingness to dialogue 
with Morales. In fact, what followed were almost 
three years of diplomatic wrangling while the 
U.S. provided direct and covert assistance to the 
opposition movement centered in the four eastern 
departments of Bolivia known as ?La Media Luna?. 
Dominated by agro-industrial interests, the 
departments began a drive for regional autonomy 
soon after Morales, the first Indian president in 
Bolivian history took office. (About 55% of the 
country?s population is Indian.) Headed by 
departmental prefects (governors) and large 
landowners, the autonomy movement has been 
determined to stymie Morales? plans for national 
agrarian reform, and bent on taking control of 
the substantial hydro-carbon resources located in the Media Luna.

The Bush administration has pursued a two-track 
policy similar to the strategy the United States 
employed to overthrow the democratically-elected 
government of Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973. 
The diplomatic negotiations initiated by Shannon 
centered almost exclusively on differences over 
drug policies, with the Bush administration 
continually threatening to cut or curtail 
economic assistance and preferential trade if 
Bolivia did not abide by the US policy of coca 
eradication and criminalization. At the same 
time, the United States through its embassy in La 
Paz and the Agency for International Development 
(USAID), funded political forces that opposed 
Morales and MAS. The US Drug Enforcement 
Administration (DEA), with 37 in-country agents, 
appears to have acted like the CIA in Bolivia, 
gathering intelligence and engaging in 
clandestine political operations with the opposition.

Intervention is evident from the very start of 
the Morales administration, with early USAID 
activities through the Office of Transition 
Initiatives (OTI). After Morales took office, 
USAID documents state the OTI set out ?to provide 
support to fledgling regional governments.? 
Altogether the OTI funneled 116 grants for 
$4,451,249 ?to help departmental governments 
operate more strategically.? In an effort to 
establish expedient political ties, the OTI also 
brought departmental prefects to meet with US governors.

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), 
founded as a semi-public institute during the 
Reagan years, has been particularly active in 
Bolivia. It funds a number of groups and 
organizations with a clear political bias, among 
them the Institute of Pedagogical and Social 
Investigation. The Institute opposed Morales in 
the 2005 elections, declaring in a project 
summary report to the U.S. embassy that Morales 
and MAS are an ?anti-democratic, radical 
opposition? that doesn?t represent the majority. 
NED support of the Institute?s activities 
continued into 2006, when the Institute filed a 
report saying it intended to ?contribute to 
improved municipal development through efficient 
and effective social monitoring.? (6)
In the Media Luna, USAID tried to organize 
Indians opposed to the Confederation of the 
Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Bolivia (CIDOB), 
which is allied with MAS and Morales. Media Luna 
leaders were particularly concerned about CIBOD?s 
capacity to mobilize and move in from the 
countryside to encircle departmental capitals 
when the prefect?s leaders orchestrated 
activities against the Morales government, 
particularly in the department of Santa Cruz. 
Working out of the U.S. embassy, the Strategy and 
Operations Office and the Strategic Team of 
Integral Development for USAID set up a meeting 
between Ambassador Goldberg and Indian groups in 
February, 2007. Internal emails from USAID 
officers who helped organize the event reveal 
that they only invited Indians opposed to CIDOB 
who ?lacked experience and were immature 
politically.? One of the officers recommended 
that these Indians be given field radios ?to facilitate communications.?

In late 2007, the US embassy began moving openly 
to meet with the right-wing opposition in Media 
Luna. Ambassador Goldberg was photographed in 
Santa Cruz with a leading business magnate who 
backs the autonomy movement, and a well-known 
Colombian narco-trafficker who had been detained 
by the local police. Morales, in revealing the 
photo, said the trafficker was linked to right 
wing para-military organizations in Colombia. In 
response, the US embassy asserted that it 
couldn?t vet everyone who appeared in a photo with the ambassador.

Then in January, 2008, the Embassy was caught 
giving aid to a special intelligence unit of the 
Bolivian police force. The embassy rationalized 
its assistance by saying ?the U.S. government has 
a long history of helping the National Police of 
Bolivia in diverse programs.? U.S.-Bolivian 
relations were next roiled in February, when it 
was revealed that Peace Corps volunteers and a 
Fulbright scholar had been pressured by an 
embassy official to keep tabs on Venezuelans and 
Cubans in the country. This violated the founding 
statutes of the Peace Corps, which prohibit any 
intelligence activities by volunteers.

During 2007, political tensions in Bolivia had 
centered on the Constituent Assembly meeting in 
Sucre that had been mandated by a national 
referendum to draw up a new constitution to 
transform the country?s institutions. When the 
Assembly began voting on the final draft in 
December 2007, the opposition violently took over 
the streets and all of the major public buildings 
in Sucre, using dynamite and Molotov cocktails, 
demanding the resignation of ?the shitty Indian 
Morales.? Parts of the city were in flames, and 
members of the assembly, including its President 
Silvia Lazarte, were assaulted in the streets.

Then the political leaders and business 
organizations in Santa Cruz and other cities in 
the Media Luna began to openly call for autonomy 
and secession from the central Bolivian 
government. Branko Marinkovic, the leading 
business magnate and largest landowner in the 
Media Luna, led the opposition as head of the 
Pro-Santa Cruz Civic Committee, declaring, ?the 
fight has begun for our autonomy and liberty.? 
Along with Santa Cruz, civic committees in the 
other major cities of Media Luna joined the call 
and began meeting together along with the prefects.

Simultaneously, the Bush administration ?first 
brandished the aid weapon to show its support of 
the civic committees opposed to the government,? 
says Guzman. The Millennium Challenge Corporation 
(MCC), set up in 2004 as a U.S. government agency 
?to work with some of the poorest countries in 
the world,? had been on the brink of approving 
$584 million to fund the construction of a major 
highway linking northern Bolivia to the rest of 
the country, as well as to make investments in agricultural projects.

Yet in a letter to Morales in December 2007, the 
MCC stated that while it ?recognizes your 
country?s performance on our 17 indicators
the 
current state of the U.S.-Bolivian relationship 
is not consistent with such a working 
partnership.? A separate report by the MCC was 
even more blunt: The project ?was postponed 
because of adverse conditions, including unrest 
surrounding the Constitution Assembly process?.

When the Constituent Assembly approved the final 
draft of the new constitution in December 2007, 
the Bolivian Congress needed to approve it with a 
national referendum. Knowing that he did not have 
the votes, Morales declared  ?dead or alive, I 
will have a new constitution for the country,? 
and called for public pressure on Congress. 
Asserting he was acting as a ?dictator,? the 
civic committees and the departmental prefects of 
Media Luna, along with their political allies in 
the Bolivian Senate, refused to schedule the 
referendum. They instead organized departmental 
referendums for autonomy, which they 
overwhelmingly won in May. The referendums were 
ruled unconstitutional by the National Electoral 
Council, and the voting conditions were less than 
auspicious, with no official electoral monitors 
and pro-autonomy forces intimidating and 
physically assaulting those who opposed the vote.

Choosing the democratic road rather than force to 
annul the departmental referendums, Morales then 
put his presidency on the line with a recall 
referendum in which his mandate, as well as those 
of the prefects seeking autonomy, could be 
revoked. On August 10, 2008, voters gave Morales 
a resounding two-thirds of the national vote, 
with even the Media Luna department of Pando 
giving him just over 50 percent. However, the 
insurgent prefects also had their mandates 
renewed. Basing their actions on the illegal May 
plebiscites, the prefects then decided to strike 
for autonomy, moving first to take control of 
Santa Cruz, the richest of the four departments. 
The Cruceno Youth Union (UJC), shock troops 
allied with the Civic Committee, roamed the 
streets of the departmental capital and 
surrounding towns, attacking and repressing any 
opposition by local social movements and 
MAS-allied organizations, and sacking government 
buildings, including the agrarian reform office.

Simultaneously, the Civic Committees began sewing 
economic instability, seeking to weaken the 
Morales government much like the CIA-backed 
opposition did against Chilean President Salvador 
Allende in the early 1970s. As in Chile, the 
business elites and allied truckers engaged in 
?strikes,? withholding or refusing to ship 
produce to urban markets in the western Andes 
(where the Indian population is concentrated), 
while selling commodities on the black market at 
high prices. The Confederation of Private 
Businesses of Bolivia called for a national 
producers? shutdown if the government refused ?to 
change its economic policies?.

This became known as an attempt at a ?civic 
coup.? The strategy of the autonomy movement was 
to take complete control of the Media Luna, 
provoke a national crisis to destabilize the 
government, and convince the army to remain 
neutral or move against Morales. The major of 
Santa Cruz, Percy Fernandez, had already called 
on the military to overthrow Morales' "useless 
government" just before the August referendum.

The United States was openly involved in 
orchestrating this rebellion. Ambassador Goldberg 
flew to Santa Cruz on August 25 to meet with 
Ruben Costas, Morales? main antagonist and the 
prefect of Santa Cruz, who became the de facto 
leader of the rebellious prefects and the 
autonomy movement in general. After Goldberg 
left, Costas declared himself ?governor? of the 
autonomous department of Santa Cruz, and ordered 
the take over of national government offices, 
including those collecting tax revenues. It was 
this visit with Costas that Morales cited as the 
reason for declaring Ambassador Goldberg ?persona 
non grata? on September 10. ?After his expulsion, 
the rebellion began to unravel,? notes Guzman.

On September 11, in the department of Pando, a 
para-military militia with machine guns attacked 
pro-Morales Indians near the capital of El 
Cobija, resulting in at least 13 deaths. In a 
separate action, three policemen were kidnapped. 
The next day Morales declared a state of siege in 
Pando, and dispatched the army to move on Cobija 
in order to retake its airport, which had been 
occupied by right wing bands. Army units were 
also sent to guard the natural gas oleoducts, one 
of which had been seized by the autonomy 
movement, cutting the flow of gas to neighboring Brazil and Argentina.

The violent attacks in Pando precipitated a 
national mobilization of indigenous peoples and 
social movements, as well as a sense of outrage 
in neighboring countries. On September 15, 
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet called an 
emergency meeting in Santiago of the Union of 
South American Nations (UNASUR) to discuss the 
Bolivian crisis. The resulting ?Declaration of La 
Moneda,? signed by the twelve UNASUR governments, 
expressed their ?full and decided support for the 
constitutional government of President Evo 
Morales,? and warned that their respective 
governments ?will not recognize any situation 
that entails an attempt for a civil coup that 
ruptures the institutional order, or that 
compromises the territorial integrity of the 
Republic of Bolivia?. Morales, who participated 
in the meeting, thanked UNASUR for its support, 
declaring: ?For the first time in South 
American?s history, the countries of our region 
are deciding how to resolve our problems without 
the presence of the United States.?

Paying no attention to the declaration of support 
by UNASUR, President Bush upped the ante the 
following week by suspending the Andean Trade 
Preference Act, asserting ?Bolivia has failed to 
cooperate with the United States on important 
efforts to fight drug trafficking.? The trade 
act, dating from 1991, eliminates tariffs on 
imports of textiles, jewelry, wood and other 
products from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and 
Bolivia, in exchange for cooperation with the US 
war on drugs. It is estimated that 20,000 to 
30,000 workers will lose their jobs, and more 
than $70 million in exports will be priced out of the US market.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proclaimed 
there was ?no ideological test for cooperation 
and friendship with the United States? that led 
to the trade cutoff with Bolivia. This statement 
was a diplomatic lie: For 2006, Morales? first 
year in office, the U.S. Office of National Drug 
Control Policy reported that coca cultivation was 
?statistically unchanged as compared to the 2005 
estimate?. For 2007 the United Nations reported 
an increase of just 5 percent in, ?Coca 
Cultivation in the Andean Region: A Survey of 
Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.? This data, however, 
stood in sharp contrast to Colombia, which 
registered an increase of coca cultivation by 27 
percent, despite the Colombian government?s 
strong alliance with the U.S. on coca eradication efforts.

The UNASUR declaration, along with the state of 
siege in Pando and the nationwide repudiation of 
the massacre of Indians, compelled the prefects 
of Media Luna to call off their rebellion. They 
agreed to a ?dialogue? with Morales over the new 
constitution and the issue of autonomy. But the 
discussions in late September went nowhere, even 
though the Morales? government agreed to 
incorporate some limited amendments concerning 
departmental autonomy into the new constitution. 
The department prefects also demanded that the 
agrarian reform clauses in the new constitution 
be eliminated, but on this point Morales, backed 
by MAS and the social movements, refused to back 
down. On October 5, the negotiations collapsed.

Morales then announced that he would ask Congress 
to set the date for the public referendum on the 
new constitution. The social movements mobilized 
from around the country, and over 50,000 
demonstrators descended on La Paz, surrounding 
Congress as it was meeting. The right wing 
fragmented, and on Oct. 20, Congress approved the 
referendum on the new constitution, which is scheduled for Jan. 25, 2009.

Then on November 1, Morales released a bomb shell 
by announcing the indefinite suspension of the 
activities of the US Drug Enforcement 
Administration in Bolivia, and the expulsion of 
the 37 DEA agents from the country. ?Agents of 
the DEA carried out political espionage, 
including the financing of delinquent groups,? 
Morales declared. He pointed toa key U.S. 
operative involved in these activities: ?Steven 
Faucette, the regional agent of the DEA in Santa 
Cruz, who on a diplomatic mission of the U.S. 
embassy made trips to Trinidad and Riberalta 
[cities in the Media Luna provinces of Beni and 
Pando, respectively] with the objective of 
financing the Civics who were committed to carrying out a civic coup.?

Morales went on to disclose that a plane with 
North American registry called Super King had 
flown to airports in the Media Luna without 
registering flight plans or providing 
notification of ?the cargo it transferred to pick 
up vehicles when it landed on the runway, in 
clear violation of our national sovereignty.? 
Bolivian intelligence also discovered seven 
security houses run by the US ?that carried out 
political espionage,? including telephone 
surveillance of political, police and military authorities.

The DEA and its 37 agents were expelled from the 
country. The Bolivian government appropriated 
what amounted to a DEA military arsenal, 
including airplanes, boats, ground transport 
vehicles, communications equipment and one thousand M-16 machine guns.

The civic coup has failed. No longer able to turn 
to the US embassy, the opposition is in disarray, 
with the leading rightwing party split into four 
factions. The referendum on the constitution will 
likely be approved by a wide margin. Evo has 
rallied the social movements and the country to 
break US historic domination of Bolivia. With his 
trip to Washington D.C., Morales is hoping to 
open up a dialogue with the incoming 
administration of President-elect Barack Obama 
that will lead to a restoration of full trade 
relations, a recognition of Bolivia?s right to 
determine its own policies on drugs, agrarian 
reform and gas nationalization, and mutual respect between the two nations.

Roger Burbach is Director of the Center for the 
Study of the Americas (CENSA) based in Berkeley, 
CA. He has written extensively on Latin America 
and is the author of 
?<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1842774352/counterpunchmaga>The 
Pinochet Affair: State Terrorism and Global Justice.?




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081118/894f50ba/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov 18 12:45:52 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:45:52 -0800
Subject: [News] Spy Drone Predator Reflects what US has Become
Message-ID: <mailman.639.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Spy Drone Predator Reflects what US has Become
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrell/2008/11/spy-drone-predator-reflects-what-us-has-become

Posted by 
<http://narcosphere.narconews.com/users/brenda-norrell>Brenda 
Norrell - November 18, 2008 at 12:04 am

The name of the United States drone, 'Predator,' 
reflects what the United States has become

By Brenda Norrell

TUCSON -- The bad news is that the US Border 
Patrol has four drones flying out of Fort 
Huachuca over the US/Mexico border for 
surveillance. One drone has already crashed near 
Nogales and these unmanned aerial planes, 
provided first by Israel's Apartheid spy 
technology maker, Elbit Systems, are a risk to 
the lives of those on the ground in Arizona.

The good news is that Airforce pilots are not 
flying over in their planes. Airforce pilots in 
Tucson were so eager to smuggle cocaine in 
uniform, that the FBI halted Operation Lively 
Green. More than 50 Army, Navy, Marine and 
National Guard soldiers have been sentenced for 
smuggling cocaine for cash, from Nogales to Phoenix.

Again, the bad news is that the Arizona National 
Guard soldiers are commanding an armed, remote 
controlled aircraft in Iraq from Tucson, drug central.

 From Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, a unit 
controls the MQ-1B Predator, used for armed 
reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting in 
Iraq, according to the National Guard.

If drug-running soldiers weren't bad enough, now 
comes the news that the drones are being used by 
the US to spy on civilians at the US/Mexico border.

Michael Webster reports, "The Reaper/Predator B 
UAV?s robotic killing machines are currently in 
operation with the USAF, US Navy and the Royal 
Air Force. In addition non military users of the 
Predator B include: NASA and Homeland security 
though the US Customs and Border Protection 
agencies." The information is on also on the web from the Defense Department.

Webster said the use of drones by Homeland 
Security, FEMA and disaster management is troubling.

"Predator B carries out 'targeted assassinations' 
of 'terrorist suspects' across Afghanistan, Iraq 
and Pakistan. The deployment of the robotic 
killing machines in the United States for 
'disaster management' is troubling to say the 
least and a harbinger of things to come," Webster says.

As the US pours millions into spy technology, one 
has to wonder why there is so much crime ignored 
in Tucson. In 2008, there was a serial murderer, 
raping and murdering homeless women in Tucson. 
These women were raped and murdered on the same 
streets I walk down. There was little mention of 
this serial murderer in the news.

I wonder if any of those millions of dollars of 
spy technology, aimed at keeping us all safe, is 
ever used to keep the streets of Tucson safe.

Back at Fort Huachuca, the drones are part of the 
Army Intelligence Center there. This is the same 
place that produced the torture manual, exposed 
in 1996, of the School of Americas. The manual 
was used to train Latin military leaders, which 
led to the torture, rape and murder of thousands 
of people, including Indigenous Peoples, in 
Central and South America in the 80s and 90s. 
Corporations, under the cloak of US firepower and 
torture, reaped the benefits in land and resources.

Currently, Fort Huachuca is being protested 
because of training which resulted in torture in 
Abu-Ghraib. The news that Fort Huachuca now has 
four more drones, spy drones over the border, cannot be good news.

Over the weekend, torture protesters gathered at 
Fort Huachuca to protest US torture. The 
following is the statement released by torture protesters.

More than 200 people rallied against torture on 
Sunday, November 16, at Veterans Memorial Park in 
Sierra Vista, Arizona. The group then processed 
two miles through the city to the main gate of 
Ft. Huachuca, home of the U.S. Army Intelligence 
Center where interrogators are trained.

Soon after the procession arrived opposite the 
entrance to the Fort, three people crossed the 
street and entered the base to deliver messages 
to base Commander Major General John Custer and 
his soldiers, opposing the cruel treatment and 
abuse of detainees from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Sr. Megan Rice, 78, from Las Vegas, Nevada; Fr. 
Louie Vitale, 76, from Oakland, California; and 
Dennis Duvall, 66, from Prescott, Arizona, were 
quickly stopped and taken into custody. They were 
released within the hour with a formal letter 
barring them from entering the base for one year. 
A base spokeswoman told reporters, "We're trying 
to keep this as low key as possible."

Franciscan Fr. Vitale, a former provincial of the 
order's Santa Barbara province, was arrested 
during a similar protest at the Fort in 2006. 
Together with co-defendant Fr. Steve Kelly, he 
had served a five month prison sentence for 
trespass and failure to obey an officer.

Two of three people arrested at the Fort in 
November, 2007, returned to join this year's 
demonstration. Fr. Jerry Zawada and Betsy Lamb 
had both served two months in prison awaiting trial.

Speakers at the rally included torture survivor 
and Colombian refugee Hector Aristizabal and retired U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright.

The procession was led by musicians Francisco 
Herrera, Jose Serrano, Ted Warmbrand, Chet 
Gardiner and Terry Pawlowski, along with people 
carrying large, colorful butterfly puppets. The 
puppets represented transformation from a nation 
that sanctions cruelty and torture to a world that embraces hope for humanity.

The demonstration concluded with a stop at the 
nearby office of CACI, a private military 
contractor implicated in the abuse of Iraqi 
detainees, and currently contracted to write manuals and teach interrogation.

Sunday's rally and procession capped a weekend of 
events that began in Tucson. Event coordinator 
Rev. Ken Kennon noted that the "Southwest Witness 
to Stop Torture is a regional action in 
solidarity with the campaign to close the School 
of the Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for 
Security Cooperation at Fort Benning, Georgia, 
where the testimony of torture survivors has 
informed us and moved us to action."

Thousands of people will gather at Ft. Benning 
this coming weekend, November 21-23, for the 
annual vigil to close the School of the Americas. 
Human rights abuses in Latin America, including 
torture and murder, have been carried out by 
graduates of the school. The torture manual which 
was used at the School of the Americas came from Ft. Huachuca.

A statement written for the Ft. Huachuca 
demonstration follows this press release.

For more information see 
<http://tortureontrial.org>http://tortureontrial.org, 
http://southwestwitness.org and <http://soaw.org>http://soaw.org

US torture protesters also released this 
statment, "Why We Protest at Ft Huachuca."

Gandhi teaches us that nonviolence needs to be 
practiced in places of institutionalized violence.
We practice nonviolence at Ft. Huachuca - 
headquarters of U.S. Army military intelligence 
training - to protest the policy of cruelty our 
country has carried out against captives in the so-called "War on Terror."

We practice nonviolence at Ft. Huachuca to open 
dialogue with soldiers and commanders about their 
rights and obligations to report cases of torture 
and cruel treatment. We call on enlisted 
personnel to speak publicly about their training 
and any abuses they have observed.

We practice nonviolence at Ft. Huachuca to 
protest our government's increasing use of 
private contractors - with little to no oversight 
or accountability - both as instructors and as 
part of interrogation teams in the field.

We practice nonviolence at Ft. Huachuca to call 
for civilian, human-rights centered oversight of 
all interrogation training and practice, which 
must include absolute prohibition of cruel 
treatment and command responsibility for any violation of this prohibition.

Our nonviolent presence joins growing, deepening 
movements throughout the world calling for an end 
to war and torture everywhere. We act in 
solidarity with the campaign to close the School 
of the Americas/Western Hemispheric Institute for 
Security Cooperation at Ft. Benning, Georgia, 
where the testimony of torture survivors has 
informed our outrage and moved us to action. We 
know that torture diminishes the humanity of both 
perpetrator and those who are tortured. It 
damages the very soul of our country.

We are told that basic training in military 
interrogation at Ft. Huachuca respects the Geneva 
Conventions and follows the U.S. Army Field 
Manual. Yet, despite the efforts of many 
honorable soldiers and commanders who respect 
human rights, this training has been inadequate 
to prevent abuses of prisoners in U.S. custody at 
Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and other military 
prisons and secret detention centers around the world.

What is being taught in the field and in advanced 
courses about interrogation? What is happening in 
this dark space between training and the field? 
Has the policy of cruelty practiced by some U.S. 
military, CIA, FBI, and private agencies been 
integrated into military doctrine and advanced 
training? Does such activity take place at Ft. Huachuca?

We understand that secrecy and deception are part 
of the nature of military intelligence. We 
challenge this institutionalized silence, because 
torture and cruelty betray not only the 
Constitution of the United States, but who we are 
as a people. In a democratic society, such silence must not prevail.

To break this silence, interrogators and all 
other personnel (including private contractors) 
must be taught when and how to resist illegal 
orders that violate the laws of war, the Geneva 
Conventions and the United Nations Convention 
Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or 
Degrading Treatment or Punishment. They must be 
taught their obligation to speak out against such 
orders, and to report abuses to their superiors. 
And they must receive guarantees that speaking 
out will not lead to retaliation or punishment.

Ft. Huachuca's role in past military involvement 
in torture training must also be brought to 
light. Such involvement includes the creation of 
notorious manuals used at the School of the 
Americas to teach Latin American military 
personnel how to torture. Undoubtedly, records 
about past and contemporary use of torture exist 
at Ft. Huachuca. We call for the release of all 
such information, both past and present.

It is time for a light to shine on the darkness 
that has been hidden behind the walls of Ft. Huachuca.
Monsignor Oscar Romero of El Salvador said, "Love 
begins where violence ends." To end the violence 
of torture and war we will stand at the gates of 
Ft. Huachuca. Together let's build a world without torture.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081118/96a61b3e/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov 19 12:16:51 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:16:51 -0800
Subject: [News] Holder, Chaquita and Colombia
Message-ID: <mailman.640.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.counterpunch.org/murillo11192008.html

November 19, 2008


Fronting for Paramilitaries


Holder, Chaquita and Colombia

By MARIO A. MURILLO

First the good news: We're two months away from 
President George W. Bush's last full day in the 
White House. The countdown for the end of the nightmare has begun in earnest.

Now the bad news: As Barack Obama puts together 
his cabinet and eyes a slew of former Clinton 
officials for key staff positions, it is becoming 
ever more apparent that all those calls for 
change coming from progressive circles in the 
U.S. ? and abroad - have fallen on deaf ears.

Most striking, at least for the time being, is 
the soon to be named position of the top law 
enforcement official of the country. It looks 
like the first African-American President will 
appoint the first African-American attorney 
general in the coming days, something that on the 
surface looks like an advance, but should 
actually sound alarm bells for anybody seeking 
true change in the way things are done in 
Washington, especially when it comes to bringing 
corporate criminals to justice.

Although no final decision has been made, the New 
York Times reports that the President-elect's 
transition team has signaled to Eric H. Holder 
Jr., a senior Clinton Justice Department 
official, that he will be selected as the next 
attorney general. Holder helped lead the team 
that selected Sen. Joe Biden as Obama's VP choice.

Most news accounts about the pending appointment 
seem to be limiting their criticism of Holder to 
one of his final acts as President Bill Clinton's 
deputy attorney general in 2001. At the time, on 
the last day of Clinton's term, Holder apparently 
said he was "neutral, leaning toward favorable" 
for a presidential pardon for Marc Rich, the 
wealthy commodities dealer whose ex-wife, Denise, 
was a major donor to the Democratic Party. 
Clinton's pardon of the tax-evading Rich was 
criticized as politically motivated, leading to a 
congressional investigation over the matter.

What is not being discussed too much, and was not 
even mentioned in today's New York Times report, 
is Holder's key role in defending Chiquita Brands 
International in a notorious case relating to the 
company's funneling money and weapons to the 
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AUC, the 
right-wing paramilitary organization on the U.S. 
State Department's own list of terrorist organizations.

In 2003, an Organization of American States 
report showed that Chiquita's subsidiary in 
Colombia, Banadex, had helped divert weapons and 
ammunition, including thousands of AK-47s, from 
Nicaraguan government stocks to the AUC. The AUC 
? very often in collaboration with units of the 
U.S.-trained Armed Forces - is responsible for 
hundreds of massacres of primarily peasants 
throughout the Colombian countryside, including 
in the banana-growing region of Urab?, where it 
is believed that at least 4,000 people were 
killed. Their systematic use of violence resulted 
in the forced displacement of hundreds of 
thousands of poor Colombians, a disproportionate 
amount of those people being black or indigenous.

In 2004, Holder helped negotiate an agreement 
with the Justice Department for Chiquita that 
involved the fruit company's payment of 
"protection money" to the AUC, in direct 
violation of U.S. laws prohibiting this kind of 
transaction. In the agreement brokered by Holder, 
Chiquita officials pleaded guilty and agreed to 
pay a fine of $25 million, to be paid over a 
5-year period. However, not one Chiquita official 
involved in the illegal transactions was forced 
to serve time for a crime that others have paid 
dearly for, mainly because they did not have the 
kind of legal backing that Holder's team 
provided. Holder continues to represent Chiquita 
in the civil action, which grew out of this criminal case.

One of the arguments in defense of Chiquita's 
criminal acts was that the company was being 
strong-armed by thugs in Colombia, and that it 
either had to make the payments, or close up shop 
in the country, which would have resulted in the 
loss of tens of millions of dollars in profits. 
Chiquita officials even disclosed to the Justice 
Department that they were making the illegal 
payments to the AUC, to see what could be done.

As the Washington Post reported back in 2007, 
Federal prosecutors had said in court papers that 
Justice Department officials made clear in April 
2003 that Chiquita was clearly violating the law 
and that "the payments . . . could not 
continue."1 The Post reported "lawyers at Justice 
headquarters and the U.S. attorney's office in 
Washington were incensed by what they considered 
the flagrant continuation of these payoffs, 
despite the warnings." At the time, Holder said 
he was concerned that company leaders who 
disclosed the corporation's illegal activity to 
prosecutors were facing the possibility of prosecution.

"If what you want to encourage is voluntary 
self-disclosure, what message does this send to 
other companies?" asked Holder, deputy attorney 
general in the Clinton administration. "Here's a 
company that voluntarily self-discloses in a 
national security context, where the company gets 
treated pretty harshly, [and] then on top of 
that, you go after individuals who made a really painful decision."2

So in Holder's view, we should feel sympathy for 
these poor corporate executives, whose identities 
were kept confidential, and who were forced to 
make "very painful decisions" about opening up to 
their own criminality. Never mind that this 
company was complicit in the above-mentioned 
human tragedy waged by the AUC. The many victims 
of this paramilitary terror did not even cross 
the mind of the well-connected defense attorney 
now being considered for the Attorney General job.

Yet the opposition to Holder's nomination to the 
top position at Justice should not stop with this 
sordid history, one that perhaps can be excused 
as the obligation of a lawyer to defend his or 
her client regardless of the alleged crime. The 
disappointment in Obama's pick for AG should stem 
from the President-elect's strong words during 
the campaign in defense of human rights, 
particularly for those of workers in Colombia. On 
several occasions, including in the last 
presidential debate held at Hofstra University 
just three weeks before the election, the 
Democratic Candidate said he opposed the 
U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement precisely on 
the grounds of the human rights violations 
carried out consistently against trade unionists 
in Colombia, and the ongoing impunity that has 
followed in most of those crimes.

This is directly connected to the Holder 
nomination because currently, there is a lawsuit 
underway from the families of 173 banana workers, 
who were killed by one of these paramilitary 
groups in Colombia. These family members do not 
buy into the argument, made by people like Holder 
and his Chiquita clients, that the company was 
forced to make these illegal payments to the AUC. 
Their claim is that Chiquita Brands International 
deliberately hired these armed thugs specifically 
to repress the rights of these workers, a tool 
used by other major multinationals operating in 
Colombian hot spots, including Coca Cola, BP, and the Drummond Corporation.

As Dan Kovalik recently wrote in the Huffington 
Post, the major concern that emerges with a 
Justice Department led by Holder is that none of 
these allegations will ever be fully 
investigated. Kovalik points to the Human Rights 
Watch report entitled, "Breaking the Grip? 
Obstacles to Justice for Paramilitary Mafias in 
Colombia," where the organization recommends that,

"in order to assist with the process of ending 
the ties between the Colombian government and 
paramilitary death squads, the U.S. Department of 
Justice should, among other things, "[c]reate 
meaningful legal incentives for paramilitary 
leaders [a number of whom have already been 
extradited to the U.S.] to fully disclose 
information about atrocities and name all 
Colombian or foreign officials, business or 
individuals who may have facilitated their 
criminal activities," and "[c]ollaborate actively 
with the efforts of Colombian justice officials 
who are investigating paramilitary networks in 
Colombia by sharing relevant information possible 
and granting them access to paramilitary leaders in U.S. custody."3

Will this recommendation be carried out by a 
Justice Department led by the man who defended 
one of the most visible protagonists in these 
crimes? If the Obama Administration is seriously 
concerned about impunity and human rights in 
Colombia, Holder should probably step out of the way immediately.

Furthermore, and as Kovalik pointed out in his 
Huffington Post commentary, one of the most 
notorious paramilitary leaders currently in U.S. 
federal custody, Salvatore Mancuso, claims that 
he has extensive knowledge, not only about 
Chiquita's relationship with paramilitary death 
squads in Colombia, but with other major firms 
such as Dole and Del Monte. None of these firms 
are even on the radar screen of the Justice 
Department, and the question is whether or not 
they will be should Holder be appointed the next 
Attorney General. My assumption is that it is not 
a priority for Obama, certainly not for Holder.

The calls for change in Washington's relationship 
with Latin America are coming from both within 
the United States and throughout the continent. 
There was no doubt that here in Colombia, people 
were relieved to hear of Barack Obama's historic 
victory on November 4th. Given his public 
denunciations of the murders of hundreds of union 
leaders in Colombia, and his interesting life 
story which points to at least somewhat of a 
distinct international perspective, it was not 
surprising to hear car horns go off in the 
streets of some towns when he was declared the winner on election night.

But it now seems like business as usual in 
Washington, where corporate criminality is not a 
major priority, and justice is only an empty 
promise made on the backs of the victims of these 
crimes, directed mainly at gullible voters before elections.

We cannot let this happen.

1 The Washington Post, "In Terrorism-Law Case, 
Chiquita Points to U.S.," by Carol D. Leonnig, 
Thursday, August 2, 2007; Page A01.

2 Ibid.

3 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/lawyer-for-chiquita-in-co_b_141919.html

Mario A. Murillo is associate professor of 
Communication at Hofstra University in New York 
and author of 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1583226060/counterpunchmaga>Colombia 
and the United states: War, Unrest and 
Destabilization. He is currently living in 
Colombia working on a book about the indigenous 
movement and its uses of communications media. He 
can be reached through his <http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/>website.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081119/0e244eee/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Nov 20 11:07:09 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:07:09 -0800
Subject: [News] Extrajudicial Assassinations As Official Israeli Policy
Message-ID: <mailman.641.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Extrajudicial Assassinations As Official Israeli Policy

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/19710

November, 20 2008

By Stephen Lendman

Extra-judicial killings are indefensible, morally abhorrent, and 
illegal under international laws and norms. Article 23b of the 1907 
Hague Regulations prohibits "assassination, proscription, or outlawry 
of an enemy, or putting a price upon an enemy's head, as well as 
offering a reward for any enemy 'dead or alive.' "

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states 
that "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of 
person." UDHR also recognizes the "inherent dignity (and the) equal 
and inalienable rights of all members of the human family."

So do "just war" principles that rule out gratuitous violence, 
assassinations, especially if premeditated, war against civilians, 
and so on, despite the difficulties of  distinguishing between 
combatants, those who've laid down their arms, and the innocent in 
times of war - let alone dealing with "terrorism" or what one analyst 
calls the "twilight zone between war and peace." Others say it's 
justifiable resistance or "blowback" in response to state-sponsored 
violence and other crimes of war and against humanity.

In 1980, the Sixth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime 
and the Treatment of Offenders condemned "the practice of killing and 
executing political opponents or suspected offenders carried out by 
armed forces, law enforcement or other governmental agencies or by 
paramilitary or political groups" acting with the support of official 
forces or agencies.

The General Assembly also acted in response to arbitrary executions 
and politically motivated killings. On December 15, 1980, it adopted 
resolution 35/172 in which it urged member states to abide by the 
provisions of Articles 6, 14 and 15 of the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political rights that cover the right to life and various 
safeguards guaranteeing fair and impartial judicial proceedings.

The first principle of the 1989 UN Principles on the Effective 
Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary 
Executions states:

"Governments shall prohibit by law all extra-legal, arbitrary and 
summary executions and shall ensure that any such executions are 
recognized as offences under their criminal laws, and are punishable 
by appropriate penalties which take into account the seriousness of 
such offenses. Exceptional circumstances, including a state of war or 
threat of war, internal political instability or any other public 
emergency may not be invoked as a justification of such executions. 
(They) shall not be carried out under any circumstances including, 
but not limited to, situations of internal armed conflict, excessive 
or illegal use of force by a public official or other person acting 
in an official capacity or by a person acting at the instigation, or 
with the consent or acquiescence of such person, and situations in 
which deaths occur in custody. This prohibition shall prevail over 
decrees issued by governmental authority."

These articles and provisions apply to occupied civilian populations, 
and the Fourth Geneva Convention and its Article 3 affords ones (like 
the Palestinians) under foreign occupation special protection. It 
covers all actions related to "Violence to life and person, Murder of 
all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture." In addition, 
"The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without 
previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, 
affording all the judicial guarantees....recognized as indispensable 
by civilized peoples."

Its Article 32 states: "the High Contracting Parties specifically 
agree that each of them is prohibited from taking any measure of such 
a character as to cause the physical suffering or extermination of 
protected persons in their hands. This prohibition applies not only 
to murder, torture, corporal punishment, mutilation and medical or 
scientific experiments not necessitated by the medical treatment of a 
protected person, but also to any other measures of brutality whether 
applied by civilian or military agents."

Its Article 85 refers to "Grave Breaches" and defines them as "Acts 
committed willfully and causing death or serious injury to body or 
health....making the civilian population or individual civilians the 
object of attack (or)launching an indiscriminate attack affecting the 
civilian population or civilian objects...."

The 2002 International Criminal Court's Rome Statute also defines 
these grave violations as war crimes that include (in its Article 8):

-- "Grave" Geneva Convention breaches;

-- "Willing killing...."

-- "Intentionally launching an attack" knowing it will "cause 
incidental loss of life...."

-- "Killing or wounding" combatants who've laid down their arms;

-- extrajudicial killings; and

-- "Killing or wounding treacherously a combatant adversary...."

In 1982, the UN established the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, 
summary or arbitrary executions. It was one of several mandates to 
address disappearances, torture, assassinations and many other human 
rights abuses and violations of international law.

Philip Alston currently holds the post to investigate extrajudicial 
killings, hold governments responsible for committing them, failing 
to prevent them, or for not responding when they're carried out by 
others. In May 2008, he issued the latest report of his "principle 
activities" in 2007 through the first three months of 2008. As of 
March 2008, he requested permission from 32 countries and Occupied 
Palestine to visit. In spite of "proceed(ing) with plans for a 
visit," Israel "so far failed to respond affirmatively." The 
Palestinian Authority (PA) "issued an invitation."

The US Position On Extrajudicial Killings

In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed Executive Order (EO) 11905 
banning the practice against foreign leaders in peacetime and by 
implication against others. Yet Reagan's Defense Secretary, Caspar 
Weinberger, argued that only "murder by treacherous means" is 
forbidden so assassinations are acceptable as long as they're 
unrelated to "treachery."

George Bush then swept aside subtleties, reversed Ford's EO, and 
authorized the CIA to assassinate Osama bin Laden, his supporters, 
and publicly stated that bin Laden "was wanted, dead or alive." His 
Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, concurred and called killing 
"terrorists" an act of "self-defense."

In June 2008, Philip Alston visited the US. He met with federal and 
state officials, judges and civil society groups in New York, 
Washington, Alabama and Texas. He also conducted a fact-finding tour 
of US prison and detention facilities and presented his findings at a 
June 30 press conference. He sharply criticized the Bush 
administration, the country's flawed judicial system, and continued 
rule of law violations. He cited:

-- racism in the application of the death penalty;

-- the lack of transparency in Guantanamo prisoner deaths;

-- a lack of information about Iraq and Afghanistan civilian deaths; 
the unwillingness of Department of Defense officials and others to 
cooperate; his concern about serious human rights violations as well; and

-- the refusal of the US Justice Department to prosecute mercenary 
contractors (like Blackwater Worldwide) who commit unlawful killings. 
Or the US military.

Israeli Extrajudicial Killings

Throughout its history, Israel willfully and systematically committed 
premeditated extrajudicial killings of Palestinians and other Arabs 
as official state policy - carried out with explicit high-level 
political, judicial and military authorization and allegedly in 
"self-defense" against individuals threatening Israeli security. 
Government officials even admit that certain persons are targeted, 
and Dan Haluts, former Israeli Army Chief of Staff, once told the 
Washington Post (in August 2006) that "Targeted killing is the most 
important method in the fight against 'terrorism.' " In other words, 
premeditated murder is acceptable as long as it's properly classified.

In May 2007 on Israeli Army Radio, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, former 
Infrastructure Minister, defended the practice and said: "We decided 
to carry out more physical liquidation operations against 
(Palestinian) 'terrorists"....I think this will eliminate the damage 
caused to Israeli territory due to the launching of Palestinian rockets."

Almost never do Israeli government or military officials show 
evidence that targeted individuals acted violently or threatened 
Jewish citizens. Simply calling them "terrorists" is justification 
enough - to kill them extrajudicially, with no recourse to due 
process or respect for international law that bans the practice for any reason.

"My crime was to protest Israeli assassinations"

On January 5, 2007, the London Guardian headlined that comment in 
reporting on Jewish activist Tali Fahima's first interview following 
her release from Israeli incarceration. Sitting with her arms 
handcuffed to a chair's legs 16 hours a day, her captors said they 
wanted to teach her to be a "good Jew." She was imprisoned for 30 
months for traveling to the West Bank, "meeting an enemy agent and 
translating a simple army document."

She explained and said her crimes were for refusing to work with Shin 
Bet (Israel's secret service), going to see the Palestinians, then 
protesting the Israeli assassinations policy. She was kept in 
isolation for nine months. Finally, at the urging of her lawyer, she 
struck a plea bargain for a shorter sentence, and ended up being 
"unbowed" by her experience. She learned how Sin Bet "terroriz(es)" 
people, both Palestinians and Jews. "About the nature of the 
government, how they do not want us to see what is going on in our name."

On August 8, 2004, she was arrested and placed under administrative 
detention in September. In December, she was charged with "assistance 
to the enemy at time of war." It was trumped up and false. In January 
2005, the Tel Aviv district court ruled that she should be placed 
under house arrest during her trial. Jerusalem's high court overruled 
it on the grounds that she "identifie(d) with an ideological goal." 
In December 2005, she pled guilty under her plea bargain to meeting 
and aiding an enemy agent and entering Palestinian territory. In 
January 2006, she was released.

She felt compelled to make regular Jenin visits. Talk to hundreds of 
people, including Palestinian resisters, and for the first time heard 
their point of view and how hard things are under occupation. For 
showing compassion and disagreeing with Israeli policies, she was 
imprisoned for nearly 30 months on false charges. Not even Jews are 
safe from harsh state retribution against anyone showing defiance or 
daring to resist injustice.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Documentation of Israeli 
Targeted Assassinations

The (1995 established) Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) 
functions independently in Gaza and enjoys "Consultative Status" with 
the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It's also an affiliate 
of the International Commission of Jurists-Geneva, the International 
Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in Paris, the Euro-Mediterranean 
Human Rights Network in Copenhagen, the Arab Organization for Human 
Rights in Cairo, and the International Legal Assistance Corsortium 
(ILAC) in Stockholm.

Palestinian lawyers and human rights activists established it to:

-- "protect human rights and promote the rule of law;"

-- create, develop and promote a democratic culture in Palestinian society; and

-- work for Palestinian self-determination and independence "in 
accordance with international law and UN resolutions."

PCHR issues documents, fact sheets, and reports like its quarterly 
accounts of Israeli extrajudicial executions in the Occupied 
Palestinian Territories (OPT). Its latest one is from April through 
June, and a more comprehensive one covered August 2006 through its 
latest June 2008 data.

PCHR states: It's "investigated and documented these (killings) in 
depth (and) concluded that the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) have 
consistently acted with utter disregard for the lives of (mostly 
innocent) Palestinian civilians in the OPT, and that IOF have 
continued to carry out state sanctioned extra-judicial executions, 
(in violation of) international human rights law....in the 
overwhelming majority of cases....suspects could have been arrested, 
but no efforts were made....and they were instead extra-judicially 
executed" - according to official state policy.

The Human Toll

Since the second Intifada's September 2000 inception through June 30, 
2008, and excluding all other Palestinian killings, the IOF carried 
out 755 OPT executions. Victims included 521 extrajudicially targeted 
and 233 bystanders, including 71 children and 20 women. In Gaza, 405 
were killed. Another 350 in the West Bank. The methods used included:

-- F-16, unmanned drone, and attack helicopter-launched 
air-to-surface missiles; tank shelling; missile launchers and gunboats;

-- Israeli military undercover units disguised as Palestinians; first 
established during the first (1987 - 1993) Intifada; they became more 
active during the second one; could easily have arrested suspects but 
instead killed them at short range; and

-- IOF targeted house ambushes in the West Bank.

Most often, civilians are attacked in their homes, vehicles, on 
streets and at workplaces. Sometimes entire families are killed, 
including children, women, the elderly, and infirm, and a July 2002 
incident was typical. It targeted Salah Shehada, an Ezzedeen 
Al-Qassam Brigades (the Hamas armed wing) leader.

The IOF knew he was with his wife and children. That they lived in a 
densely populated residential area, and former Israeli Army Chief of 
Staff, Moshe Ya'alon, admitted that he knew Shehada's wife and 
daughter "were close to him during the implementation of the 
assassination....and there was no way out of conducting the operation 
despite their presence." An Israeli F-16 bombed his home, and 
completely destroyed it. Two neighboring ones also and damaged 32 others.

The toll was horrific - 77 injured civilians; 16 others killed, 
including Shehada, his wife, daughter, assistant, eight children, 
(one a two-month old baby), and two elderly men and two women. It was 
an indefensible criminal act of wanton murder.

In May 2007, an air-to-surface missile targeted the Al-Hayia family 
at his eastern Gaza meeting hall. It scored a direct hit. Killed were 
seven members of his family, another Palestinian and the object of 
the attack - Sameh Saleh Farawana, a Hamas activist. In addition, 
three others were wounded.

In July 2006, air-to-surface missiles destroyed Dr. Nabil Abdol Latif 
Abu Selmeya's home in Gaza City's Al-Sheikh Radwan district. He, his 
wife, and seven children were killed. In addition, 34 bystanders were 
injured, including 5 children and six women. At least 15 neighboring 
homes were also damaged in an operation Israelis said targeted 
Mohammed Al-Deif, Hamas' armed wing leader and apparently Israel's 
most wanted man.

In January 2008, an air-to-surface missile struck a civilian vehicle 
carrying three members of the Al-Yazji family killing Mohammed 
Al-Yazji, his five-year old son, and his 40-year old brother. Three 
bystanders were also injured. IOF sources later admitted the attack 
was in error and was meant for another vehicle carrying Palestinian 
resistance activists.

In August 2007, a Gaza operation near the Rafah International 
Crossing Point killed two civilians, injured 12 others and slightly 
wounded three targeted activists who escaped. Moments later, another 
vehicle was struck nearby killing the driver, a civilian bystander, 
and wounding 12 others, including a child.

In November 2006 in eastern Gaza, a vehicle was struck carrying 
Bassel Sha'aban Ubeid, an Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades member. He and 
a colleague were killed. In addition, five Amen family members were 
injured, including two children.

Throughout the reporting period, there were many more killings in 
Gaza and the West Bank. In November 2006, four Jenin civilians. In 
February 2007, three others in Jenin. In March 2008, four Bethlehem 
civilians. Many others throughout the Territories in Ramallah, 
Nablus, Rafah, Khan Younis, Tul Karim, north, central and southern 
Gaza, and elsewhere - against activists, resisters, civilians, women 
and children for the crime of being Palestinians wanting 
self-determination, freedom, and respect for their rights under 
international law. For their part, Israelis, with world support and 
complicity, continue denying it to them repressively and illegally.

Extrajudicial Executions in the Latest Reporting Period - April - June 2008

During the period, the IOF conducted eight OPT assassinations killing 
a total of 16 people, including two civilian bystanders. Two 
operations were carried out in the West Bank. Six others in Gaza.

On April 14, an air-to-surface missile killed Ibrahim Mohanned Abu 
'Olba, the National Resistance Brigades' (the Democratic Front for 
the Liberation of Palestine's armed wing) leader in northern Gaza. 
Two civilians were also injured, including a 15-year old boy. In 
addition, a number of nearby houses were damaged.

On April 15, an air-to-surface missile killed Abdullah Mohammed 
al-Ghassain, an al-Quds Brigades' (the Islamic Jihad's armed wing) 
activist in northern Gaza. Three others were also injured.

On April 17, the IOF besieged a building in Qabatya village, 
southeast of Jenin in the northern West Bank. They opened fire at a 
civilian car, ordered people out of the building, and fired shells 
and demolished it with a bulldozer. Two dead Palestinians were found inside.

On April 20, an air-to-surface missile killed Nour al-Dibari in Gaza. 
A second missile targeted a number of Palestinians who just left a 
grocery shop. Its owner was seriously injured as well as his son. At 
least one other Palestinian was hurt as well.

On June 29, the IOF entered Tubas in the northern West Bank and set a 
cemetery ambush for a group of Palestinian children there throwing 
stones and Molotov cocktails at military vehicles. They opened fire 
and killed one 16-year old from multiple gunshots to the chest and abdomen.

PCHR "asserts that the Government of Israel continues to act 
recklessly, and with utter disregard for the human rights of the 
Palestinian people, including (their) right to life" and safety. 
Israel also fails "to meet its obligations under human rights law, 
including the Fourth Geneva Convention." An Israeli government 
representative wasn't available for comment.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at 
<mailto:lendmanstephen at sbcglobal.net>lendmanstephen at sbcglobal.net. 
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081120/698e874c/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Nov 20 19:07:52 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:07:52 -0800
Subject: [News] Mass Indigenous Protest In Defense of Water in Ecuador
Message-ID: <mailman.642.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Mass Indigenous Protest In Defense of Water Caps 
Week of Mobilizations in Ecuador

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1591/1/
Written by Daniel Denvir
Thursday, 20 November 2008

Over 10,000 indigenous people from hundreds of 
Ecuador?s Northern Sierra (highlands) communities 
gathered to present the native movement?s 
proposed Water Law. Protesters chanted, ?Water is 
not for sale, it is to be defended,? as speakers 
excoriated President Rafael Correa?s draft Water 
Law, saying that it could lead to privatization 
and pollution by mining companies.

The protest was organized by the Confederation of 
Peoples of the Kichwa Nationality (Ecuaranari), 
the Sierra regional block of the Confederation of 
Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE). 
Marches left from the North, South and West to 
converge on the Pan-American Highway, blocking 
the country?s central artery for over six hours.

The march also showed the indigenous movement?s 
capacity to mobilize large numbers of people, a 
sign that the CONAIE is recovering from past 
internal divisions and political defeats. Correa 
has regularly insulted indigenous leaders and 
anti-mining activists, claiming that they do not 
represent a real political base. But indigenous people at
Wednesday?s protest were passionate about 
defending their access to clean water.

Maria came to the march from the community of 
Santa Anita, in the Central Sierra province of 
Chimborazo: ?We are here to defend the water. We 
take care of the p?ramos (Andean wetlands) to get 
our water. We don?t get our water for free. They 
say they?re going to take away our water, and we?re not going to let them.?

The protest came two days after thousands of 
campesinos and coastal fishers staged nation wide 
protests and road blockades against Correa?s 
draft Mining Law and support for large-scale 
shrimp farms. Activists contend that the law 
would allow companies to undertake damaging 
large-scale and open pit mining in ecologically 
sensitive areas, contaminating the water supply 
with heavy metals. Fishers demanded that Correa 
overturn Decree 1391, passed on October 15th, 
which handed thousands of marine hectares over to 
large-scale shrimp farmers. This will lead to the 
further destruction of mangrove forests, critical 
habitat for the area?s fish, crabs and conchs. 
Participants in all of this week?s marches have 
emphasized the importance of natural resources to their communities.

Five people were arrested during Monday?s 
protests, including Jorge Sarango, a former 
Constituent Assembly member from the indigenous 
party Pachakutik. While Sarango has been 
released, the other four activists remain in jail.

Ceaser Quilumbaquin came to Wednesday?s march 
with over 400 people from San Miguel del Prado, a 
community in the province of Pichincha.

?We?re fighting for our water because they want 
to privatize it. We are indigenous people and the 
majority of water comes from our p?ramos. Water 
is life, and the government wants to sell water 
to private entities,? said Quilumbaquin.

This week?s mobilizations are an important 
demonstration of growing social movement unity 
and independence from the government of President 
Rafael Correa. Activists say that this week?s 
mobilizations are the beginning of a larger 
movement to confront Correa?s environmental 
policies. Correa scored a huge political victory 
in September when voters overwhelmingly approved 
a new constitution, weakening the traditional 
political parties and business elites. Social 
movements, and the indigenous movement in 
particular, were instrumental in mobilizing their 
members to vote ?yes??but they have
in recent months increasingly distanced themselves from the government.

Although the Left has been in conflict with 
Correa since he took office in January 2007, 
September?s defeat of the right wing has 
emboldened social movements in taking on 
government social and environmental policies. 
Indeed, water and anti-mining activists invoke 
the new constitution?s strict environmental 
provisions in demanding local control over community territory.

Ivonne Ramos of Acci?n Ecologica, said, ?The 
constitution prioritizes the use of water to 
ensure food sovereignty, for small livestock and 
agriculture, and for human consumption. Water for industry comes last.?

And, in an interesting move, legislators usually 
close to Correa?from the Popular Democratic 
Movement (MPD) as well as Correa?s own party, 
Alianza Pa?s (AP)?showed up to speak in support 
of the Water Law. While the MPD has become 
increasingly critical of Correa in recent weeks, 
it seems likely that AP lawmakers? presence has 
more to do with posturing than a real political shift.

Indigenous delegates from Bolivia, Peru, 
Guatemala and Mexico addressed the crowd and, 
recounting their own struggles in defense of 
water, expressed their solidarity with Ecuador?s indigenous people.

Daniel Denvir is an independent journalist in 
Quito, Ecuador, and a 2008 recipient of the North 
American Congress on Latin America?s Samuel 
Chavkin Investigative Journalism Grant. He is the 
editor in chief of caterwaulquarterly.com.





Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081120/c5e182e7/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 21 15:13:55 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:13:55 -0800
Subject: [News] Israeli gunboats kidnap Gaza fisherman, peaceworkers
Message-ID: <mailman.643.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9985.shtml

Israeli gunboats kidnap Gaza fisherman, peaceworkers

Eva Bartlett, The Electronic Intifada, 21 November 2008

An Israeli naval ship sprays a Palestinian fishing boat with a water 
cannon off the coast of the Gaza Strip. (David Schermerhorn)

On the evening of Tuesday 18 November Khalid al-Habeel sat surrounded 
by his wife, family, and other concerned fishermen. Until the early 
hours of the following day, they had no idea what charges were being 
laid against 15 fishermen, including two of al-Habeel's sons, Adham 
(21) and Mohammed (20), after they were nabbed from Gaza's 
territorial waters earlier that morning and taken to an Israeli 
interrogation center at Ashdod port. Nor did they know when or if 
their boats -- their livelihoods -- would be returned.

Khaled Al-Habeel, or Abu Adham (father of Adham) explained the events 
leading up to the fishermen's arrest. "Shortly after 10am, I got a 
panicked call from Adham, who was captain today, saying their boat 
was surrounded by Israeli naval boats."

"There are many ships around us; there's no way to leave," said Adham 
to his father. Their boat was approximately seven miles out from Deir 
al-Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip.

Although Palestinian fishermen have the right to fish up to 20 
nautical miles from Gaza's coast, as laid-out in the 1994 Interim 
Agreement signed by Israel, since 1996 Israel has downsized this 
distance in stages, documented by the Palestinian Centre for Human 
Rights (PCHR). Imposing a sea blockade on Gaza in 1996, Israel 
illegally reduced the allowable fishing zone to 12 nautical miles. 
 From 2002 to 2003 this was further reduced to six miles from Gaza's shore.

While Adham and the more than 3,500 professional fishermen that scour 
Gaza's waters for needed sustenance and sources of income are 
accustomed to Israeli navy harassment, Tuesday's encounter was 
different, heightened.

"We're used to facing Israeli attacks in the sea, but we've never 
seen anything like what happened today. Usually, the Israeli soldiers 
surround us with a large ship and a smaller gunboat. They shoot at 
and around our boat with automatic rifles, and they water cannon the 
boat. When they arrest us, they make us strip down to our underwear, 
jump into the water, and swim to their ship where we are then hauled 
up, handcuffed, and taken away to an Israeli interrogation center and 
even arrest. Today was very different. It's the first time they've 
actually boarded our boats," al-Habeel explained.

Khaled's brother, Abed al-Habeel, and the father of another of the 
arrested fishermen, Rami (30), corroborated the testimony, adding 
that their greatest worry was the boats right now: "In the past, I've 
had my boat confiscated. It was three years ago, and the Israeli 
soldiers arrested Rami, who was fishing four miles off the coast. 
They held him for four months, and kept our boat for 70 days. This 
was a huge loss to us, and when it was finally returned to us it had 
been seriously damaged by the soldiers' shooting. The nets, the 
motor, everything was destroyed or stolen," he said, adding that the 
total losses and damages amounted to US $40,000.

"We've done nothing wrong. We are innocent, just trying to earn our 
living. Our boats are our only source of income," said Abu Adham. 
"But what can we do?" he asked.

A crisis created

The two al-Habeel fishing trawlers and equipment together amount to 
approximately US $280,000. With the entire family being either 
fishermen or dependent on the livelihood and food source fishing 
provides, the confiscation of their boats is a severe blow to the 
family. In an area which has already been devastated a siege on the 
economy, exports, health sector, education, and basic existence of 
Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians, the fishing sector is one of the few 
reliable sources of income and food.

According to Abu Adham, it is not only his immediate family which is 
punished by the boats' confiscation. "Our boats are like a company," 
he said. Around 300 people in total are affected by the loss of their 
two trawlers: other workers employed on the boats, at the docks, in 
the fish market, transporting fish goods, as well as the buyers 
themselves who have come to rely heavily on the sea's offerings as a 
source of protein and nutrition at a time when red meat is scarce and 
very expensive.

Since September 2008, after the arrival of the Free Gaza boats, human 
rights observers with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) 
have been traveling with Gaza's fishermen, into waters further out 
than the arbitrarily-imposed six-mile limit. The observers have 
documented numerous instances of attack at the hands of the Israeli 
army, from as little as three miles from shore, including being shot 
at with live ammunition and shelling, being water cannoned -- during 
which soldiers specifically target the boats structural components, 
particularly breakables like glass, glass panels and machinery -- and 
more recently being doused with a foul, sewage-smelling water shot 
from the water cannon. The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem 
has documented testimonies of fishermen who suffered harassment and 
arrest, had their nets cut, and boats and equipment confiscated, 
often returned with broken and missing equipment, and costly damages 
to key boat structures.

Behind the kidnapping

In the early hours of Wednesday, 19 November, all 15 arrested 
fishermen were released to the Erez crossing into Gaza. Their boats, 
along with the three internationals, are still being held by Israeli 
authorities. Nidal, a 23 year old father of one child, was among the 
arrested fishermen.

"We were just over seven miles out off the shore from Deir al-Balah 
and we saw two Israeli gunboats approach our fishing vessel. Five 
smaller boats surrounded Abed Almoati al-Habeel's boat," the boat 
that Scottish volunteer Andrew Muncie (34) was on, Nidal explained. 
"We began quickly pulling our nets in," he continued. "When they had 
arrested people on that boat, one of the gunboats came and ordered us 
to turn our motor off. They ordered us to come to the front of our 
boat, threatening to shoot to kill."

Italian volunteer Vittorio Arrigoni ("Vik") (33) on the 2nd boat to 
be surrounded, continued filming as Israeli soldiers boarded the 
boat. Colleague Darlene Wallach (57) was on the third boat and 
related via phone what happened next. "They used a taser on Vik while 
he was still on the boat, then tried to push him backwards onto a 
sharp piece of wood. He jumped into the sea to avoid being hurt more 
than he already was, and was in the water for quite a while," Nidal said.

"Almost 20 soldiers had boarded the boat, pointing their guns in our 
faces and ordering us not to move. They left the captain, Mohammed, 
on the boat and forced us off and onto the smaller boat, which 
transferred us to the larger gunship."

Mohammed confirmed this account, adding, "This was the first time we 
weren't forced to strip and jump into the water." Three soldiers 
remained on Mohammed's boat and, after the operation was repeated on 
the third boat, ordered Mohammed to head towards Ashdod, the first 
Israeli port, along with the other two fishing vessels.

Wallach by phone said this of her arrest: "I was told 'You are in 
Israeli territory.' even though it was obvious that all three boats 
were in Palestinian territory," she said. "They kidnapped me and 
Andrew and Vik, and all of the Palestinian fishermen."

Later, at the Ashdod port, during their interrogation, the fishermen 
were questioned specifically on the international observers. "Why did 
you have internationals on your boat?" they were asked. "Who is 
responsible for sending the internationals? Who pays them? Where do 
they live? Do you get a good catch when the internationals are on 
board?" the questioning continued, with a very specific and evident 
interest, including a non-veiled threat: "You think that you have 
protection because you have internationals on your boat? Let's see 
what these international can do for you now," one fisherman said 
soldiers threatened.

After their half-day detention, the fishermen were released without 
any charges, although their boats remain confiscated.

Abu Rami feels the kidnapping of the 15 fishermen and three 
international observers was a clear message: "It's a message to 
internationals in Gaza to not accompany fishermen. It's also a 
message to fishermen not to go far out in our own waters, although we 
need to because that is where the fish are."

Steadfast against the siege

Prison time has not broken the spirits of the three human rights 
activists, who are all being held in Israel's Maasiyahu prison, near 
Lydd. Rather, they are determined to protest what they say is the 
"stealing" of Palestinian fishing boats, as well as their kidnapping 
from Gaza's waters. Wallach maintains that "at no point, before we 
were transported by the Israeli navy into Israel, did we enter 
internationally-recognized Israeli waters."

Arrigoni commented via phone on Thursday: "A few days ago I was in a 
big prison with no electricity and little running water. Now I'm in a 
smaller prison with electricity and clean, running water."

On 21 November, the three began a hunger strike, calling foremost for 
the return of the fishing boats, and further calling for their own 
return to Gaza.

The incident comes just a week after a delegation of 11 European 
Members of Parliament, all denied entry through Egypt's Rafah 
crossing, visited the Gaza Strip, arriving via the third Free Gaza 
voyage. Amongst the delegation were: former UK Secretary of State for 
International Development Clare Short, Lord Ahmed Nazir, and Baroness 
Jenny Tonge. Tonge condemned the arrests.

"The time has come for the international community, and especially 
the European Union to take action against Israel's consistent 
breaking of international law. The EU-Israel Association Agreement 
should be suspended until Israel complies with this law. It was only 
last week that I personally met with the fishermen whose boats are 
illegally water-cannoned and fired upon by Israeli gunboats as they 
peacefully fish in Gaza waters."

Clare Short's comments addressed not only the recent arrests, but the 
devastating siege which has been imposed on Gaza for 18 months now. 
"I am pleased that the fishermen have been released because they 
should never have been arrested. But their boats must immediately be 
returned to them, otherwise their livelihoods are lost and the wrong 
has not been righted. The siege of Gaza must be lifted and the UK 
must insist that these illegal attacks by the Israeli navy on Gazans, 
fishing peacefully within their own water must cease," Short remarked.

Indeed, while the arrest of the 15 fishermen and three internationals 
highlights the continual and systematic injustice fishermen face, 
over 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners remain incarcerated in 
Israeli prisons and the siege on Gaza's 1.5 million civilians worsens 
ever still.

While Israel is seemingly trying to conceal the alarming 
deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Gaza by preventing 
journalists from entering Gaza for over 13 days now, pressure is 
growing, from European parliamentarians to UN officials, for Israel 
to end its siege.

"By function of this blockade, 1.5 million Palestinian men, women and 
children have been forcibly deprived of their most basic human rights 
for months," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said 
in a statement. Pillay continued, stating: "Only a full lifting of 
the blockade followed by a strong humanitarian response will be 
adequate to relieve the massive humanitarian suffering evident in Gaza today."

Eva Bartlett is a Canadian human rights advocate and freelancer who 
spent eight months in 2007 living in West Bank communities and four 
months in Cairo and at the Rafah crossing. She is currently based in 
Gaza, after the third successful voyage of the Free Gaza movement to 
break the siege on Gaza.



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081121/03de8550/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov 25 10:35:21 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:35:21 -0800
Subject: [News] The Indigenous and Popular Minga Has Taken Over Colombia's
 Capital
Message-ID: <mailman.644.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

The Indigenous and Popular Minga Has Taken Over Colombia's Capital

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1593/1/
Written by Mario A. Murillo
Monday, 24 November 2008

It's been a busy series of days in Bogot? as the 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9228>MINGA 
Popular continues to expand and flourish. From 
the streets in the center of the city, to the 
Plaza del Ch? at the National University where an 
international forum was held on Saturday, from 
the media centers of the indigenous movement to 
the dozens of meetings taking place around the 
city where "Mingueros" are discussing the five 
point agenda with all the sectors that are 
interested to listen, the enthusiasm and energy 
of the popular movement can be felt.

After Friday's massive march through Bogot? that 
started at the campus of the National University, 
one that brought together over 20,000 people into 
the Plaza Bolivar for a spirited rally under a 
consistent rain, Saturday was a day focused more 
on concrete work that needs to be carried out to 
continue the organizing of the people. The 
highest profile meeting was held at la SENA, 
<http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/bogota/articulo92668-tensa-reunion-entre-minga-indigena-y-gobierno>where 
government ministers and the indigenous 
leadership met for several hours in a tense 
session to discuss the government's failure to 
fulfill its obligations to the communities under 
previous accords, and the ongoing violence being 
carried out by the state security forces against indigenous people.

Simultaneous to that high-level encounter, 
representatives of the many different regional 
organizations participating in the MINGA got 
together in commissions, and scattered around 
throughout the city, meeting with student groups, 
local community councils, rank and file workers, 
and many other sectors to promote the message of 
the Minga. These are what the community refers to 
as "barridos," or "sweeps," designed to open up 
the dialogue with the people even further, and 
begin an ongoing discussion based on the conclusion of Friday's historic rally.

At the rally, Feliciano Valencia, a member of the 
council of chiefs of the Regional Indigenous 
Council of Cauca, CRIC, reminded the crowd that 
"the Minga is a long-term process that does not 
conclude with a rally where we hear some strong speeches and then go home."

He emphasized the need to continue to build on 
the momentum started on October 11th, in La 
Maria, Piendam?, in Cauca, where the Minga began 
over five weeks ago. In essence, Valencia and 
other speakers were talking about the 
construction of a broad-based popular movement in 
opposition to the neoliberal, militarist model 
that is represented faithfully by the current 
regime. They are very well aware that 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9218>the 
work will not be easy, given the many different 
sectors they are calling together and the 
diverging interests that they could come to 
represent. However, what is clear from the events 
of the last several weeks, and in particular the 
unity expressed this weekend here in the nation's 
capital, is that there is a commitment to joint 
mobilization, as well as to continue working together for the long-term.

One of the highlights of Friday's rally was the 
public pact made between the leadership of the 
Central Workers Union, 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9229>CUT 
and the indigenous movement to work together from 
now on in coalition to confront the government of 
President Alvaro Uribe. Tarsicio Mora Godoy, the 
President of CUT, made a rousing speech and shook 
the hand of Feliciano Valencia, committing the 
resources and the sweat equity of the rank and 
file to join forces in the Minga in its struggle for social transformation.

"The CUT will march together with you so that all 
the violent actions against the civilian 
population cease and so that the state guarantees 
the respect for the human rights of the people 
and that impunity is broken. So that they 
guarantee all the victims of this violence the 
right to the truth, justice, reparation and that 
it will not happen again," said Godoy.

He emphasized,"We cannot continue fighting our struggles alone."

This point was reiterated by Ezequiel Viton?s, a 
Nasa leader from Toribio, and chief council of 
the 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9228>Association 
of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, 
who summarized the work agenda towards the end of the rally.

"The minga does not end here, the minga continues 
with its call, waking up the conscience of the 
people and uniting forces, sharing pains, walking 
the word without looking at borders nor limits. 
Because the hope for life transcends these 
physical spaces, and each and every one of us is 
responsible for taking care of and watching grow 
this little child that today is being born," he said.

There have been a number of other big stories 
making headlines in Colombia the last several 
days, pushing the coverage of the Minga to a 
second, third and even fourth tier in terms of 
the commercial news agenda. The ongoing crisis 
caused by the financial schemes known as 
"Pyramids" continues to generate the most 
attention, followed since Friday morning by the 
natural disaster unfolding as a result of the 
<http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/occidente/al-menos-10-muertos-8-desaparecidos-y-150-atrapados-por-erupcion-del-volcan-nevado-del-huila_4681947-1>eruption 
of the Nevado del Huila volcano. Latest reports 
say that at least ten people were killed and 
another 150 remain trapped as of Sunday morning 
as a result of the avalanche and mudslide caused 
by the melting of the snow after the eruption. 
The departments affected by the eruption include 
Huila, Tolima and Cauca, in particular the 
indigenous territory of Tierradentro.

Yet despite the limited commercial media coverage 
of the important events related to the protests 
and meetings this weekend, it is quite apparent 
that the Minga has developed a life of its own, 
and is not dependent anymore on getting the 
attention of these corporate information 
channels. The representation of the Minga on the 
major news channels has been problematic from the 
start. The evidence is clear: The National 
Indigenous Organization of Colombia, ONIC, 
<http://www.altanto.info/onic>has been 
documenting every news piece that has come out on 
just about every media outlet since October 11th, 
so anybody interested can check for themselves. 
The public, unfortunately, remains extremely 
uninformed about the historic developments that are unfolding before them.

Today, there are many alternatives! The massive 
presence of independent media at all these events 
- video cameras documenting the marches and 
rallies, photographers clicking away at the 
dramatic militance of the protesters, community 
radio producers gathering natural sound, 
speeches, and interviews for their respective 
outlets - are presenting a comprehensive 
alternative narrative - the people's narrative - 
that undoubtedly is having an impact on how the 
Minga is playing out with public opinion. It has 
resulted in tremendous solidarity from abroad, 
and unprecedented collaboration and participation 
from ordinary people here in Colombia since the Minga began.

Despite the false accusations of the government, 
despite the racist underpinnings of the media 
coverage, and the almost deliberate 
mis-information that has accompanied it, the 
people have come out in small towns and large 
cities to welcome the mingueros, and join with 
them in solidarity. No doubt there is still 
profound opposition to the Minga from a certain, 
very powerful and intolerant sector of Colombian 
society. I am not naive to think that the 
indigenous movement has reached everybody with 
equal amounts of empathy and solidarity. If you 
read the comments section on the websites of El 
Tiempo and El Espectador, for example, the 
vitriolic hate speech comes across loud and 
clear. But undoubtedly there is widespread 
support from a broad cross section of the 
Colombian population who have simply had enough 
of the Uribe propaganda machine.

For me, one of the most impressive images of 
Friday's march was seeing dozens of men and women 
in business suits, the heart of Colombia's 
business class on their lunch breaks, lining the 
famous Avenida Septima in downtown Bogot?, 
applauding enthusiastically and raising their 
fists in the air as the thousands of protesters 
marched by. One elegant man shouted out "No more 
lies of this tyrannical President! Que viva la Minga!" It was wonderful.

The next steps are still being hammered out by 
the leadership and the base. One clear target 
date is October 12, 2009, where the movement will 
hold a national people's congress to move the 
Minga forward. But there is a lot to do in the coming days and weeks.

On Sunday, more events are planned throughout the 
city. There might even be another debate with the 
President, although this has yet to be hammered out.

To hear some of the sounds of Friday's rally, 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/index.html>check out the 
ACIN's website and scroll down a bit to the audio 
links. There you will hear the voices of 
Valencia, Viton?s and Mora, as well as the many 
other speakers at the Plaza Sim?n Bolivar.

Mario A. Murillo is associate professor of 
Communication at Hofstra University in New York, 
and the author of Colombia and the United States: 
War, Unrest and Destabilization. He is currently 
living in Colombia, finishing a book about the 
indigenous movement and its uses of community media.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081125/5c7f6d90/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov 25 18:32:25 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:32:25 -0800
Subject: [News] Frank Cieciorka has died.
Message-ID: <mailman.645.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

A great movement artist and friend of the Freedom 
Archives, Frank Cieciorka, has died. He will be 
missed?his work goes marching on!

[]


Frank Cieciorka, 69, Artist and Activist

             Frank Cieciorka, a nationally 
recognized watercolor painter, political artist, 
activist, and author who created many of the 
iconic images of the 1960s, including the 
clenched fist and the black panther, died on 
November 24, 2008 at his home in Alderpoint, 
California. The cause was emphysema.

             Born April 26, 1939, Frank grew up 
in the upstate New York factory town of Johnson 
City where his father worked at a grocery 
store.  Frank began work at the age of 14 as a 
bowling alley pin-boy and then on the assembly 
line at the local shoe factory. Recognized since 
childhood for his artistic talent, he enrolled in 
the fine arts program at San Jose State College 
in 1957, where he became an anti-war activist, 
protesting military interventions in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic.

             On graduating in 1964, Frank 
volunteered for Freedom Summer in Mississippi and 
later was hired as a field secretary for the 
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). 
He helped organize African-Americans to register 
to vote and assisted in organizing the racially 
integrated Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, 
which challenged the all-white official 
Democratic Party. Frank also wrote and 
illustrated Negroes in American History?A Freedom 
Primer, taught in Freedom Schools throughout the 
south. The book is still used as a resource text.

             Frank continued his political 
activism in San Francisco, where he became 
artistic director of The Movement, a national 
newspaper of community, anti-war, and civil 
rights organizing.  His art also appeared in many 
other publications, posters, and underground 
papers, including The Realist. Among the powerful 
images he created for The Movement were full-size 
front-page portraits of Nat Turner and John 
Brown. His political artistry there and at 
People?s Press inspired a generation of activist artists.

             At the end of the Sixties, tired of 
city life, Frank became an avid backpacker. In 
1972 he purchased a half-acre plot in rural 
Alderpoint, where he designed and built his own 
home and studio, and turned to watercolor 
painting. His works celebrate the southern 
Humboldt County countryside, the beauty of the 
female figure in natural settings, and ordinary people doing what they do.

             He is survived by his wife, the 
painter Karen Horn, with whom he enjoyed over 25 
years of love and artistic dialogue. He is also 
survived by his step-daughter, Zena Goldman Hunt 
and her family, and by his brother, James 
Cieciorka, and his wife, Jean. Family and friends 
rejoice in having shared Frank?s life: a 
testimony to political and artistic passion.





Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081125/51c8d57f/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: fist frank3small.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 34988 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081125/51c8d57f/attachment.jpg>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov 26 10:45:44 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:45:44 -0800
Subject: [News] What Election Results Mean for Venezuela
Message-ID: <mailman.646.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:45:14 -0500 (EST)
From: Venezuela Information Office <newsandaction at veninfo.org>


VENEZUELA'S 2008 REGIONAL ELECTIONS


Regional elections held in Venezuela on November 
23rd, 2008 have been portrayed in the U.S. media 
as a defeat for the government of President Hugo 
Ch?vez, when in fact the results strongly favor 
his party, the PSUV. The vast majority of state 
governorships and mayoralties, including those in 
many strategic parts of the country such as the 
Orinoco Oil Belt, remain under pro-government leadership.

The majority of Venezuelan citizens voted for 
candidates aligned with the Ch?vez government. 
Due to this broad popular support, the PSUV and 
its allies won 77 percent of governorships and 80 
percent of mayoralties. Even in Caracas, where 
the overarching metropolitan mayoralty went to 
the opposition, residents of the city's most 
populous district of Libertador elected a PSUV 
candidate as their local representative.

Voter turnout in the regional elections was a 
record-setting 65 percent. The electoral process 
was the 11th to occur in Venezuela in about a 
decade, and was deemed "peaceful and exemplary" 
by OAS Secretary General Jos? Miguel Insulza. He 
commented that the process was a powerful 
expression of the maturity of the country's 
democratic institutions as well as the trust that 
Venezuelans have in them. The National Electoral 
Council again proved its reputation for efficient 
and accurate electoral oversight by posting 
official results online less than 24 hours after the polls closed.

U.S. media coverage - including editorials in the 
Washington Post and New York Times - has ignored 
the facts enumerated below, points which are 
essential to understanding contemporary political realities in Venezuela.

Most Governors and Mayors Support the Ch?vez Government
The electoral map of Venezuela shows that 
pro-government PSUV candidates gained the 
majority of offices throughout the country. They 
won 17 out of 22 governorships, or 77 percent of 
the total. This is more than was claimed by PSUV 
governors and allies before the 2008 regional 
elections, at which point they held 15 states out 
of 22. PSUV candidates and allies also won 
mayoral posts in 80 percent of municipalities 
throughout the nation. Meanwhile, in at least 
four out of the five states where opposition 
governors were elected, the majority of 
mayoralties went to the PSUV (Zulia is still to 
be decided). This is true in Carabobo, where an 
opposition governor won, but at least 11 out of 
14 of the new municipal mayors are members of the 
PSUV, including the mayor of Puerto Cabello, a 
major port city that is important to the oil 
industry. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=5IRB2pFNOg2YUKZwWO5HOWL4nBlKkaoC>National 
Electoral Council, 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=0ZMwXvgJ%2BM5RRqG%2FVQD0IWL4nBlKkaoC>Embassy 
of Venezuela)

Most Venezuelans Live Under Pro-Ch?vez Local Leaders
As has been true for nearly a decade, the 
majority of Venezuela's population will continue 
to live in states with pro-Ch?vez governors. This 
is currently true for 57 percent of the country's 
population, while a smaller amount - 43 percent - 
have opposition governors. Some municipalities 
shifted to PSUV leadership by choosing a 
progressive leader for the first time during the 
tenure of the Ch?vez administration, including 
Valencia, an important industrial and 
manufacturing city in the coastal state of 
Carabobo. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8EIgqaEFLit14jCuiPzTIWL4nBlKkaoC>Instituto 
Nacional de Estadistica, 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=7I2Sv3r%2BL6WWyqF%2FkZhyl2L4nBlKkaoC>Diario 
El Carabobe?o)

The PSUV Achieved Victory in Strategic Areas of the Country
All states in Venezuela with strategic natural 
resources and industries elected PSUV candidates 
for governor, with the exception of Zulia in the 
West. This means that pro-government leadership 
prevailed in the oil-rich states of Anzoategui, 
Barinas, Bol?var, Monagas, and Delta Amacuro, 
some of which encompass the lucrative Orinoco Oil 
Belt. The state of Bol?var, in particular, also 
hosts the country's other important basic 
industries: hydroelectricity, aluminum, steel, 
iron, and petrochemicals. A majority of the 
mayoral races in these states also went to PSUV 
candidates. The PSUV won mayoral races in 15 out 
of 21 municipalities in Anzoategui, at least 
seven out of 11 in Bol?var, at least eight of 12 
in Barinas, at least 12 of 13 in Monagas, and 
three out of four in Delta Amacuro. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wNyBivVTBwAMCkTnKJHvI2L4nBlKkaoC>National 
Electoral Council)

Pro-Government Candidates Won by Wide Margins
In races for state governors, the opposition's 
five victories were claimed by far smaller 
margins than those earned by the PSUV, which 
clearly dominated in the remaining 17 states. 
This is a key difference. Opposition candidates 
won by margins of just 10 percentage points or 
less in four of those states (as low as 1.3% in 
Tachira and 3% in Carabobo), and won by 15 
percentage points in the fifth state (Nueva 
Esparta). In contrast, the 17 pro-government 
victories were more decisive overall. Candidates 
supporting the government won by roughly 50 
percentage points in two states, 30 percentage 
points in five states, 20 percentage points in 
four states, and 5 to 10 percent in six more 
states. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OJfD4sKK2z%2FrYnOClLorovAtW%2FwxfGDK>National 
Electoral Council)

Residents of the Largest Caracas Municipality Voted for the PSUV
Although the mayor for metropolitan Caracas went 
to the opposition, Libertador, the city's most 
heavily populated district - home to 1.7 million 
residents - elected the PSUV's municipal mayoral 
candidate Jorge Rodr?guez. Libertador is by far 
the largest of the five urban districts in 
Caracas. The PSUV won this election by a wide 
margin of 12 percent, earning 106,487 more votes 
than the opposition's candidate. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=fChSZsyN06aHIPvis49UzGL4nBlKkaoC>National 
Electoral Council)

Even in Opposition-Controlled States, Key Municipalities Went to the PSUV
The assertion that nearly half the country will 
be under the leadership of the opposition is 
incorrect. In states where the governorships went 
to the opposition, a large number of the mayoral 
seats went to PSUV candidates or their allies. 
The opposition won the governorship in Carabobo, 
Tachira, Nueva Esparta, Zulia, and Miranda. In 
the state of Carabobo, the opposition only 
managed to win two of the mayoral races, while 
the PSUV won 11 mayoral races. In the state of 
Nueva Esparta, 6 of the 11 mayoral races went to 
the PSUV. In Tachira, the PSUV won at least 15 of 
29 mayoral races. In Miranda, they won at least 
14 of 21 races. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=vORII4z%2B%2FGyRpfeeLcP9z2L4nBlKkaoC>National 
Electoral Council)

Venezuela's Electoral Authority Handled Record Voter Turnout
The regional elections saw a record-setting 65.5 
percent voter turnout. Of the 16.8 million 
registered voters in Venezuela, roughly 11 
million went to the polls. This is a record for 
the country, and likely among the highest rates 
of voter turnout in local elections anywhere in 
the hemisphere. Despite this, the National 
Electoral Council (CNE) managed the influx at the 
polls and made results of the voting available 
online through its website just hours after all 
of the 11,297 polling stations closed. This was 
made possible by the electronic voting machines 
used in Venezuela, which have been praised as 
among the most advanced and accurate in the 
world. The CNE presents results broken down by 
candidate for each state and municipality in an 
easily accessible format. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2FHGw9cnzauI7jY3kDU0acGL4nBlKkaoC>Embassy 
of Venezuela, 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YtWeOJxml3WTKycxbC6VKGL4nBlKkaoC>National 
Electoral Council)

Unfortunately, despite the extensive records 
available on the CNE website, many media outlets 
in the U.S. have failed to report accurately on 
the results of the regional elections. One 
example is the claim made in a Wall Street 
Journal article and a New York Times editorial on 
November 25th that more than half of Venezuela is 
under opposition control, which, according to the 
official statistics presented here, is inaccurate and misleading.



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081126/aa13483f/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov 26 15:08:08 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:08:08 -0800
Subject: [News] FBI Uses Race and ethnicity to drive investigations
Message-ID: <mailman.647.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>


<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/south_bay_activists/message/5708;_ylc=X3oDMTJxcDUzbGFmBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzg3NjUzODYEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwNjgyBG1zZ0lkAzU3MDgEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTIyNzY5MDc3MA-->Racial 
profiling: new commentary

Date: Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 8:27 AM


When the FBI Sees Danger Race and ethnicity should never be the driving
force behind investigations.

By Bennie G. Thompson

Legal Times

November 24, 2008

Should the FBI be allowed to use race or 
ethnicity as a factor in opening an 
investigation?or what the bureau calls an assessment?of American citizens?
The attorney general has apparently said yes.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Sept. 29 
issued new guidelines governing domestic investigations undertaken by the FBI.

The main purpose of these
guidelines, which go into effect on Dec. 1, is to consolidate a range of
existing guidance for various types of investigations, including criminal
cases, national security matters, foreign intelligence collection, civil
disorders, and demonstrations. But they also lower barriers to FBI agents
building an investigation based, in part, on the race or ethnicity of the
people being looked at.

While the Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that laws using race as a
predicate are almost always suspect, the attorney general has seemingly
concluded that this long-established proscription is no longer applicable.

That's just wrong.

*JUSTICE VERSUS ITSELF*

Ironically, the Justice Department is now of two minds on allowing the use
of race and ethnicity in launching investigations. While imposing these new
guidelines, the department has not changed an older policy against racial
and ethnic profiling.

In 2003, the Justice Department implemented a race neutrality policy titled
"Guidance Regarding the Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies."

Pursuant to this policy, the department mandated that all federal law
enforcement authorities, including those not under the Justice Department's
direct jurisdiction, absolutely prohibit the use of "generalized
stereotypes" about race or ethnicity as a factor in their investigative
procedures.

Additionally, if race or ethnicity were to be considered, the 2003 policy
required some sort of trustworthy corroborating 
evidence linking individuals of a particular race 
or ethnicity to "an identified criminal incident,
scheme, or organization."

Now, the new guidelines for domestic investigations eliminate this
requirement for corroborating evidence, allowing the FBI to open an
investigation based on nothing more than a general suspicion.

Add the new standard in which race or ethnicity 
can be a key factor in starting an investigation, 
and it grows much too easy to bring the 
investigative might of the federal government to 
bear on the life of an ordinary American.

These lower standards are not necessary to protect our natural security.

The 2003 policy takes into consideration both the intricacies and urgency of
preventing threats to national security, enforcing laws protecting the
nation's borders, and shielding the nation from catastrophic loss of life.

The policy states that federal law enforcement officers may not consider
race or ethnicity "except to the extent permitted by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States."

Both the policy's explanation and the examples 
given illustrate the use of race or ethnicity in 
circumstances where there is corroborating 
evidence, including reliable information or 
intelligence sources that indicate that race or 
ethnicity is a relevant factor in identifying potentially harmful individuals.

But the new guidelines for domestic operations issued by the attorney
general disregard this careful balancing act between national security and
individual liberty. They essentially give the FBI a license to profile
members of certain racial and ethnic groups without cause.

Mukasey is sending mixed signals to law enforcement officers. On the one
hand, the new guidelines allow racial profiling without any suspicion of
wrongdoing or corroborating evidence. On the other hand, the old policy
forbids it. What is a responsible FBI agent to do?

* WHICH POLICY?*

The confusion doesn't end there.

Will law enforcement agents from other offices of 
the Justice Department and from other agencies 
that engage in national security investigations 
be informed that a FBI investigation in which 
they might participate was predicated upon the use of race or ethnicity?

Will those other offices or agencies be forced to 
alter their policies in order to work with an 
agency that is often the lead investigator in critical situations?

If other agencies retain their race neutrality policies?and I certainly hope
that is the case?whose policy will prevail on joint investigations? The
FBI's new guidelines could let other agencies 
continue to formally recognize that race- or 
ethnicity-based investigations are misguided 
while improperly gathering race- or 
ethnicity-based information through a back door.

Consider the Department of Home?land Security. In 2004, then-Secretary Tom
Ridge explicitly adopted the Justice Department's 
race neutrality policy for his department. That 
policy has remained in effect throughout Secretary
Michael Chertoff's tenure.

Of course, the Department of Home?land Security 
and the FBI often cooperate with each other in 
national security matters. How will they 
reconcile their newly conflicting mandates on 
race and ethnicity? Where one's race neutrality 
policy conflicts with the other's racial predicate policy, which will prevail?

As chairman of the House Com?mittee on Homeland Security, I have been an
ardent supporter of information sharing among law 
enforcement agencies and have repeatedly 
emphasized the importance of agencies coming together to "connect the dots."

Those "dots" are supposed to be the national 
security and foreign intelligence that different 
agencies have gathered reliably and legally. The 
new FBI guidelines put the intelligence gleaned 
by one agency in a whole different light.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, citizens of all races and
ethnicities have worked with and provided information to law enforcement to
ensure that this country does not suffer another devastating attack. They
have not differentiated among their fellow Americans based on race and
ethnicity. They should be able to rest assured that their government does
not and will not do that either.

Any less of a guarantee casts doubt on the ability of the Justice
Depart?ment to truly live up to its name. It is my sincere hope that
Mukasey's actions will not be considered as a model for a government-wide
shift in policy under this administration or the next.

------------------------------
*Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) is the 
chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.*

<<http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1&view=page&name=gp&ver=sh3fib53pgpk#11dd599c3aa759e4_toc>http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1&view=page&name=gp&ver=sh3fib53pgpk#11dd599c3aa759e4_toc>



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081126/b27d0645/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 28 11:23:47 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:23:47 -0800
Subject: [News] Gaza's Death Throes
Message-ID: <mailman.648.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.counterpunch.org/karkar11282008.html

November 28-30, 2008


Is Anyone Listening?

Gaza's Death Throes

By SONJA KARKAR

What kind of government in the 21st century can 
deny another people basic human rights - that is, 
the right to food, water, shelter, security and dignity?

What kind of government imposes draconian 
sanctions on another people for democratically 
electing a government not to its liking?

What kind of government seals a heavily populated 
territory of 1.5 million people so that no person 
can enter or leave without permission, fishermen 
cannot fish in their own waters, and world food 
aid cannot be delivered to the starving population?

What kind of government shuts off fuel, water and 
electricity and then rains down on the people, bombs and artillery fire?

The answer is - no government of integrity.

And yet, government after government in Israel 
continues to demand recognition and accolades as 
a first world democracy superior to all others, 
despite Israel?s flouting of international law, 
its human rights abuses and the criminality and 
corruption of Israeli leaders.  Worse still, the 
world has acquiesced and has welcomed every 
Israeli administration into its fold as a favoured guest.

This should give everyone pause to revisit our 
noble declarations of independence and human 
rights, ethics, morality, religious beliefs, 
civil liberties and the rule of law.  Are they 
just for show or do they really mean 
something?   Are they intended only for some people or for all people?

Israel?s President Shimon Peres is just one of 
the many leaders who have furthered Israel?s 
aggressive policies and programs and yet he has 
been honoured with a knighthood from the Queen 
and is likely to be honoured with a lecture 
series named after him at Oxford University?s 
Balliol College. Dubious honours indeed, for a 
man who helped to forcibly expel 750,000 
Palestinians from their homeland in the 1948 war.

Today, we are witnessing in Gaza the kind of 
ghetto the world thought it would never see again 
and the comparison was conjured up early this 
year by Israel?s deputy defence minister Matan 
Vilnai  when he threatened ?a bigger holocaust 
(shoah)? against the Palestinians in 
Gaza.  Later, he explained away his use of the 
word as meaning ?disaster?, when in fact it has 
emotional connotations well known to 
everyone.  Either way, the threat was ominous enough.

The slow death that is being visited on the 
Palestinians in Gaza is finding its first victims 
in more than 400 critically ill patients who are 
being prevented from leaving Gaza for urgent 
medical attention in Israeli or Arab hospitals. 
Thousands of other patients are being turned away 
from hospitals suffering from a severe shortage 
of 300 different kinds of medicines.

The hospitals have been deprived of medicines and 
equipment for so long now, that the trickle of 
supplies finally being allowed through, can no 
longer meet the minimum daily needs of the 
Palestinian civilian population.  Similarly, the 
energy fuel being shipped in, is barely enough to 
operate the Gaza power plant for one day.

This drip-feeding of aid was suggested by Israeli 
Prime Ministerial adviser Dov Weisglas who said 
in February 2006: ?The idea is to put the 
Palestinians on a diet, but not make them die of hunger.?

Such a malevolent policy has led to a steady 
increase in malnutrition as people are being 
starved of their staples of life. Not only have 
the flour mills been forced to shut down because 
fuel and power have run out, but now all wheat 
supplies have been exhausted.  Out of the 72 
bakeries operating in the Gaza Strip, 29 have 
completely stopped baking bread and others are 
expected to follow.  This means that even the 
most staple of all foods ? bread - will soon not 
be available for a hungry population.

A Red Cross report describes the effects of the 
siege as ?devastating?.   Seventy per cent of the 
population is suffering from food insecurity 
while the suspension of food aid distribution to 
some 750,000 refugees in the pitiful camps in 
Gaza since 4 November, has further devastated 
Palestinians with no recourse to other alternatives.

The United Nations, Amnesty International and 
Human Rights Watch have all called Israel?s 
blockade ?cruel?. Former president Jimmy Carter 
makes no apology for describing the situation as 
?a heinous atrocity? amounting to a war crime.

In Britain, Oxfam?s CEO Barbara Stocking has 
strongly criticised the Foreign Secretary David 
Miliband for not mentioning the ?human 
desperation? in Gaza on his recent trip to Israel and Palestine.

Israel?s tactics though may be unravelling.

So draconian has been Israel?s closure of Gaza, 
the world?s biggest media organisations including 
the New York Times are outraged that their 
journalists have been banned from entering the 
Gaza Strip and have protested in writing to 
Israel?s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Christian leaders have also been excluded from 
Gaza. Last week, Israel prevented Archbishop 
Franco, the Papal Nuncio in Israel, from 
celebrating mass to mark the beginning of Advent 
in the holy weeks leading up to Christmas.

And in the occupied West Bank, Israeli Minister 
Ehud Barak has approved the building of hundreds 
more illegal settlement units with a flagrant 
disregard of the peace process agreements, 
further frustrating the current US administration 
eager to produce a solution before the end of its term.

What is truly astonishing is the world?s silence 
in the face of all this. The shameful rush to 
grant Israel every honour and recognition so that 
it will be saved from the historical ignominy of 
having orchestrated the destruction of 
Palestinian society, is nothing short of unconscionable.

Sonja Karkar is the founder and president of 
Women for Palestine and one of the founders and 
co-convener of Australians for Palestine in 
Melbourne, Australia.  She is also the editor of 
<http://www.australiansforpalestine.com>www.australiansforpalestine.com 
and contributes articles on Palestine regularly to various publications.

She can be contacted at 
<mailto:sonjakarkar at womenforpalestine.org>sonjakarkar at womenforpalestine.org




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081128/2d185635/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 28 11:48:41 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:48:41 -0800
Subject: [News] =?iso-8859-1?q?Venezuela_-_Feet_of_Clay_or_an_Achilles=92_?=
 =?iso-8859-1?q?_Heel=3F?=
Message-ID: <mailman.649.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>



Feet of Clay or an Achilles? Heel?

<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3991>http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3991>3991
George Ciccariello-Maher

Media outlets were predicting a disaster for 
Venezuela's Chavistas. Desperate for news that 
was fit to print, the opposition-controlled 
Venezuelan press and its foreign counterparts 
convinced many that the time had come for Hugo 
Ch?vez and his Bolivarian Revolution, after 
stumbling a year ago in a slim referendum defeat, 
to finally reveal its feet of clay and come 
crashing down under its own weight. But the 
opposition had already squandered the slight 
momentum it achieved a year ago on partisan 
bickering, and would not live up to the 
unrealistic optimism it sought to foster in the media.

In reality, the catastrophic collapse of Chavismo 
was not to be, but nor was this a crushing 
victory or a clear mandate for the drastic 
radicalization of the revolutionary process. What 
was revealed was not feet of clay, but an 
Achilles' heel, giving necessary pause to 
revolutionaries and imposing reflection on some serious strategic losses.

Opposition Scaremongering

For a Venezuelan opposition still not entirely 
comfortable with the notion of democracy, 
elections have much more to do with media 
maneuvering than the actual vote, and they would 
find in Simon Romero of the New York Times a 
convenient mouthpiece. Either through trademark 
laziness or unprecedented effort to distort the 
truth, 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/world/americas/24venez.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin>Romero 
took aim [1] at Ch?vez's recent statements 
regarding the election in the state of Carabobo, 
suggesting that the president was threatening to 
refuse to recognize an opposition victory in the 
state, instead sending tanks to quell the 
opposition. Unsurprisingly, what Ch?vez had 
actually said was quite different: he had noted 
that the opposition candidate for the state 
governorship, Enrique Salas Feo, had been an 
active participant in the 2002 coup, suggesting 
that an opposition victory in Carabobo might 
provide a staging ground for another effort at 
his ouster. "I won't let them overthrow me," 
<http://nuevaprensa.com.ve/content/view/10006/2>Ch?vez 
insisted [2], "and I might have to bring out the 
tanks to defend this revolutionary government."

With the mediatic framework in place, the 
opposition on the ground engaged in the perennial 
strategy of preemptively undermining the eventual 
results of the election. At 4pm on election day, 
opposition leaders---conspicuously including 
Ismael Garc?a, leader of the formerly-Chavista 
PODEMOS---declared "generalized fraud" as some 
electoral centers remained open after the nominal 
closing time, demanding that voting centers be 
closed immediately. But such calls were in open 
violation of Venezuelan law, under which voting 
centers are obligated to remain open as long as a 
line of voters remains. The day's high 
participation-the opposition knew from the outset-was not to their favor.

Participation was indeed high: some 66% of 
registered voters are reported to have turned 
out, a record of sorts for local elections. And 
this despite the torrential rains that have 
pelted much of the country in recent days, 
prompting inevitable comparison to the notorious 
rains and cataclysmic mudslides that plagued the 
1999 constitutional referendum, and the 
equally-notorious declarations by the Catholic 
Church that the rains constituted a punishment 
for Ch?vez's impudence. This vote, however, was 
not that of an exuberantly young process as in 
1999, but rather a necessary hurdle to be 
surpassed as a sign of institutional 
revolutionary maturity, and therein lay the specific challenges it posed.

Modest Opposition Gains

In the western oil state of Zulia, Chavista 
candidate and former mayor of Maracaibo Giancarlo 
Di Martino put up a valiant fight, garnering some 
45% of the vote in what had been an opposition 
stronghold against hand-picked successor of 
former opposition presidential candidate Manuel 
Rosales, Pablo P?rez, with 53%. While this 
victory for the opposition---like the win in 
Nueva Esparta state---was no surprise, the 
relative tightness of the race was. And equally 
surprising was the fact that Chavistas managed to 
<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124559.html>pick 
up a majority [3] of mayoral races in the 
escualido stronghold of Nueva Esparta.

More surprising, however, were slim opposition 
pickups in T?chira and Carabobo states. In 
traditionally conservative T?chira, Chavistas 
have fared poorly in recent years, a fact not 
helped by the departure of Luis Tasc?n, a fiery 
Tachirense, from the PSUV ranks. In Carabobo, 
incumbent former Chavista Felipe Acosta 
Carlez---best known for offending the press by 
belching and farting on television---refused to 
comply with PSUV internal elections, insisting on 
running for re-election against the official 
Chavista candidate and TV personality Mario 
Silva. While Acosta Carlez only took 6.5%, this 
was almost certainly enough to tip the scales in 
a close race only decided by three percentage points.

A Key Loss in Metropolitan Caracas

The two most surprising and significant victories 
for the opposition were certainly in metropolitan 
Caracas and the neighboring state of Miranda, and 
both have clear repercussions for the future, 
since the defeated Chavista candidates were the 
two most likely successors to the president 
himself. But the lessons to be taken from the two 
are different. While Ch?vez's own support is 
highest in rural areas, in past elections the 
president has generally been able to win many of 
the country's large metropolitan areas, albeit by 
small margins. Caracas itself is a city divided, 
with poor barrios voting overwhelmingly for 
Ch?vez and the wealthier-but less populated-areas 
voting up to 80% against. It has been from these 
opposition zones that the young leadership of the 
right has emerged, in the charismatic figures of 
Leopoldo L?pez and Henrique Radonski, both with 
their origins in the far-right, U.S.-sponsored Primero Justicia party.

While L?pez was disqualified from seeking 
election as metropolitan mayor due to pending 
corruption charges, he threw his significant 
weight behind far-right former Caracas mayor and 
previously intransigent abstentionist Antonio 
Ledezma. Indeed, for an opposition which tends to 
be its own worst enemy, L?pez's disqualification 
may have proven a blessing in disguise, as it 
avoided the always messy process of selecting a 
joint candidate. The Chavista candidate, 
Arist?bulo Isturiz, is a former education 
minister and one of the most respected names 
within the Revolution, having risen from union 
ranks to the Congress when Ch?vez himself was a 
young coup plotter. In the end, however, Ledezma 
pulled off an upset, returning him to a post that 
he held more than a decade ago, when he had close 
ties to the now-discredited politicians of the Venezuelan ancien regime.

For an explanation as to how Ledezma managed this 
upset victory, we need to look at the five 
municipalities that make up metropolitan Caracas. 
Three are traditionally opposition bastions, and 
it is from two of these that L?pez and Radonski 
emerged, whereas the sprawling municipality of 
Libertador in western Caracas has consistently 
gone Chavista. Despite multiple candidacies on 
either side, Chavistas maintained this control of 
Libertador, with former vice president Jorge 
Rodr?guez winning handily over opportunist 
student leader Stalin Gonz?lez by a double-digit 
margin. But the only Caracas municipality to 
shift hands was Sucre in the east, a complex 
combination of upper-middle-class residential 
areas and the infamous Petare slums, in which 
Primero Justicia's Carlos Ocariz defeated former 
Chavista interior minister Jesse Chac?n by 8 
percentage points. Testifying both to discontent 
with prior Chavista municipal leadership as well 
as PJ's concerted efforts to build support in the 
less-revolutionary barrios of Petare, it seems as 
though Sucre may have been the cause of the 
metropolitan area tipping toward the opposition.

We would be wrong to interpret this opposition 
coup in the metropolitan area of Caracas as 
having merely political implications: in the last 
real coup, in 2002, the opposition-controlled 
Metropolitan Police played a key role in staging 
the bloodbath used to justify Ch?vez's ouster. 
And given the fact that in many areas the 
Metropolitan Police have effectively withdrawn, 
allowing revolutionary popular militias to 
control security, the next few years could see 
open warfare once again on the streets of 
Caracas. This victory for the opposition, while 
slim in margin, is potentially massive in its implications.

Diosdado Goes Down

The other shock defeat for the Chavistas came in 
neighboring Miranda state, which itself contains 
half of the metropolitan area of Caracas. Here, 
Ch?vez's right-hand-man (emphasis on the 
"right"), Diosdado Cabello, has been governing 
and consolidating a significant power base during 
the past four years. Originally a participant in 
Ch?vez's failed coup efforts, Cabello has since 
come to be a powerful and loyal ally of the 
president, stepping in as vice president during 
the 2002 coup to help undermine the coup. But 
Cabello has also come to represent the 
"endogenous right," quietly heading up the 
significant contingent of Chavistas who would 
like to take power themselves and moderate the 
revolutionary process. As a result of this 
uncomfortably public role as leader of the 
Chavista right, Cabello has suffered the scorn of 
voters before, notably within the PSUV itself, 
where he didn't manage to score within the top 15 
elected members of the party leadership (only to 
be subsequently appointed by Ch?vez).

If Cabello's star is fading, his opponent 
Henrique Capriles Radonski is himself a rising 
star of the opposition and currently mayor of 
Baruta municipality. A young, charismatic 
heartthrob, whose personal website features the 
mayor in several shirtless, modelesque poses, 
Radonski has also (like L?pez) run afoul of the 
law, for participating in a public attack and 
siege on the Cuban Embassy during the 2002 coup. 
Luckily for Radonski, however, charges were 
dropped in time for the elections, in which his 
record of governance in wealthy Baruta combined 
with Diosdado's waning popularity to deliver a 
heavy defeat in Miranda. Here, certainly, 
Cabello's own electoral feet were shown to be 
made of clay. If this bodes well for the 
superstar of the Venezuelan opposition---himself 
a possible presidential opponent in years to 
come---the result isn't entirely negative for 
those Chavistas who had grown wary of Cabello's 
increasingly visible role within the governing movement.

The Map is Still Red

The mainstream press has made every effort to 
frame these elections in such a way that the 
opposition would inevitably appear as the winner. 
Central to this framing was the oft-repeated 
claim that, prior to the election, Chavistas 
controlled 21 of 23 state governments. 
<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124548.html>This 
is simply nonsense [4]. While it is true that 
after the 2004 gubernatorial elections, Chavistas 
had gained control of 21 states, such control 
wouldn't last, and the social-democratic PODEMOS 
coalition would soon move toward the opposition, 
taking with it the states of Aragua and Sucre. 
Furthermore, as incumbent governors refused to be 
displaced by the PSUV primary process, further 
ruptures ensued in Gu?rico, Carabobo, and 
Yaracuy, reducing PSUV control of incumbents to 16.

As first vice president of the PSUV Alberto 
<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124544.html>M?ller 
Rojas [5] put it in his post-election press 
conference, "we regained four states lost through 
treason," further noting that the PSUV had 
consolidated itself as the first political force 
in the country. Ch?vez himself 
<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124542.html>echoed 
this [6] sentiment in a surprise appearance just moments later:

We're almost ten years from that initial victory, 
and the people have expressed their will, and 
vaya, con qu? contundencia! ... Once again we see 
the shattering of those irrational, outlandish, 
and unsubstantiated arguments that some still 
dare to make about Venezuela... both those who 
voted for the Revolution and those who voted for 
other candidates, they all showed that here we 
have a democratic system, that here we respect 
the decision of the people... Who could say that 
there is a dictatorship in Venezuela?



Speaking directly to opposition claims to have 
defeated Ch?vez and the PSUV, his response was 
stark: "If they want to fall into lies, let them 
fall into lies... we have won 17 gubernatorial 
races, our party has been consolidated, we are 
headed for 6 million votes, and the map [of 
Venezuela] is dressed almost totally in red!" But 
the president warned nevertheless of the need to 
self-criticize, recognize errors, and take 
responsibility for the losses incurred, "because 
it's like a war, when an advancing army takes 20 
hills and loses two, but takes three more on the 
way. What is most important is to maintain the 
rhythm of the march and the rhythm of victory."

<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124541.html>According 
to the early count [7], the PSUV obtained 5.3 
million votes, compared with the 4.3 million 
garnered by the opposition, and this despite 
losing the two most densely-populated states in 
the country. 
<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124549.html>Jorge 
Rodr?guez insisted [8] that the opposition 
recognize the clear PSUV mandate, arguing that 
"when it comes to the strength of Venezuelan 
democracy, you can't block out the sun with your 
finger." But we can expect the 
privately-controlled Venezuelan press and their 
international counterparts to attempt to do just 
that, insisting that the Chavistas have dropped 
from 21 to 17 states, when in reality, seen 
correctly, they have actually gained in the 
overall picture. And where they won, they often 
did so somewhat astoundingly, claiming some 73% 
in Lara and 61% in Vargas. Chavistas won a total 
of 8 states by 10% or more, 4 states by 20% or 
more, and 2 states by 50% or more, as compared to 
the opposition's best showing of 57% in Nueva Esparta.

The Achilles Heel of the Revolution

If we were to follow the mainstream press talking 
points, the lesson of the elections was the 
failure of the Revolution in dealing with the 
everyday wants and needs of the Venezuelan 
population. This is half true, but the issue is 
too often reduced to its most mundane aspects, 
depriving the Venezuelan people of the capacity 
for political judgment. Certainly, the fact that 
garbage often piles up in the streets and that 
violence continues to plague Venezuelan cities 
contributed to the shock defeat of Chavista 
forces in the metropolitan area. But the banality 
of the everyday doesn't quite capture the gap 
between Ch?vez's 63% approval rating and the 
tangible repulsion that many Venezuelans feel for 
their local officials, who are often seen---with 
more than a little justification---as corrupt opportunists.

The municipal and state officials that were 
elected Sunday, while representing an 
institutional level that remains necessary at the 
present moment, are nevertheless merely a 
stepping stone for many on the road to a more 
substantive popular-communal 
<http://www.monthlyreview.org/0907maher.php>"dual 
power." [9] As alternative institutions develop, 
specifically the local and directly-democratic 
communal councils, many hope to see the more 
heavily bureaucratized levels of government 
replaced entirely. And as the councils flex their 
muscles, these elected officials will become all 
the more rabidly defensive of their power quota. 
Which is all to say that, if local elections 
represent the Achilles' heel of the Bolivarian 
Revolution, perpetually threatening to trip up 
its progress and disrupt its connection with the 
grassroots, we can only expect this conflict to intensify in the short term.

George Ciccariello-Maher is a Ph.D. candidate in 
political theory at UC Berkeley. He is currently 
writing a people's history of the Bolivarian 
Revolution entitled We Created Him. He can be 
reached at gjcm(at)berkeley.edu.
    * 
<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/politics>Political Developments

<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com>venezuelanalysis.com 
:: website realized with 
<http://drupal.org>drupal using 
<http://www.fsf.org/>free software only :: site 
best viewed with <http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/>mozilla firefox

----------
Source URL (retrieved on Nov 28 2008 - 12:49): 
<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3991>http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3991

Links:
[1] 
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/world/americas/24venez.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin
[2] http://nuevaprensa.com.ve/content/view/10006/2
[3] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124559.html
[4] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124548.html
[5] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124544.html
[6] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124542.html
[7] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124541.html
[8] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124549.html
[9] http://www.monthlyreview.org/0907maher.php




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081128/604c1685/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 28 12:40:52 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:40:52 -0800
Subject: [News] You can help sustain the Freedom Archives
Message-ID: <mailman.650.1696591158.598500.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>


[]


?The future belongs to those that prepare for it today.? ?Malcolm X

Dear Friends,

With your help over the past year, the Freedom 
Archives? youth program has grown substantially. 
We have trained over 25 young people in archival 
and production work, and have continued to 
partner with other local organizations and 
schools to expand our impact. We are co-teaching 
an after-school program with Galeria de la Raza 
that explores the history of youth-led movements 
in the Bay Area and guides youth through creating 
multi-media projects inspired by and re-imagining this history.

Our work in classrooms is reaching a greater 
number of students and includes a five-part 
series on progressive Bay Area history in a 
social studies class at June Jordan High School 
for Equity. In this series we utilize the unique 
and rich media in the Archives to create a 
dynamic approach to teaching this important 
movement history. We continue to strengthen our 
community programs at San Francisco City College, 
San Francisco State, and other community institutions.

With the release of our Paul Robeson CD ?Words 
Like Freedom? earlier this year, we were touched 
to discover how many were inspired by the 
timeliness and continued relevance of Robeson?s 
anti-imperialist and internationalist message. 
It?s also amazing to realize that it was only 
through your support in the past year that we 
were able to complete that important project 
which has been so greatly received.

And With Your Continued Support, We Just Keep On Rolling Along


In the last 18 months Freedom Archives has taken 
on one of our most ambitious projects-a 
documentary film on the history of the FBI COINTELPRO program.

We are confident that this project, like many 
Freedom Archives? efforts, addresses contemporary 
issues and stories that are at the core of why 
the Freedom Archives exists and why you have 
supported our work for the last nine years. We 
know that you realize that it is more important 
than ever before to not only maintain but build 
community projects that address our youth, our 
families, our political prisoners, our communities, and our future.

Now we need YOUR HELP to raise $10,000 to complete COINTELPRO 101.

We previewed a 10-minute segment of the film at 
the recent Critical Resistance 10 conference in 
Oakland where our COINTELPRO panel featured human 
rights attorney Soffiyah Elijah, former 
Congressperson Cynthia McKinney, Elliot 
Monteverde, an attorney and NY Puerto Rico Grand 
Jury resister, and Lucy Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican 
Independentista and former political prisoner.

The response to the film and the panel was 
overwhelming. Our plan for distribution of 
COINTELPRO 101 is scheduled for next year and our 
hope is that it sparks renewed interest in 
re-opening an investigation into government 
repression that includes accountability for 
agents and agencies who have violated people?s 
civil rights ? including the ongoing imprisonment 
of those targeted by COINTELPRO and other programs of political repression.

We need you to continue to be a part of this 
significant work by inviting you to join our new 
monthly sustainer program at the rate of $25 a 
month or more.  Monthly sustainership allows you 
to give an amount that?s meaningful to you but 
fits your monthly budget while also allowing us 
to plan more accurately and continue our work 
knowing we can count on your regular donation.
    * A $25 monthly donation would strengthen our 
operating budget insuring that we can continue to 
produce important documentary projects.
    * A $35 monthly donation would allow us to 
invest in much needed equipment for our youth programs.
    * A $50 monthly donation would help us 
complete COINTELPRO 101 and create an effective distribution plan.

Join other community members, friends, and family 
in giving monthly by visiting our website: 
<http://www.freedomarchives.org>www.freedomarchives.org 
and following the link on any page to make a 
contribution.  You can also make a one time 
online contribution or simply send your check in 
the return envelope to the Freedom Archives. You 
can maximize your contribution this way by 
helping us avoid credit card transaction fees.

Please also visit our web site to see some of the 
exciting projects that our joint efforts have 
produced. We are especially proud of the 
internationally recognized video ?Legacy of 
Torture? that continues to mobilize and educate 
people about the ongoing case of the San 
Francisco 8. More information can also be found 
at <http://www.freethesf8.org/>www.freethesf8.org.

We thank you deeply in advance; for nine years 
the support of hundreds of people like you has 
sustained us as a radical independent 
organization, keeping us from being reliant on 
foundations. We hope you will continue to support 
The Freedom Archives knowing that our work is 
especially important now in these difficult but hopeful times.

Emacs!


Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081128/9b69c2f3/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 4bbb5be1.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7800 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081128/9b69c2f3/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 4bbb5c10.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7967 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081128/9b69c2f3/attachment-0001.jpg>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov  4 14:59:26 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:59:26 -0800
Subject: [News] University of Arizona using lasers on migrants
Message-ID: <mailman.626.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>



<http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/11/university-of-arizona-becomes-spy.html>University 
of Arizona becomes spy central, coopted by dollars

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

University of Arizona using lasers on migrants, US spy dollars are a 
threat to human rights

By Brenda Norrell

TUCSON -- In Tucson, a community known for its human rights 
organizations setting global standards, the University of Arizona has 
been co-opted by dollars to become spy central.

The university is very proud of its new millions to spy on people, by 
way of the Internet, and develop "technologies," including lasers on 
migrants' arteries.

Under the guise of the war on terror, human rights activists, 
especially peace activists, have been targeted throughout the United 
States and the world by unbridled US spy technology and US government 
lawlessness.

Are the students who promote human rights safe writing on their 
Internet computers at the university? Many do not feel they are. Are 
peaceful protesters safe gathering and legally voicing their 
concerns? Many do not feel they are safe with millions of spy dollars 
pouring into the university.

The university and Homeland Security are promoting Dr. Hsinchun Chen, 
in charge of Internet spying worldwide and based at the university. 
He is on the lookout for "suspicious" behavior.

"Dr. Chen is the founder of the Knowledge Computing Corporation, a 
university spin-off company and a market leader in law enforcement 
and intelligence information sharing and data mining," according to a 
statement to publicize Dr. Chen's efforts.

The 
<http://www.homelandsecurityssi.com/ssi/content/view/95/97/>latest 
news is that the university is using lasers on migrants.

Jay Nunamaker, director of UA's Center for Management of Information 
in the Eller College of Management, said the university is using the 
laser doppler vibrometer on migrants.

"Nunamaker said the goal is to make the laser beam that is aimed at 
the suspect's carotid artery invisible and have it be accurate up to 
100 yards," according to the Tucson Citizen. The lasers are an 
experiment to determine truth telling and lies.

Is it safe? Not everyone believes this laser is safe. But apparently 
the university feels it is OK to experiment on migrants with these lasers.

Homeland Security said, "The Center for Border Security and 
Immigration, led by the University of Arizona in Tucson and the 
University of Texas at El Paso, will develop technologies, tools and 
advanced methods to balance immigration and commerce with effective 
border security, as well as assess threats and vulnerabilities, 
improve surveillance and screening, analyze immigration trends, and 
enhance policy and law enforcement efforts."

The university is receiving $16 million from Homeland Security.

Because of the fear of an economic collapse in the US, university 
researchers are scrambling after the dollars.

Homeland Security dollars are also funding 
<http://www.homelandsecurityssi.com/ssi/content/view/95/97/>US 
intelligence training in Israel, according to Security Solutions International.

The security industry around the world, including intelligence, 
security guards and private prisons, became one of the most 
profitable industries in the world following 9/11.

The Homeland Security funded Israeli training follows the news that 
the same security corporations responsible for building the Apartheid 
Wall in Palestine, including Israel's Elbit Systems, were 
subcontracted for security work on the US Apartheid Wall on the 
US/Mexico border.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, of the Organization of 
American States, named the US Border Wall and Guantanamo as 
international human rights concerns, in a statement released last 
week. The Commission pointed out how the US has targeted Indigenous 
Peoples and the poor in discriminatory actions in construction of the 
border wall and urged the closure of Guantanamo detention facility, 
long known as a place of US torture, secret renditions and other 
violations of the Geneva Conventions.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081104/304f2a6d/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov  4 15:05:39 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:05:39 -0800
Subject: [News] US Finally Exacts Revenge on Iran/Contra Whistleblower
Message-ID: <mailman.627.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

US Finally Exacts Revenge on Iran/Contra Whistleblower Cele Castillo
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2008/11/us-government-finally-exacts-revenge-irancontra-whistleblower-cele-cast

Posted by 
<http://narcosphere.narconews.com/users/bill-conroy>Bill 
Conroy - November 1, 2008 at 9:20 pm

Celerino ?Cele? Castillo III, a former DEA agent 
who played a key role in exposing the U.S. 
government?s role in narco-trafficking as part of 
the Iran/Contra scandal, is now a discredited man.

At least that is what the office of U.S. Attorney 
Johnny ?House of Death? Sutton in San Antonio, 
Texas, who is a 
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070719-3.html>?dear 
friend? of President George W. Bush, would like 
us to believe. The black mark now affixed to 
Castillo?s reputation courtesy of Sutton?s 
office, however, is a thin conceit on the eve of 
a presidential election that is expected to usher 
in a sea change in American politics that might 
well lead to a re-examination of Castillo?s 
revelations ? which also were supported and 
advanced by legendary investigative journalist 
<http://www.narconews.com/darkalliance/>Gary Webb 
and a host of congressional inquiries in subsequent years.

?United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced 
that in San Antonio yesterday [Oct. 22], 
58-year-old former Drug Enforcement 
Administration agent Celerino ?Cele? Castillo, 
III, of McAllen, Texas, was sentenced to 37 
months in federal prison for his role in dealing 
firearms without a license,? states a 
<http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/press_releases/2008/Castillo_Sentencing.pdf>press 
release issued recently by Sutton?s office.

In other words, Castillo, a Vietnam veteran (an 
expert marksman who was awarded the Bronze Star 
for bravery) will spend the next three years of 
his life in prison, even though he has no prior 
criminal record, for the act of selling some 
firearms (mainly hunting rifles and shotguns at 
gun shows in South Texas) absent the proper 
paperwork. The federal judge in San Antonio 
ordered that Castillo be committed to a medical 
facility due to his multiple medical problems, 
including diabetes and heart problems.

?I thought the judge was doing me a favor by 
sentencing me to a medical facility,? Castillo 
says. ?But I recently talked to someone who just 
got out of one of these medical facilities and he 
said there isn?t a day that goes by where someone 
inside doesn?t die because of a dose of the wrong 
medication or maybe an overdose of chemo. So 
maybe it is a death sentence. I can?t tell you.?

For those who have an aversion to guns and the 
NRA, it?s important to remember that the Second 
Amendment does protect an individual?s right to 
possess firearms ? as much as the First Amendment 
protects an individual?s right to protest the 
Second Amendment. The government?s role, as the 
law is now constructed, is to regulate that right 
to ?keep and bear arms? ? but the regulations it 
has created are byzantine in nature and subject 
to many degrees of nuance in interpretation.

For example, the Gun Control Act distinguishes 
between individuals who sell firearms as a hobby 
and those who engage in the practice as a 
business ? the latter requiring a license issued by the government.

Here is the wording from that 
<http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/gca.htm>act:

The term ?engaged in the business? means 
 a 
person who devotes time, attention, and labor to 
dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade 
or business with the principal objective of 
livelihood and profit through the repetitive 
purchase and resale of firearms, but such term 
shall not include a person who makes occasional 
sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for 
the enhancement of a personal collection or for a 
hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal 
collection of firearms. [Emphasis added.]

The definition above is further rarified by a 
host of complex case law developed at the expense 
of accused violators over the years. So anyone 
who is charged with a firearms violation is well 
advised to find good legal counsel, since the law 
can easily be twisted to the wrong ends by 
over-zealous federal agents and prosecutors.

Castillo is honest about his activity in this 
case, but whether the government actually had the 
evidence that he crossed the line into committing 
a crime is a bigger question. And even if 
Castillo did broach that line, the question of 
the punishment fitting the crime is now a matter 
of an appeal filed in the case ? though Castillo 
says he is still trying to find the money and an 
attorney to handle that appeal.

Here is what Castillo says about the case against 
him on his <http://www.powderburns.org/donation.html>Web Site:

Approximately three years ago, I started to 
attend the Saxet Gun Show by selling my book, 
"Powderburns.? I found the experience 
overwhelming because it turned out to be great 
therapy for my PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress 
Disorder). To ease my "cutting edge" a bit, I was 
back to wearing my Vietnam attire for the gun shows.


 As time went on I started to collect Vietnam 
vintage surplus to sell. But before long, I began 
to do what most of the vendors were doing at the 
gun show, selling and buying both used and new 
guns without a license. Over half of the gun show 
vendors are still doing what I got charged with. 
However, I strongly believe that because of my 
involvement as an "expert witness" and an 
activist against certain actions of our 
government, I obviously had become a target.

After all, I had been forewarned by a defense 
attorney, that an AUSA Federal prosecutor had 
advised him to instruct me that in some way, 
shape or form, they were going to target me until 
they got me. And that they did.

Whistleblower

Castillo, while a DEA agent in Central America in 
the 1980s, during the Reagan/Bush administration, 
uncovered evidence that the CIA and the White 
House National Security Council, through San 
Antonio, Texas, native and national 
counter-terrorism coordinator Lt. Col. Oliver 
North and other CIA assets, were carrying out 
illegal operations at two hangers at Ilopango 
Airport in El Salvador. Those airport hangars, 
Castillo contends, served as weapons and 
narcotics transshipment centers for funding and 
arming the U.S.-backed Contra counter-insurgency 
against the government of Nicaragua.

 From that moment forward, Castillo became a 
target of those pulling the strings in that dirty war.

?Cele became a household word inside DEA,? says 
Sandalio Gonzalez, a retired DEA commander who 
worked in Latin America at the same time Castillo 
was stationed in the region. ?They ruined his 
reputation over the stuff that happened in El 
Salvador [Iran/Contra] and he became a target. He 
took on the Establishment, and it didn?t come out so good for him.?

<http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/9712/ch10p1.htm>Castillo?s 
investigation into the Ilopango operation was 
eventually torpedoed via CIA interference and he 
was subjected to a steady stream of retaliatory DEA internal investigations.

Castillo subsequently, after a 12-year career, 
retired from the DEA, but to this day he has 
remained an outspoken critic of the hypocrisy of 
the war on drugs, penning a book about his 
experiences in DEA, called Powderburns, and 
appearing on numerous radio and TV shows ?most 
recently in a Showtime series called 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kp8bLVh_Bg>American 
Drug War<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kp8bLVh_Bg>.





Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081104/6de94a1e/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov  5 11:57:49 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:57:49 -0800
Subject: [News] Morning in Obamerica
Message-ID: <mailman.628.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.counterpunch.org/reed11052008.html

November 5, 2008


Change, Change, Change?


Morning in Obamerica

By ISHMAEL REED

The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb, and the  leopard shall lie 
down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling 
together; and a little child shall lead them.

The great American satirist George Schuyler's prescient and comic 
work, Black No More, is about a scientist named Dr. Crookmore who 
comes up with a formula that turns blacks to white (I wonder how 
Schuyler would treat the current profitable back- to- Africa DNA 
hokum). As a result of a country that is totally white, The Civil 
Rights organizations go out of business, and even the last hold out, 
the character, based upon the black nationalist Marcus Garvey, in the 
end, tries some of Dr.  Crookmore solution. Would something like this 
happen were Barack Obama to become president?  A country where there 
exists no social divisions and the issue of race has become defused.

The leader of the NAACP says that the work of the organization will 
continue even with an Obama victory.  Why?Wouldn't it be better that 
the NAACP shut its doors as cable's leading conservative 
intellectual, Tucker Carlson has suggested?Auction off its assets and 
join the post race fever?  In his "The New Black Aesthetic, " (1989,) 
author Trey Ellis announced the arrival of a generation of African 
Americans who would place the issue of race in the background unlike 
we "curmudgeons" and "cranks, " who came of age in the 1960s and who 
are still carrying on like those Japanese soldiers who weren't aware 
that the war was over. "The New Black Intellectuals" were even 
praised by Robert Boynton in an essay that appeared in the Atlantic 
Monthly (March, 1995:53-69. )

To many, Martin Luther King's dream  has been realized. He said, " I 
have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill 
and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, 
and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the 
Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." 
Obviously me and my over sixty pals are still lingering in those 
crooked places and refusing to process the sunlight that is available 
to everybody else.  (Tavis Smiley is our leader).  People like us are 
going to have to adjust to this post race America which resembles a 
painting by Edward Hicks. A place where Blacks  have reached the 
Promised Land?

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1568583397/counterpunchmaga>What 
does this promise land look like?This Obamerica? Shortly after Obama 
is sworn in, the police, instead of subjecting blacks and Hispanics 
to capricious traffic stops, will only stop them to offer free 
tickets to the policeman's ball.  Throughout the country, they will 
address blacks and Hispanics as sir and ma'm. The overcrowding prison 
problem will end, because all of the blacks and Hispanics who've been 
sent there as a result of prosecutorial and police misconduct, 
-probably half- will be set free. And all of those police who have 
murdered unarmed blacks only to be acquitted by all-white juries will 
be retried. Blacks will have the freedom to shop in department stores 
without being watched.

In the media, all of the black Hispanic and Native American and Asian 
American journalists, who, according to the Maynard Institute's media 
watcher, Richard Prince, are being "shown the door, " will be 
rehired. The progressive media will spend as much time on the torture 
of black suspects in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles as they do 
torture at Gitmo. Blacks will be liberated from the crime, 
entertainment and sports pages exclusively and appear in other 
sections. More cerebral sections as scientists, 
engineers,   astronomers. Jonathan Klein and other cable producers 
will stop managing black opinion so that it doesn't alienate its 
white audience and voices other than those of black correspondents 
from Rev.  Moon's church will be awarded air time. Global warming 
denier Michelle Bernard will be replaced by Jill Nelson.

  Jesse Jackson will be appointed lead editorial writer for The Wall 
Street Journal. and Al Sharpton will assume duties at The National 
Review.  Rush Limbaugh will inaugurate a series called "Great African 
American Inventors." Spike Lee will be invited to run Columbia 
Pictures  and Amy Goodman will take over at NBC. The Newspaper 
Society of America will apologize for the lynchings and civil 
disturbances caused by an inflammatory media over the last one 
hundred or so years. A choked up Rupert Murdoch will read the 
statement on behalf of his colleagues.

In an emotional press conference, John McWhorter, Ward Connerly and 
Shelby Steele will admit that  they have been tools of the Eugenics 
movement and donate all of the millions they have received from far 
right organizations to scholarships for black and Hispanic students. 
Blacks will have as much access to a good education as those members 
of Al-Qaeda and Saddam's government who studied in  the United 
States. This will end the policy of you educate them, we fight them.

Gertrude Himmlefarb and Lynne Cheney will insist that the works by 
Hispanic, black and Native Americans be added to the cannon.  Cornel 
West will co host  a show with Dr.  Phil. The New York Review of 
Books will end its white only policy and begin to resemble America. 
Phillip Roth will
admit that all of his novels are autobiographical. Several prominent
abstract expressionists will confess that they can't draw.

All of the blacks and Hispanics who have been driven out of New York, 
Oakland, and San Francisco, as a result of the policies of ethnic 
cleansing, advocated by Jerry Brown, Giuliani and Newsom, will be 
invited to return. The banks that aimed toxic mortgage loans to 
blacks and Hispanics, who would have qualified for conventional loans 
had they been white, will halt the foreclosure process and 
renegotiate these loans. CEOs on Wall Street will forego bonuses and 
golden parachutes. Sales conferences will be held at Day's Inn. For 
rent signs will go up on K street. The American Enterprise will close 
its doors.

The right will stop using worn out phrases like " political 
correctness, ' and victimization" and hire Sean "Puffy" Combs to 
provide them with some hip language.

An Obama administration will launch the Obama doctrine, which will 
advocate friendly aggression and soft diplomacy in Africa, Asia  the 
Middle East and other global spots where American forces are killing 
people.  These trouble spots will be inundated with artists, writers, 
dancers and musicians, engineers, doctors and people who speak their 
languages.

American students will be required to lean an Asian and African 
languages well as a western one. He will call for an end to warfare 
by air so that these forces will at least look their victims in the 
eye before murdering them.  No more drones. Missiles. Members of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff will address him as Mr, President, both in 
private and in public. The white house, haunted by the ghosts of the 
Indian fighters and slave owners and KKK sympathizers like Woodrow 
Wilson, who once ruled from there, will be demolished and the first 
family will reside in a St.  Louis condo as the country seeks a fresh 
start.  Cindy McCain will sell her wardrobe and donate the proceeds 
to rebuilding New Orlean's 9th ward. Any one outfit that she wears on 
a given day would help to rebuild a block. John McCain will 
acknowledge the black members of his family whom he has snubbed up to 
now.  Obama critic Governor Schwarzenegger's will be among the new 
president's well wishers. He will offer to improve president Obama's 
physique by sending him some steroids from his private stash. And, by 
the way, doesn't an effort to put some meat on somebody's bones begin  at home?

A big step toward a green America would be to return the land that 
was stolen from Native Americans. (The southwest will be returned to Mexico).

And as a gesture to this new Era of Good Feeling, George Bush, Condi 
Rice, Henry Kissinger, Dick Cheney, Judith Miller, Osama Bin Laden 
and Jonathan Klein will turn themselves in at the Hague.

Ishmael Reed is the publisher of Konch. His new book, 
"<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1568583397/counterpunchmaga>Mixing 
It Up, Taking On The Media Bullies" was published by De Capo.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081105/58621554/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov  5 12:05:38 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:05:38 -0800
Subject: [News] Media Silent On Evidence Of Israeli Targeting Of Youngsters
Message-ID: <mailman.629.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Children In The Crosshairs
Media Silent On Evidence Of Israeli Targeting Of Youngsters

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/19348

November 05, 2008 By David Cromwell


On the afternoon of Thursday 28 February, 2008, a group of 
Palestinian boys were playing football on some open ground near their 
homes in the Gaza Strip. At around 3.20pm, an Israeli aircraft fired 
a missile at the boys, killing four of them instantly and seriously 
injuring another three. The four dead boys were Omar Hussein 
Dardouna, aged 14, Dardouna Deib Dardouna, aged 12, Mohammed Na'im 
Hammouda, aged 9, and Ali Munir Dardouna who was just 8.

Palestinian human rights fieldworkers investigated the circumstances 
of this attack by Israeli forces. They concluded there was no 
Palestinian resistance in the area at the time and that the boys 
"must have been clearly visible to the [Israeli] aircraft that fired 
the missile."

Similar cases abound. A new study by the Palestinian Centre for Human 
Rights reports that 68 children died in Gaza between June 2007 - June 
2008 (PCHR press release, October 21, 2008; 
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2008/2008/43-2008.html). 
Over the same period, 12 children were killed by Israeli forces in 
the West Bank. The report highlights the "deliberate targeting of 
civilians, including children". (Palestinian Council for Human 
Rights, 'Blood on their hands. Child killings by the Israeli 
Occupation Forces (IOF) in the Gaza Strip. June 2007 - June 2008', 
October 22, 2008, p. 4; 
http://www.electronicintifada.net/downloads/pdf/081021-pchr-childkillings.pdf) 


Since the Second Intifada, which began in September 2000, Israeli 
forces have killed 859 children in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. 
The child death toll rose dramatically during the first six months of 
2008, mostly as the result of a large-scale Israeli military 
operation in the Gaza Strip. The massive assault, code-named 
'Operation Winter Heat', was launched on February 27. The Israeli 
military killed more children (47) in the Gaza Strip during the first 
four months of 2008 than during the whole of 2007 (32 children). A 
total of 110 civilians were killed during 'Operation Winter Heat' in 
February-March 2008. (See our earlier Media Alerts: 'Israel's Illegal 
Assault On The Gaza "Prison"', March 3, 2008, 
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/08/080303_israels_illegal_assault.php; 
and 'Israeli Deaths Matter More', March 11, 2008, 
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/08/080311_israeli_deaths_matter.php)

The website Remember These Children reports that 123 Israeli children 
have been killed by Palestinians and 1,050 Palestinian children have 
been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000. 
(http://rememberthesechildren.org/about.html)

Most children killed in recent years in the Gaza Strip have died as a 
result of bombardment, surface-to-surface missiles, or missiles fired 
from aircraft. The Palestinian human rights investigation notes that 
Israel has "consistently bombed either inside or extremely close to 
densely populated residential areas, including schools and areas in 
close proximity to schools." It uses "disproportionate and excessive 
force across the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territories], without 
regard for civilian life, including the lives of children."

But the report is even more damning than that. It concludes that 
Israeli forces "deliberately target unarmed civilians, including 
children, as part of their policy of collective punishment of the 
entire Palestinian civilian population."

The human rights investigation also concludes that:

"There is also strong and consistent evidence to suggest that 
[Israeli forces] deliberately kill Palestinian children in reprisal 
for the deaths of Israeli civilians or members of the [Israeli 
forces], which amounts to a war crime." (PCHR, op. cit., p. 46)

According to international humanitarian law, children are to be 
afforded special protection during international armed conflicts. 
This includes military occupation such as exists in the Palestinian 
territories under Israel. Legal protection is provided by the 1949 
Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as by the 1989 United Nations 
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Israel signed the CRC in 1991.

Protection was strengthened by the (CRC) Optional Protocol on the 
Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. The Protocol reaffirms 
"that the rights of children require special protection" and condemns 
"the targeting of children in situations of armed conflict and direct 
attacks on objects protected under international law, including 
places that generally have a significant presence of children, such 
as schools and hospitals." Israel signed the Optional Protocol on 14 
November 2001 (PCHR, op. cit., p. 14), but it endlessly tramples the 
legal agreements to which it is a signatory.

Finally, the PCHR report notes that Israel has consistently failed to 
investigate Israeli killings of unarmed civilians, including 
children. On the rare occasions that official investigations are 
launched, these have been conducted by the Israeli forces themselves. 
The persistent result is a whitewash, and a travesty of justice.

And while Israel continues to kill unarmed civilians with impunity, 
the international community has failed to intervene effectively to 
exert pressure on Israel to stop killing Palestinian civilians, 
including children. These killings ought to be publicly condemned by 
the international community who, as High Contracting Parties to the 
Fourth Geneva Convention, are obliged to act immediately in order to 
protect all unarmed civilians from Israeli attacks.

As the PCHR observes:

"The lives of Palestinian children are as sacred as the lives of 
children from Israel, Europe or anywhere else in the world."


Minimal Response From A Protective Media

The report from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights was shocking. 
Guy Gabriel, an adviser to the London-based Arab Media Watch, told us 
that the group "is a credible organisation with a lot to commend it, 
and is better placed than many - in terms of location, resources and 
support - to inform the wider world about the situation in Gaza." 
(Email, October 31, 2008). Journalist John Pilger commented: "The 
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights is, in my experience, a highly 
credible statistics gathering body." (Email, October 27, 2008)

This credible human rights group, then, had produced compelling 
evidence of a persistent pattern of deliberate targeting of 
Palestinian civilians, +including children+, by the Israeli military. 
Surely this would have been headline news everywhere.

Sadly no. In the entire British press there was a giant, gaping hole 
in coverage.

The only exception we could find was a short, 400-word piece in the 
Guardian on the day of the report's publication: Rory McCarthy, 
'Palestinian group says Israel killed 68 children in Gaza in year', 
The Guardian, October 21, 2008; 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/21/israel-palestinian-children

As McCarthy pointed out:

"A prominent Palestinian human rights group says it has found 
evidence that 68 children were killed in the Gaza Strip in the 12 
months to June this year as a result of 'disproportionate and 
excessive lethal force' by the Israeli military."

This was welcome coverage. But, crucially, there was no mention of 
the military policy of deliberately targeting civilians, including 
children. In his report, McCarthy said he was unable to obtain any 
response to the study from an Israeli official (it was a Jewish 
religious holiday). He then inserted the standard Israeli disclaimer:

"[Israel] has in the past repeatedly defended its military actions in 
Gaza, saying it does not intentionally target civilians, and noting 
that Palestinian militants frequently fire from civilian areas."

On October 27, 2008, we emailed McCarthy and praised him for 
reporting the publication of the study. We then pointed to the 
study's central, repeated message - backed by multiple eye-witness 
testimony - that Israel deliberately targets civilians, including 
children. We asked why his Guardian article had omitted this core 
conclusion. McCarthy did not respond to our email, nor to a second 
sent on October 29.

As for the "balanced" and "impartial" BBC, the corporation appears to 
have performed its usual role of protecting the powerful. Judging by 
the PCHR report's apparent absence from headline BBC news coverage 
and the BBC's website, the corporation has buried the report's 
findings. As far as we could determine, the same shameful silence 
characterised ITN and Channel 4 News.

By contrast, Al Jazeera aired a three-minute segment on the report 
that included a moving interview with a bereaved mother. There was 
also disturbing footage of injured and traumatised children, one of 
whom had seen his father killed by an Israeli missile (Al-Jazeera, 
October 22, 2008; http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=PTzQOsO32ro). In the 
Al Jazeera news piece, Hamdi Shokri of the Palestinian Centre for 
Human Rights emphasised:

"We have clear evidence to suggest and to say that there were 
patterns of deliberate killing and deliberate targeting of children."

We emailed Jeremy Bowen, the BBC's Middle East editor, on October 26, 
2008. We asked him why the BBC had done so little, if anything, to 
bring this damning human rights report to the public's attention. Why 
had the BBC failed to expose a deliberate Israeli practice of 
targeting children? In short, why can't the BBC do better in its 
coverage of the occupied territories? Bowen did not respond.

Greg Philo, of the world-renowned Glasgow Media Group, recently 
commissioned YouGov to ask a sample of 2,086 UK adults whether they 
thought that more news coverage should be given to the Israeli point 
of view, or more to the Palestinians, or equal for both. Nearly twice 
as many people thought that the Palestinians should have the most as 
compared with the Israelis, but the bulk of the replies (72%) were 
that both should have the same. A staggering 95% of the population 
were unhappy with the main news output of the broadcasters. (Philo, 
'More News, Less Views', September 30, 2008; 
http://www.gla.ac.uk/centres/mediagroup/MoreNews.html)

Routine silences and omissions in coverage of the Middle East are 
symptoms of a deep-rooted bias that suppresses public awareness of 
the true gravity of Israel's human rights abuses. Rarely, if ever, do 
we hear of the "indiscriminate beating, tear-gassing, and shooting of 
children", as documented in a thousand-page study from Save the 
Children. The average age of the victims was ten years old; the 
majority of those shot were not even participating in stone throwing. 
In 80 per cent of cases where children were shot, the Israeli army 
prevented the victims from receiving medical attention. The report 
concluded that more than 50,000 children required medical attention 
for injuries including gunshot wounds, tear gas inhalation and 
multiple fractures.

In 1989, a bulletin from the Israeli League for Human and Civil 
Rights, titled 'Deliberate Murder', reported the targeting of 
Palestinian children in leadership roles. Israeli army and snipers 
from "special units" had "carefully chosen" the children who were 
shot in the head or heart and died instantaneously. Other evidence, 
from Israeli human rights groups and the Israeli press, point to 
extensive use of torture, such as severe beating and electric shocks, 
against detainees including children. (Mike Berry and Greg Philo, 
'Israel and Palestine - Competing Histories', Pluto Press, London, 
2006, pp. 86-87)

Amnesty International has also reported that groups of Palestinian 
civilians, including children, appear, "on many occasions, to have 
been deliberately targeted". Israeli soldiers themselves have 
admitted that they have deliberately shot and killed unarmed 
civilians including children (Ibid., p. 116). Indeed, for many years, 
Amnesty has documented and condemned Israeli violations of human 
rights against Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories. Most 
of these violations are grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva 
Convention and are therefore war crimes. (Ibid., pp. 60-61).


Israeli Terror: Not Terror, By Definition

In his 2002 documentary, 'Palestine Is Still The Issue', John Pilger 
interviewed Dori Gold, then Senior Adviser to the Israeli Prime 
Minister. Pilger asked why Israel fails to condemn its own leaders 
for their terrorist acts in the same way that they condemn terrorist 
acts against Israel:

John Pilger (JP): When those Israelis, who are now famous names 
[Menachem Begin, Yitzak Shamir and Ariel Sharon], committed acts of 
terrorism just before the birth of Israel, you could have said to 
them, nothing justifies what you've done, ripping apart all those 
lives. And they would say it did justify it. What's the difference?

Dori Gold (DG): I think we have now, as an international community, 
come to a new understanding. I think after September 11th the world 
got a wake-up call. Because terrorism today is no longer the mad 
bomber, the anarchist who throws in an explosive device into a crowd 
to make a point. Terrorism is going to move from the present 
situation to non-conventional terrorism, to nuclear terrorism. And 
before we reach that point, we have to remove this scourge from the 
Earth. And therefore, whether you're talking about the struggle here 
between Israelis and Palestinians, the struggle in Northern Ireland, 
the struggle in Sri Lanka, or any of the places where terrorism has 
been used, we must make a global commitment of all free democracies 
to eliminate this threat from the world. Period.

JP: Does that include state terrorism?

DG: No country has the right to deliberately target civilians, as no 
organisation has a right to deliberately target civilians.

JP: What about Israeli terrorism now?

DG: The language of terrorism, you have to be very careful with. 
Terrorism means deliberately targeting civilians, in a kind of 
warfare. That's what the terrorism against Israeli schools, coffee 
shops, malls, has been all about. Israel specifically targets, to the 
best of its ability, Palestinian terrorist organisations.

JP: All right, when an Israeli sniper shoots an old lady with a cane, 
trying to get into a hospital for her chemotherapy treatment, in 
front of a lot of the world's press for one, and frankly we'd be here 
all day with other examples, isn't that terrorism?

DG: I don't know the case you're speaking about, but I can be 
convinced of one thing. An Israeli who takes aim - even an Israeli 
sniper - is taking aim at those engaged in terrorism. Unfortunately, 
in every kind of warfare, there are cases of civilians who are 
accidentally killed. Terrorism means putting the crosshairs of the 
sniper's rifle on a civilian deliberately.

JP: Well that's - that's what I've just described.

DG: That is what - no. I can tell you that did not happen.

JP: It did happen. And - and I think that's where some people have a 
problem with the argument that terrorism exists on - on one side. 
Your definition is absolutely correct, about civilians. And those 
suicide bombers are terrorists.

DG: If you mix terrorism and counter-terrorism, if you create some 
kind of moral obfuscation, you will bring about not just a problem 
for Israel, but you will bring ab - bring about a problem for the 
entire western alliance. Because we are all facing this threat.

As John Pilger concluded:

"It's hard to see the difference between what the Israelis call 
'counter-terrorism' and terrorism. Whatever the target, both involve 
the killing of innocent people." (John Pilger, 'Israeli Terror', 
http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=143; 'Palestine Is Still 
The Issue' documentary can be viewed here: 
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=1259454859593416473; Dori 
Gold interview starts at around 34 mins:32 secs)

Today, Dori Gold "spends his time traveling around the world raising 
awareness about the situation going [sic] in Israel and the fight 
over Jerusalem [and] is available for speaking engagements, 
fundraisers and corporate events." 
(http://www.bookthebest.com/profile/dori_gold)

We asked John Pilger for his response to the new study from the 
Palestinian human rights group and the report's effective burial by 
the corporate media. He told us:

"That this shocking report has been virtually ignored across the 
mainstream media, with the exception of the Guardian, is a striking 
example of the media's two classes of humanity in Palestine. There is 
first class humanity, worthy of meticulous, often emotive coverage; 
these are the Israelis, including those guilty of great crimes, such 
as Ariel Sharon. And there is second class humanity, unworthy of even 
acknowledgement of their brutalising let alone the epic injustice 
done to them; these are the Palestinians. No, 'second class' is too 
high. They are third and fourth class victims, for not even the 
suffering and murder of their children is considered human enough to 
warrant reporting." (Email, October 27, 2008)

We are reminded of British historian Mark Curtis's term, "Unpeople", 
to describe those on the receiving end of the West's policies, 
actions and massive firepower. For those unfortunate individuals in 
the crosshairs of Western violence, their human aspirations, hopes, 
dreams, loves and lives are simply of no value.


SUGGESTED ACTION

The goal of Media Lens is to promote rationality, compassion and 
respect for others. If you do write to journalists, we strongly urge 
you to maintain a polite, non-aggressive and non-abusive tone.

Rory McCarthy, Guardian reporter
Email:  rory.mccarthy at guardian.co.uk

Siobhain Butterworth, readers' editor of the Guardian
Email: reader at guardian.co.uk

Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor
Email: jeremy.bowen at bbc.co.uk

Helen Boaden, director of BBC News
Email: helenboaden.complaints at bbc.co.uk

David Mannion, ITV News editor in chief
Email: david.mannion at itn.co.uk

Jim Gray, editor of Channel 4 News
Email: jim.gray at itn.co.uk

Please send a copy of your emails to us
Email: editor at medialens.org





Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081105/31e277be/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov 12 15:42:09 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:42:09 -0800
Subject: [News] Obama Picks Bill Ayers as Secretary of Defense
Message-ID: <mailman.630.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>


OBAMA PICKS BILL AYERS AS SECRETARY OF DEFENSE!

(PU) Barak Hussein Obama, newly elected President of the
People's Republic of America, today announced his choice of William
Ayers, a former leader of the 70s militant antiwar group, the Weather
Underground, for U.S. Secretary of Defense. The appointment allays
concerns of many peace movement progressives who had feared that
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, overseer of the military surge in
Iraq, would be asked to stay on.

"Man, oh, man ? socialism has finally come to America!"  sobbed
Mr. Ayers, when reached by telephone. "I've waited so long ? now
I'll show them who's washed up!"

Mr. Ayers was referring to attacks by John McCain's
presidential campaign, which alleged that Barak Obama harbored some
sort of nefarious, anti-American ties to the 63-year-old Ayers, whose
organization in the 1970s bombed government sites and staged
confrontational rallies to stop America's war in Vietnam. As Mr.
McCain became more desperate for support, his insinuations of an
Ayers conspiracy became increasingly common. The final presidential
debate contains a McCain reference to Mr. Ayers as a "washed-up
terrorist."

Bill Ayers is, in fact, an elementary education theorist who
has spent his last few decades above ground, infiltrating the
University of Illinois at Chicago as a Distinguished Professor of
Education and Senior University Scholar. In 1997, he won Chicago's
Citizen of the Year award for his work on a public school reform
project. Today, he says his past activism would make him the perfect
advisor to the President in matters of "armed struggle."

History, however, may prove that some Republican suspicions
were correct. Bursting with post-election glee, Mr. Ayers revealed
that he has indeed been advising Barak Obama all along, even in such
matters as his election night appearance. "Who do you think told
Michelle to dress the whole family in red and black?" asked Mr.
Ayers. "Way to subliminally convey our radical egalitarian,
anarcho- communist values!"

Mr. Ayers says he looks forward to implementing
further "right-on" changes.

"Comrade Obama and I share a common dream," continued Mr.
Ayers. "We agree the only way to achieve true human dignity and
justice is by securing the United States as an iron-fisted, free-love
liberated zone. To that end, I shall recommend starting our
administration off with a series of small property bombings ? of  our
own military-industrial complex."

      Such a project would, according to Mr. Ayers, effectively end
the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and prevent further
encroachments into Pakistan. "First, we bring the boys and girls
home," explained Mr. Ayers. "Then we order them to blow up Lockheed
Martin, Blackwater, Raytheon, AIG ? all the major military
contractors and implicated multinationals. Finally, we get them to
organize the masses so that, together, we turn these corporate/military
installations into daycare centers, food coops, legal
clinics. Whoa, let's not forget the Capitol Building ? that  would
make a great birthing center."

Ever "unrepentant," Mr. Ayers added, "I feel we can't do enough."

President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney
have not returned phone calls for several days. Anonymous sources
close to the President-elect say that Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney are
among several officials from the outgoing administration who are
being held incommunicado at socialist labor camps, newly constructed
for "the real washed-up terrorists."

Experts are unable to predict how long it will take to
accomplish the "People's liberation" of the U.S. defense
infrastructure. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who may well
be positioning himself for a role in the new administration,
cheerfully conjectured: "We could be in this for years."

Reached by email, past presidential contender Hillary Rodham
Clinton, who denies rumors of her own ambitions for an Obama Cabinet
post, nevertheless supported the Ayers appointment. "Let's remember
that Barak Obama is the first African-American to be elected
President," wrote Ms. Clinton, whose current Senate webpage photo
shows her sporting an attractive blue headband with matching fringed
poncho. "No way is Barak going to play the Establishment game and
pull the same imperialist crap ? that would be so lame. Peace  Out. ;)"

Everyone in the so-called "red" states who voted for McCain was
unavailable for comment. However, the rest of America appears
audacious enough to hope for real change.

"I want to be able to tell my kids that everybody's equal, war
is bad, and the Earth should be saved ? without them thinking  I'm
some whacked-out, post-hippie depressive," said Minerva Blaustein,
58, kindergarten teacher in Astoria, Queens. "I need to know that
things are getting better."

Nineteen-year-old Ricky Sandoval of Brooklyn agrees. "Baby, I
could enlist, get my degree, and still be able to stay home and
protect my country from its own war economy," said Sandoval.
"Because, now that Obama's won, the LAST thing this country would do
is forget about the deaths we've already caused and send more troops
to the Middle East ? right? The last thing?"

Details at 11:00. On the Weather channel.



?? Susie Day, 2008



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081112/7c1c9e6c/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Nov 13 14:20:28 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:20:28 -0800
Subject: [News] Miriam Makeba transitions
Message-ID: <mailman.631.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHgKcPP6yK0

Video piece on Miriam Makeba

***************************************************************************************
Adieu Mama Africa Makeba
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200811130738.html

The New Times (Kigali)

COLUMN
13 November 2008
Posted to the web 13 November 2008

By Kelvin Odoobo
Kigali

The curtain has drawn on the illustrious living and career of the 
high priestess of African Music.

At 76, the very dynamic, winding journey of life for Miriam Zenzi 
Makeba, which started in a Johannesburg ghetto in 1932, ended in a 
small Italian town where she had gone to what she is best known for; 
to sing for a good cause.

The shining light of African collapsed on Sunday as she was leaving 
the stage in Castel Volturno, near Naples, Italy according to a 
statement issued by South African foreign minister Dlamini Zuma.

Singer, songwriter, political activist, actress, great-grandmother 
and both United Nations and South African government goodwill 
ambassador, Miriam Makeba's life has been a story of gracious singing 
talent and resilience against apartheid in her homeland, South Africa.

She began her career in the 1950s as a vocalist in the South African 
jazz group the Manhattan Brothers. She then formed her own group, the 
Skylarks, singing a blend of traditional melodies and jazz that was 
to become her trademark.

In 1956, she released her monster track 'Pata pata' that assured her 
worldwide fame, but not just yet. 1959 was the landmark year.

She played a leading role in the South African stage production of a 
black jazz opera, King Kong, "My mother was in the audience," 
recounts Makeba to Gamal Nkrumah, a profiler, wiping away a tear with 
her handkerchief. "That was the only time my mother saw me on stage.

At one point in the play, I am strangled and my mother jumped from 
her seat and screamed: 'No. You will not get away with murder. You 
cannot do this to my daughter.' In the same year she made her US 
debut in November 1959 and also became the first African to win a 
Grammy award for the album "An Evening with Harry Belafonte & Miriam Makeba".

In 1960, she appeared in anti-apartheid documentary, 'Come Back 
Africa' which was to become a turning point in her life. When her 
mother died, she leant that she could not go back to South Africa to 
bury her because the apartheid government had withdrawn her 
citizenship and consigned her to a life as 'a citizen of the world.' 
That was her price for playing the anti-apartheid role in the movie.

In 1967, more than ten years after she wrote the song, "Pata Pata" 
was released in the United States and became a world-wide hit, 
instantly assuring her of an American and global audience that has 
stuck with her until the last of her days.

She continued to sing and put African music of the world map and 
collaborated with many renowned figures in the America music industry 
like Dizzy Gillespie, Odette and Nina Simone, Paul Simon's in 1987 
and South African musical group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Many countries offered her honorary passports (she once held nine) 
and she found a new 'home' in Guinea. She described performances for 
world leaders such as John F Kennedy, Francois Mitterrand, Fidel 
Castro, Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyatta, Kwame Nkrumah 
and the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie as "unforgettable."

During her three decades in exile she became an outspoken figure 
against apartheid, aside from her titillating music and crisscrossed 
the world; spoke at the United Nations assembly.

In 1990 lady luck smiled on to her. On leaving prison, Nelson Mandela 
invited her back home. By that time, all her siblings, save one, 
Joseph, were dead.

"My brother's was the first face I spotted in the crowd," she said quietly.

"After a stopover at his house, I went straight to my mother's grave. 
I spent hours alone in the graveyard, remembering, weeping and 
contemplating in silence."

It has not been rosy for the first Africa music superstar. She has 
weathered many storms in her life, including several car accidents, 
the loss of her only child, a plane crash and even cancer. She 
remained as active in her latter years as she did as a young girl 
with stars in her eyes.

"I'm 70 next year, and I guarantee that when you see the show 
tonight, I'll be in better shape than I was 20 years ago," she winked 
and chuckled while talking to the Al-Ahram Weekly in Egypt in 2001.

"The knees sometimes give way, but they are going to be on their best 
behavior," she says, patting them proudly as she would one of her 
great-grandchildren. In one of her last interviews with on a visit to 
Kampala last month, she gave a talk to women entrepreneurs.

"Women who want to be successful at singing must love it. Don't be a 
sometime singer, be a full time singer and love what you do."

Edwin Nuwagaba wrote in The Monitor newspaper that, whereas the event 
was supposed to be sort of a speech day, Makeba did not say much.

Instead she dropped her crutches and did what she knows best - 
performing on the stage. Little did her fans know that Mama Africa 
was bidding her fair byes how she knew best; on the dance floor, on the stage.

Perhaps, in one of her quotes we will find the strong knowledgeable 
and unflappable character "Age is getting to know all the ways the 
world turns, so that if you cannot turn the world the way you want, 
you can at least get out of the way so you won't get run over."

Her role on the stage called earth, in the play of life, has closed. 
She has left rich and fulfilling years for us to celebrate. Adieu to 
the lady with an outstanding zeal, a golden voice and a special touch.
.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081113/57f164a2/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Nov 13 15:53:24 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:53:24 -0800
Subject: [News] Israel stops Gaza aid delivery
Message-ID: <mailman.632.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>


[]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/11/20081113143955227206.html

UPDATED ON:
Thursday, November 13, 2008
22:34 Mecca time, 19:34 GMT

Israel stops Gaza aid delivery

The United Nations is to suspend its food distribution effort to the 
Gaza Strip after Israel said it would not allow emergency supplies 
into the Palestinian territory, a UN spokesman has said.

Israel had initially permitted the UN Relief and Works Agency to send 
30 lorries of supplies to Gaza on Thursday but later reversed the 
agreement, citing a barrage of mortar fire by fighters in the enclave.

"They [Israel] have told us the crossings are closed today. At the 
end of today we will suspend our food distribution," Chris Gunnes, a 
spokesman for Unrwa, said on Thursday.

"Our warehouses are effectively empty."

Unrwa usually distributes emergency food rations to about 750,000 
people in the Gaza Strip, half the population of the territory.

"Pushing people to the brink of desperation every few months and 
forcing Unrwa into yet another cycle of crisis management, is not in 
the interest of anyone who believes in peace, moderation 
and  stability," Gunness said.

Lorries turned back

The passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza has repeatedly been stopped 
over the last few days, aid agencies say, marking a turning point on 
Israel's grip on the territory.

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday 
that Israeli border authorities had turned back its lorries from the 
Kerem Shalom crossing.

Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent, said that a queue of 
lorries had waited at the Kerem Shalom crossing throughout Thursday, 
waiting in vain for the Israeli military's green light.

"It is the second time this year that UN supplies have not reached 
Palestinians," he said from the crossing point.

"And it really highlights what Palestinians say has become their 
routine - not knowing when border crossings will open, not when when 
they can leave, and not knowing if they can get what they need."

Truce under pressure

Gaza, which is controlled by the Palestinian group Hamas, has faced a 
crippling Israeli blockade in recent months.

Israel says the blockade is aimed at improving its security from 
Palestinian rocket fire.

A six-month truce between Israel and Hamas has come under increasing 
strain in the last week, after Israeli forces entered Gaza in a move 
against a tunnel network used  by Palestinian fighters.

At least 11 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in recent 
days, while more than 130 rockets have been fired from Gaza.

"The rockets are a natural response to [Israel's] aggression," Fawzi 
Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said.

Power cut

In another development, Israel cut off European Union-funded fuel 
supplies to Gaza's only power plant on Thursday.

"It is completely shut down," Qanaan Obeid, an official from the 
Palestinian Energy Authority, said.

Between a quarter and a third of Gaza's power comes from the plant, 
with the remainder the supplied by Egyptian and Israeli national grids.

Katharina Ritz, mission leader for the ICRC, said that "every day the 
situation is getting more and more precarious for Gazans".

She said that medical equipment is in particularly short supply in 
the coastal territory.

Peter Lerner, an Israeli defence ministry spokesman, said that the 
closure of the Gaza crossings came in response to rocket fire.

Reopening the crossings "has been delayed because of the mortar 
shelling that impedes the proper functioning of the crossing points", he said.

The Israeli government first implemented a blockade of the territory 
after fighters loyal to Hamas, which Israel and the US deems a 
terrorist organisation, forced Palestinian Fatah fighters out of Gaza 
in June 2007.

  Source: Al Jazeera and agencies




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081113/b9c15344/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Nov 13 18:20:17 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:20:17 -0800
Subject: [News] Mumia Abu-Jamal on President Obama
Message-ID: <mailman.633.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

November 13, 2008

The Meanings of Victory

[col. writ. 11/04/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal



     The count has been called and Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. has 
become the 44th President of the United States of America.

     But, in truth, history will record him as #1 - the first 
African-American president.

     It is undeniable that this is a singular political achievement, 
a work of impressive political skill, and (we must admit) a gift of 
the political gods.

     Among friends, in the privacy of a prison visiting room I've 
often made the following half-joke.  Obama wins handsomely, and in 
his acceptance speech, flush with victory, loaded with 'political 
capital', he would open by saying, "My fellow Americans -- first and 
foremost, I want to thank the one person who made my election 
possible (if not inevitable): George W. Bush!"

     I always got a laugh, for like all good jokes  the truth makes it happen.

     And the truth is, without the blunders of Bush, Obama would've 
been an also-ran.  His fundamental issue, which set him apart from 
the rest of the Democratic pack, was his early opposition to the Iraq 
War.  That gave him a wind that carried him far and long beyond his 
competitors, who were, for the most part, half-hearted war supporters 
-- or worse, people who supported the war only because to not do so, 
would've harmed their political careers (or so they thought).

     That wind carried him to the Oval Office, the grandest prize in 
U.S. politics.

     But what does it mean?

     We cannot deny its symbolic value.  In millions of Black homes, 
his picture will be placed on walls, beside Martin, John F. Kennedy, 
and a pale painting of Jesus. I'd be that quite a few African homes 
(especially in Kenya) will also boast his smiling visage.

     But beyond symbol is substance, and substantively, some scholars 
have defined Obama as little different from his predecessors. 
Political scientist Clarence Lusane, writing in a recent issue of The 
Black Scholar pointed to the money men behind both Obama and the 
Democratic Party, and noted the following:

    The promotion of U.S. hegemony, expansion of markets for U.S. 
corporations, security-based multilateral relations, protectionist 
trade policies, and a focus on terrorism will likely be key 
priorities demanded by the major political and financial backers of 
the Democratic Party. In other words, in a number of key areas, an 
Obama administration would echo the policies of both George H.W. Bush 
and Bill Clinton." *

     Yet, symbols are powerful things.  Sometimes, they have a life 
all their own.  They may come to mean something more than first intended.

     History has been made.

     We shall see exactly what kind of history it will be.

--(c) '08 maj

{Source: Lusane, C., " 'We Must Lead the World' : The Obama Doctrine 
and the Rebranding of U.S. Hegemony, " The Black Scholar, [v.38: n.1] 
(Spr. '08), p.3.}


The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!

PLEASE CONTACT:
International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ
P.O. Box 19709
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Phone - 215-476-8812/ Fax - 215-476-6180
E-mail - 
<http://by109fd.bay109.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=458931ce7693250bf4de92ee3d31fdfcc2801c36e89fb1ab49ff773c4e331c28&mailto=1&to=icffmaj%40aol.com&msg=6F5C57AE-66C4-4D41-A244-51ABA7FE5BCE&start=0&len=8358&src=&type=x>icffmaj at aol.com 

AND OFFER YOUR SERVICES!

Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at:
Mumia Abu-Jamal
AM 8335
SCI-Greene
175 Progress Drive
Waynesburg, PA 15370







Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081113/991970bf/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 14 12:00:43 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:00:43 -0800
Subject: [News] NY Times announces an end to the war in Iraq
Message-ID: <mailman.634.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.nytimes-se.com/

to be viewed for its humor only



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081114/eba65517/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 14 12:32:38 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:32:38 -0800
Subject: [News] =?iso-8859-1?q?Popular_Minga_Marches_on_to_Bogot=E1?=
Message-ID: <mailman.635.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Despite National and Global Distractions, the 
Popular Minga Marches on to Bogot?

Written by Mario Murillo
Friday, 14 November 2008
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1579/1/

Bogot?, Colombia-The order to keep them out of 
the city apparently came from President Alvaro Uribe.

As up to 6,000 indigenous protesters 
participating in the ongoing "Minga Popular" 
approached the city limits of Ibagu?, in the 
department of Tolima, they were met by a squadron 
of mounted and special forces police known as 
ESMAD, as well as the Army, who were given 
explicit orders not to let them into the main highway of the city.

On Tuesday, President Uribe had said the 
indigenous protesters should pass right through, 
but not stay in Ibagu?, as a result of the 
"yellow alert" that had been announced related to 
the possible eruption of the 
<http://www.portafolio.com.co/economia/pais/2008-11-11/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_PORTA-4657023.html>Mach?n 
Volcano. Already some 
<http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/tolima/actividad-volcanica-del-machin-provoco-desplazamiento-de-familias-de-6-veredas-tolimenses-_4657388-1>local 
families had been displaced as a result of the 
warning, so the government thought the presence 
of thousands of outsiders would only make matters 
worse for the local authorities. At least that's how it was presented publicly.

The leadership of the Minga, however, saw the 
order as yet another attempt to stifle their 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9123>long 
march to Bogot?, a march called to protest the 
government's economic development and security 
policies. The indigenous protesters, joined by 
union activists and sectors of the peasant 
movement, resumed their march on Monday in the 
city of Cali, on the 24th anniversary of the 
assassination of one of the indigenous movement's 
most iconic leaders, 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9127>Alvaro 
Ulcu?. In actuality, the Minga really kicked off 
over a month ago, with the mobilization that 
began in La Maria, Piendam?, in the department of Cauca, on October 12th.

Given the 
<http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia296.htm>over-the-top 
show of force the state security forces utilized 
against the people during the start of the 
mobilization several weeks back, one could not 
help but appreciate the frustration and anger 
expressed by the people as they arrived yesterday 
in Ibagu?, only to be told they could not stay.

"This is yet another example that should be shown 
to the rest of the world, of the ongoing attacks 
that we as indigenous communities are facing 
here," said Lu?s Evelis Andrade, Chief Council of 
the 
<http://www.onic.org.co/actualidad.shtml?x=35433>National 
Indigenous Organization of Colombia, ONIC.

Andrade and others pointed out that theirs was a 
peaceful protest that, if anything, would show 
solidarity with the families displaced by the 
unexpected seismic activity of Mach?n. There was 
no legitimate reason to keep them out of the 
city, other than to sidetrack their message and 
keep them from talking directly with the people of Ibagu?.

A Dialogue with the People

Indeed, one of the main purposes of the Minga is 
to expand the scope of the popular movement that 
over the last several weeks has been publicly 
confronting the Uribe Administration on issues 
ranging from the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement 
to human rights abuses carried out by the 
military as a result of the government's 
so-called "Democratic Security Strategy." After 
meeting with the President in a 
<http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1556/1/>dramatic 
public debate on November 2nd in La Maria, Cauca, 
the communities decided to continue their protest 
with a national march to the capital, culminating 
with a massive "Congress of the People" scheduled for November 24th.

Along the way, they will carry out barridos with 
local communities throughout the country, an 
ongoing dialogue designed to dispel the myth 
propagated by the government in the mainstream 
media, that the indigenous protests are a local 
phenomenon solely concerned about "returning some 
lands" to certain native communities in Cauca. 
Keeping the marchers out of Ibagu? would have 
prevented them from reaching a very important sector of the population.

Nevertheless, after some tense moments at the 
entrance of town that lasted a little bit over a 
half hour, it was agreed that the protesters 
could proceed with their planned march, and make 
their way to the famous Parque Murillo Toro, 
where they held a town-hall like meeting with the 
community. Once there, they articulated the 
<http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/2008/10/official-proposal-of-indigenous-and.html>five-point 
agenda of the Minga, and the need to continue 
building the mobilization throughout the country.

As they made their way through the streets of 
Ibagu?, the protesters were welcomed with cheers 
from the people lining the streets. They were 
later met with messages of solidarity from local 
and national union leaders, including Pedro 
Var?n, president of the 
<http://www.cut.org.co/>Central Workers Union, 
CUT, and Carlos Rivas of the Tolima Teacher's 
Union, SIMATOL, both of whom acknowledged the 
important role the indigenous communities were 
playing in bringing together so many popular 
sectors in Colombia at this point in time, 
including women's organizations, 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9148>youth 
groups, the sugar cane workers, and the trade union movement.

U.S. Transition Getting Considerable Attention

The timing of the mobilization coincides with 
major events that are taking place in Washington 
with the Presidential transition process. Some 
activists see this as an opportunity to present 
the movement's agenda vis a vis free trade and 
Plan Colombia, to both national and international 
public opinion, while, at least for the time 
being, Colombia is making headlines once again up north.

Earlier in the week, much attention was given in 
the Colombian media to the high-profile meeting 
between outgoing President George W. Bush and 
President-elect Barack Obama, and more 
specifically, whether or not the two addressed 
the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in their 
private discussions. It was reported in the 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/us/politics/11auto.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>New 
York Times that during their meeting, President 
Bush had placed the bilateral trade deal between 
Washington and Bogot? as a condition to Obama's 
request for an emergency recovery package for the 
ailing U.S. automobile industry. Later it was 
denied by both camps that there was a quid pro 
quo on these issues, although the report left 
considerable doubt in the minds of both the union 
and indigenous leadership here in Colombia.

The Association of Indigenous Councils of 
Northern Cauca, 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9153>ACIN, 
said on its website the "exchange of favors may 
not have been discussed explicitly (between Bush 
and Obama), but no doubt it was a tacit proposal. 
Impunity in exchange for the US-Colombia FTA. The 
lives of trade unionists in exchange for the FTA. 
The lives of 1,200 indians killed over the last 
six years in exchange for the FTA. We cannot 
accept that life is traded for a free trade agreement."

Anti-FTA activists in Colombia welcomed the 
election of Barack Obama, who had spoken against 
the Colombia trade deal throughout his campaign, 
including in the last Presidential debate held 
just three weeks before election day. During the 
campaign, President Uribe had been extremely 
critical of Obama, especially after the Illinois 
Democrat spoke out against the rampant human 
rights abuses committed against trade union 
activists in Colombia in an April 2008 speech. On 
several occasions, Uribe called Obama 
mis-informed, a tag that Senator John McCain used 
against Obama on this particular issue during the 
debate. President Uribe - and McCain - argued 
that the U.S.-backed "democratic security 
strategy" led to marked improvements in the 
everyday work of organized labor in Colombia, 
<http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/colombias-government-denies-human-rights-situation-20081028>a 
claim that Amnesty International called the 
President's relentless denial of his country's human rights crisis.

In the last week, Uribe has claimed in the 
Colombian media that he was "totally neutral" 
with respect to the U.S. elections, although a 
number of columnists had to remind him that he 
continuously courted the Republican ticket, 
hoping for a continuation of Bush's policies 
regarding Colombia. He embraced Sen. McCain in 
the coastal city of Cartagena in July, and met 
face to face with Sarah Palin at the Colombian 
mission to the UN in New York when he was there 
for the General Assembly sessions. Now Uribe is 
faced with a temporary snub from the Obama team. 
How long it will last is anybody's guess.

With Obama in the White House come January, there 
is considerable hope from Colombia's popular 
movement that the focus of U.S. policy towards 
Colombia will gradually move away from its 
emphasis on militarization and free trade, and 
shift towards human rights and social concerns. 
People are not naive to think it will lead to 
revolutionary change in policy, remembering that 
it was a Democratic Administration that pushed 
through Plan Colombia. Yet there is some degree 
of optimism, and a general feeling that Obama 
will be more open to their concerns. In an open 
letter to the President-elect, ACIN expressed 
gratitude for Obama's recognition of the problem 
facing the trade union movement, but urged him to 
also consider the violence and aggression committed against indigenous peoples.

"We hope that you will contribute to change all 
this," they wrote. "We hope that you will listen 
to our words. ... These are the words that we 
have shared throughout Colombia since October 
10th, through the Minga of Resistance, a national 
mobilization we convened as indigenous peoples, 
in association with other peoples and processes. 
We believe that the spirit of change in your people cannot be contained."

The chances of these words being heard and felt 
by Barack Obama hinge on whether or not the Minga 
can reach many more people, both here in Colombia 
and in the U.S. Unfortunately, at least for the 
time being, their message to the Colombian people 
is not getting the same media coverage that the 
protests were receiving several weeks back, when 
the national police were firing on peaceful 
protesters in La Maria. Naturally, a non-violent 
march, even with thousands of people, meeting in 
permanent assembly with concerned citizens in 
cities and towns throughout the country, does not 
have the same dramatic impact that violent 
confrontations have, at least for the major 
corporate media. As a result, the Minga's 
collective message of resistance is instead being 
drowned out by, for example, tonight's Latin 
Grammy Awards ceremony, where several Colombian 
artists are up for some big prizes.

This is the banal stuff that Colombian media love to report on, relentlessly.

As for the U.S. public, it's an even more 
difficult challenge. Colombia has never been, and 
is not now, high up on the agenda of policy 
makers and the corporate media. That said, there 
is considerable reason to be concerned. Both the 
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-colombia12-2008nov12,0,1081981.story?track=rss>Los 
Angeles Times and the 
<http://twp.com/detail.jsp?key=314675&rc=to_op&p=1&all=1>Washington 
Post published editorials in the last few days 
urging the passage of the US-Colombia FTA. They 
see it as a matter of U.S. national security, and 
argue that now is the time to "seal the deal." It 
is strikingly clear that the urgent cries of the 
Minga Popular are not even on the radar screen of 
the shortsighted editorial writers in the U.S.

But the resilience of the thousands of people 
participating in this historic march is evident 
nonetheless, and is resonating in many circles 
within Colombia and outside. The consistent 
messages of solidarity have been coming in from 
throughout Latin America, Europe and Canada. The 
hope is that the movement will keep growing, from 
Ibagu?, where it left this morning, to its next 
several stops along the way, until it reaches 
Bogot? next week for the People's Congress at the 
footsteps of the Presidential Palace.

And eventually makes untilit makes its presence 
felt, all the way up to Washington.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081114/61119755/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Nov 17 11:46:32 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:46:32 -0800
Subject: [News] The Real Goal of Israel's Blockade of Gaza
Message-ID: <mailman.636.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.counterpunch.org/cook11172008.html

November 17, 2008


"They Are All Hamas"


The Real Goal of Israel's Blockade of Gaza

By JONATHAN COOK

The latest tightening of Israel?s chokehold on 
Gaza ? ending all supplies into the Strip for 
more than a week ? has produced immediate and 
shocking consequences for Gaza?s 1.5 million inhabitants.

The refusal to allow in fuel has forced the 
shutting down of Gaza?s only power station, 
creating a blackout that pushed Palestinians 
bearing candles on to the streets in protest last 
week. A water and sanitation crisis are expected to follow.

And on Thursday, the United Nations announced it 
had run out of the food essentials it supplies to 
750,000 desperately needy Gazans. ?This has 
become a blockade against the United Nations itself,? a spokesman said.

In a further blow, Israel?s large Bank Hapoalim 
said it would refuse all transactions with Gaza 
by the end of the month, effectively imposing a 
financial blockade on an economy dependent on the 
Israeli shekel. Other banks are planning to 
follow suit, forced into a corner by Israel?s 
declaration in Sept 2007 of Gaza as an ?enemy entity?.

There are likely to be few witnesses to Gaza?s 
descent into a dark and hungry winter. In the 
past week, all journalists were refused access to 
Gaza, as were a group of senior European 
diplomats. Days earlier, dozens of academics and 
doctors due to attend a conference to assess the 
damage done to Gazans? mental health were also turned back.

Israel has blamed the latest restrictions of aid 
and fuel to Gaza on Hamas?s violation of a 
five-month ceasefire by launching rockets out of 
the Strip. But Israel had a hand in shattering 
the agreement: as the world was distracted by the 
US presidential elections, the army invaded Gaza, 
killing six Palestinians and provoking the rocket fire.

The humanitarian catastrophe gripping Gaza is 
largely unrelated to the latest tit-for-tat 
strikes between Hamas and Israel. Nearly a year 
ago, Karen Koning AbuZayd, commissioner-general 
of the UN?s refugee agency, warned: ?Gaza is on 
the threshold of becoming the first territory to 
be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution?.

She blamed Gaza?s strangulation directly on 
Israel, but also cited the international 
community as accomplice. Together they began 
blocking aid in early 2006, following the 
election of Hamas to head the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The US and Europe agreed to the measure on the 
principle that it would force the people of Gaza 
to rethink their support for Hamas. The logic was 
supposedly similar to the one that drove the 
sanctions applied to Iraq under Saddam Hussein 
through the 1990s: if Gaza?s civilians suffered 
enough, they would rise up against Hamas and 
install new leaders acceptable to Israel and the West.

As Ms AbuZayd said, that moment marked the 
beginning of the international community?s 
complicity in a policy of collective punishment 
of Gaza, despite the fact that the Fourth Geneva 
Convention classifies such treatment of civilians as a war crime.

The blockade has been pursued relentlessly since, 
even if the desired outcome has been no more 
achieved in Gaza than it was in Iraq. Instead, 
Hamas entrenched its control and cemented the 
Strip?s physical separation from the Fatah-dominated West Bank.

Far from reconsidering its policy, Israel?s 
leadership has responded by turning the screw 
ever tighter ? to the point where Gazan society 
is now on the verge of collapse.

In truth, however, the growing catastrophe being 
unleashed on Gaza is only indirectly related to 
Hamas?s rise to power and the rocket attacks.

Of more concern to Israel is what each of these 
developments represents: a refusal on the part of 
Gazans to abandon their resistance to Israel?s 
continuing occupation. Both provide Israel with a 
pretext for casting aside the protections offered 
to Gaza?s civilians under international law to make them submit.

With embarrassing timing, the Israeli media 
revealed at the weekend that one of the first 
acts of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister 
elected in 2006, was to send a message to the 
Bush White House offering a long-term truce in 
return for an end to Israeli occupation. His offer was not even acknowledged.

Instead, according to the daily Jerusalem Post, 
Israeli policymakers have sought to reinforce the 
impression that ?it would be pointless for Israel 
to topple Hamas because the population [of Gaza] 
is Hamas?. On this thinking, collective 
punishment is warranted because there are no true 
civilians in Gaza. Israel is at war with every single man, woman and child.

In an indication of how widely this view is 
shared, the cabinet discussed last week a new 
strategy to obliterate Gazan villages in an 
attempt to stop the rocket launches, in an echo 
of discredited Israeli tactics used in south 
Lebanon in its war of 2006. The inhabitants would 
be given warning before indiscriminate shelling began.

In fact, Israel?s desire to seal off Gaza and 
terrorise its civilian population predates even 
Hamas?s election victory. It can be dated to 
Ariel Sharon?s disengagement of summer 2005, when 
Fatah?s rule of the PA was unchallenged.

An indication of the kind of isolation Mr Sharon 
preferred for Gaza was revealed shortly after the 
pull-out, in Dec 2005, when his officials first 
proposed cutting off electricity to the Strip.

The policy was not implemented, the local media 
pointed out at the time, both because officials 
suspected the violation of international law 
would be rejected by other nations and because it 
was feared that such a move would damage Fatah?s 
chances of winning the elections the following month.

With the vote over, however, Israel had the 
excuse it needed to begin severing its 
responsibility for the civilian population. It 
recast its relationship with Gaza from one of 
occupation to one of hostile parties at war. A 
policy of collective punishment that was 
considered transparently illegal in late 2005 has 
today become Israel?s standard operating procedure.

Increasingly strident talk from officials, 
culminating in February in the deputy defence 
minister Matan Vilnai?s infamous remark about 
creating a ?shoah?, or Holocaust, in Gaza, has 
been matched by Israeli measures. The military 
bombed Gaza?s electricity plant in June 2006, and 
has been incrementally cutting fuel supplies ever 
since. In January, Mr Vilnai argued that Israel 
should cut off ?all responsibility? for Gaza and 
two months later Israel signed a deal with Egypt 
for it to build a power station for Gaza in Sinai.

All of these moves are designed with the same 
purpose in mind: persuading the world that 
Israel?s occupation of Gaza is over and that 
Israel can therefore ignore the laws of 
occupation and use unremitting force against Gaza.

Cabinet ministers have been queuing up to express 
such sentiments. Ehud Olmert, for example, has 
declared that Gazans should not be allowed to 
?live normal lives?; Avi Dichter believes 
punishment should be inflicted ?irrespective of 
the cost to the Palestinians?; Meir Sheetrit has 
urged that Israel should ?decide on a 
neighbourhood in Gaza and level it? ? the policy 
discussed by ministers last week.

In concert, Israel has turned a relative blind 
eye to the growing smuggling trade through Gaza?s 
tunnels to Egypt. Gazans? material welfare is 
falling more heavily on Egyptian shoulders by the day.

The question remains: what does Israel expect the 
response of Gazans to be to their immiseration 
and ever greater insecurity in the face of Israeli military reprisals?

Eyal Sarraj, the head of Gaza?s Community Mental 
Health Programme, said this year that Israel?s 
long-term goal was to force Egypt to end the 
controls along its short border with the Strip. 
Once the border was open, he warned, ?Wait for the exodus.?

Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in 
Nazareth, Israel. His latest books are ?Israel 
and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and 
the Plan to Remake the Middle East? (Pluto Press) 
and ?Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments 
in Human Despair? (Zed Books). His website is 
<http://www.jkcook.net>www.jkcook.net.

A version of this article originally appeared in 
The National 
(<http://www.thenational.ae>www.thenational.ae), published in Abu Dhabi.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081117/7d874caf/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov 18 10:54:54 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:54:54 -0800
Subject: [News] Kidnapped by the Israeli Navy
Message-ID: <mailman.637.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Caoimhe (Gaza) + 972 598 273 960
Donna (Gaza)  + 972 598 836 420
Fida (Gaza - Arabic) ? + 972 599 681 669
ISM Media Office - + 972 2-2971824

Fifteen Palestinian fishermen along with three 
internationals have been kidnapped in Palestinian 
waters by the Israeli Navy. They were fishing 
seven miles off the coast of Deir Al Balah, 
clearly in Gaza fishing waters and well within 
the fishing limit detailed in the Oslo Accords of 1994.

The fishermen and the human right's observers 
were transferred from 3 separate boats to the 
Israeli warships. Other Palestinian fishermen 
reported that the 3 boats were seen being taken north by the Israeli Navy.

The three internationals are Andrew Muncie from 
Scotland, Darlene Wallach from the United States 
and Victor Arrigoni from Italy. The U.K., U.S. 
and Italian embassies in Tel Aviv have been 
contacted and know about the abductions.

Please call the Israeli Ministry of Justice at 
+972 26 46 66 66 and register your outrage over 
these illegal actions by the Israeli Navy. Then 
call the Embassies in Jerusalem and make sure 
they know that many of us are appalled by Israel's illegal search and seizure.

Stephen Brown, UK Consulate +972 25 41 41 00
U.S. Consulate General + 972-2-6227230
Luigi MATTIOLO, Italian Ambassador +972 3 5104004


-- 
Greta Berlin
Media Team
Free Gaza Movement
357 99 08 17 67
<http://www.freegaza.org>www.freegaza.org
www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/29205195 at N02/>www.flickr.com/photos/29205195 at N02/ 




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081118/dec8dfbd/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov 18 12:09:46 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:09:46 -0800
Subject: [News] Orchestrating a Civic Coup in Bolivia
Message-ID: <mailman.638.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.counterpunch.org/burbach11182008.html

November 18, 2008


How Bush Tried to Bring Down Evo Morales


Orchestrating a Civic Coup in Bolivia

By ROGER BURBACH

Evo Morales is the latest democratically-elected 
Latin American president to be the target of a US 
plot to destabilize and overthrow his government. 
On September 10, 2008 Morales expelled US 
Ambassador Philip Goldberg because ?he is 
conspiring against democracy and seeking the division of Bolivia.?
Observers of US-Latin American policy tend to 
view the crisis in US-Bolivian relations as due 
to a policy of neglect and ineptness towards 
Latin America because of US involvement in the 
wars in the Middle East and Central Asia. In 
fact, the Bolivia coup attempt was a conscious 
policy rooted in US hostility towards Morales, 
his political party the Movement Towards 
Socialism (MAS) and the social movements that are aligned with him.

?The US embassy is historically used to calling 
the shots in Bolivia, violating our sovereignty, 
treating us like a banana republic,? says Gustavo 
Guzman, who was expelled as Bolivian ambassador 
to Washington following Goldberg?s removal. In 
2002, when Morales narrowly lost his first bid 
for the presidency, US ambassador Manuel Rocha 
openly campaigned against him, threatening, ? if 
you elect those who want Bolivia to become a 
major cocaine exporter again, this will endanger 
the future of US assistance to Bolivia.? Because 
he led the Cocaleros Federation prior to assuming 
the presidency, the US State Department called 
Morales an ?illegal coca agitator.?Morales 
advocated ?Coca Yes, Cocaine No,? and called 
which for an end to violent U.S.-sponsored coca 
eradication raids, and for the right of Bolivian 
peasants to grow coca for domestic consumption, 
medicinal uses and even for export as an herb in tea and other products.

?When Morales triumphed in the next presidential 
election,? says Guzman, ?it represented a defeat 
for the United States.? Shortly after his 
inauguration, Morales received a call from George 
Bush, offering to help "bring a better life to 
Bolivians." Morales asked Bush to reduce US trade 
barriers for Bolivian products, and suggested 
that he come for a visit. Bush did not reply. As 
Guzman notes, ?the United States was trying to 
woo Morales with polite and banal comments to 
keep him from aligning with Venezuelan President 
Hugo Ch?vez.? David Greenlee, the US ambassador 
prior to Goldberg, expressed his "preoccupation" 
with Bolivia's foreign alliances, while Secretary 
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and others at the 
Pentagon began talking about "security concerns" in Bolivia.

Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon, the 
highest ranking US official to attend Morales? 
inauguration, declared a willingness to dialogue 
with Morales. In fact, what followed were almost 
three years of diplomatic wrangling while the 
U.S. provided direct and covert assistance to the 
opposition movement centered in the four eastern 
departments of Bolivia known as ?La Media Luna?. 
Dominated by agro-industrial interests, the 
departments began a drive for regional autonomy 
soon after Morales, the first Indian president in 
Bolivian history took office. (About 55% of the 
country?s population is Indian.) Headed by 
departmental prefects (governors) and large 
landowners, the autonomy movement has been 
determined to stymie Morales? plans for national 
agrarian reform, and bent on taking control of 
the substantial hydro-carbon resources located in the Media Luna.

The Bush administration has pursued a two-track 
policy similar to the strategy the United States 
employed to overthrow the democratically-elected 
government of Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973. 
The diplomatic negotiations initiated by Shannon 
centered almost exclusively on differences over 
drug policies, with the Bush administration 
continually threatening to cut or curtail 
economic assistance and preferential trade if 
Bolivia did not abide by the US policy of coca 
eradication and criminalization. At the same 
time, the United States through its embassy in La 
Paz and the Agency for International Development 
(USAID), funded political forces that opposed 
Morales and MAS. The US Drug Enforcement 
Administration (DEA), with 37 in-country agents, 
appears to have acted like the CIA in Bolivia, 
gathering intelligence and engaging in 
clandestine political operations with the opposition.

Intervention is evident from the very start of 
the Morales administration, with early USAID 
activities through the Office of Transition 
Initiatives (OTI). After Morales took office, 
USAID documents state the OTI set out ?to provide 
support to fledgling regional governments.? 
Altogether the OTI funneled 116 grants for 
$4,451,249 ?to help departmental governments 
operate more strategically.? In an effort to 
establish expedient political ties, the OTI also 
brought departmental prefects to meet with US governors.

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), 
founded as a semi-public institute during the 
Reagan years, has been particularly active in 
Bolivia. It funds a number of groups and 
organizations with a clear political bias, among 
them the Institute of Pedagogical and Social 
Investigation. The Institute opposed Morales in 
the 2005 elections, declaring in a project 
summary report to the U.S. embassy that Morales 
and MAS are an ?anti-democratic, radical 
opposition? that doesn?t represent the majority. 
NED support of the Institute?s activities 
continued into 2006, when the Institute filed a 
report saying it intended to ?contribute to 
improved municipal development through efficient 
and effective social monitoring.? (6)
In the Media Luna, USAID tried to organize 
Indians opposed to the Confederation of the 
Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Bolivia (CIDOB), 
which is allied with MAS and Morales. Media Luna 
leaders were particularly concerned about CIBOD?s 
capacity to mobilize and move in from the 
countryside to encircle departmental capitals 
when the prefect?s leaders orchestrated 
activities against the Morales government, 
particularly in the department of Santa Cruz. 
Working out of the U.S. embassy, the Strategy and 
Operations Office and the Strategic Team of 
Integral Development for USAID set up a meeting 
between Ambassador Goldberg and Indian groups in 
February, 2007. Internal emails from USAID 
officers who helped organize the event reveal 
that they only invited Indians opposed to CIDOB 
who ?lacked experience and were immature 
politically.? One of the officers recommended 
that these Indians be given field radios ?to facilitate communications.?

In late 2007, the US embassy began moving openly 
to meet with the right-wing opposition in Media 
Luna. Ambassador Goldberg was photographed in 
Santa Cruz with a leading business magnate who 
backs the autonomy movement, and a well-known 
Colombian narco-trafficker who had been detained 
by the local police. Morales, in revealing the 
photo, said the trafficker was linked to right 
wing para-military organizations in Colombia. In 
response, the US embassy asserted that it 
couldn?t vet everyone who appeared in a photo with the ambassador.

Then in January, 2008, the Embassy was caught 
giving aid to a special intelligence unit of the 
Bolivian police force. The embassy rationalized 
its assistance by saying ?the U.S. government has 
a long history of helping the National Police of 
Bolivia in diverse programs.? U.S.-Bolivian 
relations were next roiled in February, when it 
was revealed that Peace Corps volunteers and a 
Fulbright scholar had been pressured by an 
embassy official to keep tabs on Venezuelans and 
Cubans in the country. This violated the founding 
statutes of the Peace Corps, which prohibit any 
intelligence activities by volunteers.

During 2007, political tensions in Bolivia had 
centered on the Constituent Assembly meeting in 
Sucre that had been mandated by a national 
referendum to draw up a new constitution to 
transform the country?s institutions. When the 
Assembly began voting on the final draft in 
December 2007, the opposition violently took over 
the streets and all of the major public buildings 
in Sucre, using dynamite and Molotov cocktails, 
demanding the resignation of ?the shitty Indian 
Morales.? Parts of the city were in flames, and 
members of the assembly, including its President 
Silvia Lazarte, were assaulted in the streets.

Then the political leaders and business 
organizations in Santa Cruz and other cities in 
the Media Luna began to openly call for autonomy 
and secession from the central Bolivian 
government. Branko Marinkovic, the leading 
business magnate and largest landowner in the 
Media Luna, led the opposition as head of the 
Pro-Santa Cruz Civic Committee, declaring, ?the 
fight has begun for our autonomy and liberty.? 
Along with Santa Cruz, civic committees in the 
other major cities of Media Luna joined the call 
and began meeting together along with the prefects.

Simultaneously, the Bush administration ?first 
brandished the aid weapon to show its support of 
the civic committees opposed to the government,? 
says Guzman. The Millennium Challenge Corporation 
(MCC), set up in 2004 as a U.S. government agency 
?to work with some of the poorest countries in 
the world,? had been on the brink of approving 
$584 million to fund the construction of a major 
highway linking northern Bolivia to the rest of 
the country, as well as to make investments in agricultural projects.

Yet in a letter to Morales in December 2007, the 
MCC stated that while it ?recognizes your 
country?s performance on our 17 indicators
the 
current state of the U.S.-Bolivian relationship 
is not consistent with such a working 
partnership.? A separate report by the MCC was 
even more blunt: The project ?was postponed 
because of adverse conditions, including unrest 
surrounding the Constitution Assembly process?.

When the Constituent Assembly approved the final 
draft of the new constitution in December 2007, 
the Bolivian Congress needed to approve it with a 
national referendum. Knowing that he did not have 
the votes, Morales declared  ?dead or alive, I 
will have a new constitution for the country,? 
and called for public pressure on Congress. 
Asserting he was acting as a ?dictator,? the 
civic committees and the departmental prefects of 
Media Luna, along with their political allies in 
the Bolivian Senate, refused to schedule the 
referendum. They instead organized departmental 
referendums for autonomy, which they 
overwhelmingly won in May. The referendums were 
ruled unconstitutional by the National Electoral 
Council, and the voting conditions were less than 
auspicious, with no official electoral monitors 
and pro-autonomy forces intimidating and 
physically assaulting those who opposed the vote.

Choosing the democratic road rather than force to 
annul the departmental referendums, Morales then 
put his presidency on the line with a recall 
referendum in which his mandate, as well as those 
of the prefects seeking autonomy, could be 
revoked. On August 10, 2008, voters gave Morales 
a resounding two-thirds of the national vote, 
with even the Media Luna department of Pando 
giving him just over 50 percent. However, the 
insurgent prefects also had their mandates 
renewed. Basing their actions on the illegal May 
plebiscites, the prefects then decided to strike 
for autonomy, moving first to take control of 
Santa Cruz, the richest of the four departments. 
The Cruceno Youth Union (UJC), shock troops 
allied with the Civic Committee, roamed the 
streets of the departmental capital and 
surrounding towns, attacking and repressing any 
opposition by local social movements and 
MAS-allied organizations, and sacking government 
buildings, including the agrarian reform office.

Simultaneously, the Civic Committees began sewing 
economic instability, seeking to weaken the 
Morales government much like the CIA-backed 
opposition did against Chilean President Salvador 
Allende in the early 1970s. As in Chile, the 
business elites and allied truckers engaged in 
?strikes,? withholding or refusing to ship 
produce to urban markets in the western Andes 
(where the Indian population is concentrated), 
while selling commodities on the black market at 
high prices. The Confederation of Private 
Businesses of Bolivia called for a national 
producers? shutdown if the government refused ?to 
change its economic policies?.

This became known as an attempt at a ?civic 
coup.? The strategy of the autonomy movement was 
to take complete control of the Media Luna, 
provoke a national crisis to destabilize the 
government, and convince the army to remain 
neutral or move against Morales. The major of 
Santa Cruz, Percy Fernandez, had already called 
on the military to overthrow Morales' "useless 
government" just before the August referendum.

The United States was openly involved in 
orchestrating this rebellion. Ambassador Goldberg 
flew to Santa Cruz on August 25 to meet with 
Ruben Costas, Morales? main antagonist and the 
prefect of Santa Cruz, who became the de facto 
leader of the rebellious prefects and the 
autonomy movement in general. After Goldberg 
left, Costas declared himself ?governor? of the 
autonomous department of Santa Cruz, and ordered 
the take over of national government offices, 
including those collecting tax revenues. It was 
this visit with Costas that Morales cited as the 
reason for declaring Ambassador Goldberg ?persona 
non grata? on September 10. ?After his expulsion, 
the rebellion began to unravel,? notes Guzman.

On September 11, in the department of Pando, a 
para-military militia with machine guns attacked 
pro-Morales Indians near the capital of El 
Cobija, resulting in at least 13 deaths. In a 
separate action, three policemen were kidnapped. 
The next day Morales declared a state of siege in 
Pando, and dispatched the army to move on Cobija 
in order to retake its airport, which had been 
occupied by right wing bands. Army units were 
also sent to guard the natural gas oleoducts, one 
of which had been seized by the autonomy 
movement, cutting the flow of gas to neighboring Brazil and Argentina.

The violent attacks in Pando precipitated a 
national mobilization of indigenous peoples and 
social movements, as well as a sense of outrage 
in neighboring countries. On September 15, 
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet called an 
emergency meeting in Santiago of the Union of 
South American Nations (UNASUR) to discuss the 
Bolivian crisis. The resulting ?Declaration of La 
Moneda,? signed by the twelve UNASUR governments, 
expressed their ?full and decided support for the 
constitutional government of President Evo 
Morales,? and warned that their respective 
governments ?will not recognize any situation 
that entails an attempt for a civil coup that 
ruptures the institutional order, or that 
compromises the territorial integrity of the 
Republic of Bolivia?. Morales, who participated 
in the meeting, thanked UNASUR for its support, 
declaring: ?For the first time in South 
American?s history, the countries of our region 
are deciding how to resolve our problems without 
the presence of the United States.?

Paying no attention to the declaration of support 
by UNASUR, President Bush upped the ante the 
following week by suspending the Andean Trade 
Preference Act, asserting ?Bolivia has failed to 
cooperate with the United States on important 
efforts to fight drug trafficking.? The trade 
act, dating from 1991, eliminates tariffs on 
imports of textiles, jewelry, wood and other 
products from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and 
Bolivia, in exchange for cooperation with the US 
war on drugs. It is estimated that 20,000 to 
30,000 workers will lose their jobs, and more 
than $70 million in exports will be priced out of the US market.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proclaimed 
there was ?no ideological test for cooperation 
and friendship with the United States? that led 
to the trade cutoff with Bolivia. This statement 
was a diplomatic lie: For 2006, Morales? first 
year in office, the U.S. Office of National Drug 
Control Policy reported that coca cultivation was 
?statistically unchanged as compared to the 2005 
estimate?. For 2007 the United Nations reported 
an increase of just 5 percent in, ?Coca 
Cultivation in the Andean Region: A Survey of 
Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.? This data, however, 
stood in sharp contrast to Colombia, which 
registered an increase of coca cultivation by 27 
percent, despite the Colombian government?s 
strong alliance with the U.S. on coca eradication efforts.

The UNASUR declaration, along with the state of 
siege in Pando and the nationwide repudiation of 
the massacre of Indians, compelled the prefects 
of Media Luna to call off their rebellion. They 
agreed to a ?dialogue? with Morales over the new 
constitution and the issue of autonomy. But the 
discussions in late September went nowhere, even 
though the Morales? government agreed to 
incorporate some limited amendments concerning 
departmental autonomy into the new constitution. 
The department prefects also demanded that the 
agrarian reform clauses in the new constitution 
be eliminated, but on this point Morales, backed 
by MAS and the social movements, refused to back 
down. On October 5, the negotiations collapsed.

Morales then announced that he would ask Congress 
to set the date for the public referendum on the 
new constitution. The social movements mobilized 
from around the country, and over 50,000 
demonstrators descended on La Paz, surrounding 
Congress as it was meeting. The right wing 
fragmented, and on Oct. 20, Congress approved the 
referendum on the new constitution, which is scheduled for Jan. 25, 2009.

Then on November 1, Morales released a bomb shell 
by announcing the indefinite suspension of the 
activities of the US Drug Enforcement 
Administration in Bolivia, and the expulsion of 
the 37 DEA agents from the country. ?Agents of 
the DEA carried out political espionage, 
including the financing of delinquent groups,? 
Morales declared. He pointed toa key U.S. 
operative involved in these activities: ?Steven 
Faucette, the regional agent of the DEA in Santa 
Cruz, who on a diplomatic mission of the U.S. 
embassy made trips to Trinidad and Riberalta 
[cities in the Media Luna provinces of Beni and 
Pando, respectively] with the objective of 
financing the Civics who were committed to carrying out a civic coup.?

Morales went on to disclose that a plane with 
North American registry called Super King had 
flown to airports in the Media Luna without 
registering flight plans or providing 
notification of ?the cargo it transferred to pick 
up vehicles when it landed on the runway, in 
clear violation of our national sovereignty.? 
Bolivian intelligence also discovered seven 
security houses run by the US ?that carried out 
political espionage,? including telephone 
surveillance of political, police and military authorities.

The DEA and its 37 agents were expelled from the 
country. The Bolivian government appropriated 
what amounted to a DEA military arsenal, 
including airplanes, boats, ground transport 
vehicles, communications equipment and one thousand M-16 machine guns.

The civic coup has failed. No longer able to turn 
to the US embassy, the opposition is in disarray, 
with the leading rightwing party split into four 
factions. The referendum on the constitution will 
likely be approved by a wide margin. Evo has 
rallied the social movements and the country to 
break US historic domination of Bolivia. With his 
trip to Washington D.C., Morales is hoping to 
open up a dialogue with the incoming 
administration of President-elect Barack Obama 
that will lead to a restoration of full trade 
relations, a recognition of Bolivia?s right to 
determine its own policies on drugs, agrarian 
reform and gas nationalization, and mutual respect between the two nations.

Roger Burbach is Director of the Center for the 
Study of the Americas (CENSA) based in Berkeley, 
CA. He has written extensively on Latin America 
and is the author of 
?<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1842774352/counterpunchmaga>The 
Pinochet Affair: State Terrorism and Global Justice.?




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081118/bcb38375/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov 18 12:45:52 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:45:52 -0800
Subject: [News] Spy Drone Predator Reflects what US has Become
Message-ID: <mailman.639.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Spy Drone Predator Reflects what US has Become
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrell/2008/11/spy-drone-predator-reflects-what-us-has-become

Posted by 
<http://narcosphere.narconews.com/users/brenda-norrell>Brenda 
Norrell - November 18, 2008 at 12:04 am

The name of the United States drone, 'Predator,' 
reflects what the United States has become

By Brenda Norrell

TUCSON -- The bad news is that the US Border 
Patrol has four drones flying out of Fort 
Huachuca over the US/Mexico border for 
surveillance. One drone has already crashed near 
Nogales and these unmanned aerial planes, 
provided first by Israel's Apartheid spy 
technology maker, Elbit Systems, are a risk to 
the lives of those on the ground in Arizona.

The good news is that Airforce pilots are not 
flying over in their planes. Airforce pilots in 
Tucson were so eager to smuggle cocaine in 
uniform, that the FBI halted Operation Lively 
Green. More than 50 Army, Navy, Marine and 
National Guard soldiers have been sentenced for 
smuggling cocaine for cash, from Nogales to Phoenix.

Again, the bad news is that the Arizona National 
Guard soldiers are commanding an armed, remote 
controlled aircraft in Iraq from Tucson, drug central.

 From Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, a unit 
controls the MQ-1B Predator, used for armed 
reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting in 
Iraq, according to the National Guard.

If drug-running soldiers weren't bad enough, now 
comes the news that the drones are being used by 
the US to spy on civilians at the US/Mexico border.

Michael Webster reports, "The Reaper/Predator B 
UAV?s robotic killing machines are currently in 
operation with the USAF, US Navy and the Royal 
Air Force. In addition non military users of the 
Predator B include: NASA and Homeland security 
though the US Customs and Border Protection 
agencies." The information is on also on the web from the Defense Department.

Webster said the use of drones by Homeland 
Security, FEMA and disaster management is troubling.

"Predator B carries out 'targeted assassinations' 
of 'terrorist suspects' across Afghanistan, Iraq 
and Pakistan. The deployment of the robotic 
killing machines in the United States for 
'disaster management' is troubling to say the 
least and a harbinger of things to come," Webster says.

As the US pours millions into spy technology, one 
has to wonder why there is so much crime ignored 
in Tucson. In 2008, there was a serial murderer, 
raping and murdering homeless women in Tucson. 
These women were raped and murdered on the same 
streets I walk down. There was little mention of 
this serial murderer in the news.

I wonder if any of those millions of dollars of 
spy technology, aimed at keeping us all safe, is 
ever used to keep the streets of Tucson safe.

Back at Fort Huachuca, the drones are part of the 
Army Intelligence Center there. This is the same 
place that produced the torture manual, exposed 
in 1996, of the School of Americas. The manual 
was used to train Latin military leaders, which 
led to the torture, rape and murder of thousands 
of people, including Indigenous Peoples, in 
Central and South America in the 80s and 90s. 
Corporations, under the cloak of US firepower and 
torture, reaped the benefits in land and resources.

Currently, Fort Huachuca is being protested 
because of training which resulted in torture in 
Abu-Ghraib. The news that Fort Huachuca now has 
four more drones, spy drones over the border, cannot be good news.

Over the weekend, torture protesters gathered at 
Fort Huachuca to protest US torture. The 
following is the statement released by torture protesters.

More than 200 people rallied against torture on 
Sunday, November 16, at Veterans Memorial Park in 
Sierra Vista, Arizona. The group then processed 
two miles through the city to the main gate of 
Ft. Huachuca, home of the U.S. Army Intelligence 
Center where interrogators are trained.

Soon after the procession arrived opposite the 
entrance to the Fort, three people crossed the 
street and entered the base to deliver messages 
to base Commander Major General John Custer and 
his soldiers, opposing the cruel treatment and 
abuse of detainees from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Sr. Megan Rice, 78, from Las Vegas, Nevada; Fr. 
Louie Vitale, 76, from Oakland, California; and 
Dennis Duvall, 66, from Prescott, Arizona, were 
quickly stopped and taken into custody. They were 
released within the hour with a formal letter 
barring them from entering the base for one year. 
A base spokeswoman told reporters, "We're trying 
to keep this as low key as possible."

Franciscan Fr. Vitale, a former provincial of the 
order's Santa Barbara province, was arrested 
during a similar protest at the Fort in 2006. 
Together with co-defendant Fr. Steve Kelly, he 
had served a five month prison sentence for 
trespass and failure to obey an officer.

Two of three people arrested at the Fort in 
November, 2007, returned to join this year's 
demonstration. Fr. Jerry Zawada and Betsy Lamb 
had both served two months in prison awaiting trial.

Speakers at the rally included torture survivor 
and Colombian refugee Hector Aristizabal and retired U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright.

The procession was led by musicians Francisco 
Herrera, Jose Serrano, Ted Warmbrand, Chet 
Gardiner and Terry Pawlowski, along with people 
carrying large, colorful butterfly puppets. The 
puppets represented transformation from a nation 
that sanctions cruelty and torture to a world that embraces hope for humanity.

The demonstration concluded with a stop at the 
nearby office of CACI, a private military 
contractor implicated in the abuse of Iraqi 
detainees, and currently contracted to write manuals and teach interrogation.

Sunday's rally and procession capped a weekend of 
events that began in Tucson. Event coordinator 
Rev. Ken Kennon noted that the "Southwest Witness 
to Stop Torture is a regional action in 
solidarity with the campaign to close the School 
of the Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for 
Security Cooperation at Fort Benning, Georgia, 
where the testimony of torture survivors has 
informed us and moved us to action."

Thousands of people will gather at Ft. Benning 
this coming weekend, November 21-23, for the 
annual vigil to close the School of the Americas. 
Human rights abuses in Latin America, including 
torture and murder, have been carried out by 
graduates of the school. The torture manual which 
was used at the School of the Americas came from Ft. Huachuca.

A statement written for the Ft. Huachuca 
demonstration follows this press release.

For more information see 
<http://tortureontrial.org>http://tortureontrial.org, 
http://southwestwitness.org and <http://soaw.org>http://soaw.org

US torture protesters also released this 
statment, "Why We Protest at Ft Huachuca."

Gandhi teaches us that nonviolence needs to be 
practiced in places of institutionalized violence.
We practice nonviolence at Ft. Huachuca - 
headquarters of U.S. Army military intelligence 
training - to protest the policy of cruelty our 
country has carried out against captives in the so-called "War on Terror."

We practice nonviolence at Ft. Huachuca to open 
dialogue with soldiers and commanders about their 
rights and obligations to report cases of torture 
and cruel treatment. We call on enlisted 
personnel to speak publicly about their training 
and any abuses they have observed.

We practice nonviolence at Ft. Huachuca to 
protest our government's increasing use of 
private contractors - with little to no oversight 
or accountability - both as instructors and as 
part of interrogation teams in the field.

We practice nonviolence at Ft. Huachuca to call 
for civilian, human-rights centered oversight of 
all interrogation training and practice, which 
must include absolute prohibition of cruel 
treatment and command responsibility for any violation of this prohibition.

Our nonviolent presence joins growing, deepening 
movements throughout the world calling for an end 
to war and torture everywhere. We act in 
solidarity with the campaign to close the School 
of the Americas/Western Hemispheric Institute for 
Security Cooperation at Ft. Benning, Georgia, 
where the testimony of torture survivors has 
informed our outrage and moved us to action. We 
know that torture diminishes the humanity of both 
perpetrator and those who are tortured. It 
damages the very soul of our country.

We are told that basic training in military 
interrogation at Ft. Huachuca respects the Geneva 
Conventions and follows the U.S. Army Field 
Manual. Yet, despite the efforts of many 
honorable soldiers and commanders who respect 
human rights, this training has been inadequate 
to prevent abuses of prisoners in U.S. custody at 
Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and other military 
prisons and secret detention centers around the world.

What is being taught in the field and in advanced 
courses about interrogation? What is happening in 
this dark space between training and the field? 
Has the policy of cruelty practiced by some U.S. 
military, CIA, FBI, and private agencies been 
integrated into military doctrine and advanced 
training? Does such activity take place at Ft. Huachuca?

We understand that secrecy and deception are part 
of the nature of military intelligence. We 
challenge this institutionalized silence, because 
torture and cruelty betray not only the 
Constitution of the United States, but who we are 
as a people. In a democratic society, such silence must not prevail.

To break this silence, interrogators and all 
other personnel (including private contractors) 
must be taught when and how to resist illegal 
orders that violate the laws of war, the Geneva 
Conventions and the United Nations Convention 
Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or 
Degrading Treatment or Punishment. They must be 
taught their obligation to speak out against such 
orders, and to report abuses to their superiors. 
And they must receive guarantees that speaking 
out will not lead to retaliation or punishment.

Ft. Huachuca's role in past military involvement 
in torture training must also be brought to 
light. Such involvement includes the creation of 
notorious manuals used at the School of the 
Americas to teach Latin American military 
personnel how to torture. Undoubtedly, records 
about past and contemporary use of torture exist 
at Ft. Huachuca. We call for the release of all 
such information, both past and present.

It is time for a light to shine on the darkness 
that has been hidden behind the walls of Ft. Huachuca.
Monsignor Oscar Romero of El Salvador said, "Love 
begins where violence ends." To end the violence 
of torture and war we will stand at the gates of 
Ft. Huachuca. Together let's build a world without torture.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081118/9d57dcd3/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov 19 12:16:51 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:16:51 -0800
Subject: [News] Holder, Chaquita and Colombia
Message-ID: <mailman.640.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.counterpunch.org/murillo11192008.html

November 19, 2008


Fronting for Paramilitaries


Holder, Chaquita and Colombia

By MARIO A. MURILLO

First the good news: We're two months away from 
President George W. Bush's last full day in the 
White House. The countdown for the end of the nightmare has begun in earnest.

Now the bad news: As Barack Obama puts together 
his cabinet and eyes a slew of former Clinton 
officials for key staff positions, it is becoming 
ever more apparent that all those calls for 
change coming from progressive circles in the 
U.S. ? and abroad - have fallen on deaf ears.

Most striking, at least for the time being, is 
the soon to be named position of the top law 
enforcement official of the country. It looks 
like the first African-American President will 
appoint the first African-American attorney 
general in the coming days, something that on the 
surface looks like an advance, but should 
actually sound alarm bells for anybody seeking 
true change in the way things are done in 
Washington, especially when it comes to bringing 
corporate criminals to justice.

Although no final decision has been made, the New 
York Times reports that the President-elect's 
transition team has signaled to Eric H. Holder 
Jr., a senior Clinton Justice Department 
official, that he will be selected as the next 
attorney general. Holder helped lead the team 
that selected Sen. Joe Biden as Obama's VP choice.

Most news accounts about the pending appointment 
seem to be limiting their criticism of Holder to 
one of his final acts as President Bill Clinton's 
deputy attorney general in 2001. At the time, on 
the last day of Clinton's term, Holder apparently 
said he was "neutral, leaning toward favorable" 
for a presidential pardon for Marc Rich, the 
wealthy commodities dealer whose ex-wife, Denise, 
was a major donor to the Democratic Party. 
Clinton's pardon of the tax-evading Rich was 
criticized as politically motivated, leading to a 
congressional investigation over the matter.

What is not being discussed too much, and was not 
even mentioned in today's New York Times report, 
is Holder's key role in defending Chiquita Brands 
International in a notorious case relating to the 
company's funneling money and weapons to the 
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AUC, the 
right-wing paramilitary organization on the U.S. 
State Department's own list of terrorist organizations.

In 2003, an Organization of American States 
report showed that Chiquita's subsidiary in 
Colombia, Banadex, had helped divert weapons and 
ammunition, including thousands of AK-47s, from 
Nicaraguan government stocks to the AUC. The AUC 
? very often in collaboration with units of the 
U.S.-trained Armed Forces - is responsible for 
hundreds of massacres of primarily peasants 
throughout the Colombian countryside, including 
in the banana-growing region of Urab?, where it 
is believed that at least 4,000 people were 
killed. Their systematic use of violence resulted 
in the forced displacement of hundreds of 
thousands of poor Colombians, a disproportionate 
amount of those people being black or indigenous.

In 2004, Holder helped negotiate an agreement 
with the Justice Department for Chiquita that 
involved the fruit company's payment of 
"protection money" to the AUC, in direct 
violation of U.S. laws prohibiting this kind of 
transaction. In the agreement brokered by Holder, 
Chiquita officials pleaded guilty and agreed to 
pay a fine of $25 million, to be paid over a 
5-year period. However, not one Chiquita official 
involved in the illegal transactions was forced 
to serve time for a crime that others have paid 
dearly for, mainly because they did not have the 
kind of legal backing that Holder's team 
provided. Holder continues to represent Chiquita 
in the civil action, which grew out of this criminal case.

One of the arguments in defense of Chiquita's 
criminal acts was that the company was being 
strong-armed by thugs in Colombia, and that it 
either had to make the payments, or close up shop 
in the country, which would have resulted in the 
loss of tens of millions of dollars in profits. 
Chiquita officials even disclosed to the Justice 
Department that they were making the illegal 
payments to the AUC, to see what could be done.

As the Washington Post reported back in 2007, 
Federal prosecutors had said in court papers that 
Justice Department officials made clear in April 
2003 that Chiquita was clearly violating the law 
and that "the payments . . . could not 
continue."1 The Post reported "lawyers at Justice 
headquarters and the U.S. attorney's office in 
Washington were incensed by what they considered 
the flagrant continuation of these payoffs, 
despite the warnings." At the time, Holder said 
he was concerned that company leaders who 
disclosed the corporation's illegal activity to 
prosecutors were facing the possibility of prosecution.

"If what you want to encourage is voluntary 
self-disclosure, what message does this send to 
other companies?" asked Holder, deputy attorney 
general in the Clinton administration. "Here's a 
company that voluntarily self-discloses in a 
national security context, where the company gets 
treated pretty harshly, [and] then on top of 
that, you go after individuals who made a really painful decision."2

So in Holder's view, we should feel sympathy for 
these poor corporate executives, whose identities 
were kept confidential, and who were forced to 
make "very painful decisions" about opening up to 
their own criminality. Never mind that this 
company was complicit in the above-mentioned 
human tragedy waged by the AUC. The many victims 
of this paramilitary terror did not even cross 
the mind of the well-connected defense attorney 
now being considered for the Attorney General job.

Yet the opposition to Holder's nomination to the 
top position at Justice should not stop with this 
sordid history, one that perhaps can be excused 
as the obligation of a lawyer to defend his or 
her client regardless of the alleged crime. The 
disappointment in Obama's pick for AG should stem 
from the President-elect's strong words during 
the campaign in defense of human rights, 
particularly for those of workers in Colombia. On 
several occasions, including in the last 
presidential debate held at Hofstra University 
just three weeks before the election, the 
Democratic Candidate said he opposed the 
U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement precisely on 
the grounds of the human rights violations 
carried out consistently against trade unionists 
in Colombia, and the ongoing impunity that has 
followed in most of those crimes.

This is directly connected to the Holder 
nomination because currently, there is a lawsuit 
underway from the families of 173 banana workers, 
who were killed by one of these paramilitary 
groups in Colombia. These family members do not 
buy into the argument, made by people like Holder 
and his Chiquita clients, that the company was 
forced to make these illegal payments to the AUC. 
Their claim is that Chiquita Brands International 
deliberately hired these armed thugs specifically 
to repress the rights of these workers, a tool 
used by other major multinationals operating in 
Colombian hot spots, including Coca Cola, BP, and the Drummond Corporation.

As Dan Kovalik recently wrote in the Huffington 
Post, the major concern that emerges with a 
Justice Department led by Holder is that none of 
these allegations will ever be fully 
investigated. Kovalik points to the Human Rights 
Watch report entitled, "Breaking the Grip? 
Obstacles to Justice for Paramilitary Mafias in 
Colombia," where the organization recommends that,

"in order to assist with the process of ending 
the ties between the Colombian government and 
paramilitary death squads, the U.S. Department of 
Justice should, among other things, "[c]reate 
meaningful legal incentives for paramilitary 
leaders [a number of whom have already been 
extradited to the U.S.] to fully disclose 
information about atrocities and name all 
Colombian or foreign officials, business or 
individuals who may have facilitated their 
criminal activities," and "[c]ollaborate actively 
with the efforts of Colombian justice officials 
who are investigating paramilitary networks in 
Colombia by sharing relevant information possible 
and granting them access to paramilitary leaders in U.S. custody."3

Will this recommendation be carried out by a 
Justice Department led by the man who defended 
one of the most visible protagonists in these 
crimes? If the Obama Administration is seriously 
concerned about impunity and human rights in 
Colombia, Holder should probably step out of the way immediately.

Furthermore, and as Kovalik pointed out in his 
Huffington Post commentary, one of the most 
notorious paramilitary leaders currently in U.S. 
federal custody, Salvatore Mancuso, claims that 
he has extensive knowledge, not only about 
Chiquita's relationship with paramilitary death 
squads in Colombia, but with other major firms 
such as Dole and Del Monte. None of these firms 
are even on the radar screen of the Justice 
Department, and the question is whether or not 
they will be should Holder be appointed the next 
Attorney General. My assumption is that it is not 
a priority for Obama, certainly not for Holder.

The calls for change in Washington's relationship 
with Latin America are coming from both within 
the United States and throughout the continent. 
There was no doubt that here in Colombia, people 
were relieved to hear of Barack Obama's historic 
victory on November 4th. Given his public 
denunciations of the murders of hundreds of union 
leaders in Colombia, and his interesting life 
story which points to at least somewhat of a 
distinct international perspective, it was not 
surprising to hear car horns go off in the 
streets of some towns when he was declared the winner on election night.

But it now seems like business as usual in 
Washington, where corporate criminality is not a 
major priority, and justice is only an empty 
promise made on the backs of the victims of these 
crimes, directed mainly at gullible voters before elections.

We cannot let this happen.

1 The Washington Post, "In Terrorism-Law Case, 
Chiquita Points to U.S.," by Carol D. Leonnig, 
Thursday, August 2, 2007; Page A01.

2 Ibid.

3 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/lawyer-for-chiquita-in-co_b_141919.html

Mario A. Murillo is associate professor of 
Communication at Hofstra University in New York 
and author of 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1583226060/counterpunchmaga>Colombia 
and the United states: War, Unrest and 
Destabilization. He is currently living in 
Colombia working on a book about the indigenous 
movement and its uses of communications media. He 
can be reached through his <http://mamaradio.blogspot.com/>website.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081119/f80d32eb/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Nov 20 11:07:09 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:07:09 -0800
Subject: [News] Extrajudicial Assassinations As Official Israeli Policy
Message-ID: <mailman.641.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Extrajudicial Assassinations As Official Israeli Policy

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/19710

November, 20 2008

By Stephen Lendman

Extra-judicial killings are indefensible, morally abhorrent, and 
illegal under international laws and norms. Article 23b of the 1907 
Hague Regulations prohibits "assassination, proscription, or outlawry 
of an enemy, or putting a price upon an enemy's head, as well as 
offering a reward for any enemy 'dead or alive.' "

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states 
that "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of 
person." UDHR also recognizes the "inherent dignity (and the) equal 
and inalienable rights of all members of the human family."

So do "just war" principles that rule out gratuitous violence, 
assassinations, especially if premeditated, war against civilians, 
and so on, despite the difficulties of  distinguishing between 
combatants, those who've laid down their arms, and the innocent in 
times of war - let alone dealing with "terrorism" or what one analyst 
calls the "twilight zone between war and peace." Others say it's 
justifiable resistance or "blowback" in response to state-sponsored 
violence and other crimes of war and against humanity.

In 1980, the Sixth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime 
and the Treatment of Offenders condemned "the practice of killing and 
executing political opponents or suspected offenders carried out by 
armed forces, law enforcement or other governmental agencies or by 
paramilitary or political groups" acting with the support of official 
forces or agencies.

The General Assembly also acted in response to arbitrary executions 
and politically motivated killings. On December 15, 1980, it adopted 
resolution 35/172 in which it urged member states to abide by the 
provisions of Articles 6, 14 and 15 of the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political rights that cover the right to life and various 
safeguards guaranteeing fair and impartial judicial proceedings.

The first principle of the 1989 UN Principles on the Effective 
Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary 
Executions states:

"Governments shall prohibit by law all extra-legal, arbitrary and 
summary executions and shall ensure that any such executions are 
recognized as offences under their criminal laws, and are punishable 
by appropriate penalties which take into account the seriousness of 
such offenses. Exceptional circumstances, including a state of war or 
threat of war, internal political instability or any other public 
emergency may not be invoked as a justification of such executions. 
(They) shall not be carried out under any circumstances including, 
but not limited to, situations of internal armed conflict, excessive 
or illegal use of force by a public official or other person acting 
in an official capacity or by a person acting at the instigation, or 
with the consent or acquiescence of such person, and situations in 
which deaths occur in custody. This prohibition shall prevail over 
decrees issued by governmental authority."

These articles and provisions apply to occupied civilian populations, 
and the Fourth Geneva Convention and its Article 3 affords ones (like 
the Palestinians) under foreign occupation special protection. It 
covers all actions related to "Violence to life and person, Murder of 
all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture." In addition, 
"The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without 
previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, 
affording all the judicial guarantees....recognized as indispensable 
by civilized peoples."

Its Article 32 states: "the High Contracting Parties specifically 
agree that each of them is prohibited from taking any measure of such 
a character as to cause the physical suffering or extermination of 
protected persons in their hands. This prohibition applies not only 
to murder, torture, corporal punishment, mutilation and medical or 
scientific experiments not necessitated by the medical treatment of a 
protected person, but also to any other measures of brutality whether 
applied by civilian or military agents."

Its Article 85 refers to "Grave Breaches" and defines them as "Acts 
committed willfully and causing death or serious injury to body or 
health....making the civilian population or individual civilians the 
object of attack (or)launching an indiscriminate attack affecting the 
civilian population or civilian objects...."

The 2002 International Criminal Court's Rome Statute also defines 
these grave violations as war crimes that include (in its Article 8):

-- "Grave" Geneva Convention breaches;

-- "Willing killing...."

-- "Intentionally launching an attack" knowing it will "cause 
incidental loss of life...."

-- "Killing or wounding" combatants who've laid down their arms;

-- extrajudicial killings; and

-- "Killing or wounding treacherously a combatant adversary...."

In 1982, the UN established the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, 
summary or arbitrary executions. It was one of several mandates to 
address disappearances, torture, assassinations and many other human 
rights abuses and violations of international law.

Philip Alston currently holds the post to investigate extrajudicial 
killings, hold governments responsible for committing them, failing 
to prevent them, or for not responding when they're carried out by 
others. In May 2008, he issued the latest report of his "principle 
activities" in 2007 through the first three months of 2008. As of 
March 2008, he requested permission from 32 countries and Occupied 
Palestine to visit. In spite of "proceed(ing) with plans for a 
visit," Israel "so far failed to respond affirmatively." The 
Palestinian Authority (PA) "issued an invitation."

The US Position On Extrajudicial Killings

In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed Executive Order (EO) 11905 
banning the practice against foreign leaders in peacetime and by 
implication against others. Yet Reagan's Defense Secretary, Caspar 
Weinberger, argued that only "murder by treacherous means" is 
forbidden so assassinations are acceptable as long as they're 
unrelated to "treachery."

George Bush then swept aside subtleties, reversed Ford's EO, and 
authorized the CIA to assassinate Osama bin Laden, his supporters, 
and publicly stated that bin Laden "was wanted, dead or alive." His 
Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, concurred and called killing 
"terrorists" an act of "self-defense."

In June 2008, Philip Alston visited the US. He met with federal and 
state officials, judges and civil society groups in New York, 
Washington, Alabama and Texas. He also conducted a fact-finding tour 
of US prison and detention facilities and presented his findings at a 
June 30 press conference. He sharply criticized the Bush 
administration, the country's flawed judicial system, and continued 
rule of law violations. He cited:

-- racism in the application of the death penalty;

-- the lack of transparency in Guantanamo prisoner deaths;

-- a lack of information about Iraq and Afghanistan civilian deaths; 
the unwillingness of Department of Defense officials and others to 
cooperate; his concern about serious human rights violations as well; and

-- the refusal of the US Justice Department to prosecute mercenary 
contractors (like Blackwater Worldwide) who commit unlawful killings. 
Or the US military.

Israeli Extrajudicial Killings

Throughout its history, Israel willfully and systematically committed 
premeditated extrajudicial killings of Palestinians and other Arabs 
as official state policy - carried out with explicit high-level 
political, judicial and military authorization and allegedly in 
"self-defense" against individuals threatening Israeli security. 
Government officials even admit that certain persons are targeted, 
and Dan Haluts, former Israeli Army Chief of Staff, once told the 
Washington Post (in August 2006) that "Targeted killing is the most 
important method in the fight against 'terrorism.' " In other words, 
premeditated murder is acceptable as long as it's properly classified.

In May 2007 on Israeli Army Radio, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, former 
Infrastructure Minister, defended the practice and said: "We decided 
to carry out more physical liquidation operations against 
(Palestinian) 'terrorists"....I think this will eliminate the damage 
caused to Israeli territory due to the launching of Palestinian rockets."

Almost never do Israeli government or military officials show 
evidence that targeted individuals acted violently or threatened 
Jewish citizens. Simply calling them "terrorists" is justification 
enough - to kill them extrajudicially, with no recourse to due 
process or respect for international law that bans the practice for any reason.

"My crime was to protest Israeli assassinations"

On January 5, 2007, the London Guardian headlined that comment in 
reporting on Jewish activist Tali Fahima's first interview following 
her release from Israeli incarceration. Sitting with her arms 
handcuffed to a chair's legs 16 hours a day, her captors said they 
wanted to teach her to be a "good Jew." She was imprisoned for 30 
months for traveling to the West Bank, "meeting an enemy agent and 
translating a simple army document."

She explained and said her crimes were for refusing to work with Shin 
Bet (Israel's secret service), going to see the Palestinians, then 
protesting the Israeli assassinations policy. She was kept in 
isolation for nine months. Finally, at the urging of her lawyer, she 
struck a plea bargain for a shorter sentence, and ended up being 
"unbowed" by her experience. She learned how Sin Bet "terroriz(es)" 
people, both Palestinians and Jews. "About the nature of the 
government, how they do not want us to see what is going on in our name."

On August 8, 2004, she was arrested and placed under administrative 
detention in September. In December, she was charged with "assistance 
to the enemy at time of war." It was trumped up and false. In January 
2005, the Tel Aviv district court ruled that she should be placed 
under house arrest during her trial. Jerusalem's high court overruled 
it on the grounds that she "identifie(d) with an ideological goal." 
In December 2005, she pled guilty under her plea bargain to meeting 
and aiding an enemy agent and entering Palestinian territory. In 
January 2006, she was released.

She felt compelled to make regular Jenin visits. Talk to hundreds of 
people, including Palestinian resisters, and for the first time heard 
their point of view and how hard things are under occupation. For 
showing compassion and disagreeing with Israeli policies, she was 
imprisoned for nearly 30 months on false charges. Not even Jews are 
safe from harsh state retribution against anyone showing defiance or 
daring to resist injustice.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Documentation of Israeli 
Targeted Assassinations

The (1995 established) Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) 
functions independently in Gaza and enjoys "Consultative Status" with 
the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It's also an affiliate 
of the International Commission of Jurists-Geneva, the International 
Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in Paris, the Euro-Mediterranean 
Human Rights Network in Copenhagen, the Arab Organization for Human 
Rights in Cairo, and the International Legal Assistance Corsortium 
(ILAC) in Stockholm.

Palestinian lawyers and human rights activists established it to:

-- "protect human rights and promote the rule of law;"

-- create, develop and promote a democratic culture in Palestinian society; and

-- work for Palestinian self-determination and independence "in 
accordance with international law and UN resolutions."

PCHR issues documents, fact sheets, and reports like its quarterly 
accounts of Israeli extrajudicial executions in the Occupied 
Palestinian Territories (OPT). Its latest one is from April through 
June, and a more comprehensive one covered August 2006 through its 
latest June 2008 data.

PCHR states: It's "investigated and documented these (killings) in 
depth (and) concluded that the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) have 
consistently acted with utter disregard for the lives of (mostly 
innocent) Palestinian civilians in the OPT, and that IOF have 
continued to carry out state sanctioned extra-judicial executions, 
(in violation of) international human rights law....in the 
overwhelming majority of cases....suspects could have been arrested, 
but no efforts were made....and they were instead extra-judicially 
executed" - according to official state policy.

The Human Toll

Since the second Intifada's September 2000 inception through June 30, 
2008, and excluding all other Palestinian killings, the IOF carried 
out 755 OPT executions. Victims included 521 extrajudicially targeted 
and 233 bystanders, including 71 children and 20 women. In Gaza, 405 
were killed. Another 350 in the West Bank. The methods used included:

-- F-16, unmanned drone, and attack helicopter-launched 
air-to-surface missiles; tank shelling; missile launchers and gunboats;

-- Israeli military undercover units disguised as Palestinians; first 
established during the first (1987 - 1993) Intifada; they became more 
active during the second one; could easily have arrested suspects but 
instead killed them at short range; and

-- IOF targeted house ambushes in the West Bank.

Most often, civilians are attacked in their homes, vehicles, on 
streets and at workplaces. Sometimes entire families are killed, 
including children, women, the elderly, and infirm, and a July 2002 
incident was typical. It targeted Salah Shehada, an Ezzedeen 
Al-Qassam Brigades (the Hamas armed wing) leader.

The IOF knew he was with his wife and children. That they lived in a 
densely populated residential area, and former Israeli Army Chief of 
Staff, Moshe Ya'alon, admitted that he knew Shehada's wife and 
daughter "were close to him during the implementation of the 
assassination....and there was no way out of conducting the operation 
despite their presence." An Israeli F-16 bombed his home, and 
completely destroyed it. Two neighboring ones also and damaged 32 others.

The toll was horrific - 77 injured civilians; 16 others killed, 
including Shehada, his wife, daughter, assistant, eight children, 
(one a two-month old baby), and two elderly men and two women. It was 
an indefensible criminal act of wanton murder.

In May 2007, an air-to-surface missile targeted the Al-Hayia family 
at his eastern Gaza meeting hall. It scored a direct hit. Killed were 
seven members of his family, another Palestinian and the object of 
the attack - Sameh Saleh Farawana, a Hamas activist. In addition, 
three others were wounded.

In July 2006, air-to-surface missiles destroyed Dr. Nabil Abdol Latif 
Abu Selmeya's home in Gaza City's Al-Sheikh Radwan district. He, his 
wife, and seven children were killed. In addition, 34 bystanders were 
injured, including 5 children and six women. At least 15 neighboring 
homes were also damaged in an operation Israelis said targeted 
Mohammed Al-Deif, Hamas' armed wing leader and apparently Israel's 
most wanted man.

In January 2008, an air-to-surface missile struck a civilian vehicle 
carrying three members of the Al-Yazji family killing Mohammed 
Al-Yazji, his five-year old son, and his 40-year old brother. Three 
bystanders were also injured. IOF sources later admitted the attack 
was in error and was meant for another vehicle carrying Palestinian 
resistance activists.

In August 2007, a Gaza operation near the Rafah International 
Crossing Point killed two civilians, injured 12 others and slightly 
wounded three targeted activists who escaped. Moments later, another 
vehicle was struck nearby killing the driver, a civilian bystander, 
and wounding 12 others, including a child.

In November 2006 in eastern Gaza, a vehicle was struck carrying 
Bassel Sha'aban Ubeid, an Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades member. He and 
a colleague were killed. In addition, five Amen family members were 
injured, including two children.

Throughout the reporting period, there were many more killings in 
Gaza and the West Bank. In November 2006, four Jenin civilians. In 
February 2007, three others in Jenin. In March 2008, four Bethlehem 
civilians. Many others throughout the Territories in Ramallah, 
Nablus, Rafah, Khan Younis, Tul Karim, north, central and southern 
Gaza, and elsewhere - against activists, resisters, civilians, women 
and children for the crime of being Palestinians wanting 
self-determination, freedom, and respect for their rights under 
international law. For their part, Israelis, with world support and 
complicity, continue denying it to them repressively and illegally.

Extrajudicial Executions in the Latest Reporting Period - April - June 2008

During the period, the IOF conducted eight OPT assassinations killing 
a total of 16 people, including two civilian bystanders. Two 
operations were carried out in the West Bank. Six others in Gaza.

On April 14, an air-to-surface missile killed Ibrahim Mohanned Abu 
'Olba, the National Resistance Brigades' (the Democratic Front for 
the Liberation of Palestine's armed wing) leader in northern Gaza. 
Two civilians were also injured, including a 15-year old boy. In 
addition, a number of nearby houses were damaged.

On April 15, an air-to-surface missile killed Abdullah Mohammed 
al-Ghassain, an al-Quds Brigades' (the Islamic Jihad's armed wing) 
activist in northern Gaza. Three others were also injured.

On April 17, the IOF besieged a building in Qabatya village, 
southeast of Jenin in the northern West Bank. They opened fire at a 
civilian car, ordered people out of the building, and fired shells 
and demolished it with a bulldozer. Two dead Palestinians were found inside.

On April 20, an air-to-surface missile killed Nour al-Dibari in Gaza. 
A second missile targeted a number of Palestinians who just left a 
grocery shop. Its owner was seriously injured as well as his son. At 
least one other Palestinian was hurt as well.

On June 29, the IOF entered Tubas in the northern West Bank and set a 
cemetery ambush for a group of Palestinian children there throwing 
stones and Molotov cocktails at military vehicles. They opened fire 
and killed one 16-year old from multiple gunshots to the chest and abdomen.

PCHR "asserts that the Government of Israel continues to act 
recklessly, and with utter disregard for the human rights of the 
Palestinian people, including (their) right to life" and safety. 
Israel also fails "to meet its obligations under human rights law, 
including the Fourth Geneva Convention." An Israeli government 
representative wasn't available for comment.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at 
<mailto:lendmanstephen at sbcglobal.net>lendmanstephen at sbcglobal.net. 
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081120/6cf82353/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Nov 20 19:07:52 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:07:52 -0800
Subject: [News] Mass Indigenous Protest In Defense of Water in Ecuador
Message-ID: <mailman.642.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Mass Indigenous Protest In Defense of Water Caps 
Week of Mobilizations in Ecuador

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1591/1/
Written by Daniel Denvir
Thursday, 20 November 2008

Over 10,000 indigenous people from hundreds of 
Ecuador?s Northern Sierra (highlands) communities 
gathered to present the native movement?s 
proposed Water Law. Protesters chanted, ?Water is 
not for sale, it is to be defended,? as speakers 
excoriated President Rafael Correa?s draft Water 
Law, saying that it could lead to privatization 
and pollution by mining companies.

The protest was organized by the Confederation of 
Peoples of the Kichwa Nationality (Ecuaranari), 
the Sierra regional block of the Confederation of 
Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE). 
Marches left from the North, South and West to 
converge on the Pan-American Highway, blocking 
the country?s central artery for over six hours.

The march also showed the indigenous movement?s 
capacity to mobilize large numbers of people, a 
sign that the CONAIE is recovering from past 
internal divisions and political defeats. Correa 
has regularly insulted indigenous leaders and 
anti-mining activists, claiming that they do not 
represent a real political base. But indigenous people at
Wednesday?s protest were passionate about 
defending their access to clean water.

Maria came to the march from the community of 
Santa Anita, in the Central Sierra province of 
Chimborazo: ?We are here to defend the water. We 
take care of the p?ramos (Andean wetlands) to get 
our water. We don?t get our water for free. They 
say they?re going to take away our water, and we?re not going to let them.?

The protest came two days after thousands of 
campesinos and coastal fishers staged nation wide 
protests and road blockades against Correa?s 
draft Mining Law and support for large-scale 
shrimp farms. Activists contend that the law 
would allow companies to undertake damaging 
large-scale and open pit mining in ecologically 
sensitive areas, contaminating the water supply 
with heavy metals. Fishers demanded that Correa 
overturn Decree 1391, passed on October 15th, 
which handed thousands of marine hectares over to 
large-scale shrimp farmers. This will lead to the 
further destruction of mangrove forests, critical 
habitat for the area?s fish, crabs and conchs. 
Participants in all of this week?s marches have 
emphasized the importance of natural resources to their communities.

Five people were arrested during Monday?s 
protests, including Jorge Sarango, a former 
Constituent Assembly member from the indigenous 
party Pachakutik. While Sarango has been 
released, the other four activists remain in jail.

Ceaser Quilumbaquin came to Wednesday?s march 
with over 400 people from San Miguel del Prado, a 
community in the province of Pichincha.

?We?re fighting for our water because they want 
to privatize it. We are indigenous people and the 
majority of water comes from our p?ramos. Water 
is life, and the government wants to sell water 
to private entities,? said Quilumbaquin.

This week?s mobilizations are an important 
demonstration of growing social movement unity 
and independence from the government of President 
Rafael Correa. Activists say that this week?s 
mobilizations are the beginning of a larger 
movement to confront Correa?s environmental 
policies. Correa scored a huge political victory 
in September when voters overwhelmingly approved 
a new constitution, weakening the traditional 
political parties and business elites. Social 
movements, and the indigenous movement in 
particular, were instrumental in mobilizing their 
members to vote ?yes??but they have
in recent months increasingly distanced themselves from the government.

Although the Left has been in conflict with 
Correa since he took office in January 2007, 
September?s defeat of the right wing has 
emboldened social movements in taking on 
government social and environmental policies. 
Indeed, water and anti-mining activists invoke 
the new constitution?s strict environmental 
provisions in demanding local control over community territory.

Ivonne Ramos of Acci?n Ecologica, said, ?The 
constitution prioritizes the use of water to 
ensure food sovereignty, for small livestock and 
agriculture, and for human consumption. Water for industry comes last.?

And, in an interesting move, legislators usually 
close to Correa?from the Popular Democratic 
Movement (MPD) as well as Correa?s own party, 
Alianza Pa?s (AP)?showed up to speak in support 
of the Water Law. While the MPD has become 
increasingly critical of Correa in recent weeks, 
it seems likely that AP lawmakers? presence has 
more to do with posturing than a real political shift.

Indigenous delegates from Bolivia, Peru, 
Guatemala and Mexico addressed the crowd and, 
recounting their own struggles in defense of 
water, expressed their solidarity with Ecuador?s indigenous people.

Daniel Denvir is an independent journalist in 
Quito, Ecuador, and a 2008 recipient of the North 
American Congress on Latin America?s Samuel 
Chavkin Investigative Journalism Grant. He is the 
editor in chief of caterwaulquarterly.com.





Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081120/c4a6090e/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 21 15:13:55 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:13:55 -0800
Subject: [News] Israeli gunboats kidnap Gaza fisherman, peaceworkers
Message-ID: <mailman.643.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9985.shtml

Israeli gunboats kidnap Gaza fisherman, peaceworkers

Eva Bartlett, The Electronic Intifada, 21 November 2008

An Israeli naval ship sprays a Palestinian fishing boat with a water 
cannon off the coast of the Gaza Strip. (David Schermerhorn)

On the evening of Tuesday 18 November Khalid al-Habeel sat surrounded 
by his wife, family, and other concerned fishermen. Until the early 
hours of the following day, they had no idea what charges were being 
laid against 15 fishermen, including two of al-Habeel's sons, Adham 
(21) and Mohammed (20), after they were nabbed from Gaza's 
territorial waters earlier that morning and taken to an Israeli 
interrogation center at Ashdod port. Nor did they know when or if 
their boats -- their livelihoods -- would be returned.

Khaled Al-Habeel, or Abu Adham (father of Adham) explained the events 
leading up to the fishermen's arrest. "Shortly after 10am, I got a 
panicked call from Adham, who was captain today, saying their boat 
was surrounded by Israeli naval boats."

"There are many ships around us; there's no way to leave," said Adham 
to his father. Their boat was approximately seven miles out from Deir 
al-Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip.

Although Palestinian fishermen have the right to fish up to 20 
nautical miles from Gaza's coast, as laid-out in the 1994 Interim 
Agreement signed by Israel, since 1996 Israel has downsized this 
distance in stages, documented by the Palestinian Centre for Human 
Rights (PCHR). Imposing a sea blockade on Gaza in 1996, Israel 
illegally reduced the allowable fishing zone to 12 nautical miles. 
 From 2002 to 2003 this was further reduced to six miles from Gaza's shore.

While Adham and the more than 3,500 professional fishermen that scour 
Gaza's waters for needed sustenance and sources of income are 
accustomed to Israeli navy harassment, Tuesday's encounter was 
different, heightened.

"We're used to facing Israeli attacks in the sea, but we've never 
seen anything like what happened today. Usually, the Israeli soldiers 
surround us with a large ship and a smaller gunboat. They shoot at 
and around our boat with automatic rifles, and they water cannon the 
boat. When they arrest us, they make us strip down to our underwear, 
jump into the water, and swim to their ship where we are then hauled 
up, handcuffed, and taken away to an Israeli interrogation center and 
even arrest. Today was very different. It's the first time they've 
actually boarded our boats," al-Habeel explained.

Khaled's brother, Abed al-Habeel, and the father of another of the 
arrested fishermen, Rami (30), corroborated the testimony, adding 
that their greatest worry was the boats right now: "In the past, I've 
had my boat confiscated. It was three years ago, and the Israeli 
soldiers arrested Rami, who was fishing four miles off the coast. 
They held him for four months, and kept our boat for 70 days. This 
was a huge loss to us, and when it was finally returned to us it had 
been seriously damaged by the soldiers' shooting. The nets, the 
motor, everything was destroyed or stolen," he said, adding that the 
total losses and damages amounted to US $40,000.

"We've done nothing wrong. We are innocent, just trying to earn our 
living. Our boats are our only source of income," said Abu Adham. 
"But what can we do?" he asked.

A crisis created

The two al-Habeel fishing trawlers and equipment together amount to 
approximately US $280,000. With the entire family being either 
fishermen or dependent on the livelihood and food source fishing 
provides, the confiscation of their boats is a severe blow to the 
family. In an area which has already been devastated a siege on the 
economy, exports, health sector, education, and basic existence of 
Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians, the fishing sector is one of the few 
reliable sources of income and food.

According to Abu Adham, it is not only his immediate family which is 
punished by the boats' confiscation. "Our boats are like a company," 
he said. Around 300 people in total are affected by the loss of their 
two trawlers: other workers employed on the boats, at the docks, in 
the fish market, transporting fish goods, as well as the buyers 
themselves who have come to rely heavily on the sea's offerings as a 
source of protein and nutrition at a time when red meat is scarce and 
very expensive.

Since September 2008, after the arrival of the Free Gaza boats, human 
rights observers with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) 
have been traveling with Gaza's fishermen, into waters further out 
than the arbitrarily-imposed six-mile limit. The observers have 
documented numerous instances of attack at the hands of the Israeli 
army, from as little as three miles from shore, including being shot 
at with live ammunition and shelling, being water cannoned -- during 
which soldiers specifically target the boats structural components, 
particularly breakables like glass, glass panels and machinery -- and 
more recently being doused with a foul, sewage-smelling water shot 
from the water cannon. The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem 
has documented testimonies of fishermen who suffered harassment and 
arrest, had their nets cut, and boats and equipment confiscated, 
often returned with broken and missing equipment, and costly damages 
to key boat structures.

Behind the kidnapping

In the early hours of Wednesday, 19 November, all 15 arrested 
fishermen were released to the Erez crossing into Gaza. Their boats, 
along with the three internationals, are still being held by Israeli 
authorities. Nidal, a 23 year old father of one child, was among the 
arrested fishermen.

"We were just over seven miles out off the shore from Deir al-Balah 
and we saw two Israeli gunboats approach our fishing vessel. Five 
smaller boats surrounded Abed Almoati al-Habeel's boat," the boat 
that Scottish volunteer Andrew Muncie (34) was on, Nidal explained. 
"We began quickly pulling our nets in," he continued. "When they had 
arrested people on that boat, one of the gunboats came and ordered us 
to turn our motor off. They ordered us to come to the front of our 
boat, threatening to shoot to kill."

Italian volunteer Vittorio Arrigoni ("Vik") (33) on the 2nd boat to 
be surrounded, continued filming as Israeli soldiers boarded the 
boat. Colleague Darlene Wallach (57) was on the third boat and 
related via phone what happened next. "They used a taser on Vik while 
he was still on the boat, then tried to push him backwards onto a 
sharp piece of wood. He jumped into the sea to avoid being hurt more 
than he already was, and was in the water for quite a while," Nidal said.

"Almost 20 soldiers had boarded the boat, pointing their guns in our 
faces and ordering us not to move. They left the captain, Mohammed, 
on the boat and forced us off and onto the smaller boat, which 
transferred us to the larger gunship."

Mohammed confirmed this account, adding, "This was the first time we 
weren't forced to strip and jump into the water." Three soldiers 
remained on Mohammed's boat and, after the operation was repeated on 
the third boat, ordered Mohammed to head towards Ashdod, the first 
Israeli port, along with the other two fishing vessels.

Wallach by phone said this of her arrest: "I was told 'You are in 
Israeli territory.' even though it was obvious that all three boats 
were in Palestinian territory," she said. "They kidnapped me and 
Andrew and Vik, and all of the Palestinian fishermen."

Later, at the Ashdod port, during their interrogation, the fishermen 
were questioned specifically on the international observers. "Why did 
you have internationals on your boat?" they were asked. "Who is 
responsible for sending the internationals? Who pays them? Where do 
they live? Do you get a good catch when the internationals are on 
board?" the questioning continued, with a very specific and evident 
interest, including a non-veiled threat: "You think that you have 
protection because you have internationals on your boat? Let's see 
what these international can do for you now," one fisherman said 
soldiers threatened.

After their half-day detention, the fishermen were released without 
any charges, although their boats remain confiscated.

Abu Rami feels the kidnapping of the 15 fishermen and three 
international observers was a clear message: "It's a message to 
internationals in Gaza to not accompany fishermen. It's also a 
message to fishermen not to go far out in our own waters, although we 
need to because that is where the fish are."

Steadfast against the siege

Prison time has not broken the spirits of the three human rights 
activists, who are all being held in Israel's Maasiyahu prison, near 
Lydd. Rather, they are determined to protest what they say is the 
"stealing" of Palestinian fishing boats, as well as their kidnapping 
from Gaza's waters. Wallach maintains that "at no point, before we 
were transported by the Israeli navy into Israel, did we enter 
internationally-recognized Israeli waters."

Arrigoni commented via phone on Thursday: "A few days ago I was in a 
big prison with no electricity and little running water. Now I'm in a 
smaller prison with electricity and clean, running water."

On 21 November, the three began a hunger strike, calling foremost for 
the return of the fishing boats, and further calling for their own 
return to Gaza.

The incident comes just a week after a delegation of 11 European 
Members of Parliament, all denied entry through Egypt's Rafah 
crossing, visited the Gaza Strip, arriving via the third Free Gaza 
voyage. Amongst the delegation were: former UK Secretary of State for 
International Development Clare Short, Lord Ahmed Nazir, and Baroness 
Jenny Tonge. Tonge condemned the arrests.

"The time has come for the international community, and especially 
the European Union to take action against Israel's consistent 
breaking of international law. The EU-Israel Association Agreement 
should be suspended until Israel complies with this law. It was only 
last week that I personally met with the fishermen whose boats are 
illegally water-cannoned and fired upon by Israeli gunboats as they 
peacefully fish in Gaza waters."

Clare Short's comments addressed not only the recent arrests, but the 
devastating siege which has been imposed on Gaza for 18 months now. 
"I am pleased that the fishermen have been released because they 
should never have been arrested. But their boats must immediately be 
returned to them, otherwise their livelihoods are lost and the wrong 
has not been righted. The siege of Gaza must be lifted and the UK 
must insist that these illegal attacks by the Israeli navy on Gazans, 
fishing peacefully within their own water must cease," Short remarked.

Indeed, while the arrest of the 15 fishermen and three internationals 
highlights the continual and systematic injustice fishermen face, 
over 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners remain incarcerated in 
Israeli prisons and the siege on Gaza's 1.5 million civilians worsens 
ever still.

While Israel is seemingly trying to conceal the alarming 
deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Gaza by preventing 
journalists from entering Gaza for over 13 days now, pressure is 
growing, from European parliamentarians to UN officials, for Israel 
to end its siege.

"By function of this blockade, 1.5 million Palestinian men, women and 
children have been forcibly deprived of their most basic human rights 
for months," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said 
in a statement. Pillay continued, stating: "Only a full lifting of 
the blockade followed by a strong humanitarian response will be 
adequate to relieve the massive humanitarian suffering evident in Gaza today."

Eva Bartlett is a Canadian human rights advocate and freelancer who 
spent eight months in 2007 living in West Bank communities and four 
months in Cairo and at the Rafah crossing. She is currently based in 
Gaza, after the third successful voyage of the Free Gaza movement to 
break the siege on Gaza.



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081121/e84e9b5e/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov 25 10:35:21 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:35:21 -0800
Subject: [News] The Indigenous and Popular Minga Has Taken Over Colombia's
 Capital
Message-ID: <mailman.644.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

The Indigenous and Popular Minga Has Taken Over Colombia's Capital

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1593/1/
Written by Mario A. Murillo
Monday, 24 November 2008

It's been a busy series of days in Bogot? as the 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9228>MINGA 
Popular continues to expand and flourish. From 
the streets in the center of the city, to the 
Plaza del Ch? at the National University where an 
international forum was held on Saturday, from 
the media centers of the indigenous movement to 
the dozens of meetings taking place around the 
city where "Mingueros" are discussing the five 
point agenda with all the sectors that are 
interested to listen, the enthusiasm and energy 
of the popular movement can be felt.

After Friday's massive march through Bogot? that 
started at the campus of the National University, 
one that brought together over 20,000 people into 
the Plaza Bolivar for a spirited rally under a 
consistent rain, Saturday was a day focused more 
on concrete work that needs to be carried out to 
continue the organizing of the people. The 
highest profile meeting was held at la SENA, 
<http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/bogota/articulo92668-tensa-reunion-entre-minga-indigena-y-gobierno>where 
government ministers and the indigenous 
leadership met for several hours in a tense 
session to discuss the government's failure to 
fulfill its obligations to the communities under 
previous accords, and the ongoing violence being 
carried out by the state security forces against indigenous people.

Simultaneous to that high-level encounter, 
representatives of the many different regional 
organizations participating in the MINGA got 
together in commissions, and scattered around 
throughout the city, meeting with student groups, 
local community councils, rank and file workers, 
and many other sectors to promote the message of 
the Minga. These are what the community refers to 
as "barridos," or "sweeps," designed to open up 
the dialogue with the people even further, and 
begin an ongoing discussion based on the conclusion of Friday's historic rally.

At the rally, Feliciano Valencia, a member of the 
council of chiefs of the Regional Indigenous 
Council of Cauca, CRIC, reminded the crowd that 
"the Minga is a long-term process that does not 
conclude with a rally where we hear some strong speeches and then go home."

He emphasized the need to continue to build on 
the momentum started on October 11th, in La 
Maria, Piendam?, in Cauca, where the Minga began 
over five weeks ago. In essence, Valencia and 
other speakers were talking about the 
construction of a broad-based popular movement in 
opposition to the neoliberal, militarist model 
that is represented faithfully by the current 
regime. They are very well aware that 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9218>the 
work will not be easy, given the many different 
sectors they are calling together and the 
diverging interests that they could come to 
represent. However, what is clear from the events 
of the last several weeks, and in particular the 
unity expressed this weekend here in the nation's 
capital, is that there is a commitment to joint 
mobilization, as well as to continue working together for the long-term.

One of the highlights of Friday's rally was the 
public pact made between the leadership of the 
Central Workers Union, 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9229>CUT 
and the indigenous movement to work together from 
now on in coalition to confront the government of 
President Alvaro Uribe. Tarsicio Mora Godoy, the 
President of CUT, made a rousing speech and shook 
the hand of Feliciano Valencia, committing the 
resources and the sweat equity of the rank and 
file to join forces in the Minga in its struggle for social transformation.

"The CUT will march together with you so that all 
the violent actions against the civilian 
population cease and so that the state guarantees 
the respect for the human rights of the people 
and that impunity is broken. So that they 
guarantee all the victims of this violence the 
right to the truth, justice, reparation and that 
it will not happen again," said Godoy.

He emphasized,"We cannot continue fighting our struggles alone."

This point was reiterated by Ezequiel Viton?s, a 
Nasa leader from Toribio, and chief council of 
the 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/noticias.htm?x=9228>Association 
of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, 
who summarized the work agenda towards the end of the rally.

"The minga does not end here, the minga continues 
with its call, waking up the conscience of the 
people and uniting forces, sharing pains, walking 
the word without looking at borders nor limits. 
Because the hope for life transcends these 
physical spaces, and each and every one of us is 
responsible for taking care of and watching grow 
this little child that today is being born," he said.

There have been a number of other big stories 
making headlines in Colombia the last several 
days, pushing the coverage of the Minga to a 
second, third and even fourth tier in terms of 
the commercial news agenda. The ongoing crisis 
caused by the financial schemes known as 
"Pyramids" continues to generate the most 
attention, followed since Friday morning by the 
natural disaster unfolding as a result of the 
<http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/occidente/al-menos-10-muertos-8-desaparecidos-y-150-atrapados-por-erupcion-del-volcan-nevado-del-huila_4681947-1>eruption 
of the Nevado del Huila volcano. Latest reports 
say that at least ten people were killed and 
another 150 remain trapped as of Sunday morning 
as a result of the avalanche and mudslide caused 
by the melting of the snow after the eruption. 
The departments affected by the eruption include 
Huila, Tolima and Cauca, in particular the 
indigenous territory of Tierradentro.

Yet despite the limited commercial media coverage 
of the important events related to the protests 
and meetings this weekend, it is quite apparent 
that the Minga has developed a life of its own, 
and is not dependent anymore on getting the 
attention of these corporate information 
channels. The representation of the Minga on the 
major news channels has been problematic from the 
start. The evidence is clear: The National 
Indigenous Organization of Colombia, ONIC, 
<http://www.altanto.info/onic>has been 
documenting every news piece that has come out on 
just about every media outlet since October 11th, 
so anybody interested can check for themselves. 
The public, unfortunately, remains extremely 
uninformed about the historic developments that are unfolding before them.

Today, there are many alternatives! The massive 
presence of independent media at all these events 
- video cameras documenting the marches and 
rallies, photographers clicking away at the 
dramatic militance of the protesters, community 
radio producers gathering natural sound, 
speeches, and interviews for their respective 
outlets - are presenting a comprehensive 
alternative narrative - the people's narrative - 
that undoubtedly is having an impact on how the 
Minga is playing out with public opinion. It has 
resulted in tremendous solidarity from abroad, 
and unprecedented collaboration and participation 
from ordinary people here in Colombia since the Minga began.

Despite the false accusations of the government, 
despite the racist underpinnings of the media 
coverage, and the almost deliberate 
mis-information that has accompanied it, the 
people have come out in small towns and large 
cities to welcome the mingueros, and join with 
them in solidarity. No doubt there is still 
profound opposition to the Minga from a certain, 
very powerful and intolerant sector of Colombian 
society. I am not naive to think that the 
indigenous movement has reached everybody with 
equal amounts of empathy and solidarity. If you 
read the comments section on the websites of El 
Tiempo and El Espectador, for example, the 
vitriolic hate speech comes across loud and 
clear. But undoubtedly there is widespread 
support from a broad cross section of the 
Colombian population who have simply had enough 
of the Uribe propaganda machine.

For me, one of the most impressive images of 
Friday's march was seeing dozens of men and women 
in business suits, the heart of Colombia's 
business class on their lunch breaks, lining the 
famous Avenida Septima in downtown Bogot?, 
applauding enthusiastically and raising their 
fists in the air as the thousands of protesters 
marched by. One elegant man shouted out "No more 
lies of this tyrannical President! Que viva la Minga!" It was wonderful.

The next steps are still being hammered out by 
the leadership and the base. One clear target 
date is October 12, 2009, where the movement will 
hold a national people's congress to move the 
Minga forward. But there is a lot to do in the coming days and weeks.

On Sunday, more events are planned throughout the 
city. There might even be another debate with the 
President, although this has yet to be hammered out.

To hear some of the sounds of Friday's rally, 
<http://www.nasaacin.org/index.html>check out the 
ACIN's website and scroll down a bit to the audio 
links. There you will hear the voices of 
Valencia, Viton?s and Mora, as well as the many 
other speakers at the Plaza Sim?n Bolivar.

Mario A. Murillo is associate professor of 
Communication at Hofstra University in New York, 
and the author of Colombia and the United States: 
War, Unrest and Destabilization. He is currently 
living in Colombia, finishing a book about the 
indigenous movement and its uses of community media.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081125/26c37780/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Nov 25 18:32:25 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:32:25 -0800
Subject: [News] Frank Cieciorka has died.
Message-ID: <mailman.645.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

A great movement artist and friend of the Freedom 
Archives, Frank Cieciorka, has died. He will be 
missed?his work goes marching on!

[]


Frank Cieciorka, 69, Artist and Activist

             Frank Cieciorka, a nationally 
recognized watercolor painter, political artist, 
activist, and author who created many of the 
iconic images of the 1960s, including the 
clenched fist and the black panther, died on 
November 24, 2008 at his home in Alderpoint, 
California. The cause was emphysema.

             Born April 26, 1939, Frank grew up 
in the upstate New York factory town of Johnson 
City where his father worked at a grocery 
store.  Frank began work at the age of 14 as a 
bowling alley pin-boy and then on the assembly 
line at the local shoe factory. Recognized since 
childhood for his artistic talent, he enrolled in 
the fine arts program at San Jose State College 
in 1957, where he became an anti-war activist, 
protesting military interventions in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic.

             On graduating in 1964, Frank 
volunteered for Freedom Summer in Mississippi and 
later was hired as a field secretary for the 
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). 
He helped organize African-Americans to register 
to vote and assisted in organizing the racially 
integrated Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, 
which challenged the all-white official 
Democratic Party. Frank also wrote and 
illustrated Negroes in American History?A Freedom 
Primer, taught in Freedom Schools throughout the 
south. The book is still used as a resource text.

             Frank continued his political 
activism in San Francisco, where he became 
artistic director of The Movement, a national 
newspaper of community, anti-war, and civil 
rights organizing.  His art also appeared in many 
other publications, posters, and underground 
papers, including The Realist. Among the powerful 
images he created for The Movement were full-size 
front-page portraits of Nat Turner and John 
Brown. His political artistry there and at 
People?s Press inspired a generation of activist artists.

             At the end of the Sixties, tired of 
city life, Frank became an avid backpacker. In 
1972 he purchased a half-acre plot in rural 
Alderpoint, where he designed and built his own 
home and studio, and turned to watercolor 
painting. His works celebrate the southern 
Humboldt County countryside, the beauty of the 
female figure in natural settings, and ordinary people doing what they do.

             He is survived by his wife, the 
painter Karen Horn, with whom he enjoyed over 25 
years of love and artistic dialogue. He is also 
survived by his step-daughter, Zena Goldman Hunt 
and her family, and by his brother, James 
Cieciorka, and his wife, Jean. Family and friends 
rejoice in having shared Frank?s life: a 
testimony to political and artistic passion.





Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081125/be087e60/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: fist frank3small.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 34988 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081125/be087e60/attachment.jpg>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov 26 10:45:44 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:45:44 -0800
Subject: [News] What Election Results Mean for Venezuela
Message-ID: <mailman.646.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:45:14 -0500 (EST)
From: Venezuela Information Office <newsandaction at veninfo.org>


VENEZUELA'S 2008 REGIONAL ELECTIONS


Regional elections held in Venezuela on November 
23rd, 2008 have been portrayed in the U.S. media 
as a defeat for the government of President Hugo 
Ch?vez, when in fact the results strongly favor 
his party, the PSUV. The vast majority of state 
governorships and mayoralties, including those in 
many strategic parts of the country such as the 
Orinoco Oil Belt, remain under pro-government leadership.

The majority of Venezuelan citizens voted for 
candidates aligned with the Ch?vez government. 
Due to this broad popular support, the PSUV and 
its allies won 77 percent of governorships and 80 
percent of mayoralties. Even in Caracas, where 
the overarching metropolitan mayoralty went to 
the opposition, residents of the city's most 
populous district of Libertador elected a PSUV 
candidate as their local representative.

Voter turnout in the regional elections was a 
record-setting 65 percent. The electoral process 
was the 11th to occur in Venezuela in about a 
decade, and was deemed "peaceful and exemplary" 
by OAS Secretary General Jos? Miguel Insulza. He 
commented that the process was a powerful 
expression of the maturity of the country's 
democratic institutions as well as the trust that 
Venezuelans have in them. The National Electoral 
Council again proved its reputation for efficient 
and accurate electoral oversight by posting 
official results online less than 24 hours after the polls closed.

U.S. media coverage - including editorials in the 
Washington Post and New York Times - has ignored 
the facts enumerated below, points which are 
essential to understanding contemporary political realities in Venezuela.

Most Governors and Mayors Support the Ch?vez Government
The electoral map of Venezuela shows that 
pro-government PSUV candidates gained the 
majority of offices throughout the country. They 
won 17 out of 22 governorships, or 77 percent of 
the total. This is more than was claimed by PSUV 
governors and allies before the 2008 regional 
elections, at which point they held 15 states out 
of 22. PSUV candidates and allies also won 
mayoral posts in 80 percent of municipalities 
throughout the nation. Meanwhile, in at least 
four out of the five states where opposition 
governors were elected, the majority of 
mayoralties went to the PSUV (Zulia is still to 
be decided). This is true in Carabobo, where an 
opposition governor won, but at least 11 out of 
14 of the new municipal mayors are members of the 
PSUV, including the mayor of Puerto Cabello, a 
major port city that is important to the oil 
industry. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=5IRB2pFNOg2YUKZwWO5HOWL4nBlKkaoC>National 
Electoral Council, 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=0ZMwXvgJ%2BM5RRqG%2FVQD0IWL4nBlKkaoC>Embassy 
of Venezuela)

Most Venezuelans Live Under Pro-Ch?vez Local Leaders
As has been true for nearly a decade, the 
majority of Venezuela's population will continue 
to live in states with pro-Ch?vez governors. This 
is currently true for 57 percent of the country's 
population, while a smaller amount - 43 percent - 
have opposition governors. Some municipalities 
shifted to PSUV leadership by choosing a 
progressive leader for the first time during the 
tenure of the Ch?vez administration, including 
Valencia, an important industrial and 
manufacturing city in the coastal state of 
Carabobo. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8EIgqaEFLit14jCuiPzTIWL4nBlKkaoC>Instituto 
Nacional de Estadistica, 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=7I2Sv3r%2BL6WWyqF%2FkZhyl2L4nBlKkaoC>Diario 
El Carabobe?o)

The PSUV Achieved Victory in Strategic Areas of the Country
All states in Venezuela with strategic natural 
resources and industries elected PSUV candidates 
for governor, with the exception of Zulia in the 
West. This means that pro-government leadership 
prevailed in the oil-rich states of Anzoategui, 
Barinas, Bol?var, Monagas, and Delta Amacuro, 
some of which encompass the lucrative Orinoco Oil 
Belt. The state of Bol?var, in particular, also 
hosts the country's other important basic 
industries: hydroelectricity, aluminum, steel, 
iron, and petrochemicals. A majority of the 
mayoral races in these states also went to PSUV 
candidates. The PSUV won mayoral races in 15 out 
of 21 municipalities in Anzoategui, at least 
seven out of 11 in Bol?var, at least eight of 12 
in Barinas, at least 12 of 13 in Monagas, and 
three out of four in Delta Amacuro. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wNyBivVTBwAMCkTnKJHvI2L4nBlKkaoC>National 
Electoral Council)

Pro-Government Candidates Won by Wide Margins
In races for state governors, the opposition's 
five victories were claimed by far smaller 
margins than those earned by the PSUV, which 
clearly dominated in the remaining 17 states. 
This is a key difference. Opposition candidates 
won by margins of just 10 percentage points or 
less in four of those states (as low as 1.3% in 
Tachira and 3% in Carabobo), and won by 15 
percentage points in the fifth state (Nueva 
Esparta). In contrast, the 17 pro-government 
victories were more decisive overall. Candidates 
supporting the government won by roughly 50 
percentage points in two states, 30 percentage 
points in five states, 20 percentage points in 
four states, and 5 to 10 percent in six more 
states. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OJfD4sKK2z%2FrYnOClLorovAtW%2FwxfGDK>National 
Electoral Council)

Residents of the Largest Caracas Municipality Voted for the PSUV
Although the mayor for metropolitan Caracas went 
to the opposition, Libertador, the city's most 
heavily populated district - home to 1.7 million 
residents - elected the PSUV's municipal mayoral 
candidate Jorge Rodr?guez. Libertador is by far 
the largest of the five urban districts in 
Caracas. The PSUV won this election by a wide 
margin of 12 percent, earning 106,487 more votes 
than the opposition's candidate. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=fChSZsyN06aHIPvis49UzGL4nBlKkaoC>National 
Electoral Council)

Even in Opposition-Controlled States, Key Municipalities Went to the PSUV
The assertion that nearly half the country will 
be under the leadership of the opposition is 
incorrect. In states where the governorships went 
to the opposition, a large number of the mayoral 
seats went to PSUV candidates or their allies. 
The opposition won the governorship in Carabobo, 
Tachira, Nueva Esparta, Zulia, and Miranda. In 
the state of Carabobo, the opposition only 
managed to win two of the mayoral races, while 
the PSUV won 11 mayoral races. In the state of 
Nueva Esparta, 6 of the 11 mayoral races went to 
the PSUV. In Tachira, the PSUV won at least 15 of 
29 mayoral races. In Miranda, they won at least 
14 of 21 races. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=vORII4z%2B%2FGyRpfeeLcP9z2L4nBlKkaoC>National 
Electoral Council)

Venezuela's Electoral Authority Handled Record Voter Turnout
The regional elections saw a record-setting 65.5 
percent voter turnout. Of the 16.8 million 
registered voters in Venezuela, roughly 11 
million went to the polls. This is a record for 
the country, and likely among the highest rates 
of voter turnout in local elections anywhere in 
the hemisphere. Despite this, the National 
Electoral Council (CNE) managed the influx at the 
polls and made results of the voting available 
online through its website just hours after all 
of the 11,297 polling stations closed. This was 
made possible by the electronic voting machines 
used in Venezuela, which have been praised as 
among the most advanced and accurate in the 
world. The CNE presents results broken down by 
candidate for each state and municipality in an 
easily accessible format. (Source: 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2FHGw9cnzauI7jY3kDU0acGL4nBlKkaoC>Embassy 
of Venezuela, 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YtWeOJxml3WTKycxbC6VKGL4nBlKkaoC>National 
Electoral Council)

Unfortunately, despite the extensive records 
available on the CNE website, many media outlets 
in the U.S. have failed to report accurately on 
the results of the regional elections. One 
example is the claim made in a Wall Street 
Journal article and a New York Times editorial on 
November 25th that more than half of Venezuela is 
under opposition control, which, according to the 
official statistics presented here, is inaccurate and misleading.



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081126/cad16ab2/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Nov 26 15:08:08 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:08:08 -0800
Subject: [News] FBI Uses Race and ethnicity to drive investigations
Message-ID: <mailman.647.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>


<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/south_bay_activists/message/5708;_ylc=X3oDMTJxcDUzbGFmBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzg3NjUzODYEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwNjgyBG1zZ0lkAzU3MDgEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTIyNzY5MDc3MA-->Racial 
profiling: new commentary

Date: Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 8:27 AM


When the FBI Sees Danger Race and ethnicity should never be the driving
force behind investigations.

By Bennie G. Thompson

Legal Times

November 24, 2008

Should the FBI be allowed to use race or 
ethnicity as a factor in opening an 
investigation?or what the bureau calls an assessment?of American citizens?
The attorney general has apparently said yes.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Sept. 29 
issued new guidelines governing domestic investigations undertaken by the FBI.

The main purpose of these
guidelines, which go into effect on Dec. 1, is to consolidate a range of
existing guidance for various types of investigations, including criminal
cases, national security matters, foreign intelligence collection, civil
disorders, and demonstrations. But they also lower barriers to FBI agents
building an investigation based, in part, on the race or ethnicity of the
people being looked at.

While the Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that laws using race as a
predicate are almost always suspect, the attorney general has seemingly
concluded that this long-established proscription is no longer applicable.

That's just wrong.

*JUSTICE VERSUS ITSELF*

Ironically, the Justice Department is now of two minds on allowing the use
of race and ethnicity in launching investigations. While imposing these new
guidelines, the department has not changed an older policy against racial
and ethnic profiling.

In 2003, the Justice Department implemented a race neutrality policy titled
"Guidance Regarding the Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies."

Pursuant to this policy, the department mandated that all federal law
enforcement authorities, including those not under the Justice Department's
direct jurisdiction, absolutely prohibit the use of "generalized
stereotypes" about race or ethnicity as a factor in their investigative
procedures.

Additionally, if race or ethnicity were to be considered, the 2003 policy
required some sort of trustworthy corroborating 
evidence linking individuals of a particular race 
or ethnicity to "an identified criminal incident,
scheme, or organization."

Now, the new guidelines for domestic investigations eliminate this
requirement for corroborating evidence, allowing the FBI to open an
investigation based on nothing more than a general suspicion.

Add the new standard in which race or ethnicity 
can be a key factor in starting an investigation, 
and it grows much too easy to bring the 
investigative might of the federal government to 
bear on the life of an ordinary American.

These lower standards are not necessary to protect our natural security.

The 2003 policy takes into consideration both the intricacies and urgency of
preventing threats to national security, enforcing laws protecting the
nation's borders, and shielding the nation from catastrophic loss of life.

The policy states that federal law enforcement officers may not consider
race or ethnicity "except to the extent permitted by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States."

Both the policy's explanation and the examples 
given illustrate the use of race or ethnicity in 
circumstances where there is corroborating 
evidence, including reliable information or 
intelligence sources that indicate that race or 
ethnicity is a relevant factor in identifying potentially harmful individuals.

But the new guidelines for domestic operations issued by the attorney
general disregard this careful balancing act between national security and
individual liberty. They essentially give the FBI a license to profile
members of certain racial and ethnic groups without cause.

Mukasey is sending mixed signals to law enforcement officers. On the one
hand, the new guidelines allow racial profiling without any suspicion of
wrongdoing or corroborating evidence. On the other hand, the old policy
forbids it. What is a responsible FBI agent to do?

* WHICH POLICY?*

The confusion doesn't end there.

Will law enforcement agents from other offices of 
the Justice Department and from other agencies 
that engage in national security investigations 
be informed that a FBI investigation in which 
they might participate was predicated upon the use of race or ethnicity?

Will those other offices or agencies be forced to 
alter their policies in order to work with an 
agency that is often the lead investigator in critical situations?

If other agencies retain their race neutrality policies?and I certainly hope
that is the case?whose policy will prevail on joint investigations? The
FBI's new guidelines could let other agencies 
continue to formally recognize that race- or 
ethnicity-based investigations are misguided 
while improperly gathering race- or 
ethnicity-based information through a back door.

Consider the Department of Home?land Security. In 2004, then-Secretary Tom
Ridge explicitly adopted the Justice Department's 
race neutrality policy for his department. That 
policy has remained in effect throughout Secretary
Michael Chertoff's tenure.

Of course, the Department of Home?land Security 
and the FBI often cooperate with each other in 
national security matters. How will they 
reconcile their newly conflicting mandates on 
race and ethnicity? Where one's race neutrality 
policy conflicts with the other's racial predicate policy, which will prevail?

As chairman of the House Com?mittee on Homeland Security, I have been an
ardent supporter of information sharing among law 
enforcement agencies and have repeatedly 
emphasized the importance of agencies coming together to "connect the dots."

Those "dots" are supposed to be the national 
security and foreign intelligence that different 
agencies have gathered reliably and legally. The 
new FBI guidelines put the intelligence gleaned 
by one agency in a whole different light.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, citizens of all races and
ethnicities have worked with and provided information to law enforcement to
ensure that this country does not suffer another devastating attack. They
have not differentiated among their fellow Americans based on race and
ethnicity. They should be able to rest assured that their government does
not and will not do that either.

Any less of a guarantee casts doubt on the ability of the Justice
Depart?ment to truly live up to its name. It is my sincere hope that
Mukasey's actions will not be considered as a model for a government-wide
shift in policy under this administration or the next.

------------------------------
*Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) is the 
chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.*

<<http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1&view=page&name=gp&ver=sh3fib53pgpk#11dd599c3aa759e4_toc>http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1&view=page&name=gp&ver=sh3fib53pgpk#11dd599c3aa759e4_toc>



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081126/03510f36/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 28 11:23:47 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:23:47 -0800
Subject: [News] Gaza's Death Throes
Message-ID: <mailman.648.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

http://www.counterpunch.org/karkar11282008.html

November 28-30, 2008


Is Anyone Listening?

Gaza's Death Throes

By SONJA KARKAR

What kind of government in the 21st century can 
deny another people basic human rights - that is, 
the right to food, water, shelter, security and dignity?

What kind of government imposes draconian 
sanctions on another people for democratically 
electing a government not to its liking?

What kind of government seals a heavily populated 
territory of 1.5 million people so that no person 
can enter or leave without permission, fishermen 
cannot fish in their own waters, and world food 
aid cannot be delivered to the starving population?

What kind of government shuts off fuel, water and 
electricity and then rains down on the people, bombs and artillery fire?

The answer is - no government of integrity.

And yet, government after government in Israel 
continues to demand recognition and accolades as 
a first world democracy superior to all others, 
despite Israel?s flouting of international law, 
its human rights abuses and the criminality and 
corruption of Israeli leaders.  Worse still, the 
world has acquiesced and has welcomed every 
Israeli administration into its fold as a favoured guest.

This should give everyone pause to revisit our 
noble declarations of independence and human 
rights, ethics, morality, religious beliefs, 
civil liberties and the rule of law.  Are they 
just for show or do they really mean 
something?   Are they intended only for some people or for all people?

Israel?s President Shimon Peres is just one of 
the many leaders who have furthered Israel?s 
aggressive policies and programs and yet he has 
been honoured with a knighthood from the Queen 
and is likely to be honoured with a lecture 
series named after him at Oxford University?s 
Balliol College. Dubious honours indeed, for a 
man who helped to forcibly expel 750,000 
Palestinians from their homeland in the 1948 war.

Today, we are witnessing in Gaza the kind of 
ghetto the world thought it would never see again 
and the comparison was conjured up early this 
year by Israel?s deputy defence minister Matan 
Vilnai  when he threatened ?a bigger holocaust 
(shoah)? against the Palestinians in 
Gaza.  Later, he explained away his use of the 
word as meaning ?disaster?, when in fact it has 
emotional connotations well known to 
everyone.  Either way, the threat was ominous enough.

The slow death that is being visited on the 
Palestinians in Gaza is finding its first victims 
in more than 400 critically ill patients who are 
being prevented from leaving Gaza for urgent 
medical attention in Israeli or Arab hospitals. 
Thousands of other patients are being turned away 
from hospitals suffering from a severe shortage 
of 300 different kinds of medicines.

The hospitals have been deprived of medicines and 
equipment for so long now, that the trickle of 
supplies finally being allowed through, can no 
longer meet the minimum daily needs of the 
Palestinian civilian population.  Similarly, the 
energy fuel being shipped in, is barely enough to 
operate the Gaza power plant for one day.

This drip-feeding of aid was suggested by Israeli 
Prime Ministerial adviser Dov Weisglas who said 
in February 2006: ?The idea is to put the 
Palestinians on a diet, but not make them die of hunger.?

Such a malevolent policy has led to a steady 
increase in malnutrition as people are being 
starved of their staples of life. Not only have 
the flour mills been forced to shut down because 
fuel and power have run out, but now all wheat 
supplies have been exhausted.  Out of the 72 
bakeries operating in the Gaza Strip, 29 have 
completely stopped baking bread and others are 
expected to follow.  This means that even the 
most staple of all foods ? bread - will soon not 
be available for a hungry population.

A Red Cross report describes the effects of the 
siege as ?devastating?.   Seventy per cent of the 
population is suffering from food insecurity 
while the suspension of food aid distribution to 
some 750,000 refugees in the pitiful camps in 
Gaza since 4 November, has further devastated 
Palestinians with no recourse to other alternatives.

The United Nations, Amnesty International and 
Human Rights Watch have all called Israel?s 
blockade ?cruel?. Former president Jimmy Carter 
makes no apology for describing the situation as 
?a heinous atrocity? amounting to a war crime.

In Britain, Oxfam?s CEO Barbara Stocking has 
strongly criticised the Foreign Secretary David 
Miliband for not mentioning the ?human 
desperation? in Gaza on his recent trip to Israel and Palestine.

Israel?s tactics though may be unravelling.

So draconian has been Israel?s closure of Gaza, 
the world?s biggest media organisations including 
the New York Times are outraged that their 
journalists have been banned from entering the 
Gaza Strip and have protested in writing to 
Israel?s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Christian leaders have also been excluded from 
Gaza. Last week, Israel prevented Archbishop 
Franco, the Papal Nuncio in Israel, from 
celebrating mass to mark the beginning of Advent 
in the holy weeks leading up to Christmas.

And in the occupied West Bank, Israeli Minister 
Ehud Barak has approved the building of hundreds 
more illegal settlement units with a flagrant 
disregard of the peace process agreements, 
further frustrating the current US administration 
eager to produce a solution before the end of its term.

What is truly astonishing is the world?s silence 
in the face of all this. The shameful rush to 
grant Israel every honour and recognition so that 
it will be saved from the historical ignominy of 
having orchestrated the destruction of 
Palestinian society, is nothing short of unconscionable.

Sonja Karkar is the founder and president of 
Women for Palestine and one of the founders and 
co-convener of Australians for Palestine in 
Melbourne, Australia.  She is also the editor of 
<http://www.australiansforpalestine.com>www.australiansforpalestine.com 
and contributes articles on Palestine regularly to various publications.

She can be contacted at 
<mailto:sonjakarkar at womenforpalestine.org>sonjakarkar at womenforpalestine.org




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081128/2a0fceb2/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 28 11:48:41 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:48:41 -0800
Subject: [News] =?iso-8859-1?q?Venezuela_-_Feet_of_Clay_or_an_Achilles=92_?=
 =?iso-8859-1?q?_Heel=3F?=
Message-ID: <mailman.649.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>



Feet of Clay or an Achilles? Heel?

<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3991>http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3991>3991
George Ciccariello-Maher

Media outlets were predicting a disaster for 
Venezuela's Chavistas. Desperate for news that 
was fit to print, the opposition-controlled 
Venezuelan press and its foreign counterparts 
convinced many that the time had come for Hugo 
Ch?vez and his Bolivarian Revolution, after 
stumbling a year ago in a slim referendum defeat, 
to finally reveal its feet of clay and come 
crashing down under its own weight. But the 
opposition had already squandered the slight 
momentum it achieved a year ago on partisan 
bickering, and would not live up to the 
unrealistic optimism it sought to foster in the media.

In reality, the catastrophic collapse of Chavismo 
was not to be, but nor was this a crushing 
victory or a clear mandate for the drastic 
radicalization of the revolutionary process. What 
was revealed was not feet of clay, but an 
Achilles' heel, giving necessary pause to 
revolutionaries and imposing reflection on some serious strategic losses.

Opposition Scaremongering

For a Venezuelan opposition still not entirely 
comfortable with the notion of democracy, 
elections have much more to do with media 
maneuvering than the actual vote, and they would 
find in Simon Romero of the New York Times a 
convenient mouthpiece. Either through trademark 
laziness or unprecedented effort to distort the 
truth, 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/world/americas/24venez.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin>Romero 
took aim [1] at Ch?vez's recent statements 
regarding the election in the state of Carabobo, 
suggesting that the president was threatening to 
refuse to recognize an opposition victory in the 
state, instead sending tanks to quell the 
opposition. Unsurprisingly, what Ch?vez had 
actually said was quite different: he had noted 
that the opposition candidate for the state 
governorship, Enrique Salas Feo, had been an 
active participant in the 2002 coup, suggesting 
that an opposition victory in Carabobo might 
provide a staging ground for another effort at 
his ouster. "I won't let them overthrow me," 
<http://nuevaprensa.com.ve/content/view/10006/2>Ch?vez 
insisted [2], "and I might have to bring out the 
tanks to defend this revolutionary government."

With the mediatic framework in place, the 
opposition on the ground engaged in the perennial 
strategy of preemptively undermining the eventual 
results of the election. At 4pm on election day, 
opposition leaders---conspicuously including 
Ismael Garc?a, leader of the formerly-Chavista 
PODEMOS---declared "generalized fraud" as some 
electoral centers remained open after the nominal 
closing time, demanding that voting centers be 
closed immediately. But such calls were in open 
violation of Venezuelan law, under which voting 
centers are obligated to remain open as long as a 
line of voters remains. The day's high 
participation-the opposition knew from the outset-was not to their favor.

Participation was indeed high: some 66% of 
registered voters are reported to have turned 
out, a record of sorts for local elections. And 
this despite the torrential rains that have 
pelted much of the country in recent days, 
prompting inevitable comparison to the notorious 
rains and cataclysmic mudslides that plagued the 
1999 constitutional referendum, and the 
equally-notorious declarations by the Catholic 
Church that the rains constituted a punishment 
for Ch?vez's impudence. This vote, however, was 
not that of an exuberantly young process as in 
1999, but rather a necessary hurdle to be 
surpassed as a sign of institutional 
revolutionary maturity, and therein lay the specific challenges it posed.

Modest Opposition Gains

In the western oil state of Zulia, Chavista 
candidate and former mayor of Maracaibo Giancarlo 
Di Martino put up a valiant fight, garnering some 
45% of the vote in what had been an opposition 
stronghold against hand-picked successor of 
former opposition presidential candidate Manuel 
Rosales, Pablo P?rez, with 53%. While this 
victory for the opposition---like the win in 
Nueva Esparta state---was no surprise, the 
relative tightness of the race was. And equally 
surprising was the fact that Chavistas managed to 
<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124559.html>pick 
up a majority [3] of mayoral races in the 
escualido stronghold of Nueva Esparta.

More surprising, however, were slim opposition 
pickups in T?chira and Carabobo states. In 
traditionally conservative T?chira, Chavistas 
have fared poorly in recent years, a fact not 
helped by the departure of Luis Tasc?n, a fiery 
Tachirense, from the PSUV ranks. In Carabobo, 
incumbent former Chavista Felipe Acosta 
Carlez---best known for offending the press by 
belching and farting on television---refused to 
comply with PSUV internal elections, insisting on 
running for re-election against the official 
Chavista candidate and TV personality Mario 
Silva. While Acosta Carlez only took 6.5%, this 
was almost certainly enough to tip the scales in 
a close race only decided by three percentage points.

A Key Loss in Metropolitan Caracas

The two most surprising and significant victories 
for the opposition were certainly in metropolitan 
Caracas and the neighboring state of Miranda, and 
both have clear repercussions for the future, 
since the defeated Chavista candidates were the 
two most likely successors to the president 
himself. But the lessons to be taken from the two 
are different. While Ch?vez's own support is 
highest in rural areas, in past elections the 
president has generally been able to win many of 
the country's large metropolitan areas, albeit by 
small margins. Caracas itself is a city divided, 
with poor barrios voting overwhelmingly for 
Ch?vez and the wealthier-but less populated-areas 
voting up to 80% against. It has been from these 
opposition zones that the young leadership of the 
right has emerged, in the charismatic figures of 
Leopoldo L?pez and Henrique Radonski, both with 
their origins in the far-right, U.S.-sponsored Primero Justicia party.

While L?pez was disqualified from seeking 
election as metropolitan mayor due to pending 
corruption charges, he threw his significant 
weight behind far-right former Caracas mayor and 
previously intransigent abstentionist Antonio 
Ledezma. Indeed, for an opposition which tends to 
be its own worst enemy, L?pez's disqualification 
may have proven a blessing in disguise, as it 
avoided the always messy process of selecting a 
joint candidate. The Chavista candidate, 
Arist?bulo Isturiz, is a former education 
minister and one of the most respected names 
within the Revolution, having risen from union 
ranks to the Congress when Ch?vez himself was a 
young coup plotter. In the end, however, Ledezma 
pulled off an upset, returning him to a post that 
he held more than a decade ago, when he had close 
ties to the now-discredited politicians of the Venezuelan ancien regime.

For an explanation as to how Ledezma managed this 
upset victory, we need to look at the five 
municipalities that make up metropolitan Caracas. 
Three are traditionally opposition bastions, and 
it is from two of these that L?pez and Radonski 
emerged, whereas the sprawling municipality of 
Libertador in western Caracas has consistently 
gone Chavista. Despite multiple candidacies on 
either side, Chavistas maintained this control of 
Libertador, with former vice president Jorge 
Rodr?guez winning handily over opportunist 
student leader Stalin Gonz?lez by a double-digit 
margin. But the only Caracas municipality to 
shift hands was Sucre in the east, a complex 
combination of upper-middle-class residential 
areas and the infamous Petare slums, in which 
Primero Justicia's Carlos Ocariz defeated former 
Chavista interior minister Jesse Chac?n by 8 
percentage points. Testifying both to discontent 
with prior Chavista municipal leadership as well 
as PJ's concerted efforts to build support in the 
less-revolutionary barrios of Petare, it seems as 
though Sucre may have been the cause of the 
metropolitan area tipping toward the opposition.

We would be wrong to interpret this opposition 
coup in the metropolitan area of Caracas as 
having merely political implications: in the last 
real coup, in 2002, the opposition-controlled 
Metropolitan Police played a key role in staging 
the bloodbath used to justify Ch?vez's ouster. 
And given the fact that in many areas the 
Metropolitan Police have effectively withdrawn, 
allowing revolutionary popular militias to 
control security, the next few years could see 
open warfare once again on the streets of 
Caracas. This victory for the opposition, while 
slim in margin, is potentially massive in its implications.

Diosdado Goes Down

The other shock defeat for the Chavistas came in 
neighboring Miranda state, which itself contains 
half of the metropolitan area of Caracas. Here, 
Ch?vez's right-hand-man (emphasis on the 
"right"), Diosdado Cabello, has been governing 
and consolidating a significant power base during 
the past four years. Originally a participant in 
Ch?vez's failed coup efforts, Cabello has since 
come to be a powerful and loyal ally of the 
president, stepping in as vice president during 
the 2002 coup to help undermine the coup. But 
Cabello has also come to represent the 
"endogenous right," quietly heading up the 
significant contingent of Chavistas who would 
like to take power themselves and moderate the 
revolutionary process. As a result of this 
uncomfortably public role as leader of the 
Chavista right, Cabello has suffered the scorn of 
voters before, notably within the PSUV itself, 
where he didn't manage to score within the top 15 
elected members of the party leadership (only to 
be subsequently appointed by Ch?vez).

If Cabello's star is fading, his opponent 
Henrique Capriles Radonski is himself a rising 
star of the opposition and currently mayor of 
Baruta municipality. A young, charismatic 
heartthrob, whose personal website features the 
mayor in several shirtless, modelesque poses, 
Radonski has also (like L?pez) run afoul of the 
law, for participating in a public attack and 
siege on the Cuban Embassy during the 2002 coup. 
Luckily for Radonski, however, charges were 
dropped in time for the elections, in which his 
record of governance in wealthy Baruta combined 
with Diosdado's waning popularity to deliver a 
heavy defeat in Miranda. Here, certainly, 
Cabello's own electoral feet were shown to be 
made of clay. If this bodes well for the 
superstar of the Venezuelan opposition---himself 
a possible presidential opponent in years to 
come---the result isn't entirely negative for 
those Chavistas who had grown wary of Cabello's 
increasingly visible role within the governing movement.

The Map is Still Red

The mainstream press has made every effort to 
frame these elections in such a way that the 
opposition would inevitably appear as the winner. 
Central to this framing was the oft-repeated 
claim that, prior to the election, Chavistas 
controlled 21 of 23 state governments. 
<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124548.html>This 
is simply nonsense [4]. While it is true that 
after the 2004 gubernatorial elections, Chavistas 
had gained control of 21 states, such control 
wouldn't last, and the social-democratic PODEMOS 
coalition would soon move toward the opposition, 
taking with it the states of Aragua and Sucre. 
Furthermore, as incumbent governors refused to be 
displaced by the PSUV primary process, further 
ruptures ensued in Gu?rico, Carabobo, and 
Yaracuy, reducing PSUV control of incumbents to 16.

As first vice president of the PSUV Alberto 
<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124544.html>M?ller 
Rojas [5] put it in his post-election press 
conference, "we regained four states lost through 
treason," further noting that the PSUV had 
consolidated itself as the first political force 
in the country. Ch?vez himself 
<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124542.html>echoed 
this [6] sentiment in a surprise appearance just moments later:

We're almost ten years from that initial victory, 
and the people have expressed their will, and 
vaya, con qu? contundencia! ... Once again we see 
the shattering of those irrational, outlandish, 
and unsubstantiated arguments that some still 
dare to make about Venezuela... both those who 
voted for the Revolution and those who voted for 
other candidates, they all showed that here we 
have a democratic system, that here we respect 
the decision of the people... Who could say that 
there is a dictatorship in Venezuela?



Speaking directly to opposition claims to have 
defeated Ch?vez and the PSUV, his response was 
stark: "If they want to fall into lies, let them 
fall into lies... we have won 17 gubernatorial 
races, our party has been consolidated, we are 
headed for 6 million votes, and the map [of 
Venezuela] is dressed almost totally in red!" But 
the president warned nevertheless of the need to 
self-criticize, recognize errors, and take 
responsibility for the losses incurred, "because 
it's like a war, when an advancing army takes 20 
hills and loses two, but takes three more on the 
way. What is most important is to maintain the 
rhythm of the march and the rhythm of victory."

<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124541.html>According 
to the early count [7], the PSUV obtained 5.3 
million votes, compared with the 4.3 million 
garnered by the opposition, and this despite 
losing the two most densely-populated states in 
the country. 
<http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124549.html>Jorge 
Rodr?guez insisted [8] that the opposition 
recognize the clear PSUV mandate, arguing that 
"when it comes to the strength of Venezuelan 
democracy, you can't block out the sun with your 
finger." But we can expect the 
privately-controlled Venezuelan press and their 
international counterparts to attempt to do just 
that, insisting that the Chavistas have dropped 
from 21 to 17 states, when in reality, seen 
correctly, they have actually gained in the 
overall picture. And where they won, they often 
did so somewhat astoundingly, claiming some 73% 
in Lara and 61% in Vargas. Chavistas won a total 
of 8 states by 10% or more, 4 states by 20% or 
more, and 2 states by 50% or more, as compared to 
the opposition's best showing of 57% in Nueva Esparta.

The Achilles Heel of the Revolution

If we were to follow the mainstream press talking 
points, the lesson of the elections was the 
failure of the Revolution in dealing with the 
everyday wants and needs of the Venezuelan 
population. This is half true, but the issue is 
too often reduced to its most mundane aspects, 
depriving the Venezuelan people of the capacity 
for political judgment. Certainly, the fact that 
garbage often piles up in the streets and that 
violence continues to plague Venezuelan cities 
contributed to the shock defeat of Chavista 
forces in the metropolitan area. But the banality 
of the everyday doesn't quite capture the gap 
between Ch?vez's 63% approval rating and the 
tangible repulsion that many Venezuelans feel for 
their local officials, who are often seen---with 
more than a little justification---as corrupt opportunists.

The municipal and state officials that were 
elected Sunday, while representing an 
institutional level that remains necessary at the 
present moment, are nevertheless merely a 
stepping stone for many on the road to a more 
substantive popular-communal 
<http://www.monthlyreview.org/0907maher.php>"dual 
power." [9] As alternative institutions develop, 
specifically the local and directly-democratic 
communal councils, many hope to see the more 
heavily bureaucratized levels of government 
replaced entirely. And as the councils flex their 
muscles, these elected officials will become all 
the more rabidly defensive of their power quota. 
Which is all to say that, if local elections 
represent the Achilles' heel of the Bolivarian 
Revolution, perpetually threatening to trip up 
its progress and disrupt its connection with the 
grassroots, we can only expect this conflict to intensify in the short term.

George Ciccariello-Maher is a Ph.D. candidate in 
political theory at UC Berkeley. He is currently 
writing a people's history of the Bolivarian 
Revolution entitled We Created Him. He can be 
reached at gjcm(at)berkeley.edu.
    * 
<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/politics>Political Developments

<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com>venezuelanalysis.com 
:: website realized with 
<http://drupal.org>drupal using 
<http://www.fsf.org/>free software only :: site 
best viewed with <http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/>mozilla firefox

----------
Source URL (retrieved on Nov 28 2008 - 12:49): 
<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3991>http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3991

Links:
[1] 
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/world/americas/24venez.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin
[2] http://nuevaprensa.com.ve/content/view/10006/2
[3] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124559.html
[4] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124548.html
[5] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124544.html
[6] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124542.html
[7] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124541.html
[8] http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n124549.html
[9] http://www.monthlyreview.org/0907maher.php




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081128/76a9969c/attachment.htm>

From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Nov 28 12:40:52 2008
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:40:52 -0800
Subject: [News] You can help sustain the Freedom Archives
Message-ID: <mailman.650.1697254865.2129374.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>


[]


?The future belongs to those that prepare for it today.? ?Malcolm X

Dear Friends,

With your help over the past year, the Freedom 
Archives? youth program has grown substantially. 
We have trained over 25 young people in archival 
and production work, and have continued to 
partner with other local organizations and 
schools to expand our impact. We are co-teaching 
an after-school program with Galeria de la Raza 
that explores the history of youth-led movements 
in the Bay Area and guides youth through creating 
multi-media projects inspired by and re-imagining this history.

Our work in classrooms is reaching a greater 
number of students and includes a five-part 
series on progressive Bay Area history in a 
social studies class at June Jordan High School 
for Equity. In this series we utilize the unique 
and rich media in the Archives to create a 
dynamic approach to teaching this important 
movement history. We continue to strengthen our 
community programs at San Francisco City College, 
San Francisco State, and other community institutions.

With the release of our Paul Robeson CD ?Words 
Like Freedom? earlier this year, we were touched 
to discover how many were inspired by the 
timeliness and continued relevance of Robeson?s 
anti-imperialist and internationalist message. 
It?s also amazing to realize that it was only 
through your support in the past year that we 
were able to complete that important project 
which has been so greatly received.

And With Your Continued Support, We Just Keep On Rolling Along


In the last 18 months Freedom Archives has taken 
on one of our most ambitious projects-a 
documentary film on the history of the FBI COINTELPRO program.

We are confident that this project, like many 
Freedom Archives? efforts, addresses contemporary 
issues and stories that are at the core of why 
the Freedom Archives exists and why you have 
supported our work for the last nine years. We 
know that you realize that it is more important 
than ever before to not only maintain but build 
community projects that address our youth, our 
families, our political prisoners, our communities, and our future.

Now we need YOUR HELP to raise $10,000 to complete COINTELPRO 101.

We previewed a 10-minute segment of the film at 
the recent Critical Resistance 10 conference in 
Oakland where our COINTELPRO panel featured human 
rights attorney Soffiyah Elijah, former 
Congressperson Cynthia McKinney, Elliot 
Monteverde, an attorney and NY Puerto Rico Grand 
Jury resister, and Lucy Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican 
Independentista and former political prisoner.

The response to the film and the panel was 
overwhelming. Our plan for distribution of 
COINTELPRO 101 is scheduled for next year and our 
hope is that it sparks renewed interest in 
re-opening an investigation into government 
repression that includes accountability for 
agents and agencies who have violated people?s 
civil rights ? including the ongoing imprisonment 
of those targeted by COINTELPRO and other programs of political repression.

We need you to continue to be a part of this 
significant work by inviting you to join our new 
monthly sustainer program at the rate of $25 a 
month or more.  Monthly sustainership allows you 
to give an amount that?s meaningful to you but 
fits your monthly budget while also allowing us 
to plan more accurately and continue our work 
knowing we can count on your regular donation.
    * A $25 monthly donation would strengthen our 
operating budget insuring that we can continue to 
produce important documentary projects.
    * A $35 monthly donation would allow us to 
invest in much needed equipment for our youth programs.
    * A $50 monthly donation would help us 
complete COINTELPRO 101 and create an effective distribution plan.

Join other community members, friends, and family 
in giving monthly by visiting our website: 
<http://www.freedomarchives.org>www.freedomarchives.org 
and following the link on any page to make a 
contribution.  You can also make a one time 
online contribution or simply send your check in 
the return envelope to the Freedom Archives. You 
can maximize your contribution this way by 
helping us avoid credit card transaction fees.

Please also visit our web site to see some of the 
exciting projects that our joint efforts have 
produced. We are especially proud of the 
internationally recognized video ?Legacy of 
Torture? that continues to mobilize and educate 
people about the ongoing case of the San 
Francisco 8. More information can also be found 
at <http://www.freethesf8.org/>www.freethesf8.org.

We thank you deeply in advance; for nine years 
the support of hundreds of people like you has 
sustained us as a radical independent 
organization, keeping us from being reliant on 
foundations. We hope you will continue to support 
The Freedom Archives knowing that our work is 
especially important now in these difficult but hopeful times.

Emacs!


Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081128/34022da0/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 4bbb5be1.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7800 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081128/34022da0/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 4bbb5c10.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7967 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20081128/34022da0/attachment-0001.jpg>

