Category: solidarity

Obama praises US mass murderers in Iraq

A totally unprovoked

and illegal war on a defenceless people, causing years of horrific massacres, up to one million dead, countless families destroyed, 4000 US army deaths, a bill of $801BN for the US taxpayer, a campaign of torture with nearly 100% impunity… etc etc etc…

President Obama has sunk to a new low in praising all this, becoming an accessory to brutal mass carnage. All this to secure oil contracts for America??  To stop Saddam Hussein selling oil in Euros?? To get military bases to attack Iran?? To use up stocks of weapons and boost the military economy??

Maybe all these things, but none are any excuse . Meanwhile the tame US media has gone almost silent, American withdrawal, it seems, is hardly worth talking about

The Elusive Declaration of Peace

Ken Butigan     Friday 9 December 2011    Nation of Change

“Except for the occasional newsflash about sporadic violence—and the recent spate of stories about the sheer tonnage of materiel that the US is shipping stateside as it readies its departure—we don’t hear much about Iraq these days.”

The re­main­ing US troops in Iraq are sched­uled to leave by the end of this month. While there had been some talk about ex­tend­ing the De­cem­ber 31, 2011 dead­line Pres­i­dent Obama set early in his term, this was scut­tled in Oc­to­ber when the Iraqi gov­ern­ment re­buffed the ad­min­is­tra­tion on two de­mands: that US troops be guar­an­teed im­mu­nity from pros­e­cu­tion and that the Pen­ta­gon be al­lowed to main­tain bases in the coun­try going for­ward.

While the US will re­tain a large em­bassy and two con­sulates in the coun­try, with 4,000 to 5,000 con­trac­tors (down from a high of 180,000), this is a dif­fer­ent out­come from the US gov­ern­ment’s orig­i­nal ex­pec­ta­tion of per­ma­nently main­tain­ing scores of mil­i­tary bases, in­clud­ing su­per­bases, in the coun­try de­signed to in­def­i­nitely an­chor the US geo-po­lit­i­cal pres­ence in the Mid­dle East. While we may learn later that this long-term strat­egy, against all po­lit­i­cal ob­sta­cles, re­mains on track (in­clud­ing a plan for all that oil), the nearly nine-year-old oc­cu­pa­tion of Iraq is ap­par­ently com­ing to an end.

US soldiers examine another victim

 The ac­tion has moved on to Afghanistan, Pak­istan and Yemen. But five years ago, things were very dif­fer­ent. The mil­i­tary, po­lit­i­cal, and eco­nomic shock­waves from the US in­va­sion in 2003 were roil­ing the coun­try, the sec­tar­ian vi­o­lence was mount­ing, and Iraq was awash in blood and in­con­solable sor­row. The human wreck­age—as well as the huge eco­nomic toll—de­fied com­pre­hen­sion (and the blood­less num­ber-crunch­ing that sur­faced now and then).

Read full long article HERE  http://wammtoday.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/the-elusive-declaration-of-peace/

Sparks Massive Wildcat Strike

  Sparks Defy Anti-Union Laws With Massive Wildcat Strike

Hundreds of electricians took wildcat strike action on Wednesday, defying the bosses who want to slash their wages, the anti-union laws which the bosses use to pick holes in strike mandates, and the union bureacracy which had to be dragged kicking and screaming to holding a ballot at all. The country’s biggest ‘unofficial’ walkout in decades represents a new stage in the UK class war – a stage in which workers recognise the limitations of their own leaderships, and consciously move beyond them. By cutting out the utterly compromised middle men and women in this way, working people come face to face with their ultimate enemy – huge corporations and the capitalist state………..

………But despite yesterday’s burning of ‘sign or be sacked’ Balfour contracts, the company will soon want to make good on their threats. In this, they will have the assistance of Unite fat cats. If Wednesday 7th December is to be the high water mark of the rank and file resistance, Sparks will lose this historic battle. If they are to win, they must now organise completely independently of both Unite and the anti-union laws, and immediately make an appeal to the wider working class for support.

Click here for my analysis of why workers and union bosses are enemies.

READ MUCH MORE here.. WITH THANKS

http://infantile-disorder.blogspot.com/2011/12/sparks-defy-anti-union-laws-with.html

Dia Acción Global / World Action Sat. Dec 11

  Llamamiento a un día de Acción Global en el Día de los Derechos Humanos, el    ENGLISH CLICK HERE..:http://dec10.takethesquare.net/
El éxito del 15 de Octubre ha generado un impulso sin precedentes para  la acción global. La humanidad se ha unido a través de las fronteras en  la lucha por la democracia real y los derechos individuales. Es  esencial en esta lucha el respeto por la vida humana y las condiciones  de vida, incluido el medio ambiente.
La sociedad civil global está siendo amenazada por un sistema basado  en el poder y no en los valores humanos. Día tras día reprime libertades  básicas y favorece sistemáticamente la avaricia de unos pocos en  detrimento de las necesidades de la mayoría. El poder financia guerras,  monopolios alimentarios y farmacéuticos, apoya regímenes dictatoriales  en todo el mundo, destruye el medio ambiente, manipula y censura los  flujos de información e impide la transparencia.
Convocatoria de Ágorabcn
Desde la asamblea permanente de AgoraBcn, en Plaça Catalunya,   convocamos a toda la ciudadanía a una concentración por los Derechos  Humanos.
Con  todos estos ataques que sufre la ciudadanía lamentablemente, lo  único que hacen es pisotear cada vez más unos Derechos que son  irrenunciables. Cada vez más gente lo pasa muy mal a costa de la felicidad de una clase que de derechos tiene muchos pero de humanos poco.
Convocamos para que el día de los Derechos Humanos sea de reivindicación por lo que nos corresponde.
Más información:

Release Mumia Abu-Jamal NOW NOW NOW

“Because Mumia has for thirty years been subjected to torture on death row and because he is innocent, justice for Mumia will not be served by life imprisonment, but by his release from prison.”

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams announced Wednesday this office has called off their 30-year battle to execute former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal for allegedly murdering a white police officer, the Associated Press reports. The decision comes just two days short of the 30th anniversary of the killing.

Supporters and advocates who argue Abu-Jamal is not guilty say Williams’ decision shouldn’t be a surprise.

“Now that it is clear that Mumia should never have been on death row in the first place, justice will not be served by relegating him to prison for the rest of his life—yet another form of death sentence. Based on even a minimal following of international human rights standards, Mumia must now be released,” South African activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu said in a statement sent out by FreeMumia.com.

“I therefore join the call, and ask others to follow, asking District Attorney Seth Williams to rise to the challenge of reconciliation, human rights, and justice: drop this case now, and allow Mumia Abu-Jamal to be immediately released, with full time served,” Tutu continued.

“The news that the DA’s Office of Philadelphia is no longer seeking the death penalty for Mumia is no news to supporters of the nearly 30 year Pennsylvania Death Row prisoner,” Dr. Johanna Fernandez wrote in a statement to the Loop21.com. Fernandez is a U.S. History professor at Baruch College and an advocate who’s been working on Abu-Jamal’s case for several years.

“Because Mumia has for thirty years been subjected to torture on death row and because he is innocent, justice for Mumia will not be served by life imprisonment, but by his release from prison.”

Fernandez, who produced a documentary on Abu-Jamal, explains the conditions today of the Pennsylvania courts that found Abu-Jamal guilty and describes his prison cell. From Loop21.com:

We must remember that the same Pennsylvania courts that are being denounced today for the mass incarceration of juveniles are the same courts that framed Mumia. Pennsylvania has more juveniles serving life than any other state in the nation. The backdrop of constitutional violations in Mumia’s case include: routine corruption, evidence tampering, prosecutorial misconduct, judicial racism, discrimination in jury selection, and the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans and Latinos. The issue of mass incarceration of black and Latino males is one of the gravest civil rights crises of our time.

We’re sobered by the realization that for 30 years an international movement kept Abu-Jamal alive long enough for the appeals process to run its course. But what if the movement hadn’t kept him alive? For 30 years Abu-Jamal has been forced to withstand tortured isolation in a windowless cell the size of a small bathroom. For thirty years the threat of execution has hung over his head, and he’s not been allowed to touch his children or his grandchildren, or his wife and siblings, or his friends.

Supporters of Abu-Jamal, including Princeton professor Cornel West and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have a symposium planned for Friday at the National Constitution Center for the man they call an “innocent revolutionary and celebrated journalist.”

Occupy our Homes Action..latest news

  • National Day of Action to Stop and Reverse Foreclosures

  • December, 06 2011 1 Comment

    Today is the Occupy Our Homes National Day of Action to Stop and Reverse Foreclosures. Actions are taking place in over twenty-five cities around America, as the Occupy movement joins with homeowners and people fighting for a place to live. Our system has been serving Wall Street, big banks, and the one percent. Clearly this has not worked. We are the 99% and we are reclaiming our homes.

    Follow this post for updates from around the country today. Go below to see videos from the day of action.

    4:49 PM: Report on Twitter says Occupy action in Alameda shut down a foreclosure auction at the court. Picture from the action.

    4:17 PM: Dozens of Portlanders vow not to leave foreclosed neighbors’ homes.

    4:00 PM: VIDEO: Debbie Henry talks about why she and her husband are occupying their home.

    3:58 PM: Picture of Robert and Debbie Henry of Southgate, MI as they took action today.

    3:43 PM: Volunteer cleaning crew from Occupy Wall Street arrives at reclaimed and reoccupied home in East New York Brooklyn to begin cleaning and renovating the home for Tasha Glasgow and her two children.

    » Read More

Help Maikel, pacifist blogger on hunger strike, day 97

In the case of imprisoned pacifist blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad, the military court on 27 November again adjourned the trial, this time until 4 December, to hear a new prosecution witness. At the hearing on 27 November, Maikel Nabil Sanad’s internet provider TE Data told the prosecution that they would not be able to provide the court with the information requested, and that the military should have requested that the internet company monitor the blogger’s activity prior to arrest. At the hearing on 13 November, the case was adjourned to 27 November, to wait for the report of the internet service provider. Meanwhile, Maikel Nabil Sanad passed the 97th day of his hunger strike, surviving on fruit and dairy juices. Maikel Nabil Sanad was arrested at the end of march on charges of violating article 184 of the Egyptian penal code, which criminalizes “insulting the People’s Assembly, the Shura Council or any State Authority, or the Army or the Courts”, and article 102, “spreading false information”. In a trial in front of a military court violating all established legal standards, he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on 10 April 2011, in absence of his family, friends, or lawyers. Since then he has been kept in El Marg prison.

On 23 August, Maikel Nabil Sanad began a hunger strike in protest against his imprisonment. In a statement at the beginning of his hunger strike, he declared that his hunger strike is in protest against the severe injustice he is subjected to, namely his unfair trial in front of a military court, the slow processing of his appeal, and the difference of treatment in the cases of Asmaa Mahfouz and Louie Nagati (who had their charges dropped on 18 August 2011) and in his case.

As a result of growing pressure, the appeal hearing was finally brought forward to 4 October, but then again adjourned, because a file was missing. On 11 October, the military appeal court declared the original sentence of 10 April 2011 “null and void”, but failed to release Maikel Nabil Sanad.

Maikel Nabil Sanad refuses to co-operate with the re-trial, and also asked his lawyers to stop any co-operation with the military court. On 18 October, a military court again heard the case of Maikel Nabil Sanad, and appointed a lawyer to represent him, who – according to one of Maikel Nabil Sanad’s lawyers – was unacquainted with the case. The court ordered to transfer Maikel Nabil Sanad to a psychiatric hospital “for examination” (see co-alert, 20 October 2011), but the hospital refused this attempt at pathologisation of political dissent, and sent him back after a few days, declaring him “sane”.

The case has now been adjourned to 4 December, and Maikel Nabil Sanad remains imprisoned and on hunger strike.

War Resisters’ International calls for urgent letters of support to Maikel Nabil Sanad:
Maikel Nabil Sanad
El-Marg prison , El-Kalag El-Khanka,  Qalyubeya,  Egypt
Letters to Maikel can also be sent via http://links.causes.com/s/bkfSOb

War Resisters’ International calls for urgent letters of protest to the Egyptian authorities.

Director of Military Judiciary
Major-General Ahmed Abd Allah ,Military Judicial Department ,Cairo, Egypt Fax: +202 2 402 4468 / +202 2 411 3452 (ask for fax)

Military General Attorney ,Major-General Medhat Radwan ,Military Judicial Department ,Cairo, Egypt +202 2 412 0980 (ask for fax)

Minister of Defence ,His Excellency Muhammad Tantawi ,Ministry of Defence Cairo, Egypt mmc@afmic.gov.eg ; mod@afmic.gov.eg Fax: +20 2 2 5748 822

A protest email can be sent at http://links.causes.com/s/bkfSOR. War Resisters’ International calls on the Egyptian authorities to respond to Maikel Nabil Sanad’s hunger strike and to immediately release him.
Andreas Speck ,War Resisters’ International http://links.causes.com/s/bkfSOS

Sat 26 Nov. Buy Nothing Day.//.Dia Sin Comprar NADA

in the US they celebrate it on'black Friday'. here on Sat 26th Nov

On its twentieth anniversary, Ad Busters plan to take it up a gear, marrying Buy Nothing Day with Occupy in order to #OCCUPYXMAS

En su 20 aniversario Ad Busters intentan casar el DIA SIN COMPRAR con el movimiento OCCUPY..para OCUPAR NAVIDAD

This year Ad Busters effectively merged Occupy and Buy Nothing Day to create Occupy Christmas, or for shoppers and shop keepers, a general nuisance. The havoc has already begun State-side as hundreds of people occupy store fronts and shopping malls with sit-ins and flash mobs. It will certainly be interesting to see how this translates across the pond and if the momentum will carry through to December 25th.

For those who want to take part in one of the most exciting anti-capitalist movements of recent times or just refrain from spending money for a day, there is a point to be made and pennies to be saved. Either way take solace in nothing and appreciate that you have something.

When: Friday 25th November (US only, but feel free to take part, or not) Saturday 26th November
Where: Everywhere and nowhere
Cost: nothing

Further information:

Occupy Xmas

AdBusters