---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
NEXT BAUAW MEETING: WEDNESDAY, OCT. 13, 7 P.M.
1380 VALENCIA STREET
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW! VOTE YES ON N!
Prop. N committee meets Thursday, Oct. 14, 7 p.m
GLOBAL EXCHANGE OFFICE
2017 MISSION STREET, SUITE 303
(NEAR 16TH & MISSION STREETS)
ALL OUT NOV. 3RD, 5 PM, POWELL AND MARKET STREETS, SF
END THE OCCUPATION! OUT OF IRAQ NOW!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) MILLION WORKER MARCH ON WASHINGTON
NATIONAL PRESS ALERT - OCTOBER 9, 2004
Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King III
have endorsed the Million Worker March on Washington
on October 17.
Publicity Committee
111 Clayton Court Vallejo, CA 94591
phone: 707.552.9992 fax: 707.552.9993
mobile: 707.694.5699 email: rbs1@pacbell.net
2) For the Anti-War Movement: The Elections are Really on
October 17 in Washington, DC
3) In this message:
· Worksession for the Immigrant Rights March
· Weekly ANSWER Activist Meeting
4) The Promise of the First Amendment
By ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER JR., chairman and publisher, and
RUSSELL T. LEWIS, chief executive, The New York Times
October 10, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/opinion/10sulzberger.html?oref=login&hp
5) FBI Seizes Indymedia Servers
By Online Satff
Friday 08 October 2004
Also see below: Rackspace Statement Regarding Indymedia
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/100904W.shtml
6) Rackspace Statement Regarding Indymedia
By Annalie Drusch
Director, Corporate Communications
Rackspace Managed Hosting
Friday 08 October 2004
7) AN OMINOUS DRONE IN THE GAZA SKY
By Molly Moore
** Israeli Incursion Employs High-Tech Power to Lethal Effect **
Washington Post
October 8, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16184-2004Oct7.html
8)Urgent: Emergency Gaza Relief Fund
For Immediate Release
7 October 2004
bayareapalestine (Please post to your websites)
9) U.S. Air Raid Kills 11 in Iraq's Falluja
By Fadel al-Badrani
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters)
Fri Oct 8, 2004 07:05 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6451564&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
10) For the Anti-War Movement: The Elections are Really on
October 17 in Washington, DC
If You Want to Vote to "Bring the Troops Home Now!"
You Have to Get on the Bus to the Million Worker March!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) MILLION WORKER MARCH ON WASHINGTON
NATIONAL PRESS ALERT - OCTOBER 9, 2004
Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King III
have endorsed the Million Worker March on Washington
on October 17.
Publicity Committee
111 Clayton Court Vallejo, CA 94591
phone: 707.552.9992 fax: 707.552.9993
mobile: 707.694.5699 email: rbs1@pacbell.net
NATIONAL PRESS ALERT - OCTOBER 9, 2004
Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King III have endorsed the
Million Worker March on Washington on October 17. Martin Luther
King III will stand in the footsteps of his father at the Lincoln Memorial
on October 17 and address the mass mobilization. The declaration
of support by Coretta Scott King will be presented.
The Million Worker March will also feature presentations by
Reverend E. Randall Osburn, Executive Vice President of the Southern
Christian Leadership Foundation, and a close collaborator of
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and by Dick Gregory, the
noted social activist and associate of Dr. King.
The call for the Million Worker March was initiated by International
Longshore Workers Union Local 10. The presence of the family of
Dr. King is a fitting moral and political expression of historical
continuity.
On September 21, 1967, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
made a moving presentation at the hall of International Longshore
and Warehouse Union Local 10. The ILWU Dispatcher reported on
September 29, 1967,
"Referring to labor history, King noted that the civil rights sit-in
movement was actually invented by the labor movement, ... and we
have to keep on sitting-in at factory gates, at the steps of Congress
and even in front of the White House."
Dr. King was made an honorary member of the ILWU Local 10.
At the presentation, Dr. King appeared with William "Bill" Chester,
who had become the first major African-American official of the
ILWU as International Vice President, a direct consequence of the
civil rights movement's infusion within the labor movement itself.
On October 15, 1967, Dr. King spoke at the Oakland 'Coliseum
to be followed by performances of Harry Belafonte and Joan Baez
in launching a seven-city concert tour in support of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference.
The linkage of the struggle for civil rights with that of the labor
movement and of opposition to the devastating war on Vietnam
led Dr. King to march and mobilize on behalf of the sanitation
workers on strike in Memphis, Tennessee.
Dr. King announced a Poor People's Campaign that would
culminate in Poor People's March on Washington with demands
for an Economic Bill of Rights guaranteeing employment and a
living wage, national economic support for those unable to work
and decent housing for all.
He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 as he prepared a march
in support of sanitation and other municipal employees.
The Mission Statement of the Million Worker March declares:
"Thirty-six years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. summoned
working people across America to a Poor People's March on
Washington to inaugurate "'a war on poverty at home.' 'The
United States government,' he proclaimed, 'is one of the greatest
purveyors of violence in the world. ...America is at a crossroads
in history and it is critically important for us as a nation and
society to choose a new path and to move on it with resolution
and courage.'
Working people are under siege while new wars of devastation
are launched at the expense of the poor everywhere.
The Million Worker March will revive and expand a great struggle
for fundamental change, as we forge together a social, economic
and political movement that will transform America,
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) For the Anti-War Movement: The Elections are Really on
October 17 in Washington, DC
If You Want to Vote to "Bring the Troops Home Now!"
You Have to Get on the Bus to the Million Worker March!
Dear Sisters and Brothers in the Antiwar and Peace
movement:
We know that many of us can't wait to vote for “Anybody
but Bush”. However, if there was ever a time when knowing
that marching is often far more important than voting, and
“movement” is more important than “establishment”, now is
such a time. The 2004 presidential election campaign has
made our journey to the capital far more urgent and
essential than if our march were scheduled for the day
after the Nov. 2 elections.
One of the reasons why the march was scheduled before the
elections is because presidential campaigns, regardless of
oneÂ’s own views of the major party candidates, almost
always usurp, co-opt, derail and neutralize the grassroots
movement. March leaders decided to use the slogan “Working
people speaking for themselves” for the Million Worker
March to make it clear that we refuse to be voiceless
appendages to a media-driven and money-driven election
campaign.
The November election campaign has not been a genuine
referendum on the critical question of pulling U.S. troops
out of Iraq now. President Bush is being criticized for
lying and pulling the country into this war. But both of
the major party candidates have made in clear that they
are committed to “staying” and “winning” in Iraq. It was
decided early on to make the demand to “Bring the troops
home now!” central to the message. With that understanding
in mind, the anti-war movement was invited to become a
full partner in this march.
The fact that the anti-war movement responded so
positively is one of the things that have given this march
almost limitless potential and power. Because of this, the
march has become a popular referendum on bringing the
troops home. It’s the movement’s opportunity to “speak for
itself.” With almost 1,100 U.S soldiers and tens of
thousands of IraqiÂ’s dead--and nothing but more war and
death in sight--WE CAN NOT AFFORD TO BE SILENT & IMMOBILE
OUT OF DEFERENCE TO THE ELECTIONS.
The Million Worker March is a grassroots anti-war “vote”
against the war, the occupation, the troops coming home
and on whether our money should be spend on killing in the
Middle East, are jobs healthcare, housing and education.
The buses are filling, unions are organizing and we know
that you are working hard for this important event.
We can confidently say to you that on Oct. 17 at the
Lincoln memorial in D.C., together we are going to produce
a powerful, massive, and we believe unprecedented alliance
between the workersÂ’ movement and the movement against the
war. Let's keep the hard work up over the coming week
(most people don't decide to go until a few days before)
to realize the full potential. Tell everyone that the real
vote is in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 17, and that in order
to cast their ballot they have "to get on the bus".
We'll see you in Washington,
Antiwar 4 The Million Worker March Organizers
Momentum is building for the Million Worker March---new
organizing centers are springing up all over the country
(see
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/organizingcenters.htm)
and new endorsers are being added to the list daily
(http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/endorsers.htm).
It is more important than ever that we turn out by the
thousands to say, "Jobs, Healthcare, and a Living Wage,
Not War!" on October 17. We need your help in this last
week to make this happen.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
**Donate!
We need help with the enormous expenses involved with this
massive mobilization of working people. You can donate
online at: http://www.peoplesrightsfund.org/
**Get the Word out!
1) Download leaflets from
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/pdfdownload.htm
and take them to your school, workplace, house of worship,
union, and community organization.
2) Link to the Anti-war for the Million Worker March
Website:
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/index.htm
3) Forward this email to your email lists.
**Organize transportation from your area!
We need hundreds of local organizers. Contact us about
becoming a local organizer:
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/signupantiwarorganizer.htm
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
October 17 Washington DC
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) In this message:
· Worksession for the Immigrant Rights March
· Weekly ANSWER Activist Meeting
----------
Saturday, Oct. 9, 12noon-5pm
Worksession for the Oct.16th Immigrant Rights March
2489 Mission St. (Room 30) at 21st St., San Francisco
Help make placards and banners for this historic march to
defend immigrant rights!
Tuesday, Oct. 12, 7pm
ANSWER Activist Meeting
2489 Mission St. (Room 30) at 21st St., San Francisco
Join us for a political update on the Middle East, discussion of
the struggle in Haiti and the Emergency Campaign to Support
the Haitian People. We will also have a report on the Afghan
elections and an update on organizing for the Immigrants
Rights March.
To subscribe to the list, send a message to:
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) The Promise of the First Amendment
By ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER JR., chairman and publisher, and
RUSSELL T. LEWIS, chief executive, The New York Times
October 10, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/opinion/10sulzberger.html?oref=login&hp
Last Thursday, a federal district judge ordered a New York Times
reporter, Judy Miller, sent to prison. Her crime was doing her job
as the founders of this nation intended. Here's what happened
and why it should concern you.
On July 6, 2003, Joseph C. Wilson IV - formerly a career foreign
service officer, a chargé d'affaires in Baghdad and an ambassador
- wrote an article published on this page under the headline,
"What I Didn't Find in Africa." The article served to undercut the
Bush administration's claims surrounding Saddam Hussein's
nuclear capacity.
Eight days later, Robert Novak, a syndicated columnist, wrote an
article in which he identified Ambassador Wilson's wife, Valerie
Plame, as an "operative on weapons of mass destruction" for the
C.I.A. "Two senior administration officials told me," Mr. Novak
wrote, that it was Ms. Plame who "suggested sending Wilson" to
investigate claims that Iraq had tried to purchase uranium ore
from Niger. After Mr. Novak's report, several other journalists
wrote stories in which they said they received similar information
about Ms. Plame from confidential government sources, in what
many have concluded was an effort to punish Mr. Wilson for
speaking out against the administration by exposing his wife
as a C.I.A. operative. The record is clear, however, that Judy
Miller is not one of those journalists who reported this
information.
Because the government officials who revealed Valerie Plame's
status as a C.I.A. operative to the press might have committed
a crime in doing so, the Justice Department opened a federal
criminal investigation to find whoever was responsible.
During the course of this investigation, the details of which
have been kept secret, several journalists have been subpoenaed
to provide information about the source of the leak and threatened
with jail if they failed to comply.
On Aug. 12, Ms. Miller received a subpoena in which she was
required to provide information about conversations she might
have had with a government official in which the identity and C.I.A.
connection of Mr. Wilson's wife might have been mentioned. She
received this subpoena even though she had never published
anything concerning Mr. Wilson or his wife. This is not the only
recent case in which the government has subpoenaed information
concerning Ms. Miller's sources. On July 12, the same prosecutor
sought to have Ms. Miller and another Times correspondent, Philip
Shenon, identify another source. Curiously, this separate investigation
concerns articles on Islamic charities and their possible financial
support for terrorism that were published nearly three years ago.
As part of this effort to uncover the reporters' confidential sources,
the prosecutor has gone to the phone company to obtain records
of their phone calls.
So, unless an appeals court reverses last week's contempt conviction,
Judy Miller will soon be sent to prison. And, if the government
succeeds in obtaining the phone records of Ms. Miller and Mr. Shenon,
many of their sources - even those having nothing to do with these
two government investigations - will become known.
Why does all of this matter? The possibility of being forced to leave
one's family and sent to jail simply for doing your job is an appalling
prospect for any journalist - indeed, any citizen. But as concerned as
we are with our colleague's loss of liberty, there are even bigger
issues at stake for us all.
The press simply cannot perform its intended role if its sources of
information - particularly information about the government - are
cut off. Yes, the press is far from perfect. We are human and make
mistakes. But, the authors of our Constitution and its First Amendment
understood all of that and for good reason prescribed that journalists
should function as a "fourth estate." As Justice Potter Stewart put it,
the primary purpose of the constitutional guarantee of a free press
was "to create a fourth institution outside the government as an
additional check on the three official branches."
The founders of our democracy understood that our government was
also a human institution that was capable of mistakes and misdeeds.
That is why they constructed a First Amendment that would give the
press the ability to investigate problems in the official branches of our
government and make them known to the public. In this way, the press
was sensibly put in a position to help hold government accountable to
its citizens.
An essential tool that the press must have if it is to perform its job is
the ability to gather and receive information in confidence from those
who would face reprisals for bringing important information about our
government into the light of day for all of us to examine. Without an
enforceable promise of confidentiality, sources would quickly dry up
and the press would be left largely with only official government
pronouncements to report.
A quarter of a century ago, a New York Times reporter, Myron Farber,
was ordered to jail, also for doing his job and refusing to give up
confidential information. He served 40 days in a New Jersey prison
cell. In response to this injustice, the New Jersey Legislature
strengthened its "shield law," which recognizes and serves to
protect a journalist's need to protect sources and information.
Although the federal government has no shield law, the vast
majority of states, as well as the District of Columbia, have by now
put in place legal protections for reporters. While many of these laws
are regarded as providing an "absolute privilege" for journalists,
others set out a strict test that the government must meet before
it can have a reporter thrown into jail. Perhaps it is a function of
the age we live in or perhaps it is something more insidious, but
the incidence of reporters being threatened with jail by the federal
government is on the rise.
To reverse this trend, to give meaning to the guarantees of the
First Amendment and to thereby strengthen our democracy, it is
now time for Congress to follow the lead of the states and enact
a federal shield law for journalists. Without one, reporters like
Judy Miller may be imprisoned. More important, the public will be
in the dark about the actions of its elected and appointed
government officials. That is not what our nation's founders
had in mind.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) FBI Seizes Indymedia Servers
By Online Satff
Friday 08 October 2004
Also see below: Rackspace Statement Regarding Indymedia
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/100904W.shtml
The FBI has issued an order to hosting provider Rackspace in the
US, ordering it to turn over two of the servers hosting the Independent
Media Centre's websites in the UK, a statement from the group says.
Rackspace has offices in the US and the UK. Independent Media
Center, which is better known as Indymedia, was set up in 1999 to
provide grassroots coverage of the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) protests in Seattle.
Rackspace complied with the FBI order, without first notifying
Indymedia, and turned over Indymedia's server in the UK. This
affects over 20 Indymedia sites worldwide, the group said.
Indymedia said it did not know why the order had been issued
as it was issued to Rackspace. Rackspace told some of the group's
volunteers "they cannot provide Indymedia with any information
regarding the order." ISPs have received gag orders in similar
situations which prevent them from updating the parties involved
on what is happening.
Indymedia said a second server was taken down at Rackspace.
This provided streaming radio to several radio stations, BLAG
(a Linux distribution), and a handful of miscellanous things.
In August the US Secret Service used a subpoena in an attempt
to disrupt the New York city Independent Media Center before
the Republican National Convention by trying to get IP logs from
an ISP in the US and the Netherlands.
Last month the US Federal Communications Commission shut
down community radio stations around the US. Two weeks ago
the FBI asked Indymedia to remove a post on the Nantes IMC
that had a photo of some undercover Swiss police and IMC
volunteers in Seattle were visited by the FBI on the same issue.
Indymedia said the list of local media collectives affected
included Amazonia, Uruguay, Andorra, Poland, Western
Massachusetts, Nice, Nantes, Lilles, Marseille (all France), Euskal
Herria (Basque Country), Liege, East and West Vlaanderen,
Antwerpen (all Belgium), Belgrade, Portugal, Prague, Galiza, Italy,
Brazil, UK, part of the Germany site, and the global Indymedia
Radio site.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) Rackspace Statement Regarding Indymedia
By Annalie Drusch
Director, Corporate Communications
Rackspace Managed Hosting
Friday 08 October 2004
In the present matter regarding Indymedia, Rackspace Managed
Hosting, a U.S. based company with offices in London, is acting in
compliance with a court order pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance
Treaty (MLAT), which establishes procedures for countries to assist
each other in investigations such as international terrorism,
kidnapping and money laundering. Rackspace responded to a
Commissioner's subpoena, duly issued under Title 28, United
States Code, Section 1782 in an investigation that did not arise
in the United States. Rackspace is acting as a good corporate
citizen and is cooperating with international law enforcement
authorities. The court prohibits Rackspace from commenting
further on this matter.
For additional information on the MLAT, please visit findlaw.com
(c) Copyright 2004 by TruthOut.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) AN OMINOUS DRONE IN THE GAZA SKY
By Molly Moore
** Israeli Incursion Employs High-Tech Power to Lethal Effect **
Washington Post
October 8, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16184-2004Oct7.html
[PHOTO (http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I16688-2004Oct07L)
CAPTION: Palestinians comb through
the rubble of their house, which was
destroyed in an Israeli assault, now
in its second week, on the Jabalya
refugee camp in Gaza.
(Photo Credit: Kevin Frayer -- AP)]
JABALYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip --
By day, the streets of this densely
populated Palestinian labyrinth are
jammed with seething funeral processions
and solemn mourning tents. But gradually,
long before dusk, the camp is
transformed into a ghost town, with
civilians cowering in their apartments and
masked gunmen darting through the
shadows carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles
and homemade bombs.
"We just hug the children and cover
them with clothes and blankets to protect
them from the bullets," said Ama
Motawaq, 59, a resident of the camp whose
windows have been shattered and
walls pockmarked by bullets.
On Thursday evening, the boom of
Israeli Merkava tank cannons and the staccato
crackle of heavy-caliber machine-gun
fire ricocheted through the concrete
alleyways, heralding the 10th night of
Israel's most lethal incursion into the
Palestinian territories in nearly 2 1/2 years.
Ninety-four Palestinians and five
Israelis have been killed, according to
statistics provided by each side in
the conflict, since Israeli forces entered
the northern Gaza Strip in an operation
aimed at preventing Palestinian
guerrillas from firing rockets and
mortars at Jewish settlements and Israeli
towns over the border. The fighting
has pitted a sophisticated, high-tech
military force against guerrillas using
assault rifles, grenade launchers and
weapons crafted from common explosives,
construction site scraps and party
balloons.
On Thursday morning, Israeli intelligence
officers watching video beamed from
an unmanned surveillance aircraft saw
two militants trying to launch a rocket
into Israel, according to a military
spokeswoman. Palestinian doctors and
nurses peering out a window at the
same two figures said they saw something
very different: two boys playing with
pipes and sticks in a sandy lot next to
a school.
Seconds later, a missile tore Suleiman
Abu Foul, 12, and Raed Abu Zeid, 15, to
shreds.
Manar Farra, director of the Al Awda
Hospital on the northern edge of the
Jabalya camp and one of the witnesses
to the incident, said the younger boy
was brought to the hospital "without
a head. Even his family could not
recognize him. It made us hate our
profession. We could do nothing."
At almost the same moment, just
after 8:30 a.m., Palestinians fired two crude
Qassam rockets into the Israeli town
of Sderot, about two miles from the Gaza
border. No one was killed, but it was
the kind of attack that had spurred
Israel's leaders to send an estimated
200 tanks and armored personnel carriers
and 2,000 soldiers into the Gaza Strip.
To people in the line of fire, low-tech
and high-tech weapons are equally
terrifying.
On the streets of Sderot, residents
interviewed this week said they lived in
fear of the whistle that the Qassam
rockets make. The missiles have killed
four of the town's residents -- including
three children -- in the past 3 1/2
months.
In the dusty alleyways and potholed
streets of the Jabalya camp, which has
more than 100,000 residents, the sound
that sows fear is the omnipresent whine
of the unmanned surveillance aircraft.
On Thursday, no one walked the streets
without keeping a wary eye on the
cloudless sky in search of the brilliant
white drone. Even grimy-faced toddlers
playing in the dust of the grassless
camp gazed skyward when the buzz grew louder.
"You're afraid when you go out, you're
afraid when you're home," said Khalid
Kahlot, 40, a father of six whose clothing
shop on the northeastern edge of
the camp was bulldozed by Israeli
armored vehicles a few days ago. "Whenever
you're out, you look to the sky to see
if there are planes or the drone.
Everyone is scared."
When the remote-piloted aircraft fires
a missile, "there's no noise, no light,
just a 'sphew.' A second later, it hits,"
said Khaled Abu Habel, 38, who said
he heard one of the missiles strike just
yards from his home last Friday. He
said the missile killed two of his cousins,
both members of the Islamic
Resistance Movement, or Hamas.
As part of a mission to create a five-mile
buffer zone to prevent rockets from
reaching into Israel, the Israeli military
has positioned tanks and armored
personnel carriers along the northern
and eastern sides of the Jabalya camp
and the adjoining concrete-block town
of Beit Lahiya. Beit Lahiya is about a
10-minute drive from the Israeli border
over roads chewed into sand pits by
the treads of 60-ton tanks -- or a 20-
second flight for a Qassam rocket.
Though tanks and bulldozers thrust
into Beit Lahiya and the Jabalya camp in
the first two days of the incursion,
they have now taken up positions at the
entrances to the enclaves, creating
a surreal division inside them.
The eastern halves of the two communities
-- the streets within tank range --
are deserted day and night. Residents
say they are afraid to step outside
their homes. But farther west, just
out of range of the tank cannons and
machine guns, the residents nervously
scuttle through streets and alleys to
shop in the handful of stores that open
for a few hours each day. Schoolgirls
with white scarves and neon-hued
backpacks walk to classes, and neighbors
gather at each other's homes to keep
an eye on the feared drone overhead.
By midafternoon, the bustle subsides
and the transformation begins. Children
and young men start stretching huge
cloth sheets across the narrow alleyways
to provide cover from prying camera
lenses above. As the afternoon shadows
grow longer, even the streets on the
relatively protected side of town are
empty.
The entrances to some alleyways are
barricaded with sandbags. Across some of
the main streets, residents and militants
have piled sand as high as a
one-story building in an effort to
block Israeli armor.
On Wednesday night, masked fighters
from Hamas's armed wing held a news
conference in the Jabalya camp to
announce their determination to continue
battling the Israeli tanks and to keep
firing Qassam rockets. They also
displayed samples of their arsenal:
three shiny new Qassams, hand grenades
and homemade bombs.
The Qassams, which have a maximum
range of about five miles, are fashioned
from four-inch pipes commonly used in
construction projects, fitted with fins
and a needle nose. The shortest version
is about three feet long and is
packed with about nine pounds of explosives.
The longest measures more than
six feet and carries a payload of more than
20 pounds.
On Thursday, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,
the armed wing of Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement,
unveiled its latest weapon, the Aba Bel
-- a fat, squat rocket about 20 inches
long that contains about 20 pounds of
explosives. It is launched by being flung
out of a net and kept aloft with
about 40 balloons of the type commonly
sold for children's parties, an al-Aqsa
spokesman said.
The spokesman said the first of the rockets
had been lobbed at Sderot on
Wednesday. No damage was reported
by the Israelis.
--Special correspondent Islam Abdulkarim
contributed to this report.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8)Urgent: Emergency Gaza Relief Fund
For Immediate Release
7 October 2004
bayareapalestine (Please post to your websites)
A massive military operation by Zionist occupation forces against the people
of Northern Gaza has been underway for the past nine days. Since the night
of Tuesday 28 September 2004, Israeli military forces carried out a
wide-scale, open-ended attack on the Strip. So far, this attack has resulted
in the death of eighty-one Palestinians, including 20 children. More than
270 have been injured including 90 children. Numerous homes and private
property have also been destroyed due to the invaders' use of
disproportionate force, including air force and heavy tanks. Jabaliya
refugee camp, Beit Hanun and Beit Lahia are under attack and have sustained
heavy casualties and damage. An estimated 5000 families have been trapped in
their homes, where they continue to subsist on meager quantities of water,
food and medical supplies. Medical and humanitarian aid workers are being
denied entry, and more than twenty employees of UNRWA have been detained by
the invading troops.
ACTION REQUESTED
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition has set up the Emergency
Gaza Relief Fund. We call on all people of conscience to donate to
the fund. Any amount you donate is important, will be directed to the Union
of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC) for distribution to the victims who
need all the help to get through the coming months.
Please make your donation checks or money orders payable to "Al-Awda" or
"PRRC". Write "Emergency Gaza Relief Fund" in the memo section, and send
your donation to:
Al-Awda
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013-1352, USA
You may also use your credit card to donate online at:
http://al-awda.org/donatenow/
Al-Awda/PRRC is a non-profit tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Under IRS
guidelines, your donations to PRRC are fully tax-deductible.
__________________
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
E-mail: info@al-awda.org
WWW: http://www.al-awda.org
Fax: 1-802-609-9284
This alert has been posted at:
http://www.al-awda.org/urgentemergencygazarelieffund/ and
http://www.al-awdacal.org/alert-Gaza_Relief.html
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9) U.S. Air Raid Kills 11 in Iraq's Falluja
By Fadel al-Badrani
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters)
Fri Oct 8, 2004 07:05 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6451564&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - A U.S. air strike aimed at foreign militants led
by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed 11 people and wounded 17 after a
wedding party in Falluja Friday.
Rescuers dug bodies from rubble with their hands after the raid on
a house where residents said a wedding party had just been held.
They said the groom died and the bride was wounded.
At the local hospital, where blood pooled on the floor, doctor
Khaled Nasser said nine females aged between 5 and 50 were
among the wounded. Reuters television footage showed four
women lying bloodied and bandaged in the hospital.
"We were celebrating my cousin's wedding and my relatives
gathered in this house for the wedding," said Suad Mohammed,
26. "The wedding ended at 10 p.m., but some people gathered
outside the house and the bombing began.
"I lost consciousness and this morning I knew I was in hospital,"
said Mohammed, wounded in the legs and chest.
The U.S. military said a "precision strike" hit a safe-house being
used by associates of the Jordanian militant Zarqawi in northwest
Falluja at 1:15 a.m.
Repeated U.S. air strikes on Falluja have coincided with efforts
by Iraq's interim government to arrange the return of its security
forces to the rebel-held city and other trouble spots ahead of
a January deadline for nationwide elections.
The government welcomed an offer by a Shi'ite militia led by
Moqtada al-Sadr to disarm, and indicated willingness to meet
at least some of the fiery cleric's demands in any deal.
"The government welcomes the announcement by Sadr that his
militia will disband, hand over their weapons, respect the
authority and the unity of the state and abide by the rule of
law in Iraq," said a statement issued in the name of Kassim
Daoud, Iraq's national security adviser and chief negotiator.
The government promised to honor an amnesty offer for
"those who have not committed crimes against the Iraqi people."
The government could also pay to repair damage caused by
nightly clashes in recent weeks between Sadr's Mehdi Army
militia and U.S. forces in Baghdad's Sadr City slum district.
Daoud's statement followed a disarmament offer made by
Sadr's top aide in a televised address Thursday.
Ali Smeism said on the Al Arabiya channel the Mehdi Army
would disarm if the U.S. military freed Sadr aides, stopped
"persecuting" the militia and paid reparations. Sadr's aides
have also demanded financial assistance to rebuild Sadr City.
PACIFYING IRAQ
If a deal were struck with the Mehdi Army in Sadr City and
other Shi'ite flashpoints around Iraq, it could go some way to
restoring stability ahead of the elections, although a Sunni
insurgency still grips some central and northern regions.
The U.S. military said Friday soldiers had caught a
suspected bomb maker in Baghdad and seized a truck carrying
more than 1,500 155-mm artillery rounds. It said Thursday's
haul was one of the biggest to date. Insurgents often use
artillery rounds to make car bombs and roadside charges.
Before the latest Falluja raid, the city's chief negotiator
said talks with the government could bear fruit soon. "The
negotiations with the Iraqi government and the U.S army have
reached a positive stage," Sheikh Khalid al-Jumaili said.
Jumaili, a mosque preacher and member of the Mujahideen
Shura (council), which has some influence in the lawless city,
said he hoped an agreement would be completed Saturday.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi denied the government
was negotiating over Falluja, saying rebels should accept his
terms, lay down their guns and join the political process.
"There are really no negotiations about this," he told Al
Arabiya. "Those who conduct violence ... and who harm the Iraqi
people should abide by these conditions."
It is not clear whether battle-hardened Iraqi guerrillas or
foreign militants said to be holed up in Falluja would accept
any deal reached by representatives such as Jumaili.
Zarqawi, who Washington says has links to al Qaeda, ranks
as the top U.S. target in Iraq, with a $25 million price on his
head. His Tawheed and Jihad group has said it carried out some
of Iraq's bloodiest suicide bombings and hostage killings.
The U.S. military said recent air strikes had killed
several Zarqawi leaders, including Abu Anas al-Shami, described
as his deputy and spiritual adviser, and Mohammed al-Lubnani.
Residents and local doctors say many of the raids have
inflicted civilian casualties in a city held by Sunni fighters
since a U.S. assault in April failed to dislodge them.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
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10) For the Anti-War Movement: The Elections are Really on
October 17 in Washington, DC
If You Want to Vote to "Bring the Troops Home Now!"
You Have to Get on the Bus to the Million Worker March!
Dear Sisters and Brothers in the Antiwar and Peace
movement:
We know that many of us can't wait to vote for “Anybody
but Bush”. However, if there was ever a time when knowing
that marching is often far more important than voting, and
“movement” is more important than “establishment”, now is
such a time. The 2004 presidential election campaign has
made our journey to the capital far more urgent and
essential than if our march were scheduled for the day
after the Nov. 2 elections.
One of the reasons why the march was scheduled before the
elections is because presidential campaigns, regardless of
oneÂ’s own views of the major party candidates, almost
always usurp, co-opt, derail and neutralize the grassroots
movement. March leaders decided to use the slogan “Working
people speaking for themselves” for the Million Worker
March to make it clear that we refuse to be voiceless
appendages to a media-driven and money-driven election
campaign.
The November election campaign has not been a genuine
referendum on the critical question of pulling U.S. troops
out of Iraq now. President Bush is being criticized for
lying and pulling the country into this war. But both of
the major party candidates have made in clear that they
are committed to “staying” and “winning” in Iraq. It was
decided early on to make the demand to “Bring the troops
home now!” central to the message. With that understanding
in mind, the anti-war movement was invited to become a
full partner in this march.
The fact that the anti-war movement responded so
positively is one of the things that have given this march
almost limitless potential and power. Because of this, the
march has become a popular referendum on bringing the
troops home. It’s the movement’s opportunity to “speak for
itself.” With almost 1,100 U.S soldiers and tens of
thousands of IraqiÂ’s dead--and nothing but more war and
death in sight--WE CAN NOT AFFORD TO BE SILENT & IMMOBILE
OUT OF DEFERENCE TO THE ELECTIONS.
The Million Worker March is a grassroots anti-war “vote”
against the war, the occupation, the troops coming home
and on whether our money should be spend on killing in the
Middle East, are jobs healthcare, housing and education.
The buses are filling, unions are organizing and we know
that you are working hard for this important event.
We can confidently say to you that on Oct. 17 at the
Lincoln memorial in D.C., together we are going to produce
a powerful, massive, and we believe unprecedented alliance
between the workersÂ’ movement and the movement against the
war. Let's keep the hard work up over the coming week
(most people don't decide to go until a few days before)
to realize the full potential. Tell everyone that the real
vote is in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 17, and that in order
to cast their ballot they have "to get on the bus".
We'll see you in Washington,
Antiwar 4 The Million Worker March Organizers
Momentum is building for the Million Worker March---new
organizing centers are springing up all over the country
(see
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/organizingcenters.htm)
and new endorsers are being added to the list daily
(http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/endorsers.htm).
It is more important than ever that we turn out by the
thousands to say, "Jobs, Healthcare, and a Living Wage,
Not War!" on October 17. We need your help in this last
week to make this happen.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
**Donate!
We need help with the enormous expenses involved with this
massive mobilization of working people. You can donate
online at: http://www.peoplesrightsfund.org/
**Get the Word out!
1) Download leaflets from
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/pdfdownload.htm
and take them to your school, workplace, house of worship,
union, and community organization.
2) Link to the Anti-war for the Million Worker March
Website:
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/index.htm
3) Forward this email to your email lists.
**Organize transportation from your area!
We need hundreds of local organizers. Contact us about
becoming a local organizer:
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org/signupantiwarorganizer.htm
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
October 17 Washington DC
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