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FREE THE SHOE-THROWER!
The 50,000 Signatures Campaign for the release of Muntadhar Al-Zaydi -PLEASE SIGN AND FORWARD!
http://www.iraqsnuclearmirage.com/articles/Zaydi.html
Zaineb Alani
http://www.thewordsthatcomeout.blogspot.com
http://www.tigresssmiles.blogspot.com
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Why We Shouldn't Settle for a New "New Deal"
A speech given to the December 7, 2008,
New England Anti-War Rally, Hartford, CT,
by Mike Alewitz, Labor Art & Mural Project
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=7P6EcJ6B-_s
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The San Francisco Immigrant Rights Defense Committee invites you to
commemorate International Migrants Day by joining us in a:
Rally for Equality and Dignity for ALL San Franciscans
Thursday, December 18th, 2008 @ 12:00PM
San Francisco City Hall (Polk Street Entrance)
BART: Civic Center Station
Join the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Defense Committee as they
commemorate the United Nations' International Migrants Day by
unveiling a platform already endorsed by several members of the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors with specific policy recommendations
on Immigration Raids, Traffic Check Points, Immigrant Youth in the
Juvenile System, the Municipal Identification program, and funding for
essential services for youth and immigrants.
The San Francisco Immigrant Rights Defense Committee is a growing
alliance encompassing immigrant rights advocates, labor groups, faith
leaders, and LGBT activists. The Committee includes the Alianza
Latinoamericana por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes (ALDI), Arab
Resource and Organizing Center, Asian Law Caucus, Asian Youth Advocacy
Network, Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition, Central American
Resource Center, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Communities United
Against Violence, EBASE, Global Exchange, H.O.M.E.Y., Filipino
Community Center, Instituto Familiar de la Raza, La Raza Centro Legal,
La Voz Latina, Legal Services for Children, Mission Neighborhood
Resource Centers, Movement for Unconditional Amnesty, Mujeres Unidas y
Activas, PODER, POWER, Pride at Work, SF Immigrant Legal & Education
Network, SF Labor Council, SF Organizing Project, St. Peter's Housing,
Tenderloin Housing Clinic, and Young Workers United.
For more information contact: Evelyn Sanchez at 415.572.0639 /
evelyn@immigrantrights.org
alianzalatinoamericana.org
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NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY
To Celebrate The 50th Anniversary Of The Cuban Revolution And For Hurricane Relief For Cuba
And: Important Update On The Cuban Five's Struggle For Freedom
Featuring Renowned Dj Carlito Rovira
Wednesday, December 31, 9 pm to 1 am
Centro del Pueblo, 474 Valencia St., San Francisco
For 50 years Cuba's revolution has provided for its people, and at the
same time, extended international solidarity the world over with
doctors, teachers and so much more. Cuba needs our solidarity today!
More than 500,000 homes have been damaged, 65,000 destroyed, crops wiped out from three hurricanes this year.
Come celebrate Cuba's Revolution, bring a generous donation, and have fun!
Sponsored by ANSWER Coalition, National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, Compañeros del Barrio, the FMLN-SF.
Requested donation at the door: $10 to $20.
Refreshments provided.
For information: 415-821-6545
Download the flyer: http://www.freethefive.org/calendar/NewYearsSF2008.pdf
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For a United Antiwar Movement
Dear all,
At its recent National Assembly, United for Peace and Justice voted not to endorse the March 21 March on the Pentagon as described in the ANSWER call, below. Conference delegates had to choose between the March 21 action already planned and endorsed by hundreds of organizations across the country and their own, April 4, March on Wall Street. They could not vote to support both.
We feel it is important for the movement to support both actions! And we especially feel that we can not let another year of "Shock and Awe" go by without demonstrating massively on March 21, and standing solidly behind the demands:
--End the Wars on Iraq and Afghanistan Now!
--Bring all U.S. Troops and Contractors Home NOW!
--End All U.S. Aid to Israel Now!
--End All U.S. Intervention Worldwide!
--Fund Peoples' Needs Not Militarism and Bank Bailouts!
--End the war threats and economic sanctions against Iran!
--End the illegal U.S. program of detention and torture!
We feel the connection between the financial crisis and the tremendous costs of maintaining the U.S. war budget--larger than all the world's war budgets put together--has never been clearer! And our opposition to it should be massive, peaceful, independently and democratically organized and, most importantly, united in solidarity!
All Out March 21 and April 4! Money for human needs not for endless war. Together we do have the power!
In solidarity,
Bay Area United Against War
bauaw.org
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MARCH 21 NATIONAL COALITION FOR A MARCH ON THE PENTAGON
ON THE SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE IRAQ WAR
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, DC, SF, LA AND SEATTLE
The ANSWER Coalition is joining with other coalitions, organizations, and networks in a March 21 National Coalition to bring people from all walks of life and from all cities across the United States to take part in a March on the Pentagon on the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war: Saturday, March 21.
The Iraqi journalist Muntather Al-Zaidi spoke for millions of Iraqis and outraged people everywhere when he threw his shoes at George Bush during Bush's publicity stunt "victory lap" in Baghdad yesterday. As he threw his shoes, Muntather said, "This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!"
Tragically, the criminal occupation of Iraq will not be over even by the sixth anniversary of the start of the war in March 2009. People around the world will be marching together on the sixth anniversary in the strongest possible solidarity with the people of Iraq demanding an end to the occupation of their country.
Marking the sixth anniversary of the criminal invasion of Iraq, on March 21, 2009, thousands will March on the Pentagon to say, "Bring the Troops Home NOW!" We will also demand "End Colonial Occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Everywhere" and "Fund Peoples' Needs Not Militarism and Bank Bailouts." We will insist on an end to the war threats and economic sanctions against Iran. We will say no to the illegal U.S. program of detention and torture.
To endorse the March 21 March on the Pentagon, click here. To sign up to be a Transportation Organizing Center, click here.
http://answer.pephost.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=4580&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS
While millions of families are losing their homes, jobs and healthcare, the real military budget next year will top one trillion dollars--that's $1,000,000,000,000. If used to meet people's needs, that amount could create 10 million new jobs at $60,000 per year, provide healthcare for everyone who does not have it now, rebuild New Orleans, and repair much of the damage done in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cost for the occupation of Iraq alone is $400 million each day, or about $12 billion each month.
The war in Iraq has killed, wounded or displaced nearly one third of Iraq's 26 million people. Thousands of U.S. soldiers have been killed, and hundreds of thousands more have suffered severe physical and psychological wounds. The U.S. leaders who have initiated and conducted this criminal war should be tried and jailed for war crimes.
The idea that the U.S. is in the process of ending the criminal occupation of Iraq is a myth. Washington and its dependent Iraqi government signed a "Status of Forces" agreement, supposedly calling for the U.S. military to leave Iraqi cities by July 1, 2009, and all of Iraq by 2012. But even this outrageous extension of an illegal occupation is just one more piece of deception, as was soon made clear by top U.S. and Iraqi officials.
The ink was hardly dry on the agreement when, on December 12, official Iraq government spokesman Ali al Dabbagh dismissed the idea that U.S. troops would leave by 2012: "We do understand that the Iraqi military is not going to get built out in the three years. We do need many more years. It might be 10 years."
The next day, General Raymond Odierno, commander of "coalition (U.S.) forces" in Iraq, stated that thousands of U.S. troops could remain inside Iraqi cities after July 1, 2009, as part of "training and mentoring teams."
Government propaganda aside, the reality remains that only the people can end the war and occupation in Iraq. To sign up to be a Transportation Organizing Center, click here.
http://answer.pephost.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=4680&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS
The war in Afghanistan is expanding. The incoming administration and Congressional leaders have promised to send in more troops.
Federal bailouts and loan guarantees for the biggest banks and investors, many of whom have also made billions in profits from militarism, are already up to an astounding $7.2 trillion this year. None of that money is earmarked for keeping millions of foreclosed and evicted families in their homes.
Coming just two months after the inauguration of the next president, the March 21, 2009, March on the Pentagon will be a critical opportunity to let the new administration in Washington hear the voice of the people demanding an immediate end to war and occupation, and demanding economic justice. Joint actions will take place on the West Coat in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.
Sincerely,
Brian Becker
National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition
P.S. You can make a difference. Please continue to support the ANSWER Coalition's crucial anti-war work by making your end-of-the-year tax-deductible donation online using our secure server by clicking here, where you can also find information on how to donate by check.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311
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UNITE TO PROTEST THE SIXTH YEAR OF U.S. WAR AND OCCUPATION IN IRAQ!
U.S. OUT OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN NOW!
MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS NOT WAR!
MARCH 21, 2009
SIGN ON TO THE UNITY CALL!
The National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations:
Call for Unity
We hope that you and your organization agree that unified national March actions are sorely needed in these times of military and economic crises. We ask that you:
1. Sign the Open Letter to the U.S. Antiwar Movement.
2. Urge all local and national organizations and coalitions to join in building the mobilizations in D.C. in March and the mass actions on March 21.
3. Support the formation of a broad, united, ad hoc national coalition to bring massive forces out on March 21, 2009.
You can sign the Open Letter by writing natassembly@aol.com [if you are a group or individual. (Individual endorsers please include something about yourselves.)] or through the National Assembly website at www.natassembly.org [if you are a group endorsement only]. For more information, please email us at the above address or call 216-736-4704. We greatly appreciate all donations to help in our unity efforts. Checks should be made payable to National Assembly and mailed to P.O. Box 21008 , Cleveland , OH 44121 .
In peace and solidarity,
Greg Coleridge, Coordinator, Northeast Ohio Anti-War Coalition (NOAC); Economic Justice and Empowerment Program Director, Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee (AFSC); Member, Administrative Body, National Assembly
Marilyn Levin, Coordinating Committee, Greater Boston United for Justice with Peace; New England United; Member, Administrative Body, National Assembly
On behalf of the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY STATEMENT URGING UNITY OF THE
ANTIWAR MOVEMENT FOR THE MARCH 2009 ACTIONS
For more information please contact:
natassembly@aol.com or call 216-736-4704
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Bring the Anti-War Movement to Inauguration Day in D.C.
January 20, 2009: Join thousands to demand "Bring the troops home now!"
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311
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ARTICLES IN FULL:
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1) States' Funds for Jobless Are Drying Up
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
December 15, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/us/15funds.html?ref=us
2) Shoe thrower 'beaten in custody'
BBC NEWS
December 16, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7785338.stm
3) Legal Update: U.S. Supreme Court developments regarding Mumia Abu-Jamal, death row
Robert R. Bryan, lead counsel
Law Offices of Robert R. Bryan
2088 Union Street, Suite 4
San Francisco, California 94123-4117
Lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal
December 15, 2008
[E-mail: RobertRBryan@aol.com]
4) Statement by the Ohio State Labor Party (OSLP)
Executive Board in Response to Carl Davidson's Article
Submitted by Jerry Gordon, OSLP Chair
RE: The Bumpy Road Ahead:
New Tasks of the
Left Following
Obama’s Victory
By Carl Davidson
Progressives for Obama
[I provide the link to this article only since it's very long...bw]
November 19th, 2008
http://progressivesforobama.net/2008/11/19/the-bumpy-road-ahead/
5) Merton Center Activists Engage the National Antiwar Movement
By Paul LeBlanc and Pete Shell, Pittsburgh Thomas Merton Center Antiwar Committee
info@pittsburghendthewar.org
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1) States' Funds for Jobless Are Drying Up
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
December 15, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/us/15funds.html?ref=us
With unemployment claims reaching their highest levels in decades, states are running out of money to pay benefits, and some are turning to the federal government for loans or increasing taxes on businesses to make the payments.
Thirty states are at risk of having the funds that pay out unemployment benefits become insolvent over the next few months, according to the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. Funds in two states, Indiana and Michigan, have already dried up, and both states are borrowing from the federal government to make payments to the unemployed.
Unemployment taxes are collected by states from employers, but the rate varies from state to state per employee. In good times states build up trust funds so that when unemployment is high there is enough money to cover the requests for benefits, which are guaranteed by the federal government.
"You don't expect the loans to happen this early in a jobs slump," said Andrew Stettner, the deputy director of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy organization for low-wage workers. "You would expect that the states should, even when they are not well prepared, to have savings."
The Labor Department said last week that initial applications for jobless benefits rose to 573,000, the highest reading since November 1982. It is recommended that states keep at least one year of peak-level benefits in their trusts, but many have not, and already some states are far worse off than others.
Indiana's unemployment trust fund went insolvent last month, and has borrowed twice from Washington since then - the first such loans to the state since 1983. It also expects to request an additional $330 million early next year.
Michigan, which has been borrowing money from the federal government for the past few years to replenish its fund, is now $508.8 million in the hole and unable to repay it. Next month the state, where the unemployment rate is more than 9 percent, will begin levying a special "solvency tax" against some employers to replenish its trust fund.
California, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and other states are inching toward insolvency as well, and may have to borrow from the federal government to get through at least the first quarter of 2009.
In South Carolina, officials recently requested a $15 million line of credit.
"Right now we have $40 million in our trust fund, and we are paying out around $11 million a week," said Allen Larson, deputy executive director for the unemployment insurance program at the South Carolina Employment Security Commission. "So we think it is going to be very close as to whether or not we can get through this year. We have never experienced anything like this."
Officials in New York said the state's trust fund has about $314 million, compared with $595 million last year, and will most likely have to borrow from the federal government in January.
The situation puts states, many of them facing huge deficits, in an even tighter vise. As more people lose their jobs, the revenue base that the benefits are drawn from shrinks, making it harder to pay claims. Adding to that burden is that states will eventually have to pay back what they borrow.
Some states are worried about next year because the lion's share of unemployment taxes are collected early in each year, and they are not sure the money will stretch through the end of the next year. The maximum amount of income the federal government can tax employers for each worker is $7,000. (The amount ranges from about $7,000 to about $25,000 for state taxes.)
"It is something that we are concerned about," said Kim Brannock, a spokeswoman for the Office of Employment and Training in Kentucky, where the unemployment trust fund balance now sits at $133 million, compared with $250 million a year ago. The fund has not borrowed money from the federal government since the 1980s. "At this point we are solvent," she said, "but we are monitoring the situation."
States that come up short have the option of borrowing from the federal government, but if the loan is not paid back within the federal fiscal year, 4.7 percent interest is accrued, which cuts into states' general funds.
"With longer term solvency issues due to the sharp increase in unemployment, federal borrowing quickly becomes expensive," said Loree Levy, a spokeswoman for the Employment Development Department in California, which is already facing a multibillion dollar budget gap. "We are anticipating interest payments of $20 million in 2009-10 and if nothing is done to revise the revenue generation model the interest would be $150 million in 2010-11."
As such, they are then forced to raise taxes or cut services, or both.
Robert Vincent, a spokesman for the Gtech Corporation, a technology company for the lottery industry based in Rhode Island, said, "Unemployment taxes are one of a number of taxes that make it difficult to do business here."
In many cases, states that have kept unemployment tax rates artificially low - or in some instances decreased them - find themselves in the worst pickle now. Indiana legislators, for example, reduced the tax rates to businesses by 25 percent in 2001.
"So, frankly, they created the perfect storm," said John Ruckelshaus, the deputy commissioner for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. "The Legislature will have to go in and look at the whole unemployment trust find first thing when they begin their session."
At the same time payments have gone up in some states.
To recalibrate the balance, several states are raising taxes on businesses - often through an automatic increase that is triggered when fund levels are endangered - to keep the unemployment checks flowing. An example is the Michigan solvency tax, which will be levied against employers whose workers have received more in benefits than the companies have contributed in unemployment insurance taxes, to the tune of $67.50 per employee.
In Rhode Island, where the unemployment rate is 9.3 percent, the taxable wage base will go to $18,000 from $14,000 in 2009, the highest rate in a decade.
"There is a possibility that we might be slightly under the funds we need come the end of the first quarter," said Raymond Filippone, the assistant director of income support at the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. The state has not borrowed from the federal government since 1980, he said.
"Many states have not raised that tax in years," said Scott Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers in Washington. "Some states have automatic triggers. But then of course you have businesses saying, 'Whoa, you are raising taxes on me when we are having a tough time and it is a recession, too.' "
Still, some said they were thinking beyond the dollars.
"In these times of financial stress every extra cost is a concern," said Linda Shelton, the spokeswoman for Lifespan, a large health care system in Rhode Island. "However there are many things that worry us even more. We are much more concerned about Rhode Island's budget crisis, about rising unemployment, the rising number of uninsured and the continuing cuts to health care."
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2) Shoe thrower 'beaten in custody'
BBC NEWS
December 16, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7785338.stm
The brother of the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush has said that the reporter has been beaten in custody.
Muntadar al-Zaidi has allegedly suffered a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding, his older brother, Dargham, told the BBC.
Mr Zaidi threw his shoes at Mr Bush at a news conference, calling him "a dog".
A spokesperson for the Iraqi military says the journalist is in good health and said the allegations were untrue.
It is unclear whether the reporter may have been injured when he was wrestled to the floor at the news conference, or at a later point.
The head of Iraq's journalists' union has asked the government for clemency towards the journalist who is still in custody.
A military spokesman said Mr Zaidi was now being held by the judicial authorities who would decide whether he faces charges.
Earlier, Dargham al-Zaidi told the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Baghdad he believed his brother had been taken to a US military hospital in the Iraqi capital.
Hero figure
A second day of rallies in support of Mr Zaidi were held across Iraq, calling for his release.
Meanwhile, offers to buy the shoes he threw are being made around the Arab world, reports say.
Mr Zaidi told our correspondent that despite offers from many lawyers his brother has not been given access to a legal representative since being arrested by forces under the command of Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser.
The Iraqi authorities have said the 28-year-old will be prosecuted under Iraqi law, although it is not yet clear what the charges might be.
Iraqi lawyers have speculated that he could face charges of insulting a foreign leader and the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, who was standing next to President Bush during the incident. The offence carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
Our correspondent says that the previously little-known journalist from the private Cairo-based al-Baghdadia TV has become a hero to many, not just in Iraq but across the Arab world, for what many saw as a fitting send-off for a deeply unpopular US president.
As he flung the shoes, Mr Zaidi shouted: "This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog."
Dargham al-Zaidi told the BBC that his brother deliberately bought Iraqi-made shoes, which were dark brown with laces. They were bought from a shop on al-Khyam street, a well-known shopping street in central Baghdad.
However, not everyone in Iraq has been supportive of the journalist's action.
Speaking earlier in Baghdad, Mouyyad al-Lami described Mr Zaidi's action as "strange and unprofessional", but urged Mr Maliki to show compassion.
"Even if he has made a mistake, the government and the judiciary are broad-minded and we hope they consider his release because he has a family and he is still young," he told the Associated Press news agency.
"We hope this case ends before going to court."
Abducted by insurgents
The shoes themselves are said to have attracted bids from around the Arab world.
According to unconfirmed newspaper reports, the former coach of the Iraqi national football team, Adnan Hamad, has offered $100,000 (£65,000) for the shoes, while a Saudi citizen has apparently offered $10m (£6.5m).
The daughter of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Aicha, said her charity would honour the reporter with a medal of courage, saying his action was a "victory for human rights".
The charity called on the media to support Mr Zaidi and put pressure on the Iraqi government to free him.
Mr Zaidi, who lives in Baghdad, has worked for al-Baghdadia for three years.
Muzhir al-Khafaji, programming director for the channel, described him as a "proud Arab and an open-minded man".
He said that Mr Zaidi was a graduate of communications from Baghdad University.
"He has no ties with the former regime. His family was arrested under Saddam's regime," he said.
Mr Zaidi has previously been abducted by insurgents and held twice for questioning by US forces in Iraq.
In November 2007 he was kidnapped by a gang on his way to work in central Baghdad and released three days later without a ransom.
He said at the time that the kidnappers had beaten him until he lost consciousness, and used his necktie to blindfold him.
Mr Zaidi never learned the identity of his kidnappers, who questioned him about his work before letting him go.
(c) BBC MMVIII
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3) Legal Update: U.S. Supreme Court developments regarding Mumia Abu-Jamal, death row
Robert R. Bryan, lead counsel
Law Offices of Robert R. Bryan
2088 Union Street, Suite 4
San Francisco, California 94123-4117
Lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal
December 15, 2008
[E-mail: RobertRBryan@aol.com]
Introduction Mumia Abu-Jamal remains on Pennsylvania's death row. Last week marked the 27th anniversary of his unjust imprisonment. Racism, fraud and politics have been threads that have run through the case since its inception, and continue today.
We are in extensive litigation on two fronts before the United States Supreme Court. The prosecution is continuing it quest for the execution of my client. In a separate case before the court, I am seeking an entirely new trial and Mumia's freedom. Based upon my experience in having successfully represented numerous people in murder cases involving the death penalty, I am convinced that we can win if I can just get it back before a jury.
U.S. Supreme Court The following is a brief overview of recent developments and filing deadlines:
Beard v. Abu-Jamal, U.S. Sup. Ct. No. 08-652 On November 14, 2008, the Philadelphia District Attorney filed in the U.S. Supreme Court a petition seeking to overturn the victory we achieved earlier this year in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Abu-Jamal v. Horn, 520 F.3d 272 (3rd Cir. 2008). In that ruling court ordered a new jury trial on the question of the death penalty. Our Brief In Opposition is scheduled to be filed on January 21, 2009.
Abu-Jamal v. Beard, U.S. Sup. Ct. No. 08A299 The Petition for Writ of Certiorari will be filed on December 19, 2008. The issues concern the prosecution's use of racism in jury selection. Relief was denied last spring by a sharply divided federal court.
This is of great constitutional significance as reflected by the extraordinary dissenting opinion of Justice Thomas L. Ambro. Abu-Jamal v. Horn, 520 F.3d at 304-320. He reaffirmed the bedrock principle that everyone is entitled to a fair and impartial trial by a jury of his or her peers, and that excluding even a single person from a jury because of race violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment.
Donations for Mumia's Legal Defense The legal defense for Mumia needs substantial funds. The legal costs for our litigation in the Supreme Court are considerable and will likely reach six figures. To help, please make your checks payable to the "National Lawyers Guild Foundation" (indicate "Mumia" on the bottom left). The donations are tax deductible, and should be mailed to:
Committee To Save Mumia Abu-Jamal
P.O. Box 2012
New York, NY 10159-2012
Conclusion This is a life and death struggle to save Mumia. He is in greater danger than at any time since being arrested. Your support and activism is needed. That Mumia remains in prison and on death row is an affront to basic human rights. We must aggressively continue this struggle until he is free.
Yours very truly,
Robert R. Bryan
Law Offices of Robert R. Bryan
2088 Union Street, Suite 4
San Francisco, California 94123-4117
Lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal
[E-mail: RobertRBryan@aol.com]
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4) Statement by the Ohio State Labor Party (OSLP)
Executive Board in Response to Carl Davidson's Article
Submitted by Jerry Gordon, OSLP Chair
RE: The Bumpy Road Ahead:
New Tasks of the
Left Following
Obama’s Victory
By Carl Davidson
Progressives for Obama
[I provide the link to this article only since it's very long...bw]
November 19th, 2008
http://progressivesforobama.net/2008/11/19/the-bumpy-road-ahead/
Recently an article by Carl Davidson titled "The Bumpy Road Ahead: The New Tasks of the Left Following Obama's Victory" has been widely circulated. We are writing to express our strong disagreement with some of its central tenets.
For those who may not know, Carl Davidson is a long time antiwar activist. During the Vietnam War, he was a central leader of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and later became a journalist for the weekly Guardian newspaper. He has served as a member of UFPJ's Steering Committee and was coordinator of the October 27, 2007 regional demonstration in Chicago , an action called by UFPJ.
Davidson's point of departure is to catalogue what position various left wing groups took in the just concluded presidential race. A self-described socialist, he lashes out against those which did not actively support Obama, groups which he describes as ultra left, anarchist, Maoist and Trotskyist.
If all that Davidson was doing in his article was denouncing those who disagreed with his support for Obama, we would not be writing this response. However, Davidson goes further than denounce, he advocates waging a campaign within the antiwar movement directed against them - regardless of whether they are playing a positive and productive role in the struggle to stop the bloodshed. Here is how he puts it:
"We have to break decisively with this ultra-left, semi-anarchist perspective. While the hard core of this trend is small, its reach is wider than some might think. It's not a matter of purges; it's a matter of emancipating the minds of many on the radical left from old dogma. There's no way forward under these new conditions if we don't." (Emphasis added)
Here is the inconsistency: Davidson also says, "What this election, its outcome, its battles and ebb and flow, and the engagement of the masses, has especially done is reveal the utter bankruptcy of almost the entire anti-Obama Trotskyist, anarchist and Maoist left, save for a few groupings and some individuals." But if these groups have been rendered so bankrupt, as Davidson claims, then why is a campaign directed internally against them so urgently needed at this time?
The bottom line is this: Many organizations and individuals in the antiwar movement, including the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations, support a united front of all antiwar forces and oppose dividing the movement on the basis of electoral preferences. Davidson's line is the polar opposite of this position and we believe it must be rejected in no uncertain terms.
In the early days of the Vietnam antiwar movement, the Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy, which was in leadership of the movement at the time, sought to "sanitize" it by barring left wing groups from participating in demonstrations. However, SANE soon lost hegemony, thanks primarily to young activists who helped establish the principles of non-exclusion and the rejection of redbaiting in the movement. From that time to this, the movement has been relatively free from the exclusionary and redbaiting politics of the past. Obviously, Davidson would like to revive those discredited politics.
Today, the antiwar movement is at another crossroads. We have plenty on our plate to deal with, the unification of the movement in the streets to demand the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq and Afghanistan being the central priority. Our struggle is against the government in Washington which is frantically trying to restore some of its lost power and influence so that it can more effectively advance its expansionist policies. Contrary to Davidson, there is a way forward for the movement which does not involve turning inward and waging attacks against forces which took a position in the election different from his own. Let's get real here: Those in our movement who supported third parties (or no party) are not the enemy. Unity, not divisiveness, is the key to the movement's success.
And lest people think this is an esoteric discussion among the left -- since labor was united behind Obama - it should be pointed out that millions of U.S. workers continue to vote Republican every election cycle and a recent Peter Hart survey found that while 67% of union members who went to the polls voted for Obama, 30% chose McCain. Those trade unionists who voted for McCain are not the enemy either, and we need to reach out and attempt to win them to the antiwar cause, along with Obama supporters.
Against U.S. wars and occupations? Then join us! What you do on the outside on the electoral front is your own business.
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5) Merton Center Activists Engage the National Antiwar Movement
By Paul LeBlanc and Pete Shell, Pittsburgh Thomas Merton Center Antiwar Committee
info@pittsburghendthewar.org
The national convention of United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), a major antiwar coalition, took place in Chicago on December 12-14. A five-member delegation of the Thomas Merton Center Antiwar Committee (AWC)—Jessica Benner, Paul Le Blanc, Jonah McAllister-Erickson, Pete Shell, and Carole Wiedmann—plus Francine Porter representing Pittsburgh Code Pink and David Meieran representing De-Militarize Pittsburgh—joined with 241 others who attended.
The delegation went to Chicago to connect with other antiwar forces in the country and get a sense of the current state of UFPJ, and these goals were accomplished. The AWC delegation had additional goals: 1) to work with like-minded UFPJ groups (the “Unity Caucus”) to promote a mass mobilization of all antiwar groups in the U.S. this spring for an end to the U.S. war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan; 2) to help advance a position for immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan as well as Iraq; and 3) to elect a representative of the Merton Center onto the UFPJ Steering Committee. Of these, the goal of adopting a "U.S. out of Afghanistan Now" amendment was achieved. No Merton Center representative was added to the UFPJ steering committee, and only one-third of UFPJ delegates joined us in supporting a unified mobilization of forces focused on ending the wars.
The UFPJ leadership had initially called for actions in Washington, D.C. for the week of March 16-21. Based on this a proposal had been put forward (by the pro-unity National Assembly to the End U.S. War and Occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan, with which the AWC has affiliated) for unified mass demonstrations against the war on March 21 in Washington and San Francisco. Several other antiwar formations (including ANSWER) expressed support for such actions. The UFPJ leadership then reversed itself—proposing a national action in New York for April 4.
In the opening session, UFPJ leader Leslie Cagan, argued that the peace movement needs to move away from national marches and more into local organizing. She hailed the Obama family's upcoming arrival at the White House as the dawning of a new era that would usher in substantial change. In introducing the April 4 campaign proposal, the UFPJ Steering Committee stated that they did not want to alienate the new generation that supported Obama. This was the reason, they said, that they decided to move their action from Washington, D.C. to New York. They also listed a central demand of their protest in New York as a "re-ordering of economic priorities."
Marilyn Levin, a member of the National Assembly, introduced the Unity Caucus proposal for a united mass march in Washington on March 21, which had been endorsed by 18 UFPJ member groups including the Thomas Merton Center AWC. She emphasized that the U.S. peace movement has a historical responsibility to unite; that marches inspire and energize youth to get more involved in the struggle for peace and justice; and the importance of solidarity with the Iraqi people.
The Steering Committee recommended that the two action proposals be counter-posed. They argued that UFPJ would not have enough resources to organize both—despite the fact that they were planning to organize ten events from January to April.
The Unity Caucus made a motion to separate the proposals in order to allow delegates to decide each on its own merits. Many of us supported the civil rights and economic justice themes of the April 4 event, which will have a different emphasis than the March 21 protest. We also stated that supporting March 21 was a political decision, not a resource commitment.
The motion to separate the proposals failed, and the two dates were unfortunately pitted against each other. The Steering Committee allowed only a short debate. Iraqi poet Zaineb Alani gave a heartfelt plea for the March 21 proposal. She stressed that a unified national march focused on ending the war would be heard in Baghdad. With the proposed multi-issue event in New York City, she added, her relatives who had suffered under "shock and awe" would not hear a clear condemnation of the war from the U.S. people. (This position was supported by all Iraqis attending the conference.) Carl Davidson of Progressives for Obama spoke against the March 21 proposal, arguing that the real peace movement consists, not of the activists who have been organizing antiwar protests for the last several years, but of people who campaigned for Obama.
The March 21 proposal failed, with two-thirds of the voting delegates (by roughly 100 votes to 50) voting instead for April 4.
The AWC will be helping to build the March 21 mobilization in Washington, DC to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and also supports the April 4 multi-issue event.
To help build for the spring mobilizations, please e-mail info@pittsburghendthewar.org.
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