VOTE YES ON 'N'!
Next BAUAW meeting:
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 7 p.m.
1380 VALENCIA STREET
(BETWEEN 24TH & 25TH STREETS, SF)
CHECK OUR NEWLY DESIGNED WEB SITE: www.bauaw.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Please come! Please support! Please help spread the word!
ATTENTION S.F. RESIDENTS OUT OF WORK:
Save our youth!
Stop gentrification that's driving Blacks out of S.F.!
Win hundreds of long-term construction jobs!
Come one come all to the Transportation
Authority committee meeting
Tuesday, Sept. 14, 10:30am
Room 263, City Hall
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
October 2nd 2004.
Horace Mann Middle School - 3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
*PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY*
3) In this message from A.N.S.W.E.R.:
· The War at Home: Bayview- Hunters Point
· Immigrant Rights March
· March Against Racism & Discrimination
4) 9/11 Pollution 'Could Cause More Deaths Than Attack'
Published on Sunday, September 12, 2004 by the lndependent/UK
By Geoffrey Lean
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0912-01.htm
5) Bush team 'knew of abuse' at Guantánamo
Oliver Burkeman in Washington
Monday September 13, 2004
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1303105,00.html
6) 25 Reported Killed in U.S. Strike on Rebel Base in Falluja
By TERENCE NEILAN
September 13, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/international/middleeast/13CND-
IRAQ.html?hp
7) Ellsberg urges insiders to leak Iraq info
By KATA KERTESZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
WASHINGTON
Thursday, September 9, 2004 · Last updated 9:25 p.m. PT
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/
apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Ellsberg
8) ALERT: CFL ALERT: ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TO STOP
THE INDISCRIMINATE KILLING OF PALESTINIAN YOUTH.
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2004
From: Seham Fare
SEND OUR PREWRITTEN LETTER NOW OR, WRITE YOUR OWN:
http://www.cflweb.org/congress_merge_.htm
*********************************
Citizens for Fair Legislation
For Immediate Release
September 12, 2004
********************************
9) Solidarity greetings to The Coalition Against the
Deportation of Palestinian Refugees in Montreal,
From Bay Area United Against War (BAUAW)
www.bauaw.org
We stand in full support of your two demands,
1. To stop the deportations of the Palestinian refugees from
Canada
2. To grant them permanent residency on humanitarian
and compassionate grounds
10) Preventive War: A Failed Doctrine
September 12, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/opinion/12sun1.html?hp
11) Iraq allowed to rearm
Critics say embargo lift may worsen Iraq's security problems
By CLAIRE SCHAEFFER-DUFFY
National Catholic Reporter, September 10, 2004
www.natcath.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Please come! Please support! Please help spread the word!
ATTENTION S.F. RESIDENTS OUT OF WORK:
Save our youth!
Stop gentrification that's driving Blacks out of S.F.!
Win hundreds of long-term construction jobs!
Come one come all to the Transportation
Authority committee meeting
Tuesday, Sept. 14, 10:30am
Room 263, City Hall
One big Third St. Light Rail project remains to be built -
and we're claiming it!
Muni's $125 million maintenance barn at 26th & Illinois
is our project! If we don't build it, nobody will!
We demand:
1) On-the-job training in all trades
2) Enforcement of all hiring goals:
50% resident, 25.6% minority, 6.9% women
Tell your Supervisors,
NO MONEY FOR MUNI UNTIL THEY COMPLY!
Last Thursday, 300 residents turned out for the
Human Rights Commission meeting -
Let's do it again and more so!
For more information, call:
Louise Williams, Citizens Out of Work, (415) 374-3993
Willie Ratcliff, SF Bay View &
African American Contractors of SF, (415) 671-0789
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
October 2nd 2004.
Horace Mann Middle School - 3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
*PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY*
The Justice in Palestine Coalition, a group of progressive organizations wh=
o
have come together to work for a free Palestine, is hosting a day-long
conference to:
1. Educate ourselves and our allies, and deepen our knowledge &
understanding of the struggle in Palestine.
2. Link the work of our individual organizations and strengthen our network=
s
and activism through discussion, debate, and collaborative planning.
3. Organize for future solidarity and develop concrete a concrete plan of
action for the coming months.
4. Support the resistance in Palestine, and make links with others who are
fighting against the US occupation of Iraq, and against US Imperialism
around the world.
The conference will include panels, workshops and cultural performances. A
complete schedule of events is listed below.
Please reply to this email to find out about the next meeting of Justice in=
Palestine and help us build for this important event.
............
** Program **
The Struggle for Palestine: 4th Anniversary of the Intifada
October 2nd, 2004
9:00-9:30: Registration
Morning Plenary Session: The Current Status of Resistance in Palestine
workshops throughout the day include:
-Continuations of Plenary: Status of Resistance
-History of Palestine, The Nekbah and the Right of Return
-Iraq and Palestine: 2 Struggles, One cause
-Zionism
-Women and Resistance
-Direct Action: Skills Development
-The Impact of Palestine on the US Elections
-Political Prisoners, Here and in Palestine
-Globalization in the Arab World
-The Targets of Empire: Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Iran, Philippines, Africa
-Arab World Solidarity/Resistance
-US Solidarity Groups
-Repression/Occupation in the US (patriot Act, profiling, attacks on civil
liberties)
Report Back From Workshops
Closing Summation and the Future in Palestine
Cultural Performances
for more information:
info@justiceinpalestine.net
or visit
www.justiceinpalestine.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) In this message from A.N.S.W.E.R.:
· The War at Home: Bayview- Hunters Point
· Immigrant Rights March
· March Against Racism Discrimination
A.N.S.W.E.R. Educational Forum:
THE WAR AT HOME: BAYVIEW-HUNTERS POINT
Tuesday, Sept. 14, 7pm
San Francisco Women‚s Building
3543 18th St. between Valencia and Guerrero
The Pentagon spends billions of dollars to wreak war and violence
on poor people around the world and here ˆ dollars that are being
taken straight from our communities which need it for housing, jobs,
schools and healthcare. The Bayview-Hunters Point community of
San Francisco is on of the hardest hit by the war at home.
Join us to hear featured speaker Maurice Campbell from the
Community First Coalition and find out about:
· The Navy Shipyard toxic dump and PG power plant that are
poisoning the community
· Racist gentrification being carried out by big real estate developers
· Ongoing police terror against the Bayview-Hunters Point community
· How the community is building alliances and fighting back
$3-$10 donation (no one turned away for lack of funds)
Free childcare available, call to reserve.
For more information, contact 415-821-6545.
----------
Immigrant Rights March
Wednesday, Sept. 15, 5:30pm
Gather at 16th and Mission St., march to 24th and Mission St.
March to reclaim the Mission District for
undocumented immigrants in response to IMF raids.
Call 415-487-9203 for more information.
----------
March Against Racism Discrimination
Save the Date:
Friday, Oct. 1, 5pm
A recent campaign to expose racism and discrimination at the
S.F. Badlands bar in the Castro has resulted in community activism,
widespread media coverage, and action on the part of the city's
Human Rights Commission.
A coalition of organizations - including Black Rap, And Castro
For All, ANSWER, the Harvey Milk Democratic Club, the SF LGBT
Pride Celebration Committee, GAPA, and others - have come
together to plan a protest to raise awareness about racism and
other forms of discrimination within the Lesbian, Gay, Bi Trans
community in San Francisco.
Save the date of Friday, October 1. It will include a march and
rally, as well as a celebration of the potential for inclusion that
we strive for our community to achieve. Details to follow. Please
join in planning and gathering diverse people to this event. For
more information call 415-821-6545 or email answer@actionsf.org.
To subscribe to the list, send a message to:
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) 9/11 Pollution 'Could Cause More Deaths Than Attack'
Published on Sunday, September 12, 2004 by the lndependent/UK
By Geoffrey Lean
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0912-01.htm
Up to 400,000 New Yorkers breathed in the most toxic polluting
cloud ever recorded after the twin towers were brought down three
years ago, but no proper effort has been made to find out how their
health has been affected, according to an official report.
The US government study provides the latest evidence of a systematic
cover-up of the health toll from pollution after the 9/11 disaster,
which doctors fear will cause more deaths than the attacks themselves.
The Bush administration suppressed evidence of increasing danger
and officially announced that the air around the felled buildings was
"safe to breathe". Another report reveals that it has since failed at
least a dozen times to correct its assurances, even when it became
clear that people were becoming sick.
The official report - sent to Congress last week by the US Government
Accountability Office - says that between 250,000 and 400,000 people
in lower Manhattan were exposed to the pollution on 11 September
2001. But it shows that the government has yet to make a comprehensive
effort to study the effects on their health.
And it reveals that there is no systematic effort to adequately monitor
the well-being of those affected, give them physical examinations or
provide treatment.
Scientific studies have shown that the cloud of pulverized debris from
the skyscrapers was uniquely dangerous. The US government's own
figures show that it contained the highest levels of deadly dioxins
ever recorded - about 1,500 times normal levels. Unprecedented
levels of acids, sulphur, fine particles, heavy metals and other
dangerous materials were also measured.
Asbestos was found at 27 times acceptable levels, and scientists
found about 400 organic alkanes, phthalates and polyaromatic
hydrocarbons - many suspected of causing cancer and other long-
term diseases.
The site at Ground Zero went on smoldering, becoming what
scientists describe as a "chemical factory", creating new dangerous
substances.
(c) 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) Bush team 'knew of abuse' at Guantánamo
Oliver Burkeman in Washington
Monday September 13, 2004
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1303105,00.html
Evidence of prisoner abuse and possible war crimes at Guantánamo
Bay reached the highest levels of the Bush administration as early as
autumn 2002, but Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, chose to
do nothing about it, according to a new investigation published
exclusively in the Guardian today.
The investigation, by the veteran journalist Seymour Hersh, quotes
one former marine at the camp recalling sessions in which guards
would "fuck with [detainees] as much as we could" by inflicting pain
on them.
The Bush administration repeatedly assured critics that inmates
were granted recreation periods, but one Pentagon adviser told
Hersh how, for some prisoners, they consisted of being left in
straitjackets in intense sunlight with hoods over their heads.
Hersh provides details of how President George Bush signed off on
the establishment of a secret unit that was given advance approval to
kill or capture and interrogate "high-value" suspects - considered by
many to be in defiance of international law - an officially "unacknowledged=
"
programme that was eventually transferred wholesale from Guantánamo
to the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Hersh, who broke the story of the My Lai massacre in the Vietnam war,
makes his revelations in a new book, Chain of Command, which leaves
senior figures in the Bush administration far more seriously implicated
in the torture scandal than had been previously apparent.
A CIA analyst visited Guantánamo in summer 2002 and returned
"convinced that we were committing war crimes" and that "more
than half the people there didn't belong there. He found people
lying in their own faeces," a CIA source told Hersh.
The analyst submitted a report to General John Gordon, an aide to
Condoleezza Rice, Mr Bush's national security adviser.
Gen Gordon was troubled, and, one former administration official
told Hersh "that if the actions at Guantánamo ever became public,
it'd be damaging to the president".
Ms Rice saw the document by autumn of the same year, and called
a high-level meeting at which she asked Mr Rumsfeld, to deal with
the problem.
But after he vowed to act, "the Pentagon went into a full-court stall",
a former White House official is quoted as saying. "Why didn't Condi
do more? She made the same mistake I made. She got the secretary
of defence to say he's going to take care of it."
The investigation further suggests that CIA and FBI staff had already
witnessed incidents at Guantánamo just as extreme as those that
would subsequently be alleged by freed inmates.
A senior intelligence official told Hersh: "I was told [by FBI agents]
that the military guards were slapping prisoners, stripping them,
pouring cold water over them and making them stand until they got
hypothermia."
The secret "special access programme" facilitating much of the
mistreatment of prisoners, widely held to have contravened the
Geneva convention, was established following a direct order from
the president.
Hersh reports that a secret document signed by Mr Bush in
February 2002 stated: "I determine that none of the provisions of
Geneva apply to our conflict with al-Qaida in Afghanistan or
elsewhere throughout the world."
Hersh's book reports that an army officer communicated concerns
over abuses at Abu Ghraib both to General John Abizaid, the US
central command (Centcom) chief at the time, and his deputy,
General Lance Smith.
The officer told Hersh: "I said there are systematic abuses going
on in the prisons. Abizaid didn't say a thing. He looked at me -
beyond me, as if to say, 'Move on. I don't want to touch this.'"
Centcom has disputed the allegation.
In an interview with the Guardian, Hersh provided evidence that
the administration sought to evade the issue: he said codenames
of some programmes were changed within hours of his original
story appearing, presumably to maintain their secrecy.
In a statement, the Pentagon said Hersh's investigation "apparently
contains many of the numerous unsubstantiated allegations and
inaccuracies which he has made in the past based upon unnamed
sources ... Thus far ... investigations have determined that no
responsible official of the Department of Defence approved any
programme that could conceivably have authorised or condoned
the abuses seen at Abu Ghraib. If any of Mr Hersh's anonymous
sources wish to come forward and offer evidence to the contrary,
the department welcomes them to do so."
Pressure has been building on the Pentagon over its detention
policies after it emerged at a Congressional hearing last week
that the administration is being accused of concealing up to 100
"ghost detainees" from the Red Cross, which must be granted
access to prisoners of war and other detainees under the Geneva
convention.
Mr Rumsfeld told reporters on Friday he had approved the use
of harsh interrogation measures, but that they had only been
meant for Guantánamo. He said the measures ought to be
contrasted with those of terrorists. "Does it rank up there with
chopping someone's head off on television?" he asked. "It doesn't."
Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) 25 Reported Killed in U.S. Strike on Rebel Base in Falluja
By TERENCE NEILAN
September 13, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/international/middleeast/13CND-
IRAQ.html?hp
American warplanes made what the military called a precision
strike on a meeting place of terrorists believed linked to Al Qaeda
in the Sunni stronghold of Falluja today, killing an estimated 25
militants.
The military said in a statement that the attack was on a base
intelligence officers had confirmed was used by rebels loyal to
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant believed by American
officials to be Al Qaeda's most senior leader in Iraq. Americans have
blamed Mr. Zarqawi for many of the suicide bombings in Baghdad
and in other Iraqi cities.
News agency reports from Falluja that the air strikes killed at least
16 civilians, including women and children, and that an ambulance
was hit by a shell, killing the driver and six other occupants, were
denied by a coalition press officer by telephone from Baghdad.
"The U.S. military is confirming that we did not hit an ambulance
and we did not hit a marketplace," the press officer, Sharon Walker,
said, referring to news agency accounts.
Ms. Walker said that the 25 deaths "of Zarqawi operatives or
anti-Iraqi forces" were an "initial estimate," leaving open the
possibility of more casualties.
Today's attack was the latest in almost a week of American strikes
against rebel positions in Falluja, located 35 miles west of Falluja.
Despite the military's denial, witnesses said the bombing targeted
the city's residential al-Shurta neighborhood, damaging buildings
and raising clouds of black smoke, The Associated Press reported.
Dr. Adel Khamis of the Falluja General Hospital told the news agency
that at least 16 people were killed and 12 others wounded. The
ambulance was hit by a shell, killing the driver, a paramedic and
five patients inside the vehicle, another hospital official, Hamid
Salaman, told The A.P.
"The conditions here are miserable - an ambulance was bombed,
three houses destroyed and men and women killed," the hospital's
director, Rafayi Hayad al-Esawi, told Al-Jazeera television by telephone
in a report posted on the satellite station's Web site. "The American
Army has no morals."
He added, "Shame on our government that cannot protect the people."
Witnesses told The A.P. that American warplanes repeatedly swooped
low over the city and that artillery units deployed on the outskirts of
the city also opened fire. The explosions started at sunrise and
continued for several hours.
The military statement said the attack occurred at 6:07 this morning.
One explosion went off in a marketplace in Falluja as the first vendors
began to set up their stalls, wounding several people and shattering
windows, witnesses told the news agency.
American forces pulled out of Falluja in April after a three-week
siege that left hundreds dead. The United States Marines have not
patrolled inside Falluja since then, and Sunni insurgents have
strengthened their hold on the city.
In other violence today, three members of the Iraqi National Guard
were killed, three were wounded and one was missing in action
when their joint patrol with American forces from the First Brigade
Combat Team was attacked by a vehicle containing an improvised
explosive device, the military said.
The attack took place on the road to Al Amashru, about 18 miles
northeast of Al Hilla City.
Today's attacks came a day after a surge in violence across Iraq.
The A.P. reported that 78 people were killed Sunday, citing the
Health Ministry and local authorities.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) Ellsberg urges insiders to leak Iraq info
By KATA KERTESZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
WASHINGTON
Thursday, September 9, 2004 · Last updated 9:25 p.m. PT
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/
apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Ellsberg
WASHINGTON -- Daniel Ellsberg, the former Defense Department
official who leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam war,
is urging government insiders to provide similar classified documents
about the invasion of Iraq.
Joined by other whistle-blowers and former government employees,
Ellsberg said at a news conference Thursday that claims of government
deception and lies have "little credibility" unless supported by
documentary evidence, which often is available only in classified
materials.
In a memo to current government employees, Ellsberg and other
former government officials said federal insiders owe a "higher
allegiance" to the Constitution, the public and American soldiers
in Iraq than to their government bosses.
"A hundred forty-thousand Americans are risking their lives every
day in Iraq for dubious purpose," the memo said. "Our country has
urgent need of comparable moral courage from its public officials.
Truth-telling is a patriotic and effective way to serve the nation.
The time for speaking out is now."
The memo acknowledged that whistle-blowers risk personal
setbacks, such as losing their jobs, but urged them to act
nonetheless. "You may save many Americans from being lied
to death," it said.
Sibel Edmonds, who was fired by the FBI after she alleged security
lapses in the agency's translator program, said the government
frequently over-classifies documents, including the investigation
into her own case.
Among the documents claimed to be wrongly classified are sections
of reports from Army investigations into prisoner abuse in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and supporting material for then-Army Gen. Eric
Shinseki's February 2003 estimate that several hundred thousand
troops would have to stay in Iraq after the war.
Ellsberg was a special assistant to the assistant secretary of
defense during the Vietnam War. He released the 7,000 page
classified study to the Senate and 19 newspapers in 1971 and
now leads the Truth Telling Project.
On the Net:
Truth Telling Project: www.truthtellingproject.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) ALERT: CFL ALERT: ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TO STOP
THE INDISCRIMINATE KILLING OF PALESTINIAN YOUTH.
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2004
From: Seham Fare
SEND OUR PREWRITTEN LETTER NOW OR, WRITE YOUR OWN:
http://www.cflweb.org/congress_merge_.htm
*********************************
Citizens for Fair Legislation
For Immediate Release
September 12, 2004
********************************
CFL ALERT: ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TO STOP THE INDISCRIMINATE
KILLING OF PALESTINIAN YOUTH.
TALKING POINTS
*On 9/11/04 Israelis slaughtered 18-year-old Muhammad al-Haq as he was
walking home. An Israeli soldier manning a jeep ran over him
repeatedly until he died. The vehicle then fled from the scene after
killing Muhammed. Last year American citizens were horrified when our
government refused to censure Israel after a soldier killed Rachel
Corrie, a U.S. citizen in a manner that was eerily reminiscent of the
way Muhammed al-Haq was killed. In that incident the soldier ran over
and continued to back up over her body repeatedly with a CAT
bulldozer. If our government had properly censured Israel over the
death of Rachel Corrie, perhaps Muhammed would be alive today. In the
past few months the Israelis have killed over 50 children between the
ages of 2 months and 18 years without a single reprimand by this
country. Contact your representatives, both Republicans and Democrats
and urge them to stop looking the other way as Israel continues to
murder and victimize Palestinian children daily.
TALKING POINTS
*Over 600 Palestinian children between the ages of two months and 18
years have been killed by the Israeli Defense Forces in the past three
and a half years. Ask your representatives why they have remained
silent while this slaughter has occurred.
*Hundreds of Palestinian children are languishing in the territories
because the Israeli government refuses to let them out of the country
and into Jordan or Egypt to seek medical care. No other country in
the world would be allowed to deliberately treat children in such an
abusive manner, ask your representatives why they feel this is
appropriate.
*Israel will not allow the UN to move freely within the territories,
as a result the UN has issued an emergency report earlier in the year
stating that Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied territories
of Gaza and the West Bank are on the verge of a humanitarian
catastrophe. The report also stated that 9 percent of Palestinian
children under age 5 suffer from brain defects caused by malnutrition
because of the occupation.
*Tell your representatives that you feel Israeli action against
Palestinian children is deplorable and that you feel that this
government shares responsibility for the murder of over 600
Palestinian children, the starvation of an entire generation of
Palestinian children and all other Israeli crimes that specifically
target Palestinian children. None of these crimes against children
could happen were it not for the tacit approval by the president of
the United States and the U.S. Congress and Senate.
Please choose the appropriate letter to send! (YOU MUST PICK A SUBJECT
FROM THE DROP DOWN BAR) [After you enter your contact info the
appropriate addresses are provided. Simply type, or send our
prewritten letter and click send. Be sure to bookmark this page so you
can send ONE LETTER EVERY DAY. We have prewritten letters for your
convenience.]
EMAIL AND OR CALL THE WHITE HOUSE
WHITE HOUSE COMMENTS LINE: 202-456-1111
WHITE HOUSE SWITCHBOARD: 202-456-1414
WHITE HOUSE FAX: 202-456-2461
Citizens for Fair Legislation is a grassroots organization committed
to encouraging a fair domestic and foreign policy with an emphasis on
the US/Arab world.
www.cflweb.org
To learn more about John Kerry and his anti-human rights position on
Palestinians, click here: http://cflweb.org/kerryonisrael.htm.htm
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) Solidarity greetings to The Coalition Against the
Deportation of Palestinian Refugees in Montreal,
From Bay Area United Against War (BAUAW)
www.bauaw.org
We stand in full support of your two demands,
1. To stop the deportations of the Palestinian refugees from Canada
2. To grant them permanent residency on humanitarian and
compassionate grounds
Please add us to your list of endorsers. We have forwarded your
appeal to our list-serve. We join in solidarity with your struggle to
resist illegal, racially and religiously motivated persecution of
Palestinians in your country and ours. Especially those who stand
up for their rights as free citizens of the world and as Palestinians
being forced off their land by U.S.-funded Israeli Apartheid.
We are working to end all U.S. aid to Israel! Tear down the Apartheid
Wall! Demand the right of return of all Palestinians to their land! Stop
the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan. Bring all U.S. and allied troops and
corporations home now.
Yours for peace and solidarity,
Bonnie Weinstein,
Bay Area United Against War
---------- Forwarded message- please pass along ----------
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 19:42:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: Palestinian Refugees - Montreal
STATELESS & DEPORTED!
A Popular Mobilization Against Deportation of Palestinians from Canada
=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 18th, 2004
Gathering Point: 2PM Corner Atwater & St. Catherine
{metro Atwater}
=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>
From the Refugee Camps of Lebanon & Palestine to the Streets of Montreal!
For more than one year Palestinian refugees in Montreal and throughout
Canada have been struggling against deportation and fighting for their
status. On September 18th, the Coalition Against the Deportation of
Palestinian Refugees and their supporters are calling for your
participation in a large-scale demonstration on the streets of Montreal.
It is a critical time to show your solidarity with the Palestinian
refugees, as many of the deportations are set to take place in the coming
weeks and months. In Montreal, Palestinian refugees have already been
forced by Immigration Canada to live underground or take sanctuary, such
as Khalil Ayoub, 67 Nabih Ayoub, 69 and Therese Boulos Haddad, 62 who have
been refugees all their lives, fleeing Palestine in 1948 to the refugee
camps of Lebanon, and ultimately to Canada. The Ayoub family, confined to
the basement of Notre-Dame de Grace Church, were forced to take sanctuary
over 7 months ago to escape deportation.
The September 18th demonstration in Montreal will also commemorate the
thousands of Palestinian refugees who lost their lives in the 1982
massacre of Sabra and Chatila, during the Israeli invasion of Beirut. The
Palestinian refugees facing deportation are the sons and daughters of the
very same refugee camps, which suffered throughout the 15-year long
Lebanese civil-war. They are the sons and daughters of Sabra & Chatila,
Tel El Zaatar and Bourj El Barajneh, stateless refugees representing a
history of displacement, which began in 1948. As we remember the massacre
of Sabra & Chatila - one of the deepest wounds in the Palestinian
consciousness - we will demonstrate in solidarity with the struggle of
Palestinians here in Canada!
We will march on the streets of Montreal within the context of a political
campaign that has been waged throughout Canada during the past year in
support of the Palestinian refugees facing deportation. Thousands of
people throughout the country have participated in street demonstrations,
and thousands more have pressured Citizenship & Immigration Canada in
support of the refugees. Wide sections of society are standing in
solidarity with the struggle against Palestinian deportations, including
the Arab and Muslim community, self-organized immigrants and refugees,
major labour unions, countless community groups, major political parties,
faith based organizations and thousands of individuals from throughout the
world. With this strong backing, we intend to intensify the struggle
against Palestinian deportations this September.
We must stand united in the struggle against the deportation of
Palestinian refugees! Join us on the streets of Montreal on September 18th
and throughout the month of September for a popular mobilization against
the deportation of Palestinian refugees.
Your support, solidarity and action is needed now!
For more information or to get involved contact:
The Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees in Montreal
Phone: 514 591 3171
Email: refugees@riseup.net
Web: http://refugees.resist.ca
-> Below is the list of supporting organizations for the two demands of
the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees:
1. To stop the deportations of the Palestinian refugees from Canada
2. To grant them permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate
grounds
QUÉBEC:
Action Committee of Pakistani Refugees Against Racial Profiling, *
Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale(AQOCI)
* Alsuna Mosque * Alternatives, Montreal * Alternative Perspective Media,
* AnNahda, Montreal * The Anti-Capitalist Convergence of Montreal (CLAC) *
Association Générale Étudiante du Cégep du Vieux Montréal (AGECVM), *
Association for the Taxation of Financial Transaction for the Aid of
Citizens (ATTAC-Montreal), Montreal * Bête Noire (NEFAC), * Bloque
Quebecois * Block the Empire/Bloquez l'Empire, * Comité d'action des
sans-status Algériens (CASS), * Canadian Palestinian Foundation of Quebec
(CPF-Q), * Canadian Federation of Students Quebec (CFS-Q), * Canadian
Muslim Forum (CMF), * Canadian Muslims for Jerusalem (CMJ), * Center
Femmes Verdun, Quebec * CKUT Radio, 90.3fm Montreal, * La Centrale des
syndicats du Québec (CSQ), * Coalition justice pour Adil Charkaoui, *
Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP), * Comité Justice sociale
des Soeurs Auxiliatrices, * Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain
(CSN), * Conseil paroissial de pastorale, Communauté chrétienne
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, * Comité régional d'éducation pour le développement
international de Lanaudière (CREDIL) * Council of Canadians * Dar Al-Arqam
Mosque * Dragon Root Center for Gender Advocacy, * L'Entraide
missionnaire, * Durzi Community of Quebec * El-Hedaya Lebanese Association
* Fire Women & Trans of Colour Collective, * Forum des femmes de
Montréal,* Freedom School, * ICQ Mosque * Indigenous Peoples Solidarity
Movement (IPSM), * Iranian Women's Association of Montreal, * Iranian
Women's Association of Montreal, * International Solidarity Movement
(ISM), Montreal * Iraq Solidarity Project (ISP), * Jewish Alliance Against
the Occupation, * Lebanese Islamic Center of Montreal (CIL), * Lebanese
Communist Party in Montreal, * Lebanese Union of Montreal, * Libertas
Legal Collective, * Ligue des droits et libertés, * McGill Radical Law
Community, Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP), * MRAP-Québec (Mouvement
contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme et pour la paix) * Muslim Council of
Montreal (MCM) * L'Opération SalAMI * Palestinian & Jewish Unity (PAJU), *
Parole Arabe, * Parti Marxist-Leninst Quebec * Quebec Public Interest
Research Group (QPIRG) at Concordia, * Quebec Public Interest Research
Group (QPIRG) at McGill * Rebel Desis * Regroupement des Organismes du
Montréal Ethnique pour le Logement (ROMEL) * Solidairty for Palestinian
Human Rights (SPHR) * South Asian Women's Community Center * Solidarité
Union Coopération (SUCO) * Union des forces progressistes (UFP) * United
Muslim Students Association * Voices of Conscience (OCVC) * Women in Black
Montreal
CANADA:
Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians, Ottawa * Al-Awda - the
Palestinian Right of Return Coalition, North America, * Anti-Capitalist
Community Action Ottawa (ACA), Ottawa * Arab-Palestine Association-BC,
Vancouver * Arab Palestine Association of Ontario, Toronto * Arab Student
Collective (ASC) at the University of Toronto * Bloque Quebecois *
Canadian Council for Refugees, Le Conseil canadien pour les réfugiés
(CCR), * Canadian Friends of Sabeel, Ottawa * Canadian Arab Federation
(CAF), * Canadian Palestinian Center, Ottawa * Canaanite Canadian
Knowledge Center, Ottawa * Canadians for Equality and Peace for
Palestinians (CEPPal), Edmonton * Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 199,
St Catharines and District * Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), *
Canadian Palestinian Congress, Toronto * Calgary Coalition for Peace &
Anti-Racism * Canadian Council of Muslim Women * Direct Action Casework
Ottawa (DACO), Ottawa * The Free Press, of Kitchener, Ontario * Human
Concern International, Ottawa * International Socialists, Canada *
International Solidarity Movement (ISM), Toronto * International ANSWER
Coalition, NYC * International Action Center (IAC), * The Islamic Society
of York Region * Kingston for Palestinian Human Rights, * Manitoba Islamic
Association, * McMaster Students Against the Occupation, Hamilton * Muslim
Student Association of the University of Alberta, Edmonton * Muslim
Student Association at the University of Waterloo * New Democratic Party
of Canada (NDP) * New Socialist Group, Toronto * The Near East Cultural
and Educational Foundation, Toronto * Niagara Coalition for Peace, Niagara
Region * Niagara Palestinian Association, Niagara * No One Is Illegal,
Vancouver * No One is Illegal, Toronto * No One is Illegal, Montreal *
NOWAR-PAIX, Ottawa * Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), Toronto *
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), Toronto * Ontario Public
Interest Research Group (OPIRG) at Carleton, Ottawa * Palestine Solidairty
Group, Vancouver * Project Threadbare Campaign, Toronto * STATUS
Coalition, Toronto * Solidarity with Iraqi & Palestinian Children at
Carleton, Ottawa * The Spot, Kitchener-Waterloo Youth Resource Center *
Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, Toronto * Toronto Jewish Youth Against
the Occupation, Toronto * United Holy Land Fund, Toronto * Women Against
the Occupation, Canada
INTERNATIONAL:
Aidoun Group, Lebanon * Akka Charitable Association, Lebanon * Al-Awda
Egypt, Cairo, Egypt * Al-Awda Club, Lebanon * Al-Awda - the Palestinian
Right of Return Coalition, North America, * Al-Nadeem Center for the
Rehabilitation of the Victims of Violence, Cairo, Egypt * Arab American
Association, New York, * Arraby Charitable Association, Lebanon * Center
for Women Activities, Lebanon * Coalition for the Human Rights of
Immigrants (CHRI), New York * Committee for Charitable Works, Lebanon *
The Coordination Forum of the NGO's Working Among the Palestinian
Community, Lebanon * Deir Yassin Society of New York, * Desis Rising Up &
Moving (DRUM) New York, * Direct Action Palestine, New York, * The East
Jerusalem YMCA, Palestine * The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights,
Egypt * The General Union of Palestinian Women, Lebanon * The General
Union of Palestinian Workers, Lebanon * Immigrant Justice Solidarity
Project (IJSP), New York, * International Solidarity Movement, Berkeley, *
Islamic Association for Palestine in North America, * Jews Against The
Occupation, New York, * A Jewish Voice for Peace, Oakland, * Justice for
Palestinians, San Jose, * Khalsa Social Association, Lebanon * The March
For Justice, International * Multi-Lingual Translators & Interpreters
Group, Egypt * New England Committee to Defend Palestine, Boston * New
York Committee to Defend Palestine, * New Jersey Solidarity - Activists
for the Liberation of Palestine * Office of Palestinian Students Aid,
Lebanon * The Organization of Palestinian Democratic Women, Lebanon * The
Organization of Palestinian Democratic Youth, Lebanon * The Organization
of Palestinian Human Rights, Lebanon * Palestinian Women Union, Egypt *
Palestinian Students Committee, University of Wollongong, UAE *
Palestinian Cultural Club, American University in Dubai, UAE * Reach
Organization, Dubai, UAE Roots Association (Judhoor), Lebanon * School of
Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) Palestine Society, London, UK * Students
for Justice at San Jose State University, San Jose, USA * Tulkarem Club,
Lebanon * Union of Palestinian Youth, Gaza, Palestine * Youth & Children
Center, Chatila, Lebanon
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) Preventive War: A Failed Doctrine
September 12, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/opinion/12sun1.html?hp
If facts mattered in American politics, the Bush-Cheney ticket would
not be basing its re-election campaign on the fear-mongering
contention that the surest defense against future terrorist attacks
lies in the badly discredited doctrine of preventive war. Vice President
Dick Cheney took this argument to a disgraceful low last week when
he implied that electing John Kerry and returning to traditional
American foreign policy values would invite a devastating new strike.
So far, the preventive war doctrine has had one real test: the invasion
of Iraq. Mr. Bush terrified millions of Americans into believing that
forcibly changing the regime in Baghdad was the only way to keep
Iraq's supposed stockpiles of unconventional weapons out of the
hands of Al Qaeda. Then it turned out that there were no stockpiles
and no operational links between Saddam Hussein's regime and Al
Qaeda's anti-American terrorism. Meanwhile, America's longstanding
defensive alliances were weakened and the bulk of America's ground
combat troops tied down in Iraq for what now appears to be many
years to come. If that is making this country safer, it is hard to see
how. The real lesson is that America dangerously erodes its military
and diplomatic defenses when it charges off unwisely after
hypothetical enemies.
Before the Iraq fiasco, American leaders rightly viewed war as a last
resort, appropriate only when the nation's vital interests were
actively threatened and reasonable diplomatic efforts had been
exhausted. That view always left room for pre-emptive attacks;
America is under no obligation to sit and wait, if it is clear that
some enemy is actually preparing to strike first. But it correctly
drew the line at preventive wars against potential foes who might,
or might not, be thinking about doing something dangerous. As
the administration's disastrous experience in Iraq amply demonstrates,
that is still the wisest course and the one that keeps America most
secure in an increasingly dangerous era.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, plainly ushered in a new era
of catastrophic threats to the American homeland. If these are to be
met effectively, major changes in national security policy will be
required. But a shift toward preventive wars is not one of them. As
the 9/11 commission report clearly established, international
terrorist groups like Al Qaeda are highly mobile, self-financing
and largely independent of traditional states. Governments that
grant them sanctuary and facilities, like Afghanistan under the
Taliban or Sudan, must face strong international pressure,
including American military attack. Any attempt by the president
and his surrogates to lump the invasion of Afghanistan into the
category of preventive wars is plain wrong. In fact, the war in Iraq
has undermined the important work that American forces are
doing in Afghanistan by diverting soldiers, supplies and money.
Al Qaeda has already declared war on the United States, and
America needs to fight back relentlessly - in Afghanistan and
through international efforts to capture terrorist leaders who
function with forged passports and visas, safe houses and sleeper
cells. That is why Mr. Cheney is also wrong to disparage law-
enforcement cooperation with allies as an important weapon
in this war.
Instead, he promises more preventive, offensive wars against
hypothetical dangers like Iraq. Besides estranging America from
its main European and Asian allies, and leaving Washington looking
like an aggressor to much of the Arab and Muslim world, these policies
kill American soldiers and civilians in the countries attacked, and they
threaten to tie down the Army and Marine divisions America needs to
have available for responding to real threats in the dangerous decades
ahead.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) Iraq allowed to rearm
Critics say embargo lift may worsen Iraq's security problems
By CLAIRE SCHAEFFER-DUFFY
National Catholic Reporter, September 10, 2004
www.natcath.org
Iraq, once restrained by some of the severest military sanctions, can
now buy its own weapons thanks to a little-publicized provision of
the United Nations Security Council that lifted a 14-year arms
embargo on the country. The provision is included in a U.N.
resolution, unanimously passed last June, legitimizing the new
Iraqi interim government.
The removal of the arms embargo, instituted to enable Iraq to
refurbish its arsenal and take responsibility for its security needs,
has turned the formerly weapons-deprived country into a seller's
market for defense contractors. It has also drawn criticism from
some analysts who question the wisdom of rearming a politically
unstable country still occupied by the world's largest military power.
"How much of this is a photo op? A way to whitewash the occupation
by showing the world that we are allowing Iraq to rebuild its army?
Any new [Iraqi] security force would still remain under U.S. control,"
said Frida Berrigan, a senior research associate with the Arms Trade
Resource Center, a project of the World Policy Institute.
The new U.N. provision is a formality. Iraq has technically been open
to the arms trade since May 2003 when the country came under the
governance of the Coalition Provisional Authority. According to the
Asia Times, over the past year Iraq has purchased 50,000 handguns
from the Austrian company Glock, 421 UAZ Hunter jeeps from Russia,
"millions of dollars worth of armored cars from Brazil and Ukraine,
along with AK-47 assault rifles, 9 mm pistols, military vehicles, fire
control equipment and night vision devices."
Asia Times also reported that the Coalition Provisional Authority,
shortly before its transfer of power to the Iraqi interim government,
negotiated contracts for six C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft,
16 Iroquois helicopters and a squadron of 16 low-flying, light
reconnaissance aircraft, to be delivered by April 2005.
Lockheed Martin, the world's largest arms exporter, manufactures
the C-130. An ironic detail of the Iraq purchase is that Lockheed
Martin products were used during U.S. bombing campaigns of the
first Gulf War, which destroyed much of Iraq's air force. Cynical
though it may be for a company to sell military aircraft to a country
after it made a profit building the weapons that destroyed its aircraft,
the practice is commonplace, according to Chatap Pratterjee, an
investigative journalist for the online publication CorpWatch.
"Weapons manufacturers will sell to anybody unless there is an
arms embargo," he said.
Free to buy, Iraq is unable to pay for its military hardware and
currently relies on U.S. military aid. Congress has appropriated a
little less than $3 billion for Iraq's security needs, $2 billion of
which are earmarked for developing the country's new army,
according to the report in the The National Interest.
Chris Toensig, editor of the quarterly Middle East Report, said
American funding of Iraqi weaponry is a continuation of U.S.
policy in the Middle East. "The U.S. has been a large arms supplier
in the region. This is one of the linchpins of strategic relationships -- =
a way of trying to make sure the Iraq government remains dependent
on the U.S.," he said.
Several analysts pointed out that Iraq's lack of independent purchasing
power has translated into a bias towards American companies for arms
deals.
"U.S. defense contractors consider the Iraqi military contracts their
domain. The Glock deal was an anomaly and some people were
upset by it. The sentiment expressed by some members of the
American Congress was, 'How could an American company not
get it?' " said Berrigan.
"Obviously countries and defense industries are excited about
lifting an arms embargo," said Rachel Stohl, a researcher with the
Center for Defense Information. "But the policy is problematic
because there has been no thorough inventory of Iraq's arsenals."
Iraq is "awash in light weaponry," Stohl said. She believes importing
arms will only exacerbate the security problems posed by the
country's already overstocked and unregulated arsenal of small
arms -- revolvers, rifles, pistols and the like.
After Saddam Hussein's defeat, the Iraqi people found themselves
in possession of at least 7 to 8 million small arms previously kept
by security forces, according to the Small Arms Survey of 2004, a
publication of the Graduate Institute of International Studies in
Geneva. The publication described Iraq as a country that "has
become synonymous with gun violence."
In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, Stohl estimated that small
arms have killed "more than one third" of the U.S. soldiers who
have died in Iraq since the end of major combat operations in May
2003, wounded thousands more, and wreaked havoc on the Iraqi
population. "Uncounted Iraqi civilians have been killed, wounded,
hreatened or terrorized by small arms," she wrote.
With regard to replenishing Iraq's heavy conventional weaponry,
Stohl asked, "Do they need to be spending a significant amount of
money on new weapons? The threats they are facing are not going
to be solved with tanks alone. What are the greatest needs of
reconstruction? Is it military goods and services or is it roads
and services?"
But for Anthony Cordesman, national security analyst with the
Center for Strategic and International Studies, lifting the arms
embargo is the natural outcome of Iraq's sovereignty and should
not be questioned, especially given the severity of the current
nsurgency. Cordesman, who has sharply criticized the United
States for not attending to the development of Iraq's security
forces, admitted there are practical obstacles to Iraq's rearmament,
including lack of money and the lack of a stable security force to
absorb the arms. But he said the current insurgency necessitates
that the new government have access to weapons.
"If you cannot create effective security, you have no chance of
creating a national government. For an Iraqi government to
succeed it has to take this mission [of security] over. There is
no question the insurgents are able to draw from a large cache
of weapons left over from Hussein's regime. Suggesting Iraq should
remain under an arms embargo is about as relevant as suggesting
an arms embargo for the Spanish government when they were
fighting the fascists during the Spanish Civil War," he said.
Critics of the new U.N. provision disagree. They say Iraq's sovereignty
is limited, if not superficial, overshadowed by the formidable
presence of the U.S. military.
"You are dealing with a country that is about to get seven large
U.S. military bases," said George Lopez, director of Policy Studies
and senior fellow at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International
Peace Studies. "The only way to make this appear to be a not so
visible occupation is to allow the Iraqis their own arsenal. It's like
NATO basing in Germany at the height of the Cold War. They
armed NATO and they armed Germany, and that's what you
have here."
Iraq has five major security forces: the Iraqi Police Service, the
Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, the army, the border patrol and the
Facilities Protection Services. Although the Pentagon has been
successful in recruiting members of these forces (working security
in Iraq is one of the few jobs that offers a regular paycheck),
cultivating their allegiance to a central government has been
more difficult.
"In some instances, private contractors are training Iraqi military
and police," Berrigan said. "Who's vetting these people? The
security environment is so precarious that introducing a whole
new set of armed individuals is adding a new layer of volatility
to an already volatile region. At the same time water isn't clean."
Berrigan said she is familiar with the argument that security
must precede reconstruction but she sees Iraq's dilemma as a
"chicken and egg kind of thing. The fact that there isn't
electricity or plumbing fuels the resistance. It seems to me
these projects come first. Security flows from basic needs
being met," she said.
Claire Schaeffer-Duffy is a freelance writer living in Worcester,
Mass.
National Catholic Reporter, September 10, 2004
www.natcath.org
Since 1923 the War Resisters League has affirmed that war is
a crime against humanity. We therefore are determined not to
support any kind of war, international or civil, and to strive
nonviolently for the removal of all the causes of war.
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