End the Occupation---Bring Our Troops Home Now!
COME OUT ON SUNDAY AND TABLE FOR PROP N !!!
Enjoy the Castro Street Fair while distributing lit for Prop N
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
Saturday, October 2nd, 2004
Horace Mann Middle School - 3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
3) Continued US Airstrikes in Baghdad Draw Criticism
Sadr City neighborhood is attacked for a second day.
Interim president of Iraq likens the tactics to Israeli
military actions in the Gaza Strip.
By Ashraf Khalil
BAGHDAD
Published on Wednesday, September 29, 2004
by the Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0929-24.htm
4) US bases in Iraq: sticky politics, hard math
By David R. Francis
If a new Iraq government should agree to let American
forces stay on, how many bases will the US request?
[In a message dated 9/30/04 4:26:08 AM,
rkallen@myrealbox.com writes:
from the September 30, 2004 edition]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0930/p17s02-cogn.html
5) "On to Baghdad, back to home."
Subj: Fw: Please Forgive The Mass-Mailing!
Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 11:14:50 PM
From: dmg011@usadatanet.net
Please disperse this message on behalf of those who were
pushed even further last year, as the armed forces dangled
a carrot for months.
"For those of you unaware, I will be shortly on my way to Iraq
again. I write now as a plea for help on behalf of the combat
veterans forced to return to hostile areas against their will.
I am talking about the Army's policy regarding "Stop-Loss",
a procedure whereby the Army does not allow a soldier to
separate from service when his contract expires.
Effectively, we are being held hostage..."
6) Ashcroft Says Likely to Appeal U.S. Patriot Act Ruling
SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 05:54 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6375762&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
7) Car Bombs Kill 34 Children in Baghdad
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 09:36 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6378394&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
[What are 34 children doing near a U.S. military convoy?
Could they have been human shields? ...BW]
8) Twelve Palestinians, 3 Israelis Die in Gaza Violence
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 08:10 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6377165&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
9) The war's littlest victim
... and as the article mentions many, many Iraqi babies.
This was the cover story in today's News.
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
The war's littlest victim
Tuesday, September 28th, 2004
10) Forbes 400 list of richest Americans: snapshot of a
financial oligarchy
By Joseph Kay
27 September 2004
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/sep2004/forb-s27_prn.shtml
11) Former Soldiers Slow to Report
500 Ready Reservists Seek Exemptions From Reactivation,
Risk AWOL Status
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
(Sept. 28) Updated: 01:48 PM EDT
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040928070809990037
12) Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Books Not Bars
13) Anti-war Activists 4 the Million Worker March-
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
14) Books Not Bars presents:
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
***********************************
"SYSTEM FAILURE:
VIOLENCE, ABUSE & NEGLECT IN CYA"
***********************************
Tuesday October 19th 7pm
Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland
15) Urgent Appeal from Gaza
Thu, 30 Sep 2004 11:39:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Barbara Lubin"
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Yes on N!
End the Occupation---Bring Our Troops Home Now!
COME OUT ON SUNDAY AND TABLE FOR PROP N!!!
Enjoy the Castro Street Fair while distributing lit for Prop N
The Castro Street Fair is happening this Sunday, Oct. 3rd from about
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Prop N campaign will be working out of two booths:
The Harvey Milk LGBT Demo Club (booth 748) and Pride at Work
(booth 750). Both will be located at the North side of Market probably
near the middle of the 2300 block (between Noe & Castro). Enter at
the Noe & Castro Gate. You should ask for a map at the gate and look
for the booth #s marked in front of each booth.
Well over 100,000 people will be there. We will be passing out
brochures about Prop N in the morning and window signs proclaiming:
End the Occupation---Bring Our Troops Home Now, Yes on N in the
afternoon.
This is one of our best opportunities before the election to bring
visibility to the campaign. We can use help for 1 or 2 hours or all
day. Wear sunblock and look for our red, black and yellow banner
With the aforementioned slogan.
Thanks, Howard Wallace - 415/861-0318
PS: Check out our web site and note our broad array of endorsers:
YesonN.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
October 2nd, 2004
Horace Mann Middle School - 3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
9:00-9:30: Registration
9:30-11:00: Morning Plenary Session:
The Current Status of Resistance in Palestine
11:00-12:15: Workshop Session #1
Continuations of Plenary: Status of Resistance
History of Palestine, The Nekbah and the Right of Return
Iraq and Palestine: 2 Struggles, One cause
Zionism
12:15-1:30: Lunch (Catered, with Music)
1:30-2:45: Workshop Session #2
Direct Action: Skills Development
The Impact of Palestine on the US Elections
Political Prisoners, Here and in Palestine
Globalization in the Arab World
2:45-3:00: Tea/Coffee Break
3:00-4:15: Workshop Session #3
Women and Resistance
The Targets of Empire: Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti,
Iran, Philippines, Africa
US Solidarity Groups
Repression/Occupation in the US (patriot Act, profiling,
attacks on civil liberties)
4:30-6:00 Closing Plenary
Closing Summation and the Future in Palestine
6:00-7:00: Dinner with music
Cultural Performances
for more information:
info@justiceinpalestine.net
or visit
www.justiceinpalestine.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Continued US Airstrikes in Baghdad Draw Criticism
Sadr City neighborhood is attacked for a second day.
Interim president of Iraq likens the tactics to Israeli
military actions in the Gaza Strip.
By Ashraf Khalil
BAGHDAD
Published on Wednesday, September 29, 2004
by the Los Angeles Times
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0929-24.htm
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces launched airstrikes Tuesday on the Baghdad
neighborhood of Sadr City for the second consecutive day, and two
British soldiers were killed in an ambush in the southern city of Basra.
'COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT"
A relative cries as a coffin carrying the body of Ahmed Abdul Muttalib
is taken for burial in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday Sept. 29, 2004.
Muttalib died in an U.S. airstrike early on Wednesday morning and his
wife was gravely injured. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim)
Sadr City, a Shiite Muslim-dominated area in the eastern part of the
capital, is a stronghold of the Al Mahdi militia led by radical cleric
Muqtada Sadr. Though his forces have been weakened by their
August expulsion from the southern city of Najaf after a prolonged
U.S. siege, attacks against American and Iraqi patrols have become
a daily occurrence in Sadr City, and visitors report that the streets
are dotted with bombs.
U.S. forces have launched multiple offensives targeting Shiite rebels
in the densely populated district. U.S. forces said a "precision strike"
Monday killed four insurgents, but hospital officials said 10 people,
including civilians, were killed.
Tuesday's attack injured at least three people, officials at Sadr City's
Jawader Hospital said. It was unclear whether any insurgents were
killed or injured.
In recent weeks, U.S. forces have also launched regular airstrikes
on the town of Fallouja, west of Baghdad, which is controlled by
Sunni Muslim insurgents. Although U.S. military operations
supposedly are coordinated with Iraqi leaders, the Americans'
increasing reliance on air attacks drew criticism Tuesday from
the U.S.-backed interim Iraqi president.
Drawing a parallel between U.S. tactics in Iraq and Israeli actions
in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
President Ghazi Ajil Yawer said the U.S. strikes were viewed by
the Iraqi people as "collective punishment" against towns and
neighborhoods.
Footage of injured and dead women and children being pulled
from bombed buildings "brings to mind Gaza," Yawer said in an
interview on CNN.
Yawer's comments echo criticism of American military tactics in
the spring, when members of the now-disbanded Iraqi Governing
Council stridently protested a Marine siege of Fallouja.
Also Tuesday, insurgents armed with machine guns and rocket-
propelled grenades launched a morning attack on a two-vehicle
British army convoy in the southern city of Basra.
Shakir Hashem, a 28-year-old auto repair shop owner, identified
the attackers as Al Mahdi militiamen. They "were setting a trap
to attack the British troops.... When the convoy passed, they
opened fire," he said.
British troops returned fire, and during the ensuing gun battle
a grenade launched by one of the attackers struck a nearby
auto shop, setting it ablaze, Hashem said. Two British soldiers
who were injured in the ambush died at a military hospital.
The U.S. military identified a soldier killed Monday by a sniper
in Balad, north of Baghdad, as Sgt. 1st Class Joselito O. Villanueva,
36, of Los Angeles.
Two other soldiers who died last week in Iraq also have been
identified. Spc. Robert Unruh, 25, of Tucson was killed Saturday
when his unit was attacked in Al Anbar province west of Baghdad.
On the same day, Spc. Clifford L. Moxley Jr., 51, a National
Guardsman based in Berwick, Penn., died of "non-combat
related injuries."
(c) 2004 Los Angeles Times
(c) Copyrighted 1997-2004
www.commondreams.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) US bases in Iraq: sticky politics, hard math
By David R. Francis
If a new Iraq government should agree to let American
forces stay on, how many bases will the US request?
[In a message dated 9/30/04 4:26:08 AM,
rkallen@myrealbox.com writes:
from the September 30, 2004 edition]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0930/p17s02-cogn.html
One, as the United States Army currently maintains in Honduras?
Six, the number of installations it lists in the Netherlands.
Or maybe 12?
The Pentagon isn't saying.
But a dozen is the number of so-called "enduring bases" located
by John Pike, director of GlobalSecurities.org. His military affairs
website gives their names. They include, for example, Camp Victory
at the Baghdad airfield and Camp Renegade in Kirkuk. The Chicago
Tribune last March said US engineers are constructing 14 "enduring
bases," but Mr. Pike hasn't located two of them.
Note the terminology "enduring" bases. That's Pentagon-speak for
long-term encampments - not necessarily permanent, but not just
a tent on a wood platform either. It all suggests a planned indefinite
stay on Iraqi soil that will cost US taxpayers for years to come.
The actual amount depends on how many troops are stationed there
for the long term. If the US decides to reduce its forces there from the
138,000 now to, say, 50,000, and station them in bases, the costs
would run between $5 billion to $7 billion a year, estimates Gordon
Adams, director of Security Policy Studies at George Washington
University in Washington, D.C. That's two to three times as much
as the annual American subsidy to Israel. Providing protection for
Israel is one of several reasons some analysts cite for the
US invasion of Iraq.
If more troops are based in Iraq for the long haul, the cost would
be higher. US Army planners are preparing to maintain the current
level of forces in Iraq at least through 2007, The New York Times
reported this week. But no decision has been made at the political
level.
So far, the Bush administration has not publicly indicated that it
will seek permanent bases in Iraq to replace those recently given
up in Saudi Arabia, a possibility mentioned by Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz before US forces moved into Iraq. The
US already has bases in Kuwait and Qatar.
At an April 2003 press conference, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld said any suggestion that the US is planning a permanent
military presence in Iraq is "inaccurate and unfortunate." With the
presidential election weeks away, he is unlikely to alter that
pronouncement on such a politically touchy matter. Such a
move would almost certainly attract fire from Democratic
candidate John Kerry.
Nonetheless, several military experts in Washington assume Iraq's
new government will need the support of American troops - and
thus "permanent" bases - for years, perhaps decades, to come.
The US already has 890 military installations in foreign countries,
ranging from major Air Force bases to smaller installations, say
a radar facility. Perhaps bases in Iraq would enable the Pentagon
to close a few of those facilities. As part of a post-cold-war shift
in its global posture, the Defense Department has been cutting
the number of its installations in Germany, which total more than
100. Last week Mr. Rumsfeld testified about a global "rearrangement"
of US forces to the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
"Who needs Germany when we have Iraq?" asks Mr. Pike of
GlobalSecurities.org.
Building bases in Iraq has risks. Two Americans beheaded last
week were working as civil engineers constructing the Taji
military base north of Baghdad, one of the bases Pike lists as
"enduring."
The bigger risk: Polls find that at least 80 percent of Iraqis -
whatever their views on the insurgency, democracy, the removal
of Saddam Hussein, and other issues - want US armed forces to
leave their nation. Making the bases permanent could stir up
more opposition to the US occupation.
Another fear, however, is that without US bases, the various
Iraqi factions - the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds - would fall into
civil war. In turn, this conflict could drag in Iran, Syria, and
Turkey, leading to a widespread conflict in the Middle East.
Hope of establishing a democracy in an Arab nation would fade.
To avoid these risks, an Iraq government will accept a US military
presence despite popular disapproval, Pike says. "An indefinite
American presence in Iraq is the ultimate guarantor of some
quasi-pluralistic government."
Also, withdrawal of US forces would be seen by Iraqi insurgents
as a victory, prompting them to redouble their efforts to kill
Americans, says Thomas Donnelly, a military expert at the
American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
The US can afford maintaining bases in Iraq, he argues. US defense
spending now amounts to a bit more than 4 percent of gross
domestic product, the nation's output of goods and services.
It might rise as a result of Iraq bases to 5 percent of GDP, still
less than the 6.5 percent of GDP in the cold war or the 10 percent
during the Vietnam War.
Not everyone agrees. Permanent bases in Iraq are a "disastrously
bad idea," says Jessica Mathews, president of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace in Washington. It reinforces
Iraqi suspicions that the US launched the war to get a hand on
Iraqi oil, control the region, and wants to maintain a puppet
government in Baghdad.
The total cost of the Iraq war has reached $125 billion to
$140 billion, estimates Mr. Adams. Reconstruction boosts the
total to as high as $175 billion. Permanent bases would keep
the tab running for years to come.
www.csmonitor.com | Copyright (c) 2004 The Christian Science
Monitor. All rights reserved.
For permission to reprint/republish this article, please email
Copyright
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) "On to Baghdad, back to home."
Subj: Fw: Please Forgive The Mass-Mailing!
Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 11:14:50 PM
From: dmg011@usadatanet.net
Please disperse this message on behalf of those who were
pushed even further last year, as the armed forces dangled
a carrot for months.
"For those of you unaware, I will be shortly on my way to Iraq
again. I write now as a plea for help on behalf of the combat
veterans forced to return to hostile areas against their will.
I am talking about the Army's policy regarding "Stop-Loss",
a procedure whereby the Army does not allow a soldier to
separate from service when his contract expires.
Effectively, we are being held hostage..."
----- Original Message -----
From: omit my name
To: Relatives
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 12:36 PM
Subject: Please Forgive The Mass-Mailing!
My friends,
For those of you unaware, I will be shortly on my way to Iraq again.
I write now as a plea for help on behalf of the combat veterans
forced to return to hostile areas against their will. I am talking
about the Army's policy regarding "Stop-Loss", a procedure
whereby the Army does not allow a soldier to separate from
service when his contract expires. Effectively, we are being
held hostage by a policy designed to discourage soldiers from
terminating their service before war. For those of us who have
been to war, it seems unfair to send us back. We understand,
though, that these are difficult times, and we are ready to stand
against those who threaten the security of our freedom. We are
even willing to return to the combat zone, so long as the
commitment does not exceed that for which we enlisted.
Men and women of the Third Infantry Division were told
yesterday that not one of them would be permitted to
terminate their service until after a twelve month deployment
to Iraq, an area as hostile as the first days of the war in which
the division lost over a hundred American soldiers in two weeks.
This policy unfairly targets soldiers who have already served
in The War On Terror. We (myself and many unnamed others)
believe it is unethical and a disgusting, flagrant abuse of the
trust of the men and women in uniform.
We merely ask that you write a letter to your senators,
representatives, state governors, and newspapers. The public
needs to know about the atrocity that they are doing unto their
protectors. I will be busy writing form letters for you, and any
of your friends who are willing to help me. You may forward this
message to anyone you see fit. I only ask that, for my protection,
you omit my name. If you are willing to help, please write me
back with your state of residence, and I will send you a form
letter, the names of your congresspersons, and the contact
information for local, state, and federal media.
Even if you do not have the time to do anything, please remember
what is happening to us the next time you hear about Iraq in
conversation or in the news and let someone know about us.
Maybe they will carry on our plight. Thank you for your time.
Warmest regards,
omit my name
Opinions expressed in this electronic mailing do not
necessarily represent those of The United States Government,
The Department of Defense, or The Department of The Army.
All contents are sole proprietary of the author and are
protected by numerous state, federal and international laws.
Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Half a league, half a league, half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death rode the six hundred.
Their's not to make reply, their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) Ashcroft Says Likely to Appeal U.S. Patriot Act Ruling
SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 05:54 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6375762&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General
John Ashcroft said on Thursday the Bush administration was
likely to appeal against a U.S. District Court ruling that part
of the Patriot Act was unconstitutional.
"Without knowing the specifics, I wouldn't be able to
assure you that the case would be appealed, but it is almost a
certainty that it would be appealed," Ashcroft told reporters
after meeting European Union justice and interior ministers.
"We believe the act to be completely consistent with the
United States' Constitution," he added.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero ruled that
surveillance powers granted to the FBI under the Patriot Act, a
cornerstone of the U.S. war on terror, were unconstitutional.
In the first decision against a surveillance portion of the
act, Marrero ruled for the American Civil Liberties Union in
its challenge against what it called "unchecked power" by the
FBI to demand secret customer records from communication
companies, such as Internet service providers or telephone
companies.
Ashcroft said the Bush administration would continue "to
use every tool" available under the constitution to fight
terrorism.
EU and U.S. officials met in the Dutch sea-side resort to
discuss how to boost the fight against terrorism, including
improved information exchange, cutting off financing and
safeguarding borders without hampering trade and travel.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
[What are 34 children doing near a U.S. military convoy?
Could they have been human shields? ...BW]
7) Car Bombs Kill 34 Children in Baghdad
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 09:36 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6378394&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Insurgents detonated three car bombs
near a U.S. military convoy in Baghdad Thursday, killing 41
people, 34 of them children, and wounding scores.
In two other attacks, a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle
near a U.S. checkpoint outside the capital, killing two
policemen and a U.S. soldier, and a car bomb killed four people
in the restive northern Iraq town of Tal Afar.
The Baghdad blasts coincided with crowds gathering to
celebrate the opening of a new sewage plant. It was not clear
if the event or a U.S. convoy passing nearby was the target.
The first explosion was followed by two more that struck
those who rushed to the aid of the initial victims.
Ten U.S. soldiers were wounded in the attack, two of them
seriously, the military said. Iraq's Health ministry confirmed
41 dead and 139 wounded, the vast majority children.
Instability is steadily mounting just weeks before the U.S.
presidential election in November and four months before Iraq
is due to hold its own nationwide polls. Attacks on American
troops have risen to around 80 a day from 40 a month ago.
Doctors at Yarmouk hospital struggled to treat the flood of
victims, as pools of blood formed on the floor.
One boy lay swathed in bandages on a stretcher, his severed
leg on a table beside him. Others were scarred by shrapnel,
their clothes blown off by the force of the explosion.
The attack gouged a crater in the road and wrecked a dozen
burned-out cars and a bus. U.S. troops sealed off the area with
tanks, and helicopters circled overhead.
POLICE AND SOLDIERS DEAD
Hours earlier, a suicide bomber had killed two Iraqi police
and a U.S. soldier by blowing up his car near a U.S. checkpoint
at a crowded intersection in Abu Ghraib, just west of Baghdad.
Around 60 people, including women and children, were wounded.
Another soldier was killed when a rocket hit a U.S.
logistics base near Baghdad. The confirmed deaths of the two
soldiers raised to at least 802 the number of U.S. troops
killed in action since the start of the war.
In northern Iraq, another car bomb blew up near an Iraqi
police convoy in the center of Tal Afar, a rebellious town
close to the Syrian border. Hospital officials said four
civilians had been killed and 16 wounded. Four policemen were
also hurt.
In rebel-held Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad,
U.S. forces destroyed a building they said was being used by
fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose group is
threatening to behead a British hostage.
The strike was the latest in a series of almost daily
attacks in Falluja intended to crush Zarqawi's network, which
has claimed responsibility for many of Iraq's bloodiest suicide
bombings and the killings of foreign captives.
Zarqawi's group beheaded Americans Eugene Armstrong and
Jack Hensley this month after U.S. forces and the Iraqi
government refused to release women prisoners.
BRITISH HOSTAGE
The group says it will also kill the Briton Kenneth Bigley,
62, who was snatched along with the American pair.
Wednesday, footage was released showing a haggard Bigley
squatting chained in a cage, pleading for his life.
In a barely audible voice, Bigley said British Prime
Minister Tony Blair was not doing enough to free him: "Tony
Blair is a liar. He doesn't care about me. I'm just one person."
Blair has said Britain will not negotiate with the
kidnappers, but told reporters on Wednesday: "They've made no
attempt to have any contact with us at all. If they did make
contact, it would be something we would immediately respond to."
Separately, a militant group said it had seized 10 people,
including two Indonesian women, working for an electronics firm
in Iraq, Al Jazeera television reported.
Lebanon said three of its nationals had been seized. It was
not clear if this was the same incident.
The U.S. military says it has sound intelligence that
Zarqawi and his followers are hiding out in Falluja, although
residents say the U.S. strikes regularly hit civilians.
U.S. marines pulled out of the city after weeks of fighting
in April that killed hundreds of Iraqis, and handed over
responsibility for security to an Iraqi force that has since
collapsed. The city is now run by insurgents.
The U.S. military says that with the help of Iraqi forces
it will retake rebel strongholds such as Falluja, Ramadi,
Samarra and the Baghdad neighborhoods of Sadr City and Haifa
Street by December so elections can go ahead as
planned a month later.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Twelve Palestinians, 3 Israelis Die in Gaza Violence
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters)
Thu Sep 30, 2004 08:10 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6377165&src=eDialog/
GetContent§ion=news
GAZA (Reuters) - Twelve Palestinians and three Israelis
were killed Thursday as tanks thrust deep into the Gaza Strip's
largest refugee camp for the first time after a rocket attack
killed two Israeli children in a border town.
In one of Gaza's bloodiest days for months, gunmen shot
dead an Israeli soldier and a woman jogger, and Israeli forces
raiding the Jabalya camp killed at least six militants plus
several civilians during fierce fighting.
The army's push into the militant stronghold in north Gaza
came after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered troops
to use all means necessary to put a stop to rocket fire that
has persisted despite repeated Israeli raids and air strikes.
A Hamas rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of
Sderot Wednesday killed two Israeli children, aged 2 and 4, as
they played outside while visiting their grandparents on the
eve of the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot.
The latest spiral of violence has sent Sharon scrambling to
counter rightist critics who say his plan to withdraw troops
and settlers from occupied Gaza next year has emboldened
militants trying to give the impression that Israel is being
driven out.
Israel's army appears determined to smash militant groups
before leaving.
"The formula is clear -- blood for blood, bombardment for
bombardment," a Hamas gunman said in Jabalya, where Israeli
forces used tanks and armored bulldozers to clear a path into
the crowded camp of 100,000 inhabitants.
It was Israel's deepest and strongest thrust into Jabalya's
narrow street and alleys in four years of conflict -- a move
the army had long avoided for fear that troops and armored
would be vulnerable to militant attack.
Palestinians condemned the Israeli offensive, which
intensified early Thursday when a column of tanks entered the
camp and battled scores of armed militants.
"Israel is expanding its military operations in Gaza. This
is a dangerous indicator which will lead to failure," said
Nabil Abu Rdainah, an aide to Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat.
PALESTINIAN AMBUSHES
Under cover of fog and darkness, two gunman from Hamas --
an Islamic faction behind a campaign of suicide bombings and
sworn to Israel's destruction -- attacked an army position near
Jabalya before dawn, opening fire and launching grenades.
One soldier was killed and two wounded before troops shot
dead the militants.
Hours later, gunmen killed an Israeli woman as she went for
a morning jog on a road connecting two Jewish settlements in
northern Gaza, military sources said. Soldiers who rushed to
the scene returned fire and killed one gunman, the sources
said.
Israeli Radio said a second Israeli was also killed in the
incident. Palestinian medical sources said a 60-year-old
Palestinian was later killed by Israeli fire in the area, and a
27-year-old man was shot dead working in a nearby field.
Violence surged Wednesday when Palestinian militants
eluding an army crackdown carried out the deadly rocket attack
on Sderot, and troops killed nine Palestinians in raids in the
coastal strip and the West Bank.
Two makeshift Qassam rockets hit a residential block in the
town, close to Israel's fenced border with Gaza, killing a girl
aged 2 and a boy aged 4.
"I saw one little child without his legs. We tried to help
the other one but it was too late," said neighbor Haviv Ben
Abbo, who rushed to the scene when he heard the boom.
Thirteen other residents were injured in the town that has
borne the brunt of Qassam attacks, emergency services said.
(c) Copyright Reuters 2004.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) The war's littlest victim
... and as the article mentions many, many Iraqi babies.
This was the cover story in today's News.
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
The war's littlest victim
Tuesday, September 28th, 2004
In early September 2003, Army National Guard Spec. Gerard Darren
Matthew was sent home from Iraq, stricken by a sudden illness.
One side of Matthew's face would swell up each morning. He had
constant migraine headaches, blurred vision, blackouts and a
burning sensation whenever he urinated.
The Army transferred him to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in
Washington for further tests, but doctors there could not explain
what was wrong.
Shortly after his return, his wife, Janice, became pregnant.
On June 29, she gave birth to a baby girl, Victoria Claudette.
The baby was missing three fingers and most of her right hand.
Matthew and his wife believe Victoria's shocking deformity has
something to do with her father's illness and the war - especially
since there is no history of birth defects in either of their families.
They have seen photos of Iraqi babies born with deformities
that are eerily similar.
In June, Matthew contacted the Daily News and asked us to
arrange independent laboratory screening for his urine. This
was after The News had reported that four of seven soldiers
from another National Guard unit, the 442nd Military Police,
had tested positive for depleted uranium (DU).
The independent test of Matthew's urine found him positive for
DU - low-level radioactive waste produced in nuclear plants
during the enrichment of natural uranium.
Because it is twice as heavy as lead, DU has been used by the
Pentagon since the Persian Gulf War in certain types of "tank-buster"
shells, as well as for armor-plating in Abrams tanks.
Exposure to radioactivity has been associated in some studies
with birth defects in the children of exposed parents.
"My husband went to Iraq to fight for his country," Janice Matthew
said. "I feel the Army should take responsibility for what's happened."
The couple first learned of the baby's missing fingers during a
routine sonogram of the fetus last April at Lenox Hill Hospital.
Matthew was a truck driver in Iraq with the 719th transport unit
from Harlem. His unit moved supplies from Army bases in Kuwait
to the front lines and as far as Baghdad. On several occasions, he
says, he carried shot-up tanks and destroyed vehicle parts on his
flat-bed back to Kuwait.
After he learned of his unborn child's deformity, Matthew
immediately asked the Army to test his urine for DU. In April,
he provided a 24-hour urine sample to doctors at Fort Dix, N.J.,
where he was waiting to be deactivated.
In May, the Army granted him a 40% disability pension for his
migraine headaches and for a condition called idiopathic angioedema -
unexplained chronic swelling.
But Matthew never got the results of his Army test for DU. When
he called Fort Dix last week, five months after he was tested, he
was told there was no record of any urine specimen from him.
Thankfully, Matthew did not rely solely on the Army bureaucracy -
he went to The News.
Earlier this year, The News submitted urine samples from
Guardsmen of the 442nd to former Army doctor Asaf Durakovic
and Axel Gerdes, a geologist at Goethe University in Frankfurt,
Germany. The German lab specializes in testing for minute
quantities of uranium, a complicated procedure that costs up
to $1,000 per test.
The lab is one of approximately 50 in the world that can detect
quantities as tiny as fentograms - one part per quadrillionth.
A few months ago, The News submitted a 24-hour urine sample
from Matthew to Gerdes. As a control, we also gave the lab 24-hour
urine samples from two Daily News reporters.
The three specimens were marked only with the letters A, B and C,
so the lab could not know which sample belonged to the soldier.
After analyzing all three, Gerdes reported that only sample A -
Matthew's urine - showed clear signs of DU. It contained a total
uranium concentration that was "4 to 8 times higher" than
specimens B and C, Gerdes reported.
"Those levels indicate pretty definitively that he's been
exposed to the DU," said Leonard Dietz, a retired scientist
who invented one of the instruments for measuring uranium
isotopes.
According to Army guidelines, the total uranium concentration
Gerdes found in Matthew is within acceptable standards for
most Americans.
But Gerdes questioned the Army's standards, noting that
even minute levels of DU are cause for concern.
"While the levels of DU in Matthew's urine are low," Gerdes
said, "the DU we see in his urine could be 1,000 times higher
in concentration in the lungs."
DU is not like natural uranium, which occurs in the environment.
Natural uranium can be ingested in food and drink but gets
expelled from the body within 24 hours.
DU-contaminated dust, however, is typically breathed into
the lungs and can remain there for years, emitting constant
low-level radiation.
"I'm upset and confused," Matthew said. "I just want answers.
Are they [the Army] going to take care of my baby?"
We track soldiers' sickness
For the last five months, Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez
has chronicled the plight of soldiers who have returned from
Iraq with mysterious illnesses.
His exclusive groundbreaking investigation began with a
front-page story on April 4 that suggested depleted uranium
contamination was far more widespread than the Pentagon
would admit.
* At the request of The News, nine soldiers from a New
York Army National Guard company serving in Iraq were tested
for radiation from depleted uranium shells - and four of the
ailing G.I.s tested positive.
* The day after Gonzalez's story appeared, Army officials
rushed to test all returning members of the company, the
442nd Military Police, based in Rockland County.
* By week's end, the scandal had reverberated all the way
to Albany, as Gov. Pataki joined the list of politicians calling
for the Pentagon to do a better job of testing and treating sick
soldiers returning from the war.
* Gonzalez's exposé sparked a huge demand for testing.
By mid-April, 800 G.I.s had given the Army urine samples, and
hundreds more were waiting for appointments.
* Two weeks later, the Pentagon claimed that none of the
soldiers from the 442nd had tested positive for depleted uranium.
But The News' experts found significant problems with the
testing methods.
UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE | 212-868-5545
This email list is designed for posting news articles or event
announcements of interest to UFPJ member groups.
It is not a discussion list.
To engage in online discussion of UFPJ matters, join our
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) Forbes 400 list of richest Americans: snapshot of a
financial oligarchy
By Joseph Kay
27 September 2004
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/sep2004/forb-s27_prn.shtml
The current issue of Forbes Magazine contains the publication's
annual list of the wealthiest Americans, ranked by net worth.
While one's first instinct might be to turn away in disgust from
such a flaunting of individual wealth and greed, it is instructive
to consider the figures, for they provide an important indication
of the nature of American society.
According to Forbes , "The economy's recovery may be a little
shaky, but you wouldn't know it from looking at this year's
Forbes 400. The combined net worth of the nation's wealthiest
climbed to $1 trillion, up $45 billion in 12 months. With a
$750 million admission price, 9-digit fortunes are an
endangered species here: 78 percent of the people on this
year's list are billionaires."
The richest individual remains Microsoft's Bill Gates, who has
a net worth of $48 billion. Other notables include Warren Buffet,
who is number two with $41 billion; the Walton family, which
controls Wal-Mart, with five individuals on the list, each of
whom has a net worth of $18 billion; Lawrence Ellison of Oracle,
who ranks tenth with $13.7 billion; media tycoon Rupert Murdoch,
27th with $6.9 billion; and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
who comes in at 24th with $5 billion.
The figure of $1 trillion marks something of a milestone, not only
because the 400 richest Americans have a combined net worth that
requires 13 digits to write out, but also because it is a return to the
sort of numbers that were last seen during the stock market boom
of 1999-2000. It was in 1999 that the $1 trillion figure was first
reached, then climbing to $1.2 trillion at the height of the boom in
2000. The figure dropped in 2001 and 2002 before climbing again
in 2003 and 2004.
The number of billionaires in the country has followed a similar
pattern. In 1996, before the stock market really took off in the
late 1990s, there were 79 individuals with a net worth of at least
$1 billion. Bill Gates, who topped the list then as now, had
a relatively paltry $18 billion. By 2000, the number of billionaires
had shot up to 298, before falling to 266 in 2001 and 228 in 2002.
The super-rich have experienced a comeback in recent years,
however, with the number of billionaires rising to 262 in 2003
and 313 in 2004.
The figure of $1 trillion, because of its enormity, is somewhat
difficult to comprehend. To put it in perspective, if the wealth
were divided into sums of $10,000, there would be 100 million
portions-enough to hand out $10,000 checks to approximately
one in three people living in the United States.
One trillion dollars is also approximately equal to the gross
domestic product of Canada ($957 billion).
California's budget deficit, which has wreaked havoc across the
state and prompted massive spending cuts affecting millions of
people, is $40 billion. But this is less than one-twentieth the net
worth of the 400 richest individuals in the country.
State budget shortfalls that have prompted similar cuts in social
programs and education throughout the country total about
$100 billion-one tenth of $1 trillion held by those on the Forbes
list. Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office projected
a record budget deficit for the United States in 2004 of $422 billion-an
unprecedented sum, but still less than half of the wealth of
America's most fortunate sons and daughters.
One trillion dollars is approximately the amount spent on the
military throughout the world, about half of which is spent in
the United States.
The Forbes list provides a snapshot of what can only be called
an economic oligarchy. Such staggering sums of wealth concentrated
in the hands of a tiny percentage of the population coincides with
growing poverty for tens of millions of Americans, declining living
standards and worsening economic insecurity for tens of millions
more, an intensified assault on social services, and an ongoing
decline in the basic infrastructure of the country.
The Census Bureau released figures last month reporting that
poverty rose for the third straight year in 2003. In 2003, nearly
36 million people, or 12.5 percent of the population, lived at or
below the official (and patently unrealistic) poverty level of
$18,660 for a family of four. In 2000, the number of individuals
living in poverty was 31.6 million, and the figure has consistently
risen over the past four years. The Bureau also reported that the
number of people without medical insurance in the United States
rose to 45 million in 2003.
The same week that Forbes released its list, Citizens for Tax Justice
issued a report entitled "Corporate Income Taxes in the Bush Years."
The study looked at taxes paid by the 275 companies listed on the
Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations from 2001 to
2003 that reported profits in each of the three years.
According to the report, "Eighty-two of the 275 companies, almost
a third of the total, paid zero or less in federal income taxes in at
least one year from 2001 to 2003. In the years they paid no income
tax, these companies reported $102 billion in pretax US profits."
Instead of paying taxes, they received tax rebates of a combined
$12.6 billion. The nominal tax rate on profits for large corporations
is 35 percent, however the 275 companies combined paid an
effective tax rate of only 18.4 percent over the three years.
Corporate taxation has declined over the past three years, with the
help of legislation passed by the Bush administration. According to
the report, "corporate income taxes in fiscal 2002 and 2003 fell to
their lowest sustained share of the economy since World War II.
(Only a single year during the early Reagan administration was lower.)
From 2001 to 2003, the Commerce Department reports that pretax
corporate profits grew by 26 percent. But over that same period,
corporate income tax payments to the federal government fell by
21 percent."
Taken together, the Forbes 400 list, the Census report on poverty,
and the Citizens for Tax Justice study on corporate taxation reveal
a stark trend. The stock market crisis of 2001 evoked a response
within the ruling elite to escalate the attack on working people
and secure the staggering wealth controlled by the top 1 percent
of the population.
The war in Iraq and the growing assault on democratic rights
must be understood in this context: they are actions taken by
a ruling elite determined to safeguard, by whatever means
necessary, its social position.
The Detroit News , in a front-page article on the results of the
newspaper's own investigation, headlined "Working Poor Suffer
Under Bush Tax Cuts," reported Sunday: "The Bush administration
and Congress have scaled back programs that aid the poor to help
pay for $600 billion in tax breaks that went primarily to those who
earn more than $288,800 a year.... The affected programs-job
training, housing, higher education and an array of social services-
provide safety nets for the poor."
These statistics serve as a stark indictment of the irrationality and
anti-social character of a system based on the accumulation of
personal wealth and profit.
There will be no letup in this assault. The economic position of
American capitalism grows increasingly precarious, with a
burgeoning debt and intensifying internal social contradictions.
The response will be a continued attack on working people. Already,
nearly all of the major airlines are demanding massive pay and
benefits cuts while continuing to slash jobs.
The November election will do nothing to address these issues.
Politicians of all stripes repeat the refrain that "there is no money"
to seriously deal with the crisis in medical care, education, housing
and employment. But as the Fortune 400 list shows, there are
abundant resources. They are, however, systematically diverted
into the coffers of a tiny elite.
The Bush campaign openly speaks for the most rapacious sections
of the ruling elite. But the policies of the Bush administration
represent a continuation-compounded and intensified-of the
policies carried out by the preceding Democratic administration
of Bill Clinton, who sponsored and signed into law the measure
ending the federal welfare entitlement for the poor.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign
proposals for health care and other social services hardly
rise to the level of token reforms, and even these would be
quickly shelved in a Kerry administration. The main plank of
the Democratic Party on domestic issues is "fiscal conservatism,"
which means the further gutting of social services in order to
place the burden of deficit reduction on the working class.
No significant piece of social reform legislation has been
introduced by either party for 40 years. The Democratic Party
long ago abandoned any suggestion of wealth redistribution
or economic equality.
No problem confronting the American people today can be
resolved without tackling the problem of social inequality
and the subordination of the needs of the people to the
financial interests of an economic oligarchy. This, in turn,
cannot be resolved without building an independent political
movement of the working class, breaking the monopoly of
the two parties of big business, and setting out to dislodge
the financial aristocracy and carry through a revolutionary
transformation of society on the basis of socialist principles.
Copyright 1998-2004
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) Former Soldiers Slow to Report
500 Ready Reservists Seek Exemptions From Reactivation,
Risk AWOL Status
By Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY
(Sept. 28) Updated: 01:48 PM EDT
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040928070809990037
(Sept. 28) - Fewer than two-thirds of the former soldiers being
reactivated for duty in Iraq and elsewhere have reported on time,
prompting the Army to threaten some with punishment for desertion.
The former soldiers, part of what is known as the Individual Ready
Reserve (IRR), are being recalled to fill shortages in skills needed
for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of the 1,662 ready reservists ordered to report to Fort Jackson,
S.C., by Sept. 22, only 1,038 had done so, the Army said Monday.
About 500 of those who failed to report have requested exemptions
on health or personal grounds.
"The numbers did not look good," said Lt. Col. Burton Masters, a
spokesman for the Army's Human Resources Command. "We are
tightening the system, reaching the people and bringing them in."
Masters said most of the requests for exemptions are likely to be
denied: "To get an exemption, it has to be a very compelling case,
such as a severe medical condition."
The figures are the first on the IRR call-up. They reflect the
challenges the Pentagon faces in trying to find enough troops
for ongoing operations and show resistance among some
service members who returned to civilian life.
The ready reserve is an infrequently used pool of former
soldiers who can be called to duty in a national emergency
or war. On June 29, the Army announced it would call 5,674
members of its IRR back to active duty this year and next.
Several of those who received recall notices have already been
declared AWOL (absent without official leave) and technically
are considered deserters. "We are not in a rush to put someone
in the AWOL category," Masters said. "We contact them and
convince them it is in their best interests to show up. If you
are a deserter, it can affect you the rest of your life."
· Army May Reduce Length of Tours
· Rumors of Draft Are Hard to Kill
· AOL Military Center
· AOL Search: Recruitment
search.jsp>
Fourteen people were listed as AWOL last week; six subsequently told
the Army they would report. Punishment for being AWOL is up to the
unit commander and can include prison time and dishonorable
discharge, said Col. Joseph Curtin, an Army spokesman.
With a force that generals say is stretched thin, the Army is
considering $1,000-a-month bonuses to ex-soldiers who
volunteer to return for overseas duty.
Ready reservists are soldiers who were honorably discharged
after finishing their active-duty tours, usually four to six years,
but remain part of the IRR for the rest of their original eight-year
commitment. The IRR call-up is the first major one in 13 years,
since 20,277 troops were ordered back for the Persian Gulf War.
09/28/2004 07:04
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Books Not Bars
Dear Friends,
Check out this upcoming conference, put together by our
allies at the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
Sincerely,
Books Not Bars
******Please Forward Widely*******
The Death Penalty in CA: Too Flawed to Fix!
An activist and educational conference to stop the
death penalty in California
October 9-10th
UC Berkeley
For more information visit www.2flawed2fix.org
or call 510-333-7966
$5-25 sliding scale donations,
no one turned away for lack of funds
Saturday, October 9th
7:00 pm
Dwinelle Hall room 145, UC Berkeley
Opening plenary of the conference: celebrating the victories and
struggles of the movement against the death penalty. Featuring
Barbara Becnel, co-producer of the movie, "Redemption: The Stan
Tookie Williams Story." Also: musical performances, spoken word
artists, a video message from death row inmate Stan Tookie
Williams, videos and more!
Sunday, October 10th
Doors open at 10:00 am, welcome session at 11:00 am
Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley
Workshops on the following topics (2 sessions)
--Racism and the Criminal Injustice System
--The struggles for Stan Tookie Williams and Kevin Cooper
--Family members of death row inmates speak out
--Women on death row in California
--What's wrong with the death penalty in California?
--How they won in Illinois/Lessons for our fight
--The fight free death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal
4:00 closing plenary: We can end the death penalty in California
Featuring: Madison Hobley--exonerated death row inmate from
Illinois, Donna Larsen--mother of death row inmate Keith Doolin,
Robert R. Bryan -- attorney for Mumia Abu-Jamal and death
penalty expert, activists and more! Also invited: the
Reverend Jesse Jackson.
6:00 Dinner and strategy session: what's next for the anti-death
penalty movement? Come share ideas and get involved!
Sponsored by the following organizations:
Amnesty International, American Friends Service Committee,
CA People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty,
Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Death Penalty Action Team,
Death Penalty Focus, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights,
First Mennonite Church of SF, Idriss Stelley Foundation,
International Socialist Organization, LEGAI-Queer Insurrection,
Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Out of Control,
Socialist Action
*****
Get more information about the Books Not Bars
"Alternatives for Youth" Campaign:
http://ellabakercenter.org/bnb/campaign
*****
We can't survive without the support of individuals like
you. Please take a moment to support Books Not Bars
today. Donate here:
http://www.ellabakercenter.org/donate
*****
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forwarded to you.) Sign up to get e-mail updates
directly by going this web page:
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* If you are on our list-serve, you can update your
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13) Anti-war Activists 4 the Million Worker March-
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
We have just 18 more days until the Million Worker March
and excitement is growing everywhere-
Keep talking to your friends, co-workers, students and
neighbors.
Get them on the bus--in your car--get them to D.C.
Start making your signs and making your plans.
**Important People's Alert:
Hotel Workers Are Calling for Support from Washington D.C.
to California--
San Francisco Workers Are Presently on a Two Week Strike
Action
Who are the hotel workers? They are some of the lowest
paid workers who clean rooms in luxury suites, carry heavy
bags, greet the guests and keep things running in some of
the largest chain hotels in the world. They are women who
are struggling to support children; and they are immigrant
and oppressed workers who face fear, harassment and
discrimination.
They want health care, decent wages and a workload that is
manageable. And they want a union contract. On the West
Coast in Los Angeles and San Francisco, hotel workers who
are represented by UNITE-HERE, have been working without a
contract since April and September respectively. The
hotel industry has refused to negotiate fairly.
In Washington D.C., 3,800 workers in 14 hotels represented
by UNITE-HERE Local 25 have voted overwhelmingly (94%) to
authorize a strike over the same issues. Community, labor
and anti-war groups are now preparing to volunteer in food
kitchens and are beginning food drives.
When we come to Washington D.C. for the Million Worker
March-let's make sure these workers have our support.
They are asking customers not to stay in any of the 14
hotels. For a list of hotels see
http://www.hotelworkersunited.org/pdf/FactsheetDC.pdf
For more information on the hotel workers and their
campaign for justice see the following websites:
http://www.hotelworkersunited.org and
http://www.hotellaboradvisor.info.org
***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 these last two
weeks to make this happen.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
**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
**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/
http://antiwar4themillionworkermarch.org
October 17 Washington DC
Anyone can subscribe.
Send an email request to
AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch-subscribe@organizerweb.com
To unsubscribe
AntiWar4theMillionWorkerMarch-unsubscribe@organizerweb.com
Subscribing and unsubscribing can also be done on the Web at
http://www.organizerweb.com/mailman/listinfo/antiwar4themillionworkermarch
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) Books Not Bars presents:
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
***********************************
"SYSTEM FAILURE:
VIOLENCE, ABUSE & NEGLECT IN CYA"
***********************************
Tuesday October 19th 7pm
Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland
*** please forward *** please forward widely *** please forward
Come see our new 30-minute, grassroots-driven documentary
about the California Youth Authority, produced in collaboration
with Witness (www.witness.org).
The California Youth Authority (CYA) is notorious as the most
abusive juvenile justice system in the nation. See exclusive
interviews with former wards, parents, advocates and activists
about the human rights crisis in CYA -- and about the movement
to end this crisis and revolutionize juvenile justice in California.
* A panel discussion with filmmakers, former wards and parents
will follow the screening.
* Suggested donation: $5 - $10 (no one turned away for
lack of funds)
* For more information or to request postcard flyers to be
mailed to you please contact:
bnb@ellabakercenter.org
415-951-4844 ext 230
*****
Find out about the Books Not Bars "Alternatives for Youth" Campaign:
http://ellabakercenter.org/bnb/campaign
*****
We can't survive without the support of individuals like you.
Please take a moment to support us today. Donate here:
http://www.ellabakercenter.org/donate
*****
SIGN UP: Not on our list-serve yet? (Maybe this message was
forwarded to you.) Sign up to get e-mail updates directly by
going this web page: http://ellabakercenter.org/subscribe )
UPDATE: If you are on our list-serve, you can update your
information and preferences: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/lists/
?p=preferences&uid=1cbafa757fe7202cf8cf4d4af079434d
UNSUBSCRIBE here: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/lists/
?p=unsubscribe&uid=1cbafa757fe7202cf8cf4d4af079434d
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---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
15) Urgent Appeal from Gaza
Thu, 30 Sep 2004 11:39:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Barbara Lubin"
Dear Friends,
All of us at the Middle East Children's Alliance are again shocked and
saddened by the news coming from our friends and colleagues in Gaza. We
are alarmed to see the number of casualties, injuries, and homes
demolished increase by the hour.
We are sharing with you the latest appeal from the Union of Health Work
Committees (UHWC), an organization that provides medical services to
residents throughout the Gaza Strip.
Here's what you can do:
* Make a donation for food and medical aid by clicking the link
below. We will wire any money collected to the UHWC to help them continue
their work.
* Call the Congressional switchboard (1-800-839-5276) and ask your
representatives to take a stand against the invasions in Gaza and to stop
US Aid to Israel. Remind them that though Israel is violating
International Law and US military aid to Israel violates the US Arms Export
Control Act, the US government continues to give Israel over $5 billion in
aid each year. Tell them that as a tax payer, you do not approve of
your money being used to violate US Law or International Law.
* Call the United Nations (212-963-1234) and ask them to intervene
since these incursions are in violation of International Law and 80% of
Gazans are refugees under the protection of UNRWA.
Thank you,
Barbara Lubin
Founder and Executive Director https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/
index.php?aid=1171&rkey=9977&rdata=1148404:-1:9454549 Urgent Appeal
For the last 48 hours, the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC),
medical facilities are in state of top emergency in the northern
governorate of Gaza Strip.
The medical teams are working continuously to cope with the increasing
no. of causalities, due to massive Israelis forces incursion to the
northern governorate especially Jabalia.
The Israeli tanks Helicopters and different Military forces are
attacking the area through four main sectors. The Israeli forces are
demolishing houses, destroying infrastructure and bulldozing trees at the
same
time they snap every moving target disregarding if being a child, women,
old man or youth.
The chicken farms and different animal farms had their share in
destruction, e.g. a chicken farm at Abed Rabuh Quarter in Jabalia has been
completely bulldozed at this morning.
Al -AwdaHospitalreceived till this moment 42 injured people, 17 of them
are under 15 years old, 8 women, in addition to 8 martyrs (most of the
injuries are due to explosive pullets). Another governmental hospital
in the same area has received tens of causalities also.
UHWC,Al-QudsMedicalCenterin Beit - Hanoun has been working 24 hours/
day to cover the expected increasing number of injuries and to offer
other emergency medical help because Beit - Hanoun has been isolated from
the rest of Gaza Strip.
Al-Assria (Al-Luhiedan) Medical Center - Jabalia refugees camp is now
at the middle of battle, the Israeli tanks and snappers are just 50
meters away from the center, all the other health and community activities
of Al-Luhiedan Community Health Center have been hanged up as it works
as a front first aid medical center.
The first aid medical teams and the ambulance service of the UHWC (138
volunteers men and women) are working day and night to rescue and
evacuate the injured people. At the same time they offer some highly needed
medical and food supplies.
UHWC teams who are doing all this call all International and human
rights organization, Red Cross, United Nations, and all those who are
seeking just peace in the area to urgently interfere to stop this massacre
against our Palestinian people. At the same time to pressure on the
Israeli government to stop its harassments against the medical teams and
civilians.
For more information, please contact Dr. Sayed Ajadbah - Executive
-director.
Union of Health Work Committees -Gaza
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