CODEPINK

We danced the "Yes We Can-Can" on Inauguration day as we applauded President Obama's promises to take our nation in a new direction. With his recent announcement of an additional 17,000 troops to be deployed to Afghanistan, we see change come to a screeching halt and a dangerous continuation of the same failed US policies of the Bush era blaze forward. Just as in Iraq, misplaced hope in military solutions is pushing peaceful strategies to the back seat. Take action and help President Obama do the right thing- we need an escalation in peaceful alternatives, not military force!

Call 202-456-1111 today! Tell the Administration that we want:
1) Reduction of troop levels in Afghanistan

2) Rapid withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq

3) A commitment to diplomacy involving all major regional players, including major international peace-keeping bodies

4) Addressing the real needs of Afghans by funding development assistance for Afghanistan's basic human needs - health-care, clean water, education, security, rights for women and girls-, through Afghan NGOs, using local labor and services
Take a tip from Senator Feingold and ask the tough questions: "We need to ask: After seven years of war, will more troops help us achieve our strategic goals in Afghanistan? Is there a danger that a heavier military footprint will further alienate the population, and, if so, what are the alternatives?" Even Obama's advisors say the war in Afghanistan "cannot be won on the battlefield." Over 2/3 of Americans oppose the deployments, and a majority of Europeans want their troops home- leaders of Spain, France and Germany have refused to send any additional forces!

It is said that the definition of insanity is to repeat the same action but to expect a different result. President Obama is a deeply intelligent man, but it is crazy for him to stay on Bush's crash course of empire building, and all the devastation and loss of life it leaves in its wake. We can help Obama find the road to peace and make sure he keeps his promises! Yes we can end war,

Audrey, Dana, Deidra, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jean, Jodie, Liz, Lori, Medea, Nancy, Paris, and Rae of CODEPINK!
P.S. When you are connected to your Representative's office, keep your message short and to the point. Tell them:

More troops only means more violence, more suffering, more killing of innocents, and more recruits for the Taliban. Instead of a surge, President Obama must take bold and compassionate action to address the Afghan's real need for health care, clean water and education, instead of continuing to cripple Afghanistan with more years of war. Call on Obama to fulfill his promise for peace and change! Call (202)456-1111 TODAY!Click here for more resources

"Afghanistan needs troops--but it needs troops of doctors, troops of teachers, troops of Peace Corps volunteers, and troops of farmers to go and replant the fruit orchards."

--Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO of Global Fund for Women
Afghanistan 101

Posted by Dana -
Thu, Feb 5, 2009
Afghanistan
There is a LOT of information out there about the crisis in Afghanistan and how and what we (as citizens, activists, women, progressives, humans, etc) need to do to address this multi-faceted, complex issue. Here are some resources that we at CODEPINK have found helfpul in reenforcing the importance of opposing military escalation in Afghanistan and supporting non-military solutions to the conflict. This is by no means an extensive list. If there are other resources that have helped YOU get a better grasp on the issues in the region please leave it in the comments!
First, 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows put together this Afghanistan Primer- this is choc full with useful, focused info + very easy-to-read/comprehend. On January 30, Bill Moyers (on the JOURNAL) hosted a fascinating conversation on bombing - it’s history and current use - with a historian and a former Pentagon official to see how well it works and has worked in the past. This website GetAfghanistanRight.org (launched by Robert Greenwald/Brave New Film and FireDogLake) is a wealth of information with some great video interviews and countless articles! Military Family Speaks Out has also collected some poignant key articles and additional resources.

http://codepink4peace.org/blog/2009/02/afghanistan-101/

Ghost Dance - Bill Miller

Bethlehem Peace Vigil Will Continue

We are still holding a Vigil for Peace every first Sunday of the month from 12 to 1 PM, on the Green in Bethlehem CT at the junctions of routes 61 and 132. There has been some confusion about this: The Litchfield Peace group has decided to take a break after six years (See article below). We will continue with ours and invite all to join us to take a stand for Peace in the World. We will also continue to post at our blog: http://bethlehempeacewatch.blogspot.com/

(Click to enlarge:)

FIRST SCOP MEETING!!!!!!!

"The first meeting of the semester of the Students For A Culture Of Peace Club (SCOP) will be Thursday Feb. 5th, 4:30 PM, Cafe-West, Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury CT. The Isreal/Palistine conflict will be discussed as well as a report back from the SGA meeting. We are hoping to move forward with a number of projects - peace sculpture and club brochure. Bring new ideas! See you there. Look for the peace dove."

Video from the Schaghticoke Rally and Protest

"If it was your house, and it was your mother's grave getting dug up, wouldn't you get upset?"

Tony Crone of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation

Click here: Video from the Schaghticoke Rally and Protest

More info at: http://www.schaghticoke.com/

Schaghticoke Reservation, Kent CT

ProtectSchaghticoke
January 19, 2009

----- What is happening at the reservation today can accurately be called a hate crime and unmistakably desecration, despoliation and destruction of our ancestral land. In 2004 and again in November of 2007, a non-Schaghticoke individual trespassed upon our reservation, began ripping out trees, cutting and removing timber, quarrying stone and illegally excavating our sacred land without Tribal approval or official State permits. Since November 2007, Tribal members have been in contact with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and demanding an immediate cease and desist order to be applied to this intruder. No order was ever applied and the hate crime, destruction, desecration and despoliation have been allowed to proceed for over one year now. The Governor, who has been aware of this situation, allows the intruder to indiscriminately damage our ancestral land, digging up sacred artifacts and keeping them, despite constant opposition from Schaghticoke. To date, he has committed these crimes to over ten (10) acres of land. He has destroyed natural habitats including those of endangered and watched species, desecrated many burials with out any consequences as well as threatening a Tribal member with a rifle, again with out consequences. The State of Connecticut has been allowing these crimes to continue for too long. We are planning a protest in Hartford, CT on 29 January 09 at the State Capitol and Legislative Office Building. Please join us from 10 to 3 PM, snow, rain or shine. We, additionally, are circulating a petition; which can be viewed and signed at http://www.petitiononline.com/STN129/petition.html
We plan to hand deliver to the Governor on the day of our protest.
Thank you for your support.

In peace,

Schaghticoke Tribal Nation Preservation Committee

Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen at the inaugural concert

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
words and music by Woody Guthrie

As I was walking a ribbon of highway

I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me
Chorus

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California, to the New York Island

From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters

This land was made for you and me

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!
Chorus
In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.
Chorus (2x)
©1956 (renewed 1984), 1958 (renewed 1986) and 1970

TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc.

(BMI)

http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/this-land.shtml

MLK Day 2009

http://www.democracynow.org/

Broadcast for 1/19/09, probably available later today if you missed the streaming broadcast this morning...

For more of King’s speeches check: Pacifica Radio Archives.

Sign a letter to President-elect Obama

On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, we’d like to ask you to sign an open letter to President-elect Obama asking him to use King’s vision to create a better, more peaceful country.
It’s a corollary to our Roadmap for Peace — and, by the way, we did it!
Thanks to you, we’ve delivered the Roadmap for Peace to President-elect Obama’s transition team, along with more than 10,000 signatures.
In the days, weeks, and months to come, we’ll be working with the team and with representatives on Capitol Hill to encourage the use of the Roadmap as a vision for the future a more secure, peaceful world, with the United States building stronger relationships everywhere in the world through diplomatic, not military, means.
But diplomacy has been neglected in recent years. Roughly 700,000 civil servants work for the Department of Defense. In contrast, there are 6,500 career Foreign Service Officers and 5,000 Foreign Service specialists at 265 posts abroad and at the State Department.
Our country has also failed to use other means of diplomacy, such as United Nations agencies and other multilateral institutions.
This week, please take a few minutes to e-mail your senators and representative about this great lack in our country’s resources for conflict prevention and resolution.
Some talking points:
We shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket. Yes, we need official government initiatives, but we also need to revive public diplomacy and increase people-to-people exchanges and citizen diplomacy in order to build the international partnerships the United States needs.
Americans want to be represented at the United Nations. Polls show that we view the U.N. as a way to share the responsibilities of engagement with the world. Yet the U.S. is still behind in paying its dues, and Americans are underrepresented at the staff level in three key U.N. agencies.
Open dialogue and principled negotiations need to be the diplomatic standard, not a reward.
You can use our web site to find your senators and representative's contact information and the talking points above.
Write from your heart, but keep your e-mail short and sweet. Urge your senator or representative to download and read the Roadmap for Peace at http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=7K30BdNkgZ1u88ge2F3vrw...
Thank you for your time, your enthusiasm, and your courage in supporting our Roadmap.
Peace,
Laurie Creasy,

American Friends Service Committee

Gaza Crisis

From: Maureen via Pax Christi USA
January 13, 2009

The crisis in Gaza worsens

Dear friends,

In this email you'll find two action items related to the resolutions passed last week by the Senate and the House. Immediate action is needed on these.
Please take a moment to look these items over and respond as you are able.

We have also added items to our page of resources on the crisis in Gaza. Two important items we think you'll find helpful:
1) Bill Quigley, Pax Christi National Council Member and a PCUSA Teacher of Peace left for Gaza last week and is sending us communiques back. You can read his first two reports on our site.
And 2) we have included a recent short YouTube video from Rabbi Arthur Waskow on the crisis in Gaza as well.





To see these resources and more, click here now: http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_events_more.asp?id=1497

Additionally, in this email you'll find an action alert from our friends at Catholic Relief Services and the USCCB. We hope you'll join us in taking action and bringing this conflict to an end.

In Christ's peace,
Johnny Zokovitch
Director of Communications, Pax Christi USA


Take Action: Support Congressional Resolution for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

Last Friday, the House of Representatives voted 390 yes, 5 no, and 22 present to pass H.Res.34, "recognizing Israel's right to defend itself" and "reaffirming the United States strong support for Israel." Last Thursday, the Senate voted on a similarly worded resolution, S.Res.10, which passed by unanimous consent. (For more on these resolutions,see item #2 in this email.)
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation opposed these resolutions because they failed to call for an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access to the occupied Gaza Strip as required under the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1860. The resolutions also blamed the victims-the Palestinians-for the civilian casualties and humanitarian catastrophe Israel is inflicting upon them and absolved Israel of any responsibility for its actions.





Thankfully these resolutions will not be the final words of Congress on the issue. This week, Rep. Dennis Kucinich plans to introduce a resolution calling for "an immediate and unconditional ceasefire" and "unrestricted humanitarian access" to the occupied Gaza Strip. The US Campaign is supporting this resolution, which can be downloaded by clicking here.

Take Action: Support Congressional Resolution for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza
January 12th, 2009


Last Friday, the House of Representatives voted 390 yes, 5 no, and 22 present to pass H.Res.34, “recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself” and “reaffirming the United States strong support for Israel.” To see if your Representative cosponsored this resolution, click here. To see how your Representative voted, click here.

Last Thursday, the Senate voted on a similarly worded resolution, S.Res.10, which passed by unanimous consent. To see if your Senator cosponsored the resolution, click here.

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation opposed these resolutions because they failed to call for an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access to the occupied Gaza Strip as required under the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1860. The resolutions also blamed the victims—the Palestinians—for the civilian casualties and humanitarian catastrophe Israel is inflicting upon them and absolved Israel of any responsibility for its actions.

Thankfully these resolutions will not be the final words of Congress on the issue. This week, Rep. Dennis Kucinich plans to introduce a resolution calling for “an immediate and unconditional ceasefire” and “unrestricted humanitarian access” to the occupied Gaza Strip. The US Campaign is supporting this resolution, which can be downloaded by clicking here.
http://endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1785

TAKE ACTION

1. Call your Representative NOW at 202-224-3121. Thank your Representative if he/she voted “no” or “present” on H.Res.43. and ask her/him to cosponsor Rep. Kucinich’s resolution. If your representative voted “yes” on H.Res.43., then express your disagreement with the vote and ask them to cosponsor the Kucinich resolution.

2. Call your Senators NOW at 202-224-3121. Express your disagreement with your Senators’ vote on S.Res.10 and ask them to introduce a resolution in the Senate similar to Rep. Kucinich’s resolution in the House.

3. Get your organization to endorse Rep. Kucinich’s resolution. Organizations wishing to endorse Rep. Kucinich’s resolution should send their endorsement directly to his Congressional office by clicking here. Let’s make sure that Rep. Kucinich knows that hundreds of organizations support his legislative effort.

4. Join us for a conference briefing call on Thursday, January 15, 9PM Eastern to discuss our next legislative steps. To RSVP for the call and to get call-in info and an agenda, send your name, city, and organizational affiliation (if any), to us by clicking here.

5. Let us know what the offices of your Members of Congress are saying. Let us know how your call went and how the offices of Members of Congress are responding to your concerns. Send us your name, the Congressional offices you contacted, and their feedback to us by clicking here.

In addition to contacting Congress, we have many ideas for action that you can take to demand an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access to the occupied Gaza Strip. For more information, click here.


1. Call your Representative NOW at 202-224-3121. Thank your Representative if he/she voted "no" or "present" on H.Res.43. and ask her/him to cosponsor Rep. Kucinich's resolution. If your representative voted "yes" on H.Res.43., then express your disagreement with the vote and ask them to cosponsor the Kucinich resolution.
2. Call your Senators NOW at 202-224-3121. Express your disagreement with your Senators' vote on S.Res.10 and ask them to introduce a resolution in the Senate similar to Rep. Kucinich's resolution in the House.
3. Join us for a conference briefing call on Thursday, January 15, 9PM Eastern to discuss our next legislative steps. To RSVP for the call and to get call-in info and an agenda, send your name, city, and organizational affiliation (if any), email us at palestinecall@gmail.com
4. Let us know what the offices of your Members of Congress are saying. Let us know how your call went and how the offices of Members of Congress are responding to your concerns. Send us your name, the Congressional offices you contacted, and their feedback to us by emailing congress@endtheoccupation.org

Register your disappointment at last week's resolutions
from Pax Christi Montgomery and Peace Action Montgomery (MD)

On Thursday, Jan. 8, the Senate passed a resolution (S Res
10) expressing unconditional support for Israel 's massive attack on the 1.4 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. That was the same day The New York Times reported that 12 members of one Gaza family were found dead in a house bombed by Israel, with four small children -- alive but so weak from hunger and thirst they could not stand – lying next to their dead mothers. Red Cross personnel had tried to reach the house, but were prevented for days by Israeli troops from getting to the scene.
The next day, Jan. 9, the House passed companion legislation (HRes 34), which was even more one-sided than the Senate version.

Please contact your Representative and Senators today and tell them that their vote for this resolution is an absolute outrage, and that you expect them to show more fairness and compassion -- or they will lose your support. Only when your legislators know you are watching will we get change in Congress.



This is not about being for or against Israel. It is about the wanton disregard for the livelihood and health of 1.4 million civilians and about the thousands of civilian casualties that Israeli politicians knew would result from this war. The invasion of Gaza has caused an already dire humanitarian crisis, resulting from the blockade of this small strip of land, to disintegrate into desperation and starvation for the civilian population. Many commentators, even some conservative ones, are saying the war on Gaza harms Israel in the long term and strengthens Hamas. Congressional actions such as these two resolutions only help to prolong the conflict by sending the message to Israeli politicians that the U.S. does not care about a ceasefire and will not insist on one.
Contact Information
email:
johnnypcusa@yahoo.com

phone:
352-219-8419
web:
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/

Pax Christi USA 532 West Eighth Street Erie PA 16502


http://i4.democracynow.org/2009/1/12/kucinich_cites_arms_export_and_control

Economic action in Waterbury on Wednesday

Dear MoveOn Member,

President Obama is working with Congress to pass an economic recovery plan, and there's a real struggle going on over whether it will focus on green jobs, health care, and clean energy—or whether conservatives will succeed in cutting many of the progressive provisions and forcing in big tax cuts for the wealthy.
So we're organizing "Economic Recovery Congressional Actions" at offices around the country to make sure that Congress hears our message. There's one in Waterbury, and we really need a bunch of folks there.
Here are the details. Can you come?
Host: Jane M—fellow MoveOn member

Where: Wtby office of Cong. Chris Murphy (in Waterbury)

When: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009, at 12:00 PM

Here's the link to RSVP:
http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=89843&id=15357-3339991-4DQmsjx&t=3
And if you own a small business, have a green job, work in health care, face foreclosure on your home, or lost your job as a result of this economic mess, we'd like to extend a special invitation to you to share your story at the event. Please click here to sign up:
http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=89843&id=15357-3339991-4DQmsjx&t=4It's especially critical that Congress hear from us now. Conservative lawmakers and lobbyists are in D.C. right now, fighting to take some of the crucial pieces out of the package. Congress needs to hear the message that Americans want real investments in health care, green jobs, relief for struggling states, and clean energy—not more tax giveaways for corporations and the rich. Click here to RSVP and help spread that message:
http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=89843&id=15357-3339991-4DQmsjx&t=5
Hope to see you Wednesday. And thanks for all you do.
–Noah, Lenore, Justin, Carrie and the rest of the team

P.S. Can't make this event? Here is another event near you:
Economic Recovery Congressional Action Middle Street, Bridgeport, CT, Bridgeport at 12:00 PM—RSVP
Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/.

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

This email was sent to Tim MacSweeney on January 10, 2009.

To change your email address or update your contact info, click here.

Party to Murder

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081229_party_to_murder/
Posted on Dec 29, 2008
By Chris Hedges

Editor's note: In light of the recent fighting in Gaza, Truthdig asked Chris Hedges, who covered the Mideast for The New York Times for seven years, to update aprevious column (http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081215_israels_crime_against_humanity/)on Gaza.

Can anyone who is following the Israeli air attacks on Gaza-the buildings blown to rubble, the children killed on their way to school, the long rows of mutilated corpses, the wailing mothers and wives, the crowds of terrified Palestinians not knowing where to flee, the hospitals so overburdened and out of supplies they cannot treat the wounded, and our studied, callous indifference to this widespread human suffering- wonder why we are hated?
Our self-righteous celebration of ourselves and our supposed virtue is as false as that of Israel. We have become monsters, militarized bullies, heartless and savage. We are a party to human slaughter, a flagrant war crime, and do nothing. We forget that the innocents who suffer and die in Gaza are a reflection of ourselves, of how we might have been should fate and time and geography have made the circumstances of our birth different. We forget that we are all absurd and vulnerable creatures. We all have the capacity to fear and hate and love. "Expose thyself to what wretches feel," King Lear said, entering the mud and straw hovel of Poor Tom, "and show the heavens more just."
Privilege and power, especially military power, is a dangerous narcotic. Violence destroys those who bear the brunt of its force, but also those who try to use it to become gods. Over 350 Palestinians have been killed (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/world/middleeast/30mideast.html?hp) , many of them civilians, and over 1,000 have been wounded since the air attacks began on Saturday. Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister, said Israel is engaged in a "war to the bitter end" against Hamas in Gaza. A war? Israel uses sophisticated attack jets and naval vessels to bomb densely crowded refugee camps and slums, to attack a population that has no air force, no air defense, no navy, no heavy weapons, no artillery units, no mechanized armor, no command and control, no army, and calls it a war. It is not a war. It is murder.
The U.N. special rapporteur (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapporteur) for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, former Princeton University law professor Richard Falk, has labeled what Israel is doing to the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza "a crime against humanity." Falk, who is Jewish, has condemned the collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza as "a flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law as laid down in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention." He has asked for "the International Criminal Court to investigate the situation, and determine whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law."
Falk's unflinching honesty has enraged Israel. He was banned from entering the country on Dec. 14 during his attempt to visit Gaza and the West Bank.
"After being denied entry I was put in a holding room with about 20 others experiencing entry problems," he said. "At this point I was treated not as a U.N. representative, but as some sort of security threat, subjected to an inch-by-inch body search, and the most meticulous luggage inspection I have ever witnessed. I was separated from my two U.N. companions, who were allowed to enter Israel. At this point I was taken to the airport detention facility a mile or so away, required to put all my bags and cell phone in a room, taken to a locked, tiny room that had five other detainees, smelled of urine and filth, and was an unwelcome invitation to claustrophobia. I spent the next 15 hours so confined, which amounted to a cram course on the miseries of prison life, including dirty sheets, inedible food, and either lights that were too bright or darkness controlled from the guard office."
The foreign press has been, like Falk, barred by Israel from entering Gaza to report on the destruction.
Israel's stated aim of halting homemade rockets fired from Gaza into Israel remains unfulfilled. Gaza militants have fired more than 100 rockets and mortars into Israel, killing four (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7804051.stm) people and wounding nearly two dozen more, since Israel unleashed its air assault. Israel has threatened to launch a ground assault and has called up 6,500 army reservists. It has massed tanks on the Gaza border and declared the area a closed military zone.
The rocket attacks by Hamas are, as Falk points out, also criminal violations of international law. But as Falk notes, "... such Palestinian behavior does not legalize Israel's imposition of a collective punishment of a life-and health-threatening character on the people of Gaza, and should not distract the U.N. or international society from discharging their fundamental moral and legal duty to render protection to the Palestinian people."
"It is an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe that each day poses the entire 1.5 million Gazans to an unspeakable ordeal, to a struggle to survive in terms of their health," Falk has said of the ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza. "This is an increasingly precarious condition. A recent study reports that 46 percent of all Gazan children suffer from acute anemia. There are reports that the sonic booms associated with Israeli overflights have caused widespread deafness, especially among children. Gazan children need thousands of hearing aids. Malnutrition is extremely high in a number of different dimensions and affects 75 percent of Gazans. There are widespread mental disorders, especially among young people without the will to live. Over 50 percent of Gazan children under the age of 12 have been found to have no will to live."
Before the air assaults, Gaza spent 12 hours a day without power, which can be a death sentence to the severely ill in hospitals. Most of Gaza is now without power. There are few drugs and little medicine, including no cancer or cystic fibrosis medication. Hospitals have generators but often lack fuel. Medical equipment, including one of Gaza's three CT scanners, has been destroyed by power surges and fluctuations. Medical staff cannot control the temperature of incubators for newborns. And Israel has revoked most exit visas, meaning some of those who need specialized care, including cancer patients and those in need of kidney dialysis, have died. Of the 230 Gazans estimated to have died last year because they were denied proper medical care, several spent their final hours at Israeli crossing points where they were refused entry into Israel. The statistics gathered on children-half of Gaza's population is under the age of 17-are increasingly grim. About 45 percent of children in Gaza have iron deficiency from a lack of fruit and vegetables, and 18 percent have stunted growth.
"It is macabre," Falk said of the blockade. "I don't know of anything that exactly fits this situation. People have been referring to the Warsaw ghetto as the nearest analogin modern times."
"There is no structure of an occupation that endured for decades and involved this kind of oppressive circumstances," the rapporteur added. "The magnitude, the deliberateness, the violations of international humanitarian law, the impact on the health, lives and survival and the overall conditions warrant the characterization of a crime against humanity. This occupation is the direct intention by the Israeli military and civilian authorities. They are responsible and should be held accountable."
The point of the Israeli attack, ostensibly, is to break Hamas, the radical Islamic group that was elected to power in 2007. But Hamas has repeatedly proposed long-term truces with Israel and offered to negotiate a permanent truce. During the last cease-fire, established through Egyptian intermediaries in July, Hamas upheld the truce although Israel refused to ease the blockade. It was Israel that, on Nov. 4, initiated an armed attack (http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/775/39991) that violated the truce and killed six Palestinians. It was only then that Hamas resumed firing rockets at Israel.
"This is a crime of survival," Falk said of the rocket attacks by Palestinians. "Israel has put the Gazans in a set of circumstances where they either have to accept whatever is imposed on them or resist in any way available to them. That is a horrible dilemma to impose upon a people. This does not alleviate the Palestinians, and Gazans in particular, for accountability for doing these acts involving rocket fire, but it also imposes some responsibility on Israel for creating these circumstances."
Israel seeks to break the will of the Palestinians to resist. The Israeli government has demonstrated little interest in diplomacy or a peaceful solution. The rapid expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank is an effort to thwart the possibility of a two-state solution by gobbling up vast tracts of Palestinian real estate. Israel also appears to want to thrust the impoverished Gaza Strip onto Egypt. Dozens of tunnels had been the principal means for food and goods, connecting Gaza to Egypt. Israel had permitted the tunnels to operate, most likely as part of an effort to further cut Gaza off from Israel. This ended, however, on Sunday when Israeli fighter jets bombed over 40 tunnels along Gaza's border with Egypt. The Israeli military said that the tunnels, on the Gaza side of the border, were used for smuggling weapons, explosives and fugitives. Egypt has sealed its border and refused to let distraught Palestinians enter its territory.
"Israel, all along, has not been prepared to enter into diplomatic process that gives the Palestinians a viable state," Falk said. "They [the Israelis] feel time is on their side. They feel they can create enough facts on the ground so people will come to the conclusion a viable state cannot emerge."
The use of terror and hunger to break a hostile population is one of the oldest forms of warfare. I watched the Bosnian Serbs employ the same tactic in Sarajevo. Those who orchestrate such sieges do not grasp the terrible rage born of long humiliation, indiscriminate violence and abuse. A father or a mother whose child dies because of a lack of vaccines or proper medical care does not forget. A boy whose ill grandmother dies while detained at an Israel checkpoint does not forget. A family that loses a child in an airstrike does not forget. All who endure humiliation, abuse and the murder of family members do not forget. This rage becomes a virus within those who, eventually, stumble out into the daylight. Is it any wonder that 71 percent of children interviewed at a school in Gaza recently said they wanted to be a "martyr"?
The Israelis in Gaza, like the American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, are foolishly breeding the next generation of militants and Islamic radicals. Jihadists, enraged by the injustices done by Israel and the United States, seek to carry out reciprocal acts of savagery, even at the cost of their own lives. The violence unleashed on Palestinian children will, one day, be the violence unleashed on Israeli children. This is the tragedy of Gaza. This is the tragedy of Israel.

(see the graphic video of the minutes after the Israeli attack on the marketplace in Gaza at: http://muslimtv. magnify.net/ video/ISRAEL- CARNAGE-CIVILIAN S-CHILDR ).

An Open Letter to Barack Obama By Alice Walker

Alice Walker on expectations, responsibilities and a new reality that is almost more than the heart can bear.

Nov. 5, 2008
Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,Alice Walker
© 2008, Alice Walker

http://www.theroot.com/id/48726

Armistice Day

Long ago,
on the 11th hour
of the 11th day
of the 11th month,
“The War to End All Wars”
Was declared “Over.”

My Grandfather Ernst Mueller
Was freed from the Russian Prison Camp
Where he had been housed in a box car
As a Prisoner of War,
Somewhere in what is now Poland,
That day in 1918…

Long ago,
on the 11th hour
of the 11th day
of the 11th month
When “The War to End All Wars”
Was declared “Over.”

Happy to be free, I imagine
Happy the war was over, I imagine
- I’ve read some of the things he’d seen
Going home to the Black Forest
Bullet wound in his leg
Were strangers kind to him,
As he travelled homeward?
Were there tears in his eyes
As he passed wreckage and ruin
Going home to the Black Forest
Bullet wound in his leg
And all the images in his head…




“It is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world, falling on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.”) - Wikipedia


Kurt Vonnegut was born on this day in 1922:
"I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.

Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not.

So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things.

What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance.

And all music is.
(Also from Wikipedia: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut)


Two German Soldiers’ Stories:
http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/1919/Retreat_01.htm

Dec. 7, 2008 CT-wide March against the War!

From the Students for a Culture of Peace:

Need Money? End the War!

BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

END THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN!

No War on Iran! No War on Pakistan!

End US Support to all Wars and Occupations!

Money for Housing! For Jobs! For Education! For Pensions! Not for War!

Sunday, December 7th

March and Rally

2:00 pm

Hartford, State Capitol Building

Next Organizing Meeting:

Sunday, November 9th at 2:00pm

Quaker Meeting House144 South Quaker Lane, West Hartford

After more than five years the war in Iraq roars on with roughly one third of Iraq's 26 million people killed, wounded or displaced; more than 4,000 US soldiers dead, hundreds of thousands suffering severe physical and psychological wounds, and trillions of dollars going up in smoke. Instead of withdrawing forces, US policy makers are expanding combat in Afghanistan and into Pakistan, ordering assaults in Syria and threatening to Invade Iran.

They Continue to support Israel's brutal occupation of Palestinians that repeatedly turns into regional war - most recently in the summer of 2006. With a full blown economic crisis bringing skyrocketing home foreclosures, rising unemployment, loan freezes, and collapsing pensions, war funds are needed at home now more than ever!

Join activists from across Connecticut as part of a week of nationally coordinated actions to demand that our sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters be brought home now!

And come to the next organizing meeting at 2:00pm on Sunday November 9th at 144 Quaker Lane, West Hartford!

For More information or to sign the call contact Marissa at 860-218-0566 or e-mail http://us.mc343.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=marissablaszko@gmail.com

The Ad Hoc Connecticut December 7th Mobilization Committee

Studs Terkel, 1912-2008

The legendary radio broadcaster, writer and oral historian Studs Terkel has died at the age of 96 in Chicago.

Studs Terkel worked as an activist, a civil servant, a labor organizer, an ad writer, a television actor, and a radio DJ, among many other occupations. But since the 1960s, he was particularly well-known as a world-class interviewer, a writer and radio personality who drew celebrities and, far more often, average citizens into sharing their oral histories.

For 45 years, Studs Terkel spent an hour each weekday on his nationally syndicated radio show, conversing with famous and not-so-famous guests and with a loyal audience of Chicago listeners.

With his unique style of oral history on subjects such as race, war and employment, Terkel spent decades interviewing Americans across the country, creating intimate portraits of everyday life and chronicling changing times through this century.

He was also a regular guest on Democracy Now. Below are links to watch or listen to our archive of interviews with Studs Terkel.

‘Hope Dies Last’–An Hour with Legendary Broadcaster and Author Studs Terkel

October 05, 2005
Legendary Broadcaster and Author Studs Terkel on President Bush, Mahalia Jackson, James Baldwin, Louis Armstrong, the Rebuilding of New Orleans and What Gives Him Hope

May 16, 2007
Studs Terkel At 95: ‘Ordinary People Are Capable of Doing Extraordinary Things, and That’s What It’s All About. They Must Count!’

November 13, 2007
Legendary Radio Broadcaster and Oral Historian Studs Terkel on the Iraq War, NSA Domestic Spy Program, the Labor Movement and His New Memoir ‘Touch and Go’

from:
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2008/10/31/studs_terkel_1912_2008

Live Election Night Coverage

Democracy Now! will broadcast & video livestream a five-hour election night special on November 4th from 07:00PM–12:00AM ET to report the results as they come in.
On November 5th, Democracy Now! expands to a two-hour, “The Morning After” broadcast & video livestream from 08:00AM–10:00AM ET to provide complete coverage of the election outcome.
Ask your local TV & radio broadcasters to run this special programming and watch here.
More information …
Friday, October 31 1:39 pm EDT

Thank You

A couple posts ago, I tried to upload this and now it finally worked...

Election News

Today Now!: How To Pretend You Give A Shit About The Election

Obama Undertakes Presidential Internship To Ease Concerns About His Lack Of Experience

Precocious Youngster Sells Cookies To Buy Attack Ad

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Thank You, Mr. Bush

Sometimes we forget to say "Thank You" enough ( Above: Entry from MoveOn.org's 2003/2004 "Bush in 30 Seconds" ad contest.Produced by: Christine Rose,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU51aFMDZow).

I intended to post a little home made video that's been processing for 2 weeks now because I couldn't find one for this poem that was posted a couple years ago at:

http://melissamsw.blogspot.com/2006/09/thank-you-mr-bush.html

Thank You Mr. Bush
Vanessa German, National Slam Bush Champion, wrote this absolutely amazing, angry, filled-with-promise protest poem. Hear it in her own voice.H/T to A Poetic Justice.

Thank you George Muthaf@%#king Bush

thank you mr. george w. bush

thank u

for makin it easier for me

to get a tech9 or AR14

than a pap smear & a good education

thank u

from the first boy i kissed

who u sent off to fight your war in iraq

he returned home only by telegram

& in a box

thank u

from me

from my body

from the woman i love

that i want to marry & call my wife

without u bible thumpin daggers

& demanding constitutional amendments

to prevent us from loving this revolutionary love

(az tho we cud soil the sanctitiy of marriage)

u cud nevah touch my love or fuck with my love

its just the right u seek to deny us

so we must fight for it in the end it's all a matter of

voiceof excercising choice & flexing the muscle of democracy

which shudn't be pigeon holed marginalized

or constitutionaly compromised

under the pretense that who i love

kiss fuck hold hands & make family with

iz destructive to the fiber

that quilts the fabric of america

which ironically happens to be

cotton

that notoriously bloody lily white thread

that my grandfather

& hiz fathers fathers before picked by hand

in mer rouge louisiana

i hav not forgotton that i am america

that my blood iz in these rivers

& at the roots of these redwood trees

i know that this country was built on the backs of blacks

that were shackled strapped & stacked

slashed gashed taxed & then cashed in on

like cattle

i hav not forgotton that i am america

& even tho u want me to be quiet & invisible

i will noti hav decided that if u r not with US

then u r against US

USthe 99% of the population that makes less

than 1.2 million dollars a year

the 43 million people that hav no health care

the 14 million children that got left behind

& go to bed hungry every night

if u r not with US then

u r against US

& we understand

that terror iz not always guns & knives

& otherwise explosive devices of evil

sometimes terror iz just making no living wage

going day to day pay check to pay check

praying that no one gets sick

terror iz not knowing which of ur sons

will fit the description

& die while reaching back pocket

for identification to prove he iz american

but not american enuf to live free

terror iz being 13having no access

no choice & taking matters

into ur own hands

terror iz being a woman

begging for emergency contraception

when u've been raped taken by force & foresaken

just like the constitution

after the presidential election of 2000

which u did not win

u stole like a purse

off the shoulder of an old lady

making america ur bitch

didn't anyone ever tell u

when u take shit that's not urs u give it back

& apologizebut no.

we realize that u mr bush

r just the figure head the smoke screen

the sony nike gmc tommyhilfigerbluejeansbrand name

of a regime of evil so vicious & arrogant

u hav the audacity to murder in my name

& call it justice call it liberation long time come

when all it really iz

iz economic imperialism

or occupation

which iz the same thing hitler did

in poland austria & hungry

...if u really wanted to liberate

u cud hav liberated

delbert orr africa

janine holloway africa

micheal sims africa

or mumia abul jamal

it wasn't 6 weeks

it waz 17 thousand lives

not just american lives

but human lives

how sacred are they

tell me answer me

tell me how sacred are they

stop trying to convince us that justice

iz always this bloodythat liberation costs babies

& mothers & homes & sons& lovers & fathers & dignity& truth & purity

& hope & democracy

thank u mr bush

for showing us

that we must fight everyday for our freedom as tho we r fighting for our lives

obviously u r not going to beat a path of justice to our frontdoors

this is my requiemfor the last four years

my premptive strike on the next four years

this iz my love poem

to america even tho

he took u by force violated u

forsook u before they eye of god

made u barely recognizable to the rest of us

i still love u baby

he can not shame u before my eyes

u r beautiful

i will fight

& die for u r the people

& i am u