U.S. And NATO Allies Initiate Libyan Scenario For Syria -- Rick Rozoff at Stop Nato

Tweet http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/message/50484

Apparently the U.S. & Israel do not want to franchise the killing of civilians in the Middle East to Syria and Libya. NATO already has that job. Obama has issued to Syria the same sanctions order he gave to Libya. Empire marches on. Linda

EXCERPT:

Washington seized $32 billion dollars worth of Libyan assets in the U.S., with
special emphasis placed on those belonging to "any person determined by the
Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State...to be a
senior official of the Government" or "to be a child of Colonel Muammar
Qadhafi."

Twenty-two days later bombing missions and missile attacks were unleashed
against Libya, initially under U.S. Africa Command's Operation Odyssey Dawn and
since March 31 through NATO's Operation Unified Protector, which are continuing
into their seventh week.

Libya and Syria are the only two Mediterranean nations and the sole remaining
Arab states that are not subordinated to U.S. and NATO designs for control of
the Mediterranean Sea Basin and the Middle East.

Neither has participated in NATO's almost ten-year-old Operation Active Endeavor
naval patrols and exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and neither is a member of
NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue military partnership which includes most regional
countries: Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania.
Lebanon is subject to a naval and internal (that is, on its border with Syria)
blockade run overwhelmingly by NATO nations under the post-2006 expanded United
Nations Interim Force in Lebanon mission.

Jordan and Morocco are supporting the NATO war against Libya and members of
another NATO partnership program - the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative - Qatar
and the United Arab Emirates, are supplying fighter-bombers for combat missions
over Libya. Fellow Istanbul Cooperation Initiative partner Kuwait announced on
April 24 that it will grant $180 million to pay the salaries of employees of the
rebel Transitional National Council in Libya.

With renewed efforts earlier this year to recruit Cyprus into NATO's Partnership
for Peace transitional program [2] - member Sweden, for example, has provided
eight Gripen warplanes for the campaign against Libya - Libya and Syria were
prospectively the last outposts of independence and non-alignment in the entire
Mediterranean region.

On April 24, Easter Sunday, three leading members of the patrician branch of the
U.S. regime (and effective modern-day proconsuls) - Senators John McCain, who
had just returned from meeting with Libyan insurgents in Benghazi, and Joseph
Lieberman and Lindsey Graham - appeared on CNN's "State Of The Union" program,
the first two live and the other in a segment taped two days before.

In what Americans and the rest of the world have come to accept as specimens of
U.S. foreign policy expertise, international diplomacy and seasoned
statesmanship, Lieberman stated that United Nations Security Council Resolution
1973 "gives justification if NATO decides it wants to, for going directly after
Gadhafi," and Graham added that "my recommendation to NATO and the
administration is to cut the head of the snake off, go to Tripoli, start bombing
Gadhafi's inner circle, their compounds, their military headquarters."

McCain and Graham are Republicans and Lieberman is a self-described independent
who caucuses with Democratic Party colleagues in the Senate and was the
Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2000. The once almost
second-in-command of the world's sole military superpower, to use Obama's
phrase, added: "You can't get into a fight with one foot." The transition from
republic to empire cost Rome the eloquence of Cicero. The United States has
nothing to lose on that score.

Graham, further working himself into a frenzy of unbridled bellicosity and not
to be outdone by his colleague in either fury or coarse bluster, asserted that
"the goal is to get rid of Gadhafi" and added "Let's get this guy gone."

UK Preventive Arrest for Street Theater Troupe! Coming Soon Here? Your Rights -- Use Them or Lose Them

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http://youtu.be/QOli98fgBP0

Great Video Dramatizing A Truth of the Palestinian Struggle - [French]

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http://youtu.be/dSB9ly7te6E

from this Salem News website:
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april292011/code-rouge-tk.php

Superman Renounces U.S. Citizenship

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http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/04/27/superman-renounces-us-citizenship/

originally found on Moon of Alabama: http://www.moonofalabama.org/

"With President Obama's Birth Certificate, Klansman Trump Reminds Blacks They Will Never Be American"

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http://youtu.be/vX5ueEKsSWc

Royal Wedding Only a Celebration of Wealth – London Student

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This Could Be Any of Us -- We Are Troy Davis by Jen Marlowe

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http://www.counterpunch.org/marlowe04272011.html

Last Monday, I attended the funeral service of Virginia Davis in Savannah, GA. Reverend Dr. Warnock delivered a passionate eulogy for Virginia, which ended with a powerful call to action: The best way to honor Virginia's life, he said, is to fight for her son Troy's life.

I am writing to ask you to help fight for Troy's life.

Troy Davis is on death row for the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, GA. Troy has always maintained his innocence, and there was never any physical evidence linking him to the crime. 7 out of the 9 non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony. New witnesses have come forth identifying another suspect. Yet, on March 28, the US Supreme Court denied Troy's final appeal, clearing the way for Georgia to set the execution date. Troy's sister, Martina, said her mother "died of a broken heart. I don't think my mother could have taken another execution date."

That execution date could be set any day now. Troy's life will then be in the hands of Georgia's Board of Pardon & Paroles, who has the power to grant Troy clemency.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Sign the Amnesty USA petition, asking the GA Board of Pardons & Parole to grant Troy clemency, and forward it to others.

2. Collect signatures on a download-able version of the petition.

3. If you are a lawyer or a legal professional: add your name to the legal professional sign-on letter

4. If you are a member of the clergy: add your name to the clergy sign-on letter.

5. If you have contacts with legal professionals or members of the clergy, forward them the sign-on letters and urge them to sign.

6. If you have contacts in Georgia, urge them to sign the petition or, sign-on letters (if they are legal professionals or members of the clergy.) It is important that the Board know that this issue matter to folks around the country and around the world--but especially that it matters to folks in Georgia.

7. 1 million Tweets for Troy!
If you are Twitter user than please consider tweeting for Troy.
Some sample tweets include:
When in doubt, don't execute!! Sign the petition for #TroyDavis! www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
Too much doubt! Stop the execution! #TroyDavis needs us! www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
No room for doubt! Stop the execution of #TroyDavis . Retweet, sign petition www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
Case not "ironclad", yet Georgiacould execute #TroyDavis ! Not on our watch! Petition: www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
No murder weapon. No physical evidence. Stop the execution! #TroyDavis petition: www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
7 out of 9 eyewitnesses recanted. No physical evidence. Stop the execution of #TroyDavis www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition

Troy's case is deeply personal to me. Troy is a friend of mine. I have corresponded with Troy for the last four years, visited him twice in prison, and written about his case. I have gotten to know and become close to his incredible family, and witnessed first-hand their struggle to bring justice to Troy.

But even if Troy was not my friend, even if I did not know the Davis family--Troy's case should still be deeply personal to me, deeply personal to all of us. As Laura Moye (the Amnesty USA death penalty abolition coordinator) and I were gathering petition signatures in Savannah last week among union-member day laborers, a young man called out emotionally, "Troy could be your brother, your son! This could be any of us!"

Put another way (as the T-shirt in support of Troy states) "I am Troy Davis."

I hope you will take the time to learn more about Troy's case. Thank you in advance for doing all you can to prevent Troy's execution. As the young man in the union hall reminded me, Troy is all of us.

Jen Marlowe is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, author, playwright, human rights advocate, and founder of donkeysaddle projects. Her new book, The Hour of Sunlight: One Palestinian's Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker, co-written with and about Palestinian peace activist Sami Al Jundi, has just been published by Nation Books. Her previous book was Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival. Her email address is: jenmarlowe@hotmail.com

"China to Become Economic #1 in 2016: U.S. Imperialism Doomed" -- Glen Ford at Black Agenda Report

Tweet http://blackagendareport.com/content/china-become-economic-1-2016-us-imperialism-doomed

The end of U.S. economic hegemony in the world is near – much nearer than almost anyone thought. No less an authority than the U.S.-dominated International Monetary Fund predicts that China will outstrip the United States by the year 2016, when measured by the real value of what people earn and spend [6] in their domestic economies. It’s called “purchasing power parities,” and under that measure – which is as good as any – China’s economy will outgrow the U.S. in five years, $19 trillion compared to $18.8 trillion. And the gap will continue to grow, from there.

Imagine: most of us alive today will see a watershed in modern civilization. At or around the year 2016, unless something wholly unforeseen occurs, the United States will fall from the economic pinnacle it has occupied since the late 1890s. Much more importantly, the bell will have tolled, definitively, for U.S. imperialism.

This is a subject that is separate from the question of capitalism’s continued survival as a social system in the U.S. or elsewhere on the planet. It is about U.S. empire. However one describes the Chinese system, it is not the twin of U.S. imperialism, which has maintained its supremacy through the rigging of world markets, the artificial supremacy of the U.S. dollar, and most importantly, the coercive force of its military – all of which are interrelated. U.S. imperialism seeks to entrap the world economy, to put it in service of finance capital, largely headquartered in New York and London. The Chinese system is fueled by relentless production of actual goods.

“For some on Wall Street and in the Pentagon, the economic news is a signal for massive, preemptive military action.”

The U.S. and European imperialists, in one sense, dug their own graves decades ago, when they gambled that they could somehow maintain their grip on the world, while transferring the production of real goods, actual products, to the south and the east of the planet, through corporate globalization. They methodically dismantled the productive capacity of what had been the world's powerhouse, the United States, in search of ever lower labor costs in what we used to call the Third World. The outsourcing of actual production to the east and south meant higher rates of return – profits – on investors' dollars. Detroit and Pittsburgh and Chicago withered and rusted away, while Wall Street became economically and politically all-powerful.

Wall Street thought it could remain in the global catbird seat through its financial supremacy, backed up by an irresistible military. But especially since the meltdown of 2008, Wall Street has turned pure parasite All that now remains of U.S. imperial power is its military, more expensive than all the other militaries of the world, combined – in some ways, as much a burden as a weapon.

The Chinese do not spend even one-fifth the U.S. war budget, but will soon have an economy that is leaving the Americans in the dust. For some on Wall Street and in the Pentagon, the economic news is a signal for massive, preemptive military action, before the whole imperial edifice collapses. These are people who cannot envision a world in which they are not on top. They will not go down quietly. We are in, as the Chinese say, “interesting times.” The empire may not choose to go out in twilight, but in an inferno.

Costs of arming Israel can no longer be ignored -- Josh Ruebner

Tweet http://ht.ly/4GP1T

EXCERPT:

Military aid to Israel ran the gamut from the patently absurd — one used food steamer valued at $2,100 — to the lethal — 93 F-16D fighter jets valued at a total of nearly $2.5 billion. With nearly 500 categories of weapons transferred to Israel, the US is pervasively, intricately and comprehensively involved in arming its military.

These weapons transfers also make the US deeply complicit in almost every action the Israeli military takes to entrench its illegal 43-year military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip and the apartheid policies that undergird its government’s stance toward Palestinians.

From September 2000-December 2009, roughly the same period during which the US transferred these 670 million weapons to Israel, the Israeli military killed at least 2,969 Palestinians, of whom 1,128 were children, who took no part in hostilities, according to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem.

For example, Israel killed 446 unarmed Palestinians, including 149 children, with missiles fired from helicopters. The Pentagon classifies the number, types and value of missiles transferred to Israel; however, the US gave Israel nearly 200 AH-64D Apache, Sikorsky CH-53 and Cobra helicopters from which at least some of these lethal missiles were fired. It was likely one such US-supplied missile from a US-supplied helicopter that Israel fired in the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on 29 December 2008, which killed five sisters, Jawaher (age 4), Dina (age 7), Samar (age 12), Ikram (age 14) and Tahrir Baulusha (age 17) during an attack on a nearby mosque.

Israel’s misuse of US weapons to commit human rights abuses like these against Palestinian civilians should trigger sanctions against, rather than increasing amounts of military aid to, Israel. The Arms Export Control Act limits the use of US weapons to “internal security” and “legitimate self-defense.” Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip is defined by the US government as a foreign military occupation, and the killing of thousands of unarmed civilians in support of a military occupation cannot be justified as legitimate without distorting the meaning of self-defense.

In addition, the Foreign Assistance Act strictly prohibits US foreign assistance to any country that “engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights.” The State Department’s recently released 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices documents amply, if not comprehensively, Israel’s human rights abuses of Palestinians.

"Call of Alternative Information Center to Global Social Movements"

Tweet http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/11-aic-projects/3548-call-of-alternative-information-center-to-global-social-movements

When politics loses its moral underpinnings and condones racism; when aggression and oppression become a daily occurrence in the name of self defense or religion; when peace becomes a tool for the continuation of occupation and humiliation; when humans become daily targets of murder in defense of hegemony and control--silence becomes complicity.

For sixty-four years the State of Israel has perpetrated policies of aggression and colonialism, whether in historic Palestine, the Syrian Golan or Lebanon, policies that bring about the continued suffering of the Palestinian and other peoples under a colonial, military occupation.

Israel denies the Palestinian right to return, the right to self-determination and the right to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Israel further refuses to abide by United Nations resolutions and insists on flouting international law by clinging to its expansionist policy-- its policy of oppression in the West Bank and Judaisation of Jerusalem, the construction of the Separation Wall and the continuation of the siege and aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Israel also continues to design and implement racist policies against Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The radicalization of Israeli oppressive policies in recent years stands in stark contrast to the current wave of democratic revolutions in the Middle East. The Middle East is dramatically changing, and international policies toward the region must also change. Accordingly, the Alternative Information Center (AIC) as a joint Palestinian-Israeli organization, calls out to the world’s social movements at this crucial time.

The Israeli-Arab conflict is not a clash of civilizations, a religious problem or a timeless hatred, but a conflict stemming from the political and cultural system of Israel’s ruling class. Our problem is with the colonialist Zionist ideology. We believe in the necessity of ending this bloody struggle on the basis of international law and United Nations resolutions.

We call upon YOU TO END INTERNATIONAL COMPLICITY with Israeli apartheid AT THIS EXACT MOMENT, repudiating the racist and colonialist practices and policies of Israel. This mobilization has become of utmost importance if we, together, want to open paths towards a shared future based on ending the Israeli occupation, implementing a just and comprehensive peace based on recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people (right to return, the right to self-determination, and the right to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital), and resisting all forms of racism, sectarianism, hate and chauvinism.

We call upon you to end the attempts of Israel and Zionist movements to monopolize the representation of Jews and Israelis by subverting their voice in support of colonialist, racist enterprises. The future of Israelis in the region is tied to the future of Palestinians, and the time has come to say “Enough!”

More than sixty years of war, build-up of conventional and unconventional weapons, oppression, occupation and hundreds of checkpoints, walls, and the siege of the Gaza Strip have not given Israelis peace, because peace cannot grow in the shadow of occupation and security doesn't flourish at gunpoint. Security and peace are achievable only through ending the policy of aggression, expansion, occupation and sectarianism and working towards a shared future based on the principles of justice, equality and democratic values.

We, the Palestinians and Israelis of the AIC, call on the world’s social movements:

• To support the 2005 united Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law and United Nations resolutions
• To pressure countries to halt their acquiescence to Israeli policies, without which Israel would be unable to continue its blatant violations of Palestinian rights
• To mobilize global support for the Palestinian popular resistance

PEACEFUL RALLY IN SUPPORT OF SYRIAN REVOLUTION

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PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD, EVEN IF YOU CANT ATTEND.

For a month now, the Syrian people have bravely taken to the streets in protest of over 40 years of Al-Assad rule. Protesters have been met with violence, the injured have been denied medical treatment, innocent bystanders shot by snipers, husbands and brothers snatched away by security forces, and STILL the world isn't paying enough attention.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT.
Bring Syrian flags and posters, and a voice loud enough to shout for freedom.

Purpose:

We are urging our government to address the humanitarian crisis in Syria right now. We are standing in solidarity with the Syrian people in their demand for freedom.

To demand:

The people have the right to peaceful protesting.
Syrian security forces stop the killing of civilians.
Syrian protestors have the right to medical treatment.

Sunday, April 24, 2011 from 1:00PM-4:00PM

WESTLAKE PARK ON 4th & PINE, SEATTLE, WA

No Boots on the Ground by Phil Disley

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via Palestinian Pundit

"Speak Your Piece: Silence No More"

Tweet PBS Frontline Story Re: Catholic Church Responsibility for Horrific Child Abuse in Alaska Villages
http://www.dailyyonder.com/speak-your-piece-silence-no-more/2011/04/21/3289

"Syria unrest: 'Bloodiest day' as troops fire on rallies" -- BBC

Tweet

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13167433

EXCERPT:

The demands issued by the "Syrian local organising committees" include:

• An end to torture, killings, arrests and violence against demonstrators
• Three days of state-sanctioned mourning for deaths so far
• An independent investigation into the deaths of protesters and judicial proceedings in the light of evidence revealed
• Release of all political prisoners
• Reform of Syria's constitution, including a two-term presidential limit

[friends-of-freedom-aFriday 04/22/2011-On the Second Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Bassem Abu Rahma

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Friends of Bilin
Friday 04/22/2011-

On the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Bassem Abu Rahma .
One citizen of the village of Bil'in was seriously injured as well as five demonstrators and four others who were injured as a result of abuse by the occupying forces, in addition to dozens of other cases of people choking on poison gas.

Today a woman of Bil'in was seriously injured whilst five demonstrators and four citizens received dozens of bruises, there were also many cases of severe asphyxia as a result of inhalation of tear gas, many people suffered due to the waste water and chemicals fired by the Israeli Army. This was due to the clashes that took place after the suppression of the Israeli occupation forces with the creation of the wall and settlements. On the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Bassem Abu Rahma there was a march organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil'in and the National and Islamic Forces. It began after Friday prayers from the center of the village and was attended by the people of Bil'in, dozens of Palestinians and internationals. Palestinian factions,
The Participants of the march waved many Palestinian flags, flags of Palestinian factions and pictures of martyrs Jawaher and Bassem Abu Rahma. There were also yellow banners with a picture of the leader Marwan Barghouti who is a prisoner of the occupation. This started the participants chanting national anthems calling for unity and rejection of differences, to unite in the face of the occupation and its plans and to end the division and occupation as quickly as possible.

The march headed towards the wall, where Israeli forces intercepted the march by storming the village from the west side. They fired bursts of gas, sound bombs, rubber bullets, lead Toto and live bullets toward the participants in an attempt to prevent the demonstration from getting to the area. This resulted in a injury to citizen Isra' Bornat, 20 years old. He received serious injuries as a result of inhaled poison gas and was transferred to a Palestinian hospital in Ramallah. Mohamed Hesham Bornat 28 years old was hit by a soldier's baton in the head, Jasser Ash'al, 22 years old was hit by a tear gas canister in the hand, Ahmed Ibrahim Abu Rahma, 38 years old was hit by a tear gas canister in the leg, Mohammed Shawkat, 18 years old was shot with a rubber bullet in the leg, and Simon Krieger 22 years old was hit with a tear gas canister in the arm. The occupation forces severely beat all of Iyad Bornat, 38, and Mohammad Al Khatib, 36, as well as two people from London showing solidarity with the Palestinian people, all of whom were severely bruised.

After the Israeli soldiers broke out with such violence the protestors managed to make the army of occupation retreat to the back wall.

Bil'in Popular committee
Iyad Burnat

In Praise of Marx -- Terry Eagleton

Tweet http://chronicle.com/article/In-Praise-of-Marx/127027/

EXCERPT:

This [unequal distribution of resources], Marx considered, was not because of natural scarcity. It was because of the peculiarly contradictory way in which the capitalist system generated its fabulous wealth. Equality for some meant inequality for others, and freedom for some brought oppression and unhappiness for many. The system's voracious pursuit of power and profit had turned foreign nations into enslaved colonies, and human beings into the playthings of economic forces beyond their control. It had blighted the planet with pollution and mass starvation, and scarred it with atrocious wars. Some critics of Marx point with proper outrage to the mass murders in Communist Russia and China. They do not usually recall with equal indignation the genocidal crimes of capitalism: the late-19th-century famines in Asia and Africa in which untold millions perished; the carnage of the First World War, in which imperialist nations massacred one another's working men in the struggle for global resources; and the horrors of fascism, a regime to which capitalism tends to resort when its back is to the wall. Without the self-sacrifice of the Soviet Union, among other nations, the Nazi regime might still be in place.

Marxists were warning of the perils of fascism while the politicians of the so-called free world were still wondering aloud whether Hitler was quite such a nasty guy as he was painted. Almost all followers of Marx today reject the villainies of Stalin and Mao, while many non-Marxists would still vigorously defend the destruction of Dresden or Hiroshima. Modern capitalist nations are for the most part the fruit of a history of genocide, violence, and extermination every bit as abhorrent as the crimes of Communism. Capitalism, too, was forged in blood and tears, and Marx was around to witness it. It is just that the system has been in business long enough for most of us to be oblivious of that fact.

The selectiveness of political memory takes some curious forms. Take, for example, 9/11. I mean the first 9/11, not the second. I am referring to the 9/11 that took place exactly 30 years before the fall of the World Trade Center, when the United States helped to violently overthrow the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende of Chile, and installed in its place an odious dictator who went on to murder far more people than died on that dreadful day in New York and Washington. How many Americans are aware of that? How many times has it been mentioned on Fox News?

Marx was not some dreamy utopianist. On the contrary, he began his political career in fierce contention with the dreamy utopianists who surrounded him. He has about as much interest in a perfect human society as a Clint Eastwood character would, and never once speaks in such absurd terms. He did not believe that men and women could surpass the Archangel Gabriel in sanctity. Rather, he believed that the world could feasibly be made a considerably better place. In this he was a realist, not an idealist. Those truly with their heads stuck in the sand—the moral ostriches of this world—are those who deny that there can be any radical change. They behave as though Family Guy and multicolored toothpaste will still be around in the year 4000. The whole of human history disproves this viewpoint.

"Vittorio Arrigoni's Mother To Join Freedom Flotilla II" -- South Lebanon Blog

Tweet http://jnoubiyeh.com/2011/04/vittorio-arrigonis-mother-to-join.html

Gaza - PNN – Agidea Prata, the mother of Vittorio Arrigoni, the Italian activist and journalist killed in Gaza on Friday, said that she will be sailing to Gaza on May with the Free Gaza flotilla.

Prata on Saturday told Italian news sources that “I want to see the Gaza that my son loved and sacrificed for, I want to meet the good people living there that my son Vik always talked about”. She added that Vittorio's work will go on though his friends.

Vittorio’s mother added that her son received death threats from a right wing American group on their website two years ago because of his photos published online and the pro Palestinian tattoo he has on his shoulder.

Vittorio first came to Gaza with the Free Gaza folitial in 2008 and used to live in a single bedroom house near Gaza City coastline until he was kidnapped and murdered by armed men.

Also on Saturday organizers of the Free Gaza flotilla announced that next voyage to Gaza will be named “ Freedom Flotilla – Stay Human” in Honor of Vittorio Arrigoni.

“The murder of human rights activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, is a tragedy for his family, for those of us who knew him, and for the Palestinians who loved and admired him. The Steering Committee of Freedom Flotilla 2 condemns this senseless murder and the people who are behind it. They took the life of one of the most passionate supporters of justice for Palestine. This murder is damaging to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice as well as our work in support of that struggle.” The group said on their website.

Adding that ““Stay Human he would say, then grin and clench his pipe in his teeth. We will do our best, Vik, to carry on the work you have done. The flotilla will return to Gaza in your honor.”

According to the Free Gaza Movement the group will send a new flotilla to Gaza on May. Last year on May 30th Israeli navy attacked the freedom flotilla boats while sailing in international water to Gaza killing 9 aid workers and injuring 54.

April 18 Prisoner Day -- Demand that the ICRC take Public Action Against Israel's Treatment of Palestinian Political Prisoners!

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http://www.addameer.org/addameer/campaigns/icrc.html

EXCERPT: (sign petition at link below)

7500 Palestinians are currently being held as political prisoners by Israel, including around 344 Palestinian children and 115 Palestinian women. These prisoners face forms of torture and mistreatment during their arrest and detention, and are consistently denied family and lawyer visits.

April 17th is the International Day in Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners. It is marked by demonstrations through out the Occupied Territories with families demanding the release of prisoners. Many of these demonstrations take place outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, as this body is responsible for maintaining contact with prisoner! s, as well as delivering clothes and other essential items. This year in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners and their families we call on all Palestine solidarity groups and prisoners solidarity groups to hold demonstrations and deliver a letter of protest to ICRC missions on April 18th (April 17th falls on a Sunday).

We are calling on the ICRC to take more meaningful steps in the monitoring of prisoner conditions. Despite the grave violations of prisoner rights that take place in Israeli prisons, the ICRC mission in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is not carrying out frequent visits to central Israeli prisons and has failed to deliver urgently needed supplies.

We call for demonstrations at ICRC offices to demand that the ICRC take public action and let the world know what is happening to Palestinian political prisoners inside Israeli jails and detention centers.

We call on all Palestine solidarity groups and prisoners support groups to endorse this day of action and sign onto a letter being delivering to the ICRC. To endorse or receive more information please contact http://sumoud.tao.ca

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. As prisoner support organizations in Palestine are demonstrating outside local ICRC offices we must come together in the Palestine solidarity movement to support them and the prisoners. Join other groups all over the world on April 18 to organize a demonstration at an ICRC office in your area. Sumoud Political Prisoner Solidarity Group can provide you with resources (letter to ICRC, fact-sheets, event poster, press release, powerpoint presentation and video for educationals around the topic). Information available at http://sumoud.tao.ca

2. Sign an online petition being delivered to the ICRC on April 18 at http://www.petitiononline.com/sumoud/petition.html

3. Organize a Call-in / Fax Day to the ICRC on April 18. Below is a list of central ICRC delegation contacts and a sample letter that can be faxed / emailed and used for talking points when making phone calls.

Vittorio Arrigoni by Carlos Latuff

Tweet http://twitpic.com/4l1xt3

Gaza Mourns Their Friend Vittorio

Tweet http://paltoday.ps/arabic/News-106616.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Reminder: VIGIL FOR A FREE PALESTINE, Saturday April 16

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************* It's time for the ISRAELI OCCUPATION to END. It's time for the PALESTINIAN PEOPLE to be FREE! Come join us! Saturday, April 16 Noon-2:00 pm Westlake Plaza, 4th & Pine *************************** Amin Odeh VoicesofPalestine.org "Stand up for what is right, even if you are standing alone"

Eva in Gaza Remembers Vittorio Arrigoni (Vik), Her Friend & Fellow ISMer

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http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/vik-a-friend-a-brother-a-humanist/

[Vittorio (Vik) Arrigoni was murdered by Salafist kidnappers in Gaza]

He was hung.

I first heard of Vik before arriving in Gaza. Vik had just been injured by IOF water cannoning which shattered the windows of the fishing boat he was accompanying. Vik had some injuries from the shattered glass.

When I met Vik he was nothing but humble and humour. A compassionate man, living to do good and do anything for Palestinian justice. Others knew him better and longer, and told me of Viks arrests by the IOF, deportation, and other interesting stories. But above all, what shone, aside from his intelligble English, was his humanism.

He was taken from Gaza, briefly, by the IOF navy, when they kidnapped 15 Palesitnian fishermen and 3 accompanying activists, including Vik, in November 2008, from Palestinian waters.

He returned to Gaza, via Free Gaza again, before Israel began its war on Gaza. He continued to write and report from the enclosed, bombed Strip.

Stay human, he always said. And so was the title of his book on the Israeli massacre of Gaza in 2008-2009. Stay human.

Viks blog, Guerilla Radio, gave voice to Palestinians who have strong voices but are denied the microphone.

During the Israeli war on Gaza, we all worked together, riding in ambulances, documenting the martyred and the wounded, the vast majority (over 83%) civilian. Vik was always on the phone, Italian media taking his words and printing them for the public to see.

Aside from the loss of a compassionate, caring human, activist, and friend, I am saddened by the group that did this. Surely they knew Vik was with them, for them. But in every society, including my own, there are extremists, people who act with misguided guidance.

Vik was there, among the war casualties, among the on-going martytrs unspoken in the corporate media, celebrating Palestines beauty and culture, dancing Dabke at my wedding celebration.

Vik, my brother, allah yerhamek, bless you for your humanity and your great contribution to Palestinian justice. I will miss you, your smile, your humble, fun personality.

Yatikalafia ya Vitorrio.

Bibi in "Pirates of the Mediterranean"

Tweet From this Zionion article: http://www.thezionion.com/2011/04/14/zionion-exclusive-scorsese-to-helm-difficult-second-flotilla/

Very Moving Video of Challenge and Walkout on Israeli Consul General at Penn State

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http://youtu.be/boFLruuLrgM

Palestine Authority Efforts to Push for State Recognition A Farce -- Ali Abunimah

Tweet http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/04/2011413152522296883.html

What do you do if your decades-long campaign to bring about an independent Palestinian state on those fractions of historic Palestine known as the West Bank and Gaza Strip have resulted in total failure?

The answer seems to be, if you are the Western-sponsored Palestinian Authority (PA) in Israeli-occupied Ramallah, to pretend you have a Palestinian state anyway, and to get as many other countries to join in this charade as possible.

This appears to be the essence of the PA strategy to gain admittance for the "State of Palestine" to the UN General Assembly by September.

Already, the PA is lobbying hard for countries to support the move, and in recent months a number of states, particularly in Latin America, have extended full diplomatic recognition to the Ramallah authority. The New York Times cited diplomats who say that if brought to a vote in the UN General Assembly, the measure would likely pass.

A fantasy 'state'

The PA's push for recognition of a Palestinian state is the diplomatic counterpart to its much-touted "institution-building" and "economic development" efforts which are supposed to create the infrastructure for a future state.

But the institution-building program is nothing more than a mirage, boosted by public relations tricks and good press.

In fact, the main "institutions" the PA has built are the police-state and militia apparatuses used to repress political opposition to the PA and any form of resistance to Israeli occupation. Meanwhile the economy of the West Bank, and the PA itself, remain completely dependent on foreign aid.

UN recognition of a Palestinian make-believe state would be no more meaningful than this fantasy "institution-building", and could push Palestinians even further away from real liberation and self-determination.

Figures from the Ramallah-based PA have justified their UN recognition strategy as a way to bring international pressure to bear on Israel.

"Such recognition would create political and legal pressure on Israel to withdraw its forces from the land of another state that is recognised with the [1967] borders," Ramallah 'foreign minister' Riyad al-Malki told reporters in January.

Similarly, Nabil Shaath, a top Fatah official, explained to the New York Times that if a Palestinian state were recognised by the UN: "Israel would then be in daily violation of the rights of a fellow member state and diplomatic and legal consequences could follow, all of which would be painful for Israel."

But can anyone who has seen how the "international community" functions when it comes to Israel believe such delusional expectations?

Lebanon has been a member state of the United Nations since 1945 and yet this did not prevent Israel from occupying southern Lebanon from 1978 until 2000. Israel's occupation of Lebanon ended not because of any international pressure, but only because the Lebanese resistance drove Israel and its collaborating militias out.

Since its massive bombardment of Lebanon in 2006, Israel has violated Lebanon's sovereignty thousands of times – according to the UN itself. But its constant overflights of Lebanese airspace and kidnapping of Lebanese citizens among other violations has never prompted "diplomatic and legal consequences" to hold Israel accountable.

Similarly, since 1967 Israel has occupied the Golan Heights, which belong to Syria (also a UN member since 1945). There has been virtually no armed resistance on the Golan Heights nor has there been any international pressure for Israel to withdraw or for Syrian refugees to return to their homes.

Even after Israel illegally annexed the territory in 1981 – a move condemned by the UN Security Council – the international community's silence has allowed Israel's colonisation of the Golan Heights to continue unabated.

Why would the situation in the "State of Palestine" be any different?

'Paper' victories

The effort to seek diplomatic recognition for an imaginary Palestinian state on a fraction of historic Palestine is a strategy of desperation from a Palestinian leadership that has run out of options, lost its legitimacy, and become a serious obstacle in the way of Palestinians regaining their rights.

Relying heavily on diplomatic forums and the good will of the "international community" has also been tried before and produced no results. Recall that in 2004, the PA expended enormous efforts to obtain an advisory ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague that Israel's apartheid wall in the West Bank is illegal and must be torn down.

But beyond obtaining the ruling, the PA had absolutely no strategy to mobilise Palestinians and their allies to pressure the world to actually implement the decision. It was a paper victory that resulted in no change on the ground.

Indeed, there is significant evidence that while the PA's diplomatic corps and negotiators were busy in The Hague, the leadership sought to stifle attempts by Palestinian civil society organisations in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to organise around and bring attention to the ICJ ruling, almost certainly due to pressure by Israel and the United States.

Would the government of an "independent Palestine" still under Israeli occupation and reliant on aid from the US and EU be able to stand similar pressure in the future? The PA's record to date offers no basis for optimism.

In spite of these efforts, the ICJ opinion did have one important consequence. It was not the PA or the defunct Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) that began to mobilise.

Rather, amid the inaction from world governments to enforce the ICJ ruling, Palestinian civil society independently issued the 2005 Palestinian Call for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).

This campaign seeks to isolate Israel and pressure it to respect Palestinian rights and international law, through popular boycotts similar to those that helped end apartheid in South Africa.

Rather than fetishising "statehood", the BDS campaign focuses on rights and realities: it calls for an end to Israel's occupation and colonisation of all Arab lands conquered in 1967; full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel; and respect for and implementation of the rights of Palestinian refugees. These demands are all fully consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law.

The PA has never endorsed this campaign, and in fact has sought to distract from and undermine it by calling only for a half-hearted boycott of Israeli settlement goods while actively promoting trade with Israel in violation of the BDS call.

Reduxing the bantustans

Many have accurately likened the Palestinian "state" envisaged by the PA and its sponsors to the "bantustans" of apartheid South Africa.

The bantustans were nominally independent states set up by the apartheid regime to grant "citizenship" to blacks, as a way to derail demands for true equality.

World governments did not fall for the trick, and refused to recognise the bantustans because they understood that diplomatic recognition for these entities would actually set back the struggle to end South African apartheid.

Not coincidentally, the only country to have had extensive dealings with the bantustans – allowing them to open diplomatic missions and frequently receiving their leaders – was Israel. Israel saw the bantustans as a model for how it would one day manage the Palestinians.

Recognition of a Palestinian "state" under Israeli occupation would certainly solidify and perpetuate the privileges and positions of unelected PA officials, while doing nothing to change the conditions or restore the rights of millions of Palestinians, not just in the territories occupied in the June 1967 war, but within Israel, and in the diaspora.

Far from increasing international pressure on Israel, it may even allow states that have utterly failed in their duty to hold Israel accountable to international law to wash their hands of the question of Palestine, under the mantro of "we recognised Palestine, what more do you want from us?"

Palestinians and their allies should not be distracted by this international theatre of the absurd, but should focus on building wider and deeper BDS campaigns to end Israeli apartheid everywhere that it exists, once and for all.

Corporations Pay Less In Taxes Than YOU, Yeah YOU - by comedian Lee Camp

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http://youtu.be/ASRDb12D-M0

Bendib: Tyrants Retirement Home

Tweet http://www.bendib.com/newones/2011/April/small/4-10-Retirement-Home.jpg?utm_source=Bendib+Cartoon+-+Weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Bendib+Cartoon+-+Weekly

"UK Colonial Atrocities in Kenya Linked to Current Torture in Bahrain"

Tweet http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/uk-colonial-atrocities-in-kenya-linked-to-current-torture-in-bahrain/

The British government is finally being forced to reveal the atrocities its predecessors committed during the Mau Mau war in Kenya in the 1950s.

The High Court in London launched proceedings to investigate a case brought up by four Kenyans who claimed they are victims of torture and assault at the hands of British colonial authorities during the Mau Mau uprising between 1952 and 1961.

Three men and one woman, in their 70s and 80s have come a distance 4,000 kilometers to give witness in the High Court in a session being held to unveil one of the black chapters in the British colonial history.

They have finally succeeded in forcing the British government to release documents, which reveal the true horror of atrocities which the UK colonial system committed against the revolutionaries during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in the 1950s and 60s.

Previously hidden documents contain 2,000 boxes of papers of which 300 are related to Kenya and of those 30 are directly relevant to the Mau Mau war of independence.

The papers show how much British colonial officers have been involved in employing the most cruel torture techniques against the Kenyans including beating and roasting the revolutionaries alive as well as severe sexual assaults and castration which they used as common and routine torture techniques.

Not all the revelations are new. The extensive torture and killing of Mau Mau fighters and detainees was documented by two historians, Caroline Elkins from Harvard and Oxford University’s David Lee Anderson in their 2005 books, Britain’s Gulag and Histories of the Hanged.

Prof Elkins’ book in particular gives a vivid account of the shocking crimes committed by the British, which, ironically, came only seven years after the end of the Second World War in which the British and their allies set out to end the torture and mass killings in Nazi Germany and occupied countries.

Prof Elkins says: “Hundreds of thousands were detained in squalid camps fenced off with barbed wire and subjected to horrific torture.”

The torture of some was as much psychological as it was physical. In one passage, Prof Elkins quotes a witness recalling the result of a colonial soldiers’ sweep through their village.

“At one point the villagers were ordered to remove every article of clothing and remain stark naked. You cannot start to imagine the shame and embarrassment we felt when … we were told to arrange ourselves in two rows, one for the men and the other for the women, old and young alike. To everyone’s horror we were ordered at gunpoint to embrace each other, man with a woman, regardless of whether the man happened to be your father, father-in-law or brother. It was all so humiliating that one woman hanged herself later, as she felt that she could not continue to live with the humiliating experience of having been forced to embrace her son-in-law while both of them were naked. In (Kikuyu) custom that is a curse.”

Now, five decades after these wicked and shameful incidents happened in Kenya, an infamous name from among mountains of documents is catching the eyes of Bahraini revolutionaries whom, themselves, have been victimized by his inhumane and vile measures.

Ian Henderson who served as the British Colonial Officer in Kenya, and was nicknamed “torturer in chief” in the African country moved to Bahrain in the late 1960s and acted as the country’s security chief for some 30 years.

Henderson established one of the most notorious security systems in Bahrain, by which thousands of activists have allegedly been detained and tortured in the most brutal ways.

George Galloway, the former British parliamentarian has described Henderson’s cooperation with al-Khalifa regime in Bahrain as follows.

“Henderson had gathered around him the kind of British dogs of war and mercenaries whose guns and electric shock equipment were for hire to anyone who will pay the price”, he said.

At the same time that the High Court in London investigates the case brought up by the Kenyan victims, Bahraini revolutionaries’ efforts to bring Henderson to justice have so far led to nowhere.

This is while Queen Elizabeth has honored the butcher of Bahrain and the Kenyan torturer-in-chief with the Knight medal as well as the Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Now, the question remains whether these four old Kenyan nationals will be able to achieve their rights while British politicians “only” claim that they are supporting human rights? The question will be answered in future.

GRITtv: Remi Kanazi: The Do's and Don't of Palestine

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http://youtu.be/WixizuOv2uY

National Call-in Day Tues April 12: Stop the Grand Jury!

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Call Obama, Holder and Fitzgerald April 12. Stop the Grand Jury!

NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY
to Fitzgerald, Holder and Obama
Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Grand Jury is still on its witch hunt and the FBI is still harassing activists. This must stop.
Please make these calls:
1. Call U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald at 312-353-5300. Then dial 0 (zero) for operator and ask to leave a message with the Duty Clerk.
2. Call U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder 202-353-1555
3. Call President Obama at 202-456-1111

Suggested text: “My name is __________, I am from _______(city), in ______(state). I am calling _____ to demand he call off the Grand Jury and stop FBI repression against the anti-war and Palestine solidarity movements. I oppose U.S. government political repression and support the right to free speech and the right to assembly of the 23 activists subpoenaed. We will not be criminalized. Tell him to stop this McCarthy-type witch hunt against international solidarity activists!”
If your call doesn’t go through, try again later.

Update: More than 1400 activists have signed the Pledge to resist FBI and Grand Jury Repression (via the web or the paper version at local protests), committing to join the national day of protest when anti-war and international solidarity activists are ordered to appear in front of the Chicago Grand Jury or are indicted. If you have not signed, click here. (http://www.stopfbi.net/get-involved/pledge-of-resistance)

. By signing, you will be on the priority contact list for the emergency action.

We demand:
-- Call Off the Grand Jury Witch-hunt Against International Solidarity Activists!
-- Support Free Speech!
-- Support the Right to Organize!
-- Stop FBI Repression!
-- International Solidarity Is Not a Crime!
-- Stop the Criminalization of Arab and Muslim Communities!

Background: Fitzgerald ordered FBI raids on anti-war and solidarity activists' homes and subpoenaed fourteen activists in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Michigan on September 24, 2010. All 14 refused to speak before the Grand Jury in October. Then, 9 more Palestine solidarity activists, most Arab-Americans, were subpoenaed to appear at the Grand Jury on January 25, 2011, launching renewed protests. There are now 23 who assert their right to not participate in Fitzgerald’s witch-hunt.

The Grand Jury is a secret and closed inquisition, with no judge, and no press. The U.S. Attorney controls the entire proceedings and hand picks the jurors, and the solidarity activists are not allowed a lawyer. Even the date when the Grand Jury ends is a secret.

So please make these calls to those in charge of the repression aimed against anti-war leaders and the growing Palestine solidarity movement.

Email us to let us know your results. Send to info@StopFBI.net

In Struggle,
Tom Burke,
for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression
www.stopfbi.net

Brutal Arrests by IDF at An-Nabi-Salih Apr 8 2011

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http://youtu.be/f9K8GTL12r0

Inspiring Video of Shut-down of Undemocratic Carleton Board Over Occupation Divestment

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http://youtu.be/5PGgmXvVQI8

In Tahrir Today

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http://twitpic.com/4icn4u

Egyptians Marching to Israeli Embassy for Palestine Yesterday (Via Angry Arab Newservice)

Tweet UPDATE: OUTSIDE THE ISRAELI EMBASSY IN CAIRO










http://youtu.be/qN4EJbVwLuU

Palestinian Children Demand International Protection

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http://www.imemc.org/article/61007

Hundreds of children in the Gaza Strip participated in a Tuesday event organized by the Palestinian Ministry of Sports and Education – The General Administration of Children’s Affairs, demanding the international community to provide them with the needed protection against the ongoing Israeli violations.

The children started their procession at the Al Saraya Street in the center of Gaza City, and marched towards the Legislative Council building.

They carried Palestinian flags and posters demanding their rights to a healthy childhood and protection from physical and psychological harm.

Deputy head of the Legislative Council, Dr, Ahmad Bahar, demanded the international community and the United Nations to protect the children in Gaza and to act on halting the Israeli attacks and violations against the coastal region.

Minister of Culture and Sports, Mohammad Al Madhoun, called for providing the children with a secure life, far away from death, fear and destruction.

Al Madhoun said that the ministry put in place several programs and activities that are meant to help the children deal with the stress caused by the Israeli violations.

He said that the international community must stop the Israeli attacks and its usage of internally banned weapons, and slammed that latest Israeli escalation against the Gaza Strip.

Several children performed different songs, and asked the world to provide them with protection and security.

They also commemorated the children of Al Hilo family who were killed last month after the army bombarded a playground east of Gaza City.

On Tuesday evening, four Palestinians, including two children and a pregnant woman, were injured after the Israeli army bombarded several areas in Gaza.

Call Obama, Holder and Fitzgerald April 12. Stop the Grand Jury!

Tweet

NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY
to Fitzgerald, Holder and Obama
Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Grand Jury is still on its witch hunt and the FBI is still harassing activists. This must stop.
Please make these calls:
1. Call U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald at 312-353-5300. Then dial 0 (zero) for operator and ask to leave a message with the Duty Clerk.
2. Call U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder 202-353-1555
3. Call President Obama at 202-456-1111

Suggested text: “My name is __________, I am from _______(city), in ______(state). I am calling _____ to demand he call off the Grand Jury and stop FBI repression against the anti-war and Palestine solidarity movements. I oppose U.S. government political repression and support the right to free speech and the right to assembly of the 23 activists subpoenaed. We will not be criminalized. Tell him to stop this McCarthy-type witch hunt against international solidarity activists!”
If your call doesn’t go through, try again later.

Update: More than 1400 activists have signed the Pledge to resist FBI and Grand Jury Repression (via the web or the paper version at local protests), committing to join the national day of protest when anti-war and international solidarity activists are ordered to appear in front of the Chicago Grand Jury or are indicted. If you have not signed, click here. (http://www.stopfbi.net/get-involved/pledge-of-resistance)

. By signing, you will be on the priority contact list for the emergency action.

We demand:
-- Call Off the Grand Jury Witch-hunt Against International Solidarity Activists!
-- Support Free Speech!
-- Support the Right to Organize!
-- Stop FBI Repression!
-- International Solidarity Is Not a Crime!
-- Stop the Criminalization of Arab and Muslim Communities!

Background: Fitzgerald ordered FBI raids on anti-war and solidarity activists' homes and subpoenaed fourteen activists in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Michigan on September 24, 2010. All 14 refused to speak before the Grand Jury in October. Then, 9 more Palestine solidarity activists, most Arab-Americans, were subpoenaed to appear at the Grand Jury on January 25, 2011, launching renewed protests. There are now 23 who assert their right to not participate in Fitzgerald’s witch-hunt.

The Grand Jury is a secret and closed inquisition, with no judge, and no press. The U.S. Attorney controls the entire proceedings and hand picks the jurors, and the solidarity activists are not allowed a lawyer. Even the date when the Grand Jury ends is a secret.

So please make these calls to those in charge of the repression aimed against anti-war leaders and the growing Palestine solidarity movement.

Email us to let us know your results. Send to info@StopFBI.net

In Struggle,
Tom Burke,
for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression
www.stopfbi.net

"... The killing of Palestinians continues in Gaza"

Tweet http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/04/killing-of-palestinians-continue-in.html

'No Safe Levels' of Radiation in Japan" -- Dahr Jamail

Tweet http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55118

EXCERPT:

TOKYO, Apr 4, 2011 (IPS/Al Jazeera) - In a nuclear crisis that is becoming increasingly serious, Japan’s Nuclear Safety Agency confirmed that radioactive iodine-131 in seawater samples taken near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex that was seriously damaged by the recent tsunami off the coast of Japan is 4,385 times the level permitted by law.

Airborne radiation near the plant has been measured at 4-times government limits.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, the company that operates the crippled plant, has begun releasing more than 11,000 tons of radioactive water that was used to cool the fuel rods into the ocean while it attempts to find the source of radioactive leaks. The water being released is about 100 times more radioactive than legal limits.

Meanwhile, water that is vastly more radioactive continues to gush into the ocean through a large crack in a six-foot deep pit at the nuclear plant. Over the weekend, workers at the plant used sawdust, shredded newspaper and diaper chemicals in a desperate attempt to plug the area, which failed. Water leaking from the pit is about 10,000 times more radioactive than water normally found at a nuclear plant

Thus, radiation from a meltdown in the reactor core of reactor No. 2 is leaking out into the water and soil, with other reactors continuing to experience problems.

Yet scientists and activists question these government and nuclear industry "safe" limits of radiation exposure.

"The U.S. Department of Energy has testified that there is no level of radiation that is so low that it is without health risks," Jacqueline Cabasso, the Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, told Al Jazeera.

Her foundation monitors and analyses U.S. nuclear weapons programs and policies and related high technology energy, with a focus on the national nuclear weapons laboratories.

Cabasso explained that natural background radiation exists, "But more than 2,000 nuclear tests have enhanced this background radiation level, so we are already living in an artificially radiated environment due to all the nuclear tests."

"Karl Morgan, who worked on the Manhattan project, later came out against the nuclear industry when he understood the danger of low levels of ionising radiation-and he said there is no safe dose of radiation exposure," Cabasso continued, "That means all this talk about what a worker or the public can withstand on a yearly basis is bogus. There is no safe level of radiation exposure. These so-called safe levels are coming from within the nuclear establishment."

GE and Jeff (Taxavoidination) -- Dick Destiny [You know GE pays no taxes, right?]

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWPWx_PwawE

Solidarity with Egypt in Bil'in

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu2qcVOfh6E

Support Nuclear Resisters at April 6 Arraignment

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Action URL: http://wanet.org/actions/Support-Nuclear-Resisters-at-April-6-Arraignment

Action Name: Support Nuclear Resisters at April 6 Arraignment

Date: 2011-04-06

Event Time: 8:00 am

Location: Union Station Courthouse
1717 PACIFIC AVE
TACOMA, WA, 98402-3234
Pay parking is available behind the courthouse; some street parking is available; and the area is well-served by public transit.
MAP

Organization: Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action

MORE INFO: http://gzcenter.org/

Description: Six nuclear resisters who engaged in a nonviolent direct action at the Bangor nuclear submarine base will be arraigned in Federal court on Wednesday, April 6, 2011.

During the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action's vigil and action on January 15, 2011 honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Patricia "Patti" Bass, Carolyn Dorisdotter, Norm Keegel, Gordon Sturrock, Sam Tower, and Robert Friend Weber Whitlock entered the roadway and crossed the blue line onto Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor protesting the Navy's huge stockpile of nuclear weapons. All six were arrested by Naval security personnel, processed and released after being issued citations for trespassing.

Here is Sam Tower's reflection of the day: “On Jan. 15, MLK Day, 6 of us were part of an action, attended by about 60 or so folks, from Ground Zero in front of the Trigger gate of the Trident Sub base at Bangor. At the time that seemed right we 6 held hands and crossed the blue line. We were met by a phalanx of Marines who told us to leave. We said that we wanted to go in and talk to the base commander. They arrested us, filled out paperwork, took photos and took us back across the line. It was the first time for all of us. We received Ban and bar letters from the Navy and orders to appear for arraignment on April 6th 2011, 8:30 AM at the federal court house in Tacoma. I can only speak to my on thinking that day. I believe strongly that nuclear weapons are inhuman, immoral, and illegal both under international as well as US law. I felt that I could no longer sit back and let others make a statement while I stood on the side lines. It is my job stand up and say tha t what my country is doing is wrong and should be stopped. My friends had just been convicted for their actions at Bangor and I felt it was time for me to take up the call to end war and the stockpiling of nuclear weapons.”

Join us at 8:00 am on April 6th for a vigil outside the Tacoma Union Station Courthouse to support the six resisters on the day of their arraignment. Bring your nonviolent spirit and speak out for peace, justice and nuclear abolition.