Saturday, July 01, 2006
United for Peace and Justice Condemns Israeli Attacks on Gaza, Calls>for an End to U.S. Support of the Israeli Occupation
>>>> www.unitedforpeace.org 212-868-5545 Click to subscribe>> If you are having trouble viewing this message, please click here.>>> Please forward widely!>> United for Peace and Justice Condemns Israeli Attacks on Gaza, Calls>for an End to U.S. Support of the Israeli Occupation>> Ten months ago Israeli military forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip,>part of the Palestinian lands long occupied by Israel. On Tuesday, June>27th, the Israeli military launched an all-out assault on the people of>Gaza, and there seems to be no end in sight.>> The destruction of vital bridges and power stations, which led to>the cut off of electricity and water for well over 1 million people, is>nothing short of collective punishment imposed on a civilian population.>Israel has also taken nearly 100 elected officials and leaders of the Hamas>party as prisoners in the last few days.>> Israel's massive military assault on Gaza is clear evidence that>Israel remains the occupying power of the Gaza Strip, despite its>unilateral withdrawal of settlements last year. Israel has been seeking to>bring down the Palestinian government by bringing pressure to bear on the>civilian Palestinian population, and is using the kidnapping of an Israeli>soldier as a pretext to do that. (More background information below.)>> United for Peace and Justice condemns this brutal attack and calls>for an end to U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestinian>territories, including the Gaza Strip.>> UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE CALLS FOR:>>> 1) An immediate end to the assault on Gaza by the Israeli military>forces.> 2) Cut off of U.S. financial and military aid to Israel that makes>it possible for such assaults to be carried out, as well as U.S. support>for the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.>> 3) Immediate shipments by the U.S. government of humanitarian aid>(especially food and medicines) for the people of Gaza.>> YOU CAN TAKE ACTION TODAY:>>> 1) Call the White House (202-456-1111) and the U.S. State>Department (202-647-4000) to demand that the U.S. take immediate action.> 2) Send a letter to your local paper and speak out against the>latest assaults by the Israeli government on the people of Gaza.>> 3) You can help get much-needed medical supplies to Gaza -- click>here for more information and to make a donation.>> BACKGROUND> During the month of June the Israeli military forces carried out>several deadly attacks in Gaza. On June 9th, 8 Palestinians were killed and>32 injured when a beach was shelled (see report from Human Rights Watch for>more information on this incident); on June 13th a missile attack on a>highway in Gaza killed 11 people and wounded another 30; and on June 20th>another missile attack from Israeli forces killed 3 children and wounded 15>more people.>> In retaliation, Palestinian militants raided Israeli military>positions near Gaza on June 25th, during which 2 soldiers were killed and>Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit was captured. Israel then threatened an attack if>he was not freed and began deploying tanks along the border. Their attack>began after Israel rejected Shalit's captors' demand for the release of all>Palestinian women and Palestinians younger than eighteen in Israeli>prisons. (There are some 9,800 Palestinians being held: 335 of them are>children and several dozen are women.)>> Just before midnight on June 27th a large scale military assault on>Gaza was launched by Israel. Fighter planes hit three bridges along the>main north-south highway in Gaza. Another strike hit Gaza's main power>plant and knocked out the electricity in densely populated Gaza City. This>power plant provided 42% of the power to Gaza's 1.3 million residents, and>now Gaza is completely dependent on Israel for power. It could take as long>as a year to get the plant operational again. Israel's deliberate targeting>of civilian infrastructure is a violation of its obligations under the>Geneva Conventions and a war crime. Israel's use of U.S. taxpayer-supplied>weapons to target civilian infrastructure is also a violation of the U.S.>Arms Export Control Act; UFPJ calls upon the White House and Congress to>investigate these violations of U.S. law and take appropriate action to>shut off future weapons transfers to Israel as a result.>> At about 2:30 in the morning the Israeli military forces started to>move into Gaza and take control of areas east of the city of Rafah. A>little after 5am fighter plans flew low over Gaza, causing intentional>sonic booms which reportedly shattered windows. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud>Olmert said their goal was "not to mete out punishment but rather to apply>pressure so that the abducted soldier will be freed. We want to create a>new equation -- freeing the abducted soldier in return for lessening the>pressure on the Palestinians." Such deliberate collective punishment of a>civilian population is also a violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war>crime.>> According to the June 29th edition of the NY Times, the Israeli>forces have expanded their assault: "In the West Bank city of Ramallah this>morning, Israeli forces detained 20 lawmakers and 8 ministers in the>24-member cabinet, including Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Shaer and Labor>Minister Mohammed Barghouti, security officials said. Today, an Israeli>warplane fired a missile in Gaza City that an Israeli spokeswoman said hit>a soccer field near the pro-Hamas Islamic University. Reuters reported that>the missile hit inside the university .... The Israelis also detained about>20 Hamas members of the Palestinian parliament as they made arrests in>Ramallah, Jenin, East Jerusalem and elsewhere." And the shelling and sonic>booming has continued over these past few days.>> The Times went on to say, "On Wednesday, the crisis seemed to be>tipping toward escalation as Israeli tanks hunkered down inside southern>Gaza at the airport after warplanes had knocked out half of Gaza's>electricity and pounded sonic booms over houses. Also on Wednesday, Israel>battered northern Gazan towns with artillery and sent warplanes over the>house of the Syrian president [in northwest Syria], who is influential with>the Palestinian leader believed to have ordered the kidnapping.">> According to reports in the Syrian press, the 4 Israeli fighter>planes were forced out of the airspace by Syria's military. As bad as the>situation is, things could get even worse if Israel does not stop its>assaults. But the Israeli government is taking an extremely hard line:>Prime Minister Olmert, as quoted in the NY Times, said, "We won't hesitate>to carry out extreme action to bring Gilad back to his family.">> All of this comes in the midst of a severe economic, humanitarian>crisis throughout Gaza and the West Bank. In January of this year>international aid to the Palestinians was cut off after the Hamas party won>the elections, leading to extreme shortages of food and medicine, as well>as other supplies and necessities. Last week, the Senate passed its version>of the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act, which proposes additional economic>and diplomatic sanctions against the Palestinian people for exercising>their right to vote. The Senate bill, which was approved by unanimous>consent, comes on the heels of the House passing its version of the bill>last month. UFPJ has signed a statement to Congress, organized by the U.S.>Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, calling on it not to impose>sanctions on the Palestinian people for voting.>>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------->> Help us continue to do this critical work: Make a donation to UFPJ>today.>>> ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE> www.unitedforpeace.org 212-868-5545> To subscribe, visit www.unitedforpeace.org/email>> If you no longer wish to receive emails from us, visit>www.demaction.org/ufpj/unsubscribe.jsp
Thursday, June 29, 2006
AmericanVoicesSpain
AmericanVoicesSpain
Here's an interesting article on how the Bush regime "supports troops".
Legacy of TreasonDepleted Uranium and the Poisoning of Humanity
By Alok O'Brien
In recent years I have become aware of the issue of depleted uranium (DU) and its use by the US Military in Iraq in 1991 and again in the current Iraq war. The photos of birth deformities and stories of suffering resulting from DU shocked me, reminding me of the Agent Orange victims of America's Vietnam war. Then I watched David Bradbury and Peter Scott's new film, Blowin' in the Wind . Its content shocked and appalled me, and spurred me into researching and writing this article. It is undoubtedly by far the most significant issue on the planet today, and yet the mainstream media stays quiet.
Published March 06 issue byronchild magazine
Republished Living Now magazine, May 06
treason n 1 betrayal of one's sovereign or country. 2 any treachery or betrayal. treasonable adj treasonous adj
Depleted uranium (DU) is what is left after raw uranium has been enriched to the highly radioactive isotope U-235 used for weapons and power generation. For every ton of U-235 produced, there are seven tons of DU. Estimates vary, but it seems that currently the US alone has in excess of five million tons of stockpiles of DU. This has no commercial use beyond its use as a radiation shield in medical devices, and for adding to concrete to form radiation containing bunkers. However, this requires an insignificant quantity of the DU produced each year.
Read the whole thing! http://www.byronchild.com/arts48.htm
Here's an interesting article on how the Bush regime "supports troops".
Legacy of TreasonDepleted Uranium and the Poisoning of Humanity
By Alok O'Brien
In recent years I have become aware of the issue of depleted uranium (DU) and its use by the US Military in Iraq in 1991 and again in the current Iraq war. The photos of birth deformities and stories of suffering resulting from DU shocked me, reminding me of the Agent Orange victims of America's Vietnam war. Then I watched David Bradbury and Peter Scott's new film, Blowin' in the Wind . Its content shocked and appalled me, and spurred me into researching and writing this article. It is undoubtedly by far the most significant issue on the planet today, and yet the mainstream media stays quiet.
Published March 06 issue byronchild magazine
Republished Living Now magazine, May 06
treason n 1 betrayal of one's sovereign or country. 2 any treachery or betrayal. treasonable adj treasonous adj
Depleted uranium (DU) is what is left after raw uranium has been enriched to the highly radioactive isotope U-235 used for weapons and power generation. For every ton of U-235 produced, there are seven tons of DU. Estimates vary, but it seems that currently the US alone has in excess of five million tons of stockpiles of DU. This has no commercial use beyond its use as a radiation shield in medical devices, and for adding to concrete to form radiation containing bunkers. However, this requires an insignificant quantity of the DU produced each year.
Read the whole thing! http://www.byronchild.com/arts48.htm
Berkley to vote on impeachment
http://tinyurl.com/eot42
BERKELEY - The People's Republic of Berkeley has done it again.
The liberal, left-leaning city has become the first city in the nation to put a referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan and Daniel Ellsberg, a Vietnam whistle-blower who in 1971 released the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, both spoke in favor of the resolution at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
``Berkeley is a place where things begin,'' said Mayor Tom Bates. ``It was the first place in the nation that called for divestment from South Africa, it was the first city in the nation to have curb cuts for disabled people, we were the first city in the nation to have dog parks and the first city in the nation to really protest the Vietnam War,'' Bates said.
Let's not forget banning Styrofoam take-out containers in restaurants.
``What happens in Berkeley people need to pay attention to because it travels, it has legs... what happens in Berkeley today is conventional wisdom in the rest of the country tomorrow,'' Bates said.
Although the referendum is largely symbolic because only the United States Congress can impeach a president, city leaders don't see it that way.
``I don't see it as just symbolic, I see it as educational,'' said Councilmember Kriss Worthington.
Dozens of cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have already approved resolutions calling for impeachment, but Berkeley is the first American city that will ask voters to decide.
It will cost the city roughly $10,000 to add the item to the November general election ballot.
Tuesday's resolution also had widespread support from a group called Constitution Summer, which originated on several university campuses, including UC Berkeley. Constitution Summer represents a coalition of students and young people dedicated to defending the constitution by launching a campaign to impeach the president.
It also had the support of the city's Peace and Justice Commission, which drafted language for a referendum. Specifically, supporters say the effort is being made based on Bush's handling of the Iraq war, federal wiretapping and other issues.
``We hope this is going to raise a national debate on the issues of the Bush administration shredding the U.S. Constitution, trampling on it,'' Bates said. ``We hope that this will be a debate about what the Bush Administration has done to our civil liberties and rights.''
__._,_.___
BERKELEY - The People's Republic of Berkeley has done it again.
The liberal, left-leaning city has become the first city in the nation to put a referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan and Daniel Ellsberg, a Vietnam whistle-blower who in 1971 released the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, both spoke in favor of the resolution at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
``Berkeley is a place where things begin,'' said Mayor Tom Bates. ``It was the first place in the nation that called for divestment from South Africa, it was the first city in the nation to have curb cuts for disabled people, we were the first city in the nation to have dog parks and the first city in the nation to really protest the Vietnam War,'' Bates said.
Let's not forget banning Styrofoam take-out containers in restaurants.
``What happens in Berkeley people need to pay attention to because it travels, it has legs... what happens in Berkeley today is conventional wisdom in the rest of the country tomorrow,'' Bates said.
Although the referendum is largely symbolic because only the United States Congress can impeach a president, city leaders don't see it that way.
``I don't see it as just symbolic, I see it as educational,'' said Councilmember Kriss Worthington.
Dozens of cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have already approved resolutions calling for impeachment, but Berkeley is the first American city that will ask voters to decide.
It will cost the city roughly $10,000 to add the item to the November general election ballot.
Tuesday's resolution also had widespread support from a group called Constitution Summer, which originated on several university campuses, including UC Berkeley. Constitution Summer represents a coalition of students and young people dedicated to defending the constitution by launching a campaign to impeach the president.
It also had the support of the city's Peace and Justice Commission, which drafted language for a referendum. Specifically, supporters say the effort is being made based on Bush's handling of the Iraq war, federal wiretapping and other issues.
``We hope this is going to raise a national debate on the issues of the Bush administration shredding the U.S. Constitution, trampling on it,'' Bates said. ``We hope that this will be a debate about what the Bush Administration has done to our civil liberties and rights.''
__._,_.___
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
legal situation of Guantanamo prisoners
This interesting letter was sent to the NY TIMES by a law school professor:
To the Editor:
Re "A Threat That Belongs Behind Bars," by Eric Posner (Op-Ed, June 25):
International law requires that prisoners of war be accorded the same procedural protections that American soldiers receive under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and that there be a competent tribunal to determine whether an individual is a prisoner of war.
This has not been provided to any of the Guantánamo detainees.
The United States Constitution requires that any person being deprived of liberty by incarceration have significant procedural protections, including notice of the charges, representation by a lawyer, and a hearing by a judge who is not a part of the executive branch.
More important, elemental human rights and human decency require these basic protections, which have not been provided to those at Guantánamo, hundreds of whom have been there for several years now.
Mr. Posner assumes that all in Guantánamo are dangerous when we now know that many have been held there based on mistakes or the flimsiest evidence.
Mr. Posner does not discuss the long-term consequences of the Bush administration's ill-conceived Guantánamo policy: How can the United States insist on fair and humane treatment of its soldiers who are captured when we have failed to provide it to those held at Guantánamo and other detention facilities?
Erwin ChemerinskyDurham, N.C., June 25, 2006The writer is a professor of law and political science at Duke University.
To the Editor:
Re "A Threat That Belongs Behind Bars," by Eric Posner (Op-Ed, June 25):
International law requires that prisoners of war be accorded the same procedural protections that American soldiers receive under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and that there be a competent tribunal to determine whether an individual is a prisoner of war.
This has not been provided to any of the Guantánamo detainees.
The United States Constitution requires that any person being deprived of liberty by incarceration have significant procedural protections, including notice of the charges, representation by a lawyer, and a hearing by a judge who is not a part of the executive branch.
More important, elemental human rights and human decency require these basic protections, which have not been provided to those at Guantánamo, hundreds of whom have been there for several years now.
Mr. Posner assumes that all in Guantánamo are dangerous when we now know that many have been held there based on mistakes or the flimsiest evidence.
Mr. Posner does not discuss the long-term consequences of the Bush administration's ill-conceived Guantánamo policy: How can the United States insist on fair and humane treatment of its soldiers who are captured when we have failed to provide it to those held at Guantánamo and other detention facilities?
Erwin ChemerinskyDurham, N.C., June 25, 2006The writer is a professor of law and political science at Duke University.
Many U.S. Iraq vets homeless
Many U.S. Iraq vets homeless Some are poor, traumatized by war experiencesJun. 24, 2006. 04:48 PMASSOCIATED PRESSNEW YORK — As a member of the U.S. army National Guard, NadineBeckford patrolled New York City train stations after Sept. 11, 2001with a 9 mm pistol, then served a treacherous year in Iraq.Now, six months after returning, Beckford lives in a homeless shelter."I'm just an ordinary person who served. I'm not embarrassed about myhomelessness because the circumstances that created it were not myfault," said Beckford, 30, who was a military-supply specialist at abase in Iraq that was a sitting duck for around-the-clock attacks.Thousands of U.S. veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan arefacing a new nightmare — the risk of homelessness. The U.S. governmentestimates several hundred vets who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan arehomeless on any given night across the country, although the exactnumber is unknown.---Read the rest of the article here (highlight the link if it gets broken)- http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename+thestar/Layout/Article_Type&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=11511480119468co
Sunday, June 25, 2006
AmericanVoicesSpain
This is the blog for AmericanVoices Spain, meant for dialogue on issues of peace and justice.
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