FBI & Philly Police Set Up Anti-Fascists (anyone seen Grant Bristow???)

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This could be heavy.

Looks like the FBI and Philadelphia police may have been exposed setting up anti-fascists. Rumours of a klan rally, the only fascists who show up having ties to the cops, criminal repression of the anti-fascists... if it seems bewildering, don't worry you'll get used to it...

But in the meantime, please do what you can to help:

Anti-Racists Face Serious Legal Battle in Philly: UPDATE AND PLEA FOR LEGAL FUNDS!

*PLEASE FORWARD*

On Monday July 23rd, four anti-fascists from the Philadelphia, PA area were arrested at what was supposed to be a Ku Klux Klan rally in Center City Philadelphia. Jared Schultz, Tom Keenan, Jason Robbins - all of Philadelphia Anti-Racist Action - and Jim McGovern - of the Progressive Labor Party - were all arrested and charged with a series of trumped up misdemeanors in a situation that - for all practical purposes - was straight up entrapment.

Rumors spread through Philadelphia starting Friday July 20th that the Ku Klux Klan was supposed to show up for an 11AM rally on Monday at Love Park. While anti-fascists were present in the area starting at 10:30AM, no racists showed up for the rally until noon when two men wearing what appeared to be neo-Nazi t-shirts showed up in the area. Anti-fascists approached the men, confirmed they were neo-Nazis and told them to leave. Words were exchanged between the Klansmen and the anti-fascists, and then the neo-Nazis said they were leaving. The anti-fascists then followed behind them to make sure that they kept their promise.

Strangely, Civil Affairs cops remained on the other side of the park the entire time and made no efforts to follow the group even when they were out of their sight. The boneheads got into an SUV around the corner and were driven away. As they attempted to drive off, conveniently blocked by traffic, a verbal confrontation ensued with the anti-fascists lasting several minutes before a window of the SUV was smashed. The driver – who could have flashed his badge at anytime to disperse the crowd - then ordered Schultz, Keenan, Robbins and McGovern against the wall.

While the arresting officer was a Philadelphia Police Department detective, the SUV was, according to paperwork received by the arrestees, the vehicle of FBI Special Agent Sean Brennan, also present during the arrests. What an FBI agent was doing escorting neo-Nazis away from the park remains a total mystery.

After the arrests, all four of the anti-fascists were transported to the 9th Police Precinct where they remained for approximately 27 hours awaiting notice of their charges and bail amounts.

Initially, the arrestees were informed that for some odd reason, Internal Affairs was investigating their case and that they would be facing 10 charges - 4 felonies and 6 misdemeanors. In the end, however, all of the felonies were dropped, leaving the arrestees with 8 misdemeanor charges of varying degrees upon being bailed out. The fact that the charges were dropped so quickly proves just how trumped up these charges are. However there's still a lot at stake for The Love Park 4.

Currently, everyone is facing the same 8 charges - Possession of an Instrument of Crime With Intent, Criminal Conspiracy Engaging with Possession of Instrument of Crime with Intent, Institutional Vandalism/Illegal Possession, Reckless Endangering Another Person, Resisting Arrest, Criminal Mischief, Harassment - Subject Other to Physical Contact, and Disorderly Conduct/Grading.

At this point, everyone is out of jail, doing fine and just taking some time to relax for a few days before what could be a lengthy and expensive legal ordeal. All of the defendants are scheduled for court on October 3rd, and are in the process of establishing a legal defense fund and securing legal counsel.

We are confident that with the right resources, all of the anti-fascists arrested will be able to defeat these outrageous charges which could result in tens of thousands of dollars in fines and years of jail time

*But we sure can't go it alone*

We need the resources to win this legal battle and you can help right now!

Simply go to http://www.paypal.com, click on the "send money" tab and make a donation to cyndipitt@gmail.com. If you wish to send funds through the mail a check or well concealed cash to

Heartsville Community Space
PO Box 5917
Philadelphia, PA 19137.

Make sure to note that it is for The Love Park 4.

Write to philly_ara@yahoo.com to receive updates on how you can lend a hand. They'll be plenty of work to do.

GIVE THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING: SOLIDARITY!

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Sechelt Nation Recap: Neo-Colonial Chief Latest Casualty of Police Pepper Spray Attack

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thanks to Liberated Yet? for the pointer to this video

The above video shows the RCMP pepper spraying a members of the Sechelt Nation on the Sunshine Coast (in "british columbia") earlier this month.

The scene was a welcome home parade for a kids' soccer team who had just won a big game. The colonial police tried to interrupt the parade, and arrested the driver of the lead truck for honking his horn and having a bunch of kids in the back - just like any float at any other parade, you know...

For more background, see Garth Mullins' Police Pepper Spray: Not Recommended for Babies.

After the attack the RCMP issued an apology, which was promptly accepted by Sechelt chief Stan Dixon. This led people within the Sechelt Nation to organize against the chief, and on July 10th they blocked entry to the band offices, staging a sit in/barbecue demanding that Dixon resign:

Sit-in aims to oust chief
Natives plan to stay outside band offices until Stan Dixon resigns

Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, July 11, 2007

SECHELT - Sechelt First Nation members barricaded the band offices Tuesday in an attempt to force the resignation of Chief Stan Dixon, who accepted the RCMP’s apology for pepper-spraying a crowd of people June 30.

About 50 band members then staged a sit-in outside the chained and padlocked administrative offices.

Signs reading: “Our elders are watching you” and “Stan isn’t our man” were placed around the site.

The protesters, who tucked into a barbecue lunch of hotdogs and hamburgers, said they will remain outside the offices until the chief quits.

About 25 people who work in the administrative offices were unable to get inside.
“That was the last straw on the back: that he accepted the apology without the consent of council and without consulting people who were pepper sprayed,” said protester Wesley Jeffries, a former councillor.

“He’s making decisions on his own. We need a chief to work for the people.”
The call for Dixon’s resignation came the morning after a regular band council meeting at which a video of the pepper-spray incident was shown.

The sit-in lasted for three days, and chief Dixon is now reported to be on leave, word being that after a thirty day "cooling off period" there will likely be an election for a new chief.

All of which is just another example of the untenable position of the neo-colonial leadership in many of canada's internal colonies: both dependent on the people and beholden to the State, they are often the first to go when push comes to shove.

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Radical Queer Pervers-Cite "Under Review" by Blogger!

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The Pervers-Cite Blog is "under review" by blogger for possible "code of conduct violations", so i'm mirroring all the content here. (What this means is that people without a blogger account cannot access it.)

Pervers/Cite somewhere between an alternative and a protest to the official annual LBGTA Divers Cite celebrations in Montreal (more on this later). According to their mission statement,

The PERVERS/CITE organizing collective opposes racism, sexism, capitalism, transphobia, body fascism, colonialism, classism and all other forms of oppression and marginalization. We aim to oppose the queer community's total assimilation into mainstream kkkanadian culture, as well as to foreground both a local history of queer radicalism and social issues faced by queers today that are consistently glossed over by the gaystream media in favour of double-groom cakes and shopping holidays.

BTW, this weeks prize goes to whoever can spot the phantom conduct violation - not that it matters, by the time blogger clears the account this year's radical queer march will be over...

HORAIRE
Still more to cum !
D'autres événements/confirmations s'en viennent...

25 juillet 2007 /

22h00

Cruise control party is a benefit the Seven lesbians of color who were attacked by a street vender in Brooklyn.f or more info on the benefit, please visit this website
http://www.workers.org/2007/us/nj4-0628/.

at Vinyl
2109 bleury (coin sherbrook)
cruise control/asspirates/q-team

Cruise control party; Show bénéfice pour les 7 lesbiennes de couleurs attaqués à Brooklyn

Pour d'information sur le benefice, visitez svp ce site web
http://www.workers.org/2007/us/nj4-0628/.

Sunday July 29th

at 11:30am its parade day!! Join our pink block in theparade—we will be meeting at corner of Delormier & Ontario (we willleave the park at 12:30 –to meet beginning of parade so don”t be late

Tuesday july 31st

Queer prisoner event it will be held @Concordia.

“Cruel & Unusual”–film will be screened and there will be a panel discussion includingvarious speakers

There will be a bilingual short film night at Caigibi

Wednesday August 1st between 5-9pm

There are several possibilities for films including…-

This is salivation army-sex garage film thru q-team-selection(s) from putain compile-selection(s) from panthers rose DVD (possibly Harper protest piece?)-queer pro-palestinian/anti Zionist “black laundry” film from Toronto-divergance movie(s) -ma saison super 8—not sure where to find (approx 90min) - might need another evening!

Thursday August 2

“Capture the Fag” in a neighbourhoodby Jean- Talon in evening

Friday August 3rd

Ass pirate party at ZOObizarre –it will not be the “offical closing party” but just a party! (DJ’s/address/time/theme/benefit forperverscite or another cause to be decided)

Sunday August 5th

Sexqrtion à pedale (sp?) a queer sex tour de ville guided bike ride in the day & another more explicit participatory tour in the night.

Other queer related events you all might be interested in (non-perverscite):

Thursday, July 26th 7pm

Canadian Independent Publisher, Loose Teeth Press, is on a Cross Country Tour, launching Joey Comeau’s latest, It’s Too Late to Say I’m Sorry your friendly neighbourhood Co-op Bookstore (2150 Bishop Street – Metro Guy).-Free

Thursday 26th July, 20:00

Queer Pressure Pre-Pride Party with DJs: Lynne T (Lezzies on X), DJ KandisPeer Pressure – A-Rock & Merk Meny Le Social @ 1445 Bishop @ De Maisonneuve $6

Saturday August 4 17h-23h

SEXGARAGE--FreeBerri Stage / René-Lévesque http://www.diverscite.org
The Mission District Irresistible post-punk dandys sing about love and despair. Mesmerizing. Frigid live Troubling, sexy, loud and pushing his 2006 release "Bedroom Sessions,"the beast is back for more. Vive La Fête Sleazy elegance hooks up with electro-rock as famed Belgian electroband Vive la Fête debut material from their fifth album, Jour de Chance. Expect hot synth lines, grinding danceable beats, and thewhispery French vocals of blonde bombshell front woman Els Pynoo. Herlover Danny Mommens (former bassist of dEUS) is the band’s front man.One listen and you'll understand why these underground icons are Karl Lagerfield's favourite pair of muses!

Friday August 3rd, 8 pm.

All in the Family: a Pride Literary Night. Friday, Join us at Le Cagibi, 5490 St. Laurent, for naughty and entertaining selections by Peter Dubé, Chris DiRaddo, Nairne Holtz, Andrea Zanin,and Vanessa Vandergrift followed by music and dancing. Suggested donation: $2-$5. Sunday August 5th Meow MixCabaret with: Heywood Wakefield (Boston) Lazlo Pearlman (UK/USA) Shelly Mars (NY) acrobats and local artists: Bob Loblaw, Robin Akimbo, The Dead Doll Dancers, and Gina the Dragpiper!!! Emcee: Heywood Wakefield DJ: Triple X $10 @ Sala Rossa 4848 St-Laurent Doors open 9.30 pm Show 10.30 pm DJ 11.30 pm

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Communist Guerilla Nathalie Menigon Wins "Restricted Liberty"

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Good news today from France - it seems that Nathalie Ménigon of Action Directe is to be transfered out of the Bapaume Detention Center to another prison, from where she will be allowed out to go to work on week days. Here is the bulletin from the Ne Laissons Pas Faire! collective which has been struggling for freedom for the AD prisoners for some years now:

Nathalie Ménigon: Restricted Liberty as of August 2nd

Today, July 19th, the Paris appeals court's sentencing board ruled that Nathalie Ménigon, an Action Directe militant, can benefit from a change of her conditions of imprisonment. She is set to be leave the Bapaume detention center on August 2nd.

So the court has finally granted Nathalie a degree of restricted liberty, more than two years after the end of her security sentence. There is nothing compassionate about this decision though, as this restricted liberty, "which could lead to the possibility of conditional release", comes with very restrictive conditions for Nathalie:

• She will be transferred to a prison close to her workplace and, from Monday to Friday, every evening she must return to her cell. If she is late, she will be considered to have escaped. She will be incarcerated on weekends, except when permission to leave might be granted on a case by case basis.
  
  
• She is absolutely forbidden from making any public statements (verbally, in newspapers or in books), a condition which in fact prevents her from doing what she has been free to do so far, specifically in regards to speaking out in support of her imprisoned comrades

The "Ne Laissons Par Faire!" Collective is satisfied with today's decision. It is important to point out that the Action Directe militants carried out their fight together, they were sentenced together and that they all suffered years of the same particularly harsh prison conditions. For over twenty years they collectively resisted the State's efforts to destroy them or bribe them to renounce their beliefs. So far the courts have never wanted to separate their cases, and they were sentenced together. The restricted liberty should thus be applied to each of them equally, the next opportunity to do so being for Jean-Marc Rouillan in mid-September.

"Ne laissons pas faire !" Collective
July 19th 2007

To contextualize: Action Directe grew out of the French autonomist scene, drawing inspiration from both the struggles of the Third World proletariat and the intellectual legacy of the new communist currents of the 1960s and 70s. It carried out a number of spectacular attacks between 1979 and 1987 (for a complete chronology see the new urban guerilla website).

On February 21st 1987 the four remaining members AD, Jean-Marc Rouillan, Nathalie Ménigon, Joëlle Aubron, and Georges Cipriani, were captured at a farm in Vitry-aux-Loges by France's anti-terrorist GIGN police. They were each sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole for eighteen years.

This release is a bitter and timid "victory", for as detailed above Nathalie is not free, and in fact is less free new to express herself than she was at Bapaume. Nevertheless, it is an important step forward, especially for human reasons, as the years of isolation-torture that the AD militants were subjected to took a particularly brutal toll on Nathalie. Suffering from severe depression, she has twice attempted suicide, and has been partially paralyzed for years as a result.

Nevertheless, despite the ravages of twenty years of incarceration, she has remained defiant and held fast to her political opposition to capitalism and the State.

What follows is an except from the Short Collective Biography of Action Directe Prisoners, fuond in the pamphlet Three Essays by Action Directe Comrades published and distributed by Kersplebedeb:

NATHALIE MENIGON was born in 1957 in a working class family. In 1975 she began working at a bank, joined the CFDT trade union after a strike. She was then kicked out of the union and joined the autonomous communist group “Camarades” (trans: Comrades). Like the Italian group Autonomia Operaia (trans: Workers Autonomy), “Camarades” called for anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist social revolt and lent its support to the Italian guerilla movement. Nathalie took part in discussions and demonstrations in the Paris autonomist scene, and at the same time contemplated the necessity of armed combat.

In 1978 she and several comrades, including Jean-Marc, founded the revolutionary communist organization Action Directe. It was about concretely fighting the system and promoting the organization of the working class and its strategy: armed struggle. Both she and Jean-Marc participated in the first action claimed by the group: the machine gunning of the French chamber of commerce on May 1st 1979.

AD launched its first campaign of armed propaganda in Fall 1979. It would last until 1980. From the very beginning AD attacked those places where the State’s most important policies were thought out, decided upon and put into practice. AD chose its targets based on those questions that it described as being decisive at this stage (restructuring of the factories and neighbourhoods; military intervention in Tunisia, Chad and Zaire). More globally, AD was throwing down the red line that it intended to defend to the end: unity of the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist struggles. As an example of this unity AD also attacked those involved in the exploitation of immigrant workers, responsible for the conditions they lived in and against which they were struggling.

Nathalie and Jean-Marc were arrested in September 1980 following a firefight with the police. After the election of Mitterand (1981) and the first social democratic government, a political battle erupted in the prisons. Solidarity movements were formed calling for an amnesty of political prisoners and for an end to the special courts. The massive mobilisation and the contradictions among the new powers led to the release of all communist and anarchist prisoners and the abolition of State Security Court. Jean-Marc was freed in August 1981, Nathalie in September.

Action Directe took action again in November and December of that year. It participated in the occupation of sweatshops in Sentier and buildings in Barbès. Over a hundred mainly Turkish foreign families were thus rehoused. At the same time this campaign was accompanied by several actions and demonstrations against sweatshops and for housing. It was also a matter of supporting Turkish comrades who had fled to France after the US-supported coup d’état in their country in 1980. The reconstruction of underground structures continued on at the same time.

In June 1982 AD led an important mobilization against the G-7 Summit in Versailles. It was a decisive step towards the integration of the imperialist countries along the lines elaborated by the Reagan administration.

On the last day of the Summit, June 6th, Israel attacked Lebanon. One of the lines of imperialist redeployment was thus illustrated in the most concrete way possible. There followed the invasion of Lebanon by Israeli troops, with all that followed for the Lebanese and Palestinian people. This led to AD reorienting itself towards new targets, claiming responsibility for the machinegunning of the car of the Israeli embassy’s chief of security and a number of actions against Israeli companies. After a massacre-attack against a Jewish restaurant (Goldenberg) on Rosiers street in Paris, the powers that be orchestrated a counter-revolutionary propaganda campaign throughout the media. In an interview with the newspaper Libération, Jean-Marc defended the machinegunning of the chief of security and condemned the massacre attacks. At the same time as the Council of Ministers tried to isolate the organization’s militants by ordering the dissolution of Action Directe, a series of raids were carried out against squats and known revolutionaries. Nathalie was still recovering from a serious car accident that had taken place when she was bringing posters against the G-7 Summit back from Brussels. Nevertheless, both she and Jean-Marc went underground.

It should be mentioned, in closing, that the State in its utter depravity is appealing today's decision.

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Queer Youth: Black Community’s Throw-away Kids

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The rev. Irene Monroe has an excellent column on queer homeless Black youth on her website and in the latest Black Commentator... worth checking out!

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Nineteen Doctors Speak Out in Favor of Justice for Mohamed Anas Bennis

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The following from the Justice for Anas coalition:

HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS DEMAND JUSTICE FOR ANAS BENNIS!

Medical Doctors from the Cote-des-Neiges neighborhood call upon Public Security Minister to uncover mystery surrounding death of young man killed by Montreal police

Montreal, July 17th 2007

Physicians from the Cote-des-Neiges community have called upon Minister of Public Security and Justice Jacques Dupuis to release all information surrounding the death of Mohamed Anas Bennis, a 25 year-old Canadian of Moroccan heritage, shot by Montreal police on December 1st 2005 in Cote-des-Neiges, just minutes from his home.

In an open letter to Quebec Minister of Public Security and Justice Jacques Dupuis (see below), the group of nineteen medical doctors working in the Cote-des-Neiges neighborhood demanded that all the evidence and reports surrounding the death of Anas Bennis be released to the family and the public while calling for a public inquiry into the events leading to Anas’ death.

The open letter declares : “The lack of transparency and suppression of information in this case does not inspire confidence and can only increase the sense of stigmatization felt by local Muslims and other minority groups. We also believe that the Bennis family is entitled to an open and complete investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of their son and brother.”

The police claim that Anas had attacked them with a kitchen knife, but over a year later, they have failed to produce either the knife, the security video which filmed the events leading to Anas' death, or proof of the injuries that the officer supposedly sustained. Despite their efforts, the Bennis family has not been able to see this evidence or to receive copies of the prosecutor's report or the police report regarding Anas' death.

As Minister of Public Security and Minister of Justice, Jacques Dupuis has the power to release the police and prosecutor's reports to the Bennis family and to the public. The Bennis family and their supporters have made numerous attempts to meet with Mr. Dupuis about this case, but so far the Minister has ignored them.

The three demands of the Coalition Justice for Anas, created to support the Bennis family in December 2006, have already been endorsed by over 35 community organizations, including several groups in Cote-des-Neiges. Their voices are joined by those of health care providers in the neighborhood today, reinforcing the call for:

1. the immediate release of all reports, evidence and information concerning the death of Anas Bennis to the Bennis family and to the public;
2. a full, public and independent inquiry into the death of Anas Bennis;
3. an end to police brutality and impunity.

Here is the letter, signed by 19 doctors who work in Cote-des-Neiges, a mixed class and heavily immigrant neighbourhood in Montreal:

M. Jacques P. Dupuis
Ministre de la Securité publique
10, rue Saint-Antoine Est
Bureau 11.39
Montréal (Québec)
H2Y 1E

Montreal, July 17 2007

As family physicians and residents in family medicine working in the Côte-des-Neiges community, we wish to express our concern about the death of Mohamed Anas Bennis. This young man was shot twice by a Montreal police officer on December 1, 2005 near the corner of Kent and Côte-des-Neiges in circumstances that remain obscure. The crown prosecutor declined to lay charges against the policeman and denied the Bennis family a written copy of his report. Furthermore, Quebec Minister of Public Security, Jacques Dupuis, has refused to make the police report public.

As health professionals working in a multi-ethnic community, we are aware of the negative consequences for mental as well as physical health of `racial profiling` and stereotyping of visible minorities. In the post-911 world of security certificates and ‘extraordinary renditions’ such as in the case of Maher Arar, the Arab and Muslim communities have been a particular target of police and security agency activity. We do not know whether islamophobia and racial profiling played a role in the death of Mohamed Anas Bennis, but given official refusal to release information, this possibility
cannot be excluded.

The lack of transparency and suppression of information in this case does not inspire confidence and can only increase the sense of stigmatization felt by local Muslims and other minority groups. We also believe that the Bennis family is entitled to an open and complete investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of their son and brother.

We therefore call for the release of all reports and evidence pertaining to the death of Mohamed Anas Bennis and for the Minister of Public Security to authorize an independent public inquiry into the events surrounding his death, and this with the least possible delay.


Sincerely,
Dr. Armand Aalamian Dr. Pierre Dongier Dr. Tarek Loubani Dr. Joey Podavin
Dr. Catherine Beauce Dr. Marion Dove Dr. Robert Mahood Dr. H. Rousseau
Dr. Marie Beauregard Dr. Bertha Fuchsman Dr. Jesse McLaren Dr. H. Shenker
Dr. Nazila Bettache Dr. Vania Jimenez Dr. Marie Munoz Dr. Jean Zigby
Dr. Yen Bui Dr. Saideh Khadir Dr. Maria Perrone


Monsieur Jacques P. Dupuis
Ministre de la Sécurité publique
10, rue Saint-Antoine Est, bureau 11.39
Montréal (Québec)
H2Y 1E2

Montréal, le 17 Juillet 2007

En tant que médecins et résidents en pratique familiale travaillant dans la communauté de
Côte-des-Neiges, nous aimerions manifester notre inquiétude au sujet de la mort de Mohamed Anas Bennis. Ce jeune homme a été atteint de deux balles tirées par un officier de police le 1er décembre 2005, près de l'intersection Kent et Côte-des-Neiges, dans des circonstances qui demeurent obscures. L'avocat de la Couronne a refusé de porter une accusation contre l'officier de police qui a tiré ou de remettre à la famille Bennis une copie du rapport. D'autre part, le ministre de la Sécurité publique du Québec, monsieur Jacques Dupuis, a refusé de rendre public le rapport de police.

En tant que professionnels de la santé travaillant au sein d'une communauté multi-ethnique, nous sommes conscients des conséquences négatives que le "profilage racial" et que l'utilisation de stéréotypes relativement aux "minorités visibles" peuvent avoir sur la santé mentale mais aussi sur la santé physique des personnes concernées. Dans le monde d'après le 11 septembre 2001, celui des "certificats de sécurité" et des ‘extraditions extraordinaires’ (transfert de prisonniers pour les soumettre à des interrogatoires sous la torture), utilisés par exemple dans le cas de Maher Arar, les communautés arabes et musulmanes sont devenues des cibles prioritaires de la police et des agences de renseignement. Nous ne savons pas si l'islamophobie ou le "profilage racial" ont contribué à la mort de Mohamed Anas Bennis, mais devant le refus manifesté par les autorités de fournir des informations à se sujet, nous croyons qu'une telle possibilité ne peut être rejetée.

Nous croyons que le manque de transparence et le refus de dévoiler des informations dans ce cas n'inspirent pas confiance et ne peuvent qu'accroître le sentiment d'être persécutés qu'éprouvent les musulmans et les autres groupes minoritaires de ce quartier. Nous croyons également que la famille Bennis a le droit de s'attendre à ce qu'une enquête ouverte et complète fasse la lumière sur les circonstances qui ont conduit à la mort de la personne qui était leur fils ou leur frère.

Nous demandons, par conséquent, la divulgation de tous les rapports et de toutes les preuves relatifs à la mort de Mohamed Anas Bennis, et que le ministre de la Sécurité publique autorise une enquête publique sur les événements liés à la mort de ce jeune homme et que cela soit réalisé dans les délais les plus brefs.

Veuillez agréer, Monsieur, l'expression de nos sentiments les meilleurs.

Dr. Armand Aalamian
Dr. Pierre Dongier
Dr. Tarek Loubani
Dr. Joey Podavin
Dr. Catherine Beauce
Dr. Marion Dove
Dr. Robert Mahood
Dr. H. Rousseau
Dr. Marie Beauregard
Dr. Bertha Fuchsman
Dr. Jesse McLaren
Dr. H. Shenker
Dr. Nazila Bettache
Dr. Vania Jimenez
Dr. Marie Munoz
Dr. Jean Zigby
Dr. Yen Bui
Dr. Saideh Khadir
Dr. Maria Perrone

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PFLP response to Bush (17 July 2007)

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Press Release issued by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

• The address of US President George Bush and his call for an international conference on the Middle East are a deception.
• The United States of America and the Bush Administration are not an honest broker, but stand completely on the side of the policy of Zionist aggression and terror.

Commenting on the address by the US President George Bush and his call for the convening of an international conference on the Middle East, Dr. Mahir at-Tahir, Member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and representative of its leadership outside Palestine, declared:

The call of the American president to hold an international conference on the Middle East and his talk about a Palestinian state lack all credibility and constitute a form of trickery and deception, particularly following the writ of guarantees that he has given to Israel in which he pledges his commitment to their positions of not withdrawing from Jerusalem, of keeping the large blocs of settlements on the Palestinian West Bank, and of rejecting the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.

The American Administration stands entirely on the side of the policy of aggression and terror practiced by Israel and therefore these declarations of the American President amount to an attempt to deepen the divisions and internal struggles in the Palestinian arena.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine declares that the wretched path of constantly betting on pointless negotiations with Israel and this meeting of the Palestinian President with Olmert in Jerusalem have produced nothing serious for the good of the Palestinian cause.

Israel, supported by the United States of America, does not want peace; it is aiming at imposing surrender and dictates on the Palestinian people and is trying to stop the legitimate resistance against the occupation.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine calls on all the patriotic and Islamic forces in the Palestinian arena to tighten their ranks, build Palestinian national unity, stop the bloody internal conflicts, and direct all their energies towards confronting the Zionist occupation squatting on the land of Palestine. The PFLP calls for a comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue in order to set the Palestinian house in order on the basis of adherence to Palestinian national principles and continuing the resistance in all its forms against the occupation.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Press Office.
17 July 2007.

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MOVE 9 Prisoner Janet Africa Harrassed

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It seems Janet Africa - one of the MOVE political prisoners - is being harassed by guards at SCI Cambridge Springs. The following alert from Ramona Africa:

ONA MOVE! This is an alert to all of our supporters that the guards at SCI-Cambridge Springs, where our sisters are housed, are starting trouble.

Our sister, Janet Africa, was stopped by a male guard who said he wanted to pat search her. Janet informed him that it's against our belief to have a man feeling on her body and that she wanted the option of having a female guard search her as provided by prison policy.

She was taken to a female prison guard named Dover who became beligerant and told janet that she wasn't special and wasn't getting any special treatment. Dover then told the male guard to take Janet back where he got her from and go ahead and search her. Janet start putting some information on the guards when another guard came to see what all the commotion was about.

Dover then tells him that he should give Janet a misconduct and put her in the hole.. This was obviously a set-up from the beginning because all of those prison officials know who MOVE people are and know our policy about male guards searching our women.

What Dover said about "special treatment" makes no sense either because MOVE didn't make the prison policy that allows for a woman to refuse to be searched by a male guard and to have a female guard do the search, however it is prison policy, so where is the "special treatment"?

Officials are aware that The MOVE 9 are coming up for parole and these officials are trying to provoke a situation that would be used as an excuse to deny them parole. That's the bottom line to what's going on here and it's just the beginning.

We're asking people to call the prison and talk to the superintendent or leave a message for her if you can't get her on the phone. The number is 814398-5400. Thanks for your support.

Ona Move---Ramona Africa
via the defenestrator

MOVE was a predominantly Black "back to nature" religious group whose anti-capitalist and in-your-face attitude made it a target for some of the most vicious police violence in recent amerikan history. Janet Africa was one of nine MOVE members (all of whom take the name "Africa") who were sentences to 30-100 years in prison after a police attack on a MOVE house on August 8th 1978, during which a cop was killed. The MOVE 9 come up for parole next year.

The police repression would eventually culminate in a bomb being dropped by a police helicopter on their house on May 13th 1985. Six MOVE adults and five of their children were killed as the house burned to the ground. Ramona Africa, the sole adult survivor, served seven years in prison for "conspiracy, riot, and multiple counts of simple and aggravated assault".

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Police shut down protest meeting in Quebec

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From the Ottawa Citizen via today's Montreal Gazette:

OTTAWA – Police have derailed plans for a public forum in Quebec on the Security and Prosperity Partnership that was to take place six kilometres from where the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States gather next month for a summit meeting.

Several weeks ago, the Council of Canadians put down a $100 deposit to rent the community centre in Papineauville, not far from the summit site in Montebello, for the public forum.

The forum was scheduled for Aug. 19, the day before the North American leaders are to start two days of meetings on the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a controversial initiative aimed at more closely aligning the three countries in a variety of areas.

But Brent Patterson, the council’s director of organizing, said a Papineauville official called late Tuesday to say the RCMP, the Sûreté du Quebec and the U.S. army would not allow the municipality to rent the facility to the council for the planned forum.

Patterson said Frédéric Castonguay, the town’s general manager, reported that Guy Côté of the Sûreté de Quebec in Montreal told him the council “is an activist organization opposed to the summit and that it would not be wise to have us set up in the community centre.”

Castonguay said yesterday that Côté told him the police and U.S. army need the community centre as a base of operations for summit security.

“They didn’t want us to rent it to anyone because they need the room there to put equipment and special vehicles,” he said, adding the police position was not open to debate. “There was no choice.”

Patterson reacted angrily. “It’s deplorable that we are being prevented from bringing together a panel of writers, academics and parliamentarians to share their concerns about the Security and Prosperity Partnership with Canadians,” he said.

The council views the Papineauville community centre as an ideal location for the public forum because of its size – it can hold up to 1,000 people – and proximity to Montebello, where the leaders meet Aug. 20-21.

It has already begun lining up speakers for the forum. Along with council chairwoman Maude Barlow, it had tentative acceptance from University of British Columbia professor Michael Byers and was also approaching parliamentarians. The loss of the centre throws those plans into disarray.

Last month, a town official in Montebello told Patterson police were planning to erect a 25kilometre security perimeter around the town. The Montebello official said police were going to turn back any vehicle carrying more than five people.

At the time, the RCMP said security planning was still in progress and no decisions had been made on its impact on people living and working in the area.

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Radical Art

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i'm going to be updating my "Radical Art" links page and thought i'd post this here, asking you all for any suggestions...let me know, as i don't get around to doing this shit too often...

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August: War Criminals Coming to Montebello, Quebec

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• This August, Stephen Harper, George Bush and Felipe Calderon will be just 90 minutes from Montreal, in Montebello, Qc!
• Mobilize and Protest against George Bush, Stephen Harper and Felipe Calderon at the meeting of the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (SPP)

::::::::::
AUGUST 19-21, 2007
MONTEBELLO, QUEBEC
(Between Ottawa and Montreal)
::::::::::

• A main Day of Action against the SPP will take place on MONDAY, August 20 at 3pm at the Chateau Montebello (or as close as possible to Montebello). We encourage everyone to mobilize to Montebello by 3PM on August 20.
  
  
• Montebello, Quebec is a tourist village between Ottawa and Montreal, on Highway 148, on the Ottawa River. ( To view a small map, click here: http://www.psp-spp.com/?q=fr/carte&size=_original ; or download a more detailed map of the region in .pdf format here: http://www.psp-spp.com/files/grande_carte_Montebello.pdf )

Actions will also take place from August 19-21. An "anti-capitalist camp" will be set up in the area, as early as August 8, for all protesters who want to be in the region early to help plan actions and raise awareness. More details forthcoming. Visit http://www.uncampement.net frequently for updates.

Protests are being organized against Bush, Harper, Calderon and the SPP by anti-capitalist social justice activists in Quebec and Ontario, under the framework of the People's Global Action (PGA) Network (http://www.agp.org).

Ottawa and Montreal -- on either side of Montebello on the Highway 148 will act as organizing hubs for protests, including local protests and actions.

::::: GET INFORMED. GET ORGANIZED. GET INVOLVED. :::::

For up-to-date information, subscribe to our announcements list by visiting: https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/psp

Please phone or email for more info, or to get involved with organizing efforts (popular education, mobilization, logistics, transportation, fundraising and more!):

E-MAIL: info@psp-spp.com
WEB: http://www.psp-spp.com (visit frequently for updates)
TEL: 514-848-7583

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is being organized from Montreal & Quebec City to Montebello for August 19&20. To offer transport, or to request transport, please contact TransportMontebello@gmail.com

PLANNING CONSULTA: A Consulta open to all delegates of groups who are interested in actively mobilizing against Bush, Harper, Calderon and the SPP -- will be held in MONTREAL on SATURDAY, JULY 21, from NOON-5pm (Location TBA).

We strongly encourage all groups to attend this Consulta (ie. preparation meeting), one month before the SPP, so that we can together finalize our plans to protest and disrupt the Bush visit.

Please confirm your attendance (or request housing, for out-of-town delegates) by e-mail at: bloquezlempiremontreal@resist.ca

::::: BACKGROUNDER :::::

This August, George Bush, Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon will be just 90 minutes from Montreal, in Montebello, Quebec. They are meeting at the Chateau Montebello, as part of the so-called "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (aka the "Three Amigos" Summit).

They talk about "security" and "prosperity", but their agenda really means insecurity and misery for working and oppressed peoples in the Americas.

In brief, the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (SPP) combines the destructive neo-liberal policies of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the fear and paranoia of post 9-11 "Homeland Security" policies. The SPP is firmly rooted within a colonial and capitalist framework.

The SPP is described by its proponents as a "NAFTA 2.0", and is promoted and supported by corporations and their lobby groups, like the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.

A group of 30 corporate executives from the NAFTA countries comprise the North American Competitiveness Council, which was set up "to fully incorporate the private sector into the SPP process" (to cite the SPP's own words). Moreover, because the SPP announces itself as a "dialogue based on shared values," it is secretive process, subject to no formal public scrutiny or open debate.

There is no mystery to the SPP agenda: murderous wars and occupations abroad; border militarization; increased detentions and deportations; attacks on indigenous peoples, the poor, migrants, and working people; ecological destruction; mega-projects in the service of corporate greed; and unfortunately, much more and worse.

The SPP reinforces the idea of "Fortress North America", whereby the rich and privileged live in gated communities and gentrified cities, protected by police and security, with easy movement for capital between borders; for the rest, there's border fences, detention centers, prisons, surveillance, and increased precarity.

This August, protests are being organized by anti-capitalist social justice activists in Ontario and Quebec, within the framework of the People's Global Action (PGA) Network. With organizing hubs in Ottawa and Montreal, on either end of Montebello on the Highway 148, we are preparing to resist the upcoming SPP meeting.

We are not going to lobby the SPP leaders or governments to be nicer. Justice and dignity is achieved through grassroots mobilizing and struggle, not the charity of rich philanthropists, rock-stars or politicians complicit in a destructive system.

When George Bush, Stephen Harper and Felipe Calderon try to meet at the Chateau Montebello, we are going to protest and try to disrupt their meeting. There will be activities from August 19-21, with a call for a convergence on Montebello (or as close as possible to Montebello) on 3pm on MONDAY, AUGUST 20. An anti-capitalist camp will be set up in the Montebello region in early August, as a convergence space for activists who want to gather early to plan popular and actions.

More info at: www.psp-spp.com

Our protests are rooted in our ongoing mobilizing efforts and day-to-day organizing: for indigenous sovereignty and self-determination in the Americas, for immigrant justice and free movement, against deportations and detentions, against war and imperialism, for workers justice, against poverty, for ecological and environmental justice, for the liberation of all political prisoners, in solidarity with social justice movements worldwide.

On January 1, 1994, the day that NAFTA took effect, the Zapatistas began an uprising in southern Mexico, declaring NAFTA a "death sentence" on indigenous peoples. With the SPP, the politicians, bureaucrats and corporations of North America have renewed their death-sentence on all of us.

The inspiration of the Zapatistas still resonates, 13 years later, as we make links between our struggles and issues, and unify to confront the SPP at Montebello, and beyond.

-----
E-MAIL: info@psp-spp.com
WEB: http://www.psp-spp.com (visit frequently for updates)
TEL: 514-848-7583

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Pride and Occupation, Propaganda and Borders, Doctors and Ethics: Dispatch Number Seven, from My Home on Native Land

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It's been a while, and she's obviously back home now, but here's another dispatch from my comrade who recently went to Palestine:
>

i didn't make it to lesbian and gay pride, ubiquitously known as "pride," this year in toronto. that was the date of my return to town. i had school the next day. i was cutting it close. for palestinians, trying to go to the next town for whatever reason is often cutting it close, as israel's occupation forces are always cutting things off.

no, this year i went to pride in tel aviv. a nice city, eh? situated on the mediterranean, supposedly modern and so unlike anything you will see in what remains of palestine. like the settlements, it really doesn't belong. how can i, neither an israeli or a palestinian dare such a judgement? perhaps knowing that the zionist establishment considers itself an outpost in the region, a western outpost against eastern barbarism,* contains a clue.

three years ago i also went to pride in tel aviv. marched then as i did now with the small but lively group of anti-occupation israelis. in each instance, i didn't really feel like a parade. there is something about going through checkpoints and watching eighteen-year-old boys rudely demand ids and these same boys entering buses with automatic weapons slung over their shoulders that nick the passengers as they "inspect" the vehicle and sometimes remove young men like themselves (except that they are palestinian) from the bus or servees to sit in the sun awhile (like for hours) - there is something about all this that makes attending a parade just miles away from all of this absurd and...insulting.

but i also had a sackful of books and magazines with me that i wanted to post from tel aviv, thinking it the easiest place, and i could use someone's return address there. the bag weighed at least twenty pounds and felt even heavier, slung about my shoulders. after a late start from ramallah - it was nice to have a leisurely breakfast with friends - i finally got to tel aviv, but just as the parade was starting, and after the post office closed. it was friday. so there i was, trudging proudly with my books and publications about how israel controls all the water supplies in the west bank, and how minority rights fare in the israeli state, and how the occupation is ever-expanding. surrounded by the small clutch of israeli activists i wondered why they hadn't grown into a larger group than three years ago, as it was roughly the same amount of people. as we reached the sea, a small group of us cut out and headed to a café having, in the words of one, done our civic duty. at this point, bag still stuck to body, i was happy for a chance to sit down.

and have a drink.

we were six women, maybe seven. food was ordered. i had my beer. all of the women
were young israelis, and i was interrested to know what they thought about the situation. i got the sense that most of them didn't wish to address the issue. one women, sitting to my right, told me she was from jerusalem (translation: west jerusalem). she said "i don't know any palestinians and i don't try to know them."

"why" is all i could muster, so dumbstruck was i. these are the anti-occupation israelis? it's not as if i don't expect this sort of thing from even activists, but during the marching i noticed a woman i knew was palestinian because she had been interviewed in a video made by a toronto film maker about queer relationships between palestinians and israelis. was this woman someone this young woman wouldn't try to know? in jerusalem was she scared of palestinians? whenever i am in jerusalem, i stay in the old city - a part of the city full of palestinians. how could she not know any palestinians, unless she makes the effort not to - or - unless the apartheid is pronounced and people are divided from each other, unable to or unwilling to bridge that widening gap.

another woman sitting across from us, in the righthand corner of the table was listening and asked me what i thought about sderot. sderot is the israeli town just east of the northern border with gaza that is the frequent recipient of the qassam missiles that palestinian fighters often send over after an israeli bombardment of gaza. her parents live in sderot. i carefully annunciated each english word, saying it must be horrible to have ineffective missiles dropping on your yard and your homes. it isn't that i don't think it's terrible, it's just that it isn't equivalent.(1)

we grew silent. i was sure they were uncomfortable with this jew who wasn't israeli.
but i didn't ask. i had said i was an anti-zionist. that was met with silence. it isn't always met with just a stare, but it depends on the israeli.

when my contact told me she was still couch sufing, in lieu of finding an apartment in tel aiv, i was relieved and took my twenty pounds of propaganda back to east jerusalem for the night. i was happy to be back at the hostel where many of the activists who work in the west bank pass through. there are also many christian pilgrims stopping over, en route to beitlehem or touring through 48 and al quds (jerusalem). at least here i could have a discussion and feel that people were willing to pay attention. it isn't because everyone has the same opinion about things, even among the activists. my experience was that many of the christian travellers, particularly the fellas i met who had been living on a kibbutz in the naqab (negev), were unfamiliar with the many circumstances of the occupation. these two guys had never been through a machsom (checkpoint) and were leaving on saturday for beitlehem. they were in store for at least two.

it occurred to me that here i was, the only homosexual in sight at this youth hostel full of activists, tourists and pilgrims. and yet i felt more comfortable (was it the ever-abundant supply of free tea, or the two cats, mish mish and her daughter?) here than in the midst of thousands of queers. not that i don't get tired of the homo-blindness or the homophobia that people outside the community are sometimes so brilliant and capable of...but in the context of the colonial state of israel, i was feeling distinctly at odds with all things israeli, queer or not.

i lit a cigarette and left the bag of books on my bed for the night. as the next day was saturday, there was no chance of mailing things out as everything israeli and official is closed for shabbes. so it got left for the trip out.

and when i was taking my leave of the country, i went to the post office in east jerusalem, and mailed a box full of books, including my journal, periodicals, a usb key, some gifts. i filled out the form. put down the addess of the hostel where i stayed, but as i often do at home, i wrote only the street address, and not the name. that was my first mistake. the other mistakes would follow. what little i knew as i left with the tracking number carefully tucked into the inside compartment of the backpack with its zipper, behind the enormous plastic bag full of filthy clothes - since the weather was warm, they were extra aromatic. a last purchase from the educational bookstore not mailed with several other things purchased there, "the myths of zionism" by john rose, also behind the pungent laundry.

the reason so many people mail things is not because the israelis will confiscate things at the airport (although sometimes they do), but because people want to be able to enter the country again. so many activists have been prevented from re-entering or have been deported. so it's important that you make the proper impression: you are merely a tourist or a jew visiting israel, not an activist who is critical of the israeli state. that could show up in a file the next time you try and enter. though many people, if questioned, choose to make a point of saying what they saw and did.

the day of my flight out was a saturday. i figured that the buses wouldn't be running, but the sherut (shared taxis in 48) would be. again, i was wrong. at the hostel, h--- called me a taxi driver he knew, so i was set for saturday's trip to the airport.

when the driver and i reached ben gurion airport, just south of tel aviv, we had to pull over and show our identification. see, my taxi driver was palestinian and in israel, if you are palestinian, you are suspect. i was thinking about how this daily occurrence of being treated as untrustworthy could lead to feelings of inadequacy and anger. after all, most palestinians are guilty of merely being palestinian in the eyes of most israelis. it brought me back to that word that so annoys israeli and diasporic jews: racism. if the idea of zionism is essentially a state for jews, how is that not racist? how do you maintain an ethnic majority without discriminating?

the driver showed his blue huwiyya (essentially a passbook) and i my canadian passport. the soldier glanced at my name and looked up and asked me "you're jewish?" to which i replied "well, the name is goldstein." it was the kind of question in the kind of context where you knew it was because i was in a car with a palestinian in israel. like so many times at the checkpoints in the west bank, when soldiers ask don't i know that it's "dangerous" where i am. why "dangerous"? because there are palestinians around.

but they are not the ones toting automatic weapons openly and with abandon.

we got through the "checkpoint" at the airport, and i waved so long to my driver and entered for my exit.

the airport felt open and empty. unlike my previous exit from israel, there was no questioning, just several points of security, not unlike other airports. there was something wierd about all this. it struck me that the occupation is so cemented, that the israelis are relaxing into it. they are dividing the west bank into small little pieces. they seem to be able to do whatever they please and seemingly, on the international level have no penalty to pay. israel seems to have endless impunity. the expansion of settlements is endless and shows no sign of abating. there will be no contiguous palestinian state. (for more info. see: www.peacenow.org.il/site/en/peace.asp?pi=51)

i went through without any problems. membership does have its privileges. it is so blatant.

we landed in london, and as i waited to go through "passport control," i noticed that a few passengers from our flight were getting a rough go from the customs official. they were palestinian. some of them had sat near me on the flight. this tall white jewish man commented to me, i didn't feel comfortable when i saw those guys get on the plane," thinking as a white girl, and a jew, that i'd see his point. i asked him "why? because they're palestinian?" he quickly said "i don't now what they are." but they looked arabic, and their blue jerusalem huwiyyas were very visible. another jew who just doesn't see palestinians. i told him loudly "they are palestinians" and turned my back to him, not wanting to engage him any further. after i passed through, i tried asking the customs official who let me through why the men were being harassed and she shooed me away - clearly not wanting to comment, telling me there ws "nothing to worry about."

as this dispatch draws to a close, i think about how not long after i left london to return to north fucking america and this new "terror alert" with cars loaded with explosives and nails and the whole thing put together by doctors. regardless of the conspiracies and who did what, what stood out for me was the "surprise" that it was doctors or medical students who were involved in the planning. whatever the real story behind the actual event is, the propaganda is stunning. why be stunned that doctors could be involved in such a plan? were doctors not involved in guantanamo bay with the torture that is perpetrated against the prisoners held incomunicado there? were doctors not involved in the tuskegee syphillis experiment on african american men from 1932-72? were doctors not involved in nazi germany?

the other thing that occurs to me is that by casting doubt on professionals from other countries, in particular, any muslim country, paves the way towards allowing anyone through the border. for a tightening of and for additional prohibitions on immigration. for a justification for security certificates and administrative detention. oh, and perhaps to draw attention away from an economy going towards the toilet because all the money is earmarked for the "war effort." support your troops. support your imperialists. this kind of patriotic claptrap clears a path for continued colonial strategies in those countries. if they are our enemies, we have to fight them in any way we can. this is the war on terror, is it not? more aptly the war of terror. ask any iraqi.

*see: www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=10709, www.countercurrents.org/pa-avnery080503.htm , and www.al-awda.org/zionists2.html for more information. and if you require a zionist source, try www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/herzlex.html and you can click on the links for the full texts of hertzl's book on der judenstaat (the jewish state)

(1) see: http://tabulagaza.blogspot.com/2007/05/sderot-created-gaza-strip.html for an idea of the difference. for statistics on who gets killed in this war go to:
www.btselem.org/english/Statistics/Casualties.asp though there isn't a breakdown in how many in sderot, or how many in, say, beit lahiya (a nearby refugee camp in gaza), the numbers will give you a sense of proportion, if you are willing to see it.

n.b. this is not the last dispatch. i wait for my notebok, which i hope to receive sometime next week or the week after. but more on that in the next missive.

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"For Reasons Unknown" Montreal Police Open Fire on Alleged Robber, Killing Him

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Another person was killed by Montreal police today.

It would seem the victim was holding up a motel in Montreal North when police arrived on the scene. Reporters are saying that "for reasons unknown" the police opened fire, shooting the man several times. A knife was later found near his body.

Over the past twenty years over forty people have been killed by the Montreal police. Some of these were killed "by accident", son on purpose. A disproportionate number - people like Anthony Griffin, Martin Suazo and Mohamed Anas Bennis - were people of colour.

According the the first reports of this morning's killing, the (still unidentified) man who was gunnd down in Montreal North was white.

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Three July 5th Communiques from the PFLP

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Military Communiqué

Issued by the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades
The Military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Armed clash with a special Zionist force to the east of the al-Burayj Refugee Camp.

The Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades is at this time fighting an armed battle with enemy forces that have penetrated to the east of the al-Burayj refugee camp in the middle of the Ghazza District, today 5 July 2007 at precisely 10:30 a.m.

This operation is our confirmation that we will continue on the path of resistance and defiance in the face of all enemy attempts, repulsing with all means their crimes against our people. It demonstrates our complete readiness to block all the enemy’s attempts at shaking our steadfastness, our will, and our unity.

The Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades will continue to maintain vigilance in the face of the Zionist enemy.

Glory to the virtuous martyrs and healing to the wounded heroes!

Freedom to our courageous prisoners and victory to the resistance!

We will surely win!

The Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades.

Thursday, 5 July 2007.

Military Communiqué

Issued by the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades The Military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Armed clash with a special Zionist unit to the east of Bayt Hanoun.

The Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades declare their responsibility for an armed clash with a special Zionist force that they observed at the end of al-Banat Street in eastern Bayt Hanoun in the north of Ghazza Province. During the battle a group of al-Qassam Brigade fighters arrived to provide support for the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigade fighters that was waging the battle. They attacked the force with a rocket-propelled grenade today, Thursday, 5 July 2007 at precisely 2:35 p.m.

This operation is our confirmation that we will continue along the path of resistance, blocking every enemy attempt to advance, and that we are ready to teach the enemy a harsh lesson so that he will think long and hard before deciding to invade our territory.

We also affirm the need for unity and national solidarity in the face of an enemy that knows nothing of mercy or humanism, as he has always been.

Glory to the virtuous martyrs and healing to the wounded heroes!

Freedom to our courageous prisoners and victory to the resistance!

We will surely win!

The Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades.

Thursday, 5 July 2007.

Military Communiqué

Issued by the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades And the Popular Resistance Committees.


Shelling the Erez Crossing area with two Sumoud Rockets.

The Marty Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades and the Popular Resistance Committees declare their responsibility for shelling the Erez Crossing area with two Sumoud rockets today, Thursday, 5 July 2007 at precisely 3:37 in the afternoon.

This operation confirms our determination to continue on the path or resistance and of delivering a quick response to the actions of the enemy such as the penetration into our territory, attacks on our resistance and our people.

We also affirm the need for the unity of all national efforts and for intensifying the resistance, directing our guns at the enemy, for this is their proper aim.

Glory to the virtuous martyrs and healing to the wounded heroes!

Freedom to our courageous prisoners and victory to the resistance!

We will surely win!

The Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades. Popular
Resistance Committees

Thursday, 5 July 2007.

Arabic source: http://www.kataebabuali.com/

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Interview with Gord Hill

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Jaggi Singh has interviewed Gord Hill, a Native Warrior of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nation and author of 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance, about the Assembly of First Nations, the National Day of Action, the influence of the life and death of Harriet Nahanee, the legacy of Oka, the meaning of the warrior spirit today, and much more...

You can listen to it on radio 4 all, or else i have also mirrored it here.

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Fag-bashing in Quebec City, Boneheads Fingered

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Not much to say, other than news reports on a young guy getting beaten up by four boneheads as he left a gay bar in Quebec City last Sunday night.

Note of course that the police say they don't really have a problem with the boneheads, as they're "only" implicated in one or two queer-bashings a years, tops. No biggie...

Now where are those lesbian killer girl gangs when you need 'em?

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Once Again: The State Is Trying To Kill Political Prisoner Zolo Agona Azania

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Zolo Agona Azania is a Black revolutionary who has spent twenty six years - most of his adult life - in prison, and much of it on death row. His death sentence has been overturned not once, but twice, and yet a recent legal decision gives the State a green light to seek it a third time, and this despite the fact that many key witnesses have died and evidence that could help the defense has been "lost" over the past decades.

In 1981, at the age of 21, Zolo Agona Azania was convicted of murdering a police officer during a bank robbery gone bad. Unlike his two co-defendants, Zolo was arrested unarmed, walking down the street miles from the scene of the robbery, and has always maintained his total innocence of any involvement in the crime.

Yet it was Zolo who was singled out as the triggerman who killed a police officer “execution style,” and who received a death sentence… while the two men who were caught in the getaway car with weapons received prison sentences.

What explains this discrepance is the fact that Zolo was the only one of the accused who was a political activist, who had his picture in the paper as a model for rehabilitation, and whohad an African-sounding name and look. While the men who were caught red handed had close family members on the police force. (For more on Zolo's case, and the various violations of his legal rights which led to the death penalty being overturned twice already, see this posting i wrote about his case last year.)

Here is the press release from the No Death Penalty for Zolo Committee:

No Death Penalty for Zolo!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2007

CONTACT: Howard Emmer 773-425-6716

Indiana Supreme Court in a 3 to 2 decision allows the State of Indiana to seek the death penalty For the third time in the case of Zolo Agona Azania.

Indianapolis —— On Thursday. May 10, 2007 the Indiana Supreme Court reversed Boone County Superior Court Judge Steve David’s ruling that barred the state of Indiana from pursuing the death penalty in the case of Zolo Azania. Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter appealed Judge David’s ruling and that resulted in oral arguments before the Indiana Supreme Court on June 27th, 2006. Zolo, who was convicted of murder in 1982 has spent the last 26 years in Indiana prisons, most of that time on death row. Twice the state has had Zolo's death penalty verdict overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court due to: prosecution’s suppression of evidence favorable to the defendant, ineffective assistance of counsel, and systematic exclusion of African Americans from the jury pool.

In Judge David’s ruling, he argued that the state could not seek the death penalty against Zolo a third time because of the length of time that had passed since the crime was committed (24 years at that time), and that the delay was caused primarily by the state. Many of the witnesses, material and character, are now deceased and much of the evidence is either missing or destroyed. David also found that a jury at a third sentencing trial would be unduly focused on the “future dangerousness” of the convicted, depriving Zolo of an unprejudiced decision by the jury. Judge David concluded that society’s interest would be best served by barring the state from a third death sentence.

The majority opinion, written by Justice Sullivan and supported by Chief Justice Shepard and Justice Dickson, tries to blame Zolo Azania for the 25 year delay by having the audacity to file appeals to his conviction and death sentence which ultimately exposed mistakes and misconduct by the prosecution in his trials. As stated above, it was this same Indiana Supreme Court that found there was just cause for these appeals. To now blame Zolo for the delays caused by pursuing them is tantamount to blaming the victim.

Justices Boehm and Rucker both wrote dissenting opinions supporting Judge David’s ruling. In his dissenting opinion Justice Boehm found the majority opinion’s arguments for attributing the delays to Zolo as “both novel and indefensible”. Justice Rucker was troubled by the inordinate delay (25 yrs plus) affecting Zolo's ability to produce character witnesses and cross examine state witnesses.

The state of Indiana has already convicted and held Zolo for over 25 years for a crime in which he has always maintained his innocence, It is only fair that it drops its pursuit of the death penalty that is cruel, inhuman, racist and has no place being used in a civilized society.

Zolo’s lawyers are considering a petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.

More information about Zobo’s case can be obtained at www.Zoloazania.org
e-mail: Mdeutsch45 [at] aol.com

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Confusion: Why Do Civil Rights Watchdog Groups Care About the Earth Liberation Front?

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artwork by Brian Bowes (brianbowesart.com)

The following on the scumbags in the ADL and SPLC... from the Earth First! journal, worth reading, worth passing on:

Extreme Confusion: Why Do Civil Rights Watchdog Groups Care About the Earth Liberation Front?
By Josh

When federal prosecutors recently likened the Operation Backfire defendants to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), lawyers for the defense were quick to register their shock and disgust. Daniel McGowan’s attorney, Amanda Lee, appropriately condemned the comparison as “appalling,” “historically inaccurate” and “an insult to African-Americans.”

Although many animal rights and environmental activists seem startled by the prosecution’s analogy, it is merely the most visible and recent example of a growing tendency to conflate the Earth and animal liberation movements with racist hate groups. What’s most disturbing is that among the parties responsible for this trend are two of the nation’s largest and most prominent civil rights watchdog groups: the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

How did these organizations—which were founded with the express purpose of combating anti-Semitism and white supremacy, and which have enjoyed the strong support of liberals and progressives for decades—develop such a keen interest in the Earth and animal liberation movements? The answer lies in a disappointing, disturbing and largely unknown history of neoconservative political agendas, adherence to a centrist/extremist model of society, unethical and illegal intelligence-gathering activities, cooperation with law enforcement, poor journalism and fear-mongering.

The Anti-Defamation League

Founded in 1913, the ADL’s original mission of combating anti-Semitic slander and libel quickly expanded to include civil rights advocacy. During the 1930s, the ADL initiated the practice for which it has become best known: the monitoring of racist and fascist groups through research and covert intelligence gathering.

Previously a somewhat liberal organization, the ADL began to undergo a marked shift toward a neoconservative political orientation during the 1970s, which resulted in new alliances with the religious and political right, as well as increased cooperation with law enforcement. Additionally, the ADL adopted centrist/extremist theory, a neoconservative social model that clumps together all dissidents from the political right and left—regardless of their diverse and often conflicting agendas—and dismisses them as psychologically unstable people deserving of marginalization and imprisonment.

The disturbing results of the ADL’s blind commitment to centrist/extremist theory came to light in 1993, when a police investigation revealed that the ADL had assembled (perhaps illegally) files on thousands of Arab-American, anti-war, anti-apartheid, civil rights, environmental, labor and social justice groups, including ACT UP, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Indian Movement, Food Not Bombs, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Greenpeace and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Although criminal charges were (miraculously) never filed, the scandal harmed the ADL’s reputation and drew attention to its increasingly reactionary and paranoid suspicion of progressives and radicals.

Given this troubling history, it is not at all surprising that the “Extremism in America” section of the ADL’s website currently lists “ecoterrorism” alongside racist and fascist groups like the KKK, the National Socialist Movement and the World Church of the Creator. Moreover, the ADL’s profiles of Earth First!, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) are littered with unqualified references to “terrorism” and “extremism,” as well as assurances that these nonviolent movements will inevitably (and intentionally) begin taking lives.

The examples that the ADL offers to confirm this charge are problematic at best and deliberately misleading at worst. For instance, the ADL states that in 1999, “a British reporter who had infiltrated the ALF the year before with a hidden camera… was abducted by a number of men. They branded the letters ‘ALF’ on his back.”

What the ADL doesn’t say is that, according to the British magazine Green Anarchist, this reporter had made similar claims before, like when he said that he’d been kidnapped and shot in the leg by EF!ers. The idea that two separate movements employed new, unprecedented and never-repeated tactics of kidnapping and torture against the same person is simply too far-fetched to be true. Apparently, the police found Hall’s story unconvincing and promptly abandoned their criminal investigation. In treating this highly suspicious incident as proven fact, the ADL has failed to uphold its mission of assembling “accurate, detailed, unassailable information” and disseminating its findings through responsible and ethical journalism.

The Southern Poverty Law Center

The SPLC has followed a similar path from legitimate anti-racist work to the demonization of radical dissent. The SPLC was founded by Morris Dees and Joe Levin in 1971, as a small law firm focusing on civil rights cases. During the 1980s, the SPLC was catapulted into the national spotlight by a series of legal victories that bankrupted KKK and neo-Nazi groups. It quickly became one of the most visible and best funded anti-racist watchdog groups in the US.

Like the ADL, the SPLC has attracted significant controversy. In 2000, Harper’s Magazine published an article by Ken Silverstein—the magazine’s award-winning Washington Editor—alleging that the SPLC greatly overstates the threat posed by hate groups in order to raise more money.

“In 1986,” Silverstein wrote, “the SPLC’s entire legal staff quit in protest of Dees’ refusal to address issues—such as homelessness, voter registration and affirmative action—that they considered far more pertinent to poor minorities, if far less marketable to affluent benefactors, than fighting the KKK.”

Another similarity to the ADL is the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, which gathers information on a variety of “extremist” groups and publishes its findings in the quarterly Intelligence Report. While typically focused on white supremacists, the Report began covering the anti-globalization, animal rights and radical environmental movements following the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Seattle, Washington. Although the Report has generally avoided the “ecoterrorism” label in favor of “ecoradicalism,” it has undermined this sober restraint through a campaign of innuendo, conjecture, misinformation and fear-mongering that makes the ADL look amateurish by comparison.

In the Winter 2000 edition of the Report, for example, the SPLC concluded that the WTO protests signaled a coming alliance between right-wing and left-wing opponents of globalization, including neo-Nazis, the Nation of Islam and Earth First!. This charge was repeated in the Summer 2001 Report, which flung numerous outlandish accusations at the ELF in the hope that one might stick. The SPLC charged that “the ELF’s use of underground violence strongly resembles ex-Klansman Louis Beam’s concept of ‘leaderless resistance,’” as if this shared organizational structure is proof of a common racist ideology. Never mind the fact that leaderless resistance was actually developed by a US intelligence officer as a strategy for combating communist “extremists.”

The same Report also stated that “the ELF recently set this year’s ‘International Day of Action’ for April 19—a mythic date for the anti-government right. It was that day in 1993, when about 80 Branch Davidian cult members died in a fire in Waco, Texas…. It is also the day that Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168.” The Report ignored that the ELF chose the date for its proximity to Earth Day (April 22, 2001), and it did not even consider the possibility that the relation to Waco and Oklahoma City was a coincidence. Maybe the ELF picked April 19 because it’s the anniversary of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising—a significant event in the history of Jewish liberation and the fight against fascism. This explanation is as likely as any other.

Dozens of similar articles in the Intelligence Report make it clear that the SPLC advances conjecture as fact and coincidence as conspiracy, while excluding any information that might undermine its desired conclusion that the ELF is on the verge of allying itself with violent racists.

Disturbing Implications

If the ADL and the SPLC were small organizations on the margins of popular discourse and public policy, there would be little need for concern. However, both groups are large, particularly the ADL, which has 30 regional and three international offices. The ADL and the SPLC are also incredibly well-funded, with total annual revenues of more than $50 million and $30 million, respectively. Finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, both organizations enjoy significant influence with politicians, law enforcement and the public at large.

In 2002, a US congressional questionnaire sent to former ELF spokesperson Craig Rosebraugh quoted the SPLC’s charges of a growing alliance between the ELF and the racist, fascist right. It then asked, “How do you feel about the ELF being compared to the KKK? Is this an accurate comparison? Do you feel a kinship of cause with ‘racists and fascists,’ as the SPLC contends?” (For the record, Rosebraugh brusquely answered, “A) That is ridiculous and insulting. I would expect the SPLC to have more intelligence than that. B) No. C) No.”) These and other absurd allegations are frequently adopted as fact by lawmakers and law enforcement, resulting in policies and investigations based on ADL and SPLC propaganda. It is entirely possible—even likely—that the federal prosecution’s recent comparison of the ELF to the KKK was inspired by these organizations’ reports.

Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that both the ADL and the SPLC have a history of conducting covert investigations using surveillance and infiltration tactics that law enforcement is generally barred from employing without a warrant. The organizations then provide this information to the police and the FBI, effectively circumventing constitutional rights of privacy and assembly. The result is that these private watchdog groups are increasingly complicit in classically fascist systems of government surveillance and control. Apparently, the ADL and the SPLC oppose fascism when it is promoted by private individuals but condone it when practiced by the state, which is precisely when it is most dangerous.

The general public is also susceptible to the assertions of the ADL and the SPLC. Media reports on the Earth and animal liberation movements frequently quote these esteemed watchdog groups, whose statements are uncritically presented as expert commentary. To a populace that knows very little about the radical environmental and animal rights movements, the fact that the ADL and the SPLC are being quoted would seem to imply that there is an anti-Semitic, racist or fascist component to these movements.

By advancing this kind of innuendo, the ADL and the SPLC cheapen oppression and transform it into a kind of rhetorical capital that can be wielded for political gain. By painting the radical environmental and animal rights movements as a bunch of Nordic youths waiting to be Nazified, these organizations effectively marginalize and delegitimize the radical Jews and people of color who are actively working for the liberation of animals and the Earth. Perhaps more than anything, this shows how low the ADL and the SPLC have sunk.

Conclusions

Obviously, the ADL’s and the SPLC’s focus on the Earth and animal liberation movements needs to be challenged, but this must be done carefully. Speaking and writing against the ADL and the SPLC is a delicate undertaking, especially since both organizations are generally perceived as unassailable warriors in the fight against oppression. We must always be clear that our problem is not with combating anti-Semitism, racism and fascism, but with doing so in a manipulative and unethical fashion in order to advance a repressive, neoconservative agenda.

Additionally, we must be careful not to accidentally align ourselves with white supremacists. When researching the dark side of these organizations, pay close attention to what your sources are. Many websites “exposing” the ADL and the SPLC are operated by KKK and neo-Nazi groups. If your source refers to “the Jew Morris Dees” or cites the ADL as part of the “worldwide Jewish conspiracy,” you should look elsewhere for information.

As a final word of caution, it is my strong belief that direct action must be avoided. Home demonstrations and property damage will not work against the ADL or the SPLC. These organizations’ employees have endured death threats and physical violence from neo-Nazis and the KKK. They won’t be swayed by animal rights and environmental activists. Besides, this kind of approach would prove suicidal from both a law enforcement and public relations perspective. If action is to be taken, it should be restricted to peaceful demonstrations at relevant public events.

Effective opposition to unethical practices of the ADL and the SPLC must necessarily focus on the general public. Both organizations depend upon direct mail fundraising campaigns that tend to target liberals and progressives, who are largely unaware of these organizations’ dirty dealings. Mainstream animal rights and environmental activists, as well as sympathetic liberals and progressives, are likely to respond positively to a reasonable critique of these organizations.

Finally, Jewish animal rights and environmental activists — like myself — who are deeply disturbed by the ADL’s activities should discuss this with family, friends and members of our community. The involvement of a vocal contingent of anti-racist organizers, Jewish activists and activist people of color would go a long way toward legitimizing a challenge of the ADL and the SPLC, and it would help assure that these efforts retain the nuanced and cautious tone that they will require to be successful. Ultimately, exposing the reactionary and repressive nature of the ADL and the SPLC is not just about defending the Earth and animal liberation movements. It is about creating legitimate methods of challenging institutionalized oppression wherever it appears.

Josh is really hoping that someone out there knows how to make a good vegan matzoh brei.

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USSF Panel on the the SF8

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A Special broadcast of Hard Knock Radio featuring a panel on the San Francisco 8 - with Cynthia McKinney, Kathleen Cleaver, Soffiyah Elijah and Claude Marks - from the U.S. Social Forum.

While there are some funny moments - i.e. Kathleen Cleaver comparing the overthrow of Allende to the "overthrow" of Clinton (!!!) - this is a good update on the SF8, but even more than that provides some history about the BPP, about Assata Shakur, about the current siuation with Kamau Sadiki (Fred Hilton) and more...

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Lesbophobia from Fox... "Now When They Recuit the Kids, Are They Indoctrinating Them Into Homosexuality"

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Lawless gay people... yeah!

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