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April 7, 2002 - 12:32pm -- jim
Announcements
News

Statement of Teachers Protesting the Israeli Invasion

We, as teachers, condemn the new Israeli attack on Palestinians in the West Bank and demand the end of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

We are inspired by the stand of Jose Bove and the hundreds of peace activists from Europe and the United States who have gone to Ramallah and other towns to block with their bodies the Israeli government's attempt to crush the Palestinian resistance and destroy the Palestinian National Authority headquarters.

We demand an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza because the campaign of terror which the population of the occupied territories is being subjected to--the break-ins in the houses of unarmed civilians, the mass arrests of Palestinian youth, the wanton destruction of property and of any symbol of Palestinian self-governance, including the summary execution of Palestinian officials, and the siege of Yasser Arafat's headquarters--are barbaric acts, condemned by international law, to which none of us can give his/her assent.

April 7, 2002 - 11:23am -- jim
Analysis & Polemic
News

The Isle Of Polyphemus

Wole Soyinka (Nigeria) autodafe

It was a startling image, unexpected and unsolicited but, there it was, instantly replete. Incisive, summative, it offered itself as an
irresistible metaphor that Monday afternoon, our first full day in
Ramallah, at the checkpoint where the road had been cut, and dwellers of, and visitors to that city were obliged to disembark from their vehicles, cross the checkpoint on foot, and take up a different transportation on the other side of the guttered road. A raucous, potentially explosive junction where traders had set up an instant market, mostly in fruits, snacks and refreshing drinks. A young man in a bizarre colourful outfit, with a makeshift bandolier in which plastic cups were tucked for rapid dispensation of his ware observed my fascination and offered me a drink. I had not changed any money so I could not even afford one if I wished -- as I patiently explained to him.
But that did not bother him in the least. He had decided that I should have a drink, and he doled it out, free of charge.

April 5, 2002 - 8:50am -- jim
Analysis & Polemic
News

John Chuckman writes:

"Of War, Islam and Israel"

John Chuckman, YellowTimes.org Columnist (Canada)

War between Islam and the nations of the West? There have been a good many careless words printed and broadcast in America touching on this simplistic idea. And an American president who lacks the most superficial knowledge of the world or its history offers no reassurance, as he lurches from one misstatement to another, that this idea is not being incorporated into national policy.

The concept of Islam as an intrinsically violent, anti-progressive opponent in the modern world is both ignorant and dangerous. The new prominence of this idea in America provides a good measure of the distorted information that exists in our political environment. It's almost as though the bloody, parochial views of Ariel Sharon on the nature of Palestinians had been exalted to a world view, worthy of every statesman's consideration.

April 4, 2002 - 12:44pm -- jim
Analysis & Polemic
News

World War III Report #26, March 24, 2002

Bill Weinberg with David Bloom, Special Correspondent

THIS WEEK: SPECIAL REPORT ON ISRAELI ESPIONAGE IN USA

THE AFGHANISTAN FRONT

1. Was "Operation Anaconda" a Victory?

2. US Troops Attacked in Khost

3. US Forces Still "Flushing Out"

4. Gen. Franks Warns of More to Come

5. Bush Warns of More to Come

6. Al-Qaeda Regrouping for Spring Offensive?

7. US Forces Raid "Al-Qaeda Compound" in Kandahar

8. Ethnic Hazaras Falsely Detained by US Forces

9. Brits Back in the Breach

10. MPs Warn of "Second Vietnam"

11. "Goodwill" US-Afghan Basketball Game Ends in Violence

12. Zahir Shah Again Postpones Trip Home

13. US Embassy Staff Leave Pakistan After Church Blast

14. Pakistan Being Drawn into War?

15. Accused Pearl Slayer to be Tried in Pakistan

16. CIA Chief: Al-Qaeda Still a Threat

THE MIDDLE EAST

1. Al-Aqsa Brigades Make US "Terrorist List"

2. B'Tselem: IDF "Trigger Happy"

3. TV Footage of IDF Atrocity Bucks Israeli Censors

4. New York Times Sees "Secret Iran-Arafat Connection"

5. Top Islamic Scholar: Suicide Bombers "Holy"

6. Saudi Newspaper Revives Blood Libel

7. Unveiled Girls Burned Alive in Saudi Arabia

THE PHILIPPINE FRONT

1. Filipinos Fear "Vietnamization"

2. US Troops Near Basilan Battle

3. Moro Rebels Deny Terrorist Link

4. Bloody Politics of Mindanao

5. Who is Abu Sayyaf?

6. Indonesia Next?

NUCLEAR PARANOIA

1. Brits Get in on Nuclear Sabre-Rattling

2. Is Pentagon Using Depleted Uranium in Afghanistan?

3. "Mystery Metal Nightmare in Afghanistan?"

ANTHRAX PARANOIA

1. CIA Link to Anthrax Attacks?

2. New York Times: Al-Qaeda Anthrax Link Seen

3. UK Observer: Al-Qaeda Anthrax Link Fabricated

4. Emergency Health Powers Act in State Legislatures

THE WAR AT HOME

1. US Farms Out Torture to Terror War Allies

2. No al-Qaeda Snared in Terror Sweep?

3. Military Tribunals to Allow "Unorthodox" Evidence

4. ...and Indefinite Detention

5. More Raids on Islamic Charities and Academics

6. Two Soldiers Dead in Fort Drum Munitions Accident

GLIMMERS OF HOPE

1. Barbara Lee Gets Standing Ovation in Berkeley

WATCHING THE SHADOWS

1. What Did Israel Know About 9-11?

2. Behind Israeli Snooping: Terror or Ecstasy?

3. ...and Disappearing Pushcarts?

Full report is at worldwar3

April 3, 2002 - 12:48pm -- jim
News
News

In today's trial Turkish anarchist prisoners are released by the decision of Izmir SSC (State Security Court). The next trial is postponed to 21st of May.

On 1st of December 2001, 5 people from Usak were arrested with the claim of being members of "Usak Anarsist Otonomu" while 3 of them were distributing their own leaflets during a trade-union demo. They are being judged according to Article No. 3713/7 which defines "illegal political gangs". Although they were just claimed to be responsible for a number of graffiti and a leaflet titled "No to Capitalism and War!" signed as Usak Anarsist Otonomu, 4 of them were forced to spend 2 months in F type cells -- where they lived 2 by 2.

April 2, 2002 - 11:04am -- jim
News

YellowTimes.org writes "By Christopher Reilly

YellowTimes.org Journalist


(YellowTimes.org) – As Dick Cheney tours the Middle East in search of support for an
American offensive against the Iraqi regime, Yellowtimes.org has learned through multiple independent sources that the Pentagon has already begun planning and building new bases in the region.


According to anonymous U.S. military sources, the new airbases will be in Jordan, the Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. Logistics and communications components are already en route or being prepared for deployment from active duty, Reserve, and National Guard
units.

April 1, 2002 - 3:03pm -- Uncle Fluffy
News
News

This just came to me via email.

It is from a comrade that is part of the international brigades in Palestine

--U.F.

Last night the Israeli Military tried to kill me.


I'm staying in the al azzeh refugee camp, in Bethlehem, along with about twenty other international civilians. We're here to act as human shields, because we've heard an Israeli invasion is imminent. It's 1:30pm right now, on Easter Sunday, and some are expecting the invasion within the next two hours. It has just been reported that international media has just pulled out of Bethlehem, and tanks are massing just outside of town.

April 1, 2002 - 11:01am -- jim
News
News

blissett ireland writes:

"Extremely Volatile situation in Palestine. Many Firsthand accounts emerging from Irish, Italian and UK activists who are acting as Human Shields. Up to date reports suggest 8 internationals have been shot.

Amanda (9) an IMC Ireland reporter has been in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs (1) about the situation of Caoimhe Butterly (2), a 23 yr old Irish activist who is providing basic medical care to the Injured in what is left of Arafat’s compound.

March 29, 2002 - 2:07pm -- jim
News
News

What follows is an update to the original post here. the original story continues at the end of this update.
-U.F.

Last night, 30 March 2002, 20 of us stayed in Al Azzeh refugee camp of 5,000 inside of Bethlehem with several families expecting an invasion by the Israeli military. We went two to a house. There is no land to build on, so any new homes are built atop existing ones. At the house I stayed in, we watched Arfat on television most of the night giving a press conference inside his compound in Ramallah. At 10pm he was given one hour to surrender by Israeli military or they would go in shooting. This has not yet happened and he has said he will not go alive. Television stations showed five dead, shot at point blank range inside Arafat's compound. The family I was with stays up most of the night and sleeps during the morning daylight hours. The shooting at nights requires them to quickly move from one room to the next, and to always be ready. They do not jump when they hear the popping of F-16s. They simply get up and move as the noise becomes louder.

March 24, 2002 - 9:54pm -- nomadlab
Analysis & Polemic
News

This essay was originally published here in early february, but without footnotes due to technical difficulties. Please find herein the full text.(h.)

Anonymous Comrade writes.... This essay takes a critical look at the role Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) play in the growing movement against global capital. It is part of a collection published this week by Soft Skull press in NY. "The Battle of Seattle; The new Movement against Capitalist Globalisation" Eds Eddie Yuen, Daniel Burton_Rose and George Katsiafikas, published by Soft Skull Press (February, 2002)

"This Is What Bureaucracy Looks Like.
NGOs and Anti-Capitalism(1)

by James Davis

"I'm aware that it's a lot more glamorous to be on the barricade with a handkerchief around your nose than it is to be at the meetings with a briefcase and a bowler hat, but I think that we're getting more done this way"(2) -- Bono

This essay takes a critical look at the role Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) play in the growing movement against global capital. The movement, which made its spectacular US debut in Seattle, has lent NGOs unprecedented political influence. Leading thinkers and institutions of capitalist planning are desperate for allies to appease their critics. As we will see the impulses of the NGOs and those of the movement are politically at odds. While much discussion has concentrated on tactical differences, a more profound problem lies beneath. Lacking in imagination and caught between the many-headed street movement and an impulse to negotiate directly with power on its behalf, the specter of NGOs, as a device for the containment of political dissent, arises(3).

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