CONTENTS:
PHILLY & PA ACTION:
Recycle NOW Philly - strategy meeting on Thu 12/15 @ 7p
SOA WATCH Holiday party this Friday nite!
Winter Solstice Peace Event, Outside the home of Senator Arlen Specter: NOT ONE MORE LIE! NOT ONE MORE LIFE!
Philadelphia chapter of Brit Tzedek V’Shalom Presents  -PZA for Gaza, The Settlements and Beyond
Sign Governor Rendell's Petition :  Increase Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage
Speaking Out for Our Region’s Children:  E-Alert Issue #1:  Federal Budget Cuts – National Call-in Week
----------------------------
NATIONAL ACTION:
12/15 Peter Jennings on America's Health Insurance Crisis - Please Watch & Respond
[HumanRights] Christmas action- Bethlehem now completely enclosed by the Wall.
TEAR DOWN THESE SIGNS!!!!   Please sign letter: anti-Arab Billboard
Factories in el Salvador shut down in the face of union organizing! In April 2005Stop Bush's Attempts to Hide Pollution
Join Hang Up On War !, a national campaign of antiwar phone tax resistance
Calls grow for withdrawal of Nobel prize to "warmongers"
Remember, the most important thing you can do to change Wal-Mart this Holiday season
-----------------------------
JOB OPPORTUNITY - Seeking "Beyond Oil" Organizer
------------------------------
COMMENTARY:
*   If a Black Man Dies in America, Does It Make a Sound?  Killing Tookie Williams  By NATE MEZMER
*  Letter to the Boulder Daily Camera. The writer, a Jewish Israeli, attended the Friends of Sabeel Conference
*  Immigration Reform - Time To Say No By David Bacon , The Nation
*  WHY WOMEN SNAP, Silja J.A. Talvi, In These Times.
* WAL-MART: ALWAYS DEEP POCKETS, ALWAYS Peter Hart, Janine Jackson, Extra!.
 
* REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST:--->LOSING RICHARD PRYOR Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet. (and more)
================
PHILLY & PA ACTION:
 
Recycle NOW Philly - strategy meeting on Thu 12/15 @ 7p
 
A brainstorming session at my home this Thursday, 12/15, at 7pm.
Despite RecycleBank's successful pilot program in Chestnut Hill, city officials are reluctant to implement this incentive-based weekly curbside recycling program citywide. We've therefore begun the Recycle NOW Philly campaign to show city officials that Philadelphians want to recycle -- the RecycleBank way.
             Please let me know if you (and interested friends) can come.  Meenal ~ 518 Carpenter Lane ~ 215 438 1517
             For more info, see  
www.recyclenowphilly.org,      www.recyclebank.com                           __________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

SOA WATCH Holiday party this Friday nite!
 
 Please Join Us for our 2005 Holiday Celebration & Potluck!
 Friday, December 16, 2005  5:30 PM - 9:30 PM
   Jean Donovan Community Peace CenterÊ (JDCPC)6367 Overbrook Ave ~ Philadelphia
Please RSVP at (215) 477-5892 with your name, the number of people coming, and what you are
bringing to share.Ê Please bring family and friends - children are most welcome!
 We look forward to an evening of great conversation, delicious food and lively music \
 - bring your voices,musical instruments and favorite songs & carols! -
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

Winter Solstice Peace Event, Outside the home of Senator Arlen Specter: NOT ONE MORE LIE! NOT ONE MORE LIFE!

 Sunday, December 18, 2 to 4 pm
 Corner of Timber Lane and Schoolhouse Lane, Philadelphia, PA (across the street from Philadelphia University)
Transportation: SEPTA's R8 to West Chestnut Hill, get off at the Queen Lane Station. It will be a five block walk after the train ride. OR: direct connection is the 32 Bus, which runs from South Street (past Suburban Station) out to Roxborough (via Henry Avenue).For info, call 215-386-4322 or see
www.prawnworks.net.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

Philadelphia chapter of Brit Tzedek V’Shalom Presents  -PZA for Gaza, The Settlements and Beyond
 
Monday, December 19, 2005 at  7 pm – 8:30 pm
Congregation Beth Am Israel 1301 Hagys Ford Road, Narberth, PA
For directions:
http://www.bethamisrael.org/LocalMap.php
                The event will include a presentation of Israeli journalist Chaim Yavin’s controversial new documentary.  Land of the Settlers documents a personal journey covering more than two years of excursions into the territories to meet with Arabs and Jews from all parts of the political spectrum.                
_____________________________________________________
(Thanks to Kati Sipp for the following: )

Thursday, December 15
6:30 p.m.   Film & Discussion: "The Battle of Algiers"
Robin's Bookstore, 108 South 13th St., Philadelphia, PA
Suggested donation of $5 benefits Uhuru Movement   For info, email
uhuru99@critpath.org.
 
6:30-7:45 p.m.   Radical Women of Color Meeting (INCITE)
Aspace, 4722 Baltimore Ave, Philadelphia, PA   For info, see
www.incite-national.org.
 

Friday, December 16
5:00-9:00 p.m.   Scribe Video's Annual Solstice Celebration
4212 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA   For info, email
inquiry@scribe.org.
 
7:30 p.m.   Art Opening: "Swimming Against the Grain"
Aspace, 4722 Baltimore AVe., Philadelphia, PA   For info, email
a-space@defenestrator.org.
 
8:00 p.m .   An Evening with CeCe Winans (gospel singer)
Rutgers Camden Campus, Campus Theater, Camden, NJ   For tickets, call 856-225-2700.
 
8:00 p.m.   GenerAsian Next Theater Performance
Asian Arts Initiative, 1315 Cherry St., 2nd floor, Philadelphia, PA
$5 donation requested at door   For info, call 215-557-0455.
 
Saturday, December 17     7:00 p.m.
"How Can Art Change Communities?" Panel Discussion
Asian Arts Initiative, 1315 Cherry St., 2nd floor, Philadelphia, PA   For info, call 215-351-0511.
 
Sunday, December 18
1:00-2:45 p.m.   Philadelphia Anti-War Forum Planning Meeting
Aspace, 4722 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA    For info, email
pawf@critpath.org.
 
5:30-8:00 p.m.   Kickstart G.A.M.E. Philadelphia (new non-profit that uses hip hop to organize around political & economic issues facing the Black
& Latino communities)    Aspace, 4722 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, Info, call 215-727-0882.
 
Tuesday, December 20 ,  12:00-1:30 p.m.   Anti-Human Trafficking Meeting (guest speaker Tenaz Dubash of Safe Horizon)
Catholic Social Services, 227 N. 18th St., Philadelphia, PA   Lunch served, please RSVP   For info, call 215-854-7078.
 
Thursday, December 22 ,    7:00 p.m.   Christmas Candlelight Vigil for Peace
Lockheed Martin, Mall & Goddard Blvds., Valley Forge, PA   / Brandywine Peace Community  info, 610-544-1818.
 
Saturday, December 24  - 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noonHelp hand out Christmas stockings to the Homeless 
LOVE Park, 16th & JFK Blvd., Philadelphia, PA   Sponsored by Iglesias Fuente de Vida.For info, call 215-927-4907.
 
EVENTS OCCURING EVERY WEEK:
 
Thursdays
10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.   Talk Radio Program with Sandra Dungee Glenn (Member, School Reform
Commission)   On WURD 900 AM--call in number is 215-426-1310.
 
6:00-8:00 p.m.   Workshop: "Build Your Own Computer"
Nonprofit Technology Resources, 1524 Brandywine St., Philadelphia, Pa
$25 per session   To register, call 215-564-6686.
 
7:00-9:00 p.m.
International Concerned Friends & Family of Mumia Weekly Meeting
4601 Market St., 5th floor, Philadelphia, PA   For info, call 215-476-5416.
 
Fridays
4:30 p.m.   Anti-war leafleting and picket
Market & 11th Sts., Philadelphia, PA   For info, email
pawf@critpath.org
 
5:00 p.m.   Vigil--Women in Black
Swarthmore Train Station, Park Ave. & Chester Rd., Swarthmore, PA   For info, email
wibswarthmore@hotmail.com.
 
Saturdays   
 10:00 a.m. to noon
"Talking Union" weekly call-in radio show, 1340 AM
 
noon-1:00 p.m.   Peace Vigil   Rte. 38 & Cherry Hill Mall Dr., Cherry Hill, NJ
For info, email
greatercamdenunitycoalition@yahoo.com
 
1:00-2:00 p.m.   Protest at Ferber Furs
1708 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA   For info, email
phillyar@yahoogroups.com.
 
Mondays
5:00-7:00 p.m.   Radio Show: "Labor to Neighbor" with hosts Janet Ryder, Pat Eiding &
Pete Matthews   900 AM WURD--215-634-8065.
 
6:00-9:00 p.m. Weekly ACT UP Meeting
St. Luke's Church, 330 S. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA
For info, email
actupphilly@critpath.org
 
Tuesdays
7:00-9:00 p.m.   Organizing Meeting   Toviah Thrift Shop   Chestnut St. (between 42nd & 43rd)
Call (215) 382-7251 or (215) 474-6459 box 1 for more info  - Sponsored by Neighbors Against McPenntrification
 
7:30 p.m.   Books Through Bars Packing Cafe   The A Space, 4722 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA
Help pack books to send to prisoners.   Email
info@booksthroughbars.org
 
Wednesdays
4:30-5:30 p.m.   Peace Vigil   Federal Building, 601 Market St., Philadelphia, PA
Sponsored by House of Grace Catholic Worker   For info, email
brandywine@juno.com .
 
7:30 p.m.   International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement Weekly Meeting
Uhuru House, 1021 S. 49th St., Philadelphia, Pa   For info, see
www.inpdum.org.
_______________________________________________________________________
 
Sign Governor Rendell's Petition :  Increase Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage.   http://rendell.bluestatedigital.com/page/petition/minwage/kvxmq
_______________________________________________________
 
  Speaking Out for Our Region’s Children: E-Alert Issue #1:  Federal Budget Cuts – National Call-in Week
 
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate both passed budget bills in November.  The House bill is particularly bad. It slashes assistance for some of the most vulnerable people in America – families lacking health insurance; abused and neglected children; single mothers trying to collect child support; working families relying on food stamps; people with severe disabilities; and others.
 #1:  Three simple calls! Call Senator Specter, Senator Santorum and your Representative toll-free at 1-800-426-8073.
 Using this toll-free number* you can call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be connected to the offices of Senator Specter, Senator Santorum, and your member of the U.S. House of Representatives (if you're not sure who your Rep. is, tell them.  The switchboard operator will identify him/her and connect you). Once you get through to your Senator’s/Representative's office, tell him/her:
 
“My name is _______________ and I live in (your town/city).  I would like Senator [name], or Representative [name], to vote NO on the final version of H.R.4241/S.1932.  This bill will cut billions in vital services to vulnerable people, including Medicaid, Food Stamps, and child support, and makes damaging changes to TANF and child care funding. These cuts are the wrong priorities.”
*The toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee which has launched a budget campaign,
www.saveourservices.org . AFSC welcomes groups to circulate and use the toll-free number without linking the alert to a website soliciting donations or actions which may be used to support partisan lobbying or work.
 
E-Alert Issue #2:  Put The Brakes on TABOR
 The Pennsylvania House is considering legislation that would cap state spending, using a formula that is sure to produce deep cuts in Medicaid, K-12 education and other state services.  Bills have passed the Senate, but efforts to derail TABOR in the House seem to be working. 
The E-Alert Action #2:  We need you to contact House Speaker John Perzel ( 717-787-2016) and your state representative** and urge them to vote NO on any spending cap bill or amendment.  You can also use the link below to send an email to your legislator.  Don’t hesitate, five minutes now will stop this movement in its tracks and save funding for services that we all depend on.
 
# Here are the links to the Coalition’s E-Activist campaign.  This first link is the advocacy campaign link, and the second link is the Coalition sign up page.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/tabor_lemon ---- http://www.unionvoice.org/KRC/join.tcl?is_preview=1
Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) Phone: 215-563-5848  www.pccy.org E-mail: info@pccy.org
 
============
 
NATIONAL ACTION:
 
 12/15 Peter Jennings on America's Health Insurance Crisis - Please Watch & Respond

      On Thursday, December 15 at 10pm, EST & 9pm Central, on ABC television will air Peter Jennings's special documentary '"Breakdown--America's Health Insurance Crisis," which he worked on before his death.
        As part of a concerted effort to make the media more aware of our point of view, please respond to healthcare stories on healthcare on tv, radio, and in print. This Jennings program is a good example of the opportunity before us -- so after you have seen the show please send a comment, brief or extensive, to
support@abcnews.go.com, with a blind copy to me at-  jlandy@igc.org or to Dr. Mary O'Brien at - meo1@columbia.edu
             Joanne Landy, MPH- .".
cnhpnowteam@yahoogroups.com; on behalf of; Joanne Landy [jlandy@igc.org]                 __________________________________________________________
 

[HumanRights] Christmas action-
Bethlehem is now completely enclosed by the Wall.
 
I am forwarding this list of resources so that you can - if time allows - become better
informed.  We will be distributing information about the impact of the Occupation on Christian life in Palestine and particularly in Bethlehem
for the next two weeks at our Friday vigil.  Join us if you can! Best wishes for a Merry Christmas!………………Cy & Lois.
cswartz@pil.net
*****************************************
“I am human, because you are human.  My humanity is caught in yours and if you are dehumanized, I am dehumanized, and anger resentment and
retribution are corrosive of this great good, the harmony that has got to exist between people.”…………………-Desmond Tutu
-----Original Message----- From: Mazin Qumsiyeh [mailto:qumsi001@hotmail.com]
 
This Christmas season, it befits Christians and all humans to reflect on
conditions in the birthplace of Jesus and listen to the calls from
Palestinian Civil Society (
http://www.badil.org/Boycott-Statement.htm).
If the  three wise men were traveling today, they would face a wall. If
Jesus was walking to Jerusalem this Christmas season, he would be denied entry
at the gates of the wall. After all, Christian and Muslim Palestinians in
Bethlehem are barred from Jerusalem (their city).  See
http://www.openbethlehem.org for an initiative to open Bethlehem.
 Jesus commanded his followers to be the salt of the earth and not be
silent in the face of injustice or when they see people oppressed or suffering.
 Most (60-70%) of the Palestinians in the areas illegally occupied by
Israel in 1967 live in extreme poverty and are being surrounded by walls.  This
Christmas season you have an opportunity to act.   
             Contact local churches and ask them if you could distribute material on the plight of
Bethlehem, ask if you can bring them a speaker (let me know if you need a
Palestinian Christian speaker in your area). 
Also an excellent time to write a letter to the editor of local and national newspapers.
            Some resources (besides http://www.openbethlehem.org) are posted here on
issues of Christianity and the struggle for human rights in Palestine
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/November_2005/0511064.html
http://www.christianzionism.org/ (challenges to Christian Zionism effectively)
Finally, this is a note from Palestine Remembered: We like to take this opportunity to update you about PalestineRemembered.com's Oral History project. As of today, we have conducted over 130+ interviews with refugees who witnessed Nakba, and on average, each interview is over 150+ minutes. For the past few months,
we have been working overtime to make all the interviews available for you to hear over the internet. For a complete list of the interviews, please
click:
http://www.PalestineRemembered.com/OralHistory/Interviews-Listing/Story1-  151.html .   Since this new feature demands a lot of bandwidth, please NOTE that you might experience a slight delay between clicking the Play Button and hearing the recorded . We urge you to be patient,.
                To learn more about Nakba Oral History Project, click : http://www.PalestineRemembered.com/OralHistory,    Abu al-Sous (Salah Mansour)
info@PalestineRemembered.com  -     http//PalestineRemembered.com/Donate     -   http://PalestineRemembered.com/ZionistFAQ.html
Contact:   Mazin  http://qumsiyeh.org
___________________________________________________________________
 

TEAR DOWN THESE SIGNS!!!!   Please sign letter: anti-Arab Billboard
 
The Issue: The Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License has announced an inflammatory and misleading billboard campaign in North Carolina and New Mexico which contains negative images of Arabs and Arab cultural symbols with the message, “Don’t License Terrorists, North Carolina.”     Contact the President and the Governors of North Carolina and New Mexico urging them to denounce the Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License’s bigoted attack on Arabs and Muslims and reject efforts to deny driver’s licenses based on immigration status.
Take Action: <
http://capwiz.com/arab/issues/alert/?alertid=8306881&amp;type=ML> !
Organizations, Contact us at
rabouchedid@aaiusa.org?subject=I%20want%20to%20help%20stop%20racist%20billboard%20campaign!  to sign on to our campaign.  
__________________________________________________________________
 
Factories shut down in the face of union organizing! In April 2005
 
Workers at the Hermosa factory in El Salvador attempted to organize a union. In May, the company shut the factory down. In
August --in an attempt to end a 3-month picket line -- management teamed up with a company union and tried to buy
workers out. But, the workers aren't buying it! Management and corrupt union officials threatened workers. Factory owner
Joaquin Salvador Montalvo was arrested for the US$353,000 he owes workers, but while he is out on bail, workers are not being
paid and are losing their homes.
 
Tell Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Russell Athletics, and Team Edition Apparel that
 -The Hermosa Factory must reopen
 -All workers must be reinstated with back pay
 -Hermosa management must sign a neutrality agreement and  recognize the workers' independent union
 
You can take action on this alert via the web at: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/hermosa/g7ugbi447wwnwd?
United Students Against Sweatshops [mailto:organize@usasnet.org]                                                     _________________________________________________________
 
 
Stop Bush's Attempts to Hide Pollution
 
The Bush administration is at it again.  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Stephen Johnson has proposed slashing the amount of pollution information companies are required to disclose. Without information about toxic chemicals being used and released into our air and water, local communities will be unable to adequately act to protect our health.
1. Allowing companies to release ten times as much pollution before they are required to report their releases.
2. Allowing companies to withhold information about some of the most dangerous chemicals, such as lead and mercury.
3. Notifying Congress that EPA Administrator Johnson intends to change the frequency of reporting to the TRI program next fall, from every year to every other year. 
Take action:
http://www.pennenvironment.org/PE.asp?id=1315&id4=ES
____________________________________________________________
 

 Join Hang Up On War !, a national campaign of antiwar phone tax resistance
 
    "We oppose the policies of 'pre-emptive war' and an 'endless' war on terrorism, which led to the Iraq war, which violate human rights and international law, and which have cost us hundreds of billions of dollars while our states and cities face unprecedented deficits, and cutbacks of vital services and programs," reads the statement on a Web site called: www.hanguponwar.org
____________________________________________________________________________
 

Calls grow for withdrawal of Nobel prize to "warmongers" at: www.ajjp.org/campaigns/signStatement.php?cid=2
 
A group of Israeli intellectuals and activists has demanded that the Nobel prize committee withdraw the award for economics to be made today to an Israeli  mathematician and his American colleague on the grounds that they are
"warmongers". The economics prize is to be presented to Robert Aumann of Hebrew University  in Jerusalem and Thomas Schelling of Maryland University in recognition of  their "having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through  game-theory analysis", a mathematical study of how individuals and governments
react to other people's actions including in war.
Among the signers are women from several countries who identify themselves as  members of Women in Black, & also members of the Coalition of Women,  MachsomWatch, Women of a Certain Age, WILPF, & many other groups.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 
 
Remember, the most important thing you can do to change Wal-Mart this Holiday season is :
 
Get your friends, co-workers, neighbors and family members to join the WakeUpWalMart.com campaign.
http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/friends
 
===============
JOB OPPORTUNITY

Seeking "Beyond Oil" Organizer
 
The Shalom Center seeks an effective activist organizer with knowledge of Jewish and other wisdom traditions to organize in the Jewish and other religious and some secular communities for our "Beyond Oil" project.  For a detailed description of the project,go to:  http://www.shalomctr.org/node/873
 This requires working with congregations and shaping conferences of religious and secular folks -- to develop liturgies, sermons, social action, and ongoing covenant-groups to encourage efforts to reduce the use of oil/ and gasoline by households, congregants, the congregation as a body, and the society as a whole  -- by making an impact on personal behavior and public policy.
  Applicants should Email Rabbi Arthur Waskow at
--awaskow@aol.com  with "Beyond Oil organizer" in the subject line. Please do NOT telephone. The Shalom Center www.shalomctr.org voices a new prophetic agenda in Jewish, multireligious, and American life. To receive the weekly on-line Shalom Report, -- http://www.shalomctr.org/subscribe
 
============
COMMENTARY:

*  If a Black Man Dies in America, Does It Make a Sound?  Killing Tookie Williams  By NATE MEZMER

 If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative
effects? Most of those who support his state sponsored murder do not live in war
torn regions of the Golden State of California. Thus it is difficult for these
privileged people to understand the benefits of Stan's contributions on behalf
of non-violence. However, because blacks are sentenced to death twice as
frequently as whites who've been convicted of the same crime it appears that
this may be more than a misunderstanding.
  
  If a young black man is shot in South Central does it make a sound in Thousand Oaks?
  
  If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative
effects? Stan was convicted of four murders 25 years ago in connection with
armed-robbery however the key witnesses were felons who recieved 'benefits' in
exchange for their testimony. ( facts of the case). I have encountered many
people who say that since Stan was a gang-banger and a co-founder of the Crips
that such facts alone should condemn him despite his transformation. This notion
is almost laughable if it were not so dubious, especially in light of the fact
that our own country, the United States of America, is currently disguising the
hostile takeover of oil-rich Iraq as a righteous crusade for freedom.
  
  If a young black man is shot in Hunter's Point does it make a sound in Hillsborough?
  
  If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative
effects? The current administration in the White House is the most mafia regime
in the history of the country and is thus run by some of the biggest gangsters
in the world. The war in Iraq, a war based on falsehoods and conspiracies,
collusion and neglegence, has been responsible for the murder of thousands of
innocent civilians and has taken the lives of more than 2,100 US soldiers. This
being said, no one is calling for the execution of the president?
  
  If a young black man is shot in Watts does it make a sound in Orange County?
  
  If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative
effects? Indeed, lessons in retribution and justice in the form of war and
execution never seem to get the job done. After, 9/11 we haphazardly attacked
two countries, enraging large portions of the global community and subsequently
created a greater terror threat than had existed before. Maybe if we had stopped
to understand why the attacks had occurred in the first place our nation and its
soldiers would not be in the same deadly predicament? Furthermore, becasue
violence begets violence, as the bumper sticker says, "why do we kill people who
kill people, to show that killing people is wrong?"
  
  If a young black man is shot in Richmond does it make a sound in the Oakland hills?
  
  If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative
effects? Unlike the Christian re-birth of President Bush, the spiritual
re-awakening of Stan Tookie Williams has been synonymous with peace. As
documented, over 150 youth have pledged that Stan's writings and works have been
responsible for their decision to remove themselves from the gang life. Since,
2001 Stan Tookie Williams has been nominated for 5 Nobel Peace Prizes and has
won several awards for his work concerning non-violence. In that same time
George W Bush has managed to invade two countries in the middle-east.
  
  If a young black man is shot in South Sacramento does it make a sound in Granite Bay?
  
  If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative
effects? After witnessing the government's reaction to Hurricane Katrina and New
Orleans it seems that our nation is comfortable with stranding its black
population. Although the tragedy did eventually spawn some national concern, we
have since failed to address the real problem that blacks have been drowning in
America for years. Thus the very fact that blacks are left to fend for
themselves in ghettos and slums across the country does not bode well for an
individual of the same color, who speaks out about such injustice and who's
ultimate fate rests in the hands of the same people and the same system that creates such inequality.
  
  If a black man is murdered in America does it make a sound?
  
  Nate Mezmer is a political Hip-Hop artist and resident of Davis, CA . He can
be reached at:
mezmerfmk@yahoo.com                                                                 __________________________________________________________________________

*  Here's the unedited text of a letter to the Boulder Daily Camera.
The writer, a Jewish Israeli, attended the Friends of Sabeel Conference in Denver last month

To the Editor,
This past weekend, I attended the Friends of Sabeel conference on Israel and Palestine at the Montview Presbyterian Church in Denver. Beforehand, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado sent misinformation to the conference sponsors telling them to be aware that the narrative presented would be one-sided. Jewish friends to whom I mentioned that I would be attending this conference said they understood that Sabeel was a "really bad anti-Jewish organization". Since I was personally familiar with one of the speakers who is a well-respected conflict resolution academic from American University in Washington D.C., I suspected that it was unlikely to be an ingathering of hateful people.
 
Here's the question. Did any of you 'brave', 'open-minded' "Jewish representatives" attend? Were you willing to find out if your assertions were actually true? How open are you to actually ever listening to the other? Well, I went and as a Jew and an Israeli, I was a little worried about what exactly it would be like and who else would be there. There were a small number of Jewish attendees, but apart from a couple speakers, I may have been the only other person who was a Jewish Israeli who served in the IDF. I kept waiting to hear hatred, or general anti-Jewish rhetoric. Through five or more different talks and workshops I waited. All I heard were people who have respect for all human beings, who are deeply upset at what is happening to the Palestinian people and who empathize with Israeli suffering as well. This does not mean that I agreed with every opinion shared, but that is true within the Jewish community as well. Aren't Israelis well known for having too many separate opinions on everything? These were people who were there because they are sincerely trying to find a way to a peaceful and just solution to this terrible conflict.
 
Sabeel is an organization that very clearly condemns suicide bombings as well as Israeli violence. How many of our Jewish "representatives" are willing to condemn Israeli violence? For some reason, they are willing to allow individual Palestinians to dictate their own morality. I refuse to allow another person or group to define for me what is ethical and just. I won't let the suicide bombers and their supporters do it, and I won't allow the so called "pro-Israel" Jewish Americans to define it either.
 
I personally define myself as pro-Israel. I challenge the rest of the Jewish community here to do what it takes to redefine who is really "pro-Israel" and to reject those who are stuck in an old narrative that can only see Jews as victims for evermore. We should be proud of what Israel has accomplished and of the fact that it is a powerful country in all senses of the word. And as a powerful and resourceful country, full of talented and caring people, Israel should also begin to take responsibility for its actions and the consequences its policies have had on actual people as we expect all powerful countries to do. We all need to look at ourselves and decide if our Jewish identity and sense of security really has to be intrinsically attached to a violent oppression and suppression of people who live right next door to us in the Middle East. Considering the fact that there are large numbers of Jewish Israelis, sons and daughters of holocaust survivors, bereaved parents and family members in Israel who  are putting themselves on the front line daily to end this abusive relationship with the Palestinians, I can see no justification for the ADL and the Allied Jewish Federation to try and silence all voices but their own.
 
I left this conference feeling so ashamed of what these Jewish organizations had done, by sending those horrible letters to the sponsors of the conference in order to get them to revoke their support. It seems to me that spreading such narrowminded views and aggressively trying to silence an organization founded on principles of non-violence is more hurtful to our image as Jews than... Well, who else should we talk to if not groups like these? Who else?
 Respectfully, Sarah Rosenberg,  Lafayette, CO                                                                                                                                                               __________________________________________
 

* Immigration Reform - Time To Say No By David Bacon , The Nation,
http://www.thenation.com/docprem.mhtml?i=20051226&s=bacon
 
Every new Republican proposal for immigration reform in
Congress makes the prospect for winning legal status
for the nation's 12 million undocumented residents more
remote. At the same time, Congress appears ready to
pass measures that will increase border deaths, lead to
wholesale violations of workers' rights, and give the
country's largest corporations a huge new bracero program..
 
Congress will never consider pro-immigrant, pro-labor
proposals if its current push for guest workers and
increased enforcement isn't defeated first. A strong
coalition between immigrants rights groups, unions,
civil rights organizations and working families can
build a movement powerful enough to win legal status
and rights for migrants -- and jobs and better wages
for everyone. It can not only stop the rightward push,
but win something much better. --It's time to fight for that.
 
US "peace mom" Sheehan in new play by Nobel Winner
LONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - U.S. peace activist Cindy Sheehan, who won wide attention with a vigil outside President George W. Bush's ranch in the name of her soldier son killed in Iraq, is the subject of a new play by Nobel laureate Dario Fo.    "Peace Mom" received its world premiere in London on Saturday night, starring British actress Frances de la Tour, with both Sheehan and Italian dramatist Fo in the audience.http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11511149.htm
 
* Two arrested in Phila. protest, About 1,000 protesters and onlookers massed on Broad Street. Some said officers assaulted the arrested men. By Robert Moran and Daniel Rubin, Inquirer Staff Writers,http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13393452.htm
 
WHY WOMEN SNAP, Silja J.A. Talvi, In These Times.
A new TV series ignores the reality that cold-hearted women who are out for themselves are only a tiny fraction of those doing time for murder.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/29483/
 
* WAL-MART: ALWAYS DEEP POCKETS, ALWAYS Peter Hart, Janine Jackson, Extra!.
How does it look when the world's largest corporation pays the media for ads then gets lots of good press on them?
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/29350/
 
* REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST:--->LOSING RICHARD PRYOR Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet.
Richard Pryor was an equal-opportunity audience baiter who paved the way for today's biggest comedians by putting race relations at the center of his art.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/29458/

--->IMAGINE ALL THE PEOPLE...
Twenty-five years after John Lennon's assassination, a biographer discusses the musician's anti-war activism and the impact his death had on the world.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/29283/
 
DON'T  BUY THE B.S. Stephen Pizzo, News for Real.
Big Tobacco, Big Pharma and Big Energy are trying hard to convince us they really do care. And they do - they care about keeping things exactly the way they are. 
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/29240/
 
'WAG THE DOG' WRITER LARRY BEINHART'S NEW BOOK--->EXCERPT: THE FOG THAT CLOAKS HYPOCRISY Larry Beinhart, AlterNet.
Like Bush's dreams of democracy in Iraq, most of the worst lies in our society find their source in colossal delusion.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/29266/
 
IRAQI WOMEN, RAISING THEIR VOICES Hannah Seligson, Women's eNews.
Since the fall of Saddam, once-stifled female journalists have swarmed Iraq's airwaves, speaking out about the issues that matter most to them.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/29380/
 
Iraqi Elections: "To Be Free and Fair..." by Phyllis Bennis and Erik Leaver, Institute for Policy Studies 
President Bush had one thing right when he said in March 2005: "All [foreign] military forces and intelligence personnel must withdraw before the ... elections for those elections to be free and fair." He was talking about Syrian troops in Lebanon; the same claim should be made about U.S. troops in Iraq. Elections are often important indices and instruments of democracy, but elections held under conditions of military occupation are not legitimate.
http://www.ipsdc.org/comment/Bennis/tp36elections.htm)
 
* Supreme Court  Will hear a case that challenges the constitutionality of Texas's congressional boundaries.
Democrats claim that a contentious redistricting map, overseen by Tom DeLay, the suspended majority leader of the House of Representatives, gave the Republicans several extra seats in the 2004 congressional elections.Economist.com
 
* WTO: ‘Importing Food is Importing Unemployment'  
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1213-04.htm
 
* Ray McGovern : McCain's Defining Moment   http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1213-34.htm
 
* Helen Thomas:   If Democrats Only Had Some Courage   http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1213-29.htm
 
* American Civil Liberties Union Calls for Vote Against Cloture on Patriot Act ‘Compromise’ Agreement, Says Senators Must Stand For Innocent Americans and Bill of Rights   http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/1213-08.htm
 
* Earthjustice: Smog Air Pollution Worsening in National Parks    http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/1212-17.htm
 
* AFL-CIO Launches 'Who's On Our Side' Campaign On Behalf of Working Families, Releases National Poll on Workers' Issues at Mid Point of 109th Congress    http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/1213-06.htm
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