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 VShalom Presents -PZA for Gaza, The Settlements and Beyond
Sign Governor Rendell's
Petition : Increase Pennsylvanias Minimum Wage
Speaking Out for Our Regions 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 VShalom 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
Yavins 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
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 Peoples Democratic Uhuru Movement Weekly Meeting
Uhuru House, 1021 S. 49th St., Philadelphia, Pa For info,
see www.inpdum.org.
_______________________________________________________________________
Speaking
Out for Our Regions 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 Senators/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. Dont
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 Coalitions 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,.
TEAR DOWN
THESE SIGNS!!!! Please sign letter: anti-Arab Billboard
The Issue: The Coalition for a Secure Drivers 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, Dont 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 Drivers Licenses bigoted attack on Arabs and
Muslims and reject efforts to deny drivers licenses based on
immigration status.
Take Action: <http://capwiz.com/arab/issues/alert/?alertid=8306881&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
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
____________________________________________________________________________
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.
===============
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,
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