From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sun Jul 1 06:10:44 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2007 14:10:44 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] CHINA: Protests mark handover anniversary Message-ID: <007001c7bbe1$3d1e4c60$0202a8c0@andy1> http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/article.aspx?as=adimarticle&f=uk_-_olgbtopnews&t=4023&id=5790699&d=20070701&do=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk&i=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/mediaexportlive&ks=0&mc=5&ml=ma&lc=en&ae=windows-1252 ................................... Away from the festivities, pro-democracy lawmakers gave a stinging rebuke to China's rule at midnight on the balcony of the city's historic legislature in Central district, re-enacting events of a decade ago. "We want democracy. We want democracy," they shouted to a small crowd clutching umbrellas below. Ten years ago to the minute, many of the same people had mounted the same balcony and chanted the same slogans as Prince Charles and then Chinese president Jiang Zemin shook hands and presided over the historic handover ceremony not far away. "Democracy is not any nearer to the goals stipulated in the basic law -- universal suffrage," said veteran democracy campaigner and legislator Martin Lee. "In fact it seems it is even more remote than 10 years ago. Polls show that most Hong Kongers favour democracy as soon as possible. In Taipei, a representative of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is banned on the mainland but legal in Hong Kong, said over 800 practitioners were barred from entering the city in the past week, including more than 500 who flew to Hong Kong but were turned back at the airport. Hong Kong's immigration department could not be reached for an immediate comment, but officials in the past have declined to comment on specific cases and said the department reserves the power to decide who is allowed into the territory and who is not. Tsang has promised to "resolve" the universal suffrage issue during his new term. He and his cabinet face other problems too such as worsening air pollution and a widening rich-poor gap in Asia's financial hub. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Fri Jul 6 17:05:53 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 01:05:53 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] UK: legal system contrives conviction for peace activists despite repeated defeats Message-ID: <02d201c7c02a$95e34f10$0202a8c0@andy1> Fowarded Message: Fairford Final? Verdicts : 2 Not Guilty, 1 'Guilty' : Stop This Persecution! http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=26515 Forwarded From Bristol Social Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bristolsocialforum/message/1194 FAIRFORD VERDICT - A KICK IN THE TEETH FOR THE PEACE MOVEMENT Monica (aka Margaret) Jones Writes: In spite of the best efforts of our excellent legal team, we had a jury who unanimously found us guilty after only three hours of deliberation. This was especially frustrating given the previous track record of three hung juries in the orignial trials, and two acquittals for the re-trials prior to ours. Such is life. Paul got a conditional discharge. I have to go to see the probation people prior to sentencing, and probably will end up doing community service. (The US Air Force should NOT expect any compensation whatever for their damaged vehicles, regardless of anything else !) Paul and I agreed this afternoon that we both still feel profoundly content about what we tried to do back, in 2003. We still see it as morally right. If it's been adjudged legally wrong - so be it. Only sorry we couldn't pull off a hat trick for the peace movement. (It's STILL two victories to one defeat - and that will have to do.) I just want to say THANK YOU to our excellent and deeply committed legal team - and also to our wonderful supporters, who really have sustained us for weeks and days now, in so many, many ways. 'Say not the struggle nought availeth ... .' 'Stand up, stand up against oppression, for the tyrants fear your might ... .' Peace, love, solidarity - Monica ALSO SEE: Sixth Fairford Case Update http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=26501 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Fri Jul 6 17:23:33 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 01:23:33 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Somalia: Soldiers demand unpaid wages Message-ID: <034b01c7c02d$0dadbe20$0202a8c0@andy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: Joe Black To: anarchy_africa at yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, July 06, 2007 2:35 PM Subject: [anarchy_africa] Somalia: Soldiers demand unpaid wages Soldiers have taken control of government buldings in the Central province of Hiran after going seven months without pay. The troops have not been paid since they were deployed to the province and are blaming corruption by local goverment. They have seized the buildings in Balet Weyne and have said they will keep them until they are paid. Troops have also seized a barracks in Jowhar, north of the capital Mogadishu, with reports of gunfire although not of any injuries so far. There are also reports that deserting soldiers from other provinces have set up illegal checkpoints outside the town according to Colonel Hubera who is comanding the troops in Balet Weyne: "Soldiers who escaped from Manas and Bali Dogle military camps are staging a massive robbery on the outskirts of Balet Weyne. We have been informed that they beat people when they find no valuable items from them. In fact, we are planning to do something about the situation." Taken from LibCom.org -- We've Got Your Name at http://www.mail.com! Get a FREE E-mail Account Today - Choose From 100+ Domains [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages ------ >From the African anarchism list to send a message email anarchy_africa at yahoogroups.com http://struggle.ws/africa.html Find out about others on the list and add your info in the polls and bookmarks sections http://groups.yahoo.com/group/anarchy_africa Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity a.. 1New Members Visit Your Group SPONSORED LINKS a.. Child birthday party b.. Birthday party c.. Child party d.. Child party supply e.. Wiggles birthday party Yahoo! News Kevin Sites Get coverage of world crises. HDTV Support on Yahoo! Groups Help with Samsung HDTVs and devices Moderator Central An online resource for moderators of Yahoo! Groups. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Fri Jul 6 17:33:33 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 01:33:33 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: Vicious repression of 4 July event Message-ID: <03ab01c7c02e$738086a0$0202a8c0@andy1> News & Views for Anarchists & Activists: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo http://tinyurl.com/2oqneh Spokane Celebrating, clashing over freedoms by Jonathan Brunt and James Hagengruber Staff writers July 5, 2007 In the Inland Northwest, it was a Fourth of July to celebrate freedom -- or clash over the freedoms Americans have. Under the Clocktower in Spokane's Riverfront Park, 17 people protesting police brutality were arrested about 6:45 p.m. as people gathered in the park for Neighbor Day and the annual firework displays. Officers charged the group, which included self-proclaimed anarchists and other teens and young adults, after ordering them to disperse. One arrest was after what police say was an assault on an officer. Protesters dispute that. Spokane Police Sgt. Jason Hartman said the gathering was halted in part because it was interfering with a nearby concert sponsored by Clear Channel Communications Inc. He noted that the protesters hadn't obtained a permit. "It was interfering with their event," he said. The arrests "were based on their failure to comply with our order to lawfully disperse from the park." Others saw it differently. "They were assembled peacefully," said Jorgi Martin, who witnessed part of the protest. "They were having a picnic, just like everybody else in the park was having a picnic." About 50 people, from a group calling itself Alternative Solutions and Possibilities and mostly dressed in black, had assembled next to the tower after marching through Peaceful Valley and downtown Spokane in a planned event. While some in the group began to picnic, sitting on a large American flag, a few others held signs and distributed fliers. Some asked police, who were beginning to congregate around them, if they wanted a copy of their literature on police brutality. Officers declined. Police soon began to assemble around the group, and a couple with cameras photographed those in the crowd, who responded by chanting, "We are not afraid." One officer began walking within a few inches of some protesters to take their pictures. A few protesters tried to block the camera with their signs. A scuffle began, and a protester was taken to the ground and arrested. Police allege the male pushed and tried to choke the officer. Protesters said the officer shoved the man to the ground without provocation. After the man was dragged off, more officers assembled, and remaining protesters stood tightly together holding a sign that read "Those who hold power must be targeted." More officers gathered, and one read an order telling the protesters to disperse. Moments later, police charged the group, ripping down their sign and pushing protesters to the ground. Those who were arrested were forced onto their stomachs. Their hands were tied behind them with plastic ties. Police and some working at the event formed a circle around those who were arrested. Periodically over the next half hour or so, police went into the crowd and dragged people into the circle to detain them. Many in the crowd cheered as police made arrests. But the spectacle, which lasted for about an hour, also created a debate between those who felt police were overreaching and infringing on citizens' rights of assembly and speech and those who felt the protesters were desecrating the flag and disturbing the peace of those who were there to watch fireworks. Police broke up some of the debates that became overly heated. Those arrested were taken to jail on charges of failure to disperse and trespassing. Hartman also said one was booked on charges of assaulting an officer. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Fri Jul 6 19:59:31 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 03:59:31 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PAKISTAN: Unrest between leftist and Islamist protesters on anti-repression march Message-ID: <046a01c7c042$d7551380$0202a8c0@andy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: Vidrohi To: cmkp_pk at yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 5:12 PM Subject: [cmkp] CMKP combats religious fundamentalists at the Lawyers' Protest; July 5, 2007 Dear Comrades, The Communist Mazdoor Kisssan Party Lahore Party participated in the lawyers protest on Thursday (today; July 5, 2007). At the outset of the protest, delineation between the various parties could be clearly seen regarding the recent Lal Masjid issue. The religious parties, represented primarily by the JUI of Qazi Hussein Ahmed, was sloganeering in favor of the `Martyrs' of the Lal Masjid, there was a clear impression that the religious parties were attempting to convert this protest into one regarding the lal masjid, and completely ignoring the lawyers, and to dominate the entire function which was evident by their larger than ever mobilization of religious cadres. The CMKP began successfully sloganeering against the religious parties and the lal masjid, which was evident in the popularity of the slogans "Mullah ko de ragra" and `Yeh Mulleh kya hain? Dehshadgard, Lal Masjid kya hain? Dehshadgard" This evoked the ire of the cadres of the religious parties who then proceeded to manhandle CMKP cadres, but the sloganeering continued and the religious bigots were fought off. As the march continued, the polarization between the different political tendencies was sharpened, with the PPP contingent, the Lawyers, the labor party, the leadership of the lawyers and all other representatives of secular leftist groups revolving around the CMKP contingent, which was the only one actively sloganeering against the Mullahs. At the end of the march, in customary fashion, the Mullahs had a truck equipped with huge speakers, from which their leaders addressed their cadres, and proceeded to deliver their speeches. They began by asking the people to pray for the `martyrs' at lal masjid. The CMKP immediately began raising slogans against them. It goes to the credit of the CMKP that despite their small numbers, they attracted such a large following, that the speeches of the mullahs were drowned out. Witnessing this, the PPP contingent too began following the lead of the CMKP in making it impossible for the mullahs to make their views heard. CMKP cadres began chanting slogans and pointing directly to the leadership of the mullahs, "Yeh Mulleh kya hain? Dehshadgard" seeing this state of affairs, the mullah cadres were completely silent, and their leaders had sullen looks upon their faces, their eyes never leaving the throbbing, noisy CMKP contingent. Attempts were made to manhandle the cmkp cadres at this juncture, but by then, the cmkp had attracted such a large following that they quickly abandoned this course of action. In the end, the lawyers expressed satisfaction and gratitude that the CMKP had prevented the mullahs from hijacking the rally and converting it into a pro-lal masjid fiasco. With Communist greetings, Ahmed Khan __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Calendar Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity a.. 3New Members Visit Your Group SPONSORED LINKS a.. Gifts to pakistan b.. Pakistan airfare c.. Send gifts to pakistan d.. Pakistan Yahoo! Mail Get on board You're invited to try the all-new Mail Beta. Y! Messenger Group get-together Host a free online conference on IM. Search Ads Get new customers. List your web site in Yahoo! Search. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Jul 9 22:50:27 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 06:50:27 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] CANADA: Showdown as indigenous people blockade uranium project Message-ID: <00e601c7c2b6$37f0c1b0$0202a8c0@andy1> Monday, July 09, 2007 Home Feedback Contests Events Schedule Contact Us Regional News NEWSwatch at 5:30 NEWSwatch at 6:00 NEWSwatch at 11:00 NEWSwatch Saturday Sports Disaster News National News World News Business News Entertainment News Photo Gallery Meet Our Staff Community Watch About Us FAQs Advertising Video Production Humour Page Geek of the Week Wise Hand Poker NewsWatch Regional News Sharbot Lake Standup Jul, 06 2007 - 8:10 PM ANOTHER STANDOFF BETWEEN NATIVES AND LAND-OWNERS IS IN FULL SWING. NATIVE GROUPS NORTH OF SHARBOT LAKE ARE TRYING TO STOP A MINING COMPANY FROM DIGGING FOR URANIUM AT A FORMER MINE SITE NEAR ARDOCH. NEWSWATCH'S CHRIS HARVEY VISITED THE SCENE OF THE BLOCKADE... AND HAS THIS REPORT. STORM CLOUDS BREWED OVERHEAD WHILE A SWIRL OF CONTROVERSY CONTINUED BELOW. ARDOCH ALGONQUIN AND SHARBOT LAKE FIRST NATION PEOPLE ARE PROTESTING PLANS BY FRONTENAC VENTURES CORPORATION TO SET UP A URANIUM MINE NEAR ARDOCH, NORTH OF SHARBOT LAKE. RANDY COTA:2 " WE'VE STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE AND WE'RE DOING WHAT'S MORALLY AND ETHICALLY RIGHT." ARDOCH ALGONQUIN CHIEF RANDY COTA SAYS THEY ARE CONCERNED FOR THEIR HEALTH AND FOR THE HEALTH OF FUTURE GENERATIONS WHO LIVE IN THE AREA. RANDY COTA: "WHAT WE'RE DOING IS TRYING TO PROTECT MOTHER EARTH. THERE IS NO WHERE THAT ANYONE CAN SHOW US THAT THERE'S BEEN A GOOD URANIUM MINE THAT'S BEEN GOOD FOR EARTH." FRANK MORRISON RAISED THE ALARM ABOUT THE PROSPECTIVE URANIUM MINE. HE DISCOVERED A MINING COMPANY HAD STAKED A CLAIM ON HIS LAND NEAR CROTCH LAKE TO DIG FOR URANIUM. HE SAYS UNDER THE MINING ACT, THE COMPANY CAN BULLDOZE ROADS, AND DRILL FOR SAMPLES. FRANK MORRISON: " AND AT SOME FUTURE DATE IF THEY REQUIRE IT, THEY CAN COME BACK AND TAKE A THOUSAND TONS OF MATERIAL OFF MY PROPERTY AND I HAVE NO LEGAL RECOURSE. AS A MATTER OF FACT, IF I ATTEMPT TO STOP IT, I WILL BE ARRESTED." SHARBOT LAKE FIRST NATION CHIEF DOREEN DAVIS SAYS BY CLEARING AND BULLDOZING ACRES OF LAND,THE COMPANY HAS ALREADY DESTROYED TRAP LINES, BEAVER DAMS AND BEAVER PONDS. SO THEY HAVE SECURED A GATE ACROSS THE ONLY ENTRANCE TO THE LAND REFUSING TO ALLOW THE MINING COMPANY TO ENTER. AND SHE SAYS THEY'RE NOT LEAVING. DOREEN DAVIS: "THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE RESOLVED IS IF THE GOVERNMENT GIVES US A MORATORIUM ON MINING. AND NOT JUST ON THIS SPOT, WITHIN THE OTTAWA VALLEY." SHE SAYS THE MINING ACT GIVES THE COMPANY THE RIGHT TO DRAIN CROTCH LAKE IF IT WANTS TO GET AT THE RICHEST VEIN OF URANIUM. JOHN KITTLE AND HIS WIFE SHIRLEY MOVED TO THE AREA FROM OTTAWA FOR THE PRISTINE ENVIRONMENT. HE SAYS RADIO ACTIVE MATERIAL FROM URANIUM MINING CAN LEECH INTO THE WATERWAYS AND THE UNDERGROUND WELL WATER SUPPLY. AND THERE'S DUST IN THE AIR TOO. JOHN KITTLE: " WHICH CONTAINS RADIO ACTIVE PARTICLES, AND THAT DUST IS CARRIED BY THE WINDS, AND SINCE WINDS COME FROM THE WEST IN THIS AREA THEY COULD GO AS FAR AS OTTAWA AND POSSIBLY EVEN TO PARLIAMENT HILL." CHRIS HARVEY: "ON SUNDAY AT 3 O'CLOCK BOTH FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE AND THEIR NON-NATIVE NEIGHBOURS PLAN TO JOIN FORCES TO PUBLICIZE THEIR BATTLE AGAINST URANIUM MINING BY MARCHING ALONG HIGHWAY 7 WEST OF SHARBOT LAKE, BRINGING TRAFFIC TO A STANDSTILL. CHRIS HARVEY CKWS NEWSWATCH NORTH OF SHARBOT LAKE IN ARDOCH." ads.write("300x250"); Military Challenge Down and Dirty Plane Crash Investigation Home Invasion Hudson Crash Brant Jail Attempted Murder Charge Hydro Dam Military Fundraiser Sharbot Lake Standup Kingston Housing Brant Surrenders Native Occupation Beadh Posted Boat Arrest Belleville Brownfields Belleville Stream Cruise Ship Sewage LVEC Money Smitherman Ridgewood Park Crash Update Fanfayr Movement Record Nest Caravan to Cuba Airport Safety Lost Boy Bridge House Million Dollar Donation Island Playhouse Youth Sailing Serval Cat Parsons Appointment Goodwill Trip Riverfest Opens Beach Closed Body Found Body Found Toddler Drowns VIA Supends Back Copyright ? CKWS TV Home | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service Do You Plan on Visiting the Rideau Canal This Summer? Kingston na na Kingston Five Day var account_number="DM550629N6DC71EN3"; var account_station="ckwstv"; Cal My heart is where my treasure lies, My reward is in your eyes. --------------------------------- TV dinner still cooling? Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Jul 10 01:08:41 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:08:41 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] CANADA/INDIGENOUS: News articles about Lubicon protest at Alberta legislature Message-ID: <016201c7c2c9$87454f70$0202a8c0@andy1> Subject: [FOL] : News articles about Lubicon protest at Alberta legislature > Edmonton Sun > June 29, 2007 > > Aboriginal day of action brings protests to city > > By Nicki Thomas, Special To Sun Media > > The National Day of Action for First Nations people was marked Friday by > two demonstrations in the city's core. > > At the Legislature, Friends of the Lubicon Alberta (FOLA) staged a mock > takeover of government land to raise awareness about the plight of the > Lubicon Cree, a 500-member band living 450 km north of Edmonton. > > The Lubicon say they were left out of the signing of Treaty 8 over a > century ago and have been fighting with the government over land claims > ever since. > > Today, they have no reserve land, no running water, inadequate > infrastructure and are affected by a litany of health problems -- > including high rates of tuberculosis, cancers, suicide, alcoholism and > birth complications, they say. > > They claim that oil exploration and forestry activity has contaminated > local lakes and streams and devastated the wildlife they once depended > on for food and income from trapping. > > Cosanna Preston, a member of FOLA, said Canada continues to violate the > rights of their own people despite international outcry from groups like > Amnesty International and the United Nations Human Rights Committee. > > At Canada Place, native leaders and supporters chanted slogans and > displayed signs of protest against the inequalities suffered by First > Nations people. > > Alexis First Nations Chief Cam Alexis said there has been an erosion of > government funding for health, housing, education and economic > initiatives. > > He said treaty rights and native people themselves must be respected by > both the Canadian government and the public. > > "We still exist. We want our rights respected," he said. > > Ben Houle of the Whitefish Lake First Nations said that the aboriginal > population is growing at three times the national average but funding > has not increased accordingly. > > He remembered being at a protest twenty-five years ago and said native > people are fighting with the government over the same issues today as > they were then. > > "We don't want our kids to do this protest in another twenty years," > said fellow band member Andy Jackson. > > > * * * * * * * * > > > Edmonton Sun > June 30, 2007 > > Lubicon join protest > > The National Day of Action for First Nations people was marked by two > demonstrations in the city's core yesterday. > > At the legislature, Friends of the Lubicon Alberta (FOLA) staged a mock > takeover of government land to raise awareness of the plight of the > Lubicon Cree, a 500-member band living 450 km north of Edmonton. > > The Lubicon were left out of the signing of Treaty 8 over a century ago > and have been fighting with the government over land claims ever since. > > Today, they have no reserve land, no running water, inadequate > infrastructure and are affected by a litany of health problems, they > say. > > They claim that oil exploration and forestry activity has contaminated > local lakes and streams and devastated the wildlife. > > At Canada Place, native leaders and supporters chanted slogans and > displayed signs of protest against the inequalities suffered by First > Nations people. > > Alexis First Nations Chief Cam Alexis said treaty rights and native > people themselves must be respected by both the Canadian government and > the public. > > "We still exist. We want our rights respected," he said. > > > * * * * * * * * > > > Prince George Citizen > June 29, 2007 > > Lubicon, former Alberta premier Don Getty, call on Ottawa to resolve > land claim > by John Cotter > > EDMONTON (CP) - The Lubicon First Nation and former premier Don Getty > are calling on the federal government to finally resolve the northern > Alberta band's 67-year-old land claim. > > Lubicon spokesman Alphonse Ominayak said there have been no negotiations > with Ottawa since 2003 when talks stalled over the issues of self > government and financial compensation. > > He accused the federal government of deliberately stalling while the > Lubicon struggle without safe drinking water or other basic services > that most Canadians take for granted. > > "We need all the help we can get," Ominayak told a small rally at the > Alberta legislature Friday in support of the Lubicon Cree. > > "We are very tired of being ignored and put on the backburner when this > could be settled in a manner of months. > > Getty, who negotiated an agreement with the band in 1988 to transfer > land to the federal government for a Lubicon reserve and then tried > unsuccessfully to broker a final land-claim settlement with Ottawa, > called the impasse "a shame and a disgrace." > > Speaking from his home in Edmonton, the former premier laid the blame on > the federal government and said with a little work the claim could be > resolved. > > "I think they (the Lubicon) have been handled horribly by mainly the > federal government and the Department of Indian Affairs," said Getty, > who stepped down as premier in 1992. > > "We were within pennies of an agreement that would have had them > building a new community in a beautiful spot. > > > * * * * * * * * > > > If you ever want to stop receiving these e-mail updates on the Lubicon > situation, please send an e-mail with the word "unsubscribe" in the > subject line to fol-request at masses.tao.ca > > > From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Jul 10 05:37:57 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:37:57 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] INDONESIA: Vigilantes, statists seek to purge separatists in Yogyakarta Message-ID: <02e201c7c2ef$2541f3c0$0202a8c0@andy1> NKRI Defenders Front to conduct sweeps for separatist supporters in Yogyakarta Detik.com - July 7, 2007 Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta -- The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia Defenders Front (FP-NKRI) will be conducting sweeps of people who support separatist movements in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta and surrounding areas. This will be done because the TNI (Indonesian military) and the police are no longer capable of dealing with the movements supporting separatism in the student city. This was conveyed by FP-NKRI chairperson Gandung Pardiman at the Yogyakarta Regional House of Representatives on Saturday July 7. "If the TNI and police are no longer capable of dealing with it, we together with members of the FP-NKRI will conduct sweeps against those who clearly want rebellion and support separatism", he said. Pardiman said that the unfurling of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) flag in front of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during the commemoration of National Family Day in Ambon, Maluku, was a slap in the face against the Indonesian state. This was compounded by the flag raising incident of the Morning Star in Papua. "We as supporters of the NKRI Defenders Front were truly hurt by the incidents in Ambon and Papua. We cannot remain silent", threatened Pardiman. Pardiman said that his group also regrets the use of the symbol of the Morning Star during a demonstration by Papuan students in Yogyakarta on Wednesday July 4. Although Yogyakarta residents did not react to the incident, it does not mean that they will just stay silent and take no action. "The tolerance of Yogyakarta residents has its limits. We don't want Yogyakarta to be turned into a place for supporters of separatist movements", asserted the chairperson of the Golkar Party's Yogyakarta regional leadership board. Pardiman added that as the chairperson of a political party, he associates closely with various groups and communities from different parts of Indonesia that are studying in Yogyakarta and knows that not all Maluku and Papuan people support the separatist movements. During a meeting of FP-NKRI members on Friday night attended by several other mass organisations, it was agreed that the sweeps would not be carried out in a haphazard fashion. If there is concrete evidence of people supporting separatism the thousands of FP-NKRI in the Yogyakarta area will arrest them and hand them over to police. "We will also track down student supporters of separatism through the tertiary education campuses", said Pardiman who has been the chairperson of FP-NKRI since 1999. (bgs/sss) [Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski.] ================= We calling for international suppoters to support our member's in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This is now happening in Yogyakarta. Our member's now in danger! ================= Hans Gebze International Spokesperson for United Front of West Papuan People's Fight [Front PEPERA PB] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Thu Jul 12 14:58:02 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:58:02 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PAKISTAN: Coverage of Lal Masjid siege Message-ID: <00e601c7c4cf$b7eaef10$0202a8c0@andy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: pir at tajdeed-list.net To: PIR Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 8:59 PM Subject: [PIR] Evil Terrorist Musharraf Murdered Over 1,000 Innocent Pakistanis in Islamabad, Pakistan Terrorist Musharraf Murdered Over 1,000 Innocent Pakistanis in Islamabad, PakistanPublisher: INFORMATION PRESS - News Views Media - USA Chief Editor: Journalist SYED ADEEB http://www.InformPress.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Evil Terrorist General (retired) Pervez Musharraf, Criminal Terrorist Shaukat Aziz, Corrupt Terrorist Ministers of the Terrorist Musharraf Mafia and the Terrorist Corps Commanders Junta of the Pakistan Army illegally massacred, burned and slaughtered over one thousand (1,000) innocent Pakistani women, children, students and men at the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) and Islamic schools during 3 July to 11 July 2007 in Islamabad, Pakistan. The Musharraf Tyranny dig mass graves and buried two or three dead or burned bodies of Pakistani citizens in only ONE coffin in Pakistan, according to the media-press and TV news reports of Wednesday, 11 July 2007. Devil Musharraf set the Red Mosque on fire, burned Pakistanis alive and gagged the Pakistani press-media to unlawfully hide his barbarous crimes against humanity. Bring the Musharraf-Aziz-Altaf Crime Mafia to Legal Justice http://www.petitiononline.com/trimafia 2. Black Day in Pakistan: Muslims Grieve as the Propagandists Try to Dirty the Heros http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article=108420 http://www.jihadunspun.com 3. Black Day in Pakistan http://www.dictatorshipwatch.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=574&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 http://www.dictatorshipwatch.com 4. Hundreds Feared Killed in Mosque Siege http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2061995.ece?print=yes 5. Nation Would Take Revenge >From Dictatorial Rulers After My Martyrdom: Abdul Rasheed Ghazi Shaheed http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=114879 http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/july-2007/11/index7.php http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/indepth/cluster/2007/07/070709_lal_mosque_zs.shtml 6. The Rules Change When Dictators Serve U.S. Interests The mosque siege reveals Musharraf's desperation to appear tough in the war of terror. But in truth he is a friend to MQM terrorists By IMRAN KHAN - Chairman - Pakistan Justice Movement http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,330171668-103677,00.html 7. Terrorist Army of Pakistan http://www.fascistarmy.org 8. Mosque Massacre: Washington's "War of Terror" Shakes Pakistan http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jul2007/paki-j11.shtml 9. Surrender or Die - Pakistan's Dictator Threatens Massacre at Islamabad Mosque http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jul2007/paki-j09.shtml 10. Bush Administration Rushes to Pakistani Dictator's Aid http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/mush-j22.shtml 11. Pakistan Army Made Prisoner of Conscience After Lal Masjid Carnage: Qazi http://www.jamaat.org/news/2007/jul/10/1001.html 12. Elections in the Presence of Musahrraf Would Strengthen Military Dictatorship: Qazi http://www.jamaat.org/news/2007/jul/07/1003.html http://www.jamaat.org 13. Text of the All Parties Conference (APC) of Opposition Political Parties of Pakistan http://www.pmlusa.org/APC/apc.php http://informpress.wordpress.com/2007/07/08/apc-declaration http://www.pmlusa.org 14. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) - Justice Movement http://www.moveforjustice.org http://www.insaf.org.pk 15. Afghans Still Dying as the Bush-Cheney Junta Tries to Defeat Popular Taliban (Students) http://www.muslimedia.com/afg-stilldie.htm http://www.muslimedia.com 16. Kick the Killer Out of UK http://www.petitiononline.com/altaf/petition.html 17. MQM Watch: http://www.mqmwatch.org 18. Kick Altaf Out: http://www.kickaltafout.com 19. ICSSA: http://www.icssa.org 20. JASARAT - Daily Urdu Newspaper of Pakistan http://www.jasarat.com/details.php?category=nation&date=11-07-2007&newsid=08.gif http://www.jasarat.com ============================== International Media-Press - USA 1. Chief Editor: Journalist SYED ADEEB - http://www.SyedAdeeb.com - http://www.SyedAdeeb.net 2. ADEEB PRESS - http://www.AdeebPress.com - http://www.AdeebPress.net 3. ADEEB MEDIA - http://www.AdeebMedia.com - http://www.AdeebMedia.net 4. INFORMATION PRESS - http://www.InformPress.com - http://www.InformPress.net 5. REPORT PRESS - http://www.ReportPress.com - http://www.ReportPress.net 6. Human Rights Foundation (HRF) - http://www.JusticeForum.info - http://hrfweb.blogspot.com HRF Web-Email Newsletter - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/justiceforum 7. ReportPress.com Web-Email Newsletter http://groups.google.com/group/reportpress-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ PIR mailing list PIR at tajdeed-list.net http://tajdeed-list.net/mailman/listinfo/pir_tajdeed-list.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Thu Jul 12 15:04:47 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:04:47 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Fw: [smygo] Curtains for Christiania? Message-ID: <010901c7c4d0$a9a6c8b0$0202a8c0@andy1> ----- Original Message ----- > News & Views for Anarchists & Activists: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo > > SPIEGEL ONLINE > July 12, 2007, 04:37 PM > http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,494006,00.html > CURTAINS FOR CHRISTIANIA? > Lawless Danish Settlement Approaches Date with Fate > By Manfred Ertel in Copenhagen > > Thirty-six years after it was founded, the "Free State of Christiania" > is now being forced to comply with Copenhagen's local ordinances. Those > who wish to remain are being asked to buy their homes -- at prices close > to the market value. Will gentrification kill the idyllic hippie > settlement? > > Daily life for Nils Vest, 64, is as colorful as it is tranquil. The > award-winning documentary filmmaker and his wife, actress Britta > Lilles?e, have spent the last 36 years living with more than 900 > like-minded people on an 80-acre plot of undeveloped land in the middle > of Copenhagen. The community lives without cars and sets its own rules > and is, as Vest says, not unlike a "very large family." > > Christiania consists of about 300 randomly scattered houses and huts. > The buildings include historic factory buildings and military barracks, > self-designed wooden houses, shacks made of scrap wood and even aging > construction vehicles. What Vest calls a "dream of our own city within > the city" lies in a picturesque location, wedged between Copenhagen's > harbor and the old city moat -- a scene he likens to that of a > "wonderful fairy tale." > > Vest's fairy tale is the Free State of Christiania, a product of the > 1970s, when anarchists, hippies and other alternative groups founded > their own little island in the midst of an ocean of bourgeoisie. > > Since then authorities have tolerated the community, which was > eventually dubbed a "social experiment," but its days could soon be > numbered. The colorful Christiania settlement faces the prospect of a > radical reorganization, one in which police could very well end up > clearing out residents by force. > > "If that's what they want they'll have street fighting," says resident > Dan Holm, 22, who expects thousands of supporters, including some from > the anarchist Black Bloc, to rush to Christiania's aid. > [The Black Bloc is a tactic, not a group.--DC] > > The predicted mayhem could well be a repeat of an incident in March when > the Ungdomshuset Youth Center was torn down, triggering protests that > erupted into violence, complete with torched cars, barricades in the > streets and days of clashes between demonstrators and the police. > > "A Paradise for Losers" > > Christiania, which residents affectionately call a "paradise for > losers," has long been a thorn in the side of Denmark's center-right > minority government, which has other plans for the property. Once a > vacant lot owned by the Danish navy, it has since become a prime piece > of Copenhagen real estate worth hundreds of millions of kroners. The > centrally located district known as Christianshavn, with its harbor, > canals and ponds, is one of the city's hippest residential neighborhoods. > > Parts of the former Holmen naval base and the surrounding neighborhoods > have been turned into chic, expensive condominiums with harbor views. > The crown jewel of the new development is a stone's throw from > Christiania's aging, rock-and-pop hippie milieu and is its ideological > opposite: the new Royal Opera House, an opulently designed > glass-and-steel structure. > > If the government has its way, Christiania will be next in line for > gentrification. > > Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and his coalition are especially > perturbed by a still-lively hashish and marijuana market, which has been > around for almost as long as Christiania. There have been some changes, > however. In response to pressure from the police and authorities, a > block known as "Pusher Street" has since been shut down. For decades the > street featured up to 30 open-air street stalls where drugs were sold > both openly and illegally, for millions of kroners a year, to customers > from Copenhagen and tourists from around the world. The dope trade may > be more clandestine these days, but sales of pizza, pot and posters at > Christiania are still going strong. > > Groups of tourists trailing behind expert tour guides make the > pilgrimage through Christiania several times a day, passing a movie > theater, caf?s, restaurants, blacksmith shops, artists' studios, > galleries and a custom bicycle factory with a nationwide reputation. At > night rock fans of all ages head to the neighborhood's two clubs, the > Gr? Hal (Grey Building) and Loppen. > > The settlement has its own kindergarten and daycare center for its 250 > resident children and adolescents, and it features architectural > curiosities that are routinely featured in the professional literature. > They include a pagoda house and a banana-shaped hostel for traditionally > wandering journeyman called the "Bananhuset." Military barracks and > ammunition warehouses with landmark status have been lovingly restored, > while wooden houses, curious mixtures of Scandinavia and the American > West, are examples of carpentry as skilled as they are fanciful. > > A Question of Rights > > "No one talks about the value that has been created here," says Morten > Nilsen, 50, who works as a tour guide in Christiania. One of the > settlement's original residents, Nilsen is adamant about what he feels > are his and fellow residents' rights. > > Rights are precisely the issue here. Nils Vest and Britta Lilles?e > raised their children in a renovated military barracks that was built in > 1849. The structure, which once stood in the town of Fredericia in > Denmark's Jutland region, was dismantled piece by piece, reassembled in > Christiana and renovated into an architectural gem. "This is my home," > says Lilles?e, and yet official permits for moving the building were > never issued. "We don't want to be normalized," says the graying > actress, "we want to be legalized." > > Lilles?e was among the first hippies and squatters to occupy the > decaying military barracks on the dusty site in 1971. Ignoring issues of > ownership, they began building a new community from scratch, complete > with gardens, a playing field, a recycling facility, garbage disposal > and, more recently, one of the country's biggest halfpipes for > skateboarders and rollerbladers. The community has enjoyed broad public > support throughout its history. > > Any attempts to restrict Christiania's freedoms have been met with mass > demonstrations, sometimes turning violent, as was the case this past > May. In opinion polls, almost three quarters of Copenhagen residents are > consistently in favor of preserving the unlegislated area, while support > from the community nationwide is still above 50 percent. From a formal > standpoint, Christiania doesn't even exist. There are no sales contracts > or lease agreements. Many if not most residents don't even pay taxes. > Each adult resident is required to pay a monthly fee of 1,400 kroners > (about ?190) into a community till, as well as fees for heat, > electricity and water. But none of these payments confers any legal > rights. > > Klaus Danzer, 41, was passing through Christiania 14 years ago as a > journeyman carpenter when he decided to stay. Since then he has > voluntarily built a number of houses for other societal dropouts, > including the hostel for journeymen. > > Danzer spent about ?100,000 renovating an apartment for himself on the > hostel's ground floor, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. > Now he plans to invest even more money and time to renovate an old, > dilapidated wooden house between the old city wall and moat. The > building is in an idyllic waterfront location, but it also happens to be > in the unlegislated area. > > Copenhagen Has Plans for Christiania > > If the government had its druthers, it would bulldoze the 50 or or so > wooden houses in the area, as well as another 20 on "Red Sun Square," > where some of the roughly 400 new apartments and condominiums planned > for Christiania are to be built. The land along the one-kilometer moat > is slated to become a public park. > > This is part of the plan included in the government's most recent, and > probably last, compromise proposal. Under the proposal, Christianians > would receive the first right of refusal to rent or purchase the > apartments, but nothing more. Prices would be close to the market value. > > According to the plan, the future Christiania will be a combination > foundation model, non-profit housing association and cooperative, with > carefully devised rights of co-determination for residents. "This is > more than a 50-percent victory," says Klaus Danzer, who is in favor of > the proposal. "It's an historic opportunity for us to continue existing > as a unit." > > "We will be established, completely legally," says Nils Vest. Two-thirds > of Christianians, give or take, agree with the plan. > > But a two-thirds majority means next to nothing in Christiania, because > life in this large commune is based on the "consensus principle," > whereby decisions must be unanimous -- which is hardly likely in the > current situation. But if there is one thing on which everyone can > agree, it is that a decision, any decision, must be reached quickly -- > that is, in the coming weeks. > > "The government knows how hard it is for 650 hippie anarchists to reach > a consensus," says filmmaker Vest. He has documented Christiania's > history on film, including all of its political battles, victories and > defeats alike. > > Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan. > > Related SPIEGEL ONLINE links: > Copenhagen Combusts: Danes Clash With Cops After Youth Center Eviction > (03/02/2007) > http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,469509,00.html > > -- > Dan Clore > > My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_ > http://amazon.com/o/ASIN/1587154838/ref=nosim/thedanclorenecro > Lord We?rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page: > http://www.geocities.com/clorebeast/ > News & Views for Anarchists & Activists: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo > > "Don't just question authority, > Don't forget to question me." > -- Jello Biafra > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo/ > > <*> Your email settings: > Individual Email | Traditional > > <*> To change settings online go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo/join > (Yahoo! ID required) > > <*> To change settings via email: > mailto:smygo-digest at yahoogroups.com > mailto:smygo-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com > > <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > smygo-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com > > <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sun Jul 15 18:25:01 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:25:01 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PAKISTAN: Government pays price for Lal Masjid in border regions Message-ID: <002401c7c748$22a3ee90$0202a8c0@andy1> http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/article.aspx?as=adimarticle&f=uk_-_olgbtopnews&t=4023&id=5911430&d=20070715&do=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk&i=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/mediaexportlive&ks=0&mc=5&ml=ma&lc=en&ae=windows-1252 15/7/2007 1:25:29 PM ( Source: Reuters) Violence surges in Pakistan, 25 dead By Zeeshan Haider ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Twenty-five people were killed in northwest Pakistan on Sunday in a surge of militant violence which officials said could be aimed at avenging the commando assault on a radical mosque in the capital last week. Also on Sunday, pro-Taliban militants in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border called off a 10-month peace deal with the government after accusing authorities of violating the pact. More than 80 people, most of them paramilitary soldiers and police, have been killed in attacks in the northwest since July 3, when security forces in Islamabad surrounded the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, complex following clashes with gunmen. Commandos stormed the fortified mosque-school compound a week later killing 75 supporters of hardline clerics, most of them militant gunmen. Fourteen people, 11 of them paramilitary soldiers, were killed in a suicide-bomb ambush on a patrol in the scenic Swat valley in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) early on Sunday. Hours later, a suicide bomber targeted a police recruiting centre in the city of Dera Ismail Khan, in the same province, killing 14, most of them young men taking a police entrance exam, officials said. "The attacks in Swat and D.I. Khan could be linked to the Lal Masjid," Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao told Geo TV. "It's very difficult to stop suicide attacks." In the Swat valley attack, two suicide bombers rammed cars into a security force convoy as a roadside bomb went off, killing 11 soldiers and three civilians, said military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad. About 30 soldiers were wounded. "Blood is splattered all over the road. A paramilitary vehicle is totally gutted," Pakistani reporter Moosa Khan said by telephone from the scene. Twenty-four paramilitary soldiers were killed in a suicide car bomb attack in North Waziristan on Saturday, in the most serious single attack on security forces since November. BACKLASH Security analysts had expressed fears of a militant backlash over the Lal Masjid assault. The government said 75 people, at least 60 of them militants, were killed in the complex where militants accumulated an arsenal of weapons and where a hardline cleric defied government orders to surrender. Many of the militants, who turned the complex into a virtual fortress, and many of the religious students who studied there, were believed to have been from the NWFP. Pakistan's rugged northwest is a hotbed of al Qaeda and Taliban support, U.S. military officers in Afghanistan say. The collapse of the North Waziristan peace deal did not appear to be linked to the Lal Masjid assault but is likely to add to the problems security forces are facing. Under the pact, authorities agreed to stop military operations against the militants in return for their pledge that they would not send fighters across the border into Afghanistan and would not launch attacks on security forces. While U.S. military officials in Afghanistan said the pact had not stopped insurgent raids into Afghanistan, it did lead to a sharp fall in attacks on Pakistani forces in North Waziristan. A militant leadership council said it was abandoning the pact because security forces had launched several attacks on them and the government had deployed more troops in the region. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clip_image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Thu Jul 26 10:50:36 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:50:36 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] UK: Religious intolerance targets Hindus - sacred bull at risk Message-ID: <003d01c7cfb0$6221e250$0202a8c0@andy1> Latest religious intolerance in Britain... The petty administrative rules in question are formed for the farming industry, on a view of animals simply as property. This in itself is an abusive attitude - and doubly so when applied outside its context, to a sacred animal in this case, or to companion animals, endangered animals and so on - a demand that "someone's" animal be viewed as merely "their property" even if they do not see it in such terms, and not only this but as alienable property. Freedom of religion - which necessarily includes respect for sacred places and beings - is a basic liberty, whereas the desire to "eliminate rather than minimise" any risk of a disease spreading to farm animals is a pretty low-level administrative desire, principally an efficiency goal - that the latter is put before the former is proof of an absolute distortion of relations, of a statism which sees itself as unlimited, a state theocracy in which petty regulations are themselves taken to be sacred. The state fails to respect basic liberties if it is INCONVENIENT for it to do so, if it requires it to actually ACT on the perspectives and desires of others and not simply to do what "seemed best" in abstract from these. Unbelievable religious intolerance - it is as if the recognition of freedom of conscience had never happened, as if the state still only recognises its own preferred religion. Not satisfied with waging war on global Islam, the state now sees fit to commit sacrilege against Hinduism, and for the pettiest of regulative reasons! Not to mention the animal rights issues of killing an animal which is not even ill, just on the off-chance that it might spread disease! http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/article.aspx?as=adimarticle&f=uk_-_olgbtopnews&t=4023&id=5999482&d=20070726&do=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk&i=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/mediaexportlive&ks=0&mc=5&ml=ma&lc=en&ae=windows-1252 26/7/2007 9:24:59 AM ( Source: Reuters) Shambo the sacred bullock gets brief reprieve By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - Hindu worshippers turned away officials who came to take their temple's sacred bullock for slaughter on Thursday after it tested positive for bovine tuberculosis. About 100 protesters said prayers as a veterinary inspector and two police officers arrived at the remote temple in southwest Wales to remove six-year-old Shambo. Despite impassioned appeals to save the bullock, its fate was sealed in the courts earlier this week when judges ruled that it should be put to death because of the risk to livestock. Cows are sacred to Hindus and more than 20,000 people signed a petition to save Shambo. The black Friesian, wearing a colourful garland of flowers, is being kept in a specially built straw-filled shrine. "Our religious laws prevent us from assisting in the killing of any life and so we will not help the inspectors remove Shambo," a spokesman for the Skanda Vale community said. "He will remain in his enclosure and they will have to physically desecrate a temple and an act of worship to get him. A spokesman for the Welsh regional government said it would seek a warrant to gain access after its officials were turned away. "We were aware this may happen but we have to be denied access before we can obtain a warrant," the spokesman said. "The community were informed that if access was refused a warrant would be sought. Officials ordered the animal's slaughter earlier this month under tight rules to help prevent the spread of infection. Shambo's keepers, who say the animal is healthy and that its slaughter would be "an appalling desecration of life", earlier failed in a long legal challenge to overturn the decision. The National Farmers Union in Wales says no bull should be exempt from the rules and that to spare Shambo would be unfair on all those farmers who have had to see their stock slaughtered. http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/article.aspx?as=adimarticle&ae=windows-1252&f=uk_-_olgbtopnews&t=4023&id=5820910&d=20070704&do=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk&i=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/mediaexportlive&ks=0&mc=5&ml=ma&lc=en Only high court can save Shambo the sacred bull now By Simon Rabinovitch LONDON (Reuters) - A Welsh Hindu group has launched a last-ditch legal bid to stave off the slaughter of their sacred bull, which has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis. After months of protests to save six-year-old Shambo, the temple bull of the Skanda Vale Hindu community in the Welsh town of Llanpumsaint, the regional government ordered his slaughter on Monday because of health concerns. Cows are sacred to the world's one billion Hindus and Sanjay Mistry, spokesman for the Hindu Forum of Britain, which is backing Skanda Vale, said he hoped the High Court would hear the case by next week. "Yes, he has tested positive for exposure to TB but there's no sign of him catching TB at the moment and he's in perfect health," Mistry told Reuters. The Welsh regional government said Shambo may be slaughtered as early as July 10, but that could be delayed until a ruling is handed down, Mistry said. Jane Davidson, minister for sustainability and rural development in Wales, said she recognised "the strength of feeling" in support of Shambo but that human and animal health took precedent. "It is necessary to take measures to eliminate, as opposed to reduce or minimise, the risk of transmission of TB from this bullock," she said in a statement. Since the tuberculosis test results in April, the sensitive nature of Shambo's plight has been evident, with Hindus across Britain and the world expressing concern. A petition to save the Friesian bull had garnered 18,505 signatures by Tuesday. The policy of Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is to slaughter any animal that tests positive for the disease, but it decided this particular case should be handled by the Welsh regional government. If the court challenge fails, the temple has said it may hold a religious festival in front of Shambo's pen. To reach the bull, authorities would have to force their way past monks and nuns, which would be seen as an act of desecration. "The person next to you is not any more important than you are and you are not any more important than Shambo is," Swami Suryananda said in an address at the temple this week. "Everybody in the eye of God is equally as important. Only God has the right to give life, only God has the right to take life. The Welsh regional government's decision on Monday to put down Shambo came as Guru Sri Subramanium, the founder and spiritual head of the Skanda Vale temple, died after six months in the Hindu community's hospice. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clip_image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clip_image002.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 4298 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at gmail.com Fri Jul 6 17:36:53 2007 From: ldxar1 at gmail.com (Andy) Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 00:36:53 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: A Statement from Orlando Food Not Bombs (fwd) Message-ID: <03c901c7c02e$e5dc09e0$0202a8c0@andy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: reporter2 at mpinet.net To: florida_a at yahoogroups.com Cc: smygo at yahoogroups.com ; orlandogreens at yahoogroups.com ; stop-orlando at yahoogroups.com ; copwatch-orlando at lists.riseup.net ; discusscampuspeaceaction at googlegroups.com ; march-19th-commission at googlegroups.com ; EastOrlandoFNB at googlegroups.com ; mds-cf_discuss at lists.riseup.net Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 7:08 PM Subject: [smygo] A Statement from Orlando Food Not Bombs A STATEMENT FROM ORLANDO FOOD NOT BOMBS ON THE ARRESTS OF OUR SIX COMRADES ON. JUNE 27, 2007 Issued July 5, 2007 Orlando Food Not Bombs denounces the arrests of our friends and comrades--Jonathan Giralt, Ryan Hutchinson, Bryan Jones, Brett Mason, Eric Montanez, and Will Vertlieb--during a protest against Mayor Buddy Dyer on Wed., June 27. Our protest criticized the Mayor's policies toward the homeless, which are punitive, discriminatory, inhumane and inadequate to address the problems of homelessness in our community, and his support for the "large group feedings" ordinance that attempts to ban groups such as Orlando Food Not Bombs from sharing food in downtown parks. Despite attempts to portray us as unruly and uncouth, our actions--holding signs and banners, chanting and drumming-- were fully in keeping with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows citizens to peacefully assemble and use their free speech rights in a multitude of ways to express opposition to government policies and public officials. Protests such as ours have a long historical pedigree in America and have been used to advocate such issues as civil rights for African Americans, equal rights for gays and lesbians, ending apartheid in South Africa, voting rights and equality for women, and ending senseless wars. Despite the arrests, we feel our protest was a success. We succeeded in conveying our message in the ways that we wanted to convey it and we put Mayor Dyer and his supporters on notice that we will hold them accountable for oppressive and unjust public policies. Mayor Dyer held his event in a restaurant, Graze, located at the bottom of one of the condominium towers that have sprouted in Thornton Park in recent years, as part of the trend of gentrification and redevelopment in that neighborhood. By hosting his fundraiser, the restaurant allowed itself to be transformed into a political forum for Dyer. Neither its owner, nor the Mayor, the restaurant's patrons and the condominium residents should have been surprised or disturbed that those who oppose the Dyer administration's policies would use their right to engage in political speech, using written and oral language and playing musical instruments, to passionately express our point of view. Our protest was what debate, dissent and democracy are supposed to look like. Free speech does not have to be meek, mild and submissive; indeed it often needs to be bold and assertive, even provocative and offensive, especially when it is hammering away at authoritarian measures formulated by the powerful for the benefit of the affluent. It is interesting to note that the Orlando police did not measure the decibel level of our drummers. They arbitrarily decided that they were too loud and disturbing and arrested them. Nor, despite police claims to the contrary, did any of the drummers receive any warning directly from the police to cease drumming before their arrests. In fact, all the drummers had quit drumming of their own accord at least 10 minutes before being arrested, and, of the six individuals arrested, only one actually was holding a drum at the time of his arrest. We also categorically deny that any of our chants contained profanity, another false claim by the Orlando police. For the record. here are the chants that we were using on June 27: "No Justice - No Peace - When People Cannot Eat - FOR FREE!"; "Serve Rice - Not the Rich"; "Whose Buddy? - NOT OURS!"; "Food Is a Right - Not a Privilege"; and "Muddy Dyer-rhea - What's the Idea?" These arrests for allegedly violating a City noise ordinance were politically motivated revenge--selective law enforcement instigated by Mayor Dyer to advance his agenda, which includes trying to shut down Orlando Food Not Bombs in every way possible. We know that Mayor Dyer takes our continued resistance to his heartless policies on homelessness and his support for the anti-homeless food sharing ordinance as a personal affront and that he was angered by the successful protest that we held at his May 16 Thornton Park fundraiser. That action, which received considerable media coverage, helped to bring the issues of homelessness and constitutional rights to the forefront of social and political awareness in Central Florida. It also made the Mayor a greater enemy to us than he had been previously, since our actions interfered with his desire to sail through the re-election process with little or no criticism, fuss, embarassment or negative publicity. If Mayor Dyer, Commissioner Patty Sheehan (one of the strongest proponents of the food-sharing ordinance) and other public officials think that these arrests will cause Orlando Food Not Bombs to quit resisting their policies and will deter us from exercising our First Amendment rights, they are dead wrong. Between now and Election Day (Jan. 29, 2008), we will be a non-violent but boisterous presence at any campaign event organized by Dyer, Sheehan and any other Orlando official or candidate who supports the "large group feedings" ordinance and other measures that criminalize homelessness. We, along with our allies from the community, will continue to share food every Wednesday inside the Lake Eola Park picnic area, as we have done for the last two years. We will not abdicate our civil liberties, our autonomy and our need to act according to the dictates of our consciences in order to advance the agendas of venal politicians such as Dyer and the special interests, such as developers and businesses, that they represent. Nor will we acquiesce to policies that deny human rights and dignity to low-income and homeless people and that institute discrimination against them based upon their socio-economic status. We will dare to struggle and we will dare to win. Orlando Food Not Bombs: http://orlandofoodnotbombs.org Contact us: orlandofnb at orlandofoodnotbombs.org __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Calendar Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! 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URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Thu Jul 12 15:44:05 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:44:05 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: Local crackdown freaks seek to ban fireworks after cops get comeuppance Message-ID: <01ad01c7c4d6$264f38c0$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=6776568 City Considers Fireworks Ban After Riot July 11, 2007 11:20 PM Web Extra: Police Video Of Fireworks Riot City Considers Fireworks Ban After Riot SPRINGFIELD, Tenn.- The city of Springfield is considering banning fireworks after an officer was hurt when a fireworks riot broke out at a Fourth of July celebration. The incident was captured on the dashboard camera of a police cruiser. Officers were called to a local housing development for a disturbance. When they arrived, they saw a crowd of about 300 people shooting each other with rockets. The people then began pelting the patrol cars. Springfield City Manager Paul Nutting said people were using mortar rounds or festival balls that shoot flaming balls and are about the size of golf balls. The officer who was injured is okay and back at work. The local city council will be looking over this issue of banning fire works at their next meeting Tuesday. Springfield Police Chief Mike Wilhoit said one of his officers was hurt when a rocket blew in his face. "He got some burns, powder burns and a mild concussion," Wilhoit said. After seeing this, Nutting began pushing to ban the use of fireworks in the city. "We've made it much too easy for people to acquire fireworks and to use them," Nutting said. Nutting said something needs to be done or next time someone could be seriously injured or killed. The officer who was hit only had minor injuries returned to work. Police are reviewing the tape but it's unclear if anyone will be charged in connection with the disturbance. The local city council will be looking over this issue of banning fire works at their next meeting Tuesday. If passed fireworks couldn't be sold and used in the city. Springfield already has stiff requirements on fireworks including an age limit on who can by them and strict zoning rules on where fireworks can be sold. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 6776568_BG1.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 15058 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: pxl_trans.gif Type: image/gif Size: 49 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 6776568_BG2.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 12551 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: icon_video.gif Type: image/gif Size: 76 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Jul 23 00:50:05 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:50:05 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] OAXACA: Clashes as police attack commemorative march Message-ID: <00b301c7ccfe$19ae47c0$0202a8c0@andy1> http://nyc.indymedia.org/or/2007/07/88535.html 'In Oaxaca, Because There's Culture, There's Resistance': The Battle for Oaxaca On July 16, the People's Guelaguetza became a battle for Oaxaca after police attacked. By Kelly Lee, Michael GW, James Kautz On the morning of July 16, 2007, the people of Oaxaca poured into the Zocalo, intent on reclaiming their annual cultural celebration known as the Guelagetza. By late morning, the "People's Guelagetza" had become a "megamarcha" with thousands taking to the streets. By early afternoon, it had become a battle for the city, after police attacked the peaceful march. Pictures | 1 | http://nyc.indymedia.org/es/2007/07/88396.html | 2 | http://nyc.indymedia.org/es/2007/07/88414.html | 3 | http://nyc.indymedia.org/es/2007/07/88435.html Keywords: Analysis, Global, Human Rights, Alternatives, ======== "In Oaxaca, Because There's Culture, There's Resistance": A Full Report on the Battle for Oaxaca, July 16, 2007 By Kelly Lee, Michael GW, and James Kautz On the morning of July 16, 2007, the people of Oaxaca poured into the Zocalo, intent on reclaiming their annual cultural celebration known as the Guelagetza. By late morning, the "People's Guelagetza" had become a "Mega-Marcha" with thousands taking to the streets. By early afternoon, it had become a battle for the city, after police attacked the peaceful march. In the indigenous language of Zapoteco, Guelagetza means "to participate and cooperate at the same time." For hundreds of years, it has represented a space where peoples came together from across Oaxaca to celebrate and share their cultures. But in recent years, the festival has been turned into a commercial spectacle for the benefit of tourists and corporations, with native Oaxaque?os having to pay thousands of dollars to watch as cheapened versions of their traditions and histories are sold off. This year, the official Guelagetza is being sponsored by Coca-Cola, Inc. and the government of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. "The official Guelagetza is not us," explained one woman, a Oaxaque?a artisan. "Our Guelagetza has to be shared... It's like our life itself," said another artisan. This year, in a bold attempt to reclaim an authentic traditional celebration from the government and big business, the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) called for a boycott of the official Guelaguetza, organizing an alternative festival. The People's Guelaguetza was part of a resurgence of the popular movement to overthrow "the tyrant" Governor Ulises Ruiz, and to strive for self-determination of the people of Oaxaca, calling for "Todo el poder al pueblo," "All the power to the people." "The movement hasn't gone away," said Dzahui and Patrocinio, two indigenous students who are activists with the APPO. "People have gained consciousness. We know that, yes, we can...The people can govern themselves." For a time in 2006, the people of Oaxaca did govern themselves, as popular assemblies successfully took over the city from the govt. But last fall, government forces crushed the popular rebellion and regained control through - violent repression, - detentions and disappearances. "The state strikes fear into the people," Dzahui explained. "It's something like terrorism. But the people are losing the fear." In Oaxaca, the resistance movement has been growing steadily over the past few months, with major actions marking the anniversary of last year's uprising. But the repression has persisted. Federal Preventive Police (PFP) still occupy and patrol the streets of Oaxaca City, aided by local gunmen known as "Porros" and "Pistoleros." Meanwhile, in the countryside, the government has suppressed popular movements by waging low-intensity warfare on autonomous indigenous communities. Recently, paramilitaries opened fire on indigenous protesters defending the forests around San Isidro. Early this month, Oaxaca was declared in a state of siege after Leftist guerillas of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) reportedly blew up gas pipelines of the Pemex corporation. On July 14, the government used the attacks as its rationale for the military cordon formed around the Guelagetza Auditorium, blocking the entry of the People's Guelagetza. That day, Florentino Lopez, a spokesperson for the APPO, issued this statement: "We denounce that the state government tries to repress those who attend the People's Guelaguetza. We denounce that it tries to massacre the people, for which we declare ourselves on alert and we hold Ulises Ruiz and the federal government responsible." Nonetheless, the APPO went forward with the opening events of the People's Guelaguetza, the colorful Convite and the nighttime Calenda on July 14 and 15. The Lunes del Cerro, the biggest day of the festival, began early on a damp morning in the Zocalo. The rain came and went, but the people kept coming. The plaza was already bustling with an alternative APPO street fair, encircled by a fair sponsored by the governing party of Ulises Ruiz. On many walls, fresh paint declared, "Long Live the People's Guelaguetza! Boycott the Commercial Guelaguetza!" with stencils of a crowd of indigenous women, and of a man in indigenous dress, gun and machete in hand, a skull of mourning in his headdress. At 9 am, the cultural delegations began streaming in from all across Oaxaca, from the mountains, the valleys, the isthmus. They paraded around the Zocalo to the cheers of waiting crowds of (mostly) Oaxaque?os who had come to celebrate their own Guelaguetza. The air was full of joy, festivity, defiance. The brass bands struck up a number, the dancers started up a dance, many decked out in bright colors, carrying flowers, flags and traditional symbols. Then, with the brass bands blaring and the delegations leading the way, the People's Guelaguetza took to the streets. They were headed for the Auditorium at the Fort?n Mountain, military cordon be damned. The people began to chant: "Oaxaca lives, the struggle continues!" The march route soon became a river of bodies with people - chanting, dancing, singing and playing music. The cultural delegations, in their traditional dress and costumes, - performed, danced and chanted as they walked. "Ulises, understand, the Culture is NOT for Sale!" The mood of the crowd was festive and determined, its displays of spontaneous celebration reflecting the hopes and frustrations of peoples seeking to reclaim the dignity and authenticity of their cultures and traditions, which they felt had been betrayed and commercialized for profit in the official Guelaguetza. The growing crowd was made up of people both young and old, male and female, indigenous, mestizo and foreign. Mothers and fathers marched with children at their sides or in their arms. Students chanted with working people, as older men and women sang and danced. Oaxaque?os and visitors moved freely among each other. Resistance and unity in motion. "Women to the center!" some cried, and the women of Oaxaca took the center of the street, clapping, chanting, cheering. As the crowd approached the Fort?n Mountain, it had grown to over 10,000 participants and observers, according to the official estimates of the Oaxacan newspaper Noticias. "You see it, you feel it, the people are present!" Just hundreds of feet from the auditorium, the march was met with hundreds of police, who lined up to create a wall across the avenue, preventing people from accessing the auditorium. Nearby, trucks were full of reinforcement officers waiting for escalation. There were Federal Preventive Police, Municipal Police, Industrial and Bank Police, the Elite Police of the Mexican Army. They stood in full combat gear, ready to make war with the People's Guelaguetza. Some chewed gum, smug and smiling. Some, mere boys, looked on terrified. They all wielded big wooden bats. They sported shields, helmets, ammunition belts, tear gas guns, real guns. At first, only a few hundred people approached the police line, with the rest of the march about ten yards back, continuing to chant and play music: "We must press, we must press, the People's Guelaguetza!" The APPO attempted to negotiate a way for people to enter the auditorium, but no go. Orders were orders. They had come from the top: "If there is no permission, order must be enforced" were the words of Sergio Segriste R?os, Secretary of Citizen Protection, in a statement to the press two days before. As the crowd's hope was transformed into anger, there grew an explosive tension in the air between the people and the police. The unarmed crowd was decidedly unafraid of the armed officers standing before them. These were people accustomed to such repression, yet still infuriated by it. The crowd began to fill in towards the officers, and people moved between each other, bodies in conversation. The people wanted only to pass, they declared. They wanted no violence. Old women scolded the police, children looked up and asked why not. People held out empty hands to show they were unarmed. They demanded to pass, but held back from pushing forward towards the police. A cushion of space still separated them. Only the cultural delegations turned back - they would resist in their own way. On the other side of the police line appeared another, smaller crowd, supporters from over the mountain who had come for the Guelaguetza. They raised their hands and cheered. ?Join us!? cried the crowd across the police line, but they could not. The police now had two fronts, one behind and one ahead. Over the course of 15 minutes, anger continued to mount at what was seen as an occupying army, standing in the way of the People's Guelaguetza. Some in the crowd chanted, some joked and talked, their words intermittently interrupted by the pop-pop of firecrackers. Others stood silent, ready for the attack which they knew would eventually come, and which many had experienced in other places and times. "Assassins! Assassins!" they shouted, for all the times they had seen it before. There was an atmosphere of normality at the scene, as if this show of governmental force and repression was expected and familiar. "Once again, " as Florentino Lopez of the APPO commented, ? the state will try to drown in blood the struggle of the people." Fists were raised high now. Voices, too: "The people, united, will never be defeated!" In the middle of the chants, the police line systematically pushed into the crowd, batons raised, attempting to drive people back down the street. Again, people held up open palms: We are unarmed. We are families, children, old women and men. We are the people of Oaxaca. But the police were charging, batons swinging, striking bodies and cracking heads. In response to this offensive action, the crowd began throwing small rocks from a decorative trough that lay before the Plaza Fort?n Hotel. Immediately came the tear gas, boom, boom, canister after canister, tracing long arcs through the air. The people began to scatter, but not far. They turned back around to hold their ground. As a young participant named Carlos would later describe it, "The repression came from the government. We did nothing more than defend ourselves... The repression was a weapon of the government against those who raised their voice." The strongest weapon in the hands of the govt. was the tear gas. People crying, covering faces, cradling their heads or others' heads. Running, stumbling, fighting through the gas clouds for dear life. Men and women grabbed the smoking canisters and threw them back, sacrificing their eyes and skin. Groups of medics and supporters rushing in to aid people impacted by the gas or injured by projectiles. Still, the movement of people seemed fluid and almost natural, approaching and retreating from the line of officers. It was the motion of people tired of this customary violence and repression, but also of people who seemed to know how to take care of and defend each other. Women and men, old and young, threw projectiles, administered aid, carried their comrades to safety. The gas attack intensifying, more rocks flying in both directions. Women and men of all ages began breaking off pieces of pavement and brick, making piles in the street for others to throw. A woman, older and dressed in her Sunday's best, cracked the roadway's divider, chiseling free large red bricks to be thrown back at the Federal Preventive Police. The crowd began to see the rising cost of resistance in the combatants and bystanders being helped or carried back from the frontlines, heaving from the gas, bloodied and broken by batons or projectiles thrown by the police, some of the people obviously unconscious. Police reinforcements now attempted to surround the crowd from the side streets. To halt their advance, barricades went up - - makeshift barricades made of street signs, poles, advertisements, whatever people could get their hands on. They recalled the barricades built by the hundreds to defend the neighborhoods here in 2006. A bus was driven into the middle of the avenue, then a second, then a third. They formed a much bigger barricade. As officers attempted to seize the buses, the crowd forced them out. Others proceeded to push back the entire police line, this time with fire. The buses were set ablaze with molotov cocktails. Soon, big plumes of black smoke were wafting through the air, mingling with the tear gas over the buses and barricades. On one of the buses was spraypainted, "Resistance can do it." Other buses reportedly commandeered and driven by supporters soon arrived on the avenue. Reporters and photographers - ourselves among them - scrambled throughout the crowd, recording the clash of people and police. "Let people see what is happening," said one bystander. "Let everybody see what this evil government is doing to people." Police and army reinforcements were coming from all sides. They swarmed down from the top of the hill, over rooftops, down stairs, through people's gardens. In the face of this overwhelming force, the remaining crowds beat a retreat. Small fronts held their ground at nearby intersections, vowing to defend the streets. It began to rain, hard. Boys and girls stood in the rain, handing each other sticks and masks for security. An empty Coke truck, burst open and ransacked, sat lonely on an empty side street. As it turned out, Coca-Cola, Inc., which had supplied its sponsorship for the official Guelaguetza, had also supplied the - Combatants with their Cocktails and the - Street Medics with their Solutions. And as a man down the street displayed for onlookers, Combined Systems, Inc., of Jamestown, Pennsylvania had supplied the police with CN Gas, their weapon of choice. Mothers and fathers looked for their children along streets still thick with the gas. "I lost my daughter," cried one woman, weeping as another helped her walk. "She went to the front and I can't find her, I can't find her." A few blocks away, the streets of the center were clogged with traffic as tourists and some residents drove out in horror, staring from fogged windows and shaking their heads. After over 5 hours of combat, the day?s battles were coming to an end. On the other side of town, at the Plaza de la Danza, the delegations had managed to resume the Guelaguetza on a makeshift stage, in spite of the repression, in spite of it all. Roman, a Oaxaque?o teacher and APPO activist, later argued, "It's another victory for the people's resistance in Oaxaca. Because it didn't happen that the People's Guelaguetza was suspended. To the contrary." The response of the mainstream press to these events of July 16thhas been either silence or spin. The Associated Press reproduced the Oaxacan government's statement verbatim: "About 200 people wearing masks and carrying sticks, stones and bottle rockets began to provoke the police... The police repelled the attack using tear gas." But independent media reports, photos and video have all debunked the government's version of events. The world is only now learning how dearly the people of Oaxaca have paid for their Guelaguetza and their resistance: 65 detained or disappeared, 50 seriously injured and possibly one protester dead (still unconfirmed) at the hands of the police. There have also been widespread reports of torture, beating and sexual abuse inside the prisons. The APPO is now mobilizing all its forces against government repression and police violence, and for the release of all prisoners and disappeared. At the same time, the APPO refuses to negotiate with the govt. as long as Ulises Ruiz remains in power and the PFP continues to occupy the city. They have issued 3 immediate and non-negotiable demands: "For an end to police repression, harassment, and intimidation of the social and popular movements in Oaxaca. Condemn governmental actions and indiscriminate use of force by the State and Federal police. Demand the release of all political prisoners, making Federal and State officials responsible in the case of arbitrary detentions and disappearances of civilians." The movement in Oaxaca is now joined in this campaign by national and international human rights organizations, and by a global movement of solidarity. The APPO has issued an international call for "mobilizations in your own places of origin, to integrate yourselves into a human wall to stop the massacre against the people of Oaxaca." Already protests have been initiated by the Zapatistas' Other Campaign in Mexico and by the Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations (FIOB) in California. Back in Oaxaca, thousands marched again on July 18 to denounce the police brutality, and to cast light on the plight of their imprisoned, their disappeared, their wounded. La Marcha del Silencio, The March of Silence, began at dusk. Its participants, wearing black, marched silently from the Llano Park, down the winding streets and converging in the Zocalo. Massive banners stretched the entire width of the street, displaying the names and faces of all those detained, disappeared and in police custody. Giant wooden crosses reading "Repression," "Poverty" and "Misery" lined the march. There were puppets of fallen comrades, displays of flowers, entire families all masked in black, linked together by homemade chains. All silent. The march concluded at the Zocalo with words shared from the victims' families. The crowd responded to these speeches with a chorus of chants, echoed from one end of the square to the next: "Liberty, liberty, to those imprisoned for struggling!" The day before, the APPO had met in an emergency assembly, where "agreements are made...democratically, with the participation of all." On July 18, the assembly announced its plan to push ahead with the boycott of the commercial Guelaguetza, to hold massive "marches of mourning" every 3 days, and to reestablish its encampment in the Zocalo. Many here see the Battle of the Guelaguetza - or the "Guerraguetza," as some are now calling it - - as something much deeper than a one-day protest. Movement participants see it as a battle for Oaxaca itself, for its culture and its people. Patrocinio, indigenous student activist, said the demonstration was about "Reclaiming the Traditions, - Rescuing the culture of our ancestors... The government doesn't give the people what they need, so we say 'Ya Basta!' [Enough is enough!]" As one of the anonymous women in an APPO artisans' collective put it, the night after the repression, "The government can rob everything, but it can't rob your dignity, your culture, your customs and traditions. In Oaxaca, because there's culture, there's resistance." Teacher-activist Roman had this to say after the day was over: "We will no longer permit our traditions and our culture to be sold to the best bidder. Today demonstrated that the Guelaguetza has recuperated its origins, in which the peoples of Oaxaca can coexist without selling the culture." "For this," he continued, "the people of Oaxaca have decided to struggle until their victory." At his side that night of the 16th in the Zocalo, another teacher, a poet and indigenous activist, offered these words to those who would listen: "When I sing and speak the truth, this is my protest. And when I sing, I open other songs. But my song of Oaxaca doesn't exist today, because the police are here. Where are you, Oaxaca, where are you? I love you, Oaxaca, and I am with you." ------------------ Written by 3 eyewitnesses and independent reporters: Kelly Lee (Boston), James Kautz and Michael GW (New York City). Recent Activity a.. 7New Members Visit Your Group SPONSORED LINKS a.. New idea b.. Genoa c.. Debate d.. Debate topics e.. Ld debate Yahoo! TV Staying in tonight? Check listings to see what is on. Yahoo! News Get it all here Breaking news to entertainment news Real Food Group on Yahoo! Groups What does real food mean to you? . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: