______________________________ ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN News * Analysis * Research * Action ______________________________ - AFIB No. 256, June 25, 2000 - FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL! FREE LEONARD PELTIER! FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS & PRISONERS OF WAR! Black-uniformed officers in laced-up black boots, wearing black berets, with name tags missing, are descending without warning on a prison, hauling prisoners, some without clothes, from their beds, shackling them and beating them, jumping on their backs; an inmate's head is driven into a wall, a sickening cracking sound, the prisoner screams, blood splatters the wall and the ground. All to demonstrate that the Correction Commissioner doesn't "coddle" prisoners. -- William Blum, Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower [Monroe, ME, Common Courage Press, 2000] p. 266. * * * Contents: Number 256 1. WORKERS WORLD NEWS SERVICE [US]: Last Statement of Shaka Sankofa. 2. WORLD SOCIALIST WEB SITE [UK]: After the Execution of Gary Graham: The World Looks at America and America Looks at Itself. 3. NATIONAL COALITION OF ANTI-DEPORTATION CAMPAIGNS [UK]: Massacre at Dover: 58 "Sans Papiers" Found Dead. 4. LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE COMMITTEE [US]: Peltier Statement for 25 Year Memorial at Oglala. 5. GERMANY ALERT [Berlin]: Denying Danger. 6. THE NEW YORK TIMES: Hitler Apologist Wins Honor, and a Storm Breaks Out. 7. THE TIMES [London]: Berlin Sounds Alarm as Neo-Nazis Hoard Arms. 8. THE GUARDIAN [London]: US 'Supported Anti-Left Terror in Italy'. 9. THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH [London]: Haider 'Behind New Laws' to Spy on Austrians. 10. GREEN LEFT WEEKLY [Australia]: Austria: Government on an Anti-Worker Offensive. 11. MUMIA ABU-JAMAL: Father's Love: Father's Loss. * * * WORKERS WORLD NEWS SERVICE E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://workers.org - Saturday, 24 June 2000 - ----- ____________________________________________________________________ LAST STATEMENT OF SHAKA SANKOFA ____________________________________________________________________ I would like to say that I did not kill Bobby Lambert. That I'm an innocent black man that is being murdered. This is a lynching that is happening in America tonight. There's overwhelming and compelling evidence of my defense that has never been heard in any court of America. What is happening here is an outrage for any civilized country to anybody anywhere to look at what's happening here is wrong. I thank all of the people that have rallied to my cause. They've been standing in support of me. Who have finished with me. I say to Mr. Lambert's family, I did not kill Bobby Lambert. You are pursuing the execution of an innocent man. I want to express my sincere thanks to all of ya'll. We must continue to move forward and do everything we can to outlaw legal lynching in America. We must continue to stay strong all around the world, and people must come together to stop the systematic killing of poor and innocent black people. We must continue to stand together in unity and to demand a moratorium on all executions. We must not let this murder/lynching be forgotten tonight, my brothers. We must take it to the nation. We must keep our faith. We must go forward. We recognize that many leaders have died. Malcom X, Martin Luther King, and others who stood up for what was right. They stood up for what was just. We must, you must brothers, that's why I have called you today. You must carry on that condition. What is here is just a lynching that is taking place. But they're going to keep on lynching us for the next 100 years, if you do not carry on that tradition, and that period of resistance. We will prevail. We may loose this battle, but we will win the war. This death, this lynching will be avenged. It will be avenged, it must be avenged. The people must avenge this murder. So my brothers, all of ya'll stay strong, continue to move forward. Know that I love all of you. I love the people, I love all of you for your blessing, strength, for your courage, for your dignity, the way you have come here tonight, and the way you have protested and kept this nation together. Keep moving forward, my brothers. Slavery couldn't stop us. The lynching couldn't stop us in the south. This lynching will not stop us tonight. We will go forward. Our destiny in this country is freedom and liberation. We will gain our freedom and liberation by any means necessary. By any means necessary, we keep marching forward. I love you, Mr. Jackson. Bianca, make sure that the state does not get my body. Make sure that we get my name as Shaka Sankofa. My name is not Gary Graham. Make sure that it is properly presented on my grave. Shaka Sankofa. I died fighting for what I believe in. I died fighting for what was just and what was right. I did not kill Bobby Lambert, and the truth is going to come out. It will be brought out. I want you to take this thing off into international court, Mr. Robert Mohammed and all ya'll. I want you, I want to get my family and take this down to international court and file a law suit. Get all the video tapes of all the beatings. They have beat me up in the back. They have beat me up at the unit over there. Get all the video tapes supporting that law suit. And make the public exposed to the genocide and this brutality world, and let the world see what is really happening here behind closed doors. Let the world see the barbarity and injustice of what is really happening here. You must get those video tapes. You must make it exposed, this injustice, to the world. You must continue to demand a moratorium on all executions. We must move forward Minister Robert Mohammed. Ashanti Chimurenga, I love you for standing with me, my sister. You are a strong warrior queen. You will continue to be string in everything that you do. Believe in yourself, you must hold your head up, in the spirit of Winnie Mandela, in the spirit of Nelson Mandela. Ya'll must move forward. We will stop this lynching. Reverend Al Sharpton, I love you, my brother. Bianca Jagger, I love all of you. Ya'll make sure that we continue to stand together. Reverend Jesse Jackson and I know that this murder, this lynching will not be forgotten. I love you, too, my brother. This is genocide in America. This is what happens to black men when they stand up and protest for what is right and just. We refuse to compromise, we refuse to surrender the dignity for what we know is right. But we will move on, we have been strong in the past. We will continue to be strong as a people. You can kill a revolutionary, but you cannot stop the revolution. The revolution will go on. The people will carry the revolution on. You are the people that must carry that revolution on, in order to liberate our children from this genocide and for what is happening here in America tonight. What has happened for the last 100 or so years in America. This is the part of the genocide, this is part of the African (unintelligible), that we as black people have endured in America. But we shall overcome, we will continue with this. We will continue, we will gain our freedom and liberation, by any means necessary. Stay strong. They cannot kill us. We will move forward. To my sons, to my daughters, all of you. I love all of you. You have been wonderful. Keep your heads up. Keep moving forward. Keep united. Maintain the love and unity in the community. And know that victory is assured. Victory for the people will be assured. We will gain our freedom and liberation in this country. We will gain it and we will do it by any means necessary. We will keep marching. March on black people. Keep your heads high. March on. All ya'll leaders. March on. Take your message to the people. Preach the moratorium for all executions. We're gonna stop, we are going to end the death penalty in this country. We are going to end it all across this world. Push forward people. And know that what ya'll are doing is right. What ya'll are doing is just. This is nothing more that pure and simple murder. This is what is happening tonight in America. Nothing more than state sanctioned murders, state sanctioned lynching, right here in America, and right here tonight. This is what is happening my brothers. Nothing less. They know I'm innocent. They've got the facts to prove it. They know I'm innocent. But they cannot acknowledge my innocence, because to do so would be to publicly admit their guilt. This is something these racist people will never do. We must remember brothers, this is what we're faced with. You must take this endeavor forward. You must stay strong. You must continue to hold your heads up, and to be there. And I love you, too, my brother. All of you who are standing with me in solidarity. We will prevail. We will keep marching. Keep marching black people, black power. Keep marching black people, black power. Keep marching black people. Keep marching black people. They are killing me tonight. They are murdering me tonight. ***** WORLD SOCIALIST WEB SITE Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) Web: http://www.wsws.org/ E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Saturday, 24 June 2000 - ----- ____________________________________________________________________ After the execution of Gary Graham: THE WORLD LOOKS AT AMERICA AND AMERICA LOOKS AT ITSELF ____________________________________________________________________ News & Analysis: North America: The Brutal Society By David Walsh http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/jun2000/grah-j24.shtml The June 22 execution of Gary Graham, sanctioned by Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate-to-be George W. Bush, has cast a penetrating light on American society and helped lay bare its contradictions. Although hardly the first state murder carried out in the US, there was something particularly shocking and horrifying about the event. This quality was clearly felt around the world. Graham was put to death Thursday night, but the entire society was on trial. His final statements amounted to an enduring curse against the existing social order. One has the sense that this desperate voice from the death chamber gurney will haunt those who organized and carried out the execution for years to come. By any standards of civilized society Graham's death was a barbaric act. Everything about the case--Graham's social background and his age (seventeen) at the time of his arrest, the lack of physical evidence linking him to the crime, his identification by only one witness, his criminally incompetent legal counsel and travesty of a trial, his nearly two decades on death row--reeks of injustice and state-organized brutality. Great numbers of people in the United States and around the world have reacted to the execution with horror. There is a widespread feeling that something terrible has happened. This perception is healthy and humane, but it can only lead to a change in the situation if difficult political questions are confronted: Why does American society carry out crimes like this? How is this barbarism to be explained, and combated? There are currently some two million people in prison and more than 3,500 people on death row in the US. The state of Texas has executed 23 people in 2000 alone; Bush has presided over the execution of 134 individuals in his five years in office. No other countries in the economically advanced regions of the globe have comparable figures; for the most part, they don't have figures on executions at all--capital punishment is banned in Western Europe. A society that resorts to incarcerating and executing its citizens in such numbers thereby admits that it is incapable of solving its social problems. Why, in the final analysis, do the vast majority find themselves on death row? Because they are poor and semi-literate, or victims of one kind of abuse or another, or mentally ill, or all of these. Because, in short, society has given them little or no chance in life. The American ruling elite and its two political parties have no answers for the poverty and misery in which millions are forced to live. The existence of these conditions provides the key to understanding what seems on the surface a great paradox--that the grim cavalcade of punishment and death has coincided with what is officially described as the most prolonged economic expansion in US history. Analysis reveals that the stock market and profit boom have benefited a relatively small portion of the population, primarily the top 10 percent. The creation of a "flexible," low-wage economy, in which workers are constantly prey to insecurity, has not improved the conditions of the vast majority. On the contrary, absolute poverty has tightened its grip on the most oppressed and tens of millions more struggle to make ends meet. The executives of major corporations in the US make more than 400 times the pay of an average worker. Such a level of social inequality can never be voluntarily or democratically accepted by the population, even in the absence of conscious political opposition. It must be policed. One of the inevitable consequences of the social chasm between the rich and everyone else is the meting out of severe punishment to those unlucky enough to be on the wrong side of the law. Official violence is hardly a new or incidental feature of American life. This is the land, after all, of the police truncheon, the "third degree," the strikebreaker, the vigilante, the political witch-hunt and the judicial frame-up. One only has to mention a few names to evoke this legacy of cruelty and repression: the Molly Maguires, Joe Hill, Sacco and Vanzetti, the Rosenbergs. A variety of historical and ideological factors can be cited to explain the particular brutality of the American ruling elite--its origins in the extermination of the native population, its shortsighted and pragmatic "frontier" mentality, the absence of social-democratic "buffers," and so forth. In the end, however, the present violence of the system can only be explained by the present state of American society. The US is the most powerful capitalist economy on earth. Yet behind the veneer of prosperity and beneath increasingly threadbare democratic forms, it harbors the fiercest and most bitter class conflict. This exists objectively. That the working population is largely unconscious of this conflict, or at least of its implications, does nothing to lessen it. The denouement of the Gary Graham case, as it unfolded Thursday night, sharply exposed this social conflict. More than that, Graham's last hours became a significant episode within the struggle of opposed classes. Graham did not go quietly to his death. He resisted, refusing even to eat his "last meal" on a table provided by his killers. He went to his death proclaiming his innocence and denouncing his murderers. Who is Gary Graham? In 1981 he was a thief and a thug, responsible for a series of armed robberies and a rape. His poverty-stricken background prepared him for that, as similar backgrounds have prepared thousands of others. But his years in prison changed him, radicalized him. Graham left this world with a certain nobility. People like him are victims of the social meat grinder. There is no society on earth that wastes human potential more than America. Graham committed violent crimes, but how can that be weighed against the 19 years of torment, waiting to be slaughtered, inflicted in a premeditated fashion by official society? What can be said in defense of a system that mobilizes a "Cell Extraction Team" to drag a man from his cell, straps him to a table and injects carefully-prepared poisons into his bloodstream? The Graham killing exposed the gruesomeness of what goes on every week in the US, in one state or another. The entire society, with its pretenses to democracy, pays a heavy price for this sort of crime. The response by the political and media establishment has been nervous and defensive, from the ashen-faced reporters who witnessed the execution to a frightened-looking Bush. They don't know what to make of the event and the widespread revulsion. These are people who believe their own press clippings. Mesmerized by their stock portfolios, they truly believe that opposition to their policies, including radical opposition, is a thing of the past. They were taken aback by Thursday's events, which did not go at all as planned. An event intended to further brutalize the population largely turned into its opposite: the starting-point for sensitizing masses of people and waking them from their political and even moral torpor. The Graham execution and its reverberations will have a radicalizing effect on the American people. Already the presence of hundreds of demonstrators outside the Huntsville facility--as well as rallies in Austin, Texas; San Francisco and Northampton, Massachusetts--points to a growth of social protest. This will increase. This state murder will help clarify the real state of affairs in America. Young people in particular will be increasingly horrified by a society that glorifies billionaires and puts the poor and oppressed to death by half a dozen equally cruel methods. The campaign to defend Mumia Abu-Jamal, another intended victim of state murder, will gain new strength from the popular response to the Graham case. The assembly line of executions will deepen the hostility felt for both political parties, united in their support for the death penalty. Vice President Al Gore and California's Democratic right-wing governor Gray Davis, for example, took the opportunity of Graham's death to restate their belief in capital punishment. Periods of social radicalization have often announced themselves in the US by the growth of opposition to frame-ups and capital punishment. This is historically bound up with the growth of labor militancy in the early part of the twentieth century. In the late 1950s the case of Caryl Chessman, finally executed in 1960 after 12 years on death row, became a focal point of social protest and heralded the radicalism of the following decade. Conversely, the growth in support for the death penalty in the mid- and late 1970s indicated a right-wing turn by sections of the middle class and working class. For much of the world's population Graham's death will only heighten the belief that the US represents a threat to democratic rights and perhaps to human life in general. The general reaction in the European press has been shock and dismay. The US is seen as a bully, or worse. The credibility of American democracy, with its claims to represent a model for every country on earth, is increasingly a mockery. More and more, the US is seen as a pariah state. There are signs of growing unease in the political establishment about the consequences of the death penalty policy. There are those who worry that the official bloodlust will alienate the population and undermine faith in the system as a whole. The narrowness of the Supreme Court vote to reject Graham's appeal, a 5-4 margin, has to be seen in this light. In the end, the decisive issue is what large numbers of workers, students and intellectuals make of Graham's execution. There will be those who consider it terrible, but an aberration. Others will shake their heads, hoping such a thing will never happen again--although they know better. Some will try to ignore it and go about their business. But this execution is not an accident. It is deeply rooted in the social relations and political structures of American capitalism. The death penalty will not be overcome by appeals to established institutions or to the Democratic or Republican parties, nor can it be overcome if it is addressed as an issue apart from all others. It must be fought on a new basis, as part of the development in the working class of an independent political movement based on a truly democratic, and therefore socialist, program. Copyright 1998-2000 World Socialist Web Site. All rights reserved. ***** NATIONAL COALITION OF ANTI-DEPORTATION CAMPAIGNS 110 Hamstead Road Birmingham B20 2QS, England Tel: 0121-554-6947 Fax: 0870-055-4570 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.ncadc.demon.co.uk - Monday, 19 June 2000 - ----- _____________________________________________________________________ MASSACRE AT DOVER: 58 "SANS PAPIERS" FOUND DEAD Fortress Europe's Draconian anti-immigration policy underlying cause of tragedy at Dover _____________________________________________________________________ A lorry became a mass grave for 54 men and 4 women entering the United Kingdom "Sans Papiers". They penetrated far into Fortress Europe - but the price they paid was their lives. Who were these unfortunate passengers? Their stories will probably never be told, even in death, they have been labelled criminals. Applying for asylum in the UK has deteriorated to the point where asylum seekers are left without basic human rights forced into dispersal and detention, and discriminated against with vouchers. Political asylum has been so restricted by legislation that there is hardly any way of claiming political asylum in the UK. People fleeing war are not considered to be genuine refugees - they are 'just' fleeing 'general violence'. Those fleeing state persecution (like China with a recognised appalling human rights record, where these 58 people may have come from) have to overcome extensive pre-entry controls, and once they manage to get a visa or a false document to escape they can be detained and then refused asylum for travelling through other countries or like Roma asylum seekers, rejected because Skinheads are not considered to be 'agents of persecution'. The death of 58 passengers "Sans Papiers" discovered this morning was something that could have been prevented with humane and ethical immigration policy, which is of national interest for every civilised, multicultural society. It is essential to keep the asylum issue in perspective and to seek solutions that promote human rights of asylum seekers instead of restricting them. It is also important to recognise that migration is not a new phenomenon and accept that it is not only a fact but also desirable and essential for development of every society. How we treat people in need is a reflection of the true state of democracy and freedom. This tragedy must not be forgotten, not only as a dire reminder of restrictive policies which forces people to leave their country of origin and in this case into the most horrific death, and 58 untold life stories, which abruptly ended. NCADC condemns UK and European anti-immigration policy which forces those who are persecuted or experiencing any other hardship into underground routes which should lead to a better life but in this case lead to a mass grave. It is with great sadness that NCADC noted the death of 58 people in the back of a lorry at Dover. Throughout the day the media speculated whether the 54 men and 4 women were "illegal immigrants". Their humanity was lost. They had no identity other than being "Sans Papiers" in the UK. Our press release, mirrors the sombreness of the mood felt by NCADC staff. Yet our sadness turns to anger as we reflect: "Was it wanting to have a better life that caused these deaths, or the evil immigration laws that force people to take such desperate risks?" We would ask supporters to write to the Home Secretary Jack Straw MP to condemn the immigration policies which caused this appalling loss of human life. In this case NCADC feels it inappropriate to produce a standard letter we would ask you to express your own feelings to the Home Secretary. Jack Straw MP 50 Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AT Or you can fax the Home Secretary on : 020-7273-3965 >From outside the UK: +44-20-7273-3965 Please fax copies of any letters to: NCADC 0807-055-4570 ***** LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE COMMITTEE P.O. Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044 Tel: 785-842-5774 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.freepeltier.org - Saturday, 24 June 2000 - ----- ____________________________________________________________________ PELTIER STATEMENT FOR 25 YEAR MEMORIAL AT OGLALA ____________________________________________________________________ Dear friends, Below is Leonard Peltier's statement for the 25 year memorial and honoring at Oglala. We will be unable to answer emails until June 29. If you need to communicate with us, please send your messages after June 28th. Thank you. In Solidarity, LPDC * * * June 26, 2000 Greetings Friends and Supporters, Twenty-five years has passed since the fatal shoot-out on the Jumping Bull Ranch occurred, and for twenty-five years I have been forced away from my people and my home, which I consider Oglala to be. I miss being with all of you as I have always loved and respected the Lakota ways. I have always admired the Lakota people, especially the Oglalas for their strength, determination, and courage to continue the struggle to maintain our traditional ways and sovereignty. Not a single day passes when I do not dream of being home with you. Twenty-four years is a long time to be in prison, but if I was out and you were facing the same kind of brutality you faced under the Wilson regime, I would not hesitate to stand next to you and resist the violent oppression you were forced to endure. But I am not out, I remain locked up in here, and it has not been an easy 24 years. Prison is a repulsive, violent place to exist in. But again, none of this could stop me from standing with you until the great Oglala Nation is free. I know a lot of problems continue to exist for you. Corrupt tribal government officials are still taking advantage of the people and crimes committed against Natives receive little if no priority. It makes me very sad to know that after everything we went through in the 1970's our people still continue to suffer so much. The memory of all of those who lost their lives during that time also continues to haunt me As we gather together during this time of remembrance, I am aware that the FBI has also organized a 25-year memorial for their dead agents. I do not fault them nor do I disagree with what they are doing. I think all people should gather in memorial for any of their fallen. But, when you analyze this whole event of theirs, you are slapped in the face with the cold reality of racism. Not once have they, nor will they mention our fallen warriors and innocent traditionalists slaughtered in the 70's after Wounded Knee II. They will not even as much as mention Joe Killsright Stuntz. We cannot even get an acknowledgement from them that they were wrong in supporting such a cruel and corrupt regime as Dick Wilson's. They continue to deny that any Indian people were killed as a result of their direct input with the terrorist squad, the GOONS. The fact is they do not think of Indian people as human beings. Whenever you deny that such atrocities happen, and we know they did happen, it only means they don't consider the people who died to be human. Hitler's regime felt the same about the Jews. But please don't misunderstand my frustration for a lack of sympathy about the loss of the agents' lives. I do feel for the families of the agents because I know first hand what it is like to lose a loved one. I have lost many loved ones through the years due to senseless violent acts. If I had known what was going on that day, and I could have stopped it, I would have. But in order for us to bring reconciliation to what was a very difficult time we first must have justice. We must continue to ask when the lives of our people will be given the same respect and value as others. When will they stop carelessly locking up our people without applying the scrutiny and care the judicial system is supposed to guarantee? When will guilty beyond a reasonable doubt become a standard that applies to us? When will our guilt have to be proven, rather than assumed? We suffer equally, but we are not treated equally. There is hope for a better future and for peace. But in order for us to live in peace, we must be able to live in dignity and without fear. In closing, I want to say that your voices are important and your involvement in the effort to gain my freedom is crucial. You know the truth and only you can express the reality of those brutal times. It is also important that you explain to the youth what we stood for and why, because they are our hope for the future. They can carry out our dream for our people to have pride in their culture, good schools, food, and health care, and most importantly, justice. Please know that I continue to be here for you too, although I am limited in what I can do from behind these walls. However, I will continue help in whatever I can from here. The one thing my situation has brought me at least, is a voice, and my voice is your voice. So please do not hesitate to write me or contact the LPDC to inform me of what is going on. I am growing older now and my body is beginning to deteriorate. I sometimes wonder just how much longer I will be with you all on Mother earth. I hope that it'll be a while longer because I long to be with you, my family and friends, to share some time together. If not, and I don't make it home to you, I will always be with you in spirit, at every Sun Dance and Inipi Ceremony, remembering both the happy and the painful times we shared. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Leonard Peltier Call the White House Comments Line Today! Demand Justice for Leonard Peltier! 202-456-1111 * * * Via the Web --> http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aff/afib.html Archive --> http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aff/afib-bulletins.html ANTI-FASCIST FORUM (AFF) Antifa Info-Bulletin is a member of the Anti-Fascist Forum network. AFF is an info-group which collects and disseminates information, research and analysis on fascist activity and anti-fascist resistance. More info: E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Web: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aff Order our journal, ANTIFA FORUM, cutting-edge anti-fascist research and analysis! 4 issues, $20. Write AFF, P.O. Box 6326, Station A, Toronto, Ontario, M5W 1P7 Canada
