WW News Service Digest #229
1) Message from Leonard Peltier to supporters
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
2) DU: Will the other shoe drop?
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
3) Haiti and Cuba: Sugar mill symbolizes growing friendship
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
4) Packed audiences across U.S. hear account of Palestinian uprising
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
5) Calif. actions target Plan Colombia
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
6) Bronx, N.Y.: Hundreds honor Amadou Diallo
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: tiistai 13. helmikuu 2001 20:23
Subject: [WW] Message from Leonard Peltier to supporters
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Feb. 15, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
LEONARD PELTIER TO SUPPORTERS:
"YEARS FORM NOW PEOPLE WILL READ OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS"
[Excerpted from a statement by
Native political prisoner Leonard Peltier.]
Jan. 20, 2001, was a sad day for all of us. I know that this
denial of clemency has affected many of you as much as it
has affected both my family and myself. It is a terrible
feeling and disappointment knowing that this nightmare has
not ended and will continue for many months to come.
When I received the news, I felt my stomach curl and a
feeling of nausea rolled over me. It took awhile for me to
refocus. For some reason I had thought I might be having
dinner with my family that night. It was an especially
disappointing day for all of us.
What Bill Clinton did to us was cruel. For eight years he
ignored my clemency petition despite the major campaign that
was waged. Then, just months before leaving office, he
publicly promised to make a decision on my case one way or
the other. He said he was aware of its importance. The White
House gave my attorneys indications that there was a good
chance for my clemency to be granted. I had to prepare
myself for being released because there was no sign that my
petition would be denied.
The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee bought me clothes, my
grandson prepared his bedroom for me to sleep in and other
preparations were made for my homecoming. My friends on Pine
Ridge began plans to build me a house. We were literally
forced to get our hopes up because we did not want to be
unprepared if I was suddenly set free.
Jan. 19 came and still, they kept us in nervous
anticipation, saying the more difficult clemencies are still
being worked on and would be announced the next morning.
Then Jan. 20 came and went! The White House never even told
us what the decision was. We had to find out through the
press that my name was not on the list of clemencies. To
leave a person's life and so many peoples' hopes hanging in
the balance like that is truly hardhearted.
Since that dark Saturday, I have managed to get up and dust
myself off, and begin to lift my spirits once more. I am
just as determined now to fight for my freedom as I was on
Feb. 6, 1976, when I was first arrested. I will not give up.
This is the second time in the span of my incarceration that
I made it to the top of the hill and saw that freedom was in
view, only to be kicked right back down to the bottom again.
I want to compliment and thank my staff at the LPDC and all
of you grassroots supporters who stood beside me and fought
so tirelessly for my freedom. You put on one of the
strongest and most memorable campaigns I have experienced.
Years from now people will read about the accomplishments
you made. People from every walk of life worked on this
campaign.
We now have a number of strategies to continue this struggle
for my freedom. These ideas are in the early planning
stages. I ask you to remain with us while we regroup and
develop a thorough plan. We must carefully consider every
option and make sure the strategies compliment each other in
order to have the best effect.
I also have my own personal plans. I will continue doing
artwork and will be looking at ways to make it more
available to the public. I will also be working with my
friends, Fedelia and Bob Cross, to build a grade school in
Oglala. Before my clemency was decided, I began to dream of
the different projects I would like to work on in Pine Ridge
if I were free. Now that I have been denied, Fedelia and Bob
have said they will take the initiative to begin the
projects themselves, with my input. Soon we will be
establishing a board and non-profit status.
Another idea I would like to develop is building a small
recreation center for Oglala. As most of you know, Native
health conditions are also probably the worst in the
country. We want to change that, beginning with this center.
In closing, I want to thank you again for your support and
ask that you stand with us in this struggle. I believe that
one day in the near future we will succeed. But it can't be
done without your support.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Feb. 15, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
EDITORIAL - DU: WILL THE OTHER SHOE DROP?
A great unease has swept over Europe regarding the troops
occupying Kosovo and Bosnia in the former Yugoslavia.
One-third of the Greek contingent has demanded to return
home. Italians are demonstrating to bring home their troops,
as are Portuguese. A major meeting is set for this March in
Brussels, Belgium, to discuss the dangers of depleted-
uranium pollution and its link to the abnormally high rate
of cancers, especially leukemia, among occupation troops.
Behind this unease is not only the silent threat of
radiation and the danger of poisoning from heavy metals, but
the truth about the 1999 U.S./NATO war finally coming to
light.
More and more people are realizing that their governments
built the whole war on a lie--the lie that the Yugoslav
government was carrying out "genocide." Each day another bit
of truth makes its way into the media to show it was nothing
more or less than a war of plunder, and one where only U.S.
imperialism came out on top.
With all this the big question is: When will the other shoe
drop? When will we hear something from the U.S. contingent
of troops in Kosovo or the troops and veterans of Bosnia?
With their counterparts from Greece and Italy beginning to
resist, will this spirit of resistance penetrate the
Pentagon's domain?
The U.S. soldiers of course have been subjected to
imperialist propaganda about the country they occupy. They
have been purposely kept in ignorance of the real aims of
U.S. policy.
But the soldiers' consciousness--or lack of it--about their
role as world cop for the rich doesn't change their position
in imperialist society. They are on the bottom. They are the
working class in uniform, our sons and daughters, sisters
and brothers. In the infantry, in the grunt jobs, are a
disproportionate number of people from African American,
Latino, Native and recent immigrant communities.
They may be wearing heavy armor from head to toe, but they
still have more in common with the people in the lands they
patrol--from Kosovo now to Colombia tomorrow--than they do
with the U.S. billionaire class that sends them into danger.
In the Gulf and Yugoslav wars, U.S. troops managed to avoid
heavy casualties. But they still face danger. Danger from
the Gulf War Syndrome. Danger from DU in Kosovo. Danger from
herbicides in Colombia.
And then there's the potential danger from righteously angry
populations living under the U.S. boot heel, which can lead
to things like the explosion on the USS Cole off Yemen or a
gunfight in the jungle in the next Vietnam.
Will the soldiers resist? And how will the anti-war movement
help them?
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Feb. 15, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
HAITI AND CUBA: SUGAR MILL SYMBOLIZES GROWING FRIENDSHIP
By G. Dunkel
Relations between Cuba and Haiti took a warm step forward
with the reopening of the Darbonne sugar mill near Leogane,
Haiti, on Jan. 25. The mill, closed since the fall of
dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986, was reopened with
Cuba's help.
High-level delegations from both Caribbean nations attended
the ceremony. The plant was renamed the Jean Leopold
Dominique Mill, after a progressive Haitian journalist who
was recently murdered by unknown assassins. Dominique had
campaigned for Haiti to strengthen its own sugar production.
President René Preval led the Haitian delegation. Commandant
Jean Almeida Bosque, vice-president of the State Council,
led Cuba's. Juan Carlos Robinson, a leading member of the
Cuban Communist Party from Oriente province, was also part
of the delegation.
Welcoming the Cubans at the airport, Preval said: "If we had
had to pay a company to get this mill running, it would have
cost us 10 or 20 times more. Additionally, this is the first
time in a long time that Haiti has produced its own sugar--
something very symbolic.
"So I think that the restoration of this mill is first of
all the result of friendship, but also the result of the
struggle of the peasants."
It took eight months and about $2.5 million to get the mill
up and running. Most of the work was done by Cuban
technicians, aided by their Haitian colleagues--some of whom
got their training in Cuba.
INSPIRED BY HAITI'S INDEPENDENCE STRUGGLE
Robinson put the cooperation between Haiti and Cuba in the
framework of solidarity and recognition of the role Haiti
has played in history.
"This sugar and syrup plant is only a minimal part of the
debt Cuba owes the people of Haiti," Robinson said. "We owe
Haiti the energy which allowed us to undertake the struggle
for our independence. It is the flesh and the sweat of
Haitians taken together which has permitted us to gradually
develop Oriente and which has led to the richness we have
today."
Bosque said he did not consider this work as a favor for
Haiti, but as a gesture of thanks and a compliment from the
Cuban people.
"It is a country for which we feel a tenderness and a
profound love and much admiration. When we were young, the
struggle of Haitians for their independence inspired us. All
their deeds remain indelible in our memory."
The opening of the sugar mill is just part of the growing
cooperation between Haiti and Cuba in the domains of
fisheries, agriculture, health and education. As far back as
1999, peasants associations in small, remote Haitian
villages signed agreements with the Cuban Ministry of
Agriculture for assistance with low-tech organic agriculture
and alternative energy projects.
The Dominique Mill will provide jobs for 250 workers in the
plant as well as 2,000 part-time cane cutters. If more
plants reopen, more Haitians will have steady jobs and
thousands of cane cutters won't be forced to go to the
Dominican Republic to find work.
The United States has spent $2 billion in Haiti since 1995--
for a military occupation, to build a police force to
Washington's liking, for demonstration projects like fancy
schools for children of wealthy Haitians, and especially for
strengthening right-wing political groups. But none of it
went to building Haiti's economy or creating jobs for
unemployed workers and peasants.
- END -
(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to
copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
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From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: tiistai 13. helmikuu 2001 20:25
Subject: [WW] Packed audiences across U.S. hear account of Palestinian
uprising
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Feb. 15, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
FROM SAN DIEGO TO ROCHESTER, N.Y.:
PACKED AUDIENCES HEAR ACCOUNT OF PALESTINIAN UPRISING
By Gene Clancy
Rochester, N.Y.
Even as the genocidal Gen. Ariel Sharon was poised to take
power in Israel, a series of meetings in the United States
exposed the brutality of U.S./Israeli repression against the
popular uprising in Palestine.
A whirlwind speaking tour by Richard Becker, western
regional co-director of the International Action Center,
from Jan. 29-Feb. 3 brought out hundreds of people to hear
his firsthand account of the heroic Palestinian struggle for
self-determination.
Last October and November, Becker participated in an IAC
fact-finding delegation to occupied Palestine that also
delivered medicines and hospital supplies.
Some 125 people attended a meeting at the University of
California at San Diego Jan. 29 as part of "Anti-Zionism
Week" activities organized by the Muslim Students
Association.
Controversy surrounded the meeting. Zionist elements in the
area attacked both the organizers and the speaker, calling
them "anti-Semitic." But the meeting went forward
successfully with its anti-imperialist message.
On Feb. 2 in Rochester, N.Y., over 100 people came to the
Islamic Center on a bitterly cold evening to hear Becker
speak. The meeting was sponsored by the American Muslim
Council, the Rochester Committee for Middle East Peace and
the IAC. As in San Diego, the charge of "anti-Semitism" was
thoroughly rebuffed by speakers who showed that the state of
Israel is a tool of U.S. foreign policy.
"This is not fundamentally a Jewish vs. Arab or religious
struggle," said Becker. "Supporters of Israel see it, we
believe falsely, as the answer for Jewish people.
Palestinians see Israel, correctly, as that entity which by
its creation deprived them of their homeland.
"But the Pentagon and the Washington policy makers don't see
it as either of these things," he explained. "They don't
care about any people, not Jews, not Palestinians, not
people. They see Israel as a giant, unsinkable aircraft
carrier, as leading officials like Casper Weinberger have
sometimes referred to it."
Many of those present recounted the brutality of Israeli
repression from their personal experience.
Afaf Tanimi told of being under Israeli curfew for 25 days
at Hebron on the West Bank, when she was forced to deliver
her child at home without professional medical attention.
When her 69-year-old father attempted to go out and get
help, he was beaten by Israeli soldiers.
Becker also took his message to Buffalo, N.Y., Feb. 3 for a
meeting organized by the International Action Center. His
tour continues in Kentucky on Feb. 6.
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Feb. 15, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
CALIF. ACTIONS TARGET PLAN COLOMBIA
Demonstrators came out in Los Angeles and San Francisco on
Jan. 30 to protest Plan Colombia and the U.S.-backed
Colombian government's threat to retake the demilitarized
zones controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP).
In Los Angeles, protesters lined Wilshire Boulevard in front
of the Westwood Federal Building, where they received an
enthusiastic response from workers in rush-hour traffic. The
rally was chaired by Magda Miller, a leader of the
International Action Center's U.S. Out of Colombia
Committee.
In San Francisco, over 1,000 informational flyers were
passed out at a similar protest at the 24th Street Bay Area
Rapid Transit station in the heart of the Mission District.
Many people stopped to listen to speakers condemning the
U.S. war designs on the people of Colombia. Some passersby
said that the situation in Colombia reminded them of the
early years of the Vietnam War. The rally was chaired by
Alicia Jrapko of the U.S. Out of Colombia Committee.
Protests also took place in Washington, New York, Seattle
and other cities.
--by Bill Hackwell
- END -
(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to
copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: tiistai 13. helmikuu 2001 20:27
Subject: [WW] Bronx, N.Y.: Hundreds honor Amadou Diallo
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Feb. 15, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
BRONX, N.Y.: HUNDREDS HONOR AMADOU DIALLO
Feb. 4 marked the second anniversary of the brutal killing
of African immigrant worker Amadou Diallo at the hands of
the New York Police Department's notorious Street Crimes
Unit. Hundreds of people gathered outside his Bronx, N.Y.,
home for a vigil and demonstration.
The unarmed Diallo died in a hail of 41 bullets while
standing in the vestibule of his apartment building. Police
later claimed that they mistook Diallo's wallet for a gun.
Last year the four killer cops were acquitted of all charges
after their trial was moved to mostly-white Albany. Adding
insult to injury, federal investigators declined to pursue
civil-rights violation charges against the cops.
But those gathered here vowed never to forget Diallo. The
crusade to stop killer cops and police brutality in New York
and nationwide will continue, they said.
