--- Support our sponsor ------------------------------------ Great Dell prices. Great Dell value. Buy now and get $100 off powerful Dell(tm) Dimension(tm) 4100 desktops and mobile, lightweight Dell Inspiron(tm) 5000e notebooks. It's your money. Spend it wisely. Click now. http://click.topica.com/aaaaFabz8SnrbAjwjxa/Dell ------------------------------------------------------------ __________________________________________________________________________ The Internet Anti-Fascist: Tuesday, 26 September 2000 Vol. 4, Number 78 (#471) __________________________________________________________________________ Action Alerts Refuse & Resist!, "Murder is Not the Only Way Abortion Providers: Are Being Threatened…," 21 Sep 00 National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights , "Take Action Against Anti-Immigrant Brutality In New York State," 22 Sep 00 National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, "Break Germany's 'pass laws' against asylum seekers! Demonstration Sunday 3 Oct 00," 23 Sep 00 Demonstration Sunday 3rd October 2000: Budapest, 3-5 Dec 00, "Legal Aid 2000: Challenges Facing Legal Aid Providers The Refugee Law Clinic as a Protection Solution" Academic Job Listings -- African and Middle Eastern History Academic Job Listings -- African and Middle Eastern History: 13 jobs What's Worth Checking: 10 stories -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACTION ALERT Murder is Not the Only Way Abortion Providers: Are Being Threatened Refuse & Resist! 21 Sep 00 Florida Abortion Provider Dr. James Pendergraft's attempt to provide protection for his clinic, staff, and patients has resulted in a Federal Indictment. He faces 30 years in jail and $1 million in fines. Refuse & Resist! calls on everyone who defends a woman's right to choose to join us in the defense of Dr. James Pendergraft against these unjust and very political federal charges, and against continuing harassment by the anti-abortion movement. The prosecution of Dr. Pendergraft is not about criminal behavior. He is one of a small number of doctors who perform high risk, 2nd trimester abortions, caring for patients who come from many states and foreign countries. Across the country, abortion providers, particularly later term providers, are under legal, legislative, and violent attack, and we must see Dr. Pendergraft's case as part of this climate of intimidation. Anti- abortion activists all over the country are using various methods to put providers out of business and intimidate the next generation of doctors out of providing abortions. Convicting and imprisoning Dr. Pendergraft would be a strategic blow to choice. If Dr. Pendergraft is convicted, all of his Florida clinics could be closed, and there would be one less in the small number of late-term abortion providers in the country. Dr. Pendergraft says in response, "I have done nothing wrong. I am only trying to provide abortions to the women who need them, and protect my people, and they don't want me to. I am continuing to do what is right." Doctors Gunn, Britton, Tiller, Slepian, Steir, Romalis, and now Pendergraft to name a few, all doctors, all victims of the politicization of a woman's right to reproductive freedom. For doing their jobs, for helping women live their lives as they choose, they have been harassed, indicted, jailed, shot, stabbed, and murdered. Dr. Pendergraft's trial is scheduled for mid-October. Now is the time to act and not let him be added to the list! Abortion On Demand and Without Apology! What You Can Do: Sign statement of support. Available at www.righttofight.org. (includes more info about the case) To sign on and/or to donate funds for this statement to be printed as a paid ad. Join Dr. Pendergraft's defense committee. Write to the Judge and Prosecutor and demand they stop this prosecution now! Mark B. Deveraux, U.S. Attorney's Office, 200 W. Forsyth St, Rm. 770, Jacksonville, FL 32202, 904-232-2682, Fax 904-232-2620. Donna A. Bucella, U.S. Attorney, 400 N. Tampa St., Ste 3200, Tampa, FL, 33602, 813-274-6320, Fax 813-274-6178. Judge: William Taro Hodges, Magistrate Judge: Gary R. Jones, Golden-Collum Memorial Federal Building, 207 NW 2nd Ave, Ocala, FL, 34475, 352-369-4860, Fax 352-629-8701. Send urgently needed financial contributions for a solid legal defense to: Checks can be made payable to: Ocala Women's Center earmarked "Right to Fight Coalition" Attn: Patti c/o Orlando Women's Center, 1103 Lucerne Terrace, Orlando, FL, 32806. Spread the word, copy and distribute this material, post on your Web site, link Web sites, build active support for Dr. Pendergraft. Further info: www.refuseandresist.org R&R! Atlanta 404-239-8054 E-mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Refuse & Resist! Reproductive Freedom Task Force, 305 Madison Ave. #1166, New York, NY 10165 Please forward us a copy of any support correspondence you send. * * * * * Background Since 1993, Florida has been the site of escalated violence against abortion providers and clinics. Dr. David Gunn, the first provider murdered, followed by Dr. Britton and escort James Barrett, all were murdered at the hands of "peaceful" protesters outside the Pensacola clinics where they provided abortions. Florida has also been the site of many clinic firebombings, anthrax threats, and butyric acid attacks. There's an ongoing intimidation campaign of "peaceful" anti-abortion protesters, and even the Ku Klux Klan has demonstrated in full uniform outside several clinics. Many of the police departments have refused to help the clinics de-escalate the situations outside. There are many incidences where they have allowed the anti-abortionists to block clinic entrances. Abortion providers around the U.S. face similar conditions. In this climate of reactionary violence, Dr. James Pendergraft, an African American obstetrician, who has provided abortions since 1991, and specializes in late term abortion, operates 5 women's health care facilities in Florida. In two locations, Orlando and Ocala in Marion County, he has faced opposition by city government against opening his clinics. In Orlando, he was denied a permit, and had to file and win a lawsuit to receive one. In Ocala, the Marion County Board of County Commisioners Chairman Larry Crutal sent a letter "suggesting" he not to come to Ocala! (Letter available on www.refuseandresist.org) Even under these hostile conditions, Dr. Pendergraft fought hard and prevailed in opening medical facilities in both locations, Dr. Pendergraft is no stranger to hostility. In 1991, he was providing abortions in a Melbourne, FL clinic where anti-abortion protesters worked full time to learn identities of the doctors, even offering money to women who received abortions to provide the doctors' names. When they were successful in their investigation, Dr. Pendergraft's face appeared on a now famous "wanted" poster, the same type of poster that was distributed before the murders of Drs. Gunn and Britton in Pensacola. What led to Dr. James Pendergraft's federal indictment of extortion and mail fraud? In 1989 Ocala's only abortion clinic was firebombed twice in one week, causing it to close permanently. To meet the needs of women in central Florida, Dr. Pendergraft opened a new clinic in Ocala in October, 1998. Immediately, there was an average of 40 anti-abortion protesters outside daily. He asked permission to hire off-duty police officers, a practice often used other by other businesses, not just clinics. His request was arbitrarily denied. After being denied protection for his clinic, staff, patients and himself, he filed a civil suit to challenge this decision. It was eventually overturned, but in the ongoing attempt to get Dr. Pendergraft out of the city, Ocala officials convinced the Federal Government that his lawsuit was an attempt to extort money from Marion County. In the spring of 2000, Dr. Pendergraft was indicted by the Federal Government on charges of Federal conspiracy, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to extort, and now faces a maximum of 30 years in prison, the revocation of his license, and $1 million in fines is found guilty. He has since lost all his pre-trial motions, one asking for the trial to be moved out of hostile Marion County. His trial is scheduled to begin in mid- October. We need to act fast, build support for Dr. Pendergraft, and expose this indictment as a part of the ongoing campaign to limit abortion access and providers. Without providers there is no choice! - - - - - Take Action Against Anti-Immigrant Brutality In New York State National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights 22 Sep 00 On Monday, September 18, two Mexican day laborers in Farmingville, New York -- Israel Perez and Rafael Escamilla -- were brutally beaten with a shovel, a knife, and a crowbar by two white men who had lured them into their car with a promise of work. (See New York Times article below.) The Asociacion Tepeyac de New York has requested phone, fax, or email letters to local legislators in New York, as well as Attorney General Janet Reno to ensure full investigation of this racially motivated crime against immigrant workers. These letters should also request that legislators remove their support of anti-immigrant proposals. Joseph T. Caracappa, Suffolk County Legislatior, has recently proposed to authorize the state legislature to sue the INS for allegedly failing to enforce immigration laws. Please address letters to: Hon. Joseph T. Caracappa Suffolk County Legislator Fourth Legislative District Phone (516) 854-2700 Fax: (516) 854-2703 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno Fax: 202-456-2461 - - - - - Break Germany's 'pass laws' against asylum seekers ! National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns 23 Sep 00 Demonstration Sunday 3rd October 2000 Residenzpflicht law in Germany is a criminally racist law ! 1.00pm in front of the Central railway station in Hannover On the 3rd of October at the Expo 2000, in Hanover Germany is celebrating its unification and selling a new modern image - that it is a defender of human rights and friendly to foreigners. The much vaunted attempts to restrict the activities of neo-nazi parties and groups is part of this image that Germany wants to show the world. But this propaganda circus about fighting neo-Nazi's has nothing to do with the lives of the refugees - the real victims of the racist terror. In fact the German government has been laying the basis for the attacks on foreigners for decades, by systematically isolating us. We have been put away in camps in the middle of forests and we have been hemmed into these accommodation with various laws and measures that we are now effectively isolated from German society. The 'Residenzpflicht' which restricts the right to free movement of asylum seekers since 1982 is the sharpest example of this. The Residenzpflicht forbids us the right to leave the police district that we are allocated ('landkreis'). This law, which imprisons us in a sometimes very small police district, does not exist in any other European country. This law criminalises all asylum seekers, and foreigners in general. Any one of us can be checked by the police, whether or not we are outside our district (landkries). For anyone witnessing this controll it appears that the foreigner has done something criminal. Every time a foreigner is checked by the police because of the Residenzpflicht law, the main political slogan of the of the Neo-Nazis, 'criminal foreigner' is given substance. Further, as Germans cannot break the residence law, this makes the criminal statistics biased sharply against foreigners, again giving substance to the Neo-Nazi propaganda. It is practically impossible for an asylum seeker to avoid an offence against the residence law. As soon as we come to Germany, we are automatically criminalised. The residence law inevitably enforces social isolation. The Residenzpflicht forces every asylum seeker to stay inside his or her district. If you get checked by the police while you are outside the district you are charged, for the first offence 100 DM cash, which you cannot pay because as a refugee you receive only 80 DM a month. (From this 80 DM, at least 50 DM goes in lawyers' fees in the constant struggle against deportation). The caretaker of the refugee camp keep attendance records every day, to see if the refugees are there or not: If a refugee is not at home for a few days, the punishment that he or she gets may be to lose the right to accommodation. The Social Department in turn punishes you by cutting even the meagre financial assistance of 80 DM, by cutting food coupons or by paying the person weekly, in order to force the person not to go out of the landkreis. The refugee thus has not enough money to eat, let alone to pay police fines of over 100 DM. This means that he or she will be arrested and put in prison. In prison, you undergo racially based harassment and humiliation. The dignity of many refugees are routinely broken during such imprisonment, and they are thus prepared for so-called "voluntary" deportation. So for us the current declarations of the German politicians are a pure mockery. How can they speak against Neo-Nazi terror against us when they have for nearly two decades prepared the basis for it. They have nearly completely isolated us from German society, they have humiliated us and terrorised us. The most explicit legal basis for this isolation is the German pass law - the Residenzpflicht. The refugees in the 'Caravan for the Rights of the Refugees and Migrants' have decided to launch a civil disobedience campaign against the Residenzpflicht. We will not be sitting ducks so that the Neo- Nazi's can terrorise us! We will fight against the legal basis that prevents us from organising ourselves. We ask you join our struggle. Please send a protest faxes to The German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to take a position to repeal this specially racist Residenzpflicht law, to show his seriouseness to protect the refugees against Neo-Fascists. Please send a copy to us at IMRV Bremen. Fax Number for Gerhard Schröder with international code for Germany is: + 49/ 30/ 4000 2357 The refugees have no money. So for us to travel to Hannover from our camps to take part in this civil dissobedance campaign we are in urgent need of financial support. Please send donations to the account number below. Die Karawane für die Rechte der Flüchtlinge und Migrantinnen Bremer Koordinierungsbüro: Internationaler Menschenrechtsverein Bremen e.V Wachmannstr. 81 28209 Bremen Tel.: (0421) 5577093 Fax: (0421) 5577094 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.humanrights.de/ Spendenkonto: Postbank Hamburg, Kontonr. 99 29 207, Bankleitzahl 200 100 20 Spenden sind dringend nötig und steuerlich absetzbar. - - - - - Legal Aid 2000: Challenges Facing Legal Aid Providers The Refugee Law Clinic as a Protection Solution Budapest, 3-5 December 2000 Seminar: Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Challenges to Legal Aid in the European Space UNHCR, in cooperation with the Constitutional and Legal Policy Institute, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, CEU and ELTE Universities, will be hosting the second annual European Refugee Law Clinics Seminar from 3-5 December in Budapest, Hungary. The seminar will address issues related to difficulties facing legal aid providers, innovative protection solutions and a visit to a refugee law clinic. For further information please contact Michael Huffmaster: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Tel.: 0043 1 26060 5548 * * * * * Introduction To the legal aid provider, protection of those in need (asylum seekers, refugees and others) is at the same time an abstract notion and a concrete set of actions and procedures. It is abstract in that a State, party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, can meet its obligation to the international community by accepting refugees and providing them with protection. It is also abstract in that protection speaks to a human need that cannot be qualified. It is a theme that guides us, motivates us and, at times, frustrates us. Protection is a concrete notion in that the legal aid providers, State agencies, NGOs, or UNHCR, through their lawyers, counsellors, protection officers, students or volunteers, are the ones who undertake the interviewing, the counselling, the research of country of origin information and the ultimate representation of the asylum seeker, all in an effort to assist the State in providing its protection. This is often a difficult and challenging process for the legal aid provider as well as the asylum seeker. It is emotional, conflict ridden and consumes a great deal of human and financial resources. But it is a necessary process, not only due to the obligation of States, but because of all the abstract reasons that lead us to believe that the protection of asylum seekers and refugees is a right. In the EU and in those states on the road to EU association or membership, the developing EU acquis on asylum has made legal aid a less abstract concept. Standards are being set with regard to asylum procedures, the role of State legal aid providers and the quality of protection provided. In parallel, State and non-State legal aid providers are exploring ways to meet the growing human, material and financial resource needs associated with protection. One such approach has been the development of refugee law clinics. This seminar, the second of its kind, will focus on the current challenges facing those providing legal aid for asylum seekers and refugees. This seminar will also provide participants with the recent achievements in the field of legal aid standard setting, refugee law training and legal aid management undertaken in the context of the various refugee law clinics in operation. This will include a visit to an active refugee law clinic and discussions with refugee law clinic practitioners. - - - - - The George Watt Award For the Best College Student Work About the Spanish Civil War The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) is pleased to announce the continuing annual competition for the ALBA George Watt Memorial prizes for the best college student work about the Spanish Civil War, the anti-fascist political or cultural struggles of the 1920's and 1930's, or the lifetime histories and contributions of the Americans who served beside the Spanish Republic from 1937-1938. This work may take the form of an essay, visual art, video or film, a dance, theatrical work or a musical composition. Two prizes of $500 each will be awarded each year-one to the best undergraduate work and one to the best graduate student work on one or more of the above topics. Work will be judged on the basis of originality and effectiveness of argument or presentation. The work must have been created to fulfill an undergraduate or graduate course or degree requirement. Submissions are encouraged from U.S. and international contestants. The deadline for receipt of essays is April 1, 2001. Work produced either during the year of submission or during the previous calendar year are eligible for the competition. Essays must be at least 5,000 words long to be considered for the prize. Works in the creative arts should be the result of at least one semester's work. Applicants should email entries to Eunice Lipton at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please be sure to include postal address. Audio cassettes, CDs, video tapes and slides should be sent to: Eunice Lipton, Chair of the George Watt Award Committee, c/o The Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, 799 Broadway, New York, NY 10003. The award winners will be announced each Spring. The Executive Committee of ALBA will appoint the judges for the contest. ALBA is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and dissemination of the record of the American role in the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War and its aftermath. ALBA supervises a major archive at Brandeis University (the most comprehensive historical archive documenting the American involvement in the Spanish Civil War) and supports cultural and educational activities related to the war and its historical, political, artistic, and biographical heritage. Some 2,800 American men and women, realizing the danger international fascism presented to the world, came to the defense of the Spanish Republic in the years just prior to the Second World War. On the other side were forces led by rebel Spanish generals supported by Hitler and Mussolini. The prizes honor the memory of Abraham Lincoln Brigade veteran George Watt (1914-1994), not only for his own long anti-fascist record but also as a symbol of the many American men and women who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives in this struggle. Watt himself was a veteran of Spain who then served in the U.S. Army Corps in World War II. An effective voice for a variety of social causes in his lifetime, Watt was also a driving force behind ALBA. UNTIL November 1 2000: 3 rue de la Fidelite 75010 Paris tel/fax (From USA): 011 33 1 48 01 05 34 (In Paris): 01 48 01 05 34 AFTERWARDS: 201 West 85th St. 7E New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-9456 Fax: 212-724-9299 Fraser Ottanelli Department of History University of South Florida Tampa, Florida 33617 813-985 3869 (voice) 813-974 6228 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED] - - - - - Academic Job Listings -- African and Middle Eastern History Carnegie Mellon University - Assistantt Professor, Gender History/Islamic World (PA, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=693 City University of New York - Baruch College - Assistant Professor, Sub-Saharan African History (NY, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=727 Old Dominion University - Assistant Professor, African History (VA, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=731 Southern Illinois University - Carbondale - Assistant Professor, African History (IL, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=761 Western Michigan University - Assistant Professor, Islamic History (MI, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=777 Brandeis University - Jewish Studies Research Analyst (MA, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=685 California State University - Los Angeles - Assistant Professor, Religious Studies/Islamic World, Asia, or Africa (CA, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=709 Columbia University - Assistant Director, Institute of African Studies (NY, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=796 Penn State University - Associate Professor/Professor, African American Studies (PA, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=686 University of California - Santa Cruz - Assistant Professor, African/African Diaspora Visual Cultures (United States) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=753 University of North Carolina - Wilmington - Tenure-Track Position, African American History (NC, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=721 Columbia University - Assistant Director, Institute of African Studies (NY, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=796 San Diego State University - Assistant Professor, Race and Ethnicity in American History (CA, U.S.A.) http://matrix.msu.edu/jobs/jobview.cfm?ID=757 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT'S WORTH CHECKING stories via <ftp://ftp.nyct.net/pub/users/tallpaul/publish/story7/> press release, "Gag Order Lifted For Annoy.Com Publisher; Appolomedia Corporation Wins Right to Reveal Information Regarding Internet Privacy in the Case of United States v. ApolloMedia," 7 Sep 00, "In the latest round of litigation that surrounds the battle over Internet privacy, a Texas court has lifted a year-long gag order from ApolloMedia Corporation, a San Francisco-based multimedia company. Following an opinion to reconsider by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the District Court lifted the gag order, an action that enables ApolloMedia, the publisher of the annoy.com Web site, to finally discuss its role in the controversial case. In June 1999, the U.S. government ordered ApolloMedia to disclose the identity of a user of annoy.com's e-greeting card service, a service that facilitates anonymous communications. The information they were seeking followed a similar attempt in April 1999 by the University of Houston, who tried unsuccessfully to obtain ApolloMedia records. Paragraph 7 of the Magistrate's June 16, 1999 Order prohibited ApolloMedia from discussing not only the details of the government's investigation and the content of the order with anyone until authorized by the court, but also the very existence of the order and its application." <1861.txt> Jim Abvrams (AP), "House votes on repealing federal charter of Boy Scouts," 12 Sep 00, "A small group of House lawmakers charging that the Boy Scouts' policy toward gays was a badge of intolerance moved Tuesday to repeal the organization's federal charter. The legislation was another challenge to the long-standing relationship between the Boy Scouts and the federal government rising out of the group's stance on excluding homosexuals. A vote on the bill, expected to be easily defeated, was likely to take place Wednesday." <1862.txt> Reuters, "Romania Orthodox Church denounces homosexuality," 13 Sep 00, "Romania's Orthodox Church, which condemns homosexuality as a sin, said on Wednesday it would petition parliament against moves to decriminalise gay sex as legislators seek to align laws to European Union norms." <1863.txt> IPS, "140 Union Members Killed by Anti-Union Repression Worldwide: Anti- Union Repression Persists Worldwide, Says Report," 14 Sep 00, "Anti-union repression in 1999 cost the lives of 140 women and men around the world, charges the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in its annual report on the global problem of labor rights violations." <1864.txt> Albert Schäffer (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), "Interior Ministry Bans Two Skinhead Groups," 14 Sep 00, "Interior Minister Otto Schily, hoping to stamp out right-wing extremist violence plaguing the country, banned the skinhead organization Blood & Honour and its youth organization, White Youth, on Thursday. As part of the government's efforts to eliminate the group, police conducted house searches in a number of states, seizing savings accounts with deposits containing thousands of marks, computers and far-right propaganda material. The government also asked Internet companies not to allow Web sites put together by the banned organizations." <1865.txt> Craig R. McCoy and Linda K. Harris (Philadelphia Inquirer), "Rumors had troopers seeing Reds during the GOP convention: State police based their suspicions of protesters on information supplied by a right-wing group," 14 Sep 00, "The cold war is long over but Pennsylvania State Police were still on the lookout for communists and Soviet sympathizers among the demonstrators protesting last month's Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. In state police affidavits justifying a raid on a West Philadelphia warehouse used by convention protesters, troopers alleged that communists were behind the demonstrations. 'Funds allegedly originate with Communist and leftist parties and from sympathetic trade unions," the state police declared in the affidavits. 'Other funds reportedly come from the former Soviet-allied World Federation of Trade Unions.' The language left critics, including demonstrators and civil-liberties lawyers, both a little amused and a lot indignant. They said it seemed like something out of a musty red-baiting periodical of the 1950s - Red Channels and the like." <1866.txt> The Guardian [Australia], "Operation 'Urban Warrior'," 13 Sep 00, "The Howard Government's 'shoot to kill' legislation was passed last week. The legislation gives the military wide powers that could be used during industrial disputes and against legitimate civil protests. As Greens Senator Bob Brown commented, 'this bill is open to abuse.' The new legislation, which would give the military 'shoot to kill' powers with immunity from prosecution, was opposed in the Senate by Greens Senator Brown and the Democrats." <1867.txt> Brock Meeks, "Toothless Carnivore," 14 Sep 00, "Yesterday, during a House hearing on Mob involvement on Wall St., Thomas Fuentes, chief of the FBI's Organized Crime Division, coughed up the following hairball (which I reported yesterday) when asked if e-mail interception was helpful during FBI investigations. Fuentes had earlier groused about how technology and the Internet were making his job harder. As a bonus tidbit, Fuentes admitted that the cyrpto genie was out of the bottle." <1868.txt> Kathy Kelly (Chicago Tribune), "Through the Looking Glass," 13 Sep 00, "I just returned from a seven week visit to Iraq. Our small team lived with impoverished families in southern Iraq. We tried to understand the effect of economic sanctions against Iraq by learning what it's like to live without electricity for 14 hours per day in 120-degree heat, to share meals made from meager rations, and to be cut off from communication with the rest of the world. Recently, it's been reported that Iraq refused to allow a new group of UN experts to assess the impact of sanctions. But we should recall that Iraq already pays the salaries of 400 UN workers in the country. These workers file regular reports about conditions within Iraq. Instead of asking Iraq to foot the bill for new assessment teams, why not heed reports already filed by UN workers in Iraq? Why not draw from the conclusions of Mr. Denis Halliday and Mr. Hans von Sponeck, both of whom resigned their senior UN posts because they couldn't in conscience continue to supervise UN policies that directly harm Iraqi civilians." <1869.txt> Linda K. Harris,, Craig R. McCoy and Thomas Ginsberg (Philadelphia Inquirer), "State police infiltrated protest groups, documents show: Search-warrant affidavits reveal an undercover operation aimed at activists in Philadelphia for the GOP convention," 7 Sep 00, "State police undercover agents posing as demonstrators infiltrated activist groups planning the protests at the Republican National Convention, search-warrant documents made public yesterday showed. The undercover operation was detailed in legal documents filed Aug. 1 by Philadelphia police seeking search warrants for a raid that day on a so-called "puppet warehouse" at 4100 Haverford Ave. in West Philadelphia. The documents were under a court seal until yesterday. About 75 people were arrested in the raid at the warehouse. The infiltration was immediately condemned yesterday by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the city public defender's office." <1870.txt> * * * * * In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. __________________________________________________________________________ FASCISM: We have no ethical right to forgive, no historical right to forget. (No permission required for noncommercial reproduction) - - - - - back issues archived via: <ftp://ftp.nyct.net/pub/users/tallpaul/publish/tinaf/> --- Sponsor's Message -------------------------------------- GET A NEXTCARD VISA, in 30 seconds! Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR and no hidden fees. 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