[LAAMN] Peoples' Justice Conference planning committee meeting Sat Feb 12, 2 PM, So Cal Lib, 6120 S Vermont, LA

[Michael Novick]

A planning meeting for a Peoples' Justice Conference in Los Angeles, 
focused on issues of police abuse/racial profiling, political 
prisoners/political repression, the prison industrial complex/mass 
incarceration, juvenile justice and opposition to the death penalty 
will take place on Saturday, February 12 from 2-4:00 PM at the 
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, 6120 S. 
Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles. The conference, incorporating efforts 
initiated simultaneously by the GrassrootsKPFK coalition, the LA 
Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant, the Justice Working Group of 
the MLK Coalition for Jobs, Justice and Peace, and the LA chapter of 
the Jericho Amnesty Movement to free political prisoners, is designed 
to bring together people getting hit by and dealing with all the 
different aspects of the so-called "criminal justice" system -- the 
cops, the courts, the prisons, jails and juvenile halls, and various 
forms of political repression and counter-insurgency by the state, 
such as COINTELPRO, grand jury witch-hunts, immigration raids, 
checkpoints and detention, etc. It is designed a working conference 
building unity among grassroots forces facing and dealing with these 
issues, aimed at developing solidarity and effective fight back and 
organizing strategies. We want to look at issues like medical 
mistreatment inside the prisons, isolation as torture in jails and 
prisons, "ban the box" and other reintegration strategies for 
ex-convicts, and abolition of the death penalty and the 
prison-industrial complex. We want to build practical connections 
between people trying to end the schools-to-jail pipeline and the 
criminalization of youth with those resisting racial profiling and 
police killings and those struggling to free political prisoners. We 
invite the involvement of all dealing with these various aspects of 
the system. For more information, call 310-890-7104.





---
LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network
---
Unsubscribe: 
---
Subscribe: 
---
Digest: 
---
Help: 
---
Post: 
---
Archive1: 
---
Archive2: 
---
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com 
laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[LAAMN] 2/8 Egypt: As Expected, Obama Won't Calls For Immediate Resignation Of President Mubarak

[Lee Siu Hin]

Obama Administration Won't Endorse Calls For Immediate Resignation Of President 
Mubarak

The Huffington Post - February 8, 2011

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/08/obama-egypt-mubarak_n_820103.html


WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is urging Egyptian leaders to include 
more people in a national dialogue on reform but won't endorse demands from 
protesters for the immediate resignation of embattled President Hosni Mubarak.


As the U.S. anxiously awaits political developments in its staunchest Arab 
ally, administration officials warned Monday that a precipitous exit by Mubarak 
could set back the country's democratic transition.



After several days of mixed messages, the administration coalesced around a 
position that cautiously welcomes nascent reform efforts begun by newly 
appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman that may or may not result in Mubarak's 
resignation before September, when elections are to be held. Mubarak has said 
he will not run.


On Monday night the Los Angeles Times reported that the United States is 
backing off from calls for immediate reform in Egypt. "The Obama administration 
has reconciled itself to gradual political reform in Egypt," the paper wrote.



Under Egypt's constitution, Mubarak's resignation would trigger an election in 
60 days, well before September, and U.S. officials said that's not enough time 
to prepare.


"A question that that would pose is . whether Egypt today is prepared to have a 
competitive, open election," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. 
"Given the recent past, where, quite honestly, elections were less than free 
and fair, there's a lot of work that has to be done to get to a point where you 
can have free and fair elections."



President Barack Obama said Egypt is making progress toward a solution to the 
political crisis enveloping the country and preparing for free elections to 
replace Mubarak.



"Obviously, Egypt has to negotiate a path, and I think they're making 
progress." Obama told reporters.


==
 
Peace NO War Network 
http://www.PeaceNOWar.net  
War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate
Not in our Name! And another world is possible!

Information for antiwar movements, news across the World, please visit: 
http://www.PeaceNoWar.net
e-mail: i...@peacenowar.net
Tel: (213)403-0131

Please Join PeaceNoWar Listserv, send e-mail to: 
peacenowar-subscr...@lists.riseup.net

Please Donate to Peace No War Network!
Send check pay to:
ActionLA/AFGJ

ActionLA
P.O. Box 751
South Pasadena, CA 91031-0751
(All donations are tax deductible)

 




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





---
LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network
---
Unsubscribe: 
---
Subscribe: 
---
Digest: 
---
Help: 
---
Post: 
---
Archive1: 
---
Archive2: 
---
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com 
laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[LAAMN] 'Sheik al-Torture' is now a democrat

[Romi Elnagar]

'Sheik al-Torture' is now a democrat



By Pepe Escobar









The Egyptian revolution 
is being dissolved right in front of the world's eyes 

by an optical illusion.









The protesters who have 
been on the streets for two weeks still want President 

Hosni Mubarak out. Now. 
Yet United States President Barack Obama is firmly in 

not-so-fast mode, glad 
that "Egypt is making progress". Obama has not mentioned 

even once the capital 
words "free elections".









Washington's "orderly 
transition" road map - fully supported by Tel Aviv and 

European capitals - is 
a facelift. Mubarak stepping down has become an 

afterthought; the 
already anointed successor is


















  







Vice President Omar 
Suleiman, the former head of the Mukhabarat, whom the 

protesters call "Sheik 
al-Torture".









Sheik al-Torture 
already behaves as a president - while the actual president is 

 

[LAAMN] Fiber Optics Arrive to Cuba

[Cort Greene]

*- Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org -*

*Fiber Optics Arrive to Cuba*

Posted By *Havana Times* On February 8, 2011 @ 5:04 pm In *Business &
Economy,Recent Posts,Updates* | *No
Comments
*

The cable began to be laid on January 22nd.

HAVANA TIMES, Feb. 8 — The fiber optic cable that will link Cuba with
Venezuela has just arrived in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, a
Deputy Minister of Informatics and Telecommunications Ramon Linares said in
Havana on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

The official said the cable installation will conclude on Wednesday after
completing the process of laying it on the ocean floor which began on
January 22.  It is expected to go on line by July.

Cuba is now five months away from considerably faster telecommunications and
Internet capability, touted to be 3,000 times greater than present, says the
Cuban government.

The 1,000 mile plus cable was laid by the French company, Alcatel-Lucent.

It is still unclear what the greater capability will mean for ordinary
Cubans who would like to have Internet service.  That decision and the cost
for service will be determined at a later date by the Cuban government.
Presently only a select number of Cubans are able to surf the web.
  You might also like:
  Cuba Baseball Opens with VC Win

 A Disguise for the ‘Last Thursday’ Forum

 Should We Return to Segregation?

 Havana Weather for December 23-29

 Red Cheeks

*LinkWithin* 
 [image: Related Posts Plugin for WordPress,
Blogger...]
[1]
--

Article printed from Havana Times.org: *http://www.havanatimes.org*

URL to article: *http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=37402*

URLs in this post:

[1] Image: *http://www.linkwithin.com/*

**

*-*

*"Enemy Campaigns and the Policy of Confronting Counter-revolutionary
Elements*"



http://vimeo.com/19402730

**

**
* Tuesday, February 8, 2011
 A Minint production

Was the apparent Cuban Interior Ministry
videoof
a briefing on USAID strategies and operations in Cuba really leaked?
Was
it purloined and brought to light by an intrepid and disloyal insider, as Yoani
Sanchez  assumes?



Or was it a Minint production from the beginning, produced by the
segurososthemselves with every intention of releasing it, and with a
TV producer’s
thirst for ratings?

I think it’s the latter.



If it were a simple recording of a briefing for internal purposes, it’s not
clear to me why it would be edited as it was. There is nothing in the
briefing that is remotely inconvenient to the Cuban government; nothing that
compromises an operation or breaks an important secret. To the contrary,
much of the video conveys messages that Havana would probably want to
present to international audiences. The cachet of a “leak” from the heart of
a communist security apparatus ensures that those messages fly farther and
wider than would words on paper.



To me, the video appears to be the Cuban government’s opening argument as it
prepares to bring the matter of USAID contractor Alan Gross to its
conclusion – in its own courts, before international public opinion, and
perhaps in dialogue with the Obama Administration.



The blog Café Fuerte has performed an immense public service by transcribing
the briefing, which it says was done last
June
. The transcript is here
(pdf)
. The blog Penultimos
Diashas
apparently identified the briefer, one Eduardo Fontes Suarez.



It doesn’t matter whether the video is a leak or a media placement, it’s out
there now. (At Babalu, the always perceptive Humberto
Fontovathinks
it’s a deliberate media placement. Paris-based
blogger Zoe 
Valdesthinks
so too, and explains at greater length.)



If you read the transcript, what Cuban government messages can you derive? I
think they are these:




   - To Latin American governments and publics, and beyond: “Obama is no
   different than Bush; same economic sanctions against Cuba, same attempts to
   bring down our Revolution.”


   - To friendly governments: “You might want to check what USAID is up to
   in your country.”


   - To in

[LAAMN] Trinidad and Tobago Newsday - CIA terrorist on trial

[Cort Greene]

http://www.newsday.co.tt/sunday_special_report/0,135310.html

*CIA terrorist on trial*

By Andre Bagoo Sunday, February 6 2011

*AT A COURTROOM at El Paso, Texas, the trial of an ex-CIA agent last month
commenced. Luis Posada Carriles, 82, who once escaped from a prison in
Venezuela disguised as a priest and who allegedly conspired to blow-up an
airplane off the coast of Barbados using a tube of toothpaste, faces several
charges. *

Though wanted for a series of anti-Castro terrorist attacks in several
countries, including an attack on the Guyana Consulate in downtown
Port-of-Spain and the Barbados offices of BWIA in 1976, Posada faces charges
not related to terrorism, but rather perjury.

Before US District Court Judge Katheleen Cardone, US prosecutors hope to
convince a jury that Posada, also known as “Bambi” and “Solo”, lied to an
immigration judge when he denied ever being involved in certain terrorist
attacks. He also faces several charges of immigration fraud and obstruction
of a proceeding, stemming from lies he is accused of telling United States
officials about how he entered that country in March 2005 after decades
spent in exile.

Although the case is unlikely to shed light on the bombing of Cubana
Airlines flight 455 which killed 73 as well as the attacks on Trinidad and
Barbados (the charges focus on the most recent attacks orchestrated by
Posada in Havana in 1997), the evidence of Trinidad and Tobago police
buttresses the case against Posada who, to date, has escaped sanction for
the 1976 attacks.

For years, Cuba and Venezuela have been clamouring for Posada’s head. In
Venezuela, he remains wanted for the bombing of the Cubana Airlines Flight
455 that crashed off the coast of Barbados on October 6, 1976, killing all
73 people onboard. The plane, en route to Havana from Caracas had stopped in
Guyana and Trinidad before meeting its demise off the coast of Barbados with
the Cuban Olympic fencing team and several students onboard.

Though Posada, who will this month celebrate his 83rd birthday, was never
convicted, he was imprisoned for nine years in Caracas on charges of
conspiring with the bombers. But in a development that reads like something
from a spy novel, he escaped by bribing a warden and walking out of prison
disguised as a priest.

Two men, Hernan Ricardo Lozano and Freddy Lugo, who both worked for Posada,
were arrested in 1976 in downtown Port-of-Spain hours after the attack on
Flight 455 and later confessed to Assistant Commissioner of Police Dennis
Ramdwar that they were responsible. An aspect of their confessions, not
reported in newspapers at the time, is that they claimed to be CIA agents
and also had a “terror list” of targets which had an entire section in
relation to Trinidad and Tobago.

The handwritten target scouting report, prepared by Ricardo, was released by
the US National Security Archive in 2007. It contains a report on
businesses, embassies and offices with ties to Cuba and provided detailed
descriptions of targets in Barbados, Colombia, Panama and Trinidad, right
down to the make, model, colour and licence plates of the cars of Cuban
officials in these countries.

Under the heading “Trinidad” the targets included the offices of what was
then known as BWIA (now Caribbean Airlines) located at Sunjet House on
Edward Street, Port-of-Spain.

“In the case of Trinidad, the link to Castro is reflected and represented in
only two points,” the note reads in translation. “1- The representation of
Cubana Air is done by the BWIA, located at Sunjet House, 20 Edward Street
and at the airport. In Trinidad, the flights of the DC8 of Cubana Aviation
(the flights CU 454 and CU453) make stopovers every Wednesday on the way to
Guyana or coming from Barbados.

“2-The Consulate of Guyana in Trinidad is located between Richmond Street
and Park Street at No 61. Said consulate is in charge of helping to
administer whatever kind of help or problem that pro-Castro Cubans have in
Trinidad.”

On September 1, 1976, days before that year’s General Election, the Guyana
Consulate in Port-of-Spain was bombed. An explosive device — said to have
been placed in a paper bag on the upper floor of the two-storey structure —
was spotted moments before an explosion ripped a six-foot hole into the
upper floor of the building, shattering glass and making a sickening
explosive noise for miles around. Three persons were injured. The consular
representative at the time was not in the building.

A few weeks before, on July 14, 1976, the BWIA offices at Bridgetown
Barbados — also on the target list but under the heading “Barbados” — had
been attacked. Then came the downing of Flight 455 on October 6, 1976,
moments after it left Piarco en route via Barbados to Havana at 11am that
morning. All three events have been tied to Posada.

Although the BWIA offices in Port-of-Spain were not attacked at the time,
the target list makes it clear that it was a potential target by the Cuban
terrorists, said to be anti-Castro i

[LAAMN] Fisk: The wrong Mubarak quits, Herbert: A Terrible Divide

[Ed Pearl]

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-the-wrong-mubarak-quits-soon-the-right-one-will-go-2205852.html

The wrong Mubarak quits. Soon the right one will go

Protesters in Tahrir Square are right to be sceptical despite the apparent
shake-up in Egypt's ruling party

By Robert Fisk

Independent.co/UK:  6 February, 2011

The old man is going. The resignation last night of the leadership of the
ruling Egyptian National Democratic Party - including Hosni Mubarak's son
Gamal - will not appease those who want to claw the President down. But they
will get their blood. The whole vast edifice of power which the NDP
represented in Egypt is now a mere shell, a propaganda poster with nothing
behind it.


The sight of Mubarak's delusory new Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq telling
Egyptians yesterday that things were "returning to normal" was enough to
prove to the protesters in Tahrir Square - 12 days into their mass demand
for the exile of the man who has ruled the country for 30 years - that the
regime was made of cardboard. When the head of the army's central command
personally pleaded with the tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators
in the square to go home, they simply howled him down.

In his novel The Autumn of the Patriarch, Gabriel Garcia Marquez outlines
the behaviour of a dictator under threat and his psychology of total denial.
In his glory days, the autocrat believes he is a national hero. Faced with
rebellion, he blames "foreign hands" and "hidden agendas" for this
inexplicable revolt against his benevolent but absolute rule. Those
fomenting the insurrection are "used and manipulated by foreign powers who
hate our country". Then - and here I use a precis of Marquez by the great
Egyptian author Alaa Al-Aswany - "the dictator tries to test the limits of
the engine, by doing everything except what he should do. He becomes
dangerous. After that, he agrees to do anything they want him to do. Then he
goes away".

***

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/opinion/08herbert.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212

A Terrible Divide

Bob Herbert
NY Times Op-Ed: February 8, 2010

The Ronald Reagan crowd loved to talk about morning in America. For millions
of individuals and families, perhaps the majority, it's more like twilight -
with nighttime coming on fast.

Look out the window. More and more Americans are being left behind in an
economy that is being divided ever more starkly between the haves and the
have-nots. Not only are millions of people jobless and millions more
underemployed, but more and more of the so-called fringe benefits and public
services that help make life livable, or even bearable, in a modern society
are being put to the torch.

Employer-based pensions, paid vacations, health benefits and the like are
going the way of phone booths and VCRs. As poverty increases and reliable
employment becomes less and less the norm, the dwindling number of workers
with any sort of job security or guaranteed pensions (think teachers and
other modestly compensated public employees) are being viewed with
increasing contempt. How dare they enjoy a modicum of economic comfort?

It turns out that a lot of those jobs were never so secure, after all. As
the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities tells us:

"At least 44 states and the District of Columbia have reduced overall wages
paid to state workers by laying off workers, requiring them to take unpaid
leave (furloughs), freezing hew hires, or similar actions. State and local
governments have eliminated 407,000 jobs since August 2008, federal data
show."

We have not faced up to the scale of the economic crisis that still
confronts the United States.

Standards of living for the people on the wrong side of the economic divide
are being ratcheted lower and will remain that way for many years to come.
Forget the fairy tales being spun by politicians in both parties - that
somehow they can impose service cuts that are drastic enough to bring
federal and local budgets into balance while at the same time developing
economic growth strong enough to support a robust middle class. It would
take a Bernie Madoff to do that.

In the real world, schools and libraries are being closed and other
educational services are being curtailed. Police officers are being fired.
Access to health services for poor families is being restricted. "At least
29 states and the District of Columbia," according to the budget center,
"are cutting medical, rehabilitative, home care, or other services needed by
low-income people who are elderly or have disabilities, or are significantly
increasing the cost of these services."

For a variety of reasons, there are not enough tax revenues being generated
to pay for the basic public services that one would expect in an advanced
country like the United States. The rich are not shouldering their fair
share of the tax burden. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to
consume an insane amount of revenue. And there are not enough j

[LAAMN] Morocco Fez Feb.3rd demo & Iran: Workers’ struggles on the rise – living standards falling

[Cort Greene]

http://www.marxist.com/iran-workers-struggles-on-the-rise.htm

 Iran: Workers’ struggles on the rise – living standards
falling
Written by Reza Zadeh Tuesday, 08 February 2011
[image: 
Print][image:
E-mail]

*This month, we have seen the courageous people of the Arab world rising up
and fighting for a democratic system of government. Also in Iran we continue
to see rising struggles, especially in the form of strikes. They come at a
time of severe cuts to subsidies to food and fuel, and are sure to continue
as the pinch is felt more severely.*

[image: 
kiyan_strike]In
early January, 3500 workers went on strike at the Barez tyre factory in
Kerman province. Their demands were for permanent contracts instead of the
current month-by-month ones; for their full 70 hour overtime compensation
rather than the current 40 hour one recognised by the management; for two
days off per week rather than the current one day per two weeks; and for the
increase in production bonuses, which have been reduced since October. The
same workers also went on a four day strike in September, which was ended
after assurances from the Kerman Labour Office. But citing the incoming
subsidies, the management refused to satisfy the workers’ demands, resulting
in the renewed industrial action in January.

January has also seen the workers at the Alborz tyre factory, in Eslamshahr,
go on strike after they only received 50% of their back pay, which still
includes four months’ worth of salaries and a New Year bonus from last year.
Similarly to the Barez workers, the 1500 employees at the Alborz factory
went on strike just recently, in October.

The strikes come at a time of economic turmoil, when thousands of industrial
workers have been made redundant from recent closures. In recent weeks,
Shahriar Iran Mayeh, Kohgilouyeh Motor Cycle, Khoramdareh Iron Works and
China, and Ilam Zarinbaft have all seen closures to factories. With such a
lack of job security, it is no wonder why the workers at the Barez tyre
factory have called for permanent contracts.

This trend might continue as the subsidies for 16 basic goods and services,
including fuel, electricity, water, wheat, bread, rice, milk and sugar, are
gradually being phased out over a five year period. Already, petrol has
risen from 40 US cents per litre to 70 cents, and diesel has risen from 1.6
cents per litre to 35; wheat flour could previously be bought for well under
1 cent per kilo, but now sells at 28 or 30 cents; the price of water has
risen from an average of under 1 cent per cubic metre to between 25 and 37
cents.

Moreover, the government has anticipated the reaction we have seen to the
policy, which it sees as a threat. This has been evident since even before
the cuts were made, such as when a communiqué was issued by the Supreme
National Security Council on 5 October, sent to all newspapers and news
agencies, warning against any coverage of labour activity. This was
accompanied by the detention of several trade unionists and warnings sent to
others against union organising activities. Additionally, once the plans had
been put into effect in late December, the police presence on the streets
was heavily increased.

Although the strikes have not been focused on the cuts to subsidies, the
strike movement in Iran is in its infancy, and it remains to be seen if and
how it will be shaped by the government’s recent policy. As yet, there has
been little industrial action in the country’s main industries, particularly
oil, although there was a recent strike at the Abadan oil refinery. We
should not rule out the possibility that industrial action will increase as
the impact of the recent cuts is fully felt. Such economic contingencies can
serve as a catalyst to the revolution, as was the case in the development of
the 1905 Russian Revolution, when “individual coalescing wage struggles
which, in the general temper of the revolutionary situation and under the
influence of the social democratic agitation, rapidly became political
demonstrations; the economic factor and the scattered condition of trade
unionism were the starting point, all-embracing class and political action
the result” (Rosa Luxemberg, The Mass Strike, 1906). We see a similar
situation in Iran: trade unions are few and small, strikes are focused on
local industrial issues, and yet there is unified discontent directed
towards the government.

The mass strike will not arise out of different conditions to these. It is
merely the ‘method of motion of the proletarian mass, the outward
manifestation of the proletarian struggle in the revolution’ (Rosa
Luxemberg, The Mass Strike, 1906). It i

[LAAMN] Black & Brown Unity! Black Panther Film Showing. This Saturday!

[Ron]

Hope you can make it out to this very important event THIS SATURDAY! Join Union 
del Barrio, the South Central Neighborhood Council and the Southern CA 
Immigration Coalition as we celebrate the living legacy of the Black Power 
movement! Please help us spread the word about this FREE event. All oppressed 
peoples unite!
 
   Ron Gochez
Social Justice Educator/Community Organizer
   Union del Barrio. Base Tierra y Libertad
   
  Saturday, February 12, 2011. 6:00PM 
   Film Screening: All Power to the People
   Centro Cultural Francisco Villa
   2100 Maple Ave. LA, CA 90011
   

 

   

 All Power to the People! examines problems 
of race, poverty, dissent, and the universal conflict of the “haves versus the 
have nots”. U.S. government documents, rare news clips, and interviews with 
both ex-activists and former FBI/CIA officers, provide deep insight into the 
bloody conflict between political dissent and governmental authority in the 
U.S. of the 60s and 70s.
 
  
 Globally acclaimed as being amount the most accurate depictions of 
the goals, aspirations, and ultimate repression of the U.S. Civil Rights 
Movement. All Power to the People! is a gripping, timeless news documentary.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
   
   
  
 
 
 

  



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





---
LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network
---
Unsubscribe: 
---
Subscribe: 
---
Digest: 
---
Help: 
---
Post: 
---
Archive1: 
---
Archive2: 
---
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com 
laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[LAAMN] A Villa in the Jungle? -- Brilliant analysis of the Egyptian eruption by Israeli commentator Uri Avnery

[Ed Pearl]

Hi. Last Saturday, I went to the discussion between Richard Falk
and Jeffrey Sachs on Israel/Palestine.  Though both speakers
were strong; Sachs, looking at the bright end of gloom and Falk,
more realistic, the great revolution/evolution in Egypt and its
resonance throughout the Middle East and North Africa was barely
mentioned.  Avnery, here, gives the events and their impact their due.
Ed

From: "Sid Shniad" 
Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2011 1:26 PM

Uri Avnery
February 5, 2011

*A Villa in the Jungle?*

*The turmoil in Egypt was caused by economic factors: the rising cost of
living, the poverty, the unemployment, the hopelessness of the educated
young. But let there be no mistake: the underlying causes are far more
profound. They can be summed up in one word: Palestine. People can suffer
deprivation, but they will not stand humiliation. What every young Arab from
Morocco to Oman saw daily was his leaders humiliating themselves, forsaking
their Palestinian brothers in order to gain favor and money from America,
collaborating with the Israeli occupation, cringing before the new
colonizers. *

WE ARE in the middle of a geological event. An earthquake of epoch-making
dimensions is changing the landscape of our region. Mountains turn into
valleys, islands emerge from the sea, volcanoes cover the land with lava.

People are afraid of change. When it happens, they tend to deny, ignore,
pretend that nothing really important is happening.

Israelis are no exception. While in neighboring Egypt earth-shattering
events were taking place, Israel was absorbed with a scandal in the army
high command. The Minister of Defense abhors the incumbent Chief of Staff
and makes no secret of it. The presumptive new chief was exposed as a liar
and his appointment canceled. These were the headlines.

But what is happening now in Egypt will change our lives.


AS USUAL, nobody foresaw it. The much-feted Mossad was taken by surprise, as
was the CIA and all the other celebrated services of this kind.

Yet there should have been no surprise at all - except about the incredible
force of the eruption. In the last few years, we have mentioned many times
in this column that all over the Arab world, multitudes of young people are
growing up with a profound contempt for their leaders, and that sooner or
later this will lead to an uprising. These were not prophesies, but rather a
sober analysis of probabilities.

The turmoil in Egypt was caused by economic factors: the rising cost of
living, the poverty, the unemployment, the hopelessness of the educated
young. But let there be no mistake: the underlying causes are far more
profound. They can be summed up in one word: Palestine.

In Arab culture, nothing is more important than honor. People can suffer
deprivation, but they will not stand humiliation.

Yet what every young Arab from Morocco to Oman saw daily was his leaders
humiliating themselves, forsaking their Palestinian brothers in order to
gain favor and money from America, collaborating with the Israeli
occupation, cringing before the new colonizers. This was deeply humiliating
for young people brought up on the achievements of Arab culture in times
gone by and the glories of the early Caliphs.

Nowhere was this loss of honor more obvious than in Egypt, which openly
collaborated with the Israeli leadership in imposing the shameful blockade
on the Gaza Strip, condemning 1.5 million Arabs to malnutrition and worse.
It was never just an Israeli blockade, but an Israeli-Egyptian one,
lubricated by 1.5 billion US dollars every year.

I have reflected many times – out loud – how I would feel if I were a 15
year-old boy in Alexandria, Amman or Aleppo, seeing my leaders behave like
abject slaves of the Americans and the Israelis, while oppressing and
despoiling their own subjects. At that age, I myself joined a terrorist
organization. Why would an Arab boy be different?

A dictator may be tolerated when he reflects national dignity. But a
dictator who expresses national shame is a tree without roots – any strong
wind can blow him over.

For me, the only question was where in the Arab world it would start. Egypt
– like Tunisia – was low on my list. Yet here it is – the great Arab
revolution taking place in Egypt.


 THIS IS a wonder in itself. If Tunisia was a small wonder, this is a huge
one.

I love the Egyptian people. True, one cannot really like 88 million
individuals, but one can certainly like one people more than another. In
this respect, one is allowed generalize.

The Egyptians you meet in the streets, in the homes of the intellectual
elite and in the alleys of the poorest of the poor, are an incredibly
patient lot. They are endowed with an irrepressible sense of humor. They are
also immensely proud of the country and its 8000 years of history.

For an Israeli, used to his aggressive compatriots, the almost complete lack
of aggressiveness of the Egyptians is astonishing. I vividly remember one
particular scene: I was in a taxi in Ca

[LAAMN] 1/30: UK Immigration officer fired after putting wife on list of terrorists to stop her flying home

[Lee Siu Hin]

Immigration officer fired after putting wife on list of terrorists to stop her 
flying home 



By Steve Doughty
30th January 2011





Sacked: The UK Border Agency official was fired for gross misconduct, having 
placed his wife's name on a list of people not allowed into Britain




 An immigration officer tried to rid himself of his wife by adding her name to 
a list of terrorist suspects.



He used his access to security databases to include his wife on a watch list of 
people banned from boarding flights into Britain because their presence in the 
country is 'not conducive to the public good'.



As a result the woman was unable for three years to return from Pakistan after 
travelling to the county to visit family.



 The tampering went undetected until the immigration officer was selected for 
promotion and his wife name was found on the suspects' listduring a vetting 
inquiry.



The Home Office confirmed today that the officer has been sacked for gross 
misconduct.



Theincident is likely to raise new questions over levels of efficiency in the 
UK Border Agency, the organisation formed nearly three years ago by then Home 
Secretary Jacqui Smith to take over all immigration controls.



Ithas been criticised for poor performance by the Parliamentary Ombudsmanand 
has suffered its share of humiliating incidents - for example the incident 19 
months ago when an illegal immigrant escaped from the channel tunnel port at 
Folkestone by clinging to the underside of a bus carrying Border Agency staff.

 
The Agency is charged with putting into operation the Coalition's policy of 
reducing numbers of workers from outside Europe allowed into Britain.



 



Prime mover: Jacqui Smith set up the UK Border Agency three years ago, but 
these latest revelations have led to calls for tighter vetting

 A spokesman said: 'We expect the highest levels of integrity. Allegations of 
misconduct are thoroughly investigated and we always take action swiftly where 
we find members of staff who have abused their position.



'On the extremely rare occasions where this occurs, the strongest action is 
taken.'



The officer in the latest incident to come to light was employed by a unit 
maintaining watch lists. 



He is understood to have worked at the Agency's headquarters at Lunar House in 
Croydon, South London.



His wife visited family in Pakistan but when she tried to return to Britain she 
was not allowed onto the aircraft. Airline and immigration officials refused to 
explain to her why.



She was forced to remain in Pakistan for three years until her husband's 
manipulation of the suspect list came to light.



He is understood to have applied for a promotion that would have meant a higher 
level of security clearance. 



During the vetting process the name of his wife was discovered on the suspect 
list, to the surprise of security staff.



 When questioned, the officer confessed to his alteration of the lists and was 
sacked.

Read more: 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1351937/Immigration-officer-fired-putting-wife-list-terrorists-stop-flying-home.html#ixzz1DNaVbrsH



==

National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
e-mail: i...@immigrantsolidarity.org

New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
Chicago: (773)942-2268


Please consider making a donation to the important work of National Immigrant 
Solidarity Network

Send check pay to:
National Immigrant Solidarity Network/AFGJ

National Immigrant Solidarity Network
P.O. Box 751
South Pasadena, CA 91031-0751
(All donations are tax deductible)
  


 

 
 
 




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





---
LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network
---
Unsubscribe: 
---
Subscribe: 
---
Digest: 
---
Help: 
---
Post: 
---
Archive1: 
---
Archive2: 
---
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group o

[LAAMN] U.S. Hands Off the Arab Revolution

[Freedom Socialist Party LA]

U.S. Hands Off the Arab RevolutionStatement by the Freedom Socialist Party
February 2, 2011
Since January 25, the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez have been 
occupied by ever-growing crowds of protesters demanding the end to the 
despotic 30-year regime of U.S-backed Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. Fed up 
with repression, political corruption, high unemployment and rising food 
prices, Egyptian students, unemployed youth, workers, and women are 
facing down police (in and out of uniform) and trying to win rank-and-file 

soldiers to their side. The rebellion that was touched off in Egypt by the 

overthrow of the Ben Ali dictatorship in Tunisia is today spilling over into 

other Arab nations; among these are Jordan, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, 
Yemen, and Algeria.As the days pass and the Egyptian rebellion gains steam, 
it becomes
more and more critical for those outside the Middle East who favor 
workingclass freedom to show their support for this inspiring popular 
uprising by holding demonstrations and issuing public statements that 
demand "Hands off the Arab Revolution!" This is especially true in the U.S. 
and Europe since without the support of 
imperialism, many of the henchmen ruling Arab countries today would not 
last a minute longer. The fact that Egypt is second only to Israel as a 
recipient of U.S. military aid -- $1.3 billion -- tells the whole story in 
a few 
words. President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who never 
condemned the overthrow of democratically elected Honduran president 
Manuel Zelaya by military forces tied to the U.S., now hypocritically call 
for 
an "orderly transition" to democracy and a "national dialogue" that will lead 

to "free and fair elections." But it's much too late for this. Clearly the 

Egyptian people are not listening; their dialogue with Mubarak has a life of 

its own. The great challenge facing the Egyptian rebellion is to cast out 
Mubarak 

and his cronies and to replace them with a workers state that will provide 

for the poor (half of all Egyptians -- 40 million people -- live on less than 
$2 
a day). This means rejecting the advances of bourgeois leaders, such as 
Mohamed ElBaradei, who put themselves forward to negotiate in the 
name of the people. ElBaradei is a Nobel winner and the former top 
nuclear inspector for the U.N. who has been living in exile in Vienna for all 

of Mubarak's 30-year reign. He has returned to Egypt since the uprising 
began and is proposing to put together a transitional government to rule 
until previously scheduled elections in September.Egyptian workers hold the 
key to the success of this revolt. Over the last 
five years, they have fought difficult union battles in the textile industry 
and 
in the port city of Suez, a major industrial center. They also waged and 
won a court battle to overturn Law No. 100 which effectively placed the 
unions under state control and prevented fair elections. On January 30, a group 
of independent unions announced the formation of 
a new alliance -- the Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions (FETU) -- and 
called for a general strike. In its new constitution, they noted that "Labor 

struggles paved the way to today's peoples revolution. That is why 
Egyptian workers and employees totally refuse that the governmental 
general federation [of unions] represents them and speaks in their name, 
because it often denied their rights and claims and even issued the 
famous statement on January 27 claiming to oppose every single protest 
action during this period."In addition to demanding "the right to dignity, 
freedom and social justice," 
the FETU calls for freeing all detainees arrested after January 25 and 
protecting the right to organize as well as immediately instituting 
unemployment compensation, a minimum wage tied to inflation, social 
security, health care, housing, free education, and pensions. The 
federation also urges workers "to create civil committees in order to 
defend their workplaces, [other] workers and citizens during these critical 

times and to organize protest actions and strikes ... to realize [the] 
Egyptian people's claims."The situation in Egypt today is extremely fluid and 
no one knows where it 
will end. On January 29, it was reported that Bedouin tribesman had taken 
control of two towns in the Sinai Peninsula. These towns are the closest 
to the Gaza Strip and right next to the border with Israel. There were 
reports that Bedouin tribes had also laid siege to a police station in Suez 

while protests there had spread. Ending the Mubarak dictatorship's control 

of this region is key to winning a workers' revolution. As the world watches 
this unfolding revolution, we in the Freedom 
Socialist Party will be in our unions and on the streets and the Internet 
letting the Obama administration know we stand as workers, as feminists, 
as internationalists and socialists with the Arab Revolution. Mubarak out now!
 
Free Egypt's political prisoners!End