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This is Noor Elashi, the daughter of a defendant in the Holy Land Foundation Retrial.

During the past three weeks, I have felt my heart shatter a few times as I witnessed prosecutors use vindictive approaches such as character assassination, fear-mongering and guilt by association as an attempt to convict my dad.

Sitting in the courtroom, I've felt my blood boil and freeze and boil again in a few seconds time. And as I looked behind me, my eyes scanning the room in search for faces of encouragement and moral support, I found that it was mostly empty with the majority of the benches unoccupied.

My dad and these men ran the largest American Muslim charity, saving hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide. We should be tremendously proud of them. They were honorable leaders in their communities. And now, they are paying a price for sponsoring orphans, assisting widows, equipping clinics, planting trees and wiping away tears.

I know you have your jobs and schoolwork and other priorities. But what if this was your dad, your uncle, your cousin, your husband or your best friend?

Gratitude from the bottom of my heart goes out to everyone who has attended so far. I sincerely hope to see the rest of you soon.

Next week, the retrial will run from Tuesday, Oct. 14 to Friday, Oct. 17. For the following four weeks or so, the retrial will take place Mondays through Thursdays. You can come ANYTIME between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. (There is a lunch break between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.)

To read about the case so far, visit http://www.freedomtogive.com

Thanks,

Noor Elashi
A Proud Daughter of Ghassan Elashi

related link: http://www.freedomtogive.com

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“A-bil-ene, A-bil-ene, meanest jail I ever seen!” says Diane Wilson, co-founder of Texas Jail Project

Join her and other volunteers from around the state at a Texas Jail Project rally in Abilene when Texans speak out about mistreatment of inmates in the Taylor County Jail.

When: Wednesday, October 15, at 1pm

Where: Taylor County Courthouse, 300 Oak Street, by the Veterans Memorial, Abilene, Texas

What: At this press conference, speakers will present information about abuse and neglect over the past several years and as recently as this July. We invite former inmates, family members of inmates and musicians to attend. We'll make music, chant and march. Bring your tambourine and your drum! Warm up your voice and tune up your guitar! We will raise a ruckus!

Why: In Taylor County Jail, medical treatment is poor and sometimes non-existent. Inmates with mental disorders often are not issued their medication, but are instead harassed. Punishment for in-jail infractions, which should be limited to institutionally approved sanctions, too often includes covert verbal and physical abuse. The employees’ refusal to recognize the civil rights of inmates, along with the generally inhumane and violent culture they accept and perpetuate, is evident in the reports filed at the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

Read examples of abuse in this letter on the TJP website:
http://texasjailproject.org/news/chaplain_exposes_taylor_county_jail

For more info: Diana@texasjailproject.org
Sponsored by Texas Jail Project
texasjailproject.org

related link: http://www.texasjailproject.org

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The Bush Administration has systematically compromised the neutrality and independence of the U.S. Justice Department. For proof, look at Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson. These aides of the last two U.S. Attorneys General, Alberto Gonzalez and John Ashcroft, recently admitted to have favored professed loyalists to President George W. Bush for high-level jobs in the Justice Department. To the aides, admiration for the president was more desirable than upholding justice.

Least surprised by these “new” revelations are American Muslims and their organizations, all victims of unrelenting persecution and harassment by the Bush Justice Department since the ill-fated day of Sept. 11, 2001. As proof of President Bush’s arrogant abuse of power, American Muslims point to the continuing saga of the Dallas-based Holy Land Foundation (HLF). In next month’s retrial, federal prosecutors will be desperately seeking the conviction of any one of the five defendants as a present for Bush before he leaves Washington for retirement in Dallas.

While the prosecution did not accuse the five defendants of committing any acts of terrorism, it argued that by providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian children, the HLF indirectly helped Hamas by freeing up its resources to attack Israel. The government admitted, however, that the Palestinian groups the HLF was accused of helping also received aid from US AID and several European Union countries at the same time.

So why is the HLF being singled out?

"It is a political witch hunt to appease an expansionist power in the Middle East. It is a sure sign we are living in Orwellian times when those who provide food, clothing, and shelter to the hungry and destitute are demonized as criminals as if Palestinian children are not worthy of what every child needs," said John Wolf, a Dallas-area human rights activist.

After lasting two months, the first HLF trial ended in a mistrial; the 14-year federal investigation into HLF conducted in concert with international intelligence agencies across three continents yielded no convictions out of more than 200 indictments. For the first time in American history, a national of a foreign country was allowed to "secretly" testify against American citizens in a U.S. court. The accused were not allowed to question their accuser.

related link: http://www.hungryforjustice.org

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As the dusk grew deeper, the block of Speer near Blake St. was a crazy melange of protesters, police, bystanders, vendors and evangelists. The general mood was one of confusion and elation. But across a small park, which is less than half a block wide, the mood was radically different; it was one of quiet intensity. There, a line of 70 to 100 Iraq Veterans Against War, in uniform and in formation began to march towards a waiting line of grim faced, black suited and jack booted police.

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Hello comrades, friends, family, allies and strangers

I am writing on this day of remembrance and tears, struggle and concerns of the disaster from Katrina in the Gulf Coast of three years ago in 2005.

We cannot let history as told by those who assume Power forget. Forget today, forget 2005 or forget the 500 years of neglect, abandonment and indifference that lead to the slow disasters on communities like those in the Gulf or anywhere in our world.

New Orleans today is still dichotomies on the ground; hope and sadness, emptiness and return--beauty and distress. Lives still need to be rebuilt but hope still resides in many areas.

I had just been learning to sleep better again since 2005, but with Gustav approaching I—like many of you—have been watching and thinking of the past and of today. I still carry
that time and Gustav becomes the reminder of the fragility of it all.

Some of you may be aware there is a hurricane named Gustav that is working its way into the Gulf Of Mexico as we speak. It has already left devastation in its wake upon small Caribbean countries whose people have suffered under Power and now natural disaster.

It is predicted to become a category 3 by landfall in the u.s. It is also has indications of heading for the New Orleans area--at this point most likely Morgan City west of NOLA. Of course these are only predictions. But with predictions and memory come concerns.

Why would I care you may ask?
Good question. A couple of reasons, remember Katrina and the levee failure in NOLA? Besides the travesty of indifference and arrogance from the government and the Red Cross that we remember, there were many other places along the Gulf Coast that suffered in silence. Now on the third anniversary many of these communities are under direct threat from the storm as well as indirect threat of being ignored and forgotten again.

Vigilance and deeds
We of Common Ground Relief are asking that you all remain aware. Aware that the potential
for history to repeat in response to disaster or really to anything. Also not forget during this time of remembrances. New Orleans has still not been rebuilt, and the progress is slow. The levees are only 20% completed and millions of dollars over budget. The coastal areas which include First Nation and other small towns and Vietnamese and Cajun fishing villages; these people are still in disrepair and vulnerable due to major wetlands loss of human cause.

We at Common Ground are making preparations to again be first responders through out most any region in the Gulf. We will need people, material aid and ways to keep the story visible. We have supplies and coordination to mobilize quickly and efficiently but we also need you. We are monitoring the situation, preparing ourselves and others to be ready to act
should it be necessary.

Stay alert and prepared to support those in the Gulf Coast if necessary. It is we--in civil society--and those affected directly who will face the real needs head on. Governments and
large bureaucratic agencies will raise money, will do little and often will not do it well.
There are many small grassroots groups throughout the region that will need support. Find them, and do what you can from your home with what you have access to. Don’t let corporate media and complacency forget. Don’t let the pageantry and fireworks of systemic corrupted Power distract us from immediate needs. All empires fall and theirs despite pomp and circumstance will be no different. On this third anniversary of remembrances tell and retell the stories to move us all into actions again.

We are the ones we have been waiting on. With Hope and determination
From the concrete jungle in the Gulf Coast Basin

scott crow
Co-Founder of Common Ground Collective
On behalf of Common Ground Relief
08.29.08

related link: http://commongroundrelief.org

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Friday, August 1st, 8:30 p.m.

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We will gather for a rally at 6:00 p.m. on July 8th outside the Fort Worth City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton. (music, protest signs, chain gang Bush and Cheney puppets, street theater!)

At 7:00 p.m. Over 200 persons will enter the city council chambers to be a large audience while some persons speak to city council.

This citizens initiative is endorsed by Code Pink Fort Worth, 1919 Hemphill (The Space), and North Texas for Justice and Peace (NTJP).

We need you to attend for support of this effort, sponsored by "Citizens for Impeachment".

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These excerpts are from his relevant comedy soliloquy from the late 1990s:

As far as I’m concerned, all of this airport security – the cameras, the questions, the screening, the searches, is just one more way of reducing your liberty and reminding you they can fuck with you anytime they want, as long as you’re willing to put up with it. Which means, of course, anytime they want. Because that’s the way Americans are now. They’re always willing to trade away a little of their freedom for the feeling – the illusion – of security.

You have got to be realistic about terrorism. Ya gotta be a realist: Certain groups of people – muslim fundamentalists, christian fundamentalists, jewish fundamentalists, and just plain guys from Montana – are going to continue to make life in this country very interesting for a long, long time. That’s the reality. Angry men in combat fatigues talking to god on a two-way radio and muttering incoherent slogans about freedom are eventually going to provide us with a great deal of entertainment.

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The Cesar Chavez Taskforce, a coalition headed by LULAC and Alberto Ruiz held a press conference on Monday, June 16 in the Flag Room at Dallas City Hall, to address the controversy caused by the selection of the name Cesar Chavez to replace that of Industrial Blvd. by a clear majority of respondents in a poll and by the city council's inexplicable reluctance to heed the call of the people. Many Hispanic leaders addressed the press, most stressing the position that Chavez is a great American who deserves to be honored by having a street named after him, and the clearly expressed preference of the people also deserves to be honored. Reverend Peter Johnson, who brought the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to Dallas, spoke of the long brotherhood between Chavez's United Farmworkers and the SCLC.

In response to questions, speakers said that the task force will not accept the compromise of changing the name of Industrial Blvd. to Riverfront/Industrial Blvd and naming another major street, such as Jefferson Blvd., after Chavez. They want Industrial Blvd named Chavez Blvd.

A lot of the questioning had a hostile undertone to it. One reporter mentioned Chavez's commitment to nonviolence, and asked what he would think of the divisiveness caused by the task force. A member of the task force responded that she and a large number of the older people there had marched with Chavez, and the reporter should refrain from trying to teach them Chavez's philosophy.

One of the inspiring things about the conference was the presence of young people. Many elementary school kids were holding flags and banners and learning how (or whether) democracy works.

After the conference, this reporter spoke with Joe Wells, the Dallas County Treasurer, who characterized himself as an activist who had marched with Chavez. He reminded me that Chavez was a Union organizer and wondered "Where is labor? Why aren't they here?'"

The task force will meet Wednesday, June 18, at the LULAC Center, 345 S. Edgefield Ave.. They ask that anyone willing to contribute to their efforts please attend.

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They came to Dallas, the fat cats with their fat purses and their love of flatulent refineries and chemical processing plants, which along with their noxious clouds of toxicity produce even more lard in the tightly clutched purses. They came in their stretched cars whose voracious appetites provide ever more lucre for the monster off of whom they all feed.



Outside were those who live downwind from their plants. Locked outside with a line of police between them and the doors were those whose children are forced to breathe the foul exhalations of the luxurious conveyances. These 60 to 80 people came equipped with the dedication of the Dallas Peace Center, the stubbornness of North Texas for Justice and Peace, the enthusiasm of UNT's SDS and the clout of nationwide organizations, such as the hard won moral authority of Iraq Veterans Against War, the Wobblies' disdain for the corporate establishment, Consumers for Peace's tenacity in opposing Exxon Mobil, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's firm belief that right will prevail.

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