Israel kills humanitarians on flotilla bound for Palestine

Israel attacks humanitarian relief, Gaza Freedom Flotilla
The Hindu newspaper reports 20 humanitarians killed by Israeli soldiers
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/06/01/stories/2010060156320100.htm

The Free Gaza Movement:
Under darkness of night, Israeli commandoes dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck. They fired directly into the crowd of civilians asleep.
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Cynthia McKinney: "I am outraged at Israel's latest criminal act. I mourn with my fellow Free Gaza travelers, the lives that have been lost by Israel's needless, senseless act against unarmed humanitarian activists. But I'm even more outraged that once again, Israel's actions have been aided and abetted by a U.S. political class that has become corrupted beyond belief due to its reliance on Zionist finance and penetration by Zionist zealots for whom no U.S. weapons system is too much for the Israeli war machine, and the silence of the world's onlookers whose hearts have grown cold with indifference."
What you can do:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2010/05/israel-attacks-humanitarian-flotilla.html

Mohawk Nation News: 20 Years After Mohawk Oka Crisis

20 YEARS AFTER MOHAWK OKA CRISIS
Mohawk Nation News

http://www.mohawknationnews.com/

MNN. Sep. 15, 2009. July 11, 2010, will be twenty years since the Canadian military attacked the Mohawk Nation at Kanehsatake, Kahnawake and Akwesasne. We did not want the nearby town of Oka to extend its golf course over our ceremonial site and burial grounds. The Quebec police opened fire with automatic guns and tear gas on Mohawk men, women and children. For 78 days we faced the combined firepower of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Quebec Police and the RCMP.

We found ourselves fighting for our identity and defending ourselves against oppression by Canada and Quebec. The Mohawk defenders were brought to trial on criminal charges.

The following is a synopsis of the first day of the first year-long trial after the crisis. [MOHAWK WARRIORS THREE – The Trial of Lasagna, Noriega & 20-20]. This was followed by another year long trial of over 50 other Mohawks and our allies. We were all acquitted.
The trial started on Monday, October 21, 1991, in the St. Jerome Court, north of Montreal.

Our 3 Warriors/Rotiskenrakete faced 59 charges: assaults, mischief, mischief and theft, beating and mischief, and mischief against the Canadian Army. Generally, they were mischievous.

The 12 all-white English jury sat silent. The crown’s lies were totally confusing. The Quebec cops refused to speak English and had a squad of translators. Oui! Oui!

The screaming racist Crown prosecutor, Francois [Petticoat] Briere, opened the trial by saying, “I will prove that these three are criminals against everybody [in the world]!”

The first witness for Canada, Evergreen, was a short portly middle-aged Mohawk woman with a pug nose. She wore a brown leather full length coat. Her husband was Chief Jungle Jim of Kanehsatake. She was known as Woodpecker because, as a kid, she jumped other kids and beat them on the back, tah-tah-tah-tah!.

On July 31st she drove through the warrior checkpoint with a pizza and some videos to spend a quiet evening in the “war zone”. As she came through, a Warrior suddenly jumped on top of her car and disappeared!

On August 1, 1990, her husband, Jungle Jim, went to Ottawa with fellow councilor, Buddy Elm. They met with George Erasmus and Ovide Mercredi, of the Assembly of First Nations AFN [collaborators of Canada], and Tom Porter, a snitch from Akwesasne, to get instructions from their colonial masters.

As they were returning home, Evergreen heard on the scanner, “Chief Jungle is coming with Buddy”. A few minutes after they got home, four Rotiskenrakere in full fatigue showed up at her house.
One Rotiskenrakete yelled, “Buddy Elm, get your fat ass out here. We want you!”

The next one repeated, “Buddy Elm, get your fat ass out here. We want you!”

Evergreen declared, “No one is going out there.”

Two warriors broke the front door window. One got in and slapped Buddy Elm while another said, “Why can’t you be reasonable. Why don’t you resign?” Then they left.

Evergreen said that “honestly” she never once discussed this incident since then to this day. She admitted Crown Prosecutor Briere had given her some papers to study before testifying.

She became confused about the many conflicting declarations she had signed, “because the SQ officer did not speak English”.

On August 1, 1990, the Canadian Army had closed in on Kanehsatake. She left the next day. The police wrote out the statements which she signed. They put her, her husband and Buddy Elm in a motel all expenses paid.

When asked how her husband was selected to be Grand Chief, she admitted they were colonial government supporters.

Buddy Elm, a former councilor, was the next witness. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and sunglasses in the windowless court.

During the incident, Chief Jungle was in the bathroom, Evergreen was moving around and Buddy Elm did not see who was at the door.
Someone yelled, “Where’s Buddy? We want to talk to him!” Then the window was smashed and the door was kicked open. A warrior apparently kicked Buddy Elm on his ample left thigh and tapped him on the left side of his head.

The trial continued for almost a year with an army of army, police and snitch witnesses. The 3 Warriors did not put in a defense. All charges were dropped except for minor ones on Lasagna.

The trial shows how the Canadian political and legal systems are stacked against us. The Three did not recognize the jurisdiction of the white man ‘s court and remained silent. After the verdict one of the Three said, “I would do it again” [defend the People, Pines and burial grounds].

Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, to donate and to sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com See Category “Kanehsatake”.

Store: Indigenous author – Kahnawake books – Mohawk Warriors Three – Warriors Hand Book – rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy – Where Eagles Dare to Soar.

Category: Colonialism – Courts/Police – legal/lawyers - Constitution/jurisdiction - - Colonialism – EconomEnvironment – NWO/ Corporations/Military – Military Industrial complex - Warriors.

Tags: Mohawks - North American Indians – Turtle Island – Indigenous sovereignty – Aboriginal rights – Indigenous trade & commerce – AIM American Indian Movement – Keepers of Eastern Door – terrorism/insurgents – media demonization of Natives.

Communities Condemn Obama Administration for Militarization of Border

Contact: Derechos Humanos: 520.770.1373
Communities Condemn Obama Administration's Decision to Further Militarize the U.S. - México Border
We must stand together on May 29, 2010 to show our resolve against injustice
By Derechos Humanos

Photo: Angie Ramon, Tohono O'odham whose son Bennett Patricio, Jr., was run over and killed by the US Border Patrol, stands before crosses at San Xavier to remember the migrants who died crossing the Sonoran Desert. Photo: Brenda Norrell.

TUCSON - The Coalición de Derechos Humanos along with groups across the country, condemn Tuesday's announcement that the Obama Administration will send 1,200 National Guard troops to Arizona and will request an additional $500 million to "secure" the Mexican border.

The decision by Obama to "up the ante" on the militarization scheme of over 16 years, not only follows his administration's record of continued attacks on immigrant families across the nation since he became President but his own DHS 800 ICE agent military-style assault on the communities in Arizona on April 15, 2010. Last year, President Obama also sent more than 700 new federal agents to the border, at that time responding to cries of non-existent "spill-over violence," feeding the continued growth of the militarization and of the anti-immigrant sentiment.

"Our communities have born the consequences of border security policies implemented since the mid-1990's-thousands of migrants who have been funneled to their deaths along the Arizona-Sonora border, dangerous spikes in xenophobia and the growth of hate groups, negative economic impacts and other tensions for border communities, the eventual election of anti-immigrant politicians and the enactment of anti-immigrant laws" stated Isabel Garcia, member of Coalicion de Derechos Humanos. "Now this new decision will be felt increasingly and devastatingly across the country."

In July of 1994, Doris Meissner, then Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) released the "Border Patrol Strategic Plan: 1994 and Beyond," which clearly shows that their predicted effects of increased militarization would lead to the current political conditions in the state of Arizona.
"Those of us who knew that Arizona was 'chosen' to become the laboratory for the anti-immigrant policies back in 1994, now hope that we can finally reframe the immigration debate by demanding that President Obama and the Congress engage in a dialogue that includes an analysis of our foreign and economic policies, such as NAFTA and the Merida Initiative (and the resulting migration), a review of our immigration laws and policies that have encouraged unauthorized migration, and an acknowledgement of the vast contributions made by immigrants," stated Garcia. "We must tell the U. S. public the truth about immigration. But if we follow the same framework and continued increases in police and other enforcement/prosecution measures such as Operation Streamline, we will continue the negative consequences as well, including the unprecedented expenditures."

The decision to send military troops into civilian communities is also extremely dangerous. On May 20th, 1997, the nation was horrified by the murder of a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil by the military. Eighteen year-old Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., who was tending to the family's goats on his family's ranch in Redford, Texas was stalked for twenty-one minutes and then shot and killed. The U.S. Marines, part of Joint Task Force Six, an INS/Department of Defense unit working along the border, worried that they had killed an innocent civilian and watched Esequiel dying for approximately twenty minutes before calling in to report the incident. A House Judiciary Sub-Committee subsequently made damaging findings, including accusations of obstruction of investigation, and clearly illustrates the dangers of placing military troops in civilian communities.

Derechos Humanos and allies across the country call on each one of us to take responsibility to learn the truth about the immigration issues and to engage in dialogue in our own communities and families. While those in power focus on pitting us against each other, worker against worker, Big Oil and Wall Street get a free pass. We must not allow the attacks on our communities. We demand that the Obama Administration reverse his decision to send national guard troops to our border and to request half a billion dollars to "secure the border." Our country needs real security - jobs, health care, quality education, housing, healthy communities - not measures that bring pain, division, hate and destruction.
Coalición de Derechos Humanos
P.O. Box 1286 Tucson, AZ 85702
Tel: 520.770.1373
Fax: 520.770.7455
http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/

A Sacred Fire is Burning at Eagle Rock

Kennecott and Law Enforcement Break Up Eagle Rock Camp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKI0oZj_6II

Sign the Petition to Halt Sulfide Mining at Eagle Rock

http://www.savethewildup.org/petition

AP article on arrests:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10759335

A Sacred Fire is Burning at Eagle Rock
By Cynthia Pryor
Huffington Post
Around the world, indigenous communities are defending their homelands and sacred sites from mining companies with more urgency than ever. With the fictional Avatar receiving so much media attention, it's important to realize that very real battles between indigenous communities protecting sacred sites and corporations infringing on them are happening in the real world. And not just in exotic corners of the world, but right here in America, in the Great Lakes, where millions get their drinking water.

Rio Tinto has from the beginning played out the role of the big bad mining company in its plans to mine nickel and copper in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The project has been marred by a flawed approval process, with one expert hired by the state insisting the project could collapse on workers. Despite unresponsive regulators and politicians, a persistent grassroots movement has stalled the company plans by years already.

This seven-year battle between Rio Tinto and local citizens came to a head when I was arrested a couple weeks ago for "trespassing" on land the company wants to mine for nickel, copper and other precious metals. I was doing what I've been doing on a weekly basis for over a decade - walking with my dog to Migi Zii Wa Sin, or Eagle Rock, a sacred site to Anishinaabe tribes. Rio Tinto took my presence there as a threat and called local law enforcement to the scene. I was arrested and jailed for refusing to leave land the company still has no legal title to.
The important thing about my arrest is that it happened on public land. A couple years ago, Rio Tinto signed a land use lease with the State of Michigan to build surface facilities and a portal for their mine. They still lack federal approval to move forward, yet have bulldozed anyway in order to fence the land off for 40 years and blast a portal for the mine into Eagle Rock. The ore body itself lies underneath a river that feeds into Lake Superior, the largest and most pristine of the Great Lakes.

Under the Treaty of 1842 the Anishinaabe have retained all rights for fishing, hunting and gathering on public lands over a wide swath of land in Michigan and Wisconsin. By allowing Rio Tinto to mine a sacred site, the State of Michigan has disregarded these long-standing rights and dismissed Eagle Rock as a place of worship. Would Rio Tinto get away with blasting a mine into the floor of a Christian cathedral? I doubt it.

My arrest triggered three brave members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) to act in protecting their treaty rights and sacred site. They arrived at Eagle Rock the night of April 23 in a beat-up Geo Metro to "take a stand." The courage of these women, who were the first to occupy Eagle Rock, has inspired many more men and women - both native and non-native - to gather here to protect this place.

"I am here because I am a woman and we protect our sacred water," Charlotte Loonsfoot (picture to left by Chauncey Moran), a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, told me about her initial decision to occupy Eagle Rock. "It is the bloodline of Mother Earth and if we pollute her blood, we will die."

"We have done ceremonies before recorded time until the Treaty of 1842 and our people's removal from our culture and our language. Our stand at Eagle Rock is not only to protect our water, but the spirit in Eagle Rock."

This place, while held sacred by the Anishinaabe, is also a place that is dear to the people living in the small remote communities surrounding Eagle Rock. Locals cherish the notion that America still has remote places where no industrial lights block out the stars, no industrial noise blocks out the wind in the pines, and where people may quietly enjoy these quality public lands held in trust for them by the State of Michigan.

Our state government has sold us out on this public land heritage by placing the wealth and profit of Rio Tinto over the health and welfare of the people it represents. Not only do they fail to recognize the sacred value of Eagle Rock and the rights of the Anishinaabe, they have allowed this company to proceed without federal approval while arresting citizens under absurd charges for getting in the way of Rio Tinto's plans.

Rio Tinto is working now to fence off this public land and Eagle Rock and doesn't seem to mind moving forward without legal authority from the federal government. The Anishinaabe and their non-native supporters will not allow this to continue. We will peacefully stay here until the state recognizes our rights to public land, the sovereign rights of the Anishinaabe, and their right to their sacred land - right here at Eagle Rock.

Cynthia Pryor lives seven miles away from Rio Tinto's planned mine, near the Yellow Dog River, and has worked through the grassroots Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve since 1995.

Anyone interested in keeping up on this issue can find photos and more information at the blog for the Eagle Rock occupation, http://www.standfortheland.com/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-pryor/a-sacred-fire-is-burning_b_567652.html

Navajos Protest Uranium Mining Plans

Navajo Activists Protest Uranium Mining Plans
Democracy Now!
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/28/headlines#13
A group of indigenous activists have traveled to Denver this week to protest a uranium mining conference discussing new mining projects on Navajo land. Three Navajo activists were removed from the conference despite being formally invited to attend one of the sessions. On Thursday, one of the three, Nadine Padilla of the Multicultural Alliance for Safe Environments, protested her expulsion.
Nadine Padilla: "The problem is this is a meeting we should have been involved in from the start. The four proposed mines on Navajo land is something the community members need to be a part of. We need to be at the table and need to have our voices and our concerns heard by people who are making the decisions, such as the federal agencies like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."
Statement from Navajos:
We call on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the National Mining Association, Uranium Resources Inc. and Hydro Resources Inc. to take immediate action to reverse the dangerous and deadly course you are taking. On behalf of all the communities and living creature still suffering from the legacy of uranium mining we demand that you immediately:
Respect and abide by the Navajo Nation’s ban on uranium mining
Revoke/Withdraw all four ISL permits for uranium mines slated for Crownpoint and Church Rock communities on the Navajo Nation.
Consider existing conditions and cumulative impacts in your licensing decisions. This is what matters to the human body.
Support the cleanup of the 259 abandoned uranium mines and tailing sites in New Mexico.
Insure that drinking water is protected. Contamination must not be allowed from traditional or in-situ mining practices. Water is sacred and vital to all life.
NEVER AGAIN
Enough Is Enough
No New Permits for Uranium Mines!
On May 18, 2010, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver rejected the needs of the people by allowing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Hydro Resources Inc to mine uranium that can impact the aquifer that supplies drinking water for 15,000 Navajos in Church Rock, New Mexico. Dissenting Judge Carlos F. Lucero explained the error in his colleague’s legal opinion this way:
“HRI plans to mine the site, which will result in total radiation levels nine to 15 times the permitted regulatory limit,” he said.
These mining permits are the First step in a process that threatens the local and global environment with contamination from mining.
The Navajo Nation Government unanimously passed a Uranium Mining Ban on tribal lands in April of 2005. Despite this ban, mining corporations like Hydro Resources Inc. (HRI) and Uranium Resources Inc. (URI) have relentlessly pursued permits for new mines, including mines on native sacred sites in New Mexico.
There is NO NEED for new uranium mining. The value of uranium has been artificially bolstered by false promises of “nuclear power renaissance”. The reality is that current nuclear reactors are in their final years of operation and have adequate fuel. No nuclear plants have been licensed, constructed or are even under construction in the US. The Obama Administration would like to change that and this is one step in the process of expanding the nuclear industry – both power and weapons. There are proposals for 22 new uranium mines, billions for weapons expansion and a number of nuclear power plants have been proposed. This is the wrong direction.
A History of Destruction and No Accountability
Uranium mining began in earnest on Navajo land during the Grants Uranium Boom from the 1950s - 1980s. The NM State Mining and Minerals Division lists 259 uranium production mines and 400 uranium exploration sites with a concentration in the Grants Belt.
When most of these ‘legacy’ mines were operating the Clean Water Act hadn’t been passed and the New Mexico Environment Department didn’t exist. Of the 259 uranium production mines, 137 have no record of any kind of cleanup work.
Navajo families continue to live with the radioactive pollution and increased health risks from past uranium mining and milling, including the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) uranium mill tailings spill into the Puerco River, in the Church Rock area in 1979. This was the largest release of radioactive waste in U.S. history. URI/HRI which acquired this site from UNC in 1993 has still not committed to a full cleanup of the Old Church Rock Mine and the spill.
Today, HRI/URI claims that in-situ mining is safe. But communities like Kingsville TX, disagree. URI has been unable to restore the water quality contaminated by the in-situ mining there.
In-situ leaching releases large amounts of radon, and produces waste slurries and waste water during recovery of the uranium from the liquid. Dangerous radioactive heavy metals are mobilized in this process. It is technologically impossible to restore natural groundwater conditions after leaching operations have been completed.
Why is the US Government and Mining Corporation Disrespecting Our Communities and Putting Us at Risk?
By turning their backs on local opposition and ignoring the hard fought battle of tribal communities and environmental organizations in New Mexico and Texas, state and federal regulators, the courts and environmental agencies have failed to protect these lands from exploitation and environmental destruction.
This is an issue of environmental racism. Despite opposition to new uranium mining from 13 Navajo communities and dozens of other local and regional institutions since 1995, the US Government and Corporate interest continue to press forward.
How You Can Help?
Contact Steve Cohen at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and ask him to revoke permits for all four proposed mines at Crownpoint and Church Rock communities on the Navajo Nation. Demand all the abandon mines are clean up and health effects addressed! Stephen.Cohen@nrc.gov or (301) 415-7182
Become part of the Disarmament Summer Campaign – support the sustainable action encampment this summer July 30th-August 9th in Chimayo, NM. On the August 6th, the 65th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki we will protest this nuclear insanity where it all began – Los Alamos. Be there!
www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org

Indigenous Environmental Network: Four Principles for Climate Justice

Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) releases its Four Principles for Climate Justice
By Indigenous Environmental Network
Photo: Cochabamba Climate Conference by Ben Powless, Mohawk

Indigenous Peoples must call for the most stringent and binding emission reduction targets. A growing body of western scientific evidence now suggests what Indigenous Peoples have expressed for a long time: Life as we know it is in danger. Western scientists tell us that climate change is accelerating, and that changes are happening faster than expected. New scientific information made available since the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report shows that changes in ocean acidification, melting of permafrost, and ice melting are happening much faster than projected by the IPCC. Objectives must be made to reach stabilization of GHG concentrations at 300 ppm and to limit temperature rise to 1.0 degrees centigrade, based on pre-industrial levels, noting that emissions must peak in 2015.

The Petition below expresses, in the strongest possible terms, your demand that the results of the Cochabamba People’s Accord, as presented to UNFCCC - AWG-LCA Chair Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe (Zimbabwe)and Vice-Chair Mr. Dan Reifsnyder (United States) in an April 26th submission by the Plurinational State of Bolivia, be given the highest possible consideration during the Twelfth Session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) in Bonn, June 1-June 11, 2010. As signers to the Petition, we have grave concern, that the ‘Note by the Chair’, officially known as ‘Text to facilitate negotiations among governmental Parties’ to the UN climate negotiations, released on May 17th, 2010, acknowledges the invitation for Nation-States to make submissions but then relegates the Bolivian submission to a miscellaneous document.

This is in direct contrast to the full integration of the Copenhagen Accord, a document which we as signers to the Petition would like to remind the Chair and Vice-Chairs, was not adopted by the delegates to COP-15, with the only agreement being to ‘take note of’ this non-binding, non-negotiated, document.

The Petition we are asking you to sign represents both people who were directly engaged in the development of these proposals in Cochabamba, where over 35,000 people from 140 countries gathered in April, 2010, as well as those who were there in spirit and support the outcomes; we also represent the voices of social movements, indigenous peoples, affected peoples and civil society organizations from around the world.

The deliberate exclusion of the full 87 articles of the Cochabamba People’s Agreement violates assurances that were given stating all representations by Nation-States would be treated equally, as well as direct statements by the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, made to social movement representatives in the presence of Evo Morales Ayma, President of Bolivia, on May, 7th, stating that there was no preference for one submission over others.

By signing the Petition, (see below) you would stand in solidarity with our Brothers and Sisters who are presently suffering from the consequences of climate change, with those as yet unborn who will suffer from our inaction, and with all living beings and Mother Earth; we therefore commit to remain vigilant in our pursuit of climate justice.

Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director, Indigenous Environmental Network
Read more and sign petition:
http://www.ienearth.org/

National Day of Action against SB 1070

TODAY: National Day of Action against SB1070

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Stands with Arizona for Justice & Human Rights!

TODAY: On May 29, the eyes of the world will be on Arizona when tens of thousands of members of Arizona’s communities, including Indigenous people, day laborers, unions, people of color, women, LGBTQ people, workers, youth, students and supporters from across the country, will converge on Phoenix for the National Day of Action against SB1070. SB1070 is the new Arizona anti-immigrant, racial profiling state law that allows police to question anyone about their immigration status, jail them and turn them over to ICE for deportation.

The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and its members will march with Arizona communities and in solidarity actions around the country on May 29 as we stand with the people of Arizona in the fight to restore rights and to rollback the hate.

On May 29 and beyond, the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) calls on people from all walks of life to demand an end to SB1070 and all federal immigration-police collaboration. This is an important national moment to commit to ending all forms of racial discrimination and intolerance. We are heartened to see how so many different groups and sectors have rallied to oppose SB1070.

This broad support will very much be needed to push back against the continued expansion of federal immigration-police collaboration programs that enable state laws like SB1070 and other immigration and border enforcement measures that further endanger lives, perpetuate abuse and hate, undermining the health of communities.

Leading up to May 29 in Arizona the National Day Laborer Organizing Network with the Puente Movement are preparing a national boycott of Arizona, targeting companies and products whose owners have contributed funds that have allowed anti-immigrant laws, practices and policies to flourish. NDLON and Puente are also planning to launch a defiance campaign against SB1070 scheduled to be implemented later in July.

The Coalición de Derechos Humanos (DH) working with border and non-border communities will begin their fifth annual “Migrant Trail March”– a 75-mile journey from Sásabe, Sonora to Tucson, Arizona to express solidarity with the migrant women, children, elders and men who have walked this trail and lost their lives. DH’s work against the U.S. militarization of immigration control and border communities is a deep call for linking communities across the country to demilitarize the border and uphold the right to life, liberty and wellbeing of all persons.

Beyond May 29, NNIRR will continue to urge that the Obama Administration:

· Take all necessary steps to stop the implementation of SB1070. Obama must speak out against the climate of hate and investigate and punish Arizona state, county and local officials who are violating the civil rights of entire communities;
· Roll-back and end the 287(g), Secure Communities programs and all forms of federal immigration-police collaboration programs.
· Suspend all detentions and deportations and investigate the abuses being committed against immigrants at the border and in interior.
· Demilitarize immigration control and border communities and stop the deployment of National Guard troops. Instead, issue sufficient visas and options for families to reunite and live, work, worship, study and play with their rights protected. The federal government must invest in creating sustainable communities and promote fair trade economic policies that will provide stability and development;
· Seek in earnest socially just immigration reforms that provide full legalization based on upholding the civil and labor rights of all persons.

¡Todas y todos somos Arizona We are all Arizona! ________________________________________________
Arnoldo Garcia
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Red Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados
310 8th Street Suite 303
Oakland, CA 94607
Tel (510) 465-1984 ext. 305
Fax (510) 465-1885
http://www.nnirr.org/

Declaración de solidaridad con el pueblo de Arizona y l@s migrantes del mundo
29 de Mayo, 2010
La Via Campesina
La aprobación de la legislación SB-1070 en Arizona que criminaliza a las personas por el color de la piel, bajo el argumento del combate a la "inmigración ilegal" y por la "seguridad fronteriza", junto con el súbito anuncio de legislaciones similares en varios estados de los EEUU, y la creciente e incontenible violencia policiaca y para-policiaca en contra de las y los migrantes, revelan un peligroso avance de la ofensiva actual contra las migrantes y los migrantes y sus familias.
Este avance se da en momentos de una crisis profunda del sistema capitalista bajo el cual, los gobernantes han intentado pasar el costo de la crisis a las espaldas de las y los migrantes, al mismo tiempo que dividen a la clase trabajadora al convertirlos en los “chivos expiatorios” de la crisis.
Es así como Arizona y la frontera de los EEUU y México, se han convertido hoy en día en el epicentro de la agresión global en contra de las y los migrantes del mundo.
Además, igual que ocurre en Arizona, por todo el planeta siguen escalando las políticas y las acciones anti-migrantes, principalmente en los países del Norte que por cierto, son los culpables de la crisis de la migración generada por el sistema capitalista en esta fase neoliberal.
Por lo anterior, La Vía Campesina Internacional hace un llamado urgente a todas sus organizaciones y a todas y todos sus aliados a desplegar una solidaridad amplia y concreta con la lucha que hoy se da en Arizona para detener las políticas y las acciones en contra de las y los migrantes.
Hoy, el 29 de mayo del 2010, expresamos nuestra solidaridad con el pueblo de Arizona, que hoy se manifiesta en Phoenix, Arizona y las embajadas de EUN en Mexico, y otros países del mundo para exigir un alto a la SB-1070 y a todas las políticas y acciones anti-inmigrantes.
Así mismo, denunciamos a la discriminación, y la violencia anti-inmigrante, y demandamos los Derechos Plenos de las y los Migrantes del Mundo:
¡ALTO A LA SB-1070, ALTO A LA OFENSIVA CONTRA LAS Y LOS MIGRANTES!
¡Globalicemos la lucha, globalicemos la esperanza!
Alberto Gómez Flores
Dena Hoff
Coordinación Internacional, La Via Campesina

Navajos told to sit in back of the room at mining conference

Navajo protesters told to sit in back of room at conference
http://www.indianz.com
Three members of the Navajo Nation and a non-Indian supporter were told to sit or stand in the back of a room at a uranium conference, The Denver Post reported.
The protesters wanted to attend a discussion on litigation at the National Mining Association and Nuclear Regulatory Commission conference. The NRC is a federal agency that has a tribal consultation policy.
When tribal member Nadine Padilla, 25, saw an empty chair in the front of the room, she sat down. She was told to leave.
Padilla and another tribal member, Mario Atencio, decided to exit the room. Atencio yelled out "It will never happen!" in reference to uranium mining on the reservation, the Post reported.
The three Navajo protesters were then ushered out of the room. "It wasn't right for them to treat us like second-class citizens and ask us to sit in the back of the room and to sit on the floor," Padilla told the Post.
The fourth person, Jen Nordstrom, a non-Indian, was allowed to stay behind after she started crying. She said the incident showed the Navajos were victims of racism.
Get the Story:Efforts to quell conflict with Navajo collapse at Denver mining conference (The Denver Post 5/28)

Indigenous Alliance without Borders: National Day of Action Against Racism

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST RACISM AND RACIST LAWS - THE EVENTUALITY OF THE PHOENIX POSOLE PACHANGA

SATURDAY, MAY 29, 2010
By Jose Matus, Yaqui, director of Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras
Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras joins and stands strongly in support of all the people and organizers of the National Day of Action Against Racism and Racist public policies and laws. White America and especially Arizona's racist politicians are seeing a resurgence of Indigenous America in the form of immigrants who are descendants of North America's Indigenous populations. As Indigenous America, they are terrifying precisely because they have a moral claim to cross the border imposed on their lands.
Since the 1990's, the immigrant communities in Arizona have experienced in their everyday lives hatred, xenophobia, bigotry, abuse and rights violation while living in Tucson, Phoenix and throughout the state. The actions of the Arizona State Legislature extends the militarization of the border to the entirety of the state - that will legally codify law enforcement's petulant behavior and legitimize racial profiling, discrimination against non-Whites with a peculiar accent and style of dress.
The evolution of the United States anti-immigrant legislation and border enforcement policies in modern times have always and continue to affect indigenous communities on either side of the southern border. Rights of mobility and passage, federally-recognized sovereignty and self-determination rights, and access to traditional land sites and ceremonial grounds have been sorely compromised to the detriment of Elders, families, and youth.
Now, Arizona's passage of SB 1070 will do nothing to curtail the influx of undocumented migration, people and drug smuggling, border deaths and violence. It will create more problems for all people of color, abuse of power will be outrageously exercised and cruelly administered at the hands of those who have been convinced of their righteousness of ignorance and the unjustness of anti-immigrant enforcement policies.
Although some local Law Enforcement Officials have vowed not to comply with SB 1070, it is understood by many that this law could be perverted to excess by those who deem themselves the right to hold extraordinary power of authority. The nationally notorious racist Maricopa County Sheriff, Crazy Joe Arpaio, will clearly exercise this extraordinary power in the self-proclaimed right to get all those undocumented individuals he calls criminals that live within the confines of Maricopa County. He will continue his campaign of tyranny within the Mexican immigrant and Yaqui indigenous communities.
Is this the type of freedom our Troops of Color - our youth are fighting for as members of the U.S. Armed Forces - For Racist Politicians to implement racist laws in the name of National Security and community safety!
"Care of human life and happiness, not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government." - Thomas Jefferson
It is time for all those people of color that don' t vote to get involved in Civic Participation - Vote and Get Out the Vote! Lose or continue to be fighting for your rights!!
It is time to organize, speak out, join forces with other people of color movements to bring attention and fight for Human Rights and Human Life!
WE AS INDIGENOUS PEOPLES MUST BE PART OF THE POSOLE PACHANGA. WE DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN A NO-BROWN TOWN AND STATE!
ALIANZA INDIGENA SIN FRONTERAS STRONGLY SUPPORTS & WILL PARTICIPATE IN THIS HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT - CONTACT: Jose R. Matus - 520-979-2125

Official UNFCCC Negotiating Text Ignores World People's Conference Solutions

US continues to lead efforts at UN to ignore solutions

Official UNFCCC Negotiating Text Ignores World People's Conference Solutions

By World Peoples Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth

Photo by Ben Powless: Manny Pino, Acoma Pueblo and Ofelia Rivas, O'odham, cochair the working group on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at Bolivia Climate Conference.

In April 2010 more than 35,000 people from 140 countries gathered in Cochabamba, Bolivia and developed the historic Cochabamba People's Agreement a consensus-based document reflecting substantive solutions to the climate crisis. We, the undersigned organizations, both participated in and/or supported this historic process.
Reflecting the voices of global civil society and the agreements reached in 17 working groups, the Plurinational State of Bolivia made an official proposal, comprised of the core components of the Cochabamba People's Agreement, to the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since then, the accord has gained support and recognition by various nations and regional bodies including ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance of Our Americas) and UNASUR (Union of South American Nations).
We are therefore deeply concerned that the new text proposed in the AWG-LCA as a basis for climate change negotiations does not reflect any of the main conclusions reached in Cochabamba. The Chair and the Vice Chair of the AWG-LCA (from Zimbabwe and the United States respectively) have instead incorporated all of the proposals of the Copenhagen Accord, which does not even have the consensus of the United Nations.
We urge the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, to embrace the conclusions reached by social movements, indigenous peoples and international civil society in Cochabamba. It is both undemocratic and non-transparent to exclude particular proposals from the negotiations, and it is imperative that the United Nations listens to the global community on this issue critical to humanity.
We call on all countries in the United Nations, and in particular the President and Vice-President of the AWG-LCA, to include the core conclusions of the Cochabamba People's Accord in the negotiations in the run-up to Cancun. These life- and earth-saving proposals include:
1. A 50% reduction of domestic greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries for the period 2013-2017 under the Kyoto Protocol, domestically and without reliance on market mechanisms.
2. The objective of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations at 300ppm.
3. The need to begin the process of considering the proposed Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth to reestablish harmony with nature.
4. The obligation of developed countries to honor their climate debt toward developing countries and our Mother Earth.
5. The provision of financial resources equal to 6% of GDP by developed countries to help confront the climate change crisis.
6. The creation of a mechanism for the integral management and conservation of forests that, unlike REDD-plus, respects the sovereignty of states, guarantees the rights and participation of indigenous peoples and forest dependent communities, and is not based on the carbon market regime.
7. The implementation of measures for recognizing the rights of Indigenous peoples must be secured in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and applicable universal human rights instruments and agreements. This includes respect for the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples; their rights to lands, territories and resources, and their full and effective participation, with their free, prior and informed consent.
8. The incentivizing of models of agricultural production that are environmentally sustainable and that guarantee food sovereignty and the rights of indigenous peoples and small-scale farmers.
9. The protection and recognition of the rights and needs of forced climate migrants.
10. The promotion of the establishment of an International Climate and Environmental Justice Tribunal.
11. The consideration of a World Referendum on Climate Change that allows the people to decide what will be done about this issue, which is of vital importance to the future of humanity and Mother Earth.
We demand that the conclusions established by the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, which protect life and Mother Earth, be incorporated into the negotiating text during the negotiations in Bonn, Germany, from May 31st to June 11th, 2010.
There cannot be an equitable, transparent, and inclusive negotiation process, nor true solutions to the urgency of the climate crisis, if the AWG-LCA negotiating text ignores the voices of the peoples of the world that the negotiators should be representing.
---
Este es el pronunciamiento del Movimiento Mundial de los Pueblos, que reclama un proceso de negociaciones sobre cambio climático en Naciones Unidas, incluyente, transparente y equitativo, que incorpore las propuestas de los pueblos que han sido presentadas como resultado de la Conferencia Mundial de los Pueblos sobre Cambio Climático y los Derechos de la Madre Tierra. Para adherirse a este llamado puede hacerlo mediante el sitio web: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/movement-for-mother-earth y apoyar con su firma para que las voces de nuestros pueblos sean escuchadas

Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark in Defense of Mohawk Splitting the Sky

Citizens’ arrest
The trial of the man who tried to arrest George W. Bush (Videos)
by Joshua Blakeney*

On March 17, 2009, Mohawk activist Splitting the Sky (STS) attempted a citizens’ arrest on George W. Bush in Calgary (Canada), his first foreign visit as a private citizen without diplomatic immunity. Brutally arrested for his action, STS earned his "day in court" in March 2010 to highlight the hypocrisy of the Canadian Government for allowing Bush into Canada, in breach of its own laws. STS is a compelling example of the duty of citizens to act when our governments and their agents are derelict in their own duty. Former U.S. Attorney-General Ramsey Clark plans to be in Calgary for the June 7 sentencing of STS. Joshua Blakeney believes that Clark’s presence, as well as international public opinion, will mount pressure on the Canadian judiciary who failed to issue an arrest warrant for Bush and who now must decide the fate of STS.
Splitting the Sky attempting to break through police lines outside the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary, Canada, on 17 March 2009, to make a citizens’ arrest of War Criminal George W. Bush. The Canadian police arrested him instead. "George Bush hasn’t suffered at all over the monumental suffering, death, and horror he has caused...no matter how many American soldiers have died on a given day in Iraq (averaging well over two every day), he is always seen with a big smile on his face that same or next day” -
Vincent Bugliosi, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, 2008 [1]
Canadian Man Could Be Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Implementing the Law:
Former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark to Speak at the University of Calgary’s Peace Consortium in Defence of Splitting the Sky
Ramsey Clark will arrive in the Canadian oil-patch city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, this coming June 6th and 7th, mounting pressure on Judge Manfred Delong, who is presiding over the sentencing process in an epochal trial which some have dubbed: “The trial of Splitting the Sky versus George W. Bush.” Splitting the Sky (STS) on the advice of legal experts Ramsey Clark, Gale Davidson and Anthony J. Hall attempted a citizen’s arrest on George W. Bush on March 17, 2009 when the former US president was addressing an audience of business people at the TELUS Convention Centre in the downtown of Calgary [2]. In his March 2010 trial STS invoked the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes legislation, which was enacted by the Canadian parliament in 2000, to submit to the court that he was implementing the law by seeking to apprehend Bush, and was unjustly arrested by police who were in effect “aiding and abetting a credibly accused war criminal.” Former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney came to Calgary to attempt to testify in the March trial but was prevented from doing so as the judge shut down the trial earlier than anticipated. Instead McKinney spoke at the University of Calgary in support of Splitting the Sky [3].
Read more and watch videos ...
http://www.voltairenet.org/article165482.html

Native Sun: Deputy reached for gun, not taser, in fatal shooting

Native Sun: Deputy reached for gun, not taser, in fatal shooting
Thursday, May 27, 2010
http://64.38.12.138/News/2010/019992.asp
This story was written by Randall Howell and is copyright Native Sun News.

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA -- The sheriff’s department deputy who fatally shot an Oglala Lakota man in a field near Rapid City was carrying a taser, but did not use it.

Instead he fired five fatal bullets into Christopher J. Capps, a 22-year-old college-bound student who lived in the same neighborhood where he died in a hail of bullets on May 2.

Despite the fact that his only weapon allegedly was a “sharp stick,” Capps was slain by Pennington County Sheriff’s Department deputy David Olson, who was temporarily suspended – a standard law enforcement practice during a shooting investigation.

Capps, the son of Jerry and Jaylene Capps, had lived with his family in the mobile home community for about a dozen years and had been accepted for enrollment at the University of South Dakota-Vermillion, where he had plans to study computer animation and biology, before his life was ended with up to five bullets from a “duty handgun” fired by Olson.
Related Stories from Native Sun, posted at http://www.indianz.com/
Native Sun: Police shooting of Oglala man ruled as 'justified' (5/19)
Native Sun: Oglala Sioux family sends son to the spirit world (5/13)
Native Sun News: Deputy shoots and kills Lakota man, 22 (5/6)

Border Residents Oppose National Guard to US/Mexico Border

To President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500
To Members of the U.S. Congress Washington, DC
May26, 2010
Migrant shoes from Sonoran Desert/Southside Tucson/Photo Brenda Norrell
Border residents oppose calls for deployment of the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border
Border communities who had hoped for a rational and accountable border policy from the Obama Administration are deeply disappointed at the news of the authorization to deploy National Guard troops to the border. We are also deeply disappointed by calls from Congress to deploy as many as 6,000
National Guard troops to the border.
Proposals to deploy the National Guard are ill-conceived and motivated by electoral politics rather than border realities. In the course of history, presidents have rarely called up the National Guard. Deployment of these forces has almost always been limited to emergency situations and for good reason. The creation of a national police force is anathema to our fundamental values and to the protection of individual liberties.
As men and women living in the border region, which includes metropolitan areas as well as small towns, we have tried time and again to share our concerns about the militarization of the region with members of the Administration and members of Congress. But it seems we are not being heard and the policies of this Administration, far from being the change that we were promised, mirror the policies of the prior Administration and may even be worse with respect to border enforcement.
To be clear, there is no emergency at the border that would warrant the deployment of the National Guard. Immigration flows are down and border cities are among the safest in the country. Violent crime is rare and when it does happen, as in the case of the Arizona rancher who was recently killed, the perpetrator is more likely to be a citizen than an immigrant. The only “emergency” is the political emergency of upcoming elections.
As residents of the border region, we refuse to allow our communities and our quality of life to be sacrificed in a political game played far away from this region by people with little appreciation for the vibrancy of the region and who are motivated by politics rather than actual border needs. We consider the deployment of the National Guard an affront to border communities and oppose the militarization of our region based on the following:
• The militarization of our border has already reached an extreme level and brought with it
negative consequences for those who live there. Our economies are choked by inefficient
border crossings, our civil rights are pushed aside, and our quality of life is seriously diminished.
Worse, our safety is being sacrificed by those who believe that soldiers trained for war belong
near family neighborhoods or should be involved in supporting domestic law enforcement. Let’s
not forget that in 1997, U.S. Marines sent to help secure the border, mistakenly shot and killed a
teenage U.S. citizen who was peacefully herding goats.
• Militarization is a misguided and unnecessary response that is not based in reality or in the
opinions of President Obama’s own border experts. Homeland Security Secretary Janet
Napolitano has said repeatedly that her Border Patrol agents have operational control of the
border. Crime statistics in border cities and counties show that crime is both low and decreasing.
Yet, we are being told once again that we must secure the border, just three years after we built a border wall, added thousands of new Border Patrol agents and deployed virtual enforcement
technology.
• Militarization costs us all. Continuing to throw money, resources and military responses at the
border is not fiscally responsible, efficient, or humane. The ever mounting costs of militarizing
the border are costs borne by taxpayers who can ill afford ineffective and ill-conceived political
responses.
• Recourse to the military as a policy option for civilian law enforcement is a disturbing
precedent. Forces trained for combat, should not be used for enforcing civil laws. As a matter of
fundamental U.S. political values, the military should be withdrawn from all normal law
enforcement activities, even in supporting roles.
It is time to rethink our border policy. Increasing the quantity of armed agents and soldiers on our southern border does not enhance our national security, but in fact undermines it by misallocating resources. Humane border policies should emphasize quality law enforcement, and the effective focus of resources on real threats in the region, while ensuring that border communities are consulted on their specific needs, and that the rights and well-being of border residents are protected and upheld. Toward this end, we need the following:
• Consultation with local border communities on a regular basis about border enforcement;
decisions about the border should not be made in a vacuum in D.C.
• More accountability and oversight of immigration enforcement officers, who have become the
largest law enforcement presence in the border region.
• A standardized complaint process that aggregates complaints the length of the border should be implemented to better understand potential abuse of power and civil and human rights
violations. Enforcement agencies should publicize this data and then use appropriate
performance measures to correct gaps in current or ongoing training.
• Increased funding for ports of entry to facilitate the flow of legitimate goods and people
authorized to work, visit or contribute to the nation’s economy.
• Compliance with environmental protection laws without exceptions for the border; we deserve
the same protections as the rest of the country.
• Compliance with national and international civil and human rights protections, and creation of
humane detention and short-term custody standards at the border.
• A zero-migrant-death standard that is incorporated into enforcement policies and practices and addresses the mounting death toll—over 5,000—of migrants who lose their lives as a result of inhumane enforcement strategies.
• Comprehensive immigration reform that moves beyond enforcement and focuses on fixing the
interconnected parts of our broken immigration system.
• Economic development for Mexico, our second largest trading partner and primary source of
immigration; a stronger Mexican economy would benefit both countries economically and ease
migration pressures.
The federal government is as responsible for protecting the lives and well being of border residents as it is of protecting residents of the interior of the United States. Unfortunately, border residents have borne the burden of national security under the current hard-line strategy, but can do so no more. We oppose the deployment of the National Guard to the border as a misguided political response, and we urge our national leaders to pursue real solutions to border enforcement that take into account the needs of the border region.
Signed:
American Friends Service Committee (CA)
San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium (CA)
San Diego Foundation for Change (CA)
Border Action Network (AZ)
First Christian Church of Tucson (AZ)
ACLU Regional Center for Border Rights (NM)
Border Network for Human Rights (TX)
Immigrant Justice Alliance (TX)
Freedom Ambassadors (TX)
Casa de Proyecto Libertad (TX)
Project Puente (TX)
U.S.-Mexico Border and Immigration Task Force

Rev. Robin Hoover, Ph.D.
Pastor of First Christian Church
Migration Ministry
740 E. Speedway Boulevard
Tucson, Arizona 85719
Robin@RobinHoover.Com
520-360-7818

Houston: True Cost of Chevron: Tom Evans, Alaska Native, Cook Inlet

From True Cost of Chevron in Houston:
I have posted videos from our friends who are: Indigenous, Native, Asian, Pacific Islander, APIA, African, African American, Latina and many others here on my youtube channel. Please feel free to repost as far and wide as possible.
http://www.youtube.com/user/peipeiwu
Diana
Diana Pei Wu
NEW CELL NUMBER: +1 510 333 3889
E: dianapeiwu (at) gmail (dot) com
Skype: dianapwu :: Twitter: dianapeiwu
Homepage: http://web.me.com/dianapeiwu
blog: http://justicenecology.posterous.com

Phoenix March Against Racist Legislation May 29, 2010

Get Ready to March against SB1070 On May 29th, tens of thousands of people from all over the country will come to Phoenix and march to repudiate SB1070. We will demand that Congress and President Obama stand on the right side of history and take immediate and concrete action to stop SB1070 in Arizona. Join us in making history on May 29th! March to Stop SB1070!
Gather May 29th at 8:00 AM: The March will start at Indian Steele Park (Indian School Road and N 3rd Street) march to the State Capitol (N 17th Ave and W Adams St)
Tel: (602) 314-5870 http://www.puenteaz.org/ / http://www.altoarizona.com/
For info on caravaning from Tucson call Derechos Humanos @ 770-1373 For more information:
Diana Perez: (602) 579-2879 dee9pe_ram@hotmail.com Leah Carnine: (541) 514-1694
END BORDER MILITARIZATION CONTINGENT
DEMANDING DIGNITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR INDIGENOUS AND MIGRANT COMMUNITIES
National Day of Action Against SB1070
May 29, 2010
O'odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective sends you greetings from occupied O'odham lands, We urge all who support indigenous nations and migrant communities to join us on Saturday May 29th at the National Day of Action Against SB1070 to demand that Border Patrol (BP), Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), their parent entity, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Obama administration end militarization of the border, end the criminalization of immigrant communities, and end their campaign of terror which tear families apart through increasing numbers of raids and deportations.

This contingent is in support of the O'odham elders, and other indigenous elders that will be leading the march. It is a follow-up to last Friday’s (May 21st) Peaceful Occupation of the US Border Patrol Headquarters in Tucson, AZ. We hope to use this formation to voice the end of border militarization and racist, colonial laws that attack not just indigenous communities, but migrant ones too. We hope to project true Indigenous/Migrant solidarity in the face of the state's police oppression, and the immigration reform movement’s suppressive tactics to further marginalize the indigenous voice in border policies and colonial laws that affect us all.

The contingent also calls on the State of Arizona to repeal the racist Senate Bill 1070 that criminalizes immigrant communities on the state level, makes it illegal to transport or harbor an undocumented person regardless of family relationship, requires police agencies to engage in racial profiling, and ultimately is an attempt to ethnically cleanse Arizona of those with brown skin.

The contingent demands:
• An end to border militarization
• The immediate repeal of SB1070 and 287g
• An end to all racial profiling and the criminalization of communities of color
• No ethnic cleansing or cultural genocide
• No border patrol encroachment/sweeps on sovereign native land
• No to comprehensive immigration reform that further militarizes the border or exploits migrant labor
• No Deportations
• No Raids
• No ID-verification
• No Checkpoints

• Yes to immediate and unconditional regularization (“legalization”) of all people
• Yes to human rights
• Yes to dignity
• Yes to respect
• Yes to respecting Indigenous Peoples inherent right of migration

Support looks like:
• Banners calling for an end to border militarization,for migrant/indigenous solidarity, and drawing the connection between racist laws like SB1070/287g/HB2281, immigration reform and the destruction of indigenous and migrant communities.
• Noise makers, puppets and other visuals, etc.
•Cop Watching, video documentation, legal observation of the contingent and the march to ensure safety in light of police repression
•Medics prepared for sun exposure, dehydration, police attacks
•Our own “security” – not to police our people, but to deescalate the police, step-in as a barrier in case of a police attack, help people cross the street, etc.
•People who can flyer/lecture expressing our message.

Join us on Friday, May 28th to help prepare for the following day. Bring materials to finish making signs, banners, noise makers, etc. To connect, let us know you're down, meet up with us on Friday, if you have any questions or for more information, contact Alex Soto @ 602.881.6027 or Ned @323.541.2352 or stopbordermilitarization@gmail.com
Please check out http://oodhamsolidarity.blogspot.com

Native American Heritage Coalition
By Benjamin Chee
(602) 930-6791
Native American Heritage Coalition of Phoenix Position on Arizona SB1070

PHOENIX – The Native American Heritage Coalition (NAHC), an organization of urban Native American tribal members based in Phoenix, Arizona stands in opposition to Arizona SB 1070 as a violation of civil rights and human rights, and is taking action in support of the legal challenges now moving forward in the courts and at the community level.

“The Native American Heritage Coalition is adamant in our opposition to SB 1070 because we are now drawn into the maelstrom of possible racial profiling,” said Benjamin Chee, spokesperson for the NAHC.

The NAHC is a long standing organization of Native American community members that led the fight for the preservation of the Indian School property and oversees the development of the Steele Indian School Park on behalf of the interests of the diverse tribal constituencies of the City of Phoenix.

Addressing the immediate and future impact of SB 1070 for the Native American community, Mr. Chee stated: “Due to inter-cultural marriage many of our tribal members have Hispanic names. This fact will obviously influence targeting us in the application of SB 1070.”

In addition, the State of Arizona is well known for its richness of it's diverse cultures, concern for ecological preservation as well as its vast economic potential. Its continuing prosperity depends upon effective partnerships among the states many communities. Constant efforts must be devoted to stimulate participation in the building of a diverse yet unified citizenry.

In terms of the impact of the national and international economic boycotts of Arizona in reaction to the passage of SB1070, the NAHC is calling upon the leadership of the business communities across the state and among the tribal nations to work together to address the economic injustices that are exacerbated by the impact of SB1070, and move into a proactive comprehensive economic development strategy that builds upon Principles of Economic Justice, the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights for all.

Obama Administration halts its oil drilling permits in Arctic

Contact: Kierán Suckling (520) 275-5960

Interior to Suspend Shell Oil Drilling Permits in Alaska
Center Applauds Action, Calls for Stronger Measures, Removal of BP Exec from Interior Post
By Center for Biological Diversity
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Embattled Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will announce today that Shell Oil Company will not be permitted to drill for oil in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas this year. Amid intense protests, lawsuits, and administrative appeals by environmentalists and native Alaskans, Shell had planned to begin drilling this July.

It is not clear when the Interior Department will decide whether Shell will be allowed to drill for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas in 2011, and under what conditions.

“Suspending Shell’s drilling permit this year is the first thing Ken Salazar has done right in response to the Minerals Management Service scandals,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “We applaud the Secretary’s decision and hope that he permanently ends all new offshore oil drilling in Alaska. Drilling for oil in icy Arctic waters is like playing Russian roulette. There is no way to clean up a spill there and endangered species such as polar bears, whales, walruses, and seals are already under too much stress.”

“Much more needs to be done, and done right away,” said Suckling, “including an immediate ban on environmental waivers for oil drilling, removal of BP executives from oil oversight posts in the Department of Interior, and rescinding the Interior’s plan to open up new areas on the Atlantic coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska to new offshore oil drilling.”

The Center for Biological Diversity call upon Secretary Salazar to immediately take the following actions::

1. Remove former BP executive, Sylvia Baca, from her job as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. Secretary Salazar expressed outrage at the Inspector General’s finding earlier this week that the revolving door between the oil industry and the Minerals Management Service has undermined the agency’s effectiveness and credibility. He did not mention, however, that in June, 2009, he himself appointed a BP executive to oversee the Minerals Management Service.

“Sylvia Baca is a classic example of the revolving door between oil companies and the MMS,” said Suckling, “It was a terrible judgment call to appoint her; it is politically catastrophic to keep her. If Salazar is serious about reform, he needs to start with his own interest conflicted appointments.”

2. Ban the use of environmental waivers for offshore exploration and production plans. Such waivers are designed for very small impact projects such as constructing hiking trails and outhouses. There is no possible scenario in which an offshore drilling project—whether deepwater, ultradeepwater or shallow water—can be considered a non-threat to the environment, economy, and endangered species.

3. Rescind all drilling approvals issued with environmental waivers. Hundreds of dangerous offshore oil platforms are operating today in the Gulf of Mexico without having undergone any environmental review. These dangerous drilling projects are operating illegally and threaten the Gulf with additional oil spills.

4. Enact, as the Department of Interior first announced on May 6, 2010, a moratorium on the issuance of permits for “all new drilling activity.” This first Interior description of Salazar’s verbal moratorium was properly broad and would have captured the kind of drilling permit that BP’s Deepwater Horizon was operating under at the time of its explosion. The Interior has since dramatically narrowed the moratorium to let scores of drilling actions go forward, including exactly the kind of drilling that the Deepwater Horizon was doing.

5. Rescind the President’s plan to open up new areas on the Atlantic Coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska to offshore oil drilling. The President’s announcement, made on March 31, 2010, three weeks before the BP explosion, was made on the false premise that offshore oil drilling is safe.

6. Ban all new offshore oil drilling, beginning in Alaska. As a nation, we need to transition to clean energy sources such as sun and wind as fast as possible. Pushing forward with new, dangerous and dirty offshore oil drilling sends the wrong signal to energy companies and technology developers. Continued subsidizing of big oil is a major hindrance to our nation’s development of clean energy.
.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 260,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

HOUSTON: Chevron arrests Truthtellers

Contact: Sangita Nayak, 414 412 4518, emailsangita@gmail.com

Diana Pei Wu, 510 333 3889, dianapeiwu@gmail.com

Chevron denies access to shareholder representatives in bid to silence truth about its human right and environmental impacts
Photos: Mitchel Anderson with Amazon Watch, based in San Francisco was arrested after trying to enter the Chevron Annual Shareholder Meeting in Houston, TX. Photo by Liana Lopez
Photo 2: Guillermo Grefa from Ecuador, and Debora Barros Fince from Colombia, sit outside Chervon's Shareholder meeting after being denied access even though they both held legal proxies. Photo by Jonathan McIntosh

Global Community Leaders Barred, Ejected and Arrested from Chevron Annual Meeting
See update below: All five released and safe
HOUSTON - Shareholders and shareholder representatives from around the globe holding legal proxies were refused entry to Chevron's annual meeting today. Five members of The True Cost of Chevron Network were subsequently arrested at the oil giants direction.
Communities affected by Chevron attempted to enter its annual meeting while more "True Cost of Chevron" network supporters rallied outside.

[high resolution photo available at
http://rainforestactionnetwork.smugmug.com/Change-Chevron/Arrests-at-Chevron/12321036_V6SA8#879852504_gFEdg
Photos and videos at: http://justicenecology.posterous.com/ ]

"Chevron CEO John Watson opened the annual shareholder meeting touting Chevron as a good neighbor and yet they locked the door for communities from Houston, Alaska, Canada, Burma, Nigeria, and Colombia. This is the way we have been treated at home and meeting them here was no different," explained Emem Okom, founder of the Kebetkuche Women Development and Resource Center of Nigeria.
Of the 37 delegates from the Network with validly executed proxy statements, only seven were allowed to enter the meeting, contradicting Chevron's own policies and in potential violations of corporate governance laws.. Addressing the shareholders, Elias Isaac of Open Society Institute of Southern Africa, who has seen the results of Chevron's oil contaminations in Angola, said, "The disappearance of fish in Angola is a clear sign that Chevron is not compatible with the fishing business, despite John Watson's claims to the contrary during today's meeting."
Josh Coates from the Wilderness Society of Australia was denied admission into the meeting had a message for CEO Watson: "Today I've been denied the opportunity to give a clear message to Chevron and the shareholders that the proposed liquid natural gas processing facility in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia comes with unacceptable environmental costs. The Kimberley region in the west of Australia is a last refuge for many species in the region, including humpback whales and the endangered Australian flatback turtle. Chevron is pushing an off-shore processing facility in the home of the humpback, while other options exist." Coates noted.
Aileen Suzara, of the Filipino-American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity, was able to gain entrance into the meeting and addressed Chevron's operations in Manila, Phillipines, stating, "Over 80,000 residents in metro-Manila are threatened by Chevron's toxic fuel tanks, constant leaks, spills and emissions. Chevron refuses to relocate its depot despite the public outcry and a Philippine Supreme Court decision demanding closure."
Outside the meeting, activist Naing Htoo of EarthRights International from Burma was denied the opportunity to address the Board of Directors. Had he gained entrance, he would have told the company directly that, "Chevron continues lying to their shareholders and the public about human rights abuses associated with the Yadana Project in Burma. Even this year the UN Special Rapporteur for Burma documented the connection between human rights abuses and Chevron's project. It's time for Chevron to take responsibility for the harms they cause."
Of the five arrested, one was Antonia Juhasz, Lead Author of "The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report". Juhasz was dragged from the meeting as shareholders and their proxies chanted, "Chevron Lies, People Die" and CEO John Watson abruptly ended the meeting.

Others arrested included Reverend Ken Davis, a member Community for a Better Environment, from Richmond, California, Juan Parras of Houston-based Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Solutions (TEJAS), and Mitchell Anderson and Han Shan of Amazon Watch; all arrested after being denied entrance. AmazonWatch works with Ecuadorian leaders like Guillermo Grefa, who was also denied entrance.
Before his arrest, Reverend Davis stated "I represent an area where there is no beauty shop, groceries, or cleaners. Our industry is Chevron. My people breathe their contamination every day and are constantly sick. Our health is not for sale."
The True Cost of Chevron Network will continue its effective alliance to expose and challenge the oil giant. For more information on the Network, visit http://www.truecostofchevron.com/

UPDATE:
May 27, 2010
contact:
* Sangita Nayak, 414 412 4518, emailsangita@gmail.com
* Diana Pei Wu, 510 333 3889, dianapeiwu@gmail.com
UPDATE (1:15 pm CDT; May 27, 2010): All 5 are released and safe
HOUSTON, TX - Antonia Juhasz, lead author and editor of "The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report" was forcibly dragged from Chevron's annual meeting yesterday as shareholders and their proxies chanted, "Chevron Lies, People Die." CEO John Watson abruptly ended the meeting. Juhasz was released from jail this afternoon at 1:15 pm CDT after being arrested in Chevron's annual shareholder meeting yesterday morning around 10:00 am CDT and kept overnight. She and other True Cost of Chevron Network members were there to share their stories of human rights and environmental abuses due to Chevron's operations.

The other four arrestees from the network, Juan Parras of Houston, TX; Reverend Ken Davis of Richmond, CA; and Mitch Anderson and Han Shan of San Francisco, CA, were released early this morning at 3:30 am CDT. They were arrested after being barred from the meeting.

"As a Houstonian, I am proud to be part of this global network. Chevron cannot silence the truth about its operations in Houston or anywhere else," stated Parras.

Sangita Nayak, 414 412 4518, emailsangita@gmail.com
* Diana Pei Wu, 510 333 3889, dianapeiwu@gmail.com

Chevron's Disdain for Human Rights Will Bring Political and Financial Costs

As a student, former Military Intelligence Officer, and veteran, I've spent the last six years studying political violence and its causes. Simply put, when the process of dialogue between disputing parties breaks down and the aggrieved party is denied recourse through the political and legal systems, its members take the next logical step, which military theorist Carl von Clausewitz describes as the "continuation of politics by other means." This can be observed in places such as Iraq and Nigeria, developing nations which have three things in common: oil, governments that rely more on fear than representation to maintain power, and foreign investors who collude with these governments in order to gain access that resource.

In the case of Iraq this has led to sectarian conflict and attacks on U.S. troops, who are in the position of having to preserve a fragile security situation while Chevron and other companies attempt to quietly exploit their window of opportunity to re-enter the country. Nigeria, in comparison, has lost up to 25% of its oil production capacity due to insurgent attacks in the Niger Delta, where Chevron contaminates the air and water with impunity and has directly supported the Nigerian military in its brutal operations against peaceful demonstrators. Faced with the devastation of their food and water supply and the failure of their governments to hold these companies accountable, it is not difficult to understand why citizens of these countries turned to armed conflict in order to change their cost-benefit analysis.

After witnessing firsthand this week how Chevron refused entry to proxy shareholders from Ecuador, Burma, Nigeria, Colombia, and numerous other places around the world which have been severely harmed by the company, I cannot help but wonder what these individuals' communities will think after they return from thousands of miles of travel without having been afforded the opportunity to make a simple statement before Chevron's new CEO and Board of Directors: treat us like human beings. The air was thick with contempt in front of Chevron's Houston headquarters as these individuals were escorted out by smirking security officials after being informed that their papers did not meet the company's qualifications for entry. My thought, watching these community leaders exit the building in compliance, was that Chevron had just made a major strategic miscalculation.

We in the U.S. are fortunate enough to still have a political system which, however frustrating it can often be, still makes it possible to effect change through peaceful political and legal means. Chevron is an American company. Therefore we have a responsibility to hold it accountable for its human rights violations around the world and to impose political and financial costs on it for these violations. Through a series of long term regulatory and policy battles we will make it increasingly costly for companies such as Chevron to operate and simultaneously make renewable alternatives more attractive to investors, the ultimate objective being to bring the power of energy production back into the hands of the people. The technology to accomplish this exists today. Our challenge is to win over or oust those politicians who stand in our way through the electoral process. Our security, our democracy, and our moral authority in the world are at stake in what we will look back on as one of the great political battles of the 21st century.

T.J. Buonomo is a Chevron Program Associate with Global Exchange and founder and editor of Citizens for a Sovereign and Democratic Iraq. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and former Military Intelligence Officer, U.S. Army. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Global Exchange or its members.

Larry Kibby: The Dreaded US Apology

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The Dreaded U.S. Apology
By Larry Kibby
On May 19, 2010, an event was held at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., an event in which several Federal Representatives and several Tribal Representatives were in attendance, an event directed to the American Indians of these United States in which the Government issued a "Formal Apology for Ill-Conceived Policies and Acts of Violence committed against them."

The following comments are my own opinion and personal viewpoint of this event that took place on Wednesday, May 19, 2010, which in a manner of speaking is simple, what a "Sad Inhuman Joke!"

"The U.S. government apologizes on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native Peoples for many instances of violence, maltreatment and neglect inflicted on” American Indians by U.S. citizens." Wrong! We're talking about hundreds of years of prejudicial inhuman brutal beatings, torture and murder of innocent Elders, Women, Teens, Children, Infants, Medicine folks and Holy People by the United States Government, United States Army and U.S. Citizens and the reality of that is this, that the United States Government and Army are both "Guilty" of enacting and carrying out the "Worlds Worst Ever" Genocide and Holocaust against the American Indian.

"Ill-Conceived Policies?" More like several Centuries of pure "Racial Hate Policies!" You don't shoot a baby in the head and then crush its skull in with a rifle butt and call that "ill-conceived policies or an act of violence!"

When women, teens and children are sexually assaulted and brutally raped and their genitals sometimes cut out and worn as decorations, that is not "ill-conceived policies or an act of violence!"

When children are forcibly removed from their families and homes and dragged to boarding schools, where they are forced to have their hair cut, beaten when they speak their own language or practice their culture and beliefs or are sexually assaulted and raped, that is not "ill-conceived policies or an act of violence!"

When families of elderly, women, teens, children and babies are sleeping peaceably and then suddenly attacked, beaten, hacked to death and out and out murdered, that is not "ill-conceived policies or an act of violence!"

When deceit and lies, beatings and even murder are utilized as a means to religiously convert Indian people, that is not "ill-conceived policies or an act of violence!"

When Nation after Nation of Indian people are brutally and inhumanly removed from their traditional home lands for no justified reason, that is not "ill-conceived policies or an act of violence!"

The list of inhuman atrocities against the American Indian by the United States Government, U.S. Army, U.S. Citizens goes on and on and for sure they were and are not "ill-conceived policies or an act of violence!"

"The history of the U.S. (toward American Indians) is not a bright record." No, it is not a bright record, I'd say it is down right shameful, disgraceful and historical record full of "Pure Racial Hate." An historical record of inhuman acts and brutal inhuman murder, terrorism towards a people of the worst kind.

Today, despite the historical past of their ancestors, hundreds, if not thousands of our people have become strongly assimilated and religiously converted, there is no wrong in that, it is their life and their right to choose how they so desire to live.

As well, in this day and age, despite the historical past of their ancestors, we have hundreds if not thousands of our tribal people who have at one point in time wore and still wear the colors of the armed forces, people who have and continue to fight and die honorably and with dignity for this country and all of its citizens.

Of course in these contemporary, what with so many of our tribal folks who have travel the road of assimilation and who have converted to non-Indian religions, there are some of those folks who have and continue to denounce the Ancient Customs and Belief's of our Ancestors, who seemly walk along side of the Anti-Indian Movement.

And what about the hundreds of Broken Treaties? What about this Government, Corporations and American possession of the mineral wealth taken from this land that was accumulated through the murder of our people? What about the millions and millions of acres of land that was stolen through the death of our people?

Turncoats, Tribal Corruption, Criminal Activity, Liars and Frauds have aided and abetted the American Government in its endeavor to distort, destroy and desecrate all that represents Indian Country, the Ancient Customs and Belief's of the American Indian.

517 years of Injustice, there is no real logical means that can unravel the continued on-going racial hate, prejudice and discrimination of the Governments so-called "Ill-Conceived Policies and Acts of Violence."

If anything, it is time to stop the Racial Hate, Inhuman Acts and Policies of Cultural Genocide towards the American Indian and then maybe begin working towards creating a genuine and unique Apology.

Written and Prepared by: Larry Kibby - l.kibby@frontier.com
Elko, Nevada 89801

Chevron Disrespects Indigenous Leaders Exposing True Cost of Chevron

http://www.truecostofchevron.com/
Contacts: Diana Pei Wu, dianapeiwu@gmail.com, 510-333-3889
Sangita Nayak, emailsangita@gmail.com, 414-412-4518

Chevron Disrespects Community Leaders Exposing True Cost of Chevron

Indigenous and global leaders ignored by Chevron decision-makers, expect showdown at shareholder meeting

Hi res, rights free photos available at http://rainforestactionnetwork.smugmug.com/Change-Chevron/True-Cost-of-Chevron-Press/12311033_j4CMA#878829788_Uw4tB

Update: Protesters arrested outside Chevron stockholder meeting on Wednesday

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7022962.html

HOUSTON -- After traveling from as far as Australia, Burma, Nigeria, Ecuador and Alaska, community leaders and authors of the newly released report "The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report" were rebuffed by Chevron CEO John Watson when they tried to deliver their report at the company's Houston office on Tuesday. The report details Chevron's human rights abuses and environmental destruction around the globe.

"Chevron refuses to face its own true cost. Community and Indigenous leaders came from around the world from the locations where Chevron operates, and they were left waiting in a lobby," said Antonia Juhasz, lead author and editor of the new report and director of the Chevron Program at Global Exchange, calling the Chevron actions "disrespectful." She and the rest of the Coalition await the shareholder meeting tomorrow, where a Chevron representative agreed to a "point by point rebuttal" to the new report.

Indigenous community leaders Guillermo Grefa (Kichwa) from Rumipamba, Ecuador and Emem Okon from Nigeria accused Chevron's operations of causing the extinction of indigenous peoples, while Debora Barros Fince (Organizacion Wayuu Munserrat, La Guajira, Colombia) added that Chevron supports the paramilitary operations of the current government in Colombia. Grefa asked, "When are you going to clean up what you have contaminated?"

Many of the leaders demanded that Chevron be held accountable for the deaths of their community members, such as Reverend Ken Davis, from Richmond California, who said, "Chevron takes out profits, and I have to see people to their graves." T.J. Buonomo, a former U.S. Army military intelligence officer and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, challenged the Chevron representative on Chevron's practices lobbying the Iraq government and the U.S. government to allow oil extraction in Iraq while it is still under military occupation. He said, "You don't consider that inappropriate? You can't bring those lives back."

At the press conference preceding the confrontation with Chevron, Elias Isaac of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa in Angola said that "Chevron's CEO John Watson has said that he is "humbled" by BP's explosion in the U.S. Gulf, "instead, he should be ashamed of his own company's offshore operations which cause persistent, ongoing, daily abuses of the environment, our livelihoods, and public health." The devastation caused by Chevron's offshore operations was also the focus of remarks given by Tom Evans of Cook InletKeeper, Homer, Alaska and Emem Okon of Keebetkache Women Development and Resource Center in Nigeria.

The True Cost of Chevron network leaders, experts and supporters will be rallying outside the shareholder meeting, Wednesday, May 26, at 7 a.m., at 1500 Louisiana St in Houston, and over forty will be attending the shareholder meeting at 8 a.m.

They will also attend a Houston community-led toxic tour of Chevron's operations in the Houston Ship Channel immediately following the toxic tour.