Tuesday, October 26, 2010

ARTISTS AGAINST RAPE 2010

sfwar.org
in REmembering, we RISE

13th Artists Against Rape
Friday, November 5th, 2010
First Congregational Church (of Oakland)
2501 Harrison Street
Oakland, CA 94612-3811

7:00pm Reception
(Refreshments & Silent Auction)

8:00pm Performance

SUGGESTED DONATIONS:
Adults $10-$50
Youth (under 18) $5-$20

No one turned away for lack of funds



Venue is wheelchair accessible
Performance is ASL interpreted

Childcare available
(Please RSVP by 10/29/10 • 415.861.2024)

Shuttle available from 19th Street BART Station
(Please RSVP by 10/29/10 • 415.861.2024)

Monday, October 25, 2010

Guantanamo inmate pleads guilty

Aljazeera Oct. 25, 2010

Canadian Omar Khadr admits to throwing grenade that killed US soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old.
Obama has failed to close the Guantanamo detention centre despite pledging to do so by January 2010 [GALLO/GETTY]

A Canadian prisoner in Guantanamo Bay has pleaded guilty to killing an American soldier while he was a young teenager as part of a deal that will allow him to avoid a war crimes trial.

Omar Khadr on Monday pleaded guilty to five charges, including murder, for throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier in Afghanistan in 2002. He was just 15 at the time of the incident, which occurred during a fierce firefight at an al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan.

Khadr, now 24, also admitted to planting improvised explosive devices and receiving weapons training from al-Qaeda. His defence lawyers say that because Khadr was a child when the offences occurred, he should not be tried for war-crimes.

The exact terms of the plea deal were not immediately disclosed, but Khadr is due to be sentenced by a military jury in several days. The sentence they impose is bound by the plea deal.

Khadr would be allowed to trasfer back to his native Canada after serving a year of his sentence as part of the deal, the military judge in charge of the case said.

Trial criticised

The US has argued that Khadr, who was badly wounded during the fighting, is a war criminal because he was not a regular solider. But his case has long outraged opponants to Guantanamo, who say he was a child soldier and was subjected to mistreatment while in US custody.

John Terrett, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Washington DC, said that the proceedings against Khadr are unprecedented. "In many ways this whole thing has been a trial of firsts and onlys," he said.

"He's the only Canadian citizen in Guantanamo and he's the only child soldier- He was arrested at the age of 15. He has pled guilty to all five charges against, and it has become that this trial is coming to a plea-bargain end."

Khadr's defence team say he was pushed into fighting the US by his father, said to be a close associate of Osama bin Laden. Human rights defenders have criticised Barack Obama, the US president, for seeking to prosecute Khadr.

"It's particularly galling that a president who promised to restore human rights is beginning the first trial here with a child soldier who was abused for years in US custody and was taken to a war zone by his dad," Jennifer Turner, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who is at Guantanamo to observe proceedings against Khadr, said.

Many of Obama's supporters have been angered by his failure to close Guantanamo, despite promising to do so in his campaign and ordering the government to do so as one of his first acts as president.

Around 170 prisoners are still being held at Guantanamo. Congressional opposition to its closure, and difficulty in finding countries to take the men held there, has stalled Obama's plan to close the prison.

Occupation Courts Sentence Sa'adat to Six Months More of Isolation - Take Action!

freeahmadsaadat.org

In yet another outrage and attack upon the humanity of Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people, Ahmad Sa'adat was sentenced to an additional six months in isolation inside Israeli prisons, an extension that will last until April 21, 2011. As actions and events took place throughout Palestine and around the world - in the United States, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Ireland, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere - in support of Sa'adat's struggle to end isolation and hundreds of letters and petitions were delivered to prison officials from concerned human rights advocates around the world, the Israeli authorities have sentenced this Palestinian leader to another six months barred from human contact.

Sa'adat has been held in isolation for over 500 days, since March 19, 2009. He has been confined without access even to the other prisoners in the isolation unit and deprived of basic human rights. His personal books have been confiscated and he is routinely denied access to media and reading material in any language other than Hebrew. He has been denied family visits, including from his wife Abla, and his lawyers have several times been barred from visiting him. His recreation time has been limited repeatedly.

Isolation and prevention of human contact is widely understood by human rights advocates to be ill-treatment that amounts to torture and/or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, in violation of the Geneva Conventions. Ongoing and repeated isolation that will now stretch to over two years, justified by vague declarations of "security" needs, indicate that the Israeli regime is dedicated to attempting to isolate Sa'adat not only from his fellow prisoners, but to isolate and silence his voice among the Palestinian people.

Sa'adat's ongoing isolation only serves to make clear time and again that the Israeli courts are merely an arm of the occupation, dedicated at all levels to maintaining the oppression of the Palestinian people and providing a "legal" pretext for ongoing brutality and human rights abuses.

Sa'adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has been held in Israeli jails since March 14, 2006, when he was abducted from Jericho prison, where he had been held in a Palestinian Authority prison under U.S. and British guard. While imprisoned in the PA jail in Jericho, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council. He was sentenced to thirty years in prison on December 25, 2008 by an Israeli military court for his political activity, and has spent over 500 days in continually-renewed isolation at the present time.

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat salutes the human rights and Palestine solidarity activists around the world who have rallied to struggle for Sa'adat and the approximately 7,000 prisoners held in the jails of the occupation. This work defeats the occupation's plans - it refuses to allow the Palestinian prisoners, on a Palestinian, Arab or international level, to be isolated. The voices of Ahmad Sa'adat and the Palestinian prisoners will be heard, and no bars or isolation will prevent that.

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat calls upon all to confront this outrage - to continue to write, speak out, demonstrate, and demand that Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners achieve their freedom. Isolation will not silence Ahmad Sa'adat, the Palestinian prisoners or the cause of the Palestinian people!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Activist Alex Hundert Re-arrested

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2010 g20.torontomobilize.org

Community organizer Alex Hundert was arrested this morning at his surety’s
home. He has been arrested on an unfounded allegation, and one clearly
designed to return Hundert to prison.

“I witnessed the alleged incident, and I’m confident that this charge is
unfounded. It is a further attempt to silence and incarcerate my brother,”
said Jonah Hundert, who was with Alex at the time. “This most recent
attempt to vilify him will not work, and support will continue.”

This arrest is yet another attempt to intimidate and harass Alex and other
anti-G20 organizers. The Crown is seeking his detention and attempting to
have his bail revoked. This is the fourth time that the Crown has sought
his detention in the past five months. This most recent attempt to
imprison Alex, and intimidate activists and critics of the government,
demonstrates the desperation and heavy handedness of the Crown and the
police. The Crown is grasping at straws in an attempt to put Alex in jail
for as long as possible.

“The Movement Defence Committee is deeply concerned that Alex Hundert
continues to be targeted by the state, this is his third arrest under
questionable circumstances,” says Ryan White from the Committee.

He has been targeted by the police on a number of occasions and was
arrested for speaking against the G20 in September at a panel discussion.
Community organizations and individuals have rallied behind Hundert, in
opposition to this blatant intimidation. This arrest was clearly an
attempt to silence political dissent and impede public discussion about
the G20 and the police abuses during the G20 protests. Following this
arrest, he was jailed for over a month before being released.

The G20, the 20 countries with the largest economies, met in Toronto last
June. Currently, G20 austerity measures are snatching away health,
educational and social services, while the governments of G20 countries
continue to bail out banks and corporations. G20 policies further
colonization and destruction of Indigenous nations and their lands in
Canada and around the world. These policies also displace millions of
people a year, many of whom come here and are forced to deal with the
racist and oppressive Canadian immigration system. While communities are
faced with massive cuts, to social assistance, housing, and countless
other social programs, these meetings cost over $1 billion to police.

Numerous organizations expressed public support for Alex after his last
arrest. These include: the Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Association
of Journalists, Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Wilfred-Laurier
University Faculty Association, Canadian Association of University
Teachers, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, No One Is Illegal, AW@L,
Toronto Community Solidarity Network, and OPIRG Toronto.

While in custody, he remains under his existing bail conditions.

More information will be provided as it becomes available.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

COINTELPRO and its Historical Legacy Educational Call

US Human Rights Network Training Call

Thursday, October 28, 2010 2 pm EST

“COINTELPRO” was the FBI's secret and illegal program to undermine and destroy the
popular upsurge and mass movements for social justice that swept the US, beginning
with the early civil rights movement and Puerto Rican independence movement in the
1950s, and continuing through the 1960s and 1970s. The name comes from
"COunterINtelligence PROgram, and it was ordered by the infamous FBI Director, J.
Edgar Hoover, to “misdirect, discredit, disrupt, and otherwise neutralize”
progressive and radical organizations and leaders, up to and including outright
assassination of leaders. Illegal FBI operations also included infiltration,
wiretapping of phones, opening mail, break-ins, psychological warfare, grand juries,
frame-ups, imprisonment, and a wide range of other surveillance, harassment, and
intimidation. Illegal activities were directed at a wide range of groups and
individuals, from Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King to more militant groups, such
as the Black Panther Party, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the
Revolutionary Action Movement. The most intense operations were directed against
movements by peoples of color, particularly the Black liberation movement, and
Native American, Puerto Rican, and Chicano/Mexicano movements, but also included the
entire antiwar, student, women’s movements, and leftwing organizations. While
COINTELPRO was an FBI operation, it now is seen to include many other government and
military agencies, local police, and right wing organizations. COINTELPRO was
discovered in March, 1971, when still anonymous antiwar activists found secret files
when they raided a draft board that shared offices with the FBI in Media,
Pennsylvania. They removed the files and released them to the news media. While
there were Congressional investigations and some of these illegal activities were
exposed, many of the crimes of COINTELPRO remain unknown. In addition to the highly
destructive impact of COINTELPRO during those times, many political prisoners,
convicted in the 1960s and 1970s, remain in prison to this day.


To register for this call use the following link:

https://www.accuconference.com/customer/Registration/index.aspx?pkRegQG=1d1d6290-c7ce-46b4-a62f-a7104cc4bf64



Presenters Include:

Ward Churchill

A prolific American Indian scholar/activist, Ward Churchill is a founding member of
the Rainbow Council of Elders, and longtime member of the leadership council of the
American Indian Movement of Colorado. In addition to his numerous works on
Indigenous history, he has written extensively on U.S. foreign policy and the
repression of political dissent, including the FBI’s COINTELPRO operations against
the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement. Churchill has written over
20 books, including Fantasies of the Master Race, Struggle for the Land, On the
Justice of Roosting Chickens, From A Native Son, Critical Issues in Native North
America, The COINTELPRO Papers, Indians R Us?, Agents of Repression, Since Predator
Came, and A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas. Five of
his books have received human rights awards.

Akinyele Umoja

Akinyele Umoja is an activist, scholar and educator. He is been active over thirty
years in the liberation struggle of Afrikan people, particularly working with the
New Afrikan Independence Movement. He is a founding member of the New Afrikan
Peoples Organization (NAPO) and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM). Akinyele
is particularly committed to work to gain Amnesty for political prisoners and
prisoners of war and to win reparations for Afrikan people. Akinyele is an Associate
Professor of African-American Studies at Georgia State University (GSU). Akinyele
has contributed articles in several publications including Soulbook, Nommo, By Any
Mean Any Necessary, Black Agenda Report, Breakthrough, BLU, Black Star, Journal of
Black Studies, The Black Scholar, New Political Science, and Socialism and
Democracy.. He is currently writing a book based titled, “Eye for an Eye: The Role
of Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement. He also contributed
articles to The Black Panther Party Reconsidered, edited by Charles E. Jones;
Liberation, Imagination, and the Black Panther Party, edited by Kathleen Cleaver and
George Katisaficus; The Malcolm X Reader edited by James Conyers and Andrew
Smallwood; and the Companion on African-American History edited by Alton Hornsby.

Join Us

To join the Political Prisoner and State Repression Working Group email Efia Wangaza
at enjericho@aol.com.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Alexei Gaskarov Released from Police Custody by the Khimki Municipal Court

Oct. 22, 2010 Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow

On October 22, Alexei Gaskarov was released from police custody in a Khimki
municipal courtroom. Judge Svetlana Galanova made the decision to release
Gaskarov on his own recognizance, ignoring an appeal from the prosecution to
leave him in police custody. Alexei reacted by saying that he had not
expected this decision because he has no faith in the Russian justice system.

The prosecution presented no new arguments to support its request to keep
Gaskarov in police custody, with the exception of a report issued by the FSB.
The report states that Alexei Gaskarov has been a member of the Antifa IYA
(apparently, “informal youth association”) since 2007; that he has extensive
contacts, including with foreign countries, which is corroborated by his
multiple trips abroad; that he has participated in and organized unsanctioned
protest actions; and that the last time he was detained was on March 20,
2010, during the Day of Rage protest action.

In his testimony, Alexei stated that antifascism is not a crime, that his
antifascist views cannot be cause to place him under arrest, and that his
trips abroad are his own personal affair. Gaskarov told the court that he was
present at the March 20 Day of Rage protest in his capacity as a
correspondent for the Institute for Collective Action (IKD) and that after
his arrest he had been acquitted of all charges by a justice of the peace.
Gaskarov had likewise traveled to Khimki on July 28 as an IKD correspondent,
which was confirmed in a letter submitted by the institute’s directors.

Civil rights activist Lev Ponomaryov, who participated in the hearing as a
counsel for the defense, likewise voiced his bewilderment over the fact that
the prosecution had portrayed antifascist convictions as a negative character
factor, whereas in reality society should be proud of such people because
they protect it from fascism. According to Ponomaryov, it is a very good
thing that such people are resolute in their convictions.

The court heard testimony from Andrei Demidov, deputy director of the
Institute for Collective Action. Demidov confirmed that Gaskarov had been
dispatched to Khimki as an IKD correspondent. Georgy Semyonovsky, Gaskarov’s
lawyer, reminded the court that five well-respected citizens — Lev
Ponomaryov, executive director of the For Human Rights movement; civil
rights activist Sergei Kovalyov and Liudmila Alexeeva; and State Duma
deputies Ilya Ponomaryov and Oleg Shein – had agreed to vouch for his
client’s reliability.

On October 18, the Khimki Municipal Court likewise released Maxim Solopov from
police custody on his own recognizance. Like Gaskarov, Solopov has been
charged with disorderly conduct for his alleged participation in a protest
action outside the Khimki town hall.

The Campaign for the Release of the Khimki Hostages congratulates Maxim
Solopov and Alexei Gaskarov on their conditional release from police custody,
but believes that it has not achieved its goals and intends to keep fighting
until all charges against them have been dropped.

For more information, contact:

Tel: +7 915-053-5912

Email: info@khimkibattle.org

Website: http://khimkibattle.org

More on Khimki struggle in Avtonom.org:

http://www.avtonom.org/en/khimki


From www.khimkibattle.org through https://avtonom.org/node/13850

Building the Palestinian Right To Return Movement-Cleveland

Saturday, October 30, 2010 . 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

at
Kan Zaman
1616 West 25th Street
Cleveland 44113

A Discussion with Dr. Zahi Damuni,

Co-founder of Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition


Hosted by Al-Awda Cleveland

For more info call Abbas Hamideh: 216/299-6002
216/299-6002

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Prison Dispatch from Leonard Peltier

October 20, 2010

Sisters, brothers, friends and supporters:

I would like to share with you the good feelings
I am experiencing right now. On the 16th of
October, I met with my team of lawyers, my dream
team. I can't reveal the details of this
meeting, but I'll tell you this -- It was a great
meeting and many positive ideas were
discussed. Decisions were made about how best to
prepare and file new court actions.

I'm very excited about our plans. We have at the
very least 6 more constitutional violations to
address. As some of you might know, in these 35
years, I have learned a lot about the law. The
legal issues we have to raise now are very
serious and the arguments are strong.

We'll file cases very soon, but we have a lot of
work ahead of us. This time around, we all must
be prepared with not only the legal work, but the
political work. We need to be unified in everything we do.

I'm ready to go to battle and hope you'll join
with us ­ me, the legal team and my defense
committee. We can and will win this time.

Thank you.

Doksha.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,


Leonard Peltier #89637-132
US Penitentiary ­ Lewisburg
PO Box 1000
Lewisburg, PA 17837


************************************

Launched into cyberspace by the
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
PO Box 7488, Fargo, ND 58106
Phone: 701/235-2206
E-mail: contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
Web: http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info

Bay Area! UNITE TO FIGHT! October 22, 2010: National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation

15th Annual Bay Area October 22nd to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization
of a Generation

Oakland

Friday, October 22nd
12 to 1 PM Fruitvale Bart Plaza
(34th Ave. & International)

Speak Out & Rally

4PM
RALLY and MARCH
71st Ave. & International
For more info: 510-926-5207
-----0----
Saturday, October 23rd
join with a powerful International Longshore and Warehouse Union led rally,
JUSTICE FOR OSCAR GRANT!
Saturday, Oct. 23rd
12noon
(Oakland City Hall near 14th/Broadway)

Stop the Deportation of Eddy Zheng (Again)

by Erin Pangilinan October 14, 2010 immigration.change.org

Xiao Fei "Eddy" Zheng, an Asian American immigrant community leader, faces deportation to China, yet again.

In the 1980s, 16-year-old Zheng and his family faced language barriers that kept them from fully understanding that he was found guilty of an aggravated felony and going to serve over 20 years in prison. After being released in 2007, Zheng was in danger of immediate deportation due to his status as a legal permanent resident (non-U.S. citizen) with an aggravated felony. But he threw himself into becoming a contributing member of his local San Francisco Bay Area community.

Zheng has distinguished himself as a leader for prisoner rehabilitation, earning his Associates degree and organizing the first poetry slam at San Quentin State Prison. His current work as a Project Manager in Oakland at the Community Youth Center focuses on youth violence prevention in the Asian American Pacific Islander community, striving to keep at-risk youth out of prison. In recognition of his desire and ability to serve, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Zheng to the San Francisco Reentry Council, which helps ex-offenders in transition back into society. Zheng also found the time to publish Other: an Asian and Pacific Islander Prisoners' Anthology in 2009 2007.

Over the past few years, several campaigns launched by the Asian American community have protested Zheng's potentional deportation and advocated for a stay of removal. In the more recent call to action, more support beyond the Asian American community is needed in requesting a pardon allowing him to stay in the U.S. with his wife and family permanently, resolving his status in a positive direction once and for all.

Zheng's dedication to his community has won him many supporters. In July of this year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors signed a resolution supporting Eddy Zheng's stay of removal. Various public leaders like Congressman Mike Honda, Congresswoman Judy Chu, and several California State Senators have also recognized his work. Uprooting him would be a great loss to the at-risk youth of the Bay Area.

Zheng has done more than enough to pay back his debt to society and deserves a pardon, which he filed for in September 2010, from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to stay in the U.S. Sign this petition to tell the Governor to pardon Eddy Zheng.

Photo Credit: EddyZheng.com