May 1: March for Just and Humane Immigration Reform

Great flyer for the the DC march coming up this week.

 

3 pm- Gather in Malcolm X Park: 16th and W Streets NW Washington, DC
4 pm- March to the White House

Our Demands:
Stop the Raids and Deportations
Just and Humane Immigration Reform
End the 287g Agreements--No Local Enforcement of Broken Immigration Laws
This is a critical time for the immigrant community. For years, raids and deportations have divided families and terrorized workers. Last fall's election marked a sea change in U.S. politics. Now, President Obama has restated his commitment to immigration reform. We march to make this change a reality--to bring the voices of immigrants into the national debate over what kind of reform we need. Just and humane immigration reform must be a central component of economic recovery. Immigrants are workers who produce tremendous wealth in our society and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Please join us on May 1st to say that now is the time to stop the raids and deportations and move towards an inclusive legalization of immigrant workers and families.

Doing something far away from the war in Sri Lanka

What If You Had One Week Day Left To Stop Mass Ethnic Cleansing? (Updated) | pass the roti on the left hand side

1. Read up to date news from International Red Cross on civilians in the North East

2. If you are an Indian citizen or a membner of the Indian diaspora, sign Professor Qadri Ismail's petition to the Indian Mission at the UN.

3. If you are a resident of the United States or otherwise interested, call your Congresspeople and tell them to pay attention and to stop the war in Sri Lanka or whatever message you think is most useful for making sure that 100,000 people don't end up destroyed in the next few days/weeks/months..

4. For all, a petition circulated by the World at a Crossroads conference

5. Write, call, e-mail, fax or otherwise contact the Sri Lankan embassy or consulate in your area or whatever one you want and tell them what you think.  My suggestion is to stop any military action that does not allow civilians to live and that does not allow for international monitoring of the same, but there are many other points of view that people have, which you can see in the comments below or the links people have provided.  You can look up a Sri Lankan embassy/consulate contact information by entering the host country in the top dropbox and clicking on search below the bottom box.

TUPOCC Condemns "Israel's" On-Going Genocide Against the Palestinian Arab People and Crimes Against Humanity in the Gaza Strip

DISCLAIMER: The viewpoint expressed in the following statement is not the viewpoint of the National Lawyers Guild or the National Lawyers Guild Foundation.

TUPOCC-NLG Palestine Sub-Committee & NLG Middle-East Steering Committee Strongly Condemn "Israel's" On-Going Genocide Against the Palestinian Arab People and Crimes Against Humanity in the Gaza Strip

January 7, 2009

The United People of Color Caucus (TUPOCC) Palestine Sub-Committee of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and the NLG Middle-East Steering Committee (NLG-MESC) call upon the international community to join us in our strong condemnation of "Israel's" on-going genocide, crimes against humanity, and brutal six-decade-old occupation of Palestine. "Israel" has, yet again, intensified its ruthless campaign to intentionally destroy the Palestinian Arab People by murdering over 700 Palestinians—including scores of women and children—and brutally injuring over 3100 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Over the past twelve days "Israel" has perpetrated round-the-clock carpet-bombing of Palestinian civilians, civil infrastructure, and civil institutions, including schools, markets, and refugee camps/neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip--one of the most densely populated areas on Earth. "Israel's" savage bombardment and deadly siege against Gaza has relentlessly deprived Palestinians of any ability to obtain the necessary fuel, electricity, food, clean water, medical supplies and basic necessities of life—"Israel's" admitted "starvation diet" campaign. "Israel" now demands that Palestinians leave Gaza to "avoid" death – a blatant and transparent attempt at permanently expelling Palestinians from their land.

"Israel" is callously perpetrating the "holocaust" against Palestinians as threatened by "Israeli" official Matan Vilnai in February 2008. "Israel's" on-going saturation bombing campaign savagely targets the over 1.5 million Palestinians civilians in the Gaza Strip—a majority of whom are refugees from the 78% of Palestine illegally occupied by Zionist forces in 1948.

"Israel's" genocide, occupation, and grave crimes against humanity in Gaza and the whole of occupied Palestine could not have been perpetrated without the direct and indirect complicity of the world governments, including the US, EU, and puppet Arab regimes. Moreover, the "green light" for genocide also stems from the dehumanization of Palestinian Arabs by Western corporate media outlets only to be reinforced by organizations who fail to condemn Zionism and its product, "Israel," or who advance the patently false symmetry between the occupied Palestinians and their Zionist occupiers.

Accordingly, TUPOCC's Palestine Sub-Committee and the Middle-East Steering Committee of the NLG call upon the international community and all people of good conscience to stand with the victims of Zionism and its product "Israel" by taking immediate action to put an end to the Zionist genocide against Palestinians. In reaffirming TUPOCC's "Statement in Support of Palestinian Liberation and Dissent from the National Lawyers Guild's Official Position on Palestine and Zionism," TUPOCC's Palestine Sub-Committee and NLG-MESC urge the international community to:

1) Support a full and comprehensive campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against "Israel";



2) Send desperately needed humanitarian aid to the Palestinian People suffering due to the on-going genocide by "Israel." Please go to http://www.kinderusa.org and make an online donation of $500, $250, $100, or whatever you can afford;

3) Demand an immediate end to all "aid" to "Israel," including the billions of taxpayer dollars which fund Israel's on-going genocide, occupation, and crimes against humanity waged against the Palestinian People;

4) Immediately end any recognition, legitimization, or normalization with "Israel";

5) Demand that the United Nations live-up to its Charter by immediately and permanently expelling "Israel" from the United Nations;

6) Support the Palestinian Arab People's right of self-determination and liberation throughout all of occupied Palestine—both the areas occupied in 1948 and 1967—as guaranteed to Palestinians by international law and the UN Charter;

7) Support and reaffirm the legitimacy of the Palestinian Arab People's right to struggle for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, particularly armed struggle. (United Nations Resolution A/RES/33/24 29 November 1978);

8) Demand all Governments and organizations, including the United Nations, to live-up to their obligations and unequivocally condemn Zionism as a form of racism as formally expressed under United Nations Resolution 3379 of 1975; and

9) Establish International Criminal Tribunals against "Israel" and all of its quasi-governmental organizations, including the World Zionist Organization, for their grave crimes against humanity including genocide and illegal occupation.

Houston Police abuse of Sikh crime victims: action alert and video

the latest from the Police Brutality On Sikhs blog:

(Houston, Texas) December 10, 2008 - As reported on Monday, a Sikh family that reported a burglary last week was handcuffed, asked about the "bombings in Mumbai", and told by an officer that "he knows Muslims." Watch video on what happened here and here. The Sikh Coalition requests that the community show its response and take action now:

Sign a Petition
Harris County Sheriff-Elect Adrian Garcia is visiting the Sikh Center of Houston on Sunday, December 14, 2008. He will be the new Sheriff for Harris County next year. This petition will be directly handed over to him, so please help us gain as many signatures as possible.

Submit a Question
Harris County Sheriff-Elect Adrian Garcia is visiting the Sikh Center of Houston on Sunday, December 14, 2008. During his visit the Tagore family and sangat members will be able to ask him questions on the actions he will take in response to the treatment of the Tagore family by police officers. Submit a question for the Tagore family to ask Sheriff-Elect Garcia directly when he visits the Gurdwara.

Make a Call
Harris County Sheriff-Elect Adrian Garcia (when he takes office) along with Judge Ed Emmet are charged with running the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Please call their offices directly and register your concern with the conduct of Harris County Sheriffs' deputies towards the Tagore family.

Immigrants Gain DHS Assurance: No Checkpoints in Gustav Evacuation

Press Release from the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice:

Immigrant workers demanding a safe evacuation from the path of Hurricane Gustav received key assurances from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that no immigration enforcement actions or checkpoints would occur in the evacuation process or along evacuation routes. The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice gained the assurances for safe passage of immigrant workers just as mandatory evacuations began across the Gulf Coast. ...

As Gustav approached, immigrant workers and their families feared evacuation due to anticipation over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints. Of the over 200 surveys of day laborers which the Workers' Center conducted as Hurricane Gustav approached, the fear of detention and deportation by DHS was identified as the single greatest obstacle to accessing humanitarian relief. "We want to take our families to safety. We should not have to face deportation as we escape from the storm," said Dennis Soriano, an organizer with the Congress of Day Laborers.

Excerpt of the agreement:

OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Gustav
· All residents of the Gulf Coast region need to evacuate.

· There are no immigration enforcement operations, and there are no immigration enforcement checkpoints associated with the evacuations.

· The Department of Homeland Security's top priorities in any emergency are life-saving and life-sustaining activities, preventing the loss of property to the extent possible, and assisting with a speedy recovery of the affected region.

Gustav

· Todos los residentes del la region de la Costa del Golfo
deben evacuar.

· No hay operacions de inmigracion, y no hay puntos de inmigracion asociados con las evacuaciones.

· Las prioridades mas altas del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS por sus siglas en Ingles) en cualquier emergencia son las de salvar y sostener la vida, preevenir la perdida de propiedad lo tanto posible, y asistir con la recuperacion de la region afectada.

Prisoners' plight during hurricane Gustav: CR and INCITE action alerts

Forwarded message:


Hey folks - please make this call today in between your Labor Day Weekend activities. Also, INCITE! New Orleans tells us that women prisoners are being shipped to Angola State Prison, an infamous maximum security men's prison, rather than to the state women's facility. This happened last time, and resulted in terrible human rights abuses. We particularly need the "big" organizations among you to make this call - but everyone's voice is needed. MAKE SURE WHEN YOU CALL TO DEMAND TO KNOW WHY WOMEN PRISONERS ARE BEING SHIPPED TO A MEN'S FACILITY, AND THAT THEY BE MOVED TO A WOMEN'S FACILITY IMMEDIATELY.

Also, we are raising money to help get low income women of color, who, as we all know, were devastatingly impacted by Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, out of town safely and back to the City as soon as it is safe. You can donate at INCITE!'s website http://www.incite-national.org, put New Orleans in the "purpose" line of the Pay Pal form, and we will be transferring it directly to the INCITE! New Orleans bank account for distribution to the 500 + constituency and patients of the New Orleans Women's Clinic, created post Katrina by INCITE! New Orleans to meet the overwhelming need for health care for low income uninsured women of color in the wake of public hospital closings and ongoing environmental contamination...

...

What will happen to the prisoners of Orleans Parish Prison located in New Orleans this time?

Critical Resistance (CR) is demanding that the elected officials of New Orleans will not create the same devastating wrongs as they did to the prisoners of Orleans Parish Prison during hurricane Katrina.

1. we demand a full and safe evacuation of all prisoners
2. we demand to know what the evacuation plan for prisoners is
3. we demand to see a public document about that plan immediately
4. we demand information about how we can find people after an evacuation

We are urging every member, ally and comrade of New Orleans across the country, to make at least one call to:

• Sheriff Malrin Gusman: 504.827.8505
  (James Carter's secretary said "Orleans Parish Prison is Gusman's prison")
• James Carter: 504.658.1030
  (Criminal Justice Council Member who is able to put pressure on the sheriff even if they say they can't)
  You can also send an email: JCarter@cityofno.com
  please put in your email subject: How will you protect prisoners this time?

Please call as many times as you can to put pressure on them and let them know our demands and it is their job to be accountable to us!!!!!!!!

For further information from us please contact Critical Resistance New Orleans:
Mayaba: 917.385.5472 or mayaba@criticalresistance.org
Koolblack: 504.813.4714 or koolblack@criticalresistance.org

(If you can't get through due to evacuation please contact:
pilar@criticalresistance.org for further information)

In solidarity,
Critical Resistance

Launched: Don't Buy Apartheid - Hang Up On Motorola

from the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation:

after a year of research and polite engagement, the US Campaign to End the Israeli occupation is officially launching a consumer boycott against Motorola until they stop profiting from Israeli apartheid policies. Sign our pledge to say "Goodbye Moto" today.

The Campaign's research has turned up the following facts, among others:

• Producing the 980 Low Altitude Proximity Fuse for the MK-80 series of high-explosive bombs. On July 30, 2006, during its war on Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force dropped an MK-84 high-explosive bomb on an apartment building in Qana, Lebanon. The bomb killed at least 28 civilians, many of whom were children, who had taken shelter in the basement of their apartment building.
• Developing and supplying the Israeli military with the “Mountain Rose” secure cell phone communication system, which is the exclusive communications system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
• Supplying Israel with the Wide Area Surveillance System (WAAS) to monitor and maintain the illegal wall it has constructed in the Palestinian West Bank. Motorola Israel’s provision of the WAAS to Israel contradicts the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion in July 2004.
• Providing radar detection devices and thermal cameras for 47 illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. According to the Fourth Geneva Conventions, Article 49, it is a war crime for an occupying power to transfer its civilian population in to occupied territories.

Blog Action Day 2008

via eHub...

Today is the launch of Blog Action Day 2008. If you're a blogger, you can register at the site. "Blog Action Day itself is on October 15th and on that day we ask bloggers everywhere to publish a post on the same day on the same issue, with the intent to hijack the conversation on the internet that day and examine the issue from a thousand different angles...This year we've got a really important issue - Poverty - and it's going to be really fascinating to see how people come at it from different angles."

More info:

If you have a blog, podcast or videocast, you can commit your blog or website to participate in Blog Action Day.

From August 15th to October 15th bloggers are asked to register to participate so we can track how many blogs will be involved, as well as their approximate audience size.

On October 15th participating blogs will put up a post, video or podcast about poverty. You many also wish to donate the day’s ad revenue to a poverty-related charity.




Tell your Congressperson to cosponsor the Paid Family Leave Bill!

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/t/5365/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25313

Tell your Congressperson to cosponsor the Paid Family Leave Bill!

kucinich.us - Petition to Impeach the Prez

kucinich.us - Petition to Impeach

http://kucinich.us/impeachment/petition/index2.php?FName=&LName=&email=&Zip=&phone=