Archive for March, 2009
Thanks from the writer of the Jewish Journal article
Posted in Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, International Solidarity, Latin America, Palestine, The Americas, U.S. empire, Zionist Campaign Against Free Speech on March 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »
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Emma:
Thank you for your astute comments about my article. As you can imagine, I received a lot of mail about it (as did the Jewish Journal), but no one got it quite as clearly as you did.
Roberto Loiederman
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On the U.S Mexican Border and the “Colonization” of the U.S. by Mexicans and Israel!!!!
Posted in Calling out neo-liberalism, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, International Solidarity, Iraq, Israeli Apartheid, Palestine, The Americas, This is what genocide looks like, U.S. empire on March 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »
“Once beloved worldwide, the U.S. government finds itself reviled in most countries because it provides unconditional support of Israeli violations of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the precepts of all major religious faiths.”-former U.S. Congressman paul findley.
Realists are not white supremacists in the KKK nazi tradition; it is too simplistic to paint them with the same brush, though they do share many core positions. They are white supremacists in the arrogant assumption of their own entitlement and correctness: the rightness of whiteness; the assumption of U.S. supremacy and interest as its own ethic; the acceptance without question of U.S. hegemony and power. The problem with supporting Israel, to the realists, doesn’t lie in human rights or social justice, but because they (the realists), see such support as a threat to continued U.S. global hegemony. It’s a strategic question, not a moral one, nor one that requires personal sacrifice or loss of privilege; quite the opposite. In this regard (to paraphrase activist, Naomi Jaffe) the neo-cons are the idealists. The realists understand the limits of U.S. global domination and militarism, as well as the price, including the inability of the U.S. to contain popular uprisings and movements within the Americas. The neo-cons wish to expand empire as if there were no limits or consequences to the empire itself.
I provide these links, not as an endorsement of their positions, because mine is quite contrary to the thesis of either of these articles, but rather to expose the iniquity and agenda of these schools of thought.
Politics does make strange bedfellow. But I think it is extremely important to consider who someone is, before jumping into bed with them.
http://www.rense.com/general54/colony.htm
http://www.rense.com/general29/lib.htm
-Emma Rosenthal
“What You Need to Know About Afghanistan” With Sonali Kolhatkar
Posted in Advisory Board, Afghan Women's Mission, Afghanistan, Cafe Intifada Advisory Board, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, International Solidarity, U.S. empire on March 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Sonali Kolhatkar serves on the Advisory Board of Cafe Intifada.
The Orange County Peace Coalition Presents "What You Need to Know About Afghanistan" A Talk by KPFK' Sonali Kolhatkar
www.uprisingradio.org <http://www.uprisingradio.org/> Saturday, March 28th - 10:00 AM to Noon St. Joseph Center - Library Conference Room 480 S. Batavia St., Orange 92868 Sonali Kolhatkar is co-director of the Afghan Women's Mission, a U.S.-based nonprofit that funds health, educational and training projects for Afghan women. She is also the host and producer of "Uprising", a daily morning radio program for KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles. Her program provides the public with in-depth reports and updates on issues in the Middle East. Ms. Kolhatkar is a leading authority on current Afghan issues and has recently coauthored a book on the subject which provides much insight about the many misconceptions about the war in Afghanistan. Her discussion will touch on security and the oppression of women in Afghanistan. Coffee and other refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to: <mailto:info%40ocpeace.org> info@ocpeace.org or leave a message at (714) 637-8313 The views expressed at this speaking engagement are not necessarily those of the Orange County Peace Coalition or of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange.
Wildcat Strike: Teachers Strike for Student Rights
Posted in Education, Full Inclusion, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, The war against the children, UTLA on March 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »
F O R I MM E D I A T E RE L E A S E
Teachers Strike for Students Rights! from Santee Education Complex High School will stage a one (1) hour morning strike during the normal school day to fight against teacher layoffs that will disproportionately affect socio-economically disadvantaged students and thus violating their civil rights. Santee teachers have received an extremely HIGH amount of termination notices compared to schools with on the Westside or the Valley. Fifty-six (56) layoff notices have gone out at Santee. This would completely decimate the entire math and science departments! Teachers will NOT sign in during the first hour of work and instead will rally outside in front of the school with parents, students and community members. This will launch a series of one hour strikes throughout the city that may accumulate in a ONE day general citywide teachers strike! Teachers at Santee will also call on the Mayor of Los Angeles to stand up for his partnership schools and save teachers and small class sizes. Santee Education Complex is part of Los Angeles Mayor’s Partnership for LA Schools. Friday, March 27th, 2009. 7:30am The central objective/demand will be: To publicly expose that current LAUSD termination notices will disproportionally
affect schools that have low socio-economic levels and thus violating the civil
rights of these students. 1) To call on the Los Angeles Unified School District to imminently halt teacher layoff and increased class sizes that will have negative impact on the students of Los Angeles 2) Call on the Mayor of Los Angeles to stand up and fund his Partnership Schools much like San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently did by using city funds to support schools. Contacts: Jose Lara, Chapter Chair, Santee UTLA josexlara@yahoo.com
What: One Hour Teachers Strike for Students Rights
Where: Santee Education Complex
1921 Maple Ave.
Los Angeles CA 90011
When: Friday, March 27th, 2009 7:30AM
Letter to the Jewish Journal, By Emma Rosenthal
Posted in Human Rights, International Solidarity, Palestine, U.S. empire, Zionist Campaign Against Free Speech on March 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »
The Jewish Journal article calling attention to the problem contributed significantly to the resolution of this matter, making it easier for those involved in Pacifica with a deeper understanding of the issue, to achieve a resolution that has been pushed for, for some time.
It is increasingly difficult within progressive circles, to counteract anti-Jewish racism because establishment groups, such as the Simon Weisenthal Center and the ADL continue to blur lines of distinction.
When legitimate dissent within the Jewish community is labeled as self-hatred, and all critique of zionism and Israel are labeled anti-Semitic, it allows racists to dismiss any critique at all, and for the less erudite, the distinctions remain blurred, concluding that if all criticism of Israel is called anti-Semitic, then none of it is. By using the accusation of anti-Semitism so loosely and freely, these establishment organizations play into the hands of racists and bigots, to the detriment of the rest of the Jewish population, and social justice in general!
From the KPFK webpage:
KPFK In The News
We have determined that the recent views expressed on KPFK during the broadcast of one of the programs we air, “La Causa”, facilitated hate speech which we find deplorable and unbefitting of the Pacifica Foundation mission. We condemn racism and religious bigotry and will not tolerate calls for acts of violence. We have addressed this matter with the programmer in question as well as countless constituents and have concluded that allowing the broadcast of bigoted and racist content demonstrated a severe lack of judgment on the part of the programmer. We have, therefore, suspended this program until further notice, and will not allow it back on the air unless and until we are 100% assured that there will be no repeat airing of any such offending content. KPFK remains committed to the pacifist goals and foundation’s mission statement which is, “to contribute to a lasting understanding between nations and between the individuals of all nations, races, creeds and colors; to gather and disseminate information on the causes of conflict between any and all of such groups; and through any and all means compatible with the purposes of this corporation to promote the study of political and economic problems and of the causes of religious, philosophical and racial antagonisms”. Thank you for your patience and consideration. We hope that those who were understandably offended by this unfortunate occurrence will accept our sincere apology and realize that the behavior of this one individual does not represent the attitude and philosophy of KPFK as a whole.
Station Management
Israeli army rabbis criticized for stance on Gaza assault
Posted in Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, Israeli Apartheid, Israeli Offense Forces, Now who's the terrorist?, Palestine, The war against the children, This is what genocide looks like, U.S. empire on March 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »
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Israeli army rabbis criticized for stance on Gaza assault
By Richard Boudreaux
March 25, 2009
Reporting from Jerusalem — The winter assault on the Gaza Strip was officially portrayed in Israel as an attempt to quell rocket fire by militants of Hamas. But some soldiers say they also were lectured about a more ambitious aim: to banish non-Jews from the biblical land of Israel.
“This rabbi comes to us and says the fight is between the children of light and the children of darkness,” a reserve sergeant said, recalling a training camp encounter. “His message was clear: ‘This is a war against an entire people, not against specific terrorists.’ The whole thing was turned into something very religious and messianic.”
As armies elsewhere use chaplains, the Israeli military inducts rabbis to serve religious soldiers. Their traditional tasks include ensuring that kitchens are kosher and religious services are available.
But soldiers now going public with allegations of misconduct in Gaza portray the military rabbinate as a corps of self-appointed holy warriors whose sermons and writings demonized Palestinians.
“The army itself is a battleground of conflicting ideals in Israeli Jewish society,” said Avi Sagi, a Bar-Ilan University philosophy professor who in the 1990s was a co-author of the military’s code of ethics, which obliges soldiers to avoid killing innocents.
On one side, he said, are universal values that call for respecting all human life equally and are largely shared by Jews who seek accommodation with the Palestinians. On the other side are more nationalistic passages of the Torah, cited by religious thinkers who liken the Palestinians to Old Testament invaders and place a premium on Jewish life.
In the Gaza conflict, the argument has focused on how to fight Islamic militants who for years have fired rockets indiscriminately at Israeli communities, causing scores of civilian casualties.
Maj. Avital Leibovich, a military spokeswoman, denied that the military rabbinate takes sides. Army rabbis violated a directive to “stay away from politics” in Gaza, she said, but they were few in number and acted on their own.
‘Well organized’
In testimony reported by Israeli news media and in interviews with The Times, Gaza veterans said rabbis advised army units to show the enemy no mercy and called for resettlement of the Palestinian enclave by Jews.
“The rabbis were all over, in every unit,” said Yehuda Shaul, a retired army officer whose human rights group, Breaking the Silence, has taken testimony from dozens of Gaza veterans. “It was quite well organized.”
The army, which conscripts almost every Israeli Jew at 18, has been dominated for most of its history by secular officers. But over the last 15 years, as secular Israelis have soured on the occupation of Palestinian territory, religious nationalists have taken over senior positions in elite combat brigades.
With them have come hundreds of volunteer rabbis, who teach at pre-military academies for religious youths and serve side by side with the troops.
The rabbis’ role in Gaza came into focus last week along with testimony from soldiers who said that loose rules of war led to unwarranted civilian deaths and property destruction.
The testimony reported by two Israeli newspapers was the first such criticism to surface from within the army since the assault ended Jan. 18, leaving an estimated 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. Most Palestinian casualties were listed as civilians.
The army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, said Monday that he did not believe soldiers shot Gaza civilians “in cold blood.” He added that “isolated cases” of misconduct, if proved, “will be dealt with individually.”
Responding to newspaper photos, the army also condemned soldiers who wore T-shirts depicting a pregnant woman in a rifle’s cross hairs with the slogan “1 Shot 2 Kills.”
During the Gaza offensive, critics contend, rabbinical propaganda was part of a broader effort to legitimize Israel’s decision to use overwhelming force.
Legal opinion
Before the assault, the army’s legal office issued an opinion saying that Israel was entitled to use artillery against civilian neighborhoods from which Hamas was launching rockets.
And after the 22-day operation, a Tel Aviv University philosophy professor with close ties to the military, Asa Kasher, said the decision to shell Gaza’s cities stemmed from an anti-terrorism doctrine he had helped draft a few years ago. It stated that in Gaza, as in other areas the army does not control, there is no justification for endangering soldiers’ lives in order to avoid killing civilians in the proximity of targeted militants.
That doctrine appears to be at odds with the military code, which obliges the army to avoid civilian casualties, and it was never formally adopted. However, it was echoed in religious terms in literature distributed in Gaza by military rabbis.
“Our ancestors did not always fight with a sword and at times preferred to use a bow and arrow from a distance,” one text read.
“Actions must be taken from a distance in order to spare our soldiers’ lives.”
The reserve sergeant, an observant Jew who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity, said that he and a fellow soldier in his 15-man unit were troubled by the “children of darkness” sermon, but that other troops seemed receptive.
In one of several postwar testimonies given at a left-leaning military institute, a squad commander identified only as Ram complained that army rabbis tried to press what he called a “religious mission” on his men.
“The military rabbinate brought in a lot of booklets and articles and their message was very clear: We are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle, God brought us back to this land and now we need to fight to expel the non-Jews who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land,” Ram said.
As a commander, he said, he tried to explain to his men that “not everyone in Gaza is Hamas [and] wants to vanquish us [and] that this war is not a war for the sanctification of the holy name, but rather one to stop the Kassams” — a type of rocket fired from Gaza.
Danny Zamir, director of the institute that elicited the testimonies and leaked them to Israeli papers, was quoted in a transcript as voicing dismay that Israeli nationalists, like their Hamas enemies, are using faith to justify violence.
“If clerics are anointing us with oil and sticking holy books in our hands, and if the soldiers in these units aren’t representative of the whole spectrum of the Jewish people, but rather of certain segments of the population, what can we expect?” he said.
Ofer Shelah, military correspondent for the newspaper Maariv, said the rising profile of religious nationalists in the army has helped them in two showdowns with the high command.
After Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, graduates of two pre-military academies associated with the settler movement said they would refuse to obey future orders to disband West Bank settlements. The army threatened to cancel its certification of the schools, then backed down.
During the Gaza assault, the chief military rabbi, Brig. Gen. Avichai Rontzki, was called in to answer criticism that his department was distributing war propaganda. He denied knowledge of it, and a subordinate was given “a slap on the wrist” by the Defense Ministry, Shelah said.
Rabbi David Hartman, a leading Jewish philosopher who has lectured thousands of officers at his Shalom Hartman Institute, said the religious nationalist belief in holy war is still a minority view in the army.
“But it has to be fought with a rational religious ideology that takes into account the living reality of two peoples,” he said. Otherwise, he added, “you have these rabbis volunteering in the army, and it’s not necessarily the people the army wants. There’s a vacuum, and it gets filled by crackpots.”
From la Frontera to Gaza: Chicano-Palestinian Connections
Posted in Calling out neo-liberalism, Full Inclusion, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, International Solidarity, Israeli Apartheid, Israeli Offense Forces, Latin America, Palestine, The Americas, U.S. empire on March 25, 2009| 5 Comments »
i often hear it stated (especially by neo-liberals such as findley, carter, weir, if americans knew, etc) that us. support for israel is against all u.s. values and is hurting the image of the u.s around the world; as if u.s. policy toward israel were so different than the policy that forged this nation, created bantustans (reservations), committed genocide, and is the belly of the beast of world domination and empire. as if all antipathy towards the u.s. is merely the result of u.s. policy in one small region, since 1967. this argument is racist on so many levels. on the surface it is anti-jewish as it perpetuates the stereotype of jewish power, not within any dialectical analysis, but from some magical source, unconnected to any other base of power, magically forcing the u.s to work against its “own interests.” the argument is also racist because it negates the incredible role the u.s. has played historically, not only within the confines of official expanding territory, but in imperial wars, neo and traditional colonialism, incarceration (the new slavery), free enterprise zones, etc. and how that policy is consistent with u.s. policy towards palestine and palestinians. this event: From la Frontera to Gaza. promises to make some of the connections between the situation in palestine, where a wall and a border has crossed what was an open palestinian homeland, and the situation in the southwest where a wall and a border crosses the territories and homelands of several indigenous populations, as well as the area that was once mexico.
-Emma
From la Frontera to Gaza: Chicano-Palestinian Connections
Monday March 30 2009
12.00-3.30 pm
Taper Hall of the Humanities (THH) 101
Free and open to the public
During the Israeli offensive on Gaza, it was often asked, “What if a terrorist group were lobbing rockets into San Diego out of Tijuana?” The analogy was tendentious and misrepresented both situations and their histories. But are there really connections between the Chicano and the Palestinian situations?
What connections exist between the histories of “Occupied America” and of Occupied Palestine?
–Are there analogies between the wall being constructed along the US border with Mexico and the separation wall that cuts through the occupied West Bank—both being constructed by the same Israeli firm, Elbit Systems? (http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/site/2008/01/23/up-against-the-wall-from-palestine-to-mexico/)
–What is the impact of the security state and the control of movement of people on US Latinos and both Palestinians and Arab Americans?
–Are there comparative dimensions to educational inequalities affecting both Chicanos in the US and Arab Israelis, both of who form substantial minorities that suffer from discrimination against their cultures and languages and significant under-representation in the upper levels of education?
–What lessons can be drawn from the practice of boycott by Cesar Chavez and the UFW for the current movement for the boycott of Israel? How does boycott work, what is its status as an instrument of non-violent struggle, when and why should a boycott be pursued?
These and other questions will be explored by the panel of speakers, which will be followed by three more focused workshops: History of Palestine, Boycott as a Non-Violent Tool, and The Right to Education.
12.00 –1.30 pm, THH 101: panel discussion with Manuel Criollo, Jose Fuste, and Manzar Foroohar
1.30-3.00pm: Focus Workshops in the Von KleinSmid Center
History of Palestine: VKC 105, with Manzar Foroohar
Boycott as a Non-Violent Tool: VKC 108, with Manuel Criollo and David Lloyd
The Right to Education: VKC 151, with Rana Sharif and Jose Fuste
The Panelists:
Manuel Criollo, Bus Riders Union lead organizer, son of immigrants from El Salvador, life-long resident of Pico/Union neighborhood of Los Angeles where he knows “just about everyone.” Manuel received a BA from University of California, Santa Barbara, was elected to the BRU Planning Committee before joining staff. His work focuses on grassroots leadership development and mentoring organizers-in-training and new organizing staff, he is also a co-host of the Voices from the Frontlines radio show, and key staff liaison with regional elected officials including the LA mayor and County Board of Supervisors.
Manzar Foroohar is Professor of History at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Her work focuses on Modern Latin America, Modern Middle East, and the Comparative Political Economy of Latin America and the Middle East. She has recently returned from a visit to Palestine.
Jose Fuste is a graduate student in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC San Diego. He runs the blogsite Pensamiento Cimarrón/Maroon Thinking, which has recently focused on Palestine and the invasion of Gaza: http://marooning.blogspot.com/2008/12/gaza-war.html
David Lloyd is Professor of English at USC and a member of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and of Teachers against Organization.
Rana Sharif is a Ph.D. student in Women’s Studies, UCLA. Currently, her research focuses on the ruptures and inconsistencies of the everyday, mundane, and habitual in the Occupied West Bank Territory of Palestine. She investigates the ways in which temporal and material consequences to occupation forfeit heteronormalcy and reconstitute subjectivities. Rana is an Editorial Assistant for the Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies and a contributor to KPFK’s Radio Intifada.
This event has been sponsored by: the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity, Chicano and Latino American Studies, and USC Students for Justice in Palestine.
Calling for Submissions! URBAN REZ issue!
Posted in Art and Activism, Building Community, Education, Full Inclusion, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights on March 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Calling for Submissions! URBAN REZ issue! Hey SNAG Fans…. WE’RE CURRENTLY ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS FOR OUR NEXT ISSUE!
We’re seeking writing & photos related to modern Native culture, youth culture, movements/organizing going on that youth have thoughts on…
OUR THEME AS DECIDED BY OUR YOUTH STAFF is “URBAN REZ.”
Whatever that means to you – send us items related to it!
Some topics we’re interested in seeing writing about:
How are you living your culture today?
What’s a day in your life as a young Native person?
What’s the new fashion, slang, dances, on your rez or in your hood?
What are you up to that’s promoting/helping your people?
What struggles/problems do you see around you?
What’s your “letter to the president” ?
We want more writing from people 18 and under this time around… If you’re a teacher – get your Native kids writing/taking photos/making art! How to send us your submissions Send us images saved at 300 resolution jpg & size 8″ by 5″ to SNAGMAGAZINE@YAHOO.COM Send us your writing pasted or preferably in a word document to SNAGMAGAZINE@YAHOO.COM ARE YOU A MUSICIAN? Send us your song to be considered for the SNAG compilation CD. Either email us your Myspace page with the name of the song we can downloads, or mail us a CD with the song to: SNAG Magazine Attn: Ross P.O. Box 40597 San Francisco CA 94140 Donate to SNAG!
Inaugural Issue of the Palestine Telegraph
Posted in Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, International Solidarity, Israeli Apartheid, Israeli Offense Forces, Palestine, U.S. empire on March 12, 2009| Leave a Comment »
(including an article my Cafe Intifada Director, Emma Rosenthal)
¡Cafe Intifada! -Uniting Art With Critical Consciousness 