Thousands of Israelis Protest War in Gaza

Via my friend Helene (Israel Social TV):

A contrast to the misconception in the media that all Israeli leftists support the war on Gaza.

Egypt: The Guy NOT Saved by Twitter

Two arrested.  One American, one Egyptian.  One was released, the other is being held “somewhere” without the ability to communicate with the outside world (Mercury News, emphasis mine):

Back home in Berkeley last night he said he’s still worried about his interpreter and friend, Mohammed Salah Ahmed Maree, who was arrested with him and is still being held incommunicado by Egyptian authorities. Unlike Buck, he didn’t have the muscle of the U.S. Embassy and UC Berkeley.

Buck said that in the middle of the night, hours after his arrest, authorities told him he was free to go.

“I said, ‘No’ and I stayed for 12 more hours and we started a hunger strike at some point. But they grabbed him (Maree) and put him in a different holding area. Finally, they said they had transferred him to another prison,” Buck said.

What can we do?

Hossam El-Hamalawy, an Egyptian blogger who is now a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, said the most important thing is to publicize the situation so Egypt will furnish information about where Maree and others arrested are being kept. “Egypt has a huge population of prisoners because of these security crackdowns and any information will also help their families and lawyers, who are trying to find them,” he said.

Please sign the Petition to Free Mohammed Maree.

And think about this for a moment:

“Egypt has a huge population of prisoners because of these security crackdowns and any information will also help their families and lawyers, who are trying to find them,” he said.

A huge population of political prisoners whose families have no idea where they are being held.

Personifying the Torch, Diminishing the Protests

Jim Yardley of the New York Times has indulged in some markedly poor reporting on the upcoming running of the torch through San Francisco (emphasis mine):

The Olympic torch arrived at the airport here from Paris in the wee hours Tuesday morning, exited out a side door and was escorted by motorcade to a downtown hotel. There it took a well-deserved break in a room complete with cable TV, room service and views of the city’s popular Union Square shopping district.

So it starts.  The article puffs up the flame as a person:

The most exposed runner of all, of course, will be the naked flame at the end of the torch. Organizers would not divulge the flame’s exact location on Tuesday, but said it was being well taken care of at its hotel.

And how did the flame look, after all of its travails?

“Let’s just say,” said Mr. McCarron, the airport spokesman, who got to work at 3 a.m. to meet the flame and its jet-lagged Chinese Olympic delegates, “it looked better than we did.”

Which is really rather interesting in the context of attempts to put the flame out, isn’t it?

The tone of the article is fear.  Will the runners be attacked?

Ms. Couglin said she was not worried because the U.S. Olympic Committee had assigned a retired F.B.I. agent to run with her.

Will the city be able to handle the crazies?

Downtown buildings also stepped up security, and restaurants along the route pulled in — rather than pulled out — patio seating. Sources of anxiety were everywhere: protests atop tourist attractions, famous and not-so-famous Tibet supporters and, of course, the city’s lunatic fringe.

The message hidden in this is pretty clear.  That the people protesting China’s routine violation of even the most basic human rights are dangerous, not quite right in the head, and missing the point:

“It’s terrible,” said Lily Chang, 58, an American citizen who immigrated from Shanghai six years ago and now works at a gift shop in Chinatown. “This is not political. It’s sports.”

The Olympics is innately political, and has a rich history of athletes and their countrymen who stood up to the tyrants of the day.  Today the attention of the games is on China, who is making a play for more legitimacy and normalcy in their international standing.  However these efforts fail in the face of their human rights record, and all forecasts point to continued protests up through the games.  These are well deserved.  China ought to be condemned for its failures in the realm of human rights and ethical conduct.

China Behind Tibet Violence?

If this is true, it is a bombshell(emphasis mine):

London, March 20 – Britain’s GCHQ, the government communications agency that electronically monitors half the world from space, has confirmed the claim by the Dalai Lama that agents of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the PLA, posing as monks, triggered the riots that have left hundreds of Tibetans dead or injured.

GCHQ analysts believe the decision was deliberately calculated by the Beijing leadership to provide an excuse to stamp out the simmering unrest in the region, which is already attracting unwelcome world attention in the run-up to the Olympic Games this summer.

Violence mars the message of the most worthwhile protests.  There have been accounts of undercover police officers inciting violence in protests here in the states, so this wouldn’t be without precedent.

There’s still time to sign the petition for dialogue.

Anti-War Protests and Working in DC

This morning in my “General” folder in Outlook (that’s where all the company-wide email goes by default), I found this email from our “Office Manager” noting there will be protests, and concluding with:

Building management plans to operate the building on a normal business throughout the day on Wednesday, March 19, 2008. They will, however, be prepared to lock the building on a moment’s notice should events warrant. Please be advised that you will not receive notice immediately if they make a decision to lock the building based on activity outside the building. They will secure the building first and notify us after securing the property.

Of course nothing happened. But the attitude around the office prior to the protests was one of anxiety (“will they get in our way?”) to disdain (“what do they think they are accomplishing?”). The folks I work with tend to be a mix of liberal to conservative, with those who oppose the war strongly and those who support it.

During the protests there was a mix of interest “The police were there arresting protestors!” and disinterest, which by far ruled the day. In corporate America, the protests were a curiosity. Something to keep an eye on, but otherwise of no consequence. Later today at class (which was full of generally very well informed folks), only one fellow knew the protests even happened, and what they were for.

In my mind, a protest serves several purposes. It is a PR action, it can bolster morale within a movement (and be quite empowering), and it can effect direct action. With the media being the way it is, massive numbers and effective cleverness are necessary for a protest to make waves. It needs to be something new!

That said, I wonder what an anti-war rally with the express purpose of empowering people (to go back to their communities and take action, etc) might look like.

I wonder if anyone has the strength or sees the point of engaging in direct action. The folks at the IRS today were unable to block people from entering. Was it a symbolic victory to have people briefly block the front entrance, and have other protesters hauled off to prison?

What do you think?

China is Crushing Tibet, and The World is Standing By

I’ve watched the protests unfolding in Tibet over the past few days with increasing despondency. China is killing Tibetans. They are doing their best to censor news of the protests, even going so far as to censor youtube videos.

As the Chinese government brutally tramples the Tibetan people, pollutes their land and exploits their resources, the rest of the world simply sits and watches, waiting for the Olympics.

Tibet is its own country. You cannot charge in with soldiers, murder thousands upon thousands, and institute a totalitarian regime then claim it was yours all along. China has no credibility on this. It could regain some credibility by restoring Tibet’s independence, renouncing its claims to Taiwan, and working to mend wounds and forge close socio-economic ties with both countries. Of course they will not. Any country with such a severe disrespect for the rights of its own people cannot be expected to act responsibly in the world. Peace and Liberty start at home.

Free China, Free Tibet.

Fight Racism in Dulles VA

Are any readers near Dulles Virginia?  Want to take a stand against racism and white supremacy?  This weekend cowards and haters are holding their meeting in Dulles, near the airport (via Pam):

I guess the Crowne Plaza Dulles Airport Hotel is hard up for bucks if it’s decided that hosting a conference for white supremacists is a good business move.

The three-star Herndon, Virginia hotel will welcome the benign-sounding American Renaissance Conference (no, I’m not linking)  Feb. 22-Feb. 24. Subtitled “In the Name of Our People,” attendees can gather for an extraordinary weekend on “racial-realist thought” (I guess the whole supremacy thing has fallen out of favor). Read about it and see some of the speakers after the jump.

Resistance and Solidarity plans to fight back:

Resistance and Solidarity, a DC-based collective, plans to show up at the conference.

Rally for Children’s Health Care

In the DC Area (MoveOn):

Rally for Children’s Health Care
Friendship Heights Metro Station
Wisconsin Ave & Western Ave
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
04 Oct, 6:00 PM
A demonstration the day after Bush vetoes critical child health care legislation.
Address: Wisconsin Ave & Western Ave (Map)
Location: Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Directions: Red Line Metro or any bus heading to Friendship Heights…look for us on the street corners there. Parking at the AMC theatres at Mazza Gallerie, inside Chevy Chase Pavillion (entrance near the Embassy Suites Hotel), or behind the Giant Food.
Host: George Gaines
Status: Public, open for RSVP, 72 Guests (Max 100)

Find a rally in your area.

Burma Killing Unarmed Civilians

The Burmese government is committing murder (The Guardian):

Burma’s brutal suppression of street protests has been graphically exposed in video footage that raises the possibility that soldiers deliberately shot dead a Japanese journalist.

Japan is sending a diplomat to Burma to investigate the death of Kenji Nagai, who was one of at least nine people killed when troops opened fire on protesters yesterday.

The video images – which some Japanese experts say depict Nagai being deliberately shot in the chest at close range – will pile further pressure on a regime already facing international revulsion.

They’ve switched off internet access and are doing their best to stifle dissent.  In the meantime rumors of military unrest continue to grow:

As fresh clashes broke out, bloggers inside Burma reported dissent among troops, with soldiers refusing to leave their barracks.

The reports, which could not be independently verified, said soldiers in Mandalay, Burma’s second largest city, had refused to fire on demonstrators and had even been fighting each other.

For more updates (via Bob Harris at This Modern World):

Now that the inevitable crackdown has begun, with Buddhist monks being rounded up and protesters shot in the streets, if you’d like to follow what’s happening in Burma a little more closely — even after the next American celebrity gets in trouble with the law — bookmark Burma Digest.

Via MoveOn, Avaaz.org:  Stand with the Burmese Protesters.

Burma’s Cowardly Rulers

Even as the military begins to turn against the Junta, Burma’s rulers are violently suppressing protests (The Australian):

Burma’s state-controlled media said the police had reacted after the crowd became violent.

“The protesters threw bricks, sticks and knives at the security forces, so because of the desperate situation the security forces had to fire warning shots,” the report said.

Bullshit.  The Australian should be a bit more critical (RickB, Ten Percent):

 Burma Campaign UK sources in Rangoon have reported that soldiers have been ordered to shave their heads, in possible preparation for infiltrating peaceful demonstrations. They would start rioting or attacking police, providing the regime with a pretext for a brutal crackdown on protestors.

The Burmese military used automatic weapons against non violent protesters, killing a foreign journalist:

But when a crowd of 1000 protesters refused to disperse, police charged, firing automatic weapons.

A Japanese video journalist, Kenji Nagai, from APF news in Tokyo became the first foreigner killed since the protests began 10 days ago.

The soldiers who took part have nothing of honor or humanity in their actions.  And the leaders who ordered this have no claim to legitimacy.  When you kill your own people, you have lost the right to rule them.  Period.

Do not mistake this for anything other than what it is.  State sponsored murder of dissidents.

(image source: Time)

Myanmar Protest Question

I was reading the AP’s coverage of the protest, and came across a few interesting quotes:

hours earlier some 30,000 monks and 70,000 supporters had massed in an extraordinary gesture of defiance.

…

The NLD joined calls for a peaceful resolution to the demonstrations, which have swelled into a nationwide movement that poses the most potent challenge to the junta’s rule in 20 years.

When you think of the million marching against war in London, and half a million in New York, you start to wonder.  What if those were simply anti-government protests?  What if liberals, finally fed up with a corporate government of the elites by the elites and for the elites, took to the streets to demand this government step down?

Voting in this country has become a very sick joke, with questionable elections and possible murder coverups.  The last two Presidential elections were suspicious, and that doesn’t even get into local elections that operate under infinitely less scrutiny.

So why not protest the government?  I bet we could eclipse the anti-war numbers.  We could certainly hit 100,000.  Do you think world media would pick up on it?  Would other governments call us courageous, and offer up sanctions to support us?

The monks in Myanmar/Burma are indeed very courageous.  And well positioned to make a stand:

The clergy’s revered status has made them rallying figures for public anger, which first erupted more than one month ago after a crippling hike in fuel prices.

Analysts believe the junta, which has extended iron rule over Myanmar for more than four decades, has held back so far for fear that any violence against monks in this devoutly Buddhist nation would spark a huge outcry.

Where are our monks?

Substituting Sexism and Bullshit for Criticism

You know the saying:  When you don’t have anything insightful to say, be a sexist prick:

Because the only criticism he can come up with when faced with female protesters is to objectify the women.  Its worth stopping by and taking a look at William Teach’s post.  The logic employed is dizzying:

Yet we can still protest. Wazzup wit dat?

Its like saying “gosh, this winter sure was cold, and hey, there’s snow!  Global warming must be a farce”.  But its even worse.  Courageous reporting?  The media swallowed lie after lie in the leadup to Iraq, and there we are.  Truly critical journalism is a rarity, with administration assertions often reported as fact.  But surely William recognizes that habeus corpus no longer applies to enemy combatants, even citizens.  Surely he realizes the President can declare anyone he wants an enemy combatant.  What’s to stop the President from arresting, torturing, and indefinitely detaining protesters?

As Keith Olberman has noted without habeas corpus the bill of rights means jack shit.  In fact, Bush has given himself an enormous amount of power:

Jonathan Turley joined Keith to talk about the law that Senator Feingold said would be seen as “a stain on our nation’s history.”

Turley: “People have no idea how significant this is. Really a time of shame this is for the American system.—The strange thing is that we have become sort of constitutional couch potatoes. The Congress just gave the President despotic powers and you could hear the yawn across the country as people turned to Dancing With the Stars. It’s otherworldly..People clearly don’t realize what a fundamental change it is about who we are as a country. What happened today changed us. And I’m not too sure we’re gonna change back anytime soon.”

We had a chance recently, and congress shot it down.  We’ve lost a lot more than the lynchpin holding the bill of rights together.  To pretend that the mere existence of a protest is somehow proof we retain our rights is transparent bullshit.  Just because Bush doesn’t use these despotic powers right away on protesters does not in any way erase the impact of that loss for all of us.

And all conservatives like William can do is crack sexist jokes and play make believe with our fundamental rights.

Capitol Police State

You don’t get points for tackling Ministers.  And yet… (Pam, Pandagon):

If you had any doubts about the near-police state we are in, take a look at this: Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., president of the grassroots political organization Hip Hop Caucus, attempted to attend the Petraeus hearings yesterday, along with many others who had to pass a checkpoint to file into the room.

Rev. Yearwood was not only stopped from entering the room, but he was tackled by six Capitol police officers, which resulted in a trip to the hospital. It was all captured on video.

Why was he treated roughly and barred from attending the hearings?

Yearwood, through Hip Hop Caucus as he was being released from the hospital to be taken to central booking:

“The officers decided I was not going to get in Gen. Petreaus’ hearing when they saw my button, which says ‘I LOVE THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ.’”

If we are going to claim to respect Freedom of Speech, we cannot allow shit like this.

You can hear people yelling “take it easy” and “he’s a minister” and asking him “are you hurt?” in the background when the Capitol police officers push him to the ground.  According to Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, Rev. Yearwood was tackled and detained by SIX cops because he allegedly refused to go to the end of the line of people waiting to enter the hearing room. He was charged with disorderly conduct and assault on a police officer.

How amazing it must be to be a member of the Capitol Police.  You single out a minister based on his support for the people our government is murdering, send him to the hospital, and charge him with assault.

From the Capitol Police Recruitment Site:

The moment of transformation… when you slip into the uniform… put on the badge… and join our elite ranks, you’ll feel it. This is the moment you truly become a part of the dedication, the pride, and the legacy that makes the United States Capitol Police a force like no other.

What does it take to join this prestigious team? A deep sense of patriotism, unyielding dedication to protecting the public, and a passion for the American way of life are just the beginning. The desire to make a difference in the lives of many will take care of the rest.

The American way of life include exercising our right to protest, our right to dissent.  It means, if nothing else, living a life of liberty.  There is no pride is quashing that.  The officers who tackled that minister and the chain of command responsible for that action share the blame in tarnishing the “prestige” and “the legacy” of the DC Capitol Police.

 

When you take part in a police state, you stand against everything worth fighting for.  You stand against every ideal America should stand for.

Bangladesh Protests: Its About Liberty

The Bangledesh military government is imposing curfew on top of a perpetual state of emergency. The protesters(video, HayWire) aren’t backing off either. In fact, they show signs of growth (Al Jazeera):

“The situation is deteriorating as teachers now have came out to join protesting students,” said a police officer in Dhaka.

So what are people pissed off about? That’s what one blogger is left wondering (otherface):

What started out as a mere protest against being ” beaten up by some army personnels just because some students blocked their view during a football match” has now turned into a gruesome enactment of power play amongst the students and police. Although the Army Camp has been removed from the DU Campus, protests are still ongoing. And that is where the questions come in.

• What exactly are the students protesting against now ? The Government or The Army or The police Treatment ? exactly WHAT are they protesting against now ?

Over at The Furies there is some interesting speculation:

Students are a prime mover in Bangladeshi civil society and I thought it was natural for the first significant protest against the military-backed caretaker government to come from the student sector. My outsider’s educated guess on the sudden outrage may be the frustration over the lack of reforms under the caretaker government, and the frustration over the continuing militarization that has crept into all aspects of Bangladeshi life. It was reported that the riots broke after students demanded the withdrawal of army troops from the DU stadium during a football match. Militarization in Bangladesh, particularly Dhaka, has been been particularly high after the caretaker government took power in January and a state of emergency was imposed.

This state of military rule is choking. The idea that meeting a few student demands should stop the protests is a curious one. Why?  Why should they have give up and just accept military rule?

While I sympathize with the protesters, the timing is apparently really shitty for all of this (Naira, The Gang):

On Wednesday all the masses joined in and it became a free-for-all protest against the army all over the country to the extent that a country-wide indefinite curfew has been called. So I’m stuck at home on a forced paid leave, which is kind of nice because I need the break, but kind of claustrophobic as well. But what’s really bothering me is the impediment to the flood relief work, as it is we’re not being able to reach every one. For the sake of the flood-affected, I just hope all of this gets sorted out quickly although I don’t see how. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day for the country… (Yes, yes I do come from a different world.)

The fact that the military government is ordering the shutdown of mobile phones is symbolic.  Communication is the root of Democracy.  And it is that lack of Democracy that is at the root of the protests (The Guardian):

Many feel that the interim government, which declared a state of emergency in January, has overplayed its hand in recent months – notably by taking former prime ministers into custody on charges of corruption. The former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, faces tax evasion charges, which she has repeatedly denied.

There is little sign of the promised elections and no poll date has been announced. However, the Election Commission has said the polls will be held near the end of 2008.

Let’s hope this puts pressure on the government to respond by calling early elections and setting a firm date.  Let’s hope the government of Bangladesh puts its people first and rescinds the curfew.

The War on Protestors (Terror)

It’s just a passing note in an article about protests at Heathrow airport in London.  But its a zinger (Channel4):

Police say they have briefed their officers to use counter terrorist legislation – to detain or search – to stop any illegal protests.

The police are saying to the press, point blank, they will use legislation intended to fight terrorism to fight protests.

Every smarmy condescending assurance that the new powers being granted law enforcement will only be used “to fight the terrorists” is nothing more than a hollow promise and a careless insult.

When we give up our rights we lose those rights.  To think the resulting expansion of power will not corrupt is naive.  Surveillance of terrorists becomes surveillance of peace groups.  Arresting terrorists turns into arresting protesters.

How long before indefinite detention and torture make the jump?