Rage Is Good

Demonstrations April 4 calling Wall Street to account could help progressive populism come alive in America. Obama and Congress need the pressure.

By Tom Hayden - Hopefully, the demonstrations planned on Wall Street April 4 by United for Peace and Justice and other groups will contribute to the global uprising. Our president and Congress need the pressure.

The world has turned against American hegemony before: against the Vietnam war, against the World Trade Organization and against the invasion of Iraq. On all three occasions, the world was right and Washington was wrong.

On this occasion, the global economy is being devastated by the Wall Street crash. Hundreds of millions are are hurtling into extreme poverty, export industries are collapsing, currencies being destabilized.

As the conservative French president Nicolas Sarkozy says, "Laissez-faire, c'est fini." (Laissez-faire is finished.)

As nations blame Wall Street and move to protect their people, the protests need not be anti-American nor anti-Obama. Sarkozy cannot be accused of being anti-US. Neither are Iceland nor Ukraine. The global opposition might just may be what we need, an organized populist counterforce to the business and banking lobbies entrenched in Washington.

Obama's stimulus package and proposed budget are not the problem. They represent the most progressive government initiatives in a half-century. But as Franch Rich noted in the New York Times March 1, Obama "was fuzzy when it came to what he wanted to do about" more bailouts.

The Obama administration is in trouble on the question of what to do about the financial system and the credit crisis. But Rich is wrong, for once, in suggesting that it's "bad news" for Obama that "the genuine populist rage in the country...cannot be ignored or finessed."

The "bad news" is really an opportunity for progressives, unions and Democrats to build a bottom-up populist alternative to the "greed is good" politics of Wall Street, which has infested both parties. Obama should privately welcome "populist rage" as a stimulus to reform. If he does not, he may see right-wing populism making a comeback as soon as 2010.

Some progressives, including even Warren Beatty, think it's time to introduce a discussion of socialism, if only to point out that our present course is one of socialism for the banks and corporations. Obama himself says good things about Sweden's nationalization of banks, but quickly demurs that Americans are not "culturally" ready for such an option. At the Washington Post, Harold Meyerson, a democratic socialist in the tradition of Michael Harrington, prefers re-regulation to either nationalization or socialism at this point: "To avoid socialism (to whatever extent throwing public money at banks is socialism) you need liberalism (that is, the willingness to restrain capitalism from its periodic self-destruction.)

My sense is that we are moving too rapidly towards economic hell for a socialist ideology to catch up. While efforts to dust off and legitimize the term will go on, Meyerson is right that the battlefield just ahead is over reregulation, which may evolve into a contentious, awkward, bureaucratic nationalization out of necessity. That is why the sturdier and heavily regulated Canadian and Swedish banking systems already are being closely examined.
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AP:Protests in Washington & California Call for War's End

Iraq war protesters rally in DC and Los Angeles to mark the 6th year anniversary of the Iraq war....

WASHINGTON March 22, 2009, 06:07 am ET · Before war protesters ended their demonstration Saturday afternoon, several placed cardboard coffins in front of the offices of northern Virginia defense contractors such as KBR Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corp. as riot police stood by.

"Lockheed Martin you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!" they chanted as part of a demonstration that began in Washington to mark the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

Arlington County, Va., police estimated there were 2,500 to 3,000 protesters and said no arrests were made.

Organizers from the ANSWER Coalition said more than 1,000 groups sponsored the protest to call for an end to the Iraq war, and estimated that about 10,000 people participated. Carrying signs saying "We need jobs and schools, not war" and "Indict Bush," demonstrators beat drums and played trumpets as they marched from near the Lincoln Memorial past the Pentagon into Virginia.

Meanwhile, at a similar protest in San Francisco, tension grew after four or five dozen activists surrounded a group of riot-equipped police, throwing sticks and water bottles. Police responded by regrouping in riot formation and physically detaining several protesters who pushed and shoved with officers.

Protest leaders shouted from the stage, urging police to leave. Barriers were quickly erected between police and protesters as an organizer urged calm and the activists started to disperse.

In Washington, protesters demanded that President Barack Obama immediately withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq, saying thousands of Iraqis have died and thousands of American troops have been wounded or killed.

"We think it's especially important for this new administration to feel the pressure from people that we don't want more war," said Obama supporter Pat Halle, 59, of Baltimore.

Anti-war activists said even though former President George W. Bush is out of power, they are disappointed with what they see as stalled action from Obama.

"Obama seems to be led somewhat by the bureaucracies. I want him to follow up on his promise to end the war," said 66-year-old Perry Parks of Rockingham, N.C., who said he served in the Army for nearly 30 years, including in Vietnam.

Obama has said he plans to withdraw roughly 100,000 troops by summer 2010. He promises to pull the last of the U.S. troops by the end of 2011, in accordance with a deal Iraqis signed with Bush.

There were about 138,000 troops in Iraq as of March 13.

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Banner Drop: NYC Jews Call 4 Immediate End 2 Occupation of Palestine

By JATO-NYC
A banner drop over New York City's entrance to the Cross Bronx Expressway, at 179th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, carried out by members of Jews Against the Occupation/NYC, declared "Free Palestine." This action by Jewish New Yorkers continued the wave of increasingly public Jewish solidarity with the Palestinians recently targeted by the Israeli government's attack on the Gaza Strip, which killed over 1,300 people. Four banners were hung from overpasses on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and a fifth near the U.S.S. Intrepid on the West Side Highway in January.

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Police Listed Gay Rights Group Among Terrorists

Equality Maryland, the state's largest gay rights group, was among the peaceful protest groups to be classified as terrorists in a Maryland State Police database.
The group was designated a "security threat" by the Homeland Security and Intelligence Division, which also kept dossiers on dozens of activists and at least a dozen groups. Police kept files on Equality Maryland's plans to hold rallies outside the State House in Annapolis to press for legislation reversing the state's ban on same-sex marriage. They plan to purge the files. See the documents by using these links:
Equality MD 1.pdf
Equality MD 2.pdf
Equality MD 3.pdf
Equality MD 4.pdf
Equality MD 5.pdf
Equality MD 6.pdf
The files were revealed yesterday at a press conference, where a dozen Democratic lawmakers announced plans to introduce legislation to prevent future surveillance of non-violent groups.
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BBC refuses to broadcast charity appeal for Gaza aid

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The BBC is refusing to broadcast a plea from leading British charities for aid to Gaza, saying the ad would compromise the public broadcaster's appearance of impartiality.
The Disasters Emergency Committee, which includes the British Red Cross, Oxfam, Save the Children and 10 other charities, plans to launch its appeal Monday.
British broadcasters, led by the BBC, originally declined to air the advert -- but in the face of criticism from government ministers and others, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 changed their minds. CNN was not approached to broadcast the ad, a DEC spokesman said.
About 5,000 people demonstrated in front of the BBC's Broadcasting House in central London on Saturday over the broadcaster's stance. Seven people were arrested.



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Bush Protest: Shoes Thrown At White House, One Arrested

President Bush was given an Iraqi-journalist-style sendoff on his last full day in office Monday, as tourists and demonstrators lobbed shoes, pumps, boots, sandals and Crocs from Pennsylvania Avenue onto the White House lawn.

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Unlike Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi reporter who inspired the protest, none of the shoe-throwers in the group were arrested. (Later that day, reports NBC, one man was arrested for chucking a shoe at the White House.)

More Gaza Solidarity Protests Against Israel, in Canada and worldwide

Saturday, January 10, 2009, was a global day of action to show solidarity with the people of Gaza and to protest the Israeli invasion and its murder of hundreds of civilians.

International Day of Gaza Outrage in Toronto



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From Stop the War Coalition;
Over 100,000 people marched on the Israeli embassy to protest against the ongoing massacre of innocent civilians in Gaza - the largest demonstration in support of the Palestinians in British history

In defiance of a UN resoultion calling for a halt to the violence Israel dropped millions of leaflets on the Gaza strip warning residents that it's campaign of genocide is to intensify

Stop the War and the other organisations involved in this weekend's protest will be escalating our campaign to bring this atrocity to an end.

World Wide Public Opinion Turning Against Israel

In London ten of thousands demonstrated against Israel's attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Huge demonstrations also took place all over the Middle-East. The UN's Chief for Human rights is now pushing for investigations of war crimes. Meanwhile, 800 Palestinians have being killed, 1/2 of them civilians. Israel is making a lot of new enemies.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of London today in the biggest public protest yet in Britain against the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
The march began in Hyde Park, where Speakers' Corner was turned into a sea of Palestinian flags and banners condemning Israel, before making its way to Kensington Gardens. There were scuffles outside the Israeli embassy as the march passed by the gates leading to its entrance.
Missiles were thrown at police guarding the way and a number of loud bangs – believed to be firecrackers – were heard as riot police drew batons and attempted to push the crowd back from the gates.
A number of younger masked demonstrators attempted to climb on to the gates, near Kensingon High Street, and hurled pieces of placards and other items at police lines.
Panic rippled through the crowd, which included young children, and a number of people fell to the ground amid the scuffles.
A Metropolitan police spokesman said: "A group of protesters outside the embassy of Israel started trying to push over the barriers placed there to protect the embassy. Protesters have also attempted to throw barriers and other missiles at police.
"Officers have been deployed in protective equipment as a precautionary measure after coming under attack from a small minority of protesters."
The march began largely peacefully and included many young British Muslims as well as members of political parties. The crowd listened to speakers including trade unionists, representatives of Palestinian exiles, and celebrity campaigners such as Brian Eno and Annie Lennox.
The Stop The War coalition, which organised today's demonstration, said it believed as many as 100,000 people were taking part in the rallies at Hyde Park and in Kensington Park Gardens.
Richard Elborne, from west London, stamped his feet against the cold and explained why he felt it was important to come with his daughter Louise, five, who had made her own placard calling for an end to the violence in Gaza.

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Boycott Israel

Let 'em know how you feel about what they're doing. Just because our corrupt government funds them doesn't mean you have too.

People of good conscience have chosen to boycott israeli products and companies supporting the zionist entity. Their ethical purchasing decision however is frustrated by the lack of accurate information as to which companies to boycott.
We have carried out extensive research to identify the guilty companies. All our findings are provided here. Where ever possible, we have included full references for the source of our information so that you may independently verify its accuracy and understand exactly how each company is contributing its support to israel. We thank all those organizations who's research we have utilized.
Our research is on going and we encourage you to help us with it - If you have any information regarding guilty companies please e-mail us this information with source references. Thank you.
We suggest you start with the Boycott Israel Frequently Asked Questions page - it will clarify what the boycott is about.

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US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation : Take Action: End Israel's Attacks on Gaza

Since December 27, Israel’s brutal attacks on the occupied Gaza Strip have killed more than an estimated 640 people and injured more than 3,000. Today Israeli artillery shells landed on a UN school in the Jebaliya refugee camp, killing at least 34 people and injuring at least 55.

Israel's attacks come on top of a brutal siege of the Gaza Strip, which has created a humanitarian catastrophe of dire proportions for Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinian residents by restricting the provision of food, fuel, medicine, electricity, and other necessities of life.
Make no mistake about it-Israel's war and siege on the Gaza Strip would not be possible without the jets, helicopters, ships, missiles, and fuel provided by the United States.
From 2001-2006, the United States transferred to Israel more than $200 million worth of spare parts to fly its fleet of F16's and more than $100 million worth of helicopter spare parts for its fleet of Apaches. In July 2008, the United States gave Israel 186 million gallons of JP-8 aviation jet fuel and signed a contract to transfer an addition $1.9 billion worth of littoral combat ships to the Israeli navy. Last year, the United States signed a $1.3 billion contract with Raytheon to transfer to Israel thousands of TOW, Hellfire, and "bunker buster" missiles.

Additional troubling details continue to emerge about the misuse of U.S. weapons by Israel:

* Israel is dropping GBU-39 small diameter bombs on the Gaza Strip. According to weapons experts, these bombs contain uranium oxide and have left behind radioactive contamination in places such as Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In September 2008, Boeing received a $77 million contract to transfer 1,000 of these bombs to Israel.

* On December 30, the Israeli navy intentionally rammed a boat in international waters which was carrying medical supplies to the Gaza Strip, nearly causing it to sink. The passengers of The Dignity included doctors and recent Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney. In July 2008, the United States signed a contract to transfer $1.9 billion of naval combat ships to Israel.

Download a fact sheet, "Israel is Killing Palestinians in Gaza w/ U.S. Weapons" to learn more.

TAKE ACTION NOW

1. Take to the streets and make your opposition public. Thousands of people have already taken to the streets in New York, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dearborn, MI and dozens of other cities to protest Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip. We’re maintaining a comprehensive listing of all protests—nearly 200 in more than 35 states and 100 cities so far—on our website and updating it continuously. Join a protest near you or organize one and send us the details.
If you know of an event that is not included, please send the details to us by clicking here (please select "Emergency Gaza Protest/Vigil/March")
We must keep up the protests until there is a cease-fire and a lifting of the siege of Gaza. We’re calling on everyone to continue to organize protests in your community.

2. Educate and organize people in your community. Download a flyer by clicking here and a petition by clicking here and make copies.
Download and distribute our fact sheet "Israel is Killing Palestinians in Gaza w/ U.S. Weapons."
Also, sign up as a volunteer organizer to challenge military aid to Israel by clicking here and we’ll send you an organizing packet with fact sheets, petitions, and the postcards below.

3. Contact your elected representatives and set up emergency meetings with your Members of Congress before January 6. Demand from the President, your Representative, and Senators an unconditional, immediate cease-fire; full humanitarian access to Gaza and a lifting of Israel’s siege; and accountability for Israel’s misuse of U.S. weapons to kill Palestinian civilians. Send your letter today by clicking here.
Congress is scheduled to go back into session on Jan. 6. Until then, many Members of Congress are in their home districts. Assemble a delegation of concerned constituents and request an immediate meeting with them. For contact information, click here. For tips on how to arrange a meeting, click here.
In these meetings, ask your Members of Congress to send a public letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and make a public statement with the political demands above. To download a sample letter to give to your Members of Congress, click here.
Also give them a copy of our open-letter to President Elect-Obama signed by more than 250 organizations entitled “We Need a Change in Israel/Palestine Policy” to show them that there is growing and widespread opposition to our country’s policy of support for Israel’s human rights abuses of Palestinians. Download a PDF copy of the letter by clicking here.
If you can take the lead in arranging an emergency meeting with your Members of Congress, please fill out this brief form by clicking here.

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4. Get the message out to the media. Call in to talk radio programs and write letters to the editors. To download talking points for the media, click here. To find contact information for your local media, click here.

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5. Step Up the Pressure on the New Administration and Congress. Sign our open letter to President Elect-Obama by clicking here. This open letter will be published as a full-page ad on Inauguration Day. Add your individual and organizational endorsements to it today by clicking here.
Then spread the word by copying and pasting the flash graphic below into your email signature, blog, social networking site, or webpage and join our Facebook group and forward it to all your friends.

Download a fact sheet, "Israel is Killing Palestinians in Gaza w/ U.S. Weapons" to learn more.

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation : Take Action: End Israel's Attacks on Gaza

Technorati Tags: actions,activism,petitions,Gaza,Israel,Israeli military,Palestine

Activists urge Obama to rethink role in Mideast

Pro-Palestinian activists protest outside President-elect's vacation home

KAILUA, Hawaii - A handful of pro-Palestinian activists protested outside President-elect Barack Obama's vacation home on Tuesday and urged a new approach to the Middle East.
Eight activists marched with signs to the edge of the property's security perimeter, telling reporters that they want the incoming administration to take a fresh look at the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories, especially given the current fighting in the Gaza Strip. They also said Obama needs to take a more active role in the conflict, even though he doesn't take office until Jan. 20.
"We feel there's a great need for change. We need to stop giving Israel a blank check to do what it's doing," said Margaret Brown, a 66-year-old Honolulu resident who held a handmade sign that read "Yes we can change U.S. policy toward Israel and Palestine."
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Arab Angry Protesters Demand Response to Gaza.

By Aseel Kami and Sabah al-Bazee

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Protesters burned Israeli and U.S. flags on Sunday in a string of Arab countries and demanded a stronger response from their leaders to Israel's attack on Gaza.

"Arab silence is behind the bombings," read a banner held by one of several thousand people who turned out in the Sunni Arab city of Samarra north of Baghdad.

The Israeli raids, some of the worst in 60 years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, incensed many in the Arab world, where many governments are seen by popular Islamist movements as collaborators with the United States or Israel.

"America and the Zionists are the leaders of world terrorism," read a placard held by protesters at the U.N. headquarters in the Lebanese capital Beirut. They demanded U.N. intervention to end the Israeli onslaught.

Similar protests were held in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, home to some 400,000 refugees displaced when Israel was established in 1948.

In Amman, Jordanian deputies burned an Israeli flag during a parliamentary session on Sunday to show solidarity with the Palestinians.

Deputies also demanded the kingdom, the second Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel, sever diplomatic ties with its neighbor and expel its ambassador.

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March on the Pentagon Saturday, March 21 to demand "Bring the Troops Home Now"

The Iraqi journalist Muntather Al-Zaidi spoke for millions of Iraqis and outraged people everywhere when he threw his shoes at George Bush during Bush's publicity stunt "victory lap” in Baghdad yesterday. As he threw his shoes, Muntather said, “This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!”
Tragically, the criminal occupation of Iraq will not be over even by the sixth anniversary of the start of the war in March 2009. People around the world will be marching together on the sixth anniversary in the strongest possible solidarity with the people of Iraq demanding an end to the occupation of their country.
Marking the sixth anniversary of the criminal invasion of Iraq, on March 21, 2009, thousands will March on the Pentagon to say, “Bring the Troops Home NOW!” We will also demand “End Colonial Occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Everywhere” and “Fund Peoples’ Needs Not Militarism and Bank Bailouts.” We will insist on an end to the war threats and economic sanctions against Iran. We will say no to the illegal U.S. program of detention and torture.
To endorse the March 21 March on the Pentagon, click here. To sign up to be a Transportation Organizing Center, click here.

Click on the graphic below to send this e-card to friends and family!

The ANSWER Coalition is joining with other coalitions, organizations, and networks in a March 21 National Coalition to bring people from all walks of life and from all cities across the United States to take part in a March on the Pentagon on the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war: Saturday, March 21.

Source:  Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (ANSWER)

Technorati Tags: A.N.S.W.E.R.,ANSWER,activism,protests,anniversay,Iraq war,Iraq,shoe thrower,Muntather Al-Zaidi,Bush Administration,anti-war,petitions

Greek police and marchers clash as strike bites

Riot police clashed with Greek youths for a fifth consecutive day today as demonstrators marched on parliament to protest over the fatal shooting of a schoolboy by police.The march coincided with a nationwide strike that has brought the country to a halt, with flights grounded, banks and schools closed and hospital services restricted.

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Amnesty International has called for the Greek authorities to end the "unlawful and disproportionate use of force by police".

"Images in the international media and eyewitness statements to Amnesty International present mounting evidence of police beating and ill-treating peaceful demonstrators," said Nicola Duckworth, the group's Europe and Central Asia programme director.

The worst civil disturbances to hit Greece in decades, the riots have dealt another blow to the already badly dented popularity of the ruling conservatives. They have also left a trail of devastation.

During Speech at Monticello, Protesters Shout "Impeach Bush"

During President Bush's July 4th speech before a naturalization ceremony for new citizens at Thomas Jefferson's home of Monticello, protesters repeatedly interrupted him with cries of "war criminal" and "impeach Bush."

Video by S. Johnson. Footage of Gael Murphy, Desiree Fairooz, and Linda Lisanti, who were among several protester of George W. Bush at Monticello on July 4, 2008.
Category: News & Politics
Tags: Iraq impeachment Bush Protest Monticello Charlottesville



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