Workers Resistance

Category: Asia

  • Milwaukee vigil remembers Al Nakba, calls for solidarity with Rasmea Odeh

    Milwaukee, WI – Dozens of Palestine solidarity activists gathered on the lakefront here, May 15, during rush hour to commemorate Nakba Day.

    Al-Nakba or “The Catastrophe” refers to May 15, 1948, the day after Israeli “Independence Day.” In 1948, 700,000 Palestinians were expelled by Zionist troops under the pretext of establishing a Jewish state of Israel on Palestinian land. 400 Palestinian villages were depopulated and taken over or destroyed by the Israelis, laying the foundation for the continuing occupation of Palestine.

    In response to continuing occupation and oppression of Palestinian people by the U.S. and Israel, activists held signs demanding “End U.S. aid to Israel,” and “Drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh!”

    Members of the Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition responded to the national call to action to support Rasmea Odeh, a veteran Palestinian activist. Odeh is a 66-year-old community organizer who has dedicated her life to the empowerment of Palestinians, especially Palestinian women. She is the victim of a U.S. government attack which is intended to jail or deport her for allegedly lying on a 20-year old immigration form. Her trial is set to begin on June 10 in Detroit.

    As the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel grows more successful by the day, activists are facing repression from the U.S. government. Activists in Milwaukee say they will continue to win victories for the BDS movement while defending Palestinian community leaders like Rasmea Odeh from political attacks.

  • Utah Protest of U.S. aid to Israel on Al Nakba

    Salt Lake City, Utah – Students and international solidarity activists held a protest, May 15, to mark the 66th anniversary of Al Nakba. The students called for an end to U.S. aid to Israel and demanded justice for Palestinian American activist Rasmea Odeh. Protesters stood on the corner of the William Bennett Federal Building during rush hour waving signs and holding Palestinian flags. The protest featured speeches by local anti-war, Palestine solidarity and Palestinian activists. The rally, organized by the Utah Valley University Revolutionary Student Union, united groups that want to cut U.S. taxpayer money that goes to war and occupation.

    May 1948 marks the Zionist establishment of Israel. For Israelis, it’s a time of celebration. For Palestinians and Arabs it commemorates a time they call Al Nakba – Arabic for “the Catastrophe.” During the 1948 war, at least 750,000 Palestinian men, women and children were ruthlessly attacked, massacred and driven from their homes into refugee camps by Zionist terror groups. In a gross violation of international law, Palestinians continue to be denied the right to return to their own land. At the same time, the establishment of Israeli settlements steals more Palestinian land every day. The U.S. government does nothing to stop it.

    Bill VanWagenen, representing The Mormon Worker explains, “Though the Israeli government constantly demands that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, we must of course wonder when Israel will recognize the crimes which allowed the Jewish state to come into existence. Also the crimes Israel has committed since that time to keep the Jewish state in existence that allows it to continue to confiscate and colonize more and more Palestinian land each year.”

    After outlining possible ‘solutions’ to the conflict, Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land member Mahan Khalsa said, “Israel will be an apartheid state until 100% of the people have access to 100% of the land. Apartheid is a legal crime against humanity.”

    Protesters also demanded justice for Rasmea Odeh, a leader of Chicago’s Arab community who faces serious charges in a case that is part of a long-standing campaign of repression against Palestinians and those who work in solidarity with them. Her case is tied to the FBI and grand jury investigation of the Antiwar 23 and others. Rasmea Odeh’s case is set to come to trial in Detroit on June 10.

    Freedom Road Socialist Organization member Chris Manor said, “It’s outrageous that the U.S. government arrested and is prosecuting Rasmea Odeh for refusing to recognize the military occupation of her country. It’s important that people understand what she’s facing. We need to stand in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh as she goes to trial. We need to stop U.S. taxpayer funding of Israeli apartheid.”

  • Minneapolis protest marks Al Nakba, demands end to aid to Israel

    Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people jointed a protest in front of the Federal Building here, May 15, to mark the 66th anniversary of Al Nakba. Organized by the Twin Cites based Anti-War Committee, the demonstration called for an end of U.S. aid to Israel and for justice for Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh. Al Nakba, Arabic for “the Catastrophe,” marks the Zionist terror that accompanied the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Palestine in 1948 and the founding of Israel.

    Emcee Sabry Wazwaz of the Anti-War Committee led the crowd in chanting, “Long live Palestine.” Misty Rowan, also from the Anti-War Committee stated, “So let me just say it loud and clear for everybody here today. Israel is an apartheid state. They discriminate, they abuse, they continue to take land and build illegal settlements and a separation wall – that is supposedly for their own safety but is really just another way to gobble up land.”

    Tracy Molm spoke for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. She condemned the government prosecution of the prominent Chicago Palestinian leader Rasmea Odeh on trumped up charges and urged people to come to her June 10 trial in Detroit. Around the U.S., other events marking Al Nakba also demanded justice for Rasmea Odeh.

    Sarah Martin, of the Women Against Military Madness Middle East Committee, told the crowd, “It’s time for us to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and demand an end to the occupation. The Zionist project was costly and bloody. It failed. It cannot continue to occupy Palestinian land and deny Palestinians the most basic of human rights, to return and live in their own homes.”

    Mariam Al Khatib of Students for Justice in Palestine spoke of the growing movement on campus in support of Palestine.

    The Anti War Committee Al Nakba protest was endorsed by American Muslims for Palestine (MN), Freedom Road Socialist Organization, MN Committee to Stop FBI Repression, MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, MN Peace Action Coalition, Socialist Action, U of M Students for a Democratic Society, U of M Students for Justice in Palestine, Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, Welfare Rights Committee and Women Against Military Madness.

     

  • MN protest to mark Al Nakba: Demand no more aid to Israel

    Minneapolis, MN -The Twin Cities based Anti-War Committee (AWC) will hold a protest, Thursday, May 15 to mark the 66th anniversary of Al Nakba, to call for an end to U.S. aid to Israel and to demand justice for Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh. Starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Federal Building (300 South 4th Street) the protest will feature speeches by local anti-war, Palestine solidarity and Palestinian activists.

    Events around the country will mark the Nakba this year with a united call for an end to U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and demanding justice for Rasmea Odeh.

    May 1948 marks Israel’s declaration of independence. To Israelis, it’s a time of celebration. For Palestinians and Arabs it commemorates a time they call Al Nakba – Arabic for “the Catastrophe.” During the 1948 war, at least 750,000 Palestinian men, women and children were ruthlessly attacked, massacred and driven from their homes into refugee camps by Zionist terror groups. In a gross violation of international law, they continue to be denied the right to return. At the same time, the establishment of Israeli settlements steals more Palestinian land every day.

    From 1949 through 2013, Israel has received $118 billion in U.S. aid to fund the occupation and uphold a system of apartheid rule.

    AWC member Meredith Aby-Keirstead explains, “Our protest aims to challenge the role U.S. military aid plays in continuing the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Given that the peace talks have fallen apart again, it is clear the Obama administration cannot serve as a broker for peace. Instead, the U.S. government aids Israel in its oppression of the Palestinian people. We are part of a growing international Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement to oppose that. ”

    Protesters will also demand justice for Rasmea Odeh, a leader of Chicago’s Arab community who faces serious charges in a case that is part of a long-standing campaign of repression against Palestinians and those who work in solidarity with them. Her case is tied to the FBI and grand jury investigation of the AWC and others. This Twin Cities Al Nakba protest will join those from around the country to demand justice for Rasmea. Her case is set to come to trial in Detroit on June 10.

    The program will include community leaders and speakers from endorsing groups: Malak Abu (American Muslims for Palestine); Mariam Al Khatib (Students for Justice in Palestine); Sylvia Schwartz (MN Break the Bonds); Tracy Molm (Committee to Stop FBI Repression); Coya White Hat-Artichoker (Indigenous Queer Sicangu Lakota activist); and poetry by Sarah Thamer (Palestinian American writer). Sabry Wazwaz will emcee, and Misty Rowan will speak, for the AWC.

  • Ukraine fascists kill many, burn trade unions building in Odessa

    Thugs of the neo-Nazi political party Right Sector assaulted and set ablaze the House of Trade Unions in Odessa, Ukraine, May 2, murdering dozens and injuring over 200 anti-fascist, anti-coup protesters. The Right Sector is one of the fascist parties in the new, U.S.-backed coup government of Kiev. The vicious attack on the House of Trade Unions is only the most recent explosion of violence backed by the Kiev government.

    In the wake of the secession of Crimea and its induction into the Russian Federation following a popular referendum in March, the crisis in Ukraine is intensifying. The fascist-dominated junta in Kiev, backed by the U.S. and NATO, is cracking down on ‘separatist elements’ in the east and now the south of the deteriorating country.

    Within less than a month of Crimea’s secession, mass protests erupted in Eastern cities – Donetsk, Lugansk, Slavyansk and Kharkov and dozens of smaller towns. Occupying government, public and media buildings, the protesters declared their cities independent and issued a minimum demand: a referendum on the federalization of Ukraine in order to provide its heterogeneous population and ethnically varied regions choice in their official language and allegiance between Ukraine and Russia.

    The uprisings in the east come on the heels of the U.S.-backed Maidan coup in February that ousted the Yanukovich government. The Yanukovich government turned down an EU deal on the grounds that EU integration would bankrupt and destabilize Ukraine.

    The new coup government is comprised of several menacing parties that usurped power. The neo-Nazi Svoboda (Freedom) Party, which has promoted a campaign to “liquidate” the “Muscovites and Jewry” of Ukraine, holds key ministerial as well as judicial and military positions. The Right Sector party, whose leader has claimed that even Svoboda is “too liberal,” has claimed an equally significant number of military posts. The stubbornly right-wing Fatherland Party, led by the one of the most infamous, wealthiest and criminal oligarchs in Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, is the other newly ascended party in the regime. In tandem with the rise of these parties to power, the portrait of Stepan Bandera, the notorious Ukrainian Nazi-collaborator of World War II, is hanging in government buildings.

    Virulently anti-Russian, the new government is hitting hard with its first political offensives that target a vast portion of the Ukrainian population. Such ‘reforms’ included the proposed ban on any official use of the Russian language, which was formerly respected as the second official language of 13 out of 27 regions.

    The predominantly Russian east, frightened by the new coup government’s fascist ambitions, is being devastated by the austerity imposed by Kiev as a prerequisite measure to join the EU. Cut off from funding and suddenly faced with the menace of fascism, one city and region after another is rising in defiance of the right-wing government.

    Protesters in the east surged out in mass numbers to demonstrate against the new government. After demonstrations changed little and an offensive on the part of Kiev was impending, occupiers soon declared autonomy, formed self-defense teams, and looked to Russia for aid. The most famous instances include the declaration of People’s Republics in Donetsk and Lugansk and requests by newly appointed governors for Putin to intervene on Russians’ behalf. The Ukrainian left, including the Borotba Union and the Communist Party of Ukraine, are organizing and leading protests.

    In mid-April, the Kiev junta announced an ‘anti-terrorist’ and ‘anti-separatist’ military operation to clear protests in Eastern Ukraine by force. The Ukrainian military launched offensives against numerous eastern cities, deploying tanks, helicopters and heavily armed soldiers against protesters.

    While peaceful protesters initially greeted tanks, intense fighting has since broken out as Kiev makes it clear that it is determined to suppress any resistance to its new order. Although defections, mutinies and executions of soldiers who refuse to fire on protesters plague the Ukrainian army, the Kiev coup government offensive continues and the number of civilian deaths is rapidly increasing.

    With Ukraine facing civil war and the U.S. mobilizing and deploying troops throughout Eastern Europe, all progressive people should adamantly oppose U.S. intervention and declare: “Hands off Ukraine!”

  • New U.S. / Philippines military agreement condemned

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following May 2 statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

    NDFP CONDEMNS THE ENHANCED DEFENSE COOPERATION AGREEMENT AS FLAGRANT TRAMPLING ON PHILIPPINE SOVEREIGNTY

    The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) condemns in the strongest terms possible the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed by the Aquino regime and the United States of America as flagrant trampling on Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity.

    Negotiated in secrecy, preventing the Filipino people from knowing its contents until after it was signed during the visit of US imperialist chieftain Barack Obama on April 28, 2014, the EDCA allows US military and civilian personnel and contractors and all kinds of materiel unimpeded entry and use of so-called Agreed Locations rent-free anywhere in the country.

    This is a shameless surrender of national sovereignty by the Aquino regime . The EDCA allows an unlimited number of US troops to be stationed, together with their unlimited number of prepositioned war vessels and armaments, in numerous unspecified locations anywhere in the country..

    To cite a few provisions of the EDCA to show the indecent extent of privilege given to the US. According to Article IV of EDCA, Equipment, Supplies and Materiel, No. 3: “The prepositioned materiel shall be for the exclusive use of United States forces. United States forces shall have control over the access to and disposition of such prepositioned materiel and shall have the unencumbered right to remove such prepositioned materiel at any time from the territory of the Philippines.”

    Furthermore, No. 4 of the same Article 4 stipulates: “United States forces and United States contractors [companies and firms, and their employees, under contract or subcontract to or on behalf of the United States Department of Defense] shall have unimpeded access to Agreed Locations for all matters relating to the prepositioning and storage of defense equipment, supplies, and materiel, including delivery, management, inspection, use, maintenance, and removal of such equipment, supplies and materiel.”

    From such provisions in EDCA, it is clear that the US forces can undertake numerous activities which can amount to using the Philippines as a launching pad for US wars of aggression, which the US had carried out in the past against the peoples of Vietnam, Indonesia and other countries.

    The NDFP in its program firmly upholds the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines. It is resolutely against the US bases and calls for the abrogation of unequal agreements such as US-RP Military Assistance Agreement, the US-RP Mutual Defense Treaty, the Visiting Forces Agreement and Mutual Logistics Support Agreement. The NDFP program declares that no foreign power shall be allowed to set up military bases on Philippine soil or use Philippine territory as a launching pad for military operations abroad.

    The NDFP therefore calls on the Filipino people to launch a powerful campaign to abrogate the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and related military agreements with the US. The NDFP likewise calls on the peoples in the United States of America to stand up in solidarity with the Filipino people and take effective collective action to stop the escalating US military intervention in the Philippines as they acted in solidarity with the Vietnamese people against the US war of aggression against Vietnam. We also call for effective solidarity from other peoples of the world in our common struggle against US bases and US military intervention in numerous parts of the world.

    National Executive Committee
    National Democratic Front of the Philippines

  • Rana Plaza, one year on: Brands still failing survivors & victim’s families.

    As events take place around the world to remember those who died and were injured, campaigners demand brands pay up.

  • Cambodian garment workers commence strike for a living wage

    Today, thousands of garment workers in Cambodia will stay at home as part of a new series of actions to demand of a living wage.

  • Say no to U.S. Intervention in the Ukraine

    What the U.S. is doing in the Ukraine is nothing short of criminal. The U.S. is backing outright fascists, in an effort to put the country under the domination of the West. The White House and Pentagon are acting as a threat to peace by imposing sanctions on Russia and sending warships and missiles into the region. All progressive people should oppose the ongoing U.S. intervention in the Ukraine.

    In February, reactionary mobs with fascist gangs in the lead managed to bring down the democratically-elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych. This was the culmination of a process promoted by the U.S. and countries of the European Union to bring instability and turmoil to the Ukraine. The U.S. alone spent about $5 billion on the project. The result was there for all of us to see on TV: neo-Nazis trying to destroy monuments to the heroes of World War II and the socialist past and seizing government buildings.

    To say that the movement that ousted President Yanukovych was something progressive or democratic is to confuse right and wrong. Certainly there were legitimate reasons to be dissatisfied with Yanukovych and his oligarch associates, but that does not change the reactionary nature of the anti-government turmoil.

    It is a fact that the leading forces in this right-wing movement, such as Right Sector and Svoboda, have their roots in the most disgusting of Ukraine’s political currents. They see themselves as the political heirs of the Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, an anti-communist, anti-Semitic butcher who first did Hitler’s bidding and then went on to be a servant of the CIA. Look at the photos of the turmoil in Keiv and other Ukrainian cities; the portrait of Stepan Bandera shows up again and again. In the Ukraine, the White House and its EU allies are supporting ugly nationalists, who preach hatred against other nationalities, especially Russians, and who will carry out the most reactionary of agendas if they are successful in consolidating power.

    Given this reality it is not surprising that the people of Crimea, who are mainly ethnic Russians, voted overwhelmingly to rejoin Russia. They did not want to live under the monsters who roam the halls of government in Kiev. They understand what these vicious chauvinists are all about. After all, one of the first measures passed by Ukraine’s new regime was abolishing the equality of languages.

    It is also understandable and just that people in the eastern Ukraine are rising up and attempting to take things in their own hands. They are standing up to fascists and a U.S./EU power grab.

    The Ukraine is an important prize for the Western imperialist powers, who covet its natural resources and industries and plan to make use of its strategic location. Their goal is the complete encirclement of Russia. Western powers have prepared a large loan from the International Monetary Fund, and in return, the Kiev authorities are preparing austerity measures that will further impoverish the people, starting with a 50% rise in the price of gasoline on May 1.

    Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. has systematically expanded its aggressive military alliance, NATO, throughout Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. It has reached the point where Russia is close to being surrounded. Russia’s elite and their political representative Vladimir Putin want to expand their sphere of influence and control. As a result they find themselves being drawn into a conflict with the Western imperial powers.

    The U.S. government has no right to complain about the actions of Russia. Its moral authority is less than zero. The U.S. invaded and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan. Along with NATO, it destroyed Libya. It is trying to subjugate Syria and finances the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The list of current U.S. wars and interventions is much longer, but the point is clear enough: Washington DC is the capitol of an empire and those that speak for it are hypocrites and liars.

    All progressive people should oppose sanctions on Russia. We have seen this before. Sanctions are a step towards war. Likewise, we need to be clear about how we assess events in the Ukraine. A victory for fascists and their Western backers would be a setback for people everywhere.

    Here in the U.S. we are under attack by a system that takes away our jobs, exploits us when we work and thrives on inequality and oppression. Our enemy is right here at home.

    End U.S./European Union Intervention in the Ukraine!
    Stop U.S. Funding for Ukrainian Fascists!
    No Sanctions on Russia!

  • Milwaukee based People’s Books Co-op boycotts Israel

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition.

    The Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition is celebrating a major victory this week as the People’s Books Cooperative bookstore joined a growing list of organizations that endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

    The People’s Books Co-op board voted in favor of “instituting a consumer, cultural and academic boycott of the Israeli state due to significant human rights concerns involved with Israel’s policies against the Palestinian community,” according to a statement released on their website (http://tinyurl.com/kcuubky).

    People’s Books becomes the second cooperatively owned business in the United States to sign on to BDS, behind the Olympia, Washington Food Co-op whose endorsement won a decisive court battle after being challenged by pro-Israel Zionists.

    People’s Books joins the likes of Nelson Mandela, Naomi Klein, Stephen Hawking, Stevie Wonder, Alice Walker, Roger Waters, Elvis Costello, Gil Scott-Heron, Judith Butler, The American Studies Association, and many others who have signed on to the Palestinian call to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel. The BDS movement was launched by Palestinian civil society in a 2005 call to the international community.

    The People’s Books board responded to the call to BDS by conducting a survey of their membership which resulted in overwhelming support for the boycott proposal. Members of the Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition advocated for their proposal before the board of People’s Books, who previously did not carry any Israeli products. We applaud the members and board of People’s Books for their principled stance on social justice issues, and their strong stance in support of Palestinian human rights, especially while facing the economic difficulties inherent to operating a small local cooperative business.

    The BDS movement is a growing, non-violent threat to Israel’s ability to continue its illegal occupation of Palestine which includes settlement construction, home demolitions, and illegal detention of Palestinian civilians. The Israeli state is scrambling to buy itself a better image abroad by throwing millions of dollars toward Israeli propaganda events in the US which deceptively present Israel as a liberal paradise with diverse culture and a healthy democracy. Israel’s propaganda strategy places college students, social justice activists, academic and cultural workers, and progressive people on the front lines. But those very people are increasingly throwing their support behind the cause of Palestinian liberation.

    The People’s Books Co-op stands as an example for all progressive people to follow as we work to build a better world that is free of war and apartheid, and based on the principles of social justice and cooperation.

    In Solidarity,
    The Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition