Comrades in Cairo send solidarity, and advice, to Occupy Wall Street
by Anonymous on October 25, 2011
To all those in the United States currently occupying parks, squares and other spaces, your comrades in Cairo are watching you in solidarity. Having received so much advice from you about transitioning to democracy, we thought it’s our turn to pass on some advice.
Indeed, we are now in many ways involved in the same struggle. What most pundits call “The Arab Spring” has its roots in the demonstrations, riots, strikes and occupations taking place all around the world, its foundations lie in years long struggles by people and popular movements. The moment that we find ourselves in is nothing new, as we in Egypt and others have been fighting against systems of repression, disenfranchisement and the unchecked ravages of global capitalism (yes, we said it, capitalism): a System that has made a world that is dangerous and cruel to its inhabitants. As the interests of government increasingly cater to the interests and comforts of private, transnational capital, our cities and homes have become progressively more abstract and violent places, subject to the casual ravages of the next economic development or urban renewal scheme.
An entire generation across the globe has grown up realizing, rationally and emotionally, that we have no future in the current order of things. Living under structural adjustment policies and the supposed expertise of international organizations like the World Bank and IMF, we watched as our resources, industries and public services were sold off and dismantled as the “free market” pushed an addiction to foreign goods, to foreign food even. The profits and benefits of those freed markets went elsewhere, while Egypt and other countries in the South found their immiseration reinforced by a massive increase in police repression and torture. Read more »
Carlos Montes, target of political repression
He spoke in San Francisco on August 31, 2011, sponsored by the Bay Area Committee to Stop Political Repression.
This video is presented by pro-jectPRO:JECT and Collision Course Media.
Pelican Bay Prisoners on Hunger Strike Press Demand for Human Rights!
a collision course video production
On June 30, 2011, hundreds of California prisoners at the Pelican Bay State Prison launched a hunger strike against tortuous conditions for years, even decades-long solitary confinement. Within days, thousands of prisoners throughout the state joined the strike. While the media routinely slammed the strike, discounting and minimizing it and slandering the prisoners as undeserving of their demands, public support has grown.
In this video, Manuel LaFontaine of the prisoner support group ALL OF US OR NONE, explains the significance of this historic struggle. When he spoke at a solidarity rally on July 9th, he had been fasting in solidarity with the hunger strike (since it began) for nine days.
This video was produced by Collision Course Media.
Wisconsin Protests Draw More Than 70,000 In Largest Rally Yet
AP/The Huffington Post
PATRICK CONDON and TODD RICHMOND
02/27/11
MADISON, Wis. — Chanting pro-union slogans and carrying signs declaring “We are all Wisconsin,” protesters turned out in cities nationwide to support thousands of public workers who’ve set up camp at the Wisconsin Capitol to fight Republican-backed legislation aimed at weakening unions.
Union supporters organized rallies from New York to Los Angeles in a show of solidarity Saturday as the demonstration in Madison entered its 12th straight day and attracted its largest crowd yet: more than 70,000 people. Hundreds banged on drums and screamed into bullhorns inside the Capitol as others braved frigid weather and snow during the massive rally that flooded into nearby streets.
“I want to thank you for coming out here today to exercise those pesky First Amendment rights,” actor Bradley Whitford, who starred in television’s “The West Wing,” said as he rallied his hometown crowd. “This governor has to understand Wisconsin is a stubborn constituency. We fish through ice!”
Republican Gov. Scott Walker has introduced a bill that includes stripping almost all public workers of their right to collectively bargain on benefits and work conditions. Walker has said the bill would help close a projected $3.6 billion deficit in the 2011-13 budget, and argues that freeing local governments from collective bargaining would give them flexibility amid deep budget cuts. Read more »
Ramallah, Occupied Palestine: Demo in support of Egyptian people, 5 Feb – PA arrests I
February 05, 2011
The Palestinian Authority security agents in civilian clothes arresting demonstrators in Ramallah 5th Feb 2011,
the demo in solidarity with the Egyptian & Tunisian uprisings
————————————————-
Charlotte Silver, The Electronic Intifada, 9 February 2011
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11788.shtml
On Saturday, 5 February, cities around the world and throughout the Israeli-occupied West Bank held demonstrations in solidarity with the people’s uprising in Egypt against Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade-old regime. In Ramallah, security forces belonging to the Palestinian Authority attempted to pacify a protest of 2,000 persons.
In the West Bank, demonstrating solidarity takes on a dual and potentially treacherous significance, as Palestinians can easily indict their own government for similar charges heard from Egyptians and earlier, Tunisians. The fate of Egypt has direct consequences for that of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where elections for the Palestinian Authority have not been held even though the terms of office for the legislative council and president have long since expired. Egypt has also played a key role in internal Palestinian politics, actively supporting Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction against rival Hamas. Read more »
San Francisco: Demonstration at Indian Consulate–”Free Binayak Sen and all Political Prisoners in India!”
[International protests are growing, condemning the Indian government's unjust sentencing of Dr. Binayak Sen and the growing masses of Political Prisoners in Indian jails. In San Francisco, California, on January 28, 2011, people gathered to demonstrate at the Indian Consulate, delivering the message that the world is watching, and growing numbers are exposing and opposing the attacks by the Indian government on the people of India!--Frontlines ed.]
Brazilian activists demonstrate in support of political prisoner in China
Workers, students and lawyers demonstrate in front of the Chinese embassy in Brasília against the
political imprisonment of Chinese lawyer Zhao Dong-min.
Video in Portuguese with English captions
November 18, 2010
FREEDOM FOR ZHAO DONG-MIN!
The words demanding “Freedom for Zhao-Dong-min,” yelled in Portuguese and English, echoed in the embassy sector in Brasilia last Thursday, November 18.
The demonstrators, who were posted outside the main gate of the Chinese embassy on Nations Avenue, 813 block, bore two large banners on which were stamped the picture of Chinese lawyer Zhao Dong-min and which called for his immediate release. They also carried flags of the participating organizations.
This demonstration against the illegal arrest and absurd three year prison sentence imposed on the Chinese lawyer Zhao Dong-min was organized by ABRAPO – Brazilian Association of People’s Lawyers, IAPL – International Association of People’s Lawyers, Workers League, and Cebraspo – Brazilian Center of Solidarity with the Peoples.
Workers, lawyers and law students demonstrated their total repudiation of the fascist policy of the Chinese government, prosecuting and imprisoning those who fight against the regime of slavery which workers are subjected to in China.
Demonstrating the arbitrary and authoritarian attitude of the Chinese government and total unpreparedness for the exercise of diplomatic functions, the Chinese ambassador in Brazil, Qiu Xiaoqi, refused to receive the document prepared by the organizers of the protest. Instead the ambassador called out the military police, which immediately cordoned off the entrance to the embassy. A delegation of representatives from the protest organizations stood at the gate of the Chinese embassy, which remained closed all the time. Hysterical screaming in Chinese from inside the embassy was heard outside the walls, causing laughter among the demonstrators. Read more »
Hong Kong student activists support Foxconn workers in China and India
[A few months ago, conditions at the Foxconn factory in China (which produces iPads for Apple) grew so bad that a growing number of workers were driven to suicide. Student activists in Hong Kong built support for the workers struggle with a series of actions. Now, word of similarly horrifying conditions in the Foxconn factories in India has brought the activists into action once again.--Frontlines ed.]
In Support of the Struggle of Foxconn Workers in India
An earlier protest burned iPads
All Imprisoned Strike Participants Should be Freed
Read more »
Protests in West Bank, Jordan, and Syria against brutal repression of Palestinians in Israeli jails
A Palestinian woman holds a picture of her jailed son as she leaves a protest calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, in Gaza City, Saturday (Reuters photo)
CAPITALS, Sept 25 (Saba) — Several Palestinian factions and Arab trade unions and non-government organizations staged Saturday demonstrations in the West Bank, Amman and Damascus in protest against the escalating aggressions by the Israeli prison authorities on the Palestinian prisoners, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
The protests followed revelations that the guards of Ramon and Ofer prison and Hadarim Detention Center attacked, and used tear gas against, Palestinian prisoners, injuring 15 of them.
In Ramallah relatives of the detainees and sympathizers from the Palestinian political forces and human rights institutions staged a sit-in front of the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
They raised banners, showing solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners and urging for putting the prisoners’ release high on the agenda of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. Read more »
South African anti-apartheid veteran urges the academic boycott of Israeli apartheid
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa
Israel ties: a chance to do the right thing
The Sunday Times, Sep 26, 2010
The University of Johannesburg’s Senate will next week meet to decide whether to end its relationship with an Israeli institution, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, on the grounds of that university’s active support for and involvement in the Israeli military. Archbishop Desmond Tutu supports the move. He explains why.
The temptation in our situation is to speak in muffled tones about an issue such as the right of the people of Palestine to a state of their own.
We can easily be enticed to read reconciliation and fairness as meaning parity between justice and injustice. Having achieved our own freedom, we can fall into the trap of washing our hands of difficulties that others face. Yet we would be less than human if we did so. It behoves all South Africans, themselves erstwhile beneficiaries of generous international support, to stand up and be counted among those contributing actively to the cause of freedom and justice.” – Nelson Mandela, December 4 1997
Struggles for freedom and justices are fraught with huge moral dilemmas. How can we commit ourselves to virtue – before its political triumph – when such commitment may lead to ostracism from our political allies and even our closest partners and friends? Are we willing to speak out for justice when the moral choice that we make for an oppressed community may invite phone calls from the powerful or when possible research funding will be withdrawn from us? When we say “Never again!” do we mean “Never again!”, or do we mean “Never again to us!”?
Our responses to these questions are an indication of whether we are really interested in human rights and justice or whether our commitment is simply to secure a few deals for ourselves, our communities and our institutions – but in the process walking over our ideals even while we claim we are on our way to achieving them? Read more »
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement: Solidarity with the Struggle of People of Haiti
The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) is an organization of people of Afrikan descent in the United States who believe in fighting for and supporting self-determination and human rights for Afrikans in the United States and around the world. Our organization annually takes an international trip to build solidarity with other people struggling for liberation and social justice. This year, we come in solidarity to Haiti (with the people of Haiti).
Our objective was to meet with Haitian people and popular organizations and assess the current situation in the camps and throughout the country seven months after the earthquake.
What we have found is appalling. There is a lack of security, deteriorating health conditions, and inadequate access to food, water, medicine and education in the camps. We are particularly concerned about the lack of safety and the large number of reported rapes and violent attacks on Haitian women and children in the camps.
Second Wave of Global Protest in Support of Mapuche Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Chile
August 19, 2010
Mapuche International Link
A second wave of global protest was initiated by the families of Mapuche political prisoners and hunger strikers on Weds 18th of August. The worldwide protest took place in the following countries, Chile, Argentina, England, France and Norway amongst numerous others.
In London a demonstration of solidarity with Mapuche hunger strikers took place in front of the Chilean embassy and was a well attended and peaceful event. Amongst its supporters were UK based NGO, Mapuche International Link, the Association of Chilean ex- political prisoners in the UK, Colombian Solidarity Campaign, Latin American Coordination, Memoria Historica, and many independent pro-Mapuche sympathisers.
In Temuco, Chile, peaceful demonstrations were again disrupted by unsolicited violent police repression against the Mapuche supporters. The protest was marked by 56 arrests, including that of Catalina Catrileo sister of Matias Catrileo a Mapuche youth previously murdered by Chilean police during a peaceful land rights demonstration. Read more »
Statement of Solidarity from Greece to the People of India
Let us express our solidarity to the people’s revolutionary movement of India
Lately, large military and police forces of the Indian state, supported by para-military organizations, have conducted a murderous military offensive to crush the resistance of the poor native peasants who defend their land and wish to live in their homeland under humane conditions.
The Communist Party of India (Maoist), which supports and participates in this revolutionary struggle of the masses, is under fierce attack by the forces of the Indian reactionaries. As a result, in the beginning of July, the forces of the Indian reactionaries murdered in cold blood a party leader and an independent journalist, thus outraging the left and democratic people not only in India, but all over the world.
A few days before this event, the Communist Party of Greece(marxist-leninist), CPG(m-l), took the initiative to call a meeting of parties and organizations of the left, which concluded in a joint statement of condemnation of the murderous military operation of the Indian state and solidarity to the people’s revolutionary movement. The statement was published in newspapers of the left and also in one of the biggest daily newspapers in Greece.
The meeting decided to protest outside the Indian Embassy in Athens, which was held on July 6th. The murder of the Indian revolutionary and the journalist was already known when the protest took place. CPG(m-l) had a banner with their names and the slogan “honor and glory to the Indian revolutionaries”. Read more »
Bangladesh Maoists Express Solidarity with CPI(Maoist)
Statement of PBSP (MUG) [Proletarian Party of East Bengal-Maoist Unity Group] condemning the murder of Com. Azad and Com. Hem Pandey by the Indian state
We are deeply shocked at the news of murder of comrade Azad along with com. Hem Pandey by the Indian expansionist state. We express our anger and hatred against this monster that is not only killing Indian revolutionaries and masses but also Bangladeshi people in the border.
They must be punished for their crime!
Indian Maoists are our big inspiration who stood up in resistance when leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) surrendered to imperialism.
Indian regime is that coward who tells lies and make false stories to hide their crime. So do their Bangladeshi junior partner. They don’t have the courage to say the truth.
Comrade Azad is a glorious son of India. We express our best sympathy to the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the families of martyred comrades. Read more »
India: Andhra Pradesh protest of Human Rights Violations in Kashmir
Monday, 09 August 2010
A protest demonstration was conducted by the rights group of Andhra Pradesh at Indira Park, Lower Tank Bund road from 11 AM to 2PM. The demands which are made are:
1. Stop all violent actions immediately on people of Kashmir.
2. Withdraw all the Armed forces from civilian areas immediately and confine them to barracks.
3. Release all the people arrested during demonstration and agitations.
4. Handover law and order to the state government.
5. Constitute a Judicial enquiry with a sitting judge of Supreme Court on all incidents of violence by Armed Forces at least in the past two years.
6. Repeal the Armed Forces Special Power Act, Public Security Act and Disturbed Areas Act immediately.
7. Withdraw the Armed forces from the Kashmir Valley immediately. Read more »
