Monthly Archives: January 2011
International League of Peoples’ Struggle Salutes and Congratulates the People of Egypt
The mass uprisings sweeping several Arab countries have shifted their focus from Tunisia to Egypt, a country much bigger in terms of land size, population (more than 80 million) and strategic value in the conflict between the US-Zionist combine on the one hand and the Palestinian and Arab peoples on the other hand and in the US global war of terror unleashing state terrorism, wars of aggression, occupation and the rendition of US foes to the torture chambers of Egypt.
Since January 25, tens of thousands of people have poured out into the streets of major cities of Egypt in order to demand the ouster of President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak and his ruling clique. They have defied the police and military forces even as more than 150 of the protesters have been killed and hundreds have been injured by US-made weapons. In a vain attempt to appease the people, Mubarak has reshuffled his cabinet and is maneuvering to stay in power or glide into a less disgraceful exit by a promise to allow new elections according to the US formula of transition to sham democracy.
At any rate, Mubarak is apparently on the verge of losing power. His ruling party headquarters has been burnt down. He has sent out of Egypt his closest relatives and a major part of their bureaucratic loot. The police have begun to abandon their posts in several cities. And various military units are showing either a friendly or hostile face to the people in the streets. There are indications that behind the scenes the US and the generals are trying to engineer a new arrangement.
We, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, salute and congratulate the people of Egypt for rising up and striving to overthrow the US-supported Mubarak regime which has long oppressed and exploited them. The people have courageously acted to repudiate the regime for its oppressiveness, its servility to US imperialism and its conformity to the US-dictated “neoliberal” economic policy which has brought about the high rate of unemployment, decline of the economy and breakdown of social services. Read the rest of this entry
Now To Jordan and Yemen…
Two Reports from Al Jazeera.
Thousands Protest in Jordan
Thousands took to the street across Jordan demanding the prime minister step dow
Thousands of people in Jordan have taken to the streets in protests, demanding the country’s prime minister step down, and the government curb rising prices, inflation and unemployment.
In the third consecutive Friday of protests, about 3,500 opposition activists from Jordan’s main Islamist opposition group, trade unions and leftist organisations gathered in the capital, waving colourful banners reading: “Send the corrupt guys to court”.
The crowd denounced Samir Rifai’s, the prime minister, and his unpopular policies.
Many shouted: “Rifai go away, prices are on fire and so are the Jordanians.”
Another 2,500 people also took to the streets in six other cities across the country after the noon prayers. Those protests also called for Rifai’s ouster.
Members of the Islamic Action Front, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood and Jordan’s largest opposition party, swelled the ranks of the demonstrators, massing outside the al-Husseini mosque in Amman and filling the downtown streets with their prayer lines. Read the rest of this entry
Incident at Restigouche
In Incident at Restigouche, filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin delves into the history behind the Quebec Provincial Police (QPP) raids on the Restigouche Reserve on June 11 and 20, 1981. The Quebec government had decided to restrict fishing, resulting in anger among the Micmac Indians as salmon was traditionally an important source of food and income. Using a combination of documents, news clips, photographs and interviews, this powerful film provides an in-depth investigation into the history-making raids that put justice on trial.
Also be sure to check out the other films of her’s I have posted, Is the Crown at War with Us? and Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (Engligh)/Kanehsatake 270 ans de résistance (French).
Strong Heart Warrior Society: Lakota Elders Assaulted at Secret Council Meeting
From the Cante Tenza Okolakiciye – Strong Heart Warrior Society.
Cante Tenza Okolakiciye also known as the Strong Heart Warrior Society of the Lakota Nation is an ancient Lakota warrior society as well as a broad-based civil rights movement that works to protect, enforce and restore treaty rights, civil rights, and sovereignty of Native people and their communities across Turtle Island. In addition to activist efforts to protect the land and people, each year Cante Tenza collects and freely distributes shoes, winter coats, school supplies, food, and other support to Oglala Lakota elders, children and families.
“WE’VE HAD ENOUGH, THE LAKOTA PEOPLE ARE TAKING BACK OUR GOVERNMENT!”
- Oglala Lakota Tribal Council Representative Deborah Rooks-Cook brandishes gun, assaults traditional Elders outside closed, secret council meeting on Tuesday
- Elders demand immediate removal of Representative Rooks-Cook, Cante Tenza Warrior Society seeks banishment under traditional Flotter Law
- Tribal Police, Council take no action against Rooks-Cook
- Former Council President Theresa Two-Bulls’ attorney Mario Gonzalez calls tribal police, asks them to stand down on Councilwoman Rooks-Cook
- Concerns mount that Tuesday’s secret meeting sought to reinstate Two-Bulls in council, allow cover-up of graft and corruption in her administration including the attempted false arrest of traditional Elders in October 2010 for “inciting a riot”
No Jail Time for Kahentinetha Horn
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News
On January 21, 2011, Kahentinetha Horn pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting police officers and obstructing justice. The charges arose when the publisher and editor of Mohawk Nation News was attacked at the Akwesasne Canada-US border on June 14, 2008 by Canadian Border Service Agents (CBSA.)
Her lawyer, Phil Schneider, and the crown attorney at Cornwall Court agreed that if she pleaded guilty to the obstruction, the assault charge would be withdrawn. The judge gave her a sentence of an absolute discharge, with no criminal record.
Background: Kahentinetha had a problem that occurred at the border two and a half years ago one June 14, 2008. She drove to the Canada-US checkpoint on Cornwall Island with two Mohawks, a man and a woman. They were pulled over allegedly because the woman passenger had an outstanding arrest warrant.
An hour went by. She said that around 2:15 pm, “We were surrounded by about a dozen flak jacketed, steel toe booted, gloved and well armed special squad.”
The male passenger got out and sat on the nearby bench. The customs officers wanted to speak to her female passenger, who was reluctant to get out. The CBSA pulled her out, pushed her to the ground, handcuffed, subdued her and took her away.
Kahentinetha said, “I became afraid for my safety. They had no reason to stop me. When they asked me to get out of the car, I became scared after I saw what they did to her.”
The mob of guards came around to her side ordering her to get out without giving a reason. She hesitated.
She told them, “I’ve done nothing wrong, have no outstanding charges, contraband, or reason to be questioned.” Read the rest of this entry
In Defense of Raza/Indigenous Studies: Five Sentenced, But Not Guilty!
By Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez. Rodriguez, a professor at the University, can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com. It is also posted at: http://drcintli.blogspot.com/
Four students and myself were just sentenced to 10 hours of community service for a crime we did not commit. More importantly, our act of civil disobedience was in response to an illegal, immoral and unconstitutional law: hb 2281 – a piece of legislation that makes the teaching of Ethnic Studies in Arizona illegal.
Back in May, 15 of us were detained as a result of refusing to leave the 2nd floor of the state building because the state superintendent of schools refused to speak to our community. About a thousand of us – mostly middle, high school and college and university students, plus community members – had been awaiting his arrival earlier at TUSD headquarters where he had come to gloat because Gov. Jan Brewer had just signed an Inquisition-style law that made it illegal to teach Ethnic Studies. Rather than showing, he opted to have an impromptu press conference at the state building instead. Using Martin Luther King Jr. as a prop, he continued, and he continues, to claim that his actions to destroy and eliminate ethnic studies, complies with MLK’s dream of a color-blind society.
Despite the 15 of us doing the same act of civil act of disobedience, we have all been treated differently. Two were outright acquitted. From the original 15, three more remain. They will be tried March 3.
As far as many of us are concerned, the battle over hb 2281 has just begun; the teaching of ethnic studies became illegal on Dec 31 and MAS was ruled out of compliance on Jan 3. We are not only convinced of its illegality, but we are certain of it because of the unambiguous actions of the state legislature. The same day the president came to Tucson, a new Republican-introduced bill (SRC 1010) calls for Arizona to be exempt from international law. As written, it will go to the voters in 2012. The thing is, this issue has already been litigated in U.S. courts. But since when has that stopped our 19th century state legislature?
Yet, that state legislators would attempt to nullify international law in Arizona is outright proof that the forces of hate in and out of the legislature are fully aware that hb 2281, sb 1070 (the legislation that promotes racial profiling) and the efforts to nullify the 14th amendment all are illegal, immoral and unconstitutional. Beyond U.S. laws, src 1010 would violate virtually every international human rights treaty and convention. Under such treaties, the right to education, history and culture is sacrosanct. These treaties are in place in order to protect small nations, peoples and cultures from being swallowed up by larger ones. Read the rest of this entry
Tunisia: “We Are Here to Overthrow the Government”
Written by Jorge Martín for In Defence of Marxism, the homepage of the International Marxist Tendency.
Events over the weekend have shown the strength of the revolutionary movement in Tunisia and revealed the weakness of the national unity government. The organisation of a “Liberation Caravan” marching to the capital has the potential, if combined with a mass movement of demonstrations and strikes, to bring down the government.
Saturday, 22 January saw extraordinary scenes in the capital when thousands marched on the prime minister’s office demanding the resignation of the government. Mass demonstrations took place on Sunday in most regional capitals and cities, including Gabes, Monastir, Sfax, etc. Following on from Friday, when police officers throughout the country went on strike and demonstrated, hundreds of police officers joined the demonstration in the capital, many in uniform, others wearing red armbands. In many of the cities where they have demonstrated they have contacted the local UGTT union and asked for help to set up their own trade union organisation. Read the rest of this entry
A Short Course in Indigenous Feminism
Indigenous feminists, like Jessica Yee pictured here, are on the rise and they aren't takin' shit from nobody
For those who don’t know much about me, I am a currently studying for a Masters Degree in Public Issues Anthropology, specializing in an analysis of revolutionary Native nationalist and anti-colonialist movements in North Amerika. I also have really strong interrelated interests in Native revolutionary critical pedagogy, the “reindigenization” of the Chicano-Mexicano community and movement and, the subject of this post, indigenous feminism. Anyway, one of the perks of my program is that I can create my own courses, and I’ve taken such a route this semester by creating my own directed studies course in indigenous feminist theory. Read the rest of this entry
Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?: An ACTION Decolonization 101 Workshop in 5 Minutes
From Anishinabek Confederacy to Invoke Our Nationhood (ACTION)
Sometimes using phrases like “Exercising Sovereignty”, ” Our Jurisdiction”, “Illegally Occupied Territories”, “Decolonization”, “Indigenous Nationalist”, “Nationhood”, “Warrior Society” “Resurgence of Traditional Governance”, “Autonomy” may seem too militant of terms to use as we gather together and discuss our Peoples History and mobilize within our communities, heck I hear recently the Leadership of a Cree Community in Quebec by use of a Band Council Resolution banned a person from organizing Powwow’s and Sweat lodges http://www.mediaindigena.com so keeping in mind of our people who are not ready for such things here is a passive watered down version of ACTION’s Decolonization 101 Workshops, titled Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?
SOVEREIGN INDIAN: This is the Chickens inherent right as he is Indigenous to this land!!!
MILITANT INDIAN: That chicken should block the road to protect whats on the other side
GRASSROOT INDIAN: If the darn chickens need to get across the road, let ‘em cross the darn road!
COLONIZED INDIAN: Chiggens should never cross the roads that white men built before the great white father crosses it first. If the white father crosses it, it is good. We must then follow.
AMERICANIZED INDIAN: We must have roads. We must cross the roads that the white man built for us. We have to be thankful to the white man for this. I don’t know why you Indians are always complaining. You embarrass us. Chickens are good for us. Read the rest of this entry
Sinixt in Vancouver Courts: ‘Extinct’ Nation Works to Defend Traditional Territory
By Zig Zag. This appeared on the Vancouver Media Co-Op.
From January 10-14, 2011, members of the Sinixt nation were in Vancouver attending a BC Supreme Court case resulting from their three-week long anti-logging blockade in October 2010. In this case, the company, Sunshine Logging Ltd., as well as the Attorney-General and Ministry of Forests, are respondents to the Sinixt injunction that was obtained at that time (and which granted a temporary halt to logging operations).
The territory of the Sinixt is located in the south-east region of the province in the Slocan Valley area between the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers (including the Upper and Lower Arrow Lakes, for which the Sinixt are also referred to as). They began the blockade in October 2010 to protect Perry Ridge, the site of proposed logging. According to the Sinixt, Perry Ridge is an important archeological site as well as some of the last remaining untouched wilderness in their territory.
The Sinixt are an interior Salish people that were declared extinct by the federal government in 1956, effectively eliminating Sinixt from any benefits under the Indian Act, including a land base (i.e., reserve). Their traditional territory spans the US-Canada border, which was established in 1846. Many Sinixt gravitated towards the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington State (which had several different tribal groups concentrated there, including Okanagan and Nez Perce). Some 80 percent of Sinixt territory, however, is north of the border. Read the rest of this entry
Nepal Adds “Third Gender” To Census
This year’s census in Nepal includes a new category for transgender people, thanks to a recently-passed anti-discrimination law. Parliamentarian Sunil Babu Pant says the transgender community is happy because, “This shows that the government has started to recognise them.”
Read more: http://jezebel.com/5730744/nepal-adds-third-gender-to-census#ixzz1BOU29XBd
The Denial of Self Determination: The International Community and Haiti
Written by Kevin Edmonds.
If any nation in the history of humanity has been terrorized by the naked brutality and hypocritical logic of modernity, it has been Haiti. One would assume that the Haitian Revolution in 1804 would be looked upon as a pivotal moment which helped to shape the ideas of freedom, equality and justice. This was not the case. Haiti has been the victim of both history and hypocrisy, since it’s independence in 1804 as the small nation who fought for the freedom, dignity and justice has been met with a nightmarish hell of slavery, genocide, racism, isolation, extreme oppression and economic terrorism exercised in the name of modern civilization that has not disappeared in the 500 years since Christopher Columbus first landed on the island. The recent turmoil surrounding the Haitian elections on November 28th must be seen as an extension of international support in the undermining of the Haitian people’s right to self determination.
During the 18th century, Haiti, then known as Saint Domingue, became France’s most valuable colonial possession. By the mid 1700’s Saint Domingue became the most lucrative colony in the world, producing more wealth than the 13 colonies of what would eventually become the United States of America[1]. This relationship of exploitation would continue until 1791, when a slave uprising led by Toussaint L’Ouverture began. This thirteen year war led Haiti to become the second independent country in the hemisphere, and the first black republic in the world Read the rest of this entry
Is the Crown at War with Us?
A film by the incredible Native Canadian film maker Alanis Obomsawin.
In the summer of 2000, federal fishery officers appeared to wage war on the Mi’gmaq fishermen of Burnt Church, New Brunswick. Why would officials of the Canadian government attack citizens for exercising rights that had been affirmed by the highest court in the land? Alanis Obomsawin casts her nets into history to provide a context for the events on Miramichi Bay.
Yet Again: Tired Anti-Communism
Thanks to JMP of M-L-M Mayhem for this piece.
What is going on with this contemporary wave of anti-communist films, all of which receive critical acclaim by the reptile press no matter how inaccurate and/or self-righteously misleading they might be. Clearly capitalism is yet again being discredited, its current crisis and spate of imperialist wars potentially revealing the limits of its logic. Perhaps these films are a reflection of the ruling class fear of its destruction. They can only bash Political Islam so much––global capitalism is not really afraid of a movement that is mildly anti-imperialist at best and pro-capitalist at worse. The promotion of the most vile Islamophobia is merely an expression [and a racist expression] of the need to scapegoat a population in order to justify imperialist intervention. The current renewal of anti-communist propaganda, however, speaks to ruling class ideology’s need to defend the horrors of capitalism by reminding us of “failed communism” so that we can all agree that we are indeed living at the end of history.
At least the anti-communist movies produced during the cold war had much more variety than today’s pretentious pseudo-arthouse fare. I have many nostalgiac memories of Red Dawn where the Cuban-backed brown people communists somehow took over America only to be defeated by a highschool Texan football team. Wolverines!! Or what about anti-communist television shows? Like how the A-Team foiled KGB spies, sometimes recruiting troubled youth or senior citizens, ever single week. And then there were the best-selling anti-communist spy novels, exemplified by Tom Clancy and his formulaic hatred of the Soviets (unless he was writing about the IRA). But no. Today we have “critically acclaimed” but pretentious predictability, all raising the shibboleth of cold war propaganda.
Leaving aside the fact that these films are criticizing regimes that had already degenerated and were moving towards state capitalism, I am mostly concerned with this spate of anti-communism because of what it represents: the fearful and calculated need to remind us that there is no point in being anti-capitalist because capitalism is the end of all progress and historical self-determination. Read the rest of this entry
