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¡Ya Basta/Enough!
Month of Resistance begins in Tucson, Ariz.
By Paul Teitelbaum
Tucson, Ariz.
Published Jul 8, 2010 10:22 PM
On June 29, a coalition of 17 Tucson community organizations kicked off a month of resistance against the racist and divisive SB 1070 law with a well-attended press conference, one month before the law goes into effect.
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Protest in Atlanta this June wants no All-Star Game in Arizona.
Photo: Sofia Sopa Teona
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The press conference was held in downtown Tucson outside the State Building, which is located at an intersection across the street from the federal courthouse, where mass deportation proceedings take place daily. The proximity of these two buildings has caused this intersection to become the focal point of immigrant rights’ demonstrations in this city.
Isabel García, immigrant rights activist and leader of Derechos Humanos, a community organization, opened the press conference by proclaiming in Spanish and English, “We are announcing our actions against SB 1070, to put pressure on the Obama administration to stop this enforcement madness, and we proclaim our resistance.”
Other coalition members spoke about the culpability of U.S. imperialism in creating the flow of migrants by enacting so-called free trade agreements, such as NAFTA, which force tens of thousands of Latin American farmers off their land and then force them to make the choice to either migrate or starve.
A representative of Jewish Voices for Peace noted how Palestinians live under an SB 1070 of their own, citing Israel’s military occupation and an Israeli law that forces Palestinians to carry documents at all times.
The coalition has broad support and includes the youth organization Tierra y Libertad, the Indigenous group Calpolli Teoxicalli, as well as University of Arizona Students Against SB 1070 and Students for Justice in Palestine. The International Action Center, Tucson May 1 Coalition, Alliance for Global Justice and We Reject Racism Campaign are also participants.
After continuous organizing throughout the week, protesters surrounded the State Building in a human chain of resistance in a three-hour demonstration on July 2. The organizing continues with a major demonstration planned for each Friday evening and culminating in a day of action against SB 1070 on July 29.
“If a law is unjust, our duty is RESISTANCE!” says the coalition’s leaflet. Contact tucson@workers.org or info@tucsonmay1st.org to join this campaign of resistance.
PROVOCATIONS AND WAR THREATS AGAINST IRAN:
IS WAR IMMINENT?
In the final two weeks of June we have seen a number of serious developments in the Middle East involving the United States, Israel, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. While almost completely ignored by the U.S. mainstream press, there is considerable alarm around the world and especially in the Middle East. Some of these developments are unprecedented and could denote a sharp escalation in the U.S./NATO and Israeli campaign against Iran, or even all-out war.
Anti-war and progressive people and organizations should note the following:
- On June 18, a U.S. naval carrier group, reportedly accompanied by at least one Israeli vessel, passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and toward the Persian Gulf. The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Force, , included and aircraft carrier, guided missile cruiser, Aegis-class destroyers and the German frigate GGS Hessen.
- According to Iran’s Fars New Agency, the Israeli Air Force recently unloaded military equipment at a Saudi Arabia base near the city of Tabuk.. Even more ominously, the Saudi’s are reported to have realigned their missile defense system to allow for an air corridor for Israeli planes in the event of a war with Iran.
- U.S. forces stationed in the Central Asian country of Azerbaijan have massed along the Iran/Azerbaijani border. The U.S. forces, which are part of the so-called war on terror, are supposed to be supporting the war in Afghanistan. Iranian revolutionary guards have called in tanks and anti-aircraft units to the area in what amounts to a war alert.
- On July 1, President Barack Obama signed an agreement negotiated in the U.N Security Council stepping up sanctions on Iran and its economy. However, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) publicly worried that China may undercut the sanctions.
- On June 28, Iran announced that it would not challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza at this time. An Iranian flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid and flying the Red Crescent, the Islamic equivalent of the Red Cross, was en route to Gaza accompanied by Iranian naval vessels. The expedition reportedly had the diplomatic support of both Russia and Turkey.
- On June 30, Ali Akbar Salehi, the Islamic Republic’s vice president and director of the nuclear program, announced that Iran has produced another 37 pounds of uranium enriched to 20 percent. Iran has a right to do this under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty which it signed (and the Israelis have not signed). Iran maintains that their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Significantly, the 20 percent level is far below the level needed to produce a nuclear weapon.
- There has been speculation that if the U.S. and NATO attempt to inspect Iranian ships in order to enforce the new sanctions, the resulting confrontation may lead to war.
- Among the world leaders who have issued strong warnings about U.S. intentions is Fidel Castro, who certainly knows what it is like to have your country threatened with military attack, including with nuclear weapons. In his published Reflections on June 27, he stressed the importance of the Cuban people, and progressives everywhere to be prepared to respond, even to the most horrendous catastrophe, which could be the outcome of a U.S.-Israeli war against Iran: “What would be [the worst] is to suddenly be made aware of news of serious events, without having heard any news whatsoever beforehand about such possibilities, thereby falling into confusion and panic….”
Much analysis is no doubt necessary to determine the seriousness of the above developments. It should be remembered, that almost all large military operations in this era require months, if not years, of meticulous planning. The fact that the Pentagon has not chosen to reveal their plans to the mainstream media does not mean that such plans do not exist. However, the most immediate task of anti-war and anti-imperialists around the world is to to respond quickly to these provocations emanating from Washington and prepare to resist any and all attempts to make war on Iran.
Take Action Now!
IN SOLIDARITY WITH GAZA
Dockworkers honor picket, won’t unload Israeli ship
By Judy Greenspan
Oakland, Calif.
Published Jun 23, 2010 9:25 PM
When an Israeli cargo ship pulled into Berth 58 in the Port of Oakland on the evening of June 20, there were no dockworkers on hand to unload it. Longshore workers refused to cross a picket line of hundreds of labor and community activists protesting Israel’s blockade of Gaza and its recent murderous attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
The day had begun at 5 a.m. at the West Oakland BART station. Members of the Labor/Community Committee in Solidarity with the Palestinian People had gathered before dawn to march to Berth 58, where an Israeli ship from the Zim shipping line was due to dock. By 5:30 a.m., a loud, organized, roving picket of hundreds of people had blocked all four entrances to the Port of Oakland berth.
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| WW photos: Judy Greenspan |
Chants of “Free, free Palestine, don’t cross our picket line” were heard throughout the port area. Truck drivers making early morning deliveries to Berth 58 blew their horns and refused to cross the picket line. At 7 a.m., the first shift of dockworkers drove up and, one by one, drove back home, honoring the strong protest.
The picket line continued into the late afternoon and successfully turned away the second shift of dockworkers, who also honored the picket line and returned home.
Members of International Longshore Workers Union, Local 10, were out on the picket line all day talking to protesters and showing their support for the action. Clarence Thomas, an ILWU lineman and leader, thanked the Labor/Community Committee and the San Francisco and Alameda County Labor Councils for their support of this action.
Both labor councils recently passed resolutions criticizing Israel’s attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and demanding that Israel lift the blockade of Gaza. Thomas called today’s picket line “historic” and “reminiscent of the 1977 action on Easter Sunday,” when dockworkers conducted a one-day job action to protest the massacre of South Africans in apartheid Soweto. Thomas noted that dockworkers around the world, in South Africa, Norway and Sweden, have declared that they will refuse to handle any Israeli cargo.
In a short interview with this reporter, Thomas talked about the 1984 organizing effort by progressive ILWU members that led to an 11-day work stoppage and boycott to protest South African apartheid. “Our actions helped raise the level of resistance to apartheid in this country, especially among workers,” Thomas stated. “This protest today will also help raise consciousness among longshore workers about the need to end the Israeli blockade of Gaza,” Thomas added.
The protest was endorsed by a broad coalition of progressive organizations, including Arab-American Union Members Council, Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, ANSWER, Palestine Youth Network, International Action Center, Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, and many other labor and community organizations in the Bay Area.
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