>
> WW News Service Digest #71
>
> 1) Antioch College: Outpouring of support for Mumia & students
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 2) Los Angeles janitors' strike signals national struggle
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 3) New Jersey rally hits IMF, World Bank
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 4) Dorismond killing: April 20 mass march
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 5) Tribunal finds U.S./NATO guilty of war crimes
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 6) WW story on Kosovo mines chosen for journalism award
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>ANTIOCH COLLEGE: OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT FOR MUMIA & STUDENTS
>
>By Greg Butterfield
>
>Students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, are
>gaining support for their fight back against police-
>sponsored harassment. The police threats began after the
>graduating class chose Mumia Abu-Jamal as one of its two
>keynote speakers at commencement.
>
>Abu-Jamal, an African American political prisoner on
>Pennsylvania's death row, is scheduled to deliver an audio-
>taped speech at the April 29 graduation ceremony. Lesbian
>transgender author and activist Leslie Feinberg, a co-
>founder of Rainbow Flags for Mumia, is the other keynote
>speaker.
>
>On April 3 youths held a press conference in front of
>Fraternal Order of Police headquarters in Philadelphia.
>Their stated goal was "to expose attacks on youth
>intelligence and the attempts of Philadelphia District
>Attorney Lynne Abraham and the FOP to prevent Mumia from
>communicating the truth to the youth," according to a
>statement from International Concerned Family & Friends of
>Mumia Abu-Jamal.
>
>The group reported, "In a letter to Antioch College
>President Robert Devine, Philadelphia First Assistant
>District Attorney Arnold H. Gordon tried to undermine the
>intelligence of college graduates, calling them
>`impressionable' and questioning their academic community's
>`sense of decency.'"
>
>District Attorney Lynne Abraham said the students' choice
>of Abu-Jamal as their commencement speaker "should be
>condemned."
>
>Since late March FOP members have reportedly flooded
>Antioch officials and students with threatening phone
>calls, faxes and emails. Cops threatened to protest at the
>ceremony unless Abu-Jamal was removed. The harassment
>campaign received wide, and mostly supportive, coverage
>from the Associated Press, FOX News Channel, the
>Philadelphia Daily News, and other big-business media.
>
>The cop group campaigns nationally for Abu-Jamal's
>execution. On March 25, off-duty police in Topeka, Kan.,
>picketed a concert by Harry Belafonte because the singer
>signed a New York Times ad calling for Abu-Jamal to receive
>a new trial.
>
>Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing a white cop, Daniel
>Faulkner. He has always maintained his innocence.
>
>"As millions of people from around the world have
>insisted, Mumia Abu-Jamal is innocent and never had a fair
>trial," Concerned Family & Friends said. "In his trial the
>prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence and violated more
>than 22 of his constitutional rights."
>
>Angela Beallor, a member of Anti-Racist Action at Kent
>State University, said: "Abraham's personal attack on the
>students demonstrates the anti-Mumia forces' insecurity
>with people hearing Mumia's voice. This insecurity of
>allowing people to hear the powerful analysis and
>commentary of Mumia Abu-Jamal is nothing new. Indeed, it is
>what originally prompted the political repression that
>eventually had him convicted in 1982."
>
>On April 4 Kent State students walked out for Abu-Jamal to
>mark the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s
>assassination. The political prisoner has agreed to tape a
>message for the 30th annual commemoration of the May 4th
>Kent State Massacre.
>
>Ross Fitzgerald of the Antioch Student Com mencement
>Committee also respond ed, saying, "Antioch students are
>highly educated about Mumia Abu-Jamal. We are highly
>educated by the state and we have absolute confidence in
>our decision to host Mumia for keynote speaker at
>graduation."
>
>Antioch President Robert H. Devine defended the decision.
>He stressed that Abu-Jamal "has become a significant voice
>in the international conversation about the death penalty,
>the disproportionate number of Blacks on death row, the
>relationship between poverty and the criminal justice
>system. He was invited to speak because the issues he has
>raised as part of that broader conversation are important
>to many of our students."
>
>`A COURAGEOUS STAND'
>
>"The FOP fear campaign against the Antioch students is
>reminiscent of Ku Klux Klan terror crusades," Abu-Jamal's
>co-keynote-speaker, Leslie Feinberg, stated in a March 31
>press release. She applauded the Antioch students "for
>taking a courageous stand when they chose a political
>prisoner on death row and a lesbian transgender activist
>who is his earnest supporter to be their keynote speakers.
>
>"The FOP fear tactics will not succeed," Feinberg
>asserted. "The progressive movement is bringing Mumia's
>case to millions more people in the United States and
>around the world. On May 7, just a week after Mumia speaks
>at Antioch's commencement, thousands of people from around
>the country will pack the Theater at Madison Square Garden
>in support of Mumia. This outpouring will bring more
>attention and support to Mumia's case."
>
>She concluded: "The battle by Antioch students to
>withstand this right-wing siege will only galvanize their
>strength."
>
>Community organizations, activists fighting police
>brutality and the death penalty, lesbian/gay/bi/trans
>people, union leaders and others have also answered Antioch
>students' call for support statements. Student leaders have
>received between 250 and 350 solidarity messages so far.
>
>Union President Al Weinrub wrote, "On behalf of the
>National Writers Union, Bay Area Local, I want to applaud
>your invitation to Mumia Abu-Jamal as commencement speaker.
>
>"It is very important that Abu-Jamal's words and ideas get
>public exposure," said Weinrub. "This is especially so
>because of the centrality of his writings to the efforts to
>execute him. His writings have played a key role in his
>case--before, during and after his conviction. They were
>central to the prosecutorial bias against him, to the death
>sentence he received, and to the charged political
>atmosphere surrounding his case, which continues to this
>day."
>
>Cora Spearman, an Antioch graduating senior, summed up the
>students' refusal to bend to the campaign of state
>intimidation. "Tell all the haters to stay away. It's our
>day,'' she said. (Akron Beacon-Journal, April 3)
>
>Solidarity messages can be sent to the Antioch students
>at: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <007e01bfa17f$35e71b40$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Los Angeles janitors' strike signals national struggle
>Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 13:23:52 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>LOS ANGELES JANITORS' STRIKE SIGNALS NATIONAL STRUGGLE
>
>By Preston Wood
>Los Angeles
>
>Chanting "Si se puede," and waving red cards to vote
>"yes," thousands of janitors--members of Service Employees
>Local 1877--voted April 3 to strike for better pay and
>benefits. The strike will affect about 70 percent of the
>commercial office buildings throughout Los Angeles County.
>
>After the vote, hundreds of workers--Black, Latino, Asian
>and white--poured into the streets of downtown Los Angeles
>to demand justice for the 8,500 janitors who are fighting
>for a living wage.
>
>Average pay for janitors in Los Angeles is about $6.70 an
>hour. This places the workers and their families well below
>the national poverty line. The union is demanding a $1-an-
>hour pay increase for each of the next three years.
>
>The final offer from management on March 31 was an
>insulting freeze on wages for a year, then 40-cents-per-
>hour increases in the second and third years.
>
>The "rolling strike" began April 3 in the downtown center
>and will spread outward to the county borders over the next
>few days.
>
>Not wasting any time, management contractors began busing
>in scabs that same night in an attempt to break the strike.
>Militant workers wearing red "Justice for Janitors" T-
>shirts marched through the streets jeering the few scabs
>that dared cross the militant picket lines, pledging to
>fight until they win.
>
>The union is vowing to continue all-night demonstrations,
>marches and civil disobedience to build support for their
>struggle.
>
>"These are working families who are trying basically to
>make a living in this country. Many of them are immigrant
>workers who come here with the hopes of realizing the
>American dream in the strong economy. It's a shame that
>they are working hard yet living in poverty," said Blanca
>Gallegos, an SEIU member.
>
>After working for 16 years as a janitor, Jose Morales
>earns only $9.40 an hour. "It's miserable," he said as he
>stood among other striking workers. "We need better pay and
>benefits."
>
>In a stunning show of solidarity UPS drivers from the
>Teamsters are refusing to cross picket lines to make
>deliveries to commercial buildings. A $1 million strike
>fund has been set up for the workers, and the Los Angeles
>County Federation of Labor has opened emergency food banks
>for strikers and their families.
>
>The Los Angeles strike could signal a nationwide struggle
>as contacts covering some 100,000 janitors in New York,
>Chicago, Philadelphia and elsewhere are due to expire in
>the coming months. Because building management firms and
>contractors are increasingly national, union locals
>nationwide are collaborating on plans for activities,
>including an April 12 protest in New York.
>
>"This is a nationwide movement of the poorest and most
>exploited workers," said Stephen Lerner, director of the
>Service Employees' building services division.
>
>AND IN SAN DIEGO
>
>On March 31 Service Employees Local 2028 organized a
>rally, march and sit-in in downtown San Diego to call
>public attention to the desperate situation of the grossly
>underpaid workers who clean and maintain the offices of
>many companies there. Over 500 workers and supporters
>marched through the downtown area, chanting in English and
>Spanish.
>
>Following a rally in front of the Wells Fargo building,
>seven demonstrators blocked the entrance to the building.
>Mary Grillo, executive director of the local, was one of
>those arrested at the order of a company official. "We're
>here to tell [the janitorial employers] it's time to share
>their profits," she told a reporter before her arrest.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <008401bfa17f$4eba3d50$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] New Jersey rally hits IMF, World Bank
>Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 13:24:34 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>NEW JERSEY RALLY HITS IMF, WORLD BANK
>
>By Gery Armsby
>Florham Park, N.J.
>
>Some 250 protesters gathered around the Hamilton Park
>Conference Center in Florham Park, N.J., April 1 to denounce
>World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings held
>there. This was a closing rally of three days of actions
>planned by a New Jersey coalition as a precursor to the
>convergence scheduled in Washington April 9 through April 17
>to shut down the World Bank and the International Monetary
>Fund.
>
>On the morning of March 30, activists Lisa Kuhn, 19, and
>Judith Kapova of the Direct Action Network, posing as IMF
>delegates, fooled hundreds of cops and scaled the fire escape
>stairs of the conference center.
>
>When the two reached the roof, they unfurled a massive
>banner for all to see as delegates arrived for the plenary
>session of the conference. As the forty-foot banner slamming
>"Corporate Colonialism" was draped over the side of the
>conference center, local and federal law enforcement stood
>helplessly below. Both Kuhn and Kapova were later arrested.
>
>The agenda of the IMF/World Bank conference was to "examine
>managing financial and corporate distress in the new financial
>system" according to the World Bank's web site posting about
>the meetings.
>
>Speeches at the April 1 rally, held in a nearby parking lot,
>highlighted the human and environmental distress caused by
>policies of the IMF and World Bank and repeatedly called for a
>cancellation of the debts of poor countries. Speakers included
>labor unionists, HIV/AIDS activists, singers, poets, clergy
>and environmentalists.
>
>Lisa Kuhn, who returned to the Saturday demonstration after
>being released from police custody, told Workers World "It's
>really great. We're exposing the IMF and World Bank. They're
>just there to protect the ones who already control too much
>wealth and power."
>
>A group of youth demonstrators faced off with the cops
>near the close of the rally as they tried to surge past
>police lines toward the conference center. They drummed and
>whistled and cheered, chanting "More world--less bank!" and
>"Cancel the debt now!"
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <008a01bfa17f$73ff8f70$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Dorismond killing: April 20 mass march
>Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 13:25:36 -0400
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 13, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>PATRICK DORISMOND KILLING:
>HAITIAN COMMUNITY PLANS APRIL 20 MASS MARCH
>
>By G. Dunkel
>New York
>
>The Haitian community of New York continues to stand up
>strong in protest over the mayor's demonization of a
>Haitian American worker who was killed by police on March
>
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