3) Hunger & Homelessness Soar
by Janet
4) Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock
by Janet
5) Massacred Prisoners' Hands Were Tied
by Janet
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Dec. 6, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
HUNGER AND HOMELESSNESS SOAR
By Heather Cottin
Freeport, N.Y.
In the gourmet boutiques of Westhampton, Long Island,
shoppers decide whether to buy crabmeat or lobster for
their
guests. But in Mastic Beach, 10 miles away, a woman at a
soup kitchen tells a social worker from Adelphi
University:
"Our welfare benefits were cut. My husband lost his job,
so
we can't pay our bills. ... Our housing was condemned and
social services did not provide enough rent for new
housing.
... When we lost our jobs, we lost medical insurance."
The new Fairway supermarket in Plainview offers hundreds
of
international cheeses to tease the palates of Long
Island's
North Shore residents who can afford these delights. But
four miles away, in the Church of St. Kilian Outreach
Center
in Farmingdale, a parishioner says, "My biggest fear is
not
only going hungry, but ending up on the street because I
can't afford to pay rent. My food stamps have been
drastically reduced."
This was the picture long before the Sept. 11 disaster,
according to the report "Poverty Amid Plenty," published
by
Catholic Charities and Adelphi School of Social Work in
April 2001.
This is the new face of homelessness. According to
Newsday,
in June of 1999 suburban poverty was growing "at a
significantly faster pace than urban poverty."
Community Advocates--a housing-assistance agency--noted in
February that there were 50,000 homeless people on Long
Island, 20,000 of them children. Newsday on Nov. 13
reported
that "the homeless population of Nassau and Suffolk
counties
has sharply increased in recent months, the highest since
the mid-1990s. There are also hundreds of families on the
brink [of homelessness], including those who work, who
have
never been on public assistance."
But now Washington has confirmed that a full-blown
recession
is underway. Some 40 miles away, in New York City, the
problem of hunger and homelessness has reached critical
proportions.
Columnist Bob Herbert wrote in the New York Times of Nov.
22, "There are more than 1,000 soup kitchens and food
pantries in the city, and they are stretched beyond
capacity. Last year in New York, about 20 percent of the
pantries in the city had to turn people away because they
ran out of food. That figure is expected to reach 30
percent
this year, according to Joel Berg, director of the New
York
City Coalition Against Hunger."
Four days later the Times editorialized, "Food for
Survival,
the city's largest supplier of emergency food, estimated
that more than a million New Yorkers were relying on soup
kitchens, food pantries and shelters to avoid going
hungry.
The New York City Coalition Against Hunger, which
represents
about 1,000 kitchens and pantries, reported a similar
upsurge in demand. Unless more food becomes available, the
coalition's members say they will be forced to turn away
hundreds of thousands of hungry people."
People are hungry and homeless, and the situation is
deteriorating in the recession. But these problems are not
new.
On May 24, the Guardian of Britain did an analysis of
poverty in the U.S. Food bank use back then was "up 75
percent in some American cities, [and] one in five U.S.
children lives in poverty; 44.3 million are uninsured. ...
According to several new reports, it turns out that the
reason for deepening U.S. poverty is rather simple: it's
all
those rich people. Extreme wealth created in the top tier
of
the economy, rather than trickling down and making
everyone
better off, is having a direct negative impact on those
living in extreme poverty at the bottom."
RIPPING UP SAFETY NET FOR FUN AND PROFIT
Meanwhile, corporate lobbyists are flooding Washington
with
a myriad of tax cut proposals that will save the big
corporations billions.
The House on Oct. 26 voted to repeal the Alternative
Minimum
Tax on corporations. This is now part of the "economic
stimulus" package before the Senate. The AMT has required
profitable companies to pay at least some tax, no matter
how
many loopholes they can find.
If the Senate passes the House version, the repeal would
be
retroactive, so companies would get rebates of all the
Alternative Minimum Tax they've paid over the last 15
years.
The repeal would allow many companies to pay zero U.S.
income tax in perpetuity.
Wouldn't we all like to get back the taxes we've paid over
the last 15 years?
Plenty of economists agree that the claims these corporate
tax cuts will "stimulate the economy" are bogus. They know
full well that the corporate moguls have no intention of
investing in an economy that is operating at a recession
level.
In a recession, people don't buy much. Inventories are
high
and manufacturers still have excess capacity, so tax cut
or
no tax cut, capitalists won't invest in expanding
production.
What this amounts to is robbery from the workers who don't
have the loopholes that businesses do. These taxpayers
will
be obliged, according to the Nov. 18 New York Times, to
give
$1.4 billion to IBM, $833 million to General Motors, $671
million to General Electric, $572 million to Chevron
Texaco,
and $254 million to Enron.
What Congress has accomplished since ending "welfare as we
know it" under Bill Clinton has been the whittling away of
the meager welfare system that was created under the New
Deal in the 1930s and expanded slightly under the War on
Poverty in the 1960s. In both these periods, worker
militancy pushed the government to do something for poor
people.
But "supply side" economics, which is just code words for
stealing from the poor and giving to the rich, has been
promoted since the 1970s, and has accelerated in this
declining economy.
Cutting assistance to poor families and failing to build
sufficient low-income housing in the past 30 years has had
a
devastating effect on the poor. Housing costs are the
single
most expensive part of a worker's budget. The
Adelphi/Catholic Charities report noted that poor families
spend almost 60 percent of their pay on housing. Finding
affordable housing is growing nearly impossible.
Even the paltry amount of assistance workers have received
for housing is being cut. The federal program known as
Section 8, which subsidizes low-income housing, is in
grave
danger. Congress, according to the Nov. 17 New York Times,
is now unwilling to provide $800 million for the program.
In
the tri-state region around New York City alone, this
program has enabled 62,000 households to afford apartments
by offsetting rent costs. Its disappearance would lead to
an
exponential increase in homelessness nationwide,
especially
affecting the elderly and disabled.
The capitalist class has its program--maximize profits at
any cost. The workers need to fight for their own
program--
one that would guarantee food and decent housing, day
care,
health care, culture and education for all.
- END -
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to
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From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (Janet)
Date: torstai 29. marraskuu 2001 07:33
Subject: [WW] Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Dec. 6, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
DAY OF MOURNING AT PLYMOUTH ROCK: NATIVE PEOPLE SPEAK
TRUTH TO POWER
By Greg Butterfield
Plymouth, Mass.
A rainbow of several hundred Native people and their
supporters gathered on Nov. 22 atop Cole's Hill in
Plymouth,
Mass., near the statue of the Wampanoag leader Massasoit,
to
mark the 32nd annual National Day of Mourning. Later they
marched past the Plymouth Rock monument to demand that the
truth be told about European colonists' 500 years of
genocide against Indigenous peoples in the Americas.
The call for this year's event, sponsored by the United
American Indians of New England (UAINE), explained why
they
had come: "Since 1970, Native Americans have gathered at
noon on Cole's Hill in Plymouth to commemorate a National
Day of Mourning on the U.S. 'thanksgiving' holiday.
"Many Native Americans do not celebrate the arrival of the
Pilgrims and other European settlers. To them,
'thanksgiving' day is a reminder of the genocide of
millions
of their people, the theft of their lands, and the
relentless assault on their culture.
"Participants in the National Day of Mourning honor Native
ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive
today."
Native peoples from many nations participated this year.
They were joined by a large, diverse group of supporters--
Black, Latino, Asian, Arab and white; lesbian, gay, bi,
trans and straight; disabled and able-bodied; young and
old.
People came from all over New England, New York City, and
as
far away as Baltimore.
TRADITION OF MILITANT STRUGGLE
UAINE co-leader Moonanum James of the Wampanoag nation
told
the crowd that the Day of Mourning is a solemn occasion.
But
it is also "embedded in the spirit and tradition of
militant
struggle" since its founding in 1970, when Native people
seized the Mayflower replica in Plymouth Harbor and buried
Plymouth Rock.
James and other speakers made it clear that there's no
better time than now to speak truth to power about the
racism, terror and lies that form an unbroken web, from
the
Mayflower landing to the U.S. assault on Afghanistan.
"The events of Sept. 11 were certainly not the first acts
of
terrorism to have occurred in this country," James
reminded
the crowd.
"Since Columbus and the rest of the Europeans invaded our
lands, Native people have been virtually non-stop victims
of
terrorism," he explained. "I think of the U.S. military
massacres of peaceful Native people at Wounded Knee and
Sand
Creek and so many, many other places. I think of the
assault
by the FBI on a peaceful encampment at Pine Ridge in the
1970s.
"Today we mourn the loss of millions of our ancestors and
the devastation of our beautiful land and water and air.
We
join in grieving for those who lost their lives at the
World
Trade Center. And I hope you will join me in grieving,
too,
for the immense suffering of our sisters and brothers in
Afghanistan, in Palestine, in Iraq--human beings who are
referred to by this government as 'collateral damage.'
"We remember all too well that our people throughout the
Americas have for centuries been the 'collateral damage'
of
the European invasion," James declared.
FIRST VICTIMS OF BIOTERRORISM
The sun shone on Cole's Hill and a breeze lapped bright
yellow and pink banners declaring "Free Leonard Peltier"
and
"Homophobia is not Native to these shores." No one seemed
sorry to be speaking out instead of home watching
football.
Heads nodded and some shouted "That's right!" when James
said, "The very foundations of this powerful and wealthy
country are the theft of our lands and slaughter of Native
peoples and the kidnapping and enslavement of our African
American sisters and brothers.
"Native people were also the first victims of bioterrorism
in this country. The illnesses that the Europeans brought
devastated us," said James. "But this destruction was not
merely a biological accident. We know that smallpox was
often spread intentionally, by Lord Jeffrey Amherst and
others, who distributed smallpox-infested blankets to our
ancestors. Entire Native nations were wiped out as a
result."
And the genocidal policies of the U.S. government continue
to this day, he added.
"Racism is still alive and well. Our people still are
mired
in the deepest poverty. We still lack decent health care,
education and housing. Every winter, thousands of our
people
have to make a bitter choice between heating and eating."
DEDICATED TO PELTIER AND WAMSUTTA
UAINE co-leader Mahtowin Munro of the Lakota nation said
that the Day of Mourning's purpose isn't to make white
people "feel sorry." "There needs to be rectification,
conditions need to change," she challenged. "We need to be
free in our own land--that's what it's about. We march to
wash away the lies so the people can reclaim these
streets."
Only four years ago, in 1997, police attacked the Day of
Mourning activity and arrested 25 marchers. After a hard-
fought international campaign, all charges were dropped
against the 25 defendants. The city of Plymouth was forced
to concede to UAINE the right to march every year.
This year's commemoration was dedicated to Leonard
Peltier,
political prisoner and American Indian Movement warrior,
and
to Wamsutta Frank James, former leader of UAINE and
founder
of the National Day of Mourning, who passed away this
year.
In a statement to the gathering, Peltier said: "We must
not
be afraid to raise our voices. We must not stand by while
the government takes our civil rights." Bert Waters, a
Wampanoag representing the Massachusetts Commission on
Indian Affairs, urged people to join the new campaign to
have Peltier's sentence reduced and make him eligible for
parole.
Peltier has been imprisoned for over 25 years, charged
with
killing two FBI agents at Pine Ridge, S.D. But as a banner
here pointed out, even a federal prosecutor on his case
admitted he didn't know who really killed the agents.
Wamsutta Frank James, a Wampanoag leader, initiated the
Day
of Mourning in 1970 after Massachusetts officials refused
to
let him speak the truth at a dinner commemorating the
Pilgrims' arrival.
Other speakers included Clint Wixon of the Wampanoag
nation;
Nisha Hopkins, a storyteller of the Schagticoke nation;
Tall
Oak of the Wampanoag/Pequot; and Lone Eagless of the
Wampanoag. Sam Sapiel, a Penobscot elder, led the opening
ceremony honoring Wamsutta Frank James and spoke about the
importance of unity for Native people. Andres y Grupo Sabo
performed music in the Nicaraguan Indigenous tradition.
After the rally, participants marched through the streets
of
downtown Plymouth. They stopped at Post Office
Square--where
the European invaders gruesomely displayed the head of
Massasoit's son Metacomet for 25 years--and at the
Plymouth
Rock monument. There Moonanum James recalled the words of
Malcolm X: "We didn't land on Plymouth Rock--Plymouth Rock
landed on us."
The day ended with a social in a school cafeteria. The
participants shared food and discussed the next steps in
the
struggle.
- END -
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to
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From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (Janet)
Date: torstai 29. marraskuu 2001 07:34
Subject: [WW] Massacred Prisoners' Hands Were Tied
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Dec. 6, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
MASSACRED PRISONERS' HANDS WERE TIED
The Pentagon has made it clear that it will manage the
news
coming out of Afghanistan--either by direct censorship or
by
bombing the offices of independent news sources like Al-
Jazeera.
Now we know why.
What just happened to hundreds of Taliban prisoners of war
at a fortress outside Kunduz in northern Afghanistan would
enrage and sicken anyone who cares about justice and
humanity. Amnesty International on Nov. 28 called for an
urgent inquiry into how the estimated 400 prisoners were
killed--only a handful survived--after witnesses said they
had seen about 50 bodies lying in the courtyard, their
hands
tied behind their backs.
The official story was that they were killed in an
uprising
that got out of control. The Northern Alliance called in
air
strikes by U.S. jets. When that failed to kill all the
prisoners, oil was poured into the lower chambers of the
fortress and set on fire. As the Taliban tried to escape
the
flames, a tank mowed them down.
Washington has admitted that a CIA agent was killed in the
fighting and five U.S. Special Forces were injured by U.S.
bombs. What was going on at the fortress? Were prisoners
being tortured and executed in summary fashion? Is that
why
they rebelled? Or was the "rebellion" just disinformation
to
cover an out-and-out slaughter of helpless captives?
Remember, the Taliban released the Western missionaries
they
had been holding without a scratch. And for them, this is
a
defensive war, fought on their own territory against an
enemy that has invaded from 10,000 miles away. How
civilized
compared to the barbaric conduct of the Pentagon and its
puppet forces.
--Deirdre Griswold
- END -
(Copyright 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:
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