ASEAN, U.S. plan anti-terror pact [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from Japan Today ASEAN, U.S. plan anti-terror pact Thursday, July 25, 2002 at 09:30 JST MANILA - Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States are expected to issue a joint declaration on how to develop more effective counterterrorism policies and legal, regulatory and administrative measures to combat international terrorism when they meet in Brunei next week, according to a draft document obtained by Kyodo News on Wednesday. The draft, titled ASEAN-U.S. Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism, says both sides will reaffirm the importance of having a framework for cooperation to prevent, disrupt and combat international terrorism through the exchange and flow of information and intelligence. (Kyodo News) Click the link below to view this article and related discussions on Japan Today http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=newsid=224189 = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Another Sharon war crime: Deliberate sabotage of the peace process [WWW.STOP
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from The Wrap, Guardian Unlimited's round-up of today's papers. WAS GAZA CITY BOMBING AN ACT OF SABOTAGE? Ariel Sharon said yesterday that he would not have authorised Sheikh Salah Shehada's assassination in Gaza City had he known that 14 other people would die in the bombing raid. What happened is really regrettable, the Israeli foreign minister, Shimon Peres, told the BBC yesterday. It wasn't done intentionally. The Guardian disagrees. Credible sources suggest that Hamas was on the verge of making a landmark statement ending the suicide bombings in return for Israeli withdrawal and an end to assassinations. Deliberate sabotage of the peace process may soon be added to the Sharon charge sheet, the paper says. The Times has no such scruples about the Israeli prime minister's decision to target Hamas: Hamas is not interested in negotiation or accommodation with the Jewish state, simply its extermination. It was wildly improbable that Sheikh Salah Shehada would ever have backed a ceasefire agreement, and a grave pity that the undeniably irresponsible way in which the raid was conducted has muddied the waters. * Israelis row over bombing blame http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,762788,00.html * Times: Israel misfires http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,542-364789,00.html __ Were you forwarded this email? To subscribe, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/thewrap = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
New York terror sex [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.observer.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,758960,00.html New York, new hedonists After the Twin Towers attacks, a frightened city indulged in 'terror sex' for comfort. Ten months on, the middle classes can't get enough of erotic parties - and it's no longer just a reaction to fear. Tanya Corrin and Anna Moore in Manhattan Sunday July 21, 2002 The Observer Just after midnight on a Saturday night in New York City, 30 couples and a handful of single women stand awkwardly about in a sprawling loft in the Garment District dressed in nothing but sheer chiffon togas and expensive underwear. The guests are all under 40, attractive and professional, and include an actress from a hit television series, two lawyers, a doctor, a screenwriter, a model and a professional blackjack player. But who does what or makes how much is not important tonight. Everyone is equal in his or her underwear. This is Caligula's Ball, an invitation-only orgy. 'May I massage your arm?' a married man in Calvin Klein boxer briefs asks a solo twiggy brunette. His wife, a petite blonde, stands beside him clutching a glass of merlot and smiling stiffly. 'Um, ok,' replies the brunette and shoots a glance at his wife. The husband reaches out and strokes the brunette's arm tentatively, just above the elbow. 'This is weird,' says the brunette, and looks at the wife nervously. 'Doesn't this bother you?' 'No, my husband and I discussed this already... it's OK,' she replies, but doesn't sound so sure. Parties such as Caligula's Ball, which is hosted by 31-year-old Palagia, the city's reigning queen of tasteful debauchery, are part of a growing trend. New Yorkers are becoming more adventurous, playful and exhibitionistic. Young professionals are looking into light BDSM (Bondage, Domination, Submission, Masochism), pursuing three- or foursomes on the net, and passing weekday evenings in multi-level nightclubs that provide free condoms, flavoured lubes and stints in the 'spanking room'. At the same time, 'swinging' has been reborn, repackaged and is now known as 'play'. Why all the sex? Many New Yorkers still chalk it up to 'terror sex', a term coined by the internet magazine Salon.com. Ten days after the terrorist attacks, the site ran an article describing the phenomenon. Couples who had been separated for the day of the attacks told how they spent the next few days in bed. A gay man who was late for work at the World Trade Centre and watched the tragedy unfold from the Brooklyn Bridge said he spent the night online looking for sex, and when he found someone, they 'had sex as if it was our last time'. Events had caused a shift in priorities, the piece claimed. Suddenly, work and possessions didn't matter. Only relationships were 'real'. The article ended by anticipating a baby boom in nine months' time. Although official figures will not be released for another year, the baby boom theory seems to have panned out with many New York hospitals claiming a 15-25 per cent increase in births this summer. Hard, casual, non-procreative sex was an alternative response, claims Amy Sohn, the New York magazine sex columnist and author of Run Catch Kiss. '11 September did a mix of two things,' she says. 'It made some people want to settle down, have children or look for a mate. There was a surge in internet dating straight afterwards, and there were lots of couples who had broken up getting back together again. Then it made others party harder and pursue sex with whoever they could find. There was a feeling of party all night because you don't know when the party is going to end. In other words, it made some people live for the future and others live for the moment.' While most of the economy tanked, the sex industry boomed. New York's Spectator, a listings and sex news magazine, reported a surge in advertisers. Toys in Babeland, a brightly lit sex toy store in the Lower East, claimed that sales increased in the weeks following 11 September by 30 per cent. Adam Glickman, president and founder of Condomania, a sex toy and novelty website with several stores including one in Manhattan's West Village, says that sales to New Yorkers increased by a third despite the dramatic drop in tourism. Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology at the University of Washington and author of Everything You Know About Love and Sex Is Wrong, says that sex is a natural, physiological response to catastrophe. 'There really is a third 'F' to the 'Fight or Flight' theory that no one mentions,' she says. 'In times of upheaval and terror, people look for confirmation of life, and there's no more obvious antidote to death than sex. It's a way of saying: I'm functioning, I'm alive and I'm not alone.' There are numerous historical precedents, points out Gail Wyatt, sex researcher, sex therapist and professor of psychiatry at UCLA.'It happened between British women and American GIs
The Pope, the Patriarch and Trotsky [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.russiajournal.com/weekly/article.shtml?ad=6385 The Pope, the Patriarch and Trotsky By JOE ADAMOV / Moscow mailbag How is Leon Trotsky viewed by Russian historians today? William Kerr, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Leon Trotsky was an excellent public speaker. He took an active part in organizing the Red Army and played a major role in preparing the defence of the country, as well as the victory in the civil war. He had much that Stalin lacked. Trotsky was one of the leaders in the armed uprising in Petrograd. After the Bolsheviks took power, he held several ministerial posts, including chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council. He was uncompromising toward Stalin and the existing regime. Unfortunately, he also went down in history as one of the organizers of labor camps and mass executions. Nevertheless, he was one of the main leaders of the revolution. He believed fanatically in the workers revolution of the world. Trotsky left the world 100 volumes of his works. No one has had as many lies told about him and nobody has been as ruthlessly discredited as Trotsky. Yes, he believed in world communism. But he was never an enemy of the Soviet Union and never bowed to the West. But youve got to understand that the world revolution, like communism, was a myth, a mirage. Will Patriarch Alexii II and Pope John Paul II ever meet? Jason Glavy, Yokohama, Japan Let me ask you a question. Why did the Russian Orthodox Church forbid American preachers from conducting their sermons in Russia, in large indoor stadiums that were packed, with translation that was excellent? They had already been shown on television, but then they were stopped. Why? The Russian Church tells us that in Western Ukraine the Catholic Church persecutes the Orthodox Church. Its churches are taken away, and all decisions are made in favor of the Catholics. The Catholics are accused of expanding into historically Orthodox territory, making it their canonic territory. Then the Vatican decided to raise its apostolic administration in Russia to the level of dioceses in other words, to move it a rung higher. The Catholics also gained Orthodox territory by winning over believers in various material ways. The Orthodox Church said that visits of the Pope to Russia and the former republics must be coordinated with the Russian government. After all, the Vatican is a state, not just a religious center. I may be wrong, but I get the impression the Russian Orthodox Church wants to dominate its territory. I think it would be in the interests of both to come to terms with each other and to become friends. What is the cost of computers in Russia? How many are there? Ray Davey, North Otago, New Zealand. Monitors cost roughly $150. Computers run from $400 to $1,000. Some say we have 4.8 million home computers. We hold 15th place in the world in terms of the number of Internet users. Please explain the Russian custom of name-day celebrations. John Devon, Long Beach, CA, U.S.A. We call the name day an Angels Day. The name of your guardian angel is given to you at your christening. In old Russia, ones Angels Day had more significance than ones birthday. At the beginning of the 20th century, on ones name day, his or her family would polish the parquet floors and prepare many excellent dishes. Women would sew new clothes, bake cakes and buy flowers. Does Russia have the highest percentage of beautiful women? Alex Azar, Toronto, Canada I dont know whether we have the highest percentage of beautiful women. There are beautiful women in many nations. When a beauty competition is held, they dont examine millions of people just the few that want to compete and feel they have a chance of winning. This year, Miss Universe was a Russian woman, 24-year-old police officer Oksana Fedorova. She received $250,000 and the right to study in New York. (E-mail Joe Adamov at [EMAIL PROTECTED]). http://www.russiajournal.com = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
Ashcroft vs. Americans [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/198/editorials/Ashcroft_vs_Americans+.shtml A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL Ashcroft vs. Americans 7/17/2002 OPERATION TIPS - the Terrorism Information and Prevention System - is a scheme that Joseph Stalin would have appreciated. Plans for its pilot phase, to start in August, have Operation TIPS recruiting a million letter carriers, meter readers, cable technicians, and other workers with access to private homes as informants to report to the Justice Department any activities they think suspicious. This is not an updating of George Orwell's ''1984.'' It is not a satire on the paranoid fantasies of right-wing kooks who see black helicopters swooping across their big sky. It will be a nationwide program run by Attorney General John Ashcroft's Justice Department. If it is allowed to start up and gather steam, it will begin in 10 cities and then expand everywhere, enrolling millions of Americans to spy on their neighbors. On the Web site of President Bush's new Citizen Corps program, this assault on the Constitution is described without any hint of irony as ''a national reporting system that allows these workers, whose routines make them well-positioned to recognize unusual events, to report suspicious activity.'' After the Berlin Wall came down and communism vanished into the dustbin of history, Czechs, East Germans, Poles, and Hungarians had to suffer through wrenching revelations about the reporting systems their totalitarian regimes had instituted. The Communist Party bosses in those captive nations justified the pervasive recruitment of citizens to inform on their neighbors as a requirement of security and a proof of loyalty to the party, the revolution, or the working class. If Ashcroft wishes to assess the likely effect of the snooping regime he is about to implement, he could ask postal workers from the old days in Prague to explain what happens to a society's sense of solidarity when everybody on the block assumes that the mailman is telling the secret police that Comrade X has been reading bourgeois books. For a bit of the shock therapy Ashcroft and his fellow travelers seem to need, they ought to consult some of the citizens in the former East Germany who discovered, when looking into their Stasi files, that under the former regime they had been spied upon for years by a husband or wife. Ashcroft's informant corps is a vile idea not merely because it violates civil liberties in a narrow legal sense or because it will sabotage genuine efforts to prevent terrorism by overloading law enforcement officials with irrelevant reports about Americans who have nothing to do with terrorists. Operation TIPS should be stopped because it is utterly anti-American. It would give Stalin and the KGB a delayed triumph in the Cold War - in the name of the Bush administration's war against terrorism. __ This story ran on page A22 of the Boston Globe on 7/17/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. http://www.boston.com/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
US Right Wing Forces Tend to Fan Up 'China Threat Theory' Again [WWW.STOPNATO.O
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from People's Daily, Page 3, July 15, 2002. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200207/17/eng20020717_99884.shtml Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, July 17, 2002 US Right Wing Forces Tend to Fan Up 'China Threat Theory' Again On July 15, the US-China Security Review Report written by US Congress US-China Security Review Committee was published. The report, making evaluation on a series of questions including US-China relations, economy and trade, came to the conclusion: Since China has always been regarded as a country supporting terrorism and continuing to export products including missile technology, China is endangering America's national security. The department concerned should urge US Congress to strengthen management of related technology transfer, otherwise, China would constitute an ever-greater threat to America's interests in various parts of the world. On July 12, the annual Defense White Paper submitted by US Defense Department to the Congress claimed that China's ability of military intimidation and military occupation of Taiwan is being continuously enhanced, it could even take military actions against Taiwan under the circumstance without giving warning. The hundreds of short-range missiles China deployed in south China threaten not only Taiwan, but also US armed forces in Japan, as well as Japan and the Philippines. The successive emergence of these two reports is not accidental. It appears that US right-wing forces tend to whip up the China threat theory again. The report of the US-China Security Review Committee composed of members of both the Democratic and Republican Parties of US Congress runs as long as more than 200 pages. The report said: China is currently a WTO member and the Chinese economy is developing and expanding. China is also a huge market for the United States. However, China is also a country with very uncertain political prospect and motive of its foreign policy. China is becoming increasingly important in economy, at the same time it is also expanding its military strength. The report states US-China relationship is gradually becoming a foreign relation which is most important to the United States but is also most disturbing. The report even alleges: China's huge surplus of trade with the United States has provided a source of capital for this policy that directly harms US interests. The report puts forward a 21-point proposal, which includes the proposition that US Congress adopt a series of legislative actions, tighten up US policy toward China and apply economic and financial sanctions against the Chinese government. The Commission also holds that US companies' increasing investments in China impair US industrial production capacity and the US employment market, therefore, it demands that the Congress enact relevant laws, stipulating that those US companies which invest in China and engage in trade with Chinese firms make public the contents of their investment in China as well as their contract ties with Chinese trading companies, and that US Congress formulate a set of special codes of ethics for American companies operating in China. The US-China Security Review Commission was founded with the Congress authorization in 2000, its main tasks include assessing the impacts exerted by US economic and trade ties with China on American national security. The Commission consists of 12 members, with the Republican and the Democratic Parties each comprising half of the memberships. There are different voices even within the Committee. Director of the Export Control Bureau under the Commerce Department, who once served in the Clinton administration, takes an opposite stand. The director says that it is unreasonable for the Congress to make laws used specially to control the business activities of American companies in China. The Director said: The Commission's proposal which lacks most serious consideration but has the most far-reaching influence is that it demands American companies to make public their business reports. Under this proposal, American companies doing business in China must make detailed reports, including each item of their investments. I think the demand fails to clearly define the standard, and yet the scope it covers is very extensive, furthermore, it is a discriminatory action against China, so there is simply no need to do so. I think it is incorrect for the Congress to set the moral standard for company business operations. Some analysts in Washington reveal that the US Congress is now terribly busy for it has to handle a host of problems such as counter-terrorism, America's own security, company scandals as well as the November election and other issues of legislation, for this reason, the report of the US-China Security Review Commission will possibly receive not enough attention. Far-sighted personages in and out of the US
China slams negative US reports [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/news/2002-07-18/78363.html China slams negative US reports (07/18/2002) (China Daily) Sino-US relations could be seriously damaged if the US Congress legislates two reports accusing China of being a threat, rather than an obvious benefit, to world peace, stability and development, a senior Chinese lawmaker warned Wednesday in Beijing. I hope the US Congress will not legislate them, or else bilateral ties will be seriously affected,'' said Zeng Jianhui, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, of the reports prepared by the US-China Security Review Commission and the Pentagon. I expect insightful US Congress members to recognize the possible consequence any further moves in that direction would bring, and do their best to avoid a detrimental outcome,'' said Zeng. The China threat'' in the two reports is out of tune with the trend of Sino-US relations,'' Zeng said, noting that China is a peace-loving country. Zeng stressed China has never adopted expansionary policies abroad. Facts show it strives for peace and friendship with its neighbours. The Chinese Government has repeatedly pledged the country does not seek world or regional hegemony and does not want to station troops in any foreign country. Instead of posing a threat, Zeng said a developed China will benefit its neighbours, the Asia and Pacific region and the world as a whole. Of China's consistently increasing trade, 60 per cent comes from deals with its neighbouring countries and regions, and the majority of the rest with the United States. In its first annual report presented to the US Congress, the US-China Security Review Commission played up the fictitious China threat'' and called for tougher action against China, such as trade and technology blockades, limits on access to US capital markets and restrictions on imports from China and US firms operating in the country. The report the Pentagon presented to the US Congress on Chinese military power also played up opposition between the two countries. The Pentagon report said the modernization, weaponry, pilot training, tactics, and command and control of the Chinese mainland's military force are beginning to erode Taiwan's qualitative edge. Instead of posing a threat, Zeng said a developed China will benefit all. He said the reports, which claimed the Chinese mainland was increasing military pressure over Taiwan, actually created an excuse for the US to enhance ties with Taiwan. Such a move will encourage Taiwan-independence forces in separative activities and make peaceful reunification difficult,'' Zeng said. By emphasizing the 1982 communique, Zeng said he hoped the US will continue to abide by the three communiques, which should be the basis of bilateral relations. The US promised in the 1982 communique that it would gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan, leading over a period of time to a final resolution. China plans to increase its budget on national defence by 17.6 per cent this year to US$20 billion -- an extremely small part of its gross domestic product, and far behind other major countries. The US' military spending adds up to US$379.3 billion, US$48 billion more than the previous year or twice China's total, he pointed out. A modern national defence to ensure a peaceful environment is a must for a prosperous and stable China, Zeng said. China unwaveringly pursues peace and independence, and regards them as the core of its foreign policy, he stressed. __ http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Party at Emma's! Fri., 7-12, 7:30 P.M., Humanist Fellowship, Oakland [WWW.STOPN
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from East Bay Express billboard pg. 21, July 10-16, 2002 http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2002-7-10/billboard2.html/1/index.html Party at Emma's! Antiwar activists throw themselves a dance party. What's the revolution coming to? BY KELLY VANCE Emma Goldman was the ideal 20th-century woman -- socially conscious, proudly individualistic, rebellious, skeptical, and possessed of a sense of humor. She also was a feminist, writer, lecturer, revolutionary, anarchist, and birth-control advocate, not necessarily in that order. Nurtured in the radical student movements of Russia and the sweatshops of America, Red Emma (1869-1940) spent her life championing social justice and personal freedom and battling their oppressors, from Chicago police to Russian Bolsheviks to Spanish fascists. Occasionally, though, Goldman relaxed enough to enjoy a good party. She's often quoted as having said, If I can't dance to it, it's not my revolution. That's why a pair of activist organizations, the East Bay Coalition Against the War and the People's Nonviolent Response Coalition, decided to honor Goldman's birthday -- albeit belatedly; it was June 27 -- with an all-age, alcohol-free, live-music and DJ party called You Can Dance, and It Is Your Revolution! Friday night at Oakland's Fellowship of Humanity Hall (390 27th St., 8 p.m., $5-$10 sliding scale). One of our group members came up with the idea, explains Emanuel Hemsi of East Bay Coalition Against the War. It's a way of having our energy and not taking ourselves too seriously. Indeed, the typical public image of activist protesters is of a loud, surly mob obstructing traffic -- not a group of twentysomethings dancing to hip-hop music. Hemsi's East Bay Coalition, which like the People's Nonviolent Response Coalition is an outgrowth of 9/11, has the avowed purpose of stopping the retaliatory war on terrorism, defending civil liberties, and putting a halt to the scapegoating of immigrants. But there's also some local outreach. We've been having video screenings on Martin Luther King Jr. and US companies in Latin America, says Hemsi. We're trying to connect our cause to other causes around the world. The Goldman birthday party will be hosted by MC Kenny Mostern, an Oakland poetry slam stalwart, with eats provided by Food Not Bombs, and even dance lessons for hard-working politicos. Because activists need to have fun, too! organizers say. Emma Goldman herself could only agree. ___ eastbayexpress.com | originally published: July 10, 2002 http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Speculation mounts over U.S. attack on Iraq [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from The Wrap, Guardian Unlimited's round-up of today's papers. 11 July 2002 SPECULATION MOUNTS OVER US ATTACK ON IRAQ The Times speculates about the timing of a possible US attack on Iraq. It says the looming 2004 elections will encourage George Bush to invade sooner rather than later - possibly at the beginning of next year, to avoid the summer heat in the desert. The president will also want to avoid a clash with the mid-term elections in November this year. Not only would a successful campaign get rid of Saddam Hussein, the paper adds, but it would also open up Iraqi oilfields and reduce America's dependence on Saudi oil. But Jordan indicated yesterday that it would not cooperate with any US invasion. We can see war coming, says Hugo Young in the Guardian. European nations need to formulate some positions or, ideally, one position. What do they propose to do about Saddam? How do they think about his weapons of mass destruction? Britain must start to debate the war now, he says, before these severe anxieties are buried under the juggernaut of a son's revenge for what happened to his father. * Hugo Young: We need to talk about the war on Iraq before it begins http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,9061,753171,00.html * Times: American elections dictate timing of an attack http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-352826,00.html __ Were you forwarded this email? To subscribe, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/thewrap = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Japan protests roughing up of photographer in Afghanistan [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ Japan protests roughing up of photographer in Afghanistan Wednesday, July 10, 2002 at 09:30 JST KABUL - The Japanese Embassy in Kabul on Tuesday lodged a protest with the Afghan Foreign Ministry over the physical assault of a Kyodo News photographer by an Afghan soldier while covering the funeral of assassinated Afghan Vice President Haji Abdul Qadir. Japanese officials said the Afghan Foreign Ministry issued an apology and promised to ensure that Afghan security personnel provide adequate protection to the media. An Afghan soldier hit the Kyodo photographer with a whip on her face while she was covering Qadir's funeral on Sunday. (Kyodo News) Click the link below to view this article and related discussions on Japan Today http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=newsid=222326 = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Coffee Shop Chain Apologizes for Hitler Quote [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storyu=/nm/20020709/od_nm/hitler_wap_dc_1 Coffee Shop Chain Apologizes for Hitler Quote Tue Jul 9,10:54 AM ET HONG KONG (Reuters) - Popular Hong Kong coffee shop chain Pacific Coffee publicly apologized Tuesday for carrying in its shops a thought for the day by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, which some customers found offensive. The quote -- The victor will never be asked if he told the truth -- was chalked on blackboards above the counters in some of its coffee shops. I wish to apologize unreservedly, both personally and on behalf of Pacific Coffee Company, for the extremely unfortunate quote that recently appeared on our Thought for the day blackboards, managing director Thomas Neir said in a quarter-page advertisement in the front section of the South China Morning Post. It was morally offensive and inexcusable, and we have instituted controls to ensure that an event like this cannot occur again, it said. The Post said Tuesday that the use of the quote had been condemned by the Israeli Consulate and the Jewish community. A number of readers had also written to the paper to complain. Pacific Coffee was established in 1993 and has 31 outlets in Hong Kong. Its main rival in the territory is U.S. coffee chain Starbucks. _ Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. http://www.yahoo.com = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
The Land of the Free? [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ The Land of the Free? D Gordon Hilton Is the United States of America really the greatest nation on Earth? U.S. economic might is truly staggering, and its military capacity is almost unfathomable in scope and brutal effectiveness. Patriotism runs deep in the hearts of its citizens, and individual freedoms are vigorously protected inside its borders. But under closer scrutiny these and other stereotypes perpetuated by Washington, Wall Street and Hollywood don't always hold up. The recent scandals involving Enron, Arthur Andersen, and WorldCom have shown that many of the pillars of U.S. economic strength may not be as solid as once thought. The concern is not just that these companies chose to ignore laws intended to protect shareholders and employees. The real scandal is that the U.S. government has been curiously lax in its efforts to prevent it from happening again. However difficult this may be to accept, there are obvious parallels between this economic-political scandal and the once and future Japanese banking and currency crisis. In addition to the noisy shattering of economic illusions, the perception of the U.S. military is also undergoing a slight reality-adjustment. Neither U.S. military intelligence, the CIA or the FBI could prevent extremists armed with only box-cutters from accomplishing the most heinous act of peace-time terrorism ever witnessed. And more recently, U.S. President George W Bush has been scrambling to reassure voters that despite the mounting evidence, his government had no prior knowledge of the Sept 11 attacks. Whether dismissing radar sightings of the Japanese fleet en route to Pearl Harbour or vastly underestimating the strength of opponents in Indochina, gaps in U.S. defensive-intelligence are nothing new. But when systemically ineffective intelligence is combined with what appears to be increasingly trigger-happy military personnel, the results can be as tragic as they are worrisome. Tragedy is clearly understood by the families of four Canadian soldiers recently killed in Afghanistan when a U.S. pilot ignored his orders and attacked his allies with a 225 kilogram bomb. It is also understood by the survivors of the Afghan wedding that turned into a bloodbath when a U.S. bomb found its way to the festivities on Monday. Sadly these incidents are nothing new and are becoming increasingly common. With the U.S. appointing itself anti-terrorism GloboCop, realism and not cowboy idealism would be a well chosen ally. Post-Sept 11, patriotism in the United States has also changed, reaching new heights. Cars are draped with the Stars and Stripes and proudly display multiple God Bless America stickers. Billboards posted along interstate highways urge the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations, while the White House threatens to pull out of peacekeeping operations around the world. And in an effort to protect its war heroes from any possible war crime prosecutions, the U.S. is also boycotting the new International War Crimes Court. In this new era of U.S. isolationism, United We Stand is no longer a cry of strength, it is now a reminder of vulnerability. From interstate rest stops and cheap motels to swank cafes and downtown bars, this new vulnerability is clearly visible while the greatness of America seems harder to find. It is difficult to see America the Beautiful while standing in an impoverished Los Angeles neighbourhood, streets lined with urban flotsam and air dense with smog. It is also hard to understand America the Free while U.S. citizens only suspected of having terrorist links slowly decay in jail cells without due process or representation. And America the Strong does not seem manifest in the eyes of 19-year-old Marines, more interested in tattoos and football than the U.S. war on terrorism. The myth of American Freedom is also becoming much harder to believe. TV talk show host Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect program was recently cancelled after he questioned the courage of the U.S. military in Afghanistan. We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away, said Maher. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly.. On the air since 1994, these comments were enough to prompt the cancellation of one of the few unscripted talk shows on U.S. television that epitomized the concept of free speech. It seems that even in the United States, freedom itself is becoming the most scarce commodity of all. Equally worrisome are the words of Bush in response to a recent Court of Appeals judgement. The court ruled that referring to God in the Pledge of Allegiance is an establishment of religion in violation of the First Amendment. Calling the ruling out of step with U.S. tradition and history, Bush vowed to appoint judges who
International Law Seen at Risk in U.S. Fight with Security Council [WWW.STOPNAT
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storyu=/oneworld/20020705/wl_oneworld/1032_1025897704 World - OneWorld.netNews StoriesNews PhotosAudio/VideoFull CoverageAll of Yahoo! World | AP | Reuters | OneWorld.net | AP Features | NPR International Law Seen at Risk in U.S. Fight with Security Council Fri Jul 5, 2:39 PM ET Jim Lobe,OneWorld US A meeting to be held by major western nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in London next week to discuss United States opposition to the new International Criminal Court (ICC) will underline growing concerns about how the administration of President George W. Bush sees Washington's global role. U.S. threats to veto United Nations peacekeeping operations (PKOs) unless the UN Security Council gives its troops blanket exemption from prosecutions by the ICC are leading U.S. and European NGOs to take an openly critical stance against the Bush administration. The organizations have grown increasingly concerned that Washington is not only using leverage on PKOs to attack the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal, but also that the administration, emboldened by its unprecedented military power, is breaking loose from the bounds of international law and the post-World War II multilateral system. The real reason behind Washington's blackmail [in the Security Council] is the most troubling, according to Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), writing in the Financial Times this week. An increasingly influential faction in the Bush administration believes that U.S. military and economic power is so dominant that the U.S. is no longer served by international law. While Roth will not be taking part in the London discussions, among others attending the meeting, sponsored by the World Federalist Movement and the OneWorld Trust, include Bill Pace, convener of the global NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court; Pierre Sane, former secretary general of Amnesty International; and Elizabeth May, executive director for the Sierra Club of Canada, a major environmental group. The ICC, whose jurisdiction took legal effect July 1, is the product of the 1998 Rome Statute, an international treaty signed by almost 140 countries and ratified by 76. When it goes into operation at The Hague, probably early next year, it will have powers to investigate and prosecute war crimes, genocide, and other crimes against humanity. Former President Bill Clinton signed the Statute in December, 2000, but the Bush administration, in an unprecedented act, formally renounced his signature in May. While, at the time, U.S. officials promised not to wage war against the new court, their threats to veto UN PKOs if a blanket exemption from the ICC's jurisdiction was not forthcoming are being widely interpreted as just that. As was clear at the time, the 'un-signing' of the ICC treaty by the U.S. was largely symbolic, said Fiona McKay, director of the international justice program at the New York-based Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. As the ICC comes into existence, the U.S. is trying to derail it by attacking international peacekeeping. Over recent months, Washington has asked the UN Security Council to exempt its personnel attached to UN PKOs in East Timor and Bosnia from the ICC's jurisdiction. In June it warned that it would veto the Bosnia mission's extension, as well as other pending missions, if it did not get its way. Since then, the Bosnia mission's mandate has been temporarily extended three times--the latest to July 15--because other members of the Security Council have rejected U.S. demands, while compromises they have put forward have in turn been rejected by Washington. In a signal of its own determination, however, the Bush administration withdrew its personnel from the East Timor mission. Washington has argued that, because its military is so active in maintaining peace and security abroad, it risks becoming a special target for politically-motivated prosecutions by the ICC. But the ICC's defenders, including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, argue that such fears are far-fetched given the numerous safeguards built into the Rome Statute, especially the fact that the ICC can take on a case only when a nation shows that it is either unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute the case on its own. Others have noted that Britain, whose troops have served alongside U.S. forces in many recent military campaigns and PKOs, has strongly supported the ICC. Moreover, the U.S. demand that the Security Council exempt its peacekeepers from the scope of the ICC goes to the heart of international law-making, according to NGOs and Annan, who sent an unusually blunt appeal to Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday. [The U.S. proposal] flies in the face of treaty law since it would force states that have ratified the Rome Statute to accept a resolution
JAPAN TAKES UP ARMS [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- JAPAN TAKES UP ARMS Wednesday, July 3, 2002 Susan V. Thompson, ed. Read online or subscribe at: http://www.9-11peace.org/bulletin.php3 CONTENTS Introduction: Land of the Rising Gun? One Link: Rumbles from a Distant War Japan and World War II Japan's Peace Constitution Re-Militarization Japan, the US, and Afghanistan The Japanese Peace Movement Get Involved About the Bulletin INTRODUCTION: LAND OF THE RISING GUN? After World War II ended, Japan enacted a unique constitution. In part, it stated, Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. The Peace Constitution, as it is known, was crafted by the United States. Now, in an ironic twist, Japan has joined the US in its military actions in Afghanistan, and many military analysts suggest that the US is pressuring Japan to arm itself again. The campaign in Afghanistan marks the first time that Japanese troops have participated in an overseas military action since World War II, and it has been accompanied by an increase in Japanese military spending. Meanwhile, the regional tensions that originated in World War II and the Cold War linger on. China and Korea are still waiting for Japan to apologize for wartime atrocities, including the infamous massacre at Nanjing, a war crime which Japanese politicians still occasionally deny. There are those within the West who fear that a remilitarized Japan would be a considerable threat to international security. And even the terminology that has been attached to the WTC attacks in some ways echoes these former grievances. The term Ground Zero was the original term for Hiroshima and Nagasaki after they were destroyed by American atomic bombs, and the attacks of Sept. 11 have also been frequently referred to as another Pearl Harbor. In some sense, these comparisons may seem appropriate to Americans, but it must be remembered that for Japan, Pearl Harbor was in many ways a symbol of triumphant militarism, a militarism which inevitably led to the horrific and crushing defeat at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those two cities have in turn become symbols of the horrors of war and a motivating factor for many people within Japan who have committed themselves to peace. Sept. 11 is thus not only in some sense a reminder of these opposing currents of militarism and pacifism within the Japanese national identity, it is also the litmus test that has exposed exactly which of these qualities will triumph in today's Japan. We can only hope that Japan's strong peace community will turn back the ominous march into endless war. Next week: Inside the G6B Summit. ONE LINK: RUMBLES FROM A DISTANT WAR This excellent article compassionately examines the lives and experiences of some of those who lived through the attacks on Japan during World War II, and how they view Japan's re-militarization, which has gained considerable momentum since Sept. 11. There have even been suggestions that Japan should become a nuclear power, despite the fact that the country experienced the horrific effects of nuclear weapons firsthand in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The article summarizes almost all of the issues covered in more depth in the rest of the bulletin, providing valuable background and perspective on Japan's military history. http://www.9-11peace.org/r2.php3?r=51 JAPAN AND WORLD WAR II This is an excellent summary of Japan's history, which includes information on early peoples, the rise and fall of the warrior class of samurais, the events that led to Japan's involvement in World War II and subsequent defeat, and Japan's economic rise since then. http://www.9-11peace.org/r2.php3?r=52 On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, killing about 2,400 Americans. The attack was used to justify America's entrance into World War II. This is a fairly good overview of the tensions leading to the attack and the events of that day. http://members.aol.com/azmemph/phdec7.htm There are some who believe that the US government knew about the Pearl Harbor attacks before they happened and allowed them to occur in order to gain support for a war effort (sound familiar?). This argument also generally includes the assertion that the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were meant more to demonstrate America's military might to Russia than to revenge Pearl Harbor or end the war quickly. http://www.9-11peace.org/r2.php3?r=53 Others simply believe that Pearl Harbor was an intelligence failure, albeit a massive one. This article is an account of the attacks written from this perspective. http://www.9-11peace.org/r2.php3?r=54 Before and during World War II, Japan and China were locked in war. The Japanese military committed many atrocious acts of aggression against China which the people of China still remember as testaments to Japan's former militarism. In 1937 Nanjing fell to the Japanese Imperial
Zionist zealots spam freepalestine@yahoogroups list [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Zionist zealots have successfully spammed the [EMAIL PROTECTED] list to the point where list members with Yahoo! accounts had their accounts overloaded Yahoo! shut them down 'til enough messages were deleted to get back to the Yahoo! limit. When this happens incoming email is bounced back to the sender - Many lists are set-up to automatically unsubscribe someone when this happens. I'm afraid that this is why I have not been receiving any Stop Nato posts - So this is a test to see if this goes through. - Steve = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Pentagon Program Promotes Psychopharmacological Warfare [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.sunshine-project.org/publications/pr010702.html The Sunshine Project News Release 1 July 2002 Pentagon Program Promotes Psychopharmacological Warfare In The Futurological Congress (1971), Polish writer Stanislaw Lem portrayed a future in which disobedience is controlled with hypothetical mind-altering chemicals dubbed benignimizers. Lem's fictional work opens with the frightening story of a police and military biochemical attack on protesters outside of an international scientific convention. As the environment becomes saturated with hallucinogenic agents, in Lem's tale the protesters (and bystanders) descend into chaos, overcome by delusions and feelings of complacency, self-doubt, and even love. If the Pentagons Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) has its way, Lem may be remembered as a prophet. (Austin and Hamburg, 1 July 2002) - The Advantages and Limitations of Calmatives for Use as a Non-Lethal Technique, a 49 page report obtained last week by the Sunshine Project under US information freedom law, has revealed a shocking Pentagon program that is researching psychopharmacological weapons. Based on extensive review conducted on the medical literature and new developments in the pharmaceutical industry, the report concludes that the development and use of [psychopharmacological weapons] is achievable and desirable. These mind-altering weapons violate international agreements on chemical and biological warfare as well as human rights. Some of the techniques discussed in the report have already been used by the US in the War on Terrorism. The team, which is based at the Applied Research Laboratory of Pennsylvania State University, is assessing weaponization of a number of psychiatric and anesthetic pharmaceuticals as well as club drugs (such as the date rape drug GHB). According to the report, the choice administration route, whether application to drinking water, topical administration to the skin, an aerosol spray inhalation route, or a drug filled rubber bullet, among others, will depend on the environment. The environments identified are specific military and civil situations, including hungry refugees that are excited over the distribution of food, a prison setting, an agitated population and hostage situations. At times, the JNLWD team's report veers very close to defining dissent as a psychological disorder. The drugs that Lem called benignimizers are called calmatives by the military. Some calmatives were weaponized by the Cold War adversaries, including BZ, described by those who have used it as the ultimate bad trip. Calmatives were supposed to have been deleted from military stockpiles following the adoption of the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993, which bans any chemical weapon that can cause death, temporary incapacitation, or permanent harm to humans or animals. Calmative is military, not medical, terminology. In more familiar medical language, most of the drugs under consideration are central nervous system depressants. Most are synthetic, some are natural. They include opiates (morphine-type drugs) and benzodiazpines, such as Valium (diazepam). Antidepressants are also of great interest to the research team, which is looking for drugs like Prozac (fluoxetine) and Zoloft (sertraline) that are faster acting. Biochemicals and Treaties: Many of the proposed drugs can be considered both chemical and biological weapons banned by the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). As a practical matter, biological and chemical calmatives must be addressed together. As the agents are explicitly intended for military use, and are intended to incapacitate their victims, they do not fall under the CWC's domestic riot control agent exemption. Toxic products of living agents such as the neurotoxin botulinum are considered both chemical and biological agents. Any weapons use of neurotransmitters or substances mimicking their action is similarly covered by both arms control treaties. The researchers have developed a massive calmatives database and are following biomedical research on mechanisms of drug addiction, pain relief, and other areas of research on cognition-altering biochemicals. For example, the JNLWD team is tracking research on cholecystokinin, a neurotransmitter that causes panic attacks in healthy people and is linked to psychiatric disorders. Powerful Drugs: The drugs have hallucinogenic and other effects, including apnea (stopped breathing), coma, and death. One class of drugs under consideration are fentanyls. The report's cover features a diagram of fentanyl. According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the biological effects of fentanyls are indistinguishable from those of heroin, with the exception that the fentanyls may be hundreds of times more potent. The report says that the drugs profound effects may make it
George Michael on Dangerous Ground with New Song [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- George Michael on Dangerous Ground with New Song http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storyu=/nm/20020701/en_nm/people_michael_dc_4 Shoot the Dog, released on Monday, is a political satire in which the singer presents his views on the state of world affairs, taking a critical pop at the special relationship between Bush and Blair. I'm fully aware that people don't really like their pop music and politics mixed these days, Michael said, describing himself as truly a patriotic man. Nevertheless, I have strong opinions about Britain's current situation and I feel that in a time when public debate is being suppressed, even something as trivial as a pop song can be a good thing, the singer said in a statement. The cartoon video sees Bush on the White House lawn petting a smiling poodle-shaped Blair and also depicts the two leaders dancing the tango, Blair in a flowing dress. The song, which was originally written before the September 11 attacks on the United States but shelved until now, is an attempt by Michael to get people thinking about what is happening in the world. (It's) intended as a piece of political satire, no more no less, and I hope that it will make people laugh and dance, and then think a little, that's all, Michael said. Michael told the Daily Mirror his inspiration came from watching late-night news on television. I noticed a lot of stuff about the growing fear of a war between the secular world and the fundamentalist world, he told the tabloid newspaper. The more I learned, the more fearful I became. And I simply wanted to write a song that said to everybody: 'people let's be aware of this situation and understand that there are some very pissed-off people out there.' The song's release is bound to spark controversy and by the singer's own admission could make my experience with a certain policeman in Los Angeles look like a tea party. It was in 1998 that Michael was arrested in a Los Angeles toilet after exposing himself to a police officer. Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. http://www.yahoo.com = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Now it's official. Bush is Ariel Sharon's bitch. [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/home/story/ucru/cm_top_top/*http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=127ncid=742e=7u=/020627/7/1rho8.html DEATH OF A PEACE SALESMAN: Thu Jun 27, 7:01 PM ET By Ted Rall Bush's Palestinian Putsch SAN FRANCISCO-Now it's official. Bush is Ariel Sharon's bitch. When the Israeli prime minister began demanding that the Palestinian Authority jettison Yasser Arafat as its leader a few months back, even his fans knew he'd crossed the line. Israel was in no position to give the Palestinians this much advice. Sure, Bush had refused to even shake Arafat's hand, but the administration hadn't yet endorsed Sharon's ridiculous bid to beat the Palestinians by turning their leader into an Israeli puppet. (Washington) is not an honest broker or a neutral intermediary; it stands completely behind Israel, Hamas politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouk told Reuters in Damascus on June 10. Then, in a speech seemingly tailor-made to confirm that intifadist statement, George W. Bush dangled the possibility of American support for the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank in exchange for Arafat's ouster: Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership so that a Palestinian state can be born, he said on June 24. Presumably that new leadership would be friendly to both American and Israeli interests. After decades of abstention, the United States is back in the coup d'état business. And with the exception of an embarrassingly inept attempt to unseat Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez a few months back, Bush's back-to-the-'50s retro imperialism is working out fairly well...for now. The administration rigged Afghanistan's loya jirga to install ex-Unocal executive Hamid Karzai as the head of a nation where few people had ever heard of him. It converted former Taliban cabana boy Gen. Pervez Musharraf into our wholly-owned Pakistani subsidiary. And it owes its own existence to the first successful domestic coup d'état in American history. Why not, regime tinkerers Rumsfeld and Cheney obviously asked themselves, pull off a Palestinian putsch too? The Palestinians could obviously do better than Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini. A once-brilliant, charismatic tactician whose leadership of the PLO forced the West to consider Palestinian independence, 73 years of hard living and Israeli shelling have reduced Arafat to a quivering wreck tottering on the brink of senility. Though Israel has exaggerated the generosity of the deal he turned down over the Jerusalem issue, Arafat clearly failed to understand that the favorable tide of Western opinion had crested. He should have signed up then and later asked for more-East Jerusalem, a corridor connecting Gaza to the West Bank. Arafat's undemocratic moderation has become both too strident for the West and too soft for his increasingly radicalized people. But he's all they've got. He's the Palestinians' George Washington, a military leader striving to carve out a state which will someday stamp his googly-eyed image on its coins and stamps. At this point his possible successors-Mahmoud Abbas, Ahmed Korei, Jibril Rajoub, Mohammed Dahlan-just aren't popular enough to run this landlocked hellhole. Marwan Barghouthi, a popular Fatah leader currently in jail, wouldn't be acceptable to Israel. An independent Palestine can do without Arafat, but only after he's served one term leading to a free election. But none of that matters. If another nation attempted to topple George W. Bush, I would be the first to fight to defend my country from foreign interference. Illegitimate and harmful though Bush obviously is, it's up to Americans to decide whether he should stay in office. The same goes for the Palestinians. Getting rid of Arafat may be a good decision, but it has to be a Palestinian decision; neither the U.S. or Israel has the right to impose new leadership. Certainly neither country has the moral authority to do so. George W. Bush has made it official: He'll go along with whatever Ariel Sharon wants him to do, no matter how immoral, impractical or insane. Wait a minute. Who's paying who $3 billion a year, anyway? Bad enough we toady up to a country we ought to own, but now the U.S. no longer bothers to give even lip service to the principles of national sovereignty and self-determination-especially in regard to Muslim countries next to or on top of major oil reserves. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're the biggest, baddest bully on the block right now, but look out-the people we're stomping on in Pakistan, Afghanistan and now, Palestine, will be waiting to get even with us down the road. (Ted Rall's new book, a graphic travelogue about his recent coverage of the Afghan war titled To Afghanistan and Back, is out now. Ordering and review-copy information are available at http://www.nbmpub.com) = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for
Thousands mark anniversary of Milosevic's extradition [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/06/28/milosevic020628 Thousands mark anniversary of Milosevic's extradition Last Updated Fri, 28 Jun 2002 18:12:37 BELGRADE - About 4,000 supporters of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic demonstrated in a square in Belgrade on Friday. They marked the anniversary of Milosevic's extradition to the UN war crimes tribunal. The extradition happened after the United States threatened to withdraw support for the new government in Belgrade unless Milosevic was handed over. His supporters, right wing and nationalist parties, consider his extradition high treason. Written by CBC News Online staff http://cbc.ca/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
South Korean Ship Sunk in Naval Battle [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A311-2002Jun29.html South Korean Ship Sunk in Naval Battle By Christopher Torchia SEOUL, South Korea A North Korean warship sank a South Korean patrol boat in the Yellow Sea Saturday, killing at least four sailors and wounding 19 in the worst border clash in recent years on the world's last Cold War frontier. The South accused the North of violating the armistice that ended the Korean War, but a defiant North said the South shot first. The confrontation lasted 21 minutes, dealing a new blow to Korean reconciliation efforts and embarrassing the South during its moment in the sun as host to the World Cup soccer tournament. There was no immediate word on North Korean casualties or missing. A Northern warship was seen being towed away from the battle scene in flames, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. This provocative act by North Korea is a serious violation of the Armistice Agreement and could have serious implications in many areas, said Gen. Leon LaPorte, who commands some 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea. LaPorte's statement did not elaborate about the implications, but said U.S. and South Korean forces were in close contact after the attack. He has asked for a command meeting with North Korean officers to investigate the action, but said the North has not responded. A Pentagon spokesman, Cmdr. Randy Sandoz, said there was no heightened alert and South Korea had not made any request for U.S. assistance. President Kim Dae-jung called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, while South Korea's military sent a 1,200-ton battleship to the poorly marked border, accompanied by a squadron of fighter jets. The military provocation of pre-emptive firing by a North Korean navy patrol ship is a clear violation of the armistice and an act that raises tension on the Korean peninsula. We cannot keep silent, the presidential Blue House quoted Kim as saying at the hourlong meeting. In a statement afterward, Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin demanded an apology, punishment of those responsible and a promise from North Korea to refrain from such actions in the future. The clash occurred at 10:25 a.m. as South Korean navy vessels tried to repel two North Korean navy warships and an unspecified number of Northern fishing boats, the Southern military said. Two North Korean warships ventured three miles into the South's waters, ignoring loudspeaker warnings to withdraw, the military said. One of the Northern boats then fired a heavy caliber gun from about 500 yards, scoring a direct hit on the steering room of a South Korean patrol boat with 27 sailors aboard, the South's military said. North Korean state-run media denied the claim, saying the northern vessel was defending itself against an intrusion into the North's waters. The clash was the worst in three years, killing at least four South Koreans a lieutenant and three enlisted men. At least one South Korean was missing. The South Korean military said 22 sailors were injured, but later revised the number to 19. The skirmish was a setback to Kim's so-called sunshine policy of trying to engage the isolated, communist North, which shares a sealed, heavily fortified border with the South. The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. South Korea's opposition Grand National Party, which has criticized Kim's policy toward the North as too lenient, speculated that North Korea was trying to disrupt the World Cup soccer tournament, which is being co-hosted by South Korea and Japan and ends Sunday. President Kim canceled plans with Cabinet ministers and aides to watch the South Korean team's evening playoff game against Turkey on television. Big crowds gathered in the streets of major cities to cheer their national soccer team, which lost 3-2. Kim planned to go ahead with a trip Sunday to Japan to attend the World Cup final between Brazil and Germany, said presidential spokeswoman Park Sun-sook. It was unclear how the incident would affect prospects for a revival of long-suspended dialogue between North Korea and the United States, South Korea's chief ally. U.S.-North Korean tensions have undermined Korean reconciliation efforts, which stalled soon after the first-ever Korean summit in 2000 gave rise to a flurry of exchanges. The peninsula has been divided since 1945. On Thursday, a U.S. State Department official proposed to North Korean diplomats at the United Nations that talks resume in the second week of July in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles North Korea policy, said exchanges between local non-governmental groups and North Korea would continue despite the clash. The gun battle Saturday followed a series of border incursions by
Young soldiers desert Russian army in droves [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/06/23/deserters_020623 Last Updated Sun, 23 Jun 2002 23:47:59 Young soldiers desert Russian army in droves MOSCOW - Humiliated and brutalized by violent hazing and sexual abuse, young men conscripted into Russia's army are running away in record numbers. Last week, the military executed two more deserters who had fled their base in southern Russia. Authorities said the men went on a rampage and killed two police officers. According to Moscow, about 5,000 soldiers run away every year. But Soldiers' Mothers, an organization that defends the rights of military personnel, believes the figure is closer to 40,000. Some of them, they are just ordinary young people who are leaving the army because they are afraid for their lives, says Ida Kuklina, who speaks for the group. Most of the deserters are young conscripts, many just 18, who can't stand the torture and sexual abuse that is rampant in the ranks, she says. Their stories are recounted in letters that are piled on her desk. Anna Fedeeva's son Alexei, for instance, ran away from his barracks and lived on the streets in Moscow because he couldn't stand it any longer. She eventually found him, sick and confused. He's now in a psychiatric hospital. He left because he was beaten with metal objects, she says. Now I don't know what's going to happen to him, but his life is broken. The abuse, combined with budget problems that leave soldiers poorly equipped and badly paid, has plunged morale in the military. The conditions are appalling, says military analyst Pavel Fengelhauer. The food is terrible. It's like a prison, but the inmates have guns. After turning 18, all men in Russia must serve two years in the military. To try to reduce desertions and violence, the country's parliament has approved a bill to give recruits the option of community service instead. Written by CBC News Online staff http://cbc.ca/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. For directions public transportation info go to http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/where_when.htm Every Sunday at 3 P.M. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Toxic Nazi legacy threatens Europe [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from The Sunday Herald Scotland http://www.sundayherald.com/25477 Toxic Nazi legacy threatens Europe Concern as German chemical weapons dumped off Danish coast by Britain after the second world war start leaking into seas By Rob Edwards, Environment Correspondent More than half a century ago, Britain dumped over 100,000 tonnes of the Nazi's deadly chemical weapons in the sea. Now they are coming back to haunt us. Scientists fear millions of ancient shells and bombs resting on the short stretch of seabed between Denmark and Norway have begun to leak their lethal payload. Danish fishermen have been injured, Norway has launched an investigation and coastal authorities are worried a 'historic time bomb' could be about to explode. The Sunday Herald has obtained a copy of a report by the Ministry of Defence which details for the first time the extraordinary scale of the postwar operation to get rid of Germany's chemical weapons. Between 1945 and 1947, at least 112,000 tonnes were loaded into 33 German boats, which were then scuttled in Skagerrak, the strait across the North Sea that separates Norway and Denmark. The chemicals, confiscated from Hitler's Third Reich at the end of the second world war, were mustard gas, phosgene, tabun and lewisite, all of which can inflict appalling injuries. They may also have included hydrocyanic acid and Cyclone B, two of the poisons used to murder millions of Jews in Nazi concentration camps. Before they were packed into the hulls of ships, the weapons were put into wicker baskets by German workers. The hope was that any chemicals that leaked out would be absorbed by the wicker, and prevented from contaminating the sea. That may have been a false hope, however. An expedition to Skagerrak by Russian scientists has discovered evidence that the weapons -- sometimes only two hundreds metres deep -- are falling apart and spilling their contents into the marine environment. The investigation by the Russian Academy of Science in St Petersburg found levels of arsenic up to 200 parts per million around one of the dump sites. This was 'extremely high', they said, and was probably due to arsenic leaching from corroding weapons. They also detected high concentrations of lead and other heavy metals. The weapons could poison fishermen who pulled them up from the seabed, were a target for terrorists and posed 'a large danger to the environment', the Russian scientists warned. 'It is a terrible menace for Europeans,' said Albert Bikmullin, from the International Ecological Parliament, a Russian environmental group. 'Poison gas, dissolving slowly in the water, is able to pollute vast areas and get into food chains.' He added: 'Plankton absorbs poison gas very easily, is mutated and gets into fish as a food. Fish, in their turn, get to carnivores and in this way poison gets into a man's meal.' The Russian government has formally approached NATO, seeking support for a programme to monitor and prevent leakages from the chemical dumps. But NATO, which is considering the request through its Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society, has not yet decided what to do. Meanwhile the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority has just begun its own investigation, which involves sending a remote-controlled mini-sub marine to the seabed to take pictures and samples. 'We have to keep it under control to make sure that it doesn't harm people,' said Hilde Keilen, the authority's senior executive officer. Danish studies have suggested that over 150 fishermen have accidentally brought up chemical munitions in their nets. In some cases, they have been burnt by leaking mustard gas, which, despite its name, is a thick, viscous liquid. KIMO, an organisation which brings together over 100 local authorities representing five million people around the coasts of northern Europe, is planning a Scottish conference on chemical dumps at sea this November. Due to take place in Ayr, it is entitled Time Bombs From The Past. 'We are increasingly concerned about the historic time bomb which is ticking away at over 80 dump sites in northern seas. We are asking governments to investigate the exact locations of chemical and conventional weapons dump sites, compile inventories and make this information available,' said KIMO's Rick Nickerson. 'These materials are increasingly washing up on our coasts and endangering fishermen at sea. It is important that a clear picture is obtained of the state of these dumps so that appropriate action can be taken if and when a site becomes a problem.' The cause has been taken up by the Labour MP for Glasgow Baillieston, Jimmy Wray. He has put down an motion in the House of Commons calling on the British government to combat the pollution from the sunken ships, and has been backed by 28 other MPs. 'It is important that this kind of pollution is dealt with soon. These ships have been
Israel rapidly losing friends in Germany/Most want to end countries' 'special re
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/05/02/MN63272.DTL -- Thursday, May 2, 2002 (SF Chronicle) Israel rapidly losing friends in Germany/Most want to end countries' 'special relationship' because of actions against Palestinians Eric Geiger, Chronicle Foreign Service Munich -- The denizens of the working-class bar briefly interrupted their card game to watch dramatic images flash across a television screen -- Israeli tanks rumbling past collapsed Palestinian buildings in the West Bank. Just look at what the Israelis are doing to the poor Palestinians, and they have the nerve to lecture us about what Germany did years ago in the last war, one of the men said. His fellow cardplayers and other patrons in the smoke-filled bar noisily agreed. Such spontaneous outbursts reflect the almost hysterical anti-Israel sentiment that has gripped Germany in reaction to Israel's military operation in the West Bank. According to a nationwide poll by the Emnid organization, 73 percent opposed the offensive. More significantly, another poll cited by the newsmagazine Der Spiegel showed that most Germans want an end to the special relationship between Germany and Israel. Support for Israel has been a cornerstone of successive governments since the end of World War II and has long been regarded as a solemn obligation emanating from the Holocaust. In an unprecedented chorus of denunciations against Israel, the German media and leading politicians from the center-right opposition are clearly questioning that tilt. The phenomenon has brought warnings by some political analysts of a resurgence of anti-Semitism against Germany's estimated 90,000 Jews. Juergen Moellemann, the deputy chairman of the opposition moderate-right Free Democratic Party and head of the German-Arab Society, has been especially critical. I would resist, too, and use force in doing so, he said in regard to Palestinian violence. I would (commit violence) not just in my own country but in the country of the aggressor. SHARON'S 'WAR OF ANNIHILATION' In a widely publicized letter to Israel's ambassador to Germany, Norbert Bluem, a prominent Christian Democrat member of Parliament, used a term reserved for Nazi war crimes in accusing the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of waging an unrestrained war of annihilation. He also suggested that the time has come to break the unofficial taboo of not criticizing Israel. But some observers say there is more to the sudden eruption of anti-Israeli sentiment than the military operation in the West Bank. It does not primarily have anything to do with Israel but with the German attitude toward their own history, said Israeli Ambassador Shimon Stein. It has to do with German unification and the growing up of another generation, which has another view of Germany's role in the world. . . . The younger ones want to bid farewell to history. Paul Spiegel, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, wants Moellemann, Bluem and other high-profile politicians to be more cautious when equating the Mideast conflict with the Nazis' crimes. No people can stand what the Israeli must endure these days, he said. Every day terror, every day death. Spiegel, noting an increase in the number of insults and threats against Jewish groups in Germany, said, Many are camouflaging their anti-Jewish aggressiveness as criticism of Israel. RIDDING THEMSELVES OF GUILT Some Germans share Spiegel's viewpoint. Many Germans resent that the Jews won't stop reminding them of having tried to destroy them. Gleefully and with pious delight, they are now pouncing on what they had otherwise regarded as unassailable, said a recent editorial in the prominent conservative daily Die Welt. The widespread agreement of many of our compatriots with the views of . . . Moellemann and Bluem betrays German satisfaction at finally being able to rid themselves of their own guilt. Moellemann continues to make headlines. He recently invited Syrian-born legislator Jamal Karlsi to join his party. Karlsi, an admirer of Saddam Hussein, had been censured by the Green Party for accusing the Israeli army of using Nazi tactics, maltreating innocent Palestinian youths held in prison camps and reportedly suggesting that German troops be sent against Israel. While there have been some reports that Germany is quietly curbing weapons sales to Israel, the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has avoided public criticism of Israel -- with one notable exception, Minister of Development Heidemarie Weiczorek-Zeul. The reports about the Israeli troop conduct are shocking, she said. We must never turn a blind eye again when injustice is being done. LITTLE COVERAGE OF ISRAELI DEATHS The news media also have played a prominent role in casting Israel as aggressors and Palestinians as
URL for EBCAW Cultural Event LMNOP Peace Walk, Sun., 5-5-02 [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/updates.htm from LMNOP Bulletin Board [EMAIL PROTECTED] The East Bay Coalition Against the War is sponsoring an afternoon of music poetry this coming Sunday, 5-5, at the Colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues at the northeast end of Lake Merritt in Oakland. (The usual LMNOP gathering place). The music poetry event will start at 1:30 P.M. There is a downloadable flyer for this at http://www.geocities.com/eastbaycoalition that also includes additional information. The line-up for the EBCAW cultural event so far is: Zu performing Korean drumming with a poet; Robert Temple, Song Writer Performer; Solidad - Poet; Kenny Monster - Poet; Kuama - Song Writer and Performer; Bob Randolph - Poet; and Dave - Musician from EBCAW. The LMNOP Peace Walk will follow at 3 P.M. + ALSO UPCOMING: Tuesday Tea Party, May 7 Listen, dialogue, and do something! 6 - 8 P.M. at the 1st Congregational Church, Harrison 27th Streets, Oakland. Special guest: Marcia Freedman, Israeli peace activist and former member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament). Sponsored by the People's NonViolent Response Coalition and others. Info: Jackie, (510)839-5877; or http://www.pnvrc.net + = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Military news: U.S. Navy exhausts Australian brothel. [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from Ananova [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thu, 2 May 2002 17:40:40 GMT Brothel locks doors after sailors exhaust prostitutes An Australian brothel shut its doors for only the third time in eight years after US sailors exhausted its prostitutes. Langtrees brothel in Perth [Western Australia] had taken 580 bookings since three US warships docked there three days ago. Owner Mary-Anne Kenworthy says the sailors were stressed after carrying out operations in Afghanistan and sexually agitated after being at sea. Full story: http://www.ananova.com/yournews/story/sm_580446.html = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Brothel locks doors after sailors exhaust prostitutes [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.ananova.com/yournews/story/sm_580446.html Brothel locks doors after sailors exhaust prostitutes An Australian brothel shut its doors for only the third time in eight years after US sailors exhausted its prostitutes. Langtrees brothel in Perth had taken 580 bookings since three US warships docked there three days ago. Its owner Mary-Anne Kenworthy says the sailors were stressed after carrying out operations in Afghanistan and sexually agitated after being at sea. She says they tired out her workers leading her to shut up shop rather than risk the brothel's reputation. She added: I would not sell a man a hamburger if I thought my buns were stale. I have always offered a quality service. If that level of service is not being offered because the girls say they are too tired then I'll close the doors. Some of the girls were taking the money without offering a quality service. I don't care if it's a Yank's money, your money or Joe Bloggs money, everyone deserves value for their dollar. Ms Kenworthy says some prostitutes would have made up to $7,000 (about £2,564) in three days as a result of the Navy-led boom. The West Australian says Millennium Eve was the last time Langtrees locked its doors. Story filed: 18:35 Thursday 2nd May 2002 = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Rat movements guided by remote control [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/05/01/roborat020501 Rat movements guided by remote control Last Updated Wed, 01 May 2002 17:03:02 BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Rats guided by electrical impulses could one day act as living robots, capable of searching for survivors in a disaster or helping to clear landmines, researchers say. Rats directed to environments they would normally avoid The scientists were able to train rats with electrical probes implanted in their brains to run through pipes, climb up piles of rubble and jump from ledges in response to remote control signals. In the study, five rats were fitted with electrodes in their brains and in the sensory centres in their left and right whiskers to give them directional cues. Backpacks provided a power supply, and a laptop computer sent signals to steer the rats. In the experiment, the laptop signals were received from up to 500 metres away. When a rat responded correctly to the directions, the researchers stimulated the reward centre in its brain to reinforce the positive behaviour. The rats were trained to respond to the signals in a maze and then they ventured through an environment similar to an obstacle course. John Chapin, a professor of physiology and pharmacology at the State University of New York in Brooklyn, and his colleagues found that stimulating the brain's reward centre prompted the rats to move forward. The forward stimulation also worked when the rats were instructed to climb steps. We were also able to guide rats in systematically exploring large, collapsed piles of concrete rubble and to direct them through environments that they would normally avoid, such as brightly lit, open arenas, the researchers wrote in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. The study adds a remote-control dimension to 50 years of research into stimulating the reward centre in rats' brains. But it also raises ethical concerns about turning animals into intelligent robots. Written by CBC News Online staff = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Inquiry Delay 'unacceptable' says EU [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Inquiry delay 'unacceptable' says EU May 1 2002 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/30/1019441375578.html Israel's refusal to cooperate with a United Nations fact-finding mission investigating Israeli army action against Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp is unacceptable, European Commission President Romano Prodi said yesterday. If the Israeli army has nothing to hide, there is no reason to delay the UN mission, Prodi told a news conference. This was a chance for Israel to show the world that Palestinian allegations that Israeli soldiers killed hundreds of Palestinians in Jenin were untrue, Prodi said. The commission chief who heads for a summit with US President George W Bush in Washington on May 2 said he would urge the American Administration to continue pressing Israel on a complete military pull-out from Palestinian territories. I am very pleased that the US convinced Israel to end the siege of Ramallah and allow (Palestinian Authority President) Yasser Arafat freedom of movement, Prodi said. This is a good and constructive step, the commission chief said. But Prodi said he would now ask President Bush to convince Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to fully cooperate with the international community on the Jenin inquiry and allow urgent action to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories. I am deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation, Prodi insisted, adding that international aid operations were being hampered in West Bank cities because of an absence of clear rules on their operations. I will ask Bush to call for the full and unhindered access of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, Prodi said. Israel's destruction of the basic infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority had created a vacuum which could lead to chaos and anarchy, the commission president warned. This is not in Israel's security interest, he cautioned. Renewed American interest in the Middle East was to be encouraged but permanent peace in the region required international cooperation, Prodi insisted. As such it was vital that the quartet group including the US, Europe, the United Nations and Russia continued to work together, Prodi said. A meeting of the Israeli security cabinet - whose members have accused the UN of bias - has ruled out cooperation with the UN team. Israel presented to the UN several subjects essential to holding a fair probe, but as long as these conditions go unmet, it will be impossible to hold the probe, an Israeli cabinet statement said. Israel says the team should include more military and counter-terrorism experts who can better judge the military aspects of the Israeli army operations in the Jenin refugee camp. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/30/1019441375578.html Copyright © 2002. The Sydney Morning Herald = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Military doesn't know where undersea weapons dumps are [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE at http://cbc.ca/news MILITARY DOESN'T KNOW WHERE UNDERSEA WEAPONS DUMPS ARE http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/04/30/mustard_ocean020430 WebPosted Wed May 1 11:13:31 2002 MARGAREE FORKS, N.S.--A resident of Cape Breton Island wants the Canadian military to come clean about where tonnes of chemical weapons were dumped after the Second World War. Myles Kehoe, an antique dealer in Margaree Forks, Cape Breton, was surprised at what he found while looking at some nautical charts from the 1960s. Some of the charts mark well-documented military explosive dump sites off the East Coast. But one marked a site not found on any others. Kehoe says a former military person and local fishermen have told him it's a post-Second World War chemical warfare dump. The military claims it doesn't know what it is, but is looking into the allegations. We're taking Mr. Kehoe's claims very seriously, said Maj. Francois Lauzon. In 1946, the navy sunk a barge-load of mustard gas 160 km east of Halifax, near Sable Island. The military is trying to find out if there are other sites. It admits it doesn't know. Some records may have been destroyed and it will make the search that much more complicated, said Lauzon. But we will do our best. Opposition politicians are starting to ask questions on Parliament Hill. We're asking the government to come clean with Canadians, to be responsible, to protect the interests of all of us, and our fish stocks, said Peter Stoffer, NDP fisheries critic. Kehoe believes the waters off Cape Breton hide other unmarked mustard gas dump sites. It's there. They have to admit it's there. If you manufacture something, and you don't use it, where the heck is it?, he said. Now if they can show me where it's at, in another site, hey, all the better. Kehoe is worried that with increased exploration of the ocean floor by oil companies and others old warheads and barrels of mustard gas could be disturbed, with dangerous results. Copyright © 2002 CBC All Rights Reserved http://cbc.ca/ = We're all downwinders! Check out http://www.downwinders.org = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
'They raped every German female from eight to 80' [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,707835,00.html 'They raped every German female from eight to 80' Antony Beevor, author of the acclaimed new book about the fall of Berlin, on a massive war crime committed by the victorious Red Army. Wednesday May 1, 2002 The Guardian Red Army soldiers don't believe in 'individual liaisons' with German women, wrote the playwright Zakhar Agranenko in his diary when serving as an officer of marine infantry in East Prussia. Nine, ten, twelve men at a time - they rape them on a collective basis. The Soviet armies advancing into East Prussia in January 1945, in huge, long columns, were an extraordinary mixture of modern and medieval: tank troops in padded black helmets, Cossack cavalrymen on shaggy mounts with loot strapped to the saddle, lend-lease Studebakers and Dodges towing light field guns, and then a second echelon in horse-drawn carts. The variety of character among the soldiers was almost as great as that of their military equipment. There were freebooters who drank and raped quite shamelessly, and there were idealistic, austere communists and members of the intelligentsia appalled by such behaviour. Beria and Stalin, back in Moscow, knew perfectly well what was going on from a number of detailed reports. One stated that many Germans declare that all German women in East Prussia who stayed behind were raped by Red Army soldiers. Numerous examples of gang rape were given - girls under 18 and old women included. Marshal Rokossovsky issued order No 006 in an attempt to direct the feelings of hatred at fighting the enemy on the battlefield. It appears to have had little effect. There were also a few arbitrary attempts to exert authority. The commander of one rifle division is said to have personally shot a lieutenant who was lining up a group of his men before a German woman spreadeagled on the ground. But either officers were involved themselves, or the lack of discipline made it too dangerous to restore order over drunken soldiers armed with submachine guns. Calls to avenge the Motherland, violated by the Wehrmacht's invasion, had given the idea that almost any cruelty would be allowed. Even many young women soldiers and medical staff in the Red Army did not appear to disapprove. Our soldiers' behaviour towards Germans, particularly German women, is absolutely correct! said a 21-year-old from Agranenko's reconnaissance detachment. A number seemed to find it amusing. Several German women recorded how Soviet servicewomen watched and laughed when they were raped. But some women were deeply shaken by what they witnessed in Germany. Natalya Gesse, a close friend of the scientist Andrei Sakharov, had observed the Red Army in action in 1945 as a Soviet war correspondent. The Russian soldiers were raping every German female from eight to eighty, she recounted later. It was an army of rapists. Drink of every variety, including dangerous chemicals seized from laboratories and workshops, was a major factor in the violence. It seems as if Soviet soldiers needed alcoholic courage to attack a woman. But then, all too often, they drank too much and, unable to complete the act, used the bottle instead with appalling effect. A number of victims were mutilated obscenely. The subject of the Red Army's mass rapes in Germany has been so repressed in Russia that even today veterans refuse to acknowledge what really happened. The handful prepared to speak openly, however, are totally unrepentant. They all lifted their skirts for us and lay on the bed, said the leader of one tank company. He even went on to boast that two million of our children were born in Germany. The capacity of Soviet officers to convince themselves that most of the victims were either happy with their fate, or at least accepted that it was their turn to suffer after what the Wehrmacht had done in Russia, is striking. Our fellows were so sex-starved, a Soviet major told a British journalist at the time, that they often raped old women of sixty, seventy or even eighty - much to these grandmothers' surprise, if not downright delight. One can only scratch at the surface of the psychological contradictions. When gang-raped women in Königsberg begged their attackers afterwards to put them out of their misery, the Red Army men appear to have felt insulted. Russian soldiers do not shoot women, they replied. Only German soldiers do that. The Red Army had managed to convince itself that because it had assumed the moral mission to liberate Europe from fascism it could behave entirely as it liked, both personally and politically. Domination and humiliation permeated most soldiers' treatment of women in East Prussia. The victims not only bore the brunt of revenge for Wehrmacht crimes, they also represented an atavistic target as old as war itself. Rape is the act of a conqueror, the feminist historian Susan Brownmiller observed, aimed at
WWIII is coming, 'I'm sure,' high-level Sharon aide says [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.azstarnet.com/star/sat/20427SHARON.AIDE.html Saturday, 27 April 2002 WWIII is coming, 'I'm sure,' high-level Sharon aide says By Stephanie Innes ARIZONA DAILY STAR The terror attacks on Sept. 11 and extreme turmoil in the Middle East point to one thing - World War III, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday during a visit to Tucson. We've been fighting a war for the past 18 months, which is the harbinger of World War III. The world is going to fight, whether they like it or not. I'm sure,'' Ra'anan Gissin, a senior adviser to Sharon, said in an interview Friday. Sept. 11 was a watershed event, and things will never be the same. The battle lines have been drawn.'' Gissin, 53, is in Tucson this weekend as part of a 12-day tour of the United States to promote the purchase of Israel Bonds. The bonds are part of a program that began in 1951 in which securities are sold to individuals and corporations to finance economic growth in Israel. The Israeli government pays them back. . . . The collateral is the eternity of the Jewish people,'' Gissin said, dismissing an April 1 Newsweek story that questioned the future of his country. We believe the state of Israel will continue to exist forever. Therefore, it's a sure investment. On Friday night he spoke to an audience of about 300 people at the Reform Temple Emanu-El, 225 N. Country Club Road, as police stood on guard at the doorways of the synagogue. Today at 5 p.m. he is scheduled to speak at the conservative Congregation Anshei Israel, 5550 E. Fifth St. Gissin called the war a clash between the civilized and uncivilized worlds. It's a clash between the forces of evil, as (President Bush) so neatly described it, and forces of life. Mohyeddin Abdulaziz, 54, a Tucson resident and Palestinian who grew up near Ramallah, did not attend Gissin's talk. But in an interview Friday night he said the Israeli point of view does not take into account the suffering of Palestinians who live in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza. This is a war that is being fought against a largely civilian population. It is a one-sided war,'' said Abdulaziz, who still has family living in the West Bank. The Palestinians do not have one tank, one airplane, one helicopter. These are people who have been under a brutal occupation for 35 years and every nation on this Earth has recognized it as an illegal occupation. We have generations of Palestinians who know nothing but brutal occupation,'' he said. The West Bank and Gaza are only 22 percent of the geographic area of Palestine, and it's all the Palestinians are asking for. They want a place to call home. Gissin said he did not believe that the Israeli incursion at the West Bank refugee camp in Jenin earlier this month was a massacre as some Palestinians have said. The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, has accused Israel of trying to hide terrible things at the camp. Palestinians say hundreds died. The United Nations is sending a fact-finding team there. Real peace can only exist or come about when there is an understanding and a commitment among our Arab and Palestinian neighbors to a process of reconciliation - to accept the fact that Jews also have a right to their own land, to their ancestral homeland, Gissin said. _ * Contact Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
EU set to add PFLP to list of terror groups [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=157444contrassID=1subContrassID=1sbSubContrassID=0listSrc=Y EU set to add PFLP to list of terror groups By Reuters 4/30/02 BRUSSELS - The European Union is set to update its common list of terrorist groups to include the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and others this week, provided no member state raises objections, EU envoys agreed on Monday. Under the so-called written procedure, the 15 member states have until Thursday to reject the updated list. The final decision regarding a final list will be known once the written procedure ends at midday on Thursday, May 2, a spokeswoman for current EU president Spain said in a statement. Organisations on the list are liable to have their assets frozen in the EU countries. The PFLP is a Damascus-based Marxist organization that includes many Palestinians of Christian origin. The group was behind the assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Ze'evi in Jerusalem last year. An EU diplomat told Reuters last week the bloc would also put on its list the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which earlier this month changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress. The list is part of the bloc's common efforts after the September 11 attacks on the United States. A first version of the list was published in late December and included radical Basque seperatist, Northern Irish and Middle Eastern groups. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
IDF admits 'ugly vandalism' against Palestinian property [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=157479contrassID=2subContrassID=1sbSubContrassID=0listSrc=Y Tuesday, April 30, 2002 Iyyar 18, 5762 Israel Time: 22:51 (GMT+3) IDF admits `ugly vandalism' against Palestinian property By Amos Harel Israel Defense Forces sources have admitted that Palestinian claims of the systematic destruction of property, particularly computers, during the recent military operations in Ramallah are, for the most part, true. There were indeed wide-scale, ugly phenomena of vandalism, a senior military sources told Ha'aretz yesterday. And while another military source said that the army had yet to undertake a full investigation into the matter, there are already many individual cases that are being prosecuted through the military justice system. Within the context of Operation Defensive Shield, an intelligence unit specialized in systematically going through public institutions of the Palestinian Authority and collecting hard disks from computers in offices, for the purposes of examining them based on the assumption that some would contain information on terrorist activity. The IDF sources explained that because various PA institutions, including civil authorities, were involved in terror, some of the computers had indeed included valuable intelligence. However, the sources admitted that in many cases the searches had turned into systematic vandalism, without any justification. It was not an order from above, said a senior source, but that's how it was understood in the field. The infantry, both the conscripts and the reservists who accompanied the intelligence teams, understood that they were allowed - or indeed expected - to destroy the property in the offices. The result, the source continued, was damage running into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Soldiers smashed computer monitors and destroyed keyboards. There were places in which bank branches were destroyed and automatic tellers were raided. In some cases, theft accompanied the vandalism. It was significant damage, widespread and totally illogical. The source said that while the extent of the damage was clear, the IDF had yet to undertake a serious investigation into what had taken place. A reserve officer who played a senior role in the Ramallah area said that he believed most of the damage had been done during hunts for wanted men and munitions. We found weapons and sabotage equipment in what were seemingly civil institutions, the officer said. There were instances in which soldiers broke open doors because nobody was inside. Clearly there was looting, but most of the damage was done during the hunt for people and weapons. This was war, not a lab operation. A veteran intelligence officer said the explanation for the IDF's behavior was to be found in the difference between the fighting in the territories and previous wars in Lebanon and the Sinai. Those were clear-cut enemy territorie,; and it was clear to the intelligence units that they would take everything because everything was military equipment. In the Palestinian Authority, everything was mixed up - civilian, security, terrorist. It is very difficult to make the distinction. Some of the damage was done by the unit, and some by other soldiers, at their own initiative. Reservists who served in the Ramallah and Bethlehem areas said they had witnessed many instances of deliberate damage caused by soldiers to Palestinian property. Some also spoke of cases of looting. The extent of the looting is much greater than could have been expected in advance, a senior legal source told Ha'aretz. This is an ugly and serious phenomenon. Some cases involved two or three soldiers who had worked together, the source said, noting that reservists as well as conscripts had been involved. Some of the suspects were combat troops, the source added; and in certain cases, military defenders had reservations about representing suspects due to the nature of the crimes. Most of the incidents are expected to end in plea bargains, with the convicted serving prison sentences. The majority of the looting took place in Ramallah, though there were reports of instances in Bethlehem as well. Most of the cases are in Central Command's JAG unit. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to:
China issues rules on controlling weather [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=newscat=7id=213679 japantoday asia China issues rules on controlling weather Tuesday, April 30, 2002 at 09:30 JST BEIJING Chinese officials' penchant for trying to use detailed rules to control society will be extended with the issuance on May 1 of rules on how to regulate the weather, according to a state media report Monday. The rules provide instructions to local governments on how to regulate man-made weather procedures, such as cloud seeding to induce rain, with meteorological agencies, the English-language China Daily reported. They also streamline the use of other related services, such as the air force, aviation industry, police and hydrological departments, to create a standardized weather modification mechanism. Thanks to economic and technological advancements, China has introduced weather modification measures throughout the country, using a number of measures unspecified in the report including the use of planes, anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers. China is increasingly using weather modification, such as measures to dispel fog and prevent hailstorms and frost, to alleviate droughts and other natural disasters, including those caused by climate change, it said. However, in an indication that the same tools of economic and technological development China is using to modify the weather are also harming its environment, a U.N. Development Program released Friday said air pollution kills hundreds of thousands of China's city dwellers every year. (Kyodo News) = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Re: Posts [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Stasi: You turn-up some of the most incredible stories. We can live with a little backlog. Thanx. - Steve --- Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Sorry for the excess of posts today. Busy over the weekend which meant a backlog of stories, many of them too interesting to let pass by. Stasi. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
[Xinhua]: Israel repeats crimes of the Nazis [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- [Xinhua]: Israel repeats crimes of the Nazis Nations of the world cannot forget the cruel torture and murder of the Jews during World War II. However, what is happening now on Palestinian soil shows that the activities of the Israeli government do not differ in the slightest degree with those of the previous torturers. This comment was published by the Xinhua agency. Innocent civilians are being killed; men are being arrested; houses are being destroyed; and women, children, and the elderly are being deprived of home, food, and water, - the article reads. Today's humanitarian catastrophe before which Palestinians stand now is nothing but the continuation of the Israeli policy of collective violation and retribution for individual extremist activities of some Palestinians against Israel. Israeli troops use tanks to destroy the houses of Arabs, to annihilate forests, to block roads, and to isolate entire villages. This forces pregnant women to give birth to children directly in the streets, while patients die in the streets because they have no access to hospitals. The Israeli government violated international law and the principles of human rights. While trying to break the Palestinians' will to resist the illegal Israeli occupation, the Israeli government cannot understand that the more cruel it is towards Palestinians, the more their hatred of Israel grows. Finally, Israel might find itself in a worse situation regarding its security. If the Israeli government does not stop its despotism, it will cover itself with eternal disgrace. Andrei Krushinsky PRAVDA.Ru Beijing http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/29/28080.html Translated by Vera Solovieva Read the original in Russian: http://pravda.ru/main/2002/04/26/40388.html = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
The international Campaign Against television [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Poor Paranoid's Almanac http://www.whitedot.org/issue/iss_front.asp The international Campaign Against television Someone is telling me that its amazing to what extent the marketeers will strive for this data [he means: data got from the Internet, cookies, etc.]. The whole digital tv / set top box thing is a minefield too - digital tv will be yet another disappointment for the expectant viewer because the real reason it is being pushed so much is because of the info that can be sent back to market researchers. _ Society for the Eradication of Television http://www.webwm.com/set = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Colin Powell has a blind spot when it comes to massacres [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- The other day Colin Powell said he saw no evidence of a massacre in Jenin. General Powell seems to have a blind spot in this area, as described in the story referenced below: --- Article by: InDepthNews Saturday 27 Apr 2002 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Summary: Powell stories the corporate media doesn't like to cover: - My Lai Massacre - Killing Civilians - Nicaragua - Panama - The Gulf War - Personal Wealth Parallel processes? My Lai (left) Jenin (right) My Lai photo essay: http://pathfinder.com/photo/essay/mylai/mylaicon.htm Reference at indymedia website: http://www.sydney.indymedia.org:8081//front.php3?article_id=13573 - = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
ADL found guilty of spying by California court [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=14650 Thursday, April 25, 2002 / 12 Safar 1423 ADL found guilty of spying by California court By Barbara Ferguson, Arab News Correspondent WASHINGTON, 25 April The San Francisco Superior Court has awarded former Congressman Pete McCloskey, R-California, a $150,000 court judgment against the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). McCloskey, the attorney in the case, represented one of three civil lawsuits filed in San Francisco against the ADL in 1993. The lawsuit came after raids were made by the San Francisco Police Department and the FBI on offices of the ADL in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, which found that the ADL was engaged in extensive domestic spying operations on a vast number of individuals and institutions around the country. During the course of the inquiry in San Francisco, the SFPD and FBI determined the ADL had computerized files on nearly 10,000 people across the country, and that more than 75 percent of the information had been illegally obtained from police, FBI files and state drivers license data banks. Much of the stolen information had been provided by Tom Gerard of the San Francisco Police Department, who sold, or gave, the information to Ray Bullock, ADLs top undercover operative. The investigation also determined that the ADL conduit, Gerard, was also working with the CIA. Two other similar suits against ADL were settled some years ago, and the ADL was found guilty in both cases, but the McCloskey suit continued to drag through the courts until last month. In the McCloskey case, the ADL agreed to pay (from its annual multi-million budget) $50,000 to each of the three plaintiffs Jeffrey Blankfort, Steve Zeltzer and Anne Poirier who continued to press charges against the ADL, despite a continuing series of judicial roadblocks that forced 14 of the original defendants to withdraw. Another two died during the proceedings. The ADL, which calls itself a civil rights group, continued to claim it did nothing wrong in monitoring their activities. Although the ADL presents itself as a group that defends the interests of Jews, two of three ADL victims are Jewish. Blankfort and Zeltzer were targeted by the ADL because they were critical of Israels policies toward the Palestinians. The third ADL victim in the McCloskey case, Poirier, was not involved in any activities related to Israel or the Middle East. Poirier ran a scholarship program for South African exiles who were fighting the apartheid system in South Africa. At the time, the ADL worked closely with the then anti-apartheid government of South Africa, and ADLs operative Bullock provided ADL with illegally obtained data on Poirier and her associates to the South African government. But the conclusion of McCloskeys case does not mean the end to the ADLs legal problems. On March 31, 2001, US District Judge Edward Nottingham of Denver, Colorado, upheld most of a $10.5 million defamation judgment that a federal jury in Denver had levied against the ADL in April of 2000. The jury hit the ADL with the massive judgment after finding it had falsely labeled Evergreen, Colorado residents William and Dorothy Quigley as anti-Semites. The ADL is appealing the judgment. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
China will protect nations from bullies, says Hu [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from The News Internet Edition Thurs. April 25, 2002 WORLD NEWS http://jang.com.pk/thenews/apr2002-daily/25-04-2002/world/w9.htm China will protect nations from bullies, says Hu KUALA LUMPUR: China's heir apparent, Hu Jintao, said on Wednesday his country would retain an independent foreign policy and would resist any attempts by strong nations to force their interests on the weak. Hu, speaking in Malaysia en route to the United States, is the favourite to succeed Jiang Zemin as head of the Communist Party this year and as China's president in 2003. (China) opposes the strong lording it over the weak and the big bullying the small and has long pledged not to seek hegemony, not to join any military bloc, and not to pursue its own spheres of influence, Hu said in a speech to the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute in Kuala Lumpur. He was to meet Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for talks expected to address everything from trade and investment to terrorism. Both China and Malaysia joined the U.S.-led war on terror after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington and have arrested Islamic militants at home. But they also share doubts about U.S. unilateralism. The 58-year-old Hu makes his first official visit to the United States from April 27 to May 3. He will visit Honolulu, San Francisco, New York and Washington, where he is expected to meet President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. ASIAN PARTNERS: Before that, on April 26, he visits Singapore, the largely ethnic Chinese city state whose business community, like the sizable, wealthy ethnic Chinese minority in Malaysia, is looking for investment opportunities in the ancestral homeland. In his speech, Hu praised Malaysia's achievements brought about by Mahathir's policy of rapid industrialisation during his 21 years in power. He later went on a walkabout through Kuala Lumpur's ritziest shopping mall beneath the Petronas Twin Towers, the world's tallest building. Hu emphasised that China's emergence as an economic power should be viewed positively by Southeast Asian nations who have seen more foreign investors attracted to China. History has continued and will continue to prove that China is a positive force making for an economically stronger and more stable Asia, he said. China signed an accord with the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in November to establish a giant free-trade zone within 10 years. But the export-oriented ASEAN members fear being undercut by China's low-cost producers while China needs Southeast Asia's resources, notably oil, gas and forest products, to fuel its rapid industrialisation. Our conclusion, therefore, is clear: China's development would be impossible without Asia, and Asia's prosperity without China, Hu said. Southeast Asian firms are eyeing investment opportunities in China. Malaysian automaker Proton this year bought a 49 percent stake in China's Goldstar Heavy Industrial Co. Ltd, helping it gain a presence in the Chinese market. Hu visits Penang, the home of Malaysia electronics export industry, on Thursday. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Yet another Ugly American [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200204/25/eng20020425_94700.shtml Interesting People's Daily commentary on rude behavior by foreigners in China the Chinese attitude towards them. I'm only sending the URL 'cause you won't want to miss the pics! - Steve = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Oil giants Wild West fight over petrol stations in China [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from chinabiz newsletter http://chinabiz.org/test/ticker.asp Oil giants Wild West fight over petrol stations 26/04/2002 Shanghai - China's two oil giants Sinopec http://www.sinopec.com.cn/english/index.jsp and Petrochina http://www.cnpc.com.cn/english/index_e.htm are involved in violent battles over control of petrol stations along important highways, Financial Times (FT) reported on Thursday. The companies, who have the exclusive rights to build new petrol stations in China, are using armed gangs to secure their position, FT writes. In the central Henan province, gangs backed by Sinopec attacked seven different stations and stopped work at sixteen others. One of the worst battles occurred late last month, when Sinopec employees with iron rods attacked Petrochina workers who were renovating 50 new stations along a new highway. A police officer who witnessed one of the battles at a petrol station told FT: It was the most violent scene I have ever seen in my life. The fighters smashed windows, doors, took away equipment and also drove construction workers out of their rooms with fire extinguishers and beat them with iron rods. According to the report, Sinopec is furious over an agreement between Petrochina and the local highway construction company to place its franchises along the road. Currently Sinopec rules the market in Henan, where it owns half of the province's 8,000 stations. The retail market is a promising market to both companies. Local media estimated sales had a potential annual net profit of around 200 million Renminbi (US$24 million) in the 50 stations, which were center of the fight in Henan. Sinopec and Petrochina, both listed in New York, together own about half of the 80,000 or more petrol stations in China. The firms are involved in setting up joint ventures with other international giants. Sinopec has agreements to build 500 stations with BP Amoco, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell. A possible deal between Petrochina and BP Amoco, which are currently negotiating plans to manage 800 stations in a separate joint venture, might affect the Sinopec-BP Amoco agreement, FT reports. The government granted Petrochina and Sinopec sole rights to build new petrol stations before the market becomes open to foreign investors by 2005. The companies declined comment on the violent struggle, saying both the police and local and central government are investigating the incident. _ Copyright (C) 2002 Chinabiz.org. All rights reserved. http://www.chinabiz.org _ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Making stubborn prisoners talk /Army interrogation schools methods push tactica
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.msnbc.com/news/743825.asp?cp1=1 Making stubborn prisoners talk Army interrogation schools methods push tactical envelope By Jess Bravin THE WALL STREET JOURNAL FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz., April 26 Has anybody talked to you about lying? instructor John Giersdorf asks his freshman class. We expect you to lie a lot. Your job is to convince someone to do something that could get him executed for treason. THIS IS THE U.S. ARMYS interrogation school, and Staff Sgt. Giersdorf, a veteran intelligence-operative who speaks Arabic, Czech and Russian, is teaching new recruits to extract information from al Qaeda and other captive foes. The job, he tells his students, is just a hairs-breadth away from being an illegal specialty under the Geneva Convention. Interrogators the Pentagon renamed them human intelligence collectors last year are authorized not just to lie, but to prey on a prisoners ethnic stereotypes, sexual urges and religious prejudices, his fear for his familys safety, or his resentment of his fellows. Theyll do just about everything short of torture, which officials say is not taught here, to make their prisoners spill information that could save American lives. Each year, 200 to 300 students enter the 16-week program at Fort Huachuca, an outpost in the Sonoran Desert that once housed U.S. cavalrymen pursuing Geronimo and Pancho Villa. Tallmadge Hall, a drab classroom building named for a Revolutionary War officer who spied on the Redcoats, houses 21 interrogation booths, where students practice their art as instructors watch on video monitors and grade them. The U.S. is facing a shortage of experienced interrogators, as well as intelligence officers trained in Middle Eastern and South Asian languages. As of last September, says the forts deputy commander, Col. John M. Custer (a distant relative of Gen. George Custer), there were only a handful of instructors here who could speak Pashto or Urdu, languages common in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A DIFFERENT BREED Interrogators also are finding that al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners, with their fanatical hatred of the U.S. and apparent readiness to commit suicide for their cause, are a different breed than theyve encountered in past conflicts. Some have responded, including Abu Zubaydah, the reputed al Qaeda leader who officials say prompted last Fridays terrorism alert for Northeastern banks. But after months of interrogating prisoners in Afghanistan and at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, officials concede that its difficult to obtain information they can corroborate. The Fort Huachuca course culminates in 10 days of field exercises using generic foreign powers: a fictitious U.S. ally, the Republic of Arizona, and its totalitarian nemesis, the Peoples Republic of New Mexico. On five outdoor acres, students recruit counteragents, interview sources and capture enemies and grill them, while occasionally dealing with distractions such as visiting reporters and human-rights groups all played by fellow soldiers. The students, many under 20 years old, often enter Fort Huachuca fresh from basic training. About 80% pass the course, and then go on to language school. Instruction begins by making students aware of the intelligence-gathering skills they already have. Sgt. First Class Anthony Novacek likes to use a romantic example: Youre down at Jimbos Beach Shack, approaching unknown females, he tells recruits. Success involves assessing the target, speaking her language, learning her needs and appearing to be the only way she can satisfy them. Soldiers then study 30 techniques to make prisoners crack. One is the simple incentive approach. Around the world, everyone smokes, Sgt. Giersdorf tells students. If youve ever talked to a captured Arab who hasnt smoked for two hours, a pack of smokes can get you a long way. Some incentives, however, can be pure deceptions. Sgt. Giersdorf says prisoners may be told they could be repatriated if they cooperate, or that their wounded friends might get the best medical care, even though interrogators know that neither would happen. Other techniques involve considerably more pressure. Fear-up employs heavy-handed, table-banging violence, an Army field manual says. The interrogator behaves in a heavy, overpowering manner with a loud and threatening voice and may throw objects across the room to heighten the sources implanted feelings of fear. THREAT: A U.S. PRISON Interrogators can suggest plenty of things to frighten prisoners. One Federal Bureau of Investigation official says likely scenarios include being sent to a U.S. prison, where inmates might view terrorists as lower than a child molester. Equally threatening: repatriation to Afghanistan, to face justice under the new regime in Kabul. Fear-down, in contrast, targets terrified
UC/Berkeley suspends Students for Justice in Palestine [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=04-26-02storyID=11582 UCB suspends pro-Palestine student group over Wheeler Hall takeover By David Scharfenberg, Daily Planet staff (04-26-02) UC Berkeley has suspended Students for Justice in Palestine while officials investigate the groups April 9 takeover of Wheeler Hall. Under the terms of the suspension the group, which has called on the university to divest from Israel, will lose certain privileges including the ability to reserve rooms for meetings and set up a table on Sproul Plaza at the heart of the campus. We think this is a specific attack on activists and free speech, said Snehal Shingavi, an SJP leader. Shingavi said the move was particularly disturbing on a campus with a history of student activism. This is Berkeley, for goodness sake, he said. In no way are we trying to silence the group or individuals, replied Dean of Students Karen Kenney, noting that SJP members will still have the right to speak out and distribute leaflets during the suspension. University police arrested 79 protesters April 9, including 41 students, several from SJP. Kenney said the students, after going through a lengthy student judicial process, could face penalties ranging from probation to a year-long suspension. Assistant Chancellor John Cummins said suspension is an appropriate penalty for SJP, and individual students, because they disrupted classes during the Wheeler Hall occupation. The basic mission of the university is to educate students, Cummins said. For any group, for any individual, no matter how noble the cause, to interfere with the rights of other students (is unacceptable). But Shingavi argued that the university has never suspended a group for civil disobedience in the past, even if that disobedience disrupted student life, and that targeting SJP is unfair. Cummins said university officials explicitly warned SJP leaders that suspension was a possibility if they violated university rules during their protest. He said the university had never provided that type of warning to another group, making SJP a special case. Adam Weisberg, executive director of Berkeley Hillel, a hub of Jewish student life, said he agrees with the universitys approach. Every student group has a right to demonstrate and articulate its concerns to the larger community, he said. But civil disobedience invites the kind of action that the university is now taking. Will Youmans, an SJP leader, said the group plans to stage a protest the first week of May, calling for university divestment from Israel. All attempts by the university to silence this movement are futile, because there is such widespread support on campus for divestment, he said. Kenney said the group will not be able to reserve Sproul Plaza in advance of the event, as a group with full privileges might. But she said the university will not block any attempt to march or protest. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Palestinian flag flies at Euro bank chief's home [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=49109 Dubai:Saturday, April 27, 2002 Palestinian flag flies at Euro bank chief's home Amsterdam |Reuters | 27-04-2002 A Palestinian flag flew from the home of the European Central Bank president yesterday, raised by his wife in protest against Israel's actions in the West Bank. The red, black, green and white standard was draped over the railings of Wim Duisenberg's second-floor balcony in Amsterdam, clearly visible from the street in the affluent neighbourhood where the ECB chief lives when not at work in Frankfurt. Gretta Duisenberg made no excuses for a gesture that is unlikely to go down well in Israel and is at odds with the officially even-handed approach being taken to the Middle East conflict by her husband's employers at the European Union. My main feeling is that Europe and especially Holland are terrible because we all sit still and no one does anything and (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon can get away with it and I don't like it, she said in a television interview. So I want to show what my feeling is and that is why I hang the flag in my study on my balcony. My husband has a position but it is not my position. I am a free woman and I am allowed to do whatever I like and he agrees with that, she said. Duisenberg, who was also present at the interview on the couple's terrace, declined to comment. The EU, keen to mediate in the Middle East alongside the United States, condemns violence on both sides. But Israel has long complained of what it sees as Europe's pro-Palestinian bias, particularly among politicians on the left who have been critical of Israel's latest West Bank offensive. As head of the independent central bank, Duisenberg tends to keep his political opinions to himself though he was previously a socialist minister. His wife has a reputation in the Dutch media as an outspoken and feisty campaigner for charity. At ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, a bank spokesman said the issue was a private matter for Gretta Duisenberg. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
China tells Japan's defense minister not to come [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ China tells Japan's defense minister not to come Wednesday, April 24, 2002 at 09:30 JST TOKYO - Backing angry words with deeds, China Tuesday postponed a visit by Japan's defense minister to vent its ire after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited a shrine where war criminals are honored along with war dead. The move could seriously damage relations between the two giant Asian neighbors in a year that marks the 30th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties. A Japanese Defense Ministry spokesman said China had conveyed a wish to postpone the visit of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, scheduled to start Saturday. Beijing also delayed a visit to Japan by Chinese naval vessels set for May, the first such visit ever. There is no mistake, they will both be postponed, the spokesman said. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed the delay was linked to Koizumi's surprise Sunday visit to Yasukuni Shrine. The Japanese leader's visit to Yasukuni has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and harmed Sino-Japanese relations, he said. China believes it is not appropriate to hold these two activities at this time. The timing and quiet nature of Koizumi's visit were aimed at preserving ties with countries such as China and soccer World Cup co-host South Korea, who object particularly strongly to visits on Aug 15, the anniversary of Japan's World War II defeat. Visits to the shrine, a traditional wooden building with curving cedar-tiled roofs, by Japanese leaders have in the past sparked furious protests from Asian neighbors who suffered under Japan's military aggression before and during World War II. (Reuters News) Click the link below to view this article and related discussions on Japan Today http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=newsid=212912 = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
U.S. ECONOMY - A time bomb waiting to go off [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.granma.cu/ingles/abril02-4/17econeu-i.html April 22, 2002 U.S. ECONOMY A time bomb waiting to go off BY RAISA PAGES (Granma International staff writer) FACED with the need to promote an optimistic image to the world, U.S. pragmatism has given ground. Most U.S. economists believe that the recession will be reversed this year, but neither the war industrys revitalization, nor increased Pentagon spending have been able to counteract the ravages brought about by a sustained hike in oil prices and the chain reaction unleashed by the Enron energy company scandal. U.S. consultant Isaac Cohen has warned that rising energy prices could halt the reactivation. When fuel prices go up, he explained, the central banks increase interest rates, thereby deterring economic expansion. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Richard Clarida feels that the government is hoping for a reactivation in business investment, but investment has been declining for four successive quarters, something that had not occurred since 1992, when that indicator fell over a period of 18 months. Business Sector Results Reaffirm Wall Street Pessimism was the title of a CNN commentary based on statements appearing in The Wall Street Journal. James Paulsen, investment director of Wells Capital Management, wonders if we are experiencing a prolonged period of stagnation, or at least mediocre yields. Charles Hill, research director of First Call, commented that there was a lot of uncertainty over developments in the second half of the year. Loss of confidence among investors, resulting from illicit maneuvers to cover up the Enron bankruptcy, are negatively influencing the return of economic expansion. SPECULATIVE IRRATIONALITY The world superpowers economy has turned into a huge speculative bubble, as a result of irrational speculation on the stock market. Finance capital in the United States consists of a colossal amount of money, vastly exceeding the value of goods and services produced in the country. In real terms, the underlying causes of the U.S. recession have not been sufficiently investigated, and it does not suit the majority of experts to go into the motives too deeply. In search of expert opinions, Granma International interviewed Francisco Covarrubias, doctor in economic science and a researcher at Cubas Center for Studies of the World Economy (CIEM), who stated that the large expansion experienced by the U.S. economy in the 90s left the heavy burden of a series of economic and financial imbalances in its wake. The economic expansion of the worlds largest economy has basically been supported by financial resources from abroad, he stressed. In 2001 these flows represented around 26% of total U.S. investment, more than triple the proportion recorded in 1995. The search for easy and quick high-profit margins favored by technological advances, institutional changes and the abundant entry of foreign capital intensified the virtually mass transfer of U.S. companies and consumers to the financial markets, above all towards the buying and selling of stock, which created a huge gap between this markets high dynamism and other economic activity. The loss of income due to the depreciation of stocks and bonds over 18 months up until September 2001 was equivalent to 75% of the United States GDP, a proportion higher than that recorded since the 1929 stock market crash. The unchecked indebtedness of U.S. families and companies exceeds their real capacity to pay, compounded by the fact that their principal guarantee is the artificial value of the stocks they own, Covarrubias argued. At the end of 2001, debt absorbed more than 92% of the disposable income in U.S. homes. In the case of companies, debt obligations contracted were in excess of 100% of the countrys GDP, more than $10 trillion USD. LOSS OF BANK CREDIBILITY The Cuban expert stated that the shady side of this debt spiral is the irresponsible conduct assumed by U.S. and foreign banks, which have granted credits extravagantly, violating the most elemental rules and accepting stock as the only guarantee, he stressed. The U.S. financial agencies have gone to the extreme of granting loans to people with poor credit ratings and unable to obtain funding anywhere. They do this because they can charge high interest rates and even higher commissions, he explained. Those credits, referred to as subprimes, have grown from $27 billion USD in the early 90s to a current total of more than $430 billion USD, equivalent to 10% of all U.S. mortgages. Confidence in U.S. banks is endangered. Eight of the 22 banks that have folded since 1997 had granted a large number of subprime loans. A further economic imbalance is associated with the gradual reduction in the U.S. families savings rate, which has fallen to its lowest level in the countrys economic history. The
Israel to Reject U.N. Investigation Into Jenin Refugee Camp [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-04/24/content_369971.htm Israel to Reject U.N. Investigation Into Jenin Refugee Camp - Xinhuanet 2002-04-24 05:11:45 JERUSALEM, April 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided Tuesday night to halt agreement to the arrival of the U.N. fact-finding mission on Jenin refugee camp, Israel Radio reported. The decision was reportedly made after a deliberation by the prime minister. Senior officials cited three reasons for the decision. Firstly, the members appointed to the delegation differ from those agreed upon by Israel. Secondly, the committee has a political rather than a military make-up. Israel is of the opinion that a military make-up is necessary to investigate the issues. And thirdly, Israel was consulted on very few matters and issues that were agreed upon were altered. Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Yehuda Lancry will inform U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan of the decision later Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Sharon said that Israel has no choice but to accept the team to the West Bank city of Jenin, and that he feared the results it would produce. The team led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari is expected to determine what happened during Israel's military operations in the refugee camp, which is believed to be the fiercest fighting during the operations in the West Bank. There is a fierce dispute on the death toll in the refugee camp. Palestinians have claimed that hundreds of people were killed in a massacre in the camp, while the Israeli side has been insisting that only dozens were killed. Under the pressure from the international community, Israel agreed over the weekend to cooperate with the United Nations to investigate into the Jenin affair. But Israel stressed the fact-finding team could not include U.N. Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen or Human Rights High Commissioner Mary Robinson, who are regarded by Israel as biased to the Palestinians. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Sunday that the fact- finding team was not a team of prosecutors or criminal investigators... They are going to establish the facts. The other two team members are Cornelio Sommaruga, former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Sadako Ogata, the former U.N. high commissioner for refugees who is Japan's special envoy on Afghan reconstruction. Larsen, however, continued his fierce criticism on Israel Monday after a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Larsen said what I did, on the basis of what I saw, what I heard and what I smelt, was to say that this was shocking and horrifying. I think that any decent human being with a heart would have reacted the same way I did and used similar words...I described what I saw, people with their bare hands digging deformed bodies out of the rubble, he said. Enditem = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Microsoft promotes Israeli war crimes [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Microsoft blames Israeli branch for outrageous advertisement By Molouk Y. Ba-Isa, Arab News Staff http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=14533 RIYADH, 21 April - Saudi E-Commerce 2002 opens under a cloud with one of the conference's Gold Sponsors, Microsoft, accused by the Israeli peace activist organization Gush Shalom of lending public support to the destructive war launched by the Sharon government against the Palestinians. According to Adam Keller, spokesperson of Gush Shalom, last week Israelis traveling on the main highways in the Tel Aviv area were treated to enormous billboards bearing the Microsoft logo under the text, From the depth of our heart - thanks to The Israeli Defense Forces, on a background made of the Israeli flag. The organization mounted a worldwide appeal to its supporters requesting that they write to Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation, protesting Microsoft's dissemination of crude nationalistic and militaristic propaganda at the Israeli population centers, and supporting a war sharply censured by the international community and controversial among the citizens of Israel itself. A copy of Keller's personal letter to Gates was included in the e-mail campaign. It ended with the plea: We urge you to take care that this activity is terminated forthwith, and that the estimated tens of thousands of dollars invested in the above mentioned billboards be used instead (for) activities aimed at stopping the bloodshed and promoting an equitable Israeli-Palestinian peace. In the Kingdom, Microsoft Arabia stated that they had yet to see the Gush Shalom e-mail. However, they were aware of the controversy. Mohammed Kateeb, GM, Microsoft Gulf, did not diminish the negativity of the issue, but he asserted that the billboards in Tel Aviv and one banner posting on the MSN Israel website had been removed. Jonathan Murray, VP, Global Accounts, Microsoft Corporation, who is in Riyadh to participate in Saudi E-Commerce 2002, did address the situation. He emphasized that Microsoft is very aware of the sensitivities in the region. He pointed out that Pan-Arab customers are extremely important to Microsoft and consequently the region has received significant investment and commitment of Microsoft's resources. The billboards did not require and did not receive the approval of Microsoft Corporation, said Murray. It was a Microsoft Israel decision alone. Murray felt that this was one of the disadvantages of operating local subsidiaries fairly autonomously. Under this system, local Microsoft management is given great leeway to function in the manner they consider best. While Murray did admit that there was a higher review policy for some public materials, such as press releases, he added that the billboards and banner posting had slipped through the policy cracks. When asked what action the company would be taking against those Microsoft employees responsible for the billboards and banner posting, Murray said that the matter would be handled internally. Microsoft's assertions and actions thus far may not be enough to satisfy an outraged global community of human rights activists. Radio talk show host and human rights activist Andy Martin, the only American talk radio host who supports Palestinian rights, will hold an Internet forum on his radio program on Monday, April 22 at 1:00 p.m. to attack Microsoft Corporation for endorsing racism and genocide in Israel and to demand a worldwide boycott of Microsoft products. I first learned of Microsoft Corporation's billboards in Tel Aviv endorsing racism and genocide on April 16, says Martin. Now a major scandal is developing throughout the civilized world. I call on human beings everywhere to boycott Microsoft products in support of the Palestinian people. Microsoft, Gates and Martin are long-term adversaries. Microsoft has campaigned against Martin on its websites and Gates has criticized him in various forums. Martin founded the Committee to Fight Microsoft in 1995 and has actively opposed Microsoft products, which he calls monopolistic, high priced, dysfunctional junk. The Israeli Peace movement is outraged, said Martin. Civilized human beings are outraged. What business does American business have endorsing mass murder of Palestinians? I salute the brave Israeli peace movement that has condemned Microsoft, and I join their condemnation. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST
[Xinhua] Israel Plans to Kill Arafat [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-04/22/content_368151.htm Israel Plans to Kill Arafat: Erekat --- Xinhuanet 2002-04-22 20:46:03 GAZA, April 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday that the second stage of the Israeli government plan is to break into Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah and kill him. Erekat said that the Israeli established buffer zones around Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah put hills of sands around the headquarters after cutting the streets and prevents any contact with him. Preventing us from attending the meeting between President Arafat and William Burns in Ramallah is an indication that it is the first step towards breaking into Arafat's office and getting rid of him, said Erekat. Erekat and other Palestinian security sources revealed that the Israeli army began to implement the second stage of what Israel had called the Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank. The sources said that Israel is preparing for bringing an Israeli Civil Administration that was existed before signing the Oslo peace accords in 1993 to administrate the West Bank after undermining the Palestinian National Authority. The sources said that the Israeli army turned all areas, that were considered as areas A under the full Palestinian control in accordance with the Oslo agreement, into areas B. The sources said that the Israeli army decided not to let any Palestinian resident of the West Bank to leave the Palestinian territories until he or she asks the permission of the Israeli army. Palestinian residents in the town of Salfit between Nablus and Ramallah said that the Israeli army officials informed them that the army is intending to confiscate lands for establishing military basis for the Israeli army in the area. The Israeli actions were taken as part of a series of steps towards the complete undermining of the Palestinian National Authority and bringing back an Israeli occupation civil administration, said Erekat. Enditem = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Book review: Ghost Soldiers [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ The stuff heroes are made of Ghost Soldiers By Hampton Sides Review by Charles Lewis World War II is coming to a close. The Japanese are keen to cover up atrocities they have committed against prisoners of war in the Philippines. Most prisoners, survivors of the Bataan Death March, who are in any semblance of good health have already been shipped off to Japan, Taiwan or mainland China to work as slave labor. At the Puerto Princesa prison camp on Palawan, Japanese prison guards begin killing American and allied POWs as the American army prepares to retake the Philippines. A few POWs are able to escape the massacre and their stories eventually reach the American High Command. A decision is made to rescue the long suffering, doomed prisoners at the Cabanatuan prison camp on the main island of Luzon. The army has been training a group of former mule skinners in New Guinea. The army doesn't need to use mules to haul equipment anymore, and these big, tough farm boys seem like a good choice to use as a new elite force; Army Rangers. The Rangers get their first assignment; rescue what is left of the prisoners at Cabanatuan before they are killed by the retreating Japanese. In Ghost Soldiers, The Forgotten Epic Story Of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission, Hampton Sides has provided us with a well written, thoroughly researched hitherto relatively unknown story that should have been told long ago. He does a good job attempting to explain the brutality of the prison guards. They are not good enough to be the regular army, they are the dregs, they wish they were at the front. The Japanese Imperial Army uses physical violence as a form of punishment within its own ranks. Since the guards, who are often Korean or Taiwanese, are the lowest of the low, they cannot resist beating the POWs, who are even lower than themselves. The book jumps between details of the last stand on the Bataan peninsula, life in the Cabanatuan prison camp and details of the raid. At times there are too many details about the prison camp and Bataan, and not enough about the raid. I found myself looking to see how many more pages I had to go before I got back to the raid more than once. Personal histories of the soldiers taking part in the raid and some of the POWs are very detailed but redundant on more than one occasion. More information about how some of the lower ranking Rangers felt during the build-up to the raid would have been a welcome addition. Descriptions of living conditions for the defenders of Bataan and the POWs are vivid and realistic. There are, however, too many descriptions of grotesque food. One passage about monkey hands in stew would be enough. I would also have liked to have heard a little more about the nurses who cared for the wounded on Bataan and were eventually transferred to Corregidor. I was left wondering where they were imprisoned and how they were treated. Something lacking in other books about the Death March, the opinions and feelings of regular Philippine people, are most welcome here in Sides' book. The reasons for the Filipinos' empathy for the Americans and their deep hated of the Japanese are explained quite well. After witnessing years of murder, torture and brutality being committed by the Japanese Imperial Army, the Americans have arrived to liberate the islands. Add to this the humanity and natural hospitality of the Philippine people. Acts of selfless compassion towards the prisoners, often at great personal risk, are heart rendering. The Japanese occupation of the Philippines was brutal. In addition, Sides explains, to slap a Filipino in the face is to create a deadly enemy for life. The Japanese have a propensity to slap. There is, however, a complete lack of information regarding the fate of the Philippine soldiers who were part of the Death March. In the beginning of the book, we are told that the Philippine army fought tooth and nail defending Bataan and that after the surrender, they joined the Americans on the Death March. No other mention of what became of them is made. Sides informs us that Shigeji Mori, the Cabanatuan commandant, and Camp O'Donnell commandant Yoshio Tsuneyoshi were sentenced to life at hard labor. We are left to wonder, however, how much of their sentences they actually served. The man believed responsible for many of the worst atrocities of the Death March, Colonel Masanobu Tsuji, escaped prosecution. After being liberated, the former prisoners gather strength at an evacuation hospital where they are paid a visit by General Douglas MacArthur. When they finally head back to the U.S., the ship that carries them takes a zigzag route to avoid Japanese submarines. After a month at sea, the boat finally pulls into San Francisco bay. Thousands of people lining the Golden Gate Bridge shower trinkets on the boat; flowers, money, tickets
Bush says Israeli invasion of Jenin must be investigated [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from The Guardian - April 20, 2002 http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,687669,00.html Bush says Israeli invasion of Jenin must be investigated Julian Borger in Washington, Chris McGreal in Jenin and Ewen MacAskill in Jerusalem The White House called yesterday for an international inquiry into civilian casualties caused by the Israeli military assault on Jenin, and asked the Israeli government to allow UN and Red Cross investigators into the devastated West Bank town. As the Israeli army pulled out the last of its troops, President George Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said: The president has called for the United Nations and the Red Cross to be permitted to have unhindered access to Jenin. The president believes what's important is transparency so all the facts can be developed. Mr Fleischer suggested it might be in the interests of Ariel Sharon's government to allow the investigation, quoting the US assistant secretary of state, Richard Armitage, as saying: There is a mythology sometimes to these events where numbers are bandied about. What's important is to find the facts, and that's why the president has said that it's important to allow the UN and the Red Cross in to find out, he said. The Israeli foreign minister, Shimon Peres, last night invited UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to launch a fact-finding mission. Mr Peres telephoned Mr Annan and said that, should the secretary-general send someone to look into the facts of what happened in Jenin and elsewhere, it would be welcome, a UN spokesman said. Tony Blair joined leaders across Europe in backing the call for an international inquiry by the Red Cross. Mr Blair, intent on presenting himself as scrupulously even-handed, said: Yes, what is happening in Jenin is appalling and tragic. So is large numbers of totally innocent Israeli citizens being blown up in cafes, restaurants and even during religious services. He urged a new Middle East peace initiative, with EU involvement. A day after President Bush dubbed Mr Sharon a man of peace, Mr Fleischer said Israel was honouring the timetable it had provided the president for its proposed withdrawal from West Bank towns. Yesterday the Israeli army confirmed it had pulled out of Jenin but declared it a closed military area and began cutting access by blocking roads. As the soldiers withdrew, 35 Palestinians killed in two weeks of the worst fighting since Israel launched its raids into West Bank towns were buried in common graves. It was not known if the dead men were fighters or civilians. Palestinian residents say many hundreds more who died remain under the rubble of buildings crushed by Israeli bulldozers. So far, 39 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers are confirmed killed. In Gaza, which has been relatively quiet for the past few weeks, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up yesterday at an Israeli military checkpoint. Two soldiers were slightly injured. Elsewhere in Gaza and the West Bank, the Israeli army shot dead seven Palestinians, including two boys, nine and 14, during a curfew, and two gunmen said by Israel to have been trying to infiltrate a Jewish settlement. __ (c) 2002, The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Anti-Kissinger Protesters Welcome Legal Moves [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Anti-Kissinger Protesters Welcome Legal Moves http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storyu=/oneworld/20020418/wl_oneworld/1032_1019168897 Thu Apr 18, 5:26 PM ET Daniel Nelson, OneWorld UK Moves by French and Spanish investigators to question Henry Kissinger for terrorist crimes have been welcomed by protesters planning to disrupt the former United States Secretary of State's talk to 2,500 business leaders at a convention in Britain next week. Spanish newspapers reported Thursday that a Spanish judge, Baltazar Garzon, had asked British authorities for permission to question Kissinger while he is in London to address the April 24 annual convention of the Institute of Directors (IoD). They also cited a similar request to Interpol, the international police network, from a French judge. Both men were quoted as saying that the moves related to Kissinger's role in abuses which took place in Chile under former dictator Augusto Pinochet. They referred particularly to Operation Condor, in which five Latin American rulers worked together to get rid of opponents, and the disappearance of a number of Europeans in Chile after the coup d'etat that brought Pinochet to power in 1973. It was on similar grounds that Pinochet was arrested during a private visit to London in 1998. After Britain's highest court ruled that he could be extradited to Spain to stand trial on charges of torture and conspiracy, the human rights organization Amnesty International said, The message is loud and clear: head-of-state immunity does not grant freedom to commit crimes against humanity and acts of torture. Pinochet was subsequently freed on grounds of ill-health. Kissinger's presence in Britain next week will prompt calls from human rights and global justice campaigners for the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair to hold the 79-year-old to account under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which gives national courts the power to prosecute anyone on their territory suspected of committing a crime against humanity. We are against the idea of Kissinger coming to this country, said Guy Taylor of London-based Globalise Resistance, adding, however, that he would support any domestic legal moves against the Harvard-educated National Security Adviser to former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon. The radical group is using leaflets, posters, and the Internet to generate support for a morning demonstration next Wednesday outside London's Royal Albert Hall where IoD delegates are scheduled to gather for a breakfast meeting. Campaigners staged a mock trial of Kissinger earlier this week, at which the chief prosecutor was veteran peace-activist Bruce Kent. Taylor said the protesters were concerned not only with Kissinger's activities in Chile, but also with the 1969 bombing of Cambodia, an attempt to thwart the independence struggle of Bangladesh, and the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, among other interventions which have caused major political shifts on the international stage. An IoD spokesman said Kissinger had been invited to address the conference because he was one of the world's most respected individuals. In addition to being an entertaining speaker, he said, Kissinger's varied experience was relevant to the meeting's theme, Globalization - the real nature and impact. Harvard-educated Kissinger was the joint winner of a Nobel peace prize in 1973 for his part in arranging a ceasefire in Vietnam. He was also the author of a round of secret diplomacy that led to the opening of relations between the U.S. and communist China. _ Copyright © 2002 OneWorld.net http://rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/oneworld/brand/*http://www.oneworld.net/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Nuclear Terror: US Ships High-Radiation Device to China by Mistake [WWW.STOPNAT
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200204/19/eng20020419_94374.shtml HomeWorld Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 19, 2002 Nuclear Terror: US Ships High-Radiation Device to China by Mistake Recently the US reported two losses of high-radiation devices which strained the nerve of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. One is a measuring instrument containing Cs-137 high-radiation material lost by a paper plant in Wisconsin, which was later found shipped to China, but fortunately kept untouched in a safe place. Nuclear terror has been a focus of public concern since the September 11 incident. Recently the US reported two losses of high-radiation devices which strained the nerve of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. One is a measuring instrument containing Cs-137 high-radiation material lost by a paper plant in Wisconsin, which was later found shipped to China, but fortunately kept untouched in a safe place. The other is a box containing Ir-192 found in a shop of second-hand articles, and disastrous results would had been caused if the shop owner haven't called police quickly. Cs-137 shipped to China by mistake The North America StoraEnso, with its headquarter in Wisconsin, is a subsidiary company of Sweden-Finland StoraEnso, a world famous paper producer. Last year the company sold equipment of a factory to a Chinese paper plant. The equipment, according to agreements, should be dismembered entirely and then shipped to China. However, workers in charge of this didn't notice the eye-attracting yellow alarm mark and didn't adopt any measure for the Cs-137 measuring instrument fastened on a metal tube. As a result, it was loaded and shipped to China together with other devices. Last January inspectors of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission found the high-radiation device was missing. On January 31 representatives of StoraEnso rushed to the Chinese plant, finding the device still fastened on steel beam, untouched. StoraEnso has 10 to 20 such instruments containing Cs-137, mainly used to measure pulp density and paper thickness, according to the company spokesman. The one shipped to China, camara-sized, may cause harm to human body in many aspects if carelessly opened, even death. Cs-137 is a kind of high-radiation material which brings great harm if improperly used, experts say. If seeped into soil, it could remain centuries in natural environment, even join in food chain. The reporter tried to contact South America StoraEnso by telephone to learn how the company dealt with the case, but couldn't get through. The device didn't cause harm since it was fastened in a sheltered place, according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The company, after finding the device, sealed it immediately and put it in safe place. Now concerned parties are talking how to ship it back safely to Wisconsin. __ By PD Online Staff Li Heng = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Gore Vidal explains it all in San Francisco [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/19/BA196769.DTL Vidal's analysis of Sept. 11 gets warm reception Ryan Kim, Chronicle Staff WriterFriday, April 19, 2002 -- With warm approval from a packed house last night, author Gore Vidal dissected the Sept. 11 attacks and returned to his basic theme: America is not without blame. The acclaimed political and historical essayist spoke to about 1,300 people at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, elaborating on his latest book, Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, which examines the federal government's role in Sept. 11. Speaking in a wry tone that brought laughter from the audience, and often relying on understatement, Vidal said the United States had in more than 200 instances attacked other countries. We've been like this rogue elephant going around the world, attacking this country and that, said Vidal. He said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, while lamentable, were not completely inexplicable. Sooner or later, someone was going to get irritable, said Vidal. The first rule of physics is that for every act, there is reaction. He belittled the Bush administration, which he said was beholden to business interests. And he said the war in Afghanistan amounted to an oil grab, rather than a desire to root out terrorists. It's Central Asian oil that we have our eyes on, Vidal said. Stanford history Professor Barton Bernstein, one of three panelists, echoed some of Vidal's thoughts while examining the history of what he said was America's military aggression. Based on its history, he said, the United States could be considered a terrorist state. Other panelists were Roberg Higgs of the Independent Institute of Oakland and Thomas Moore of the Hoover Institution at Stanford. _ E-mail Ryan Kim at [EMAIL PROTECTED] = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
The Soviet threat was a myth [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,686956,00.html Comment The Soviet threat was a myth Stalin had no intention of attacking the west. We were to blame for the cold war Andrew Alexander Friday April 19, 2002 The Guardian On a long and reluctant journey to Damascus, as I researched the diaries and memoirs of the key figures involved, it dawned on me that my orthodox view of the cold war as a struggle to the death between Good (Britain and America) and Evil (the Soviet Union) was seriously mistaken. In fact, as history will almost certainly judge, it was one of the most unnecessary conflicts of all time, and certainly the most perilous. The cold war began within months of the end of the second world war, when the Soviet Union was diagnosed as inherently aggressive. It was installing communist governments throughout central and eastern Europe. The triumphant Red Army was ready and able to conquer western Europe whenever it was unleashed by Stalin, who was dedicated to the global triumph of communism. But we - principally the US and Britain - had learnt from painful experience that it was futile to seek accommodation with expansionist dictators. We had to stand up to Stalin, in President Truman's phrase, with an iron fist. It was a Manichean doctrine, seductive in its simplicity. But the supposed military threat was wholly implausible. Had the Russians, devastated by the war, invaded the west, they would have had a desperate battle to reach the Channel coast. Britain would have been supplied with an endless stream of men and material from the US, making invasion virtually hopeless. And even if the Soviets, ignoring the A-bomb, had conquered Europe against all odds, they would have been left facing an implacable US: the ultimate unwinnable war. In short, there was no Soviet military danger. Stalin was not insane. Nor was he a devout ideologue dedicated to world communism. He was committed, above all else, to retaining power, and ruling Russia by mass terror. Stalin had long been opposed to the idea that Russia should pursue world revolution. He had broken with Trotsky, and proclaimed the ideal of socialism in one country. Foreign communist parties were encouraged to influence their own nations' actions. But it was never Stalin's idea that they should establish potentially rival communist governments. Yugoslavia and China were to demonstrate the peril of rival communist powers. The cold war began because of Russia's reluctance to allow independence to Poland. Stalin was held to have reneged on promises at Yalta. Roosevelt and Churchill had demanded that Poland be allowed a government that would be free and also friendly to Russia. It was a dishonest formula. As recently as 1920, the two countries had been at war. No freely elected Polish government would be friendly to the USSR. Furthermore, as Stalin pointed out at Yalta, Russia had been twice invaded through Poland by Germany in 26 years, with devastating consequences. The invasion of 1941 had led to the deaths of 20 million Russians. Any postwar Russian government - communist, tsarist or social democratic - would have insisted on effective control at least of Poland, if not of larger areas of eastern Europe, as a buffer zone against future attacks. The cold war warrior Harry Truman came to office in April 1945. The existing White House, including the belligerent Admiral Leahy, convinced him that he must make an aggressive start. In May, Churchill told Anthony Eden, the foreign secretary, that the Americans ought not to withdraw to the lines previously agreed. There had, he said, to be a showdown while the Allies were still strong militarily. Otherwise there was very little prospect of preventing a third world war. Churchill's iron curtain speech at Fulton, Missouri, in March 1946 - the phrase originated with Dr Goebbels, warning of the same red peril - reflects the great warrior's view of the Soviet menace. Not surprisingly, however, it was seen by the Russians as a threat. Referring to the new tyrannies, Churchill said: It is not our duty at this time when difficulties are so numerous to interfere forcibly in the internal affairs of countries. The inevitable implication was that there would be a time when difficulties were not so numerous. Truman had adopted an aggressive attitude to Russia the previous October. He produced 12 points which he said would govern American policy, including the importance of opening up free markets. The programme would be based on righteousness. There could be no compromise with evil. Since half his points were aimed at Soviet rule in eastern Europe, the evil he had in mind was plain. He added that no one would be allowed to interfere with US policy in Latin America. So Russian interference in countries essential to its safety was evil. But exclusive US domination of its own sphere of influence was
Japan wartime study group keeps experiences alive [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ U.K.-Japan wartime study group keeps experiences alive William Hollingworth LONDON - Former soldiers and prisoners of war, academics, scholars and ordinary members of the public have set up a unique organization in Britain designed to examine Japan and Britain's encounter in World War II and encourage schools in both countries to properly assess aspects of the conflict. The historical study group, named the Burma Campaign Society, was established in London last month and is, its founders claim, the only non-recriminatory forum for discussion of war-related issues between the two countries. The founders hope that their group will become a forum for young and old in both countries to exchange views, debate and examine historical material about the war. The group has already set up a Web site and there are plans for email exchange between the veterans and younger members. The group also hopes to try and incorporate factual material about the war into school curricula. At the group's inaugural meeting, it was felt by a number of members that there is a lack of information on the war in schools in both countries and that materials are sometimes unbalanced. The Burma Campaign Society is born out of the Burma Campaign Fellowship Group, which officially closed last month. The fellowship group was set up in 1991 and was designed to promote reconciliation between British and Japanese veterans who fought in Burma, now Myanmar, during World War II. The veterans decided to close their organization because many of them are getting old and feel they have achieved their goal of reconciliation. Over the years, teams of veterans from both countries have exchanged visits, and a joint meeting has been held in Myanmar. Many of those who were in the fellowship group are expected to join the new organization. Phillida Purvis, who helped set up the new society, said that while living in Japan as a diplomat she had been puzzled as to why World War II was such a taboo subject. She said there are already a number of Anglo-Japanese organizations operating but they do not have promoting understanding about the war as their objective, and in some cases, talk of the war is specifically avoided. She said that so far the new group has around 40 members with a mixture of ages and a rough split between British and Japanese. Purvis, who is honorary secretary of the new society, said, We will take different topics and involve the veterans and historians to lead the discussion and we will debate the subject and then put some of the information about the discussion on to a web site (http://www.burmacampaignsociety.org). We hope that we can have interactive discussions. The society's first meeting will be held May 9 when the subject up for discussion will be Was the Pacific War inevitable? Purvis added that she was hoping to ensure that Britain and Japan's encounter in the war would be included in the citizenship section of Britain's national curriculum. She added that there was also scope for more discussion about the war in Japan with the advent of a new general studies section in its curriculum. Veteran Philip Malins, aged 82, the new society's vice chairman, said, We will concentrate more on the historical aspects of the American-Japan conflict and hope to improve the accuracy of the historical reports. It's also our hope that the younger generation will be taught the true facts about what happened in that conflict. We need to know what happened so that it won't be repeated again and so that we don't drift into a position where someone like Hitler comes to power. However, he added that the new group would still hold memorials for those who died in Burma and the group is also anxious to enlist Myanmarese living in Britain. Ryugo Matsui, associate professor at the faculty of intercultural communication at Ryukoku University in Japan's Shiga Prefecture said it is important for the younger generation in Japan to read via e-mail the experiences of the veterans. He said, I hope that there will be a good response to this (the society) in Japan. There's a big conflict between right and left over the interpretation of the war but the problem is that both sides lack the information from those with first-hand experience of the war. If you provide such information to the Japanese people .. I hope that their views will become more balanced. Tomoyo Nakao, from Okayama University in Okayama Prefecture, said that there were a number of Japanese Internet sites which spoke of Westerners being a race apart and she said that it was important that web sites such as the one being proposed were set up to offer a counterbalance. April 18, 2002 Click the link below to view this article and related discussions on Japan Today http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=featureid=209
U.S. PRISONS: Horror behind bars [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.granma.cu/ingles/abril02-3/16prisio-i.html April 16, 2002 U.S. PRISONS Horror behind bars Captive of a system whose constitution legalizes forced labor and slavery for convicts, two million people are currently behind bars in the United States, the largest prison population in the world BY RAISA PAGES (Granma International staff writer) THE cells measure 2.3 by 3.3 meters and are designed so that inmates cannot see each other. They remain in this small space for 23 hours of the day and during the hour of exercise they are tied up in shackles. Food is given to them through the small opening in the door of their cell. This describes Pelican Bay State Prison in California, one of the most notorious in the United States for its cruelty. U.S. prisons have become concentration camps, according to experts. The majority of U.S. states spend more money building prisons than schools. California has one of the largest prison systems in the world, and public funds allocated to maintaining the prison system are greater than what goes to education. Many more penitentiaries than schools have been built, a surprising reality, not only for its local repercussions, but also for its social significance in the most powerful nation in the world. The United States has the unfortunate record of being the country with the largest prison population in the world, two million. The number of inmates increases at an alarming rate of 50% every 10 years. With 5% of the global population, it harbors 25% of the prisoners reported worldwide. The U.S. Justice Department asserts that there are 690 prisoners for every 100,000 inhabitants, much higher than the European average of less than 100 inmates. LUCRATIVE BUSINESS The privatization of prisons in the United States has become a lucrative business, something truly incredible. The Prison Industrial Complex (PIC), as this private industry is called, is the biggest beneficiary of penal policy, based on repression and punishment more than reintegration and education, journalist Marta Caravantes commented. Comparative studies indicate that private prisons register costs of 10- 15% less than those of public institutions, and that cost efficiency is reflected in the lower quality of inmates food and medical services, lower salaries and other conditions, all in the name of profit. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution legalizes these practices by adopting the exception: slavery and forced labor are not prohibited from being applied except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. With $7 billion USD in new investments every year, the prison industrys annual budget exceeds $35 billion USD and has more than a half million workers, making it the second largest employer in the United States after General Motors. Caravantes considers the private correctional facilities, which employ the cheapest labor on the whole continent, without social protection, a prosperous business extending through 27 states and including 120 penitentiaries. Prisoners package products for Microsoft, Starbucks and Jansport and also provide labor for other companies. Behind the growth of the Prison Industrial Complex are Wall Street firms and banks that primarily supply the funds for the construction of private prisons, denounces Monica Moorehead, coordinator of the Millions for Mumia Abu-Jamal, an African-American freedom fighter who has been battling his death sentence for over 16 years. Abu-Jamal is one of the best-known prisoners in the world for his restless struggle against the injustices of the U.S. system. Some believe that an effort is under way to export private prisons to Latin American and Europe. The largest of the U.S. prison companies, Corrections Corporation of America, is operating in England and some companies want to invest in Mexico, seeking greater profits from prisoners outside their national territory. HISPANICS AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS: DISPROPORTIONATE SENTENCES Twenty-five U.S. states continue allowing the execution of mentally retarded prisoners, denounced by the organization Human Rights Watch. U.S. prisons are currently being transformed into new concentration camps to imprison the homeless, unemployed, intoxicated, mentally ill and other minorities who are cannon fodder in the current U.S. justice system, according to specialist Jerome G. Miller, an expert on the prison system and social reintegration techniques, cited in Sally Burchs article, published on the Internet. More than 60% of the inmates belong to racial minorities and ethnic groups. African-Americans account for 12% of the total population but fill half the prisons of the United States and receive disproportionate sentences. In New York, one out of every three young black men is imprisoned or on parole. Estimates on the current rate of African-American imprisonment indicate that the
Berkeley Students Call for National Day of Action for Palestine, 5-1 or 5-2 [WWW
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.iap.org/newsapril185.htm Berkeley Students Call for a National Day of Action -- May 1st and/or 2nd, 2002 Students for Justice in Palestine -- UC Berkeley, April 18, 2002 During the national day of action on April 9th, close to 10,000 students participated in actions on US colleges and universities to demand an end to the Israeli occupation and demand that academic institutions divest from holdings in Israel. At Berkeley, 1200 activists protested and 79 face charges for participating in non- violent civil disobedience. The Israeli military incursions show no signs of abating, while the reports of the massacres at Jenin and Nablus only point to the vicious, brutal, and murderous campaign of the Israeli government against the Palestinian people. As a consequence, it is important, more than ever, that students and activists all across the country come out against the Israeli occupation and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Berkeley calls on all activists to join in national actions on May 1st or 2nd (whichever date works best for activists on individual campuses)* on the three following demands: 1) End the Occupation, No to the Settlements, Right of Return for all Refugees 2) Divestment of all University/College Holdings in Israel, End Aid to Israel 3) Drop all Charges Against Campus Activists Arrested on April 9th. We make this call in the interests of solidarity and urgency and in the absence of a more democratic process to initiate this call, and we stand in support of proposals for increasing the participation of activists in future calls. In order to coordinate national media and to develop a more thorough network, we ask that you email us information about actions that you plan on your campus. Please send announcements, press releases, or any other contact information to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yours in Solidarity and in Struggle, Students for Justice in Palestine -- UC Berkeley __ http://www.iap.org = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Chinese Tunisian leaders call on Israel to withdraw [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/news/2002-04-18/66211.html Leaders call on Israel to withdraw (04/18/2002) (China Daily) China and Tunisia Wednesday called on Israel to undertake a comprehensive withdrawal from Palestinian territories and for implementation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. Visiting President Jiang Zemin and Tunisian President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali Wednesday said during their talks that both sides oppose Israel's use of military force. The current Middle East situation was again touched upon in the speeches by Jiang and Ben Ali at Wednesday's welcoming banquet. Jiang said that China is very much worried about the escalation of violence and the deterioration of the tense Middle East situation, and he said that China also condemns Israel's abuse of its military power and the economic blockade of Palestine and the isolation of President Yasser Arafat. China strongly urged Israel to immediately implement relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council to withdraw troops from Palestine, lift the blockade of Arafat's headquarters and resolve disputes with Palestine through negotiations. Jiang said that China, as a permanent number of the UN Security Council, is willing to make efforts together with Arabian countries to ease the tensions so as to restore peace in the region at an early date. Ben Ali called on the international community to take urgent and decisive steps to protect the Palestinian people and see that their legitimate rights are restored. On anti-terrorism, Ben Ali reiterated the call for a UN-sponsored international conference to draft a code of conduct to guide the struggle against terrorism and to address the root causes of terrorism. During the early meeting with Ben Ali, Jiang stressed that with the development of economic globlization, China and Tunisia should enhance bilateral co-operation. Jiang put forward three suggestions on bilateral ties: increase exchanges and contacts at all levels, especially high levels, between the two sides; expand the channels of bilateral economic and trade co-operation; and increase consultation and co-ordination between the two sides in the international community so as to protect the rights of developing countries. Agreeing with Jiang's suggestions, Ben Ali also said that Tunisia admired the great achievements scored by China in its economic and social development, noting that Tunisia is willing to learn from the Chinese success in economic construction. Ben Ali said that China has made great contributions to the economic development of Tunisia and that the Tunisian people thank China for its assistance in the advancement of agriculture and infrastructure in remote areas of Tunisia, which have improved the local living standard. (China Daily by Hu Qihua) = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
S.F. Bay Area Human Shields ponder fate [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from The San Francisco Examiner page one, Wed., 4-17-02 http://www.examiner.com/news/default.jsp?story=n.shield.0417w NEWS Human shields ponder fate By Alex Brown Of The Examiner Staff Of all the inner doubts, fears and questions faced by the 11 Bay Area human shield volunteers currently en route to the West Bank, one in particular blindsided Alison Weir at 3 a.m. Tuesday -- How do you pack for a war zone? With less than 10 hours remaining until her Tel Aviv, Israel-bound flight departed from San Francisco International Airport, Weir momentarily set aside the safety concerns and troubling thoughts to begin the somber task of packing for the three-week venture. I guess it's not the most obvious thing that would hit you, said Weir, a Marin-based human rights activist. But everything really hit me when I started to get my bags ready. Seven other Bay Area activists joined Weir at SFO on Tuesday -- two had already left Monday, and another will depart Thursday -- making up the first such U.S.-based civilian mission to the region. Some, like Los Angeles-based Frank Sosa, were sad. Others, like Marin resident Gary Crane, were exhilarated by the prospect of flying to Palestinian civilian sites and acting as human shields. I'm not a religious person -- this is an act of conscience for me, Sosa said. I'm trying to go in with an open mind, but when I think about some of the things I might face, it's a little depressing. Others such as Crane were angry with Israel's armed stance in occupying the West Bank. I'm outraged and ashamed as a Jew, knowing what my people are doing ... he said. I'm exhilarated, angry and happy at the same time to be going. I'm excited to be a part of history. The group's demographic composition was as varied as their feelings. Nine hail from San Francisco, San Jose or Marin, while Michael Campos-Quinn -- the 18-year-old student who arrived at Tel Aviv Airport on Tuesday -- and Sosa, are from Berkeley and Los Angeles respectively. Four members were happy to speak publicly prior to leaving. The remainder, however, requested anonymity, fearing Israeli customs officers or soldiers might deny them entry into Palestinian territories if the nature of their mission was uncovered. It shows that there's people from many different parts of our society who oppose the treatment of Palestinian civilians, said human shield coordinator Iman Farajallah, who heads the Grassroots Protection Program and the Imannetwork.org. We have two Jewish people in the group, too. I think everyone's a little nervous about what's going to happen over the next few weeks. Once in the Mideast, the local human shield volunteers will be placed in the hands of the International Protection Force for the Palestinian People -- an organization already well entrenched in the region. From there, each person will be allocated a family to shield, most likely from the war-torn towns of Ramallah, Nablus and Bethlehem. I don't know exactly what we'll be assigned to do, but I'm certainly not going all that way to sit on the sidelines, Weir said. When you're going to a place like that, there's always the chance of danger. Farajallah, meanwhile, waits anxiously by the phone at her Bay Area bunker. Sometime this morning she will hear whether the eight volunteers have successfully gained entry to Tel Aviv, and will begin to coordinate their transportation, accommodation and assignments. Of greater concern, though, is the well-being of her West Bank-based cousin and nephew -- both missing and, she presumes, on the run. It's a worrying time, she said. Since Palestinian fighters stepped up suicide bombing campaigns and Israeli troops stormed townships and refugee camps, public opinion has been polarized. And while many may not agree with the politics behind the Bay Area human shield mission, the strength of the group's convictions is tough to question. I've never been to the region, but I feel it's the right thing to do, Sosa said, just before he stepped past the security checkpoint at SFO. Still, 90 percent of the people I know think I'm crazy. __ E-mail Alex Brown at [EMAIL PROTECTED] = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL
Guardian UK News Summary, Tues., 4-16-02 [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from The Wrap, Guardian Unlimited's round-up of today's papers. 'MONSTROUS WAR CRIME' ALLEGED IN JENIN Nothing prepares you for the smallness of a dead body, writes the Times's Middle East correspondent who, like several of her colleagues, managed to dodge Israeli snipers yesterday to inspect the wreckage of the Jenin refugee camp. Rarely, in more than a decade of war reporting from Bosnia, Chechnya, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, have I seen such deliberate destruction, such disrespect for human life. The other broadsheets report the same horrors. The sweet and ghastly reek of rotting human bodies is everywhere, writes the Independent's Phil Reeves, who accuses the Israelis of trying to cover up a monstrous war crime. They appear to confirm reports - emphatically denied by the Israeli military - that bodies were bulldozed into the ground. A Palestinian tells the Guardian's correspondent that she had seen a detailed map showing the houses the Israeli troops intended to bulldoze. Her home was occupied by soldiers who entered by punching a hole in her neighbour's wall. I don't have another land, one of them wrote on the wall in neat blue ink before he left. I saw some children who were wounded take four days to die, a Palestinian labourer tells the Times, bleeding to death because there was no one here to tend them. The FT, in a quietly damning editorial, criticises Israel's refusal to allow access to ambulances. No reliable tally of the dead and injured is available, but at least 3,000 of Jenin's Palestinians are homeless, it says. Israel's offensive smacks of revenge, not containment, the paper says, and the country's international standing has been gravely damaged. Evidence of diplomatic progress is, as ever, scant. The International Herald Tribune reports that the US envoy Colin Powell now envisages peace talks without Yasser Arafat: the Palestinian leader could be replaced by an official of his choosing. Israel, meanwhile, has made its biggest catch of the West Bank offensive - Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah leader whom it accuses of plotting suicide bombings while masquerading as a politician. Ariel Sharon said his troops would pull out of Jenin and Nablus within a week but would remain in Nablus and Bethlehem for a while yet. * The lunar landscape that was Jenin http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,685133,00.html * Times: Inside the camp of the dead http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-268533,00.html * FT: A humanitarian emergency http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=Viewc=Articlecid=FT334S7N20Dlive=true * Tribune: Top Fatah leader arrested by Israel http://www.iht.com/articles/54800.html = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Step-by-step atomic bomb guide 'made public' [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1931000/1931103.stm Monday, 15 April, 2002, 14:50 GMT 15:50 UK Step-by-step bomb guide 'made public' Atomic bombs were first built in Britain in the 1940s The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) says it is checking claims that one of its documents - detailing a step-by-step guide on how to build an atomic bomb - has been put in a public office for all to see. The file is said to be in the archives at the Public Record Office, which can be accessed by anyone, including terrorists, and gives measurements, diagrams and precise details on bomb-building, the Daily Telegraph reported. Shadow defence secretary Bernard Jenkin criticised such a move as a monstrous free gift to terrorists and called for an immediate government investigation. He told BBC News Online: The fact that this information has been lying in the public records office is extraordinary. Such information may already be in the public domain, but why needlessly help rogue states and terrorist organisations with such comprehensive instructions on how to make an atom bomb? I will be pressing the government for a comprehensive explanation. Stringent review As a result of the outcry, a spokesman for the MoD said it had sent someone along to the Public Record Office to check the content of the files. He added: We have a very stringent review process of all documents and before they are placed on public file they are very carefully checked for any sensitive material. We would not just put any document in the public domain. The files are said to relate to the construction of Blue Danube, the first British atomic bomb, which was built in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It is also said to describe various ways in which such a bomb could be smuggled into the country. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
(In San Francisco) Rally denounces actions by Israel/Hundreds who back Palestini
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/13/MN240669.DTL --- Saturday, April 13, 2002 (SF Chronicle) Rally denounces actions by Israel/Hundreds who back Palestinians demonstrate at S.F. consulate Ray Delgado, Chronicle Staff Writer A sea of Palestinian flags fluttered in front of the Israeli Consulate in downtown San Francisco yesterday as hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered for a lunchtime rally. Shouting cheers like No more Israel and No justice, no peace, the group peacefully gathered at the consulate on Montgomery Street to denounce Israeli actions in the current Middle East crisis. A small skirmish erupted in the middle of the rally when a man carrying an Israeli flag was surrounded by shouting protesters. Police and some of the protesters tried to form a shield around the man, but the crowd around him continued to grow, prompting police to escort him out of the area for his own safety. As he was leaving, a protester ripped the man's flag off its pole, and a group of men began stomping on it. Despite the skirmish, the rally was otherwise peaceful. Father Labib Kobti, an organizer of the rally, said that most of the Palestinian supporters at the rally did not support the suicide bombings against Israel but feel passionately about the rights of Palestinians to defend themselves against Israeli aggression. I think that everybody is worried about the killings of innocents on both sides, Kobti said. Violence only produces more violence. We believe in the resistance against the (Israeli) occupation of the Holy Land. Fayeq Oweis, 40, a Palestinian who immigrated to the United States 20 years ago, said he is worried for his family who live just outside of the city of Ramallah. He said he wanted to do whatever he could to protest the Israeli invasion in the West Bank. At the least, I can support Palestinian people for the fight and freedom, said Oweis, a resident of South San Francisco. I was born and raised there. It's the least I can do. __ E-mail Ray Delgado at [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Guardian UK news summary, Friday, 4-12-02 [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm from The Wrap, Guardian Unlimited's round-up of today's papers. PESSIMISM SURROUNDS POWELL VISIT I don't like wallowing with pessimists, Colin Powell snapped yesterday as he left for Jerusalem. It is necessary for me to go. But none of the papers hold out much hope that the US envoy will be able to broker any sort of peace in the Middle East. (The Telegraph thinks it was a mistake for him to go at all; like John Pilger, it believes Ariel Sharon's war on terrorism bears comparison with America's. Pilger thinks both are wrong; the Telegraph thinks both are right). The Independent agrees that Mr Powell is unlikely to make any progress this week. Material pressure - sanctions and the withdrawal of aid - is the only kind that will work, the paper argues. But support for Mr Sharon in Washington is beginning to ebb away, the papers suggest. After he's finished [this campaign], what next? an official speculated on Wednesday. The fear is that he knows no other way than being tough. The Israeli prime minister said last night that his troops would stay in Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus and Ramallah until all the terrorists there have surrendered, reports the Telegraph, and predicted another three weeks of fighting. You foreigners make much of Israeli civilian deaths, the neighbour of a dead Palestinian woman told the Washington Post. But we are just statistics. Because a soldier does it, it is not terrorism. Why not? The Guardian reports the random strafing of heavily populated civilian areas by Israeli soldiers in Jenin, as well as the use of Palestinians as human shields for army patrols: A widespread and systematic pattern of human rights abuses is only now beginning to emerge. * Refugees report on Israeli abuses http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,683098,00.html * Telegraph: Israel issues challenge to Powell's peace drive http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/04/12/wmid12.xmlsSheet=/portal/2002/04/12/ixport.html * Tribune: In Israelis' wake, untold destruction http://www.iht.com/articles/54459.html = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
(In San Francisco): 16 demonstrators arrested at consulate/200 protesters in S.F
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/11/MN77637.DTL -- Thursday, April 11, 2002 (SF Chronicle) 16 demonstrators arrested at consulate/200 protesters in S.F. demand Israel pull out of Palestinian territory Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer Jewish demonstrators demanding that Israel pull out of Palestinian territory were arrested in front of the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco yesterday, and they vowed that protests would continue all week. Police hauled 16 members of A Jewish Voice for Peace out of the middle of Montgomery Street -- where they stood for 20 minutes with arms linked, chanting slogans and singing Israeli songs -- after they refused to quit blocking traffic. They were all cited for minor traffic infractions related to obstructing the roadway and then released, said San Francisco police Captain James Dudley. The protest, and the arrests at 1:45 p.m., were conducted with no violent outbursts, he said. The demonstration of about 200 people, which began at noon on the street outside the consulate and in its front hallway, was held to raise another Jewish voice, one that lets everyone know that what Israel is doing is not happening in our name, said co-organizer Penny Rosenwasser. The Israeli army is demolishing Palestinian houses with people still inside them, and using older people as human shields in front of their tanks, said Rosenwasser, who lives in Oakland. Bodies are being left to rot in the streets. It's important that people know we care about Israel and believe it has the right to exist, but that Palestinian lives are just as valuable as Israeli lives. About a dozen counter-demonstrators stood near the protesters, holding Israeli flags, but there were no clashes between the two sides. A pair of dueling protests over the same issue drew about 1,000 demonstrators -- equally divided for each camp -- to the consulate last Friday and also ended nonviolently. Rosenwasser said that members of A Jewish Voice For Peace, a Bay Area group, would be back at the consulate today with members of Tikkun Community, another Jewish organization, and that another protest would follow tomorrow involving Arabic groups. E-mail Kevin Fagan at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Perpetual war 4 perpetual peace 4 perpetual war crimes trials [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- --- Yahoo! Alerts - Breaking News [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 06:57:22 PDT Breaking News:: UNITED NATIONS The world's first permanent war crimes tribunal will come into force on July 1 after receiving ratifications from 60 countries. For more information on this or other news visit the front page of http://news.yahoo.com = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
* Germany Suspends Arms Sales to Israel * [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22313-2002Apr9.html Germany Suspends Arms Sales to Israel Decision May Foreshadow European Trade Sanctions as Criticism of West Bank Incursions Mounts By Peter Finn Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, April 10, 2002; Page A15 BERLIN, April 9 -- Germany, long Israel's most steadfast supporter in Europe, has suspended arms sales to the Jewish state to protest its military action in the West Bank, officials said today. At the same time, some senior German politicians have used harsh language to publicly criticize a country that the Holocaust legacy has often put almost beyond reproach. In interviews today, officials in the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder declined to use the word embargo to describe its action. But the government has refused to act on planned weapons sales to Israel, effectively suspending them, and other European countries have taken similar actions, officials said. The move signals a growing impatience with Israel in Europe. In recent days, the 15-country European Union has issued call after call for Israel to end its military offensive, to no discernible effect. Senior EU officials who flew to Israel last week to seek a settlement were denied access to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and stayed less than a day. Holding up weapons sales is the first known sanction that Europe has applied to try to bring muscle to its words; officials are also talking about some other kind of trade restriction. Israeli officials played down the action, but did not deny that weapons sales were not going forward. I can categorically say this is not an embargo, said Shimon Stein, Israel's ambassador to Germany, in a telephone interview. There are some problems that need to be resolved and that is subject to ongoing discussion. We hope that we can overcome the difficulty. The German press agency DPA reported, however, that the Israeli Defense Ministry had filed a letter of protest with the German government over its refusal to allow sales. In 2000, the last year for which figures are available, Germany sold about $170 million in military equipment to Israel, including torpedoes and parts for tanks and armored cars. The disclosure that Germany is blocking weapons sales followed meetings in Berlin last week between German officials and Dore Gold, foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel. The Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper described the meeting as cool and said that German officials labeled Gold intransigent. The government's frustration has begun to spill out of Schroeder's cabinet, whose members are usually circumspect in their statements on Israel. The occupation against the resolution of the U.N. Security Council, the adherence to the occupation, and the reports about the Israeli troops' conduct are shocking, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Schroeder's minister of development aid, told German media. German officials called for the early creation of a Palestinian state, followed by negotiations on key issues such as Palestinian refugees, the status of Jerusalem and the final borders of Palestine. The Germans also called for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from positions they had seized in the current offensive. In a significant change of mood in Germany, leading legislators from the center-right opposition have cast Israel as the aggressor and, in one case, employed language associated with the Nazis to describe the incursions into Palestinian territory. In a widely publicized letter to the Israeli ambassador, Norbert Bluem, a labor minister under former chancellor Helmut Kohl, described the Israeli offensive as a war of annihilation -- the very term employed by Adolf Hitler to describe his 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. And Juergen Moellemann, deputy chairman of the right-of-center Free Democrats, a likely coalition partner in the next German government, said of Palestinian violence, I would resist too, and use force to do so . . . not just in my country but in the aggressor's country as well. Such language was once heard only in far-right and far-left circles here. Some analysts view the political mainstreaming of anti-Israel sentiment as more than an immediate response to the crisis, and as a deeper expression of Germany's desire not to be shackled by history as the unified republic assumes a greater role on the world stage. There is no question there has been a shift, said Deidre Berger, director of the American Jewish Committee office in Berlin. This is a critical issue for Germany. They are trying to assert themselves: We are a European player and while we are mindful of history, we don't need to feel constrained by it. The current situation is the immediate trigger, said Stein. But the
Guardian UK Middle East news summary, 11 April 2002 [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm from The wrap: Powell determined to meet Arafat Ros Taylor 11 April 2002 COLIN POWELL DETERMINED TO MEET ARAFAT Most of the papers wish the US envoy, Colin Powell, well in his mission to the Middle East. Few dare to offer him much advice. The secretary of state - a soldier rather than a diplomat by training according to the Guardian - arrives in Jerusalem tonight still determined to meet Yasser Arafat, despite considerable opposition from Ariel Sharon. I hope that there will be no difficulties in arranging a meeting, Mr Powell said yesterday, in what the Times describes as a painful admission for the representative of a superpower. But Mr Powell has to realise that these two tired, tawdry repositories of age-old violence, duplicity and hate have to go, insists the Guardian. Alternative interlocutors are urgently needed. Some commentators believe yesterday's suicide bombing in Haifa was an indictment of the Israeli occupation; others, like David Horovitz in the Independent, interpret it as a sign that Mr Sharon's mission is not yet completed. Why did the bombings recommence yesterday, with a Hamas terrorist from Tulkaram apparently reponsible? Because the army withdrew from Tulkaram 24 hours earlier, under extreme pressure from the Bush administration. Donald MacIntyre tries to get to the bottom of Tony Blair's seemingly perverse refusal to admit to Labour MPs that there will be no attack on Iraq until a Middle Eastern peace process is under way. (The time for military action in Iraq has not yet arisen, he told an anxious Commons yesterday). The explanation, MacIntyre says, is that he wants to maintain the pressure on Saddam Hussein and make sure UN weapons inspectors can enter the country. The Guardian's Hugo Young is more pessimistic. Washington alone will decide when to act. Mr Blair's only decision will be whether or not to go along. Place your bets. For the Times, that is reason enough for the prime minister to return soon to Saddam at considerable length and with absolute consistency. * Israel faces global wrath http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,682188,00.html * Hugo Young: Blair talks big on Iraq, but Bush calls the shots http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,682091,00.html * Independent: This is why the Israelis support Mr Sharon's tactics http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=283686 * Independent: The prime minister and his party are not enjoying their Pinteresque dialogue http://argument.independent.co.uk/regular_columnists/donald_macintyre/story.jsp?story=283685 = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
[CBC] - Israelis demolishing Palestinian government infrastructure [WWW.STOPNATO
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE at http://cbc.ca/news ISRAELIS DEMOLISHING PALESTINIAN GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/04/10/mideast_infrastructure020410 WebPosted Thu Apr 11 10:52:02 2002 JERUSALEM--Some Palestinians say the Israeli army has done much more than dismantle a terrorist network during its invasion of the West Bank. They say the Israelis are destroying the infrastructure of the Palestinian government. Diana Buttu, a Canadian lawyer in the West Bank to advise Palestinian negotiators, says there'll be little government left when the Israelis leave. Diana Buttu They've defined anything that's Palestinian as terror, she said. So the Ministry of Education is, in the Israeli government's eyes, terror. So they've destroyed records from the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Health is considered terror. So they've gone after the records of the Ministry of Health. The army has torn apart houses it says were used as bomb factories, and pummelled security buildings used as bases of operations by Palestinian fighters. Police stations across the West Bank have been turned to rubble, police officers having been killed or arrested. Palestinian government destroyed Beyond that, international organizations such as the UN say there has been a systematic effort to destroy the machinery of Palestinian government, ministry by ministry, department by department. At the Palestinian Ministry of Statistics in Ramallah, for example, computers have been destroyed and databases seized. Much of that government infrastructure was paid for by Western aid, and the World Bank estimates it will cost foreign donors, including Canada, $2.7 billion to rebuild. Telecommunications centres, which the Israelis say incite terror, have fallen. Foreign observers say that, far from TV cameras, Israeli engineers blew up government buildings in at least four cities. Shantytowns Palestinian professor Manuel Hassassian says that the Israelis are destroying everything built under Palestinian rule since the 1993 Oslo accord and fears there will be a return to de facto Israeli governance. We are talking about uprooting the Palestinians and creating conditions where we will end up being red Indians living in basically shantytowns and reservations, he said. Not so, says Israel. In fact, it says the army is doing moderate Palestinian leaders a favour. Ranaan Gissin Now that there's no terrorism, you can rest assured that there will be sufficient people people who want to live here, not to die here - that can pick up the pieces, said Ranaan Gissin, Israeli government spokesman. But militant groups such as Hamas also seem poised to fill the vacuum that would be left behind in a collapse of the Palestinian Authority. Copyright © 2002 CBC All Rights Reserved http://cbc.ca/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
[CBC] Jenin refugee camp scene of horror [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE at http://cbc.ca/news JENIN REFUGEE CAMP SCENE OF HORROR http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/04/09/mideast_tuesday020409 WebPosted Wed Apr 10 11:33:24 2002 JERUSALEM--The Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank has become a scene of misery and terror for both sides in the Middle East conflict. While 13 Israeli soldiers died there and others were wounded in a well-planned trap Tuesday, unconfirmed reports suggest there may be more than 100 Palestinian casualties. The actual number is unknown because Israeli forces will not let journalists into the town. Palestinian leaders allege there is a massacre taking place in Jenin, where fighting has been fierce for a week. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said the streets of the camp are littered with dozens of bodies. The army is keen to display guns it has seized and materials used to make terrorists' bombs, but is not so forthcoming with material that puts the Israelis in a bad light. Despite the Israeli deaths in Jenin, the campaign in the West Bank will continue as planned, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said. A building collapsed on top of the soldiers after a booby trap went off. Soldiers destroyed other buildings they said were booby-trapped. The incident was the deadliest attack on Israeli soldiers since the uprising began 18 months ago, and more than doubles the number of deaths so far in the West Bank invasion. Sharon made a televised statement on Tuesday in which he repeated his message that the army would continue its campaign against militants. This is a battle for the survival of the Jewish people, for survival of the state of Israel, he said. The army began pulling out of two West Bank towns, Tulkarem and Qalqilya, earlier on Tuesday but also launched a new offensive further south in Hebron and Dura. Palestinians dismissed the withdrawals as a sham. Copyright © 2002 CBC All Rights Reserved http://cbc.ca/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Hollywood gets new handbook on war [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- This is from The San Francisco Examiner, page C-4, Sunday, March 10, 2002: Hollywood gets new handbook on war LOS ANGELES - An industry advisory group that counsels Hollywood on responsibly handling issues such as substance abuse and auto safety has added terrorism and war to its list. Spotlight on a New Normal, a handbook from the Entertainment Industries Council Inc., will be distributed to more than 3,000 industry members who create and distribute films and TV programs. It includes suggestions for depicting terrorism and conditions of war. Among them: Promote preparedness for future vulnerabilities or attacks and consider story lines that promote volunteerism and flag displays in memory of terrorism victims. The handbook was developed in response to the Sept. 11 attacks and is intended to help define the role Hollywood can play in the war on terrorism, the council said. While we do not endorse or encourage government interference with the creative process, we do, however, believe that government can be a reliable resource for information that writers can draw upon for character and story line development, council president Brian Dyak said last week. In the past, the EIC has worked to encourage the accurate depiction of drug, alcohol and tobacco use in movies and TV and to encourage depictions of such safety measures as seat belts in cars. The Bush administration has asked Hollywood executives to take part in the war on terrorism by boosting the spirits of citizens and entertaining soldiers at home and abroad. Although some in the industry have expressed uneasiness about acting as government propagandists, the White House has said it doesn't see Hollywood in that role. __ - Associated Press = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
[CBC] Israeli army claims 100 Palestinians killed in refugee camp fighting [WWW.
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE at http://cbc.ca/news ISRAELI ARMY CLAIMS 100 PALESTINIANS KILLED IN REFUGEE CAMP FIGHTING http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/04/08/mideast_monday020408 WebPosted Mon Apr 8 22:37:44 2002 JERUSALEM--Fierce fighting in Jenin and Nablus raged early on Monday with hundreds of Palestinians taking on the Israeli army. But late Monday night, Palestinian fighters were surrendering in Nablus, the biggest city on the West Bank, after Israel threatened to attack with rocket-firing helicopters. Shots were also exchanged and a fire broke out at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where about 200 Palestinians sought refuge a week ago and have been surrounded by soldiers since. Smoke billows near the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem During the shootout which both sides accused the other of starting a fire broke out in a nearby building. A Palestinian police officer was shot and killed when he went to put out the blaze. The fire burned for more than an hour before firefighters were allowed close enough to put it out. After being searched for weapons, they weren't allowed into the compound, and had to shoot water over the wall. The standoff has created tension between the Roman Catholic Church and the Israeli government. Israel says the 60 clerics inside the church are hostages, but the Franciscans disagree. Bloody battles in Jenin, Nablus Further to the north, Israeli soldiers fought running street battles with Palestinians. Official Israeli estimates say more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in fighting at the refugee camp at Jenin. Two Israeli soldiers have also died. Israeli Brig. Gen. Eyal Shline said houses in the Jenin camp have been booby-trapped and several men have blown themselves up in suicide attacks. Witnesses inside the camp said helicopters fired missiles into the camp beginning in the early morning and bulldozers flattened homes. The army claimed late Monday to control most of the camp and that about 150 Palestinians had surrendered. Sharon addresses the Knesset Sharon told the Knesset on Monday that despite calls from the United States to withdraw now from the occupied territories, the army wouldn't pull back until the infestation of terrorism was cleared out. Sharon told the parliament that the army would withdraw to buffer zones after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's infrastructure of terror had been eliminated. Arafat himself remains besieged inside his Ramallah compound, where he has been trapped since the Israeli invasion began at the end of March. Copyright © 2002 CBC All Rights Reserved http://cbc.ca/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Powell fiddles while Middle East burns? [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE at http://cbc.ca/news MOROCCAN KING WISHES POWELL LUCK ON MIDEAST MISSION http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/04/08/powell_morocco020408 WebPosted Mon Apr 8 16:37:10 2002 AGADIR, MOROCCO--Morocco's king wondered aloud on Monday why U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is taking such a circuitous route as he heads for the Middle East conflict zone. Don't you think it was more important to go to Jerusalem first? King Mohammed VI said during a photo session after meeting with Powell in Agadir. President George W. Bush dispatched Powell to the region to urge Israel to withdraw its tanks and troops from the West Bank. But he won't get to Jerusalem until Thursday, after a stopover in Spain. Powell told Mohammed considered a moderate among Arab leaders that all options had been considered. He wants to discuss the issues with European ministers before heading for Jerusalem. He will also go to Egypt and Jordan. Repeating the U.S. position on the Israeli operation in the West Bank, Powell said, We want to see this operation brought to an end as soon as possible. Israel has a right to protect itself, he said. But Israel also has to take into account the implication of its actions. Mohammed assured Powell that Morocco would be ready to act on a peace proposal as soon as the Israeli army withdraws. Morocco is a member of a committee in charge of activating a peace initiative adopted last month by the Arab League. That land-for-peace initiative was proposed by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whom Powell also plans to meet in Morocco. Powell is looking for the support of moderate Arab states in U.S. efforts to make peace in the region. I wish you luck, said Mohammed. Because it is going to be difficult. Some Arab leaders have said they won't even meet with Powell unless he vows to meet with Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader besieged by Israeli troops in his Ramallah compound. Arafat isn't currently on Powell's itinerary, but he has said he would meet with the Palestinian Authority chairman if circumstances permit. U.S. peace envoy Anthony Zinni also met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to reiterate the president's demands for a quick end to the military campaign. In a speech to the Knesset on Monday, Sharon said the operation would not end until the job of destroying the Palestinian militias was complete. He also said he would be willing to meet with moderate Arab leaders to discuss a peace deal. Copyright © 2000 CBC All Rights Reserved http://cbc.ca/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Arson experts to sift debris in fire at Arabs' church [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/09/BA127482.DTL -- Tuesday, April 9, 2002 (SF Chronicle) Arson experts to sift debris in fire at Arabs' church Alan Gathright, Chronicle Staff Writers A special federal arson team will converge on a fire-gutted Los Altos Hills church today searching for the cause of the weekend blaze that some fear may have been set intentionally to target the largely Arab American Christian congregation. The 18-member team from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will methodically sift debris for clues to the fire Sunday at Antiochian Orthodox Church of the Redeemer, ATF spokeswoman Marti McKee said yesterday. Dispatched from across the country, the squad includes experts on explosives and arson as well as dog teams that can sniff out traces of flammable liquids and chemicals. We're bringing out our full resources, including our specialty people, McKee said. We still don't know if there was a crime or not. There's a lot of devastation here. The debris is probably covering up the point of origin. Meanwhile, Bay Area congressional leaders issued a joint letter praising the swift federal action and urging Attorney General John Ashcroft and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill to use every tool at your disposal to pursue a full federal investigation into this tragedy. The lawmakers noted that 90 percent of the congregation is Arab American, and members said more than half of the church's families are Palestinian. Given the ongoing escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israelis in the Middle East, church parishioners and many in the city of Los Altos Hills and its surrounding communities are questioning whether this fire was deliberately set, the letter said. It was signed by Reps. Anna Eshoo, George Miller, Zoe Lofgren, Sam Farr, Mike Thompson, Michael Honda, Ellen Tauscher, Pete Stark and Tom Lantos, all Bay Area Democrats. No churchgoers or firefighters were hurt in the three-alarm fire, which was reported at 4:30 a.m. Sunday and caused an estimated $1 million in damage. The conflagration gutted the huge church and caused flames to shoot hundreds of feet into the air. The church's stained glass windows, towering dome, large wooden cross and holy icons including paintings of the saints were destroyed. The head of the church, the Rev. Samer Youssef, was unavailable to comment about the push by congressional representatives for a thorough federal probe. Many members of the estimated 300 families that worship at the church are first-, second- and third-generation immigrants from Palestinian territories, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. Investigators said there were no reports of threats against the church, but church members recalled that last year, vandals broke a church window, inserted a hose and flooded the building. The Antiochian Orthodox Church was founded in Damascus, Syria, and dates to apostles Peter and Paul. Scripture refers to Antioch as the place where the followers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians. There are 265 Antiochian Orthodox churches across the United States and Canada, including churches in San Francisco, Orinda and Cupertino. _ E-mail Alan Gathright at [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Temporary Jenin truce up to Arafat [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-9apr2002-95.htm Israel seeks temporary truce with Palestinians The Israeli army has asked the Palestinians for a temporary truce in the embattled West Bank refugee camp of Jenin to allow it to evacuate wounded soldiers. A Palestinian official says the decision is up to president Yasser Arafat. The army has refused to comment on the report. Heavy fighting has raged in Jenin and Israeli helicopter gunships have fired a steady stream of rockets into the refugee camp. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman says 10 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours. Elsewhere, a cameraman for France 2 television has been shot and wounded, while covering an Israeli army operation near the West Bank city of Nablus. © 2002 Australian Broadcasting Corporation http://www.abc.net.au = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
UN warns of West Bank 'horror' [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resources page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0409/p06s01-wome.html UN warns of West Bank 'horror' Christian Science Monitor April 9, 2002 A high-profile UN mission to investigate human rights abuses in the Mideast may begin today. By Ben Lynfield | Special to the Christian Science Monitor JERUSALEM Amal Azzeh considers herself lucky compared with many of the approximately 300,000 Palestinians who have come under renewed Israeli army occupation. The Azzehs, who live in Beit Jubrin Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, had stocked up on food before Israeli tanks conquered the area nine days ago and the army put the camp under a strict curfew. Her brother, Yunis, who lives outside the camp, did not. He does not have enough bread to eat, and you can generalize that this is the case for much of the population, especially for people who have children. Ben Lynfield gives you the story behind the story. Amid mounting charges by human rights groups of abuses by Israeli troops, UN human rights chief Mary Robinson plans to start a Middle East fact-finding mission as early as Tuesday evening or tomorrow, her spokeswoman said yesterday. The mission, which is pending Israeli approval, includes former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez and South African businessman Cyril Ramaphosa, a former leader of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress. The mission's mandate includes reporting on suicide bombings, and it will also examine human rights in the West Bank, which is currently under assault by Israeli troops. UN officials yesterday described a situation of pure horror in northern West Bank camps, with strafing from Israeli helicopters, corpses piling up and ambulances and food trucks being barred by the army. There is a humanitarian disaster in the making, says Richard Cook, West Bank field director for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Israel launched the incursions after a devastating series of suicide bombings, including one on Passover eve in Netanya that killed 27 people at a religious gathering. Diplomatic pressure from the US has failed to slow the assault, and Israeli army officials say it is dealing a blow to terrorist infrastructure through arrests of those involved in attacks and the seizure of weapons. About 1,500 Palestinians have been arrested, with 261 of those previously wanted by Israeli security forces, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday. Army officials say that care is being taken to avoid harming civilians, but that Palestinian fighters deliberately operate from within large population centers and therefore cause innocent civilians to be drawn into the line of fire. Concern over the plight of Palestinian civilians is heightened by Israel's track record of causing, in the view of human rights groups, many avoidable deaths of civilians by using excessive force, and its failure to complete investigations against troops for alleged misuse of weapons. The fact that it has barred reporters and human rights field workers from the areas it invaded is also fueling concern. Six human rights groups gathered in Jerusalam Sunday, including Amnesty International, Israel's B'tselem organization, and the Palestinian LAW organization and said that based on the limited information they could garner, the civilian population is being greatly harmed. One group, the World Organization Against Torture, called for European economic sanctions against Israel. Jessica Montell, director of B'tselem said: There are very severe allegations from refugee camps, many of which cannot be verified. But there is a great deal we know: large-scale casualties, very severe interruptions of medical treatment to the injured, tremendous suffering to the civilian population, torture of detainees. The prime minister's office declined to comment on B'tselem's allegations, based on reports from soldiers, that interrogators at the Ofer army base are breaking the toes of Palestinians. Ms. Azzeh, speaking as shooting resounded nearby, says camp residents have had no chance to buy food. The only break in the curfew came when it was lifted Saturday for two hours. But, she says, soldiers shot and wounded several people during the break, and residents rushed home without the much-needed supplies. Medicines have also run out, Azzeh says. On Saturday, a girl in the camp had an epilectic fit, she said. Only with the intervention of foreigners did they manage to get medicine after a two-to-three-hour delay. This is a small thing, she says. The suffering here in general is that you cannot breathe the air. If there are tanks nearby, you can't even look out the window. You may get shot. Peter Hansen, director of the UN agency that operates in Palestinian refugee camps, amplified the criticisms of the human rights groups yesterday, saying
London Guardian's news summary, Mon., 8 Apr 2002 [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from The Wrap, Guardian Unlimited's round-up of today's papers. ISRAEL DEFIANT The Middle East again dominates the broadsheets. The Guardian leads on Israel's defiance of US demands to pull out of the occupied territories, and the Telegraph on Tony Blair's declaration that Britain will take military action against Iraq, while the Independent reports that the EU is considering sanctions against Israel. The Times says that Mr Blair and Mr Bush have formulated a plan to send international observers to police a truce in the West Bank. Speaking after two days of talks at George Bush's ranch, Mr Blair yesterday brushed aside mounting opposition among Labour MPs to declare that Britain supported a regime change in Iraq. But the Independent doubts the linkage (the foreign policy concept of the moment, it says) between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida suggested by Mr Bush. Despite plenty of opportunity Saddam has been either uninterested or unsuccessful in sponsoring anti-American terrorism, it argues. All the papers carry Baghdad's reply to the sabre-rattling: a threat to fight back with stones, missiles and war planes. The Mirror's front page is taken up with a cartoon showing Mr Blair as the president's poodle. Sit, beg, fetch, roll over ... KILL, orders Mr Bush in full Texan cowboy dress. Inside, the political commentator Paul Routledge says that the prime minister obviously enjoyed his stay in the poodle parlour as he appeared for the cameras with what's left of his hair all fluffy and nice. More than 30 Palestinians were killed yesterday in the West Bank as Israeli troops pushed further into Jenin and continued their onslaught in Nablus. US officials say Mr Bush has put his credibility on the line by twice calling for a withdrawal, the Guardian reports. Its Jerusalem correspondent, Suzanne Goldenberg, says that Ariel Sharon is shoring up far right support for his coalition government, and despite US demands is likely to continue the assault until Thursday or Friday. * Get out now, US tells defiant Sharon http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,680653,00.html * Washington's patience pushed to the limit http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,680498,00.html * Times: Blair and Bush in new plan for Israel http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-260528,00.html * Telegraph: We are ready to hit Iraq, says Blair http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/04/08/wmid08.xmlsSheet=/portal/2002/04/08/ixport.html = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Community Media Guide (a useful tool) [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- KRON Community Media Guide: http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?s=510446 Practical how to do it information about how to get your news into the news. http://www.kron4.com = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
[BBC] Vatican outrage over church siege in Bethlehem [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1916000/1916580.stm - From Our Own Correspondent - Monday, 8 April, 2002, 16:19 GMT 17:19 UK Vatican outrage over church siege Israel says the fire broke out by accident The Vatican has issued a stern warning to Israel to respect religious sites in line with its international obligations, following a gun battle around Bethlehem's besieged Church of the Nativity. Spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the Vatican was following events with extreme apprehension and trying to establish the truth about the fighting that flared early on Monday. Israel says its troops are under orders not to fire at holy places and blamed Palestinian militants for a fire near the church, which is revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Several hundred Palestinian gunmen and civilians fleeing Israeli tanks have been holed up in the church complex for nearly a week, along with a group of monks and nuns. A spokesman for Catholic monks in the Holy Land said earlier that Israeli soldiers were guilty of an indescribable act of barbarity. Israel had broken its international obligations and risked long-term and incalculable consequences, Father David Jaeger said. Speaking from Rome, he said monks at the church had reported damage to sacred spaces and evidence that Israeli troops had entered the church. The Pope, who has urged people to pray for peace in the Middle East, on Monday described the violence in the Holy Land as having reached unimaginable and intolerable levels. The Israeli army says Palestinian gunmen provoked a fire which broke out near the Church of the Nativity on Monday. Gunmen had opened fire from a belltower, wounding two Israeli border policemen in a nearby rooftop look-out, an army officer told Reuters news agency. He said the Israelis returned fire and a smoke grenade started the blaze in a second-floor meeting hall overlooking the Basilica of St Catherine, adjacent to the Church of the Nativity. One Palestinian gunman was shot dead in the battle, the Israeli source said. But a priest inside the church, Father Amjad Sabbara, told the BBC that the Palestinian killed was a police officer who had been trying to douse the flames. He said the blaze had burned for an hour, destroying a piano, chairs, altar cloths and ceremonial cups. Father Sabbara estimated that there were 240 people in the church. Some were armed, he said, but they were not using their arms. The Mayor of Bethlehem, Hanna Nasser, told the BBC that mosaics inside the Basilica of St Catherine had been affected by the bullets. The Israeli army has been conducting a major military operation across the West Bank for over a week, in response to a wave of suicide bombings by Palestinian militants. It really involves going through the cities and refugee camps and taking out the infrastructure of the terrorists: weapons, documents, explosive material, laboratories, army spokesman Captain Jacob Dalal told the BBC. Israeli troops have been using loudspeakers to demand the surrender of the Palestinians inside the Nativity complex. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Monday that his soldiers would not defile the holiness of the site as the [Palestinians] have but added that the troops would remain in place until the gunmen inside were captured. In Britain, Foreign Office Minister Ben Bradshaw described Israeli actions in the area as totally unacceptable. The Vatican is reported to be working out an agreement with the Israelis on safe passage for the Palestinians inside the church to the Gaza Strip. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Li criticizes Bush's axis of evil remark [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ Li criticizes Bush's axis of evil remark Saturday, April 6, 2002 at 10:30 JST TOKYO - China's top legislator Li Peng, in separate talks with leaders of two Japanese opposition parties Friday, criticized the axis of evil remarks made in January by U.S. President George W Bush, lawmakers said. Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, held talks at the State Guesthouse in Tokyo with Social Democratic Party leader Takako Doi and Japanese Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Shii. (Kyodo News) Click the link below to view this article and related discussions on Japan Today http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=newsid=209983 = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Peru truth commission hears horror stories [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ Peru truth commission hears horror stories Tuesday, April 9, 2002 at 09:30 JST HUAMANGA, Peru - Grim-faced, fighting tears, peasants on Monday told horror stories of rape and torture from years of violence by the military, police and rebels that killed 30,000 as Peru's truth commission held its first public hearings. Pointing her finger to her temple like a gun, Angelica Mendoza, 72, who wore the typical broad-brimmed white hat and wide skirts of the Peruvian Andes, told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission how her 19-year-old son was dragged out of bed by hooded soldiers in 1983, never to be seen again. Liz Valdez, 22, recounted how her mother was hauled off by police, raped and then tortured to death in 1991, leaving her - she was then aged 12 - and her 8-year-old brother orphans. Twenty-year-old Rebecca Gamboa, living proof of Peru's painful past, heard for the first time full details of how she was conceived when her mother was gang raped by soldiers at the age of 16. Tears poured down her cheeks as she listened. The emotional accounts were delivered in a university auditorium in Huamanga, near Ayacucho, the southern city where Peru's bloodiest rebel group, Shining Path, was born. It is the first time a Latin American truth commission has held public hearings. Peru created its truth board last year with a mandate to shed light on human rights atrocities committed under three governments between 1980 and 2000. For much of that time, Peru was wracked by parallel wars by Shining Path and the smaller Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA, both seeking to impose a communist state. The military responded with take-no-prisoners tactics. Many poor Andean villagers lived in the cross-fire between the armed forces, who threatened to treat anyone who did not help them as rebel collaborators, and guerrillas, who killed anyone they suspected of helping the military. These hearings seek to end the silence that had become intolerable, the commission's President Salomon Lerner said. Dozens of peasant women turned out for the first day of the hearing, many clutching red balloons to symbolize drops of blood and photographs of relatives who died or disappeared. Peru estimates that in addition to those killed by leftist rebels or the military, some 6,000 people simply vanished. The commission reckons there are over 150 mass graves in Peru. Mendoza, her hair in braids and wearing a wide, pleated white skirt, told Reuters in halting Spanish how 30 hooded soldiers broke down her door on July 12, 1983, and dragged her son Arquimedes Ascarza out of bed, accusing him of being a Shining Path rebel. She was beaten with a rifle butt. 'Bastard old woman, leave your terrorist son or we'll take you as well', she recalled a soldier telling her. Choking back tears as she sat at the front of the auditorium in the same university where her son had studied mine engineering, Mendoza told her story to the commission in the Andean language Quechua, and pulled out a scrap of paper with a note from her son which she says a soldier delivered to her home. I'm fine, don't worry, but try to get money for me to have a trial. Otherwise they're going to kill me in the barracks, her son wrote. Mendoza now heads a national association of the victims of those detained, kidnapped or disappeared. Valdez, in tears, told how her mother had been out shopping with a friend on May 7, 1991, when a police officer dragged her away, bundled her into a sack with her wrists tied and took her to a police station. She was never seen alive again. I know who did this, I have the name, the photo, but I've never said it out of fear. But when the time comes, I will, Valdez told Reuters. The commission is going to help me. Valdez held a daily vigil at the police station, where an officer told her he had tortured her mother. One day he told her she had said: Tell my daughter to look after her brother and to be strong, because I'm not going to get out of here. Gamboa's mother Giorgina told her harrowing tale of rape - but said she was by no means unique. I'm asking for justice. The guilty should pay for the damage they did us, she said. Around 800 people thronged the town square in Huamanga on Sunday night with candles and silhouettes representing their disappeared relatives in a poignant vigil. But the commission has stirred controversy, too. Some 20 protesters from the opposition American Popular Revolutionary Alliance party, who say some of its members are biased, protested on the doorstep of the auditorium during the hearing and were ushered away by police. Alleged atrocities during the 1985-1990 government of their leader, former President Alan Garcia, will come under the commission's scrutiny. (Compiled from wire reports) Click the link below to view this article and
Ozawa warns about China, says Japan could go nuclear [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ Ozawa warns about China, says Japan could go nuclear Sunday, April 7, 2002 at 18:00 JST FUKUOKA - The leader of Japan's opposition Liberal Party, Ichiro Ozawa, says it would be a simple matter for Japan to produce nuclear weapons and surpass the military might of China if its neighbour got too inflated. Inviting a sharp response from Beijing, which is sensitive to any signs of militarism in Japan, Ozawa told a seminar in the southern city of Fukuoka Saturday that China is applying itself to expansion of military power. If (China) gets too inflated, Japanese people will get hysterical, Kyodo news agency quoted him as saying. It would be so easy for us to produce nuclear warheads. We have plutonium at nuclear power plants in Japan, enough to make several thousand such warheads, he said. Ozawa said his statements, coming only days before Japanese Prime Minster Junichiro Koizumi visits China, were meant to encourage stronger ties between China and Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack. He said he made similar comments recently to a person he described as being affiliated with the Chinese intelligence agency. I told that person that if we get serious, we will never be beaten in terms of military power, he said. Ozawa said Japan found itself in a difficult position. Northeastern Asia, in which both China and North Korea are located, is the most unstable region in the world, he said. China is applying itself to expansion of military power in the hope of becoming a superpower...following the United States. Koizumi will visit China for three days from April 11 to attend an economic conference on Hainan island, although he is also expected to meet Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji. Li Peng, chairman of China's parliament, who is on a visit to Japan, said in an interview published in a regional newspaper on Saturday he was optimistic about Japan-China relations. Li said Japan and China, long resentful over its treatment at the hands of Japanese invaders, may encounter difficulties on the path to closer ties because the countries were so different. Even in such cases, the two nations can solve any problems with effort and foresight, Li said in an interview with the Kitanippon Press, a newspaper in western Japan. Li's visit is one of several high-level exchanges between China and Japan to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties in September 1972. Ties have been strained in recent times by Koizumi's visit last year to a shrine honouring Japan's war dead, including convicted war criminals, and Japan's approval of a history textbook that China and other Asian countries say downplays Japan's wartime aggression. (Reuters News) Click the link below to view this article and related discussions on Japan Today http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=newsid=210213 = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Powell Talks to Trilateral Commission [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Powell Talks to Trilateral Commission http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storyu=/ap/20020406/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/powell_1 Sat Apr 6, 6:21 PM ET By VANESSA PALO, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON(AP) - Between celebrating his 65th birthday and embarking on a trip to the Middle East, Secretary of State Colin Powell found an hour Saturday to outline U.S. diplomatic policy at the annual meeting of The Trilateral Commission. Characterizing Powell's private remarks, a senior member of the commission said he gave a commanding sense of U.S. diplomacy and the importance of its diplomatic role. Delivering unprepared and off-the-record remarks, the secretary gave a review of the problems facing the Western world and discussed some details of the Mideast tour, the commission member said. However, several members who attended the secretary's speech declined to provide specifics of Powell's remarks. Powell turned 65 on Friday and departs Sunday for the Mideast. Among the 250 political, business, academic and media leaders gathered for the group's weekend meeting at a plush hotel, bow-ties and dark suits were the apparel of choice. But former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, wearing a lavender-colored suit, offered a reprieve from the dark parade. Henry Kissinger, another former secretary of state, was among Saturday's speakers. Since its formation in 1973 by private citizens from North America, Europe and Japan, The Trilateral Commission has aimed to look at the issues facing North American, European and Pacific Asian countries. The commission's discussions this year have focused on issues arising since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. In the commission's 29-year-history, such discussions have remained closed to the public and all remarks made by speakers are off-the-record. The commission, however, has always made a point to invite important voices of the press, said Francois Sauzey, the group's press officer. _ Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
CBCNEWS - Mideast peace protests staged from Canada to Europe [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- LMNOP Palestine resource page: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE at http://cbc.ca/news MIDEAST PEACE PROTESTS STAGED FROM CANADA TO EUROPE http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/04/06/israel_protests020406 WebPosted Sun Apr 7 03:48:42 2002 TORONTO--Thousands of Canadians held demonstrations in several cities across the country Saturday, demanding that Israel end its military offensive in the West Bank. In Toronto, about 500 protesters gathered outside the Israeli Consulate demanding troops withdraw from Palestinian territory. Police officers kept a close eye on the crowd, refusing to let people near the building. Rally in Vancouver End the occupation now, demontrators chanted. Some carried signs reading Stop Genocide and Free Palestine. The president of Palestinian House, Rashad Saleh, said his organization does not support suicide attacks against the Israelis. He called on both sides in the conflict to return to peace negotiations. We are calling for ending the hostilities and the violence, Saleh said. The Israelis are slaughtering Palestinians in refugee camps, towns, cities. They have cut off water, food, medicine, supplies. What we are witnessing now in the occupied territories is a new holocaust. Similar rallies were held in places like Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Windsor. Many of the marchers called on Ottawa to become more vocal and press for an immediate end to the Israeli incursions. We need to speak out, said one woman in Edmonton. I cannot sleep while my brothers suffer, said another protester. Big protests in Paris, Rome In Europe, tens of thousands of people held demonstrations expressing support for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who has been under siege for more than a week. About 20,000 protesters marched through the streets of Paris, urging a peaceful solution to the conflict. Paris protest Some blamed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and U.S. President George W. Bush for the ongoing violence chanting Sharon, Bush, they are the assassins, and Arabs, Jews together against Sharon. A few carried defaced American flags. In Rome, an estimated 50,000 demonstrators packed into Piazza del Popolo. Some shouted demands for a liberated Palestine while others carried banners with slogans like Intifada until victory. Several of Italy's big unions and socialist parties had planned to take part in the protests, but they withdrew at the last minute after complaints from Jewish groups. Concern has been growing around the world over Israel's military campaign in the West Bank, which began March 29 after a series of deadly suicide bombings. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana issued a statement Saturday expressing fear over the humanitarian situation throughout the Palestinian territories. Copyright © 2002 CBC All Rights Reserved http://cbc.ca/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
ORWELLIAN 'PEACE' [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/04/ED65111.DTL -- from Thursday, April 4, 2002 (SF Chronicle) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A HREF=mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED];/A ORWELLIAN 'PEACE' Editor -- Your headlines are becoming genuinely Orwellian. I read Bush reaffirms push for peace (April 1) and asked myself, Are we on the same planet? This is the president who has declared war against an undefined foe using unlimited funding of unrestricted means for an indefinite period of time. This is literally, as George Orwell called it, perpetual war for perpetual peace. Is that the peace you meant in the headline? President Bush has asked for a greater increase in next year's military budget than is spent in total by all of our enemies in the world combined. He has announced a barbaric new willingness to use nuclear weapons for offensive purposes. He has signaled to all the world that he's planning an invasion of Iraq, apparently just in time for the November elections. He winks while our closest client-state, Israel, wages what U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan calls full scale war on the Palestinians. Bush is accelerating a truly aggressive Star Wars scheme to achieve first-strike capabilities against any enemy anywhere on Earth. He repudiates international inspections for biological weapons, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and restrictions on the use of children as combatants. Tell me again: Where is the push for peace? ROBERT FREEMAN Palo Alto = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
1967 Israeli attack on USS Liberty: With friends like these..... [WWW.STOPNAT
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.ussliberty.com Forgotten History - Friday, April 5, 2002 Little known facts and overlooked history Want to become a Forgotten History subscriber for FREE? Visit: http://www.shagmail.com/sub/history.html AOL users: look for your links at the bottom of the page. Attack On The USS Liberty The Middle East is in the news again. Over the years, no country in the world has been a better friend to Israel than the United States. In fact, the US with Harry Truman as President, was the first country to recognize the state of Israel. It took only 6 seconds for that vote to be cast. All of the economic reasons behind this vote is not the subject of this issue (maybe for another day), but there is a little known episode in the relationship between US and Israel that has long been forgotten; The sinking of the USS Liberty. The time was 1967 and the Arab countries and Israel were locked in a war of words. These words were about to turn into the real thing. Israel had superior technology, having been armed by the United States while the Arab countries (notably Egypt and Syria) were armed by the Soviet Union. At that time, the West Bank and East Jerusalem were under the control of Jordan's King Hussein. Patrolling the Mediterranean just off the coast, was a US intelligence ship called the USS Liberty. Its mission was to monitor communications from both Israel and Jordan. Egypt, Syria and Israel had mobilized their troops in anticipation of hostilities breaking out. Jordan, always a moderate in both Israel and US eyes, had no appetite for getting into another war with Israel. Jordan knew it could not win. Hussein told the US that if hostilities broke out he wanted no part of them. Jordan did not want to lose territory, which was all but certain if they fought Israel. Jordan's King Hussein had rebuked Nasser, President of Egypt and told him that Jordan would not fight Israel. Hussein turned to the US and asked if the Americans could promise that Israel would not attack its positions. The US gave these assurances and The USS Liberty's mission was to monitor communications to ensure compliance. It was in position to know if Jordan would attack Israel and visa versa. What has become known as The Six Day War was about to begin. In the wee hours of the morning, Israel's air force attacked Egypt and disabled nearly the entire Egyptian Air Force while the planes were still on the ground. Within hours, Israel had effectively won the war and turned its attention to Jerusalem, even though Jordan had not entered the war. The USS Liberty picked up communications that Israel had indeed intended to attack Jordan to seize Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel knew what the mission was of the USS Liberty and despite the clear United States flag flying proceeded to attack the USS Liberty. Not one pass, but several passes. The deliberate attack was a clear attempt to keep the USS Liberty from notifying Jordan that Israel was about to seize Jerusalem. The attack lasted for over an hour, critically disabling the US vessel. Several Americans were killed. Most people know that Israeli paratroopers seized Jerusalem without much of a fight and present hostilities owe their beginning to those six days. While this is a forgotten episode in US history, it is also an interesting question to ask why the episode was so under- reported. The Six Day War was a popular triumph in the US press and what ensued was a cover-up to keep Americans in the dark about what their ally had done. The commander of the Liberty, James Ennis, would have none of it and years later penned his account in the book from which this overview was taken. The book's name? Conspiracy of Silence: Attack On The USS Liberty. Source: Conspiracy Of Silence: Attack On The USS Liberty by James Ennis Questions...Comments..Email us at: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] a href=mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED];Email Forgotten History/a To SUBSCRIBE visit: http://www.shagmail.com/sub/history.html *** END OF FORGOTTEN HISTORY Copyright 2002 by Pulse Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. Feel free to forward this, in its entirety, to others. = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!?
China Calls for Total Israeli Withdrawl from Palestinian Territories [WWW.STOPNA
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- China Calls for Total Israeli Withdrawal from Palestinian Territories http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-04/04/content_343672.htm - Xinhuanet 2002-04-04 06:42:24 UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Xinhuanet) -- China on Wednesday called on Israel to pull all its troops out of the Palestinian territories and take steps to ensure safety and security of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Wang Yingfan, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, made the appeal while exchanging views on the current Middle East situation here with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Chinese government opposes and condemns the barbarous aggression of Palestine by Israel, and China calls on Israel to implement relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions immediately and without any condition, he said. During the meeting, Wang briefed Annan on the current efforts by the Chinese government to alleviate the Middle East tensions. The Chinese envoy also told Annan that he hosted discussions on the situation in the Middle East among ambassadors from the five permanent members of the Security Council in his capacity of the rotatory mediator for April. China supports the United Nations and its Security Council to play a greater role in restoring peace in the Middle East, Wang said, adding that he appreciates the peace efforts by Annan and his special representative for the Middle East. The Chinese side is continuing consultations and discussions on the Middle East issue with all parties, including other four permanent members of the Security Council, he said, adding that China will continue to work with the international community in playing a positive role to alleviate the current Middle East tensions. In return, Annan said that he appreciates the Chinese efforts to ease the tensions in the Middle East and he is ready to keep close contacts with China on the issue. Annan said that he was deeply concerned with the worsening situation in the Middle East, and he held that the parties in the Middle East conflict should take effective measures to immediately carry out the Security Council resolutions. Enditem = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Pull the Plug! [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- This is from Isthmus, April 3, 1992, apparently a newspaper or magazine published in Madison, Wisconsin. Pull the Plug! was reprinted in the Winter 1992 issue of S.E.T. Free: The Newsletter Against Television. Pull the Plug! by Gar Smith In the final analysis, the smartest way to save energy and promote a healthy and wise planet is to unplug the television set completely. A recent study by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst suggests that exposure to television not only subjects viewers to electromagnetic radiation, it also induces measurable amounts of stupidity. Researchers found that the longer test subjects watched TV coverage of the Iraq war, the more they supported the war but the less informed they became. Pro-war couch potatoes were twice as likely as critics to claim (incorrectly) that Kuwait was a democracy; only 31% knew that Israel had an army of occupation in neighboring territories; only 3% were cognizant of Syria's occupation of Lebanon; and only 2% recalled that Iraq's invasion of Kuwait had been prompted by Kuwait's lowering of oil prices and theft of oil drilled from wells in Iraqi territory. In the words of the researchers, We discovered that the correlation between TV watching and knowledge was a negative one. _ http://www.webwm.com/set/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Hill Support for Israel Grows As Bombings Touch a Nerve [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53945-2002Apr2.html?referer=email Hill Support for Israel Grows As Bombings Touch a Nerve By Helen Dewar and Juliet Eilperin Empathy arising from the nation's own experience with suicide attacks has reinforced already strong support for Israel in Congress, prompting renewed efforts to impose sanctions on Palestinian leaders. With Congress nearing the end of a two-week recess, the outlook for legislative action is unclear. But many lawmakers have spoken out in defense of Israel and declined to second-guess counterstrikes by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in light of the United States' military response to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Many also say they would support more vigorous intervention by President Bush, and some are openly pushing for such action, although Democratic leaders have generally refrained from direct criticism of the president. Support for Israel has always run strong on Capitol Hill, both because of the importance of Jewish voters in domestic politics and because of the nation's strategic importance as a pro-Western democracy in a largely Arab region. But lawmakers in both parties say the Sept. 11 attacks and the daily pattern of suicide bombings in Israel have created an even stronger bond that provides wide latitude for self-defense by both countries. We can identify with their shock and loss, said Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.). A lot of us are thinking: There but for the grace of God go we. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said, For us it happened one day. For them, it happens day after day. I think there is enormous sympathy for Israel. Reaction in the House was similar. The Israelis have had many September 11ths in their country nearly every day with these suicide bombings, said International Relations Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.). Sharon has a duty to protect his country and his people. House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.), said, Sharon is doing what we in Texas describe as, 'A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do,' adding that it would be fine with me if the prime minister were to force Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat into exile. Lawmakers appear divided over whether the administration is sufficiently engaged in trying to end the strife. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) has said the administration should get more involved, but Hyde declined to offer advice. I'm not ready to suggest that Congress leap into this, Hyde said. Daschle found a diplomatic way of suggesting more U.S. involvement. Vice President Cheney said on several occasions that it was critical that we be deeply engaged . . . I agree with the vice president, he said. Other Democrats edged closer to outright criticism. The administration has demonstrated some inconsistencies, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) said last weekend. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said the administration has been timid and tentative and needs to risk a little of its own prestige. Lowey, like Daschle, said it's time to send Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to the Middle East. Several bills have been introduced to pressure the Palestinians to end violence and negotiate a peace agreement. Other bills being drafted, including one by McConnell and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), are aimed specifically at Arafat. In its current form, the Feinstein-McConnell bill would impose a series of sanctions, including denying Arafat a visa to travel in the United States, restricting operations of the Palestinian office in Washington, imposing travel restrictions on the senior Palestinian representative at the United Nations and seizing any assets held by Arafat in this country. McConnell said the measure is likely to be attached to the foreign operations spending bill for next year if it is not approved separately before that. The House is considering a bill, introduced last year by Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.), that would empower the president -- if he concluded that existing peace accords have been broken -- to impose a variety of sanctions. They include closing the Palestinians' Washington office, designating the Palestinian Authority and related groups as terrorist organizations, denying U.S. visas to top Palestinian officials and eliminating all non-humanitarian aid to the West Bank and Gaza. Another bill, sponsored by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), would prohibit any federal agency from directly or indirectly assisting the Palestinian Authority or related groups. Howard Kohr, executive director of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, said he had received a dozen calls from lawmakers over the recess asking what they could do to support Israel. But a few lawmakers, as well as some Arab American activists, suggested that legislative
N Korea threatens U.S. with sea of fire if attacked [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ N Korea threatens U.S. with sea of fire if attacked Tuesday, April 2, 2002 at 09:30 JST BEIJING - North Korea on Monday threatened to submerge U.S. troops in South Korea in a sea of fire if attacked by either conventional or nuclear weapons. The threat of a reprisal strike was broadcast by North Korea's state-run Radio Pyongyang, monitored in Beijing. If the U.S. imperialists attack us - be it with conventional or nuclear weapons - we will strike back a hundred, a thousand times at U.S. imperialist attack troops stationed at South Korea bases, creating a sea of fire, the broadcast said. (Kyodo News) Click the link below to view this article and related discussions on Japan Today http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=newsid=209312 = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
ACTION ALERT: INTERNATIONALS IN REFUGEE CAMPS BEGGING FOR HELP [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- - Forwarded Message Follows - --- dogbuckeyecscom [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: dogbuckeyecscom [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2002 08:09:01 - Subject: [CCMEP-DEN] ACTION ALERT: INTERNATIONALS IN REFUGEE CAMPS BEGGING FOR HELP Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ACTION ALERT: INTERNATIONALS IN REFUGEE CAMPS BEGGING FOR HELP April 2, 2002, 9:30am Palestine Time Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace * www.ccmep.org Nearly 100 internationals are scattered throughout Bethlehem area refugee camps in order to be a human shield to the ongoing Israeli invasion. Eyewitnesses in Deheishe, Azzeh and Aida Refugee camps have reported large-scale Israeli military attacks, home-to-home searches, helicopter gunship and tank shelling, F-16s overhead, and more terror. THESE PEOPLE ARE IN IMMEDIATE MORTAL DANGER AND CANNOT CONTACT THEIR EMBASSIES AND ARE BEGGING US TO DO THIS ON THEIR BEHALF. 1) *** IMMEDIATE ACTION: *** A) CALL AND FAX EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES B) LIST OF EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES C) SAMPLE LETTER *** NEXT ACTION: *** 2) PRESSURE CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS 1A) CALL AND FAX EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES There are nearly 100 internationals representing at least six counties. We want you to call them and demand: - They tell Israeli leaders that internationals are in the refugee camps as observers and human shields to Israeli attacks - They get access to visit internationals in the camps to assure the safety of internationals and Palestinians. - Israel stop attacking civilian homes, hospitals, universities, hotels and other civil service buildings - Make a public statement immediately calling for Israel to withdraw from the Occupied Territories In addition, FAX them a letter. A sample is below (1C). 1B) LIST OF EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES. - Call and Fax the Embassies First. They've got the most power. - FRANCE EMBASSY, Ambassador Jacques Hunczinger PHONE: 011-972-3-520-8300 FAX: 011-972-3-520-8340 * French Consulate, Denis Pietton PHONE: 011-972-2-625-9481 FAX: 011-972-2-625-9178 --- ITALY EMBASSY, Ambassador Jian Palo Cavarai PHONE: 011-972-3-696-4223 or 4224 FAX: 011-972-3-6918-428 * Italian Consulate, Gianni Ghisi PHONE: 011-972-2-561-8977 FAX: 011-972-2-561-8944 SWEDEN EMBASSY, Ambassador Anders Liden PHONE: 011-972-3-695-8111 FAX: 011-972-3-695-8116 * Swedish Consulate, Catharina Kipp PHONE: 011-972-2-582-8212 / 3 FAX: 011-972-2-582-8801 -- SWITZERLAND EMBASSY, Ambassador Iten Ernst PHONE: 011-972-3-546-4455 FAX: 011-972-3-5464-408 * Swiss Representative to the Palestinian Authority, Nicolas Lang PHONE: 011-972-2-240-8360 / 1 FAX: 011-972-2-240-8362 -- UNITED KINGDOM EMBASSY, Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles PHONE: 011-972-3-725-1222 FAX: 011-972-3-527-8574 * UK Consulate, Geoffrey Adams PHONE: 011-972-2-541-4100 / 112 FAX: 011-972-2-532-223-68 / 5629 --- UNITED STATES: EMBASSY, Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer PHONE: 011-972-3-519-7575 FAX: 011-972-3-527-8574 * U.S. Consulate, Ronald Schlicher PHONE: 011-972-2-622-7230 / 53288 FAX: 011-972-2-24-9462 1C) SAMPLE LETTER TO AMBASSADORS AND CONSULATE GENERALS Organization Name / Individual Name Address April 2, 2002 Ambassador __ Embassy Tel Aviv Israel VIA FACSIMILE: Ambassador: We are American citizens in [ ] who hold you responsible personally and in your professional capacity--for guaranteeing the safety of ___ citizens who are currently under unwarranted, unprovoked, and indefensible attack by the Israel Defense Forces in Bethlehem. We know from eyewitness reports the following to be true as of 11:20 P.M, MST: 1) An Israeli tank has fired upon the Bethlehem Star Hotel, where many Americans and other internationals are staying. The __ Government must tell the I.D.F. to stop firing on this hotel and to stop terrorizing innocent people. We hold you responsible for their lives. 2) Nineteen internationals, half American, half British, are currently in the Azza refugee camp in Bethlehem. There is a tank in front of the house in which they are staying, and there is gunfire all around them. They do not know where the gunfire is coming from, but it is directed at them. They are terrified for their lives. In the past 72 hours these civilians have witnessed unspeakable atrocities committed by the I.D.F., and we fear some of them may be going into shock. The I.D.F. must be told to stop firing on Palestinian civilian homes and to stop terrorizing the civilian population. Their actions are flagrantly
Canada silent as Mideast burns: critics [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE at http://cbc.ca/news CANADA SILENT AS MIDEAST BURNS: CRITICS http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/04/01/silence020401 WebPosted Tue Apr 2 00:27:23 2002 OTTAWA--There's growing demand for the Canadian government to voice a clear stance on the turmoil in the Middle East, as Israeli tanks push into Palestinian enclaves and Palestinian suicide bombers kill Israeli citizens. Ottawa's silence has spokesmen for both sides, as well as the political opposition, concerned. It's deeply disturbing that Canada is just sitting on the sidelines. I think there's never been a more important time for reasoned voices, for people who understand we can't get to peace through further military escalation, said NDP leader Alexa McDonough. We wish Canada would speak out more clearly and louder at this particular time, said Joseph Wilder, chairman of the Canada-Israel Committee. Canada has a big role to play and Canada is a moral power, said Mazen Chouaib, executive director of the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations. We should not be silent. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien last spoke out on Thursday, when he made a brief written statement after a suicide bomber killed 20 Israelis the previous evening. Ottawa is backing a UN resolution that calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from Palestinian cities and Palestinians to stop their deadly attacks. Canada backs U.S. effort Liberal MP David Pratt said the government is backing the efforts of U.S. peace envoy Anthony Zinni. We've maintained good relations with both sides, which is critically important, but at this juncture we're looking at supporting the work of special envoy Zinni, he said. Foreign Affairs minister Bill Graham is expected to repeat the government's support for the peace process Tuesday. Copyright © 2002 CBC All Rights Reserved http://cbc.ca/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
S.F. Bay Area human shields to Palestine [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.examiner.com/news/default.jsp?story=n.shield.0402w Plea for peace by Bay activists By Alex Brown Of The Examiner Staff The decision was made Sunday while crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, and by next week, will culminate in a trip to war-torn Palestine, an assignment as an unarmed human shield, and the prospect of staring down an Israeli gun barrel. Call Alison Weir impulsive. Don't call her apathetic. As a member of the newly formed Grassroots Protection Program, Weir, a San Rafael-based 54-year-old former newspaper editor, will stand between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians, relying on the notion that foreigners will not be fired upon. She will do so without U.S. support, without financial aid, without any assurance of safety. And she is not alone. In the 24 hours since the program was formed, two other Bay Area residents signed up for the human shield mission to Palestine, Weir said, with at least 20 expected to volunteer by next week. There are no guarantees, she said. I'm going there as an American citizen, and since we paid for those Israeli bullets, I hope that will afford me some protection. Not according to reports Monday emanating from the West Bank township of Beit Jala. There, two Americans, two Britons, an Australian, a Frenchman, a Japanese person and a Palestinian Associated Press cameraman were injured when Israeli troops opened fire on a protest group, described as peaceful by Newsweek journalist Samir Zedan. Weir, though, remains defiant. Having formed the GPP with Palestinian-born San Francisco activist Iman Farajallah, who heads anti-hate crime group Imannetwork.org, the former editor of the 3,000-circulation Sausalito Weekly plans to depart SFO for Palestine within 10 days. Once there, Weir said she will stand with civilian families in the West Bank, although there was a chance she could join the human shield currently surrounding Yasser Arafat at his Ramallah complex. And all this from a phone call she received while riding a bus across the Golden Gate Bridge on Sunday. After (Farajallah) called, I knew things were so desperate and urgent that I had to go over there, she said. I was in the West Bank last year, and I felt like I was standing in one of those horrific old photos from World War II -- the difference being that in this case, only one side has an army. I'm committed to doing my utmost to end the killing. And I'll try not to get shot. For her trouble, Weir will pay for her airfare, but will receive extensive support once on the ground in Palestine, Farajallah said. When you think about the scenarios some of the volunteers might face, we would encourage physicians to get involved and anyone who could donate medical supplies, Farajallah said, adding that Grassroots Protection may work alongside organizations such as Solidarity International and Grassroots International, which already are well-established in Palestine. We need people who know what they are getting themselves into. There are no baby sitters where they are going. Back in Marin, however, Weir may be in need of one. During her stint in Palestine, she will leave behind her three children -- one a Berkeley graduate, the other two currently completing their studies there. All have heard Weir's stories from her last trip to the West Bank. And all support her in her latest endeavor. When I was in the West Bank last time, I saw the devastation that was being done with my tax money, Weir said. And those families suffering because of that welcomed me the whole time. I only wish I could leave immediately to help them. __ E-mail Alex Brown at [EMAIL PROTECTED] = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
Eyes on Dimona (will Israel drop The Big One?) [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Al-Ahram Weekly 31 August - 6 September 2000 Issue No. 497 Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 --- http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2000/497/eg7.htm Eyes on Dimona By Omayma Abdel-Latif It took the world many years to see pictures of Dimona, Israel's aging nuclear reactor. The plant had been shrouded in secrecy in line with a long-standing policy of concealment, outright deception and what many experts describe as nuclear ambiguity. The rare imagery, taken on 4 July by Space Imaging Corporation's Ikonos satellite, was shown on the Web site of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). The site exhibits more than seven overview images of the Dimona complex and the surrounding locations, one of which is believed to be the burial ground of low-level nuclear waste. Nuclear experts interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly believe this is the first time that the public has access to data and images of Israel's notorious nuclear facility. Perhaps a more important revelation, however, is what the report described as the most significant finding: Israel's nuclear weapons stockpile probably consists of between 100 to 200 nuclear weapons, contrary to previous reports that Israel might possess as many as 400 N-bombs. This again confirms Israel's possession of nuclear weapons, Fawzi Hammad, former head of the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, told the Weekly. The most significant finding is that the data confirms that Israel has 200 nuclear warheads, proving that Dimona has a big inventory, even bigger than what some of the big powers may possess, Hammad said. The images were compared to other pictures of the nuclear complex taken by a US reconnaissance satellite in 1971. The images show that modest changes have taken place in the central part of the complex over the past 30 years, but dozens of smaller buildings were built during the same period. Another important revelation made by the report, according to Abdel-Gawad Emara, a member of the Egyptian Nuclear Safety Authority, is that the reactor is aging, given that it was built in 1963, yet it continues to be the site of intensive nuclear activity, raising concerns about its safety. The report does not mention whether measures Emara called the life extension of the complex -- a procedure which minimises the effects of aging and the likelihood of nuclear leakage -- had been taken. The danger lies in the fact that the reactor is old and has never been open to international inspection, meaning we don't know what's going on in there. Therefore, it remains a suspect nuclear threat next door, Emara said. Sources at the FAS said the federation's main task is to monitor nuclear activities around the globe. They added that the United States has always turned a blind eye to Israel's nuclear activity provided it does not conduct nuclear tests. It was precisely this point which topped the agenda when US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson visited Egypt two months ago. According to Hammad, Egyptian scientists and officials urged that pressure be put on Israel to reveal its nuclear facilities and allow international inspection. Richardson's response, according to Hammad, was, We will look into the matter. We demanded that the nuclear complex at Dimona, in particular, be opened to inspection because of the threats it is likely to pose to neighbouring countries, Hammad told the Weekly. He believes the publication of the images and data on Dimona on the FAS site is but one step towards greater transparency on Israel's secret nuclear activities, breaking the long-standing information blackout. The first ever material on Dimona was published by the London Sunday Times in 1986 after Israeli nuclear expert Mordechai Vanunu exposed his country's nuclear secrets. This earned him a 20-year jail sentence which he is still serving. The latest revelation coincided with the publication in Hebrew of the book Israel and the Bomb by Avner Cohen, which caused an uproar when its English-language version first appeared two years ago in the United States. The FAS report also coincided with fresh allegations about possible radioactive contamination caused by the burial of tons of radioactive waste in a disposal area one kilometre from the main Dimona facility. Earlier this week, however, Egyptian officials dismissed the contamination reports. Sayed Mish'al, minister of state for military production, told the press that Egypt possesses the most up-to-date equipment for detecting any radioactive leakage and that there is no evidence of nuclear contamination in this country. Despite these assurances, the FAS report has reinforced previous perceptions of Israel posing a constant threat to the region due to the fact that its nuclear facilities were never opened to international inspection. A 1999 report by the International Atomic Energy
FAX AMBASSADORS TO SPARE REFUGEES LIVES [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- FAX AMBASSADORS TO SPARE REFUGEES LIVES! Info at: http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine_action.htm = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
New Palestine Resource page available on LMNOP web-site [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- The Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace web-site now has a Palestine Resources page available at http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP/palestine.htm = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Greetings - send holiday greetings for Easter, Passover http://greetings.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
U.N. orders Israeli withdrawal from West Bank [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ U.N. orders Israeli withdrawal from West Bank Tuesday, April 2, 2002 at 09:30 JST NEW YORK - U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday demanded that Israel immediately withdraw its troops from the West Bank city of Ramallah, warning that continued occupation of Palestinian territory would only worsen the situation. In a speech made to the U.N. Security Council, Annan highlighted the importance of the council's resolution adopted Saturday ordering an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Ramallah where the Palestinian Authority is based. (Kyodo News) Click the link below to view this article and related discussions on Japan Today http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=newsid=209315 = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
'Sino-U.S. ties on verge of setback' [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from The Hindu http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/03/29/stories/2002032901731400.htm International 'Sino-U.S. ties on verge of setback' BEIJING March 28. A month after the U.S. President, George W. Bush, visited Beijing, Chinese media said the United States had shattered the euphoria that surrounded his trip with a series of insensitive and offensive moves. ``Here we are on the verge of another setback in Sino-U.S. ties,'' the said in an editorial today. ``Beijing feels betrayed.'' The editorial reflects a turnaround in China's rhetoric on the United States since the Bush visit, which media just weeks ago hailed as bringing relations closer than ever. Topping the list of China's concerns was the U.S. decision this month to allow the Taiwanese Defence Minister, Tang Yiau-ming, into the U.S. for talks with defence officials. China regards the island as a renegade province to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary. ``The current row, unless resolved in a timely and constructive manner, will definitely undermine the already slight Chinese confidence in genuine friendship between the two countries,'' the state-run newspaper said. Beijing is also upset about a Pentagon report saying China was one of several targets in America's nuclear weapons planning, and ``undisguised attempts'' to bring Taiwan into the World Health Organisation, it said. ``Friendship is out of the question in the absence of reciprocity,'' the editorial said. The Chinese Vice-President, Hu Jintao, is scheduled to visit the U.S. in April, but the Foreign Ministry, reflecting China's displeasure over the U.S. moves, has declined to confirm that the trip was still on. But political analysts said they would be surprised if Mr. Hu declined the U.S. invitation because of the latest row. ``It would take something much bigger than this,'' said one diplomat in Beijing. The Chinese President and Communist Party chief, Jiang Zemin, and other senior leaders are due to step down from their party posts late this year, and from their Government jobs next March. Reuters Copyright: 1995 - 2002 The Hindu http://www.hinduonnet.com/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Greetings - send holiday greetings for Easter, Passover http://greetings.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
EU Protests Israeli Attack [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- EU Protests Israeli Attack Saturday March 30, 2002 2:30 AM http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-1623568,00.html PARIS (AP) - The 15 European Union nations collectively protested Israel's attack on Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters Friday, with Italy pressing Israel to guarantee the Palestinian leader's safety. The EU also called on Israel to withdraw its troops from the town of Ramallah, where Arafat's complex is located. At the same time, the EU urged the Palestinian Authority to halt the current ``spiral of violence'' and punish those responsible for the recent string of attacks on Israelis. Spain, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said Israel's fight against terrorism and its response to recent attacks must be compatible with safeguarding the Palestinian Authority and its president - ``the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people.'' In France, President Jacques Chirac said ``any attack on (Arafat's) ability to act, or on his person, would be extremely serious.'' The French leader also urged Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to ``immediately take all measures to stop the violence.'' ``Nothing can excuse or justify blind terrorism against civilians,'' Chirac told France-Info radio. ``Everyone knows there cannot be a military solution to the conflict in the Middle East.'' French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine accused Israel of obsessing over Arafat and trying to ``asphyxiate'' him. ``It's a complete illusion to believe that, even with Arafat elsewhere or replaced by whatever Palestinian chief, the problem would be different,'' Vedrine told RFI radio. Israel sent troops and tanks to break into Arafat's Ramallah compound, battling his security forces and shelling the buildings. Arafat took refuge in a windowless room, although Israeli officials said they were not trying to hurt him. The operation was a response to the latest string of Palestinian attacks, including a Passover massacre that killed 22 diners at a seafront hotel in Israel. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government asked Israel to guarantee Arafat's security and respect his elected position. ``It is fundamental that deeds are not carried out which can prejudice the prospects for a resumption of dialogue,'' a government statement said. Berlusconi's government also said it made a new appeal to the Palestinian Authority to prevent acts of terrorism against unarmed civilians and to dismantle terrorist structures. Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou condemned the Israeli military action, saying his country had ``ties, both friendly and personal, with President Arafat.'' ``For us Arafat is not an enemy, and beyond this he is also a personal friend,'' said Papandreou, who also condemned the terror attacks on Israelis. About 1,500 Greek and Palestinian protesters chanting, ``Freedom for Palestine!'' and banging steel drums gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Athens to protest the military action. Police riot squads kept the protesters from the building. __ Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 http://www.guardian.co.uk/ = Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace. Weekly peace walks around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Starts ends at the colonnade between Grand Lakeshore Avenues, 3 P.M., every Sunday. Info: (510)763-8712, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or http://www.webwm.com/LMNOP __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Greetings - send holiday greetings for Easter, Passover http://greetings.yahoo.com/ --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^
