August 27, 2014

They Turned Her Water Off. Now She is Fighting Back


Originally posted at AcronymTV

AtPeace Makita is a single mother of five, a life long resident of Detroit, and the Creative Director of the Detroit Water Brigade. She wants you to know that the push for the privatization of the water supply in Detroit could be coming to an area near you soon.

“If Detroit can be used as a prototype,” asks Makita “why can’t it happen in LA, Chicago, or New York? On top of the bankruptcy, on top of the foreclosures, on top of the mayoral issues and emergency manager, on top of all of it – now you want to take our life source?”

Watch the clip below, or you can watch the full episode here.



atv atpeace makita

August 23, 2014

From Ferguson To Palestine Occupation Is a Crime


Originally posted at AcronymTV

After five hours of rallies and marches on justice for Palestine and Ferguson, 1,500 protesters were in Union Square park in Manhattan, all with their hands up for Mike Brown. When the crowd took their hands down, a voice from the crowd told them “Mike Brown never took his hands down. The dead children in Gaza did not get to take their hands down.”

And so it was on this dramatic ending to a long day of complimentary marches in New York Wednesday: the NYC Solidarity with Palestine March over the Brooklyn Bridge and the Hands Up/ Turn Up march in remembrance of Mike Brown energized activists and community members who stood up to racism and oppression “from Ferguson to Palestine.”

A highlight of the solidarity with Palestine march came when activists were able to drop a large banner with the colors of the Palestinian flag from the Manhattan Bridge (facing the march on the Brooklyn Bridge). Text in the flag read “Gaza in our Hearts. Boycott. Divest. Sanction.”

Pictures of the flag billowing from the Manhattan Bridge quickly went viral on social media.

Protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to One Police Plaza in order to call out Mayor De Blasio and NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton for what organizer Nastaran Mohit called “their criminal silence on the issue of Palestine” even as they coordinate and train with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Many of the protesters from the Palestine march joined the #HandsUp #TurnUp on NYC march.

Joel Northam, a past contributor to Acronym TV, was among them. He described the link this way: “we have people of color living in def-acto internal colonies in the United States. There are no borders. There are only the oppressed and the oppressors.”

ATV Something is happening

TAGS
Ferguson, tear gas, Mike Brown, Darren Wilson, Riot police, Mike Brown, Hands up, Hands up don’t shoot, Palestine, Gaza, Palestine flag, Brooklyn Bridge, March For Palestine, BDS, Boycott, Divest, Sanction, Boycott Divest Sanction, Dennis Trainor Jr, Acronym TV, #NYC2GAZA, #HandsUp #TurnUp, #HandsUp #TurnUp NYC,

August 19, 2014

Detroit Water Crisis - a Prelude to the Privatization of Water


Atpeace Makita, a single mother of five children who turned to activism after her water was shut off by the Detroit Water and Sewage Department, talks with Dennis Trainor, Jr. about the Detroit Water Brigade and what it is like to living during the current push for the privatization of the water supply.


 
Only the Polar Ice Caps contain more fresh water that The Great Lakes.
 
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, The Great Lakes are the largest surface fresh water system on the Earth, providing 84% of North America's surface fresh water and 21% of the world’s supply.
 
AtPeace Makita is at the center of a growing wave of activism fighting what the UN has called a clear violation of human rights: “Disconnection of water services because of failure to pay due to lack of means constitutes a violation of the human right to water and other international human rights,” U.N. officials said in a news release. “Because of a high poverty rate and a high unemployment rate, relatively expensive water bills in Detroit are unaffordable for a significant portion of the population.”
 
“If Detroit can be used as a prototype,” asks Makita “why can’t it happen in LA, Chicago, or New York? On top of the bankruptcy, on top of the foreclosures, on top of the mayoral issues and emergency manager, on top of all of it – now you want to take our life source?”
 
Under the “stewardship” of emergency management, shutting off the life source of many Detroiters is exactly what is happening.
 
In March of this year, more than half of all the customers of Detroit Water and Sewage department were more than 60 days delinquent on their water bills.Including businesses, schools and commercial buildings the department has about 323,900 Detroit accounts. As of March 6, nearly 165,000 of those accounts were overdue to the tune of $175 million. There are also more than 296,000 residential accounts –more than 154,000 of which are delinquent for $91.7 million
 
As Carl Gibson, writing for Occupy.com, points out: “The water shutoffs in Detroit, which is currently in the middle of a bankruptcy fight, are merely a prelude to the outright privatization of water and other public assets. Defenders of Kevyn Orr’s water shutoffs claim that residents need to simply pay their bills to avoid losing their water. Others argue that water infrastructure needs to be paid for – and if it isn’t, the only logical conclusion is that those who don’t pay for the infrastructure will lose their water.”
 
Makita describes her work with the Detroit Water Brigade, where she serves as Creative Director, as working towards a cultural shift. The system, says Makita, is not working and “we need to create another system that works for all of us.”
 
Noting that the Detroit t Water and Sewage Department is a public utility that in now under the oversight of an unelected emergency manager, Makita’s message to people outside of Detroit is both a warning and an invitation.
 
“What if your water is cut off, “ she asks “what if you are not controlling that spigot? Then what?”
 
About the guest |
 
AtPeace Makita is the Creative Director of The Detroit Water Brigade. A mother of six children, she is a native Detroiter and an honorable veteran of the U.S. Military.
 
Detroit water, Detroit Crisis, Detroit water shut off, Emergency manager, Protest, Detroit water Brigade, People’s Water Board, AtPEace Makita, Dennis  Trainor Jr, Acronym TV
 
dertoit water

August 15, 2014

Is BuzzFeed a Mouthpiece for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)? | Mnar Muhawesh 2 of 2


Originally posted at AcronymTV



While Benjamin Netanyahu has practically been given an anchor chair at CNN during Operation Protective Edge to pound home a narrative that almost everyone else in the world (save for 100% of US Senators) has rejected; namely that Israel is a victim of terror and not a perpetrator, telling the counter narrative is left to media outlets without ties to major corporate interest and/or ties to the duopoly here in the United States.

In this interview with Dennis Trainor, Jr. of Acronym TV, Mnar Muhawesh, editor in chief of Mint Press news says she sees the role of journalism as protecting the people from the State. “The role of journalism is to inform he public and hold those in power accountable. (What we have today) is a journalism outfit that does not work in the interest of people, it is working in the interest of the government, corporations and these lobby groups.”

Muhawesh claims that it is not only CNN, FOX, and MSNBC, but popular websites like BuzzFeed, who, according to Muhawesh, serve as a “mouthpiece for Israeli Defense Forces.”


About the Guest |

Mnar Muhawesh is founder, CEO and editor in chief of MintPress News. Ms. Muhawesh is also a regular speaker on responsible journalism, sexism, neoconservativism within the media and journalism start-ups. She is also regularly interviewed on nationally and internationally syndicated networks like RT about the need for independent journalism and neoconservatism in the media. She started her career as an independent multimedia journalist covering Midwest and national politics while focusing on civil liberties and social justice issues posting her reporting and exclusive interviews on her blog MintPress, which she later turned MintPress into the global news source it is today.

In 2009, Muhawesh also became the first American woman to wear the hijab to anchor/report the news in American media, and Muhawesh is currently the first American Muslim woman to work as an editor at large for an American newsroom.

atv IDF

Tags,
Buzzfeed, Buzzfeed video, Buzzfeed Israel, AIPAC, IDF, Buzzfeed Gaza, Buzzfeed Palestine, Mint Press News, Mnar Muhawesh, Acronym Tv, Dennis Trainor Jr,

August 14, 2014

The Genocide of Palestinians is Israel’s Long Term Goal | Mnar Muhawesh (1 of 2)



In launching Operation Protective Edge, Israel has stated it has a goal of achieving “sustained calm in the region.” To achieve this, they maintained, they needed to destroy the tunnels and do anything required to protect Israeli citizens.

It is hard to reconcile the destruction of over 134 factories in Gaza (and counting) with sustained calm in the region.  A Palestinian Union said recently that Israel’s attacks have caused:

“Severe damage to an already fragile industrial sector. The union of Palestinian industries said that most factories stopped operations for over 30 days, with reported losses of at least $70 million. Over 30,000 workers were made redundant due to the closures. “The Israeli war machine deliberately destroyed the infrastructure of the Palestinian national economy by targeting factories which posed no security threat to the occupation,” the union said. The industrial sector had already suffered major damage during previous Israeli military offenses in Gaza in 2012 and 2008. The ongoing Israeli blockade has also severely limited the productivity of the industrial sector since it was imposed eight years ago, forcing factories to close or fire workers to remain in operation. “

According to Mnar Muhawesh, Editor in chief of Mint Press News (interviewed in the video above) these actions and more add up to Israel being a Terrorist and Apartheid state actively engaged in genocide.

Calling Israel a Terrorist, Apartheid state engaged in genocide is not hyperbole, according to Muhawesh; those terms reflect the situation on the ground. “Netanyahu said he was going to bring darkness on Ramadan for the Palestinian people, and that is what happened in Operation Protective Edge. That is why we saw the killing and murder of over 500 children and the destruction of over 10,000 homes.”

Muhawesh went on to call what Israel calls a “security fence” in the West Bank an “Apartheid Wall.”  When it comes to genocide, Muhawesh said: “Israel has been committing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population since its inception. (…) Israel is doing everything in its power to make sure Palestine does not exist. That is what we have been seeing and it is a part of Apartheid, genocide and essentially, colonialism.”

About the Guest |

Mnar Muhawesh is founder, CEO and editor in chief of MintPress News. Ms. Muhawesh is also a regular speaker on responsible journalism, sexism, neoconservativism within the media and journalism start-ups. She is also regularly interviewed on nationally and internationally syndicated networks like RT about the need for independent journalism and neoconservatism in the media. She started her career as an independent multimedia journalist covering Midwest and national politics while focusing on civil liberties and social justice issues posting her reporting and exclusive interviews on her blog MintPress, which she later turned MintPress into the global news source it is today.

In 2009, Muhawesh also became the first American woman to wear the hijab to anchor/report the news in American media, and Muhawesh is currently the first American Muslim woman to work as an editor at large for an American newsroom.

August 11, 2014

Israel’s Operation Protective Edge Spurs Growth in BDS Movement

Originally posted at AcronymTV



Awareness of, and commitment to the movement of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is growing both here in the United States and around the world.

Describing BDS in an early 2014 piece, Beth Perry wrote:

“It’s a broad tactic aimed to pressure the state itself to change. But it also reserves a special focus for companies that are actually involved in — and make hefty profits from — occupation policies. These organizations may be forced to pay attention to the boycott very soon — and they may not be the ones you’d expect.”

That was before Operation Protective Edges.  On August 2, The National reported:

“Soros Fund Management, the family office of the billionaire investor George Soros, has sold its stake in SodaStream, the soda making appliance producer that profits from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and was made popular by actress Scarlett Johansson’s endorsement.

The decision comes as a number of big international investors, including the fund linked to the Microsoft founder Bill Gates, join in a burgeoning financial boycott of Israel amid a push by the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement and other groups seeking more rights for Palestinians.

SodaStream, headquartered in the Israeli city of Lod, has its main factory in the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim.

According to the BDS movement website:

“The broad consensus among Palestinian civil society about the need for a broad and sustained Campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resulted in the Palestinian Call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel that was launched in July 2005 with the initial endorsement of over 170 Palestinian organizations. The signatories to this call represent the three major components of the Palestinian people: the refugees in exile, Palestinians under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the discriminated Palestinian citizens of the Israeli state.”

“We want to make ethical investments and divest from companies that are complicit in the occupation in Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank who profit off of occupation, declares Kash Nikazmrad of Students for Justice in Palestine in this interview with Acronym TV’s Dennis Trainor, Jr.

122292316

August 8, 2014

We Are Gaza. Look Into Our Eyes.


Originally posted at AcronymTV


White
by Khashayar Nikazmrad

White phosphorus burning meat off the civilian bones, burning the single moms hopes of peace, chemical gas greeting the dusty morning sunshine, shelling orchestrating a symphony of death, breath by breath, the long forgotten dream of survival awakens the nightmare of Israel’s arrival, Airstrikes, ground invasion, the rape and theft of an entire nation,

Media, money, and mendacity corroding the remains of a heart sold to the musings of Zionist colonial congregation, the truth locked behind the delusion of defense, the a victimizing story lying about Zionist glory….

return the military funding and start the next chapter of your story, the blood NEVER washes off but your comatose conscience will greet the beauty of compassion as the scars of a killer begin to close with vigor, you’ll soon walk upright evolving in the gaza sunlight

The chemicals in the water can’t be prayed away, Zionism is here to stay

White mobs in the streets, chanting death to peace, leave the defenseless Palestinians deceased, burn the olive trees, drain the pipes of hope and wash away the resistance in the streets, cut the electric lines, poison in the food supply, divide the dirt from the earth to the sky, go to sleep Miley Cyrus has a new song, the newest Iphone will sing you songs all day long, the lullaby that takes a lifetime too long,
just stay passive don’t speak of JUSTICE until dust from bombs dropped on Gaza sits

White cloth covers the corpse of a comrade called Mohammed Hussein Saeed Abu Khudair, at 16 occupying the cemetery the creation of a corrupt colonial congregation, could’ve called him my cousin, the white cloth covers his future contributions, cowards pumped gasoline in the blood stream to light his soft skin, pumped adrenaline in the veins to ensure he’s conscious and awake, while the fire on the flesh forces his fate, the smell of skin burning, the sand storm of bombs dropped on the beaches, flesh wounds, butchered pieces

Well….

Take a long look in our eyes, we are the insect in your ears, the rust upon your gears, the resistance you fear, the faith you smear, the justice you want to disappear

We are the Palestinian mothers who continue to send their children to school amidst gunfire, children they gave birth to behind a checkpoint, take a long look

We are the shame on the face of a Zionist at the point of realization, the crux of courage to refute the support of a gangster nation, take a long look

We are the tears of a father holding his mangled child in a hospital about to be set to the fire, take a long look

We are the soldier turning against his battalion, the drone operator turned freedom fighter, take a long look

We are the world knocking at your front door come outside and face the bombs you fight for, the guns your taxes afford, the death your cheering citizens SALIVATE for,

So take a long long look into our eyes, justice is frozen in time, FREE FREE PALESTINE!!

by Khashayar Nikazmrad

atv gaza hospital

tags
Gaza, Siege on Gaza, We Are Gaza, Palestine, Israel, conflict, dead, Hamas, Rockets, Palestinians dead, free Palestine, Justice Delayed is Justice Denied, Gaza Solidarity Grows, Israel Massacre, free gaza, Kash, Khashayar Nikazmrad, Acronym TV,

August 7, 2014

Has The Pro-Choice strategy of Last 40 years Failed Women?

Originally posted at AcronymTV
http://youtu.be/lnERVrMHVRc

“What once was maybe a Christian-Fascist movement against women’s right to abortion really got elevated and brought into the halls of power,” says Sunsara Taylor of Stop Patriarchy. “Starting with Ronald Reagan, continuing under Bush, escalating Bill Clinton (quiet as it is kept: Bill Clinton who signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which became the foundation for the recent Hobby Lobby decision).”

Taylor continues: “There has been a concerted push on the one side from Christian-Fascists to force women back into the role of breeders and there has been a lot of conciliation on the ‘pro-choice’ side and by the Democrats and by much of the movement. (…) This is a movement enslave women. This is a movement to control women. This is a movement driven by biblical literalists; Christian Fascists who literally, when they pray outside the clinics say ‘LORD:please break this curse of independence that has afflicted women.’”

Pro-choice, Abortion Rights, Pro-Life, Right to Life, Debate, 2014 elections, mid term elections, Acronym TV, ATV 013, Sunsara Taylor, Dennis Trainor Jr, Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, HB2, House Bill 2, Abortion bill,

atv WhyVoteDemocratic

The Pope and The Pornographer – What is the Difference? 

Originally posted at AcronymTV.com


“There is a big difference between being anti-pornography and anti sex worker,” says Taylor. “Stop Patriarchy does stand firmly against pornography, against the sex industry, against the commodification of women’s bodies, against the sexualized degradation of women, and just to be real: what is going on in pornography today is exactly part of this whole revenge against women. I don’t understand how anyone could claim to be for women’s rights and find (pornography) empowering or something we should celebrate.”

Taylor sums up her argument by saying: “There is no difference between the Pope and the pornographer. Both reduce women to objects. You could be a breeder or you could be a sex object.”

atv pope pornography patriarchy

August 6, 2014

An Abortion Rights Battle Bigger Than Texas | an interview with Sunsara Taylor

Originally posted at AcronymTV

Sunsara Taylor of Stop Patriarchy sat down with Dennis Trainor, Jr. of Acronym TV just days before leading a month long Abortion Rights Freedom Ride in Texas. The freedom ride is currently underway and will run through September 1, by which time Texas is expected to close all but six abortion clinics statewide.




Stop Patriarchy’s highly theatrical, non-violent yet confrontational style has not endeared them to all activists in Texas fighting for reproductive justice. In fact, a coalition has formed whose sole purpose is to oppose Stop Patriarchy. Texans for Reproductive Justicehas published a Letter of Concern, opposing “Stop Patriarchy’s messaging, tactics, dishonesty, and racism.”
Stop Patriarchy has seen this type of resistance before.

Diane Derzis runs the only remaining abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi. Speaking to Acronym TV on background for this episode, Dianne told us she was “warned about Stop Patriarchy” before they came to defend her clinic during the 2013 Abortion Rights Freedom Ride. Derzis, who now sits on the Abortion Rights freedom Ride advisory board noted that one reason people fear Stop Patriarchy is because their leader, Sunsara Taylor, is a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

The way Derzis sees it, however, the fear of, and opposition to Stop Patriarchy goes deeper than a McCarthyism style witch-hunt: it boils down to women in the pro- choice movement being too polite.

“The message I have heard all my life is be good. Be Nice. Be a Lady, you can’t talk like that’, if you will just follow the program, everything fine, we will take care of you,” Derzis told us, before clarifying: “we are seeing the same things we have been seeing for 40 years and (the pro-choice movement) is loosing drastically.”
“This is not just a Texas issue, Derzis emphasized, “we are just he canary in the mines. This is going to happen to everyone. Everyone in this country should be on the Freedom Ride.”

Acronym TV Episode 013 breakdown

Part 1: (00:26) Why I support The Abortion Rights Freedom Ride
Host Dennis Trainor, Jr. explains why he has joined with Eve Ensler, Gloria Steinem, Mark Ruffalo, Dr. Cornel West, and many others in co-signing a statement in support of Stop Patriarchy’s 2014 Abortion Rights Freedom Ride.

Part 2: (05:25) From Roe V. Wade until today, how did we loose so much ground?
“What once was maybe a Christian-Fascist movement against women’s right to abortion really got elevated and brought into the halls of power. Starting with Ronald Reagan, continuing under Bush, escalating Bill Clinton (quiet as it is kept: Bill Clinton who signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which became the foundation for the recent Hobby Lobby decision).”

Taylor continues: “There has been a concerted push on the one side from Christian-Fascists to force women back into the role of breeders and there has been a lot of conciliation on the ‘pro-choice’ side and by the Democrats and by much of the movement. (…) This is a movement enslave women. This is a movement to control women. This is a movement driven by biblical literalists; Christian Fascists who literally, when they pray outside the clinics say ‘LORD:please break this curse of independence that has afflicted women.’”

Part 3: (10:03) Texans For Reproductive Justice v. Stop Patriarchy
Critics within the Texas pro-choice community have very publicly stood in opposition to Stop Patriarchy. A coalition calling itself Texans for Reproductive Justice have published a United Statement in Opposition to Stop Patriarchy and a detailed Letter of Concern“opposing Stop Patriarchy’s messaging, tactics, dishonesty, and racism.”

“Well first I have to say, (Texans for Reproductive Justice) has this huge Texas flag at the top of their website. Before I talk about the substance of that website, I just have to say that anyone who waves the Texas flag; the flag of the theft of Mexico, the flag that flew over slavery … They became a state because Mexico tried to outlaw slavery. That is what that flag stands for! And (if) you want to wave that flag you are automatically disqualified to talk about liberation. It is a disgusting flag. It is a disgusting notion that people from outside of Texas should not come down here. There are no ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ in a liberation struggle. Texas is a local theater in a national war- frankly- an international war on women. What happens in Texas is going to affect women everywhere.”

Taylor then goes on to dismiss the issues raised by Texans for Reproductive Justice as “tabloid style rumors (and) emotionally accusations that have nothing to do with the positions and the past of Stop Patriarchy. They accuse us of racism for invoking the legacy of the freedom ride. Again, I would rather invoke the legacy of freedom fighters than the flag and the legacy of slaveholders. It is an absurd charge.”

That strategy is loosing, according to Taylor, and has proven deadly.

“For years, there has been a tried and failed approach within the pro-choice movement. It has been an approach of conciliation, of ‘toning it down’, and funneling one’s energies into the electoral arena and into Democratic candidates.”
Part 4: (16:30) Is Stop Patriarchy “Anti-Sex Worker?”
“There is a big difference between being anti-pornography and anti sex worker,” says Taylor. “Stop Patriarchy does stand firmly against pornography, against the sex industry, against the commodification of women’s bodies, against the sexualized degradation of women, and just to be real: what is going on in pornography today is exactly part of this whole revenge against women. I don’t understand how anyone could claim to be for women’s rights and find (pornography) empowering or something we should celebrate.”

Taylor sums up her argument by saying: “There is no difference between the Pope and the pornographer. Both reduce women to objects. You could be a breeder or you could be a sex object.”

Part 5: (19:02) The Abortion Rights Freedom Ride – Ground Zero Texas
Sunsara Taylor about what she calls the local theater for a national war on women and the specific itinerary for The 2014 Abortion Rights Freedom Ride. Including public speak outs in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and the Rio Grande Valley as well as “Confrontational, dramatic, non-violent political protest that delivers the verdict of these hearings to appropriate individuals/institutions. Protesters will brandish bloody coat-hangers, images of the women who died from illegal abortions, and shackles representing female enslavement.”

The objective of the Freedom Ride, according to Taylor, is to build momentum so that if/when Texas shuts down all but six of its abortion clinics by September, “that that moment becomes part of a turning point where people actually respond in outrage and this part of gathering the country to stand up and start to reverse the momentum.”


atv TEXAS-ABORTION_0

August 4, 2014

Why I Support The Abortion Rights Freedom Ride: Ground Zero Texas


Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org



Transcript |
Texas Governor Rick Perry is on the record with his objective to “make abortion a thing of the past.” Looking at the evidence, it is hard not to come to any other conclusion than the war on women is being won by a radical and regressively religious agenda.

Six states in the nation have only a single abortion clinic left. By September 1st of this year, Texas is likely to have only six abortion clinics operating. The group End Pornography and Patriarchy: The Enslavement and Degradation of Women is embarking on an Abortion Rights Freedom Ride across the state of Texas this August, and the freedom ride has set high expectations for itself, including:

1. To forge a national strategic counter-offensive to what is a national war on women.

2. Radically reset the political, moral, and ideological terms of this fight so that millions understand that this fight is about women’s liberation or women’s enslavement and;

3. Mobilize all people of conscience to wage massive, independent, political resistance. Relying on politicians, and the courts, has not halted the barrage of attacks.

Not all pro-choice advocates are warming to the idea of Stop Patriarchy non-violent, yet highly dramatic and confrontational style and their oft-repeated slogan “Abortion on Demand and Without Apology.”

In preparing for my interview today, I spoke with Diane Derzis (owner of the last abortion clinic in Mississippi). Stop Patriarchy embarked on a Freedom Ride in 2013 and stood side by side with Derzis to help her keep open the only abortion clinic in Texas. She was warned last year herself, she told me, that Stop Patriarchy were too confrontational and were connected to a communist organization.  Diane mentioned that some of these warnings were coming from groups with ties to the Democratic Party. “The communist are coming,” she told me, laughing at the notion before reporting that she did not care what political stripes people wore, just so long they were fighting for a women’s right to maintain control over her body.

For the record, I am a proud signatory, along with Gloria Steinem, Cornel West, Mark Ruffalo, Cindy Sheehan and many others to a statement in support of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride.

For me, the issue is deeply personal. As a community college student of 19, I impregnated a young woman. Neither of us was in a position to support a child, and- this is the most important thing; she wanted to terminate the pregnancy. We went through the harassment tactics of Randal Terry’s Operation Rescues outside the clinic and a few short years later my first arrest for civil disobedience was with the group Act Up as we shut down the Holland Tunnel in New York City protesting the 1992 Supreme Court Decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey- a huge blow the pro choice community in that it granted states so much freedom to restrict a woman’s right to choice that is directly related to empowering the likes of Gov. Perry in Texas.
It is for these reasons, and the fact that I want my daughter to come of age in a world where she is not a second-class citizen that I stand with Stop Patriarchy in saying Abortion on Demand and Without Apology.

atv women's rights

Tags,
Abortion, Abortion Rights, Texas, Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, Stop Patriarchy, Texans for Reproductive Justice, #FightBackTX, #StopPatriarchy, Family Planning, War on Women, Hobby Lobby, Women's Health, Reproductive Rights, Health, Supreme Court, Planned Parenthood,

For Palestinians, Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

Originally posted at: PopularResistance.org



In this clip from the full-length Acronym TV program, Gaza Solidarity Grows as Israel Continues Massacre (http://bit.ly/1ALhy5l) Kash Nikazmrad, an organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine, discusses the current siege on Gaza with host Dennis Trainor, Jr. Nikazmrad echoed the statement issued by Palestinian civil society organizations (http://electronicintifada.net/content/palestinian-orgs-justice-delayed-justice-denied/992)  on 3 October 2009, which reads in part:

“Justice delayed is justice denied. All victims have a legitimate right to an effective judicial remedy, and the equal protection of the law. These rights are universal: they are not subject to political considerations. In the nine months since Operation Cast Lead, no effective judicial investigations have been conducted into the conflict. Impunity prevails. In such situations, international law demands recourse to international judicial mechanisms. Victims’ rights must be upheld. Those responsible must be held to account.

The belief that accountability and the rule of law can be brushed aside in the pursuit of peace is misguided. History has taught us time and time again, that sustainable peace can only be built on human rights, on justice, and the rule of law. For many years in Palestine international law, and the rule of law, has been sacrificed in the name of politics, and cast aside in favor of the peace process. This approach has been tried, and it has failed: the occupation has been solidified, illegal settlements have continued to expand, the right to self-determination has been denied; innocent civilians suffer the horrific consequences. It is now time to pursue justice, and a peace built on a foundation of human rights, dignity, and the rule of law. In Justice Goldstone’s words, there is no peace without justice.”

Nikazmrad went on to say: “There is no reason to let go (…) Justice needs to be served.”

atv palestine

Tags
Palestine, Gaza, Siege on Gaza, Death toll in Gaza, operation protective edge, Protective Edge, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Palestinian Territories, Palestinians, Hamas, Qatar, Israel Hamas, Israel Gaza, Conflict Palestinian, Territories, John Kerry, Benjamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama,

Nikazmrad went on to say: “There is no reason to let go (…) Justice needs to be served.”

atv palestine

Tags
Palestine, Gaza, Siege on Gaza, Death toll in Gaza, operation protective edge, Protective Edge, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Palestinian Territories, Palestinians, Hamas, Qatar, Israel Hamas, Israel Gaza, Conflict Palestinian, Territories, John Kerry, Benjamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama,

August 1, 2014

The Audacity of Nope: Obama’s Failure to Close Guantanamo Bay Prison

Originally posted at PopularResistance.org



Jason Leopold, in the clip from the full-length Acronym TV episode, How Americans Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Guantanamo Prison, discusses the Obstacles President Obama faces in keeping his campaign promise to restore habeas corpus, shut down Guantanamo Prison, and restore America’s moral stature in the world. If President Obama’s true intention s are as described above, what can he do alone, and what does need cooperation from Congress to do?

“What he could do now is actually start releasing some of these prisoners,” says Leopold “The vast majority of those cleared are Yemeni prisoners. Yemen is a big country. To think that these men, who were never on a battlefield, can’t be sent back to Yemen because they will end up as part of Al-Qaeda (makes no sense).”

Citing President Obama’s major 2013 counter terrorism speech, wherein he acknowledged that a US drone had targeted and killed a U.S. citizen (Anwar Al-Awlaki) and where the President was forced to discuss GITMO because, “it was the height of a hunger strike and it attracted attention around the world.” In that speech, Leopold notes, Obama lifted a moratorium, “that he put into place and here we are year later and there have been no Yemeni’s released. As we saw with the swap with the Taliban of the five prisoners for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, that was a fight he was willing to wage with Congress.”

About the guest:

Jason Leopold is an investigative reporter covering Guantanamo, counterterrorism, national security, human rights, open government, and civil liberties. He's been called a "FOIA Terrorist" by federal employees for his aggressive use of the Freedom of Information Act, which includes successfully suing the FBI to force changes to Bureau FOIA practices.

audacity of nope

Tags,
Guantanamo Bay, Guantanamo Bay video, Close Guantanamo, GITMO, Obama, 2014 Elections, 2014 mid term elections, Shaker Aamer Video, Guantanamo Bay Lies, Hunger strike, Torture, Acronym TV, Jason Leopold, Dennis Trainor Jr, Popular Resistance

GITMO: A Concentration Camp in Small Town USA

Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org



Jason Leopold, in the clip from the full length Acronym TV episode, How Americans Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Guantanamo Prison, talks about the most shocking thing that struck him about visiting Guantanamo Bay Prison: The surrounding is like any small American town. An Irish pub, swing sets in the back yard of houses where American kids are growing up, a McDonalds, a high school proudly graduating the class of 2014, and other pedestrian businesses all going about their business while up the road, a facility that has the air of a concentration camp.

atv-guantanamo-bay

Tags
Video, Video Guantanamo Prison, GITMO, Jason Leopold, Concentration Camp, Camp X Ray, Dennis Trainor Jr, Jason Leopold interview, Gitmo Congress, National Defense Authorization Act, Obama Close Guantanamo, Acronym TV, Popular Resistance

Gaza: Should we blame the victim?

I want to clarify that I am on the side of not killing anybody.

Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org


The Hamas charter, widely cited by defenders of the Israeli siege on Gaza, contains some passages that hard to reconcile for many allied with Palestinian liberation. Specifically, the charter states:

“The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”

According to Kash Nikazmrad of Students for Justice in Palestine, one should view passages from the Hamas charter like the one above as hyperbolic political rhetoric meant to stoke a political base, and not, he says, as something to be taken literally. The focus, he says should be on the genocidal conditions imposed by Isreal that give birth to the resistance.

“The UN recognizes Genocide as anything deterring the progression of human life,” says Nikazmrad, “and that is what (Israel) does in Gaza. They don’t allow them to fish. Settlers come and cut down Olive trees and put concrete on the olive trees. And (Israel) is all outside, and they blame Palestinians for building tunnels to try to bring medical supplies in. What do you think will happen when you build a prison (Gaza) and you prevent people from having any kind of right to life? They are going to try and build tunnels and they are going to try and resist the occupation that is there.”

atv Gaza Disporportionate

tags
Siege on Gaza, Gaza siege, Genocide, Hamas, Hamas charter, Gaza, Israel Gaza airstrikes, Palestinian Territories, Gaza Death Toll, Idf, Israel, Acronym TV, ATV, Dennis Trainor Jr, Kash Nikazmrad, Students for Justice in Palestine