Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 07.14.07

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R    07.14.06

1. Girls intl forum   7.14 9am
2. Stop Israel now    7.14 4:15pm
3. Electric car/film  7.14

4. NE farmers mkt     7.15 9am
5. Rondo Days         7.15 10am
6. Wobfest/Lynd       7.15 1pm/7pm
7. 911/LooseChange    7.15 2:30pm
8. Immigrant students 7.15 4pm
9. Somalia/peace      7.15 4pm
10. Hastings parade   7.15 7pm

11. Immigration       7.16 1pm
12. Hopkins raspberry 7.16 1pm
13. Holocaust/hope    7.16 2pm
14. AI                7.16 3pm
15. Zimmermann/BBQ    7.16 3pm
16. Vietnam/film      7.16 3pm
17. Cuba photos       7.16-30 5pm
18. YAWR              7.16 5:30pm
19. Ag justice        7.16 6:45pm

20. Jonathan Cook    - Israel's latest bureaucratic obscenity
21. Ahdaf Soueif     - Only sanctions will stop this brutal campaign
22. Abunimah News    - Israeli use of poisonous material alleged
23. Dyab Abou Jahjah - What is the fight in Palestine About?
24. CFL alert        - Israel bars entry of Americans into the Weat Bank
25. Robert Halfhill  - Malign intent behind conservative philosophy
26. ed               - Israel (poem)

--------1 of 26--------

From: erin [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: Girls intl forum 7.14 9am

Friday, July 14: Girls International Forum Global Girls' Day: Think
globally, act locally! 9 AM-5:30 PM. Macalester College in St. Paul. Meet
girls from other countries, learn about global issues facing girls and
participate in skill-building and awareness-building workshops. Register at
www.girlsforum.org or call 651/645-3636.


--------2 of 26--------

Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 12:16:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: sarah standefer <scsrn [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Stop Israel now 7.14 4:15pm

STOP ISRAEL NOW!!
END US MILITARY AND POLITICAL SUPPORT OF ISRAEL
As Israel escalates its assault on Palestine and Lebanon, ACT NOW!

Friday July 14th 4:15-5:30 PM
Corner of Summit and Snelling Ave. St. Paul
(solidarity vigils will continue every Friday until Palestine is free)

Thursday July 20th  4:30-5:30
Peavey Plaza (in front of Orchestra Hall)
Nicollet Ave. and 11th St. Mpls.

Called by Coalition for Palestinian Rights.  for info call Sarah Standefer
612-437-0222 or Karen Redleaf 651-283-3495


--------3 of 26--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Electric car/film 7.14

7/14 to 7/20, film "Who Killed the Electric Car?," documentary about those
who loved it and the company that made it and compacted them in the desert
(GM), Lagoon Theater, Uptown Mpls.  www.landmarktheaters.com


--------4 of 26--------

From: tom [at] organicconsumers.org
Subject: NE farmers mkt 7.15 9am

So just where on Saturday morning can you get fresh cut flowers, your
glasses adjusted, get rubbed up to relieve the stress piled up from your
week's work, hear great music, pick up a one of a kind hand made bird
house, greet your neighbors or meet new ones and of course find the
freshest local produce sold directly by the growers on the eastside of
Mississippi River?

Why it's the NE Farmers Market, conveniently located on 7th and University
in lovely lower NE Minneapolis.

Come cool your heels in the shade of the trees that line the NE Farmers
Market, sip on your first cup of coffee from Diamonds Coffee Shop and
munch on some delicious, delectable, delights lovingly prepared by
Chowgirls, those purveyors of killer catering, and figure out just what
you are going to fix for supper.

It's in season and it's going on every Saturday from 9:AM to 1:PM.  Now
in its 7th year the NE Farmers Market is your direct connection to shrink
the minuets and miles between what's on your fork and the field from where
it came.

Mark you calendar for our annual CORN FEED on Saturday, AUG 12th!!!  One
of the true supreme joys that bust forth from the earth every summer and a
good reason to believe in a higher power ~ SWEET CORN!  We will have it
cooked up along with some of the Trebesch's fabulous grilled brats and
other delights; NOT TO BE MISSED!!!!!

Please feel free to spread this message around; like manure it does not do
a lot of good sitting in one place and see ya at the NE Farmers Market!

Tom Taylor 612-788-4252

If you or someone you know would like to have a booth of locally produced
wares at the NE Farmers Market OR if you would like to volunteer to help
out AUG 12th with our annual CORN FEED please come see Tom Taylor or Rod
Stevens at the NE Farmers Market.  I can also be reached at the phone
number above. THANKS!


--------5 of 26--------


From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Rondo Days 7.15 10am

Saturday, 7/15, Rondo Days (huge African-American celebration in St Paul).
10 am, parade starts at St Peter Claver Church, 375 N Oxford St.  11 am to 6
pm, festival with art, music, food, activities, at MLKing Center, 271
Mackubin St, St Paul. www.rondodays.org

--
From: Andy Hamerlinck <iamandy [at] riseup.net>

The parade starts at 10am. Marchers line up by 9:30am in front of St.
Peter Claver Church on Oxford Street (near Lexington Ave.) in St. Paul.

For those needing parking, there is not much. I'd recommend a side street
nearby. Remember, we finish up at Dunning Field, near Concordia College.


--------6 of 26--------

From: margaret <hope4peace22000 [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Wobfest/Lynd 7.15 1pm/7pm

MIDWEST WOBFEST 2006

The Twin cities Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (The
Wobblies) is hosting this annual celebration of radical unionism Friday,
July 14 through Sunday, July 16th.

The IWW is a union unlike any other. It is a grassroots, democratic and
militant union that seeks to organize ALL workers in ALL industries in ALL
countries into 'One Big Union,' without the bureaucracy and without the
fat cat salaries that will do a deal with the boss behind members' backs.
Founded over 100 years ago, the Wobblies were the first to advance many
causes of the American labor movement---the first to include people of
color in a union with white workers and the first to fight for the
eight-hour day and the 40-hour week.  A 1917 poster said, "Why Be a
Soldier?  Be a Man. Join the IWW And Fight on the Job for Yourself and
Your Class."

STAUGHTON LYND--KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Saturday, July 15, 1pm
Nicholson Hall, U of M Campus

Staughton Lynd, political activist, author, historian, and attorney, will
share his observations on the world of workers. From Manhattan to a
cooperative community in Georgia, from the forefront of the civil rights
and the anti-war movements of the 1960s to practicing labor law, from
teaching at an Ivy League university to being taught by the working people
of Ohio's Mahoning Valley, Staughton Lynd has remained steadfast in both
his activism and beliefs Open to all interested workers, IWW or otherwise.

WORKERS UNITED REVUE
Saturday, July 15, 7pm
Crescent Moon Ballroom, 2337 Central Ave NE,
Minneapolis
Featuring:
 Friendly--local punk band with Twin Cities IWW members Shannon
Murray--Folk / Punk singer-songwriter and IWW member
 Farheen Hakeem--Educator, Community Organizer and Comedian
 Other acts TBA

Open to the public--All Ages
$5.00 cover charge

For more information, contact twincities [at] iww.org or
612 339 4418


--------7 of 26--------

From: altera vista <alteravista [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: 911/LooseChange 7.15 2:30pm

Do you believe the government¹s explanation for 9/11?
Did you know that three world trade center buildings collapsed on that
date?

Come see a FREE MOVIE
LOOSE CHANGE (2nd Ed. 2006)
about the events of 9/11 and the impossibilities of the official story.

Saturday, July 15, 2:30 pm, Shoreview Library
4570 N. Victoria, Shoreview

Monday, July 17, 6:30 pm, Maplewood Library
1670 Beam Ave., Maplewood

Comments about this film:

" a brilliant piece of research presented cinematically with great
effectiveness. It's one particular selection of the mountains of evidence
that are available about what happened on 9/11.

"even a small portion of it is enough to convince you that the official
story is nowhere near true."

Presented by MN911 Group http://9-11.meetup.com/253/ 651-633-4410


--------8 of 26--------

From: David Strand <mncivil [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Immigrant students 7.15 4pm

Immigrant Students invite you to this year's Dream Act BBQ!!

All who care about immigrant students gaining access to higher education
and who want to do something about equal access to higher education for
all are invited! Please invite your families, friends, and community
members so that we can keep building a stronger Mn Dream Act movement!

Dream Act BBQ to celebrate the accomplishments of the Dream Act youth this
past year!

Powderhorn Park, 3400 15th Avenue South, Minneapolis, Mn 55407
We will be on the South side of the park, the side nearest to E. 35th St.
Saturday, July 15, 4-7pm

RSVP:  We need to know who is coming so that we can buy enough food.  Let
us know by Monday July 10 if you plan on coming - you can RSVP by calling
Emma or Felipe at 651-287-0660 or by emailing us at
freedomnetwork [at] gmail.com

What Else to Bring: Please bring lawn chairs, blankets, soccer balls,
frisbees, and whatever else you need to have a great time on a Saturday
afternoon at a park.

Come and celebrate the accomplishments of this year's Mn Dream Act
students and connect with other young people who want to continue working
on gaining access to higher education for immigrant youth.  Each school
that is represented at the BBQ will have an opportunity to talk about
their actions over the past year and to talk about what they plan to do in
the future.

Don't miss it! There will be free food, music, soccer, and gift
certificates!  Don't miss the jalapeño eating contest, send-a-work-glove
to congress people station, dancing contest and games...get ready for
serious FuN and AcTiOn!

Want to volunteer?  Want to donate? We need volunteers to come to
Powderhorn Park at 2:00 pm to help set up and cook. If you can't come
early, but still want to help, we would love to take your food donation or
gifts for the raffle.  If you are interested in volunteering or can donate
something, please call Emma or Felipe at (651) 287-0660 or email us at
freedomnetwork [at] gmail.com. In your message, please let us how you would
like to help.

Powderhorn Park: The address of the park is 3400 15th Avenue South,
Minneapolis - just a block or two from Mercado Central. Call us if you
need more details 651-287-0660.


--------9 of 26--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Somalia/peace 7.15 4pm

Saturday, 7/15, 4 to 8 pm, Center for Somali Solutions and Confederation of
Somalis presents Prof Ahmed A. Xayle of DayStar University in Nairobi,
talking about peace and reconciliation in Somalia, Brian Coyle Community
Center, 420 - 15th Ave S, Mpls.  612-871-7411.


--------10 of 26--------

From: PRO826 [at] aol.com
Subject: Hastings parade 7.15 7pm

Greens and candidates are invited to participate in the:
Hastings Rivertown Days Parade 2006
Saturday, July 15th, 7pm
Line up time:  6:30pm
Staging area at 15th street


--------11 of 26--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Immigration 7.16 1pm

Sunday, 7/16, 1 pm, community meeting for immigration with dignity, Holy
Rosary Church, 2424 - 18th Ave S, Mpls.  mturck [at] americas.org


--------12 of 26--------

From: becki [at] opencivics.org
Subject: Hopkins raspberry 7.16 1pm

Hopkins Raspberry Festival

1. Sunday, July 16.  The Parade starts at 1pm sharp. This is a NEW start
time !!

2. Please assemble and be set up in your parade line up spot by 11:30am.
The Float Judging will also begin at 11:30am. The royalty must be present
with the float in order to be eligible for judging.


--------13 of 26--------

From: Stephen Feinstein <feins001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Holocaust/hope 7.16 2pm

At Minnesota History Center this Sunday:

A Minnesota Testimony: Historians, Artists and Survivors Discuss the
Holocaust.A Minnesota Testimony features six Sunday afternoon programs at
the History Center in which participants will examine the history of the
Holocaust and its resonance in Minnesotans lives today. Tickets for the
series are $74 for the general public and $54 for Minnesota Historical
Society members. Individual program tickets go on sale April 26 and are
$14 for the general public and $10 for members. Registration is available
at www.mnhs.org/testimony. Programs include:

Real Art, Real Stories
Sunday July 16, 2pm

Pictures and writings by children of the Holocaust are a poignant reminder
of the human impulse to create, and document the sadness and hopes of the
Holocaust for future generations. Dr. Elizabeth Baer will present an
overview of children's poetry and observations as recorded in diaries,
scraps and litter. These words offer a moving illustration of how the
Holocaust affected individual people who dreamed and suffered while paying
witness to one of the darkest moments in human history.
 Dr. Stephen Feinstein will explore the work of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, an
artist and teacher who devised innovative techniques to help her young
students at the Theresienstadt concentration camp/ghetto overcome its
dehumanizing regime and express their humanity. The children's surviving
works demonstrate how she empowered them to find light and express hope.
 Dr. Baer is a Professor of English at Gustavus Adolphus College. Dr.
Feinstein is a Historian and the Director of the Center for Holocaust
Studes at the University of Minnesota, College of Liberal Arts.


---------14 of 26--------

From: Gabe Ormsby <gabeo [at] bitstream.net>
Subject: AI 7.16 3pm

Join Group 37 for our regular meeting on Sunday, July 16th, from 3:00 to
5:00 p.m.

The first part of our meeting will be devoted to discussing plans for our
upcoming 30th anniversary celebration (see item 3 below). After that, we
will hear from our sub-groups, get news on Amnesty campaigns, share
actions and discuss ongoing human rights issues worldwide.

All are welcome at the meeting, and refreshments will be provided.

Location: Center for Victims of Torture, 717 E. River Rd. SE,
Minneapolis (corner of E. River Rd. and Oak St.). Park on street or
in the small lot behind the center (the center is a house set back on
a large lawn).

A map and directions are available on-line:
http://www.twincitiesamnesty.org/meetings.html.


--------15 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell [mailto:lhowell [at] visi.com]
Subject: Zimmermann/BBQ  7.16 3pm

Sunday, July 16, 3-7 pm
A Backyard Barbeque Potluck-Before Dean's Trial Begins on July 31st
(Bring food to share. Non-alcoholic cold beverages and a hot grill
provided by the hosts.)

3148 29th Avenue South, Minneapolis
Rebecca & Scott Cramer's home

Dean Zimmermann & his attorney, Dan Scott, will be available to answer
your questions and/or address your concerns. In addition, donations will
be accepted in order to insure the fairest and most just defense possible
of Dean against bogus charges of corruption by the U.S. government.

Dean has stood & spoken out for all of us - all of his life - about the
environment, the Iraq War, organic food co-ops, oppressed communities in
Minneapolis, the U.S. and the world, civil rights, human rights, economic
justice, social justice, increased democracy, and workers rights. Dean
needs all of us to stand with him NOW!

If you absotively (a Dean-ism) can't make it to this event, but positutely
(another Dean-ism) wish to contribute to Dean's defense, you can send your
check to the address below. Make your check out to: Z4J Legal Defense
Fund.

We want to see you on the 16th - and so does Dean!
In solidarity,
Scott Cramer & David Tilsen, Co-Chairs
Zimmermann for Justice Legal Defense Fund
3220 10th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55407

--
Letter from Dean Zimmermann
Dear Friends:

I am getting a lot of questions from people wanting to know what's going
on with my case - and what are you doing now?  So in answer to all your
questions:

My trial starts Monday July 31st , 9am, in the Mpls Federal Court House in
front of Judge Ann Montgomery.  The trial should last 2 weeks or so.

I am confident we will have a favorable outcome, but you never know.
Visitors are welcome in the court room. My lawyer is Dan Scott, who was
head of the Federal Public Defenders for some 20 years or so.

The Zimmermann for Justice defense committee is holding a potluck
fundraiser for the trial expenses. See the invitation, from the defense
committee,(below my signature) that I am forwarding.  Even though I have a
public defender, a trial like this runs up a lot of expenses.  Come, enjoy
a great backyard picnic.

As for work, I am back in business as Southside Jack of all Trades. Class
A handyperson and home repair specialist.  I am spending most of my time
and energy working and preparing for the trial.  After the trial, I hope
to get a little more active in politics again.

Jenny is working for the Mpls Blooms Project (formerly Blooming Blvds) and
she has started a home cleaning business and is still looking for more
clients.

The trees need watering. The Park Board has trouble keeping up with
watering newly planted trees, say all those less that 3 years old.  When
it gets as dry and hot as it now is, the young trees can get stressed. If
you have a young tree on your boulevard, pull out your hose and water it.
Your grand children will thank you.

Peace, Dean Zimmermann
deanzimm [at] mn.rr.com C: 612-388-1311 H: 612-724-3888 2200 Clinton Avenue
South Minneapolis, MN 55404


--------16 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Vietnam/film 7.16 3pm

Sun. July 16: "SIR NO Sir" @ May Day Books

George Orwell's distopia novel "1984" dealt with inconvenient realities
by shoving them down The Memory Hole - as was the historical fate of
soldiers' (inside and out of the U.S. military) opposing the Vietnam
War.

David Zieger's "Sir NO Sir!" exposes this history in all its exhillerating
rebellion. Tons of archival film with interviews of these valient veterans
for peace reveal the GI newspapers and coffeehouses, demonstrations and
even mutiny. From humor by the (in)famous FTA (Fuck The Army) dissident
roadshow put on by Jane Fonda and others, to radical ideas from the Black
Power movement reached soliders in the field.

This screening is hosted by Youth Against War & Racism/YAWR, working to
get military recruiters off high school campuses. $5/donation to YAWR Sun.
July 16, 3pm, May Day Books, 301 Cedar Av S (basement Hub Bicycle,door
frwy side), West Bank, Minneapolis (612)333-4719 www.yawr.org
www,sirnosir.com The film comes out on DVD JULY 15th.


--------17 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Cuba photos 7.16-30 5pm

PHOTOS HIGHLIGHT PAIN OF FAMILIES TORN APART

GRAND OPENING
Sunday July 16th, 5pm to 9pm
Victor's 1959 Café
3756 Grand Ave South
Minneapolis  612-827-8948
Corner of 38th & Grand Ave South

On July 16th, a photo exhibit will open in Minneapolis that reveals the
human impact of the Bush Administration's rules that impede contact
between Cuban Americans and their relatives in Cuba.  Entitled "Love,
Loss, and Longing: The Impact of U.S. Travel Policy on Cuban-American
Families," the photos and accompanying text showcase the situations of 20
Cuban Americans who can no longer visit relatives on the island.  (Four of
the 20 subjects are from the Washington area.)

Ironically, while President Bush has touted family rights as one of the
main tenets of his administration, U.S officials have increasingly
restricted contact between Cuban Americans and their relatives in Cuba.

Since 2004, Cuban Americans have been subjected to a series of inhumane
and hypocritical U.S. regulations. In order to travel to Cuba, Cuban
Americans must first apply for a license from the U.S. Treasury
Department. This license allows them to see family once every three years,
with no exceptions for emergency situations. In addition, the U.S.-drawn
regulations redefine the word "family" to mean only immediate relatives.
Aunts and uncles, godparents, nieces and nephews, and cousins need not
apply.

The result is the loss and the longing chronicled in this photography
exhibit.

After several weeks at the Arlington Arts Center, the exhibit will tour
nationally through the end of 2007.

The exhibit features photographs of Cuban Americans who have been
adversely affected by U.S. travel policy, some who will be present at each
of the two receptions. Each photograph in the exhibit is accompanied by a
250 word narrative - in English and Spanish - that describes the impact of
the restrictions on these individuals and their families.

Photos by Cuban-American photographers/artists Nestor Hernández, Jr. and
Juan-Sí González. Text by Drs. Jeanne Lemkau and David Strug. Organized
by the Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWGEF) and the
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).

The exhibit will be open for viewing during the following hours through
July 30th, after the opening reception on July 16th, to be held from 5 to
9pm.  There will also be a special event on Wednesday July 26th from
5-9pm, more information on that event forthcoming.

Viewing Hours:  Tuesday thru Saturday 7am-2:30pm & 4:30-9pm
Sundays 8am-2pm  /  Closed Mondays

For further information contact: VICTOR VALENS 612-327-6723


--------18 of 26--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: YAWR 7.16 5:30pm

Sunday, 7/16, 5:30 pm, general planning meeting of Youth Against War and
Racism, May Day Books, 301 Cedar Ave S, Mpls.  612-333-4719 or www.yawr.org


--------19 of 26--------

From: Diane J. Peterson <birch7 [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Ag justice 7.16 6:45pm

AG JUSTICE PRESENTATION JULY 16 & 19

Presentations on the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP) and the
development of a socially just food label for small family farmers and
their workers will be given on July 16 and July 19 in Minneapolis and
Viroqua, Wis., respectively. Representatives from RAFI-USA, the Farmworker
Support Committee and Quality Certification Services will give the
presentations. AJP has been developing agricultural social justice
standards for a domestic fair trade program. They are currently working on
a pilot project for verification and implementation of those standards.
The meetings will be a great opportunity to find out more about the
domestic fair trade movement and the ongoing pilot project.

On July 16, the presentation will be at Wedge Community Co-op, 2105
Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, from 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.

On July 19, the presentation will be at Western Wisconsin Technical
College in Viroqua, 220 S. Main Street (Rm. 115), from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Please RSVP if you can, stating which meeting you will be attending. To
RSVP, or for more information, contact Joe Riemann at 612-465-8810 or
joe [at] wedge.coop.


--------20 of 26--------

Israel's latest bureaucratic obscenity
By Jonathan Cook
The Electronic Intifada - 12 July 2006
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4966.shtml

The same malign intent by Israel towards the Palestinians is stamped
through its history like the lettering in a children's stick of seaside
rock. But despite the consistent aim of Israeli policy, generation after
generation of Western politicians, diplomats and journalists has shown a
repeated inability to grasp what is happening before its very eyes.

The Palestinian historian Rashid Khalidi once noted that the first goal of
Israel's founders as they prepared to establish their Jewish state on a
large swath of the Palestinian homeland in 1948 was to empty Palestine's
urban heartlands of their educated elites.

Even before Israel's Declaration of Independence on 15 May 1948, most
Palestinians had been terrified away from the two wealthiest cities in
coastal Palestine, Jaffa and Haifa. Other Palestinian cities soon fell
during the war of 1948: Israeli forces mostly cleansed Lydda, Ramle, Acre,
Safad, Tiberias, Baysan and Bir Saba of their native populations. Today
all these cities have been repopulated with Jews - as well as renamed.

Khalidi has written: "These refugees from the urban areas of the country
generally tended to be those Palestinians with the highest levels of
literacy, skills, wealth, and education". Or, in other words, the small
number of Palestinians allowed to remain in their homeland by Israel were
peasant families living in isolated rural communities.

These Palestinians posed little threat to the new Jewish state: they
lacked the education and tools to resist both the wholesale dispossession
of their people and their own personal loss as their farm lands were
expropriated by the state to establish the Jewish farming communes of the
kibbutz and moshav movements.

And so history repeats itself. As Israel's violent siege of Gaza
continues, the Associated Press reported this week that dozens of
Palestinians with American passports have left Gaza, escorted out of the
Strip in a convoy of United Nations vehicles. One Palestinian American
mother said she and her children could no longer stand the terrifying
sonic booms produced by Israeli aircraft flying overhead during the night.

These fleeing Palestinians have two things that most of their kin in Gaza
lack: they have lots of money that they might have invested in rebuilding
Gaza's economy were Israel not intent on destroying it; and they are
familiar with a language and ideas that might have conveyed very
effectively to Western audiences the horror currently being endured by
Gaza's civilian population.

They are also among the least radicalised elements of Gaza's population
and might have been the ones most willing to start a dialogue with Israel
- had Israel shown any interest in negotiating.

But of course their absence from Gaza, and flight to America, will not be
mourned by Israel.

How much Israel fears the presence in the occupied territories of
Palestinians who have lived in the West - those who have money and
influence, and speak in a language the non-Arab world can understand -
was highlighted in another piece of news this week that went mostly
unnoticed.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, Israel's interior ministry has been
quietly implementing a new rule since April that allows it to refuse entry
to Palestinians holding foreign passports to Israel and the occupied
territories. Most of those affected are Palestinians who today have
citizenship in America or Europe.

Israel has this power over these Palestinians' lives because, since its
occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, it has usurped control of
the borders of the Palestinian territories. In another sign of how
mistaken Western observers are in believing that the occupation of Gaza
somehow ended with the withdrawal of Jewish settlers last year, Israel is
still able to prevent Palestinians with a foreign passport (as well as
those from the West Bank) from entering Gaza.

This new policy of exclusion affects thousands of the wealthiest and most
educated Palestinians, some of whom have been living in the occupied
territories for a decade or more investing in the economy as
entrepreneurs, teaching in the universities or establishing desperately
needed civil society organisations.

In another irony, many of these Palestinians have a foreign passport only
because Israel stripped them of their rights to residency in the occupied
territories in violation of international law. Using its control of the
area's borders since 1967, Israel revoked the residency of these
Palestinians while they were studying or working abroad.

As the Israeli journalist Amira Hass has documented, some of these
Palestinians eventually came back to the occupied territories after
marrying a local Palestinian resident but were refused rights of residency
they should be entitled to according to the normal principles of family
unification.

Instead most Palestinians with foreign passports have remained in the
occupied territories at Israel's discretion: as long as they renewed their
tourist visa every three months by crossing the border into Jordan or
Egypt, they were left in relative peace.

But Israel is now unilaterally changing the rules (as it always does),
even if it has been too embarrassed to declare the fact openly. Apparently
the US embassy has been aware of the change for some time but does not
think it should intervene in the "sovereign decisions" of another country
- or, more accurately, in the decisions of a sovereign country, Israel,
in violating the rights of an occupied people, the Palestinians.

Palestinians with US passports have been told by Israel that, when their
three-month visas expire, they will no longer be entitled to enter the
occupied territories to visit their families - except in rare
"humanitarian cases" such as a close relative dying. Some will be
separated from their spouse and children, while others will lose their
businesses and everything they have invested in them.

With these foreign passport holders forced to leave the occupied
territories, the pressure is sure to grow on their families left behind in
Gaza or the West Bank to seek ways to emigrate abroad to be with them
again.

The purpose of Israel's current bureaucratic obscenity is the same as it
was in 1948 when its highest priority was the clearing of the Palestinian
cities of their elites to make way for the establishment of the Jewish
state.

This time Israel needs to empty the ghettoes it is crafting for the
Palestinians of the most educated and well-connected of their number so
that it can more credibly claim that there is no one "moderate" to talk
to. Any Palestinian with a stake in an Israeli-imposed peace, even one
that damages Palestinian national interests, will have been forced out by
Israel's policies long before.

Those who remain behind, trapped by walls of concrete and steel, will be
powerless to resist the unilateral and illegal expansion of Israel's
borders explicit in Ehud Olmert's convergence plan.

When the only noise heard from the Palestinians in their cages is the
occasional whine of a home-made Qassam rocket flying out of the ghetto
into the Jewish state, we will be told by Israel and its US ally that
terror is the only language the Palestinians know.

But, in truth, it will be the only language we have left the Palestinians
to speak.

[Jonathan Cook, based in Nazareth, is the author of Blood and Religion: The
Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State, published by Pluto Press and
available in the US from University of Michigan Press. His website is
http://www.jkcook.net.]


--------21 of 26--------

Only sanctions will stop this brutal campaign
The world is watching, and we are all made complicit by the failure of our
governments to end Palestinian anguish
By Ahdaf Soueif
The Guardian - 13 July 2006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1819073,00.html

Last Saturday, I had lunch with friends in London at a benefit for the
medical school at the Arab University in Jerusalem. At home later, I
watched the news on al-Jazeera: 12 more Palestinians killed by the Israeli
army. There were sirens. There were young men bending to kiss the forehead
of their fallen comrade while his mother sat rocking and speechless. There
was a man hurrying through twisted metal, carrying the bleeding body of a
little girl. There were women on balconies, boys holding toddlers, old men
in kaffiyes, and they all said: "Where is the world? Where are the Arabs?"

I pressed a button and switched them all off. I went to bed and slept.
Well, I sat on the edge of the bed for a bit. And before that I had
watched the images replay in my head while I brushed my teeth and my hair.
I had reminded myself to breathe properly and not to frown so hard. And
after I went to bed I got up a couple of times to drink water - to try to
push down whatever was sitting on my chest and making my breathing short
and shallow. But, in the end, I slept.

I woke up this morning, and the day was fresh and new. And I had new
emails. Some were from friends desperate to do something and debating what
it should be. Some from groups and organisations drafting letters and
appeals on behalf of the Palestinians and the Iraqis - yes, let's not lose
sight of Haditha and Ramadi because it's Gaza's turn on the rack. And
there were messages from the four corners of the earth that had started
their e-life in Gaza. Here's one:

"Dear Friends Everywhere, I live in al-Twam, between Beit Lahia and
Jabalia Camp. The Israeli troops are moving towards the area where I live.
They are 2km away. In the last two days, 35 persons were killed and 120
injured. The Israeli troops are shooting and shelling randomly the houses
of the civilians ... Now, while writing this email, at 10pm, the tanks are
about 500m from my home. In the coming hours, my home will be in the
invaded and reoccupied areas. I do not know what might happen later. My
children are hearing the shootings and explosions. They understand that
they are exposed to a threat from which no one can protect them ... The
only thing I thought I could do is to send this appeal - and hope. Safwat
Diab."

Mr Diab, your appeal has reached me as it has reached many, many people.

If Ehud Olmert thinks the actions of the Israeli army only affect Mr Diab
and his neighbours, or even only Palestinians and Arabs, he is mistaken.
The world is paying attention. Around the world, millions are bearing
witness, and they hate being in the position of the bystander; they are
taking action.

In October 2004, at the European Social Forum in London, an Israeli
air-force pilot, Yonatan Shapira, called for sanctions against Israel. A
year earlier, Shapira had refused to bomb Palestinian towns and had
influenced 26 of his comrades-in-arms to do the same. He spoke of his love
for his country and of his conviction that it was on the road to
self-destruction. He had come to London to ask for help. Europe was
Israel's only hope, he said: it must impose sanctions on his country and
force it to make a real peace. About 3,000 people were on their feet
cheering him.

A young Palestinian woman stood up and said that the last Israeli soldier
she had seen had made her walk on the bodies of her cousins as she
stumbled out of Shatila in 1982. Seeing Shapira and hearing his words
reaffirmed her faith in a common humanity. Emotions ran high. It seemed
that truth and reconciliation were almost within our grasp.

Yet nothing in the official world of politics reflects the popular will.
Israel continues to enjoy favoured-nation status with a Europe that
starves the Palestinians for electing Hamas. We, the citizens, busy
ourselves raising funds for medical equipment, collecting books and
signing appeals while the Israeli army picks off a few kids in Gaza, blows
off a few limbs in Jenin, knocks down a few houses in Nablus - and offers
funds and freshly stolen West Bank land to Jewish settlers recently
evacuated from Gaza.

Three hundred British Jews have signed a letter strongly condemning
Israel's actions. But we are all made complicit by the failure of our
governments to act to stop Israel's barbarous campaign against the
Palestinians. British Arabs feel doubly compromised as the world
registers, yet again, the spineless behaviour of the Arab governments.

Since the capture of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Palestinian
fighters, Israel has killed 60 Palestinians. The Gaza Strip is virtually
inaccessible to foreigners, and there are reports Israel will soon close
off the West Bank as well. Yesterday, in what appears to be an attempt to
take the heat off Gaza, Hizbullah in south Lebanon attacked Israeli border
posts and captured two soldiers. It is only a matter of time before things
escalate. At the heart of it all is Israel's persecution of the
Palestinians.

It's time to help the Palestinians not just survive within the parameters
of Israeli policy, but to save them from Israel's brutal plan; to save
Israel from itself; and to save the world from the effects of the terrible
sorrow and anger that is the response of millions to the Palestinian
anguish. It's time to make Israel face up to what it is and what it wants
to become. It's time for sanctions.

[Ahdaf Soueif 's latest book is Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common
Ground.]


--------22 of 26--------

Israeli use of poisonous material alleged
excerpted from Abunimah News - 13 July 2006
United Press Interntional - 10 July 2006
http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID 
060710-081624-7700r

GAZA, July 10 (UPI) -- The Palestinian health ministry accused Israel of
using a new type of banned explosives containing poisonous material.

A ministry report released Monday said testimonies from surgeons in
Palestinian hospitals indicated that "all 249 casualties inflicted by the
Israeli war machine during the operation on Gaza which started on June 27
resulted from shrapnel of new and developed shells and explosives which
cause amputation of limbs and burning of all the injured parts."

The ministry called on the international community and human rights
organization "to send medical committees to examine the wounded and verify
the existence of poisonous material in their bodies caused by Israeli
weapons."

It also urged international organization to put pressure on Israel to stop
using internationally banned arms against inoffensive and unarmed
civilians.

The report indicated that "most casualties who were submitted to surgeries
were caused by strong explosions that led to the amputation and
carbonization of limbs while shrapnel caused small openings in the body
through which internal parts, including intestines and spleen, are
burned."

In a related development, the foreign ministry warned Monday that Israel's
military operations and threats to expand its incursion in Gaza will not
contribute to finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis of the Israeli
soldier abducted by three Palestinian factions, including Hamas which
leads the Palestinian government.

The ministry said in a statement that "international idleness and silence
over Israel's crimes do not contribute to boosting the rule of the law but
encourages the law of the jungle and Israel's ignoring of all
international norms."

Israel launched operation "Summer Rains" in Gaza two weeks ago in an
attempt to free Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was abducted in an attack on the
crossing of Keer Shalom between Gaza and Israel by militants from Hamas,
the Popular Resistance Committees and the Islamic Army.


--------23 of 26--------

What is the fight in Palestine About?
by Dyab Abou Jahjah
Arab-European League - Jul 4, 2006
http://www.arabeuropean.org/newsdetail.php?ID=173&PHPSESSID=aae449cbe0b1fe7e56b9e1096155bd43
http://www.arabeuropean.org

The onslaught against our Arab people in Palestine is ongoing while the
show of cowards and the complicity put out by the International community
and the Arab corrupted regimes is paramount. The final count down for the
earthquake has started and the Zionist intentions are not limited to
Palestine but will reach out to Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere.

All that because the heroic resistance fighters have captured a soldier in
a classical attack on an Israeli tank, one of the tanks that bombed their
houses, killed their children and imposes a siege on them worthy of
animals in a zoo.

No there should be no peace with the colonizer, there should be no
compromise with the fascist, and one thing should be reasserted, this
conflict is not about borders, it is about existence like Gamal Abdul
Nasser taught us.

Zionism is a racist colonialist ideology and movement that produced a
racist and colonial apartheid state called Israel by means of terror,
massacres and ethnic cleansing. That state was created on a piece of Arab
land called Palestine, and the Zionists used the European guilt feeling
after the Holocaust to force a dubious recognition of their crime against
the Arab people.

The plan was facilitated by other colonial powers (France and Britain)
through the division of the Arab nation into various artificial states
instead of allowing an Arab State to emerge out of the ruins of the Arab
empire, a state that was fought for by the brave leader Youssef Al Addem
in the battle of Mayssaloun in 1920. But Al Addem and his scarcely armed
comrades in the Arab Army died as martyrs that day under the bombs of
French airplanes, and the division of the Arab homeland was established.

The artificial Arab states were distributed to corrupted elites as rewards
for their collaboration. These States did not only fail to defend
Palestine in 1948, they even contributed to its colonization as a manner
of gratitude to their colonial masters who gave them their positions.

Today like yesterday, the battle for Palestine can only be won if it is
approached from a broad Arab national perspective.  Fragmenting the Arab
struggle into a Palestinian one, a Lebanese one, an Egyptian one, a Syrian
one etc. has been a successful strategy deployed by our enemies in order
to guarantee their continuous success and our failure.  Slogans like "the
Palestinian case should be managed by the Palestinian people only" hide in
them the same colonial connotation and agenda, they have lead to the
concessions by the PLO and to the Oslo catastrophe of which we see the
results today.

The battle for Palestine is part of the battle of the Arab people for
liberation, progress and unity against the colonial order of 1918. This is
the only way we should conceive this battle and when we understand that we
also understand that the battle for Palestine should be fought not only in
Gaza but also in Rabat, in Cairo, In Baghdad and in all Arab cities. The
colonial order of corruption, oppression and occupation is one system and
it should be brought down all together.

The same battle should also be fought on the cultural and mental level by
reasserting the unity of the Nation, its Arab identity, and its culture.

Against the anti-identity project of the Americans ( the great middle east
project) we must reassert the Arab nationalist project and reject the
imperialist claim that the middle east is just a geographical entity in
which a Jewish state can easily be integrated. There is no Place in the Arab
world for anything but an Arab state, this is the ultimate anti-colonial
position that must be upheld at all times. This is how we will eventually
defeat the Zionist criminal entity of Israel, and this is how Zionism will
be thrown into the garbage bin of history together with Nazism and Fascism.


--------24 of 26---------

7/10/06-CFL ALERT:
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1967,
ISRAEL BARS ENTRY OF AMERICANS INTO THE WEST BANK
sent by Seham Fare - Jul 10,l 2006
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=-1&url_num=0&url=http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/CFLWeb/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4549

Palestinian-Americans who have lived and worked in the West Bank for
years are being prevented from entering Palestinian territories when
returning from trips abroad.  Because the Israeli Interior Ministry has
not issued a formal statement Palestinian-Americans are learning of this
new policy when they reach border crossings and are refused entry.  This
ban has affected thousands of American and European citizens who are
currently unable to return to their jobs, schools and families by the
Israeli government.  Please take a moment to condemn the treatment of
American citizens by the Israeli government and to ask your
representatives what they will do to help American citizens in the
Occupied Territories.

Tell your representatives that you believe this extreme new policy is a
form of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population.  These are fellow
Americans who carry American passports and should be afforded the rights
of every free American.  By creating these ridiculous obstacle courses
through which American citizens have to go through in order to go to work,
to their homes or to visit their families, the Israelis are hoping to
drive all Palestinians out of the Occupied Territories.  Tell your
representatives that not only are Palestinian-Americans being prevented
from entering the territories, but Americans working for humanitarian
organizations are also not being allowed into the West Bank.

Ask your representatives to demand that Israel explain why it is
preventing American citizens and humanitarian relief workers into the
territories.  Tell your representatives that you are outraged that Israel
would treat American citizens this way considering that the U.S. gives
that country $12 billion dollars in welfare a year.

Please call the Israeli Embassy in the U.S. to let them know that you do
not agree with this policy.

General Comments: (212) 499-5426   feedback [at] newyork.mfa.gov.il
Consular Department (212) 499-5400   consular [at] newyork.mfa.gov.il

EMAIL AND OR CALL THE WHITE HOUSE
WHITE HOUSE COMMENTS LINE: 202-456-1111
WHITE HOUSE SWITCHBOARD: 202-456-1414
WHITE HOUSE FAX: 202-456-2461

Citizens for Fair Legislation
www.cflweb.org


--------25 of 26--------

[Robert Halfhill comments on the Lakoff et al piece run recently in the
Progressive Calendar. See end for context.-ed]

From: Robert Halfhill "rhalfhill [at] juno.com" <rhalfhill [at] juno.com>
Subject: MALIGN INTENT BEHIND CONSERVATIVE PHILOSOPHY

The following article is a reply to BUSH IS NOT INCOMPETENT, by George
Lakoff, Marc Ettlinger and Sam Ferguson.  The authors argued that the real
enemy behind Bush's action was Conservative philosophy with its three
central tenets: Individual Initiative, The President As Moral Authority,
and Free Markets.  Bush's astronomical deficits can be explained as an
attempt to make the government unable to fund social programs so people
will learn to depend on their own initiative in the free market.  Bush's
incursions on civil liberties can be explained by the belief that the
President is the moral authority with the responsibility to defend us and
the power to do whatever he thinks is necessary to defend us.

I argue that as important as conservative philosophy is in motivating Bush
and like minded government officials, the malign intent behind the
conservative philosophy is what is really central to their motivations.

     MALIGN INTENT MORE IMPORTANT THAN CONSERVATIVE PHILOSOPHY

It was malice and not just conservative philosophy which wanted people to
not be dependent on the government which can only explain the U.S.
governments more spectacular fiascoes.  For instance, the chain of
stupidities around New Orleans and Katrina are so numerous that we have to
conclude there was malign intent and not just ideological conservatism
involved.  Foreign ships were prevented from approaching New Orleans to
offer aid.  Other groups were prevented from approaching New Orleans by
land.  A fleet of 500 WalMart trucks with food and Water was turned away.
The radio system that the city used to communicate with its police cars
was reduced to only 10% functioning by the hurricane.  Someone with city
authorizations went to the northeast to obtain the necessary parts.  He
was halted by federal troops manning a roadblock a few hours from the
city.  They would not let him explain that he had city authorization and
forced him to pull over to the side of the road.  A doctor performing
heart-lung resuscitation on flood victims was forced to stop by a federal
official because he did not have the necessary federal credentials.

Perhaps 50,000 people were left in the hell of the Superdome for days
without food and water.  New Orleaneans trying to escape across the bridge
to a community across the river were stopped by the police and told they
were not going to bring New Orleans' problems to their community.  A few
hundred refugees found a concrete apron beneath the bridge where they set
up camp for a few days.  NPR interviewed a woman who said that after a few
days, a policeman charged down there, with "every other word out of his
mouth beginning with f," telling them to get out.  After they left, a
helicopter descended and blew all their possessions off the apron.

I will need to get independent confirmation for the CITY PAGES feature
about the refugees who did get out being held in camps by armed troops who
profanely threatened to shoot them if they ventured within so many feet of
the barbed wire.

The point is that this was not merely some kind of free market religious
fundamentalism but the naked, racist, classist face of Amerika exposed in
all its frightful ugliness in the wake of Katrina.  The seemingly mind
boggling chain of stupidities make perfect sense when we realize they
reflected a malign, evil intent to replace a Black, democratic city with a
white, Republican one.

I assume [some of] you read my posts on the Minnesota Green Party
discussion list about how the incredible string of stupidities that let to
9/11 can only be explained by a malign intent to bring about a new Pearl
Harbor and create the super patriotic hysteria that swung the political
climate in this country so markedly to the right and created the ground
swell of support for Bush's war adventures and encroachments on civil
liberties.

And of course the Bushites were not actually so stupid that they actually
believed there were WMD's in Iraq.  And no one could be so stupid that
they would arrange for the voting to be done on machines that could be
hacked and that left no paper ballot trail.  No, they INTENDED to steal
the election.

So the conservative free market fundamentalism is merely the epiphenomenon
and the idealogical fig leaf.  The real forces operating are the ruling
class's malign intent is to establish a planetary Pax Americana to succeed
the ancient Pax Romana, replace our facade of a capitalist democracy with
a domestic dictatorship and Imperium, hog yet more outrageous displays of
wealth to themselves while everybody else is cast in to abject poverty and
inflict whatever unmitigated hell on minorities that is necessary to
achieve their purposes.

-Robert Halfhill [Minneapolis]
http://halfhillviews.greatnow.com
http://halfhillblog.blogspot.com

-----------

BUSH IS NOT INCOMPETENT
by George Lakoff, Marc Ettlinger and Sam Ferguson

[See Progressive Calendar 07.11.06 for the whole article. Here is the last
paragraph, followed by my comment. -ed]

Conservatism itself is the villain that is harming our people, destroying
our environment, and weakening our nation. Conservatives are undermining
American values through legislation almost every day. This message applies
to every conservative bill proposed to Congress. The issue that arises
every day is which philosophy of governing should shape our country. It is
the issue of our times. Unless conservative philosophy itself is
discredited, Conservatives will continue their domination of public
[institutions].

[And behind conservatism (as used above) is the ruling class. Conservatism
is just monumental greed and amorality in a three piece suit. A very smart
evil person seeking the ideological "justification" of his toxic nature
would invent conservatism. As long as we tolerate a ruling class, that
class will be spewing its conscience-deadening "priciples". The ruling
class itself must be discredited; we should understand "super-rich" to
mean: bad, socially cancerous, sneaky, underhanded, war-mongering,
anti-democratic, quasi-fascist. -ed]


---------26 of 26--------

 If Israel is
 a failed experiment, it
 should be treated as one


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