Letter from Jane about David's trip to Haiti

"My" David is taking a trip to Haiti to go back to the
the orphanage which he helped build and lived at from
age 8 to about 12.  He asked me if I could get
together any clothes for kids or adults that he
can take with him.  I have him checking on size of
boxes he can check and cost.  I don't know how he
is managing to do this, but I think it is a good
thing and would like to support him in wanting to
do something for someone else.  Sue, maybe the kids
or you have something they could bring up on the
25th.  P4P, could we help him in some way?  Keep in
mind that this is Haiti, not Wisconsin.  He is
leaving August 5th so this is immediate.  I am also
going to try to take the one solar cooker I have
left apart for him to take to the orphanage.  I am
asking the young men at CAP services if they could
do this.  He needs a ride to Milwaukee on the 4th.
just mentioning this in case anyone is going.

I just found out David can only check one bag to Haiti.
It can weigh 50# so if anyone can help...

Here is what David had to say about his family:

"i have a brother who's over 6'2 ft tall.... another
5'11 (over that) and a sister thats bigger and
about 5 nephew and nieces
boys and girls, toys and clothes, tooth brush,
food, books, anything for kids and adults... all
brothers and sisters are older then me so they
all over 30 years of age.... some donation of
money would be great but i mostly want stuff
that i could take down there ok, thanks
i am not sure on their sizes and what's not....
anything you can think a person could use would
be great, shoes would be great too any sizes what
they do not need can be taking to the orphanage."


Jane

Letters from Larry about Iran and UFPJ

---

SWOI Home | Donate | Receive SWOI Updates | Contact Us

Take action now:

1. Endorse this statement; demand "U.S./Israeli hands off Iran!" - http://stopwaroniran.org/iran2009endorse.shtml
2. Forward this message to your listserves, or link to it from your Facebook, MySpace, and other sites (use http://stopwaroniran.org/iranstatement.shtml)
3. Please consider making an emergency donation. Stop War on Iran was founded in early 2005 as an international campaignto oppose a U.S. military attack on Iran and other acts of war, including sanctions and covert destabilization. Initial signers included former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, author and activist Leslie Feinberg, Michael Parenti, Larry Holmes of the Troops Out Now Coalition, Howard Zinn, George Galloway, Harold Pinter, former First Lady of Greece Margarita Papandreou, and hundreds more. Since that time we have organized meetings and forums from coast to coast, and brought Stop War On Iran placards, banners, buttons, and literature to antiwar demonstrations across the country. Stop War On Iran does not receive funds from U.S. government agencies or corporate-run foundations, which means we need your help to continue to mobilize in the face of the latest threats against Iran. You can donate online at http://stopwaroniran.org/donate.shtml
4. Consider organizing a local action on August 1 to demand "U.S./Israeli Hands Off Iran." List your action at http://stopwaroniran.org/iran2009volorgcent.shtml
5. Volunteer! The Stop War On Iran Campaign relies entirely on volunteers to get things done, and we need your help - http://stopwaroniran.org/iran2009volorgcent.shtml
   

---

Stop War on Iran says: Clarity needed

• Why the U.S. anti-war movement should stand firmly against any military attack, sanctions or demonization of Iran.
• Boycott the Phony State Department/NED pro-war events on July 25
• Nationally-coordinated actions on August 1 to say "U.S. Hands Off Iran!"

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden’s new public threat against Iran underlines the dangers of a new war in the Middle East and the desperate need for political clarity within the anti-war movement concerning Iran.

With his June 6 comments on ABC's This Week, Biden opened the door to a military attack when he said that the U.S. would not stand in the way of an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, calling such an attack is Israel’s “sovereign right.” Israel, he said, was “free to do what it needed to do.”

The Geneva Conventions call it a war crime even to threaten to attack another state. This is not just rhetoric. Only with U.S. satellite, radar and the use of air space over U.S.-occupied Iraq could the Israeli bombing raid take place. Biden should be denounced as a war criminal for making such a reckless and dangerous encouragement of unprovoked war against Iran.

A U.S.-funded Israeli attack would immediately unleash a wider war. It would have catastrophic results for the whole Middle East and the Iranian people, even beyond what has already been done to the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine.

Biden’s new threat comes during a full corporate media offensive against Iran. Its timing should serve as an alert to the entire progressive and anti-war movement. U.S. aircraft carriers, destroyers, nuclear submarines, jet aircraft and drones clog the seas that wash up on Iranian shores.

Subversion, media lies target Tehran

In this dangerous war climate the entire U.S. and Western corporate media is again demonizing the Iranian government. It is using the media and well-funded, subversive organizations in a massive effort of destabilization and sabotage. Too often in the past this same combination of phony “human rights” organizations, who are given endless coverage in a corporate media frenzy, have helped to create a war climate through demonization, frauds and fabricated charges. This has happened before every U.S. attack or invasion, along with a concerted campaign of psychological warfare and internal destabilization in the target country.

One such organization leading this effort is the newly formed “United 4 Iran,” a fraudulent “left cover” for organizations funded by the U.S. government and big corporations. It is designed to use “human rights” and “democracy” to justify U.S. threats to attack Iran. This group has called phony “human rights” internationally coordinated protests for July 25. United 4 Iran is a front for organizations awash in money from the National Endowment for Democracy, a CIA cover organization for intervention, subversion, covert action in countries around the world. These same groups are supported by funds from Rockefeller, Soros, and Mellon foundations.

It is telling that United 4 Iran makes NO mention of the U.S. wars currently ripping apart the entire region. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops along with an army of private military contractors and mercenaries have created havoc in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Pakistan. U.S. funds and equipment have supported Israeli occupation and war on Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. Nor does this group mention the decades of U.S. military encirclement, sanctions, sabotage, attempted and actual coups against the people of Iran.

If these organizations were genuinely concerned with democracy, human rights and respect for elections why have they not called emergency actions in defense and support of the democratic elections in Gaza? In Gaza there was a democratic election overseen by Western international monitors. Hamas won overwhelmingly. The U.S. funded Israeli response was blockade and starvation against an entire people. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli bombardment.

Why the movement must reject anti-Iran provocations -
UFPJ should withdraw support of anti-Iran actions.

How we respond to these actions is a crucial question for the movement. Are we for another brutal U.S. war or against it?

It is profoundly disturbing that United for Peace and Justice UFPJ and other anti-war organizations have chosen to add their endorsement to these actions targeting the Iranian government. These anti-war groups should be in the forefront of opposing current U.S. wars and threats of wider war.

Stop War On Iran urges them and other honest anti-war forces to reconsider their endorsement of the anti-Iran actions. Anti-war activists in the United States, while demanding an end to the occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, have an additional responsibility to oppose any military moves by the Pentagon or its allies against Iran and to oppose any moves by the former colonial powers to weaken Iran’s sovereignty.

Why U.S. imperialism targets Iran

The U.S. imperialist wars throughout the region are an effort by U.S. corporations to gain strategic domination of the vast oil and energy resources.

Since its 1979 revolution, Iran’s independence has been a thorn in the side of corporate billionaires in the U.S. and Britain and of the U.S.-funded Israeli settler state. When the Iranian people overthrew the brutal U.S.-backed shah dictatorship they finally regained control of their rich oil and gas resources. In 30 years time Iran developed industrially and vastly improved the educational and health level of the entire population.

Any intervention by the imperialist powers in Iran and any weakening of Iranian sovereignty will only diminish the rights of women, workers, and the access to democratic institutions there, just as it has happened in the rest of the region. Any intervention by the imperialists in Iran’s internal struggles is aimed either at aiding the side the imperialists see as more conciliatory to their plans, or to exacerbate the internal conflict in order to compromise and weaken the Iranian government.

U.S. wars don’t bring democracy

U.S. wars and occupations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan have never brought democracy or human rights. They have brought only oppressive military dictatorships, massive refugee crises, torture and millions of deaths.

Also, we cannot forget that it is U.S. troops, military equipment, and bases that keep corrupt feudal anti-woman monarchies in power in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, as well as the brutal dictatorship in Egypt.

The hypocrisy of U.S. politicians is staggering, as they condemn the actions of the Iranian government while sweeping their own crimes under the rug. Iran’s elections and disputes are an internal matter, to be resolved by the Iranian people and not the governments of imperialist countries with agendas of dominating Iran and a track record of using internal issues to justify military invasion.

Money for jobs and benefits, not for more war

In this time of global capitalist crisis, when millions are unemployed and millions more facing evictions and foreclosures, we must demand that the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on current U.S. wars and the trillions that would criminally wasted in a new war be spent for jobs, health care and housing for poor and working people in the U.S. and around the world.

We urge your endorsement and support of these simple demands.

1. We oppose military aggression by the U.S., Britain, or Israel against Iran.

2. We oppose economic, diplomatic or other sanctions against Iran whatever their excuse.

3. We demand an end to subversion, de-stabilization, covert actions instigated by the U.S. and its military or spy agencies directed at Iran.

Endorse here: http://stopwaroniran.org/iran2009endorse.shtml

We urge you NOT to march in the anti-Iran event, which is designed to give humanitarian cover to U.S. threats of war against Iran. Instead, come out AGAINST current U.S. wars and the threats of a new war on the following week in a National Day of Coordinated Actions on Saturday, August 1.

Contact Stop War On Iran if you are interested in organizing or supporting an action opposing U.S. threats on Iran on Saturday, August 1

In NYC join us at Times Square, 42nd & 7th Ave at 1pm, August 1 for a march to the Israeli Mission.

STOP WAR ON IRAN
55 W. 17th St. 5th Fl., NY NY 10011
www.StopWarOnIran.org 212.633.6646

Letters from Larry about Iran and UFPJ

Subject: Update from Gaza Convoy - Viva Palestina delegation

From: International Action Center

Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:48:58 -0400

To: action.news@organizerweb.com

About the IAC | Donate | IAC Books & Resources | Local Actions | Contact Us | Sign the Petition

Viva Palestina US update – July 11, 2009

Update #1

The largest ever US humanitarian aid convoy is now gathering in Egypt to head across the border into Gaza on Monday, July 13.

Vehicles are coming from Alexandria, the medical supplies from Cairo and the advanced party of nearly 100 US citizens is heading for the staging post of Al Arish, just before the border with Gaza.

That group, of four buses, has, however, been stopped from crossing over the Suez Canal and into the Sinai region, which leads to Gaza.

The buses, carrying people, medical aid and bearing US, Egyptian and Palestinian flags in a spirit of international cooperation, have been held at a security checkpoint and given various, conflicting reasons for why they cannot proceed to their destination at Al Arish.

New York Councilman Charles Barron is leading the group and is negotiating with security officials to resolve the situation. He has contacted Washington and other elected officials in an effort to clarify the reasons for the delay and address any concerns as efficiently as possible.

Former US Congresswoman and Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney will join the convoy on Sunday, July 12, and British Member of Parliament George Galloway will also be heading to meet up with Councilman Barron and the advance group.

He and the rest of the advance group of the convoy, however, are insisting on their right to travel with their supplies to Al Arish, where the rest of the convoy is to rendezvous with them before heading for the border crossing into Gaza.

This medical convoy is on the way to Gaza a month after US President Barack Obama described the situation in Gaza as a “humanitarian crisis.”

“Our convoy is on an aid mission,” says Galloway, “We come in peace; but we will not be stopped.”

Viva Palestina Convoy, July 12, 2009, 2:45 am Cairo

Update #2

The 100 Viva Palestina humanitarian volunteers have decided to stay the night in their buses at the Mubarak Peace Bridge over the Suez Canal despite pressure from the Egyptian security officials to return to Cairo.

The official reason given at the checkpoint for refusing to allow them to cross is that the officials there did not have a list of the names of the members of the convoy. Such a list was, however, at the request of the Egyptian authorities before any of the convoy members set foot in Egypt sent to the Egyptian ambassadors to Washington, D.C., and London.

The US Embassy in Cairo has now stepped in to forward a newly provided list of those convoy members aboard the buses at the bridge to the Egyptian foreign ministry to clear the way for the convoy's passage.

Nancy Mansour Leigh, a spokeswoman for the Viva Palestina delegation at the Suez crossing, says, “It's going to be an uncomfortable night, but it's nothing compared with what the people of Gaza must live through every day. We've already succeeded in securing internet access and are negotiating other necessary facilities. But whatever facilities are provided or not, our determination will see us through the night and all the way to Gaza.”

New York City Councilman Charles Barron is on the scene at the Suez Canal and acting as chief negotiator with Egyptian security officials. “The Viva Palestina movement has had a great success this morning with our stand at the Suez crossing. We've now got an agreement for us to stay until the list of our convoy members reaches the foreign ministry. It shows what can be achieved with the determination and commitment of a collective body of people. We are determined to cross onto Gaza, and no matter what happens next, out of this first small confrontation, we've achieved a success for the movement in support of the Palestinian people. The convoy is going to move on, and we ain't gonna let nobody turn us around.”

British Member of Parliament George Galloway offered these words of encouragement for the delegation being held up at the crossing:“This is an American convoy. And Americans are used to refusing to give up seats on buses in the struggle for justice. I regard everyone who's putting themselves on the line tonight at the Suez Canal for the success of this humanitarian mission as nothing short of a hero.”

Kevin Ovenden
Viva Palestina coordinator

Report from John Parker, West Coast Coordinator of the International Action Center. Parker is one of four IAC activists participating in the Viva Palestina delegation to Gaza.

A delegation of about 200 people left for Cairo, Egypt from July 4th to July 7th, en route to Gaza to make the political demand of breaking and defying Israel's illegal and genocidal siege of Gaza and to provide much-needed humanitarian aid to the people--wheelchairs, walkers and medical supplies.

We are currently split up into two groups. One group is made up of the drivers of the vehicles that will transport some of the aid from Alexandria, Egypt, through the border of Gaza. I am part of this group. The other group is gathering and organizing other medical supplies in Cairo, and they will meet up with us at the border.

New York City Councilmember Charles Barron has already joined the group in Cairo and will also be at the border for the crossing. Former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney will also be joining us at the border of Gaza before we cross. McKinney was released only a few days ago from an Israeli jail, where she and 20 other activists were held after being abducted by the Israeli navy from the Spirit of Humanity boat which was carrying aid to Gaza.

I am proud to be a part of building and participating in this tremendous effort to expose the horror of Israel's war against the Palestinian people, which the media tries to hide from the world. As Ron Kovic, one of the initiators of this campaign in the U.S., along with British MP George Galloway said, "We are going there to offer a hand of friendship and solidarity, not bombs and terror."

Israel's bombing of Gaza for 23 days starting last December caused an immense and terrifying amount of damage. At least 20 percent of the children there suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the bombing. Half of the hospitals in Gaza and 47,000 homes were damaged.

However, one thing wasn't damaged--the will of the people of Gaza to survive and to strongly demand self-determination. This is what inspires us to do all we can.

Judging from the reaction we receive here in Egypt from people who see our Viva Palestina USA T-shirts, many of the Egyptian people are proud and inspired by the courageous people of Gaza. For example, a young woman who spoke English asked Judy Greenspan, another IAC organizer on the trip, what her T-shirt meant. After Judy told her, she replied that a family member of hers works in a pharmacy and she wanted to donate medical supplies for the convoy.

This delegation is the second such convoy initiated by British MP George Galloway. He organized the first in the UK. The second one, which left from the U.S., was organized in collaboration with Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist Ron Kovic, author of "Born on the Fourth of July."

However, in the U.S., this effort is the result of the work of many in the Arab community, in the Mosques, in organizations like Al-Awda and others, in addition to anti-war and social justice organizations. On the delegation are members of CAIR, Middle East Childrens Alliance, Cuba Coalition, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, MECHA, International Action Center, International Socialist Organization, Workers World Party, ANSWER Coalition and many more. All of the organizations participated in making this campaign possible. However, along with the UK team of Viva Palestine, the lion's share of the credit must go to the Arab and Muslim communities in the U.S., which raised much of the funding for this effort.

Media coverage of our trip has been good. Photographs here are from the most recent press conference in Cairo. The press conference held on July 9 was covered by Al Jazeera and by one of the largest media outlets in Egupt. In addition, there have been many interviews of individuals on the trip. With Cynthia McKinney joining us at the border and the presence of Councilmember Charles Barron, that coverage will increase.

I should also mention the very impressive showing of support by members of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement represented by four Black youth. One of them, Brandon, is shown here holding a red, black and green African Liberation flag. He began his remarks at the press conference by giving a "shout out" to the people of Africa on the continent and referenced the people of Africa on the U.S. delegation, who were showing their solidarity with Palestine. He made the links between the racism and repression faced by Palestinian people and the occupation of Gaza with the repression faced by Black people in the U.S. by police brutality and occupation of their neighborhoods. He said he was inspired to come on the delegation by the actions of Cynthia McKinney.

Delegates here in Alexandria are anxiously waiting to load up and decorate the vehicles and begin their journey to Gaza. These vehicles will be donated to the people of Gaza.

*Click here to follow Viva Palestina's updates from the convoy.

*Click here to donate to Viva Palestina USA

*Click here to donate to help with the costs of the International Action Center's delegation.

_______________________________________________


Anyone can subscribe.
Send an email request to
Action.News-subscribe@organizerweb.com

To unsubscribe Action.News-unsubscribe@organizerweb.com

Subscribing and unsubscribing can also be done on the Web at
http://www.organizerweb.com/mailman/listinfo/action.news